The Hunter

Chapter Nine

It was in the early hours of pre-dawn when Rin made her escape.

Neither of them had spoken since the onsen and she preferred it that way. It had given her plenty of time to consider her options. Though a faint glimmer of guilt cropped up every now and then, her anger was stronger and her conscience eventually settled on escape. She'd been able to think of little else since.

Kohaku had found a sizeable cave for them to sleep in and once darkness fell she had gone to bed as normal. Feigning sleep, she waited until he began to snore and then bided her time. After he had been snoring for hours, she tip-toed silently from the cave and then broke into a dead run.

She didn't take any notice of the direction in which she travelled and had little care to. All that mattered was how much distance she could put between herself and Kohaku before he awakened. If she wasn't far enough by the time he awoke, he would catch up with her and who knew what he would do to her then? He wasn't of a cruel nature, but any man could become a harsh master if pushed far enough.

Dawn was just beginning to lighten the eastern sky as she approached the grey banks of a river. Her feet came to a stop at its rocky shore and she watched her heavy breaths puff up white in the brisk morning air. The water looked frigid and uninviting, but if she was to have any hope of escape she'd have to traverse it for at least a short while to hide her trail.

A twig snapped and her head turned sharply in the direction of the sound. Wrapping her arms around herself to ward off a chill, she looked at the forest, still robed in dark, and felt the first trickle of fear snake down her spine. Her entire body was alive, her every nerve ending ablaze. If Kohaku had found her already, was there any point in running?

Another twig snapped, this one closer than before. A soft growl broke the stillness of the morning air and the breath caught in her throat. Terrified to move, she watched the wolves emerge one by one from the forest around her. She counted six in total, all steadily closing in on the place where she stood. Her eyes fixed on their yellow teeth, bared at her in warning, and she swallowed hard. There hadn't been enough time to grab a weapon. An oversight she was sincerely regretting now.

Seeking to remedy that, she held the lead wolf's gaze and slowly bent to grope for something on the ground that she could use. A sizeable rock fit neatly into her hand and she yanked it up from the earth. It wouldn't do much, but perhaps it would buy her enough time to escape down the river. She ignored the small voice inside her head that asked, "Yes, but where will you escape to?"

As the wolves surrounded her, she looked frantically from one pair of gleaming yellow eyes to the next. The wolf to her left shook its head impatiently and snarled before leaping at her. Shielding herself beneath her arms, she screamed and waited for the slash and tear of its claws against her skin.

Instead, a sharp yelp filled the air and she looked down to find the wolf dead at her feet. The others had turned their gazes into the trees and she followed suit, gasping at what she saw there. A man too beautiful to be human stood not twenty paces away. Her eyes travelled over him memorizing every detail, from the richness of the silk on his back to the strong line of his jaw. His sharp golden eyes met hers and her heart skittered inside her chest.

The wolves snarled at the intruder but he didn't look the least bit concerned by their numbers. A second wolf was foolish enough to run at him and it too was cut down. She hadn't seen the man move, but just like its brother the wolf now lay in pieces on the forest floor.

Suddenly a loud roar erupted from the forest to her right. The wolves growled and she gasped at the sight of Kohaku charging towards them through the trees with his sword drawn. They took after him immediately, meeting him halfway in a flurry of brown fur, teeth and claws. He managed to skewer two before abandoning his sword and using his knife to attack the pack's leader. The wolf dodged his blade and latched on to his arm with its powerful jaws. The beast snarled and a jerk of its head left Kohaku howling in pain. He fell to the forest floor with the wolf on top of him, both fighting for their lives.

Momentarily forgetting the stranger who had saved her life, Rin glanced at the rock gripped tightly in her hand as though seeing it for the first time. Without thinking, she brought it down hard against the back of the wolf's head. The beast yelped and released Kohaku's arm, but she wasn't satisfied to leave it at that. She hit it again and again, until its body lay still on the forest floor.

With its comrades dead, the last wolf retreated into the trees. The stranger was gone too, having disappeared so suddenly Rin wondered if he'd been there at all. Kohaku groaned and staggered to his feet. He wobbled unsteadily and she arrived in time to catch him before he collapsed.

"Thanks," he muttered, blinking his eyes wide to see straight.

Unable to tear her eyes away from the mangled mass of blood and skin that was his arm, Rin frantically tore a strip from the hem of her under robes and wrapped it tightly around his injured arm. She coaxed him up with an arm around his waist and led him back in the direction they had come.

The trip back to the cave was agonizingly slow and dogged by Kohaku's injury. Each pained gasp that left his lips twisted another knot of guilt in her gut. This was her fault. A part of her protested that no one had made him come after her, but she knew differently. If he hadn't arrived when he did she would be dead, and for that she owed him at least this much.

By the time they arrived back at the cave, the previous night's fire had crumbled into a pile of ash and faintly glowing embers. Relieved to finally be able to rest, Kohaku slid clumsily to the ground and closed his eyes against the pain.

Rin knelt at his side and inspected the wound. She didn't know much about medicine, but it looked serious. Her brother had once been attacked by a wild boar. It had only been a glancing blow, but the wound did not look so different from Kohaku's.

"Where is the water?" she demanded.

Kohaku nodded wearily at the container on his hip and she took it from him. Next, she hurriedly tore more strips from her under robes and soaked them in what was left of the water. She used these to gently wash out the wound as best she could before wrapping it up tight with fresh bandages from his bag. It was a poor job, but with any luck it would suffice until they found a village with a healer.

"Do you think you can walk?" she asked, helping him to his feet. He stumbled and looked at her unsteadily before nodding.

"Good. We need to get to a village. There should be one close by."

He visibly paled at the thought of more travel but nodded in agreement and shuffled out of the cave with her help.

Apart from a few jarring missteps that left him sucking air through his teeth, Kohaku didn't complain about his injury. He hadn't said a single word of censure about her escape attempt either, though given the state of his arm she was certain he had more pressing matters on his mind.

The village turned out to be a great deal further than expected. Either that or they were moving far slower than she had anticipated. Nightfall was already upon them when they stumbled down the main road of a small village tucked away into the mountainside.

"Help! Someone, please!"

Rin called out to the homes with lanterns lighting their doorways. A few curious faces peeked out from behind slatted windows and studied them with wary eyes.

"Please! Is there a medicine woman or a healer? He needs help!"

A frail old woman stepped out of an inconspicuous hut and shuffled down the road towards them.

"I am the healer here," she announced, straightening to her full height. "What has happened?"

"We were attacked by wolves. Please, help him!"

Kohaku moaned pitifully next to her. She couldn't be certain how much of it was for the sake of impressing upon the woman's sympathy and how much was genuine. In either case, he didn't look well. If it were possible, his face was even paler than before and a thin sheen of sweat had broken out across his skin.

After a quick inspection of Kohaku's arm, the woman gestured towards her home and Rin helped him there. Inside, the hut was warm and filled with the scent of dried herbs and stew.

"Lay him there, next to the fire," the old woman instructed, nodding at the futon that was already laid out. Rin did as she was told and helped Kohaku to the floor. He breathed through clenched teeth as the movement jarred his swollen arm. She frowned at him in sympathy and glanced helplessly at the old woman who was casting a disapproving eye at her obi. Realizing how they must look to her – a whore and a rogue, alone in the dark on a remote stretch of road – she got to her feet and glanced uncertainly at the door.

"I should go" she said quickly. The old woman dismissed her suggestion with a wave of her hand.

"Nay, sit there by his head and comfort him. Treating his wound will be painful and he will benefit from a soft voice and gentle touch."

"Sakura, please. Stay."

At Kohaku's plea, she resigned herself and knelt by his head, gently lifting it onto her lap. She could feel his body trembling under her hands and frowned. How had he possibly made it this far? He opened his eyes to look at her and attempted a smile.

"Thanks for staying. I know you could have left me there."

At a loss for words, she offered him a small, tight smile and watched the healer methodically lay out an array of fresh bandages, herbs, salves, and a bowl of hot water. The old woman removed the makeshift bandage that had been tied around his arm and Kohaku sucked in a sharp gasp. Desperate for some way to distract him, she tried to lure him into conversation.

"Tell me about your family," she began haltingly. "You said you have a sister?"

Kohaku grimaced and nodded. "Just one. Her name's Sango. She's a bit older by a couple of years."

His body tensed suddenly as the old woman settled a scalding hot bandage against his wound to clean it out. Rin gently stroked his face, urging him to relax.

"Who's the better demon slayer?" she asked, hoping to draw his attention away from the wound.

He managed a half smile and the healer lifted a curious brow.

"Sango's the best demon slayer in our village," he confessed, "and she's downright frightening in battle. I would not want her as my enemy, that's for sure."

"You sound very proud of her," Rin observed, keeping a careful eye on the old woman's ministrations. She was packing the wound with various herbs and frustratingly Rin realized that she could not name a single one.

"Sango must be a very strong woman," she said, returning her attention to Kohaku.

His face had gone ghostly white and he managed a slight nod. She looked with sympathy at his features pinched in pain, and tried to remember how he had appeared when they first met – youthful, carefree and happy. Her face had once been like his. She wondered if it could ever be so again.

The healer informed her she would need to sew the wound closed and Rin grimly nodded her head in understanding.

"Almost done," she promised, wiping a trickle of sweat from Kohaku's brow.

He clenched his jaw shut tight against a scream and his body arched slightly off the floor as the pain of the old woman's first stitch lift and bent him. Holding his arm in place, the woman made quick work of her mending job, but each pull of her needle through his wounded flesh was pure agony.

Kohaku's heart raced beneath her hand and Rin sought some way to comfort him. She couldn't stomach watching him suffer. Stroking his cheek she encouraged him to open his eyes and look up at her.

"S-Sakura, t-thanks for s-staying," he managed from behind clenched teeth.

She shook her head and tenderly stroked his face. "Call me Rin."

His eyes widened in acknowledgment and he attempted a smile. "So thisis all it t-took for you to t-tell m-me your name?"

"Foolish man," she chided with no vehemence behind her words.

As the healer tied her last stitch in place, unconsciousness mercifully claimed him and he drifted off with his head laid trustingly in her lap.

Author's Note: Thank you everyone for the supportive reviews. I'm so happy you're enjoying this fic! I have a friend visiting from Japan this weekend so won't be able to update till Monday. Hopefully this action-heavy chapter can tide you over until then ;)

Until next time,

Langus