Chapter 23 - Fever
Branches brushed his shoulders, do shoulder armor and mokomoko as he strode with purpose toward the river. Sesshomaru took little heed of their touch. Through the fabric of his hakimono, he could feel the heat emanating from Rin's body.
He realized now, that he knew far too little about the needs of humans. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he resolved to find out all that he would need to know, so that he would never be unprepared again.
A soft whimper drew his attention away from his inner thoughts, to Rin's face. It was, if possible, more flushed than before. Watching her suffer, made something inside of his chest contract painfully.
"Hold on, Rin."
Determined, he stepped free of the lush foliage and out into the grass that lined the riverbank. It was not fast moving, thankfully, but it was clear and clean water. For the first time since his battle with InuYasha, when he lost his left arm to the heat of the fight, he regretted that loss. He had always viewed it as a status, or a trophy. To have lost a limb in battle and survived. The loss had never hampered his ability to fight, if anything it gave him an advantage - since his enemies always underestimated him. But now… it would make caring for Rin more difficult.
Cradled against his armor in his remaining arm, he felt her muscles tense with another whimper. Frustration didn't begin to explain the way he was feeling. Pressing his lips together, he walked into the water without hesitation, wading in until the clear cool water reached his waist.
Carefully he lowered her burning body into the gently moving water, careful that it only lapped at her shoulders, but did not come near her face. Abruptly, she began to shiver, her hands came to life, clutching at the damp fur of his mokomoko. For several long moments he held her in the water, hoping that somehow, it would help.
At length, her brown eyes opened to gaze up at him. But it wasn't the Rin he knew. Her eyes were glossy and unfocused, it took her a moment to seem to recognize him.
"Lord Sesshomaru?" She whispered.
"You have a fever Rin."
Tears filled her eyes. "I'm s-so cold." Her slender, slight, form shivered in his grasp.
Cold? How can she be cold when her flesh burns with fire.
Sesshomaru frowned faintly. "It's the fever. Just rest."
Fear filled her eyes. "You won't leave me, Lord Sesshomaru. Will you?"
That pain again. He could no more deny her request, than he could deny breathing. "I will stay."
It seemed to mollify her fears, almost immediately her eyes drifted closed. Sesshomaru wanted to touch her forehead to check for the fire, but could not release her with his only hand occupied. With a sound of frustration, he lifted her from the water and walked back to the riverbank. Water ran from their collective hair and clothing in rivulets, pooling at his feet. His soaked mokomoko dragged behind him like a sad wet tail. It was appropriate for his mood at present.
Gently he lay her down on a soft patch of grass, in the shadow of a tree. Hesitantly, he reached out and touched her forehead with his two forefingers. Still hot, but not burning to the same intensity. Perhaps the cool water had helped. Unable to think of anything else he could do presently to help her situation, he sat down beside her against the tree, keeping vigil.
Hours passed. She at times would open her eyes, seeming lucid, but would close them again with nonsensical words, and slip back to sleep. Her clothing dried in the breeze, as did his. Once his fur was no longer saturated with water, he tucked the fluffy end of his mokomoko under her head and neck.
More time passed.
Where the hell are you, Jaken?
Sesshomaru sensed her fever rising again, he could taste the heat on his tongue. While he would carry her to the river again to cool her burning skin, without hesitation, surely there was a remedy that would help. If only Jaken had enough brain to find it.
It was another hour, and the sun was drooping low on the horizon when Jaken finally arrived. A-un landed so hard that the imp went flying off and struck the dirt at the riverbank.
"Where is it?" Sesshomaru demanded, holding out his hand.
"Ah!" Jaken leapt up, clutching his staff. "M-my Lord!" Terror plain in his bulging eyes. "I searched and searched my Lord. B-but the local villages had no cure for fevers."
Sesshomaru's hand clenched into a fist, a snarl rumbling deep in his throat.
"Waaaait!" Jaken cringed away from the hit he knew was incoming, and curled in a ball on the ground. "Theycouldnothelpbuttheytoldmeofamonkwhocan!" It came out in a rush.
The revelation stayed Sesshomaru's hand. "A monk?"
Trembling Jaken continued, opening one bulging eye to peek up at his master. "Y-yes my Lord! He lives on Mount Fuji… and it's rumored that he holds the secret cures to human illnesses!"
Sesshomaru glanced down at Rin, who shifted in her sleep, cheeks holding higher color now as the fever began to take her again. A frown turned down the corners of his mouth. He had promised her that he would stay.
Watching his master carefully, Jaken stood to his feet, leaning on his staff. After a moment of silence, his eyes shifted to the girl.
Reaching out to her with his right hand, Sesshomaru touched her cheek with the back of his knuckles. Yes, she was definitely growing hot again.
If this was the angst that beings went through when they cared for someone… he rather disliked the feeling. In that moment he realized what it was. Helplessness. He had never been in such a position before.
"By morning, if she has not improved, I will go."
The night was long. Jaken tended to Rin throughout the night, working to wake her enough to sip water. Alternately he would put pieces of cloth soaked in cold water on her arms, neck and cheeks to cool her feverish skin.
Sesshomaru did not move the entire night. He remained seated beneath the tree, tense. Urging her to recover by his willpower alone.
When daylight returned, Rin had grown delirious, tossing and turning with soft sounds of distress. Sesshomaru carried her to the river at dawn, in hopes to get some reprieve from the burning, but it did not abate this time. He lay her gently back to the base of the tree, and stood, heedless of his saturated clothing.
"I will return shortly."
Jaken knelt down beside Rin, and placed another cool wet cloth on her forehead. "I will take care of her my Lord."
In a flash, the spot where Sesshomaru had stood was empty, all that remained were eddies of wind.
Fuji was not close, but his speed of flight more than made up for the distance. When he arrived at the mountain, he paused midair, eyes scanning. Fuji was a sacred mountain, one of several, it was likely that he would encounter a barrier. But that would not stop him. Resuming his course, he shot toward the mountain in a flash of white.
It took him some time, but Sesshomaru finally located a shrine at the top of Mount Fuji. There were no visible villages near. The mountain was covered in snow, which his feet sank into when he landed by the shrine. The shrine was set up by a small stream that came off of one of the lakes. The area was wild and rural land — Rin would have loved it. Sakura trees held snow above, but for some reason the stream was not frozen over.
Cautiously, he moved to the shrine, and glanced around. There was no sign of any life, or monk's who should presumably live nearby to tend the shrine.
"Are you looking for someone?"
Sesshomaru turned abruptly, his hand moving toward his blade. A woman, dressed in a pale peach colored kimono, stepped out from behind one of the Sakura trees.
"I mean you no harm." She said, smiling. Her lips were red, skin pale, eyes a glossy brown. "Few travelers come to this shrine, as it is very difficult to get to." The woman tilted her head. "What brings you here, stranger?"
Eyeing her, he sniffed the air, but caught no scent other than the faint hint of the Sakura trees.
"I seek a monk. Rumored to have a cure for fevers."
This seemed to surprise the woman, although her smile didn't falter. "A cure?" She took a step closer. "What use does a demon have for a human cure for fevers?"
Sesshomaru was entirely dissatisfied with how this interaction was going. "That is none of your concern."
The woman laughed, the sound was high and tinkling, like ice crystals falling to the snow. "Why of course it is! If you answer my questions —" her eyes narrowed in jovial teasing. "candidly of course, I will help you find what you seek."
The urgency of his quest made him short tempered, but clearly this woman was a lady — possibly of some importance. Perhaps even a spirit, which in many ways, was better than dealing with a human. A frown tilted his lips as he considered her words, and she laughed again.
"You need not fret, my Lord demon. I will tell no one what you share with me. I'm only interested for my own amusement." Smiling, she perched herself on a snow covered boulder.
"What is it you wish to know?" Sesshomaru asked cautiously, still uncertain of her intentions.
"Why do you seek a human cure?"
"To save a human." Was she going to ask him entirely pointless questions?
"This human — is important to you?"
Sesshomaru didn't know how to respond, so instead he just stared at her, eyes narrowing slightly.
"Aha!" She exclaimed. "I can see it in your eyes! Perhaps you cannot admit it to yourself yet Lord demon." She sighed and looked down. "Human lives are so sad… so fleeting. Like the Sakura blossoms. Beautiful one moment, and gone the next. I wish it was not so."
Sesshomaru listened intently, but did not speak.
"Do you love this human?"
He refused to be shocked by her bold and entirely inappropriate questions. "Love is a human emotion."
The woman tilted her head, as if assessing him. "That may be. But it is not exclusive to humans."
"Hm."
Standing, she moved closer to him. Stopping only when she stood a hairs breadth away, intently she gazed into his eyes. Silence hung in the air for long moments. Sesshomaru had the distinct feeling that she was reading his very soul.
"I see so much beauty in your future Lord demon. All you must do is open your heart to accept what's offered." Her smile was gentle, almost pitying. "You will not be lonely forever."
"I am not lonely. Do not make the mistake of thinking I feel as humans do."
Ignoring him, she held out her hand, a small silver pitcher with a lid appeared on her palm. "Heed my words, if you will. For I can only speak truth to those who seek my healing waters." Leaning down, she dipped the pitcher into the stream. "Do not linger on regrets in the past. They do you no benefit. Justice, compassion, and love, are your strongest ally. They will give you far more power than what you seek. They will give you light, and hope. For a better tomorrow."
Rising, she closed the lid on the pitcher and offered it to him. "Give this to her. She will be well quickly. Though it will take her a few days to recover fully, such as humans are."
Sesshomaru eyed the pitcher. "Why do you choose to give me words that you know I will reject?"
"Because someday, you will remember them, when the world is open to you."
Reaching out he grasped the pitcher.
"Now go. She needs you."