Sharp cries rose against the sky, shattering the morning quiet. The attackers had used the darkness as cover to slip across the field from the trees, moving their catapults and battering rams within range before the sun's light could betray them. They had waited until this moment, when the first ray of dawn lightened the sky to sound their attack. They raced toward the wall, broke against it in waves, searching for weak spots, and finding none. All the while their sharp that were so used to seeing in the dark, were unable to see what was taking place behind the walls.

"Now my lord?"

"Not yet." He murmured, listening to the commotion outside his castle.

"But my lord…"
"Do you dare to question me?"

"No my lord. Forgive me." The voice trembled only slightly less than the demon it belonged to.

He ignored the quivering man, his ears straining to hear the voices, his nose examining the scents of war. He remained still, waiting patiently for the right moment, knowing that it would come. "Now."

The crowd surged forward in response to his voice. The murmured word might have been shouted for how it hung on the air. Weapons were drawn and the heavy wooden gate was thrown open. They poured forward behind him, killing all in their path.

His eyes searched as he moved forward, sword drawn. Their leader would be among the ranks. The wretch was insolent, but not a coward. He would find him and end this quickly. Enough time had been wasted.

"Greetings lord Sesshomaru." The words dripped with sarcasm and hatred. He turned to the source, finding a familiar face, glowering at him in the same way it had since childhood.

"Ahh, Gorimaru, I expected such a pathetic attempt to be under your command." He exposed his sword to the panther's eyes, "You have no chance against me Gorimaru. Perhaps I'll end you quickly if you beg for mercy."

"I'm afraid that does not fit into my plan Sesshomaru. You, however, have acted exactly as I expected."

Sesshomaru's sharp eyes caught the flurry of movement as others rushed toward him, and were killed in a circle several feet around him. On or next to their bodies they left large clay containers. Any moving toward the dead bodies retreated instantly. Sesshomaru turned back to Gorimaru; his eyes traced the rising arc of a smaller clay sphere in the demon's hand. He refused to respond.

"You are as stubborn as I remembered. That will be your downfall." The ball flew in a straight line to Sesshomaru's feet and Gorimaru's voice rose over the confusion. "Now."

Arrows whizzed through the air, the snap of bowstrings was quickly replaced by shattering clay. He watched the shimmering gas escape and rise into the air. He held his breath as it surrounded him, waiting. The vapors pressed closer, clinging to him. The gas would not have left him if he attempted to escape it. That left him only one option, to kill Gorimaru quickly.

The yellow ribbon traced through the air, slicing down at the panther demon. Gorimaru dodged, laughing slightly. "Accept your fate." He leapt aside, barely dodging the blue light snapping at him. He was lucky to escape the deadly force of Sesshomaru's dragon strike; several ranks of his troops were not so lucky. Gorimaru kept moving, eventually even Sesshomaru would have to breath, and then he would have him. The dog demon was functioning on borrowed time, and it was rapidly running out.

IT was unavoidable. The gas pushed into his nostrils, crawled into his lungs. Sesshomaru's vision blurred, his body numbed. The sword fell from his fingertips, but his body did not waver before falling to the ground.

He watched his enemy falter, then fall. Finally Sesshomaru had taken longer to fall under the gas's affects than he had suspected. This man's stubbornness knew no bounds. "Gather him up, we're done here."

"Oh no! Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin raced toward the edge of the forest.

"No Rin. Lord Sesshomaru ordered you to stay out of the way. And me to make sure." Jaken caught the back of her kimono, pulling her back, "They would kill you without a second thought."

"But Master Jaken…we have to do something!"

"I'm sure Lord Sesshomaru has everything well in hand."

"Master Jaken! Lord Sesshomaru is in trouble. How can you just stand by and watch?" Rin ripped herself away from him.

"There's nothing you can do Rin."

She gasped in outrage at the imp, and then looked to the ground. Jaken was right for once. Even if she raced out there she wouldn't be able to do anything for Lord Sesshomaru. But she couldn't just stand here and do nothing. There had to be someway to help. "Kagome! We'll go get Kagome, she'll be able to help."

"No."

"Master Jaken…"

"Lord Sesshomaru sent her away to keep her from becoming involved. We will not betray his wishes."

"We have to help."

"Demons like Lord Sesshomaru and I do not require the help of humans."

"Well I'm human, and I'm going to get Kagome to help us help Lord Sesshomaru with or without you." She ran to the dragon beside them, leapt into the saddle on it's back, " Come on Ah-un, we have to find Kagome."

"You stubborn child." Jaken gave up arguing as he climbed onto the dragon's back behind her.

"Very good Master Jaken. Let's go."

*

The wind skated along the river's surface, rising to ruffle her hair. She leaned forward, running her fingers over the water, rippling and shattering her reflection. With a bit of a sigh Kagome turned and dipped her bare feet into the water. It was nice to have a quiet moment to herself. They were a rare commodity. She leaned back a little; kicking the water and watching the drops sparkle as they fell through the sunlight and back into the river.

"Kagome?"

"Oh…hi Sango." Kagome smiled for a moment before turning back to the water, "What's up?"

"Nothing." The demon slayer hovered nervously for a moment before sitting on the riverbank next to her, "You're thinking of Sesshomaru aren't you?"

"What?"

"Do you regret coming back?" There was almost a tone of dread in Sango's soft voice.

"No. I think this is where I'm supposed to be right now. I would have preferred to stay with him then, but… I don't know."

"Do you miss him?"

"Some days more than others." Kagome admitted softly. She hadn't wanted to leave Sesshomaru; being sent away from him had been nearly unbearable at first. She hadn't understood how he could come to her rescue, take her to his castle, keep her there and despite seeming happy send her away so suddenly. Even his reasons had been hard to listen to. He had claimed to be worried about her safety, that she would be safer away from his side. There were days that she believed him. Sesshomaru was a powerful demon lord after all, and he had many enemies. Then were the days that she couldn't help wondering if Sesshomaru had simply grown tired of her. If, maybe, he had been using her all along. She continually hovered between hating herself, hating Sesshomaru, and missing him desperately. She kicked the water again, sending the drops back into the air, "I'd rather not talk about it if we could Sango."

"Oh… of course."

Kagome wasn't sure what drew her eyes to the sky, but a moment after she looked Kagome glimpsed a green shape streaking toward the ground. She turned onto her knees, practically leaping to her feet to run toward the village.

"Kagome what's wrong?" Sango was on her feet beside her, running to keep up.

"That's Ah-un. Something has to be wrong if he's flying like that." Kagome murmured.

"How can you tell?"

"He doesn't fly that fast unless someone is making him." Kagome leapt a fallen log and rushed onward. She had to get to the dragon before there was any trouble. She knew the forest's paths well, and in only seconds had reached the village. Her pace did not slow as her eyes searched franticly. Maybe she was seeing things. Even if it had been Ah-un there was no proof that he had been headed for the village. She knew that she was probably just wishing that Sesshomaru were coming, that he would visit her. That he would come to her if there were trouble.

She finally came to a stop, her eyes dropping to the ground. There was no sign of Ah-un, no sign of Sesshomaru, and if he had come she doubted he would bother to hide it. Kagome bit her lower lip to keep tears from welling in her eyes. Why did she bother to keep hoping?

"Why you… Come back here you imp!"

She turned to the voice, shocked to see a little girl and small green skinned imp dressed in brown running toward her, chased by two men. The girl looked up and the fear on her face vanished.
"Kagome! There she is master Jaken."

"Rin?" She stared at the girl who practically dove behind her, then Jaken who stopped at her side. "That's enough you two, leave them alone." Kagome snapped, glaring at Inuyasha and Miroku.

"Kagome you have to come quickly. Lord Sesshomaru…"

"Not in front of everyone you silly girl!" Jaken cried.

Kagome turned, stooped to be closer to Rin and Jaken's level, "What are you two doing here? What about Sesshomaru?" She asked quietly.

"Please Kagome you have to help! Lord Sesshomaru was…"

"Be quiet Rin. It was nothing. The girl exaggerates."

"Jaken, that's enough." Kagome did not snap. Getting angry and Jaken wouldn't faze the imp. He was used to Sesshomaru, who used calm, quiet threats and relied on his naturally intimidating presence. "Tell me what happened Rin."

"The castle was attacked. Lord Sesshomaru was fighting with the guards, but… They used some kind of gas to injure him and carried him away. Please you have to help us get him back." Rin's voice rose a little in pitch and volume with each word.

"Sesshomaru isn't exactly helpless Rin, I'm sure he's just fine. He's probably already back at the castle and worried about what happened to you." Kagome murmured, giving Rin an encouraging smile.

"No, he's in trouble. You have to help us! Please!"

"Alright Rin, calm down." Kagome stood, looked down at the girl for a moment, then over to Inuyasha and Miroku, who were giving her a curious look. "Rin says that Sesshomaru is in trouble. We need to go make sure he's okay."

"Like hell we do! Just because you…"

"I wasn't including you. I was going to ask if you would come, but as you've already given me your answer." Kagome turned away from them, "Come on Rin. Where did you leave Ah-un?"

"You can't be planning to go alone."

"I don't have a choice Miroku. Besides, Sesshomaru taught me some things while I was with him, I can handle it."

"Even Sesshomaru couldn't handle this on his own Kagome. If Sesshomaru really is in trouble…"

"Don't concern yourself Miroku. If Kagome wants to run off and get herself killed for that loser dog let her."

"Inuyasha! How can you be so cruel?"
"No, it's okay Miroku." Kagome turned again, her eyes on Inuyasha, "I know you aren't happy about how everything has turned out, and I am sorry that Kikyo died, but she wasn't the same woman you knew, even if she had survived you couldn't have had her. You can be angry with me all you want, but it won't change how I feel for him. I have to go Inuyasha, and it would mean a lot to me if you would help, but I won't try to make you, I won't ask you to again." She began to turn away again.

"How can you even think I'd want to help him? All Sesshomaru has ever done for me is try to kill me and the things that are important to me. He tried to steal Tetsusaiga, he killed Kikyo, and he took you."

"He didn't take me from you Inuyasha. Neither of us planned this. If anything it's problematic for us both, complicates things terribly, but Sesshomaru was always there if I needed him, and I can't turn my back on him. Even if I have to go alone." Kagome shook her hair back. She'd wasted too much time, and this fight was pointless. She was sure Sesshomaru was perfectly all right, somewhere near his castle searching for Rin and Jaken or awaiting their return. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Kagome wait. I'll go with you." Sango started forward, the twin tail cat dropping from her arms to transform into her larger form.

"I'll come as well." Miroku murmured stepping forward, throwing an annoyed look at Inuyasha.

"That's really nice, but you don't have to."

"We won't let you just take off on your own. Besides, back at Gorenchi's castle Sesshomaru saved us too. Its time we paid him back."

"Sango's right. It isn't good to let your debts go unpaid for too long." Miroku murmured in agreement.

"Alright then," Kagome glanced down at the girl walking beside her, "Let's go get Ah-un and check on Sesshomaru."

"Absolutely not. I cannot allow this! Lord Sesshomaru would never…"

"Jaken." Kagome looked down at him, "what did Sesshomaru tell you when he finally let you return to the castle?"

"That I was to cause no trouble."

"What else Jaken."

"To do as you ordered as if he had given the order."

"Well I'm giving you an order Jaken. I'm ordering you to be quiet and come along or stay here." Kagome informed him. She turned away from him, "Now let's get moving."

Rin moved ahead of her, leading them to the outskirts of the village where Ah-un rested lazily just within the tree line. Kagome approached the dragon's heads. "Hello Ah-un, please hurry for me. I need to know that he's okay." She whispered.

Even on Ah-un's back it would take many hours to reach Sesshomaru's castle. They would not arrive until well after dark. Until then all she could do was hope that Rin had overreacted and that Sesshomaru was perfectly fine. After all there was a chance that it had all been a ploy, or that he had already dealt with his attackers. There was really no reason to be overly concerned just yet.