Bound by Honor by CelestialGolden

The Longest Night

Bound by Honor

By: CelestialGolden

Chapter 1: The Longest Night

Kagome awoke to an eerie silence. She struggled to open her eyes against what felt like lead weights. Her arms and legs felt heavy, as though she had run a marathon. The grass at her back and under her fingers was slimy, as though it were covered in…something. A horrible ache in her side confirmed the suspicion that she had been fighting. Despite that new information, she still couldn’t remember what had happened.

‘Only one way to find out,’ she thought. She fought against the unusual heaviness, and opened her eyes to the afternoon sky. A dull pain pounded in her head in response to the light and she closed her eyes against it, lifting her arm to block out the offending sun. There was still a terrifying stillness and overwhelming sense of wrongness in the air. There were no birds chirping, no whisper of wind across what she could only assume was a battlefield. She pushed through the incredible pain in her side as she sat up, afraid of what she would see. She only hoped that her friends were not dead.

The sight that greeted her was more horrific than anything she could have imagined. Dead youkai were strewn about the field. Everything in sight glistened with a sickly red coat of blood. She looked down at herself and saw her miko robes were torn and she was covered in small wounds that were only just beginning to sting and throb. Her side had been split open and was still oozing blood. As she struggled to stand, she felt a familiar tug at her senses. Her eyes could not pinpoint the glow through the carnage, so she picked up her bow and arrows and slowly began to make her way across the clearing. Her head continued to pound as she tried to get her bearings on exactly where she was and what had happened. 

It seemed like hours that she struggled, though it was likely closer to minutes. Her side throbbed angrily with every movement and she could feel that it was bleeding again. Her breaths came in pants and she knew that she would have to treat her wound soon or she would likely bleed to death. In spite of her goal to reach the Shikon jewel, she checked every face- every gaping scream and every wide and empty eye- and with every inspection came both horror at the brutal way lives had been taken here and relief that none of these bodies belonged to her friends.

When she came to the site of the jewel’s tug, she nearly screamed as what she was looking at registered in her mind. She managed to contain the sound, as it felt wrong to break the stillness of the battle field. While the other bodies on the field appeared to have been torn apart, the face she was looking into was simply frozen in stone. She was gazing into the lifeless eyes of Naraku. Everything slowly came back to her.

They had been searching for a shard of the jewel that had been rumored to be in this area when they came across a wounded Kouga. She had immediately rushed to help him and saw that his legs were mangled beyond recognition. His injuries were grave, and she had known it was serious when he and Inuyasha did not engage in their usual territorial banter. His shards had been taken and Kouga warned them of a possible ambush. They had been preparing for this battle for four long years, and they had foolishly rushed into battle, each of them eager to end Naraku’s reign of terror over the Eastern lands of Japan. They were sorely outnumbered and overwhelmingly underprepared, and they paid for it early on in the battle by the loss of her bottle of shards. With them, Naraku was able to complete the Shikon no Tama and became more powerful than he ever had been before.

Kagome was immensely glad for her decision to send Shippou away on Kirara before the battle, as she was sure that at least her adopted son was ok. Kirara had returned within minutes of delivering Shippou to Kaede’s village and fought alongside Sango. They had managed to cut through Naraku’s first two waves of lower youkai but were not prepared to fight against the army of higher youkai that he had amassed. If Sesshoumaru had not shown up when he did, they would never have survived the battle that ensued when Naraku’s army arrived.

Miroku had fallen first after taking a poison youkai into his wind tunnel. Sango had been fighting against three youkai at once and the demon was sneaking up behind her, dark miasma pouring from his ears, nose, and mouth. Before Kagome could knock an arrow to defend her friend, Miroku had removed the threat and was soon unconscious at Sango’s feet as she fought to protect them both. Inuyasha had spent the majority of the battle attempting to get blows in on Naraku, who had been impossible to reach through the throngs of youkai. Sesshoumaru soon joined his brother in their attacks, leaving the generals of his army to command the attack against the horde.

Inuyasha had fallen second, Kikyou’s arrow pinning him to a tree at the edge of the clearing, though he had remained conscious long enough for Inuyasha to see his brother cut her down and return her clay body to the dust. The look of utter heartbreak and betrayal that Inuyasha wore on his face was one that would haunt her dreams for the rest of her life. Desperate to save her friend, Kagome had removed the arrow and, though he had still been breathing, she could not revive him. She erected a protective barrier around him and returned to fight alongside Sesshoumaru.

Sango had fallen next. The heat and exhaustion had caused her movements to slow and her reflexes to dull. The snake demon she was fighting managed to inject her with his venom and she had succumbed to the toxins, passing out with one of her katanas still lodged in its skull. One of Sesshoumaru’s generals was commanded to protect the unconscious monk and taijiya as he and Kagome continued to fight.

The battle had lasted for hours, with little progress being made. Kagome lost count of how many times Sesshoumaru picked her up when she fell and saved her from death with a quick strike of his blade. She had never thought she would find herself fighting at his side but had found it was almost natural to move together with the silver-haired taiyoukai. Together they managed to finish off the remaining youkai minions, leaving a trail of carnage in their wake. Soon Sesshoumaru’s generals were commanded to retreat so that the pair could finish off Naraku. They fought him for several minutes, with the evil hanyou keeping them at bay by creating tentacle after tentacle. As her strength had begun to wane, she had whispered to Sesshoumaru, her breaths coming ragged and uneven, “We have to end this now. I’m not a youkai. I will run out of strength soon.” He had merely nodded, replying with his customary “Hnn.” Before she could blink he had rushed forward to distract the hanyou, using unbelievable speed as he did so. The move worked to divert Naraku’s focus long enough for her to pull an arrow back, but she couldn’t release it fast enough. His red eyes shifted back to her and a tentacle pierced her side. 

For one horrific moment she couldn’t breathe. That moment lasted what seemed like years. Her mind flashed to all the people that had been hurt or killed over the course of Naraku’s reign of terror. Kagome thought of her friends, of her home in the future, of the beautiful civilization just beginning to blossom. None of that would exist if she failed. In a split second decision, she prayed to the Kami for strength and gathered all of the power she could. Though she was untrained, she knew this one trick and she prayed that it would work. She screamed as she released her powers in a wave of purification she had no hope of controlling. It was only as it was traveling outwards from her in a magnificent wall of purity that she realized Sesshoumaru would also be hit. As her vision began to go fuzzy, she erected a protective barrier around him in hopes that he would not be harmed. All she heard was Naraku’s inhuman scream and she fell to the ground and everything went black. 

Coming back to the present, Kagome looked down at her side and marveled at how she was still alive. Quickly, she snatched the completed Shikon no Tama from Naraku’s stone grasp, the thought still in her mind that at any moment he would revive and attack her. The jewel popped from his hand and she marveled at how simple the gesture was. Upon losing contact with the jewel, his body disintegrated into a pile of unmoving dust. Kagome still could not shake the sense of foreboding. Even the wind was afraid to tread here.

Where were her friends?

She looked around the field, hoping to catch a glimpse of a red fire rat, or purple robes. She couldn’t see any hint of her friends and she wasn’t sure if she was glad or terrified. Kneeling in the dust, she focused her miko powers into her hands and attempted to heal her wound. Though she knew she had nowhere near enough energy to heal herself fully, she was able to seal the wound and wrap it with the torn sleeve of her robes. A shimmer in the dying light caught her eye and she stood as quickly as she dared, hoping that what she saw was not what she thought it was.

Sango’s bone boomerang.

Now given proof that her friends had not been evacuated from the battlefield, Kagome knew that her time was limited. If any of them had survived, they were gravely injured and there was no sign of any allies remaining on the field. Dread coursed through her, and with a speed she hadn’t known she was capable of in her current state, she reached the boomerang. It was lodged deeply in the torso of a dead bear youkai that had been part of Naraku’s horde. She followed the path it had carved into the soil and her heart skipped a beat as she saw a sparkle of silly pink glitter. Sango was buried under the carnage. Kagome was quick to grab onto the youkai’s body that was covering her friend, hoping that she wasn’t dead. She pulled with all her might and with the aid of the still slick sheen of blood, the body slid off of her friend. Relief filled her as she noted Sango’s chest rise and fall steadily, though her brow was slick with sweat and she was burning with fever. Kagome briefly thanked the Kami for the nail polish that she and Sango had enjoyed painting on each other just the night before. Without that beacon, she may never have found her friend. 

She had to get her to safety and find the rest of her friends. The faint sound of an approaching storm and a hint of approaching malevolent youki meant that she would be out of time to save her friends very quickly. The blood-soaked battlefield would be a beacon to every wild thing, animal or youkai, for miles around. Kagome knew she had to get them out of there as soon as possible. Hoping that she would not reopen her wound but knowing that she had no other options, Kagome hauled her dear friend onto her shoulder. Sango shuddered in discomfort, but did not wake. A brief stretch of her senses noted the safest direction to carry her friend, and Kagome headed out of the battlefield. She knew her friends, if they were still alive, had a better chance of surviving any carrion youkai if they were still hidden by the dead. 

After what seemed to be hours, Kagome came across a small empty cave in the side of a hill that appeared to have been a youkai’s den. There was no trace of an aura here, and she knew this was going to be the safest place that she would find if she hoped to also have time to find her other friends before the sun slid below the horizon. Adrenaline coursed through her system and for a moment she was grateful for her fear, as she knew it was the boost she desperately needed to push her weary body. It was up to her to find the rest of her friends. Before leaving the cave, she placed a shimmering barrier across the entrance, praying that it would be able to protect Sango long enough for her to get their other friends. As she neared the clearing she saw several carrion youkai already beginning to descend on the field. She quickly dispatched them with her arrows and hoped that she had bought herself enough time to find everyone else. Knowing that Miroku had been near Sango, she went to the only spot of green she could see on the field- the empty place she had found Sango. 

A few minutes of work and she managed to find Miroku, and she sighed in relief that he was also alive. She noted that he was in worse shape than her friend was and hoped that he would make it until she could treat him for his injuries. She knew the poison was still working its way through his system and wished that Myouga was present to help remove it. He was incredibly heavy- far heavier than Sango, and she struggled for several feet before laying him down once more. There was simply no way she could move him on her own, at least without something to make his weight lighter. As she looked about for something she could use, a tiny mew reached her ear. It was a piteous sound, and Kagome immediately knew that it was Kirara. Sparing a glance at Miroku, she headed towards the sound. 

She was relieved to find her backpack amongst the carnage, knowing that she would have had to scour the field to find her medical supplies. A movement from the flap made her pause. She opened the top to find Kirara in her kitten form, curled up on one of her old sweaters and licking a wound on her side. Kagome picked her up and cuddled her gently and for a moment reveled in the fact that she was not alone. “Oh Kirara, I’m so glad to see you!” 

Kirara mewed softly in reply before climbing gingerly onto Kagome’s shoulder. She shouldered her obnoxious yellow backpack once more and headed back to where she had left Miroku. She could not carry him alone and, noting the broken arrows and swords scattered between their current position and the edge of the battlefield, she knew she could not drag him. She was startled by a blaze of flame to her left and saw that Kirara had transformed and was looking at her expectantly. The transformation had shown the true size of the wound in her side and Kagome was horrified. She quickly dropped the backpack and tried to find something she could use to stifle the bleeding. There was nothing large enough to wrap tightly around the large fire cat’s flank enough times…except for the robe that she was wearing. She removed the stained haori, untying the ties with shaking fingers and using a small knife that Sango had given her for her boot, she cut it into long strips. Kirara growled in pain when she first began to wrap the wound, but soon the flow of blood began to stem and her breathing was no longer as ragged. Kagome noted with a tinge of satisfaction that though the wound was bleeding still, it had slowed significantly and she was confident that Kirara’s youkai healing would be able to stop it soon. 

Clad in only her bra and a pair of bloodstained hakama, Kagome half expected Miroku to sense her state of undress and to wake just to peep at her. Unfortunately, the monk remained unconscious and his breathing continued to come in slow and shallow gasps. Kirara mewed at her and crouched as low as she could with her wound, looking pointedly at the monk. 

“Kirara, you can’t carry all of his weight right now. You’re injured too.” Her words were met with a stern look. Deciding that arguing with her was going to cost more precious time, Kagome struggled to haul Miroku onto the fire cat’s back. Kirara immediately began to tremble with the effort. In the hopes of reducing the load Kagome shifted her backpack to her right arm and placed her left arm under his back and hauled part of his torso onto her shoulder. Kirara mewed gratefully and together they walked to the place that Kagome had left Sango. Upon their arrival, Kagome helped Kirara to lay Miroku gently beside Sango. Checking quickly that their conditions had not worsened, Kagome dropped her heavy pack and turned to head back to the field. 

“You should stay here. You need to let your side heal. The wound will reopen if you don’t rest.” Kagome gently prodded Kirara back towards the unconscious pair. Kirara growled and looked pointedly at Kagome’s side. It was apparent she had reopened her own wound and it was beginning to bleed once more. 

“I don’t have a choice, Kirara. I’ve got to find Inuyasha.” She prayed that the carrion youkai had not returned to find him first. With that thought, she decided to let Kirara do as she wished and headed as fast as she could back to the battlefield. She returned to at least a dozen minor youkai and a rather vicious looking vulture. She left the vulture to his business and dispatched the youkai as they fed, adding more temptation for the other carrion youkai she could feel approaching. 

“Kirara can you tell where Inuyasha is?” She asked in hopes that her youkai friend could locate him more easily than she could. They were quickly running out of time. Kirara shook her head and they both split up to scour the carnage for any trace of her friend. Kagome searched, desperately hoping to see a shock of silver hair or an ear- anything that would give her a hint as to his location. She was so afraid that he was dead. He should have awoken by now. He was hanyou, and she was human, so surely he would have recovered already if he was still alive. 

Just as she was beginning to lose all hope that he was alive, Kagome heard a groan to her left. She rushed to the source of the sound, calling to Kirara as she tried to pick her way across the field. What she found shocked her to her core. She had found Inuyasha, unconscious and injured to the point where he was almost unrecognizable. That fact alone was terrifying, but what scared Kagome most was the fact that his hair was no longer silver, but a deep midnight black.

He was human.  

She glanced up at the orange and red-stained evening sky to see a full moon. This was not his night of weakness. Something else had turned him human and the wounds he had sustained in battle were now even worse than they were before. She cursed herself for not looking for him first- for not carrying him to safety and sealing his wounds first. She had very little time before he would be too far gone to save. She should have brought her pack, she thought, as she ripped fabric from her hakama and tried to patch the more serious wounds. He was covered in blood and dirt, and she knew from his labored breathing that he likely already had an infection. It would be a long recovery, if he recovered at all. Her heart clenched in her chest and tears blurred her vision as she worked quickly to stem the flow of his blood. She used what miko powers she dared to try and at least seal his wounds. She couldn’t afford to heal him completely, as she knew she would pass out from the effort and none of her friends would make it if she wasn’t awake to protect and heal them. Her powers were weakened from the blast she had used to kill Naraku earlier that day. 

As the bleeding began to slow, Kagome spared a glance at the face of the man she had been in love with for the majority of her teen years. She still loved him deeply, though now it was less of a romantic love and more that of a dear friend. She could not let him die now, after he had finally gained so much of what he had spent his whole life searching for. He had friends, a village to protect, and his brother had finally accepted him. He was no longer alone and she would not let him die this way. With that thought, she renewed her efforts and stopped using her miko powers to heal him only when she felt herself fatiguing too much. The only wound that she could not slow the bleeding was the one in his chest, where Kikyou’s arrow had pierced him. She wrapped that wound as tightly as she could and looked down at her now calf-length hakama and bloodstained bra. She hoped that she had enough bandages and clothing back at camp to properly bandage everyone’s wounds later, after she had cleaned them. It was only when she stood and put her hand to her head to fight off a wave of dizziness that she realized there were still tears rolling down her face. ‘I can cry later,’ she thought, ‘after everyone is safe and healing.’ 

Kirara was already in place to carry half of Inuyasha’s weight, though Kagome could tell that the strain of keeping up her large form was taking its toll on her. Inuyasha was even heavier than Miroku, and he groaned in pain as she had to push against his wounds to get him up onto the back of the fire cat. Deciding to skirt around the battlefield rather than trek all the way across it, Kagome led Kirara into the forest. As soon as they reached the cover of the trees a flock of lower crow youkai descended upon the field to pick at the remains. She was relieved, but remained vigilant for more threats in the trees. The dying light made it harder to navigate and she began to rely more and more heavily upon Kirara for guidance. She shivered as they crossed a freezing cold creek and she hoped that the water would wash away the scent of blood on their feet and that no scavenging youkai would follow the trail towards the cave that was their safe haven. 

The moment that they reached the cave and Inuyasha was safely removed from her back, Kirara transformed to her smaller form with a cry of pain. Kagome cried out in surprise and caught her as she fell to the ground. The wrappings that had held her wounds in check were now far too large and the flow of blood resumed. She had exhausted herself far too much. Kagome thanked her quietly as she salvaged what clean material she could from the old bandages and re-wrapped her wound. She would never have been able to get everyone to safety without her help. Placing the unconscious cat gently next to Sango, Kagome hurried out into the dying light and gathered several armfuls of firewood. Just as she crossed into the cave for the last time, rain began to pour down in buckets. She thanked the Kami for the good fortune of not being caught in the downpour. A chilly wind blew through the entrance and Kagome set about making a small fire so that she could finally see and tend to the wounds of her friends. 

She pulled a pot out of her pack and set it outside the cave to collect rainwater, knowing that she would need hot water to sterilize the wounds. She sensed the brush of a familiar youki at the edge of her senses, but before she could identify who it was the feeling was gone. Briefly she wondered if it was Sesshoumaru, as there had been no sign of him on the battlefield. She hoped that he was uninjured, but she knew by the strength of the youki that if it was him, he was not gravely injured. Nevertheless, she took a moment to strengthen the protective barrier at the entrance of the cave, just in case the youkai had not been Sesshoumaru. 

Her body cried out for rest, but it was something that she knew she could not afford. She quickly went to Inuyasha’s side and began to peel his bloodstained haori and hakama from his body, leaving him in only his fundoshi. She removed her makeshift bandages one by one and paused only to put the now-full pot of water on the fire to boil. His fever was still increasing and she took a painkiller from her pack, careful to ensure that it wasn’t an aspirin. She did not want his blood to be too thin to clot. Because he was not awake to take the medicine, she mixed it with enough water to make a paste and spread it on the back of his tongue before pouring small amounts of water into his mouth, relying on his natural swallowing reflex. Letting it work to reduce his fever, she returned her attention to his wounds. Some of them had already begun to form scabs, but there were four major wounds that were still bleeding freely. The wound from the arrow, a gash on his stomach, a deep rip on his thigh, and a row of claw marks on his arm were all showing no signs of closing on their own. She glanced at his face once again. He was still very much human, with no sign of his youkai half returning anytime soon. Her powers were too weak and she would not be able to focus them enough to heal his wounds in time. Stitching these wounds would not stop the bleeding fast enough. Kagome had very much hoped that she would not have to do this. She got up and removed Sango’s katana from its sheath at her hip, placing the blade in the fire to heat. She was going to have to cauterize his wounds before he bled to death. 

She did her best to clean the worst of the wounds, the gash on his leg. It was still bleeding freely, with new blood oozing out of the areas along the edge that had clotted. She didn’t waste her time with disinfectant yet, as she knew the heat from the blade would be more effective than any of her little bottles. Kagome picked up the katana and took a deep breath, praying that he would remain unconscious for this. She counted to three and pressed the searing hot blade against the wound. The sound that followed was one that would haunt her for the rest of her life. Inuyasha’s eyes popped open and he screamed with pain. She hated herself for having to hold the blade there for a while longer. 

“I’m so sorry Inuyasha, but I have to do this. I have to close your wounds. I’m so sorry.” She continued to repeat her apology to his glazed eyes. What was mere seconds felt like hours as cried out in agony and she was relieved when he finally passed out again from the pain. She cauterized the rest of his major wounds methodically and was glad when the wound from the arrow finally stopped bleeding. Kagome then moved on to all the wounds that she deemed in need of stitches and carefully sewed them shut, burning her fingers on the hot needle that she had boiled with the thread to sterilize it. She took care to clean and bandage every one of his wounds, using all but two of her bandages in the process. Though she would not normally take such precautions against infection, she had no idea how long Inuyasha would remain a human and therefore she needed to treat him as though he would be a human forever. She placed the now-empty pot out in the rain once more, ready to move on to Sango and Miroku’s wounds. To prevent Inuyasha from getting too cold, she put her sleeping bag out and carefully maneuvered him into it, being cautious not to reopen any of the wounds she had just finished bandaging. As she was doing this, she noticed that all of the skin that had not been covered by his fire rat robes was an angry red, as though he had been sunburned. It was an odd sight against his tan complexion, but it did not seem to be life-threatening at the moment and there was little she could do but put a cool cloth on his forehead to soothe him. She checked his temperature and was relieved to see that his fever had gone down. 

Miroku was far worse off than Sango was, though both had serious wounds to tend. Kagome was quite relieved that she would not have to cauterize any of them, but she was sure that she would need to sew some of the wounds closed. Swallowing her discomfort at disrobing another man Kagome removed Miroku’s clothing, leaving him in his fundoshi as well. She added the soiled robes to the pile of Inuyasha’s fire rat clothing so that she could wash it in the stream when morning came. Just as Inuyasha’s wounds had done, Miroku’s wounds began to bleed once the cloth that thad been stuck to them was removed. She could tell immediately that the poison was still in his system, as his blood was not red and flowing as it should be, but dark and thick. It oozed sickly from his wounds. She retrieved the pot from outside the cave and put it on the fire to boil, along with a fresh needle and thread. 

Perhaps, since this was youkai poison, she could purify it? She had never tried to purify someone’s blood before. Kagome was apprehensive about the idea, considering her current state and how worn out she was. She knew there was a well of unlimited power within her, but accessing it drained her and she was unsure if she could risk such an attempt. Miroku shuddered with fever and his open wounds continued to ooze. She decided that she needed to focus on keeping his blood in his body before she tried to purify it. She needed to wait until at least one other person was awake to protect the group and care for them if she were to pass out with the effort. 

The water began to boil and she set about cleaning his wounds while the water cooled a bit. The skin around his wounds was pale and had a bluish tinge to it, which Kagome knew couldn’t mean anything good. She was unsure if the poison were able to pass through the blood or not, but just in case she retrieved a pair of gloves from her backpack and was careful to put all the gauze she used to clean his wounds into a small hole in the cave floor, which she then covered with a rock. It was as close to burying it as she was going to get at the moment. It took several hours, but she was able to carefully sew each of the wounds that needed sewing. She needed bandages, but her pack was empty of everything but her own clothes and some blankets. Forlornly, she removed the blankets from her pack and set them aside before carefully cutting several sets of clothing into strips, placing them in some water to boil. While that was boiling, she checked on Inuyasha and Sango, noting that Inuyasha was still sleeping soundly but that Sango was getting paler and her fever was growing worse. She quickly repeated the paste-trick she had done with Inuyasha, administering a dose to both Sango and Miroku. She hoped that would be enough to help Sango for now, because Miroku was still in much worse shape. 

After leaving them to boil for a few minutes, Kagome dried the strips of her clothing above the fire. As they were drying, she tried hard not to think about the fact that no matter how hard she tried, it was quite probable that none of her three friends would make it out of this alive. She tried to distract herself by placing a blanket on the ground next to Inuyasha so that she could move Miroku there after she had tended him. She put a new needle and thread on to boil. She took the last of her shirts and filled them with dried leaves she found at the back of the cave to make pillows for their heads. Inuyasha shifted only slightly when she placed his under his head, but she liked to think that he appeared more comfortable. When these small chores had been completed, she was very glad to see that the makeshift bandages were ready. She had run out of ideas of ways to distract herself. 

She used every last one of the bandages on Miroku. Some of his wounds needed to be bound tighter than others, and she wanted to make sure that all of them were tightly sealed. He had lost a lot of blood and was very pale. She moved him to the blanket next to Inuyasha, taking care to clean him of all traces of blood. It took a gargantuan effort to lift him, but if his blood was toxic as she suspected, she could not leave him to sit in it. Kagome noted that his wind tunnel was gone, but in its place was a gaping hole that was very difficult to bandage. He would likely always have a scar, but he was finally free of the curse that Naraku had put upon his family. She cleaned the blood off of the cave floor as best as she could, packing fresh dirt over the parts of the floor that were not stone. Knowing that she would need more bandages for Sango, Kagome looked forlornly at her last two outfits in her bag- her pajamas and a sundress. Deciding the cotton sundress would make better bandages, she tore it into strips and boiled it. 

As her second batch of bandages dried, she began to undress Sango and go through the process of assessing her injuries. Sango’s injuries were not too severe, with the exception of the bite from the snake youkai on her arm. She knew that a tourniquet would not be wise, as it seemed the poison was necrotic and was eating away at the wound. After cleaning the area, she set about stitching all of her wounds. Sango’s skin was far more delicate than either Miroku or Inuyasha’s had been, and she had never before been in the position to dress her wounds. Sango had never been rendered unconscious this long after a battle before, and when she had been injured she had allowed Miroku to dress them. Kagome couldn’t remember a time where the taijiya had required stitches. 

Hours passed before Kagome’s work was done. When she finished dressing all of Sango’s wounds, she realized that the poison was causing swelling and knew better than to attempt to put her friend’s armor back on. With a sad sigh, Kagome took her pajamas, her only remaining clothes, and dressed her friend in them. She placed a blanket over Sango and was relieved to find that she still had one blanket remaining to cover herself. She took a few moments to clean and redress Kirara’s wound, and knew from the way the cat was sleeping that she would not wake for a while, despite her youkai healing. She had expended too much energy in helping Kagome get her friends to safety. 

Kagome then sat down with the remainder of her medical supplies and used as little as possible to clean up her own wounds. Fortunately, she only had to stitch the one wound on her side. She bit back cries of pain as she sewed her own angry wound shut. She refused to take any of the painkillers, as she only had a limited supply and her friends would need them for their fevers. Her side throbbed and the rest of her smaller wounds begun to sting anew, as the adrenaline that had been fueling her for the last 12 hours or so finally began to fade. She put the remaining supplies safely in her pack and stood at the mouth of the cave, looking at the small group of friends that she had called her family for the last four years. For now, they were safe and alive. She was going to do everything she could to make them better, but in that moment there was little she could do but wait, hope, and persevere. She broke down in tears, the trauma and pain of the last day finally coming out in long, cathartic sobs. 

Several minutes later, with the sun peeking up over the horizon, Kagome dried her tears and settled down at the back of the cave with her bow and arrows on her lap. She was exhausted, dirty, hungry, and ragged. She knew she could not afford to sleep, for there were too many hostile youkai this close to the battlefield and her barrier only remained strong when she was awake. The storm had abated sometime while she had been treating Sango, and Kagome looked out into the dim morning light of the forest. The longest night of her life had just ended, but there would be no time for rest. Her work was far from over and her friends were not out of the woods yet. She entered a semi-meditative state that Kaede had taught her to use in order to stave off exhaustion and keep her senses alert. She would not, could not, fail her friends now- not when they had finally gained the rest of their lives. 

The sun continued to climb in the sky. The wind began to blow through the newly-washed clearing once more. Birds chirped, squirrels frolicked, and the creek babbled happily in its bed. The world began to move again outside the small safe haven, while Kagome remained motionless and vigilant- the silent guardian for the Inu-tachi, finding strength within herself that she never knew she had. She would need that strength, for the Kami would ask much more of her yet. 

 
 

INUYASHA © Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan • Yomiuri TV • Sunrise 2000
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