Disclaimer: Inuyasha is not mine. This plot isn't mine either...But Akira is! (To an extent...)

AN: Well I'm feeling one-hundred percent better now Although that didn't stop me from staying home from school...Right at this moment, my fellow friends are taking an English vocab test, while I'm here, sitting comfortably in my warm blankets with my laptop and writing this story.

I just want to take a moment to stop and thank everybody who's taken the time to review so far, especially fath8252 and haydenlover19 (Hayden doesn't happen to have anything to do with a certain Star Wars actor does it? ) for their long reviews. Those are my favorite! For those of you who don't write, you have no idea how much reviews can mean to an author. Sometimes, one or two reviews makes the difference between me deciding to continue the story or deciding to quit. Now I'm not forcing you to review...But it's a great spirit booster for me :D

On with the story!

Forbidden

Chapter 3

Time and Sea

Lord Higurashi placed his head in his hands tiredly, rubbing his eyes. It had been a long day, and all he wanted to do was sleep. However, that seemed to be the last thing on his priority list right now.

"My lord?"

He snapped his head up to see his messenger kneeling on the floor before him. "Yes?" He said impatiently.

"We've lost the battle to the North."

The king groaned inwardly at the bad news, knowing now that nothing would stop the North from overthrowing the South. "Any survivors?"

"That is still unknown, sir. But the chances of any of our soldiers surviving are slim."

Lord Higurashi sighed, knowing fully well that his entire army had just been wiped out. If anyone attacked now, they'd have no form of defense at all. "Thank you, you may go."

The messenger bowed, exiting the throne room.

So that meant Kouga was dead didn't it? That was a shame, seeing as how Kagome was just beginning to warm up to him. She'd be simply horrified with the news. Well there was still a chance of Kouga returning, wasn't there? Kouga was strong...albeit not the brightest crayon in the box. The king sighed. This had just made his day twenty times worse.

His army lost to the Northerns, so now he had no army and was open to attack. He had just lost his best warrior. His daughter had no betrothed anymore. And to top it all off, his people were beginning to show signs of discontentment, nervous and angry to be on the verge of another great war. He didn't want to lose control to the North. The South needed to stay in power. Or if the South wasn't on top, than at least the North couldn't be either. Perhaps they could find away to even out the balance of power?

Something had to be done.

It was hot.

This was the only thought registering in Inuyasha's foggy mind as he came to, immediately after wishing he hadn't. His whole body hurt like no tomorrow. His head pounded, his muscles ached, and his broken bones had yet to heal completely. He would've opened his eyes, but that felt like a waste of energy. He tried to move, to get away from the heat, but found to his distress that he couldn't even budge a finger. It was like his whole body now had a mind of its own. Inuyasha told it to move, but it lay still. Inuyasha told it to get away from the heat, but it stayed where it was. Inuyasha told it to stop hurting, but he was still in as much pain as ever.

He could feel the sweat running down in streams all over him. The heat was becoming unbearable, even through his fire-rat haori. Suddenly, just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore, a huge wave crashed over him. The heat seemed to vanish, leaving behind a hissing mess. A cool wind blew past him, making his damp clothes cling to his formerly sweaty body. Well at least it wasn't hot anymore, he thought, shivering a little now from the wind.

He felt the salty water of the ocean seep into his shirt and onto the wound in his chest. He clenched his teeth in pain. He tried to ignore it, tried to think of something else. Um, let's see...let's start with...

WHERE THE HELL AM I??!!

The strong thought hit his feeble mind in a panic, making his headache even worse. He ignored it.

The last thing he remembered was killing that wolf demon of the South. Then what? Then he collapsed...that's it. Where was he now? Well, he knew he was in some kind of boat on the ocean, he could tell that much by the hard wood under him and that salty wave of water that had hit him. But why?

Inuyasha tried to think, but exhaustion suddenly swept over him, sending him into another deep coma.

Kagome ran a hand through her tangled hair and licked her lips, tasting the salt of the ocean wind. It was early morning, and the sun hadn't risen yet. She had found it hard to sleep, and so she decided to come down to the beach, opting to sleep down here instead. She was sitting a few feet away from the cove.

When they were younger, Kagome and Sango had built a clubhouse of sorts down here on the beach. Well, if you can call putting up a door 'building'. They happened across a cave one day while playing Princess and the Pauper (Kagome, ironically, was always the pauper). It wasn't big, but it had a cozy feel to it. The entrance to the cave faced away from the beach so nobody could see it unless they purposely walked in that direction. So they gathered some driftwood, nicked some string from the castle, and tied the wooden pieces together into a makeshift door. Needless to say, they were very proud of their accomplishments.

They called it the cove. It was their favorite place to come when they wanted to get away from things. This particular night, Kagome had a lot on her mind, and she found that the whistling of the ocean breeze and the salty spray helped calm her. She had gone to Sango's room, the room next to hers, before leaving, informing her friend of where she was going.

Obviously, Sango had decided to follow Kagome, for at that moment, a voice jolted the princess out of her reverie. "You'll catch a cold you know."

Kagome jumped and whirled around to face her friend, hand flying to her heart to calm her frazzled nerves. "Jeez! Haven't you heard of ominous footsteps to warn the victim?"

Sango shrugged, coming to sit beside Kagome. "It's sand. Who walks loudly in sand?"

Kagome laughed, and Sango joined her. She had brought blankets with her, and she draped one gently over her friend's shoulder. Kagome clung to it graciously, smiling in thanks.

"So any particular reason why you're here?"

Kagome shook her head. "Not really. Just looking for some peace and quiet." She ran a hand through her hair again, trying to untangle the knots. She turned her gaze towards the sea, looking for something to distract her. She spotted a large piece of driftwood a few yards out, bobbing violently in the waves. Other than that, everything was as it always was.

Sango sighed, breathing in the tangy air around her. A few days before, she had accused Kagome of spending too much time on the beach, but she spent just as much time here herself. She couldn't deny the soothing affect it had on her.

From the corner of her eye, she spotted a boat. She thought it was a piece of driftwood at first, but a second glance at its odd shape told her otherwise. She squinted. "Is that...?" She drifted off, still staring.

Kagome turned to look at her friend, before looking in the direction of Sango's puzzlement. She spotted the piece of wood she had spied earlier, but found, to her surprise, that it was a boat. And there was somebody in it. She got up instinctively.

"No Kagome! What are you doing?" Sango hissed, tugging at Kagome's blankets in a plea to make her sit back down.

"There's someone in that boat!" Kagome exclaimed, picking up her skirts to make her way towards the edge of the beach.

"They're probably dead. And if they're not..." Sango drifted off, knowing that Kagome was out of hearing range by now. With a huff, she stood up as well, trailing behind her friend. People were always trying to get to the king through his daughter. Lord knows how many attempts had been made on Kagome's life before.

Kagome broke into a run, a pounding beginning in her heart. As she got closer and closer, she feared that Sango was right. Someone lay in the boat. Someone dirty, bloody, and unmoving. She came to a stop before the boat, breathless.

"Aah!" She shrieked. "A dead person!!"

Sango caught up with her, rubbing her ears from the high-pitched scream. "Don't be ridiculous." Sango muttered, rushing past her traumatised friend to kneel in the sand beside the fallen victim. Kagome winced at how beat up the boy looked. "Look at him." She said breathily. It'd be a wonder if he wasn't dead.

"You know, for a healer, you sure are squeamish." Sango gently picked up the boy's wrist, placing her forefinger and middle finger on it gently, testing for a pulse.

"I'm not a healer." Kagome said, kneeling next to Sango. "I just help people when I can."

After a few moments, Sango dropped the boy's wrist. "Well, I have news for you. First of all, he is most definitely not dead, unless dead people's hearts continue to beat. Second of all..." Sango looked down at the boy. Kagome followed suit, and for the first time, noticed the little doggy ears sitting atop his head of white (although you couldn't tell now) hair. "He isn't a person." His heartbeat had been weak, faltering every few beats as if threatening to stop altogether.

"What should we do?" Kagome whispered. She was still partially in shock. Things like this didn't happen to her. She had been born and raised in a castle under royal attention. All her life, she had been carefully tended to, and kept away from the riffraff of the streets. Never did she expect to find a half-dead demon on the beach. Not that she was complaining...she was just completely out of her comfort zone in this situation.

"It's up to you." Sango said, turning to face her friend. "You know you're probably the only person who can help him. When it comes to sicknesses, nobody knows they're way around herbs and treatments like you do Kagome."

Kagome was still shocked. These things didn't happen to her. She had been born and raised in a castle under royal attention, almost 24-7. All her life, she had been kept secluded from the riffraff of the streets. Everything was tidy, routine, scheduled, and boring. She felt out of her normal comfort zone.

But as she gazed into the pale, dirty face of the boy, she already knew that she would agree to help him. It was in her nature. She could never live with herself if she just walked away now. So she slowly nodded. "Help me drag him to the cove. I'll see what I can do."

Sango smiled, and stood up. After offering Kagome a hand and pulling her up, they each took a hold of the boy. Kagome grabbed his arms and Sango took a hold of his ankles. Together, they hoisted, half carrying, half dragging him in the direction of the small wooden door at the cove. After dropping him a few times, (he had responded to those times with a low growl), they finally managed to get him into the cove. They had nicked carpets and furs from the castle a long time ago to make the cove cosier, and it was on one of the fur pelts that they situated the boy.

Kagome looked him over quickly, checking for any unusual signs. Irregular breathing, pale complexion, unconsciousness...that could mean a million different things! She desperately began taking off his clothes. After removing his fire-rat haori and white top, she noticed the deep gash on his chest. She leaned forward to inspect the cut. It was black in the center, dark red on the sides, and a greenish-blue on the edges. Carefully, she ran a finger along it, hesitating when he shifted in pain. It felt slightly bumpy near the edge...that could only mean one thing.

Poison.

And luckily for Kagome, she had just studied up on this particular type a few days ago with a certain wolf demon...

"Sango!" She yelled frantically. "Bring me some thyme and sea salt!"

AN: I apologize profusely for how short it is... . I'll make the next one longer, I promise.

I'm afraid I won't be able to update as quickly now...Break just ended, so it's back to school for me. (No more pretending to be sick.) But I'll try.

Would you guys prefer quicker updates but shorter chapters? Or slower updates with longer chapters? Tell me in a review please, and I'll try my best to do what you guys want.

Alright, next chappie...'What goes around, comes around'