An InuYasha fanfic. A/N: I do not own InuYasha. I only own the healer, and anyone else you don't recognize.
By Luna Silvereyes
Summary: Sesshomaru becomes ill and Rin, suddenly reminded of her promise she made to herself to Jaken, realizes it's up to her to save him.
Temporary Blackness" Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin called. " Look what I found!" she found Sesshomaru resting against a tall oak tree. She was holding a pink water lily. He glanced at it.
" I see." He muttered. Rin smiled and ran off again, back into the shallow part of the river where she was trying to snare a fish. Sesshomaru sighed. It had been almost two months since he'd used the Tenseiga and for some strange reason, he didn't regret restoring the human girl to life. He still wondered, even now what exactly Tenseiga had meant when it implored him to save the girl's life. Normally, he ardently hated humans, but Rin….
He trailed off in thought. The whole concept was too confusing, even for him. His gaze fell upon Jaken sitting moodily atop a little earthen rise near where Rin was. Ah-Un wasn't too far off, munching berries of some kind. Sesshomaru vaguely hoped that whatever the dragon was eating wasn't poisonous. He knew how fond of that dragon Rin was. He glanced at the river again. Rin had snagged a fish and was struggling to hold onto it. Surprising himself, he chuckled a bit when it slipped out of her grasp and escaped back into the river. Undeterred, she went right back into the activity.
Sesshomaru stared out at the horizon, brooding. He noticed that he did this a lot lately, ever since the last run-in with InuYasha, his younger half-demon brother, who also happened to be his half-brother. Despite what he and his friends seemed to think, Sesshomaru didn't despise InuYasha. He wanted InuYasha to succumb to his demonic heritage and become stronger. But InuYasha continued to protect his friends with a passion. Sesshomaru knew that his work was indeed cut out for him.
" Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken's gravelly voice floated over the meadow. Sesshomaru turned a bit. " Yes?" he asked as Jaken approached. Jaken opened his mouth to speak when Rin came dashing up, a fish dangling from her hands. " I caught one!" she was saying. Jaken threw her an irritated look. " Lord Sesshomaru, when will we be leaving? It looks like a storm approaches." He said, gesturing to the sky where ominous black clouds were gathering. Sesshomaru nodded and got to his feet slowly.
Suddenly, his vision went completely black for a moment and his hand flashed out and gripped the tree trunk for support. He couldn't see! He turned his head this way and that, but no matter where he looked, he could see nothing but inky black darkness.
" Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin's voice said from behind him. He didn't recall turning around. " My Lord, are you all right?"
Sesshomaru turned around again to where her voice was coming from. He stood motionless. Gradually, as seconds passed, his vision became clearer and he found he could see once again. He looked down at Rin and Jaken, staring up at him with some alarm etched into their faces. Sesshomaru shook his head.
" My Lord," Jaken said. " You acted as though you were disoriented. Are you feeling well?"
" Of course. Don't say such foolish things. We're going." He murmured. Rin and Jaken exchanged looks and Rin went to fetch Ah-Un. Minutes later, all of them were back on the road, Rin seated atop Ah-Un and Jaken walking several feet behind Sesshomaru.
Sesshomaru puzzled over the strange occurrence with his eyes. What on earth had happened to him? What had caused that moment of blindness? Could it be that something was wrong with him? After all, he mused. Demons became ill too. Look at what happened to Jaken after Naraku's poisonous insects stung him. Sesshomaru shook his head again. He wasn't naïve, so he knew that even he wasn't powerful enough to avoid sickness, but the chances of him becoming sick were very slim, nonetheless. It was fairly easy for humans to become ill, for their bodies were weak and frail. His body was stronger and made to last for many hundreds of years more than he'd already lived. He disregarded the thought and continued down the road.
Rin watched Sesshomaru as he walked slowly before them. That wasn't unusual. Sesshomaru usually kept a pretty slow pace anyway. It wasn't anything to worry about. But the strange behavior earlier had signaled to Rin that something could be wrong with Lord Sesshomaru. He had never acted like that before. She found it hard to admit to herself; she was worried.
Neither one of them noticed Sesshomaru's head begin to droop.
A/N: This is my first ever chapter story, and it's tricky uploading chapters for me because the whole series is already almost written, whereas the stories are usually updated and posted before their completion. But to all of you readers, this is only book 1. There are several more and though they are hard to find, they will be here. Please review and tell me what you think.