The Fox's Son

Chapter 12 - Uncanny Greetings

Kaede was putting a fresh pot of water of the flames of the water to make tea when her door was roughly pushed opened. She turned towards the disruption and saw Inuyasha holding a sleeping Kagome. One of her thighs had a sliver of cloth tied around it. Seeing that the once purple cloth was now a dark red, she could only assume she was bleeding.

The old miko quickly got up, seeing the worried look on the hanyou's face. "Quickly, place her upon the bed." she said as she walked the large jar of water that sat in the back corner of the hut.

Without any hesitation, Inuyasha did exactly as he was told, placing her upon the collection of sheets and a pillow that rested on the floor. Following behind him, were the rest of the Inu gang. They looked at Kagome worriedly as she was laid down on the padded floor.

Kaede came back with a bowl of water and a white cloth. She ordered Inuyasha to move out of the way before kneeling down beside the bleeding girl. She untied the bloody cloth from around her thigh and placed it to the side. Kaede could see a bit of white puss coming out of the injury. She quickly grabbed the white cloth and dipped it in water. Kagome woke up with a hiss as she felt something damp pressing upon her wound.

"What happened?" Kaede asked as she began to clean the wound with water.

"We were attacked." Sango answered.

"By whom?" Kaede asked with a little edge in her voice.

Everyone looked at the old miko with a confused expression. They heard the slight edge to her voice that they had never heard from the older woman. While most assumed it was worry, Miruko really looked at the woman. Looking at her eyes and facial expression, she looked tense and in her eyes were a hint of fear. But why would Kaede be scared? He knew that the woman was already aware of Naraku and demons of this world and was used to them by know. So would could have shaken the older Miko up so bad that she was anticipatingly on the defense.

"Kagura. The wind sorceress." Inuyasha growled out. "Damn that Naraku." he said with clenched fists.

Kaede seemed slightedly relieved, something that didn't go unnoticed by Miruko. This made him even more curious and slightly weary. If there was something that had the bold miko scared, then something bad may be among them.

"Where you expecting something else?" Miruko asked.

Kaede tensed at his question. She pursed her lips together as she continued to clean her wound. Everyone noticed this and said nothing, waiting for the woman to responded. It was silent in the hut for a few moments. Getting impatient, Inuyasha was about to say something, before getting interrupted by Kaede.

"There was a man that came by the village yesterday." Kaede started. "He was looking for ye."

"Did he say his name?" Sango asked.

Kaede shook her head. "No. He just requested information about the 6 of ye. Asked me did I know where ye were." he said.

"What did he look like?" Miruko asked curiously.

"He was a strange fellow. I didn't really get to see his face because of his large hat. He looked like a samurai, however, he didn't wear any armor. The only thing I could really see was his hair." Kaede said as she began to apply antiseptic herbs onto Kagome's wombs, causing her to hiss.

"Why would a samurai be looking for us?" Kippo said.

"I don't know." Kaede said. "But who ever he is, is not one ye would want to mess with."

Inuyasha scoffed. "Bet I could take him. What would a weak little human want to do with us anyway?" he said.

"I guess that main question, huh." Miruko said thoughtfully.