written by Christine

Chapter 21

Vash offered to take the woman for him but InuYasha shook his head so Vash and the Princess led the way to closest room.  Aara turned down the bed and Vash opened the windows for more light. Kurama reappeared carrying two of his sleep inducing plants. Kaiba followed him in with Rin and Kain. InuYasha gently laid the woman on the bed.  Everyone in the room gasped. InuYasha’s shirt was soaked through with blood.  What skin they could see of the woman was covered with blood, deep cuts and bruises.

Rin escorted the Princess, Vash, and Kurama out the door. She tried to include InuYasha but he refused to leave. Kaiba eyed InuYasha’s shirt.

“Any of that yours?”

Kain helped his father carefully peel back the kimono. That’s when they discovered the woman underneath wore no clothes.  The lacerations covered her whole body and there were several broken bones. Kaiba was partly relieved that she was nude because he was picturing having to remove tattered cloth from her wounds before they could even start healing her.

Rin placed a bowl of warm water on the stand beside the bed.  "She's pregnant?" she asked as she started sponging off the blood.

"Almost two months I'd say." Kaiba confirmed.

Kain firmly held the arm and shoulder on his side and manipulated the joint back in place and set a fracture.

There was little he could do for the fractured ribs but he was able to set the hip fracture. She obviously impacted something hard on his side. Kaiba’s side was in better shape but he had to set her jaw fracture.

“The man who did this made his son slowly strangle to death while he was beating and raping her.  From what I saw in that room, it was not the first time she's had to endure it.  According to Teriyu, the bandits had been gone for over 2 months so I suspect the teenager is the baby’s father.” InuYasha said. “Both men are dead. We were too late to save the boy. I think she was going to be killed too but thanks to Nami we where able to stop him in time.”

“Who is Nami?” Rin asked.

“Nami was one of my childhood friends and the mother of the teenager, I think Teriyu said his name was Luka.”

All the fractures were now set so Kaiba and Kain started the healing process.

“Do you know her name?” Rin asked

InuYasha nodded. “This is Isabo, Sesshomaru’s mother.”

All three stopped and looked at InuYasha and then back at the woman.

“Isn’t she supposed to be a Unicorn?” Kain asked.

“She is. Look at her forehead,” InuYasha said.

Kain lifted her bangs and there was the pale blue star.

“But none of the other Unicorns have forehead markings,” Rin said.

“I don’t think she is like the other Unicorns. She knew how to fight. She was the one who taught me how to handle a sword and some important fighting moves. But I was only six when I last saw her. What I don’t understand is how she ended up in this situation. She was attached to the wall with an enchanted collar and chain. It looked like she had been there a long time. The collar burned my hands when I removed it with Tetsusaiga.”

Rin went to InuYasha to examine his hands. They did indeed show signs of being burnt but they were already healing.

“Kain,” Kaiba brought his son’s attention back to the business at hand.

They had to work fast if they were going to save the lives of both Isabo and her unborn child. They applied their power. A soft glow appeared around their hands as the wounds began to mend. Suddenly Isabo’s star on her forehead started to glow and the glow expanded until it enveloped all three of them.

“Kaiba!” Rin called, but InuYasha halted her as she stepped toward them.

“We’re okay,” he said back to his mate. “Kain, take her hand. Don’t resist her. She’s just tapping into our power to augment her own.”

Kain nodded and each took one of Isabo’s hands. They glowed even brighter as her body rose slightly off the bed and then dropped slowly down again. The glow faded and disappeared. On the bed laid a completely healed woman without even blood remaining on her body. Only the sheets told the story of her near tragic demise.

Kaiba and Kain both dropped into the nearby chairs, tired but otherwise okay.

“InuYasha, will you hold her while I change the bed sheets?” Rin asked.

He gently picked up the still unconscious woman, as Rin stripped and remade the bed. He gently replaced the woman and covered her. Then all four left the room, Kain leaning heavily on his mother and Kaiba leaning on InuYasha.

Out in the hallway, the Princess, Vash and Kurama were still waiting for news.

“She’ll be fine,” Rin announced. “Kurama, could you activate your plants? She doesn’t need them to heal but I don’t want her to be unattended. If you can stay here until I put these two to bed, I’ll come back and sit with her.”

InuYasha started to protest.

Rin stopped him. “You need to tell everyone what you know before Sesshomaru arrives.”

“Sesshomaru?” Aara asked, “Why is he coming?”

The other three turned toward InuYasha.

“We’ll meet you in the dining hall in thirty minutes,” the Princess said.