Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any characters! :D
Inuyasha's nose pricked at the sickening and pungent scent of blood. He realized with silent shock that he recognized whom the blood belonged to. It was Kagome's, and there was a lot of it. He pushed away silently and launched himself into the air. Anger and worry were etched on his boyish face. His amber eyes turned into molten gold as he moved quickly towards the growing smell. Moonlight streamed through the leaves of the trees and cast dappled shadows on the ground and the young hanyou. His white hair glowed silver when the light caught it and his feet hardly touched the ground as his mind singled in on his one target: Kagome.
Kagome. He could picture her in his head: Her shiny black hair, her chocolate brown eyes, her scent, and her vulnerability. She always felt so vulnerable and frail in his arms. He always needed to protect her because of it. A light pink blushed across his face and he quickly brandished the thought.
The scent was almost overpowering when Inuyasha jumped lithely from the high tree branch that he had just jumped in. His keen eyes began picking out the small clearing that he had landed in. The smell surrounded him and made him feel sick inside. He was worried and began to panic when he couldn't see her. Smell wouldn't do him any good when it was all around him. He whipped furiously from side to side, his long hair flipping everywhere.
"Kagome!?" he yelled into the silent night. A light breeze was the only response he received. "Kagome! Kagome, where are you?!" A ruffling noise brushed in a bush behind him. Inuyasha swirled around with a snarl on his face, ready to kill whoever had hurt Kagome. His snarl was quickly replaced by a worried gasp.
Kagome came stumbling out of the bushes, leaning almost all of her weight on her trademark red bow. Her hair was matted with her own blood and her once white school blouse was in tatters and stained a deep red. She was covered in so much blood; he couldn't discern where her injuries were. She teetered unsteadily on her feet and started to fall forward as her eyes fluttered shut.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha immediately rushed forward and followed her decent while catching her in his arms. Her knees slowly met with the ground as he supported the majority of her weight. The moon reflected against her skin and he could see how pale she was. His acute hearing picked up her weak heartbeat and shallow breathing. "Kagome? Kagome please!" His voice was lost in the growing breeze that kicked up, seemingly coming from out of the forest. Kagome's bloody hair blew towards him and intermingled with his silver tresses. She had his full attention as his worry grew more as the breaks between each weakened heartbeat seemed to grow longer. 'Don't you die on me Kagome,' he thought angrily as he lifted her gently in his arms. He set off at break-neck speed towards the nearest village.
Light streamed through the window of the small hut. Dust floated in the golden rays. Kagome stirred slightly as the warmth and light of the mid-morning sun hit her eyelids. Some part of her wanted to keep sleeping and not feel the immense pain that she had fallen asleep with. Her worry for Inuyasha was the only cause for her slow arrival into consciousness. Slowly, she opened her eyes and found herself gazing into deep amber pools.
"Inuyasha…" she whispered almost inaudibly. Relief visibly flooded the hanyou's facial features and the deep crease on his forehead diminished. A small smile lit upon his face as he gazed right back into Kagome's deep brown eyes. He ignored the fact that her skin was still a sickly pale and that her hair was still matted and sticky with blood. A woolen blanket was laid carefully over her bandaged body. A tinge of embarrassment hit her when she realized she wasn't wearing anything but the white bandages. She gripped the pale brown blanket tightly and pulled it closer around herself. More embarrassment hit when she realized Inuyasha was gripping her right hand tightly. She released their eye contact and looked at their joined hands. A pink blush lit upon the young boy's face as he quickly released her hand and looked elsewhere.
"Inuyasha." She sighed happily. He was ok. She looked around the small room. She didn't recognize where she was. The small hut looked the same as any did in the Feudal Era. It was square and the floor was half wooden boards and half dirt. A small fire burned on the dirt half with a pot hanging above it. The sweet smell of food drifted to her and she heard her stomach begging. Inuyasha's sensitive ears didn't miss the sound. He quickly produced a bowl of stew and helped her carefully lean against the wall to eat.
After finishing two bowls quickly, Kagome noticed the emotion within Inuyasha's eyes for the first time. She saw the anger and the regret there as well as some remaining worry. She quickly cast her gaze downward and stared intently into the empty bowl. She moved the chopsticks around and let her thoughts wander to the night….
Kagome pushed the grass door aside in anger as she stormed out of Kaede's hut. It hung on one hinge and wobbled back and forth in the wind. Miroku, Sango, Kirara, Shippo, and Kaede could only look out the door after her. It was a situation they had lived through constantly and they all knew it was best to just let Kagome storm away. Everyone lowered there heads and cursed Inuyasha's stupidity.
"Idiot," Shippo muttered as Kirara mewed in agreement. Kaede just clicked her tongue and went about organizing herbs. 'Will ye ever let my sister go, Inuyasha?'
"Inuyasha, you're such a jerk," Kagome growled to herself as she re-adjusted her yellow backpack. She kept mumbling angrily to herself as she approached the bone eater's well. Her anger overpowered her spiritual power, so she never sensed the impending doom that awaited her in the nearby clearing…
Inuyasha chased the soul collectors all the way to the edge of The Forest of Inuyasha. He smiled a brief toothy grin when he realized they never changed the name of the forest. His heart beat guilt through every vein when he thought of Kagome. She was going to be mad at him again, but he couldn't stop chasing Kikyo. Something in him made him keep going after her, no matter what it did to Kagome. He sped up. Maybe if he got it done over with, he could catch her before she left to her world. The moon rose higher and higher in the sky as he pressed on towards the unnatural glow coming from the forest's edge.
Kagome broke free of the trees and stepping into the clearing. Wind whipped leaves around her, forcing her to cover her eyes with the back of her hand. A slim woman dressed in a multi-colored kimono stepped off of the air gently in front of her. Her fingers shot up as she carefully caught a feather in between her fingers.
"Kagura." Kagome sneered the name and took a step back. She immediately brought her hand up to grasp the last jewel shard in her fist. They worked too hard to get it and keep it safe; she wouldn't let it be taken now. She let her backpack fall to the ground as she gripped her red bow securely in her hand. The moon shone down through the cloud and illuminated the clearing. Kagome pulled an arrow out of her quiver and held it in the same hand as her bow. Her hand never left the jewel shard.
"I'm not here for the shard. Naraku can take that at any time. I've come here for YOU," at the last word, Kagura released a shot of wind towards the young miko. Kagome released her arrow and purified the winds. "Dance of the Dragon," Kagura yelled as tornados of wind sprang forward. Kagome didn't have an arrow prepared in time. A small squeak was all that had time to be released before the winds struck her and flung her through the air and into the forest.
Inuyasha had found Kikyo. He approached her carefully, afraid that she would either try to kill him or would disappear. She instead through her arms around him tightly. He stood shocked for a moment before wrapping his arms protectively around her. It hit him for a moment that there wasn't even any feeling behind the action. He just felt like he needed to do it. His mind never left the thought of Kagome. Her beautiful eyes and scent and even her temper was something he admired. Even a demon couldn't stand against the girl when she was angry. A small gust of wind kicked the smell of blood towards him. He recognized it as Kagome's and he pushed Kikyo away from him with an apologetic look upon her face. He was shocked to see she was showing him the same emotion. She looked guilty and sorry for something. Not having a moment to waste to ask her, Inuyasha kicked away and headed towards the smell…
"Kagome? Kagome are you listening?" Kagome was brought out of her thoughts by Inuyasha shaking her shoulders. She had a chopstick resting idly in her mouth. Her eyes slowly regained focus as she returned to the present.
"I'm sorry Inuyasha…I'm just…tired," she lied. She couldn't let him get hurt anymore than he already was. She could see the guilt and hatred in his eyes. He would immediately dash off to whoever had hurt her. She didn't want that. Kagura getting killed wouldn't be that big of a deal, but it was what Kagura said before Kagome lost unconsciousness that made her not want to tell Inuyasha. It was who was really behind it that would hurt him…
Kagome had tossed and turned all night, her pain bringing her out of slumber. She would wake in the night gasping as she thought about the words that Kagura had said and that the wind had carried to Kagome's ears alone. She couldn't get the words out of her head! Every time she awoke, she found herself staring into those deep amber pools. The first time she had been shocked and slapped him hard across his face on impulse. After her third time of waking, she wasn't surprised to see him staring at her-safely from across the room.
Morning finally came and Kagome felt as if she hadn't slept at all. She remained underneath the rough, wool blanket and only responded to eat food. Inuyasha faithfully never left her side; he was always there to lend her a hand with eating and sitting up. Hardly anything was said between the two. Kagome didn't want to hurt Inuyasha and Inuyasha didn't want to admit that he had failed protecting her and had seemingly chosen Kikyo again. A light breeze blew through the window and at once, everything changed.
Inuyasha was on his feet in seconds, his hand on the hilt of his sword. Miroku and Sango got to their feet as well. Everyone had learned to trust Inuyasha's sense of smell and his instincts. Kagome slowly pulled herself to her feet as she grabbed her bow that she had used as a cane three nights ago. A dizzy and sick feeling rushed through her head as her body protested to moving so quickly, but she pushed the feeling aside and didn't allow any emotion to show on her face. She had hoped that Inuyasha would ignore her standing, but she had no such luck.
"What are you going, Kagome? Lie down," he growled at her, only momentarily letting down his guard. She cast a dark glare his way which shut him up immediately. He decided to ignore it for now, but boy would she be hearing it from him later! He drew Tetsusaiga as he charged out the door. He knew this scent.
Villagers had taken up spears and bows and were surrounding their priestess Kaede's hut. Demons had swarmed everywhere and were converged behind a single woman.
"Kagura," Inuyasha sneered while planting his feet and holding Tetsusaiga in both hands. The only response he got was a small smile. She held her fan against one shoulder blade and she subconsciously tapped it lightly against herself. The demons behind her wiggled in anticipation. Some let out squeals and yells. They were all ready to fight, ready to die even. Kagome slowly pushed the grass-curtain doorway aside and stepped out, careful not to open any old wounds. Kagura's smile quickly vanished as her eyes lit upon the injured miko.
"How are you still alive?" The words grew in climax with the wind. There was no mistaking it. Kagura was mad. 'Naraku will kill me if he hears about this. I will have to finish her off.' Kagura let the bottom half of her fan fall. It opened slowly. Inuyasha set his weight and planted his feet. He was ready to defeat her.
"Kagome shall DIE," Kagura screamed as she released the winds. Inuyasha quickly spun around and grabbed Kagome, pulling her with him as he dodged the dangerous winds. Kaede's hut was blasted into a million pieces and men from the village went flying in every direction. Inuyasha's nose filled with
the scent of their blood as they impacted the ground. His attention was immediately directed at Kagome, though.
"Kagome, are you alright?" he questioned. She only nodded slightly as she tried to hold back tears from the pain of being moved too swiftly. Inuyasha could smell the salt pushing at the edges of her eyes. 'Oh man. If there's one thing I hate, it's Kagome in pain…or Kagome sad,' he thought as he gently set her on the ground. He grasped her wrist in comfort. "Kagome, stay here, ok?" She nodded again and looked him directly in the eyes. He stared back and lost his breath in the depth of her eyes. 'She is really beautiful…I mean, she looks like Kikyo, who is beautiful'. He quickly corrected himself in his mind and pushed away all feelings for Kagome. It wasn't like she was more than his friend, right?
Miroku had stepped up in front of Kagura. "What do you want with Kagome?" he demanded. Although he didn't look like much of a threat, Kagura knew better. In the very with which he held his golden staff was a depth of wind that even she couldn't overcome. A chill ran down her spine when she realized the danger she was in standing directly in front of him as she was. Keeping him talking was her only hope. She needed to buy time anyway...
New Chapter to be posted soon! Please review, it will make me happy and get a chapter up quicker!