Deep Forest

I do not own InuYasha, no matter how much I really really want to.

Ever since Kikyou joined the group, Kagome took to the back burner of the group, no longer traveling up by InuYasha, but behind him with Sango, Miroku, and her adopted son Shippo and Kilala. She ignored the daggers the dead woman was always shooting at her with her expressionless eyes. No longer travling with her giant yellow backpack made it so much easier for her to move and respond to danger alot more fast, and she also doned a fighting kimono.

During the years travling for the jewel shards paid off in the end, she was more in tuned with her reiki, as well as a wide variety of weapons thanks to Sango, Miroku, and Kaede's help. When InuYasha disappeared to fetch Kikyou, Kagome had used Kilala to go see Totosai, the demon sword welder. to fashion her a sword and four daggers that she kept concealed at all times. Kagome was no longer the clumsy, navie, worthless girl she was three years ago when she fell down the well. No, she was far from it; now her powers by passed Kikyou's, Kaede's, and she was now side by side with the legendary Miko Midoriko. In fact, she was another one that trained Kagome, but in dreams, in visions, and in life.

"Hurry up back there!" InuYasha yelled over his shoulder at his pack. Miroku and Sango gave each other side glances, ever since Kikyou joined he was like a slave driver, only stopping when Kikyou spoke up about how it wouldn't do them any good to keep on when there was no danger of a demon anywhere close to them. Kagome sat her adopted son on her shoulder and shifted her katana on her left hip, along with the slim but sterdy messanger bag she now toted along with her.

Some how, Kagome had graduated from high school, even with her low attendace rate and her low grades, but with the two weeks she had in her time to catch up with her studies and the pre tests that she took to prepare herself, Kagome had come sixth in her class. Which again surprised her. Sighing along with her friends who she concedered her family, Kagome moved closer to Sango, signing her friend a message in sign langauge.

"He's such a jerk isn't he?" Kagome signed to her friends. Sango giggled lightly and signed back.

"Yeah, especially now with Kikyou around. He's strutting around like a cock does around his hen house." the girls burst out with gail laughter which had InuYasha whirling around in aggitation.

"What's so funny whenches?" he snarled lowly. His ears twitched on top of his head and his eyes seemed to turn a darker shade of gold.

"Just how ironic all this seems that's all." Sango shrugged her shoulder and that made Kagome want to laugh even more. InuYasha glared at them and turned around to continue the long walk again.

As soon as the sun was beginning to set, the group had settled down to set up their camp.

"Oi! Bitch, get dinner started I'm hungry!" InuYasha yelled over his shoulder at Kagome.

"I don't think Kikyou would appreciate you calling her a bitch InuYasha." Kagome lifted her eye brow in amusement at her insult towards the both of them. InuYasha took a step towards her with his hands clenched tightly to his sides.

"What was that bitch?" InuYasha hissed out between his clenched teeth.

Kagome relaxed her body and her hand touched the hilt on her Katana.

"Kikyou is your bitch now InuYasha., you're not my alpha or my beta. You are not the one who rules over this group. An alpha cares for his pack, provides for his back, tends to the injured in his pack. An alpha does not degrade his pack, does not slave drive his pack, INJURE his pack. As far as I am concerned, you are no more an alpha than Kikyou is alive." Kagome spoke lazily and calmly to him. InuYasha stompped towards Kagome, his honeyed toned eyes bleeding red. This bitch was challenging his role as alpha of his pack, and she needed to be put in her place.

"You will know your place bitch!" the demonic blood snarled dangerously at her. Kagome didn't stand down. She knew that how she spoke to him, the demon in InuYasha's blood would take it as a challenge for his leadership. It was a punch to the ego, and not only because she was more of an alpha then he, but because she was female and challenging his right at alpha of the pack.

"And my place is NOT under you InuYasha." Kagome hissed, she would not summit to him. She wasn't going to let him abuse this group anymore.

Before InuYasha took a swipe at her, Kikyou grabbed him around the waist and kissed his neck. Her emotionless eyes boring into Kagome's,

"You're upsetting my mate for no reason. Be careful or I will tear out the rest of my soul that resides in that whorish body of yours." Kikyou lifted her index finger and her middle finger, holding them up to her face, she began muttering an incantation to try to pull out Kagome's soul. Kagome smirked when nothing happened.

"You're wrong on that one, the soul that's in this body? It's mine. Your's is in Hell Kikyou. Because you lost your purity and your soul when you harbored hate and disgust against InuYasha when he didn't do anything against you. That soul that's in your body? It's mine, not yours. If anything, I'm letting you live." with that Kagome left the camp site and went to the river side.

Three weeks went by after that night, the only jewel shards that they needed now were Naraku's. Kagome some how managed to pull Kohaku's out of his back with out damaging him or his soul, and managed to save his life. Sango was eternaly grateful to her sister/friend. And Shippo, Kilala, and Kohaku became great friends in the short time period that they had traveled together.

The battle with Naraku was soon to come, and everthing knew it. Bird songs stopped, forest animals were silent, even the weather was dark and dreary. They began to run into more of his incarnations, and more of his goons. No longer the back burner of the group, Kagome was up front in the action, her miko Katana burning through demons faster then Tetsiga being weilded by InuYasha. Miroku's windtunnle was beinning to grow more wide, so he was stuck using his staff to banashi most of the demons.

Kagome knew the allies of their group were growing, with the northern wolves, Sesshomaru and his western guards, and their own rag-tag group of their own banded together. Kagome also had Midoriko's spirit to fight with her.

The group had stopped for a break, and Kagome went off to find a hot springs she knew was just shortly away from their campsite. Even with her trained and honed powers, she was unpreparied for the pain and betrayal she was about to endure.

It came out of now where, first it was arrows tearing into her flesh from behind, then it was jagged blades streaking across her back and chest. Kagome stumbled against a tree, using the strong pine tree for support her haggered body. Blood dripped seemingly everywhere. She shakily drew her katana to face her attackers. Eyes narrowing, Kagome stared at Kikyou and InuYasha.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" she screeched at them. Kikyou let a wicked,. evil smile grace her face.

"If I can't tear your soul out of you, we will just have to do it the old fashion way." Kikyou nodded at InuYasha who advanced on her without hesitation. Kagome lifted her katana weakly, her tendons in her arms were ripped and her muscles screamed in pain, but she didn't drop her sword. InuYasha approached her, slammed her against the tree, and heled her tightly by the throat.

Kagome's mind screamed at her to purify him, to end the pain that he was inflicted on her. But her body wouldn't buldge, cursing herself for all the hard work and training over the years she had put herself through. She swore she wouldn't let anything or anyone hurt her again. She would not be weak. She would not bow to anyone. She was not weak. She WOULD NOT BOW!

Those two scentances became mantras to her through her harsh training, through the hardship of InuYasha's harsh words and abusive comments. She lifted her hand with her palm facing out wards, causing InuYasha to squeeze tighter. But that didn't stop her from shooting a thin line of reiki towards not him, but Kikyou.

"What are you...no! NOO!" Kikyou gasped as a blazing pink and blue light engolfed her. Kagome's soul was slowly being pulled out of her, and back into her own body. Kagome felt the aching of her soul being mended back together. She gasped when InuYasha released her and ran towrds his dead mate. Whirling back to Kagome, his hand reached towards his fang.

Kagome watched Kikyou's body begin to crumble like an old pot, pieces of her face, arms, legs, and torso flaking off of her in chunks. Sagging against the tree she used to hold her weight up right, she sat down hard on the ground. Looking up at the engraged inu-hanyou, she smiled up sadly at him.

"Who will you be the alpha of now InuYasha? Not me, certainly not me..." Kagome saw black spots dance in front of her eyes, and soon she was swallowed up by blackness. She felt him move away from her, sorrow whirling around in his aura along with anguish and anger. Slumbed against the tree, her last thought was that she hopped that her friends where going to be ok with out her for the ngiht, because she knew that she wouldn't be able to move until her reiki had healed her enought to be able to stand on her own.

The sun woke her what seemed like the next morning, but glancing down at her watch, she noted that it had not only been one day, but three. She was knocked out cold for three days? A screech filled the air, and Kagome was up on her feet and running towards the sound of a girl screaming bloody murder. By the sound of it, the girl was young, and by the stench of it, there was a boar demon near her. Running full out now, Kagome burst into a clearing and saw one of the biggest demons that she had ever seen in her time here in the feudal era.

Noting that she was right about the girl, who was more like just a child, no older than her son Shippo actually. Pulling out her katana, Kagome filled the blade with her reiki a nd flung herself towards the demon. Jumping up on its back, Kagome brought her sword down between the boar's collar bone, and its throat. Rearing back its head, one of the boar's tusts nearly impaled her shoulder blade, but only mannaged to rake it painfully into her arm. Kagome snarled at the beast and gently but firmly put her sword to it's throat, used her free palm to grip the blade on the flat side, and she used the boar's back as momentum, slicing through the beast's thick coat and snewy muscles, cleaving the head clean from its shoulders.

Jumping off of the boar demon, Kagome stared at it for a moment before returning her attention back to the young girl that had hidden behind a tree. Taking in the orange yukata and the side ways pony tail, she realized that this child was Sesshomaru's ward. Meaning that the green toad/imp demon had failed in protecting the child. Looking not to far to the east, she saw the little demon himself stumbling with the two headed dragon's reins in his hands.

"Rin, Rin, it's okay now. You're safe." Kagome collapsed to her knees and put her sword away, wincing when she realized the boar demon had managed to land some blows. A dislocated shoulder and a few cracked ribs. Not to mention the wounds that were still bleeding from InuYasha and Kikyou's faild attempt of trying to kill her. Rin ran over to Kagome, and not long before she was stopped at her side, an overwhelming youkai presence was there3. Kagome couldn't muster the strength to call on her miko reiki to protect her and the child, but she was able to catch a glimps at the stoic taiyoukai standing above her. Giving into the darkness she felt tugging her into, she heard Rin pleading for the taiyoukai to take her back to the palace in the west for her to heal, the taiyoukai hn'd at the child. Kagome felt her body being gently picked up by the waist and then being weightlessly carried after that. Then, nothing.

Sesshomaru grimanced inwardly as he sat in his study, it had been four days since they picked up his half brother's miko. And she had been in and out of consciousness, some times her miko powers flaring dangerously, and some times she would just thrash on the gurney cot she laid on. How soft had he got in his years? Yet another human inside of his home, his domain. Reviving one human, and giving healing to another. His half brother's wench no less! Huffing silently, he lifted the latest report from the healers. Seems like they had found how the miko had recieved so many wounds.

'So it would seem that InuYasha and that dead clay pot had done this to her. ' he read over the report and found that the miko in question was now awake and there were some kinds of changes to her body that she was freaking over about. Getting up off of his seat, Sesshomaru threw the scroll on the desk and headed towards the healer's wing. He would make arrangements for a room to be prepared for the miko, being that she was his guest he would have to play the nice host. Even if he hated being a host to any one.

Sesshomaru head the screams even on the second floor of his home, and he scowled mentally at the woman for being so damn loud. He quicked his pace and he entered the room. Closing the door behind him with an snap, he went to the healer.

"What is she screaming about?" he asked coolly, making his annoyance known. The healer clicked her tounge and shook her head.

"She just started thrashing around again. The wounds on her back, arms, legs, and abdomen healed the first day she was asleep, but then the claws appeared, then the markings, and then the youkai aura came. I think it's because her reiki is trying to fight off the youkai presence in her." The healer tapped her chin and then went to mix and herb to calm Kagome. Sesshomaru looked at the miko and saw the healer was right. Some how, Kagome was being tossed into a painful transformation of a demon, and her miko powers were trying to purify it. Making it twice as painful.