-Chapter 1-

Everyone was asleep. Everyone, that is, except Inuyasha and Kagome. They were the only two awake at this hour. Kagome was still in her sleeping bag, but Inuyasha was pacing around outside, as though nervous about something.

I feel like something's gonna happen. Not something small, but something big... My instincts are driving me crazy, telling me to do something! But what? He thought. He heard rustling inside the hut and dashed in to see what it was. "Oh... Kagome." he sighed. Nothing was happening as of yet. That put his mind at ease a bit.

"Yeah, Inuyasha... It's just me. A person inside the hut who's moving. What's the matter?" she replied.

"Oh! N-Nothing. I was just, uh, thinking."

She glared at him. He's thinking about Kikyo... I should've guessed. She rolled her eyes and stood up, walking out the door.

"Hey! Hey, where the heck do ya think you're going?" he barked.

"Just to get something to drink, geez... What's with you, anyway?" she asked.

"I'm just... I don't know. I'll go with you to get some water." he concluded. He watched as she gave him a suspicious look.

"You know what? You do what you want... I don't wanna argue this time." she said after a few minutes.

He followed as she started walking in the direction of the nearest source of water. Not three steps were taken before she told him, "Okay, uh... Inuyasha, I was sorta hoping I could bathe, too. I don't want you following me. Why don't you stay at the hut? I'll be back in...oh...an hour at most. If I'm not back by then, write me off as dead, okay?" she said sarcastically. Oh, crap... Shouldn't have said that to him. Knowing how seriously he takes things, that statement could cost me dearly... But, then again, I should be back before forty minutes, so...

Inuyasha reluctantly nodded his head and leaned against the wall of the hut. "You better be back within the amount of time you said you'd be this time, Kagome." he warned.

She rolled her eyes again, sighed, and left for her destination.

Inuyasha stayed put, watching the leaves flutter on the trees and checking the scents in the air consistently. Chills ran up his spine as his instincts told him something big was happening. And they told him it was happening right now. He looked down at his arm. Goosebumps were everywhere and they looked huge and prickly. It was actually a warm night, so there was no way he could be cold. He sniffed the air again. Everyone but Kagome was still inside the hut. And nothing smelled wrong. He let his mind relax a bit. As far as he knew, nothing was happening. Oh, how wrong some people could be!

A whole thirty minutes in his guarding duty and a familiar scent wafted in the air and found its way to Inuyasha's sensitive nose. Blood. And not just any blood. Kagome's blood. He cursed himself and bounded off to search for her. Damnit, Kagome! Just what the hell did you get yourself into? He continued to curse himself until he came across a human-like form. But the form wasn't Kagome. It was a demon that looked like a human. All he saw of it was what the moonlight allowed before it scurried off. Behind it was a smaller form that had collapsed. It was this form. This form was where the blood was coming from. K-Kagome... "Kagome...?" He got no response in return. "Hey! Hey, Kagome! Can you hear me?" Still no reply. In fact, there was no sound at all except for the wind rustling the trees. He took a step towards her and found himself standing in a huge puddle of blood. Her blood.

He was swift to pick her up and carry her to the hut. As soon as he got there, he screamed to everyone in order to wake them.

Sango was the first up, rubbing her eyes and grunting about something with just how much sleep a demonslayer deserves. Shippo was next, leaping up into the air about three feet due to all the excessive noise Inuyasha was making. Miroku was the last one up next to Kilala. He woke with, "Now! Now! No need to fight over me, ladies! There's plenty of this to go around!" What fully woke him up, though, was the feeling of pressure on his face. Yep, Sango's hand.

"C'mon! God! Get your butts up! Kagome's hurt!" Inuyasha hissed at them.

Everyone was slow to comprehend. You gotta be kidding me! Inuyasha waited for their response. Everyone eventually got the message and rushed over to help Kagome. Although, nobody so much as knew what had happened to her.

Kilala tried to help by licking some of the blood off Kagome's jet-black hair. Sango helped Inuyasha set her down, while Miroku dragged over Kagome's sleeping bag for them to put her on. Shippo was far too upset to help much. Inuyasha's ears twitched as he heard the soft thud made when Kagome's body made contact with her sleeping bag, which was now looking more and more like a medical pallet.

Sango, being a demonslayer, knew much about medicines. She had to, considering the fact that many demons were poisonous or had a weapon of some sort. "Inuyasha, see if you can sniff out any other openings the blood might be coming from. Miroku, see if you can find any healing herbs at all. Shippo...uh..." She paused, thinking of something the small orphan kitsune could do. "Er... Go with Miroku to make sure he doesn't get distracted by a traveling girl." Then Sango turned to her trusty companion, Kilala. "Kilala, I need you to fly back to Kaede's village and bring her back here, okay?"

Inuyasha was working on Kagome's legs when he found a cut. "Sango, here's one." he declared. Sango reached into Kagome's backpack and fond what she was looking for: bandages and gauze. She started fixing up the wound Inuyasha found. Right after she was done, another wound was said to be found. About ten minutes later, there was another. After a while of this routine, Sango got angry and pointed out how long he was taking to figure out the cuts' locations. He retorted, "Well! Let's see a human try to sniff through all this blood! It's hard to tell where the scents are strongest at if there's that same freaking scent all around you! By the way, here's another." He was referring to the two on her hips that looked like a cat had gotten hold of her.

Eventually, Miroku and Shippo came back with more medicinal herbs than expected. Shippo was the first in, happily yelling, "We got lots of 'em!" Sango turned to Miroku when he walked in, "And you, monk? Any female activity with you?" He sighed an obvious "No...". Shippo told her there were no girls that had wandered through the area they were in, so Miroku hadn't had the chance to flirt or grope.

After the boys had returned, Kilala was heard softly roaring outside the hut. When Shippo went out to look, she was flying in with Kaede on her back. She was holding a basket of something in her hands. She landed and the old priestess got off. She entered the hut, shortly followed by a tiny Kilala, to find Inuyasha smelling Kagome. Getting the wrong interpretation, she whacked him on the head. In turn, Inuyasha was quick to anger at what he knew was an accusation. "Ya old hag! I'm trying to help her!" The 'old hag' smirked and said, "Sure ye are..."

Miroku was quick to intervene. "Lady Kaede, he's telling the truth. As you've probably noticed, Kagome has been seriously injured, so Sango assumed Inuyasha's strengthened sense of smell may be able to find hidden wounds on her body. As far as we know, it's working. Several cuts have already been found." Now filled in on what was happening, she ignored the part about what Inuyasha was doing and said, "So ye came to me for assistance, did ye not?" Everyone but Inuyasha and Kilala nodded their heads. "Well, then. Let me have a look at the lass."

Inuyasha moved out of the way without any hesitation. If there was any way to save Kagome, Lady Kaede was that way. Nonetheless, he kept a careful eye on her as she worked. He did this with anyone that came near Kagome, especially the wolf demon, Kouga. He was such a nuisance... Damn wolf didn't know when to get away and stay away!