I do not own Inuyasha.

I ran, pulling my dazed brother along with me. He was staring at the village that was going up in flames. I was simply looking ahead, not wanting to see our house, and the bandits who were killing everyone. The only reason I had dragged Souta out of bed was because the dog had been barking and he was usually quiet.

"Kagome," my brother yelled. I whirled around, looking for someone chasing us, but we were long gone, and almost reached the forest.

"What, Souta?" I asked, panicked. He looked up at me, scared.

"Mom and dad's letters, we forgot them. We have to go back!"

I stared at the one item of food that I had brought along with me, bread. We couldn't go back, we would die.

"Souta, we can't, the bandits are still in the village, and our house was burning, they're probably destroyed already."

But I was just as pained as he was. Our parents used to write letters to us, and slip them under our pillows at night. They would always put some kind of present with them, and we didn't know when they would arrive.

"But it's one of the only things that we have left from them. We need them, sis, you know we do. We've lost everything, our parents, and now our house. Let's go back."

He was crying, and I was too. What could I say to him? No, Souta; sure, our parents have been dead for three years, but they're going to come back right now and save us?

"No," I said, running faster now, running away from everything we knew, and everything we were leaving behind.

After thirty more minutes of running, we finally reached the forest. Both of us were out of breath, and I felt like falling over. Souta was crying even more now.

"Sis," he whispered.

"Souta, yes, we've lost everything, except each other, okay? At least we're still alive. And, despite our parents being gone, I believe that they're still watching over us, so we have to keep ourselves alive, for them."

He sniffed and nodded. I took his hand again, and started walking into the forest, but it looked threatening for some reason.

"Sis," Souta said again. On any normal day, I would be annoyed, but today was different, we needed each other to survive.

"What is it?"

"What if we see demons? Didn't dad say that there were a lot of demons living in the forest?" I sighed.

"Yes, he did, and he's probably right, but if we run into them, then we'll just run, and survive as long as we can."

"But, where are we headed?" I stopped walking, and turned around.

"I'm headed north, and do you really think that I've thought that far ahead? My plan is to find a village, explain our situation, and hope that they take us in." Souta looked even more terrified.

"N-n-north?"

"What's wrong with going north? The woods are the best option. We might run into something, but it will be fine. Don't tell me that you're scared of going to a new village? We'll have protection there."

"No, sis, I'm not afraid of a new village, I just don't want to go north, that's all, it's too dangerous!" I rolled my eyes.

"Would going south have made a difference?" He nodded quickly. "Why?"

"Lord Inuyasha." I looked back at him, and laughed.

"Lord Inuyasha doesn't exist," I said firmly.

"No, they say that he rules over the western lands, and…" I cut him off.

"That's Inutaisho, his father," I corrected. "Inuyasha is his son."

"Whatever, same thing. Dad said that Lord Inuyasha is a terrible bloodthirsty demon that spares no one he meets, he kills without thinking. According to mom, he lives really far up north." It seemed like besides running and crying, all I was doing was sighing.

"Souta, let's say that Inuyasha did exist. You just said that he lived farther up north. Don't worry, we won't run into him. We're in the forest, no one would build a village right in the middle of the forest."

"Maybe, but we might run into him." I shook my head.

"The only thing that we need to worry about is finding a village, and begging to stay there. Do you think you can do that?"

"Yeah, but I don't like begging," he said.

"Souta, you're going to have to get used to it, because you might have to start working or something if you want food. Speaking of food, are you hungry?"

"Yes." I pulled out the bread, and got him a small piece.

"Look, I know it's not much, but it's all I could get before we had to leave."

"Why's it so small?" He complained. I glared.

"It's small because we have no idea where we are in the forest, and how long we'll be wandering around." He paled, and I immediately regretted saying that we were lost, but what was the point of lying to him?

"We're lost?" He gulped.

"Yes, and we should find somewhere to stay for the night," I told him, looking around, and spotting a cave that wasn't too far off.

"Look, Souta, over there!" I pointed excitedly.

"You want to sleep in a cave? Are you crazy?"

"Of course, where else do you want to sleep? It might start raining, and these are the only clothes we have. I know it's not a house, but it's the best we can do."

"That's not what I meant. I wasn't complaining about having to sleep in the cave, I'm just wondering if we're going to be interrupting someone else's sleep."

"A demon?" I questioned.

"Yeah, a really violent one."

"I'm not stupid, I was going to check it first. Mom and dad told me to take care of you if anything ever happened to them, so I'm keeping my promise."

We were almost at the cave, and Souta was trailing behind. I took his hand again. If he wandered off, I would never find him.

"You stay here," I whispered. "I'll go check the cave, and if I scream, run. Don't stay behind and wait for me."

"I can't just leave you, Kagome. How will you fight the demon off?" He asked me quietly.

"With my special powers," I said, feeling more nervous by the second.

"What powers?"

"I don't have any, so running power. It will be fine, I doubt that we'll find a demon in this cave. We're going to be getting up early in the morning, so be ready." He gulped.

"Be careful sis." I didn't respond, and walked quietly towards the cave. It was a medium size, and I doubted that a demon would find it very appealing, so we were probably okay.

How was I going to get in and check to see if there were demons? I had no matches, and it was pitch dark outside.

I was at the entrance, and I heard thunder and saw lightning. It briefly illuminated the cave, and I saw nothing except some log.

I was still in the process of checking, when I saw my brother run in, and knock me over.

"Souta," I said, annoyed. "What is it now?" I felt a strange lump, and assumed that I had fallen on the weird log.

"The storm, it scared me." He was hopeless. That was when I heard the strange hiss. I froze, and Souta stared at something behind me.

"Was that you Souta?" I whispered. He shook his head, terrified. The log beneath me moved, and I was suddenly thrown out of the cave. Once again, the helpful lightning showed me that it was a snake demon, and at least fifteen feet long.

"Any bright ideas?" I asked.

"None," he gulped.

"Run!"

For what seemed like the thousandth time tonight, I ran. Surprisingly enough, Souta was keeping up with me this time.

"What do we do?" He yelled.

"Don't speak," I instructed. "It will waste energy. And to answer your question, keep running."

"But it's gaining on us!" I briefly looked back, and yelped. The demon was getting way too close.

"You're right. Souta, climb up that tree, and I'll try and fight it off."

"Sis, we need help!" I was exasperated.

"Help where, Souta? Do you see any villages nearby? We need a miracle, that's what we need!"

"We could find a stronger demon," he said, smiling.

"Yeah, that might work, but we already have one that wants to kill us, so, yeah, why don't we make more enemies in the process, great idea!" I said sarcastically.

"Sis, there's no way that you can fight it off! It's too big!"

"But it's weak," I said, knowing full well that I had no idea what a weak or strong demon looked like.

"It doesn't matter if it's weak by demon standards," Souta said. "It's too strong for us."

He was right! We couldn't out run it, and I couldn't fight it off. I had come into the forest to avoid bandits, and now I was dealing with some crazy demon. Souta finally started climbing up the tree, and I started following him.

"Move it!" I yelled, shoving him. The snake seemed to be chasing us even more now, and we finally got to the top, but it had been a wasted effort. It raised it's body up at least ten feet to where we were, and I was staring into two horrifying green eyes. I pushed Souta behind me, and I could feel him shaking.

"S-sis, I've always loved you," he said.

"Shut up, we're not going to die!" I told him fiercely.

I kicked at the demon, and it simply snarled. If this branch kept moving, then both Souta and I were going to fall. What could I do?

"Souta," I yelled. "Keep climbing, and d…" I was cut off. The demon had knocked me off the tree, and I landed on its tail.

"Sis," he yelled. The snake forgot about me, and looked at Souta, smiling almost. I took the heaviest rock I could find, and hurled it at the snake's head. It fainted, so I ran, and hid behind a bush. How long could I keep up this running and hiding?

After a few minutes, I heard it start slithering again. It seemed like it was looking for me, and not Souta.

I crept beneath the bushes, until its slither seemed farther away. A few feet from me, I saw something that looked like a small child, but it wasn't exactly. Was it some type of demon, a fox one maybe?

"Lord Inuyasha," it called, walking off. Wait a minute. Inuyasha? Wasn't he supposed to be that heartless dog demon? But that was just dad's story, and Inuyasha didn't exist, it had to be another one.

I slowly stood up, and realized that I was lost. My brother couldn't be too far away. The snake seemed to have disappeared, and soon, my only task was to find my brother.

"Souta," I whispered quietly. I had been walking for a about ten minutes, until I heard another demon.

"Shippo!" He yelled. "You little idiot, give me back the Tessaiga!" He was a dog demon, with long silver hair, and dog ears.

"Sorry, Inuyasha, no can do! It's your punishment for not giving me my dinner!" I saw the small fox demon again.

"Not giving you dinner? Are you kidding, the servants gave you plenty of dinner, I saw you eat of all of it!" He shouted.

"I'm still hungry," the one called Shippo complained.

"So, in other words," Inuyasha began. "You're taking my sword away from me because you are still hungry, is that it? How is that my fault? If you don't give it back in ten seconds, you won't have a chance to eat anymore because you'll be dead."

Shippo laughed, and I had to detach my eyes from their fighting because I heard a hiss, and then the snake demon was behind me, slithering at an unbelievable speed. I got up, and started running again, out into the grassy area that the other two demons had been in. I had no idea if they were still there, nor did I care.

"Girl!" I heard it hiss. The snake demon could speak? Where the hell was I? I looked back, and ran faster. What was I going to do? Before I could come up with a plan, I tripped, and fell, feeling my knees getting scraped. The snake's hiss was the only thing that I could hear, and I closed my eyes.

"Heh, so there you are," a new voice said. I looked up, and saw that it was that dog demon, Inuyasha, again.

"This land is mine," the snake hissed. "I will fight for it!"

"I've don't want your land, in fact, I've come to kill you!" He said simply. "I could care less about the stupid villagers, but with you killing them and ruining the fields, it's kind of problematic for me, I hope you understand." The snake seemed to ignore him, and lunged for him.

"Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" I saw the demons claws collide with the snake, and within seconds it was dead.

"Th-thank you!" I said gratefully.

"I didn't do it for your benefit, and I've been looking for that snake for weeks. Stop talking, or I'll have to kill you too," he muttered. "Shippo! Give me back my sword!"

I slowly got up once they were gone, and I heard my brother.

"Kagome! You're alive! I told you that we needed a stronger demon, and you found one!" he said happily.

"No Souta, he had some grudge against that snake demon, and killed him, I don't even think he noticed me until I thanked him." I didn't mention to Souta that he had threatened to kill me.

"What was his name?" Souta asked curiously.

"Lord Inuyasha," I murmured, looking back at the trees.

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