Disclaimer: I only own a computer, no sir, no silver-haired hanyou dog-boy for me by golly!
Chapter 1
Kagome knew something was wrong before she had even reached out to grasp the sides of the well: for starters she had been back in her own time for three days (albeit that was a considerably shorter time than she had told Inuyasha she would be gone (she had gotten in the habit of informing him of longer stays so that she wouldn't have him hanging over her shoulder until she was ready to go home) ) and Inuyasha had yet to appear at the shrine intent on hauling her back to the Feudal era like a Cro-Magnon. Normally she would have thought of this as great, had it not been for the nightmares she had been having as of late. What if . . .
She shook the thought from her head as she threw her leg over the side of the well and touched down safely in the forest outside of Kaede's village. However, though cast aside, Kagome still decided she should take it up with the miko when she next say her. "Inuyasha!" Kagome called, sitting on the lip of the well and setting her bag at her feet. "Inuyasha, I'm back and I'm not mad at you anymore!" She recalled the insensitiveness of the hanyou that had caused her to leave in the first place (or at least that was what she had allowed him to believe; in truth, she had a few tests to take and gramps had made it clear that he wanted a play-by-play on what she did in the past and on what it was like and that in itself took one and a half days). After several minuets went by and the silver-haired dog-boy didn't answer Kagome decided to take out her last resort, "Okay, Inuyasha, just remember that you made me do this," deep breath, "SIT!" Nothing.
Dejectedly, Kagome figured that Inuyasha had taken what she had said just before leaving to heart and was sulking somewhere out of range of the rosary. She resignedly trudged toward Kaede's village to interrogate the priestess and hope that Sango, Shippo and Miroku were all there.
It took her much longer than she liked to make it to the village, having become accustomed to riding on Inuyasha's back, but at least she still remembered how to get there on foot and arrived just before nightfall. Strangely the streets seemed much stiller than usual; in fact one could say that they were one hundred prevent more still than usual for no one was on them and the village seemed deserted save for the small tendril of smoke ensuing from Kaede's hut. Seeking answers and slightly frantic, Kagome broke into a run, dropping her bag along the way until finally she burst into the house. What she saw hit her like a Samurai's blow:
Kaede was sitting in the middle of the hut just behind the smoldering hearth, her weathered face was dirty and lined with clean rivers of tears. "Lady Kagome, you have arrived . . . to late, I am afraid . . ." Her voice trailed off in to a small sob and it was then that Kagome looked around at four cots that were in each corner.
Miroku, just to her left, his right hand cut off just below the wrist, lay still, lay dead.
To her right, Sango and Kirara, both cut and bruised, their fate the same as the monks.
Shippo to the back right corner, Kagome couldn't bring herself to look longer than to confirm.
Slowly she made her way to the left corner, trying to block out the sound of Kaede's sobs behind her. This body was covered with a tattered blanket but a foot and shock of silver hair still protruded. The blanket was still, no movement to give her hope.
Ok Kami! she wished this was one of those nightmares! Please, no!
Tears in her eyes she pulled back the top of the blanket and screamed at what she saw . . .
Kagome flew upright in a cold sweat. It was still dark on the morning of her third day in her own time. It was that dream again, one just like the one she had had just before she left the Feudal era, only with shifts in details relevant to the day. Exasperatedly she wiped tears off of her face and attempted to block the image of her friends (and Inuyasha's) broken and dead bodies out of her mind.
Finally she decided on a hot bubble bath, after which she would immediately return to the Feudal era.