Caged Souls

By Jessica the Hanyou

Rated: T for violence/ coarse language

Summary: What to do? Inuyasha and Kagome have been trapped in a mirror of their own minds and it's up to Sango, Miroku, Shippou and Kirara to save them before it's too late! An old enemy has returned, and it is completely prepared to destroy Inuyasha and Kagome's souls, and anyone who gets in it's way...

Author's Opening Notes: Well... this story is sort of based on a picture I was drawing earlier...it had Inuyasha standing in a completely black area with a spotlight under his feet, and a figure (Who I can't reveal to you...) standing behind him. After that, this idea just popped into my head! Note that there are NO OCs in this story, so, OC haters, be happy!

Chapter 1: The Spell

Their hated foe stood in front of the group of six, various youkai, oni and other creatures surrounding him. His incarnations, Kagura and Kanna stood on either side of Naraku, awaiting a simple command from their master. The area of choice, the battle arena if you will, was a large open field that was covered in flowers and had originally been inhabited by many small creatures. This, the group hoped, would be the time they finally defeated Naraku and retrieved the largest part of the Shikon no Tama.

"Prepare to die, Naraku!" Inuyasha yelled, unsheathing the Tetsusaiga(1) and starting a run at top speed towards his enemy, letting loose a battle cry, "WIND SCAR!"

"Reflect it, Kanna," Naraku responded to the attack calmly, letting the elder servant do the work.

Golden streams of energy headed towards Naraku and his servants, but to no avail. Kanna floated forward, right toward the impending blast and raised her small, white mirror. The object glowed, and the blast's reflection was caught, sending it back towards the attacker with the same amount of force.

"Inuyasha!" Miroku cried out, jumping in front of the group, holding up his golden monk's staff. Energy crackled off the tip, for a moment, and then a large energy barrier covered the group, diverting the attack and causing clouds of dust to fly up.

Directly after this, Sango and Kirara took to action. The Taijiya jumped onto the back of the neko and willed her companion to fly. The cat's feet and tails lit up in a flame and the animal rose to the air gracefully. "HIRAIKOTSU!" She yelled, hurling the giant boomerang apon her back towards the opponents, successfully destroying demon after demon.

"Kagome, stay here! I'll take care of this!" Inuyasha spoke with confidence to the teenage girl behind him. Not giving her a chance to respond, he hurtled towards the enemy with a rage that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Right when he was apon them, several blades of energy speeded towards him, causing the hanyou to have to use Tetsusaiga as a shield to deflect them.

"Why, Inuyasha, you seem to have gotten weaker since we last met!" Kagura taunted, holding her fan next to her.

"Shut up, wench! I have no time to fight you!" The hanyou growled in response, preparing to cut the wind demon in two.

"Dance of the Dragon!" Kagura yelled, flicking her fan in a swirl, causing powerful tornadoes to form and head towards the half-demon, unfortunately, this would be her downfall, as one technique countered this...

"BACKLASH WAVE!" Inuyasha screamed out, swinging Tetsusaiga into the wind, making whirlpool-like blasts head towards the dancing woman. Kagura appeared to get hit when something unexpected happened.

The wind demon chanted something. Being a sorceress, she could cast spells, and Naraku had forced this one on her in case it appeared that they were against someone they couldn't defeat. What could be a better time to test it? She swung the demon-fan horizontally and a strange, miasma like wind flew from it. This cut straight though the twister heading towards her, and began heading towards Inuyasha...

"INUYASHA!" Kagome screamed, sprinting towards her friend, throwing herself onto him, but it was too late. Both of them were hit by the mist, and both fell over with a 'thud' next to each other on the grass. Tetsusaiga dropped from Inuyasha's grip in the process. Both of their eyes looked hollow, but the two appeared to be breathing...but, who knew, they may encounter a fate worse than death?

Naraku's group disappeared in a swirl of miasma, flying off to the horizon, leaving his enemies to think over what may have happened. Miroku, Sango and Kirara, who had been battling hordes of youkai, willingly ran to their allies' aid, and Shippou jumped from his hiding place in a bush to see what had happened.

"Kagome! Inuyasha! Are you all right?" Shippou called as he ran next to them, observing them. "Please...say something! Anything!"

Sango threw herself onto the ground next to Kagome and shook her furiously. "Kagome! Wake up! Please!"

Miroku spoke calmly, "They have been put under a spell...it looks like the Tiger's Binding spell."

"Tiger's Binding?" Sango and Shippou repeated curiously.

"Yes, it is a dark spell that traps it's victim in their own mind. Since Inuyasha and Kagome were hit with it at the same time...there may be a link between their minds, they may be in both at once..."

"But how could that be possible?" Sango asked the man, completely baffled. Two people in one mind...

"It is dark magic, anything can happen," Miroku said simply, looking down at the two, knowing they could be in for something bad, if not lethal...

Kagome found herself in a dark place, laying on her back. "Ugh...where am I?" she asked no one, sitting up, and looking around, confused. "The last thing I remember is getting hit by some weird mist...then...oh yeah! I was trying to protect Inuyasha!"

The girl stood up, if Inuyasha was hit too, he should be somewhere around here...if only it weren't so dark... "Oh! I have an idea!" Kagome exclaimed, feeling for her quiver and bows, thankful that they were still there. She grabbed the bow, set an arrow and fired. Purple light lit up the area for about three seconds, giving her a good look around. The area was a tunnel; very cave like. So...if she headed one way, it only made sense she would end up on the other side, right? Not taking chances, Kagome began to venture forwards, occasionally shooting sacred arrows for a look around.

"There we are!" She said happily, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and running towards it. When she got out, she found herself on the exact same field that she had been on fighting Naraku. The only differences were that the sky was swirling with different colours. If she had known she was in a linked mind, she would have found she was in Inuyasha and her recent memories. (Note that the recent memories were damaged during the spell, so they can't remember who they were fighting.)

"I remember this field..." Kagome mumbled, taking in her surroundings. She took a few nervous steps forwards and then let loose a call, "Inuyasha! Where are you?"

"Kagome! There you are!" A male voice returned, and Inuyasha came bounding in Kagome's direction.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome squealed joyously, waiting for her companion to reach her.

Inuyasha stopped in front of Kagome. "How did you get here?"

"I don't know! But all I know is we have to get out of here!" Kagome replied.

"Good idea. Where are we supposed to go?" Inuyasha questioned the teen.

"We might as well look around..." Kagome said in response, starting to walk off in a random direction, Inuyasha walking next to her. The two continued in the direction they were heading in, and eventually found another tunnel that was closed by a large wooden door, covered in ofudas.

"Where do you think it leads?" The teenage girl asked her companion nervously.

"How am I supposed to know?" Inuyasha growled in response.

"It was just a simple question..."

The two headed towards the door, and watched as the ofuda ripped by themselves. The door slowly opened with a loud creaking noise, and stopped menacingly. When the two entered, they looked around and noticed that it actually was lit by an eerie purple light. The tunnel was swirling various shades of blue as well. Suddenly, footsteps could be heard throughout the cave, but no one was there. Inuyasha grabbed Kagome protectively. For some reason, he had a feeling he knew what was deep within the strange, glowing cave. He began to growl defensively, and he looked around the room, noticing that the sound had stopped. Inuyasha looked relieved. They were safe for now.

"I think we should leave this cave," Inuyasha stated, looking down at Kagome, who nodded as they walked in a straight path, out and away from the offending area.

Meanwhile, deep within the dark recesses of the back of the cave, a figure slowly got to it's feet. The creature grinned and began to chuckle devilishly, making a rushing after the group as it did so. Soon, the small chuckles became insane laughter which reverberated throughout Inuyasha and Kagome's mind. The two would die, and he would see to it that they would. The thing that was trapped in the cave was dangerous, and now it was free.

"Miroku, is there a cure for this spell?" Sango asked the monk sitting next to her. The group had moved Inuyasha and Kagome to a safe area in Kaede's village with Kirara's help.

"No one knows...This is because no one ever broke the spell, or at least that's what I've been told..." Miroku replied gravely, staring at the motionless forms that lay on the ground in front of the four of them.

"But...every spell has a counter spell!" Shippou chirped in. Being a kitsune, Shippou had a great knowledge of many kinds of spells.

"What is the use of a counter spell when know one knows it?" Sango asked, sounding very depressed. Kagome was her best friend. She had lost her family, her village and now her friend.

"Maybe if we could find the normal spell, we could make a counter spell?" Shippou suggested. He desperately wanted to help his friends.

"We had better get to work then..." Miroku broke in, getting up, and preparing to leave. He would have to rely on the villagers and Kaede to protect Inuyasha and Kagome while he and the rest of the group were gone. With those words, he and the remainder of the group set off in a quest to find the Tiger's Binding spell.

Inuyasha and Kagome slowly walked along the path. Now they appeared to be an a strange room covered in large, glass-like crystalline structures. This room was the area where long-term memories were stored.

"Wow...look at all these..." Kagome gasped, her eyes were lit up with the calming glow of the crystals.

"There isn't any time to look at some strange gems, Kagome!" Inuyasha scowled, crossing his arms and acting all-too important, but to no avail. Kagome was already observing the stones.

Inside the rock, a picture seemed to be shown to the miko. The figure of a younger Kagome on a small bike and riding it was held in place on the 'screen'. "Look at this Inuyasha!"

"Feh," Inuyasha grumbled, but walked over anyway. Staring into the gem, he saw the same picture as well. "Hey...Kagome...is that you?"

"Yeah...I think so..." Kagome replied half-heartedly, staring at the crystal.

Inuyasha broke free of the spell, standing up straight and grabbing Kagome's arm roughly. "Obviously this isn't the place we're looking for. We need to keep moving,"

Kagome sighed sadly. "I suppose you're right..."

The two continued trudging along, endlessly searching for the exit, not knowing that a dangerous creature was following them at the moment.

Kirara flew effortlessly through the skies, bearing three forms apon her back. They had gotten nowhere in their search for the spell. The group had known that Naraku had the spell, but he wouldn't just hand it to them. They may have to find his castle, or find the one who had given the spell to the dark hanyou.

"Miroku, why is the spell called Tiger's Binding?" Shippou asked the man inquisitively.

"Legend has it, that the Tiger Youkai tribe, that long ago disbanded once used the spell to torture and take over the lands. It was known to bind one to his or her mind until the victim defeats the evil inside their mind, or the spell is broken." Miroku recited to the fox boy.

"So if Inuyasha and Kagome defeat this 'evil' inside their mind...The curse will be broken?" Shippou guessed.

"Exactly. If neither of these happen, the evil will kill the victim," Miroku replied seriously.

"But what could this evil be?" Sango asked, in thought.

"Well...It could be Naraku... but it could even be..." Miroku thought out loud, when his eyes went wide. "Oh no..."

"What is it, Miroku?" Shippou asked, concerned.

"I know what the evil is." Miroku said, seriously worried.

The place that the two travellers found themselves in next was completely dark, except for a small circle of light that would trail under their feet. Neither of the two knew where they were, and the best that the two could do was to keep walking in a direction that they thought was straight. In complete darkness, one loses their sense of direction and Inuyasha and Kagome were no exceptions.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome squeaked in question, looking up at her taller friend as she walked.

"Yeah?" Inuyasha replied casually, eyes not meeting his companion's.

"What do you think that thing back in the cave was?"

"I dunno,"

"I was sort of scared..." Kagome spoke truthfully, her eyes trailing towards the place that she thought was the ground.

"What?" Inuyasha froze, alarmed. Kagome didn't feel safe? That wasn't acceptable. He had to protect her!

"Hey, Inuyasha? What's wrong?" Kagome poked Inuyasha, bringing him back to ---sort of--- reality.

"Oh, it's nothing," Inuyasha lied, starting to walk again.

"Okay," Kagome caught up to the hanyou and looked at her surroundings, even though there wasn't anything to look at. There was all black, when she saw something...red? The girl blinked twice, and noticed that whatever it was had disappeared.

"What is it, Kagome?" The hanyou asked, regarding the human next to him who had frozen to look behind herself.

"I saw something..." The schoolgirl looked to her friend, obviously confused.

"How can you see anything in this darkness?" Inuyasha asked skeptically.

"I mean it!" Kagome defended, putting her hands to her hips.

"Whatever,"

"UGH! Fine! If you aren't going to listen to me, th---EEEEK!"

The girl's rant was cut off when two tensed hands grabbed onto her shoulders, slowly pulling her into the looming darkness around her. Kicking and screaming, Kagome reached for her friend, who was desperately trying to pull her back with struggled yells and growls, it was a chaotic sight; like two children fighting over a beloved toy. The hands let go, causing the hanyou to lose his balance and send him and the miko to fly back a good three feet.

"Who are you?" The hanyou growled, reaching for Tetsusaiga, only to find it wasn't there. He looked up at the figure that was intently staring down at them, the creature who was hidden by the darkness.

"Hello, long time no see, my friend," It growled, stepping into the small circle of light and revealing itself as...

Aren't I evil? That has to be the MEANEST cliff-hanger I have EVER made! Well, thank's for reading the first chapter, so please review and read the next chapter when it's up!

Ja ne,

Jessica