A/N: This story is being written in bits and pieces, using the various prompts at the Livejournal writing contest groups as writing aides. Therefore, some of these scenes might look familiar if you happen to haunt LJ as well. ;) Thanks to a_big_apple and bob_fish for making sure I didn't mess things up too badly.

Warm, blinding-white light surrounded her. She couldn't see anything in it. She couldn't hear anything apart from her own heart pounding in her ears. She was … floating? She couldn't feel the ground beneath her feet. What was going on? Was this a dream? This place was so very empty - but there was warmth and light. It was peaceful almost, though something in the recesses of her consciousness kept screaming that this was no time to relax. What should I do?

When she dropped down to the barren ground from that warm space between worlds, she knew she wasn't dreaming. No, she remembered, this was more like a nightmare. I was inside the Jewel. "The Jewel," she murmured, instinctively closing her fist around nothing, as if she were still holding it. The Jewel is gone. She blinked and tried to focus, to bring herself back from it all.

She was standing in a wasteland.

Where there had once been dense forest, there was now nothing but dust and crumbling decay. Naraku's miasma had obliterated everything in its reach, the air still heavy with the tang of poison. Thank the gods that Sesshoumaru attacked when he did, that Naraku never made it to the village. Still, Kagome was saddened by the loss of life: tree, animal and demon alike. But it's over now, at least. Naraku and the Jewel are gone. Why wasn't she more relieved by this?

Because something's not right. But what?

Slowly, she stood and surveyed the clearing. Her friends were easy to spot against the dull background, beacons of violet and green and pink, but what her eyes were drawn to most was the bright crimson of fire rat fur: Inuyasha. No.

Naraku was falling fast. Giant orbs of concentrated miasma plummeted from his crumbling body, slamming into the earth and burning everything it touched with its acid. They were running, Kagome clinging to Inuyasha's back as he surged forward. There wasn't enough time to turn around and attack: they had to keep ahead of Naraku if they wanted to stay alive.

Naraku's bulk crashed down, the force of the impact nearly costing Inuyasha his footing. He skidded to a stop and turned to face the dying spider, Tetsusaiga at the ready. Kagome stood next to him and drew another arrow, but she was too late. With the last of his strength, Naraku had shot more of his miasma straight for them - but that wasn't all.

Inuyasha was hurt. He was hurt. Fear coursed icily through Kagome as she rushed over to where he lay sprawled on his back. The poison in his gaping wound was so acrid it stung even her human nose. She needed to stop the bleeding. Blood seemed to be coming from everywhere. The wound was in his belly - and it was big. She could see his organs moving as he winced. The small handkerchief she had would be a joke.

Kagome loosed her arrow scant moments before the miasma struck. It burned a bright path straight through the poison cloud, then disappeared. At that same moment, a monstrous spider leg lunged, curved and barbed - and ran Inuyasha straight through his stomach.

Inuyasha screamed. Kagome screamed. Poison gas shimmered in the air around them, and then everything was lit with the ethereal glow of spiritual energy as Kagome's arrow reappeared and pierced the Jewel of Four Souls. Naraku cried out, and as the last pieces of the spider's body crumbled to dust, his dying laughs echoed through the clearing.

Then Kagome's whole world went black.

Help! She needed help! Miroku and Sango were clear across the dead-land, frantically clinging to and inspecting one another. Shippo stood next to Kagome, offering his vest to her with tears pouring from his large eyes. The vest was far too small to plug the hole in Inuyasha's chest, and truthfully she was almost afraid to even try given the extent of the wound. Her hands were shaking, and she settled for dabbing the sweat from his brow with her handkerchief. She didn't have her First Aid kit with her: it was in her bag, which had been abandoned somewhere at the start of battle. She didn't think she could find it in this state anyway. She knew she was panicking, but she couldn't stop herself. Inuyasha needs help.

She looked up and desperately hoped her head would clear enough for her to do something, anything. She saw Sesshoumaru standing on the spot where Naraku had been, simply looking down at the ground beneath him. Sesshoumaru!

Scrambling to her feet, Kagome ran straight for him. She realized she was screaming, but he didn't seem to hear her. He didn't even look at her until she grabbed his coat by the sleeves.

"Sesshoumaru! We need your help! Inuyasha's hurt, and he needs treatment; we need to get him back to Kaede right away. Please, Sesshoumaru, we need you to take him-"

He glanced at her hands smearing blood on his sleeves, a gruesome and messy contrast to the crisp red of sakura blossoms. It was a terrible time to notice that this was the first she'd ever seen anything mar his clothing. She tugged him forward as if to lead him, her tears falling freely now. She couldn't even understand her own words anymore - but he followed.

She let go and ran back to Inuyasha, once again trying and failing to find a place to begin treating the wound. Sesshoumaru leaned forward and scented the air, grimacing. "He won't last much longer."

"How can you say that? He has to make it. He has to be fine … he always gets better. Always."

Seshoumaru raised an eyebrow, as if daring her to further contradict his assessment.

"Please! I need to get him back to the village, the one by the Bone Eater's Well. Kaede can help him, but he needs to get there quickly!"

Sesshoumaru canted his head to the side and studied her face for a moment, then he looked back to his half-brother on the ground next to her. With one last glance at Kagome, he scooped Inuyasha into his arms, then enveloped them both in a ball of youkai light.

Then they were gone.

She wasn't sure how long she stood there, staring off into the distance after them, but eventually she heard Shippo crying and came to focus. He's worried. I'm worried. Kagome took one last look at her friends from across the clearing: they appeared whole, alive. She could see to them later. Right now, Inuyasha needed her, and she needed to get to him.

"Shippo! I've got to go help Inuyasha. Go see if Sango or Miroku need any help!"

Then she took off running, hoping she could make it in time.