The pale blue sky gradually turned orange, pink and then purple as the sleepy sun sunk behind the mountain range. Slowly the sky grew darker and the sun was no longer able to be seen. Kagome sat on the grass admiring the show that the sky had performed; she could feel the chilly air that the darkness brought.
"Boy its cold, maybe I shouldn't have just ran off." Kagome thought to herself. "Inuyasha, you're so cruel to me!" Kagome trailed off thinking about what had happened earlier. "Even though I love you, I can't seem to ever get you to love me back. You only see me as a friend, don't you?" Kagome sighed heavily, as she folded her knees up to her chin and rested her head.
Kagome had encountered Kikyo that morning; she was curious and asked the priestess where she was headed to. To Kagome's surprise Kikyo had told her without any hesitation. That night she told Inuyasha where the priestess was headed, seeing how sad he was out of fruitlessly searching for her. However, now the frosty Kagome regretted telling Inuyasha about Kikyo's intention. As soon as Kagome had told Inuyasha about Kikyo, he sped off after her, not even looking back. Kagome sobbed lightly, she was heartbroken that Inuyasha could be so careless to her own feelings after she had always worried so much about his.
Kagome ran away from camp soon after Inuyasha left, and came to this spot to simply cool off. Kagome gazed into the now twinkling sky, adorned with glittering stars. Once again she signed, lying down to get a better view of the night sky. "I wish Kikyo would just disappear." Kagome suddenly sat up and cupped her mouth in shock. "What on earth did I just say? How could I wish such a thing?" Kagome sat in disbelief at what she had said. "I don't hate Kikyo do I?" She thought to herself. "Do I?"
Kagome jumped in surprise as she heard soft footsteps coming towards her. A sudden surge of fear came over Kagome; she tensed in anticipation. "Kagome?" The voice said out of the shadows. Automatically Kagome's muscles relaxed recognizing the sound of the voice, a voice she had grown so familiar with.
"Sango!" Kagome watched as the demon slayer emerged from the shadows, with her demon fire-cat; Kirara.
"Kagome, are you alright? You look so pale." Sango walked closer to her friend, and rubbed her arms in order to get her near warm again.
"I'm sorry I just ran off on you guys, I just…just." Kagome began to sob once again.
"It's alright Kagome I know perfectly well why you left. I don't blame you; I would have done the same thing." Sango brought the sobbing Kagome in for a hug. "But remember this Kagome; if you need someone to talk too, you always have Miroku, Shippo and I. So don't go running off again okay? You're going to get sick!"
"Sango, is it OK if I just stay here for a little longer. I still just want to be alone."
"I understand Kagome, somehow I knew you were going to say that; so I brought a shawl…here." Kagome gladly accepted it and wrapped it securely around her shoulders, then watched as Sango and her pet vanished into the forest.
"Maybe a stroll would do me good, clear my head a little." Kagome surveyed the spot she had previously been sitting, then she started on her walk. She began to regret the decision as soon as she had entered the forest, for it was unusually dark. "I should have just stayed in the clearing." She sighed heavily but suddenly froze in absolute silence. "I swear I just heard something." Kagome's heart started to quicken its pace upon imagining what could be stalking her. "Haha…don't be stupid Kagome, this IS a forest. It must be an animal or something." Kagome tried to brighten her thoughts, but could not shake the feeling that she was being watched.
"Hello! H-Hello?! Is anyone there?" Kagome decided she was definitely going back to camp now. She turned around and ran as fast as she could. "Huff, huff, huff, huff…" Kagome jumped and dodged trees and sprinted through a muddy puddle which splattered all over her once clean uniform. She ignored what had happened and continued to sprint. Suddenly she tripped and fell face first on the ground. Lifting herself off the ground, she rubbed her sore nose. "Ouch! That really hurt." She glanced back and noticed a protruding tree root. "That's convenient." She stood up slowly, still rubbing her grazed face. "These are the times when Inuyasha comes in handy. It's so much easier when I'm on his back." Then Kagome suddenly froze, as she felt a cold hand on her neck. It tightened, causing a sharp pain in her neck.
"Don't think of running again, or I'll snap it." The voice said, coldly. Kagome obeyed and stood perfectly still although she couldn't help but tremble from fear.
"W-what do you want with me?" Kagome waited anxiously for the reply.
"I have overheard that you have come from the future, is this correct?" Kagome gulped.
"Y-yes that is true." Kagome wondered why one earth this demon (judging by his strength) wanted to know where she was from.
"I also understand you have an advanced knowledge of medicine."
"Well I don't know…"
"Do you or do you not?!"
"Y-yes I suppose." Kagome's neck started to ache from being held so tightly.
"You are coming with me then." The hold on her neck loosened slightly, but still held firm.
"W-wait, what for? A-and who are you anyway?"
"You ask far too many questions for my liking, do you want me to snap your neck?"
"Of course not, I just want to know what you need me for." Suddenly the demon let go of her neck. Causing Kagome to fall to the ground, she massaged her neck which throbbed in pain.
"Hurry up human! I will not be slowed down by your petty strength." Kagome looked up and saw who it was.
"S-sesshomaru? Kagome suddenly stood up in shock.
"Don't run; you know your demise if you do." Sesshomaru stared at her with a deathly glare.
"No, I wasn't planning on running, I was just…shocked." Kagome didn't really have a choice to run even if she wanted to. It was pitch black and she could hardly see a thing, what had started out to be a perfectly clear night had turned to a dark and cloud filled one. Not to mention demon's such a Sesshomaru happened to have excellent night vision, which did not help her situation either. Before she could evaluate her situation deeper Kagome was lifted off her feet and slung over the dog demon's broad shoulder. She gulped as she felt a lump form in her tightened throat. "This is not good, am I going to end up a human sacrifice? Maybe a hostage to get to Inuyasha…he won't come anyhow…he's too busy at the moment." Kagome sobered as she realized that she might not be rescued this time. "He won't come." Kagome found that the words spilled out on their own, not leaving her any time to think them out first. She said it more to herself than to Sesshomaru, who didn't even seem to hear her.
"I'm not after the mongrel." Sesshomaru's facial expression showed no emotion—unreadable.
"Then why?" Kagome started to fret, was she really going to be killed just for fun or maybe Sesshomaru was running an errand for Naraku. No response came from the stoic demon who kept his gaze forward. Kagome thought that she should let the question drop, he didn't seem pleased, not that he ever did. However to Kagome's utter surprise he responded.
"Because someone is in need of you." Sesshomaru fixated his cold, hard stare on something further down the way he was heading. Kagome began to worry even more by his sudden halt. "What is it?" Kagome felt a sweat drop trickle down her now moist forehead.
"Do not bother me; it will be your instant death that awaits you." Sesshomaru spoke to the dark shadows that crept around the forest floor.
"He--he—he—heh…" A cackling voice broke the perfect silence of the night.
"That doesn't sound good…" Kagome whimpered as Sesshomaru speedily moved forward. Without even unsheathing his mighty sword, he used his poisonous claws to slay whatever hid in the shadows.
"Amazing, he killed it without even breaking a sweat!" Kagome was in awe when she saw what had just been defeated. "A rat demon…disgusting."
"Fool." Sesshomaru continued walking in the direction he was headed beforehand, he didn't even look disturbed.
The moonlight played tricks with the shadows, making it look like they were being stalked by some hideous creature. Strangely Kagome didn't seem to be frightened by the shadowy figures; since she was being handled by one of the most powerful demons around, it's the hideous creatures that should be afraid. Kagome started to fret again. "Sango and the others will most probably be wondering where I am by now. This is bad, very bad."