"Ugh...." InuYasha cursed darkly to himself as he regained his senses. "What did you do that for?"
No reply. Only then did he realized that Kikyou was lying unconscious beside him, and that they were in some shallow underground pool of some sort. Freezing water trickled down InuYasha's hair, soaking into his shirt. Naturally, it would feel refreshing on summer, but now in the winter, this was far from refreshing. He growled slightly again and lifted himself up, shaking the excess water from his shirt. He gave a scornful look down at the unmoving figure, before deciding to carry her on his back towards a dry spot. Besides, he was not the kind that would take advantage and steal the jewel when the protector was unconscious.
Plop. Plop. Slush. Pop.
InuYasha stopped. Was it his imagination that he heard other sounds aside from the dripping water? It was hard to tell in this echoing cavern.
He toiled awhile in the water before he heard the same sound again. This time, it sounded closer than before, almost right behind him. He whirled around but saw nothing (if anyone can see anything at all in the darkness, but that's beside the point). His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the whole pool, searching for signs of living organisms; but only water met his eyes.
Wasting no time, he found a dry spot by the pool and settle down. Kikyou's body felt comfortably warm on his back, and he caught a whiff of her scent. Aside from the smell of the demons' blood that Kikyou had slain, there was something else: something sweet and fragrant underneath. And InuYasha liked that smell. It made him calm and cozy despite the water that continued to drip from his body. He laid Kikyou down by the floor and studied her face. It was the first time he was ever so close to this priestess, and it was also the first time he noticed that Kikyou was strikingly beautiful. Her pale skin seems to glow by itself, and her long hair...
InuYasha slapped himself of the face. What was he thinking? She was his nemesis, she had hold of the object that could free his life from discriminations, and further most, she hated him. Or did she? Several times she almost claimed his life, but every time she would stop and leave him be. And somehow though, when he search himself, he felt no hatred for this woman. She was merely an obstacle in his eyes.
When InuYasha looked back at Kikyou's face again, he found the priestess's hazel eyes gazing back directly at him. He almost jumped out of his skin in surprise. The priestess pulled herself in a sitting position.
"Did you carry me here from the pool?" Kikyou asked as she shook her sleeves dry.
Unwilling to show any type of soft spot, InuYasha only made a scoff at the question and turned away from the priestess. Kikyou took this as a sign of rejection to a conversation and stood up, facing the shallow pond and tilted her head slightly back at InuYasha, a silent invitation for him to follow her. At that, InuYasha turned on his heels and stalked off in the opposite direction, indicating that he will have no more to do with the priestess at this point on. With that, the both of them reached a silent conclusion and each walked off in their own desired direction.
* * *
The dearth of any demonic scent, much less living signs were starting to unnerve Kikyou. More hours had passed by from endless searching, but nothing odd had popped out. On the other hand, the inevitable anchor of sleep had started to drop on her eyelids, and she found herself doing periodical pauses to rub her eyes.
The she stopped abruptly. She heard that soft, but unmistakable sound of "slush" amidst the endless dripping water.
Kikyou peered into the looming darkness, she was sure that that is the source of the queer sound. Her initial response was to deftly notch an arrow onto her bow and pull the string taut, aiming at the darkness. But after a certain time lapse, the muscles in her right hand complained, and she had to relax her stance. Again, the slush came as if it had noticed that she was not guarded. This time, it resounded around the whole tunnel and she was unable to pinpoint that source of it. Arrow flew to the bow and the string was pulled taut. Kikyou's brown eyes surveyed the darkness before her but spotted nothing.
Slush. The sound definitely came from behind this time. The priestess whirled around to confront a large shadow. It moved at lightning speed and in a flash, it's knuckles connect with Kikyou's stomach and her breath was ripped away. Before consciousness fade away, she felt herself flying off a distance and her head hitting the rock wall behind her.
* * *
"Keh, she might as well say a thank you." grumbled a rather pissed off hanyou. For some reason, he had been particularly sensitive about the point that Kikyou did not even show the tiniest fleck of gratitude. He cursed himself for even bothering to help her to shore, he might as well let the bitch drown. Then again, there's one part of him that seems to be relieved that she was safe for the time being. "Blast it!"
As much as he hate to admit, InuYasha found himself lost in the endless cave. He had used up all means of finding a way out, his incredible hearing and smelling senses having failed him. This cave is absolutely peculiar. Never had InuYasha been to a place that is so devoid of life, smell and just about everything!
Just when he was about to give up and turn back, he saw right before him, just around the corner, a snip of blue light. Heck, at least that's something. InuYasha picked up his pace and turned the corner to behold...