Alara woke and groggily noticed that she was no longer in her bedroom in the present. In fact, she was no longer in the present at all. Recent events came back to her in a flash; she struggled to sit up, but her hands were chained to the wall. She tried to instead use her demon sense of smell and sound, but to her dismay found that she was no more that a human still. She uttered a soft curse. "Ah, so the young hanyou is awake." a female voice purred. "But what's this I see? No more than an ordinary mortal?" Alara looked over and saw that Kagura had entered the room. "What do you want, Kagura?" The wind sorceress smirked and said," I merely was sent to check on your conciseness, and, seeing as you are awake, I assume Naraku will be here shortly."
"You are correct, Kagura." Naraku walked in, followed by Kanna. "What do you want with me, Naraku?" Alara spat. "If you wanted to kill me, you would have done so already." Naraku gave a smile that sent chills down Alara's spine. He closed the distance between them and put his hand to her cheek. "You will help me destroy Inuyasha.," he said. "Never! You tried that before, and you failed miserably." Alara reminded Naraku and watched in satisfaction as his eyes grew hard with the reminder of that failure. It was almost worth the pain when he drew back his hand and slapped her across the face. Alara's cheek screamed with the pain, but she refused to show any outward emotion, setting her face in a mask not unlike that of her eldest brother Sesshomaru's. "Insolent wench." Naraku seemed to cool down and once again regained his composure. "There are so many ways of convincing a person."
"Kanna." The pale demon came forward. "Show this girl your mirror." Kanna walked towards Alara and turned her mirror over. Alara tried to resist, but the mirror's pull was like a magnet. "No!" The harsh cry ripped from her throat as she saw the first image the mirror had in store. Inuyasha lay on the ground, surrounded in a pool of blood. Tetsuiga was broken in half nearby. At his side, Kagome lay still, her brown eyes open and glassy; broken arrows littered the ground around her. Not too far away, Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kirara lay in a similar fashion. Alara watched in horror as Naraku bent down next to Kagome's body and plucked the jewel shards from around her neck. "Nooooooo!!!!!" Alara shut her eyes and screamed her fury and grief. She gritted her teeth and lunged at the mirror so furiously that she cut her wrists shallowly on the chains.
Naraku chuckled and said, "Enough for now. We'll see if she changes her mind..." Still chuckling, he walked out of the room, followed by Kagura and Kanna. Alara continued to lunge after them, cutting and bruising her arms, wrists, and ankles against the hard chains that bound them, until finally, she slumped exhausted against the stone wall, sobs racking her body till her mind collapsed into tortured sleep.
Inuyasha jerked up and looked around, breathing heavily, but all was normal in camp. He looked down from his perch in a tree, but all was quiet. He sat back and tried to control his frantically beating heart. He'd had the worst dream.
Flashback
He'd been running through a forest, calling out for Kagome, but he couldn't find her anywhere. He'd come upon a clearing in the trees, and to his horror had seen Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kirara all dead. Naraku had been holding Kagome up by her hair; she was screaming for help. Inuyasha tried to help her, but he was paralyzed. He reached for her, screamed her name, but she couldn't see or hear him. Naraku plucked the jewel shards from around Kagome's neck, and suddenly she turned into Alara. Naraku looked Inuyasha's way, then smiled slowly and evilly and slit Alara's throat.
End Flashback
Inuyasha shakily pushed a hand through his long silver hair. He watched as the sun rose over the eastern horizon, and blew a breath out in relief. Alara would momentarily be a hanyou again, and could pass back through the well. He leaned his back against the tree trunk and waited for the others to wake up.
A few hours later, the gang was walking down a grassy path when they heard a familiar moo. Looking up, they jumped aside just in time to avoid the lightning bolt that always came with Totosai's three-eyed cow. The cow landed right where they had just been standing, then ambled off to graze. The group was looking at it, sweat dropping, when they heard a familiar slap. They all turned to look at Inuyasha, who had a hand to his face. When he peeled it away, Myoga the flea floated downward in a spiraling motion, grumbling to himself.
"What do you want, Myoga?" asked Inuyasha. The old flea demon quit his grumbling and began jumping up and down on Inuyasha's shoulder. "My lord! I overcame many perilous adventures to-" "Spill it, flea." stated Inuyasha flatly. "Your sister, my lord! She's been kidnapped!"
Inuyasha grabbed the little flea and pulled him right up close to his face. "What! Who did it? When did this happen?" Myoga began to turn blue in the face and the hanyou loosened his hold. "It happened last night, my lord. Naraku paralyzed her somehow and then knocked her out without even touching her. He seeks to kill you, and I think he intends to use her as the bait!"
Inuyasha threw back his head and howled out his fury to the world, then he lowered his head and growled, his shoulders shaking in anger. Kagome put her hand on his shoulder and he turned around and looked at the rest of the gang. "I'm going to get her." he told them. He leapt into the air--only to be brought back down with an ear splitting "SIT!" When the spell had worn off, he got up and turned on Kagome. "What was that for?"
Kagome narrowed her eyes. "So, you're going after Alara, huh?" Inuyasha looked at her. "Of course! Why are you wasting my time?" Kagome nodded at Miroku, who picked up his staff, and Sango, who picked up Hirikotsu. They gathered around Kagome, who looked at Inuyasha again. "Fine. But we're going with you." "Count me in!" yelled Shippo, jumping on Kagome's shoulder. Kirara transformed with a small "Mew!" and looked at Inuyasha as if to say, "Well, what are you waiting for?"
Inuyasha looked at his friends and gave a rare smile. "Thanks, you guys." He bent down and Kagome ran and jumped on his back; Shippo, Sango, and Miroku mounted Kirara, and then both demon and half demon jumped into the air, heading towards Naraku's disgusting stronger-growing scent.
Unbeknownst to Inuyasha and the gang, the howl of fury Inuyasha had sent up had not fallen upon deaf ears. Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands, threw up his head when the faint howl reached his ears. He read the howl like a written note, and stood up from his desk immediately. "Jaken." The small annoying toad demon jumped and groveled at the inu youkai's feet. "Yes, m'lord?" "Ready Ah and Un. I'm going on a trip. You stay here with Rin." Jaken silently groaned. 'Rin! Oh, no...Why do you hate me, Lord Sesshomaru?' But he simply said, "Yes, m'lord."
Sesshomaru walked out of the room and down the hall. 'Hold on little sister.'
