OoO SIB: Chapter 1: Awakening OoO

"Kagome, you need to get some rest," Sango gently admonished, laying her hand on Kagome's tense shoulder.

Kagome seemed not to have heard or felt her. She just continued gazing intently at Inuyasha's sleeping face, kneeling next to him and willing him to open his beautiful amber eyes. She needed to see his eyes, to know that he was ok. He could even yell at her for being so stupid as to stand up like an idiot and expose herself to the demon. As long as he was all right.

"Kagome…" Sango sighed, shaking her head sadly, bowing her head and moving away.

The poor girl. She nearly gave them all a heart attack when she screamed bloody murder last night. Yeah, Inuyasha had looked bad, but he was a half demon, and his injuries were only flesh wounds. He'd heal. Kagome, however, apparently didn't think so. She had clutched at his unconscious body and absolutely would not let go. She hadn't eaten or slept any since then, either, and Sango was beginning to worry for her health; they'd all been tired before, but getting attacked last night had utterly exhausted them, and to boot, the night of the new moon was of all nights, tonight, and quickly coming.

Kagome's hair was in total disarray. Her clothes were a little muddy from falling onto the ground, and in some places, there was some of Inuyasha's blood. Her lip was bleeding, too, from nibbling at it in her absent-mindedness.

And now, it was mid-afternoon. The sky was cloudy, and the trees made it shadier and colder than it normally should have been. Yesterday, it'd been a little chilly, but not unbearable. Today, however, it was downright freezing. There was a sharp, clean chill to the air, one that almost took the breath right out of your lungs. The wind didn't help this at all, either. Already, Miroku and Kilala had left to go and get kindling and logs for a fire, and with night approaching, it wasn't going to get any warmer.

As if hearing Sango's thoughts, they appeared and watched as Sango tried to pry Kagome away from Inuyasha again so she could at the very least warm herself up. Poor little Shippo looked miserable, too. His mother figure was ignoring him, and even though he knew it was because she was worried about his father figure, he still was upset that she didn't comfort him as well. He was worried about Inuyasha, too, you know!

"Miroku, could you hand me that extra blanket?" Sango asked as she stood up, sighing in defeat.

"Of course," he replied.

Walking over, he gave the blanket to Sango, letting his hand touch hers in a calming gesture. Startled, she looked in his eyes and saw that he was worried about his friends, but also about her. She smiled encouragingly, as if to comfort him back. She then draped the blanket around Kagome's unmoving shoulders, tucking it around her shoulders and under her folded, bare legs to keep her a little warmer.

"Thank you, Sango," Kagome quietly acknowledged.

All Sango did was nod in understanding.

Rotating her neck to relieve a kink, she walked back over with Miroku and sat next to him. For a long while, no one said anything. All that was heard was the every now and then crackle of the wood in the fire, or a silent, depressed sigh from Kagome.

It didn't last long.

Unable to stand it anymore, Shippo hopped over to Kagome and crawled onto her lap, curling up and hugging her stomach. Startled, she looked down and saw that Shippo was gazing up at her with sadness and hope shining in his adorable emerald eyes. She blinked, and then gave him a tiny smile and caressed his hair.

"Hey Shippo. You cold?" She asked, stroking his brilliant red hair.

He shook his head. "Not really. I just wanted to see you. You're not acting like yourself, Kagome."

She looked away, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry. It's just… I'm worried about Inuyasha."

"You don't have to be, Kagome. He's the strongest demon in the world, nothing can harm him!" Shippo declared firmly, sitting up and puffing out his chest. "He'll wake up soon, and then see how upset and worried you are, and then yell at you for worrying over nothing!" And then as an afterthought, he added, "And then he'll probably beat me after I yell at him for making you worry!"

She smiled for the first time since Inuyasha passed out. "Yeah, I can see him now! 'Wench, quit your babbling! I'm fine, and always will be, remember that! Keh, you idiot! You think a weak waste of bones like that could harm me? No way! And you, you twerp,'" She tickled her kit, "'shut your yap!'" She mimicked. Her smile vanished, but her eyes still shone with amusement. "You're right, Shippo, thank you."

"Keh, don't worry about it," He gruffly replied as he looked away.

Kagome's heart skipped a beat, and she grinned. He sounded so much like Inuyasha, and it was adorable! He must be rubbing off on him.

From his position across from them, Miroku could hear Kagome and Shippo talking, and he was relieved. At least now she was focusing on something else other than Inuyasha's condition, if only for a little bit. He looked at Sango and saw that she was feeling about how he was, too: exhausted and worried, but glad Kagome wasn't doting on Inuyasha any longer.

However, he still couldn't forget the way he'd felt when he looked at Inuyasha's body last night. His gut had clenched, and he had had the ominous feeling that something was terribly wrong, and he had the sneaking suspicion that Kagome had felt the exact same way, which was why she was worrying so much. Just how virulent was that liquid, and what was it's purpose? The scorpion's blood had been acidic, but the crap it shot out of its mouth hadn't really eaten away Inuyasha's facial skin. The cuts that were bleeding had already been there. Did that mean that it was another type of attack, or was there something more to it?

Well, in any case, we won't know anything for sure until Inuyasha wakes up, which will more than likely be soon; no way would he stay unconscious on the night of the new moon. Hell, the only reason we're this far North in the first place was because Kagome had sensed a whole bunch of jewel shards traveling this way. Damn you to Hell, Naraku, for putting us in this predicament!

As if on cue, Kagome squealed and Shippo cried out, "See, Kagome?! I told you!"

"Inuyasha!" She happily cried, jumping up and dancing with Shippo.

Standing, both Sango and Miroku ran around the welcoming fire and kneeled down across from Kagome, looking down at Inuyasha, who'd just coughed and was now scrunching his face up as if in pain.

"Inuyasha, you're awake!" Kagome cried, bending down to hug him.

Ba-dump!

Something's wrong…

Kagome abruptly stopped before she'd even touched him, holding him at arms length, staring intently at his face as he sat up, his head still bent. He had yet to open his eyes. Her priestess powers had just spiked throughout her body, and a great sense of foreboding was permeating her senses.

Miroku watched with growing unease; although much weaker than Kagome's, his own spiritual powers were making him uneasy. Why wasn't he opening his eyes? Why was he being so silent? Why didn't he do or say anything?

Inuyasha cleared his throat and rubbed his eyes with a clawed hand. "What the hell…" he mumbled groggily. The last thing he remembered was seeing the scorpion about to shoot some bad looking shit at his woman and kit and rushing to block the attack. After that, nothing.

Going rigid, he asked, "Kagome? Where's Kagome?"

Frowning, Kagome smiled uncertainly. "Inuyasha-"

His head swiveled in her direction and he opened his eyes.

"—I'm…right here, don't you see me?"

Kagome's heart leapt up into her throat. He was looking right at her, but something was wrong, missing. He was looking…through her, as if he didn't see her. His eyes were almost completely blank. Only a small sparkle was left, it seemed. Kagome felt her heart rate increase, and her breathing become almost labored.

Oh, please, no! Don't do this to him!

What the fuck was going on? Her voice was right in front of him, but all he saw was a disfigured, bright, almost blinding white blur. If it weren't for his nose telling him that Kagome was only a foot away from his face, he wouldn't have known she was even there.

Alarm bells went off inside Miroku's head. What's wrong? Why are you acting like that? Come on, now, stop messing around...

Sango gasped quietly, putting a shocked hand up to her mouth. This can't be; it's impossible! No way in hell is he-!

"Kagome, what's wrong with Inuyasha?" Shippo asked, looking at the shocked faces of everyone around him. He couldn't understand why everyone had such a horrified and stunned look on his or her face; Inuyasha was awake, and things were going to go back to normal now. Why were they acting so weird?

Kagome opened and closed her mouth, then opened it again. "Shippo, why don't you go and…and color me a pretty picture, ok? We need to talk about grown up stuff for a while."

Ok, now he knew something was wrong. However, he was an obedient child, and since he loved Kagome so much, he obeyed her wishes and reluctantly left the comfort of her lap to go color that picture at a respectable distance away, giving the adults plenty of privacy. And if he happened to hear anything because of his demonic ears, well, that was his problem!

Inuyasha blinked his eyes a few times and looked around. Everything was so…black. When he heard Sango gasp, he glanced in her direction and was surprised when he saw two more blurs, one a deep pink color, the other almost blending in with the black because it was such a dark purple.

His eyes widened. Those aren't Sango and Miroku…are they?

When Kagome told Shippo to get lost, Inuyasha turned the other way and saw a small, dark orange blur glide away until it eventually disappeared. Holy shit! And that's Shippo! What the fuck is going on?

"Kagome, what happened? Why can't I see you guys very clearly? And what the hell happened after I lost consciousness?"

"Oh, Inuyasha…" Kagome whispered, tears gathering in her eyes. She was about to respond when Inuyasha suddenly sucked in his breath and scowled.

He felt his claws detract into his fingers, his fangs shrink back to human length, and the proud, noble blood of his father seep out of his body. As this happened, the blurs began fading into the blackness that surrounded them, until only the brightest one was left. Even then, though, this blur was beginning to fade.

Kagome saw him begin his transformation and looked up. There was no moon, and the sun had just dipped below the tree line. Where had the time gone? It was nighttime already?

When she returned her gaze to Inuyasha, she watched, transfixed. His eyes were the last to change, and when the gold faded away into violet, the light went completely out, like someone had blown out a candle.

Finally, the brightest blur was gone; everything around him was dark. And now that his nose and ears were just about completely useless to him, the only other senses that seemed to be working all right were his taste and sense of feel and touch. He was too shocked to say anything, but he raised a hand and gently cupped Kagome's cheek, if only to know that she was still there with him.

She closed her eyes and let the tears roll down her cheeks and onto Inuyasha's hand as she grasped his hand next to her face.

Well, isn't this peachy? Inuyasha bitterly thought. I'm fucking blind.

OoO

Duh-dh-DUUUN!

Sorry, I just felt that was appropriate there! Anyway, please review, even if you didn't like it, more to come soon hopefully.

Don't forget to check out my one-shots and my other ongoing story, CCTI. Thank you!

Keruseyu32691