Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and its characters are created by Rumiko Takahashi, not me. I do not receive money of any type for my writing.

Confusion clouded Kagome's mind. Any type of memory that could help her remember where she was or how she got there was missing. The only thing she knew was that a damp darkness was encircling her. In a panic she tried to rise up to her feet, but found she had no motor functions. She wanted to scream, but her voice was paralyzed.

Voices, she could hear them faintly in the distance. At first she could not understand the words, but as the voices grew louder and closer the words became crystal clear. Each word pierced her body like a sharp razor to the skin.

"Clumsy"

"Worthless"

"Stupid"

"Ugly"

She could feel the evil choking her soul.

"Kagome!" A familiar voice yelled. A small shaft of light and warmth reached for her.

"Kagome, Wakeup!" The voice ordered.

Her soul shot from the depth of despair that had confined her and headed straight for the source of the voice. Her eyes flew open as she sucked in a deep breath. Rich golden eyes stared at her in relief and then flinched in pain.

"Sess…Oh my god what happen to your arm!" Kagome screamed just in time to watch his eyes roll up into his head and body fall to the side. She hastily moved to the oozing stump where his arm had been. She wasn't sure what she was going to do besides panic.

She ripped the sleeve off his outfit and almost puked at the mangled sight. She then quickly tied the clothes around his arm in order to slow the bleeding. The second her hand touched his flesh a jolt of energy shot from hand to the wound. She watched in wonder as the flesh started to knit together.

She had no idea how much time passed from the start of the process to the end. His arm was still missing, but the stump was covered with fresh flesh. She wished he would wake and tell her what had happened, but that would have to wait. Once Kagome was sure that Sesshomaru was no longer knocking at death's door she sat back on hunches to look at the world around them.

The grass was a lush green with small patches of wild flowers scattered about. Towering trees surrounded the open field Sesshomaru and she had been left. No roads, no houses, no…people. The only sounds she could hear were the singing of birds and humming of insects.

Her head was still cloudy and jumbled about the events the night before. She bit her lower lip as her thoughts turned to her missing friends. She scooted a little closer to Sesshomaru afraid that he might also disappear. She drew her knees up to her chest and rested her head on her knees. Her body trembled as tears slipped down her cheek.

A rustle in the bushes caught her attention. She looked up and wiped the tears from her face. Before her stood two children, a small emaciated and dirt covered girl and holding her hand was a boy with a large puffy tail and pointed ears. The girl looked frightened, but the boy looked as if he would attack at any second.

Kagome gave them a reassuring smile "Hello."

The girl returned the smile. "Hello"

"Rin, don't talk to her. She's a miko. Look what she did to that demon." Boy growled.

"No! I mean…This is a friend of mine and he was hurt. He's not a demon for real. Look I can pull his fake ears off." Kagome leaned over and tugged on an ear. When it did not come off easily she started to tug harder.

"Oh my god Shippo she is going to rip his ears off!" Rin screamed in terror.

Kagome looked wide eyed at the children and got her feet. "He…He is…"

Shippo tilted his head at the strange miko. "A demon."

"Yeah, He really is a …"

Kagome's mind was whirling with the new knowledge of her friend.

"Deeeemmmooon" Shipoo said slowly and moved closer to the miko.

"Wha…Wher…I…" Kagome mumbled running her fingers through her hair.

Rin looked to Shippo and he merely shrugged.

"We should help them." Rin whispered to her companion.

Shippo twitched his nose in thought. "I don't know. She seems a little crazy."

"Please, I mean even if she is nuts I don't want to leave that demon alone with her."

Shippo slumped in his shoulders in defeat. "Okay, but the second she starts to glow we take off. I can protect you from some humans, but this girl is powerful."

The children watched as Kagome walked in circles mumbling to herself about demons, parties and something about toothpaste. Rin silently crept over to the unconscious demon.

"Shippo, can you start a fire and get some water?" Rin asked.

Shippo nodded and started walking to the nearby stream. He was on his way back when he found a dead half demon attached to a tree. In an instant he dropped the bucket and rushed back to Rin. He burst through the clearing to find Rin talking to the miko whom seemed to have calmed down. In flash he had Rin far away from the woman.

"Shippo, what…" Rin went to ask, but he quickly cut her off.

"She is killer. I found a half demon stuck to a tree with an arrow!" Shippo shouted

Kagome looked dumbfounded and waved her hands in front of her face.

"Not me…I just woke up and found Sesshomaru. There must be some kind of mistake."

"Yeah, okay lady. So he just shoved a miko arrow into his chest and impaled himself to the tree." Shippo glared holding Rin closer to him.

"Would you all please be silent?" Sesshomaru asked opening his eyes to the loud chaos. He rolled his shoulder and looked down to the place where his arm had been. His other hand touched the stump to be sure he was not hallucinating. "My arm? What has happened to my arm?" Sesshomaru asked looking to the people him.

"I don't know…I really don't. I can not remember anything past walking into the dinning room at your home. Can't you remember anything?" Kagome asked.

Sesshomaru furrowed his brow. "I …Some kind of video. I can't remember."