Chapter 5 Tails?

Kagome barely remembered the sensation of falling and the surreal vision of dirt, rocks and grass tumbling down around her. Then the top of the cave collapsed back down. She thought it was going to fill in the hole and crush her. Then, darkness and pain swallowed her.

So, here she lay. Face down on top of a boulder. Her legs trapped by other boulders and dirt. Apparently, the layer of rock that formed the roof had only caved in enough to close up the hole and left them with a bit of room to breath. Sesshomaru had fallen in also and seemed to be in as bad a shape as she was. If he were healthy, he would have surely torn out of this confinement before the dust had settled.

So, where did that leave her? She took inventory of what she could. First priority; get that damn rock out from under her ribs! She shifted her upper body up onto her elbows, ignored the scream of pain through her bruised back and neck, and then pushed up with one arm enough to swipe the offending pebble out from under her. As she rested back down, she sighed in relief.

Next order of business was to see if she could free herself. If not, then she would have to wait for Inuyasha to find them, or wait until Sesshomaru was healed. She grabbed for her backpack, and with all the remaining strength in her uninjured hand, she dragged it up onto the rock she occupied. It was hard to lie face down on the rock and reach up into the bag, but she managed, even though it started a dull muscle ache in her shoulder.

Finding her trusty long-life, shock-resistant flashlight, she twisted around at the waist, and shined the beam towards her legs. It shocked her to see a torso growing out of a solid wall. She couldn't tell if her legs were bleeding, or even still attached for that matter. The rocks and dirt had completely filled in to cover her lower half. She stopped before she panicked again and reminded herself that she could feel pain and cold in her legs. That must be a good sign that they were at least still there. Right? So, she tried to wiggle anything below the waist. Her reward was increased pain and no movement of the wall.

Ok, so she couldn't get herself out. Someone else would have to dig. So, she turned to inspect the closest "someone" to her. She shined the flashlight on Sesshomaru's form, being extra careful not to shine the powerful beam in his sensitive eyes.

His clothes were shredded, most likely from deflecting the blast after her bow imploded. Blood seeped out every where she looked. Even his hair looked shredded and was stained pink. His armor was completely gone. His only remaining arm seemed to be twisted at an awkward angle. Was his arm broken? She could tell from the lack of reflection that his eyes were closed, and he appeared to be sleeping comfortably wrapped in his big, no longer white, fuzzy shoulder thing. If his eyes were open, would they reflect green like a cat's did at night?

Her mind drifted to what the fuzzy thing was. She once fancied it as his tail. But when she saw him transform in the Great Dog General's tomb, he had that same extra fluff running over his shoulders. It looked like the mane of a lion, almost.

She knew it must be attached, because she had seen him use it to strangle Inuyasha once. Her dazed mind half wondered, 'If Koga who's a full demon has a tail, and Shippo who's a full demon has a tail, does that mean Sesshomaru has a tail? And why doesn't Inuyasha have a tail when he transforms?' She pictured Sesshomaru with a white, bushy tail wagging behind him as he squared off against Inuyasha in battle. A half smile broke out on her face. Then, she pictured Inuyasha with a stiff, bristly tail like an angry cat as he was drawing his sword on the other side of the battle field. A half snort escaped her at the strange image her mind created.