Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Chapter Seven

Inuyasha and Kagome landed on the forest floor with a heavy grunt. Rolling on to his back, the young prince threw his arm over his eyes, trying to block out the nauseating swirling lights still bombarding his senses.

"What . . . the . . . hell. . ." he mumbled slowly while Kagome groaned and rolled onto her back as well. Feeling his arm start to go numb, Inuyasha lowered it, though he kept his eyes squeezed shut. He wasn't ready to focus on anything yet.

"I feel sick," Kagome moaned, clenching her stomach pitifully. Suddenly she bolted into a sitting position, taking only a moment to sway with nausea. "My tiara!" she gasped, fingers combing her tousled hair desperately, "The Sacred Jewel! It's gone!"

Finally, Inuyasha opened his eyes, glaring at his unfamiliar surroundings. "Yeah, and so are we." He pushed himself up so he was sitting as well and looked at the foreign wilderness all around him.

Kagome joined him in surveying their surroundings nervously. "What are you saying? You mean you don't know where we are?" she asked in disbelief. Her nervousness grew as Inuyasha shook his head. "How could you not know where we are?"

"Well, geez, Princess, it's not like I was able to choose where that bastard Naraku sent us!" Inuyasha snapped. He perched himself up in a crouched position, supporting his weight on his hands and feet and shook himself off like a wet dog. Kagome watched him in bemusement, remaining silent as he walked around in a small circle around her.

"What are you doing?" she asked after a moment.

"Trying to figure out a way out of here. Are you going to help or not?"

Kagome huffed and folded her arms. A week ago she would've thought that being alone with Inuyasha would have to be the most romantic thing in the world. Now he was the last person on earth she would want to be stranded with.

"Are you going to help a lady to her feet?" she shot back, staring up at the back of his head expectantly.

Growling under his breath, Inuyasha turned to face Kagome once more. "Now is not the time to act like a princess, Princess," he sneered, glaring down at her stubborn, seated form.

"Who said anything about acting like a princess?" Kagome responded coolly, with mock innocence. "I said I was a lady, which is what I always will be, lost in the woods or not."

For the umpteenth time since becoming more acquainted with the princess, Inuyasha rolled his eyes heaven-ward. Letting a few more curse words slip out, low enough she would not hear them, he shoved his hand in her face, palm up and waiting.

Sending him a victorious smile, Kagome accepted his hand and pulled herself to her feet, dusting off her ball gown daintily. After ensuring that the back of her gown showed no signs of terrible damage from her fall, she turned to face Inuyasha fully, taking a step back and frowning in befuddlement as she found him sitting once more. He slipped his boots and stockings off, stood once more and wiggled his toes in the soft dirt.

"I hate shoes," he explained gruffly. "Now come on. Let's get out of here."

He took her hand and led her down a pathway he deemed promising. Kagome looked at their linked hands and couldn't help but blush, disregarding the prince's present behavior. Her crush on him had survived his undesirable treatment of her for the past three days and it would appear that it would also survive being lost in some unknown forest with him.

"How are we going to get out of here when we don't really know where 'here' is?" she wondered, trying to keep her tone genuinely curious rather than accusatory.

"I think we're in the wilderness surrounding the Land of Yōkai," Inuyasha replied, keeping his eyes ahead of him.

"How can you be certain?"

"Why would Naraku bother to send us to some far off land when the Yōkai Forests are dangerous enough?" He looked back at her over his shoulder briefly, as if daring her to find further complaint with his reasoning.

Kagome glanced at the tall and oppressive trees engulfing them on all sides apprehensively. "I thought the Forests were uncharted," she muttered, her grip on Inuyasha's hand unconsciously tightening.

"They are."

Her free hand flew to grip his hand as well as she stared wide-eyed at the back of his head while he continued to lead them down his chosen path. "Then how do you know where you're going?" she demanded, her voice edging towards hysterics.

Sighing, Inuyasha stopped and turned to face her, taking in her scared expression and tense movements. He hadn't given a second though to traipsing through the woods, mostly because of his demon blood. There wasn't anything out here that he thought he couldn't fight. Kagome, on the other hand, had no way of defending herself and hadn't had a real opportunity to see a Yōkai's strength. She was completely unaware that she was in safe hands.

"I'm following my nose," he finally explained, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. He felt foolish for his efforts to try and comfort Kagome, having never done anything of the sort before and not having any idea if it was working or not.

Kagome looked at him for a moment, searching his hard, golden eyes with her terrified brown ones. She didn't fully understand what it meant for him to follow his nose, but she could tell he was trying to make her feel better at the same time.

Shaking his head as if to dismiss all comfort he would've offered her, Inuyasha turned back to the path, continuing to pull her along behind him. "I'm half-yōkai," he said brusquely, "I have better instincts than you humans. I'll get us out of here."

Kagome nodded, though with Inuyasha marching a step ahead of her, he didn't see it. "Okay," she finally whispered, having no choice but to accept his mediocre words of comfort. She kept both hands on his in a death-grip, trying to separate her focus between making sure she wasn't slowing him down and the underlying confidence his words to her held. He wasn't afraid of being in the Yōkai Forests. She tried to feed off his bravery as they marched along the pathway, the looming trees overhead only granting them snatches of moonlight to guide them.

After a while, Kagome's eyelids started feeling heavy. She opened her eyes wider, willing them to stay alert and focused. Ahead of her, Inuyasha showed no signs of slowing down as the night grew older, and his hand started pulling on hers as she subconsciously started dragging her feet. Still, he didn't turn around, remaining focused on their goal of getting out of these godforsaken woods. He only paused when debating a turn or fork in the path, his nose carefully sniffing out each turn before he'd choose one. Kagome opted for staring down at her feet, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other.

Soon, her mind was lost amid the monotony and she didn't see a tree root jutting up from the matted dirt-and-moss path beneath her feet and she tripped, a surprised squeal flying from her lips. Inuyasha wasn't faltered by her stumble, and their linked hands caused Kagome's arms to be wrenched slightly as they remained in their place while the rest of her fell. The jostle of his hand did alert Inuyasha, however, and finally he turned around, brows furrowed at her sitting crumpled in the dirt, her arms stretched above her head as she refused to relinquish her vice-like grip on his hand.

Blushing, Kagome used his hand to pull herself to her feet awkwardly, avoiding his gaze as she mumbled an apology.

"Are you alright?" he asked her, seeming surprised that she hadn't seen the tree root.

"I'm fine," Kagome insisted, her blush still hot. She took a step to prove it, only to let out another shocked squeal as she stumbled to the ground again. This time, Inuyasha caught her mid-fall, his free hand wrapped around her waist as she lifted her foot to inspect it.

"I cracked my heel," she bemoaned. Sure enough, her custom-made bejeweled slippers now sported a hefty crack through one of the heels, making her only pair of shoes unfit for walking. She turned back to Inuyasha, who still held her by the waist and her blush deepened at their proximity. Seeing her cheeks redden caused Inuyasha's to heat up as well and he pushed her to stand on her own, balancing her weight on the remaining good shoe.

"You'll have to go barefoot," he said, turning away from her and dropping her hand for the first time.

She glared at him incredulously. "Are you kidding me? I can't go barefoot! I'm not a yōkai like you, my feet will be hurt!"

Smirking slightly, Inuyasha squatted down at her feet and grabbed for her ankle before she could protest further. He slipped both of her shoes off, standing back up and tossing the useless slippers away. "It has nothing to do with being yōkai or human," he taunted, "It has to do with how pampered you are, Princess." There was a sneering emphasis on the last word as he addressed her. "Now let's go. I don't want to stop for the night yet." Turning his back on her again, Inuyasha resumed their way down the path.

"Wait!" Kagome called after him indignantly, standing with one foot on the other as she did her best to avoid all the thorns, sticks, and rocks in the path. Inuyasha turned, irritated to see that she hadn't moved from the place where she'd tripped.

"What?" Inuyasha called back, foregoing sympathy in light of his impatience. "I said let's go, Princess."

Frowning, Kagome reluctantly stepped towards him, tiptoeing around all debris in the path. Inuyasha sighed heavily, realizing that her insisted way of walking barefoot was going to slow them down severely. He reached his hand out for her, snatching her by the wrist and pulling her towards him.

"Here," he grumbled, once again squatting down, this time with his back towards her. "Get on my back. I don't want to wait for you if that's how you're going to walk."

Kagome huffed, eyeing his position warily. The last time she rode on someone's back she had been a little girl, and was significantly smaller. Now, she was only a few inches shorter than Inuyasha. There was no way she would be able to be comfortably supported on his back.

"Are you sure having me on your back won't slow you down?" she asked, mulling over her hesitation for a moment more.

"No more than you already are," Inuyasha mumbled disgruntledly. "Just get on. You'll be fine."

Running out of objections, Kagome had no choice but to obey. Gathering her dress up to her knees, she carefully placed a leg on either side of Inuyasha's back, sliding them between his waiting arms. Slowly, she lowered herself till her chest rested against his back and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, biting her bottom lip as she waited for him to stand. To her great surprise, he stood effortlessly, his arms wrapped around her shins as he supported her. Also surprising was how comfortable riding on his back already proved to be, and she subconsciously tightened her grip around his shoulders, settling into his back.

"Any more complaints, Princess?" Inuyasha asked mockingly as he continued walking his chosen course.

"No," Kagome responded mildly, turning her head and using his long silvery hair as a pillow. Inuyasha was a little unnerved at her response, expecting a biting remark only to be answered with a pleasant sigh. Was she enjoying this? His blush returned full-force as he thought this, trying not to focus on how much her smell increased with her proximity. They were both covered with a thin layer of sweat and dirt from stomping around in the forest, yet Inuyasha still thought that Kagome smelled fantastic. He cursed his heightened senses silently, growing redder still as he heard the princess give another sweet sigh.

Choosing to focus all of his efforts on just trying to find a way out of Yōkai Forests, Inuyasha marched down the path, momentarily stalling once in a while so he could sniff the air, making sure they were still headed where they wanted to go.

After a while, even Inuyasha's eyes started to droop. He could tell by Kagome's deep and rhythmic breathing that she had fallen asleep long ago, comfortably perched atop his back. Searching around, he finally found a tree he thought they could both sleep aloft on its branches.

He gave the sleeping princess a small jostle. "Hey," he said, trying to nudge her face with his shoulder. "Wake up, Princess. I think I found a place for us to sleep."

"Hmm?" Her voice was slurred and heavy with fatigue as she slowly pulled herself from slumber. "Sleep?"

"Yeah. I'm not going to walk around all night. Not if I have to carry your weight as well." Inuyasha was passed all pretenses of comfort now. He just wanted to sleep. "Hold on tight, Princess."

"Hold on?" Kagome was still too tired to keep up with him fully. "Hold on to what?"

Instead of answering, Inuyasha took a brief moment to steady himself, then launched himself and Kagome up to the closest tree branch. Too surprised and scared to scream, Kagome let out a strangled gasp and tightened her arms around his neck as he jumped. He continued to leap from branch to branch until he found one strong enough to support both their weights.

Loosening his grip around her calves, Inuyasha gestured to Kagome to climb off his back. She didn't budge, her arms almost choking him and her knees digging into his sides.

"Hey," he said pointedly, letting go of one of her legs completely to tug at her arms. "Come on, Princess, let go of me already!"

Finally, she loosened her grip, climbing off him shakily. "What the hell was that?" she demanded, her voice quivering far too much to sound intimidating. Inuyasha wondered briefly if that was the first time he'd ever heard her swear.

"What?" he shrugged in defense. "Did you want to climb all the way up here? My way was faster."

Kagome slowly crouched down on her knees, hands splayed and grabbing at the gnarled tree bark. Inuyasha watched her with some level of annoyance and amusement as she inched her way along the branch to be closer to the trunk.

"Why do we have to sleep in a tree?" Kagome asked incredulously.

Inuyasha widened his eyes, playing along with her incredulity. "Do you want to sleep on the forest floor? With all the spider and centipede yōkai crawling over you?"

Kagome winced, though she still seemed to take the matter into debate. "What if we started a fire?" she pleaded, curling into a tighter ball as she hugged the trunk of the tree.

Shaking his head, Inuyasha leapt deftly to an adjacent, equally as thick tree branch. He settled into the nook created by where the branch jutted out from the trunk. "No can do," he informed her flatly. "It's too late now and hardly worth the effort and time."

The princess let out a small whine of indignation as she watched the prince adjust his position one final time before letting his eyes slide shut.

"Well fine," she muttered, more to herself than the prince. "But I'm still not sleeping in some stupid tree. I'll gather my own wood and make my own fire. I mean, how hard can it be?" She took a moment, gathering a few scraps of courage and judged the branches, trying to find a suitable one to climb down to.

Inuyasha listened to her struggle as she clumsily made her way branch to branch, though he didn't bother opening his eyes. "What are you doing, Princess?" he called down to her, inwardly groaning at her stubbornness.

"What does it look like, Prince?" she shot back, grimacing as she scraped her bare foot roughly across some loose bark. "I'm not sleeping in this tree." She muttered another curse under her breath as she slipped again.

Opening his eyes, Inuyasha smirked as he peered down below him. Kagome was only three or four branches underneath him, her progress painfully slow and awkward as she fought to keep her dress from tearing. She had it bunched up to her knees and held in one of her hands, her progress further impeded as she tried to utilize one hand for both holding and climbing. She slipped again, this time almost falling as her preoccupied hand failed to grab hold of the tree properly.

"Princess!" Inuyasha called out, sitting up at full alert. "You're going to fall at the rate you're going!"

"No, I'm not!" Kagome shouted back insistently, though her voice was not as convincing. She held perfectly still for a while, not daring to move a muscle. Her limbs ached in protest as she debated her next move.

"Princess," Inuyasha warned again, taking in her shaking arms with some measure of doubt.

"I'm fine!" she insisted, inching her foot off of one branch as she prepared to lower herself down to the next tree limb. With all her weight being held by her arms and one leg, her body shook all the more with her effort to be slow and methodical.

Suddenly, her planted foot slipped, the gnarled bark scratching painfully across the ball of her foot as she lost all hold on the tree. Wheeling her arms desperately, Kagome screamed as her stomach flew into her throat, plummeting backwards from the trunk.

Something hard hit her on the back and legs and Kagome winced in mid-scream, fearing bruises and broken bones. Then came the impact of hitting the unforgiving forest floor. The sticks and rocks crunched against each other loudly as the impact came, the startling noise a promise of the pain they would surely inflict, though strangely enough, Kagome felt no jabbing debris cutting into her back. As a matter of fact, she rather felt like she was suspended in mid-air.

Cracking open one eye, she snooped about, peering to her left only to be faced with a wall of red. She opened her eyes fully, a blush coming to her cheeks as she realized she was being held bridal-style in Inuyasha's arms. He'd saved her from a nasty end to a stomach-churning fall.

The prince let her legs fall rather abruptly, his hold on her shoulders the only thing keeping her from tumbling to the ground for real. He fed her a look of pure irritation and dissatisfaction.

"I told you, Princess," he scolded gruffly, both hands coming to grip her shoulders roughly. "Why do you have to make everything so difficult?"

Kagome frowned, her euphoric blush quickly fading away. "I'm sorry," she apologized disdainfully. "I can see it was a huge inconvenience for you to save me!" She tried to push him away, but his claws bit into her skin, cementing his place.

"Yeah, it was," Inuyasha continued, "I found you a perfectly good place to spend the night and you have to go mess it up by being prissy."

"Excuse me, how is sleeping in a tree a good place to spend the night?" Kagome retorted hotly.

"Look, Princess, I'm doing my best here, the least you could do is stop being so damn stubborn all the time!"

Kagome's eyes widened dubiously. "Oh, I'm being stubborn? Because of course you're not being difficult at all!"

"Hey!" Inuyasha snapped, "At least I'm letting you tag along while I figure a way out of here. Keep testing me and I may just leave you behind."

Laughing bitterly to call his bluff, Kagome got nose-to-nose with him, bravely holding his glare with a steely-eyed stare of her own. "Oh, please do, my Prince. I dare you."

Inuyasha huffed in indignation, their faces close enough that his breath fluttered her bangs slightly. Still, she didn't back down, studying him intently, trying to calculate his next move before he made it.

A low growl hissed between his clenched fangs. "One of these days, Princess. . ." The threat was empty and they both knew it, but it did little to dispel the tense air between them.

Feeling victorious, Kagome smirked, her hands fisting in his red ceremonial robes. "Oh, come on, Prince," she egged him on, "What're you going to do?" Her mirth was tangible as a winning giggle spilled from her lips.