Readers,

I am the worst author. The end. I have a bunch of excuses as to why this wasnt posted earlier, but I would rather not bore you. Just know that if anyone has still stuck with this story I love them forever. Also, anyone reading for the first time, much love to you too.

Amy

Dreams of Memories

Chapter Eleven: Splintering

My tears had finally dried up.

I pulled my self together and sat up gingerly, making sure there were no low hanging stalactites first. Right now was not the time to fall apart.

I felt hollow, and completely hopeless. I didn't like it. I had been becoming happy before. I guess there was truth in that saying; ignorance was bliss. But now was not the time to dwell on things that couldn't be changed now. I had to get out of there somehow, and I couldn't count on anyone to rescue me but myself. So I began to think.

I could not use the drain. And I could be sure that Naraku had reinforced any other weak spots in the cave. I wasn't foolish enough to try the same way twice.

Then it hit me. If I had been at the door how had Naraku gotten in? I'd heard his steps…

Maybe….maybe there was another door? Maybe I could figure a way out of that one.

So if I felt along the wall eventually I would have to run into it….right?

I began to crawl back the way I'd come, towards where I'd first heard Naraku's creeping steps.

I moved cautiously, using all my senses to feel around me. I flinched at every drop of water that echoed throughout the cave, worried it was a footstep.

I didn't know how long I had been crawling, but finally my hand hit something rough. I raised my hands to explore it fully. In my eagerness I pressed too firmly against the old jagged door, and felt a splinter tear into my skin.

I swallowed a gasp of pain, and bit my lip, pulling back from the door. I explored the wound with the fingertips of my other hand. The splinter was huge, buried about a half inch deep into my palm. I could feel the warm tickle that meant blood was dripping down my hand across my wrist.

Still biting my lip, to keep myself quiet, I pulled the shard of wood out slowly, trying to keep it at the same angle it went in, to avoid ripping more of my flesh. It came free fairly easily, but upon feeling the jagged tear it left, there were smaller splinters still there. I grimaced, and began to yank them out using my nails as makeshift tweezers.

I was so concentrated on my task that I didn't notice the faint light entering the room, until I could see my hand, and heard light footfalls right outside the door. I jumped to my feet in fear, but the face that appeared between the door's bars was not Naraku's.

It was Kagura, and the light was small lantern swinging from her hip. Anger boiled up in my stomach at the sight of her.

"You!" I practically spat. "What do you want?"

She raised an eyebrow cooly, reminding me for all the world of Sesshou-maru.

"Oh my. You aren't upset with me are you?" She said dryly.

I glared at her defiantly. "I thought you were there to protect us. How could you betray Sesshou-maru like that!"

The taunt in her eyes faded. She didn't meet my eyes, and instead her gaze landed on my hand, still dripping blood.

She tore a long strip of cloth from her sleeve. She held it between the bars. "Here…from one prisoner to another."

Surprised, I took it from her fingers. She was trapped too? But she could come and go from this place…

"Thanks." I said, but when I looked up the light was already fading, down what I could now see due to Kagura's lantern was a narrow tunnel. I cried out, hissing, trying to be quiet and loud at the same time. "Wait!"

In what seemed like mere seconds she was back at the door, grabbing me through the bars, her hand clawing over my mouth. "Shut up! He'll hear you!" Her eyes were wild with fear, although the rest of her face was set in her usual expression of stony indifference.

I managed to nod, and she let me go. "Kagura…please…"

She looked at me coldly.

"I know he could kill you…but please…just tell Sesshou-maru where I am. Just find him…and tell him where I am. Please!"

I was going to cry soon, I had to get out. If I had to stay here again…I couldn't.

She pursed her lips at me. "The problem is, I'm not worried that my life is at stake, nor yours. It is my sister that would suffer." And she swept away.

As the darkness closed in around me again, I sat slowly, winding the cloth around my injured hand. So Naraku had Kagura's sister. I wondered if she was in another cave, just like mine, in the dark and alone, waiting quietly for Naraku to come. I shivered in pity.

There was nothing I could do for her. Unless Kagura told Sesshou-maru where I was…then maybe we could rescue her too.

I shook my head. I was being foolish. Kagura would not, as she saw it, sacrifice her sister's life for my freedom.

I was on my own.

Ok, I thought, I just need to find another way to escape. It only took me, oh, say, a year last time? I almost sobbed in despair and frustration, but swallowed thickly.

All right, so there are no exits via the corners of the walls anymore. That leaves two doors.

Two old, rusty wooden doors…I almost leapt to my feet, before I remembered the stalactites. I turned on my hands and knees to the door and stood. I felt along the place where the stone met the hinges, and where the hinges met the wood.

It was too much to hope that I could just break the hinges; they felt new, very smooth.

Maybe if I got a largish sharp rock, and just steadily hit the hinges with it, they would eventually break…not the most sophisticated plan, but it could work.

But the noise, that would draw his attention. My hope sank rapidly dwindling back into despair.

My mind raced, trying to think of some quiet way to bang a rock against metal. I began to laugh quietly and bitterly, almost sobbing more than laughing. I was such a fool, thinking I could get away from Naraku with such an idiotic plan. I covered my mouth with my hand to stop the small noises I was making.

Kagura's torn sleeve that was wrapped around my hand was smooth. Definitely silk, and it smelled of some type of flower…a very light scent, but it calmed me nonetheless. I could feel dampness where the blood was seeping through a little. That splinter had been huge…the size of the blade of a butter knife almost….

I froze, felt frantically on the ground for the splinter, and grabbed it, holding it to me. This small splinter…it would be my hope.

The door was rotting, I could peel away piece from piece…and the best part was I could put the pieces back again in the door like a puzzle, to disguise my efforts. Plus, this splinter was sharp. I could imagine plunging it into him as he tried to press me down on the floor, jagged rocks tearing the skin on my back. I could kill Naraku.

For the first time, I had something to hurt him. I had a way, I had hope.

I could kill Naraku.

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