AN: I'm really just thrilled with ya'lls feedback, you don't know. Thank you so very much for reviewing. I'm really enjoying telling this story and it's an incredible feeling knowing that my silly little fantasies are entertaining my readers. Thanks, and please enjoy!
Soul Magic
Chapter 11: Lights Loom
The room was dim, lit only by the feeble orange glow of an oil lamp behind her. She knelt, her ever-present oar on the floor beside her, before a folding screen decorated with mountainous scenes and waterfalls and tried surreptitiously to ascertain her master's form behind it. It was hard to tell. She never knew what he'd look like until she saw him. Sometimes he looked almost human. Other times he looked like… well, something out of her nightmares.
Her legs twitched with nervous energy. She absently stroked the tops of her thighs, taking comfort in her warm, silky coat against her palms. She wished Waikyoku were here, even if he never offered her any sort of comfort when facing their master he was at least someone else to draw the eldest youkai's focus. But Waikyoku had already received his punishment and he was out doing whatever he'd been instructed to do.
Hidzume always found having her master's undivided attention nerve-wracking. He was so unpredictable. Usually he was just cold. She really hoped this would be a usual meeting. But things hadn't gone exactly to plan.
"You did well, Hidzume."
The young demoness startled at the praise, not expecting it, even if he had emphasized her name in that way he did sometimes. And she became a little more anxious. Praise was worse than indifference but better than displeasure. "But we failed," she blurted out, wishing she could take it back immediately. Stupid, dumb mouth always getting her in trouble. But he surprised her again.
"Your objective was to remove the miko from the possibility of a potentially disastrous revelation and you succeeded in that. The fact that the avatar went through the portal with her is an inconvenience, but it will not matter in the end. Besides that, it was Waikyoku's failure, not yours."
It really didn't bode well, him speaking so nicely to her. "Thank you, master," she muttered, keeping her eyes down and hoping not to invoke too much of his attention.
"Waikyoku said you were upset this morning when the miko slew your eldest brother," he said with an air of only casual curiosity.
Waikyoku! She'd asked him not to tell about that. Hidzume frowned. "I… yes, I was upset," she confessed.
Silence. Long silence. "Why were you upset?"
She bit her lip. "I didn't know it would be like that."
"Was it terrible?"
"Yes."
"The feel of her reiki?"
"Yes."
"And his screams?"
"…Yes."
"Hidzume, your brother was not like you and Waikyoku."
"I know," she answered quietly.
"He did not think like you or feel like you. That is why Waikyoku had to handle him. Do you see?" his tone was soft and patient.
"I see, Master."
He fell silent again for a few long moments. Finally, she heard him draw a deep breath as though he had been considering her answer and was gathering his thoughts. "What is it about his death, then, that disturbed you, Hidzume?"
She knew her answer, but she didn't know how to say it. She didn't want to admit it to him. But he would get the answer. She couldn't refuse him for very long. "…Seeing Elder Brother destroyed by that woman, it made me… I- I wonder how expendable I am."
And she thought she heard him smile. She swallowed. "My child…" And she felt a tug inside her, like she was being pulled by an invisible rope toward him. She hated when he did this. The young demoness got her legs under her and the sound of hooves on bamboo floor echoed in the silent room as she rounded the folding rice paper screen to meet her master face-to-face. She tried not to show her relief when she found his nice human features regarding her neutrally. "Come closer, Hidzume," he commanded her softly. She obliged and stepped closer. He sat against the wall, lit with diffused yellow light through the screen, arm propped on one raised knee. He crooked one finger at her, beckoning her closer still. And she moved within arms reach of him, but no more. "Kneel."
She did and he regarded her with cinnamon colored eyes. "You have a job to do, Hidzume, and you are the only one who can do that job. Did you know that?"
Hidzume knew she was the only one who could use the oar. It wouldn't even work for Master; it was no more than a hunk of wood in anyone's hands but hers. "Yes, I know that."
"So you see, then, that as long as you are useful then you have no reason to harbor any fears of being expendable," he told her reasonably.
And yes, that made sense. Her shoulders slumped a little in relief. Then her master gave her a half-smile, no more than a slight upturn at the corner of his lips. He was silent for a few long moments and her anxiety began to build again. "I have a mission for you," he informed her without preamble. And he paused, seemingly expecting her to inquire further.
"What do you need us to do, Master?" she asked.
"Not 'us.' This one is only for you, Hidzume."
Lavender-colored eyes widened. "Me?" she couldn't help but ask, uncertain.
"Yes… You were much closer to witnesses this morning than I am comfortable with. That, of course, could not be helped. The situation demanded it. But if they did not suspect the use of a transdimensional device before then they certainly do now. And with the disappearance of two of Reikai's most valuable agents there will be widespread searches being conducted, likely through this area eventually as well. Unexpected circumstances have necessitated an improvisation, you see? I have talked to you about the importance of being flexible, do you remember?" She nodded. "One must adapt. So, you will go to Essouha on foot and you will purchase the fastest Hakra the stableman has and any supplies you need, including a weapon for yourself. And choose wisely. Then, you will ride northwest and find the miko and the avatar, but do not let them see you until you have heard from Waikyoku. He will contact you with further instruction."
Hidzume couldn't help but let her mouth fall open. Realizing that, she snapped her mouth shut and gave him a wide-eyed stare. Her cheeks florid, she managed to stutter. "R-ride? But I can travel much faster on my oar. I could find them in no time!"
He gave her a patient, but disapproving frown. "I am sending you away, Hidzume, because I cannot afford for you and the oar to be found. That is why you must hide it and never reveal it to anyone. And you must only use it if I explicitly instruct you to, and that will only be in an emergency. And you must never fly on this mission."
She wanted to protest but she couldn't. Master's instructions were nonnegotiable. She swallowed thickly, looking more than a little hopeless and lost.
"Do you understand your instructions?" he asked. He never had to raise his voice. The young demoness looked to the ground and nodded mutely. "Good girl," he purred. Then he extended that hand that he'd had resting on his knee and brushed her forehead with his fingertips, moving aside a strand of her flaxen hair. "Never forget your place, Hidzume."
She felt her cheeks get red all over again, this time with anger. But she held her tongue and only met his eyes instead and dipped her chin once, curtly. He handed her a fist-sized brown sack heavy with coins and a small handheld device that looked like Reikai and that he explained was a tracker for the miko. Then, without anything further, he dismissed her, instructing her to pack a bag and leave immediately.
Some time later as the young demoness passed the concealment wards and found the road, her nervous jitters left her and she actually found herself smiling. So she couldn't fly. That sucked royally. But she'd never, ever been on her own before.
Suddenly giddy, she stopped on the road and stomped her hooves in the dust, squealing a little in excitement, a grin splitting her face.
—
Within the hour patrolmen were on the scene.
When Yomi had called him personally to tell him that he would be heading an investigation involving his second in command, Hibiki had been more than a little surprised, but as usual he didn't dare let that show. He had only been working for the much older youkai for a few months and he didn't have nearly the experience that Yomi's other investigators did. And he really didn't care to have this much responsibility put on him. He'd been backed into a corner when he agreed to work for Yomi; he really didn't give a damn about this job.
But, he really did kind of like Kurama who was most likely floating somewhere in the Haru river now. So the young wind apparition was unusually motivated on this job to find his boss and this miko chick he was with, alive or (more probably) dead, and track down the person responsible for it.
Yomi had told him that whatever happened had likely taken place somewhere between the spot where the Hakra Path met the creek and the west side of the bridge. When he got there five patrolmen had already found the place where something had happened and they hadn't even needed his special sense.
Cutting a swathe beginning from a spot at the top of the gorge only a few meters south of the bridge and ending next to the creek was a glittering black carpet of ashes that he spotted easily from the air as he flew in. He touched down at the edge of the gorge and strode forward to the group of older youkai discussing the strange black path. They quieted when they spotted him.
Wasting no time, Hibiki addressed the one in the bronze sash that indicated his superior rank among the group. "You are in charge here?" he asked shortly. He'd found that with the older youkai he had to be assertive right out of the gate or they'd walk all over him. And nearly every youkai in Yomi's employ was older than him.
The man looked startled and irritated to be addressed so casually. "Sergeant Takagawa, sir," he answered stiffly. "We've been here for only a few minutes."
Hibiki nodded, remembering to return the courtesy of an introduction at the last moment. "Hibiki," he said shortly. Then he strode through the trees, following alongside the path of black ash, or more accurately following the iridescent cloud of luminous pinkish vapor that floated above it.
Of course, he was the only one who could see that.
He heard Takagawa behind him bark out orders to the other four men to fan out and shout if they saw anything out of the ordinary, like more of this black stuff. Hibiki whipped around. "Stop!" Every one of the older youkai froze where they had just begun to enter the treeline. He glared at each of them. "Do not enter the forest. Stay at the edge of the gorge and do not disrupt the scene!" he commanded them.
Takagawa looked like someone had just stuck something very unpleasant under his nose. "We were ordered to investigate this scene, Hibiki," he said, emphasizing the fact that he didn't have a title like the Sergeant.
The young man gave the Sergeant a cold stare. "And I was ordered by Yomi himself to lead the investigation of this scene, and I'm telling you to stay out of my way and let me work."
Fuming, the older man backed down and stepped back out of the woods to wait at the edge of the gorge. Hibiki continued to follow the path through the woods until, a little under a kilometer in right next to the stream it ended abruptly and he found the evidence of a concentrated energy attack aimed into the vegetation about ten meters from the origin. He stepped around it, examining the glowing pink stream of light that began about one and a half meters in the air and continued in a straight path to end in an oblong crater of ash in the fauna. Intriguing. The energy signature had the same hair-raising feel to it as the path that led from the gorge. This must be the miko. He'd never seen or felt anything like it. It set his teeth on edge.
However, the strange thing was that there was no energy signature at the point of impact, or anywhere around it for that matter, that would indicate her demonic target. Habiki frowned. Why would she shoot at nothing? Could a miko's reiki completely erase a youki energy signature?
But no, he couldn't even spot a trail that whatever she'd shot at should have left through the forest when it was approaching her.
So that was a mystery for now and he'd circle back to that. Continuing away from the bank of the creek and up around a ridge was Kurama's energy signature. He had recognized it immediately, being very familiar with it. The fox's path was a cloud of faint green vapor and his was one that just didn't stand out as much to Hibiki as most did. The miko's was like looking at a neon sign but Kurama's was more like the diffused, warm light of a candle. He saw where it ascended and went out of sight over the trail from the ridge and the meadow above. But this was another bizarre thing. The miko's energy signature wasn't with his. What's more, she had seemed to join him out of thin air at the edge of the creek, right where she'd let loose the energy attack.
Now that was interesting.
Kurama's signature continued in a green haze past the creek where the miko had stayed and down the worn path towards the footbridge. However, quite suddenly, approximately three hundred meters after he'd started on the trail, the avatar had darted east off the path and continued in a nonsensical pattern, zigzagging behind trees and outcroppings as though he had been following something through the woods.
But again, there were no other energy signatures to suggest that he'd been following anything at all.
That was even more interesting.
He continued following the luminous, foggy trail until it suddenly changed direction again, heading in a straight line back toward the path to the bridge. Following alongside it, he found that it changed direction a final time less than 35 meters from the point at which it would have intersected the miko's path had it continued, veering northeast towards the gorge where it finally intersected the
woman's path at a point just over the edge of the cliff face,15 meters or so above the thundering, cool water below, where it ended abruptly in mid air along with the miko's.
Hibiki moved to one side of the path and then the other, staring hard over the edge of the gorge at the point they disappeared, willing some sort of evidence of what had happened to them at that point to show itself to him.
Dying would diminish one's energy signature, but it would be gradual as residual reiki continued to pour off the body for several minutes after death. But this hadn't been gradual. The trails ended as though those who had left them had simply been snatched out of the air into another dimension.
…Well there was an idea. He'd seen something like that before, hadn't he? He'd seen Kurama arrive through a Reikai portal once when he'd been meeting him outside Gyon-Bei, one of Gandara's more populated cities. And this Kagome woman was with Reikai too, right? Wouldn't it just be some shit if Reikai was behind this all along. Koenma was the one going on about two of his top agents disappearing in Yomi's territory and they'd better be investigating and producing some results…
The young wind user scowled. He hated politics more than anything. He'd always tried his best to stay out of the government's way. As far as he was concerned, the less he saw of the law the better.
But then he'd had to go and get caught…
And now he was hip-deep in government bullshit. First spying for Yomi (he called Hibiki an Intelligence Agent, but he was a spy, damnit, and he hated it) and now investigating a probable Reikai abduction.
He scowled at himself this time. He was letting himself get distracted. He was letting his anger rule his thoughts, and that would get somebody killed. So he pushed back the anger at his situation and concentrated on the scene. Taking a step right off the side of the gorge, he summoned air currents and moved around the energy signature hanging like a cloud in the air, examining the point of vanishing closely. Squinting, he scratched absently behind one delicately pointed ear.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see the group of patrolmen looking down at him over the edge of the canyon in varying degrees of grudging interest. Ignoring them, Hibiki looked down at the water rushing below him. He moved down to just a hover just a meter over the water and surveyed the rocky banks of the river. He continued downstream, moving back and forth to examine each bank carefully. There was not much to be seen. Some animal prints in the soft mud. A very faint trail, at least four days old, down a narrow, steep footpath on the west side to the edge of the water and back up. When he'd gone three kilometers and found nothing he turned around and went back upstream to the bridge.
There was something big missing here. Mainly, the culprit. He had an energy signature for the miko and one for Kurama, but none for whatever the former had thrown an energy attack at and the latter had been apparently following through the woods. And none to explain their sudden disappearance.
Hibiki was rising back up to the ledge when he spotted something under the bridge. He squinted and moved closer. Now how had he missed that!
An energy signature! Pale purple and so faint it looked like nothing more than a slight lilac glare in the shadow of the bridge. Definitely no more than a D-class youkai. He hadn't spotted it before because his eyes had been attuned to the S-class trails left by the miko and fox. He hadn't been looking hard enough.
Now that he could see it, he followed it out from under the bridge and continued down towards the river at a 50 degree angle until it stopped less than a meter above the water and continued upstream. He followed it. And followed it some more. It continued in practically a straight line over the middle of the river, nearly six kilometers over rapids and a small waterfall, until it veered off to the west side of the bank and stopped suddenly.
And then he hit the jackpot. A glowing red mist. Another reiki signature. And this one was an A-class. The young demon spent a few moments examining the point of origin of the two trails. Nothing more to see there than the other two points of origin he'd examined.
So he followed the red reiki signature, the A-class that had to be behind the confusing events at the top of the east side of the gorge.
The trail moved in a 25 meter arch over the river and up the east side of the canyon, touching down on three or four footholds on the sheer rock face until it crested the top and continued into the woods, heading southeast toward the direction of the trade road that cut through all three of the major territories and that Hibiki knew Kurama and the miko had been traveling before they took the Hakra Path.
Hovering just below the canopy of the ancient forest, the young youkai followed the red energy signature through the trees, his updraft ruffling the vegetation violently as he passed. It continued in a relatively straight line to the main road until it stopped just within the tree line and then continued parallel to the route south. Less than half a kilometer from the trailhead of the Hakra Path, the red reiki signature veered south west from the road to follow parallel to the path, keeping a distance of at least 70 meters from Kurama's reiki trail until it stopped closely behind a wide grove of ancient Makai lilacs approximately 40 meters downstream from the miko's point of origin and where she let loose that energy attack at seemingly nothing.
Judging from the thick concentration of the reiki residue where the youkai had stopped and remained hidden, they had put out a huge amount of youki in that spot, doing what he couldn't imagine.
And that was where the trail ended. There was a faint lavender glare where the other youkai had stood for a brief moment before they both disappeared again.
So there was a bit of a mystery to be examined here. The young youkai frowned and scratched behind one ear.
After spending a few minutes crouching there in the same spot the two mysterious youkai had been to see what kind of view they had of the creek, he started moving back through the trees to the the beginning of the black ash path to the gorge, pulling his communicator out of the back pocket of his jeans and flipping it open with practiced ease to call Yomi. Something big had happened here and it stunk of Reikai.
—
"Water, water, everywhere; nor any drop to drink," Kagome sighed as she stood with her bare feet in the cool sand, letting the rising sun warm her and staring bleakly out at the still salt marsh blanketed in a dense, milky fog lit faintly orange in the weak dawn light.
She heard Kurama chuckle behind her as he rolled up the sleeping bag they'd shared the past two nights, unzipped and laid out of course so that they could both lie atop it to get off the sand, and stuffed it down into her backpack. "It's not so drastic, yet that you need to go quoting romantic literature," he assured her good-naturedly.
She gave him a rye half-smile. "Sorry, Kurama. Just… we're almost out of water and there's no end in sight to this beach and without knowing how far it goes it would be really unwise to try to cross the marsh," she sounded more hopeless as she went on. "I know I'm supposed to be a survivor and all that, I mean I got thrown into the Feudal Era when I was a middle school student, but I've never had to test how long I can go without water, and I'm afraid it wouldn't be very long."
Kurama left her backpack in the sand and paced over to stand beside her. He leaned forward to catch her eye, smiling just a little in an attempt to lighten the gravity of the situation as she described it. "Like you said, Kagome, you're a survivor. And so am I. You should ask some of the guys who've tried to kill me in the past ten years," his smile widened, a little self-deprecating. "This beach isn't going to kill me. And it's not you."
Heartened, the miko returned the smile with a hesitant nod. Well, if he could summon up some optimism then so could she. Kagome walked back to her backpack and pulled out the canteen. After shaking it she sighed, frowned, and put it away unhappily. Kurama suddenly appeared beside her and touched her arm, pulling her lightly back toward the inland. She gave him a questioning look and he just told her to follow him. Frowning again, she debated briefly over whether to stay put simply out of spite because he wouldn't take a moment to tell her what he was thinking or to just follow him before deciding her temper was getting the better of her and giving into curiosity.
Together they climbed over the low, sloping dune dotted with coastal brush and stopped on the other side at the edge of the fog-drenched marsh. Kurama coaxed her over to the hip-deep grass that grew out of the saline water for as far as they could see. Kneeling on one knee, he pulled her down beside him with a gentle tug on her wrist. When she was sufficiently confused and interested in what in the world he was doing, the kitsune gently gathered a half dozen or so of the three centimeter wide blades of grass that Kagome had only now noticed were coated thickly with glittering dewdrops. Then suddenly the grass was growing from the place just above where it was clenched in his hand to bring the dew-laden tips of the leaves to just in front of his face. And, glancing up through his lashes once at her to make sure she was still watching, he wrapped his tongue around the leaves to bring them to his lips and pulled them through, thoroughly licking away the dew.
Kagome watched, fascinated, her eyes glued to the tongue that darted out to lick the last of the precious water from his lips. She swallowed and looked quickly up to his questioning green eyes. Had she zoned out there for a minute? Oh! He was offering a handful to her.
She nodded and leaned forward. He coaxed the plant to take the dew to her lips and she laid a hand over his where it clutched the blades of grass to guide it. Feeling a blush rise on her cheeks, the miko mimicked his motions and brought the leaves to her mouth with her tongue, pulling them away to gather the little droplets of water that had been collected there. It was only enough to wet her mouth, really, but it felt wonderful and cool on her tongue. Her eyes fluttered up to meet his and she found that he was giving her a strangely intense look that reminded her of Youko. She snatched her hands back into her lap and looked down at them, suddenly bashful.
"Thank you," she said softly, cursing herself inwardly when her voice cracked. She cleared her throat.
Kurama waved it off with a shrug as if to say it was nothing. Then he took another handful of grass and repeated the performance, Kagome trying to keep her eyes averted but not in an obvious way, all the while feeling her face and chest getting hotter and hotter until she had to wonder if a few meager mouthfuls of water had been worth trudging over the sand dunes to kneel here in the sand feeling like she might erupt into flames, despite the pleasantly cool morning mist that hung in the air.
After they each got a few more silent sips of dew, Kurama stood and helped her to her feet and they walked silently back over the sand dunes and to her backpack and her bow. He pointed out the cap of a green mountain in the distance that they had spotted yesterday evening before they bedded down. Forests meant fresh water. Hope loomed on the horizon. If they could get there before they succumbed to dehydration…
The two dusted off their feet, slipped their shoes back on, and started moving down the beach. As they trudged over long stretches of sand and wide, shallow inlets where sea water flowed into the salt marsh they chatted about nothing in particular, childhood memories of trips to the beach and food they couldn't wait to eat once they found a town, and hours passed. The sun rose and the fog lifted from the marsh and the pleasant coolness in the air turned to a smothering damp.
Kagome swiped the back of her bare arm against her damp forehead and looked over at Kurama trudging along beside her. He looked as parched and tired as she felt.
It was almost four in the afternoon now and the mountain in the distance still seemed worlds away. She was starting to get more than a little worried about their situation actually. She wouldn't last long after they ran out of water, which would be soon, and she doubted Kurama would make it much longer than her.
They'd stopped talking a long time ago to conserve energy and moisture. It wasn't that it was really so hot here, but the combination of shifting sand and the damp air made it feel like they were walking through soup.
Reaching behind Kurama to her backpack which he'd finally persuaded her to let him carry after she had admitted that the stuff Dr. Tik Tik had put on her burns had finally dried up and worn off last night and that her shoulders and back were really very sore, Kagome took the canteen from the side pocket and unscrewed the lid. She proffered it to Kurama.
Accepting gratefully, the fox took a drink and passed it back to her, licking the precious water from his lips. He brushed the flyaway hairs back away from his face and tried to tuck them behind his ears. At least Kagome had leant him a hair tie.
The miko took a drink and shook the bottle slightly, frowning at how little water they had left. She put the canteen away reluctantly. "We'll be out of water by nightfall," she said dismally.
"We'll find water," he assured her.
"I'm not so sure," she lamented.
He gave her a somewhat mysterious, sidelong look. "I am more than this human shell would suggest, Kagome. I will not let us die here."
Her blue eyes widened slightly and she was about to ask exactly what he meant by that, but she was distracted when he suddenly looked up at something in the sky. Kagome turned around to find what he was looking at. There was something in the air over the marsh flying towards them.
It was large, difficult to judge at such a distance but perhaps about the size of a man. But it was clearly a bird of some kind with a long slender neck and long legs trailing behind it. They watched silently as it pumped its wings in a crooked path, sometimes seeming almost frantic in its efforts to reach the coast. As it got closer Kagome got a better look at it. "Looks like a crane," she remarked. Kurama nodded in agreement.
As they watched the bird's shadow passed directly over them and it continued out over the waves, fluttering in the harsh coastal updraft pitifully. It looked weak. "What is it doing?" Kagome wondered aloud. Suddenly, about two kilometers out and well past the breakers, it tucked its wings and dove towards the water. Kagome gasped and covered her mouth when it hit the churning green surface of the sea at breakneck speed. It didn't surface again. She took an unconscious step towards it as though she could have swam out to help it.
"What the hell was that about?" Kagome asked her companion anxiously, clutching her hands to her chest in an unconscious gesture that brought a thousand still frames in lamplight to his mind's eye. She was biting her lip. She always bit her lip when she held her hands like that.
"I don't know," Kurama answered, looking off in the direction the bird had come from.
After a moment, she said what he was thinking. "That's the only bird we've seen the whole time we've been out here. We haven't even seen a seagull."
"It is. However, it was a crane. They live and nest in marshlands," he frowned thoughtfully, continuing to gaze out over the marsh where the bird had come from. He squinted into the distance, but could see nothing else. Kagome waited quietly, wondering what he was thinking about.
Finally, after a few minutes had passed, Kagome ventured, "Kurama?"
He blinked and looked to her as though he'd just remembered she was there. "Oh, forgive me. I was thinking…" She raised her brows to indicate that he should elaborate but he only waved it off. "It doesn't matter. We should keep walking. We only have a few hours of daylight left."
And so they did. By the time night fell Kagome had completely forgotten about the strangely-behaved bird from that afternoon. All of her thoughts had since been consumed by her thirst. They'd finished the last of the water just as the sun went down.
They ate a meager dinner of jerky and nuts and then Kagome started pulling out the sleeping bag. But then she noticed Kurama had disappeared. She looked around, squinting in the moonlight until she spotted his silhouette a few meters away on a sand dune. "Whatcha looking for?" she called to him curiously, satisfied that she'd located him and going back to spreading out the sleeping bag.
He didn't answer for a moment, staring out over the wetlands with his back to her and the moonlight over the sea. Kagome dusted off her hands and looked back up to him. "Well?" she asked again, cocking her head to the side curiously.
"Come look at this," he said distractedly, not turning away from his post but waving her over with a hand over his shoulder.
Kagome stepped around her backpack and the sleeping bag she'd spread out over the sand to climb up the dune. When she crested the top he grabbed her elbows to help steady her and she looked out into the marshland where he pointed.
And her eyebrows shot up. And her heart fluttered. She gripped Kurama's forearms where her hands still rested and turned wide, blue-gray eyes on him, questioning. Did he see what she was seeing? "Are those lights?" she asked breathlessly, afraid she'd somehow scare the glorious little lifelines away with her question.
"I believe they are," he answered.
"Lamp lights?"
"Their color and stationary positions would suggest that." He was calm and rational as always.
But Kagome was positively bursting. Maybe they wouldn't die out here after all. She couldn't help but give him a brilliant smile.
