Chapter 12
Some part of Sesshomaru understood that Kagome needed to rest and recover from her injuries that had been neglected for the benefit of his own healing. Still, the larger part of him, the restless wandering part, wanted to get up and get out of this god-forsaken cave. "How do demons live underground? It is disgusting, not to mention terribly boring." How low he had fallen to be talking to himself. He simply shook his head in thought and turned to the sleeping girl.
She had not been motionless in her sleep, as he had expected. His experiences with Rin had led him to believe that when a human was exhausted, they lay like the dead while sleeping. After watching her thrash about, he had to reevaluate that opinion and consider narrowing its application to only Rin, or at least, small children. Not that he had any experiences with any children other than Rin. Though, he had seen Kagome's fox kit sleeping with her on occasion and had not noticed this same restlessness.
Whatever the reason, every time she shifted in her sleep, he managed to work his Mokomoko-sama out from under her a bit at a time. Patience had always been a useful tool in warfare, and it currently served him well in dealing with human girls who latched onto his fur!
Yes, he would definitely have to look into getting this girl her own Mokomoko-sama. Maybe if he could manage that for her, he could produce a similar extension for Rin. She was also inordinately fascinated with the length of fur. Possibly this fur fetish was a universal trait among female humans? Perhaps, a nice length of rabbit fur would suffice? In his pondering, he wondered if there were any other female traits that the two shared. Did Kagome share Rin's love for flowers and torturing Jakken? His mind wandered back to a time when he witnessed Kagome stomping Jakken with all her might, then stealing his staff of two heads from him and pounding him with it. An evil smile crossed the demon lord's face as he relived that particularly tasty memory.
While he was waiting for the next shift of the human beside him, he thought about investigating the writings of her adventures again. It could do no harm to look through the papers as the girl slept unaware. Also, it would repay her inconsiderate entrapment of his Mokomoko-sama. If she was going to force him to be stationary, she could at least entertain him. It wasn't like she was even awake to answer any of his curious questions. He barely turned his head as he spied the colorful cover from the corner of his eye, and reached over with his now healed arm.
He had left off reading about the subjugation spell and Inuyasha's attempts on Kagome's life. It still shocked him to read this girl's impressions of his brother. Never in his many years of living had he thought Inuyasha capable of such brutality. Still, this was her thoughts without begin tainted by knowledge of the boy's history. And from what she wrote, this was her first encounter with demons of any type, so she was not already prejudiced against his kind.
Next, he was reading about how awful she felt for bringing such a dangerous item back into existence and how guilty she felt that the villagers thought she was the dead priestess Kikyo. He smirked to himself, "Of course, that was before she knew what Kikyo was truly like." But it did register in his mind that she had been dealing with everyone comparing her to her former incarnation since the very beginning of her time in this era.
He read about the sorrow caused by her absence from her family and her desire to return somehow. He wondered, "Had she truly never thought to retrace her steps to where she entered this world?" But after reading more, he realized that she barely had a second to stop and breath, not to mention think. In that one page alone, she was kidnapped and almost slaughtered by bandits. Then there was a demon crow stealing the jewel. And at the bottom of the page, in unusually small writing, was the account of the shattering of the dreaded jewel. In his mind he understood that the tiny script indicated her embarrassment and shame at being the cause of the splintering of the Shikon jewel.
He turned the page to another entry and almost laughed at the huge letters proclaiming to the world that "INUYASHA IS A PERVERTED PEEPING TOM!" He could almost feel the outrage of the girl as she recounted the story of bathing in a freezing stream, only to discover that Inuyasha had been watching her with a keen interest. She ranted about him trying to justify his actions because he was "looking for a chance to steal the shard." But she had her own ideas as to what he was doing.
This was a side of his brother that he had never known. His smirk twitched slightly as he wondered if Inuyasha had developed a curiosity about the opposite sex at such a young age. But then the demon frowned as he remembered the unfortunate incident with the former priestess Kikyo. Had Inuyasha truly loved the hateful woman before she died? How could he? Inuyasha was barely more than a child. Maybe he could gain a new insight into the workings of his brother's mind through this girl.
The next entry chronicled an encounter with a hair demoness. The situation began with Inuyasha and Kagome having an argument about Kikyo's likeness, and ended up with the girl involuntarily being thrust back into the well. Sesshomaru tried to remember if he had ever crossed paths with this particular demoness. Kagome's description of her was laughable. For Kagome, who wore such ridiculously short skirts, to complain about the scantily clad demoness, was humorous.
Kagome's entry was upset and shocked that Inuyasha came through the well to her time and brought the hair from the demoness with him. Sesshomaru's mind stopped at that thought. "Could demons be carried through the well with one of these two?" He continued reading, storing this thought away for future contemplation.
Amid all the action and ranting about how rude Inuyasha was, there was a more somber entry. It seemed that his little brother could be chivalrous after all. The boy had offered Kagome his over kimono as protection before they returned to face the demoness. This seemed more in character with the little brother that Sesshomaru had known and he thought, "How very much like something Father would have done."
Kagome wrote about her shock and revulsion seeing Inuyasha injured so severely. This was obviously her first experience with demon physiology. Still, she had helped him, and ended up saving the boy with her persistence and bravery. Sesshomaru looked over his shoulder at the slumbering girl. "Who would have thought?" The girl shifted again, and he extricated his Mokomoko-sama a little bit more before she returned her fingers to grasp the fine hairs.
He turned a page to read how Myoga, the flea demon, and retainer to Inuyasha, had found them in the old priestess's hut. It seemed that was the first time Kagome realized that Inuyasha was part dog demon. "How odd that she could not tell on her own. But then, she had never even seen a living demon." Though, the girl did seem to think it funny that a dog would prefer to sleep in a tree like a cat. The comparison rankled Sesshomaru's fur, but he decided not to take offense, this one time. Besides, it did look rather feline when he witnessed Inuyasha's affinity for trees.
Sesshomaru's fading attention perked up when he read his own name on the next entry. "We met Inuyasha's brother, Sesshomaru, today." He had been reading this half in an attempt at amusement, and half in an effort to better understand his brother. Now, he was faced with the possibility of reading about how this human girl perceived he himself. He stopped a minute and thought about this. Was it worth reading? Should he stop and remain oblivious? Unfortunately, a common trait of all dog demons was their innate curiosity. He knew that once he started reading, he would not be able to stop. So, he read on.
It was disheartening to read how horrible Kagome thought he was. He had known that Jakken's plan to use the un-mother was underhanded, but with the way this girl sympathized with everyone and everything, it was even worse. Even though that thing had not been Inuyasha's true mother, the likeness was enough to cause pain to his brother and to Kagome. She told the story of fighting to save the boy, and how she rescued him by attacking Jakken and the false image in the water.
Sesshomaru had not known what had transpired in the illusion world, but was not truly surprised that her intelligence and persistence had again saved Inuyasha. But then Sesshomaru's pride took another hit as he read about his own actions towards the un-mother from Kagome's point of view. That vile creature had no hesitation about absorbing Inuyasha, so Sesshomaru had not really had any second thoughts about its demise. It was not his fault that the foul creature had intervened and taken a hit that would have only incapacitated Inuyasha, but instead fatally injured the creature. When he had crushed the decapitated head under his boot, it had been an act of mercy in his mind.
Not so for Kagome. What he read was that he had murdered a sad, wretched creature that should have been pitied for all the suffering it had experienced. In Kagome's mind it was akin to having slain Inuyasha's true mother. The very reason she had followed Inuyasha into their father's tomb was to exact revenge against Sesshomaru for his atrocities.
Sesshomaru squared his shoulders in defiance and thought to himself, "It matters not what a human girl thinks. This Sesshomaru will do what this Sesshomaru must do." Still, in the tiniest part of his soul, that he refused to recognize, there lingered just the slightest disappointment that she would think so poorly of him. Still, no one knew of his inner motivations or the oaths he had made in his lifetime. Though, this helped explain the look she had given him a few days before when he had felt like he had been weighed and measured and found lacking. Her first impression of him was quite dismal.
Then, he almost groaned as he read what came next. The fight in the tomb. He had repeatedly "tried to kill" Inuyasha in her perspective. Then he had tried to kill her after she withdrew the sword from the stone. In the words reflected on the page, it was obvious to Sesshomaru that she had been scared half to death when he had turned his attention to her. "Strange that she had acted so brave."
Sesshomaru remembered the interaction quite clearly. It was the first time in a long time that he had been faced with such a puzzle. In truth, he had sprayed his poison at her in an attempt to determine what she was. If she had enough power to remove the sword when neither brother could, she should have been even more powerful then they. It had shocked him when she did not evade his attack. He had not even used his demonic speed. She had just stood there like a frightened deer, then she was gone. It had taken him a moment to reorient his mind to the new details that she HAD only been a mortal.
Then the second deep puzzle of the day had occurred. Inuyasha had gotten angry, and faster. That very fact was what determined the method of training he would use in their future sparring matches. Anger made the boy stronger. Still, in his overconfidence, Sesshomaru had to admit he got careless when Inuyasha finally managed to wield the Tetsusaiga. The phantom pain from his missing left arm returned to taunt him as he sat in the dark cave.
After reading about this phase of Kagome's adventures, Sesshomaru truthfully did not feel like reading any further. He closed the book and his eyes as he replayed those events in his mind. With this new insight, he could see how his actions could be misinterpreted. How had he not seen this before? Was it possible that the animosity Inuyasha displayed every time they crossed paths was true revulsion, and not just sparring taunts? Had their sibling rivalry devolved into true hatred? That would explain the puzzle about Inuyasha suddenly being able to strike him after Kagome's supposed "demise" in the tomb. Inuyasha had truly been trying to kill him. Sesshomaru replayed the final moment that he could recall from the battle in the tomb when Inuyasha had already removed his arm. Inuyasha leaped up with a look in his eyes that said this was for real, and had called out, "goodbye… brother" with such venom in the last word. Then, Inuyasha had swung a killing blow to Sesshomaru's chest which was only avoided by the demon's swift reflexes to pull back. Still, the hit to the chest had injured him gravely, along with the missing limb. Reading this new perspective gave him quite a lot to think about as he waited for daylight.
About the time the sun was rising in the outside world, he had freed his Mokomoko-sama from the girl's clutches. He was terribly thankful that she had not drooled on it, as he had feared she might. That would have simply been unacceptable, and might have resulted in decapitation. His prized fur was already filthy from digging, and would take a long soak to remove all the ground in soil, not to mention the human smell. With perfect stealth and calm, he returned the bound scroll to its former resting place.
Free at last, the great demon stood and stretched every part of his weary body. Then he moved carefully to the entrance of the tunnel to their left. He sniffed deeply and could still smell fresh air from that direction. So, to not damage their air supply, Sesshomaru turned and walked into the tunnel on the right.
At varying intervals, he summoned his cloud and hovered up to the roof of the tunnel. With his superior eyesight, he could see as well as day. He was investigating the composition of the rock holding up the tunnel. The last thing he needed to do was create a massive chain reaction cave in. He had not survived this long by acting rashly. Sure, he could revert to his true form, but if he brought down the roof while escaping, Kagome would be crushed. There was also the added problem of only having three legs to stand on. It made maneuvering difficult but not impossible. He had thought about just grabbing the girl with his mouth, but he didn't think she could handle another exposure to his poison drool.
So, his main thought for escape was to find a section of tunnel with either a natural fissure to the above world, or stable rock formations that would not collapse if he blasted a large hole through them. When he found a suitable section of rock, he lowered himself back to the tunnel floor and removed Tokijin. Although his powers were not totally replenished, since his body was still working diligently to repair itself, he thought he had enough to attempt a small flare. With the usual sting of evil that always tried to assault him from the wicked blade, Sesshomaru held out the sword and directed a portion of his strength through the blade. A large blue bolt of lightning charged around the katana, then soared into the ceiling of the tunnel.
An enormous boom shook the ground beneath her as Kagome jolted awake in a panic. Her sleep muddled mind tried to process the sound into the many possibilities that she could imagine. Attack, earthquake, thunder, another mole, dinosaur like Jurassic Park, sonic boom, Inuyasha being sat…
Dust and debris began drifting out of the tunnel to her right, filling the barely lit cave with floating particles. Waving her hands frantically in front of her face to clear the air she began to cough as she wondered what in the world was going on. It was then that she noticed her "cellmate" was missing. She felt a chill race up her spine as she wondered if something had happened to Sesshomaru. Maybe there were other things creeping around down here other than helpless demon moles.
Coughing at the added particles in the air, Kagome was stalled a moment before she rose to search for her companion. In that moment, the white haired demon emerged from the dirt spewing tunnel to look around with disgust. He didn't look directly at her as he commented, "The tunnel is collapsed in this direction." Her look of shocked realization was hard to miss, even though he tried to look elsewhere to maintain his air of dignity.
He turned to Kagome and motioned, "Tend your injuries. I shall return shortly." And with that he vanished down the left tunnel. As her mind finally caught up with current events she yelled after him, "Don't collapse that one too! I'd like to get out of here today." She thought she heard a growl echo through the darkness, but it was so quiet, she couldn't swear she heard anything.
Left alone in the slightly illuminated cave, Kagome huffed to herself about "Stupid dogs and their need to bury things!" She surely didn't want to be one of those things buried, especially after she had worked so hard to UN-bury herself. She needed to go home and take her make-up test. There was only so much the school was willing to bend the rules for her and her mystery "illnesses." She would be taking four tests at once if she didn't get back soon.
With that in mind, Kagome clicked on her flashlight to take a good look at her injured thigh and calf. What she found made her a bit queasy. Both gashes were red and inflamed. It seemed that Sesshomaru's attempts to eradicate the infection had only been partially successful. He had pulled back the invading sickness, but it was still present at the wound sights. And it smelled bad too. She could only imagine how much worse that smell was to a sensitive nose.
"Well, this first aid kit is getting quite a workout this trip. I'll have to restock when I go home. I sure hope we don't run into any more situations where it's needed." The white plastic box with the red cross on it had really taken a beating over the past months of traveling. The plastic was all scratched and dull, and the handle looked like it was about to pull off. Still, she couldn't complain. It contained everything she could need for most Feudal era emergencies. She wondered, "Does this mean I'm the first real paramedic?" Kaede had been amazed the first time she looked into the little kit and read the accompanying first aid booklet.
So, without any further deliberation, she began removing gauze, tape, ointment and salt. She almost laughed when she remembered her mother's face when Kagome had requested the large container of table salt for her first aid supplies. But, Kaede had mentioned it, and Kagome had researched it on the internet. It seemed that salt was good at drawing out an infection even in the modern era.
So, just like last night, she carefully cleaned, treated and wrapped all the larger cuts and gashes on her poor legs, hoping they wouldn't leave scars. "How would I explain THAT in gym class? 'Yes, I was attacked by a feral cat while I was convalescing with TB.' Or whatever other illness her grandfather had uncovered. By now it was a wonder that her friends didn't think she was a hypochondriac.
Once all those wounds were treated, she wondered what exactly to do about her ankle. It was the size of a softball and she was sure it would not support her weight. Since she only had one Ace™ bandage, she unwound it from her right wrist, and began securing it to her ankle. She criss-crossed it around her instep, then ankle, then leg, then back down to her ankle, and back around her instep. With every pass, the tightening pressure made the deep ache a bit worse. But she knew, this was the only way she could manage to walk. "Okay, more like hobble."
Before she was completely done with the length of stretchy bandage, she thought about splinting the joint with her math notebook. It might be overkill, but the idea made sense to her groggy mind. So she moved the abused book into place, and wound it into the mess that was her ankle.
She put everything back into her back pack, and started unmaking her little clothing nest. There was no way she would wear any of those clothes before she washed them, but she still packed them neatly into the canvas monstrosity. She had every intention of leaving this miserable little cave (that used to have two exits) as soon as possible. Which probably meant, as soon as that annoying demon came back from wherever he wandered off to.
"I wonder what he's doing? I mean, why would he collapse one of the tunnels? Maybe he didn't mean to. Still, he could have just waited for me to pack up." Then her mind supplied an image that she didn't want to contemplate. "What if he had to take care of 'doggy' business? He needed to 'go outside.' " She had noticed that she really needed to use the bushes herself, since waking up. It wasn't an unreasonable idea. Surely demons had the same needs. Even little Shippo used the bushes and outhouses when the need arose.
With that thought in mind, she carried her flashlight, and hop-stepped over to the closed tunnel and looked for a secluded, private spot to 'do her business.' She knew she had to hurry because there was no way to tell when Sesshomaru would return, and she did NOT want to be caught in a compromising position by any more perverted demons!
It was quite a bit later when she was beginning to think about going after the elusive demon lord. She wondered if he had gone off and left her. Of course, she had suggested that at one point, or, at least she thought she had. If he got out and sent someone back for her, that would be good too. Still, he should have told her if that was what he had planned. She didn't want to sit around all day waiting for someone who wasn't coming. But, then he did say he'd be right back.
She hobbled around, trying out her splinted ankle. It would work for short distances, but each step made her want to scream. She really needed a crutch! But, five foot long sticks with a "y" at the top were in short supply down in the bowels of the earth. Still, that didn't stop her from searching for one. Maybe she'd get lucky and find a root or something.
She looked at her watch and saw that it was nearing 11:00. She grumbled to herself, "Okay, now this is getting ridiculous. I'm not going to sit around here and waste my time. The morning's practically gone! He said there was fresh air from that way, so there must be some type of exit, or air hole. I'll just head that way and look for him. I mean, if he's coming back, he'd probably appreciate it if I met him halfway." So, bracing herself for whatever she might find, Kagome slung her backpack on her shoulders, clicked on the flashlight, and hop-stepped over to the side of the tunnel.
The beam of the light reflected off all the airborne particles of dust and dirt that still hung in the air from the earlier cave in. Nothing seemed out of place. Every few feet there were small piles of dirt stacked up on the sides of the tunnel left from the digging feet of the mole demon. The ceiling was actually farther up than she would have expected, since the mole hadn't really been that tall. And on top of that, the tunnel wasn't round. It was more teardrop shaped with the point being the ceiling.
With her right hand on the wall of the tunnel, she could hop on her left foot and keep most of her weight off the sprained right ankle. It was a bit of an inconvenience to move around the piles of loose dirt, but she managed. The flashlight beam danced and jiggled with her hopping movements and she imagined this was what a light show at a dance club must feel like.
By the time sweat was rolling down her spine into her panties, she decided it was time for a small break. She plopped her tired body down on one of the small boulders that had become dislodged from the tunnel wall. She shone the flashlight on her watch and was surprised to see it was almost 2:00. She had walked longer than she thought she could have on her first try. "Time flies when you're hopping along." But it worried her that she had yet to see Sesshomaru.
While she was digging out a block of Ramen and swearing to never eat the nasty stuff ever again, she noticed a slight flicker from her trusty flashlight. Her heart leaped into her throat. She almost wailed, "No! My batteries can't be dying already. I haven't even hardly used them!" Just as a precaution, she hurriedly clicked off the reassuring beam of light to preserve the batteries she was depending on.
It was then that she realized just how dark it truly was. A chill ran up her spine into her hair, and she could feel the very pores on her skin tingle with goose bumps. Her heart echoed in her ears as she strained to hear any movement or noise in the suffocating darkness. She finally started talking to herself, "Calm down. It's just the same as it was a minute ago when the flashlight was on. I'll just sit here until I've rested and eat my noodles. Then I'll click it back on and keep going. Besides, this is good. This way, if there's an opening in the ceiling, I'll see the light streaming in."
The pep talk helped to sooth her nerves as she gnawed at the block of uncooked Ramen. Her taste buds tried to remember what regularly prepared Ramen tasted like, and she promised herself to make a huge helping when she was reunited with Inuyasha. Her heart slowed back to its resting rate, and she sat there until the sweat on her back started to get cold. With a clap of her hands, she announced to the darkness, "Welp! Time to get going. Don't want to make Lord Sesshomaru wait."
Clicking back on the flashlight relieved most of her unreasonable fears, but she still used the beam to scan around in front of her and behind her. It wouldn't do to let something sneak up behind her. So, every ten hops-steps or so, she would shine the halogen back the way she came. Nothing was ever there, but she couldn't shake the feeling of a presence looking over her shoulder. It was beginning to really give her the creeps.
She wanted to call out for Sesshomaru and see if he was there. Maybe he would return and give her a hand with walking since it was getting really tiring. But she didn't, because there was always the off chance that something had eaten him, and would be attracted to her call. She had absolutely nothing to defend herself with, unless you counted her halogen and backpack as a weapon. Maybe she could throw Ramen at the demon to distract it while she escaped. This thought made her snicker into the darkness. The only problem with that idea was that there was no where to run to. The farthest she could retreat was the cave that started all this mess.
Again, her flashlight dimmed slightly in the middle of one of her hops. She gasped and held her breath to see if it steadied or remained dim. The light dimmed even more and she whined as she brought it up to her hand and beat it against her right palm. She had seen her friends do this on camping trips, and sure enough, the light returned to its normal brightness.
So, she returned to her shuffle of 10 hops and look behind her; 10 hops and look behind her. Every time she looked behind her, it gave her incentive to hurry a little more. By the time sweat was rolling down her spine again, it was nearing 5:00. So, she took another little darkness break to eat some more and rest her body and batteries. She tried to picture what her friends were doing right now. If it were a normal day, they would be arguing with Inuyasha, trying to get him to let them stop for dinner. In the blackness of the tunnel, she smiled at the thought.
When she started up walking again, the pain in her ankle had totally eradicated any fear she had of something lurking behind her in the dark. Also, the looming fear of her flashlight fading completely was becoming a reality. Now, the light dimmed after every hop. It was a certainty that any minute now, her lifeline, the flashlight, would blink off, and that would be the end of it. She scrambled to try and figure a way out of this. She could always crawl in the complete darkness. That way, she wouldn't have to worry about falling, and she could rest her ankle. Or, she could just sit still and wait for the rescue party. AS IF!
Suddenly, she felt something against her cheek. A startled squeak escaped her before she could stop it. Her heart took off pounding at a gallop and she held her breath to try and determine what had just happened. She pressed her back up against the wall of the tunnel and shone the fading light all around her; front, back, side, above and below. There was nothing to be seen anywhere. Yet there it was again, a strange, tickling feeling on her left cheek. With a shaking hand, she reached for her face to feel what was there. All she found was her own hair.
Her brow creased in a confused frown as she shone the flashlight up a little so she could see her hand. In her hand was a few stray wisps of her hair and she noticed, that they were blowing gently in a breeze. Her mind latched onto the fact and ran with it. "Breeze means air flow. Air flow means there must be a place the air is going to. Maybe it's an exit!"
With renewed hope, she hopped forwards in the direction of her blowing hair. Another thirty hops down the tunnel found her staring about with her mouth hanging open. The dying flashlight cast a weak beam showing the intersection of the tunnel she was in with another tunnel. She basically stood at the crossroads of four deep, dark, foreboding black holes. Now what?!
She watched her hair blow in all directions, not indicating where the exit could be. It seemed that air blew through all of these tunnels and there was no sign as to where Sesshomaru might have gone, or even if he had passed by this place at all. Frustration boiled up in her and she balled her fists and stomped her foot. Luckily she stomped her good foot, otherwise she would have ended up a lump on the floor!
She started ranting, "Oh, this is just great! Just great! I'm stuck down here in the dark with a dying flashlight and a missing demon lord! Where is he! He said he'd come back, but does he? NooOoooo. He just walks off all pretty as you please and leaves me alone for a whole frickin day! What an arrogant jerk!" Tears of frustration welled up in her eyes, but she refused to cry because of that pompous fluffy jerk. "I've got to get out of here and go home! I need to study for a test that's important to my future. I don't have time for this!"
If her leg had been fine, she would have paced around the little crossroads underground. As it was, she huffed over to a boulder that lay just before her current tunnel opened up into the crossroads. She might as well sit there and get used to the darkness that was closing in. She could set up her backpack on this side of the rock, which would provide some protection if something spooky walked by from the other tunnel. Maybe later, she could even break out her cook stove for a light source, if she got too weirded out by the darkness.
With the last bit of light, she set up her sleeping bag with her backpack up against the wall. She didn't know how she was going to get any sleep since this was the first time she'd been down here all alone in the complete darkness. Even if Sesshomaru had been as talkative as a hibernating bear, his presence had been reassuring.
As she spread the wrinkles out of her bedding, she felt something behind her, and turned with her flashlight out of habit. Her blood froze as this time there WAS something there. Seven feet tall something. It was something straight out of a Dracula movie. The black body was painfully thin with a bald head and face of parchment white skin. The eyes were glowing yellow in the sunken eye sockets. There were pointy ears arching up from the edge of his neck to six inches above his scalp. It had no nose, only open holes, and below that, where the mouth should have been, razor sharp fangs clashed against each other in mandibles that reminded her of the alien from Predator.
Kagome let out her best ear-piercing scream of pure terror at the vile creature that had caught her unaware. She shone the little beam of light into its eyes on the off chance that it would ward off this encounter like it did the mole. To her horror, the creature released its own other-wordly shriek and leathery black wings opened up from behind it. Kagome fell to her butt and backed up tight to the corner formed where the boulder met the tunnel wall. Her mind flailed for ideas to defend her precious life and came up blank.
Before she could move a second time, the terrifying creature leaped into the air and flew off down one of the intersecting tunnels. Above her, what seemed to be millions of bats detached from the roof of the tunnel and shrieked off after the creature. The only thing Kagome could think to do was to reach down and grab the bottom of her sleeping bag, and pull it up over her head. Her mind kept screaming, 'Protect the neck! Protect the neck!'
It seemed like hours before the last of the bat noises faded into the distance. Still, she remained, shaking under her sleeping bag, afraid to come out. No telling what might be lurking in the now complete darkness. All she kept thinking was how she was going to kill Sesshomaru if he came back for her. Tears finally cascaded down her face as she had to accept the fact that something might really have happened to her companion, in which case, she was on her own in this underground maze.
OooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO
Thank you to my wonderful readers for reviewing my last chapter. It was nice to see comments from my dedicated readers as well as some newbies.
Special thanks to InuTaiGalofDark(you know who you are), ladyofGods, SweetChaosandRevenge, oldestmaiden, ishmaranara CobaltHeart, RosaryMustang, Millenium Ring and Winchester, Melodi Moon, InuJoey, imuzuok (keeper of crickets), Nameless Little Girl, Youko's Befuddled Fox, sushi for lunch, Moonflames, and Demonlordlover(glad you could join us in our little adventure).
I truly hope that this chapter satisfies all your cravings for more updates.
I'm sorry to say that I'll have to take a break for a few weeks, maybe a month. If you didn't read my profile, I'm a graduated law school student, studying for the Bar Exam at the end of July. It is time consuming, and I can't afford to blow this opportunity. I've worked too hard for it.
So, please bear with me and know that I haven't abandoned any of my stories. They stay in my head constantly, which isn't always good, because Sesshomaru will NOT be on the Bar Exam. (though I wish he were!) Of course, I don't mind Sesshomaru showing up when I'm daydreaming. Hehe.
I still challenge anyone with any artistic talent and a deviant art account to draw the great dog demon in a plaid flannel shirt and sweat pants! If you do, let me know
Please review, it will lift my flagging spirits as I try to cram over 900 pages of law in my head in the next 3 weeks.