Price of Memory
By Rikayu

Chapter Twelve: The Darkness of Night

The sound of running water reached sensitive ears as Sesshoumaru slowly regained consciousness. His eyes adjusted to the darkness surrounding him and he soon took notice of exactly where he was. His head felt like it was filled with cotton and the sides of his head throbbed painfully.

Despite his headache, the demon lord stood from his spot against the base of a tree. He was still in his land, he presumed, and not physically injured at all in any way. Other than the annoyance of the headache, he was perfectly fine.

He looked around. It was already dark and the moon was high above, shrouded by the clouds. Several fireflies dotted the area, and the sound of water originated from a small stream located nearby. What had happened after he blacked out, and why had he bee brought to this place?

The moon peeked from behind the clouds and slivers of moonlight snaked down from the sky. The moonlight fell on some sort of… thing plopped onto the ground next to the stream. An indistinct sound escaped from it as twitched and moved slightly, obscuring itself more into the darkness.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. A scent wafted up to his nostrils as the wind blew. It was human… but different.

The thing let out a groan as it pushed itself off the ground into a sitting position. The silhouette of an arm rose up from its side and placed itself on what looked to be the thing's head.

"Where am I?" He heard a feminine voice speak out. "Ugh, I feel like crap… What happened…?"

The thing rose from the ground fully to reveal the outline of a woman's body. She swayed slightly before tripping on a small rock on the ground and falling backwards into the light. The woman landed rather hard on her behind, causing a sharp gasp of pain from her.

"Itai… My back… Stupid rock!"

Sesshoumaru watched with indifferent amusement as the woman-child that accompanied his half-brother on his little 'adventures' to find the Shikon no Tama stood and kicked the rock she had tripped on with a vengeance. The girl balled her fists and with a frustrated groan, swiftly turned around. Unfortunately, she stepped on another rock and slipped… again.

"Argh!" This time, the girl grabbed the offending rock and furiously threw it into the stream.

Mentally insane was the only thing to describe the girl at the moment, but the daiyoukai had better things to attend to, like to find out where and how he got there. Most likely, the black demon figure had something to do with the string of events that revolved around the scroll of Earth; the destruction of the village that was home to the protectors of the scroll of Earth, the death of the young miko in green, and the robbery of the scroll itself.

The feel of something solid bump into his side and the sound of a sharp intake of breath forced Sesshoumaru out of his musings. He looked down to the side to see two blue eyes staring up at him. Apparently, the girl hadn't been watching where she was going and had unintentionally bumped into him.

He watched as she backed away slowly, suddenly quiet despite her earlier heated argument with an inanimate object. She didn't seem afraid in the least bit, just a little nervous and perhaps cautious. Of course, he could kill her right there if he wanted to, but it was a waste of energy and he had other issues to attend to. But as he looked at her with his stoic expression, he noticed how different she was. It wasn't as though her overall appearance had radically changed, but she had matured a great deal from the young girl-child she was in their early encounters. It was then that he remembered that a fair amount of time had passed since he had last seen her. Instead of the strange green and white kimono he had usually seen her wear, she done a long-sleeved gray shirt and dark blue pants, both of which seemed to made of material he had never seen before.

Nevertheless, her disappearance for the last four years was none of his business. It did not concern him and it had no great effect on his well being, so despite the tiny ounce of curiosity floating somewhere in the back of his mind, he disregarded it and labeled it as pointless. The daiyoukai turned and walked quickly and silently out of the clearing, his shadow disappearing into the dark forest.

Meanwhile, Kagome stood frozen on her spot for a few second until she realized that her only chance for finding her way out of here had disappeared. She ran into the forest, but Sesshoumaru was already gone. She took a step forward and let out a frustrated sigh. She let her line of sight drop to the ground when she saw something glint in the moonlight. Kagome bent down to pick it up and examined it.

"Kagome!"

The young priestess turned her head in the direction of the familiar voice of her companions. She placed the trinket she had found the forest floor around her neck and tucked it into her gray sweater before dashing off in the direction she heard the voices of her friends. She hadn't been running for far when she spotted her friend walking under the lights and shadows created by the forest canopy.

"Kagome!" Sango and Miroku rushed towards her, asking if she was all right and being assured that she was all right.

Shippou lunged towards Kagome in a hug while Inuyasha merely scoffed to the side with a muttered 'glad you're all right'. She turned to Sango, who was checking her for any injuries and asked what had happened.

"Well, after we heard you scream, we all felt this choking sensation as I guess we all blacked out. When we came to, the field was completely void of any demon remains whatsoever," she said.

"It was as if the battle hadn't even taken place," Miroku added as he handed Kagome her bow and the pack she had brought with her from her time.

"And when we woke up, you were gone!" Shippou said from her shoulder, "What happened to you, Kagome?"

Inuyasha stepped forward and furrowed his eyebrows, "Yeah, what happened to you, and why do you have Sesshoumaru's scent on you? Did he do anything to you!"

Kagome shook her head at Inuyasha. "Look, nothing happened. When I came to, I was at this place by a stream and Sesshoumaru happened to be there. I didn't notice him until I bumped into him, but he disappeared without saying anything afterwards. He didn't hurt me or anything."

Inuyasha growled, "I swear, if he did anything I'll--"

"Were you even listening to anything I said!" Kagome glared at Inuyasha as she balled her fists. She groaned with anger and stomped a few ways away. "Sit boy!" She continued to walk while grumbling something about ear-clogged half-demons, the rest of her companions following after her.

.o.

Kagome sat down against a tree, the light of their campfire bouncing off her features. The rest of her companions were asleep, Miroku sitting against the tree opposite of her, Sango, Shippou and Kirara lying down at the base of the tree next to her, and Inuyasha perched up in a tree. A sigh escaped her mouth as she looked into the flames of the campfire.

So many questions wandered through her mind. Where had all the demons come from? Why was she taken elsewhere when she was unconscious while the others remained at the field? Why was Sesshoumaru there? What was that black demon thing that attacked her? Did the reawakening of the jewel and Bone-Eater's well have a connection with all of this?

Another sigh found its way out of her mouth as she looked up from the fire, to the orb in the sky. The moon was bright and though there were many stars in the sky, none of them could outshine it. The moon… The moon…?' Kagome reached into her sweater and pulled out the trinket she had found on the ground earlier.

She held it up to the light of the moon and watched as the blue crescent moon pendant on her hand glistened beautifully. She took the necklace from her neck and examined it in her hands. It was simply made with a simple design, but it was simple in such a way that it was beautiful. 'Blue crescent moon… Is this…? Sesshoumaru's?'

Kagome thought back to when she was in the small clearing near the stream. Did he drop it when he had left? She didn't remember him wearing it, but there was still the possiblility it belonged to him. He had a blue crescent moon on his forehead and the necklace had a blue crescent moon pendant. Surely, the necklace was his.

Her eyes slightly widened. Maybe he'd come looking for it. What would happen if he found out she had it with her? Would he accuse he of thievery and kill her for it? Kagome shook her head and sighed. Did Inuyasha know this was Sesshoumaru's? What would he think if he saw her with it? She'd have to find some way to return it even if there was a chance that she'd get killed for even touching it.

Kagome heard Inuyasha grunt in his sleep and froze. She trained her eyes on the hanyou as he shifted slightly in his sleep. She let out a sigh of relief and replaced the necklace back around her neck. With one last look at the amazing pendant, she tucked it back into her sweater and went to sleep.

TBC…

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