Chapter 21- Heartbreak

Little Kagome watched as the Slayer crudely slashed her fathers head off with a sword and stood there above his body, gloating over it. It was horrific, and even this could not describe the sight of her father's head laying in a pool of blood, staining his evergreen hair with liquid garnet. His white kimono, faded and stained by the years, was already beginning to soak up the life that had run through the body it covered, and it was steadily fading to dark earthy brown at the edges where it dried. Hot tears fell from her eyes, and her small hands fisted in anger. How dare he?! How dare he kill her father?! The anger boiled inside of her belly like a burning dragon's fire, threatening to engulf him in a wild flame of unadulterated rage. Despite her mother's frantic whispers, she left the protection of the hollow. His countenance, marred with hatred, turned upon her, and he grimaced in distasted when he noticed her there and saw the resemblance between she and the dead body at his feet.

"Tell me, was this beast your father?" he spat. She nodded silently, deliberately, and he laughed. "Half-blooded wench; you are even more a defilement of this world than your bastard father!"

She lunged at him, her speed, despite her age and dominant human blood, surprising him. Her tiny hands wrapped around his neck, her fingernails glowing a dangerous shade of garnet. Her nails grew and sharpened, becoming the claws she was truly meant to have. Her rage clouded her vision, and when at last she could see again, her claws had pieced his skin, and the poison flowed through glowing veins, showing as it slowly killed him within binding layers of ice.

The group was silent as Gin finished relating the tale. Kagome felt a single, silent tear fall down her cheek to splatter on the dirt. Korrare was pale in fright. Sango shivered, and Miroku hugged her closer in an effort to comfort her. Could it be that she was as dangerous a hanyou as she was a priestess?

The Inu-Miko didn't know what to do. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry… she wanted to be afraid of what she had done. Her heart was like stone; the tear had been for the story, but there had been no memory, no connection… no nothing. It was sadness for some other little girl whose father had been slain before her eyes. She wanted to feel every pain and hurt, but there was nothing there, it seemed, to feel.

Inuyasha encircled her waist with his arm, drawing her closer. His claws dug into her side softly, telling her that he was there for her no matter what. What could he say? If he told her he understood, it would be a lie; she who was so pure of heart that the Shikon Jewel was in her protection, had killed someone as a child and could not remember for there to be scars on her heart, though it was for her father's death she did it. He pulled her into him, embracing her firmly and nuzzling her hair.

Gin hugged herself, the memories coming back in a painful, heavy current. She had buried them long ago, but she had known that one day… one day, her daughter would know about this death. Oh! If only she could have anticipated this! Was it possible that her child's pain was the greater? She was grateful when warm arms and familiar strength encompassed her, drawing her against a strong chest. Her glazed eyes met with deep magenta, swirled with worry and tainted with care.

Oh, beloved, I'm so sorry. I did not wish to scare you so… Her thoughts took this course, though she had known that it would scare anyone to know their demise. Though perhaps destiny would be kind now; he knew what would happen; from this, could he not die in such a way? Fate was whimsical; perhaps it would be kind. She heard her daughter murmur something from across the fire, and turned to look at her, noting that the silver-gold and deep green of her eyes flashed gold and red in the fire's light, and that they were drowned in fear. She cradled her claws insecurely next to her chest.

The dawn, it breaks,

I'm still drifting,

Drifting away.

The fog's still here;

I'm lost in the gray,

Please, I beg you, help me find my way…

The soft, though upbeat tune, drifted across the camp, showing for how frightened the young haninu maiden was of her past. Gin smiled over at her as she lifted her head sullenly. Her daughter's fear was good; she would, at least, not act irrationally.

Kagome slept fitfully within Inuyasha's arms that night, her dreams trying to tell her something that, every time she woke up, would simply disappear, leaving her with the knowledge that she was being warned, but that the warning could not be remembered. As the night waned, and the tiniest taint of violet began to touch the eastern horizon, she could feel it at last.

Youki.

And they were surrounded.

AN: Yup, here's the next one. Don't forget to review!