A/N: The next few chapters will be longer and will be better written. I promise you that. This one I am not really satisfied with, but I wanted to postit and go back to it later. The next few will be more discriptive and complete and they will feel less hurried. However, this may mean more time to write them. I will not leave the readers of this story waiting too long for anything because I wouldn't like that if I were them. :) I just wanted everyone to know that because I feel slightly disgusted with how crappy this chapter is...lol. Anyway, this does answer some questions and I start on chapter 22 tomorrow.
"Shippo," Kagome sniffed and wiped away the last of her tears. "What happened?"
The two had fallen asleep with each other in the woods, Shippo remaining warm from Kagome's embrace, Kagome becoming colder and colder until her body simply wouldn't let her sleep anymore. When she stirred and sat up, Shippo jerked awake and couldn't go back to sleep. Kagome cradled him in her arms now as she shivered against the cold, damp air.
Shippo peeked up at her through his bangs. "Kagome…" His voice dropped and he lowered his eyes.
Kagome allowed him to snuggle deeper into her arms. "Shippo, I need to know what's wrong with me." I need to make sure I didn't hurt anyone else. Make sure I didn't hurt…
She blinked away the thought of harming Inuyasha.
"Kagome," Shippo snuggled into her lap and closed his eyes. "You," he sniffed in an attempt to keep calm enough to tell her what she needed to know. "I was scared. You picked me up by my neck, Kagome. You tried to choke me." He wiped his eye. "The fireflies even left…"
"What?" Kagome couldn't understand.
Shippo shook his head, knowing it wasn't important. "You grinned at me and your teeth were pointy. All of them were. And your eyes were like a lizards."
Kagome pulled him closer, "Like what?"
Shippo tilted his face to look at her. "Your eyes, the pupils were in up-down slits."
"My eyes?" Kagome felt lost and baffled at the directions.
"Yeah, and you smelled different."
Kagome sat stiff for a moment. Slit pupils?
Shippo whined in her arms at the cold air.
"How did you get away?"
"What?" He stared at her lips.
Kagome blinked and lowered her head to look the child in the eyes. "How did you escape?"
Shippo bent to reach into his vest to pull out a tiny mushroom with pop-eyes. "This," he held it up to her nose.
Kagome raised her eyebrow and sniffed the mushroom. Nothing, it did not affect her at all. "And?" she questioned.
"When you weren't you," Shippo stated, "this bothered you. In fact it made you down-right sick." He pointed to where she awoke before. "You fell down flat from one huff and lay there screaming," Shippo shivered. "And hissing."
Kagome set Shippo down and stood up. "Did I hurt anyone else?"
"I don't think so." Shippo scratched his head. "I think I smelled you when you came through the well, but I haven't seen anyone for a while now."
Kagome placed her hand on her stomach and turned her head in the general direction of Kaede's village. Wind rifted through her hair and she splayed her fingers out. Without even looking at Shippo, she began to walk away.
"Kagome!" He cried.
She stopped and glanced back over her shoulder. "Keep those mushrooms handy, Shippo. You may need them." She turned back toward the village and walked away from the little fox demon.
Shippo blinked and focused on her form until he could no longer make her out among the dark trees. He sniffed at the air and picked up Miroku's scent coming from a nearby spot. Rustling from the brush allowed Shippo to launch himself directly at the monk.
"Shippo," Miroku stopped in his tracts as the tiny orange fur ball hit him squarely in the chest and then slid down to the ground. Miroku bent and leaned on his staff to inspect the boy. "Shippo, don't stay around here," he cautioned. "It isn't safe. Go back and stay with Kaede."
Shippo rubbed his forehead. "I know," he grumbled. "I just ran into Kagome. I think she is looking for Inuyasha."
The monk straightened up. "Where did she go?"
Shippo pointed, "To the village I think. She's herself right now, but I don't think she is going to stay that way." Shippo glance away, remembering his near-death experience.
Miroku turned his eyes in the direction Shippo indicated. If she was looking for Inuyasha, did that mean their plan would even work?
"And," Shippo pulled out a few mushrooms and held them up to Miroku. "When she…isn't herself, she doesn't like these." The monk picked them out of his hand and examined them up close. "They make her sick."
Miroku sniffed them and felt no ill effect on him, then placed them in the folds of his robes. "Thank you, Shippo," he allowed a smile to pass over his lips. "But, do as I say and get back to the protection of Kaede."
Shippo nodded and sprang into a run. Miroku followed his general direction slowly, tracking Kagome.