"Kagome, you're back!", I heard Shippo say as I climbed out of the well.
I wrenched my arms over the side and dragged my body up and over its wooden edge. When I finally had my feet steadied on the ground, I looked over to my new group of companions. The small fox demon and I made eye contact and he jumped from Kagome's arms and into mine.
"Kimmy! You came too?", he asked with excitement.
"She's going to be helping us look for jewel shards", Kagome explained with a sweet smile. "We were attacked this afternoon by a kid being controlled by Naraku's spell. He sent the Saimyosho to our world to track us down and he almost succeeded. There was a jewel shard embedded in the kid's neck that the insects put there, but Kimmy got it out like a pro!"
"I wouldn't exactly say 'like a pro'", I explained rubbing the back of my neck.
It was true that I had gotten the shard out pretty easily, but it could have been a fluke. That was my first time ever attempting a task like that and I think the universe gave me a freebie for my debut at jewel shard snatching.
"Don't be so humble about it. You did great", Kagome exclaimed, giving me a rough slap on my back. I dropped Shippo to the ground with a thug and let out a pained groan. "Oops, sorry. I don't know my own strength sometimes", she said rubbing the place she'd hit. Except, very gently this time.
Miroku approached me with a greasy hand outstretched to grab mine. I tried to pull my fingers back before he could grab at them, but I wasn't fast enough.
"Dear Maiden, I would love to see your skills of extraction up close. Have you given any thought to my offer to be the Father of your first born. I'm sure we would have a very powerful child. The wielder of a Shikon Jewel and a Monk. Those genetics would be ideal for our children. What do you say?", he asked with a cheeky grin.
Just as I retracted my hand from his and held it up in the air to slap the grotesque monk, it seemed everyone had the same idea. All at once, we pelted him with open palms to the face and he retreated off into a corner to sulk.
"Don't be such a pervert, Miroku! You'll scare her off. The last thing we need is another important part of my plan to become a full demon being messed up by your sexual needs. I'd rather lose you than her, honestly", Inuyasha said to his friend, who was still crouched with a dark cloud over his head. Kagome and I shot each other concerned looks at what the half demon had just stated, but we chose to brush it off for now.
"So, where exactly are we going?", I asked. I risked sounding like an idiot to ask the question that had been burning in the back of my mind. Bracing myself for a snarchy response from one of them."I'm still pretty new to this whole adventure thing and don't really know how it works."
"Well", Shippo beagan. "Kagome usually senses a jewel shard nearby and we follow the trail until we find it. Sometimes it's inside of a demon or even a human and can cause a great deal of evil to everything around it. I'm sure you know how powerful the jewel is. It's our job to collect them all and help everyone we come across that's in need of our assistance", the small fox demon beamed up at me with a sweet smile and closed eyes.
"That's not true at all! It's not my job to help every puny human we come across and I refuse to waste our time that we could be looking for the jewel shards, helping humans anymore", Inuyasha grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.
His face was scrunched up in disapproval at the small fox's words. Clearly pouting about how much they must have done that thus far. He could really act like such a child sometimes. Refusing to share a toy that he didn't even have yet.
"You seemed pretty content with helping Kiyko the other night, Inuyasha. She's a human, isn't she", Kagome sneered at the boy.
If looks could be a murder weapon, Inuyahsa would have been dead on the spot. Whoever this Kikyo person is had just struck a nerve in the younger girl that I had never seen before. She didn't even look this mad with an arrow pointed at Sesshomaru during their fight.
"I-I don't know what you are talking about", Inuyasha stuttered, turning sheepishly in the other direction. "Can you just sense a stupid jewel shard already and let's get going. We're wasting time talking about her."
"Who's Kikyo?", I asked.
All four of them turned to me and yelled 'DON'T ASK' in unison and I dropped the subject. I wasn't a detective or anything, but I assumed she must have been a past or present love interest of Inuyasha's, and Kagome wasn't too happy about it.
"Okay, okay! Sorry", I exclaimed with my hands on either side of my face in surrender.
Kagome huffed a breath of disgust and stormed off into the nearby trees. We all exchanged glances of confusion and quickly rushed to follow behind her. We walked through the forest for most of the day, stopping every now and then for a bathroom break in the trees or a snack from Kagome's backpack. Travelling with them was much more comfortable than with Sesshomaru. Though I loved his presence and how he would occasionally carry me to our destinations, we didn't talk nearly as much as this group did.
They had conversations about everything. Favorite foods, places they thought the jewel could be, and even Miroku's laundry list of past lovers. There were jokes and laughter at almost every moment and I could feel my cheeks burning and tight from smiling so much. I really enjoyed their company and was pleasantly surprised by how welcoming they all were.
"Can we take a break", Shippo whined. His tiny hand shot to his stomach as loud growl erupted from his belly. "I'm getting hungry again and need to eat or else I'll pass out!"
"Good", Inuyasha snorted. "When you pass out, I'll throw you into a wolves den nearby and let them use you as a snack instead. I'm sure they'll appreciate the gift", he continued with a chuckle, glaring down at the frazzled fox.
"That's not funny, Inuyasha! How about I put another boulder on top of you and we'll see who get eaten by wolves", Shippo yelled back to him. Inuyasha made a strange face of fear and didn't say another word.
"Where would you get a boulder around here", I asked jokingly. "I haven't seen one for hours."
Shippo looked over to me with a sly grin. He reached his hand into the back pocket of his robe and pulled out a tiny rock. I looked down at him in confusion and he hovered the rock into the air with pride. Surely that wasn't the boulder he was talking about. Inuyasha let out a low shreek looking at the small pebble and began to back away from him.
"Watch and learn", Shippo said as he threw the pebble in Inuyasha's direction.
As it came right above the half demon's head, the once small pebble turned into a large boulder and landed right in the middle of his back with a loud crack. The white haired boy screamed in agony, flailing his limbs to try and free himself.
"That's very impressive, Shippo. I didn't know you had it in you to be so cruel. Does it hurt him?", I laughed down at the small kid.
"More than likely, but I don't care. That's what he gets for being a big jerk ! All in a day's work, I'd say", he said wiping his knuckles on his clothes with arrogance. We all laughed at the gesture, ignoring Inuyasha still currently being crushed by the boulder and thrashing in pain.
"Yeah, yeah! We're all so impressed. Now get this fucking thing off of me", Inuyasha screamed as the object crushed his abdomen more.
"Let him go, Shippo. You've had your fun", Kagome said sternly. "Let's have some dinner and rest before we go back to searching for the jewel."
With a pop of air the boulder reverted back into a tiny rock and fell to Inuyasha's side. We all sat down on the soft grass besides Inuyasha who was still rubbing his aching back. At least he'd been freed. Miroku started a fire and Kagome passed out various bags of snacks between us. I snagged a sack of chips and a gatorade. Popping the bag open and taking a long stiff of the familiar smell. We sat around the campfire and ate with casual conversation before Kagome suddenly stood up. At the same time, Inuyasha did the same with his nose pointed up into the air.
"Do you sense that", he asked Kagome. "I can smell blood and lots of it coming from up ahead. We should go investigate."
Kagome nodded in agreement and we all rose to our feet as well. I kicked some dirt over the fire, but not before I stared into it for another moment. The embers crackled as I watched small pieces of ash fly up near my face. Just as I turned to go with the others, I heard what sounded like a whisper of my name. A harsh gust of wind swept past my face, and I chalked it up to hearing things.
"Kimmy, please be safe", I heard.
But this time, it wasn't just the wind. The voice belonged to Sesshomaru and it was so close I could practically feel his breath on my neck. I whipped my head around to look for the source of the voice. I felt a smooth hand run across my shoulder blades and land on my cheek. I turned again to see him standing behind me, but there was nothing. Off in the distance I saw a flash of long white strands of hair like I had seen before. I could sense his presence here, I was sure of it this time. The oxygen in my throat caught right before it could escape my lips to call out for him.
I took a step in the direction I had seen him flash past me. I wanted to see him so badly. It didn't matter how much I like being with Kagome and Inuyasha's group, I still wanted to be with him. His aura was so close to me. If I took a few more steps into the woods I was sure he'd be there.
"Kimmy! Hurry up! You're trailing behind", Shippo called out to me.
The rest of the group were a few yards in front of me, totally oblivious to what I had just heard and seen. Just as quickly as the image of him had come, it had gone. I took that as a sign that I should move on and continue on with my new companions. He had told me to stay with them in the first place. I couldn't stop thinking about his words, though. Sesshomaru had warned me to be safe, but I didn't know why he'd be telling me that all of a sudden.
"Stop wasting time and let's go!", Inuyasha yelled at me in frustration.
I ran to catch up to them, giving one last glance for Sesshomaru. He wasn't there and I began to question if he ever had been or if I was just dreaming him up because I missed him.
The longer we walked, the heavier a strange feeling in my chest became. There was an uneasy sensation bubbling inside of me that almost made me want to vomit. I felt like I was getting physically ill the closer we got to our destination. There was a large evil presence nearby and it was very strong. I fell to my knees and crumbled down into the grass. A sharp pain was splitting my head in two and I could no longer stand up and walk on my own. Everyone rushed to my side as soon as they heard me collapse.
"Are you all right", Miroku asked with worry in his eyes.
"What happened?", Shippo squealed tugging at my sleeve.
"You can sense the presence ahead of us, can't you", Kagome asked. Her brow was furrowed with hesitation. She must have been able to feel the same thing I was. Luckily for her, it seemed she was becoming more used to this feeling than I was.
"Yeah", I responded hoarsely. "I can feel an overwhelming amount of pain and grief. Like, I can physically feel it in my own body, I think. My ears are ringing with the sound of human and demon voices. It's like their fighting with each other in large groups inside my brain. I can't really explain it."
My hands shot to my ears to dull the sound of screaming, but it didn't help. "Can't you hear them? Why aren't you covering your ears?", I asked in bewilderment.
"I don't hear anything", Inuyasha said tilting his head to the side. "My hearing is pretty good and even I can't hear whatever you're hearing."
"I can't hear anything either", Miroku said, followed by agreeance from the remaining two.
All of a sudden vision of blood and remains flashed across my mind. Fire crackling like the one I had just put out at our campsite, and the clinking sound of weapons serged through my ears. It felt like the battle was being hosted inside of my head. Everything was so loud and vivid that I could almost taste the blood of the injured fighters. Explicit visions of tearing skin and the slashing of throats overpowered any effort I had to push them away. I closed my eyes and let out a scream until the overwhelming sensation was suddenly over.
"You're jewel", Kagome started. "It was glowing! Was it trying to tell you something?"
"I think so. But I don't know what any of it means", I reponsed, coughing and trying to compose myself.
"Were they humans or demons, Kimmy", Miroku chimed in.
"I think both. It looked like they were fighting with each other. Over what, I'm not sure. But they were going at it either way", I replied.
"There is supposedly a village nearby that is known for having a rich culture of demon slayers. It's said that they also were harboring the Sacred Jewel at one point. This is the same village we spoke of before, Inuyasha. If we want to know more about the jewel that would be the place to go", he explained.
"Then what are we waiting for", Inuyasha blurted out. "Let's go talk to them about the Sacred Jewel. I'm not afraid of a few demons, or human with weapons. Never stopped me before."
"That's the thing", I paused. "I don't know if there will be nobody left to talk too by the time we get there."