Quick Author's Note: Updated after two years! This chapter is dedicated to Black Firelight, an author that crafts wonderful OCs and takes control of her worlds.

…III…
The Moonless night

She thought it foolish that Inuyasha locked himself away on the new moon. It didn't make much sense, the village accepted and cared for him. There was no need to hide when there were those that would protect him.

"Miko-sama."

Her shoulders tensed as her lips twitched. The flame at the end of the incense burned leaving ash in its wake that fell to the floor. She disliked the title. Glancing over her shoulder, she glared at Miroku causing him to chuckle. He leaned on his staff leaving her to wonder how he snuck into the shrine.

"To what do I owe this annoyance too?" Kagome questioned.

Her husband was hiding away like a shy maiden, her village was being accosted by Feudal Lords, and now her peace was disturbed.

Miroku leaned forward on his staff as he smiled. His lips were curled upward with mirth in every wrinkle; he looked like a fat cat lazing about.

"A Feudal Lord's, Fujiwara's, son has come for your hand," Miroku announced.

Stunned by the announcement, the incense burned to the tip and singed her fingers. Hissing at the contact, she dropped the stick and stepped on it as she stood. Kagome looked to Miroku to see his mirth gone.

"I am married to Inuyasha," Kagome stated.

Miroku sighed, "We all recognize this, but the Lord's see a hanyou, let alone a destitute hanyou.."

"He is second in line to the Western Lands!" Kagome growled. She moved past him determined to rid her village of the intruder. "Not that it matters!"

Miroku followed her, allowing her to speed down the shrine's steps before she turned in the opposite direction. He cleared his throat multiple times before she spun on her heel.

"Fujiwara's son is this way." Miroku said as he pointed in the opposite direction.

Kagome didn't bother speaking as she followed Miroku. Each step caused her anger to grow as she moved toward confrontation. It didn't matter that Inuyasha was a hanyou, he was a person that she loved, a person that saved the world from Naraku's darkness.

The cold hiss of metal against metal caused her step to falter. Her eyes caught sight of Miroku's shoulders tensing. His shakujo's rings clinked against each other telling her that he had been startled. Kagome rushed forward leaving him behind. The sounds of metal clanging brought back memories of Inuyasha's fights against Sesshoumaru.

She wanted the sounds she was hearing to be nothing more than child's play. The villagers were gathered and she heard Inuyasha curse. Her eyes caught sight of the banner displaying Fujiwara's symbol. Kagome pushed through the crowd feeling dread settle in her stomach like a lead ball.

'He's not used to fighting as a human,' Kagome thought.

Her mouth opened, she wanted to cry out and stop the fight, but she didn't wish to distract Inuyasha. The silver metal gleamed in the light of lit torches as it slashed though the darkness. Inuyasha spun avoiding the attack. His eyes widened when he saw her standing in the crowd.

He lifted his rusted and aged blade to deflect a strike, but he glanced back at her.

"Inuyasha!"

She was unsure if the scream tore from her throat before or after the event, but she was running. The direction of the attack was changed. The blade slid between the opening of his crimson haori. The metal punctured his tender human flesh. His eyes widened as she rushed forward.

' .No,' Kagome chanted, not realizing the words were leaving her mouth.

His eyes went wide for a different reason. A triumphant cry escaped Fujiwara's son as he withdrew his blade. Tessaiga fell from his hands as she watched the blood blossom like a blooming flower. He fell forward, knees buckling and hitting the dirt.

"Inuyasha!"

She caught him in her arms before he hit the ground. His body dead weight against her form, crushing her, but she refused to crumble. Kagome brought her Miko Ki to the surface, ready to heal him and save him. She pushed it into his form as the tears warmed her eyes and her vision blurred. Her energy didn't react; it remained in her body refusing to push out.

"Miko-sama."

Kagome forced her energy from her body, her heart contracting at the pressure as she tapped into her life force. Her soul quivered causing her lungs to suddenly dry as air was expelled from her lungs like a solid punch.

"Kagome!" Fingers dug into her shoulder, the pain causing her energy to dissipate and allowing her to inhale. Her eyes welled with tears as she snapped her head back to glare at Miroku. Inuyasha's head lay limp, tucked in the crook of her shoulder as she felt something warm spreading against her breast. "Kagome, he's gone."

It wasn't true, it couldn't be true. Her hands shook as she lifted her right hand to his black hair and pushed it from his face. She jerked back surprised at the sudden chill his flesh adopted.

"Such low life should know its place!"

Her hand cradled Inuyasha's cheek as lowered her lips to his forehead. Gently, she lowered his body to the ground. Her hand brushed over his eyes, trailing over the fading warmth of his skin. She whispered something as her hands trailed over the dirt, grasping Tessaiga's hilt. Pushing to her feet, her eyes focused on the haughty man.

"Kagome."

She took a step forward ignoring Miroku's call. The dirt crumbled beneath her as she continued onward. The distance was nothing. Fujiwara's son laughed, turning around when his guards startled at the sight of her. His brown eyes met her gaze. The realization she had taken up weapon, and she was holding it correctly set in as he struggled to reach his sword.

The metal bit into his echoed his scream as she forced the blade against his bone; she forced the Tessaiga's dull untransformed blade to cut through the bone. Sweat beaded on her brow as she pushed through and heard a dull thump.

"Kagome!'

Kagome felt the metal armor slam into her face, her world spun as she dived toward the dirt. The impact forced her into submission, tearing flesh and causing her teeth to gnash into her lip. Blood filled her mouth as darkness consumed her.

The world was spinning…dirt pushed under her nail.

The taste of iron and the grittiness of dirt filled her mouth.

Her head rolled to the side, seeing Inuyasha's fallen form lying in the distance. Reaching out, she tried to touch him, wishing he could reach back as her world faded…

The clumps of dirt rolled over hand and beneath as her fingers dug into the loosed dirt. Her soft groan echoed before she coughed. The taste of iron and sensation of rough little clumps escaping her lips caused her eyes to snap open. The darkness was thick, leaving her alone with her memories. She wanted to roll to her stomach and crawl to where she imagined Inuyasha was, but she froze and shut her eyes.

She had to recollect herself, pick up the pieces of herself if she wanted to survive.

'Where am I?' Kagome thought.

Ayame, Tsuchigumo, and some strange alien named Tyr. Miroku complained about her going to the Tsuchigumo lair…a normal week

The Tsuchigumo, they'd attack her. Her eyes slowly peeled opened as she remembered the battle. The memories were there, coming together in her muddled mind.

'The alien.'

It had saved her before the ground had collapsed. No doubt, the Tsuchigumo had tunneled beneath them and the battle had been too much for the ground. Kagome wiggled her toes and tested her body for injury. Her muscles were sore and her body ached, but nothing felt broken. Relief escaped her as a soft sigh.

Kagome heard a soft clicking and didn't know if she was pleased, the alien had survived. The fluorescent glow of lime green suddenly burst causing her eyes to shut. She waited a few moments before she squinted and allowed her eyes to adjust to the strange light.

Tyr crouched, a ball of light resting in his hand as his masked face focused on her. Kagome searched the ground and found her weapon buried beneath dirt, before she looked to the alien. The clicks she heard drew her gaze as he tilted his head.

Something told her that the light was for her benefit. She doubted the mask was just armor.

"Thank you for the light," Kagome said.

Her tongue was dry and her lips sticky with blood. Reaching up, she smeared the blood from her mouth and sighed. She watched as his free hand lifted, his fingers spreading before he engulfed the light and darkness reigned once more. He removed his hand and illuminated the world once more. Kagome nodded in understanding, the light wouldn't last forever.

He chuffed, puffs of air mixed with clicks, his chest expanded with pride.

Kagome pushed to her feet while holding back her groan of pain. She reached for her weapon and withdrew it from the rubble with a sigh. The blade was undamaged and it settled in her hand. The weight of it comforted her. Turning to face the alien, Kagome fisted her hand touched the place above her heart.

"Kagome," she reintroduced.

The alien stood to his full height causing her heart to beat faster, fear wanted her to run. She refused and stood her ground. He mimicked her actions.

"Tyr."

"Tyr," Kagome repeated. He nodded his head at her correct pronunciation. She motioned to the cavern they stood in. "Enemy lair."

"Understand."

She wasn't surprised by his rough speech. Even with his face hidden behind a mask, she knew he wasn't human. He was intelligent, for that, she was grateful. Her eyes roamed to the darkness above her seeing they were sealed in the cavern. She took in the jagged terrain before noting a few tunnels in the sides. The Tsuchigumo had tunneled and weakened the area, she wasn't sure if she was grateful that some tunnels survived the collapse. Securing her weapon to her back, she looked to Tyr noticing that his talons were carefully working at his opposite gauntlet.

Curiosity urged her forward.

"What are you doing?" Kagome questioned. It felt strange to be speaking English after all this time. She hadn't spoken the language since her time in school.

His masked face looked to her as he simply replied, "Location."

Brows furrowed in thought she tried to imagine how he would know their location. There were no satellites to connect to and she remembered he was an alien. Upon this planet or in the atmosphere he must've had a ship. A soft growl, reminding her of an enraged dog caused her to look to the creature. His frustration was evident in his tensing shoulders and dropping of his wrist. She was reminded of the time when her professors cursed their luck with their technology. It seemed frustration at failed technology was shared.

"The Tsuchigumo will come for us," Kagome announced. The black visor was upon her and she could make out her reflection in the eerie glow of the light. "I must seek their nest."

The soft clicking of tusks and chattering filled the air.

"Female hunt?" Tyr questioned as he watched her. Kagome was unsure of the response. His voice held the same rumbling tone that sounded discontent, and she wondered how the females of his species were. The thought of how a female should behave caused her brow to pinch in annoyance; she had never been a typical female. "Why hunt?"

"I defend my clan." Kouga and Ayame had accepted her into their family. There were bonds that couldn't be broken and she wouldn't ignore them in their time of need. Warmth curled in her gut pushing through her veins and causing her heart to ache. It wasn't love or affection warming her, but something more primal. "I will punish those that dishonor my clan."

The need to hunt swelled within her.

Tyr remembered the teachings of his Honorable Trainers and lessons taught to him by his Sire. The years had been many since the time he spent in his Trainer's guidance. Despite perfering to study planets for suitable prey, he still felt the urge to hunt.

It was instinct to hunt and battle.

Honor demanded he take suitable prey.

Yet, he'd never witnessed this in humans before. They were quick to battle; quick to following a system as long as their needs were met. They were unworthy prey, suitable for hosts.

When the female, Kagome, mentioned hunt he was confused. Humans hunted for food, they slaughtered the weak, and didn't know of honor. Honor was a means to do what they wanted, not what needed to be done.

Thoughts of what he observed caused him to grunt in displeasure, but curiosity caused him to follow the female. The female lacked fear and he chose to follow her to satiate his curiosity. It was also to ease the question of what her definition of dishonor was.

Regardless, he needed to escape these tunnels and his technology was failing.

She settled in front of the first dark tunnel, her back to the light. Crouching, her hand pressed to the dirt and her eyes shut. His maniables tapped as he watched her. The woman, despite being in battle, she seemed to be something of an Elder in her village.

Kagome rose to her short stature and moved toward the opposite tunnel. He glanced at where she had been and wondered if she knew where to go. There wasn't technology to guide her. He lowered himself to the ground at the entrance to the tunnel she went and studied the dirt. Her footprints moved in the direction along with a multitude of others.

'She can't see in the light,' Tyr reasoned.

"We will find an exit this way," Kagome said. Tyr stood catching her in a few steps and matching her stride. The silence was thick and the light he ignited fading. "I can sense them."

Tyr wanted to focus on her despite his scans showing she was a normal human. Each step they took was closer to something; his mask was detecting life ahead. It dawned on him that whatever rested ahead was a hive. The deeper they traveled the differences he noticed in the tunnel, and her.

The material scattered about was webbing, a silken material sticky to touch and resilient.

Kagome stopped walking and placed her hand against the wall, the webbing clung to her skin. Tyr looked to her switching visions as the light faded, extinguished. Her temperatures were rising as she stood there. His body tensed as his foot shifted unsure if she were a threat. The possibility of her unleashing an attack in a foul manner caused the growl to rumble in his chest. She vanished from his thermal vision leaving the area blank.

He could hear her breathing, the breaths were steady, but she was gone from his vision.

"I do not like fighting," Kagome admitted. He went through his vision modes until he saw her, illuminated. "I am ready to fight." The way she held herself was not of being threatening him, but of being resolved. She faced him as she said, "Tsuchigumo tunnel up and then out, any exit will be upward."

He heard the tapping of feet and stirring of dirt as it was disturbed. It sounded as if an army was coming to greet them. Tyr had involved himself in her battle and seen her battle to protect her clan. Her bioscans remained normal as he took a step toward her and clasped her shoulder. She was petite in his grasp, too small to be a threat.

"Hunt brothers," Tyr stated.

He could see her smile, but he could feel her small hand reach up to grasp his shoulder. The ground shook causing her hand to slide down his arm feeling his pebbly skin and brush his netting. Kagome looked into the darkness, her eyes narrowing and straining to adjust.

Tyr adjusted his vision once more.

His blood heated as he caught sight of the hundreds of bodies swarming toward them.

Author's Note:

Questions, Comments, Concerns, please leave them.

There is only one part left to the story!

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