Well, here's yet another chapter. I hope that you enjoy it as much as the other one, if you enjoyed it. If you didn't, well, I hope you like this one! Yes, its been slightly redone, only because a few things didn't fit together right, and I didn't put in enough detail. And in some places, there was too much detail. And in still other places, there was the wrong type of detail! Plus those little grammatical errors that escaped my eye until I read it online.... Sometimes I hate having a typesetter for a mother. She passed her perfectionism to me....
Anyway, if you're confused about something, don't give up. It'll eventually be explained. You can ask my friend, Uke, who has read all the rough drafts for all my stories, and was the one who suggested I put them on this site. She knows everything gets explained, and has complained if it hasn't. So everything gets explained. Well, I know I'm stalling, but you just don't get enough suspense if you shoot through the chapters before you know what's going on. *sighs* I guess I have to let you read now. And I'm not getting feedback! I need feedback on how you people like the way the story's going. So please review me!
Thank you so much, those of you who are keeping up with it. I really appreciate the loyalty.
~Tennyo
~~~ Chapter 2 ~~~
Outside, in the old god tree, Inu Yasha sat in the high reaches, hidden from sight below. He was thinking of his vivid nightmare and trying to find out why he had had it. But the truth was, the only things that connected to it were things that happened long ago.
When Naraku was still pursuing them.
When the sacred Shikon no Tama was still in shards.
When Kagome was still full human.
His thoughts traveled from dream to reality as he remembered that day. The day Naraku had finally been defeated, when the Shikon Jewel had been resurrected and pacified by the last strength of Kikyo, and when Kagome had stopped him from using the jewel to become full demon, only to use it to become half-demon. At least her appearance hadn't changed, rather than the claws and fangs she has now.... I suppose they make her more attractive....
He shook his head vigorously, shaking the branch underneath him. He almost fell off, but he caught himself in time. He was getting off track. He needed to concentrate on his nightmare. But the more he tried to think of it, the harder it was to remember. All he could remember now was the fear. It was an unknown fear and made him nauseous. He promptly tried to forget it. A familiar sound came drifting to him to help.
"Inu Yasha! Inu Yasha, where are you?"
"Kagome," he whispered. He picked up the desperate tone in her voice and knew he couldn't hide from her any longer. He didn't want to make her worry about him. So he jumped down and began to walk towards her voice as she charged around the corner to look for him. When she saw him, she ran to him, relief making her eyes glint in the sunlight.
"Inu Yasha! Was this where you were while I was looking for you? Why didn't you tell me where you were going?" Her panicked tone lowered a bit as she stared up at him. "I was worried about you." He met her gaze and could see tears brimming in her bright, brown eyes. I didn't think she would worry quite so much... he thought to himself. He closed the distance between them quickly, and wrapped one arm under her shoulder, resting the other softly on her head.
"I didn't mean to make you worry, Kagome. I just needed a bit of time to myself," he explained. Kagome's tenseness evaporated immediately, and she relaxed in his arms.
"Never mind, its fine," she replied. I should have given him his peace, she reasoned with herself. He's just had a nightmare; naturally, he'd want to try to make sense of it. "I'm sorry," she apologized suddenly. He looked down at her, and she met his gaze. He smiled and shook his head, tightening his hold on her.
"Don't apologize for it," he said softly. "I don't blame you for worrying. I should have told you where I was going." She returned the grin and stood on her toes to reach up and plant a soft kiss on his cheek.
Just then, Kagome's family came back from their early morning errand.
"All right, Kagome!" Sota's voice rang clearly through the quiet shrine grounds. She whipped around to see them coming up the steep steps that made up the entrance. She blushed slightly as her mother grinned happily, her grandfather shook his head with a smile on his face, and Sota whooped and jumped up and down. Turning back to her love, she smiled again, as if asking permission. He slowly unlocked his arms from around her and allowed her to move away, but trailed not too far away behind her. She chatted in low tones with her mother and Sota, and he let them be while they talked. But soon enough, Kagome and her little brother sauntered back to him.
"Inu Yasha," she said, catching his attention. "Sota and I were wondering if you'd like to go around town with us, pick up a few things that they didn't get a chance to get while they were out, and maybe go to a movie..." He grinned broadly at the offer.
"I've never been to a 'movie' before!" he said excitedly. "Yeah, I'll go!" Sota and his sister beamed.
"You'll need to hide your ears, though," Kagome said, turning away to head back to the house. Inu Yasha snorted.
"So I need that 'baseball cap' again?"
"Yeah, and this time, I'm going to ask that you don't lose it."
"I-I didn't lose it!" the male hanyou stuttered defensively. "The wind blew it off!"
"Right..."
"Whew, what a day," Kagome sighed, flopping down onto her bed. "Well, you had fun, right Inu Yasha?"
"Yeah, especially when that runaway cart almost ran me over," he replied sarcastically.
"Well, I told you to wait until the traffic light turned red," she shot back.
"It looked awful red to me!" he argued.
"That's because you were looking at the wrong one," she said forcefully, ending the argument. "Anyway," she said with a considerably softer tone, "are you hungry? I could cook up some dinner for us."
"Really? Could you? I'm starving," he replied enthusiastically.
"Sure, I'll go start," she said, getting up to fix the food, leaving Inu Yasha in her room alone. He began reminiscing the afternoon he had just spent with her. They had taken Sota to get a new pair of pants for school, since he had torn and soiled his others. From there, they went to pick out a nice casual outfit for Kagome, and find a t-shirt or something comfortable for the dog-demon. Even after he had protested that he would never wear it, Kagome bought it, knowing that all she needed to do was coax him into it a bit. From the clothing stores, they went for some lunch at the Wacdonalds burger joint. After noon, Kagome led the small group to the movie theater. At first, Inu Yasha was overwhelmed by the sights and smells, especially from the arcade games that lined the entrance to the theater and the popcorn being freshly popped behind the cash registers. Buying a bag of popcorn and a cup of soda for her brother, Kagome beckoned everyone into a showroom and found seats for them. But about five minutes in, neither Inu Yasha or Kagome could handle the volume. They quickly exited and waited in front of the showroom for the movie to be over. Inu Yasha had clearly stated that he didn't like movies, and never wanted to go to one again. Kagome grumbled an agreement, massaging her temples. Finally, when the movie was over, Sota came out and boasted that it was the best film he'd ever seen. Kagome whacked him upside the head. On their way home, Inu Yasha started to cross a busy intersection, but didn't see the traffic light change, and refused to stop, no matter how much Kagome or Sota yelled at him. And the result was nearly an accident, but the driver swerved at the last moment, missing Inu Yasha and speeding down the road, a very dirty hand signal being waved out the car window. But since it was such a foolish act, Inu Yasha felt free to snigger a little as he replayed it through his head. That driver certainly had a surprised look on his face when Inu Yasha had hopped over the hood of the car.
A familiar scent rose from the kitchen, snapping him out of his reverie and making him stiffen excitedly.
"Inu Yasha," Kagome shouted from the kitchen. "Dinner's ready!"
"Ramen!" he exclaimed gleefully, running out of her room and jumping over the staircase banister to get to the dining room.
After dinner, Kagome and Inu Yasha went back to Kagome's room to talk some more and perhaps go to sleep. Although he was thoroughly tired from the day's activities, Inu Yasha did not want to fall asleep, lest the nightmare come back to haunt him.
Why am I so scared of a stupid dream? Its not like I'm fighting or human or anything, so why should I fear it?
"You know, I may have felt it coming," Kagome said thoughtfully. "The dream, I mean."
Sometimes, Inu Yasha thought to himself, it seems like she can read minds. But he said instead, "Well, do you feel anything now?"
"No, not really," she answered. "But it was later that I felt it, remember? Anyway, I'll tell you as soon as I feel something, if I do."
"But the real question is, what do we do about it even if you do feel something?" he stated sourly. There was silence between the two. Kagome was as worried as he was. She didn't want him to suffer through any nightmare, and she most certainly didn't want him to spend his waking hours dwelling on what he dreamt of in his sleep. But in being half-demon.... would it affect him the same way it would a full human? The same way it affected her the first few nights she was half-demon?
It hadn't been but a few days after Naraku had been defeated that Inu Yasha had attempted to use the jewel, and she had persuaded him not to. When she explained to him what her intentions were with the jewel, he had warned her that using it to become half-demon would have its dangers, but she brushed the warnings away. And the nightmares had started that night.
One was extremely vivid, where she woke up, in the dream, only to find the corpses of her love and friends in front of her. Smelling their blood everywhere, she traced it downward, and found it coating her new claws, glistening in the red dusk.
Another was of intense pain, every inch of her body, not allowing her to move. She could barely breathe, the pain was so bad. And standing in front of her, were all of the villagers that she had grown to know so well. Each had a sword, spear, or other type of weapon in their hands, and each tip was coated in her blood.
The last and most lifelike and memorable of all of them, was her own love's rejection of her. It was simply him gazing down at her with hatred in his eyes, then walking away, not even flicking an ear in her direction when she cried out his name.
"Hey," she said suddenly. "You never described your nightmare to me." He sighed softly.
"Well, I don't really remember all of it in as much detail," he said, thinking hard. "But I can try to tell you what I can recall." She sat on her bed, patiently looking down on him sitting on the floor. "I was being chased, I know that much," he began, "and I know it was some kind of huge demon, like an ogre, but more than ten times its size. I remember being lifted from the ground, and it getting harder and harder to breathe.... And.... I was human. Powerless, weak...." He looked up at her on the bed. "It was.... terrifying.... The fear that I was going to die, and there wasn't anything I could do about it...." he looked down to the floor as he ended. Kagome nodded.
"I've had vivid nightmares about being killed, too," she said understandingly. His head snapped up and he gaped at her.
"Y-you have? And you never told me?!"
"You never asked," she replied stoutly, not willing to tell him about the few that she had had while she was at home the few nights after she had turned hanyou. He didn't need to worry about something else at the moment. "And other people do, it's not just me."
"Yeah, but I never have," he said quietly. "Until now." There was a few moments more of silence between them.
"Well, perhaps we should just go to sleep and deal with it in the morning," she said. Inu Yasha glared at her. "And if you have another nightmare, we'll deal with it then." He allowed his glare to drop into an almost frightened expression.
"I can try to," he said a weakly and began to bed down beside her bed.
He's still scared. I can hear it in his voice, she thought to herself as she watched him. I wish there were something more I could do for him. She crawled off her bed and kneeled next to him. She waited until he knew she was there before reaching up and encircling his shoulders with her arms. At first he was slightly shocked, but he slowly and lightly leaned into her gentle embrace. "Try not to worry about it, Inu Yasha," she whispered. "You'll only drive yourself crazy like that." He sighed and nodded. Smiling, Kagome kissed him lightly on the cheek and moved back up to her bed. Not too long after she was under her bedsheets, she was fast asleep. Inu Yasha soon followed, hoping beyond hope that no nighttime torture would come to him that night. Meanwhile, the shadow was back outside the bedroom window....
There was a scream. He recognized it. It was Kagome! He rushed to help her, but something grabbed him and bound him to a huge stone pillar. Kagome's panicked voice came nearer and nearer, until she emerged at the far end of the area he was being held. He screamed out her name, and could barely make out her words. But they made no sense. It was as though she were speaking a different language. A large creature that resembled a reptile of some sort pushed her towards him. Then it knelt and busied itself with something. He struggled against his bindings. Kagome was calling his name, begging for his help, but he couldn't understand a word she said. He shouted her name again, desperation making itself apparent in his voice. A roar suddenly sounded from above. He realized that this must be an arena of some sort, as the beast that roared pounced from it's resting place... straight for Kagome! Why didn't she move? Did she not see the danger coming from the sky? Then it all made sense. The reptile creature bound her so she couldn't run. The beast planned to kill her. He could understand her pleas now. She was going to die if he didn't do something! He struggled against his bindings once more, crying out her name over and over. But they wouldn't give. The beast was coming closer to the ground every second. A breeze blew from behind him. He caught sight of his hair. It was as black as Kagome's. The beast landed on the ground and swiped her across the front. He watched, tears blurring his vision as she fell with a dead thud. He felt the anger welling up inside him, the pain, the loss, the emptiness.
KAGOME!
"KAGOME," Inu Yasha screamed in his sleep. Kagome was trying her hardest to wake the panicked half-demon up, but couldn't. Her mother and little brother came rushing in, having heard his cry from downstairs.
"Kagome, what's wrong?" her mother asked. Then she saw Inu Yasha, lying stiffly on the floor, his head rolling from one side to the other. "Sota, run and get some water, quickly!" She stepped closer, but Kagome stopped her.
"If he wakes up now, he could go out of control," she said, quickly remembering the day before when his eyes had been red as he awoke. "Since he knows my scent, he'll be calm when he sees me." Her mother nodded and backed away obediently. Sota came running in with the water just then. "Give it to me, Sota," Kagome ordered, getting up to meet him halfway. He stepped forward a bit to hand the glass to his sister, then ran back to hide behind his mother's legs to watch. Kagome strode swiftly to where Inu Yasha lay on the floor, lying quietly now, but still asleep. Setting the glass on the bedside table behind her, she dismissed her family members from the room, and sat next to him.
"Inu Yasha, please wake up," she pleaded softly. His eyelids tightened, and he turned his head away from her slightly. "Please, Inu Yasha...." A low moan passed through his throat.
"K-Kago...... N-no.... not..... K-Kago.... me...." She immediately knew that he had drempt about something happening to her. He continued moaning in his sleep, until something between a gasp and a sob broke the muffled speech, and he fell silent.
"Inu Yasha, wake up," she commanded him sternly. He flinched away from her voice again.
"Kagosss..... Kagomssss dead...." This time, his voice was filled with sorrow and loss. Even in his sleep, in his dream, he felt such a strong emotion as loss. It frightened Kagome to hear such sadness in his voice, and she knew she had to wake him up somehow, because he wasn't going to be able to regain consciousness by himself. Looking around for something she could use, her eyes fell on the water glass. Staring at it for a moment, she reached out for it and dipped her hand in, wetting her fingertips. Softly, she sprinkled it over his face.
Again, when his eyes snapped open, they were blood-red. But after a few moments they glazed over white again. Then he closed them and began panting for breath. She sighed in relief. Now that he was awake, she was almost sure that nothing else could happen to him. But he still looked horrible in her eyes, very much like he did when he had been seriously wounded or poisoned. Gasping for air, sweat rolling down his face, his eyes moving constantly behind the lids that kept his vision dark. She had long ago thought that he would never have this happen to him again. She had thought that she would be able to protect him from that.
This was running through Kagome's head as she laid her hand on his forehead, sending gentle, healing waves of comfort from her palm, trying to reassure the panic-stricken hanyou. It was just a small trick she had learned while helping Kaede care for injured or sickly villagers. For what seemed like forever, she sat on the floor of her bedroom, mumbling calming words and stroking his silver hair away from his face. Once or twice, his eyes flew open again, as if just to make sure she was still there. But he would just close them again and take a deep, shaking breath. For a few minutes, his breathing turned irregular, and she despairingly thought that he was having another nightmare. But finally, he calmed his breaths, and opened his eyes slowly.
"You... you died, K-Kagome.... I saw you... Heit killed you...." Then his voice gave out and his eyes closed again.
She leaned down to his ear and whispered, "But I'm right here, Inu Yasha. I'll always will be right here." He opened his eyes again and just stared at her, relief mixing with doubt in his eyes.
She's alive.... She really is alive... That bastard... no, she isn't dead. That's all I should worry about. She's not dead, she's not dead.... For a long while, he ran those words through his head, and finally convinced himself that she was alive. Letting out a long sigh, he slowly rolled to one side and attempted to sit up. With some help from Kagome, he propped himself up beside her bed and began to drink the water she was offering him. He didn't attempt to speak again, only because he knew his voice was lost. Shivers convulsed throughout his body, shaking him mercilessly.
We've got to find out why this is happening to him, she thought as she wrapped her arm around his shoulders and rested her head on one. I don't know how he'll react if he has another one. He shook again, closing his eyes and moaning softly. She tightened her hold around his shoulders. These are ruining him so much. I hate to feel him tremble like this. He'll be too tired to move if it continues any further. Maybe I should send him back, but if he's tortured further... He'll need me....
Unable to find enough strength to move any further, Inu Yasha sat with his love, slowly being healed by her touch, as he had been the morning before.
It was all just another nightmare, more vivid and consuming than the last, he thought to himself as a shiver rippled through him.. What's causing this? I know it's not just me now.
It had been another long while when Inu Yasha felt that he had enough energy to attempt to stand. But, as before, Kagome stopped him.
"Inu Yasha, don't push yourself. You're still tired, and you need to recover." He didn't make eye contact with her. "Tell me about what happened," she suggested calmly. He turned slowly to gaze at her. She returned his gaze with love and worry, but he didn't register it. He just stared at her. He looks so confused, she thought. Its almost as if.... he's still in the dream.
"N-not.... y-yet..." he told her unsteadily. She lowered her shoulders, a bit deflated.
"Do you want me to leave you alone, then?" she asked, remembering how he had run to find a few moments' peace the day before. But he shook his head, turning to look down at the ground once more. "Are you sure? Because I could go and make some breakfast or something...." She drifted off when he shook his head again, then lifted his gaze just slightly to look at her out of the corner of his eye. She was surprised at how tired he looked when he did that.
"K-Kagome.... I-I just saw y-you killed.... Th-this is like.... Its like you've been br-brought back to life...." He sighed shakily, and she tightened her hold on him. "Th-the last thing I want," he continued in a whisper, "is to be away from you." She smiled softly and shifted her position so that she was in front of him, her arms curling up his back and over his shoulders. Slowly, she watched as he brought his hand up to rest on her back. She was so worried about him. If he had experienced such strong emotions in his nightmare, then was it possible that he could drive himself crazy with grief, pain, or anger if he had another? Looking up at the clock on her wall, she realized that it was close to midday, and that her family would be worried about the morning's happenings.
"Inu Yasha," she said softly. "I'm going downstairs for just a few minutes, to see Mom and Sota and tell them you're all right. I'm sure that they're worried about you. I'll be back up as soon as I possibly can, though."
"K-Kag-gome...." he moaned pitifully. She flinched and pulled away from him. His hand slipped off her back and rested on the crook of her arm, since he hadn't bothered to move it. "N-no, K-Kagome... D-don't leave me...." She smiled softly and raised her hand to stroke his cheek. He closed his eyes and leaned into the gentle gesture. "Kag-gome...." Leaning forward, she lightly kissed his forehead and began to get up. But his weak grip on her arm pulled her back, not because of the strength of it, but for the surprise of how feeble it was.
"I'll be right back, Inu Yasha," she said comfortingly. He moaned softly again and released his hold on her. She stood and held his gaze for a few moments before smiling and stepping out the door.
For a while longer, he sat where she had left him, sometimes closing his eyes to regain lost energy, sometimes staring up at the ceiling. After a while, he shifted his gaze to the window because he had grown bored of the blank white above him, and suddenly stiffened. He saw a small shadow, bobbing up and down. Apparently, it was paying no attention to him, as it did not acknowledge that it was being watched. It looked like it was busy weaving something. Inu Yasha tried to stand, but the convulsions from earlier had tired his now aching muscles, and he found no energy in them.
"Ka-Kagome," he whispered weakly. The shadow suddenly realized that it had been spotted. It zipped down below the window, and out of sight. Damn it, he cursed himself. Why can't I move? He decided he would try once more to get into a standing position, now that Kagome wasn't here to stop him. He had succeeded as far as hunched over, one hand supporting him on the bed, and was about to let go when Kagome came walking into her room.
"Inu Yasha," she said rushing over to him. "You shouldn't try to stand yet!" He was breathing considerably harder than before and his legs were shaking visibly beneath the hakama that he wore.
"Kagome," he managed to gasp. "There's something... something out," but before he could finish, he collapsed. She kneeled down to help him up.
"There's something outside? OK, we'll go out as soon as you recover." He shook his head.
"No.... We have to go now," he said, attempting to stand once more. She saw the determination in his eyes, the kind she used to see when he had gotten a lead on either Naraku or a Shikon Shard. She nodded.
"All right. We'll go. But promise me this," she said seriously. "Don't try to push yourself too hard if we do find what you saw." Unable to find the words to say, he simply bowed his head in thanks.
Sorry, but the chapter had to end somewhere! I hope you're enjoying it! REVIEW PLEASE!!! I'll try to update very soon, so that you're not held in such suspence. If you catch something that doesn't make sense, or any mistake, please tell me so I can correct it. Thanks again!
~Tennyo