Chapter 1

Alea Iacta Est

"The die is cast"

Beware the Ides of March.
-Julius Caesar

"Tell me that you sense something," Inuyasha groaned as they continued traipsing through the woods.

"Sorry, nothing yet. I know that I felt a shard this way earlier; it's just vanished or out of range," Kagome said, almost sheepishly. "But it was definitely this way." I'm, like, 95% sure of that at least.

"Have patience, Inuyasha." Miroku let out a sigh as Inuyasha let out a low growl and leapt up into the trees, as though a higher vantage point would let him see or feel something different. Kagome had a feeling it was to work off some anxious energy. But at least he wasn't yelling or threatening to level half the forest. She fidgeted with the bottle of jewel shards as that deep swirling feeling hit the pit of her stomach.

"Everything okay?" Sango asked as she stepped in beside her.

"You do seem troubled today," Miroku added.

Kagome looked up towards the tree line, hoping that the half-demon was far enough away to not overhear their conversation. He tended to overreact to things, and she really wasn't in the mood for this to be one of them.

"Something feels off today. I mean, I feel fine, but I just have a feeling that something's going to happen, but I don't know what." She fingered the shards as she kept walking through the trees. "But what do I know? Maybe it's going to be a good thing!" She looked over at Sango, who merely arched a brow at her statement.

"Does it feel like it's a good feeling?" Sango asked.

Kagome sighed, long and heavy. "Not really, no." She stepped over a large branch in her path. "It feels—it feels not right, if that makes sense."

"Is that why you insisted on Shippo staying behind this time?" Miroku's staff jingled as he spoke.

"Maybe. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time, you know?" Kagome glanced over at him as he pushed a low hanging branch out of his way. The trees were dark and deep, almost exuding an ominous presence. Maybe she should've stayed home. She did have that history test coming up, and she really did need to study. Playing hookie from shard hunting may not have been such a bad idea after all. Even if she had to deal with a surly hanyou and his griping.

Miroku made a soft noise of agreement, but didn't add anything further.

"Did you tell Inuyasha anything?" Sango asked.

"No, it's just a feeling and you know Inuyasha. He's not one to talk about feelings. I doubt he'd take my gut intuition seriously." She huffed lightly, mostly to herself.

"That's not quite true. Inuyasha relies quite heavily on instinct, especially in combat. He's not one to take them lightly. It's saved all of our lives at one point or another."

"It's probably nothing. I'm probably just anxious. We haven't found a shard in a while, and this is the first rumor that's actually panned out for us in a long time." She flashed a smile at her companions, but they didn't seem quite as amused or willing to let it go. They kept walking, weaving their way through the trees. Kagome caught glimpses through the boughs of red and silver as Inuyasha leapt through, circling back to check on them before launching himself forward again. It was probably nothing. It was probably nothing. The mantra repeated in her head, and she defiantly hoped that if she said it often enough and long enough, it would be true.

There it was, the prickling sensation on the back of her skull and her head darted to the left, drawing the attention of her two companions, who were speaking in low tones and murmurs in their own conversation.

"Over there," Kagome murmured, diverting her direction towards where the shard lay. She focused in on the sensation and heard Sango and Miroku behind her as she picked up pace.

"Is it the shard?" Miroku asked.

"Come on! We have to hurry!"

In some ways, she kind of understood the concept of the thrill of the hunt. While she didn't necessarily love trekking through the woods, she did see how easy it was to track down something that she wanted. Kagome hurried, pushing branches to the side as she passed but holding them back just enough so they didn't slap Sango in the face.

"We should call for Inuyasha," Miroku suggested, but Kagome simply gave him a slight nod and then honed in on finding the shards. Miroku shouted for him as Kagome kept moving forward. Branches snapped underfoot, and Kagome knew she wouldn't get any points for stealth, but that wasn't the goal this time. Her goal was to find the shard and not lose it this time. The feeling grew the more she moved in that direction, but then it shifted. Kagome diverted course without warning. It was moving again, and she pressed forward. It was impossible to run in these woods, the trees were too close together, but she managed with what speed she could do. The presence grew again, tingling in the base of her skull. She wasn't moving fast enough to be approaching that quickly. So how —

It was moving towards them. The thought made her steps falter as she moved through the trees, and she only had time to glance back at Sango and Miroku before she burst through the edge of the clearing. She stumbled, catching herself before she fell.

The clearing was large but empty. To their right, however, was a cliff that looked like it would give an amazing view for sunsets.

"Kagome?" Sango called. Kirara roared, transforming to her full-size, landing in front of her.

"The shard—" Kagome nocked an arrow as a red blur moved in front of her line of sight, sword drawn and transformed.

"Where is it?" He growled. His hands tightened their hold on his sword.

"Straight ahead."

"What do you smell, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked, taking his stance beside them. "I can sense some youkai ahead of us."

"Cat. More than one. At least three." Kirara shifted her stance to move back towards Sango.

As the tingling continued, she struggled to keep her senses focused. The sound of Miroku's staff jingling beside her, the low snarl from Kirara, the shift of Sango's grip on Hiraikotsu, Inuyasha's steady, deep breathing, the low, deep groan of her own bowstring as she pulled it taut beneath her fingers.

When they came through the trees on the other side of the clearing, it was almost anti-climatic. They just stood there, grinning.

"The one in front has the shard," she whispered, one of his ears flicking back towards her as she spoke. "It's in his chest."

His stance shifted; his hips shifting back slightly as he crouched down, rolling to the balls of his feet.

"Stay out of the way, Kagome." His tone demanded obedience, but she scoffed at the idea.

"But I can—!"

"Stay back!" He glanced back at her, eyes angry at her resistance. But that was all that the cats were waiting for. They launched themselves forward, aiming towards them. The movements were too fast for her to track, but Inuyasha was already moving. They were lynxes, and they were fast. But then again, every cat demon they'd crossed had been fast, so no real surprise there. Kagome kept her bow at the ready and fired at the one that was slicing towards Miroku a little too closely for comfort. Another grazed the shoulder of the one attacking Sango. She kept to the edge of the trees as she moved, dodging Inuyasha as he flipped to avoid landing back-first into the tree.

"Dammit, Kagome! I told you to stay put! So stay put!" He pushed her back in the direction she'd come from and leapt back into the fray, swinging at the lynx that was making his way towards her.

Sango cut through the lynx in front of her, turning to aid Miroku. They were all moving too fast, there was too much room to make a mistake and nail Inuyasha, who was all over the place fighting the leader.

She'd moved as a blast of energy came right at her; it missed by a wide margin. Inuyasha had merely glanced in her direction, before striking a blow against the very arm that had put her in danger.

If she'd been obedient, that blast would've killed her right then. No one would've been able to save her in time. Sometimes a girl had to save herself, right? She couldn't always be the damsel in distress, even if the prince was handsome but uncouth. She was a modern woman! She could take care of herself for once! She didn't need everyone distracted because she couldn't handle a demon or two. These lynxes were strong, but they weren't Sesshomaru strong, and she'd gone toe to toe with him! She could do this!

Claws dug into her neck, squeezing off her air before she could make a sound. A soft rasp, barely louder than a breath escaped her mouth, unnoticed in the rage of the battle before her.

Oh God, there were four! Four! Inuyasha had said there were at least three, and she hadn't considered that there would be another in hiding.

Her eyes watered as she scanned the field, hoping that someone would notice and come to her aid, but they were all so focused on what was in front of them. Blood sprayed from Inuyasha's middle, but she couldn't make any noise more than a gasp. Another hand groped around for the shards around her neck, pulling them off. She was on her own.

"Saw you playing with these in the woods. Kept having to avoid that half-breed jumping around." His breath washed over her ear from behind. He ripped the chain from around her neck that now stung from the abuse. "These are mine now." His hand around her throat squeezed tighter as she pathetically tried to pry his fingers loose. Her lungs burned, and she knew that if she didn't do something, she was gone. No one was watching for her, because she wasn't where she was supposed to be. She'd dropped her bow and arrow when he'd grabbed her and she had nothing to defend herself with.

Purification. The word drifted through her clouding mind, and for just a moment, she felt her hands sear the flesh underneath them, the tinge of burning flesh singeing her nose. The demon roared, nails biting into the soft flesh of her neck before flinging her away. She braced for impact, knew it was coming, tried to prepare herself. Her hands cradled her head, and she struck the hard earth on her side, head knocking against the ground anyway. Her hands and feet scraped against the rocks and grass. She bounced, but there was no jarred landing, no slide, that she'd anticipated. Instead, her arm struck the ground as it disappeared from view. Air rushed past her as she fell, seeing the rock in a blur as she fell. Her lungs found air, finally, and she caught sight of her arrows falling with her.

Strange.

I'm going to die.

And for a brief moment, she really hoped that it wouldn't hurt.

But even that kindness was ultimately denied to her.

"Inu—"