A day had passed since Kagome had met Sokorusei and Naga. It was around two in the afternoon at the Higurashi family's Sunset Shrine. The rusty mechanic sound of passing cars seemed so far away, drowned in the cicada's song.

Kagome had somehow managed to clean up the disheveled house, and found that pickle juice and ketchup surprisingly did a wonderful job on removing those pesky acid stains from the kitchen tile. Who knew?

Now, she sat under the Goshinboku tree, resting underneath the expansive shade it provided. She smiled a little and frowned a little when she was reliving the memory of Inuyasha's awakening. He really did hate her back then, but now, he had completely changed.

Although he always told Kagome he would protect her endlessly, he rushed off to Kikyo every time she was in the slightest whiff of danger. Kagome's eyebrows furrowed.

Inuyasha could be such a puzzle sometimes. Even though his gruff exterior had been how he survived as a child, Kagome knew there was a good heart beating inside there somewhere.

But lately, he had seemed so troubled. During the search for shards, Kagome had often awoken in the middle of the night to find Inuyasha thoughtfully gazing up at the stars, as if trying to discover the secret of life.

At those times, Kagome had a wild notion that he had looked like his full demon half brother, Sesshoumaru. They may have looked alike a few times, but their personalities were farther than polar opposites.

She didn't know why, but Kagome felt extremely disappointed. Perhaps it had been that she thought Inuyasha would try to retrieve her again? It was a thought, but a hopeless one. She hoped everyone was getting along without her. Usually they didn't do anything but wait when she was away, and Kagome hoped that her second family wouldn't start to drift apart.

What was she talking about? She was going back to the feudal era in a few days. Sometimes she had been gone for more than a week, and everyone was fine. Why was she worrying?

Kagome shook her head at her own weakness. Once she took the time to sort her thoughts (and "camping" supplies) she would come "home".

Suddenly, Kagome noticed a dark shadow had befallen the land. Doing what she would normally do, she panicked. What if it was another demon? She frantically scrounged her mind to where she had put her bow and arrows, but drew a blank. Deciding to crack an eye open, she glanced up at the sky.

...........

...........

..........

-_-



She felt so stupid. It was only a cloud. A cloud! How could a loosely formed tuft of vapor and gas scare her?

'Well' she thought. 'At least I didn't need my bow and arrows.

For sometime longer, she leaned against the thick tree trunk, enjoying the calming sensation pulsing from it. A little while later she fell asleep.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



"Hmm..Did I miss anything?" Kagome wondered aloud to the empty house. Ramen? Got it. Chocolate? Check. Everything else? Yup. She was now on her way towards the well house, lost in her own little musings.



"Oof! I forgot how deep this well is!" Came an annoyed cry from the bottom of the Bone Eaters well.

She looked skyward..and groaned. The vine was gone! The only thing she had used to haul her pack up (not to mention herself) was missing.

"I KNEW I should have made a ladder! I can't believe I forgot!"

She slumped down, away from the majority of bones, and laid her back against the cold stone. Just what was she supposed to do now? Maybe Inu..Shippo or one of the others would come and find her, and help her out. There was no way she could lift the enormous yellow nightmare out by herself.

She sighed, and pulled out her Planet Ladder manga, amused at how it vaguely resembled her situation involving the feudal era. A tragic lost princess whose destiny chose the fate of all the worlds. Everyone was counting on Kagome to find shards, so the Shikon jewel would be whole again, and Naraku would also have to be destroyed.

Her manga was getting harder and harder to read, because her eyes kept blurring. Finally, she decided it was due to lack of sleep, and she put the manga back in a pocket tucked away deep inside the pack. Kagome sighed.

Her leg was aching again. What was the stupid thing that bit her? The bite was really starting to get annoying. 'Just my luck' Kagome thought half- heartedly.

Out of all the medicine she had stuffed away next to her, nothing had cured the stupid swelling, or the stupid itchiness, and nothing had dulled the pain that kept coming back every few hours or so.

"What I wouldn't give to have an Aleve.."

Now that she was thinking about it, her wrists ached too. What's up with this? Her ankles hurt too! Kagome heaved a dramatic sigh and twisted around to get a good look at her bitten leg.

Her eyes narrowed, but it was no use. It was just too dark now. She grumpily muttered to herself. Didn't anyone think to wait by the well at all? Usually, it had always been that Inuyasha would be waiting to scold her, at the least rush to the well as soon as he had smelled her.

Kagome sighed. Times were changing. She had started everything. Wonderful.

"Kagome!! What are you doing down there?!" A tiny but overjoyed voice called to her.

Huh?

Kagome peered up at the speaker, and recognized Shippo's flaming hair. "Shippo! The vine isn't here anymore! I can't get out. Can you go get Sango and Miroku? I'll need their help too!"

Yay! Finally she would get away from these creepy bones.

Shippo seemed extremely happy. "Sure! We'll come get you Kagome! Don't worry!"

And with that, he scampered away quickly towards Kaede's village.

Kagome smiled softly. She loved Shippo like a son. And he loved her back. If only Inuyasha were that nice..

Kagome frowned as she noticed it was getting darker and darker, until the sky was a deep blue-black color. Where were they? They should have rescued her by now.

God knows that Shippo could run quickly if he wanted to, and getting back his "mother" was a good enough reason to move his furry little tail.

Kagome began to get worried.





"Feh. Stupid girl!"

Kagome froze.

Was that..Inuyasha? Kagome was extremely puzzled. After their last fight, she never thought Inuyasha would speak to her unless absolutely necessary.

"Inuyasha?" She called out cautiously.

"Who else?"

Inuyasha jumped down into the well, and looked at Kagome with disgust.

"Pathetic human. I never thought you were THAT weak. But I guess I learn something new every day."

Kagome frowned. That was a little harsh wasn't it? Goodness, he didn't have to be that mean to her.

She opened her mouth to spout out a comeback, but too quickly, Inuyasha had grabbed her and leapt out of the well.

Kagome felt a mix of emotions. Anger, for the rude things Inuyasha had said, and happiness, because she was finally out of that stinky well. It felt refreshing to breathe in the unpolluted air, cold and strangely crisp.

"Inuyasha, my pack.."

But he was already gone. A second later, the red and white blur had dropped the monster at her feet, and disappeared.

Kagome was bewildered at Inuyasha's behavior, but shrugged it off quickly. She would rather occupy her mind with thoughts of Shippo, Sango, and Miroku.

Hoisting her backpack around her shoulders, she set down the cleared "road" in search of her other companions.



She blinked. Was it getting lighter?? Kagome couldn't believe it. The horizon behind had become a tinge of lighter blue. 'Wow..a whole day lost..'

As Kagome felt the prickly grass brush up against her legs like her cat, she soon could see them. At first, they were a faded grey, but soon became a bright green as mother sun made her way over the treetops.

Kagome felt her spirits lift instantly. She always felt better after watching a sunrise. This morning's had been especially pretty. Kagome had never seen so many shades of pink at one time.

Kagome noticed her leg and wrists and ankles had stopped hurting. She wondered what had made them hurt again in the first place?

But then, not to be forgotten, her stomach growled in annoyance.

"Hmm..I'll have to make a big pot of ramen today."







But all thoughts of anything except fear were chased out of her head at what she saw next.

It was Shippo.



Lying on the grass.



Dead.







Kagome's breathing and heart stopped, and her face contorted into a horrified expression.

Tears burst out and ran down her face like a small river as she ran towards him, calling out his name desperately.

When she was right next to him, she could see that he was covered in blood. The blood was pouring from a large gash in his chest, and not to mention the fact that he was missing an arm.

Kagome felt like throwing up violently.

Her Shippo! Poor little Shippo! What in god's name had attacked him!!??

Her heart broke in thousands of pieces, and there was no cry of grief that she could let out that could possibly express the pain she felt.

Now she was sobbing loudly, cradling Shippo's still bleeding body in her arms.

Something inside her leapt as she felt his chest move up and down slowly.

He was still alive!!!

A firm plan wrapped itself around Kagome's brain, and she got to her feet. She would rush to Kaede as fast as she could, hoping to be able to save her little son. But his wounds looked terrible. There might not be hope for the once-sunny kitsune.

Not even caring about her pack, Kagome ran with Shippo in her arms as fast as she could to the village.







But when she got there, she almost fainted.





Everywhere, there lay bloodied dead corpses. It looked like the village had been massacred, down to every last infant.

Outside of Kaede's healing hut, lay Sango, with Miroku a few feet next to her, both their eyes blankly reflected the horror they suffered during the last seconds of their lives.

A fresh wave of tears streamed down her cheek, and she couldn't breathe. Her legs were locked in place, and her face was in a silent scream.

In short, she was too shocked and terrified to move.



Suddenly she felt a small movement in the crook of her arm. It was Shippo. It looked like he was trying to regain consciousness. His little eyes slowly opened, and he wheezed out a whisper.

Kagome strained to hear him. "What did you say?"

Shippo's balnk eyes closed, and he mumbled something slowly.

"He..did..it. He..came..killed all..tried to warn.."

Kagome didn't want to push his last remaining strength, but she had to know.

"Who? Who came? Who did this?"

Shippo breathed in raggedly. He was trying to force his heart to beat.

Kagome waited, but she couldn't stand it. Any minute, Shippo could pass away, letting her never know who she must take her bloody revenge on.

"Was it a demon? Was it a human? Was it Naraku?"

Shippo was ready to speak again. "It was...I..Inu..yasha."

Kagome's mouth dropped in shock and part rage.

She looked down, and suddenly, Shippo wasn't in her arms. A deadly familiar red-and-white blur whooshed away from her.

Kagome panicked and screamed.

Inuyasha stood, only a little ways away from her, holding the barely alive Shippo by his matted and bloody tail.

He sneered cruelly at the tiny kitsune, and in a swift motion, threw him against a jutting rock.

Shippo bounced against the rock, then lay still.

"Feh. I never liked you anyway." He muttered at the now dead Shippo.



Kagome's eyes widened in unbelievable horror, and she screamed, whether it was rage, or grief, or terror, she never knew. But she did know to avenge the village's deaths by.

She trembled in blind fury, her blazing eyes narrowed into slits at the hanyou. "Why..?" She managed to spit out.

Inuyasha laughed coldly and replied casually, "Might as well do it sooner or later..wench."

He sneered at her and taunted her with his eyes.

Kagome was nearly at the breaking point.

Suddenly, Inuyasha disappeared, and she was kicked from behind. She fell forward with a dull thud, and by the loud crack, she didn't doubt that the power behind the kick had shattered her spine.

So there she lay, about to die on the red tainted dirt, when a clawed foot appeared in front of her face.

The words he spat almost killed her.



"Kikyo wasn't as nearly as weak as you."

The pieces of her heart shattered still further.

She thought that Inuyasha was going to kick her in the face, but his feet turned around and walked lightly away from her.

"Get up bitch..we still have shards to find."

The words, along with all those images of the villagers, and her dear Shippo were too much for her to bear, and she passed out. Probably never to awaken.











Wow.I never knew I had it in me. Dang! Horror is HARD to write! This chapter is somewhat...morbid. But you'll NEVER guess what happens in the next one!! I dare you to review! (Please anyway)

c-ya soon..Ja ne!