Disclaimer: No rest for the wicked. *sigh* And no copyrights to awesome anime characters either.  Inuyasha and them are not mine!

Somnium et Umbra: Dream and Shadow

Desperation

            ' This can't be happening…I'm dreaming…this is a dream…a nightmare…'

            "Kagome-chan?" Sango called anxiously as she saw her friend crumple to the ground at Kaede's pronouncement.  Kagome's face was blanched, her eyes wide and staring at nothing.  Her hold on Shippo tightened, and Sango moved to take the poor kitsune from her.  "Kaede-sama, are you certain nothing can be done?" Sango asked the miko, "Is Inuyasha…will he…?"

            "Not just yet," Kaede said gravely, turning her head to look at Inuyasha, who was lying on a futon on the far side of the fire pit, "The fever is only the first stage and if it has not killed him yet, it will not."

            "'First stage'?" Sango echoed, standing up with Shippo in her arms, "You know what it is, then?"
            "Aye, that I do," Kaede answered, " 'tis the you-ki of yoru-kyoufu, "night-horrors," that come from the realm of Nightmares in Hell.  I know not how such darkness was given shape in our world, but it was summoned by someone with enormous evil power."

            Sango's eyes narrowed to slits.  "Naraku," she hissed angrily; Kaede nodded.  "That bastard!  He finally got one of his cowardly attacks to work!"

            "Kaede-sama!" Miroku gasped, bursting into the hut, his robe damp with melted snow and clinging to his body, steam billowing from his mouth as he strove to catch his breath.

            "It's Naraku," Sango informed him in clipped tones, anger and hatred smoldering in her eyes, "He summoned a power of Hell and used it to poison Inuyasha."

            Miroku placed Kagome's bag on the floor and walked over to Inuyasha's prone form, his normally cheerful expression dark with anger and worry.  The hanyou seemed lost in a world of delirium, for his eyes, though open, could not focus on anything, and only indecipherable growls came from his throat.  "Is there no way we can fight this, Kaede-sama?" Miroku asked Kaede.

            "I have neither the power nor the knowledge to cure something of pure evil such as this," Kaede answered, "Only a miko with extraordinary skill and the ability to call souls back from the dead would be able to purify the you-ki from Inuyasha's spirit and body."

            "Is there such a person?" Sango wondered.

            Just then, Inuyasha emitted an anguished howl, his body going completely rigid, his back arching until he was only touching the futon with his head and the backs of his heels.

            "Sango!  Help me restrain him!" Miroku yelled to be heard over Inuyasha's roars.  Sango immediately set Shippo on the ground and rushed over to help Miroku.

            "Hang on, Inuyasha!" Miroku bellowed as he and Sango tried to force Inuyasha's body back to earth.

            "INUYASHA!!"  Jolted out of her shocked state by Inuyasha's cry of pain, Kagome rushed over to aid her friends, sobbing as she felt the pain coursing through him even as they managed to overcome Inuyasha's weakened strength.  Inuyasha continued to growl softly, his body raging with heat.  Kagome caressed his face and mumbled comforting words, not knowing what else to do.  "He's dying, he's dying…!" she sobbed.

            "He will not die just yet, child," Kaede told her.  Kagome fixed her with anxious eyes, pleading for Kaede to provide some hope, but Kaede had none to give her.  "His body is fighting the you-ki with more strength than any mortal's, but it will eventually reach his heart and his mind.  Whether it will kill him then, I know not.  He may lose his soul to it or he might forever be condemned to a half-life."

            "That's not possible…" Sango whispered, not wanting to believe it.  Miroku, knowing better, only cursed under his breath and wracked his brain for anything that might prevent Kaede's prediction from coming to pass.

            "You said that a miko with the ability to bring souls back from the dead would be able to save him?" he asked Kaede.

            "Aye, but I know of no miko alive today who could do such a thing," Kaede answered.

            "Because she isn't," Kagome said quietly.  The others stared at her.  "The only one who could help Inuyasha is already dead," Kagome continued, still looking down at Inuyasha's fevered face, "but she wants his death for herself, so I don't know if she'd help him."

            "You don't mean…?"

"Kikyou…"

            "But how would we find her?" Sango wondered.

            "We don't even know where she li…where she is," Shippo continued dishearteningly.  The kitsune had recovered from his fainting spell and, after having been told of the situation as it stood, joined in the effort to help find a solution.

            "Normally, she would just show up," Miroku added quietly, "She had the uncanny ability to show up when he was wounded, if you remember."

            Sango snorted indelicately.  "Hn.  I wish she would use that ability right now when we could actually use her help, for once."  She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Kaede and Kagome, who were cooking up some herbal medicine to relieve Inuyasha's fever.  She doubted if Kagome could hear their conversation, but Kikyou had always been an uncomfortable subject in the group, and they tried to avoid discussing it in Kagome's presence because of the pain it caused her.  'Of course, that was when Inuyasha had said Kikyou had his life,' she thought, 'Now that that little problem is resolved, Kagome must still be worried that Kikyou will still try to claim him.'

            "Yes, I know, but wishing isn't going to get us anywhere," Miroku pointed out a little helplessly.  He put a hand to his forehead and sighed.  "We're talking in circles.  Do we have any idea how we can even start looking for Kikyou-sama?"

            "I don't suppose going through the forest yelling "Kikyou!" at the top of our lungs is going to help much, is it?" Shippo suggested.  The others were too engrossed in thought to even indicate they had heard his weak attempt at lightening the mood.

            "But how will we get him to drink it?" Kagome asked Kaede, looking down at the wooden bowl of thick, frothy green broth she held in her hands, "He's barely conscious."

            "He must drink it, or the fever is going to make it that much harder to keep fighting the you-ki," Kaede said.

            Kagome stared at Inuyasha.  "I have an idea…this won't hurt me if I don't swallow it, right?"

            "It should not, but why…?"

            Kagome raised the bowl to her lips and sipped a small mouthful of the bitter-smelling brew.  'Yick!  Inuyasha, don't hold this against me, but…'  Quickly, she lowered her face to his and took his half-opened lips between her own.  Carefully, so that he would not choke, she eased the medicine from her mouth to his, giving him time to swallow.  After Inuyasha had taken the dose, she lingered for a moment longer, praying that his eyes would open and that he would bring his arms around her to hold her, telling him that he was well, that she no longer had to worry.  But she knew it was a vain hope, so she broke away from the kiss and sat up.  "How much more does he need to drink?" she asked in an empty voice.

            "Once more ought to be enough," Kaede said softly.  She wanted to say some words of comfort to the girl, but could think of none that would not be empty.

            'If Kikyou is the one who can cure you, she can say what she wants to me, she can try to take my soul, I don't care, I want you alive,' Kagome thought, lowering her face for another kiss, 'I love you and I won't see you die like this!'  She finished giving him the medicine, and immediately picked up another cool cloth to replace the one already on his forehead.  'If only I knew where she was!   If only there was some way I could…Kikyou, where are you?  Inuyasha needs your help!  Please, help him.  Where are you?'  Kagome searched her mind, sensing, knowing, that there was some way she could find her erstwhile incarnation, but the solution eluded her.  'Kikyou!'

            The change was faint, so subtle that Kagome almost dismissed it as a product of stress.  But when the sensation did not go away, growing stronger instead, she could no longer ignore it.  It felt as though her surroundings had blurred and were running together with the boundaries of another place.  If Kagome had the time to analyze it, she would have noted the similarities with the portal in the Bone-Eater's Well, the space of time where the present melded and then changed to the past.  It was a frightening feeling, but Kagome could sense the purpose of it, that whatever innate spiritual power in her body was searching, reaching out to something as yet unknown to answer her desperate prayers.  Running out of time, Kagome focused on it, seeking whatever was at the other end of the portal…

            Twigs brushed up against the thick cotton sleeves of her kimono, never quite catching the material.  The snow weighted down the hem of her hakama, slowing her down ever so slightly.  Ahead, the men who waited for her to attend their wounds would have hopefully started the noon meal inside the shrine.  She mentally reviewed the store of medicinal herbs she had laid away, and hoped that there would be enough.

            Kagome blinked; she could not feel the cold of the snow nor hear the sounds of the forest.  Instead, there was the normal warmth of Kaede's hut and the low murmur of her friends' voices, but even these were muted, far away.  'What's happening?'

           Her feet stopped and she surveyed the forest.  Something she could not quite identify had pricked her consciousness.  Whether good or ill, she had to find it.  'Who's there?'

            It was a ridiculous question, or so Kagome thought.  "It's me, I'm here," she answered aloud.

            'Who's there?'

            "It's me.'  The surreal quality of the tableau intensified.  Kagome did not know if the questioner was another person or herself.  'Am I going crazy?'

            'What do you want?'  It was a different question, at least, but again, Kagome was not sure who had asked it.  And it was not really a question; it was more a feeling of puzzlement, the emotion of caution, which echoed in her mind.  Hesitantly, Kagome summoned an impression of herself, not unlike the image she saw in the mirror.

            The response was immediate, and the cautionary tone had been replaced with one slightly more hostile.

            'I am Kikyou.'  Not a mirror image, but the sensation of cold and indomitable will, of bright power marred by shadows of hatred.  'What do you want with me?'

            It was like communicating with colors and fog; Kagome concentrated, calling forth the desperation she now felt.  'I need help.'

            'Why?'

            "It's Inuyasha," Kagome whispered, but she knew Kikyou could not hear her.  She could feel the heat of Inuyasha's fever beneath her fingers and hear the low growl of his pained breathing.  'Sickness…'  Inuyasha himself, the way had looked just when she had realized something was wrong with him, the way his eyes and voice seemed more distant.  'Inuyasha, something is wrong with him…'  The fiery burn of the you-ki she had felt when she had tried to move him, its malevolent seeking of his mind and heart.  'A shadow, he's going to…'  The nightmare that had come to her during the storm, of holding Inuyasha's in her arms and watching the light of his soul vanish from his eyes.  '…die.'  Kagome could no longer hold back the desperation of her fear.  'You can help him!  You have to power to save him!  Please save Inuyasha!'

            There was a pause, and Kagome feared that Kikyou had left, had shut off the connection between them.  'I will come for him,' came the answer after a long while, 'I will save him.'  And then, Kikyou was no longer there and Kagome was once more restored to the solid reality of Kaede's hut.

            "Kagome-sama!"  Miroku was shaking her, staring into her face as though he was afraid that she too was dying.

            "Miroku-sama?" Kagome managed, blinking and shaking her head.  'What was that?  Was I dreaming, or is Kikyou really…?'

            "You looked like you…I don't really know for sure what you looked like," Miroku told her, still gripping her arms as if afraid she would once more slip away.  Kaede, Sango, and Shippo peered at Kagome over Miroku's shoulder, their expressions mirroring his.  "You looked like you were seeing something that wasn't there," Miroku continued, "and you were speaking to someone.  You didn't hear us when we called you."

            Kagome shook her head once more, smiling wanly to reassure them. "I...I really don't know what happened," she said softly, "but I think…Kikyou is coming."

            "What?" Sango blurted.

            "How?" Shippo yelped at the same time.

            "I talked to her…I think," Kagome explained, furrowing her brow.

            "You…talked…to Kikyou-sama?" Miroku repeated doubtfully.

            "It might not be as impossible as you might think," Kaede supplied.  They all looked at her, Kagome included.  "After all, Kagome is the reincarnation of my sister, and the two of them share the same soul, or at least part of it."

            'This again,' Kagome thought with a spark of anger, 'How many times will I have to say that I'm my own person?  My soul is mine, not anyone else's!'

            "That might explain why Kagome would be able to communicate with her on some level," Kaede continued, heedless of Kagome's growing anger.

            "Then why hasn't this happened before?" Sango asked, casting a sidelong glance at Kagome, "Why hasn't Kagome ever known what Kikyou was thinking?"
            "There never was a need to, I suppose," said Kaede, "They share the same power, too.  Kagome simply tapped into it for the first time in desperate need."

            "As interesting as this speculation is," Kagome said with a slight edge in her voice, "I think it would be best if we got things ready for Kikyou.  Miroku?"

            "Yes?"

            "You can let go of me now.  I'm okay."

            "Oh, right," said the monk sheepishly, releasing his hold on her.  Sango cocked an eyebrow at him, to which he responded with hands raised in supplication and a disarming grin.  Sango only rolled her eyes in exasperation and watched Kagome walk over to her bag and take out blanket after blanket, selecting a few to add to the one already covering Inuyasha.  'She really is willing to go through with this, even if Kikyou is the one she had to ask help from.  I hope Inuyasha survives to know how much she loves him.'

            "I think he's getting worse," Shippo said anxiously, biting his lip as Inuyasha continued to breathe rapidly, his breaths shallow and rasping.

            "His fever is going down though," Miroku pointed out, nudging the kitsune.  Shippo glared at him before he noticed the monk indicating Kagome with a slight incline of his head, and instantly felt like a moron.  He blushed.

            "It is going down," Kagome said, her hand on Inuyasha's forehead, "but I think the you-ki is growing stronger.  Kaede-…"

            "I do not know what is happening to him now," the elderly miko interrupted, shaking her head, "What I know of the yoru-kyoufu is only vague speculation and rumor."

            'What we need is Kikyou show up.  Where is she?' Sango thought, 'Could it be that she decided not to help Inuyasha after all?'  As soon as the idea flashed in her mind, she realized that that thought might have occurred to Kagome.  She watched as her friend folded up the navy yukata Inuyasha had arrived in (They had taken it and the sweat pants off when Miroku pointed out the best way to lower Inuyasha's fever would be to remove the hanyou's clothing.  He and Shippo had put Inuyasha's normal clothes back on when Miroku became worried that Inuyasha's temperature might be falling too rapidly.).  Kagome seemed calm in comparison with her initial shock, but Sango did not want to know the anguish the poor girl was going through as she watched the one she loved possibly dying before her eyes.  The uncertainty of it all was probably most agonizing, what would happen to him and whether or not Kikyou would arrive in time to save him.  'And what she will ask for in return…'

            Suddenly, Kagome's head came up, her eyes lighting with tremulous anticipation.  "She's here," she announced.  Kagome got to her feet and went to the door.  Sango, Miroku, Kaede and Shippo glanced at each before following her example.

            "I don't see her," Shippo said, looking out over the village and down the road that passed before Kaede's house, "Kagome, are you sure…?"

            "There," said Kagome, lifting her hand and pointing to the dark grey sky.  Even as she spoke, Kikyou, her soul-stealers wending about her like so many snakes, descended from the sky and came to earth right in front of them.  If Miroku unconsciously gripped his staff a little tighter and Sango made a slight movement to where her boomerang was normally hung and if Shippo's and Kirara's fur seemed to stand on end, it may be forgiven.  The sheer emptiness in Kikyou's eyes as she surveyed her welcoming committee was somewhat unnerving.

            Kagome stepped forward hesitantly, remembering her last meeting with Kikyou; the miko had not killed her, but she had made Kagome somewhat leery of ever getting within arms' reach of her.

            "Thank you for coming," she said, bowing nervously.

            "Where is he?" Kikyou asked tonelessly, looking past Kagome to Kaede's hut.

            "He's inside.  Please, follow me," Kagome replied, straightening and turning on her heel.  Her heart was pounding loudly in her ears and she angrily willed it to stop; she had no desire to show any weakness in front of Kikyou, especially not now.  There was no disdain in Kikyou's eyes or voice, but Kagome had no idea what was going on behind that lovely dispassionate face that was supposed to be so like her own.

            Kikyou approached Inuyasha and knelt beside him with a silent solemn grace that made Kagome instantly feel like a gawky girl of eleven all over again.  She frowned, irritated at herself.  'Stop being so damned self-conscious; this has nothing to do with you and everything to do with Inuyasha's life!' she scolded.

            "Kagome-sama?" Miroku whispered as he entered the hut behind her.  She turned her head and noticed the looks of concern everyone was giving her.  It made her even angrier at herself, that her self-consciousness was visible to everyone.

            "It's nothing," Kagome whispered back, "I just want Inuyasha taken care of, that's all that matters."

            "Kikyou-onee-sama?" Kaede said, approaching Kikyou cautiously.  Kikyou raised her head to look at her "younger" sister.  "Do you know what the yuro-kyoufu is doing to Inuyasha?  Will you be able heal him?"

            For the first time, a ripple of emotion crossed Kikyou's face.  "He has been attacked with a very strong spell," said Kikyou, the faintest tinge of worry in her voice, "and the you-ki summoned by it is very pure.  I've tried reaching him, but his mind and soul are retreating even as the poison spreads through his body."

            "Is there anything we can do to help?" Kagome asked, coming forward and kneeling on the other side of Inuyasha, opposite the miko.  She removed the wet cloth from Inuyasha's forehead and brushed his seat-soaked bangs away from his face.

            "If he is to be drawn from this sleep," said Kikyou, still looking at Kaede, "it will take time and much spiritual power, and we do not have a lot of the former.  We must reach him before the yoru-kyoufu reaches his soul and damns him to eternal nightmare."

            Kagome's hand froze and she stared at Kikyou.  "Damns him?  What do you mean?  Is it going to kill him?"

            "His body will continue living as long as there is strength in it.  But the yoru-kyoufu will overtake his mind, bringing forth all of his worst nightmares and fears.  Under such attack, his soul will weaken and the yoru-kyoufu will feed on his horror and his despair, driving him farther and farther into Oblivion, until his soul is perverted into the same darkness.  He will cease to exist as a soul and become a being of Hell."  Kikyou's voice became hard, each word ringing like the leaden tone of a death knell.  For a fleeting moment, her eyes blazed with anger, perhaps at Naraku for finding such a way of stealing Inuyasha from her forever.

            "But how will we reach him?" Kagome asked weakly, trying to process everything she had just been told.

            Kikyou stared down at Inuyasha, as if absorbing his tortured features.  She took one of his hands in her own and held it gently.  "How much are you willing to risk for him?"

            "What?" Kagome blurted, surprised by both the softness of Kikyou's voice and her question.

            "You love him."  Was it imagination, or was there a slight ring of bitter regret in the dead voice?  "I do not know if your affections are returned, but that does not matter.  Are you willing to risk sharing his same fate to save him?"

            "I…" Kagome took a breath, not wanting to sound flippant, but at the same time, knowing that Kikyou was asking for an immediate answer, "What do you want me to do?"

            "Die," Kikyou answered simply, fixing Kagome with merciless eyes.

Narrator here.  I got yelled at for the last cliff-hanger, so I know a couple of people are going to jump down my throat for this one.  Maa, maa!  I told you, Kikyou is not going to be (totally) evil in this fic, although I am sure she is giving everyone a good case of the heebie-jeebies (I love that word…).  Okay, enough of my babbling; I have a couple of reviewers I want to thank:

AWC: Well, technically, he is not sick, just cursed really badly…wait, that didn't really reassure you, did it?

Melanie: Yeah, I like Kagome saving Inuyasha's butt every once in a while (just because he is an uber-ly strong hanyou does not mean the damsel cannot do some rescuing of her own!).  It kinda balances their relationship, neh?

Rika: Please do not kill me for giving you another cliffhanger.  I promise to post the next chapter as soon as possible.

KenYasha: I am sure this cliff-hanger is doing wonders for your nervousness…

Vesta, The great: Okay, okay, your eye can stop twitching now, I updated!  Oh wait; I gave you an even worse cliff-hanger this time.  Heh heh *^.^*  Please do not kill me, I will update soon!  *grovels*

demon girl 2002: Everyone is so worried that Inuyasha is sick!  Personally, I think he is too stubborn to die, don't you agree?  *~.^*

ishmaranara: Yeah, I write coherently!  That is a great compliment, considering the fact I wrote most of this dead tired at 0000 hrs after three days straight with only 18 hours of sleep!

Akiko: Sorry, I did it again, but like I keep saying, I will update soon, so please do not hurt me!

Trunks Gal: I cannot give you any reassurances or I would give away the plot, but, take a look at my other writing and it might give you a hint as to what direction I will take.  (Then again, Inuyasha would not really die, he would just become a minion of Hell…oro, I think I'll shut up now…)

So, there you have it!  Thank you, minna-san for giving me the encouragement (and the jabs with the cattle-prods -_-) to start writing this sequel.  Thank you also to everyone who went back and read "What Dreams May Come" and reviewed it!

Inuyasha: Feh!  What is it with you and always making me a weak, emotional pansy?  I would never let myself get attacked like that!

Narrator: Because I can and I'm evil, that's why.  How many times do I have to say it?

Inuyasha: -_- I hate authoresses.

Narrator: I could always pair Kagome with Kouga, you know…(runs away from Tetsusaiga and a homicidal Inuyasha)  Ack, I was just kidding!  Now put away that thing before you poke someone's eye out!