**SNIFF – no one reviewed my last chapter!! Sniff, Sniff I'm hurt!! SOOOOoooOOB!! No one must have liked it then. sigh I'm just kidding of course ;). But . . . sniff please review this one big puppy dog eyes please! ***
The Horrid Cries of the Nothing Woman
Chapter Fourteen
The hut had fallen silent. The pressures of the previous day, the loss of someone dear and the worries for her safety that infected the group seemed to have taken their toll, even on the ever ready Inu-Yasha who's human body could not withstand the agony without sleep.
Ayame watched him carefully, her silver hair falling about her in waves, her cloak wrapped tightly about her small body to protect her from the night cold as she watched the others after they had drifted into a light sleep. Her amber eyes drifted to her brother, curious as to his strange appearance, contemplating the ambitions of the Athema-creature that threatened the land and yet had nothing different to think of from which had been already said.
The woman who had begun all of this, who's scent Ayame resented, a human who's soul pressed so close to the demon world that it was a wonder she remained human. Her brown hair was plan and dull as she slept, her knees clutched to her chest, her heart still aching, the little hanyou could feel it in her own feelings . . . a pain unlike any other . . .
That pain that was so strong Kagome was sickened by it . . .
But what could stop the Athema? Why did the sun not rise yet? The moonless night seemed to last on forever, preventing Inu-Yasha's true powers to become realized once more . . .
And, Ayame thought to herself in dismay, she was the only thing strong enough to battle this strange spirit. Of course, she had yet to witness what the Monk could do . . . and though he was only human there was something different about him . . .
She blinked sadly. The Athema was purposely dragging the night along . . . she could feel it deep within her bones. The Priestess Kaede could feel it too, though she did not admit it. It seemed that whenever the thought crossed the hanyou-child's mind, Kaede seemed to nod at her – make eye contact with her as if she knew what the pup was thinking.
The Athema knew what it was doing to keep his Miko prey safe.
After all, it was not as if the monster was a true, living and breathing demon who had no such strange powers.
It was a spirit from the netherworld! Something totally unannounced and unheard of.
Ayame glanced over Inu-Yasha one last time, his body was tense and yet sleeping. His ebony hair made him look so strong and yet his humanity made him look so weak.
She clutched her cloak a little tighter around her shoulders at his oddness, his strangeness . . . she had never turned human before . . . perhaps it was her fathers Soul Power that kept her always a hanyou and never vulnerable as Inu-Yasha . . .
Or perhaps it was a coming-of-age thing, like puberty . . .
Ayame cringed, she prayed that she would never be subject to humanity. The very thought frightened her.
Seeing Inu-Yasha as he was by the new moon . . .
She shivered . . .
Time is running out, her mind began to scream at her . . . trying to get her up to her feet . . .
Though sleep tried to keep her still, she looked at her brother sorrowfully. When he awoke he would no doubt run headlong into that demon-spirit-thing – sun up or not – and she knew beyond a doubt that there was little she or any of the others could do about it.
Something like that would be foolish and mean certain death for him . . .
Especially as a human . . .
He really did love Kagome – though he did not wish to admit it in so many words. Ayame could never see her brother die . . .
Never . . .
Inu-Yasha awoke purposely in the night . . .
He cursed under his breath at the foolishness called 'sleep' his feeble human body allowed him to conduct! He could have fought it as a hanyou . . . Kagome was trapped and dying and he was sleeping??!! The very thought made him ill . . . it made him want to wretch! He patted the Tetsusiaga at his hip, even though he knew that it would not work for him as a human . . . and shuddered as he saw his clawless hands . . .
Clawless . . .
Vulnerable . . .
With a defiant anger the hanyou-turned-human pushed himself to his feet, smoothing out his Kimono with his hands, feeling again for the tantalizing feel of the leather wrapping of the hilt of his untransformed sword.
No one stirred at his rising . . .
Inu-Yasha's heart began to beat a little faster at the possibility of being able to leave without hinder . . . and yet he was somewhat disappointed. No one seemed to notice . . . or cared enough to stay awake . . .
But Kagome would have woken . . .
Kagome would have done everything in her power to stop him from leaving alone in the middle of the night, especially during his time of vulnerability.
He clenched his fist so tightly his knuckles turned white as he turned back towards the door. The woman who had faced the Athema . . . who was supposed to help them lay sleeping. Inu-Yasha bristled . . . after everything he sacrificed for her safety and she could do nothing . . .
Of course, he wasn't really giving her a chance . . .
But that didn't matter. Kagome was dying . . . he could feel it . . .
He could feel her struggling . . .
Calling for him . . .
He had stepped into the pitch of the night, away from the dying embers that flickered an orange light about the room before he noticed . . .
Ayame was gone!
** Sorry this is a touch short. I wanted to save the next part of the plot for its own chapter. Yeah. The next one should be longer. Okay – PLEASE review!!! Tell me if it's starting to suck! Please! I MUUUUST know what you think!!! It keeps the chapters coming! It does, truly it does!!! Please! I have so many fanfic ideas that it's scary but I WILL finish this one and my other one Spiraling Into the Realm of Hatred before I work on my Rurouni Kenshin and Lord of the Rings one. grin. Please review!!!***
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