A/N ~ Hey Kya-chan here. *starts dancing around the room* I got 2 reviews! I got 2 reviews! Wait, I'm being told that's not good…Ohh well, 2's better than 0 right? Right. I love the two reviews I got, I was so happy. I can't believe I spelled Sango wrong though, gah. I mean come on I knew what it should have been. Ohh well thanks for telling me I fixed it right away. So anyway here's the next chapter. Hope you like it.
******Helpful hints******
" Talking in Japanese " 'Thinking in Japanese.'
"Talking in English" 'Thinking in English.'
Flashbacks
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Chapter 2-
***
'Were the fuck does she think she's going.'
Inuyasha followed along silently in the treetops behind Kagome. She was walking alone, at night, through a forest. There could be demons any where near by and Inuyasha was convinced she had lost her mind. 'She better not be trying to sneak home.' he growled forgetting to keep quite. She was stupid and a fool if she thought she could sneak away from him.
He jumped down out of the tree, loud enough for her to hear, and started walking behind her not bothering to try and hide from her anymore. Kagome kept walking though. She didn't even glance back to see what made the noise. It was almost as though she couldn't hear anything.
Inuyasha walked up next to her and got a good look at her face and was startled at what he saw. She was staring straight ahead, not even glancing at him, and had an almost frightened expression on her face, her eyes betraying worry for something. "Kagome?" Inuyasha called out softly, not wanting to frighten her as they walked along the wooded path. She didn't respond or even act like she heard him. "Kagome!" he called out louder, but still nothing.
He was starting to get worried. What was wrong with Kagome that she wouldn't acknowledge him? "KAGOME!" He yelled grabbing her by the arm and swinging her around to look him in the face. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
Kagome jumped at the sudden, rather violent, touch and went wide-eyed at Inuyasha. Her expression was, at first fear, but then turned to confusion as she watched his mouth move but didn't hear his loud voice at all. All she could hear was the impossibly loud weeping in her head.
Kagome opened her mouth, "I-Inu." But she stop, she couldn't even hear her own voice. She put her hands to her throat and swallowed. She couldn't hear anything, the crying in her head, it was just too loud. It was blocking everything else out. She dropped to her knees, Inuyasha falling down next to her.
Inuyasha panicked at the worried look that came over her face once again. She had started to say his name, but then stopped and put her hands to her throat, like she couldn't speak. 'But that can't be right, I heard her start to say my name, she can speak.' "Kagome? Kagome, what's...wrong." he spoke slowly to her, tightening his grip slightly on both her arms.
Kagome's eyes widened some more as she stared at his moving lips. 'This, this is not good.' She put both her hands over her ears and brought her head down to her lap, closing her eyes tightly. 'I just want the crying to stop. It needs to stop.' And as soon as she thought that the crying stopped abruptly. All the sounds that had been blocked out came rushing back to her ears, the sound of the crickets and other nocturnal wild life, the wind in the trees, and Inuyasha's thick breathing. She opened her eyes and looked up at Inuyasha worried face. "Inuyasha?" she called out quietly and dropped her hands from her ears.
"Kagome?" he questioned, looking closely at her face. "What's wrong with you? Why are you out here?" He let go of her arms and looked closely her face.
At his question Kagome suddenly remember why she was walking out here in the first place. "Ohh my gosh, the child." Kagome jumped up and turned around, searching the surrounding forest with her eyes. She rubbed her left ear. "What happened to the crying?" She asked herself out loud.
"What child? Wait, crying?" Inuyasha also jumped up. He reached out to grab her as she looked around him franticly but missed as she turned the other way suddenly. He scowled at her back as she walked around him. As she walked by him again he grabbed her by the arms and swung her around to face him again. "What the hell are you talking about?" He growled, rather rougher then he meant to.
Kagome frowned slightly pulling her arm out of his grip. "Inuyasha, their…there was a child, crying, in my head. Ugh how do I explain this? I could hear him. I've heard it ever since we got out of the well. It's been getting louder, until just now, it just stopped. I have to go find the child, Inuyasha, it needs help."
Inuyasha frowned at the small story Kagome told him. "Don't be stupid bitch, there's not a crying child around here at all. And even if it there was and only you who could hear it, why the hell would you go off by yourself, while carrying the jewel shards, and at night. It's probably a trap, idiot."
Kagome's face flushed at Inuyasha words. It sounded so obviously when he said them out loud. She didn't even think about it. Why did she go off on her own, it was pretty stupid. "I-I don't know what I was thinking," She said pulling her line of vision down to the ground. "I just wanted to help that kid, he…he sounded so helpless. Sorry."
Inuyasha looked surprised for a second. Kagome sure was acting strange lately; she hasn't been fighting with him much at all. 'And now's she going after kids she hears in her head. She really is dumb.'
Inuyasha looked at her as she studied the ground. He shouldn't be surprised, should he. It's in her nature to help the innocent, so why wouldn't she go to try and comfort a crying child, even if she couldn't see it. Inuyasha sighed. "Come on." He turned and walked toward the village. He occasionally glanced back at her to reassure himself she was ok but kept walking toward the village without another word.
Kagome followed behind him with her head toward the ground. She was having conflicting feelings about the child. Sure, there was a pretty good chance it was a trap, most likely it was. But, what if...what if it actually was a child and it did need her help?
***
"Ughh…"
A small girl with bright blue eyes stopped her crying abruptly and her attention snapped to the person behind of her. She turned her head around quickly and her hair, which was so blond it could be mistaken for white, sparkled brightly in the moonlight, despite being soiled with dirt and blood. She sat up straight and looked over at the woman on the ground that had groaned. "Mommy! Mom, your awake, your awake! Are you ok?" Her young face lit up noticeably, despite the dirt, tears and blood drying on it.
"L-Libby…I'm..I'm not your mother…you know that. Don't..call me…that." The older woman called looking at her from her position on the ground. She was badly injured, and blood seeped freely from mortal wounds in her stomach and chest.
The little girl, Libby, crawled over to her side. "Mom-Miss Sarah," Libby corrected herself. "Are-are you going to be alright? You'll be okay, right?" Libby's eyes started to water again at seeing the woman she thought as her mother so injured.
"Libby, look at me darling… are you alright?" Sarah coughed. She lifted her hand up and cupped Libby's cheek. Libby immediately put her own hands around the hand on her cheek and nodded. "Don't cry, you need to be strong….I..I'm not going…to live much longer." There was a sound of protest from the small girl but it was quieted by the injured woman. "Shh…you must listen carefully, Libby…. Tomorrow..when the sun rises…you must walk south, ok?…don't stop until dusk….and..hide yourself well during nightfall."
Libby had started to silently cry, tears streaming down her face as she listened to the directions. "I'm not leaving you. I'm not, I'm not. No" She cried taking Sarah's hand off her cheek and holding it in both her hands. She shook her head, tears falling more so now.
"Libby! Listen….this is very..important….walk south ..in the morning ..the sun will be…on the right side ..of the sky…at dusk the left. When you come to…a village ..ask for a half demon …named Inuyasha. If he's …not there ..move on. You must find Inuyasha, Libby. You must."
Libby looked at her foster mother confused. "I-I don't understand. How, how do I find him. I've never met him. I don't- I don't want to leave you. I don't want to find Inuyasha, I want you to get better and we can go back home. Please, I want to go back home! I just- I just-"
Sarah, regardless of her fatal injuries, reached up and wrapped her arms around the girl and pulled her down to her chest in a fierce hug. Libby started to sob into her shoulder and clung tightly to the woman holding her. Sarah winced but didn't pull away from Libby, even though it was causing her a great deal of pain. She rubbed her back slightly. "Shh…I no it's hard, Libby…but you must. You.. have to.. learn these words….these people…they speak a language….that is not our own. You must remember…hanyou Inuyasha and Oyaji. Repeat them, Libby.."
Libby sat up, tears still streaming form her face. Her once beautiful red dress was now ripped and covered in Sarah's blood but she didn't seem to notice. "Hanyou…Inuwasha…and..O-O.ya.ji.." she repeated chocking on her sobs and the strange word.
"Good, good now, you…must promise me…promise me..you'll find…Inuyasha." Sarah started to cough and closed her eyes.
"I-I'll try, I'll try to find him-"
"No,…Promise me you will." She opened her eyes and looked at Libby hard for a moment.
"I-I promise, I'll find Inu-Inuyasha" Libby said quietly looking at her with watery eyes.
Sarah relaxed. "Good, there is much…I must tell you still…and little time…" She lifted her right arm and pointed to a torn up pack a few feet away. "Go get that…and.. bring it here." Libby slowly got up and drug the pack to Sarah's side. She sat up, flinching at the pain that the simple action caused.
"Mom! Don't, lay back down you'll hurt yourself." Libby cried seeing the pained expression on her face. She reached up to help but Sarah waved her hands away.
'Never, in all my life, will I understand why that child calls me her mother. Even when she knows I am not.' Sarah thought. She looked at Libby's very frightened and sad face. God, She was going to miss this child when she died, she prayed she would be alright in this strange land. Sarah reached into the pack and pulled out a bundle of food and placed it next to her, she then reached in and pulled out a letter. It was rolled up with a red string holding it together. She handed this letter to Libby and then laid back down slowly.
"That letter…you must give it …to Inuyasha…do not loose it. I aghh-" She cried out as a strong pulse of pain racked her body. Libby cried out to her but was stopped from doing anything by Sarah. "I must… tell.. you-ahh…Inuyasha…he-he…"
Libby started to cry again. She knew her foster mother was dieing before her, despite her young age. "M-Mommy, I- please, please don't die, please don't die, I don't want to be alone. I-you can't, you can't die." She pleaded franticly, but in vain, terrified at the thought of her dieing.
"Libby…" Sarah whispered quietly. Libby leaned down to better hear her, now crying silently, hiccupping every once in awhile. "I love you darling…like a.. daughter…my sprit, will…watch over you…always." She leaned up and kissed Libby on the forehead. "You-you must find… Inuyasha…he is…agh" Sarah was cut off by a fit of violent coughs that ended when she went limp.
Libby stared at her in horror. She was no longer moving. Her eyes were closed and her chest no longer rose with her ragged breaths. "Miss Sarah! Mommy! " She screamed at her trying to wake her.
Libby noticed her lips slightly moving and she leaned her head down close to her ear to possibly hear her.
She was speaking so quietly, Libby had to strain to hear her. Her beloved foster mother's last words to her were just whispered faintly into her ears.
***
"Oi, you guys lets get a move on." Inuyasha yelled from outside the door to the hut. "The suns been up for awhile now."
Inside the hut everyone was moving about cooking, packing, or picking up. Everyone but Kagome that is. She was currently curled up in a ball in her sleeping bag sound asleep. Unresponsive to everyone's attempt to wake her. Whenever someone would try she would just bat her arms around, groan, and curl up more.
"Dammit what's taking everyone so long." Inuyasha barked, walking into the hut with a scowl on his face. His eyes immediately went to Kagome's sleeping bag with Kagome still in it. "What the hell!" He yelled walking over to her.
"She's sound asleep Inuyasha, might we wait until she wakes up to leave. It seems Kagome-sama has had a rough night." Miroku exclaimed, putting some supplies in Kagome's bag. Sango and Keade nodded in agreement as they cooked breakfast, Shippo helping them.
"It's her own fucking fault she had a rough night. She's the one that decided she was going to get up and stroll through the woods in the middle of the night." Inuyasha growled and folded his arms over his chest.
"She did what? That sounds very unlike Kagome-chan." Sango said from the floor looking up at the annoyed hanyou.
"Well she did. She got up and walked out into the woods in the middle of the night. Who knows what kind of trouble she would of gotten her stupid irrational ass into if I hadn't followed her." He complained to the group in the hut. He was in a bad mood to start out this morning and Kagome deciding she wasn't going to wake up wasn't making it any better. Last night he had stayed up all to make sure Kagome kept in the hut and didn't venture out again and this morning he wanted to leave when the sun rose, which was awhile ago. Needless to say he was very annoyed at the moment.
"Do ye know why Kagome chose to leave late last night, Inuyasha?" Keade asked trying to understand the strange situation.
"Yah, she said she heard some child crying and had to find it. I didn't hear a damn thing but apparently it stopped when I grabbed her." Inuyasha explained, scowling down at the sleeping girl at his feet.
"That is very strange. What should we do about it?" Questioned Miroku who stood and walked over to Sango who held him out a bowl of breakfast.
"I'll tell you what were gonna do. You guys are gonna eat fast and she's gonna get her ass out of bed now." He yelled the last part down at Kagome hoping to wake her up. Kagome just whined and turned over mumbling something about five more minutes. Inuyasha growled. "Oi, Kagome, get the fuck up now!" He kicked her lightly in the side to emphasize his point.
"Mhhmm….Inuyasha?…" Kagome rolled over and looked up at his irritated face. She looked away and closed her eyes again. "I'm so tired, can't we just leave in a hour or so…please?" She mumbled barely staying awake.
"I don't know what the hell that is so no, where leaving now." He growled down at her. Kagome just nodded slightly but didn't stir. He waited a few moments for her to move but she didn't show any signs that she was going to soon. "Aww hell with this." Inuyasha exclaimed throwing his arms in the air and walking out of the room.
Everyone stared at the door he just left out of, more than surprised. Sango was the first to speak. "Houshi-sama…did he just-"
"Give up? It looks that way." Miroku responded. "That is very unlike him though."
But just as Miroku finshed that statement Inuyasha came stomping back into the room. He had with him a rather large bucket of cold water which he promptly threw on Kagome before anyone could stop him.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh" Inuyasha pinned his ears to his head in a attempt to block out Kagome's shrill scream. Kagome sat up so fast her head felt dizzy and she struggled to catch her breath. She was cold, wet, and now, wide awake. She was confused, until a sound she rarely head reached her ears. She looked up and saw Inuyasha, laughing, with a empty water bucket in his hands. She looked around the room and saw Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and even Keade trying to stifle there own laughter. "That was fun, you should sleep in more wench. Made my morning a hell of a lot better."
Her thoughts connected all of a sudden. Inuyasha, threw water on her, and now he's laughing. She scowled. "Sit boy!" she yelled, abruptly ending Inuyasha's laughing and sending him to the ground at the same time. Kagome stood up her shirt soaking wet and clinging to her body. "Inuyasha, you jerk. That was so rude. I was sleeping."
"Feh, bitch, We've been trying to wake you up forever now. I wanted to leave awhile ago." Inuyasha turned his noise in the other direction promptly pissing Kagome off more. She stomped over to her bag and yanked it open pulling out a spare shirt. "You two," she pointed to the staring monk and laughing hanyou. "Out now, I need to change."
Miroku and Inuyasha both stood slowly and walked out of the room. "Someone's in a bad mood this morning." Inuyasha joked as he walked out the door. Kagome glared at his back. She turned and picked up the bucket that he dropped and walked out after him. "Sit!"
"Aghh, dammit bitch"
Kagome took the empty water bucket and threw it at him, promptly hitting him in the head. She turned sharply, her wet hair flinging drops of water around her with some sticking to her face. She jerked her hair out of her face and stamped back into the hut.
***
Libby stood up, wiped her already dirty face with dirty hands and looked down at the ground. It had taken her all night but she managed to bury Sarah. It was a small shallow grave and Libby had a difficult time of it but she felt better now.
'I, I guess I have to leave now.' She thought to her self as she stood. 'I have to walk…north, south…yah south. She turned around to look for the sun. "The sun has to be ..on the right, in the morning." she said out loud to herself trying to remember. She turned and picked up the rolled up letter and packet of food. She grabbed her doll out of the pack and rolled everything up into a small bundle so she could carry it.
She started walking to the south down a dirt path that guided her through the trees. Before she left the clearing though, she turned and looked back at the grave. She couldn't stop the tears she was trying to hold back as she realized she was alone now. All alone. In a strange land she had never been to, trying to find a man she had never met.
She turned and started walking. "I must find Inuyasha, I promised" She stated out loud to herself. "And you don't break promises."
***
A humanoid demon child with hollow eyes and white shimmering hair sat in her room, watching a scene unfold in her magic mirror. She turned and showed the older appearing demoness before her the image in the mirror.
The older looking female demon smiled evilly, "Very well, I shall go tell him." She turned and walked out of the room leaving the younger demon by herself. She walked quickly down the dark hallway, her blue, red, and white kimono ruffled in a unseen wind as she walked. She came to a door at the end of the hall and stopped.
A man inside, with long black hair he kept in a pony tail, addressed her before she could even speak herself. "What did Kanna's mirror show?" He didn't even turn to look in the direction of the demoness at the door.
"Master Naraku," She said bowing slightly outside the door. "The demons you sent to kill them are all dead. The eagle demoness from another land, she killed them all, but died herself." She told him with a slight smile on lips as she did.
The man inside the room smirked, "What about the child, she is still alive correct?" He turned slightly to tip his head toward the bamboo door.
"Hai, the quarter inu youkai lives. She is currently traveling south, straight towards him." The woman's smirk grew even colder as she looked up at the door.
Naraku's smirk fell into a snarl though and he cursed, "Kagura, go after her now. Bring her here and do not let them meet." Naraku yelled at her.
She bowed outside the door still smiling evilly. "Yes, Master Naraku."
***
"Its about damn time we left." Came the growl from a grumpy hanyou at the front of the group. It had taken them most of the morning to leave the village. And after the water incident, Kagome wasn't quite in the mood to please Inuyasha and had taken her time getting ready.
They were walking north, towards the mountains, where Inuyasha heard there was a demon with a shard terrorizing the local villages. Inuyasha was walking a good way in front of the group, upset about starting out so late. Kagome and Sango walked next to each other, Kirara walked along side Sango, while Miroku walked behind them with Shippo hanging on his shoulder.
"Kagome, have you heard the child since last night?" Sango asked the younger girl next to her. She looked over at her friend concerned when she didn't answer. "Kagome?"
"Huh? Ohh sorry Sango, what did you say?" Kagome blushed slightly at being caught zoning out. She had just been thinking about the child from last night. 'I really want to go looking for that child, the more I think about it the more I think he needs my help. I wonder if Inuyasha will let me go look for him.' She took one look at the brooding hanyou walking a way in front of her and got the answer. 'Ha, of course he wouldn't, all he's got on the brain is shards. Considering there can't be a lot left out there.' She looked down at her the shards around her neck, fingering them slightly. 'How many more are out there? We haven't had a lead on a shard in awhile.' She looked up at Inuyasha again. 'That's probably why he was in a hurry to leave this morning.'
As Kagome look up she realized Sango had been trying to talk to her. She looked over next to her but the taijiya wasn't there. She turned and saw her talking with Miroku. She turned forward and started to walk again. 'Opps, I guess she must of gave up on talking to me.' She thought sheepishly. 'I'll have to apologies later.'
Sango noticed that Kagome turned around to look for her but didn't say anything. She figured the girl had a lot on her mind about something and just wanted to think. She realized she was correct when Kagome turned back around after spotting her without saying anything. "She is very worried about something." Sango stated her thoughts out loud to Miroku.
"Yes I can tell. Do you believe it is the child Inuyasha was telling us about?" Miroku questioned looking at Kagome as she walked with her head down, not really paying attention to where she was heading.
Sango nodded. "I had a change to talk with Kagome-chan briefly about that this morning. She told me that last night, she heard a child crying in her head. And that the need to comfort it was so strong that she had to get up and find it, even if she was alone and it was the middle of the night." Sango told Miroku. She took a slight glance at him but then looked back to the road in front of her. "She also told me she was thankful that Inuyasha had followed her."
"Really?… I wonder, do you think she knew what she was doing or ..perhaps something was controlling her." Miroku thought looking over at the exterminator. Sango shrugged stating that she didn't know but didn't say anything.
They walked in silence for a few moments, Shippo yawned and flopped his head down on Miroku's shoulder, sleepily hanging on. Sango's thoughts were currently on her friend, she was worried about her. Her thoughts, though, were abruptly cut off when she felt a familiar hand on the curve of her bottom and a strong squeeze.
"HENTAI!" She screamed and in one quick motion her Hiraikotsu came crashing down on his head. Miroku went down to the ground head swirling and twitching. Poor Shippo, who was sleeping peacefully on the monks shoulders was also knocked to the ground. Sango kept on walking past Kagome who had stopped, and sat down by a nearby tree.
Kagome tried not to smile at the scene. "I guess were stopping for lunch." she giggled. She went over and sat next to a still fuming Sango. "Hey, I'm sorry about zoning out on you earlier. I was-"
"Deep in thought? Yah, I could tell. You don't have to apologies though, it's alright." Sango replied calmly. She scratched Kirara's head, who had jumped into her lap trying to sooth her master. "So I was wondering, have you heard the crying since last night?" Sango questioned again turning to look at the young miko next to her.
Kagome sighed. "No I haven't, but I…" Kagome trailed off, not really knowing what to say. She sighed heavily. "I don't really know what to think of it so I try not to." 'Even if I do.'
"Ohh ok." Sango said nodding her head. They sat there in silence for a while, just thinking to themselves as there waited for either Miroku or Shippo to get up.
"Hey, where's Inuyasha?" Sango asked looking around the place they stopped.
Kagome looked around. She saw lots of trees, the path, a grassy field, and Miroku and Shippo laying on the ground, but no Inuyasha. "Ohh he probably jumped up into some tree and is sulking that were slowing him down again." She sighed. "He'll come around when he smells lunch." She turned to her bag and started do dig around for the food.
***
Inuyasha walked down the narrow path deep in thought, eyes down and not paying much attention to his surroundings. He was trying to piece together the strange things that had happened yesterday. First there was the strange energy flux in the morning, Miroku and Keade not feeling well, the scream Shippo heard that knocked the forest underbrush down, and then Kagome hearing crying children. They all had to do with each other he knew it. He just wasn't sure how and he wasn't liking it at all.
"Hey Kagome-" He turned ready to ask Kagome if she felt the shard anywhere off in the distance, only to find himself completely alone. Inuyasha growled. 'Where the fuck is everyone.' He sniffed the air a few good times. They hadn't been following him for awhile, if fact, they where maybe a mile behind him. He could also smell lunch cooking. He growled deeper. 'Does that stupid bitch think she can just stop for lunch where ever and not tell me. I don't think so.'
He jumped up into the trees and ran back to where the group currently sat eating lunch. He stopped in the branch above Kagome and looked down scowling. Shippo was sitting in her lap and she was rubbing his head and kissing it lightly when he whined. Miroku was pulling himself off the ground a few feet away and Sango sat stirring the food with Kirara in her lap.
He jumped down in front of Kagome nearly scaring her to death. "What the hell are you doing wench. I don't remember telling you we could stop to eat." He folded his arms in front of his chest and looked down at her disapprovingly.
Kagome placed a hand to her chest. "Inuyasha! Don't just jump down in front of me like that. You scared me to death." Kagome breathed out trying to sooth her racing heart. "Miroku was out cold Inuyasha. It seemed as good a time as ever to stop. Plus, I didn't hear you complaining until just now so what's the problem?" Kagome replied without getting up, just looking up at him, still petting Shippo.
"The problem is bitch, I didn't complain 'cause I fuckin' didn't know you stopped!" Inuyasha yelled down at her. Overly mad at the situation and intending to take it out on her. Her reaction though, wasn't what he expected, and couldn't of mad him madder.
Kagome ducked her head down quickly, trying to hind the smile that danced on her lips when she heard that Inuyasha had kept on walking when they stopped. She knew she was going to make it worse by laughing, she was even trying not to, but the look that she knew would be on his face in that situation, when he found out he kept walking, was funny to her. A giggle escaped her lips and she threw her arms to her mouth to suppress it. The sensitive ears of the ticked hanyou caught it though.
He leaned down closer to her. "What the hell was that? Are you laughing at me!" He reared back when he discovered she was. "W-What the hell is so funny?" Inuyasha had a slightly hurt expression in his face but no one but Miroku seemed to catch it.
Kagome broke out into a fit of giggles with Shippo and Sango following after her. "I-I'm sorry Inuyasha, its just, it's sort of funny." Kagome laughed out.
Inuyasha growled at her masking the expression on his face to that of annoyance instead of hurt. "I don't see how you find that so damn hilarious." He growled at her.
Kagome smiled up at him, laughing only slightly now. "Don't mind it ok, I'm sorry you kept walking and no one noticed. Here I've got ramen for you." She said handing him a cup of ramen.
Inuyasha stood there for a second, arms crossed and a threatening look on his face. Finally, after the small staring contest, he snatched the cup rather roughly and jump up into a nearby tree and ran off.
Kagome blinked and the shook her head. "He can never take a joke." She reached over and grabbed a cup of ramen for herself and Shippo. Shippo looked up at her. "He's just cranky cause he's gonna be human tonight." he reminded.
"Ohh, I forgot about that." Sango said from her seat next to Kagome. "No wonder he's in a bad mood."
"Now I know why he's in such a hurry today." Kagome said more to herself than the others. "But still, he didn't have to storm off like some five year old." Kagome said looking slightly annoyed. 'He's so immature sometimes it's unbelievable.'
Miroku coughed. "I think Kagome-sama, that Inuyasha might have had his feeling hurt by your laughing." Miroku stated calmly, sitting a respectable distance away from Sango eating his food. Kagome blinked losing all funniness in the situation. "Wait, what?"
Miroku looked over at her with a serious expression on his face. "I am only saying that when you were laughing at him he had a hurt look on his face. Perhaps you should apologize to him, before everyone's night is ruined by his mood."
Kagome stood up and put Shippo down where she was sitting. "Umm…I'm gonna go find him ok." She walked away from them quickly and off into the woods after Inuyasha.
Sango scowled at Miroku. "Now why did you do that, you know as well as I do that saying something like that to her would make her upset." She looked off after her friend who walked into the woods. 'I hope she doesn't get into trouble.'
***
"How long have I been walking?" Came Libby's whine out loud to herself. It felt like forever to her but by looking at the sun she realized it had really only been half a day. Her feet hurt, she was hungry, tired, sad, and incredibly alone. She was walking down a dirt path on the outskirts of the woods. She noticed that all the underbrush had been flattened down in the direction she was walking. 'That's very strange…then again this whole place is strange….I haven't seen any buildings or people yet.' She walked around the corner and came across a two men leading a horse pulling a cart.
Libby wasn't quite sure what to do when she came upon them. Miss Sarah had told her to ask the people for Inuyasha, but what if these men were mean. After a quick debate in her mind she decided to walk up to them anyway. She slowly came up behind him and coughed slightly to alert them of her presence.
Both men turned around slowly but jumped back with shocked looks on there faces when they saw her. "Ummm…do-do you know of-a man….umm-" She was cut off though, when they started screaming in some strange language and waving sticks at her.
"Demon child! Youkai be gone. Leave before we kill you!" The first man was yelling, but she had no clue what he was saying. The second man, who she now noticed was just a boy, kept pointing at her and repeating the same thing over and over again slowly. "Youkai, youkai, youkai…" She noticed he looked afraid, of her.
She was beginning to think this was a very bad idea. Libby started to back up slowly away from the two strange people and towards the woods. The man started to run at her and she turned and ran as fast as she could from him. She didn't stop until she was deep into the forest with flattened underbrush. She sat down by a large tree and didn't move. She wanted to cry or scream…but she was to scared to. So she just sat there with large frightened blue eyes scanning the area.
***
Kagome walked through the woods, having a relatively easy time of it because of the flattened underbrush. She was looking up in the trees for the red coloring that would stand out against the green of the leaves. She felt something crunch under her feet that didn't feel quite normal. She looked down and found a instant ramen cup crushed by her foot. She smiled slightly and looked up into the tree above her. Sure enough high up in the trees was Inuyasha. "Inuyasha!" She yelled up to him. "Inuyasha, come down I want to talk to you."
Inuyasha didn't move or look down at her. 'Stupid girl' he growled in his head. 'I'm not some puppy who just comes when you call.' "Inuyasha, can you please come down?" He heard her yell up at but still he didn't move.
Kagome watched him for a second then looked at the tree. It was an older tree with big thick branches every 5 feet or so. It would be an easy tree to climb if she tried. She decided that's just what she was going to do too. Kagome jumped for the nearest branch, and after two or three tries she caught it. She pulled her self up and onto the branch, she stood slowly and put her foot on the next branch, which was smaller, and pulled herself up again.
Inuyasha look over his branch and saw Kagome climbing up the tree and almost half way up to him. He was a little surprised, honestly he was betting she would threaten him with a sit to get him down. "Oi, what are you doing wench?" he yelled down at her.
Kagome looked up, standing on a thick branch and clinging to the trunk of the tree before her. "If your not going to come down to me then I'm coming up to you." She returned her attention back to the task of climbing the tree but was having a difficult time deciding where to go next. That was until she felt her branch shank with added weight and she looked around to see Inuyasha standing behind her. "Ohh sure, now you come down. When I'm half way up the stupid tree."
Inuyasha sat down where he was a closed his eyes. He smirked slightly, she would have a difficult time sitting down in that short kimono of hers. He could hear her little sounds of discomfort and strain as she tried to sit down and his smirk grew. When the sound and movement stopped he opened his eyes.
Kagome sat in front of Inuyasha, straddling the branch she was on and clinging to it tightly to hold her steady. 'This has to be the most uncomfortable thing I have ever done,' she thought to herself. The rough bark was scratching anything that was toughing it and with her short skirt it was scratching her inner thighs and bottom very painfully. She was beginning to want jeans. 'Why do I wear these things again?' She wondered to herself.
"What'd ya want?" Came Inuyasha bark through her thoughts. She looked up at him. He was sitting cross legged on the tree branch without holding on to anything, looking like it was the most natural thing in the world. 'How the heck does he do that?' She thought. 'I thought he was a dog demon not a cat.' The ears on top of Inuyasha's head gave a twitch and she snorted a little. 'Ok ok that's really mean.' She looked up into the annoyed amber eyes of the hanyou in front of her. She was laughing at him again wasn't she.
"Inuyasha, look I'm really sorry that I laughed at you earlier I don't know what came over me."
Inuyasha snorted and looked away but Kagome continued on still. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." She leaned forward slightly to look at his face.
"You didn't hurt my fucking feelings, I'm not some wimp that can't take being laughed at." Inuyasha scoffed and looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
Kagome smiled faintly, "I no your not but I just wanted to apologize, ok."
"Keh, fine."
"So, this jewel shard were going after, how far away is it?" Kagome ask trying to keep the conversation going.
Inuyasha snorted. "At the rate were going? Were not even gonna get close by nightfall."
"So, do you want to stay here for tonight, or do you want to keep walking?" Kagome asked. She shifted slightly and winced in pain. Her legs were becoming raw sitting here on the branch.
Inuyasha caught the small motion and rolled his eyes. "Why are you sitting up here if it hurts?" he asked. He didn't give her time to answer though and he stood up, leaned over and picked her up, and jumped out of the tree all in a few seconds. Kagome, being completely taken off guard by this squeaked and clung onto his robes tightly.
After he landed gracefully it took a few seconds for Kagome to open her eyes and then realize where she was. She quickly scrambled out of his arms apologizing. Her cheeks were tinted a lovely shade of pink and she fixed her shirt slightly.
"Come on, let's go back. We might be able to reach a nearby village before night fall." He said and turned to walk back toward the rest of the group.
"Ok," Kagome piped up jogging a little bit to catch up to him. "So, I just wondering, what made you not notice we stopped?"
"Keh, I was just pre-"
Kagome ran into his back softly when he's sudden stop. "What's wrong." Kagome whispered, alarmed at the sudden tenseness of the area.
Inuyasha's lip pulled back into a awful snarl and he growled deeply. "Kagura"
***
"My, my, my, what a pretty little child. And out here all alone."
Libby backed up slightly into the tree she was sitting on, her back pressing hard against the bark on the trunk. The strange woman before her seemed to appear out of nowhere. She was dressed in, what looked like to her, a straight white dress with red and blue flowers and other designs on it. Her short hair was pulled back into a small pony tail, and she had a feather in her hair. "W-who are you?"
"Ahh, that's right, you speak another language. Hmm, how to best handle this situation? I can't have you screaming on me now can I." Kagura crouched down and tried to put her most friendly look on her face, not an easy experience as she found out when the little girl attempted to scoot away form her more.
Libby scrunched up into a ball and hid her face from the strange woman. 'This lady, she has red eyes and really sharp teeth. What if she tries to eat me.' Libby started to panic more and slowly slid around the tree and stood to run. She barley made it two feet when she was knocked down by a gust of wind. She turned and looked at the lady who now had a paper fan in her hands.
Kagura snarled in disgust. This was not good, she needed the brat to trust her so she could leave. Inuyasha was way to close and she didn't need a confrontation on top of this. She took a few cautious steps toward the child with her hands out in a peace like gesture but stopped when the girl squeaked and backed up some more.
Kagura turned her head to the left quickly and a snarl came to her lips. 'Dammit! This is not good.'
Libby's eyes widen in fear. The woman's face turned really evil in one second as she stared off into the woods away for her. Libby felt a spark inside of herself. She could feel everything inside of her telling her to get away from this woman, that she was evil. She stood to run again, completely ready to listen to her gut when a man with shining white hair jumped into the clearing. She froze at the sight of him. He had pulled out a huge sword and was pointing it at the woman. She backed up a little more, he was even scarier than the woman.
She watched wide-eyed as the man and woman started to speak to each other in that strange language. The man was yelling, the woman speaking in a quieter voice but still quite upset. Libby noticed another woman who stood behind the yelling man, she was very pretty but had a worried look on her face. Libby had the sudden feeling that she needed to get to that woman in the short dress, if she would only get away from the frightening man.
Kagura cursed slightly and glanced at the child next to her. If she was lucky she would be able to snatch the brat and leave. She turned her attention back to the hanyou. "It's your lucky day, hanyou. I was just leaving." She turned quickly and swooped up the child in her arms taking the feather out of her hair to jump on it.
Libby went stiff at her touch. The lady that grabbed her sent a chill down her spine and her instincts were shouting at her to get out of the strange woman's grasps. She struggled violently but to avail. She started to cry and plead out anyone to save her.
She saw the white haired man run at the woman with the sword, blocking her path to her giant feather. He skidded to a halt in front of her and the woman and started yelling at them again.
Kagome watched the crying child struggle in Kagura's grip. She could hear the crying with her ears, but she could also hear it in her mind, like the night before. "Inuyasha!" she yelled making the fast connection in her head. "Inuyasha, you got to save that child."
"What do you think I'm trying to do wench!" he yelled at her. He swung his sword at Kagura again, blocking her attempts at leaving. "Where ya going Kagura, put the kid down so I can kill you." He growled mockingly at her.
Libby cried out louder when Kagura tightened her grip around her waist. "LET ME GO!" She yelled out, screaming a ear piercing scream. Inuyasha and Kagura dropped what was in their arms and covering their ears, both the sword and Libby hitting the ground at the same time. A blue glowing orb surrounded her small body as the last of her scream subsided.
Kagura jumped to grab the girl again but was thrown back by the protective shield surrounding her. She swore darkly, but instead of making another attempt to grab her she used the distraction to get away. She jumped over Inuyasha and landed on her huge feather, in the next second she was shooting away from the scene. She growled. "Naraku is not going to be happy."
***
Inuyasha looked up into the sky at Kagura as she flew off. "Damn, she got away." he growled. He turned around and picked up the sword and placing it in its sheath. He turned to Kagome. "Wait, Kagome. Don't." He yelled at her.
Kagome was standing right next to the blue shield that surrounded the crying girl. She reached down and put her hand on the energy. At her touch the blue orb broke apart leaving the child exposed. The girl looked up fearfully at the two older people in front of her. As her eyes fell on Inuyasha she paled and leaned away slightly. "P-Please, don't hurt m-me." she choked out.
Inuyasha froze where he was a few feet behind Kagome. "What the hell did she say?"
Kagome stared at her in wonderment. 'She speaks English? She must be from England. How'd she get here though?' Kagome tried to ignore her confused thoughts and smiled kindly at the girl. 'Uhh ok..I've got to think.' She pointed to herself and spoke clearly and slowly to the child.
"Friend." She pointed in between herself and Inuyasha. "We are friends."
****