Disclaimer: Inuyasha still isn't mine....
Author's Note: Hello. I'm back. This is the second chapter. I bet you couldn't tell right. Okay blah blah blah time to start
Chapter 2
Kagome could hardly breathe. Everyone at the table was still. Noone moved.
Mr. H. cleared his throat. "Are you sure?" His hands shook "Why would they come here. We are a good town. We do nothing to the demons."
The man looked a little uncomfortable. "Sir, what do you want me to do?"
"I want you to..to go and put what portion of the army that's here on high alert. Move those in the town up into the mountains and the captains will meet up here as soon as they can." With that he stood up and moved to the door. "Kagome, you Sota and Volia will go with the rest of the people who are going up into the mountains. Is that understood?"
A very sullen yes sir was heard from Kagome and Sota. Volia said nothing.
"Mom isn't coming with us, is she?" Kagome asked suddenly. "Who will we go with?"
"No she isn't,"Her father wasn't looking at them anymore. "You can go with Matli." It ended there. Her father left the room followed by her mother, Egar and the man who brought the news had already gone.
No one said anything as they walked up to their respected bedrooms. There wasn't anything to say. Kagome walked into her room. It was so silent in there.
Kagome moved to the foot of her bed where her chest sat. She took out a backpack. One that was bigger and could handle doing a lot of traveling. She laid out 3 sets of clothes, one was for the next day when they would leave. Paper and an ink pen was also a good idea. Some maps of the area would also be good. That left room for food. And there was some food in the caves they would be going to. That meant she could take money, just in case they needed it, and her quiver with arrows and her fine Oak bow.
That would be enough.
Leaving the room Kagome went to Volia's. Volia sat on the floor looking at everything she had with her. It wasn't a lot. Clothes, some money and very a short sword. It was more like a long dagger.
"In the morning when we leave we can get food for a week. Not that I think we'll need it. But..."Kagome stopped when she saw Volia crying. "What's wrong?"
Kagome sat down next to her. Volia's eyes were down, looking at her lap. "You've done so much for me. And now those demons are coming. They must be the same ones that were at my village. The same ones who killed so many people." Her shoulders shook as she cried "And now they've come here and so many people are going to die here."
Kagome sighed. "Things will work out just fine. There is a fine army stationed here. They'll take care of everyone. And then we can come back." Volia just nodded her head. Kagomegot up so she could help Volia pack.
Matli walked in the room a little while later. "You girls better get to sleep early tonight. We leave with the sun tomorrow." After this she left.
Kagome bid Volia goodnight and went to her own room. But she couldn't sleep. She knew had forgotten a blanket for herself and one for Volia. Getting up she set them down on her bag and was then able to fall into a dreamless sleep.
~*~*~*~
Inuyasha looked around. He and Shippo were hopelessly lost in some mountains. Gods, why did he have to come this way. This was the worse form of being lost there was. Stuck in the mountains with very little food and water. On top of that it was a little cold...For Shippo that is.
Shippo sat on his shoulder.
"Shippo?"
"Inuyasha?"
"Where the hell are we?"
Shippo jumped off of Inuyasha's shoulder. "What do you mean by 'where the hell are we?' You're the one who said," Shippo took on a really annoying whiney voice " ' Lets go this way Shippo.' And I said 'Lets not go this way Inuyasha, it looks dark and evil and we might get lost.' "
"WHAT? You never said we were going to get lost. You said it looked scary!" Inuyasha yelled. "And don't you have any maps of this area? We could use one right about now!"
Shippo sniffed "I don't have one. I'm scared and tired and hungry and I want to sleep in a warm bed!"
Inuyasha huffed "Fine, you start a fire and I'll see if there's anything to eat." Shippo nodded and began looking for some wood. Inuyasha started into a different direction from were they had come.
Finding little more then two rabbits Inuyasha looked for a stream. Finding one he went back to the campsite to cook his kill. Shippo had made a good fire and was sitting on some soft grass. That was no doubt where he'd sleep that night.
After dinner Inuyasha went into a near by tree. "Shippo."
Shippo was on the verge of sleep. "Huh?"
"There was a stream about half a mile from here. I say we follow it down the ravine to see what's at the bottom of this mountain."
"Sounds good to me Inuyasha." Shippo mumbled. Shippo had fallen asleep. Inuyasha let himself fall into a dreamless sleep shortly after.
The morning brought high hopes for Shippo. He and Inuyasha started off into the direction of the stream. After running into it they went down, following it's path. It was rocky and steep most of the time. And after spending half the day working their way down, Inuyasha called for a brake.
As they both munched on leftover rabbit Shippo took the time to look over at how much was left before the hit bottom. "Man Inuyasha. I don't think we've done even half of it yet. It's going to take us days to get to the bottom. And if we have to climb up another side that looks like this...We'll be here for a week."
Inuyasha looked down at what Shippo was looking at. "Yes but I'm hoping that we can go along the bottom and find a way out. There didn't seem to be one at the top." Inuyasha picked himself up. "At least not one that you or I could see."
Shippo jumped onto Inuyasha's shoulder. There really wasn't anything else to say. Shippo didn't need to say anymore and Inuyasha didn't like sharing his thoughts.
They said only what needed to be said. Not like girls. Shippo thought. We men only talk when we have to.
The rest of the day went well enough. They didn't run into any demons. But they didn't run into any humans either.
When it had started to get dark Inuyasha stopped for the night. It wasn't too cool out tonight. But they weren't as high up as they had been before.
Inuyasha and Shippo settled down for the night by the stream. Inuyasha that it was lucky they were able to get some fish out of it.
After dinner Shippo laid down for some sleep. Inuyasha leaned up agents the closest tree. No point in sitting in something that can hardly hold itself up. ' Time to get a little shut eye' Inuyasha thought dully.
~*~*~*~
Kagome woke up early to Matli shaking her wildly. "Time to get up. We leave in an hour. Have you got everything you need?"
Kagome sat up slowly "Yeah, I'm ready to go."
"Good. Get up. Get dressed and grab your things." Matli said quickly.
No point in wasting words. Kagome thought. Matli left the room and moved on to get whoever else need to be woken up. Kagome put the blanket she had put on her bag the nigh before into it. There was still room for food. And it wasn't going to be to heavy she thought with a smile.
Kagome changed into some wool leggings, skirt and a soft leather shirt. Pulling on her boots and grabbing her bag, bow and the other blanket she stepped out the door and shut it.
Moving to Volia's room Kagome heard Sota whine about something. Whatever it was she hoped she wouldn't hear about it on the way up the mountain.
Truth be told, she knew that her father's troops would be just fine. They would win and Kagome could go back to sitting on the hills and talking to the people in town.
Kagome found Volia moving out into the hallway. She shut the door and looked into the smiling face of Kagome.
"Here, I brought you a blanket." She handed it over. "We just have to get some breakfast, food from the kitchens and I need a cloak incase it gets cold. The we'll be set to leave."
Volia smiled softly "Thank you. But you don't seem to be taking this as seriously as you should be."
Kagome shrugged. "Lets go."
They got down to the kitchen breakfast was a quiet one. They were all given food and water. Matli came in with a cloak for Kagome and one for Sota too.
They were just about out the door. Kagome's mother came up to her. "Here I want you to have this." It was a small necklace with a leaf on it. And also a small pink stone. "There we go. Take care and listen to Matli. Help with Sota and be good. I'll see you when this blows over."
Kagome smiled and gave her mom a hug "I will." After the 'Goodbyes' between everyone, Kagome, Sota and Volia were off. They were in the company on Matli and Egar. Also about half the town. Women, Children, and the old and infirm. Really is was all the people too young or too fight.
Kagome was talking to a few other girls who lived in town. They told jokes and laughed. Noone was taking the 'army' of demons seriously. It was probably a small band of them just going to Ompatha. That was all. There was no real threat. They had just been moved out incase there was, however unlikely, a problem.
Volia walked on quietly.
Over half the day had gone by. Kagome, Volia and Sota were some of the farthest up no thanks to Egar and Matli. Kagome wished she could be down lower so she could talk with the people there. Most hadn't moved as fast as they were.
It was late afternoon. Normally Kagome would be down in town. Eating and laughing with her friends down there. Kagome was getting tired. The later afternoon sun was burning the back of her neck. She liked hiking and did it all the time. But this time it was just hot out.
Stopping to look over the valley, Kagome saw something that made her stomach drop. There were dragons. Lots of them. All of them were blue. And blue dragons were evil. But that wasn't the only thing she saw. A dark spot on the valley floor was there too. And it was moving fast.
Kagome stuttered "L...look! There are dragons an...and demons. Loads of them."
Kagome wasn't the only one to see them. The dragons and flying demons were headed right at the mountain. Someone screamed below the point were Kagome was standing.
"Move fast!" Egar shouted. "Into the mountains. Hurry!"
Kagome had never moved so fast. She ran with Volia right in front of her. Sota's hand in her own. Matli was behind her and Egar was leading the way.
Behind them the screams of the people dying could be heard. A lot of people had the same idea as Egar had. They ran into people who were running up the mountain. Some, like themselves, were going down and around. Demons and dragons could be seen farther back in the now black sky. Some dragons soared over head, killing anyone they could see.
The sky was black with smoke. You could no longer see the sun it was so dark. It was like night had come early. Kagome could hardly see as they made their way down the mountain. There was a few snaps and a crash.
Volia ran ahead only to stop Kagome. "Egar has fallen." She said quietly.
Moving to where Egar was, had been hard. He had fallen off a small cliff that had been an easy jump to everyone but Matli who grumbled but found another way down.
Egar was down on the ground, holding his leg. Volia was kneeling next to him. "His leg is broken." She said simply. "It will take us a lot longer to get to wherever we were going."
Egar looked up at Kagome "Go. Leave me here and take this message to t t-to the Marshal in Ompatha. Leave me here."
Matli looked stricken. "You three go now. I'm gonna stay with him. Go they are comin'"
Kagome was going to protest. She was going to stay behind. But something made her go on. "Sota get on my back. We can move faster this way."
"O ok Kagome" He climbed on. Volia looked like she was going to say something but instead gave a short nod of her head to Egar and Matli and started down again.
Kagome didn't have time to look back. Volia had them moving fast. Really Fast. Kagome was having trouble keeping up.
It seemed to be getting darker all the time. And it smelled like smoke. Probably from her poor burning Delhigh too. Life wasn't all fun and games anymore. That hurt more then knowing she was running for her life.
Kagome stopped to get her breath back. Sota was asleep. How he could sleep at a time like this was beyond her. Volia was nowhere to be seen. She hadn't been farther ahead of Kagome. But then again maybe Kagome had just lost her.
Kagome shifted Sota and then started back down. Maybe they would meet up at the lake at the bottom. Kagome hoped so.
It hadn't taken Kagome too long to get to the bottom after her last stop. It was about 7:00 Kagome knew. Not that it mattered. She still had to get at least half way up the other side of the mountain before she and Sota would be somewhat safe.
Moving around the lake hadn't taken too long either. Kagome saw the Wildern Stream. It was cool clean water that helped to feed the Wildern lake.
Kagome looked at what she had to climb up. And she knew she couldn't do it with Sota on her back. Gently waking the boy up she smiled at him. "Sota you have to walk from here. I'm too tired to carry you and this is too steep and hard to climb with you on my back anyway."
After stopping to get some water and to rest they started up the other side.
"Kagome, where's Volia?"
"I don't know Sota, I think she is farther up the mountain. She was moving so fast."
A few hours past and Kagome thought she could see a light. She was tired and sore. Her and Sota were both too tired to stop and eat. If they did Kagome didn't think they could start again.
"Kagome what's that light?"
Kagome looked behind her were Sota was half way over a large rock. "I hope it's Volia with a fire."
Kagome had started up again when Sota's voice broke the quiet area. "Isn't there an easier way up?"
Kagome didn't bother stopping. "Yes, there is. But it's also a main road and we can't take it now or we'll be seen. If we go this way noone will know that we're here and then we can cross onto the road at an intersection and make it look like we came from some other town and we are off to see family is some bigger city."
"Oh okay." Sota said. He was such a trooper. Going along with everything. Kagome smiled. They were almost to the fire. It didn't matter if these people were good or bad anymore, as long as she got to sleep.
~*~*~*~
Inuyasha could smell the smoke. There was a lot of it. It had been there earlier in the day too. It hadn't troubled Inuyasha then. There was always a bit of smoke in the air. But not like there was now.
It was the smoke of burning buildings and death. That was one of the worse smells around. Shippo was awake too. He could smell the same thing Inuyasha could.
"Inuyasha?"
"Yes."came the grumpy response
"What do you think's going on?"
"I don't know Shippo. I'm thinking we should head back up in the morning. I don't want to get tangled in whatever's going on the other side of that mountain."
"Why not?" Was Shippo trying to piss him off?
"Because! That's why! I don't want to get pinned for it and I don't want to help them rebuild after. We'll find the main road and get out of here!" Inuyasha was a little worried. He could feel dragons. They weren't right next to him but they were on the other side of the mountains maybe. Right in the direction they were headed.
Not anymore Inuyasha thought. He was about to fall back asleep when he heard something. It sounded like something or someone was on the rocks below where he and Shippo were staying.
"What the hell..." Two tired looking humans climbed out of the bushes. One was a girl, who looked to be about 17, maybe 18. The other was a boy looked like he was 10.
Both stopped moving when they saw him.
The little boy looked at him funny "That isn't Volia."
The older girl looked down. "Um do you mind if we stay here? Our town was attacked by demons. And well dragons. We got separated from the rest of the people who were with us."
Inuyasha looked at Shippo who had woken up when they came into camp. He gave a small nod. Inuyasha looked up at the girl. "Sure you can stay." She looked very grateful. "But you have to tell us where the road is from here. And you might as well tell us where you plan to go."
She looked at the boy. "Okay but we'll tell you in the morning. We've been hiking all day and we both just need to sleep."
Inuyasha turned to look back up at the sky. "Okay that works. You're also going to tell us what happened."
"Okay." That said she laid down on the ground. "By the way my name is Kagome and this is Sota."
"I'm Inuyasha and this is Shippo." The girl Kagome smiled as she drifted off to sleep. Shippo was sleeping again soon after the new comers.
Inuyasha was the only person awake. The last thing he thought of as he drifted off was about dragons...
~*~*~*~
Kikyou looked over at the half full bar. Two men sat in on the stools. Kikyou was just about to kick them out when she stopped to listen to what they were saying.
"......And so I heard 'um say that they was gonna take everythin over and that they was gonna make a new king or somethin. We don' need a king. We needs more money!"
"Yeah!" The other man added. "So this was demons a talking?"
"Yep it was. Damn them." Kikyou couldn't take it anymore. She left the room. Did these men know what they were talking about? She hoped they weren't speaking the truth. A king? Something wasn't right. She hoped that something good would happen.
Rin was in the back room taking her apron off. "Something wrong?"
Kikyou gave a fake smile. "Nothings wrong. Just a long day."
End Notes: And another chapter down. Only 300 left. Not.
Author's Note: Hello. I'm back. This is the second chapter. I bet you couldn't tell right. Okay blah blah blah time to start
Chapter 2
Kagome could hardly breathe. Everyone at the table was still. Noone moved.
Mr. H. cleared his throat. "Are you sure?" His hands shook "Why would they come here. We are a good town. We do nothing to the demons."
The man looked a little uncomfortable. "Sir, what do you want me to do?"
"I want you to..to go and put what portion of the army that's here on high alert. Move those in the town up into the mountains and the captains will meet up here as soon as they can." With that he stood up and moved to the door. "Kagome, you Sota and Volia will go with the rest of the people who are going up into the mountains. Is that understood?"
A very sullen yes sir was heard from Kagome and Sota. Volia said nothing.
"Mom isn't coming with us, is she?" Kagome asked suddenly. "Who will we go with?"
"No she isn't,"Her father wasn't looking at them anymore. "You can go with Matli." It ended there. Her father left the room followed by her mother, Egar and the man who brought the news had already gone.
No one said anything as they walked up to their respected bedrooms. There wasn't anything to say. Kagome walked into her room. It was so silent in there.
Kagome moved to the foot of her bed where her chest sat. She took out a backpack. One that was bigger and could handle doing a lot of traveling. She laid out 3 sets of clothes, one was for the next day when they would leave. Paper and an ink pen was also a good idea. Some maps of the area would also be good. That left room for food. And there was some food in the caves they would be going to. That meant she could take money, just in case they needed it, and her quiver with arrows and her fine Oak bow.
That would be enough.
Leaving the room Kagome went to Volia's. Volia sat on the floor looking at everything she had with her. It wasn't a lot. Clothes, some money and very a short sword. It was more like a long dagger.
"In the morning when we leave we can get food for a week. Not that I think we'll need it. But..."Kagome stopped when she saw Volia crying. "What's wrong?"
Kagome sat down next to her. Volia's eyes were down, looking at her lap. "You've done so much for me. And now those demons are coming. They must be the same ones that were at my village. The same ones who killed so many people." Her shoulders shook as she cried "And now they've come here and so many people are going to die here."
Kagome sighed. "Things will work out just fine. There is a fine army stationed here. They'll take care of everyone. And then we can come back." Volia just nodded her head. Kagomegot up so she could help Volia pack.
Matli walked in the room a little while later. "You girls better get to sleep early tonight. We leave with the sun tomorrow." After this she left.
Kagome bid Volia goodnight and went to her own room. But she couldn't sleep. She knew had forgotten a blanket for herself and one for Volia. Getting up she set them down on her bag and was then able to fall into a dreamless sleep.
~*~*~*~
Inuyasha looked around. He and Shippo were hopelessly lost in some mountains. Gods, why did he have to come this way. This was the worse form of being lost there was. Stuck in the mountains with very little food and water. On top of that it was a little cold...For Shippo that is.
Shippo sat on his shoulder.
"Shippo?"
"Inuyasha?"
"Where the hell are we?"
Shippo jumped off of Inuyasha's shoulder. "What do you mean by 'where the hell are we?' You're the one who said," Shippo took on a really annoying whiney voice " ' Lets go this way Shippo.' And I said 'Lets not go this way Inuyasha, it looks dark and evil and we might get lost.' "
"WHAT? You never said we were going to get lost. You said it looked scary!" Inuyasha yelled. "And don't you have any maps of this area? We could use one right about now!"
Shippo sniffed "I don't have one. I'm scared and tired and hungry and I want to sleep in a warm bed!"
Inuyasha huffed "Fine, you start a fire and I'll see if there's anything to eat." Shippo nodded and began looking for some wood. Inuyasha started into a different direction from were they had come.
Finding little more then two rabbits Inuyasha looked for a stream. Finding one he went back to the campsite to cook his kill. Shippo had made a good fire and was sitting on some soft grass. That was no doubt where he'd sleep that night.
After dinner Inuyasha went into a near by tree. "Shippo."
Shippo was on the verge of sleep. "Huh?"
"There was a stream about half a mile from here. I say we follow it down the ravine to see what's at the bottom of this mountain."
"Sounds good to me Inuyasha." Shippo mumbled. Shippo had fallen asleep. Inuyasha let himself fall into a dreamless sleep shortly after.
The morning brought high hopes for Shippo. He and Inuyasha started off into the direction of the stream. After running into it they went down, following it's path. It was rocky and steep most of the time. And after spending half the day working their way down, Inuyasha called for a brake.
As they both munched on leftover rabbit Shippo took the time to look over at how much was left before the hit bottom. "Man Inuyasha. I don't think we've done even half of it yet. It's going to take us days to get to the bottom. And if we have to climb up another side that looks like this...We'll be here for a week."
Inuyasha looked down at what Shippo was looking at. "Yes but I'm hoping that we can go along the bottom and find a way out. There didn't seem to be one at the top." Inuyasha picked himself up. "At least not one that you or I could see."
Shippo jumped onto Inuyasha's shoulder. There really wasn't anything else to say. Shippo didn't need to say anymore and Inuyasha didn't like sharing his thoughts.
They said only what needed to be said. Not like girls. Shippo thought. We men only talk when we have to.
The rest of the day went well enough. They didn't run into any demons. But they didn't run into any humans either.
When it had started to get dark Inuyasha stopped for the night. It wasn't too cool out tonight. But they weren't as high up as they had been before.
Inuyasha and Shippo settled down for the night by the stream. Inuyasha that it was lucky they were able to get some fish out of it.
After dinner Shippo laid down for some sleep. Inuyasha leaned up agents the closest tree. No point in sitting in something that can hardly hold itself up. ' Time to get a little shut eye' Inuyasha thought dully.
~*~*~*~
Kagome woke up early to Matli shaking her wildly. "Time to get up. We leave in an hour. Have you got everything you need?"
Kagome sat up slowly "Yeah, I'm ready to go."
"Good. Get up. Get dressed and grab your things." Matli said quickly.
No point in wasting words. Kagome thought. Matli left the room and moved on to get whoever else need to be woken up. Kagome put the blanket she had put on her bag the nigh before into it. There was still room for food. And it wasn't going to be to heavy she thought with a smile.
Kagome changed into some wool leggings, skirt and a soft leather shirt. Pulling on her boots and grabbing her bag, bow and the other blanket she stepped out the door and shut it.
Moving to Volia's room Kagome heard Sota whine about something. Whatever it was she hoped she wouldn't hear about it on the way up the mountain.
Truth be told, she knew that her father's troops would be just fine. They would win and Kagome could go back to sitting on the hills and talking to the people in town.
Kagome found Volia moving out into the hallway. She shut the door and looked into the smiling face of Kagome.
"Here, I brought you a blanket." She handed it over. "We just have to get some breakfast, food from the kitchens and I need a cloak incase it gets cold. The we'll be set to leave."
Volia smiled softly "Thank you. But you don't seem to be taking this as seriously as you should be."
Kagome shrugged. "Lets go."
They got down to the kitchen breakfast was a quiet one. They were all given food and water. Matli came in with a cloak for Kagome and one for Sota too.
They were just about out the door. Kagome's mother came up to her. "Here I want you to have this." It was a small necklace with a leaf on it. And also a small pink stone. "There we go. Take care and listen to Matli. Help with Sota and be good. I'll see you when this blows over."
Kagome smiled and gave her mom a hug "I will." After the 'Goodbyes' between everyone, Kagome, Sota and Volia were off. They were in the company on Matli and Egar. Also about half the town. Women, Children, and the old and infirm. Really is was all the people too young or too fight.
Kagome was talking to a few other girls who lived in town. They told jokes and laughed. Noone was taking the 'army' of demons seriously. It was probably a small band of them just going to Ompatha. That was all. There was no real threat. They had just been moved out incase there was, however unlikely, a problem.
Volia walked on quietly.
Over half the day had gone by. Kagome, Volia and Sota were some of the farthest up no thanks to Egar and Matli. Kagome wished she could be down lower so she could talk with the people there. Most hadn't moved as fast as they were.
It was late afternoon. Normally Kagome would be down in town. Eating and laughing with her friends down there. Kagome was getting tired. The later afternoon sun was burning the back of her neck. She liked hiking and did it all the time. But this time it was just hot out.
Stopping to look over the valley, Kagome saw something that made her stomach drop. There were dragons. Lots of them. All of them were blue. And blue dragons were evil. But that wasn't the only thing she saw. A dark spot on the valley floor was there too. And it was moving fast.
Kagome stuttered "L...look! There are dragons an...and demons. Loads of them."
Kagome wasn't the only one to see them. The dragons and flying demons were headed right at the mountain. Someone screamed below the point were Kagome was standing.
"Move fast!" Egar shouted. "Into the mountains. Hurry!"
Kagome had never moved so fast. She ran with Volia right in front of her. Sota's hand in her own. Matli was behind her and Egar was leading the way.
Behind them the screams of the people dying could be heard. A lot of people had the same idea as Egar had. They ran into people who were running up the mountain. Some, like themselves, were going down and around. Demons and dragons could be seen farther back in the now black sky. Some dragons soared over head, killing anyone they could see.
The sky was black with smoke. You could no longer see the sun it was so dark. It was like night had come early. Kagome could hardly see as they made their way down the mountain. There was a few snaps and a crash.
Volia ran ahead only to stop Kagome. "Egar has fallen." She said quietly.
Moving to where Egar was, had been hard. He had fallen off a small cliff that had been an easy jump to everyone but Matli who grumbled but found another way down.
Egar was down on the ground, holding his leg. Volia was kneeling next to him. "His leg is broken." She said simply. "It will take us a lot longer to get to wherever we were going."
Egar looked up at Kagome "Go. Leave me here and take this message to t t-to the Marshal in Ompatha. Leave me here."
Matli looked stricken. "You three go now. I'm gonna stay with him. Go they are comin'"
Kagome was going to protest. She was going to stay behind. But something made her go on. "Sota get on my back. We can move faster this way."
"O ok Kagome" He climbed on. Volia looked like she was going to say something but instead gave a short nod of her head to Egar and Matli and started down again.
Kagome didn't have time to look back. Volia had them moving fast. Really Fast. Kagome was having trouble keeping up.
It seemed to be getting darker all the time. And it smelled like smoke. Probably from her poor burning Delhigh too. Life wasn't all fun and games anymore. That hurt more then knowing she was running for her life.
Kagome stopped to get her breath back. Sota was asleep. How he could sleep at a time like this was beyond her. Volia was nowhere to be seen. She hadn't been farther ahead of Kagome. But then again maybe Kagome had just lost her.
Kagome shifted Sota and then started back down. Maybe they would meet up at the lake at the bottom. Kagome hoped so.
It hadn't taken Kagome too long to get to the bottom after her last stop. It was about 7:00 Kagome knew. Not that it mattered. She still had to get at least half way up the other side of the mountain before she and Sota would be somewhat safe.
Moving around the lake hadn't taken too long either. Kagome saw the Wildern Stream. It was cool clean water that helped to feed the Wildern lake.
Kagome looked at what she had to climb up. And she knew she couldn't do it with Sota on her back. Gently waking the boy up she smiled at him. "Sota you have to walk from here. I'm too tired to carry you and this is too steep and hard to climb with you on my back anyway."
After stopping to get some water and to rest they started up the other side.
"Kagome, where's Volia?"
"I don't know Sota, I think she is farther up the mountain. She was moving so fast."
A few hours past and Kagome thought she could see a light. She was tired and sore. Her and Sota were both too tired to stop and eat. If they did Kagome didn't think they could start again.
"Kagome what's that light?"
Kagome looked behind her were Sota was half way over a large rock. "I hope it's Volia with a fire."
Kagome had started up again when Sota's voice broke the quiet area. "Isn't there an easier way up?"
Kagome didn't bother stopping. "Yes, there is. But it's also a main road and we can't take it now or we'll be seen. If we go this way noone will know that we're here and then we can cross onto the road at an intersection and make it look like we came from some other town and we are off to see family is some bigger city."
"Oh okay." Sota said. He was such a trooper. Going along with everything. Kagome smiled. They were almost to the fire. It didn't matter if these people were good or bad anymore, as long as she got to sleep.
~*~*~*~
Inuyasha could smell the smoke. There was a lot of it. It had been there earlier in the day too. It hadn't troubled Inuyasha then. There was always a bit of smoke in the air. But not like there was now.
It was the smoke of burning buildings and death. That was one of the worse smells around. Shippo was awake too. He could smell the same thing Inuyasha could.
"Inuyasha?"
"Yes."came the grumpy response
"What do you think's going on?"
"I don't know Shippo. I'm thinking we should head back up in the morning. I don't want to get tangled in whatever's going on the other side of that mountain."
"Why not?" Was Shippo trying to piss him off?
"Because! That's why! I don't want to get pinned for it and I don't want to help them rebuild after. We'll find the main road and get out of here!" Inuyasha was a little worried. He could feel dragons. They weren't right next to him but they were on the other side of the mountains maybe. Right in the direction they were headed.
Not anymore Inuyasha thought. He was about to fall back asleep when he heard something. It sounded like something or someone was on the rocks below where he and Shippo were staying.
"What the hell..." Two tired looking humans climbed out of the bushes. One was a girl, who looked to be about 17, maybe 18. The other was a boy looked like he was 10.
Both stopped moving when they saw him.
The little boy looked at him funny "That isn't Volia."
The older girl looked down. "Um do you mind if we stay here? Our town was attacked by demons. And well dragons. We got separated from the rest of the people who were with us."
Inuyasha looked at Shippo who had woken up when they came into camp. He gave a small nod. Inuyasha looked up at the girl. "Sure you can stay." She looked very grateful. "But you have to tell us where the road is from here. And you might as well tell us where you plan to go."
She looked at the boy. "Okay but we'll tell you in the morning. We've been hiking all day and we both just need to sleep."
Inuyasha turned to look back up at the sky. "Okay that works. You're also going to tell us what happened."
"Okay." That said she laid down on the ground. "By the way my name is Kagome and this is Sota."
"I'm Inuyasha and this is Shippo." The girl Kagome smiled as she drifted off to sleep. Shippo was sleeping again soon after the new comers.
Inuyasha was the only person awake. The last thing he thought of as he drifted off was about dragons...
~*~*~*~
Kikyou looked over at the half full bar. Two men sat in on the stools. Kikyou was just about to kick them out when she stopped to listen to what they were saying.
"......And so I heard 'um say that they was gonna take everythin over and that they was gonna make a new king or somethin. We don' need a king. We needs more money!"
"Yeah!" The other man added. "So this was demons a talking?"
"Yep it was. Damn them." Kikyou couldn't take it anymore. She left the room. Did these men know what they were talking about? She hoped they weren't speaking the truth. A king? Something wasn't right. She hoped that something good would happen.
Rin was in the back room taking her apron off. "Something wrong?"
Kikyou gave a fake smile. "Nothings wrong. Just a long day."
End Notes: And another chapter down. Only 300 left. Not.