CHAPTER TEN

*

Kagome clung to Inuyasha as he landed on an expanse of windswept black rock. He wouldn't ever admit it, but she could feel him tensing up. He was getting worried that they hadn't seen the others.

"Miroku!" Inuyasha bellowed. "Sango! Shippo!"

The wind whistled in reply.

"Dammit," Inuyasha mumbled. He jumped off into the snow and began running at top speed; snow flew around him like a small blizzard. Kagome held on tighter and rested her face in Inuyasha's hair.

Inuyasha had kept quiet as they sped over the expanse of snow. His feet were freezing, but that wasn't what had bothered him. All night, he had stayed by Kagome in her sleeping bag, trying not to let THOSE sorts of thoughts into his head. And his memories were a little vague, as if it had all been a dream, but he remembered what he had confessed to her.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome said suddenly.

Inuyasha slipped and almost fell. "What?!" he snapped when he had gotten his balance.

"I saw that Shikon shard again -- it was at the top of the mountain." Kagome shaded her eyes. "It's gone now. But I did see it -- it wasn't just a daydream."

She expected Inuyasha to turn and start running immediately. But he just looked up at the summit, with a strange look in his golden eyes. Then he turned his face to the jagged rocks and deep snowdrifts. "You think we should go after it right away? Or do you wanna keep looking for the others?"

Kagome hesitated.

"I dunno either," Inuyasha said in a low voice.

Kagome looked back up at the summit. The thought of her friends freezing -- or already frozen -- in some snowdrift made her feel sick. But at the same time... how could they find them?

"We might be able to see more from the summit," Inuyasha said suddenly. Without another word, he turned and began jumping from rock to rock, then leaped up a cliffside.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried. "What about the others?"

"That was what I was TALKIN' about!" Inuyasha snapped. He landed on a narrow ledge, wobbled a little, and steadied himself. "If they're wandering around, then we might see them from up there. And if whoever has a Shikon shard... wait a minute. Could that have been Miroku you saw?"

"No," Kagome said decisively. "There was only one shard. Plus, it was moving too fast to be Miroku. Even if he were riding Kirara."

Inuyasha looked over his shoulder. Below Kagome was a sheer drop of black rock. The snow was a very long distance down. He gritted his teeth and held her legs tightly. "Hold on to me."

"I am." Kagome grabbed a handful of his kimono. "Don't worry, I don't plan to fall off again. If you slip again, I won't let go."

"I'm not gonna slip!" the half-demon said sharply. Inuyasha soared up another stretch of the cliff. "Well, whoever it is, if they have anything to do with this damned blizzard, then they're gonna answer for it." He coughed. "Keep an eye open for Miroku's shards, huh?"

"I am."

Kagome huddled down on Inuyasha's back, trying not to look down. But her stomach was twisting with worry. Worry for her friends, who had vanished in the snowstorm. And worry over what might be waiting for them at the summit. They had faced a lot of demons, some of them outright horrifying, to collect the jewel shards. But now they had a time limit: Inuyasha was blinded and deafened in blizzards, and she started to freeze the night before.

I just hope we find whoever it is before nightfall, she thought.

Inuyasha landed on the edge of the cliff. Kagome started to look over his shoulder, only to have his hair blown in her eyes.

"Man..." Inuyasha muttered, letting her off his back.

Kagome dusted herself off as she looked at the cave. It yawned in the middle of the mountainside, between two enormous crags. It made her think -- a cliched image -- of a hungry mouth. I can't go in there, she thought wildly.

"You think that's where it went?" Inuyasha said in a low voice.

"I-I don't know," Kagome said, frowning. "I don't feel any Shikon shards at all now... but..." She pressed a fist against her stomach. "It makes me feel sick."

"Sick or not," Inuyasha said, crossing his arms. "We might have to sleep in there tonight... if we can't find Miroku and the others."

"Yeah," Kagome said, staring into the darkness. "You're right. Let's go in. Maybe the others found their way inside..."

TO BE CONTINUED