Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any of its characters (contrary to popular belief).
"I'm going alone," Inuyasha said resolutely. Kagome could tell by the set of his jaw that he was not going to give in easily. He crossed his arms and looked down at her as if daring her to defy him.
I was never one to let down a dare, she thought wryly. "Oh no you're not," she said standing to grab on to his arm just in case he tried to leave her behind without an argument. "Kaede said you would probably need me to purify him."
"Yeah," he said trying to shake her hand from his arm. "Probably. I'm not putting you in danger for a 'probably.' Any ways, that old bat is always making things out to be worse than they are."
"Oh, for crying out loud," Kagome groaned and hung onto his arm firmly. "We don't even know if he's there yet. And you know I'm not going to give this up." She hoped she had the same immovable look that he had on his face. She was touched at his concern but also annoyed by it. He always did this. Inuyasha thought he could protect her by simply removing her presence from the battlefield.
He glared at her for a moment and Kagome was sure his resolve was waning. He frowned and then said, "Fine, but you're to leave this to me. Understand?"
Kagome raised her eyes to the sky and said loudly, "I promise not to jump Naraku in the effort to steal the glory that I had been up until this point planning. Happy?" she asked giving him a look with raised eye brows.
"Damn it, Kagome," Inuyasha growled. "You should be taking this seriously. This is dangerous."
"I am taking it seriously and we are running out of time, so let's just go," she replied stubbornly. They glared at each other for a moment before Inuyasha finally looked away with a disgusted "Feh."
He gripped her hand quickly and took a step forward. Their surroundings faded and bled into the familiar surrounding landscape of Kaede's village. The transition between one place and another had been less smooth this time, less instant. Inuyasha looked down at her, still gripping her hand.
"Is he here?" he asked although from the look in his eyes, Kagome was fairly certain he knew. He could probably tell better than her, as Kagome could only feel emptiness. Not like before. Before she had been able to sense Inuyasha's presence everywhere and now she felt nothing.
"Must be," she said, hesitantly. Her mouth had gone dry. She had faced Naraku before but never with this pure terror gnawing at her. A look at the hanyou's face told her he, too, was frightened. His hand tightened over hers.
Just as in a dream, something otherwise ridiculous became terrifying, something truly scary was just that much worse. Inuyasha took a step forward and Kagome suddenly felt her courage bolster. They would make it through this like they had so many other obstacles.
Together they crossed the remaining field land before the cave. At every step forward, the sky seemed to grow darker until it was as dark as night and the wind whipped around them brutally. Although it seemed like an eternity, they finally stepped into the dark recess of the cave.
Here, Kagome was almost overwhelmed by the sense of evil, as if it was in the air and she almost gagged on it. The gloom of the cave was complete and it was difficult to see anything at all.
"Come out, you stinking rat!" Inuyasha yelled suddenly. His voice reverberated around them and grew louder. Kagome looked around waiting for some sort of response as Inuyasha's voice reverberated around them.
The echoing stopped suddenly and without warning and was replaced with silence.
"Why should I come out?" came a soft voice from somewhere in the shadows. "You are quickly running out of time. No, I think I'll stay safe where I am and let you remain sealed forever."
Kagome dropped Inuyahsa's hand suddenly as she stepped forward with an angry scowl on her face.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha hissed at her as he grabbed her shoulder. She shrugged him off in her building anger.
"You haven't got any idea how much time we have, do you? How could you? You've been here the same as us!" she yelled into the darkness. "And I know you can't run from here."
"You do?" Inuyasha asked surprised and sounding skeptical.
"If you could leave this cave, you would have by now," she stated confidently. "And don't think you can hide, because give me time, and I'll sniff you out of whatever den you've holed up in." She took another step forward into the gloom.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha hissed again, this time more insistently. "You promised," he sputtered at a loss to say any more. He wanted to step forward but something held him motionless where he stood.
"Do you really think you can beat me here?" the voice answered with a hint of amusement. "Every moment here, I become stronger and Inuyasha becomes weaker."
"If that's true then you'd face him rather than hiding in the shadows!" Kagome yelled in response as she stepped further again. "You're frightened. You know if you fight you won't win, so you are just going to hide and hope you're not found."
There was silence for a moment. The cave around them suddenly shuttered and Kagome fell to her hands and knees. Inuyasha bounded forward, suddenly released from whatever had held him back. "Kagome!"
"I'm fine," she asserted as he grabbed her by the shoulders. "Get Naraku!"
"Right," he growled as he stood. Tetsuseiga slid easily out of its sheath as Inuyasha turned to face the darkness. His eyes could not pierce the gloom but his nose was still good. He took a deep breath and began to differentiate the smells of damp and mold from that of Naraku. Even though he knew none of them had physical presence here, some how it just seemed right that he would be able to smell him.
He sniffed again, changed direction, and took another step forward. He turned again and smirked. "Ah, so there you are."
A/N: Hey everybody! I love all the feed back I'm getting from you guys; you're fantastic. This fic is drawing quickly to a close which is good, since I'm flying back to school tomorrow (that is unless the weather gods decide to snow me in). Thanks for reading and please drop me a review.