Okay. Wow, chapter 9 already. That's a big surprise; I never thought I'd get this far! Well, as always, I'd like to thank my reviewers: Hinoke, tao-fairlight, silentslayer, AnimeFreak, Shadow Wraith, AnimeAngel0123, and loozer-09. All of you seem so sad about Inuyasha going away. MWAHAHAHAHA! Don't worry…

            And I apologize if I'm making everyone seem OOC, but I have a good reason for doing so. This story is AU, and so all the characters from the show have grown up differently. So, as a result, they all have slightly different personalities because of the way they grew up. Kagome (in the show) had a good life –in my story she doesn't have a great start on life- and Inuyasha (in the show) had a crappy life, and doesn't in my story. You see, different circumstances effect their personalities. If this little stupid rant of mine offended anyone, I'm sorry, but I just had to explain the way they act if you thought it was OOC.

            Well, I think this is going to be a shorter chapter 'cause something big is going to happen in either chapter 10 or 11. But I hope you enjoy it anyway!

            Disclaimer: I don't own the anime/manga "Inuyasha"; Rumiko Takashi does.

…Your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase

-My Immortal, Evanescence

            "I missed again," Kagome growled at her arrow stuck just outside the bull's-eye. Feeling the urge to get another arrow dead center, she bent over to retrieve one from the tiny canister that held all her arrows. To her dismay, the canister was empty; all the arrows were either stuck into the target or the grass just before the target.

            Grumbling, Kagome trudged across the archery drill field to get the rest of her arrows. She shivered with the cool air that late November had brought to Mythora, and the fact it is well past midnight did not help her situation any. Many people had asked her why she insisted on practicing at night, but she had no definite answer; she just wanted to. But, she had a feeling that it had something to do with Inuyasha. His departure had come as a harsh blow to her because she was starting to harbor strong feelings toward him. It did not help at all that she never heard from him at all since he left two months ago. So archery was what she did to pass the time, to take her mind off the silver haired hanyou.

            Kagome sighed and looked up at the sky. There were millions of stars overhead, winking and glowing brightly, seemingly mocking her dark mood. The sky looked much as it had the night he left, except there was no moon on this night.

            "Don't think," Kagome scolded herself and bent over to pick up three arrows that jutted awkwardly from the ground at her feet. After roughing tossing them in the canister, Kagome marched onward to the target, occasionally stooping to pick up arrows. When she got to the target, Kagome dropped the canister on the ground and roughly yanked the arrows out of the board painted yellow, blue, and red in rings.

            And Kagome let them drop from her hand, the arrows clicking softly together like cutlery on fine china. Soon, Kagome followed her arrows to the ground and winced when she felt her heel dig into her butt bone. The past two months, Kagome had often found herself in such a miserable, begging position, and she hated it. Sometimes she cried, sometimes she stared lifelessly at the sky, whispering nothings. She, lately, was not too fond of herself. Before Inuyasha, she had been strong, capable, and happy. Now, after Inuyasha, she knew she was a walking shell of her former self; other people knew she was no longer Kagome. The only person she ever felt human around was her father, King Dion, but with war business, Dion had not been able to talk to her much.

            Grunting irritably, Kagome shot up from the ground like stone from a catapult, and stomped back to the area on the other side of the dead grass drill field. When she got there, she whipped around to face the target, dropped the canister full of arrows on the ground, and readied an arrow to fire. Taking a deep breath, Kagome let her arrow go, allowing a confident smirk to form on her mouth when the arrow shivered from its position in the bulls-eye.

            But then she remembered something. Words said about her shooting. Things Inuyasha had said.

            She recalled that the Second Archery Division leader tournament had been the first time she met him. He insulted her archery skills, so she offended him right back.

            "Inuyasha," Kagome sniffed as warm tears dripped down her cheeks, rosy with the cool air.

Sadly, Kagome let her bow fall from her hands (one of many things she had loosened her grip on this night) and rubbed away her tears roughly. Feeling it was time to turn in for the night before she flooded the whole drill field, Kagome plodded toward the barrack lots, but was surprised to find Kikyo watching her with sorrowful interest, holding a thermos.

Both women –aunt and niece- stared at each other, unsure of what to say. Through the past two months, Kikyo had, for the most part, left Kagome to her own devices and did not say much in her presence. Her reasoning for that was simple: She felt bad for Kagome's loss of a friend.

"What do you want?" Kagome asked pitifully.

Kikyo hesitantly stepped forward from the shadow of a leafless oak. She stopped about a foot from Kagome and held out the thermos and her other hand that had two cups clutched in it. "I thought you would be cold out here, so I brought you some coffee."

"Why do you care if I freeze?" Kagome spat out. "I thought you hated me. I got in your way of claiming Inuyasha, and now he's gone. Is it really coffee or heated poison?"

"It is coffee," Kikyo looked away from Kagome's frustrated visage. "And about me hating you… I do not; and I never did. I was jealous that Inuyasha seemed to be so attached to you so quickly. I do not know why. He has that charismatic atmosphere that draws people toward him. I suppose I had been sucked in, like you, but unlike you, I remained in the cyclone while you were in the eye of the storm. I am sorry for what I said to you. If I could turn back time and take back what I said, I would, but we are both intelligent enough to know that it is not possible. Could you find it within yourself to forgive me?"

"I don't understand," Kagome backed away from Kikyo. She was very surprised by her aunt's apology.

"I just… I do not like the silence that has fallen over our cabin. I know you are still suffering over Inuyasha, but I want for us to be alright. What I said to you was wrong and mean and I am begging you to forgive me," Kikyo pleaded.

Kagome furrowed her eye brows, not believing one word Kikyo said to her: "My father put you up to this. Clever man; trying to break me out of my shell by having you grovel at my feet. It's not working Auntie Kikyo."

With that, Kagome grudgingly pushed past Kikyo, making sure their shoulders came in contact for effect, and continued on to the barrack lots.

"Kagome," Kikyo called after her earnestly, "I mean every word I said. Dion, he never put me up to any of this. I want to apologize to you. I want to be on good terms with you. Please, just give me a chance!"

The angry seventeen-year-old stopped dead in her tracks and turned half-way around to look at Kikyo. Her deep brown eyes scanned Kikyo's form cautiously as if she expected her to draw a weapon and strike her down. "How can I be sure you're telling the truth?"

"Well," Kikyo said, "you cannot tell for certain. You will just have to trust me. I hope you can trust me when I say I want peace between us."

Kagome walked over to Kikyo, still letting her eyes run over Kikyo's form. But then she smiled which surprised her aunt pleasantly. Kagome offered her hand but retracted it when she remembered both Kikyo's hands were full.

"I suppose we could let bygones be bygones."

"Oh, good!" Kikyo sighed with relief.

"But," Kagome stuck one finger up before speaking again, "if you insult me again in any way, you will regret it."

"That sounds fair."

"Great," Kagome grinned sincerely and sweetly. The type of grin she gave to people close to her. "How about some of that coffee, eh?"

"Sure," Kikyo said and sat down on the hard cold ground. She set both ceramic, white cups on the ground, unscrewed the top of the thermos, and poured the strong smelling dark coffee into the cups. Kikyo patted the ground next to her and held a cup up for Kagome. "Here."

Eagerly, Kagome took a seat next to Kikyo and gingerly accepted the white cup because the hot ceramic felt quite painful on her icy hands. Both Kikyo and Kagome nursed their cups of coffee in the quite serenity of a near-winter night. They did not say anything to each other for many minutes, but they did not care, their silence was comfortable.

Kagome was very surprised with Kikyo's genuine apology and request for things to be normal between them. At first she was certain her aunt was trying to pull a cruel joke off on her, but was soon swayed to realize Kikyo was telling the truth. She could not figure out why Kikyo asked for forgiveness, but she was awfully glad to be asked for it and even more glad to give it.

"Kagome," Kikyo whispered. She glanced at Kagome to see if her words had been acknowledged, and Kagome gave her a slight nod. "Tomorrow, Dion is going to make an important announcement. This is one of the reasons why I came to you. You see, he is going to say that…"

"…the battle you all have been anticipating," King Dion spoke strongly and confidently from a podium before the entire Hathar army, "between us and the Uranin army is soon approaching. In two days, we will be marching to the Catharique Plains just north of Mythora. There we will engage in battle with the Uranin army. I am sorry to say that not all of you will emerge from the battle unscathed or even alive, but I know you will all give your all for yourselves, your families, and for Hathar. That is all. I wish for you to enjoy the rest of your day so some fine wine will be brought down to the barrack lots for you all to enjoy. Dismissed."

With those words, King Dion stepped down from the podium amongst the distraught and excited crowd discussing the impending battle. He rubbed his forehead, for a rather harsh headache was forming, and any type of relief he could find would be most welcome. In the bright sunlight that reined greatly during midday, his headache seemed to grow worse. Briefly, he looked up to meet the concerned face of his daughter and ever emotionless visage of his sister Kikyo, and saw them swiftly approaching his current position.

"So this is it?" Kagome asked simply, her hands tapping her outer thighs half-mindedly.

"It is," Dion nodded, but grimaced when his head started throbbing in stubborn pain. "Unfortunately."

"It is unfortunate," Kikyo nodded in agreement.

Dion looked between the two women in his life in confusion, for not too long ago, they had been at the other's necks or rather faces. But, he decided not to ask about anything and would just assume they made a compromise over whatever they feuded about.

"It means, though, that everything will be over," Kagome said and looked wistfully up to the sky. "It means that things can go back to the way they used to be."

Of course neither knew she was talking about the war being over so that she could see Inuyasha. They assumed she meant people would live without fear of Uranin ruler ship.

************************************************************************

            Kagome sighed contently –as possible for her with her current mood- as she strolled back to her and Kikyo's barrack in the thick darkness that stretched over Mythora at the moment. For the fist time in two months, Kagome enjoyed herself. As promised, Dion had supplied the entire Hathar army with excellent, top notch wine that the army happily downed. Kagome participated in the festivities that arose around the alcohol, but refrained from drinking herself; she was not a fan of the drink. But despite not par-taking in the beverage consuming, she danced with fellow soldiers, and talked with Kikyo, her father, and momentarily with Sango, but Miroku –who choose to remain in Mythora with Sango- whisked her away to do who knows what.

            She smiled at the memory of the look on Sango's face when Miroku was near. Sango truly found happiness in the lecherous monk, and she was glad for her. But one person that she had missed at the party and the entire time in Mythora was Horaku. Her childhood friend had seemingly found every way to avoid her.

            Just then, Kagome saw a shadow move off to the right of herself. With a closer look, Kagome could tell the thing was a person who cast their head about in different directions as if trying to sneak around without being seen. The person –a man one could assume by body build- did not appear to notice Kagome and darted into the woods just outside the barrack lots. Kagome watched the retreating figure with apprehension, but she was curious to know what they were doing. Automatically, her feet started walking toward the forest as if a gigantic, invisible hand pushed her onward. Soon, Kagome was at a full-tilt run, dodging tree branches and roots alike, moving like an evil spirit was biting at her heels.

She jogged for many minutes, finally coming to an abrupt stop when she neared the edge of a clearing. At the center of the clearing was a small pool filled with crystal clear water, sparking in the light that escaped through the tree canopy from a tiny sliver of a couple moons. Around the pond, five fires of moderate size were burning and giving off small columns of smoke that rose high above the tree tops. In the clearing were two figures –the one she had been chasing and a new one. Kagome gasped when she recognized them: General Loki and her closest friend Horaku.

Both were dressed in dark purple robes with a black waistband causing the top part of the outfit to pucker out. Just then, Horaku and Loki turned their backs to Kagome so they were facing the pool. The fire's glow shone on their backs and made the simple purple of their robes seem sinister and disturbed. She strained her hearing to take in the words they were both emitting. It was an obvious chant, but of another language. Kagome wracked her brain for what the language was, and finally came to the conclusion it was Uranin, for she remembered her father speaking it to her so she would learn its distinct guttural sound. When the two men finished chanting in their bone chilling tone, a man –rather the transparent form of a man- who looked as if summoned there through magic blinked expectedly at them through heavily lidded red eyes with a streak of blue above each. In the firelight his pale skin looked sickly and ashen, while his jet black hair shone vibrantly.

"Master Naraku," both Horaku and Loki said while on one knee, heads bowed.

"Raise, faithful spies," this Naraku said, his voice gripping and cruel sounding. "What news have you for me?"

"Dion knows about the battle, I made sure of it," Loki said. "Other than that, we have nothing else to report, master. But I have a question, if your Lordship would not mind answering it."

"Please ask," Naraku urged.

"You said to us that all you would need to defeat Dion's army was two people. Who might these two people be?"

Naraku laughed sinisterly. "Right to the point, Loki. You will rendezvous with them just before the battle and tell them what to expect. Their names are Kagura –one of my creations- and Kohaku…"

Kagome never caught what Naraku said next because she inhaled sharply. Sango has a brother named Kohaku. I hope it isn't him because he's very strong.

"And is this the one who has been helping you?" Naraku motioned to Horaku.

"Yes," Loki nodded, "he is and has shown great loyalty to the Uranin cause."

"Good," Naraku said. "And now that you have your orders from me, you would do well to make sure next time to not be notice. I don't think the young lady should know of anything more."

Instantly Kagome broke into a run, not caring how much noise she made, for Loki and Horaku were surly on her tail. And within moments, Kagome could hear the thundering footsteps of feet larger than hers pounding on the hard forest floor covered in dead brown leaves. The footfalls got closer and closer as Kagome's heartbeat got faster. She was sure they were going to catch her and kill her. Then, out of no where, two arrows flew past her (one just barely grazing her face) and found their marks in the chests of Loki and Horaku. Both men fell to the found with a painful grunt and loud thump of body and ground contact.

"Kagome!" Kikyo called out, crashing through dead undergrowth. "How did you know they were meeting with their master? Dion told me that they were meeting tonight and said for me to kill them. How did you find them?"

"Kikyo, it was by accident," Kagome whimpered. She had never been that scared in her life.

"Well," Kikyo hugged Kagome to try and calm her down, "good thing I came when I did."

"They were talking about two people defeating the whole Hathar army," Kagome said.

"I know," Kikyo nodded. "This just makes it easier for us to know how to counter them when it comes to the battle."

Kagome turned to look at the dead figures of Loki and Horaku, but was surprised to find they were not dead just wounded enough to be immobile. Already, the injuries of this war were starting to pile up and Kagome was not looking forward to the end result of the battle.

Well, there is it. Things are starting to get sticky, eh? And I bet that Loki and Horaku would have been able to get away with it too if it wasn't for that darn Kagome! Sorry, I just had to say it ^_^.

I hope you like the chapter because I enjoyed writing it, oddly enough since nothing really good happens except at the end. Whatever, I guess.  Anyway, I need to let you know that school starts for me tomorrow so I might not be able to update as frequently as usual. I apologize for that. School sucks.

Well, I have another headache so I apologize if there are any mistakes in the chapter. I'll proofread it when my head feels better, but until then there are going to be misspelled words and grammatical errors.

Buh-bye people and thanks for reading and please review! ^_^