A/N- Hello everybody! I am not too fond of this chapter, but I am very critical of myself. I hope you guys enjoy it! Please review, I appreciate any advice you can give me to make my writing better!
Disclaimer- Grrrr…….I wish!
The Colors of Emotions
Chapter 14
Helpless to a Kidnapping
Kagome looked at Shippou's little head floating above the water. She smiled at him, and he returned the smile. But his eyes suddenly focused on something behind Kagome and his expression turned to one of fear. Kagome felt a strange tugging at the back of her mind. She recognized the feeling immediately. ' A Shikon shard!'
"Kagome! Watch out!" The little kitsune shrieked.
Before Kagome could react, a clawed hand grabbed her throat from behind her. She made a desperate gasp for air, but the hand restricted further against her neck, cutting off almost all of her precious oxygen supply. "Oh look what I have here. It's that whore that stole my magic from me. But in return, I have her precious Shikon no Tama. Now miko, I have come to take my power back." A cold voice hissed into her ear.
"Fox Fire!" Shippou desperately attacked the monster that had hold of Kagome. The beast looked much like wolf, a very large and evil wolf. It was standing like a human would, and it had black fur covering its entire body. Blood red eyes turned towards the little fox when his attack came into contact with the monster. However, the little ball of flame did little to hurt the wolf-like creature. He bared his fangs and swung his hand that was not holding onto Kagome. Black light shot from the claws and was thrown like daggers at the kitsune. Shippou ducked his head under water and narrowly escaped the attack.
The tips of the demon's claws pierced Kagome's skin slightly. Drops of blood fell from her neck. Kagome felt herself falling into darkness. She fought against it and tried to stay conscious. But she found her attempt hopeless as her eyelids closed and she was soon encompassed by peaceful unconsciousness.
* * * * * *
Inuyasha tried again and again to break the barrier that surrounded him and the rest of his comrades. He had Tetsusaiga drawn and continued to charge into the invisible wall that surrounded him. Sango and Miroku had awoken recently and were also trying their best to break through. But they were also somewhat transfixed on watching their own memories. Inuyasha cursed under his breath.
"Don't watch your memories you idiots! They are there to distract you! Kagome is in trouble!"
A look of understanding passed Sango's face. "The kotsonu!" She cried in sudden realization.
"No way!" Inuyasha hissed sarcastically. "I thought you guys realized that already! This is what happened to me! Only last time the barrier didn't last this long!"
"The kotsonu is in possession of most of the Shikon no Tama. Its powers must have increased immensely." Miroku added.
"And it is getting revenge on Kagome for taking its power last time! Now let's get out of here so I can protect her!" Inuyasha yelled in a mad fury. "And um…so I can get back my jewel shard!" He quickly covered.
"Inuyasha, do not lose your focus! We do not seem to be able to break through the barrier. The kotsonu cannot hold up this barrier forever. All we can do is wait." Miroku had his usual calm expression in place.
"What!? No way am I sitting around waiting. It is hard enough to stay in here having to watch our stupid memories! But Kagome has no one to protect her!"
"Why is she alone anyway!?" Sango yelled at the hanyou. She was just as frightened for Kagome's safety, but it seemed they were helpless to do anything.
"She went with Shippou to get water to boil to make ramen for breakfast. She told me to stay here and protect you guys while you slept. She said you idiots needed your rest." Inuyasha didn't mean to sound so harsh, but he was scared for Kagome, and he needed someone to blame beside himself. He had that guilty feeling again that this was all his fault.
"So you let her go by herself into the woods when you knew the kotsonu was close by? It was obvious that the kotsonu would want revenge on her, but you allowed her to get attacked anyway!" Sango yelled. "I am just as scared for her as you Inuyasha. But you are not helping matters by blaming this on us! You are the one that let Kagome go without protection."
'There was that damn blame again.' It only served to make Inuyasha defensive. "Shippou went with her!" But his excuse even sounded lame in his ears. "Besides, she was getting angry being fussed over all the time. She can't get angry remember! I figured going with her would only piss her off.
"Inuyasha, Shippou cannot save her from a demon with a Shikon shard! I think taking the risk of Kagome getting angry with you, and having a chance to try to learn to control that emotion, is a little bit better than her being killed! She had enough energy to survive in case it got out of hand and she attacked, but she needs to learn to hold in her power!" Miroku shot back.
"Since when are you Kagome's little magic expert!? She doesn't even talk to you about anything monk! So shut up! You don't know her at all! And she is NOT going to be killed!" Inuyasha yelled.
'How clueless can you really be Inuyasha?' Miroku thought. But before he could voice his thoughts, Kirara mewed. Everyone turned to look at the cat. Kirara stared at all of them, rolled her eyes, and took her paw and pointed at the barrier in front of her. Or where the barrier WAS in front of her. Inuyasha realized that at some point during his argument with Miroku, the barrier had broken.
Angry with himself for wasting time, Inuyasha leapt off in the direction that Kagome had gone in about half an hour before. The others followed behind the incredibly fast hanyou. It didn't take Inuyasha long to come across the hot spring. His heart almost stopped when he saw that Kagome wasn't there, but her backpack was. He smelt her blood faintly and immediately tried to sniff out the direction in which she had gone.
"Inuyasha!" A distressed little kitsune cried. Shippou was making his way slowly out of the hot spring from where he had been hiding behind a large rock. He was crying and he clung his little hands on Inuyasha's pant leg, sobbing into the material.
"What happened?!" Inuyasha growled.
"She was being strangled! This scary monster had her by the throat. He attacked me, but I went under water and didn't get hit. Kagome passed out and *sniffle* and he took her away!" Shippou began to sob again.
"Where did he take her?" Miroku asked worriedly.
"I don't know! They went that way!" Shippou pointed his little finger towards the dark forest to their left. "He said he was going to take his power back!"
"Let's go!" Inuyasha shook the clinging fox off of his leg and was about to bolt off into the woods.
"Inuyasha!" Miroku yelled.
"What monk?!" Inuyasha angrily spat. "I have had enough of your crap today. I am in no mood to get scolded like a child again!"
"Then quit acting like a child! We need a plan. The kotsonu cannot absorb Kagome's energy. It already learned its lesson from the last time it tried that. Inuyasha, we cannot just 'stop' such a powerful demon. He has Kagome. He will kill her if we try to save her and he knows about it. We will have to use the element of surprise. You cannot just go running after him blindly."
"Let's at least find where the kotsonu is. Then we can go from there." Sango offered.
"That's a pretty obvious plan. We could've come up with that while we were running! Now the demon has a head start!"
"Stay on guard Inuyasha." Miroku calmly said.
"Why?"
"We are at the edge of your brother's lands. He will be nearby."