Chapter 11 – River's Edge
"Ah!" Kameko screamed as the boat rocked.
"Will you stop that!" Inuyasha snapped. "You're not going to fall out, stupid. Sheez."
They had decided to leave the fishing village. The man they helped, Rairo, gave them a boat to use on their journey down river. Inuyasha was at the back, helping to steer it. While Miroku was in the front, propelling the boat through the water with a wooden rod.
"You aren't afraid of the water, are you Kameko?" Miroku asked.
Kameko gave a nervous laugh as she gripped the sides of the boat. "Well. Kinda. When I was little I nearly drowned. I'm also not that great of a swimmer."
"You can swim though, just in case? Right?" Kagome asked.
She nodded her head. "Yeah, I can manage. But I wouldn't win no Olympic race."
Sango looked out at the water. "The current seems strong, but I'm sure if this tipped over you'd be able to make it."
The American girl also looked out at the water and gulped. "Heh-heh. I guess, but I don't want to find out." The boat rocked again and she screamed.
"I said stop that!" Inuyasha shouted.
"She can't help it, Inuyasha. She's scared," Shippou said.
He glared at the kitsune. If he weren't steering he would have clobbered him. Kagome was glaring at Inuyasha. If he weren't steering she'd sit him.
"And maybe, I'll find out. The way to make it back someday," Kameko started singing quietly. At first only Kirara and Shippou heard her. "To watch you, to guide you. Through the darkest of your days." Then her voice grew louder. Inuyasha stopped steering, and Miroku pulled the poll out of the water. They, along with everyone else on the boat stared at her. "If a great wave should fall. It would fall upon us all. Well I hope there's someone out there. Who can bring me back to you"
They didn't understand what she was singing, since she was singing in English.
"Its beautiful," Sango said. At this Kameko stopped singing. "I'm not sure what you're saying, but it sounded beautiful."
"I didn't know you could sing," Kagome said. "It was pretty."
"Yes," Miroku said. "You're very talented."
Inuyasha crossed his arms and turned his head away. "I guess it was alright."
"What were the lyrics you were singing?" Shippou asked with a big grin on his face.
"Its a verse of one of my favorite songs called 'Wherever You Will Go' by a group named The Calling." She blushed and looked down at the floor of the boat. "Sorry I just start to sing sometimes with no reason. It's always been a habit of mine."
Then a tingling sensation went down Kameko's back. Some thing was near…
Kagome looked up to say something. She stopped and tugged on Inuyasha's sleeve. "Uh, Inuyasha."
"What Kagome?"
"Who's steering the boat?" she asked.
He unfolded his arms. "I am, why?"
"Then why the heck are we heading for those rocks!" she shouted point in front of her.
Everyone looked forward. They were heading strait for a large formation of rocks. Miroku, who also had neglected his duty, pull the poll back in the water. Inuyasha was trying to steer them back onto course.
"Its no use," Sango told them. "The current has picked up even more. We're going to crash. Jump off now!"
Inuyasha had Kagome and Shippou climb on his back and jumped across to the bank. Sango climb on Miroku's back with Kirara on his shoulder, they jumped across to land near the others. The only one left was Kameko.
"Here!" She shouted, throwing her and Kagome's backpacks, along with other things.
"Jump!" Kagome shouted. "You can make it."
Kameko looked at the distance between her and the bank. She could and began to stand up. The boat rocked and the fell back down. "I can't. I…I just can't!"
Kagome turned to Inuyasha. "You have to go get her!"
He looked shocked. "Me? Why me?" Kagome gave him a warning glare. "Feh. I will."
But just as he was ready to jump the boat crashed into the rocks. Kameko went in the water and didn't come back up.
"Kameko!" Kagome and Miroku shouted instantly.
The group ran to the edge, near the rocks. Shippou was running back and forth. "Where is she? Where is she? Is she ok?"
"Can you see here Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, on the verge of tears.
He narrowed his eyes and looked. "No. I can't smell her either. She hasn't come up yet."
"Do you think she'll make it?" Sango asked.
"She has to! She followed me here with out saying good-bye to her family," Kagome said.
Meanwhile Kameko was struggling to get to the top. Her jeans and shoes where making it hard for her. She managed to get her shoes off. 'Now for the damn pants,' she thought, 'before I drown!' Trying to get her pants off and swimming to the surface wasn't that easy. 'What if I don't live through this?' she thought. 'What about my family?' Kameko struggled harder to get out of her pants. 'I have to live through this!' she thought as pulled free from her jeans and swam her way to the surface.
Kameko gasped for air and looked around. She didn't see any of them. The current had brought her down river quicker than she had thought.
"Help! Anyone!" she called out, trying to keep afloat. The water was becoming swifter and rough. "Please! Anyone, help m-" the last part was all gurgles as she went under for a brief second. She threw he hand up into the air before she came back up.
She called out again, praying that the others heard her. 'I promise,' she thought, 'to kiss whoever, or whatever saves.' Again she yelled. 'I don't care if its Inuyasha or some horrible disfigured beast. If it saved me, then I'd give it one.'
Going under again she held up her hand, hoping someone would see it before she disappeared under the water. Someone must have answered her calls because she felt a hand clasp around hers and pull her up. Kameko could help but swallow water in shock. The next thing she knew she was against something warm. The air made her instantly cold and she shivered.
"Th-thank you," she mumbled in English before she passed out.
*~*~*~*
The group had heard her cries and had begun to run down the riverbank towards her.
"We're coming!" Kagome shouted. The others were ahead of her and Shippou, who sat on her shoulder.
"I see her hand," Miroku shouted.
"Her head is above the water now," Sango said.
Inuyasha gave a short laugh. "She was right when she said she didn't swim well."
The saw Kameko go under the water again, with her hand waving in the air. Then something darted from one side of the riverbank to the other, pulling Kameko out in the process.
"What was that?" Kagome asked. The other skid to a halt and she jogged up to them. "Do you see what it was?"
Inuyasha shook his head. "It was moving too fast for me even to tell."
"It was like a white blur," Sango said.
Kagome stood there for a second before collapsing. Inuyasha caught her before she fell to the ground. Shippou was tossed from his perched. "If she gets killed. I don't know what to tell her family."
Then she started to cry. Inuyasha felt awkward for a second, and then gently wrapped his arms around her. He wasn't very good at this stuff.
"Do you suppose she'll be ok?" Shippou asked.
"Who? Kagome or Kameko?" Sango responded.
"Both," he said.
After Kagome recovered herself Inuyasha made sure he couldn't smell her anywhere. "The water will have covered it for a little while. As soon as she's dry though, I can get her sent again."
"Assuming whatever it was that pulled her out doesn't eat her," Sango said.
"Eeep!" escaped from Kagome.
Inuyasha groaned. "I knew I should have shoved her back down the well." He turned to the others. "Might as well find a place to cross the river and then from there start looking for her."
They walked down river and came across a string of rocks. They crossed them safely. As soon as they got to the other side Kagome asked if Inuyasha could smell Kameko. He told her no.
They had decided to head into the forest, thinking that whatever the thing that took Kameko had taken her there.
Shippou hopped on Inuyasha's shoulder. "Can you smell her now?"
"No," he replied.
Shippou waited a second. "Can you smell her now?"
"No."
"Can you smell her now?"
"No."
"Now?"
"No!"
"Can you now?"
"NO! And if you ask one more time…"
"Can you smell Kameko now?"
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes and looked at Shippou. "That's it!" He threw the little youkai into a tree a few feet away.
"Guess not," Shippou said as he landed on the ground. He decided it might be better to ride on Miroku's shoulder.
"I don't see why he has to be like that," Sango said to Kagome.
"He does have a quick temper on him, doesn't he?" Kagome replied.
Inuyasha, who was leading the group, rounded on them to tell them off. Then he sensed something. He put his hand on the hilt of Tetsusaiga.
"What is it?" Kagome asked. The group drew closer together.
"There's a youkai near by. I can sense it. I'm not sure how close those. Weird thing is I can't smell it."
"Do you think that's the thing that took Kameko?" Miroku asked, as he prepared to fight.
"I don't know."
Sango's eyes were darting around. "It'd make sense. It probably got wet also and its sent has been washed away."
He growled. "If I could smell it, then I could tell where it is. Damn. We'll have to wait for both of them to dry off…assuming she's alive till then."
"Sit!" Kagome said.
Miroku peered down at him. "I think it best if you thought positively for a little while, Inuyasha."
'I was thinking positively,' he though, his face still on the ground.
A/N: Eek gads! I've updated! Uh, let's see. No weird words, I don't think. That's a first. Did anyone get Shippou's little thingy? Big thank you to lilgirl (#4), Aaroyle (#4), and youkai chick supreme (4!). Heehee! You make me feel all warm and fuzzy. Or maybe that's the medicine the People in the White Coats are giving me? Gotta love those little green pills! ::spins:: Ok, back to the padded cell!