Chapter Two

Tragedy

A/N: Poor Shippo ...

It was early afternoon before they encountered their first wisp of snow, nearing the peak. It was beautiful, fluffy and white. But it was getting cold.

By nightfall it began to get deadly cold. Miroku and Sango were huddled together while Kagome was freezing. Inuyasha felt mildly cold, and Shippo was dying.

"Inuyasha we need to get out of this cold!" Kagome shouted over the howling wind. "Don't you think I know that!" he growled sourly. "If we can get over the peak, the wind will die!" he screeched.

The peak was still an hour away and Kagome wasn't kind to the thought, but he was right. So, slowly they marched up the mountain. Kagome, in her skirt, had fallen back with Miroku and Sango. Miroku let her have his purple robe. Shippo was plodding on behind.

"Look the snow looks like snakes," Kagome said. Light dust snow was whipping across the frozen in streams. It was thick and did look like snakes.

Suddenly the storm intensified, the wind roared, and the snow snakes became deep. Poor little Shippo was swept away by the wind and blown down the mountain. Nobody noticed his screams above the winds roar.

He landed below the snowy peak in a forest. "Where am I, Where's Kagome, and Inuyasha, I can't get back!" he yelled. Off in the distance he heard a wolf howl. He turned to see. Low growls from the darkness fired all around him. Closer and closer they got. Until, a huge wolf jumped out of the black and grabbed Shippo. He shook the little fox demon until he heard a satisfying crunch of bones.

All that was left was his bow, snagged on a tree branch, waving in the darkness.

Meanwhile the others had crossed over to the other side of the mountain. The storm had died and only a light wind blew. "Hey Kagome, where's the runt?" Inuyasha scowled. "Uh! Shippo, where is he?" she asked fearful. "He must have fell, back there," Miroku said solemnly. "It was obvious what had happened, but they couldn't go back.

Inuyasha found an outcropping where they could spend, what was left of the night. No fire was lit because there was no wood. Miroku and Sango were holding each other while Kagome was freezing.

About two o'clock Kagome sat down on Inuyasha's lap, and laid her head across his chest. "What exactly are you doing?" he asked, annoyed. "So cold," she said weakly. Inuyasha allowed her to stay there.

Kagome awoke near dawn, but Inuyasha still slept. "He's so warm." She thought. "He smells nice, almost like honeysuckles." She buried herself in his coat, smelling honeysuckles the whole time. "Even his hair feels so soft," she said letting his silver locks cover her face.

Kagome and Inuyasha slept this way until dawn, when Inuyasha moved her off. It wasn't long until Miroku and Sango were also awake. The air was cold and dry. The sun shimmered off the frozen snow.

"We should reach the valley today," Miroku said pointing down the mountain. "But we need to be quick, or we won't make it by the new moon." So they set off.

It wasn't long before they left the snowy peak behind and were in a dense evergreen forest. Inuyasha was clawing branches out of his way, while the others were following close behind. Inuyasha was getting pissed at all the limbs smacking him in the face.

"This damn forest, I'll hack it down!" he yelled as he pulled out Tetsaiga, and swung it in a half circle. Trees fell in all directions. Inuyasha just plowed on. "Wow, guess he was getting mad," Kagome said. Kagome, Sango, and Miroku were following less closely now, for fear of being chopped up.

After about an hour of chopping, they hit the edge of the forest. "Finally!" Inuyasha scowled. "Bout time that damn forest gave up!" Now only a few trees were in the way.

Not too far away Sesshomaru was sitting in a tree, waiting for someone to come. He was waiting above a water pump, for some child to come, his new sword gleaming.