-Note from author…me!- Sorry for the extreme wait for the next chapter's installment. I've been super busy with college, but I will make it a point to keep up with my story from now on…also, I would like to say I might be starting up a fan fiction quiz of sorts on . I've read quite a few that are really good and I really like the format of those. If you ever want to check to see if I've started one on that site, my screen name is exactly the same as it is on But anyhow…I've kept you guys waiting for far too long and you are more than welcome to start throwing things at me….just know that I will dodge them all, muahahahahaha….lol.

Sincerely,

Michelle

Chapter 2

The Courage of the Pure (1a.)

I can feel it, in that tree…right in the middle of it. I know a jewel shard is there. This will only prove to Inuyasha that I'm not useless…I can contribute to the group. I'm more than just a helpless jewel detector.

Kagome slowly walked up to the enormous gnarled tree that wove its branches every which way. To get to the spot where she felt the shard, she climbed up the jagged stairs the tree manifested in its self. Before she got to the location of the jewel shard, she looked back down at her surroundings to make sure her feeling of foreboding wasn't right. Seeing nothing, she started digging away at the bark with a knife she brought here from home.

It's here somewhere…only a little bit more and I should be able to get to it. There! Yes, I've got it!

As soon as she touched the jewel fragment and pulled it out of the tree's old bark, something swooped down and knocked Kagome right out of the tree. The fall down was agonizing…hitting tree branches that whipped her skin open right before the solid ground broke her fall, taking the breath from her as well.

"Thanks for getting the shard out for me…and for bringing me more shards as well. You are a good little wench, aren't you?" Laughed a low, menacing voice. All Kagome could see was blackness and little tiny stars swimming around in her vision as she struggled to take that initial breath that would bring her senses back to her. "Awwww…you're hurting, aren't you? Well, I can take care of that. Hahahaha….." as the figure approached Kagome's struggling form.

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That's Kagome's blood I smell! If she's hurt, I'll never forgive myself.

All of a sudden, Inuyasha runs off in a whirl of red and white past the sleeping Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kilala. Miroku looks up through sleep filled eyes to vaguely make out Inuyashsa's running form. He nudges Sango awake, urges her to prepare herself for trouble, and instructs Kilala to look after Shippo while they are gone.

"Sango, Inuyasha ran off in quite a hurry. And I don't see Kagome anywhere….do you suppose that Kagome could be in trouble?" he asked ask both the monk and the exterminator ran through the forest, following Inuyasha's tracks.

"I wouldn't doubt it, Miroku. You know how Inuyasha gets when Kagome is in danger. I just hope everything is alright." she replied.

"So do I, Sango…so do I."

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Inuyasha followed Kagome's dwindling scent for what seemed like hours, but shortly after he started his search, he found an old clearing where the trees stretched their branches to the sky and the tree trunks were so gnarled and twisted, it was hard to imagine why the trees would grow that way. Moss covered everything to the branches all the way down to the last rock. The moss even hung from the trees. And at the bottom of the largest, most twisted, foreboding looking tree there was a blood stain on the moss. Inuyasha didn't have to go to it to know who's it was. But where was she? There wasn't a blood trail anywhere to be seen and her scent abruptly stops on the other side of the tree.

Soon, Miroku and Sango find Inuyasha sniffing around the clearing frantically, them being out of breath. The monk, being the first to regain his breath, asks the inevitable.

"Inuyasha…where's Kagome?" All he gets for an answer is a snarl and a menacing look.

"Look Inuyasha, what's going on? Kagome's in trouble, isn't she?" asked Sango, practically pleading with the Hanyou.

"I DON'T KNOW WHERE KAGOME IS!!!!" Inuyasha yells. Proceeding this was deadly silence. Miroku and Sango keep quite for the fear of getting yelled at again, the birds and insects were scared away, and all that could be heard was the heavy breathing coming from Inuyasha. "Grrrrrrr…..her scent disappears after this tree. I don't know where to find her. She's hurt and I can't go and save her!"

Miroku goes over to the spot where Inuyasha indicated and starts meditating. After what seemed like forever, Miroku got up and walked over to the other two.

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That's it for now…I have to go to work and do some studying, which, contrary to popular belief, is good for you. Please r&r, send me ideas, or just anything. Also, please don't hesitate to let me know if this was better, worse, or the same as the previous chapter. I really want to make this good, instead of corny-sappy like a lot of other fan fictions of the Inuyasha crew. Anyhow, I look forward to your reviews and I'll have another chapter up as soon as I can. Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,
Michelle