Hey, I'm back...and feeling pretty guilty because I haven't updated in so long. I got so busy when school began that I slacked off...even in my other story. I made that one my main priority of the two because the other was receiving lots of reviews, while this one...um...yeah. So, now I'm back after I left the cliffy. Enjoy!

Finding What Was Lost

By: Sanci J

Chapter 14: Too Much Darkness

Last Chapter...

He sped through Kaede's village an hour later after smelling a vague scent. Usually he never traveled alone, but the past couple days had been trouble for him.

It was now completely dark out so he had to rely on his demon sense of smell. In the distance, he sniffed a certain scent he could recognize anywhere. The scent was sweet...smelling so good every time he smelled it...lavender.

It-it was...the scent ofhis woman.

End of Last Chapter.

Kagome continued walking and sniffed in the cool air surrounding her. She wished she had remembered to bring along a jacket and shivered, feeling goose bumps rise on her skin. 'I was so busy planning my revenge against Inuyasha that I forgot a jacket. How brain dead am I?' She groaned in anger at herself and her rash actions.

Bowing her head against the freezing wind, Kagome wrapped her bare arms about her chest in an effort to keep warm. Her gaze scurried along the trees and the destruction of the demon...or a storm, not seeing anything but darkening shadows.

The sun was setting already.

Kagome sighed in distress and decided to pitch camp, seeing as how she wouldn't make it to Kaede's before dark. Her mind thought of her brief encounter with Miroku. 'Why wasn't Miroku with Inuyasha and Sango? Did they have a fight?' Kagome frowned in thought as she built a small campfire.

Once the fire was started, Kagome set her backpack down and sat on a small log next to the warmth of the flames. She dug into her backpack, bringing out a sleeping bag and some of her mom's home cooking. She quickly ate the dinner andput the remains ina pouch on her backpackbefore crawling into hersleeping bagwith a shiver. 'Why is it so cold out?' she thought. 'It was just warm here the other day.'

She sighed, sagging into the warmth of the bag. Just as her eyes drifted closed, the sound of someone or something running made her eyes pop wide open. Her breath caught and she struggled to see through the darkness. She feared someone was close to her and whimpered. She tried not to make any noise and stared at the fire, flames licking more flames. 'Wait-what if it's Inuyasha? I need to find him!'

With that thought, Kagome abruptly sat up. "I-Inuyasha?" The only sounds heard were the crunching of leaves. 'Could it just be an animal, or him? What if it's something that wants to eat me? I don't have my bow and arrows.'

She gasped when she saw the figure of a person step closer to the fire and gripped her sleeping bag tightly.

'I need to be prepared for the worst.' She thought and quietly stood up, not taking her eyes once from the figure beyond the campfire.

The shadowed figure disappeared and the fire died down, almost to nothing, leaving Kagome utterly vulnerable in the darkness. She stood as still as possible and tried not to panic.

Breathing sounded from behind her and she yelped in fear when her arm was grabbed, pulling her into something rock hard.

Arms wrapped around her and in complete surprise, she dropped the sleeping bag. She sensed the power of jewel shards and struggled to break free.

A warm face buried itself in her neck and she shrieked, shoving the person away. "Get away from me!" she screamed and the figure immediately backed off, except for the steel grip on her wrists.

"Kagome..." the deep voice rumbled soothingly. "It's me, Kouga."

Kagome exhaled with relief and felt tears brimming. "Kouga...I thought-I thought you were someone else. You scared me."

He smiled to himself and hugged her tightly. "You shouldn't be out here Kagome. It's almost pitch dark. Didn't the mutt tell you how dangerous the forest is at night, especially alone? It's a good thing I found you."

"I'm sorry..." she whispered, but she was angry that Kouga was already talking bad about Inuyasha.

Kouga smelled her fear and frowned when he didn't smell Inuyasha or any of the others Kagome hung around with. He stared down at her, whatever he could manage to see of her in the darkness. 'Why isn't Inuyasha with her?' he saw Kagome rummaging in her backpack.

His hand stopped her movements and noise. "Where is Inuyasha?" he asked.

Kagome worriedly bit her lip, knowing Kouga would get real angry if she told him what had happened. It would only cause senseless trouble, something she didn't need. "He's-battling." She lied, glancing towards his voice to see if he believed her or not.

"That idiot, Inutrasha. He shouldn't have let you get too far away. He can't even protect himself. He isn't good enough for you Kagome." He growled and sniffed the air. "They're close." His eyes widened impeccably. 'Demons of the night.' They were close, but not close enough for them to sniff out both Kouga and Kagome.

Kagome was holding something he didn't recognize.

She turned the contraption on and the bright light blinded him. "What the-"he covered his eyes. "Kagome!" he said and the light lowered.

"I'm sorry Kouga. I didn't mean for it to get in your eyes."

He waited for the light to go out, but it didn't. "Kagome, get rid of the light. You're going to lead demons here."

She sighed and switched the light off, not welcoming the darkness. "Get your things together, were leaving." Kouga said and bit into his wrist, holding it over where the fire was burning out. Blood dribbled down his fingers to the ground.

He covered the camp with his demon scent to mask Kagome's human scent.

Kagome heard Kouga moving around as she put her sleeping bag and flashlight back into her bulging backpack. "Kouga, what are you doing?" she asked, forcing her eyes to adjust to the dark.

"Covering your human scent so were not followed." He offered no more information and licked his small wound clean.

'Me? Why only my scent?' she wondered. She stepped closer to see Kouga licking his wrist and asked, "Are you hurt?"

"No."

She nodded slowly and shivered, remembering the cold air.

Kouga picked her up and threw her on his back with her backpack and she gasped. "They are venturing this way."

He ran off into the pitch black darkness; Kagome holding onto him tightly so she wouldn't fall.


"I've found you."

Miroku satcross leggedoutside the village near a campfire. He started at the voice.

"Lady Kimisa." He replied in greeting. Miroku guessed Kimisa must have been surprised he hadn't searched for her. He had thought about it, but he wanted to be alone. His thoughts were concerning the girl he had briefly spoken to earlier. She seemed familiar somehow and she knew Lady Sango too. What puzzled him the most was that the girl had spoken to him as if they were friends. She knew his name, which puzzled him beyond belief.

Kimisa sat next to him with a weird look on her face. Something must be wrong.

He stared at her. Uh oh.

She stared into the burning fire confused. Something had to be wrong. Why hadn't Miroku gone looking for her as he should have? Her hands clenched in anger.

Even after she had gotten rid of the young flirtatious wench, she had seen Miroku with yet another girl! It was directly after the other one too!

Kimisa had to think.

Use her brain to her advantage.

How could she get Miroku fully under her spell if he constantly went after other girls every time he was out of her sight?

She closed her eyes and calmed her demonic self. If she were to get too worked up, she would transform right in front of Miroku and the other villagers! She had already done that earlier in front of the wench who had offered herself to Miroku. Sucked the girl's blood and ripped her to pieces in anger and hatred. No, she couldn't let Miroku see her demonic side. She couldn't show anyone. He would try to leave her, or suck her into his Wind Tunnel.

She couldn't have that.

Miroku was too quiet.

Kimisa watched him stare into the fire, his eyes sparkling with flames.

"I love you Miroku."

He blinked and a blush tinged his cheeks. He looked at her. She stared back, and he knew she expected an answer.

Miroku sighed and returned his gaze to the flames. "Lady Kimisa, do not say that to me please..." It pained him to reply so coldly, but it was the truth. He glanced at her expecting a hurt look on her face, but she looked thoughtful.

Then he knew.

He wasn't sure how he knew, but he just did. She wasn't in love with him. She was lying, to make it seem like she did. Whatever she felt, it wasn't love. Maybe he knew because he had been in love before. But...who knew? "I know you do not feel those type of feelings for me Kimisa. Why do you lie?"

Kimisa didn't know how to respond to his question. So she relied on her powers, turning to stare far into his hooded eyes.

She knew he was under her spell when he carelessly scooted closer, his eyes wide. His thoughts centered in on Kimisa without his control. 'I want to be closer to her. I-I want to...kiss her...she loves me and I...love her.' He didn't know why he was thinking these things.

Kimisa then closed her eyes, set on completing the spell. Instead of touching her lips with his, he kissed her on the forehead, shocking her. She stared openmouthed at him, not believing her spell had failed yet again. She felt tears come to her eyes. 'Why didn't he kiss me? The problem is, for this control spell to work, he has to willingly kiss me and then tell me he loves me. What stopped him? Wait-I really wanted to kiss that human male...Am I beginning to care for him?' She watched him walk away without a word and felt as if her heart had been squeezed.


Picura chased the rabbit with speed only a demon could muster. Once he caught his dinner, he dug his fangs into it, sucking up the animal's warm blood until it was dried up. Then he growled, blood dripping from his fangs, and threw the dead animal in frustration.

It wasn't enough.

It was never enough.

The small animals weren't enough to last him. He needed more blood. Lots of it to sustain his hunger.

What he craved for was human blood.

He walked through the trees towards the nearest village when something jumped out from the brush on him. "Tsukasa, get off me!" Picura bared his fangs to his long time friend on the ground.

Tsukasa cackled and stood back up. "You sure aren't in a good mood. Haven't eaten much lately?" he teased.

Picura glared icily at him. "No. I was just heading towards the village. Come on."

Tsukasa looked at Picura in shock. 'Picura asked me to go with him to the village? He's never wanted company before...what's up with him?' He wanted to ask Picura what was going on, but he knew it would cause trouble if he asked. 'Maybe he's tired of being alone.' He stopped in his tracks and sniffed, smelling fresh blood. "There is blood nearby. It's not coming from the village though. It's got to be close to your cave." He grinned evilly. "A warm-blooded human, in our territory...alone. I want this one for dessert."

Picura knew automatically Tsukasa had meant Sango. 'He can smell her from here. That means she didn't get into the Peldon (bag)." He growled in anger. 'If Tsukasa can smell her blood, then anyone else could smell it too.' "I already got her, but her damn scent is still lingering."

Tsukasa frowned. "Aw, man...you must be hungry." He muttered as they reached the village.

'I've got to get rid of Tsukasa so I can get back to the cave.' Picura thought.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Hey guys, thanx for the reviews!!!

TaiOokamiYoukai: Well, guess what? You were right! Kouga was the person described at the end of the chapter. (gives you Inuyasha action figures) Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Lvsimplepln2: Thanks!

Ganheim: Okay, your lost...what part(s) are you lost at? Let me know, so I'll explain it to you. Thanks!

mattco87: I can't even respond to that message...if it was a compliment, then thank you.

Overobsessy: Yeah, I had no idea it was suspenseful...yea for twists! Hyperness...hehe...I'm freaky when I'm hyper...like now. Mwahahahahaha!!!! I'll read your other fic as soon as possible, k? Thanks!

Kagma: Hey! I updated. Don't be sad, be happy! Yea! You guessed that the guy was Sesshoumaru...nope, it's Kouga, but you probably know that now. Inu and Kag will see each other...maybe soon...I'm not sure yet. Thank you for the review! See ya Monday in school! (winks)

As usual, click the button on your left and review for me!!!

Luv ya- Sanci