I feel loved! I feel loved! ^_^ You guys are so nice, I just don't know what to say! And profiler120, you especially have been so sweet! Recommending me like that, oh gosh, I'm all a twitter! Do to a particular complaint, instead of referring to my audience as "kids," you all get to be called DEWDROPS now! That sound good to everybody, INUYASHAFAN13??? I'm in a good mood, let's make some magic!

How coincidental that the chapter happens to start with something that's as scarlet as I am; BLOOD! HA!

Oh, and as a special note, in case anyone would be interested, I picked A song to be THE song. It's hard to find, and it does have L's in it, which wouldn't fit the Japanese language, but as soon as I heard it, I thought that it would work nicely. It's from Children of Dune, because as some of you may know, I'm crazy about that book. Well, you may ask how a book could have music. They made a miniseries out of it. Anyway, the miniseries has a soundtrack, and on the soundtrack is the song, "Inama Nushif," also known as the "Theme Song." I tested it on my friend Kenshin N' Sano lover, and she agreed that it fit nicely. So investigate it if you like, I know some of you were asking about it.

Disclaimer would be a ways back now, but I doubt if you would actually like to take the time and read it. It's pathetic and spiteful, if I do say so myself.

***

Reflection

Chapter 9-Oh Yeah, Right. HA.

***

Kagura thrashed and hissed, her body convulsing as she struggled to support herself. She was wallowing in a shallow pool of her own blood, and she continued to bleed from various wounds, and in a steady stream from the corner of her mouth and eyes.

Naraku observed the mess with obvious distaste, he looked down on his daughter with disapproval, and spoke in a low voice, "Kagura, you have failed me." Scarlet blood began to seep into the edges of his clothing.

She paused in her wild fit to fix a deadly glare on Naraku. "You," she growled menacingly, though it was more of a rasping whisper. "You never said anything about such power. You led me to believe that she was just a human!"

"And she is!" He said shortly, his eyes flashing with what could very possibly be true rage. It was a tone that warned Kagura not to argue. Ready to protest, she opened her mouth and shut it again, still growling and hissing like a snake as she backed down into her puddle, wincing slightly.

"I am ashamed of you, Kagura. You couldn't even kill a mere mortal girl," he continued, Kagura's head shot up again.

"She's not a mere mortal girl!"

"KAGURA!" He snapped, trembling with anger. She went still. A heartbeat passed as she stared fearfully at her superior, considering this new slip of emotion that had risen in him. She had never known him to lose his temper so easily.

He composed himself for a moment, and resumed speaking in a much quieter voice, but with no less potency. "I will give you one last chance. If you fail again, you shall suffer wounds far more painful than the ones you have acquired from the human." He put particular emphasis on the last word, and Kagura made no move to speak up.

"Go."

She fought for her ground, and trembling and bleeding, shuffled away, leaving a distinct trail of inky red blood behind her. She clutched her left shoulder tightly, feeling it gush around her fingers.

The Lady of the Wind snarled at all those she passed, and they hurried away immediately. There was a limp in her step, and she was hardly intimidating, but there was something to be said about being the sole survivor in an attack that had included thousands of Naraku's most worthy demons.

Kagura kept her head bowed as she passed, and gradually, as her hate boiled around Naraku, it was suddenly becoming focused on a different person. 'That hanyou!' She thought heatedly, 'He is the cause of this! He gave me these injuries!' In her mind, she replayed the events of the previous day. It was a memory comprised of sketchy, and unreliable images, but it was all that her now beast like mind needed to animate her rage.

Kagura saw, no, she remembered herself, and her demon army, rushing down upon the girl and her companion, she remembered watching their looks of horror, and she remembered being so close to shredding them with her own claws. But that disgusting hanyou, moments before she could reach the two, HE had come out of nowhere, wielding his sword fang. And the look, on HIS face, how despicable, how gloating, how incredibly proud and confident of his victory. She had wanted to rip that face off of his very skull, but before she could act, he had swung his sword down in the air before them, burning through their bodies easily. On all sides, Kagura had seen her demons dissolve and scatter on the cutting wind. She alone had managed to escape the worst of it in time, and she alone had made it back to Naraku's castle.

'He shall pay for my humiliation...' She thought dangerously. Her mind didn't even capture the thought that the light that had burst from Inu-Yasha's sword had not been the piercing yellow of the Kaze no Kizu, but a radiant purple, hardly visible, and more blinding than colorful.

Her twisted thoughts ended as she stopped before a pair of bare feet. A child's feet, eerily pale. "What do you want Kanna?" She hissed.

"Naraku-sama has requested that I come with you," she said clearly in her lifeless voice.

"Naraku-sama?" Kagura said, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly, "Have you become more respectful to our father now Kanna?"

"He has eyes everywhere Kagura," she replied instantly. Kagura almost looked around the dark hall for a moment, she caught herself.

"I don't need your help." She brushed past the girl and continued on her way, stepping carefully over the skeletons that littered the ground.

Kanna didn't even turn around as she spoke. "How will you fight the hanyou with those wounds? Do you think that Naraku-sama will provide you with help for them?"

Kagura stopped, suddenly more conscious of the blood that still leaked from her body. "You won't even make it out of the front door."

She snarled and turned to watch her sister from over her shoulder. Kagura spat at the ground. "I won't protect you."

"I know." Kanna said confidently.

Kagura turned and resumed her limping walk, now with Kanna walking silently behind her. Together, they faded into the darkness that wafted through the castle.

***

Naraku focused on the small container before him. To manipulate someone was simple for such an experienced puppeteer, but actually training a mind to reconsider an event was a different matter entirely. He admitted that if he didn't have a direct connection with Kagura himself, he probably wouldn't be able to pull it off at all without employing possession, and Kagura was much more deadly when she was a free spirit.

Her heart glowed faintly in it's confinement, and the pulses of it's beating sent small tremors through the floor as it met with it's new rush of hatred.

Satisfied, he withdrew, and moved away to position himself watchfully before the window. She was out there somewhere, Kagome. She was out there, still alive and breathing, and suddenly harboring an incredible power that was lethal enough to even terrorize Kagura.

He knew that Kagura wouldn't be able to match that force in her second attempt, this was obvious, but Kanna could very possibly make all the difference. She was a much more boring minion, but she easily made up for it in intelligence. If dictated properly, nothing would stand between Kanna and her task. Kagome had conquered her before, but he had been too loose with her at that time. Now, under a more forceful guidance, certainly she would be triumphant.

On the shelf to the side, another heart beat fiercely out of step with Kagura's, though more loudly, effectively shaking the very surface on which it rested. Yes, Kanna would do her work well, no doubt.

It was a pity, however, that he would have to destroy this girl so soon. It would be profitable to investigate her new power, and perhaps witness it for himself. He had only Kagura's trembling word to rely upon, and the fact that he had felt it from his position in the mountains, so far away from her at the time. That alone however, was enough to make him more hesitant in this situation, and more curious. But what did it matter? Once Kagome had been swept aside, there would be no need for "profit." Nothing would pose a threat once she had been destroyed.

But no force he had under his control could remove the quiet thought deep in his mind. A thought that warned of a new rival in his future, or an old spirit, awakened for the kill.

***

It felt like flames had been licking her body all through the night. She was sprawled on top of her sheets, panting, and staring at the ceiling with gleaming green eyes. Outside, she could hear the wind swirling through the mountains, but in her room, it was hotter than the depths of hell.

Kagome had long since rolled up the legs and arms of her pajama's, though it did little good. As for her hair, which had proved to be most troublesome, "it" had been forcefully yanked back and twisted into a bun at the base of her neck.

Perhaps it was the thought of accompanying Sesshomaru to Tenshik's grave that delayed her sleep that night. One couldn't deny that the prospect of traveling with that guy, maybe even, alone, could send shivers down anyone's back. That was what had had her biting her lip with anxiety all the way back from Inu-Yasha's room. After leaving the warm company of her friends, she found hanging over her head, the fact that none of them would probably be coming along, that she would have to face something certainly as terrifying as stumbling upon Kikyo's shrine in the middle of the night, with no one to comfort her but an immovable dog-demon.

That was what got her the most. Not even looking down on the death site of what could very well be a second personality frightened her more than being separated from her companions.

What did he see in this in the first place? What could possibly be gained from terrifying her half to death? His own amusement, probably, but honestly, what did Sesshomaru think was going to happen when they stood together on top of his mate's ashes?

Kagome did her best not to dwell on it. It was creepy enough to have it bothering her in the back of her head, she didn't need to be chewing her nails over it in the middle of the night.

She sighed, and turned over. Kagome had the sneaking suspicion that Sesshomaru knew something important that he wasn't telling her about.

Fearfully, she shut her eyes and curled up into a feeble, ball.

At least there was something nice about all of this; her body was now a living spring. Every bit of her flesh was suddenly tight and ready. Her frame had become more willowy, and taught. Each movement Kagome made as fluid as water, yet calculated. It was like Tenshik had spent her entire life in combat, conditioning and training herself for anything and everything. Kagome had complete dominance over all muscles in her body now. She could even move her little toe by itself. It was odd to imagine someone as gentle and lovely as Tenshik prepared for battle, though.

***

The next morning, Kagome's eyes snapped open to sunlight streaming through the sliding door. She sat bolt upright, mind ringing with odd images. All night long she had dreamed of standing before a gigantic stone wall, while different people stood by her side.

First, it had been Inu-Yasha, who had been hitting her on the head with a rolled up magazine, then Rin, who had been throwing flowers on her, then Sango, who had said nothing and done nothing but look sympathetic, then Miroku, who had tried to grope her, then Shippou, who had been talking very fast about...something....

The last two people had bothered her the most. At one point, she had seen Sesshomaru, and he had spoken to her. "You have to go up there," he had said.

Her reply, "I don't want to."

"You must...Tenshik," without another word, his arm had circled swiftly around her waist, bringing her closer to him as he brought his lips down upon her own.

She had protested immediately. It was wrong, she wasn't Tenshik! She wasn't! She was Kagome! But he had withdrawn before she could move. Yet when she looked up to face him angrily, Kagome had met the eyes of a different person...Naraku.

He had given her a sly smile before turning and walking off, leaving a confounded Kagome to stare at the gigantic wall again, terribly confused.

She sat rigidly now. Two many things were disturbing about that dream.

***

"Are you ready to go?" He asked her quietly.

"No," his eyes narrowed, she panicked, "but we might as well leave anyway."

"I shall be expecting you at the entrance shortly. I assume you know where it is."

She blushed, there was something about the way he looked at her now, the way he spoke to her that made her skin crawl. It was too unnatural. "Yes," she said in a meek voice.

He turned, leaving her on the ground as he had found her. She looked so tense and afraid as she sat there like that. It was something he disliked to leave her. But time would not wait.

The door clicked as it was shut. Kagome sighed. It would be a long day, made even longer by the fact that she wouldn't have her friends at her side.

'Come on Kagome, buck up!' She thought with false cheerfulness. She knew very well that there was nothing to be cheerful about.

Somehow, she believed that it would have been far easier for her had he not entered so suddenly like that. Sesshomaru was more unpredictable than she had originally guessed.

***

So sorry to drop you all like that, but Chapter 10 is expected to be...10, 11, 12...15...20 pages long. Whatever the site will allow. But anyway, I had to cut this one short so it wouldn't be even more abrupt to end it in Chapter 10. Once again, sorry, sorry, but let me offer a long, long, long chapter next time as a token of forgiveness. Bye now! Drive safe, DEWDROPS.