A memory may be a paradise from which we cannot be driven…It may also be a Hell from which we cannot escape…

His world was slowly falling into a dark haze, an agonizingly painful, fabricated reality. Even his own heartbeat was enough to tear a scream from his lungs, beating alternately with the slow rhythm of a human and the rapid pulse of a demon. 'K…Kagome…you have to get…' With another scream, he began to slide down, the rough bark of the tree tearing at the flesh of his back. 'What…what is she…doing to me…?' Consciousness began to drift away, blackness securing its hold on his vision as he fell into a blissful numbness.

"Inuyasha!"

'That…voice…' Straining to see past the dense fog of pain, he was barely able to see the blur of light humming toward him with tremendous speed. 'Kagome's arrow…' Gritting his teeth, the hanyou used the last of his strength to lift the tentacle latched to his neck, the purification arrow severing it with a glittering explosion. Umiko hissed and wailed in pain, her other tentacles detaching themselves from Inuyasha's body with a forceful jerk and a blast of light, throwing him over the trees and deep into the forest.

Kagome looked on in horror, her hand plastered over her mouth. "Inuyasha!" Kirara attempted to maneuver past the angered incarnation without success, Umiko lashing out a tentacle to knock the fire cat from the sky. Kagome and Kagura were thrown from her back and hit the ground hard, the miko immediately forcing herself up to aim an arrow.

"Kagome…no…"

Kagome turned to Kagura with questioning eyes. "But I have to…"

"You have to find Inuyasha…" She did not wait for a reply from the young girl. "Go. The fire cat and I will hold her off." Getting to her feet, Kagura mounted Kirara before giving the schoolgirl a pleading glance. "Go, Kagome!" The miko nodded, racing into the foliage without another word. The former wind mistress watched for only a moment before fisting her hands into Kirara's fur, urging her into the skies.

"Inuyasha!" Nothing. "Inuyasha, please, answer me!" Kagome tore through the trees with reckless abandon, her unanswered calls adding to her original apprehension. "Inuyasha!" Running past the treeline, she screamed and slid to a halt, falling to the ground just inches from the ledge. Breathing heavily with wide eyes, she gathered her bearings and slowly crawled to the edge, peering down toward the river below. The moonlight as her only torch, she stared into the choppy waters, an uneasy feeling settling in her gut. "No…he couldn't have…" Just as the tears began to collect on her lashes, a glimpse of red caught her eye. Snapping her gaze to the right, she spotted her injured comrade lying, unmoving, on a small projection in the rock. "Inuyasha!" He did not answer. Her expression taking a panicky turn, she began to climb down, carefully maneuvering onto the exposed roots and projecting rocks to make her way to him. The tiny ledge was barely wide enough to hold them both. "Inuyasha…" Kneeling at his side, she turned him over to lay his head in her lap, and she could not help but gasp at what was revealed to her. Black hair. No fangs. No claws. Inuyasha was human. "But…but how…?" She looked up to the moon, panic spread across her teenage features. "He's…"

"Human…" A voice hissed from above. Chocolate eyes snapped upward before widening in surprise as they locked with Umiko's dark orbs. "The hanyou is human…"

"What did you do to him, you monster!"

"His demon blood belongs to me, now."

"His…demon blood…" She looked down at the boy and felt her heart sink before remembering how she had left Kagura behind to fight on her own. "Where is Kagura? What have you done with her!" Instinct had her to pull the hanyou-turned-human closer as a sinister laugh echoed down the ledge.

"Naraku's one failure?" She smiled wickedly. "I exterminated her." Kagome had time to feel only a twinge of guilt and remorse before ducking to evade a tentacle. "I must take you alive, girl!" The young miko lowered herself to cover Inuyasha, another tentacle lashed out at them with dangerous force, smashing into the ledge and shattering the rock. Her hold on Inuyasha failed as Kagome found herself tumbling toward the river below. Reacting quickly, Umiko snagged the girl out of the air, pulling her back up toward the edge. "Bring the girl to him…"

"Inuyasha!" She watched helplessly as he disappeared from her sight, a dull splash audible from the high distance. Reaching back to jerk her last arrow from the quiver, she stabbed it into Umiko's flesh, causing the creature to release her hold. Naraku's creation watched with solemn eyes as the miko disappeared in the same fashion as Inuyasha had just moments before, her scream fading with the spreading distance.

"Kill the hanyou….bring the girl. I have failed master Naraku. I have failed…" She hissed, backing into the concealing darkness that would allow her passage back to her creator.

Sorry about the delay in between chapters, everyone. I'll try to do better. Also, I know this chapter is short, so I'll try to make the next one a bit longer. Thanks for the patience and reviews!