Fly By Night

A/N: Hey, I actually got reviews...wow! As for the whole "soul" thing... I'll explain later... I have to figure out how everything is going to work out. And I'm aiming for a Kagome/Hiei pairing... Anyway...thanks for reviewing, since that's exactly what I need.

Chapter 2

-:Three months later:-

Swish

Thump

The demon's head fell to the ground and rolled, its body not far behind. Killing demons had come easily to Kagome, and she disposed of them almost mechanically as they provided little to no challenge. She had become proficient with the sword, dagger, and bow quickly and put them to good use. Since she had taken leave of the group, she had managed to gain six more shards, a feat in and of itself.

She had also gained a reputation in the demon community as a threat, someone to be avoided if at all possible.

Most of her soul had been stolen by Kikyo, and as a result her once cheerful and carefree personality was replaced by a cold, emotionless countenance. Her eyes, once a lively blue, became gray. In place of her beaming smile, a perpetual frown.

As things stood, she was rather pleased with herself. She was confident in her combat skills and knew she could protect and defend herself. This was a thing that she could only dream about before, a dream that she had now made a reality. Without warning, a tingling sensation in the back of her head drew her out of her thoughts.

A shard...

She quickly took off in the direction of the shard, her speed rivaling that of Inuyasha. When she caught up to it, she found the demon to be nothing more than a giant lizard.

What a waste. I had been hoping for a challenge... She shrugged it off as unimportant.

"A human...and with half of the Shikon Jewel! With those, I will be invincible!!!" Kagome's glare didn't waver.

"I am here to relieve you of your shard."

"You?! A human? You can't defeat me, you are but a weak human female!" Her only reply was to narrow her eyes further. She crouched down into a fighting stance, sword at the ready. This is the scene that the rest of the group stumbled upon. Sango was the first to speak.

"Ka-Kagome?!" They all stood there, bewildered, but none more so than Inuyasha. Here was Kagome, the girl he had had to rush in to save countless times, facing off against a demon, unafraid.

"You will die." There was a collective intake of air as the group heard her voice, the lack of inflection. This was nothing like the Kagome they knew...

She suddenly sprang forward, sword drawn. In an instant the demon was basically gutted and quartered. Kagome reached down into a chunk and withdrew the shard.

"Lady Kagome? Are you...alright?"

She slowly straightened and turned to view all of them fully. Her former group members all wore identical expressions of shock on their faces. Kagome's face was blank, void of any emotion save indifference. Miroku was the first to recover, if only partially.

"Lady Kagome, where have you been? We have all been worried about you. Where did you learn...?" Kagome merely turned away, heading off into the forest in the direction of the well. Inuyasha began to reach out for her but stopped himself, lowering his head.

"Kagome..."

But there was no reply.

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A/N: So...any thoughts? Bad...good... This is my first fic, so it's not going to be perfect... By the way, chapters will gradually be getting longer as I get the hang of it. Yeah. Reviews would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!