A Tempting Fate

Chapter Three

By Kaguya's Chaos

Kagome stood on the floating metal staring at the tropical island in slight fear. She had been the last to tell what the dark brown blob on the beach was, but when she saw it, she felt slightly sick. 'Maybe it's a prop?' She begged to herself as she took in a deep breath. Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha and Kouga exchanged grim looks and nodded their heads in unison.

"We're going ashore first, to make sure it's safe. Kagome, stay here and keep the brats close." Inuyasha stated and Kagome could only nod. There was, without a doubt, something on this island. Because no man would be able to stick himself to a huge tree limb in the shape of a cross and then jam it in the sand of the beach. "Be careful." Was her response to the command as the barge came onto the land.

It was a beautiful morning. Ones that were advertised in pamphlets all around the world. Gorgeous blue skies, not a cloud in sight. Crystal clear water over-looking a lively reef surrounding a soft grainy sand. The small cries of the few gulls nearby and the seas breeze called out to the passerby to take a seat and relax for a while. Truly spectacular.

The island itself was a piece of work. Looking like the typical rainforest like tropical paradise. But like the saying goes, there is always trouble in paradise. Kagome gripped onto the enraptured children as they awaited the grown men to come back. Rin wiggled a bit but didn't move far away from Kagome. Shippo, however left her reach and sat on the beach staring at the water, brooding. Kagome knew he was thinking of his parents and felt helpless over the fact. What could she do?

"Hey…You guys wanna look along the beach?" Kagome asked standing up. She turned toward the opposite side of the beach where the dead guy was and cringed. 'Not that way.' She turned around and smiled at the two. They smiled briefly back and agreed to 'accompany' Kagome in exploring. "We have to make sure you stay safe!" Rin said as she grinned at Kagome's raised eyebrow.

"Oh yes, you must come to keep me protected!" Kagome shrieked as she swooped down on Shippo and tickled him. Rin, not wanting to be left out, tackled Kagome. Before Rin and Shippo could both team up on her, however, Kagome jumped to her feet and went sprinting down the beach, laughing. The two kids grinned evilly and followed. Each of them loved a good chase.

As the three of them played around, and the three males searched the inland of the island for danger, none of them noticed the piercing eyes watching them. Or the amused smirk of said watcher as s/he decided that the next few days would prove to be quite eventful. After all, nothing interesting had come to this island in the many years that s/he had been imprisoned here. Nothing since the fateful explorer Midoriko and her companions, anyway.

:BTTS:

Kagome collapsed on the warm sand and sighed in frustration. It was taking everything in her to remain a good girl and stay on the beach as promised. She looked over to her left and ignored the gnawing hunger clawing at her insides. Rin sat on the sand next to her, with her feet out-stretched before the waves, giggling every time they came into contact with her toes. Shippo sat on the metal home they had previously been floating in. His feet hung over the side as he watched the curious fish race to his feet and then away as he moved.

Kagome returned her attention to the sky and frowned as she realized it must have been about two in the afternoon. She groaned along with her stomach as she thought about how hungry she was. She sat up quickly and glared at the tree line behind her. 'That's it! If they don't come back real soon…I'll go in there and find something edible!' She sighed and fell back down.

Her and the children had found a fresh water stream feeding into the ocean by the beach and they had traveled farther inland to drink form it. Now all they were missing was the guys and food. Rin had offered to catch fish, but after the third failed attempt had given up on it and Kagome said they should wait for the other's return.

'If I'd have known they would have taken this long, I would have said screw them and lets try to catch those fish!' Kagome turned to look over at Shippo and the boy seemed to read her mind. He grinned and stood up. "Don't worry! I'll catch the fish! You two start a fire!" He said and leapt into the water.

"Be careful, Shippo!" Kagome called out as she remembered the sharks and thanked the Gods for the fact that the water was too shallow for them to get him. Kagome jumped to her feet and held out a hand to Rin. "Let's get some wood and start a fire, ok?" Rin grinned and both set about collecting branches and anything else that looked flammable near the shore.

Half an hour later found the three of them seated around a blazing fire, roasting the weirdest looking fish they had ever seen. "What do you think that one's called?" Kagome asked, indicating the one on the farthest right. Shippo looked at the yellow spine-y fish with blue spots and shrugged. "Spotted banana?" All three groaned at the mention of the food.

"No! Blue spotted lion fish!" Rin said in a superior tone as she stared at the misunderstood fish. Kagome smiled at them and shook her head. "Ok…how about that one?" This time she pointed to the red and orange fish on her left. And so the game continued until the fish lost their color due to the flames and they were ready to be eaten.

It was just before sunset when they finished off the fish and the boys came out of the jungle and onto the beach. Inuyasha and Kouga stared at the fish bones in disbelief. "You ate already!" Was the first intelligent question out of Inuyasha's mouth. Kagome rolled her eyes and felt the urge to say, "No! They washed up this far on shore right next to our fire!" But she held her tongue and let the kids answer.

"Duh! We were hungry and we couldn't wait for you to come back any more! What took you so long anyway? Did you find anything interesting?" Shippo stopped to take a breath and Rin picked up the slack.

" Are there any mountains here? Did you find any scary caves? Or any waterfalls? How about a field of flowers?" Kagome put hand over both of their mouths and grinned. "Well? What does it look like farther inland?"

Inuyasha and Kouga exchanged serious glances. "There is a small clearing a little farther inland that would better serve our purposes for the night." Sesshoumaru answered in a rather icy voice and Kagome blinked in confusion. 'Sheesh. What crawled up his ass and died?' She wondered to herself as she stood with the rest and put out the dying fire.

:GYYR:

Kagome groaned as they finally reached this clearing a "little farther inland". 'Heh! Yeah right! More like four miles inland! It's already pitch black and I can't see anything other then what the moon light will allow!' Kagome ranted in her head as she stared up into the sliver of the moon in the inky sky. Her shoulders drooped as exhaustion set in and her leg throbbed with pain. She had forgotten all about her wound and it seemed to want to haunt her for it with a vengeance.

Inuyasha and Kouga went about setting up camp, arguing about this or that. Rin and Shippo collected wood from around the clearing and Sesshoumaru walked slowly over to Kagome. The scent of blood suddenly hit all of them and they turned to the source.

Kagome slowly peeled the makeshift bandage off of her leg and winced as it seemed to reopen. At least part of the way, anyway. Small rivulets of crimson blood streamed down her leg and dripped onto the ground. At some point in this hellish scenario, she had lost her shoes and now was bare foot. 'Just another atrocity to add to the growing list.' She thought wryly as she poked the wound.

She hissed in a breath and looked away in pain. Take deep breaths to calm herself down from crying, Kagome realized that the camp had suddenly gone very quiet. Slowly looking up she watched as Sesshoumaru bent down and lifted her foot from the ground. "You've reopened the wound." He stated in a slightly deeper voice and Kagome cocked an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah, that's what happens when you walk for hours on end." She replied sarcastically and watched as he brought a hand up and wiped away a small trickle of blood. Kagome suddenly felt nervous and jerked her foot back. "Um…I need some w-water to…er, clean it up." She said out loud while her thoughts raced through her mind. 'What the hell was that?' She asked herself as she watched Sesshoumaru stand up again.

He walked over to the edge of the clearing and into the darkness, in search of water for her, she supposed. Shrugging she turned to see the rest of her companions staring at her.

"What?"

:WSAM:

Sango stared into the television like it was a lifeline as silent tears tracked down her face. Beside her Miroku clasped her hands and fought tears of his own. A broadcasting of a private airline crashing into the ocean was what held their horrified attention. Pictures of the crash site and of the passengers flashed across the screen as the reporter announced the cause of the crash and the methods of the search and rescue team to get the airplane out of the water.

"There is still no confirmation on whether or not any of the passengers have made it out of the plane and it is estimated that there were no survivors. On the plane was Billionaire Kit Saotoshi , his wife Yuki and there two children, Rin and Shippo Saotoshi, ages 8 and 10. The Taisho Corp. president and vice president, Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha West, were also on board, as well as Miss Kagome Higurashi of Shikon Inc."

At the mention of Kagome's name, Sango let out a sob and jammed her face into her newly freed hands. "Oh, Miroku! It's all my fault! I told her to go on that damn flight and now she's dead! What kind of friend am I!" She cried out as her tears refused to stop. Miroku placed a hand on her back and whispered soothing words while tears sparkled in his own eyes.

Memories of when Kagome and he were younger and in school flashed through his mind.

"Come on, Miroku! You'll like her! Her name is Sango! Just be nice, ok?"

"Miroku! How many times do I have to tell you not to grab Sango's butt!"

"Hey, Miroku? Can I live with you? I don't want to go to a foster home."

"Miroku! Just ask her to marry you! Jeez! She's been waiting all this time, now grow some balls and ask her!"

" Nervous already? The ceremony hasn't even started! You look great, Miroku, so stop worrying."

"Miroku? Sango? Take care of each other…alright?"

The memories ended with a picture of Kagome's smile as she boarded the damn plane and left. Miroku wiped the stupid tears now trailing down his own face and got up to answer the phone. "Hello?" He asked in a shaky and weak voice. He coughed to get rid of the tone and tried again. "Hello?" The voice on the other end caused him to clench his fist in anger.

"Is…is Kagome really gone?"

Miroku grit his teeth and fought the urge to growl into the receiver. "How the hell did you get this phone number, Hojo?" He whispered in a deceptively calm voice. The young man on the other end of the phone took his time in answering and even then it wasn't an answer to the question. "So…she was on that plane?" His voice seemed to give out on him and Miroku tried to calm himself down.

Sango, hearing the deadly tone in her husbands voice came over to the kitchen where he stood with the phone. A question was clearly posted on her red tear-stained face. "You have no right to even speak her name you low level piece of trash. If you EVER call this number again I will have no problem with hunting you down and castrating you like I should have done when you left Kagome at the alter like that." Miroku shouted into the phone and slammed it down on the counter.

Sango's eyes filled with tears, both angry and sad at the same time. "It was that Hobo guy again…wasn't it? How did he get our number?" Sango asked as she fought the tears down and tried to remain coherent. Miroku sighed and pulled her into his arms and offered her a shoulder to cry on. Sango didn't need to be prompted and immediately fell to sobbing once again. Miroku fought back his own tears and silently asked God why he took their Kagome.

:WTF:

Hojo Masaru (made up a last name…:P) stared down at the phone with a bitter expression on his face. His brown orbs glittered with rage and hatred. 'Damn Miroku Higurashi! I always hated that bastard!' He thought angrily and then let it all go in a breath. His thoughts became saddened once again as he thought of the reason why he had called the man in the first place. The whole reason why he went to so much trouble to find the damn number.

Kagome.

He had made a mistake, he admitted. He had left the best thing in his life for a woman he thought he cared for. He cringed as he corrected himself mentally. 'No. I stranded her at the alter on our wedding day for a road-side whore I thought I loved.' His thoughts tinged with grief as he realized the woman he loved may be dead and buried in a ton of steel under the ocean's waves.

'I depressed her so much she went out in search for thrilling things to do, in the hopes of ending her life!' He thought to himself as he let out a few dramatic tears. (this is classic…the bastard thinks she crashed the plane cause she stilled loved his dumb ass…) He turned up the volume of the television he was watching in his apartment building. The plane crash was on the news yet again, this time, the plane had been brought to the surface.

"It is with heavy hearts that the metal tin can that once resembled a plane is torn open in the effort to find out how many are dead and if any survived. We are saddened to report that Mr. Saotoshi and his wife are among those more brutally murdered. It is an awful sight indeed, folks."

Hojo watched with a sick fascination as the plane was ripped open from the side and the gruesome depiction of dead bodies and water puddles mixed with blood appeared on the screen. The brief scene of a red haired man with a pole through his chest holding a brown haired woman caught his attention for a few seconds before he caught the whispered words of the reporter.

"It seems, ladies and gentlemen, that the bodies of Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru West, Rin and Shippo Saotoshi, a Mr. Kouga Wolf and Miss. Kagome Higurashi are not within the craft. Could they have been ripped from the plane? Or did they survive? We will have another update in an hour. Janet?"

"Thank you Cassidy-"

Hojo shut the set off and stared into the blank screen for a while. She was alive, he knew she was. Picking up the phone on his table next to his chair he dialed a well known phone number.

"Hello? My I speak to a Mr. Onigumo Price, please?"

Waiting for a while in silence, Hojo perked up as the familiar baritone voice filled his ears.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Price! I am calling in on that favor you we me."

He paused as a few words were muttered on the other end. A grim smile lit Hojo's features and his eyes darkened considerably.

"I need you to send a team to the Mid-Atlantic. I'm going to need some help searching for a Miss. Kagome Higurashi."

Another pause.

"Yes, the one in the plane crash. Why? Because, she belongs to me, and I intend on keeping her that way. In my safe embrace once again." (freak!)

:HOLYMOLEY:

Kagome turned in her sleep and tried to stop the cold chills racing down her spine. 'Ugh…someone must be thinking about me.' Was her last coherent thought before she welcomed the deep abyss that promised her a respite from her, once normal and now insane, life. As her breathing deepened and her mind settled into blissful sleep, Inuyasha Kouga and Sesshoumaru turned their intense gazes on a nervous pair of concealed kitsune.

"So tell me, Shippo, was it? How the hell do you know about youkai?" Inuyasha eloquently asked as he glared down at the two children. Rin looked down at the ground and Shippo glared back defiantly. "Because I am a kitsune, jerk!" He said with a heated whisper, not wanting too wake Kagome. Which would have been nearly impossible…but they didn't know that.

This statement cause the older youki to raise their eyebrows and stare at the two kits in doubt. Rin shifted again and the salt smell of her tears reached their noses. Before anything could be said or done, Kagome, in a full, dead on sleep, rolled over and gathered the girl into her arms snuggling her close.

Rin immediately calmed down and snuggled closer, trying to hide in Kagome's soft scent. Shippo watched this with a soft gaze then turned to glare at the older males. "Rin, my mom, my dad and I are kitsune. We had special concealing spells put on us before we…got on the plane."

"Why special?" Kouga asked. He was a detective and didn't like the fact that details could be missing from a story. Shippo grimaced and glanced over to make sure that Rin was asleep before continuing. "It all started when…."

:Flashback, yay:

Shippo stood at the foot of the large staircase leading upstairs. His bored emerald eyes took in the crystal chandelier above his head and groaned. "C'mon Rin! I wanna go play before we have to leave!" He shouted and was met with a flustered looking Rin running down the stairs. "Sorry! I had to go potty!" She said in a huff scowling at him.

"Well, lets go!" Shippo growled out as his small clawed hand reached for Rin's. Both children had adorable tails. Rin's was a dark brown with a reddish tip and Shippo's was a brownish red. They both had brilliant emerald eyes and small elf-like ears. Shippo's hair was the same color as his tail and Rin's hair was darker then her tail. Both were the cutest youkai…

Anyway, just as Shippo had turned to head toward the back door leading to the gardens, the doorbell rang. Both froze on the spot as their parents came out of the study door to the right. They all wore confused expressions cause no one ever came to their door, without first being checked by security. Shippo's dad turned to his wife and she went to the kids and ushered them into the study. All three watched through a crack in the door as their father answered the door.

An old woman stood in the doorway. Her wrinkled face set into grim lines. She looked at Mr. Saotoshi (the father) and then passed him to the crack in the door. Her eyes were a hard granite gray color and her frizzy white hair made her look crazy. Shippo shuddered and looked away.

"Mr. Saotoshi, I come with a warning in mind. Like the night of the blood moon a new tragedy shall befall. May you be prepared. Your kits will be in safe hands." She warned in a gruff voice. Mr. Saotoshi straightened where he was. "E-excuse me?" He demanded but, just as the woman appeared, so too did she vanish.

The study door burst open and both Rin and Shippo launched themselves at their father. Mrs. Saotoshi looked to her husband and their eyes met. A look of understanding passed between them. They both nodded and set the children on the ground between them. "We're going to put a concealing spell on you two, and I need you to listen very closely, ok? This isn't the usual one that will go away with time. This one your going to have to break yourself when the time is right, ok?"

Rin nodded and tilted her head to the side in confusion. "How do we break it?" She asked, somewhat fearing what the answer will be. Mrs. Saotoshi smiled and knelt in front of her two children. "You will know how and when." She said with a strange, watery smile and stood back up.

:End Flashback:

Shippo finished his brief tale and stifled the tears that came up with the memories. Inuyasha and Kouga sat staring at the kit with shock and Sesshoumaru was gazing up at the moon with narrowed eyes. Kagome shifted slightly and Rin let out a soft mewl, shifting as close as she could to Kagome.

All the males watched this with a brief sense of protectiveness. Inuyasha 'Feh'd' and Kouga closed his eyes, leaning against the bark of the tree at his back. Sesshoumaru also closed his eyes but again tried to sort through his mess of thoughts. All day he had asked himself why he was acting so strangely toward a human female and had decided the best course of action would be to distance himself from her as much as possible, and oh boy was it harder then he thought it would be. When he had smelt her blood again, he almost lost control. 'What is wrong with me! It must be because it is so close to mating season.' Sesshoumaru concluded as he stared up at the sinking moon.

Kouga, meanwhile, was thinking of the strange ruins he had found on the eastern side of the island. They were strange circular temple looking ruins without roofs or windows. The only thing that looked remotely familiar about them were the arched doorways. Truly a mystery…

With a shrug Kouga decided to tell the others about it in the morning. After all, they'd still be there the next day, right? It's not like they could get up and walk away or anything, right? Unfortunately for our young idio- I mean wolf, this was not right.

:Up and at 'em:

Kagome groaned as she sat down on the boulder beside her. "Where did you say these weird ruins were, Kouga?" She asked for the fifth time in an angry voice. Angry that she had to walk for hours with no rest, no food, no water and no damn pain-killers! Rin and Shippo plopped down next to her.

All of them were wearing shorts…well, cut off pants made into shorts anyway. The humid air and rising heat caused Kagome to become desperate so she cut the legs off of her pants using a pocket knife she had miraculously managed to hold onto. Rin and Shippo had quickly asked for the same done to theirs, as had Kouga and Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru hadn't asked, but it was done t his as well. Kagome had rolled up her shirt sleeves and undone the buttons in the front, only to tie them around to allow more air to touch her skin.

With a slight giggle, she realized she must have looked like one of those American hillbillies. She had also tied her hair up with a strip of cloth from her pants, doing the same for Rin and to a reluctant Shippo. "Now I look like a little girl!" He had muttered darkly as Kagome had twisted his long hair up into a high ponytail. "You do not!" Kagome argued back and smiled when she had finished.

The guys, on the other hand, had made themselves look even more tempting then before. Each had tied their long hair into low ponytails and had taken off their shirts. Inuyasha and Kouga had tied their shirts around their waists. Kagome had no idea WHAT had happened to Sesshoumaru's shirt, but she wasn't complaining. 'Well, I did want go on this vacation to see hot guys running around half naked…bad Kagome, bad!' She thought to herself as she peeled her eyes off of their striking forms and had turned away. Unfortunately, all three had caught her appreciative glances and their ego's swelled.

That had been the moment a cocky Kouga had announced his findings. So here they were, in an abandoned clearing…with nothing. Kagome felt her right eye tick and sighed. 'Dammit, I'm already stressed enough!' She screamed in her head before deflating and sliding down to sit on the ground. Kouga, Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru were arguing over the fact that Kouga was an idiot and had gotten them lost, as if they weren't already, and Rin and Shippo had taken to watching them from the sidelines.

No one noticed when Kagome stiffened and turned her head to stare at something in the tree behind her. They didn't notice the dark figure land on the boulder Kagome had been on and pick Kagome off of the ground, knocking her out by pressing a pressure point. They didn't notice, that is, until a deep dark voice filled the clearing and their ears.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" The dark figure whispered and all eyes shot to the obviously youkai being holding their Kagome rather close.

"Who the hell are you! Put Kagome down!" Inuyasha and Kouga yelled out in unison. Sesshoumaru took a small step forward and the dark figure chuckled. "Don't take another step, Taiyoukai." The male figure murmured as he placed a clawed hand underneath Kagome's chin to rest right where her jugular vain lay.

No one moved as they awaited the youkai's move first. "Such a delicate creature, isn't she? With a swipe of my claws and she would be dead." The deep voice rumbled out as the clawed hand stroked Kagome's neck. All of them were seeing red at this point.

"Put her down." Sesshoumaru growled out a took a step forward. Again, the youkai laughed and scratched Kagome's neck, this time drawing blood. The vibrant red flecks glided down her white column throat and attracted all of their gazes.

"Now, we are going to play a little game, my (pretties!) pets. You have landed on my island and so you will have to play."

"What if we don't?" Kouga demanded.

"Then you will all die. Here and now."

"But…we didn't want to land on your island!" Shippo squeaked, still staring in horror at Kagome's bleeding neck.

"That is irrelevant, kit. Now then, shall I set the object and rules for the game? Yes, I think I shall. The game is called search and find. You will have to find me, before my little blood-thirsty pets find you. You have until the moon is at full power to find me, if you don't…your human will die."

Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru snarled. "You're going to kill her! She's done nothing to you!"

"Yes…I suppose I will kill her…in a way. The little scratch on her neck is an injection of over 150 milliliters of acidic poisons, made by myself. Only I hold the antidote. Find me and the antidote is yours. If my pets don't kill you first." The man threw Kagome at them and Sesshoumaru caught her. The dark figure disappeared and reappeared in a tree a little bit away from the boulder.

"And what the hell do you call yourself?" Inuyasha growled out, trying to reign in his temper. The dark figure chuckled and the sunlight finally hit his face. Black wavy hair framed a pale white face and blood red eyes. "My name," the man started, his lips curling up in an evil smirk, "is Naraku."

:Dreamland:

Kagome looked over at the bed and shook her head I horror. She knew where she was and she didn't like it at all. The small body shaped lump on the bed shifter and a pale, bony hand slid out from under the numerous comforters. A rattle-like wheeze sound came from the figure and breathy word was barely made out.

"Kagome…"

Kagome shook her head and shrank against the wall, tears falling down her face. She watched in wide-eyed horror as a twelve year old version of herself slowly walked to the side of the bed. The bony hand shot up and grabbed onto her clothes with surprising strength and jerked the twelve year old Kagome toward the bed.

"Listen, my child. You must believe the stories, and you must protect it with your life, do you understand?"

Kagome looked away from the figure laying in the bed and down at the floor. The hand shook her and demanded an answer yet again. "Kagome! Do you understand!" The younger Kagome sniffed and nodded, while the older Kagome stifled the urge to scream out in grief.

"Yes, Momma, I understand."

:AN:

And that my dear readers is what they call a "wrap". Well? Confused? Intrigued? Pissed off? Want to kill me? However you feel about this tell me! As always, I will respond to your emails and send you a response that way if you leave your email address. Other then that, I hope my writing skills aren't too bad.

Happy April Fools! I celebrate it everyday cause I believe the happiest people are the fools!