Hey everyone, I know it's been a long time, but things have been a bit hectic for me lately. I hope you enjoy this segment of A Light in the Darkness.


Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters, no matter how much I want to, I can't say that I own Sesshomaru.


-Kagome's POV-

My head aches, what happened? As I lay wherever I was I took in the smell of something very sweet. Almost like candy. Mmmm, candy. Hungry for something yummy I force my eyes to open, ignoring that fact that they feel heavy and want to remain closed. My eyes met with a pair of concern filled gold eyes staring down at me. I blink. The concern I saw seconds ago disappeared as if it were never there and been had replaced with the usual cold indifference.

"It's about time you woke up." Sesshomaru said getting to his feet. "I'll get the doctor."

All I could do was nod. My throat was dry and it was hard for me to speak. I watched as the silver haired demon walked out the door, the sweet scent disappearing with him. It dawned on me. It was him that I had smelled! Sesshomaru smelt really good. I couldn't stop the blush that formed on my cheeks.

"Hello, How you feeling?" a woman with an accent asked as she walked through the door followed by Sesshomaru. I tried to force the blush to go away, but at the sight of Sesshomaru it grew.

I opened my mouth to answer but nothing came out but an ugly sound that sounded like some animal was being tortured. My face went red again. Oh God, I don't think I've blushed so much at once in my life. I don't want Sesshomaru to see me like this. Wait…Why am I blushing? Why do I even care if he sees me blushing? I'm a princess and princesses don't get embarrassed!

The woman smiled, "Here, drink some of this." She took a small bottle from the basket she carried and held it out for me to take

I took it cautiously, unsure of weather or not to trust this stranger. I glanced at Sesshomaru and he nodded, telling me to drink. I did and I instantly regretted doing so. Whatever this was tasted like a rotten piece of something, I don't know what that something is nor do I ever want to know. I swallowed quickly.

"What the heck was that!" I yelled out.

"Medicine. It moistens a dried out throat a lot quicker then any amount of water will."

I tried to calm and to not focus on the putrid flavor. Instead I thought of the doctor currently tending to me. Her accent seemed familiar I was silent for a moment as I tried to place where I had heard it before "Nasaan ako?" I asked realizing where I knew the strange and heavy accent from. I maid in the castle had the same accent. She had taught me much of the language. I was almost fluent. I thought of the complicated language the I had been taught while, at the same time, trying to ignore the vulgar taste lingering in my mouth

The woman smiled, "You are in the village of Chestnut Oak. You've been here for three days now. And my name is Gloria." The woman said. Kagome took a moment to look Gloria over. Her skin was tanned and her thick black hair reached her waist.

"I'm Kagome." Kagome replied quickly but politely, "I'm sorry, but what happened?"

"You took in a large amount of poison from Sesshomaru's wound." Gloria leaned closer and said in a whisper, "Iniligitas ko ang kanyang buhay, but don't let him know that. He doesn't seem like the type to accept help and knowing that he owes you his life might hurt his pride."

Kagome laughed weakly, due to, "I have no doubt about that."

Sesshomaru frowned. He, being a demon, had heard them perfectly and although he didn't understand everything that was said he could guess

Gloria turned to Sesshomaru. "Make sure she drinks one cup of this once every day for the next week. Not only does it help with speaking but also cures the poison in her blood." Sesshomaru nodded and took the flask Gloria had taken from her basket, "You are both welcome to join me and the rest of the village for dinner tonight. There's a party tonight and I'm sure everyone will love to meet you two." Gloria turned and left.

"What did she mean, 'you two'?" I asked Sesshomaru, "Haven't they met you already?"

"I haven't left this house very much." Sesshomaru said carefully avoiding the second question

"Why not?"

Sesshomaru decided to answer with a question of his own, "Why did you do it?"

"Do what?" I asked confused

Sesshomaru turned away from me, "Never mind." He said as he walked out another door leading to a different room of the house.

I frowned but decided to ignore his strange question.

-END POV-

Kagome decided to sleep until dinner. She still felt a bit weak and wanted to rest for the party.

-Later the day-

"Lady Kagome." Someone said as they gently shook Kagome's body, "Lady Kagome, you must wake up now if you wish to attend the party.

"Ive moor inites" Kagome mumbled incoherently as she turned snuggling deep in into the warm cotton sheets.

"But My Lady, I must insist that you wake up now, Lord Sesshomaru has given me instructions to have you dressed and ready to be escorted to the dinner at sunset. That's when he we will be picking you up."

"Okay" Kagome mumbled there was a second of silence before… "WHAT!"

An hour later Kagome was wearing a simple, yet beautiful light blue dress that held tightly to her torso and fell loosely around her legs ending in the middle of her calves. Her long hair had been tied back into a high pony tail elegantly and a white carnation had been placed into it just above her ear. As she looked at herself in a small mirror Kagome had to admit that she looked great. Now I just hope that Sesshomaru thinks that too. Wait! Why do I still care what he thinks? What's wrong with me?

"Lady Kagome?" The servant who had woken her asked timidly having walked in on her beating herself in the head with a wooden hair brush.

Kagome grinned sheepishly as she quickly hid the brush behind her back and laughed nervously, "Hey, Tori." Kagome said smiling a very fake smile. Tori rolled her eyes and grabbed the brush away from her and set it onto the vanity and then took Kagome's hand and dragged her to the doorway that led outside, instead of a real door separating it there were vines with small purple flowers growing on it hanging over the empty space. It was very difficult to see past the vines so they made very good doors (or whatever you want to call it)

"Lord Sesshomaru is here." She said in a hushed voice. "He's just outside so have fun at the festival, I'll look for you later." With those words she pushed Kagome through the vines.

Kagome stumbled forward and for a second she was blinded by the bright light cast by the sun setting in front of her. Due to her temporary blindness and the force from Tori's shove she ran straight into a rather firm strong feeling chest. Kagome looked up to find a pair of emotionless, and yet, captivating, amber eyes partly hidden behind long silky, smooth, silver hair.

"Sorry." Kagome said quietly as she stepped away from Sesshomaru. She felt her breath catch in her throat as she stared at the beautiful and, at the same time, deadly demon. His silver hair swayed in the light breeze and glowed an unearthly color from the rays of the setting sun giving him an even more godly appearance. Many thoughts ran through Kagome's head at this moment, many were single words such as; Gorgeous, drool, beautiful, drool, handsome, love, godly, and did I mention drool. Well, you get the picture ((A/N: That's what's going through my head too sigh I love you, Sesshomaru))

Seeing that Sesshomaru wasn't moving Kagome put on a forced smile as she walking with a small skip in a step as went around Sesshomaru. It was then that she realized that the small house that she had been staying in wasn't on the ground where houses normally were. It was up in a tree. She looked down at her feet and saw that she was standing on a sturdy pathway built surrounding the house and leading away from it. She walked closer to the railing built around the edge of the wooden porch. She saw that it was not just this house that was up in the tree, but the entire village. She felt her jaw drop in awe. Never in her whole life had she anything so strange and yet so captivating. In the light of the setting sun the wooden huts built far off the forest floor she could see other citizens of Chestnut Oak lighting small lamps over the path giving it, like Sesshomaru, an unearthly appearance. Getting over her awe Kagome turned to face the godly looking demon with a playful smile, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Let's get going." She said

For a small second Sesshomaru was stunned. It seemed like the childish princess that he had known for the last few days had vanished and was replaced by an angel. Kagome looked beautiful and if you knew him really well you wound have noticed his eyes widen slightly when the angelic woman spun around the light of the setting sun reflected in her glossy black hair. Being the demon that he was, he did not let this beauty stun him for to long and quickly recovered from his stupor. He stepped forward and offered Kagome his arm just as he, a former prince, had been taught to when escorting a lady to a ball. Kagome gladly accepted it and allowed herself to be lead down the wooden pathway.

Kagome couldn't keep her eyes still as they walked along the wooden pathway. There seemed to be so much to see. There were mother bird tending to her young, little squirrels running around, there was even a large cat the looked a lot like a panther relaxing in large branch hanging over the path. Sesshomaru did not seem the least bit worried about the dangerous animal, while Kagome showed some hesitation to approach the creature.

Finally Sesshomaru led Kagome towards the entrance to a rather large tree house compared the little hut houses they had passed earlier. Kagome took in a deep breath and entered the dinning hall, clutching to Sesshomaru's arm so tight that she was cutting off his circulation, due to her nervousness of meeting the village that had cared for her the last few day. She could hear the sound of laughter, idle chatter, and music coming from inside.

As the couple stepped into the room they were greeted by a sudden eerie silence. Every person in the room froze in place. Some were in the middle of a dance step, some had stopped in the process of feeding themselves therefore they were either sitting or standing with their mouth hanging open and a piece of food frozen in place half-way up to their mouth.

Kagome wanted to leave the room right away, yes, she was used to being stared at at all the balls that her parents had thrown, but she had known everybody there. These were total strangers from a different part of the kingdom. If it weren't for Sesshomaru still pulling her forward towards an empty table across the room she would have made a run for it.

Noticing the sudden awkward silence Gloria looked away from the plate of food she had been in the middle working her ay through. Seeing that it was the new guests that had caught all the attention she hurried forward to take the uncomfortable spotlight off the couple.

"Princess Kagome, Lord Sesshomaru. I'm so glad you decided to come. Please, allow me to introduce you to the head of the village." She said.

Sesshomaru nodded and Gloria turned on her heel and led her to the largest table in the room. Sitting at the table was a woman with wavy hair as dark as the night sky and green eyes that sparkled like the stars in it. The woman stood gracefully and, once fully standing, bowed deeply to the couple. Kagome curtsied and Sesshomaru lowered his head in return to the gesture.

"Welcome Lord Sesshomaru and Princess Kagome. I am Keziah, head of this small, but prosperous village." The woman began to speak with a proud voice, "I am sure that our little village is not quite what you're accustomed to, but, please, do enjoy yourselves while you are here."

"I thank you for your hospitality Lady Keziah." Kagome said, finally getting herself together. Sesshomaru remained silent.

Keziah smiled warmly and sat herself back down, "Please, enjoy yourself at this feast." She said dismissing them with a nod of her head. The music started once again and chatter filled the room as Kagome and Sesshomaru walked over to the empty table they had been aiming at earlier.

The two sat in an awkward silence for several minute as the people of this simple town danced merrily without a care in the world. As she sat there Kagome couldn't help but envy this care-free people. They seemed so genuinely happy, while she, on the other hand, felt like she had to force herself to get out of bed and force every smile she gave out. Everything that was happening lately made her once peaceful life hectic and filled with so much pain and death. Kagome shook her head silently, trying to rid herself of such dark thoughts. Instead, she concentrated on the smiling faces in front of her and the simple step they all danced in perfect time with the music. That was when he noticed something a bit strange about the townspeople. Something she had not seen before.

"There are no men." She mumbled

"You speak to yourself now?" Sesshomaru asked

"Did you notice that there are only women here? Isn't that a bit strange"

'Strange indeed' Sesshomaru thought to himself. Thanks to his demonic eyesight Sesshomaru was actually able to spot one human male in the far back. "There's one back there."

"I see him" Kagome replied looking at the man. From what she could see he wasn't all that bad looking. He was tall with shoulder length shaggy black hair and a good build. As she observed the only male in the room other Sesshomaru the current subject of her thoughts looked up and captured her eyes with his. He smiled flirtatiously at her, which she returned with a small, polite smile. She then turned her attention away from the man and looked over at the breath taking demon at her side. Tired of sitting she took in a deep in breath and put aside all fears of rejection, "Sesshomaru, would you like to dance?" She asked, sounding more confident then she felt. 'Why is he making me nervous? We're barely friends, why should I be afraid of his rejection' Kagome thought, 'but, please say yes!'

Sesshomaru looked up at the young woman, surprised at her sudden request. He did not answer, but instead, stood, took her hand, and led her out onto the dance floor.

They arrived out on the floor just as a new song began. A slow song. Sesshomaru took Kagome into his arms, carefully placing on hand onto her waist. Their feet fell in time with the music as they moved in perfect synchronization with each other. They were the only couple out on the floor, seeing how Sesshomaru was one of the only men here. As they danced Kagome felt another flash of pain. This one was filled with guilt. Guilt that she was here, in the arms of the most handsome demon she had ever laid eyes on, while the black riders were out for blood and Nyoko was missing. The song ended and someone yelled out over the loud chatter of people conversing happily. They announced the next dance for all to hear.

There was a scramble as everyone correctly positioned themselves into a giant circle with their partners at their side. This was a very popular progressive dance that was known throughout the entire land. Kagome grinned, loving this dance, she dragged Sesshomaru by the hand to a spot in the circle. When the music began to play they danced. After a while Sesshomaru had left Kagome's when another woman, who wished to dance, tapped his shoulder and danced in his place.

Sesshomaru watched as Kagome's partner seemed to switch constantly, when, finally, the man who had been standing in the corner approached the dancing girl and took her as his partner. Kagome blushed a tinge of pink, but accepted his hand and danced. The two ended up laughing their heads off through the entire thing. Needless to say, they had a great time and when the dance finally ended they were both exhausted.

"It's so hot in here!" Kagome exclaimed to her newest friend, he had yet to give his name.

"You're right." The man said, "I'm sure it's cooler outside. Would you care to join me?" he asked extending his arm out to her playfully.

Laughing, Kagome accepted the gesture and allowed him to lead her outside. The sun had long since set and the stars sparkled in the nighttime sky.


"Are you enjoying yourself my Lord?" Gloria said smiling

"Yes, thank you" Sesshomaru said politely. He paused for a second, "Why are there no men here other then myself and that dark haired human?"

"Chestnut Oak is a special village, because we have no men living here. All of us moved to here to get away from the crawling hands of men. Most here have been hurt by those monsters who believe themselves superior to us just because of our gender." Gloria stopped for a second, "I hope you do not take offense to any of that. I have seen the way you treat Lady Kagome and you are no womanizer for sure. But this other man. I do not trust him. We welcome all travelers here, both male and female. The males are not allowed to stay more then two weeks unless they are so badly injured."

"Tell me more about this human male"

"His name is Derrick. He showed up out of no where a few days before you arrived. He was tired and weak. Near death, I suppose. He doesn't speak much about his past; in fact, he avoids any contact with any member of the village. His eyes though." Gloria's face filled with fear as she spoke, "There are times when his eyes scare me. They appear so dangerous. I advise you not to trust this man, Lord Sesshomaru"

Sesshomaru got to his feet and looked around the room. "Where is Kagome?"


"It's so pretty." Kagome said looking around at the beautiful nightime sky through the branches and leaves above her head. "I'm Kagome by the way"

"I'm sorry." The man began as he stopped walking in front of her. They were on the other side of the dinning hall now. There was no one around and no windows that exposed them to the party going on inside. "You must think me rude for not properly introducing myself. I'm Derrick. I'm from Stalin, at least what's left of it."

"I heard about what happened there. It sounded horrible."

"And it was." Derrick said stepping closer to Kagome. On instinct, she stepped back only to feel the rough exterior of the tree house. "When I think about everything I saw: the bodies, the homes burned to the ground, children crying out for their parents, before being silenced forever. When I think about all that I get this chill in my spine." Derrick paused thoughtfully and then, with a crazed look in his eyes, he continued speaking, "I can still hear the sound of the screams and pleas for mercy." Kagome looked around for any means of escaping this frightening man. "I still feel the cold liquid blood of Princess Crea running through my fingers." The man's face now held a sinister grin. "She was beautiful, you know. Her silky red hair and deep blue eyes. I can still here screams for me to stop. Sometimes I regret killing her." Kagome gasped at this point and pressed herself as far back into the wooden wall. Derrick placed his hands on either side of her face and looked down on her small frame, his face inches away from her own. Kagome's breath quickened with fear, "I wish she were still alive, so I could taste her once again." Derrick lowered his face so his lips barely hung over hers, "But I'll soon forget all about her, once I have taken you."

Kagome opened her mouth to scream, before a sound could leave her Derrick roughly put his mouth over hers. He pinned her hands to the building restricting all movement. A lone tear fell from Kagome's left eye as Derrick ravished her mouth


End of chapter five. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

REVIEW PLEASE!