Tainted Silver

-Chapter 12-

Sesshomaru's eyes widened and his stance became tense, rigid. Kagome? Dead? The thought of her lifeless eyes and

limp body in his arms didn't bode well. His stomach sank to the bottom of his very being, his throat tightened nearly suffocating him. His eyes followed her small form. She was frightened, this he knew, looking to him for the answers to her problems.

"Are you sure she was dead? Maybe she was unconscious, asleep, resting, something other than dead!"

"Why?" Sango sobbed into Miroku's chest.

Panic, a feeling he had long ago forgotten, filled him to the tips of his fingers.

"You act as if she was already dead!" he bellowed, frustrated.

How could they give up? She had befriended them all and withstood his insults, yet at the first sign of her needing help they ran?

"Sesshomaru," Sango said softly, "every single one of Kohaku's visions have come true! What makes you think this one will not?"

Sesshomaru growled, fully aware that Kagome's desperate eyes still lay on him. Lightning flashed through a window. Funny how one minute he saw sunlight and the next he saw black clouds with eminent danger.

"We've never tried to stop them," Sesshomaru finally answered. "I will do anything to have her survive this night."

He quickly stalked out the living room with Miroku at his heels.

"Sesshomaru?" Kagome questioned softly.

Something inside her stirred. Could he care? If she died he wouldn't have to worry about her departure, of the danger she presented to him or his family. A mouth less to hunt for would be less of a burden, wouldn't it? She had thought him cold due to his past, to his attitude, his stance.

"You've misjudged him," Sango said softly at her side, "he's not what he seems. He's just very... He's a bit more conservative because of what happened."

Kagome nodded in agreement. Kohaku yawned in her arms. A smile crept onto her face as the troubled boy snuggled into her. Sango picked up an exhausted Rin and set her on the sofa, following up with Shippou. Kagome stood up slowly and left Kohaku to his boyish dreams, or nightmares as they stood to be.

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"Sesshomaru, please calm yourself. Being angry and nervous isn't going to aid you in your quest for an idea on saving Kagome."

Sesshomaru stopped his now regular habit of pacing. He gripped Miroku's shoulders tightly.

"Are you not aware of the danger?" he pressed.

Miroku was taken aback by the fire blazing in his close friend's eyes. The man was shaking with fear and just about throwing caution to the wind.

"I am perfectly are." Miroku responded easily.

"If she leaves this place, you, the others, me, we'll be alright..."

His eyes widened.

"But to have her die while under my care!"

Miroku rolled his eyes with a snort.

"Care? More like captivity Sesshomaru."

She smiled and tip-toed back to the children's sides. Kagome was nodding off in a chair and Rin was using her imagination with Kilala, whom had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She grinned and refrained from jumping up and down. She flopped onto one of the seats with a sloppy grin and quickly became consumed by sleep.

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"Kagome? Kagome!"

Sango lifted her heavy eyelids to a panicked voice. She yawned and stretched her limbs. Who was screaming what?

"Kagome!"

Sango snapped to attention as everything clicked and fell into place. The vision!

"Sango, where the hell is Kagome!"

She peered at her crazed husband. Sesshomaru stood calmly behind him. She scanned the rest of the room and noted Shippou, Souta, and Kohaku silently sleeping. Everything seemed alright.

"Why is she not here with you?" Sesshomaru questioned heatedly.

She didn't know how to respond to the fire in his eyes. She really didn't know where she currently was or why she wasn't there.

"It's not raining yet," she noted by the silence, "we have time."

Sesshomaru's hands fisted tightly in aggravation. Why were women so optimistic and stubborn?

"Where's Rin?" a sleepy Shippou asked as he tried to rub the sleep out of his young eyes.

"Kilala?" Kohaku called out as he bent to look beneath tables.

"Kagome, Rin, and Kilala are missing," Sesshomaru growled.

"Who left the door open!" Souta asked slightly ticked. "Haven't they the consideration? It's about to rain!"

Sango ran to him, the door still open. Had they, perhaps, gone out for a stroll?

'Of course not,' she chided, 'how stupid would that be?'

Sesshomaru walked out past her. The night sky was darker than usual and occasionally lit up with lightening.

"The sky is beautiful in it's fits of rage, don't you think?" MIroku asked as he adjusted a bag on his back.

"Where are you going?" she asked with panic in her voice.

"Out to help, naturally," he answered.

He smiled at her, desperately trying to loosen her grip on his arm.

"Let go dear," he spoke through gritted teeth.

"But if you get hurt-."

"If I get hurt then it was mean to be," he said softly, taking her pale hand into his own.

He smiled brightly and readjusted the bag on his shoulder once more. The sky lit up with the bright, eminent thunder. She took a shaky breath as she looked down at her hand. The warmth was gone. He was gone.

"Miroku," she whispered.

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Kagome grumbled as she paced in front of a scared Rin. They were out in the middle of nowhere in some dingy cave.

"Meow?"

Kagome stopped and looked to a ferocious looking cat with fire consuming its tail and paws.

"What in all of heaven-."

"Kilala!"

She turned to the young girls bright face. Was she out of her mind?

"Kilala?" she repeated stupidly.

She turned to the, now somehow small, cat which swished its tail to and fro in irritation.

'Of course! The cat turned demon!'

She picked up the beautiful creature.

"Go get Sesshomaru will you?"

"Meow."

She set the cat down and laughed.

"Oh Kilala," she said joyfully as the neko youkai neared the entrance of the dark cave.

Without warning rain was unleashed upon them and Kilala recoiled.

"You're still a cat," Kagome affirmed dryly.

The cat sent her a regretful glance and returned to her side.

"Well," she said slowly, "we're screwed."