In the Beholders Eye

Written By Sarga

May/June 2006

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters, I'm just taking a theme and running with it...

Chapter 5: A Battle of Wills

Inuyasha quickly followed Kagome as she bolted from the hut. He nearly crashed into her as she stood not two feet from the exit. Kagome was gazing at the forest just beyond the village.

A small voice whispered from her, and she seemed to be back in her human mind, "It's so...beautiful!" she exclaimed in absolute reverence. He looked out to the forest and nodded his head. He had always wondered if his human eyes showed him what real humans saw or if his was just a sensory dullness compensating for his half-demon perception's excellence. From the way she gazed, he knew humans couldn't see what he, and now she, could.

Kagome could see clearly each tree, each branch, each leaf of the forest hundreds of meters away. She could see nesting birds between the foliage. She could see as clearly as if it were high noon, the moon shining as brightly as the sun, but without the need to squint.

Details of distant scenery became perfectly in focus as she sought to test her new vision. She could see a bird fly out of the trees, 'No, an owl!' she thought.

Taking a step forward, Kagome shook her head to break out of her self-induced trance. Looking behind her, she saw Inuyasha with an enragingly peaceful look on his face. Her new golden eyes narrowed menacingly and he tensed, sensing her rage as he could with any other demon.

"We're leaving," she growled. "Tell them I can't be trusted not to eat them alive." Not knowing where the thought came from, Kagome turned and ran – no, flew – toward the trees.

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"I hope she'll be alright," Shippo fretted. He had been sleeping at another villager's house that night, unable to take the strain. Waking to find that not only was Kagome not better, but she wasn't even in the village, Shippo had started to cry.

"Aye, child, she'll be alright," Kaede calmed the demon child. "Inuyasha will teach her to be calm. She will return in her own time."

Sango sat at the fire, eating her morning meal. "We should find some way to reverse this," she mused aloud, the sorrow obvious.

Miroku agreed. He thought of the options and realized that he hadn't exhausted all of them. There were more powerful monks to turn to, some of whom might know of yet more powerful monks. 'There has to be a way!' he thought.

"We set out in the morning." They all nodded in agreement.

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Kagome sat on the ground. Not used to her new strength she had run as fast as she could for as long as she could, pausing only to make sure that Inuyasha was still following behind. She knew the hanyou would be there shortly but she wanted to be alone for a while, there was a lot to take in. "Not even a single day ago I was a happy, healthy, HUMAN girl. Now what am I? I know I love Inuyasha for who he is, but...but that's not ME!' She put her head to her hands only to be startled by the sharp nails protruding unnaturally from her fingers.

In a sudden fit of fury, Kagome leaped forward, slashing at the trees around her. Seemingly unable to control herself she tore at bark and wood and stone only stopping when forcibly thrown to the ground.

"ENOUGH!" Inuyasha screamed at her. Panting, Kagome looked to her hands and she saw blood coming from her torn claws. Seeing that she had been shocked in to calmness, Inuyasha knelt next to her and peered at her face. Speaking with a gentleness neither of them knew was possible from the hanyou, "They don't cut through stone."

Gently Inuyasha took her hands and pulled her off of the ground. Wordlessly, he lead her to a nearby brook and watched as she rinsed her hands. She stopped, hands dangling in the water.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha looked to Kagome.

Kagome glanced up, tears streaming down from her golden eyes. Her human side dominated, allowing all of the stress to flow from her. "I need..." she stammered. "I need to be alone for a while." Inuyasha stood, ready to argue about the dangers. Kagome threw a hand in the air to silence him. "I need to feel like I'm alone." She looked back to the water. "Just stay downwind and out of sight."

With a single nod, he leaped up, jumping away into the trees. She heard him stop and settle into a tree branch nearby. She sighed, 'I guess that's far enough.'

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Kagome spent the next few days in relatively normal fashion. Except for the part where she instinctively knew where rabbits would spring from and could catch, kill and skin them with her bare hands. Every now and then she would notice Inuyasha nearby; a twig snap here – a flash of red there – but he honored her request and stayed away.

Kagome sighed. Her new senses screamed at her, drawing her attention to minute details that meant nothing. She had spent several hours on her first day staring into the brook. She could see the fish, hear the trickle of water through the stones, hear the fish leap out and splash back down. She could even pick out a water-strider along the surface. Every detail was clear.

Kagome rose to full height, stretching towards the sky, trying to ease her aching muscles. Her new senses bombarded her day and night. When she had tried to go to sleep that first night she had been unable to, the night noises amplified, intrusive. She heard small nocturnal animals foraging through the forest nearby. Even when she had retreated to the topmost branches of the highest trees she could still hear movement, activity, bustling... Finally on the fourth night she had collapsed under a large tree, so exhausted that the noises seemed to disappear. She slept for barely 6 hours before they woke her up again.

Now, two days later, Kagome was again on the edge of exhaustion.

'So much noise!' Kagome shook her head and covered her ears. Resigning herself to her fate, she took a breath, ready to call up to the trees. 'I need someone who knows how to block this out...' She inhaled to call out and...

'What's that scent?' Instinctively she knew to flee. Bounding to the branches of a concealing tree, Kagome perched on a sturdy branch and peered through the foliage of her protector. Still as could be she watched as a large snake-demon slithered through the grass towards her hiding place.

"Sssso tassssty! Who will be the mother of my sssspawn?" it's tongue flicked in and out of its mouth.

In horror Kagome saw that the creature was headed right towards her, He started to slide up the tree and Kagome felt a wave of fear, quickly squelched by a wave of fury. Swinging from her vantage point, Kagome leaped at the intruder. Sensing her, the serpent easily dodged the attack, tasting the air and licking his lips.

"Sssso you will bare my sssspawn! They will need a healthy mother to feed off of her flesh, you will do niccccely!" He spat at her and she felt her rage build, like a well-built fire, growing slowly but ready to burn for hours.

'Kill it!' an inner voice pleaded. 'Kill it now!' it cried.

Distracted by her internal dialog, she barely noticed as the serpent leaped, striking at her with malevolent rapidity, Kagome felt it graze her leg as she scrambled out of the way.

'KILL IT NOW!' the voice demanded.

Claws extended, Kagome complied, jumping forward, losing control. The serpent, surprised by the sudden show of aggression, veered too late and was torn to shreds within an instant. Panting, blood on her hands, Kagome sensed another demon coming towards her. Claws at the ready, baring her fangs, Kagome leaped blindly towards the demon.

'MORE!' the voice persuaded.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha grasped her hands as the two tumbled into a tree. Gaining the upper hand, Inuyasha pinned her down. She kicked at him, her once golden eyes red and frenzied.

'I have to do something or she's gonna go wild.' He knew the consequences of going into the world in a frenzy; waking up with blood all over, the stench of death all around. 'She shouldn't have to go through that, not when someone can show her another way.' Desperately he sought for a way to calm his friend. His hands being occupied with keeping Kagome pinned, his options were limited.

Kagome thrashed about, urgently trying to throw her hanyou friend aside. Her lust for blood was calling, the voice screaming at her, making her human half cower and hide away inside her. Her hands pinned and her body being squashed by Inuyasha, she snapped at him with her teeth, coming nowhere close to hurting him.

'What is it that she sings to Shippo?' He desperately searched his memory for the calming, soothing tune she cooed to the little child when he had trouble falling asleep in the dark.

"Hush my darling don't you cry..." She was far from crying. In fact she was ready to inflict much crying on whoever would get in the way. "...I'm gonna sing you a lullaby..."

He crooned at her and he could see as she calmed down. Her struggling stopped and her eyes started to change back to their normal yellow. Carefully, so carefully, he lifted one of his hands up, ready to shove it back down if she started to attack him again. He pulled back his other hand, still singing, and he saw her eyes completely revert to its docile state.

"Inu..." she gently called. A blush crept up his neck, caught in the act.

Realizing how close they were, Inuyasha jumped back, his face rosy with embarrassment. He took a deep breath and realized what had drawn the demon to her.

"Kagome, you're in heat," He looked to the ground, turning redder.

"Mind your own business," She snapped, not comfortable with being read so easily by another.

Taking the defensive, Inuyasha snapped back. "It's not like I care! It doesn't change you, it just means you're able to conceive. Other demons can smell that, the ones that need mates will hunt you down by your scent. We have to get you somewhere safer, somewhere where they can't smell you."

Leading her by the hand, Inuyasha knew exactly where to go.

End of Chapter

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