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Tessadragon

Chapter 4

A cold, Kagome thought miserably, shivering inside her blanket. "Inuyasha?" she whispered, horrified at how stifled her voice sounded. Grandpa would be delighted, she thought angrily. She could imagine his terribly happy voice: "And now Kagome's got a cold! Of the Spanish variety!"

Rolling over, she struggled free from the suffocatingly hot sleeping bag, and swiped her hand across her forehead: it was wet with perspiration.

"Are you alright?" Sango asked, blinking sleepily as she stirred.

"Yeah," Kagome mumbled, getting to her feet and stumbling to her backpack, grabbing a drink bottle and then her bow and a handful of arrows. "I'm just gonna get some water."

"Um hm." Sango turned over and was back to sleep.

Miroku was awake already, sitting near the road, atop a rounded, weathered rock, and gazing up in a melancholy fashion at the early morning sky which was the colour of hazy pale roses, scudded with night's dark clouds. "Good morning, Kagome," he greeted her as she came towards him, her eyes red with the cold. "Sleep well?"

Kagome nodded distractedly. "Have you seen Inuyasha?"

Miroku cocked his head curiously. "He's not with you? I assumed he was."

Kagome shook her head, now concerned. He doesn't usually wander off...he usually waits for us... "I'm going for a walk," she said.

Miroku got to his feet. "I'd better come with you." But Kagome shook her head, "It'll be okay," she assured him, gesturing to the bow and arrow hung over her shoulder. "I'll be back in a minute."

He gave her an uncertain look then finally nodded. "Be careful. Especially while we're out here...I don't like that we're nowhere near any villages." His keen face watched her walk away, and he had no doubt that Kagome would find Inuyasha...she had that finding quality about her.

Swallowing another sneeze, Kagome ducked her head as she walked into the first layer of trees. The early morning sunlight dappled along the dark shades of green, brighter yellows dancing along her vision, nearly blinding her as she plunged deeper into the forest. Her hand instinctively reached for an arrow from her quiver: it made her feel more confident, just being able to line it to the bow, keeping her hands relaxed so she wouldn't shoot anyone fatally if she did get startled.

"Inuyasha?" she called softly into the forest's greenery and swallowed a shiver as the leaves rippled overhead, slanting shadows across her sleek black hair. "Inuyasha?" she called louder.

Somewhere ahead, bark flew from a tree trunk, slapping into the ground with the force of diamond shards. Kagome swallowed a gasp and forced herself towards the noise: this time she didn't call for the half demon. Breaking into a run, she batted aside a low branch, her eyes flickering across a shattered branch that lay across the path, until her mind forced her to recognise that brances were not white like that...

"No!" She stared down at it. "Is that an arm?"

Wrapping her arms around herself, she shuddered and hurried forward. A flash of red.

"Inuyasha!" she shrieked, ran faster.

"No!" a voice howled, and a small figure draped in red ran away from her.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome ran faster and launched herself at the red figure...it tumbled and hit the ground.

"Inuyasha!" the figure beneath her struggled wildly to get away. Kagome clung to it as hard as she could, as the creature raked its claws against her arms, fighting not to let her see—

"Oh god," Kagome choked. "Inuyasha?"

The little creature fell back, shaking, tears running down his cheeks.

Unable to believe that she was holding Inuyasha, Kagome cried too. "How did this happen? What's happened to you?"

"I don't know," Inuyasha whispered, raising his young face to Kagome's. His golden eyes were huge, but in them was the same loving pain that Kagome would always know. "I don't remember."

Kagome hugged him and he clung to her. For a while, she tried to comfort him but his body still trembled, as he fought not to cling to her, but incredible fear was flooding through him, memories of when he was little were now as raw as if they'd happened yesterday...the loneliness! The terror! Running down the paths, demons chasing him, cheering, bloodlust in their eyes: they wanted to kill him!

He breathed in Kagome's scent and pretended that it was his mother's, but then that felt so wrong that he buried his thoughts and tried to calm himself. Then his older self resurfaced...he remembered. Remembered what had happened. "Why didn't I stop it?" he moaned, pulling away from Kagome.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome watched him anxiously, still amazed that she was talking to the guy that she loved...and he looked even younger than her own brother, little Sota! Then an absurd giggle burst out of her.

Young Inuyasha glared at her.

"I'm sorry," Kagome giggled helplessly. "But how old are you?"

Inuyasha glared at her and shrugged. "Maybe seven winters."

Kagome fought to sober. "What happened? Is this...natural? For you to grow younger? Like when you turn human on the new moon?"

"No!" Inuyasha got to his feet, feeling stupid: he was two and a half heads shorter than Kagome now! He'd used to look down on the crown of her black tresses and breathe in her scent and now... "I have to find the demon," he snapped, grabbing at the sheathed Tetsusaiga. How awkward it felt! It was now twice its length according to his gawky little arms. He gritted his teeth and hoisted it in both his arms.

"What sort of demon is it?" Kagome demanded.

"It had tentacles. Purple skin…" Inuyasha's young voice faltered. Kagome instinctively drew him closer like comforting little brother Sota when he'd had a nightmare, but this time Inuyasha jerked free, staring at her, afraid. A frisson of fear went through Kagome, and she got to her feet, reaching for her bow and arrows that she'd dropped on the ground minutes ago.

"You!" She snapped, outraged, as she spun on her heel to face the demon. It waited beyond a single line of trees. "You have a jewel shard!"

Young Inuyasha didn't even grin in delight at that, so much fear was going through him. Ashamed of himself, he drew himself up taller and looked at the demon, remembering everything about it as Kagome fitted an arrow to her bow and aimed it straight at the demon's forehead. "Turn him back," she snarled.

The demon laughed and shook its head, then its nostrils flared as it breathed in Kagome's scent…"Ah…" it breathed, "A priestess…delicious! This'll be a divine meal!"

"Think again, buster!" Kagome snapped. "Neither of us agree with your digestion! Now turn Inuyasha back!"

The demon grinned at Inuyasha, and its long tongue snaked out to lick its lips.

Kagome loosed the arrow and it went wide, but Kagome's eyes, narrowed in such a dangerous way, showed that she'd done that deliberately as a warning. The demon's purple deepened to violet and it stood up a little taller, flexed its tentacles…

"No, Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled just before the demon threw itself at Kagome. With a shriek, Kagome loosed another arrow, this one buried itself in the demon's chest.

"No!" Kagome yelled in alarm, but the demon swung its thickening tentacles at her and hit her across the head, sending her flying. She landed with a small cry of pain against the nearest tree trunk, falling and slumping in the rustling leaves.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled again and ran to her, drew his sword with no small effort and stood over her, panting as he struggled to hold the Tetsusaiga as its magic flared and its blade widened.

"Big sword for such a little boy!" the demon sneered.

"Big words for such a stupid demon!" Inuyasha yelled back furiously. "How dare you hurt her!" Raising the Tetsusaiga as high as he could, he charged at the demon, but it easily knocked the heavy sword from the young youkai's grip, where it fell into the leaves, back into it's rough junk-sword form. Inuyasha leapt and twisted to avoid the tentacles and cried out as a serrated sharpness grazed along his ankles, yanking him down to the forest floor. Inuyasha rolled aside and frantically clawed the tentacles from his ankles with a child's clumsiness, then surged up to his feet, stumbling back.

The demon laughed so much as it raised its tentacles, ready to bind Inuyasha, but Inuyasha's quick feet pattered over the ground then launched into the air. "Iron reaper, soul stealer!" he snarled, slashing at the tentacles: they fell to the ground uselessly and the demon stared incredulously at the half demon.

"Now who's pathetic?" Inuyasha taunted, standing over the fallen demon. Child-sized, he barely towered over it.

The demon glared at Inuyasha then spun on its trunk-like legs and fled. Inuyasha fought not to go after it: instead he knelt and tried to wake poor Kagome. "Kagome! Wake up! Come on!"

Kagome didn't stir. Her face was ashen but for a slash-worth of blood down her cheek.

"Kagome!" he said more desperately.