Escape

Prompt: They were out at last. But now what?

Universe: Canon Divergence

Genre: Drama, Humour

1,000 Words

The day Mistress Centipede had dragged Higurashi Kagome down into a creaky old well and through five centuries, her life had more or less become that of an extremely distressed damsel. It seemed that ever since that day, she had stumbled from one disaster after another, being attacked left and right, occasionally even befriending some of her former attackers…

Anyway, the point was that her life was a mess and she had been kidnapped several times before only to come out unscathed so she wasn't all that worried. In fact, had she been alone, she probably would've done what she usually did in these situations: wait for Inuyasha to come to her rescue.

But she wasn't alone, and the poor little girl was definitely scared so Kagome had taken the matter into her own hands.

"It's all right, we're out now," she reassured the girl, hugging her scrawny shoulders. "Rin, right?"

The girl nodded. "We need to hurry, Sesshoumaru-sama must be so worried!"

Kagome agreed with hurrying, though she couldn't imagine Sesshoumaru being worried, let alone on the account of a human girl!

"Don't worry, we'll find him," she told her, though truthfully she was starting to get quite worried herself.

Sure, they had got out and were now rushing down the mountainside, away from the nest where they'd been kept, but Kagome's main concern had been getting away from their capturers. What should they do now they had escaped? How the heck was she going to find Sesshoumaru? Or Inuyasha, for that matter…

Kagome swallowed her sigh and clutched Rin's hand.

"You're not hurt?"

Rin shook her head. "Just a little hungry."

"Me too," Kagome admitted.

Where were they gonna get food? She wasn't really confident about travelling alone with only a little girl in tow; she didn't even know where they were. Oh, she'd feel so much better if she had her bow…

But first things first, they had to put more distance between them and their captors, and get down this damn mountain.

"Can you run?" she asked Rin.

Rin nodded.

"Okay," Kagome said, plastering a cheerful smile to her lips. "Let's run for a little."

"Okay!" Rin gave her a toothy grin in return.

Kagome's resolve strengthened as her heart melted a little. She needed to keep this girl safe.

They sprinted down the mountainside for a while, but stopped when Rin's steps began to falter. Kagome noticed her bare feet, it must've been rough and slippery to run in this rocky terrain. She crouched down in front of her, flashed her another reassuring smile.

"Getting tired? Why don't you climb onto my back for a while and rest?"

"It's fine, I can keep going," Rin said bravely.

"Go on, it'll make me feel better," Kagome coaxed, and the girl relented. She climbed on, wound her small arms tightly around Kagome's neck.

Her ankle twinged when she braced herself under Rin's added weight but she paid it no mind. She took a deep breath and ran. Rin's lithe body was warm, pressed against her back, her ankle thudded with dull pain, her lungs burned as she gulped for breath. Kagome ran, even when her legs were starting to wobble, after her arms had begun to tremble. She didn't know where they should go or how she could save them both; the only thing she could do was to keep going. Keep running.

Finally, after they'd broken into the tree line, Kagome collapsed panting onto the scraggly grass. Rin scrambled off her back and peered worriedly at her.

"Are you all right, Kagome-sama?"

"I'm fine," she wheezed. "Just a bit tired – let's rest for a while, yeah?"

"And then we'll eat, right?"

"And then we'll eat," Kagome promised, her stomach lurching anxiously. She leaned against a slender tree. Her ankle was now a constant tangle of pain. Rin curled up by her side, and Kagome gently petted her hair. She'd sit here a while, then she'd go find water or something to eat. Just five minutes, to catch her breath…

Kagome woke with a start: there was a blast of dark and powerful youki ahead and Kagome was up on her feet without a conscious thought, wobbling to stand between Rin and the in-coming theat. She was unarmed, weak from hunger and her muscles were crying from their wild flight earlier. But she still had enough energy left in her for a barrier.

Kagome called her reiki a second before a white blur burst from the cover of the trees. But before she could erect the barrier the demon came to a halt in front of her. Kagome teetered for a moment, then –

"Sesshoumaru-sama!"

Rin pushed past her and rushed over to the daiyoukai, latching onto the leg of his pristine white hakama.

Kagome sighed in relief and fell ungraciously as her ankle gave in under her weight.

Sesshoumaru arched one elegant eyebrow at her.

"I'm glad you found us, Sesshoumaru," Kagome said. "Rin missed you."

"What happened?" the words came in a low growl.

"I got separated from my friends and got taken by these bird youkai. They brought Rin later and she looked scared so we escaped."

"Kagome-sama was amazing," Rin piped up. "We ran and ran and then she carried me and we ran more."

Sesshoumaru levelled Kagome with an impatient glare.

"What are you doing, miko? Get up."

"I'm not sure I can," Kagome confessed, offering him a wobbly smile. "I think I twisted my ankle climbing down from the nest."

"Hnn."

Sesshoumaru contemplated her for a long while in silence, no hint of his emotions showing on his face. "Well, since you helped Rin, I shall return you to my fool of a half-brother," he declared at last.

Kagome barely had time to stutter a startled "Eh?" before the daiyoukai had already closed their distance and scooped her up.

Pressed against his armour, her flustered cheek brushing the soft fur of his shoulder, Kagome looked up to meet his piercing golden eyes.