I do not own InuYasha or the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi.
A/N: Sorry, it's a shorter chapter, but I haven't finished writing the next part yet. I couldn't respond to one of the reviews, but it was suggested to break up the larger text areas better. I hope this helps.
The Lost Chapters: True Feelings Revealed Part 3
They made good time on the path and only passed a few travelers who gave them odd looks. As they walked, Kagome realized that this was the first time they had been alone in a while. It probably wasn't the best time for her to sort out her emotions. I can't compare myself to Kikyo, she admitted to herself. All of a sudden, Kagome gasped and stopped walking. She could feel the presence of a jewel shard in the direction they just came from.
"Kagome, what is it?" Inuyasha asked her.
"I sense a jewel shard," she said as she turned around on the path.
"What!? Could it be a different one than the shard Miroku and Sango went after?" he questioned, sniffing the air for a demon's scent.
"I don't know, but I didn't sense it when we were back there," she replied.
Inuyasha knelt on the ground in front of her, waiting for her to climb on his back. She hesitated for a moment, which didn't go unnoticed, before she climbed up.
Inuyasha ran in long strides through the forest in the direction Kagome mentioned. They traveled for a couple miles before she signaled that it was just up ahead. As they rounded the bend on the path, what came into view was a scraggly, sickly looking demon. It looked like a common snake, but you could tell from the dark eyes that it wasn't.
"We came all the way here for this? It doesn't even smell like a youkai*. Are you sure?" Inuyasha demanded. He went over to the pitiful looking demon and picked it up by the tail. He walked it over to her and asked her where the jewel shard was.
Kagome stared at it, a bit unnerved, "I…I can't find it, but I can sense it's coming from it."
"Well, I'd feel bad slicing it open for no reason," he hesitated.
The demon never made a sound but writhed in his grasp. Inuyasha dropped it to the ground, and crouched down to sniff it, trying to figure it out when it began to pulsate. He jumped back and his hands immediately went to tetsusaiga. Kagome backed away also, putting a safer distance between her and the demon.
"Maybe you should kill it," she suggested.
"You want me to kill something before it has even done anything to us?" He cocked his head in her direction.
Suddenly the snake was on fire, and before either one of them knew it, it had bounded into the air, multiplied in size, and sunk a fang into Kagome's left arm. She screamed with pain and pure disgust. The demon was no longer on fire, but the smoke was clearing and she found herself eye to eye with Rydou. Kagome nearly fainted from the surprise of it all. Inuyasha charged through the smoke and lobbed the demon's head off with his sword. Rydou's body slumped to the ground and his fang fell away from Kagome's arm. The young girl dropped to her knees and just stared at her arm in shock.
The half demon rushed over to her, "Are you okay?"
The young girl was unresponsive and her arm was turning green. Behind Inuyasha his ears picked up on movement. When he turned around Rydou's body was forming another head. He couldn't believe it, normally heads didn't grow back. Inuyasha stepped in between her and Rydou.
"How dare you!" Inuyasha growled.
The demon began to laugh at his triumph. "Did you think that I would give up so easily? I don't make false promises, I will devour her," the demon laughed harder.
"Like hell you are!" Inuyasha attacked, but the snake blocked his sword with his fangs.
Rydou advanced on the half demon with his fangs, striking quickly, but he couldn't touch him. He knew he had to get this punk out of the way before he could return to the girl. Inuyasha kept leaping out of the way and was leading the snake demon further away from Kagome. He knew time was short before the poison threatened her life. Inuyasha heard Kagome groan in agony as she collapsed to the forest floor. "Kagome, don't you faint on me!" Inuyasha shouted to her. Rydou seized this opportunity to lunge at his sword arm. Inuyasha managed to get out of the way, but gained a deep gash in his right arm.
"Alright, I've had enough of this," Inuyasha declared. He aimed his sword at Rydou and began to see the flow of demonic energy.
Rydou in his arrogance thought that with the help of the jewel shard, he could withstand the attack.
Inuyasha smirked right before he was ready to strike. He swung his sword and shouted, "Kaze no Kizu*!" The deadly attack surged towards Rydou. Inuyasha watched as the demon's head and body disintegrated. All that was left was the jewel shard which had been imbedded deep within the snake's body. Inuyasha snatched it out of the air and raced over to Kagome.
"Damn, what did he do to her!?" Inuyasha swore. He lifted her in his arms and held her close to his chest. "I'm so sorry Kagome, please be okay," he whispered to her. Her body burned with fever and her arm had changed from green to black and was spreading up her arm towards her heart.
He was unsure where to take her. They had just back tracked towards Kaede's village, but might still be closer to their original destination. He quickly decided to head back to Kaede, since he wouldn't trust the other villagers to care for Kagome. He carried her as gently as he could while running at great speed. She hadn't stirred since their encounter with Rydou and his heart raced faster than his legs with dread.
Meanwhile to the west of Kaede's village Sango and Miroku had indeed run into a youkai with a jewel shard. Sango was able to wound it with hiraikotsu*, but it managed to escape because Miroku was fearful of sucking in the jewel shard with his wind tunnel. Inuyasha would never forgive him if he did. They left Shippou and Kirara behind in the village to let Kagome and Inuyasha know that they continued on to track down the demon.
*youkai - demon
*Kaze no Kizu - Inuyasha's wind scar attack. (I like the way he says this phrase better)
*hiraikotsu-Sango's large boomerang weapon