May 05 2007: Author's Notes: Okay, continuing work to get this re-released. Whew. I'm going to combine my former chapters of 6 and 7 for this chapter because the others were pretty short and this way I'm fixing them up together.

Summary for Chapter 4: Sesshomaru had finished cleaning the wounds on Kagome and she rested for a bit before bathing and starting to fix breakfast. Then she was shocked by Sesshomaru's comment that she wasn't human followed by the question of what she was…

Chapter 5:Eyes From Afar or Haunting Dreams

"Wha…what do you mean? I'm human." she paled slightly, taking the bowl and food down away from her mouth as she gaped at the demon seated nearby.

"You don't smell human, you don't have power like a normal human, you don't heal at a speed anywhere near that of a human." he pointed out each of his comments with the raise of a clawed finger. "That leads me to believe that you are something else."

"But…I am human." Kagome was still surprised by the question and shaking her head. "I am human."

"Then you don't know." He figured aloud. "Perhaps part human and part something else…not a demon so I'm not really sure. It's not just your priestess powers…"

"A half-something?" she thought anxiously, "but I'm not half demon…so what then?"

Darkness.

The word haunted her thoughts from her strange dream.

"Don't let it concern you overly. It's a compliment, makes you somewhat worthwhile." He replied coolly.

"Gee, thanks." she commented with dry sarcasm, offering a dirty look for his trouble before continuing, "So if I'm not human or demon, what could I be?"

"If I knew what you were, then I wouldn't have asked." he pointed out slightly snooty-like. "We should rest for the remainder of today, within eight or nine hours you should be fine enough to walk on your own without pain. At least assuming the rate of regeneration you've been having keeps up at it's same pace."

"Right…and then we'll search for a way out. What do we do when we find one? Or even if we don't?" Kagome asked more seriously, accepting the change of topic despite her annoyance.

"We'll deal with the next step when it comes." he shrugged.

"Will you kill me?" she asked a little nervously.

"Only if you annoy me enough." he was getting up from where he was sitting and heading toward her with his claws glowing slightly green which made her start to move back with a frightened swallow.

She closed her eyes as he got close and then she felt him pass by, his quickness creating a gentle wind that tickled the goose bumped skin she'd gotten in return for the perceived threat. She heard a scuffling then that she hadn't noticed before.

"Move into the water and stay down." His voice ordered as an acidic yellow whip cut into a porcupine styled creature nearby.

The large vermin hissed at Sesshomaru from the insult, it's front legs bending downward as it raised it's hind in the air, the quills lifting and pointing toward the demon lord. The whip cut back across before it could do anything else and cut it's weapon in half as it took the second sweep, making the creature cry out in pain a second time before launching several of the sharp projectiles.

A whole line of them fell though one reached his left hip and the other his right shoulder before they burst into smaller particles, turning from damaging to devastating in an instant.

"Don't kill it!" Kagome called out then. "It's just protecting it's babies."

The whip caught and cut the creature's head free from it's body on the next swipe, finishing the battle with nothing more than an annoyed grimace from the demon where his skin was already starting to push free the splinters from the attack. With a natural defense and regenerative system beyond even that of most demons Sesshomaru seemed unconcerned with the attack as a whole.

Kagome could just watch in shock as he murdered the mother without mercy, staring at him like he was…well; a demon.

"Don't even mention it human, lie down and rest." Sesshomaru ordered before Kagome could use the breath she'd taken in to berate him. "We were lucky it attacked while we were awake, if we had been sleeping I imagine you wouldn't have survived."

"But what about it's cubs?" she asked sadly, glancing to where the younger demon porcupine creatures had begun to cry.

"They will survive or die." he settled himself back on the ground. "That is the way of the world."

Kagome picked back up her abandoned meal from the beginning of the conversation and watched the cubs moving to sniff at their mother and nudge her while they cried for her.

"I hate that he's right." she sighed to herself as she turned back to her noodles, eating just cause she knew she needed the nourishment more than anything. "Likely it wouldn't have stopped whatever we did and we need a place to rest if we want to get out of here. But…he didn't have to be so callous about it. I don't know what to think. He did save me."

"Thank you." she said softly without looking at him. "…for saving me."

That gave him a moment of pause. "I did that on purpose. I wanted to save her. Not just because of them trapping us here. Why would I want to…"

Her comment interrupted his train of thought. "Are you okay?"

He had been staring. He nodded slowly then.

"You are welcome."

"Why did you save me?" she asked hesitantly.

"I need you for the moment." he shrugged and glanced around. "It's getting colder, do you only have the single blanket?"

"Um…no…just the one." Kagome replied, happy for the change of topic. "How cold do you think it will get?"

"Judging from how quickly the temperature is dropping now. I'd imagine much more." he answered. "I will be fine but will you?"

"Um…I hope so." Kagome answered nervously looking around the cooler cave, noting for the first time that the lights of the crystals seemed to be dimming. As if they naturally followed the pattern of days outside, that at least was somewhat comforting - the idea of freezing to death made it less.

"Come here." the order was simple, his voice a icy velvet.

"I have a name." she muttered in annoyance of his never using it. Finishing her noodles and getting up.

"Bring the blanket you have with you."

She sent him a questioning look but when he didn't explain she picked it up and moved over to him. As she wandered up he stretched his tail and laid it across the ground in all it's large flufflyness, motioning her onto it.

"Sleep on his tail?" she thought skeptically. "Is he sure about this? Yes it would be warmer but I thought he hated humans. I hope I'm not getting this wrong."

She tentatively moved onto it, hoping she wasn't mistaking what he meant, half expecting him to cut her in half. She couldn't help but blush when he pulled the tail closer to his body and wrapped the rest of it's length around them. He was already resting but the experience was awkward for her to say the least.

"This is bizarre on a level I can't really describe. I know I never thought I'd be in the feudal era to begin with but using Sesshomaru grand tail for bedding?" Her thoughts bothered her only a little, even if it was the demon lord's fluff it was comfortable enough that she was fading quickly into slumber.

It was a short while later when the demon lord allowed himself to drift into a light sleep as well with his unexpected companion for this unpredicted adventure. Neither of the pair feeling or having any idea of the eyes that were watching them from afar.

End Chapter

Those chapters we're actually hard to re-write and we're both so short that I got fewer words out of this new chapter than I liked. This one I might go back and fix -yet again- in the future.

-Aura

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