Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or it's characters
Chapter 8: A Day of Misery
When Kikyo awoke the next morning the sun was high in the sky. Inuyasha was bending over a pot and a fire cooking their breakfast. She looked around. Kagome was still asleep. She lazily got up and walked over to Inuyasha. She put her arm around his waist. Inuyasha looked up and smiled at Kikyo.
"Mmmm, that smells good Inuyasha. What is it?" she asked returning the smile.
"It's just something my mother used to make me when I was a kid. You put a little fish and some herbs in boiling water and you get a remarkable stew. Here try some." he said dipping some out of the pot with a spoon. Kikyo blew on it so the boiling hot froth would cool down.
Her mouth exploded with flavor. It was the best stew she had ever tasted. Grinning she remarked, "Inuyasha, I had no idea that you were such a good cook. If I had known you would have been cooking our whole trip."
"Thank-you," he said as his face flushed with embaressment. He looked over because he heard a noise. Kagome was awake.
"Good morning," Kagome grumbled still weary from her sleep. She gave a huge yawn and sat down next to Kikyo.
"The food is ready," Inuyasha stated to Kikyo and Kagome. They all sat down and ate out of makeshift bowls. Everyone, especially Kikyo, enjoyed the meal.
After they ate they prepared to leave. Kikyo and Inuyasha were wondering where they should travel next. They eventually decided the quickest way was to just pass through the wolf-demon camp and keep to the road. Kikyo and Inuyasha, along with Kagome, embarked once again on the journey with a smile on their faces. No one, however, would have smiled if they knew what lay ahead of them.
It wasn't long before the trio came to a dense forest. A wide river ran through the forest. Everything looked peaceful and cheery about the forest but their was just one thing wrong. Inuyasha was the first to notice the reason as to why the forest was different from others. He stated his discovery aloud, "Kikyo did you notice anything different about the forest when we walked in?" he asked.
"Yes, but I have no idea what is the matter with this place. It's just so quiet. It's actually pretty relaxing out here."
"Kikyo, what's different about this forest is that it is devoid of life. Haven't you noticed? A normal forest would be teaming with animals of all kinds." Kikyo looked around.
"Why, you're right. No wonder it is so quiet."
"Too quiet. There must be a reason for why the forest is so sparsly populated." Kagome said.
Inuyasha and Kikyo exchanged worried glances and grabbed their weapons. They did not say anything more on the subject.
"Do you smell that?" asked Inuyasha. Kikyo and Kagome sniffed but did not smell anything. "Just give it a minute then you will smell it. After all, my smelling is keener than yours." Inuyasha's prediction turned out to be true. Within a few minutes a rancid odor reached their noses.
"Where is that smell coming from?" asked Kikyo.
"I don't kn-" Kagome started to say but stopped when she saw the sight before them. The sight happened to be a mass of dead and decaying bodies. The bodies were stacked sloppily on top of one another in a wide clearing. In the center of the clearing stood a large building.
Inuyasha beckoned for Kikyo and Kagome to wait at the entrance of the clearing while he checked out the building. "If I'm not back in ten minutes something will be wrong." he said. He gave Kikyo a small kiss on the cheek and entered the building.
Kikyo and Kagome covered their noses so they would not have to smell the horrible stench. The smell was too strong to be blocked out completely though. They sat down at the base of a tree.
"So," Kagome said grinning, " You and Inuyasha have something going on."
"Huh." Kikyo said startled.
"It's not like I didn't just see him kiss you before he left."
Kikyo flushed with embaressment but said nothing. They sat in relative silence. After about six minutes Kikyo began to get worried. Inuyasha was not out yet. She kept her fear to herself.
She heard a shout from within the building. When she turned around, she saw Inuyasha running out at full speed. Her heart froze when she saw why he was running. Behind him was an army of huge demons. They continued to poor out of the building. Their number was more than 500 strong. She stood to help Inuyasha and grabbed her bow. The demons were catching up with Inuyasha fast. She selected an arrow and hurriedly let it loose.
Whoosh. The arrow rang in the air an struck three monsters down. This however did not even put a dent in their army.
Kikyo let loose a cry because before she could even draw an arrow, she saw Inuyasha go down under a deadly mass of demons.