Previously:

"So he won't come looking for you, will he?" the hanyou growled maliciously into her ear as she fell to the ground, clutching her stomach. Blood oozed from a fist sized hole that went straight through to the other side. Kagome coughed and choked on blood that gurgled within her throat.

Her vision began to blur as the imposter stood back to survey his work. His grin sent chills through her as he turned to a shadow in the woods. Darkness overcame her before she could hear any words exchanged.

Chapter Seventeen

His Game

Sesshomaru paced back and forth under the night sky, glancing periodically into the rolling hills. Frustration began to creep into his aura. Not long after, a sense of anxiety seeped into his mind. It felt wrong. All wrong. Four hours was more than enough time to talk and come back, even if they did go pretty far. But what could have happened?

He couldn't even imagine Kagome being interested in running away, especially after her promise to return swiftly. Some sort of threat seemed to be the only possibility. The area was crawling with demons; the remains of the village proved that. But he knew Kagome could handle a couple feisty demons with easy. And Inuyasha…?

Inuyasha had been acting pretty weird with the cold eyes and indifferent aura. He'd backed down from two arguments when normally the fights would've never ended, with or without Kagome's interference. And Sesshomaru had noticed some sort of difference in his brother when he first saw him.

Had it really been him? Sesshomaru racked his brain for the answer. Inuyasha's hatred for his brother couldn't be duplicated, so his reaction when Sesshomaru had first come had to be genuine. And Kagome had probably seen only Inuyasha since she'd left the castle, so he was the only one outside of the couple to know of their relationship. Which meant their argument on backstabbing couldn't have been just a show.

But then, why weren't they back yet? He wanted to trust Kagome could handle herself no matter the case, but his confidence began to sink with every second that passed.

Sesshomaru blinked. If even the daiyokai had to stop and think about the possibility of Inuyasha being an imposter, then Kagome would be totally fooled. She was talented, observable, and powerful, but she was still human. So if she had no idea…

As soon as the realization came into focus, the demon was racing through the hills and into the forest.

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Kagome's head rolled from side to side as if it were too heavy for her to keep up. When her eyes opened, she blinked several times in an attempt to adjust her vision to the darkness. Her mind registered the cold stone floor her body laid on. Shivering, she sat up. A moment later, she began to feel the cold metal links around her wrists and hear the scraping and clanking of chains. It was so dark she couldn't even see her hand in front of her face.

Heavy fatigue suddenly washed over her like a tsunami. She laid back down quickly, as if her body was suddenly too heavy to support, ignoring the shiver than ran through her spine as she came into contact with the icy floor. Seconds later, she slipped into unconsciousness again.

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Sango sat outside the bamboo screen, eyes searching the village frantically. It was nearly dawn and Kagome still hadn't returned. In her heart, she could feel something was terribly wrong. But confidence in her friend's abilities kept her where she was.

The bamboo screen suddenly moved as a familiar purple robe passed through. "Still no sign?"

Sango sighed with a shake of her head. "I don't like it," she said, fear lacing the irises of her eyes. She stood up and looked into the monk's eyes. His expression told her he felt the same.

"Should we find Shippo?" he asked with an underlying question. He held his staff and her massive boomerang.

She understood. "Yes."

The fox demon was found with Kirara in the clearing practicing magic. The three exchanged looks. With a nod, they headed toward the village entrance.

"She said Sesshomaru is here too. Maybe he knows something," Sango said with diminishing hope.

Miroku only nodded. Either way, their friend was in trouble. And the trouble was enough to delay both Kagome and Inuyasha, not to mention the daiyokai.

Sango's mind swam with possibilities, mostly centering around a demon attack. But Kagome could easily handle something like that, right? Unless…

Unless Naraku was involved. Her heart jumped a beat as the idea sank in. The final battle could be raging on without them.

Unconsciously, she picked up the pace as they passed the village guards. They had no idea where to start looking, but an instinctive feeling led them through the hills and into the surrounding forest. The forest's density began to make Sango nervous. She felt as if a demon could be lurking behind every tree. As they pressed further, she began to doubt a scream could even be heard through the mass of foliage.

Her heart lurched again as a dreadful feeling took over from that thought. Kagome…

"Stop," Miroku suddenly said. The party froze as they studied their surroundings. "Do you feel that…?" Miroku whispered.

Sango whipped her boomerang off her back as Shippo took on a feral stance and Miroku held the prayer beads of his Wind Tunnel hand. She knew exactly what it was. Even though she was only human, even she could feel the pressing auras of the mass of demons surrounding them.

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The density of the trees was something Sesshomaru hadn't seen before as he traveled further into its depths. They'd drown out any sound that tried to carry through the wind. Dread began to tingle up his spine as his hunch began to turn into reality.

The metallic smell hit his nose like a solid wall. The demon's eyes were already bleeding red when he burst into the clearing. Scarlet blood was painted on the grass like a canvas. There was only one blood scent belonging to Kagome, a clear sign that she had been unprepared for the attack and couldn't fight back beforehand.

Sesshomaru walked to the spot where the most crimson had pooled. Although the blood scent was heavy in his nostrils, he clearly picked up the scent of Inuyasha. Rage seeped its way into his eyes as he struggled to maintain control over his inner demon. This was clearly the work of an imposter, who had to be Naraku. He'd done this trick before and fooled Kikyou.

His eyes followed the line of blood that made its way deeper into the woods. As he instantly took off to follow it, he chastised himself for being fooled, regret pooling in his heart.

Narrowed eyes followed Sesshomaru's body. Kagura kept down wind but made sure not to lose him from her line of vision. She wasn't surprised that he didn't detect her. Her scent was swallowed by the girl's blood and his blind rage left his sharp senses distracted. Just like Naraku had said.

He'd given her very strict orders. Keep him distracted for as long as possible. Do whatever is necessary. Which, translated, meant that after he discovered the blood trail was only a distraction, she had to interfere, quite possibly risking her life.

Not that she really cared. Naraku had many plans up his sleeve for that girl. The miko would give him what he wanted for sure. And then Kagura would be dead anyway.

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Kagome fought against the darkness that struggled to overwhelm her. Finally winning the fight, her eyes fluttered open. Instantly, she felt the stiffness of her cold limbs. Groaning, she stood and stretched. Her arms didn't even make it past the top of her head before the chains binding them stopped their ascent.

As she tried to bring feeling back into her exhausted extremities, she tried to clear the memories that created a vague fog. Faces of her friends went through her mind and lingered on Sesshomaru's worried face. Then Inuyasha's cold unblinking eyes appeared.

Kagome's eyes snapped open as her last conscious memory caught up with her. She grit her teeth in the frustration of her stupidity. Why hadn't she seen it before? Everything made sense now, pointing in the obvious direction of an imposter, but she hadn't had a clue at the time.

Fatigue washed over her and she sat back down involuntarily. With the strange sense of déjà vu, she began to contemplate her exhaustion. How could she be so tired when she'd just been sleeping?

But more importantly… why didn't she feel any pain? Heart racing, Kagome's eyes traveled to her torso. The extreme darkness made it impossible to see anything so her fingers traveled to the spot where she knew a hole should be. Aside from a rip in her clothing, she felt smooth flesh.

Disbelief and utter confusion radiated from her aura. The only way she can heal herself is if she puts concentration in it and summons her miko powers. And she obviously can't do that while asleep. So then why wasn't there a gaping hole where she clearly remembered the Inuyasha imposter clawing her through the abdomen?

Before she could linger on the subject further, a scraping sound emitted from straight ahead of her. She strained to see even a glimmer of light through the darkness. The scraping got louder until suddenly a door swung open. She took advantage of the dim light from the hallway and observed her cell. It was no bigger than a small room and she was chained to the far end opposite from the door. Aside from the wooden door, the room was made of gray stone.

The light from the doorway was blocked as a figure stood in it. It was still too dark to see specific features, but she knew from his malicious aura who he was.

"Ah, miko, it's good to see you awake," a voice cooed.

Kagome glared at the silhouette without remark. A match was suddenly struck and a candle lit as he came closer. She was slightly surprised to see Inuyasha's red kimono and silver hair come into focus.

"Where is he?" she spat instantly. Her voice was hoarse and barely classified as a whisper.

"Where is who?" he asked with the innocence of a liar.

"Inuyasha," she growled with impatience.

The figure chuckled. "You're looking at him."

"Give it up Naraku, you can only fool me once," she hissed.

He laughed cruelly. "Once was all I needed." He came closer and grabbed a hold of her chin, jerking her face in each direction for inspection. He shook his head as he stepped back. "That will never do," he mumbled.

Confusion clouded the rage in her eyes. "What are you talking about?" She hated being left in the dark. Especially now when so many things were a mystery to her.

He looked her squarely in the eye as evil swirled in the depths of his amber irises. "You see, you have something I want. Something I need. And only you can give it to me."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she mumbled even though she knew it was a futile attempt.

His hand came across her cheek swift and hard. "But you do," he said in a cold stony voice as a red print began to emerge on her face. "And I'm perfectly prepared to wait until you have enough sense to hand over the last jewel shard."

"Where's Inuyasha?" she hissed, changing the subject.

The imposter sighed. "I told you, you're looking at him." She opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off. "It's his body, anyway." He paused as she waited for him to explain. "Possession is an interesting ability. It requires an inanimate being, which is why controlling the dead is so easy."

"Dead?" Kagome choked.

The Inuyasha figure laughed cruelly. "No human, your pathetic hanyou is not dead." He paused in thought before saying, "He's temporarily frozen. Similar to the spell Kikyou put on him a few years back, but of a more demonic origin. Everything you see truly is the hanyou. The only difference is the mind."

Kagome breathed a sigh of relief.

"Keep in mind that all that could change very swiftly, priestess," Naraku said maliciously. "That is, if you don't give me what I ask for."

She ground her teeth. So this was his game. "Everyone will come looking for me eventually," she said threateningly. "Sesshomaru…"

"His appearance was quite a surprise and very frustrating since it put a slight kink in my plan, even though I did have prior knowledge to the changing relationship between you two with the help of Kanna," the hanyou said thoughtfully. His expression transformed into menacing as he said, "But all your 'friends' have been taken care of."

He smirked at her, enjoying her silence for a moment. "I am being kind and allowing you to end this before it starts," he said with the malicious smirk still in place. "Give me the jewel shard."

When her silence became extensive, Naraku grew impatient. "Suit yourself," he growled as he turned his back on her scowling face. "I have endless ways of 'convincing' you."

He stalked out the cell door but stopped to talk to a dark figure lingering by the doorway. "Just don't kill her," he said uncaringly but with authority.

The demon chuckled maliciously as he stepped through the opening. Kagome's eyes gravitated to the long weapon in his hand. It looked to be a leather whip with tassels sprouting from its end. The talon-like hooks attached to the ends scraped the stone dragging on the floor as he made his way closer.

"Ready for some fun?" he asked in a cruel deep voice.

Naraku closed the door behind him, shrouding the tiny room in impenetrable darkness.

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Hey all. I'm sorry for the pretty late update, especially since this chapter isn't even that long. I had a hard time with this one. I couldn't decide how I wanted it all to work. I'm still not even really sure so the next chapter might take a while too. But I'll still try.

So what'd you think? Am I going in an okay direction with this? There were many ways this could've gone but any other way seemed too predictable. Lol, I don't think it's that bad, but I'd like to hear from y'all. Let me know any suggestions you may have for my next chapter so I can get it going quicker. Till next time,

Hiko