I know there are some people out there that thought I had given up on this poor epic tale of woes (all 3 of you, 2 being the people physically prodding me to write more-you know who you are, and keep doing it if you want to see more.) To the other 1.5 of you or to anyone else who might have randomly gotten sucked in to thisstory late one night(thanks for reading it, by the way), in my defense, this has been a crazy few months. If you really want the details of what has kept me from posting any more chapters, review this one and I'll personally senda detailed message of my ever so exciting life (insert sarcastic tone here). And please be reassured that I already have most of the next chapter written, and it is good. Oh yes, it is good stuff. But you gotta get through this part first, so I'm gonna shut up now and let you read.

And in case anyone forgot, all these characters don't belong to me. If they did, you'd be watching all this in animated goodness instead of waiting for it on a website posting. And if I made any characters up (which I did) they can go ahead and steal them. Be my guest. I'll know the truth in my heart...and as long as the powers that bedon't sue me, that's all that matters.

It was the chill that she sensed first, a damp chill that penetrated straight through her, bringing her out of her sleep into a confused daze. She felt her body release an involuntary shiver and at the same time felt the grip around her torso and knees tighten. "Inuyasha?" the thought flashed through her mind, but was quickly rejected. The embrace she felt was different, unmistakably alien against her body, and her mind's reaction was clearly screaming of danger despite the fact that it seemed incapable of controlling any major physical independent movement at the moment. Concentrating hard, she managed weakly to open her eyes, straining to focus on the face of the person who was carrying her.

"Ah, Kagome, you truly are a fighter," she heard Kanota's voice murmor, snapping her further into consciousness. He was watching her, his crisp eyes locked on to her face, swirling with mixed emotions.

"Kanota…why…" she managed to voice weakly, her terror growing.

"Shh, save your strength," he said, a finger rubbing on her wrist as the same strong sweet fragrance she had smelled before began to circle around them. "You have a big job ahead of you."

She could do nothing to fight the decent back to oblivion, therefore deciding to let it embrace her again as she felt Kanota bring her just slightly closer to his chest as a small measure of comfort. But neither the physical embrace nor the bliss of unconsciousness seemed to calm the rising dread of what she somehow sensed was about to happen. As a final thought before losing herself again, she once again reached out to the only one she knew beyond doubt could help her now.

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Why was it that when he most needed to hurry, everything seemed to take impossibly long?

It had taken slightly less time for the two of them to get back to the temple where Inuyasha had immediately taken off towards the direction of the well and was about to throw open the doors when Sota's sharp cry caught his attention, forcing him to freeze momentarily.

"Aren't you forgetting about the jewel shard?" he asked breathily, face flushed from chasing him across the courtyard.

Inuyasha let out a small growl at the significantly important detail he couldn't seem to retain so long as Kagome's whereabouts remained unknown. Sota, seeming to enjoy his current small role in his sister's grand adventure, ignored him once again as he led the hanyou up to his sister's room, although without the zeal that his partner was practically seething in his need to get back to the Feudal Era. It was obvious that the kid didn't understand the true peril that his sister was in at the moment, but revealing it now wasn't going to help either, so he let Sota continue his task while trying very hard not to destroy something. Quickly, but methodically the boy proceeded to tearing apart the contents of his sister's desk drawer, something he didn't seem terribly upset to be doing, Inuyahsa noticed, as he set particular items in a small separate pile from the ones that he flung haphazardly in his search. Finally, after a few loud foot stomps and a very direct clearing of the throat, Sota recovered a small jar and handed over the prize, and for a moment, Inuyasha froze, staring at the now unfamiliar object in his hand. Instead of the bright sparkling jewel shard Kagome had taken with her, a lifeless gray twin sat cold in his palm that even through the glass forced a shiver through his core.

He had to hurry.

Grasping the piece, he gave Sota a nod exited through the bedroom window into the night towards the small shed housing the well and the link back to his world. Taking a hard jump in, he felt the familiar pull of atmosphere around him as he began the transport back to his time, but almost instantly the air around him seemed heavy, particularly targeting the shard in his hand, as if the portal itself even rejected the shard in its current form. Inuyasha fought on, pressing on against any resistance as hard as he was able, not allowing the thought that the well was going to keep him from getting to where he was going, but just as the force against him seemed to be almost overpowering, its aim shifted, sending him flying towards the other end of the passage and practically spitting him out the top of the Bone Eaters Well.

Almost without hesitation, Inuyasha was on his feet and heading up the path towards the village. Obviously most of the villagers were already tucked away for the night, precautions already in place against any demon attacks that might take place. The watchmen were out as usual, but none seemed concerned with the expedient approach of the familiar demon spawn. "Just as well," he thought, happy to be saved the nuisance of battling through them to the people who could actually be of some help. Looking ahead, he saw a flickering of light through the window of Kaete's hut and prayed for some good luck for a change. If the group was still awake, it would take them less time to get them mobilized and on the search for Kagome.

Or so he thought. As was becoming the trend of the evening, unexpected twists continued to complicate what started out as the simplest of plans, this time in the form of a pale-faced priestess who sat staring at him frowning as soon as he ducked into the doorway.

"We've been waiting for you, Inuyasha."

"Kikiyo…" The name barely escaped his lips in a breathy rush as he collapsed against the doorframe, his body spent after the long struggle unconsciously taking advantage of the period of rest. The rest of the group was seated around, he noticed thankfully, but the mood in the room sat heavy after his sudden interruption, making the hairs on his arm rise. "What's been going on here?" he wondered silently, eyeing his friends' exhausted expressions that so closely mirrored his own, although none so much as the pale faced priestess who he had spent so much time searching for up until just hours ago.

Before everything had changed.

"Where's Kagome?" Shippou's grating voice called out without hesitation, never one to be concerned with tact. "I thought you were going to get her."

Sango immediately hushed the fox demon sharply, but found her gaze locking on to Inuyasha expectantly as well, hoping that Kagome's noticeable absence didn't mean the worst. Kikiyo however, was not one to grasp on to fleeting hope.

"He has her, doesn't he," she stated flatly, needing only to look at her former guardian to confirm her answer. He stood slumped, almost dependently, against the doorframe, eyes closed and lips twitching, preparing himself, she knew, for whatever he would have to overcome to get her back. Intuitively she knew that getting Kagome back was no longer a question for Inuyasha, but how soon would it be before he could get to her. Suddenly urgently needing to suppress the foreign but undeniable pangs of jealousy beginning to bubble in her stomach, Kikiyo drew her attention towards his tightly clenched hand, pulling herself upright to retrieve its contents from him with a large amount of effort. Beside them, Miroku watched the exchange with quiet interest.

Just as Inuyasha had when first receiving it, Kikiyo jerked at the cold streak that immediately began creeping up her arm from the small gray jewel shard that now sat in her palm. Concentrating the reserves of her energy, she began pouring it towards the shard, trying whatever means she could think of to respark its energy to what it was before as the group watched with breathless intensity. The tiny jewel piece sparkled with momentary life for a few sparse seconds, but ultimately returned to its lifeless gray as Kikiyo slumped back onto the bedroll, her efforts taking their toll on her already depleted body. For the first time, Miroku noted, Inuyasha didn't fall straight by her side, but instead seemed to be struggling even more against what he guessed were his instincts to head out the door and back on the search.

"It's just as I thought, there's nothing I can do anymore," Kikiyo said with a hint of spite. "Kagome's the only one with the power to fix this now."

"Well then what are we all just standing around here for?" Inuyasha fired, allowing his frustrations a bit of an outlet. "We should be on our way to get her back from that damn bastard!"

"Take it easy Inuyasha," Miroku's even toned voice broke in over the shouting. "I think we know better by now than to rush into anything involving Naraku, especially in his own territory. Besides, for the moment we have a bit of an advantage." He eyed Kikiyo who continued to feign preoccupation with the jewel shard clenched tightly in her hand. "Naraku won't hurt Kagome, since she seems to be the key element in all of his plans. He probably figures that we have no idea of her significance either and are on the verge of desperation to get her back just out of devotion alone. But perhaps even more importantly, we still have something he needs." He paused dramatically, waiting as all eyes directed towards Kikiyo and the jewel piece in her hand. "Even if he were only using Kagome as bait for us, he would have to keep her completely unharmed in order for us to consider giving up our shard."

The thought of bargaining with Naraku brought a throaty growl from Inuyasha who at this particular moment preferred the idea of sticking his sword through the demon's gut a few times or more. "And just what do you think we should do?"

"If this truly is to be our final showdown with Naraku, we need to have every piece of information we can get, especially the exact whereabouts of the other three loose shards. If Naraku still feels there is work to be done, then Kohaku at least should still be holding a shard in his back. Koga has two shards as well that he so far has managed to keep out of Naraku's grasp. Our shard has more power when paired with the other three as well, so I'd say it's in our best interest to figure out exactly where they are."

Miroku could see Inuyasha's uneasiness with the idea of being away from Kagome any longer than absolutely necessary and knew that he had a short window of time before he would probably take off on his own after her, and thereby cause more trouble than they wanted at that point. He hated surprises, and knowing their situation, Naraku would have plenty up his sleeve for them anyways. There was also one other thing that was plaguing him, something he was just going to have to trust his instincts on and hope somehow it would all fall into place in the end.

"Sango, take Kirara and find out your brother's whereabouts and any recent activity. Shippou and I will do the same for Koga." He paused, quickly weighing all other options in his head. "Kikiyo, I assume that having come from there you know where Naraku's probably taken Kagome."

Inuyasha's attention snapped towards the priestess who nodded without hesitation. "Good," the priest continued, "then you and Inuyasha go on ahead and see if you can find Kagome and get to her before something worse happens. If all works out, we'll have a clear path to catch up to you when the rest of us find out what we need to know."

The hanyou was already making his way out the door, apparently satisfied with Miroku's proposal, followed by a jittery Shippou who seemed just as happy not to be assigned to be headed straight towards Naraku. Sango, on the other hand, sat behind quietly, acutely aware of Miroku's lingering attention towards Kikiyo as she too made her way out the hut. Pretending to examine her tools for her journey, she waited until the two of them were alone to confirm that their thoughts really did mirror each other.

"Do you really think we can trust her?" she asked in a low tone.

"She's certainly been more trouble for us than help," he replied, "but for a number of reasons it's probably our only option. Besides, I'm not sure what happened over in Kagome's world, but Inuyasha is behaving as if Kikiyo is practically non-existent, which seems consistent with what she told us earlier. And if that's really the case, there's nothing we can do to keep Inuyasha from launching himself for wherever Kagome is anyway."

Sango nodded, but still looked uneasy, and Miroku could sense her brother's safety on her mind. "Don't worry," he smiled reassuringly, placing a hand on top of hers. "Kikiyo was first and foremost a priestess of the Shikon jewel. I'm sure beyond anything else her impulse is to protect the jewel from falling into the wrong hands. She may have her own ultimate devices, but I don't think it's to let the Shikon stay in Naraku's possession."

Sango by this time knew the priest well enough to catch the insecurity in his words, but she knew Miroku was right. At this point, the two of them alone would be useless in the web they had become entangled in. All they had left was to trust that somehow Inuyasha would come through and Kagome would be okay, a concept she could see was difficult for Miroku as well as he too exited the small hut with a determined stride.

The moon hung low over the roofs of the village, seeming to illuminate Kikiyo's dark rich hair with a gem-like shimmer as she stood staring out towards the forest where the God Tree stood, still bearing the smooth pressed scar of Inuyasha's prior entrapment. At the time, she had probably done what she thought would protect the jewel, sacrificing her own desires by whatever means. This time her intentions were much more fuzzy.

"You know that if anything happens to Kagome because of you, it won't just be Inuyasha you'll have to answer to."

"Your mistrust of me is not unexpected, monk," Kikiyo responded softly, not bothering to break her gaze from the distance. "If it's too much for you, I have no problem leaving you to find Kagome on your own."

"That's just it. You've never really told us why the sudden interest in helping Kagome. You'll have to pardon my doubts, but I'm having a hard time remembering a time that your intentions towards Kagome haven't been malicious in some way."

Kikiyo was quiet for a spell, in her own way agreeing with him. "I do what I have to do, as the jewel guides me. Maybe it is my final duty as a priestess of the Shikon, but my soul can't rest until I have done my part to restore the balance." Her head shifted slightly and her gaze rested on Inuyasha approaching from the direction of the Bone Eaters Well. "Just as Inuyasha must do what he must."

"Kikiyo!" the hanyou's voice carried sharply up the hill. "Let's go."

She obeyed instantly, meeting him at the foot of the slope and taking her place attached to his back where Kagome had sat so many times before, and in a swirl of red and white, the pair took off into the night sky towards the destiny that had been affixed upon them for so long.

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It was hard to maintain focus long enough to recall what was going on around her, but it didn't stop Kagome from trying. But success had its price, as the first thing that hit her each time was a damp chill that racked her bones and shot straight to her core. The second was the ache that penetrated her body, likely from being binded to the hard slab beneath her. She couldn't move her arms or legs, although she couldn't sense ropes or anything else binding them that trended along normal hostage securing likeness. And in the middle of it all, as if seeping its way into her consciousness, the deep current of magical energy would hit her, along with the strange sensation that she had been here before, sometime long ago.

But the relative calm ended there, and Kagome held her breath, bracing for what happened next. It started in a nauseous wave, the first physical signal of her body's rejection of the evil power surrounding her, then quickly progressed to an electric stabbing that seemed to run through every vessel, forcing spasms to wrack her from the inside out. She bit her lip, trying hard not to reveal her consciousness to her enemy, but the intensity of the powers surrounding her continued to chip away at her stamina until she could no longer hold her body still and the screams erupted from her, looking for any outlet of release that might ease her suffering.

Instantly the sound of her cries sparked activity from across the room, and Kanota appeared in a flash, a mixture of concern and disapproval adorning his features. At first the flash of white hair stirred a glimmer of relief to the pain, but quickly her mind recognized him and the memories of what had happened earlier came rushing back. She struggled against his touch as he gently smoothed her hair in a gesture of comfort.

"Kagome, why do you keep fighting me when I'm trying to help you? You don't have to go through all this pain."

She could only shake her head. Words seemed impossible at this time as her mind grew more and more fuzzy with Kanota's sedating magic and soon once again her body lay heavy and numb as her mind drifted further away. Having lost her current battle, she let her thoughts drift towards her one reserve of strength, calling to him one more time in desperation.

"Inuyasha…where are you? You have to find me…you have to get me out of here…"

She could picture him clear in her mind, so close she could swear she could reach out and grab hold of him, running at a near frantic pace. For a second he twitched and a bizarre expression crossed him, almost as if he could perceive her cries somehow. His mouth formed her name silently, but she never noticed it as Kagome finally gave in, allowing herself to be engulfed in Kanota's sheltering void with the image of her savior carrying her rival burned to her memory.

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I love hearing what you think. It encourages me to write more. :) And for those of you who have given up hope for anything good to happen, tune in next time for...well, just tune in. Hell, you've gotten this far, haven't ya?