Chapter 3

The morning sun colored the fresh snow a soft yellow, and the birds sang happily as they awoke with the sun; it was a breathtaking sunrise on a crisp winter morning. The young silver haired demon was blind to it though, golden eyes blurred by tears, screaming out hoarsely as he ran barefoot through the forest.

"Father!" His blood stained Yukata snagged on some branches, caught at his skin, scrapping his arms as he pushed through the brush. His father would make everything better, he would know what to do, he would know, he would know, his father would know, everything would be alright once he found his father… "Father!" His voice cracked, and with a shuddering gasp of air he began to sob, running without direction now, only needing to keep moving, he stumbled, and got painfully back to his torn, frozen feet, shivering as the snow melted against his skin.

His chest began to burn and he realized he had been running for hours, falling, and getting back up and running, he was covered by cuts and he was wet with snow. He fell against a tree, exhausted and empty. "Dad, where are you!?" He cried out to the cold forest. He was staring at his hands. They were still stained red with blood. With a cry he began to rub snow over his hands, scrubbing them, turning them numb as he scraped the blood from his skin. He huddled into himself, drawing his knees to his chest, wrapping his tail around himself; but he kept shivering, from the cold, and from the terror of the morning.

He folded his head into his hands sobbing all over again, raw with pain, it felt like his heart had been cut from his chest and cut into a hundred pieces, then a thousand pieces, each slice of his heart fast and burning in the pain. Each breath hurt, each movement. He ran his hands over his face, tearing into his hair. He could still smell the blood on his hands. He began to shake violently and vomited, dry heaves wracking his small body. Then the boy passed out in the snow.

Kagome awoke and immediately felt nauseous. She raced out of Sango and Miroku's house and got sick in the bushes. After a minute she breathed deeply, taking in a cool breath of the night air to calm her stomach and her nerves. She felt like crying. Her entire body felt weak. She bit her lip to keep herself in control. What was going on? What was with this overwhelming feeling of despair? She closed her eyes, fighting to hold onto the lingering threads of a memory. A flash of a boys face came into her mind.

She opened her eyes, startled. Then she tried to focus again. She sighed in frustration after a minute not being able to pick up her dream again. She frowned, thinking again of the boys face. His eyes had been watery, and red from crying, his hair had been a mess, with leaves and in tangles but the crescent moon on his forehead was unmistakable. Why had she just had a dream of Sesshoumaru as a child? She shook her head. A better question was, why, when all she had ever seen of Sesshoumaru was a cold and intimidating demeanor would she imagine him in tears as a child? She washed out her mouth in a nearby stream and yawned. She was just emotional right now. It was a lot to take in; that her dad was from the feudal era, somewhere, that he wasn't even human…of course her dreams would result in high emotions.

The only thing that didn't make sense was that it was Sesshoumaru flashing in her mind. She frowned again as she walked back to the house, wishing she could recall the rest of that dream. She snuck quietly back into the house, thankful that at least she hadn't woken Inu Yasha. She didn't feel like explaining her vague dreams of his older brother to him. She snuggled into the bed and Shippou sighed contently in his sleep and nuzzled into her automatically. She closed her eyes with a smile. Shippou's nuzzling reminded her of something…Her smile lasted all of ten seconds before her eyes snapped open she shot up.

"OH my god." Snippets of dreams came to her in a wave. Images rushed her, flashed through her mind of Sesshoumaru nuzzling his mother's neck, Sesshoumaru running through a field of flowers, Sesshoumaru wrestling his father, Sesshoumaru's wholehearted grin, Sesshoumaru sobbing, Sesshoumaru scrubbing blood from his hands… "What in the world is going on?" What were these images? Repressed…dreams? Dreams in crystal clear clarity, where she felt like she had been in that field of flowers with Sesshoumaru? She could remember the smell of the flowers. It was ridiculous! Who can remember the smell of something from a dream?

She could feel the joy as Sesshoumaru was held by his mother, she was startled at the unabashed look of love in his eyes…

This was all just her overactive imagination. Had to be. How else could she imagine Sesshoumaru looking so sweetly at someone?

The real Sesshoumaru flashed in her mind, a memory from the battle with Naraku as he slay ruthlessly and with dispassionate eyes, the blood splatters never touching his pristine figure…

The real image and her version of him as a smiling, loving child couldn't reconcile.

But…

She had been apart of this world since she was fifteen, long enough to realize that magic existed, that fairy tales had roots in truth, that evil was real; she had learned so much here that modern Japan would never had taught her. She had lived here in a land of spells and demons long enough to learn never leave anything up to chance, never chalk anything up to coincidence (because there might be a pseudo-demi-god trying to take over the village)..or in this case a real serious reason why her dreams were so detailed…that they felt more like memories. She bit her lip, for just a second hesitating.

"No, there has to be a reason for this. This is too weird." Sleep was out of the question. She was wide awake now and confused. Each of the dreams were so acute…the last one had actually awoken her and made her nauseas enough to get sick. These were no normal dreams. Was it a spell? A curse?

Kagome ran a hand through her hair in agitation. Kagome got up and she started to rummaged through her bag. Shippou muttered in his sleep and Kagome froze, wincing mentally at how loud she must have just been. Shippou turned away from her and kept sleeping. At least she hadn't woken him up. Her hand closed over the small plastic clock she had been searching for. She pulled it out and glared at what it read,

2:03 a.m.

She had awhile to wait. The dreams were intense and strange, but not a big enough deal to wake up anybody. With a sigh she lay back own and settled down for a long night. She would be talking to Kaede in the morning. She might recognize what kind of enchantment this might be. And Miroku, he could use his sutras and ward wherever Kagome slept… Eventually she did fall asleep, dreaming again of a young demon with smiling eyes that had yet to turn cold.

AN:

SORRY it's a short chap., I know. I know.

So I'm not too familiar with going about finding a Beta reader, but I really really really really need/would like one!If you would be interested in helping out this story, or just telling me HOW to get a good beta reader I'd appreciate it!

AS ALWAYS….I LOVE reviews, it tells me where people are at. As the storyteller it's always going to make sense with me. My best critic is you. So please, don't be shy and give it to me! Love or hate, man ..

….though I prefer love ;)