Disclaimer: Do not own Inuyasha.
It was close to midnight, and the moon, in its last quarter,finally shed a wave of faint glow upon earth.
The night caught Sesshomaru on the run, as the gap between him and his objective increased. He had almost lost Kagome from his radar during the day because they were riding the fire cat.
Unfortunately, he could not fly, so he had to climb his way up the mountain to reach her. He did not trust his dimwit brother to keep her alive. Now she had almost half of the Shikon jewel and Naraku could be striking anytime.
He caught in the wind a sweet scent that he could not define, alongside with one of grave soil and ashes.
Sesshomaru was almost relieved that the insane chase was over. He slowed his pace, and muffled his movements.
Creeping on the high branch of a tree, he could rest, having caught up with his brother's group.
"Kikyo, where are we going? I can't see anything!" kagome whispered. It was too dark for human eyes.
"I want to talk to you about something in private, out of earshot."
"That doesn't sound creepy at all…" Kagome mumbled barely audible.
"What was that?" asked Kikyo.
"Huh... nothing." her reincarnation answered nervously.
From up in the trees, Sesshomaru could smell Kagome's fear, so he followed.
"Don't you think we are far enough?" tried Kagome once more.
"We are almost there." Answered Kikyo.
The two girls reached a river. Kagome realized that this is where Shippou must have come to collect water, but that did not ease her fears.
The elder priestess sat down by the bank of the river and motioned with her hand for Kagome to sit in front of her.
Kagome complied with the request.
"Tell me," Kikyo paused, before uttering her reincarnations name"...Kagome."
Said reincarnation, could feel her heart throbbing in her throat. She gulped hard and waited for Kikyo to continue. The suspense was killing her.
"What has Kaede taught you?"
"Well, just to pick herbs and how to pour my energy into my arrows, then shoot them." Answered Kagome, feeling very relieved that Kikyo didn't want to discuss ownership of Inuyasha.
"If that's all you have prepared against Naraku, the Shikon jewel is as good as lost. I will start teaching you the basic training for a miko; however, I have a price."
"What is it?" asked Kagome suspiciously.
"It is not Inuyasha. I will ask a favor from you, but all within its time."
Kagome evaluated her options, and decided it was better to go for it, and deal with the consequences later, than to continue being dead weight for everyone else. "Okay you have a deal! Let's start!"
Kikyo smiled, but it was too dark for Kagome to notice.
"First lesson is meditation. You will listen to your surroundings until you will see it with the eye of your mind."
"Okay…how am I supposed to do that?" Asked Kagome, after she seated herself in the lotus position.
"Use the sound of the stream as a catalyst for your meditation."
"Okay" she said, eyes shut, already trying to concentrate.
oOo
Morning caught Kagome snoring on the forest's floor. Her hair was tangled, dry leaves made a home out of her black tresses, and her blue pajamas were covered in dirt.
"Kagome!" Kikyo said in a neutral tone.
"Five more minutes", she moaned.
"You may sleep more if you wish, however, Inuyasha will come anytime now to look for us, and I doubt u want to be seen drooling on the ground."
"aham… okay", Kagome brushed her off, as she turned on the other side.
Kikyo did not hesitate, and left the slumbering girl where she was.
It took Kagome a couple of minutes to register what she heard.
`Please be a dream, please be a dream…`, Kagome prayed as she slowly cracked an eye open.
Higher, on a boulder embedded in the slope of the mountain, a certain white demonic feline was licking his fresh wounds. He was wet, cold and tired. .
Kagome stretched and yawned loudly.
"I totally fell asleep last night." She spoke for herself, while rubbing an eye with the back of her hand.
The sleepy girl walked to the bank of the river, cupped some cold water with her palms, and splashed her face.
Face wet, she tried to wipe off the excess water from her eyes, as she paid a second glace to the river.
The sight galvanized her to jolt back, and scream in terror.
On the other side of the river, tainting the running water with its blood, laid the corpse of what seemed to be like a very shredded amphibian.
The dead demon laid on its belly, and had orange scales which glowed brightly in the morning sun. Its body was twisted in U-shape and maimed. One of its back legs was chewed off, and was partly dipped in the river, while its head was close to his tail and turned on its side, exposing a ripped throat. The demon's head was connected to its body only by a thin stripe of flesh of its remaining neck. The victim's back looked like a cat's scratching pole, it had deep gashes, now filled by dry blood.
Dead bright green eyes, which were now deprived of light, were overlooking the opposite side of the river, where Kagome had slept.
Kagome frantically felt for the Shikon jewel pendant at her chest. She had found it, and was rubbing it nervously.
"It came after the Shikon jewel", she mumbled, as she turned tail and ran back to where she assumed her friends were.
In her path, on the left side, crushed against a big rock covered in roots, a harpy laid lifeless, with wings broken, and face eaten off.
Kagome screamed. She looked back where she had meditated, and noticed more corpses positioned at different distances.
At first, Kagome thought that Kikyo protected her during the night. However, all the demons were killed in a beastly manner.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted, as he reached her. "What happened here?"
At the sight of Inuyasha riding on a white horse, in shiny armor to rescue her, Kagome let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
She was relieved to see him.
"I… don't know Inuyasha… I just woke up and saw all these demons dead around me."
"Let's get out of here first, and we will talk in a safer place." said the hanoyu, before grabbing the panicked girl in his arms bridal style, and dashing away.