And... another chappie.

In Time

III

As the mountain's neared, the surrounding forest became thicker and more unruly. The underbrush was dense and twisted, consisting of thorny vines and brambles that snaked their way up gnarled old trees whose growth had been stunted from their own proximity to one another. Dead leaves littered the ground and patches of grass had taken up residence in the middle of the road.

'Obviously this road isn't taken often. Great...' Kagome frowned again as a knot of anxiety formed in her belly. She tucked her hair behind her ear in a nervous habit and pushed her powers outward to sense for danger. Nothing was in the immediate area except for herself and her companions. 'Well that's good, I guess. But I get the feeling we're being watched...' She gazed up at the mountains that loomed ahead. Now that the group of shard hunters had closed some of the distance between themselves and the dark peaks, the young miko noticed that they were much larger than she had originally thought. 'How old are these mountains? They're freakin' huge!'

Tearing her eyes away from the mountains, she cast her gaze on her group of friends. Inuyasha had stopped and leapt into a tree to keep watch over the small camp that Miroku and Sango were setting up. Kagome followed suit and began unpacking their food and her bedroll.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome called into the tree.

"Yeah, what ya want?"

"Is there somewhere I can bathe nearby?" Kagome waited for a reply with her arms full of her shampoo, conditioner, towel and night clothes.

The hanyou seemed to take a minute to check the surrounding area. He leaned over the rather large branch he had been sitting on to peer down at Kagome. "Yeah I think there's some water over there a ways." He jabbed his thumb behind him in the direction of the mountains. "Be careful though wench. I don't wanna have to save your sorry ass from some demon. I just got comfortable."

Kagome rolled her eyes and made her way in the direction he had pointed. "Thanks Inuyasha. Nice to know you care." She said sarcastically.

After a few minutes of walking down the path, a slight puff of warm humid air caressed her face. 'Ooh a hot spring!' Kagome immediately turned towards the spring and ventured off the path. She periodically broke twigs at eye level so she could find her way back and soon found a break in the trees. She smiled in appreciation. A beautiful hot spring lay in front of her.

The hot spring was small but it had two tiered pools, the one above spilling warm mineral enriched water into the deeper pool below. The sun had already set, and now a full moon sprinkled its soft light through the trees, giving the water an unearthly glow.

Kagome slipped off her shoes and stripped herself of her dirty, sweaty clothes. She bent down and dipped her clothes in the warm water, lathering them with some of her shampoo, before rinsing them and wringing them out. After hanging the now clean but wet clothes on a nearby branch, she carefully stepped into the cloudy water, mindful of the slippery rocks beneath her feet.

She found a comfortable spot near the little waterfall and leaned back to relax. "Ahhhh...that's nice." Kagome enjoyed her solitary baths when she could. Though Sango sometimes joined her, the common belief in this era that bathing often was bad for one's health, kept the demon slayer from joining her on most nights. The quiet solitude was welcome this time as Kagome took the opportunity to sift through her thoughts.

A picture of the handsome dog eared boy popped into her head. She sighed wearily. Though she knew Inuyasha was undoubtedly her first love, she was finally coming to terms with the reality of the relationship between them. 'Sure, I love him. But I don't think he will ever be able to love me for who I am.' She suddenly felt depressed. 'I guess I'll just have to let it go and move on. I mean, how can I ever be truly loved if he only sees me as the shadow of his former paramour? I know he cares for me. But maybe... it would be better if we were just close friends.' A frown pulled at her lips and she sighed.

Kagome shook her head and disappeared under the surface of the water. 'I'll talk to him when it feels right. No sense in adding tension between us before a battle.'

After resurfacing, she lathered her hair with shampoo and again dove under the water to rinse. She repeated the action with her conditioner but rinsed it out of her hair under the waterfall. As she reached her right hand back to run her fingers through her hair, she accidentally pricked her finger on a jagged piece of rock. Hissing, she yanked her hand in front of her.

"Ouch! Son of a bi-" She cut off her own train of thought as her mouth fell open in awe. The drop of blood that had fallen from her finger into the water seemed to react with the pool's contents. It suddenly became startlingly clear, as if her blood had purified the minerals that once clouded the water. It began to swirl and churn turning the deep red of her blood. Kagome froze in panic.

"What in the hell...?" She mumbled before she gasped when the water rapidly changed hues again. This time, it turned frighteningly white and began to glow brilliantly, giving off a monstrous power surge. The water began to bubble and froth as if it was boiling, but to Kagome's surprise, the temperature never changed.

The young miko began to grow fearful of the pool she was bathing in, and moved to get out. As she was crossing to the side near her night clothes, the white brilliance of the water began to recede towards her body. Growing ever more fearful of the strange pool, she began to scramble to get out, nearly slipping on the rocks below her feet.

Just before she was able to exit the spring, the strange white glow completely disappeared into Kagome's body while the boiling and bubbling of the water abruptly ceased. The girl paused and stared confusedly at the water for a moment before she regained her wits and abruptly jumped out of the spring.

Kagome quickly dried off with her towel and donned her night clothes before grabbing her damp outfit off of the branch she had slung it over earlier. 'Time to cheese it. This place gives me the creeps.' She threw one last bewildered glance back at the pool before hurrying to camp.

There was a modest stew cooking over a small fire when Kagome returned. The savory aroma brought her out of her fearful and panicky state, and calmed her with its familiarity. Her muscles relaxed and she released a tense breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Plopping herself down by the fire next to Sango, the miko stretched lazily and yawned.

"Have a nice soak Kagome?" Sango asked as she stirred the stew with a small wooden spoon. The demon hunter smiled at her friend and filled a bowl for her. "Here you go, eat up. I have a feeling we're gonna need lots of energy tomorrow." She filled four more bowls for the rest of the group and herself and even fixed a small one for Kirara.

Inuyasha didn't say a word as he scarfed down his portion and quickly returned to his perch in the tree for the night. Kagome shook her head at his anti-social tendencies and instead conversed with Miroku and Sango about the following day.

"We need to be careful when we get into the mountains," Kagome began. "I don't know exactly what's up there yet but it's old and definitely not friendly."

Miroku paused, his spoonful of stew inches from his mouth. "Yes, I've been starting to feel that too, Lady Kagome. I must say it does make me rather uncomfortable as well. Being on high alert is an amiable idea." As he finished his spoonful, Sango spoke up.

"I don't really know what you two mean by old, but I agree completely. Whatever is up there is dangerous. It doesn't help us any that it has a jewel shard either. We have no idea what that demon can do, so we are basically going in there blind. Personally, I don't like it. I wish we could find a way to scout it out but those mountains look treacherous. Best if we just stick together. Strength in numbers and all that." The demon slayer finished off her stew and set her bowl aside, curling up in her bedroll. "By the way, Kagome, are you feeling ok? You look a little... different."

Kagome set her empty bowl aside as well and snuggled down into her bedroll. "I feel fine Sango- great actually. What do you mean I look different?" Her brow creased in confusion at the slayers words.

"I don't really know. Can't quite put my finger on it. A little taller? No… Oh well, maybe I'm just tired." Sango chuckled. "I was fending off a leech all day ya know."

Kagome giggled quietly and raised an eyebrow at Miroku who had gotten into his own bedroll. He smiled innocently and shrugged before burrowing into his blanket.

Shippo had finished his meal earlier and was already sleeping soundly under Kagome's blanket. The miko smiled softly and ran her fingers through his fluffy red hair before laying her head down as well.

Rolling over onto her back, mindful not to squash Shippo in the process, she stared up at the stars. 'Yeah Sango,' She thought as a sleepy haze began to envelop her. 'I feel fantastic considering what happened during my bath. Maybe I just look pale from being frightened... oh well.' She yawned again, this time closing her eyes as she drifted off to sleep.

Click it.