A/N: Alrighty! Good news, guys! I've found a way to work on the story much more often, so that takes a lot of pressure off of me... I have the rest of the story outlined and its looking like it will be 17 or 18 chapters total. We'll see what I end up with (wink wink).
"You can do this. I need you to do this, Kagome. Don't think, don't worry. I need you."
Kagome nodded mutely, her emotions too thick to allow speech. He quickly and silently showed her how to cock the gun and made sure the safety was off. Then he bent down and Kagome climbed onto his back, adjusting herself so that the sword case wasn't too much in the way. For a moment she was surprised to realize how small Inu Yasha's arms were. He was immensely strong but his demon blood made his muscles hyper-compact. They were toned, sure, but they didn't look much meatier than her own arms. When he stood, however, she felt the power of his youkai half.
She secured one hand around the front collar of his t-shirt and held the gun as confidently as she could manage. This was not going to be fun.
--
Inu Yasha's mind was racing. At times of battle, he felt his blood boil--almost as if his body was trying to erase the humanity from within him, leaving only the beast to wreak havoc upon his foes. Having Kagome's soft and warm body against his back, however, caused a different boiling. The beast was still there, certainly. This time, however, the beast was not bent upon total annihilation, but rather the protection of something... someone...
--
He began running and Kagome nearly dropped the heavy gun from the sudden acceleration. She'd never seen anyone move so fast! Her eyes were watering before she realized she was supposed to be looking behind them for any forms of pursuit. Her bobbing vision of the wreckage behind them picked up no new threats. She willed herself not to relax, though. He was counting on her to be their first line of defense. Should she fail...
Suddenly Kagome's attention was pulled from these morbid thoughts. She had seen something. Something was coming for them. She saw the debris left behind them now being hurled from the path of their new enemy. She instinctively knew that it wouldn't be Kagura. The wind demon seemed too proud to come chasing after her prey.
As they broke through the security point separating the prisoners' area from the rest of the police station, Kagome saw for the first time a lesser demon. Most demons still around today were vastly powerful and very much aloof. They'd survived centuries of pursecution and generations of "demon hunters" and were not so foolish as to be among the common people of the human world.
Lesser demons, however, were not typically intelligent enough to have lived past the feudal era. With the spread of technology and information, humans began to bind together and purge their lands of these 'demons'. With no money and no connections to rely on, they were ultimately wiped out. Any lesser demons seen after this time were very young and created by a stronger youkai, usually meant to live for a few hours at most.
This lesser demon was obviously from the wind witch Kagura. The air around it froze as it made slow and dreadful progress towards the fleeing pair. If she looked carefully, Kagome almost thought she could see a cyclone of frigid air encirlcing the monster.
Coming to her senses, she realized she'd been staring at the thing she was supposed to be shooting. She tightened her grip on Inu Yasha's shirt and braced herself for the recoil. She pointed the gun as best she could, considering she was riding on the back of a running hanyou, closed her eyes and squeezed the trigger.
The sound was deafening, even for a human. Kagome didn't even want to think of how much it hurt the hanyou's ears. Shaking off her superfluous thoughts, she looked to see if she'd hit the ice creature.
...If she had hit her target, it didn't even leave a mark. Swearing to herself, she cocked the gun again and took aim once more, this time she forced herself to keep her eyes open and on her mark. Her last shot hadn't even slowed the damn thing down. She had to do something... He was counting on her...
She took a deep breath and, though she was never a genuinely religious person, Kagome prayed. Please, what ever god might hear me... please help me...
She felt a warmth running through her stomach and a power not her own welling from within.
--
Inu Yasha heard Kagome fire the gun. The demon which Kagura sent after them was already catching up. He'd hoped that they would be able to make it out of the building before they were caught, but no such luck. He had already taken two wrong turns and found a dead end. If he knew where the exit was, this would be so much simpler. But he couldn't even smell fresh air thanks to all the dust and debris in the air. That and the scent of a female human exuding fear. When he heard her swearing and reloading, he knew that either she was not a good shot or they were in trouble. She was pressed tightly against his back and judging by the way her heart was racing, it was the latter of the two.
He resisted the urge to turn and see what was coming or how close it was. If he took his eyes off the path, he might trip and end up killing them both. His mind was flooding with images of monsters catching up to them--and reaching Kagome first. You idiot! You've put her in even more danger--she's on the front lines...If anything happened to her... Silently Inu Yasha offered a fervent prayer. Whatever powers be... whatever happens to me, just protect her...
He felt something then. Something stirring and warm; a power he somehow recognized as familiar but distinctly not his own. He'd never felt this before.
--
Kagome decided this warm feeling was a good sign and breathed deeply to settle her jittering hands. As shetook aim once more, it was if another pair of hands were on top of, guiding, her own hands. She fired and reloaded three times without pause and without taking her eyes from the monster. Three direct hits. She saw the monster flinch as chunks of ice broke off from her bullets. Silently she exulted until she saw the wind. The nearly invisible cyclone she thought she'd seen earlier was now a full-force gale, reaching out from the monster and grabbing the fallen pieces only to reattach them again. The monster never even faltered in its step. In fact, the wind seemed to hasten its pace--it was now within arms reach of Kagome. She aimed again, and waited for those hands to help her again. She felt nothing but the racing of her heart and the chill emanating from the lesser demon.
Tears of frustration, panic, and fear blinded Kagome as she tried desperately to shoot the monster. When she clicked to the first empty cartridge, however, she knew it was a lost cause. For lack of any other weapon, she lamely and spitefully threw the empty gun at the monster. She knew it was pointless, if not childish, but it was all she had.
"Inu Yasha! Pick up the pace! We're in trou--" Her warning was cut short as she saw the monster begin its counter-strike. She saw one terrible arm of frost raise much as its master had raised her hand to strike Kagome down before.
She saw the whirling wind forming a dull blade. Her heart seemed to be stopping as the world turned to slow motion.
She saw the blade come swinging down in a clumsy imitation of Kagura's. She felt Inu Yasha's strong shoulders tense, as if he could feel the immediate danger she was in.
She closed her eyes and hid her face in the crook of his neck. The last thing she remembered was the feeling of falling and the searing of pain.
--
They had been on the road for about two hours when it happened.
It was typical, Sango thought. She'd always said that men were just over-grown babies pretending to know what they're doing. Thus it was that the three "men" she was stuck with had argued extensively over who would navigate. When it came down to rock, paper, scissors, she seriously contemplated leaving them all behind at the apartment. Finally it was decided that she would drive and each of the boys would take turns navigating. They all wanted to take turns driving but Sango quickly vetoed that idea.
Hojo, somehow, had managed to win the first round as navigator. Considering that this was his first time in the United States, much less the New York City metropolitan area, Sango knew this was going to be ugly. Fortunately for her, his time as navigator was inevitably short-lived. It was mutually agreed that anyone who sang "Another One Bites the Dust" as the car merged onto major highways would not be welcome inside the vehicle. The prospect of riding across the country tied to the luggage rack was enough to convince Hojo that perhaps he wasn't cut out for the front seat.
Koga was next in line. He seemed to be doing fairly well, Sango had thought. He gave directions with confidence of one who knows where they're going. For over an hour she turned right and stayed on the main road with nary a care until they passed the sign saying, "NOW ENTERING NEW YORK".
There was a stunned silence in the vehicle as the four adults contemplated this. Finally Koga spoke, "New York? Do they mean the city or the state?"
They had pulled over shortly thereafter at a gas station to regroup. Sango left the boys in the car while she made use of the little girls room, bought some headache medicine and asked for coherent directions. She was leaving the restroom when she saw the three males loading up on munchies and drinks for the road. They grinned impudently at her when she asked how they were going to pay for all this. Hojo chimed, "Oh, Miroku-san said that you had a credit card for emergencies."
The look on her beloved's face indicated that this was probably not a slip of the tongue, but rather a well thought-out ploy to avoid picking up the tab. Sango grudgingly caved at three high-powered sad-puppy faces but warned that this would be the last time she'd be paying. She reminded them somewhat pointedly that she was not the only one with a source of income but was in fact the only woman in the group and should therefore not be in the role of provider.
Her face blanched at the total and she silently vowed to disembowel Miroku the next time they were alone.
As she reached into her wallet, however, whatever was left of her generous mood quickly evaporated.
Her credit card was gone.
Panic swept through her as she tried to remember where she'd seen it last. Was it back at the apartment? No... The last time she'd used it was to get her oil changed... She was running late for work, so she'd probably shoved it and the receipt together into her glove box. She was always doing stupid things like that!
When it sunk in that her credit card was in her car and therefore with Inu Yasha and Kagome, Sango felt her knees go weak. Miroku caught her before she could completely faint, luckily and the other boys helped him carry her outside to a bench. They were asking what was wrong, most likely, but she couldn't be sure. She'd blocked out outside stimuli as she contemplated again the situation. She didn't trust herself to speak yet and didn't want to admit she'd done something so careless as to leave her only credit card in her car.
An idea suddenly brightened things considerably. Kagome never had cash--Sango knew her roommate well enough--and Kagome didn't carry checks. Unless Inu Yasha was incredibly rich and quite generous, the pair probably didn't have the sufficient funds to survive the cross-country trek they'd taken. So, what if they happenedto find Sango's credit card? And what if they just happened to have run out of money?
Sango suddenly jumped to her feet, her cheeks flushed at the double-edged gift she'd been given. If they were using her credit card, she could find out where they were! She ran to the car, leaving the boys thoroughly confused at her behavior. She didn't want to get their hopes up yet. She had to get to a bank and fast. Standing in front of the dozen or so ports for gasing vehicles, Sango remembered that they weren't in her cat, but rather in Koga's. They had pulled up to refuel at the space with a peeling number "2" above the monitors. When she located port 2, however, there was no car there.
Odd. Weren't we parked at number 2?
As she contemplated this anomoly, the boys caught up to her and all came to a screeching halt beside the befuddled Sango.
Suddenly Koga squeaked like a little girl. "Where's my car?!"
--
Thought began again slowly for Kagome. Her mind seemed to fight against her weary body and she struggled to open her eyes. When bright light began to filter through, her eyes closed protectively of their own volition. Silently she decided that sight could wait; the more prudent path would be perhaps feeling her surroundings.
She felt wind blowing--but not softly as a breeze... This was more like... being in a car with the windows rolled down. She tried shifting her body weight and discerned that she was lying down, for the most part... probably in the back seat of a car. Oddly, she felt slightly annoyed when she realized that she was not strapped into a seat belt.
Movement was the next hurdle to overcome and it was only slightly easier than skiing blindfolded. When she tried sitting up, her forehead made a dull 'thump' as it collided with part of the door's handle bar. She moaned softly in complaint and heard some movement from in front of her. The car slowed and she felt it veer gently from the straight path of the road onto the bumpy shoulder. The car stopped and she heard a door open and close. She began to try sitting again--very slowly--and relied heavily on the handle bar to help support her shaky frame. She heard crunching footsteps growing near and forced her eyes to accept the painful daylight in exchange for more information.
She barely had time to make out the outline of two fuzzy triangles when suddenly her support was pulled from underneath her. The door had been opened, thus allowing Kagome to crumple once more and fall from her sitting position into two strong and warm arms.
She groaned in protest to the sudden and jarring movements only to be rewarded with a cocky laugh. "Keh. Mornin' wench."
--
It had not been a plesant morning for the hanyou. In the station, he remembered only bits and pieces of what happened. He remembered the attack and running. He remembered Kagome on his back, a desperate attempt to buy him enough time to get them both away from the danger. But he had failed. He remembered that much. Waves of putried self-loathing washed over him at the thought. He had failed.
He remembered the weak demon chasing and Kagome firing. Then she was telling him to go faster when he felt her heartbeak change and her scent peaked suddenly. He felt his own heart faltering as he turned to use his own body as a shield. He saw the weak but still dangerous wind blade drawing a severe arc through the air and he remembered the jolting impact of the blade against his shoulder... and ...her cry of pain as they both fell against the debris-ridden floor. She had hit her head, he had thought. Just a bump, he'd told himself.
Then, he remembered, came the blood. First, he thought it was his, from his shoulder; there was a warm wetness against his shirt. But his nose told him the truth he didn't want to know. The blood was human. Hers. He slowly lifted her and saw the small wound just inside of her hairline. She must of hit her head on one of the rocks littering the floor... He might have called her name, he couldn't remember.
After seeing her wound, he didn't remember much at all, actually. Only the anger and the terrible need to hunt and avenge.
When he had come back to his senses, he wasn't sure where they were or what had happened.
They were in an open field and he was holding her in his arms, close to his body. His own body had obviously been through a lot but his youkai blood had healed most of his injuries. She was pale and the blood had matted in her black hair. The bleeding seemed to have stopped, though, so the danger was past. So long as so woke and woke soon, she should be okay...
As he felt the last of his demon blood return to its dormant state, a wave of numb exhasution pulled him to his knees and forced him to gently set Kagome down. As she was laying on the dry grass before him, he surveyed the total damage. She had small scratches nearly everywhere, but thankfully no large bruising. She was smeared in sweat and dirt, though, which only accentuated her paleness. Swallowing hard, Inu Yasha looked at her and realized for the first time how small she really was.
Kagome's personality was strong and almost abrasive in some ways. She never acted superior or inferior to him. In a flash of insight he understood that he'd been thinking of her as his equal--not taking her physical size into perspective. He'd been treating her that way, too. He'd been making her live like he had, as a vagabond, toughing it out, eating what he ate (i.e. anything cheap and plentiful), putting her in the same danger...
And she had never complained. Bitterly, he found himself angry with her for being that way. If she hadn't been acting like nothing bothered her then he wouldn't have treated her so roughly... would he?
That was a very disturbing question for him to face. All this was not like him. He stood suddenly, as if forcing himself to change his feelings, and surveyed the surrounding area. He began forming his next steps. He stood over her while he thought, unaware of his own reluctance to leave her unguarded. After a few moments, he had a plan.
They weren't too far from Vegas now. They were on the outskirts of Beaver, Utah and that was about 3 hours from Vegas by car. It was a little unsettling to think about how far they'd come since he lost coherent thought in po-dunk Nebraska. He chose not to think about all the implications therein and focused on getting to their destination.
There was a construction site not too far from the field where they were now. With more confidence than he'd felt in a while, Inu Yasha carefully lifted the still unconscious Kagome and turned west.
--
It had taken the toad a while to climb the frosty peaks of the Rocky Mountains to meet with Kagura of the Wind. He was quite out of breath and in a particularly unpleasant mood. She had been quite adamant that he should come to her, however, and she knew too much to be cut out of the deal at this point.
Jakken sneezed violently and turned to the arrogant demon. "Well, where is it?" He said none too graciously.
She kept her back turned to him either from his apparent lack of importance or a desire to keep her expressions hidden. She laughed softed at his question. "Silly toad. I have plenty of time. I want to play more first."
He balked at her. "What are you talking about?! You don't have plenty of time, you barely have any time!" With this rude comment, she turned on him, and bore into him with her icy and probing eyes. "What do you mean, toad?" She snapped at him.
Confused, Jakken decided to play along. Clearly she had some ulterior motive in mind. She knew the time limit and she knew who she was working for. Kagura of the Wind was not so weak as to need extra time... Clearing his throat the toad explained, "Mistress, the sword must be returned to Lord Sesshoumaru within the next 32 hours-- by the stroke of midnight on Wednesday... that would be tomorrow..." he added lamely.
At first she looked as though she was going to laugh; like this was all a big joke. But the smile faded as she looked at him and realized he was serious. Her emotions flared across her face as she raged at him, "You told me I had 92 hours to retrieve the sword! That would mean that I still have 58 hours left." She said it as though she dared to correct her math.
Stammering and avoiding eye contact, Jakken swallowed with difficulty. He realized his mistake. When he told her how much time she had, he forgot to subtract the time he'd taken to track her down. She thought she had 4 days instead of 2 and a half.
Before he could manage to diplomatically explain that it was his fault, Kagura exploded into a full-blown fit of rage.
--
The small city of Estes Park, Colorado, at the base of a certain peak in the Rocky Mountains recieved landmark winds and icy rain that day.
--
A/N: I know this one was kind of short, sorry. The chapters have been pretty dense so far and I'd like to lighten things up as much as possible. This is the tail end of all the heavy stuff, anyway, so thanks for sticking it out. The next few chapters promise to be quite a bit more light-hearted, so fear not oh ye faithful! XD