As you all know, I try to reply to everyone, but with college and such going on, its hard to respond to every review. I want everyone to know I appreciate your reviews and comments. Life just happened to get in the way. Thanks so much!

To those I couldn't reply to:

KagomeInuyasha: Personally, I admire Kagome for her strength too. After all, in the anime, she doesn't have to keep putting up with the heartache Inuyasha bestows upon her and Naraku really isn't her problem. But she stays and endures all the tragedy and keeps fighting. I find myself a bit like her. I even like a guy who is still hung up about his ex-girlfriend. lol. Thanks again for another review. Hope you continue reading.

Somewhere Beyond This

Chapter 13: Karma

As a drop of sweat slid down my temple, I looked down at the small pile composed of two rotting tree logs, a few twigs, and a couple of broken branches. No way were we going to be able to make a shelter out of what we had gathered.

I sighed and glanced up at the sun, noting that the sky was absent of clouds. It was a good thing, too. For if it were to rain anytime soon, we would be helpless to the storm. Letting my eyes fall back to the pile of wood at my feet, I slightly shook my head. The shelter thing wasn't going over too well. We'd be better off just aimlessly wandering into the forest in search of a canopy of trees or a cave of some sort.

But that wasn't very logical, now was it? For if a plane flew overhead, looking for a group of stranded survivors, they wouldn't really be able to spot us in dense foilage, would they? If worst came to worst, I suppose we could always use the wood for a signal fire.

"Hey, Kags," Sango said, coming to stand beside me. She placed her hands on her hips and gazed at the pile of what would become our shelter. "Are we supposed to sleep under that?" she asked hesitantly, throwing me a curious glance.

"No," I sighed, crossing my arms and placing my forehead in my hand. "I'll just have to figure out something else."

She placed a comforting hand on my shoulder and I turned my head to look at her. "Listen," she began, her expression softening. "We're all in this together. So stop thinking you have to do everything."

I gave her a small smile, thankful for her words, although they did little to help. "Yeah," I replied distractidly. "Sure thing." With one last glance, she walked toward Miroku, hoping to help keep his mind off the pain. Although he always had a smile, his eyes told a different story. Without any pain meds and no doctor to examine his broken leg, he was left to wallow in misery as the agony continued to permeate his body.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much else we could do for him other than keep him as comfortable as possible. I glanced toward the water to see Kouga, Shippo, and Kohaku trying to catch some fish. They had sharp sticks to do it with, but thus far it proved to be in vain. They hadn't caught any food and already were running low on the berries Inuyasha picked a few hours earlier that Miroku deemed edible.

I strode over to where Ayumi and Yuka sat, hunched over a collection of items they had recovered. "Hey guys," I greeted, squatting down next to them. "What'cha doin'?"

"We're trying to find things we can use to hold stuff in," Yuka explained, never taking her eyes off her task. I stole a glimpse at the collection at her feet, taking note of the various water bottles, medicine containers, and a few plastic cups. There was even a lone pot, dented and scratched from the crash, but otherwise seemed to be in good condition.

"Do you guys want to come with me to get some water?" I asked, trying to keep my mind off the shelter situation.

Ayumi sent me a smile and nodded her head. "Sure, Kagome." We sat there for a few more minutes, gathering up as many containers as we could carry, before heading toward the section of the woods Sarah and I had ventured into the day before. I lead them through the many twists and turns, following the broken branches as we wove our way into the forest.

In no time, I had found the small stream we had used earlier and immediately bent down to collect our treasure. "Do you think anyone knows we're here?" Ayumi asked suddenly, startling the stillness.

Yuka sighed. "If they knew we were here, don't you think they would have come to get us by now?"

The other girl looked a bit hurt by her tone, but otherwise did not reply. "Look," I began, wanting to console them. "They obviously know that the plane went down when they couldn't contact us. And who knows? The piolet may have sent a distress signal before we crashed, alerting them to our position."

"So why aren't they here yet?" Yuka snapped, turning to me with tears in her eyes. "Why haven't they come to take us home? Is this some kind of cruel joke?!"

"Thats not what I meant. Its only a possiblity," I replied calmly, holding my hands in front of me as some sort of defense. I set down my water bottle and embraced her, ignoring her whimpers of protest as she struggled against my arms. "Besides, it takes time," I persuaded her, rubbing soothing circles along her back as she finally gave in and returned the hug. "There is so much ocean to cover and we had already drifted quite a distance from the crash. They'll find us, Yuka. You just have to hold onto hope."

Ayumi smiled thankfully at me and continued gathering water. After Yuka had calmed her nerves and wiped away her tears, we exchanged a few words before finishing our task and standing up to make it back to camp. I made my way to the front and lead my friends through the dense foilage.

Just before the beach came into view, a rustling of the bushes occured to my right, causing me to stop in my tracks. Yuka and Ayumi bumped into me, resounding with a soft 'oof' before looking at me curiously. "Kagome, what are you-"

I held up my hand to cut off Yuka's words and silently pointed in the direction I heard the noise coming from. We had no idea what could be on the island. The predators were unknown, so there was a high chance that one could be hunting us at that very moment. The three of us stood very still, our hearts hammering in our chests as we waited.

The rustling soon stopped and I released a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. But I had felt relief too soon. Right when I thought it was over, a figure burst from the bushes. Before we could even scream in fear, we realized exactly what had been scaring us.

Kentaro stood there, zipping up his pants, with a look of surprise. After realizing who it was, my friends relaxed and tried to calm their racing hearts. "What are you kids doin' here?" he asked gruffly, his cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

I glared at him. "We were getting water. You?"

"Had to take a leak," he responded with a shrug.

"You do realize we set up parts near the beach, designating where each gender could go to the bathroom, right?" I crossed my arms as I waited for a response.

"Yeah, but I didn't want to go there."

I inwardly fumed and dug my nails into my skin, hoping to control the anger building up inside me. "Well, perhaps next time you should abide by the rules. Not only did you scare the living shit out of us, but you could have gotten yourself lost or injured wandering so far from camp like that."

His eyes narrowed and he stuck a finger into my shoulder, jabbing it for each emphasised word. "Look here, missy. I don't need a bunch of brats like you tellin' me what I can or can not do. I've got more power than any of you people here."

I pushed his hand away. "Mr. Wantanabe, in case you haven't noticed, we're stuck on an island in the middle of nowhere. Your position as an 'executive' doesn't mean anything here."

He merely huffed in reply. "Just wait until I'm rescued. Then we'll see who has power."

A sharp retort was perched on the tip of my tongue, but I was silenced by a slight movement against my foot. Fear immediatly grasped a hold of my heart and I swallowed against the lump in my throat. Working up the courage, I stole a glance at my tennis shoe, only to hold back a scream. A red and black snake was slithering across the ground, taking interest in our small group.

Personally, I've never been really afraid of snakes. The only problem here is that we had no idea if it was posionous or not. That's what had me scared out of my wits.

Gathering my thoughts, I knew I had to take action before any of us got hurt. "Well, you're just a stuck-up man who loves money too much," Yuka replied to whatever insult Kentaro threw.

"You guys," I hissed, trying not to talk too loud in fear that the snake could strike.

"Stupid girl!" Kentaro bellowed, clutching his hand into a fist and glaring at my friend. "You have no idea what you're talking about!"

I felt a drop of sweat slide down my temple. "You guys," I whispered a little louder. If they didn't shut up soon, we may all fall victim to the snake's wrath.

"Don't talk to her that way," Ayumi chimed in, taking a stance near Yuka.

I inwardly sighed. Guess I wouldn't have much of a choice. "Hey!" I yelled, immediately grasping their attention.

Three pair of eyes stared at me, suprised at my tone of voice. "What do you want now?" Kentaro asked, crossing his arms.

I ignored his sharp tone of voice and decided to tell them about the situation at hand. "Listen," I spoke softly. "Don't move and don't make a sound."

"Why?" Ayumi whispered, abiding by my quiet rule.

I casted my eyes downward as a signal. "There is a snake near our feet. Be patient and its sure to go away."

My group instantly looked down to confirm my words and I heard my friends muffle their screams behind their hands. Kentaro, on the other hand, wasn't as cooperative. He uncrossed his arms, appearing as if he'd flee any second. Sweat immediately coated his brow, his eyes went wide, and I saw him gulp in response to his nervous reaction.

After a few minutes of standing patiently, the snake seemed to no longer have an interest in us and began slithering away. However, it didn't appear soon enough, for the minute the predator had turned its head, Kentaro jumped into action. "I hate snakes!" he yelled, quickly turning around to run from his assailant.

"Wait, Mr. Wantanabe!" I tried to reason, holding out my hand to try to stop his sudden movements. But I was too late.

Seeing the fast motion, the snake immediately sprung into attack mode and attached itself to Kentaro's pudgy leg, squeezing as if it was strangling a prey. His teeth sank into the skin, causing the large man to fall forward. A pained scream tore itself from his lips. Knowing we didn't have much time before real damage was done, I ignored my friends' screams and hurried to Kentaro's side, staying a good distance away from the snake.

All of the commotion we made must have been heard from the beach, because before I knew it, Kouga was standing at my side, his eyes filled with concern. "What happened?" he yelled, bursting through the trees and taking in the scene before him. As soon as he saw that Kentaro was the one who had been injured, worry left his expression and he crossed his arms. "What the hell are you doin' dumb-ass?" he asked.

It appeared as if Kentaro didn't care about the 'dumb-ass' insult, too busy worrying about his life. "Kouga," I chided, furrowing my brows. "This is no time. The snake could be poisonous."

He contemplated my words for a moment before sighing and stepping forward to help. With very careful precision, he managed to grasp the snake's head in his hands. Squeezing the sides of its mouth, Kentaro's skin was freed from his predator's teeth as the snake's body flailed around in an attempt to free itself. "You girls might want to turn around," he warned, looking back to make sure we did what we were told.

I nodded curtly and glanced away. I heard something being torn apart and when I looked back, the snake no longer had a head and his body had been unbound from Kentaro's leg. I felt my stomach turn as blood pooled onto the ground. Before I could throw up the little food I had eaten over the past day or so, the victim's pained moan brought me back to the situation.

Having enrolled in school to further my career into the medical field, I knelt down next to Kentaro and examined his leg. The wound had already turned red, and purple marks were forming around the two holes. I had no knowledge in treating snake bites, so there wasn't much I could do. "We have to get him back to the beach."

As soon as I had spoken, a few other people burst through the trees. I turned around to see Inuyasha, Kohaku, and Souta standing there, frantically looking around and taking in the scene before them. "What happened?" my brother asked, glancing over me to make sure I wasn't hurt.

"I'll tell you later. Right now we have to get Mr. Wantanabe to camp." Inuyasha opened his mouth to object, but as I glared at him with determination, he quickly shut it and did what he was told. As they struggled to carry the large man, Yuka and Ayumi ran ahead to prepare our group for the victim coming their way. Hopefully by the time we got there, Miroku would be informed of the situation and have some kind of knowledge ready for use.

I cleared the path in front of them, holding back branches as they passed, and told them about small rifts in the ground or rocks that may cause them to stumble. We quickly managed to bring Kentaro to the beach and my eyes immediately caught sight of a small fire and a space that had been cleared for our wounded patient near where Miroku was stranded.

"Lay him down gently," Sango said, her brows furrowed with concern as the boys did as they were told. Kentaro hissed in pain as a layer of sweat covered his forehead.

"What happened?" Rin asked in a child-like innocence as she looked curiously at the executive's wound. "Did he get a boo-boo?"

I pulled her away. "Shippo," I called, spotting the small boy. "Take Rin back to Sesshomaru."

He gulped in fear. "Me? Why do I have to do it? Can't you bring her?"

"Please, Shippo. I need your help." Whatever fear he held toward Inuyasha's older brother seemed to diminish as he sighed and took ahold of Rin's hand, leading her away while mumbling words of encouragement to her. Now that my friend was taken care of, I turned around to tune into Kentaro's situation.

Miroku managed to lean closer to the bite mark, inspecting it and trying to think back to all of his survival skills he learned. "What is it, Miroku?" I asked, kneeling next to him.

He sighed. "Its not good. You see the purple coloring already forming around the jagged edges?" He gestured with his finger, pointing out the darker spots. "It means that the poison has spread rather quickly. If Mr. Wantanabe doesn't get some proper medical care soon, his life will be threatened."

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Ayumi questioned, standing closer to Yuka.

"Yeah," her friend piped up. "Can't we suck out the poison or something like in the movies?"

Miroku smiled grimly. "Unfortunately, not every movie you see is correct down to the last detail. You could possibly suck the poison out, but you risk endangering yourself in the process."

"Then what do we do?" Sarah asked worriedly. "There has to be something."

He shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Hopefully he's strong and will be able to hold on until we're rescued."

"But we have no idea how long that will take," I protested, my voice raising in volume.

"I'm sorry," Miroku said, his face solemn. "There isn't anything else that can be done."

The group stayed silent for a moment, trying to comprehend what was happening. One of our survivors was dying and there was nothing that could be done to stop it. I felt the threat of tears come forth and immediately turned around to avoid letting my friends' see me in a weakened state.

It just wasn't fair. It was all my fault that this had happened. Perhaps if I had approached the situation a different way, than maybe Kentaro would still be whining about something. Its funny. You never know how much you appreciate something until its gone. Although I didn't exactly enjoy his complaints, it gave me a reason to vent my pent up fury and I'd rather have him insulting us than buried ten-feet under.

I walked down the beach a ways. The air had turned cooler and the darkening sky predicted nightfall was soon to come. I wrapped my arms around me to hold in the warmth from my body. My tears fell freely down my flushed cheeks and I closed my eyes, trying to block out the images in my mind of everything that had happened since Mr. Totosai announced the trip was to take place. My feet began to feel heavier until I could no longer walk. I simply stood there with the breeze to my back, allowing my thoughts to wander.

What would have happened if I hadn't been able to go on the trip? What if Ayame was here? What if Rin hadn't lost her memory or Kikyo hadn't been taken away by the ocean's wrath? What if Eri was still alive and Kentaro hadn't been bitten by the snake? What if I had never gone out with Kouga and Inuyasha was still my one true love?

Would I be here right now?

I tried to clear the many thoughts from my head but I found I couldn't. My heart ached with pain and my limbs trembled with the desire to be loved by another. No longer could I hide the agony that had been bestowed upon me or the outright anger that I felt toward the world. I simply wanted to cry all my tears away and perhaps let the ocean drag me out to sea where nothing existed except me, the water, and the blue sky overhead.

Suddenly, I felt arms wrap around me from behind. I felt breath upon my neck and I turned around, hoping to see the amber eyes of the man I so desired. Instead, an intensity of blue met my gaze as Kouga peered at me with concern. "It's alright, Kags," he soothed, bringing my head to his chest. "Its not your fault."

"I feel like it is," I replied, surprised at how steady and calm my voice was despite the tears rolling down my cheeks.

He rubbed my back to try and calm my nerves. "Don't you dare think that. He deserved to get bitten. That bastard was always such an asshole, I'm surprised I didn't kill him myself."

His words stung. I furrowed my brows and pulled away, looking up at him with confusion. "Are you saying he should die because he was so mean to us?"

"Kagome," he tried to reason. "This world would be much better without one more arrogant shit-head making everyone's lives miserable."

I pulled out of his arms and shook my head. "How could you say such a thing? No one deserves to die. Not even someone like him."

"Its karma," Kouga said, taking a step toward me. "Don't you see? With all that he's done, its about time he got what he deserved."

I crossed my arms and walked passed him, toward where Kentaro lay, quietly dealing with the poison running through his veins. I glared at my boyfriend over my shoulder. "You're a fucking bastard," I replied, my voice dark and low.

Before he could reply to my rare choice of words, I had already tuned him out and was quickly striding down the length of the beach. But his words kept echoing in my head.

Its karma.

A/N: Phew! That took me forever to find the inspiration for and I still don't think its the best I can do. But with little time to write these days and new story ideas coming to mind every week, I'm just glad I was able to get it out after more than a month has passed. Please let me know what you think and I hope you stick with me. I'm guessing less than 10 chapters left.

Next chapter: A little love triangle comes to light (not who you think!) and something happens to cause the group to be split up.