Chapter 5

Dark to Light

It was pitch black, and she was alone. At least, she thought she was alone. The silence echoed every little creak, and shuffle. She held her hands in front of her, trying to find something to stimulate her senses. She felt as though she did not exist. The silence was driving her mad. She tried to calm her mind, but her heart was beating too fast. She couldn't breathe.

Her hands slid across the ground as she crawled, feeling the icy stone beneath her. "Okay, Kagome. Don't panic." Her voice was deafening, making her ears ring. Her hands touched something warm and slick. Gasping, she jerked her hands backwards. What was that?

Laughter filled the air. It was deep, but had a piercing quality to it. She recognized it all too well. She covered her ears, ignoring the sticky slime that got onto her skin. "Please no, please no." She didn't know if she was pleading with the laughing to stop, or her mind to stop this horror.

"Oh my little Kagome. It has been quite some time, hasn't it? Look how you've grown." Her eyes scanned the darkness to no avail, she couldn't see him. "What do you want, Naraku?!" She felt something wrap around her waist; she tried to push it away, but her hands kept slipping off the surface. She felt like her guts were going to spill from her mouth.

"My dear, I want nothing more than for you to join me. Come back and claim your mother's place." Her heart felt like it was tearing at the mention of her mother. She felt a cold hand touch her cheek, causing her to flinch away.

"What have you done with my mother?" She could barely whisper.

"I did to her what she deserved." Suddenly dim candles lit around them, it seemed as if they were floating. She saw what she hadn't in years. Naraku's long, inky hair, glowing red eyes, and a slithering pile of tentacles that jutted from below his hakamas. "You have something that belongs to me, Kagome."

She looked away from his brutal eyes, and struggled against the living vine that wrapped around her body. She felt like a child. "Please, Naraku. I have nothing more than the clothing on my back. You took everything important to me long ago." Her comment caused a ripple of chuckles to slip from between his teeth.

"No, girl, It is you that I desire to have by my side. You are my only daughter after all. The only one to rule by my side. You, my dear, are princess of the east." Kagomes brows furrowed, and she could only stare at him in shock. There was no way this could be, she couldn't be this monster's daughter.

"That's not true! You're lying! Mother said you would do and say whatever you could to steal the light within me!" She tore her nails through the flesh around her waist, with a new sense of survival. It did nothing but release miasma into the air, stinging her eyes.

"My girl, your mother said a lot of things that were simply self-preserving. You belong to me, and I will bring you back home if it's the last thing I do." The miasma began filling her lungs, causing them to burn and attempt to suck in air. She coughed, however it brought no relief. She was dying. Her eyes watered from the suffocation. "Sleep well, darling."

She woke with a scream, and began greedily sucking in the fresh air. Her hands scanned her body for foreign substances, but she found none. Looking around she took in a small room with various jars lining the walls. It was a dream? A short, grayed woman made her way into the room.

"Are ye alright, child?" Kagome was still panting, she didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to think. If that was a dream, it couldn't have been real. It felt so real. "Here, have a cup of herbal tea, child. It will calm thy nerves."

Kagome was handed a warm cup of tea, and she took a sip. It was sweet! Kagome looked down at the cup in confusion. "Thank you, why is it so sweet?" The old woman just laughed in her rugged, aged voice.

"It is sugar, dear. Do ye not usually sweeten thy tea?" Kagome only shook her head. She didn't have sugar at the shrine, or even when she lived with her mother. Her small sips became large gulps. She didn't realize how parched her throat was. She handed the cup back to the woman.

"Oh my, ye must have been thirsty. I am Kaede, what thy name, child?" Kaede set the cup on a small dresser beside the bed. Kagome looked around a bit more.

"My name is Kagome, where am I?"

"Ye are at Lord Sesshomaru's castle, I am thee head healer. He has entrusted ye into my care." Kagome frowned at the news.

"We've already made it to the castle? How long was I out?" Kaeda placed a finger on her chin for a moment.

"Let's see... about 2 days." Kagome nearly screeched. "Two days!? Why was I out so long!" Kagome got out of the bed and began walking towards the door. Kaede followed close by.

"We are not sure child, but ye had quite a fitful sleep. Even the Lord himself came to see thy progress each day." This stopped Kagome in her tracks. The arrogant demon who was completely annoyed of her presence came to see her? Really, none of what had happened in her most recent memory made any sense.

"He really came to see me?" Kagome turned to the old woman, who nodded with a smile.

"He seems to have a protective streak regarding ye, just as he had with the young mistress Rin all those centuries ago." Kagome's face flushed. He was protective of her? Like the girl in the stories? This all was incredibly bizarre. The sliding door behind her swished open, causing her to turn back to her original path. Sesshomaru himself was in the doorway, his head nearly hitting the ceiling with his height. Her face grew hotter.

"I see you are awake." He stated bluntly, looking to Kaede for a progress report. Kaede began grabbing a couple jars of herbs before stopping next to Kagome, looking up at the tall lord with a smile.

"She is quite well. No fever, awake, and she nearly inhaled an entire cup of medicinal tea. She will be fine. Now, if ye will excuse me, I have a few soldiers to tend to." With that, the woman squeezed past him, and shut the door behind her. This left Kagome and Sesshomaru to themselves. Kagome's face was still completely red, and he took notice of this.

"The old woman have been mistaken about the fever." The back of his clawed hand brushed against her cheek, making her heart flutter. "Your face is warm."

"I-I feel fine, really. Thank you for bringing me here, Lord Sesshomaru." He did not respond but pulled away from her. He was staring at her. His behavior was much different than his usual arrogant self. She didn't know what to do, she was still confused about this whole thing. She rubbed the back of her head slowly. "Do you know how I ended up passing out?"

He did not respond right away, but his eyes shifted, and the gold burned with something she couldn't put her finger on. "You nearly fell to your death."

-S-

Her eyes held shock, that was glazed over with confusion. He had withheld the full incident, but he did not want her to be so fearful that she ended up leaving. Why he felt this way, he did not know. The less she knew, the better.

"Oh... I don't really remember. I just remember saying you were rude, and then I..." She hesitated and her demeanor stiffened. He thought she had almost remembered. "...Then I just woke up here." Her scent had an odd quality to it, like a child hiding that it had stolen a sweet bun.

The yipping beast in the back of his mind was pleased that she was awake. It urged him to reach out and scent her, to make sure she was fine. He had already had checked on her multiple times, he would not do something so ridiculous. His beast's behavior was becoming more and more cumbersome.

While she was unconscious, and he was in his study, dealing with daily politics, his beast would constantly howl and whine. It had caused him a great splitting headache. The howling would only cease when he would visit the girl, and check her condition. He felt as though he were going insane.

"Sorry about that." Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he looked down at her. Her face was still abnormally red.

"About what, Miko?" She gave him a small glare, but averted her eyes. Her fingers entangled themselves with each other, in a writhing mess. Maybe she had some damage to her brain after all. He would bring it up to the old woman when they were done.

"For saying you were rude." She had thrown him for another loop. She was sorry for something so trivial? He hadn't thought of her actions for three days. " Everything you have done for me... I really appreciate it." She began biting her lip, and he couldn't stop the thought of biting it himself. He stiffened.

"Think nothing of it." He turned toward the door, ignoring the puzzled look on her face. "Kaede will be training you. You will respect her as your supervisor." With that he made his way out of the door without so much as glance back at her, despite the objection of his beast. Why on earth would he want to bite her lip? He really was losing it. He sped off the castle grounds, past the city and off into the forest, away from civilization. He needed to clear his mind, away from the bewildered miko in his castle. It seemed he needed to clear his mind a lot this past week. He really hoped this trend would not continue. His beast only laughed in the back of his mind.