Hey everyone! I'm sorry chapter 5 took me a few days to write and get posted. I was deciding what I wanted to happen next and that alone took two days of just brain storming. I will try to update sooner next time. :)

Also I would like to go ahead and state that I do not own any of the characters nor any references I have made to the actual tv series. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter Five

The Smell of Slaying in the Morning

Our mix-match group was following Naraku's scent at high speeds; Inuyasha leading far ahead in the front, Sango and I riding on Kirara with Shippo on my shoulder, and Miroku trailing behind closely. Inuyasha was especially enthusiastic this time, for reasons unknown to us.

"Inuyasha, Tetsusaiga is still too heavy for you. Shouldn't we wait until you've trained more with your sword before facing Naraku?" Miroku questioned Inuyasha, but his worry fell on deaf ears.

Inuyasha didn't miss a beat, still running at full speed towards Naraku's scent. His face hardened with determination until stumbling upon Koga's fleeing form. Recognizing that killing Naraku before Koga must have been why Inuyasha was so hell-bent on reaching Naraku's scent, I sighed heavily. "Teaming up as allies seriously seems like a much better idea than competing to kill a common enemy first, at least a lot more productive," I thought.

"Get out of my way, mutt face! Can't you see I'm busy?" Koga flashed away as two familiar demons faded into view, Kageromaru leaping towards me with intent to kill. Inuyasha's fearful and helpless gaze was all I could see as the background melted away.

Around those amber orbs, we were still deep in the woods; but I heard a waterfall nearby. Fireflies distracted my gaze from the white haired hanyo with flashes of warm light danced across the leaves. Their flashing lights soon turned into an eerie white glow that soul catchers would grab up and take off behind him.

"Inu..." He was already walking towards where the soul catchers had left as I collapsed to my knees, my knees sinking into the soft grass from the impact. My heart was wavering, just moments away from shattering. "Just don't think, just feel nothing."

I felt soft fur brush against my cheek for only a moment, a brown tail swished back and forth. A pair of eyes pierced through mine, somehow filled with warmth through their ice blue hue. I closed my eyes, willing that feeling to stay locked inside my body. I feared what would I would be left to feel if the feeling seeped out. Pain? Numbness? Jealousy? Or would I just be an empty shell, my soul shattering? I wouldn't think about it. I would just sit here with my eyes closed, soaking up the warmth.

My eyes hesitated before opening them. The same warm orbs greeted me, though now filled with concern.

(^u^)

She was sweating in her fitful sleep. What should I do? Should I wake her? A soft whimper rumbled out of my chest as my tail wrapped behind her reflexively in an attempt to comfort her distressed form. She seemed to relax a bit, her face smoothing out to normal.

Her eyes danced beneath her closed lids, before I saw her brown eyes slowly peak from under them. They search my eyes immediately, seeming to beg for something from me.

"Good morning Kagome," I finally said in a calming voice, unsure of what else I could say to ease her emotions from the nightmare she undoubtedly had just woken up from. She smiled in response before reaching her hand up to her cheek where my tail was touching her. I could feel my cheeks heat slightly at how intimately my tail was wrapped around this woman laying in my lap. I was suddenly more aware of how snuggled into my lap she had gotten over the night.

Koga think of something else you lecher! She was asleep, she hadn't meant anything by it. I quickly reprimanded my thoughts, but a satisfied soft grumble still resounded in my chest.

"Are you purring?" she questioned curiously while twisted her face to look up towards my sitting position. Her eyes searched my face for an answer as my face heated further.

I looked up slightly away from her gaze before answering, "Cats aren't the only creatures to purr, ya know." She giggled at that. "Besides I was happy to see you relax after having such a fitful nightmare last night," I added.

She sat up at that and looked out towards the cave entrance, her giggling instantly subsiding. Dammit, I shouldn't have brought up her dream. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have mentioned it, I didn't mean to pry." She didn't move in the slightest. "You wanna talk about it?" I added thinking I couldn't cause anymore harm. Maybe she needed to talk through it?

"Just was thinking about some of my other friends back in this era," her sentence trailed off still deep in thought. She was hedging along the truth, but I didn't believe she wanted to have the issue pushed further.

"Were any of them friends with me as well?" She chuckled at that causing my head to tilt to the side curiously. Whether it was a good or bad sign my tail stirred at the sound of her laughter.

"One of them, not in the least," she chuckled again, "but most thought of you positively." Her mood had definitely lifted up at the change of topic. "Shippo especially took a liking to you, even though at first you had tried feeding him to your wolves. I told you I wouldn't help you with the birds of paradise if you harmed him, so you saved him from the wolves. It was the first time I noticed you weren't all evil." Her eyes were back in the memory, unfocussed on anything around us.

I found myself drawn in by her memory, like it was a missing piece of my own memories. The birds of paradise were definitely a nuisance to my pack, but nothing as dangerous as the seemed to be then. "Shippo is another human then?"

"No, he's a young fox demon. I took him in because he was orphaned due to the Thunder Brothers. I hope he and his father are happy together, maybe even his mother as well. I never found out what happened to her." This amazing being was full of surprises, taking in a young kitsune, especially with her only being human, is unheard of!

"Were any of your other friends demons?" My ears twitched and I was standing up defensively before she could think to answer my query. "Stay here," I left without looking to see if she followed my order. Someone was deliberately moving through the woods nearby, in search of something. I was determined to figure out what or who they sought and see if they posed any threat.

(^u^)

"Stay here," Koga ordered. He left without another word and I sat there for only a moment before following the direction he had just ran off towards. He doesn't know I can handle myself due to my miko powers and he may need help against whatever had alerted him so suddenly.

Along the way, I noticed an old abandoned camp, everything left out and uninhabited. Whoever was here left in a hurry a long time ago, I thought curiously to myself. I noticed a bow laying next to a makeshift shelter, a quiver was nearby with arrows in disarray. I gathered the arrows, quickly placing them in the quiver before picking up the long bow and throwing them both over my shoulder.

"Arrghhh!" I heard a feminine battle cry up ahead. I quickened my pace and pushed past the last of the wooded foliage to see what was happening.

Suddenly my heart dropped seeing a familiar female dressed in a black outfit adorned with pink plates at her shoulders and waist and a pink sash tied around her waist. Above her head a large boomerang made of bone was hoisted ready to throw at Koga. Why would Sango be after Koga...?

Without thinking or any hesitation I notched an arrow, pulled the string taught and released the arrow. Purple energy surged around the arrow as it headed right in the midst of Koga's and Sango's charging forms. "Stop!" I cried hoping to get them to comply.

Both stopped momentarily. Sango looked straight at me angrily and Koga only side glanced at me.

"I thought I told you to stay back in the cave! It's too dangerous for you here," still focused on the demon slayer in front of him waiting for her to make a move towards either of us.

"Why are you after Koga?" I asked Sango, completely disregarding his statement.

"I think the better question is why a priestess is allied with a demon that has slaughtered and tormented the villages in the area," she stated coolly, with a biting edge at the insinuation.

"Koga?"

(^u^)

Damn woman, running out here in danger and then asking me such a thing. Protecting her is going to be a challenge if she is too preoccupied with conversation. My tail twitched in aggravation, partly due to the guilt of the villagers that had died and partly due to wondering why this woman insisted such a conscience within me.

"Yes Kagome my pack and I have killed humans in the area. I hadn't seen a reason not to. We needed to eat and the humans hate demons anyways, some even hunt us down," I finished directing that last part back at the demon slayer ahead of me. My tail sank slightly smelling Kagome's disappointment roll off of her in heavy waves, assaulting my senses harshly.

"Kagome..."

"Don't." She cut me off completely before I could tell her how she had changed my view of humans.

Kagome walked towards me, while the slayer watched cautiously. Her hand held her weapon steady, ready to throw it at me at a moment's notice. I turned my vision towards Kagome, leaving our audience in my peripherals. Her face reflected her morbidity as she closed the distance between us. She reached towards me with one hand, her eyes downcast. I started to reach towards her, but her hand brushed lightly against my chest above my armor.

I saw stars as I was hurled back, slamming into a tree. Her saddened expression haunted my vision as darkness overtook my peripherals. "Kagome.." I whispered as I lost consciousness.