InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ My Savior ❯ Chapter Four ( Chapter 4 )

Kagome stumbled through the dark woods, leaning occasionally against the trees to regain her breath. She'd been running for so long. Her muscles screamed at her to stop, but she continued with a newfound strength as another horrible image flashed through her head.

The white bandages on her shoulder and thigh had long since turned a disgusting crimson and still she strove to distance herself from the wolves.

She had almost tried to kill Kouga-kun! Dear Kami, what was happening to her? Why did she suddenly want to kill things? She wanted to destroy every living creature she came across. Just a while back, she'd had to restrain herself from ripping the head from a passing owl. In her mind she saw the bird's blood dripping over her fingers, its red-stained snowy white feathers scattered all around her.

She shuttered at the murderous thoughts, shaking her head in an attempt to quell her mysterious desires. The images only seemed to double their ferocity as more and more bloody scenes flickered through her tired mind.

A hidden root caught her foot and she fell forward, gladly welcoming the darkness overcoming her fatigued mind as she fainted from exhaustion.

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Kouga searched through the woods, following the lingering scent of his Kagome. What had happened back there? Why had she suddenly run off? The girl had looked so scared and vulnerable. He was worried.

The wolf youkai finally found her. Her bandages were soaked with blood again and she was sprawled out on her stomach. He could clearly see tear tracks on her cheeks.

He lowered himself to turn her over onto her back. Her clothes were filthy, he noticed, stained with mire and blood. He slipped one arm under her knees and the other under her back, pulling her limp body into his strong arms. Her head lulled to the side and he adjusted his arm to support her neck.

Dirt and leaves were kicked up as Kouga ran as fast as he could back towards the campsite.

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Inuyasha stalked through the forest angrily, following the trail of his rival. Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara struggled to keep up behind him.

"Inuyasha," the young kitsune wined, "my feet hurt! Can we stop and rest for a moment?"

"Not until we find Kagome!" the hanyou retorted angrily through clenched teeth.

Shippo's lower lip stuck out in an adorable pout as he kept walking.

Suddenly, Inuyasha stopped and raised his head. His ears twitched.

"What is it, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked, taking the moment to lean heavily against a nearby tree.

The hanyou didn't respond and instead took off running into the trees. The others glanced at each other before jogging in his direction, too tired to try to keep up.

Inuyasha stopped in a small clearing. He saw Kouga resting against a tree but ignored the wolf and approached the girl lying in the middle off the clearing. He bent down next to Kagome's still form, relieved to hear a strong heartbeat. The hanyou was about to pick her up when Kouga's gruff voice reached his sensitive dog-ears.

"About time you got here, dog breath. How did I miss your stench?" the wolf spit out with malice.

Inuyasha looked over at the angry prince. He looked madder than usual.

"How could you allow this to happen to my Kagome?!"

The hanyou's amber orbs looked down at the girl, noticing for the first time her bloody bandages. A stab of guilt struck his heart as he examined the nasty wounds.

"She was nearly dead when I found her, half-breed!"

Miroku, having arrived with Sango and the others, stepped between the two before a fight could break out. "Men, men, we need to get Kagome-sama back to Kaede-sama so she can heal her wounds properly."

The belligerent males growled at each other but backed down. What the monk said was true. They needed to take Kagome to Kaede to heal her. So Kouga walked over to his sleeping companions to wake them. After that, they all headed back to the village.

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"So ye say when ye found the child, she had been stricken with arrows?" Kaede asked, her brows drawn together in concentration.

Kouga answered with a positive nod.

The aged woman knelt over Kagome, to examine her wounds once again. Indeed, the punctured tissue seemed to indicate an arrow wound. The only question was: "Who did it?" Inuyasha wanted to find out as soon as possible so he could go out and kill the bastard. It was suspicious, though. Kagome's Shikon Jewel shards were still hanging around her neck…

The hanyou's head jerked at the sound of a haggard scream. He looked down to see a slender, bloody hand protruding from the old woman's back right where her heart should be. Held in that familiar hand was Kaede's still beating organ.

The hand retracted to its owner and the old woman fell limp to the ground, a gaping whole in her chest. Everyone watched, mouths agape, as Kagome stood with the heart in her stained hand. She lifted the organ to her mouth and bit into it.

The girl seemed to be in a daze as she drank the blood, eyes ablaze with bliss. Her orbs seemed to have changed from their usual stormy blue to a dull gray.

Kagome's eyes widened as they returned to their original color. She immediately dropped half-drained organ in her hand to the ground and stared at her own bloody hand, suddenly feeling very sick. She bolted out the entrance of the hut, turned to a ditch beside the hut, and emptied the bloody contents of her stomach. Tears streamed down her face as the realization of what she'd just done hit her full force.

As the others watched in stunned silence, the girl ran into the forest.

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