InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Mind's Eye ❯ Nightmare ( Chapter 3 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

AN: Well, more responses! Thanks to all who left a note:

bright-star-in-the-night: Thanks! And yup, it's an InuKag, but probably a mild one. (The romantic side to the story's still more than a little vague…)

rin sama1989: No problem, I can totally understand how life can get in the way of other things, especially moving. Actually, you've been one of my most diligent reviewers, and for that I'd like to thank you (Grins). But seriously, you've reviewed everything I've ever written and posted and I'm very grateful! As to who's calling Kagome: I'm afraid that if I told, it would ruin the story.

Dragonlord04: Thanks! No worries, I am writing/working constantly. I'm sorry to keep you waiting; I just don't want to rush it and make it crappy. Every time I do that, the randomest stuff appears that has nothing to do, really, with the story.

Kyoung: Thank you! I'm very flattered! (grins) And I promise, I will not forsake you, the reader(s)! That would be very, very cruel of me.

Tiamath: Just one thing to say, on my part; thank you! Very, very much.

The color blue: Eek! Don't hurt me, please! I'll finish it! I promise! Heh… But really, I will finish, because if I didn't, then I'd break my rules, one of them being that I'll finish what I start.

Shadow15: Hah! Gotcha hooked! Just kiddin'… But I'm glad that this story is good enough to have pulled you in!

Ganheim: You're right; it's not effective story-wise, nor is that correct grammar, I believe. I have noticed that I had a tendency to do that while I was writing, actually, and I agree; it should be changed. Thanks for pointing it out! I sincerely appreciate constructive criticism of my writing. (By the way, bao are those steamed/baked buns that Shippo's always eating -in the manga, at least… haven't seen much of the anime. They're filled with chicken, spinach or pork, depending. I like the pork best, myself. )

In this instance, I don't have an outline on paper, but it's all in my head. Things are often subject to change, however, as I write. In fact, things get switched so much that an outline can become pretty useless. But I know where it's going, if that's what you mean.

Purely Mistake: Heh heh… And I always thought that I wrote pretty long chapters! But thank you, I'm very, very, very flattered! I'm glad that it's going well so far!

w j: No worries, I'm not stopping any time soon. I've promised myself that if I start something, I will finish it… eventually. But I won't just stop for no reason whatsoever. That would be mean and nasty of me.

Kumoritora: Thank you! I'm glad that it's satisfactory; I thought that I might've rushed it a bit; the days passed rather quickly. (I'm confused about the ending too… XD. That's not good…)

FFchick: Thank you! I've tried picking up the pace a bit, in comparison to Haunted, which has all these other little bits that aren't really important to the story in it. Wow, you're perceptive (in regards to the ghost thing)! Close… but if I gave it away it would ruin the story…

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. But you already knew that, of course.

The Mind's Eye

Chapter Three: Living Nightmare

"Something wrong?" Cloth rustled on the other side of the screen that separated Miroku and Inuyasha from Sango, Kagome and Shippo. "I heard you calling out," Inuyasha explained, his voice gruff with concern.

"…Yeah," Kagome replied eventually. "Just a strange dream, that's all." And in the dream, she could see… But what had she been looking at? "I'm fine," she promised. "But thanks for asking." Her slight smile was hidden in the dark.

"Sure," he grumbled. "Now go back to sleep. I wanna leave early in the morning." Sensitive white ears picked up the soft rustle of cloth as Kagome settled back into bed. He sighed and shifted slightly before closing his own eyes, his other senses still on the alert.

Sightless eyes stared up at the ceiling as Kagome thought. The dream had left behind it a disturbing feeling and the vague sense of nightmare. The odd thing was, she couldn't remember a thing of it, but a soft voice echoed in her head. And she was wide awake.

"Come, come with me. I can teach you, show you. Come, Kagome." It was almost as if a voice was whispering faintly, right next to her ear. Irritably, she rubbed her ear and turned around, nearly plowing over Shippo in the process.

Kagome didn't get much sleep that night.

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"If you gave me just a few more minutes," Kagome grumbled and buried her head beneath the covers, "I would be very, very grateful." She could feel Shippo hopping from one foot to another impatiently on the bedspread.

"That's it," Inuyasha exclaimed, bad temper evident in his voice as he stepped around the screen. Sango stared at him, askance, as he rolled Kagome over with one foot. "Hey, wake up! Kagome, you lazy-"

"Sit." Kagome outraged protest came out muffled from beneath the various blankets that she hid herself under.

Inuyasha crashed to the floor, growling as he did so. "Kagome! I told you last night that we'd be leaving early! Maybe if you'd gone to sleep like I said, you wouldn't be so tired! It's your own fault, so deal with it!"

Sango and Miroku exchanged a surprised glance as Kagome retorted, "It's not like I can fall asleep on command, stupid! And if you had this weird voice whispering stuff in your ear all night, then I'm sure that-"

"Weird voice?" Miroku asked curiously. Inuyasha sat up and pouted mulishly as Kagome pulled the covers away, poking her head out around the screen to explain to Miroku.

Kagome put on her glasses- she now felt decidedly odd and exposed without them- and sat up with a yawn. "I had this weird dream -nightmare, actually- but all I can remember of it is this voice. And even after I woke up, it kept whispering in my ear." She shuddered. "It was really weird."

Miroku frowned and ran a hand through his black hair. "Hm." The others looked at him curiously. "Do you think that it might have something to do with your training?" he pondered.

Kagome shrugged. "I don't know. I guess, because it's never happened before now…" she trailed off, clearly confused. She yawned. "Maybe I'm going crazy," she suggested sleepily. She flopped back down behind the screen.

"You've already gone there," Inuyasha grumbled the spell wore off and he sat up. Kagome whirled and glared at him, "So that's why you were calling out last night," he said hastily, not wanting to be Sat again. "You kept saying, 'I'm coming', and 'wait'." He shrugged.

Miroku glanced at the screen again as Kagome stumbled out, Inuyasha pushing her from behind. Purple eyes watched her closely. "It could've been a demon, trying to coerce you… Can you tell me what the voice was telling you?"

Kagome nodded and fumbled with her bag. She pulled out a strange brush-thing that she used to clean her teeth -Miroku thought that the future must be very odd indeed- and some sort of tube. She frowned as she thought. "It was trying to get me to go somewhere… but I don't know where. And it was saying something about being able to help me."

Miroku nodded. "I assume that it's a demon." He stood up and glanced outside. The sun was just clearing the trees. Kagome and Inuyasha were bickering again in the background. Miroku sighed. "Inuyasha, I remember you mentioning that you wanted to leave early today. Why don't we depart?"

"Early?" Inuyasha exclaimed incredulously. "You call this early?" Long red sleeves flapped as he pointed furiously out through the open screen to the sun. "If it wasn't for her-" the finger swung around to indicate Kagome, "we'd be long gone!"

Kagome flushed angrily. "We already went over this! If you're so eager to go, then why no leave already?" she demanded. Miroku nodded slightly. Kagome had a good point, there.

"Oh, forget it!" Inuyasha threw up his hands and stomped out of the door, leaving Kagome and the others inside the house.

"Looks like he agrees with you," Shippo commented as the hanyou stood, waiting impatiently by the road. The ginger-haired kitsune scrambled onto Miroku's shoulder and Sango led Kagome out of the building.

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"A fierce beast, tall and black as night!" The poor man was clearly frightened out of his wits. "We don't know where it came from, only that it was as tall as a tree and it devoured the cattle."

"We'll attend to it," Miroku promised. The villager nodded and thanked him profusely. Miroku signaled the others over. "A demon, possibly utilizing a Shikon Shard," he informed them.

Inuyasha glanced at the sky. The sun was sinking inexorably lower towards the horizon as the sky faded from dusty cornflower blue to a darker velvety twilight. "Then let's finish it quickly." He pulled out Tetsusaiga and slung it casually over his shoulder as he walked into the deserted village.

It was a mess, really. Debris littered the streets and houses were shattered and had collapsed in upon themselves. The silence was almost stifling as the group moved into the ghost village, Kagome kept protectively between Miroku and Sango as the two of them readied their weapons, eyes alert.

"Come on out, demon!" Inuyasha taunted. Something stirred beneath the collapsed walls of a house and the hanyou indicated the spot with his sword, amber eyes narrowing fractionally.

The floorboards rustled and fell away. A dark shape loomed out of the debris, unrecognizable in the dark. Several arms unfolded, clicking as the thing turned its head in Inuyasha's direction. Long fingers flexed as the hanyou asked Kagome, "Is there a Shikon Shard?"

Kagome frowned as she concentrated. "I think so, but whatever it is has a strange… thing around it. I can't tell." She shrugged and turned her head towards Miroku. "Do you know what it is?"

Miroku peered closely at the thing. "It's… dead," he said finally. He in turn looked to Inuyasha. "Am I right?" he confirmed and glanced back at the thing as it stood to its full height, numerous joints clicking.

"Yeah, it is." He readied Tetsusaiga and repeated his question. "Kagome, does it have a shard?" He winced slightly as the oily smell of death reached his nose, cloying and rotten.

"I… I don't know," the blind girl stammered. "It's confusing!" She frowned in concentration, fists clenched. "I think so, but I'm not sure. There's something around it…" She sighed in exasperation. It was so much easier when she could see it…

"Yes or no?" Inuyasha demanded as an arm came whizzing by his head. He ducked just in time, his sword out to block another appendage.

"I can't tell!" Kagome screamed back with frustration. She gritted her teeth. "I hate this!" She so useless…

Sango patted her arm sympathetically and turned to Miroku. "Stay with her, okay?" Without waiting for a reply, she dashed into the fight, calling to Kirara as she did so.

Miroku sighed. "I'm supposed to do that," he complained wryly. He glanced at Kagome. "Describe it." While he knew next to nothing about what Kagome was trying to accomplish, be might be able to help. Speaking of which… "Did Myoga run off again?"

"Probably," Kagome replied absentmindedly as she focused on the demon. "It's… like a stream of something…" she said with difficulty. "I don't know what it is, exactly, but it's like… like something's surrounding it." She shrugged and sighed. "Sorry. I can't explain it, really."

If light bulbs had existed in the Feudal Era, one would've mysteriously appeared above Miroku's head, shining brightly in the darkness, as he snapped his fingers. "I got it!" He grinned triumphantly at Kagome. She turned to him curiously. "How much would you bet that it's Kagura's dead?"

Kagome's grin matched his own. "So that's it!" The smile melted off her face as she concentrated again. "Hey!" she exclaimed, her voice low with excitement. "It's like a strand, and it's coming off the demon's body. She turned her head and pointed. It's going off in that direction…" She shook her head and rubbed her temples.

"Are you alright?" Miroku asked concernedly. He pulled her to the side as Inuyasha went sailing by to land neatly on his feet, his eyes promising murder. He looked back at the blind girl, who was still clutching her head. "What happened?"

Kagome rubbed her temples furiously, her breath coming in rapid gasps from the piercing pain that was boring a proverbial hole in her skull. "I think I might've overdid it…" she gasped and sat down on the ground heavily.

Inuyasha whirled and glared at her. "This is a fight, Kagome, not a nice little picnic! Get up and stand!" He rushed at the demon again and cut off one of the arms. "Hah!" Triumph turned to incredulity in seconds as the limb plastered itself back into place. "Yup, the witch's behind this!" he told the two of them before lunging back into the fight.

"Looks like she's keeping to the shadows this time," Miroku noticed. He turned to Kagome, "Where did you say that the thing that you sensed leads again?"

Kagome shook her head gingerly. "I'll try again, but it's really tiring…" She took a deep breath and tried to "see" again. Sightless eyes widened behind dark lenses. Panicky, she babbled to Miroku, "I can't see a thing! It's like it's all gone suddenly!" She gulped. "Supposed I used it all up?"

Miroku shook his head fervently. "As far as I know, it's not possible. Of course, it'll probably take you a long time to recover, but I don't think you can use all your power up."

Kagome sighed in relief. "That's good to know." There was a thundering of splintered wood and a profane exclamation from Inuyasha. "Ouch. That didn't sound good. How're we doing?" the black-haired girl asked anxiously.

Concerned purple eyes gazed over the fight with expert experience. "Not too good," he admitted to the blind girl. "Normally the thing would've been dead a while ago. But it keeps reforming itself." The only way to get at it was to get Kagura, and she was nowhere in sight. As far as he knew, the wind witch could be miles away. He didn't know what her range was.

He took a deep breath. "I hate to pressure you into this, Kagome," he said reluctantly, "but we could really use some help. Can you try one more time and look for Kagura?" He watched as Hiraikotsu sliced through an arm for the umpteenth time, only for the severed appendage to fix back into place.

The black-haired girl's chin jutted out stubbornly as she heard Kirara roar, the noise only serving to strengthen her resolve. "I'll try," she promised. Fists clenched tight, she willed the powers to the forefront of her mind. Wearily, she picked out the thread, which lead from the demon and deep into the woods. "Trees," she gasped as her control shattered. She stumbled forward as nausea flooded her systems and disorientation made the world tip and swirl around her.

"Hey, watch it!" Familiar arms grabbed her and she was away in a rush of wind that only worsened the nausea. "What the hell were you doing?" Inuyasha's voice rang out brazenly. "This is a battle! You can't just wander around wherever you want!" He noticed that she wasn't attending. "Are you even listening to me?" he demanded.

"Put me down!" Kagome said frantically. "I'm gonna throw up…!" He nearly dropped her with alarm and she stumbled blindly away to throw up.

He looked up at Sango. Kirara whirled above overhead as the demon exterminator threw her boomerang at the demon. The hanyou sighed with frustration. It was futile, but it kept the reanimated corpse occupied. "Sango! Watch Kagome!"

Sango shot him an irritated glance and said to Kirara, "Let's go pick up Kagome." With a growl of acknowledgement, the demon cat complied.

It seemed to Kagome that she'd just regained her balance when she was lifted off again, disoriented as ever. "You could warn me," she told Sango sourly. The other girl just laughed grimly.

"Did Miroku run off like Myoga?" The exterminator quizzed the blind girl as they wheeled and swooped through the air.

Kagome shook her head dizzily as she weakly clung to Sango. She didn't realize that she'd be this exhausted… and her head was still pounding. "He's going after Kagura."

"What?" Sango demanded and hurled Hiraikotsu. The weapon flew true and knocked off the things head. Hopefully, Sango watched as the thing crashed on its side. The head reknit the dead muscle and roared. She sighed with disappointment. "How? We don't have any idea where she is! He was probably just looking for an excuse to run away," she grumbled.

Kagome laughed weakly. "No, I pointed it out to him. And then I got really sick," she added. "Would it be a problem if you flew straighter, Kirara?" she implored.

The demon cat growled and shook her head in the negative. "No, sorry Kagome," Sango explained. "We'll get knocked out of the air." The black-haired girl nodded miserably and sighed. "On the plus side," Sango added, "If Miroku would hurry up we could land soon."

"Well, it was pretty far away, in the trees, I think. I can't see the trees." She rubbed her pounding head with one hand, the other still clinging to Sango for balance.

Something rushed by her head and Kagome flinched. "Why's Miroku dragging his feet?" Inuyasha demanded angrily. "If it was me, Kagura would be long gone!" Kagome took a deep breath as they spiraled tightly towards the ground.

"Kagome said that Kagura's somewhere in the trees," Sango reported. She glanced back at the blind girl. "Kagome, you're hurting by ribs," she informed her. Kagome loosened her grip without saying anything; vertigo was still getting to her and it was worse than a rollercoaster, especially since she couldn't see. She almost laughed; she was amazed that she hadn't lost her sunglasses yet.

"Well, he'd better hurry up," Inuyasha complained and went bounding off again with a loud insult about the demon's mother, sword raised above his head as he plummeted.

Sango rolled her eyes. If Inuyasha had any strategy-, which she doubted, being the highly-trained professional that she was- it was to rush in blindly, sword hacking as he made as much noise as possible. And yet somehow, it seemed to work.

Suddenly, the dark thing keeled over, limp and lifeless as it was supposed to be. Inuyasha, unable to stop his descent, went crashing into the corpse, uttering exclamations of outrage as he did so. "-and I bet that Miroku timed that!" he snarled in conclusion. A twig snapped as Miroku emerged from the forest and Inuyasha whirled on him. "Took ya long enough!"

Miroku waved him away, black sleeve flapping. He wiped his face and sighed. "As I suspected, it was Kagura," he told them. Inuyasha glared at him stubbornly. Miroku frowned in return. "It was Kagura! She's a hard opponent and you know it,"

"If you used that hole in your hand, it should only take a moment!" Inuyasha protested. Miroku shot him a pointed look. "Wasps?" the hanyou guessed.

Miroku nodded and walked away. "Let's go get some rest, and food." He glanced back at the sun as the last dim orange glow of it started to sink underneath the horizon. Star twinkled overhead.

Sango patted Kirara and dismounted. She frowned. "Kagome? You can get off now," she said uncertainly. The other girl blinked heavily beneath her sunglasses. "Kagome? Are you alright?"

"I've been better," Kagome admitted and stumbled off of the fire cat. With an indignant squawk, her legs folded beneath her and Inuyasha caught her neatly and helped her stand upright. "Thanks."

"And why are you so tired?" the hanyou quizzed. Kagome was dead on her feet and didn't respond. Dog ears flicked irritably and Inuyasha glanced at Miroku for an explanation.

The monk grinned nervously. "She… overspent her powers a bit." He backed away, hands up in a placating gesture when Inuyasha glared at him, amber eyes flashing in the night. "I needed to know where Kagura was! We'd probably still be fighting if it wasn't for that."

"And I'm not tired, really," Kagome protested. "I feel like I was on a roller coaster for the last hour, and then I took a ride in a car over a really twisty road."

"Stupid," Inuyasha muttered half-heartedly. "You should know better than to tire yourself out like that." He grabbed Kagome's wrist and slung her onto his back.

"Don't do that!" Kagome squeaked. "You're gonna make me throw up!" Inuyasha froze in his tracks, eyes wide. "And if I do, don't blame me."

"Let's find a place to sleep," Miroku said tactfully. With only a bit of grumbling from Inuyasha and a sigh from Sango, they moved out of the desecrated village, leaving shattered timbers jutting up like broken teeth and a stinking demon's corpse in their wake.

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Kagome flopped back on the provided futon with a miserable groan. When she described her condition as the after-effects of riding an hour-long roller coaster and then driving down a twisty road, it seemed as if she hadn't been over-exaggerating in the slightest. Her head pounded relentlessly, her stomach was in turmoil and Advil wasn't helping. Their hosts had tactfully provided her with a wooden bucket, just in case something happened.

Wearily, she removed her sunglasses and rubbed her temples. "Are you okay, Kagome?" Sango's concerned voice came from further away than it normally did, providing for the circumstances.

Kagome almost nodded, then realized that doing so wouldn't help her head at all. She smiled tightly and replied instead. "Same as before. Hopefully I'll be better tomorrow." And if she weren't, her head would probably explode with all the pounding that it was doing.

"I hope so," Shippo added sincerely from the other side of the screen. He wasn't going to sleep with her tonight, things being as they were. Miroku added his own sentiments and Inuyasha grumbled something, and then they all fell silent.

But -due to her condition- Kagome couldn't sleep. It was too hot, and the covers were smothering her. She couldn't find a comfortable position. Then, she suddenly noticed that her mouth seemed unbearably dry. She sat up slowly, head throbbing, and felt around for her backpack and the water bottle in it. Kagome crawled out from behind the screen.

Since losing her sight, she'd found that her sense of direction had improved significantly. The black-haired girl sighed unhappily. She'd trade it in a moment for her sight. Her fingers met the rough canvas outside of the big bag and she fumbled with the zipper.

"Can't sleep?" Inuyasha asked, his voice taking on an air of carelessness. Kagome flinched in surprise. His voice came from behind her and cloth rustled as he stood up.

"I'm looking for my water bottle." The sentence suddenly struck her as ridiculous. "I'm searching for my water bottle," she corrected.

"Searching or looking, you don't seem to be finding," he muttered softly as to not wake the others. She heard zippers open and close and the crinkling of plastic. "Here." Something cold and plastic was thrust into her hand.

She pulled open the cap and drank. "Thanks," she told the hanyou gratefully as she wiped her mouth on her sleeve. Cloth rustled next to her, but Inuyasha didn't reply. "Is something wrong?" She could feel something on the edge of her awareness, even though she'd completely used up her power for the time being.

"Sh." Inuyasha's reply was tense as he slowly moved in front of her. "There's something outside," he told her softly. She heard the dull scrape of metal on wood as Tetsusaiga was pulled from its sheath.

Something cool was in Kagome's mind, easing the throbbing mugginess with something completely alien to her. It was completely unlike anything that had happened so far, and she gasped in surprise.

White ears twitched and caught the soft sound of pattering feet outside. The noise was oddly muffled and faint, though he could see the shape shining outside the door. He held Tetsusaiga, amber eyes focused on the thing -he supposed it was a demon- that stopped right outside the shoji screen. It was soft and flickering like a candle, but the light was white rather than the gold of fire.

He glanced at Miroku, who was sleeping soundly, unaware of the danger that he was in. Inuyasha grimaced slightly. "Miroku!" He hissed, hoping that it wouldn't provoke the demon. The uncanny white flame lit the creature's silhouette. It was small, about a foot taller than Shippo. He frowned slightly again. Kanna? "Miroku! Get up!" He tried again, this time with more success.

Sleepy purple eyes blinked open slowly and the monk sat up. "Inuyasha? What's going on-" He stopped when Inuyasha hastily motioned him to stay silent. The hanyou indicated the shoji screen. Miroku nodded and stood slowly. Silently, he hurried over to the other two.

"A demon," Inuyasha whispered. "I think. Whatever it is, it's not human." He sighed, but didn't let his guard down. "I don't get it. It's just standing there."

"That is odd," agreed Miroku softly. "Perhaps I should try to talk to it. It might be a lost ghost." He cleared his throat loudly and stepped forward. "Hello, is there any way that we can help you?" he asked in a clear, friendly voice. However, his knuckles were white as he gripped his staff.

There was a soft chuckling from the other side and the strange white light danced as if in merriment. Then the light went out and there was a pattering of feet. The rings on Miroku's staff jangled clamorously as he whirled around, his eyes unable to penetrate the dark after looking at the bright light.

The ringing fell silent as Miroku realized that the demon, ghost, or whatever it was had gone. He sighed, clearly perplexed as he headed back to the futon. "That was odd," he commented with a yawn. He glanced at Inuyasha. "Wake me if it comes back." And then, to all appearances, he fell asleep.

The hanyou glanced at Miroku with irritation in his amber eyes. "Humph." His gaze settled on the girl behind him and frowned. "What're you so happy about?" he demanded grumpily, startled to notice that she wasn't wearing her glasses, even though her eyes were tightly closed.

Kagome sighed with relief. "My headache's gone!" She stood up and stretched, the water bottle still in one hand. "I don't know what happened, but suddenly it just disappeared." She frowned. "Right about when the demon or whatever popped up." Her frown deepened. "And I could sense it, even though I haven't even been able to sense the Shikon Shards."

"What?" Inuyasha hissed. "Why didn't you say anything before now?" He glanced at Miroku and stomped over with little regard to the fact that others were sleeping. He shook the monk roughly. "Hey, Miroku!"

Purple eyes blinked open with surprise, then glimmered with irritation. "What do you want, Inuyasha?" the monk asked with resignation. It hasn't even been five minutes since I told you to let me rest in peace."

"Shut up." Kagome winced slightly at the callous tone that the hanyou adopted. White ears flicked in her direction. "Kagome, tell 'im what happened." Now he had Miroku's attention. The black-haired man looked beyond Inuyasha and at the blind girl as she hastily put on the sunglasses again.

"What is he talking about, Kagome?" Sleep had fled his mind completely, leaving in its wake only curiosity. With a small rueful smile, Miroku considered the possibility that he might not sleep at all.

"I feel fine now." Kagome scratched her head sleepily in perplexity. "After the demon appeared, I was just fine-"

"And while she can't see anything else, Kagome could see it!" No one could mistake Inuyasha's voice for whispering now. Shippo started to stir and Miroku signaled for the hanyou too keep his voice down. Grudgingly, Inuyasha complied. "I was thinking that if Kagome could see this thing even when she's so drained, then it must be really powerful," he concluded.

Miroku blinked at him. "Your point?" He glanced at the screen at the sound of rustling cloth; Sango was waking up.

"My point?" Inuyasha's voice was only barely contained at a whisper. "My point is that there's a powerful demon running around and watching us, and I want to know why!"

"Where's the demon?" Sango was on her feet, yawning and casting about for the demon in question. She sat back down with another yawn, blinking heavily. "What kind of joke are you-"

"There was a demon here," Kagome intervened hastily, fumbling her way back to the futon. Sango didn't like to be woken up and was typically not very friendly in the morning.

Sango sat up crossly. "And no one bothered to wake me up?" she demanded. She yawned again. "Well, where'd it go? Or did you kill it while I was sleeping, too?" Brown eyes flashed with irritation in the dark.

"No, it just stood outside of the door and laughed at us before it ran away." Kagome shrugged. "But it made me feel better," she added.

"You're so simple," Inuyasha put it grouchily. "Don't you care how or why it did it?" He was still unnerved by the demon's appearance. The way it just stood there, a dark small silhouette with that flickering white light. Something about it was so foreign, so alien, somehow wrong… Perhaps it was the thing's inexplicable behavior. It didn't attack them, it didn't speak. It just stood there, out of sight and yet at the same time, right there, just out of their reach.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he wasn't aware of the conversation around him until Miroku tapped his lightly on the head with faint jingling from his staff. Startled gold eyes swept the room in surprise.

"I said, Inuyasha, that I don't think that it was a demon." Miroku looked back to Kagome. "You said that you could sense the presence." The blind girl nodded in the affirmative. "Did it feel like a demon?"

"Not at all," Kagome admitted with surprise. "Huh." She yawned heavily. "Could it be a ghost, or something?"

Miroku nodded. "That's what I think. First of all, a demon would probably attack us. Second, it looked like a child, which makes it more likely to be a ghost. Third, it disappeared without a trace and made almost no sound. Fourth, ghosts do strange things. I'm sure one could heal a headache."

There was a pause. Shippo turned over on Sango's futon, murmuring unhappily about the lack of warmth. "Well, I wanna go back to sleep," Kagome said with a yawn. She felt her way over to her futon and flopped down on it.

"I second that," Miroku added. He glanced at Inuyasha, who was a blob of white hair in the dark. "And this time I mean it; don't wake me up!" he reminded the hanyou crossly.

Inuyasha shrugged noncommittally as the others returned to their respective futons. In a few minutes, they'd all settled down, Inuyasha resting against the wall and unable to sleep. Only because of his exceptional sight did he notice the crack in the shoji screen, as if someone was peeking through at them. Stealthily, he stood up and walked up to the screen. Cautiously, he slid it open with the rough sound of wood against wood and poked his head out of the room.

White ears twitched and picked up the soft sound of pattering footsteps. Determinedly, he rushed out of the room, making sure to stay quiet. The footsteps got louder as he got closer to his quarry and amber eyes picked up that same flickering white light ahead of him. He dashed around the corner, certain that he'd see the ghost-

and stopped in confusion. There was no one there. He walked ahead, ears pricked and eyes wary. Subconsciously, he found his hand on Tetsusaiga's hilt. Amber eyes widened in surprise. There, at the end of the hallway, was a swirling black… thing, but he'd seen something like it before…

It all came back in a rush; the black pearl and his father's grave. This was another portal. Without stopping to think, he reached into the closing portal and yelped as purifying powers washed over his skin. He pulled back with a hiss and examined his hand. "Shit." It was almost like a severe sunburn; raw and throbbing. A deep ache spread through his hand and resonated deeply in his bones. Inuyasha winced and gritted his teeth.

He watched helplessly as the thing shrank and faded, then finally collapsed in upon itself with a small flash of light. He blinked and stepped back, completely bewildered as his hand throbbed painfully. "What on earth…" the hanyou blinked again and peered intently through the darkness. Was it just his imagination, or had there been something there?

_|__|_

(•.•)

--( • )--

(____)

The morning after, it was no surprise when everyone woke up more than a little later than usual. But after everyone was awake, things went pretty normally; Miroku paid his respects to the headmen whose house they were staying in, and then they were on the road and chasing another rumor.

Shippo surveyed the dusty path ahead with shining green eyes from his vantage point on Miroku's shoulder. He was the only one who was properly awake at the moment. He tugged on the monk's ear excitedly. "Hey! There's a guy in the road!"

Purple eyes were suddenly alert. "Where, Shippo?" Sango slung Hiraikotsu from her shoulder and Inuyasha's clawed hand settled on Tetsusaiga's hilt. Miroku's staff clanged as he stepped forward purposefully.

Shippo leaned forward and squinted. "Up ahead, on the road. Pretty far up." Miroku took his word for it; his eyesight wasn't the best when it came to seeing long distances.

Kagome stopped abruptly, surprise flashing across her expression. "It's Kagura again!" Her brow furrowed as she focused. It was almost as if the day before had never happened; she was as if she'd never overdone it the day before.

"What?" Inuyasha turned, equally surprised. He frowned suspiciously at her and forgot about whoever it was in the road. "Hey, I thought you were to worn out to do anything."

Kagome shrugged, then nodded. "I was, but after the ghost or whatever showed up, I've been fine." She frowned and concentrated on the road again. "It's faint, but the same as yesterday. There's… that stuff around him, and it leads away-" she broke off and shook her head.

"Where?" Sango gripped Hiraikotsu tightly. Perhaps they could settle this quickly, and get on their way. But then again, the rumors that they were chasing were probably tied into the wind witch somehow.

"Mm." Kagome shook her head. "I don't wanna overdo it again. But when we get closer. It was somewhere around there," she pointed.

"More forest," Miroku acknowledged with a sigh. "Well, we might as well go down there and see what's there." He glanced at Inuyasha, and realized that he wasn't attending. "Inuyasha?"

"Kagome," the hanyou began incredulously. "Didn't you think about mentioning this before now?"

The blind girl shrugged. "I hadn't tried before now," she explained. "I didn't know before. But anyway, let's get going so we-"

Inuyasha cut her off and -after a few insults were exchanged- explained what he'd seen last night. "Give me your hands," Miroku instructed. With a bit of half-hearted grumbling, the hanyou complied. Miroku frowned. "It almost looks as if they were boiled in a pot of water."

"And how would you know?" Inuyasha cocked a curious eyebrow at him.

"Never mind that," Miroku said quickly. He looked down at the hanyou's hands again and frowned. "Shouldn't these be healed by now?" He poked at a raw spot.

"Ow!" Inuyasha withdrew his hand hastily. "Don't do that!" he protested angrily. "And yes, they should be gone by now." He frowned. "That, I don't understand." He looked up ahead. "But we can deal with this later."

The group walked ahead again with an air of wary purpose. Sango kept glanced at the trees on either side of the road, eyes narrowed slightly and white knuckles gripping Hiraikotsu tightly. Miroku kept his eyes straight ahead as if nothing was wrong, while Inuyasha's hand never strayed from the hilt of his sword. Kagome twitched at every sound, the strain of being unable to see making her bite her lip nervously.

White ears twitched as the caught the rasping sound of labored breathing. The already-dead man struggled to his feet, blood dripping from a gaping wound across his chest to wet the dusty ground, and nearly keeled over again.

The group waited impassively for the puppet to give its message. The thing choked for a moment, dull eyes rolling, and finally mumbled, "Village killed. Monster with a spider on its back. No one left…" He collapsed to the ground, foam spreading from the wound.

Grimly, Inuyasha trotted off, Miroku following closely behind, staff jangling clamorously. "Sango, watch Kagome!" the hanyou called behind him.

Kirara grew, Sango and Kagome mounting up onto the fire cat's back. Sango took a deep breath, knowing that whatever they would see next would not be pretty in the least.

The fire cat growled slightly and circled up into the bright cornflower blue of the midday sky. Scarlet eyes bright with intelligence scanned the tapestry of forest and farm as the path below became merely a dusty brown ribbon beneath them.

"There." Sharp brown eyes narrowed and Sango pulled her boomerang from over her shoulder. "What is that thing...?" she wondered aloud, eyebrows raised in bemused disgust. The thing was large and covered it what looked like people's …skins. It didn't seem to be moving at the moment. She shuddered slightly. It was the most disturbing and nightmarish thing that Naraku had come up with, as far as Sango was concerned.

Behind her, Kagome cringed slightly as Kirara circled lower and came into Sango's throwing range. "What is it?" Sango started, then remembered that Kagome couldn't see it.

"You don't wanna know," the exterminator replied flatly. She tensed, Hiraikotsu held out slightly. With a small grunt of effort, she hurled the formidable weapon towards the… thing. She winced as it tore through the decaying human flesh. The boomerang whizzed back up at her and she barely managed to catch it. "I'm going to have to clean this off really well tonight," she told Kirara. With disgust, she wiped a splattered drop of old blood off of her face and shuddered.

"Sango?" Kagome's voice was a squeak. "Is this… blood?" The demon exterminator turned as Kagome gingerly wiped a splat off of her face with trembling fingers.

"It is." Sango glanced at Hiraikotsu again. She winced; there was a bit of skin on it. She looked down again as Kirara circled. "Where are those two?" She sighed impatiently. Nowhere in sight. With grim determination in her brown eyes, she told Kirara, "Let's get a little closer."

From appearances -Sango winced again at the skins- the thing had slaughtered the entire village- about seventy people. They had to get rid of it before the thing slaughtered any more people, with or without Inuyasha and Miroku. Though, she didn't know why they hadn't arrived yet…

Gingerly, she swung Hiraikotsu in a wide arc, splattering them with little drops from the weapon. With anger and disgust to fuel her throw, Sango hurled the weapon down at the demon again. It stirred this time as the boomerang sliced through the center, rending it in two pieces.

One of the faces turned up to look at her with eyeless sockets. A wide, floppy grin broke out upon the dead flesh, greasy black hair falling into the face. The thing surged back together and then upright, the face leered up at them as it stretched and grew, like a snake striking at its prey.

"Wha-?" Sango whipped out her katana, her reflexes taking over her shocked body. The head fell back like putty and surged forward again, a misshapen frown gracing the putty-like features this time.

Kirara backed away until they were a good sixty feet above the ground. The thing's neck wove back and forth as it stared. Sango shuddered as bile rose in her throat. The thing was just… disgusting. "Where are Inuyasha and Miroku?"

"And what's that smell?" Kagome had grimly decided to ignore the fact that she was splattered in blood. "Sango, what is it that we're fighting?" the blind girl demanded. "If I could see, then I'd know anyway," she added bitterly.

As Kirara wheeled about in the air, Sango suddenly realized that she was doing a real disservice by keeping her in the dark. All she'd been trying to do was keep her from panicking. "I have no idea," she admitted. "Whatever it is, it's hidden itself beneath the villager's… skins." She frowned. No, that wasn't right…

"Gods…" Kagome murmured, her expression unreadable behind her sunglasses. "Maybe I should try to sense it." She was mentally exhausted, but it would probably be worth it, especially with Inuyasha and Miroku mysteriously missing.

"Good idea," Sango approved. "I was just thinking… it's probably not a demon hidden beneath the skins. I cut them in half, and it just formed back together." Just like… there was something else like it.

Kagome frowned as Kirara plunged down again, fangs bared and magenta eyes shining with ferocity. Sango whipped Hiraikotsu and ignored the blood splattered across its bone surface.

The snake-like neck of the flesh-creature whipped around, loose pieces of skin flapping as it turned to stare. The neck stretched again and whipped by them, missing Kirara by a merely a foot. Sango watched in surprise as the thing continued to rise up.

She only realized when it was too late what was happening.

(\ /)

(•. •)

(><)

"What a surprise," Kagura drawled from her vantage point on her feather. Breezes whipped Inuyasha's hair around as he glared at her belligerently. He pulled Tetsusaiga from its sheath as Miroku came dashing up behind him, gasping for breath.

"Inuyasha, you have to stop running off like that-" he straightened and looked at Kagura. "Oh. Kagura," he said simply.

The wind witch snickered. "Oh. Monk," she mocked. "Getting left in the dust are we?" Scarlet eyes danced with wicked humor. She glanced at a scowling Inuyasha. "But I'm sure you aren't here to listen to my jokes." She glanced pointedly to her left.

With a final glance at the wind witch, Inuyasha turned to face the forest. Miroku's staff jangled as he did the same, purple eyes narrowing. "There's something there, Inuyasha!" the monk confirmed.

Kagura snorted. "Obviously," she muttered. With just one backward glance at the thing lurking in the woods, a gust of wind overcame the feather and she swooped away.

A twig snapped as the thing shifted. Amber eyes narrowed. "If you're gonna fight, just come out already!" he bellowed impatiently into the woods, Tetsusaiga held firmly in position. "We don't have all day!"

Something shadowy shifted again, but the hanyou couldn't quite see it. The forest was too dark, even for him. A wave of cold billowed out from the forest. With it came a powdery dry smell, like stone.

Inuyasha snorted impatiently. "Well, have it your way!" he snarled and charged recklessly into the forest, feet pounding on packed frozen earth and Tetsusaiga raised high.

"Wait, Inuyasha!" Miroku yelled in exasperation. "What are you doing? You don't even know what it is, and-" He stopped abruptly and stared in horror as the hanyou off of his person and hurled them at the darkness. They sizzled where they struck, but didn't light up the dark area. Instead, the parchment burned away the dark as if it was acid.

The nebulous patch of darkness retreated, yowling a silent scream that Miroku could feel through his bones. He covered his ears and bent forward, grimacing. His staff fell with a clang onto the ground and the howl died down.

Inuyasha staggered out of the innards of the dark area, cursing blackly and rubbing his eyes as his ears twitched. "-shit! That- that- damnit!" the hanyou howled. "You are dead!" He rushed forward again, murder flashing in his eyes. "I don't know what the hell you are," he told the darkness as he hacked at it to no avail, "but you're dead! I won't forgive you for messing with me like that!"

The blackness surged up and swirled smokily. Tendrils of it came away from the main mass and rushed at the furious demi-demon. Inuyasha swung Tetsusaiga in a wide arc, slicing at the wisps. They came away from the mass, swirling and moaning unhappily.

Miroku watched carefully as Inuyasha cut out more little wisps. All of them did the same thing; they wailed and floated away before puffing out of existence as they hit the sunlight. Realization dawned in his purple eyes. "Inuyasha! Stop!" he yelled desperately. "You're not going to do anything!" He whipped out two spells from his sleeve and hastily began to mumble spells under his breath.

"It's better than just standing there!" the hanyou retorted and brought Tetsusaiga down on another wisp. The thing wailed piercingly as it sailed by his ear and he clapped a hand over the sensitive organ with a yelp.

The nebulous black thing took advantage of the demi-demon's temporary setback and surged forward, smoky tendrils shooting towards him and surrounding him.

With a wordless shout, Miroku ran forward, his half-prepared spells in one hand. With one last word said upon the two spells, he hurled them forward and hoped that it would work.

The parchment glowed as it rocketed forward and burned away at the darkness. That same silent scream rent the air and Miroku pitched forward again, his only comfort being that it must be much worse for Inuyasha.

The spells penetrated the darkness and burnt it away, a flurry of little black wisps wailing mournfully as they disappeared. The parchment slapped stickily onto the center and the scream rose to a agonized howl before halting abruptly.

Slowly, his very bones aching from that final howl, Miroku stood up. The hazy black smoke cleared, revealing a weary-looking Inuyasha as he pulled his foot out of a pile of sticky-looking black jelly.

Inuyasha glared at it in distaste and poked at it with his sword. "What the hell is that?"

Miroku sighed heavily. "Good question."

(\ /)

(0.0)

(><)

AN: So, I know that was more than a little grisly -it made me squirm as I wrote it- and I'm sorry about if I've disgusted anyone terribly. I actually raised the rating because of it.

Anyway, how am I doing?:

Everything up to par? Anything not? Did I fix my "intensely annoying habit" (I would like to sincerely apologize for doing it in the first place, I do know better, I swear! And again, thanks to Ganheim for pointing it out) of messing with the subject and not changing the paragraphs at the right time? (I made a conscious effort not to do it, but if it's still not good, then please tell me!)

Much obliged, and thanks for reading!