InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Woodin Cylinders And Red Herrings ❯ Staying Alive ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or any characters there in.

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Staying Alive

The group trudged on ever to the sea.

Dusty busied herself teaching Shippo the song that never ends, in fairy. Repetitive nonsense badly sung. Dusty was having a blast.

"How much farther do we have to travel, Dusty?" Miroku said over the din of their singing.

Dusty stopped singing and looked at the sky in thought before answering, "Two more days maybe? Not long now, depending on Kagome's condition."

"What's going to happen next?" Kagome asked, as she reached for another cracker. Now that bits of her had stopped going dead she was less panicked and more annoyed.

"I don't know." Dusty pouted, "I have an idea of what's left, but I don't want to scare you."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kagome choked.

"Calm down," Dusty made calming motions with her hands. "I just mean that it will probably sound worse than it will actually be." `I've got to learn to think before I speak.' She thought. "Any way it's almost time."

The group once again paused to stare at Kagome, and wait for the next phase of the curse.

"Would you guys mind not staring at me like that?" Kagome leaned against a tree and put the remainders of her crackers back in the pack. But before anyone could reply Kagome collapsed on the ground coughing and grabbing at her heart.

"KAGOME!" InuYasha and Shippo shouted, running to her side.

"What's wrong?" InuYasha asked.

"The next phase." Dusty leaned over Kagome, as she kneeled on the road, wide eyed, one hand clutched at her chest and taking deep gulping breaths.

"Can't… breath." Kagome gasped.

"Of course you can," Dusty patted her back gently, "That's about all your doing right now. It's just that usually you don't have to think about it this hard."

"My…heart." Kagome looked up at the pixy pleadingly.

Dusty nodded, "Well, if it's still beating it should continue to beat, right? Let's not do anything to discourage it." Dusty straightened up, I think we should camp here tonight and wait for this phase to pass."

Kagome shifted to a more comfortable spot under a nearby tree and continued to breathe while the others made camp right there on the road.

InuYasha and Shippo stayed by her side all night, eventually Shippo curled up by her side and fell asleep. But Kagome never slept. All night she sat leaning against the same tree, fighting for every breath, with InuYasha crouched near by. He kept his ears trained on her heart and his eyes on her face. And while Kagome gasped noisily, he barely breathed. He kept his mind carefully clear, as if his thoughts might prove too heavy for her fragile heart. This is the way the night passed for them.

Morning brought no comfort to Kagome, her breath still required her to demand it and she was getting tired from the constant exertion. Shippo and the others woke and went through the morning tasks quietly.

The day passed on and InuYasha remained by her side, looking more like a stray puppy then the great warrior he tried to be. He was scared to move or even look away from her, as if the power of his gaze was the only thing that insured her next breath.

Dusty spent the day restocking her petal "attack" and playing hide and seek with Shippo. Nothing takes your mind off your worries like a playful pixy.

As the afternoon wore on, and Shippo went down for a nap, the boredom finally got to Dusty and she made Sango and Miroku some tea. But just as she was putting the finishing touches on her prank, Sango walked by.

"Dusty!" Sango practically yelped when she caught Dusty with her finger in the brew. "I thought you weren't going to pull that stuff on us!"

"I got bored." Dusty explained innocently, "I wanted to see what would happen. I'd have a laugh and you'd have a little fun… It was just a little dose anyway." She finished sadly as Sango poured out the spiked tea."

When the time of the switch came, it came silently. Kagome simply slumped over, unconscious. InuYasha jumped to her side and took her vital signs as the others waited near by.

InuYasha straightened and looked at them, "Her hearts back, she's breathing regular too. She sounds… strange, but she's alive."

Dusty stood and looked up at the sky, "I think it would be ok to move her now. Let's cover some ground while there's still light. We should reach the shore tomorrow."

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The next day the group did reach the sea. InuYasha repositioned the still sleeping Kagome on his back and looked around. The trees stopped quite away from the shore leaving them in a lush open meadow, the tall grasses were blown by the rich sea air. It was beautiful, but Kagome was still dead to the world, and that made InuYasha a little edgy.

"From here we go north," Dusty smiled from her position in the air, "I think I can see the southern boundary from here!" As she drifted down to the ground she added, "Kagome should be waking up soon, how about a break!"

Everyone, except InuYasha and Dusty, gave a relieved groan. InuYasha wouldn't let them stop since they started walking early that morning, arguing that they had wasted enough time and the curse might make them loose another day. Without Kagome to "convince" him otherwise, they had been forced to keep up or be left behind.

InuYasha laid her on the soft grass in the shade of a sweet smelling bush. The others found a nice patch of ground near by, to wait for Kagome to wake up.

Kagome woke with a start a short time later. She sat up and looked around bewildered, "What happened?" she asked groggily.

"Good mor… good afternoon." Dusty piped up from her seat on the bush, you fell asleep for the whole day and InuYasha carried you here."

"Are we at the resort yet?" Kagome asked looking around blearily.

"Not quite, how do you feel?"

"Fine. A little confused but… fine." She answered.

"Hey Kagome," InuYasha kneeled next to her.

"Don't start with me, InuYasha!" Kagome snapped.

"…What the hell are you talking about? I was just asking-"

"Don't take that tone with me right now InuYasha," Kagome choked on a sob, "I don't think I could take it."

InuYasha looked at the others for an answer. Miroku just shrugged.

Sango stepped forward and addressed Kagome, "Are you sure your alright?"

"Of course Sango, why do you ask?" Kagome smiled mildly at her friend.

"Oh, this should be fun." Dusty beamed.

"Is that right?" Kagome turned on Dusty, "Fun? This is fun for you? Do you think this is funny!" She worked her way up to a yell before falling into tears, "Is that what you all think? Go ahead, laugh at the poor cursed girl!"

"That's not what she meant, Kagome." InuYasha tried desperately to calm her down, "Just… just stop crying and-"

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Kagome jumped up, "All of you just leave me alone!"

Kagome marched away from the group in a huff.

"Uh… Kagome? North is this way," Dusty pointed in the opposite direction. Kagome turned an impressive death glare on the poor pixy, "I just thought that you'd like … to…" Her voice faded as Kagome pasted them, now headed in the proper direction.

Before the others had a chance to recover, she turned her angry gaze back on her friends and released a long strained hiss. Then continued to stomp up the coast.

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A/N: The count still stands at:

Kouga- 1

InuYasha- 1

Remember only your last guess will be counted in the final chapter. And you don't have to guess to review ^_~

Happy guessing!