DISCLAIMER: I don’t own Inuyasha or anyone else in Rumiko Takahashi’s works. She created them, and I thank her for it. They give me a new medium to write about. Any and all characters that I might happen to pull out of my brain are mine alone, and you can’t have them unless you ask like a nice person, and maybe do a little jig! That’d be so much fun don’t you think? Ahem. Anyway, enjoy the show and please tell me what you think. Constructive criticism welcome.

She ran blindly through the dark forest, not caring that branches scraped her face and brush scarred her shins. All she had to do now was run. The downpour of rain matted her hair to her face and stung an open wound on her thigh. But she kept running. The ringing in her ears hadn’t stopped from the sharp blast only minutes before. A root protruded from the ground causing the girl to slip and tumble into a heap at the base of a tree, his tree. The tears that were so long in coming now gushed forth from her eyes as if a flood gate had been opened. The girl hurled herself at the trunk of the tree and clung to it as if it were alive, sobbing until she could cry no more.

* * * * * *

Two days earlier:

"Kagome! Get back here you stupid girl!" Inuyasha chased after Kagome who was sprinting towards the well.

"I have a huge math test tomorrow and I haven’t studied at all. Do you want me to be stuck in the same grade for the rest of my life?" Kagome gave Inuyasha a look that would melt steel. He flinched slightly but went on with his verbal assault.

"We have more shards to collect, wench!" He jumped in front of her to block her path to the well.

"Move, Inuyasha," she answered coolly. She stopped in her tracks and looked up at him. "I’m not going to ask you again."

"Ooooh, was that some kind of threat?" Inuyasha crossed his arms nonchalantly across his chest and turned his nose up, obviously not impressed.

"As a matter of fact, yes. SIT!"

*WHUMP*

Kagome stalked off towards the well making a point to step on Inuyasha on her way there. "Don’t worry! It’ll only be a couple days, you can amuse yourself for that long can’t you?"

"mmmrrrgguuuhh"

"That’s what I thought. Buh-bye!" She waved with a more than sweet smile on her face and hopped down into the well, hauling her pack behind her.

"Jii-sama! Sota! Mom! I’m home!…… Huh? Where is everyone?" Kagome dropped her pack next to the door and searched the first floor of her house. The whole house was empty, silent. "Sota? This isn’t funny!"

‘They never leave without telling me, even when I am in Feudal Japan. There’s always a note or something.’ Kagome began to panic. A hundred reasons why they weren’t there flashed through her mind, most of which made no sense.

‘A giant demon came through the well and abducted them. No! There was a plague and they all died. Wait! They have a worse sense of direction than Ryouga and went to the wrong house.’

Kagome sighed and flopped down on the floor. There had to be some logical explanation why they weren’t here. ‘That’s gotta be it’ she decided. Figuring that they would be home soon, she crawled over to her pack and pulled out her math book.

"Alright," Kagome glared at the book infront of her and cracked her knuckles to get ready. "y equals x plus the cube root of 17 minus 3x to the 3^rd over x squared minus zzzzzzzzZZZzzzz" Kagome’s face landed in the crack of the book.

"What? Where am I?" Kagome looked all around her but saw nothing but a black void. It was cold, wherever she was, and she began to shiver.

"Hello, Kagome," a dark, husky voice was the only reply. Something about that voice seemed vaguely familiar, but so cold and unforgiving.

"Wh-who are you?" she managed to choke out.

"You’ll know soon enough, my sweet," the voice cackled a response.

"But… I…" she stammered while the voice kept on laughing, a cold sinister laugh.

Kagome bolted up from where she was sitting, nearly falling over backwards. ‘Get a grip, Kagome, you must’ve been dreaming,’ she assured herself. Her heart still thudded against her chest even though it was just a dream. She took a deep breath then stared back at the book infront of her. Only a couple hours left before she had to be at school

A figure walked out of the shadows and through the back door of the Higurashi residence. "It’s about time she fell asleep." A sneer formed across his lips as he moved towards the sleeping girl. He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "I never forgot what you did to me, wench. And I intend to keep the promise I made that day." Grabbing Kagome harshly around her waist, the figure flung the now unconscious girl over a shoulder and stalked out of the house.

* * * * *

Back in Feudal Japan:

"How many times do I have to tell you, no matter how long you stare at that well she’s not going to just jump out of it." Inuyasha just glared at the kitsune. It had been almost a whole day since she had left him and still nothing. Inuyasha picked up pebbles from under the tree where he was sitting and tossed them at the well. ‘Come back to me soon, Kagome,’ he smirked, ‘I still owe you for that sit.’

"Mmmm, no mommy……. I don’t want to……. go through the well." Kagome tossed in her sleep and woke abruptly, sitting straight up. "My math test!" She jumped up from the cot and rushed around the room looking for her pack. When her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Kagome finally realized she didn’t exactly know where she was. Her heart jumped and she slumped back onto the cot to collect her thoughts.

"Okay, Kagome. Settle down. You were studying and then you fell asleep, in your own house. So how the hell did you end up here!? Wherever here is," she ended meekly.

Unbeknownst to Kagome, here happened to be a large fortress. The previous feudal lord had abandoned it years ago, leaving it in shambles. The gigantic structure was made from stone and rotting wood. Her room was small and damp with no windows. A beam of light from under the door showed the floor beneath her was littered with dead leaves and cracks wove their way up the walls. To the touch the wall was firm, though it didn’t look it. When she touched the wall, her hands stung. They were wrapped in dingy cloth with blood stains spotting the otherwise off-white surface. She must have been cut somehow. That didn’t matter right now; she would worry about it later. The top priority was to get out of here, wherever here was.

"I’ve got to find a way out of here," she said to herself. The only possible escape route was a door to the left of the room. She tugged on the handle in vain. The thick wooden door wouldn’t budge. All she could do now is wait.

"You can’t just leave her in there!" a young man protested.

"And why not?" the elder replied.

"She… she… she should suffer more than that!" his fist pounded the table in front of the sitting elder brother, causing it to crack.

"Now, now, Kanrin, patience," the elder brother replied coolly. Even sitting, his regal bearing commanded attention from his brother. Coal black hair with silver streaks covered his hard features. He looked towards his younger brother with blazing silver eyes, "We must be patient. You wouldn’t want her to die before he got here, now would you?"

Kanrin tensed and clenched his teeth. His brother has always had a power over him, it would be pointless to resist at this point. "Of course, Rakiro. But do you think he’ll come?"

"He’ll be here, alright. We have his woman after all. Did you do as I told you?"

"Hai."

"Then we shouldn’t have to wait long," a sinister smile played upon Rakiro’s lips.

* * * * *

"Have you moved from that spot in the last twenty-four hours?"

"Yes," Inuyasha snapped. "I had to go to the bathroom."

The old woman nearly squealed with laughter. "Have you ever heard the phrase ‘A watched pot never boils’?"

"Uh… of course I have!"

"Right, dog boy. I think that applies in this case. You should go look for shards of the jewel or something. Sitting here watching the well isn’t going to make her jump out of it any faster," Kaede mused.

"That’s pretty much what Shippou said," Inuyasha replied with an inaudible sigh.

"You don’t look so good, Inuyasha," Kaede observed, watching the lines in his face begin to soften. "Are you coming down with something? Maybe it’s puppy love."

"Feh! What do you know old woman!?" he turned around quickly and stomped off towards the God Tree, barely able to hide his blushing cheeks. Why was he blushing? Be in love with Kagome? She’s gotta be nuts. With one swift leap, the half youkai was sitting gracefully on a tree branch surveying the landscape. He forced himself to search the countryside, sniffing for any hint of a demon, but his mind wandered elsewhere. Kagome. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was worried about her. The girl has been gone for over a day and a half with no sign of her. She could stay in her world and not come back. No, she wouldn’t do that to him, would she?

The young kitsune happened along underneath the God Tree, not really taking notice of the half-youkai perched above him. Shippou seemed too involved in chasing a stray leaf. It twisted and turned in the wind and darted back at the tree, which the child promptly ran into.

"Watch where’re you’re going, whelp!" Inuyasha snarled down to the fox demon.

"But I--!" He was cut off by the sudden movements of Inuyasha.

"Kagome!" He sprang down from the tree and sprinted into the wind. "She’s here, I can smell her."

"Wait up!" Shippou toddled along behind the much bigger youkai, straining to catch up. Luckily, Inuyasha stopped in his tracks on a small rise that overlooked a portion of the forest.

"What’s that girl doing here? Her scent…" he sniffed the air in vain, "blood!"

* * * * *

"Let me out!" Kagome had been pounding on the door for hours. The wounds on her hands had reopened and stained the cloths even more. Drops of blood splattered against the cobblestone floor, she didn’t care; she wanted out.

"Yes, Princess," the elder brother taunted sarcastically from outside the door. "We can’t have you going anywhere until the fun begins. I hope it starts soon. If that bastard of a half demon still has his sense of smell, he should be here shortly." A sinister smile played across Rakiro’s lips. "You probably want an explanation don’t you, Kagome. That is your name isn’t it?"

"Why do you care?" she spat out, trying to sound as furious as possible, which wasn’t hard at this point.

"You’re the reincarnation of that miko, Kikyou, aren’t you? Yes, I can smell it on you. You stink of that witch, and you’re going to pay for what she did!" He lost his composure for only a moment, anger working its way across his face like a snake. If Kagome could see him, she would’ve taken a step back for that look strikes fear into the hearts of even the bravest warriors. As quickly as it came, the sneer was gone, replaced by a calm, unfeeling stare. "All in due time, my dear, all in due time."

Kagome watched him leave, somewhat stunned by his outburst. She could only make out the outline of his body, but she could tell he was a demon. He looked humaniod enough, but he had pointy ears like Inuyasha, but not like Inuyasha. They were more feline-like, she assumed he must be some kind of neko demon. ‘Oh how cute,’ she thought, ‘dog versus cat. Like that’s never been done before.’

**To be continued**