Rebuilding Dreams

Chapter Seven – Shattering of Protection

He traced a gentle finger across her face, feeling her tremble. Her scent changed, now he could smell her fear again, but it wasn’t like when her uncle had come home. It was more like she was experiencing something new. Could it be that she had never been touched by someone other than family? She was so beautiful though.

Before he could do anything else though he became aware of an approaching youkai behind them. A very powerful youkai, and it wasn’t Sesshoumaru. The presence approached rapidly and soon a figure stood before them. Inuyasha sniffed the air apprehensively, trying to decide what this creature wanted. Kagome took a step back until she was pressed against Inuyasha.

“Inuyasha,” a soft voice growled from under a hooded cloak. “Who is this lovely young lady in your company?” The figure took a step closer, but Inuyasha pushed Kagome behind him.

“Who are you?” Inuyasha’s hand was already wrapped around the hilt of his sword.

The hood tilted back, and Kagome gasped. She knew that face. She wasn’t sure how, but she knew that she knew. She sniffed cautiously at the wind. The creature laughed. It was so dark that chills seemed to wrap around her entire soul. Black eyes stared into hers; a somewhat crooked sneer leered at her.

So quietly that Inuyasha barely heard her, a single word disentangled from her lips. “Naraku.” He looked down at her sharply, but she wasn’t looking at him. She was staring straight at the other demon whose coal black eyes stared at her soullessly. Her eyes were wide, almost glazed over. Her skin drained of what very little color she possessed, and Inuyasha just barely managed to catch her before she passed out.

His amber eyes darkened, red glinting in them as he turned back to the demon, but the beast was gone. The only evidence of his being there was the still lingering scent and the laughter that echoed through the leaves.

He looked back down at Kagome. She looked pale and drawn. Her eyes were closed with such intensity that her eyes were scrunched. Her forehead was furrowed and her eyebrows drawn together. Her lips formed a hard line as she rolled her head slightly to the side. Inuyasha knelt next to her, gently tracing his claws over the side of her face, only to have her jerk away at the soft contact with a muffled whimper.

His eyes narrowed at this. Carefully he lifted her into his arms and set off back to the castle. She thrashed almost violently the whole time. Her eyes remained closed and the look on her face became more panicked. He walked slowly, trying not to alarm her anymore than she already was, but after about twenty minutes he decided it would be best to settle for the time being, at least until she awoke. Kagome’s constant thrashing would most certainly cause some sort of harm to her, and he didn’t want to make whatever was going on any worse.

His heart lodged in his throat as he placed her on the ground. Her breathing was fast and labored, almost erratic. He could hear her heart pounding against her chest, racing. The air was warm so he didn’t bother to start a fire. On a guess he doubted that anyone would come looking for them. His brother wouldn’t care since he knew they were together.

Inuyasha continued to watch Kagome very closely. Her face seemed to grow paler with each passing second, and even though he was no longer holding her she continued to thrash, though now the movements seemed weaker. He kept a very close vigil over her as the sky darkened and night settled in around them. Every now and then a small whimper and a panicked word would escape her throat.

“What on earth happened to her?” Sesshoumaru’s voice demanded behind them. It was dark now and Inuyasha had sensed the taiyoukai’s presence long before he arrived. Apparently, he had been mistaken about his older half brother not coming to look.

Instead of answering, Inuyasha looked up into his brother’s eyes. “Who is Naraku?” His voice sounded almost stilted. Sesshoumaru arched an eyebrow at his brother as though to state his stupidity without words. “We ran into him earlier, or at least I believe it was him.” He explained. “I have never seen him before, or heard his name that I know of. It was Kagome who named him. She just started at him and when she said his name, she fainted.”

Sesshoumaru continued to look at him with his expressionless eyes for a long while before he sat down next to the hanyou. “Naraku is a demon. He is not a full demon though, even though he smells as one. He was a very evil man at one time and he called upon the demons of the underworld to come and devour his flesh so that he might become as one of them. Since then he has sought to rule whatever demons that he may come across, and has possessed a few humans along the way.” He looked over to the whimpering girl, curiosity visible in his eyes. “Why she would know him, I cannot begin to fathom.”

A sharp rasping gasp from the prone figure next to them caused them both to turn their attention to Kagome. Her breathing was shallower than before and her hands were clutching desperately at the earth. That was when they noticed. Her nails were lengthening to claws, digging deep into the rich soil. Inuyasha’s eyes widened as he jumped up and hurried to her side, holding her hands tight in his own.

As his skin touched hers she jerked violently, a scream escaping her lips, and she struggled against him desperately. All Inuyasha could do was hold her and look rather desperately at his brother. Sesshoumaru himself looked quite startled at her behavior.

Finally, sometime just before dawn, her thrashing reached a climax, and her body began to change. Her dark hair now had streaks of bright red and snow white shot through the length. The color slowly returned to her skin, the tan pigment now having a somewhat golden tint to it. Her overly thin body stretched out, the muscles taunt and sinewy under her skin. Two dark blue stripes appeared on her neck, but closer inspection revealed it to be a semi circle from one side of her neck to the other. Her ears became pointed, almost rather resembling an elf’s. Her eyes slanted up at more of an angle and the lids became powder white. Four jagged streaks appeared on her cheeks, one on her chin, and two slashing down her forehead. Each was as black as the night save the one on her chin, which matched the white of her eyelids.

She moaned slightly and moved. Her breathing was now easy and calm. She opened her eyes slowly. Crystalline blue eyes gazed up at him. “What happened?” She murmured, almost to herself.

Sesshoumaru watched her coolly, preferring to sit on a boulder that jutted from the ground. “You ran into Naraku yesterday. We’re quite curious as to how you know him actually. It would appear that seeing him sent you into somewhat of a shock, and broke the protection spell your father placed upon you when you were born.”

Kagome blinked several times, tilting her head to the side. The effect caused her pupils to narrow to slits a few times. She sat up slowly. “I’m not sure how I knew him. But, his presence just seemed so familiar.” She hoisted herself to her feet, and almost toppled back over. That had been much easier than she remembered.

Inuyasha suppressed a snort of laughter at the look on his betrothed’s face. Sesshoumaru too seemed to be biting back a laugh. “It might take you a couple of days to get used to the adjustments your body has made to show your true form.”

For the first time he saw a slight spark in Kagome’s eyes as she looked around, then let her head fall back gazing up into the trees. She then crouched back to the ground, causing Inuyasha to raise a speculative eyebrow at her. “What are you doing?” His query was only half questioned though when she sprang up from her position, her feet easily leaving the ground behind as she caught onto a limb ten feet above her head. Laughing, she swung up until she was crouched among the leaves.

“Now this, I could get used to.” Her eyes shone with merriment as she hung upside down, her head protruding from the limbs and leaves.

Sesshoumaru simply lifted an elegant eyebrow at her antics then took his departure. Inuyasha took her hands and guided her flip back to the forest floor. He smiled as his hand reached forward and brushed a wayward strand of hair away from her face. He pulled her slowly closer and then lightly pressed his lips to hers. Again he could smell the spike in her scent from fear and he pulled back away, keeping her close.

Leaning forward he whispered softly next to her ear, “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you.” Then he took a step away from her. “I think that now is the time to have that conversation we were interrupted from yesterday.”