Trails of Pain and Love

A/N: Thanks for the reviews just far, and I'm trying to get at least two chapters up a week in between my work schedule. Well, hope you enjoy the latest chapters, because things are about to get interesting...





Chapter 7



Kagome's eyes fluttered, before they slowly began to crease and then open entirely. Sesshomaru's eyes opened as well as he detected the change in her heart rate that indicated she was coming awake.



"ooh...." she groaned as the rest of her body awoke as well, included the areas that had been wounded and bruised.



"Kagome...." Sesshomaru began, trying to gain her attention as she was looking around the room. When he said her name, her eyes fell onto him.



"Sesshomaru! Thank goodness it's you!" exclaimed Kagome, afraid that she was going to end up in the enemy's encampment. But that's right, she remembered now. Sesshomaru had come for her.



"Yes, it's me. Now, can you tell me what exactly happened between you, and that....vampire?" inquired Sesshomaru, wanting to gather as many facts as possible before he went off to the confrontation.



"Well, for starters, he said that his name was Amaru. He said that he wanted to take me, both my body, and my...soul." recounted Kagome, her body starting to shudder and shake as she recalled the memories. The shaking stopped when, to her suprise, Sesshomaru placed a hand on her shoulder.



"Go on..." he urged her.



"Well, I tried to fight him off, and I thought I had badly wounded him. However, his body has the ability to regenerate. He then proceeded to...beat me....mainly in the stomach. Speaking of which, my insides really hurt right now." groaned Kagome, rubbing her belly with one of her hands.



"You may have suffered internal injuries, but only time will tell for now." added Sesshomaru.



"Right....well....then he leaned over me, and said that he would have me. He started to...suck my blood...at that point, everything became hazy. I went into some kind of..well....dreamworld, and in it, I was able to see through the eyes of other beings. Amaru came in and said that I was now his, by way of blood oath, and that I would....have to suck blood in order to survive..." said Kagome, tears now coming to her eyes.



The girl began sobbing for a moment, before she stopped and turned to look at him. The expression in her eyes was most serious and focused one that he had seen in a long time.



"Please, Sesshomaru, I need to ask a favour of you." said Kagome, her voice now calm and focused.



"What is it?" he asked in response, wondering what the change in the miko's emotions just now meant.



"If worst should come to worst, and I get an overwhelming urge to suck someone's blood...then would you please kill me before I would try it?" asked the miko in a dead serious voice.



His eyebrows rose and his eyes widened when she was done speaking. His respect of her rose another few inches inside his head, and heart.



"Hnnn..." was the only reply that he could give her.



"Sesshomaru, please..." Kagome was pratically begging now.



"I will not be here to watch over you, unfortuantly. I will be leaving to confront this...Amaru person in order to set you free from his grasp. But if necessary, the monk can place some sutra seals on your body to help restrict you." informed Sesshomaru, standing up now.



'So even the miko's spiritual powers were not able to kill that being. It appears that, like the others, I will have to incinerate him in other to kill him. After he releases Kagome from his grasp, that is.' thought Sesshomaru as he turned his back to leave.



"Sesshomaru..." Kagome groaned out, stopping him in his tracks.



"I just wanted to say, thanks for rescuing me. And for going through all this trouble on my behalf." said Kagome, another tear running down her eye, before she collapsed back into a slumber.



Sesshomaru nodded, just once, before he departed the hutt and headed off on Ah-Un towards the Western mountians, and a rendezvous.



* * *



Later on in the day, various people came to visit Kagome inside the healing hutt. Kaede came by, along with Grandpa. The two of them had been getting along well together, and there even seemed be a hint of romance in the air.



Kaede was busy training Grandpa to be a priest, and had shown him how to gather various herbs and how to use a bow and arrow effectivley. She had also shown him how to charge his sutra seals, to where they were actually effective.



In addition, Souta came by, after a busy training session with Kohaku. Having adopted Inuyasha as his idol before his death, Souta wanted to be a strong being who could slay demons. After he saw Sango in action, he decided the path he wanted was one of a demonslayer, and so Kohaku is now training him in that profession.



"Sister, how are you feeling?" asked Souta, his big round eyes fully of worry.



Kagome's eyes slowly blinked open, before she let out a small moan.



"I'm feeling....better than earlier. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." she said, forcing a smile to cross her face as she turned her head to look at him.



Suddenly though her vision failed as her mind went blank. Kagome found herself in the same area as before, being able to look into the minds of vampires that Amaru had sucked the blood of. And now, his voice also came back.



'Kagome....Kagome....' the little voice asked over and over again.



'What do you want this time?' Kagome fired back at him in her thoughts.



'It is time, my little vampire. Time for you to awaken....awaken and feast!' stated Amaru, before chuckling evilly. His voice faded into the background, as her mind also faded into blackness.



Without warning, stars exploded behind her eyes, as her body arched into the air, convulsing as the miko began to undergo a transformation.



Kohaku ran out of the hutt to find Miroku and Sango, as Souta just stared her with wide eyes, his jaw agape.



"Sister, what's happening to you?" he asked, worried that she was dying.



Her body began to tighten as muscles formed in her arms and legs, and her skin paled a few shades. The most notable thing that happened however, was the set of fangs that suddenly sprouted into her mouth.



As suddenly as it had begun, the transformation was over, and her body collapsed back into the bed.



"Souta...." Kagome breathed weakly, turning her head again to look at him.



"Kagome...thank goodness you're allright!" he exclaimed as he went up to hug her.



"Yes, everything will be okay now..." said Kagome, pulling him to her with one of her arms, even as she eyed his neck with her fangs glistening the moonlight....