Where we left off by Yuya

The fight for their lives

Chapter First

>>--->

This was it. 

This was the moment. 

---

There were the echoing sounds of the the heavy tetsusaiga hitting the ground, hard breathing and faraway groans of pain echoing within the surrounding forest.

All eyes were trained to the exact same area where a lone woman stood, her arm extended in mid-air. Her breathing was erratic as her chest was seen rising and falling rapidly. Her shaking legs were braced apart and the tattered remains of her jeans and t-shirt bellowed in the soft wind.

The sound of scampering low-level demons, accompanied by frantic screams of fear, were heard piercing the cool air. Suddenly, movement was renewed within the decimated clearing. The cry of "Kaze No Kizu" was predominant, but closely followed by "Hiraikotsu" The lone figure simply stood, her arm outstretched and her fist closed around something that glowed such a bright pink light, that it would not be contained by mere human fingers. Tentatively, her fingers unfolded and revealed a pale jewel sitting innocently in her palm, shining brighter than she could ever remember. Slowly, her eyes blinked and Kagome recalled the events that brought this moment to pass.

---

Naraku was gaining the upper hand.

Her companions were tired and InuYasha was badly injured. Glancing to one side, she saw Sesshoumaru launch a fierce attack from his bakusaiga, decimating a good portion of the oncoming demons. Her thoughts interrupted briefly as she noticed a series of them sneaking up on her enemy-turned-ally, and quickly reacted by stringing an arrow in one fluid motion, charging it bright with purification and loosing it. The lord of the west shot her a quick look over his shoulder, his expression unreadable, but she didn't have long enough to look closer, as her attention was drawn towards a new horde heading for Sango's own back.

She fired arrow after arrow, safely perched atop a fallen tree of unimaginable size. Shippou was by her side, throwing his newly trained fox fire at any who dared to come close enough, and alerting Kagome if any of their friends needed her arrows. Reaching behind her, her bow still vibrating from its last shot, Kagome took inventory of her stock of arrows. Frowning delicately, she cast her blue gaze to her kitsune friend for the bearest second, still firing at the enemies. "Shippou, do we have another quiver left?" She asked the question she knew the answer to, but hoped to be wrong.

She heard her small friend shuffle for a moment, stopping long enough to cast his fox fire at some burly dragon-like lesser demon, before addressing her finally. "We've got one left, looks like we're gonna have to go down to the battlefield soon." His emerald gaze made a quick assessment of his other friends out there on the field. They were struggling, but no one was significantly injured. 

Kagome shook her head slowly, throwing the kitsune a smile before placing another arrow in her bow. "I'll go alone, Shippou." She didn't see him pout. "It's too dangerous for you." Loosing her arrow, she watched as at least a hundred demons burned away.

No sooner had she uttered her previous words though, that she needed him to hand her their last quiver-full of arrows. Kagome sighed as she fasted it quickly to her thigh and threaded three fresh arrows between her fingers. Shippou offered no other complaints and simply resumed his earlier responsibilities of defending their vantage spot. As soon as her last quiver was empty, Kagome removed it from her thigh dropped it to the ground bellow, before jumping down herself. She turned and looked up with a grin. "Now go and hide, thanks for your help, we couldn't have gone this far without you!" She cheerily waved and turned to join in the fray, bow still in hand. 

Kagome was beside InuYasha in no time flat, whipping her thin bow at demons within range, the smooth wood alight with her powers. Just getting hit by her weapon wouldn't hurt much, but while infused, it instantly turned demons to dust. She had found out about this technique some time along the way; They had been questing for five years, after all. 

"Oi Wench, what're you doin' here? It's fucking dangerous!" The hanyou bellowed gruffly, earning himself a whipping from her bow. Thankfully, she hadn't charged it.

"I'm here to help, BakaYasha!" She yelled right back. "Besides, I'm already out of arrows." She finished with a light shrug. Twisting around just on time to dispatch a lizard youkai wearing nothing but a deep purple loin cloth.

"Kaze No Kizu!" A devastating blast shot from the sword and destroyed one hundred demons instantly. The hanyou cursed under his breath as he noticed a hundred more demons taking their place without more than a small pause. Quickly, he wrapped an arm around the miko's waist and jumped to gain some distance from them. While in the air, the pair assessed the battlefield with the heavy weight of dread settling like a stone in their stomachs.

Kagome was the first to speak, holding onto his waist with all her strength. "We're losing, aren't we, InuYasha?" Her tone was soft and barely audible but he still heard her. 

InuYasha repressed a cringe and chose not to answer and he landed close to Kikyou. Kagome quickly ran towards he older woman. "Do you have any arrows left?"

Kikyou shot another arrow through a mass of demons before looking at her reincarnation impassively. "This is my last one." She answered, not bothering to stop her attacks.

Kagome nodded once and decided to head towards her other friends. Suddenly, tentacles surrounded the petite woman and Kagome screamed shrilly. She saw her friends turn with shock and panic in their eyes, calling her name and reaching for her desperately. The tentacles coiled around her body and brought her feet off the ground. Kagome reached out the one arm that wasn't trapped and looked on helplessly as everyone, even Sesshoumaru, ran after her quickly departing form. A sinster laughter was somehow heard through the sound of battle and made her ears ring uncomfortably. Kagome called out the hanyou's name, tears in her eyes and face awash with grief.

'I'm going to die!'