A/N: Here's the next chapter. Sorry it's late, but I didn't feel so well and it sort of messed up my focus. But anyway, enjoy this chapter because it's going to be a while before I come back around to updating the next chapters. Sorry!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha! You all know that!

Drawn Like a Moth to a Flame

After pausing a moment to regain her composure and gather enough strength to stand, Kagome scrambled to her feet quietly and began to prepare for her journey. After writing a faux note—encompassing yet another lie, explaining her disappearance—Kagome began to pack her things with anxious precision. Once she felt she had all that she needed and her bow and quiver of arrows were slung across her back, she stepped out into the silky shadows of another humid, summer night. Though determination quickened her step and boosted her bravado, doubt began to cloud her mind with speculative questions. How was she going to find Menomaru, let alone get to him in time to save him? She forced herself not to dwell on the prospect of arriving too late and finding Menomaru on the cusp of death.

After shaking this morbid thought thoroughly from her mind, Kagome began to reflect on Menomaru's last words. I leave a piece of me with you, he had said and the meaning behind them still left her mind in a befuddled mass of confusion. What could he have meant, Kagome thought to herself, conjuring up an image of Menomaru from that day. "Where are Menomaru? I need to get back to you. I need to see you again," she said aloud.

Then without warning, a tingling began to spread from her fingertips and all throughout her body and this feeling erupted in a swelling rush of power that drew a gasp from her. Before she could even think of contemplating what was going on, she was suddenly high above the trees, soaring through the gentle breeze that swept the bed of foliage that cropped the majestic oaks below her. Though she had no idea where she was headed, she prayed that her flight would eventually lead her to Menomaru.

******

Menomaru stumbled precariously through an unknown forest, darkened by the abysmal shadows that hugged each and every object around him. Though he was weary and worn from his battle with his enemies, fear of them closing in on him and at last erasing his existence stuck in his mind, forcing him to keep moving. He had known that his enemies were somewhere nearby, the instance he had sent Kagome back to her friends and he hastened to escape. But it was no use. Kageromaru had employed the aid of others who wished to see him dead and planted an ambush that would undoubtedly weaken him if not annihilate him all together. No doubt Kageromaru desired for his minions to wound him severely enough that it would make it all the more easier for him to deliver the final blow.

In the end Menomaru was left with small gashes that adorned his upper torso and back, which bleed slowly, draining him steadily of life. He knew almost instantly—when the shadows began to twist and twirl in a nauseating dance—that he was beginning to lose consciousness. He fought it however, trying to force his eyes to stay open and to keep his wits about him. The loss of blood however, was beginning to weaken his limbs to leaden extensions of his wounded body and he eventually gave into his body's pleas for reprieve, if only for a moment. Shuffling to a nearby tree, Menomaru rested his wounded body against its chafing bark and shut his eyes. He wasn't at all prepared when he slipped into the blissful confines of an unconscious slumber.

******

Kagome had been soaring through the air for hours now and the cool air rushing about her sent a shiver through her. But cold was not the only cause of her involuntary shiver; she was beginning to think that she would never be able to find Menomaru before dawn. By that time she felt she would be too late and be forced to face the horror that had haunted her dreams—Menomaru's slain form. When all hope began to drain from her and only a single drop remained, Kagome felt the wind whipping about her die around her as she descended to the ground below her amidst a forest shrouded in hungry shadows. When at last her feet touched the ground, the power receded, flowing upward and out in a breath-stealing gust of wind that rifled her hair.

When at last her breathing had returned to normal and coherent thoughts began to flood her mind, Kagome pulled out her flashlight and began to tentatively tread further into the forest. Menomaru's name trembled on her lips, but she refrained from calling out to him in the dark for fear of what could possibly be lurking nearby. She swept the bright beam of her flashlight over everything she happened to pass, searching with frantic eyes for Menomaru. When at last she found him, the flashlight nearly tumbled from her trembling hands and onto the forest floor.

There he lay—body a prone mass of pale skin and dried blood—against a tree as though resting, but Kagome couldn't be sure. He looked so cold and so very well and truly dead. It took a while for her mind to process the images before her, and when at last her mind recovered from its befuddlement, a scream tore from her throat. With its echo still ringing throughout the surrounding trees, Kagome rushed to Menomaru's side. She lifted his icy still form against her warmth, searching for the pulse in his neck and checking to make sure he was breathing. She was pleased to find that he was breathing and his pulse—though decidedly weak—was present. A relieved sigh eased out of her and she shook him lightly to rouse him from unconsciousness.

"Menomaru . . . please . . . wake up," she whispered down at him as she trailed warm hands against his face.

Kagome was unaware that she was being watched by several demonic red eyes from the surrounding shadows, that is, until she heard the tell-tale rustle of brush being disturbed by the careful tread of someone attempting to sneak up on her. Kagome stiffened noticeably and carefully rested Menomaru's body against the sturdy support of the tree.

"Who's there," she called out into the night. Her only response was a discomforting silence and the distant chirping of crickets.

With careful movements, Kagome drew an arrow back on her bow, aiming it haphazardly into the thick shadows. Someone was there she knew, and she wasn't going to allow them to hurt Menomaru, not if she was capable of staving them off. A gentle breeze easing through the trees preceded the appearance of the first demon; it surprised her by diving from the camouflage of a nearby tree, baring glistening fangs, bloodlust evident in its dark eyes. She caught a quick glimpse of its silhouette before it dove for her and Menomaru with a fierce growl emanating from its throat. With stunning accuracy, Kagome launched her arrow at the demon purifying it in a flash of light.

Not long after the light from her attack receded, several more demons appeared a level of menace lacing their expressions. "We'll have that moth demon miko," one of them hissed with arrogance. "And then we'll devour you."

Kagome hitched her chin higher as she said, "No chance. I'll purify before you have a chance to harm him."

"We'll see . . ." the same one replied before launching its attack.

The demon was fast, moving lithely towards Kagome; she had a moment of panic as she struggled to retain her steady aim. Her arrow whizzed by the demon and struck the ground in an earth-trembling explosion that threw off Kagome's balance off. Recovering rather quickly, Kagome gave up on trying to aim and fire another arrow at the demon and simply swung her bow—bathed in a good amount of spiritual power—striking the demon with a devastating blow that sent it in a prone arch several feet away. She wasted no time in aiming an arrow at the demon and fired it, purifying it upon the ground. The other demons met the same fate and Kagome wiped her sweat drenched brow, struggling to maintain standing until all the demons were defeated.

After defeating several more demons, Kagome realized with panic that she had used her last arrow. While she was distracted a demon sidled up behind her and dealt a stinging slash across her back that drew a scream of anguish from Kagome. The demon laughed behind her and she whirled on it in anger, propelling a blast of spiritual energy at the demon that purified it on contact. When she turned back to the demons in front of her, she found that they had multiplied and were forming a half circle around her and the prone form of Menomaru behind her.

She couldn't prevent the fear that marred her calm composure and made her tremble slightly with the prospect of failing Menomaru; his life was in her hands and she had to do what she could to protect him. Though she put on a tough façade, the demons could tell she had been weakened substantially by the wound to her upper back, and began to advance on her. Kagome's mind grew frantic as she attempted to devise a plan to destroy the demons and escape with Menomaru safely, but her attempts continually failed as her mind went blank with fear.

Just as the demons converged within a good distance of her to attack, Kagome felt that familiar rush of power before her fingernails began to glow a bright yellow. Without a second thought, Kagome launched the tips at the unsuspecting demons and several of them dissolved into ashes. Her attack didn't deter the other demons and they continued their destructive path towards her. Thrusting both her hands forward, Kagome's glowing nails elongated like small daggers, impaling five demons all at once. Once she pried her nails from the demons, they too dissolved into ashes and Kagome shifted her focus to the remaining demons.

Launching a single glowing tip above her into the trees, Kagome did a back flip, boosting herself into the air lithely. One demon followed suit, watching as Kagome snatched two leaves from the air before using the tree trunk to propel her into a somersault, zooming past the demon. Mid-flip, she transformed the leaves into a bow and arrow and aimed at the demon as she plummeted to the ground upside down.

"Hit the mark," she hissed in anger, launching her arrow before she twisted in mid-air and landed safely on her feet, her back to the demon.

In the background there was a flash of light as the demon was struck with the arrow and Kagome felt a satisfied smirk grace her lips before she wheeled on her heel and launched several tips of her nails at the remaining demons who had attempted to advance on a helpless Menomaru, reducing them to ashes. When at last all the demons were defeated, she felt the power leave her in a comforting rush. Sprinting over to Menomaru's side, she carefully hoisted him to his feet, draping his arm about her shoulders. Focusing her thoughts, she felt the power return and propel her into the air with Menomaru.

******

Kagome and Menomaru soared through the air as the sky began to brighten with the approaching light of dawn and it wasn't long before Kagome spotted a cave and dispelled the power so that they could land, before she shuffled over to the cave, supporting all of Menomaru's weight. Laying him down carefully and setting her backpack aside, she set out in search of firewood she could use to build an adequate campfire. Before leaving however, Kagome made sure to invoke a barrier to prevent any demons from getting to Menomaru while she was gone.

It didn't take long, and Kagome returned with an armful of firewood. She soon had a steady fire going, and the sound of its crackling roused Menomaru from unconsciousness. His eyes came to rest on the ceiling of the cave and panic settled in as he tried to figure out why he was there. He sat upright sharply, disturbing his wounds and forcing a sharp hiss from his parched lips. Kagome rushed to his side; worry clearly etched in the creasing of her brow.

"Are you all right," she asked.

"Yes . . . H-how did you get here?"

"I don't really know . . . I guess I flew," Kagome said with a sheepish grin.

Menomaru's eyes widened at this, but he said nothing more. Kagome, keeping silent as well, went over to her backpack and gathered her supplies before carefully cleansing and dressing his multitude of wounds. Once that task had been completed, they sat in silence for a while, Menomaru intent upon his own thoughts and Kagome struggling to figure out what he was thinking and trying hard not to stare at him intently. Sensing the turmoil of her thoughts, Menomaru spoke up.

"What's wrong," he asked quietly, not looking at her, but sensing her jump at the sudden sound of his voice.

"Nothing really," she said after a pause. "I just wanted to know what happened to you."

At last he turned to look at her, and Kagome's breath hitched in her throat upon finally gazing into his crimson eyes after being away from him for a month and two weeks. "I was ambushed not long after you left and was wounded severely only recently, as you can see. Though, I suppose, not nearly as severe as the last time you saw me."

"I see," Kagome said, looking away from the intensity of his gaze. After another pause she said, "I had a dream about you again."

"Did you?" There was no surprise in his response to her statement.

"Yes . . . " she whispered, remembering the pain she endured the last time she woke from her horrid dream. "This time we were connected by a golden chain and when you were killed, it glowed a bright crimson before I felt an agonizing pain course through me. And to top it off, the last time I had this dream, I felt the same pain pierce me through viciously after I woke. It was then that I decided to go looking for you."

He nodded, apparently deep in thought before he asked, "And what happened after that?"

"Well . . . I flew to you and protected you as best as I could with my bow and arrows until they ran out. Then your powers took over and I defeated the demons before bringing you here." Menomaru was quiet for a while and Kagome began to wonder if he was going to try to explain.

Before Kagome could voice her distress, Menomaru said, "It seems that I inadvertently created a deeper connection between us, to the point that you now have the powers I lent you when I took control of your body with my spell. I believe this was due to my kiss."

Kagome blushed a bright crimson despite herself, remembering the feel of his lips against hers. "O-oh . . . " she stammered, trying to bring her breathing back to normal and will her pulse to slow down.

"However," Menomaru continued after watching her display of embarrassment and reading the turn her thoughts had taken. "This means that you also share my life span, thus explaining the strange instances you witnessed in your dream. I suspect the reason why you felt such pain when you awoke the final time from your dream was because you were feeling my pain as my enemies systematically hunted me down and wounded me. Our lives are now connected like a link in a chain."

Menomaru paused to gauge her reaction through her thoughts, because her expression was as blank as ever. He found however, that Kagome lacked the feelings of despair that he expected and only held an inhuman devotion strengthened by their new bond. Menomaru couldn't understand why she would want to be by his side after he may or may not have purposely forced this upon her, and hoped he could dissuade her from choosing to stay with him. His efforts failed—just as he suspected—as Kagome argued her right to be with him.

"It will be wiser if we stay together, that way we only have to worry about keeping each other alive from close proximity." Kagome fought down the thrill of excitement that went through her at the prospect of staying by Menomaru's side and forced a level of seriousness into her voice.

Menomaru could see right through her façade, but he submitted to her will, far happier than he should have been at the prospect of keeping her within his company. But he was a selfish creature that longed for the company of another. "All right," he said with a sigh. "You can stay."

Kagome couldn't suppress the ecstatic yip that erupted from her lips and she clutched him to her in a haphazard hug that was sloppy, but did nothing to neutralize the sparks that ignited at the slight touch of their bodies. Kagome pulled away, face a bright red and her bottom lip captured between her teeth; Menomaru wished he could reach for her and kiss her again, but forced the urge down. A kiss was what started this whole mess. But he'd be damned if he would ever come to regret his actions.

A/N: I know this is kind of a weird place to leave it at, but I just don't know where to go from here. Well, just so all of you know, I'm moving away from this story and onto In Shackles, my M rated Menomaru/Kagome pairing. Sadly this will be the last update for a while, but keep checking my profile; it has my entire schedule for the next couple of months. Hope you liked this chapter! Please leave a review! I'm out (haven't wrote that in a while)!

Silver Moon Vampiress