Well, so much for monthly updates, I guess. I'm really sorry about this, but I have to ask that you bear with me. University has to come before writing fanfics, after all. And hey, at least I didn't ake you wait an entire year this time, right? LOL

Also, this chapter is slightly shorter than what's become my average, but to be fair, it felt just right to end it where I had. So there. If it makes you feel any better, future chapters should be back to my average length. I hope this proves worth the wait. Enjoy the read :D

WARNING: This chapter contains a minimal amount of slightly-explicit gore. For safety's sake, the gory parts have been edited and the paragraph that contained them has been marked by two asterisks at its beginning and end. If you wish to read the unedited version, please go to AO3 (link on my profile) where this story is cross-posted.

No anonymous reviews to respond to.

Tracks for this chapter:

Blood-C OST: Shousa ni wa Houbi O, Haisha ni wa Bachi O

Standard disclaimer and reader's key apply.

What happened last time: Though it had been a close call, as the demon responsible for killing the villagers attacked before sunset and thus before Kagome turned back into a half-demon, Kagome not only managed to defeat the yōkai plaguing Jinenji's village, but also helped her fellow half-demon find the path he wanted to walk in life. In return, her time spent with Jinenji also seemed to have helped her realize a few things about herself, the path she'd chosen to walk and how her companions fit into it all. However, things quickly took a turn for the worrying when Inuyasha revealed to Kagome that he had run into Naraku on his way back after delivering the herbs to heal Kirara. With the threat of the spider attacking the temple and their companions, Inuyasha and Kagome decide to return to their friends as soon as the sun starts to rise…

Chapter 55 – Trap of Darkness

Just as Kagome said she would, they left with the first rays of the sun. Inuyasha didn't ride his bike this time, though. No, he folded it and carried it on his back, he himself being carried by Kagome. For once, he didn't object or even think it embarrassing. He was far too worried about the others to complain about something as minor as this, especially since it really was faster. The road he'd needed several hours for the day before now only took two hours tops.

At first, when they arrived at their destination, nothing seemed off. The temple was still standing and looked far from what Inuyasha thought it would look like had Naraku or any demons been there. In fact, it looked as peaceful and safe as it had when he left. And yet the moment Inuyasha got off Kagome's back and took a few steps toward the structure, he suddenly found himself unable to proceed. Something felt… just wrong.

[T]

It wasn't a feeling he knew. Or at least he didn't think so. It didn't feel like youki, at any rate. Despite that, though, he was certain it was something he should be wary of. Noticing his behavior, Kagome stopped at his side, nose twitching and a frown on her face.

"Do you feel anything?" she asked him, her eyes darting a bit this way and that to survey the area. Her eyes told her the same thing as her nose did, however, namely that the area was seemingly deserted. That meant Naraku wasn't here anymore. But at the same time, it also indicated the others weren't, either. That was as much a good thing to know as it was a bad one. The good part about it meant they were most likely still alive. The bad part was that it was uncertain how long they'd stay that way and just how much time Kagome and Inuyasha had to find them.

"Yeah, but… it's not a feeling I know," Inuyasha admitted quietly as Kagome stepped past him cautiously. When her only reply was a brief, questioning look, he elaborated. "I mean, it's not youki. I don't sense any demons nearby. But I do feel something that makes me feel like we should be cautious. I just don't know what the feeling's supposed to mean exactly."

"I see. Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don't smell anything either. The place seems deserted," Kagome replied, ears and nose still twitching as she continued to check their surroundings just in case, but still came up empty. She frowned. This stillness and utter lack of any kind of scent associated with a demon or a person was just unnatural.

'Now that I think about it, if Naraku had been here just yesterday, then I would still be able to pick up his scent, if only faintly. If there had been other demons, there would have been other signs of it. And if nothing happened, the temple wouldn't be empty, right?' she thought, suddenly feeling far less calm than before. Something was odd with this situation. No, not odd. It was downright wrong. She actually gulped, for the first time in a very long time feeling on edge enough that she actually wasn't sure if she wanted to find out what happened to the others. Or inside the temple for that matter, because the more she thought about it, the more certain she was that something must have indeed happened. Turning back in a situation like this wasn't her style, though. Especially not when she knew people were potentially in danger, not to mention when the people in question were her comrades.

"Deserted? So there's no one here?" Inuyasha asked quietly, clearly picking up on her mood but advancing alongside her as they approached the entrance of the temple. Despite what Kagome told him, he still kept an eye out, and he was sure she did the same as they walked. It didn't take long to reach the main entrance, as the distance between the beginning of the clearing where the temple was and the door of the building wasn't that far. Once there, Kagome stopped, one hand on the sliding doors and the other on Tessaiga's hilt just in case.

"That's what my senses tell me. But as that makes no sense at all, for once, I don't even trust myself on that," Kagome said as she stood to the side. Mimicking her, Inuyasha leaned against the wall on the other side of the building and met Kagome's gaze. "Stay on guard," she told him and he nodded.

"You too," he pointed out before gazing at the door she was about to open.

"As if I'm ever not," she muttered back before sliding the door open quickly. Nothing jumped at them from the other side, though and glancing into the building, the duo at first thought the building as empty on the inside, as it had seemed on the outside. Still, Inuyasha's sixth sense tingled with that unknown feeling that wasn't quite youki and Kagome visibly tensed as alarm bells went off in her brain, her instincts going absolutely haywire now that the door was open. Something was definitely not right here.

Glancing inside, both hanyō and priest quickly noticed the first oddity, which was the absolute blackness inside the building. That definitely wasn't normal. After all, it was already quite bright outside since the sun had had the time to rise and the temple had more than enough windows. And yet even through the open door, no light seemed to reach the inside of the structure. Kagome frowned, but entered cautiously, motioning for Inuyasha to follow her.

"Stay clo…" she started to tell him, but didn't quite finish as the moment she crossed the threshold of the temple, her nose was assaulted with the strong scent of death, rot and alcohol. She groaned, one hand going to her stomach and the other covering her mouth and nose reflexively to try and block out some of the stench. She doubled over a bit as well, which quickly made Inuyasha come to her side to try and catch her in case she fell over.

"Kagome? What's wrong?" unlike her, his nose wasn't nearly strong enough to pick up the mixture of scents. At least not enough for him to react quite like that. He could tell something stank, though, even if he couldn't quite tell what the source of the smell could be.

"Nothing. I just didn't expect a stench quite so sickening," the half-demon admitted, straightening, but not removing her hand from her face. God. She felt like she was going to be sick. It had to be one of the rare moments she detested the fact that her sense of smell was so strong. "I don't understand how I didn't smell any of it from the outside, though. It makes no sense," she said next, cautiously moving further into the building, Inuyasha at her side. The priest was looking around carefully, although he could barely see anything in the darkness. In fact, even Kagome, who was right next to him, was just barely visible to him.

"Maybe there was a barrier around the temple?" he offered quietly as he stretched his senses, but aside from the odd feeling he couldn't place, he still couldn't sense anything. There were no demons here. At least not that he could tell. No demons that might want their deaths… but no Kirara or Shippō, either. This didn't bode well.

"You would have sensed that in that case, wouldn't you? The last time you encountered a barrier Naraku made, you knew it was his doing," Kagome pointed out, reaching out a hand to grab Inuyasha's to help him stay close. And to make it easier for herself to know he was right there beside her, too, because hanyō or not, she couldn't see anything, either. Which was odd, because usually, she could see at least a couple of meters in front of her. Not this time, though. This darkness was absolute and impenetrable. And as far as the half-demon was concerned, it wasn't natural.

"I suppose…" the priest replied, jumping slightly when Kagome took his hand, but not protesting. He did bite his lip, though, feeling his face become heated for some reason before he shook his head and forced himself to focus. For a while, they advanced in silence, both having their respective senses trained on their surroundings as best as they could. It was a couple of minutes before Inuyasha spoke again, noticing another oddity.

"Say, was the entrance hall of the temple this big?" he was whispering by now, feeling as if something was observing him despite not being able to detect anything or anyone at all. Kagome shook her head, an action he only barely saw even though she was right next to him. Was it just him, or was it getting even darker?

"No. It wasn't. We should have reached a door by now unless we're going in circles," Kagome replied, her tone equally low. She was quite sure they weren't going in circles. Although then again, could she really be certain considering she couldn't see anything? It wasn't like she had any way to orient herself in the room except trying to pick up the source of the horrendous stench that had almost knocked her out at the entrance.

"You're not leading us in circles, though," Inuyasha pointed out as he looked around again. Not that it helped much, as he still couldn't see anything except the girl beside him. And even that only barely.

"In all honesty, that's difficult to be certain of considering I can't see a thing," the hanyō-girl pointed out. The priest blinked and turned his head in her direction, though it didn't help him much.

"You can't? I thought your eyesight was superior to mine…"

"It is. But this darkness… it just isn't normal. I don't think anyone could see anything in here," the half-demon admitted, making the teen beside her frown. Now that she pointed that out, though, it actually made some sense. After all, once they opened the door, the daylight should have illuminated the inside of the temple at least a little bit. But it hadn't. It was as if the darkness had swallowed up all the light that came in. And one couldn't see without at least a minimum of light. Frowning, Inuyasha glanced over his shoulder, but just like up front or to the side, all he saw was black. Which wasn't normal either. They should still be in the entrance hall, so they should see the open door in some direction – or rather the light from it. And yet there was nothing. Only darkness.

Kagome was right, this wasn't normal.

"Well, guess that leaves following just my nose then," the young Halfling said next as she started walking again, pulling Inuyasha after her gently and effectively interrupting his thoughts. He turned his head forward again and tried to glance at her, but she was difficult to make out even though she was so close.

"Following your nose to where?" he asked uneasily. After all, his nose wasn't as good as hers, but even he could tell that whatever they were smelling, it stank. And he wasn't sure if he really wanted to find out what the source of it was. Sadly, Kagome seemed to disagree.

"To wherever or whatever the source of this stench is," she said and the priest groaned, but didn't protest. It wasn't like he could do anything to stop her and splitting up in these conditions just wasn't an option. For another while, they walked in silence through the darkness. After what felt like a good half an hour of walking, but might have been more or less than that, Kagome stopped. The stench she'd been trying to pinpoint was overwhelming now and she was sure its source was right in front of her. Biting her lip, she reached out a hand and tried to move forward, but stopped when she felt resistance. Common sense and the feeling under her palm told her she was likely touching wood. Maybe the frame of a sliding door.

Deciding to test the theory, the half-demon tried to move what was in front of her to the left. The wood followed her movement and her ears picked up the barely audible sound of wood sliding across wood. When the door in front of her was opened, she yelped and closed her eyes, the sudden assault of light after what felt like hours in complete darkness making them hurt. Out of reflex, she closed the door again, blinking the spots out of her eyes for a moment.

"Was that the exit?" Inuyasha asked from beside her, rubbing at his eyes with his free hand and also trying to blink back the colorful spots that danced before his nearly nonexistent vision.

"I don't think so. Close your eyes. I'm opening the door again," Kagome replied before sliding the doors open again. It took a moment for their eyes to readjust to the light again, but the silver haired girl quickly decided her nose was the bigger problem as the stench seemed to amplify tenfold now that she was at its source. She released Inuyasha's hand and brought one arm across her stomach, while the other covered her nose and mouth again. This time, she actually felt to her knees, trying not to gag. God… she felt like she was about to be massively sick. She managed to keep anything that might be in her stomach where it belonged, though, if only barely. She was trying to breathe as little as possible, too. Behind her, Inuyasha was faring only marginally better.

For a moment, they just stood there in the doorway, allowing their eyes to adjust to the light and their noses to the absolutely sickening stench. When they both felt they could open their eyes without being blinded, they did so… only to witness a horrifying scene indeed.

[/T]

They ended up in what seemed to be the cellar, if the barrels of sake were anything to go by. Well, the barrels that were intact, anyway, because most were broken, their contents turning the floor into a gigantic puddle. Well, that explained why it stank of alcohol. That wasn't what made both Inuyasha and Kagome stare, though, the priest in horror and the half-demon in nothing short of disgust. No, the broken barrels of alcohol weren't the reason. The rotting pieces of flesh adorning the shelves on the walls were.

**The sight was more than enough to make Inuyasha's stomach churn, and yet despite how close to vomiting he was and how horrified the sight made him, he found himself unable to look away from the flesh on the shelves. Because that was what it was - flesh. Likely one that used to make up at least one human body.**

"Shit," he heard Kagome say, her voice finally pulling his gaze away from the sickening gore to give her a weak glare. Her reaction didn't seem very appropriate considering what they were seeing, after all. The moment he glanced towards her, however, he realized her curse wasn't because of the gore, but because of something else entirely. Namely, the unmoving body lying in the middle of the floor. Without a word, Inuyasha came closer as well, hands already reaching for his back pack with the intention of getting anything he might need to help. Noticing this, Kagome put up a hand to stop him and shook her head. "Don't bother. He's already dead. Has been for several hours, actually," she said quietly without standing up from her crouched position. Biting his lip, Inuyasha nodded, his eyes wandering back to the corpse. Then he froze.

Lying on the floor before him, surrounded by the sake he'd very obviously loved in life, was Mushin, the high priest of the temple. His dead, unseeing eyes were open and fixed on the ceiling, a flush adorned his cheeks and nose, but his expression wasn't one of drunken bliss. Rather, it was one of absolute terror and pain. There were there were tear tracks on his face and one of his hands was clutching a shakujō, though the young kannushi didn't know if it was his or Miroku's. He suspected it was the former, though.

Unsure what to say or how to react in this situation, the priest remained silent. While it wasn't the first time he witnessed death since coming to this time period, it was the first time the dead person was someone whom he knew and had seen alive and well just the day before. Needless to say, the feeling the sight gave him was vastly different, even though he had hardly known the old monk at all.

"Rest in peace, high priest," Kagome said quietly, her hand gliding over the man's face to shut his eyes, making him look at least a bit more peaceful. The black haired teen bit his lip.

"What killed him?" he asked quietly, unsure whether or not Kagome would be able to tell him, but deciding to try and ask anyway. The half-demon gave him a look that was oddly sad and perplexed all in one and shook her head.

"I don't know. He doesn't smell of blood and I can't find any wounds on him. Not even anything that would indicate broken bones. It's as if he just fell asleep and never woke up, but…" she trailed off, looking up at the shelves again while Inuyasha looked down at the gigantic, though not even a centimeter deep puddle of sake that the floor had turned into. Kagome didn't need to finish her sentence for him to understand. Given the situation and the state of the room, the idea of the old monk just dying of old age or something like that was downright impossible.

Though he didn't want to see the gore around him anymore, Inuyasha soon found himself glancing up at the shelves again. It was odd, really. He definitely didn't want to look. Heck, he didn't even want to stay in this room. He preferred that odd, stifling, unnatural darkness the rest of the temple seemed to be shrouded in. And yet something that was stronger than him made him look up and watch the gore on the shelves again. Beside him. Kagome stood up and, despite herself, did the same. For a moment, they just watched, oddly transfixed and then frowned at the same time as something occurred to them.

"Wait a minute…" Kagome muttered as she carefully took a few steps back. Inuyasha mirrored her movements, eyes stuck on a particular part of the gory spectacle. And indeed, as they moved further away from that spot, an image started to form on the wall. Or rather, letters. This wasn't just some gory decoration to scare or horrify them. This… this was a message. In the literal meaning of the sentence, since the rotting pieces of flesh and innards actually formed kanji and hiragana on a part of the shelves.

"Hurry up, or your friends will end up like this," Inuyasha read slowly and gulped. He wasn't sure whether 'this' referred to simply dead, like Mushin or to the parts that were actually used to make the message. Neither possibility was one he liked to think about, though. Beside him, Kagome growled, though she was staring at a different part of the wall. Following her gaze, Inuyasha quickly understood why and shuddered slightly, unable to suppress the reaction.

"I left you a gift to make following easier. Will you be fast enough, I wonder? I'll be waiting for you," he read what was written there aloud, the sentence finished with a grotesque heart form and an arrow pointing to something on the shelf. He didn't notice the brief glance Kagome gave him, nor the way her hands clenched into fists at her sides as if she only understood the message now. The half-demon glanced back at the gory spectacle with another growl. Given the way it was written, Kagome doubted it was Naraku's doing. Everything else seemed to fit the spider, though. He set up the stage here, giving her every reason to just follow his trail like he obviously wanted. She'd be walking straight into a trap. She knew that. But it wasn't like there was any other way, nor could she ignore the spider and leave the others to die. Clicking her tongue, Kagome approached the shelf in question to see what the 'gift' in question was. Maybe it would also give her some idea who Naraku tricked into doing his dirty work this time, because he clearly wasn't working alone. Not that he ever was since the half-demon woke up from her fifty-year-long sleep, really.

What she found on the shelf was a spinning top. She blinked, reaching out a hand to take it, not really understanding at first. The moment the spinning top left the shelf, though, shadows seemed to burst forth from where it had rested. Startled, Kagome jumped back with a loud 'whoa!' as the shadows raced for her. She didn't really have time to do anything to defend herself, so all she did was reflexively cover her face.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha called when he saw what happened, but he didn't have the opportunity to try and reach her as he was caught by shadows of his own. It was an odd feeling, really, as he was suddenly robbed of his sight again and felt like he couldn't move, and yet was relatively certain nothing was holding how down. It didn't last long, though, and soon he was released from the shadows' hold (if he could really consider that a hold) as was Kagome, both of them seemingly unharmed. Confused, they looked at each other before the slam of a sliding door made them look towards the way they've come. Said door was still closed (or maybe closed again?) and the shadows, or whatever it had actually been, were nowhere to be seen.

"What in the world was that?" Inuyasha questioned, coming to Kagome's side to make sure she wasn't harmed. The half-demon shrugged.

"I don't know," she said as she looked around. "But I have a feeling that…" she cut off, blinking as her gaze fell on the shelves once more. She frowned and scanned the entire room with her gaze again. Noting her odd reaction, Inuyasha did the same and was surprised to realize that while the broken barrels, the sake on the floor and Mushin's body were still there as before, the gore and the message it displayed was gone as if it had never been there.

"What the… so all that was… an illusion or something?" he questioned, genuinely surprised. And a bit saddened, too, as he glanced at Mushin's corpse again. He wished that had been part of the illusion. Beside him, Kagome nodded again with a frown on her face.

"Seems like it," she replied, glancing down at the spinning top. The so-called gift to help her follow Naraku's trail. But how was a children's toy supposed to help her?

Then it hit her like a ton of bricks. With the illusion gone, the smell of rot was gone as well and her nose felt almost as if it had been unplugged. She could smell the residual scents of the people who had been here before. She could faintly pick up Naraku's scent, too, as if to prove to her that he had indeed been here. Most importantly, though, she could determine who the spinning top belonged to, because she could smell the owner's scent on it the strongest. The fact that it was a scent she knew well helped, too, although it didn't really make her feel any better. Cursing, and feeling understandably afraid for the fox kit that the toy belonged to, she raced for the door again and flung it open. Surprisingly enough, the other side of the door wasn't impenetrable darkness anymore. Sure, it was still dark and definitely darker than it should be all things considered, but it was a far cry from the darkness she'd experienced earlier.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha called again and quickly followed her, noticing her rather frantic behavior as the half-demon left the room. Cursing, the teen raced to catch up, although he didn't need to worry about losing her in the darkness as he realized its absence as well. And along with that, he suddenly sensed a familiar, demonic energy in the direction Kagome was hurrying in through the temple. The priest blinked. "Shippō is still here?" he muttered to himself as he hurried after the half-demon. In all honesty, he wasn't sure whether to be happy or worried about that fact. On one hand, if Shippō was here, then he likely wasn't in a situation nearly as dangerous as Sango, Miroku, Kohaku and Kirara. On the other, he couldn't help but question how the little kit might have escaped Naraku's clutches when the others didn't, or for what reason the spider might have left the child here on purpose. He supposed he was about to find out, though.

When he caught up to Kagome, the silver-haired girl seemed about ready to draw Tessaiga and open the door in front of her that way. The future-born teen was quick to understand why, too, when she kicked it with what seemed to be all of her strength, only for the piece of wood and screen to not budge at all as if it were a wall harder and more resilient than concrete.

"Damn it," the hanyō cursed loudly, clearly losing her composure. The kannushi glanced at the door again and approached her carefully, laying a hand on her shoulder in hopes of calming her down.

"Let me try," he offered, figuring it must be a demon's power or something of the sort that kept the door shut, although oddly enough, he didn't really feel anything of the sort. Beside him, the half-demon took a deep, calming breath and nodded, stepping back. However, when Inuyasha reached for the door to slide it open, it did so on its own, as if sensing his approach and wishing to avoid contact with his skin. The moment the door was open, the same shadows as before poured out again, though this time, they didn't leave, plunging the hall they were in and the room beyond the door in complete and utter darkness once again. Not that they could really see the door anymore.

"What the fuck? This shit again?" the black-haired teen couldn't stop himself from cursing as he looked around, hoping to see Kagome beside him, if only vaguely. All he did see, however, was darkness. Thankfully, though, he could still feel the half-demon's youki, as well as Shippō's. "Kagome?" he called into the dark anyway, hoping she'd help him pinpoint her position that way. She didn't disappoint as her voice rang from right beside him.

"I'm right here," he heard shortly before a clawed hand rested clumsily on his shoulder, probably in a thankfully successful attempt to locate him as well. Glancing at it, Inuyasha realized he could see the hand, the wrist and the beginning of the forearm, but the rest just disappeared in the inky blackness. To say he was uncomfortable with it would be an understatement. "But this darkness seems to be clogging my senses somehow. Earlier, I was able to smell Shippō beyond that door. Now I don't smell anything at all, just like before," the half-dog said next, her tone clearly exasperated. Her ears twitched on her head, trying to pick up even some semblance of a sound the kit might make, anything at all, but came up empty as well.

"That's alright. I'll find him," the priest assured, carefully (and somewhat hesitantly before he shook the feeling away) reaching up a hand to lay over Kagome's and then to just hold it, taking it down from his shoulder in the process. Then he walked forward, confident but cautious, pulling the half-demon behind him this time. The hanyō-girl didn't protest.

"You can sense him?" She asked quietly, ears still twitching frantically on top of her head. Not that anyone had the chance to see it in their pitch black surroundings. The future-born teen nodded, then realized that the action likely couldn't be seen and gave a verbal confirmation.

For a while after that, they walked in silence, with Inuyasha in the lead and Kagome following after him, their hands clasped together so they wouldn't lose each other in the dark. The silver-haired girl's ears twitched periodically as she tried to pick up a sound, any sound, and while she wasn't rewarded with anything at first, she eventually picked up very faint sounds of crying. She stopped then, pulling the teen in front of her to a stop in the process, ears twitching madly on her head to try and hear better and, more importantly, pin point the origin of the sound.

"I think I can hear him," she said quietly as Inuyasha started to walk again. She followed him again without protests.

"Guess that means we're getting closer," he answered her and Kagome nodded without really thinking about it, forgetting herself that such an action would not be seen right now even if the priest had looked in her direction.

"Indeed, you are. You're better than I thought. But I can't make things too easy, now, can I?" a singsong voice said then and both Inuyasha and Kagome stopped dead in their tracks, turning so they stood back to back and glaring tensely into the darkness. The hanyō's ears and nose twitched again, but while her ears continued to hear the soft sounds of crying, her nose didn't pick up anything at all. As for Inuyasha, he tried to stretch his senses as well, but all he could feel youki-wise was the girl behind him and the young kit somewhere up front.

"Who are you?" Kagome called fearlessly into the blackness in front of her, as if unfazed by the fact that half her senses were shot down completely and that she'd been clearly caught unaware by an enemy. She got no answer. "Show yourself!"

"Now, where would the fun in that be?" the same voice, soft, but slightly high-pitched responded back. From the words, it could almost sound like a child, but from the tone, Inuyasha was more reminded of a rich, but spoiled young woman maybe just barely reaching her twenties. "No, I'll let you look for me, instead. You're welcome to try and find me. If you think you have the time, that is," the person continued, laughing lightly as if she'd said some kind of joke only she understood. For some reason, it made the future-born priest uncomfortable, while Kagome only growled. She reached behind her to grab Inuyasha's hand again.

"We don't have time for that," she told him quietly, as if he didn't know. "So we can either try to ignore whoever that is and continue to look for Shippō and then the others… or split up."

"What are you talking about?" Inuyasha hissed back, hoping that whoever was watching them couldn't hear what they were saying. "Split up in a place like this? You just admitted you can't smell or see anything earlier."

"You can sense Shippō's youki, though. That means you can feel mine, too. You can find him without me and then find me the same way while I try to occupy her," the half-demon pointed out. 'Well, as well as I can occupy someone I can't see and don't know the motives of,' she added in her thoughts.

"Splitting up? My, what a splendid idea, dear Kagome. Let's do it, then. Here, I'll help you," the female voice interrupted again and in the next moment, the reassuring warmth of Kagome's back against his was gone. Inuyasha's eyes widened and he quickly turned around, but as should be obvious, he didn't see anything.

"Kagome!" he called, but the hanyō didn't respond to him. What was worse, the moment he stopped feeling her at his back, her youki seemed to disappear from the radar that was his sixth sense. Shippō's energy, however, still brushed against his, letting him know that the person (yōkai) they were dealing with didn't tamper with his ability to sense youki this time – something she likely was capable of somehow given that he still couldn't feel her. It wasn't possible for her to be a simple human, after all.

"She's not here. She wanted for the two of you to split up, so I did just that. Now go to the kit, kannushi. That was your job, wasn't it?" the female spoke from the darkness, giggling in an amused manner while Inuyasha bristled. As if he was going to just ignore a demon that was so obviously his enemy. Resolutely, the teen reached for his sword. The moment his hand reached the hilt, though, he stopped because the demon laughed again. "So you want to fight me?" she asked, her tone taunting and causing the priest to purse his lips as he slowly unsheathed his blade. Seiryuu's glowing blade was nearly blinding in the darkness surrounding him. And yet despite that, he couldn't see further ahead than just a meter or two. If he'd had any doubts about this darkness not being normal, they'd be gone now.

"I'm not afraid of you. Or your tricks," Inuyasha said, his voice calm and steady as Kagome's training kicked in full force. He needed to stay focused. Otherwise, he'd be defeated before he knew it. His enemy wouldn't wait for him to be ready for combat, after all. And yet, the mysterious demonic woman only laughed again.

"I'm sorry to disappoint, but you're not the one I'm interested in. So I'll leave you to your job of finding the other, useless part of your group. Ciao!" she said, but naturally, it was impossible to tell whether or not she actually left, as it wasn't like the priest had been able to sense her presence when she'd been there. He tensed, waiting and eventually calling out to the mysterious enemy, but he got no answer. Finally, after a good few minutes, he sighed and glanced down at his blade, contemplating whether or not to keep in his hand to be ready in case of an ambush. In the end, though, he decided to sheath it again. The light wasn't doing anything against the blackness surrounding him, after all, and while it might be naïve of him, the demoness he'd just… well… talked with didn't seem the kind to try an ambush. If she were, she likely would have done that already, anyway.

Still, the fact that he didn't know where Kagome had literally disappeared to bothered him, especially since he couldn't feel her at all. Meaning she was either out of range, or the demoness from earlier somehow made him unable to sense her. If that was possible, at any rate.

With no way to go but towards Shippō's location, as the kit's youki was the only beacon of light in this blackness that Inuyasha could follow (metaphorically speaking), the future-born teen sighed and continued to walk towards where he sensed the fox. He was far wearier than before, however, as just because he assumed the yōkai wouldn't ambush him, it didn't mean she actually wouldn't. Or that there weren't other demons here who would.

His now solitary trek through the darkness ended rather abruptly when he walked right into something solid in front of him. Likely a wall or another door. He frowned, reaching forward, his hand indeed coming into contact with wood.

'This isn't normal. Not just the darkness, but everything. The temple was never that big, after all, was it?' he couldn't help but wonder. Of course, he noticed the oddity before and Kagome likely had as well, but only now was Inuyasha realizing just how odd it was. Earlier, they'd been led to the cellar, and yet Inuyasha was fairly certain they hadn't walked down any sort of stairs at any point. He had climbed a set of stairs when going after Kagome earlier, though, before the darkness took over again. Then they entered one of the rooms, but none of the rooms in the temple were as big as this one seemed to be, given how long it took Inuyasha to theoretically cross it to reach the opposite wall. Unless he was walking in circles, but despite the darkness, he was positive that wasn't the case, as he was following the feeling of Shippō's youki in what should be a straight line.

He frowned, but then shook his head. Odd or not, he doubted there was anything he could do about what was going on and it was unlikely he'd figure anything out just by standing there, either. He should focus on what he could do for now. Which was finding Shippō, because he still couldn't pick up Kagome's youki at all. He took a deep breath and tried to pull at the wood before him like he would with a sliding door. It gave no resistance, but his eyes didn't notice any difference in front of him. The room beyond the door he'd just found was as pitch black as the one he was currently in. He cursed softly, but moved forward cautiously anyway.

He sensed the change in the atmosphere the moment he passed the doorstep. It was so sudden that it made him freeze for a second, his reiki reacting without his consent and small electrical discharges dancing around his body. He bit his lip. This room… unlike the others, which were just covered in darkness, was filled with a demon's energy. An energy he couldn't sense at all, oddly enough. At least not in the way he was used to sensing demonic energy. He just knew it was there, that was it, but he didn't actually sense it being there. It was difficult to describe, this feeling. He knew he was surrounded by malevolent youki, there was no doubt about that, but he couldn't really feel it like he usually did. As if it wasn't there. But he knew it was. It was confusing and frankly, a bit frightening even. Did that mean the owner of this energy was someone whom he couldn't sense, then? Well… it would certainly explain how he and Kagome had been caught off guard earlier. The idea wasn't one he really liked, though.

For a moment, he just stood there, both to calm his nerves and to get his reiki under control so it stopped sparking around him. It took him a moment, but he eventually managed, though he still felt his power pressing against the omnipresent youki in the room. For a second or two, he contemplated the idea of just retreating, because this was clearly another trap (or another part of a trap). The idea flew out the proverbial window, however, when he distinctly heard the sounds of crying.

"I'm scared… I'm scared… I'm scared…" he could barely hear those words, punctuated with several sobs and sniffles, but there was no denying that it was Shippō's voice. Frowning, Inuyasha moved further into the room, trying to locate the fox.

"Shippō! Oi, Shippō! Can you hear me?" he called into the darkness, expecting some kind of answer. After all, if he could hear the kit, then Shippō should hear him, too, right? And yet he got no answer at all. The priest scowled and tried to focus harder in order to pinpoint the kit's location.

It took him a while, but eventually, he came to another door. This one was open and beyond that, the darkness let up a bit. Shippō's crying had gotten louder, clearly indicating the child was closer than before, but the kannushi didn't immediately notice him. Instead, his gaze was stuck to the far wall of the room, where a familiar chain sickle was stuck. Above it were words written in what seemed to be blood.

'Once a murderer, always a murderer. You cannot undo what you've done,' was written there and Inuyasha found himself bristling. He knew who those words were directed at and he knew what kind of damage they've likely done if they had been seen, or worse, heard. Scowling angrily, the future-born teen found himself approaching the wall with far more confidence in his stride (and less caution because of that) than he had since entering the temple until he could grasp the weapon imbedded in the wall.

"Kohaku is not a murderer," he said in a low, angry tone, pulling the sickle out of the wall. The moment he did, the shadows moved again, but unlike the last time, it wasn't to envelop Inuyasha in darkness. Instead, they seemed to be sucked into the hole in the wood left from Kohaku's weapon until there was nothing left. Inuyasha blinked at the sudden brightness surrounding him, his eyes needing a few moments to adjust. When they did, though, he immediately turned, suddenly realizing the crying he'd heard earlier seemed to be right beside him. And there, in the corner of the now-bright room was Shippō, curled into a small ball and shivering along with his sobs. For a second, Inuyasha hesitated what to do, unsure how to deal with crying children, but finally settled on just calling the kit and see how that worked. At least for a start.

"Shippō," he said and the kit stopped moving entirely for a second before turning around. Their eyes met and the kit's already teary eyes seemed to tear up even more, making Inuyasha wonder just what the Hell he should do or say. Before he could come up with anything, though, the kit launched himself at him with a yell.

"INUYASHA!" the child called as he collided with the teen's chest, little arms clinging to his shirt. The priest was forced to take a step back from the fox's momentum, but didn't fall over and his arms rose to hold the child without him even thinking about it at first. It didn't mean he was any more comfortable with the situation, though, as Shippō clung to him and cried, soaking his shirt. So… how was he supposed to deal with this?

"Oi, stop crying already," he said awkwardly, but of course, that did little to nothing at all to calm the distressed kit. Inuyasha sighed, looking around briefly. The darkness from before was nowhere to be found and daylight illuminated the room through the windows. The bloody message that had been on the wall was gone, as was the youki the priest had been able to feel and yet not.

And Shippō was still crying.

"Will you stop that already, your crying is not helping anybody," the priest finally snapped, pulling the kit off his shirt to hold him in the air by the back of his vest and bonking him on the head with his free hand. If Kagome had been there, she likely would have yelled at him for it, but at least it got the job done as the child he was holding tried to hold his sobs in. Maybe it was the familiarity of the gesture that calmed him down…?

Nope, considering the look on Shippō's face, he was likely just trying to hold his breath so he wouldn't be unceremoniously dumped on the ground. The priest sighed and set the little boy on his head – his second most-preferred spot next to Kagome's shoulder (or her arms) as it was one of the few places he could be where he likely wouldn't be hit by Inuyasha.

"Whatever happened to 'having to keep it together', huh?" the priest questioned next, referring to the mantra the kit was prone to repeating whenever they were in a battle or any other situation of the sort that had the little fox scared, or at least anxious.

"Shut up," Shippō bit back quietly, still sniffling as Inuyasha looked around one more time. But the room seemed perfectly normal, as did the one Inuyasha came from when he walked back the way he came from. "Where's Kagome? Weren't you supposed to be with her?" the child's tone was an odd mix of annoyed and scared, Inuyasha realized, but he decided not to comment on it. Better just keep talking. It might not be the best distraction to keep the kit from crying again, given the situation and what they talked about, but it was all the priest had. Shippō sniffled again.

"I don't know. We got separated in the dark while looking for you and the others," the future-born teen said, deciding to omit the fact that there seemed to have been someone else with them at that time. And that said someone had likely taken Kagome with them, rather than just the half-demon losing track of him and vice versa. Of course, he should have expected a fox-demon to know better than to think it could be that simple for a priest and a half-demon to lose each other just because it was a little dark.

"Huh? But… but… you can sense her, can't you? Isn't that how you found me? So where is she?" the kit was panicking again, and that, in turn, was putting Inuyasha on edge as well. He wasn't exactly the guy you came to in order to calm a distressed, crying kid, after all.

"I don't know," he couldn't help but snap at the child, feeling Shippō flinch on top of his head. He sighed. "I don't know. I can't sense her anywhere," he repeated, his tone calmer now, even though deep down, he was anything but calm. In pure theory, Kagome should have been well within his sensing range if she was still in the temple. And considering she knew Shippō and Inuyasha were both there, she had no reason to leave. The fact remained, however, that he wasn't able to feel her youki. He hadn't been able to feel her in the darkness and he couldn't feel her now, either.

Shippō didn't exactly seem reassured by the teen's words (no surprise there), but he stopped panicking or asking stupid questions, at least. He still sniffled a bit, but that was something Inuyasha managed to ignore as he walked through the temple, looking for Kagome or any of the others. The only place he didn't revisit was the cellar. The building was deserted, however. Kagome wasn't anywhere to be found and neither were the others. Sighing, the young priest finally gave up and came out of the temple to sit down at the entrance, grabbing Shippō off his head and setting him down on the grass. The kit looked up at him with big, worried, but thankfully not teary eyes.

"This makes no sense. How could Kagome just disappear into thin air like that?" he muttered under his breath, running a stressed hand through his hair. In front of him, Shippō shrugged and bit his lip.

"How about the same way everyone else disappeared earlier?" the child said in a quiet tone and Inuyasha's head snapped up to stare at him.

"What do you mean, the same way everyone else disappeared?" he asked, but the kit only shuddered and didn't reply. Frowning, Inuyasha grabbed the back of his vest again to pick him up.

"Hey, put me down!"

"Shippō," the single word that was his name actually made the kit shut up and look up into Inuyasha's uncharacteristically stern and serious face. "What happened?"

XxX

"Inuyasha! Where are you! Answer me, damn it!" Kagome called into the darkness surrounding her. She hadn't been able to smell the priest, let alone see him, since the darkness took over again, but she'd known he was beside her anyway because they'd been holding hands. That was no longer the case, however, and the teen wasn't responding her calls, either, leaving Kagome to err in the darkness alone and without any real point of reference or any kind of trail to follow. Well, except the annoying voice of whatever demon had separated them in the first place, because it refused to leave her alone. Although then again, it was likely better for it to just annoy her than to try to attack when she was blind and her sense of smell was shot as well for some reason.

"How can he answer you, when he's not here?" that same, annoying voice asked from the darkness with a chuckle. Kagome growled in response. "You wanted for the two of you to split up, didn't you? I just helped you along. And really, little doggy, you should be thanking me."

Kagome could only snort to that. Thank the demon? As if that was ever going to happen. What should she even be thankful for? Being split up from her friends? Having most of those friends in what was likely to be mortal danger? Yeah, no, she wasn't going to be particularly thankful for any of it.

"I'll be thankful when you stand still where I can see you so I can kill you," she growled out, earning herself another chuckle from the mysterious demon who seemed to be controlling the darkness.

"Kill me? Isn't that an interesting idea now. Tell you what, I'll drop you off where you wanted to be and hide somewhere. If you manage to find me, you'll get a shot at trying to kill me. Sounds like a fine deal, right?" she heard. The demon barely finished speaking when Kagome felt herself falling, the darkness around her suddenly receding. Just like the previous time, she was blinded for a moment before her eyes adjusted to the light and she could see where she was. What she saw first was a lot of blue all around her and some green below her. The blue was the sky. The green was… the forest.

She was in the air. Upside down. And quickly falling to the ground below.

She cursed softly, but didn't panic and instead turned around so she could land properly. Because of the height, her landing was rather rough, but she managed to land on her feet and palms, much like one would expect of a cat, her knees and elbows bending to absorb some of the momentum. Once she was safely on the ground, she looked up and stood, observing her surroundings warily. She definitely wasn't at Mushin's temple anymore. But then where was she?

She wasn't sure at first. It was hard to recognize any specific forest when one had visited countless woods, after all. Eventually, though, something caught her eye from between the trees and, if only so she could hopefully find a landmark to know where she was, she moved cautiously in that direction to get a better look. She still remained in the cover the trees provided, though, leaning her back against the bark of one of them when she reached the tree line, using it as cover as she glanced around. What she found at the edge of the forest made her hair stand on end and a deep growl to rise from her throat. Oh, she recognized the place alright.

It was a castle. A pretty generic looking one, too, but she still recognized it. It was the very same castle the slayers had been led to several moon cycles ago. The very same castle where Kohaku had been manipulated into killing almost everyone he held dear.

She was standing at the gates of Naraku's castle.

She growled, remembering the suspicious demon's words. She'd said she'd bring Kagome to where she wanted to be. Considering Kagome had been searching for Miroku, Sango, Kirara and Kohaku in the temple before, that could only mean that the four of them were in that very castle right now, although she couldn't be sure as she couldn't pick up their scents yet. Still, the chances were high that this was indeed where they had been brought.

So, the demoness from the darkness was offering her a chance to get into that castle and find her, huh? Well, she was not going to take her up on the offer. However, that didn't mean she was going to ignore he help she'd been offered. Oh, she was going to get into that castle, alright. It just wouldn't be to find the mysterious yōkai who brought her here, but the humans who had been brought here before. She was likely (almost certainly even) walking straight into a trap, though. She knew that. She was going to get in there anyway, however.

"Well, alright, I'll admit, I can thank you now," she said quietly to the thin air, as if the mysterious demoness from before could hear her. Maybe she could. Kagome didn't know. Or care, really. She smirked. "Thank you for saving me the time I'd have needed to track this place down, that is."

And that's it. Like I said, a bit shorter than usual, but hopefully still worth the wait. I'll try to bring out the next chapter sooner, but I give no promises.

Hope you enjoyed and looking forward to your comments :D

Next chapter: Yōkai no Shiro: Carnage

See you then!