When Memories Fade

Hi! Thank you very much for clicking on my story, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I am enjoying writing it! It began as a small and simple idea that popped into my head, that for some reason really appealed to me and made me want to turn it into a story. Mostly because it got Inuyasha and the rest of them out of the way and really let me focus on the relationship between Kouga and Kagome. Don't get me wrong, Sango and Miroku and etc. are fine, but they get in the way and they're not wanted here. At least not for a while...

Before we dive in to the actual story, I wanted to note a few things that I thought are important in regards to it:

Firstly, this is my first story! I would love to hear what you think about it so please review if you'd like to :) I will reply to every review via private message!

Also, I will try and keep the essence of the characters alive, but to be brutally honest I find Kagome as a character annoying, and so I'll probably end up deviating slightly from the way that she is protrayed in the manga/anime. Also, that school uniform g2g. Like, ok, so you're travelling 500 years in the past and you're likely to be climbing up mountains and shit and walking A LOT, and your outfit of choice is your damn school uniform that has the shortest skirt in the entire world? I just don't understand. If you're going to wear a short skirt 500 years in the past, it wouldn't be your school uniform, I mean really. This is not to say that in this story Kagome won't be wearing short skirts, she might do, it just won't be her school uniform skirt is all. Also, let's be honest, when you're 500 years in the past and fighting demons, you're probably just gonna go for jeans.

Also, I used to watch Inuyasha when I was younger and I loved it. I still love it, but I don't want to re-watch every episode so my story may deviate slightly from the the events in the official story, but to the best of my abilities I'll try to stop that from happening.

ALSO ALSO, I will try to upload one chapter per week, but it may end up being once every two weeks. I'll do my absolute best to upload at least once a month.

And finally, I am from England. Seems unrelated but if I get any American/etc. readers, I just wanted to point out that I may spell things differently from what you're used to! I only point this out because I have far too much hubris for my own good and since spelling is kinda my forte it would physically pain me to get loads of reviews saying how I've spelt things incorrectly...because that's how you spell them in England, I promise :3

Anyway, enough yabbering on. Here is the first chapter. I hope you enjoy!

To most, it would seem obvious to exercise at least a modicum of caution when racing to confront a demon with not only mind control capabilities but who also was in possession of a shard of the Shikon no Tama. To most, charging at said demon with no regard for the consequences or for its aforementioned abilities would not be a viable option. Inuyasha was not like most people.

The demon itself appeared both physically and emotionally weak; it stood at a mere four feet tall, quivering and whimpering, hiding a featureless face behind long, thin hands. The demon's entire being was matte-black, with rubber-like skin that was tightly stretched to cover sinew and bone. The only discernible feature on its face was that of pale yellow and pupil-less eyes, shining ominously from two large holes in its face. The creature could be described as no less than pathetic, which was rather deceptive for an oncoming foe ready to do battle. In the middle of its forehead laid a jewel shard, yet even knowledge of the creature's possession of such a powerful object could not make it appear any less pitiful. It was common knowledge that this type of demon possessed some rudimentary mind control capabilities and – Kagome had earlier noted with a shudder of trepidation – it was fabled that it had the ability to rewind time.

Inuyasha was not deterred. Without even so much as considering any other strategies, he charged at the demon and brought his sword down upon its oval-shaped head. With a screech that was as piercing as a whistle, it narrowly managed to avoid the assault. This dance continued for no longer than a minute, however the demon was clearly beginning to show signs of fatigue. Kagome attempted to call out to Inuyasha, to cajole him and to urge him not to be so rash with his attacks or his method of acquiring the demon's jewel shard; but of course it was to no avail. She shuddered again. It was fabled, she recalled, that when this type of demon was backed so far into a corner that it felt it had no other option, it would use its limited powers to rewind time and attempt to erase the mind of its attacker in order to help ensure that there would not be any further attempts at its life. However, this type of demon was not a particularly strong demon and it often failed to do so, rewinding time only by mere seconds – and at the most days – sometimes in the process using so much of its power that it would inadvertently bring about its own demise.

The dark, featureless creature panted heavily as Inuyasha brought his sword down upon its head one final time. It opened its mouth once more as if to scream, but this time no noise could be heard. The only sound that was audible was an intense and shrill ringing which seemed to emanate from inside Kagome's own head. It reverberated off of the walls of her skull, bringing her to her knees, mouth twisted into a distorted howl of agony. She tried to look around, to see if her friends were affected too, to try and help them and protect them from such an indescribable pain, but Kagome found that she no longer tell if her eyes were even open or if they were closed. All she could see was a blinding white light, which wrapped her entire in its oddly comforting embrace.

'Looks can be deceiving', she thought absent-mindedly as noted how her entire body was tingling with the warming sensation of the light. 'I guess the Shikon no Tama really did make it stronger…'

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Falling. Or was it flying? She opened her eyes and felt weightless. She soared through the sky, the land stretching before her. She wanted to laugh.

She spread out her arms as if they were wings and willed them to take her further across the terrain spread out so bare and beautiful beneath her body. She wanted to fly into the horizon and never look back.

However, in that moment, she began to drop.

She was no longer weightless and she began to register the uncomfortable pressure that was pushing against her stomach, as well as the sting of hair whipping into her face and the sound of terrified screaming. A sound that was coming from her.

'WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP AND STOP SCREAMING!' A voice below her boomed. Her stomach lurched sickeningly as she realised that they were going to hit the side of a mountain: with force. She was going to break every bone in her body, and then she was going to plummet to her death. And it was going to hurt.

Her head whipped backwards as, rather than greeting the side of the mountain with her face, the man below her (the man carrying her), used his feet to bring them to a grinding halt. Momentarily he paused, perched on the side of the mountain, to shoot her a look of annoyance and disdain. Kagome closed her mouth abruptly. She had not realised that she was still screaming.

Kagome. That was her name. She remembered that suddenly, though she couldn't recall having forgotten it in the first place. She was Kagome Higurashi. She was from the future, having fallen down a mystical well that impossibly transported her five hundred years into the past. She was a reincarnation of the priestess Kikyou, and she held the Shikon no Tama in her body until it was – rather rudely she remembered with a huff – ripped out by a kind of centipede-demon-thing. She broke the jewel, and she had vowed to piece it back together. And now she was here. Images flicked through her mind. It seemed that her ability to see Shikon jewel had attracted some rather untoward attention.

'Kouga…'

That was his name. The name of the man – or rather the demon – who was carrying her now. He had seen her ability to sense the shards first-hand when he was attacking…her? No, that didn't seem quite right. He hadn't been attacking her specifically…but then who? She shook her head. That wasn't important right now. She needed to understand what was happening in this current moment, and quickly.

He had kidnapped her. The thought popped into her mind and settled as if it had always been there. For what purpose though? To kill her? To eat her? To kill and eat her? It seemed implausible that he would go through all of that effort to specifically kidnap her just because he was hungry. Was it because of her ability vis-à-vis the jewel shards then? So far, it was the most likely conclusion that she could come to.

Kouga - the wolf demon who was currently gripping onto her like a vice - screeched to a halt. It was only now that they were stationary that Kagome could feel the heavy pounding of her heart slamming against her ribcage. Swallowing the thick lump that had manifested itself within her throat, Kagome opened her mouth tentatively to speak. It was a saving grace that she was abruptly prevented from speaking by the presence of Kouga's lingering gaze meeting hers, as she realised that she had no idea what she was going to say.

'Typical Kagome,' she thought somewhat harshly, 'always trying to speak without thinking first.'

Kouga's gaze was intense. His eyes seared into hers, yet his expression was strangely guarded. She searched his face for any hint as to his intentions; did he hate her? Was he disgusted by her being a human (an unflattering consequence of living in the past that she was not at all fond of), or perhaps he was just hungry? There was no telling, no way for her to break through his impenetrable mask. Her inability to guess his intentions brought unpredictability, and unpredictability brought anxiety.

'Human,' Kouga began flatly. It was evident that he intended to continue, his mouth opened once more, poised to begin speaking.

'Hi.' Kagome squeaked almost instinctually. It was unintentional certainly, however Kagome had inherited the rather awkward trait from her mother which made her incapable of refraining from speaking whenever she was nervous. Kouga looked surprised now, his mask slipping slightly. It appeared that he was shocked that anyone – especially a human – would even answer him in this situation, let alone interrupt him when he was about to speak again.

'My name is Kagome.' She stated obtusely, blinking dumbly. She willed herself to be quiet, her face heating from both fear and embarrassment. Kouga was still looking at her, meeting her gaze, but now his face had darkened.

'I don't care what your name is. I brought you here for one reason, and one reason only. You see those bird-demons up there?' He turned his face skyward, gesticulating with one hand to the ominously circling birds above that Kagome was astonished to admit she had only just noticed. 'Those are the Birds of Paradise. One of them possesses a jewel shard, and you're going to help me take it from them.'

She opened her mouth once more. To agree, to protest, to cry, to scream, she didn't know; but before even a syllable could leave her mouth Kouga lurched forward, propelling the two of them at such speed that Kagome clamped her mouth shut involuntarily, biting her tongue and drawing blood. She considered squealing or making any noise to reflect the pain, but Kouga's face was stern now and she thought it best not to bait an angry wolf.

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Ruthless. Heartless. Callous. Brutal. Murderer. These were all words that had been used to describe Kouga at some point, and God knows there were many more. None of them particularly mattered to Kouga, and in fact at times he relished in these titles. They gave him infamy, standing amongst his pack and most importantly they ensured that his mere name struck fear into the hearts of the rival wolf packs and his enemies. He led the girl that he had grasped tightly by the arm through the back of the entrance cave, uninterested by her grimaces of pain. His grip on her arm was probably hurting her. He didn't care.

The girl was of some use to him for now, but he could not stand humans and would not tolerate any of her human sensibilities or protests. She would do as he commanded, or she would suffer; and after he was done with her, she would die. Those of his pack who were present in this part of the caves crowded around her now, salivating and gnashing long, pointy teeth. It wouldn't be the first time that Kouga had brought a human or two back for his pack to eat and it wouldn't be the last, but currently, this human was off-limits…for now.

Some of his pack approached her; he made threats of violence. If she were killed before he was through with her, he would be sure to send whoever was responsible into the afterlife as well. He spared a brief moment to look at the human woman before him. She was small, and currently dishevelled. Her hair was thick and long and rolled down to her mid-lower back in tussled waves, dark and inky like the blackest of nights. Her eyes were brown and reproachful. Her skin was creamy and pale, with a pink tint that coloured her cheeks. She was beautiful he supposed, and for a brief second he even felt himself catch his breath at the sight of her, but then he remembered what she was and what he was, and all he felt was a detached sense of disgust and superiority. Humans were like insects to him – annoying, and easy to kill.

He turned then, and he left. His people were still hungry, and he had to provide for them. He didn't spare a single thought for the girl once he was gone, as long as she was still alive and able to speak when he got back to her, he didn't particularly care what his pack did to her while he was away.

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To be honest, for the most part the pack had left Kagome alone. Kouga had not been explicit in his instructions for the girl other than 'don't eat her', and none of the wolves wanted to overstep their boundaries with her and end up being killed or worse, though there were a few whispers, a few lewd comments, and more than a few suggestions that she would make an exceptionally tasty meal. Despite this, Kagome knew that for now she was 'safe'. Her suspicions had been confirmed – Kouga needed her to seek out jewel shards for him, and so for now at least she was fairly confident that she wouldn't befall any permanent harm. Kagome huddled against the wall at the back of the cave, desperately trying to put as much distance between herself and the wolf demons as possible; just because she didn't think that she was in any danger right now, it didn't mean that she trusted any of them.

She sifted through her memories, though her mind was sluggish and hazy. She had met Kouga at a village that was enshrouded in pain and death. Was she alone? That sentiment felt wrong, but she could not remember having any other companions. Kouga attacked…her...because…she...had killed some of his wolves? Again, the memory seemed wrong somehow, incomplete, yet every time she tried to delve into the recesses of her mind she would feel a sharp sting in her head, behind her eyes, and this was enough to deter her for now. She knew what she needed to in this current moment; she could figure the rest out when she wasn't in danger of being literally murdered at any second.

As she glumly contemplated her predicament, one overwhelming thought enshrouded her mind:

'Escape. I need to escape.' She repeated this mantra over and over again, and in brief seconds it became almost an obsession that suffocated her with the gravity of her need to be free. She was feverish now, and began assessing the countless ways she potentially leave this place and its discarded human remains, its scent of death and blood. All scenarios she considered did not seem viable, and her overactive imagination unhelpfully ended each attempted escape with increasingly gruesome deaths.

Consumed by her fervor, Kagome ended up taking the 'fuck it' approach and ran.

'This was not a good idea.' She cursed internally not two seconds after initiating her 'plan'. It was a spur-of-the-moment idea that for some reason she thought would be a good one. Of course, it was not. She supposed it was another of the unendingly unhelpful traits that she had acquired from her mother: the inability to think before she acted. She was wrapped – no, crushed – in the arms of one of the larger wolf demons before she had even made it halfway to the waterfall that cascaded over the entrance to the cave, the waterfall that was the embodiment of her freedom.

'And where the hell do you think you're going, woman?' The demon that held her demanded.

'I know Kouga said not to eat her, but is she really worth the trouble of keeping her alive?' Another questioned.

'I say let's just kill her, no matter what use Kouga thinks she can be to us, she's a human and she's good for nothing else other than food.' She turned to look at this demon. He was young, with short, dazzling blue hair that spiked upwards, and his eyes were hard.

'Well, I wouldn't say that that's the only thing she's good for.' Another wolf joked lasciviously. Kagome didn't spare a glance for this one. In all honesty she couldn't, the thought of looking into his eyes and seeing real intent was so abhorrent to her that even just hearing the words were enough to make her queasy.

Then, like Moses parting the Dead Sea, Kouga returned. The waterfall separated; almost as if it made the conscious decision to part for him rather than because of him as he entered the cave. He was wet now and carried a large, dead boar over his shoulder as he surveyed the scene quietly. She looked to him pleadingly, for in that moment he was her only saviour.

Behind him were two other demons; one with impossibly white hair that stood to attention in the form of a Mohawk, and the other with hair that was silvery-grey except for a lone tuft of coal-black hair that grew in the front-centre of his head. And here Kagome had thought that a guy having blue hair was strange. How does one manage to achieve a Mohawk in a time when hair gel hadn't even been invented yet?

'What is the meaning of this?' Kouga asked calmly, coolly.

The tension in the air was palpable. Kagome felt the demon behind her loosen his grip and she used the opportunity to slip out of his hold. She began to run towards Kouga, but stopped halfway when she realised that he wasn't her saviour, not really. He was the one who had brought her here, it was under his command that she remained here, and it was evident by the hushed fear in the air that he was stronger than every demon that resided here. He could crush her at any time he wanted; he was certainly not a friend, and certainly not a saviour.

A gulp, followed by an apprehensive voice. 'She started running Kouga. All we did was stop her. We didn't know what to do since she went against your orders, we didn't know if we should punish her is all. Why do you even want her alive anyway? She's a human.'

Kouga turned his head slowly, looking at nobody, but at the same time meeting the gazes of everybody.

'This woman,' he began, not raising his voice above speaking-volume. 'Can see the sacred jewel shards. With her here, not only will we defeat the Birds of Paradise, but I will also use her to collect every jewel shard for miles around, and then our pack will be unstoppable.' When he was finished speaking it was final. There was no room for debate or protestation. He commanded these people, and his word was law. The cave was silent.

'Woman.' He addressed Kagome specifically this time. 'Come with me.'

And with that Kagome felt yet again the unmistakeable pressure on her arm as he dragged her further into the caves.

Yay, first chapter complete! I really hope it was an entertaining read, and I already have the second chapter written so that will definitely be up next week! Also, next week's chapter is longer, so you have that to look forward to as well :p

Please review or follow or favourite or whatever if you liked it ~ seeya next time!