A Twist of Fate by cloverx

Surprises

A TWIST OF FATE~* CHAPTER 1

She couldn't believe it. He had left her yet again. But this time, it was for good. So, she was leaving. For good. Or worse. She didn't know where she was going; her feet seemed to have a mind of their own, yet she recognized the familiar spot. Her feet were carrying her, she was tearing through the woods, to the well. Something familiar, that's what she wanted to see, what she needed to see. Something that was always the same, something that she could hold onto, something that wouldn't abandon her. She couldn't believe it.

I'm sorry Shippou, Sango, Miroku, I can't stay with you.. Tears streaked down her chin, against her every last will. What if Inu Yasha could see her now? How stupid she must look. No, he wouldn't care..he was with her. He had chosen a dead, heartless body of bone and clay over her. But what bothered her the most was..no..she wouldn't think about that. She wouldn't think about him. But he was the only thing she could think about. More tears streaked down her cheeks, seeming to mock her. A branch snapped and somewhere on her face she felt the tickle of warm liquid running down her cheek.

She was running as hard and fast as her legs would carry her now. Running. She couldn't stop. How could she have been so dumb! Inu Yasha was still in love with Kikyo. He had always loved her. Was she just a replacement? Had she meant nothing to Inu Yasha, a replacement until the dead miko could return? She couldn't stand the thought, yet a voice was pulling in the back of her mind telling her that it was true. Why was she so dumb? Why did she have to love Inu Yasha? Did she love Inu Yasha? He thoughts were a jumbled, meaningless mess, turning over in her head just like the pictures of Inu yasha. I--don't know! But the voice whispered the answer again. The answer that she already knew. She ran harder, if that was possible. Inu Yasha.. The image of him and Kikyo kept replaying in her head like a broken record, a twisted horror movie where she was being stalked, her mind was being stalked. Inu Yasha.

She wasn't paying attention to the trees that flew by her or the sounds of creatures moving in the bushes around her. If she had, she would've have noticed something strange. There were no sounds of creatures moving in the bushes around her.

She tripped over a root and hit the ground hard, but she got right back up and started running again as soon as her legs would let her. Her body hurt, but she paid no attention to it. Inu Yasha and Kikyo.. the last two words burned in her mind. Kikyo. She was--no, it wasn't really Kikyo's fault. Inu Yasha was the one to blame. No, she shouldn't blame him either, but she hated him with all her might while she was running. A jumbled mess. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess. More tears. Why won't they stop?! Why do the keep coming?! Something moved loudly behind the trees next to her. It was running with her, shadowing her every move.

She stopped. She scanned the woods around her for any movement. Inu Yasha? No, he wouldn't have followed her there. She heard the sound again. It was so loud. That's when she realized that the entire woods around her were deadly silent. There were no sounds of birds chirping or singing as was usually custom. Her mind told her that it was weird, but her heart was busy crying. More tears streaked down her cheeks. Inu Yasha? But her conscience was telling her to be on guard. No, he's with Kikyo right now, not trying to find me. She felt a cool weight on her chest. The shikon shard. But I still have the shard, is he coming to get it? A deadly stillness had come over the forest. It was starting to scare her. Her eyes searched frantically for any movement as she heard a rustling in the bushes to her right. At least she had had enough sense to bring her bow and arrows with her. She took her bow and arrow and brought them up, ready to shoot.

"Who-who's there?" Her voice shaked uncontrollably. Why did she have to be crying earlier. "Is anyone there!" she demanded. Her voice still quavered. "I have a weapon and if you do not sh-show yourself, I-I will be forced to use it!" yeah..good job, Kagome, you sound really threatening!

No voice came from the bushes, but a slight movement to her left caught her attention. She saw a flash of white fur through the trees. White fur...? She took a step towards the trees, her bow poised and ready to shoot. There was a white figure standing in between the trees. She moved closer and was about to call out to it when, suddenly, she was grasped tightly around the waist by two very strong hands. She dropped her bow in shock. The figure in the trees disappeared.

"Wh-what do you want?!"

The owner of the hands holding her whispered in her ear. "The jewl..." it hissed. "The jewl, pretty little miko..or your life.." she could feel the hands tighten around her.

What am I gonna do?!! Why couldn't I have been paying attention?! "I don't know what you're talking about." her voice quivered slightly. Why won't you stop shaking, Kagome! Demons can sense fear!

"Where is it, miko?"

"I said...I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"

"Listen up girl, I don't have much time. The master wants the jewl. Give it to me, or I will have to end your life.

"I. Don't. Know. What. You're. Talking. About.!", she said through gritted teeth. Whit her anger, some of her courage came back to her.

"THE SHIKON-NO-TAMA, BITCH! GIVE IT TO ME!"

"I DON'T HAVE ANY JEWL!" Kagome swung one of her free hands blindly behind her head, hoping to hit her captor. He caught her hand easily and held her arms with one hand. With the other, he grabbed at her shirt and snatched the jewl, chain and all.

He chuckled. "I didn't think you'd make it easy. Oh well, unfortunately for you, I have to kill you now." With that, he spun her around and pinned her to a tree. For the first time, Kagome saw the face of her captor. He was a wolf youkai, no doubt about it, but he didn't look anything like Kouga, although he had a nice face. This one had black fur and very long canine teeth.

"Any last wishes, miko?"

"Yeah, drop dead." She could tell right away that she had not done a smart thing by telling a wolf youkai that had her pinned to a tree, ready to kill her, to drop dead. Too late.

He snarled, losing all of his small amount of charm immediately. He growled showing he long fangs in their entirety.

"Bold words for one that is about to die, miko." He raised a hand and his claws grew another inch in length. Retractable claws... He he placed a claw against her neck, under her chin.

"Hmph. Humans. So weak, so easy to kill..." He gave her a final smirked and plunged a clawed hand toward her neck. Kagome closed her eyes. Goodbye Shippou. Goodbye Sango, Miroku.. She winced and waited for the pain to come. But come it did not. She felt a heavy object slump against her. I'm not dead..

Kagome slowly, carefully, attentively opened her eyes, looking down at the source of the extra weight. A body was sagging against her. The wolf youkai's body. What had happened?! She cautiously moved her gaze up to what was in front of her.What she saw caught her off guard so much that she could barely breath out the one word that filled her mind.

"Sesshoumaru.."