I do not own Inuyasha

Chapter 1

Dark, dank and uncomfortable. Three of many words could describe the chamber she had been held in for what felt like two hundred years. Captured by the hideous demon Kajimin, a horrible man, eyes like the devil and as evil as he was ugly. She had been in the forest separated from the rest of the group in the midst of confusion. Of course, getting her alone and defenseless had been the plan all along. He captured her, knocked her unconscious, and the next thing she knew she had woken up here, in the retched prison he called her 'room'.

For who knows how long he had clawed and cut her until she was on the brink of death, striped away the last bit of her dignity and he was about to steal her sanity, the one thing that was the hardest to hold on to. For what felt like forever he had demanded to know the weakness of the two half-brothers, and each time he asked she wouldn't answer. She merely spat in his face, or laughed at him. And every time she was be punished.

She had protected the secrets of the brothers for so long she was begging to cave. The pain, anguish and emotional strain was wearing down on her. Each time he came for a 'visit' she felt herself slipping father and father into insanity. She knew she only had so long before she caved. The door opened and light poured in blinding the girl for a moment, she squinted her eyes and didn't even bother to look up at the intruder, she already knew who it was.

"I won't tell you anything, so why do you even bother asking at all?" she bitterly spat out.

"Because my sweet, I will break your spirit eventually and by the looks of things, it won't be long now." He chuckled darkly and slapped her across the face. She spat on him leaving a trail of bloody saliva and he violently whipped it off.

"That wasn't a very wise decision, Kagome…"

Kagura flinched at the reverberating sound of the Miko's cries. She couldn't take it any longer. She would help the miko escape, tonight. Naraku was the foulest, most evil and vile creature on the planet. What he was doing to such a pure creature had to be stopped, her heart in his hands be damned. This slip of a girl was the key to Naraku's destruction. Tonight while Naraku went out to collect a jewel fragment she would sneak Kagome out of the time chamber. Her mood darkened as she thought of just how long it had been for the miko and she wasn't keen on finding out.

"Has there been any sign of her? A rumor, anything?" Kaede's worry was evident in her voice.

"No! Not a scrap of news, it's been a month and nothing!" Sango broke down crying shedding scared and frustrated tears. Miroku held the crying slayer and rubbed circles on her back trying to calm her.

"Would ya' quit ur blubberin' already! Cryin' ain't gonna help find Kagome! So get of ur asses and let's go!" Inuyasha yelled. He was worried, he'd never admit it, but he was worried and scared of what could be happenin to her, or what happened to her. He shivered slightly at the thought of her being 'gone'. He pushed the thought out of his mind, he did not need to be thinking about this now. He angrily turned on his heal tetsuiga resting on his shoulder and began storming out of the village.

Her breathing was ragged and coming in short pants. Her blood was splattered on the walls and floor of the room. She couldn't see it but she knew it was there, she could smell it the tangy, metallic scent was unmistakable. She hung her head and slumped as much as possible, ignoring the pain of the chains as they dug into her skin. She would be sore tomorrow, worse so then she was now. She knew so, she did after all have a lot of experience to back it up. She let out a dry bitter laugh and it echoed back to her. She started laughing bitterly again in short spurts at first, before she let go and started laughing hysterically. Tears were streaming down her face leaving clean lines on her dirt and blood covered face. Her laughing subsided as the pain in her ribs became too much, the bitter irony of the situation leaving her with a strange feeling. Tired and hungry she closed her eyes and tried to ignore the hunger, she wouldn't be getting any food anytime soon, another sad fact she knew from experience.

The door opened again for the second time that day, this time she did look up. Naraku never visited twice in one day, at least not before. Her eyes finally adjusted to the light and she looked at the figure standing in the doorway. She could only see the blackened silhouette of the new figure, but that's all she needed to tell that it wasn't Naraku.

Kagura crept towards the chamber, Naraku had left half an hour ago, she had waited to make sure. She silently hoped the craven didn't have the chamber under guard, that his cowardice would bring him to take more detachments then he needed. She let out a sigh of relief as she reached the door with ease. She reached for the handle and hesitated for a moment rethinking her decision, but she pushed it open with the hope this girl could defeat Naraku and give her back her heart, and her freedom.

The door creaked as it swung open and Kagura flinched, squeezing her eyes together, waiting for something to happen, but nothing ever did. She slowly opened her eyes and gasped her hand flying to her mouth in shock. It was far worse then she had originally thought. The once grey stone walls could barely be seen through all the blood. The miko was near passing out slumping in her chains dazzlingly looking up at her, confusion written on her face, with a tinge of fear.

"Ka-Kagome, it's me, Kagura" the miko didn't move she only scoffed at her.

"Come to have a little go at me as well?" she lazily smirked. "Are you jealous that your master is the only one having all the fun?" Kagura shook her head, partly disturbed at the thought of what she had said. She shook her head again, and walked over to the chains holding Kagome to the wall, she frowned when the miko flinched away.

"Shh…" She hushed as she started to unbind them. "Naraku doesn't know that I'm here, we have to hurry before he gets back," she whispered in a hushed tone as she undid the last bind. Kagome raised a brow,

"Naraku actually went out to do his own dirty work?" She half laughed and half coughed up blood at the remark.

"Yes, I was surprised as well," helping Kagome up she finished, "Let's hurry, I don't think we have much time." Kagome had one arm slung over Kagura's shoulders and Kagura had her arm around her waist to support her. When she fully got Kagome into the light her eyes widened at the sight of her. The amount of cuts alone covered almost every part of her body and her clothes were torn and tattered. She looked closer at her skin, the cuts on the Miko's body seemed to be layered, cuts upon cuts. Naraku really had done a number on her. The bruises she sported were horrible. The new ones were black and blue, some with hints of purple. The old and fading ones were a sickly green yellow and brown color. Her fingers made Kagura's stomach churn, some of Kagome's fingers didn't bend right and in different directions, they had obviously been broken several times.

"Kagura," the girl started, jostling the wind demoness from her thoughts.

"Yes?" she looked expectantly at her.

"How long?" her voice was barley a whisper and Kagura had to strain her ears to hear her.

"How long what?" Kagome looked up.

"How long have I been here?" Kagura turned her head away.

"It has been a month." Kagome's eyes shot open.

"A month?!" Kagura tried to quiet her but the miko kept on. "I've only been in there for one month?! It feels like decades!" Kagura slapped a hand over Kagome's mouth muffling her tirade. Kagura quietly hissed at her.

"Do you want to get yourself caught and go back?" Kagome shook her head in a negative. She had only been there for a month, the thought bothered her yet comforted her at the same time. She realized that her friends had only been looking for that long and at least they hadn't lost too much time looking for her, they still might have a chance to gather the remaining jewel shards and defeat Naraku, even if it was a slim chance.

Both women let out a breath of relief as they reached the outside of the castle. Without so much as a hiccup.

"I can only take you to the edge of the castle grounds, from there on out you're on your own." Kagura gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry it has to be this way. I do wish I could see you off to your village, but if I leave Naraku will know and you won't have much of a head start. Kagome curtly nodded her head.

"I understand Kagura, I'll be fine, I hope." Her last word more to herself then to the wind demoness. She smiled weakly at her.

"I can do some things for you, can you stand here for a moment?"

"Yeah, I think." Kagome watched with careful gaze as Kagura walked over to a pie of leaves under a nearby tree and brushed them away. Under the leaves revealed a bow with a quiver filled with arrows along with what she thought looked like a dragger of some sort.

"Wasn't sure if you could pull back the string so I brought a dagger as well." Kagome beamed. It felt odd, almost foreign to her. Having smiled not in so long, but it felt good and refreshing, like she was starting her long trip back to being her normal self again.

"Thank you Kagura," she breathed, wide eyes transfixed by the beauty of the weapons. The dagger, she noticed, was a few inches longer than any she had seen before, but the hilt of it caught her attention most. It was the head of some kind of serpent or dragon, with rubies for the eyes. The craftsmanship was impeccable, almost flawless detail. The bow was a different story, it was a simple recurve bow that at first glance looked plain and simple, but on closer inspection you could see the grip was made of a light, black colored metal. It matched the dagger, she took the weapons and was surprised to find them so light, she started to put them on carefully but Kagura intervened.

"There's one more thing, I salvaged this from your yellow thing of yours." Kagura pulled out one more thing from the foliage. Kagome recognized it immediately, it was the fighting outfit Souta had given her the last time she had been home. It was a simple outfit, all black; the pants were tight fitted at the top and became looser as it went down. The top was the same, tight fitted until it reached her waist and became loose, falling down to her knees, to 'v' shaped slits allowed her to move freely. It was like a dress with pants.

She thanked Kagura again and quickly put on her clothes, with a lot of help from Kagura. She gave Kagome her sash and tide the dagger to her waist and then she slung the quiver on her back, she would have to carry the bow herself.

"I'm sorry I couldn't salvage anything else, like shoes. I'm afraid you're going to have to do without them, for now anyway. Here take this, you'll need it." Kagura forced a small but slightly heavy bag into her hand. Kagome opened it and peered inside she gasped as the coins glimmered in the light of the moon.

"I can't take this." She exclaimed and looked up at her, eyes wide.

"Yes you are going to take it." Her voice was stern and left no room for arguments. "You'll need it to buy shoes," she pointed to Kagome's bare feet. "And supplies like food and other necessities." Kagome voiced her acceptance and Kagura turned to the dark forest with a grim expression. She'd have to leave Kagome on her own now. She had weapons, yes, but she was so weak and frail. Her energy levels were way down, barley existent. She had no idea how the girl was still standing let alone breathing. Kagome would probably not be able to protect herself. She wasn't even sure she could walk on her own she was having difficulty just standing there as it was.

They both looked at each other for a moment and looked back at the forest. Kagome was frightened, she wasn't sure she would make it out of the forest alive. But anything was better than staying captive by Naraku.

"Thank you for all you have done for me, I am in your debt, if you need anything please don't hesitate to do so. Just come and find me, alright?" Kagura gave her a curt nod.

"I will." Kagome clumsily tried to hug the demoness. They turned back to face the forest again and Kagome took a deep breath knowing what she was going to do, it frightened her, but she had to do it. Kagura expanded her senses, trying to determine what the safest way to send her would be. She stood there for a moment searching for any sign of a way, as Kagome looked at her with curiosity. There it was, an energy signal, one she knew would help Kagome get back to where she was going. He wasn't too far off, Kagome could probably make it to him; either that or the scent of her blood would call him to her, hopefully.