She breathed heavily, clutching one arm over her stomach as she leaned against a tree. Blood flowed freely from the many wounds littering her arms and legs; the worst one was a deep slash up her side. The leaves under her feet crunched under her worn boots. An occasional squish sounded as her blood mixed with the soil she trod on.

It was taking everything she had not to collapse.

Unfortunately, her vision was so blurry that she didn't see the tree root at her feet. The cloaked woman grunted when she hit the ground hard. She tried to use her unoccupied arm to lift herself up but to no avail. Her wounds were simply too severe for her to move.

The woman cursed her attackers up and down until her consciousness faded.

~oOo~

Lush greenery surrounded shone under the sunlight. The early morning birds chirped their greetings as they flew from tree to tree. Many leaves and branches towered above the red-haired girl humming her way through the forest, almost shielding her from the harsh rays of mid-morning sunlight.

She stopped for a moment, looking up at the many birds. Taking a deep breath, the woman smiled to herself at the smell of fresh morning dew filled the air. But there was something else. It was metallic, almost acrid in nature.

Frowning, the girl looked around for the source of the pungent smell. When she did, she dropped her basket, gasping in shock.

There was a cloaked person laying on the ground in a pool of drying blood. From the bloody steps behind their fallen form, the young redhead guessed the cloaked person was running away from whoever or whatever did this to them when they collapsed.

Not knowing what else to do, slowly picked the figure up. She smiled when was finally able to get them on her back. Leaving her basket behind, the young girl started carefully walking back to town.

Unbeknownst to her, three furry tails briefly flickered into being under the figure's cloak before disappearing once more.

~oOo~

Perched in a tree not far away stood a little boy. He watched with worried blue eyes as the red-haired girl dragged his mama away. Silently, the little boy was quick to follow, hoping the woman was being taken somewhere that would help her.

Author's Note: Just a random idea I've been toying around with for a few months. There's only a few of these so I wanted to share my own idea for it. Just a little heads up, I will be keeping Kagome and Shippo's powers. It would be weird if they didn't with how this storyline is looking.

Short but sweet for now. Please Read and Review!