Like everyone else here: I don't own Inuyasha, nor do I claim any rights to it.

This is my first attempt at fanfiction involving characters other than my own, so bear with me. Reading all the great fanfics on ff.net for my new obsession, Inuyasha, inspired me to try my own hand. I hope you like it! This is going to be at least a few chapters, but I'm not sure yet how many. Feel free to review :) (Also, I don't own the song "Blinded by the Light" for which I snitched the title of this chapter.)

Sight Unseen

Chapter 1: Blinded by the Light



"Kagome? Kagome wake up!"

"Hmm... Just five more minutes," Kagome mumbled in response to the persistant voice, snuggling further into her sleeping bag.

"Hey, if she gets to sleep in, then so do I." The high-pitched declaration was followed by someone trying to burrow under the covers next to her.

"I suggest that both of you get out of the bedroll if you wish to see it still in one piece," a deeper voice chuckled before adding, "Someone's a little impatient this morning."

"Not that that's unusual," Kagome murmured in response while slowly starting to stretch.

"Keh," she heard from yet another direction.

"It's morning already? C'mon Shippo, get back out of there," the girl added, shoving at the lump she encountered inside her sleeping bag. Pushing herself up into a sitting position, she rubbed her eyes and yawned.

Apparently her eyelids had decided they were too heavy to lift this morning. She rubbed her eyes again, then tried again to open her eyes, ready to squint at the rays of the sun.

Kagome thought she'd succeeded, but it seemed as if the darkness had just gotten brighter. Frowning slightly, she blinked, hoping this was just one of those days when she had to clear the sleep away before everything came into focus.

Nothing. Things were slightly brighter, but she could see... nothing. No shapes, no faces, not even her own hands in front of her. Just... what appeared to be a blank white wall that got darker every-so-often. She could feel her eyelids moving-- they were open when things were the brightest.

"Kagome? Are you all right?" she heard Sango ask.

The covers beside her shifted, and Shippo's voice piped up as well. "Kagome?" He tugged on the sleeve of her shirt.

"Oi, wench, get up. You and the brat are holding us up. We need to get going."

"Inuyasha, I don't think... Kagome, what's wrong?" Sango crouched beside the other girl, ignoring the hanyou's scowl as he turned towards them.

"I... I can't...."

A small hand patted her cheek. "Kagome, what's wrong with your eyes?" Shippo asked worriedly, seeing the faint film that seemed to dull the usual gray-blue of the girl's gaze.

"I can't see."

The frightened near-whisper was greeted by silence from the rest of the group.

Inuyasha was the first to speak. "What do you mean you can't see?" he asked indignantly.

Kagome's eyes had started to tear. She quickly wiped at the drops before they could fall.

"No, don't wipe them away," she heard Miroku say from somewhere beside her. "They might help clear your eyes..."

Kagome hoped the monk would be right. She pressed her eyes tightly closed, then slowly opened them. Her shoulders fell dejectedly as she realized it hadn't worked.

"We need to get you to Kaede. She'll know what to do." Sango reached out a hand and laid it on Kagome's arm.

Inuyasha crouched down beside the others, investigating the situation for himself. He peered into the girl's eyes, noting the blank look under the fear, as if she was focusing on nothing. "It was that damn serpent yesterday, wasn't it," he growled. "After I told you to stay behind me."

"I had to locate the shard, Inuyasha! What else did you expect me to do?" Kagome cried out in frustration. "I did stay behind you. But I had to look at it to tell you where the shard was. After all, that's what we were after, wasn't it?"

The half-dog demon was silent for a moment, then finally gritted out, "You could've waited until after the air had a chance to clear."

Kagome had turned toward Inuyasha, and he could almost believe she was seeing him as anger replaced the fear in her gaze. Her hands were clenched in her lap. "How was I to know the gas it released would blind me? It made my eyes water at the time, and things were fuzzy for a while afterwards, but I didn't think anything of it."

"Didn't think--"

A hand on his arm stopped the hanyou's tirade. "Perhaps this... conversation can be continued later? After we get Kagome back to Lady Kaede?"

"Keh," Inuyasha responded, folding his arms over his chest. "Let's get going then." He rose and stood waiting for the others to move as well.

"Here, Kagome, let me help you up." Sango helped the younger girl out of the sleeping bag and then steadied her as she got to her feet. "You can ride with me on Kirara," she murmured as the others finished gathering their supplies. At the worried look Kagome gave her, the youkai exterminator squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Everything will be fine."

Kagome nodded slightly in response. 'I hope you're right,' she thought.