The Departed by youkaiworship

The Questions

Disclaimer: I do not own nor have I ever own Inuyasha or any of it's residual characters. This story is purely for entertainment only.

Warnings: Future Lemons, Explicit Language, Unsavory Conditions, Attempted NC. I'll list others as I see fit.

A/N: SO....I'm bored on summer vacation and this kinda popped into my brain while I was working...so we'll try it out and see how it goes...hopefully it turns out alright. ^_^ Thanks for reading, ENJOY!

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What is that awful noise?

The thought flowed, unbidden, through her mind. It was the first in a very long time and the fact that she could still even think was a little scary. After a few moments of contemplation she realized what the horrendous sound was; the one that seemed persistent upon bouncing off of every wall and reverberating sharply through the air.

It was the sound of her screams.

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"Do you think Kagome will ever come back?" Shippo whispered the words quietly while he fidgeted nervously alongside his companion. He knew the consequences of uttering that name aloud; primarily involving a serious confrontation with the disgruntled hanyou that insisted upon leading their pack. He wasn't looking forward to another beating and he was hoping to keep the peace for as long as possible. Since Kagome wasn't here to diffuse any situations anymore, their fighting usually lasted quite awhile with biting words that everyone regretted later. A few moments passed in which the fox kit continued to twitch intermittently, unable to calm himself until a reply had been given.

His sharp green eyes glanced around them warily taking in the gently swaying trees and the bird chirping away in the forest surrounding them. The path upon which they were walking was wet from the previous night's unexpected rain making the trail give slightly under their feet as the mud oozed around them like a slow moving quicksand. Shippo shuddered visibly, unable to stop the feeling that they're group was much like the much pooling around their feet; giving way to the much larger weight of life and unable to control the directions in which they were pushed.

Sango turned her head slightly, acknowledging the fact that she had heard him. Her chocolate eyes were morose as she shrugged, unable to confirm or deny the kitsune's question. Running her fingers quickly through her waist-length raven hair she sighed. She missed her best friend terribly and constantly wondered why she would just up and leave them one day without a word. Tugging lightly on the slightly raspy bright green cloth covering her legs she felt the ache fill her whenever she thought about their missing comrade. Pushing those thoughts aside she tried to decide on the best answer.

"I don't know, Shippo. I wish she would but, who knows why she left in the first place?" She responded in the same hushed tones in which the question had been spoken. She didn't want to scare the kit and while she knew him to be much older than his appearance, he still seemed very much a child in her eyes. She looked him over quickly noting how he hadn't changed much, other than the slightly longer bright red ponytail, which was typical of the fox demons who aged at a much slower rate than most youkai. Her instinct to protect him outweighed her need to speak the truth; Kagome wasn't coming back, ever.

Shippo turned his bright green eyes to study the demon slayer, taking note of the changes that had occurred in her since the departure of their beloved Kagome. She still wore the same multi-hued pink and green kimono with her Hiraikotsu strapped to her back. Her hair was slightly longer as much time had passed and her eyes looked tired and worn, the edges turning down. Nothing happy emanated from her appearance now. After Kohaku's final death and Kagome's leaving the slayer had nothing to be glad for.

"Quiet, he's listening now." The third voice chimed in abruptly halting anything either party might say in favor of silence. Miroku looked hesitantly between Shippo and Sango and Inuyasha. He could see the tension building within the hanyou and knew that at any moment he would burst, hurling a quiet evening into a loud raucous fight that nobody could win and always ended horribly. He tugging his purple-hued robs back into their place and quickly smoothed his short black hair into its customary ponytail. His violet eyes shifted around the area they were occupying, on the alert for anything out of the ordinary.

He smiled slightly at Sango who simply turned her head away. His lips quickly fell into a frown as he noted the deepening depression within the woman he loved and felt helpless to stop it. He glanced at Shippo, silently telling him to keep an eye on the woman before turning his head forward and approaching the solitary figure just ahead of them.

He counted his steps, trying to put off the inevitable, as he approached the downtrodden looking hanyou. While Miroku knew that Inuyasha cared greatly for the miko who once travelled with them, he wasn't expecting the sudden depressed and hopeless aura that the hanyou exuded the morning after Kagome's departure. To say that extreme emotions that the hanyou expressed were a surprise would be a mild understatement.

The monk sighed, "Inuyasha, we must rest for the night. The sun is setting and soon we won't have much light left to make camp which would make it extremely difficult to obtain any sort of meal for supper." He watched as the tension drained slowly from the shoulders of his best friend, wishing that he could find a way to make it better, to complete their group again. But he was only one monk, and the fact that even Inuyasha couldn't find her in her own time meant that she never had any intention of being found or returning to them.

"Feh, I'm not hungry." He didn't even glance back, his honey-hued eyes trained forward as his arms stayed folded into the sleeves of his fire-rat haori. Waiting a few more moments in case the monk wanted anything else he took his leave, jumping high into the trees where he could be alone, completely and utterly alone.

As Kagome had left him.

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Gurgling sounds could be heard ricocheting off the walls, playing their own haunting melody in tandem with the other noises intent upon creating a chilling harmony. Flesh being torn from bones, screams of torture and pain, and finally the dull thud of bodies hitting the floor in their deceased state joined in the hideous song.

The only thing worse than the sound was the smell.

She had become impervious to it only from the length of time in which she had been exposed to the putrid stench. At first she had fought back bile every time she awoke, unable to resist adding the smell of vomit to the disgusting smells floating about her head, but now it was simply another testament to the hell she was in. The biting smell of blood, urine, feces and decaying flesh had long become mundane things that she was forced to live with.

The only thing that caused her to sit up and take notice was a new sound, one not belonging to the realms of torture and death, which chilled her to the core. She shivered and curled tighter into her ball, hoping against hope that she would never have to come face to face with that sound. Even as she prayed to whatever deity that would listen to her she knew that her whispered words of faith were for not, the sound kept getting closer.

Deep rumbling snarls of anger and hate.

It was finally her time to die.

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A/N.....let me know if I should continue......This was stuck in my head so let me know if it seems interesting?