One White Lily by Cosmos Writer

Eyes in the Forest

Well I am finally updating. I'm really sorry but my muse just left for months, I really had no inspiration at all. But it's fine again because I'm in a really good mood; this would be because Homecoming is in one week. Anyway thank you for all who left reviews, they made me feel great, one huge ego boost. Well here ya go, Chapter 2.

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Eyes in the Forest

She was going crazy! That was the only way Kagome could explain the way she was living now. Every time she began to talk to Inuyasha, she felt this presence that wouldn't leave until she discontinued the conversation. "Why does this feeling always appear when I'm around Inuyasha? Can it be that it's not really a feeling at all and I'm just making it up in my head? I hope not because I would be scared that I am beginning to get a mild case of schizophrenia." Kagome sat and thought about what was going on in her life lately. " Well, I just don't know anymore. How am I going to tell mom? 'Hey mom, as you know I've been in the Feudal Era and I think there's someone watching me from a distance and I don't know who, what do you think?' Yeah that will work perfectly." Suddenly, she got the feeling again, someone was watching her. Just her luck, whoever was watching her, was also listening to her talking to herself. "Great, this is just not my day," she thought to herself, "I'm being stocked and humiliated at the same time!" Kagome stood and strode toward the eyes in the forest. They had a white glow in the moonlight and seemed to be not over four and a half feet from the ground. Once the eyes realized they had been spotted they quickly disappeared. "What demon do I know that would want to watch me, 'and' is so short? Oh well, I had better get back to sleep before I wake Inuyasha, his temper is not something that I wish to battle about tomorrow," she glanced at her watch, "or I guess not something I want to battle about today. I can't believe that it's already past midnight." Kagome slipped into her sleeping bag and her eyes closed as soon as they hit the pillow.

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As the sun rose, Kagome rose as well. She wasn't normally a morning person, but always rose when a dream crept her way. That was the way it went with her, she would begin a wonderful dream every night and just before it got to the climax, she woke. This normally wasn't a problem because she normally didn't dream, but on the mornings that she had woken up from a dream, well, the others just knew to stay away.

As Kagome woke and began to ready breakfast, she thought about the previous night? As she thought she began to talk aloud, "What was up with that?" Kagome's heart skipped a beat as Sango came up and tapped her on the shoulder. "Sango, do you promise not to tell anybody what I am about to tell you?" "Yes, I promise on the rescue of Kohaku, that I will not tell anybody what we talk about." Kagome knew Sango meant business when she talked about her brother. "Well, so I should start at the beginning then. It all started at the hot spring and couple days ago remember? Well, it wasn't a bird in the forest like I told you, it was eyes. A pair of unseen eyes in the forest. They were watching me, I could tell." Sango looked shocked that her friend hadn't told her this until now. "Kagome! I can't believe you haven't told any of us yet. Was it a demon, you know that they come after you for your pieces of the jewel. If someone is watching you, you need to have someone around you at all times until you learn how to defend yourself with more than that bow of yours! What if they tried to attack you from behind, huh, there is no way you could have your bow ready in that amount of time. A demon, wow, what kind of demon? How powerful was it? Did you sense what kind of aura it had? Do you know what side it's on?" Sango was out of breath. "Whoa there girl, lets take things in pace. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to freak out. Yes, it is probably a good idea to start training me in the art of other weapons besides my bow, I would very much like to learn the twin swords and broad sword. As for the demon, its aura was like...wait no, more similar to the aura of... well, it was like...I don't know." That stopped Sango in her tracks, "What do you mean you don't know! A demon has to have an aura. Even if it was hidden, a miko should still be able to feel something around her." Kagome knew she was right. "Sango, I didn't feel anything, only the eyes on my back. There was no feeling at all, I didn't even know what was watching me." "Kagome, do you know if there is anything else you know about who, or what was watching you?" She thought, "Well when it came back again last night..." Sango immediately interrupted her. "Wait! You didn't say it came back last night. Kagome! Why didn't you wake us up? You could have been in serious danger you know!" "I know Sango! Anyways as I was saying, when it came back last night I noticed that the eyes were quite close to the ground, no more than five feet up. I do know that what ever it is, is either very short, or it is just a child."

Miroku was very insightful when it came to the female being, or so he told himself. He knew he could always tell when they were worried, and being as insightful as he was, he could tell Sango was troubled. So as usual, he went right for the source of the problem. "My dear Sango, please, tell me what is troubling you. I would be glad to remedy it." The fires flared, "You hentai, how could you be of any help at this mome..." A hard crack could be heard for hundreds of feet on all sides. "I asked for an explanation, NOT a demonstration. That is the second time in two days, I swear, this is becoming more frequent." The monk was rubbing the tomato red splash on his face, "Have I not said that this hand is truly cursed?" "Cut the crap monk." Inuyasha was annoying for Sango and everyone else in the group, but the Miroku was just a pervert.

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"Well that was certainly interesting, I wonder if this monk is always like this, if so, this observation will certainly be very entertaining." How could the priestess stand being with such a group? They were supposed to be the purest of all beings, and yet she could not be pure. Kagome traveled with a hanyou, kitsune and a nekoyoukai, there was no possibility she could be pure enough to possess miko abilities. This group certainly was an oddity, but there was no question that the girl did in fact have miko powers. Wasn't he lucky that one of his servants happened to have no aura? Yes, he had a great many advantages in this battle. "White Child Kanna, come here." A very empty feeling entered the room and he became chilled. "My master, what is it you wish of me. Is it with that priestess once more?" He was irritated. "It is not your place to question me Kanna, but yes, your business is again with that ragtag group of Inuyasha's." He could not trust anyone else with this, "Track them for two weeks, and find their weakness, for all great people have them. When this task is completed come back to me. This is extremely important. If you fail you will end up like Kagura, stuck in chains you cannot escape." Her quiet voice echoed in the cavern, "Yes, of course this will be finished." She glided out of the cave and the warmth returned. Yes, he thought to himself, this must be finished soon.

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Inuyasha was walking around the camp scouting for danger. Of course there was none, for no demon would challenge he but for his no good slime of a brother, the wolf and that hanyou. Thinking of Naraku brought anger to his eyes instantly. That whelp didn't even have the honor of saying that he did have human blood in his disgusting body. He sought death and destruction of the race he claimed to hate so much, but his own body was from the soul of a human. That man that Kikyo had protected and nourished, he was the reason that all of this, he and Kikyo. Kikyo, Inuyasha wanted to hate her for everything she had done. For her betrayal and dying before he could love her, for coming back and saying he had killed her and for staying in his heart when he knew she should no longer be there. The truth was though he wanted to hate her more than anything because she hurt Kagome, and honestly he just couldn't. She still had him, and he wanted to hate her for that too. Yes, he wanted to hate her, but he didn't.

Kagome was walking in the woods. It was always something she did to clear her mind and it worked wonders. She could think in clarity and serenity. At first she had been reluctant to go alone, but her fears eased when she felt Inuyasha patrolling the land around camp. He would most defiantly smell any danger, just because something had no aura, didn't mean it had no sent. Why, she asked herself, would something want to watch me, not someone who is more powerful, like Inuyasha, or Sesshomaru? There is no sense in this. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice that she had missed an incredibly important detail in her surroundings.

"Miko." Kagome stopped short, " I believe you are stepping on a possession of yours." She flipped around instantly, there was just no way. "Sesshomaru, why are you here? No, let me rephrase that. How did you get here? Inuyasha has been scouting all morning." He was not phased. The miko was certainly foolish, courageous, but foolish. "That is none of your concern, however I believe that trinket beneath your foot has your title printed on it, does it not?" Kagome had disregarded his first comment as a trick to gain her attention. However, as she glanced down, she noticed a small white flower with a tag that clearly said Lady Kagome on the upward facing side. "What kind of a sick trick is this Sesshomaru? This is not mine, and nobody has been anywhere near here who could have placed this beside you!" The demon lord just smirked and turned away. "You may informed Inuyasha that I will be here to collect his dept payment in two days, until then I will be nothing but eyes in the forest." He was gone.

This lily that was on the ground was defiantly odd. She decided that she would show it to Sango; after all, it wasn't everyday that one got random flowers from people. Even stranger though was this dept payment that Sesshomaru talked about. What the hell did he mean by that, there as no way that he could ever have done anything to help Inuyasha. Even if he had offered to help, there was an even smaller chance that Inuyasha would have accepted any help from his older brother. She thought about it a bit longer, yep she was right, there was no way Inuyasha would accept help from his brother. "I'm sure he was just trying to scare me or something," she whispered to herself. She looked up. "Oi! Kagome, what are you doing out here by yourself? You could get hurt, after all you're just a weak human, and something could get you." Of course he just had to show up when she was thinking aloud. "What were you saying about someone trying to scare you? It was that brat right, he did something to you didn't he!" Kagome was not a happy miko, "Inuyasha, WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY A WEAK HUMAN? I'M ABLE TO TAKE A WALK BY MYSELF BY MYSELF ONCE IN A WHILE! UHHHHH. AND WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BLAME POOR SHIPPO? YOU KNOW I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND YOU SOMETIMES!" Inuyasha cringed from the noise in his ears. "Well you don't have to get mad! I was just wondering. Whatever, let's get back to camp. I'll bet the others are worried about you." His words just got an eye roll and a quick, murmured Why would they be worried about me, I can take care of myself. With a huff Kagome took off into the distance. As she left, Inuyasha took a quick look around. Something wasn't right; this place's scent was off. He took a few more whiffs. No way! He knew this scent, it was his bastard brother's smell. Sesshomaru had been here only a few minutes before he arrived. Now, he was severely pissed off.

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When Kagome arrived back at camp, everyone felt the change in the air. Sango knew it had to do Inuyasha, he probably insulted her again. Time for the troops to come in. "So Kagome how was your walk? Did you see any beautiful birds or flowers? I actually wanted to know if I could cook dinner tonight. It would be great if I could learn to learn to use your magic cooking pot. Maybe I could teach you something in return?" One of Kagome's bright smiles instantly lit up her face. "My walk was great Sango, but no I didn't see any beautiful birds, (I did see one beautiful dog demon though, she silently added). I could teach you how to use the griddle though, as for your offer to teach me something, all I really need you to do is talk to me. I actually have something to ask you." Sango nodded, it must be important if she wanted to talk that badly. She set to work on making dinner. While the burner was heating up she and Kagome went to have their talk. Kagome started, "Sango, do you have any knowledge about plants or anything like that?" Sango looked puzzled. "Kagome if you want to know about healing herbs, you should ask Kaide-sama. I have no extensive knowledge about that topic." Kagome just smiled and went to look in her old yellow backpack. "This is not about healing herbs Sango," she held up the small white flower and Sango looked a bit startled, "I found this on the ground with my name on this tag that was tied to it. I want to know if it means anything. Would it be significant if it was found under certain circumstances?" Sango just looked up silently, "Kagome, it is imperative that we start to train you in defensive maneuvers." The other girl looked puzzled. "Kagome, a white lily is the flower of death."

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Excellent, she found it. This is going exactly as he had planned. The only part that did not please him was that he did not yet know the group's weakness. "Kanna, you have two days left. How are you going to go about this?"

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That brother had two days left to come up with payment. By the looks of it, Inuyasha didn't even know he had a dept to pay. That was just like him. Either way though, he would have his payment or else something would happen. Something more painful.

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Kagome gasped as she heard the news. The white lily was the flower of death, then why would someone leave one in her path? Sure she had plenty of people who would want her dead, but the only one who she had seen out in the wood was Sesshomaru. She was fairly sure that he knew that she had to be a part of the plan to kill Naraku. This could just be a trick like she had thought at first. The flower of death, a gift from the Killing Perfection, which made sense in a sick sort of way. "Kagome, this is no light matter. White lilies are often used in war to scare the opponent. You need to take this seriously!" Sango spoke forcefully. "I know that you think everyone has good inside, but this shows that someone really wants you dead. Who do you know that would want you dead this badly? It has to be from Naraku, it just has to be." For a long time the two girls just looked at each other, each thinking her own thoughts. They were only brought out of the trance by a high-pitched yelp coming from the direction of camp. They blinked and started toward camp.

When they arrived, there was Miroku, sopping wet and Shippo standing only a foot away with an empty pail. Sango looked like she was about to fall on the ground from all of the laughter she was holding in. Kagome just looked dumbly at the two males as they struggled to find words. Shippo was the first to speak, "Miroku didn't know when you two would be back so he tried to make food. Then his sleeve fell on the hot black circle and it caught on fire. This was the only way to put stop the fire. I hope you're not mad at me." Kagome burst into a little fit of giggles. She just couldn't help it anymore. Shippo looked confused as Kagome gathered him up into a bear hug. "Of course I'm not angry at you Shippo, it was an easy mistake to make. I think you were incredibly brave to help Miroku like that." Shippo's face changed into a brilliant smile as Kagome told him this; he loved to be told he was brave. "Well I was the man in charge, after all," he said, " I couldn't let my friend get hurt." Sango was getting over her hysteria and began to help Miroku dry off. The houshi smiled and began to dry off himself.

Unnoticed by the two girls, a small breeze blew and one white lily fell off a boulder and into a fast running stream. Downstream, a small white hand dipped into the water and retrieved the blossom. "So it begins." The river continued to flow as her small form disappeared into the shadows.

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So that was chapter two, how did you like it? Please, please, please review. It really makes me feel good about myself. It is twice as long as the first chapter and for some reason it came so much easier. For those who don't know, this is coming as I write. No previous planning done. Just an idea I had to put onto paper. So once again, I hope you liked it. It's 12:45 AM and even the Cosmos have to pause once in a while.

Cosmos Writer aka Jenna