The morning rises again just like every day despite the good or bad. Inuyasha, Miroku, and Suikyu are up and ready to set out on their two day exorcise job. Sango, Kagome, and I are out to see them off we packed them some essentials for the trip.

“Stay safe you guys, watch out for them Inuyasha.” Kagome says.

“Who do you think I am? I’m not a selfish jerk.” Inuyasha says crossing his arm.

Kagome furrows her brows and glares at him. Sango and I hold in our laugh. Miroku pats Inuyasha on the back. 

“We’ll be going then, you guys look out for each other these few days.” Miroku says.

“Don’t worry we’ll be fine, you guys do a good job, and don’t tire yourselves out.” Sango says.

“We’ll try our best, I can probably learn a few things or two.” Suikyu says with a smile.

“Maybe you will, it’s been a while since you went somewhere far. Take care alright.” I tell him patting him on the back.” 

Suikyu and I give each other a friendly smile. For some reason, Suikyu’s expression looks kind of solemn. Well I guess not being able to talk for 4 days will be kind of dull, but time flies. We bid them farewell and they set off, the morning sun now hangs bright in the sky.  The say carries on like usual, I help Sango take care of her kids with Shippo, help Kagome and Lady Kaede with the fields and food. Nothing interesting, but it’s serene in that way. Guess I’m by myself at night for a few days with my koto. Before I know it, half the day has gone by. I helped them set up dinner, the 4 of us enjoyed a peaceul dinner with the kids and Shippo. 

“It think it’s been a while since it was just us having dinner. Girls’ night!” Kagome shouts.

“Hey what about me? I’m not a girl!” Shippo shouts back pouting.

“Oops sorry about that Shippo.” Kagome laughs.

We burst out laughing. It was a fun dinner, w talked and laughed and had fun. We enjoyed a nice tea time, Sango put the girls and her son to sleep. The dark night keeping the night quiet. After tea time, Lady Kaede turns in while Kagome and I clean up the table.

“Hey you want to go for a walk?” Kagome asks me.

“Ya sure.” I reply back with a smile.

The two of us take a night stroll to the flower field that is so dear to me. We sit down on the soft grass that is washed with blue and gray. Kagome takes a deep breath of the fresh night air. Her black bangs gently swaying in the caressing breeze.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been here. I almost forgot this place even existed.” Kagome says.

“This place does have a distance from the village, it’s should be a surprise that we tend to forget a place that we don’t visit often.” I say.

“You’re right. Say, how’ve you been lately? You doing fine without Sesshomaru?” Kagome asks.

“Well, I’m here aren’t I? It was very difficult at first but I know he’s far away, and wishing for him to come back isn’t going to happen. So dealing with it is the only way, thinking of him is enough to get me through the day. Have you ever been far away from Inuyasha before?” I ask her.

“Longing for someone and keeping them in your thoughts does seem like enough when you’re miles away.” Kagome says.

“Miles?” I ask her confused of the word.

“Oh haha sorry, modern day term. Have I been away from Inuyasha... of course I have. Years actually. I was away from him for 3 years. Those times were hard and painful, but it was my longing for him that I finally got to see him again. And now here I am, married to Inuyasha and a learning maiko.” Kagome says.

“3 years, can’t even imagine how much you’ve been through.” I say.

“It wasn’t easy, but with a strong heart and will I got passed those times. I’ve accomplished a lot of things in life in those three years and those small things and events in those three years has kept my thoughts from wondering too deep to see Inuyasha. Sesshomaru will be back soon, just hold on a bit longer alright_________? You and Suikyu are pretty close to each other, how are you guys?” Kagome asks. 

“He’s a great younger brother figure, fun, and kind. He’s keeping me company at night and I can talk to him openly, I’m going to miss him when he leaves.” I say with a sigh.

“I see, is he filling in that loneliness for you when night comes, because it seems like you and him usually talk at night.” Kagome says with a smile.

“Please Kagome, it’s not like that. He’s like a really good friend, nothing more.” I laugh.

We both laugh. It’s true, Suikyu is just a friend, nothing more. Sesshomaru is the love of my life, he’ll always be. 

“Well, it’s getting pretty late, you want to head back?” Kagome asks me.

“Yea. Let’s head back, guess it’ll be us lonely wives.” I say.

“Oh wow I didn’t notice that.” Kagome says raising her eyebrows.

We both burst out laughing, we get up and head back to the village, we bid each other goodnight and turn in. I put on my night wear and blow out the candles, I lay on the futon and turn onto my side. It’s been a while since somone else besides me that mentioned Sesshomau’s name. It was nice though, to talk about it and get it off my chest. I’m grateful to Kagome. I smile and close my eyes. Time seem to stop but when I open my eyes again, the sun is rising up again. It’s already been a day since Miroku, Inuyasha, and Suikyu has gone on their exorcism trip. Once again the day carried on like normal, nothing new but another day of with friends and loved ones. Morning zips by and afternoon arrives, afternoon falls and evening dawns on the village. I realize that I haven’t taken Hidzume out on a walk for a while. I go to find Sango and the others.

“Kagome, Sango, I’m going to take Hidzume out for a walk to stretch his legs. I’ll probably be back around dinner time.” I tell them.

“Alright, see you soon then.” Sango says.

“Yea, see you soon.” I wave to them.

I go to the stable and fetch Hidzume, his brown hair gently reflecting on the evening light. I guide him to the entrance of the village, I hop onto his back and ride off into the late orange sky. I decide not to him to the flower field because I don’t want to trample on the luscious grass and blooming flowers. I decide to take him to the beach, since I’m walking there it’s going to be faster. I snap his reigns and Hidzume gallops towards the beautiful beach. It took us about 10-15 minute to get there, the setting sun is beautiful along the horizon. The beach is empty since it’s quite late and it’s far from the nearby villages. I tie Hidzume to a nearby tree and walk on the sandy ground. The waves are gently crashing against each other, and the course sand covers my sandals. I sit down onto the ground and look out into the vast ocean. The gently ocean breeze surrounds me, the quietness pulls my mind into a blank canvas state. I close my eyes and let my mind run free, I don’t know how long time has passed, but when I open my eyes the sky is almost completely dark. 

“I better get back before I make them worry.” I say to myself.

I get up but feel a sudden gust of wind. I freeze on the spot, not knowing what it is. My heart begin to best faster, I’m by myself here and I’m still quite unfamiliar with the area. I slowly turn around to confront what the thing is. When I’m fully turned, I see a huge bird standing in the sand not too far from me. It’s brown and red with a big crest on its forhead, its eyes are crimson red with yellow feathers on the rims. It’s beak is hooked and sharp. I know for sure it’s a demon bird, and I’m in trouble. I take a step back not looking away from it, oh how I wish Sesshomaru is here. I grab a nearby stick quickly and hold it out like a weapon.

“You stay away from me! Go eat something else!” I shout at it.

Suddenly, the bird screeches and spreads it’s huge wings, the brown and red feathers turns into flames. It’s surrounded in bright colors of red, orange, yellow and white. It’s on fire. It engulfs my whole vision and the space around it, it flies into the air and flaps its wings as it comes closer to me. I gasp, but then it hits me. I’m at a beach, behind me is the great sea. Water puts out fire, maybe I’ll be safe. Without another moment to waste, I turn and run into the sea. The cool water rush over my legs and goosebumps immediately rises. Although it’s  cold but I have no time to worry about it right now, my life is in danger. I wade out into the open water, I turn around to see the bird flying high above me, flames trailing behind it. I swim till I’m neck deep, my arms are slowly becoming heavy. I’m trying to keep my head above water but I know it’s not safe, just as I’m thinking that the bird swoops down towards me. I gasp and dive my head underwater, the bird swoops across the surface but doesn’t reach beneath the water. I know I’m safe, but I can’t stay here in here forever. As soon as I don’t see the colors of fire above me, I quickily surface and look around. I can still see it circling above me, it see me surface and swoops down once again. I take a deep breath and dive back underwater, this time I almost got caught. Luckily I submerged just in time, I keep myself underwater as long as I can, hoping that it will grow tired. I close my eyes and blank out my mind, hoping it will take my mind off the oxygen issue. I probably held my breath for about a minute or so, but I’m beginning to get dizzy. I have to surface, I open my eyes and look up at the rippling surface. I don’t see the sun’s color anywhere, but not taking any risks, I begin to   push through the water towards shore still submerged. I use the last bit of my strength to beach myself. My feet eventually touched the sandy ground in the water, I finally lift my head out of the water and flip aside my now disarray hair. I collapse onto the ground, my hand and kimono covered in a sheet of course sand. I can’t stop here, I pull myself up and run towards Hidzume. I’m only a few meters away from him but seeing that he’s tied to the tree stresses me out immediately. Suddenly, I’m knocked onto the ground with a sudden and strong push. I feel my kimono rip from my back and the cool air touches my bare skin. I feel that gust of wind fly over me and the flames that trails behind it. I push myself up off the ground, and I touch my back. I look at my hand and I see blood on my sandy fingertips, my back stings from the sand and the cool air. Tears are forming in my eyes.

“No this can’t be it.” I say to myself. 

I feel the ground shakes a bit and a huge gust of wind blow from behind me, I turn around to see the bird standing not too far from me, looking down at me with a hungry gaze. It almost looks like a phoenix but it’s not. 

“Go away!” I shout at it.

Even at a time like this, I’m still trying to be brave and stand up against danger, just like that time against that armoured demon bird. Except this time, Sesshomaru won’t be here to save me. I turn around and try to get up but then I’m pinned onto the ground by its huge claws. The pressure can break my spine if it pushes down just a little bit more. I shut my eyes, and cry quietly. Suddenly I feel hard surface glide across the cheek, I tense up at the suddenly foreign feeling. I open my eyes and I see its hooked beak.

“A human with a strong will, not bad. Perhaps I’ll keep you around.” It says.

My eyes widen in shock and fear. Its claws closes around my body, not enough to hurt me but to hold me in place between it’s talons. It flies off into the night sky with the flames flaring out from its tail and wings. The ground leaves my touch and I’m up into the air, my mind goes blank and I scream. I hit its talons, shouting but it’s no use. I’m about to be carried off to who knows where, and I may never see the other again. They won’t even know where I went. The thoughts of those scares me greatly. To not see Sesshomaru again, that is my greatest fear. I don’t know how long the bird flew, but it may have already been 5-8 minutes, we are flying over the sea, further and further away from Lady Kaede’s village. I’m so exhausted, I just decided to give up and accept my fate. We eventually arrive outside of a big cave surrounded by the sea, the big fire bird drops me off a few feet from the ground and I land on my front first. Luckily my hands broke my fall first to take away the impact from my stomach area, the jagged rocks on the ground cut my knees but nothing serious. I push myself up from the ground, my whole body sore and exhausted, I turn around and to see the demon bird land onto a large rock, its fiery wings conceals itself from the front and when it opens up again it turns into a red cape. The bird transformed, it’s not a bird anymore but a demon with a human body. His feet are still in the form of talons, he’s tall and strongly built. He has long orange hair that trails behind him and feathers on his forhead that he mainted from his bird form. His eyes are crimson red with no pupils and pointed demon years. His outfit consists of feather armor and silk outfit with claws protruding from his knuckles. My eyes widen at the sight and I slowly back up, he’s stalks towards me, his talon like feet grabbing onto the rocks on the ground. He stops a few meters from me, without thinking I pull myself up from the ground and try to run towards the water from the side. In a flash his clawed hands grabs onto my left arm and jerks me back hard, I let out a surprised gasp. I’m face to face with him, I can feel the radiating heat coming from his body. His hold on my arm is heating up, in no time it’s starting to burn. 

“Ow!” I cry out.

“Don’t try anything stupid, or else you’re life with be extinguished.” He growls.

I gasp at the threat, the heat disappears from his hold and he drags me into the cave. The starry sky disappears from my view and replaced by jagged rocks and darkness. I can’t see anything at all, soon, he stops. Then I feel him heating up again, he let’s me go briefly and he burst into flame and fire sparks shoots throughout the cave, lighting up wooden sticks that are placed around the cave. The once dark space became emblazed in seconds, washed in colors of the phoenix. I look around the area and I see thr darkness of the long cave that we came from with no end where there is no light, on the ground is a stream that runs through the cave. The sea seeps into the cave and I feel as if that’s my only realization for me to connect to the outside world. He turns around and faces me again, the crest on his forehead furrowing. I slowly back up fearing what’s going to happen.

“Who do you want with me?” I ask him wth fear in my voice.

“That is none of your concern, just know from now on you’ll be stuck here for the rest of your life. You can not escape from this cave with a light to guide you.” He says with a grin.

“No....” I let out.

Without another word, he grabs my left arm in a flash. He holds it up and looks at my hand, he’s looking at the scar that Sesshomaru accidently gave me that day.

“A scar on such a nice skin. Such a shame.” He says with a smirk.

“It’s a scar that I’m happy to bare.” I say confidently.

“Doesn’t seem like it was made from anything in the human world, perhaps from an another demon? From your statement you seem to be fond of this demon. I suppose it would be painful to have it replaced by another.” He says.

My eyes widen by his words and realize he’s planning to do just that. On instinct I try to pull my arm out of his grasp while shouting. His other taloned hand grabs onto my arm, they were like clamps. I can feel the radiating heat once again and I start to panic.

“No don’t!” I shout at him.

He just smiles as his red eyes flashes. A sudden sharp burn runs through my body starting from my hand. Tears starts to form in my eyes. I’ve been burned when I was younger because of being stupid, but this is next level burn. The pain is excruciating that I feel myself passing out, before I do I can hear him saying something.

“You are marked, obey me or else the fire will consume you entirely.” He says.

I collapse onto the ground, my burned hand lands into the cool stream. The cool water cooling down the burn a little, my vision becomes blurry and I let fatigue take over me. I close my eyes and darkness overwhelms my entire body, but before I completely black out, I feel the water gently crashing against my skin, almost like its comforting me, calming my racing heart down.