My Blood Stained Rose

Part 1- Heart of the Blizzard

Kagome stared up at the bright full moon, lost within its enchanting spell. Because of the blue moon's strong grip, Kagome lagged behind her friends, becoming only a small speck of what was known as Kagome Higurashi. Feeling her presence become faint, InuYasha shot his head in the direction behind the group, easily noticing the silhouetted figure gazing up at the blue orb in the darkened sky. He started towards her, in a calm manner, ready to break the spell and bring her back to reality.

InuYasha stared at her silhouetted, small figure. He slowly raised his hand up to her shoulder, not wanting to destroy this masterful artwork that nature had created. Feeling his clawed hand on her shoulder so suddenly and out of the blue made her jump, causing InuYasha to react by jerking his hand away. Kagome jerked her head in his direction, seeing an expression on his face she had never seen before.

The expression confused her, causing her to stare. InuYasha quickly noticed and opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by a blood-curdling scream that echoed from somewhere inside the nearby forest. The sudden scream startled the entire group. Knowing someone was in danger the group darted off into the forest, their minds set on saving the person who owned the sudden scream.

A sudden blast of icy wind screeched past the group, sending shivers down each of their spines. The group ignored it and kept moving, knowing they had no time to waste. Along with a screeching wind, another scream echoed through the forest, seeming close but distant. But this scream wasn't of terror. It was of despair.

As they marched on, the color white began to fill their eyes. The wind had grown colder and more violent, like the feeling of being alone, but physical. Their feet were already buried under a foot of snow, charging through like their lives depended on it. Now completely surrounded in white, the group listened closely at the sound of yet another cry in despair.

InuYasha, finally realizing the direction of the scream's source, quickly darted to his right. His friends changed direction and followed swiftly behind him. InuYasha sped up, leaving his friends to disappear within the blizzard. He heard his friends' voices behind him, yet they seemed distant. The voices echoed along with a louder, more violent cry. He ignored their voices, knowing he couldn't waste time.

Feeling the icy wind pierce his tough skin, InuYasha ran into what seemed like the heart of the blizzard. The wind seemed like it couldn't get any colder and blow any harder. The snow seemed like it couldn't pierce his skin with a colder sting. He felt that if more snow blew in his face he might as well be blind.

Within the clearing a person cloaked in silver kneeled, clutching something, blood splattered and sinking within the snow. InuYasha focused his eyes towards the person, noticing something shift the hood slightly. The person slowly shifted their head, revealing feminine features. The woman stared at InuYasha, confusion filling her eyes. Blood was spattered on her face, tears flowing freely, making it look as if the woman was crying the blood itself.

Their eyes locked, the woman's watery silver tinted sapphire orbs slowly letting go of the grip their eyes had. She slowly turned her head back at the bloodied body splayed out before her. A breaking cry escaped her lips, the woman clutching the person as tight as she could, as if that would bring back the person's life.

InuYasha saw something shift in the snow that surrounded the woman and the corpse. Something that looked like the bud of a flower poked through the snow, quickly blossoming into a white rose. He stared at the rose, amazed at its beauty. Blood seemed to splatter onto the rose, seeping within the other petals, completely covering the rose in blood.

He focused his vision, noticing blood dripping from the petals, staining the snow with the color crimson. He looked back at the woman, slowly, as if moving too quickly would cause the woman to shatter into little pieces, and crumble at the mere sound of anything. InuYasha kept staring at her, curious as to who was the person the woman was holding.