AN: Lovely reviews are most welcome.
Prologue
It was a calm day in the Feudal Era for beings human and youkai alike. Some would consider it a perfect day. The only disturbances were a slight breeze rustling the nearby trees and the everyday sounds of villagers going about their daily work.
However for the shard hunting group, this calm was filled with tension and the anticipation of dramatic events to come. To the group it was as if the calm before the storm. Although the group was aware of the tension and that this time of relaxation would not last, some decided to take advantage and some remained on guard.
The group was currently stopped at a clearing about a days walk from Inuyasha's forest. Although there was still a reasonable amount of daylight left to continue a decision was made to set camp for the rest of the day and to continue in the morning.
Surprisingly, it was Inuyasha who had made this decision without so much as a SIT from Kagome. Now Inuyasha had not given his reasons but they were clear to all. The groups opinion as to why, was split between two reasons. One possible reason was Inuyasha wanted to avoid helping with the preparations for the starlight festival. This reason was favored by Sango and Shippo, one receiving a glare and the other a knock to the head for voicing their opinions out loud. The other possibility was the locations relative closeness to the hut Kikyo frequented. Kagome and Miroku favored this explanation but were wise enough to keep their opinions to themselves.
Once the group had finished setting up camp they had each separated to do their individual tasks. Inuyasha could be found resting upon a branch, high within a tree, his sword laying across his lap. To the average onlooker it would seem as if he was merely sitting not thinking or doing anything important. However, the group knew he was keeping watch over the group and for oncoming danger, possibly for signs of Kikyo as well.
The demon slayer, Sango, was leaning against a tree cleaning her weapons. She was seated to the left of Inuyasha and across from Miroku. She chose to sit across from Miroku in order to keep an eye on him. Keeping an eye on Miroku was causing the once simple act of cleaning her weapons to become tedious. The monk, Miroku, was currently sitting at the opposite edge of the clearing from Sango. This wise decision was due to having already been given a rather nasty lump upon his head. Unfortunately the fact that he was currently holding one of Kagome's icepacks to his head did nothing to prevent his perverted mind from wandering.
As for Kagome, Shippo, and Kirara, they were currently resting along the side of a stream that ran along an outer edge of the clearing, directly across from Inuyasha. The young fox demon, Shippo, was laying near his surrogate mother, Kagome, coloring with the crayons and paper from Kagome's bag. The two tailed cat demon, Kirara, was sitting on the other side of Kagome, keeping watch for any disturbance. The miko from the future, Kagome, was sitting between the two seeming as if she was merely gazing into the forest that bordered the other side of the stream. This was not the case, in fact she was currently thinking about her life since she came to the Feudal Era and the fact that in two days, the night of the starlight festival, she would be twenty years old.
This ladies and gents is where the next chapter of Kagome's life really begins.
AN2: Sorry for this chapter, just had to show the setting. More to come next Wednesday.