Hi everybody! This is my first fanfic ever, but I really liked my idea for it so I plucked up the courage to post the first chapter of it, and here it is! I'm always open to objective criticism and I love hearing back from peers, so if you'd like to share your thoughts please do! Feel free to PM me as well because I'd love to get to know more of you lovely people. :)

Point of view change

Miroku

He gazed at the sky above him with eyes filled of daydreams about his traveling companion, the ever beautiful Sango. Miroku absently picked up his pace so that he could reach their agreed upon meeting place sooner, and be back in her enticing presence.

It didn't matter that the reason he was walking without her now as because he 'accidentally' fell on her earlier this morning and because of that she had told him to walk, no he was confident that she would have forgiven him by the time they were reunited so he had pushed it to the back of his mind in favor of more pleasant thoughts.

Distracted as he was by these thoughts, he failed to take in his surroundings until a voice cut into his dream just as a blushing Sango agreed to bear his children.

"Oi, you! Monk!"

Miroku blinked, then looked about to find himself surrounded by some of the strongest looking human bandits he'd ever seen. He blinked again, then looked at the one directly in front of him on the path.

"Can I help you, good men?"

Some of the men around him started laughing, and the one in front of him smirked dangerously.

"We know you have something very valuable on you Monk, and our boss wants it."

He must be talking about the sacred jewel shards! Miroku tensed, bringing his shakujō forward in a more defensive position while glancing about for a weakness in the bandits formation to escape through. Seeing none, he looked forward to the leader and smiled tensely.

"I am just a simple traveling monk as you can see, why would your boss think that I had anything of value?"

"I'd know he didn't say, but who cares? Even if you don't, you're still coming with us to our boss. Grab him Men!"

Miroku tried to fight them off with his shakujō but was quickly overpowered by their greater strength and numbers, white pain exploded in front of his eyes from a blow to the back of his head only have it fade into blackness as he lost consciousness.

Sango

Sango and Kirara came down out of the sky from their 'scouting' flight that they had been on ever since this morning and landed at the large bend in the path where it met with a small stream. This was her arranged meeting place with Miroku, however a quick look around revealed that he wasn't there.

Sango hopped down off of Kirara's large, strong back and carefully scanned the vicinity again for the wayward monk, and seeing nothing she looked at Kirara who silently told her that she saw nothing of the monk either. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, Sango cupping a hand around her mouth and called out in a loud voice into the surrounding woods.

"Houshi-sama!"

No answer came back save for the chirping of birds, and Sango's face grew worried as she turned and climbed up onto Kirara's back.

"Let's go, Kirara."

She said, gripping on tighter with her hands so that she could lean out and survey the land as they flew.

"Let's find Houshi-sama, keep your nose out for him, Kirara."

He should have gotten there before us, did something happen to him?

They flew until Kirara suddenly swooped down on part of the path and landed, sniffing wildly at the ground, Sango bent forward and saw lots of different footprints and scuff marks littering the dirt path. There was a fight here, could it have involved Miroku? She barely had time to think this before Kirara lept several feet up into the air and took off in a direction that cut away from the path going deeper into the woods.

Miroku

Miroku woke to the jarring impact of his body hitting a hardwood floor and the smell of lots of unwashed bodies, he was laying face down with multiple hands and arms pinning him there. He lifted his throbbing head just as he heard the voice of the bandit he had spoken to on the path say.

"We got him for you, boss."

Miroku looked at the bandit then to where he was looking, as a very large man rose from the shadows of the dilapidated shrine and started almost clumsily walking towards Miroku and the men pinning him down. The boss's skin was an unhealthy pale shade, yet he carried a very large sword and didn't look to be in any kind of discomfort besides his strange walk. Something is not right about him.

"You have jewel shards...give them to me." The boss said in a strangely emotionless voice along with a odd tilt of his head.

"I don't know what you're talking about my good man, perhaps you have mistaken me for someone else?"

Miroku tried as the boss came to stop and stood above him, death-like eyes looked down into his.

"No..mistake...you have them."

The boss raised his sword to bring it down on Miroku, when the doors of the shrine flew open so hard that part of one came off and hit the boss's sword before it could touch the monk. Sango stood in the once doorway dressed in her demon slayer armor and holding her Wakizashi, just past her Miroku could see Kirara fighting the remaining bandits outside the shrine, although it didn't look like they were much of a challenge for the large fire-neko.

"Houshi-sama!"

Sango exclaimed, snapping Miroku's eyes back to her just in time to see the relief flash across her face before it turned hard as she turned to the bandits in the shine.

"You will pay for what you've done to him."

She growled, advanced into the room with danger radiating off her.

"I would let me go if I was you."

Miroku told the men still holding him down as he watched Sango.

"Get..her...kill her."

The boss ordered while turning back to Miroku. Several of the men who were not holding Miroku down rushed at Sango, the smirks on their faces proudly revealing their smug confidence in dealing with one woman. Sango gave a furious battle cry and charged the surprised, yet still confident large men.

Turning, slashing, and blocking, the highly skilled demon slayer made quick work of the inexperienced bandits. The hands of the men holding Miroku started shaking as they watched their fellows fall before Sango's onslaught, and he couldn't help but stare at Sango's lovely form in motion until the boss's legs suddenly blocked it.

Miroku looked up as the boss's sword came down towards his head and back, only to be stopped mid stroke by Sango's sword from the firmly planted position she had sprang to when she saw what was about to happen. With a strained yet powerful cry Sango heaved the bandit boss backwards into a wooden pillar that instantly collapsed under his weight.

The hands holding Miroku down suddenly vanished as those men lost their nerve and bolted for the door, more than willing to face the demon Neko outside if it meant that they wouldn't have to face this woman.

Sango struck at the boss as he attempted to rise, scoring a deep slash across his chest and cutting off part of his armor, revealing a gaping hole in his chest where his heart should have been. A Corpse Crow's three red eyes glared out from it at them, and it attempted to flee by leaving the boss's body, but Sango was too quick for it and stabbed it as it emerged from the hole.

Sango flicked the crow's body off her sword, and the boss's body fell back, rapidly disintegrating until there was nothing left to hit the floor.

"Are you alright, Houshi-sama?"

Sango asked, unaware that Miroku had stolen up behind her until she turned and he was right where he wanted to be, close arm's length from her.

"I don't know how I'll ever be able to thank you enough for what you have done for me, dear Sango."

Miroku said taking her hands in his, being mindful of the sword still held by her. Sango's face flushed slightly, and he took that as an invitation to lean in closer.

"Though I can certainly think of a few things that I'm sure you would most appreciate."

He said as smoothly and suggestively as he could as he slid a hand around to her lower back and pulled her closer, guiding her sword hand to the side while keeping a firm hand of his own on it just in case her tried using it on him.

She flushed even more until that hand that he had wrapped around her slid south of her lower back, her face was still flushed then but her eyes glared daggers into him. She slapped him with her free hand and smoothly slid free of his loose hold, then stomped out of the shrine.

He waited a minute for her to calm down while he retrieved his shakujō before he left the shrine to join her, she was sitting on a old tree stump with small Kirara laying on her lap and she looked up as he walked over.

"Why did they capture you?"

"That demon controlling their boss somehow knew that I had our three jewel shards, and wanted them."

"I see..."

Sango got a thoughtful look on her face while looking down at Kirara, then looked back at him.

"If that's the case, then we must be the only ones with jewel shards in this area, otherwise it would have already been working to get the others. Which means that we'll have to head out to a new place to find some."

"I agree, I even know of a place that we may start at. There's a village somewhat near here that has a very respectable and learned priestess who may know something about how the shards came to be shattered, and where we should start in looking for more."

"That sounds like a good place to start, do you know the way to this place?"

"Though I have never been there, I have a general idea of where it is, so if you would be so kind as to-"

Sango stood as he was speaking, with Kirara leaping from her arms to change into her full sized self.

"-let us both ride on Kirara to see a greater amount of land at a time then we should find it soon."

Sango waited till he had finished speaking, then climbed onto Kirara and gestured for him to get on as well. He did, but as he settled down behind her, a quiet menacing voice of hers reached back to him.

"If you mess around I won't hesitate to push you off, understand?"

"My dear Sango, I deeply ashamed in your lack of trust in me, my intentions for now are of a purely professional nature."

Miroku said while being slightly glad that neither of them couldn't see the other's face as they rose up into the sky and set off in search of the village.

Please let me know what you think of it in a review, hope you enjoyed my poor beginnings!