Disclaimer; I do not own any Inuyasha characters...
Comment; Please, please, pleeeaase, don't be rude. I understand that there are people who might not appreciate the way I write or what I write about. However, I would appreciate it completely if you just directed yourself elsewhere if that's the case. After all, this is supposed to be for fun and nothing more. Thanks and enjoy.
"Oh, wow! Shippo, it's beautiful!" Kagome exclaimed, holding up a small, jade bangle that the young fox demon had just removed from the inside of his kimono. She turned it this way and that, studying the way the light coiled on the stones and rippled like the surface of once still water. "Where did you get it?" Shippo bowed his head, twiddling his little thumbs together as the warmth of a pink blush flooded his cheeks. "My father gave it to my mother when they first met. She told me that he went far away to get it for her, and that she'd treasured it ever since. When she died, he gave it to me as a way to remember her, which is why I want you to have it, Kagome." The priestess's face heated openly, lips turning up in the corners for a broad smile as she gathered Shippo up in her arms for a tight embrace. "Thank you, Shippo. I'll take good care of it." That said, she slipped the jade bangle across her hand and up on her wrist, relaxing her fingers so that it fell against the shape of her arm. Although the length of her uniform sleeve prevented it from exactly resting against the complexion of her skin, it looked rather lovely on her, she thought. Not much is really known about Shippo's mother. Kagome thought, inclining her head so that her chin hovered delicately above her chest. We know that his father was killed by the Thunder Brothers, Hiten and Manten, but that's where his history always seems to end. It was always safe to assume that his mother might have been running around somewhere alive, but... I guess it was wrong of me to assume that in these troubled times. Everyone seems to have a horror story in this beautiful place. It was in that particular train of thought that Kagome stopped in her tracks, and peered ahead in the direction that they were traveling. She felt the tiny threads at the edge of her reality being tugged; snatched was more like, and all in the realization that a shard of the sacred jewel was nearby. Surely she would've felt it when it was faint, but her thoughts were so far away from it that she hadn't noticed. The fine hairs at her nape prickled a bit when she heard Inuyasha speak her name, and her head turned for their eyes to lock together in a stare. "What is it?" He asked, turning his tall form towards her. "I sense a sacred jewel shard nearby." She said, turning her head a bit in order to pinpoint the shard's exact location. "It's that way."
The village they came upon in their haste wasn't particularly elaborate in its design. The huts were put together but there was evidence of poverty in spite of the lush nature of the rice crops, and the horses that whinnied from their stalls. The sand crunched beneath her shoes, grinding further into the tread that lined the bottom with each step that she took. Her soft brown eyes weren't looking at the village itself; rather, they studied the temple that lay just on the other side. Tall columns of finely carved stone had been erected in magnificent design, and crimson tapestries cascaded from the edges; sweeping beautifully in the wind. "That's strange. Normally there's a sign of evil when we come up on jewel shards, but I don't sense the slightest hint of malevolence here." Miroku murmured, raising his hand out in praying fashion close to his face in order to praise someone for this stroke of luck. "The shard is coming from that temple up ahead." Kagome explained, pointing it out as though no one else in their party had taken time to notice it. "A temple?" Sango inquired, furrowing her brow in uncertainty as she tightened the grip she'd placed on her weapon. "But how could such a poor village afford such a thing?" Inuyasha grunted, offering a cocky grin as his initial answer. "I don't know and I don't care. All I care about is the jewel shard that's waiting for us inside."
The wind blew through the sanguine cloth, rustling the tapestries on the loops that secured them to the domicile. The summer sun warmed Kagome's back, and yet as they climbed the stairway to reach the entrance, a chill washed down her spine. She took in a heavy breath, pausing once they reached the top to get a better bearing on things. The thrumming at the edges of her sense were now a strong pulse that vibrated in her core and radiated outward. She reached out to the curtain that served as the doorway, and Inuyasha's powerful hand struck out in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. "What is it, Inuyasha?" She asked, looking almost frantic to decipher what it was that had stopped him so abruptly. "I got a bad feeling about this place." Shippo whispered, chills shaking him like the cold. Inuyasha growled low in his throat, tipping his head forward as he spoke to her without looking in her direction. "You stay here, Kagome." Retracting his hand, he reached down to the hilt of Tetsusaiga and gave it a reassuring squeeze, savoring the feel of power that surged from it. "I'll stay here with Kagome. Just in case. Miroku, you go with Inuyasha." Sango instructed. "But, I couldn't imagine just leaving you two ladies all by yourselves out here." He said, his hand already wandering as he spoke such innocent, caring words to the demon slayer. His probing hand wandered lower and lower down the contours of her slender physique without exactly making contact just yet. His fingers hovered over the shape of her firm rear, and driven by confidence, he settled his hand upon it for an excited rub. A deep blush spread over his face, a look of utter content amplified by the sweet sigh he illicited. One of her eyebrows gave a fierce spasm; twitching angrily as her hand shot up from her side and planted itself hard on his cheek. Slap! "Pervert." She cursed, gliding away from him in irritable strides. "What an idiot." Shippo remarked, regarding Miroku with a blank expression. "Ooh, my sweet, Sango." The monk sighed again, caressing his aching cheek with his "probing" hand. Before Inuyasha moved from his spot, he finally directed his gaze at Kagome with the intention of asking a question. "Is it moving?" She shook her head in disagreement, noting inwardly that the jewel hadn't moved at all since they began their pursuit of its whereabouts. "Be careful." She answered.
Inuyasha and Miroku nodded at one another then disappeared inside; their footsteps only audible for a short period. Inside, a variety of candles were arranged neatly around the foot of a tall statue that bore the resemblance of a Kitsune. The carving in the stone at the bottom of the platform indicated that this was a shrine to the goddess, Inari; hence the fox like representation. It made complete sense given the nature of the crops in the village, and what Inari was known for. Much like the tapestries on the outside, the inner walls were lined with them with intent to match the cloth that was strung around the neck of the statue. Out in front of the statue was a single bowl of cooked rice that still had steam pluming off of it, and on a folded piece of cloth alongside it was a set of jade chopsticks and the shard in question. Its pink hue resonated across the stone walls, reflecting in utter purity in spite of its horrid abilities. "Inuyasha, be on your guard." Miroku murmured, feeling a prickling at the edge of his sense as indication something wasn't quite right. "Don't worry, Miroku." He retorted, relinquishing his grip on Tetsusaiga to reach out towards the jewel shard. A sharp pulse radiated then from the statue of the fox that sat so proudly before them, and the hanyou could've sworn he saw its brilliant eyes move. The fur that lined the canine ears on his crown prickled in warning, and he hesitated, flexing his fingers just mere inches from the shard. "Inuyasha!" Miroku called in warning, his eyes suddenly noting the strange movements of the statue, and his hand instinctively slipped inside his robes to retrieve an exorcism sutra.
Meanwhile, outside of the temple, Kagome and Sango stood together alongside the transformed Kirara in what could only be deciphered as the temple's garden. Koi fish splashed in the nearby pond; their oranges and alabasters streaming with speckles of black in the crystal of the liquid. Although she had to admit it was serene and beautiful, her mind was not on the lovely aspect of nature; rather, her thoughts were with Inuyasha and how worried she was. She adjusted the way her bow sat across her shoulder, and squeezed it much in the way that Inuyasha had done Tetsusaiga. "Do you think they're alright, Sango?" She asked, directing her attention to the quiet woman alongside her. Sango brushed her hand between Kirara's ears, scratching gently as she too seemed lost in thought. "I'm sure they're alright, Kagome. If things do start to get out of hand, we'll help." A sharp breath shot from Kirara's lungs as she pricked her ears, turning her head to the farthest point of the garden curiously. "Wow, did you hear that too, Kirara?" Shippo inquired. "Hear what, Shippo?" Sango asked, looking in the same direction that the two demons were. Without getting a verbal answer, she achieved a physical one. A streak of darkness shot from one stroke of brush to the next, and then a pair of almond shaped eyes, glowing red, peered out at them. The temple walls began to vibrate much to the effect of an earthquake, and the two stumbled on their feet, grabbing onto one another to maintain balance. "What is that thing?" Kagome yelped, her breath coming in fast paces now. "I don't know." Sango replied, grabbing her Hiraikotsu by the sash at the top. "But it's about to be done." She released it, screaming out her weapon's title at the top of her lungs. The beast, whatever it was, appeared to turn to mist when the bone passed through it, but it had simply moved elsewhere at an accelerated rate of speed. The body was a mass of shadows that were writhing in spiritual affect, and ringlets of smoke coiled away from it in serpentine grace. Her weapon returned, her hand seizing it with ease so that it was planted against her body again. "My Hiraikotsu went right through it."
Miroku drew the sutra close to him, praying in voiceless movements over it before he struck with it, slinging it towards the statue. "Demon, be gone!" The sutra flew with the accuracy that he'd instilled in it, but before it reached the stone, it froze - suspended in midair! The lettering on the sutra began to glow red, and the paper dissolved in blue fire to a small pile of ash on the floor. The eyes of the statue, which were definitely open now, glittered a blood red, and the artifact began to move. The stone crumbled in pebbles on the floor as the legs separated from the body, and the haunches lifted from its seated position. A fierce cry erupted from its jaws, echoing through the temple in shrieks that pierced even Miroku's ears. The hanyou growled, snatching Tetsusaiga from its sheath and it transformed mid-stroke. The stone fox hissed angrily at him, recoiling its head away from him as its tail swung around in flexible strokes. It spun on the tips of its solid paws, planting them as the massive appendage would catch Inuyasha across his side and fling him away. Miroku bellowed his comrades name, resisting the urge to flinch when Inuyasha struck through the stone wall and into the grass outside. "Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed, racing to him with the speed of a madwoman. The temple wall opened up even further as the fox creature leaped from within, shrieking once more in excitement as it drove itself towards the half demon. "Kagome, no! Get away!" He shouted at her but his words hit deaf ears. The fox slammed its feet down on either side of Inuyasha and flames burst from its tail, coiling in heat all across the gray surface. One of its paws lifted from the ground and it swung, thrusting Kagome completely off her feet and against the hill side.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted, his amber eyes glittering with a rage that could not be contained.