Chap 1.

Kagome was exhausted. Her feet were tired from a long few days of walking, and despite their few stops to wash off in whatever streams they came across, she still felt sticky with dirt and sweat. She groaned to herself about what she would give for a proper bath. They were camped for the night on the edge of a rolling rice field, with a small village off on the far side. Miroku had wanted to go to the village to find an inn for the night (likely hoping to find a pretty innkeeper or maid to seduce), but the "town" was little more than a cluster of small shacks, and there didn't seem to be much in the way of hospitality offered by the residents. Kagome pondered that that could have been due to the fact that Inuyasha had called one of the elders a "withered old hag" when they had made a snide comment about his ears, but it was possible they were just not the friendliest of people in general.

In either case, the group was now resigned to huddling by a small fire in a clearing beneath a sad looking willow tree, with a sluggish, brown river running at their backs. Kagome couldn't remember the last time they had camped in such a dreary place. Normally, she enjoyed their time in the woods and out in the wild as a welcome relief from the bustle of Tokyo. Despite the dirt, it was charming and peaceful, hearing birdsong and feeling the breeze rushing through the branches and the grass. But this place was eerily quiet, hung with a chilly fog like some immense phantom had settled down on top of them, intent on stealing every ounce of warmth and comfort from their bodies.

Kagome knew she wasn't the only one unnerved. Inuyasha, who would normally be lounging lazily by the fire, instead had perched himself up in the branches of the willow tree, his eyes scanning the rolling horizon, searching the shadows for something beyond Kagome's sight. Sango sat running a cloth across her throwing weapon with her back stiff as a board, clearly tense though she said nothing. At her side, Kirara was curled in a tight ball, ears flat against her skull as if the silence was deafening. Miroku seemed the most at ease, stirring a bubbling pot of stew and occasionally fiddling with the wrapping on his hand, but even the calm of his face was still traced with the slightest hints of worry. His movements were almost shaky, like he was nervous, and more than once Kagome saw him share an odd look with Sango or steal a sudden glance up at Inuyasha. The only one who seemed to not be hiding their fear was Shippo, who had declared right away that he did not want to spend the night in that place, whining and whimpering until Inuyasha had at last quieted him with a less than affectionate smack on the head. Now Shippo had huddled himself in Kagome's lap, looking grumpy and teary-eyed with all the hairs on his body standing on end like a frightened puppy. Kagome sighed. She was exhausted, but she had a sinking feeling none of them would be getting much rest that night.

The strange, awkward silence was finally broken when Miroku announced that the stew was ready, and everyone muttered their relief at the thought of some hot food. The only one who remained unmoved was Inuyasha - he didn't peel his eyes away from the darkness for even a moment. Kagome frowned up into the tree at him, knowing he was probably going to be too stubborn to convince him to come eat, but also knowing she had to try. He would be useless if he was both tired and hungry. She walked to the base of the tree and craned her neck up at him. She watched him for a moment, noticing his ears twitching in all directions. Inuyasha really was like a dog sometimes.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called out. "Inuyasha, you need to come eat something!" She saw Inuyasha glance down at her for a moment, but then he returned his gaze to the field without a word. Kagome grumbled, putting her hands on her hips in frustration.

"Inuyasha, I know you can hear me, you jerk," she said. This time Inuyasha didn't even look down, but seemed to ignore her shouts entirely, which only served to irritate Kagome further.

"Jeez, this guy…" She fumed, contemplating just yelling out 'sit' and getting it over with quickly, but she decided to try to be civil. Still not easily defeated, she reached for the lowest branches of the tree and began to haul herself up. Inuyasha definitely made it look easier than it was; by the time Kagome had finally reached Inuyasha's branch she was panting and huffing, and annoyed enough to be tempted to just shove Inuyasha right to the ground. What a pain, she thought, having to climb up a tree like a fool to drag this idiot down. She tried to calm herself, creeping forward toward the end of the branch where Inuyasha sat.

"Come on, Inuyasha," Kagome called out. "Just come down and eat, I really don't feel like doing this right now." She reached a hand forward to grasp his shoulder. "Inuyasha are you even listen-"

Suddenly Inuyasha clamped his hand tightly over her mouth. Kagome gasped and blinked in surprise for a moment, then felt her face growing red with anger as she pulled at his hand to remove it from her face. Before she could make another sound though, Inuyasha turned to her with a startlingly serious expression, and held a finger to his lips to hush her. Seeing the intensity of his face frightened her, and reluctantly she nodded to confirm she would be quiet. He removed his hand from her mouth and turned back around toward the silent, open field bathed in night. Kagome moved closer to his back so that her face hovered above his shoulder, straining her eyes to see if she could spot anything, but there was nothing. The land was as still as if it were dead.

"Do you… see anything?" She whispered, suddenly afraid to make a sound. Inuyasha furrowed his brow and made a sound in his throat like a soft growl which Kagome had come to know meant he was deep in thought.

"No," he said at last. "Nothing. There's nothing out there at all."

"Isn't... that a good thing?" Kagome asked cautiously.

Inuyasha shook his head slowly. "I don't like it," he said decidedly.

Kagome turned her head to look at Inuyasha's face, and almost immediately he did the same. For a moment they looked at one another eye to eye, then it suddenly seemed to dawn on them both just how close their faces were. Both of them quickly turned away again, hiding the blushes that were spreading across their cheeks.

Kagome cleared her throat awkwardly. "Anyway," she said, still feeling the hot flush on her face. "Why don't you come have some food?"

Though his face remained serious, Inuyasha's ears twitched ever so slightly. Kagome felt a smile creep up on her face. "Miroku made stew…" She coaxed.

"Hmm... " Inuyasha never ceased his scowling, but Kagome could tell he was caving. "With... meat and carrots?" He asked, almost too quietly to hear.

"Yeah," She nodded, trying to hide a grin. "So let's eat, okay?" Her irritation from earlier seemed to be melting away despite herself. The sight of Inuyasha sheepishly stifling his excitement at the mention of food was just too entertaining. He really is an idiot, she thought.

"Well… alright, fine!" Inuyasha grumbled dramatically. Changing positions on the branch, he bent his knees to prepare to leap back to the ground, but Kagome suddenly grabbed at the sleeve of his robe.

"Wait!" She cried.

"What?!" Inuyasha yelped. "I thought you wanted me to hurry up and get down, make up your mind!"

Kagome clung tighter to his arm with an indignant huff. "After I climbed all the way up here to get you, the least you could do would be to carry me back down!" She demanded.

"I didn't ask you to come up here, stupid," Inuyasha retorted, his cheeks burning again. But then as if an idea had snuck into his head, he suddenly grinned. "But, hey, if you want me to carry you down, then let's go!"

Before Kagome could protest, Inuyasha scooped her up over his shoulder and leapt from the branch. Instead of allowing for a graceful descent, Inuyasha had launched himself even higher, and then let them both plummet toward the ground below at a dizzying speed. Kagome screeched as her stomach felt like it had lifted into her throat. At the last moment, Inuyasha softened their impact by bending his legs, landing in a squat. Immediately Kagome tumbled off his shoulder in a somersault and ended up flat on her behind with her legs splayed out in front of her. Miroku, Sango, and Shippo all jumped in surprise at Kagome's sudden entrance, and behind her Inuyasha stifled a devilish laugh.

Kagome pulled herself to her feet and dusted off her skirt, shooting Inuyasha a furious glare which he ignored. She continued to glare and grumble at him as he helped himself to a bowl of stew, but inside she couldn't help but to feel relieved. Inuyasha was a pain when he was teasing her, but at least it felt normal. His mischievous grin, however much it irritated her, was still more of a comfort than anything. Especially at that moment, when she was feeling so cold and weary. She hated to admit it, but Inuyasha could warm her heart and settle her nerves better than anyone.

As if on cue, Inuyasha interrupted Kagome's thoughts by shoving a steaming bowl of stew into her hands. "Come on, idiot," he said with a mouthful. "You made all that fuss about eating, so eat."

Kagome begrudgingly accepted, and took a seat back beside the fire. Almost as if without thinking, Inuyasha followed and sat beside her, the both of them eating in comfortable silence shoulder to shoulder. Beside them, Miroku and Sango did the same. For the first time that evening, they all felt a little bit at ease. Even Shippo, who was looking between the two pairs with subtle amusement, seemed to have relaxed.

When everyone finally had full bellies and higher spirits, Sango suggested they update their plans for where to travel next. They'd been taking the easiest route through the valleys, going from one farming village to another inquiring about any demon activity that might lead them to the next jewel shard. They'd had no luck for a while, though. Sango had made the suggestion before that they should try going higher up into the mountains, thinking they might have better luck in more remote areas. She brought the idea up once more, adding that they might all need a change of pace anyway.

"If we really want to change things up," Miroku chimed in. "I say we go to the ocean."

"Why would we do that?" Inuyasha asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Inuyasha, do you really have no imagination at all?" Miroku chided with a shake of his head. "Just picture: laying on the beach, feeling the sun on your face, looking out at the best view in the world."

"The ocean is very pretty," Kagome said thoughtfully.

"Oh, no," Miroku said. "I was talking about seeing you and Sango swimming around in your undergarments. Don't you think so, Inuya- ah!"

Kagome and Sango delivered synchronized punches to the back of Miroku's head and he collapsed to the ground with a thud before he could finish.

Sango shook her head and sighed. "This is serious," she said sternly. "The longer we go like this, without any clues or leads, the more likely it is that demons are finding the jewel shards."

"Yeah," Kagome agreed somberly. "Maybe even Naraku..."

"No!" Inuyasha snarled. "We aren't going to let him get another shard, not ever!"

"Then we need a better plan," Sango said. "We can't just keep wandering aimlessly around like this."

"But what else can we do?" Shippo asked, clinging to Kagome's arm. "It's not like we can just magically guess where a jewel shard will be."

"I thought Kagome could sense the shards?" Miroku said, sitting back up and rubbing the lump on his head.

"I wish it were that easy," Kagome sighed. "I can only sense the shards if they're nearby."

"Hmm…" Miroku stroked his chin in thought. "I wonder if there is a way to make you more perceptive to the shards, to be able to find them from farther away?"

"How would we do that?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha shook his head. "Forget it, trying to do all that will just be a waste of time, we need to…" Suddenly Inuyasha eyes opened wide and he snapped his head around to look behind him. All the others jumped at the movement.

"What is it, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.

"Shh!" Inuyasha ordered, dropping down to a crouch. Miroku grabbed his staff and Sango reached for her throwing weapon. Kagome had a thought to retrieve her bow, but before she could, Shippo leapt into her arms with a frightened yelp.

Ignoring the others, Inuyasha continued to creep forward until he was almost at the edge of the rice field. While they waited to see what he would do, Kagome suddenly had a sickening sensation of eyes staring at the back of her head. Something, or someone, was behind her. Slowly, shaking like a leaf, she turned her head to look out across the river at her back. Her heart sank to her toes when she saw what looked like a pale figure staring back at her from the other side.

She was frozen, unable to even scream. It was like something was holding her in place with an invisible hand around her throat. She might have stayed stuck like that for who knows how long if Shippo hadn't turned to see what she was looking at. Unlike Kagome, Shippo seemed perfectly capable of expressing his fear. In an instant he let out an ear splitting squeal and climbed even farther up Kagome until he was clinging to the back of her head, his eyes wide as saucers.

Hearing Shippo's shouts seemed to shake Kagome free of her trance and she found her voice again. "Inu-Inuyasha!" She screamed, pointing a finger out across the river.

Immediately the others dashed to stand between Kagome and the strange figure, Inuyasha at the front.

"Who's there?" He shouted. "Show yourself!"

In the drifting mist, the figure remained motionless. It was almost impossible to make out any features except that it seemed to be wearing all white, and Kagome guessed from the silhouette that it was a man. It remained silent.

Miroku stepped up beside Inuyasha. "It looks like a person," he whispered.

"Then why won't he answer?" Sango questioned behind them.

Inuyasha growled and called out across the water again. "Listen buddy, you better answer or else we won't hold back, got it?"

The figure, who had been staring straight forward, at last slowly tilted it's head, and turned to cast it's hidden gaze off to the right. Almost at once, they all realized it was looking at Kagome. Once again, she felt a shiver run through her body like cold hands were clutching at her all over, and she took a fearful step back.

"It's… it's looking right at us…" Shippo whimpered. "Kagome?"

Kagome again could not answer. Her heart was starting to ache with a strange, icy pain. Suddenly, without realizing it, she began to move forward.

"Hey!" Shippo cried, jumping down in front of her. "Kagome what are you doing, don't go toward it!" He held up his hands to stop her, but she pushed past him easily. "Wait!" He cried again, clutching at her foot.

Kagome didn't hear him. All she could hear was the sound of the river, and feel those invisible hands pulling her forward. She took another step. The cold feeling in her chest was getting stronger.

"Kagome, stop!" Inuyasha was suddenly at Kagome's side, grabbing onto her shoulders to hold her back. "Are you crazy, what the hell are you doing?"

From across the river, the figure suddenly spoke. In an echoing, pained voice, it moaned out a single word. "Kagome…"

Is if in response, Kagome's whole body tensed and she tried to take another step forward. Inuyasha quickly pulled her to his chest and locked his arms around her.

"Kagome!" He yelled. "What are you doing, snap out of it!"

Kagome looked up at him blankly, and Inuyasha was startled to see there were tears in her eyes.

"Kagome…" The figure called out again, sounding more desperate this time. It took a step forward, and it's features became somewhat clearer. It looked like a boy, wrapped tightly in white cloth from head to toe with shadowy pits for eyes. As it stepped closer, the group was horrified to see more figures were appearing as well. Not just across the river, but all around. As if appearing out of thin air, suddenly there were dozens of white-wrapped figures, all along the river bank and scattered in the rice field, still as statues and pale as death.

"What's going on?" Miroku yelled, turning wildly to look at the ghostly apparitions surrounding them.

Beside him Sango glared hard. "Wait a minute…" She whispered.

"Sango?" Miroku asked. "What is it?"

Without answering him, Sango rushed forward and tossed her weapon with a quick, powerful throw.

Miroku's eyes widened. "Wait! Sango, what are you…" He stopped mid sentence, and all the others gasped as well as they watched Sango's weapon arch through the air and make contact with a figure. Instead of knocking it down, it passed through as if the person was made of smoke. As the weapon continued it's curve, each figure it passed through becoming momentarily dissipated like disturbed fog, but quickly reformed. When the weapon at last returned and Sango caught it out of the air, she sighed.

"I knew it," She said. "Spirits."

"What?" Shippo said. "You mean like... ghosts?!"

Before anyone could answer, a chorus of sad, empty voices rang out from all around. "Kagome… Kagome…" They called over and over, sounding more and more urgent. It was a terrible, spine-chilling sound.

Each time they said her name, Kagome pulled harder against Inuyasha's grasp. Her eyes were now overflowing with tears, yet they remained expressionless, like she was staring at something very far away. Inuyasha held her tightly, but she continued to struggle with a strength that Inuyasha knew was not her own. Kagome should not have been able to escape his grip, and yet he found himself straining to keep her still. What was going on?

"Dammit…" He groaned, in a tugging match with some unseen force that was pulling Kagome away from him. He gripped her shoulders so tightly his nails began to dig into her skin and he saw small trickles of blood forming. "Dammit!" He yelled again. "We need to get Kagome away from here!" He called over his shoulder to the others.

"Kirara!" Sango shouted. In an instant, Kirara was at her side, gown to her full size. "Take Kagome somewhere safe!" Sango instructed.

Kirara nodded and then leapt forward toward where Inuyasha was still struggling to hold Kagome. Seeing Kirara approaching, Inuyasha used one last hard pull to toss Kagome onto Kirara's back, where she lay shaking a moment before going limp.

At the last second, Shippo mounted Kirara as well. "I'll look after her!" He yelled down to Inuyasha.

Inuyasha glared. "Hey, now just wait a sec-"

"Go Kirara!" Shippo yelled, and they were off. Kirara carried them high into the air until they were blotted out by the low cloud cover.

"It's okay," Miroku said, returning to Inuyasha's side. "She'll be fine."

With an annoyed growl Inuyasha nodded, and turned back towards the enemies that were gathering all around. For a few minutes, the figures all turned to watch Kagome depart, then returned their gaze back to the group in front of them. Sango held her weapon at the ready, Miroku prepared to remove the wrapping from his wind tunnel, and Inuyasha extended his claws, all of them waiting for the first attack. But then, something strange seemed to happen.

"Look!" Sango said, lowering her weapon. They all watched in shock as one by each, each of the pale figures started to fade out of view. Within moments, they were gone. Not long after, the heavy fog seemed to dissipate as well, until the air was once again clear and calm, with a soft breeze rustling the grass. For the first time that night they heard sound - crickets chirping and frogs croaking. All was as it should have been from the start, is if a veil had been lifted and the land had finally been allowed to breath again.

"What… just happened?" Inuyasha asked, scratching his head.

"They've all gone,"Miroku said, stunned. "What was that all about?"

"They all disappeared as soon as Kagome was gone…" Sango pondered. "It seems like she was all they wanted."

"Well, yeah, but why?" Inuyasha said, his face dark with worry. He looked up at the now crystal clear sky where stars were twinkling in the distance. "Wait…" He said, his voice rising. "You don't think… you don't think they'll follow her, do you?"

Sango and Miroku's faces grew dark as well. "I don't know," Sango said. "But it's possible."

"We have to catch up with them," Inuyasha said, rushing to retrieve the Tetsusaiga from beside the fire, which he was cursing himself for not doing sooner.

Sango and Miroku exchanged weary glances. "What?" Inuyasha questioned, feeling his temper rising. "We have to get them!"

"Maybe we should wait for them to come back," Sango suggested. "This is the place they'll return to, it might not be a good idea to leave."

"I think I might agree," Miroku said. "If we rush off now we might miss each other, and then it'll be a nightmare trying to find one another again."

"Come on!" Inuyasha yelled. "If we just hurry up and catch them, we don't have to worry about all that! We're wasting time!"

Sango and Miroku both sighed, and then reluctantly nodded. "Okay, let's go."

At last, with Inuyasha in the lead, all three rushed off in the direction that Kirara had gone.