A/N:Don't own any of these characters, naturally.

The air hung heavy in feudal Japan. Under a blue sky that seemed to stretch on forever, four teens, a child, and a cat walked down a long dusty trail.

"Can we please pick up the pace a little? We'll never get to the next village at this rate!" Inuyasha groaned with his normal impatience. His silver hair swished as he turned to give a dark glare at Kagome.

"Don't look at me like that, Inuyasha. I only thought it would be nice to stop and have a decent meal instead of eating on the go. We haven't stopped since this morning," Kagome said with a slight air of irritance herself. They weren't all half demons like Inuyasha and she was fairly tired from how hard he'd pressed them.

"I have to agree with Kagome Inuyasha," Sango joined in, trying to diverge the tension from the two. "We have been walking for quite some time now. And lunch would be perfect right about now."

"Keh, you women, so easily swayed by a nice day. But how're we gonna catch Naraku if you keep stopping every five seconds?!"

"Inuyasha the women would like to stop. I think it would be nice to oblige them and enjoy a peaceful lunch. Our pursuit will be waiting for us when we're done," Miroku chimmed in, eying Kagome's backpack. It seemed he, too, was rather hungry.

"Miroku you traitor! Am I the only one not hungry here?" he bellowed when suddenly a grumble emitted from his own stomach.

"What an idiot," the tiny fox demon scolded as he passed by Inuyasha who quickly konked him on the head for his smart mouth. "Hey what'd you do that for?!" the tiny demon protested.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome called making Inuyahsa flinch as he sensed what she was going to do next. "Come and eat. And stop being so mean to Shippo." Inuyasha breathed easy. It wasn't what he thought after all. He and Shippo moseyed over to the tree the others had prepared lunch under. Kagome and Sango had laid out a picnic of sorts, a large yellow blanket was spread on the ground for them to rest on. The girls had already laid out quite the array of food.

"Is this your mother's food Kagome?" Miroku asked eagerly.

"Yeah, she packed way too much food for me, as usual. But I don't mind, more for us in the long run."

"I'm sure it will be delicious if your mother made it. She's quite the cook," Miroku further complimented.

"Thanks, Miroku, I'll be sure to tell her you said so," Kagome added picking up her dish and beginning to eat. Inuyasha and Shippo had sat down by this point. The half demon looked carefully at all the food before him.

"Kagome?"

"Yes Inuyasha?"

"Do you have any of those instant noodles?"

Kagome sighed between bites, "Can't you just eat what we put out? There's nothing wrong with it."

"Yes, Inuyasha it's quite good. You merely need to try it," Miroku added, hoping to avoid the inevitable.

"Fine!" Inuyasha gave in and grabbed the dish, eating with ferocity. "Whabeber gehs us oubba here fabster," he choked out, mouth full. Kagome grimaced, Sango rolled her eyes, and Miroku sighed at his words.

Kagome toyed with her food as she looked around. The scene was quite beautiful. She always loved to take in the sites of this time. The city of her time was just so different. The grass was swaying in the slight breeze as chirping birds darted and dived in the air while Kilala watched eagerly. What a lovely—

"Ok done. Let's go!" Inuyasha barked at them.

"Inuyasha you're very antsy today. Can't you just stop and enjoy the view for once?"

Inuyasha looked around him, to his left and to his right until his eyes stopped on Kagome for one long minute.

"What view? I don't see anything so special."

"SIT BOY!" Kagome yelled. Instantly Inuyasha's face was glued to the ground with a thud.

"Serves him right," Sango offered.

"Not one of his more tactical moments," Miroku added. Kagome sat in a position of ease agreeing with the others.

"Why you! Kagome what the heck was that—"

Suddenly a scream broke through the calm breeze. Inuyasha stiffened, on his feet now. He took a couple of sniffs of the breeze.

"I smell blood."

"Then let's hurry!"Kagome said climbing onto Inuyasha's back. Shippo grabbed the blanket on hopped on Kilala's back, she had already transformed by then, along with Sango and Miroku. Quickly, the group hurried towards the horrifying scream.