Miyu held a flame in her hand, ready to send the fish-like Shinma back into the darkness. Larva and Shiina stood behind her, ever ready to help and protect the Guardian. "I will not have you cause trouble in my new town. Be ready, Shinma." She prepared to throw the flame, but the fishy biped threw back his head and laughed, revealing needle-like teeth. This Shinma was a pasty-looking green, with webbed hands and feet, big black eyes, and gills. It wasn't exactly the most attractive Shinma they had ever faced.
Miyu narrowed her golden eyes. "What is so funny?" she demanded.
"What a quaint picturrre you thrrree make," he said, hissing his sibilants, "the Guarrrdian and herrr two little ssserrrvantsss." Larva narrowed his eyes behind his mask. He didn't know what this Shinma's game was, but he knew it couldn't be good. "Togetherrr forrreverrr, isss that not ssso? But, isss it not the Guarrrdian'sss dessstiny to be alone forrr eterrrnity? Then…why don't you jussst call me a ssserrrvant of fate." An ominous black cloud emitted from his mouth.
"No, Miyu!" Shiina cried, his large yellow eye exposed. He knew what that cloud was, and what it would do. Without a moment's hesitation, he jumped onto the vampire princess's shoulder as the cloud engulfed them both.
Within moments, the cloud had dispersed, Miyu and Shiina nowhere to be seen. Larva stared at the spot where they had stood in horror. "Miyu…"
He looked back at the Shinma, his anger smoldering. "What have you done to them?" he demanded. The Shinma only grinned.
/\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\/
The dog hanyou, Inuyasha, grinned ferally at the youkai in front of him. "You want the Shikon shards, eh? That's good, I needed some exercise."
"Be careful!" Kagome called from where she stood, a few yards away. She clutched her bow tightly, just in case Inuyasha would need her help.
"Feh," he scoffed. "I can take care of this one, no sweat. You worry too much, Kagome."
"Hmph. He doesn't have to be so arrogant all of the time," Kagome said disgustedly. "If he wasn't just about to fight, I'd have half a mind to tell him to S.I.T!"
"Don't let him get to you, Kagome-sama," Miroku said sagely. "This is the way Inuyasha has always been, and this is the way he will always be."
The small kitsune youkai, Shippou, jumped onto Kagome's shoulder, his fluffy tail twitching. "I agree with Kagome. Why does Inuyasha always have to be so mean?"
Inuyasha leapt at his opponent, raising his claw to strike the other youkai…
…as it burst into flames.
Inuyasha fell back, holding up his arm to protect his face from the blaze. The youkai shrieked in agony as the flames devoured it. Damn, the hanyou thought. If those flames reach the trees, we'll have a hell of a time getting out of this forest. What the hell happened here, anyway? But to Inuyasha's surprise, the flame did not spread; it died as soon as there was nothing left of the youkai except its ashes.
As Inuyasha lowered his arm, he saw a young girl- certainly she could be no older than Kagome- standing not far from him. She was strange, though Inuyasha debated whether or not she was stranger than Kagome. She wore a short, white kimono that was tied with a wide purple sash and a large bow in the back. Her brown hair was all gathered to the left side of her head. It was wrapped into a bun there, with a long tail hanging from it. It almost looked as though she had forgotten to finish putting her hair up, save for the red ribbon entwined in it. She had a matching ribbon on her right foot and wore no other covering on her feet. Inuyasha had the uncanny feeling that her strange, golden eyes missed nothing. A strange pink beast sat on her shoulder.
The hanyou took this all in within a matter of seconds. "Who are you?" he demanded of the stranger. "Did you send that flame?"
When the black cloud had dispersed, Miyu and Shiina had found themselves in an unfamiliar forest, behind a pair of- well they looked like Shinma- fighting. The silent one had felt evil; the dog-eared one, well, he felt almost neutral to her. So she sent the evil one to the darkness and left the dog-eared one to question. He didn't seem very pleased with her help.
"Who are you? Did you send that flame?" he insisted.
Miyu ignored his questions and asked one of her own. "Are you a Shinma?" But before he had a chance to say anything, his companions came.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome called out, running towards him, Miroku and Shippou close behind. "Are you all right? We saw the fire, and- oh!" Kagome had spotted Miyu. "Are you the one who sent the flame?" She bowed slightly to the vampire. "We thank you for your help. Right, Inuyasha?" She gave the hanyou a significant look.
He only crossed his arms and looked away. "Feh. Speak for yourself, Kagome. I could have defeated that youkai by myself."
Kagome finally had enough of his arrogance. "SIT!" Inuyasha slammed to the ground.
"A youkai, huh?" Shiina mused. That fascinated Miroku; how could something speak if it had no mouth? Kagome and Inuyasha, as usual, were too busy quarreling to notice. "You shouldn't have wasted your energy, Miyu. The youkai are demons as well, but of a much lesser power than Shinma."
"Well then Shiina, I didn't waste much energy, did I?"
"No, I guess not. But it's funny. I remember hearing that all the youkai died out a very long time ago."
Miyu scratched between his ears. "You are forgetting the cloud. Who knows where, or when, that Shinma sent us." She smiled slightly. "Well if there are only youkai here, it'll be that much easier to find Larva, or he find us."
"Whaddya mean, 'only youkai'?" Inuyasha said indignantly, standing up and brushing himself off. He directed an evil glare at Miyu.
"The Guardian has more important things to worry about than inferior demons," Shiina told him importantly.
"Shiina!" Miyu scolded.
"Sorry."
Miyu turned to Inuyasha. "If you will please tell us where, and when, we are, we will get out of your way."
"I still wanna know what that thing meant by 'inferior demons,'" Inuyasha demanded, his eyes narrowed.
Miroku pushed in front of the hanyou and grabbed Miyu's hands. "We shouldn't bother this lovely, young lady with such boring questions. Of course we will help you in anyway possible, miss."
Shiina bristled. "Hey, hands off, human. We don't need the sort of help you have in mind."
Miyu stepped back away from Miroku. "Perhaps it seems we should find somewhere to talk. It doesn't seem that I will be able to leave without answering your questions."
Shippou climbed up Miyu's arm and sniffed at Shiina. "What are you?" the kitsune asked, studying Shiina.
Miyu plucked the small youkai off of her arm. "Maybe we should go and talk in Kaede-bachan's hut," Kagome suggested.