CHAPTER ONE

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"Aw damn," Inuyasha muttered. "It still stings."

"What do you expect?" Miroku said, rifling through the sack of supplies. "You DID get several spikes right in the chest. You were lucky that you weren't hurt more badly than you actually were."

"Feh. That was just a buncha flesh wounds." Inuyasha rubbed his ribs. "But it does sting. When the girls get back, I'm gonna ask Kagome for something to put on it."

"Why don't you use them right now? I'm sure Kagome won't mind."

"Because, monk, last time I did, I ended up walkin' around for the next few days with no skin on my legs." Inuyasha grimaced at the memory. Shippo hadn't let him alone for that particular screwup, and doing just about anything -- walking, bathing, sleeping -- had been agony until his raw legs had healed.

Inuyasha crouched down by the sputtering fire, and blew on it. A pair of rather sad-looking fish were suspended on sticks, waiting for the girls to come back. Inuyasha was starving, but he'd prefer to starve than to take their fish. He'd already kept Shippo off it several times.

The girls were off in one of the neighboring towns, picking up a few supplies. It was their turn to go shopping, as Kagome put it. Inuyasha hated doing the "shopping," since it always meant that he had to keep an eye on Miroku. If he let the monk out of his sight, he always found Miroku in some secluded spot, feeling up an easily-swayed peasant girl.

The worst part was, Miroku was also the best at haggling and finding bargains. It's just 'cause he's such a cheat, Inuyasha thought darkly. A cheat and a lecher and a pretty cruddy Buddhist to boot... don't know why he bothers being a monk at all...

Inuyasha's stomach growled loudly. Kirara, who was snoring nearby, started out of her sleep.

"Are you hungry, Inuyasha?" Shippo asked.

"'Course I am."

Shippo paused, still surrounded by long strands of colorful plastic string. Inuyasha rued the day Kagome had taught him how to make keychains out of it. Like they had any keys anyway. Now the fox spent all his time making them.

"Should we go catch more fish, Inuyasha?" Miroku said. "After all, it should be quite awhile before the girls return."

"Why not? Ain't like we have anything better to do."

Miroku rose and dusted himself off. "Shippo, you and Kirara stay here and guard the camp."

"And if Kagome and Sango get back early, tell 'em we're off getting fish," Inuyasha added.

"Okay," Shippo said cheerfully. "I gotta finish this rope anyway."

As the two young men walked off toward the river, Miroku glanced pointedly at Inuyasha. "Can we please fish the conventional way this time? Your personal way really isn't to my taste."

"It works, don't it?"

"Yes, it works. But you're always sopping wet afterwards. Besides, it isn't very dignified to jump in and flail around with a fish in each hand."

"That's the way I fish. You don't like it, get the food yourself. I don't care about the dignity part of it." Inuyasha folded his hands into his sleeves.

As they walked, something caught his eye. He stopped, and Miroku passed by him, still heading for the river. Frowning, Inuyasha went over a small grassy knoll, and peered down over a dry stream. There was a little cave there. Not very big -- the top of his head would probably graze the ceiling. It smelled like wet moss and damp earth -- but there was something else about it.

Inuyasha frowned. Some sort of string or rope was looped over the mouth of the cave, with little bits of paper stuck to it. A barrier of some kind... over a cave? Just what sort of nutjob did that? Or was there something INSIDE the cave, that nobody wanted them to see? Whatever it was, he wanted to see it. He couldn't go past the barrier, but he could still look past it.

Inuyasha strode toward the cave -- and felt something tug at his leg. "What the...?"

It was a tangle of nearly invisible threads, which had somehow gotten wrapped around his ankle. And it had some bits of paper attached too. "Another damn barrier," Inuyasha grumbled.

"Inuyasha?" Miroku stepped over the knoll. "What are you doing?"

"I'm tying myself up, what does it look like?" Inuyasha said.

"Is that a barrier?"

Inuyasha lifted his foot off the ground. The barrier sparkled unpleasantly against his leg. "Yeah, but I bet I can pull out of it."

"Don't do that!" Miroku started forward.

Three things happened at once. Miroku's hand grabbed Inuyasha's shoulder, as if to keep the half-demon from any more movements. Inuyasha yanked his leg from the threads of the barrier. And a blinding white light enveloped both of the young men -- and when the light vanished, no one stood in the clearing at the mouth of the cave.

TO BE CONTINUED