The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth

Disclaimer: I think it's obvious that I don't own InuYasha

Sango picked up a thin stick off the dirt and poked at the dying embers. Meanwhile, Kagome was throwing in small logs of wood to try to bring the fire back to life. The demon slayer sighed in defeat and tossed the wood into the flames. She watched as the bark slowly caught fire and burned up in the heat.

Shippo snuggled against Kirara's fur as he tried to warm his hands. Sango looked up at the full moon. It was probably going to serve as their only light source, besides the stars. The red flames were dying out quickly and the wind was blowing harder than usual.

Why is it so cold? Sango wondered. It had been very warm for the past few days. But tonight, it feels like winter. She hugged her knees to her chest and watched as Kagome gathered small limbs and tossed them into the red flames.

"It's no use, Kagome," she said. "It's just so cold tonight."

She plopped down on the ground and leaned her head up against a tree. The priestess hugged her huge yellow backpack for warmth. They stayed like that for a while until InuYasha and Miroku finally came back.

"Did you get any fish?" Shippo hopped onto Kirara's head. "I'm starving."

Miroku leaned his staff against a tree trunk and settled down beside Sango.

"No," he said. "The river's frozen."

Shippo stared at him with his mouth wide open for a second and then sank down onto the floor. Kirara, transformed, roared and rested on the rock hard ground. Even the dirt had gotten hard as ice.

Sango scooted closer to Miroku and curled up against his black robes. She was probably going to regret it later, but right now, she was focused on warming herself up.

"Wait!" Kagome suddenly sprang up causing her bag to fling off. She rushed over to get it and started flipping through all her belongings.

"Hey! What the he- Kagome!" InuYasha shouted as various objects belonging to the young maiden flung into the air, most of them landing on him.

"What'cha find?" Shippo perked up curiously. "Any ninja food left?"

"Yeah!" Kagome stood up suddenly, causing her to knock InuYasha to the ground. He was looming over her watching. "I found them."

"What?" Sango shivered. "What did you find?"

"It better be some food," InuYasha said, lunging at the bars in her hand. "'Cause I'm starving."

"Sit boy!" Kagome yelled. The beads around his neck got extremely heavy and pulled him to the ground. "Hm!" She started peeling the brown and gold paper off of the rectangle she was holding.

"What's that, Kagome?" Miroku asked.

"It's a candy bar!" she said. "And it's chocolate, so I'll bet Shippo will like it." She gave one to the eager little fox demon who plopped down on Kirara and ate it hungrily.

"It's good," Sango said as she bit into the brown stuff that her friend had handed her.

Everyone sat in silence for a while, chewing on their food. It was still bitterly freezing, but at least their stomachs would be satisfied for the night. InuYasha's ears suddenly twitched.

"What was that?" InuYasha sat up. He began sniffing at the air. His hand automatically went to the handle of his Tetsusaiga.

"What?" Kagome asked. "I don't hear anything."

"Me neither," Shippo looked around curiously, then rested back and continued munching on his sweets. "You're imagining things, InuYasha. Your brain's gone haywire."

InuYasha glared at the young fox, causing him to recoil behind Kirara. They all sat in silence for a few minutes, hearing nothing but the crackling of the fire and the rustling of the leaves.

"Well, we better get some sleep," Sango yawned, resting her head against Miroku's arm. The monk, surprised but not willing to question Sango's actions, simply smiled at this and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Sango shifted around a bit as she felt something cold fall on her face. She grunted and opened her eyes, wanting to see what it was. Her eyes widened as she saw soft, white snowflakes drifting down. She watched them dance and mingle for a while before the others woke up too. InuYasha, obviously had been up all along.

"It's snowing," Kagome said. The flakes were falling into the fire, which had shrunk considerably since they had fallen into dreamland. A few seconds later, it sizzled as the last ember died. In the night, the snow seemed to glow. It made a huge contrast to the pitch black sky. All the stars had disappeared and the moon was slowly being covered by thick, gray clouds. "What's going on?"

"I smell a demon," InuYasha said. He got up and pulled out his Tetsusaiga. "It's somewhere around here."

"InuYasha," Kagome said softly. She zipped up her backpack to prevent its contents from getting wet. "It's too late to go hunting for some demon. We have to find some place to stay."

"Yes, I agree," Miroku stood up. "It's the middle of the night and we cannot sleep on the snow."

"Huh," InuYasha grunted, clearly peeved at them. "Fine, but where? In case you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of a forest!"

"Let's just get walking," Sango slung her Hiraikotsu over her shoulder. "It's no use bickering about it."

They nodded and followed her. Kagome held the young fox in her arms as he shivered. He looked like he was going to turn blue! Kirara, having thick fur, wasn't affected and went back to her cute-little-kitty form. She jumped onto Sango's shoulder and mewed as she snuggled in. They had a long night of walking up ahead.