Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. That's all there is to it. Not mine.
Author's Note: Hello. There isn't a lot for me to say. Oh yes I should say that I don't hate Kikyou. I don't really like her. Now I say this because she isn't 'evil' right now. Maybe later. Ok here goes nothing.
Chapter 1
Kagome stared out the open window. What dripped down and pooled on the window seal, and then dripped to the floor.
"Raining again," She murmured.
Talking was good. Even if it was to herself.
The mountains were fogged in. She guessed they would be green with life. Like the area surrounding them was. Normally At this time of year the small town would have merchants arriving, travelers coming and going. But best of all there would be the occlusion dragon. Sadly none of this was happening this year, or at least not yet. And it was all because of the rain.
Kagome Moved away from the window. Maybe she would run into someone who could give her something to do. Anything to help keep her mind off of the outdoors. But more specifically the dragons that came from the outdoors.
Kagome paused to look at the mirror on the wall. She looked much like she did everyday. Dressed in a wool skirt with slits up the side so that she could run better, a wool/cotten shirt and leather boots. All of this worn incase it stopped raining so she could go outside.
It looked like this wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
Moving out into the hall, Kagome came face-to-face with Matli, one of the women who worked in the house.
"Ah Kagome, done looking out the window? You've only been sitting there for two hours. You were there for three or four yesterday."
Kagome could tell she was kidding even if Matli's face was straight and her lips were pulled tight. It was her eyes that gave her away.
Kagome laughed lightly "Moping around isn't going to make the rain go away," turning at the sound of foot steps Kagome saw her brother Sota. He was caked with mud and left foot prints where as he walked, leaving a clear trail of where he had been. "It doesn't look like Sota minds the rain."
Matli laughed "Not only that but he's brought along all of the surrounding earth!" Taking a few minutes to regain control she heaved a heavy sigh "Come along young man. Your mother isn't going to like the sorry stare your in. Besides you've got to be clean for your father's company tonight."
Sota looked at the two women. "But... Kagome, Matli I don't want to take a bath..."
Kagome missed the rest of what Sota had to say as she started back down the hall. Yes finding something to do would be a good thing. A very good thing.
~*~*~*~
Mrs. Higurashi Smiled. Her husband was home. There weren't any wars or fights going on. And her children were in good health. They were bored but healthy. The rain was much need. It was giving life to the plants that had been without for so long. They had just gotten over a dry spell that had lasted for 4 years. Rain was very good.
It also kept some of the dragons, demons and other shadowy figures away. They were still there but just not as much as usual.
Oh she had nothing bad to say about the good dragons. It was the demons and evil dragons she worried about. The demons who killed people for fun. And the dragons who worked for them. But that was a bit of a lie too. Not all demons were bad.
Just most of them.
Sure her loving husband worked with both demon and dragon. How could he not? He was part of the knighthood. One of the highest ranking marshals. A very respected man.
She was pulled away from her thoughts as one of the many people who worked in their home came into the room. The town they lived in was small but their house was not. And it needed a few people to help keep the place in running order.
Egar had been working for the family for years. He was a tall man with white blonde hair. Getting on in years, he had become a good cook.
"Ma'am there's some people here to see your husband. Said that he knew they was comin'. Also said that they'll wait in the hall for him to come. Told 'em that you'd come out in a few minutes to see to anythin they might need." Egar stepped towards the window. "They'll be needin a room Ma'am. No place else for 'em to go. The Inn's full. Should I make up a room for each?"
Mrs. Higurashi smiled. "That would be very nice." Her smile dropped as she turned to the window. "I wish it would stop raining, for Kagome's sake."
"Me too ma'am" Egar said softly. "Me too."
Everything in the kitchen was set to a stand still as Sota ran into the room.
"Mom! Mom! I got this big frog and Kagome saw it and said I should put it outside! But if I put it out then it'll die because of all the rain. What do I do?"
Mrs Higurashi looked down at Sota. "I think I've got a box you can put it in. Where did you find that thing?"
Sota started in on how he found it in the back yard. And how he had to chase the thing all the way around the house. And then how he had to take a bath. And how the frog had come with him. All in all it was a very long story.
Mrs Higurashi let smiled again. "Well that's all very good. I hope you don't get warts because of that thing." Frowning she added "Bu where is your sister now? Not in front of the window again I hope..."
THUMP...THUMP...THUMP... THUMP...
~*~*~*~
Kagome smiled to herself. Down the stairs in 4 jumps. Sota is going to be so jealous. The hall was quite. Kagome didn't think it would stay this way for long. There was always a lot of people running around her house.
Looking at the door Kagome was startled to see two heavily cloaked people standing there. She could see a flash of silver behind the black cloak of the taller figure.
Smiling shyly "I was... Ah seeing how many times it would take me to jump down the...the stairs." The two people didn't move or say anything. Kagome took it as a no news is good news kind of thing and ran into the Kitchen.
"Sota I got down the stairs in 4 leaps. I bet you can't say that!" Kagome said as she looked at the rest of the people standing around in the small room.
Sota looked a little irked at first but said calmly "So I've done it in 3." Looking down at his hand he added "It wasn't all that hard either. Your making a big deal out of nothing."
Kagome silently seethed as she watched as Sota worked his way to the other side of the kitchen around the table.
"I've done it in 1 before too. " Sota said looking over at Egar. "I told you about it. I know I did." Sota turned so that he could see that if Kagome was still on the other side of the table.
"Sota I don't think rollin' counts. 'Cause I seen you roll down it in one go. But I never seen you do it in one jump."
Kagome looked livid. "Sota you get back here!"
Mrs Higurashi left the kitchen. She had other things to do then to stop another fight. Walking out into the hall she was glad to see the two people still standing there. They had removed the hood's of their cloaks.
"Welcome to my home. You're here to see my husband correct?"
One of the people, a man with long white hair looked up from where he had been looking, out the window by the door. "Yes we are here to she your husband. Is he home?"
The man was a demon. "He's out at the command post right now. He'll be home in about an hour. You two can stay here tonight if you like. The Inn's full." Mrs. H added with a small smile. "Besides nothing beats home cooked meals."
"That sounds good ma'am. We'll wait here for your husband and then head up to our rooms after the meal." He looked like he was finished speaking up continued looking out the window again as he spoke "I am Major Sesshoumaru. And this is Volia."
Mrs Higurashi noticed that the other person standing there was a women. Her hair was between a silver and gold color. Both were there making it shine brightly. If there had been sun she hair would shine in it.
Mrs Higurashi sighed. "Well if this is were you would like to wait. I'll have your rooms made up for you."
Sesshoumaru never looked up "Thank you ma'am."
~*~*~*~
Inuyasha sat along the side of a slow river. The day was warm and sunny. Not at all how he was feeling.
Things were going on. Bad things. Demons were killing people again. Some of them. He wasn't though. And neither were the people he knew. Well Inuyasha knew of demons that were killing humans. Not personally knew. There was a difference despite what people said.
Inuyasha's father had worked with humans. But that was before he died.
Not that it mattered much. What did Inuyasha care? He didn't! Well maybe just a little... Not that anyone else was ever going to find out.
Ahh there was Shippo. The little fox demon was just lurking around down by the river. Shippo was small, just a child really. But he could do some things that Inuyasha couldn't. Like get into small places. And he was good at getting food off of people.
But other then, as far as Inuyasha was concerned, Shippo did nothing. How they met up was a little on the weird side. Inuyasha just sitting there and then WHAM! There was Shippo sitting right in Inuyasha's lap.
"Hey Shippo." Inuyasha said gruffly "Stop dawdling. We've got places to go. People to see."
Shippo looked irradiated "what are you talking about Inuyasha? We haven't got anywhere to go and noone to see. Unless you're not telling me something. And we're partners so if you're not telling me something that means that well," Shippo looked around the clearing "Well in means you're a liar."
"Shippo shut up." This said Inuyasha got up off the ground and walked away. To Shippo it looked like some random direction. But maybe Inuyasha did have some place to go.
~*~*~*~
Kikyou looked down at her work. How boring. I mean, really it didn't have to be this bad. Doing the paperwork for her father's Inn wasn't really what she wanted to do in life. Waiting tables and cleaning rooms wasn't really at the top of her favorites list.
And on top of that there was all those demons hanging around. A lot more of them then usual. And all of them were giving her and the other bar maid shifty looks.
Like they wanted something. Kikyou knew what that was too.
Not that Kikyou was going to lead them on. That would just cause trouble.
Rin might. She didn't even know when she had people looking at her.
Demons
That could be a scary thought.
"Hey Kikyou!" Kikyou looked up to see Rin staring out the door in the window. "There's a lot of people coming. You'd better get ready. It looks there's going to be a large crowd tonight."
Kikyou smiled. "Thanks Rin." Rin gave a short nod of her head before walking into the back kitchens.
It was going to be a long night.
~*~*~*~
Kagome walked down the stairs. Dad is home. And that's good. But I have this feeling that something's going on. Kagome saw the same two people sitting in the hall. They had been there all day. Definitely something's going on.
Dinner was boring tonight. The people her father worked with sometimes made her wonder where he'd found them. The man, Sesshoumaru, was a dog demon with long white hair.
And the women had silver gold hair. It was so pretty. And she just had black hair that stuck up half the time. She liked to have it down. But most of the time it was pulled back into either a braid or a pony tail.
Dinner went smoothly. Business went along as usual. Sesshoumaru gave off some reports, numbers, and anything else that needed to be said. But after the food was cleared away things started to change.
Mr Higurashi looked ready for something. "So what else did you come here to tell me?" He added gruffly "I hope it isn't about a new castle or something. Because I'm not the person to talk to about that..."
Sesshoumaru looked at Sota and then to Kagome with a small nod to his head.
"Ohh... Isn't it time for you two to go to bed?" Mr Higurashi avoided eye contact with everyone else in the room.
Sota looked between his father and the demon "Naw, we don't have to go to bed for another few hours." Sota looked at Kagome, her head was down. But he could still see her eyes. See didn't look happy. "I mean...yeah it's time for bed. I'm bushed. Come on lets go..."
"So Kagome why'd you want us to go to bed now." He stopped. Kagome was going into one of the back doors. "Kagome? What are ya doin'?"
Kagome looked around the kitchen as she entered. "Don't you want to know what's going on? Why there aren't as many people coming here? You've seen it too. I know you have!" Kagome moved to open the pantry door but stopped. "Remember, there are always a lot of soldiers together. A lot of them come to make reports. Not just two. And that lady, Volia, isn't even talking. Sota we've got to find out what it is."
Satisfied Sota wouldn't say anything she opened the door and moved into the back. She could hear them talking.
"......so I came to tell you. A lot of people have been killed." Sesshoumaru's monotone voice droned.
"Hmm and you don't know who's doing this?" Her Father sounded worried. Kagome could tell.
Someone got up and left the room out the front door. Not the Kitchen door.
"No we don't know who it is yet. We are working hard to find out. We thought it was random killing at first. But there has to be someone who leads them. It's too organized. Too good to be bandits or even common demons." Sesshoumaru paused. "There is also the small matter of Volia."
Kagome couldn't hear what her father said. It sounded like it was either a grunt. "What about her?"
"I would like it if she stayed here. Maybe with your daughter. As a friend of sorts." Sesshoumaru sounded like he wanted the other girl off of his hands. "Her village was destroyed. She is the only one left alive and I feel she needs some place safe to stay."
"A friend for Kagome...Hmm..." It sounded as if her father liked the idea. Kagome didn't mind all that much either. A girl around her age would be a nice change. "I think that would be a very good idea, Sesshoumaru. Is that all?"
"Yes sir." This said three people left the room. Kagome was getting a friend. Someone she could talk to.
Looking over at Sota, Kagome got up. "Come on. We don't want to be caught." Sota Smiled as they both ran up the back set of stairs.
A few days had passed while everything was settled. Sesshoumaru left two days after he had first arrived. He seemed happy to go. Well kind of. He didn't ever look really happy.
Kagome stood back a little ways. She didn't really want to be out in the rain all that much. Volia stood a little in front of her watching Sesshoumaru leave.
Kagome steeled her mind and walked over to Volia. "Hi I'm Kagome!" She smiled brightly and held out her hand.
Volia smiled too taking Kagome's hand in her own. "It is good to meet you Kagome, I am Volia." She pulled her hand back. "I guess I'm going to be staying here for a little while. I hope we can become good friends."
"Me too." Kagome lead Volia off to give her a tour of the house. Sota was fast behind them talking about anything Kagome happened to miss.
~*~*~*~
It had been 2 weeks. Kagome hadn't been able to get anything out of Volia's mouth about what happened to her. The rain had also stopped, much to the delight of Kagome and the distress of her mother.
Kagome and Volia sat outside on one of the grassy knolls in the area.
"Is it like this every summer, Kagome?"
Kagome looked over at Volia. Her long golden hair fell over her shoulders. "Yeah, it's like this almost every summer." Kagome glanced over and some of the fields lower in the valley. "Well the last few years have been dry. The harvest wasn't as good. A few people died even."
"That's so sad. Dying because there isn't enough food."
"They died because of the cold and diseases and stuff too. Sota got sick and we thought he was going to die." Kagome cleared her throat. "But that was a few years ago. He hasn't been sick since then."
Volia stood up suddenly. "Come on Kagome, lets go in town. Maybe you can find some hansom young man to get married to."
Kagome blushed. "Or we can just see what's going on down there."
Volia shrugged "Whatever you say..." At that she started walking down the hill. Kagome ran up to her. Volia Smiled " I haven't been in a town like this for a long time."
"This is the only kind of place I've been."
~*~*~*~
Dinner was the new usual. Lots of talking and laughing. Things always seemed better when Kagome's father was home. And that wasn't very often.
Volia and Kagome were laughing at Sota's expense. But that didn't last too long. Egar walked in with another man on his heels.
"Sir this man has some urgent news for you." Egar backed up to the door where he stood looking worried.
Kagome's stomach did flip flops when she saw the man was from the fort in the small town she had lived all her life. Delhigh wasn't that small but it wasn't as big say Ompatha, Queen city and one of the richest and biggest.
The man shifted and took a deep breath. "There's an army of demons about two day's march from here. And they have dragons with them."
End notes: Well until next time...
Author's Note: Hello. There isn't a lot for me to say. Oh yes I should say that I don't hate Kikyou. I don't really like her. Now I say this because she isn't 'evil' right now. Maybe later. Ok here goes nothing.
Chapter 1
Kagome stared out the open window. What dripped down and pooled on the window seal, and then dripped to the floor.
"Raining again," She murmured.
Talking was good. Even if it was to herself.
The mountains were fogged in. She guessed they would be green with life. Like the area surrounding them was. Normally At this time of year the small town would have merchants arriving, travelers coming and going. But best of all there would be the occlusion dragon. Sadly none of this was happening this year, or at least not yet. And it was all because of the rain.
Kagome Moved away from the window. Maybe she would run into someone who could give her something to do. Anything to help keep her mind off of the outdoors. But more specifically the dragons that came from the outdoors.
Kagome paused to look at the mirror on the wall. She looked much like she did everyday. Dressed in a wool skirt with slits up the side so that she could run better, a wool/cotten shirt and leather boots. All of this worn incase it stopped raining so she could go outside.
It looked like this wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
Moving out into the hall, Kagome came face-to-face with Matli, one of the women who worked in the house.
"Ah Kagome, done looking out the window? You've only been sitting there for two hours. You were there for three or four yesterday."
Kagome could tell she was kidding even if Matli's face was straight and her lips were pulled tight. It was her eyes that gave her away.
Kagome laughed lightly "Moping around isn't going to make the rain go away," turning at the sound of foot steps Kagome saw her brother Sota. He was caked with mud and left foot prints where as he walked, leaving a clear trail of where he had been. "It doesn't look like Sota minds the rain."
Matli laughed "Not only that but he's brought along all of the surrounding earth!" Taking a few minutes to regain control she heaved a heavy sigh "Come along young man. Your mother isn't going to like the sorry stare your in. Besides you've got to be clean for your father's company tonight."
Sota looked at the two women. "But... Kagome, Matli I don't want to take a bath..."
Kagome missed the rest of what Sota had to say as she started back down the hall. Yes finding something to do would be a good thing. A very good thing.
~*~*~*~
Mrs. Higurashi Smiled. Her husband was home. There weren't any wars or fights going on. And her children were in good health. They were bored but healthy. The rain was much need. It was giving life to the plants that had been without for so long. They had just gotten over a dry spell that had lasted for 4 years. Rain was very good.
It also kept some of the dragons, demons and other shadowy figures away. They were still there but just not as much as usual.
Oh she had nothing bad to say about the good dragons. It was the demons and evil dragons she worried about. The demons who killed people for fun. And the dragons who worked for them. But that was a bit of a lie too. Not all demons were bad.
Just most of them.
Sure her loving husband worked with both demon and dragon. How could he not? He was part of the knighthood. One of the highest ranking marshals. A very respected man.
She was pulled away from her thoughts as one of the many people who worked in their home came into the room. The town they lived in was small but their house was not. And it needed a few people to help keep the place in running order.
Egar had been working for the family for years. He was a tall man with white blonde hair. Getting on in years, he had become a good cook.
"Ma'am there's some people here to see your husband. Said that he knew they was comin'. Also said that they'll wait in the hall for him to come. Told 'em that you'd come out in a few minutes to see to anythin they might need." Egar stepped towards the window. "They'll be needin a room Ma'am. No place else for 'em to go. The Inn's full. Should I make up a room for each?"
Mrs. Higurashi smiled. "That would be very nice." Her smile dropped as she turned to the window. "I wish it would stop raining, for Kagome's sake."
"Me too ma'am" Egar said softly. "Me too."
Everything in the kitchen was set to a stand still as Sota ran into the room.
"Mom! Mom! I got this big frog and Kagome saw it and said I should put it outside! But if I put it out then it'll die because of all the rain. What do I do?"
Mrs Higurashi looked down at Sota. "I think I've got a box you can put it in. Where did you find that thing?"
Sota started in on how he found it in the back yard. And how he had to chase the thing all the way around the house. And then how he had to take a bath. And how the frog had come with him. All in all it was a very long story.
Mrs Higurashi let smiled again. "Well that's all very good. I hope you don't get warts because of that thing." Frowning she added "Bu where is your sister now? Not in front of the window again I hope..."
THUMP...THUMP...THUMP... THUMP...
~*~*~*~
Kagome smiled to herself. Down the stairs in 4 jumps. Sota is going to be so jealous. The hall was quite. Kagome didn't think it would stay this way for long. There was always a lot of people running around her house.
Looking at the door Kagome was startled to see two heavily cloaked people standing there. She could see a flash of silver behind the black cloak of the taller figure.
Smiling shyly "I was... Ah seeing how many times it would take me to jump down the...the stairs." The two people didn't move or say anything. Kagome took it as a no news is good news kind of thing and ran into the Kitchen.
"Sota I got down the stairs in 4 leaps. I bet you can't say that!" Kagome said as she looked at the rest of the people standing around in the small room.
Sota looked a little irked at first but said calmly "So I've done it in 3." Looking down at his hand he added "It wasn't all that hard either. Your making a big deal out of nothing."
Kagome silently seethed as she watched as Sota worked his way to the other side of the kitchen around the table.
"I've done it in 1 before too. " Sota said looking over at Egar. "I told you about it. I know I did." Sota turned so that he could see that if Kagome was still on the other side of the table.
"Sota I don't think rollin' counts. 'Cause I seen you roll down it in one go. But I never seen you do it in one jump."
Kagome looked livid. "Sota you get back here!"
Mrs Higurashi left the kitchen. She had other things to do then to stop another fight. Walking out into the hall she was glad to see the two people still standing there. They had removed the hood's of their cloaks.
"Welcome to my home. You're here to see my husband correct?"
One of the people, a man with long white hair looked up from where he had been looking, out the window by the door. "Yes we are here to she your husband. Is he home?"
The man was a demon. "He's out at the command post right now. He'll be home in about an hour. You two can stay here tonight if you like. The Inn's full." Mrs. H added with a small smile. "Besides nothing beats home cooked meals."
"That sounds good ma'am. We'll wait here for your husband and then head up to our rooms after the meal." He looked like he was finished speaking up continued looking out the window again as he spoke "I am Major Sesshoumaru. And this is Volia."
Mrs Higurashi noticed that the other person standing there was a women. Her hair was between a silver and gold color. Both were there making it shine brightly. If there had been sun she hair would shine in it.
Mrs Higurashi sighed. "Well if this is were you would like to wait. I'll have your rooms made up for you."
Sesshoumaru never looked up "Thank you ma'am."
~*~*~*~
Inuyasha sat along the side of a slow river. The day was warm and sunny. Not at all how he was feeling.
Things were going on. Bad things. Demons were killing people again. Some of them. He wasn't though. And neither were the people he knew. Well Inuyasha knew of demons that were killing humans. Not personally knew. There was a difference despite what people said.
Inuyasha's father had worked with humans. But that was before he died.
Not that it mattered much. What did Inuyasha care? He didn't! Well maybe just a little... Not that anyone else was ever going to find out.
Ahh there was Shippo. The little fox demon was just lurking around down by the river. Shippo was small, just a child really. But he could do some things that Inuyasha couldn't. Like get into small places. And he was good at getting food off of people.
But other then, as far as Inuyasha was concerned, Shippo did nothing. How they met up was a little on the weird side. Inuyasha just sitting there and then WHAM! There was Shippo sitting right in Inuyasha's lap.
"Hey Shippo." Inuyasha said gruffly "Stop dawdling. We've got places to go. People to see."
Shippo looked irradiated "what are you talking about Inuyasha? We haven't got anywhere to go and noone to see. Unless you're not telling me something. And we're partners so if you're not telling me something that means that well," Shippo looked around the clearing "Well in means you're a liar."
"Shippo shut up." This said Inuyasha got up off the ground and walked away. To Shippo it looked like some random direction. But maybe Inuyasha did have some place to go.
~*~*~*~
Kikyou looked down at her work. How boring. I mean, really it didn't have to be this bad. Doing the paperwork for her father's Inn wasn't really what she wanted to do in life. Waiting tables and cleaning rooms wasn't really at the top of her favorites list.
And on top of that there was all those demons hanging around. A lot more of them then usual. And all of them were giving her and the other bar maid shifty looks.
Like they wanted something. Kikyou knew what that was too.
Not that Kikyou was going to lead them on. That would just cause trouble.
Rin might. She didn't even know when she had people looking at her.
Demons
That could be a scary thought.
"Hey Kikyou!" Kikyou looked up to see Rin staring out the door in the window. "There's a lot of people coming. You'd better get ready. It looks there's going to be a large crowd tonight."
Kikyou smiled. "Thanks Rin." Rin gave a short nod of her head before walking into the back kitchens.
It was going to be a long night.
~*~*~*~
Kagome walked down the stairs. Dad is home. And that's good. But I have this feeling that something's going on. Kagome saw the same two people sitting in the hall. They had been there all day. Definitely something's going on.
Dinner was boring tonight. The people her father worked with sometimes made her wonder where he'd found them. The man, Sesshoumaru, was a dog demon with long white hair.
And the women had silver gold hair. It was so pretty. And she just had black hair that stuck up half the time. She liked to have it down. But most of the time it was pulled back into either a braid or a pony tail.
Dinner went smoothly. Business went along as usual. Sesshoumaru gave off some reports, numbers, and anything else that needed to be said. But after the food was cleared away things started to change.
Mr Higurashi looked ready for something. "So what else did you come here to tell me?" He added gruffly "I hope it isn't about a new castle or something. Because I'm not the person to talk to about that..."
Sesshoumaru looked at Sota and then to Kagome with a small nod to his head.
"Ohh... Isn't it time for you two to go to bed?" Mr Higurashi avoided eye contact with everyone else in the room.
Sota looked between his father and the demon "Naw, we don't have to go to bed for another few hours." Sota looked at Kagome, her head was down. But he could still see her eyes. See didn't look happy. "I mean...yeah it's time for bed. I'm bushed. Come on lets go..."
"So Kagome why'd you want us to go to bed now." He stopped. Kagome was going into one of the back doors. "Kagome? What are ya doin'?"
Kagome looked around the kitchen as she entered. "Don't you want to know what's going on? Why there aren't as many people coming here? You've seen it too. I know you have!" Kagome moved to open the pantry door but stopped. "Remember, there are always a lot of soldiers together. A lot of them come to make reports. Not just two. And that lady, Volia, isn't even talking. Sota we've got to find out what it is."
Satisfied Sota wouldn't say anything she opened the door and moved into the back. She could hear them talking.
"......so I came to tell you. A lot of people have been killed." Sesshoumaru's monotone voice droned.
"Hmm and you don't know who's doing this?" Her Father sounded worried. Kagome could tell.
Someone got up and left the room out the front door. Not the Kitchen door.
"No we don't know who it is yet. We are working hard to find out. We thought it was random killing at first. But there has to be someone who leads them. It's too organized. Too good to be bandits or even common demons." Sesshoumaru paused. "There is also the small matter of Volia."
Kagome couldn't hear what her father said. It sounded like it was either a grunt. "What about her?"
"I would like it if she stayed here. Maybe with your daughter. As a friend of sorts." Sesshoumaru sounded like he wanted the other girl off of his hands. "Her village was destroyed. She is the only one left alive and I feel she needs some place safe to stay."
"A friend for Kagome...Hmm..." It sounded as if her father liked the idea. Kagome didn't mind all that much either. A girl around her age would be a nice change. "I think that would be a very good idea, Sesshoumaru. Is that all?"
"Yes sir." This said three people left the room. Kagome was getting a friend. Someone she could talk to.
Looking over at Sota, Kagome got up. "Come on. We don't want to be caught." Sota Smiled as they both ran up the back set of stairs.
A few days had passed while everything was settled. Sesshoumaru left two days after he had first arrived. He seemed happy to go. Well kind of. He didn't ever look really happy.
Kagome stood back a little ways. She didn't really want to be out in the rain all that much. Volia stood a little in front of her watching Sesshoumaru leave.
Kagome steeled her mind and walked over to Volia. "Hi I'm Kagome!" She smiled brightly and held out her hand.
Volia smiled too taking Kagome's hand in her own. "It is good to meet you Kagome, I am Volia." She pulled her hand back. "I guess I'm going to be staying here for a little while. I hope we can become good friends."
"Me too." Kagome lead Volia off to give her a tour of the house. Sota was fast behind them talking about anything Kagome happened to miss.
~*~*~*~
It had been 2 weeks. Kagome hadn't been able to get anything out of Volia's mouth about what happened to her. The rain had also stopped, much to the delight of Kagome and the distress of her mother.
Kagome and Volia sat outside on one of the grassy knolls in the area.
"Is it like this every summer, Kagome?"
Kagome looked over at Volia. Her long golden hair fell over her shoulders. "Yeah, it's like this almost every summer." Kagome glanced over and some of the fields lower in the valley. "Well the last few years have been dry. The harvest wasn't as good. A few people died even."
"That's so sad. Dying because there isn't enough food."
"They died because of the cold and diseases and stuff too. Sota got sick and we thought he was going to die." Kagome cleared her throat. "But that was a few years ago. He hasn't been sick since then."
Volia stood up suddenly. "Come on Kagome, lets go in town. Maybe you can find some hansom young man to get married to."
Kagome blushed. "Or we can just see what's going on down there."
Volia shrugged "Whatever you say..." At that she started walking down the hill. Kagome ran up to her. Volia Smiled " I haven't been in a town like this for a long time."
"This is the only kind of place I've been."
~*~*~*~
Dinner was the new usual. Lots of talking and laughing. Things always seemed better when Kagome's father was home. And that wasn't very often.
Volia and Kagome were laughing at Sota's expense. But that didn't last too long. Egar walked in with another man on his heels.
"Sir this man has some urgent news for you." Egar backed up to the door where he stood looking worried.
Kagome's stomach did flip flops when she saw the man was from the fort in the small town she had lived all her life. Delhigh wasn't that small but it wasn't as big say Ompatha, Queen city and one of the richest and biggest.
The man shifted and took a deep breath. "There's an army of demons about two day's march from here. And they have dragons with them."
End notes: Well until next time...