A/N: Well, this took me a bit longer than I expected to write up. Went to too many places throughout the last couple of days that had no computer access. It didn't help that I kept on getting these great ideas for fics that I kept on getting side-tracked. Eh...enough excuses I guess.

Thank ya lotsas for the reviews and I appreciate it muchos!

Anyway, I know I wanted to say something else but I can't for the life of me remember what...curse this horrible memory that I have been so kindly bestowed with! Heheheh...okay, I'll shut up now...

Disclaimer: Do I own it now?

No

Dang it...Do I own it now?

No.

Dang it...Do I--

NO!!!

Fine...be that way...

Chapter Two: Midnight Strolls

How, oh, how did she ever think that hiking through the woods in the middle of the night in an attempt to save someone's life would be fun?

Branches snagged at her every step of the way, and Kagome was just grateful that she had the sense to change out of a kimono and into something more travel-friendly. Even so, she had a feeling that by the time she got out of this Godforsaken forest, her breeches would be reduced to tattered shreds and her tunic decorated with extra holes.

She really shouldn't complain considering she was doing this to save someone's life and she had wanted to do something out of the ordinary. But, there was nothing she could do now unless she wanted to face ultimate humiliation and disgrace by turning back half-way through. No, she would stick this out no matter how much she really wanted to just quit.

"I hope this guy wasn't just delirious and seeing hallucinations cause that would just suck."

The map he had written out wasn't exactly the easiest thing to follow since (1) it was written verbally since the guy couldn't draw and (2) it was really dark outside since the canopy bed was too thick, and no light filtered through despite the fact that it was a full moon.

Kagome had lived her whole life around this area and had gone into this particular forest multiple times to gather herbs and the like but she had never even heard that there was a castle buried somewhere in here. Even during her younger days when she was a brave explorer of the unknown, she had never come upon any indication of human life living within the forest.

Still, she had opened her big mouth and given her word that she would see to the safety of the man's (she still didn't have a name for him) father and that's what she would do.

Well, attempt to do anyway.

"Aw crap!" she exclaimed as she tripped over the hundredth tree branch that night. It seemed like nothing was going her way and that all the world was against her. And her luck wasn't about to improve any time soon either.

Her entire body stiffened when she felt a small bundle of fur rub up against her back. Taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart, she slowly craned her head to see behind her, but was met with nothing but the forest floor. Gulping audibly, she slowly crawled to her feet and pretended to occupy herself with dusting her clothes while her eyes darted around the dense undergrowth for signs whatever she had just felt.

"I was just imagining it, I was just imagining it...Eep!" Something warm and definitely fuzzy tickled the bare part of her legs where a rather large hole had ripped into her breeches and she jumped despite herself. "Okay, I wasn't just imagining it. But just what the heck is 'it'?"

Her nerves were on end due to the lack of sleep, and she was extremely cranky at the fact that she couldn't figure out what was out there with her.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are. Whatever you are..."

Her heart stilled when she heard a rustling noise come from the bushes off to her left. A soft meowing noise followed as a small cat—no bigger than a little fox—emerged nonchalantly from the shrubbery, almost as if it was taking a stroll in the sun.

"Aw, how cute!" she squealed before realizing that this was no ordinary cat on a midnight walk. It had creamy-white fur with a black diamond in its forehead, blood-red eyes stared at her uninterestedly, and its two tails flicked back and forth intermittently.

...Red eyes? Two tails?

Somehow that description didn't fit the category of a normal house cat.

She reached out tentatively to pat the little feline on the head and mumbled, "Hey, little one. Whatcha doing out here all by yourself, huh?"

The cat meowed quietly and rubbed its head against her hand before making a figure eight around her legs. Suddenly, before she had the chance to react, the cat grew into the size of a mare with flames licking at its feet, and Kagome sitting on its back. She loosened a string of profanities that normally would have had her plugging her ears lest she corrupt her innocent mind (A/N: is it possible to corrupt your own mind if you say it yourself? I wonder...) while the cat—or whatever it was—glanced back in irritation and rolled its eyes, almost like it could understand her.

Then, without warning, it leapt into the air in one smooth motion while Kagome clung on for dear life.

Eep! What the heck is going on around here?

"All is going as I planned, Master. The girl has been picked up and is being transported to the castle as we speak. The prince should be transformed into his beastly form tonight and if all goes well, he should be dead before morning comes."

"Fool! How dare you act on your own accord?"

"I-I'm sorry Master. I j-just thought that--"

"You are a naive fool if you believe that she can kill him tonight. He is in his strongest form this night and though she may have extraordinary powers, she is still no match for him."

"But she should be arriving there shortly. We don't have time to bring her back. What if she dies and we must wait another fifty years?"

"No, the girl won't die. If I know Inuyasha, and that I do, then he won't purposely hurt anyone if he doesn't see them as a threat. Of course the fool doesn't see the threats when they're right beneath his nose. No, knowing him, he would force the girl to stay at the castle to prevent anyone else knowing about his home. And that is where we'll start with."

"Master?"

"You just go back and remember to keep the two of them at odds with each other. I will begin to carry out my other plans."

"Yes, Master."

"Inuyasha doesn't stand a chance against me."

Okay...totally feeling the freaky vibes right now. But why wouldn't I? I'm riding on the back of a giant cat that can shrink into a dinky little thing in less than a second flying through the air in the middle of the night towards who-knows-what when I'm supposed to be looking for some castle with a demon master located deep in the very same forest I used to explore all the time and I'm not even sure the guy exists! Yup, on a scale from 1 to 10 on my weird experience list, this is a definite 9. Can't call it a 10 yet cause it still doesn't beat the time I saw Kaede doing a handstand with an apple in her mouth and kids jumping all over her. But this definitely is pushing it.

Kagome looked down off the cat's back and tried to gauge how far it was to the ground and whether the tree branches would break her fall or would just help in the process of breaking a couple of bones. Deciding on the latter, she gripped the cat's fur even harder which elicited a low growl as it turned to glare at her with indifferent eyes (if that's possible...). She loosened her grip immediately, as being eaten by a giant cat or falling to an untimely death were not on her to-do list.

"Where are you bringing me anyway?" she asked, just wanting to hear a human voice, no matter the fact that it was her own. It wasn't as if she expected the cat to understand or respond, although she knew that it was far more intelligent than any other species of cat she had ever known. However, there was no need to respond because as soon as the question was out of her mouth, a dark, foreboding castle loomed into sight. The dark granite material created a giant silhouette against the trees and she couldn't help but notice its remarkable resemblance to a gaping maw ready to swallow her whole.

And, as typical in these types of situations, thunder roared and lightning crackled in the background.

Kagome half expected bats to come pouring out from the castle like a flood but was instead greeted by hundreds of dead leaves blowing in her face and sticking in the niches of her clothes and hair. Her doubt about there not being a demon suddenly plummeted through the roof.

Oddly enough, she wasn't afraid—or rather wasn't as afraid as she should be. Instead, her curiosity was stirred and she couldn't help but wonder at who—or what, for that matter—the inhabitants could possibly be. Although she did have a pretty good guess that it was a demon with nice long fangs, razor-sharp claws, and a fiendish appetite—probably big enough of an appetite to eat her for a midnight snack.

She immediately scoffed at the idea. She was a priestess and no matter how big an appetite this demon might have, her job was to get rid of all those nasty creatures, regardless of appearance. However, now that she finally realized that the cat was probably one of the fabled fire-cat demons, she found it hard to bear that she might eventually have to exterminate that one as well.

I'm sure one little kitty won't hurt anybody...maybe I can use it to scare off Kouga and Hojo though...heh heh, she thought with an evil smirk plastered across her face. Ah...I feel so mean, but it's too much fun.

Her train of thought was cut short when she realized that they were right above the front courtyard and that they were about to land. The trees around the castle had thinned and rays of ghostly white moonlight spilled into the ominous courtyard, throwing disturbing shadows of waving branches that held an uncanny likeness to sharp claws scratching for release against the ancient edifice. As they neared the ground, Kagome found cracks filled with weeds and wild grasses splitting the dirt floor like an intricate spider web. Well, if this was the web and she was the helpless insect trapped in its grasp, she wondered if she really wanted to know what the spider would be like.

Regardless, as soon as they touched down, she quickly scrambled off the cat as it shrunk back to its miniature stature. Though the castle struck a chord of fear in her heart and, for some odd reason, she felt safer on the back of the cat, her stomach was queasy and not yet ready for another journey through the air quite yet.

Of course, if there was adequate reason for her to make that journey—such as killer monsters with hungry tummies—then she wouldn't complain...

Huh. Look at me. I haven't even gotten to the good part yet and I'm already freaking out. Not a good sign, I should think.

She looked around speculatively and shrugged as the once-again-cute-little-bitty-kitty made its way up and through a small square metal door hinged near the bottom of the much larger, official metal front doors.

Well, only one way to head now.

Taking one last deep breath to brace herself for whatever may come, Kagome strode purposefully towards the towering entranceway, placed her palms firmly on the cold metal, and pushed.

A/N: Mwahahahaha!!!

Sorry, I've just been dying to do that lately. Don't know why, either. Just cause I'm weird I guess.

Anyway, Inuyasha'll show up next chappie along with the rest of the gang so rest assured, my fellow fanfic readers!

(I'm so freaky cheesy sometimes, I scare myself...)