Chapter 3

Another week passed before Kagome and Shippo were on the road again. They traveled for nearly 2 months, finding several more villages that were attacked and helping when able. They always obtained any information offered about the demons that were causing this havoc.

It took several more days of walking before they were at another village. This one didn't appear to have been targeted yet, but according to the rumors, it was only a matter of time. The villagers must have known this too as they received another greeting like the one in the first village. Kagome didn't have the energy to argue with the crowd. Tired from their travels, they opted, instead to camp near a stream about a mile away.

Over the next few days Kagome and Shippo made their plans to track down the demons. From what they gathered at the village their was only about 5 or 6 of them. Some villagers weren't sure because the demons moved so fast. They said they were laughing and taunting the scared humans. Those men that fought, were killed, usually piece by piece.

"They are not running on instinct. They are as bad as the human bandits. Enjoying the pain they are inflicting." Kagome surmised.

She looked at the map that Shippo had drawn. He had taken to map making during their travels and seemed to have a talent for it. They had sat with the villagers going over stories and rumors about other villages being attacked. In all there was about 8 of them, that they knew of.

"Kagome," Shippo started, "Could Sesshoumaru be trying to start a war with the East?"

Kagome thought on this a bit. She hadn't talked to Sesshoumaru since before Inuyasha died. The brothers had remained distant, despite coming together to defeat a common foe. Occasionally, the demon lord would come to visit Rin, but those visits had started to taper off, so he only showed once or twice a year. She wondered if he knew of Inuyasha's death. "What would he think?" she silently asked herself while gently running her fingers along Tetsusaiga's sheath. The sword didn't work for her like it did her husband, but it was a part of him that she wouldn't let out of her sight. She thought back to the meetings with the quiet demon. The more she thought, the more she realized he had changed so much from their first to last meeting. She knew this round of attacks wasn't him.

"No." she finally said. "I don't see Sesshoumaru trying to start a war this way." She glanced at her young companion. "You know if he wanted to start a fight, he would walk in, poison dripping... subtlety be damned." She smiled as Shippo giggled. "No, I wonder though, if someone is trying to make it look that way." she mumbled, looking at the marks on the map showing the villages. Every village was less then a days travel from the Western boarder. "They have to hit this village at some point soon, so we'll wait them out."

Shippo shook his head. "Using villagers as bait doesn't seem like you."

"I suppose not. But there's only two of us. I'm not running all up and down the border hoping to catch up to these demons. That's what I've learned from my husband's lack of planning. We can use this time to plan and prepare."

And that's what they did. They spent the next days with Kagome making sutras and preparing various herbal remedies as well as a few poisons that Sango had taught her. Shippo spent that time gathering nuts and other items to use for his illusions. They would hunt and fish during the day and any extra, Shippo would take to the village, disguised as an old hermit. It was this way he was able to get Kagome a surplus of arrows. In the evenings they would spar. After supper, they talked and planned.

Within a week of their stay, Shippo had taken a stack of special sutras and placed them around the village. It was something that she had worked on with Miroku not too long after her return. The small, rectangular pieces of paper were all connected by Kagome's purity. She would activate one, then they would all activate, effectively trapping the fast demons in one area. It was then that she could find out the reason for the attacks and put a stop to them...one way or another.

The sun had just set and Kagome was serving dinner. Shippo was the first to hear the scream. That was all it took for the duo to run to the village. They stopped on the outskirts, watching in horror as 4 young demons laughed at a man rolling on the ground in obvious pain as a hut behind them burned. Kagome was glad she was able to mask her scent, though she wasn't sure they'd be able to smell her anyway.

"Do you see or smell any others?" Kagome whispered to Shippo. He shook his head no. "What can you tell me about them?" She asked.

"Two dog demons, a lizard demon and a water demon." He quietly replied, never taking his eyes from the enemy. "They are enjoying this. It's all a game to them." he finished in a growling tone. "One of the scents is familiar, but I couldn't say from where."

"Just like we planned then." she said, after a moment of contemplation. "Don't kill them if we don't have to, but really, we only need one alive." Shippo nodded and dashed off.

Kagome watched for a moment as several village men launched arrows at the group. A familiar looking green whip launched toward the arrows, destroying them before they ever got close to their targets. She watched wide-eyed as one of the demons raised it's hand and a large bubble of water engulfed two of the villagers. He made the bubble dance and bounce as the men trapped inside started to drown. She was ready to fire an arrow when suddenly one of Shippo's large snake illusions towered over the group, distracting them enough for a moment so the water bubble broke, allowing the men to escape. She took this as her que and activated the sutra barrier. It went up with a hum and light pink light. Kagome hoped that Shippo was able to get the majority of the villagers out. The barriers would let out any human stragglers, but she didn't want anyone caught in the crossfire. The demons finished destroying the illusion and looked around. She watched as two of them lifted their noses to the air, wanting to scent out the enemy.

The lizard demon took off only to be repelled back by the barrier. She readied an arrow, but before it could launch she watched the lizard bend down to pick a giggling mushroom off the ground. Instantly it grew to a huge boulder, pinning the demon's hand and tip of it's tail to the ground. Kagome smiled at Shippo's cleverness. "One down, three to go." She thought.