Chapter 3

"NYAAA! Why won't you leave me alone?" Gaara shouted to the heavens in frustration and rage, "I could have used that woman! What the hell do you want from me?"

As soon as he had injured Kaede, he'd fled the village. He had gotten as far away as he could, as to evade any raging villagers and find other means of help. He figured that the people of the previous village wouldn't want to help a killer, and that he'd probably end up killing them as well.

Having nowhere else to go, and still not knowing a thing about where he was stranded, he leaned against a blossoming sakura tree. He stayed there for a long while, trying to figure out what he should do. Eventually, out of exhaustion and an overwhelming feeling of anger, he fell asleep.

((change of focus))

"Inuyasha, there's something you should know about this thing we're chasing," Kagome said, as she bounced up and down on the half-demon's back with every step he took.

"What is it?" Inuyasha answered, glancing up over his shoulder at Kagome. All of a sudden she seemed tense. He didn't slow down to talk to her face-to-face, though; he instead sped up, urging the others to do the same. He knew that if Kagome was tense, they had to be nearing something dangerous.

"Well…hmm…how should I put this…" the teenage girl muttered, trying to find the right words. She wanted to say this in a way that Inuyasha would understand and remember.

"Just spit it out! We don't have time for this," said Inuyasha nastily. Knowing that something bad was going on somewhere, he felt that he didn't have time to wait for her to do stuff like that.

"You know how I said that this thing may be stronger than Naraku? I'm sure of it now; even with it's enormous aura, it's not using any jewel shards at all, which means it must be super powerful," she explained, "That aura is the real deal, and it's not using any method of boosting its powers."

"Kagome…you must be right," Miroku answered. He knew that she could sense Shikon Jewel shards from a distance, and this thing's aura placed it fairly close to their current position.

"Well then, maybe this one'll actually be strong enough to put up a decent fight. I haven't met a bastard that could do that for a while…" Inuyasha gloated, as he continued on. He liked being the strongest of the group.

Despite the half-demon's belief in himself, though, everyone else was quite frankly getting sick and tired of his cockiness. Shippo, as usual in response to this kind of Inuyasha's behaviour, was the first to speak up. "Inuyasha, you're getting overconfident again," he teased, "That means that you're going to lose if you fight."

"Shuddup. I'm not going to loose to some lowlife demon like this, not in my lifetime," Inuyasha growled. Very soon, Shippo's head was home to a few dozen shiny red lumps.

"Inuyasha…" the fox demon moaned, as he rubbed his aching head.

With a crack of his fingers Inuyasha said smugly, "That's what you get for doubting me. You think you could do a better job of defeating this thing than me?"

"N-n-n-no! S-sorry, Inuyasha!" Shippo stuttered, as he climbed up onto Kagome's shoulder to get out of the half-demon's reach, should he decide to beat the fox demon child further.

Very soon the group was nearing Kaede's village, for they sensed that both Kaede's spiritual shield and the one they were tracking, which meant it had to have passed through there. When they entered their suspicions were confirmed, and they didn't at all like what they saw.

Yet again, something had happened in the village to put it into a chaotic type of state.

Villagers ran amuck, unsure of what they should do. Buildings were destroyed, and mayhem ruled the streets. Whatever had caused this to happen had done quite some damage on its way out.

Knowing that Kaede would most likely have a bit of knowledge as to what had gone down here recently, they decided to seek her out to question her. They hoped to obtain some information that would allow them to know their new opponent better, to find and defeat the being that had brought about this madness.

In the streets they came across a farmer who was randomly running toward them; they pulled him aside to talk to him. They saw that he was an elderly man, though they didn't care at all. Or rather, Inuyasha didn't care. They needed to know where Kaede was, and now.

"Hey old man, where's Kaede?" Inuyasha snarled softly, as he took the man by the collar of his shirt and held him in the air.

Kagome was about to tell Inuyasha off and to treat the man with respect when she looked into his eyes. Oddly, she felt unable to do much of anything.

The man, who was clearly in shock over what had happened, gave a stuttered reply, "K-Kaede…she's i-in her h-hut. S-she's been attacked!" His voice fluctuated with fear, cracking in some places.

"Fine. Get to a safe place, just in case," Inuyasha said, tossing the frail old farmer aside. He and the rest of the gang power walked away from the man, who was now slightly crumpled on the ground, feeling something upsetting in their guts.

The look that had been swimming around in that old guy's eyes was a troubling one, to say the least. Those wide eyes had depicted a great deal of pain and fear, and had seen things that some people would say are unthinkable; he'd been one of the few that had been out when the attack had happened. The look in the guy's eyes alone made everyone's guts churn, and sent shivers running up and down their spines.

But they tried to shake off this feeling of dread that the old man had instilled in them, for fear clouded the mind and would make their mission even harder than it already was.

Although people crowded the roads of the village and there were small clusters of destruction, the group found it Kaede fairly easily. Because her hut was destroyed, she was being sheltered in the house of the caretaker that looked over Kikyo's shrine.

After arriving at her destroyed hut and being redirected to her new location only once, they arrived at the small house on the hill. The man of the house kindly let them inside, and there they saw the priestess. Multiple young ladies, who must have been medics-in-training, tended to her bandages and wounds, which seemed to be many.

"Oh my god! Kaede, what happened to you?" Kagome blurted when she set eyes on the woman. True, she did look horrible; bandages covered her arms and legs, as well as most of her torso, and she was burned and swollen in the few places where her skin was visible.

"Kagome…Inuyasha…come here, all of ye," replied the aging woman, as she attempted to move her hand to beckon them. The ladies tending to her wounds noticed this small and effortful movement, and gave the group a bit of privacy.

"Old hag, you haven't answered Kagome's question yet. What the hell happened to you?" Inuyasha said as he moved forward, repeating what Kagome had asked, though in a much ruder way.

Knowing that Inuyasha wouldn't let her rest until she answered the question and explained what had happened, she told the small group before her the tale that she had told the villagers only hours earlier.

((Change in focus))

Gaara's eyes slowly opened, and eh shook away the remnants of his slumber.

As soon as he was fully awake, he was also on high alert. He still had no idea of where he was, or of the dangers that this place contained. He beat himself up inside for letting his guard down and falling asleep; it had left him completely vulnerable and out in the open.

But he knew that beating himself up and staying there any longer would give his enemies a chance to catch him, which wouldn't help his current situation any, so he decided to hit the road again.

He felt that the sand demon harboured inside of him had calmed down a great deal, though he still didn't want to return to the village that the retched demon had made him wreak havoc in. He'd just have to find another place to stay, and different people to get answers from.

He was ready to start walking randomly to wherever his feet would take him, and was just about to do so, when something happened that made him change his mind.

"Boy," a voice called to him from a short distance away, "Come here, I have an…offer for you."

The deep voice sounded sinister and evil, but Gaara didn't seem to care. This was one of the few times in his life when someone wanted him, and it was a vital time no less.

Without thinking he followed the voice that continued to call to him. His reasoning for this sudden random and not-well-thought-out act: he needed help and this person wanted him. It was a win/win situation.

((Change of focus))

"And that be what happened," Kaede concluded. After talking for about an hour or so, she was finally done telling the story of the villages recent and upsetting events. What Inuyasha and the gang learned was troubling, to be sure, but it would help them a lot on this new quest of theirs.

"Wow…it's like a full demon in a human's body…like a new kind of half-demon," Sango marvelled, thinking of how dangerous that would be, "But are you sure that this boy wasn't just possessed?"

Kaede shook her head solemnly, "No, my child. He had control for the most part, and definitely had a clear connection with his human self."

"Damn. This idiot must be making a mockery of me…I'm gunna clobber this guy!" Inuyasha said hotly, completely missing Kaede's point and thinking of himself as usual.

Kagome, who hadn't missed the point, said to the group, "Guys, I don't think this creature is from here. We've never encountered anything like this, be it here or in my time."

Miroku thought for a moment, then added to Kagome's statement, "I think you may be right, Kagome, but exactly what is it, and where did it really come from if it's not from here?"

"I honestly couldn't tell you that," Kagome admitted, then quickly added, "Yet. I'm sure that soon we'll be able to figure it out, if we hunt this thing down."

"Mew. Mew!" Kirara noted, as she looked up at Inuyasha with big eyes.

"Yeah, Kirara's right. You'll have to fight him to find out, Inuyasha…if it did this to Kaede just because she offered him soup, just imagine what it'll do when we start to ask it all these questions!" Shippo said, nodding in agreement with the cat demon's comment.

"Heh. I could go for that…haven't had a good fight in a while," Inuyasha smiled, as he thought of how he could possibly decimate his enemy.

And with that they bade farewell to Kaede, leaving her to recover and become healthy again. Wanting to get more answers, they went off in search of this new kind of demon that they were sure was from another place and time, and quite possibly world. Kagome especially thought it could be from another world; when traveling back in time was possible, anything was.

Little did they know, they were going to meet him sooner than they expected.

((End of Chapter 3))

Well, chapter 3 is now done, and ready for your viewing pleasures. For once with this fanfiction, this chapter is actually up on time! I'm tired of having chapters come up late, and will try desperately to keep it regular. Though...it will be easier said than done, becaue I am now working on two manga, and 2 fanfictions...I'll try to keep it updated every Monday, though, don't worry.

Now, as for this chapter...I kinda like it. I like the next one a bit more, though...you'll find out why next week.

Anyway, I'm still really having fun with this. Writing is still fun for me, even though it's my job...if it wasn't fun, I think I'd quite those jobs so that I could make it fun again, because writing is my life it seems.

I'm going to stop bothering you now with these boring author's notes now, and say this: Stay tuned for the next chapter, due out next week!