Chapter 3-Inuyasha Yet Not Inuyasha

They traveled north for several weeks now and found no trace of Inuyasha. Still they traveled on roads, jagged cliffs, and through mountains. Following the directional pulse that the Tetsuigia gave off the group followed Sesshomorru on where to go. Today they were on a pathway that led through some farming areas, but still no Inuyasha. "Are you sure that toothpick of a sword knows where it's going Sesshomorru," said Koga who had been complaining recently in the passed few days and was starting to get annoying.

Sesshomorru stopped and looked at Koga for a moment as if to tell him to watch what he says about Tetsuigia before continuing forward. "We have to trust Tetsuigia or we may never find Inuyasha," said Miroku who returned a few waves to some people out in the fields that waved to them.

Sesshomorru said nothing he had things on his mind at that moment. Fortunately he had entrusted Jaken to take care of Rin for him while he was away and even though Rin could be a handful even for Jaken he knew she was in good care. His thoughts immediately went to Inuyasha who had in his mind been an abomination of his family and a stain on the clan name. Nevertheless, after what Inuyasha did to kill Naraku he was not so sure anymore.

It took a lot of courage to do what Inuyasha did and though he would never admit it to anyone other then himself…he was impressed by Inuyasha since his freedom from his imprisonment. He had seen and heard Inuyasha become stronger then he could ever imagine by fighting battle after battle against Naraku. He was always pushing himself physically and spiritually to combat the attacks by Naraku, yet he prevailed each time. He tried to figure out what drove Inuyasha to fight with everything he had, but he couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he looked at it. "Huh?" said Sesshomorru as he smelled something…familiar.

Everyone else stopped as well, but didn't know why until Koga, Shippo, and Kilala smelled it too. "Inuyasha," said Koga, Shippo, and Sesshomorru at the same time. They could smell scent of Inuyasha and his blood indicating he was in this area before. The scent was at first faint due to it being several weeks old, but still left a trail behind to follow.

"Where does the scent lead?" Kikyo asked as in her mind this was the closest thing to finding Inuyasha since Tetsuigia started pulsing.

"It's hard to say. The scent is faint, but we should be able to follow it…to a point," said Sesshomorru who accelerated his walking pace considerably as did everyone else.

The scent lead them to a small market place that was similar to one that they had visited before…with Inuyasha. It seemed everything around them remind them of Inuyasha in some shape or form. "Is the scent getting stronger at all?" said Sango to Kilala who made a sound indicating that it was, but barely.

"There are other scents in this place besides Inuyashas, which will make it more difficult to find him then before if the trail leads through here," said Sesshomorru as they started to walk through the crowd of people.

"Maybe we should ask someone for help and see if anyone remembers seeing Inuyasha at all," said Shippo who had to cling to Kagomes back to prevent being absorbed into the hectic crowd of the market place.

"I'll ask around," said Kagome who was back to her old self by that time and was able to move around without feeling pain from recent battle wounds.

She ran to a chubby man selling some fish he had recently caught. "Yes young lady how may I help you today? Would you like to buy some fresh fish perhaps?" said the man who gave a chubby smile when greeting her.

"Uh…no thanks anyway. Um…I was wondering if you knew someone I have been searching for," said Kagome who gave a weak smile when she asked.

"Oh? Who?" said the chubby man.

"Well he's a half-demon, with long silver hair, doggy ears, wears red, and has somewhat of a mean temper," she said waiting for the man to freak out over a half-demon. Surprisingly he didn't.

"No, I'm sorry, but I haven't met such a person fitting that description. However…nah it couldn't be him," said the chubby man as he thought about it more.

"What? Tell me please it's very important," said Kagome.

"Well from my understanding of it he's been seen here for a few weeks now. From my understanding of it he was found on the pathway by an old man and his 10-year-old Granddaughter…err…Sonya I think it was. Anyway they found him on the road and he was a complete and utter mess. Look like he had been in a fight with a room filled with over a thousand blades. Apparently he was covered head to toe in his own blood and barely conscious. He comes in every once in a while to get food and supplies for the old man he has sworn to serve for saving him until the debt is paid back. He's supposed to come in tomorrow afternoon to get some healthy food for the old man," said the chubby man.

"The last part doesn't sound like Inuyasha at all," said Kagome surprised about the last part.

"Yeah I thought so too that's why I didn't want to bring up due to the description you gave me didn't fit the guy. Especially the hair, it's long, but it's not silver…it's black. Another reason I didn't want to bring him up before is because the man's name isn't Inuyasha," said the chubby man.

"What is his name?" said Kagome curiously.

"I can't really remember it because it's not really said a lot around me. I think it begins with a t, but I'm not sure. I think its Tet…Tetso…(mumbling: no that's not it. What was it again?)…Tetsugia…Tetsuigia! That's the name Tetsuigia. Apparently he muttered it in his sleep when he was unconscious so the two people that found him have called him that ever since," said the chubby man.

"Thank you so much for your time," said Kagome excitedly as she was about to run off.

"Hold on a minute! If you want to meet him at the place that he is staying, then you will want to go a little bit east of here and then you will see the home at the very top of a grassy hill next to the woods. It's the exact route he would take to get their," said chubby man as he pointed east.

"Thank you again," said Kagome who bowed and ran off.

"No problem," yelled the chubby man who waved to her from his fish shop.

Kagome immediately ran to the rest of the group and told them everything. "If that's the case Kagome we should wait nearby to see if he does walk by. I'm sure the Tetsuigia or one of our esteemed demons will tell us if he is nearby and with the description of the person we believe to be Inuyasha then we still have a chance at finding some answers," said Miroku as they headed to the east market area and waited.