"Stay behind me Shippou, I may have to use my wind tunnel!" cried the man as he came to a stop in front of a giant beast. The young man dropped Manta on the ground and stepped forward towards the beast. As Manta got up and brushed himself off, he looked up to see that he was far closer to the giant beast then he wanted to be.

" WHAT THE HECK IS THAT THNG?" screamed Manta in horror. Here was something ten times larger then they were, with big teeth and claws, so why weren't they running in the opposite direction? More importantly, Manta couldn't figure out where Yoh and everyone else had gone. Who was this strange person, and why he was calling him by some other name?

Out of the corner of his eye, Manta could see a flash of red run by him. He looked over in its direction and saw another young man running towards the beast with his sword drawn. In a split second the young man had jumped into the air and sliced the beast from head to toe. Manta looked on in shock, who were these crazy people! He then saw a young girl run up and pluck something from the ground where the beast had once stood. When she held it into the air, Manta could see a small jewel shimmer pink in the sunlight.

" Hey Miroku who's this?" a girl's voice came from behind where Manta was standing, "and where did Shippou go?" Manta turned around to see another girl, with a small cat following behind her, walking towards him.

" What are talking about Sango? Shippou's right he-" the young man with black hair had turned around to look at Manta.

" Miroku! You lost Shippou?" cried the other young woman who was now running towards Manta.

" Kagome, I…uh…I thought…I mean, he was running right alongside me…" Miroku stuttered, slightly afraid of the angry Kagome. Manta began to back away slowly now that all these strange people were gathering around him. Then, without warning the young man in red popped up next to the one called Sango. Manta quickly noticed that this man had dog-like ears, and very long fingernails that sort of resembled claws.

" GET ME OUT OF HERE! YOH WHERE ARE YOU?!?" YOH!!!" Manta ran as fast as he could far away from the scary guy in red. Manta soon noticed that although he was still running, he didn't seem to actually be moving. He stopped running and looked behind him to find that the dog-eared man with claws was holding him up in the air by the back of his shirt.

" AHHHH! YOH HELP ME! WHERE ARE YOU? HORO HORO? RYU? ANYONE?!?!?" Manta had the sinking feeling that if his friends didn't come quickly, he may end up as this guy's dinner.

" STOP YELLING ALREADY!" the young man shook Manta a couple of times, "Give it a rest, geez!" with that, the man dropped Manta to the ground.

" P-P-Please don't eat me, I just want to find my friends, that's all." pleaded Manta. The young girl called Kagome walked up beside the man in red and bent down in front of Manta.

" You'll have to excuse Inuyasha, he's a little slow with people skills," Kagome smiled at Manta. Manta could feel his cheeks flush pink. This girl was very pretty, her smile was so beautiful, and he was pretty sure that she wouldn't let the dog man eat him. " What's your name?"

" Ma-Manta," he answered nervously.

Miroku leaned in to Sango to whisper in her ear, " Is it just me, or is he wearing clothes like those from Kagome's era?"

She whispered back, " If he's from Kagome's era, how did he get here?"

Just then, Kagome stood up and faced the other three. She put her hand on Manta's shoulder. " Guys, this is Manta, he's from my era. He's trying to find his friends who are here also. I figure if we thought he was Shippou, then maybe his friends thought Shippou was him. Let's take him back to Kaede's and get him something to eat before we head off to look for his friends okay? Oh! I almost forgot, Manta, this is Sango, Miroku and this is Inuyasha." Miroku and Sango smiled and waved at Manta. Inuyasha crossed his arms, let out a big huff and looked in the other direction.

" Don't mind him, he's always moody like this," Kagome said with a smile.

" I AM NOT!" screamed Inuyasha. Miroku and Sango nodded in agreement with Kagome. Manta smiled slightly and walked alongside Kagome as the headed towards Kaede's. He made quite certain to stay a considerable distance away from Inuyasha.

" How weird! All of a sudden everything's gone back to normal. I don't hear anything anymore," said Yoh, slightly confused.

" Damn, I bet someone got to it before we could!" complained Horo Horo. His eyes widened as he noticed what Ryu was holding in his hand. " Where'd you get that?"

" Let's not get mean now, that's no way to talk to Man-AHHHHH!" Ryu had looked down and noticed that Manta had grown ears and a tail and quickly dropped him onto the ground in fear.

" He kinda looks like a fox, don't you think guys?" asked Saiyaka as she walked over towards Shippou. " Don't be afraid, we're not going to hurt you I promise!" Ren let out a frustrated huff. Shippou looked over at him with concern, he was a little afraid of all these strange people standing around him with weapons drawn. Saiyaka leaned in and whispered in Shippou's ear, " He's all talk, you don't have to worry about him." She then smiled at Shippou who finally got up the courage to speak.

" I'm Shippou. I was with my friends chasing a demon with a jewel shard, when suddenly I was being dragged along by this guy," he pointed at Ryu.

" I thought he was Manta, I mean they're about the same size right?" coaxed Ryu.

" Alright Shippou, we'll help you find your friends! But can you do us one favour first?" inquired Yoh.

" I can try," answered Shippou hesitantly.

" Where are we?"

" What?" Shippou wasn't sure where these people had come from but he thought they dressed like the people from Kagome's era.

" We accidentally fell into this well and ended up here," proclaimed Horo Horo.

" We? If it wasn't for you and you're relentless goofing off we wouldn't even be here in the first place so don't drag the rest of us into your stupidity," snapped Ren.

" Stupidity? STUPIDITY? Arghhhh!! I've had enough of you!" Horo Horo lunged towards Ren who countered by raising his Quan Dao. Saiyaka put her arms up and stopped the two of them from making contact; she looked at Horo Horo, then at Ren.

" Cut it out! Both of you!" she turned to look at Shippou who was now looking a little unsure, but almost curious.

" You guys fell down Kagome's well?" he asked.

" You know Kagome?" asked Saiyaka inquisitively, how could this little fox child possibly know Kagome?

" I'll take you guys back to Kaede's, I'm sure that's where everyone else will be!" Shippou popped up onto his feet and started walking in the direction of Kaede's. " Come on, follow me!"

They all exchanged glances and then collectively agreed to follow the little fox boy. As they walked behind the boy, Ryu leaned into Faust and asked, "Did he say they were chasing a demon?"

Faust smiled at Ryu and nodded, "Mhmm." They continued to walk with the others, but Ryu kept checking in the woods to keep an eye out for another one of those "demons" that Shippou had spoke about.