Midoriko gently smashed the leaves into a poultice and smeared them on a bandage before wrapping it around an elder mans injured leg. "How does that feel?" She asked in her calm gentle voice. "Good as new! Thank ya' so much. You really are an angel." Midoriko smiled and helped the man to his feet.

She bowed her head in prayer for his journey. "Be safe, and good luck on your travels, sir!" Midoriko called out after him. The man turned to bow to her before continuing down the hill on his journey.

Now where did Sanjin and Kinja get to? Kinja was Sanjin's old demon cat. Kirara was the elder cats daughter, she was very young and very playful. The tiny she-cat was in training to become a loyal fighting demon two-tail.

Suddenly Kirara came bounding up with a demon rat in her mouth. She dropped it at Mirdoriko's feet and the young priestess picked her up and congratulated her for the good job. Kirara decided to make camp on the crook between her should and neck.

"Oi Midoriko! She turned over to see Sanjin bounding over to her. She smiled at her comrade. It was interesting that the Tijiya's and the Higurashi's had always been friends. Their destinies always seemed to intertwine.

"Ha ha, I tell you, those cats are crazy." Midoriko chuckled at him. His bangs were covered in sweat causing them to stick to his head. "Yeah and so is your hair!" She pointed a finger and laughed at him. Sanjin was her best and only true friend. They'd been through it all together, through good and bad times.

"I tell you, things are only getting worse between the Iga and Kurohabaki. We need to settle it once and for all." This has been a regular topic between the two and Midoriko always wanted a peaceful solution, however Sanjin thought that neither side saw reason since destroying the Koga-clan. They'd grown far too arrogant and far too powerful to be left alone.

Even though this was their job Midoriko wanted no part of it. She'd heard how her ancestors had been able to bring peace to many warring affairs and always had a to remain neutral. Midoriko wasn't about to change that with a random act of violence. Talking could probably solve this problem.

"Yes, Sanjin I know but-"

"But nothing we have to at least eliminate the leaders and deputies. If we don't Buddha knows what could happen!" Sanjin snorted and stared at her. "Fine, we'll talk to the Iga leader, and if things don't work out we'll go off, pray their unorganized and kill the leaders and their generals, is that good enough for you?!"

The slayer nodded and called Kirara and Kinja over. "Listen you two. We're going to a place where demons aren't necessarily welcome but we have to go before those two sides wipe each other out. So once we get to the human castle, we're gonna need you all to disappear in a way. Got it?"

Just like humans, demons had subjects, half of Japan was ruled by demons and half was ruled by humans. Where they were: was no man's land. Travelers, villains and demons who wanted no part of the war hid here. Their families shrine and village was hidden deep within the forest where most humans were to scared to tred upon.

"Yes, sir we understand." Kinja spoke in his deep aged voice. It could take many years before a two-tail could figure out how to even communicate with a human. Speaking was something not all of them did. Kinja had the gift of speech from birth. Kirara would have to be taught by her dad. Most humans failed at teaching two-tail's to talk, but not Sanjin he had a gift for it. He could make any animal-like demon talk.

The two of them nodded to each other and mounted the older two-tail. Midoriko was riding on the front, Sanjin in the back and Kirara who needed to learn how to fly was at their side.


Sanjin and Midoriko flew silently into the night, they assumed it was near dawn even though there was no light out there in the distance. The moonlight allowed them to see a castle. "Hey look, is that it?" Midoriko asked Sanjin who nodded. Sanjin had heard what the castle looked like and they landed at the edge of the castle.

"Okay guys, keep safe and come back when you need to." Sanjin told them and gave Kinja and Kirara a fish.

"No. We will stay here in the vicinity. I'll try to gather some information from the local demons and Kirara can stick around here for you." Kinja said before turning around, "Hey, wait stop it! That's not what I told you-"

"Be silent youngster I know what I'm doing. Kirara keep them safe!" Kinja called before leaping into the bushes and disappearing into the night. "Kirara, if you see your father out there tell him that we need to meet up over here again in three days." Sanjin whispered and the she-cat mewed before hoping into the village.

"Now what?" Midoriko asked. "Now we wait till morning for a guard and tell them of who we are." Sanjin smirked. "We'll then get the royal treatment and then we'll-"

"Sanjin that does sound lovely, but what if they don't care?" She asked and looked over at him. "Oh, eh…they will trust me. They will. I mean, who hasn't heard of Sanjin and Midoriko!?" Sanjin pointed to his chest.

"People who just don't give a damn." Midoriko sighed and looked at the castle intently. "Sheesh, such dirty words for a woman! I've never heard of such." Sanjin shook his head earning him a glare from Midoriko.


The next morning the two of them managed to persuade the guards to let them speak with their "king" about something urgent. Luckily the two guards had heard the rumors about them and they decided to allow them to meet the king. "See I told you!" Sanjin earned a playful punch from Midoriko.

"Hey, what's going on back there?!" One of the guards snapped and the two shrugged but when he turned his back to him the two Sanjin took the liberty to stick his tongue out at him. Midoriko chuckled at her friends antics.

They made it to the main room of the castle and it was beautiful. Amazing statues decorated the room and the king was staring at both of them with playful eyes. "Ah greetings, my guards have informed me that you would like to speak with me." He seemed like a nice enough guy but he did have an ugly scar going from his left eye down to his chin.

"Um well sir we wanted to talk to you about the war." Midoriko bowed her head in respect. "Ah yes the war, come and I will show you something!" He smiled and hopped down from his chair. The pair looked at each other in confusion. "Come, come, come I'll show something to you! It involves the war. Sanjin shrugged and gave Midoriko a raised brow.

The two followed him to a hold in the floor that was covered by a piece of wood. It seemed oddly out of place here but it didn't surprise Midoriko when he kicked it out of the way. His guards were present but he told them that they were not to come down.

"Why are you bringing us down here?" Midoriko asked looking at Sanjin instead of the king. "Ah well I want to show you, my little monster I plan to use it in the war, somehow." He sounded suddenly serious and Midoriko figured that, couldn't be a good thing. There was light up a head and you could see something shine just out of the light.

Midoriko's muscles tensed as she realized that he had guards down here too, but why? What was the purpose of having so many guards in a dark old hole in the ground. Then she saw it. The horrifying sight that shocked and disgusted her.

There was a man in a cage. But not just any man. This man had shining silver hair and pointed dog ears at the top of his head. He was covered in blood and dirt from head to toe. Obviously he was a demon and he was sitting in some kind of defensive stance, letting the hair cover his face so that you couldn't see his eyes.

"W-why is he in a cage?!" Midoriko snapped at him. "It'll be used as a weapon. Would you like to see?"

"No!" She snapped at him. "It's cruel to keep anyone in a cage. Even a demon!" Midoriko screeched. "Let. Him. Go." Midoriko knew it didn't make much sense to him but it was downright evil to keep anyone locked away from life like that. He probably hadn't even done anything wrong.. "Now listen here. His name is Inuyasha, apparently he is a half-demon who's been challenging any strong demon he can. However, most if not all of the strong demons had joined the Kurohabaki army."

Midoriko had instantly realized it. "He'll be nothing more then a decoy." The cruel king smiled at Inuyasha. Midoriko felt the cage rattle and she jumped. Seeing Inuyasha again she could tell that he was both frightened and angry. He had amazing gold eyes. He was a mystery to her. "Now do you see why I'm doing this?"

The king asked. "I - yeah." Midoriko let her hair fall and began to follow everyone out. Then she turned back and mouthed "I'll be back to set you free". To Inuyasha and walked back up the mud-made stairs.


She had gotten into s huge argument with Sanjin about freeing that half-demon but Sanjin actually agreed with the king on it. "It may have started with demons but it'll end with humans!" Is what he'd said and Midoriko knew she'd have to free him herself. So now she sat in her room that the king had offered the travelers on their journey.

Sanjin was on the other side of the castle being indulged in, yen, sake` and women. Some holy demon slayer he'd turned out to be…

Once Midoriko thought it was dark enough she began creeping into the mostly-dark hallway. Guards patrolled up and down the hall. Once they were heading back towards the opposite wing Midoriko took the chance and ran silently through the hallway. She could hear the snickers and laughs of the women that "lived" there.

They were talking about the lord of the castle but she didn't want to stick around to hear how hot the lord's penis was so she kept on walking in disgust. She finally found the hole in the floor and creeped inside. She could tell there were no guards here yet, but she couldn't be too careful.

She heard a loud snarl.

Yep. The half-demon definitely knew she was in here. She crept close to the cage allowing to moonlight to hit her body so that the hanyou could see that she was no threat.

He growled again, louder this time.

"Oi, fusagu (Hey, Shut up) do you want people to know I'm here?!" She hissed at him in a whisper.

"Gaki (Brat) you came alone?" He said in a gruff voice even though there was still a hint of snarl there.

"Hai, and don't call me gaki okay, Inuyasha?" Midoriko was trying not to let her patience wane. Amazingly this guy just shut up the rest of the time as she used her magic to melt the chains that held his cage closed.

Midoriko yanked on the cage once and it opened. The half-demon crept out of the cage and sniffed around kind of like an actual dog before standing up and walking towards her.

Whoa, he was tall. "Uh arigatou ( Thank you )" He murmured and stared at her for a minute. He began clawing at the area in which the moonlight had been shining through until his body was able to fit through. "Oi wait!" Midoriko yelled poking her head out of the hole. "Nani (What) ?" He asked sounding calm. "If you see a giant demon cat named Kinja please tell me."

She looked at the hanyou with pleading eyes. "Alright, if I see him - and am able - I will tell you." Inuyasha said before launching himself in a nearby tree leaving Midoriko staring after him.


He couldn't grasp what was wrong with him. That damn priestess who had set him free had been on his mind for quite awhile. He'd even tried to kill something to get her off his mind. That didn't work. So he'd recently been looking for a demon cat, but also ended up checking on the priestess quite a few times.

He didn't like how friendly she was getting with the demon slayer it made his skin crawl and all the hairs on his body stand on end. He hated such a feeling!

So now he was tracking some demons near the human castle wondering what they were up to. It didn't seem like normal demon behavior to him so Inuyasha was interested.

He could hear the demons laughing and talking in a language that was completely new to him.

It wasn't Japanese or Chinese for that matter. Had they…invented their own language in order to better prepare for the war?

They were mobbing something and Inuyasha saw with horror at the creature they left bleeding in the dust.

It was a two-tail demon cat.

Could this be Kinja?

"Hey, old man, you alive?" Inuyasha asked gruffly, while taking a few cautious steps into the sunlight. The day was even ominous in the sense that it was sunny but the clouds were as gray as smoke.

Realizing that the demons were gone he could survey the damage even more. It was more horrific than first anticipated. The cat had the tendons in it's front legs ripped right out and you could see some of them hanging out of the gaping hole in his shoulder.

It's a good thing the creatures back was facing him or else Inuyasha would've probably run away scared for his life.

The cats entire belly had been ripped clean off and you could see all of his organs hanging out grotesquely.

He also saw that one of the cats tails had been ripped clean off. It was a horrible sight.

"Uh hey, is your name Kinja?" Inuyasha asked quietly.

"U-u-ungh, who's there? A-are, I-is it a youngster?" The cat rasped then ended up with a gagging cough. "Yeah I was sent by Midoriko. She wanted me to fine a cat named Kinja, you I assume…?"

"Y-yes." The cat wheezed "B-bring her here, let her see me, and Sanjin." Inuyasha snorted at the mention of the demon slayer.

"I have a message for them." He grumbled.

"Okay, old man. What is it? I'm all ears, here."

"Tell Sanjin this: "You have strong emotions do not let them be tainted with jealousy for that shall be your down fall…" The cat gasped again.

"A-and tell Midoriko 'Not to create your own light, or you'll end up battling it as your own darkness forever."

The cat gasped. "G-gomen…"

The animal breathed no more.

That was the end him…But...what could those strange messages mean, I know it's nothing good but at least I can say that Sanjin isn't as pure of a man as he seemed to be on the outside. I must warn Midoriko to stay away from him somehow…


"K-Kagome?!" Sango shrieked in surprise.

"W-w-what are you doing here with Inuyasha?" Kagome asked a little defensively.

"I could ask you the same thing. Why are you here with Miroku…and…and…who is this kid anyway?" Sango asked. "Oh, him his name's Shippo. He's a young fox demon who lost his parents." Sango nodded in understanding.

"Well I could've guessed the last part, I've seen him around the streets a few times. He does pretty well for himself, all things considering."

"Yeah which is why I took him under my wing as his mentor."

"Well, would you look at that, my little Kagome already has an apprentice to teach!" Sango sneered playfully.

"Hey!" Kagome smiled and the two burst out laughing.

"Yes, yes that's all well and good but someone here needs to explain why Inuyasha is out here with my Sango."

A loud, SLAP! could be heard by people living in their apartments and Miroku was on the ground. Everyone - even Inuyasha - laughed at this.

"Well, we're here on a journey to the sewer castle." Inuyasha nodded to Sango. "Sewer castle?" Kagome and Miroku looked at him like he was nuts.

"Sure. Kagome, with all you've found out in recent days your not surprised that this actually exists?" Inuyasha asked her and Kagome shook her head. "Remember Rin and Sesshoumaru? They were headed there, but I don't know how or why it's there." Sango shrugged.

"It's the last standing remnant of the Iga army. The Kurohabaki's city is somewhere…We don't know because of all the fights that have been breaking out between the two sewer provinces, but…"

"But what?" Kagome urged him on. "but it is now being used as a Koga province, since not just humans live there now, we are fighting, not just for out freedom but for the freedom of the entire world's." Inuyasha stared into the nothing of the night sky.

"The world?! That's impossible, surely no one in their right mind can be thinking of doing that!" Miroku announced in surprise. "Well these demons have a goal, and when demons have a common goal they don't stop. Especially ones like Naraku. So that is why there is an army there, currently in the making. We need anyone who is willing to fight." Inuyasha looked down.

"So I'm guessing it's about damn time we head to the sewer then." Everyone looked a Kagome.

"I don't care if I'm the reincarnation of god knows who anymore. All I know is that I have a purpose in life and if that's to fight to the death, defending the world in a sewer I'll do it. Kagome felt mostly confident, she had the courage to say those things and now all she had to do was find the courage to back them up.

Inuyasha smiled warmly at her.

"To the sewer!" Miroku and Shippo cheered in unison.

"Yeah, to the sewer!" Sango raised her Hirikotsu up high. "We're gonna kick some ass!" Kagome cheered after her.

The morale was high in the air for them now, but just how long would it last once they were actually in the sewer?


SORRY NO TIME FOR REPLYING TO REVIEWS AS OF LATE. I'LL DO IT LATER IT'S 3:26AM AND I GOTTA TAKE A SHOWER SO SORRY TO YOU ALL.

Meanwhile the part at the beginning has a purpose I just didn't want to make some insanely long ass chapter, thanks

~ Much love, Saggie