Disclaimer: Don't own the anime Inuyasha. : )

Now on with the story!

For all it's Worth:

Chapter Nine – Finding Where You Are

The dirt path underneath our feet created dust that flew into the sky. My shoes started to become a different shade of brown. But that didn't matter to me right now. What mattered most right now was finding Katasi.

Shippo was on my shoulder, looking around our surroundings. I looked around too. There was no grass on this path way and trees surrounded us. Everywhere you look there would be another tree, no matter which way you turned. Grass that lined along the pathway of dirt was green like the trees and went to my waist. A light mist covered the ground, making the area look a little eerie. Looking up to the sky, the sun was blocked by the huge trees. This area was cooler for that fact, at least I think.

Looking back at the people ahead of me, I saw Miroku and Sango walking next to each other in silence as Inuyasha lead the group. Every once in awhile you could see Miroku's hand twitch and reach out to grab Sango's butt. Sango walked with the giant boomer rang on her back, moving it to cover her butt whenever she had a feeling "the monk" was going to grope her. Inuyasha though I took note of more. His hands were in his sleeves like normal, his hair swayed back and forth with each step, and his ears motioned in every direction in alert. Beside me I could feel the presence of Taski and hear her as she would hum to a song I don't know.

We continued to walk along the pathway, hoping to get a rest soon. When the sun was rising, we were too. All of us woke up early and went on search of the demon priestess. Going into a village, after already going to three others, we got a clue on where she was.

"Towards the mountains is a type of shrine. A priestess used to take care of the place, but she fell in love with a demon and birthed a half-breed. Since then no one goes there since they believe it's no longer a pure place. But it's told there have been sightings of a woman going there lately."

So we all followed off that lead the old man gave us. The village vanished as it turned to the forest that only held a dirt path. As we continued, the sun vanished behind the tall trees and the air became colder with a mist at our feet. Now here was are, in the middle of no where. Hiking up the mountain to the shrine that Katasi was hoped to be.

Looking ahead, I saw something feet away from us. In the distance I could see a red archway. From what I could see, it was an elegant. Gold lined along any edges and designs wrapped around the posts. What looked like bells hung from the top and was slightly blowing in the wind. The gentle sound reached my ears as we continued to get closer.

When we reached the archway, the building behind it could be seen behind the mist. What looked like the main building was huge. The main building stretched and covered most of the area. Beside that building looked like a big shrine that could've fit half of the first story of my house. Next to that was a set of giant bells with a different color ribbon on each one. Trees surrounded the entire area in an almost complete circle, except for the passage we were on lead to an opening.

"This must be it," Taski said as she looked around the area. "I don't sense her anywhere though." Inuyasha had his nose in the air, his ears checking the area of any sound. "Let's check the area; she could be here for all we know." Miroku and Sango went towards the main house with Kirara on Sango's shoulder. "I'll check the forest around us. You guys check the shrine, and be careful." With that said, Inuyasha ran off to the surrounding trees. "Well let's go Kagome!" Taski walked beside me, having a slight skip in her step. Shippo on my shoulder was quite and just looked around the area.

"Why are you so happy Taski?" The said girl turned her head towards me and gave a small smile. "Even if Katasi lives her or if this was her home, the area around her still gives the aura of holy and peaceful place. I can't help but get at least a little bit of a happy feeling." I smiled at her as I understood the feeling.

The wooden door to the shrine slid open with ease as Taski moved it from our way. Looking inside, you could tell everything was covered in dust. When Shippo sneezed, dust surrounding us from nearby objects flew up and made me and Taski sneeze as well. I laughed as Taski began to look around the shrine and Shippo continued to sneeze from my shoulder.

As hard as I tried, I was having trouble seeing in the dark. That was until a small light was lit behind me. Turning around, I saw Taski finishing lighting a few candles. In her hands seemed to be a handful of dirt or something. Before I could ask, she turned to me and answered. "It's something my mother taught me. This is a simple thing that only people with my power have. It's actually a neat trick and helps a lot in dark places like this."

Taking another look around the place, it looked sort of like any other shrine I've seen. Scrolls hung on the walls and a podium was in the middle with a set of candles and another scroll. In front of that was a pillow that looked older than me. On the side walls under the scrolls were selves that held some items I didn't really know.

"Hey, look over here." Turning to her voice, I saw Taski looking at a wall. Standing next to her, I looked at the wall as well. "Do you see this?" With her finger, she seemed to follow a line on the wall. Looking closer at the spot she touched, I saw what she was talking about.

A small, almost unnoticeable line was there. Following the line, I found out that the line was actually a rectangle, like a door. "Yeah, I see it. But how are we going to open the door?" Taski gave me a weird look but her attention went back to the door within less than a minute. Then a smile got on her face. Before I got to ask what was with the smile, she kicked the middle of the rectangle. Dust flew up from other side as the door hit the ground with a thud. "There, its open."

"Hey Shippo, can you go get Sango and Miroku. Inuyasha should be back soon." Shippo nodded as he hopped off and ran out the door. "Do you think she knows we're here?" "Well other than the fact she knew we'd come for revenge and the loud bang this door just made, yeah, I think she knows." Taski gave me a big smile as I turned a little red from embarrassment.

"What was that noise in here?" Turning around, I saw Inuyasha walk through the entrance and stand next to me, peering into the darkness of the doorway. "Just took down a hidden door." Taski gave us a smile that reminded me of a child when they wanted their parents to give a "good job" for doing something. All Inuyasha did was nod his head and continued to look down into the darkness.

Looking myself, I could see a set of stairs that led into the darkening area. With no light, it looked like there was no end to the stairs. Like if you fall, there's no end.

I snapped out of my ideas as Sango, Miroku, and Shippo walked through the shrine's entrance. "You ready to go down?" Everyone nodded as we went in a line down the stairs.

Just like I thought, the stairs felt endless. I stayed behind Inuyasha and in front of Taski. As I continued down the spiral of the stairs, I started to become dizzy. Looking down the center of the stairwell scared the hell out of me too. The only thing keeping me from falling was the balance I was keeping against the stone wall on the other side of the dark hole.

What felt like an hour was proven only five minutes on my watch. The air was musty and felt tight. My head was becoming dizzy not only by going in circles, but just from the air surrounding me. It was so hard to breath, this felt like I was trapped in a small closet.

My head began to spin. No matter what I did, I just became dizzier over time. Each step I took just seemed to make me even dizzier. Soon, I began to sway. Whenever I thought I was looking straight, I wasn't walking as straight as I thought.

"Kagome are you alright?" Taski grabbed my shoulder and started to help guide me. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just have a headache." The look of concern stayed on her face but she just nodded her head and took her hand off my shoulder.

I continued walking, but I soon noticed that my foot was on the edge. And before I could react, I began to fall into the deep and dark hole.

"Kagome!"

I heard the screams of my friends as they yelled my name from the stairs as I felt the air around me. Last thing I saw was Inuyasha's bright gold eyes staring into mine as he jumped after me.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

AN: I'm really sorry I took a long time updating. School started and I've talking to my friends and this really great guy. Well, I hope school is going well for everyone who is still there and hope the best for everyone! Thank everyone for everything.