Disclaimer: I still don't own Inuyasha, and I don't own the Carpathian series by Christine Feehan. Although, I own many of the Carpathian books. The only thing I own is my idea for this fanfiction.

A/N: So yeah, I realize it's been...about 3 years since I've updated. I really and truly have no excuse and I don't feel like giving one. I will say this though, I'm moving in a couple of weeks *finally* so lately my mind's been full of packing and what not. But enough of about that; enjoy this long overdue chapter.

A/N #2: I also realized, after rereading some chapters, I've been referring to Sesshoumaru as having 'fangs.' I'm too lazy to correct it now, but from now on he'll have proper canines like a dog should.

"I've realized that, for all that we'll be traveling together, I know next to nothing about the two of you," Lucien commented as he glided through the dense darkness, Josef hurrying at his side.

The two were walking parallel to Sesshoumaru and Kagome, the duo having finally given up on fighting so walk in silence as they made their way to the Von Shreider residence. Zacarias had told them that he and his lifemate were staying near the De La Cruz family for the summer and that they wouldn't need to transform or travel by energy to reach them, thus their steps were unhurried and sure.

"What do you want to know?" Kagome asked, seeing as Sesshoumaru hadn't even bothered to glance at the man after he'd finished speaking. She'd calmed down once they'd started walking again, finding herself far too comfortable with modern clothes to begin bickering with the youkai again.

Lucien halted, sending out a mental call and, when he heard the reply, corrected himself and began leading their small group northwest rather than northeast. After a moment he replied, "You claim to have these 'jewels' that each of the clans hold? How did they come to be?" All Carpathians had an insatiable need for knowledge and Lucien figured it was time he started sating his curiosity. Even he realized it was going to be a long night, simply walking with no conversation.

Kagome bit her lip as she thought back to the time she'd learned of the Jewel's creation, taking a few moments to compile all of her thoughts and knowledge into something coherent. "Well, we only have one jewel in our world, called the Jewel of Four Souls. It was created when a powerful priestess, Midoriko, bound a youkai she was fighting to her spirit. It's said the jewel burst from her body after that final battle, and that their fight continues to rage on within the jewel." Kagome pulled the purified shard she'd collected from beneath her shirt, studying its pale surface.

"These priestesses have powers similar to a mage in our world, I think. Your words also solidify that theory, to create a jewel-a weapon you've called it?-from their own body." Lucien's thoughts drifted to Xavier, the mage who'd destroyed countless races in his quest for power and immortality. He couldn't help but think of what the mage would be able to construct if he'd had knowledge of this jewel, now or in the past.

"She was weak." The statement came from Sesshoumaru who'd been listening to their light conversation with something akin to annoyance. Why must creatures always seek power from an outside force? Why can they not simply train to make themselves better? He could still remember the intense sessions he'd had with his own honourable father to make himself stronger. For people to seek shortcuts for strength made him burn with an inner fury. "Midoriko should have been able to purify all of the demons she fought. Instead, she was held back from her full power by doubts and misgivings. She realized in the end that she was not powerful enough to destroy anything and made a foolish decision, to trap the youkai with herself in a trinket of miniscule power."

Leave it to Sesshoumaru to call something like the Jewel of Four Souls a trinket, Kagome thought with an inward scoff. She pocketed the shard once more as Lucien turned on Sesshoumaru with more questions.

"According to Miss Kagome, this Midoriko was a powerful woman, yet you see her as a weakling? If I am correct in my thinking, she sacrificed herself against a strong foe-"

Sesshoumaru cut him off before he could finish his sentence. "She fought for seven days and seven nights in a battle that should have been decided within hours. If she were as powerful as many liked to claim, she would not have fallen to a creature who resembled Naraku." His lip curled with pale fury at even the mention of the vile hanyou.

"You speak as if you knew the priestess," Lucien commented as he scanned their surroundings; he felt Nicolae and his lifemate coming to meet them, but he knew they wouldn't be meeting up this evening.

At Lucien's words Kagome glanced up, a slight frown marring her pretty features. "That's right! You didn't know Midoriko so how come you're talking like this about her?"

"How do you know this Sesshoumaru did not know the miko?"

Kagome rolled her eyes at the obvious question, giving him a droll stare. "Come on Sesshoumaru, you're old but you're not that old."

The youkai scented the air, refraining from continuing the conversation for a moment. He caught the barest hint of jaguar; they'd been followed from the De La Cruz home but the follower had dropped back many hours before. To be honest, he'd forgotten about them until just then. "You are correct, miko; this Sesshoumaru was merely a pup when Midoriko fought her last. However, his honourable father knew her well and spoke often of her. He spoke of her strengths and her faults, and her weakness of the heart was one of those faults. She should not have perished when she did."

He paused to glance back at Kagome, catching her eye with something that looked suspiciously like anger, although it wasn't directed at her. "The dead miko, Kikyou, was another who was too weak to survive. She fell prey to Naraku and died. She should have stayed as such, but proved herself to be even more weak by returning from the dead and walking among the living."

"Stealing souls..." Kagome muttered, the last comments enough to shut her up. It was no surprise that there wasn't any love lost between Kikyou and Kagome, at first thanks to Inuyasha but recent times had proven a rivalry between the two mikos that transcended mere puppy love.

Josef looked between the two of them, his dark eyes open and curious at the information he was clearly missing. He couldn't help but wonder who this Kikyou was and why her name caused Kagome's scent to change from lovely rainwater to enraged thunderstorms. Whoever she was, Kagome wasn't happy with her. Then, his mind registered what she'd whispered and his eyes widened. "D-did you just say she steals souls?"

Lucien's gaze swung to Kagome, cold, calculating as he waited for her answer.

She worried her bottom lip once more, wincing slightly at the pain. At last, she figured she'd better answer now or face constant questions later. "Well, a few years ago a dark miko Urasue brought Kikyou back to life by trying to steal my soul and put it into her body. But I woke up before she could finish. Now Kikyou wanders, full of hatred and murderous revenge. But she can't survive on those feelings alone, so in order to keep her resurrected body she goes around stealing the souls of others." She shook her head, her own feelings towards Kikyou coming out in her next words, "It's disgusting, but Sesshoumaru's right. If she'd been strong enough, she wouldn't have corrupted the jewel and forced herself to reincarnate in my time." And I wouldn't have been pulled into the past, and into a doomed love with a hanyou who only saw me as a replacement, she thought bitterly.

"That's stupid! Who could see you as a replacement, Miss Kagome?" Josef spoke without thinking, having picked up her errant thought as he walked so close to her.

"Josef," Lucien admonished, catching Kagome's ashamed look as she glared at the young Carpathian.

For his part, the boy looked between the two of them before realizing his mistake, scratching the back of his head as he quickly apologized. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to read your mind! Sometimes I forget to shield my mind against other people's thoughts. But I meant what I said." They hadn't been together for very long but he'd grown to like the vibrant young woman with untapped power in her. As such, like any other powerful women he came across, he wouldn't allow her to belittle herself, especially not if she thought of herself as useless because of someone else's words.

"It's okay, really, Lucien," Kagome smiled at him, waving lightly to tell him how little she thought of the comment.

"Careful, miko, that strays perilously close to a lie."

She glared at Sesshoumaru and stamped her foot in anger. "Okay, fine, it's not okay! It annoys me and I hate constantly being compared to Kikyou just because I'm her reincarnation! Are you happy to hear that, Sesshoumaru-sama? Does it please you for me to admit I'm just another weak, helpless female who's not strong enough to do much?"

The past events had finally caught up with Kagome and even she admitted, if only to herself, that she was close to her breaking point. The stress, coupled with a new jewel and whatever it was that felt kinship to her in this world, was becoming a bit too much for her mind to take right now and dealing with Sesshoumaru's superior complex and disdain wasn't doing her fragile psyche any good.

The youkai stopped to look at her, his amber eyes not showing the mild indifference she expected them to. Rather, they held a mix of curious companionship and very, very mild concern. As if her brief slip from overly cheerful girl had him worried. The very thought of such a thing was amusing to her and, unwittingly, a grin escaped. When he spotted the twisting of her lips he turned and started walking once more, his mask slipping back into place.

"It is bothersome for me to say this; listen closely so that this Sesshoumaru isn't forced to repeat himself. On several occasions have you proven yourself to stronger than the dead miko. More than once have you shown yourself to be closer in spirit to Midoriko, although it would be a disappointment if you fall prey to the same demise she did." He refused to look back as he spoke. The fact that he was comforting her when she was down was a surprise in and of itself, and he didn't want to look into himself and see why he felt the compulsion to do so. "I also think that if you stood up for yourself more, as you do with the ookami, you would not be compared to Kikyou as much."

The four of them continued on in silence for many long moments, broken by Kagome's simple words nearly ten minutes later. "Thank you, Sesshoumaru." Thank you for sticking by me all this time, thank you for not killing me, thank you for saying what I needed to hear. The words remained unsaid yet hung between them like a blanket of warmth.

Rather than acknowledge her comment, however, he stated, "You forget to address this Sesshoumaru by his proper title, miko."

The statement caused a giggle to escape her and all was right between them. The silence lengthened, warmed by a camaraderie that was fast forming. But Kagome wasn't able to stay silent for long and at last she turned to Lucien with a few questions. "Can you tell me what this Nicolae is like? Is he married? Is he the head of his clan, like Zacarias?"

While Josef grinned at her inquisitiveness, Lucien responded with mild detachment. "He is the elder of the two Von Shreiders, yes, but I do not know if he's the head of the clan. He married his lifemate, Destiny, a few months back; I recall Gabriel went to their wedding, but I was unable to make it." He didn't elaborate on the why of that statement, and his look stated it wouldn't do them well to ask. "If I recall correctly, both were infected with vampire blood and the parasites you were injured with."

"Are they okay now?" Kagome wondered, recalling just how painful those parasites had been, even trapped by her power as they'd been. She could only imagine what the full impact of their rampaging through the body would be, and coupled with the poison that was a vampire's blood made her shudder in reaction.

"Yes, Gregori made sure that both of them were healed completely." An empty grin crossed his features. "Had they not been, he would not have been able to face his lifemate safely."

Only half paying attention to their conversation, Josef heard movement from the left and lurched away, blinking when he stumbled against Sesshoumaru who released the softest of growls. Just a rabbit, he thought, feeling his temperature rise without his command to flush his cheeks with embarrassment.

Sesshoumaru stepped away from him, although a thought crossed his mind that he was glad he wasn't wearing his armour. It wouldn't do to injure the boy without his knowledge. "You are too jumpy. You must learn to always be aware of what is going on around you, as well as identify what each noise is so that such things do not startle you." It was a lesson his father had reminded him of, and often, until he'd been able to stand in the middle of a forest without responding negatively to any of the various sounds he came across, some of his father's own making.

"We Carpathians only scan the area for danger. Wouldn't it be pointless to be always scanning, dividing my attention like that?" It was a sensible question, or so Josef told himself.

"If you are consistent enough with such training, in time it will not divide your attention so. Such as right now. You should be able to process the dialogue between the miko and Lucien so that if asked, you are able to answer, yet it shouldn't hold all of your attention. You should scent the stream that is two and three quarter miles southwest from us, as well the moisture in the air that signals a storm is brewing. You should be able to identify the seven large animals that are in the immediate vicinity, where they are, and how dangerous they are to your person, yet you shouldn't be afraid as you are the most dominant creature among them." Sesshoumaru's mild gaze flicked to the side, where Josef watched him with awe. "Most of all, you should be aware of the strength that runs through your veins so that you are not hiding in the sidelines behind the miko's barrier."

Josef blinked slowly. He knew a Carpathian processed knowledge like that automatically; even he did to some extent. However, to be able to do what the youkai was suggesting naturally while still moving and to be able to hold a conversation seemed a little impossible to him. At the same time, he'd noticed unconsciously how Sesshoumaru's eyes always seemed to be moving, catching movement here and there. "You can do all that?" He whispered, hero worship causing his eyes to sparkle up at the youkai.

Sesshoumaru looked down at him, paused at the sparkle, and glanced away with a grimace. "It is time you learn how to do so as well. The time to be making the mistakes a pup would is long past. Moreover, this Sesshoumaru cannot trust you to adequately protect the miko if you are constantly hiding behind her. Such an action is not befitting." He noticed that Lucien and Kagome had stopped talking to watch him, both seeming surprised that he'd offered counsel to Josef. He decided it was in his best interest to ignore the both of them; to encourage them to question him would only result in more useless questions that he didn't want to answer.

"Daylight will be approaching soon. This time, you will go to ground with your companion. Tomorrow evening when you wake, I will question you on what you learned about the surrounding area."

"Aw, I've got homework? While I'm sleeping?" His voice suggested how ghastly the thought was even though the sparkle of awe didn't leave his eyes. In fact, if anyone looked at him they would have noted he looked rather pleased to be given such work.

"That is correct. While you sleep, you are to allow your body to continuously scan the area. You are to catalog everything that is living within a five mile radius and be able to recite them to me when you awaken. You are also to tell me which creatures would be potentially dangerous, to both humans and Carpathians, and why you think so." It was yet another lesson his own father had given him. Had he thought about it, Sesshoumaru would have wondered why he was passing on his father's teachings, especially to one who wasn't of his blood, nor a youkai in fact, but Sesshoumaru refused to allow such thoughts to enter his head.

"You are right. Josef, we should go to ground. I will place safeguards around the area to ensure the two of you are protected." Lucien offered as he looked around, finding they'd stopped in an area where he could move the soil to house two Carpathians without disturbing the surroundings.

"It is not necessary, and such things will interfere with the pup's lesson. The miko and I are adequately able to protect your bodies with our own barriers. Go to ground."

Lucien wanted to protest some more and did in fact open his mouth, however Kagome chose that moment to speak up, placing a warm hand on his arm.

"It's alright; Sesshoumaru-sama knows what he's talking about. Besides, I'm sure you'll know if something comes to harm us."

She smiled at him and he felt a trickle of..something he hadn't felt in centuries. He wanted to pause and examine the feeling but it disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared, leaving him feeling cold inside once more. With an inward sigh he nodded, preparing to move the ground while she settled herself beside Sesshoumaru's seated form. There'd be plenty of time to think about it on the next rising.

And it's done, over with. Why haven't I written this in three years, again? But sorry it's more of an informative chapter than anything, I'm more testing the waters so to speak than anything with this. And before anyone asks, no, Lucien will not be Kagome's lifemate. Anyway, next chapter comes Nicolae and Destiny! Yay.