Discovery

Kagome pulled at the ends of her skirt as she sat on a nearby stone. Glancing up at the clear blue sky, she let exhaled a deep and long sigh, wondering how Inuyasha and Sango were doing. Turning her head slightly to get a look at the monk, she noticed that his eyes were took on a distant and longing gaze, no doubt worrying about his fiancée; even though he had no uncertainties on her protective abilities, the feeling didn't fully disappear.

The kit looked back and forth between the two and grunted in annoyance. "Let's go already!"

Brought out from their musings, the young girl nodded and picked her yumi as the houshi tightly held onto his shakujo and they continued on down the small hill.

The taijiya nodded her head as she answered Heike's inquiry.

"Yes, the demon who most likely cause this is the one called Naraku,"

Eiko sat down across the younger woman and removed the kettle from the crackling flames, steam rising and seeping out through the lid. As she poured the hot liquid into three small cups she asked, "How powerful is this Naraku?"

Her brown eyes narrowed a fraction and they seemed to hold an endless rage and depression as she spoke. "He's very strong I'm afraid; he kills the innocent without remorse and enjoys the slaughter of all those weaker than him. And he seems to become stronger and more deadly with each moment. That's why I must regain my strength quickly and regroup with my comrades again; otherwise there will be no way to defeat him,"

The young man handed her the tea, and the taijiya graciously took the proffered cup but took no sip, merely looking down to stare at her reflection just to lose herself in her thoughts.

Eiko eyed the woman carefully, amazed that such a young girl could take on such an arduous and gruesome responsibility, but as she recalled the outfit of a warrior that they had found her in, she was most likely not an ordinary person. A pallid and disquieting silence went on for several moments before Heike broke the quiet.

"Sango-san, is there anything we can do to help you a little more?"

Meeting his gaze, she shook her head. "No, I'm sure that there isn't much to do; I am very grateful that you have taken me into your care and I can't thank you enough but, no more lives will get involved, and my friends and I will be the ones to deal with the monster,"

Deep sadness as she recalled Kohaku came into her mind, and she stopped the sigh from fully coming up by placing the hot container near her lips and indulged herself to take a drink.

The young half-demon snorted as he craned his neck back, closing the golden orbs as the sun peeked out from behind a pristine cloud. He found it odd that it would be grey and dreary one moment, than bright the next. He didn't bother opening them as he could hear Kikyo's footsteps a pace behind him. That bastard brother of his decided that he had wasted enough time on a half-breed and human, so he had left them and set off earlier. Inuyasha didn't care of course but he did have a small defensive argument which ensued a minute before the taiyoukai departed.

That jackass seemed to live just to humiliate him in every aspect: from his high stature to the ways of women. There was nothing he wouldn't use.

Pausing for a brief, almost as if he never did, he turned his head to casually look at the priestess who had her attention focused elsewhere. Stopping to ask what she was staring at, he felt her come into contact with him, her breast brushing his arm as she stumbled slightly.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have done that," Inuyasha said as he gripped her by the waist.

Kikyo let out a smile and turned to him. "That's alright; I need to be more careful,"

"What were you looking at?"

The miko turned back to show him, and her mahogany orbs widened a bit and she stood in place perplexed.

"What is it?" he asked her.

She almost didn't hear him as her mind had begun to wander. "Nothing… It's nothing,"

The two went on along the dirt road, Kikyo looking back to the spot where she could've sworn to see a dark aura; it was only till after they were gone that it reappeared, a scarlet orb eerily watching them.

He floated onwards on his own cloud that had magically formed beneath his feet, the taiyoukai's skeptical eyes watching everything that scurried along the forest floor. The calm silence soothed him, allowing his nerves to relax but he still managed to remain alert be keying into the different auras with his own.

Using his peripheral vision, Sesshomaru noticed that he had arrived at the village, countless mounds of dirt rose from the upturned earth, withering flowers laid carefully upon each of them; the smell of death still arose from the scene, even after a year. A source of spiritual energy sent his aura flare, and he turned towards his left, gracefully landing onto the ground. He could sense the power pick up due to his own energy that clashed against the wave that seeped out from within the entrance of a cave.

Lifting his head to get a better look at the glowing barrier, Sesshomaru took a step forward, and the shield seemed to diminish when it parted to allow him inside. A smirk tugged the corner of his mouth but he merely entered the mouth of the cave, where the woman inside the stalagmite, had once forced her soul out from her chest to create the Shikon no Tama.

Passing through the neighborly village, the taijiya gave a short bow to a woman who called her child back from playing with several of his friends.

Carrying a basket full of laundry, Sango set it down and felt delighted that she was able to do something, or maybe it was just because she wanted to get rid of the thoughts of her brother. Silently letting out a pensive sigh, she whirled around when she heard her name being called.

Heike rushed up to her, arms akimbo as his brown eyes fixed themselves on her. "What are you doing?"

Blinking a few times, she responded with a slight tone that stated the obvious. "Doing laundry…"

"With a dislocated shoulder? Really, you like giving yourself pain; you have to be some sort of masochist,"

She furrowed her eyebrows together. "I most certainly am not a masochist; I only wanted to do something that would show that I'd like to repay everyone for taking me in,"

Heike looked both touched and annoyed at this sentence and shook his head disapprovingly. "You should be focusing on getting better Sango-san; not only that, Eiko-san would have my head if she finds out that you have been doing chores when she specifically told you not to,"

Sango felt like a child being reprimanded by him, but she supposed that she couldn't blame him since he was told to look after her by Eiko. Deciding to let him off, and not get into trouble the slayer chuckled to ease the anxious man. "I didn't do much Heike-san, so there's no need to worry,"

Grinning at her, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry,"

Nodding at his reply, Sango felt warm fur brush against her ankle. Scooping up Kirara into her arm, the slayer was oblivious to the way Heike was ogling her with a blush in his cheeks. Looking down to avoid seeing her, he began to absentmindedly turn and nudge the dirt with his foot, wondering what he should say.

Before he opened his mouth, Eiko came up to them, looking a little distraught. "Miss Sango, where have you been?"

Looking at Heike before speaking, the taijiya answered her, "I was just taking a walk,"

The old woman eyed her suspiciously for a minute, and then turned her gaze over to Heike who only stood in place and watched her innocently.

Perhaps something showed in his eyes, for the old woman kept watching him for a while longer and noticeably gave up as she heaved a pensive sigh and clicked her tongue. Sliding her eyes back over to the slayer she asked. "How are you feeling today?"

"Oh, better Eiko-san," Sango replied, though her thoughts were on something else.

Being old meant that Eiko could see things since she was ripe in her old age, and could easily decipher that distant gaze when someone spoke to you but didn't pay much attention to the topic of conversation.

"Sango-san," Eiko said suddenly, "Is there anything else about this Naraku that we should know?"

Gasping softly, the taijiya met the sunken and black eyes of the old woman and the concerned brown ones of the young man next to her. She couldn't let them become involved in any way, even if it was just for information. Houshi-sama was always much more conversational when it came to people; she knew that she wasn't much a socialite.

Kirara mewed, drawing her mistress's attention from withdrawing into her mind. Coming back to the real world, Eiko gave her a comforting smile. "That's alright dear, you don't need to talk, but if there's something you need, just ask,"

As the elder of the woman turned on her heel to leave, Heike patted the slayer's back, before following in tow after Eiko. She remained inconspicuous, but as they began to leave it was then that Sango called to them, Kirara perched loyally on her shoulder, as the other two stopped in their tracks and watched the taijiya come at them with determination and wariness on her face.

"Do you know if there are any scrolls around involving the God of Death?"

The taiyoukai stopped a foot away from the tall figure before him, a woman caught in the maw of the ferocious beast who was one of the few unlucky demons to be trapped within the Jewel of Four Souls. Keeping watchful golden eyes on the frozen priestess, Sesshomaru kept his other senses on alert for anything other than him inside the cave, but could detect nothing.

Approaching the hand that she used to wield her sword, he followed a crack which led from her hand to her weapon that was wedged deeply into an open crevice in the earth. He nonchalantly examined the sword, energy still swirling around it, even as it lay dormant without a master.

Sesshomaru sniffed indignantly as he spun around in a blur of white, light sprouting from his fingertips and he twirled it around his head, the whip cutting through several weakling youkai that had come out from behind. They cried in agony as they were sliced, disintegrating to the touch.

A roar vibrated and shook the cave, more youkai and some ogres transfigured in front of him, and he only watched as they charged toward him, fangs dripping saliva and thumps coming from the ground as they ran. A bored expression came onto his face, Sesshomaru standing directly in place till they were no more than a few paces from him.

It was then that he struck movements swift and precise, and as deadly as lightning; his face remained impassive, wondering why he even bothered with these demons that stood no possible chance against him, and yet they foolishly continued to fight, and engage in a battle that they would never win. The whip of light cut into them, their deaths quick compared to the ones who suffered under his glowing green hand that dripped the acidic secretion. A shadow of what seemed to be pleasure flickered in his golden suns, and a feeling of ire circled around them as the light flashed.

Though the fight seemed to take a long time, the youkai who had come had actually died within a few minutes, and the ones who had begun to retreat, Sesshomaru tortured explicably, allowing his poison to seep into their flesh, and circulate in their blood till they died from the pain, or the venom that stung their hearts.

Nothing remained there, except for a few pieces of discarded limbs. The taiyoukai stood in his spot, his hair flowing down his back and was not in the least unkempt, his clothes pristine and white while his hand had taken on crimson color, the stench of blood dripping down his lean fingers. Turning to face the imprisoned woman in the stone, he briefly slid his orbs down to the hole in her chest, taking in her condition until he decided to turn away, the sword still in contact with the earth as he said aloud, "Ridiculous,"

Kikyo sat beneath the shade of a tall oak and still felt unnerved by the dark aura she had sensed earlier. Inuyasha was now sitting beside her, tossing her a fruit which she caught readily in mid-air.

"What's this for?"

The hanyou smirked. "You're alive ya know; you're gonna have to eat,"

Right; she was so absorbed in her thoughts she had failed to remember the fact that she was no longer one of the dead.

"Inuyasha, about earlier today," the miko began. "Didn't you feel anything unusual?"

Leaning back on the trunk of the large tree, Inuyasha glanced at her. "I did actually, but I didn't think too much of it really,"

"Well, I thought I sensed Naraku's evil energy radiate from somewhere," Kikyo explained to him.

"You felt that too?" he asked her, not even the least bit of surprise evident on his face.

Nodding, she continued. "Where do you suppose he could be?"

He heavily shrugged his shoulders, having no sure no answer to her question. "Unfortunately, all we know is that he's heading east, but now that we've both felt him around the area, we can be sure though that's around here…somewhere."

The woman bended a knee, placed her arm on it as the other held her up at the side while the other leg was tucked under the raised one. She often got into this position when thinking about something that was indefinite and implausible. This sitting arrangement was known only to those who knew the indifferent woman well, and so the hanyou shifted closer to her.

"There's something else on your mind Kikyo,"

"I'm wondering, how we are to defeat him. Naraku's had become more feasible and deceptive," the miko went on. "So, do you now think we are going to have to gain the battle expertise of someone who has engaged in numerous wars?"

Lifting his head Inuyasha gave her his full attention. "Do you have someone in mind that can help?"

Kikyo gave him a nod. "I do have someone in mind, and I'm positive that she's also the reason your brother had set off alone, but it might be hard to speak with her,"

The hanyou's ears twitched on his head and he waited for her to continue.

"You've heard of the priestess Midoriko have you not?"

A small little temple stood in a green meadow, Sango holding onto Kirara as the neko youkai landed in front of the building. Patting her companion, the slayer approached the small stairs that creaked beneath her feet as she walked up and opened one of the doors. Silently entering, Sango recalled what Eiko had informed her, that this was the only temple their village had known for the past couple years, and it held a vast knowledge of the gods that were known to those who came here before to worship them, and the God of Death was among them.

Something about this placed induced a cold sliver into her gut, and she walked towards a small shrine that held unmatched candles at the sides, the handles of the drawers looking unpolished and dusty from the dank atmosphere. Opening one up, she picked up a scroll that held an ominous illustration of Raidon, and though the parchment was worn out from disuse, she could still make out the fires and people who were dying in the paper.

Surveying a few more, she began to wish that her fiancé was here; he would be able to understand these scrolls in no time at all as he was raised to be a scholar. Finding an interesting piece, the taijiya read the following, and it contained some interesting things about the Raidon and his powers. That gods could be killed if they were on earth and since Naraku now held Raidon within his body both would die; then there was the fact that the self-proclaimed half-demon was able to lose them without a trace.

Taking this and some other scrolls with her under the crook of her arm, she returned to Kirara that had started pawing at a butterfly that gently flitted onto a blade of grass in front of her nose.

"Kirara, I think I have what we need," the slayer told her cat, as she mounted her back. "Now we just have to find the others, and we might have to do it tomorrow,"

The neko youkai grunted in response, flew back to the village.

A/N: I hope this was up to your expectations.