Finding a small place just outside of the town, his urgency to get a place in town forgotten as his secret was out and there was little reason for him to leave her alone with just the kitsune to protect her. She was still eyeing him suspiciously from her spot next to the fire. She was undeniably confused as to the change in his appearance, but he wasn't going to give her any information. Just because she had seen his change didn't mean she needed to know why or when it happened.

"I suppose you're wondering as to why the master has changed in such a way?" came the voice of one very irritating creature as it landed on Kagome's shoulder. She seemed surprised, but managed not to smack him in her surprise. At her soft nod he continued, his master giving him the look that was meant to shut him up, but he paid no mind. "As he is a half demon there comes a night when he becomes as you see him now."

"Shut up!" Inuyasha hissed, moving in a menacing manner toward his underling. "You don't have the right to give my life's story out to random people!" At this statement, the "random" person he was giving the information to growled low, but instead of snapping at him she looked down at Myoga.

"Ah, he is sooooo right," she said, false sweetness lacing her tone. "I'm just some random person that has no need to know what her traveling companion turns into. I mean, it's not like it affects me in any way." Flopping onto her back before pulling the sleeping bag over her, she turned to Shippo. "Good night, Shippo." Closing her eyes she turned over, not just to ignore the male that had managed to hurt her again with his words. Sure, she was mad, but she was more hurt. Knowing that he was human and unable to smell her tears she let a few out, holding her body still as she tried to calm down. I mean, really, it's not like we are friends or anything, but I'm certainly not a stranger. Snuggling deeper into her sleeping bag she sighed. Shippo moved closer to her, his father's pelt sliding behind him like a blanket. Making himself a spot closer to her, he shot Inuyasha a hateful look before getting comfy and closing his eyes to wait for sleep.

"You need to work on your manners," came Myoga's advice as he joined his master. Inuyasha leaned back against the tree and groaned at his underling. "I mean, she is just a girl and yet you keep talking to her in such a manner."

"Shut the hell up," he hissed. He hated this time of the month. He had no senses, his claws were gone, and he was just...weak. He hated feeling that way. So he had upset her! Better that she learn now that he wasn't a friend and he wasn't tagging along because he liked her company! He was done with humans and human females were even worse! Snorting at the thought that he had once allowed a female close to him and how it had backfired on him, he found his eyes closing and soon he was asleep. That was another thing that bothered him about being human. As a half demon he didn't require much sleep, allowing him to keep vigilance on his surroundings. As a human he couldn't even do that. As the final member of the group finally passed out, the shadow moved closer from his hiding place in the trees. Something handing from his clawed fingers glistened in the firelight as he grew closer, the small container a golden hue. It was adorned with small symbols that circled the entire thing, save for where small holes opened up on the upper half of the item. When he felt it was close enough to his target he set it down, and with a snap of his fingers a soft billow of smoke filtered out thru the item's holes.

The smoke slid out of it and along the forest floor, the scent undetectable among the other scents of the night, the crickets still singing their songs around him. He slid closer to her, making sure that the smoke was drifting as he had directed it to. It flowed past the kitsune, his nose not even twitching as it made its way to the girl in the sleeping bag. As it hit her face, she groaned and turned over. The smoke followed, its cloud now moving over her body. As soon as it had covered her in its shadowy form it began to glow a soft blue, the color growing almost white before switching to the more vibrant color of red. Good. It has revealed the soul that resides inside this form. It was a good and a bad thing. As the girl and her group would find out before long. It's just my luck that she is already headed toward her unfortunate end. Smirking, he pulled back, the large cloud of smoke over Kagome dissipating as the item it was billowing from was removed from the area. Now that his task was done, he needed to find that monk that had taken her shards. Not that he was planning on giving them back to her, but his master would be mad if he didn't return with those precious objects. As he disappeared into the darkness completely Kagome shivered in her bag, her body feeling a chill starting in her feet. It was as if her blood were stopping its mandatory circulation and as a tingle began in her toes as well she found that she couldn't move.

Her eyes weren't opening upon her command and all she could see was Inuyasha in front of her. Her eyes flickering against her eyelids. She knew it was a dream because he was in his normal form, his silver hair blowing to the side as the winds chilled her. The cold feeling was moving up her body, the tingling following the same path. They were in a boat, his muscular arms were rowing, the boat sliding almost fluidly thru the small river. She could feel something in her heart, the thudding of it almost deafening. Where am I? She didn't know this place and yet some part of her was filled with aching...and something else. Something that was rising with every minute that passed, the scenery changing to that of a field. There were no flowers before her so it must have just been a regular field, but before she could register the feelings that passed thru her, she felt a slash of pain on her right side followed by the warm of something leaking thru the white kosode... Wait! Am I Kikyo? Am I witnessing her death? She fell to her knees for a moment, her body collapsing in sync it seemed with the blood from her own body that splattered the ground below her like a painting. The jewel fell from her kosode and landed just beyond her reach, her fingers brushing the stone lightly before her hand was crushed under the bare foot of one Hanyou. Inuyasha? She looked up at him.

"You are a such a fool to think that I would ever desire to become a weak human," he stated, his tone cold, chilling her heart. She could feel the tingling in her heart, a pain starting from deep within as she looked into his golden orbs.

That's not him! That can't be Inuyasha! Kagome couldn't believe that even with the way the Hanyou could act sometimes that he would be that cold! Oh, but it is. Another voice echoed in her mind. It was a blend of voices, so masculine and creepy with a female undertone that seemed to be separate from the male. He killed me with no hesitation. No! No! That is not him! He loves you! He still reacts to your name in such a fashion that you can tell he misses you! Oh, foolish girl. He can pretend when it suits him. Did he not just tell you that you were not privy to his workings? He called you a random person and even before that he let you know where your place was!

Kagome struggled against the pain she was feeling, the heaviness of her heart seeming to weigh her chest down. She couldn't seem to grasp a breath, her hands moving in her sleep to grasp at her neck. That's not all that happened, came a male voice, the same one that had told Kikyo that that she was a fool for her belief in the Hanyou. After all, he couldn't just live after what he had done. No, my plan wasn't complete. That stupid woman had to do one thing and she was more concerned with the filthy half breed. She didn't follow my plan!

Your plan? Who are you? She got no verbal response from the voices. No, the answer she got was her again looking at Inuyasha as he flew down from the trees, the Shikon no Tama grasped in his fist. She was standing before a temple, a gate not unlike the one at home. In her fingers was a bow, taunt and ready to strike as she called out his name.

"Inuyasha!" All the pain in that voice was nothing compared to the pain and shock that was revealed on the Hanyou's face as she released the arrow. It flew almost in slow motion, striking his shoulder and forcing him back onto the God Tree. The jewel fell from his fingers, the sound of it the only sound as the winds rustled the tree. As the jewel rolled away, he stuttered out her name, broken as the arrow did its job. It sealed him to the tree, tho he appeared to have died. His breathing paused, his chest didn't rise and his eyes didn't move like they would if he were just asleep. Shaking, as the blood trail that had followed her puddled around her she made her way to the curse she had been given. The curse that had been her task and she had failed. It had cursed her life from the moment she had touched it, vowed to it that she would keep it pure. She could keep that promise. She would wish to never be reborn, that the jewel would follow her into the after life and never again would either of them see the world again.

"Kagome?" came a soft voice. Her mind was struggling to release itself from the nightmare it was living. "Something's wrong with her," came the voice again.

Shippo? Someone touched her head, and moved it over her face as if looking, searching for something.

"She's cold?" the other male voice questioned. "I thought the reason for the weird sleeping thing was to keep her warm."

Inuyasha? At the sound of his name, another feeling flowed thru her as light suddenly seemed to warm her lids. Her eyes flew open, but the chocolaty gaze was not the same, her scent changed in that moment, the mixture of both souls fighting as she set her eyes on the male in red before her. In a split second she was up, flying back as she looked around her for her weapon. Finding the bow and the quiver next to a bright yellow travelling bag or whatever the thing was she turned to him, the arrow pulled back taunt against the string of her bow. "You're free?" Her tone was cold as she looked him up and down in disbelief even tho just before waking up she had seen the girl's thoughts and memories of the Hanyou. "This girl was stupid to even attempt working with you, much less removing my sealing arrow." Her eyes narrowed, the brown of them dazed almost. "That can be rectified!" Releasing the arrow, her body fighting her attempts to hit the half demon, into the ground just a few inches from him. He was still looking at her in confusion, a look of recognition at her last words.

"K-Kikyo? How?" She smirked, the look of smugness on her face one he had never seen.

"I don't know and I don't care! I just want you dead and gone!" It was in that instant that her eyes changed back, the chocolaty color of them returning and with them Kagome spoke. "W-What happened?" She looked down at the bow in her hand and dropped it as if it had burned her. She looked to Shippo, who was looking at her in fear. "Shippo?" He said nothing, moving toward Inuyasha. The Hanyou was also looking a little suspiciously at her, his golden orbs filled with confusion and distrust. She hadn't seen that look in such a long time and she wished that it would go away. "What is happening to me?"

"You tell me, bitch," he hissed, now moving away from her. What the hell is going on? That was Kikyo's voice! "You just tried to kill me with your fucking sacred arrow!" She looked down at the bow on the ground now and noticed that not far from where Inuyasha was standing another arrow was stuck in the mud. "Your scent has even changed. You smell like her." She didn't need clarification to know who he was talking about. Tho it usually pissed her off more, just judging by the way Shippo was acting she knew it was true. He was looking at her as if he didn't know her, as if she hadn't helped to get his father's pelt from Manten.

"I don't remember anything past the moment I went to sleep," she whispered, her hand touching her head, moving thru her raven locks. Her head was beginning to throb again. "I just remember crawling into my sleeping bag and then..." she faded off as the memory of feeling cold and tingly came back. "I was cold and felt a slight tingle move up my body." Why couldn't she remember what she had dreamed about? Why couldn't she remember waking up and how had the bow come to rest in her hands? With every question she felt the pain in her head increase. "There was a voice." Inuyasha's ears twitched.

"A voice? A female voice?" She shook her head, trying to remember what it had said to her.

"No...yes...I can't remember!" Tears began to gather in her eyes, but before Inuyasha could take a step toward her her voice changed again. "She doesn't know that I am here," came Kikyo's voice again. "And as much as I am glad to be resurrected so that I can finish you she is fighting my use of her body." She reached down for the bow and securing the quiver better on her body she took a step back. "Before I can take my revenge I need to overpower her. She shall become my tool."

"Kagome?" Shippo questioned, knowing that she was unstable, took a step toward her. Inuyasha yanked him back as Kikyo took a shot at him, missing as she had Inuyasha. Was it because Kagome wouldn't allow it or was it because he had saved the kitsune? Growling at the brat before her she turned her attention back the half demon who had betrayed her.

"I shall purify you and all that share your blood, scum," she hissed, feeling Kagome trying hard to force her way back up to consciousness. Stop fighting me, stupid girl. I will have my revenge and you will not need to worry about him turning on you when he becomes what he truly desires...A full blooded demon! It was a soft response, a shiver down her spine. "I will not allow you to kill him or anyone else!" Why should you care? You don't know him! Hell, you don't even belong in this world! Shoving her back under Kikyo took off, rushing off into the forest. Behind her Inuyasha just watched her leave, the kitsune struggling to get free so he could go after his friend. Strangely enough that was when the monk from before appeared, his blue eyes narrowing at the space where the young female had gone.

He had come because of a spiritual disturbance, unaware that it had been the group before, well the girl from before. The two males before him didn't look familiar to him. The monk had been sure that the pretty little woman with them had been accompanied by a dark haired human male, not a silver haired half demon. It was taking too long for the pair to notice him so he approached. "You there! Are you companions to the raven haired woman?" The Hanyou glanced at him and it was that moment the monk felt he had seen those eyes before. It was on the human male, tho his had been a tarnish gold he was sure this was the same male. "Inuyasha? That is your name right?" It was a spark of recognition in the male's eyes that seemed to snap him back to reality.

"You," he hissed. "Give me back the shards!" The monk raised a brow at him before slamming his staff down upon his head. Turning his attention to the kitsune that now stood before him.

"Yeah, we are the companions to Kagome." Shippo introduced himself and Inuyasha, tho still looking at the monk in question. "How do you know her?" Chuckling nervously he didn't get a chance to answer as Inuyasha lunged at him, swiping out with his claws.

"I said, give me back the fucking shards you stole from her!" he yelled, as he tried to strike the male.

"Hear me out," the monk said as he dodged for a moment before thunking the half demon on the skull. "My name is Miroku and I just want to help the girl." Shippo looked at him, suspicion in his green eyes. He leveled his right hand on Inuyasha as the half demon attempted to stand. He paused, remembering what that particular hand could do. "Ah, so you remember my Kazaana? Good." Ensured that the half demon wouldn't attack him for the time being he continued on. "My name is Miroku and I am collecting the jewel shards so that I may free myself from my curse." He looked down at his right hand, disgust on his face. "It was a demon named Naraku who cursed my family with this kazaana. My father lost his life to it, but as I was passing by I felt the turbulence of a soul divided. The hatred of that soul emitting a rather strange aura. The aura of a Miko. I had to see who could be emitting such an aura and come upon you and the beautiful woman from before, tho she wasn't emitting such a uneven aura before."

"Something happened to her," the kitsune stated. "She changed." Miroku shook his head.

"No, there is a feeling of evil still in the air, tho it seems that the demon who did it is long gone." The caught the attention of the, up to that moment, silent Hanyou.

"What do you mean? I don't smell anything." He took a wiff of the air, his nose twitching at the smell of Kagome and Kikyo's mixed scents. He couldn't smell any- Wait! That's the smell of graveyard dirt! He blinked as he remembered a demon from the night before, one that had smelled of that as well. "It must have been him." Turning from Miroku he headed back to the sleeping bag that Kagome had left behind. Scenting the area he was shocked to find that the scent was stronger around that area. There was also a rather faint scent of something else that he couldn't pinpoint. Miroku followed him, Shippo close behind. He leaned down, crouching he put his hand out. He moved it over the bag, his eyes closing as he tried to detect what was unseen to the human eye.

"It is there, a faint feeling of evil mixed with something a necromancer might use," he stated.

"A what?" Shippo inquired, his voice mixing with Inuyasha's. Both looked confused.

"A person or in this case, a demon, who can bring the dead back to life and I am sure this isn't the end of his little trick."

Ah, such troubles that befall Kagome and the gang. What are they going to do?