Shards, Miko, Hanyou, and Daiyokai
*Inuyasha tends to be away a lot now since Naraku's defeat. I'm not a particular fan of Kikyo as she was in the manga/anime, but I will include her in a better light in my story later on. *
Author's Note: From here on out, I think I will start using third person pov. I don't think it was a good idea on my part to keep shifting between Sesshomaru and Kagome's pov with all the information I'm trying to pack into these chapters. I'm really sorry if that makes reading this difficult.
Chapter Six:
When the sunlight filtered through the windows of Kaede's hut, the group started preparing to leave to find the remaining shards. Kohaku was still missing, and Koga had yet to show up either. They made breakfast and ate as Inuyasha returned to the village. When breakfast was finished, they packed up everything they would need and started their journey.
"I think we should make a plan. We can't hunt for the jewel shards like we did before. We ended up wasting a lot of time just wandering around aimlessly," Kagome said as they started walking out of the village.
"I'm inclined to agree with Kagome. We need to gather information on any rogue yokai that may have come across the jewel shards. Perhaps visiting human villages in the area to see if they have heard anything about the shards would be a wise course of action. We have many yokai in our group, so the humans in the group will have to go into the villages," Miroku answered thoughtfully.
"We can't just let y'all go into the villages unprotected. What if they try anything?" Inuyasha asked heatedly.
"A miko, monk, and taijiya would be just fine going into the human villages, Inuyasha. We have all the power we could need to protect ourselves especially if Sesshomaru is going to teach Kagome how to protect herself. Perhaps in the process, she will learn how to use her powers better," Miroku answered.
"This one is not in the habit of going into human villages without a reason," Sesshomaru spoke quietly.
"Most humans don't trust yokai anyway. We had problems with people before because of the yokai in our group as I'm sure you remember, Inuyasha," Kagome said pointedly.
"I made a mistake all those years ago trying to get the jewel for myself. I no longer want the jewel to make myself a full yokai," Inuyasha frowned.
"While that may be, humans are stubborn. They know that yokai use the jewel for evil purposes. We do not have the time to try and convince people that you are not an evil yokai. It would be easiest if Sango, Kagome, and I went into the villages and asked around," Miroku stated calmly.
"Then it is settled. We will head east to the nearest village and ask around to see if we can find any information then move on to the next village. Yokai are widespread unless they live in packs like Koga and the other wolf tribes," Kagome started walking towards the front of their group.
The others started following Kagome as she led them to the village nearest them. As they walked, Sesshomaru fell to the back of the pack with Rin, Ah-Un, and Jaken. Inuyasha walked next to Kagome and Sango and Miroku stayed in the middle. Sango held Kirara in her arms and Shippo sat upon Kagome's shoulder. They stayed quiet most of the way to the village.
When they approached the village Inuyasha grudgingly stayed behind with Sesshomaru as Kagome, Sango, and Miroku walked to the village. Shippo jumped off of Kagome's shoulder at her request and went to sit with Rin on Ah-Un. They talked excitedly to one another.
"We will stay close enough that should they need us, we will know," Sesshomaru walked off the path and into the forest so that they could sit and wait for the others.
"Keh!" Inuyasha growled as he jumped into the nearest tree before settling down.
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As the miko, monk, and taijiya asked everyone in the village if they heard anything about any yokai causing havoc a shadow nearby watched quietly. They hid themselves well so that they could watch the humans. When they could not gather any information from the villagers, they went back to find Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. The shadow followed them and hid their yoki from them.
"No one has heard anything recently. It has been quiet in the village," Miroku announced when he saw Sesshomaru sitting against a tree while the children played near Au-Un.
Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed to a spot behind the small group that had come back from the village before he returned his gaze back to the small group.
"We knew it wouldn't be easy to gather information. There aren't too many more jewel shards to find," Kagome said, upbeat.
"We wasted a whole day for nothing," Inuyasha griped from his spot in the tree.
"We have a lot of ground to cover, Inuyasha. It will take time, especially if one yokai holds all the shards like Naraku did."
"We don't need another Naraku," Inuyasha said as he jumped off the tree and landed next to Sesshomaru.
"We may very well have another Naraku to contend with, but we don't know just yet. We will find them eventually," Miroku sat down as he spoke.
"We will make camp for tonight and head out tomorrow to the next village," Kagome said as she sat next to Miroku.
Sango sat down next to them with Kirara in her lap.
"I'll go get some firewood then," Inuyasha stomped off into the forest.
"He seems to be even more grumpy than usual," Sango spoke up.
"The miko has been acting as alpha of this pack," Sesshomaru stood.
"Isn't she, Sesshomaru-sama?" Miroku asked with an amused smirk on his face.
"It would appear that she is, monk," Sesshomaru turned on his heel and left.
"I would assume he is going to hunt. When Inuyasha gets back we can start the fire," Miroku announced.
Kagome laid down on her back with her arms propped behind her head.
"I'm not alpha of the pack," Kagome thought out loud to her friends.
"Inuyokai have packs and they are usual the alpha or the alpha bitch, so it stands to reason that Inuyasha would be upset that you are taking charge of leading the pack even if it wasn't your intent," Sango reassured Kagome.
"We all have the same end goal, so I didn't think it would matter who lead us or not. Besides we have never established that we are a pack. Inuyasha originally started looking for the shards for his own wants not for the greater good of all involved."
"Perhaps he doesn't know that you don't consider yourself his pack, Kagome. Either way, it stands to reason that whatever his thoughts are that his heart and mind are elsewhere. He may not realize where we stand with him," Miroku offered.
"I always thought of us as a group of friends traveling together to defeat a great evil and to destroy this stupid jewel so that it may not cause harm to others again," Kagome rolled over onto her side to look at Shippo and Rin as they played tag seemingly unaware of the heavy conversation.
Kagome saw a shadow move slightly behind the children. She sat up suddenly straining her eyes to see if the shadow would move again. It did not move with shadows around it and that caused her to worry.
"Is something wrong, Kagome?" Sango asked worriedly when she saw her friend sit up suddenly.
"I thought I saw a shadow behind the children. It seemed to be different than the shadows of the trees. Perhaps I was seeing things," Kagome rubbed her eyes.
"I've heard of yokai being able to use shadows to remain unseen by others," Sango said with an edge in her voice.
Kagome used her powers to see if she could sense anything from that direction. All that she could feel were Sango and Miroku and the others but no foreign yoki or auras.
"Here's your wood," Inuyasha dropped the wood in a pile in front of them, "is something wrong?"
"Kagome said she saw an unnatural shadow behind the children," Sango explained.
"How long ago?" Inuyasha asked as he walked behind the children to sniff around.
"Shortly before you returned," Kagome answered.
"I don't smell anything. Maybe it left when it sensed I was close," Inuyasha walked around a little while longer before coming to sit beside them.
Miroku moved to pile the wood to start the fire. Kagome got her matches and started the fire when he was finished. As the fire roared to life, Sesshomaru walked out of the woods with a boar in his hands. As they cleaned the boar and got it cooking, Kagome explained to Sesshomaru she saw.
"There are yokai that can use the shadows. This one thought he saw something similar when you returned from the village," Sesshomaru answered as he sat against a tree close by.
"This does not bode well for our journey," Miroku frowned.
"Perhaps not. We will have to be careful from now on."
The group ate and prepared for the night ahead of them. Inuyasha perched in the tree Sesshomaru was leaning against and the others of the group settled down for the night.
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*I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter written. I am grateful for the reviews. Thank you all so much for the support. ? *