The following day...

The half-breed approached cautiously from the forest, treading carefully over the soft mossy dirt in an uncharacteristic concern for secrecy. His nose led him reliably to the spot. On cue, a gauzy soul collector drifted past him and into the clearing where both its and his destination lay.

Following a deep steadying breath, the boy straightened and stepped through tree covering into the open field. A large spreading tree sprouted singularly near the forest edge, and beneath it lay the object of his pursuit.

Feeling strangely exposed and vulnerable in the dying afternoon sun, Inuyasha approached the once dead priestess whose eyes remained closed as other dead women's souls were delivered to her. Not until his shadow reached the tips of her toes did she slowly shift her head.

"Why did you come here, Inuyasha," she asked without opening her eyes.

"Kikyo," he began uncertainly, "how are you doing?"

A stern pair of obsidian eyes suddenly sprang open at him, "Please spare me your small talk; you came here for something specific, didn't you?"

"I did," he admitted, "but also, I wanted to see how you were." He watched as another glowing orb was deposited into her clay body by a swooping soul collector.

"I'll be just fine soon enough," she frowned watching the sustaining soul absorb into her chest as she pushed herself up into a sitting position.

After a very long and pregnant pause he resolutely ventured, "I was also wondering: have you had any encounters with Naraku or any of his incarnations recently?"

"Why do you ask," she inquired suspiciously.

"I wanted to find out if you've heard anything about a secret group whose leader is gaining power and followers through war and mass slaughter."

Her gaze bore into him as she absorbed the statement. "What does this group have to do with Naraku," she wanted to know.

"That's what I'd like to figure out," he replied, "so I came to you."

"And how did you learn of this, Inuyasha?"

"From..." he hesitated, "from a traveler from Kagome's world who knows something about it - it's a long story, but it seems whoever they are, they've been active recently."

"The four villages surrounding the the forest, you mean?"

"Yeah, we think so; but we still don't know much about them yet. I just know that anything involving total destruction and death on this scale has 'Naraku' written all over it - I can't imagine him not knowing about this group and getting involved somehow, that is if he's not already working behind the scenes."

The deceased miko rose delicately to her feet, "In this instance it would seem that you know more than I do; I haven't picked up on any unusual movements from Naraku. In fact, he's been strangely quiet recently - most likely reconfiguring his body or preparing another incarnation. At any rate, I plan to keep my eyes on him and if I catch wind of any involvement with this other group you speak of, then I will take actions as necessary."

"Let me know right away if you do learn anything," he insisted to her back as she turned away, dismissing him, "And be careful!" Suddenly, something else sprang to his mind. "One more thing, Kikyo..."

Slowly she turned back to look at him.

Inuyasha reached into his sleeve and pulled out the figurine he'd been carrying since their visit to the destroyed village. "This thing was in the area where the miasma originated; I didn't know what to make of it at the time, but I thought maybe you'd have some idea of what it is."

Frowning, Kikyo held up the carving for inspection. Her eyes slid shut in concentration as her fingers closed around the small object, fist glowing with spiritual energy.

The half-demon watched her expression tighten and her body grow rigid with apparent pain.

"Hey Kikyo!"

"S-such darkness," she gasped, "I sense an ancient slumbering evil - an 'Eternal One' who directs his followers to eliminate all deemed as unfit to survive - they are the ones responsible for purging the villages...and they aren't going to stop until their goal is accomplished the world over." The talisman slipped from her loosened grasp and fell to the mossy ground with a thud.

An astonished Inuyasha gaped back at her.

Kagome...

Somewhere else in the expansive forest, Kagome attempted to ignore the sidelong glances she continually got from Sango-chan and the others. Whenever Inuyasha went off to visit Kikyo it was always the same sort of kid glove treatment she received despite how much she insisted she wasn't bothered by it. She hated being the one everyone felt sorry for as if she were some booby prize compared with the perfect priestess. Competing with her previous incarnation was fruitless, so Kagome refused to do it - she nevertheless needed to remind herself of this from time to time.

Clearing her throat, the girl started to suggest a change of location when she noticed a wave of harsh, shrill creaks from above. The sky grew dappled with a massive murmuration of starlings soaring just above the treeline.

"Where are all those birds going," wondered Shippo, gazing upward as he stood next to a miniature kirara.

"Probably off to pick some crickets out of the field," reasoned Miroku without slowing down.

"Hmm," Sango frowned. She turned to watch their progress as the birds gradually descended into the trees up ahead. "Who's that," she suddenly pointed in the area where the starlings had settled.

A shadowy figure stood silhouetted against the backdrop of the forest apparently looking up at the chattering starlings.

After an exchange of glances, Kagome and the others headed in the direction of the stranger.

He was a demon with the appearance of a young man clad in dark armor, a plume of feathers surrounded his collar, his skin a pallid white against his long raven hair. He regarded them through vivid scarlet orbs as they approached.

"Um, excuse me," began Kagome, "sorry to bother you, but we happened to be looking for-"

"Information," he finished for the girl.

"Well, yes," confirmed Kagome, "it's about something that happened not very far from here..."

"The four human villages," he stated knowingly, turning back to his birds.

"You have some information about it," Miroku quirked an eyebrow.

"I know who's responsible," returned the demon matter-of-factly, "my friends inform me of everything that happens in these woods and throughout the entire country."

"Would you tell us," pressed the monk.

The demon turned back to them with a piercing stare, "Do you have anything for me?"

"What do you want," Sango demanded to know.

"Oh, something unusual and appealing - if you have anything like that, show it to me."

Kagome breathed a silent sigh of relief that she didn't have any jewel shards on her at the moment. "Umm, how about some snacks," she suggested, pulling out a couple bags of chips from her backpack.

The demon held up one of the offered packages and crinkled it loudly in his hand to the responding creaks and crackles of his feathered friends. Without ceremony, he dropped it to the ground. "This does not appeal to me."

An awkward pause followed in which Shippo heaved an abrupt sigh, "Alright, you want a treasure?" The fox pulled his vest open to a cascade of trinkets, toys and candy, "I've got plenty of treasure and there's more where that came from!"

The larger demon's head cocked sharply to one side as he studied the small pile at the kitsune's feet, "Not exactly what I had in mind."

"This is going nowhere," groused Sango, "just say what it is that you want."

The man's sharp eyes now fell on Miroku, "What about you, Hoshi, you look like you might be holding out."

Miroku looked around innocently; he was always holding out, thought Kagome.

The Bird Master pointed a clawed finger at the monk's left hand idly supporting his staff, "What's that?"

Miroku lifted the appendage in question, Kagome noticed a gleam of light suddenly bounce off something on Miroku's last finger. "This," asked the itinerant holy man, eyeing an inexplicable golden pinky ring, "I actually forgot I had it."

"Where did that come from," cried Sango in astonishment.

"I got it from...," his eyes darted quickly to the woman's frosty glare, "Well, that isn't really important - it's a signet ring from the West." He pulled the piece of jewelry off, "I don't have any real use for it though; I only kept it because it was a gift...from someone." Doing his best to avoid meeting Sango's lethal gaze, he held it quickly out toward the bird youkai. "Here, take it!"

The demon lord did. Turning the golden circlet around several times in satisfaction, he then handed it off to one of his starlings. "Put it in my secret cache," he informed the bird which immediately flew off.

"Now then," Miroku composed his face into a businesslike demeanor, "would you be so kind as to share your knowledge with us?"

"For such a rare treasure, I will tell you what I know about the individual you're looking for."

"Thank you very much," Kagome bowed.

Crossing his arms pensively, the armored youkai cocked his head again, this time watching the sky through the trees. "He's a very unusual man, but you wouldn't know it to look at him..."

"So are you saying he's a human," Sango asked.

"To the best of my knowledge - although, no human should be capable of what he accomplished with those four villages; he's stronger than most demons."

"How did he manage it, then," pressed the demon slayer.

The scarlet-eyed man blinked calmly; a starling presently alighting on his shoulder as if eager to get in on the secret as well, "He devours yoki. Even I, a great demon lord, would not go anywhere near him; I certainly wouldn't advise mere mortals to interfere with him." He fixed the group with a meaningful look before turning to leave, his murmuring taking flight once again. "And that is what I know."

Miroku took a step toward the retreating armored back. "But where might we find him if we still wanted to anyway?"

"I wouldn't worry too much," responded the other without turning around, "I have a feeling he'll find you." With that, the demon dissipated into a flock of birds and vanished.

Deadpool...

"I have references, but of course they won't be born for several hundred years from now," said the merc to the newly appointed daimyo sitting at the other end of the large tatami room.

'Sheesh, They didn't even let the previous Mr. Fancy's cushion get cold before they found another ass to fill it,' thought the hitman in amazement, 'Brutal.'

"Oh I'm sure that won't be necessary...," the daimyo trailed off without taking his eyes from the centerfold of the adult magazine Deadpool had proffered in exchange for his audience.

Wade decided to try and recapture his future employer's attention. "So whaddya say, Milord, is this the face of your next bodyguard?" The face he currently wore was that of Bruce Lee, complete with bowlcut, compliments of his image inducer.

The current lord tore his gaze from the glossy pages momentarily to size up the mesh adorned man across from him, "What village did you say you came from?"

Wade silently ran through the set of responses Miroku had practiced with him before promptly tossing them all into his mental junk drawer, "Well, it's pretty far away; you may have never heard of it: some call it San Francisco - or - The Village Hidden In The Smog."

"That does sound familiar now that you mention it," mused the daimyo, tapping his chin thoughtfully, "I think I may have passed through there at some point."

"No kidding? My Uncle Matlock is actually the village leader there; next time I'll take you to his place and we can order up some chimichangas."

The other man's attention, however, had already shifted to something else. "Excuse me, but why do you wear a small pig as apparel?"

"Oh," the interviewee looked down at the pig tucked snugly into his sash, "sorry I forgot to introduce you; he's my, uhh..." Wade reached deep, searching his mind for the correct ninja terminology, "my summons animal?"

"Summons animal?"

"Right. I signed a contract with him in my blood and now he has to appear whenever I summon him to help me with my ninjutsu. Because I'm a ninja, you know. Did I mention that already?"

"That sounds interesting. I'd like to see a demonstration of that."

Deadpool looked at P-chan who snarled back up at him. "Sure, I think we can manage that - does this mean that I've got the job?"

"Well," winced the daimyo, tucking his new reading material safely away, "there is one other applicant I've seen today; I'd like to watch the two of you face off, then I'll give you my answer."

"Let's go, then," the mercenary rose eagerly to his feet, immensely pleased at how neatly the plan was coming together. Now one step closer to meeting the ringleader of Cable's distopic fantasy, Wade followed the puppet leader outside to the dojo where his last obstacle awaited. If everything continued to run smoothly he had no doubt he'd soon be coming face to face with the insipid, nondairy substitute of evil himself: the flunky son of Cable's sworn enemy, Apocalypse. Easy peasy.