Cherry: New chapter!! Wheeee!!! Ha, I lied!! Only 4 people reviewed, but i wanted to do this anyways!! ^^

Inu Yasha: Hey!!! That crazy guy stole all our food!!!

Cherry: o__o''' Daaaaaaaaaaaaamn........Ergh...More work...Now i have to kill Devvy too...*sigh* *ads Devvy's name to a huge list marked TO KILL* _ *sigh*

Inu Yasha: And when am I getting paid?! *growl*

Cherry: O_o'....On With the fic!!

Inu Yasha: *shakes fist* Hey!! I'm not finis--

***

Chapter2: -=Fallen Horses=-

Sango stared at the river as dark fire swallowed Miroku as the river boiled, then evaporated into a great stinging cloud of steam. Sango's fingers wrapped around her boomerang as the fire suddenly lanced out of the riverbed and pierced her straight through. She was thrown to the hard ground by a sudden onslaught of wind. She could see through dimming eyes that blood was gushing forth from a hole that engulfed Miroku's hand. The blood sprayed forth along with the wind that had been freed from his veins.

The last thing she saw was Miroku's blood mixing with her own in a raging torrent. All she saw was blood.

***

Inu Yasha's feet skimmed over rocks and grass, Kagome hanging on his shoulders and Shippo upon hers. Kagome shouted something, but it was lost to the wind as the landscape flickered by violently. Shippo struggled not to throw up as Inu Yasha stopped so suddenly that Kagome fell off his back.

"Owwww...Inu Yasha!! Be more careful!! What are we doing here anyways?!" Kagome shouted, but his ears only twitched in her direction. Kagome then untangled herself from Shippo and pinched Inu Yasha's ankle.

"Yeeargh!!! Goddamit Kagome, what was that for!?" Inu Yasha shouted as he hopped on one foot.

"You weren't listening!! I asked you what you were doing and you just stood there!!" Kagome shouted, too loudly for Inu Yasha's ears. He just turned back around and muttered something resembling "Feh." His nose had been numbed by the wind, but now the stench of blood and death hung upon the air, so strongly that the entire village must have been killed. His ears resumed their search for the sounds of the village, the forest, anything, but they only confirmed what his nose had just told him. There was another smell underneath the flame and death. A dark, foul and far too familiar smell. A smell that screamed demon and terror and made his eyes burn. He tried to shut it out of his nose by burying it in his sleeve, but the smell soaked through. He then growled to Kagome, "Take the runt and run. I'll come get you."

"What?! Inu Yasha, you cant just dump us and take off!! The least you could do--"

"I said go!"

Inu Yasha stalked up the hill, leaving Kagome and Shippo to watch him disappear over the hill. Kagome gritted her teeth with anger and shouted, "Fine!! C'mon Shippo!!!" She then grabbed Shippo's hand and stomped toward the woods.

'Stupid Inu Yasha. Who does he think I am?' Kagome thought to herself as Shippo trailed behind her.

"Kagome, Where are we going?" Shippo asked, letting his concern fill his eyes until they seemed to pop out at Kagome. She didn't notice, and kept shuffling down the path.

'I'll show him. I may not be the best or strongest fighter, but I'm damn good with a bow! Besides, I'm fairly sure I left one around here.. Somewhere...' Kagome thought to herself. She absentmindedly kicked at pebbles as Shippo dragged her along.

"Kagome, I'm hungry!! I wonder if you have any cookies left..."

'Besides, I'm the only one who can see the jewel shards. Wait...damn habits. The jewel's whole. That fairly ruins things. Eh, and now my language is getting as bad as Inu Yasha's.'

"Kagome, why do the crows all sit in that one tree? They're staring at me."

'Naraku's dead. Miroku's hand is whole and Sango and Inu Yasha have their revenge. How could I have forgotten that?!? I can leave. But do I want to? Gaaah...this is so confusing!! A few months ago I couldn't wait for it to be over!! What am I gonna do? Does Inu Yasha still wanna use the jewel to become a full youkai? Would that purify the jewel? I doubt it. Stupid, selfish, Inu Yasha. Baka. Always thinking of himself, never--'

"Kagoooomeeeeeeee!!!!!! KAGOME!!!"

"Eeep!!! Shippo!! What's the matter?" Kagome faltered as the sound or Shippo's voice brought her back to reality. The kitsune pouted at her feet until he was certain Kagome was actually listening.

"Kagome, where did Inu Yasha go?" Kagome sighed and sat down at the base of a tree.

"I don't know Shippo." She pulled the chain holding the Shikon no Tama out from beneath her neckline. 'Such a little jewel. Who would have thought it would be so powerful, or that it was inside me?' Kagome sighed and rolled the jewel between the palms of her hands. 'Gotta do something. That baka! How can I walk in circles with Shippo and wait when he wont even tell me why I'm waiting?! This apprehension won't go away. Something's terribly wrong. And that baka just has to throw himself into the middle of it.' Kagome stopped in her tracks and balled her fists. She could feel the dark aura pricking at her neck. In her head, curiosity and self-preservation fought like little kids over a candy bar. Curiosity won.

"Shippo, run."

Shippo stopped chattering at the sound of Kagome's voice. He stared at her for a moment before he realized what she had said. "What? Why?! I wanna stay with you, Kagome!! I promise I'll be good!"

Kagome sighed and smiled at him. "Shippo, I'm going to find Inu Yasha. I don't want you to get into any trouble. I'll meet you at the well later, alright?" Shippo looked at her for a moment, then scooted off with his head down. Kagome sighed and turned.

'Now...Where did I put that emergency bow?'

***

Kagome dug further back into the hollow of the tree, her shoulder knocking against the trunk. 'It has to be here somewhere..' Finally her fingers met the leather handle. She pulled the bow out carefully, taking care not to snap any arrows. She slung the bow over her shoulder and turned towards the village. She couldn't see it over the hill, but she knew the cheerful ki that should have been glowing out from behind it. She felt a strong absence and foreboding, but she was too stubborn to change her mind. Kagome jogged away from the stand of trees as she glanced at her watch. 'Five minutes!! Inu Yasha's left me in the dust by now!' Kagome scowled as she ascended the hill top.

Kagome fell to her knees when she saw what remained of the village. Every home was burned to its foundations, and the embers still glowed red. Charred black skeletons littered the ground, while at the edges of the village there were corpses that had been poisoned and ripped to shreds. One of them was at the foot of the hill, and Kagome fought the urge not to vomit at the sight of the black and green flesh. Kagome stared out across the landscape with tear-filled eyes, thinking, 'Everyone must be dead..Kaede, Mizuno, Aori, Sango, Miroku....all dead...Oh kami...Sango! Miroku! You cant die! Oh kami..my best friend is dead..Sango! You were supposed to be happy now! You were supposed to tell him! Sango! Don't leave me!'

Kagome stood up on shaky legs and looked out again. 'This is why Inu Yasha didn't want Shippo and I to follow..Oh kami!' She spotted a moving red dot amongst the burned huts. 'Inu Yasha! Wait..how come he's moving so slow? He should be long gone by--the smell! His poor nose, I'm surprised he hasn't passed out... Geez, the guy is a horse..'

Kagome gingerly stepped around the corpses and made her way into the village. She tried to keep her eyes on Inu Yasha, tried to stop herself from seeing the bones that peeked out from what was left of Kaede's doorway. Each step seemed harder than the last as Kagome made her way towards the figure in red. The smell of death hung in thick clouds around her head, making her thoughts sluggish. She saw the figure fall to its knees, and rise again, but this time its pace was slower. Kagome broke into a run and didn't notice when she dropped her bow.

*********

Damn that took a long time... Anyways, next chappie really gets the story off!