Long Gone and Forbidden

By: Dragon Lady

Chapter Three

"A few days after we received your letter. we met up with Shaddow, Shade, and Nathifa, the girl pinned with Inuyasha. She wasn't much of a problem at first, but she seemed to always be hiding something about herself that made us all wonder."

/"What do you want?" The red head asked with a snarl. The two demons stood in front of the dark haired girl with steel gray eyes.

"Nothing. We were just-" The monk started.

"Don't make excuses, Miroku. That one looks like she's about ready to eat us." Inuyasha snapped, interrupting the dark haired man. With a quick flip of his thumb, the half demon withdrew his bloodstained sword from its sheath. "Besides, the Tetsusiaga should make plenty of excuses for them."

The woman grinned, baring already bloody fangs while the man standing a little off to the side, crossed his arms with a frown. The man looked a bit scrawny, and he carried no weapons, only a reed pipe.

"We're escorting our friend to someone who can help her. better." The man stated, throwing in the last word after receiving a glare from the woman. "We are of no threat."

"Can I ask to where you are escorting the young woman?" Miroku asked, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Not only did he receive a three glares and another bruise, but a look of confusion and curiosity. The monk rubbed his head where the half demon had thumped him.

"No, Miroku! She's won't have your kid!" Inuyasha yelled at him. "Stop trying to get someone already! You'll meet 'em when you meet 'em!" The white haired boy had his fist raised as though to hit Miroku again, but Sango beat him to it.

"So stop trying to get between every woman's legs! Otherwise." The exterminator slipped her fingers into place on her large boomerang.

"Shaddow. Shade." The midnight haired girl said softly. "They won't hurt us."

The demoness looked back at the girl and muttered something only Inuyasha and she could here. The dog demon's ear flicked and he replaced his weapon back into its sheath.

"Alright, Nathifa. Whatever you say. Just don't come crying to me if-"

"Shaddow. I thought we weren't going to talk about that." The girl called Nathifa murmured with a pout. Shaddow rolled her eyes, making a disgusted sound. After a moment, the girl added. "Can't we travel with them? Until we get to that place."

"I don't know." Shaddow said tartly. "Ask them."

Nathifa looked at Inuyasha, letting the half demon see things. He saw the pain of her past and the sorrows of her possible, and most likely to be, future. He swallowed seeing many of the same things from his past. All the hurt and anger bottled up and suppressed in some dark recess of her being just so she wouldn't hurt anyone she didn't have to.

Inuyasha's ear twitched. Someone had just asked him something, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from hers. There was something about her. Half of her seemed familiar, while the other was foreign. The half demon tilted his head slightly, squinting as if trying to see into her more.

A hand passed in front of her visage, and Nathifa's eyes had gone to the ground. Inuyasha blinked and looked towards the fox demon now perched on his shoulder. He glared, causing the demon boy to yip and jump to Keylala.

"Well, Inuyasha? The rest of us have agreed. What about you?" Sango queried. Inuyasha nodded and murmured his agreement. He could learn more about this girl and keep Miroku from making any sort of unwanted moves towards her. The female demon seemed perfectly capable of handling herself, but the girl. helpless, yet brimming with power.

//Why does she seem so. familiar?// The half demon asked himself as he followed the group, staying between Miroku and Nathifa.\

Kagome looked at Miroku as he paused and sucked in a deep breath. Sango sighed, absently stroking the sleeping Keylala. And the demoness vaguely poked to the fire.

"Miroku?" The dark haired girl murmured. The monk looked up seemingly startled.

"Oh. Right. Shaddow didn't like any of us at all for the first few months. Shade, well, he did as he pleased. Coming and going, but never staying for too long, not long enough to get to know him well. Nathifa." He smiled at some memory before continuing. "She warmed up to all us, even me, very quickly. She told us a lot about herself, never once expecting us to do the same."

"She was just glad to have the company," Shaddow interjected still pushing the timbers around.

"But she always talked to Inuyasha the most." Sango threw in her own comment about the girl, but never once took her eyes of the flames that licked the air. "It was like she knew what he was before he ever told her. Like she knew she could. I don't know. Get along with him because he was a half demon, you know?"

"Wait. She's half demon?" The three nodded at the same time. "But she looks human. She can't be, not when she has nothing to prove-"

"Her demon abilities. The very things I've been trying to stir to life within her. She rarely ever used them, and only to a small degree when she did."

"Then what's her other half?" Kagome asked, remembering the girl who looked like every other normal human. The three didn't answer. Instead, Miroku continued.

/She jumped from one branch to another, trying her hardest to keep up with the others and her balance. She had removed her shoes, holding them in one hand as she stepped over to the next branch.

Shaddow rolled her eyes at the girl, muttering things like 'damn idiot' and 'she's gonna fall and bust something' every now and then.

"What's the m. matter, Shad-ddow?" Nathifa asked as she continued to try to keep her balance and talk. Her body tipped precariously to one side, making the girl lean and flail her arms slightly. "Afr-raid! I'm going to f- fall?!" The midnight haired girl stopped dropping to grip the branch with her hands and steady herself again.

"Would you get down? I'm not carrying you anywhere if you fall and break something. And especially not if you beg and whine. Demons don't beg, and they never, ever whine. They're-"

"Ruthless. Yea, yea. I know. You only told me one thousand four hundred twenty six times in the past year. Anyway, I'm not all demon, only half." Nathifa was back up leaping and stepping from one branch to another, a little faster than before. Shippo and Keylala were already ahead with Sango, checking for anything unusual.

Inuyasha, having stayed back to watch Miroku, glanced up at the girl a bit surprised she was half demon. She looked so human and she didn't smell anything like a demon, not like Shaddow or Shade. He turned his gaze in front of him, keeping a watch on her out of the corner of his eye.

//Shaddow's right, though. Demons were suppose to be ruthless. Even half demons have a streak in them at times. Haven't seen her be anything but. nicer than a human. Maybe it's the cause of her past.// He wondered, not listening to what Shaddow was telling the girl.

"Get down! You don't even know if there are other, greedy demons up in the trees. You'd be saving me from a heart attack and a possible, pre-mature death."

"But Inuya-" Nathifa stopped her sentence when her foot slipped and she tried to regain her balance. Shaddow started towards her, but Inuyasha was already there. He grabbed her around the waist and leapt down, dropping her without realizing he'd done so. It had become a habit with the monk and Kagome.

Shaddow's dark red eyes glanced at him, then at the girl, who was pulling her shoes back on her feet. The demon woman frowned and hit the girl in the back of the head in a motherly fashion.

Miroku tried to move towards Nathifa to offer his comfort, but the white haired dog demon stepped up next to her, hands stuffed into the opposite sleeves of his shirt. The monk frowned and dropped behind him and to the other side of the girl.

"Are you alright, Nathifa?" He asked solemnly. She turned her gray gaze on him and smiled, but the smile disappeared and she jumped towards Inuyasha.

The half demon put an arm around the girl, glaring at the monk. Miroku held up his hands innocently with a harmless smile plastered to his face. Inuyasha frowned even more. He gently pushed Nathifa to the opposite side, making sure to keep himself between the two.

The midnight haired girl leaned forward to glare around the dog demon at the monk. Miroku caught the glare and swallowed, looking at the trees.

"Hmph." Inuyasha yawned and sent another glare towards the monk. //Wonder what he did. Eh. Probably nothing. She seemed to move before he could.// He glanced at the girl next to him and then up at the sky.

"It's getting dark. Maybe we should set up camp and rest." The half demon suggested.

"Who's going to catch up with Sango and the other two to tell them?" Shaddow asked, dropping back slightly.

"I will."

"I'll go with him." Nathifa piped in. She glanced at the monk and then at Inuyasha. She smiled sweetly. The white haired boy found himself blushing a little as he turned his face away.

"Probably should. No telling what the monk would try." Shaddow chuckled, and looked at Miroku.

"He wouldn't be alive tomorrow if he tried anything." She stated. The dark haired man winced. "Well, if two of us are going, we might as well all go. Nat?"

"But I-" The girl started, but she stopped and obediently hopped onto the demoness's back. Miroku followed suit, hopping on Inuyasha's back before the two demons sprinted to catch up with the three ahead.

"What about Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, wringing her hands. "He didn't /love/ her, did he?" The dark haired girl bit her lip.

Miroku sighed. "None of us know. We can only speculate."

"For all we know, he was just replacing you. She most likely only had a crush on him. we think." Sango finally looked up from the fire and straight into Kagome's eyes. "But a couple of weeks before the. last battle. with Naraku, Inuyasha went off more and more by himself, and so did Nathifa."

"I remember. They would always disappear for a couple hours, but most of the time they went opposite directions. Or they left and came back at different times." The demoness piped. She shifted on her pile of weapons and junk before settling in more comfortably. "Besides, we can't exactly ask them now, can we? They're bound to that tree along with the last jewel shard."

"But I didn't see or sense a." Kagome trailed off remembering some faint inkling of the familiar feeling hanging around the tree.

"Kagome, listen. This may frighten you, and we don't want you to be caught off guard. Inuyasha may attack you when you release him."

"What?!" The dark haired girl practically yelled. "You mean to tell me he's that protective of her?!"

"Keep it down. You'll only succeed in drawing demons to us." Shaddow hissed.

"Like the one that tried to eat me earlier?" She squeaked. The demon nodded. Kagome looked around as though she could see through the walls. After several silent minutes, whispered, "I don't think I'm going to let Inuyasha off the tree this time."

Miroku, Sango, and Shaddow stared at her before looking to one another. "Then, I guess you won't put things back to the way they're suppose to be." The monk stated sounding a little sad.

"We were screwed from the moment she left." Sango muttered.

"Can I ask what happened with you two? Why you guys seem different. Like you've seen-"

"A lot of pain and suffering? Too many deaths to count? Yes, we have. Miroku's lost four kids, and I've lost many friends." Sango murmured.

"Shaddow is really the only one that has a reason to protect and try to change this world back." Miroku's fingers fell on the beads around his opposite hand as he spoke. Kagome knew what he was thinking, and her expression turned to distraught.

"I'm sorry. It's all my fault."

"Kagome. the best way to make it up is to help us get the jewel back. Besides, it would be a lot easier to explain everything that's happened since when we're all together again."

"The only way to get the entire jewel means you would have to release Inuyasha and Nathifa. Since it resides in Nathifa." Kagome nodded firmly and stood.

"Better do it now then." She said, swallowing her fear. Sango and Miroku smiled also standing. Shaddow slowly got to her feet, pulling out blades of various shapes and sizes from beneath the blanket. The monk leaned on his staff as the exterminator roused the sleeping demon cat.

"I have a feel I won't be coming back." The demoness said softly. Pulling out a belt and buckling it on, she noticed something and slowly pulled it off. With a sad smile she dropped it onto the pile and started out the door, followed closely by Miroku, Sango, and Keylala. Kagome looked at the beaten reed pipe that had rolled to the floor, near the dwindling embers of the now dying fire.

"Kagome." The girl heard her name and hurried to catch up.

Author Note:

Yesh, yesh. Longish chapter, but hey! Would you want to wait for the next one to find out? No, didn't think so.

If you pay attention to the beginning, with the memories and junk, you'll know about the reed pipe. So don't bother me!

Hopefully, I can finish this thing like I'm trying to do with the rest. *coughyeahcoughrightcough* Ahem. Excuse me. Had something stuck in my throat.