"They're on their way." A feminine voice said.
"Good." Another responded in turn, this one seeming younger.
"So. the hanyou found the map?" Said a third, this one masculine.
"Aye. it was easy." The first voice responded, laughing slightly.
"And did she get the jewel shard he threw?" Said the second.
"Indeed." The first responded.
"Perfect. this is going better than even I suspected."
"Yes. but that girl. Sango. She confuses me." Said the masculine voice.
"She should. she holds the key to you're past." Said the first.
"My past? I thought that was lost forever."
"Well, the human mind is an incredible thing." The first voice said, warmly. "One can never expect how it works. You should watch her carefully."
"I will."
"When did they leave?" Asked the second voice.
"Yesterday." The first said. "We should leave soon."
"Well, if we have to." The second voice whined. "Why are they messing with these people anyway?"
"You know them." The first laughed again. "They're meddlers, and besides, this involves Midoriko. They always keep an eye on her."
"Aaa-hhh!" The second voice said, sounding enlightened. "So that's why you got involved in this. We haven't worked together in some time you know."
"Hmph!" The first voice said, affronted. "I would thank you to keep my personal reasons out of this!"
"Hey guys!" A new voice approached. "If you're gonna be around here any longer, I think I'll leave. You're boring me. I'll go ahead to Shinjuku and watch for them there."
"Right!" Said the first voice authoritatively. "You go ahead. I'll stay hidden, making sure they are safe."
"I'll stay with you." Said the third voice. "I want to watch Sango far a while."
"Well," Said the second voice, sounding board. "I wanna play for a little while. I think I'll go and see them."
"I wouldn't do that it I were you." Said the first voice. "You saw how the hanyou can get when he's mad."
"Don't worry." Said the second voice. "I'll be careful." **
Kagome shifted herself uncomfortably. Kirara, she found, was very easy to ride. Trying to cling to InuYasha's back for more than thirty minutes, however, proved to be quite a pain in the butt (Upper back, actually, but Kagome didn't feel like making a stupid joke out of an already stupid cliché).
"You okay?" InuYasha asked, looking over his shoulder at the young miko.
"I'm feeling really sore." She said. "Can we stop pretty soon?"
InuYasha rolled his eyes. "C'mon Kagome! It's barely past noon, and I'm hardly tired at all!"
Kagome considered him thoughtfully. "True, but I'm the one that's riding, and I'm the one who can just say the word-"
"Okay!" InuYasha said, not wanting to hurtle to the ground while running. "We'll stop! Fine, Jeez!"
There was a slight panting from behind them, and the hanyou and the miko both turned simultaneously to see Shippo, in the form of a small horse fall to the ground, his tongue sticking out, and panting in exhaustion. Kagome couldn't really blame the guy. Carrying Sango and Miroku all that way would have to be tiring.
"Kagome?" He wheezed, pulling himself out from under the pair. "can we stop yet?"
Kagome smile, and nodded. "Well stop at the next good place we come to."
"YAY!" The Kitsune cried happily, and promptly climbed up to the top of InuYasha's head.
The hanyou raised his eyes to the kitsune in annoyance, but did nothing about him.
With that the journey resumed, albeit a bit more slowly. until they at last walked out of the woods and into warm sunlight.
InuYasha stopped, and gently let Kagome down. Slowly, the miko rose to her feet, and looked around the hanyou at the clearing.
"WOW!" She said. The place was beautiful! The sky was a brilliant azure blue, with white puffy clouds wafting gently by. A light breeze ruffled against her cheeks, and turned the uniform green of the grass into a wonderful sea of emerald. Off to the west, a small waterfall trickled into a serine pool. Through the field, wildflowers sprouted and bloomed freely. The grass, not having ever been properly cut, reached up easily to her thighs. "It's beautiful." She breathed, her hair brushing up against her cheeks.
Sango and Miroku walked up, looking about if wonder.
Kagome turned to InuYasha excitedly. "Can we stray here today?" She asked. InuYasha looked at her oddly.
"No!" He said. "We have to hurry!"
Kagome's lips thinned, then pursed in a little pout. "C'mon, InuYasha? Please?"
"We can rest here for a little while, but then we need to go." He said sternly.
Kagome crossed her arms and pouted. "Why not?"
InuYasha looked at her. "Need I remind you that-"
Kagome fixed him with a very threatening look. "No you don't!" She said, and stalked off, heading for the pond. Sango looked and InuYasha, shrugged, and followed her, with Shippo close in her wake.
Miroku walked over to InuYasha, and watched them carve a path through the grass. "There is nothing quite as pure as the innocence of nature, InuYasha." He said, sounding very wise.
InuYasha cocked an eyebrow at him. "Huh?"
Miroku shook his head, and resumed watching the girls, praying that they wanted to take a bath. ~~
Kagome could hear Sango and Shippo talking behind her, but paid them no mind. This was a type of beauty that one really couldn't enjoy in modern Tokyo. Sore, there were parks and such, but they were so artificial. This place was wild. Where else could you have grass that reached up to her waist.
"Hey, Kagome!" She heard Shippo cry. "Wait for us!"
Suddenly, almost by divine inspiration, Kagome got an idea. Carefully, she dropped down, and crawled into the grass top her left, making no trail.
Sango and Shippo quickly arrived at the spot where her trail broke off, and looked around. "Kagome?" Sango called. "Where are you?" Worry infected her voice.
Like lightning, Kagome reached out and grabbed Shippo's shoulder. The little Kitsune practically jumped twenty feet in the air, and screamed bloody murder. His eyes must have been the size of dinner plates. As he came back down, Kagome collapsed in a fit of laughter.
"Hey!" he demanded, "That wasn't funny! Right Sango." HE turned to the demon hunter.
The face that Sango wore trying to choke down laughter couldn't possibly be described, so it will remain up to the imagination.
Slowly, Kagome recovered, and sat up. "Whew!" She said, wiping a tear from her eye. "That was fun."
Shippo glared at her. "You meanie!" He cried, obviously not meaning a word of it.
Kagome's eyes narrowed, and her grin widened. "Hey Shippo." She said softly.
Shippo looked up at her. "Huh?"
"You're it!" She said, and took off, running through the grass, quickly disappearing.
Shippo blinked twice, then turned to Sango. "I guess were playing tag." He said.
Sango wiped the tears from her eyes, and nodded.
Calmly, Shippo placed a foot-paw against her ankle. "You're it." He said, and took off in the other direction.
Sango starred at his trail, and cocked her head. "Well, that can't be fair!" With that, she also started tearing through the grass. ~~
"What are they doing?" InuYasha said, as three separate trails spread out below them in the thick grass.
"I believe it's a game known as tag." Miroku said. "One person is 'it,' and he tries to tag another person. The person who gets tagged is then 'it'"
InuYasha scoffed. "Feh! What a stupid game."
Miroku looked at him. "You never played games when you were a child?" He asked.
InuYasha looked at him, then turned away. "Keh!"
Miroku sighed, and shook his head. Suddenly, however, Sango dashed out of the grass, rapped him lightly on the side, and ran off again. "You're it!" She called.
Miroku thought for a second, tracing where the three lines were, and quickly decided on the easiest prey. Lighting fast, he reached over, and tapped InuYasha on the shoulder.
InuYasha turned to him, and cocked an eyebrow.
"You're it." The monk said, and dashed off.
InuYasha blinked at him. "Oh yeah?" He exclaimed, and dashed after the monk. "We'll see about that!" ~~
Kagome rooted herself deep in the grass, hiding rather effectively. They'll never find me! She said, knowing that this was a kids game, yet not caring in the least. Suddenly, a hand placed itself on her shoulder. She whipped around to see a flash of red and silver, and a loud laugh. "You're it!" InuYasha's voice drifted to her ears.
Kagome's lips thinned, and she started to run after him. Slowly, of coarse, making sure not to strain herself, but it was a run, non-the-less.

The game, however, stopped as the miko suddenly fan headfirst into the side of something.
It was big, almost as big as a wolf, and it was covered in blue fur. Slowly, the thing turned and looked at her. It looked sort of like a cross between a wolf and a rabbit, having a wolf like body, but large fluffy ears, and very soft fur. It's back was a light blue color, and its underbelly was pure white. Its tail was big and bushy, almost like Shippo's, blue at the base, and white at the tip. Sprouting from it's back were two elegant, feathery wings. Its eyes were soft and blue, and shone with a cool intellect.
Slowly, Kagome back away from it, but it quickly moved around behind her.
"Well, well?" A soft, feminine voice rang out in her head. "I guess I'm it now, huh?" **
Okay, this was a very different feel from all my other chapters. I was getting tired of having all those dark chapters in there, so I threw in a nice, happy one.
Now, for those of you who are gonna flame me for having them play a "Kiddie game" (I know you're out there) then don't bother reviewing. I'm sixteen, and I still play "Kiddie games." Don't make fun of them. They are the funnest games in the world.
Also, this is my homage to nature. Am I alone when I say that the countryside rocks? I live in western New York, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees and cornfields, and I wouldn't trade it for the world!