Okay, sorry about the shortness in last chapter, but this more than make up for it! Anywho, as for why Sango was laughing insanely (Some people asked me that) well… she sort of snapped. She went of into super-magic-crazy land for a little while. Anywho, enjoy.

**

InuYasha sighed, seeming quite unsurprised at the great pillars of fire that sprung from the girl's hands. "Let me guess…" He sighed. "We have to fight you, and if we win, then we get the directions to Vadise, but if we lose, we suffer a horrible painful death… Right?"

            The girl's pillars of fire seemed to deflate, and then extinguish. She crossed her arms, and pouted. "You take all the fun out of it!" She whined.

            "Aren't you supposed to give us some fancy introduction?" InuYasha prompted. Kagome was suddenly struck at how his voice sounded. IT was almost like the old days, and then he did something he hadn't done in a while. His mouth turned upward, and Tetsusaiga came out, resting evenly on his shoulder, and one of his fangs poked out of his mouth. I t was his cocky grin! He hadn't done one in a long time. Kagome sighed slightly. InuYasha had been acting decidedly Un-InuYasha-ish these last few days. It was good to see that gin and hear the arrogant voice again.

            The little girl stuck her tongue out at him. "You're mean!" She declared loudly. "No introduction for you!"

            InuYasha sighed "Suit yourself." He said, and promptly punched her back down into the molten rock.

            InuYasha smugly stepped back two steps, and the girl obligingly exploded from the lava in gout of flames and embers. Her eyes were glowing, and her lips were pulled back in a snarl.  "You dare to-" Suddenly she stopped, and thought for a moment. "Wait a second." She said, still thinking. She looked peevishly up at InuYasha, and snapped her fingers. The pillars of flame extinguished, and the flashy magic faded. "I said you get no introduction." She said dangerously. "And I meant it."

            InuYasha's grin, if possible, got even cockier. "Come on!" He said, almost yawning. "I'm waiting. I ain't got all day, and I need to find Vadise soon."

            The girl sighed. "Fine." She said, and held out a hand. A wickedly curved sword appeared in her hand. "Let's get to it."

InuYasha gently let Kagome to the floor. His eyes narrowed, and smoothly, he launched himself at the little girl.

~~

            Sango moaned. Her entire body felt like there were little needles pricked through it. She very slowly tried to open her eyes… that was not a good idea. Light pierced through her pupil, and seared into her retina. She didn't scream… but only because it hurt to move her vocal chords. What had happened? There was the flash of light… the lighting. How was she still alive?

            Someone was with her. She could hear whoever it was moving around. She felt a gentle hand guide her head up so that she faced the sky. There was a cool, slightly gritty liquid poured on her slightly open lips. She felt the dirty water on her tongue, and she moaned again, swallowing slightly.

            After a short while the gentle flow stopped, and the gentle hand on her cheek left.

            She inhaled slightly, and managed to croak out "Thank you."

            The footsteps stopped for a moment, then resumed. She could make out a slight scraping, and then a ripping sound.

            Suddenly, whatever was covering her (Odd she hadn't even noticed it before,) was pulled back, and she felt herself slowly lifted forward. Slowly, cloths strips were wrapped around her midriff, and then she was set back down. Dimly, she was aware that whoever was taking care of her was seeing her without anything on, but at this point she really didn't care. Tenderly, the blanket was replaced, and the person sat down next to her, holding her hand gently.

~~

            InuYasha swung Tetsusaiga savagely overhand at the girl, slashing the air where she had been just a moment before. However, she was already beside him, and the thin, curving sword slashed in, parting his robe smoothly, and biting into his side.

            The hanyou groaned in pain, and quickly slashed across in an attempt to hit the girl. She gingerly ducked below it, and nicked his shoulder.

            InuYasha came down gingerly on the other side of the pool, and raised Tetsusaiga in a defensive pose. The girl laughed, and the sword reformed into two daggers in her hands. She flew forward at lighting speed, and started reigning blows down on the struggling hanyou.

            Damn! She was fast! A slash at his feet, then a thrust at his head, followed by an underhand swing at his knees. How could he dodge all the blows? He winced as a bloody slash was drawn across his cheek, and then his robe split open even more as another gash appeared at his other side. She was too fast!

            Suddenly it clicked. He jumped away, and slammed Tetsusaiga into the ground.

            The girl grinned as the sword morphed back into its little old beat up Katana form. InuYasha grinned back, and drew the now very light blade out of the ground.

~~

            Sango swallowed a bit more water when it was fed to her this time, and even a little bit of meat. It was odd, and stringy, and had a very… odd flavor… but she ate it anyway. Everything tastes like chicken when you're hungry enough.

            She nodded her thankfulness to her rescuer again, and closed her eyes. A firm, gentle hand clasped hers again, and Sango drifted off to sleep.

~~
            The girl cracked a smile at the beat up old blade, then started a full blown laugh, pointing at the little blade. The laugh lasted right up until InuYasha somehow managed to sprint up to her, and bring it down on the back of her neck as hard as he possibly could.

            There was a sickening little crack, and the girl fell to the ground, panting in pain. Slowly, she got to her feet. InuYasha noticed with some satisfaction, that her human guise was starting to fade. Her eyes were now just pure red, without any Iris or Pupil or anything. Around her joints and the sides of her face, her skin was slightly scaly, and her fingers now ended in claws. She growled slightly, and her eyes narrowed.

            "That was a mistake." She remarked. Small horns were starting to poke out of the nest of crimson hair on her head. "I correct mistakes."

            Suddenly, she shot forward, moving even aster, and lashed out with her claws, tracing miniature lines of fire in the air.

            InuYasha grinned slightly, and quickly blocked the blows with nice, smooth strokes, and then began to hack back, using wide, long, but incredibly swift strokes. InuYasha still used the weapon like a club, but this one was less sharp, and much, much faster.

             The girl winced every time she blocked a blow, and finally retreated back to the center of the lava pool. She crossed her legs, and stuck her tongue out at him. Obligingly, a long stream of the molten rock lanced out strait out at the hanyou.

            He yelled in surprise, and blocked the blow clumsily, bringing Tetsusaiga back into its large form.

            The girl grinned slightly, and suddenly about ten more streams lanced out, and began striking savagely at the hanyou, lashing out with stream after stream.

            Kagome watched in horror as the hanyou did his best to defend himself, and she was totally helpless! If only she had a bow! Kagome bunched the blanket around herself, and glared at the odd dragon girl. Oddly enough, she seemed to be cooler under the blanket than out… which was a blessing in this intense heat.

            The girl scowled as InuYasha barely dodged the last lance of boiling rock. HE was moving faster that he was a moment ago. The stupid hanyou wasn't making this any fun! How was she supposed to get any enjoyment out of this if he dodged all her attacks. Obviously, she could simply stop him dead, but that just felt like cheating! It wasn't fun that way either. She sighed, then got an idea. Her gaze shifted to Kagome.

            Kagome "Eep"ed as their eyes met, and she slowly started to back away. InuYasha saw the look on the girls face too late, and already started a dash towards Kagome. But it was to late. The miko threw herself to the ground, desperately, and was then enveloped by a pillar of fire.

            InuYasha stopped dead in his tracks as the fire pillar swirled. Slowly, his eyes shifted over to the girl. The girl, however, paid him no mind. She seemed preoccupied.

            The fire cleared, leaving only a charred lump. InuYasha glanced at the charred lump in shock. They had come all this way, and now-

            Kagome stood up, still hugging the quilt around her. InuYasha and the girl blinked in unison. Neither Kagome nor the quilt had any scratched on them.

            InuYasha stepped forward, grabbing Kagome out of the way. Two seconds later, the fiery dragon girl dashed forward, enveloped in flames, and picked up the quilt. She scowled at the piece of knitting, and stalked over to the lava pool. She dipped the quilt in, then back out. It was fine. She dipped it in again, and out again. Not a scratch. In a third time, then out yet again. It steamed slightly.

            The dragon looked over at pair, and scowled. "That's CHEATING!" She yelled, pointing at the quilt.

            "That's enough, Tiamet!" Said a familiar voice. All three combatants looked up to see Aaron, sitting on top of a rock, laughing slightly. The dragon rolled its eyes, and slapped a clawed hand to her face.

            "Aaron!" She yelled. "I called you yesterday! What the hell took you so long?"

            Aaron grinned, and jumped down, landing neatly in front of Kagome and InuYasha. "This is my master, Tiamet." He explained. "Sorry about the whole attacking thing, but she gets sort of bored." He thought for a moment. "I don't think she would have killed you…"

            Kagome did not think he sounded sure of this.

            Taimet scowled as she stalked up to her Dragoon. "This is yours, I take it." She hissed, thrusting the quilt in front of his face.

            "Kitty's, actually." He said smoothly, still smiling. "She can be tricky."

            Tiamet nodded. "Speaking of that girl, Khellendros has been killed." She said. For once, she seemed serious.

            Aaron tensed up, and his smile faded only slightly.

            InuYasha and Kagome exchanged confused glances. "Umm." The miko voiced. "What's going on?" She asked.

            Aaron sighed, and turned to Tiamet. "Can I?" He asked.

            Tiamet shrugged, and nodded. Aaron, smiled, and turned to them. "Welcome to Dragon Culture 101" He said in the voice of someone off an infomercial… which was fairly impressive given that they hadn't been invented yet.

            "First of all, you all know about dragons. They're big and powerful, and you just want to avoid them in general."

            "Hey!" Tiamet said. She hit him savagely on the head. "We're nice."

            "You've just been contradicted." Aaron said, indicating the bump on his head. Tiamet grumbled slightly. "AS I was saying, each dragon like to have a knight." He said. "Or as they like to call them, Dragoons. I am Tiamet's Dragoon." He shrugged. "There used to be lots of us, but they sort of faded out of style a little while ago. Kitty, whom you have met, belongs to a dragon named Khellendros." He sighed. "there are a few others, but mostly, it's just me, Kitty, and that new guy of Atma's." He snapped his fingers, looking for the name.

            "Kohaku." Tiamet supplied.

            "Kohaku!" Aaron agreed, nodding.

            Kagome and InuYasha exchanged looks. "Kohaku… as in a young youkai exterminator." Kagome probed. "Short, scruffy topknot. Brown and black armor?"

            Aaron nodded. "That's funny. Kirara said that you guys knew him." Suddenly his eyes opened wide, and his hand slapped across his mouth.

            "Kirara?" Demanded InuYasha, Kagome, and Tiamet at the same time.

            "Ehe!" Laughed Aaron nervously. "Just forget I said that."

            Tiamet glared at him. "What are you doing hanging around Kirara?" She demanded.

            Aaron started to sweat.

            InuYasha glared at Tiamet. "And how do you know about Kirara?" HE asked.

            Tiamet pouted. "She hangs out with Vadise a lot. For a while, we thought she might have been Vadise's dragoon, but apparently not. I guess their just old friends."

            Kagome and InuYasha exchanged confused glances a third time.

            "I can tell you about that later!" Said Aaron hastily. "But now you have to save Kagome."

            "What about Khellendros?" Kagome asked, still curious.

            "Ah, right!" Aaron said snapping. "Well, Kitty is Khellendros's dragoon, and Khellendros just died." He said.

            Kagome and InuYasha Gave him expectant looks. "Yes?" InuYasha finally prompted.

            Aaron sighed. "Well, it's considered a great dishonor for a dragoon to outlive his or her master. If that happens, then the dragoon must seek out the dragon's killers, kill them, then kill herself." He said rather glumly.

            "Oh." Said Kagome quietly.

~~

            Sango awoke again to her wound being rewrapped. She moaned slightly, and struggled to get up. "Who are you?" She managed to ask.

            There was a silence, then a voice broke the silence. "I can't tell you that." Said a masculine voice. One that she recognized. "If I did you'd slap me to death."

            Her lips pursed, and she scowled. "You're lucky I can't move my arms, houshi-sama."

There was another silence. "Are you sure you want to tell me that?" Miroku asked jokingly. Her gently leaned her back down, and restored the cover (His outer robe) to it's rightful place.

HE slowly stood up, and walked over to the miniature well he had dug in the sand. The water was dirty and gritty, but it was still water. He scooped some up in his hands, and carefully brought it over to Sango. "Can you drink?" He asked.

Sango nodded slightly, and opened her mouth. "Miroku carefully drizzled the water past her lips, and then shook off his hands. He couldn't help but notice that she had very nice lips… and a very nice face.

Miroku looked down at her. It was amazing that he could still think that. The dragon had left it's mark. Her hair was mostly burnt off, leaving it shorter even than his. Her face and shoulder's were burnt very badly. Horrible blisters ran on her cheeks, and shoulders. And although she was covered, the rest of her body bore the marks of battle as well. Miroku had a strong constitution, but the wound on her side, where she had been closest to the bolt, even made him feel dizzy. Miroku looked sadly down at Sango. She would definitely be scarred. He was amazed that she still had eyesight. He caught her looking around every once in a while… but the light probably hurt her eyes.

The monk clasped her hand gingerly, and gently rubbed the back of it comfortingly. "We'll get you fixed up." He murmured. "Don't you worry."

Sango opened her eyes slightly, and looked strait at him. Miroku noticed that one was now different that the other. Her left eye was normal, but her right now seemed to have no pupil at all. Was she half blind?

Sango smiled at the monk, and clasped his hand back. "Arigato… houshi-sama." She said.

Miroku nodded in acknowledgement. There was a suddenly skidding in the sand, and he turned around quickly.

Standing on top of one of the dunes, was an odd youkai. She was black furred, and dressed in a bright Kimono. She was giving them an odd, horrified stare.

Miroku sighed, and stood up, Massaging life back into his right hand. The dragon had been immense, and the wind tunnel had been badly split. It couldn't take much more use. Her gingerly picked up his broken monks staff, and dusted off his tattered robe.

The youkai looked down at him. "I am Rinpu Chuan." She said. "Also known as Kitty." She looked around. "Was it you who slew Khellendros?"

Miroku knew It would be a very bad Idea to lie. He nodded.

Kitty sighed. "I'm sorry." She said. "But as is my duty, you're life is forfeit, as is mine." She intoned this last part in an ancient archaic voice. Then she looked up. "I met InuYasha and Kagome." She said. "They are fine, and well on their way to Vadise."

Miroku nodded again, keeping his face emotionless.

"I am once again truly sorry." She said, shaking her head. "But I must kill you."

Another nod, and Miroku raised his staff.

Kitty nodded. "Honestly, I didn't like Khellendros." She said, holding up her claws. "But I can't give you any leeway." She sighed, and dashed forward, toward the silently waiting monk.

**

            THERE! ARE YOU HAPPY YOU VULTURES! 5 PAGES! ALL FOR YOU! 2,838 WORDS!

            Hehe. This is the length I want to make most of my chapters, but I just can't type very fast. It took me almost 2 hours to type this. It's pathetic isn't it. Hehe. Anywho, have a great summer, And I'll try to get another one up Sunday or Monday. Toodles.