Shippo was in trouble. He was totally lost, on an ancient land; he had no Idea where his friends were, and now this.

            He had finally reached the dark line on the horizon… and desperately wished he hadn't. It was cooler here than in the desert… that was for sure. Clouds blocked out the sky, obscuring the sun… and from the looks of the shriveled, dead plants all around him, it had been like this for some time. It was dark here, very dark. The temperature was cooler, but Shippo still found himself wishing he was back in the desert.

            Everywhere he looked, there was death lying around. There were huge piles of death everywhere! Why would any dragon want this stinking land? Whole skeletons were lying around all over the place! Why would anyone want to live here?

            Shippo gingerly walked over to a skeleton. It had teeth marks on it.

            The little kitsune took a deep breath, and slowly turned around, praying that the desert would still be there. There was nothing but wasteland behind him, as far as the eye could see. Shippo grimaced, and turned around again. Still only wasteland. Shippo sighed, and began to walk.

~~

Sango awoke slowly. There was a dull ache running through her… the kind that comes when you lie in a bed for to long. She slowly struggled to get up, and failed miserably. She slumped back to the sand, lying on her pack, and panting heavily.

"Well, you're awake!" Said a cheerful feminine voice.

Her eyes opened slightly, and she could see a girl standing in the sand, looking at her with a big grin. "Hiya!" She said cheerfully.

Sango's eyes widened. Was that who she thought it was?

Atma walked firmly over, her wings stretching out, and her tail casually whipping the sand back and forth. "How ya feelin?" She asked amiably.

Sango blinked at the dragon… Then paused to think. She blinked again. Something was wrong. She blinked again. Something was very wrong. She winked her left eye. Nothing happened. She blinked her right eye. Her world went black.

"Erm." Atma said, slightly embarrassed as Sango opened her eye again. "You're still half blind." She confessed. "I didn't know my way around the human body well enough to actually help ya there." She said, rubbing the back of her head. "If I made a mistake, then it would sort of be…" She shrugged, and drew a clawed finger across her neck. "Y'know… URK!" She giggled, and shrugged again. "Oh, well!" She said cheerfully. "No harm done eh?" She kneeled down, and brought her face close to the confused youkai exterminators. "How's the rest of the healing going. Any pain?"

Sango's jaw opened. "Umm." She said.

Atma nodded. "Well, that's to be expected." She gave her a sorrowful look. "Sorry about the scar." She said, pointing to the girl's side. "I did my best."

Numbly, Sango looked down, and saw a long, wide, ugly scar all over her side. She looked back up at Atma, now thoroughly confused.

Atma still had a wonderfully cheerful look on her face. "But look on the bright side!" She said happily. "At least we can't see you're intestines any more!"

Sango blinked a few times at her.

Atma slapped her hand to her forehead. "Oh, but where are my manners!" She said loudly. "Her I am chatting away and you're lying there aching like no tomorrow!"

She laughed, a deep throaty laugh, and promptly took off her cape. "Here, put this on." She said. "The monk's of looking for some water. Now that you're better, hell probably be more of a perv. Let's get you some clothes."

Not quite sure what to make of this, the youkai hunter slowly rose to her feet, and dropped the cover, which she could now see was the monk's outer robe.

"Great!" Atma said, draping a big, deep purple cape over the shorter girl's shoulders, and fastening it with a large, ruby clip. Atma inspected her critically. "I dunno Sango." She said critically. "You probably shouldn't be dressing so gaudily."

For once Sango found a voice. "But you're the one-"

Atma interrupted her with the swish of her hand. "Don't worry about that!" She said. "I'll fix it up for you!"

Suddenly, the cape reformed itself around her, pressing in here, out there, getting longer and shorter as was necessary.        Suddenly, she was clad in a baggy purple full body outfit, and it fit her almost perfectly. "Umm… thanks." She said, slightly dumbfounded.

Atma grinned at her. "No problem."

Sango nodded slightly… Then she realized who was standing in front of her.

Atma suddenly found herself grabbed savagely be the neck. "What have you done with Kohaku?" She demanded, bringing Atma very close to her face. Suddenly, their heads collided.

Both Sango and Atma fell back. Sango landed roughly on her back, but Atma stopped in midair, hovering in mid-fall. She was laughing extremely hard.

Sango suddenly leaned up, and growled at her. "What's so funny?" She demanded, confused. She hadn't pulled on Atma that hard, had she?

"You're depth perceptions off!" Atma managed to squeak out between chuckles.

"What?"

"You can't tell how far away things are with just one eye." Atma explained patiently. "You rammed me into you're head."

Sango suddenly felt very sheepish, and even more confused. What was going on?

"As for Kohaku," Atma said conversationally, sitting down in midair as if there was an invisible chair there. "I'll explain about him later, when Miroku and Kitty get back."

"Kitty?" Sango asked, suddenly feeling very weary.

Atma thought for a moment, then nodded. "I think that's her name." She mused. Suddenly she gasped. "You don't think she was lying, do you?"

Sango gaped at the dragon. "What's wrong with you?" She asked bluntly.

Atma shrugged, and laughed. "I guess that I just look at the world differently from other people." She said calmly.

Sango blinked slightly, then pointed at the air below Atma. "You don't have a chair." She remarked.

Atma looked down, and then nodded. The sand obligingly formed a very comfortable looking chair under her.

She looked back up at Sango, grinned, primly crossed her legs, and nodded at her. "So, how are thing's going?" She asked.

Sango shook her head.

~~

            "Umm…" Kagome said nervously. "InuYasha?"

            The dragon regarded them with mild interest.
            InuYasha very slowly backed up, taking very slow, firm steps. He was tired, very tired. He hadn't actually realized how long he had been walking. The sun was already at its zenith, and he had been walking since the early morning yesterday. His hand went slowly towards Tetsusaiga.

            The dragon's claw suddenly snaked forward, and slashed at InuYasha's side. The blade flew away, landing in a deep snow back right near the beast's head.

            "You have the Tetsusaiga…" The dragon hissed in a smooth, silky, masculine voice.

            InuYasha continued to back up very slowly.

            The dragon grinned. "You would be InuYasha and Kagome then." It said. It was not a question.

            InuYasha nodded, very carefully. The dragon could be an ally, but he wasn't willing to risk it.

            The dragon thought for a moment. "Very well." He said.

            InuYasha waited, but the dragon said nothing.

            Finally, the hanyou took the initiative. "I have no quarrel with you!" He said in a loud voice, unconsciously taking the same tone he had used as Kain in Shinjuku. "We must see the dragon Vadise, and have heard she is above this mountain. May we pass."

            The dragon looked at him for a moment. "Vadise is aware of you're presence." He said slowly. "However she is unavailable at the moment. You may not pass."

            InuYasha nodded slightly, crouching down, and getting ready to attempt to run. He didn't have Tetsusaiga with him, so he had to be careful to keep his temper.

            The dragon's eyes widened in amusement. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He advised. "You should stay here, until she is ready."

            InuYasha looked up, and growled. "We really don't have time for that." He said.

            The dragon nodded. "She rather thought you might think that." He remarked. Suddenly his scales shifted, every one of them standing out from his body, like a sea of miniature crystalline knifes. "No offence, but I've got orders." He said.

            InuYasha crouched down, then suddenly dashed forward, heading strait for the dragon. The dragon inhaled sharply, and breathed out. There was no fire, or lighting, or anything. It was just a normal breath… Until it hit InuYasha.

            The hanyou stopped dead still. The air was freezing. It was way below just cold. It was the burning kind of cold… the kind that was so cold that it would turn water to a gas. He couldn't move. He couldn't breath, for his mouth and nose were already frozen. Ice was forming in his lungs! He could barely move. He wasn't being coated in Ice. Ice wasn't forming around him. It was a dry, burning cold. The only refuge he had was the quilt resting against his back, which still gave off a steady heat. At least Kagome was safe.

            It was so… so cold.

            Suddenly, his eyes caught a sweeping talon coming at him. Despite the pain I his frozen joints, he backed up. It was painfully slow, but fast enough to avoid the claw.  

            InuYasha leapt out of the way of another blow, a little faster this time. He could feel the Youkai blood raging under the surface, begging to be let free. He gritted his teeth, and in spite up all his instincts, turn and ran. His feet began to slip on the slick ice, and he could hear the Dragon in taking another deep breath, and prepared to feel the terrible sting of the cold again. His foot slipped suddenly, carrying both him and Kagome to the ground, hard.

            He almost remained motionless as the quilt fell over him, smothering him in warmth, but the single thought of Kagome exposed to the cold got him back to his feet, and kept him running.

            The sounds of the dragon died behind them, and InuYasha slowed. Slowly he turned around, expecting to see the flashing white of teeth and scales.

            The dragon though, was still back on the pass, looking at them with cool, bottomless eyes.

            InuYasha sighed. Well, at least… it wasn't… coming after… them…

            InuYasha was unconscious before he hit the ground.

**

            Woot! What a fun chapter! In case you hadn't noticed, Atma is really really weird, and makes no sense whatsoever.

            Hehe! She's my biggest role model in life. I wish that I could live several thousand years to perfect being weird. Alas, I cannot! Toodles!