Part 5

Crusade for the Truth

Koga watched me quietly from a safe distance after hearing of what had happened at Lady Kaede's village, "Why would she think we were against her? I could never do that. She doesn't know who I really am, but maybe it's for the better her not knowing.... My future self, the reborn version of me, Kaminari. I want to tell her, but I don't think she should know about me...."

"Well, it depends how much you truly care about her, whether or not she should know."

Koga snorted at the voice of Kaminari in his head, "Don't you know how to knock first?!"

"Hehe, nope. Koga, you care about her as much as I did in the future. If you wish her to know then just tell her we are one."

"I guess you're right....." Koga sighed jumping from his treetop perch.

I still sat quietly, trying to figure out who in the hell I could feel present, "It feels so familiar......" As Koga walked closer, the feeling I had ate more and more away at my heart, "It almost feels as if Kaminari was here."

Koga came within twenty feet of me, then stopped, "Hey Nobara, you okay?"

My eyes widened as I jumped up and turned around, "Kaminari?!" Koga walked into my viewing range. "Oh, Koga, it's you....but you called me 'Nobara', only Kaminari used to call me that."

Koga nodded, "I know."

"How do you know? You don't even know who Kaminari is!"

Koga shook his head, "That gokrakuchou should of killed me that night you saved my tribe."

I thought quietly as I finally realized what he meant, "Y-you mean you're K-Kaminari.....?"

Koga smiled, "Kaminari is myself reborn in the future, but you changed that when you came to the past. You were never supposed to come here, but whatever is causing the darkness to fall upon this world has drawn you here......Jesse, what's wrong?"

I looked up at him and he saw tears rolling down my face. "I'm sorry for being so rude to you, Koga, and I'm sorry for everything else that I've done, I just--"

He walked over and pulled me close to him, "Jesse, whatever your reasons are, I don't care. It's in the past and right now we've got more important issues to deal with."

"But I--"

Koga hushed me again and gazed into my eyes, "I care about you so much, please don't let anything stop you in your fight."

I smiled, "As long as you are there to fight with me."

"I wouldn't dream not being there, I will be by your side forever."

When Koga said that, all the hate and fear inside of me melted away. I gazed deeply into his eyes and saw the real Kaminari within him. I leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, "Thank you, my friend."

He nodded and sighed, "I've got a question, why did you like Kaminari?" I didn't say anything so he lifted my gaze back to his, "Kaminari is within myself now and I need to know why you liked him so I can put his stupid mind at ease."

"I really don't know, I guess it was just the fact that he was always there for me...and he was really cute....."

Right then I heard the beat of wings and I turned to see Fushichou, in his human form, stand up. "Sorry if I came at a bad time, but I was asked to bring these to you." He pulled out Tetsusaiga and the Shikon Crystal.

I took them both and sighed, "Who told you to bring them here?"

"US!" Seiun exclaimed as Kirara landed and he along with Hikari and Tanbun jumped off. Soon enough Yuukei joined us as well.

"How did you two get here? You shouldn't of been able to."

"Yuukei, Tanbun, and Kirara returned with the crystal and we used it to come here," Hikari smiled, "We wanted to come to begin with, but you stole the crystal, remember?"

"Hehehe," I scratched my head, "Sorry, I guess when those Birds of Paradise attacked us I went on gut instinct, it doesn't help I am half demon."

"Don't worry about it, we're just glad you've got your head on straight finally."

I twitched, "What was that, Tanbun?!"

"Ah! Jesse on the loose!" he yelled as he transformed into his human form and ran off. I chased him down and tackled him finally. He screamed and hollered as I laughed at his attempts to get away from me.

"It's good to see those two fight, it's usually you and her," Hikari said to Seiun.

Seiun grinned, "Yeah, I guess."

Yuukei looked over Koga and snorted, "You're the leader of the Demon Wolf Tribe?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Coulda fooled me."

"AND WHO ARE YOU TO BE MAKING ACCUSATIONS?!" Koga yelled at him.

Tanbun and I returned to the small group and I stood between the two bickering. I looked at Koga, "Koga, I'd like you to meet my cousin, Yuukei, the Demon of the Western Lands, Lord Sesshomaru's, son."

"You're related to him? I thought you had better blood in you that ."

"Watch it, wolf boy, I don't take lightly to those who chase after my family."

Koga glared at him, "I'm not chasing after her!"

"Will you two stop arguing?!" I exclaimed.

They both went quiet as Fushichou put his hand on my shoulder, "It's alright, Jesse, things will work out. Besides, everyone, we've got more important things to deal with right now. We've got to figure out who or what is causing the chaos in this era. I'm afraid if we don't figure it out soon, that it might start to really effect your era as well."

We all nodded, "Yeah."

After about twenty minutes I came up with a plan that I knew they'd be skeptical about, "Let's split up; two go north, two go south, and so on."

"Isn't that a little risky, though? What if we get into trouble? Two of us might not be enough," Fushichou asked.

"Each group would have a demon who can move quickly and knows their way around. Let me see...Seiun, Koga, and Kirara; Hikari and Hachiemon; Tanbun and Yuukei; and me along with Fushichou."

"Who's Hachiemon?" Hikari asked me.

"An old friend of your father's," I stated as I put my hand on the jewel, "Crystal, find Hachiemon Raccoon and bring him here!" In no more than 5 seconds was a short, chubby demon raccoon standing in front of me.

"Lady Jesse, what do you need of me?"

"Not me, Hikari," I pointed to her, "She is the daughter of Sango and Miroku, you shall aide her in her quest."

He nodded, "Very well, then."

"Why are the three of us together?" Seiun asked me.

"Every group also has to have someone who knows their way around this world, Kirara may know the world, but it has changed since she was last here so that's where Koga comes in. Yuukei knows his way around because he comes here often, and I also know my way around by being here for as long as I have."

Yuukei sighed, "Well, if we're going, then let's go." We all nodded.

"Alright, Yuukei and Tanbun, you can travel the fastest so head south; Hikari and Hachiemon, you both head east; Koga, Seiun, Kirara, you three head west; Fushichou and I will continue north. We will meet back at Lady Kaede's village in a week, that should give us enough time to get a lot of ground covered."

"What if something happens?" Tanbun questioned, "What if we get attacked?"

"I will make it so we can send messages telepathically to one another. That way if anyone gets attacked or if a group gets separated someone will come to help you," I placed my hands around the crystal and held it tightly, "Everyone, place a hand or paw on me." Kirara changed into her small catlike form and jumped onto my head as the rest all placed a hand on me. "Crystal of Four Souls, I, Jesse, call upon your powers. Give everyone the power of telepathy for this journey ahead of us....use your power to grant this skill upon us!" The crystal began to glow brightly and enveloped everyone in it.

When the light faded away Kirara jumped off my head and transformed back into her true size. Everyone looked at each other wondering if it had worked so I broke the seal, "LET'S GET A MOVE ON PEOPLE! WE DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!" The entire group looked at me and nodded, signaling they had heard me. Yuukei called his winds and he and Tanbun left first. After they were out of sight, Hachiemon transformed into a huge cloud like form and Hikari sat on top of him as they flew off into the distance.

Koga walked over to me and took my hand in his, "Jesse, be careful out there, I want to be able to see you again."

I smiled, "Don't worry, it'll be alright, but just in case, you three be careful as well, and don't fight with each other either." He nodded and kissed my cheek like I had done to his earlier. Kirara then walked over to us with Seiun already on her back. Koga let my hand go and climbed on to Kirara's back and she took off. Fushichou walked over to me and transformed into his phoenix wolf form. I climbed onto his back and we took off into the sky as well.