The girl breathed softly as she tended to the shrine's statues.
They will pay for the injustice I have served…
***
Inuyasha scouted out the area. "Yeah, this looks like a good place to camp. Let's bed down here."
Miroku grabbed Kagome's waist. "You can…bed with me, if you feel lonely, that is."
She slapped him a good one.
"Filthy lecher," she muttered to herself as she stalked away.
"Now see what you did!" Shippou squealed. He bounded off to her side as she spread out her sleeping bag.
"I don't get it," Miroku commented to Inuyasha. "She always refuses me, but that little fox is always welcome with her!"
"Maybe it's because all you wanna do is-…" He was cut short. A noise rung out through the forest around them. It sounded like shrieks.
"No time to sleep now! That sounded like a demon!" Inuyasha claimed. He leapt up to the top of a tree.
"What do you see, Inuyasha?" Kagome called up to him.
"A village. Not too far off. But I don't see any-…"
A huge chunk of rock and dirt came flying at him. He darted out of the way. The piece of ground skimmed the tops of the trees before sinking into the forest a few miles away.
"Correction. I do see signs of a demon. Let's go!" He jumped down, and lifted Kagome onto his back.
Shippou started to protest.
"She's the one that can see jewel shards. We'll meet you there!" Inuyasha bounded off with Kagome.
"Well, we're walking, I suppose. Let's leave our belongings here. Should trouble arise, we won't have to worry about leaving them behind at the village," Miroku said.
***
Inuyasha dropped Kagome. The sight before them was quite strange. There was no sign of any trouble. It was a perfectly normal village. Women picked rice in the fields nearby. Men butchered animals. Children played in the dirt path before them.
"Maybe we can see what's going on in there." Kagome pointed to a temple up the road apiece.
They walked up, amidst stares and whispers, only to see a priest out front waiting for them.
"I see you were drawn by the noises…"
"Yes. What's going on?" Kagome inquired.
"Come in, come in." He motioned for them to follow him.
They entered into a main antechamber. There were a few benches on the sides of the room and a sliding door on the back wall. The priest sat down at a table set with tea. Kagome and Inuyasha sat, too.
"Dear me!" The priest had caught a glance of Inuyasha's ears. "You're a demon!"
"Please tell us about the screams," Kagome goaded.
The priest sighed. "It is not easy to explain. There are sometimes earthquakes, and some of the women and children are still unaccustomed to them. That was where the shrieks came from. Now, since you have traveled all this way, have some tea with me. You're tired. Please."
He lifted the kettle and placed it in front of them. Kagome was doubtful, but poured herself a cup. As she was about to take a sip, Inuyasha hit the cup from her hands!
It clattered onto the floor. "Don't drink that, Kagome! Don't trust it!"
The priest sputtered. "Wha-what is the meaning of this?"