*This so far is my latest complete chapter. This one centers on Kagome and Shippo, but not too completely I might add. It begins with Kagome, but ends with everyone coming together at the battle scene. I hope you like this chapter...and I will truly try to update soon! Enjoy!*

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha and co. but someday...I might be an associate artist or writer for the manga and anime! (Yeah...I'm dreaming again. But it's fun to dream!)

Chapter 26

Kagome's heart skipped a beat when she felt the first twang of the demon's fight from afar. She could feel Kikyo's presence up there for some reason, and Kojika's too, and the Shikon shards she had with her were reacting with their own pulses as well.

There was something powerful going on in the forest, and the two miko blooded female warriors were there. If that were the case, she would have to be there too.

She stared down at the three full water bottles she and Shippo had collected already, as the little Kitsune fanned out his tail from having fallen into the stream that was their chosen location.

"Cold..." He continued to mumble, blowing on his tail and swatting it with his little hand. "Cold..."

Kagome reached behind her and produced her small vile of shikon shards to examine. Each of them glowed a deadly dark pink...which only meant that the shards energy was working on negative energy.

But how?

She was the only one holding them, and she hadn't learned to turn the jewel shards into a certain kind of energy on whim...unless...

Could Kikyo do that...or was it Kojika doing it...? Probably warning her or something...like she was needed for this battle.

But Kojika wouldn't do something like that...to call her there...No...she would handle the situation herself.

Unless she wanted Kagome to be there...to see something...or to learn something...

Well...in any case...Kagome was not at all the kind of person to leave a distressing signal unanswered.

"Shippo...do you sense anything strange?" she asked, pulling her fourth bottle from the stream...dripping with the clean cool water.

"Yeah. It feels like there's a ton of demons trying to catch my attention all at once. What do you think it means Kagome?" He asked, looking to his mother figure for an answer.

"I'm not sure...but I think we should check it out." Kagome replied, picking up bottles. "Come on. We'll leave these at the Inn."

Shippo nodded and dragged the two bottles he had managed to get full along behind him. Once they had arrived to the Inn, and secured the water in the special bag Kagome carried for them, they set out towards the area Shippo could feel the strange presences coming from.

Kagome only hoped...that it wasn't anything too serious.

She wasn't the strongest of their little team...everyone could see that...but she was more of a back up weapon...Like an emergency item. When Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, and Kirara could not fight another minute, Kagome stepped in with the bow and an arrow and shot their opponent's head off. Yep...that's usually how it worked.

After a while of walking, and Shippo's constant chatter from her shoulder...she and her little kitsune arrived to the scene of what had attracted their attention.

Kagome couldn't help but gasp.

An army of dragons, many plain soul stealers, and eight unique dragons, fought before her in a ferocious battle. Kagome figured in an instant that the soul stealers were Kikyo's, considering she was the only one she had ever seen with them in her presence. The other eight however, she had never laid on eyes on before.

Well...that wasn't entirely true. Seven of them she had never seen before.

Kazu she recognized.

Which only meant that Kojika was in the area, and had somehow managed to create seven more dragons to battle with Kikyo's.

That...and the fact that these new dragons were kicking the hell out of the others. She witnessed a blue one jump up and slap one of the soul stealers with it's fin like tail, and a yellow one with green stripes open it's mouth and send what was familiar to an electric shock towards another. A green one continually threw seeds on it's opponent, in which tiny life sucking plants sprouted and bloomed with the use of the blood, and a lavender one flapped it's wings to destroy bits and pieces of the other.

Kazu constantly shot fire balls from his mouth at his opponents, and some times grabbed them from his mouth and tossed it around a bit should one of his partners become over powered. The most interesting, was a certain black scaled dragon, that would fly into a tree and disappear, and then pop out cleanly from another behind those following him and bite them, causing them to shrivel and disintegrate. Kagome's first impression of this one was that it held extremely poisonous fangs.

Kagome took a good look around, hoping to perhaps find the dragon and miko here at the scene, for the jewel allowed her to sense them now that she was so close.

She found them instantly with a loud crack and fall of a tall tree a little distance from where she and Shippo stood. Kikyo had produced her bow and was now positioning another arrow to shoot, while Kojika spent her time vanishing a re-appearing to confuse the miko. A good strategy, except that Kikyo had been born with demonic senses, capable of locating Kojika where ever she decided to turn up.

She almost snipped off an arm when Kojika appeared in front of a rather large boulder.

Kagome wanted to shout to them, to inform them that she was there and that she would help Kojika any time she wanted, when she heard the swift rumble of leaves and branches behind her.

She turned around so fast she nearly fell over, but it was only Inuyasha.

"What's going on?" He asked, sniffing the air. "There's a strong smell of dragons here."

"Kojika's fighting Kikyo." Kagome replied with a sick feeling in her stomach. She already had an idea of how Inuyasha would react upon finding his old love in a battle with his old mentor.

"What?!" He asked, fighting to keep his voice down so he wouldn't be heard. Kirara jumped in from behind him and landed on his shoulder, mewing as if asking the same question Inuyasha had a moment ago.

"Look for yourself." She told him, pointing to the feud of mini-dragons and then to the main fight behind them.

By now, Kojika had popped up behind Kikyo and stolen her quiver of arrows, just to re-appear in a tree to leave them dangling from a high off branch. Kikyo made a signal with her hand, that caused one of her dragons to fly up to the tree in an attempt to retrieve the stolen weapons, when Kazu jumped up and bit it in the neck.

"Why are they fighting?" He asked, suddenly becoming red in the face. Kagome figured he would become angry any minute now, march out between the fighters with out even thinking, and pluck both girls away from each other so they couldn't kill each other.

"That's what I was about to ask?" came the monk's familiar voice from behind Inuyasha. Miroku and Sango, fully prepared for battle stepped in, nodding to the two.

"I'm not sure." Kagome answered. "When I got here, they had already started."

"Well we have to stop them!" Shouted Inuyasha, preparing to run out between. Didn't Kagome know him so well?

But a voice that echoed in their heads all at once stopped them.

"Don't bother to intrude Inuyasha. This is no real battle. I am simply testing Kikyo out, the same way she is testing me. Stand on the side and watch."

When they managed to glimpse the dragons face, they could see the mischief in her eyes. Only problem was, Kikyo was beginning to become annoyed with the dragons leaping and vanishing, and had now sent two dragons to pluck her back her arrows. This time, she succeeded, and strung an arrow back around the same time Kagome felt her jewel shard give off another twang.

So it wasn't either of them...but then...who was causing the jewel to radiate like this.

Kojika reappeared before a tree. She smiled to Kikyo, presenting her playfulness, but in a matter of minutes, that expression melted.

In a flash, Kojika had turned her head in an adjacent area to the battle, and was now displaying a form of shock and surprise, not usual for the dragon's cool and calm manner.

"What's wrong with Kojika?" asked Inuyasha, his hand zipping to the hilt of his trusted Tetsusaiga.

"I don't know." Kagome replied, balling her hands into tight fists.

Something wasn't right here...There was another presence...another something that was in the area...Something so powerful it was beginning to make even Kojika nervous.

But who...

*So...did I leave you in suspense? Do you really want to know what happens...and who it is that's distracting Kojika. Well...I'll warn you...the next chapter is kind of sad...I already have some of it planned out in my head. Please be patient for my next chapter...for I may not have a lot of time to write it an update. Thank you for reading my story! Catse2000 is out for now! Send me e-mails on what you think of the story...and I'll do my best to bring the next chapters up. I still have many things coming up...and yes...there will be a huge finishing battle scene at the end of the story...but only I know who will be fighting who...and who will be the casualties. So read on...and enjoy!*