Hi! My apologies everyone, but this is a rather short chapter. It's really just a filler chapter between 'action', although there is some more info on Inuyasha for those who aren't all that familiar with the show.
Well, I can say for sure that I wouldn't bother looking for another chapter from me this weekend. I have to go home and work, and then my mom and I are going to meet up with my sister. (We haven't seen her for 3 months!) I'm hoping to get the next chapter out sometime in the middle of next week, but we'll see! :)
Henio: Sorry that this chapter is so short! I promise though that the next two chapters, at least, are much longer than this one!
Kairinu: Thank you! Thank you! ::bow:: I try. :) Hee hee... I've got a deliciously "evil" idea that will appear later that I hope you'll like! That's a few chapters away though…
KhmerGirl: Thank you! I hope you enjoy this chapter! :)
Jabba1: I *love* Kagome and Inuyasha fluff! I'll fit some more in later on in the story. Na uh! Not going to tell you what's coming up! You'll just have to wait and see! ;)
Chelsea C: Glad you like! Hopefully you enjoy this short little chapter too!
All right, well, on to the story! About the "Luna" thing… ::shrug:: it just came out while writing. I was going to originally have it be Malachite, but then I remembered that Serena hadn't met him yet.
Yes, I know, another hot spring. I'm kind of satirizing it all. Everyone uses hot springs in their stories all the time, so I'm putting a lot in here just to make a point. (Although, I've got to say, they are convenient places for the girls to talk!)
Oh, and sorry about the ending! ;) (Gotta love cliffhangers!)
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They all slept in the next morning due to the stresses of the night before. Yet, none slept as late as Serena.
"Come on, Serena. Time to get up," Kagome said.
The prone figure moaned something that sounded a lot like "Just five more minutes!"
"Wake up, wench!" It was Inuyasha's turn to try.
Serena actually cracked open her eyelids for that one, but shut them and rolled over while saying "Fuck off, Luna."
Everyone was surprised by the girl's choice of words, but more surprised at her calling Inuyasha 'Luna'. Said dog demon was fuming at being called by Serena's cat's name.
"Must be the ears…?" Darien guessed with a shrug. "My turn to try." He took a step back from Serena's side and said, "Serena, you're going to be late for school!"
Serena was up and on her feet a moment later looking around wildly. She narrowed her eyes and glared at Darien. "That wasn't very funny!" Then confusion settled onto her face. "How did you know that would work?"
Darien chuckled. "You ask that after running into me screaming 'I'm gonna be late' how many times?"
"Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm up, so let's go!"
Everyone shook their heads, but started out. Although Kagome had to drag Inuyasha away from trying to choke a confused Serena. He did not take kindly to even inadvertently being called a cat.
Serena and Darien fell in together along the path naturally. They talked easily about their lives and started to get to know each other a little better. When they were not talking they walked in a comfortable silence. Not an awkward moment passed between them.
Around late afternoon they came to a village. Miroku got them all a place to stay the night by exorcising an "ominous black cloud" from over the most expensive inn, naturally. The inn keeper gladly gave them the use of two rooms, so they spilt off into two groups. The girls, Shippou and Kirara took one room while the guys took the other. The girls stayed up late into the night talking and laughing and enjoying the feeling of being carefree for once. The guys on the other hand went out into the village, hoping to learn of any more shard rumors. After getting the information they wanted they returned to the inn to get some sleep. They decided not to bother the others with their information until morning.
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The next day the girls were tired but in good spirits as they started down the road that would lead them back to the village. They were slightly surprised when they were told that they were going to head east instead of going back to the village.
"Why are we going east?" Kagome asked.
"Last night we talked to the villagers and there is talk of a wind sorceress wrecking havoc to the east," Miroku explained.
"Kagura!" Sango and Kagome exclaimed at the same time.
"Kagura?" Serena asked.
"One of Naraku's 'attachments'," Kagome clarified. Serena and Darien had been told about the creatures that were a part of Naraku and yet were separate entities. They had been created after Kikyo had given Naraku an almost completed piece of the Shikon jewel that she had stolen from Kagome. With the added power from the Shikon fragment, Naraku had been able to separate pieces of his own flesh to create attachments of himself that he could both control and allow to act on their own accord.
"How far east?" Sango asked.
"A couple days walk," Miroku approximated.
"All right, let's get started then," Kagome said. She noticed the slight look of shock on Inuyasha's face. "What?"
"You're not going to whine about going home?"
"I'm not going to go home for as long as Darien and Serena aren't able to get home. It wouldn't seem right."
Inuyasha did not say anything, just turned and started walking down the road heading east. If anyone could have seen his face though they would have seen a small smile.
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They were not three hours down the road when a whirlwind overtook them and swirled around them, stopping in front of Kagome.
"Ah, Kagome, how nice it is to see you!" A wolf demon was now holding Kagome's hands and staring deep into her eyes.
"Kouga!" Inuyasha growled out.
"Dogturd," Kouga growled in return. He sniffed at Inuyasha and broke out into a huge grin. "How time flies! The new moon is tonight already!"
Inuyasha only growled louder as his hand reached for Tetsusaiga.
"Inuyasha…" Kagome said, the warning clear in her voice. Inuyasha let go of his sword but continued to growl. Kagome returned her attention to Kouga, but drew her hands from his gasp which finally caused Inuyasha's growling to cease. "What are you doing around here, Kouga?"
"Heard that the wind wench was east of here. You heading there too?"
"Yeah. We just…" She trailed off when she realized he was no longer paying attention. His eyes were glazed over and he was sniffing the air. "What is it?" she asked, but he was not hearing her.
He moved away from where he was standing in front of Kagome and moved slowly towards Serena and Darien. He circled them, still sniffing. He stopped in front of Serena and finally snapped back to reality. He was gazing at Serena intently.
"Ep!" Serena squeaked out, grabbing onto Darien's arm. He moved it so that the arm was around her shoulder. He held her to his side protectively as he glared at Kouga.
Kouga suddenly turned to look at Inuyasha. "You're crazier than you look, Dogturd."
"What do you mean by that?" Kagome asked, halfway surprised that Inuyasha had not defended himself against the insult.
"I'll let him tell you." Kouga returned to Kagome and drew her into a hug, causing Inuyasha's growls to return, tenfold. Serena saw Kouga whisper something into Kagome's ear, something that caused the smile to fall from her face. He pulled away far enough to kiss her cheek. Without looking at Inuyasha, he said "You'd better take care of my woman," and then sped away as fast as the whirlwind that he had arrived in.
"Who was that?" Serena asked.
"What was that all about?" Darien asked.
"Why are you crazy, Inuyasha?" Shippou added.
"Sit," Kagome said as she started walking again.
WHAM!
"What was that for, bitch?!"
Kagome just looked over her shoulder and said, "Come on, let's get going. Maybe we can find a place to camp by a hot spring."
Nobody dared to talk to anyone else because they could tell that Kagome was in a bad mood. Even Inuyasha was wise enough to keep his mouth shut.
Once they stopped for lunch though, Kagome started up the first conversation.
"Tell us why Kouga called you crazy." She was speaking to Inuyasha, but did not look at him as she busied herself with cooking lunch, with Serena's help.
Inuyasha was startled at first, but decided it was best to explain.
"Serena and Darien are demon magnets."
"What?!" Serena cried out, agitated by the news.
"That weasel demon that attacked you wasn't after the jewel shards, it was after you two," he said to Serena.
"Why?" Darien asked. Serena was too shocked to say anything.
"Your powers. They don't just go away when you're not transformed, they're just swimming below the surface. Any demon can sense that power, I did the moment you stepped out of the well. I just wasn't sure what that power was until the other day."
"So demons are going to be coming to try to kill us to gain our power?" Serena said, barely containing her nervousness.
"No. That weasel demon was stupid. Most demons wouldn't dare go up against the power levels you two give off."
"Wow Inuyasha, you're actually sounding intelligent!" Miroku pointed out.
"Shut up Miroku!"
"Thank you Inuyasha. You can go now," Kagome stated calmly. Everyone looked at her in confusion.
"What are you talking about wench?"
"I know that even with your waning sense of smell you can smell her. I know that she's close by. Kouga told me he saw soul snatchers not far from us. So go see her, we'll wait here until you get back." Inuyasha just stood there looking at her with barely contained shock. She sighed. "Just go. Better now than tonight."
Inuyasha nodded and then leapt away a moment later.
"Uh, okay," Serena said, now thoroughly confused. She knew that Kikyo had soul snatchers that followed her. She survived off the souls of the dead because the small amount of Kagome's soul that she had was unable to sustain her. So Serena knew that it was obviously Kikyo that Inuyasha was running off to see, but… "What is Kouga to you and what's going on tonight?"
Kagome blushed as she explained about Kouga. "Well, you see, a while back, before we were friends, Kouga kidnapped me because of my ability to see jewel shards. He needed me to defeat his pack's enemy, a group of bird-like creatures. Their leader had a jewel shard, so the only way to defeat him was to know where the shard was. He eventually destroyed every single one of the creatures, with some help from Miroku, Sango and Inuyasha, all of whom had come to my rescue. While I was with Kouga though he decided that I was his woman, and so now he's forever trying to get me to go with him. He's a great guy, but he'll only ever be a friend."
"And he's after Naraku too?" Darien asked.
"Yeah, Kagura especially though. She was the one who killed off much of his pack and his neighboring packs. Now there aren't too many wolf demons left. Oh, and he has two jewel shards, one in each leg. That's the reason for the wind storm when he came and went." A small smile appeared on her lips.
"And tonight?" Serena asked again.
The smile died. "Tonight's the night of the new moon. Tonight Inuyasha becomes human until dawn. All half-demons have their times when their demon blood leaves them and they become human," Kagome explained in simple terms.
Serena sensed that Inuyasha was not a good subject to be on right then. She wanted to cheer up Kagome, but was not sure how.
SMACK!
"Pervert!"
Serena got an idea.
"Hey, Kagome, did you ever tell Sango about the guys in our time?"
"What do you mean?" Kagome asked, still slightly distracted.
"About the guys who make Miroku look an angel and all their cheesy pick up lines."
A smile finally dawned on Kagome's face.
By the time Inuyasha returned the three girls were having a good time talking about idiot guys. As the group started off again the girls continued to gab, both Serena and Sango, who had caught onto Serena's plan, keeping Kagome smiling and laughing.
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Four hours later the girls were still together, quietly soaking in a hot spring.
"Is it just me or do we seem to be visiting a lot of hot springs?" Serena asked.
"Yeah, but it feels so good!" Kagome said with a contented sigh.
"Mhm," Sango agreed.
Serena looked up at the moon, or where it should be. Night had fallen and the sky was virtually moonless. Suddenly a shudder ran down her spine.
"What's wrong?" Sango asked, catching the slight movement.
"I don't know," Serena said softly, slightly confused. "Something doesn't feel right." She shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well, must be the new moon thing. I don't like not being able to see the moon."
The girls nodded in agreement.
Kagome sighed and started to get up.
"Leaving already?" Sango asked.
"Yeah. I should probably check on Inuyasha. You know how he gets on these nights."
Sango nodded. Inuyasha was not fun to be around when a human because he was normally pissed off due to the loss of his demon blood. He was not too fond of being human.
"I might as well go too," Sango said getting out of the water. Serena followed.
A few minutes later Serena was still at the water's edge, trying to wring the water out of her hair as much as possible. Sango and Kagome had already left to go back to camp on her urgings. She frowned at her scattered reflection in the water. "Something just doesn't feel right," she whispered to herself. It was then that she heard the screams.