Disclaimer: Hasn't changed a bit… so HA!!!

Chapter 3:

Kagome grinned slightly as she led the others back toward camp, a muttering Miroku at her side. "Oh, cut it out. You lost, she won, just chill."

Miroku scowled, but stopped muttering about "Women."

Ember grinned, Isilindil at her side, though she didn't say anything. She glanced at Ember, then asked. "Where are we going?"

"To her camp." Ember replied, though as she said it, everyone stopped. They had arrived.

*~*

Isilindil absently pulled her cloak closer to her as she leaned against a tree, a little ways away from the others. Ember grinned, taking a small drink of water from a cup as she sat on a rock, explaining how they had got there. "Like I was saying, we escaped here."

Kagome nodded with the rest of her group. "Yeah, but how?"

"A portal…"

"Em, must you tell them everything?" Isilindil asked dryly.

Ember looked at her from her spot on the rock, "Must you always hide yourself from company?"

"I'm not as trusting as you or as talkative it would seem." She retorted.

Ember stuck out her tongue. "Fine, I won't tell them everything.." she paused, "just a few things…"

Isilindil rolled her eyes as she faced the others from her shadowy spot, watching each carefully. "Don't give us away, eh?"

Ember nodded, putting her tongue back in her mouth. "Fine."

Shippo looked up at Ember. "So, what you're telling us is that your escapees?"

Ember nodded, a huge grin on her face. "Yep, that's pretty much it."

Isilindil rolled her eyes. "Not in the way he means. If you mean we escaped here, then you're right. We aren't however convicts. We, or mostly, Ember has told you all that we want revealed."

Ember looked at Isilindil with surprise on her face. "Wow! That's the most you've said since we got here."

"And your point?" She asked, sarcasm dripping in her voice.

"Leave me alone…" Ember said, grinning.

"Fine, I will… I'm taking a walk.." She walked off before anyone could stop her, disappearing into the shadows.

~*~

Ember watched Isilindil leave, actually surprised by her actions. She shrugged, Whatever. "Yep, That's Isi, for ya."

"Why do you call her 'Isi'?" Sango asked.

"We've known each other for a long time… so, we gave each other nicknames. Just don't call her that, or it won't be pretty…" She paused. "She's very skilled with her scimitars, sometimes, even I'm nervous when she has them out…"

Miroku nodded, knowing that he wouldn't do that, he had already made the mistake of asking her that 'fair' question, he wouldn't make it again.

Kagome nodded. "So, just call her Isilindil, right?"

Ember nodded. "Right."

"Are you going to go after her, Ember?" Inuyasha asked, much to the amazement of the others.

Ember shook her head. "No, I'll give her some time. She needs to think."

"So, do you think she'll ever come to trust us?" Shippo asked as he looked up at Ember.

"She should… just give her some time. As she said, I'm the more trusting of the two."

~*~

Isilindil carefully picked her back toward the warm spring she and Ember had walked to earlier. She sighed, absently pulling her cloak closer to her, shadowing the hilts of her scimitars.

As she caught sight of the warm spring, she quickened her pace, finally reaching their things.

She knelt down, now getting a drink of water, her thoughts swimming in her mind, buzzing like angry bees.

Her ears caught a noise. A small rustle? Footfalls? She stopped her drink, sat back up knowing that whatever had made the noise was behind her, concealed in the brush.

She didn't even bother to turn around as she asked, "What do you want?"

~*~

"So, Shesshoumaru is Inuyasha's half brother?" Ember asked, her eyes wide with excitement of the story.

Kagome nodded. "Yep. We just got finished fighting him off when Shippo had gone. So, we followed him and found you, thinking at first that you were 'friends' of his."

"'Friends'? Like minions or something?"

"Well, kinda…"

Ember grinned as she asked her next question, "Is he cute?"

Inuyasha looked at her as if she were mad. "Are you crazy? He'd more likely kill you then pause to think if you're cute…"

Ember shrugged, mimicking Miroku's way of questioning. "It was a fair question."

Everyone but Miroku started to laugh, even Inuyasha miraculously.

Kagome, between laughs finally said, "He's really dangerous, Ember." She paused, finished her laughing and calmed down.

"The only people or demons he takes seriously are the ones he judges as formidable opponents."

Ember grinned, having stopped laughing also. "What's your point? Anyway, he'll have trouble with Isilindil nonetheless."

Ember stood up, thinking that she had given Isilindil plenty of time to think. "I'll go get Isilindil. I'll be back."

~*~

Heh. How'd ya like it? Hehehehe… wonder what's in the bushes. Well, R&R, you know you love us!! J