A/N: Okay, here's a better summary than the one outside, since what I need to say probably won't fit...

(AU) What started out as a hunt for an alleged demon priestess has turned into a race for survival against the Cult of the Spider, a group of demons bent on reviving the dread demon Naraku. Kagome, an acolyte of the Order of Uzume, now finds herself travelling with some unexpected companions: Inuyasha, once an unwilling slave to Naraku, recently awakened from a cold, dark sleep; Miroku, a wealthy gambler and ladies' man, owner of the world's only functional airship as well as a deadly secret; Hojo, Miroku's personal attendant, completely oblivious to his own master's shady dealings; Sango, a policewoman with a tragic past, hellbent on proving Miroku's guilt and bringing him to justice; and Kirara, her loyal police-cat demon. Can Kagome keep safe the two hanyous necessary to break Naraku's Seal, or will the discovery of her own anomalous existence break her spirit forever? Inuyasha/Kagome, Miroku/Sango

Enjoy!

"Get ready, Kagome!"

Kagome heeded the warning of the little kitsune and tightened her grip on the Shikon Staff. This is the moment she had been training for. If she failed, it would be 15 years gone to waste.

Smoke poured out of the seal on the ground, swirling around the figure that stood at the very centre. The erratic winds that blew around the area were enough to knock a normal person off their feet, but Kagome had been well-trained. A little demonic force was not enough to make her lose her footing.

The demon at the centre of the pentagram lifted his head, but his eyes were still closed. Silver pointed ears perked, as if surveying the area before his sight took over.

Kagome dared a glance over at her comrade, who was visibly shaking like a leaf. While the 8-year-old Shippou was a fox demon, his spiritual powers were not quite as advances as hers. In training, however, he was progressing rapidly and could hold his own in battle. Kagome still could not help but worry, however; she began to question Lady Kaede's decision to dispatch the boy on this mission as demonic smoke curled its wispy claws around her ankles.

"Shippou!" Kagome shouted. "Don't be afraid! The demon can sense that! Don't forget I'm here with you."

A feral scream returned the distracted Kagome back to the matter at hand. The demon threw back his head and roared again. The wind grew stronger, and the smoke was propelled up into the air by the invisible force the demon exuded.

"He's so much more powerful than I imagined," Kagome mused. She shouted to her partner, "Be on your guard!"

Kagome sensed a hesitation in the demon, but fought the urge to take that moment to strike. It could easily have been a ploy to get her guard down. She had learned that trick the hard way. The beast was clearly still enraged, as the smoke that poured from the seal and winds were not fluctuating in the least.

The acolyte was surprised when she saw the demon begin to claw at his own shoulder. With a frustrated look in his frightening features, he lifted a clawed hand and scraped away at the flesh, drawing blood and tearing the cloth that made the sleeve of his fire-rat cloak.

"What...?" Kagome murmured. Foolishly, she took a step toward the demon.

In a flash, his eyes were on her, and he sprung from the spot where he stood, claws ripping the air.

The sudden eruption of his demonic aura in her direction caused her to lose her balance and sent her flying backwards. She landed hard on the ground. In a split second, her mind calculated two things: one, she was not going to be able to get up right away; and two, that this was not good news.

She caught a flash of silver out of the corner of her eye and turned her head. Shippou had chucked a small bobble from afar, cuffing the demon in the side of the head. The demon skidded to a halt on his path for Kagome, and immediately turned his attention to the boy.

"Shippou, don't!" Kagome screamed, a bit too late.

Shippou thrust his palm flat on the ground, and Kagome saw his lips move in a short chant. From his palm came a shockwave that cut the ground cleanly in a straight line. The holy energy from that one blow would have cut the demon in half, had it actually hit him. The demon leapt into the air, clear of the attack, and bore down on Shippou, eyes flashing.

While Shippou's decision had not been the wisest, it had given Kagome the time she needed to recover from her fall and protect the boy. The demon's claws hit the shaft of the Shikon Staff, and sparks flew from the contact of positive and negative. The two reached a standoff, Kagome's face contorted with the struggle of keeping the demon at bay, and the demon snarling in rage, baring his gleaming white fangs.

"Shippou, please," Kagome grunted. "Never do that again!"

"Don't underestimate me! I can handle myself!" Shippou replied. "Without my interference, you would have surely died!"

Kagome twisted her staff, causing the demon to lose his balance. She twisted again and smacked the demon in the face with the staff's pink spherical jewel. There was a sInuyasha flash of sparkling pink light as the demon flew back. He managed to get his feet on the ground and skidded to a halt.

Kagome glanced over her shoulder at Shippou and smiled. "And don't think I don't appreciate it."

Shippou returned the smile and joined Kagome at her side.

When the demon stopped, he slumped and groaned. He reached for his shoulder again, clutching the self-inflicted wound. Despite the obvious pain, he began clawing at it again, cringing at every gash.

"Why does he keep doing that...?" Kagome demanded of no one in particular. She watched the demon carefully, studying his movements and his facial expression. When he had first begun clawing at his shoulder, she had seen the same look on his face. Not just that of frustration, but of pain. Something had been hurting him long before he had inflicted wounds upon himself.

"There's something in his shoulder!" Kagome told Shippou. "Something is hurting him... But what?"

"No offense," Shippou muttered, "But how does that matter right now?"

As Kagome watched the demon try to claw out whatever was ailing him in his left shoulder, she slowly grew less tense and aggressive and became curious. Even sympathetic. The pain in his face was so obvious, unfettered. She wondered perhaps if it was only sweat pouring down his face. She could have sworn that instead, he was crying.

The demon let out a short shriek, opening and closing his mouth as if struggling to speak the words. Kagome knew that when a demon was fully enraged, its fangs enlarged and its tongue grew thick. It made speaking nearly impossible.

"K...Kkhh— Kikhh...Kikyo..."

"What did he say?!" Shippou demanded.

"K-Kikyo!" the demon shrieked.

"Kikyo..." Kagome muttered. "Where do I know that name?"

"KIKYO!!!" the demon screamed one last time before falling to his knees. He clutched his shoulder limply.

Kagome had not seen it for the dark of the night, but she now noticed the pool of crimson that had formed at the demon's knees. He was passing out from the loss of blood.

The acolyte took a step towards the demon. He growled and sent a warning glare in her direction, but made no other move.

"Don't do that!" Shippou warned. "He may be weakened, but he is still a threat!"

"Just let me try something," Kagome said tersely. Her gaze did not waver from the demon as she took, slow, calculated steps forward. The demon still glared and growled, but did not proceed to actually stop her in any way.

When she was next to him, she knelt before him, her eyes still never leaving his. Despite the lack of light, his large golden eyes still glistened, shinier perhaps from crying.

"Let go of the demon instinct," Kagome coaxed, her voice gentle. She kept her expression friendly, but stern. "I know you, like humans, are capable of reason. That's what sets you apart from the beast you might be otherwise. Let go of the anger. Come back to the temple, and you can tell us about Kikyo."

The demon ground his teeth and blinked. "K...Kikyo...?"

Kagome slowly reached up and placed her fingertips on the demon's forehead. There was a shimmer of light, and the demon screamed.

"Lady Kagome! Lady Kagome!"

"Shippou!" Kagome greeted, springing to her feet. "What about—"

"Lady Kaede is coming!" Shippou exclaimed, hopping on the spot with a look of pure terror on his face. "She made me tell her what happened, and she looks really peeved!"

As if on cue, the door slid open. A stern-looking old woman in priestess robes and her lips pursed in a permanent straight line stepped into the room.

"Good day, Lady Kaede," Shippou stated tightly. The boy bowed and fled for his life.

Kagome also bowed and looked nervously up for Kaede's judgement.

"Shippou told me about what happened back at Naraku's Seal," Kaede said, pacing a little bit towards the window. Her voice was calm, but it was often impossible to read her reaction. No matter how hard Kagome tried, she could not begin to fathom what was going on in the mind of the sage and clever priestess.

Kagome remained silent. She knew the priestess probably had more to say.

"The kind of behavior you showed during battle was foolhardy and easily could have gotten two of my best acolytes killed, as well as any surrounding villagers." Kaede turned her gaze on Kagome. "But I am willing to allow the ends to justify the means if you can tell me what this is."

Kagome spirits lifted. Her eyes lit up when she realized that the trinket Lady Kaede held out before her was recognizable. "It looks like an arrowhead."

"Open your palm," Kaede told her. Kagome obeyed, and the priestess dropped the silver triangle into her open hand. "What do you feel?"

Kagome was taken aback by the sudden sensation that merely holding the arrowhead induced. "The holy energy emanating from this arrowhead is astounding..."

"It was extracted from the demon's left shoulder," Kaede explained.

"That's what was hurting him..." Kagome realized. She remembered the events of the previous night, and recalled something important. "Kikyo... The demon screamed that name."

"Do you remember who Kikyo is?"

"It sounds familiar, but the identity escapes me."

Kaede nodded sympathetically. "Lady Kikyo was a priestess at this very temple, and her spiritual powers were quite strong. Her weapon of choice to fight demons was a bow."

It suddenly dawned on Kagome. "So you're saying that Kikyo shot this demon in the shoulder with her arrow, but the arrowhead got lodged in his flesh. No wonder it was so painful... The holy energy would have started burning him internally."

"Lady Kikyo became a bit of a local legend," Kaede went on. "Shortly after killing the demon Naraku and sealing away his peon on the same spot, she disappeared. The Seal of Naraku is where they once lay. Some children from the nearby village were playing in the forest clearing. One fell and got a scrape, but as soon as his blood touched the seal, Naraku's peon was released."

"That's why we were dispatched so quickly..." Kagome mused.

"Some accused Lady Kikyo of being a demon herself, that her powers could not possibly belong to those of a mere mortal, but Kikyo was so loved by the people that these accusations were written off completely. Now that she has disappeared, things that normally would have been hidden from the public are now having light shed on them. There could be substantial proof that Lady Kikyo was—and is still—a demon."

"You believe she still lives?" Kagome asked.

Kaede nodded. "Recently, I have heard stories of a powerful but elusive priestess on the southern continent who smites demons with her holy arrows. Reports of her appearance are identical to how she appeared 50 years ago.

"Kagome, I want you to find out if Lady Kikyo still lives. And if she does, if she is a demon. You understand that a demon that wields holy powers to fight demons is a rare occurrence indeed."

Kagome was puzzled. "What about Shippou?"

"I said it was rare, not impossible," Kaede pointed out. "The young Lord Shippou was taken in by the order as a small orphaned child. He has been trained in the art of holy magic, and does, in fact, do quite well. So as for Lady Kikyo, assuming she is a demon, she, too, could possess the same holy magic as that of Lord Shippou's."

"She would be an invaluable aid to the cause of good," Kagome concluded.

"Yes." Kaede turned and held open the door from which she had come. "The demon calls himself Inuyasha. He wishes to speak with you. Not to worry; he's no threat at the moment. If he should attempt something violent, simply state the word of subjugation."

Kagome bowed. "Thank you, Lady Kaede."

Kagome walked through the door into the temple sanctuary, and she heard the door shut softly behind her. Her nostrils were immediately assaulted with a sweet and salty smell from the burning incense. As her eyes adjusted to the dim, ruddy light, she saw the demon from the night before, Inuyasha, sitting at the base of the altar. The only acknowledgment he gave of her presence was a shift of his ears.

She closed the gap between the two by half. He still showed no reaction, but she was patient.

"My name is Kagome," she said. Her voice echoed in the vast chamber. "I'm a acolyte. I understand you wanted to speak with me."

"Please..." Inuyasha murmured.

"Pardon?" Kagome said, confused at the demon's unfinished thought.

He continued, "Spare me. I didn't say I wanted to speak with you. I said I wanted to speak with a competent slave of the Uzume order."

Kagome nearly choked. "Wh-what?! I am competent!! And it's not a slave, it's an acolyte!"

"Certainly seems like a slave from where I'm standing," Inuyasha sneered, finally gracing her with a glance. "Well, sitting..."

Kagome did not particularly want to get into an argument with this petulant demon, and tightened her lips to keep the potentially blasphemous curses from escaping. Sitting... She shifted her gaze momentarily up to the triangular ears on top of his head, and immediately recognized the demon for what he was: a dog demon. An appropriate word of subjugation for a dog, sit. She decided to log it away in her mind for later.

"You seem lethargic," Kagome commented ungraciously. "You must still be partly tranquilized from that spell I cast last night."

"Feh..." he muttered lazily. "Let's just get down to business, alright?"

Kagome silently agreed, and came to sit next to Inuyasha. She studied the features of the demon next to her. He appeared almost human now. His mouth was no longer stretched in a grimace full of gnashing teeth, his eyes no longer narrow and flashing red. His silver hair cascaded down his back, taking on a brassy tint from the candles surrounding them. She noted the beaded necklace around his neck; it was her insurance that he would not go berserk and kill her.

"Last night..." Inuyasha said, his voice not betraying any particular emotion. His eyes never left the floor in front of him. "I thought you were Kikyo. You look like her, you know. At least, in the dark." He lifted his head a little turned his head to face her. He looked quite sullen, and seemed to study her a moment. "She was prettier than you."

Kagome huffed silently and suppressed the urge to burn him alive with the arrowhead she still held. "What can you tell me about Kikyo?"

"A traitor," Inuyasha replied simply. He returned his head to its original position. "A demon working as someone like you is unheard of. Like that little kitsune brat with you last night."

"Understandably so," Kagome conceded. According to him, Kikyo was a demon. Could she take his word? "Inuyasha, what's your relationship with Naraku? Why were you trapped within the seal?"

"I was his minion."

"Ah..." Kagome breathed. He sounded so terribly bitter at saying this, she knew he must not have been very fond of Naraku, much like most other people. Apparently, there was no greater relationship there than Kaede had mentioned; a peon.

"It's the spot where he died that I was shot by Kikyo," Inuyasha explained. "She sealed me beneath the earth, vowing that she would not allow another demon like Naraku to walk the earth."

"He was a powerful demon," Kagome noted. "I can only imagine his right-hand men were much the same."

Inuyasha snorted ironically. "And yet I was sent into a cold, dark sleep by a traitor. I never got over the pain, you know."

"Hm?"

"The pain in my shoulder. Even in a relatively peaceful sleep, that damned arrowhead still burned."

Kagome held out the item Inuyasha had just damned. "This is the arrowhead they dug out of your shoulder." She glanced over at his arm and noticed for the first time that it had been bandaged.

Inuyasha held out his hand, and Kagome dropped the arrowhead into his palm. Inuyasha studied the offending piece of metal for a moment. He closed his hand into a fist. Tiny strains of red smoke floated up through his knuckles. When he opened his hand again, the arrowhead was no more. Shards of silver and red were left. Inuyasha's mouth twisted into a sadistic, satisfied smirk.

"Hey!" Kagome protested. She did not know whether they still needed it. She hoped for her sake beneath the wrath of Lady Kaede that they did not.

"Ashes," Inuyasha muttered. "Just like Kikyo must be."

"Do you know that for sure?" Kagome asked fervently, leaning closer to Inuyasha.

Inuyasha leaned away from her advance. "Know what for sure?"

"That she's dead!"

"Of course not. I've been sealed away for fifty years!"

"You may be disappointed to hear this," Kagome said, rising to her feet, "But there have been reports of a woman that looks and acts just like Kikyo. We think she may still be alive."

"What?!" Inuyasha demanded. He leapt to his feet and stuck his face right next to Kagome's. "Tell me where she is! I'll kill her for you!"

"It's not that simple," Kagome replied, shaking her head. "We don't know her exact location, but we can go search where the reports of her whereabouts came from."

"What's all this talk about we?" Inuyasha demanded. "I don't need any help killing the traitor. Your concern is much appreciated, but not necessary."

"Actually, it is," Kagome retorted. "I'm sorry to say you're not the one in control here, buddy. This order will not allow a demon such as yourself to be wandering around trying to track down a demon priestess. I can't believe I just said that... But think about it: a demon would not be well-looked upon by people, and you certainly wouldn't have much luck in the way of transport."

"Walking is not an issue," Inuyasha argued.

"What about swimming?" Kagome offered, raising an eyebrow. "The reports of Kikyo's whereabouts all came from the southern continent. That means you'll have quite the swim to get across an ocean that size."

Inuyasha's jaw twitched. He paused, glaring at Kagome, looking like he was about to counter, but could not. His face relaxed and he averted his gaze to one of the windows in the sanctuary. "I grudgingly accept your aid in my quest to kill Kikyo." He glared sulkily at her. "Are you happy now?"

Kagome nodded, a big grin on her face. "Quite."

A/N: This idea was originally for a non-fanfiction story, but for some reason, it worked really well for Inuyasha... Must be subliminal. I really should be working on my other stories, but I really wanted to get this one out. What you people thinky so far? Click on that wee button down there and tell me. Till next!