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In a burrow not far from the human village a demon lay. Wounds once covering its body had almost completely disappeared. But something was missing. Some part of itself was not there. This shape, a fur encased shape, was not the one it favored. What had happened to it to force it into this form? The demon tried to recapture its past thoughts but they slipped away just as it reached for them. But that wasn't the reason it awoke, someone was nearing its hiding spot. It could be possible that this intruder will simply continue on, not noticing, but by the vibrations coming to the demon from the stranger, it was not likely. This person knew it was here hiding and had come looking for it.

Panic made it dash out before it became trapped in the burrow. The stranger had stopped and stare at it, then something long and thick wrapped itself around its body. It scratched and sunk canines into the thick form and pulled back as a thick sour liquid spilled into its mouth. It heard a hiss before it fell to the ground released from its temporary imprisonment. The stranger approached.

"Do not worry. I have sought you out to have you answer some questions for me. Not long ago, I would have been the instrument of your death, luckily for you those days seem to be long gone."

It stayed there looking for a means of escaping, the strangers words did not seem to match the look in her eyes; her dark brown eyes.

0000] 00000] 00000}

Inuyasha came back to the feudal era with revenge blazing through his mind. He ran back to the area where they fought the demon. Crouching down he sniffed the area in hopes of finding something to lead him to it. It seemed futile, the area was saturated with the villagers scents, and even his own was so faint as to be nearly indiscernible. But if he could find Kouga's as well he just might be able to shift through enough to find the demons. After all, how many demons would venture this close to a human village? There couldn't be more than a few dozen; he would just have to track every one of them down until he found the one he sought.

He decided to begin with the most obvious and go from there. He had time, at least another three weeks before he could go back. He wouldn't return to Kagome's time until he was able to be with her. That would be the new moon, when he could once again masquerade as a human and return to her side. It had occurred to him that perhaps he should go tell the others that Kagome was still alive, at least when he left her, but the memories of her condition stopped him. How could he tell them that she had all sorts of tubes running all through her body to keep her alive? As cold-hearted as he may act sometimes, he couldn't do it. Shippo would probably hide himself off and cry day and night until Kagome came back. And if she never came back, then… No he can't just break Shippo like that.

The monk and Sango would probably take it better; they were no strangers to loss. Kaede had told him they used all the herbs she had and it hadn't work. All the herbs she had… Maybe after he found this demon, he could go to Jiniji's and see if that hanyo had anything that might help Kagome. Or he could send the others to see while he found this demon. The more he thought on it, the more it appealed to him. But he couldn't take time to go now; the scents were almost faded, if he took any time away, he might not find them again. What should he do? What was more important? If he gave up his search for this demon and Jiniji didn't have anything to help her, it would be a waste of time and he would be giving up on their vengeance, at least temporarily. But if Jiniji did have something to help heal Kagome, after she was better they could track the demon down because she would sense the shard it held. Torn with indecision, he continued to sniff the ground, going in circles, trying as hard as was possible to catch any scent that wasn't human.

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Kikyo stood there not far from the demon that had almost killed her reincarnation. Some part of her wanted to purify it, but another wanted to thank it. Her hatred was what kept her animated even after most of her soul was taken back by her reincarnation. And it was that part of her that wanted to thank it, she felt more like original self. The soul collectors did not need to bring her souls to keep going now. Only a small bit of herself was missing. She can survive without it.

"What was it that caused you to go near that village?" she asked. The demon did not seem inclined to answer her. It just kept shifting its eyes around searching for a means of escape. This annoyed her. She needed to know why it came to so close to her village. It still carried a shard of the Shikon jewel, she could clearly see it. That was most likely the reason why Inuyasha's Wind Scar had not worked. The shard had kept it alive. "I will only ask you once more. Do not make the mistake of thinking you will survive a battle with me demon. That shard you carry, I am its keeper. It will not protect you against me."

The demon heard her speaking. It didn't want to be here with this woman, this miko. It could smell that the stranger spoke the truth, or at least partial truth. But which one was the lie? Is she really the shard's keeper or will he survive the battle with her. He. It was a he. Partial memories began to surface, this miko's face was familiar. He had seen it before, but it was younger, the eyes not quite so cynical. He had done something to her, hadn't he? He could taste blood in his mouth and it was intoxicating, he wanted more of it. The miko in front of him pulled an arrow from her back and notched it in her bow. He could hear the string vibrate and she pulled it back. This sound was familiar as well and the voice telling him to stop, that she didn't want to hurt him, only take back the jewel.

He took a step forward to center his balance.

SWOOSH! The arrow notched in her hands landed a few spaces away from his feet. But not this time, no arrow came to greet him. He looked up to her and saw no hesitation in her face, no uncertainty. This miko, she would kill him but not for the shard; she would simply because she said she would. For being its keeper she didn't seem to be too interested in retrieving the shard. This one was the same but not, this one was more dangerous..

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Kouga had been searching rather unsuccessfully for Inuyasha for about a week. Whenever it seemed he might be catching up to him, Kouga would find only signs of recent battle and a few scattered remains of the demon the hanyo fought. Each battlefield showed the hanyo was relying less and less on his sword and more on his claws to fight. Damn mutt is becoming unstable. He bent down and inhaled deeply, attempting to gage how far behind they were this time. Damn! At lest two days behind. Still, this time he was closer than he had been three days ago. Maybe these stupid demons actually injured him enough to slow him down.

He resented the fact that he needed to find Inuyasha. Why was that mutt the only one who can go to Kagome's time? What was so damn special about him? Why the fuck was he running around the country fighting these low class demons when he should be making sure that Kagome was getting better? This caused anger to slowly form in his chest. Whatever self-loathing he might have had when he first revived was focused now. He wouldn't be wasting energy like that now. Yesterday, the kitsune had off - handily mentioned they were coming near Jiniji's garden. The fire cat meowed rather dramatically and then the monk said they were going to see Jiniji. When he asked who that was, they told him that Jiniji was a hanyo who grew medicinal herbs in his garden, some really powerful ones. So they left to see if this other hanyo might have something to help Kagome. He would continue to look for Inuyasha and when he caught him he would find them.

Well two days isn't really that far behind. With renewed interest in the hunt he sped off.