Disclaimer I don't own much. Of course this means Inuyasha and his crew.

Of Fates Unknown

Chapter Three

Into the third day of their journey they came across a sound of soft tears in a bush they were walking by. Kagome and Souta stopped to look into the bush and what they saw surprised them. A young little child with reddish hair was curled up his face hidden by a tail that wrapped around his body. The two looked at each other and Kagome decided to make their presence known.

In a soft voice she spoke to him, "Hey there, are you alright?"

The boy jumped at the voice and looked at them. Tears were still evident in his wide frightened eyes as he scurried back. They could see that the small boy was very small, the size of a very large cat, and had the legs of a fox.

"Hey now, we will not hurt you. We heard you crying and wanted to see if there is anything we can do to help."

The boy scrubbed his face off with his sleeve and shook his head. "My father and mother were attacked and told me to run yesterday. I don't think they survived or else they would have tracked me down by now. I don't know what to do."

Souta looked at Kagome with pleading eyes. They both understood what the feeling is like to loose family and he wanted to help. Kagome nodded in understanding as she looked back at the young child.

Souta smiled and said, "My name is Souta, and this is my sister Kagome. We too just lost our village. You are more then welcome to join us on our journey if you want."

"My name is Shippou," the child replied, coming out of the bush. "Where are you going?"

Kagome knelt down signaling the other two boys to do the same. "We are on our way to our homeland in Rhea. It is across the sea and was the only place we could think of going."

Shippou scratched his head and looked around then sighed. Looking up at Kagome his eyes started to water again as he nodded. "Yeah, I would like that. I don't want to be alone."

Smiling Kagome held out her hands to the young child and he jumped into her arms snuggling up to her as she hugged him. "We understand the feeling quite well." Standing up she nodded, "Let us go then. There is still plenty of daylight and we might as well make the most of it."

While they walked they learned that Shippou was a young fox youkai, and that his family had lived in the grasslands for some time in peace after coming from Rhea, but lately much unrest had visited the area as the Vali had looked to expand their territory. They decided to rid themselves of anything they though was a threat, and therefore considered his family as one. Kagome and Souta glanced at each other over this piece of news but said nothing.

Souta and Shippou got along very well as often times small boys tend to do. But when they were walking due to his small legs he often times hitched a ride on the shoulder of either Souta or Kagome.

)O(

The journey to Aegir took ten days, and for most of that time, they were forced to forage for food. They ate wild fruits and berries for the most part, although from time to time, Kagome was able to catch a small fish or two with her bare hands and then prepare them with the knife she had taken from among the supplies in the cave.

Several times, they passed close to villages where she could have purchased food, but she would not risk any contact with the Vali, especially in this region where they might know of her people. It was possible- even like- that those who had murdered her people came from some of these villages.

Aegir came as a shock to them, even though Kagome known that it was much bigger than their village. But its size, while daunting, was also providential. In its twisted, narrow streets, she found people of many races, speaking a variety of tongues.

Souta was wide-eyed trying to look at everything at once, but where able to keep most of his curiosity in check in light of the fact that they were suppose to keep people from suspicious. Shippou on the other hand was hidden in Kagome's arm under her cloak. His youkai features would have drawn to much attention to the group.

They walked along, listening for any who might speak the language of the Rheas, even though that land was far away across the sea. Kagome was initially terrified of the many glances cast her way- particularly from the men- but after a time, she began to realize that they were looking upon her with desire, and not with suspicion. She knew that she was considered by her own people to be beautiful, but Ceadda men did not behave this way- at least not in her small village where everyone had known everyone else from birth.

The size of many of the buildings was intimidating, but after studying them carefully, she figured out which one were inns, then spent more time studying them. Finally, she settled on a smaller inn, choosing it because the proprietor was a dark man with a kindly face. Hoping that he might be Rhea himself, she approached him and asked for a room.

The man studied her and Souta carefully as Kagome stood there trying not to let her fear or Shippou show. It was the first time in her life that she's ever spoken to a stranger, since there were no strangers in her small village.

Then the man repeated the word for "room" in her language and said "Rhea" questioningly. Kagome nodded and smiled, even as a frightening though occurred to her. She had never considered the possibility that her people, who she knew to be warlike, might be enemies of the Vali. The elders had always said that the Vali who periodically attempted to raid their village were doing so only because of their belief that her people had wealth- but what if they'd been wrong?

She drew two gold coins from her purse and handed them to the man. He took them and studied them, and then, to her surprise, placed one between his teeth and bit into it. When he the look on her face, he spoke rapidly in his own tongue, and then, to her very great relief, smiled at them and returned one to her.

Then he led them up the stairs, Kagome had never seen a house with stairs before. In fact the only stairs she's ever seen were narrow ones that lead to the hayloft in the stables. Souta ran excitedly ahead of them, and Kagome thought about the wonderful resilience of children. He might be crying himself to sleep at night, but he could still laugh and play.

In a halting conversation with the innkeeper, she discovered that while he was not Rhea, he had on occasion encountered them and so spoke a little of their language. She managed to make him understand that she wished to purchase passage on a ship bound for that land, and he told her that he would make inquiries for her.

The next morning, feeling much refreshed by a bath and good, solid food, Kagome sought out the innkeeper again. He told her that there was a trading ship now taking on supplies in the harbor before crossing to Tiamat, the main port of the Rheas. The captain was not Rhea, but did speak the language, since he traded regularly with them, and he would be pleased to offer them passage. With words and gestures, the innkeeper managed to let her know that he trusted the man to carry them safely to their destination.

After being told that the captain would come to the inn that evening to make the arrangements, Kagome left with Shippou and Souta to explore the town. She wanted to buy them some clothes and also food for the voyage, since she didn't know if that would be provided.

For the first time since they'd left their village, Kagome began to relax. The kindness of the innkeeper had dispelled her fears that they might be facing enemies here. Shippou pointed out a few youkai mingling in the crowd and decided it was safe for Shippou to come out of hiding, if he promised to behave, at least until they got back to the inn. She supposed that in port cities like this, where so many different people and youkai came together, the residents must be far more tolerant, especially when their livelihoods depended upon maintaining that peace.

The only time she felt at all fearful was when they passed a pair of uniformed Vali, carrying strange-looking things that Kagome knew must be guns. Both men stared at her and seemed about to speak, when there were suddenly shouts from a nearby market stall. They turned their attention in that direction, and a moment later grabbed a ragged young man whose pockets had been stuffed with jewelry made of gold and colored beads. She grabbed Souta's hand and they quickly slipped away through the crowd that had gathered.

The marketplace was a garden of delights. They had never seen so much food, cloth, jewelry, and strange items whose purpose they couldn't even begin to guess. And Kagome quickly discovered that bargaining over prices was carried on quite efficiently despite language difficulties. Obviously, the vendors here were accustomed to such things.

She studied the amounts of gold exchanging hands for various items and began to form a sense of how much to pay for the things she wanted. No one had used gold in the village. Food and other basic necessities had been shared among them, and they had simply traded for whatever else they wanted.

Finally, she managed to purchase comfortable, loose-fitting garments for all three of them, as well as bolts of cloth from which she could make more clothes during the voyage. She bought both Souta and Shippou a few new toys and treated herself to a small pot of herbal scent that was lovelier than anything she'd ever smelled before.

She continued to draw interested looks from the men, but since they did nothing more than stare, Kagome ignored them. But then, as they were making their way back to the inn, she became aware of one man in particular. Like her and Souta, he was dark-haired and olive-skinned. As soon as her eyes met his, he hurried through the crowd to her.

"Are you Rhea?" He asked in an accented form of her-own language that was still quite understandable.

"Yes," she replied cautiously. "Are you?"

He was indeed. His name was Morvath, and as it turned out, he was a sailor on the very ship that was to carry them to their destination. He was a few years younger than she was and was very open and friendly. But he was also very curious, both about her accent and about her reason for being here.

Unprepared for such an encounter, Kagome was forced to make up a story on the spot. She told him that she and her brother had accompanied her husband on a trading mission to Aegir, but her husband had been killed by brigands as he left a tavern, and now she was going home to Domna.

"Domna?" The sailor looked puzzled. "I'm surprised that a merchant from Domna would come all this way."

Kagome quickly amended her tale to explain that her husband was from Tiamat, but that she herself was from Domna. And even as she spoke, she began to make small adjustments to her speech, trying to imitate his accent.

He walked with them back to the inn. Kagome deflected any further questions about herself by asking about his travels, a subject he quickly fell into. Then he left them to return to his ship saying that he would see them tomorrow when they sailed.

That evening, Kagome met the captain, a great bear of a man with intelligent, twinkling eyes who quickly took to Souta and Shippou, since he had a son Souta's age. He spoke the Rhea tongue fairly well, and it quickly became obvious that he'd heard about them from Morvath, since he knew she was bound for Domna.

"You should be safe enough traveling up there now," he said. "Lord Inuyasha appears to have given up fighting for the time being. But there's no doubt that he'll start up again in the spring. He won't stop until he gets his way about becoming King of Rheas."

He chuckled and shook his head slowly, "A very proud warrior, that Inuyasha. But then he comes from a very long line of them, doesn't he? It was his own father that drove the Ceadda out of Domna, wasn't it? Or that's what the old stories say."

It was all Kagome could do not to react to his mention of her people. But she merely nodded and agreed with the captain, then retuned to her room, leaving the boys to play with the innkeeper's son.

For the first time, she began to doubt the wisdom of this journey she'd undertaken with so little thought. How she wished she knew more about the history of her people! And as she sat there thinking about what lay ahead, a traitorous thought crept into her mind.

What if her people's history had been deliberately forgotten? Thinking about it now, she couldn't help wondering if the Ceadda who'd fled from Domna might not have made a decision to shed their past. But why would they do that?

She thought too about this Lord Inuyasha. From what the captain said, they would be going to a Domna that was anything but peaceful- and furthermore, was ruled by a man whose own father had murdered her own people.

She hoped that there would be some way she could gain more information during the long voyage from the friendly Morvath. But it wouldn't be easy to do without revealing her-own ignorance. If only she'd had more time to come up with a different story for herself and Souta.

)O(

Domna Irish Goddess of scared stones(it just seemed soooo appropriate a name for a city that Inuyasha ruled. It was either this or a forest god. But since this was also close to sounding like Dogman. I just couldn't resist.)

Rhea Mother earth (um… yeah, sort of self explaining here.)

Vali Hindu Destroyer Goddess (territory Sesshy controls, also seemed appropriate. Was a tie for either this or Ares, but Vali won.)

Ceadda God of healing springs and sacred wells (seeing as this is who Kagome is a descendant of … once again it just seemed soooo appropriate.)

Aegir Teutonic God of the Sea (Again, self explaining for this one.)

Tiamat Babylonian Dragon Mother (... um, I just sort of liked the name.)

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. Please don't forget to review.

Brightest of Blessings,

Lady Banshee 999