CHAPTER
x.
"Sango!" Shippo cried out.
Sango crashed to the ground, her boomerang falling beside her on the grass. Terrified, the kitsune did the only thing he could think of -- he sent a massive swirl of foxfire at the enemy. The dark-clad figure leaped away nimbly, and for a moment Shippo thought that he was retreating. Kitsune magic WAS very formidable, he thought proudly.
Then a strong hand gripped Shippo's head. Before he had time to throw more foxfire, the hand lifted him off the ground and hurled him away. He smashed into a tree trunk and slowly slid to the ground, too dizzy and breathless to react again. Through teary eyes, he saw the person bending over Sango. Was he going to kill her?
"W-wait," Shippo wheezed, crawling out of the bushes.
Then Kirara snarled and transformed into her larger form, taking off after the shadowy man. But the person -- Naku, Shippo supposed -- had already sensed that. He leaped into the tree branches, with the enraged firecat just behind him.
Shippo crept over to Sango, still trying to get his breath back. "S-Sango," he said, shaking her shoulder. "Sango, wake up!"
The demon-slayer groaned but didn't wake up. Shippo kept shaking her frantically, trying to get her to open her eyes. It wasn't SAFE here, he knew. And if Naku could manage to sneak up on Sango, he was very dangerous. He just hoped that Kirara got Naku and stopped him.
But a few minutes later, Kirara landed beside Sango.
"Did you get him?" Shippo asked.
The fire-cat growled loudly.
Shippo grabbed Sango's arm. "Quick, Kirara! Help me drag her away!" Kirara sank her fangs into the back of Sango's slayer uniform and helped the kitsune drag her away.
x.
Miroku wasn't looking forward to getting through the barrier. It hadn't been pleasant getting a hole open for Sango and the others; it would be even worse trying to make one large enough so that he could step through before it closed. But he had to -- the others needed to know that Naraku was somehow involved in Kagome's kidnapping.
What he didn't understand was why -- why would Naraku hire a human bounty hunter to kill Inuyasha? Why not send another of his incarnations? Perhaps it was Naku's reputation -- stealth and intelligence. Miroku had to admit -- none of Naraku's incarnations had shown much of either, except maybe Kagura.
Well, enough thinking, he thought. The monk gripped the sutras in one hand and his staff in the other, and started toward the barrier. The pieces of paper flew out from his fingers, landing with a sizzle on the barrier. White light snaked over the barrier's surface, as Miroku thrust his staff against it with a shout....
And the barrier vanished.
Miroku stopped short. "Did I do that?" he said, startled.
There was a long pause, where only the wind replied. Then he heard something in the distance, and saw Kagura flying away on her feather, followed by a swarm of Naraku's poisonous insects. And sitting beside her on the feather was a huddled dark form -- Miroku couldn't see who it was, since the person had a cloak pulled over his face and head.
That must be Naku, he thought. He started to run after them, then stopped. Kagura was speeding away as fast as a sea wind; he could never catch her on foot. And... if Naku was leaving... then he must have tangled with Inuyasha. And if Inuyasha hasn't shown up back at the edge of the barrier, he thought, then he may be hurt -- or worse.
Gritting his teeth, Miroku turned and ran into the woods. He just hoped that Inuyasha had driven Naku into a hasty retreat, and gotten delayed by something else.
And then another thought occurred to him -- one that alarmed him even more. Where was Sango?
TO BE CONTINUED