Jewels are Forever

Summary: "Trade? What kind of trade?" Kaede asked as she eyed her suspiciously. The demon slowly began to sit upright and replied: "The shards for her body. I want like. I will be Kagome and you will have the jewel shards."

Chapter Three: Clues

They arrived at the well to discover that someone had beaten them to the crime scene. A little brown fox sniffed the grass all around the well and had started down the thief's trail when it noticed InuYasha and froze. Golden light surrounded the beast, swirling round and round while the shape inside it grew slightly. When the light disappeared, a little boy with fox ears, bushy tail, and delicate hind feet and claws stood before them. It took InuYasha and Myoga all of half a second to recognize him.

Myoga jumped onto the boy's shoulder and asked excitedly: "Shippou! What are you doing here?"

InuYasha strode over and picked up the young kitsune by his fluffy tail and held him at eye level. "Yes, whelp, what are you doing sniffing around here? Returning to the scene of the crime?"

Shippou wrinkled his nose at the larger demon, but made no attempt to escape. He had learned long ago how futile that was, so he just let himself be dangled. "What are you babbling about, InuYasha? I was looking for Kagome! She always comes out of this well, does she not?"

InuYasha narrowed his golden eyes at his captive. "And how would you know that?"

"You, idiot!" Shippou snapped. "Her scent is all over this clearing and the well! Furthermore," he added nonchalantly, hoping to hit a sore spot with his tormentor, "she told me this is how she gets from her time to ours. I've spent a lot in her company, you know. She scratched me behind the ears while she tells me stories about her home. It feels so goo—hey! Stop shaking me! That hurts!"

Scratches him behind the ears, does she? Tells the brat stories? Spends a lot of time in his company? "And when does she spend time in your company, kid?"

"Jealous?"

By way of response, InuYasha lobbed the irritating kitsune into a tree, where he just barely managed to catch hold of a branch which he clung while cursing InuYasha to every horrible malady he could think of. Fox spirit curses were powerful things, and InuYasha was quick to stop his tirade before it went too far, and he wound up with the mange. "I don't have time for you foolish talk, whelp!" he snarled. "Your precious ear-scratching Kagome lies dying from a demon-spell cast upon her as she came out of that well! You were sniffing around here," he added suspiciously, "why? Did you think that Kagome was hiding behind a blade of grass?"

Shippou dropped from his branch to a lower one, then to a still lower one, and then shinnied down the tree trunk to the ground. He brushed himself off while favoring InuYasha with a look that could curdle milk. "I smelly the demon you spoke of," he pointed to the trail of crushed grass, visible only to his and InuYasha's keen canine eyes, "there, in the grass. The trail goes that way, if you think you're brave enough to follow it with me!"

Myoga, who had survived Shippou's flight into the tree and down again, tried to talk some sense into the young boy. "Shippou, I really don't think that was a wise thing to sa—aaay! Whoa! InuYasha Sama put him down this instant! I beg of you!"

"And who are you to speak of courage, you worthless little mutt?" InuYasha shook Shippou by the tail, dislodging Myoga who fluttered to the ground by his master's foot. The foot almost stomped on hi, so the flea retreated to the relative safety of InuYasha's shoulder.

"InuYasha—"

"Silence!" Accuse him of cowardice? This flea-bitten trickster who—InuYasha let go of Shippou's tail abruptly. The boy was annoying and tricky, but he had guts, and they didn't have time to stand around and argue. Even if the brat drove him crazy with his kitsune tricks and foolish tongue, Shippou was fond of Kagome and he had a sharp nose.

InuYasha turned on his heel and started off along the thief's trail. "Make yourself useful, kid, and sniff out this trail for me, or you'll never get your ears scratched again."

Shippou hesitated long enough to master his rage and wounded pride, then galloped ahead of InuYasha and started sniffing. Just think about Kagome he coached himself, Kagome. He paused in mid-sniff. "Is she really dying?"

"Don't stop," InuYasha ordered, then continued with: "That's what the old witch Kaede says: The demon who stole her jewel shards also took Kagome's soul."

"What? The shards too?"

InuYasha pushed the boy's nose back into the grass with his foot. "Don't dawdle!"

The trio went for a long time like that: Shippou and his nose in the lead, InuYasha scanning the trees for danger with eyes and ears, and Myoga on his master's shoulder providing an endless stream of worried words and defeatist questions. "But how will we return her soul, InuYasha Sama? And what if we can't find this demon? I don't think I've ever been to a human funeral. Do you think we should bury her here, or take her back to her own time for—"

"WILL YOU SHUT UP?" InuYasha and Shippou shouted in unison. InuYasha pinned the flea between his thumb and forefinger and squished him. Tossing Myoga over his shoulder, he growled: "We'll let you know when the danger is past. Let's go, pup."

Myoga sputtered his outrage as the other two demons strode off though the foliage with so much as a look back to see if he was following. He primly straightened his hakama and haori and headed off after them. "That was completely uncalled for! Your noble father valued my wise advice, InuYasha Sama, and you would do well to follow his example!"

They reached the edge of the forest and found themselves on the outskirts of a small village. Fields fallow for the winter months stretched between them and the collection of houses that huddled around a well at the center of a large open space. One or two windows still had lights in them, but for the most part the villagers slept. Shippou bent his nose to the ground again and followed the trail along a path that led between the fields to the village, InuYasha on his heels. Myoga rode on his master's should once more, wisely keeping his nagging questions to himself for this time. It was a rather cold night, though Myoga was sure he was the only one of the trio who was uncomfortable: Shippou had his fur and InuYasha rarely seemed to notice the climate, hot or cold. It was nice and warm under the collar of the demon's haori, so Myoga snuggled in there for the journey to the village.

InuYasha's ears twitched nervously. There was something very wrong about this village. As they drew close enough to hear the villagers behind the lighted windows, Shippou stopped sniffing and stood up to listen. He turned to InuYasha, whose gaze was fixed on the houses ahead of them, his ears cocked forward, listening intently. "Keep moving," the bigger demon ordered, matching actions to words.

Shippou hurried to keep up. "Do you hear that?" he asked with a nervous quiver in his voice. "Weeping."

As they approached, lights came up in another house, then another until the entire village was awake and filled with the sounds of grieving. InuYasha jumped onto the roof of the first house they came upon while Shippou snuck through the shadows until he was below a window. Myoga, who was too small to be noticed by the anguished mortals inside, hopped through the window and hid behind the leg of a low table near the three humans who lived in the house. The center of attention was a girl on a futon, who appeared to be sleeping. To either side of her, two adults wept. Occasionally, one would shake the girl's shoulder, or pat her hand, then, failing to wake her, they'd weep even louder.

A commotion arose outside, sending InuYasha and Shippou deeper into shadow. A young boy ran past Shippou's hiding place, followed closely by an older woman. The pair entered the house, just as a shout went up from a man by the well, who begged the old woman to come to his house and help his ailing daughter. His pleas were soon joined by those of other frightened parents and siblings, who ran out of the houses, calling for the Lady Akane to come quickly. InuYasha assumed "Akane Sama" was the old woman, who was probably this village's equivalent to Kaede. It wasn't long before a crowd of weeping villagers had gathered outside the door of the first house, those closest peering inside to hear the old woman's diagnosis. The crying inside the house grew louder, and then Akane emerged and held up her hands for silence.

"What ails the girls," the old woman pronounced, "is sorcery! Their souls have been stolen by some kind of demon!"

Shippou took that as his cue to retreat to the back side of the houses where none of the villagers were. On the roof, InuYasha had the same idea. They were shortly joined by Myoga who confirmed that the girl in the house, and probably the other young ladies of the village, were victims of the same demon who had attacked Kagome.

"We know it was here," InuYasha said, casting a cautious glance around the corner of the house to make sure no one was headed his way, "but how long ago? And where did it go, if it has even left this village at all?"

Myoga crawled back into InuYasha's haori as he replied: "If only there was a way we could question them without being blamed for these people's poor girls' enchantment!"

Shippou slumped against the wall in despair. He listened to the villagers bemoan they're women's fate, but not one of them mentioned seeing anything out of the ordinary before the girls were stricken. Useless! Perhaps he could use illusion, appear to be another farmer? Feh! That wouldn't work! Humans were always suspicious of strangers! "Oh, Kagome, what'll I do?"

He didn't realize he had said that aloud until InuYasha hoisted him up by the tail again and sneered in his face: "'Oh, Kagome, what'll I do'? Just how much time do you two spend together that you call her by her name when you're in trouble, whelp?"

Shippou gulped. "You want to play the jealous boyfriend now?"

Buh—boyfriend?" InuYasha sputtered. "Where do you get—"

"InuYasha Sama!"

"—that I'm her boyfriend?"

"InuYasha Sama!" Myoga hopped up and down on his master's shoulder and pointed frantically back the way they came.

InuYasha ignored him. Shippou struggled in his grasp and pointed over the bigger demon's shoulder. "InuYasha! We have to get out of here!"

"Eh?" InuYasha turned around and abruptly dropped Shippou, who hit the ground running. A small army of angry farmers was quickly closing the distance between themselves and the—

"DEMONS! Kill them!"

Disclaimer: InuYasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi as well as Ranma ½ and Maison Ikkoku.

Author's Note: Sorry that it took me forever to update! But answering the question of Sango and Miroku: I never intended to have them in this fanfic but they might make a future appearance…I don't know. But chances are, probably not.