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Prologue

"Out, out, brief candle..."

The moon was a round lantern illuminating all that was not covered by the expanse of forest. The sound of the river easing it's way past the dark wood was a soothing caress, a peaceful reassurance that all was well in the world. A bird flitted up to a tree and nestled itself in the safe confines of its nest, bringing in the last remnants of a late-night meal long overdue before tucking itself in for the night. It did not notice the small, hooded shadow stumble as it tripped on a stone, trudging towards the cliff overlooking the river.

The figure looked up at the cliff leading to the forest. Then, dipping its head as if in resignation, it slowly started to crawl up the cliff towards the forest, dirt and rocks trickling past it to land with a soft plop in the river. Twice on the way up, it slid a few feet back down when the rock it had been holding onto or stepping on came out of its crevice. When it finally reached the crest of the cliff, it heaved itself up onto the forest floor before collapsing in a heap where it lay. No sound came from the figure as its back expanded and shrank with laboured breathing. Finally, after a few minutes of silence, the figure lifted itself awkwardly onto its elbows and knees, trembling with the effort. When it was on all fours, it stared out at the night sky for a moment, as if drinking in the peace of the night's quiet, before pushing itself slowly to its feet. It swayed a little where it stood, but managed to stay upright. The figure gazed out at the river below for a long time, not stirring, until the snapping of a twig behind it caused it to whirl around, nearly making the figure lose its balance and tumble backwards down the cliff.

A hand reached out of the gloom of the forest to grab the figure around the neck before it could fall off.

"Careful there. If you fall into the river from this height, you'd surely die, wouldn't you? With those injuries..." a soft, deep voice filled with rolling thunder said quietly. The first figure let out an incoherent noise, then quickly smothered it. As the second figure walked slowly out of the cover of the forest, the shadows receded along its body to reveal an arm clothed in robes of a red so bright and hot in its fire that it would stun the eye to look upon it. The figure's hair, silky, flowing locks of length that shone in the moonlight, adorned the figure's shoulders and draped down its back, pale waves that seemed to take in, at the same time that they reflected, the moon's silvery light, giving them the illusion of illumination. The owner of the voice stepped out enough to reveal a strong, masculine yet smooth and beautifully aristocratic face that spoke of experience well beyond his years, judging by his youthful face, as well as a haunting knowledge in his eyes, as if by even glancing into those pools of magma, one's entirety could be read by him without the slightest effort. In the moonlight, the man's molten eyes glinted like his mane, perfect and untouchable.

"Aren't you happy to see me, after traveling all this way and having to fight all those monsters?" the man asked gently. "It took awhile, but I finally found you after seeing the trail you left behind upstream. There were a lot of youkai fighting over the carcasses of the guardians." He chuckled for a moment, then sobered. "I came here to take you home, back where you belong, with your family. You don't have to go any further."

The figure shifted in his grip, and lifted its head to look at him. He waited patiently for it to get its voice.

"K...Kino-sama..." it croaked.

The man shook his head sadly. "She's dead," he replied. There was a note of finality in his voice. "I found her on the other side of the forest. The...the other guardians got her."

The figure shuddered as silent sobs wracked its body. The man looked on sympathetically, waiting for it to pull itself together. When the figure finally lifted its head again, its voice was stronger.

"Thank you...for your kindness." The man gave a small smile, and made to lower the figure to the ground. At that moment, a flash of movement caught his eye, and he looked down in time to see a hand moving towards his neck. Tightening his grip on the figure's neck, he easily grabbed its wrist with his own free hand, narrowing his eyes as he watched the figure. He continued to squeeze harder around its neck until it wheezed painfully in its attempt to breathe before loosening his grip a little.

"Not a good idea," he crooned softly to the figure. "I really was going to take you back with no punishment, because even though you fled with Kino, I knew it was because you were her servant." He paused, but the figure didn't answer, so he continued. "Do you really wish to die with her? I know you were loyal, but she's dead now. If you come back, you could start over again, a new life, and no one will talk about the past." The man studied the figure, but there was no response. "If she truly had cared for you, she wouldn't have wanted you to die an unnecessary death."

The figure stirred, and whispered something too low for him to hear. He leaned closer, and managed to catch a few words.

"Go...to hell."

The man straightened, amber eyes cold and resigned. He sighed, and shook his head. "Alright, if that's what you really want." He studied the figure for a moment before walking to the edge of the cliff. The river gurgled past the cliff quietly below, drowning out the sound of his steps. The man paused at the edge, and let out a short, quiet laugh. "You know..." he said wistfully, looking at the moon. "I think I'm actually going to miss you."

He let go of the figure, watching it fall into the river and go under, carried away by the swift current.

:o

Inuyasha bounded through the forest, leaping from tree limb to tree limb and soaring out over the mass of green when he jumped up far enough. As he flew over the canopy, he breathed in the crisp morning air and felt the exhilaration of energy course through him. A flock of birds, startled out of their perch as he bounced onto a treetop, took off in a flurry all around him, temporarily blocking his view. He ignored them, too much content in his own paradise to notice them. As he neared the edge of the forest, he slowed down and prepared to land by the river.

The river was not that big, dwindling down into a little lake some ways from here, but it was a good enough spot to catch some small fry at least, if not any bigger meals. Inuyasha hopped lightly down to the edge of the riverbank, skimming the water with his gaze, searching for a good catch. He was looking forward to catching some bigger fish; it had been awhile since they had had a decent meal and shelter in a house that Miroku had "exorcised" of demons and "protected" with his spiritual powers. However distasteful his methods, the smooth-talking monk had always had an eye for wealthy houses and knew where to practice his "spiritual" profession; even Inuyasha acknowledged that. Lately though, even Miroku had been unable to get them into a half-decent house that was ready to give them a meal and bed for the night. In Inuyasha's opinion, it may have been for the better; he'd grown tired of cheating the villagers, however rich, and preferred to catch his own food now and then. Besides, he had a score to settle with fish. A few of the earlier meals had left him covered from head to toe with fish eggs and poop of some unknown creature when he'd accidentally tripped on a ridiculously slippery stone while chasing some big brown guy under a bridge. Not only that, but the same brown thing had slapped him several times in the face when he'd finally caught it, literally spanking him as he tried desperately to get a hold on the slimy, violently bucking body. The flipping out of the fish had left him with vile-smelling clothes for at least a week, and he'd had to endure with Shippo's taunting remarks about not even being able to handle one little fish. He would get him for that later. For now, there was the fish.

Inuyasha waded out into the water until it came up to his knees, scanning the water for any sign of life. He'd seen what looked like a small one about fifteen feet away from the riverbank, but he'd lost sight of it when he'd entered the water. Concentrating his attention around him, he almost missed the dark shape floating past him about thirty feet from the shore. Tempted to ignore it, he almost did, but after a seemingly endless length of time with no fish in sight, his curiosity won over, and he swam out to take a look.

As Inuyasha reached the floating mass, he was able to ascertain that, upon closer inspection, the dark shape was in fact a humanoid figure. Wrapped in a dark cloak, the figure was completely covered, the cloth blocking any view of the creature within. Inuyasha paused as he reached for the part of cloak covering the face, wondering if he really wanted to see what was underneath. From the way the bundle was floating on the surface, the creature inside would most likely be dead, maybe even munched on by the inhabitants of the river. At the very least it would not be in good shape. He almost drew back, thinking that he should just leave it be and get on with his work, but at the last second changed his mind and carried the bundle up to the shore. If it really was dead after all, he could always sink it to the bottom of the river or bury it, depending on it's condition. Inuyasha shook his head as he dragged the figure up the riverbank. Since when had he gotten so sentimental as to go out of his way to do stuff like this for strangers? Kagome and the others were really rubbing off on him, and it peeved him to think that he was turning into some mushy weakling because of it. Ah well. He'd already pulled the bundle out of the water. Might as well take a look.

Lifting the hood carefully so as not to welcome any surprises, he drew back the cloak. When he had finally pulled back the cloth from the face, he stared.

It was a human. A small one. With very strange, unusually short hair.

The face was pale and drawn, as if the person was in shock, or was suffering from lack of blood. Inuyasha thought it might be the latter, or even both, judging from the various gashes and rips in the clothing as he studied the figure. From the smell wafting up strongly from the body, he thought, if it's not dead by now, then it should be soon. This one has lost a ton of blood.

He stuck his finger under the lower jaw near the neck, feeling for a pulse. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, something bumped gingerly against his finger, coming again a few seconds later, weaker. Inuyasha swore. This one was alive, but would not be for long unless he got some help. He glanced at the river, noting the flash of sunlight on scales, then back at the figure, staring at the pallor of its cheeks, contemplating his predicament. After a long moment, he took a deep breath, and instantly regretted doing so, coughing out the rest of his sigh. The stench of the body in front of him was already unbearable enough without him sucking in a big whiff of it. Muttering under his breath, Inuyasha resignedly scooped up the human, tossing it over his shoulder. He was just about to lift off when he noticed something strange about his burden. He took a tentative sniff, and raised an eyebrow at the confirmation.

So. This one was not just another human, after all. Would it still be worth losing some valuable fishing time to save it?

After another long moment, Inuyasha shot one more rueful look at the riverbank, sighed again, and launched off into the air, towards the campsite.