Title: Journey to the Northern Mountains

The wind was whistling through everyone's hair as they rode Hachi high up in the sky. Well, Kirara was running through the sky beside Hachi, with Miroku and Songo on her back. But everyone else, even Kouga, Ginta, and Hakkaku (Kouga's minions) were seated on Hachi. Inuyasha had his arms crossed over his sword, eyes closed, with a very displeased look on his face. He murmured his bridled irritation, "Hmmmnhh!" Kagome heard the sigh and glanced back at Inuyasha momentarily, but then looked over to Kouga.

"So tell me Kouga, did you really hear that there were other jewel shards?" Kouga rolled up his eyes up to the clouds, arms crossed, as he gave his important speech.

"Yup. I didn't believe it at first, but after sending some of my wolves to investigate, I found there's more to the story. Apparently, the wolf demon tribes in the Northern Mountains have been devastated lately in a war with a tribe of demons who live deep within the mountains themselves." Inuyasha dropped his displeased pouting to glance over to Kagome and Kouga talking.

"You mean they live in the center of the mountains?"

"Yeah. I'm not sure what kind of demons they are, but apparently they are adept at powerful spells." Hachi began descending to the earth at this point. Inuyasha took note of the opportunity.

"Adept?" broke in Inuyasha suddenly. "Isn't that kind of a fancy word for a no-wit, waste of fur like you to use?"

"Better'n you could, you no-brain albino-runt!"

"Ha! That's the second time you've called me that! I guess your vocabulary isn't all you made it out to be."

Kouga stood up at this. "Shut up, dogbreath!"

Inuyasha stood up too, happily goading him on. "Yeah right, like I'd listen to you, Kouga, the live-cleaning rag!"

"That does it dogbreath, I'm gonna knock you clear off to the ground!"

"My words exactly, ya oil-cloth!"

Eager for a fight, Inuyasha leapt past Kagome to around Hachi's head and tried to land a few punches on Kouga. Kouga jumped back and crouched low to avoid the punches, then leapt high to try to get a sideswipe in. Inuyasha evaded him by leaning back. Kouga responded to his failed attack by leaping backwards again, landing on his hands. From this handstand position, he tumbled, bringing his legs around for a kick, which Inuyasha jumped out of the way of.

"Ha, is that all ya got, ya mangy wolf?" mocked Inuyasha.

"Shut up!" railed Kouga.

Inuyasha leaned back from Kouga's next kick, then smiled because Kouga stopped his kick right in front of his face. Inuyasha grabbed Kouga's leg with his arms and promptly tossed his off Hachi. For a few moments, Kouga's aughhing in his descent could be heard before it simply disappeared. Kagome was wrath.

"INUYASHA! Sit boy!"

The sit command went off on Inuyasha with a vengeance. Inuyasha overbalanced trying to avoid it. As result, he too fell off of Hachi. Now his voice rang out with a diminishing "augh" and he simply disappeared. Shippo peeked over Kagome's shoulder with an astonished, "Oh".

However, all was not what it seemed. While Inuyasha and Kouga had been arguing, Hachi had descended quite a bit, and he was at this time floating about tree level. Kagome and Shippo looked down to see Kouga sprawled out face-down on the ground. What could be seen of Inuyasha was a crater-like hole. Kagome yelled out from treetops, "Inuyasha! You'd better not try something like that again."

Shippo agreed, thinking to himself, "Yeah. I'll bet he couldn't live through it."

When everyone reached the Northern Mountains, it was bright and sunny there. Miroku, Songo, and the others began to make camp for lunch. Inuyasha didn't help of course. Instead, he leaned against a log, Tetsiaga in hand, eyes closed, and a distinct and unhappy frown. Kagome ignored his sulking. Kouga and his sidekicks were still there, and Inuyasha wasn't pleased about it. Kouga walked up to Kagome and clutched her hand.

"Well, Kagome, I guess I'm going to have to leave you now. I need to go talk to the chief elder of the Northern Mountains. I hate to leave you in the hands of that Muttface, Inu-trasha."

"Don't worry, Kouga," said Kagome, "I'll be just fine."

Kouga waved. "Yeah, well ta-ta, my love." Kouga took off, disappearing in a whirlwind. His sidekicks stumbled to catch up. "Kouga, wait!" they cried.

Kagome then turned to Inuyasha, and she could tell by the look on his face that she was in for a talk.

"Heh," said Inuyasha. "Yet another parting and she's still giving him the sweet act! Damn it Kagome, when are you going to learn to say it like it is? You can't keep going on like that!" Kagome colored up and began to get mad.

"Excuse me! You were the one just trying to throw him halfway through the atmosphere! I don't see where you get off giving me manner lessons!"

"I'm just telling you not to let him touch you."

"Hah. Since when did I come under quarantine?" Inuyasha exploded in frustration.

"Damn it woman! Won't you obey me just once? Don't you have any concern for how I feel!" Inuyasha leaned back, calmly down slightly before continuing.

"I'm just trying to keep you out of trouble. You can't behave with a guy like that, you don't understand at all! For demons, especially canines like that it's only natural to fight to determine who gets to keep who, and if I wasn't around to protect you you'd be in big trouble."

"I know, Inuyasha," said Kagome softly. "That's the reason why I can be friends with Kouga, because you protect me. I don't like him like that, he's just a friend."

"Then why do you lead him on like that!" raged Inuyasha. "You have to tell him, really tell him, that you ain't gonna have any part of him! Stop being so nice to him!"

"I know Inuyasha, but…"

"But nothing! Fine, do whatever you want, I don't care!"

Fed up with how things were going, Inuyasha turned and walked off. The rest of the group watched him recede in the distance. Unhappy at the situation, Miroku walked up to stand alongside Kagome so that he could speak to her in counsel.

"Kagome," spoke Miroku, "you'll have to be patient with him. He has been rather strained since Kouga arrived."

"I know, but…"

Miroku interrupted her. "Kagome, he is right you know."

"Wha!"

"You owe it to him to be more direct with Kouga."

Songo moved up to chime in. "He's right Kagome-chan. You really need to be more obvious, more forceful in expressing yourself with him. I know it might hurt him, but it's for the best."

"She's right, Kagome," assented Miroku.

Kagome looked down guiltily. "So I'm the one who's wrong."

Miroku shook his head. "In this case yes. Especially since this must be so hard on Inuyasha. We all know he doesn't have much patience." Shippo hopped onto Miroku's shoulder.

"None at all," put in Shippo.

Kagome looked down, feeling more guilty than ever. She mumbled discontentedly. "Hum."

After thinking for a bit, Kagome stood up to say meekly, "I guess I should find Inuyasha." Miroku shook his head no.

"No, leave him be for now, Kagome-chan. He will be back soon enough. Wait for him here." Kagome looked down at a guilty fist, totally bummed.

The group (excepting Inuyasha) all sat down to wait. After about an hour, they got impatient and sat down to a lunch of what else, instant noodles. Inuyasha finally came back to camp (he would for instant noodles), shuffling his feet and looking away.

"Humph," said Inuyasha moodily. Kagome gave him a meek smile.

"Hello, Inuyasha," she said. However, Inuyasha just ignored her.

"Yeah, well, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I should be more stern to Kouga-chan. Okay?" put in Kagome.

"Humph. So where are my noodles?" said Inuyasha.

The two hide the argument as it were. Kagome handed Inuyasha his noodles and a pacified hanyou started gulping them down. Suddenly, two dogs, a white one and a black one, popped up on either shoulder behind him.

"Hey, hey, hey!" shouted Inuyasha, panicked they would get his precious noodles. "Not you again, get your own ramen!"

Inuyasha desperately held his noodles far away from the two dogs. Everyone in Inu-tachi (Inuyasha's group) looked interestedly at the dogs. Kagome squatted next to the black one, who had moved into the fire ring, wagging a tail.

"Inuyasha," asked Kagome, "where did these dogs come from?"

"Eck. I don't know, they just sort of showed up and have been following me around ever since." He waved a hand.

"Go on, shoo!" said Inuyasha. "I don't like your company!"

The dogs ignored him. Shippo, however, began to get spooked at the curious dogs and jumped onto Miroku's shoulder.

"Wahh!" cried a terrified Shippo. "Are they youkai in disguise?"

Miroku shook his head no. "No Shippo, they seem like ordinary dogs to me. I sense no unusual spirit coming from them."

"Still, it's strange," input Songo. "Maybe they belong to the village and became curious about Inuyasha."

"Hey, I don't agree with any reasoning behind that," rebuffed Inuyasha. Kagome started laughing as the black dog licked her face.

"Ahh, she's a sweety. Inuyasha, she's a girl, right?"

"If she wasn't, she'd be feeling my fist about now."

Behind Inuyasha, the white dog growled. The white dog stopped abruptly and moved over to sit against the black one, pulling on her ear. With a revelation of understanding, Inuyasha closed his eyes.

"Ah, sorry about that old man. I won't speak against your woman then."

Everyone just watched the dogs. The two wagged their tails for a bit, then the white one nipped up at the female. She responded back with an even sharper nip and they wrestled at the maw for a bit before dropping their argument entirely. Songo crouched down to look at them.

"You know," said Songo, "they kind of remind me of Inuyasha and Kagome some how." Miroku leaned over inquisitively on his staff, a finger along his cheek.

"You know Songo, I think you're right."

"What! I am not a dog!" shouted an enraged Inuyasha.

Wearily, Miroku replied, "Whatever you say Inuyasha."

Everyone just watched the dogs casually. (Inuyasha had his arms folded grumpily of course). One of the dogs stopped in front of Kagome's bag and sniffed at it. Then, without warning, he grabbed it in his maw and bolted with it. With an incredulous look, Inuyasha nearly fell off his seat.

"Hey! Stop thief! Come back here you bandit!"

Everyone made for the dog but it managed to evade everyone and passed the backpack off to the female. The dog then distracted everyone by turning around and daring them to attack him.

"Yeah, well if that's the way you want it buddy, you got it!" huffed Inuyasha.

Inuyasha tried to strike at the dog but it jumped and bounced off his head. It then barreled into the woods after the female. Inuyasha picked his face off the ground.

"Hey! Get back here!"

Miroku jumped in with his battle commands. "Everyone, let's go! They can't have gotten too far."

Inuyasha shook his head in assent and hoisted Kagome onto his back. Songo and Miroku took off on Kilala. Shippo, fearful of being left behind, held out a hand as he ran.

"Hey, wait for me!" he cried. "Drat," he ended simply as everyone disappeared.

In the woods Kilala ran. Trees streaked rapidly past Songo and Miroku as Songo shouted and pointed to the white dog ahead.

"There it is!" called out Songo against the wind. "The black one can't be too far."

Songo and Miroku continued their pursuit towards the dog but when they got to where it used to be, they looked around confused. They failed to see the white dog hidden behind some bamboo canes. The dog then rose and kind of walked into the bamboo canes, fading away like the mist.

Somewhere else in the woods, Kagome and Inuyasha began to slow down. Intensely, Inuyasha sniffed the air.

"Damn it, I know it's around here somewhere."

Suddenly, the white dog could be seen around the corner of a rock ledge. Kagome pointed to it.

"There it is Inuyasha!" Inuyasha let Kagome off his back.

"Yeah. You stay here Kagome. I'll go after it."

Inuyasha took off in pursuit of the white dog. Suddenly, from the other direction, the black dog appeared holding Kagome's backpack and wagging its tail. Kagome walked toward it. The dog stayed still, wagging its tail. Kagome crouched next to it.

"There you are," spoke Kagome gently to it. "Why don't you give my backpack back now?" She stretched out a hand to take her backpack.

However, before she could do so, the black dog got up and walked slowly into the brush. Kagome followed after it. From out of no where, a white mist enshrouded the area and the black dog walking before her simply melted away.

"Hmm?" said Kagome.

Of course, Kagome kept walking to catch up with it. What a mistake, not that it matters, they would have got her one way or another. The mist kept rolling in around and over Kagome until she became very confused. It was also mysteriously dark. Unnerved, Kagome called out hesitantly into the mist.

"Ah, Inuyasha?..."

Kagome looked around her somewhat nervously, but found only the unsettling creak of stalks around her. Kagome abruptly saw something in front of her, and ran to it. It was her backpack. But strangely, it was half as tall as her. She crouched beside it.

"That's strange. I know I overpack, but I didn't think I brought this much."

Without warning, Kagome got a very strange look. She became a bit off colored and began to pulse. She promptly sat down on the ground, clutching her stomach. Her eyes opened wide and blank as she froze in place, bits of her glowing all over. She shook out her hair and bits of magical dust flew out from her hair and clothes landed all over her. Unexpectedly, she shifted into a new form, Kagome: THE DOG. She looked exactly like the black dog she had been chasing

Kagome sat down in the dirt with a stunned look until the spell was completed. Then she looked down at the ground and around herself. Then she looked at herself.

"YELP!" came Kagome's cry, shuddering the leaves. Kagome picked up her ears as a mourned howl drifted across the air. Kagome started up, worried.

"Inuyasha," she thought, "I have to warn him." Kagome the dog started sprinting, thinking.

"Oh great," she asked herself. "How am I supposed to find him? I know. I'll smell his scent. I ride on his shoulders enough."

Kagome started sniffing the ground, wagging her tail. Rapidly, she found something and started galloping.

"Hold on Inuyasha," thought Kagome. "I'll be right there."

Kagome stopped in a clearing following Inuyasha's smell. But instead of finding Inuyasha, she found a white dog. Kagome growled at it, advancing. Unaware that she was using dog language, she spoke to it.

"All right, you, what have you done with Inuyasha!" she demanded. The dog blinked and spoke.

"Keh. Wench. Can't you tell it's me?"

"Inuyasha?" asked Kagome in dog. Inuyasha the white dog spoke back irritably.

"Hell Kagome! Who else would it be?" Kagome sat down and eyed him suspiciously.

"I don't know. This could be some sort of trick."

"Keh. Who else knows that knows that you come from the future because you were stupid enough to get sucked down a well? Or that you wear undergarments with pink bunnies on them? Or that you ate the last of Miroku's dessert while he wasn't looking last night?"

"Inuyasha! I should say si-. Wait a minute. Where's your collar?"

"Ha! It's gone! But then, so are our clothes." Both dogs looked mortified.

"Well, maybe they were involved as part of the transformation. It would be terrible to lose the robe of the fire rat, or especially the collar."

Sarcastically, Inuyasha laughed. "Hah! Yeah right."

"Inuyasha! Sit!" With a loud slam, Inuyasha did a proper sit right on his rump. He laid his ears back.

"You had to say it didn't you?" he said unhappily.

"Well now we know where the collar is," said Kagome brightly.