Chapter 5: From the Inside

It was morn only a few hours later. Inuyasha's silver ears had returned, and were alert to every sound. A bird chirp, the rustle of the grass- no hum evaded him. Tetsusaiga was tight to his hip, golden eyes burned bright. Kouga's jewel shards were glowing softly as he tore around their campsite in circles. The prayer beads around Miroku's arm hung loose while he turned a light shade of green watching Kouga.

Sango looked a bit depressed with Hiraikotsu, looking worse for the wear from their last battle. The Bone Boomerang was looking quite limp. "What am I supposed to do with this? There isn't enough time to fix it…" She sighed.

Taking a step forward to assess the damage, Inuyasha felt something sharp dig into his foot. He stepped off of it unfazed, holding it to the light to examine it. A shard of glass tipped in blood gleamed back at him. "I have an idea…"

"Absolutely not." Miroku folded his arms adamantly.

"It wasn't a question, houshi-sama." Sango said with a quiet, firm tone.

"It's far too dangerous. Anything could go wrong." He pleaded under his breath for reason from the girl.

"He's right, mutt, it's a bad plan." Kouga rolled his eyes, but no one seemed to be listening.

"Miroku, we need her to do this." Inuyasha looked at him with purpose and the monk felt a slight pity at the state of affairs Inuyasha was in. Kagome left his side occasionally, but never for so long before in a dangerous situation like this. The hanyou was beginning to look worn out.

"We've heard Kagome-chan, meaning he likely won't kill anyone right away, that gives us some time. And…" She looked for a reasonable argument. "…and I can take care of myself." The monk hesitated again, so Sango quickly took a different approach. She closed the distance between them in a heartbeat, one hand wandering (almost as effectively as his own) to his shoulder and the other tracing a small circle at the nape of his neck. "Miroku… be reasonable." She whispered close to his ear. Inuyasha might have laughed at the completely petrified look on Miroku's face if the moment weren't so tense. The monk took a while to come out of his numb coma.

He broke down at last, after drawing out Sango's attention as long as humanly possible. "Fine, but on a few conditions…"

Eki could see the girl sweeping the path in front of the vine-encrusted shrine. A hundred tails swayed back and forth, estimating the right time to strike. She was alone… the others were nowhere in sight or smell. Even if they had gone to his lair, they would never be able to navigate the maze of tunnels before he returned. Another advantage revealed itself as she lifted a translucent shard into the light, considering it for a moment.

Sango held the shard of glass as if it were a real shard of the sought-after jewel, grasping with nearly enough force to break it. She only prayed that the lizard was as power-hungry as the others had estimated and Kagome's presence in the tunnel wasn't a trick, if not, the plan wouldn't work. She could feel Shippou shivering inside her kimono at intervals. She would have suggested that the kitsune go with the others, but having back up was one of Miroku's requirements. Shippou… back up… what a joke.

Eki took the moment to make his move. A flash of color, and Sango hit the ground with a soft thud. Soon, both the Taijya and kitsune were quickly being drug back to the tunnel system.

"Wake up." With the two words rattling her brain, Kagome's eyes snapped open. Somewhere to her left, she could hear the struggle as the youkai tied another prisoner. "Behave yourselves…" She heard the door shut with a bang.

There was a rustle and a small pop somewhere behind her. "KAGOME!" She twisted her head about as far as she physically could. Sure enough, the voice wasn't a hallucination due to lack of food. Shippou bounded up to her, hugging her as tightly as he could. She laughed aloud, relieved by the look of a friendly face.

He rushed behind her, and a few seconds later, she felt the ropes burn away with a little help from Shippou's foxfire. Standing, she caught sight of Sango, rousing in the corner. "Sango-chan!" She yelped. As quickly as possible, she had Sango untied as well. She hugged her friend hard, her chest not so tight now. Sango was aware of her instructions in seconds.

"We have something to do. Wait for the signal."

Kagome was suddenly worried. "What do we have to do? And… is Inuyasha okay? What about Miroku? What's going on?"

Sango was brief, leaving more questions unanswered. "We're going to get out of here with your powers. Everyone's fine…"

"Come out here and get what's coming to you, you slimy lizard!" Tetsusaiga bore down on the wooden door, a thin line spidering along the fresh wood.

"Keh. Come on, mutt face, anybody could do better than that!" Kouga kicked the door, doing little more than furthering the line. "Damn."

"Would you two please keep yourselves under control?" Miroku's voice was raised in annoyance. "We have work to do."

"Stay out of it!" The two yelled simultaneously.

The earth quietly shook beneath their feet, the wooden trap door exploding open without previous warning, revealing the strange lizard youkai. Inuyasha would waste no time on pointless introduction. "Let Kagome go or die." He hissed venomously. Tetsusaiga exploded out of nowhere into the Eki's shoulder. He laughed slightly.

"Fine…" He chuckled darkly. "Let's play with fire." From a small pouch in his tails he drew a silk case, tossing the fragments into his hand and inserting three into his shoulder. Instantly the wound mended itself and from it spread a wave of silver scales. Reflexively, Eki struck out. The heavy silver appendage crashed directly into Inuyasha, sending him tumbling backward over himself.

Kouga took the rebound, jumping from behind to punch the lizard squarely as it turned. Sliding back a few inches, the beast roared with animalistic ferocity. "He's gone mad with the power of the jewel…" Miroku warned, incredulous himself. With only that, he let several scrolls fly, finding their targets. But the jewel was stronger than the monk's sacred paper. They simply rebounded, fluttering uselessly to the dirt. Another tail struck where Miroku had been standing moments before Inuyasha carried him away.

"Now, where is the jewel?" Sango's soft voice broke through. Closing her eyes, ancient powers were put to work in the young girl, calling the jewel. Faintly, it replied, reaching back to her mind.

"There." She pointed directly into the nearest wall.

Sango turned the nearest corner, Kagome in hot pursuit, guiding her. Excitement raced through the girl, but the current of fear followed deep beneath. Sango was looking at her strangely, asking which way to go next. Snapping back, she continued on, whispering comforts to herself. Not much more and this whole thing will be over…

"Look." Sango pointed to a corner several feet away down another path, motioning to a weapon. Without hesitation, Kagome hurried down the corridor and grabbed the bow and accompanying arrows, trying to ignore the corpse clutching them. An involuntary shudder wracked her body as she backed away from the decomposing man, through whose stomach she could see the wall behind him. She just hoped the others had fared better than this samurai.