A/N: AAUUUGGH! I forgots Kirara! I'm so sorry, I'll fix it in this chappie, don't worry!

I'd just like to address a few things that I found in my reviews:

1.Aari's gang's names are not supposed to be Japanese. They come from a different world, and a different country, and a different plance of existence. So I can name them whatever I want.

2. Yes, they are like each other. They are supposed to be, they are alternates of each other, after all.

Just wanted to clear that up, I guess it was confusing. Sorry! Anyway, hope you all enjoy this nice, looooooong chappie!

Inuyasha gang:

Inuyasha suddenly sniffed the air, and dropped into a crouch. "Someone's up there," he whispered.

"Do they know we're here?" Sango asked, Kirara dropping from her shoulder.

"No, we're downwind of them."

Inuyasha started forwards cautiously, the others following. Soon, they all could hear voices drifting towards them on the wind.

Kagome heard a young voice, much like Shippos, complain, "But I'm tired! And it's so heavy!"

A second voice, this one older, but still female –"Honestly, Tala! It's barely a twig!"

A third voice, one that reminded Kagome eerily of herself, called, "Aari! Could'ja give me a hand here?"

A fourth, that would have been like Inuyasha's except for the playful tone, answered, "I would, but it's sort of, you know, attached and all . . ."

The second voice, this time layered with contempt, replied, "You Gypsies are all the same, all play and no brains at all."

The gang crested a hill-top and saw the source of the voices. They stared.

A young tanuki, Shippo's age, but a girl, was making a dramatic show of lugging a small piece of wood away from a shipwreck. Four other people were salvaging what they could from it.

The second voice belonged to a strong woman with a javelin that reminded everyone of Sango. She was folding her arms and glaring at a grinning hanyou. He had black skin, and was a panther hanyou instead of dog, and wore trousers and a shirt instead of a haori, but he looked unerringly similar to Inuyasha with his stance, face, and silver-white hair. Nearby, the owner of the third voice was struggling with a large green backpack pinned underneath a pile of wood. The third voice had long, dirty-blond hair, and was about Kagome's age. She wore jeans and a T-shirt, both smudged with dirt. The panther hanyou, still grinning, went and easily lifted the wood so the girl could drag her backpack out.

The last person looked just like Miroku, save that he had red hair instead of brown. He was petting a small demon-cat with silver-gray fur. The similarities to everybody struck Inuyasha and the gang speechless.

Suddenly, the wind shifted. The panther hanyou's head jerked up and he stared in their direction. Catching sight of Inuyasha, his upper lip lifted in a snarl. The rest of the party looked up to see what the matter was, and caught sight of the rest of the gang.

The hanyou, older woman, and monk all went into defensive positions, the girl picking up a bow, and the cat hissing and swelling slightly, but none of them drew a weapon. Yet.

Inuyasha glanced back at Kagome. She nodded. "They have it."

"Perhaps Lady Kagome should approach them," Miroku suggested diplomatically. Inuyasha and Sango answered simultaneously, both responses amounting to "Like hell she will!"

"I didn't mean alone!" he protested. "I merely thought that it would be better than Inuyasha leaping out and threatening them."

Sango, after thinking a moment, agreed, as did Kagome, though Inuyasha scowled through it all. Shippo agreed just to see the expression on the hanyou's face.

Kagome stepped out in front of Inuyasha, holding her hands up in a sign of peace. The members of the strange group stared at her, over to their girl and back to Kagome again.

"We mean you no harm," Kagome called out. The neko hanyou snorted, clearly implying that she wouldn't have posed much of a threat to them anyway.

The girl similar to her walked forwards. "My name is Rachel. The monk is Martin," here the red-headed monk smiled, "the woman is my friend, Saria," the grim-faced lady nodded, "this little ball of energy is Tala," the tanuki smiled mischievously, "the cat is Flicker," the cat flicked her tail and appraised the group coolly, "and this is Aari." The colorfully dressed hanyou grinned and dropped into an elaborate bow.

Kagome nodded her greetings. "My name is Kagome. The kitsune is Shippo, this is Sango, the monk is Miroku, the cat is Kirara, and this is Inuyasha."

Shippo and Miroku smiled when they were introduced, Sango nodded, Kirara purred, and Inuyasha continued scowling. Kagome sighed. If he kept that up, his face would freeze like that, she was sure of it.

The gang walked slowly down the hill, onto the beach. The two groups stood facing each other a moment. Surprisingly, it was the panther hanyou, Aari, who made the first move.

"Hmm. I guess I was right. Damn."

Shippo couldn't resist. "Right about what?"

Inuyasha would have given him a steely glare, so the kitsune was surprised when Aari answered. "We were blown into another world." He glanced around himself, resting his gaze on Kagome and Inuyasha. "Cool."

Rachel more or less exploded. "We're stuck here facing our clones and all you can say is 'cool'!"

He blinked at her, surprised. "Isn't it?"

Miroku interjected, grinning pervertedly at the sight of Saria and Rachel. "I agree," he said.

Surprisingly, Martin, Aari, Rachel, and Saria all glared at him.

"Wha-at?"

Saria blinked, and commented, "You remind me of Martin. More obtrusive, though. Back off."

Kagome and Sango laughed at the look on Miroku's face. Then, Inuyasha was nearly knocked off his feet when Tala and Shippo, rolling around in the sand, tussling, banged into him. They had hit it off from the minute they had met.

"Watch it, brats!" he snapped. To his surprise, Aari responded with Rachel and Kagome. "Leave off!" "They're just kids," Aari added, giving the dog hanyou a warning glare.

Rachel sat down in the sand, moaning. "Well, I'm exhausted. Maybe these people can lead us to the nearest village or something. So, Aari, please don't annoy them too much."

"Since when do I annoy people? I insult, aggravate, and make fun of 'em, yeah, but I don't annoy 'em. Read the contract."

"You have a contract?" inquired Kagome dubiously.

"I'm in the middle of writing it," he answered casually. Inuyasha snorted.

"What's so funny, mutt-boy?"

Inuyasha snarled at him. Aari turned to Kagome. "Doesn't he ever talk?"

Rachel kicked Aari half-heartedly from the ground. "Shut up, would'ja? Just cuz you're a chatter-box doesn't mean he is."

"Yeah, you reminded me – why the heck do they look like us!"

Kagome shook her head, unknowing. "Maybe we should ask Kaede?" she suggested.

"Who's Kaede?" Martin inquired.

"The . . . uh, the younger sister of Kikyo, the priestess of whom I am a reincarnation?" Kagome fumbled, trying to put it in terms they might understand.

Aari still looked puzzled. Rachel sat up in the sand and told him, "Kaede is their Kari, and Kikyo is their Reyna."

"Oh."

"Ah! Dry land, at last!" a small voice cried out. Fast as lightning, Aari's hand darted to a splintered board and came back holding something in his claws.

"Who are these people, m'lord?"

Aari observed the speck dryly. "Hullo, Gana. I thought you were staying on the mainland. Seeing as you never come within a hundred miles of danger and such."

Glancing up, he explained, "Gana. Flea-demon. Annoying."

"Don't I get sentences?"

"You're not worth the wasted energy."

"Hey!"

"What! You're not!"

The flea-demon leaped from Aari's claws to the sand and looked up at Kagome, Inuyasha, and the gang. "Ah. We have landed in an alternate realm of existence!"

"Wha?" Rachel and Aari replied. "In English, please," Aari added.

"We're in an alternate universe."

"Oh." Aari thought about that for a moment, then grinned. "Cool."

Rachel shook her head as she stood up and dusted herself off. "Great, just great. Now how am I gonna get home, huh?"

Aari shrugged. "There's no place like home?" he suggested.

Rachel stared at him before replying, "I knew letting you watch The Wizard of Oz was a bad idea. I just knew it."

"Perhaps this 'Kaede' the lady Kagome mentioned may be able to assist us," Martin suggested.

Saria nodded in agreement. Kagome smiled at them. So did Miroku. Shippo was still wrestling with Tala. Inuyasha glowered, and Sango merely stared grimly. Rachel found the group slightly intimidating. Only slightly, though. At least they didn't look as if they were annoying up to the nine hells.

"Well, Kagome, lead on!" she cried, grinning at the girl. She seemed nice. Maybe they could be friends!

Kagome grinned. "The nearest village is about two days away," she explained, as Inuyasha started back up the trail with one last, icy glare directed towards Aari.

Saria shrugged. "Ah, well. It's good time, I suppose."

The strange group started off, heading into, as Inuyasha and Kagome would later dub it, 'the Realms of Insanity'.

A/N: Sorry if the meeting was a little confusing. The next chapter will be better, I promise.

Review! Feed me, muahahahaha!