The darkness was thick, like an oozing tide. It washed over her. She was falling through the darkness. It clung to her, dragging her down, clutching at her, clawing it her. She couldn't get out! She couldn't move. Her mouth opened and a scream ripped from her lips, loosing itself in the darkness. There were things all around her. She could hear them, getting closer, and closer. The sickening crunch of the things made her stomach churn and her eyes water. She couldn't see anything! Nothing!! She was blind! Where was everybody?

            She let loose another scream, and started running, even while she was falling she ran, stumbling left and right. Her foot seemed to find traction on the air, and then hit something. She gasped, and started falling again, she tried to reach up, but couldn't even find out what up was anymore. She was falling into nothing.

*****

            Sango opened her eyes. She didn't sit up and scream… some dreams are to horrifying for that. She lay silent, her lips clenched tightly shut, her eyes wide open in fear, and tears sliding lightly down the sides of her head into her hair. An occasional whimper escaped her throat.

            There was stirring beside her, and slowly, someone sat up and looked at her.

            It was a young man. He was tall, maybe six feet. His hair was ragged and relatively short, hanging in ragged locks down to the nape of his neck. He was dressed in a dark blue, loose fitting robe, with rips and tears running all down it. His figure under the robe was barely definable as trim, and athletic. On his feet he wore plain, wooden sandals.

            He reached down with his left hand and stroked a tear off her cheek. "You had the dream again?" He asked gently.

            "Hai… Houshi-Sama." She said softly, not moving at all.

            He nodded, and stroked Sango's hair softly, awkwardly using his left hand. His right hand was heavily gloved. It was also maimed horribly, the fingers smashed and bruised, contorting at odd angles. The palm itself seemed to double over on itself. The wrist was wrapped with red-stained cloth.

            "Could you still see nothing in the dream?" He asked pulling away from her, and rummaged around in his cloak.

            Sango nodded again, swallowing heavily. She was feeling very hot. She probably had a fever.

            The man found what he was looking for, and pulled it out. It was a small scroll, filled with runes. "This is a sutra warding off demons who attack dreams." He said. "It should help you sleep better."

            Sango opened her eyes, and looked up at him. He looked odd, but then again, so did everything. One of her eyes didn't work. She nodded, and managed to crack a smile. "So…" She said softly, "You are some sort of monk after all. I was having doubts."

            The man smiled back, and raised an eyebrow. "What made you think that?" He asked. Opening the sutra, and laid it on the thin cloak that covered her. He lifted his hands up, and attempted to make the appropriate sigil with his left hand, using the right as a base. It was difficult, but he finally managed to do it properly. He uttered the prayer, and the sutra vanished in a puff of flames. "There…" He said, relieved. "That should help."

            Sango closed her eyes, and felt a cooling sensation wash over her. Almost immediately, she felt herself falling into sleep again. "Sleep well…" She heard the monk say softly. "We have to travel again in the morning."

            Sango smiled, and snuggled deeper into the cloak. "Thank you… Miroku…" She said softly. The man didn't hear.

*****

            "Please remind me again why we're doing this!" Yelled a very, very angry voice in Chinese. The yell echoed through the ancient forest like a gunshot, searing the brain above the infuriating buzz of the mosquitoes. The origin came from a hole in the gigantic, thick root system at the bottom of the forest. The trees themselves were ancient oaks, twisted, and dark. Their branches reached out like claws waiting to snatch the unwary traveler. It was not a welcoming place.

            "Because we have to find Lord Menomaru!" Came the answer, also from the gigantic roots, and also in Chinese.

            "I mean," The first voice argued. "How do we know he's here? Couldn't he have, you know, moved out of the forest or something?"

            "He was a tree up until a few months ago, remember? Gods, you can be so stupid!"

            "Yeah, well, he is the mighty lord Menomaru! Couldn't he have gotten out of the forest in those few months?"

            "Do you dare mock Lord Menomaru?" Demanded the first voice, becoming shriller. "He is the reason you're alive right now!"

            "I've got Mosquito bites under my armor, and I can't scratch them! I don't want to be alive right now!"

            "Oh, come on! You and I both know you've dealt with things you can't scratch under your armor before! That's nothing new to you!"

            "You just shaddap, Shin! You can't tell me that you're not pissed off to!"

            The voice named Shin became very insulted, and much, much louder. "Well, maybe I'm just more LOYAL than you, Oni!"

            "Well maybe you're just more stupider than I am!" the voice named Oni screeched.

            Finally, one of the voices clambered up onto the top of one of the great roots. It belonged a Chinese woman. She had long, flowing light purple hair, and eyes to match. He face was that of a classic Chinese beauty, round and soft. Her skin was pale, and woven into her hair was a single, white lily. She wore traditional, purple Chinese armor, and strapped to her sides were two, short, curving swords. Her figure was slim, toned, and had a lithe beauty that most women would kill for. Unfortunately the face was marred with an awful scowl, her eyes were burning, and she was so exhausted that her normally pale face was starting to blotch. "Well, 'more stupider' isn't even grammatically correct, so who's more stupider now? Huh?" Her voice identified her as Shin.

            About three hundred yards away, another figure clambered to the top of the massive, above ground root. She looked completely different from her partner. She had short blue hair, tied up into a tight topknot. Her eyes and armor were blue, like her hair, and strapped to her back was a wide-headed spear. Her face was tan, and angular. She had a scar on one cheek, and she was covered in insect bites. She hocked and spat on the root. "Oh, yeah, well at least I'm not a nerd!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

            Shin's eyes flared, and her lips tightened dangerously. "Well at least I don't smell like a horse! No wonder all the bugs are bothering you!"

            Oni growled dangerously. "Oh, yeah, well… well…" She thought for a moment. "I know you are, but what am I?" She demanded.

            "You're a stink head!"

            "I know you are, but what am I?"

            "A weenie breath!"

            "I know you are, but what am I?"

            "Fat!"

            "I know you are, but what am I?"

            "Big, stupid, ugly…" Shin broke off, her head trailing to the side. "Moth…" She breathed, a grin forming on her face.

            "I know you are but what am…" Oni stopped and blinked. "Moth?" She asked, puzzled, "What do moths have to do with anything?"

            "No, look!" Shin said excitedly, all previous anger forgotten. "I found a moth!"

            Oni blinked, then gasped ecstatically. "Really?" She said, sprinting down the root. She crossed the three hundred yards in record time, and stopped right next to her companion. "Where?" She demanded.

            Shin pointed eagerly.

            Sure enough, there on one of the roots, was a moth. It was small, furry, and brown. In fact, it looked remarkably similar to any other moth on the face of the planet. But this one was in the forest that they were looking in.
            "It must mean Menomaru-Sama is still here." Shin said, her mouth widening in a grin. "We need to hurry up and find him."

            Oni nodded eagerly. "As soon as we have our powers back…" She said, leaving it hanging.

            Shin nodded, and smiled evilly. One of the swords darted out of the sheath in her hand, and the moth was sliced neatly in two.

*****

            Miroku awoke slowly. It had been a long, long night. Sango had woken up twice with nightmares, and had dragged him awake along with her. Even so, years of habit didn't die that easily. The sun was barely peaking above the sandy horizon.

            They had been in the desert for so long now… they had been getting by via finding lucky water holes, and occasionally having to dig, but by all rights, they should have been dead long ago. He slowly looked around their little camp. It seemed that they had been wandering forever, but he knew that it had barely been a little less than a month. It was getting ridiculous. Every day, their destination loomed closer, but it seemed that they were getting nowhere by walking to it.

            They were all beginning to lose hope. Ever since that battle, with the dragon Morkleb… they had been continually losing themselves. Sango was completely changed, although he didn't know how. She rarely spoke, and refused to say what was bothering her. She was troubled by constant nightmares, and refused to sleep anywhere but out in the open. She said that there were no shadows in the open.

            His eyes lingered on the fallen youkai hunter, and wandered up and down her thoughtfully. And then there were her eyes. They were different. Before they were hazel, and tinged with sadness. Now they were dark. Not black, but dark. They were dead. They didn't reflect anything, and all the time the shadows around them seemed to get deeper and deeper. It looked almost as if she was blind, but she seemed to have no trouble seeing out of her good eye. And with her sudden change in character, he didn't know what to think. It was as if the deadness of her eyes was spreading throughout her body.  

He couldn't tell how injured he himself was. Morkleb had done something to his back, he knew. He couldn't feel his right leg, anymore, even though he could still move it, and he could feel his left leg going as well. He didn't want to think of how back he was going to end up either. He found that he wanted to think less and less these days. It made life easier.

            His gaze slowly shifted over to his left, where curled up in the sand was a big bush fox-like tail. Attached to the tail was a small boy, sleeping soundly. He had pointed elfin ears, a dirty green smock, and tiny fox feet. It was odd. Shippo was the one they had always worried about being hurt, and now… now he was the only one uninjured.

            He looked out across the rolling expanse of sand, glowing golden as the sun slowly rose above the dunes. His eyes rose to the line of green on the horizon that he knew was a forest. It seemed closer this morning than it had last night.

            "Shippo…" He said, loudly enough to waken the kitsune. Slowly he rolled over, and opened his eyes.

            "Hmmm…" He yawned. "Is it morning already?"

            Miroku nodded, and gestured for him to come over. "We need to dig for water." He said. "We've got a long day ahead."

            Shippo sighed, and stood up. "Oh, all right." He grumbled, and walked over to where Miroku was starting to pile sand away from the bottom of a dune.

            "Did Sango have the dream again last night?" Shippo asked, as he plopped down, and began to help Miroku shovel away sand.

            Miroku nodded. "We're going to let he sleep a little while longer." He said. "She's been having it the hardest."

            Shippo nodded, and continued to gravely dig up the ever-shifting earth.

*****

            "Here's another one!" Shin's voice called out.

            "I found two!"

            "Over there?"

            "Yeah, c'mon! There's some sort of clearing up ahead. They're coming from there!"

            Oni stood in-between two massive roots, and crossed her arms. IT wasn't thirty seconds later that Shin dropped down beside her, and looked up. "You think this is where they're coming from?" She demanded.

            Oni nodded, and pointed. Strait ahead was a huge clearing. In the middle of the clearing was an enormous stump of a tree. Embedded in the stump was a giant white, glistening fang.

            Shin's eyes gleamed, and her grin widened.

            "Finally." She sighed, and began walking forward. She took a step into the clearing, and suddenly the air was filled with moths. They swarmed through the air, coming off the trees and the barren earth. Shin sighed as they flew against her, and continued walking until she finally reached the base of the shattered stump. Oni was only a step behind her.

            They reached the stump, and slowly, both sank to a kneel.

            They waited, until finally, their voice came to them. "So… you are finally here."

            "Hai, Menomaru-Sama." Said one.

            "You are tardy." The voice remarked. It was rich, smooth, and resonant.

            "It was a grueling trip to Japan, milord." Shin said, her eyes downcast, her tone full of respect. "And the forest was large. It took us many months to find you."

            "I see…" The voice said softly. By the fang, there was a light swish of a white cloak. "…Are my forces sensing the change in the air?"

            "They are, milord." Oni said, her harsh voice meek and submissive. "We are the first of many to arrive. We are the trailblazers."

            "Yes… and now you would have your reward, would you not?"

            The pair leaned even lower to the ground. "If it is your wish to bestow upon us, milord." Shin voice. "Then we would be pleased to receive your gift."

            "Very well then."

            The wind suddenly kicked up, and the air was filled with the moths. Both women tensed, bowing even lower, shivering slightly. They looked up again; on each of their foreheads was a single, glowing, tear-shaped jewel. The wind died, and silence claimed the clearing again.

            Both the women slowly arose, to unseen orders. Above on the top of the shattered wooden trunk there was a figure in a white cloak outlined in shadow. They looked up at him, and he looked back down. The jewels on their foreheads glowed a moment. Then they nodded. "Hai, Menomaru-Sama." They turned, and both dashed together off into the forest.

            "And soon," The voice said, dripping satisfaction, "The accursed spawn of the Taisho clan shall be wiped from the slate of history."