"I don't get it Miroku!" Shippo said loudly, looking around. The desert had all but disappeared now, and the trees were still growing. They were getting very, very big. "How is this possible?"
    "I don't know Shippo." Miroku said softly. "Lots of impossible things are happening right now."
     "Like how you can walk?"
     "Yes..." Miroku said softly, "Much like that."
    They were weaving their way through thick trees, hanging, mossy creepers, and thick, heavy vines. Sango stalked on in silence; Miroku saw it fit to simply follow her. He kept a single hand on her shoulder, letting her know he was there.
    "Hey, Miroku?" Shippo asked plaintively. "I'm getting hungry..."
    The monk scowled. There was no food here... he hadn't seen a single edible plant all day. Too bad lady Kagome wasn't around. She seemed to know a whole lot about plants. Probably from hanging around Kaede so much. "I don't have anything, Shippo. We'll probably have to go without for a little while."
    Shippo looked to the ground, and his stomach grumbled at the news.
    Miroku walked on, holding gently onto Sango. They traveled maybe a hundred yards more before Miroku became aware of the thing following them. It was above them, lurking through the trees. He didn't know what it was, but it was distinctly there. He squeezed Sango's shoulder lightly, and gave a nod up when she glanced at him. Slowly, like syrup, she nodded, her eyes not showing any comprehending. Miroku hated those eyes now.
    He couldn't say anything. Shippo would panic, and run off. They couldn't have that now. They thing was slowly stalking closer and closer to them. Miroku looked down at his right hand. It was still crushed. His wind- tunnel was useless. In other words, so was he. Sango was their only like of defense, and in her state, that was not comforting.
    Suddenly there was a crash from above them, a sudden roar, and the thing burst forward through the canopy and landed in front of them. Sango's emotionless eyes narrowed, and she dashed forward, breaking the connection with Miroku. Her fists flashed down, and her feet spread in a balanced pose. Dying she might be, but not dead. Her hands came up in a lethal defensive stance.
*****
    Sesshoumaru walked down the street placidly, intent on finding the dragons. He had over reacted. He had let his calm die. And now he had to pay for it. He would do as the dragons requested of him. It was their island, and he was their political inferior. Only politically.
    He walked down the ivory way, ignoring all the people and youkai milling around him. At least he ignored them until Aaron ran by. The man was sprinting at high speed, an ecstatic grin on his face. His blond hair flew wildly around his face like a lion's mane. The second he reached Sesshoumaru, he slammed his foot into the pavement, stopping himself short. He looked up at Sesshoumaru, nodded in acknowledgement, grabbed the tai- youkai's hand, and deposited into it about ten oddly shaped pieces of gold. "Have fun!" The man said, and was instantly gone, sprinting for all his might.
    Sesshoumaru Looked down at the gold, and looked up again, staring at the street Aaron had come from. There was another human coming towards him. He was dressed oddly, had all black, raggedy hair, tan skin, and a ferocious face. He was holding a five foot long, thick, heavy blade above his head, and was rushing at him as fast as possible.
    Sesshoumaru inwardly sighed. Just as the man started a downward swing, Sesshoumaru whipped his hand up, dropping the gold, and grabbed the blade by its side, stopping it dead away. But the human on the other end had let go the second the gold left Sesshoumaru's hand. The human dashed under his own blade, grabbed the gold before it could hit the ground, and slammed his shoulder up into Sesshoumaru's stomach. Sesshoumaru's eyes widened slightly, and he stumbled back. The human, having his gold, was already up and running again. He was taking the path that Aaron had taken.
    Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed. The human was fast. Exceedingly so, in fact. And yet, Sesshoumaru had never before seen him in Shinjuku, and the Tai youkai kept a very good record of slaves. This man was obviously new.
    Sesshoumaru changed coarse, and walked down the street that the two men had run down.
    Far above him, on the roofs of the buildings, two figures watched him.
    "Should we strike now?" One asked.
    "No..." The other mused. "Let us see how he fares against these two humans. Maybe they will do our work for us."
  Sango dashed forward, and brought her fist forward expertly. There was a tremendous roar as the cloud of dust around the beast began to clear, and Sango was thrown back. She landed lightly near Miroku in a low crouch, and grimaced.
    The dust began to clear, and the roar died. As the cloud finally settled, Miroku's and Shippo's eyes widened. There was nothing there. Slowly, their eyes traveled downward, and finally rested on the place the demon would have stood. Standing in the center of the burnt, dusty crater was a small, white fire-cat with black stripes, and striking crimson eyes.
    "Mew." Said Kirara.
    Miroku blinked, and cocked his head to the side. An old friend will guide you...
    Sango blinked twice, and slowly dropped to her knees, inspecting the little fire-cat. "Kirara?" She whispered, her voice hoarse.

"Meow." Kirara said affirmatively. "Purr."

            "It's Kirara." Shippo stated, every the observant one.

            "I see that." Miroku said, nodded. "But… how?"

            Sango slowly reached out and put her hand on Kirara's head, needing proof that she was real.

            "Meow." Kirara said authoritatively, and turned around, beginning to walk slowly through the trees.

            "Kirara…" Sango whimpered softly as the connection from the furry head to her hand was broken. A soft, heavy hand was placed on her shoulder. She looked up to see Miroku standing over her, Shippo perched on his shoulder. He smiled, and pulled her gently to her feet.

            "Well, I suppose she could know where she's going." Miroku said with a shrug. He wasn't quite sure that he should reveal his dream yet. "Not like we have anywhere to go. Let's follow her."

            Sango looked up at him, her face fragile. She nodded slowly, and gave him a weak smile.

*****

            BUSTED! Aaron looked left, and right. It was a dead end. He whipped around, and winced. Morgan was still coming at him, and was looking fit to explode. Aaron grinned wolfishly, and expertly whipped the spear out from behind his back. A chase scene is always best ended with a fight.

            Morgan was already on him, and quickly brought a foot long dirk up at his chest. "You see, matey, nobody steals from a pirate."

            "Apparently they do." Aaron contradicted, holding up the final piece of gold, blocking the blow expertly with the haft of the spear.

            Morgan smiled, and suddenly brought his cutlass around at the blonde warriors head with his left hand.

            Aaron simply smiled, and blocked again. And then the dance began. Back and fourth across the alley, a quick thrust at the neck, a lightning block, a slash at an ankle, a swift punch. Back and fourth it went, until finally the two combatants leapt away. Morgan was breathing hard, and had a light cut on his right cheek. Aaron was laughing his head off. "Wow!" He said happily. "You fight really dirty. I don't see that too often."

            Morgan held up a finger. "Pirate." He reminded the blonde man.

            "So that is the explanation." A soft, monotone, controlled voice said from behind him. "You are a pirate."

            Morgan didn't turn around, but nodded slowly. "Aye." He said. "'m a pirate."

            Aaron looked past Morgan. Sesshoumaru was standing just a few feet beyond him. This would get interesting fast. "This is Captain Morgan." Aaron said to Sesshoumaru. "He's here on vacation."

            Sesshoumaru nodded slowly, and began to circle Morgan. "If you are a pirate, then you would bee stealing things?" Sesshoumaru asked, his voice soft and cool.

            Morgan's eyes were drawn to the tai-youkai as he came into his field of view. "Aye… I steal things." He said. "This city makes it extremely easy. Everyone where's all their jewels on the outside clothes."

            Sesshoumaru didn't even twitch. "One would suggest that you should be careful about what you steal." He said.

            "Never been careful before." Morgan shrugged, bringing up his cutlass and inspecting it carefully. "Don't see why I should start now."

            "Because this is my city." Sesshoumaru said simply. "And I would not like you stealing in it."     

            Morgan pursed his lips, and poked his finger at the tip of the cutlass, drawing a ruby pinprick of blood. "And you are..." He left it hanging.

            "You may call me Sesshoumaru-Sama."

            Morgan nodded. "Okay, and I don't suppose your just going to let me go, are you?"

            Sesshoumaru regarded him coolly. "For stealing, I probably would. However, for hitting me, I doubt it."

            Aaron blinked. "But I thought you wanted this." He said, holding up the last piece of gold.

            Morgan turned from Sesshoumaru to Aaron. "Am I correct in assuming that fighting with this Sesshoumaru fellow would probably get me killed?"

            Aaron nodded happily. "But it would be fun to watch." He said.

            Morgan blinked at him, making a mental note to stay away from the man when he was bored. "Yes, well, life is better than gold." Morgan reasoned. "Unless it's a whole lot of gold, and a really crappy life. But I digress." He said, and suddenly turned around, and tore down the street at high speed. Discretion was the finer part of valor. Morgan didn't have any valor, so he just settled for caution, with a bit of tactical cowardice.

*****

            This was a much better way to travel. Miroku decided that within the first few moments. Wind flew through his ragged hair as Kirara flew between the trees. He had one hand wrapped around Shippo's tail.

            Slowly, his thought traced back to his dream, and he began analyzing.

1. Someone knew about them. A lot about them.

2. That person was extremely powerful.

3. That person was a potential friend.

4. That person was a potential enemy.

5. That person knew Kirara, obviously well enough to trust her.

6. They were now going to see that person.

            It was either this, or very extreme coincidence. And Miroku didn't believe very much in coincidence this extreme anymore. Briefly he wondered what was going on… The logical conclusion would be that it was a dragon.

            Miroku briefly filed though the list of dragons that he knew. There was Atma, obviously, however Miroku doubted it. That wasn't Atma's style. It was much too subtle.

            There was that girl Tiamet. The voice matched. A childlike mentality and voice to a childlike person… however, Miroku doubted that, too. In the short time he had seen her, he had seen that she was even blunter than Atma was.

            Then there was that big white dragon, Gelledius. He hadn't spoken much when the dragons had met together, but what he had was carefully planned, and very refined and noble. The voice in the dream was anything but that.

            Khellendros was dead, so that counted him out, as well as Morkleb.

            And the only other dragon he knew of was…

            His eyes narrowed.

            Vadise.

            Did Vadise know about them, Miroku mused. If so, how? Maybe InuYasha and Kagome had reached her, and told her about them. Well, of coarse InuYasha and Kagome had reached her. The alternative was unthinkable. But if it was her, then what did she care about them for? Or if it wasn't her, then who or what was it? Were there other dragons out there, or was it something else entirely?

            His eyes widened suddenly as the terrain changed suddenly. The tree's suddenly burst open to scalded, dry ground. A wall of heat suddenly hit him, and she pulled himself closer to Kirara's fur, trying to avoid it. He looked down, and his eyes widened as he saw that the ground was littered with pools of molten rock. He swallowed and clung even tighter, wishing that this was all over.

*****

            The chase was on again. And so far, Sesshoumaru was winning. Many leaders ignore most of the darkest allies in their dominions. Sesshoumaru knew every one, and took advantage of them all.

            Morgan dashed down a marble street, trying to find his way down to the harbor. Maybe if he could find Kiriln he would have a chance against the lord of this city. Morgan didn't get genuinely afraid easily. He most certainly wasn't when he had first seen the lord. He had looked well dressed, his hair was long, almost like a girl's, and he had a big fluffy boa. And he only had one arm. He really hadn't looked very threatening. But something about the way he spoke had clued Morgan into the fact that he didn't want to fight him. Nobody who looked so… not feminine deserved to have so threatening and controlled a voice.

            It was a good thing Morgan had listened to his instincts. It was hard enough just getting away from the bastard. He stopped suddenly as Sesshoumaru dashed out from an ally in the side of the street. Morgan let out a heavy oath in English, and turned to go the other way, traveling very fast.

            As Morgan made his way through the winding streets, Sesshoumaru cutting through every ally in the city to cut him off, two figures leapt from building to building, tracing Sesshoumaru.

            "I don't think we can rely on the humans to take him out, Shin." One said.

            "I suppose not." The second said, slightly annoyed. "Do you think we can take him? He looks strong."

            "Don't be an idiot!" The first figure hissed. "If he fights anything like he did when he was young, then he will be no problem."

            "But it does not look like he fights like he did when he was young. He seems to be much more precise than he was then."

            "Just shut up, and let's go."

            Like eagles, the two figures dropped off the roofs, and fell gracefully to the floor below, landing firmly on the stone street between Morgan and Sesshoumaru. Morgan stopped suddenly, and blinked. Women didn't normally drop out of nowhere in front of him. Not that he was complaining, mind. But still, these ones seemed a little two feisty. They were Chinese, he could tell. The blue haired one had a spear, and the one with purple hair had two swords in her hands. They were both facing Sesshoumaru.

            The lord youkai regarded them coolly. "You are Oni and Shin." He said simply.

            They nodded. "And we want your fang." The purple haired one replied.

            Sesshoumaru glanced down to the sword at his side, then back up. "Very well." He said simply, and held out his hand. The fingers started glowing slightly.

            Morgan swallowed, and back up nervously. This would be where he ran.

*****

            The weather was certainly interesting in dragon country, Miroku reflected. They had gone from a sweltering lava-filled plain to a glacial cliff in an hour. And now this. They stood at the top of the cliff, and looked down at what would best be described as a crater. Not a burnt, steaming crater. It was filled with life. A jungle, so thick and dense that Miroku could hardly believe it. He had never seen such life before.

            Kirara cast them a meaningful glance, and it seemed that she almost smiled. Then she dashed down into the thick forest. Where she dashed a flock of bright crimson birds flew out of the trees, looking like sudden gout of flame.

            Miroku sighed, and began walking. Shippo and Sango followed timidly after him.

*****

            Okay, after about five weeks of successfully only updating once per week, let's just say that you can expect updates every week, Sunday or Saturday.

            And now we finally get to the action. Things should start to pick up after this chapter, so be happy and keep reading!