Disclaimer: Don't own it. I'm just temporarily thievering Takahashi's wonderful characters for my own diabolical scheme.

She was dark haired and blood splattered. Small, pale and fragile-looking, she huddled against a tree, baskets full of odd-smelling herbs forgotten in the long grass. The demon looked like a boar of sorts, oversized and wearing crude armour, but an animal nonetheless. Saliva-slicked lips pulled back into a hideous grin that curved into two large tusks on either side of its snout. Coarse hair slithered along with its every movement, and massive claws were curved and ready to rend the child flesh from bone.

"I'll send you back to the earth, my dearest," he rumbled, earning a squeak from the child who tried to push herself further into the tree.

Then he landed, kicking up dust and tufts of yellow grass in his wake, digging his own claws into the brittle ground to counter some of the momentum he'd built.

"Oi, youkai. Is that scrawny human child really the best you can do?" he sneered. The boar snorted and turned, backing away with an awkward waddle to get a better look at the newcomer. He took two questioning snuffs and grinned even wider, his tongue lolling out to one side.

"Well, if it isn't a hanyou. Come to pay your respects?" he jeered, relaxing instantly. The boy smirked humourlessly, feeling that old bitter rage rise like bile. In a way, it was comforting. Hanyou…

Raven Moon: Ch. 6, The Team Player

Author: Cyan I'd

Betas: Special thanks to Alex and Sashi!

"No. Absolutely not."

The night was a little cool. The afternoon sunshine had been warm and welcoming, but as it dipped below the horizon, blues and silvers chased off the gold. Dew drops formed on the grass blades, each one glinting in the moonlight that shone from a clear, dark sky.

"Kagome-sama, you must realise…" the monk tried to argue, but it was useless. Kagome was a stubborn girl, and like all stubborn girls, she did not back down in any situation.

Thankfully, the decision was made for them.

"No, houshi-sama, we might as well deal with this tonight. Why let it lie until morning?"

The speaker was a withered old woman, bent by the weight of the seasons she'd lived through and dressed in the loose, comfortable clothes of a priestess of her station.

"Of course, miko-sama," Miroku replied, bowing respectfully. Kagome followed suit, a slight blush tingeing her cheeks at the thought of what the woman had witnessed: a trained, albeit young, priestess and a monk carrying on at each other in the middle of the night. Lucky for them there was no village to rouse. This particular priestess, it seemed, was a bit aloof from the rest of the world. Her small home was tucked away in the forest near a village, within sight of it but not sound. It was modest, quiet, and brooding, but most definitely welcoming in a way Kagome couldn't quite define.

"We're very sorry to bother you this late, miko-sama…" Kagome started, but the old woman waved her off.

"Nothing to worry about. It seems you've got a very good reason to be here, at any rate," she replied. "Let's see this… 'minor problem' you have, then."

Kagome and Miroku exchanged glances before the monk grimaced and dropped his staff, hopping up into the wagon. He had a great deal of experience with many horrific things, but he still didn't relish the idea of touching something… expired. Not that their newfound friend was revolting, or anything of the sort.

But flesh simply shouldn't be that pale and cold.

Kagome fidgeted, her nervousness growing as the old woman scrutinised her with one good eye. The other was completely covered by a black eye patch. It was a relief when Miroku finally returned, dragging a very limp Inuyasha by securing one pale arm over his shoulder. As he hopped down carefully, Kagome noticed that the hanyou seemed to make an effort to steady himself, despite his limited ability where motion was concerned. Unconsciously, her eyes strayed to about where her arrow should be, then to his face – only to find he was already looking at her. She quickly averted her eyes, feeling the heat in her cheeks as she recalled their earlier encounter. She had been so forward…

Inuyasha snorted softly and flicked his gaze to the older miko, giving her a fierce glare. "What do you expect this old hag to do? Looks like all she's good for is filling a grave, if you ask me," he spat.

"That's why we didn't ask you," Miroku replied calmly. The older miko looked nonplussed.

"So, you brought him to our world from death, then?" the woman asked for clarification, pointedly ignoring Inuyasha's responding, "No shit."

"By accident."

"And you don't know how to put him back?"

"I'm fairly new at this, miko-sama."

"Well… I'm afraid that I really can't help you much there. My experience with the world beyond is a little bit lacking. My advice is to keep him with you – keep him out of trouble until you are able to send him back," the miko finished.

"You can't be serious!" Kagome spluttered, more than a little put-out and disappointed. Granted, it was her problem, so she had to fix it, but part of her still clung to the fairytale notion that adults could fix anything the kids messed up.

"Miko-sama," Miroku started calmly, "there must be something we can do. We are a little pressed for time, not to mention the danger of travelling in these lands of late – it's a hazard to have to drag around… well… a dead weight, if you'll pardon the expression."

"Yes, houshi-sama, I agree completely – which is why I do have a little something in mind. In fact, I think this works out rather nicely. Your 'friend' here must know a thing or two about the afterlife, I'm sure his expertise can help you out on your journeys," the miko said warmly.

"Fat chance," Inuyasha scoffed. The hag turned her wrinkled eyes on him, giving him a chillingly knowing smile. He was desensitised as far as fear was concerned, but her look still gave him the creeps.

"Got a good mouth on you, eh?" she smiled, then turned and headed for her cottage. "Wait here," she commanded, disappearing behind the flap for a moment. Kagome and Miroku exchanged glances, then turned to regard the limp hanyou still dangling off of the monk's shoulder. He puffed some of his silver bangs out of his face and gave the girl the most withering malicious glare he could manage. He didn't know how it looked – fanged teeth, translucent skin, burnt amber eyes, cold and hollow – but he understood the effect well enough. She turned away, wrapping her arms around her middle.

"Here it is," the old woman announced, returning from her hut. She approached stiffly and slowly, a testament of her age, a strange sort of necklace dangling from her outstretched hand.

"Ah, we are very thankful indeed, miko-sama!" Miroku declared, catching sight of her prize.

"It's no trouble," the miko chuckled.

"A rosary?" Kagome queried, frowning in confusion. The woman finally approached, stretching out the wooden beads and teeth carefully with her weathered fingers.

"Yes, dear – a rosary. I didn't think you'd be familiar with this sort of magic… its use was dying out when I was young, after all. I'm surprised your houshi-sama knows of it. But, judging by your expression, spirit, you are old enough to know what this is."

She was staring directly at Inuyasha, who eyed the clicking beads with just a little trepidation. Then he scoffed, schooling his expression back into the eerie blank look Kagome had first glimpsed in the other world.

"Keh. You think you can subdue me, hag?"

"Just as easily as Kagome-sama's arrow subdued you, brat."

"Subdue?" Kagome echoed. She was starting to piece together exactly what was going on here.

The older miko stepped forward and slipped the beads over Inuyasha's head, stepping back and studying them with a pleased air. Kagome traced the slope of the rosary over his collarbone with her eyes.

"There. Now, go ahead and deactivate the spell on your arrow and pick a word of subjugation – I think you'll find this will come in handy on your journeys."

Kagome bit her lip and nodded, letting her eyes drift shut. She felt out for the familiar twinge of her own magic, and carefully unravelled it, careful not to scorch the hanyou in the process. Miroku carefully felt for her progress, letting Inuyasha go and stepping out of clawing distance as soon as he judged the other could stand successfully on his own.

Inuyasha tottered unsteadily for a moment, then straightened, shaky but modestly stable. He rolled his shoulder experimentally, and found that the feeling was slowly crawling back into his limbs. With a deep breath and wicked smirk, he said, "What a stupid move, little girl." He cracked his knuckles and curled his lips, revealing sharp and pointed fangs.

"Kagome," the older miko prompted. Kagome sighed, letting her shoulders slump. Apparently, Inuyasha was determined to be a pain. Oh well.

"Osuwari," she said, and Inuyasha's smirk turned into a look of dismay as the subduing spell activated and gave him an up-close-and-personal introduction to the ground.

"Soil, meet hanyou. Hanyou, soil," Miroku quipped. The hanyou twitched for a moment before planting both hands on either side of his head and lifting his upper body off the ground.

"Why… you… bitch! I'll rip you to fucking shreds! You and that revolting withered old hag!" he spat.

"Kagome," the older miko prompted again, sporting a noticeable tick at the corner of her eye.

"Osuwari."

"Guh!"

"Ah me… this will be an eventful journey from now on," Miroku sighed.

"I'd say it's already been eventful," Kagome grumbled, rubbing her temples. Inuyasha twitched from a fairly deep indentation in the ground, having learned from experience that a second 'sit' hurt twice as much, and on top of that seemed to gain even more force if the girl was pissed off. He made a mental note to kill everything in the near future.

"Aa, you must be tired. You should stay the night at my home. I know it's humble, but it should do," the miko offered.

"No, it's wonderful, miko-sama – thank you very much. We're honoured," Kagome answered, smiling brightly and giving a small, respectful bow.

"You – stay here," the older woman ordered, glowering at Inuyasha, who was still sprawled on the ground. "I hardly trust you around sleeping innocents."

"Good call, hag. But you've got to be pretty empty-fisted to think I'll stay here and wait for you all night," he answered. Kagome frowned in slight confusion – empty fisted…? – but shrugged it off. She turned on the hanyou, shoulders squared and hands on her hips, and gave him an authoritative and threatening glare.

"Now, you listen – you'll stay here, alright, because if you run off it's my responsibility to find you, and I will find you – and when I do, I'll sit you until you can't walk anymore, you got that? And I know it hurts – that spell affects the spirit just like my sealing spell did, I can sense it."

"Come along – I'll put wards up when we're inside, just to be sure."

The older miko and Miroku were already making their way towards the hut, but Kagome held her stern look a moment longer. Finally Inuyasha turned away with a small snort, his hair bristling at the thought of the girl's small victory. She, too, headed inside, leaving the hanyou behind in the cool grass to brood.

A small fire crackled in the center of the room, throwing flickering orange light all over the small space. A couple of small windows set high in the wall let the moonlight through in speckles – mosquito netting was spread over to keep the bugs out. The miko had kindly laid out a couple of straw mats for her guests, complete with blankets, and offered a bit of leftover stew from her meal to the pair. Kagome pressed her fingers to the floor, feeling the smooth grains of the wood worn by age and travel.

"Thank you," she said, feeling it couldn't be said enough.

"It's no trouble, I assure you," the woman chuckled, slowly and painfully lowering herself to the floor so she could sit cross-legged across from her guests. She straightened out her skirts and pushed a strand of wispy grey hair behind her ear.

"Now, I think it's about time I introduced myself – I'm Kaede. I'm the priestess of the village you passed by on your way here."

"We shall count you among our most honoured friends, Kaede-sama," Miroku said, dipping his head.

"I wish I could help you a little more with that hanyou of yours. As I said, I don't know much about this sort of thing – I've only had experience with a couple of the dead, and that wasn't even much."

"Yes… Inuyasha mentioned that there are more than one kind," Kagome said thoughtfully. She took a sip of her stew, but her mind was too far away to enjoy a good, warm meal. She was running her thoughts over the foes they'd fought so far, trying to categorise them in some way – but the only one that seemed remarkably different was Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha, hm? I didn't know you were so familiar," Kaede said, watching as Kagome ducked her head to try to hide her faint blush. "But, yes, there are many kinds of dead and undead in our world. The ones that I personally have seen are fairly common: ghosts and raised."

"'Raised' are the ones that we have met with, Kagome-sama," Miroku took up, stretching his back. "They are, as the name suggests, 'raised' from the dead, either by others or by their own means. They are simply dead souls that fight their way back into the living realm and inhabit their old corpses, or other 'vacant' bodies."

"Ghosts, on the other hand, are dead spirits that dwell naturally on this realm. They did not move on for whatever reason, and despite the fact that they have no physical body, they can do a lot of damage and be very difficult to fight," Kaede finished. Kagome took this all in silently, chewing her lower lip. A slightly cool breeze tumbled through the straw door, sending a shiver up her spine. She hoped she never had to meet a ghost.

"The – the 'raised' – how can they not have bodies? When I go into death to fight them there, they have bodies."

"No, they don't – and neither do you. Kagome-sama, death is a spiritual plane, thus spirits are tangible," Kaede answered. Kagome lapsed into silence, staring blankly into the flickering flames.

There was too much she didn't know about this. She didn't know what 'death' really was, she didn't know anything about this other world – she didn't even realise she'd jumped existences when she first found herself ankle-deep in chilling, dark water. The only person who did know… was Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha – he's not a 'raised'. I mean, he's not rotting or anything, in fact, he's healing – I don't need to bother taking my arrow out, because his flesh was closing around it, even when it still carried my spell. Not only that, but he somehow had a body the whole time," she mused, hugging her knees to her chest.

"That's a path we needn't bother to wander – I think only 'Inuyasha' knows just what he is," Kaede said gently. "The only thing you need to worry about is putting him back where he belongs, where he can do no harm."

"But I don't know how. Those other things I fought… do you know why they were so easy? Because they didn't belong here. It was like there was this great force – death – that was pulling them under, but they fought and clawed their way into our world. All I have to do is break that hold, or strengthen the pull, and they snap right back where they came from," she explained.

"Like an elastic," Miroku nodded. Kagome shot him a confused look, finally breaking her gaze into the fire.

"A what?" she asked, blinking.

"Kagome-sama, your village isn't exactly the most futuristic, is it?" he sighed. Kagome gave him a dirty look, his exploitation of the villagers still fresh in her mind, but didn't argue. It was true, in a sense. It was so remote the innovations of iron and steam hardly touched them.

"We have a country charm," she smiled, narrowing her eyes. "Anyway, there is something I noticed that happens when I go to the other world – I belong. It's like my soul was attached to the living realm, but when I jump planes, I anchor it to the dead realm."

"Makes sense – if your hold on that world was weak, the dead would have a considerable advantage," Kaede said.

"Yes – so it's like when I came back, when I re-anchored myself to this world, he sorta… came with me. Now he belongs here too, and I don't know how to change that – I don't even understand how I move my soul between realms," Kagome finished, sighing softly.

"It's strange that your hanyou friend would have a body when he shifted to this world – yours stays behind, after all, Kagome-sama – so if he had a soul and physical presence in the spiritual world, one would expect him to leave it behind, too," Miroku pondered serenely. Kagome frowned slightly, but he didn't notice.

"My body stays behind?"

"Yes."

"Every time?"

"Of course."

"How many times did you see this?"

"When I found you at our first meeting, and when you defeated that corpse we were trying to locate."

"Do I just pass out?"

"Yes."

"Go limp?"

"Yes."

"Am I very pale?"

"A little."

"Cold?"

"Yes."

"My panties?"

"Blue – uh, I mean… just a guess, as you strike me as a blue person, and…"

Kagome stood, glowering at the monk. Miroku gave up his fumbled attempt at a save, realising defeat, and took it upon his holy self to accept it with grace and dignity. Kagome drew her hand back and slapped him as hard as she could, leaving a nice, big, red welt on his cheek.

"Out!" she ordered, and he quickly obeyed, beating a hasty retreat.

Kaede chuckled as Kagome took a deep breath to calm herself, then plopped down, self-consciously adjusting her skirt. She fixed her mussed hair and sat up a little straighter, trying to draw on whatever reserves of patience were left to deal with her travel-mate.

"I wonder," she said, "how old he is. Inuyasha, I mean."

"Fairly old, as far as I can tell. That expression, 'empty-fisted' – I can surely guess the meaning, but it's beyond my time. Beyond my father's time, even."

"Yeah… he called me a 'twat'. I don't even know what that is."

"If you talked to someone who knows their history a little better than idea, you might be able to roughly date him."

Kagome sighed, staring out the netted window at the silver moon. Inuyasha… what a strange boy, and an even stranger mystery. Just what was he? Why was he caught between worlds? Couldn't he move on?

"Kikyou… you're just like her."

She wondered what he did to deserve nothing but lonely grey and cold cruelty until she blundered along.

Miroku stepped lightly out of their place for the night, stretching his back, not all that bothered by Kagome's outburst or the stinging slap she'd dealt him. Years of experience had allowed him to build up a tolerance for the feminine fists-of-fury, and meditation under waterfalls and serene forests allowed him to push the resulting pain to the back of his mind.

And achieve enlightenment, etcetera, etcetera.

He wasn't at all surprised to spot the hanyou, leaning casually against a nearby tree with his eyes turned to the skies. Miroku glanced up as well, studying the spangled night casually before making his way to the dead boy's side. His steps rustled loudly, but Inuyasha never bothered to acknowledge him, even after he plopped down a couple feet away and slouched in the wet grass. He rolled his shoulders and smiled to himself, acutely aware of the feel of the grass against his un-gloved hand. It was crisp, fresh, and alive. He cast a sidelong glance as his quiet companion.

Life and death. Here under the branches of the sentinel trees, he found he could listen to the distant murmuring of water and calls of some night creature and pursue some form of peace, perhaps. Life. But death inevitably followed.

"Kagome-sama," he started, "might be considered lucky by some. People fear death, because it is unknown – but she now knows what comes next for us all." His smile turned into something small and bitter, but with only the silvery sheen of the moon for light, no one knew but the monk himself. The hanyou was quiet, but he slowly tilted his head to look at the man who hadn't taken the obvious hint and left. He dragged the pads of his fingers over the rough bark of the tree and inhaled deeply – grass birds water soil wood human cotton demon deer – and revelled in it.

"I don't think so," Miroku continued softly. "I don't think I want to know."

"You wouldn't like it," Inuyasha finally spoke gruffly. Miroku reluctantly looked away from the distant light of the stars and regarded his companion, white in the shadows.

"But I don't have a choice. I'm mortal," he answered, and quirked a smile. "But you – you're something much different," he continued, and his voice had a cold and sharp edge.

"Am I?" Inuyasha drawled.

"I suggest you tell us exactly what you are, hanyou."

"Just what do you think? I'm dead, isn't that enough?"

"You're unlike anything I've ever seen or heard of before. I can't say I'm comfortable with that."

Inuyasha was silent for a moment, unaffected by the monk's intense gaze.

"Why don't you tell me what you're hiding under that glove and rosary of yours, bouzu?" he asked softly and neutrally. Miroku's grip on the staff tightened, but other than that, neither made a move. The shift in ambience would have gone unnoticed to a regular man or woman, but being what they were – hanyou and monk – they felt the air thicken and tighten as surely as if it were a tangible thing.

"Point taken," Miroku said, deceptively calm.

The silence stretched between. Inuyasha pinched the rosary between two fingers and scowled at it, wondering if there was any possible way he could get the damned thing off. Then there would be no connection between him and that stupid girl, and that would be a good thing. Yes, it would. Absolutely. Undoubtedly.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" he spoke up irritably.

"Perhaps," was Miroku's amicable response. Inuyasha snorted, casting him a sidelong glance. It seemed the tension that had gripped the monk just moments before was fading already.

"I could hear everything in that hovel, you know. You're nothing more than a lecherous idiot that can't keep your hands to yourself."

"Ah, but what you don't quite grasp, my dear antisocial companion, is that it is all worth it," Miroku declared, pressing a fist to his heart. Inuyasha was giving him one of those 'uh-huh' looks, with the raised eyebrow and everything.

"That image… I will take it with me to the grave. It will be comforting," he finished, referring to, naturally, his glimpse of Kagome's panties.

"I'm surprised you still have all your limbs, lech," Inuyasha snorted. "I honestly don't know how you mortal fools managed to dodge extinction for so long."

"Well, I'm certainly doing a better job than you are, demon," Miroku answered lightly, regaining his feet. Inuyasha's expression was blank, then he narrowed his eyes and curled his lips into a snarl.

"You got a fucking death wish? I could rip you to shreds before you even blinked," he snarled, raising his claws and cracking his knuckles. Rather than the desired fear or panic, the monk seemed sort of… amused. Which served to further fuel Inuyasha's temper, of course.

"Then why didn't you?" Miroku challenged, and Inuyasha blinked, taken aback.

"What…?"

"Why didn't you? I have no delusions about the speed of a human compared to the speed of a hanyou, even a dead one. If you'd wanted, these gashes you gave me would be much worse. No, I don't think you'll 'rip me to shreds', as you put it – if that's what you'd intended, you would have done so already."

The hanyou watched the monk leave, too surprised to try for the last word in their little disagreement. He stared at the small home long after Miroku had gone inside to brave whatever was left of Kagome's temper.

"Why didn't I…?" he repeated. Somehow, that question disturbed him. Maybe it's because he couldn't find an answer.

"Fuck this," he spat, turning and leaping into the nearby trees. He pushed off the ground, soared through the air, caught himself on a bough and leapt again. The wind running through his hair was soothing. The whistling in his ears drowned out all those cluttered thoughts. He landed on the ground again with a small grunt, felt the soil press between his toes and the grass skim his hands as he balanced himself, and then was off again, muscles bunching and stretching as he worked to escape gravity.

Who cared about a silly priestess girl and her haughty threats? She could hunt him if she wanted.

She'd never, ever find him.

She was dreaming again.

The night was a deep, dark creature, and it strove to devour her whole if she stood still for too long. The stars had been snuffed, the candles blown out, and the houses that she passed were shuttered and silent. Her feet kicked up little stones and sand as she walked, the only sound apart from a strange murmuring of water that came from everywhere and nowhere at once.

She wondered if she was lost. Then, she realised she was; there was no sense in worrying about it now.

"Kaede, Kaede," a voice said softly, rising and falling, breathless and imagined. She was confused. Kaede? The old miko that had bound Inuyasha with the rosary?

Her mirror image blocked the way, bangs obscuring her eyes and shadows falling across her face in unnatural ways. She was ghostly white and utterly still.

"Kaede's dead," she said, but her lips didn't move. Somehow, Kagome still knew it was this reflection that had spoken.

"No she's not, I just spoke with her," she replied, but she didn't dare move forward. There was something not right about all this…

"Kaede's dead, and it's all my fault."

"She's not."

"She's dead, she's dead, she's dead,"

"She's not. She's not!"

But the shadow wouldn't listen – it sang its song over and over, rising in volume and despair until it was a shrieking, unintelligible thing – but not a human thing. It sounded like a child, a woman and the wind, all rolled into one pitching roiling wail – and it made Kagome feel sick and cold.

"She's dead, she's dead!"

"She's not!"

"She's dead!"

"He didn't! He couldn't!" Kagome cried. Her eyes widened and she clapped a hand over her mouth. What was she saying? Who didn't? Who couldn't?

A voice, a man's voice whispered softly in her ear, "I love you," and the source of the murmuring water became clear: she was standing in it. It was all around. It was cold and clinging and endless, just like it had been in death.

The mirror-image took a few small steps towards her, and Kagome backed away. It wanted her to see its face. She knew she couldn't let that happen.

For the second time in less than twenty-four hours, Kagome nearly woke up screaming. As it was, she just gave a choked sob and clutched a hand to her breast, waiting for her pulse to slow to normal.

'What…?'

She got the feeling that she was in the middle of something much, much larger than she'd originally imagined. She also had the sneaking suspicion that whatever it was, it would mean the end of her.

An hour into his aimless sprint, Inuyasha had abandoned his leaps through the trees in favour of a brisk walk. He told himself it was because there was no sense in running, since all that could possibly chase him was a little priestess girl. He was certainly not afraid of her, and he would never ever run from her.

Really it was because he still wasn't used to the fact that when he walked, something other than icy water brushed his feet. Being connected to the earth, the cool soil and the crisp plants, it was nice.

The night was a little chilly, but he didn't mind – he couldn't feel it anyway. The woods were quiet, not even a breath of wind stirring the leaves, and no night creatures pawing through the underbrush. In fact, there were no youkai around either; the freshest scents were already a week old. He'd noticed this during the trip here, picking up the stale remnants of scent despite the woodsy reek of the wagon, but it hardly surprised him. While in death, he'd felt the restlessness of the moaning souls and seen the passage of many dead spirits, some he'd easily tangle with and many he'd rather avoid. Something was going on, and it wasn't any surprise that the living youkai had caught wind of it and run for cover. Only the humans seemed oblivious, fools that they were.

A sudden rustling from just ahead made him pause, ears flicking and shoulders tense. A few questioning sniffs sought the source from the shadows. Rotting meat. Carrion.

"Feh," he snorted, relaxing. He knew this reek.

"Come out, before I rip you into so many pieces you'll never pull yourself back together."

There was a quiet rustle, then a low, chortling laugh distorting by the gurgling of blood and an unnaturally-formed throat. Finally, the shape of a large feline crept out of the underbrush, awkward and ungainly. It was feline in shape only, however – the body was formed of gleaming mounds of viscera and stringy muscle. It was a shape-shifter, of sorts, but one that only moulded its form from the available medium – in this case, various shapes and sizes of lumps of meat. Inuyasha repressed a shudder. He'd seen many things in his long days, but none disgusted him quite like a Maga did.

"What do you want?" he snapped, not bothering to hide the repulsion that twisted his expression. It chortled again, then sat back on its haunches. The flesh rippled, then re-arranged, shifting pieces all around the body with a sick wet slurping sound before finally taking a rough humanoid shape, bent double at the back with one arm nearly twice as long as the other. It only had a mouth, which was crooked and stretched wider than it should have.

"How rude, hanyou," it gurgled.

"Get on with it. What do you want?" he demanded again.

"You know my master," it said, and he did.

"Onigumo. What of it?"

"He asks a favour of you, hanyou. It has come to his attention that you are now in the realm of the warm-bloods, and in the company of that shifting priestess, no less."

"So?" he didn't like where this was going.

"He believes that she carries something… vital to attaining his goals. He asks that you accompany her, find the location of this thing, and then kill her."

Inuyasha snorted, turning his back on the quivering mass of the undead creature. He started walking away from it, heading back towards the miko's hut where Kagome stayed, but that wasn't as important to him as snubbing the demands of a messenger bearing words from a world away.

"She carries Kikyou's soul, you know. She is Kikyou, reincarnated," it drawled, somehow sounding amused. Inuyasha stopped short, eyes narrowing and fists clenching. He took a shaky breath, trying to calm the sudden rage and pain that welled up with the mere mention of her name – betrayal!

"Why the fuck should I care? That's in the past," he spat.

"Is it? Are you sure?"

He didn't answer.

"Besides," it purred, drawing up beside him, "you belong to him just as much as I do. He commands, we obey. Or, do you never want to be free of him?"

He fought the urge to leap away from the Maga. It curved its fleshy lips into a smile, amused by the gooseflesh that rose on his arms.

"How am I supposed to recognise this thing that Onigumo needs?" he demanded harshly. The Maga, taking this as the consent that it was, backed off with a low laugh.

"You'll know it when you see it. My master thanks you, hanyou."

It slunk back into the shadows, leaving Inuyasha alone with his thoughts. He held very still, gaze fixed to the ground and claws digging into the patterned flesh of his palms. Blood painted them ruddy, but did not drip to the ground – he had no beating heart to pump it with.

Lips pressed into a thin line, he strengthened his resolve and began the long, lonely trek back to the little hovel where they were resting peacefully. He thought about that searing pain that had gripped him when her purifying powers ripped through him. He thought about the twang of the bow as Kikyou fired her last arrow, and the feeling of sinking into something cold and black. Most of all, he thought about how much Kagome had looked like her long-dead predecessor, her face twisted into anger and determination as she drove the pointed arrowhead into him.

"Just kill her? Easy."

Reviews:

Kerri, Chelsea LadyPearlDragon: Thank you for the encouragement!

Scherezade7: Well, I hope you're not expected me to foot that eye doctor bill of yours… I'm doing this for free, you know.

So Inuyasha was dead, but is now alive? Or half-dead half-alive…?

-Nyaaah… well, it's not really explained much more in this chapter, is it? The question of what he is will just have to wait – I don't want to give anything away. You understand, of course.

Midoriko-sama: Only I know how it turns out, ku ku ku… and I love Nightmare Before Christmas. I never really was very good at fluff… but, then again, I'm not so sure true fluff has a place in this particular story.

Numisma: Well, the plot's next destination is Jamaica, so if you're up for a nice relaxing holiday, it might let you tag along. Provided you ask nicely.

kitsunehi: Bwa ha! Neglecting my real life in favour of lj has finally paid off! Buuuut… thanks for your comments. I hope this chapter was alright, too.

ixchen: Taadaa - more.

call me k: I dislike MS in general… grumble, grumble.

Yup, Inuyasha's finally back in the land of the living. Got a ways to go with him yet, though. I'm glad that his character is alright still – I'm hoping to be able to show a little more of that immature/childish side of him in upcoming chapters, rather than all this "grr… I'm evil… and angsting… but also evil" stuff.

Are there going to be necromancer bells in this?

-Not for most of it, for sure. Kagome doesn't have a clue what she's doing, and she's a little bit used to her priestess ways – thus, weapon of choice bow and arrow. I'm still debating on whether or not she gets to use them a little, or any other characters, for that matter…

Varethane: Go silver hair! Yes! .

As for Kagome's character: yes, she is a little tougher here. The difference is that she's not a softie from the 21st century anymore – she's a trained priestess in rough, youkai-infested times. I tried to keep the characters' histories parallel to their pasts from the original series so I could keep them as canon as possible, but here or there I couldn't quite manage.

As for arguing with Inuyasha, he was only a threat to her for a small time in the series. When he's staked to a tree and bound by the rosary spell she's very forward, but for that brief time when he's free and rampaging and all, she's running for her life .

Now that he's all set up with a subduing spell, you can expect a little more of the typical interaction between the pair. I hope these personality discrepancies didn't turn you off too much…

Kagome remarked that Inuyasha died young. Is this true, due to slow youkai aging or just a red herring?

-To be honest, I'm not clever enough to plant red herrings… but I guess it wouldn't hurt to answer this question. I'm trying to draw in a lot of the elements of the original manga, so he died at about the same age as in the series – fifteen to eighteen or so.

Aoi EkO: Thank you – I'm really excited about the nomination. And one of your favourite fics in the fandom…? Well, I have two things to say to that: tee hee, alliteration . and OMFG the PRESSURE. Heh.

It's nice to hear my writing's working for you – and I did my best to blend the two. I still want this to be an Inuyasha fanfic, after all. (Sh, no one knows about Kikyou, I swear…)

crimsondemon: Thank you!

Maffeoel: I don't know if I'd post all those shorts – probably just longer things. I did include a little extra part here just because I didn't want to leave it until the next chapter, but I hope that it didn't detract at all from the chapter. And, yes, Inu's back – sorta. Thanks for the input!

malchik MM: I'm glad this fic is working so well for you .

I hope this chapter's alright, too.

CI: All these reviews make me a very happy lady. Thank you!

If you've got the time, I'd love a review!