Replies to Reviews:

Lilangelchic: Thanks! This is actually one of my best attempts. ; I hope it goes along well.

Aishiteru

Chapter One: The Gryphonwings

"Phew!"

There was a slam as the girl placed the bag of rice at her stepmother's feet. The old woman grinned and thanked the fifteen year old. Kagome Higurashi was her name. She had never really known her father, and her family was destroyed by an onslaught of bat demons. She felt herself writhe as she thought of Tigaromaru and his demons. Mother, Sota, Grandpa, they had no chance of escaping. She only survived because she was trapped underneath the debris of her broken home.

She stood up straight as Kaede got to her feet, and started to boil water in one of her clay pots. The old priestess turned to her stepdaughter and grinned thankfully, and she spoke in a hoarse, yet bold, voice. "Go now, Kagome, and get cleaned up. Then you can help me make dinner, if you'd like." She turned back around and started to put the rice in the boiling water.

Kagome was a slim girl, one with raven-black hair, which was as smooth as silk, yet she had plenty of it. Her eyes were a deep, rich, chocolate brown, which glittered with pride and determination, for she had vowed to avenge her family one day, as soon as her training as a miko was complete. Then she'd teach them. She sighed, and walked into the forest outside Kaede's hut, where she passed a Goshinboku. Here it was where she found markings on the tree and the ground, which intrigued her. Yet she knew not their meanings.

The young woman passed the area, and headed for the river. Here, she removed her clothing, a hoari with a white top and blue bottom, and she removed the crimson ribbon from her hair. Placing them aside, and removing her footwear, she slipped into the cold water and waded into the center, where she let the water's currents wash over her bare body.

After half an hour or so, after she had scrubbed her body clean the best she could with her hands and nails, she climbed out and dressed herself again. But she heard a noise off ahead, back where Kaede...no...

"NO!" she shouted as she broke off at a sprint, her ribbon left forgotten as she ran for the hut. When she got there, there was nothing left but the hut broken to pieces. No Kaede in sight. She gasped, and ran forward, leaping into the debris, which still smoked from recently being destroyed. A fire was beginning to form in the remains as she dug to find her stepmother.

Tears streaked her face as she desperately dug, tossing away lumber and furniture bits, ignoring the painful splinters that were adding up in her hands. "Kaede!" she yelled, crying openly now, her hands moving faster. "Kaede!"

There was a shifting of rubble and splinters as the old woman replied in a hoarse, cracked voice. "Ka...gome..."

"Kaede!" Kagome ran forward and moved the debris from her stepmother's face and torso, grabbing her hand, which was steadily losing its warmth. "Kaede, hang on..." she whimpered. "You can't leave me, not now. Kami, please..."

"Kagome..." she muttered, her voice growing weaker, "I need...you to do some...thing for me..." She reached into her haori shirt, and pulled out a curious object. Once the girl had identified it, she gasped.

"The...Shikon no Tama? But...how?" She took the jewel as the old woman handed it to her.

"Kikyo...the former prie...stess of this village...was my...sister..." she motioned towards the jewel now in the girl's hands. "And...after I found her dead next to...a demon...I took it before Naraku's minions could get their...hands on it."

"Oh..." she sighed, looking crestfallen. "Then that means that they came here, whoever 'they' are, and tried to take the jewel?"

"...Yes......." There was one last shuddering breath, and then one last squeeze of the hand. Then the old woman went limp, and her labored breathing ceased. Kagome's tears had dried out by now, but her face was stained, and she stood up, dry eyed.

She held her hands up, and chanted a prayer for the woman, and replaced the debris over her. She sighed, shivering with sorrow, and then walked away, or rather, she ran. After gathering a few necessary items and stuffing them into a white doeskin back, she had run, seeking villagers. The first place she had come upon was the house of her best friend, Sango.

When the young woman saw her friend running over, Sango leapt to her feet and ran in front of Kagome, onyx hair flying behind her, mahogany eyes lit concern.

Kagome's tears had welled up again, and she collapsed into the huntress's arms. Sango stroked the girl's cheek, wiping away a tear. She walked up to her won home, where two young boys pushed back the screen door, and trotted along after Sango and the miko-in-training.

The taller boy, Kohaku, was Sango's biological sibling. The boy of ten had ebony hair like his sister, with brown eyes as well. In his hand was a sickle blade, connected to a chain, his weapon of choice as a demon exterminator.

The other child, however, was different, for he had only come to be Sango and Kohaku's sibling through marriage. His Kitsune mother and their human father had fallen in love, and it was because of this that these three became close siblings.

The fox boy, Shippo, had fiery tangerine hair, and eyes of sea foam green. He was simply dressed in a leather vest, along with a hoari that matched his eyes on the top half, which was ornate with leaf designs, while the bottom half was a pacific blue hue. His ears were pointed, and a fluff ball, a fox's tail, sprouted from behind him. It was only too obvious that this was a demon.

As Sango sat on the fur mat on the ground with her friend curled up next to her, both boys, Shippo and Kohaku, sat behind Sango. The woman placed a worried hand on Kagome's shoulder.

"Tell me," she said, concern lining every inch of her. "What happened?" She knew she may not like the answer, seeing as how this had shaken Kagome up pretty bad, but it was better to get it out rather than keeping it bottled in.

"S-S-Sango..." she whimpered between hiccups. "It's K-Kaede. She's gone!" She sniffed and continued. "A d-demon or something. It attacked out home! All for this stupid jewel!"

"Jewel?" Sango looked surprised now. Was it the jewel she thought it was?

"Y-yes. The...the Shikon no Tama!"

Sango gasped as her friend pulled out the glowing orb. It was pinkish with a purple aura, and it shimmered oddly. Connected to it was a necklace, where bits of pink and white jade shards were strung together.

"Kaede had this? Is this why they attacked? And who's 'they', exactly?"

She nodded to the first question. "I don't know, but Kaede's dead now..." she muttered, answering the second. Right now, Sango's face held no expression except her grave frown. Then she suddenly spoke.

"I think I may know who's behind this."

"Wh-who?"

"Lord Naraku, and his griffin army, the Gryphonwings. They are out on a search for griffins and riders to recruit, as well as this very jewel in our possession." She placed the jewel around the miko's neck, and sighed. "This is bad. If they know who had it, then they'll be after you next. We have to get out of here while we can."

"No." Kagome sat up, and placed a hand on her friend's knee. "I can't let you get involved. Besides, if they do attack, then they'll need you and your brothers to protect this village. I don't want to take chances."

"But..."

"I said no!" She jumped up, grabbed her bag, and ran out of the hut, her heart racing like a centipede demon. She soon came to a stop, where she found herself in the odd forest. InuYasha's forest. Kagome looked up, seeing that she had run to the Goshinboku. What did these markings mean? They looked quite old, yet they held a meaning, keeping it hidden from her. She moved on. If she was to keep this away from the Gryphons, then she'd have to keep on the move.

She was going to cross the river, where she found her ribbon still on the ground. Kaede had made this for her, from the purest silkworm silk. She sighed, and tied the blue piece of cloth in her mass of raven locks. She then leaped from one stone to another that lead across the body of water, and she looked back, giving her old home one last wistful glance before she ran off into the shadow and comfort of the mysterious forest's trees.

Every few hours of wandering on foot, wet from the forest's morning dew on the leaves and grass, she'd sit down to take a rest, to take a look at her surroundings, and to wallow in her misery at the loss of Kaede. She took a glimpse at the orb around her neck, cursed, and then hid it back in her shirt. Soon, she found herself on the move again. There were more hours of wandering, seemingly in circles, that is, until she came upon a clearing.

There was a patch next to a stable where they had used it for farming, apparently, meaning that someone had been here recently. But, the fire ring outside the stable was long dead, and it seems that the tracks left behind were a few days old. She sighed. No one is here. Or, so she thought.

There was a shriek from within the stable, or, many cries, cries of a falcon. The strings on her curiosity level now, and she felt herself drift towards the old barn. Before she realized what she was doing, she had entered the stable, a stable of griffins. She gasped.

"Griffins?" she cried out loud, backing back towards the door. "But...but that means...!" She was about o turn, until there was an extra fierce growl from her left. Yes, a growl, not a shriek. She was surprised as she had turned her head to look into molten amber eyes. It glittered with hatred and fury as it struggled against chains in its stall.

Judging by the size of this brute, he could easily have broken the chains; that or the stall itself. Yet, he hadn't. Perhaps the chains were enchanted for restraint? She pondered the thought, when suddenly, she had heard a voice. It was a deep, clear voice, and was pleasant to listen to, but she had discovered no one was around.

"H-hello?" She turned around, and was about to go investigate, but the silver griffin had grabbed his beak on her sleeve.

"You..." he snarled. "Why are you here? You're supposed to be dead, Kikyo!"

She shuddered, realizing that this griffin, this abnormal looking demon, was talking to her.

"Kik-kikyo?" She gulped, and attempted to pull her sleeve from his...fangs?! The beast had fangs in its beak? And what of the rest of it? She'd never heard of silver griffins before, or ones that were...half canine. Weren't griffins half feline? She felt her head spin at the confusing thoughts buzzing around her head. She was brought back to Earth when the silver griffin spoke again.

"So...you're not her...." he muttered as he released her. "Who are you then, chit?"

Chit?! She decided to ignore the comment. "I'm Kagome Higurashi. That's all I'm saying."

"Feh, whatever." He turned his massive head to preen the feathers on his neck. "What are you doing here, anyway, wench?"

"Hey! What is it with the names? What's the deal with the names? My name's Kagome! Ka-go-me! Not chit, not wench, Kagome! Got it?" She felt like she was trying to tell a stupid animal how to understand human concepts. But she was quite sure that this wasn't a stupid animal. This was a demon, and apparently, he was well with human speech, even through telepathy.

"Just leave, unless you want the Gryphonwings to find you here, and take you in for slavery, you better leave." He sat down upon the matted straw below him; not quite enough for a comfortable bed, but enough, for this was going to be as comfortable any griffin gets.

Apparently, he had no food. The meat in the trough he couldn't reach was rotten and covered in flies. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the creature. But, she had to know one thing first, so that she could better communicate with him.

"What's your name?"

He blinked at her with those sharp, golden hues, glaring hard at her until he complied. "InuYasha Taisho."

Inu...Yasha? Dog Forest Spirit? "InuYasha?" she repeated. "But...you don't look anything like a dog...Oops..." she had said the wrong thing. As soon as she mentioned this, he had gotten to his claws and paws and struggled to reach her from the restraining stall.

Frightened now, she fled the stable. But she just couldn't push him out of her mind. The griffin that looked mostly like bird of prey, and part then his other half looked part wolf. Maybe he wasn't wolf? Yes, that's probably why he got mad. Wolves and dogs definitely never got along too well.

"Well, I can't just leave him to starve. It seemed all the other griffins had plenty to eat..." She pondered. "Perhaps he's a wild one. Maybe they hadn't broken his spirit yet. She grinned. One so arrogant as that? Who could tame such a thing? She smiled as she pulled out her bow and an arrow quiver. And, luckily for her, luck was with her.

Almost upon notching the arrow, she had spotted a hare. "This will have to do for now..." she muttered under her breath. She shot the arrow straight and true, having been in training for about a year now. She had trotted over to the rabbit, and pulled her projectile from the carcass.

"He won't mind if I leave the fur, will he?" He was a griffin, right? He won't mind... She had picked up the dead rabbit and sighed, slinging the thing over a strong stick, and walking back to the barn. But, just as she reached for the door, a shadow engulfed her, and she let out a terrified scream as wings beat the air, and she was carried away through the air.

A/N: Chapter one completed! (Finally! ; ) That took awhile. puts hands in warm water Need...to...rest...I may be able to update by this weekend, sometime, BTW.