Chapter 4- True Quests

Kaede added more wood to her fire as the band of weary fighters gathered around it. "Do you really intend to bring a helpless woman along on your quest?"

"Feh, it's not like we had a choice. Gao is a psycho. Try talking some sense to her- it doesn't work." Kaede turned to Gao, who sat quite still, calmly sipping her cup of green tea.

"Do you realize, truly, what you are doing? The implications of these actions? You can't possibly know Naraku's evil unless you face it yourself." Gao stared at a spot of dirt on her cup. "You could very likely end up dead, or worse."

"I am devoted to my students."

"But surely you jest, this is not a assignment we are talking about. You don't have any spiritual energy or even a simple, magic free skill to assist you."

Gao's cold reply made the woman shiver, despite her experience, "Are you suggesting that I should abandon my 15 year old student and run home to my mother?"

"You must accept-"

"You must accept that I am six years her senior and, as the only other person from her time that can cross over to this dimension I am making it my duty to see to her welfare. I will not leave her here with no one to watch her but a monk with questionable intentions, a fox, a dog boy, and, well- Sango's all right I guess, but what I am saying is that I won't sleep at night if I can't be sure she's safe." Gao returned to her cup, sipping elegantly. "I don't see why this is so difficult for you to understand."

"Just what, exactly," the old woman tried again, " makes you believe you can protect her?" This caught Gao off guard, and her mouth hung wide open as if she were a fish trying to suck up some air. After gaping for a few moments, she recovered herself enough to speak.

"I…" What makes me believe I can protect her? I never even considered that... just another example of how I'm not needed here. What makes me qualified? What makes it okay? "I... I can... I.." she took a breath, calming herself, and started again, "I will do whatever it takes to ensure her safety. Kagome is…my responsibility." She looked up at Kaede again, "Is that a sufficient answer to satisfy your curiosity? Yes, Madame Kaede, you have forced me to acknowledge my physical limitations, but I have strengths that are not so easily seen." Kaede took a deep breath... and smiled. She turned to Kagome.

"You are very fortunate to have a teacher who cares so much about her pupils. In feudal times, a person who will risk everything for the safety of another is a rare breed." And without another word, she shuffled out of the room. Kagome smiled at her teacher, enjoying her company for the first time in ages.

Gao got up and quietly walked outside. Her smile was for the stars alone.

"No matter how determined and dedicated that young woman is, there is still something that troubles me," Kaede had called Inu Yasha and Miroku over from the hut and, with a look of concern etched in her weary face, she cautioned them, "Do not trust her entirely yet. There must be a test of her character. Do you see that mountain in the distance?" The old woman motioned to a far off area almost completely hidden by the trees around it. The mountain seemed to be rising out of the ground like a silver sun encased in white light.

"Old lady, we don't have time for this crap! We need to track down the shikon shards!" Inu Yasha protested heartily, tapping the edge of his sword with his fingers. He was feeling quite impatient. I could be talking to Kagome right now if this old hag hadn't bothered me with her Obaba nonsense, he thought to himself.

Kaede didn't miss a beat. Fixing him with a steely glare that would have frozen any demon in it's tracks, she whispered, "Would you rather Kon'an-san turn out to be a demon and devour you all in your sleep?" Inu Yasha began to grumble, but Miroku gave a tentative glance over his shoulder. Kaede's words were troubling, and the woman knew her stuff. Miroku considered her words carefully, "We shall have to keep an eye on Lady Kagome…for her own good, of course." A twinkle in his eye made Inu Yasha a little uneasy, and after a moment, all notions of 'eyeing' Kagome vanished from the monk's mind and were replaced with a dull, throbbing pain at the back of his head.

Wincing, Miroku decided to walk the path of least confrontation, "What do you suggest, Lady Kaede?" The old woman stepped lightly to the side to give them a better view of the mountain, and pointed to it's peak.

"To make sure she is who she claims to be. There is a fortune teller who lives in a small village atop that mountain. Make her pay him a visit, and he will reveal her true self. Be it past or present, if it means us harm we will purify it." Inu Yasha snorted.

"So how do you propose we get her to come with us without making Kagome suspicious? There isn't a Shikon shard up there." Inu Yasha took a moment to deliberate over whether or not to tell Kagome about their current situation, but decided against it. After all, she'll only get all emotional again, and I've been sat enough for one day, he thought.

The clever old woman took a moment to think, then spoke again, "Suggest that you all should seek this man so that he may guide you to the remaining shards. In fact, he will be able to help you in that manner as well, so you don't have to worry about lying." Miroku took his staff in hand and headed back towards the hut where Sango, Shippo, Kagome and Gao were waiting.

"All right then, it is settled. We start out at dawn. You'd better be right about this old woman." Inu Yasha leapt to the top of an old tree and set about getting comfortable. "You'd better be who you say you are Gao," he mumbled as he stretched himself out along the branch, "because if you are a demon in disguise, I'll rip you limb from limb myself... nobody hurts Kagome while I'm around.." nobody, except me. At that last thought he frowned and rolled over, yawning to hide his next words from anyone who might be listening. "Kikyo, my life is yours, but my heart will always be with Kagome.." The sadness in his eyes was overcome by sleep as he let the dreams come.

"So we all agree to leave tomorrow?" Miroku surveyed the expressions on the surrounding faces. He had just finished informing them of Kaede's plan…well part of it, anyway.

"Yes, that's all right with me." Kagome smiled. Finding more shards would make Inu Yasha happy, and a happy Inu Yasha is less likely to grumble about the lack of ramen in this week's backpack. She took a moment to mentally salute all the backpacks that had died while providing them with provisions.

"Me too," Sango chimed in. "No time like the present to get the jump on Naraku."

"And me."Shippo chirped loudly, "I want to come too! Don't leave me behind!" They all turned to look at Gao. She looked back at them for a minute, confused as to what they were waiting for. When she realized that they wanted her approval, she felt herself smile a bit. Just on the inside, of course.

"Yes, I agree. When do we leave?" Smiles greeted her from all around. Suspicious as she was, Gao couldn't help but feel that somehow she had been inducted into this strange and yet wonderful group of people.

"At Dawn," Miroku replied, "So we'd best pack our things now. Inu Yasha doesn't tolerate dickering." They all rose and hurried off to shove their belongings together for the trip ahead, unaware of the true quest they were undertaking.

"Goodbye Kaede! I wish you well!" Gao waved as 'Team' Inu Yasha set out for the mountain pass. She wondered for a moment if she was getting in over her head, but the thoughts were cut off by Kagome's sudden burst of song.

"To the mountain! Let us sally forth!" cried Kagome in a exuberant and cheerful voice. "Oh, we're off to see the fortune teller..…" She skipped ahead, keeping stride with Inu Yasha.

"Kagome, could you pick a more annoying song? I think my ears are bleeding…" He tugged on one of his ears as though as he meant to rip it off for emphasis.

"Fine!" She snapped, all cheer gone as quick as it came, " Then I'll just sing the another song! 'Ohhh they say that a heeeero can save us…'"

"ENOUGH!" Inu Yasha covered his ears with his hands and glared at her. Kagome huffed as she crossed her arms and glared back at Inu Yasha, who had become a tad red around the edges.

"What the hell is your problem? That's normally your favorite song of all time! You love it when I sing, especially when I tickle your ears…" Inu Yasha's face was now in full bloom.

"Kagome!" He hissed as he waved his arms. "What the heck'r you trying to do!" He motion towards the rest of the group, staring intently at the two. Now it was Kagome's turn to blush.

"Not that way! I didn't mean that! He likes me to sing him to sleep!"

"You're just MAKING IT WORSE!" He snapped, clearly mortified.

"What do you want me to say? 'I have an ear fetish'?" Her cynical tone did little to improve Inu Yasha's state of mind.

"That'd be better then telling them I enjoy hearing your voice!"

"EXCUSE ME? And exactly how many times have I SANG YOU TO SLEEP? Sorry, I didn't realize that when you ASKED me to sing, you were really telling me to shut up!" She snapped back at him, furious now.

"AHEM." Inu Yasha and Kagome turned to face Gao, who was looking quite irritated. "Can we discuss your marriage problems after we reach the top of said incredibly far away mountain?"

"But he-!"

"That is-"

"Great, it's settled then. Off we go!" Gao, Miroku, Sango and Shippo scurried up the road, leaving a very dejected Inu Yasha and Kagome in their dust.