Inutori: I'm BACK!
Sango: No one have a heart attack now.
Inutori: Oh shush up. I have had other things to deal with, so meh.
Inuyasha: And what's more important than me?
Inutori: (rolls eyes) Get over yourself, Inuyasha. I don't own you, and my life doesn't revolve around you either.
Inuyasha: Keh.

Last time…

No luck. The girl didn't answer, just stared at him with wide, magenta eyes. Eyes that aren't an everyday occurrence. Miroku cringed at himself. Sango would kill him if he ever came back. He had been gone far too long to expect any lesser punishment.

Jinu was probably married by now, being already eighteen. The twins too, knowing his blood ran in them.

Miroku looked once again at the little girl before him. She was just staring at him, no fear in her eyes. Feeling some sort of fatherly protectiveness for the girl suddenly, Miroku swept her back into his arms and continued his trek, this time in search of that village so close to the demons he had just fled.

Chapter 3
A Journey Begins

Jinu cringed suddenly as she remembered Yuuka's face when they had left the village. She glanced over at the three boys with her and wondered if they too were thinking about the ones they were leaving behind.

Chisa and Takuske were going to stay and take care of the younger kids while Shippou, Hankui, Taishou, and she hunted down the demons that had cast that spell on their parents. Not really thinking about it, Jinu readjusted Haraikotsu on her back and looked back at the path they had already trekked.

Taishou suddenly stopped, soon followed by Shippou and Hankui. Jinu took a few more steps towards the boys before stopping as well. "What's wrong?"

The quarter-demon shushed her and began looking around them quietly. She felt her gut turn slowly, and her grip on Haraikotsu tightened. Remembering her priestess training with Kagome, Jinu closed her eyes and tried searching the area with her heart. She wasn't nearly as good a holy warrior as Hankui, but, as her mom had said, it was sufficient.

Nothing popped out to her as out-of-the-ordinary, but she could tell that Shippou and Taishou were on edge. A demon overwhelmed her senses just as a snake youkai burst through the brush.

Jinu dropped to the ground in reflex and watched as Shippou and Taishou defended them from the demon. Taishou slashed at the demon, making the thing's blood splatter on his sleeve. With a cringe she stood up and pulled the boomerang from her back, wondering how exactly she could help.

Hankui began chanting and lights began to appear around the demon. She watched her brother for only a moment before gripping the wrappings on one end of Haraikotsu and using her body to throw the object forward as hard as she could. Once she released it, the boomerang spun towards the giant snake, missing it by a few feet and spinning around to head back to her.

Unfortunately the demon bone hit the ground a ways away from her, making her run to it to retrieve it.

"Work on your aim, woman!" Taishou growled at her, having barely dodged out of the boomerang's path on its return to its new owner.

"Sorry!" A grumble left her throat as she jerked the boomerang out of the ground and turned to look at the huge beast. She spread her feet and cocked Haraikotsu again, preparing for a second shot.

Suddenly the lights floating around the demon burst and it let out a pained roar. Hankui had finished his chant, apparently. When the dust that had been kicked up cleared away they were able to see the damage Hankui had done. Chunks of the demon were missing, yet miraculously the thing was still poised above them.

Shippou became a larger demon suddenly and chomped off the thing's head. Jinu screamed in horror and watched the two pieces fall unceremoniously to the ground.

When Shippou popped back into his humanoid form, he wiped the blood off of his mouth and looked at Jinu strangely. He seemed to be considering what he had done in front of her.

Hankui ran up to Jinu and smiled. "We did it! We beat our first demon!"

Taishou joined them, glaring at Jinu. "What's the deal with you? If you can't fight, go back to the village!" He pointed back down the path they had been trekking on all day, letting his rage show full force.

The brown-haired girl returned the glare. "I'll learn. I've never used this thing before, alright?" She held up Haraikotsu and shoved it in Taishou's face. "It's my sister we're trying to find here!"

"And it's a cure for my parents who are as good as dead right now!" Taishou yelled at the top of his lungs, stepping closer to Jinu.

"You guys!" Shippou interrupted, "We've barely started our journey. Stop fighting this instant." Both of the teenagers shot glares at the elder fox demon, but stopped arguing verbally. They stuck to sending each other death glares.

Miroku sighed, glancing down again at the little girl that reminded him so much of the home he had left. He probably had a kid this girl's age back home, but he had never seen him. Still, that didn't solve the dilemma of trying to find this little one's home.

So far he had been to three villages in the vicinity, but none of them were missing a girl this one's age. Everyone had assumed that the kid had been his own, and had commented to him about how unique her eyes were.

It was frustrating that no one seemed to know where she came from. Assuming that someone would recognize her without seeing her, of course, since he wasn't telling people that she was lost. If he did some family might insist on keeping her, and he really wanted to find her rightful home.

She smiled at him, her magenta eyes gleaming in the evening light. Her black hair was a bit messy, but Miroku had nothing to fix that with; she would just have to live with tangled hair. He smiled back faintly, still deep in thought about what to do with this little girl.

A wolf began howling in the distance and he listened as several others joined in. It wasn't the cry of a successful hunt, but more of an anguished scream. Miroku wondered what was making them wail like that.

With a shrug he slumped against a tree, figuring this was as good a place as any to stop for the night. The girl climbed into his lap and hugged his chest, looking up at him quietly. She hadn't yet spoken a word to him, making Miroku think that perhaps she was mute.

He watched the child fall asleep and felt himself drifting off as well, tired from a long day's journey. What had it been? A week since he had found the girl?

Just as sleep was about to take over him, a tall woman with black hair and dark eyes stepped into his peripheral vision. She looked at him silently, and then eyed the child in his lap.

"Her name is Namise."

Even in his tired state, Miroku could feel the tug on his mind and the words echoing hollowly. Then he remembered who stood in front of him: the Lady of the Northern Lands, Inutora. At least, he thought it was; but he was sure Inutora had died nearly 20 years ago. Another person with silvery hair stepped into his view, and this one he recognized as a demon.

Immediately he shot to full awareness, not wanting to be caught off guard by a youkai. With surprise he identified Inuyasha's elder brother, Sesshoumaru, glaring coldly at him.

He took another glance at the woman who had spoken, surprised to see that it wasn't Inutora, but an older Rin. She had certainly become beautiful through the years. The last time he had seen Rin she was only about eight.

Rin smiled kindly and tilted her head towards him, and then continued walking elegantly down the trail, Sesshoumaru walking beside her.

Strange.

He let sleep overcome him a few minutes later, dreaming of his home back in Edo.

Jinu kept kicking Kagome's son Taishou when he wasn't facing her, Takuske and Hankui were chasing some helpless cat trying to catch it, and Hotaru and Yuuka were playing tag with Kagome's daughter.

He looked around in pride at all of his children, wondering what they would be when they grew up. When he turned around he was met with the sight of his extremely pregnant wife carrying their two-year-old on her hip. She looked up at him, and he froze. Her eyes were completely white and she suddenly collapsed to the ground, dropping Chaos.

He tried to run to her but she only seemed to get farther away until everything was black. The little girl with the magenta eyes appeared out of the darkness, tears streaming down her face. "Daddy, mommy won't wake up."

Miroku jerked awake, sweat covering his brow. What a nightmare. After that imaging, Miroku suddenly desperately wanted to go home and see Sango. Tomorrow, he would head for Edo.

If things got any duller, Kouga was sure his brother's mate would suddenly rise from her grave to laugh at them. No one felt like doing much of anything, and his own mate Kyoko insisted that it stay that way until the next full moon.

Why? No one but Kyoko knew but they all had to obey her since she was alpha-female. Daiki and Akina were trying to pass the time by quietly arm wrestling, but he knew if Kyoko saw them, she was sure to make them stop. Everyone was to "mourn the loss of Shira."

Good grief; even Shira's daughter was trying to occupy her time until the next full moon.

Daiki looked Kouga's way suddenly, his piercing blue eyes asking for something even though Kouga could not tell what. The kid may have been his only son, but that didn't mean he could read the kid's every thought. He shrugged at the adolescent sluggishly, watching the moon rise in the distance.

Only one more week.

He sighed tiredly. There was no way the entire pack was going to last for another week like this.

When Daiki and Akina suddenly hopped to their feet, Kouga jumped slightly, and watched as they walked out of the cave towards the ascending moon and howled. Some of the pack sat up and began to howl as well, though Kouga was beginning to wonder if the anguish they were expressing wasn't for the loss of Shira any more, but for loss of being able to do anything.

The thought made him smirk. Then he realized what he was doing; just before his mate turned to glare at him for not joining in with the baying. What a pain.

After they were through wailing their guts out, the two youths ran off instead of rejoining the pack in the den. Kouga jumped to his feet in preparation to run after them, but his brother stopped him.

"Let them go, Kouga. Shira wouldn't like to see her daughter cooped up like this." Tougi's blue eyes shown despite his mournful expression, and Kouga sat down with a sigh. He had really been hoping to chase after his son and niece just so he could get out of this wretched cave for a few minutes and have a good run.

Guess that wasn't going to happen.

Akina laughed lightly and dodged behind a tree, making Daiki run right past her while trying to stop.

"Kina! That's not fair!" Daiki whipped back around to glare at her, his black hair blending into the forest thanks to the dark night.

"Life isn't fair, Daiki!" Akina laughed again before taking off in another direction. She glanced back at her cousin and waved quickly, a grin covering her face.

The forest was quiet all around them, the only sound coming from their light, quick footsteps and the leaves rustled by their movement. Without any warning, Daiki pounced on her and sent them both tumbling to the ground.

Akina let out a cry mixed with laughter and startled wrestling with the wolf prince, pinning him down fairly quickly.

She held a claw to his throat and smiled. "You're dead."

"Ehehe. For the hundredth time, yeah." Daiki smiled and sat up as soon as Akina released her hold on him. "We need a new pass time…you always win."

The green of Akina's eyes shown brightly, "That's the beauty of it."

"For you, but it's not as fun for me when I know I'm always going to lose." Daiki stood up and dusted his fur clothing.

Akina pouted, "Spoilsport." She immediately brightened and jumped up to stand next to Daiki. Her black-streaked hair lifted slightly in the breeze and Akina turned to Daiki. "Well, what mischief shall we make tonight?"

"I think I caught a whiff of a couple of travelers nearby. We could always go and harass them." Daiki smiled at his cousin, letting his blue eyes sparkle in the moonlight.

The she-demon pursed her lips, as if contemplating the suggestion. "Yes. Yes, that does sound amusing. Shall we then?"

The ookami youkai prince nodded and dashed off through the woods, leaving Akina to trail after him. As they approached the travelers Daiki had mentioned, Akina nearly froze with the aroma permeating her nostrils.

She hadn't been expecting to encounter that houshi again…why did she have to agree with Daiki? Teeth clenched, she forged ahead and watched as they black-haired man came into view. Seeing him didn't surprise her, but seeing the little girl still with him did. 'Thought he wanted to get her home?'

The monk jumped up and into a fighting stance as they neared, apparently having sensed their youki. If he hadn't, Akina was going to tell him that he had best go back to monk-training-school or wherever it was that you learned how to be a monk.

Daiki stopped in his tracks, and Akina glanced at him as the monk and he had a staring match.

"M-Miroku-san?"

I
Do
Not
Sleep

Inutori: Hehe…finished this chapter finally, and I hope you guys don't mind having so few of our favorite characters present.
Kouga: How come Kagome isn't my mate? She is my woman after all.
Inuyasha: How can she be YOUR woman? She has been LIVING with ME and has MY KIDS!
Kouga: You've been brain washing her, dog turd. Perfectly explainable.
Kagome: Uh…Kouga-kun…I'm married to Inuyasha…
Inutori: Before anyone asks, the reason why Kouga's mate isn't Ayame is because I've really only known the manga storyline, and she's not a part of it, sorry. Anyways, I hope ya'll will review for me, onegai?