Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for Aldrea and the plot line to this story. Arigatou.
A/N: Hey, sorry about the long wait, but I've been lazy over the past year.
Aldrea: You are finally typing this chapter! This calls for a celebration.
Suuki: I would settle for you not appearing in the reviews I write.
Aldrea: That can be done.
Suuki: Good. Enjoy the story!
Chapter V: The Rest of the Gang
Sango, Miroku, and Shippou waved goodbye to Inuyasha and Kagome, and headed in the opposite direction towards the village, in order to prepare for their journey. When they had reached the sacred Go-shinboku (God tree), Shippou, still with his lollipop, asked Sango and Miroku if he and Kirara could in the clearing.
"I don't know…" said Sango.
"Oh, let them have their fun, Sango," Miroku replied without care.
"Well, alright. But stay close to the Go-shinboku. We'll be back in a while to follow Inuyasha and Kagome."
Shippou jumped into the air with glee and Kirara let Sango know that she'd protect Shippou with a nod of her head. The two demons bounded off, played a friendly game of wrestling, and after a short amount of time they found a small clearing near the Go-shinboku, just perfect for a small nap. Kirara changed into her other form, which was just a larger version of herself with red flames surrounding her paws and at the tip of her two tails, and lay down. Shippou hopped over and snuggled up against Kirara's warm belly, falling asleep almost instantly later.
An hour later Gohan flew over the clearing and spotted the two sleeping demons. He went down and hovered a few feet above them, studying them carefully.
Shippou yawned, stretched, and slowly opened his eyes halfway. As he spotted Gohan, his eyes snapped wide open and his mind froze, unable to decide whether the boy floating above him was friend or foe.His mind then decided that he should yelp and hide behind the nearest thing, which happened to be Kirara. She woke up as Shippou yelped and stood protectively over the young kit, determined not to let anything happen to him.
"Wh-who are you?" Shippou was finally able to stutter.
Gohan landed softly in front of the demons, holding his hand out with his palm facing upwards in a gesture of peace. "I'm Gohan. What's your name?"
Shippou stared at him for a moment before speaking, "My name's Shippou. I'm a kitsune."
Gohan tilted his head to the side and asked Shippou if he wanted to play the game of tag.
"What's … tag?"
Gohan scratched his head and replied that he wasn't entirely sure himself, "I remember the kids at my school would shout 'Tag!' then they would run away from one person who would hit them lightly. After someone is 'tagged', that person would go and try to tag a different person."
"Oh."
Shippou and Gohan stood staring at each other for a moment.
"Um," Gohan started to say, shifting nervously, "how about we play hide 'n seek instead?"
Shippou perked up a bit. "Ok!"
Gohan smiled with relief.
"What's hide 'n seek?"
Gohan sighed. This is going to take a while.
Having finished preparing for their trip, Sango and Miroku were relaxing at the edge of the village.
"Sango, don't you think Shippou and Kirara have been playing slightly too long?"
Sango glanced up from her new book she was currently engrossed in, and judged the position of the sun. "You're right Miroku. I've just been so busy reading this 'scroll' Kagome gave me. Shakespeare is a very interesting writer." She closed the book with an impatient snap and turned towards Miroku very slowly."By the way. GET. YOUR. HAND. OFF. MY. BUTT!" Sango then brought out her Hiraikotsu and hit Miroku over the head. "Right," she stated as she stood up, "let's go."
They started off towards the forest with Miroku in the lead using his staff as a walking stick. Sango was behind him, her hand firmly grasped her Hiraikotsu just incase Miroku decide to get too close.
Once they reached the fringes of the forest, Sango began to call for Kirara, while Miroku shouted for Shippou.
After they had searched for half an hour, they began to really worry. Sango began to panic and was calling "Here kitty, kitty, kitty!" to which Miroku replied while staring at her lustfully, "Here foxy, foxy, foxy." Sango turned beet red and hit Miroku over the head again.
Finally Kirara approached Sango, purring with delight.
"Kirara! You had me worried." Sango cried as she picked her up.
A strange looking leaf with a bushy tail came bouncing along, and then it popped into Shippou. "Hey guys! I'm playing hide 'n seek!"
Miroku and Sango gave Shippou puzzled looks.
"Ready or not, here I come!"
Shippou quickly dived into a bush, hiding himself. "Quick! Hide you guys or he'll find me!"
Sango, Miroku, and Kirara quietly hid themselves behind some bushes close to them.
A few minuets later, someone approached them. He stopped in front of them and glanced from side to side stealthily. "Hmm, I wonder where he could be." The strange boy walked over to the bushes across from Sango, Miroku, and Kirara. He pretended not to notice the bushy tail that was in plain view. "Gotcha!" he yelled while lunging at the bush.
Sango and Miroku shot up from their hiding place, ready to jump to the rescue. To their surprise, the two children began to laugh and tumble around on the ground.
"Okay Gohan," Shippou laughed, "you found me!"
Miroku, recovering from his shock first, stepped forward and cleared his throat in a manner that commanded attention. "Excuse me, uh, Gohan, but Shippou must return to the village with us now. Kaede-dono is expecting us to protect the village while Kagome and Inuyasha are gone."
Shippou frowned and jumped onto Sango's head, looking down into her eyes. "Do I have to go?"
"Yes, you know how-"
A warrior, bleeding heavily from his stomach, chose this time to smash through the bushes, effectively interrupting Sango. "Please… village… under… attack…" He then collapsed and burst into flames, leaving behind a charred mass of flesh.
Miroku examined the man carefully, and then his grave face turned to Sango. "He isn't from Kaede's village, but he was being controlled. Naraku has set a trap for us and we must go."
"Shippou," Sango said with sadness in her eyes, "you understand that we must step knowingly into a trap set for us in order to fight Naraku, right?"
Shippou looked away disappointedly and sighed. "I understand."
Kirara transformed and allowed Miroku, Sango, and Shippou to climb onto her back, then took to the air.
"Bye Shippou!" Gohan shouted as he waved to the fast fading form of Kirara, who was following the dead warrior's scent to its village. "Maybe we could play later!"
"I'll meet you at this spot tomorrow if I can!" Shippou shouted into the breeze, his voice fading into a whisper, as Gohan watched.
Gohan stared at them for a moment, then left, flying back to the others. "I wonder if mom should know about this?" he said to himself as he put on another burst of speed in order to reach the others faster.
Aldrea was busy cooking meat wrapped in banana leave and tending to the fire she had made not too long ago. Kagome had brought out some instant Ramen to cook for lunch as well.
Soon the leaves over the fire were beginning to brown, signifying that the meat was done cooking, and Aldrea took it off the fire, opened the leaves and offered some of the meat to Kagome. "Here, eat some deer meat Kagome. It is quite delicious."
Kagome stared at the open leaf Aldrea held, then turned away with a disgusted look on her face. "How could you eat such a cute animal?"
Inuyasha took the offered leaf from Aldrea. "It's easy. All you do is this. "He then exposed the meat and inhaled it like a vacuum cleaner.
"I'll have some too Aldrea," said Goku. He took another leaf from Aldrea's hand and mixed it with the instant Ramen Kagome had just supplied him with, eating like there was no tomorrow.
"Please Kagome," urged Aldrea, "just take a small bite."
Kagome closed her eyes and her aura emanated a sense of deep consideration. "Well, alright. Are you sure it's okay to eat such a cute creature?" she asked before she took a bite.
"Of course, puppies are also especially delicious."
Kagome turned a curious shade of green and Inuyasha stopped eating in order to stare at Aldrea. Goku was the only one who didn't react in the slightest bit.
Aldrea burst into laughter at the sight of their faces. "It is alright. I was only jesting!"
Kagome tried some of the meat while glaring at Aldrea from the corner of her eyes. As soon as the meat passed her lips she stopped glaring. "This-this is delicious!"
Aldrea smiled and thanked her for the compliment. Suddenly her expression turned to one of concern and she stood up from her position on the ground.
"What is it?" Goku asked in a concerned manner, his food temporarily forgotten.
"Something is very wrong."
Goku looked quizzically at Aldrea, and then tilted his head to the side as if listening to someone.
/Gohan, repeat what you have told Goku and I, to Kagome and Inuyasha. /
The two shikon seekers jumped to their feet after the sudden silence and began to look around with panic once Aldrea had spoken in their minds.
/All right mother. There is a village under attack and a Buddhist monk, a demon slayer, a cat demon, and a kitsune named Shippou, have all gone to help. I'm coming to show you the path to the village. /
"Inuyasha, we've got to help Sango and Miroku!" shouted Kagome as she jumped back up, standing over Inuyasha menacingly, who was still eating. "Come on! Quick!"
"Feh, alright already! Hold your horses, I'm eating!"
"OSUWARI!"
Inuyasha smashed face first into the ground, spilling his food.
"Now you're done! Let's go!"
Aldrea stood up, began to pack camp, and took a bucket to a nearby stream in order to put out the campfire.
"You can't leave till Gohan gets here," explained Goku. "He's the only one who knows the way to the village."
Kagome was disappointed and dropped down onto the log she was sitting on during lunch.
"See! We can't even leave yet! Feh. You made me waste my entire lunch."
Aldrea was making a last check of the campsite, making sure that they had not left any litter, and covering up the traces of their camp, a habit she had acquired during her time travels, when Gohan arrived.
"Okay mom and dad, it's time to go."
Aldrea finished covering the last of the fire's ashes and turned to Inuyasha and Kagome. "Inuyasha, are you able to fly?"
"No, but I can jump really far."
"It will have to do." She turned to Goku, who was already standing up. "Are you ready?"
Goku smiled affectionately and nodded. "Alright Gohan, let's fly!"
Inuyasha knelt down and let Kagome climb onto his back. "Hold on tight!" Inuyasha took off, occasionally jumping into the air in order to follow the other three.
A/N: I hope you liked it. Oh, and in answer to one of my reviewers, yes I know about Lunar 2. In the next ch. there will be a character from Lunar and one from Lunar 2. Whoever gesses who the characters are will get a sneek peeck of the 6th chapter! Ja ne!
Aldrea: Namarie!