All right. I couldn't get the breaks to show up last chapter. And hear I thought I fixed the problem. I'll keep trying and anyone who knows how please tell me. I think i got it this time...

Chapter 5

Small huts and caves lay hidden deep in the Northern forests; only a select few knowing of the clan that lived there. No human had had ever stepped foot into the small grove manipulated by the demon occupants.

Young children ran around in the early winter morning, playing tag in the open field with the few kits whom had already learned to transform, all of them varying in colors from gold to deep violet. They grow tired of their game as the warm weather changes cold and dark clouds cover the sky. The run off squealing with the first drop of rain, and make it back to their homes in time to escape the oncoming downpour. For the longest time they just watch the rain fall from the skies and drop from the tree leaves, blanketing the hard Earth and forming cold mud.

As the rain beat down, pounding onto the roofs of the huts, a silence and appreciation is welcomed by the foxes of the area. A small kit, no older than ten, steps from her homes and into the rain, letting the water wash over her and weigh down the fuzz of her snow-white hair. Her oversized ears flopped down and her bushy white tail twitches constantly to rid itself of water. Looking up at the sky she watches the large drops as they hits her face. Raising her left hand above her head, her sleeved shirt falling to reveal a small flamed mark, she smiles.

At a distance, the others see her do this; watch as the rain, continuously falling around them, disappears before it hits the young demon. It doesn't bounce away to hit the ground elsewhere, it just disappeared. Soon waves of heat emanate from her hand and her once wet body dries quickly. Her ears still flopped, but her doused tail expanded to look even bigger. Completely dry now, she continues to walk around the small village, her hand still in the air, the smile still on her face, the wet ground instantly drying as it enters her circle, her bare feet never getting wet.

From a hut behind her someone calls her name and she turns to the voice. Seeing the angry look on her mothers face, she drops her hand and the rain once again douses her. She tried to look as pitiful as she could, the rain helping for her affect, but the older fox demon wasn't falling for it. She pointed inside the hut and told her only child to get inside. Running slowly back to her own home she caught the faces of the other kits.

Purposely she jumped into the puddles that were in her way, and when she reached her mother, mud was splattered on her face and covered her lower body. The little kit smiles and all her mother can do is shake her head.

The day went on and rain refused to let up. Grumpy and with nothing to do, the same little girl sat lazily at her window and watched the raindrops race down the glass. Her focus quickly changed to a disturbance in the outside air. The scent of power filled her lungs, and she found herself crawling away from the window moments before it shattered.

The others seemed to notice as well and the older, trained fighters came to greet the newcomer that had found their veiled village. The wind settled and two figures walked further into the fox demon territory. A young man and a woman. The woman dressed in a pink and white kimono, holding a small fan at her side. The man looked human enough except for his gleaming red eyes and the stench of stolen power that came off him in waves. A smirk flashes across his face and he speaks, his voice hypnotic and calm, but harsh and wild at the same time. He spoke to them as if they were inferior and shouldn't have been granted to walk this Earth. He told them of the Gods watching the Elements. He told them of the one amongst them.

Without another word he walked forward to the little hut hiding the little kit. The foxes snarled out a warning but it went unheeded. With a simple command to the woman next to him she flipped open her fan.

The attack was swift taking out several of them before they knew what happened. As some continued to attack other scattered to their young and tried to escape only to be hit with blades of wind or struck down by small but vicious tornadoes.

The village was in ruins now, nothing but mud and wood and fire. The little kit hung limply in the arms of the man. Her family, friends, kin all dead. With nothing else to say but how pathetic he thought the fox demons were they left. The fire building further to destroy what was left of the lush forest and only to leave in barren.

Yuki woke with a start. The horrible thoughts still lingering in her mind. she hadn't thought of her family since that first night in Naraku's castle where he had told her what had happened. Of course he had told her a lie and her dreams had said otherwise. She never told him she knew; she was too afraid at the time of what he would do.

For the longest time he kept her locked up and the only person she saw was the woman from before, Kagura. She hated her. The wind witch kept conversation to a minimal, and as young as she had been she needed the words, any words, to comfort her.

"Yuki? Are you all right?" Kagome broke through her thoughts.

'I'm fine. Did I wake you?'

"No. I was awake and I heard something. Thought I'd check on you."

'Like I said, I'm fine. Go back to sleep or something.'

"Okay. Well goodnight." Kagome turned to go back inside.

'Wait, Kagome?'

"Yeah?"

'Would you or any of the others mind if we go somewhere I choose? Just for a while?'

"I'm sure Inuyasha would throw a fit, but I can convince him otherwise. We can go tomorrow, if you'd like."

'That'd be great. Tomorrow then?'

"Tomorrow."

"What is this place? There's no one here."

"From the looks of it, no one has been here for years."

"Kinda creeping me out. Everything's all burnt and dead."

"This wasn't done recently. The trees or something should have grown back."

The five friends walked around the ruins of an old village. Soot and ash covered the ground and a lingering smell of burned flesh rose in the air. The stench made all of them want to gag, especially Inuyasha with his heightened senses. They all spoke their opinions except Shippo who remained quiet.

Yuki walked out in front of them, her nose to the ground as she searched for something. She wasn't sure herself what she was looking for, but her dream had shown her something she hadn't thought about in years and that could only mean one thing: something was here for her to find, something to help against Naraku.

"Yuki?" Kagome, yet again, broke her concentration and she looked up at the strange girl. "Are you sure this is where you wanted to go?"

'Positive.'

"Oh, okay." A pause before, "What is this place exactly?"

'My home.'

"Well why weren't you living here then? And what happened to this place. Not much of a home if it reeks of death." Inuyasha snorted.

In a flash he hit the ground, a snarling fox holding him down. He struggled uselessly to get her off, but she didn't budge. Only in his mind did she send the threat.

'My clan was massacred by the devil himself! They kept this place alive, they fought to keep it a secret, and now that they're dead I won't have you ruining their memory with your snide comments. Got it?'

When Inuyasha didn't reply the fox barked, and snapped at him. Yuki continued to growl for a moment longer before she went back to her search, ignoring the shocked looks the others were giving her. Inuyasha remained on the ground, not really scared by the threat but chilled to the bone. When he did get up he remained silent, not answering the questions they asked him.

"Are you done yet?" Inuyasha shouted from his sitting position.

The day had been wasted away while Yuki looked for who-knows-what and not finding anything. Inuyasha was bored, Kagome and Shippo were asleep and Miroku was bothering Sango. The black fox worked diligently, burying her nose in small piles of dirt and digging away the ground where she thought it necessary, but still not finding anything.

The late afternoon sun was hiding behind clouds, but showed no sign of rain.

"If I knew what you were looking for I could have helped you, and we could've left already. But from the looks of it you don't even know what you're looking for."

'In that you would be right.'

"What!" Inuyasha shouted waking up Kagome. "You mean you don't even know what you're looking for?"

The fox looked thoughtful for a moment before she replied, 'Yes.'

"This is ridiculous. Come on Kagome, we're leaving. Naraku can have her."

"We can't leave her here. Naraku could kill her! Do you want that on your hands?"

"Don't you pull that crap with me, Kagome. We're leaving."

'Found it!'

Yuki came out from under a pile of wood dragging something shiny. The glint of silver caught everyone's eye, and they went to meet the fox halfway. In her mouth was the hilt of a sword. The long blade curved just slightly at the end, six rings cut into the silver near the hilt, and a chunk seemed to be cut out of the blade, leaving a block-like space at the end.

"Where'd that come from?" Inuyasha said picking up the sword to get a better look.

'It was my father's.'

"And how exactly did it survive whatever happened here and the years it was here?"

'See the runes on the blade? They're a kind of protection and boost.'

Miroku ran his hand up the blade and examined the runes closer. Lost in their thoughts they missed the trees start to move and the sky to darken. A deep threatening voice resounded around them, making them all jump.

"Who dares enter my claimed domain? How is it that you have found this place?"

They were there. Strangers invading in her space. She had been gone for only the day and already it seemed that someone had moved in. they didn't look like they were camping out but there was still time for that to change. She had to stop it from happening.

Summoning as much power as she could at the moment she called forth the winds, bringing in the clouds and brushing through the trees. They didn't seem to notice her attempts and she growled at their blindness. From deep in her throat she spoke as threatening as possible. They all jumped visibly and she smiled.

"This place has been hidden from the view of the outside world since the dawn of time. How is it that three humans, a child and a half demon have found it?"

Glancing at each of them, they looked around for her, but she had yet to reveal her position. At last her gaze fell on the last creature with them. Something familiar stood out on the large beast; something in the eyes that were staring directly at her.

Out of the dark of the forest cover came a child. Her long golden hair bunched up in a bun and her glassy white eyes stared unseeing at Yuki. Inuyasha growled at her, but she ignored him.

"I know you…" Realization flashed in her eyes. "Yuki?"

'Ciri. Putting on a show? I think you've lost your touch.'

"Who the hell are you?"

'Ciri, meet Inuyasha. Short tempered and not too bright.'

Inuyasha growled at her comment, but did nothing else but mumble.

'You should be careful Inuyasha. Ciri is a witch, and probably older than you.'

"What brings you back home, Yuki? No one, except me of course, has lived here in years."

'Adopted it as your own? And you didn't clean it up at all?'

"If I wanted to I would have, but this place has history that will not be erased by hand. Now answer my question: why have you come back?"

'Searching for something. My fathers sword is what I found.' Yuki nodded over at the blade that lay on the ground in front of Inuyasha. 'Now if I had hands I could use it properly.'

"Stuck in your animal form, are you Yuki?" Ciri clucked her tongue at the fox and wagged her finger at her. "Poor poor Yuki. Lost her ability to change back."

'I'm stuck because of an imbalance of power. It's evening out as we speak.'

But Ciri wasn't listening and continued her rant. "When you were a child you constantly transformed, and now you're trapped. This is a lesson, you know? You took your power for granted and now you're stuck."

'If I hadn't worn the collar Naraku had put on me then this wouldn't have happened.'

"I told you myself something like this was gonna happen. And now that you're all grown up, it has happened! Ha."

'Are you gonna help me or not?'

"Yeah, sure. There should be some spell I know that help with that balance problem."

'You're sure this is supposed to work, Ciri?'

"No, but it does have something do with balancing things out, and this could the perfect chance to try it out."

'You're telling me you've never done this spell? And you're willing to try it on me?'

"Umm, yeah that's exactly what I'm saying." Ciri smiled cheekily. "Now hold perfectly still. If you move it might screw something up and you'll grow and arm or something."

At that, Yuki panicked and tried to move out of the circle drawn in the sand. "I was kidding!" Ciri waved her hand in a swift movement toward the ground. "Sit down and hold still."

Yuki felt as if she'd been chained to the ground and no longer had control of her own body. 'I swear if something does go wrong I'll kill you!'

"You wouldn't hurt you friends would you?"

'Yes.'

"Well if you plan on killin' me for making a mistake, then I won't call it a mistake."

'Just do the spell and get it over with.'

Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo stood off to the side watching the two argue. They all watched as Ciri stood in front of the fox, her blind eyes darkening as she started to recite her spell. Sparks exploded around the two of them, the electricity in the air making itself known. Kagome squeaked as one exploded near her and taking her by surprise, causing her to jump toward Inuyasha.

The ground shook lightly and a wave blew past the group, pushing dust toward them and up into the air. Coughing, they realized Ciri's hypnotic voice no longer rattled into their minds and the black fox was nowhere to be seen.

Tbc.