Author's Note: There was some question on how Miroku was related to Yahiko. Back in chapter 5 I had Inuyasha and Co. realize that Kagome was a descendant of Sango and Miroku. I thought it would be an interesting idea. So Yahiko is related to those two through Kagome.

Chapter 17: A Spider's Eggs

Shadows of craggy rock and pine trees played an eerie silhouette under the sliver of the silver moon. Cicadas churped their nightly song as a lone owl announced its presence. The baying of wolves shattered the nightly perfection.

Kouga howled in fury as he looked out over the landscape. Hours of searching...wasted. There was not a scent to be found. The only scents of the intruders lay in the shrine, and even that barely distinguishable beneath the stink of gunpowder. It was if they had just appeared out of thin air. He kicked angrily at a nearby boulder and sent shards of rock flying in every direction.

His whole body shook with a barely contained rage as he looked behind him. A silent Amaya was staring at the silver moon. He watched as his son jumped up to her and silently slipped his arms around her waist. She leaned her head back into his chest, willing herself not to cry.

I failed you Mother, she thought. I'm sorry Father. A tear slipped down her face and she hastily brushed it aside. Now was no time for crying. She had to get a message to her father.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

"The number of eggs that a spider lays at one time varies with the size of the animal. A female of average size lays about one hundred eggs. Some of the largest spiders lay more than two thousand eggs."

A Naturalist's Guide to the Animal World, by Dr. Steven Maraine, Ship's Surgeon and Naturalist of the HMS Amelia.

Naraku studied the illustration on the page with interest. How fascinating. He'd been pleasantly surprised to find that Kagura had collected an extensive library within her castle. Many of the books were of British or American origin, but no matter. Raizel had been able to read English and since he had absorbed her, he now had that ability as well.

"In most species, the mother spider encloses the eggs in a silken egg sac. It has been observed that the sac of each species differs in size and shape."

Yes, fascinating. Naraku was taking every advantage of this era's knowledge. He'd had no idea just how wide and varied the world was. Fascinating. He turned a page and studied the image of a black widow spider eating her mate.

"Lord Naraku?"

Naraku looked up from the book to study the snake youkai.

"Gojin, report."

"My Lord, we have the priestess's ashes as you requested."

Excellent.

"Have the sorceress brought to me at once," Naraku said sharply. Gojin bowed as he replied.

"She is waiting outside your chamber, Lord Naraku." Good, very good. Kagura's servants were far more competent than he had expected.

"Send her in," he commanded. Gojin bowed again before leaving. Naraku carefully marked his place in the book and snapped it shut. He flexed his right hand and stared approvingly at himself in a nearby mirror.

He'd since had the opportunity to absorb more youkai. Naraku was as of yet no where near his former power, but it was only a matter of time. At least he had a male body now. He heard the great oak doors close as the dark sorceress stepped in. Naraku studied her with slight disgust. She was really nothing more than a dirty hag. However, whatever her appearance, he needed the creature's skills.

"Lord Naraku," she rasped. The ancient hag bent slowly on her knees and prostrated herself before him. She had trained under the same master as Urasue, the ogress who had raised Kikyo from the dead. Naraku grimaced silently in distaste as he watched a cockroach climb out from underneath her pale kimino and scurry over her yellowed toenails.

Naraku briefly brought to mind the theory from a controversial human book.

"The theory of natural selection is the theory that only the strongest and most fit of any species survives to pass on its traits to its offspring."

Naraku rather liked that theory.

"Binh," he addressed the hag with distaste. "I want you to first recreate Kagome's body, then report to me when you've finished. You are not to resurrect her without my presence, understood" he asked sharply. Binh nodded her grey head.

"Then be gone with you woman," he commanded. She bowed her head before rising and shuffling out of the large room. Naraku stared after her for a moment before returning to his book.

'Survival of the Fittest' indeed.

Youkai had understood that concept long before Charles Darwin had written his infamous book. Naraku chuckled darkly as he continued to read.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

"Ghosts!"

"Don't be stupid Sanosuke."

"I'm telling you it's ghosts!"

"What's he yapping about?" Inuyasha asked.

"He thinks trains are powered by ghosts," Kaoru answered. Kenshin grimaced to himself. He didn't really want to listen to this argument YET again.

"Well what else runs them?" Sano asked stubbornly.

"I told you, locamotives are powered by steam!"

"How can steam move a six ton hunk of metal?"

"I'm telling you it can!" Kaoru yelled.

"No it can't!"

"YES IT CAN!"

"NO IT CAN'T!"

Yahiko rolled his eyes at them. Kaoru and Sanosuke continued to yell in each other's face for another minute until they finally took a break to catch their breath.

"What's a train?" Miroku asked. He'd since learned to use his spiritual gifts to be heard by everyone else, much to his relief. Megumi took the brief lull in Kaoru and Sano's argument to explain the concept of trains to the dead monk. Kenshin felt himself jump as the obstinate pair took up their quarrel yet again.

"Steam can't power a train!" Sanosuke yelled.

"Eeeeiiii!" Kaoru screamed in frustration. She reached out to the tall man and tried to throttle him. Kenshin reluctantly stood up and tried to seperate the two. Inuyasha popped another rice ball in his mouth as he called out.

"What'd you do that for? It was getting interesting!" he yelled.

Kaoru gave a huff before throwing another jibe at the irate Sanosuke.

"And another thing idiot, cameras DO NOT STEAL YOUR SOUL!"

"THEY DO TOO!"

"YOU HAD YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AND YOU STILL HAVE YOUR SOUL, DON'T YOU?"

"WELL YEAH..."

"THEN THEY DON'T STEAL YOUR SOUL!"

"YES THEY DO! WE WERE LUCKY!"

Kenshin smacked his head down against the table as Shippo, Miroku and Inuyasha began to laugh hysterically. Kagome had taken their pictures plenty of times with the cameras of her era.

"You're an idiot Bird Head," Shippo laughed.

"Shut up!"

"Cameras don't steal your soul," Miroku said.

"How would you know?" Sano asked. "You died almost three centuries ago!"

"Kagome used the cameras from her era. They're quite common place I was told," the dead monk answered. Sanosuke gave a long pause. Inuyasha mentally pictured Sanosuke in the Tokyo of Kagome's era. The poor guy would probably go ballistic if he saw an automobile or an airplane.

"Technology is the work of...of...!" Sano started to yell stubbornly.

"Youkai?" Jaken asked in amusement.

"Ghosts!" Shippo piped up.

"Evil Spirits!" Inuyasha yelled.

"Okay, now you're making fun of me," Sanosuke grumbled.

"Damn right we are," Inuyasha said. Again, he pictured a screaming Sanosuke standing in a subway station. The hanyou snickered evilly at the image.

"Shut up!" Sanosuke growled. Megumi waved her finger at him.

"You brought this on yourself," she said. Sanosuke glared at her. Kenshin sighed as he cleared away the dishes. Breakfast had been quick, as Inuyasha wanted to search for Raizel and Naraku. Unfortunately, no one had any idea of where to begin. As it happened, fate was on their side.

Inuyasha and Shippo abruptly stopped laughing as they and Kenshin stared outside.

"What is it?" Yahiko asked.

A small two tailed cat came bounding into the house. As Kaoru started to open her mouth, a male voice yelled out of no where.

"LORD INUYASHA!"

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed as he stared at the cat. Kirara came over and stood in front of the hanyou. He reached out a clawed hand and ruffled through her fur until he found the source of the voice.

"What..." Sano started to ask.

"What happened Myouga?" Inuyasha growled.

"Who are you talking to?" Yahiko asked.

"Oh Lord Inuyasha, something terrible has happened!" The flea youkai wailed. The humans leaned closer and blinked at the miniature youkai jumping up and down in the hanyou's hand.

"Oro?" Kenshin asked in bewilderment. Inuyasha ignored him as he stared intently down at the flea.

"What happened Myouga?" Shippo asked quietly.

"There was an attack at your home, Milord! The Lady Kagome's ashes were stolen!"

There was a collective gasp from the group at the news. Inuyasha's hand gave a slight tremble as his eyebrows knitted together in outrage.

"WHAT?" he yelled in dismay. He growled dangerously as he bared his fangs. There could only be one being behind this.

Naraku.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

A pleased Naraku examined Binh's handiwork. The clay body of a youthful Kagome stared blankly up at him. The dirty old hag had even taken the time to cloth the yet unanimated body in a priestess's red hakama and white wrap.

"Lord Naraku?" Binh asked hesitantly. Naraku cast a violet eye at her. The ancient hag lowered her head humbly as she addressed him. "My Lord...how do you plan on controlling the priestess? Kikyo rebelled the moment she was brought back into being and killed Urasue."

Naraku gave an unpleasant smirk, but didn't reprimand her. It wasn't an unreasonable question. He'd thought long and hard about it as well.

"Did you know that some spiders attach their sac of eggs to a leaf or plant?"

A clearly confused Binh looked at him questionally.

"My Lord?" The puzzled sorceress asked.

"Nothing," Naraku answered. "Just a thought." He reached into his haori and pulled out a sticky ball. Binh had no idea what was lying in the basement of his castle. The hag did not know his secret to controlling the Hand.

He lifted the garments away from the clay body's chest to expose the skin. Then Naraku pulled a fragment away from the sticky mass in his hand and placed it just under the collar bone. The fragment wriggled slightly before sinking down into the clay flesh. A faint image of a spider blossomed on the cold skin.

Naraku smiled.

"Gojin," he said outloud. The snake youkai came forward.

"Yes, my Lord."

"There is someone I want you to find, a human. You are to bring him to me."

"A human?" Gojin asked in surprise.

"Yes," Naraku answered with a malicious smile. "His name is Shinomori Aoshi."

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Author's note: The quotes I used on the spiders are directly from the World Book Encyclopedia. I just thought I'd mention that since it's a little thing called Plagiarism. And also, the book Naraku is reading isn't actually a real book, I made it up.