Author's Notes: Looking good so far guys! Keep the reviews coming to keep my morale up! XD.

angellaggaine: You bet!

yourINSPIRINGsoul31: Thank ye'!

Chapter 3: Mysterious Disappearances

The group sat unexpectantly around the fire. Sesshomaru had unpacked some meat and was cooking it on the fire. Nearby, in a grouping of trees and shrubs, a female was hiding. She was dressed in all black, including a cloth that covered the bottom half of her face from the nose down. She was obviously a ninja or assassin.

Ooohh man! I cant stand it, I'm too hungry! I might have to sneak in and take that meat…But that guy looks strong…What do I do!

It wasn't long before she had a knife in her hand, she was planning something…

"Lord Sesshomaru, is it ready yet?" Rin asked, staring at the sizzling meat.

"Not yet." Sesshomaru said, poking the meat with a stick.

Sesshomaru's ear twitched as he heard a rustling from behind him, he looked to Jaken and Rin, but it seems that neither had heard it, it was a faint sound. It wasn't long before his was jumping up and flailing his arm in front of his face, catching a knife just inches before it hit his face.

"Come out of there, or I will come in!" Sesshomaru barked at the hidden person.

The girl winced at the severity in Sesshomaru's voice, and came out, keeping her hands visible to show that she was harmless.

"Why did you throw this at me?" Sesshomaru asked, holding up the knife.

Crap, what am I supposed to say! I am soo dead…

"Well?" Sesshomaru said, throwing the knife into the ground at her feet and moving his hand to the handle of the Tokijin.

I have no choice…

"I did it because I was trying to get your food…" said the girl, looking down, waiting for him to attack her. Rin looked on at the girl, her clothes were badly tattered and she had many scars, this girl had obviously been through hell.

"Why don't you go somewhere else to get your sustenance? Why did you dare to attack me?" Sesshomaru, interrogating the girl intensely.

"I have no money…I can only get food by stealing from others…" the girl explained, "Please, If you spare me, Ill leave you alone and never see you again…"

Rin felt pity for the girl, she was no more then a young teen, yet she was alone and without food or money, it reminded Rin of herself before Sesshomaru had taken her in. Rin thought for a second before getting an idea.

"Lord Sesshomaru! Let her travel with us!" Rin suggested.

"Why should we Rin? She tried to attack us and steal our food, who knows what she would attempt next." Sesshomaru stated coldly.

"Please Lord Sesshomaru! I beg you to let her come!" Rin begged, latching on to his robe like the child she truly was. Sesshomaru turned red at her begging.

"Fine, she can come with us, you can stop begging me. But, she will have to do as much work as anyone else, I will not harbor a slacker" Sesshomaru said, looking to the girl so she got his point.

"I promise! I will pull my own!" she said, bowing with gratitude, "I am Yuuku, Nice to meet you!"

Rin stood and faced the girl, smiling and bowing in greeting as well, "I am Rin, nice to meet you as well, Miss Yuuku", Rin turned to Sesshomaru and Jaken, pointing at each as she spoke. "He is Lord Sesshomaru, and he is Master Jaken".

"Rin, I want to speak with Yuuku alone, can you take Jaken and go play somewhere?" Sesshomaru said.

"Sure, bye Yuuku!" Rin said as she grabbed Jaken by the collar yet again and ran towards a nearby creek. When they were gone, Sesshomaru turned and glared.

"So what are you and why are you posing as a human?" Sesshomaru said. He could tell by her scent that she was a Youkai.

"What do you mean? This is how I always look." Yuuku said, "You mean what kind of youkai am I? Well…I am a kageyoukai! And by your appearance, you are an inuyoukai, right?".

"Yes, I have never heard of a kageyoukai, where does your kind live?" Sesshomaru asked.

"We live wherever we can hide ourselves, we are usually isolated from others, but that changed recently…" Yuuku explained

"Recently?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Yes…some human came by our village. We let him stay because he seemed to be injured, but then he disappeared. Several days later, a whole family of kageyoukai disappeared…then another" Yuuku said, in a sad tone, "Before we knew it, the whole eastern half the the village was gone, my father, the leader of the village, sent my older brother to examine the disappearances…We never heard from him again…"

"Hmm…"Sesshomaru took all of this in, it sounded too much like events that he had known before.

"My father told everyone not to go outside during the night, but it didn't help, more and more, the disappearances grew, until there was only myself and my father and little brother left. We kept ourselves hidden, but one day by brother ran to a nearby field, and I ran after him…When we returned, our father was gone" Yuuku continued, before stopping suddenly, "All I remember after that is feeling sleepy and hearing my brother speak before I passed out…"

"What did he say?" Sesshomaru asked, now interested in her story.

"He said 'What are you!'" Yuuku said sadly, "That was the last thing I remember…I woke up in the forest, not too far from the village…Somehow I had gotten away…"

Sesshomaru couldn't help but think that Naraku had something to do with the disappearances, that evil hanyou wanted nothing more then to be all powerful, he probably absorbed all of the kageyoukai to increase his strength.

"So, what was with that Rin woman? She acted as if she was a child, but she was clearly an adult, older then me even!" Yuuku asked.

"That is not a story that needs to be told right now, all you need to know is that she really is a child." Sesshomaru exclaimed, turning and sitting before the fire, "You'd better rest, you seem tired and we leave early in the morning tomorrow"

"Alright…" Yuuku said, "Where are you planning on going?"

"To find someone, we might be able to find the reason for Rin's appearance, and the disappearance of your village." Sesshomaru stated, not even looking at her.

"Ok…" Yuuku yawned as she lay down on the dirt next to the fire, but a safe distance away from Sesshomaru. It seemed like hours since Rin had left, and Sesshomaru was starting to get worried. It was then that he heard it, a loud scream from a long distance away. He jumped up, accidentally bumping into Yuuku as he did.

"What's going on..?" she yawned as she sat up. She looked up at him, seeing him looking around urgently. She jumped up and looked around the camp, Rin and Jaken had not yet returned, "Where's Rin!"

"I don't know, lets go find her, I heard a scream from this direction" He said quickly as he pointed, then ran towards the west. Yuuku barely had time to get running before Sesshomaru was gone. She ran off after him, just barely trying to keep up. They ran for a few minutes before they came to a cliff, the first thing they saw was Jaken unconscious on the ground, then they saw it, a green slimy spider-like leg, and in its clutches was Rin, unconscious as well.