Ok, here's the next chapter. I am having fun with this story. It should start picking up from here on out now that I have caught up with the past, so to speak. So have fun with this story and please feel free to give any comments or critisms, heck you can even flame me if you want. BTW, sorry that I spelled Sakura wrong in the last chapter...hehe...oops...so I'll spell it correctly in this one. Kk, read on.

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Inuyasha...but if you take Sakura, you will pay...BuWAHAHAHAHAHAhahaha...ha...

Chapter 8

Keade heard the group return and walked out to meet them. Immediately, she sensed that something was not right. Though the group was chatting and laughing like normal, there was an unusual tension in the air. Keade ushered them into her home and offered them dinner. As the group sat down and ate, Keade asked them what happened. Miroku was the first to speak up.

"We found the youkai with the shard. Actually, she found us. I imagine she was after the shards that Kagome-sama has."

"What kind of youkai was it?" Keade asked, curious as to whether that would explain the strange tension she felt amongst them. This time it was Sango's turn to speak up.

"I've heard of this kind before. It is a fairly weak youkai as far a physical strength goes, but it uses illusions to cripple it's opponents. It is particularly well known for creating an illusion that throws a person into a world of their worst fears, created by their own mind. The person becomes so trapped in the images that their mind projects that they feel not only extreme emotional, but can also feel extreme physical, pain. While the person is trapped in this illusion they are reduced to nothing more than a weak body writhing and sobbing on the ground. The youkai then easily finishes them off. It takes a very strong mind to be able to break free of this illusion. The one weakness to this is that while the youkai is projecting this illusion, they must be completely focused on that task. If they are distracted then the illusion will weaken enough for the person to be released."

Keade nodded in understanding. She had heard of these types of youkai before. And now she had an idea of what had cause the awkwardness amongst the group. No doubt their nightmares were still fresh in their mind. One last thing remained to be explained though.

"How did you break free of the illusion? Did the youkai get attacked while you were trapped or did something manage to break free of the illusion by themselves?"

"Actually," Shippo bounced, excited to be able to contribute to the conversation, "Sakura saved us! She distracted the youkai and then Inuyasha sliced it up!"

Keade raised an eyebrow at this. "Really? Did the youkai not notice you and therefore failed to trap you in the illusion?" When Keade asked this, all focus was turned to Sakura. No one had heard about what had happened up until the moment they were released and all were curious how Sakura had saved them. Sakura proceeded to explain how she had also been trapped in the illusion, but saw through it and escaped it. Inuyasha feh'd when she explained how she had snuck up behind the youkai and bash it over the head with a rock.

"You're just lucky the youkai released us after you did that. Stupid wench. What would you have done if you had had to fight the youkai by yourself?" Kagome shot Inuyasha a dirty look as he said this but Sakura just shrugged.

"Lucky for me then that that didn't happen, huh?"

"Feh," Inuyasha huffed and walked outside, before jumping off into the trees. Kagome rolled her eyes at his behavior and set about tidying up after the meal.

Ok, there you go! Please review! And I'll try to start bring in the other characters pretty soon here. Just be patient.