Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the previously existing characters therein.

Chapter Two

"Kagome, get in the house, now!"

All she could see was darkness. It had spread so quickly that Kagome found herself lost in the suddenness of it. She tried to push through, to find the safety of the house and her mother's arms, but all of her senses were blocked by the maelstrom around her.

Lights flashed all around, brilliant streaks of illumination breaking through the swirling darkness. Violent sounds accompanied the unnatural lightning, and the little child covered her ears against the harsh noises. Screams and shouts surrounded her on all sides, blinding her senses as much as the lights did.

"Papa!" she cried as she stumbled through the darkness. The churning clouds brushed against her skin as she moved, sending shivers up her spine. A muted voice cut through the din, catching her attention and guiding her forward and to her left.

"Papa! Where are you?"

The little girl choked as a sob wracked her tiny body. She swore that she would not cry now. She had to be brave; she had to find her papa.

Finally, the darkness gave way, and she could see two men standing before her. They were facing the other way, toward where the clouds were the thickest. A little hand reached forward, and she called out again. The younger of the two men turned to face her, and a sad smile curved the lips on his sweating face.

"I'll always love you, my little Kagome." A pair of dark, sad eyes gave her one final look, and then turned away. The man clasped the elder on the shoulder once before running headlong into the darkness. He never looked back.

"PAPA!"

Kagome woke up in a sweat for the second night in a row. She glanced hurriedly around the small campsite that the group had chosen the night before. It was still dark out, and she had to strain to find the huddled forms of her friends around the burned-out fire. Her muscles relaxed a little when she realized that everyone else still slept.

"Oi, what's wrong with you?"

Well, almost everyone.

Kagome turned slightly, raising her head so that she could squint up into the branches of the tree behind her. InuYasha lounged on a large, thick limb with his back against the trunk and one leg hanging lazily off the side. Both arms were crossed against his chest in annoyance.

"I'm sorry, InuYasha. I guess I had a nightmare." She paused as a thought crossed her mind. "Did I wake you up?"

"Keh, you might have, if I'd been sleeping. But I'm half demon, remember? I don't need to rest like you humans do."

"Yeah, right."

InuYasha huffed and jumped out of the tree. In an instant he was by her side, his sensitive nose wrinkled as he sniffed at her. "Must have been a bad one, huh?"

Kagome was taken aback. Did he just smell her? "Uhhh, yeah, I guess it was. But for some reason, I can't really remember much. I just get this feeling like something bad happened in it, that's all."

"Huh," the unusually inquisitive hanyou sat back on his haunches and scratched at his left ear with a clawed hand. "You really don't remember anything?"

Kagome thought about it for a moment before answering. "Actually, I do remember something. The last thing I saw before I woke up was a pair of dark eyes. They looked so sad…"

"Well, if I were in your dreams, I'd probably be upset too."

"InuYasha!" Kagome reached over and pushed the hanyou, causing him to fall backwards. She lay back down and tried to cover herself with the rumpled sleeping bag. "How can you be so inconsiderate?"

The hanyou stood up, his tall form casting a shadow over the girl. "Well, it's the truth! If you're going to be this much of a pain, why don't you try and get more sleep? I don't want to listen to you complaining all damn day that you're tired!" With that he turned around and jumped back into his tree, grumbling all the way.

Kagome lay there with her back to the tree and silently fumed at the half-demon. How could he seem so genuine one minute, and then turn into a complete jerk in the next? I have half a mind to sit him right now! Let's see how a fall out of that tree feels! I'm so angry at him right now that I could sit him into next week!

That's when it hit her. Yes, she was angry, and that meant that she wasn't worried about the dream anymore.

Suddenly she felt a little guilty. He was trying to help me, she realized. And I wanted to sit him for it. Well, at least I managed to keep my mouth shut before I did hurt him...

Kagome let go of her anger and smiled a little as she settled back down to sleep. But even as the quiet of the night and the warmth of the sleeping bag wrapped around her, she could not seem to fall back to sleep.

Morning came all too quickly, and Kagome awoke to a pair of hands shaking her shoulders.

"Come on, wench. We don't have all day!"

Kagome sat up slowly, confusion clouding her sleep-filled eyes. "Huh? What time is it?"

InuYasha sighed impatiently. "It's time for you to get your ass outta that bag and start moving, that's what time it is!"

The girl ignored the half-demon, opting instead for a quick look around the camp. The sun was shining brightly just above the eastern horizon, its light reflecting off the cooking pot that Sango now held. The demon slayer smiled warmly at Kagome as she knelt on the ground and placed the pot on the re-lit fire.

"Good morning, Kagome. Did you sleep well?"

"Not really." Kagome rose from the sleeping bag and stretched her sore muscles before stalking past InuYasha and over to Sango's side. "So, what's for breakfast, Sango?"

InuYasha glared at the miko as she passed but said nothing. He knew that she had not gotten back to sleep until the sun had begun to creep over the horizon. And yet, there she was; bustling about the little camp and helping with the morning chores. He shook his silver mane and set about his own morning routine: stealing Shippo's breakfast.

The sun was still close to the horizon by the time the small group broke camp. Kagome and Sango led the way, chatting about nothing in particular. Each had a companion on their shoulders; Kirara perched on the taijiya's right shoulder, while a smug-looking Shippo clung to Kagome's left.

InuYasha glared at their backs from his position behind them. One hand absent-mindedly rubbed the vanishing bruise on his cheek, received just after he had stolen the kit's food. Kagome, it seemed, was not happy about that at all and 'sat' him right into a rock. Damn wench.

Off to his right he could hear a contented sigh. He turned his attention to the monk, who seemed more than pleased as he shuffled alongside the disgruntled hanyou. "What're you so happy about?" he growled.

"Oh, nothing!" was the merry reply. InuYasha followed Miroku's gaze and rolled his eyes.

"Pervert. I should tell her, ya know."

The sky blue eyes turned away from the sensuous, swaying hips they had been trained on, their peaceful glow darkening in fear. "You wouldn't!"

InuYasha smiled mischievously, allowing a fang to slip between his lips. That was enough to convince the monk that the threat wasn't an idle one, and he stared sheepishly at the ground. "You really should learn how to appreciate the female body, InuYasha. Maybe if you did you wouldn't be in such a disagreeable mood all of the time!"

The retort that leapt to InuYasha's lips was stilled when he noticed that Sango and Kagome had stopped just ahead.

He motioned to Miroku, and the two quickly caught up to the girls. "What's going on?"

Sango glanced at Miroku as the monk came to a stop beside her. "There's something on the path ahead. Should we take a look, or go around?"

"I think we should look," Kagome offered.

InuYasha shrugged and crossed his arms. "Keh, whatever. As long as it doesn't take too long; we've still got jewel shards to find."

The group continued along the path, unconsciously changing their formation as they moved. Instead of dropping back as they had earlier, InuYasha and Miroku walked just ahead of Sango and Kagome. It did not take them long to discover what lay upon the road. An old man had collapsed on the side of the path, and as they neared they could hear him moan softly.

Kagome took a step forward and instantly found Inuyasha's arm across her chest. "Don't move, Kagome."

The miko obeyed, letting the hanyou approach the fallen form. "Hey, old man! You all right?"

A snow capped, wrinkled face turned up to the hanyou. "I guess that I pushed myself too far today and sprained my ankle," he rasped in a dry, cracking voice. "Please, young travelers, help me to the next village?"

InuYasha threw a glance back toward Miroku, making a motion to the old man. Miroku looked the pitiful figure over, but he could sense no youki. He shrugged, giving InuYasha the all-clear.

"How far's it to the next village, old man?"

"It is only a mile or so farther."

Without another word InuYasha bent down to pick the old man up. Before he could even touch him, something bright flashed from beneath the elder's ragged clothing.

"What the—" InuYasha instinctively backed up as a knife sliced across the top of his hand. A low growl shook his chest as he grasped the injured hand.

The old man- or what had appeared as an old man- shot to his feet. He brandished a wicked looking dagger in one hand, but that was not what drew the gasp from the small company's lips. The wrinkled skin and kind eyes had vanished, leaving in their place a scarred, reddish visage with a hawk-like beak protruding from where the lips had once been.

"A tengu?" Miroku cried as he readied his staff. He turned to the others and shouted, "be careful, everyone! Tengu are very quick and extremely vicious!"

"I'll keep that in mind," InuYasha snapped as he flexed his injured hand. He turned to the tengu, who had backed out of arm's reach. "Come here, you little bastard!"

The tengu had other plans. He cackled loudly, his eyes searching for something among the companions. When the dark eyes settled on Kagome, the tengu made his move.

The sound of cloth shredding filled the air as two large, beastly wings burst from the tengu's shoulders. Before anyone could react, he leapt into the air, but not before snatching an unsuspecting prize in the process.

"Kagome!" InuYasha watched, horrified, as the tengu flew over the forest with Kagome in his arms.

Kagome screamed when she felt her feet leave the ground. The tengu squeezed her tightly, choking off her startled cry and leaving her breathless. She could hear InuYasha call her name, but she could not see him as the tengu carried her away. The miko struggled against her captor as they flew above the treetops, and an idea struck her even as the demon began a sharp dive into a secluded grove. With all of her strength, she bit down onto one of the hands that grasped her.

The tengu screeched and released her. The feeling of relief that she felt was fleeting as the ground quickly rushed up to meet her, and she squeezed her eyes shut as she braced for the impact.

InuYasha tore through the forest, his eyes never leaving the leafy canopy and the demon that flew just above it. He watched as the demon began to descend, and he quickened his pace to keep up. Moments later, he burst into a small glen, and the sudden absence of trees gave him a clear view of Kagome and her captor.

A horrible scream filled the air, causing the hanyou to cover his sensitive ears. Seconds later, he watched as the tengu released Kagome, sending her careening towards the ground.

"Kagome!" he screamed, forcing his legs to push him faster. He had to reach her before she hit the ground!

Her own scream echoed through the clearing as she fell, and the hanyou leapt into the air. He muttered a quick prayer, reaching his arms out as far as they would go.

His efforts were rewarded when his arms wrapped firmly around the girl's torso. InuYasha sighed in relief and landed lightly onto the earth, his precious burden held tight against his chest. He set her down carefully, his hands resting on her shoulders as honeyed eyes scanned her for injuries. "Are you all right, Kagome?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. But he took my shard!" she cried. She was dismayed, but otherwise she seemed fine.

The tengu screamed again, and the pair turned just in time to witness Sango's Hiraikotsu slicing through one of the demon's arms. The limb fell to the earth with a sickening thud. The demon glanced once at the fallen limb, and then ascended at a sudden, shocking speed. It disappeared before Sango's weapon had returned to her hand.

InuYasha was still holding Kagome when Kirara landed in the glen. Sango and Miroku dismounted, and an anxious Shippo bounded over to Kagome. "Are you okay, Kagome?"

The miko nodded, assuring her friends that she was unhurt. "I'm all right, guys. I'm just a little confused, that's all."

Miroku scratched his head thoughtfully. "Yes, that was rather peculiar. Tengu are mountain demons, and we are days away from the nearest peaks. What was it doing all the way out here?"

InuYasha backed away from Kagome and crossed his arms. "Why the hell didn't you sense any youki?"

Sango shook her head at the hanyou, motioning toward the spot where the tengu had last been seen. "He couldn't have. Tengu are notorious for preying on monks, so they've developed a way to hide their youki. The only way to tell is when they remove their disguise."

"But that still doesn't explain why it was all the way out here," InuYasha prodded.

"Or why he went straight for Kagome," added Shippo, who had hopped onto Kagome's shoulder.

The group settled into a puzzled silence, but no one could think of an answer. Finally, they agreed to continue in the general direction that the demon had taken when he had tried to kidnap Kagome. They had no other way to track the demon, since it had taken to the sky, and so this seemed the only reasonable solution.

The sun continued to move across the sky, and eventually they decided to stop for lunch. Kagome pulled several cups of Ramen from her backpack, which proved a harder task than necessary when she had to keep shooing away a hungry hanyou. Sango had just finished placing the pot of water on the small cooking fire when she felt it.

Smack.

"Miroku! Can't you ever stop?"

The guilty monk sat behind Sango, his cursed hand rubbing at his scarlet cheek. "I assure you, Sango, I did not do it! It was this cursed hand betraying me again!"

Sango mumbled something completely un-lady like under her breath, then turned to fully face the houshi. His eyes grew to twice their normal size as she hovered over him, her hands placed firmly on her strong yet definitely feminine hips. "Listen, monk, and listen well, because you will never hear this offer from me again."

"I am sick and tired of you being such a pervert. So I am going to make a bet with you. I wager that you can't go two weeks without any lecherous acts- and that includes groping, flirting, and asking random women to bear your child. If I'm right, I get to beat you senseless. But if you win, I will give you a reward worth remembering."

Miroku stared at the taijiya, disbelief etched across his features. The remaining friends were simply dumbfounded at Sango's outburst, and four pairs of eyes switched between the monk and the demon slayer, waiting for some kind of response.

When Sango finally offered a hand to Miroku, the monk could only eye it suspiciously. "Are you serious?" he managed to stammer.

She nodded curtly, motioning for his to take her hand. "So, is it a deal or not?"

"Two weeks?"

"Two weeks."

He sighed, and four pairs of eyes watched as the two shook hands.

Shippo leaned toward Kirara, who had been meticulously cleaning one of her forepaws. "I think Miroku has a death wish."

"Mmrrow."

After lunch, along with the show, was concluded, the companions broke camp and continued on the road. The rest of the day was uneventful, despite the fresh bet that lay between Sango and Miroku.

As darkness settled they moved off of the road and set up camp near some hidden hot springs. Sango and Kagome were ecstatic, and both women were lounging in the steamy water before the sun had even set.

The demon slayer watched her friend carefully from across the spring, concern shining in her eyes. Kagome's eyes kept sliding shut, and her body would slip a little further beneath the water each time before she could catch herself. "Kagome, are you all right?"

"Huh?" Kagome forced her eyes open. "Oh, yeah. I guess that I'm just tired. I haven't been sleeping very well the last few nights. And I still feel horrible for losing that shard earlier. I wouldn't blame you all for being mad at me."

"It wasn't your fault, Kagome."

The young miko sank into the warm water until all that was visible was her face. "I know, Sango. I guess the lack of sleep is catching up with me, that's all."

Sango cast her friend a sympathetic look before submerging herself completely. "Don't worry, Kagome. I'm sure that we'll get the jewel shard back. Just try and relax for now, and when we get back to camp I'll make sure the boys leave you alone so that you can get some rest."

"Thanks, Sango."

They finished their bath and headed back to camp. Sango kept her word, threatening bodily harm to anyone who bothered Kagome the rest of the evening. So the exhausted miko grabbed her hairbrush and headed over to her sleeping bag. After unceremoniously plopping down onto the bag, she began to run the brush through her hair. Unfortunately, the strands had tangled, leaving her frustrated as she tried to work through the knots.

"What the hell are you doing over here?"

She looked up to find InuYasha hovering over her. The frustration was evident in her voice when she answered him, "I'm trying to brush out my hair, but it's all tangled! Argh!" she cried, throwing the brush down. "I give up."

"Calm down, it's just hair." InuYasha knelt down and picked up the brush, then sat down behind her. "Just hold still."

Kagome was about to question him, but she could not find her voice when suddenly the brush began to glide through her damp hair. I never knew he could be so gentle! she thought as he carefully worked out each knot and tangle. In only a few minutes the task was done, and Kagome sighed wearily. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Try and get some sleep, Kagome."

She nodded, and the hanyou moved aside so that she could nestle into the sleeping bag. He turned to leave, but was stopped by her quiet question. "InuYasha? What if I dream again?"

"Keh. It's just a stupid dream; it can't hurt you."

Kagome's eyes drifted shut, but she forced them to stay open for a moment longer. "InuYasha?"

"What is it now?"

"Stay with me? Please?"

The hanyou wanted to refuse, but one look into her fear-widened mahogany eyes made him clamp his mouth shut. So he settled down next to her sleeping bag and motioned for her to lay back. "All right, but just until you fall asleep, wench."

Kagome smiled her thanks and allowed her eyelids to slide shut. She drifted off almost immediately and was greeted by a deep, dreamless sleep.

A cold wind blew through the night, winding its way through the forests, the villages and plains, until finally climbing up the steep slope of a tall mountain. It snuck through the trees that lined the mountainside, slipping into the small caves that dotted the terrain.

The tengu glided unsteadily upon the wind as it reached its icy fingers into one such cave. The dark maw of the hole stretched deep, deeper than even the determined wind could reach. So the injured demon landed on the stone floor and staggered down the rocky path. He wandered far into the earth, finally coming to a stop at the entrance to a monstrous cavern.

The tengu squinted as his eyes adjusted to the sparse light that emanated from several torches, each securely fastened high along the rocky walls. Something deeper inside the cavern moved, and the tengu paused. Though the light reached most of the rocky chamber, the center, where the movement had been, was still cast in darkness. He grasped the bloody stump where his left arm used to be, whimpering slightly in pain while he waited for whatever moved within those shadows.

"You were unsuccessful." an impossibly deep voice rumbled.

"Forgive me, master. The girl is very well guarded; I barely escaped with my life. But- but I did manage to get this from her…."

The shadows shifted again, this time moving toward the farthest wall. The darkness paused there, focusing on the cave's solitary decoration. "It seems as though the fates have favored this girl, to provide her with such protection." The voice lowered to an angry hiss. "Always such protection."

The tengu remained where he stood as his master digested the news. He knew from experience that to interrupt meant certain death, so he pushed aside his own pain for the moment. If he did as he was told, his master would repay him.

His patience was rewarded a moment later when the shadows moved closer to him. He could hear the sound of air being sucked in, and then the air was released suddenly in a hot, sticky stream. When the breath of his master died away, all that was left of the tengu was a mass of melted flesh.

"I asked for the girl. You failed to retrieve her, and I do not tolerate failure."

A black hand detached from the darkness, and the razor sharp claws that tipped the scaly fingers sifted through the ashes. They closed around the crystalline sliver that the tengu had offered, and the creature eyed the black jewel curiously.

A small sound echoed through the cave, and the shadow turned away from the steaming remains toward the source of the noise. The decoration that it had been admiring earlier had moved slightly, and an idea struck the massive youkai.

It stared at the battered human form that hung from its wall. "You trapped me here against my will. You, a pathetic human, imprisoned me in this dank hell. But your strength alone will not free me. No, I require another. I require her." The demon's hand reached up to the large, scaled face, the sharp claws slipping deftly beneath the reptilian armor. A hiss of pain reverberated through the cave as the claws came away with a tiny scale in hand, removed from just above the youkai's right eye. It drew the other hand, with the jewel shard clasped firmly between the claws, to meet the scale. There was a flash of dark, sinister light as the two melded together.

The demon placed the combination onto the human's forehead, where it sank into the pale flesh. "Bring me the girl."

A/N: Well, while I feel that this story isn't getting near the amount of interest as my others, I will still forge on ahead! Though it may be a little while till I get chapter three ready, with the holiday and all. A big thank you to everyone who is reading and/or reviewing! You're comments really brighten up my day! Thanks also to Moonglow gal, who's pickiness is always appriciated!