Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns the Inuyasha characters, not me!

Author's Note: Yay! Thank you my reviewers!

Kohana: Thank you for reviewing and I hope you enjoy this chappie!

Dragonlance: Thank you, thank you, thank you! I already have an idea where this story will go. Hopefully I won't give away what will happen anytime soon.

Chebonne: Read and you shall find out.

Pwalefriend: Nope, Kagome isn't fleeing from Kikyo. She's fleeing from…someone who I won't mention till later. So you got half of it right. You can guess if you want and I'll let you know if you're right...

Chapter 2

The Injured Warrior

It had been almost a day since Miroku and Kagome had left their village with Inuyasha following rather grumpily from behind. They rarely talked during their journey, mostly acknowledging each other for food or water or a rest. Finally, it was Inuyasha who decided to make some conversation. Kagome was rather curious as to why the hanyou was following them, but she remained silent on that subject.

"Yo wench," Inuyasha said poking Kagome hard in the back, causing her to stumble.

"What?" she snapped regaining her balance and falling back into step with Miroku.

"That was some power you showed back then," Inuyasha said ever so casually. "You're a miko aren't you?"

"Miko?" Kagome said laughing at the preposterous idea. "I am no miko," Kagome assured Inuyasha.

"That was a hama no ya," Inuyasha continued. "I've only seen one person use a hama no ya attack before and she was a very powerful miko."

Kagome almost stopped walking. He knew Kikyo! Kagome's mind raced as she continued walk, speeding up a bit. "Really?" Kagome asked casually. "Well, for your information, I am no miko. Nor would I like to be one, thank you very much."

Kagome stalked on ahead fuming slightly. Inuyasha and Miroku gazed at her hunched figure staying a good five metres away from her.

"What's wrong with her?" Inuyasha whispered into Miroku's ear.

Miroku shrugged pretending to know nothing. "Kagome-sama has a long history with mikos, though I would rather she tell you than me. It is not my place to tell you things of her past. When Kagome-sama wants to, she will tell you but until then, hold your patience and wait for the right moment."

"And when would that moment be?" Inuyasha asked raising an eyebrow towards Kagome.

"You will know," Miroku said with an amused smirk.

"I can see the village!" Kagome shouted delighted from up ahead. "I can see it!"

The two men ran over to where Kagome was jumping up and down like a little girl who had gotten what she had wanted. There was a village down the hill but it seemed abandoned.

"I can smell blood," Inuyasha said sniffing the air. "And youkai have been through here. Most likely, this village had a raid like yours. There probably aren't any survivors left…"

Inuyasha's voice trailed off as Kagome stared in frozen horror. People are dying Kagome, she thought blinking back tears. Don't you think it's time you faced your destiny? Your path? Your blood?

Kagome ran down the hill. Someone has to be alive…there has to be someone who is alive and they won't die either. This war…doushite?

Kagome arrived at the village panting. She hadn't wanted to believe it as she was running down the hill ignoring the cries of Miroku and Inuyasha. She had to see it for herself.

Kagome gasped, her hands flying to cover her mouth. Tears sprung at her eyes as she took a feeble step back staring at the scene before her.

It would have been a lively and cheerful village, but no longer would the children run along the streets or husbands greet their wives. Kagome dropped to her knees and gave a few strangled sobs.

"What's wrong?"

Kagome looked up and saw Inuyasha standing in front of her, looking slightly concerned. Kagome threw herself into Inuyasha's chest and began sobbing loudly.

"T-they're d-dead!" Kagome sobbed. "I-I should have d-d-done something, b-but I didn't!"

Inuyasha stared, a little shocked, at how Kagome had suddenly broken down by the sight of the bodies on the street.

"It's OK," he said quietly patting her on the back. "You couldn't have known."

Kagome pulled herself away from Inuyasha and turned around. She felt so embarrassed. Ever since she was little, Kagome had been taught to hide her feelings so people wouldn't be able to tell whether they were hurting her ort not. But now, she was breaking down and she felt humiliated.

"We should uh…go look for survivors," Kagome said quietly wiping the tears from her dark brown eyes.

Kagome quickly stepped further away from Inuyasha and began to check out the nearby huts. Hut after hut, all the traumatized girl could find were dead people. She must have seen at least thirty before Kagome stumbled out of a hut with a pale face.

"Anything?" Inuyasha asked standing up. He had been kneeling by a corpse of a young boy who five arrows imbedded into his chest. There was no way in hell that boy could have survived, but Inuyasha had felt a need to make sure he was dead.

"N-no," Kagome stammered collapsing onto a bench. "Women and children were killed…why them?"

"Because it was done by the hands of merciless youkai who take pleasure in seeing blood being split," Inuyasha spat in disgust.

Kagome stared curiously at him. "Aren't you part youkai though?"

Inuyasha glared at Kagome. "Don't you ever mention my father again," Inuyasha snarled before stalking off.

Kagome blinked and stood up. "I didn't mean too," Kagome said quietly.

"Nani?" Inuyasha snapped turning around.

"I didn't mean to offend you," Kagome rephrased. "I just wondered why someone who had youkai blood in their veins would insult their own kind."

"The same reason you seem to hate some humans," Inuyasha retorted.

Kagome didn't reply and the two stared at each other, waiting for Kagome's response, though it never came.

"Kagome-sama! Inuyasha! I found someone!" Miroku's voice shouted breaking through the still air.

The two turned and saw Miroku supporting an unconscious girl. She had an arrow through her arm as well as a weapon embedded into her back. Kagome winced, glad that she could not feel whatever pain that girl was in.

"I'll fetch some bandages," Kagome volunteered.

Running into the nearest hut, Kagome almost tore it apart looking for pieces of cloth that they could use to tend to the girl's wounds. She found some, eventually, and ran back outside.

"Um…why don't you guys fetch some firewood while I tend to her wounds?" Miroku asked eyeing the girl with a glint in his eyes.

"No way!" Kagome shouted shoving the monk slightly. "I will take care of the girl and you two can go fetch the firewood."

Before the boys left to look for the wood, Kagome got them to help lift the girl onto a bed so Kagome could tend to her wounds. There was a plus side to helping orphans everyday: you could learn how to dress wounds. The children back on the shrine had a tendency to fall out of trees, fall off fences, fall down stairs and fall off each other. It took Kagome quite a while to be able to dress their wounds like any mother would do to her child.

She carefully removed the arrow from the girl's arm, wincing slightly as she saw some blood dripping down. The sleeping girl winced slightly but did not gain consciousness. Kagome sighed in relief and got a wet cloth and cleaned the area around the wound before dressing it with strips of cloth.

Kagome went for the sickle in the girl's back. Kagome removed the sharp object slowly and carefully before covering the open wound with the cloths. In a few minutes, Kagome had cleaned the wound and wrapped the cloths around it very tightly.

Kagome watched the girl for a bit, wondering how and why the demons would inflict such damage onto a girl. She saw the girl's clothes and realised that she wasn't dressed like most of the women of the village. In fact, she had an odd sort of armour on. It wasn't like that of a soldiers and it certainly wasn't like that of a youkai's armour.

The girl began to stir in her sleep. Kagome gasped stepping back. The girl's eyes fluttered open and she looked up at Kagome drowsily.

"Where am I?" the girl whispered, her voice croaky from dehydration.

"Here," Kagome said handing the girl some water to drink. The girl drank it thirstily before giving Kagome a grateful look. "You're in your village," Kagome replied to the girl's question. "One of my friends found you and I tended to your wounds."

"This isn't my village," the girl said sitting up with difficulty. She gave a sharp cry of pain and her hands flew to the wound on her arm. "Damn youkai," she hissed. "They attacked me when I had my back turned to them. Cowards!"

"You were fighting them?" Kagome asked sitting down on the fall and staring at the girl intrigued. Most girls in this time did not fight and Kagome was most anxious to find out this girl's adventure stories.

"I'm a youkai taijiya," the girl replied. "Do you have any food? I'm starving!"

Kagome looked around the hut and found some fruits and gave it to the girl who ate it hungrily.

"Anyway, this village asked for protection because they don't have any warriors. A majority of my village came to protect the villagers but we weren't expecting such strong demons or so many either. Are there anymore survivors?"

Kagome shook her head. "What's your name?"

"Sango."

"Kagome."

"Arigato Kagome-chan, for taking care of my wounds," Sango said lying back down on the bed. "What are you doing in this village, if you don't mind me asking?"

"The village I was staying in was raided by a youkai army," Kagome said standing up. "The village was destroyed."

Sango nodded sympathetically. "Where are you going to go now?"

Kagome blinked. Where am I going to go? she thought. I didn't really think about it. I always thought I could come to this village and stay like I did in the other village.

"Don't you have a home?"

Home…Kagome looked down at her lap. I do have a home but I don't want to go home. Not right now at least, maybe in like a hundred years. Two hundred years would be better to return home…

"Kagome-chan?"

Kagome looked up at Sango and sighed. "I don't know where to go now," Kagome said with another deep sigh.

"Why don't we join the war?" Sango asked cocking her head slightly. "I would like to get revenge on my family by slaying every single youkai in this land till there is none left."

"Not all youkai are bad you know," Kagome said softly.

"Of course I know that!" Sango said even softer. "But I have lost everyone I know to youkai. What would you do in my position?"

Kagome stayed quiet. She couldn't reply. If everyone I knew died…

"Exactly," Sango said quietly. "You would do what I want to do. I have no other choice." Sango sounded like she was on the verge of tears but Kagome didn't say anything. Kagome didn't want to say anything or was it that she didn't know what to say?

"If I join this war, I can stop any person from feeling what I'm feeling right now. You don't know what it's like to lose everyone you ever loved in one moment."

Sango was sobbing now. She had her knees pulled into chest and she was sobbing into them. Kagome got up and walked over to Sango and placed a comforting hand on Sango's back.

"It's OK," Kagome said softly. No it isn't you baka! She has lost her whole family. How can it be OK? "Listen Sango-chan," Kagome said removing her hand from Sango's back. "I may not understand you but I know that killing every youkai for revenge of your family isn't right. I know that right now, I must sound like the nastiest person in the world by telling you not to take your revenge."

Sango gave a loud hiccup or sob. Kagome didn't know what it was but she continued on.

"Not every youkai in this world is evil. It's just like how not every human in this world is good."

"But there are more good humans than there are of good youkais!"

Kagome almost laughed. "Sango-chan, every race is corrupt. No matter where you look or which direction you look at, humans are just as evil as youkais. You getting in this war will mean you will sink as low as the youkai who have slain your family."

Sango turned away from Kagome and relaxed into the bed. Kagome got the message that Sango needed some time alone to think and recover.

Kagome stood up and walked out of the hut. "Please think about what you want to do Sango-chan," Kagome said quietly. "I hope you make the right decision in what you will do with your life."

Kagome handed Miroku and Inuyasha a bowl of noodles before getting a bowl for herself. The three ate in silence, thinking. Sango was still sleeping and in deep thought and they thought it would be best to leave her.

"Sango is quite beautiful," Miroku said interrupting the hanyou and Kagome's thoughts causing Kagome to choke on her noodles and Inuyasha to almost drop his bowl in surprise. No, instead he sloshed some of the hot soup onto Miroku's feet.

Miroku leapt off the floor saying a long string of curses that could cause Buddha himself would turn away in shame. Kagome was coughing loudly, trying to dislodge of a noodle from her throat. Miroku began yelling at Inuyasha for burning his feet and Inuyasha jumped off his stool and began arguing back with Miroku. Neither of them noticed that Kagome was still coughing and attempting to clear her oesophagus. She finally recovered and glared at the guys arguing like two boys who had found a new toy to play with.

"What did you say!" Inuyasha roared glaring down at Miroku.

"You heard me!" Miroku shouted back.

"So Sango-chan is beautiful, eh?" Kagome asked sitting back on her stool and eating the rest of her noodles.

Miroku turned to face Kagome with an almost dreamy smile on his face. "Don't you think so?"

Kagome scoffed. "You say that about every woman you see," Kagome replied. "You aren't a very good monk you know."

"And neither are you a very good -"

"You made your point!" Kagome shouted jumping up suddenly. Her noodles fell to the floor, breaking the bowl and soaking the floor with the soup and noodles. Kagome shot a glare at Miroku before stalking out of the hut.

"What's her problem?" Inuyasha asked forgetting his argument with Miroku. Miroku didn't reply but picked his bowl and continued eating. "OK…what were you going to say?"

"Nothing," Miroku replied innocently.

"Sure…" Inuyasha drawled. "Like I believe that. Come on, tell me. It'll be a secret between men."

Miroku looked up at Inuyasha and raised an eyebrow. "I'm not going to tell you," he replied. "Not unless you can give me something worth telling."

"Like a midnight stroll with Sango?" Inuyasha randomly guessed digging into his now cold noodles.

"Actually, that would be quite nice," Miroku said grinning.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, surprised that he was right but more repulsed by Miroku's actions. "Control yourself! You're a monk!" Inuyasha shouted throwing his empty bowl at Miroku's head.

Miroku ducked and the wall smashed against the wall of the hut.

"I think Sango might be hungry," Miroku yelped jumping up. "I'll give her some food."

Before Inuyasha could do anything, Miroku had grabbed a bowl of soup and left the hut. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and looked out of the window. He could see a bunch of hills in the horizon. This place looked fairly familiar.

That's right; I was here once with…He let his thoughts trail off as he continued to stare. We're near the Shinto Kingdom.

Author's Note: Shinto Kingdom is just something I made up. I doubt it's a real place. Thank you all my reviewers! Please review! And no flames.

Next chapter, will Sango join our trio in their journey? OK, technically, they have no journey right now. It's more like Inuyasha is escorting Miroku and Kagome to a village where they can stay. And what's waiting at the Shinto Kingdom? That you won't find out for a while, but I figure I should keep you guys guessing.