I need to find shelter of some sort…or do I? I could walk all night.

The night was cool, but not bitterly cold. Her breath couldn't even be glimpsed in the shadowy air.

I don't feel like sleeping. Should I just return to the mountain and be done with it? I could be inside by dawn.

The moon had risen high. On this occasion, the celestial object was in the shape of a sharp crescent that was just a mere sliver. Tomorrow night, the moon would plunge into total darkness entirely. Tonight, it barely lit her path.

It's dangerous out here. But, why should I be worried? Naraku certainly wouldn't let anything happen to his useful fool.

She lengthened her strides.

I can almost envision him. Long, pale fingers wrapped around his knees as he sits and watches me on this void of a highway.

Hastily, she quickened her pace. The wind was starting to pick up, and the temperature was starting to drop.

Well, seeking a rest haven of some sort would bring no harm.

A stray cloud passing over the moon, Mizoshi rounded another bend in the road. She was getting further and further away from everything she had known to this point in her life.

Does he wish I were with him? Or is the jewel enough company for him?

She stopped. Right in the middle of the road. The events of this morning kept replaying in her head, and she perpetually kept reaching the same conclusion.

I didn't even give him a chance. I just broke down and cried for no apparent reason. I didn't even tell him what was wrong.

So, it's true. I do act like a child. I should have given Kagura a piece of my mind…

She was hovering now—hovering between what she had left behind and what possibly lay ahead. She could reach the mountain by late morning, or perhaps another village by sunrise or sooner.

It's a chance. A great chance. Too great a chance for a girl that has nothing to cushion her should she fall.

Cocking her head, Mizoshi gazed out over the moon-dappled field. A coating of frost glittered on the formerly verdant landscape. The now lifeless plants had lost all youthful luster, but they were still undeniably awe-inspiring. An unknown peace soothed her heart until a voice even frostier than the field brought her back to gut-wrenching awareness.

"Turn around and face your fate, wench."

Obediently, she turned around. There was nothing else to do. Unsurprisingly, she was faced with the cruel, deadly youkai from before. His intense eyes of yellow were fixed on her throat and his sword followed suit. He had already taken the first advantage of attack. The pointed metal thing glittered faintly in the moonlight and was a mere five or six inches from her most vital organs.

"Sesshoumaru?" She looked up at him with mild curiosity, refusing to acknowledge the mortal danger she was in. As she expected, that sword drew even closer to her neck.

"You dare say my name?" he hissed.

"Kagura says it."

"You've spoken to Kagura?" The sword didn't budge. "Then, you've had contact with Naraku." His own characteristic smirk curled his lips.

"Maybe." Mizoshi eyed him innocently.

I haven't the ghost of a chance defending myself against him. If Naraku could barely gain the upper hand…

"Arrogant, aren't you wench? I suppose Naraku's demeanor has rubbed of on you." Idly, the sword scraped her throat. Smears of blood issued from the shallow wound. She tried not to pay too much attention to it.

Is this how it ends?

"I wonder," the light youkai drawled, "how long it will take for Naraku to save you now."

"Who said he was?" she literally choked out. The blade was awfully close to her windpipe.

All of a sudden, her back was to the rocks. The sword was laying neatly across her most vulnerable area.

"Now, tell me where Naraku is, and I just may spare your life."

She did not reply.

Naraku…

"Where is he?" he demanded.

An owl hooted in the distance. Soon, she would be flying with it. This preconception certainly carried the most weight, for Naraku was not going to rescue her this time.

Never would he give up his position. I would not expect him to.

"Do you want to die, wench? Answer me? Is he worth your very life?"

"No," she replied placidly, "but I'll make sure you'll never find him, you mongrel." These words would be her death sentence. But, why was she smiling about it?

I'm going to die. I accept that. Why make it any more difficult?

"Back off, Sesshoumaru!" a new voice yelled. "Naraku belongs to me!"

"Inuyasha." Delicately, the light youkai held her back with the sword that was making her increasingly uncomfortable by the second as he turned to the light hanyou.

Inuyasha?

Is everybody traveling on these lonely roads tonight? What next?

And, Inuyasha was there—an equally sharp blade in tow. Stifling a gasp, she watched the two brothers watch each other. It was then she realized that Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru were nothing alike, despite their outward physical similarities. Inuyasha in his red hakama radiated hot waves of furious flame, and his elder brother, Sesshoumaru, emanated the wispy steam that accompanied frozen blocks of white ice.

Fire melts ice…

"That girl is an incarnation of Naraku, and she knows where he is!"

Mizoshi thought of opening her mouth to contradict his assessment, but was currently indisposed. Indeed, the slight movement of speech may very well rend her neck open.

"An astute observation, Inuyasha," the light youkai commented sarcastically. "Still, this wench is mine."

"Like hell!" the light hanyou snarled. "There's no way you're going to defeat Naraku before I do!"

Inuyasha moved so fast that Mizoshi snapped her eyes closed and immediately braced for impact. However, Sesshoumaru transported himself just as she crumpled to the ground below—the sword no longer pinning her to the spot. Apparently, Sesshoumaru thought his own life more important than giving up his claim. Inuyasha's sword clanged mercilessly against the rocks right above her head—exploding the entire outcropping of stone. Putting her hands over her head to defend herself from the bits shrapnel, Mizoshi cursed her luck.

"I'm over here, Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru goaded his little brother.

"You won't be when I'm done with you!"
What followed was a mindless battle of wills. Mizoshi carefully raised her eyes up to behold the two dog brothers fighting each other. Over her. In fact, they even seemed to forget that she existed.

They're brothers! Why they are fighting at a time like this? They should join forces against me—not engage in a conflict!

Realizing where her thoughts were, Mizoshi ducked through the smoking hole in the rocks while Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru resumed their parts in the fray.

Have they seen me?

They hadn't.

"Wind Scar!" the light hanyou shouted. More boulders exploded afterwards. She didn't wish to witness what precisely this "Wind Scar" was, but the noise it created was deafening. Running for her very life, Mizoshi's feet found the main road and then broke through a boundary of trees. With great urgency, she sailed over tree stumps and other broken sticks with the insight she was once more scurrying for her very life in a forest. Eventually, her lungs burned with exertion, her muscles drooped with strain, and she dropped in a heap by a small waterfall that had seemingly magically manifested from the thicket of racing fog that was enveloping her.

I'll hide here!

Shivering with exhaustion, Mizoshi drew her knees up to her chest and listened the unforgiving water pound against the rocks.

I'm safe. I'm safe. I'm…

In a feeble attempt to calm herself; she kept repeating this simple phrase in her head. It would keep her whole and sane if nothing else. Meanwhile, the moon had shot out from behind a cloud--wrapping her in its silver rays. This wan luminescence tinged the water vapor pearly white.

How beautiful.

Focusing her eyes on the moonlight and the words, she grew calm enough to shift her position and actually take in her surroundings. She was by a waterfall. In the woods.

Of course, I'm not exactly sure where…

No one was pursuing her. She was utterly alone except for the leathery bats that flew dangerously close to her loose hair.

Have I lost the two feral dog brothers?

It appeared she had. However, that didn't mean that they couldn't track her scent to this spot.

Oh, please, don't come looking!

Rocking on her heels, she was aware the waterfall mist was dampening her clothing and exacerbating the winter chill.

Water…

Wait! Water distorts scent! That's what those wolf demons said anyway.

With nothing else to do, Mizoshi pried her eyelids open and waited for the wildly bright moon that was in reality a mere docile sliver rim to set.

I wish there was no moon. It's getting distracting.

Soon, the first palest streaks of peach lightened the eastern skies. The navy blueness was lifted akin to a veil, and the lightest rays of light touched the earth. Dawn had broken.

It's been hours. Are they really gone?

Her body going gradually numb from the near below freezing temperatures, Mizoshi decided to build a small fire—away from the sanctuary of the splashing waterfall—and have a sort of informal breakfast.

I'm going to be okay.

She wouldn't have been if Inuyasha hadn't come along spoiling for a fight.

Pondering this as she ate her meager vittles, it suddenly occurred to that this was the last of her food stores. She hadn't been in her right mind when she left Naraku's manor in a flurry of emotion, and now she had nothing to prepare for lunch or dinner.

I should have packed more…

It now was lucid what she should do. Either she would have to beg shelter in a nearby village, or return to Naraku. The old situation—repeated.

Why can't I just leave him? Do I enjoy the abuse he brings? Or, do I look beyond the superficial harsh words and cold stares and truly care for his company—no matter what his present mood? And, since he is an evil being, what does that say for me if I deliberately seek out and take pleasure in his special brand of companionship?

Once, she would have mulled over the details and made herself sick. However, this was not the case. Not this time. Now, she had comprehensible answers to these pressing, difficult, complicated questions that on another day would have rendered her a weeping girl-child.

Naraku is no better and no worse than Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha surely has a withered blackness in his heart. He wanted to maul his brother in cold blood! As for Doctor Suikotsu, he was just a raving lunatic beneath his gentle, compassionate, and loving façade.

No, there was no certainty in the world anymore. No good. No evil. One could be a near saint and have a sinner's heart. Doctor Suikotsu sprung to mind.

Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, the wolf demons…the villagers.

The villagers—mere humans that they were—were frauds. They allowed her family to live in our small dwelling by the sea for five entire years or more until one terrible night. Inconstant creatures.

Nothing is written in stone. Except…

Naraku has nothing to gain from hurting me. He's shown me every possible nicety, and has never asked for anything in return. But, who's to say he won't turn against me as well?

In a wobbly manner, she got to her feet—eyes raised heavenwards. The morning sunlight sparkled through the gaps of the tree branches, making the water mist shimmer like jewels.

Jewels. Jewel shards.

It was then she got an epiphany. One of many.

Naraku is solely interested in the Shikon jewel! If that captures his interest, he won't even consider harming me.

Naturally, this led to another dilemma.

What will take place when Naraku gains his ultimate desire? What of my immediate fate then?

Life was a gamble. In essence, she would just have to wait and see.

If life isn't perfect, why waste your existence looking for it?

Blushing from her mistakes, she decided her next course of action.

I will not be ostracized in another village. I will return to Naraku. My feelings for him have changed, but they have not been erased.

Tentatively shambling over to the strip of brown she glimpsed through the creaking, scraggly trees, Mizoshi began to move anew.

I just hope I do not encounter either dog brother. Should they find me again, they would surely not make the same mistake twice of inadvertently letting me escape.

Unfortunately, while she did not see the dog brothers, she saw others. Villagers of some sort were walking in congregated clusters. Two old women with bent spines were whispering to one another, a young boy youth treading behind them. Two joking men slapping each other on their immense shoulders. A lone girl fussing with her hair and murmuring to herself whilst carrying a basket. Perhaps there was something inside the basket she was talking to. Or perhaps not. Still, no one took notice of her.

Good. I suppose that not all villagers are as condescending as those that stink up Jari Village.

Thankful that she was now back on the main road, Mizoshi jaunted up the highway she now recognized. The mountain was somewhere beyond it.

What was that village?

She would never know, for she no longer cared. By sunset, her goal was in reach. Her true goal. Altogether, she had been a day and a half away from this place.

Will he be happy to see me? Hostile?

Hoping against hope it wouldn't be the latter, Mizoshi rested a bit before tackling the barrier.

I have to quit doing this. How many occasions have I passed this barrier in one week? Six? Eight?

About ready to drop, she trudged up the wooden steps that exited onto the veranda that encircled Naraku's most secret chambers. The veranda was deserted. Silently, she crept across the polished boards to the entrance. The dark hanyou was somewhere within, and she had so much to tell him—matters she should have discussed with him days ago.

I'm here. I'm here.

Racing along the hollow corridors, she had the inner intuition he was inside his own chambers.

How typical of him.

Forcing herself to calm when the door came into view, she slid it open delicately.

Should I have knocked?

As it turned out, she should have. The dark hanyou's pale skin was the first image that burned into her brain amongst the inkiness of the interior. The spider scar mark flared proudly across his bare back, but was quickly covered with one elegant swoop as the kimono was replaced over his shoulders.

Numbness spread throughout her body.

He's found someone else.

Author's Note: A Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha battle! Sort of. I always wanted to add one in there. I know some of the information Mizoshi recounted is twisted, but that's only her perception and what she was told. Also…cliffy!