Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.

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The War Between Races
Chapter 6 - Separate Ways

By: Scaevola
Published 9/16/05
Updated 10/02/05

Kagome steadied her bow, carefully aiming at the target in front of her. Her skill with the bow had been gradually improving, well enough to match Kaede's skill at archery, but not anywhere near rivaling Kikyo's archery.

That may not seem like much of an accomplishment to many, since Kaede was an elderly woman and therefore could not do much with a bow anymore anyway, but to Kagome, it was a huge improvement from when she had began all those months ago.

She could now hit the target every time easily, even from the greatest distances that the training grounds offered, but the near perfection of constant dead center hits which Kikyo was so well known for still eluded her.

"Hit the target!" she muttered, releasing the arrow. She watched as it soared through the air and hit the target a few inches away from her last arrow.

"You have been getting better." observed Kaede, nodding her head in approval. "Not only in archery, I might add. Perhaps you will one day surpass even Kikyo as a miko."

Kagome laughed at her mentor's words. Kaede often acted as thought Kagome had some great potential just waiting to be tapped into, but so far Kagome had seen none of that. While she did try hard and was very determined to complete her training, Kagome often made a fool of herself in her training.

The training of her miko powers was passing by at a much slower pace than her archery. Kagome knew how to do little more than put small barriers around herself, and had on occasion succeeded in managing to produce a small blast of miko energy that would harm demons.

Kaede looked up at the sun. "I think we've done enough practicing for today, Lady Kagome. I will inform Kikyo and your father of your improvements."

Kagome nodded her head and thanked the older woman before she left the training grounds. Her arms felt like they were on fire from drawing that bow so many times, and she felt like a hot bath could do her good. She walked quickly through the palace grounds, ignoring the beautiful flowers and fountains that dotted the path, until she reached the palace itself.

She hurried up the steps nodding to the guards that bowed to her as she passed. She quickly went through the familiar palace halls to her quarters to take a bath.

As she opened her bedroom door though, she found her father and Kikyo waiting for her. Few people ever came to her room, other than the servants who cleaned it, and the unexpected visit made her look at her father and Kikyo in confusion.

They both stood from the chairs they had been sitting in by the fire as she entered, greeting her kindly. They had her sit down in a third chair by the fire, and poured her some tea. Silence reigned for a moment before her father finally leaned forward to speak.

"Kagome, I know that we have not exactly been keeping you up to date with the war and what little we know, but I believe you have managed to find out some little bits of it, I assume from the guards." he said calmly.

Kagome nodded, not quite ready to tell her father that she had really found out the information by eavesdropping on his missions. She glanced at Kikyo to see her giving Kagome a knowing look. Kikyo had undoubtably known that Kagome had been eavesdropping, she could probably sense Kagome's presence. Kagome nearly smacked herself for not realizing earlier. At least Kikyo had not said anything to her father, then she would really be in trouble.

Her father spoke again after a brief pause. "Well, I just want to tell you that we have finally received word that the demon army has been sighted."

Kagome smiled at the news. "That's good to hear."

"Actually, it's not." Kagome frowned at her fathers response. "If our sources are to be believed, the demon army is not coming from the west. They are crossing our eastern border as we speak. What's worse is both General Hideko and General Jin are already at our Western border."

Kagome felt horrible. What did this mean? Was there eastern border defenseless? All those villages were going to be destroyed!

"It gets worse though." It was Kikyo who spoke now. She sipped her tea before going on. "When we heard that the demons were preparing for war, we naturally assumed that they would be attacking from the west. As you know, I have been in charge of protecting the Shikon no Tama for some time now. The jewel can give demons unimaginable power, and because of that, we decided that the jewel should be placed as far away from the demons as possible. Believing that the safest place would be in the east, The we have put the Shikon no Tama in my old village, in the forest at our borders. Although the demons are unaware of the jewels presence, they will undoubtedly be drawn to it's power. We have to get to the jewel before the demons find it, and it is for that reason that we will ride out tomorrow to retrieve it and bring it to the palace."

The princess was stunned. She shuddered at the thought of the demons getting the jewel and using it. They wouldn't stand a chance! Kikyo's last words caught her attention though.

"W-We?" she stuttered.

Kikyo nodded. "Yes. You, Kaede, and I will all be riding out to the village with a small escort of demon slayers. We will be able to move swiftly as a small group, and I will be able to cover out scents as we travel."

They were all silent for some time as Kagome took in the news. This was by far the worse she had heard about the war. She knew that whether the demons got the jewel or not could mean the entire difference between winning and losing this war. Kagome was determined to not let any demon get the jewel!

She looked up at Kikyo and her father. "I will be ready to leave in the morning, Kikyo-sama."

Kikyo smiled. Her father remained expressionless. He was concerned over his daughters well being, and the safety in her doing this, but he remained silent, trusting Kikyo's judgement.

"I guess we shall be leaving you for now, Kagome. Sleep well." he kissed her on the cheek before standing. Kikyo stood as well, and they both headed out of her bedroom.

Kagome stared at the door for some time before she finally remembered why she had come to her room in the first place. Yes, she definitely needed a bath, and after that, a good night's sleep.

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As the western army neared the borders of the eastern lands, the demons became more and more restless. They all knew the fighting was going to begin soon, and restraining themselves for the sake of moving undetected through the southern lands and behind the eastern had taken it's toll. The camp reeked with anticipation.

Yet their was fear, and apprehension too. Demons still remembered their defeat from the last war, and that had been under the leadership of the great InuTaisho. This war, with a weaker army, was under the leadership of his two inexperienced sons, who had yet to prove their worth.

Several years ago, no demon would admit to being worried over a battle against humans, but the western demons had been taught a valuable lesson when they retreated home with their tails between their legs after the last war.

Fighting against powerful mikos, and monks, not to mention demon slayers or priests, would prove to be a challenge for the demon army. Demons would huddle close together and whisper over stories that they had heard about the humans.

Despite the doubt among the army of the Taisho brother's skill, especially InuYasha's, many were overawed and immediately filled with hope when in their presence. Both InuYasha, with his cocky smirk, and Sesshomaru, with his calm stoic expression, seemed to give off a feeling of self-assurance to the other demons.

Yet neither Sesshomaru nor InuYasha were entirely confident. They too, were well aware of the risks in war. They knew the disadvantage of not having their fathers years or experience. They also knew that they would be at a disadvantage in numbers, since they had left a lot of the military at home to defend from any counter-attack the North might launch while the East was preoccupied.

Both InuYasha and Sesshomaru agreed that knowing their disadvantages was better than not knowing though, and they had both ordered for the army to train when at camp. They also held many meetings in the evening with the officers in their army. They wanted to make sure that whatever disadvantage in numbers would be made up for in skill and strategy.

The army had just made camp after the long march. They were within a days march to the eastern border, and they planned on resting for a week or so to train and fully prepare themselves for the battles ahead.

The sun had just set, and cooking fires were beginning to be lit. Demons sat around them, laughing as they slowly cooked the rabbits or deer that they had caught. The wolves and dogs in the camp got along somewhat, many of them off just outside of the camp, growling when another animal came too close to it's food.

InuYasha and Sesshomaru were walking through the camp, watching the soldiers converse with one another. Occasionally a few of them would call out or bow to the two brothers, who in turn would nod their heads briefly in acknowledgement.

Both of them were tired. They had been putting up Kaito the kitsune leader, who had begun to annoy them with his constant jokes and pranks, Taiki from the fire demons, who complained endlessly about the Yuki-onna, Ishimaru from the mountain oni, who kept bragging about his fighting skills, and not to mention the biggest annoyance, Koga.

Koga had approached them last, which of course, was probably the worst time for him to come near, since InuYasha and Sesshomaru were already annoyed from the others who had talked with them. Fortunately for Koga, he was too important for InuYasha and Sesshomaru to lose their temper with him.

The cocky wolf demon came to them and complained, as always about how slow they were moving. He went on, talking about if he were leading the army the war would have been over long ago. InuYasha would snort when Koga bragged about how he would conquer the eastern lands so quickly.

If there was any demon that he couldn't stand, it was Koga. Whenever the wolf demon opened his mouth, InuYasha found himself itching to plant his fist in the demons face, and maybe give him a few swift kicks in the ass for good measure. Alliances be damned, that flea-bag should learn to shut up!

Sesshomaru of course, reigned in his anger and frustration while he held back his younger brother. He too would love to beat the wolf senseless, but his strong sense of duty held him back. He would not allow his anger to cloud his judgment and ruin the alliance between the dog demons and wolf demons.

Koga remained oblivious to the anger of the two dog demons, and would continue to ramble on about the victories he would have, every once in awhile implying that neither InuYasha nor Sesshomaru had the skill to rival him in battle. After all, what could some dogs do better than a wolf?

As InuYasha and Sesshomaru walked through the camp, trying to ignore Koga's annoying voice, they came upon the large expanse of ground that the army had been using as a training ground. At the moment, some Inuyoukai were sparing amongst one another, their dogs watching in mild interest from the sidelines.

The three leaders watched as one pair of the Inuyoukai stepped away from one another to transform into their true forms. InuYasha looked on enviously. He had no true form, and he, along with many other youkai, believed that was a slight disadvantage.

Koga, knowing InuYasha didn't have a true form, always loved to rub it in, just to make the hanyou angry.

"Oi, mutt," he called. "Don't you wish you could do that? Too bad your a weak half-demon though." he chuckled at his own words, ignoring Sesshomaru suddenly stiffening at Koga's words, as well as InuYasha's snarl.

Sesshomaru had never heard the wolf speak in such a rude matter to his half-brother, and he was about to teach the wolf a lesson in manners, when he caught his brothers reply.

"Keh. I don't need a true form like you in order to win my fights, flea-bag."

Sesshomaru silently cursed at his brothers words. InuYasha had better not anger the wolf demon too much, they needed him in this war. Then Sesshomaru noticed that a lot of the demons in training grounds had stopped to turn and watch Koga and InuYasha bicker. 'Oh god and I'm standing next to the imbeciles. I better step away quickly.'

He quickly stepped away, hasty to distance himself from the two idiots he had been walking with.

"If you two are done arguing like children, I believe the men are trying to train." he said calmly.

Both Koga and InuYasha's mouth snapped shut, finally aware of there own foolishness. InuYasha turned his head away in embarrassment, while Koga simply glared.

"I don't see what's so important about all this training Sesshomaru. We're only fighting humans." he said.

Sesshomaru shook his head. Koga was one of the few demons in the camp who was either too stupid, or too confident, to realize that the humans posed a threat. Sesshomaru considered trying to explain how the humans were such a threat to Koga, but decided against it, knowing the wolf demon was too dense.

"A wise man once said, 'To lead untrained people to war is to throw them away.'. I will not throw my men away Koga. Not matter how weak humans are, I do not want any unnecessary losses." Sesshomaru turned on his heel and left the wolf demon there to ponder his words. He didn't feel like talking much with the wolf anymore. (AN: By the way, that was a real quote. Can anyone tell me who said it? Hint: The person who said it was from China)

Sesshomaru kept walking, not truly caring where he headed, as long as he didn't have to listen to that annoying wolf anymore. He soon felt another presence though, and realized that it was his brother, InuYasha.

His brother walked silently for some time, allowing both of them to cool off from whatever anger they had felt towards the wolf demon. Thankfully, no one else bothered them as they walked, or else they may have found themselves the subject of both InuYasha's and Sesshomaru's wrath.

They eventually reached the edge of their camp, and in the distance they could see the route that they had decided on to reach Kirei, the Eastern Kingdom's capital city. The mountains that they would be traveling through would not only provide them with some cover from open areas, but it would allow them to see for miles, letting them know long beforehand if humans were headed there way.

Yet they could also see the route that InuYasha had wanted to go, if only because it would be warmer and easier for his human nights. The dense forests of the Eastern Kingdom would have plenty of game, as well as plenty of wood for fires. The forests were said to also be the home of demon slaves who had run from their masters and gone into hiding.

Sesshomaru glanced at his brother, only to find him staring at the dense forest in the distance. He knew that his brother would much prefer that route, and he had thought about it for some time now. But he could not entirely believe that demon slaves were hiding in the forest. Why had they not left the eastern lands and come west, if they were free?

But he also knew that there was the possibility that it was true, and any increase to there army would be helpful. He looked at InuYasha once more, and finally made a decision.

"InuYasha." he called his brother quietly. He noticed his brothers ears twitch to show that he was listening. "I want you to go through the forest. I and the rest of the army will go through the mountains. You will find what youkai you can and try to enlist their support. We'll meet up at Kirei. Do you understand?"

InuYasha nodded. "Hai, brother."

"Then go." Sesshomaru waved his brother off and went back to camp, not bothering to watch his brother run towards the forest.

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Review Review Review! Oh and also, sorry for not updating this at the same time as I updated Undeniable love earlier today. I re-read the chapter and wasn't too happy with it, so I ended up rewriting quite a bit of it. Anyway, Enjoy!