Okay, so maybe that was a long day. But yeah, I was having issues with the layout of this chapter, and am still not completely satisfied, but I think it's been in the works way too long already, and I think you guys can handle it.

I would also like to reccomend reading the co-write my friend, JulyFlame, somewhat pressured me into writing with her, Cat's Claws, Dog's Tale. It's about Toran (panther tribe, remember?) and Sesshoumaru's relations before the war. Inspired off of the way they acted like bitter ex-lovers through the whole arc.

Also, check out the important note at the bottom for some input into how this turns out.

Disclaimer: The people who own Inuyasha have deadlines that I could never meet. End of story.


Jiko panted for more air as he ran up the hill, knowing that his pursuer was getting closer by the second. In an attempt to get them off his tail, he skidded and changed directions, hearing cloth whoosh through the air where he had just been.

'That was close,' he thought as he looked over his shoulder, seeing that his shadow was already gone.

A scream could be heard nearby, and the hanyou pressed on, knowing that he could escape . . .

Tasuke pounced on him, sending him rolling a ways. "Tag! You're it!"

Jiko stood up again, baring his fangs in a playful grin as he prepared himself to go after her when Inuyasha leapt over his head. "Come and get me, little man!"

"You asked for it!" He leapt up into the air, leaving Tasuke behind as he chased after the much faster hanyou, breathing hard as he attempted to keep up.

The girl, knowing she was outmatched, smiled slightly as she watched them, still attempting to catch her breath from her earlier run from Inuyasha.

"Having trouble keeping up, child?" Kaede walked up the hill, bow in hand like always as she stood next to the girl. "I'm not surprised. Ye are merely human."

The girl let out the last of her breath in one, quick sigh. "Yeah, but I manage." She stretched, twitching her nose slightly to bring the feeling back into it.

"Ye should head inside. 'Tis getting chilly out." The wise old miko gave her a knowing look. "Ye'll get sick if ye remain out in this weather."

"But I wanna stay out with Jiko and Inuyasha!" Tasuke whined, uncrossing her arms to make it appear like she wasn't cold at all.

"Lady Kaede's right, you should head inside." Sango walked up next to the girl as well, carrying a sleeping Mujaki in her arms.

"But Mom . . ." Tasuke looked up at her with big, sad puppy eyes, feeling quite ganged up on.

"No buts, Tasuke. You'll get sick if you stay out here." Sango reached down and took her daughter's hand.

"Mom . . ."

"Gotcha!" Jiko yelled as he pounced on Inuyasha's head. "Ha ha! You're it!"

"Mom . . . can't I stay for just a little bit longer? I wanna play with Inuyasha while he's feeling better . . ."

"Tasuke, no. You can't stay out here."

"Listen to yer mother, child."

"Tasuke, what's wrong?" Jiko ran up to the three humans, his breath slightly heavy. "Don't you wanna play anymore?"

"Jiko . . ." Sango walked over to him and crouched down, looking him in the eye, seeing a familiarity she had almost forgotten. "You have to remember Tasuke's only human. She can't stay out here in bad weather like you can."

The little hanyou's face fell. "I understand . . ." A snowflake dropped from the white sky, landing on his nose as he looked down at the ground.

"Come on, Tasuke." Sango tugged at her daughter's hand, attempting to get her to return to their hut.

A loud, catlike hiss filled the air, and everyone looked up into the air as a cream and black cat descended, a young man riding its back.

"Shippo! Ye have finally returned!" Kaede called as she walked over to their landing sight. "Did you fare well?"

The young man got off the cat's back, his red ponytail swishing into place behind his back as he looked at the old miko with sad, green eyes. "I couldn't find Kagome anywhere . . . I'm sorry, Lady Kaede."

Both Kaede's and Sango's faces dropped, before the demon slayer got a small smile to reassure the kitsune. "It's alright. Inuyasha didn't do any better."

As if on cue, the hanyou walked up to the others, wondering why no one was running from him anymore. "Someone say my name?"

"Inuyasha!" Shippo called, his eyes wide at not having seen him for the past six years.

"Shippo?" The dog blinked, having expected the kit not to have changed at all. "That's you?"

The fox swished his tail into view, the thing now much longer and less bushy. "Who else do you know that has a tail like this?"

"Woah . . ." He blinked again. "You grew . . ."

The fox laughed, then suddenly noticed the boy hiding behind his friend's legs. He crouched down, staring into the red eyes that housed total fear. "And who're you? I haven't seen you around here before."

In response, Jiko clutched tighter to Inuyasha's pants, shaking slightly as he gazed into the eyes of the demon before him. "J-Jiko," he stuttered.

"I'm Shippo. Nice to meet you." He extended a hand, then sniffed lightly. "Oh. I see. You're a hanyou too, are you?"

Jiko slowly nodded, gazing up at Inuyasha for help before Tasuke pushed him out. "Come on, silly! He's not gonna hurt you!"

The hanyou stumbled forward for a bit, and then straightened, giving Shippo a nervous smile before looking over at the now tiny cat perched on his shoulder. 'So there are good demons too?'


Deep in the surrounding forest, another demon was having his own problems, growling as he took another desperate sniff. "Where the hell is that boy?"

He looked around, smelling him everywhere, but with his limited nose, he couldn't pinpoint exactly where he had been.

"Damnit to hell!" he yelled, scaring a few birds out of the nearby trees, before turning burning red eyes out through the trees, the light out beyond the trunks revealing the edge of the forest. He could smell the humans there, the laughs of children and chuckles of mothers, all of which made him cringe in hatred.

Humans had such pointless lives.

He sniffed the air again, the boy's smell slowly starting to fade. It was aggravating for him to not have the keen nose of other demons, leaving him in the dust in any ability to track. He couldn't even smell the humans he could hear, even so close as they were.

His instincts began to burn with rage at the thought that a mere five-year-old had eluded him. Fire. That's what he needed now. The blaze of a burning fire, destroying everything in its path, leaving nothing but ash and his hatred of his half blood son to smolder in the charred ground.

The demon slowly lifted his arms, prepared to incinerate the trees, when suddenly, a voice caught his attention from a not too far off path.

"Kirara, sometimes I wonder . . ."

The slight smell of a youkai tickled his nose, and he could feel his insides prick with interest as he crouched down to the ground, a teenage red-head kitsune coming into view with a small two-tailed demon cat on his shoulder.

"Maybe she's not in this world at all . . . maybe she went back through the well . . ."

Nothing about his offspring. Hinote growled with impatience, ready to kill.

He stood back up, the murderous intent in his eyes illuminated as they began to glow red . . .


"Inuyasha?" Jiko looked up at the his dog-eared friend, walking beside him and Tasuke as they made their way back to Kaede's hut. "Where did Shippo and the kitty go?"

"How should I know?" Inuyasha shrugged, not really paying attention as he crossed his arms over his chest to keep his hands warm. "The twerp just said he wanted to stretch his legs."

Jiko gave an apprehensive look back at the forest, remembering the fall that had broken his arm and the time it took to heal afterwards. His limb was still fragile, and he had been sure to stray far from the woods' boundaries since.

"Tasuke!" Sango called back from in front of the trio, nearing her hut as she walked alongside Kaede with Mujaki in her arms. "Hurry up and come inside! Mujaki's starting to get cold!" As if to prove her point, the sparce snowflakes began to call their friends, the clouds opening up to release their pent-up stores.

"Coming, Mom!" The girl started running towards her mother, but soon slowed to a stop, looking around with a curious look on her face. "Hey, is something burning?"

Jiko blinked at her for a moment, then lifted his nose slightly to sniff the chilled air, smelling the familiar scent of ash and smoke, but in a much larger degree than he even had smelled before. He looked over at the other hanyou, who had stopped dead in his tracks only seconds before, ears alert and nose twitching. "It's coming from the forest . . ."

Inuyasha's mind immediately snapped on his friends, walking through those very woods that were now on fire. But he knew they would be alright. Kirara could fly after all and both of them had fire abilities that would spare them the heat, but . . .

His eyes widened as the one thing that truly mattered came to his mind, causing him to turn and bound into the smoke covered forest. 'The well!'

He couldn't lose it. He just couldn't lose it. It was the only thing he had left that he could use to convince Kagome to return to him. The well that would take her to her family and finally persuade her to just stay with him.

His stride became almost desperate, his hair flying out behind him in sheets. He had to save it.

"Inuyasha!" Jiko called after him, now seeing the flames rising in the distance. "Inuyasha! Come back!"

The small fire hanyou danced in place, not being able to stand still for fear. His friend, his mentor, the only person that could possibly understand what he was going through was lost in the quickly rising blaze.

"INUYASHA!" he called again, the smoke reaching his nose and almost making him gag.

"Tasuke! Jiko! Quickly! Inside! Don't breathe in any more of the smoke!" Sango quickly ran up to the two to herd them into her house, Mujaki already coughing against her chest. "Lady Kaede, you should go inside too!"

"Nay." The old woman shook her head defiantly, turning and walking as fast as her arthritus-ridden legs could carry her. "I must warn the villagers."

Miroku dashed through the flap of his door, sensing the commotion. "Lady Kaede, go and get to safety. I'll go to warn everyone."

"Houshi-sama!" Sango ran up to her husband, towing her daughter behind her.

He gave her a smile at her calling him by the same old name, regardless of their ties, then put a hand on the small of her back to usher her into the hut. "Be safe, Sango." He kissed her ear gently, then turned, running quickly for the bell tower.

"Mommy!" Tasuke tugged impatiently at her mother's sleeve, trying to bring her attention back to the matter at hand. "Mommy! Jiko's gone! He ran off into the forest!"

"What!" The former exterminator turned quickly, seeing the retreating back of the five-year-old disappearing in the smoke. "No! Jiko! Come back!"


The forest was so thick with smoke by the time Inuyasha had reached the well that he was forced to cover his delicate nose, the smoke pouring down the open well like dry ice. The hanyou quickly removed his haori, spreading it over the passageway's wooden surface.

It was safe now. He could breathe easy.

He coughed slightly, remembering that now he had to find shelter. The fire was quickly spreading around the clearing, eating the trees alive. The air was getting harder and harder to breathe by the second, and he knew that in the center of this blaze, he wouldn't last long.

"Inuyasha!"

The hanyou turned at the sound of his name, coming from the path he had earlier tread. His eyes widened as recognition dawned on him.

And there the boy was, coughing as he made his way into the clearing, covered from head to toe in black soot.

"Baka!" Inuyasha quickly ran over to the boy, pulling him away from the burning trees. "You shouldn't be out here! It's dangerous!"

"The fire doesn't hurt me," Jiko replied as he too covered his face to avoid the stench of ash. "I'm a fire demon, remember?"

"I don't care." The dog hurriedly pulled him to the well, seeing the grass begin to burn as well, inching closer to their heels. "I ain't letting you stay out there any longer. Kagome'd-" He cut himself off, pulling aside his haori cover for the passageway through time, and looking into its clearing depths. "I want you to wait in here, okay?"

"But Inuyasha-"

"No buts, Jiko. Get inside." With that, he pushed the boy over the edge, quickly covering the well after him as he disappeared from view. The hanyou turned back around, assessing his increasingly hopeless situation. The flames were rising by the second, making an impenetrable wall of fire, and Inuyasha didn't have his fireproof haori to help him this time.

"Kirara! Shippo!" he yelled into the sky, hoping that they would hear him. He wasn't going to go down the well. He couldn't go down the well. "Can you guys hear me!"

No response. He'd have to get closer to the edge. They were undoubtedly already outside the forest.

Inuyasha quickly ran through the clearing, his feet being burned by the fire but the rest of him fine. The bottom half of his outfit was enough to keep him from being hurt too badly as he ran through the still low fire, but as soon as he reached the trees, he could smell his flesh burning.

He covered his eyes with his sleeves to prevent the flying embers to reach them, squinting to try to see the burning trees as his ears flattened to his head, the fur already singed.

'Where the hell could those guys have run off to?' He leapt over a fallen log, landing cautiously in a patch of damp forest where he could access his surroundings, finding the way out.

Blinking the smoke from his eyes, he gazed in all directions, trying to find a landmark he recognized.

What he saw instead were glowing red eyes . . .


Kinda short, I know, but oh well.

IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!

As of right about now in the story, I am being faced with a decision. I'd make it on my own, but I don't really want to upset people. So I'm wondering about the ending of this little ficcy. So here are the options:

Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy Ending: Everything's nice and happy and the way it should be. Bad guys die. Good guys live. Pasts are forgotten, etc. The original planned ending, but then again, it just seems very . . . happy . . .

Bittersweet Ending: Everyone's happy at the end of the story, but there's a whole left in everyone's life. Minimal character death. This one gets Over's vote of approval.

Myeh Ending: Character development maximum. Probably one of the angstier ones. Still minimal character death. Over also wouldn't mind writing this one.

Tragic Ending: The sad and unforgettable ending. More character death. Less likely to have any kind of follow-up besides a fluffy one-shot. Over kinda likes the idea, but doesn't know how well readers would take it.

Evil Ending: The ending everyone dreads. Maximum or close to it character death, and the bad guy gets away. Over definitely only put this on here to have every side of the spectrum.

Just tell me in your review what you think about it. Thank you.

And as for shout-outs, I'm completely confused on the site's policy on it right now, so I'm going to play it safe until I figure it out for sure for sure. Getting this story or my account deleted would definitely not end well. Until I find out, I'll just respond to reviews by replying.