Sorry that it's been so long since a new update folks! I've been a little busy. Enjoy the newest chapter!
------------------------------------------------------------------
"We haven't come across a jewel shard in three days, or seen one single sign of Naraku..." InuYasha said sarcastically.
"Well I can't say that I'm upset about not seeing Naraku, at least not for a while, but we have come across a pretty bad dry-run of shards," Kagome replied.
"Why don't you want to fight against Naraku right now Kagome?" Shippo asked innocently.
"She's probably worried about the fact that Kaede is still four days away from transforming back into a demon. That way we have a better chance of defeating Naraku," Miroku answered the fox child.
"Oh yeah! If Kaede transforms back into a demon, we could probably defeat Naraku a lot easier!" Shippo replied happily.
"It doesn't matter, I could defeat Naraku on my own!" InuYasha boasted.
"Yes, well it would probably put us all at ease knowing that we had more fighting power, InuYasha. Besides, not having to deal with Naraku gives us a better chance of preparing ourselves for a later battle. That way, we're ready for anything," Miroku replied.
They were walking on a small dirt path along side of a small stream, with the green leaves of a thick forest ahead of them. The skies were clear and blue and most of the day they had heard nothing more than the sounds of birds singing in the trees.
Everyone was quiet until they heard the sound of a man screaming.
"What was that?" Sango asked looking around.
Another scream and the group turned towards the forest where a young man in a priests' kimono was running from. The boy tripped on the path not far from where the group was, and they ran to his side.
"What has you scared?" Miroku asked the boy.
"My... My Master and I were traveling through the forest when a demon attacked us! My Master told me to run and he stayed to fight the demon! Please help him!" The boy said with dirt all over his face.
"Is that what I think it is?" Kagome asked suddenly.
The group turned to her and Kaede answered saying, "Yes, I sense a jewel shard in the direction of the forest!"
"I'm on it! Come on Miroku!" InuYasha said as he sprinted off towards the forest.
"Sango, stay here with Kagome and Kaede!" Miroku ordered before he also sprinted towards the forest.
"What sort of demon was it?" Kagome asked the boy.
He sat up and said, "It... It was a Python demon! I am sure of it!"
"A Python demon?" Sango asked.
"What is it Sango?" Kagome started to worry at the tone of Sango's voice.
"Python demons are extremely venomous! One bite from it could probably even kill InuYasha! And if what you say is true, this demon may possess a jewel shard and be even more powerful!" Sango explained.
Kagome looked back towards the forest and thought, "InuYasha..."
Kaede picked up her bow and started towards the forest.
"Where are you going?!" Kagome yelled after her daughter.
"They may need help!" Kaede said as she disappeared into the thick forest trees.
"Come back Kaede!" Kagome yelled but she was already gone.
"She's right, if the boys don't know what they're up against then they're going to need help!" Sango stated as she motioned for Kirara.
"I don't see anything yet!" Miroku yelled at InuYasha as they continued running through the forest.
"I can smell the demon just up ahead!" InuYasha yelled as he placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
As they neared a small clearing in the forest, they came to the edge of it and noticed that it was a clear drop down into a large quarry, where they saw the bloody mess of the priest that the boy had spoken of.
"Is he alive?" Miroku asked InuYasha.
"Just barely..." he answered the monk.
Just as they thought that the demon had made a getaway, a gigantic serpent appeared from quarry's water and jumped at the two, Miroku and InuYasha jumping out of the way in time.
"A Python! InuYasha, watch out for it's fangs! A single bite could do irreversible harm!" Miroku warned.
InuYasha unsheathed his Tetsusaiga and faced the evil serpent.
"It doesn't matter, this demon has a jewel shard and that's all I need to know that it has to die!" he said as he jumped at the demon and swung his sword.
"WIND SCAR!" InuYasha yelled as his technique blasted towards the demon.
The Python managed to get out of the way just before the Wind Scar could have done any damage to it.
"He's fast!" InuYasha realized.
Miroku took some sutras from his kimono and threw them at the demon, one of the sutras managing to land on the demon, but causing it little damage.
"It's so strong! This demon really is using a sacred jewel shard to increase it's powers!" Miroku realized.
The demon was now getting royally upset and lashed out at Miroku.
"Miroku!" InuYasha shouted knowing that he wouldn't make it in time to keep him from getting killed.
The demon fast approached the monk but just before it had managed to bite him, a purple light flashed by Miroku and tore into the Python.
"What?!" InuYasha caught the scent of the person who had shot the arrow and finally caught the image of Kaede still holding her bow out in front of her.
"What the hell are you doing here?! You're supposed to be back there with Kagome and Sango!" InuYasha yelled.
"Oh give it a rest, you needed me and you know it!" Kaede said with a smirk.
Miroku seemed to be the only one relieved at Kaede's arrival.
InuYasha jumped over to where Kaede was and grabbed her by the wrist.
"You're supposed to stay safe! How are we supposed to protect you when you keep doing this?!" InuYasha scolded.
Kaede almost thought back to when she was a child and she would be scolded like this from him. She looked away from the boy and Miroku stepped in.
"Calm down, InuYasha. If it hadn't been for Kaede, I would surely be dead by now!" he tried to reason with the demon boy.
Just after Miroku said this the Python demon blindly struck at the three. Miroku jumped off to the side and InuYasha quickly picked up Kaede and jumped to the other side, causing Kaede to drop her bow and quiver into the quarry.
"My bow!" Kaede tried to reach to them as they fell.
InuYasha tightened his grip on the girl to keep her from falling and scolded her saying, "Hold still! Just forget them for now!"
The boy landed on a grassy cliff and gently put Kaede down, but not without gripping her upper arm and looking down into her eyes.
"Go on and get out of here! Don't make me tell you again!" he said just before a familiar voice shot out.
"InuYasha!" Kagome's voice came out of nowhere, along with her, Sango, Shippo, and the young monk riding upon Kirara.
"Kagome! Stay back!" InuYasha ordered.
The girl didn't listen and she jumped off of Kirara and ran to InuYasha and Kaede.
"Take Kaede and get out of here!" InuYasha said angrily as he jumped away into the quarry.
Shippo and the young monk jumped off of Kirara and Sango took flight again as she began to swing her Hiraikotsu at the demon to help finish it off.
"You really shouldn't be here you know," Kaede advised to her mother.
"What about you?! You're human now too!" Kagome shot back.
"Yeah, well I'm not the one carrying a kid!" Kaede reminded the other woman.
"Watch out!" Miroku yelled at the two women as the demon turned on them and started to strike.
"NO!" InuYasha yelled as he desperately jumped at the demon to kill it before it could kill his family.
As the demon closed in on the two women, Kaede put herself in front of Kagome in order to protect her young mother and was ready to accept her fate.
---------------------------------------------------------------
For the Next Chapter!
"When were you going to tell us about your encounter with Koga?!" the boy asked her.
"I... well.. I -" Kaede started.
"You weren't!" he finished for her.
Kaede looked away and said, "You don't know me..."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked, sitting down next to Kagome just a few feet away from the girl on the ground.
Kaede didn't answer or look at them.
"Kaede, whatever it is, you can tell us," Kagome tried to coax the girl into talking outward to them.
"You guys... you died... I didn't have you around, I didn't have Miroku, or Sango, or Shippo around to teach me otherwise. I learned to live on my own and I learned to take matters into my own hands..." Kaede explained.
"But I thought Sota raised you?" Kagome asked.
"Well he did... But what he couldn't do, is protect us from attacks, or hunt. I did it all on my own. And when I got older and stronger, I would be away for days on my own. I learned how to take care of myself, so I don't want you guys to worry about me if I ever do go off on my own..." Kaede said quietly.
"But you don't have to do anything on your own, and we are always going to worry!" Kagome said quickly.
Kaede sighed and said, "Look, you need to worry about yourselves right now, worry about the others, I'm not even supposed to be here remember? You're going to have to realize at some point that, for right now, I'm older than you. I've come from an era where I had to fight every day of my life, and at some point, when this is all over, I'll be leaving to go back to my era for good."
