Suddenly, Lady Kikyo stopped in her tracks. Kohaku froze as well. He had been traveling with the priestess for a few days now and was quickly learning all of her non-verbal cues. From the way she tilted her head, he knew she had sensed something and was trying to pinpoint it's source.

Seconds later there was a blinding white light from the west. It whited out the entire cliffside like a flash bomb. Kohaku's eyes took several moments to recover.

He looked to Lady Kikyo for direction.

"There is a massive amount of energy in that direction." She said. "However, I cannot determine its nature."

"It isn't demonic." Kohaku pointed out. He wasn't as sensitive to energies as a priestess but after spending the last year under the control of the demon Naroku, Kohaku was more than capable of recognising an energy source as demonic.

"Still, I suggest we exercise caution." said Lady Kikyo.

Kohaku nodded and drew his weapon. They had been traveling along the coast. The light seemed to have originated from somewhere over the water, though it was difficult to be certain. Lady Kikyo walked confidently down a thin path cut in the cliffside, and Kohaku followed without hesitation. It was still an unusual sensation for Kohaku, following someone because he chose to follow them. He could finally move forward without the gnawing fear of what he was going to have to do when he reached a destination. For the first time in almost a year, he felt curiosity instead of dread.

They reached the wave cut platform at the bottom of the cliff. The tide was still low, but Kohaku knew it would rise soon and this whole platform would be underwater. Lady Kikyo continued to walk until she found whatever must have been the source of the energy.

Kohaku blinked in surprise. Lady Kikyo knelt down beside an unconcious girl lying on the wet stone.

She looked to be Kohaku's age, or just about. She had short black hair and the strangest clothes he had ever seen. She wore a tight fitting kimono that was made out of several different types of cloth. The top was tight fitting and white but the short, purple bottom flared out like a fan. There was another piece of purple fabric draped over her shoulders. Suddenly, Kohaku realised these weren't the strangest clothes he had ever seen. He knew one other person who dressed in a similar manner, a priestess who traveled with his sister. But they said she was from a different world.

The girl let out a moan and touched the back of her head. She opened her eyes. Kohaku was taken aback by their color. They were bright violet.

Is she a demon? Kohaku wondered. No. I don't feel any demonic energy coming off of her.

When she saw the two strangers kneeling over her, she tried to push herself up. Lady Kikyo placed a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Be still." Lady Kikyo told her. "You appear to be injured."

"Huh? Oh!" The girl winced as she pulled forward the hand that she had used to check her scalp. Blood stained the white cloth covering her gloved fingers. "It's not that bad. I need to get back to my parents."

She tried sitting up again. Lady Kikyo hesitated, but allowed the girl to push herself up. She got to her feet. Kohaku prepared himself in case he needed to rush forward and catch her. She managed to stay upright, though she was very unsteady. She seemed disoriented.

"Why don't you let us help you?" Kohaku asked.

He glanced at Lady Kikyo for permission to continue. They were in the middle of tracking Naroku. The priestess might not approve of Kohaku volunteering their assistance to a strange child. But she didn't object. Instead she gazed at the girl with trace amounts of curiosity and apprehension.

"I'm okay." The girl said. "I just need to find my parents. They're at the top of the cliff. I just fell."

Kohaku looked back up the top of the cliff where he and Kikyo had just come from. The landscape had been bare and open, and completely deserted. He had been able to see for miles. He was certain that he and Lady Kikyo had been alone up there.

"You fell?" Lady Kikyo asked. "From that height?"

The girl seemed to realise what she had said. If she had fallen from that height and survived, she was without a doubt not an ordinary human. If she had hoped to pass as one, she had just failed.

"No...I…" She looked like a child being caught in a lie. "I think I might be a little concussed." But even that wasn't true. She was recovering remarkably. Every second she seemed more and more aware. She no longer looked confused and unstable. Her eyes had regained focus completely. Head injuries don't typically heal that fast.

Kohaku wondered if Lady Kikyo was going to ask this girl who she was. Why did she give off so much energy? Was she human? Did she cause that flash of light or had she come from it? These questions burned in Kohaku's mind.

Lady Kikyo remained silent. Kohaku knew it wasn't his place to ask.

"At least allow us to accompany you back up to shore." said Kohaku. "There's a path but it's hard to find if you don't know what you're looking for."

"Alright." The girl agreed.

Lady Kikyo nodded without another word. She led them to the cliff. Steep and weathered steps had been cut into the rocks a few decades ago.

When they reached the top of the cliff it was just as deserted as when Kohaku and Kikyo had seen the light. The girl's face instantly dropped..

"Pluto?" She called out. "Uranus? Neptune?"

The words were strange to Kohaku. Were they names?

No one answered. The girl couldn't keep the barely contained panic from showing on her face. She put her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice and shouted again.

"Neptune! Uranus! PLUTO!"

Again, there was no answer. A look of pure terror washed across the girl's face.

"URANUS! PLUTO! NEPTUNE! Answer me!"

Lady Kikyo looked agitated. Kohaku knew that look, she could feel a demonic presence stirring in reaction to the shouting.

"Stop!" He told the girl, "You'll draw demons to us!"

The girl didn't seem to be worried about demons. But she was terrified by the silence that followed her calls. Her parents, or whoever she was calling for, were not coming.

"I don't understand." She said. "They should be here. There's no way they would have left me."

She looked distraught. Kohaku wanted to say something to comfort her.

"Maybe they went back to your village to find help." Kohaku suggested.

The girl looked unconvinced, but she stopped shouting.

"It is not safe for a child to be traveling alone." Lady Kikyo said. "Kohaku and I can take you to the nearest village."

"Okay." The girl said. She gave the landscape a few more scans. Then she turned to start walking forward. Following Kikyo away from the sea.

"Your name is Kohaku, then?" The girl asked, looking at him. All signs of head trauma confusion had completely vanished.

"Yes. And this is Lady Kikyo."

"My name's Hotaru."

Author's Note: Hey everyone. Hope you're all doing okay out there, staying home and sane at the same time. I hope you all liked chapter 1.

Please remember to review.

Best wishes, stay healthy