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Itty Bitty Pretty Four

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The cave was filled with impenetrable blackness – the only sound emanating from within was the steady dripping of water from some unseen source. As the young boy adjusted the small pack on his back, he sighed heavily as he lifted the small torch and continued into the abyss. Just another day. Just another stupid errand.

"Grandpa! I'm back!" the boy called out as he shrugged the sack off his shoulders and held the torch a little higher, "Time to wake up! Rise and shine sleepy head."

For a moment, there was a tense stillness in the air, the steady dripping growing incrementally louder and louder until suddenly a rush of water cascaded onto the ground. It's physique was hardly discernible in the dim firelight. With each slow movement that belied the speed it was capable of, slime dripped, oozing great globs of phlegm and depositing them on the cold stone ground.

"Kenji, you've returned," a grovely voice suddenly breathed affectionately with no small amount of relief, "I was so concerned after your sister failed to return."

"I haven't seen her," the ebony haired boy whispered anxiously as he stared up at the slimy visage, "I waited for her but...but I didn't see her. She was supposed to get those jewel shards. Do you...do you think something might've happened?"

Underneath the gelatinous gloop, the old man's skin was gnarled yet worry was evident in its yellowed eyes as he whispered quietly, "She went after the jewel shards?"

"She...she said you wanted her to get them. Didn't you tell her to retrieve them?" Kenji asked slowly as realization dawned on him when the old man shook his head.

"We need to find her," Kenji whispered anxiously as he quickly grabbed his satchel, "We need to figure out what happened."

"I cannot leave, Kenji," the grandfather whispered anxiously, "I was cursed long ago. You know this to be true. You saw what happened when your parents left the cave."

"I know," the small boy whispered as he shook his head miserably, "I know. I'll come back in a few days. Maybe she'll returned by then."

"Indeed," the grandfather agreed as he shook his head solemnly. The small teenager had asked him only a few short months ago whether a jewel shard could break their curse. It had always upset her that she was as trapped as himself due to that curse. At the time, he had reassured her that she was always free to leave and take her brother yet she had insisted on staying.

'Emi, what have you done?'

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"Help! Help! A demon! Help!"

The shrill, panicky sounding voice carried through the air reaching the slayer and monk flying above. They were still a fair distance away from the clearing where they'd fought the strange witch but...

"Do you sense any demonic aura?" Sango whispered anxiously, "Could it be a trap?"

"There is a faint demonic aura," Miroku sighed as he scanned the forest below as a shrill scream cut through the air, "Perhaps we should at least check it out. I do not want or need a guilty conscious."

Groaning, Sango agreed. Once they landed, they had exactly five seconds before a brilliant green blast collided with their shocked faces. As they watched the world grow bigger around them, they soon found themselves looking up into the face of the woman they believed had been struck down by the Wind Scar earlier that day.

"Now, now, now, don't look so surprised," the mouse brown haired girl chuckled as she easily scooped the three tiny companions into her hand before dropping them into a small bag, "I just need you guys as bait. I'm not going to hurt you. That asshole broke my spell and I need him to get what I want."

As the inch tall slayer and monk exchanged panicked glances, they found themselves secretly wondering how they were going to get out of this one.

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"You feeling any better?" Kagome murmured as she continued to rub the hanyou's back in a soothing motion as he emptied the contents of his stomach once more into the porcelain throne. She'd be more concerned if it wasn't for the fact that every time he vomited his hair seemed to take on more of its normal silver sheen as she held it in her hands and as he pulled back miserably to wipe his mouth on the small towel, amber was the predominant color in his eyes.

"I dunno what the fuck she hit me with but damn," Inuyasha chuckled darkly before his face flushed a sickly green color and he quickly turned back to worship that shiny white bowl once more. Resting his head lazily against the edge, he groaned slightly...and bit back the smile that desperately wanted to break free as Kagome gently ran her fingers through his hair.