I'm going through and fixing stuff so bear with me.

The Path Before Me

Chapter 4

Running through the forest, various shades of greens and brown's blurred passed her form. Cradled protectively in her arms; lay her dear childhood friend, though she had not seen her friend in many years, there seemed to be a separate power emanating from her. Miyo though powerful in her own right was not this strong; no matter how the time had passed.

This was not the time for such ponderings though; she mentally shook the thoughts from her head as she proceeded to run from the scene of disaster behind her. The village had been close to totaled and she did not want any vengeful villager's to pester her. The huts would have been easy enough to rebuild but the crops would not fully recover.

She headed towards her secret hiding spot. It had been hidden by someone with powerful magic and so had remained untouched in its natural beauty. Though not terribly far from the village, she would be free intrusion's, villager's or otherwise. Arriving at her chosen destination, she made her friend comfortable, as she showed no signs of waking just yet.

She surveyed the area just to ensure nothing had changed since her last visit, was not especially surprised that nothing had changed. After passing the barrier, you wouldn't know it at first. The forest continued for a good quarter of a mile before dispersing into a beautiful clearing, she had yet to discover how vast the small paradise was but she though it had to be a decent size. The clearing held a small, uncluttered variety of flowers, the like she had never seen before entering the beautiful oasis. Weaving its way through the intricate flowers was a serene pond. The pond brushed up against a wall of rough stone, flowing quietly into the pond was a spout of water that ran gracefully over the stone.

Leaping up on to a boulder that rested against the stone of the cliff wall, she made herself comfortable for the wait. Miyo was would normally recover from such a blow in a short time, but with as much youki that she had exerted she was sure to be out for the next few hours. She laid back and closed her eyes and let her mind wander.

Flash back

The warm sun of late summer made her happy, as she ran through the fields. Her mother complained of the heat, scolding her for bothering her in what she had called 'unbearable heat'. She didn't get it though, everyone seemed to be so tired and blamed it on the heat yet she thought it was beautiful. Shrugging off the thoughts of the adults she merrily ran on picking random flowers and jumping after butterflies.

A long chase had ensued after one particular butterfly. It had caught her attention after she had seen the brilliant purple and accents of red and black that speckled its wings. It now sat on a fallen log and she was currently sitting in a thick clump of grass reading her self to pounce. Seeing the butterfly's wings relax she leapt at her opportunity to capture the enigma. Her goal was insight the butterfly would have no where to go, and then she looked up and realized she was not the only one that was pouncing.

A dull thud and two swishes of grass was the end result of the meeting. The sought after butterfly flew away from the pair that had unwittingly jumped at the same time. She had watched as the butterfly flew away, completely unaffected as she sat rubbing her sore head. Deciding that her hunt was over she decided to investigate the source of interference. She made her way over to the log and peered over it, and was met with a pair of fire red eyes. Instinctively she jumped back with surprise, as did the owner of the eyes. Now that both were standing they had a clear view of one another.

The girl that had foiled her plan's looked to be her age, though she was a bit taller than her self. Most every one was though, she was short compared to most kids her age but she could always hide better so she really didn't mind. Focusing on the girl again she noticed that she was dressed in all red, though her clothes looked to be duplicates of hers only in red. Her hair was pulled into pigtails, and she was fidgeting with a necklace around her neck.

"Who are you?" She had asked as boldly as she could. She straitened her posture and tried to look as her father told her when meeting strangers. He said she had to look….it started with an 'I'….in something.

Apparently it worked because the girl kind of shrunk and answered in a really soft voice that was so quiet that I couldn't even hear her. So I told her to speak up and she just curled up tighter and looked ready to cry. I decided that daddy's way was scaring her and just decided to be me.

"It's ok, I won't hurt you. I was just doing what my dad told me to do when I meet strangers." She was cautiously approaching the other girl, trying not to further upset her. "What's your name?"

This seemed to make the girl happy and she promptly replied "Mimi" I looked at her kind of funny and decided to try again. "I know you are you, but what's your name?" I was once again met with the same response and so finally I had it. "What do your parent's call you then?"

Finally she seemed to understand what I was asking and slowly replied. "Watashi wa name Miyo desu" I smiled as I had finally made head way. Deciding it was only polite for me to do the same. "Watashi wa name Gin des."

She smiled and said that my name matched my hair and eyes. I laughed softly and said that's why my name was Gin.

End Flash back

Opening one eye she glanced at her friend, with a small smile gracing her features. That's how they had first met, they'd become fast friends later you would rarely if ever see one without the other. Some even came to believe that she and Miyo were sister's. They had been through everything together; she had been there when her father and mother had died. They had been ambushed and murdered leaving her and her brother Akito to calm her. In the end Akito had distracted her while she had knocked her out.

The thought of Akito made her sad, they would have been a good pair but fate had been against them. Her sterling silver eyes clouded to pewter, as painful memories resurfaced. She was abruptly brought out of her thoughts as her friend began to wake up. Miyo always did that though, she always brought her away from locking herself within her own mind.

In a flash she was beside her friend helping her sit up. She groaned with protest but gratefully took the bowl of water that she handed her. Gin gazed upon her friend with sympathetic eyes, coming out of a rampage was often painful. Your entire body felt like you'd pulled every muscle in you entire being, definitely not fun. The feeling of the second power suddenly came over her again, looking over her friend she noticed a glow of sorts coming from her shoulder blade. Acting as though she were rubbing her back she removed the shimmering object without Ayame noticing. It was barely below the skin, and with her entire body in pain she wouldn't of noticed anyway.

Stroking her back she helped her friend lay down again. She looked over her friend and noticed that aside from her singed clothes she had wounds that were not self inflicted. Concerned silver met liquid fire with and unspoken question. She could tell that Miyo was having a hard time staying awake but was eager for some answers.

"Naraku…." The name was nothing but a whisper that carried on the wind to her ears, but she heard it. Closing her eyes Miyo fell into unconsciousness.

Naraku? Who was Naraku? If Naraku did this to her he would die by her hands, the reason would not matter only that justice would be done. The Tama-tachi would be looking for her with this jewel shard, perhaps they would know of this Naraku. Information for a shard seemed fair enough.

With the knowledge her friend would be out for some time Gin ran through the barrier and away from it for a small distance. Situating her self high in the trees and unable to be seen by anyone, she patiently waited. It had been two days since the incident surely they'd have begun their search by now.

Focusing all her sense's on the jewel shard she found its energy signal and stored it in memory. Testing to see if she had it down she stretched her sense's and was able to find a cluster of shards not far off. She could only hope that it was the tama-tachi. She noticed the shift in the direction of the cluster. They were headed for her now, they'd be here shortly.

Ok that last part might be a little confusing ne? People have aura's and objects have energy signals. She's able to find that energy signal only she can only feel the location but only when she try's to find the energy signal. Kinda like Kagome but not. Well Hopefully I get at least four more reviews cause otherwise no updates I figure one for each chapter won't kill you guys. Well Ja Ne!