Dreamstar: I know. I haven't updated in like two months. But hey, blame the people called teachers. They swamp you with way too much homework.

Kaori: Now I'm really glad I don't have to go to school.

Dreamstar: In the story you do. Maybe I should make you start it.

Kaori: You can't make me.

Dreamstar: Whatever. I know I said I would use one of the reviewer's names for my other main character...but...I kinda used my own. (feels people glaring) Look, I'm sorry. Please don't kill me. At least I updated.

Kaori: I don't see why you have to put such a jerk into the story.

Dreamstar: Because one, your life is supposed to be kinda like your mom's. Kind of.

Kaori: Feh, whatever.

Dreamstar: Well that's enough, time for the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. There. That's it.


Chapter 4

Another Jewel is Shattered

"My name is…" he started. But then he stopped.

"Come on. I told you my name." Kaori complained. He feh'ed. 'That's exactly like Dad.' Kaori thought.

"It's Inuyomaru," he said. Kaori stared at him. "What? Do I have to repeat myself?"

Kaori shook her head. She was actually surprised he told her so quickly.

"So, do you want to eat?" Kaori asked. Inuyomaru looked at the basket full of vegetation.

"I think I'll pass." he answered. Kaori shrugged.

"Suit yourself." she replied before standing up. He raised an eyebrow.

"Where ya going, wench?" he asked. She glared at him.

"My name is not wench, it's Kaori. And, I'm going home." she said as she walked off.

"Wait! You can't leave!" he said.

"Why not? I have every right." she said.

"You can't leave till you give me the jewel." he answered. Kaori took hold of the round orb that laid on the string around her neck.

"Oh, this little thing? Well, if you want it that badly," Kaori said. She closed her eyes. "Sit." (thud)

"Oi, wench!" he yelled.

"Why should I give you a jewel which can allow the demise of other people into the hands of a hanyou who will use it for evil? That, I can't allow." she explained. "Why do you want the jewel to become a full demon anyways?"

"Feh, you wouldn't understand, seeing as you are only human." he said. 'That's what you think.' Kaori thought.

"I understand a lot more than you think." she said.

"Whatever." Inuyomaru said. She continued to stare at him before beginning to walk off. Inuyomaru was finally able to think without her there.

Kaori was walking back through the village. She wanted to get back to the castle. Right through the village she went. She saw the forest she found earlier and walked into it. Across the forest and she will be able to see the castle. She saw eyes staring at her in the trees. 'They're probably just bandits…oh crap! I forgot, I'm human!' she thought. She had to get out of there as soon as possible. She began running, but whatever was staring at her earlier was still following her.

'If I don't get out of here soon, I'm going to get taken down…and I'm only 15!' she screamed in thought. But she didn't run fast enough, and was tackled to the ground by what appeared to be two guards.

"Wow, what a fine catch. Our lord will love to have ye with him." they said while tying her up and seeing if she was frightened. She surprised them with a glare.

"Oh, please. Do you think I will just become some guy's prey? No way." she told them off.

"Ye are brave, but how can a mere girl be able to get away from our lord?" they laughed while dragging her towards a dark castle. 'They're right. I can't get away. Unless I can turn back into a hanyou, I'm screwed.' she thought.

&&&&

Inuyomaru was still trying to tug off the beads. He was not one to give up, just like our favorite hanyou. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed two worried hanyou parents.

"Kaori! Kaori!" and "Kaori! Where are you?" were being shouted worriedly. He decided to jump down from where he was sitting to see what was going on.

"Yo, what's up?" he asked.

"Kaori is missing!" Kagome sobbed into Inuyasha's haori while Inuyasha tried to comfort her.

"Wait. Did she still have the jewel with her?" he asked.

"Why do you ask? She is more important than a jewel!" Kagome yelled. Inuyomaru totally ignored her, however.

"That bitch went off with the jewel. Crap, now I have to go sniff her out." he said and jumped out towards the forest. Kagome and Inuyasha stared at each other. 'Why didn't we think of that?'

&&&&

Kaori was sitting in the back of a wagon with her hands tied behind her back and her legs tied together. 'Stupid people. Not even thinking that I'm the heir of the Western Lands. Oh well. Gotta find a way to get out.' Kaori looked around the wagon, but found nothing.

"You know, you didn't have to freakin' tie me and throw me in some stinkin' wagon. It smells, bad!" Kaori yelled at the stupid guards.

"Who wants thou's opinion? Ye are a stupid girl." the guards said and started laughing. 'Talk about idiots.'

"Fine, but I'll tell you this much. I have friends that can kill you easily. Without breaking a sweat." she said.

"Yeah, yeah. Tell that to someone who cares." they said. 'Do they always have to answer at the same time? Man, those two need to get a life.' Kaori thought.

"You know, for two guys that look pretty strong…" 'Not.' "…why do you work for some guy? And to kidnap girls too?"

"It is our duty. And, we get good pay for it." they said. "Now shut up girl. Our lord will be able to see you soon."

The wagon came to a stop and the guys grabbed Kaori by her hair.

"Ow! You don't have to tug on my hair!" Kaori yelled.

"Silence wench. Ye are to do as ye are command." they said. Kaori looked around. The palace was dark. Too dark. A man with fancy robes came to view. He was a very fat old man. Kaori noticed he was the lord, but there was something weird about him.

"Mi'lord. We have found a human girl that can be your servant." One of the guards said. The lord's eyes looked empty as if…as if he were dead.

"Mi'lord? Is something the matter?" the other guard asked. Kaori noticed that there was a sword with the lord. He stood up and drew his sword. "Mi'lord, what are you doing?"

The lord sliced the guard that was talking to him in half. The other guards and workers began to shake with fear.

"Mi'lord! What are you doing?" they asked. The lord stared straight at Kaori.

"You, you have the jewel. The Kokoro Jewel. Give it to me. Hand it over." he commanded. The guards were really frightened.

"Help! Save us!" they pathetically screamed.

"You guys are weak." Kaori said before using one of the lances the guards dropped and cutting herself free. She grabbed the lance and stood in attack position. "Get behind me!"

"Haha, wench. You will hand me that jewel." he commanded. He swung his sword down onto Kaori. Using the metal point, she blocked the sword with the lance.

"I will not allow demons to take this jewel for evil. This jewel is not what makes me strong though…" Kaori said before deflecting the sword away. "It's the thought of my friends and family!"

"You're a fool. Absolute power does not come from love. It comes from strength alone." he said. He sliced the lanced into two. Kaori was left defenseless. The lord punched her gut and she landed hard on the ground. The necklace with the jewel flew off. "This is the end for you!"

"Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" a voice yelled. The lord quickly jumped back as the ground in front of Kaori was sliced open. "Hey, wench. Getting yourself into trouble now, are ya?"

The lord fell to the ground, and a ball of light flew out of him.

"He was already dead! And his corpse was being controlled!" Kaori said. Inuyomaru looked at her.

"Wench, where's the jewel?" he asked. Kaori froze. She looked down at her neck…and it wasn't there.

"I-I…uh…" Kaori stuttered.

"No! You idiot! You didn't!" They both turned outside. An imp with a jar picked up the Kokoro Jewel. He popped it into his mouth and ran away. "Crap!"

Kaori and Inuyomaru began running after the demon, of course with Inuyomaru being way far ahead of Kaori. Kaori picked up a bow and arrow off of the ground and continued running after them.

"Wench! Hurry up! I ain't waitin' for ya!" Inuyomaru yelled. He became ticked off at how slow Kaori was, so he waited for her. "Get on. It will be much faster than waiting for a weak human like you to run."

Kaori had a very awkward feeling after Inuyomaru started running again. This wasn't like riding a horse. It was a totally different experience.

The demon was just up ahead. It was riding some weird cloud thing. He was much bigger than the small imp he was before.

"That old hag claims you are Keiko's reincarnation. You should be able to shoot an arrow at least." he said. Kaori looked at him. Lady Kaho said what?

"What do you mean by that?" Kaori asked.

"Dunno. I'm guessing you should be able to have her powers besides looking like her," he explained.

"You know what, I'm getting really tired of you saying I look like her." Kaori said.

"Who cares? Just freakin' shoot the arrow!" he yelled. Kaori notched an arrow and aimed her bow. She remembered that she was pretty bad in archery after her encounter with that other demon (go back to chapter 1 if you don't remember).

"Please, hit the mark!" Kaori said. She released the arrow…but it only went a few feet in the air before falling straight down.

"WHAT THE! YOU CALL THAT A SHOT! THAT'S IT!" he yelled. He stopped and dropped her straight on her butt. "I was wrong. You're nothing like her."

Inuyomaru ran after the demon before Kaori could protest. "He didn't have to drop me on the ground. Idiot." she mumbled.

Kaori ran after him, despite the fact that they were really far ahead. She had to hurry before the demon grew any stronger from the jewel.

The demon appeared to have picked up a small girl. Inuyomaru knew that the demon was distracted when it went to get lunch.

"Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" he yelled. The demon howled as the arm with the girl was torn from him. The girl was falling very fast. Right before landing on the ground, Kaori dove and caught her.

"Are you ok?" she asked. The little girl sniffed.

"I think so. Ahh!" she screamed when she saw the demon's arm that was holding her moving.

"Hold on!" Kaori ordered as she pulled the arm off. The arm was pointing in the direction of the demon. "It must be drawn to the jewel's power…wait, that's it!"

Kaori took a piece of rope and tied the arm onto one of her arrows. She notched the arrow to her bow and took aim.

"Hit the mark!" she yelled before releasing the arrow. Instead of falling half-way, the arm allowed the arrow to follow the demon.

'What the! That wench isn't so dumb after all.' Inuyomaru thought. He skidded to a stop and watched the arrow him the demon. The demon disintegrated, but someting was wrong. A bright light shot out in different directions.

"This, isn't good." Kaori heard someone say. She turned around to find Inuyasha and Kagome both looking at each other and shaking their heads.

"Hey! I think I see the jewel over there!" Kaori yelled before running in the direction she thought the jewel would be.

A couple of minutes later…

"I thought you said the jewel would be over here." Inuyomaru accused.

"I did say that-what the! Inuyomaru! Come check this out!" Kaori yelled.

"It better be the jewel." he mumbled. Right in Kaori's hands was a pink shard. "Don't tell me…that's not…"

Kaori nodded. Inuyomaru looked like he was about to explode.

"WENCH! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO IT?!"

"This is not good." Kaho said appearing out of no where. Kaori and Inuyomaru looked at Kaho with questioning looks.

"What do you mean, Lady Kaho?" Kaori asked.

"The jewel has been split into hundreds of thousands of shards. That is only one of the many shards out there. Each one being very powerful. Ye two must work together to make sure that no evil will taint any of these shards." Kaho explained.

"Me work with him!" "Me work with her!" they said at the same time.

"Yes. Ye must settle your differences and work together to find each shard of the Kokoro Jewel. With Kaori's eyes and Inuyomaru's brute strength.

"I'm not working with that wench!" "I'm not working with that jerk!" they yelled.

"Ye two seem to have a lot in common. Come, it will soon be dark. Ye two will both need supper in order to find any of the shards first." she said before walking away from the unhappy children.


Dreamstar: Now they have to journey together. Yay! Now you all know what the heck the other main character's name is. Aren't you happy? Well, at least I got someting.

Kaori: Can we please just get the ending done already? I'm freakin' tired.

Dreamstar: Hold on! You all should now what will happen next, so just review and I'll try to update asap. Gotta run!