This Story Belongs To Blazing-Assasin, I just Shared It With You Here. She Is Not On Fanfiction, but DeviantArt.

Disclaimer: Neither me or Blazing-Assasin own Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi does.

Kaede softly pulled back the hanging door, looking out aimlessly to the falling snow swaying in the calm winds to the floor of the forest. A gentle winter breeze blew past her, stinging her face with it's frozen whisper. She gradually placed it back as normal, and glared over to Yukio and Shippou sitting in silence while peering into the blurred fire. She had watched discreetly as Shippou's eyelids began to fall, with slumber taking him into it's embrace.

She brought her knees to her chest and hugged them for comfort other than warmth. She could feel a faint melody humming in her mind that she couldn't seem to rid herself of. It was so simple and beautiful it calmed her very soul. She was beginning to become frustrated when she couldn't remember where it was from, but the song soothed her so much, it really didn't matter. As if someone had stabbed her with a knife when she wasn't looking, she remembered her mother used to sing it to her as a child. She lowered her head and stared at the floor in an attempt to blink back tears. She hated being away from her family. She even hated it more that they continued to stick in her mind. Luckily, Yukio noticed her looking as if she was locked away in a cold cellar, so at least he tried to relieve her of her pain but only ended up making it worse.

"So why aren't you with your parents?" he asked softly, trying not to offend her.

"Because," She started to say, still glaring down to the floor of the abandoned hut they stayed in,

"They thought it was too dangerous for me to go with them,"

He couldn't help but remark without any conscious to what he was actually saying,

"Well then don't you think you should have listened to them?"

"I'm not a weakling! I can protect myself,"

"I didn't mean it like that, Kaede,"

She didn't care what he actually meant. Her interpretation was the only important thing, considering that it affected her the most. Even if he didn't mean it. She found herself quite selfish at times. Especially with trivial things such as this. Growing up, many did not accept her, so it, in a way, roughed her up a bit with her insecurities. Many other human children didn't accept her. She had Shippou, but he wasn't always around and when he left, it was even worse. They would tease her or ignore her. She found that ignoring her was worse because at least when they teased her, they acknowledged her. She had never told her mother or especially her father, either. Her father would have reacted the worst to the situation considering that he himself grew up alone like her, yet, completely opposite to how she was raised. She had usually spent most of her time in the forest with the 'Sacred Tree' which was right out on the outskirts of the village. It was peaceful and it was a place for her to think without being tormented by the other villagers. Nature had always appealed to her. She was drawn to the outdoors like her father had always been.

Kaede relaxed and apologized for her behavior. Yukio had only tried to make small-talk, and now she had drawn him off.

"So...what happened to you and your family?" She asked cautiously, not wanting to encounter a dangerous area which she was not supposed to be in.

He glanced off to the side, resisting her glares. He always felt uneasy when talking about private matters, but her calm tone seemed to draw him into her kind hearted grasp.

"Naraku had come to us up on the mountainside, offering a peace-treaty. We had heard numerous rumors of Naraku from other demon clans, and refused his alliance. My father had passed away right before Naraku had come, so he had to approach my mother, Torime-sama, who had taken rule over the bird clan,"

"Torime-sama? The famous bird demon hime?"

He nodded solemnly then continued on with solid features that could crack at any moment,

"Naraku had attacked with a hoard of demons the next night, and our clan put up a great fight. My mother put up a fight till the very end, and I fought by her side,"

There was a long silence that made Kaede's skin tingle. She didn't know what to say or do. Noticing her startled features, he stated the obvious, just to relieve the tension in the room.

"We all died that night,"

She gasped slightly then pursed her lips into a thin line. She had no real idea of what it was like to lose a loved one. Kikyo hadn't really counted to her, considering that she was already deceased to begin with. She was even more entranced with such agonizing thoughts when he was the one who had actually died as well. She had no idea what that would be like, but she knew it was not her place to reach for such a question and she really wasn't sure if she even wanted to know. All she could really do was console,

"I'm...so sorry,"

He shrugged slightly as if not grief-stricken at all. This confused her at the moment, but softened her gaze as he replied in a light voice,

"It's alright. They're all safe and peaceful, now...I know because I was with them,"

She smiled and briskly changed the subject so that no more prolonging silences dragged out.

"You gunna go to sleep?"

He shrugged once again, also raising his upper lip as a type of shrug as well.

"I'm really not that tired. You look tired, though, so feel free to,"

She grinned softly. The previous few weeks there had been a lot of bickering and ignoring between the two of them. But as time went on, they both started to get along...in a way. She had only talked normally like this with him a couple times before, but this was the first time when they both took each other's feelings into care.

She slowly shuffled a bit to sit in a comfortable position, then began to close her eyes. The last thing she had seen before she slipped into slumber, was Yukio poking at the fire with a stick.

***

Three arrows glided through the whipping winds, guiding a path with it's sparked spiritual aura towards the one demon. It was a huge dragon-like demon, with a long, scaly, forest-green body. The scales looked like tiny shields that covered the demon as protection. It had enormous fangs that hung from the roof of it's vile jagged-toothed mouth that dripped with blood. It had crystal eyes that were completely white with no colour at all. The demon cringed as the arrows flew towards it's chest, digging a bloody path through it. As it began to purify it's body, it burst into chopped up pieces with a river of blood following the fallen corpse. Kaede and Shippou sprung into the air, dodging the tainted flesh. Kaede landed on the ground in a puddle of watery blood, but didn't seem to notice.

She prepared herself to fight the other demon, which was identical to the one she had killed except it was dark red, by grabbing onto Tetshiega's handle. But she stopped in her tracks as a shadow flew over, imaging the figure above. It was Yukio.

"Leave it to me, Kaede. You got the first one, now it's my turn!" Shouted the bird demon down to the hanyou. She scoffed and crossed her arms across her torso. She watched as his angelic wings spread so that he dangled in mid-air, and continued to gaze on as he pulled out what looked to spikes.

"Yah, right. Like that's gunna kill it," She muttered as she went charging towards the demon with her sword unsheathed. She sliced through it's body, with his thrown spikes digging into it's scaly body, unleashing great explosions. Kaede dodged some of the flames that came forth and was covered protectively by Shippou. Her hand that was clutched onto Shippou was grabbed and she and Shippou were lifted into the air. Kaede peered up through smoke to see Yukio's smirking face.

"You know," Kaede yelled up with a returning smirk, "You're not so bad when useful!"

He chuckled slightly which made Kaede's girlie side blush. He was very irresistible, even to her! But they were just friends, and that's all they ever would be and that's all she ever wanted them to be. He grinned and shouted,

"Don't test me! I could drop you at any moment into that fire!"

Shippou, who had just tuned into their conversation, screamed up in shock,

"Don't you dare!"

Kaede and Yukio sighed and shook their heads sympathetically at the fox-demon's words. Since he had just listened in on Yukio's threats, which were only joking around, he actually thought he was going to drop them.

Yukio began to grow tired of carrying both of them, and thankfully spotted a village just a ways ahead. They finally reached the village, and landed in an open space. The trio glanced around, but saw no civilization in sight. Suspicious, she began to walk towards the huts but didn't take more than three steps before her dog-ears twitched, and she pounced on Yukio, bringing them both down to the ground. Arrows darted over their heads and pierced the side of a hut, leaving its' mark. He pushed Kaede off of him and asked her what the hell she was doing. She frowned and grabbed his face, aligning it in the direction of the arrows that were shot.

"Oh," he muttered.

Shippou hurried over beside the two as they didn't move, glaring down their attackers. There stood three young girls around the age of six with bows and arrows in their tiny grasps. They had disgraceful, mediocre styled kimonos, that's solid, plain colours faded. One girl who stood in the middle of the three came forward with a clenched fist. Her coal tinted hair, similar to her kimono; faded.

"Get up, demons, so we can slay you with pride!"

Kaede growled and stood, preparing to defend herself. She was quite peeved that such small, useless children had the idea that they could beat her. They sent their arrows forward, and Kaede sliced them all in half before they touched her or her comrades. The children stepped back in fear as she gave them the "is-that-all-you-got?" look.

"Nobody bosses me around," She warned with a satisfied smirk. They may trick themselves into thinking their warriors, Kaede had thought, but they're still just little kids. Her attention was drawn above the girls, to a weapon flinging in her direction. She grabbed the weapon, with more effort and frustration than she had to do for the arrows, and examined it. It was a nunchaku with a chain joint and metal ends which were spiked. She glanced up to the source to see no one. Yukio and Shippou flew out of the way as Kaede shouted,

"Who's there?! Show yourself!"

She watched as a figure came forth from the path between two huts.

She looked around Kaede's age, maybe even a little older, with a slender figure. She was a brunette, with thick sable streaks throughout. It dance in the wind,with her choppy bangs which were swept to her left side and angled pieces of short hair by her ears like Sango. She had a tight navy blue kimono top which was very clean, but had many diamond like rips in the arms which seemed to form a pattern which bared some of her arms. She had a white skirt which looked like it once reached her ankles, but was ripped near the middle of her thighs and slit a bit at the sides. Wrapped around her shins were navy blue pieces of cloth with interlocking white diamonds at the sides and wavy white strands as patterns. On her feet, she wore regular zori. She had shimmering emerald eyes that were very feminine with long curled eyelashes. She had thin pale lips that looked so perfect, they looked drawn.

Yukio stood with his jaw hanging in a trance. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. And she hadn't even noticed him standing there! Most girls would be crawling all over him but she didn't seem to even notice his presence.

'Just admit it, you're not that good-looking,' Yukio scowled inwardly at his inner voice which seemed to break down his ego. It continued to nag that she was too good for him. He snorted softly. He would not let her slip through the cracks. He would get her to fall for him. No girl had ever ignored him, and she wasn't going to be the first.

"Now, girls," the girl began to say in a soothing voice, "What have I told you about going after demons like this. You aren't fit to be fighting yet,"

"But we just wanted to be like you, Yumi-chan. Could we at least watch?"

She smiled at the younger girl's beaming faces and jolted her head in a signal for them to head for cover. They grinned from ear-to-ear and ran to the side. They idolised her for her strength and beauty. Yumi turned to Kaede and smirked as she grabbed hold of her other nunchuk.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Yumi the demon slayer,"

Kaede's brown orbs widened in shock when she announced she was a demon slayer, and she sent the weapon back at Yumi. She flicked her wrist and grabbed her weapon in one swift move. Kaede could hear a faint whistling from behind, and snatched the arrow that was coming towards her from the back. She snapped it in two and glared at the little girl who shot it, making her cower in fear. She screamed out in pain as a surprise attack from Yumi's nunchaku ripped at her back. Kaede collapsed onto her knees, as the blood trickled down steadily from the gashes in her back. She could hear the shrill shouts from the side coming from Yukio and Shippou. She began to faze out...

Kaede slowly tip-toed outside and to the side of her hut. She inhaled through her teeth in pain as she rested on one of her wounds from the glass pieces. It had only been an hour after they were all taken out, so she wasn't healed yet. Her mother had made sure she stayed in bed, but she had gotten restless, so she snuck outside for some fresh air.

Her thoughts were like a narrow path; only focussed on what had happened in the other world. Each one seemed to come up at any time. Her chest expanded as she took in a large whiff of crisp, fall air then contracted with a sharp exhale. She turned her head to her left as Sango came to join her. She slid her back against the wall, all the way down until he bottom reached the uncomfortable, frigid ground. She didn't seem to mind, though. She sighed quickly and briefly, letting her shoulders tense up, then relax as she stared over to Kaede who was glaring at the ground.

"Are you alright, Kaede?" she asked calmly with care to her tone.

Kaede, who had just realized she was speaking to her, dragged out a 'hmm' to actually understand fully that she was,

"Hmm? Oh, yes, I am...now,"

"Oh, well you don't seem to be your normal, happy self, that I remember you as when you were a little girl,"

Sango and Miroku had visited InuYasha and Kagome from time-to-time, when Kaede was very young, but then began to lose touch. Maybe it was because the distance permitted them only to see each other once in a blue-moon. Or maybe it was just because it was hard when they both had families to take care of. Who knows.

"I'm fine, really. I'm just a little out of it, that's all," Kaede assured with a happy grin which faded into a solemn face by the end of her sentence. Kaede watched as Kilala round the corner and jumped onto her lap. She couldn't help but grin in delight and stroke the little mewing kitty demon.

"She seems to like you," Sango cooed with a small smile. Kaede halted her petting for a moment to ask,

"Could she sleep in my room tonight? It's just that I'm not quite over all that's happened. I'm just a little..."

"Scared?"

"Yes,"

Sango nodded then sent Kilala to go looking for Kohaku. She mewed gleefully then scampered off to go transform and be on her way. Sango watched as her demon companion took to the star studded skies and into the night, while Kaede pondered the question she was about to bestow on the demon slayer.

"Sango," she began, drawing Sango's attention, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course you may," she answered softly.

"Naraku had tricked you into thinking my dad was the bad one, and I know you found out exactly what had happened, but how come you gave my dad the benefit of the doubt?"

"Well, your father has a good kind heart, and when he pointed out the obvious, and tried to help me, I knew he hadn't done such things. Basically, I just looked in my heart and knew,"

"But, how?"

"Once you can really convince a person to trust you, there's goodness shown,"

Kaede smiled weakly, and gradually glanced up to the stars...

Kaede's clear vision had finally returned, and that particular memory which had seemed so real to her at the time, had only happened in a mere second when she was out like a light. She scraped the dirt with her claws, inviting the soil under her finger nails and glanced over her shoulder to see Yumi coming at her screaming,

"Die demon!"

Kaede flipped over as Yumi's spiked weapons came crashing before her. Kaede looked to the corner of her eye to see the weapons forced into the ground, with clumps of dirt surrounding the marked spot. She continued to roll away, until she reached a safe distance in time to pull out her sword. She only used her weapon in defense, though. She didn't want to kill a human.

Yumi continuously tried to slash at Kaede with her nunchaku, leaving Kaede blocking every sudden flinch. For a brief second, she looked over to Yukio who just stood there, drooling over her opponent.

"Not helping!" the half demon screamed, snapping Yukio out from his daze.

Finally, Yumi leapt away, far enough for her to whip the weapons around her waist. Kaede watched on suspiciously to see what the demon slayer was going to do next. She dismounted the weapon tied to her back. It was a large weapon that was a bit bigger then her own self, length wise. At each end, there was a large slightly leaning blades. At the top end, there was a red piece of cloth tied to the pole-arm wood. Just below, engraved in the wood read: For those who were killed by the demon's hand. Kaede quickly reminisced on past stories of her family and friend's adventures and linked Sango's past to Yumi. She must have been some how connected to Sango! And if not, it was worth a try, anyway. She quickly sheathed her sword as her first step to getting through to the girl, as she ran rapidly in her direction.

"Yumi, stop!" She screamed. But Yumi continued on without a care.

"Do you know of a demon named Naraku?"

She came to a sudden stop with dust erupting from the ground, then hovering above it. She narrowed her gaze, asking questioningly,

"What do you know about that bastard?"

"Do you know Sango the demon exterminator?"

Yumi lowered her weapon as she beam happily,

"Yes! She was one of the greatest demon slayers in our village...so my mother had told me,"

Kaede relaxed as Yumi lowered her weapon. She stood up shakily from the constant rolling that she had done from before, but soon regained her balance. Yumi strung her weapon back onto herself and nodded for Kaede to follow her. As Kaede follow closely behind, Yukio, Shippou, and even the little human girls were all shocked and struck dumb.

"Uh," Yukio started to say, extremely puzzled, "What just happened, there?"

"I guess they came to an agreement," Shippou stated, obviously just as confused as the rest of them. They shrugged it off, though, and gained on the two females as they enter a hut.

Yumi sat down, gazing over to the half demon girl seemingly impatient. The three comrades took a seat across from Yumi and waited for her to speak.

"My mother had told me that before I was born, she lived in a village full of taijiya, but they were attacked and slaughtered by many demons. Luckily, my mother had escaped before she too was killed and pressed on to the next village. My father had also been killed so she was a widow, and assumed to be the only survivor. Or so she had thought. She had given birth to me here, but died a few years ago of illness. She had this weapon created for me, though, before she passed on. She had always wished for me to follow in my father's footsteps to become a demon exterminator and I honored her wishes. I soon found that Sango was alive, and how Naraku had killed all the people in my mother's village. I was on my way to go looking for Naraku whom I've heard is still alive, to kill him and search for Sango, but then you came,"

Kaede, seemingly taken over by such a story, wanted to help. As she work out a way, to sum up a plan in her mind, Yumi glanced over to Yukio and Shippou. Shippou began to play with a flame of his fox fire, which caught her attention. When Yukio noticed that she was too entranced with the fox fire, he dug his index talon into Shippou's side, unnoticed as possible. Shippou jumped and whacked Yukio across the head. Yumi held back the urge to break out into snickers, and glared back over to Kaede as she began,

"I'm very sorry to hear about your mother and father, Yumi, but I just might have a way to help you. My parents are on their way to kill Naraku with comrades...one being Sango. This jewel around my neck is the–,"

"Shikon no Tama," Yumi added before Kaede. She bit her lip nervously as Kaede eyed her.

"I've heard stories of it," she stumbled on her words then nodding for Kaede to go on.

"Well, that group, including Shippou over here," She paused to point over to Shippou who shot a small wave in Yumi's direction,

"Collected the shattered pieces when the jewel broke so long ago. They even retrieved the shards that Naraku had, and supposedly had killed him. After so many years, he's been alive but in hiding, waiting for the jewel to be restored and to be passed on to the next protector; me. We're looking for Naraku and my parents and comrades as well, and since Sango is with them, too, would you like to come with us?"

Yumi sat, pondering for a moment, until she finally agreed,

"I will come with you to find Sango and kill Naraku,"

Kaede grinned as did Yukio and Shippou, then looked over to the bird demon, to see his eyes fixed onto Yumi. She smirked slyly and ambled towards the door. As she brush past Yukio, she couldn't hold her remark in, it was too good,

"She's way out of your league,"

He blushed crimson as he peered towards Yumi who arched a brow with an unimpressed glare. He desperately tried to snatch the half demon who had so wittily embarrassed him, but she had already burst out the door laughing. He jumped up, racing out of the hut after her screaming,

"Get back here!"

Shippou sighed, both annoyed and tired of their childish fighting, then glanced over to Yumi who was looking quite lost.

"They're going to be doing that a lot," he explained to her as they both made their way outside.

Their eyes traveled back and forth as they watched the bird demon and half dog demon begin to wreak havoc throughout the, now, busy village as she run with laughter and he gained with anger. Yumi and Shippou lowered their heads in shame as they seemed responsible for the immature pair. They shook their heads in embarrassment and pity and marched after the two into the forest.