(A/N) Here is another chapter for everyone to read and hopefully enjoy. Also, I'd like to thank all my reviewers who encouraged me to continue my writing. So, many thanks to you all!

Ch.5 Man Hunt

Inuyasha had been looking at the scene for quite some time and was silently cursing whoever had made finding Kagome so difficult. His only clues were the now very faint scents of demons that had once been here. Their scent had far outdone Kagome's at this point which meant that there was nothing for him to go by. There was more than one demon...possibly three or more. I'm certain of that. But, what did they do with Kagome?

He recalled the woman that had been with Sesshomaru. Perhaps she had something to do with Kagome...I mean, she knew her name. "That's it! She must have been one of the demons that had Kagome! When she realized I was looking for someone, she must have known I was looking for Kagome and tried to pass off as her." He paused in his thoughts. "Not very smart considering I know what Kagome looks like."

Either way, Inuyasha was stuck at a dead end. More likely than not, Sesshomaru had personally dealt death upon the demoness from earlier and his friends weren't here yet so he could gather no more information then what scents could tell him, which wasn't much at all. Dammit, what's taking them so long?

Kilala flew as fast as she could while following the scent Inuyasha had left behind. She was rather cautious as by now she could also pick up on the scents of several other demons. It was Miroku that voiced her concerns.

"We must be careful," his voice rang out against the sound of the flames at Kilala's feat, "there are several very strong demons in the area."

Sango looked back at the monk sitting behind her. "Do you think they mean to cause us trouble? Could it be Naraku?"

Miroku shook his head. "No, I can't sense Naraku's evil aura anywhere near here. No, these demons have nothing to do with him that I can tell."

"Kilala, can you go around them?" Sango asked as she leaned down to speak into the cat's ear.

She mewed in response and tried to not to wince at the loud smack that rang out from behind her. She looked back to see the monk nearly fall off and quickly dove for the ground. Lucky for Miroku, she landed just as slid off and thudded on his head on the grass a few feet below. Mortals.

Miroku was about to plead with Sango about how she had been so cruel and he, a mere man, could not help what he had done when he heard voices in the background. Shooshing Sango, who had opened her mouth to let him have a piece of her mind, he checked the wind and was grateful that they were downwind of the demonic presences just ahead.

Kagome was surrounded in a pleasant blackness. There was nothing wrong with her in the world she was now in. She had not been turned into a demon, she had not even been near Sesshomaru, and she most certainly had not been thrown into a tree by the aforementioned demon lord. She did not know what to think when voices softly made their way into her little world. She wanted to forget everything that had happened but the nagging voices were growing louder and reminding her of the things that didn't happen. What are they saying? I don't understand.

It was then that she felt a sharp pain stab into her side and her eyes sprung open to view the world around her. She saw the ground at eye level, the blades of grass blurring her view of anything else. The pain brought tears to her eyes and she glared up at whoever, or whatever, had disturbed what peace she been experiencing.

"My Lady, the girl has woken," said a low-pitched male voice. Kagome looked up and noticed he was lithely built with long orange hair. He wore what looked like very expensive silk garments of silver and black coloration. The last thing she noticed before another voice cut in was the fact that this man had pointed ears, meaning she was dealing yet again with demons. What did I do to the gods?

"It is no small wonder why the girl is awake. Only the dead would have been able to sleep through that kick." Yellow eyes peered down at the disheveled mess on the ground that was in the shape of a woman. She shifted on the comfortable pillows that made the floor of her caravan. "Does she appear to have any particular use?"

The male demon lifted Kagome gently by the throat and looked her face over. He then moved to check her claws and her torso to see what kind of damage had been done. "She seems to be rather damaged, My Lady. She does seem to be healing but it will take a week before she is able to move again as she has had damage to her spine. There is something of interest though," he looked nervously as she cocked her eye at him as if to say 'why didn't you say that first?' "She has a marking on her forehead, a blood red tear drop within a crescent moon."

The woman pulled back part of the curtains that blocked her view of the outside world and peered outside. "Show me the girl." Before she had finished her sentence the man was already dragging Kagome's limp body over to her. "Reveal this mark."

Kagome glared at the woman who was now studying her as if debating what was best to be done. The woman had silver hair that fell down, how far Kagome couldn't tell as when the woman was sitting it seemed to pool around her. Her garments were a shiny silver with a black pattern of wavy stripes here and there. Upon her face were black markings that reminded Kagome of whiskers and on her forehead were four small, silver marks that were angled towards each other. She looks like she's drowning in those garments.

"With marks like that she must be part of Lord Sesshomaru's court. This will make the ideal gift," she stated and closed the curtain imperiously. "Bring her along and make sure to find suitable clothing befitting a gift to the Western Lord."

"My Lady, if I may be so bold as to ask, would it not be rude to gift him one from his own court?" The male did not want to be the one to insult the great dog demon. If his father was anything to judge him by, doing so was not a good thing for anyone.

"Silly little kitten," she said insultingly, "the gift is that we return her alive. After all, she is a dog and we are cats. He should appreciate it that we did not kill one of his kind."

"As you wish My Lady," he bowed low and ordered a few of the men to carry Kagome.

Kagome watched in fascination as the demon male quickly turned into what looked like an orange tabby the size of Kilala when she transformed and he bolted off into the forest. She would have protested at being treated as some kind of lowly gift but unfortunately her voice wasn't working at all. Neither were her limbs so she couldn't even smack at the hands that were now holding her. What am I going to do? Sesshomaru is going to kill me when they turn me over to him!

Kilala watched with keen eyes as the demons made their way through the clearing, though the orange cat had passed a little too close for comfort. She mewed at her companions signaling it was finally time that they could catch up to Inuyasha who would undoubtedly be in a foul mood. She leaned down so that Shippo could more easily hop onto her head.

"My dearest Sango, allow me to assist you," Miroku enticed as he placed his hand on Sango's backside.

SMACK!

Inuyasha saw them come into the clearing with a snickering Shippo on Kilala's head and a red faced Sango. Miroku had a nice hand print on his cheek and a dazed expression indicating he was still an idiot that could not keep his hands to himself. "It's about time you all got here. What kept you?"

"Well, aside from the pervert that could not keep his hands to himself, there were a few demons in the way so we had to wait for them to leave before we could continue," Sango explained as she quickly hopped off Kilala before Miroku could decide to 'help'.

Inuyasha's ears perked up. "Did you happen to catch who they were? Were they involved with Naraku?"

Miroku shook his head, "Unfortunately no, I couldn't sense Naraku's evilness anywhere in the area. I couldn't catch much but they seemed to be heading to Sesshomaru's castle."

"Feh, like I care about that. I caught a few scents here but nothing much to go by. They just seem to disappear right here, so whoever it was covered their tracks really well," Inuyasha complained. He didn't like not knowing what happened and especially didn't like that whoever it had been had Kagome. "Can you guys gather anything?"

Sango looked around the clearing. As far as she could tell nothing had happened here save for Kagome being captured and possibly flown out of here. There were no tracks leading to or away from the clearing. It was then that she spotted a few feathers that had blown quite a few feet away. "I found a few feathers, but that could mean nothing."

Miroku went over to Sango and took the feathers from her hand. "These are most certainly demon feathers, meaning whoever has Kagome probably flew her out of here." He sighed as a perplexed expression settled on his face.

"What is it Miroku?" Sango asked, her voice laced with concern.

"There was magic at work here. I can't tell what kind it was but it was very powerful," he said and glanced at Inuyasha. He knew his next idea was not going to go over well. "Perhaps we should discuss this with Kaede? She may have heard something about these demons or might even be able to tell the last spell that was cast by examining the feathers. Whatever magic they used is beyond my capabilities to determine." He had tried to sound as reasonable as possible.

Inuyasha was not happy. Going to Kaede would add a week even if they traveled at their fastest. An entire week that Kagome would be in the hands of the enemy. Inuyasha growled and did the one thing he knew could relieve some of the stress. He jumped over to the forest and punched a nearby tree. "We don't have time for that! Kagome is in their hands and the longer we don't go after them the longer she stays there…for them to do gods knows what!"

"Inuyasha," Miroku calmly voiced, "we have no clues to go by except the ones we have already found. As none of us know where they lead, Kaede is our best choice at the moment."

Inuyasha growled again in frustration and looked at the group. "Fine, but no breaks on the way there. We have to get there as soon as we can."

No one argued with at this point. They knew Kilala could last a couple of days but at some point there would have to be rest; however, now was not the best time to bring that up. For now, all was silent as the group rushed to pack up camp and started on the way to Kaede.

Kagome looked around at her surroundings. It was a pastime she was getting used to given the fact that her spine had yet to fully heal. Her muscles still felt a little stiff and she needed to be carried but she had regained the ability to talk at the very least. She noticed that her eyesight was far better than it used to be and little noises rang in her head sometimes giving her a headache. No wonder Sesshomaru is always grouchy.

From what she gathered, she was currently with a group of thirty cat demons, ranging from tigers to tabbies. Very few of them had any distinguished markings, which she had learned that only those of noble blood had. There were exceptions few and far between as the only other way to gain markings was to grow powerful enough to be on par with a noble. Those that managed it were still looked down upon and their rank was just a little higher than the normal demon commoner.

Six of the guards carried their leader, who she found out was the Lady of the East. She was, according to her calculations, roughly twenty-seven in human years if appearances were anything to judge by. In demon years, Kagome could only imagine how old she was; however, she wasn't dumb enough to ask. She had a feeling that if she caused any problems the cat demoness would have no trouble flaying her with those sharp kitty claws.

Eight other guards carried a longer carriage that held five female demons, the Lady's hand maids from what Kagome could gather. She could hear them giggling about pathetic the little dog demon they had found was being carried due to her weakness. There were also some musings as to whether or not if they threw a stick if she would fetch it. Kagome really didn't care for most of them. The only one, Hanako, was the only one that seemed to have any kindness about her situation. When the others were asleep she would whisper down to Kagome and encourage her that she would be returning home soon. Hah! If she only knew.

Still, her thoughts returned once again to the friends that she had been without for a week now. Kagome recalled all the times she would disappear to her time asking for a week or two of time to herself so that she could focus on her studies and catch up on homework. With a sigh, she recalled all the fights her and Inuyasha had been in, all the times she had to sit him to protect Shippo, all the times he had come to rescue her from whatever trouble she had gotten herself into. She looked up at the starry sky and wondered what they were up to. How worried were they that she had been missing for so long? Had they told her parents? Had they even figured out what had happened to her? Would they even be coming to look for her? So many questions filler her mind that night as she fell into a troubled sleep.

Sesshomaru looked down once again at the stack of papers he was currently catching up on. That was the ultimate price on scouting out his lands and trying to track down Naraku, a mountain of paperwork when he returned. Not only was that the case, he had to make sure everything was ready for his fellow Lords and Ladies, whatever personal maids the females just could not live without, any guards they would have brought for protection, and a few stacks of paper alone on the plans for the week they would all be staying and the events that were supposed to take place. It was no wonder one of these meetings hadn't taken place in such a long time.

There was another problem with this as well. It would give any male a chance to challenge him for his lands should they feel like throwing their lives away and the worst part…a chance for all the uptight females to attempt to win his attentions. As he saw it, this was nothing more than an opportunity for a massive headache and possibly a chance of killing someone, though that might be frowned upon.

The other problem was hiding Rin for an entire week while they were around. It was not that he cared what the other demons thought about him. He simply couldn't be there at every single moment to protect the girl from anyone that might use her to get to him. Sesshomaru hated the idea that any person meant enough to him to cause him to worry about things such as that, but it could not be helped. The girl had grown on him…plus she kept Jaken in line. Rin will not like being cooped up in her rooms for an entire week; but, I cannot risk her being seen. Perhaps there is some way she can be entertained?

"My Lord!" chimed in Jaken's shrill voice. He sputtered a bit at the annoyed glance he received in return. "My apologies, but something important has happened that required me to tell you immediately!"

Sesshomaru looked down upon the kappa. "I suggest you say it quickly instead of wasting my time, Jaken."

"It's about the Southern Lord. He was ambushed before he could reach these lands and slain by a mercenary group of demons. His only son, Ichiro, has taken over and is taking his place next week at the meeting of the Lords and Ladies," Jaken ended looking a blue-ish green, as he had said it all in one breath.

"Do we know who hired the mercenary group?" Sesshomaru inquired.

"My Lord, there are whispers that Naraku hired them to dispose of him," Jaken said with caution. He knew that his lord would not be pleased one bit with the news that Naraku's men had been so close to his lands and let alone had the nerve to kill a demon lord.

"Is that all Jaken?" He looked down at the nervous kappa that seemed to be afraid to be the messenger of bad news.

"Uh, yes my Lord," Jaken said questioningly. He had expected outrage, perhaps something breaking, or him being tossed. Lord Sesshomaru seemed to stay perfectly calm.

"Then be gone, there is much business to be taken care of. As it is, that stack of papers needs to be filed," he pointed at a giant stack of papers twice as tall as Jaken.

Once Jaken left the demon lord leaned back in his chair, about as relaxed as he could possibly get. So, the demon lord of the south has fallen and his son has taken his place. A rather quick succession at that. Odds are the son worked with Naraku to get his place as Lord. As such, I will have to keep a close eye upon him. Perhaps Inuyasha's wench has some information on the demons? After all, they seem to have more encounters with Naraku and his henchmen more than any other group I know of. Perhaps a visit is necessary.

Dust flew as Inuyasha skidded to a halt in front of Kaede's hut. After a lengthy travel they had finally made it back to the village where it had all started. In his hurry, he walked into the hut without knocking and asked, "Hey Kaede, you here?"

"As loud as ever, Inuyasha. Ye have no need to yell, I am here," she responded in her old, yet kind voice. She was kneeling at the pot in the middle of her floor, stirring occasionally as the stew within boiled. "You have returned faster than I had anticipated." She peered up with her one good eye and noticed how dirty and disheveled the half demon looked. "Is something amiss?"

"You got that right. Kagome's gone and we were wondering if you could figure out who was behind it," Inuyasha hastily let out.

Miroku, Sango, Kilala, and Shippo entered the hut upon hearing that Inuyasha had already barged in and went straight to the problem at hand. Miroku was the first to speak, "Lady Kaede, an honor as usual," he said with a bow. "I am guessing by your expression that Inuyasha has told you about Kagome?"

Kaede nodded. "Indeed he has, though has given me nothing to work with as of yet."

Sango handed her the feathers she had found in the area where Kagome could last be tracked. "We found these in the area. We know there was magic used and there were at least three demons there. However, there was no scent trail leading away from the scene or any tracks. It's like they vanished into thin air."

"Yeah, Inuyasha couldn't smell a thing!" Shippo added, proud that he had something to say that could contribute to the conversation.

"What's that supposed to mean you little brat?" Inuyasha yelled as he always did when Shippo said anything remotely questioning about his abilities. Without waiting for an explanation, he swiftly punched downward onto Shippo's head.

"Owie! You jerk Inuyasha. It's not my fault your nose couldn't sniff out Kagome!" Shippo wined.

"Like you could do any better!" Inuyasha quickly deflected.

"ENOUGH!" interjected Miroku. "I am sure Lady Kaede would like some silence so she can figure out what happened to Kagome. I assume you both wish to find out what happened, correct?"

Both grumbled at the interfering monk, but they remained silent under Kaede's glance in their direction. She looked down at the feathers and studied them for quite some time. Obviously they came from a bird demon of some sort. It was probably a hawk of some kind, which is odd as most birds tend to work alone or in pairs at most. This narrows down the demon group that it could be greatly. She let out what remained of her once powerful priestess abilities and studied the magic that mingled with them. I see, it seems to alter the power…at least that is its main purpose, but to what effect? Did they mean to change Kagome's spiritual power into something else or get rid of it completely?

"Inuyasha, tell me everything that happened. Every detail that you can think of," she encouraged.

Inuyasha tried smacked his head in irritation. "Now I remember what happened. I was sleeping and dreaming about," he looked at the group and pause, "stuff. Anyway, Midoriko appeared and told me that Kagome would be attacked by Naraku's demons and that I shouldn't go looking for her. When I told her to go to hell she put me under a spell so that I wouldn't wake up. By the time I woke up Kagome was gone and so were the demons that attacked her. She said Kagome would be gone for a long time…"

"And you decided to keep this to yourself until now?" questioned Shippo with tone of incredulousness.

"I hadn't thought about it until now alright?" Inuyasha yelled back with an angry gleam in his eyes.

"Inuyasha, calm thy self," Kaede intoned. "This information is indeed troubling. If what you say is true, and what the magic I sense on this is true, then I implore you…do not go looking for Kagome. There are bigger things here than we can hope to figure out if those were indeed Midoriko's wishes."

"Lady Kaede, I gather you have found something out about the spell that was used?" Miroku questioned. His wise eyes expressed the fact that he knew whatever they were going to hear from her was not going to be good.

"Aye, I did indeed. This spell means quite a few things, some good…quite a few bad. It will affect one person the most…and I see we are indeed graced with their presence at an uncanny time," she said as she looked at the newcomer that appeared within the doorway.