When the gang arrived at the hut, Inuyasha was leaning against the wall next to the door of the sleeping quarters to the hut, his eyes closed and hands tucked into the sleeves of his robes. He didn't wait for them to ask before he spoke.
"The old bat is taking care of her, she locked up in there so she can take care of all the wounds."
The lecherous priest blushed a little as he thought of what must be bared in other the room just now before a crack to his head sent him crashing to the ground. Sango fumed a bit, hand on her boomerang again.
"Lech.." She muttered before taking a seat to wait. Shippo looked at Inu for while, trying to figure out it all in his head before curling up with Sango's shape-shifting friend Kirara.
Inu kehed as usual but otherwise stayed still to wait it out while he lost himself in his own thoughts.
The cat demon awoke several hours later, stretching out her back before making a pained hiss as her body ached all over. Her head turned to one of the hut's walls in an instant though, she wasn't alone.
"What do you want?"
She growled to the man standing in the corner, watching her closely, it was that damn dog from before!
"Waiting for you to wake up to answer a few questions." He barked back but held his temper mostly in check.
She bared her teeth at him again before she started to notice something was wrong.
"What did you do with the shard?"
She snapped at him, growling lowly, so the dog-boy was a thief too, if she could only move, she would have given him quite a few deep scars. The hanyou smiled wryly before pulling the pouch that held her shard out of the folds of his robe.
"This? It's too much for you…"
"Says who? A weak hanyou? How the hell would you know?"
"We're collecting these, little kit, and it doesn't matter why.."
"Oh when I can move again, you're going to be full of holes when I'm done with you!" She yelled, eying the marks she had already left, they were still there, the hanyou had not slept it seemed.
"I look forward to it…" He said dryly, he really didn't care but why not have a little fun with her? He needed something to keep his mind off the past, anything would do as long as those images would stay out of his head if only a moment. He couldn't help but smirk a little as she cursed him with whatever came to mind, this might just be what he needed after all. Lacing his fingers together behind his head, he then wandered out of the room, leaving her cursing his back.
The same argument happened for the next few days, no questions getting answered for either of them, the girl just wasn't talking and Inu wasn't giving back the shard. So each day, tempers seethed until one morning. Inu watched her form, waiting for her to wake up to try again. Suddenly, she was up and springing for him, claws bared. He was gone in an instant, leaving her to dig her claws into the wood of the wall before racing after him. Miroku and Sango watched both blurs pass before sighing.
"Seems she's feeling better…" Sango muttered.
"Oh joy…" Miroku answered before yelping, seemed his hand had wandered yet again.
Outside, a game of chase was going on, blurs racing through the forest at breakneck speed, feline growls followed by laughing from her prey. He was having fun for the first time since "she" had left him, games kept his mind busy so this was more than welcome. After a time, he let her catch up, only to be thrown on his back as she reached for the hidden pouch beneath his robes. A gasp came from her as he reversed the pin before pinning her arms down so she couldn't get it.
"So…happy now?"
He taunted, smiling when her face went red then putting his ears back as her shouted curses assaulted his hearing.
"Well you two mind acting like adults so we can get a start on the day?" Came Shippo's voice from nearby while Miroku leaned on his staff and Sango watched his hand to make sure he didn't get any ideas. Inu jumped away, watching the cat-girl to see if she planned on attacking again.
"We can't see them so how do we do find them?" The hanyou barked, his thoughts drifting back to things he didn't want to ponder.
"I can.." Came a little whisper from the girl drawing a shocked look from the group. "The name is Shiori…" She continued, ears going back a bit, she knew it had to sound crazy to them.
"Prove it!" Inu barked, anger seeping into his thoughts as his thoughts continued to wander.
"The shard is at your stomach, just above your belt…"
"Is it?" Shippo asked, trying not to fidget which was hard for the little kitsune.
"Bitch!" The hanyou answered before mumbling yes under his breath.
"Looks like we can get going again then…" Miroku said quietly before walking forward, the others soon falling into step behind him, the neko sighing before following as well, she wasn't going to get her shard back anyway so might as well try to steal one when the opportunity presented itself. Inu was the last to follow, sprinting out ahead of them within moments, a scowl on his face, muttering a steady stream of curses as he went. And so began the next stage of the group's journey…….