Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha and co. I don't own any of the songs that I put into the story, except on cd's. But I do own Shiori, Miyu-Guardian-mother to Shiori & Koshin Hakogami-snow youkai from modern Japan-father to Shiori, Kil Kai-another snow demon from feudal times & Aisu-female snow demon from feudal times, they are all mine.

AN: " " is speaking, ' ' is thought

AN: The She that I am referring to in this is the Goddess, I thought that I would put 'she' in italics & capitalize, instead of writing 'Goddess' all the time.

AN: Since my editor is been very busy lately, I've done my own review of this chapter & hopefully I didn't miss anything.

And thanks to those that read & review, especially to karla thanks, that means a lot to me that you like my work, I enjoy hearing from you & all my readers. The baby is doing fine, btw, already in a walker at 6 months, they grow so fast. MyDaemonRyusan good luck on your story, I hope it turns out great. Sometimes people can think of the almost the same ideas, good luck & thanks for your review. :-) Hope I keep you all interested in this story. The reviews mean a lot. Enjoy!

Now on with the show.

Glossary:

youkai-demon

taiyoukai-demon lord

inu-youkai-dog demon

ningen-human

ookami-wolf demon

osuwari-sit

aisu-ice

Chapter 24: The Cat's Out of the Bag

The large group arrived at the village amid genuine greetings from the villagers. This surprised the two snow youkai. Never have they been so openly greeted by humans before except the ones that live in their territory. What surprised them was the sight of a young kitsune kit and a small fire neko playing a game of chase with the village children.

When Rin saw the children, she released Shiori's hand and darted toward the group.

Sesshomaru was watching the group of children closely, waiting to see what they would do. But, nothing untoward happened, the children just smiled and let Rin join in their game, explaining the rules. She was accepted, no questions asked. Sesshomaru mentally let out a sigh and relaxed just a bit.

The other villagers were going about their daily lives, stopping to greet the familiar ones in the group and glancing at the unfamiliar ones. They figured that if they were with the inu hanyou, the young miko and young guardian then they would accept them.

The group arrived at Kaede's hut to the sound of a slap and a loud, "HENTAI!"

"I see Miroku is 'courting' Sango," Shiori laughed while she entered the little hut.

Sango looked up as the door flap was moved aside to reveal her newly acquired friend. She smiled, "Hi, I'm glad you're back. Did you get the answers you were looking for back home?"

"Well, let's just say that I got some answers, but not exactly the ones I was looking for," Shiori answered, a bit unhappy.

"Oh, sorry to hear that. It is something that can be cleared up, right?"

"Not exactly. I'm sure it can be, but I have to see the Goddess herself to get her to put an end to the dreams," Shiori answered, putting her bags down by the back wall. "Where is Kaede? I need to talk to her and Miroku."

"She's out in the herb garden picking herbs. Why? What is wrong?" Sango asked, a little worried.

"Nothing really wrong, but something that I will need her and Miroku to help me with. I'm heading to the herb garden then." She walked out of the hut, not really paying attention and almost walked right into Sesshomaru's chest plate. "Hey! Will you stomp your feet or clap your hands? Something, anything to let a body know you're there! I hate it when youkai try to sneak up on me."

"I didn't know that I was sneaking up on you," he said with a smirk, watching her grit her teeth and then turn around to walk off. He could also see that she held her wings rather stiffly in the air. He decided to follow her.

She felt him following her, but tried to ignore him, thinking that he would get bored and turn back around. No luck, he followed her to the village herb garden where Lady Kaede was working.

Kaede felt the presence of the young Guardian and a very powerful taiyoukai. She looked up and was very surprised to see who the taiyoukai was that was following Shiori. 'Now this is interesting,' she thought, standing up to wait for the odd couple to reach her. "Well, what can I do for ye two?"

Shiori smiled at the old miko and bowed to show respect. "Kaede, we need to talk, I have been alerted to the presence of a new Guardian and I will need you, Kagome and Miroku to help access her power and how long she has till her powers break free of the binding spell."

This was slightly interesting to Sesshomaru. 'Another Guardian? I wonder why this one was bound? Was it because this one was uncontrollable?'

"Where is this one and why were they bound?" Kaede asked, curious.

"I'll tell you when we get Miroku, I want to let everyone know who this child is," Shiori answered.

Kaede was surprised. "A child! How did you find out it was a child? Do you know where this child is?"

Shiori took a deep breath. "Yes, I do and I don't think she has a whole lot of time left before her powers break through the binding spell."

"Well then, shall we head back to my home so we can find out what to do?" Kaede picked up her basket of herbs and began walking back to her hut with the silent pair close behind.

When they reached to hut, everyone was outside talking about where they may go next to try to locate the last few shards of the Shikon no Tama. Everyone stopped when the Kaede, Shiori and Sesshomaru arrived.

Miroku was the first to speak, "I was told that you will be needing my assistance, Lady Shiori. I am all yours." This earned him a heated glare from Sango.

Shiori smiled and tried to suppress her laughter. It worked but her wings shook a little with the effort. "I appreciate your offer, Miroku, but I don't need that kind of help. Besides, trying to help me in that way would be hazardous to your health."

Miroku turned and saw the murderous expression on Sango's face, then turned back to reply calmly, "I see your point. So, what do you need my help with?"

Shiori asked everyone to get comfortable then took another deep breath and began. "While I was back home, I discovered some very interesting things. One, is that Kagura was correct, Naraku is after the Hell's Gate Jewel and if he gets possession of it and uses it, we're screwed. He will have the power to control the very demons from Hell. The one's that the Christians were right about. If that happens the world will be finished and we will have Hell on Earth."

"Then, we must stop this monster before he can get his hands on the Hell's Gate Jewel," Lady Aisu stated.

"Well, there is one problem with that," Shiori explained, "We have to let him get it and use it to open the portal in order to be able to destroy it, permanently."

"Doesn't that defeat the purpose?" Sesshomaru asked quietly. "Is that not what you are trying to stop him from doing?"

"It sound insane, but it is the only way to ensure that the Hell's Gate Jewel is destroyed. See, the Jewel is vulnerable when the gate is opened and there is only one way to destroy it and seal the gateway for all time."

Everyone waited for her to elaborate but she was content to leave it there. Kagome was pleading with Shiori, with her eyes, to continue her explanation.

Shiori sighed, "The only way to accomplish this task is with the blood of a very powerful Guardian."

"How much are we talking about here? A little? A lot," Inu Yasha asked, he noticed the tension between the two cousins and he was concerned.

"No, Inu Yasha, the blood needed will be from the death of the Guardian. A Guardian's death is what is needed to destroy the Hell's Gate Jewel and seal the gateway. Nothing less."

"Then what about this new Guardian that Kagome mentioned you found?" Sango asked.

"New is just about right, Sango. This Guardian has been well hidden for several years now, by her mother. Before dying from a bandit raid, her mother used the last of her strength to bind her little girl's powers in the hope that she could protect her child until the Goddess found her. Unfortunately, the Goddess was not the one to find the girl. Another happened to chance finding her." She paused and tried her best not to glance at Sesshomaru.

"Who is this young Guardian, child?" Kaede asked, "Where can we find her?" At that moment Shippou and Rin came running up to the group with Kirara in her arms. They were smiling and laughing, but stopped when they caught the solemn expressions of the adults.

"What's wrong? Why is everyone so quiet?" Rin asked, looking from face to face, then she stopped at Shiori's.

Shiori turned to face Rin and knelt down to eye level with the sweet, little girl. "Right here." This was said softly as she watched Rin closely, sending out her power to test the binding spell put on the child years ago. Everyone was shocked into total silence.

This unnerved Rin a bit. Then, her eyes widen as she felt something that she couldn't quite describe. But what puzzled her the most was that she felt an answering spark inside herself. It was weak, but only because it was being contained, though she did feel a few cracks in the container. "What am I, Shiori? Why can I feel you?" she asked softly.

"Because you are like me, munchkin. You are a Guardian and it's time you started training, to unlock your gifts," Shiori smiled softly to the surprised little girl.

"What are you talking about, woman," Sesshomaru asked, quietly, angry at what Shiori was telling him. How could Rin be a Guardian? She has been with him for three years and he has never sense anything from her. She was only a little, ningen girl. But as he waited for an answer, he began to sense something different from Rin. At first, he thought that it was coming from Shiori, but he realized this was not as strong. He could tell it had great potential, though.

Shiori answered without taking her eyes off of Rin. "It's possible because her mother was one of us. She married and left the Goddess's temple. She bore a child, a little girl, who had enormous potential. We are allowed to strike out on our own when the time is right. The Goddess doesn't believe in controlling us like that. So, she was allowed to leave and marry. When her little girl showed signs of being one of us, she would have taken her to the temple. But, that was not to be. She did what she felt she had to do to protect her baby."

"Why do you need us, Lady Shiori?" Miroku asked, still amazed.

Sesshomaru answered, "She'll need someone to be there when she uses her powers for the first time." This caused Shiori to spin around and stare at him. "I am right, aren't I?"

"Yes, but how do you know?" she asked, watching him closely.

"Because, I was somehow there when you first used your powers. It was against a large, lizard youkai," he answered, watching her closely. "You were around three years of age. You were with your parents on a picnic."

Shiori listened to him in shock, but then a memory began to surface. She was three years old again, she relived that day, but something caught her eye. Something white, tall, long hair. She looked at the Western Lord with wide eyes. She saw him, when she was only a small child. "What the hell is going on here?"

"I do not know, but if you know who has the answers then maybe we should talk to them," he quietly suggested.

"You're damn right we will, but first we need to get Rin ready first." She turned to Miroku, Kaede and Kagome. It was time to get Rin ready and leave to have it out with a certain, pesky Goddess!

AN: And again, I'm so sorry that it has taken so long for me to update. I hope you like this chapter. LOL I hope this chapter is enjoyed by my loyal readers. How do you guys like it so far? Please read & review. Or I won't write any more! just kidding, please review.

I would like to thank my wonderful editor, ninjawarrior4life, my bro. glad you like it.

And thanks to everyone who has been reading this story from the beginning when I first started posting it. And to those who read and like it.

THX to all my readers.