"Though this be madness, yet there is method in't."

Hamlet – William Shakespeare

Two days had passed since the incident involving her reoccurring nightmares and although the tension still hummed between them, they had fallen into a semi-comfortable routine.

Sango eyed the monk as he walked a little ahead of her, running her gaze over his form.

He'd changed in the two years he'd been gone. His features had lost some of the boyish handsomeness that had first attracted her so long ago and had grown harder somehow. It was as if what he'd done and the things he'd seen had tempered him like steel.

The changes in his appearance made her wonder what else may have changed and she immediately chastised her traitorous mind. She frowned slightly and reminded herself that she didn't care.

Bolstering her feigned apathy she surveyed the landscape around her.

They were on the outskirts of a small collection of farms, not large enough to call a village, heading towards the woods.

Sango let her mind wander again as they started up a small incline. She'd not spoken to Kagome in almost three weeks and she wondered how her exams had gone. She didn't quite understand what they were for since she knew that her friend had graduated from what she called high school.

She'd thought that in Kagome's time that was the highest level of education to be obtained, but apparently she'd been wrong.

Kagome had said that the exams she had to take were entrance exams so she could get into a university. She'd been inordinately stressed about them.

Sango was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't notice Miroku had stopped at the top of the hill. She ran into him and scowled.

"Houshi, why are you…." He held his hand up, motioning for silence, and pointed to a point in the distance. Annoyed, she followed the direction of his hand with her gaze.

I took a moment for her to process what she was seeing.

She immediately brought Hiraikotsu around and started to run forward but Miroku grasped her arm and stopped her.

She frowned at him. "Let me go, monk."

He wasn't looking at her.

"No taijiya…wait."

She huffed in frustration but stayed still. Whatever her feelings about Miroku she knew that his instincts were almost as well honed as her own.

She paused and surveyed the scene. In the middle of the roadway a farmer's cart lay on its side and blocked the path. She sniffed. The metallic scent of blood lingered in the air and the ground and cart were covered in red.

She felt a flutter of anxiety in her gut. It looked like a massacre had taken place.

Miroku closed his eyes and stretched out his senses. There was a strange aura nearby, but he couldn't seem to tell where it was coming from.

He didn't like this at all.

"There was a farm a few yards to the west of here, was there not?"

She nodded, cocked her head to the side, and asked.

"What are you thinking?"

He frowned. "I'm thinking perhaps we should head towards it. I do not like what I sense here."

Sango was not without her own instincts and she was able to feel demonic aura. She knew though that his ability, at least in this area, exceeded her own.

She frowned and stretched out her senses to their limit. He was right, there was something there.

"You think the farmers will be able to tell us if anything strange has been happening?" She asked. He nodded.

"Yes I do. I want to gather more information before we continue on into the woods."

She silently agreed with him. She'd always been a cautious person, but the war had refined that quality in her. If she had learned anything during that time it was that going into a situation blind had the highest likelihood of getting someone killed.

"Let's go," she said, and started down the hill. They reached the bottom together and headed through a field and towards the farm.

They found the farmer tending his soybeans.

"Hello old man, might we have a moment?" Miroku queried as they drew closer.

The farmer looked up and wiped a sweaty hand across his weathered brow. He narrowed his eyes at the two, taking in Miroku's robes and then shifting his gaze to Sango. His eyes traveled over her form and lingered on her wrists and ankles, where her armor extended passed her yukata.

"Been a long time since I seen a taijiya in these parts. Last I heard they was all but wiped out." He spat and eyed her suspiciously. "You actually a slayer?"

Sango frowned, annoyed. She hated when she encountered this particular problem.

She knew that the old man's suspicions were not unwarranted. When the slayer's village was decimated there were those who were not above claiming they were slayers and bilking villages out of a fee to dispose of troublesome demons, only to sneak off into the night.

"I am a taijiya, old man." He grunted, nodded, and turned to Miroku.

"What's a Buddhist monk and a slayer doing traveling through these parts?"

Miroku gestured towards the woods with his staff.

"We're traveling south to Lord Toyotomi's lands." The old man frowned and shook his head.

"You look like that monk that came through here, must have been almost twenty years ago now. He was headed towards Toyotomi's lands, too."

Miroku started. He couldn't mean…

"Did you speak to this monk?"

He nodded.

"Yep, as matter of fact I did. Nice fella, had a young woman with him. Pretty thing, but a little uppity. Tried to dress down and claimed she was from a village to the north, but she weren't."

Sango assessed him with questioning eyes. "Why do you say that?"

He turned to regard the slayer.

"Cause she weren't no village girl. She had airs and soft hands and I could tell she weren't use to traveling like normal folks. She was nobility. I'd bet my life on it. Saw a bunch of nobles when I was a solider. All had the same look about them. You know…soft."

Sango turned to Miroku.

"You think you know who he was?"

He gazed into the distance and shook his head as if to clear it.

"I think he was my father," he murmured. She blinked in surprise.

"Your father? How is that possible?"

He frowned. He'd suddenly realized that because of the tension between them, he'd never explained to her why he'd received the coin summoning him to Lord Toyotomi's lands or how he'd known what it was. He also knew that now was not the time to review ancient history.

Besides, he needed to think over this knew information. He hadn't known his father had a woman with him when he traveled to the southern lands and he wondered who she'd been.

Perhaps she'd simple been a traveler he'd decided to aid, but that explanation felt wrong to Miroku. He was starting to think that perhaps they should try and get some more information before reaching Toyotomi's domain.

He looked back over his shoulder and frowned thoughtfully.

There was a Buddhist temple slightly southeast of the path they were traveling and if he remembered correctly an old friend of Mushin's and his grandfather was the keeper. Perhaps a detour was in order.

It was something to think about at least.

He ignored Sango's question, earning a glare from the slayer, and turned back to the farmer.

"Tell me old man. Has anything strange been happening around here lately? We came across an overturned cart just over that hill on the way into the woods and it appeared as if someone had been attacked."

The old man shook his head sadly.

"I told that idiot Haku that he shouldn't take the path through the forest, but he didn't listen. The demon that acts as guardian of the woods has gone crazy. Funny thing, he used to be down right gentle, but now…we'll you saw what he did. Haku didn't have a chance, poor sod."

Sango looked at Miroku. "That's why the aura seems strange. It's tainted."

"You think it might be a jewel shard?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. It could be, but only Kagome would be able to tell for sure."

"Hmmm," was his reply. He inclined his head to the farmer. "Thank you for the information."

Miroku bowed and turned to start the hike back across the field and up the hill. Sango scowled at his back, rendered her own thanks, and followed. She caught him just as he reached the top and grabbed his arm, forcing him to face her.

"What are you thinking, monk?"

He craned his neck so that he could look down the hill and into the woods and then faced her.

"I'm thinking that if we decide to go forward we need to be exceedingly cautious. I would suggest that we go around but I know that we can not leave such a dangerous demon alive."

She nodded. "Give me a moment."

Sango stripped off her yukata, revealing her taijiya garb beneath. She packed the kimono away in the bag Kagome had given her, slung it across her chest, and hefted her boomerang.

"All right, let's go." Miroku nodded and they started down the hill and soon reached the edge of the forest.

Both travelers paused at the tree line, listening intently, before cautiously heading into the woods. Miroku took the lead, as he had so often done in the past, and Sango felt another twinge in her heart.

She had forgotten how well they worked together; how well they complimented each other. She also had just realized that for the past few minutes she hadn't been dwelling on her past grievances but on the present situation.

She shook herself, scowled, and gripped Hiraikotsu's leather strap tighter. She needed to continue worrying about the present. It would not do for her mind to be preoccupied while walking into what promised to be a dangerous situation.

She glanced at Miroku. She could tell by the tense lines of his body that he was wary and prepared for anything they might find. Frowning, she stretched out her senses.

The woods were filled with that strange aura that they'd felt on the road, but it was stronger, denser. She followed closely, her arms loose, body ready to react.

She didn't expect what they found.

Miroku suddenly halted and readied his staff. Sango did the same and peered beyond him to see what had captured his attention.

A young boy stood in the middle of the path, blocking the way and appeared to be anywhere from five or six years of age. He had his back to them. Miroku narrowed his eyes. The demonic aura he had sensed crackled around the boy.

Cautiously he took a step forward but halted when Sango forcefully grabbed his robes.

"No, don't," she whispered and looked around. She didn't like this. It felt too much like the day that her father and fellow slayers were betrayed and murdered at Naraku's castle. The boy felt like…

"He's a decoy!" She yelled and pushed Miroku out of the way just as a barbed vine shot out of the ground. She twisted to the side and rolled away and the vine followed her.

Miroku recovered and turned to watch as Sango brought Hiraikotsu around and blocked one vine, spun, drew her sword and slashed through another.

More vines attacked.

Miroku spun his staff around and slashed; cutting a barb that popped up behind him and spun again so he and Sango were back to back.

"Where is it?" He huffed. She had dropped her bone boomerang and now held her blade at ready.

"I don't know." She briefly glanced to where they had seen the boy and was not surprised to find him gone. Silence stretched, an unnatural silence; Sango tensed and felt her muscles quiver in anticipation.

A hiss to her left alerted her. She spun and blocked a barbed vine, rolled, and slashed through another. Miroku twirled his staff and cut three more barbs before realigning with her back.

"Where the hell are they coming from," he growled. Sango didn't respond, focused once again on her surroundings. The tainted aura had become heavy and oppressive and on the air was the cloying sweet smell of decay.

Suddenly four barbed vines shot down from the trees. They broke apart and both rolled out of the way. The barbs retreated and a vaguely humanoid shape being dropped down.

Miroku and Sango stared at the strange demon. He was the same size as the boy they'd seen and made entirely of thorns. Poison dripped from the barbs as the mass of vegetation withered and slithered like billions of snakes.

Glowing yellow eyes peered from beneath the dense foliage and they gleamed with anger and madness.

"You are trespassing in my forest," the demon hissed. Miroku readied his staff and Sango's fingers convulsed over the hilt of her wakizashi.

"You are the guardian of this forest?" He asked, unable to restrain the note of surprise in his voice.

"I am this forest, filthy mortal and you are trespassing."

Miroku's gaze narrowed dangerously.

"Why do you say that, demon? Why are you attacking travelers on this roadway? We have done nothing to you, truly."

"Nothing? Nothing!" The demon roared. "You are a pollutant! You and the rest of your kind. You kill my children, desecrated my trees. You are murderers! Filthy, diseased mammals. He warned me about you, the houshi and the slayer. He warned me that you would come and bring your sickness with you, but I didn't listen, didn't listen."

"Who? Who told you we would come? And why do you do this now? Why do you not live in harmony with the farmers and travelers they way you use to?"

The demon started muttering to himself.

"Diseased, filthy, mongrels…all must die, must die!"

Miroku blocked the vines that suddenly struck out at him and Sango dodged to the right.

"Houshi, can you feel it?" She yelled and grunted as she blocked a barb. "Now that he's so close I can sense it. His aura it's been infected by something dark and evil. Something has driven this demon mad!"

Sango slashed through another barbed vine and spun away just as a thorn slashed through her armor. Luckily, the leather held and repelled the thorns. She cut the vine, spun and hacked another, and another.

They just kept coming.

"Houshi we need to end this!"

Miroku grunted and cut through yet another vine. He agreed but the question was, how? Charging his staff with spiritual energy he used the power to make a shield and pulled two sutras out of his sleeve. He threw them at the demon and they latched on to the black aura dancing around the green edges and it roared in pain.

Two more vines came at him and Sango was there to slice them in half. She sprung backwards, sheathed her short sword, and hefted her boomerang.

"Duck Miroku!" She let the boomerang fly. The giant weapon cleaved the demon in two and returned to her hand. She caught it by the strap and skidded back.

They watched in horror as the vines caught and knitted back together. Miroku dodged right and rolled, bringing his staff around to block another barbed vine. He searched frantically for a solution as the vines kept coming and coming and coming.

He grunted, cut one in half and yelled.

"Sango, throw your boomerang again."

She spun and cut another vine using Hiraikotsu, twisted, and let the boomerang fly. Miroku reached into his robes and pulled out a sutra that looked nothing like the ones he normal used.

This one was printed on a thin layer of pure gold and had been one of a pair presented to him as a gift by a group of monks he'd done a service for in China. They had told him that it was infused with the spiritual energy of their order. Miroku felt apprehension, like a ball of lead, lodge in his gut.

He wasn't exactly sure what was going to happen. Infusing the sutra with his own power he threw it at the demon. There was a brilliant, blinding flash as the sutra hit the demon at the same time as Sango's boomerang.

They ducked and shielded their eyes as the demon screamed in agony.

Slowly the light dissipated and Sango was the first to open her eyes. She blinked against the spots dancing in her vision and focused on the point where the demon had been.

"Miroku," she breathed and pointed. "Look."

The monk opened his eyes and blinked in surprise. Cautiously, he and the slayer slowly started forward and knelt next to the prone body on the ground.

"Is he…"

"No," Miroku said.

"He's a kitsune," Sango murmured in awe. He nodded and bent down to brush the fox kit's golden hair away from his face. Energy crackled where he'd touched him and he yanked his hand back.

"I've never felt an aura like this on a demon. Especially one so young."

Sango frowned. The dark poisonous aura that had overshadowed the young demon was gone and now all that remained was the pure white and green tinted natural aura of the kit. She stretched her own senses and immediately knew what Miroku had meant. He was powerful; she may even venture to say that it was even more powerful than Lord Sesshomaru. The little demon groaned and slowly opened sea green eyes.

"W-Who are you?"

Miroku smiled and helped the boy to his feet.

"Do you know where you are?"

The fox kit blinked and looked around confused.

"I-I was in my cave. How did I get here?"

The monk frowned and crossed his arms. He turned to Sango.

"He doesn't remember." She frowned as well.

"What do you think it means?" Miroku looked off into the horizon, his expression worried.

"I don't know, Sango. I don't know."