Okey dokey, here's chapter 9! Just to answer a few questions about this, I am not following the exact plot of The Mummy, so certain events won't necessarily happen to their counterparts in this version. I can't tell you everything, because that would just be silly. But I can also tell you that I am planning on doing a version of the Sequel, and no, Shippo is not going to be Inuyasha and Kagome's son. However, he will be appearing in the fic, so fear not kitsune fans! This is a really action-y chapter. I'd really like any helpful critique on that, as I don't feel like a particularly great action writer. Anywho, I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and The Mummy are not mine. Aside from DVDs and some random merchandise. I actually bought two seasons of Inuyasha last week and have been in an anime-steeped veg-fest ever since. 83

The words in Kagome's book were more difficult to read in the dying candlelight, but she was managing well enough. She had changed into a long, pink nightgown and taken her hair down. A soft little tune escaped her lips as she brushed the long black locks down. The gentle pull of the brush was almost soothing enough to make her purr.

Purrs. And growls. She wondered if he could purr.

Her eyes snapped open, cursing her subconscious. Could she not even escape that man in her mind? The flickering of the candle flames reminded her of his eyes, a silver tassel on the curtain reminded her of his hair. That rude, infuriating man was going to drive her insane!

And he didn't care.

That thought made her cringe and put a hand to her chest. Oh, what was the matter with her? A woman as sensible as she had no business being infatuated with some cowboy. She had more important things to concern herself with. Things like getting into the Sisterhood of Mikos.

Things like figuring out the Shikon no Tama.

The gray-eyed young woman looked at the glittering pink jewel on its chain, sitting on a coffee table in the middle of the room. What the significance was of that small little trinket, she wasn't sure she wanted to know. Her normally insatiable curiosity was reigned in by her instincts. They told her that thing was going to turn out to be more trouble than it was worth.

Kagome turned her back on the trinket and continued to brush her hair, determined to put all of these unsettling things out of her mind.

thud

The small, leather-bound book that she had been reading earlier fell from its place on her vanity. She sighed and made a face. Silly thing, falling off for no reason. Putting her hairbrush down, she bent down to pick it up and looked back into the mirror to continue with her hair.

Except hers wasn't the only face in the glass.

The man behind her was large, and had a strange breathing mask over his face. He grasped her by the throat and turned her toward him, gasping in fright. Her pulse jumped even further when he held the knife in his hand to her pulse. Kagome shook like a leaf in the man's grasp, petrified.

"Where is the map?" the man growled.

A trembling hand pointed to the parchment on her desk. "T-there!"

"And the key? Where is the key?"

She looked at him in confusion. "What key? I don't know about any key!"

The door to her cabin burst open with a bang as Inuyasha stormed in, pistols blazing in his hands.

"Kagome!" he cried, seeing her in the clutches of the masked man. The trail of wet footprints and the strangely muted scent lead him exactly where he was afraid they would go. Whoever this guy was, he didn't know or care. The fact of the matter was that he obviously meant Kagome harm.

And that just wasn't going to happen under his watch.

A candle on the coffee table flickered with a draft. Inuyasha's ears flicked to the direction of a window on the other side of the room and he fired. Another masked figure fell into the room under a spray of bullets. The man who had Kagome threw her to the floor and darted to the map on the coffee table. Realizing what he was after, the hanyou kicked the table over and threw a nearby oil lamp on top of it, sending the whole room into flames. He grabbed Kagome by the arm and hoisted her up beside him, dragging her with him out of the burning room.

She clung tightly to him, shaken by the attack and having watched a man die right before her eyes. Then she remembered.

"Wait!" the Miko cried, jerking on his sleeve. "Why did you do that? We lost the map!"

"Relax, I'm all the map you need. I've got it all up here," he said, tapping his temple with a clawed finger before continuing to drag her away from the most present danger.

His ears and nose started working overtime, picking up the chaos that was happening all over the ship. It seemed like whoever those two masked men were had friends.

pp-pop!

He ducked and flattened his ears as a bullet punched a hole in the wall just above his head.

Seems like their friends had guns. He'd better re-load.

Inuyasha grabbed Kagome again and shoved her behind him. "Stay close to me," he told her firmly. "I can't keep you safe if I can't cover you in some way."

She nodded and swallowed nervously. Shoot-outs were never this frightening in the novels she read!

He ran sideways with Kagome between his back and the wall, firing at the masked attackers with accuracy that only a demon could have. Down they went, one after another. His nose twitched again. Shit. It seemed like whole boat was burning up. There was only one option left.

The hanyou grabbed the girl by the arm again and dragged her over to a relatively quiet part of the deck. Strangely enough, it seemed to be the same part where he left his duffel bag.

Well, wasn't that convenient?

He turned to her and asked, "Can you swim?"

"What?!"

"Woman, can you swim?" he barked.

"Well, yes, actually. I learned at a very young age, I'll have you know!" she huffed.

"Good to know," he replied, before picking her up bridal style into his arms and dumping her screeching self over the side. That was one less thing he'd have to worry about. That and losing his duffel bag of weapons.

He secured the bag onto his back and prepared himself for the leap down, but an approaching scent and accompanying waddling figure ran up to him before he could make the jump.

"You there! Hanyou!" cried a very sweaty Jaken. "What happened?! What are we going to do!?"

Inuyasha grinned to the side, showing one prominent fang.

"Stay here," he said. "I'll go and… get help."

And with that, he leapt over the edge into the water. A few seconds later, he heard Jaken yelling indignantly at his own stupidity before splashing in after him.

Meanwhile on the upper deck, Miroku found himself barricaded behind a poker table with a pack of trigger-happy wolf youkai.

"Whoo~"

"Yeah!"

"Eat lead, freaks!"

Miroku rolled his eyes at their enthusiasm. Wolves. Really.

"Hey, lads? I'm gonna just … go now."

Kouga and the others just continued to shoot and holler as they went. Whether they heard him or not, he couldn't tell. Oh, well.

He ducked down and began to run through the gunfire, running and hiding behind pieces of furniture as he went. Miroku had almost made it to the deck when he heard a terrible screeching coming from behind him.

Turning, he was horrified to see a man burning alive crashing through on of the walls. The masked figure had his arms outstretched, a curved knife in one hand, and a pink jewel on a thin chain in the other. Miroku shook at the man's approach, backing away as the wailing man approached.

Pop

p-pop

pop

The man went down before him with the shots, almost brushing against him as he fell. Miroku looked back and saw Ayame tipping her white hat at him in salute. He nodded back with a friendly smile and leapt into the river, swimming to where he saw his sister and Inuyasha on the shore.

As he grew closer and closer to banks, he heard Kagome complaining about something loudly and their guide growling back.

"It's all gone!" she whined. "All of it! My books! The equipment! My clothes!"

"Would you shut up?!" Inuyasha snarled back. "I saved your life! See how grateful you are!"

Miroku stumbled up to the rest of the company and smiled. "Well, lets look on the bright side."

She turned and yelled at her brother, "WHAT BRIGHT SIDE?"

Behind her, Inuyasha shrank back. For a small little mouse, she sure had some volume when she was pissed. It was downright scary. Miroku held his hands out in supplication and tried to calm his sister down.

"Now, now. Kagsy dear-"

"Don't you dare Kagsy dear me, 'Roku. I'm in no mood."

"That time of the month already, hmm?"

"You are SO GROSS!"

"So it is?"

"No. And if it were, that would be NONE of your BUSINESS!"

Jaken crawled his way towards the squabbling siblings and stopped at Innuyasha's side. 'We'll not have to worry about the desert or some curse killing us,' he thought to himself ', 'These two will end us before anything else gets the chance!'

The hanyou's eye twitched as the yelling continued. He had just about had enough of this. Marching up to them, he knocked Miroku on the top of his head before picking Kagome up by her arms to face him.

"Enough already!" he growled, shaking her back and forth in his hands.

They both fell silent, Miroku to rub a growing lump and Kagome in shock.

Psheeee

The hanyou's ear twitched toward the opposite bank of the river as someone sent out another piercing whistle. He turned to see Kouga, the wolf youkai, lowering his fingers from his lips while holding onto the reigns of a horse with his other hand.

He cupped a palm to his mouth as he called out, "Don't forget that bet, Dog-Breath! First one to the city wins! And it looks like somebody doesn't have any horses! Haha!"

Inuyasha grinned before calling back, "Hey, Rabies! Looks to me like somebody is on the wrong side of the river!"

He turned around to keep walking, but not before hearing the wolf swear colorfully and loudly. The hanyou chuckled to himself.

Inuyasha: 1

Mange-face: 0

"So, where are we going, anyway?" Kagome asked. "It's not like we can get there in our current state."

"Someplace you won't like, I'm sure," he scoffed. "And what the hell are you grinning like an idiot for, Mr. Pickpocket?" he snapped at Miroku.

"Oh, no reason," he replied, patting his pocket.

The pocket that held one small, pink jewel on a silver chain.

So… What didja think? ^^ Good, bad, ugly? I need to know these things! Drop me a review! Also, I'd like to hear who you guys think is coming up in the next chapter. It might not be who you'd expect. ;3