Nighttime in Kaede's Village
A ball of light suddenly appears and zooms the village. It flies by and slices off two tree trunks.
...
Kaede is sleeping in her hut. She is woken by the noise.
...
The Village Courtyard
The light stops on top of the village gate and reveals a sinister looking old woman with a scythe slung over her shoulder. Kaede arrives at the scene and shoots an arrow at the woman. She shrieks and slices the arrow into pieces with a swing of her scythe.
"Who is that?!" Kaede asked.
More villagers arrive with their bows and arrows. The old woman flies towards the village temple. Kaede and the villagers pursue her.
...
The Temple
Some of the villagers are slashed by the old woman. Kaede arrives with other villagers.
"Hey, are you all right?!" One Villager asks to the injured villagers.
"Here it is... Right here! There's no mistake!" The Old Woman said examining a grave. She grabs some soil on the grave. "Just enough moisture..." The Old Woman squeezes the soil. "And the soil is good, too."
"Intruder! I asked who you are?! Identify yourself!" Kaede demands drawing an arrow.
"Silence! I just have some business with the urn buried here! Once I possess it, I'll leave this sore sight of a village!" The Old Woman demands explaining digging at the grave.
"So... She knows what's buried here!" Kaede gravely thinks.
The villagers point their spear at the old woman.
"Leave immediately! Else I'll show no mercy!" Kaede orders.
"You talk too much, you stubborn ignorant old woman!" The Old Woman replied as she stepped forward.
The Old Woman scratches her scythe with her nails, making a sharp screeching sound. The villagers cover their ears in pain. Kaede fires her arrow and the old woman slices it into two with her scythe.
"Didn't I tell you not to interfere?!" The Old Woman angrily yelled.
The Old Woman leaps and swings her scythe. It sends blades which destroys the grave. An explosion ensues and destroys the temple gates. One of the blades hit Kaede on her forehead and she winces, backing off.
"Priestess Kaede!" A Second Villager said standing in front of her, blocking.
The villagers are cut by more blades. The Old Woman reaches into the soil and takes out an urn.
"T-that is my sister's...! I will not let you have it! Not a demon like you!" Kaede says struggling.
"I am the demoness, Urasue! Kikyo's ashes are now in MY possession!" The Urasue laughed out.
She transforms into a current and flies off into the night sky.
...
Inuyasha sprints across a dark forest.
"Inuyasha!" Kikyo calls out.
Inuyasha turns around and is hit by an arrow, pinning him on a tree. He winces and reaches for the arrow.
"Damn! Who is that?!" Inuyasha thinks annoyed.
A woman stands in front of him, with a bow.
"That's...Kimiko? No, it's not... That's Kikyo... The one who bound me to the tree!" Inuyasha realized thinking.
Kikyo looks at him in hatred.
...
Inuyasha wakes up suddenly. He is on a tree branch.
"A dream..." Inuyasha says relaxing and looks at his hand. He wipes his forehead. "Brought back ugly memories."
Inuyasha looks down at Kimiko and Shippo, who are sleeping next to a campfire. Inuyasha gets next to Kimiko, looking at her.
"They look alike... Kimiko looks exactly like Kikyo." Inuyasha thinks.
Kimiko wakes and notices Inuyasha. She yelps in surprise startled. Shippo looks for a while and goes back to sleep.
"Inuyasha?" Kimiko asked yawning. Inuyasha gapes at her in shock. "Stop scaring me like that! I thought you were a scary demon. What's wrong?"
"Nope, not like her at all!" Inuyasha said ignoring Kimiko's question.
"What is?" Kimiko inquired intrigued.
"Not one little bit!" Inuyasha continues.
"What're you talking about?!" Kimiko asks getting frustrated.
Inuyasha pauses and looks away.
"What is it, Inuyasha?" Kimiko asks getting worried.
"Nothing!" Inuyasha denies.
A gust of wind blows. Urasue flies across the sky above them.
"What's that?" Inuyasha questioned.
"What? A demon?" Kimiko asks.
"What is it? I'm getting the scent of new blood... Hold it... The smell of that blood..." Inuyasha thinks realizing something.
...
Daytime In A Forest
Kimiko is cycling, Shippo in the basket. Inuyasha leaps onto a rock in a river.
"What's the matter, Inuyasha? Why the sudden urge to go back to the village?" Kimiko asks getting worried something happened.
"I'm still sleepy!" Shippo complained as he turned in the basket and yawns.
They approach Kaede's village.
Kaede getting out of her hut, with a bandage over her head and her arm in a sling. She is carrying a bow.
"Priestess Kaede, you mustn't move yet!" A Woman pleaded.
"Never mind! It's not a serious wound." Kaede replied.
"Granny Kaede!" Kimiko calls out as she reaches her.
"You...?" Kaede said surprised they were back already.
"What happened to you?" Kimiko asks beyond worried.
"So you're still alive." Inuyasha scoffs a little relieved as he lands.
...
Kimiko helps Kaede up the stairs to the temple. Inuyasha follows behind.
"I guess not even a flesh wound will keep you down." Inuyasha said somewhat impressed.
"So, you caught the scent of my blood on that demon." Kaede inquired.
"Look, think of your age and take it easy!" Inuyasha said annoyed masking his concern.
"So... He wanted to return because he was worried about old Kaede." Kimiko fondly thinks.
...
The group examines the remains of Urasue's destruction last night.
"What's this?" Kimiko asks
"This used to be my sister, Kikyo's gravesite." Kaede explained.
"A grave, here?" Kimiko asked.
"I was not strong enough to stop her." Kaede said disappointed with herself. "My sister had unusually strong powers, even for a priestess. If her ashes get into the hands of some demon, who knows for what evil purpose they will be used?"
Inuyasha turns around and walks away.
"Inuyasha!" Kaede shouts.
"Forget it! Kikyo and I were enemies." Inuyasha said touching his chest. "Have you forgotten who shot an arrow into my chest?" Inuyasha reminded stopping.
"You're right..." Kaede relents.
"I heard that happened fifty years ago..." Kimiko thinks starting to remember the story. "Inuyasha the half-demon wanted to take the Sacred Jewel and become a full-fledged demon. When he came to the village to take the Jewel, the priestess, Kikyo, shot a sacred arrow which held him fast to a tree. But in that battle, Kikyo would lose her life."
...
Inuyasha Sitting Under A Tree
"Demoness Urasue... She didn't just steal Kikyo's ashes. I could smell the dirt from the grave... Just what is she up to?" Inuyasha thinks pondering.
"Let's go, Inuyasha." Kimiko says walking up to him.
"Where?" Inuyasha questions looking away.
"Don't you feel sorry for Kikyo, that her grave has been violated? Forget that you were once bitter enemies. Kikyo died long ago, right?" Kimiko tries to reason with Inuyasha nicely as she sits next to him.
Inuyasha glance at Kimiko and looks away.
"Hey!" Kimiko shouts and glares at Inuyasha while grabbing his hair.
"What?" Inuyasha asks annoyed.
"Since yesterday, you've been avoiding looking at me!" Kimiko states mad and somewhat hurt.
"It's nothing..." Inuyasha sighs and glances at Kimiko, pauses and looks away.
"I know! It's because I look like Kikyo! That's why you don't like me, right?!" Kimiko asked resigned but also fed up.
"It's not...!" Inuyasha tried to explain and grabs Kimiko's hand.
"Huh?" Kimiko thinks stunned looking at Inuyasha's hand on hers.
"It's not like that." Inuyasha said in a gentle tone looking at Kimiko with soft eyes.
Inuyasha's face moves closer to Kimiko's.
"W-what?" Kimiko thinks blushing. "Huh?" Kimiko asks noticing something in the distance thankful for the distraction.
Kaede walks towards them with a horse.
"Granny..." Kimiko trailed off.
"I am also a priestess. I will take back my sister's ashes with my own hands. Inuyasha, at least tell me in which direction Urasue is headed?" Kaede explained and questioned.
"Do you wanna die, old woman?" Inuyasha demands frustrated and annoyed.
"Inuyasha!" Kimiko chides but silently agreed.
"Well, I'll have to go to find out." Kaede said.
"Granny Kaede, you mustn't! You're in no condition!" Kimiko pleads worriedly.
"It's useless to stop her she's as stubborn as you! That's why I hate dealing with old people!" Inuyasha said making Kimiko give him a look as he takes the horse. "I'll get Kikyo's ashes back. And I'll be sure to bring home your bones, too."
Inuyasha walks off.
"Inuyasha, thank you." Kaede thanks grateful.
"Granny Kaede, may I come along?" Kimiko inquiries but was planning on going weather she said yes or no and runs a few steps forward.
"Kimiko?" Kaede asks confused.
"Inuyasha's eyes just now... He wasn't seeing me..." Kimiko thinks sad and disappointed looking at Inuyasha.
...
Sunset
The group travels along a Grand Canyon like landscape. Inuyasha leaps among the boulders, Kaede sits on her horse and Kimiko on her bicycle with Shippo at the back.
"He was seeing Kikyo instead of me." Kimiko thinks looking at Inuyasha.
Inuyasha looks into the distance.
...
Night Time
The group settles around a campfire. Kaede is asleep in Kimiko's sleeping bag. Shippo is sleeping on Kaede. Kimiko and Inuyasha sit across each other, around the fire.
"Granny's asleep." Kimiko states softly not wanting to wake them up.
"You'd better get some sleep. We'll attack tomorrow." Inuyasha replies with his eyes closing, folding his arms and lying on a rock face.
"So soon?" Kimiko inquiries.
"I can smell it... She's not far." Inuyasha explained and lies on his side.
"Inuyasha..." Kimiko says but trailed off not knowing how to continue.
Inuyasha does not reply.
"He's asleep." Kimiko states but then thinks. "When I first saw Inuyasha, he was sleeping, too. Actually, he was bound to a tree... But to me, he looked like he was sleeping peacefully. I thought he hated Kikyo..."
...
Flashback
"I know! It's because I look like Kikyo! That's why you don't like me, right?!" Kimiko demanded frustrated.
"It's not...!" Inuyasha starts but trailed off not knowing how to continue while grabbing Kimiko's hand.
"Huh?" Kimiko thinks confused and a little bit embarrassed looking at Inuyasha's hand in hers.
"It's not like that." Inuyasha gently says looking at Kimiko with soft eyes. Inuyasha's face moves closer to Kimiko's.
Inuyasha continues holding onto Kimiko's hand, looking into her eyes.
"Inuyasha's eyes...weren't the eyes of hatred." Kimiko's voice is heard thinking.
...
Present
"My heart is still pounding. I wonder if Inuyasha... Maybe Inuyasha...actually was deeply in love with Kikyo." Kimiko thinks.
...
Daytime
Shippo yawns and washes his sleepy face at a spring.
"We must retrieve Kikyo's ashes as soon as possible!" Kaede voice informs in the background.
The group continues traveling. Inuyasha stands on Kaede's horse.
"I have a dreadful feeling about this." Kaede says.
"Well, it's too late now, isn't it?! If you didn't want the ashes stolen, why didn't you just scatter the ashes into the river? You stayed sentimental and kept hanging on to them and see what happened?" Inuyasha said fed up and annoyed.
"Inuyasha, how do you feel about a grave? A grave is not simply a place to bury a body or ashes. A grave is necessary for the hearts of ones who are left behind." Kaede explained.
"Hearts of those left behind?" Inuyasha asked intriguingly.
...
Memories of Kikyo
She stands on a hill, overlooking the village.
"My sister was born a priestess. And she used her special powers for the good of the villagers. She kept demons away from the village and battle illness and famine countless times, encouraging the people around her. Even after her demise, the villagers have not weakened, they are resolved to live." Kaede explained.
A image of Kikyo's grave.
"However, man is weak. Danger and uncertainty can weaken his heart. The grave was a place of reassurance. A place where hearts could find peace." Kaede's voice finished explaining.
...
Present
"Hmm? Just like that time... Inuyasha is thinking of Kikyo... Inuyasha was in love with Kikyo. But she shot an arrow into him and he was bound for fifty years... Something isn't adding up right." Kimiko thinks looking at Inuyasha. Kimiko stops cycling and continues to think. "I feel really bad for him."
Inuyasha notices Kimiko stopping and turns around to look at Kimiko.
"It was unrequited love... Unrequited love...unrequited love!" Kimiko thinks the only reasonable explanation with the information she had looking at Inuyasha with sadness in her eyes, saddened by the thought that anyone who looked like her would turn down an amazing guy like Inuyasha.
"What's with you, Kimiko?!" Inuyasha yells squinting and leaps onto the bicycle basket "That look gives me the creeps!"
"Eh?" Kimiko says snapping out of her thoughts.
"Why're you looking so sorry for me?!" Inuyasha shouts.
"Oh, sorry! I was thinking nonsense." Kimiko explained laughing uneasily.
"Huh? What?" Inuyasha asked confused.
"Well..." Kimiko starts but trailed off.
"What is it?!" Inuyasha fiercely demands.
Kimiko started cycling really fast. Inuyasha is on the back of the bicycle.
"Well... What were you thinking?! Hey!" Inuyasha asks not giving up.
"Oh, shut your mouth!" Kimiko said embarrassed by her thoughts.
...
Urasue walks into a kiln embedded into a mountain. She laughs and slashes the door open. A clay container is inside, baking in a fire.
"Now then! Let's see the result of my special magic... Kneading the earth from the grace with the ashes and baking it in my Demon Kiln!" Urasue enters. "Hmm... Looks quite good! Now then..." Urasue takes a leaf from her hair. "Let's see..."
Urasue throws the leaf onto the clay container and swings her scythe. She cracks open the container.
"Arise! Open your eyes, Kikyo!" Urasue commands.
A naked girl in the container grabs the leaf slowly, sits up and opens her eyes. She looks like Kikyo.
"Kikyo... I have heard that as a priestess, you foiled many an attempt by demons to possess the Sacred Jewel. I also hear that the Jewel is now in fragments and a demon who possess even one fragment of the Jewel doubles its powers! I want it... I want every fragment of the Sacred Jewel! Now, you will go and destroy every demon who seeks it... Burn and destroy them! You will serve me...the one who has brought you back to life! You will gather the fragments of the Sacred Jewel!" Urasue tells Kikyo.
Urasue points her finger at Kikyo and sends a current at her which makes Kikyo stands up. Urasue laughs as Kikyo walks towards her slowly. The current dissipates and Kikyo falls sideways on the ground.
"Huh... W-what is this?" Urasue questions confused and grabs Kikyo's hair and lifts her up. "A soul... The soul hasn't returned! There is no way my magic would fail to bring back the soul." Urasue says shocked. "Does this mean that the soul has already been reincarnated in another body?!" Urasue starts yelling. "Then all I made was a hollow shape in the form of Kikyo!" Urasue throws Kikyo on the ground. "Damn! Making me work so hard and wasting my time! Setting me up for a failure like this! How maddening! I can't stand this! I can't stand it!"
...
The group travel slowly in a forest. A lot of clay containers are strewn around.
"What's this?" Kimiko inquired.
"Earthen dolls? How creepy!" Shippo says.
The group walks on. A long and narrow bridge connects the forest and the base of Urasue's mountain hideout. Below the bridge is a deep valley.
"Well, there it is." Inuyasha states.
"Huh?! We have to cross this?!" Kimiko exclaimed.
Kimiko grabs the bridge nervously not wanting to fall to her death. Inuyasha is in front of her, Kaede is behind.
"I'm so annoyed!" Kimiko shouts wishing bad guys hideouts were easier to get to.
"You don't have to come. I'll go in and talk some sense into her." Inuyasha said turning around.
"Don't be silly! I refuse to be left behind on a bridge like this?!" Kimiko replied.
"So come..." Inuyasha states and turns around and walks.
"Wait!" Kimiko said not wanting him to far from her making Inuyasha stop so she could hold one hand on the back of his robe and the other on the bridge.
Shippo is running in front of Inuyasha. A group of earthen dolls appear on the bridge, in front of the group.
"There're more of the earthen dolls." Shippo said stopping.
The earthen dolls cracks to reveal warriors in them. They tumble towards the group slowly.
"What's that?!" Shippo asked taken aback.
"Soldiers of the old demoness!" Inuyasha says.
"Those are the dolls we saw... It can't be...?!" Kaede says but notices warriors approaching them from behind and warns Inuyasha. "Inuyasha! Behind you!"
"Kimiko, Old Kaede... It's gonna shake a bit." Inuyasha tells the two girls and sprints after Kimiko grabs the bridge rope and attacks the warriors in front. "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!"
The warriors breaks, making sound of breaking pottery. The warriors are hollow inside.
"Are these guys really made of mud?!" Inuyasha thinks.
"Foxfire!" Shippo attacks to.
Shippo attacks the warriors in the back with foxfire, which only chars them a little. Kaede knocks them with her bow, breaking them.
"They're not that strong! Just that there're so many of 'em!" Inuyasha states attacking more dolls annoyed.
...
In Urasue's Cave
"What's the ruckus outside? Oh, I can't stand this! I'll go out and work off this frustration!" Urasue complained.
Urasue grabs the leaf from Kikyo, but Kikyo holds on to it tightly.
"Hey! Let go! This belongs to me!" Urasue demands angry.
Kikyo tilts her head and looks outside.
"Inuyasha! Watch out!" Kimiko voice yells out in the background.
"What does this mean? Could it..." Urasue trails of not daring to hope.
Urasue flies outside, above the bridge, and looks at Kimiko.
"The resemblance! Such a close resemblance! What coincidence! Such good fortune! That face... No mistake!" Urasue cheers.
Urasue flies downwards and slashes the bridge into two with her scythe. The bridge falls and everyone hangs on for dear life.
"Inuyasha!" Kimiko shrieks terrified but trusting Inuyasha to save her.
Urasue swoops down and grabs Kimiko. Shippo and Kaede continue to fall into the valley.
"Kimiko!" Shippo and Kaede call out worried.
"Granny! Shippo!" Kimiko calls back and starts to struggle. "Hey, let me go!"
"If I let you, you'll die. And now that I've found my reincarnated soul... As if I'd let you go! I need you! In order to fully resurrect Kikyo!" Urasue explains after she swings her scythe at Kimiko's neck.
"Resurrect...Kikyo?!" Kimiko said confused.