Disclaimer: InuYasha belongs to Rumiko Takahasi and her publishers. No profit is made from this story. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 25 – Up and over
It was a somber group that stopped for a quick lunch. The little princess had been brooding over the possible evil that might be unleashed on her kingdom, Kagome brooded over the possibility that she might never be able to return to her own universe. Yasha & InuYasha brooded over their upset mates and Tsuru brooded over all of the youngsters.
The only positive aspect of the morning was InuYasha & Yasha's continued progress in learning to harness their youki. Tsuru was not just pleased with InuYasha's progress, but amazed by Yasha's advancements, for one so young he had a very adult grasp of his powers. Tsuru mused that both hanyou would someday be forces to be reckoned with not just as strong hanyou, but as powerful youkai.
As soon as the quintet resumed their trek down the road, Tsuru decided to continue his levitation lessons with InuYasha. Knowing that their journey would require flying, the crane decided the more practice the better.
Kagome was not too happy with Tsuru's plan as it entailed InuYasha levitating above the road holding his mate. It was one thing for InuYasha to fly alone, if he fell he would recover fairly quickly, if he dropped his mate it would not be such a minor matter and Kagome made sure everyone, including her mate, was cognizant of that fact.
After many reassurances from Tsuru that that he would be right there making sure that Kagome came to no harm the flying lesson began.
Much to Kagome's relief the lessons were not as frightening as she thought they would be. Perched on her mate's back InuYasha only levitated them a few inches at first, skimming down the road at slow speed. Then as his confidence grew (and Kagome's fear lessened) InuYahsa began to gain altitude and speed. Tsuru paced the flying pair as promised and Yasha, with his princess perched on his back, ran down the road, easily keeping up with the airborne trio.
Traveling at full speed for the better part of the day the group made good time covering a great distance before finding a suitable camping spot for the evening. Much to the two Kagomes' delight Yahsa had sniffed out a hot spring and much to the two Inu hanyou's amusement Tsuru could not control his crane instincts while bathing, dipping and preening in the spring once the two females were safely out of sight.
Clean and well rested InuYasha had everyone up and ready to travel early the next morning, but his enthusiasm was somewhat dampened two days later. As he called a halt for the evening an exasperated hanyou grumbled "Not so much as a bump in the road, let alone someplace we have to fly over!"
"I know you're disappointed, but I really think we are doing everything right" Kagome soothed her upset mate. "Let's just keep going another day or two, every time we think we have hit a dead end something turns up. You'll see I know we are getting close, I can feel it."
Sighing InuYasha countered "Too bad you can't sense this stupid relic the way you could jewel shards, at least when we got anywhere near a shard you could confirm our direction."
Taking her mates statement seriously Kagome considered "You know, there might be something to that, if the relic has any sort of aura or spiritual power, you never know, I just might be able to sense it once we get closer, that is if it doesn't have a shield around it like your crowns did."
That evening, as Kagome sat half dozing next to her mate she decided to put her theory to the test. First clearing her mind as Miroku had taught her, Kagome opened herself to taking in her surroundings. Miroku had referred to this expansion of the scenes as almost being the opposite of meditation, instead of looking inward the goal was to look outward. Soon Kagome found herself drifting, half awake half asleep, but totally aware of the world, every breath of her companions, the tiny nocturnal rodents cautiously moving about, hunting the even smaller insects. Then it happened – a tiny ripple. Jerking up she exclaimed "There's something out there, I felt it!"
Jumping up and transforming his sword InuYasha exclaimed "What – what did you feel – are we in danger?"
Quickly reaching out to calm her mate Kagome assured "No there's no immediate danger, what I sensed was some sort of spiritual disturbance. It could be what we're looking for!"
The next morning found a revitalized group speeding down the ever present road. Every hour or so Kagome would stop clear her mind and confirm that the 'ripple' was still there. InuYasha, Yasha nor Tsuru could sense anything out of the normal. As the day progressed, however, the little Princess also began to pick up on the ripple leading everyone to agree that this was something only those with human spiritual or Miko powers could perceive.
Just as InuYasha was thinking of stopping for lunch, a sharp bend in the road brought the quintet to a dead end. The road simply stopped, running into a shear mountain wall.
Taking a deep breath the Little Princess stated the obvious "Well it looks like there's nowhere to go but up."
Forming a cloud of youki Tsuru beckoned Yasha and the Princess over, while Kagome settled herself on her mates back.
After rising well over a hundred feet, the road resumed on a small ridge for no more than a few yards before once again dead ending into a solid wall of stone. The group rose twice more, each time encountering a small outcropping which contained no more than a yard or two of road.
With his usual impatience InuYasha declared "That's it, let's just get to the top of this mountain and find where the road continues. No more fucking around with these teases."
Before anyone could comment InuYasha, with Kagome still perched on his back, shot up at high speed. Quickly following the impatient hanyou, Tsuru followed at a slightly more cautious pace, making sure to keep within catching distance under the hanyou, just to be on the safe side.
After ascending several hundred more feet InuYaszha was gratified to finally reach the summit, which surprisingly turned out to be a mammoth wooded plateau. The road simply began at the edge and continued as if the rise in elevation was of no consequence.
As soon as Tsuru landed with his charges Kagome took a deep breath and closing her eyes noted "The feeling has become much stronger. If we follow the direction of the road it looks like we will be heading in the right direction, somehow I don't think it'll be far now."
Authors Note: I am not very happy with this chapter, but it is necessary to get them moving towards the end! I am very appreciative of everyone who is still reading this story and would love to hear from you -Hint Hint please review and let me know what you are thinking!