Silently, they followed behind the red bandana leader, after reaching that last flight of steps; they found themselves in a messy, cramped room. Instead of the shimmering and colorful tiles from upstairs, the group was greeted with basic wooden flooring where small parchments littered the floor messily at their feet.

Wooden crates sat off to the side of the room, surrounded by small cages with white Cuccu's inside, noisily pecking at the iron bars. Small drawings of animals were drawn over the walls, followed by numbers, possibly the work of the small children leading them. There were baskets of fruit and greenery on the far right of the room stacked one by one, and there was a large bookcase with numerous, colorful bindings aligned neatly on the wooden surface.

The constant ticking of a clock caught Kagome out of her musings as she turned her head to stare at the small circular object hung against the stone wall, showing patterns of a moon and sun, along with various other colorful symbols that explained the day and night apart. Somehow, the constant ticking reminded her of her dream, and she couldn't help but turn and catch up to her friends ahead of her.

They walked past the grumbling carpenter and sniffling guard, who were caught up in some emotional drama from what appeared like a previous argument. They, just like the old man upstairs, also did not acknowledge them, nor did it seem like they cared. Why they were down in this Observatory was a mystery to them, but they must have had their reasons.

Leaving the Observatory, the group found themselves standing before a large chamber room, seemingly dug out long ago. A cobble stone path led ahead some distance away to where their sight was limited to the darkness. There were a few torches on either corner of the musty and damp room. Moss and cobwebs decorated the high areas of the high ceiling, and it wasn't surprising to see small nests caught up in it.

"Alright Skirts, you go down first," Jim explained as he pointed to the priestess.

Realizing the boy had given her a nickname such as that, Kagome blushed before bending down, careful of her skirt before climbing down the old, wooden ladder. At least the child was kind enough to allow her to climb down first.

Following after her was the half demon, but instead of using the ladder like everyone else, he preferred to simply jump down beside the young girl, of course. Everyone else took their time climbing down, one by one, and when they finally stood alongside the other, Jim turned and pointed at his friends.

"The rest of you can return to your positions." There was really no need for them to follow them all the way to the exit. Most of the time when he asked them to do something, they sometimes never listened, but when he doesn't even ask them, they do whatever they feel like. Jim was starting to wonder if his position as leader wasn't enough.

Unfortunately for Jim, the Bombers stood innocently beside the older adults, pouting dismally as they looked up at their leader.

"Aw! But we want to go with you!"

"Yeah, it's not fair Jim! Besides, we need a break anyway!" Another complained.

Jim scowled. "All you guys ever do is complain!" When simply glaring at them didn't suffice, he sighed and turned his back before sauntering down the narrow passage way ahead. "Well, if you're all coming, then hurry up! The quicker we get you guys into town, the faster we can get back to our posts!"

A few Bombers led the way, walking alongside their leader while the rest were stationed behind the travelers, keeping watch as they lazily followed along.

It was at this point that a horrid smell drifted to the priestess's nose, and she didn't doubt anyone else smelled it either. "What's that smell?" She placed a hand over her nose and mouth before making a face; Shippo did the same while everyone else managed through it.

"That would be the sewers just ahead," Jim explained from the front nonchalantly, his voice seemingly echoing off the walls of the tight pathway.

Kagome immediately stopped, her expression contorted into disgust. "Sewer? Wait," She called, and at this, everyone stopped and turned to stare at the upset girl, whose hands were placed on either side of her small waist. "I've walked through a lot of disgusting things, but I draw the line at this. I'm not walking through that."

"You've walked through worse!" Inuyasha growled. "Stop being so girlie!"

"Inuyasha," Kagome began with annoyance. "I've walked through fields of corpses, bloody water…but I when it comes to walking through sewers, I say no."

He wanted to smack her. "For the love of…Fine! I'll just have to carry you then!"

"I don't need you to carry me," She said as she pulled her yellow backpack from her back before kneeling down to rummage through its contents. "It's a good thing I came prepared…" She muttered to herself before revealing a pair of bright yellow rain boots. These would do the trick, that way she wouldn't be getting her school shoes dirty.

While the Bombers and the others regarded her shoes with interest, especially the pretty color, Kagome swapped her shoes for her rain boots. "There we go!" She smiled. "Well, let's get going."

From her side, Shippo couldn't help but stare at her boots as he followed her and everyone else down another chamber of tunnels. "What are those? They look slippery."

"These are rain boots," Kagome explained happily, but it only proved to confuse the child.

'But it's not raining,' He thought to himself.

Eventually the sounds of dripping water drifted to their ears, and no sooner than a few steps later, the earthen walls around them cast shadows as a dimly lit torch flickered some distance away from them. The light was enough to help guide them ahead. Eventually, they found themselves walking alongside a flowing stream of filthy looking water drifting down the canal they followed. The stench emanating from it was horrid, and soon enough, the ground on which they walked was covered by thick layers of muck, some imprinted by the many sets of small footprints; they figured the children made it a habit of playing down in the sewers.

Kagome shuddered. What in the world were their parents thinking, letting their children play down here? It was very unsanitary, and someone could catch some kind of deathly sickness.

A small shape, hidden in the shadows of the tunnels suddenly scuttled past the young raven haired girl, and with an alarming screech, the priestess suddenly ran ahead and grasped Link by the shoulders from behind frightfully.

Link jumped a bit from the unexpected contact, but realizing it was only Kagome, frightfully looking around, he said nothing of it but allowed her to cling to him as they continued on.

No sooner had they gotten to covering half the distance, a rustling sound overhead brought everyone to a standstill, especially Jim who took that moment to cautiously look up at the ceiling. It was there that he spotted movement in the shadows, and immediately he leapt out of harm's way as the strange creature fell from the ceiling.

Kagome gasped, and her friends immediately readied themselves for battle. "Is that a spider?!" Where was her can of bug spray when she needed it? Oh right, she didn't pack it…

Their eyes locked with the giant spider with inhuman eyes staring at them as it dangled from ceiling before them. Its exoskeleton was shaped oddly like that of a human skull, only much larger in comparison.

Deciding not to waste valuable time, Link unsheathed his sword, slipping from the tight grip of the priestess gripping his tunic, and approached the Skulltula without fear. Unexpectedly, it reacted with a lung toward the young warrior, who countered the attack with his shield easily.

The Bombers watched in interest as the warrior challenged the fierce creature, some cheering while others watched in awe. Jim stood back with the adults, watching the boy whom he had come to respect; nimbly turn behind the giant spider before slashing at its open back as if he had done it many times before.

It fell by his sword, its exoskeleton body thrashing about wildly as it hit the floor, and it was enough to make Kagome's skin crawl from the mere sight of it. And when it stopped moving, Link merely kicked it with his foot until it landed into the murky sewage where its body sunk to the bottom, the stream carrying it away, far hopefully.

"Link is so cool!" One of the Bombers exclaimed, but the silent warrior only sheathed his sword before holding a hand out to the priestess, who took it without question.

Shippo inwardly smirked to himself. If only the kids knew what Link was like during battle. Cool wasn't even the word for it. Though, seeing his surrogate mother and Link getting along nicely up ahead with Jim still leading them, the young fox child couldn't help but smile. It looked like things was going well for those two, and he was sure sooner or later he'd have to check mark that in his book soon.

A miscalculated step on Sango's part had her falling suddenly, but thankfully into the arms of Miroku, who caught her with slight surprise. She embarrassedly ignored the low whistles behind her coming from the children.

"Sango, are you alright?" The monk asked, and from her nod, he helped right her back into a normal standing position. But as he placed an innocent arm around her shoulder, to help steady her and by no means attempt anything perverted, he felt a tug on his robe, causing him to stop and look behind him. "Excuse me, but you're stepping on my robe," He kindly smiled at the child glaring up at him.

The child in turn, Noah, only scowled before raising his index finger and middle finger to point at each of his eyes before sending his fingers to point at Miroku, who looked on confusedly.

Before Miroku knew what to expect, the comfort of his arm around Sango's shoulder was short lived when the small child grasped the slayer's hand, tugging at it for her to follow him suddenly. This only baffled the monk as Sango allowed the boy to pull her away with him.

"You gotta be careful, lady," The small freckle faced boy explained as he pulled her along with him. "Don't worry, I got you. It's a little slippery this way," Noah explained, and as the slayer allowed the child to lead her, he peered back at the following monk before sticking his tongue out childishly.

Miroku blinked. What was that all about?

Watching where she was walking, and ignoring the squeaking coming from her rain boots, Kagome couldn't help but stare at Link beside her and then to her hand, still snug in his own as he led her through the dark tunnel. A blush formed on her cheeks, and she was thankful nobody could see it since it was so dark. 'He's still holding my hand…' Did he realize he was? Maybe…he was holding her hand because he didn't want her to slip and fall, because that would be so embarrassing if that happened. Or, maybe he was holding her hand because he wanted to?

Unable to hold back the smile on her face, Kagome was immediately reminded of the kiss Link had given to her just last night. Though, as her thoughts lingered onto last night, she couldn't help but frown when she thought of poor Serena.

Lingering a little behind the priestess and young swordsman, Inuyasha couldn't help but feel a hint of jealousy overshadow him. Those two were holding hands and acting a lot closer to each other since last night. He knew Kagome had feelings for Link, and no doubt the boy felt much for her as well. Inuyasha glanced away, his ears drooping with disappointment.

Walking along side with Shippo, Aaron couldn't help but throw his arms behind his head as he also watched the priestess and Link holding hands. He leaned in toward Shippo before whispering into his ear. "I guess those two don't need any help getting together, eh?"

Shippo blinked. "Huh?" When he noticed he was referring to Kagome and Link, his mouth fell open with shock. "Wait, you knew she was my mom?"

"It's pretty obvious. You said your adoptive mom was young and that Link might like her, right?" He asked, and at this Shippo nodded. "I think he likes her. I guess things are going well for each other, huh?"

"Yeah," Shippo replied with a smile. "We've had some problems recently, but I know for sure they like each other. But I don't know when they're going to admit it though…But I'm glad my mom is finally happy."

Aaron nodded understandably. "Yeah, I feel ya, brother…Relationships are tough."

Overhearing this, Inuyasha's ears twitched before dropping suddenly again. He felt bad. He felt really bad for breaking Kagome's heart the many times he had run off to see Kikyo. Yeah, he still loved her, but he also cared deeply for Kagome…

"Whoa…dude, did you see that?" One of the Bombers, who was traveling a little behind the half demon, walking alongside his buddy, couldn't help but blurt out.

"What is it?"

He pointed ahead at Inuyasha. "His ears moved!"

"Who's ears?"

Sometimes he wanted to smack his oblivious friend. "Guy in red…" He replied as if it was obvious, thus catching Inuyasha's attention, but he chose to ignore the brats behind him. "You can't miss him."

"Him? I thought they were fake."

Aaron patted Shippo on the shoulder, smiling happily as he ruffled the child's hair. "Congratulations Shippo. I hope things go well for," He leaned into him in a whisper. "Link and Kagome."

At this point, Inuyasha's shoulders slumped and his hears nearly flattened atop his head. This was getting a little bit depressing and annoying, all at the same time.

The Bombers behind him however, never took their eyes off Inuyasha. They took notice of his twitching and drooping ears before looking at one another.

"Wait…if his ears are real, does that mean brother Shippo's tail is real too?" One of them asked, and at this, the two boys looked past the half demon to the fox child and Aaron not far ahead. They took notice of his swaying tail and his tiny feet, not to mention his ears before looking back at each other in surprise.

"Dude, I thought he was just wearing some costume and had really small feet…"

"What if he really is a fox?"

Their attention shifted back to Inuyasha in front of them.

"If Shippo is a fox…then what does that make him?"

"A dog?"

Once again, they looked at one another and before they knew it, they fell into loud laughter, enough to cause a few heads to turn and stare. "Nah! That's ridiculous!" They replied simultaneously before snickering to themselves, finding the entire idea laughable and absurd.

Eventually, the large group happened upon what appeared like a dead end the moment they rounded the corner. The path ended, and they were met with the flowing stream of waste and the broken path ahead which only seemed possible to cross by jumping.

"Don't tell me you kids actually walk through this filth?" Inuyasha asked. He didn't see any way they little brats could jump so far a distance to reach the small platforms ahead.

Jim only smirked before proudly snapping his fingers, which in turn caused all his friends to line up before individually crossing over the rushing stream and to the other side without fail. "There's nothing we can't do!" He exclaimed before following after. "We're almost to the exit," He replied, waving for everyone else to hurry along.

Kagome made a face before turning to Inuyasha. "Is that offer still available?" She asked, and when Inuyasha rolled his eyes, he knelt and allowed her to catch a ride on his back.

One by one, everyone managed to cross the platforms and after climbing the steep incline ahead, they managed to arrive inside the quiet town. Free from the sickening smell of the sewer, they breathed in the fresh air of the town.

The priestess took this chance to remove her rain boots and return her school shoes upon her feet. It felt so good to be out of there, but she missed the comfort of Link's hand on her own.

"You guys think you're all good to go? You're saving this town, aren't you?" Jim asked, and from their surprised faces, he guessed right. "It wasn't that hard to figure out," He smirked.