Chapter 2

"Well Shippo?" Sango asks.

We stand next to a small pond, darkened by the thick forest surrounding us with no moon in sight to shed some light on us. Nearby, beyond some bushes and foliage is Inuyasha and Miroku, sitting by a fire conversing. Shippo sits next to a bush just next to the boys and listens to their conversation to see if they are trying to sneak a peek.

The little fox demon turns his head to us, "They're still in deep conversation."

Without another word said, I start to undo the ties of my Shinto garb. The light white shirt and red pants fall easily with just a single pull of a tie revealing my yellow and green bruises that scatter all over my body from a couple of weeks of fighting. Much has healed, scratches and cuts have turned to thin, almost invisible scars.

"I know the monk would try to peek, but would Inuyasha?" Sango asks while untying her multiple ties that litter her demon slayer garb underneath as she tugs off her casual wear of a pink top and green skirt.

"No, I don't think he's interested in such things." Stepping over the edge of the water, I dip a toe in to feel the temperature. It's chilly but not nearly as bad as I was expecting it to be. Placing my foot in entirely I start to make my way down into the water until the very top of my breasts are covered.

Sango grabs a towel by the side of Shippo and walks into the water until onto only half her calves are covered. With her back to me, the wind blows her hair away from her back to reveal a deep, large scar in the center of her flesh.

Sango catches me staring, "It didn't heal well." She says. She slowly sits down in the water with the towel still covering her chest and front of her body. "I got this scar from my younger brother. If only I had realized some things earlier, I could have prevented his death. Kohaku was tenderhearted. He was always a very gentle boy. Perhaps he wasn't suited for the life of a demon slayer."

"That must be painful to remember," I frown.

"It's alright." Sango tries to pull a smile but its weak and fragile. "Before he died, Kohako reverted back to his old self. I still mourn for him, but that thought helps ease the pain of his loss. We were both strong demon slayers. I'm proud of that. We all have our reasons for being here, don't we? Why are you gathering the sacred shikon jewel shards?"

Reasons for being here? I'm finding myself asking that more often these days. My eyes flicker down to the surface of the water where I watch my reflection deeply frown. "I was apparently born without a soul, and what soul I have resides in the jewel. When it broke, it released a piece of my soul at which it returned to me. Now every time I find a few shards, another piece of me is returned. I think," I sigh, remembering the feeling I felt in the cave with Midoriko. "I think I am the reincarnation of that priestess; the priestess Midoriko."

Sango gets up with a shocked expression on her face, and wraps herself with the towel fully. She sits at the edge of the bank, her feet and legs still in the water.

"It could make sense. Midoriko's soul is trapped in the jewel, and you were born without a soul. When the jewel is broken, you receive a piece of your soul. You may not get the last piece back until Midoriko is free of her curse." Sango adds up. "That's amazing."

My hands instinctively reach up to toy around with the jewel that hangs from my neck. "Yeah, but it's been difficult ever since Naraku's appearance."

"In order to break the curse of the Shikon jewel, we must destroy Naraku first." Sango nods. She suddenly stiffens, her right hand reflectively reaches for a rock nearest to her. She glances towards the bushes, and then chucks the rock in the direction of the foliage. It collides with something on the other side, earning a pained squeak. Out from the bushes falls a small light brown monkey with a knot on its head from where the rock hit.

Miroku and Inuyasha come walking out of the foliage when they heard the noise; quickly I cover myself by crossing my arms against my chest.

"What's all the ruckus?" Inuyasha asks.

Sango swiftly picks up two more rocks and throws them at the boys' hitting both of them on the head. They stumble back, rubbing the newly put knots on the top of their heads, groaning in pain, before disappearing behind the foliage where they originally were.

Seething, but calming down, Sango gets up and walks to her clothes that she had hung from a branch of a tree and starts to dry off with the half dry towel.

I follow her actions by grabbing my dry towel from the ground, climbing out of the depths of the pond and drying myself also. I watch Sango as her eyes turn from angry to that of sadness. So many people are entrapped in Naraku's web of destruction. Destroying lives. Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango. All were harmed in some way by Naraku's mischievous plans.

"Time to go." I call out to the boys who are getting ready. Sango and I stand next to each other, bathing in the sun that beams down from the opening of the canopies. I swing the yellow backpack up onto my shoulders and hold it tight to my back, pushing Midoriko's sword sheath and handle flesh against my spine.

"Hey, somebody is coming." Shippo points ahead of us. I follow his eyes and find a man, who's badly injured come shambling our way. He falls before we can make it to us. We all look at one another and head to the fallen man. He's bleeding profusely from wounds on his chest and back with blood pools having followed him from behind.

Miroku leans down by the man's head and places a hand by his mouth, "he's not breathing. He's just a simple villager."

"Many more have been killed around here, the air is filled with the thick smell of blood. The blood is fresh." Inuyasha says.

I can't smell what he does. My eyes linger on the man who's passed away right before our eyes and wonder how he's come to his demise. The damage done doesn't look like a sword has caused them.

"Come on!" Inuyasha waves his hand in the direction where the man came from and starts to run ahead. We follow quickly behind.

After a few minutes we can see smoke rising to the sky from the tree tops. We pass through the tree line to see a desecrated village. Buildings are destroyed either by random damage or by fire, who's smoke is what we saw moments before.

"A massacre!" Miroku says in shock.

I don't think anyone is left alive. The buildings are unlivable and there are bodies all across the village land with random wounds covering their bloodied bodies.

"Let's find out what happened. We'll split up and search." Miroku says.

"Hold it!" Sango says. She kneels down to the ground and with her right hand, feels the surface of the dirt.

There is a whooshing sound coming from our left, and when I look I see the ending of a boulder smash into a building that is still standing. The explosion of the collision forces the wind to blast at us, throwing my hair into my face, and my clothes to flutter. I stand my ground, holding myself up against the wind as my hair situates itself around my face.

"Don't move an inch! Traps are set everywhere! One step and your leg might be blown off."

"Oh no," I mumble as I look down at the ground. Is that what happened? One of us set off a trap? I can't see anything different one part of the ground to another.

"Beside all the dead bodies?" Miroku asks.

"Probably. If you try to help or bury the dead, you'll get blown up too!"

"This heartless bastard doesn't deserve to live! Let's find him before he makes another move!"

"We have to be careful." I inform.

But it doesn't stop him. He starts to run, "Well, I'm not the kind of guy who'll just stand still and take it!" He leaps in the air, taking out Tetsusaiga, and slashing at a building. Out from the building leaps a boy who's wearing a similar garb to Sango's demon slayer outfit. The boy twists in the air, thrusting a sickle head attached to a chain at Inuyasha.

Landing, Inuyasha blocks the attack with Tetsusaiga; the sickle flings up in the air, twists a bit, and then lands back in the boy's hand.

"Is he the one?" Inuyasha questions.

"He couldn't have killed all the villagers. He's just a young boy!" Miroku exclaims.

"Look at the chain he's got and the blood over his body. He's covered in it! The kid's gone insane! Why did you do this? What are you after?" Inuyasha barks.

The boy remains silent. Now that he's still and standing I can see him better. He's wearing the same smoke mask that Sango has, his medium length hair hangs in a middle ponytail. His dark brown eyes glower at us with a haze of soullessness I've grown accustomed too. There is a faint purple glow coming from the back center of his body. A sacred Jewel. Much like Sango when we first met her, there is a piece of the jewel embedded in his back.

"Kohaku?" Sango says more than asks.

I glance back at her and notice her eyes are wide with shock but a saddened frown on her lips. Kirara meows at her side.

"But how? It can't be Kohaku…"

Kohaku? I remember Sango mentioning that name the night before, the name of her deceased brother.

The boy, Kohaku, turns on his heels and bolts down the trail.

"Get back here!" Inuyasha calls out and follows him, but the moment his foot collides with the ground a huge explosion goes off sending him back away from the trail. "Damn it!"

"Kirara!" Sango yells, and as she does Kirara comes running pass me, turning into her gigantic form with Sango leaping onto her back. They make way up into the air to avoid the explosions.

Inuyasha follows behind, his feet stealthy and agile, trying to avoid the hidden bombs but he stops at the forest edge, where a shimmer of blue flutters in a dome around a wide area of the forest. Sango is able to get through but when Inuyasha tries he's pushed back.

Miroku and I glance at one another and then nod. We both tread carefully, putting our feet down softly on the ground as we make our way to the forest edge where Inuyasha stands investigating the surface of the dome. When we safely pass the danger zone we rush to his side.

"You both saw them enter the spirit shield and pass through!" Miroku says, placing a hand against the shield. The blue shivers and flutters.

"Sango called out her brother's name before she flew off after him. She told me last night that her brother was killed in the castle occupied by Naraku."

"Did you notice he had a sacred jewel shard imbedded in his back? We're seen that one before." Miroku states.

"Yeah, I did," I frown.

"It's Naraku's same old trick. He forced Sango to fight against her will in the same manner." Inuyasha says.

"So, Naraku is manipulating Kohaku." I mutter.

"Sango probably knows what's going on." Miroku nods, "But why did the shield let her pass through?"

"I don't know," but I have a bad feeling about this.

We've been waiting for about an hour now. Leaning back, I rest my head against the tree I sit against and look up at the sky. It's blue with very few white clouds with a gentle breeze that keeps it from being too hot. Out from the corner of my eyes I notice the blue dome slowly fades out of existence. When I look down the trail, I see Sango approaching with Kirara in her small form.

We all get up from the spots we were sitting in and meet her half way. She looks dazed, and not entirely here with us.

"Was that your brother?" I ask, gaining her attention.

Her face crunches into an angry expression, "that boy was not my brother!" She shouts in rage.

I frown once again and step back next to Inuyasha. Miroku keeps ahead of us, in front of Sango.

"Sango, this whole incident with the traps and barrier. Tell me, was it Naraku who was behind it all?" Miroku asks.

"Yeah."

"You must be exhausted. Let's return to the village and get some rest." Miroku suggests.

"Wait, I beg you. Please perform a service to honor and commemorate the dead." Sango requests.

I shake the bowl with the dirt inside, and wait for Miroku to shovel more into the bowl. We sit in a mass grave with no bodies inside, prepping it commemorate the dead before burying their bodies. We had to tread carefully when we returned to the village, having Shippo and Kirara seek out the bombs that kept us from pursuing Kohaku at first. Kirara has the nose for this sort of thing and Shippo wanted to be useful.

"What do you think about her meeting up with Naraku. What did Sango and Naraku end up talking about?" I ask. Miroku is sweaty, his long sleeves rolled up to help with the heat. He stops shoveling and looks down at me.

"He probably told Sango that he was manipulating her brother like a puppet. Let's just leave her alone for a while until she's ready to talk to us about it." Miroku sighs, wiping his forehead with his forearm.

Inuyasha's shadow shelters me from the setting sun. I get up and glance at him as he approaches us from another hole, a shovel leaning against his right shoulder.

"You can't just let him off the hook." Inuyasha says.

"So, what if he's Naraku's puppet with a jewel shard in his back? Kohaku's responsible for slaughtering an entire town." Miroku says.

"If Sango can't kill him, then I'm gonna have to take him down. Hey, Sango! You got a problem with that?" He shouts over to her. She's not too far from us, standing by the dead and having been praying for their safe passage. She turns her head to Inuyasha and glares coldly at him. She closes her eyes and looks away, walking off towards the house we're staying in.

"That was mean." I grumble.

"I don't know what we're going to do. Do we kill him?" Miroku asks, watching as Sango leaves.

"Of course!"

"No matter what?" Miroku glances up at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha removes the shovel from his shoulder and rams the end into the ground beside him. "Yeah! Think about it! Naraku sent Sango's 'zombie shard puppet; brother 'cause he thought we'd be too sentimental and wimpy about it to kill him off. There's no way I'll fall for that!"

"I can see you're really torn up about it," Miroku's eyes narrow and his face stiffens. He's angry now.

"Shut up, Miroku! Get lost!"

Miroku closes his eyes and shakes his head, he climbs out of the hole, leaving Inuyasha and I alone, watching him as he walks to the fallen that lie on the ground with blankets covering them.