Going back to school isn't as hard as Andy thought it would be. She meets up with her friends- who are more Kagome's friends than hers but since she and Kagome are so close they're her friends by association, though Ayumi is her favorite of the three girls- and goes to class and bites her tongue when someone asks whether or not Kagome's feeling any better now that she's over whichever various illness her grandpa told the school. They're all wildly hilarious so it's hard to keep a straight face when anyone brings them up, especially when Hojo asks as he's obviously got a crush on Kagome. The best moment of Andy's school career had happened the first day they went to school and Hojo handed Kagome a brightly wrapped pair of therapeutic sandals... for her bunions. Andy hadn't been able to keep it together long after that and had been quick to excuse herself to a secluded spot so she could get a good laugh in before classes started.

So yeah, the first day back in their time had been great until they caught word of Kagome's family shrine having caught fire. Her grandpa had been caught up in the storehouse that had gone up but hadn't been too badly hurt outside of a bit of smoke inhalation that had seen him stuck in the hospital for a few days. In all honesty, things hadn't gotten bad until some poor firefighter got possessed by a demonic mask and ran amok in Japan for a while, forcing Kagome and Andy to defend the jewel shards from it until Inuyasha showed up. Fiasco is the only word Andy can really come up with to describe the situation and their trips back home from the past don't seem to get much better. First it was the incident with the Flesh Eating Mask and then poor Mayu.

Hojo gets more and more entertaining, though, so do the excuses Kagome's grandpa manages to come up with. It's even better that those excuses prompt Hojo to buy Kagome all sorts of things to help with her various illnesses. Andy isn't entirely sure how it happens but the cute human boy manages to snag a date with Kagome for Saturday evening. They're going to the movies. The only problem Andy can see them running in to is Inuyasha as he doesn't know when exactly Saturday is, Oh well, Andy'll keep them on track... She's invested in Hojo at this point so she's not not going to make sure Kagome gets home for her date.

It helps that for their traveling needs Inuyasha has secured them a boat to travel up and down the river with.

"Wow! This is awesome!" Kagome gushes as she stares at their passing surroundings.

"You mind focusing a little? We're not here to look at the scenery!"

Kagome smiles at Inuyasha as she salutes him and says, "Aye, aye, my captain! On the lookout for shards of the Shikon Jewel!"

Andy snorts as she returns her attention to her math textbook. Getting a little work done during their downtime is really the only thing that saves Andy when it's time for her to take her tests. It's great that her aunt is copying her homework assignments so she can work on those to study with but actually reading her textbooks helps too. Traveling's a bit of a pain but Andy isn't above admitting she's getting smarter about what she should pack for their trips and what she shouldn't. Though, she does kind of wish she could forgo bringing her school books as they take up too much room in her backpack despite it's ridiculously large size. Aunt Phoebe wasn't messing around when she bought the thing for her.

She's penciling in her answer for problem three when something sticky and wispy catches on her throat.

With a shriek Andy tosses her book to her feet so she can begin frantically brushing herself off in case the spider that made the web is crawling around somewhere on her person. It takes her a moment to determine that despite the copious amounts of webbing everywhere Andy isn't actually carrying any of the pesky eight-legged monstrosities around on her person. Grumbling lowly under her breath, Andy wipes herself down one more time before gathering up her things so she can stuff them back in her bag.

"Keep away from me!" Someone yells before a piercing scream reaches them.

Andy watches as Inuyasha springs through the air to catch the figure plummeting toward the river and waits until he's got her before looking for whatever it is that attacked the person. She sees nothing lingering near the cliff nor is there anything hovering above their heads. Whatever it was has obviously run off to either gather more forces or to avoid a fight with Inuyasha. Either way, Andy is thoroughly freaked out. Which seems to be a common theme as the person Inuyasha rescued screams and topples them both into the river.

Turns out, the girl Inuyasha saved is named Nazuna and she was attacked by something called a Spider Head.

"These mountains have been plagued by their evil presence since springtime." Nazuna explains. "Several villages have already been attacked. Spider Heads trap humans in their webs, paralyze them, and devour them alive."

"Sounds lovely." Andy remarks blandly from across the fire where she's got Shippo in her lap.

"Inuyasha, we have to do something to help!" Kagome cries as she turns to look at Inuyasha.

"Any sign of the jewel shard fragments?" He asks shortly.

"Not yet, and I didn't pick up anything from the Spider Head just now."

"Then let's move out, I want to cross these mountains before nightfall."

Raising her eyebrow in question is the only thing Andy does to show her surprise at Inuyasha's comment. They might not have known each other very long- nearly three weeks at most- but she knows that Inuyasha isn't exactly a pacifist, while he might not go out of his way to fight someone Andy doesn't think he wouldn't try and help someone if they really needed it. So why now? Is it because Nazuna hasn't been all that nice to anyone in the group outside of Kagome? Not exactly a good reason if it is.

"We can't just walk away! There's a demon on the loose!" Kagome yells at him.

"Listen, I don't go slaying demons every time a human comes running scared to me." Inuyasha says.

"No one's suggesting you do."

Nazuna rises pretty quickly once the argument's started but not out of discomfort. Andy thinks it has more to do with Shippo and Inuyasha being demons and her being an unknown that has the other girl trying to get as far from them as possible.

"I'm leaving. Being obliged to a demon does not sit well with me." Nazuna says waspishly.

"Feigning some measure of gratitude might sit better with us, though." Shippo tells her which only manages to anger the taller girl.

"Insolent beast!" She snarls at Shippo before stomping off toward the rocky cliff face where she lingers long enough to tell them, "Thank you for reminding me why I detest demons!"

Andy nods as she sucks on her left canine and watches Nazuna struggle pull herself up the cliff with a vine that ends up breaking under her weight. The younger girl hits the ground with a painful sounding thud that honestly doesn't inspire too much sympathy with Andy. Maybe if she's been less obvious about her hate and lack of gratitude Andy would have been willing to help her but after her little display? Nope. Andy's good with watching her struggle on her own.

"How about displaying some of that old-fashioned chivalry?" Kagome asks Inuyasha hopefully, he doesn't seem to happy about it but he does help them gather their things before jumping the members of their small group up the cliff face before going after Nazuna- who has oh so conveniently injured herself at some point during her time with them.

Being too nice to just leave the girl on her own is what prompts Kagome to ensure they all see Nazuna to the temple she serves at. Andy's not too thrilled about it so she lingers toward the back of the group and matches Nazuna's glare whenever the other girl looks at her. By the time they make it to the temple the sun is setting and Andy's more than a little annoyed with how the day's turned out but there's not much she can do about it... Still, doesn't help that Inuyasha seems to get twitchier and twitchier as the day ends.

"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" Kagome demands when they make it to the temple where an elderly looking priest comes to greet them at the front gate.

Something about him rubs Andy the wrong way and she's not sure why. He seems kindly enough and shows genuine concern for Nazuna when she comes stumbling toward him with several apologies for leading demons to the temple. It's not exactly a good way to thank the people who saved you and got you home but obviously Nazuna doesn't care.

"Not all demons are created equal, you know." Shippo proclaims angrily, little hands fisted at his hips.

The aging priest looks at Shippo with steady eyes and says, "I don't suppose they are."

Unpleasant prickling at the back of her neck has Andy scooping Shippo up into her arms and preparing to take off running. She doesn't like it here, she doesn't like Nazuna, and she sure as hell doesn't like the priest. Something about him is just off, so when he invites them to stay the night at the temple Andy kind of wants to tell him to get bent and just leave. But they don't, because of course they don't, and while she is told a enough about Nazuna's circumstances to cut the girl some slack Andy isn't all too thrilled about being under the same roof as the old priest and his assistant. Too bad for her Inuyasha and Kagome seem pretty ok with staying the night. Which is how Andy finds herself eating a warm meal in the room she and her friends have been offered.

"Funny how a couple bowls of rice can change your tune about someone." Kagome says to Shippo after he's finished talking about how they should stay a few days and get to know Nazuna.

The food's good, but it isn't that good.

Andy wants out of this temple as soon as possible.

"I liked her from the start," Shippo says, "I just thought her manners were lacking."

"Yeah, that's what it is." Andy grumbles before shoving more food in her mouth.

"Hey, Inuyasha? Why the long face?" Kagome asks and Andy turns to look at her friend.

"It's nothing." He grumbles, clearly lying, and Kagome is quick to make her way across the room so she can get a better look at him. "What? You have a problem?"

"Wait a second, Inuyasha, I know what's going on here. You're afraid of spiders!"

Inuyasha is quick to rebuff such accusations and stomps off soon after with a claim that he'll be sleeping outside tonight. He doesn't even make it out into the yard before they're attacked.

A spindly creature with glowing red eyes and fangs protruding from it's upper mouth bursts through the ceiling followed by another. They don't have much of a face to convey emotion but their body language screams aggression and so Andy is quick to rise and make her way over to Inuyasha and Kagome as fast as she can without setting off either of the creatures.

"So much for the old man's sutras." Inuyasha snarls as he pulls Tetsusaiga from its sheath.

But the sword doesn't transform. It always transforms when Inuyasha unsheathes it which tells Andy that either something funky is up with the sword or something's going on with Inuyasha, who barely manages to deflect a burst of sticky webbing that the Spider Head spits out of it's mouth. With a noise of complaint Andy rushes the Spider Head closest to Inuyasha and kicks it as hard as she can in the side of the face which causes it to let out a terrible shriek as it's send sprawling. The Spider Heads around them retaliate by sending waves of webbing at her and Inuyasha, which Andy only just avoids getting hit with by ducking behind a wooden pillar. Inuyasha isn't so lucky and it takes Shippo's fox fire to distract the Spider Heads as Andy and Kagome drag Inuyasha out of the webbing he's pretty much encased in.

They run from the Spider Heads as quickly as they can considering they're practically dragging Inuyasha along and they don't stop until they've found a secluded spot in the forest beyodn the temple grounds that's free of Spider Heads.

"We should be safe here." Kagome breaths as she looks around.

Inuyasha's ragged panting and muttered, "Damn it." has Andy turning to stare at him through narrowed eyes.

"What's wrong with you?" She demands, because he's been acting like this all night and it's seriously time he told them why he's being weird.

She gets her answer as he pulls the webbing off of his head to reveal dark hair where there used to be pretty silver. Without the dog ears and silver eyes Inuyasha looks human, fuck, he is human. Andy isn't sure how or why but there's no denying that he is human right now. Dark hair, dark eyes, no demon power in him. His behavior makes a whole lot more sense now.

"Forget about me for now," he tells them, "you should be more worried about yourselves."

"You're human." Andy blurts out as Kagome says, "Your hair's gone black."

Of all the responses Andy is expecting she isn't expecting Inuyasha to sigh and sit himself down against a tree where he continues to pull webbing- or is it hair?- off of his head.

"If you think you can rely on my strength to save you this time, you'd better think again." Inuyasha says.

"What do you mean?" Shippo asks and Andy shakes her head.

"He's human right now, can't exactly be packing demonic strength when you're human." she turns to look at him. "How long has this been happening?"

"All half-demons such as Lord Inuyasha, are subject to certain times when they lose their supernatural powers as a demon." Myoga says when it becomes clear Inuyasha won't.

Kagome shakes her head and says, "I don't really follow you."

"Kagome, Inuyasha is human right now. He can't access his demonic powers." And looks up at the sky, noting the lack of moon hanging above their heads. "It's a new moon."

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Kagome demands, angry, "If you told us that you'd be loosing your powers, I never would have insisted that we stay in the temple with Nazuna! So much for being able to lean on your close friends!"

"I don't trust anyone, got it?" Inuyasha snaps at her which causes Kagome to pull away, hurt.

With a hiss Andy puts herself between the two, unwilling to let this argument progress any further at the moment. What's done is done, the fact that he hadn't told them stings a bit but yelling doesn't change their situation any. They need to get to a secure location as soon as possible, preferably somewhere with a lockable door. Rustling in the leaves makes Shippo scream loudly as he rushes over to Kagome, who's been yelling at Inuyasha for the past few seconds while Andy's been trying to figure out what they're going to do.

When Nazuna comes stumbling out of the bushes looking worse for wear Andy finds herself feeling relieved. She can handle bratty attitude without a problem, it's web-spitting demons she's not too sure about. Sure, she could probably blast a few of them if she wanted to but then what? She's not exactly sure hitting them with her shoe is going to help them at this point.

"Please, you must return and aid the priest!" Nazuna is begging, her breathing coming out in harsh pants as she looks up at them from where's she's propped up on her hands and knees.

Andy presses her lips together as Kagome shuffles forward to place her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"What? You want us to go back?" She asks.

"Your demon is strong! I'm sure he can assist us!" Nazuna's eyes cut to Inuyasha.

"Now, what were you saying about not wanting to be obliged to demons? Get the priest to write up some more of those sutras." Inuyasha tells her.

Nazuna's eyes go very, very wide before she says, "Your countenance seems altered. Has your hair not changed?"

"Keh. It isn't easy being human, believe me." Inuyasha snaps as he turns his head away from her.

Kagome's startled cry makes Andy jump and whip around to stare at her along with everyone else and she sheepishly says, "I forgot my bag."

Which means she forgot the jewel shards.

Andy's just going to get her a chain or something and they're going to tie the jewel shards around her neck. At least that way she wouldn't be able to lose them. It's quickly decided that Andy and Inuyasha will head back to the temple to retrieve Kagome's bag, hopefully before any of those Spider Heads get the bright idea to go through it, while the others remain behind where it's safer. Andy doubts Kagome and Nazuna are safe in the woods but at least Shippo will be able to use his fox fire to protect them should a few of those Spider Heads stumble across them.

Sprinting in the dark isn't ideal, nor is sprinting in the dark through a spider-demon infested wood, but Andy does because she'll be damned if she has to fight a juiced up group of spiders. Inuyasha owes her big time for this, and Kagome, they all do, because Andy seriously detests spiders and the fact that she's charging into a nest of them is a testament to how much she loves her friends.

They make it back to their room to find the priest from earlier digging through Kagome's things. Inuyasha is quick to grab a board off the floor that splintered at some point during the fight earlier and toss it at the old man, who grunts as the board shatters the glass bottle in his hand. He goes to collect the jewel shards from the ground where they've fallen, aged fingers trembling, but Andy's already across the room and driving her knee into his nose before he can scoop any of the shiny pink fragments up. Blood gushes out of his nose in a wave of red that looks brown in the poor lighting. Andy sweeps her foot across the ground to scatter the glass and jewel shards so that it forces him to search for them and give Andy and Inuyasha time to fend him off. She makes sure to keep an eye on the jewel shards to see where they end up and them tuns to look at the priest.

His nose is quite obviously broken, bent to one side and gushing red, but it's the abnormally elongated neck and fangs.

"So, you were planning this right from the start." Inuyasha says, pulling the attention of the demon- and Andy was not expecting him to actually be a demon, she was just thinking he was a creepy old dude- so that Andy can gather up the jewel shards and shove them into her front pocket.

"I could hardly contain myself when I saw you," the not-priest says, "the half-demon rumored to posses jewel shards!

Glass cuts into her fingers but Andy ignores the sting in favor of getting the last of the jewel fragments off of the floor. She only manages to get one of the three before she's sent flying as something smacks into her back. Wood splinters as she's driven into the floor, sharp edges cutting into her upper body as she attempts to roll herself out of the freshly made hole she's found herself in.

"What an unfortunate mishap that your superhuman powers have deserted you," she hears the Spider Head say and turns to find him pinning Inuyasha to a slat of wood. "By the time I tie the final knot on my gauzy web of deceit-"

Andy wraps her finger around a particularly sharp looking board and works it out of the floor as quickly as she can. With the Spider Head's attention on what he perceives as the bigger threat, Andy has the opportunity to sneak behind him and drive the sharp end of her makeshift sword into his shoulder causing the Spider Head to shriek as he drops Inuyasha. Andy sprints across the room and grabs Inuyasha by the shoulder.

"Come on!" Andy screams as she hauls Inuyasha up.

They only manage a few feet before something sticky tangles around Andy's knees, effectively knocking her off balance just as another shot of webbing comes sailing at her head. Tangled up, hands sticking as she tries to untangle herself, Andy is forced to watch as Inuyasha is hauled up into the air by the Spider Head to be pinned among more web.

"Finally, this tiresome charade as a human has ended!" The Spider Head cries before his body begins to shift and extend in a haze of blue light.

When the light faces Andy is horrified to find that the old man's body is now making up what looks like a domed web made of bone that the Spider Head is in the dead center of. Andy struggles against the webbing pinning her to the floor with more aggression, fingers dancing with fire that manages to catch the silky strands and reduce them to wisps of smoke as Inuyasha lets out an agonized gasping sound. Springing to her feet, Andy watches as the Spider Head pulls his fangs from Inuyasha's abnormally still body and turns to her to offer a sickening smile.

"Now tell me where you have hidden the remaining shards of the Shikon Jewel." The Spider Head demands.

Like she's going to tell him.

"Get bent." Andy hisses.

"I believe you possess them."

Steps on wood signals the arrival of Kagome, Shippo, and Nazuna. Andy should have known they wouldn't have stayed behind, Kagome's too brave and Shippo wouldn't leave her, Nazuna probably didn't want to be left alone in the woods. Damn, damned, damnable. Andy puts herself between the two girls and the kitsune, fully prepared to blast the Spider Head's ugly head off should he come after them.

"Master! I-I don't understand!"

"He was deceiving you." Kagome growls, offended on the girl's behalf.

Andy doesn't have time for offense right now, too busy keeping everyone alive as she is. They need to get Inuyasha out of those webs and get them somewhere safe. A supply room might be the best place as it would be made of stone and possibly have a wooden door to act as a barricade between them and the Spider Head.

"Inuyasha's been poisoned." She tells Kagome, both looking at the dark haired boy as he's dangled like a toy in the air but the webbing.

Kagome, bless her, takes off running toward the bone-like web dome and manages to ward off the Spider Head's attack with Tetsusaiga. With his web attack not working the Spider Head attempts to distract Kagome by telling her that Inuyasha's body is probably turning to liquid with so much venom in his system, it does the opposite. With renewed determination Kagome begins scaling the dome and Andy whips around to face Nazuna.

"Is there a store room we can barricade ourselves in?" She asks the trembling girl.

"Yes, but it's," she swallows heavily, "I can take you."

Her reply is cut off by Kagome and Inuyasha tumbling to the ground where Kagome is quick to get to her feet so she can help Andy can haul Inuyasha up so they can drag him to the store room. With him being paralyzed it's a matter of half-dragging, half-carrying him down the hall to the room Nazuna had mentioned. It's not a store room exactly but it's got four solid walls and a wooden door so it's better than nothing. Grunting, Andy props Inuyasha up against the wall and begins tearing at his clothes so she can get a better look at his wound while Myoga helps Kagome secure the door. It's nice knowing they have a chance of getting out of this alive. Myoga might be a coward and because of that he's unintentionally great at boosting morale. The longer he lingers the better off their chances probably are.

Blood is beginning to tail out the side of Inuyasha's mouth, a shock of color too vibrant against his pallid skin. Andy swears colorfully as she presses both hands against Inuyasha's shoulder. She has no idea what she's supposed to be doing but the fact she's been wound up since the first attack helps her grab onto the fire lapping at her veins. Her hands glow with it, skin appearing to crack and flake to reveal the vivid red-gold burning beneath, and the light casts strange shadows across Inuyasha's face.

"You're going to be ok," Andy half-begs, "because if you die here I'm going to find you in the after life, beat you blood, and haul you back by your ears. You hear me?"

Heat pours from her body and into Inuyasha's as something heavy collides with the door behind them. Andy presses more of her power into Inuyasha and lets out a relieved huff as Inuyasha's color improves a bit and his breathing goes from terrifyingly slow to labored. Eyes burning, Andy pulls away from him and allows Kagome to take the spot she'd been occupying seconds before. They deserve a moment and so Andy ignores the whispered apologies and soft confessions coming from the back of the room.

She takes up watch by the door, sitting down in front of the Tetsusaiga so that if all else fails she can at least try to use it for leverage to keep the door shut, and the hours pass by quietly as Inuyasha's sword wards off the Spider Head lurking beyond the door. Andy stays awake through the night, keeping guard over her sleeping friends despite the uselessness of the gesture with Tetsusaiga there, still, it gives her a bit of comfort knowing that she's acting as a secondary layer of protection from their aggressor. As dim light begins to pour in through the small window Kagome and Inuyasha begin speaking in shushed tones before the half-demon falls back to sleep. For a moment Andy thinks they'll make it through the night without incident but the sudden rattling of the room around them makes her realize how stupid a notion that had been.

"What's happening?" Shippo asks as he's startled awake.

"The priest must be in pursuit again."

Myoga isn't wrong.

Behind her, Myoga and Kagome are yelling about getting Inuyasha out of the room when the roof begins caving in. Andy moves to shield her head, curling into a tight ball as Tetsusaiga is pushed out of the door. She scrambles for the sword. It doesn't respond to her as she wraps her fingers around it but there's no spark of demonic energy attempting to keep her away from it either. Feeling disappointed at not being able to use Tetsusaiga but knowing it's probably a good thing, Andy begins scrambling over and under debris to get to Kagome so that the human girl can use the sword to defend herself and Inuyasha.

"Take it!" Andy hisses as she shoves the sword into Kagome's waiting hands.

Seconds later Andy screams as the Spider Head, not much larger than before, pulls her out of the ruined room and up into the air by her ankles. Pain lances through her legs and settles in her hips as the demon gives her a few hard shakes.

"I must possess the remaining jewel fragments!" He cries as he begins shaking Andy harder.

Inside her pocket the jewel shards shift, sliding across soft fabric until they slip out of her pants. The Spider Head catches sight of them as they fall and drops Andy in favor of grabbing for them. She hits the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of her lungs, forcing her to lie there on her back as she sucks in ragged half-breaths. Booming laughter forces her to turn her head so she can catch of glimpse of the priest through blurred vision. He's even uglier now than he had been a few seconds ago.

"How dare you possess the body of my dear master!" Nazuna yells at the demon while brandishing a rusted Tetsusaiga.

The Spider Head smiles viciously and says, "There never was any priest here. It was all a trap to lure the half-demon and his jewels to me! "

"You! You slaughtered my parents and all the villagers?"

Breathing a little easier now Andy sits up and blinks away the dark spots that dance at the edges of her vision as the Spider Head laughs.

"You served me well, gullible fool!" The Spider Head says to which Nazuna screams something about him being treacherous before going to attack him with the harmless form of Inuyasha's blade.

Red flutters in the corner of her eye and Andy turns her head to find Inuyasha calmly making his way over to where the Spider Head is holding Nazuna aloft. They all seem pretty surprised to see him but with the sun now risen high enough in the sky that it's no longer evening it's safe to assume he's got his powers back. Andy smiles when Inuyasha catches the sword Nazuna has dropped.

"Kick his ass, Inuyasha!" She hollers, thrilled and terrified in equal measures.

Because he's not her dog-boy yet but he's getting closer and Andy's gonna love watching him demolish the Spider Head, who snatches him up with promises to devour Inuyasha whole.

Excitement makes her tremble as the first rays of sunlight that hit Inuyasha cause his hair to fade to luminous silver, his demonic energy returning with a pulse that slides across Andy's skin like water. She whoops loudly as Tetsusaiga transforms so that Inuyasha can slide the Spider Head to bloody ribbons. All-in-all it's not much of a battle; Inuyasha does some fancy looking sword work and the Spider Head disappears in a flash of golden power, the only thing left behind is a decently sized hunk of the Jewel that clatters against the floor. While Kagome goes to gather the shards Andy launches herself at Inuyasha, wrapping arms and legs around his body as she plants a wet kiss on his forehead and both cheeks before hugging him close.

"I thought you were dead! Don't you scare me like that again, you hear me? huh?" Andy demands, the burning in her eyes suspicious.

"Uh, Andy, are you crying?"

"No!"

Lie.

She's crying a little hysterically and when Inuyasha realizes it he begins patting her back frantically as he says, "Uh, it's ok! We're ok! Stop crying!"

"You're really," sniff, "bad at comforting people."

Inuyasha carefully pries her legs off of him so that she's supporting her own weight before wrapping his arms around her ribs. He holds her as she cries and Andy allows herself a moment to just let it all out before pulling away when she loosens her hold on him.

"You don't keep shit like that from us anymore. Got it?" Andy demands as she wipes at her cheeks with the palm of her hand.

"Got it."

Andy nods before going off to gather their things from room they'd been given upon arrival. She repacks Kagome's bag, checks to see if any of her items have gone missing, and then makes her way back to the courtyard where she finds Kagome and the others waiting. Once they've all been gathered Inuyasha leads them back to the river where their boat is bobbing gently in the water where Kagome tied it off yesterday. Andy settles in towards the back of the boat, legs crossed with her backpack settled in the gap offered by her legs so she can use it as a pillow once they get going, Shippo settles down beside her with Nazuna in front of him while Kagome and Inuyasha linger toward the front of the boat. A low groan leaves her as Andy shifts to a more comfortable position that lets her lean against the backpack without crippling her. It's not a great position but it's better than nothing and Andy resigns herself to aching muscles for a few hours of sleep.

Where are we?

Frowning, Andy presses her face more firmly into her bag and tries to ignore the voice in her head. Why does it want to know where they are? Doesn't it pay any attention? Or has the jumping between modern and feudal era japan confused them so much that they really can't tell? Andy frowns into the rough blue fabric of the backpack. What even is the presence anyway? Is it a part of her brain that's aware of what's going on or a part of the awakening?

I'm you.

Sounds like some sort of cryptic shit she'd say to herself.

If having another voice in her head is going to be a permanent thing the two of them are going to have to get something straight. Andy's not all about getting possessed so if that's what this is the voice can shove off. Yawning, Andy wraps her arms more firmly around her backpack.

You'll understand soon.

Andy wants to tell the presence in her head that she highly doubts that but settles on an imaginary middle finger as she's too exhausted to carry on this constant back and forth in her own head. Sleep deprivation has made people do some pretty crazy stuff, maybe this entire conversation is just a sort of weird hallucination invented by her mind to tell her to get some sleep. Yeah, that's it.

Yawning, the red head burrows further into her backpack and closes her eyes tightly against the light falling on her through the trees lining the river. She's as comfortable as she's going to get until they get back to Kaede's so she might as well just get as much sleep as her battered body can. The presence in her head continues to whisper about things that don't make sense and soon it becomes background noise that soothes her of her worries and her lingering tension from the evening before. Soon Andy drifts off to sleep and dreams of burning wings and gentle laughter that carries her through a world of endless wonder and fascination and a strange, bipedal species.

~X~

A/N:

So, turns out it was a temporary issue with my comments. So far all comments that have been posted are viewable to the public and I haven't had anything weird pop up on my end. That's good!

While I have you here I would also like to address some things as we're getting into the action of the series and I'm going to be introducing new plot points and such. There is going to be some more graphic descriptions of violence as the story progresses for various reasons. The anime and manga themselves weren't exactly lacking in violence but I want people to be aware so that nothing comes as a surprise later on down the road.

I really appreciate all of the support everyone has been giving this story so far because it's not even half-way into the first season and I'm getting such positive feedback. It's all really inspiring, you know? Makes me want to show my appreciation for you guys through chapters. I know this one was kind of small but I'm going to make it up to you guys.

Thank you again for all of your support (again) and please don't forget to favorite, follow, review, and recommend to your fellow fanfiction loving friends.