Hm, I seem to have a tendency to update in clumps, don't I? It seems that there were quite a few people who read my last chapter, but I've received barely any reviews. Was it so repulsive you couldn't finish it? I'd like to know. Was it so great that you read it again, and forgot to review? I'd love to know that too! You can review now if you'd like! Just please, let me know what you thought of it. It is quite important to me, as I am still unsure of the pace I'm moving at. For the reviews that WERE left, thank you very much! They're very helpful! ANYWAYS, here's another chapter for you all!
"Raaainee, we're never going to catch up with Lloyd and the others if we keep sticking around here!"
A little boy with silver hair whined. He sat legs dangling on an elevated wooden floor, idly playing with his toy that doubled as a weapon, before a grand building. It seemed to be the home of a noble at one point, but it was difficult to tell. There seemed to be absolutely no trace of anyone ever having lived there. The woman the boy was speaking to shuffled back and forth between various points of 'interest'.
"You said you'd only be a minute, and it's been nearly two days! This place gives me the creeps."
The boy yawned.
'Hm... There is a strange sort of mana surrounding this whole place, but I can't seem to figure it out...'
The woman thought. The past few days, her staff had been reacting strangely to the mana in various levels; she could feel the strange mana transferring to her arm. Sometimes, it would even be painful.
'It's like there was an aura of some sort in this place some time ago. I have a bad feeling about this place, it's strange that it would be so deserte--'
"Raaaaaaiiine, I'm booooored, can we please leave now?"
SMACK!
It was rare to have her train of thought disrupted, but her little brother was being quite insufferable. A nice older-sisterly beating always did the trick.
"Oww, hey, come on sis! I thought we were supposed to be looking for Lloyd!"
The boy said, nursing his head.
"We can look for Lloyd when I'm done my research here. Something's definitely not right..."
She replied, despite the boy's groans of protest.
"AHHHHHH!"
A loud shriek jerked Inuyasha and Sango out of their trance. Their heads reflexively turned to see that it was Sheena.
SLAP!
"Argh, hey! What gives?"
"W-what the hell is this stupid chosen doing sleeping so close to me?!"
Of course it was Zelos with a burning handprint on his face, growing redder each moment. Sheena's face was just as red; Zelos must have snuggled up to her when she passed out the night before.
"Heeey, come on Sheena! I thought you were my hunnie!"
"Shut up!"
Zelos received a matching handprint on his other cheek.
Sango was the first to move from her spot. She dropped down, walking over to Sheena.
"Sheena, how do you feel?"
Stretching, Sheena replied,
"I feel much better than I did. I'm still pretty hungry though..."
The others began awaking one by one now. Kagome remained still. Lloyd and Colette were also snoozing. If Zelos hadn't been awakened so roughly, he would have been doing the same. Using their wings exhausted their mana pretty quickly, especially in these conditions. Zelos estimated that flying for two full days would cause exhaustion that would require maybe a week of rest.
"Sango, why didn't you wake one of us up to take over watch? You must be exhausted."
Miroku said, prodding the snoring Shippo awake.
"What'd you do by yourself all night?"
Sango doused the remains of the fire.
"O-oh, nothing, really... Inuyasha was awake too..."
Nodding, Miroku replied,
"Not surprising. It was the night of the new moon after all. Why didn't you just let him keep watch?"
"Um, he just looked like he could have used some company..."
It was a very clear day; the blue skies were mirrored by the glasslike surface of the water. Inuyasha sat at the bank, empty bottles at his side. They were his excuse for a desire for brief solitude. Leaning forward, he could see himself looking back at him.
'What the hell was that? What was I doing last night?'
His thoughts were racing.
'Why couldn't I stop myself? That was Sango! Why didn't she stop?"
His hand cut through the still reflection, distorting it. Cupping his hand, he splashed some of the cool water on his face. It didn't help his distress.
'Dammit, how the hell am I going to... What do I say when I get back? What did all of that last night really mean...?'
He asked himself. He then slumped back, gazing into the clear blue above, beads of water dampening his collar.
'Did I really have feelings for her?'
All his life, he'd taught himself how to live independently, with his own strength. He never relied on anyone to save his life, yet Sango had done so twice, both on the nights he was most vulnerable. She was strong; her fighting ability was the best he'd ever seen in a human, yet she was so kind. He began to wonder: did Sango have similar feelings about him? She was practically engaged to Miroku, and he thought he himself had some sort of commitment to Kagome. Was she betraying Miroku? Was he betraying Kagome? What was going on? He ruffled his hair in frustration.
If that crazy girl hadn't tried to kill him, this probably wouldn't have happened. Thinking back though, he didn't exactly hate the feeling...
"U-Um, hey. I came to come and get you."
Said a female voice. Inuyasha quickly sat up, turning.
"Breakfast is ready, and your friends were wondering where you were."
With a sigh, Inuyasha got to his feet, quickly filling the last of the bottles. It was Sheena. He remembered now, he allowed Sango's crazy friend and the other strange people to join the group. After gathering up his things, he looked at her in the light for the first time. In the darkness, he never really got a good look at her, but now he realized she didn't look half as crazy as he thought she would look. Amazed by this, he kept staring.
"W-what're you looking at?"
She said, turning around.
"If you're not coming, then we're going to eat without you!"
She stomped off ahead. With a smirk, Inuyasha followed behind. The girl didn't look so bad. She seemed quite outgoing, yet shy at the same time. He decided to describe her from then on as 'weird' instead of 'crazy'. An improvement by his standards.
"Kagome, are you feeling okay?"
Shippo asked, looking up at her as he sat on her lap. With a small smile, she gave him a little pat on the head.
"Actually, I'm not feeling too great today."
She replied.
"What? Are you hurt somewhere? Did you get sick?"
She only responded with another weak smile.
"I guess you could say I'm hurt."
Sango sat watching Kagome from a distance, as the others were busy talking to each other. Reality was beginning to sink in. At first, she was simply happy that Inuyasha returned her kiss, but now she began to question why.
Sheena suddenly stopped, finally prepared. Inuyasha stopped behind her as well, as she turned to face him.
"What, going to ambush me now that we're away from everyone else?"
He taunted, still smirking. Using all of her willpower, she ignored this.
"I'm sorry I attacked you yesterday... I really didn't know... I was blinded by anger."
"Keh! Whatever, it's not like you really did kill me."
He started walking again, and she was the one to follow now.
"So you were looking for Sango?"
"Yeah. We were childhood friends, and after I saw the slayer village, I thought she was killed."
"So you wanted revenge. That sounds pretty familiar."
"Huh?"
"She was out to kill me too when we first met for the exact same reason."
"Why?"
"Because that bastard Naraku destroyed her village, and killed her family on a mission he set up. Everyone but Sango was killed, but she was badly hurt. He tried to get her to kill me by giving her a shard, and telling her that I destroyed her village. Those lies probably spread through rumours, and were never cleared up."
Sheena stopped again.
"That's... terrible..."
She said,
"That's how that bastard is. Sango isn't the only victim, so we have find him and take him down before more people are hurt."
Inuyasha bitterly remembered how he himself was deceived by Naraku, and caused Kikyo's death, and his imprisonment to the tree.
"Well, then, since we'll be travelling together, I guess there's no hard feelings?"
Sheena finally said with a smile. He was a good person after all.
"Keh!"
Inuyasha snorted, starting to walk again.
"We'll see about that if this damn wound ever heals up."
His hand went to his shoulder, still recovering from the poison wound.
"You're pretty strong, you know?"
"What're you talking about? I didn't even scratch you yesterday."
Sheena replied, slightly nervous. Inuyasha looked back at her over his other shoulder.
"That wasn't the first time you attacked me, was it?"
He asked, as they finally reached the others. As he joined up with them, dropping the water bottles in a pile, Sheena was frozen dead in her tracks.
'Shit... He knows!'
Ooooh, well. That is another chapter for you guys. As always, thanks for reading, and please review!