Chapter 2: The Sacred Jewel

"You should listen when I tell you to do something," Kagome scolded Inuyasha as she dumped him unceremoniously on the ground by the edge of a river.

"It's not my fault that stupid cat had a bad attitude. If you hadn't sat me, I could have taken him," Inuyasha replied insolently, "Didn't you notice that I was about to get him with a sutra?"

"Think about this, you stupid dog," Kagome hissed angrily in a voice quiet with veiled anger, "Your sutras could not stop me. I am only a half demon. Half demon means half power. Tonkatsu is not only a full demon, but the strongest in the village after my grandfather."

"I still think I could have taken him," Inuyasha grumbled, flinching when he saw Kagome's claws extending, "So, where is the bathhouse?" Inuyasha stood up and began brushing the dirt from his clothes.

The next thing he knew, he was above the large tranquil basin that occurred right below a waterfall, tumbling into the center of the pool. The water wasn't as tranquil as it looked. As soon as Inuyasha hit the water, he felt it pulling him along. His hands and feet scrabbled for purchase on the smooth water-worn rocks lining the bottom of the basin. Any rocks that were not perfectly smooth seemed to grow some sort of algae that made them too slippery to find purchase upon or came off in clumps like moss.

When it seemed he could hold his breath no longer, an eddy pushed Inuyasha out of the main current. His feet hit the stones and he pushed himself up and out of the water, gasping for for breath.

"What the hell you laughing at?" Inuyasha yelled, noticing the smirk that now graced Kagome's face.

Inuyasha stared forlornly out the window. He wasn't allowed to go outside alone and there wasn't anything to do inside. Inuyasha had thought about asking Kagome to take him home, but he couldn't think of a believable excuse to keep Sesshomaru off his back after being away for a couple weeks. His wounds were all but healed and he was beginning to get antsy.

"What's wrong little doggy?"

Inuyasha silently swore that he'd kill the brat. Kagome's brother had been nothing but a nuisance. Souta always wanted to play silly little games that always ended with Inuyasha getting injured. Any games Inuyasha could think of required special balls or other equipment. He had learned quickly that even as a small child, Souta's strength already exceeded his own by at least double so wrestling and other roughhousing were much to dangerous since he had not let learned to completely control his strength.

"I'm thinking of chasing a cat. There doesn't seem to be much else to do around here. NO cars to chase, no bone to chew on, no arumph-" Inuyasha was cut off as a large hunk of bone was shoved into his mouth. The worst part about Souta was that he didn't know what sarcasm was, or chose to pretend he didn't. Inuyasha turned away from the window. He took the bone out of his mouth. It was a big one, at least four feet long. "Yes, chasing and clobbering an annoying cat is definitely on my to do list," Inuyasha growled as he wielded the bone as a mace. Inuyasha swung the bone at Souta, only to be dodged at the last second.

"You missed me!" Souta laughed as he ducked and leapt to avoid the wild swings of the bone.

The two raced through the shrine, Souta leading Inuyasha on a grueling chase. Souta used the furniture to his advantage. He would leap over rugs on polished wood floors, sending Inuyasha sliding into walls. He would flip up tatami panels, knocking Inuyasha over or tripping him up. He would jump over chairs and slide under tables, making Inuyasha run into them. Souta ducked behind an urn. Inuyasha's wild swing shattered the large clay vessel, sending a gray powder flying. Souta inhaled the powder and began to cough, covering his nose with his hands.

"I've got you now, brat!"

Before Inuyasha could bring the club down on the incapacitated Souta he heard Kagome's pissed off voice shout, "Sit boy!" Inuyasha fell face first onto the floor next to Souta. "Look what you've done. The entire shrine is a mess! Just who do you think is going to clean this up?"

Inuyasha pointed at Souta who in turn pointed at Inuyasha.

"What's going on in here?" Kagome's grandfather entered the room. His face darkened as he surveyed the destroyed vessel. "Who's responsible for this?"

Both Souta and Inuyasha pointed at each other again, glancing back and forth as if to discern whether Kagome or her grandfather were the bigger threat.

"Do you even know what was in that urn? Those are the ashes of the dai youkai Toramaru who conquered all the lands five hundred years ago. He was the greatest of all cat demons. That jar was the only thing sealing his spirit!"

"So, he's dead. What's he going to do? Haunt us?" Inuyasha asked skeptically. He rose himself into a sitting position and crossed his legs."

"If we're lucky, that is all he'll do," Grandpa said, leaning in until he was nose to nose with Inuyasha. He pulled back suddenly and turned to Kagome. "I'm going to need to bring in some powerful mikos and monks to reseal his spirit. The villagers are going to be in an uproar over this and the that much spiritual power could cause havoc if a fight were to break out. Inuyasha won't do anything but hinder my efforts and he'll probably just end up breaking more things and creating more work for me."

"Grandpa, you promised I could keep him!" Kagome whined childishly.

"But I never promised to let you keep him here. I don't care where you go, but keep him out of the village until he learns to behave. I'll take care of Souta." Souta shivered at his grandfather's words.

Inuyasha couldn't believe the size of pack that he was being forced to carry. It was probably as big as he was and in an annoyingly unmanly yellow color. Inuyasha had been lugging the thrice-dammed thing for over twenty minutes and they were still not even at the forest line. The air was heavy with an oppressive aura as the demons all seemed to stare at him as if he were a snack or a fly buzzing around their nose. He groaned loudly as he painfully shifted the pack of supplies.

"Stop acting like an invalid. You've had plenty of time to heal. Pick up the pace!" Kagome ordered.

Inuyasha's eyebrow twitched in irritation. She had been bugging him every step he took. He tried to ignore her, focusing instead on taking another painful step forward.

"I'm waiting. Don't make me s-i-t you."

He had had enough. He dropped the pack on the ground. His speed increased dramatically. "If you think it's so damn easy, then you carry everything!" Inuyasha yelled and stormed past her. His out burst had turned even more eyes towards them.

"That 'everything' is the stuff you will need to survive in the wilderness. I on the other hand can survive just fine with only my claws." Kagome''s voice was low and hissing with menace.

"Then you'll just have to survive for the both of us!" Inuyasha yelled stubbornly back at her, ignoring the threat in her voice and stomping towards the trees.

"I-nu-ya-sha," the boy barely had time to turn his head towards her before she yelled, "SIT!"

Inuyasha braced himself against the pull. It only made things worse. Fighting the necklace meant that it needed to pull harder, and as a consequence slammed him into the ground even more force.

"Sit! Sit! SIT!"

Inuyasha was surprised, painfully so. Kagome had never used successive sits before. Despite already being already firmly planted against the ground, the repeated command caused the necklace to pull suddenly harder, straining his neck and pushing his face deeper into the soil. He could imagine her saying it over and over again, each command getting stronger and stronger until the necklace pulled so strongly that it would decapitate him. It was an ironic thought considering that she had put it on him so that she could punish him without injuring him too severely.

The next thing he knew, Kagome had grabbed him by the back of his collar and was dragging him along. Dragging was a relative term, to him it seemed like he was a a banner, flapping in the breeze as she leapt through the air. Then, he was roughly dumped onto the ground and the heavy, yellow weight that Kagome had called survival gear had been dropped on top of him.

"Why can't you just do as I tell you? Things would be so much easier if you would just listen."

Inuyasha could barely groan in response. The bag was making it very difficult to breathe on top of his other injuries.

"Is that all you have to say for yourself?" Kagome stopped for a moment, looking at him strangely, the anger seeming to melt away in an instant, "Are you okay? You're turning red..."

Inuyasha let out another strangled gasp and winced. The weight had shifted and now some lump was directing it all into the wound he had received. Then the weight was gone and he managed to completely fill his lungs with air.

"Keh, you're the one who should have listened to me," Inuyasha grumbled.

"Inuyasha, si-" Kagome stopped herself this time, "What do you mean by that?"

"'Stop acting like an invalid', 'you've had plenty of time to heal'... Being a human is not something you recover from."

"Then why didn't you say something?" Kagome asked.

"Because you would have sat me if I did!" Inuyasha responded angrily. His energy was returning as he regained his breath.

"I wouldn't sit you for something like that!" Kagome shouted back, ruining what little recovery he had made when she accidentally sat him again. "Oh, sorry about that. I didn't mean..."

"Feh," Inuyasha grunted and satisfied himself to just lay on the ground. Now he took the time to look around, he recognized this place. They were next to the sacred tree. The goshinboku towered above him, its branches spreading out like a massive tent that covered the sky. A few meters up the trunk was a scar in the bark, surrounded by the ruddy brown of congealed blood. He almost flinched at the sight as he remembered the attack.

"Well, we should probably set up for the night. It doesn't look like you're going to be getting up any time soon," Kagome said, attempting to cheerfully redirect the conversation in a direction that did not include her tendency to accidentally injure Inuyasha.

Inuyasha relaxed next to the fire. Ir was a warm night, so Inuyasha lay nestled between the roots of the goshinboku. Up above him, Kagome lay on a branch, propped up against the trunk above him. Most of the time, he couldn't see her, but every so often there would be a rustling or scratching sound and a pale hand or foot would appear. On one occasion, she brought her head into view, resting in the crook of her arm. Inuyasha almost had to stifle a chuckle as he noticed that even a female cat demon could look like a drooling moron when they were asleep.

The fire let loose a shower of sparks with a sudden pop that made Inuyasha almost leap into the air. The flare of the fire lit up Kagome's face and Inuyasha saw the incandescent silver glow of light reflecting off of her feline eyes. Things seemed to move in slow motion as he noticed things were not right. The crackling of the fire sounded more like the rustling of leaves. The cracks and pops of sparks sounded like the a clicking as if hard objects were rapidly grinding and slamming into each other. Then, Kagome's face was gone from his vision. He didn't even have time so see her move before he heard the call of her attack and a rain of blood fell upon him. He thought he was going to be sick.

"Are you okay?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha plucked what seemed to be a section of a small intestine from his hair and grimaced. He didn't even want to think about the inner juices that now covered his long luxurious hair. "I need a bath," he finally responded.

"Well, we are near the river."

Inuyasha almost jumped out of his skin and screamed in surprise. The piece of intestine had leapt from his hand and flew towards a mass of flesh that glowed with a dark and malevolent light. It fused with other pieces of self-propelled meat, forming first into a glob, and then into a claw hovering over Kagome. He didn't stop to think, instead he rolled up onto the balls of his feet and tackled Kagome just as she noticed the danger that was approaching.

The two landed in a heap at the base of the towering centipede demon. Inuyasha had knocked the wind out of himself and lay sprawled on top of Kagome. She reached under his arms and pulled him face first into her bosom as she leapt away. Moments later, the bulk of the centipede's body thundered to the ground where they had been.

Kagome leapt into the goshinboku. She knew that if any tree in the area would survive the battle, it would be this one. When she was sure that she was higher up than the centipede's body, she dropped Inuyasha onto a forked branch, leaning against the trunk.

For half a moment, Inuyasha thought he was safe, or at least as safe as one could be perched precariously at what seemed to be a hundred meters above the ground. Then the tree shook violently. Mistress Centipede had wrapped her body around the trunk of the tree and was rapidly spiraling up by using her many legs to dig powerfully into the bark. Inuyasha held on with all his might to prevent himself from being thrown down to his death.

Kagome dropped from high above, plummeting headfirst towards the demon and accelerating to deadly speeds.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha let go of the branch and dived as if to catch her. He was much too late and she was down far past him before he could stretch out his arm. Another particularly violent sent him tumbling down after her. She was already half the distance the the bottom. Inuyasha watched entranced as her body seemed to twist impossibly in the air, returning her to an upright position.

"Flesh flaying claws!" Kagome called out her attack as she focused the youki into her claws, sharpening and extending them. She lanced the tips into the bark of the tree just above the topmost coil of the demon centipede's body. Moving at terminal velocity, her claws sliced through the carapace like a chainsaw through melted butter. Ribbons of flesh streaked out from the shredded segment of the chilopod and curved over Kagome in bloody arcs like a perverse fountain.

It was strange for Inuyasha to see the creature ripped apart. He felt no remorse for its pain. Intelligent or not, it was a monster trying to kill him. Nor did he feel fear from plummeting towards what would almost certainly be his death. What he felt was relieved because, for once, he was not the one covered in blood and guts. It simply was not normal to be covered in blood and guts on more than one occasion per week – most likely less for people who did not get into fights as often as he did. Then the fear set in. The reality of his falling to certain death overcame his odd sense of relief. He could see shreds of jagged chitin from the creature's exoskeleton which were bent back at odd angles as if purposefully aimed to impale him through his vulnerable innards.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha cried out, hoping that she would catch him before he met an untimely death. She looked up at him and tried to kick off the tree and come to his aid, but her claws had become entrenched in the tree when she had shredded the demon. He expected that this was the end for him. Biting his lip to hold back an unmanly scream of fear, he shut his eyes and waited, hoping he could at least take his end like a man. Fortunately for Inuyasha fate had other plans for him. Sic hands grabbed onto him from behind, grasping him with inhuman strength.

"You're mine human. That filthssy halfbreed can't sssave you." The demon's arms drew Inuyasha to the pseudo-human torso that topped what remained of her body.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome finally pulled a hand free from the tree but there was nowhere near enough time for her to come to his rescue.

Inuyasha had no intention of dying from a centipede pile-driver. He surged forward with all of his might, getting as much range as he could before slamming back and ramming the back of his head into the demon's nose. Mistress Centipede cried out and her hands released him for a moment. Using her arms as leverage, Inuyasha pushed himself upward. Mistress Centipede slammed head first into the remains of the rest of her body which was slowly knitting itself back together. Inuyasha landed with her, bouncing off of Mistress Centipede's chest and into Kagome's arms.

"Are you okay?" Kagome asked, leaping back from the demon and carrying Inuyasha bridal style in her arms.

"I think she got the worst of it," Inuyasha muttered. The demon had taken most of the impact itself and pushing up at the last moment had slowed him down. It also helped that the body segments the demon had landed on had flattened under her weight, cushioning the fall even further. However, that didn't mean that it didn't hurt like hell. His entire body had been jarred. He glanced over at Mistress Centipede. His vision was blurry but slowly clearing. "The third segment. That's what's healing her," he said, "There's an evil light on the right side."

"I don't see anything," Kagome replied, squinting as if it would materialize some previously hidden object.

"Just trust me. If you want her to die, take out her third segment!"

Kagome placed Inuyasha on the ground and ran at the centipede. It was no match for her speed and her claws cut through the body over and over, sending chunks flying.

"There!" The chunk with the light flew out. Inuyasha staggered to his feet and leapt for the flying meat. He pounced on the still-moving flesh and dug his fingers into it, tearing it open until he saw it clearly.

"No! Leave that alone!" Mistress Centipede barreled towards Inuyasha, ignoring the many wounds Kagome was inflicting.

Inuyasha tried to reach in to grab the glowing object, but when he released the side of the torn open flesh, it would seal around the object.

"Don't you dare touch that!" Mistress Centipede's hands clawed at the ground. Kagome had her by the tail and the centipede could only move forward a few inched at a time.

Inuyasha tore open the flesh once more, then buried his face in the foul smelling flesh. He sunk his teeth into the flesh around the glowing sphere, spilling the revolting bug juices into his mouth. He gagged at the taste, continuing only because he knew his life was at stake. His teeth clamped against the hard, smooth surface. Strings of flesh clung to the sphere as he pulled with all of his might, fearing his teeth would fly out of his mouth before he could free the damned object. A hand grasped hi hair and yanked him into the grip of the centipede just as the last tendon snapped and the little sphere went flying a few feet away.

"No!" the demon screamed as her skin turned ashen. The centipede's body crumbled, rotting at an unbelievable rate until nothing remained.

Kagome stumbled then fell to the ground as the resistance disappeared. "Well, that was more difficult than I expected," she sighed, breathing a little heavily, "Usually such low class demons would not even be a challenge for me."

Following the dark violet light, Inuyasha scrambled around and found a large spherical jewel. "I think this was what made it so difficult he said.

"I don't like how it feels. It seems too dark," Kagome pointed out, having maneuvred to peer over his shoulder.

Inuyasha reached out to pick up the iridescent jewel. It felt evil to him as well, but when his finger touched it, the jewel blazed with a pure pink aura instead.

"You purified it!" Kagome exclaimed, "Most humans couldn't touch such high levels of youki without being corrupted."

"All I did was pick it up. Not like I did anything special to it," Inuyasha shrugged.

"If you purified it without even trying, then you must have amazing spiritual powers. I've only ever heard of one other person whose spiritual powers could rival that."

"Of course I have awesome spiritual powers. I'm just that awesome."

Kagome sighed, "You have no idea how to use them do you?"

"It's not like I have ever needed to before. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it pretty quickly," Inuyasha assured her confidently.

"I guess that settles it then."

"Settles what?" Inuyasha asked.

"You're an idiot," Kagome said matter-of-factly, "There had to be a downside somewhere. A human without prejudice against half-demons, relatively good at fighting – for a human – and not to mention your strong spiritual powers and being attractive with really nice hair. Even with all that going for you, you don't have the brains to use what you've got."

"Just because I haven't been trained in something doesn't mean I am an idiot. If you suddenly found you had spiritual powers, you wouldn't know how to use them either," Inuyasha said defensively.

"The difference is, I'd have figured out that I had spiritual powers."

"My world isn't full of demons. Spiritual powers are pretty much useless there."

"You should have still used your powers to heal the sick and injured villager."

"That's what the doctors and hospitals are for. If I tried that, I'd probably arrested for practicing medicine without a license. I eat, sleep, do chores, and go to school."

"What is skool?" Kagome asked.

"And you call me an idiot," Inuyasha sighed.

"Whatever. Either way, we should see what my grandfather has to say about this jewel. Until then, you can hang onto it, but keep it out of sight. I don't know what it is, but it seems powerful."

"You think more demons are going to take this from us?"

Inuyasha returned to the demon village with the jewel stuffed into his pocket and Kagome on his heels, watchful for any aggressive intentions on the part of the villagers. The demons glanced towards them warily, most giving them unwelcome glares and uttering unflattering comments about the 'human-loving whore' being as bad as her father.

"What's wrong with them? Humans aren't that bad. We're not the most loveable things on the face of the earth, but they shouldn't be glaring at me like I just took a crap on their lawn," Inuyasha grunted irritably, trying to avoid glaring back at the unfriendly welcome they were receiving from the demons of the village.

"They're not glaring at you. I am the one they're looking at. They don't see you as anything more than an odd pet at best. I will even bet that half of them have tried out a human or two to satisfy their lust or hunger."

"Then what's their problem? Did I do something to insult the entire village? I would think I would notice doing something like that."

"They're glaring at me, not you. My brother and I are the shame of the village. We're half-breeds. We aren't welcomed in demon or human villages," Kagome explained.

"They must be idiots then – especially the humans. They don't have heavy machinery or guns do they? If there are a lot of creatures like Mistress Centipede out there, then you could protect them."

"Maybe if I was a kitsune or a inu, that might be true, but neko demons are flesh eaters. We're not even cute like the twin-tails."

"So, humans are blind as well as stupid," Inuyasha sighed. His race sounded like complete asses when he looked at them from Kagome's perspective.

"Not all of them. Usually there's a few who would accept me and my brother and mother. A few isn't enough when a mob comes to hack you into little pieces."

"So humans think you're a demon and are afraid of you and do stupid things instead of getting to know you. That shouldn't stop you from getting along with other demons."

"Demon's will follow whoever is the strongest. Humans are weaker than demons, therefore half-demons must be weaker than demons. At least that's the way most demons look at a hanyou. A lot of the time, they won't even take one of us seriously in a fight, which leads to a lot of dead demons. Demons will usually mate with the strongest woman they can find so that their bloodline won't become weak. They'll take weaker demons and humans as concubines, but will usually kill them if they become with child to protect their pride. To let a hanyou even be born is seen as an insult not only to the demon and their ancestors but to all demons."

"So why don't all the half demons come together and make their own village instead of hanging out with idiots who want to kill them?"

"Great idea! Gather us all into one place so they can kill us faster."

"Oh... So you're really screwed no matter what," Inuyasha said, "If things are so bad, why are you still living with all these demons?"

"I'm one of the lucky ones. My father and grandfather are daiyoukai. As the lord of the western lands, no one would consider harming him or his family, at least not openly. Most other half demons either look human enough that they can hide in human villages or live alone in the forest. Of those, only the strongest ever live very long."

Inuyasha walked ahead of Kagome. After their conversation, they had lapsed into an awkward silence. There really wasn't anything a person could say after that. He slid the door open with his foot and walked inside.

"We had better talk to Grandpa about it," Kagome said. It was best not to let things like this go for too long. Inuyasha grunted in assent and headed into the shrine to look for the old man.

Grandpa Higurashi was meditating by the sacred flame of the temple. Or at least that was what Inuyasha thought when he saw the man sitting serenely in the path of the thick grey smoke billowing out of the altar.

Kagome smacked her grandfather on the back of the head and yelled, "What kind of example are you setting for Souta when you do irresponsible things like this?"

Then Inuyasha noticed the bowl of crushed, dried leaves.

"Kagome, can't you afford an old man some comforts in his golden years?"

"Not when you're abusing catnip. Something happened, and we need your mind sharp."

The old man sighed and turned to face them. "What is so important?"

"Mistress centipede came back to life again. We put her down for good this time and found what was healing her," Kagome explained.

"Well, I presume you brought it with you, so lets see it."

Inuyasha withdrew the crystal orb from his pocket. It still shone with the bright pink aura it had when Inuyasha had first purified it of Mistress Centipede's taint.

"Boy, bring that here!" Inuyasha stepped towards the old man whose arm snapped out and grabbed the jewel. It immediately filled with a murky violet light, corrupting the holy pink aura. "Do you have any idea what this is?"

Inuyasha shrugged.

"If we knew, we wouldn't have bothered bringing it for you to look at," Kagome said.

"This is a very precious and sacred artifact known as the Shikon no Tama, or Jewel of Four Souls. It is unique and very powerful. It is said that this jewel can multiply the holder's power and even grant wishes, but it comes at the cost of great strife and bloodshed. The jewel's power will draw demons and humans alike who crave its powers. Just having it invites disaster."

Grandpa Higurashi handed the jewel back to Inuyasha and watched in amazement as it instantly purified.

"You have quite a gift there boy. Hold on to that and keep it safe and out of my village. I don't want the kind of trouble it will bring if it is kept here."

Inuyasha and Kagome set out again the next day. After a few hours travel, they set up camp in a clearing by a river where Kagome could catch some fish for dinner.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Kagome asked as Inuyasha was about to head into the forest on his own.

"I am just going to take a piss," Inuyasha grumbled. Kagome had begun to get on his nerves with the way she was always commanding him to do things.

"Well just use those bushes then," Kagome told him.

"Why, you get your kicks watching people piss? I need some privacy!"

"You're injured and carrying a jewel that attracts demons, you're not leaving my sight!"

"Perverted cat!"

"SIT!" Kagome hissed angrily. Inuyasha slammed into the ground and cried out in pain. "Serves you right! You should just do what I tell you then this wouldn't happen."

"I'm not a damn dog, I am not a stupid pet, I am a person. I have my own mind and body and I'll use them however the hell I want! Now let me have some damn privacy before I piss myself and you have to live with the smell."

"Fine! Go then, and see if I care if some demon comes along and bites your head off!" She crossed her arms and scowled angrily.

Inuyasha stomped off into the forest, looking for a suitable place to relieve himself. He soon decided on a pair of trees with thick trunks with a conveniently large bush next to them. He stood between the trees and watered the bush. Just as he was shaking off the last drops, there was a fluttering and a black mass burst through the bush. Talons dug into his shoulders and the giant black crow lifted him into the air.

Kagome heard Inuyasha scream. Despite her earlier words, she had no intentions of letting him be eaten by any sort of demon. He was the closest thing she had ever had to a real friend, and she wasn't about to give that up without a fight.

Kagome dashed into the woods and saw Inuyasha being lifted by the monstrous black crow. Despite the crow's size, Inuyasha was a heavy burden, and the bird's ascent was slow. Kagome dodged through the trees.

"Inuyasha!" she called.

"Kagome! Help!"

Kagome leapt up and grabbed onto the jeans which were which were currently bunched around his ankles. The crow's grip slipped and Inuyasha fell right out of his kosode. The two landed in a heap and Inuyasha scrambled to pull his, now torn, jeans back up his legs.

"We have to go after it!" Inuyasha said as he scrambled to his feet.

"We have to treat your wounds. Who cares about a crow?"

"Your grandfather said the jewel was important," Inuyasha explained, "And I tied it into the sash I was using to tie the kosode closed!"

"You let it take the jewel? I am so going to S-I-T you for that when we get it back." Kagome threatened as she turned her eyes skywards. "Which way did it go?" Kagome couldn't even see the crow in the sky. It was somewhere, hidden by the treetops that towered over them.

"It's going that way!" Inuyasha pointed to where he could see the glow of the sacred jewel radiating through the trees.

Kagome leapt to her feet and scooped Inuyasha into her arms, carrying him bridal-style as she leapt in the direction he had pointed.

"You could at least let me ride on your back if you're going to carry me," Inuyasha complained, "Carrying me like this is too embarrassing."

"Just keep me pointed towards the jewel and save worrying about your reputation for later!" Kagome ordered.

Inuyasha pointed again and Kagome slightly altered their course. Inuyasha kept pointing the way, but his face was quickly flushing as he tried to ignore the closeness to Kagome. Every leap had her squeezing him into her chest and his face would take on a slightly redder hue in response. He did his best to ignore the fact that his face was practically buried in her hair and her delicate jawline was just hovering enticingly in front of his nose. He turned his head away, forcing himself to ignore her as he adjusted their heading towards the thieving crow once again.

"It's landing!" Inuyasha said.

They stood now at the treeline. There was a bit of a clearing here with a road passing through the center. There were four wagons laden with goods and covered with tarps. A dozen men stood around idly while horses wandered aimlessly through the grass. On top of the wagons, a murder of crows flocked together around the largest crow which was pecking at Inuyasha's sash. It lifted its head, with the glowing jewel in its beak. All the crows squawked and cawed eerily before the jewel disappeared down the lead crow's gullet.

"He swallowed it!" Inuyasha exclaimed angrily.

The squawking abruptly stopped and all eyes turned towards them. Then, in a pulse of dark light, the lead crow changed. Its size tripled from being almost the size of a man to being larger than a horse. Its beak had become large and jagged and filled with sharp fangs that jutted out at odd angles. It now had six glowing red eyes on each side of its head and at a flap of its three pairs of wings, a gust of wind filled the clearing. As if it were a signal, the crows leapt to action. Some leapt into the bodies of men and horses.

"Corpse puppets!" Kagome gasped in disgust.

The rest of the crows took to the air and dove towards Kagome and Inuyasha.

"Flesh flaying claws!" Kagome leapt into action, dismembering five crows with a single swipe of her claws. She had missed one. She turned, aiming to slice it to ribbons, but it was out of her range, diving towards Inuyasha, ready to impale him on its beak. "Inuyasha!" she called out in hopes that he would be able to avoid the bird that would surely kill him if it struck.

"Eat foot you stupid bird!" Inuyasha twirled around, his foot lifting into the air with a flexibility that Kagome had never thought a human to possess. His heel impacted the side of the bird's head and with a snap, the bird was suddenly looking back over its own wing as it barreled into a tree.

Kagome cursed as she felt a wing slam into her gut and bowl her over. She had been paying too much attention to Inuyasha. "Flesh flaying claws!" She mangled another group of crows before glancing back at Inuyasha. He had fallen to his knees and grabbed his bandages in pain. She could see red beginning to stain them. His acrobatic kick had probably put too much strain on his body and reopened his wound again.

The corpse puppets were now upon them. Some bore old rusted swords. Others just swung their rotten flesh at them. They were stronger than the crows, but they were slow and uncoordinated. Kagome cut through them in seconds, slaughtering the crows within.

Now, over half the flock was gone. The birds were beginning to keep their distance, wary of the power of their foes. The lead crow gave a loud screech and they all took off away from Kagome and Inuyasha.

"Cowards!" Inuyasha yelled.

Kagome saw that there were two more dead crows by Inuyasha now. One was on the ground with its head smashed in – by Inuyasha's shoe if her interpretation of the bloody mass on the inside edge of his heel was correct. The other had a broken wing and a snapped neck.

"Are you okay?" Kagome asked.

"I won't be beaten by some stupid birds," Inuyasha grunted in reply. Without even asked for permission, he leapt onto Kagome's back. "Now, lets hurry, before they get away. The one with the jewel went that way!"

Kagome headed in the direction he was pointing, stopping only a moment to grab a bow and quiver of arrows which lay among the stock of the caravan. Kagome was faster than the crows, so it did not take long to catch up. A few tried to dive-bomb her, but her claws easily took care of the weak demons. The leader was not so stupid, he stayed well above the reach of her claws.

Then the murder of crows stopped, diving towards something they couldn't see, but Kagome's ears and nose picked up the indications of a small village.

"They're attacking people up ahead!" Moments later, they burst out of the trees and into a small village. There were no more than ten huts situated next to a river. A group of men were waving fishing spears at the attacking crows.

"Flesh flawing claws." The men were shocked when the birds suddenly became ribbons of blood and flesh raining down on them.

The women and children were running in a panic towards the huts. One girl was frozen in fear as the most monstrous crow of all swooped down and grabbed her, carrying her into the air.

"We have to save her!" Inuyasha growled.

Kagome notched an arrow onto her bow and took aim.

"Wait, you'll hit her!"

"Don't worry, I am a good shot!" She released the arrow. It flew true, striking the bird under the wing. The arrow merely glanced off the bird's feathers before tumbling down into the river.

"That demon's trying to shoot Miya!" One of the men shouted and threw his spear at Kagome.

Kagome leapt away, dodging the spear as she aimed another arrow at the crow and fired. This one had no more effect than the last.

"Those feathers are like armor, I can't pierce it!"

"I have an idea, just don't lose sight of the bird!" Inuyasha reached into the quiver and pulled out an arrow, passing it to Kagome. "Hold that for a minute!" Inuyasha then reached into his pocket and tried to grab a sutra. He pulled at it, and with a tearing sound, half the sutra left his pocket. He cursed, then grabbed the whole stack. He removed the stack in one piece, but the jolt of Kagome's leaps caused him to lose his grip. He reached desperately as the wind whipping about him carried the sutras away, leaving only one in his grasp. It was a sutra written for the purification of evil.

"We only have one shot at this, so don't miss!" Inuyasha folded the the sutra over its width until it was long and thin like a small piece of rope. The tied the sutra around the head of the arrow.

Kagome fired the arrow and the arrowhead began to crackle with energy before it pierced the bird and it dropped the girl into the water. Moments later there was an explosion and sparkling lights raced across the sky.

"That can't be good," Inuyasha said.

"What was that?" Kagome asked.

Miya's scream shocked them out of watching the light show. They could hear that the villagers were coming up behind them as well, hoping to save the girl from the demons.

"After the girl!" Inuyasha yelled. Kagome winced a the loudness next to her ear, but complied. Thy raced along the river, catching up just in time to see her sink under the water. "What are you waiting for?"

Kagome's toes barely touched the water before she leapt backwards away from it.

Inuyasha cursed, "Damn cats and water!"

He leapt from her back and dove into the water. Though the water was deep, there was luckily very little current here, so Miya sank almost straight down. Despite this, Inuyasha's lungs were burning by the time he had reached her. He grabbed the back of her collar and swam to the surface, gasping for breath when his head burst from the water. The girl did not cough or even breathe. Inuyasha swam with all his might to the shore, dragging her up into the grass. Without waiting a second, he tilted her head back, squeezed her nostrils shut, and breathed into her mouth. Her chest rose, then fell, then stopped. He breathed more air into her again.

"Stop him, the demon is eating her soul!" Fishing spears flew at Inuyasha, but Kagome knocked them out of the air and hissed angrily at the villagers who backed away in fear.

Inuyasha checked the girl's pulse. Her heart was still beating. He breathed more air into her again and again as the villagers yelled curses at him. Then, the girl began to cough. Inuyasha turned her onto her side and water spilled from her mouth. The villagers went silent.

"You okay, kid?" Inuyasha asked.

The girl coughed up more water then began to breathe steadily. "I'll be okay."

Inuyasha patted her on the head. Something sharp in her hair scratched his hand. "Ow, what the hell was that." He parted her hair and pulled out a small pink fragment. He had a very good idea of what it might have come from. "Kid, why don't you go back to the villagers, they are worried about you."

"Thanks for saving me." The girl gave him a quick hug then raced over to be embraced by her father. The villagers turned and left towards the village, ignoring the 'two demons'.

"What's that you have there?" Kagome asked.

"I think it's a piece of the jewel," Inuyasha replied.

"You broke the jewel!" Kagome yelled angrily, "SIT!" Inuyasha slammed into the ground.

"What the hell was that for? You're the one who shot the jewel with the arrow."

"The arrow could have never damaged the jewel if not for your sutra!"

"So, you were the one who said she was a good shot!"

"Well, I hit the crow three times as it flew. I am a good shot!" Kagome then sighed and said, "We should probably tell grandpa about this.