Inuyasha looked behind him, glancing at Kagome. "Are you sure this guy has the shard?!" Kagome nodded, answering the rude question the hanyou requested. Inuyasha turned again, facing the masked man. Suddenly he pulled his right arm from behind him, holding out his hand. The group gasped at what he possessed. In his palm was the jewel, glowing a soft pink blaze. Inuyasha growled at his masked adversary. He briefly smelt the air; the man eluded no scent, an affect of the armor.

"Hand that over ya filthy bastard!" Inuyasha's remark did not phase the man; he only stood there, presenting his prize.

Miroku stepped up, standing beside Inuyasha, "I believe he is offering the shard to you, Inuyasha." Inuyasha shot a confused look to the perverted monk, "What?! Why the hell would he do that?!"

Shippo yelled at the hanyou from Sango's shoulder, interrupting, "It doesn't matter why he's giving it to you Inuyasha, just take it!"

Inuyasha growled at the fox demon's order, not taking his agitation lightly. "Shut up you little rat! Stay outta ' this!" The group again rolled their eyes at their friend's plaguing ego. Nevertheless, Inuyasha stepped towards his sorted enemy, slowly, with Tessaiga still unsheathed. The man did not move, he held his position, not at all weary. Inuyasha was closing in on him, nearing his open hand. The hanyou reached out, preparing to grasp the jewel, but was too late.

Suddenly the masked man fisted his hand, closing the shard in his palm, away from sight. With immense speed he lunged his arm to his side, out of reach, and was surrounded be a white orb of energy, sending him to the sky, to the west, out of sight. Inuyasha had leapt forward, trying to grip his opponent before he disappeared, but was not quick enough. Inuyasha landed to the cold grass, the water from the green blades had seeped into his kimono, soaking him even further. Kagome ran to his side, assisting him to his feet. "Inuyasha I can still sense the shard, its vague, but I feel it, we have to go!"

Inuyasha gently shoved his friend from his arm, not needing her aid, "I know that, alright! I'm not a fool!"

Within seconds the group had taken the bearings they had been in only minutes before. Inuyasha leapt on foot while Kirara and the rest of the group took to the sky. Inuyasha's pace heightened, forcing the painful rain to sting him further, though he did not take the time to notice. This masked man, this demon as they now realized, had tricked him, deceived him, just as Naraku continuously had, he would make him pay. Suddenly a scent caught his nose, Naraku's scent. He looked above him, glancing at the large cat demon.

"Hey! I can smell Naraku, he's somewhere close!" Kagome peeked her head down, catching her friend in sight. She waved, signaling she heard his remark. Inuyasha again quickened his speed, soon reaching his destination. He halted abruptly, gazing on what lay before him. A castle stood on the clearing, quite old, and seemingly abandoned. Kirara landed few feet behind him, with her passengers piling off, running to Inuyasha's side.

Kagome was the first to speak, "Inuyasha the shard is somewhere in that castle." Inuyasha gave his mortal friend a look of stupidity, "Are you some kind of senseless idiot?! Who the hell cares about some shard when Naraku, our arch enemy, could be here?!"

Miroku approached the first hut of the castle, peeking in through the door, "I doubt he is here Inuyasha, this place looks as if it has not been habited for some days now." Sango joined the monk, agreeing with his accusations, "I think you're right, but he definitely was here, it's quite obvious, but why would he suddenly leave?" Inuyasha growled in annoyance, realizing he'd again failed himself, and his companions. Kagome neared another hut, one even smaller than the first. Her senses of the shard were coming from that particular site. She entered the small building with Shippo now clinging to her shoulder.

" Naraku's scent is all over this hut!" Kagome did not reply to her small friend's remark, the shard was so close. Suddenly she caught something in the corner of her eye, the jewel. She turned and walked towards a small door, the thin wall gave slight view to the opposite side, allowing her to see the glow of the shard. She slowly slid the door open, gasping at what she saw. On the wooded floor of the room was a woman. She was unconscious, laid on a bed mat, with only a cloth sheet covering little of her naked body. Kagome rushed to the girl, her wrists were above her head, tied coarsely to wooden stakes lodged in the hut floor. She glanced at her legs; her ankles were also restrained in the same fashion as her wrists.

Shippo was the first to speak, "Ka, Kagome wha , what happened to her?" Kagome could not answer the fox demon's question, she was too horrified at what she was gazing at.

The woman was shrouded in wounds. Gashes lay open and bleeding around her neck and arms. Bruises, imprinting finger and palm prints masked her hips and thighs. Kagome whimpered in fright as she still gazed at the girl, before Shippo began to yell, "Help! Come quick!" Immediately the others piled into the room, while Kirara awaited outside, watching for enemies.

Sango gasped, just as Kagome had, at the girl once she layed eyes upon her. Miroku was the first to speak, gawking at the terrible site. "What was he doing to her?" No one replied, knowing very well what Naraku had been doing to the woman.

Inuyasha knelt down, sniffing the honey hair of the young woman, "She doesn't smell like Naraku. Her scent smells like flowers and rain."

Kagome turned, not able to look at the woman any longer, she stared at the floor and suddenly caught site of the jewel, it was quite small, smaller than all the others. She gently picked it up and turned to her friends. Suddenly the shard burst, disappearing into tiny fragments of pink dust. Miroku gazed at the light powder, "It was a false shard, a simple stone with a spell placed upon it, which is why the sense was so faint to you Kagome."

Sango began to speak her thoughts, "Why would someone create a false shard, and then abandon it?" Inuyasha replied while still gazing upon the young woman, realizing that she was the girl from his dream.

"Someone was leading us here, someone knew what was happening to this girl, and they knew that we would help her." Kagome slowly reached out to touch the face of the woman, her injured flesh was tan, darker then Kagome's own. Her fingertips brushed lightly against the girl's cheek, waking her. Her lashes barely fluttered, slowly lifting their lids to reveal her emerald eyes. Her pupils were dilated, giving off a senseless daze. Suddenly she began to realize what was going on. Her eyes turned fierce, angered and fatigued all at once.

She attempted to lift herself from the bed mat, but the coarse rope around her limbs would not allow it. She had little, almost no strength in her wounded, abused body. But what was strange, what seemed so odd, was all the while she struggled, no sound escaped her lips. No grunted whimpers, no pleading for help or harsh words, her mouth stayed shut, as if her jaw was locked. Her breath rushed fast through her nostrils, acting as her only means of exhale and inhale.

Miroku bent down to her level, putting on a warm smile, "It's alright, we're hear to help you, there's no need to be alarmed." The girl took no notice to the monk's kind words; she still attempted to escape her constrictions. But her struggling did not last but few seconds more, she was so exhausted, she had no force left. As she seeped into unconsciousness yet again, Inuyasha stood, preparing to speak, "We're taking her with us."

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