Trinity Blood Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Shadows of Time ❯ Chapter 7

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Title: The Shadows of Time
Author: Ryukotsusei
Fandom: Inuyasha and Trinity Blood
Rating: NC 17

Warnings: Violence, torture, character deaths, language, lemons, spoilers for the entire series just to be safe, and the possibility of out of character characterizations. Read at your own risk.

Pairings: Tres Iqus x Kagome Higurashi x Abel Nightroad

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Trinity Blood. The series belong to Rumiko Takahashi, and the late Sunao Yoshido. I make no money off of this fan fiction.

Special thanks to KogasHentaiLuver for taking the time to beta this chapter. And thank you to everyone who has chosen to review thus far.

Chapter Seven

It was only a few minutes until dawn and almost everyone was awake, preparing for the journey ahead. Only Kagome and Shippo remained sleeping and no one was ready to wake them just yet. After everything that had happened the day before, it had been agreed upon by all of them that the miko needed a decent rest before starting out. Although everyone had been in complete agreement, it had caused a few to wonder in silence at the vehement way that Father Tres had come across with insisting that she be allowed to rest without being disturbed. As curious as it was though, no one had chosen to confront him about his actions.

Miroku eyed the two men that were quietly conversing nearby and after a few minutes of hesitation decided to approach them. As he'd expected, they stopped talking immediately upon seeing him approach and he held his hands up in a gesture of peace.

“Do you have everything you're going to need to bring with you?” he asked, seeing that neither of them had any supplies gathered together, at least nothing that he recognized as supplies anyway.

“Well,” Father Nightroad began, “we did have quite a few bags, but we weren't given much choice in bringing them. Midoriko said that only living objects could pass through the gateway and I was half expecting to appear in this time without our clothing.” Fortunately, it hadn't come to that, but it was something he had been worried about at the time.

“That would have been rather difficult to explain,” Miroku said, trying not to grin. Most likely the villagers would have taken them for demons at that point and all hell would have broken loose.

“Still it's strange, Kagome used to bring supplies from her time quite often. I wonder what changed,” he mused quietly, casting a glance over at the sleeping girl.

“We didn't go through the well and certain sacrifices had to be made in order to pass through the time barrier,” Father Tres replied, but he didn't go into any further detail. He was still attempting to come to terms with what he'd ended up going through in order to cross over into this world and all the changes that it was entailing. Even doing something as mundane as having a dream while he had been sleeping had come as a shock, and accepting this new state of existence was proving to be a challenge.

“And was the bond formed between you three one of those things?” Miroku asked, seizing upon the opportunity to bring up something he'd noticed earlier, but hadn't mentioned. To bring it to Inuyasha's attention might have caused further problems, because while he had no romantic feelings towards the girl, he was still fiercely protective of her and he could easily take this as something detrimental. His own mind, however, had not made a decision one way or the other yet.

“So Kagome wasn't exaggerating, you do have the sight,” Father Nightroad said quietly, his lips quirking upwards in amusement, “she's been quite vocal in her praise about your talents. In answer to your question though, yes. The priestess said that it was a soul bond that enabled Inuyasha to travel through to Kagome's time and we would need something similar to get here, so that's exactly what has happened.”

Miroku nodded in understanding, “You mean the tie that was formed between them because of the necklace he wears.”

There were days he wondered if the hanyou even understood what the necklace truly stood for. While Kagome could in fact subdue the man with it, the fact was that the very reason the necklace worked at all was because it tied their souls together. Once it was removed, the bond would be destroyed, but as far as Miroku could see, there was nothing of the sort that bound Kagome with these two men. Whatever Midoriko had done, she'd made it permanent.

“Ah, so that's how she stopped him from following her,” Father Nightroad mused, “I suspected as much when it gave off that strange glow.” It was a handy ability to be sure, but one that could easily be misused if one was not careful.

“It is,” Miroku confirmed and looked over to Sango. It was time they thought about waking Kagome up so she would be ready. Inuyasha's generosity for letting her sleep couldn't be counted on forever and he really didn't wish to hear them fighting for the rest of the day. Fortunately, the demon exterminator understood what he was thinking and moved to wake the miko. Once that was done he turned back to the two newest additions to the group.

“If there is anything that either of you will need on the journey it would be wise to set about procuring it now. There is a chance it will be weeks before we return to the village,” he said, giving them fair warning about what was to come. Inuyasha was known for setting a driving pace when his mind was set on something and this time wouldn't be an exception.

“We'll be fine, no need to worry about us,” Father Nightroad replied, brushing off the concerns. There were a few things that worried him, but at the moment there wasn't much that they could do about them and they were good at improvising when needed.

It helped that they'd already had this discussion with Kagome and were well aware of the way the group tended to travel. One of the biggest problems was not having a change of clothing, but as the miko had said there were always plenty of streams and hot springs to wash what they had. It would just be a matter of picking warm days in which the garments would dry quickly.

The other concern was that the majority of the ammunition that Father Tres had brought had been left behind, but that couldn't be helped. Nor could it be replaced since firearms certainly weren't common in this time period and with the technology still being developed, none of the ammunition available in this time would be suitable for his weapons anyway.

Miroku nodded, accepting the answer easily. Usually they traveled light anyway, living off of the land and occasionally staying in a village when the opportunity presented itself.

“I'll leave you to your conversation then. Inuyasha will likely announce that we're leaving soon now that Kagome is up and preparing to go,” he said and made his way to the entrance. In fact, the miko had left the hut only a few moments before with Sango in tow, most likely headed for the springs where they would be able quickly wash up without having to worry about prying eyes.

Outside, Inuyasha had watched the two women walk off with Shippo trailing after them and he was now waiting for them to return. When the monk stepped outside he nodded in greeting, “Are they ready to go? We're not waiting much longer.”

In fact, if it hadn't been for the fact that Kagome had still been sleeping they would have already left. It had come as a bit of a surprise that the newcomers had already been awake and ready to leave when he'd come in to wake Sango and Miroku. From everything he'd seen of the people in Kagome's time, they tended to be lazy, waking up long after the sun rose above the horizon. Then again, those two came from an era he wasn't familiar with, so perhaps he was being overly critical in his expectations.

“They are,” Miroku responded quietly and assumed a position similar to the hanyou's by leaning against the wall. The rings on his staff jingled lightly in the breeze and for a moment, silence stretched out between them. But it wasn't meant to last forever and eventually the monk broke it by bringing up a question that had been plaguing him for some time, “Have you determined where we should search first?”

“Not really. I'm positive Kagome's attack weakened Naraku considerably, but there's no telling just how far that bastard has gotten by now. I say we head back to that clearing and see if we can pick up his trail,” Inuyasha replied, not bothering to look at the man standing next to him. The question had been bothering him as well and now he was kicking himself for not heading back there just to make sure. They'd been so certain that sinking into that muck was the final touch to a rather satisfying killing blow to Naraku and it was infuriating to find out they'd left the job unfinished.

“It's as good of a start as any,” Miroku said with a sigh, “I can't say that I relish another three years of searching for him, but without the jewel it should be harder for him to hide.” Although he said it, that wasn't something that he was going to count on either. If it had made that much of a difference, his family would have been able to eliminate the threat that Naraku had posed long ago. The fact that his wind tunnel was gone was both a blessing and a curse in this instance as well. No doubt as soon as Naraku figured out they were hunting him, the hole would reopen and his life would be in danger once again. But in the meantime, the lack of it would also hinder him in the instance of any battles that might happen to occur.

Hearing the conversation as they'd walked up, Kagome felt compelled to contribute her opinion, “I wouldn't count on that, Miroku.”

“Why?” Inuyasha asked, instantly straightening up and focusing his attention on her, “Was there something else Naraku said when you saw him?” If so, that could be a large help in the search and they all knew how the bastard tended to run his mouth. 'Keh, I'm surprised the idiot shut up long enough to fight. Always flaunting his plans in everyone's faces.'

“Well, it's not really something he came out and admitted, but rather the impression that I got from the way that he talked,” Kagome replied to the question and then gave a slight smile towards Father Tres and Father Nightroad when they stepped outside to join the conversation.

“Keh, quit flirting and answer the question,” Inuyasha groused when he saw the look that she gave the two of them. As expected the smile immediately transformed into a scowl, but it got her attention back on him which was what he wanted in the first place.

“The way you're going one would think you wanted to eat dirt for breakfast, Inuyasha,” Kagome said, her eyes narrowing in irritation. 'It figures, he still gets pissy if I smile at another male. One of these days he's going to have to get over that little problem.' But she also knew the likelihood of that happening was slim to none. “If I might continue,” she said with a warning look, “Naraku bragged that he'd managed to surprise you which is something that shouldn't be possible.”

“Damned right it shouldn't be possible. Come on, we can talk while we travel,” Inuyasha said and set off towards the countryside which they'd traveled through only days before. “So did he say how he managed to surprise me? Assuming the bastard wasn't lying his ass off that is.”

“No he didn't, which is why I'm wondering just what abilities he possesses even without the jewel,” Kagome replied while hurrying to catch up with him, “I mean, shouldn't you have at least been able to smell him before he attacked?”

“Yeah, that bastard's stench is overwhelming. The only way he should have been able to get past my nose is if he had some sort of barrier,” Inuyasha said after a moment. More than once they'd lost track of the demon just because he was able to cover his scent so well, but he'd attributed that to the barriers he was able to create with the jewel. If Naraku was able to manage such a thing without it, they might well be searching for years.

“So we have to assume that whatever he could do before, he can still do now. With each demon he's absorbed he's gained their abilities, and according to rumor, he's consumed thousands of them just in creating the persona he has now,” Sango added, clearly unhappy with the deductions they'd just come to.

Kagome nodded, it was better to overestimate him than underestimate him and they'd done that once already. “Right, but even with that it doesn't make sense that he'd managed to get a killing blow on Inuyasha. You've been caught by surprise before and it hasn't made a difference,” she said.

“There is another factor,” Father Tres interjected, remembering his first encounter with the demon in question, “Naraku has an ability similar to Father Havel's.”

“Optical camouflage?” Father Nightroad asked with a frown marring his features, “I'd wondered since there was no alert given when Sister Kate was attacked.”

“No,” Father Tres responded with a shake of his head, “it was similar, but not exact. My scanners can detect Father Havel even when he invokes the ability, but Naraku escaped detection completely until he attacked.”

“Wait a minute,” Sango said and allowed herself to drop back to walk beside Father Tres, “When he attacked, did he reveal himself then or did he remain invisible?” She had a thought as to what it might have been, but if that was the case, she prayed that it was an ability the man hadn't achieved yet.

Father Tres regarded her curiously, “He remained hidden, attacking when the opportunity presented itself. Halfway through the battle he appeared and then when he made his escape he vanished again. You know what he is doing.” It was a statement rather than a question. Now that he knew the woman walking beside him had information about the technique he was determined to learn everything that she knew about it, including if it would be possible for himself or Father Nightroad to accomplish.

“It sounds like he figured out how to vanish into the shadow realm. If so, then that would explain why he could attack Inuyasha without having much trouble. There's no way Inuyasha could counter that,” Sango replied, her brow furrowed in thought, “I believe it's an ability he hasn't acquired in this time though because he hasn't shown that he can use it. I doubt he'd have held back this long when he could take any of us out with it.”

“Then it would be wise to take care of him before he gains the knowledge,” Miroku said wisely and then looked towards Father Nightroad, “So tell me, what do you specialize in? I assume the both of you know how to fight.” Or at least he was hoping so. If not, then accepting the two men tagging along put their group at a distinct disadvantage.

“Don't worry,” Father Nightroad replied with a smile, “We're more than capable of taking care of ourselves. The training we've both gone through has been... extensive.” That was a bit of an understatement, but the monk hadn't exactly asked for their credentials. Even if they had though, he doubted they would understand just what they meant.

“You want to elaborate on that some?” Inuyasha called back over his shoulder, “I don't see either of you with a sword and that gun ain't gonna do you much good against the more powerful demons. Unless you have some special power we don't know about you'd better stay back and let us handle things when it comes to a fight.” So far he'd been rather unimpressed with Father Nightroad. He appeared to be far too easy going and a bit on the clumsy side, something that could easily get him killed. As far as Father Tres went, he was reserving judgment until he was able to watch him further. There was something about him that just seemed... off.

Father Nightroad gave the hanyou a considering look, wondering just how much he should reveal. While he had no problems explaining what he was, many people would react negatively to such knowledge and he really didn't want to travel down that path if he didn't have to. But Inuyasha had a point; there was no telling just how reliable their guns would be in this time.

“Perhaps you should go ahead and tell them,” Kagome said quietly, instantly picking up on the man's reluctance. “I'm not sure how much you change, assuming that you do, but I'd rather not have the surprise come during a fight if you know what I mean.” Such a thing could be disastrous considering how quick Inuyasha was to attack.

The miko's words made sense and eventually Father Nightroad was forced to concede her point, “You're right. We can't afford to give Naraku an advantage.” It was rather amusing to see that everyone seemed to have gathered around him while they walked. Clearly they were all curious about what knowledge he'd been keeping a secret. “To begin with, in our time there were two races that were known, humans, and vampires. Demons were nothing more than myth and legend until Shippo informed us of what he was.”

“You mean those blood sucking things that Kagome liked to read about in her books?” Inuyasha said with an eyebrow raised in surprise. The idea that vampires existed seemed rather far fetched, but then again, he'd never thought that demons could have been forgotten either. Kagome and her family had proved just how wrong that belief was so he supposed that finding out vampires were indeed real shouldn't be that much of a leap in faith.

The description made Father Nightroad chuckle although it was with little humor, “Well, I doubt that the books were all that accurate. Most of the methods they used in them to kill vampires I daresay are inaccurate. But yes, they do drink the blood of humans although it's no longer a necessity. There are other methods of sustenance.” That was something that even he was thankful for now since there was little chance that he would run into another vampire in this time which he could feed off of.

“So are you trying to say that you're a vampire?” Sango asked cautiously. She wasn't altogether certain that she liked the idea seeing that according to those books, vampires had a tendency of taking a liking to feasting on virginal, young women and the countryside had them in abundance.

Father Nightroad shook his head and bit back a sigh. He could hear the veiled fear and suspicion in her voice and it was disheartening, but he wasn't going to lie to them either. “In a manner of speaking, yes, but not in the manner in which you are thinking, he replied, “I am a Crusnik to be precise, a vampire who feasts on the blood of other vampires.”

“You gotta be shitting me,” Inuyasha scoffed, “you mean to tell me you're a cannibal?” Where he'd expected to feel relief, unease still remained. How trustworthy was a man who would eat his own kind? An image of Jaken roasting over a fire came to mind, making his stomach churn. 'No fucking way, I'd be eating grubs and earthworms first.'

“Inuyasha!” Kagome hissed, scandalized that he'd come out and say something so rude. 'What am I thinking; this is Inuyasha we're dealing with. Of course he's going to be rude.' Fortunately, aside from looking surprised, Father Nightroad didn't appear to have taken offense. “You can't tell me there aren't demons that eat each other here. I know better!”

“Yeah well, it doesn't mean that I have to like it,” Inuyasha shot back in his own defense before turning back to the other male, “So what can you do in a fight? I don't think any demons we happen to run into are gonna stand still and let you suck their blood out.”

“I have a number of attacks including one that generates massive amounts of electricity,” Father Nightroad said quietly, “If you're worried about having to watch over us, your fears are unfounded. We'll be able to handle ourselves, just worry about your own opponent when the time comes.” The idea of fighting went against everything he'd stood for over the past nine hundred years, but he wouldn't back down from one if it came down to it. Pacifism only went so far when so many lives were at stake.

“Keh, fine. Just as long as you stay out of my way,” Inuyasha said testily, “I have a hard enough time keeping Kagome out of trouble; I don't need to have to watch over you as well.” For now he knew he'd have to trust that the man knew what the hell he was talking about and if it turned out they couldn't handle themselves in a battle, he'd send them back to the village. It wouldn't matter how much protesting Kagome did.

They all watched Inuyasha forge on ahead, and after a few minutes, Shippo sighed from his perch in Kagome's arms. “You'll get used to Inuyasha after a while. He acts like a jerk most of the time, but he's not always this bad,” he said, ignoring the glare that the hanyou threw over his shoulder for speaking up. In the end, Shippo knew that it was likely that Inuyasha wouldn't calm down until he was certain that bringing these two with them was a good idea.

“Well this jerk is beginning to think you're not gonna want to eat tonight, Shippo,” Inuyasha warned the kitsune, although it was an idle threat at best. He wouldn't withhold food from the kit, but that didn't stop him from saying it anyway. Based on the way Shippo rolled his eyes, the kit knew he wasn't serious as well.

Kagome sighed and rubbed her temples with one hand, ignoring the concerned look that Father Tres was currently directing her way. “What crazy delusion could have ever led me to think this could be easy? Why did I think this was something that we could pull off without me having to jump through all kinds of hoops?” she muttered to no one in particular.

~Later That Evening~

Kagome stared at the clearing for several long moments in silence and then turned back to Inuyasha who was looking at her like she'd lost her mind. “Really, Inuyasha, this site is fine and I don't think we're going to find a better one before night falls,” she finally stated with more than a trace of impatience.

“And I'm telling you that a better one will come along, we should just keep moving,” Inuyasha insisted. All in all he thought he'd been rather generous throughout the day with all the breaks he'd allowed the group to take. It wasn't his fault that Kagome had outright refused his offer to be carried earlier when she stumbled.

Kagome glared at him and pointedly walked over to a rather large log so she could make a grand show of sitting down and making herself comfortable. “I'm not moving,” she flatly stated, crossing her arms with determination. “We've been walking all day and everyone's tired. The clearing is perfectly fine and you know it. Quit trying to be difficult.” The truth was she was exhausted, but she couldn't afford to count on Inuyasha to carry her. She needed to get over the weakness that came from having a body not accustomed to working, and riding on his back was not the way to do it. 'I don't even want to think about how Father Tres is holding up since he's got the same problem that I do. I bet he's just as tired, he just manages to hide it well.'

“Why do you always have to be so stubborn? You never had a problem with me carrying you before, what the hell gives?” he snapped and crossed his arms, mimicking her position before continuing, “You know what? It doesn't matter. I'll carry your ass whether you want it or not, there's still an hour of daylight left and we shouldn't waste it.”

“I don't think so,” Kagome growled, staring him down, “I'm not a sack of potatoes you can just toss around.” Now more than ever she just wanted to rest her legs, grab something to eat and relax for a few minutes without listening to him bitch about every little thing that managed to irritate him.

Inuyasha started walking towards her, fully intent on carrying his threat out. “No, you're not,” he said, his voice thick with irritation, “a sack of potatoes wouldn't be half so bitchy. Suck it up, Kagome. We'll travel for another hour and then you can sit all you want, but until then, we're walking.”

“You can walk after you eat dirt if you keep pushing it, Inuyasha,” Kagome warned, more than ready to use the necklace to get her point across, “I'm not the only one ready to take a break you know. It's hot and we're all tired so you're just going to have to accept that we're stopping and just deal with it.”

“Don't hand me that, Kagome. Sango and Miroku are used to this, it's not my fault if those two can't keep up,” he said, flinging his arm out to indicate Father Nightroad and Father Tres, “I'll tell you what. If you don't want me carrying you then I'm sure Kirara will let you ride on her back. Problem solved, let's go.”

Kagome looked to both Abel and Tres before turning back to Inuyasha, “I said we're staying here.” If nothing else she knew that the two guys would follow her wherever she went and if push came to shove, most likely Sango and Miroku would side with her as well. She could understand the urgency in finding Naraku, hell, her entire future hinged on it. But it wouldn't do any of them any good if someone got hurt in trying to reach him. Calmly she looked to Miroku and Sango, ignoring Inuyasha completely, “How should we divide the chores up this time? With two more people here it shouldn't take us that long to get camp set up.”

“We're not staying,” Inuyasha growled out, his irritation at the way Kagome was daring to attempt to take leadership of the group growing by leaps and bounds. He was the leader of the pack and he would be the one to make the decision on where to set up camp. 'I'll show her just who the leader of this group is, even if it means tying her up and carrying her over my shoulder just to get the point across.'

Kagome pretended she hadn't heard a word he said and looked at Father Tres, “Would you like to sit down here next to me?” A satisfying thud reached her ears when a certain hanyou met his old acquaintance the ground and there were barely stifled snickers heard from around the clearing.

The corner of his lip twitched and Tres tried not to smirk at the position that Inuyasha had found himself in. Instead, he moved to take a seat next to the girl. “In what order do you usually set up camp?” he asked, looking about the surrounding area carefully.

“Well, normally Inuyasha goes hunting and I'd expect he'd do so again unless he likes kissing the ground,” she said in warning when said hanyou glared at the two of them, “Miroku and Sango generally clear the camp sight and prepare the fire pit while I go hunting for firewood with Shippo.” In truth, she loathed the idea of standing up again, but she doubted she had the strength right now to lift some of the heavier debris that had fallen.

“I will accompany you while you collect the firewood,” he replied and pushed himself up off of the fallen log. Although he couldn't sense anything threatening in the surrounding areas, he wasn't going to take the chance and allow her to wander off on her own. Yet instead of getting up, she sat there looking at him with a raised brow, so he held out a hand to her, “The sooner camp is made the sooner we can rest. It will give Inuyasha less of an argument for wanting to travel further.”

That statement was what got her moving and Kagome took his hand, allowing him to pull her to her feet. “That settles it. Let's go, Shippo, there should be plenty of wood nearby,” she said with a tired smile and breezed past Inuyasha who was now scowling at the three of them. 'Let him be upset, he'll be thanking me later when he realizes this stops him from having to hunt in the dark.'

Shippo bounded over to the miko's side before peering over to Father Nightroad, “Are you coming too?” Personally, he'd advise getting away from the camp for a few minutes because Inuyasha was likely to blow his top at any moment. It was bad enough Kagome was telling him he wasn't getting his way, but then to sit him again in front of the two newcomers would be a blow to his ego. No, the hanyou wasn't likely to be in a very good mood for a very long while.

“No, you three go on ahead. I'll help get things ready here,” Father Nightroad said with a wave of his hand. Throughout the day he'd watched both the miko and his partner slowly giving into exhaustion. This would give him a chance to make sure things were ready for when they returned, otherwise it was likely they'd end up pitching in with whatever chores was left when they should be resting their strained muscles. He was used to traveling long distances, but the others weren't and it was likely to take a few days before they fell into a routine.

Inuyasha watched them walk off and snorted once they were out of earshot, “Damn she's become bitchy since the last time she was here. You'd think she'd be the first one demanding that we keep going since Naraku's the one that killed her family. Now she's acting like it's not a big deal, what the hell gives?” He'd known that her priorities had always been skewed considering her schooling was more important than hunting Naraku when Miroku was at death's door because of the wind tunnel, but this went above and beyond even that.

“If you're asking my opinion, I don't think she's doing this for herself,” Father Nightroad replied quietly, gazing at the area they'd disappeared into. Had he not known what they'd gone through over the past few days then he might have shared a similar viewpoint with the hanyou, but circumstances being what they were he just couldn't.

“You're telling me she's doing it for you two? Give me a break, just how lazy have humans gotten since Kagome's time. We haven't even walked that far,” Inuyasha said, staring at the man in disbelief. 'We haven't even traveled half the distance we normally would in a day and these two can't keep up?'

With a sigh that bordered on irritation, Father Nightroad shook his head, “I'm afraid you aren't looking at the big picture, Inuyasha. Both Kagome and Father Tres are both dealing with the fact that they have new bodies. I'd say they're holding up rather well myself, but make no mistake, they're both feeling the strain.” As soon as the words left his lips, he knew that another explanation was going to be in order.

“Wait, was he dead too?” Miroku asked curiously, pausing in his appraisal of the area. Perhaps now they'd figure out why the tall man seemed to be different from even his companion.

“Actually no, he was a cyborg and Midoriko was forced to turn him human in order to allow him to go with Kagome,” Father Nightroad replied with a weak chuckle, but to his dismay, the only responses he got were blank stares.

“What's a... cyborg?” Sango asked curiously. It wasn't a term she'd heard before, not even from Kagome.

“A cyborg is... well, for lack of a better term a robot,” Father Nightroad said and again was met with uncomprehending looks, “Think of a robot as a puppet, made of metal, but it can operate without a human to control it. Then, to get a cyborg, take that puppet and add a human brain. It's a melding of human parts with metallic objects.” He was tempted to cast his eyes skyward and ask God why he'd been the one forced to explain these things 'I have to conclude that God has a warped sense of humor and has chosen now to torment me with it.'

“Why the hell would someone make something like that?” Inuyasha asked his expression one of disgust. 'What'd they do, hack some poor human apart for his body parts? And how do they keep the pieces alive?' The thought was disturbing on several levels and he didn't even want to contemplate the morality of such a thing, much less how it was even possible.

Father Nightroad could see the disgust in their eyes, but he wasn't there to justify the actions of others in which he had no part of. Instead he answered the spoken question and left the others for them to figure out for themselves since it would spare him the headache, “Cyborgs were developed because they make ideal weapons which keep people from dying. Father Tres was developed as part of a special project in which only ten were developed. At least until Midoriko gave him life, to our knowledge he was the only one that remained of the set.”

“So then, he doesn't even know how to act like a human, does he?” Sango asked quietly, finally understanding why his mannerisms were so different from everyone else's. It also explained why Kagome was allowing him to follow her so closely. If he was ordered to protect her then it was the one thing he had left to fall back on and the miko knew it. In her own way, Kagome was doing her best to make the transition as easy for him as she could.

“No, he doesn't. His programming was not set to make him seem human, it was to make him an efficient killing machine, and until he joined the team it was all he knew. He had come a long way though and now he's going to have to learn quickly if he wants to adapt,” Father Nightroad said and then gave them all a considering look, “We should get this done quickly if we're to actually be able to relax any time soon.”

“Fine, I'll go hunting. Just remember we don't have time to screw around. Sooner or later he's going to have to toughen up so Kagome can quit worrying about him,” Inuyasha said firmly before setting off in the opposite direction. With luck he could find a few rabbits or something, he didn't want to take the time to fish and a deer was too large when they were only staying the night.

“Alright, you and Miroku look for stones that can line the fire pit while I clear an area for it,” Sango said, deciding that if they were going to get things done she needed to take charge. It probably wouldn't be long before Kagome and Tres came back and she wanted the fire going by then.

~In The Woods~

Finding fallen branches wasn't proving to be terribly difficult, but as Kagome had expected, the majority of them were too green to use. With a sigh she discarded yet another one and scanned the surrounding area for something that might be suitable for use. “I guess I should be thankful it's not raining right now, that'd be a perfect end to today wouldn't it?” she asked Father Tres.

“The weather will hold for now,” Father Tres said after casting a quick glance towards the sky. Currently his hands were empty, but that was because he'd determined that keeping them free was the better course of action. He wouldn't be able to draw his guns quickly if he was burdened with the firewood and the miko seemed to be doing a decent job of collecting it with the kit's help.

“That's one favor, however small,” she replied and bent down to pick up another branch, “I'd forgotten about the storm that had hit a few days before we fought Naraku. The winds must have done more damage than I'd remembered.” The branch was tossed to the side and Kagome resumed the search, heading off towards a thicket. 'Perhaps the undergrowth would have provided some sort of cover and kept the wood from getting wet.'

“Kagome, there's a bunch over here,” Shippo called from a short distance away. He'd already managed to grab an armful and there was plenty more to collect. Most likely enough to keep the fire going all night if they didn't use it too quickly.

“Oh good, that'll save us a bunch of time. Good work, Shippo,” Kagome said and tossed the stick she'd been examining back into the brush. It'd been too wet to use anyway so there wasn't any point in keeping it. However, she wasn't expecting the high pitched squeal that was quickly followed by a small, brown streak of fur that came bolting out from the underbrush. Recognizing it immediately, Kagome dropped the pile of wood she'd collected and began to run.

Things happened too quickly for either of them to stop and think. Weary from the day's travels, one of Kagome's legs gave out on her and within seconds Father Tres had his guns out. It was only a moment later that a large wild boar came crashing out of the underbrush, determined to protect its young. Yet he didn't spare a second thought for the smaller animal when he trained the laser sight onto the sow that was charging the miko who was attempting to pull herself up off the ground. Two shots rang out, both of which hit the mark and sent the animal slamming into the ground.

“Damage report, Kagome?” he asked, keeping his eyes trained on the boar just in case the two shots had only managed to injure it. Inwardly he was cursing for allowing the girl to venture so far away, if she hadn't have fallen he wouldn't have had a clear shot at the beast. 'That was... too close. I'll have to remain in a close proximity to her in order to reduce the probability of this occurring a second time.'

For a moment she could only stare at him for his strange choice of words before brushing it off as unimportant.

“I'm okay,” she replied and pushed herself up off of the ground. In truth, her legs were shaking and the knowledge of just how close she'd come to being injured made her nauseous. If he hadn't been there the sow would have been on her before she could have even screamed for help.

She didn't have long to contemplate that idea before Shippo had launched himself through the air and hit her square in the chest. He'd been so scared seeing the animal charging her like that and he'd tried to reach her, but Father Tres had taken care of the problem before he could do anything about it.

“Maybe we should just go back to camp, Kagome. I'm sure the others wouldn't mind getting the wood instead,” he said and then prayed she'd agree with him. Where there was one, there were more and the piglets wouldn't be left alone for long.

Kagome laughed weakly, “That's probably a good idea. Maybe Inuyasha hasn't left yet, I think dinner's just been taken care of.” A strong breeze came through, causing the tree leaves to rustle with the wind. She knew that it wasn't likely to be another wild animal, but it was enough to get her moving anyway.

Father Tres frowned seeing how much trouble the miko was having in standing. Quickly he holstered his weapons and picked the girl up, ignoring her gasp of surprise. This would be the quickest way to get her back to camp; they could deal with the animal afterwards.

“We'll return to camp and inform them of what has happened,” he said in an effort to explain his actions, but to his surprise, she hadn't complained. He'd almost expected some form of protest after the argument she'd gotten into earlier in the day with Inuyasha over the same thing. Yet she didn't and he was left to wonder if maybe it was because she knew that he and Father Nightroad didn't treat her as the weak female like the hanyou did.

Quickly he began walking with Shippo following closely behind, obviously keeping an eye out for anything else that might cause them trouble. Father Tres wasn't surprised however when a red blur came streaking towards them, quickly followed by the monk and the demon exterminator. The look of concern on Inuyasha's face quickly darkened, but he wasn't particularly concerned with what had irritated the man this time.

“What the hell happened?” Inuyasha asked his voice tight with anger. Even though he'd been some distance away, when he'd heard the gunshots he'd raced back and quickly passed Sango and Miroku who were coming to investigate as well. Seeing Kagome in the man's arms had made him think that she'd become injured somehow, but from here he could see nothing wrong with her.

“You should have seen it, Inuyasha! A boar came out and attacked Kagome, but Father Tres killed it with two shots! It didn't even stand a chance,” Shippo replied excitedly, quick to point out just how helpful the man had been in the hope that it would prevent another outburst from the hanyou.

“Are you alright, Kagome?” Inuyasha asked in concern, checking her over a second time. A wild boar was nothing to play around with and the girl would have been helpless against an attack.

Kagome nodded wearily, but didn't try to pull herself out of her savior's arms. She was entirely too comfortable as it was. “I'm fine, Inuyasha, I just want to get back to camp. The boar isn't too far back there though if you want to get it ready to cook. It'll save you from going hunting tonight.”

“Go and get it?” Inuyasha stared at her in disbelief, “You gotta be kidding me! Go and get it she says. What the hell are you thinking, that I'm just gonna go and clean up your mess? What the hell were you thinking by poking around where a wild boar was? I'm beginning to think you lost whatever common sense you had before you left which wasn't much to begin with!” Here he was worried that she might be injured and she blows him off by telling him to go gut a damned pig. 'What am I, her chore boy? The hell with that! He killed it, he can clean it!'

“Excuse me?” Kagome yelled indignantly from her perch, “It's not like I went and poked the damned thing with a stick, I didn't even know it was there! Don't you dare call me stupid for not having the same nose you do.”

“Even a human could smell a damned pig, Kagome. You just weren't paying attention to what you were doing,” Inuyasha accused her, not willing to let it go; “Dammit you need to be more careful!”

“Ohhh! You're impossible, Inuyasha,” Kagome retorted, fully intending on laying into him for being so stubborn, but the opportunity was taken out of her hands when Father Tres decided that he'd had enough of listening to them argue.

As they walked back towards camp, silence had descended once more and for that he was thankful. Listening to the two of them bicker had given him his very first headache and he was not enjoying the experience in the least. Had Kagome's voice gotten any higher he might well have told her to shut up, but as it was, he didn't particularly relish the thought of her anger being directed at him. It was no surprise to see Father Nightroad approaching from the direction of the camp, but his steps were unhurried. At least one of them had confidence in him to ensure the girl was safe.

“I take it the situation was handled,” Father Nightroad said quietly, assessing what damage Kagome had sustained which appeared to be next to nothing. He'd heard the gunfire, but it had become immediately apparent it was nothing serious. Only two rounds fired had to be something relatively inconsequential as danger went.

“Positive, the others should be bringing back the kill soon,” Father Tres replied and continued his walk towards the camp. He was more than ready to sit down himself and let the others do the work. The oddest sensation had been coursing through his body over the past several hours and now his stomach was twinging. He'd thought nothing of it at first, but now it was growing consistently worse. 'Hunger most likely. It will... take a while to grow accustomed to this new form.'

“So what was it anyway?” Father Nightroad asked curiously. He had little knowledge of the wildlife in this particular part of the world, but some species were universal. Whatever it was, the animal wasn't likely to be any sort of carnivore given that they weren't often used as food items. The thought that it might have been a demon didn't even enter his mind since if it were; there would be no point in bringing it back to camp.

“A wild pig of all things,” Kagome replied with a sigh. She knew that her reprieve was short lived because Inuyasha was likely to continue on his little tirade once he came back to the camp. She knew it was because he was worried, but dammit, she wasn't made of glass! Rather than dwell on that though, she looked up at Father Tres, “I didn't say it earlier, but thank you for saving me.”

“You're welcome,” Father Tres replied just as they strode into the camp. Carefully he set her down on the log they'd been sitting on earlier and moved to sit next to her. To his surprise, the fire was already going with what little wood the others had managed to get in the clearing, but it would need more fuel soon and in the turmoil none had been brought back with them.

Father Nightroad looked at how exhausted the two of them were and shook his head, “Perhaps next time you should remain at camp, Kagome. Until your body adapts, you're putting yourself at risk and you don't want to be injured or exhausted when we find Naraku.”

“Are you kidding?” Kagome asked with a raised brow, “If I tried to get out of doing my part a certain someone would have my head. It's one thing if I'm sick, but with the way he's acting right now he'd call me lazy and tell me to do it anyway.”

“You're doing him a disservice,” Father Nightroad replied, “I explained the situation to him after you left and the reaction you're receiving now is out of concern, he's trying to protect you the only way he knows how. The problem is, you're no longer accustomed to his actions and you feel the need to push him away which makes it worse, resulting in an argument. You need to keep in mind that this is all a lot to accept, but he is trying.”

“Calling me stupid is him acting concerned?” Kagome snorted at that particular thought, “Give me a break, I've known him longer than you have. Yeah, he's worried all right, but he's also annoyed that it isn't just us anymore. He did this when both Sango and Miroku joined the group too so it's nothing new.”

“It's true you've known him longer than I have, but I'm only pointing out what I see,” Father Nightroad responded patiently, “All I'm asking is for the both of you to take a step back and think before you react. If there is strife within the group, Naraku won't hesitate to use it against us.”

“Fine, I'll give you that,” Kagome said reluctantly. Naraku was known for exploiting any weakness he could and this time wouldn't be any exception. So she'd try harder to ignore the way that he baited her, but there was no way she was going to apologize for this one. Too much time had passed for her to put up with his or anyone else's insults.

The sound of someone's stomach rumbling saved her from any further lecture and Kagome couldn't stop the giggle at the look of confusion that appeared on her friend's face.

“Hungry?” she asked Father Tres, “I told you that you should have shared my lunch with me. It's probably going to be about an hour before dinner is ready, assuming they get back anytime soon.”

“Actually I'd say we got back rather quickly, Lady Kagome,” Miroku replied with amusement. Inuyasha had gutted the poor sow in record time just so he could get back to camp, and he'd been grumbling about not wanting to leave Kagome alone with the 'overgrown tin can' any longer than necessary. Of course, when he'd reminded him that Father Tres was indeed human now, the hanyou had snorted and proclaimed it didn't matter. Personally, Miroku was of the opinion that it had pricked at Inuyasha's ego to have someone else save the girl he himself had vowed to protect.

“We didn't take that damned long,” Inuyasha said and dropped the burden he'd been carrying down on the ground with a thump. The hide slid open to reveal that he'd already taken the liberty of hacking the meat into manageable pieces and now all they needed to do was put them on a spit to cook.

“In that case, I'll go ahead and start the meat cooking,” Kagome replied and started to push away from the log, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her, “Is something wrong, Father Nightroad?”

“Not at all, but I think you should just sit there. I can figure out how to do this,” he said and walked towards the fire, “Now let's see, how should I do this?” He'd been camping more than once, but even those trips hadn't prepared him since he had brought with him all prepackaged meals. Now he didn't have that luxury so he was determined to figure out how to cook this on his own.

“Here, let me help,” Sango said after a few moments of watching the priest try to figure out something that really wasn't all that difficult. Quickly she pulled out a knife and then grabbed one of the larger sticks they'd brought back for firewood. “You want to sharpen one end so that it pierces the meat easily,” she instructed and then quickly sharpened the end to a point, repeating the process with another six sticks.

“I see, that's a very good idea,” Father Nightroad replied and took the first sharpened stick from her. Carefully he chose a hunk of meat and then drove the spike through it, making sure that it was skewered properly before setting it aside. Before long he had enough meat to cook for the group and Inuyasha was setting the braces to rest the cooking meat over the fire.

Now that the meat was taken care of, all that was left to do was wait which according to Shippo, was the most boring part. Eagerly he made his way up over to Kagome and perched himself on her lap. “So,” he began, looking over at Father Nightroad, “things must be really different where you come from.”

“Why yes, they are as a matter of fact,” he replied, wondering just what prompted that statement until he realized how silly he had to have looked staring at a stick like he'd never seen one before. 'So once again I've become an oddity. No matter, I will adapt just as I've done before.' The thought came as he looked at his partner who seemed to be listening intently to whatever the miko was saying. 'Yes, I do believe we both will.'