Greetings, minna-san! I'm starting another story! Can you believe it? *ignores groans from crowd* I know, I should work on my other two, but you guys gotta send me more typos for Typos: OTI, and I'm still figuring out details for LWHIW. This got into my head, and I don't think I can write my other two until I get this one done. Not that I think anyone cares, but I think you guys might like this one better than my others! (I hope, I hope, I hope!)

Disclaimer: Yes, I own them! They're mine! Wow, look at all the pigs flying by my window….

The story thus far: DUH!!!!! This is the prologue!

Speak My Soul

Prologue

"Inu-yasha, I think it's time we stopped for today! It's getting late!"

"But I want to get to this stupid village soon! If we keep going now, we can make it in a few hours!"

"We'll still be there before the others, so we don't have to rush! They won't be there for at least another two days!" Kagome was getting desperate; it was late and she was tired. "I'll make a deal with you: We keep going, and I'll s-i-t you every step of the way; OR, we stop now, and I'll let you have two cups of ramen tonight." And with that last statement, Kagome knew she had won.

Inu-yasha started to whine. "But there's someone I really want to…" Then her last statement's meaning hit him. "Do you mean it?!?"

Kagome nearly fell over laughing at his response. He could be such a kid sometimes!

"Hai! I meant it! Now come down here and lets make camp!"

A little while later, Kagome had a small pot of water on to boil, over the fire that was created by the matches she brought and the wood Inu-yasha had collected. She couldn't believe he'd done that, even if it was for ramen! He'd never have done that if the others had been there. 'Come to think of it, I still don't know why Shippo wanted to split into groups to get to this village. I'm the only one who can sense shards, so they can't be finding many… On the other hand, both Sango and Miroku were gathering shards to begin with, so you never know… But we defeated Naraku, and from what I can tell, there's only a few shards still out there. We might even have them all, and I just need to put them together! But then again, they all had that secretive look in their eyes when they headed out; and they took such a long route! Oh well…'

Kagome looked over at the ramen-happy Inu-yasha, who was currently staring, almost nervously, at the water, then glancing back at the ramen, just to make sure it hadn't gone anywhere. 'Of course, it is kinda nice to just be with Inu-yasha; when the others aren't here, he's a lot nicer, and doesn't worry as much about his pride.' She smiled. 'He'd never be this excited over dinner, no matter what it was, if the others were here. He probably wouldn't even eat!' She sighed. 'At least he trusts me enough to let me see this side of him!'

Inu-yasha suddenly froze and lifted his head into the wind a little bit. Kagome watched his face for a clue as to what was going on, but received nothing. He seemed to be judging distance, and power. Suddenly, he jumped into a tree, completely abandoning his ramen. Kagome followed him with her eyes, expecting to see him look for something, or try to get a better scent of it. He did neither. He seemed contented to sit in his tree, just like he did when they traveled with the group. Actually, now that she looked, it was more like he was disgraced to be in her presence,,, like he was far superior than she was.

This made Kagome slightly angry; she thought he trusted her more than that! She was about to give him a piece of her mind, when she felt it: a Shikon Shard was coming, and it was coming with something powerful! It wasn't a big thing, no larger than her, but its power seemed to come off it in never ending layers.

Inu-yasha looked down at her. By her upright posture, not to mention the look on her face, he could tell that she sensed it now. But he also knew that she could only sense the demonic part that he smelled; she couldn't feel the miko energy. She couldn't feel that it was corrupted to the point of being even more powerful than before!

He turned his head towards her and whispered still looking superior, almost too low for her to hear. "Pretend you don't sense it. It's not close enough to hear us yet, if we whisper, but if I cut you off or change the subject, that's why. Do you know the way to the next village?"

"I think so, but I se…" Kagome mumbled softly, but apparently too loud anyways.

"Stupid girl, I can see very well that the water is boiling!" Inu-yasha's voice was harsh, but his face was not. Whatever the thing was, it could hear them now. He knew what she was going to tell him: the thing had a shard. He couldn't let it know that they were on to it!

After a brief pause, during which he signified with his hands that the thing was behind him, he asked another question. "So, how fast are you at…" he signified with his hands that he meant running, "cooking ramen?" he finished, just for show.

Kagome had seen his hand motions, and understood what he was doing. "I'm quite fast, thank you!"

"Would you be faster if…" he pretended with his hands to have handle bars, mimicking her bike, "I came down there and made you go faster?"

Kagome understood now not only what he was asking, but also that that was supposed to be a threat, and she should be more timid and act more like a servant. "Probably a lot faster…" she said a little more quietly and timidly than before.

"Ok, then I'll come down so you'll have to do that!" he said, jumping from his tree. He sat right next to her, watching her carefully as she poured the water into the ramen, but he kept his back to the powerful thing that kept coming closer and began whispering quickly. "When I tell you to, get on your bike and get out of here as fast as you can. Head for the village."

"But Inu-yasha, I…" Kagome was getting scared. Nothing scared Inu-yasha, yet he was trying to get her out of here. Fast. The only other time he had done that was when he was losing to his brother, and was sure he would die, and had wanted her to be safe. But this wasn't Sessho-maru's aura. She would never forget that aura, as long as she lived! And this wasn't Naraku's either; they had killed him! He was gone, yet this aura was almost as strong as his had been!

Suddenly, she sensed it come closer with incredible speed. She could hear Inu-yasha yelling "Now! Now!" for all he was worth, but to no avail! Something in that aura wouldn't let her leave. With eyes wide and full of dread, she turned towards the source of the power.

There, standing in the tree where Inu-yasha had just been sitting, was a woman with pointed, elf-like ears, and yet wearing a miko's garb. Her eyes were closed, her head slightly bent forwards, and her hair flew wildly behind her, flapping on the breeze that was caused by her power. In front of her she held a beautiful dagger, glinting with moonlight, yet glowing with a deep purple light of it's own. The hilt was solid silver, and engraved to look like a plant, with green stones making the leaves. At the base of it was a gorgeous, round, green stone, and at the base of the sword, a Shikon shard had been planted somehow. But the shard was horribly corrupted, and full of evil.

The woman lifted her head now, and opened her eyes, which were glowing red, and turned with a wicked smile towards Kagome, who couldn't move. Inu-yasha also seemed unable to move, as though under some sort of spell, and he just stood there holding the Tetsuseiga.

The woman's smile widened as she saw that neither were moving, and she spoke. "Greetings, priestess. We meet again! But this time, it won't be a draw; I've come for my final vengeance…"

Well, what do you guys think? Can you figure out what's going on? Probably not, but you'll find out in the next chapter! Well, if I write a next chapter… I'll only write if I get 5 reviews, ok? Sound fair? That's the only way I get them, so be glad I'm not setting it higher! (or, if you don't like this story, don't care. Whatever works) Actually, even if you don't like this story, tell me so! I want to do better, but if no one tells me what I do wrong, well, it's a lot harder! Please review!

~~Koneko-chan~~