Splintered Coral – Part One

Aamalie: Phweeeeee! New story! Had to replace WSW... Since it's over... Now... *bursts into tears*

Taena: Yeah. That was our best fic, but now we have this one. Hopefully it'll do equally well... Maybe. ^^'

Maela: Yeah. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, I'd watch the anime regularly. But since I'm stuck with the manga (not that that's bad), the answer's kinda obvious.

---

Sango groaned as she dropped her pack and oversized weapon at the foot of a tree, slumping down after them a moment later. Leaning back against the trunk, she reached up and loosened her hair from its bind, letting it float down to her shoulders in a dark, wispy cloud. She ran her fingers through the mass, attempting to smooth it free of the small knots it had acquired over the day.

"Finally," she muttered. "I never want to go through that extension of hell again." Kagome nodded her agreement as she plopped down on the ground nearby, finding no words necessary. Miroku, sitting down himself, let out a dry chuckle at her comment. "What’s so funny?" she snapped. Honestly, she was in no mood to be mocked...

"I was merely acknowledging the fact that, in the event we wish to return to return the way we’ve come, without going a fair distance out of our way, we may have to pay a second tribute to the multitudes of youkai that seem to populate the forest."

This short revelation caused both girls to shoot exasperated glares of annoyance at a certain dog-eared hanyou, both considering the action of throwing various inanimate- and possibly animate- objects his way. Inuyasha, making himself quite comfortable on an overhanging branch, merely snorted, averting his eyes.

"Feh... Would you rather that we’d stay in that damn shit-load of oversized sticks? We’d have gotten attacked every time we tried to sit down." His eyes, which had drifted shut, snapped open in irritation when a small rock in him in the side of his head. "Damn it! Who threw that?!"

No one responded...

"Why is everyone so grumpy? I don’t get it!" said Shippou in an overly cheerful way as he clambered onto Kagome’s shoulder. All three humans gave the kitsune an unblinking stare that was actually quite unnerving. He had, after all, been leeching rides off of them all day, and did nothing but hide when violent youkai popped up. "Whaaaaaaaaat?" he whined. Kagome, rolling her eyes, reached into her bag and pulled out a lollypop, which promptly shut him up.

Which was the desired effect...

"What I could really use right now is a hot spring..." Sango murmured, flexing her battle-wearied muscles. After a day of constantly fighting various types of extremely territorial youkai, even she was a bit sore. Without glancing up, she spoke again. "Houshi-sama, wipe that grin off of your face before I do it myself." His grin only widened.

"Ah... Perhaps you could assist me then? I believe they need something to preoccupy themselves with..." he said, winking suggestively. Sango glared, but made no move to get up. Instead, she drew a line in the dirt. Shippou bounced over.

"What'cha drawing, Sango?" he asked, giving Kirara, who had curled up by her mistress, a quick pat on the head.

"It's not a drawing, Shippou. It's a tally."

"What for?

"How many slaps Houshi-sama will receive when I decide I'm rested enough to get up again," she exclaimed, smiling sweetly at the monk. The smirk on Miroku's face quickly subsided into a visage of holy innocence.

Yeah. Right.

"Now... About that hot spring. You think there's one near here, Sango?" Kagome asked, a bit of energy sparking in her previously exhausted eyes.

"There's not," grumbled Inuyasha, cutting Sango off. The taijiya glared at him.

"How do you know that?"

"I've been this way before." Three pairs of eyebrows went up at this.

"So Inuyasha... That would mean you knew about the exhausting population of youkai in that, as you said before, damn shit-load of oversized sticks?" Miroku asked, smirking once more. "And you just so failed to mention as such to your companions before leading us through, eh?"

"As if you couldn't tell. The damn place had an aura, which you should have seen and made note of, bouzo."

"Yes, well..." As the 'conversation' between the two progressed, neither Sango nor Kagome made any spoken comment. They merely exchanged glances, and Shippou had to constantly stifle his laughter as they occasionally drew lines in the dirt.

*

Inuyasha cracked an eye open. It was the dead of night, and the bright stars were shrouded in a transparent curtain of clouds. The hanyou could catch the sound of the ocean just a mile or two away, and the tang of salt danced on the wind. Yet, some other scent lingered on the breeze as well.

He couldn't quite place it, but that didn't necessarily mean he liked it.

Rolling off of the limb of his chosen tree, Inuyasha landed in a crouch. He quickly rose and strode over to Miroku, ears twitching and eyes scanning the uneven horizon as he prodded the delinquent monk into wakefulness with his foot.

"What is it?" Miroku muttered, shoving away Inuyasha's offending foot.

"Get up and get ready. Wake up Sango. Something's coming, and I'm sure it isn't friendly." The houshi was immediately alert as he rose from his makeshift bed.

"If this is a false alarm, the blame is on you. The ladies will, without a doubt, be less than pleased," he said, though he acknowledged the quickly approaching aura that tweaked his senses. Inuyasha was right- it didn't feel friendly. Fortunately, it was still distant. They had enough time.

"Feh," was the only thing Inuyasha said as he went to go wake their sleeping resident miko. Shrugging, Miroku turned to Sango. She looked so peaceful... She seemed so helpless at moments like these.

Well, not for much longer.

*

Finally. Finally... After months of anticipation, they had finally crossed over into the boundaries of her realm.

She had heard of them months ago, and of their quest, but hadn't thought much of it past wistful longing. It had seemed highly unlikely that they'd ever travel this way, as none of the Shikon no Kakera had fallen this side of the wooded barrier that symbolized the end of her authority.

But then, out of no where, another with the mastery of an element had sought her out, seeking an alliance. The youkai had come with a shard of the legendary jewel in hand.

Needless to say, she had accepted. Needless to say, the Wind-child had been correct. Needless to say, she had the advantage.

With a fragment of the Shikon no Tama on her brow and a simple sea-born jewel in hand, the ocean spirit raced inland, a shimmering ghost surrounded by mist in the light of the waxing moon.

---

Aamalie: So... Opinions? Constructive Criticism? Flames? Whaaaaat? They're still reviews...

Maela: And reviews are good!

Taena: Feh... Reviews are what make us actually update. Ten would be a good number. *nods* Five even... And we update once every calendar week. So yeah. We'll give you that much.

Aamalie: *nods enthusiastically* Please review!!! Hopefully, some people from What Sango Wants will stay with us. *huggles all of her loyal reviewers* Look for the next update sometime next week! It'll come... We're almost done with chapter 2 anyway! Yeah... XD Just click the button and shut me up...