Kaya's Story (An InuYasha Fanfic)

Chapter 33: The Pieces of a Puzzle

When we got back to Kaede's village, InuYasha and Kagome went off on their own. I went to Kikyo's shrine only to find the shrine and soil around it disturbed. When had this happened and why? I'll have to ask Kaede about it. I did a small prayer in front of Kikyo's burial shrine before going over to the former shrine of the Shikon Jewel. It felt like it had only been yesterday that I was first here. I touched the weathered wood and sighed. So much went wrong because of the Jewel, and I intend to stop that from ever happening again, even if it kills me. I was about to go inside the shrine when I heard Kagome scream. I took off at full speed, following her scent.

When I got there, Miroku, Shippo, and InuYasha were there in the middle of an argument. They didn't seem to notice me until I spoke, "where's Kagome?" "She's back home. Where she's safe." InuYasha replied, his voice almost sad. "I guess you're right. Her world is much safer than here." All three of them looked at me with shocked expressions. I guess they had discussed how I felt toward InuYasha. Shippo tried to argue and get InuYasha to go after Kagome, but I knew he wouldn't. "Since you currently have no leads on the Jewel Shards and are wounded, I suggest you and the others, rest, InuYasha." I said but it came out a lot more commanding than I meant for it too. InuYasha just huffed and headed towards the village with me and the others in tow.

Soon after we returned to Kaede's Village, we visited the cave of Onigumo, following a hunch Kaede had. I had heard Kikyo and Kaede talk about Onigumo, but I didn't exactly know who he was until Kaede explained it. She explained that Onigumo was a bandit rendered immobile because his body had been badly burned. Kikyo had taken pity on him and secretly took care of him, keeping him in the cave. When we entered, we all noticed a blank patch of dirt on the ground. Miroku and I both bent down to examine the spot. Miroku immediately jerked away, saying something immensely evil had been here. I knew what immense evil it was by the scent of the dirt and the feel of the aura. It was Naraku. He and Onigumo were connected somehow, I could feel it. Once we left the cave, a demon wolf appeared trying to challenge InuYasha. Kaede called the demon Royakan, saying he was the peaceful forest guardian. At that moment, he didn't seem very peaceful or guardian like. Miroku tried to use his wind tunnel on Royakan but that was shortly silenced with Naraku's insects. I should've known he'd be behind this, getting other demons to do his dirty work. After a short battle we defeated Royakan without killing him, Miroku was the one who sent him running with his tail between his legs.