Time passed slowly for Sarah. It always had. She would often laugh to herself when she heard someone say that the day was "flying by" because toher, it felt like it was dragging on forever. Now on some days, this was a good thing, most specifically the days she spend with her friend Nathaniel. He was probably her "best" friend, but neither of them would ever say it for fear of it turning into something else.

She had met Nathaniel through a high school college fair. He was in the science division, doing some wierd project that she couldn't even pretend to understand, and she was in the writing division, creative and fiction were her specialties. That was really the only reason she was there. Her recent short story had been published in some of the nations top writing journals and so she was there on behalf of her whole division, trying to get "new and brilliant minds" to join their school. She hadn't been doing very well that day and after they closed the stalls, she decided to go to the local bar for a few drinks with her professor.

Nathaniel hadn't done well either. His machine, which he brought along to interest "new and brilliant minds", had been a flop. No one believed it could actually do what he said it could do; he had only gotten a few guaranteed sign ups before they closed the stalls for the day. He didn't feel like going back to his hotel room and facing his professor, so he decided to go to the local bar for a few drinks. As fate would have it, the writer and the science geek met at the bar, ordering the same thing, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Now here they were, three years later, fast friends. Currently she was on her way to his house. He had a new machine to show her. Little did she know that it would change both their lives forever...

She knocked on the door softly, laughing to herself as she heard the loud tinging of metal hitting metal. She loved to surprise him when he was working, it always made her laugh to hear the combinations of cuss words he came up with when he hit his head on whatever oversized machine he had come up with. She heard the heavy tromp of work boots pounding across the floor as he made his rather angry way from the workshop at the back of his house to the front door. She had to stifle a giggle when he threw the door open. His rounded face was almost completely blackened with soot and she could hardly see his eyes for all the grime on his glasses.

"Well hello there, I believe I am expected?" she giggled, grinning at him cattishly.

"Yes, my pump knot was starting to miss you," he said, a grin breaking out over his face as well. She knew that grin and started to back up.

"Don't you dare, this is a new shirt and if I get it dirty Vanessa will kill me," she said.

"Aww, you sound cranky, how about a hug," he launched forward, chasing after her as she darted under his arm and into the house. He finally caught up with her in the kitched and grabbed her, lifting her into the air in a tight two armed hug. "There, I think that's pay back enough, not like you won't get dirty anyway, we'll be working on the underbelly today," he laughed, letting her down and leading her through the back door and into his work shop.

"Oh wow, you've really out done yourself this time. What's this one supposed to not do?" she asked, looking over at him with a grin.

"Well, for your information, this one WILL open a portal to any fantasy world that is entered into it's database," he looked over at her, smirking with triumph. "I've already tested it," he said.

"And it didn't blow up? Or is that why you look like you just got out of the oven?" she raised an eyebrow, still grinning.

"No, that's from my car, I was working on it before you startled me and it backfired in my face," he growled, poking her.

"Hey! You told me to be here at this time, so I am, now you can't blame your memory loss on me," she said, poking him back. He just sighed and conceded the point, walking over to his newest "toy" and beckoning her over as well. "This beauty has already taken me on a little adventure, and the best part is, when you're in the parallel universe, time here doesn't pass, I was there and back in three minutes and I went through the whole Lord of the Rings journey," he said, looking proud.

"Well that is a feat, so I guess it's like Narnia then? No matter how much time you spend...wherever, you still come back the same age as when you left?" she asked.

"Yup, and if you die there, you'll wake up here safe and sound, but you'll still have all the scars from the wounds you got, I'm still trying to figure out how that works," he scratched the back of his head, looking like the classic "old man scientist" character from any Disney movie.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked, looking from the machine to him.

"Yeah, otherwise I wouldn't be here," he said.

"You got killed?!?" she asked, her face suddenly scared. He just smirked and held up his shirt, showing the long and very jagged scar running across his chest and stomach.

"Orc blade, not fun," he grimaces as he lowered his shirt. "But that's beside the point, the point is that it works and it's safe and I want you to help me test it again," he said, grinning evily.

"What do you mean again? It works. Why would we need to test it again?" she asked.

"Well last time I just went in as myself, but there's a function on here that can change a person's shape and even species, and I want to see if it'll work in an animated universe," he said, pulling out a sketch book of her old anime drawings.

"No, no no no, I am not doing that," she said, backing away from the book like she feared it may bite her.

"Why not? There are some very interesting character designs in here," he said, flipping through the sketches of different character arch-types that she'd drawn for them when they used to play D&D in college.

"Because I'm not running around in some wierd mech anime dressed up like a harlot for you to stare at, and you know you would," she looked hard at him, noticing the faint blush.

"Alright, what if it wasn't a mech, then you use on of your more clothed characters, how about...Inuyasha?" he grinned at her, flipping to the pages of characters she'd drawn for a feudal anime game they'd run during the college fair.

"That's cheating. Which one would you go as?" she asked, walking over to the sketch book and looking over his shoulder.

I was thinking something like Sesshoumaru, that one you drew for me, the thief," he said, pointing to a character with long black hair, a slim build, green eyes and the "traditional" thief type outfit.

"Oh, well I was gonna go as a thief, maybe her," she said, pointing to the girl that was drawn as the companion character to the one Nathaniel had chosen. She had black hair as well, but it was cut boysihly short. She had a short athletic build, very willowy and small, her eyes were different colors. One was green and the other was blue. Her outfit was like his only fitted to a woman and different colors. His was green and brown, hers was black and gray. "I still don't know how those two will work, they're modeled after an english style, early Britannia, can't really see that fitting in with feudal Japan," she said.

"Sure it will, we'll just say we're foreigners, they'll eat it up. This machine is designed to put us in the story and keep us there, and you know how anime storylines are, they always deviate from what that time was really like, the story will just take us with it and the characters will accept us, it'll be fine," he said, waving his hand as if to bat away her doubts.

"I hate it when you say that," she said, tearing out the pages and handing them to him.

"Yeah yeah yeah, stand over on that platform and put the drawing on the scanner next to it, you'll appear somewhere near on of the main-ish characters," he said.

"What do you mean, "main-ish?" she asked.

"You know, it might not be Inuyasha's group, it might be Sesshoumaru of Kouga or someone who's got a name, but isn't in every episode," he said, walking over to the control panel.

"So long as it isn't Naraku," she said, placing the drawing on the scanner. Nathaniel just grinned and started pressing buttons. The light from the scanner shined in her face for a second and then everything went black. She closed her eyes and rubbed them, trying to clear whatever damage the light had done to them and when she opened them again, she was in the forest...alone.

"Whoa, it worked," Nathaniel laughed, running over to the monitor and looking into it, seeing a perfect picture of her and how she looked now. "She looks pissed, but the short hair looks good. I didn't know she had a tattoo...of a spider...on her back...crap, well maybe nothing will happen, I think i'll wait a few minutes for her to cool off before i go," he closed the lens of the monitor and walked over to the very beaten in couch he had in his work shop and turned on the tv.

She looked around, waiting for Nathaniel to materialize or whatever he was going to do. After a few minutes she decided to not wait for him and go find a place to get some information. She hoped that the machine had translated everything into englih for her, or she would be completely lost no matter what she did, but, knowing Nathaniel like she did, she was fairly sure he'd covered that base as well.

She started walking, trying to figure out where in Japan she'd landed, knowing that it had to be close to Kaede's village, mainly because apparently everything was close to Kaede's village.

"Stop demon." someone shouted. She stopped and turned, looking around for a demon. They couldn't mean her could they? She wasn't a demon...oh wait...she was. She sighed, standing still and looking around for the speaker. It was Miroku. "You there, demon, what is your name?" he asked, stopping in front of her.

"It's...Riyo," she said.

"Well, Riyo, will you bear my children? he asked, getting down on one knee and grabbing her hand.

"Um...no, bye," she turned and started walking away. She heard the rest of the group approaching behind her. They seemed angry at Miroku for something, but she decided that it wasn't her problem. That is, it wasn't her problem until an arrow planted itself in a tree by her head. She growled softly and turned around. "What was that for?"

"Where is Naraku?" Inuyasha shouted, moving in front of Kagome and holding his sword out.

"Why would i know that?" Sarah asked.

"Because you have the mark of the spider on your back," he shouted

"It's a tattoo, i got it because i thought it looked cool," she said.

"Right, like i'm gonna believe that, not tell me where Naraku is or die," he said, swinging his sword back.

"I wouldn't do that if i were you," another voice said, seeming to come from all around them.

"And why not?" Inuyasha challenged.

"Because if you do, there'll be a hol where you head used to be," the voice answered. Sarah smirked.

"Trust him to make a good entrance," she muttered. "Terras, come out and stop being a jack ass," she shouted, kicking the tree behind her. This seemed to confuse the whole of Inuyasha's group until a slim looking male cat demon fell out of the tree she'd just kicked. "Now listen, Inuyasha, I have nothing to do with Naraku. The mark on my back was made with a needle and ink, now will you just go away and stop bothering me?" she asked, making her voice sound sweet, yet dangerous.

"I think we should trust her Inuyasha, if she was with Naraku she probably would've run away by now, besides, she doesn't smell like him," Shippou said, looking at her hard for a second.

"I still don't trust her, and where did her companion go?" Inuyasha asked, pointing out Nathaniel's disappearance.

"Knowing him, probably to the nearest tavern to get booze and maybe a girl for the night, and that sword of yours probably scared him," Sarah said, grinning. "He doesn't like sharp things, especially when they're pointed at him, now if you'll excure me, I've got things to do and people to see, and they certainly aren't you," she smirked and took off at full demon speed, following the scent of Nathaniel's character, worried. Dispite what she said to the gang, the Nathaniel she knew would never run off on her like that, especially after she'd been threatened. His scent led her into the woods. As she was running, something clipped the side of her arm, cutting her and stopping her short.

"Well hello my little one, where are you going so fast," a voice asked. She knew that voice. It was probably the most distincive voice inthe whole anime, and was also her least favorite, but why would he attack her.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Oh i think you can, if what your friend says is true," he said, smiling coldly.

"My friend?" she asked.

"Yes, the other little demon thief that was in these woods," he said, holding up a shredded shirt.

"Was? What did you do with Terras?" she shouted.

"Oh, there's no need for silly play names, call him by his real name, Nathaniel," he said, laughing evily.

"What did you do to him? Where is he?" she shouted.

"Oh I don't think i'll tell you just yet, I think i'll be keeping his...and his device," he said, holding up the remote control to Nathaniel's machine. "When you feel ready to talk more calmly, find my castle...if you can," and with that he was gone, taking Sarahs' way home and the location of her friend with him. She let out a scream of rage that shook the trees around her. Not for nothing was her nickname "banshee".

    She ran as fast as she could after the fading scent of the villain that had stolen her friend.  She knew that it was useless to try and run him down, she'd seen the show enough time to realize the futility of her actions, but she had to get to Nathaniel.  She had to make sure he was alright.  She had to get him back.  Her heart was sick with the thoughts of what Naraku had done to him.  There had been blood on that shirt, and lots of it, but she knew better than to assume he was dead.

    She reached the road and caught another scent, Inuyasha's.  She wondered if they would help her, they were after the same person, but Inuyasha thought she was in league with Naraku and would probably be against her coming with them.  She decided to tail them, keeping far enough away to avoid detection, but staying just within range of his scent.  She stayed down wind, running softly, using all the knowledge her character had to keep off their "radar".

    One night, about a week after she'd started to track them, Inuyasha's scent dropped off the map.  It wasn't that it faded or that she'd lost it.  It wasjust gone.  She crouched down so she was closer to the dirt road and took an experimental sniff.  She'd never actually tried to "sniff" anyone out before and the experience was not something she'd forget in a hurry.  It was like trying to find Waldo on a page of red and black stripes.  She stayed there for a full five minutes before she stood up, growling.  She looked around, trying to find foot prints or soemthing to tell her which way they'd gone, but there were none.  Then it came to her, a barrier.  She'd see them before on the show.  She took a couple steps back and focused on the area in front of her, it seemed clear, but the she saw it...a shimmering near the tree line.  She was right.  She walked up to it and stretched a hand out, touching it experimentally.  Her hand passed through.  She grinned and took off again, following the foot prints that Inuyasha's group had left when they passed through the barrier.  As she ran, she felt something hit her shoulder, knocking her down.

    "I knew someone was following us," she heard Sango say.  She swore to herself, holding her shoulder where blood was starting to seep through her clothes.

    "You again?  Why were you following us?" Inuyasha asked, walking over and pulling her up by her injured arm.  She shouted out as he moved her and closed her eyes against the pain that shot through her.

    "Put her down Inuyasha, she's hurt," Kagome shouted.  He looked over at her with a face that said "shut up" as plain as day.

    "I'll put her down when she answers my question," he said, squeezing her upper arm.  She hissed, gritting her teeth and baring her fangs at him, her eyes turning red as her energy spiked.

    "I wasn't following you, I was looking for someone," she growled, gasping as he let her go.  Kagome walked over to her cautiously and tried to touch her arm but she just glared at her, moving away from all of them and glaring at them.

    "Why were you following us?" Kagome asked.  Sarah looked down, weighing her options and decided that telling them would be an enormous wast of time, so she just looked up at her and growled.

    "I told you, i wasn't, but thank you for the shoulder wound, i really needed my life to be that much worse," she said, glaring at them all in turn before getting up and backing into the trees.  Once she was out of sight, she slouched over against a tree and pulled out the shirt Naraku had dropped.  She tore pieces of it off and shrugged off her own shirt, putting a bandage around her shoulder and another aroundher chest where the edge of the boomerang had hit her.  She could feel that she'd at least bruised her ribs if not broken them, but all she could do was keep pressure on them and hope they healed up by themselves.  She shrugged her shirt back on, gasping as pain lanced through her shoulder and chest and then sat back against the tree to rest.  She knew she couldn't follow Inuyasha's group anymore, they'd be looking out for her now and if she got caught again, there wouldn't be any talking her way out of it.

    She woke lat that night and she could tell, even without opening her eyes, that she wasn't alone.  She could hear someone breathing close to her.  The heart beat was fast, too fast for an adult unless they were having a heart attack, so it had to be a child.  Rin.  She knew she was right, as she heard Jaken come stumbling into the clearing she was in, talking very loud and fast about her wandering off.  His voice stopped suddenly when he saw her.

    "Who is she?  Why are you giving her our food?" he asked.

    "She's hurt, look, her shirt had blood on it," Rin said, pointing to the blood stains on her shoulders.

    "So?  She was clearly stupid enough to get wounded, come, Lord Sesshoumaru is back and he is waiting for us," he said.  She heard footsteps approaching and she opened her eyes, looking at the food and then at him.  He met her gaze for all of a second before he started to back away.

    "You're awake, oh, your eyes are pretty.  What's your name?  This girl is Rin," she said, grinning toothily at her.

    "I'm Riyo," she said, sitting up.

    "Rin, why do you keep me waiting?" a man emerged from the forest and looked at the young girl.

    "Sorry my lord, this girl found a new friend, her name is Riyo, she is hurt," Rin said, getting up and running over to Sesshoumaru.  He looked up at her and then to her back.  His eyes got suddenly angry and he walked over to her quickly, she could barely see him move.

    "Where is Naraku?" he asked; his voice dealy quiet.

    "I don't know," she said.  "That isn't a scar, it's a tattoo," she didn't bother to look at him, she just rolled her eyes and rested against the tree, wincing.

    "Where is he, tell me," he grabbed her shoulder, making her look at him.  She gasped and gritted her teeth, her eyes watering.

    "I told you, I DON'T KNOW.  If I knew I wouldn't have had to tail Inuyasha all over hell in creation to try and find him.  Trust me, no one wantes to find him more than me.  Now let go of my shoulder before you lose your other arm," she growled, her eyes tinting red.  Sesshoumaru seemed taken aback.  Never before had a woman of any race stood up to him so blatantly.  He was intrigued and for a long time all he could do was stare at her.  Finally he loosened his grip and stood, looking down at his now bloody hand.

    "Jaken, take the girl and Rin to Ah Un, I must see someone," he said, walking off into the forest again. 

    Sarah was at a loss.  She was stuck several hundred if not thousand feet above the ground on the back of a two headed dragon and worst of all, she was stuck with Jaken as her only conversation.  They had been up in the air for about a hour, or at least it felt like an hour, she didn’t have a watch to check if she was right.  They had already flown over about half a dozen castles that could’ve belonged to Naraku, but hadn’t stopped at any of them.  Every few minutes she would look over to the cloud that was floating beside them, carrying a rather vacant looking Sesshoumaru, wondering if he would kill her for asking him to stop, but as her luck would have it, she didn’t have to ask.  Just as she was getting up the courage to ask him to land, he made a motion with his hand and the dragon started to slowly descend, causing Sarah to grip its’ sides tightly.        

“Why are we stopping?” she shouted, trying to be heard over the wind.        

“How should I know, Lord Sesshoumaru obviously spotted something we didn’t,” Jaken shouted back.  He hadn’t been as bad to travel with as she’s feared, the taunts and endless insults had stopped after the fourth time she hit him, but he had chosen instead to ignore her entirely and wait for her to say something stupid.

As they neared the ground, Sarah could make out something that looked like the remains of a camp site, which made her nervous.  There was only one person that Sesshoumaru would track other than Naraku if he got near, and that was Inuyasha.  They landed with a dull thud and Sarah slid thankfully off Ah Un’s back.  The dragon wasn’t so bad, but sitting with her legs straddled over something for that long made her thighs hurt and she really wanted to stretch them out.  The others had only just hit the ground when Sesshoumaru started walking.  Sarah made a mental note to find out where all his energy came from.        

That’s when it hit her, Nathaniel’s scent, and the scent of Naraku.  She felt her eyes redden as her body turned in the direction the scent was coming from.  She took off in whatever direction her nose led her, forgetting all about Sesshoumaru and the others and ignoring the fact that if Sesshoumaru didn’t want her to leave then she wouldn’t.  She came to a clearing where the scent stopped, changing direction suddenly; she heard laughter, evil, mocking, insidious laughter.  She stood in the middle of the clearing, her eyes scanning everything there, trying to find a sign of either of the men she’s caught scent of, she couldn’t see them.  She let out a scream of rage that shook the trees, sending several birds and smaller demons flying or skittering away.    

“Now now Sarah, no need to be so loud, I’m right here,” came the taunting reply.

“Show yourself you slimy bastard!” she shouted, turning, trying to find the source of the voice.   

“Now why would I do that when you’re in such a state?” the voice asked.  “Calm down and maybe I’ll be nice and give you something,” it said.        

“You’ll show yourself or I’ll rip this forest apart and you along with it,” she said, her voice shifting to a deathly whisper.  As soon as she finished her sentence, she heard a rustling behind her and heard someone drop to the ground, but it didn’t sound exactly right.  She turned and there was Nathaniel, held up by two vines, or at least they looked like vines.  He was semi-conscious; his head was lolling back and forth like someone in a troubled sleep.  She started to run to him, but a strong arm caught her around the middle.   

“Don’t,” it said.  She turned and saw Sesshoumaru behind her.     

“Let me go, that’s my friend up there,” she said, struggling, but it was of no use, he was much stronger than she was.    

“Naraku!  Found you at last.” Someone shouted, running into the clearing.  Sarah swore fiercely under her breath and craned her neck to see Inuyasha and the rest of his merry band of bad timing running head long into the clearing, weapons out and ready.        

“Ah, a full house, how lucky for me,” Naraku taunted, keeping hidden in the trees.

“I’ll be happy to destroy you all in a moment, but Sarah and I have some business to discuss,” he said.   

“I’ve got nothing to discuss with you except how many pieces of you you want me to bury and where,” she shouted, starting to struggle again.        

“Why do you fight me so much, all I want is for you to come with me to my castle and show me how that little machine works,” he said, his voice deceptively sweet.

“Like hell I will, let Nathaniel go NOW!” she shrieked, causing Sesshoumaru to step back and cover his ears with his arms.  She took the chance to run forward, reaching the tree just as Naraku pulled Nathaniel up.  She stepped back and kicked the tree, making it shake so bad it almost fell over, making Naraku jump down, carrying Nathaniel with him.       

“Well, now I suppose I should tend to the rest of you shouldn’t I?” he sneered, tossing Nathaniel aside.  Sarah ran over to him and tried to grab him but was repelled by a shield.  “Come now Sarah, I’m not so dim as that,” he said, grinning back at her.  The rest of the “group” had been slowly inching forward during their little exchange but as they got close enough to attack, Naraku snapped his fingers, disappearing in a cloud of poison insects, leaving no trace behind except a piece of paper with something written on it.  Inuyasha got to it first and picked it up.

“Now what the hell does this mean?” he asked, reading it over again.        

“Let me see,” Kagome took the letter and tried to read it. 

“I think it’s in English,” she said.    

“What’s English?” Inuyasha asked, looking over at her.       

“I can read it,” Sarah said, jumping up and walking over to her, taking it without waiting for an ok.  She read it through once and dropped it, stepping back until her back hit the tree that Nathaniel had been in, her eyes swimming with tears.    “Riyo, what is it?” Kagome asked.        

“It was a goodbye letter from Nathaniel, and a threat to all of us.  Naraku has something that can destroy all of us, and I gave it to him,” she said, her voice sounding shocked and sad.   

“I knew you were working for him,” Inuyasha shouted, advancing on her.  She just looked up at him and waited for him to get within range before she grabbed him around the neck.        

“Listen, you dumb ass half breed and listen well, because I won’t say this again.  I am not working for him.  That bastard took the only person who has ever cared about me and my way home along with him, so shut up and stop letting stupid things fall out of your mouth, or I’ll shut it for you…permanently,” she sealed her threat with a final squeeze around his neck before tossing him a few feet away.  “This is no longer a problem that we can deal with separately, we’re going to have to work together if we want to stop him before he can get his plan moving, got it.  That means that the two feuding brothers need to bury the hatchet and get the hell over themselves or we’re all dead, understand?” she said, her voice loud and oddly commanding.      

“I will not work with a half breed,” Sesshoumaru said, pulling himself up to his full height.        

“And I’ll be damned if I’m working with him,” Inuyasha said, glaring over at him.     

“Then. You’ll. Both. Die!” she shouted, putting a space between all of her words to impress the importance of what she was saying.  “I don’t care if you get along, you can kick each other from here to hell and back each day if you want to, but we need to put all our resources and knowledge into one effort or we all die,” she said.

“Are you sure?” Kagome asked, looking from the note to her.   

“So, what is it?” Kagome asked, her voice trembling slightly. 

“Trust me, you don’t want to know,” Sarah said, walking over to the spot where Nathaniel had been. She sat down and put her head in her hand, her eyes closed.

“Riyo.” Sesshoumaru said, walking over to her.

“What?” she glanced up at him.

“Answer her,” he said. His tone was commanding, just like it always was.

“No,” she said.

“What does he have?” Inuyasha shouted. 

“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” she said, her voice slightly cold.

“Riyo…” “My name isn’t RIYO!” she shouted. She stood up and looked at them all. “My name is Sarah, and I’m not giving up anymore information until I get some cooperation out of at least one of you,” she said, her eyes flashing dangerously.

“Fine, I’ll work with him; now tell me what the hell is going on!” Inuyasha said, his voice still raised.

“Out of the question,” Sesshoumaru said, his voice tinged with venom.

“GOD DAMN IT SESSHOUMARU! Swallow your pride you sorry son of a bitch,” Sarah shouted, walking up to him and shoving him so hard he fell down. The moment she did it she knew it was a mistake. He stood, his eyes red and glowing, but she refused to back down. She’d always wanted to do that, ever since she’d first seen him on the show. He raised his hand, bringing it down across her face hard, knocking her to the ground. She put her hand to her cheek and felt the gash that was there and smirked, her eyes twin orbs of icy fury. “Fine, you wanna play it like that, I’m game,” she stood, concentrating her energy into her left palm and grinning as she felt the blade materialize in her palm. She had never used that particular power in the game she’d made this character for, it had been too short for her to really show off, but she was glad that she had it now.

“What are you thinking woman, you can not hope to defeat me,” Sesshoumaru said, his eyes returning to normal.

“Oh, what’s the matter, afraid?” she taunted, hoping to goad him into a fury again. She knew that this was all a very bad idea, but she was pissed, very pissed and she wasn’t about to let him get off that easy.

“As you wish,” he charged at her, moving gracefully across the ground, his movements almost too fast for her to see. She could here the cries of joy from his Tokijin as he neared her. She could feel its thirst for her blood, but she wasn’t about to be beaten so easily. She moved at the last second, her blade coming down hard on his back, leaving a several inches long gash on his otherwise flawless skin. She heard the others gasp and she heard the slightly shocked intake of breath from Sesshoumaru. He turned; his eyes more serious now. She knew the first strike was only to gauge her own skill and now he was ready to really fight. She readied herself for his full power and set a determined expression on her face.

“Well? Is that all?” she asked.

“Why did you strike me?” he asked.

“Which time?” she taunted. He just stared at her, refusing to let himself be baited again. “Because you’re an arrogant pompous asshole who needs to be taught some manners in civility and humanity, and you really get on my nerves,” she said, her tone even and light.

“Who are you to tell me how I should act?” he asked, advancing slightly. She started to match his steps until they were circling one another.

“Well from what I’ve seen so far, I’m your equal if not your better in combat and isn’t that how you judge who’s worthy of what rights?” she asked.

“No, that is how I judge who is worthy of my respect, so far, you are lacking,” he said.

“Well now I’m all heart broken. You’re too proud for your own good. You judge too quickly, most of the time you’re wrong and that’s why, even though you always leave him unconscious, you never kill Inuyasha. You’re pig headed, rude, conceited, full of yourself, blind to everyone around you, abusive and a bad son,” she said, a smirk crossing her face. That one did it, the fire returned to his eyes and he charged forward again. She dodged, catching him above the arm this time. He slashed her leg as he went by, moving away from her strike as he moved. He squared up on her again and they locked blades, their faces mere inches apart. He growled softly as her eyes started to glow, her smirk still firmly in place. “I haven’t angered you have I? Was it the news about your personality, or the news of your failure as a son,” she spat, her voice ending in a feline like hiss. He roared and pulled his sword back, slashing down and catching her across the stomach. She ducked in under him and returned the blow, catching him across the chest. They locked blades again but both were struck by an arrow. Sarah felt Tokijin shriek and felt the energy flow back into her body as her own blade vanished.

“That’s enough you two. Separate or I’ll shoot again,” Kagome shouted. Her voice sounded strained, like she was close to tears. Sesshoumaru stood back, his hand moving up to his chest quickly. Sarah straightened as well, but didn’t move from her position, her hand resting at her side, still glowing slightly. It wasn’t until Shippou moved over to her that she finally relaxed. She glanced over at Rin and Jaken who were both tending to their “lord”. He looked up at her and she sneered softly, walking over to the other side of the clearing and sitting down, her hand holding the wound in her stomach.

“Sarah, are you okay?” Shippou asked, bouncing over to her. 

“Yeah, these aren’t anything to worry about,” she said, flinching as she resituated herself.

“Let me look at it,” Kagome said, sitting her first aid kit down beside the wounded demon and moving her tattered shirt apart. She winced as air hit the cut, but didn’t let on how much it was really hurting her. As Kagome tended to it she looked over again at Sesshoumaru. He was resting with his shirt off and a bandage running around his upper torso. She couldn’t repress the slight twinge of guilt that she felt. She hadn’t meant for it to go that far, but she was just so angry. After Kagome was done, she excused herself, walking into the densest part of the forest, making sure to be well out of hearing range by anyone in the group. Once she was sure she was clear she let out a roar of anger and pain so loud that it shook the forest for miles. This one made the others seem like a whisper. She poured all her negative energy into it, making the burning pain in her chest and mind real around her, scorching the foliage and trees around her. She didn’t stop until she was hoarse. As she looked around, she sighed sadly. Now she remembered why she didn’t like this character as much as she thought she would. She had made her as a force of destruction, easily angered and dangerous. She felt a twinge of fear as she fought to control the impulse to tear up everything around her, she felt like Sarah was starting to disappear behind Riyo, and she couldn’t let that happen.

“Is she alright?” Nathaniel asked, sitting back from the enchanted bars that kept him prisoner in Naraku’s Castle.

“She is, for now, though her stubbornness is very taxing on the nerves,” Naraku said, laughing softly. “She is a fascinating creature, so full of fire and yet so weak,” he mused, sitting next to the bars. “She is still refusing to assist me, I guess she doesn’t love you as much as you thought,” he said, looking back toward the captured demon.

“You’re wrong, she does love me, she just knows what’s right,” Nathaniel said, his voice soft.

“Oh? You don’t sound convinced,” Naraku said. “I could help you, take away the pain,” he said, holding up a shard of the jewel.

“What kind of an idiot do you take me for?” Nathaniel spat. Naraku just laughed, putting the shard back into his kimono sleeve. He stood and started to walk away.

 “I don’t know how much longer I will allow her to live, perhaps you should accept my offer before I make you hurt more,” he said, walking out and sliding the door shut.

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Sarah gasped, her mind rushing back to her body with terrible new truth. She stood, looking around in momentary confusion at the destruction around her before her memory came back in a sudden flood of guilt and anger.

“It would appear that you have more power than you knew,” Sesshoumaru said, stepping into the clearing.

“I know I have it, I just don’t use it,” Sarah said, her tone defensive.

“Apparently you do,” he said, looking around.

“I mean on purpose, I was a little upset when I got here,” she looked over at him, daring him to say anything else.

“The others are looking for you,” he said.

“The others meaning not you?” she asked. He just nodded. “Then why are you here?” she asked.

“I felt an immense power and came to see what it was,” he said, turning and starting to walk away. She just sighed and started to follow him. They met up with the rest of the group after a few minutes of walking and the questions began.

 “Where did you go?”

“Where did all that power come from?”

“Who are you really?”

“What does Naraku have that’s so dangerous?”

All of these came at once and were almost too much for Sarah’s fragile psyche to handle. She held up a hand and was amazed when everyone fell silent. She laughed mentally, guessing that she had let too much of her power leak out when she fought Sesshoumaru.

“I went to a clearing to think. I’ve always had it and I didn’t have to use it till I fought Sesshoumaru. My name is Sarah and I’m really from the future like Kagome. It’s a weapon that has more destructive power than both Inuyasha’s and Sesshoumaru’s swords combined. There, did I answer everyone’s questions?” she asked, looking around at the slightly stunned faces.

“I have one more,” Kagome said, stepping forward. “Who is Terras, really, and how did you get here? Why aren’t you human?” she asked.

“Well, first off that’s more than one,” Sarah said, grinning, “but to answer your questions, Terras is really my friend Nathaniel, we got here via a machine he built, and we’re not human because of the same machine,” she said. Kagome could tell that there was more truth that she wasn’t telling her, but she didn’t push the subject any further. Sarah sighed and walked into the middle of the clearing. “So, has everyone resolved their issues with each other? Ready to at least cooperate?” she asked, looking around. No one seemed to object so she sighed and looked upward. “Great, well, we need to find Naraku’s Castle. I think our best bet is to split up, go in groups of twos and threes and stop at every castle you see. Those of you with the ability to fly or those who have an animal who flies, I suggest you use them to look from the air. And don’t stop for anything unless you’ve found Naraku! No stopping to perform fake ceremonies or because you see a hot spring you want to try! This is no longer a matter of revenge, or because you feel responsible! This is life or death! Now, pair up.”

She stepped back and watched as everyone went back to their normal groups. She growled, walking between the pairs and splitting them up, matching them with others, trying to maximize skill rather than personal comfort. Eventually it was Sesshoumaru and Kagome, Inuyasha and Miroku with Ah Un and Sango Rin and Jaken with Kilala. No one was particularly happy with their group, but she had to make sure that those who were more likely to get attacked or find Naraku were the most powerful teams. Sarah walked over and joined Kagome and Sesshoumaru, putting an arm around him loosely as they took to the sky, held up by the wisp of cloud he liked to use. She watched as the others took to the skies as well, setting off in different directions. She let out a sigh of relief, feeling a lot of the negative energy ebb with the group’s separation.

“Are you alright?” Kagome asked, looking over at her. “You look pale,”

“Fine, just a little tired,” she said, feeling her legs start to shake.

“Rest, the cloud is solid and has a barrier, you will not fall,” Sesshoumaru said, not bothering to look at her. She sank down against his legs, curling up into sitting ball and letting her eyes close. It wasn’t until her mind was an inch from sleep that she bothered to wonder why Sesshoumaru had suggested anything at all. She smiled as she drifted off, laughing off the idea that he really was a big softy underneath it all.