The bird kept its beady eyes on InuYasha, watching his every move. “Stupid bird.” InuYasha commented, then charged forward, claws outstretched. The bird opened its beak and let out a piercing cry which resounded throughout the forest. InuYasha pinned his ears flat against his head, trying to rid himself of the unpleasant sound ringing in his ears. He jumped upwards, the bird following him with its eyes. He landed behind it and attacked, yelling, “Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!” He managed to draw a long gash on its back, making it screech in pain. “Heh, not so tough, are ya?” InuYasha smirked, flexing his claws.

The bird's whole body was suddenly alight with blue flames, making InuYasha jump back so as to not get burnt. It gave another piercing cry before the flames morphed into snow and ice, piling on the bird's body. It grew larger, the snow covering the earlier injury that InuYasha managed to inflict. “What the hell?!” The bird opened its beak once more and multiplied, its copies wearing the same expression; one intent on killing him. They rose up into the air in a circle, then plunged down, sharp beaks ready to tear. InuYasha doused his claws with his own blood, remembering the wound the bird managed to create. “Blades of Blood!” The airborne attack sliced through the birds, turning them back to snow. He whirled around, sensing the bird coming in from behind. Its beak connected with his left arm, drawing blood, before shooting straight up to see the damage it had done to its opponent. InuYasha's arm hung uselessly by his side. “Damn it all. You're going down, bird.” He leapt up swiftly into the trees, making sure that the bird was following him. He easily jumped from branch to branch, turning sharply every one in a while. The bird's large wings made it harder to turn and keep InuYasha in its line of vision. The branches scratched at it, slowing it down. It hovered in its place, stupefied as its prey disappeared.

Kagome got into a defensive stance, her senses on high alert. That demon was somewhere around, just hiding. 'She's here somewhere.' Kagome used her newfound skill to locate Yukina and the jewel. She fit an arrow into her bow and let it fly at a far off tree. Yukina appeared with a wave of snow. “Well now, that wasn't very nice.” The arrow was buried into the bark of the tree, just centimeters of Yukina's left shoulder.

“This one's going through your heart.” Kagome let another arrow fly. Yukina made no move to stop or avoid it. It pierced her flesh, just as Kagome wanted, but the demon seemed unfazed.

“Did you think that a mere purification arrow will destroy me?” Yukina plucked out the arrow and snapped it in half. She hopped down from the branch. “I'm immortal, thanks to the Sacred Jewel.” She held the glowing pink jewel between 2 clawed fingers. “Now it's my turn to attack.” Yukina started running towards Kagome, the snow swirling around her hand once again to form the Ice Sword. “Die.” Kagome threw a barrier in front of herself. Electricity crackled around where Yukina's sword hit the barrier. “It's futile. I'm much more powerful.” Yukina brought her sword down once again, the spiritual energy bursting into pink sparks. Kagome did a backwards handspring to avoid the downwards arc of the weapon. 'I can't kill her with my spiritual powers. If only I can get close enough- The Cat Fist! I can use that!' Kagome thought as she dodged the attacks Yukina fired at her. She crouched in a cat like way. 'Here goes nothin.' She lunged, moving with new feline grace.

InuYasha crouched, hidden in the thick leaves of the tree. The bird hovered, its head swiveling around to find him. He lunged at the bird. It looked up just in time to see InuYasha a hand's breadth away from it. His claws plunged into the bird's back. InuYasha jumped off as the bird plummeted to the ground, landing with a thud. Steam rose up from its unmoving body, leaving nothing but a pile of darkened snow. “Now, to find the jewel.” InuYasha turned and sniffed the air, locating Kagome's scent. He ran after it. 'If I can find the girl, I find the jewel.' He ran through the village, earning whispers and fearful looks from the villagers. Some farmers gripped their farm implements, brandishing it, as if they could take him down with farm tools. He ignored them, focused on finding the girl and the jewel.

Kagome attacked, much like a cat would. She swiped at Yukina in rapid succession, barely giving the demon a chance to block her attacks. She jumped backwards, twisting lithely in the air and landing softly on her feet. She ran forwards, leaping over Yukina and landed behind her. She kicked, catching the demon in the back. She kicked a second time, aimed behind the demon's knees. Yukina lurched forwards, then twisted so that her back would meet the ground and pushed herself upwards with one hand, while the other was outstretched, aimed at Kagome's stomach. Kagome blocked the appendage, grabbing it tightly with one of her own, and swiped at Yukina with her free hand, claws glowing a ghostly green.

Blood dripped down from the 3 long gashes now adorning Yukina's stomach. Kagome released Yukina's hand and jumped back. “Damn you. A lowly half breed. You managed to wound me. Now prepare to die!” She lunged forwards, the Ice Sword in her hand. Kagome dodged the sharp blade, but was caught off guard by the shards of ice that shot out of it. The ice sent her flying towards the trees, pinning her to the bark.

She struggled fruitlessly as the ice started regrouping. It stopped once only her head was left exposed. Yukina was suddenly now in front of her, the sword resting on her right shoulder. She raised it and pressed the blade against Kagome's exposed neck hard enough to draw a thin line of blood. “You will pay for wounding me.” Kagome smirked, then sent a bolt of purifying energy to Yukina.

Electricity crackled around Yukina, singeing her flesh. “You worthless bitch!” Kagome turned her head as Yukina brought her sword down, and waited for the blow. She raised her head and found InuYasha standing in front of her, keeping Yukina from chopping her head off. InuYasha punched Yukina, sending her skidding a few feet away.

“So you can't keep your head on your shoulders unless I'm here.” InuYasha stated, making quick work of the ice trapping Kagome. She landed on all fours.

“My legs are frozen.” She said, getting up on her feet slowly.

“Did you get the jewel?”

“Thanks for worrying about me.” Kagome said sarcastically. “And no.”

“You're telling me you still didn't get the jewel?!”

“Can we finish this later? Yukina's getting away.” Kagome pointed at the retreating cloud of snow. InuYasha crouched down. “Umm, what're you doing?”

“Get on. We're going demon hunting.” Kagome got on his back, fastening her arms to his neck as he gripped the back of her knees. InuYasha shot off like a bullet, jumping off treetops. “Can you shoot her from here?” He called up.

“I think so.” Kagome fitted an arrow into her bow. She aimed carefully, at the heart of the cloud, a pink spot marking where the jewel was. “Hit the mark!” She let it fly, a pink blazing trail in its wake. “It hit!” Kagome said, once again holding onto InuYasha.

A bright pink light covered a patch of the blue sky. Pink light streaked across the sky in different directions like comets. Kagome felt the jewel fly in different directions. “I don't like that feeling.” She mumbled to herself.

“C'mon, where's the jewel?” InuYasha said.

“Obviously not with me.” Kagome replied. InuYasha growled. Kagome laughed. “That way.” She pointed towards the river. InuYasha dropped her. “Hey! That hurts ya know!”

“Keh. Where's the jewel?”

“Umm...” Kagome scanned the water for the pink glow. She found it lodged between two rocks. She stepped tentatively into the water.

“Well, what the hell are you waitin for, wench?!” InuYasha said impatiently.

“You be quiet! And quit calling me wench! My name's Kagome! Ka-go-me!” She shouted back.

“Whatever, Ka-go-me.” InuYasha tucked his hands in the sleeves of his haori 'C'mon Kagome, this isn't the time to be scared of water.' She took another step, feeling the cold water soak her hakamas. 'C'mon, it's just water. It's not gonna bite you.' She took a deep breath and dove in the water. She swam to the bottom, grasping the pink jewel. She swam up, gasping for air as her head broke the water's surface. She paddled to the shore, her soaked ebony locks now sticking to her face, leaving her cat ears in plain view. Her clothes were weighed down by the water. She held the pink jewel in her palm. “That's the jewel? I swear it was bigger before.” InuYasha peered over her shoulder. Kagome laughed nervously.

“That's because it's only a piece of it.”

“WHAT?! You broke the jewel!”

“Yeah, that might be what the pink light was.”

“I'm gonna kill you!” InuYasha lunged for her.

“Sit!” Kagome shouted, sending InuYasha crashing to the ground. “I'm sure we'll find more.”

“We?! What makes you think I'm gonna team up with you?!” InuYasha glared at her. If looks could kill, she would've been cut to ribbons and thrown into an open fire by now.

“You can't sense the jewel shards, now can you? And besides, I broke it, so it's only right that I put it back together.”

“Keh!” Kagome fell to her knees suddenly.

“Why do I feel so weak?” InuYasha looked at her. He found a tiny shard of ice embedded in her shoulder. He pulled it out.

“Yukina probably got this into your back while you were fighting.” He flicked it away. “She must've made it so it drains your energy slowly so you wouldn't notice.

“I feel dizzy.” Kagome stood up, hand on her forehead. She swayed, lurching forwards. InuYasha caught her before she hit the ground.

“That old hag might have a cure. You can't find jewel shards when you're weak.” He picked her up and started sniffing for Kaede. Kagome tried to stay awake, but fell unconscious.

“Hey old hag. The girl got her energy drained by the demon.” InuYasha walked up to Kaede tending to her herb garden. Kaede looked the over, and straightened up.

“Aye, bring her into my hut.” She picked up the basket of herbs and led InuYasha into her hut. She pointed to the futon in the corner and started sorting through her herbs. InuYasha set the unconscious Kagome down and went outside.