Night set upon the inu-tachi, as they turned in. Kagome yawned widely as she spread her sleeping bag beside Sango.

Sango spread her blanket out and lay back upon it. "Why are we travelling to the north anyway?" She asked. "We haven't heard any rumors of a shard."

Kagome shrugged. "Inuyasha just wants to go. I guess he heard of a rumor and decided to not mention it." She murmured, sliding herself into a little ball to keep warm. "This weather is atrocious."

Sango laughed and nodded in agreement. "Can't really do anything about it but thank Kami we still live I guess."

Kagome laughed and nodded. As she stared into the fire, a sudden change over took her features. She became thoughtful. A whispered question escaped her lips. "What do you think we would be doing if the Shikon did not exist?" she asked, turning her gaze to the star scattered sky above her.

Sango paused from braiding her long hair and took a deep breath. "I don't know. I suppose I would be slaying demons." She said, shrugging. "Miroku would be feeling up the next un suspecting female, Inuyasha would be arrogant and slaying random demons that angered him, Shippou would probably be learning how to hunt from his father. " Sango paused again, a smile crossing her features. "You would probably be courting that Hojo fellow." She suggestively elbowed Kagome's side, a small smile on her face

Kagome shrieked in indignation. "Don't remind me!" A few seconds of companionable silence befell them. Kagome moved to say something, but hesitated, no going unnoticed by Sango.

"What is it Kagome?"

"Well. I think this is a horrible thing to say, but Im kind of glad the Shikon Jewel exists." She said quietly, closing her eyes. She felt Sango shift beside her. "I mean, without it, would we have met?"

A heavy silence met hers and she yawned again. "Good night." She mumbled.

"Good night."

"Kagome-sama! Please wake up!" shouted a small voice in her ear. Kagome groaned and buried her head beneath her arm.

"Go away." She grumbled, snuggling beneath the warm confines of the red sleeping bag.

"Kagome-sama!" the voice persisted.

"No!" she snapped sleepily, yawning.

"I guess I have no choice." The voice grumbled.

Kagome jumped as she felt something small stab her beneath her ear. She yipped and slapped her upon it.

Now wide awake, she sat up and glanced down at her hand. A flattened Myouga greeted her bleary eyes. "I'm so sorry!" she cried out, setting him down gently on her shoulder. "I didnt know it was you!"

"It's alright." The small flea demon squeaked. He took a deep breath and slowly released it.

Kagome rubbed her eyes sleepily. Beside her, Sango was still sleeping. Across the clearing, Miroku was sleeping, with Shippou perched on his head. Inuyasha was lightly snoring on a tree branch above them. "What is it?"

"The priestess Kikyo! She wishes to speak with you!" panted the small, old flea.

Kagome stiffened. "Kikyo? What does she want?"

"To speak with you of Naraku and the Jewel shards!"

Kagome scowled. "Speak to me? Why? She has all the great powers of jewel seeking."

Myouga looked a tad bit irritated. "Please, Kagome-sama. It's of utter urgency."

Kagome sighed. She ran a small hand through her black hair. She grabbed some clothes from her bag and walked behind the trees. Myouga shook his head slightly and sighed. Kagome emerged a few minutes later, dressed in jeans, flats, and a white tee-shirt. She dumped her pyjamas on her sleeping bag and scooped Myouga into her hands. "Where is she?" Kagome asked, resigned.

Myouga sighed once more, and began leading her in the correct direction. A few minutes, and Kagome was sick of walking. A small glance at her wrist watch showed her that it was at least two hours before dawn.

"Kagome-san." A voice greeted.

Kagome's head snapped up. Kikyo was sitting beneath a tree in a meditative pose, her eyes half lidded. "Kikyo-sama." She said in a slightly wary tone.

Kikyo opened her dark eyes and looked up at Kagome. "Kagome. Sit down." She motioned to the grass beside her.

Kagome hesitated, but complied, sitting beneath the tree alongside the older, undead priestess. "What is it you wish of me?" she asked, looking to the ground.

Kikyo inhaled deeply and turned to the young girl. "Naraku is near." She said softly. "You must prepare."

Kagome glanced sharply upwards. "Why are you telling me this?" she asked quickly, before slapping her hands over her mouth.

Kikyo let the corner of her lip turn upwards slightly. "I despise Naraku for who he is, not what he is." She said, letting a pale hand flutter above the grass, then buried her fingers in the soft soil. "Because of him, I am made of this." She held her hand high and let the soil tumble from her fingers. The smudges of dirt left on the palm of her hand contrasted greatly with the pigmentation of her skin.

Kagome's gaze fell to the ground once more, a small blush coloring her cheeks. "What about Inuyasha?" she asked quietly, twisting her fingers together beneath the folds of her pants.

Kikyo glanced at her, then back at the stars. "I do not know. He promised to accompany me to hell. It would be...regal. It is with us, that this mess started, Naraku, Inuyasha and I. Locked in the same eternal battle as Midoriko and the demons in the shikon no tama."

Kagome bit her lip and nodded.

They sat in silence for the remainder of the night, until the sun rose from the east and speared across the blue skies. "Kikyo-sama, what would you say to joining our group?" she asked suddenly.

Kikyo turned her blank gaze to Kagome. "Join your party?"

Kagome nodded.

The soul collectors slithered and twisted through the air around them, their pearl white bodies shining in the rising sunlight. "What would be the purpose of my accompaniment?"

Kagome thought for a moment. What would she do? "I can detect shards, but I'm far from perfect. You have great spiritual power. You have perfect marksmanship, unlike me. We would be a good team I guess." She said, shrugging.

Kikyo glanced at Kagome from the corner of her eyes once more. Her hand reached into a clump of flowers at the base of a tree and pulled. "What are these used for?" she asked the teen.

Kagome looked at the white flowers. They looked familiar, but she didn't know. She blushed and looked away.

Kikyo placed the small white flower in her lap and folded her hand gently into the large red folds of her hakama. "It is a flower used for antidotes to ailments such as poison." She said as the winds slowly picked up.

Kagome sighed. "I don't have that much time to learn from Kaede. We're constantly on the hunt for jewel shards." She sighed, twiddling her thumbs slowly.

Kikyo stood, the soul collectors winding around her unearthly body. "I will come." She said slowly. "I do not wish to hinder Inuyasha, but understand this, if he wants to come to hell, I will be waiting. If he chooses not to, I will not and certainly shall not leave this earth." She said, the white creatures of her bidding twining intimately around her body.

Kagome opened her mouth to respond, but snapped it shut. In the early morning sun, Inuyasha shouting her name could be heard from nearby. "We best be going." Kagome murmured, standing up. She and Kikyo walked side by side in the direction Kagome had come from, calmness radiating off of one, and confusion from the other.