Demons Eyes

Chapter 50

The next morning they traveled southwards along the shore. Noro led A-Un by the reins, the docile dragon content to walk along the beach. Grains of sand sticking to the dragons talons as they walked amber the sand. Rin would keep pace with them by running ahead to throw sticks into the waves and pick up shells, before running back to stow them away in A-Un's saddlebags.

"Lord Sesshomaru, where did you go too," Rin sang.
Please return before Jaken turns blue!
Don't be gone for a long while,
I want to see Lady Noro smile!"

Noro sighed. She would smile for Rin, if she thought it would convince the child, but that wouldn't work. Rin was smart enough to see through it.

Who knows where Sesshomaru disappeared off to. He was always leaving the group by themselves. It wasn't anything new. It's not like he'd be with that creepy ghost woman. Noro didn't car- "Ow!"

She slapped her neck.

"What is it Lady Noro? Are you alright," Rin called.

"It's ok Rin, it's was just a mosquito. They've been pretty bad the couple days. I must have sweet blood or something!"

Noro examined her hand for the offending insect. It wasn't there. Noro cursed under her breath, and began scratching the bitten area, which had already begun to itch.

'Just as well,' she thought bitterly. The bastard yokai may have given her weapons to fight with, but he barely tolerated Rin and her more than other humans. In fact, he'd made his feelings towards humanity clear on multiple occasions. To think otherwise would not only be fruitless; she'd be actively walking towards her own destruction. She had before. Noro closed her eyes a moment before brushing off the memories.

"Hey look ahead," Jaken announced, "a village!"

There was a seaside village up ahead. As they approached however, they began to see that something was clearly wrong.

Everyone in the fishing town had been turned into statues of salt, down to the last child, horror etched across their faces. And worse still, among the crowd, there were two faces that Noro recognized.

"The priest and the demon slayer have been turned to stone," Jaken yelped, backing away. "Who could've done son thing like this?"

"Jaken," Noro ordered, "go check the rest of the village for Kagome and the others. I have a bad feeling about all this."

As the imp rushed off, Rin approached Noro, who, scowling, had sat down in front of their frozen friends. "Lady Noro, what do you think happened?"

The woman's burgundy eyes were thoughtful. "Well, they were brought here for one. And Rin, look at how they're standing. It's almost as though they're looking back at something. And Miroku, it's almost as though he's reaching for the sutras in his robes. I think that whatever they were looking at is what turned them to stone. But who..."

Noro trailed off just as Jaken returned. "I did not find Inuyasha or Kagome in the village, or the fox welp," he announced. Noro nodded.

"Well, that's some good news at least," she said. "Inuyasha and Kagome probably went after whoever did this. I'd suggest going after them, but we'd have no idea where to start. We'll stay here in case they return."

"But, but, why should we stay," Jaken exclaimed. "We should be looking for Lord Sesshomaru! I'm leaving!"

"You'll stay here if you know what's good for you Jaken," Noro growled, freezing the imp to the spot. "Whatever did this could still be out there, and if they could so easily defeat a priest and a demon slayer, you'd be far less of a hassle to kill. And another thing..." she glanced up at the sky. "If Inuyasha is around here, Sesshomaru won't be far behind."