"Stand back!" Inuyasha yelled, brandishing Tetsusaiga savagely.
Dare grabbed Kagome and leaped the distance to hide behind a large rock.
"Let go!" Kagome ordered.
Dare obliged, letting Kagome drop from her arms.
"Inuyasha! What's happening?" Kagome exclaimed.
The trees surrounding them on all sides rustled with the feeling of restlessness. Something was coming.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled again to the lonesome red figure that stood in the middle of the desolate crater.
"Shut up!" Dare spat, eyeing the forest for movement. She could feel Kagome's glare on the back of her neck. She knew Kagome didn't trust her. Why would she? Dare was only after the Shikon jewel, just as every other demon was. The only difference was that Dare didn't spend her time becoming so enveloped in humans, like Inuyasha, yet she did not thirst for blood as most demons did.
There. Dare saw movement not made by the wind far off.
"Shards of the jewel," Kagome said softly, "and they're coming fast!"
Dare narrowed her eyes suspiciously. This wasn't any old demon.
Then, out of the forest, burst a huge creature, a demon unlike any Dare had witnessed, but just as ugly. Huge, grotesque horns emblazed its great beastly head; wide, red eyes strayed from side-to-side with emptiness. It was being controlled.
Dare gasped and she felt Kagome's watchful stare grow stronger.
"Sesshomaru," Dare whispered as she bounded out to Inuyasha.
"Heh. Sesshomaru," Inuyasha muttered with a cocky expression. His hands tightened threateningly on the hilt of the Tetsusaiga. "Looks like you got your wish, Dare," he added sharply.
Dare stayed quiet and waited with intensity as the demon drew closer. It was a formidable thing and smelled of rotting flesh. Dare growled under breath.
"What? You gonna fight with us?" Inuyasha asked sarcastically.
Dare still ignored him.
Sesshomaru sat upon the giant demon's shoulder like a king would upon a thrown.
"Jaken," Sesshomaru's voice was soft, but carried far enough for Dare's sharp ears to pick up easily, "take care of the others. I will deal with Inuyasha."
Inuyasha scoffed and braced himself.
"Yes, milord," Jaken's reptilian voice resounded from next to him. "And what about the wolf demon, milord?"
"I'll take care of her too," Sesshomaru said with his all too patient voice.
Dare grimaced.
"Heh. THAT'S RIGHT, SESSHOMARU! BUT I WANT TO FINISH YOU OFF ON MY OWN!"
Sesshomaru jumped down and landed not twenty yards from Inuyasha with no sound but the wind accompanying him. His eyes lingered on Dare for a short moment before averting back to Inuyasha.
"Dare, get back with Kagome," Inuyasha instructed.
"That's right," came Sesshomaru's calm voice, "go aid the human."
"I won't," hissed Dare, clenching her fists.
"Leave this to me!" Inuyasha demanded.
"I'm the full demon, here!" Dare snapped. "I'm not going anywhere." She glared at Sesshomaru who was now eyeing her with contempt.
Sesshomaru leapt at Dare, and Inuyasha swung out with Tetsusaiga, but Sesshomaru had already taken her one hundred yards away, hand around her pale neck.
"You were foolish," Sesshomaru hissed.
"I'm no fool," Dare choked out. "I had no choice."
"Between death and helping a human, I would surely choose death." He clenched tighter on Dare's throat.
Dare gasped for air, but smiled. "You… won't… kill me," she gasped.
"You don't deserve to be a full demon." He released her and she fell to her knees, gasping for air.
"The feeling is mutual," she assured him softly, standing up.
"Come with me and you won't be harmed."
"I'm afraid I have obligations," Dare said. "It is Naraku. He killed my brother."
"Naraku…," Sesshomaru repeated.
"Have you heard of him?"
He seemed to think for a moment before answering, "No."
"I'm not coming with you," Dare said finally. "Compassion for humans is not as great of a weakness as you might think. Until you learn that… think not of me."
Sesshomaru's face fell for just a moment before regaining his normal composure. "Fine." His voice held anger like not before. "You won't be harmed."
"Don't pity me!" Dare exclaimed angrily.
He ignored her and turned to the ever-expectant and impatient Inuyasha.
Dare growled angrily. She felt her bones condense and crack. She unleashed herself and pounced at Sesshomaru as the great, white wolf she truly was. Sesshomaru was too quick and jumped just out of reach. Dare leapt again, reaching out a massive paw. A claw managed to rip a piece of cloth, but that was the greatest damage.
"You get angry too quickly, Dare," Sesshomaru said.
"With two of us, this'll be easy!" Inuyasha yelled, running after Sesshomaru, matching his movements perfectly.
Ten minutes later, the fight was over. Sesshomaru had lost the human arm that inhabited where his left arm should be, Miroku was poisoned by strategically placed wasps, and Kagome proved a little more than helpful.
Regardless, Sesshomaru got away and it was discovered that he had joined forces with Naraku, the sworn enemy, the only thing that kept Dare with the petty humans and half-demon.
They rejoined and Dare automatically took up the rear of the party, preferring to keep to herself. To her great surprise and utter horror, Kagome stuck at her side this time.
"Is there something… Do you know Sesshomaru?" Kagome asked.
Dare frowned. She was way too courageous for her own safety.
"I mean," Kagome said in a low voice, "it looked like he was purposely not hurting you or something. I just wondered-"
"It's none of your business, okay!?" Dare shouted. "Maybe if you learned to keep to yourself once in a while, you wouldn't find your pretty little nose in so much trouble!"
Kagome looked hurt and Dare felt satisfied, though a little irked that Kagome had mentioned Sesshomaru. What did she know?
Kagome left Dare to join Inuyasha's side instead.
The next day, the group traveled farther down the dirt path and passed through several unwelcoming villages. Dare could only assume it was because of her. She was darned in white fur and had ears, just as Inuyasha was, but even the villagers were kind to him; they mistrusted her because she resembled the wolf-clan that had long devoured their people.
They soon passed through a desolate and broken village. The townspeople were everywhere – dead, bleeding, none of them lived to speak, but Dare could smell it in the air: wolves had been there.
"Look at that," Inuyasha said, face to the ground.
"Paw prints!" Shippo exclaimed.
"And they're everywhere!" Sango said with horror.
"Are you saying wolves did this?" Kagome asked in disbelief.
Dare could feel Miroku's eyes on the back of her neck. "Well if you think I did it, then you're wrong!" Dare snapped. "You know I haven't left your sight!"
This seemed to ease Miroku's suspicions and Dare had to admit, of all the companions she had been forced to travel with, Miroku was one of her favorites; he never seemed to be held down by lowly human emotions (except of course when it came to women).
"Then who did?" Sango asked softly. "Surely this is the work of someone! No wolf pack could possibly kill this much without a leader."
"And my guess is that that leader has a shard of the sacred Shikon jewel!" Inuyasha said, sniffing the air. "Hey, Kagome! Do you sense anything?"
But Kagome was silent and her eyes filled with fear as she stared past the group. They were surrounded. Wolves circled them, growling, hackles up, snapping their jaws menacingly.
"Dare, can you do anything?" Miroku asked, never taking his eyes off the wolves in front of them.
"I can't control them, if that's what you mean. They belong to a different pack, not my own. They won't listen to me… but I can hear what they're thinking, and it's not pretty." Dare growled back angrily.
"Then let's take care of these guys!" Inuyasha yelled. He attacked with his Tetsusaiga, taking out five or six wolves at one time. They were losing numbers fast and finally there were four left. "Take this!" Inuyasha yelled, but he stopped in mid-swing.
"What have you done to my comrades?" came a voice from the small ledge twenty yards away. Kouga, the wolf-clan leader. He was dressed in chestnut wolf fur and his tail swished angrily.
Kagome gasped and whispered, "He has three jewels! His right arm and two in his legs!"
But Inuyasha didn't hear because at the same time he yelled, "Were you the leader who had your stinking wolves slaughter these people!?"
"My friends have to eat, don't they?" He smirked. "I see you've brought a friend. Dare! How are you?"
"Kouga," Dare spat.
"Oh now, Dare… Is that anyway to speak to your bretheren?"
"You're no kinship of mine!" Dare snapped, clenching her fists angrily.
"Ah, I see. Lone wolf, then. Or maybe not… it seems you've joined quite the unusual pack. A twerp, a cat, two humans, and a mutt. How fitting."
"Hey! Who you callin' a mutt!?" Inuyasha growled. He leapt after Kouga, but Kouga was four times as fast as Inuyasha and dodged the Tetsusaiga's blow easily.
"He's so fast!" Sango said to herself.
"It's the Shikon jewel shards," Dare said.
"You could-a said so earlier!" Inuyasha snapped as he swung another slow blow at Kouga.
"Two in his legs, one in his right arm!" Kagome shouted again.
Kouga seemed to eye her with amazement as he easily evaded another attack from Inuyasha. "You can see…?" he said in a low voice. "How interesting."
Dare saw Inuyasha concentrate hard on something unseen. Was he really going to try and use the Wind Scar?
"There it is…" Dare heard Inuyasha say with a proud smirk on his face.
Inuyasha held up his sword, but in a flurry of speed, Kouga rushed away, worry on his face. "Something's not right. Let's go!" he ordered the remaining wolves. And just like that, the wolves and Kouga vanished, leaving only a fast gust of wind behind them.