(I do not own Inuyasha)

~The beginning of a twisted journey~

"Yasha, can we stop here?" Haru grumbled. I glanced over my shoulder and rolled my eyes. "We must not stop; we have to find the one who bears the Tetsusaiga." I explained for the thirtieth time. I heard Haruno (she prefers Haru) and Thoru mock me silently behind my back. It had been four days since we departed our village in search of Tetsusaiga and the one who has possession of it. And to top it off I had selfishly turned down every generous offering of food and shelter at the villages we passed by without my teams' approval. I'm surprised how they are even still traveling with me. I sighed and stopped abruptly. Haru and Thoru both bumped into me and fell back. "What the heck did you do that for?" Thoru hissed glaring up at me from behind her amber bangs. Haru stood up and dusted herself off without a word. I helped Thoru up swiftly and looked at both of them, "There's a village ahead, and we can stop there." I announced. They both smiled up at me and nodded wildly. Thoru and Haru were my most trusted and best companions I had; I treasured them and made sure nothing happened to them.

The villagers were quite friendly offering smiles, ramen (all which Haru gladly took.), and hospitality. "Aww come on Yasha, lighten up! These people are being super nice to us and you just sit there looking like you could bite their hands off." Thoru said setting her bag of poison powder aside. I drummed my fingers on the old, splintery floor and glanced over at Haru swallowing down her third cup of ramen. "You just love that thing don't you?" I asked skeptically. She looked down quietly at her chopsticks and looked up at me with gleeful hazel eyes and smiled with cheeks full of noodles. I giggled. It had been a while since I expressed amusement that way. "Y'know just because we're on a mission doesn't mean we can't have our fun." Thoru said resting her head on her hand. I smiled. "Okay, but we leave first thing tomorrow." I yawned and rolled over closing my eyes slipping into a comfortable slumber.

"Yasha, Thoru, Haru! Get up quickly! The village is being attacked!" We all heard the landlord exclaim opening the shelter's curtain. "Excuse me?" "Hurry!" I exchanged glances with Thoru and Haru they nodded and bolted up. I grabbed my Bow and arrows, Thoru snatched her poison powder and other tricks bag, and Haru took her sword out with her. The village was chaos; roofs burning, people screaming and running away from destruction. "Yasha, do you see the source?" I heard Haru shout over the noise of something that sounded like a demon shrieking. "Not yet! Let's go!" I commanded preparing my bow. We sprinted across the rooftops dodging the fire as we got closer I saw it was a huge wolf-like demon. It roared once again piercing my eardrums. "Attack it!" I shouted releasing the arrow, as it navigated towards the demon's eye. The demon turned to look at us with one evil eye. It lashed out towards Thoru knocking her off her feet. "Thoru!" Both Haru and I shrieked. We ran to her to protect her from receiving any damage. Haru leaped up in the air and sliced the demons' mid-section; blood poured out as Haru grinned victoriously until the wound closed. "What the he-" She was interrupted by the sound of the demon throwing fire at her, she dodged it just in time and looked at me with a confused look. "Poison powder!" Thoru surprised me by standing next to me already fighting back. I threw an arrow to its heart, and then noticed the previous arrow I had shot was gone from the demon's eye without any sign of harm. Haru kept slicing and stabbing at the abdomen but the dangerous creature just blew her away with a wave of fire and a poisonous gas that emanated from his mouth. Haru stumbled backwards and fell off the roof. The villagers crowded around her to help her. "I'll make him pay!" Thoru shouted throwing poison powder madly at the demon.

I tried to feel the demons' weak spot and felt a feeble vibe close to its back. I aimed and shot, only to have it blocked by something else. I knew it wasn't the demon because it was too busy focusing on Thoru. Just then I saw a strange light coming from below and hit the demon. I slid down the slope of the roof to get a better look. Could the villagers be attacking as well? I thought. But it wasn't villagers attacking; it was a human girl, a Monk, a Demon slayer, and someone that looked like a person with dog ears poking out of his long white hair. I gasped when I saw the boy's weapon. It was what I had been looking for this whole time, the ultimate mission that I have been working on tirelessly. Tetsusaiga. "Yasha attack it! I'm doing all the work here!" Thoru demanded apparently having no knowledge about whom and what was down there. I turned around and backed up to get better view of the weak spot. "Thoru, distract it! Have it face all its attention on you!" "Okay!" She kept throwing her poison powder and other tricks at the demon. I prepared the arrow, aimed and released. The arrow struck it where planed, making the demon weaker. The people from below struck it with their weapons and it harmed the demon without it closing the wounds. "It worked!" I exclaimed in glee as I shot it again. Little by little both the group below and Thoru and I defeated the demon crushing it into little bits. Next to me Thoru collapsed and almost fell off the edge. "Thoru!" I helped her up and saw that she wasn't wearing her mask. "Stupid, why didn't you use your mask if you knew you'd be working with poison?" I asked carrying her off the roof. She coughed. "It was getting hot." I sighed and ran over to where they had Haru. We busted into the shelter where the villagers were caring for Haru. "Is she okay?" "Yes, she only had a hard impact when she hit the ground. But she will be fine." An elderly priestess with a covered eye updated. "What are your names? I don't believe that I have seen you around here before." The Priestess continued. "Uh, my name is Yasha." "And I am Thoru." We both introduced our selves and told her why we were here. "What happened? Did we beat the crap out of the Demon?" Haru mumbled waking up finally. "Yes we did Haru." Thoru smiled. "Kaede! Where are you?" A female voice asked. We turned around and saw a girl with long black hair and a school uniform carrying a bow. "Ah, here you are Kaede-" She stopped talking and examined us. "Never mind, I see you have company. I'll just wait outside." She said sheepishly disappearing behind the curtains. "Who was that?" Haru asked sitting up. "Well that is Kagome; would you like to meet her?" The priestess so called Kaede offered gently. "Sure." I replied standing up. Haru and Thoru stared at me. "What? I'm just curious." I shrugged smirking. Haru scrambled herself up and straightened out her red and black kimono. Just before we marched out the curtains Lady Kaede called out, "Oh, one thing. Don't let Inuyasha get to you. He's just a fool." She smiled warmly as I wondered who Inuyasha was going to be. The girl, Kagome, was talking to another girl in a silky pink and green kimono and a head full of long black hair. A fox like cat was circling their feet and hissed at us when it saw us. Kagome and the girl turned around to look at us. "Hello, are you new to these places?" The girl in the kimono asked kindly. "Yeah, when we saw you we wanted to meet you. Lady Kaede said you were really nice people." "We do?" I heard Tohru whisper to Haru. I jabbed her with my elbow. "Shut up." I hissed. "Well…that's rather interesting. My name is Sango and this is Kagome." Kagome waved graciously. "I'm Yasha-" "And I'm Haru, and this is Thoru." Haru chimed. I nodded confirming that we were indeed these people. "Nice to meet you. Where do you come from?" Sango continued. "We come from-" but before Haru explained where we were coming from, the monk came by and rudely interrupted. "Sango, Lady Kagome? Who are you speaking to?" The monk came by and stood next to Sango. A child fox demon sat on his shoulder and the boy with dog ears and the Tetsusaiga walked over with a kind of annoyed expression.

"Oh, Lord Monk, these are travelers that are just passing by." I sighed too lazy to introduce our selves again. "I am Yasha, this is Haruno, And Thoru." "Don't call me Haruno though. Call me Haru." Haru corrected me. "Well I promise you Haru, I will never call you by the name Haruno ever. If there is anything else you need just tell me; a companion, a shoulder to cry on?" The monk said kneeling down holding Haru's hand while she blushed pink. "Stop messing around, I bet she's younger than you." Sango said hitting him with her weapon, a giant boomerang. The monk stayed quiet and walked over next to her. "You'll have to excuse Miroku, he has a…liking for women. But he really is a sweet guy once you get to know him." Kagome smiled sweetly. The dog eared boy was there just standing there glaring at us. "Oh how rude, I am sorry. This is Miroku, little fox demon here is Shippo, and the silent one there is Inuyasha." Kagome introduced them all towards us. "Don't forget about Kirara!" Shippo chimed pointing at the little fox-cat. "Why are you so quiet Inuyasha? By now you'd be blabbing your mouth off saying how we are supposed to be out there killing demons to get to Naraku." Miroku questioned. "Oh shut up, there's no way that I am going to talk to some girls who only get in the way." Inuyasha snapped. Everyone looked at him with a shocked expression; I just smirked knowing what he was talking about. "Excuse me? You have no right to talk about us that way! So you better take that back or else!" Haru threatened. "Hah! What is a meek little human going to do to me, a mighty demon?" Inuyasha scoffed. I, well aware of the Tetsusaiga's master's background, spoke up. "You are not a full demon. If that's what you were insinuating." I replied calmly. "Yeah, you heard Yasha!" Thoru added for effect. Inuyasha glared at me with his tawny, yellow eyes. His fists clenched in fury. "How does she know that?" Shippo asked curiously. I folded my arms hiding my hands in my black and blue kimono. "So is it a fight you want? It's a fight you'll get!" Inuyasha roared. Thoru and Haru stood in fight position but I held them back with my arms and Kagome and Sango held Inuyasha back. "Stop! Inuyasha calm down! It's not like she was lying about you being a half demon." Kagome tried to reason with him but he kept squirming in the girls' grip. He broke free and lunged himself at us. Thoru, Haru and I stayed perfectly still ready to attack when out of nowhere Kagome shouted, "INUYASHA SIT!" What happened next was even weirder; Inuyasha fell to the floor in an awkward position. It was almost as if what ever Kagome told him, he obeyed. "You'll have to excuse Inuyasha; he has a smart mouth and has an itch for fighting." Miroku sighed crossing his arms. "You fool Inuyasha! How could you be so cruel to these lovely newcomers?" Shippo scolded. "Are you calm Inuyasha?" Sango asked crossing her arms. "Y-yes! Just leave me alone already!" Inuyasha snapped. Sango looked at Kagome and she helped him up. Inuyasha glared at us. "Next time just leave the fighting to us. Don't get in the way like the idiots you are." He spit out viciously. He turned, walked away and hit Shippo and Miroku on the head. "Have fun." I heard Inuyasha mutter before running off at super speed. All four of them sighed in unison. "Why is that guy such a jerk!" Haru fumed. "Yeah, I've fought demons with better manners than that guy!" Thoru added. "You see that is the problem Haru and Thoru he is a demon. Well half at least." Kagome stated. "Let's talk about this inside." Miroku suggested. We all agreed and walked inside the tent."

~The fight to the finish…or forgiveness~

The night was nonchalant, chilly. It was in between the wintry winter days and the warm, sweet spring days. This morning I had woken up to fight a demon, encounter new friends, find the Tetsusaiga, and meet an awfully rude half-demon, dog-eared guy named Inuyasha. The wind outside sang a lullaby to all, but I couldn't quite fall asleep. Next to me, Thoru and Haru slept soundly after a long day of playing with Shippo and Kirara. Kagome, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo were all so gracious with us that Haru and Thoru begged me to stay another day. I hesitantly agreed but having one thing on my mind, getting that Tetsusaiga from Inuyasha. I will return home with it and I will be honored; bringing pride to my family. As I lay there I thought about how I was going to cunningly snatch the Tetsusaiga from Inuyasha and run away undetected, when I heard a rustle outside the door. I sat up straight and strained to hear. It sounded much like someone dashing away. I had nothing better to do so I just got up, careful that I would wake neither Haru nor Thoru.

I gripped my bow in my hand and looked out for whatever made that noise. The pale light of the moon helped me, acting as a midnight sun, lighting my way in this dark that I just couldn't bear out. That's when I saw a flash of red and white to my left, Inuyasha was jumping from tree to tree; the Tetsusaiga on his waist. I ran instinctively, trying to catch up to him. I've got to give him some credit though, for a half demon he was pretty fast and strong. I followed him for approximately a mile, he stopped at this giant tree with the leaves dangling and swaying in the breeze, as if the cold, harsh winter day's leaving was something to celebrate. I snaked my way next to him, my bare feet making the strategy even easier. Inuyasha looked at me like if I was some kind of ghost. "What are you doing here you stalker! I thought you and your friends had already left for home." He said dryly. I shrugged my shoulders and looked up at the tree. "Thoru and Haru wanted to stay longer and that is what we are doing." I said simply.

We stayed in awkward silence for a pretty long time until I spoke up. "Well?" I hinted. "Well what?" He asked. "Aren't you going to apologize to me?" "FOR WHAT?" He fussed. "You know why." I glanced up at him to see that he was falling for my insidious plot. "What- oh you mean because of what I said earlier?" I shrugged smirking evilly. "There is no way that I am apologizing for that. I meant what I said." He explained calmly. "Oh, I see. It's okay, you don't have to apologize to some stupid girls who just keep getting in your way huh?" My tone sad and hurt; I bowed my head and pretended to sob silently. "Agh! You cry baby! If I tell you I'm sorry will you stop crying?" He groaned. I looked up in between my fingers and saw him staring at me with a perplexed look on his face. I smiled to my self and kept pretending to cry. Inuyasha sighed and carried me on his back. "Let's go. I'll take you to the village. You can cry to your friends there." He said with a hint of annoyance wavering in his sentence. He ran no more than a foot before I snatched the Tetsusaiga from his belt and jumped off. "See you later sucker!" I walked away snickering to myself. There was this sudden feeling of power flowing within me. Like a new malevolent vibe dwelled within me. I took out the Tetsusaiga from its protector and it automatically transformed. "Now how does this beauty work?" I hissed to myself. "HYAAAH!" I heard Inuyasha growl. His voice seemed to be coming from above so I peeked up and saw him jump on me. I dodged him and landed harshly on the ground with a 'thud'. I grasped the Tetsusaiga in my shaking hands and stood up. I looked up at Inuyasha and saw that he looked different. Much more intimidating than before. His eyes were a deep vibrant shade of red, his pupils were small and black, his claws were elongated and sharp, there was one purple line on both sides of his cheeks that almost looked like a scar, and his breathing was ragged. "Give me back Tetsusaiga!" He snarled. I couldn't help but to smile devilishly, the demonic feeling coming back to me. He sounded like a fussy angry little boy asking for his toy back. "And if I don't what will you do? Hmm?" I taunted. Inuyasha charged towards me full of anger; I whirled Tetsusaiga at him and it reacted like a regular sword. It didn't have the immense power that people told me before coming on this quest. I heard Inuyasha laugh, snapping his head back up to look at me. I sliced his cheek, barely. I swore under my breath and dodged his next move. "Iron reaper soul stealer!" He yelled sinking his razor-sharp claws into my shoulder and waving me around before throwing me towards the tree's resistant trunk. I shrieked in pain but got up swiftly when he strikes me about a foot into the forest. My death grip on the Tetsusaiga helped a bit when he hit me that way he wouldn't get it back.

I was sprawled on the cold, dusty ground; I racked my brain to try to remember how this thing worked. Oh, how icy this midnight wind is. I thought as the wind blew. Then that's when I remembered. Inuyasha approached me with a bloodthirsty look on his face. "You're dead." He hissed. I cringed and swung the Tetsusaiga at him. "Wind scar!" I hollered. Tetsusaiga then released a gust of wind knocking Inuyasha over I stood up and limped over to him. "I'm gonna make you swallow your words Inuyasha!" I screamed in anger and frustration. I didn't feel like myself anymore. I felt like someone completely new, and it scared me. I was too distracted in my own thoughts that I didn't see what was coming next. Inuyasha tripped me, ripped the Tetsusaiga out of my hands and swung it at me. I tumbled backwards and coughed up blood. "You know what? I'll make this fair to you, I'll just kill you with my bare hands, and then I won't have to apologize to your friends." He snarled in my ear. He grabbed me by the shoulders, sinking in his claws into my skin during the process. I yelped and kicked, but this form of Inuyasha was incredibly strong and cruel. He laughed wickedly as he stood me up, I watched in terror as he sliced me through my midsection. I slumped to the floor, my vision hazy and my breathing slow. The world was closing in on me and the evil aura gone completely from my soul. With my limited amount of vision I could see Inuyasha walk in the opposite direction. "W-wait don't leave me. Please help me Inuyasha. I'm sorry." I cried (this time for real). I heard Inuyasha stop in his tracks. "How do I know this isn't one of your stupid tricks?" He said grimly. "I am asking for forgiveness…I want to live." I gasped for air. "Please Inuyasha, Please." I wailed once more before my world went black.

"Shh…look she's waking up!" I woke up to the murmured voices of Thoru and Haru. My eyes fluttered open revealing a tear stained cheeks Haru, and a close to tears Thoru. "Yasha! You're alive!" Haru exclaimed in glee. Her eyes brimming with more tears. "Thoru? Haru?" I immediately hugged them both crying. "I'm sorry! I am so sorry!" I wailed. "These past few days have been horrible without you Yasha! But we promise that we'll keep searching for the Tetsusaiga right away." Thoru reassured. I pulled away and looked at both of them. "No…we're done with the Tetsusaiga. We are going back home." I said in between sniffles. Thoru and Haru smiled but then a look of uncertainty crossed their faces. "Are you sure?" I nodded and hugged them again. "Where is Inuyasha and everybody?" I asked slowly. "They're outside doing all kinds of things waiting for you to get up." Haru informed. "Okay, go pack guys, we leave right now." I ordered getting up slowly so that my bandaged wounds wouldn't ache. I walked outside and everyone turned to look at me. I wondered if Inuyasha had told them that I had selfishly tried to take Tetsusaiga and kill him. "Yasha!" Shippo exclaimed running towards me. "How are you feeling?" Kagome asked concerned. "When Inuyasha told us that you had been attacked by a demon in the woods close to death, we were extremely worried about you." Sango explained. So Inuyasha hadn't told them the truth. How sweet. "Yasha we are all ready to go." Haru announced. "What? You're leaving?" Miroku asked sadly. "I'm afraid so Miroku. We have to go back home, we have nothing to do out here in the open." "That's too bad, we'll miss you." Shippo said as Thoru and Haru stood behind me.

After saying good bye to everyone there and thanking them for the hospitality I looked for Inuyasha whom I had not seen since our battle a few nights ago. I found him by the tree where it all happened. "Hey." I said quietly. "Hi, you're leaving aren't you?" He asked with a hint of sadness in his voice. I nodded. "Why did you decide to save me after I tricked you like that?" I asked finally. Inuyasha stayed quiet for a while before he answered. "You asked-no you begged for forgiveness. That meant you truly meant what you said." "I'm sorry for hurting you, I really am. It's just that I had been searching for Tetsusaiga for so long…I let it get the best of me." "Apology accepted." He said simply. I cleared my throat loudly. "Fine, I'm sorry I nearly killed you and called you and your friends space takers and yeah." He said crossing his arms. "You are a competitive, too-proud-of-self guy. But thanks for everything." I said quickly then hugged him as tight as my body allowed me. "Goodbye" "See ya" I ran to catch up to Haru and Thoru whom were waving their last goodbyes. "What took you so long?" Haru asked curiously. "Were you with that mean-o Inuyasha? Alone?" Thoru said giggling. I slapped her on the arm and smiled as we headed down the dust road. "Yea I was." I replied receiving meaningful looks from my best friends. "Well I don't know about you but I certainly think that this was the best journey ever!" Haru explained. "Because in this journey, there was the ultimate search." I added as we kept walking.