A/N: Hey all. I haven't posted here in a long time. I hope you guys are still reading. More to come. R&R
The elder in the demon slayer village prayed inside the shrine. She prayed for all the demon slayers that were out hunting and the ones whose lives have been lost. She then turned to face another smaller shrine. The incense burned and the smell wafted through the shrine. She had to pray for a particular slayer.
The elder opened her eyes to the wooden carving in the likeness of the slayer. The carving stood proud and determined in her demon slaying armor and her weapon strapped across her back. The elder allowed herself a small smile at the carving. As she turned to move the incense closer, a small crack sounded. The elder froze then slowly turned around.
The carving still stood proudly, but showed signs of weakness. Across the body was a sudden violent diagonal crack in the wood. The elder gaped at the sudden occurrence. Knowing full what it truly meant, she watched as the carving slowly crumbled apart. She ran to get the village chief.
"Hirakados!" Sango cried as she threw the giant demon bone boomerang. It smacked the giant lizard demon upside the head and returned back to her hand.
"Damn, all it did was piss it off." She swore as she and her companion Kirara swung back around in the air for another attempt. She brought the heavy boomerang above her head for another throw at the grotesque demon. A sudden pain hit her throwing wrist. She dropped the boomerang and another swift pain shot through her body causing her to lose her balance off of Kirara. Sango turned in the air and was facing the quickly oncoming ground.
Kirara turned to see in dismay her companion fall into the ground below.
"Sango!" Kagome saw her fall.
"What?" InuYasha saw distracted from the battle got backhanded by the demon.
"I'll take care of this." Miroko said opening the vortex in his right hand and sucking the demon up.
"Sango," Kagome said trying to rouse her.
Sango was knocked out with the impact. She groaned and made a movement to move, but the intense pain in her wrists stopped her. She cried out in pain.
Sango! Don't move!" Kagome said digging out the first aid kit from her giant book bag.
"What happened…?" Sango asked still trying to pick herself up.
"You fell off of Kirara." Kagome said pulling out wraps.
"I what?" Sango was surprised as she picker herself up. She watched as both her wrists swelled up.
"That's not good." Kagome said. She started wrapping Sango's sprained wrists.
"I fell off of Kirara? But what happened?"
"I don't know. But you dropped your boomerang. You looked like you were in pain." Miroko said dragging the heavy thing.
"Don't drag it in the dirt you moron!" Sango yelled at him and he immediately dropped it. She growled under her breath.
"Well anyways the demon is gone. There's a village a little ways up. They'll probably give us somewhere to stay tonight." Miroko said sitting down.
Sango rode Kirara back to the town. She was glum that the demon got away because of her failure.
"Come on, Sango it was only one demon and it was a puny one. He won't come back." Shippo tried to console her.
"Yeah, it's no big deal. We can catch another one, and this time hopefully it will have a shard in it to make the whole battle worthwhile." InuYasha complained.
Sango ignored the comments and tried to think. Why did I black out back there? That has never happened before. Something's not right… It was then that she seriously contemplated seeing a doctor. But I have never had to see a doctor in years. Perhaps after they sleep…
Kagome interrupted her thoughts. "Sango, is there anything wrong?"
"Huh?…Oh, no. Not really. Just tired, I guess." Sango lied.
Kagome knew it but figured she had her reasons. "Well, it was a rough day today. Let's get some sleep."
They all fell asleep in the rooms they were provided. InuYasha and Miroko slept in one and the girls and Shippo slept in the other.
Sango's sleep was restless and disturbed. She tossed and turned and violent images flashed in her dreams. She woke up late in the darkest part of the night in a heavy sweat. She felt confined and her breathing was labored.
What's wrong with me? I feel so wrong. I feel so confined! I have to get out of here! Sango scrambled out the back door. She failed to notice that she nearly trampled Kagome and Shippo. She ran outside and into the woods.
Kagome woke up instantly when Sango stepped on her. Shippo turned right back over and went to sleep. But Kagome was disturbed by Sango's sudden surprising behavior. She followed her quietly outside.
Sango doubled over onto the ground holding her stomach in pain. She didn't understand where it was coming from. Her wrists suddenly felt three times as worse. She looked at her hands. They cracked painfully and her fingernails grew out into long claws.
The pain was unbearable. Tears ran down her face. Her canine teeth began protrude from her mouth and a muzzle began to grow out. Sango cried out in pain as the transformation continued. Her feet elongated and stretched out her boots and tore them to shreds.
Kagome stood still with horror across her face at the unusual sight before her. What is happening to her?
Sango bent over as her muscle mass grew in size. Her ears elongated and pointed at the top of her head. Fur began to grow rapidly across her body. Black covered her hands and forearms. Black rings formed at the end of the black on her forearms. Two black stripes went across both of her cheeks. Sango's arm and leg muscles stretched out the fabric of her slayer's uniform and some of it hung loosely and uselessly from her changing body. Her feet her black to her lower legs. Her silver claws glimmered in the moonlight and clawed the dirt. Black pads formed on her hands and feet.
Sango howled in more pain. Her body was stretching the fabric of her clothes to the absolute limit. Her fangs continued growing until they were long, menacing sabers. Her black hair grew out into a wily black mane that stopped in between her shoulder blades. Sango's back and shoulder muscles split the top of her demon slayer outfit to her lower back. Whiter fur grew from her neck and down her front side. Longer fur covered her body around her chest and shoulders.
Sango tried to stand shakily on her new feet and her muscles ached so badly. She got onto all fours shakily. Tears still streamed down her muzzle and dripped down her nose. Sango tried crawling a little bit, but her muscles were uncooperative and the restrictive bands of fabric limited her movement.
Kagome gasped when the thought hit her. She looks like-
Sango's demonic howl interrupted her thoughts. A snarl of pain was ingrained on her face, revealing the rest of her sharp white teeth. Two bushy tails grew out from her backside. They each had a black ring towards the end.
Sango fell to her knees and elbows and began crying. "What's happening to me?" She sobbed into her furry arm.
Kagome wanted to go comfort her, but didn't know if it was safe. The creature transformed from Sango and sounded and kind of looked like Sango, but what if it attacked her? Suddenly, Sango's body flopped over on to the ground. Her breathing seemed labored with exhaustion. The yellow fur stained with tear streaks.
"What is it?" InuYasha whispered grumpily.
"InuYasha, I need your help something is wrong with Sango." She pleaded.
Immediately, he was fully awake with concern for someone in their party, and followed Kagome outside.
"What happened!" InuYasha couldn't believe what was in front of him.
"I told you. I watched her change into this. I don't know why either. She stepped on me while she was trying to get outside. I woke up and followed her to try to see what was wrong and this is what happened."
InuYasha stared at the exhausted, sleeping creature. It did have some semblances to Sango, remnants of her demon slayer outfit stuck to and hung from her body. The demon creature was clearly female, and bore a striking resemblance to Kirara. She was sleeping so soundly as well.
Both to InuYasha and Kagome then noticed that Kirara was awake and outside with them. She was sniffing the sleeping creature thoroughly around her face. The little cat demon moved up and down the length of the body carefully sniffing various spots. Kirara came back to the face and sniffed the nose one last time. Then she licked it. Kirara turned and mewed at Kagome and InuYasha.
"InuYasha…." Kagome started.
Wordlessly, InuYasha ventured into the back room where Shippo was still sleeping and snatched the blanket that Shippo had entangled himself with. In one quick move, Shippo was yanked out of the blanket and crudely dropped on the floor.
"Hey!" Shippo cried grumpily.
InuYasha didn't say anything and took the blanket outside to Kagome and Sango. He considerately and carefully wrapped the blanket around Sango's partially nude body then picked her up and carried her into the room with Shippo.
"What's going on?" Shippo asked, sensing the seriousness of the situation. "Aah! What's that?" Shippo asked when InuYasha laid Sango down on the floor.
"What's going on in here?" Miroko questioned hearing Shippo.
InuYasha decided to save Kagome's breath. "That's Sango! Kagome saw her change into a creature outside."
Miroko was very confused. "What? Sango has transformed into that? Why? How?"
Kirara mewed at Miroko. She was curled up in the crook of Sango's elbow.
"Oh. Kagome you saw what happened. Did she say anything? As if she had been hiding something from us?" Miroko asked.
Kagome shook her head. "After, it was over she was crying, but she was still in pain and I'm not even sure if she knew what had happened to her. She said 'What is happening to me?' and then flopped over sleeping."
"Probably exhaustion from the transformation." InuYash surmised. He had his arms crossed and became deep in thought. The whole situation disturbed him.
"InuYasha?" Kagome asked.
"Hmm…? It's nothing…Kagome you stay with her. I'm going to patrol a little bit around the village." InuYasha got up and left.
"I'm going to get us some breakfast. You should stay with her just in case she wakes up." Miroko said standing and quietly shut the door behind him.
Sango slept for hours and late into the day. Kagome stayed with her she occasionally had to kick Miroko out and InuYasha checked in at times, but just stayed outside.
Sango stirred finally at sunset. She moaned, and her whole body ached. "Why does it feel like a herd of horses ran over me?" She asked sitting up.
"Oh, Sango you're up." Kagome said coming back in the room with some dinner.
"Yeah, how long have I been out?"
"About all day." Kagome answered.
Sango rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Then saw her body and froze. What is this?
"Sango….?" Kagome could only imagine what was going through Sango's mind.
The tears streamed down Sango's face. "This isn't real…" She whispered.
"Sango it's okay." Kagome tried to console her.
"No!" Sango turned and snapped. A angry snarl mixed with the tears still running down her muzzle. "This isn't real! This is all just a bad nightmare!" She howled. She turned away from Kagome and clenched her fists tightly until they hurt. She whimpered.
Kagome saw that Sango's hands were beginning to bleed. "Sango! Stop it! You're hurting yourself!" she grabbed one of Sango's arms.
It was then that Sango snapped. She threw Kagome backwards with a loud roar. She burst through the door with another loud roar of pure demonic fury. Villagers ran from the fiercesome sight. Sango ran the opposite direction and into the woods on all fours.
InuYasha and Miroko came running at the commotion. "What happened?"
"It's Sango!" Kagome said picking herself up.
"Yeah she went crazy!" Shippo chimed in from under some debris.
"She's not crazy." Kagome said trying to remain calm. "She's scared. She's really scared and upset. Sango thinks that it's all a really bad nightmare she's having. She's already injured her hands trying to snap herself out of it. We need to find her before she hurts herself worse."
"Right let's go after her!" InuYasha said ready to take off.
"No, wait InuYasha!" Kagome yelled.
"What? We need to find her don't we?"
"Yes, but us chasing after her won't help. She'll just keep running away. Let's follow her quickly, but let's not interfere with her for a while. Let her cool off, maybe she'll find out it's not a bad dream, then maybe she'll let us help her."
"Kagome's right. The one thing she's mostly afraid of is becoming something she's been trained all her life to kill. Although, it seems as though she would only have become a half-demon like InuYasha."
"What do you mean?" Kagome questioned.
A young boy dressed in similar slayer armor came bursting into the house. "Where is the demon slayer?"
Sango ran deep into the woods. She ran hard enough to make herself panting, tired and thirsty. She came to her senses, but she couldn't remember how long she had been running or even what direction to take to get back to the village.
The sound of running water caught her ears. Sango was so thirsty, and she walked to the stream. Then she met her reflection. There, she got a sickening feeling in her gut. That was her. A stinging pain brought her attention to her hands. They were injured when she clenched them too tightly earlier. The wounds were filthy now from running in the dirt. The dark demon blood had clotted, but her hands were a mess.
"It is real…" A few more tears streamed out. She sighed. Sango washed her wounds out and drank some water from the stream. Then she walked back under some trees. Sango leaned against a tree and rested for a bit. Eventually she fell asleep.
"There she is!" Kagome shouted. A small search party formed looking for Sango since the young slayer came.
They had searched the forest that Sango had run into. They never realized how fast or deep she had run into the forest. The group had gotten worried before when they were following her bloody handprints in the dirt. There were also various broken branches and twigs that were in her path. InuYasha had tracked her scent when the handprints were less visible and it was growing too dark to rely on sight.
They found her late that night. She was still leaned against the tree that she had fallen asleep upon. Sango was human again.
"Here," InuYasha gave Kagome his red protective coat to cover her.
They carried her back to the village again and laid her down in the same room.
"She's running a fever, get me cold water and a rag." Kagome said noticing that Sango was flushed and in a cold sweat.
Miroko got the necessary things as they got a pillow under her head and a blanket to cover her. Kirara mewed in concern for her companion.
"She'll be okay." Kagome comforted the little cat demon. She scratched her head a little.
The cold water and rag came and Kagome soaked it and then rested it on Sango's head.
A knock came at the door. It was the young slayer. "May I?"
Kagome nodded. "I'm afraid she's asleep. She didn't wake up until sunset today."
He nodded in acknowledgement. His eyes never left her.
Kagome noticed he couldn't have been any older than fifteen years old, but then Sango told her demon slayers always started young. Her younger brother, Kohaku, was even younger than this guy.
"You said that you needed to find her. So you did. Now what?" InuYasha asked breaking the silence.
"…My village chieftain and elders ask to see her immediately. I am to escort you back." He responded.
"What does another demon slayer village want with Sango?" Miroko asked.
"My village is very small compared to hers that was destroyed. However, our villages did have close ties to each other. Most likely family from her village came and formed this small one. We are nothing compared to the slayers that were brutally murdered. With her being the only survivor, she is quite famous, and the band she travels with. But just the other morning, they gave me the task of finding her. For what exactly I don't know, but it is urgent business. I consider this an honor." The young slayer bowed deeply the group in the room. "I have message written to her with the official seal of the chieftain. No one but her may open it."
InuYasha took in the information with a nod. "Then we'll depart for your village when she wakes." he decided. "You can give her the message when she wakes."
The young slayer nodded and bowed once more to the group before leaving.
"Do you think that he knows about Sango's recent changes?" Miroko asked.
InuYasha shook his head. "He said they didn't even tell him why the village elders and chieftain want to see her. For all we know this is just a way for them to see 'Sango the Famous Demon Slayer.'"
"I doubt it. They wouldn't call that 'urgent business.'" Miroko said.
InuYasha shrugged then turned over to his side. "I'm going to sleep."
The group slept through the rest of the night.
Kagome woke up first at morning's light. She yawned and stretched, then looked to Sango.
"Wake up! Sango's gone again!" She roused the whole room.
"Relax, I'm right here." Sango opened the door. She came in with some tea that reeked of medicinal herbs.
Sango was already dressed in her regular clothing, but she had found new armor to wear underneath it.
"How are you feeling?" Kagome asked.
"I feel like I had been drinking too much the night before. I have a huge headache and that's what this nasty tea is for." She took a quick drink of it with disgust written all over her face. "Blech."
"Did the messenger find you?"
"Yeah, he did. I guess I need to go to this other village. It isn't that far from here. Apparently, they have some valuable information they want to tell me." Sango explained. "Perhaps they have seen Kohaku. I really want to see him badly." Sango grew sad.
Kagome wondered if Sango even remembered a majority of the past few nights. Perhaps she didn't want to speak of it.
The boys woke up soon after the short conversation. Then the messenger slayer came in as well.
"Are you ready, Sango?" The messenger asked.
She nodded. Sango stood.
"Wait Sango. We're coming with you." Miroko said standing too.
"Is it okay Hiroshi?" She asked the messenger.
He nodded. "It's probably best that your friends come too." He led the way.
They arrived at the demon slayer village at sunset. "Come, we are too see the elder immediately." Hiroshi led the way.
Kagome noticed how shut up the houses were. There were various people peeking out of the dark windows to catch a glimpse of the traveling band. Then they quickly shut the curtains or shutters. Sango didn't seem to notice. She kept looking straight ahead.
Hiroshi led them to a large house that also looked like shrine. He bowed deeply to the three showy figures that were seated. He motioned them in and they all sat before the elders and the chieftain.
"Hiroshi, I see you were successful in finding Sango." The chieftain said.
"Yes chieftain. I also brought the band she was traveling with." Hiroshi waved at the group behind them.
He nodded. "We must be sure that we are in the presence of the real demon slayer."
Sango nodded. "What do you ask of me?"
"To be sure that you are the Sango from the village that was destroyed in the mountains, there is only one task that the Sango from her family bloodline can do." He explained.
Sango was confused. "Okay…What do I need to do?"
"First we wait…" The chieftain calmly said.
Everyone was confused. Hiroshi looked to Sango and she shrugged not knowing the meaning. The sun went down after another hour or so. The wait continued. The full moonlight shone through a strategically placed window that glowed on Sango.
Suddenly she felt watched. About 15 other slayers appeared in the room. They had been concealed by a barrier maintained by the elders. They had cut off InuYasha and the group from Sango.
"What the…? What is going on?" Sango was taken by surprise.
"You are indeed Sango. The demon slayer of the mountain village." The chieftain solemnly said.
"Yes, but-"
"Yes, but you are a danger now. A danger to all the remaining demon hunters that are out now."
"But-"
"You are the greatest demon slayer ever. But you live a cursed existence. I'm sorry, but you must be destroyed." He nodded his head. The demon slayers drew their bows and arrows.
"NO!" Sango cried before they shot.
Everything moved in slow motion. InuYasha and Miroko got past the small army of slayers and blocked some of the arrows. But they couldn't block all of them.
Two were in Sango's shoulder, one was completely through her left arm, another went in on her upper leg, one was sticking out of her ribcage and another in her abdomen. She was gasping for air. Sango had doubled over when the arrows hit. Her blood remained the dark demon blood that was pouring out.
"Why…?" She gasped.
"Sango!" Kagome cried out.
Sango snarled in pain suddenly and tensed up. Miroko and InuYasha both saw her inner demonic power pulsate. The slayers must have seen it too, because they started running in fear. Sango's transformation had started and accelerated. She returned to her fearsome demonic state before the chieftain and elders.
After the pain left, she still had a look of pure anger and hatred on her face. Sango growled a long and low threatening growl. "What did you do to me?"
The chieftain just remained shocked that she could survive an direct assault like that. He couldn't even think to make up a false story. He sighed and gave up, perhaps the gods did intend for her to live like this. He abandoned any more thoughts of destroying the young slayer, and the elders apparently felt the same way.
"Please, no more lies," he started. "I will tell you the truth, but first you must have your wounds tended too."
Sango shakily got to her feet. She finally noticed the pain that was ravaging her body. "Fine…" She gasped. "You are to tell me tomorrow morning." He grabbed her side. "But if you should be gone by then I will hunt you down, and I will kill you." She said with the meanest, demonic glare to the elders that must have pierced them to the very soul. It also verified that she would indeed keep her vow, not as a demon slayer, but the demon in her would.
Sango limped out of the chieftain's house with as much determination she could muster. Her wounds still bled and she refused any help that was offered to her. Sango walked with a bad limp and she still grasped her side, but she had made it to the guesthouse that was reserved for her and the group. Once inside, she fell to her knees, then she fell to her uninjured side.
Kagome and the rest of the group followed her quietly and gave her some distance.
"I'll keep guard outside," InuYasha said sincerely.
"I'll keep a watch on the rest of the house." Miroko said.
Kagome acknowledged their posts then went inside to tend to Sango who was unconscious again from her wounds. She removed the arrows and disinfected the wounds. Kagome bandaged the wounds carefully, and the bleeding slowed.
Sango opened an eye and looked at Kagome. "Thanks…" she said before falling asleep.