A/N--I do not own Inuyasha, nor any of it's characters. I'm just borrowing them for a littl bit to help me though my own writer's block. I do, however, own this plot, and any original characters that might come of it.

This is my first Fan Fiction, so please Read and Review, but please don't flame :)

Enjoy! I hope...

"Kagome!" The hanyou's voice had an unusually rough edge to it, a gutteral cry borne of sheer desperation as the winged she-demon bore down upon her, razor-sharp claws raking wildly at the young miko, her pearly fangs bared. The demoness' unearthly green and copper flecked eyes were rimmed with a blazing blood red, a sign that Kagome had come to understand was a demon's pure rage made manifest. Kagome scrambled back a few paces, last fall's browning leaves crunching hollowly beneath her soles, her bow clutched tightly in one hand. The other hand was over her shoulder, frantically searching for an arrow in the quiver slung haphazardly over one shoulder.For a few heart-wrenching moments, her grasping fingers met with empty air.

No! This simply could not be! Where were her arrows? She could vividly recall filling the quiver just a few short days ago, and they had not had an unusually large number of fights in the intervening days... Not many that Inuyasha couldn't handle with ease, anyway... Desperation rapidly turned to relief as her searching fingers brushed the smooth polished wood, the shaft of the arrow strangely warm to her touch. Odd, she did not remember blessing any of the arrows.

She drew a deep breath, steadying herself just as Kaede had taught her. She nocked the arrow, pulling the bowstring back as far as her slight frame would allow. Were I only strong enough to draw a more powerful bow, she thought, not for the first time. She closed her eyes, willing herself to forget the demoness that she knew must almost certainly be on top of her, her claws keen and ready to kill.

Forget that, Kagome! She chided herself. Forget about the demoness... Focus on sensing the sacred energies all around you, just as Kaede told you... Eyes still tightly closed, she suddenly felt her awareness expand beyond her physical body. Is this feeling... my sacred power? The thought came to her, unbidden. Is this how Kikyou... She cut the thought off before it was fully formed, feeling her power waver for a heartbeat at the mere notion of Kikyou.

Enough! Focus! Draw the energies around ye into yerself, Kagome! She could hear Kaede's voice in her mind. Draw them into yerself, and focus them at the tip of the arrow, child! She strove to obey the woman's voice echoing in her head, drawing the energies of the earth around her up through the soles of her shoes and directly into her body. She could feel the wild energy flooding through her body, and was dizzied by the power she held within herself. Kagome forced her spiritual energies into the arrow, feeling the thin shaft pulsate with the power she had just imbued it with. As she loosed the arrow, all the strength left her body, rendering her exhausted and very vulnerable to the demoness' attack. Please, Inuyasha... she prayed, please make it to me in time to prevent this raging she-demon from tearing me to shreds...

Thunk...

Time seemed to hang motionless as the arrow struck home, tearing through the demoness' chest. Only now, in this instant, could the wearied miko get a truly good look at this murderous beast. She felt her breath catch in her throat as she beheld the creature before her. What manner of demon is she? I know that I'm not exactly an expert on demons, but I have never seen one anything like this one...

Her basic shape was that of a human, though that was were the resemblance ended. Long, pearlescent hair hung in shimmering waves to her willowy waist, refracting the light into blue and lavender shadows. A triangular pair of ears--not all that unlike the hanyou's--graced the top of her head, though they were larger and much more pronounced than Inuyasha's canine ears. A pair of iridescent wings protruded from her back, and she bore a lion-like tail. The beast's green and copper eyes were wide in surprise. She hadn't expected to take a sacred arrow from a miko's bow, Kagome thought, a bit smugly. Perhaps it won't be so long before I am more than a match for most demons... Her congratulatory thoughts were abruptly cut short as she noticed the heavy swell of the she-demon's stomach.

She was... pregnant...? Kagome felt her stomach suddenly lurch. And then her gaze was drawn farther, past the dying demoness and into the grassy clearing they had found her in. A horrified pair of amber eyes peered around the grizzled trunk of an ancient tree.

Oh no... Surely not...

Her heart sank into despair as a distraught young demon-girl burst from her hiding spot, sobbing as she ran to the stricken demoness. The she-demon had not been trying to kill her out of mindless bloodlust... She had attacked to protect her offspring, both her young daughter and her unborn baby... The enormity of what she had just done hammered into the miko.

I've just killed a mother who only wanted to protect her children from intruders...

"Momma?" The little girl choked on the word, her tiny hands wrapping around her mother's. Slowly, the she-demon sunk to her knees on the leafy forest floor, sweeping her sobbing daughter into her embrace. Glaring at the miko, the mother demon wrapped her wing around her child, comforting the little one with her touch even as her life ebbed from her. A grimace crossed the demoness' face as the child brushed against the arrow.

Even as Kagome watched, sickened at the realization of what she had just unwittingly done, the luster left the she-demon's eyes. Her body sagged, and she sunk to the forest floor, leaving her crying daughter without a mother. "Momma? Momma?" Her cries were becoming more plaintive, her tiny hands trying frantically to shake her mother awake. "Mamma!" The little girl shrieked, realizing her mother was not going to wake up.

In a red and silver blur, Inuyasha was there, gingerly examing the fallen demoness, his clawed hands gentle as he felt for any remaining signs of life in her body. Kagome could only watch in mute horror, unable to move, unable to speak...unable to even feel...numb... The half-demon's shoulders slumped, and Kagome knew that the woman was beyond salvation. Ever so tenderly, Inuyasha pulled the heartbroken child from her mother's body. "Momma..." The little girl cried, seemingly unaffected by the strange halfbreed's presence. "Momma won't wake up..." She burrowed into the sleeve of Inuyasha's hakama, and instinctively, his strong arms encircled the child, offering her what meager comfort could be had in the face of her tremendous loss.

"Shh, little one... I know..." His golden eyes somberly regarded the dead demoness, his regretful gaze lingering long upon the swell of her unborn child. What promise had that unborn one held, Kagome could not help but wonder. What would it have become, had she not taken it's mother's life? And what would become of the woman's orphaned daughter?

"I... I..." She did not get a chance to finish, her words cut short by a choking squeal from the young demoness snuggled in the hanyou's grasp. The half-demon's eyes turned back to the distraught child in his arms. "Oh, Inuyasha... I had no idea... I didn't realize she was a mother... I didn't know..." He seemed not to hear her words, his gaze unusually contemplative and soft. His clawed hands were as gentle as a mother cat's teeth as he smoothed the child's pearlescent hair, a more pronounced silvery sheen in color than had been her mother's. Her small, soft ears drooped like a heartbroken puppy's.

"Momma... she won't wake up..." Her tiny hands tugged persistently on the half-demon's sleeve. "Please... make her wake up..."

"You're momma's gone, little one," Inuyasha sighed, the carriage of his ears mirroring the child's. "Momma's not going to wake up..."

"I'm so sorry..." Kagome could have bitten her tongue off in frustration the moment she spoke the words. She could not help but realize how horribly inadequate her apology was in the face of what she had just done to this family. She'd killed a pregnant demoness, who had obviously cared for her offspring, left her young daughter without a mother, and had insured that her nearly full-term child would never get a chance to draw it's first breath. And all she had to offer was, "I'm sorry"?

She instinctively reached out to the child, wishing to help comfort the lost little girl. She could be no older than Shippou. Perhaps the young kitsune could help this suddenly motherless girl-child dear with her grief... At any rate, caring for this poor little one would be her responsibility from now on, at least until they could find her father.

However, instead of letting Kagome touch her, the girl turned on her, snarling like a trapped wolf. Her baby claws were extended and ready to be brought to bear at a moment's notice.

"You...took...my...momma...away..." The little one spat, her features oddly familiar in her rage, and despite the growling demon-child before her, Kagome's mind raced, trying to place that familiarity. She had something decidedly canine about her, though it seemed more feral...

Almost wolf-like, really...

Could this girl have been sired by one of the Wolf demons? Maybe even Kouga, perhaps? The child's wings were spread wide, her tail lashing furiously as she fought to break free from the hanyou's grasp. "I...want...my...momma!" She hissed lunging for Kagome, her wings wildly fanning the air.

"No, pup..." Inuyasha softly rebuked the child. "This fight is not for you." At his words, the child instantly calmed down, though Kagome could tell that she was not mollified. His golden eyes came to rest on the miko. "Did you not hear me? Why did you ignore me?" He was crouched before the slain demoness' body, and Kagome was dismayed to see his golden eyes go hard, a red tint creeping into them that terrified her to the very core. His fangs and claws had changed as well, growing longer and sharper than she was accustomed to. Anticipitory tingles raced up and down her spine as she realized the hanyou was changing into his full-fledged demon form.

"Inuyasha?" She managed, shifting her weight back and forth as the dog demon rose to his feet, his angry glare burning twin daggers into her. What was wrong with him? Why was he reacting so strongly to this woman's death? And then she remembered that he, too, had lost his mother as a tiny child. He was identifying with this little one... In his demon form, he was confusing that loss that he had experienced as a child with this girl's loss... He had been too young, too weak to take care of his mother, but now...

Now he was much stronger.

No matter what, I will be safe from him, Kagome thought. No matter how enraged, Inuyasha would never harm me... And then he lunged for her, growling.

"You killed her!" He snarled, his claws slashing down at her. He was attacking her? For several long breaths did she stand, unable to move, unable to believe what was happening. Was her hanyou really attacking her? Finally, she gathered enough of her scattered wits to her, and she dodged away from the enraged half-demon, his razor sharp claws slicing through the air where she had been a mere moment before. But she did not escape entirely unscathed, his talons tearing through the thin fabric of her sleeve and digging cleanly into her arm.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out, feeling her flesh rip open, her hot blood spilling down her arm. Why was he attacking her? He gave no indication of having heard her, rich red blood dripping slowly off of his claws, only to stain the fallen leaves beneath him an obscene crimson.

"Sit!" She screamed, desperate to get the enraged hanyou to back off. With any luck, the force of his impact with the ground would knock him out for a few moments, long enough for him to regain his senses. He shuddered at her command, but other than that...

Nothing.

He didn't respond to the spell...

"SIT" This time louder, more desperate.

Still nothing...

And then he was upon her, the promise of death burning in his murderous eyes.