Authors Note: Back from a long hiatus, over two years. A combination of life kicking my ass and a general lack of interest in the whole fandom scene kept me from writing. But now I'm back, for better or worse, and I intend to finish this damn story; though I'm not sure if anyone actually keeps up with Inuyasha fan fics anymore. But I digress. Anyway, I intend for this story to be the first arc in series that will take the Inu group to their final confrontation with Naraku done the way I would like to see it; with pain, blood, tears and sacrifice. Call me sadistic but I like seeing my heroes beaten and bloody. To me it makes their victory or defeat that much more real, more visceral. The DIE HARD syndrome as I like to call it. And since Miss Takahashi decided to leave the ending wide open in both the manga and the anime its all free game. As for the make up of the story, it will be a mix of manga, anime and my own sick and twisted touch so I fore worn you. Their will be blood, pain, and angst ahead in copious amounts. Who knows I might even kill off a main character or two. I never did much like Kouga... Anyway, enough of my mindless blathering. Read and enjoy. Or don't. It's your choice.

Ch.2

4 days ago

The attack came without warning. One moment the village was peaceful and quiet, the next it was complete chaos.

Sango was first on the scene. Weaving her way through the running villagers she darted from the main path before she came within sight of the demon using the huts as cover. She quickly picked her way through the structures navigating towards the demon by the feel of his youki until she was close enough to make visual contact. Back braced firmly against the side of a storage hut she peered around the structure to take her first good look at the demon.

He was tall, easily 8 feet of hulking muscle, scales fangs, and claws. Two meaty tail like appendages extended from the back of his slightly elongated skull down to mid-back and glowing amethyst eyes blazed with an unholy fire from within deep-set sockets. The only article of clothing he wore were a pair of voluminous white pants stained red with blood.

He casually walked through the village cutting down anyone not fast enough to escape his claws and you could tell by his laugh that he enjoyed every blood-curdling scream he extracted from his victims. But his youki, his youki was the worst by far. In her minds eye she could feel it as it pulsated and danced in contented, unadulterated glee at the bloodshed and death. It was vile.

She couldn't afford to wait for the others. Darting out from the cover the hut provided she hurled Horaikotsu with deadly precision at the demon intending to catch him by surprise. But with an impressive show of agility for someone his size he nimbly flipped over the spinning Horaikotsu and landed lightly on his feet.

Catching the weapon on its return Sango dug in her heels as the weapons momentum sent her sliding back several feet.

When she met his gaze next she found in it amusement. His voice boomed out at her next in a rich baritone.

"I was wondering when you'd come out from hiding slayer." He smiled at the visible shock his statement elicited from her. "You really shouldn't be surprised, after all who could miss the killing intent of your ki or the glorious smell of demon blood that baths you."

His smile turned wicked then. "Now, please bleed for me."

In a flash of amethyst light he was holding an exact replica of her Horaikotsu and in that moment, eyes widened in realization of what exactly this demon was, he threw the weapon at her with blinding speed.

There wasn't enough time to dodge, Sango knew, all she could do was shield herself with her Horaikotsu and brace herself. The two giant weapons met with a resounding crack and Sango found herself air born as the impact sent her flying backwards into the side of a hut.

Quickly regaining her footing as the mimic advanced slowly towards her, doppelganger Horaikotsu once again in hand, Sango held the true Horaikotsu in a defensive position out in front of her as she evaluated her options. The disparity between the two of them in terms of strength and speed were staggering. That hit had rattled every bone in her body and she'd barely had time to react. Sound tactics dictated that she keep her distance and hit him with ranged precision attacks. Sango knew it's what she should do; she also knew he knew it's what she should do. So she charged.

If she could surprise him, keep him guessing and off balance then she knew she could win.

She darted in with Horaikotsu attacking with a flurry of arcing assaults. She flowed like water from one attack to the next without pause or hesitation and each strike was like that of the crashing surf as she forced the demon back first one step then two. But the mimics surprise wore off quickly and Sango found her onslaught could budge him no farther. Gritting her teeth in determination Sango re-doubled her efforts, putting everything and more behind her strikes looking for that single opening that she could exploit. Covered in a fine sheen of sweat and muscles protesting under the strain, Sango began to realize that she wasn't going to find that opening. She'd hit an 8ft wall of immovable muscle and scales. And slowly, almost imperceptibly, the strength behind each swing began to wane as her arms and shoulders fatigued; no longer able to keep up with what she was demanding from them. The mimic grinned wide in a deaths head mask and suddenly, she was on the defensive.

Sango found herself parrying, ducking, dodging, and weaving for all she was worth only just managing to keep out of harms way. But she was slowing bit by bit as the demon pressed the attack and they both knew it was only a matter of time before she slipped up. Hoping to hinder the mimics wide sweeping attacks with the tight spaces between huts and by some time, Sango retreated back from the road. It didn't even slow him down. The doppelganger Horaikotsu backed by the demons prodigious strength cleaved through huts and storage sheds with the same ease as a farmer taking a scythe to his crops.

And as her cover disappeared and her evasions became increasingly desperate, the inevitable finally happened; Sango stumbled off balance as the mimic brushed aside a sloppy parry and in that split second opening raked the claws of his free hand up Sango's exposed left arm and shoulder eliciting a shout of pain from her that made his blood sing in satisfaction.

The force of the strike sent Sango sprawling to the ground. She hissed in pain as her torn arm hit first forcing dirt and gravel deep into the wound. Scrambling back to her feet she risked a quick glance at the wound. The demons claws had sheered clean through her armor shredding the skin beneath from mid bicep up across her deltoid and clavicle leaving in its wake four jagged gashes exposing the muscle underneath. Blood was already welling up from the wound and running down the length of her arm in a steady stream and though the wound could have been worse, in the current situation Sango knew if she didn't think of something quick she was dead.

Looking into that damn deaths head grin of his as he steadily approached Sango decided that if she couldn't find an opening she'd just have to make one. Ignoring the pain as she flexed the injured limb to test its response Sango marshaled her remaining strength and sprang forward.

Swinging Horaikotsu in an upward diagonal slash with her good arm Sango didn't resist as the mimic blocked the strike with the doppelganger boomerang. Instead, she flowed with the counterstrike pivoting back around and gritting her teeth in pain as she transferred Horaikotsu to her injured arm while simultaneously drawing her wakizashi. The demon blocked the true Horaikotsu with ease but the second attack caught him off guard as Sango reversed her grip on the short sword and lunged upwards right for his heart.

The blessed blade bit hilt deep into his torso angled perfectly just under the ribs but instead of piercing that most vital of muscles, the tip of her blade bit into bone and was halted. The demon Sango realized with dawning dread had a dense barrier of bone protecting his heart. The mimic chuckled darkly then as his free hand clamped down on her sword arm. Caught in a bizarre corpse a corpse Sango met his gaze and snarled in frustration borne of a cheated victory.

"Defiant to the end, I like that. Allow me to show my appreciation."

The doppelganger Horaikotsu disappeared in an instant taking with it Sango's balance; and as she stumbled forward his knee came up into her midsection. Her face drained of color as air vacated lungs, and ribs cracked and broke.

He watched in satisfaction as Sango's Horaikotsu dropped from blood slick fingers, knees buckling as she sank to the ground and arms wrapping protectively around her midsection. Reaching down he picked Sango up by her ponytail as if she were child's toy and basked in her agony. Her face was ashen white and her mouth opened and closed in a soundless bid for oxygen; an act that with each inhale and exhale only compounded the agony of her broken ribs. Blood stained the front of her armor and fell to the ground from the jagged wound in her arm like so many scarlet rain drops. Her pain, her agony was exquisite.

The mimic brought her face right up to his paying no mind to the little flecks of blood that splattered his face with her every exhale and waited for her eyes to focus on him before he spoke.

"There is no shame in this, in losing to a superior opponent. You wounded me; that is more than most humans or demons who have died by my hands can say. And I have killed legions. This is a good death, a warrior's death. Take pride in this as you pass on to the next world."

Sango heard the mimic's words through a thick fog of pain; she even found in them a morbid sense of comfort. But she was not ready to die yet. As the mimic poised his claws for the killing blow she somehow found the will to slip a tear gas pellet from beneath the sash on her waste and drop it at his feat.

Roaring in outrage as the gas erupted around them the mimic threw Sango from him as if burned; coughing and sputtering from the potent herbal concoction. Sango sailed through the air limp, consciousness fading and in her minds eye the image of her brother appeared; pain and sorrow etched into those deep brown eyes she loved so much. Then there was only darkness.

End Notes: This second installment was actually going to be longer but my profs slapped me with two rather lengthy papers this past week. So, I figured I'd just cut this in half and post it instead of waiting a week or two until I'd satiated my prof's grade book. A note on the story-a note within a note as it were-when I found this story wasting away on my hard drive and re-read it I was amazed by two things: one, how truly juvenile and poorly executed it was as a whole and two, how frickin' damsel in distress-esk I'd written Sango. When I watch anime, or any Asian action cinema for that matter, I'm always amazed at how old school sexist the female characters are portrayed. They may start out as strong 21st century take-no-crap-from-anyone type characters but they almost always end up turning into plush-doll debutants by the end who need saving and comfort from the male lead. Kagome's a perfect example. She could probably kill every demon in a 10 mile radius but 90 of the time she forgets she even has Miko powers and gets captured by a demon she could fry no problem. I'm a guy and I like to think of myself as strong strapping young chap ready and able to defend the honor of a lady and all that jazz, but this 18th century stereotype crap gets really frickin' annoying. Ranting aside, I did my best to portray Sango as I think she should be. A strong skilled warrior who can take a beating and dish it out in equal parts. I'd appreciate any input from the ladies on how well I accomplished this and how I can improve upon it in later chapters. I would also appreciate any grammatical assistance and suggestions-male or female readers-on the story. Well, I've rambled on long enough. Time to get crackin' on those comparative psychology and ethics papers. Laterz.