CHAPTER 8 --------

"Onii-chan…"

I opened my eyes lazily, trying to adjust to the darkness of the hut. It was night time and the only light was the faint glow of the moon coming from the only window. I sleepily turned to the figure sitting next to me.

"What?"

"I think there's something outside."

"Ah, how annoying." I muttered and sniffed the air sleepily. "There's nothing there. Go back to sleep."

I lay my head back down but I could feel those tiny scared eyes burrowing holes into the back of my head.

... "Damn it! Fine! I'll go check it out!" Harsh whispers was all I could manage. No need to wake the others to comb the area for imaginary monsters.

I got up and quietly went outside.

It had been more than twenty days since Kawaiken had come to stay with us, and she was picking up on all of my habits. She would sleep sitting down with her sword on her lap and would take it with her everywhere she went. She would sleep lightly and her hearing, or rather should I say her "way" of hearing, which was like a snake, feeling vibrations in the air (a trait from her father), was much sharper than mine. Too sharp to the point that this kind of thing happened often. Occasionally she'd follow me on my usual walks around the village, always pointing out weird plants and herbs for medicines that she'd learned from the old hag. She'd even started calling me "Onii-chan" (brother), which annoyed me to no end.

I stepped onto a large branch in a tree and crouched down. Damn, there was definitely something out there.

"You've gotta admit she comes in handy." I laughed to myself.

Sniffing the air I noticed a dry, ashy scent. This wasn't a youkai, but it couldn't be a human either. Peering into the darkness of night, it soon gave way to shapes and forms. Trees and bushes swayed in the semi-light my eyes distinguished… And then… another form swayed differently.

My eyes focused on the thin figure stumbling through the trees, slowly making its way to the village. I jumped down and ran the length that separated us in a heartbeat.

A thick aroma of ash and burnt flesh filled my nostrils that caused me to stumble and almost fall flat on my face. I skidded to a stop and watched the figure come into the moonlight.

Whoever this was didn't want to be seen however, because they stopped just outside the ray of dim light that came down between the trees. I watched it, the hand over my tessaiga twitching anxiously, and then it spoke.

The voice was more in my mind than around me, but it wasn't mine and it filled my head slowly how water would slowly fill your hands on a rainy day, eventually spilling out.

Are... you... the hanyou?

The voice was slow, thick and distant, but growing louder with each syllable.

My master... wishes to see you.. master is most interested in you... hanyou.

I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end… something wasn't right about this guy.

"Who's this master? Have I met him before?"

My master knows you well hanyou... master also knows of your friends and your foes... master knows all. It would do you well to heed his call.

"The hell's that supposed to mean?" I asked, irritated that someone out there was watching me. I crept closer all the while, trying to make out a face in the darkness.

It is only my duty to bring you to my master... that is all.

I hesitated, then turned my back. "Get lost. I ain't going anywhere with you."

It is not your CHOICE Master commands it... hanyou.

I didn't like that tone this thing took with me. It echoed in my head and felt like a nest of bees was buzzing around in there. I suddenly felt the urge to resist even more. Without turning back around I spoke over my shoulder.

"Yeah? Well tough shit. I go where I want. Go back and tell your master that."

A sudden draft brought the stench so close I could swear this guy was standing right behind me.

"Huh?"

I jumped sideways and shot up a tree. This guy was fast. In the blink of an eye he had gotten across the patch of moonlight and was now standing where I had been standing before, still veiled in darkness.

"… the hell?" I gasped in surprise.

We will do this the hard way then... hanyou.

"It's what I do best! And I have a name dammit!!"

I jumped off the tree and cleaved downward, thinking of cutting this guy in half before he could move again.

Time slowed, I could feel the wind ruffling my robes, striking my face, and I could feel my hands moving faster than my body as Tessaiga cut through the air around it, as if in a hurry to get to my enemy.

Then it all stopped.

In mid air my strike came to an end. My sword and my body were both jarred as my foe stopped tessaiga's blow with one hand. For an instant we were frozen. Me in mid air grasping my blade with both arms, muscles flexing pointlessly, and him with his hand holding tessaiga back effortlessly. For the second time in as many minutes the unanswerable question emerged from my very core and escaped my lips before I could bite down on it.

"... the hell?"

Then he swung his arm sideways and sent both tessaiga and me flying through the forest.

My back was the first part of my body to make contact with the surrounding foliage, believe it or not that was a good thing.

As I heard the tree I crashed into splinter, crack, and finally break under the force of my momentum, not only was I slowed down considerably but the pain cleared my mind. This was no time to be surprised. This was no time to wonder what that thing was. This was serious.

This was what I was best at.

Ok. So you can't be sliced. Let's see if you can be pierced.

I turned myself in mid air and planted my feet on the second tree that would have otherwise caused me more pain. Letting my knees absorb the shock and then using the sway of the bending trunk to my advantage, I straightened my sword and steeled my body, feeling the switch in movement as I catapulted back the way I came.

My target was passing the first fallen tree when we met in a mid-air collision. For the first time I had a face to match the voice in my head.

Even now I wish I never did.

As we collided and tessaiga plunged into the creatures chest, the moon burst out behind the clouds and flooded the small clearing with its eerie light. In front of me was a man… A dead man…

A burnt man.

Nausea swept through my insides as the foul smell of burnt and decaying human flesh struck me head on shortly before it was cut off as a bony fist rammed into my stomach and sent me careening back into the ground.

"Ah sick!"

The overpowering smell made my eyes water and even made me forget that I'd just been slammed about three feet into the dirt. Whoever this guy was he was no pushover. Something like this called for strategy… and I usually skipped out on those talks for obvious reasons.

As if to answer my summons, the wind suddenly picked up to a deafening roar and put the creature off balance, giving me enough time to push myself up and roll out of the way. At the same time, from the opposite side of the clearing a disc popped out from between the trees, gaining momentum as it was pulled along from the powerful windstorm.

I didin't skip a beat. Without thinking twice, I ran in too, taking my play directly behind Sango's hiraikotsu. I could hear bones breaking as the anti-demon weapon collided with it's target but, just as I figured, after some strain the giant boomerang was flung aside and tore through some trees before getting picked up by a quick moving shadow.

Such… a pointless stru…

The words in my head were cut short as tessaiga buried its point into the creatures' head. The wind instantly stopped and me feet found the ground. Using this guy's own strength against him I sliced straight down and put all of my weight into it, knowing that his body wouldn't fold just like it hadn't from my first attack.

"Inuyasha-san, please step back!"

I didn't have to be told twice, gathering my feet under me I vaulted backwards, landing a few yards away. In seconds the sound of fluttering robes announced Miroku's presence right next to me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the monk lift his right arm and remove the beads. I quickly clamped down on it.

"No! I want him alive! This guy's got some questions that I want answers to!"

Miroku didn't move to pull free but quietly said "This isn't something that was can restrain Inuyasha-san. Look."

I turned my gaze back at my attacker and watched as the two pieces that I'd left him in began to knit back together. It was sickening watching the muscles and skin re-entwine after having been cleaved in two.

I let go of Miroku's arm.

"Kazanaa!"

Soon all that was left of the clearing was a few strewn trees with no leaves to speak of. Sango leapt out from the shadows, her boomerang slung over her shoulder. "What was that thing?"

I turned over and both the monk and the demon slayer were staring at me expectantly.

"What? You think I know what that thing was?!" I turned and started walking back to the village.

"Inuyasha-san?"

I didn't turn around, but kept walking toward the village.

"That kid. She knew something was out there, and it was too far away for even her to sense… something aint right here. Let's go back"

There was a slight hesitation, but soon the quiet sounds of Miroku and Sango's footsteps could be heard behind me. They were close.

But hopefully not close enough to notice the shiver that went up my spine when I heard the voice in my head echo again. This one was thinner, quieter, but at the same time much more sinister than the first.

Just as I expected hanyou. Just as I expected and much, much more. Yes… you will do quite nicely.

(A/N: Due to popular and persistent demand I've decided to continue this story to its end.)