Note: Sorry for the long wait for any updates on my stories. I just want to let everyone know that over a month ago I moved across country and have now just settled into my own place. Things have been hectic which includes finding a new job, a new apartment and now a new car as my other one was totaled my first week in my new province. Right now I have temporary internet service that will change in a few days. Until then here is an update on one of my stories. The chapters for the other stories will be up soon. Again sorry for the long wait.

P.S. Sorry about any little mistakes that are in this chapter. I haven't had any time to edit it or actually read through it fully. But I didn't want to keep anyone waiting any longer.

Chapter Eight: Evil Surrounding the East

A crack of thunder brought both girls out of their slumber, jolting awake instantly. Kagome blinked and glanced around her looking for someone. She knew who she was looking for and found him leaning against the wall with his knees drawn to his chest and his eyes closed. Looking down into her lap, she saw Rin curled up around a mass of white fur, shivering into it, clutching Kagome's side.

Kagome smiled softly and lifted her head again, searching for the other member of their party. Sesshoumaru was no where to be found. Sitting up startled, a soft voice eased her worries.

"He's outside."

"In the rain?" Kagome looked at the mangled door.

Inuyasha opened his eyes and peered at her, nodding.

"Have the twins returned yet?" She whispered, feeling Rin relax again falling into sleep.

"Not yet. What are your thoughts on those two?" Inuyasha asked, standing up and walking over to her, and seating himself beside her.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "I think they are rather interesting. They seem to be able to handle themselves that's for sure."

Inuyasha scoffed. "They are young."

"Older then you." She pointed out.

"Keh, so they say." He scoffed again, looking over his shoulder at the door. Standing up he slipped outside and stared at his brother's back curiously. If he didn't know better, he would have mistaken his brother for a statue.

"There's evil on the wind." Sesshoumaru whispered.

Inuyasha walked to his side and lifted his head to where his brother was looking. The black clouds mixed with dark grey ones were now tinged in red. "What is that?" He asked squinting.

Sesshoumaru shook his head. "What ever it is it's growing."

"Keh. Well it's nothing compared to the battles we have been in before." Inuyasha smirked.

Sesshoumaru remained silent for a moment. "This one is stronger then Naraku's youki, Inuyasha. Whoever is creating this evil has twice the amount of power of Ryuukossei."

Inuyasha blinked for a moment before shrugging it off. "Ha, once I discovered the backlash wave Ryuukossei was a breeze."

Sesshoumaru snorted. "You may have defeated him with the backlash wave Inuyasha, but what is missing from that battle now?"

Inuyasha frowned; both brothers shook their heads and reentered the broken shack. The girls had fallen asleep once again, and Sesshoumaru watched silently. Standing once again peering through the cracks in the wood, Sesshoumaru felt the change in the air. The storm was growing worse with each passing moment, and the leaking shack was doing little to assist the girls in staying dry and warm.

"Curse it!" Inuyasha growled. "When is this going to stop?"

Sesshoumaru frowned darkly. "Something comes." He hissed, stepping back from the walls quickly pulling his brother back with him.

Suddenly, without warning, the wood shattered into pieces and both brothers' were thrown back from the force of the blow. Kagome cried out and Rin panicked, both girls scrambling to their feet instantly. The girls raced to the back of the now shattered hut, and knelt behind the brothers' who now stood on their feet prepared for whatever had blown the shake to pieces.

There was nothing there. Sesshoumaru sensed something however. It was dark and menacing, and was watching them closely. Snarling low in his throat, Sesshoumaru allowed his eyes to travel through the thick rain trying to pin point the source of this evil.

Inuyasha flexed his fingers, growling loudly, also sensing something watching them, and he crouched lower to the ground, bending his knees. The presence seemed to move seemingly peering at the four strangers, and Inuyasha twisted to the side blocking the view of the girls.

Sesshoumaru stood still, his eyes being the only thing moving as the presence slipped past him, in front of his face, then to his other side. There was a slight wavering in the rain as the thing moved past his face, and he smirked, swiping at the air quickly with his claws.

A howl of rage filled everything around them. The presence then seemed to pulse with energy and grew heavier right in front of Sesshoumaru's face, and he lifted his haori sleeve covering his eyes as the small round wavering ball exploded and vanished.

Inuyasha blinked and then crouched over the girls as hundreds of rain droplets turned into what seemed to be shards of glass. Hissing in pain as they embedded themselves into his back right through his fire robe, Inuyasha swallowed, protecting both girls with everything he had.

Lifting his gaze suddenly, remembering how close Sesshoumaru had been to the explosion, he sighed in relief as his brother lowered his arm, and shook his head slightly, allowing the shards of glass to fall from his hair. Several scratches marred his forehead, but his eyes were safe. As suddenly as the storm had come, it vanished, along with the presence that had studied them.

"Are you alright?" Inuyasha hissed, sitting back on his heels.

Sesshoumaru turned to face him and nodded. His eyes caught Rin's as she flew over to him, calling out his name, and he knelt quickly as she barreled into his chest, throwing her arms around his neck. She quickly pulled back and whimpered pulling her arm off his shoulder.

Smelling blood instantly, Rin's blood, Sesshoumaru frowned looking at his shoulder seeing several shards embedded in the cloth of his haori. Lifting his hand and brushing them off, cutting his flesh as he did so, he took Rin's arm and inspected it for the piece that cut her.

Sighing, he gently removed the small shard and lifted her arm to glance at the shallow cut. Gripping the end of his sleeve in his hand, he wiped away the blood and then applied pressure to stop the bleeding.

His gaze found hers and she nodded bravely her eyes filled with silent tears. "Is Lord Sesshoumaru okay?" She whispered.

Smiling slightly, he nodded. "Is Rin okay?" He mimicked. Her eyes widened but she nodded.

"Rin is okay now." She whispered using the third person as she did on several occasions when she was close to danger and extremely frightened.

Allowing his smile to grow, he whispered in the third person to ease her fears. "This, Sesshoumaru is grateful that Rin is fine. Inuyasha would need to be thanked by Rin for saving her."

Rin grinned broadly and nodded. "Rin will thank Lord Inuyasha when he is finished with Kagome."

He turned his head to glance behind him and smirked as Inuyasha fussed over the miko. Frowning, and turning back to Rin he took a deep breath. "How does Rin take to this strange place?" He asked, never having been able to talk with her since they had arrived.

"Rin is confused." She whispered, kneeling down in front of him.

"Why?"

"Lord Sesshoumaru is acting strangely." She lowered her gaze.

"Does this frighten you?" Sesshoumaru asked, crossing his legs and pulling her into his lap.

Rin shook her head and leaned her ear against his chest. Her fingers picked up a piece of his hair and twirled it around in her fingers. "Confuses Rin." She lifted her gaze and allowed her eyes to meet his golden ones. "Rin has never seen Lord Sesshoumaru smile. Rin has also never been allowed to hold his hand."

"I see. This does not bother this Sesshoumaru. I have been blind it seems." He sighed.

Rin nodded. "Rin likes this new Lord Sesshoumaru." She whispered softly, looking back at her hand that played with his hair. "Will Lord Sesshoumaru let Rin pick him flowers now?"

"What is this Sesshoumaru to do with these flowers?" He felt his smile grow.

"Rin wants to make Lord Sesshoumaru happy."

"You do make me happy, Rin." He swallowed. "With your laughter, your singing, your playing, everything you do has not gone unnoticed by me. This world has awoken me and Kagome is helping me figure out what has been awoken."

Rin smiled and looked up at him again. "Rin makes Lord Sesshoumaru happy?"

Sesshoumaru nodded, but felt his frown cross his features again as she still used the third person. "Are you still frightened?"

She thought about it for a moment and shook her head. "Not anymore, because you are here."

Whispering into her ear, he uttered. "I will always be here." Taking a deep breath, and looking over his shoulder again, he felt slightly uncomfortable with the strange emotions that rippled through him. Looking back at Rin he sighed. "I think I need to talk with Kagome again."

"Are those elfs people coming back?" Rin asked, snuggling closer to Sesshoumaru.

Chuckling, he nodded. "I can smell them approaching. Kagome?" He muttered. "You might want to take out that healing kit of yours. I smell their blood on the air."

Kagome nodded and got to her feet quickly, while Inuyasha knelt beside Sesshoumaru. "How are you doing Rin?"

"I was scared." She whispered. "Thank you for saving me, Lord Inuyasha."

He jerked at the title, but a look from Sesshoumaru told him not to correct her. Nodding instead he smiled. Before either brother was able to say anything the twins came into view, looking the worst for wear.

Inuyasha immediately stood up and blinked at their torn clothing smeared in blood. "What happened?" He asked stepping forward quickly to aid them onto the wooden floor.

Elladan shook his head tiredly. "Orcs." He muttered darkly.

Elrohir sighed leaning against the broken slabs of wood still standing after the sudden explosion. "What happened here?" The brother asked sucking in deep breaths of air.

Sesshoumaru stood up and patted Rin's head as he did. "Something was watching us. I am not sure what it was."

Kagome looked up from her quick glances of Elladan's wounds and she frowned. "I didn't see anything watching us, but I did feel something."

"What ever it was, it was here, but not here." Inuyasha shrugged.

Elrohir shook his head. "At least it is gone now. We do not have much time until the orcs return with reinforcements. We will need to make haste to the Bruinen."

Sesshoumaru frowned. "What is the Bruinen?"

"The river that protects Rivendell from outside attention. If there is evil intent, the river senses this and prevents the passerby's crossing." Elladan explained.

Inuyasha peered at Elladan hard for a moment. "How can a river know if a person has evil intent?"

Elrohir shared a look with his twin for a moment. "It is an enchanted river; with my father's power this is possible."

Sesshoumaru nodded, then jumped slightly startled when a small hand gripped his. He glanced down at Rin and then bent to her level. "What is it?"

Rin whispered so softly that only Sesshoumaru could hear her frightened words. "I'm scared, can we leave now?"

Sesshoumaru glanced up and shook his head briefly. "We will leave once the elves are able to travel. Nothing will happen to you Rin." He whispered back.

She nodded, uncertainly and he sighed, placing her onto his bent knee and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Elrohir grinned slightly. "This is nothing; we will be able to travel in moments."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes at that. "How far is Rivendell from here?"

Elladan smiled, but his smile vanished when Kagome touched his gash in his arm. Hissing through his teeth he glared at her.

Kagome bit her lip. "Sorry. I know it stings, but this is an antibiotic cream, it will help prevent infection."

Elladan nodded and turned his gaze to Inuyasha's. "Imladris is one full days ride from here. If we travel all night and tomorrow, we will be at the Bruinen by midday."

Inuyasha frowned at that. "Is that walking?"

Elrohir nodded and grimaced at the stinging he felt in his arm. "Kagome that stings!" He grumbled.

She glanced up from Elladan's arm with her eyes wide. Elladan chuckled. "Ignore him, he's a big baby."

Elrohir frowned and glared at his twin. "I told you that we should have brought our horses."

Elladan waved his free arm absently. Sesshoumaru sighed. "Inuyasha, let's have a word outside shall we?"

The younger youkai blinked and then nodded confused. "What about? I still don't trust you."

Sesshoumaru smirked. "I believe that is a wise action on your part little brother." The older brother sighed. "The sense of danger is still present, however not as intense as it was before. I think it is time to test out these youkai abilities of yours and see if you can control them."

Inuyasha felt his eyes widen drastically. "If I can't?" He swallowed.

"That is why we should proceed to outside away from the others. I will stop you if something goes wrong."

Inuyasha felt his eyes narrow with suspicion. His mind stumbled over his brother's stressed words of 'if something goes wrong.' Silently he didn't like the sound of that, and he took a deep breath and walked over the pile of wood that had once been the walls of the shack. Sesshoumaru followed him and both brothers glanced over their shoulders at the twins and two girls who sat staring at them curiously.

Inuyasha sighed and turned to his brother waiting impatiently for Sesshoumaru to say something. His brother stood there silently, pondering his thoughts, keeping in mind that Inuyasha's youkai form was untrained and immature. This left Sesshoumaru with the problem that if Inuyasha couldn't control his youkai self, due to being young, the older youkai would have to intervene with force. Possibly harming the younger brother to contain the rage that filled ones self when in the true form of their inheritance of being Inuyoukai. Sighing audibly, Sesshoumaru looked down to the ground trying to figure out the best way to help his brother with this task of transformation.

Looking up, Sesshoumaru caught his brother's uncertain gaze, filled with fear and almost terror of what was to come. Rolling his eyes, Sesshoumaru gave a small smile of reassurance.

"Are you ready for this Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru whispered.

"Ready for what, may I ask? Just what exactly are we going to do?" Inuyasha hissed his fists clenched in anticipation.

Shaking his head, Sesshoumaru walked up to Inuyasha and placed his hand on his shoulder. "You, not we little brother. I already know how to transform my body. You however may be too young for this task."

Inuyasha remained silent blinking owlishly at his older brother for a few moments as this information sunk in. Taking a deep breath, Inuyasha nodded. "How old were you when you first transformed yourself?" He choked.

"Younger then you." Sesshoumaru whispered. "However I had father there and he was more skilled. I haven't changed myself since you cut off my arm." This memory brought a small frown to his forehead.

Inuyasha scowled. Grumbling under his breath, he cursed. "It's not like I went out of my way to cut off your arm. Don't forget who used my mother's image to trick me. Plus you were after my sword which father entrusted to me." Inuyasha threw off Sesshoumaru's hand that had tightened on his shoulder. "Let's also not forget who tried to kill me."

Shaking his head, Sesshoumaru felt the familiar anger fill him at his brother's immaturity. "That is now in the past. For now let's put that behind us and deal with the situation that we are in now."

Inuyasha sucked in is breath and nodded. "Agreed. So how do I do this?"

"Well the first thing is to place your true forms image in your head and concentrate on the transformation. Keep your emotions in check while you do this."

Inuyasha nodded. "How do I know what my true forms image looks like?" He asked suddenly thinking about Sesshoumaru in dog form.

Chuckling, Sesshoumaru shook his head. "Don't think about it in that sense. You can't change yourself with thinking about the image; however allow your true form to fill your mind. We are Inuyoukai, so you know that you are an Inu in truth. Remember how you felt when you didn't have Tessaiga. Allow a controlled feeling of that to enter you."

Sighing, Inuyasha closed his eyes not understanding what his brother was really saying. It was quick as the image filled his brain, but it was more like a feeling rather then the actual image. The familiar feeling of loss and anguish filled him, and he felt his body shiver as his claws grew longer, and he knew his eyes had changed from their usual golden to the deep red of rage. Swallowing the sick feeling that entered his throat, he hissed at his brother as panic suddenly took over him.

"What if I hurt someone?" Inuyasha shuddered as he remembered the village he had attacked and had not remembered the incident.

"That is why I'm here, don't worry Inuyasha. You are youkai now, not a hanyou. It is different."

Clenching his fists he growled. "How?"

"You will see, just concentrate on what you are feeling. So far you are doing well; don't forget the little details though."

"Details?" Inuyasha gasped as his body seemed to heat up with intense fire.

"Like a tail and ears." Sesshoumaru chuckled. "Forget those and it is like forgetting a vital part of your anatomy."

Clenching his eyes closed tighter, Inuyasha nodded at his brother's words. The tight feeling soon left him, and he felt like he was in a different place, rather then standing where he was. Blinking open his eyes, he found himself on all fours and he groaned.

Sesshoumaru smiled and nodded, seemingly inspecting his first transformation. "Now see, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

Inuyasha shook his head and smiled broadly, which appeared to all those now standing around staring at them, as Inuyasha lolling out his tongue. Kagome grinned as she glanced at Inuyasha's true form. "You look so cute, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha frowned and growled lightly. He lowered his head and she rubbed between his ears, his tongue lolling out once again and his eyes closed in contentment.

Sesshoumaru shook his head but felt a smile cross his features, remembering his first time transforming. "Now change back."

Inuyasha glanced at his brother in annoyance as Kagome paused her scratching of his ears. Barring his teeth at Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha shook his head and concentrated on changing back into his humanoid form.

As Inuyasha changed back, Kagome glanced at Sesshoumaru curiously, as he watched his younger brother. She felt a smile spread across her face as she realized that Sesshoumaru was acting like a protective older brother, then the usual cold hearted one she had come to know. Something caught her attention and she glanced at the two elves who stood beside her with a sick look on their faces. Elrohir held his twin's arm in a death grip and his knuckles were white from the force he had on Elladan's forcep. Both held a look of horror on their faces as they watched Inuyasha disappear in a swirl of bright white light.

Glancing away from the twins, Kagome caught Sesshoumaru's eyes before he turned away. Quirking a brow, she saw his silent question in his eyes and had nodded before his gaze left her completely. Sighing, Kagome blinked and saw the dust settle around Inuyasha who wore a large grin.

Elladan and Elrohir both stood off to the side as the two youkai brothers walked past, but Sesshoumaru hesitated and looked back. "Are you two coming? We need directions if you aren't."

The twins shook themselves out of their frozen states and quickly shouldered their packs. "Rivendell is this way." Elladan hissed, quickly taking the lead.