Showdown in the Pine Forest

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, however, Moeagaru is my creation.

Sparks flew through the air when the two weapons clashed blades. The two youkai wielding the blades leapt back after the strike. They stood on opposite sides of the small clearing from one another. They were both panting from exhaustion. The pair had been dueling since afternoon, and the moon was now high above them. The edge of the clear was singed from fire, and the rocks were now reduced to gravel. Several of the trees were broken and splintered from bodies being thrown into them. The three onlookers remained on the fringes of the battle, watching and waiting to see the outcome. At one point Inuyasha had even dozed off. He finally woke when the monk had gently elbowed him in the ribs. He sleepily watched from the sidelines, yawning and lounging as the battle drug on.

The two combatants were not in as bad a shape as one would expect from to youkai that had been battling for hours. Neither one was willing to give in or give up. Each had a point to prove. Each had their fair share of cuts and bruises from their skirmishes. The Western Lord seemed to be fairing better then the elemental, but at some points in the battle it was hard to say definitively. Sesshoumaru came skidding past the pack on the balls of his feet, and slid to a stop a few feet from were they sat. He drew his arm high in the air, the tip of his sword reaching for the sky, he then slashed it down, then quickly turned, and slashed it horizontally in the air. A fierce blue light sprang from his sword and flashed forward across the clearing. The attack hit the elemental squarely in the chest, sending him flying backwards into another unsuspecting tree. After he broke through the first tree with his back, he turned around in the air, and planted both feet firmly into the tree behind him. He cushioned his impact and then redistributed the energy into forward motion. He came flying at the young lord at break neck speed.

The pair continued to battle through the night, unrelenting in their pursuit. As dawn began to break the next morning, Sango gasped in surprise. Inuyasha, Miroku and Kirara all turned to see what the problem was. When their eyes locked with the miko's they all gasped and smiled simultaneously. Kagome sat up carefully, a sleepy look on her face. Her eyes still had a glassy quality to them. Sango found this disturbing. Inuyasha didn't notice and didn't care.

"Kagome." Inuyasha blurted out suddenly.

A moment later Sesshoumaru went flying through the air past the onlookers. Kagome made no reaction to the youkai lords flight past them. Sango became concerned that Kagome would become a distraction for the Western lord, and seriously jeopardize the outcome of the battle. Sesshoumaru sprang forward again, coming from a small pile of tree rubbish that he had just created, from his landing shoulders first into the thick pine tree. Kagome began to stir and was trying to stand, her eyes locked on the inky black fire youkai that was currently fending off a very angry inu-youkai. If something wasn't done, Kagome would walk into the middle of their battle. Sango looked at Miroku, immediately she could see that the same worries were present in his mind as well. With a quick nod from his betrothed the monk jumped up and pinned the silent miko to the ground. Inuyasha barked in surprise at the monks sudden and strange behavior. Sango was rummaging through her slayers pouches looking for something.

"What the hell do you think your doing Miroku?" He yelled out at his friend.

"We have to stop her, Inuyasha." The monk snapped impatiently at the hanyou.

"Stop her?" Inuyasha repeated in confusion.

"She is still under his control. We have to stop her." Sango said as she moved forward with a cloth in her hand.

Sango moved to her friends head and gently placed the cloth over her mouth and nose. They all watched as the young woman began to slow in her struggles. When the woman gave up her struggles the monk carefully released her arms. The slayer moved her to a more comfortable position; crossing her arms over her stomach and resting her head on a roll of cloth.

"We have to be sure to keep Kagome asleep until the elemental is dead." Sango began, and Inuyasha looked up with a questioning expression on his face. "She will not be released from his control until Lord Sesshoumaru kills him. We have to keep her asleep and out of combat until that has happened."

"She is so strong." Sango whispered to herself, but Miroku and Inuyasha still heard.

"Indeed she is." Miroku smirked. "To have fought against the control of an elemental as old and strong as this one. She truly is strong."

Miroku placed his arm around the shoulder of the dark hair slayer, and pulled her towards him. Sango excepted his affections and rested her head on his shoulder. He dared to move his hand lower, to rest at her waist, and happily she allowed him that. In a clear presence of mind he did not pursue any farther.

"If she was so strong, why'd she go and get herself kidnapped again?" Inuyasha's barking broke the couples peaceful moment.

"If Sesshoumaru-sama couldn't do anything to prevent her kidnapping then I doubt that she could." Sango barked back at him.

Kagome winced in her slumber. Sango quickly came to her side and patted her head with a rag she had wet from the canteen. The miko calmed quickly, and her restlessness stopped, but then tears began to slide down her cheeks again. Sango wiped away the tears from the suffering woman's face. A sad smile came over Kagome's face, and in a pained voice she whispered out.

"Sorry."

"I didn't mean to be so weak." She said in her unconscious state. "I tried to become stronger. I tried to become stronger for you. So that you would see me as equal."

Sango's face became puzzled at her strange words. Could she be talking about him? She must not know how he feels. Although Kagome was pretty dense when it came to these things, and the thought made her smile. Inuyasha's left ear twitched slightly at the miko's words; trying to pretend he couldn't hear them.

A sudden loud crash and a deep penetrating roar caught everyone's attention. A blur of black sailed past them and crashed into several trees to their left. A streak of red and white followed quickly after it. The morning sun was coming through the trees and the battle took on a more ethereal glow in the rays of the dawning sun. The sun glistening through the silvery hair of the inu-lord, painting him in an image of a shining knight. The sun behind the dark youkai increased his ominous appearance, and made him look blacker. Sesshoumaru slashed his Bakusaiga time and time again, pushing the fire elemental back, and landing several blows. The blood began to soak through his kimono, the dark color made it difficult to see, but Sesshoumaru could smell it. He had finally taken the upper hand in the battle. He would have to push his advantage now. He stood still his sword parallel to the ground.

"Dragon Strike." He said in a low husky voice.

Blue flames erupted from the swords blade, and flicked wildly through the clearing at the struggling youkai in front of him. The electric flames danced closer and closer to the elemental as if a predator was closing in on it's prey. It all seemed to be happening in slow motion in Moeagaru's eyes, but he knew that it was a split second. He pulled on his youki and smoke engulfed him. When the smoke cleared he was standing behind Sesshoumaru who was watching his attack slice through the air where his opponent had just been standing. In another moment that seemed like an eternity the daiyoukai turned, with another fast attack for the elemental. This attack was slower and did not require such a drastic move to avoid. He simply set his pike in the ground and shot a blast of fire directly into the center; dispelling the attack instantly. Sesshoumaru leapt forward immediately and came down, sword first, on the spot where his opponent stood. Moeagaru flew into the air, flipped head over heals, and landed on the last remaining boulder in the area.

Sango watched carefully. The fire elemental stood on a boulder directly across from her, and Lord Sesshoumaru was attacking from her left. The fire elemental planted his pikes handle again, he began to chant in a low tone. A swirl of youki made a circle around the large metal ring at the end of the pikes blade. As the youki quickly increased, the ring began to distort and enlarge with the youki. As the chant wound down his voice became louder, until he reached the last word which he yelled. As he yelled the last word, a large shock wave of youki and fire shock from the large circle in the weapon. The blast hit the youkai lord square in the body. Sesshoumaru was thrown backwards through the forest. Several trees snapped as he went smashing through them. Without hesitation, or delay, the fire youkai turned toward the pack and released a torrent of fire at them. Everyone jumped away quickly. The flames grazed past the sleeping miko. The second he had released his flames he jumped forward, hard on the heals of his own attack. He landed beside the miko, picking her up and tucking her under one arm, his body exploded into flames, the tornado of fire lifted into the air with the miko at the center, lifting up and away from them.

Just as everyone realized that Kagome had been taken, a blur of red and white rushed passed them. Sesshoumaru was in pursuit.