Disclaimer: If I owned it, I wouldn't be stuck waiting for the next episode to come on… and only the tenth, or so, episode too!!

AN: *Grins sheepishly* Well, over the whole time I've been writing this, a few people have been pointing out a few mistakes. I'd like to take this time to say I'm sorry for the OoC-ness of the characters and the misuse of Tenseiga by Sesshomaru in the prologue or something, and the third chapter too. Lastly, just remember I haven't seen too many episodes of Inuyasha, I don't know how many disclaimers I've stuck that on, so if you looked back, you'd see I've been saying it a few times. I haven't even seen half of the actual characters, like Sango, Kiara, Koga, and Ayame! That's my excuse, and yes, it is horrible that I kind of ruined it for myself, but knowing what happens never compares to seeing it on television. So sorry to those two that have seen my mistakes, I hope that it didn't ruin the story any for you, and I thank you for pointing that out. So, next chapter here, enjoy!

Icari

Chapter 8

Sesshomaru panted as he ran through the woods, intent on finding the girl he traveled with. He secretly hoped that no other demon had gotten hold of her, but so far, Rin's smell had not been entangled with another's.

He stopped again, trying to pick up the girl's smell from the plants and the thick air. Something was bothering him, he had a feeling it would've been safer if he had let Rin stay with him, but she didn't need to see what she was to see. In fact, right now, the youkai lied in a bloodied lump in the woods, somewhere. He deserved it, for trying to hurt Rin; that girl was in his protection.

 'Got it.' His head whipped up to where the girl's smell led, and burst into that direction. As he got closer, the smell of his sister and that mismatched pack he traveled with began to seep into his nose. And he thought that pack was strange before…

 A few more leaps and their smells hit him full force. He saw a green, throbbing light, at first the size and shape on Rin, but as it shimmered, it burst into a flame-like form before hiding inside the body fully. That was when Sesshomaru realized that his sister, one way or another, had used her sword on Rin. But something didn't fit; this never happened when she had demonstrated on that flower… he'd ask after he got the facts from someone.

 But for now… He watched in semi-horror and semi-amazement as Rin's body began to stretch and grow. Every moment, a limb stretched farther and farther out, and her wounds healed some, but just enough to not kill her during the transformation. Her hair grew longer, down to the lower parts of her backside, and her arms and legs became more slender. Each finger, cheek and leg lost the baby fat of a young girl, and the body slimmed too. As the transformation completed, her body took on a curvy, silky look.

 As the glow faded, the now older Rin took in her looks, inspecting each hand and leg to see a noticeable difference. She brushed through her silky hair, and looked curiously at her new chest. Behind, she felt a presence, and turned to see a gaping Sesshomaru for an instant before he sobered up and walked over to Inuyasha.

 "Half-breed, give me your haori." Inuyasha looked at him strangely before answering.

 "What the hell? Why should I let you use it? In fact, why the hell do you want it?" Kagome slipped off his back, and realized what Sesshomaru was talking about. Tensinshi's power did not work on nonliving things, which meant that Rin's kimono had stayed the same size, and barely managed to cover he chest and just below her buttocks. Her mind began to bother her, telling her that it could be used against the demon that was chasing them.

 'Demon? Oh bloody he-'

 "Icari!" The dazed youkai snapped her head up, realizing that she was being addressed. "Icari, I realized how to beat that demon that's following us. Your magic doesn't work on nonliving things, and scales don't aren't exactly living…" She stopped, seeing the confused look on Icari's face.

 "Just bring me to that thing, I'll tell you what to do on the way and explain later." Nodding, the youkai bent down a bit to let Kagome on. She jumped onto Icari's back with one knee dangling and the other kneeled on the forest green cloak. One hand held a bow and arrow and the other held onto Icari's shoulder.

 "Okay, I'm ready. Let's go!" And they raced off, Kagome explaining quickly what to do when they reached the demon.

*~*~*~*~*

 Inuyasha stared at the dust his sister's feet had brought up when she had ran off. A gnawing feeling settled in his stomach as he realized that Kagome and Icari were both heading for that giant lizard.

 "Damn it all!" He cursed, slipping off his haori quickly for Sesshomaru to catch. "Here have it. I got to go." He raced off after his sister, hoping he could get there before they were hurt.

*~*~*~*~*

 "Drop me here." As ordered, Icari dropped the girl in front of the lizard, and ran quickly into the space below it. Looking back, she saw that Kagome had strung an arrow and was ready to commence.

 "Okay, here goes nothing…" She drew out her sword, transforming it as it came. There was no time to lose; the slimy creature had caught sight of Kagome already. Quickly, and with much effort, she thrust her sword upward, making it push through the scales and affect the body. Blood rushed down onto her arms and hands, and a horrible cry came out of the demon.

 She yanked on her sword and rushed out before the demon began to grow even more. Its stomach soon began to expand to the ground before the legs expanded, lifting it back up. As planned, the scales slowly moved apart.

 "Kagome! Now!" After the explanation, it was quickly realized that more scales would grow to fill up the holes, and it was decided that this operation had to be done as quickly as possible.

 And arrow flew through the air, making a whooshing sound as it went. A lot of tension was felt as it began to arch, and fall. As the arm came closer, Icari found that she couldn't watch anymore. Instead, her eyes opened in horror as scales began to form from the gaps between the old scales.

 "The other one!" Their attentions moved to the other arm, and it seemed like the arrow would not catch the other shard in time before their chance was over, until a red, white and silver flash was seen passing Kagome.

 Soon, Inuyasha's form could be recognized as he went to slash at the other arm, but the lizard roared and swerved. "No!" Quick as possible, Kagome pulled another arrow and shot, not bothering to aim correctly.

 He struck, but was surprised when he hit nothing. Inuyasha's feet touched ground again, and turned to see the lizard thrashing wildly. Adrenaline took over and he took out Tetsusaiga. Jumping again, he aimed to land on the demon's back, and did so; surprised at the enormous size of the beast he was on. After regaining his balance, he stood and began to run.

 The lizard thrashed again, and Inuyasha recognized it as the pain from the arrow hitting the shard. Turning towards the arm again, he began to run, but the lizard thrashed again, causing him to slip.

 "What the…" he tried to grip a scale, but it slowly loosened itself from its place in a small sliver. Seeing this, he pulled out the scale quickly, using the force to pull himself up. As he steadied himself, Inuyasha realized that the scale now protruding from the lizard's body was much thicker than the last. "Right, lizards have to shed their scales. That just gives me more time." And he raced off again.

 Kagome soon realized that the old scales were falling out, and new ones were replacing them, yet more slowly. Seeing this, she pulled another arrow out of her quiver, not daring to rely on Inuyasha to figure things out for himself. She took aim again, and shot, just as it bucked.

 Back on top of the lizard, Inuyasha found the place were the arm and body of the demon joined. He saw a dark spot were he presumed the shard was, and readied Tetsusaiga. On the spot, he lifted it, and plunged it, stopping the rapid growth of the scales. It screeched and bucked, unsteadying him, but the grip he had on his sword was firm, and kept him on.

 Then large demon bucked again, but that wasn't what had made him fall off. No, it was the arrow that was heading towards him, arching gracefully, and then hitting him on the shoulder. This made him lose his grip and fall. The demon's legs were about to crush him, when it turned to nothing but dust, covering him as his sword fell right beside him. A shard fell to his side too, and he looked at it warily.

 "Kagome…"

 A whisper floated through the air, but Kagome couldn't make out what it said. She was too horrified at the fact that Inuyasha had nearly died, and that now, she couldn't see what had made him lose his grip; being covered in dust. In fact, she didn't even know if she had anywhere to start looking. A wind blew through the clearing they had fought in and a bit of red and white was uncovered.

 Icari recovered much more quickly, and ran to where her brother lied. She picked his top half up and held it in her arms, realizing what had caused him to fall. The arrow Kagome had shot, it had landing on his right shoulder, which would've made him fall, but the fall itself had made him pass out, and she could tell that some his ribs were broken. The smell of blood was faint, and she came to the conclusion that there were no internal injuries, but she would still have to be careful.

 At the sound of panting, Icari looked up to see Kagome running towards her. Her eyes were worried as she went to kneel beside the two on the ground. Cradling her brother, she allowed Kagome to look at him.

 "Kagome, we have to go back to Lady Kaede, she might know how to speed up the process of healing… but for now, pick up the Tetsusaiga and the two shards, before someone else gets to them." She nodded, tears in her eyes as she walked away hurriedly. Poor girl…

 "Kagome…" By now, the girl was too far to hear, and pity overtook the worry she had felt for her brother. His hand was lifted a bit, and his eyes were sorrowful. "You're crying…" Exhaustion took over and he fell back to sleep.

 Biting her lip, Icari looked at the arrow. She really didn't want to do this, but she had to get it out before the bloods crusted over. "Okay little brother, this is going to hurt…"

 She stood over her brother, and braced them both. Hands on the arrow, she pulled it out quickly, wincing at her brother's cry. Kagome also looked over at them, realizing what was going on. Icari took the bottom of her cape and ripped a strip out. She made a make-shift bandage for her brother before picking him up, pitying his current position before going back to her own.

 She had taken the most precious years of a person's life.

*~*~*~*~*

 "There they are!" Miroku, Sango and Shippo stood up to see the three returning travelers. Kagome stood a bit off, walking solemnly as Icari carried a third, motionless body into view.

 "What happened to Inuyasha?" Sango gasped, causing Rin to bolt up, but Sesshomaru's hands kept her from running to the hurt hanyou. He wasn't about to let her run with nothing but his brother's haori on.

 Kagome looked away guiltily, and the others didn't pry; they knew that it would not help whatever that was going through Kagome's head right then. Instead, Icari spoke up.

 "We have to go. Inuyasha's hurt, and we need Lady Keade's help." The group nodded and cleaned up the little camp they had laid out. Sango went to question Icari, but she was speaking again, as if reading Sango's mind. "It took a day and a half to get here, but if we hurry, we can get back before dawn. Sesshomaru, you carry Rin. Ah and Uh can carry Jaken and I can carry Inuyasha. That will keep the load off of Kiara." The group complied and went solemnly.

 They readied themselves and set off, first Kiara, then Ah and Uh, then Sesshomaru, and finally Icari. As they went, Icari couldn't help but watch the older Rin riding on Sesshomaru sadly. Grief and guilt took over her at the thought of what she had done.