Chapter 2 of 3 The soul-eating blade Written by: Shawn Stone Inuyasha was tired from a hard fight with Ryuukotsusei, his fathers murderer. Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Mioga, and Shippo were all resting under a fireplace. Inuyasha was thinking to himself again. "So my old man helped me to defeat the one who brought him to his demise. I have faint memories of my father, but leaving me one his fangs, the Tetsusaiga, I can tell that he must have loved me very much. Im just glad that dad decided to give me the sword instead of Sesshomaru," he thought to himself. He was weak and needed some sleep so he decided to go to sleep. Meanwhile, in a far away region, Naraku stood with the wind blowing through his long loose hair. He drew a blade from a sheath connected to his large purple cape. The blade was not quite as big as the Tetsusaiga, and it came to a diamond shaped tip. Naraku drove the sword into the ground, opening up a portal from hell. Out of the portal came several demons. Naraku, slashed his sword through a line of demons killing them all with one swing. He chopped some of the demons heads off. The youkais cried and yelled out loud in pain, as there sliced up bodies fell to the ground in pieces. Naraku smiled as he stared at the youkai carcasses that lay in pieces surrounding him.

Inuyasha and the gang were riding on Kilala through the sky. They come to a resting area and Kagome was collecting some wild shrubs that would help ease Inuyashas pain. Inuyasha was quick to recover after a nights rest by the fireplace. Mioga and Miroku were about 50 yards away from the fire, discussing the recent occurrence. "So Inutaisho was a great dog demon, and in his life he fell in love with two different beings. One was a mortal, which gave birth to hanyou Inuyasha, and one a youkai, which gave birth to full dog-demon Sesshomaru," said Miroku. "Yes, Inutaisho was a powerful demon, in fact, he claimed himself ruler of the land. Seeing as Ryuukotsusei wanted to become ruler himself, he took Inutaisho on. Inutaisho had a kind heart and had a good life, but Ryuukotsuseis powers were simply too immense. As we all know, Ryuukotsusei was a dragon. It is not known how Ryuukotsusei was so massively powerful or where he obtained such powers, but the powers of dragons have always been stronger than those of youkais. Dragons are the sons of the devil himself," explained Mioga. "Since we now know that Naraku was the one who reserructed Ryuukotsusei, I cant help but wonder what other plots Naraku might be planning seeing that Ryuukotsusei failed. I suggest we take turns keeping guard tonight, since Inuyasha is too badly wounded and needs his rest," remarked Miroku. "I totally and fully agree with you lord Miroku. You keep first guard and awaken me in a few hours. then Ill take over. Talk to you then," said Mioga. Mioga lay down and fell fast asleep. Miroku was thinking to himself as he watched over his friends. "Damn that Naraku, all I have ever known him to do is trick people and set traps. Hardley have we ever encountered him in the flesh, as he always sends someone else to do his dirty work for him." Miroku held his right hand and clamped it tightly. "That retched Naraku is also the one who placed this black hole curse onto my family. I swear one day I will destroy him with my very hands. I must do so before I am sucked into the Wind Tunnel myself. I will do so to avenge my father as well as my grandfather, who was the first to be placed under this cursed spell," he thought to himself. Morning arrived, and Inuyasha had been fully revived. He was off early before anyone else wielding his Tetsusaiga, trying to deform it to his fathers original fang that he had used in battle against Ryuukotsusei. He had used this fang before, but he did not know how to get the Tetsusaiga to morph to this level. All the times before, were either by luck or by his fathers spirit helping to protect him, the way he did in the battle between Inuyasha and Ryuukotsusei. He had known ho to transform the Tetsusaiga, even when drawing or sheathing it, and even knew how to use the wind scar for its one attack capability, but he could not figure out what unlocked the red fang hidden inside the Tetsusaiga. Inuyasha and his friends were back on the trail traveling through the woods. Kagome was thinking of going back to her own time. She had been gone for several days now. But she did not want to leave yet. Suddenly, Kagome felt a since of evil come over her entire body. She felt as if someone was watching her. Inuyasha picked up the scent of Naraku nearby. He and Miroku ran off ahead of the gang and found Naraku standing on a ledge, with his back against them. Miroku and Inuyasha stood still, slowly Naraku turned to face them. He spoke softly "So we meet again Inuyasha," he murmured. "Naraku, I am surprised to see you in the flesh, normally youd lay some cowardly trap or use you demon puppetry to try and defeat me," said Inuyasha. "What more do I need of my incarnations and other plans to defeat you when I have this," Naraku held out the sword he had used on the demons, while it remain in its sheath. Inuyasha drew his Tetsusaiga morphing it to its fullest power. Naraku smiled. He drew his sword from his sheath. For the first time, Inuyasha and his friends gazed upon the Toulegia in awe, for they had never seen such a weapon. The blade had a certain white glow outlining it. Mioga jumped to Inuyashas shoulder and began to explain. "My lord that is the Toulegia , a sword forged from the fang of Ryuukotsusei. Ive only seen the Toulegia in paintings, for it is only supposed to be a fantasy sword, no such blade had ever been created. But how can that be, Naraku is a hanyou and this sword is only capable of being wielded by a youkai and only a youaki, no other being is supposed to be capable of wielding it," he explained. "I dont care where the Toulegia came from, I defeated Ryuukotsusei, and Ill defeat the sword forged from his fang," yelled Inuyasha. He jumped into the air with Tetsusaiga. Naraku held his Toulegia out horizontally in front of him. Inuyasha slashed his sword vertically down onto Narakus. The two of them pushed against each other, and streaks of tension was created between the two swords. The Tetsusaiga, began to crack at the blade part that touched Narakus blade. Inuyasha was sent back 30 or 40 feet, hitting the ground hard, and in doing so, his Tetsusaiga deformed. Inuyasha was stunned. How can that be? Naraku spoke again, he held the Toulegia out so that Inuyasha and the gang could observe it as he spoke. "You fool. As you may have guessed, I used the power of an evil Shikon jewel shard to resurrect Ryuukotsusei. The fang of your father may have been powerful enough to defeat him, but I fear you are mistaken if you think that your Tetsusaiga will defeat my Toulegia." "You are the foolish one," yelled Miroku. Ryuukotsusei bit the Tetsusaiga when Inuyasha and him were in battle and Inuyasha still defeated him using his fathers fang," explained Miroku. "True," said Naraku. "But this sword is special. Not only is it the fang of Ryuukotsusei, but it feeds on evil spirits," he said viciously. "What?" said Inuyasha and his friends. "Yes for you see, this sword, after slaying a demon, sucks the soul from it giving it its power. The more souls it contains, the more powerful it becomes. Marvelous isnt it? I recently have been gathering souls of youkais, collecting them with the Toulegia, making it more and more powerful each time. Inuyasha, allow me to demonstrate," snickered Naraku. He stuck his Toulegia into the ground. The ground began to shake. "What is going on?" screamed Shippo, Kagome, and Sango. The portal to hell opened. Out of the portal came numerous quantities of youkai. Naraku slayed most of them with just a few strikes. He then held his Toulegia straight up, pointing to the sky. The spirits of the demons rose from their dead bodies, and were sucked into the Toulegia through its tip. "I see, so Naraku uses the Toulegia to summon the demons, then he slays them all, giving his sword more strength," said Miroku. "Youve pinpointed it very well monk," said Naraku. The sound of horses galloping and several hundred footsteps could be heard. Naraku turned around to see the display of an army of villagers. "Inuyasha, we have come to help you slay the demon," yelled one of the villagers. Naraku turned around to face Inuyasha and his gang. "After collecting so many evil spirits, my Toulegia evovles, and obtains the ability to draw in any soul whether, hanyou, youkai, or mortal and poison it with evil. Allow me to show you Inuyasha," he said. Naraku turned around and began to slaughter the villagers. He held his sword with one hand out to his side. He soared toward the villagers, and slashed through them, swinging his Toulegia from his left to his right. He quickly, in the speed of light, came face to face with one of the villagers, pointing his blade to the ground. The villager turned and began to run, but as soon as he did, Naraku leaped into the air pulling his Toulegia through the villager, slicing through him with it. As he came back down he aligned his Toulegia vertical to the ground and as he came down, he sliced another villager in half, until his Toulegia touched the ground. Still holding it with one hand, he held the Toulegia out straight in front of him pointing toward one of the villagers. He soared across the ground heading straight for the villager. Naraku stuck his Toulegia all the way through the villagers chest; the end of his Toulegia appeared on the villagers back. The remaining villages began to retreat. "Do not flea," he said. Naraku grabbed the Toulegia with both hands. He chased the villagers, and with a single slash he quickly spun around devoured the remaining soldiers. Again, he held the Toulegia toward the sky and the souls descended from the dead human corpses that lay in shreds on the ground beneath him. Every last soul was drawn into the sword and after doing so, the Toulegias white glow became larger and brighter. "My blade is quite strong now, considering I have the ability to use any type of soul to make it more powerful," snickered Naraku.

"Ive heard enough," screamed Inuyasha. Its time to use the windscar. Inuyasha held the Tetsusaiga out pointing straight at Naraku; the wind scar began to appear. Inuyasha brought the Tetsusaiga to his side, and with all his might, and with the tip of his Toulegia touching the ground, he swung his sword around a complete 180 degrees. Several white streaks of power formed before him. The streaks of light drove themselves across the land toward the wind scar. They broke through the wind scar and headed straight toward Naraku. Naraku drew his Toulegia back, and as if he were hitting a baseball, he swung it at the streaks of power and they cancelled. Again Inuyasha and the gang were stunned. They could not decide whether Naraku himself had become more powerful, or if it was simply his sword that had given him such elite power. "You are out of options Inuyasha," Said Naraku. If your Tetsusaigas true power is weaker than the power of my Toulegia, then you have nothing left to do, except die a bloody death. Inuyasha Prepare to meet you demise. At this point, Inuyashas friends, were all terrified for Inuyashas as well as their own life. Miroku and Sango could not help, for Miroku would be poisoned by the insects, and Naraku would simply break Sangos boomerang. Kagome was side-eyed. She began to become week in the knees. She quickly grabbed an arrow from her quiver, and shot an arrow at Narakus Toulegia. In a heartbeat, Naraku slashed his Toulegia, cutting the arrow in half in mid air. "You are all doomed, there is no stopping me now, I will finally slay you all, you blood shall stain this blade of mine, and your souls added to it," murmured Naraku. Naraku flew across the ground with great speed, holding his blade out, heading straight for Inuyasha. He came quite close to Inuyasha when he heard the voice of a man behind him call out his name, "NARAKU!" Naraku stopped in his tracks to turn around and face a mortal, a man with a trident in his grip. The man lifted his trident into the air and hurled it to the ground. As he did such, a streak of light appeared in arc shape from the tip of his trident. The streak of light was sent toward Naraku. Naraku held out his Toulegia at angle in front of him with one hand blocking the light. "Foolish mortal, leave this area at once, if you want to live," said Naraku. Naraku turned back around to face Inuyasha. The man ran at Naraku with his trident in front of him. He was planning to stick the trident through Naraku. Just as the man was about to pierce through Naraku, Naraku spun around and sliced the tips of his trident off. The man jumped back. "Weakly mortal, who are you? What business have you with me?" said Naraku. "I am a simple monk, and I have come to stop you from you treacherous plot," replied the man. "Very well," said Naraku. "I shall slay you, and claim your soul as my prize. Naraku jumped toward the man. Their weapons clashed in a sword-fight, as they battled. The man ran behind a line of trees, with Naraku in close behind in pursuit of him, cutting down the trees trying to slay the man. They clashed weapons again. Naraku swung his Toulegia against the trident and in the blink of an eye, he brought his sword around and cut the handle of the mans trident in half. "Ignorant mortal, prepare to die," said Naraku; he leapt into the air. Coming back down, he held the blade with one hand, back behind his shoulder, and when he reached the man, swung it down toward him. The man with is last strengths, held the top part of his trident out stopping the Toulegia, in between two of its spikes. What was left of his Trident began to crack. "You wont last long," sneered Naraku. The trident was still cracking and then suddenly it stopped; all was silent. Out of the tip of the leapt a large streak of blue light, and out of the tip of the monks trident appeared a large steak of pink light. The two streaks of light drifted into the air and then back down to the ground. From the blue streak appeared the spirit of Ryuukotsusei, and out the streak of pink light appeared the spirit of a mortal women. The woman approached the dragon. "Ryuukotsusei," she said. "Its been a long while. I long for us to have the life together that we once had." The dragon had his head down next to her as she hugged him. He spoke in a deep youkai voice. "I too long for that life. When the demon brothers cast the spell on me to be this demonic form, I was forever cursed to be evil. I was so mad at the world that I could not have you anymore that I could not control my sinister acts, and sacrifices," said the dragon. The dragon made sound of sadness and mournfulness. "I see, these two had a previous relationship, and it wold appear that it was some time ago," said Miroku. "Get back into the Toulegia Ryuukotsusei," said Naraku. "You failed me at devouring Inuyasha, so I shall use your power to destroy him myself. Naraku pointed the Toulegia at the dragon and it began to suck him back into the Toulegia. Naraku soared toward the mortal spirit that stood before him. As he did so, the women jumped into the air, diving into the sword. Naraku stopped and held the sword out in front of him with one hand, studying it. "How is it possible for her to get inside the Toulegia, without me drawing her in?" he said. "You did this," said Naraku. He soared toward the mortal monk once more and wildly swung his Toulegia back and forth cutting the man into tiny shreds. Naraku began to absorb the mans soul, but when he tried he could not. As soon as the soul touched the blade, it disappeared. Naraku was puzzled. Suddenly, he could hear a heartbeat. He looked around pondering at where it came from. He looked at his sword. The heartbeat was coming from inside it. His blade was pulsing. The white glow outlining his Toulegia began to slowly fade, and a pinkish color began to take its place. Naraku noticed his hand starting to melt. He dropped the Toulegia and the tip of it stuck in the ground. He tried stood still for a moment and then tried to grasp the blade once more and pull it out of the ground. He grabbed hold of the handle, but as soon as he did, it shocked him. "No, how can this be," yelled Naraku. "My precious Toulegia has been purified," he screamed. Inuyasha drew his Tetsusaiga and ran for Naraku. He swung it at Naraku, but Naraku jumped out of the way and soared off over the horizon. "I will return to claim your life Inuyasha, when I formulated a new plan," he said. The souls that were entrapped in the Toulegia, rose from it and shot off into the air, disappearing into the clouds. The Toulegia slowly began to disintegrate from tip to handle, and after it had disappeared, Inuyasha and the gang could see the sparkle of another evil sacred jewel shard to wield his Toulegia," said Miroku. The shard glowed a dark blackish color from all of the evilness that it had absorbed. The jewel was quickly purified after Kagome picked it up. "One thing I dont understand though, who in the heck was that lady that was talking to Ryuukotsusei?, and who was that monk that brought for all of this in the first place?" said Inuyasha. I suppose well never know since Naraku devoured him," said Shippo. "Why would Naraku need an evil jewel shard to wield his blade?" said Sango. "Because Naraku is a half-demon. He claims and takes the appearance of a full demon, but the human-blood from the original Onigumo that he once was still flows within him. Mioga, you said that only a full-fledged demon would be capable of mastering the Toulegia, and the human blood that flows within him makes him a hanyou. Therefor he was also unable to wield the Toulegia from the very beginning. Only by using a sinister jewel shard was he able to wield it," said Mioga. "Yes and judging by the expressions and the conversation of that women and Ryuukotsusei, I would imagine that they had had a previous relationship together many moons ago," said Miroku. "I heard Ryuukotsusei say that he was cursed, does that mean that he too used to be a mortal?" said Kagome. "I guess so, he mentioned that he was possessed by some sort of demons," said Inuyasha. "Yes and it seems that that women loved Ryuukotsusei so much that she sacrificed her own soul by leaping into the Toulegia and purifying it, making it vulnerable to Narakus use," explained Mioga. "The monk that came forth and challanged Naraku must have known that he had the spirit of Ryuukotsusei trapped inside the blade, and that his trident was created from Ryuukotsuseis loves soul. The monk knew that their weapons would be useless against each other. Quite the end to this tragic incident," said Mirkou. The 6 of them, looked in the direction that Naraku had taken off in. "Do you think that Naraku might have had something to do with the possession of Ryuukotsusei from the start?" asked Inuyasha. "It wouldnt surprise me at all," said Kagome.

END OF CHAPTER 2