Chapter 3.

The group awoke early the next morning, Rin was the first one to wake, causing a bit of a ruckus as she attempted to wake Sesshoumaru. Her stomach was rumbling, and she didn't see any need to keep this to herself. When Sesshoumaru finally awoke, he'd taken a moment to realize where he was; he was in the company of his little brother and the group whom he traveled with. Sesshoumaru stood and looked down at Rin who was eagerly tugging at his pant leg and groaning while rubbing her belly. She let out a low groan of hunger and then spoke in a whiney tone. "Lord Sesshoumaru, may we please eat? I am so hungry." That was right, he'd remembered that she'd fallen asleep before having anything to eat the night before, of course she would be hungry by now, yet he had nothing to offer her, he'd always brought her back to his palace before hunger had set in on the child, so she had never had to go without eating, but it was different, if he wanted the Tenseiga to work again, he couldn't just leave and then return and expect his unreliable brother and company to still be here waiting for him.

Sesshoumaru sighed, then knelt down and hoisted Rin up into his arms. "Rin, I am sorry, but we cannot go back to the palace for food, can you wait until we reach the next village this morning?" Rin whined once more and shook her head, pouting as her stomach let out another grumble. Sesshoumaru was about ready to head back towards the palace to get Rin something to eat, when he'd heard the sound of Kagome's voice. Kagome had awoken when she'd heard Rin's whines and groans and had begun digging through her backpack. She looked up towards Sesshoumaru and Rin, smiling slightly as she spoke. "Uh, good morning. I guess I don't need to ask if she wants breakfast, I'll have everything ready in a few minutes, if you think you can wait that long, Rin." Rin grinned widely and nodded her head energetically. "Yes, miss Kagome, thank you!" She chimed happily.

Some fifteen to twenty minutes later, everyone else was awake and waiting for breakfast, InuYasha still seemed a bit cold towards the presence of his older brother, and made a point of staying away from him as much as he could afford to. He wasn't about to leave his friends and Kagome alone with his brother, because truthfully, he wasn't sure he trusted his brother not to kill them. After a few more minutes of toiling and cooking, Kagome announced that breakfast was ready, and that they could eat whenever they were ready. Rin, of course, was already half way through a bowl of noodles by the time Kagome had said most of this, and her hunger was soon satisfied. Kagome just smiled a bit nervously as she watched the child devour the noodles in what seemed like a matter of seconds. The way Rin had eaten the noodles so quickly, Kagome was beginning to have second thoughts about whether or not Rin wasn't at least partially Youkai.

'She at that whole bowl of noodles faster than InuYasha eats a bag of potato chips!' She thought to herself. She then remembered the incident from last night, the near-fight that almost broke out over a piece of shrimp. Deciding it would be better to avoid conflicts such as this, Kagome had asked InuYasha to sit across from her, and had asked Sango if she would sit across from Sesshoumaru, and she had asked Miroku and Shippou to sit between the two of them. All though, she wasn't sure at first whether or not asking Sango to sit across from Sesshoumaru was a good idea, a Youkai and a Youkai slayer sharing a table with another, she was more worried about that than she was about InuYasha and Sesshoumaru fighting, but to her surprise, the two of them seemed to get along quite well. They hadn't argued once at all, and at one point, had actually seemed to be enjoying a conversation with one another…Well, at least it had seemed that way with Sesshoumaru, not that his look had ever changed, he almost never showed any sign of emotion what-so-ever, but it at least appeared that he was tolerating Sango enough to carry on what seemed to be an extensive conversation.

After having eaten, cleaned and repacked everything, the group set off once again, searching for more shards of the Shikon Jewel. Sesshoumaru had little idea what interest InuYasha could possibly have in the Shikon Jewel, seeing as how he couldn't control himself as a full-blooded Youkai, and he obviously favored using the Tetsusaiga over using his Youkai abilities in a battle. He'd asked InuYasha what obsession he could possibly have with the jewel, yet he got no response other than "Shut up" or "It's none of your business." Which was beginning to annoy the Youkai, Sesshoumaru, very much. Before Sesshoumaru could ask again, Kagome stopped him and decided it would be best to merely tell him that it was a sensitive subject and that it would be better to leave the matter for another time. This had aroused Sesshoumaru's curiosity even more, yet he saw the logic in the human girls reasoning, the two of them fighting was the last thing they needed if they wanted to be able to use their swords once again. After walking for a mile or so, InuYasha and Sesshoumaru both stopped in their tracks and looked at one another, as if having a conversation with their eyes and expressions. Sesshoumaru then turned his head, looking towards Rin and Jaken who had been riding quietly upon Aun and Uun. Sesshoumaru sent a cold, serious look towards Jaken and spoke harshly towards the toad imp. "Take Rin and go on to the next village, and hurry." InuYasha turned and looked towards Kagome, Miroku and Sango, his face filled with a serious expression and he spoke with a tone that suggested that danger was approaching.

"Something is in the air…something sinister, and it's coming this way." Kagome ran over towards InuYasha, followed by Miroku, Sango and Shippou, stopping in front of him. "InuYasha, is it Naraku? Is he coming this way??" InuYasha shook his head and looked up towards the sky, which was being filled with a dark cloud that was moving towards them, covering the entire countryside. "No…. this has a much worse feeling than Naraku has." Sesshoumaru began to walk forwards, his hand moving to grab the hilt of the Toukijin, InuYasha had made a motion to grasp the Tetsusaiga, but was reminded of his inability to use it when the sword crackled violently with demonic energy at the presence of his hand, he would have to settle for using his claws with this battle that was ensuing, and that might leave him at a large disadvantage. The sky had been completely filled with the cloud, which carried the sickening scent of human blood, and death, surprisingly, there was the scent of Youkai blood filling the air as well. InuYasha turned his head and looked towards the others, Miroku looked about as green as Jaken, no doubt the very presence of this evil aura was making him sick to his stomach, and Kirara looked as if she were infected with rabies of the worst variety, her eyes were becoming blood shot and her entire body was shaking with what was either extreme rage and battle lust, or pure fear. Shippou, naturally, had taken it upon himself to guard Kagome's backpack and belongings…from the inside of her backpack, of course. The group watched closely as the cloud began to swirl, black lightening cracked through the skies, echoing through out the countryside with a deafening roar, which seemed to make the very foundations of the earth tremble and shake in fear. Sesshoumaru grimaced, his face becoming cold and filled with a look of utter hatred and a lust for death, his eyes were turning red, as if he were about to transform, and his body was glowing with a bright blue aura. InuYasha turned and looked to his older brother, then called over to him with a tone of urgency. "Hey!! Sesshoumaru!! What the hell is going on!? Is this one of your little friends!?"

Sesshoumaru gave no answer, he just snarled in the back of his throat and turned his head, throwing a glare of death towards InuYasha and his friends. InuYasha was about to speak once more, when he was overwhelmed with a sudden urge for death and battle, his body had begun to pulse, his eyes were flashing from red to normal, then to red again, something was forcing his transformation, but what, his mind was burning, his head felt as if it were going to split in two, and his reasonable side wouldn't stay in control long enough for him to try and make sense of any of this. His arms throbbed, which, in turn, caused his claws to extend to the point of double their normal length, becoming similar to razor sharp daggers. Kagome and the others could only watch, as the two brothers began to change. Sesshoumaru's face had become pale white and was becoming covered with a white, steel-like fur. His face had begun to alter, forming into a snout and a dog-like skull, his body was becoming larger, more muscular and more bulky, growing bigger and bigger.

His hands and feet had begun to form into paws, growing razor sharp, Youkai claws, the tail upon his body began to move backwards and had grown more taught. He was now at a towering height of near 20 feet on all fours, and he now boasted a large mouth, filled with razor sharp, spike-like fangs, covered with saliva that would produce a very poisonous toxin once it made contact with the ground. InuYasha, on the other hand, now sported two purplish-blue marks, one across each cheek, his eyes were as red as his Haori shirt and Hakama pants. His claws canine and fangs were at least double in length. His muscles had become a bit more broad and toned, and his face and eyes bore a sadistic and murderous look within them. The two brothers snarled angrily, turning from the cloud and then they set their gaze on the group of humans, Sango, Miroku, and Kagome. Jaken had fled with Rin by this time, moving as quickly as possible through the forest to escape the sinister aura, which had filled that half of the countryside. Kirara soon circled behind InuYasha and Sesshoumaru, her eyes had begun glowing blood red as well, and she carried a look that showed an open lust for blood.

Sango took a small step forwards, shifting her body to adjust for the weight of her Hiraikotsu, she held her free hand out, her expression filled with mixed emotions, emotions of anger, and of fear, the fear of having to hurt Kirara or InuYasha. She stuttered a bit at first, and then called out to her pet. "K-Kirara! What are you doing!? Come here Kirara!" Kirara merely snarled and bared her fangs at Sango's words, which caused Sango to recoil a bit, drawing her hand back and away from the three Youkai. Kagome took dropped her arrows and walked in front of the rest of the group, then stopped, and looked directly towards InuYasha. InuYasha snarled, baring his fangs, his claws beginning to extend to their full length as he glared at Kagome, his eyes filled with a murderous look. Kagome began to walk slowly towards him, then stopped directly in front of him and said quietly. "InuYasha…. Sit."

InuYasha's rosary began to glow brightly, pulling down abruptly on his neck to drag him face-first into the ground, then stopped, and shattered into pieces on the dirt ground. Kagome took a small step back, her face filled with shock and fear as InuYasha stood; with out a rosary around his neck, there was nothing she could think to do to change him back. Miroku quickly reached into his sleeve and pulled out several sutras' from his sleeve. He then threw the sutra's forward, plastering them upon the skulls of Kirara, Sesshoumaru, and InuYasha. The sutras' sent jolts of anti-youkai energy through their bodies. The Youkai's howled and writhed in pain, which only served to anger them further once the sutras' had worn out. Kagome backed up next Miroku and Sango, and lifted her bow and arrows off of the ground, she looked over at her two friends and asked with a great deal of urgency in her voice. "What are we going to do now? We can't fight InuYasha and Sesshoumaru and Kirara, we might hurt them, or worse, but if we don't do something, they'll kill us!"

Miroku scowled and turned to Sango and Kagome. "We've got no choice, we'll have to retreat for now, until we can find some way to help them!" The group turned, an as they were about to run, the dark cloud in the sky began to swirl, becoming a funnel cloud, and then touched down, causing the ground to rumble. Sparks of demonic energy shot forth from the whirl wind, shocking the ground and tainting it, making the soil turn a dark shade of purple, almost black in color. The whirlwind began to part, opening from the middle, outwards. As the cloud parted, the figure of a tall Youkai became visible. The Youkai was very tall, just a shade beneath 7 ft, and he was very muscular. The Youkai had eyes that were a dark shade of emerald green, almost a piercing shade of green, his hair was long, stopping just above his calf muscles. His hair was a deep shade of midnight black, it almost looked blue in a certain shade of light. His ears were similar to Sesshoumaru's ears, pointed, elf-like in shape. He wore a black Kimono with red lighting-like designs that streaked in random directions across the body and sleeves of the Kimono shirt, his hakama pants were similar in color and design, a black base with red flame-dings at the bottoms that were outlined with a dark shade of gray.

His skin was pigmentation was tanned, and his face bore two bright red symbols, symbols that none of the three humans were familiar with. This Youkai's muscle tone was quit obviously superior to either InuYasha's, or Sesshoumaru's. This Youkai was covered with the cold, uncomfortable feel of death and immense amounts of power, evil power. An ominous feeling surrounded Kagome and the others, sending cold chills through their bodies. The Youkai smirked and then vanished in an aura of red flame, only to reappear directly in front of Kagome and the others. Miroku immediately unwrapped the rosary beads from his right hand and aimed it at the Youkai, attempting to draw him in. The tunnel immediately began to draw in everything within it's path, acting as a mini black hole and ripping rocks from the ground, uprooting bushes, shrubs, and tree's that were in it's area of suction. The Youkai growled and glared towards Miroku, his eyes glowing brightly and piercing into Miroku's eyes.

The Youkai then raised his hand, which was soon surrounded by a red glow. He held his hand up towards Miroku's wind tunnel, and slowly began to close his hand into a fist. As the Youkai began to close his hand, Miroku felt a searing pain shoot through his right hand and up through his arm and wind tunnel. Miroku began to yell in pain as his right hand began glowing bright red and his wind tunnel began to lose power, becoming weaker and weaker, until finally, it stopped all together. Miroku's body began to jerk and spasm in pain as it seemed his entire body was curling and cramping violently, sending Miroku into convulsions, making him collapse to the ground. Sango ran over to aid Miroku, but was stopped abruptly when her arm and shoulder was grasped tightly. Her eyes widened and she began to scream in pain as she felt razor sharp claws penetrate the flesh and the muscles of her shoulder. It felt as if the claws were searing hot metal sewing needles that had been jabbed with-out-warning into her body, and the sensation had caused her body to freeze, leaving her nearly paralyzed. Sango slowly began to sink to her knees, still screaming in pain as her shoulder bone felt like it was being crushed in the Youkai's iron-clad grip.

The Youkai the smirked and licked his fangs, before jerking Sango up into the air by her shoulder, and then tossing her away and into the trunk of a near-by tree, with Sango connecting, spine-first, against the tree, and dropping to the ground, motionless. Kagome moved to try and help Sango, taking a step towards her, yet stopping as the youkai was suddenly standing directly in front of her. Kagome drew back quickly, being startled by the Youkai who towered over her, casting his ominous and death-filled shadow over her. She took a few more steps back, then drew her arrow and notched it into her bow. Kagome quickly launched the arrow at the Youkai, expecting the power of her sacred arrow to be able to at least temporarily ward off the Youkai. The Youkai merely smirked and held his hand up, allowing the tip of the arrow to press to his palm, before his arm began to glow bright red, once again, and the arrow stopped in mid-flight. The tip of the arrow began to crack and crumble, the sacred, anti-Youkai aura which surrounded the arrow had already begun to dissipate and disperse, until the arrow was no more than a thin rod of wood, and it fell to the ground.

Kagome began to tremble in fear, thoughts of death racing through her mind as she watched the Youkai slowly approach her. Her heart began to race with fear as she shakily stepped backwards, only to have her legs fail her, resulting in her dropping to the ground on her knees. 'Is this it? Is this the end…am I really going to die here, without completing the Shikon no Tama? Without…..without InuYasha at my side..?' She was shaken from her thoughts as the Youkai grabbed her arm and jerked her up, making her arrows spill to the ground. The Youkai squeezed her arm tightly, making her drop her bow to the ground as well, leaving Kagome virtually defenseless. Kagome trembled and looked up fearfully into the eyes of the Youkai who was starring down at her, licking his fangs. He growled deep within his throat and then spoke in an aggressive tone. "My name is Hitogoroshi, you would do well to remember it, for it is the name of your future assassin.." The Youkai smirked and then took it upon himself to examine the human girl in his grasp.

He moved his face close to Kagome's and began to inhale her scent, sniffing animalistic ally along the neck of Kagome and over her hair. He moved his face back to hers, locking eyes with the terrified Kagome, and growling at her once more. He licked his fangs once more, then spoke to her again. "You're not bad, for a human…I just might keep you as my own for a while.. Or, at least until I get bored with raping you." He smirked once more, then tilted his head and lowered his head to Kagome's, pushing his lips into her own, and kissing her forcefully. His fangs caught to Kagome's bottom lip as he kissed her, and he then pulled back, his fangs cutting the edge of Kagome's lower lip as he drew his head back, making her lower lip trickle with blood. He ran his tongue over her lip, then his own, purring at the coppery taste of her blood on his tongue. He then released Kagome, letting her drop to the ground in a trembling heap. Tears had filled her eyes and she had begun to whimper and shake with fear. The Youkai, Hitogoroshi, then approached InuYasha and Sesshoumaru, taking the Tetsusaiga and then Tenseiga from the both of them.

Kagome slowly sat up, her voice trembling and her face streaked with tears as she spoke in her quivering voice. "Wh-what do you want from us? Why are you doing this?" Hitogoroshi smirked and walked back over to Kagome, taking Kagome's chin between his thumb and fore finger. Kagome tried to recoil from him, but was met with a harsh jerk forwards, making her look the Youkai in the eyes, her body still trembling and quaking violently. Hitogoroshi smirked and looked her over a bit more before giving her his answer. "I have no quarrel with either of these two, but they have what I need.. The Sword of Life, Tenseiga. And the Sword of Power, Tetsusaiga. I must have these two swords, for my plan to work.. Be sure to tell them this, once they've woken up." He flicked his tongue over Kagome's lips once more, making her recoil and tremble with fear and disgust once more. The Youkai, Hitogoroshi, then turned and took a few steps away from Kagome. He then waved his hand towards Miroku, making his convulsions stop and the pain in his arm and hand subside. He then did the same movement of his hand towards Sesshoumaru, InuYasha, and Kirara, causing them to revert to their previous, normal states. The three Youkai then fell unconscious to the ground.

Hitogoroshi then turned and smirked at Kagome once more, before his body was enveloped with a fiery red aura, and he vanished, leaving nothing but foot prints upon the ground, and a trembling, fear-struck Kagome.