Disclaimer: Inu Yasha belongs to Takahashi. Jena and the new guy are mine.
Last time: Inu Yasha, Kagome, and Shippo were searching for another shard of the Shikon no Tama based on a rumor they had heard. Along the way, they rescue a wounded girl from a tiger demon that was enhancing it's strength with a shard. After the fight, they learn that the girl that they had rescued was suppose to be one of Kagome's friends from her time, who disappeared four years ago and assumed dead.
Chapter 3: Hanyou to the Rescue
"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
The forest trembled as something within it screamed in immense rage. Whatever it was, it was royally pissed. Sango was walking down a path winding through this forest, with Kirara and Kohaku following her. Kirara was currently in her little kitten form, and was ready to change into her battle ready pose at a moment's notice. Kohaku was wearing his slayer outfit, his katana and sickle secured to his belt. Sango was also wearing her Slayer uniform, but it and the katana on her belt were covered by her traveling clothes. She carried the boomerang bone she often used in battle on her back. The little group turned to face the direction that the yell came from, but saw nothing but trees blocking the way. Sango's eyes narrowed as she surveyed their surroundings. Nothing moved.
"Something wrong, sis?" Kohaku asked his older sister. He began to keep his eyes open as well, in case Sango did say there was.
"I'm not sure," she replied. "It did sound like some one is mad about something." She continued to look around, unaware that a hand came out of a bush right behind her. "I highly doubt that it's any sort of fighting though."
"I hope your right, Sango," Kohaku spoke back. "I just don't know if I can actually.." His sentence was interrupted as he saw Sango's eyes widen in surprise, her pupils shrinking as she felt something, or should I say someone, touch her on her rear. The way it felt, it could only mean one thing.
"HENTAI!!!!!" Sango spun around and smashed her Boomerang Bone into the bush the hand came from, a man with black hair and monk clothing meeting the dirt of the path. "Miroku, how long have you been on our backs."
The monk looked up at Sango from his place in the dirt. "Only a few minutes ago," he said, "I was looking for you, but I didn't expect to run across you returning to Kaede's village so soon. I missed you sooo much."
"More like you missed groping me since you woke up, pervert." Things were about to heat up between Sango and Miroku (actually, Sango was the one heating with anger) when a sudden crash alerted them as a demon was smashed through the forest and landed dead on the path. Before they could even move a muscle after it landed, a boy showed up. He wasn't much older looking than Inu Yasha, but his hair was short and black. His eyes were a grassy like green and he himself had an unusually sharp eye shape, almost like Sesshomaru. He wore what appeared to be a worker's clothing over his rather slim body, but it was severely shredded, as if a giant dog demon had bitten him and tried to chew him up. He carried a sword on his side, but it was sheathed at the moment. The small group saw another feature about him, he had pointed ears. He was a demon, but they didn't know what kind he could be. They took out their weapons to fight it, but three more demons jumped out of the forest and surrounded him. They were tiger demons (yes, the same type Inu Yasha had just killed), and none knew they also had a Shikon shard each.
"HAHAHAHAHEH. You thought you and your wretch could get away from us, you fucking hanyou," the leader snarled.
"Hanyou?" Sango thought, "That guy's a hanyou."
The leader continued. "I don't know what kind of strength you have, but both you and the wretch will be nice looking head trophies to our boss." It laughed again. "In fact, she's probably dead already, and you wouldn't know it until you join her in HELL."
The hanyou smirked. "I know more than you do, asshole. My little human friend isn't dead, and she definitely is skilled enough to take one of you freaks on even at half strength. And your boss will be thoroughly disappointed when we return your heads to him, best regards in Hell enclosed." He struck at the leader, who jumped away so fast that the hanyou didn't notice the tiger try for his back. Claws ripped through his flesh on his back, blood slowly beginning to seep onto his skin.
The hanyou jumped away from the pack, landing rather close to Sango and Miroku. They watched as his back regenerated in a matter of seconds. "So, you guys aren't deadbeats like the rest of your pack. You bastards must be elite." He noticed the trio behind him. "A demon slayer," he thought, "haven't seen one of them in a while. What is this lot doing up here anyway."
The leader laughed again as his group charged in. "Were more than a match for you, as long as these Shikon shards remain within us. Your bitch would have noticed by now that she has no chance."
"DID HE SAY HE HAS A SHIKON SHARD!?!?!?" Miroku and Sango said in near perfect unison. He readied his staff as Sango threw her travel clothes off, revealing her slayer clothes.
The hanyou's eyes widened in confusion. "Shikon shard? What the hell's a Shikon shard????" He dodged the leader as he tried to cut his head off, easily peeling away a short distance with a well executed roll. "Don't matter what you say your power comes from, your a pile of flesh anyway that needs to rot." He charges in towards the leader, extending his claws. He swings his claws as he yells, " TETSU CLAW!". The one demon gets his arm cut, but all three mostly dodged the attack. Shortly after they land, one of them gets Kohaku's sickle right in the chest (now that I think of it, I believe it was a sickle he uses. all I know is that it is a blade shaped like a sythe blade attached to a chain). Sango then threw he poison balls, Kohaku and her putting their masks on immediately. Kirara stayed clear, knowing what was coming. Miroku stood back and put his robe over his face. The balls exploded on the ground, releasing a gas that had a smell that completely screws up a living thing's ability to breathe. However, the tigers were immune with their shards within them. The hanyou began to cough as his nose was overcome with a powerful scent. He fell to a knee, sputtering and swearing under his breath about the smell.
The one tiger was irritated that a little whelp hit him with a weapon. "THAT BOY IS DEAD!!!!!!!!!! GET OVER HERE, YOU BASTARDS!!!!" He and the other went straight for the trio, leaving the leader with the Hanyou.
"Get ready, here they come." Sango knew that the vapors from the balls would keep Kirara away until it dissipates, meaning the three would have to fend for themselves. "The shards must be protecting the demons from my powder. Kohaku, MOVE NOW." He instantly bolted away to his left, just dodging the one demon. He flung his sickle at the demon again, but it dodged the chains and went for him. Kohaku then unsheathed his katana and blocked the claws that would have taken his head off. Sango and Miroku went in close quarters with the other demon. Sango tried to cut through the beast's hide with her katana while Miroku whacked it with his staff. He then dug into his robes and withdrew his subduing scrolls. He stuck it onto the demon's back while Sango distracted it, causing the demon to stop moving as the scrolls magic took effect. Sango finished it off with her Boomerang Bone, the corpse's halves sitting in a pool of blood with the shard showing.
Meanwhile, the hanyou was unable to fight back due to the gas still being in the air. The leader was taking advantage of this and was having a hell of a time trying to slash the hanyou to pieces. Every time he sliced the skin, though, it just kept regenerating. "YOUR A HARD ONE TO CUT THROUGH. GUESS I'LL TAKE YOUR HEAD WHILE YOUR ALIVE." The hanyou heard those words, but wasn't about to let himself and his friend down. He wasn't going to allow him or her to die. Too much was at stake.
He took in a deep breath as the demon swung his claws, then yelled, "CARAPACE." Suddenly, brown plates of armor emerged from his skin. They layered upon each other, covering his arms, legs, feet, chest, and head. The tiger demon got his arm skewered as a piece of armor emerged from his shoulder and shot up, creating a shoulder guard that was spiked at the top. That stopped the slash from hitting his neck by just an eighth of an inch. The armor that emerged from his head covered his mouth and nose as well as his ears and everything else but the eyes. With the armor blocking out the fouled air, he breathed fresher air and looked at his adversary. "No, I think it is you who will lose his head alive." With that, he unsheathed the sword at his side and struck the neck, beheading the demon in an instant. A shining sliver of a jewel fell out of the neck as blood spilled out of it.
The gas was beginning to dissipate, meaning he could shed the armor once it was gone. But, he was going to make sure the other two demons were dead. He turned in time to see the boy get his arm slashed by the demon. The demon was already wounded by the sickle and the katana, but not enough to kill it. The hanyou realized that the boy would die if something wasn't done.
Miroku saw it too. He withdrew the rosary from his one hand and removed his gauntlet. Sango saw this and realized something Miroku forgot. "MIROKU, WAIT....."
"WIND TUNNEL!!!!!" He stood there with his hand sticking out, expecting to see the demon get sucked into a vortex. But it never came. "OH SHIT!!!" he thought to himself, "I FORGOT I DON'T HAVE THAT ANYMORE!!!!"
The demon swung his claw down at Kohaku. Had it hit, Kohaku would have literally been half the boy he used to be. But as fate had it, the hanyou threw his sword right at the demon, cutting both the incoming claw and its head in the process. The body collapsed at Kohaku's feet, blood squirting out of the severed areas. The jewel he had within him flowed out with the rest of the blood. The hanyou picked up the shard that the leader dropped and walked over to Kohaku to pick up his sword and see that the boy was alright.
Sango and Miroku were surprised that the hanyou had just saved him from certain death. Once he got near Kohaku, the gas had finally disappeared, allowing the half breed to withdraw his carapace armor into his body. He knelt down to Kohaku. "Hey kiddo, you ok to move?" Kohaku merely nodded. "That was a little dangerous for a kid your age to fight tiger demons."
Kirara returned to the group and snarled at the hanyou, who sheathed his blade and backed off. "Hey, did I threaten you. I helped your friends here, kitty." Kirara responded with a roar in the half demon's face. "As Jena would say," he thought, "Somebody got a tick-tack. Whatever that means."
Sango went to the demon and looked at him. "Thanks for protecting my brother in the fight. My name is Sango. This is Kirara (Kirara growled at the hanyou again), the boy is my brother, Kohaku, and the monk behind me is Miroku."
"You may want to watch the monk's hand there, demon slayer. It's getting a tad close to your rear." He watched as Sango glared at Miroku as a warning, which he took immediately as his hand retreated. "My name is Zirik, and I apologize for getting you involved in my fight."
Miroku spoke to Zirik. "It wasn't your fault we entered the fight. Those demons were using the power of the jewel to...."
"What jewel? Those Shikata shards the demon said?" He pulled out the shard that the leader dropped. "What's the purpose of this thing?"
Everyone but Kohaku and Zirik sweat dropped. "You mean you don't know what this is??? Every demon we've met has wanted the shards of the Shikon no Tama to enhance their power."
"Enhance a demon's power?? This little thing???" Zirik suddenly laughed. Not one of evil intent, but of humor. "That's a good one. Even if it is able to do that, I don't need it. I'm strong enough as I am." He tossed the shard at Sango, who caught it in midair. "If you want it so bad, as it appears to be, just take them. I've got someone more importaint than some jewel to find."
"How about coming with us for now?" Miroku suggested. "Your strength may be usefull in any battles we get caught up in. Plus we can look for your friend and get to know one another better."
Zirik shrugged. "Why not?? As long as we don't dally around here for very long."
"But," Sango interrupted, "we need to find Kagome and Inu-Yasha first. They will no doubt want to add these." She held up the three shards that were recovered from the demons.
"No problem at all, Sango." Miroku interjected. "They were right behind me by a good distance before I found you. They are on there way here, but they should have made it past this spot already."
"What are we waiting for then." Kohaku had finally started to talk again. "If we go to them right now, we can pass by and drop the shards off when we meet."
"If you ask me," Zirik started, "the sooner we get to them, the sooner we can find my friend."
************************************************************************
Little crude, I know. That is if you guys think it's crude. I know I said that Kagome and Jena would catch up with each other this chapter, but the fighting took it all up. Oh well. Please R&R.
Next time: Jena and Kagome catch up on lost time, while Zirik and Sango's group learn a bit about him while heading to Inu Yasha.