A/N: 'Loha peeps! I am SO FRIGGIN SORRY for not updating for so long, but blame it on the school board! I have an insane amount of math/geography/science homework (I'm always sooo paranoid about those subjects!, and the dumba$$ teacher is MEAN! Sorry no shout-outs but I promise if you guys leave me some reviews I will! :) Huggles to everyone; you know you love me! Nina

Inuyasha had it. These demons were pissing him off. Roaring for anyone who remained in the village to get behind him, he once again transformed Tetsusaiga. With one sweep, all of these pathetic demons could be gone.

Besides, he had to get to Kagome. He knew something was wrong, he could feel her agitation. It was starting to make him jumpier and he couldn't wait to be by her side.

People huddled behind him, a scraggly group of bloody demons and equally bloody humans. They assured him no one else was within the still large number of opposing demons. Smirking, he lifted the Tetsusaiga and sought for the Wound of the Wind.

He caught it and his smirk widened even more.
"KAZE NO KITSU!" he roared.

He swung the Tetsusaiga horizontally across the Wound and satisfaction filled him when the demons before him shriveled up into nothing. A hundred demons gone in one swipe, along with about a mile of vegetation. Huffing, he shouldered the Tetsusaiga and looked back at the group behind him. A cocky grin was plastered to his face.

That is, until he heard someone scream.

The group watched as the demon-boy's face drained of all color. His face was whiter than any sheet and his eyes were wider than any saucer. That scream had struck a cord, or so they thought. What they didn't know was what Inuyasha was feeling.

Pain, and a lot of it. Pain and fear as well as rage. Kagome's rage. Without waiting a beat, he spun on his heel and flew through the forest.

"Kagome! KAGOME!" he yelled as he ran. "KAGOME!"

Another scream made his mad dash into a flat out run. His feet hardly touched the ground before they pushed off once again and whatever stood in his path was either desecrated or ran over. He plowed through trees with the help of Tetsusaiga while the entire way listening with keen ears for any more of her screams. He also felt along their bond for any more pain she might be feeling, any more emotions that could help him figure out what was happening.

Naraku.

Inuyasha could feel that aura, the nauseating aura of Naraku. And not only him, one other as well. He knew that aura too; Kikyou.

His sword throbbed with the effort of keeping his demon blood under control as rage spread throughout each and every vein in his body. His eyes throbbed red, but the sword stopped it from going any farther. Kagome was there, with those other two.

He slammed his feet down into the ground to stop himself as the clearing in which they all stood came into view. Even with his feet embedded in the dirt, it took a few more meters for him to make a complete stop and by then he was standing in the middle of all that was happening.

Kagome was at his right, kneeling down at the rocky ground with an arm wrapped around her stomach. Something feathery caught Inuyasha's attention and he sniffed the air tentatively. Blood and all of it Kagome's. He snarled. That feathery thing was an arrow and it was embedded in Kagome's side.
Kagome heard him and looked up with tear filled eyes. "I-Inuyasha..."

He didn't answer her at first, but instead moved to stand before her. He was her shield, her protector from everything and everyone. Even if that meant sending Kikyou back to where she belonged. He gritted his teeth and his hands tightened on the Tetsusaiga; his and everyone else's life line.

Finally, he looked slightly over his shoulder at his love. It wrenched his heart in both guilt of not being there to stop the arrow and in total and complete rage. How dare someone harm the one he loves? How dare they spill her precious blood? How dare they?! Tetsusaiga was now having more trouble trying to keep the demon/man under control.

"Kagome...can you stand?" he asked gently, though the edge in his voice made Kagome wince.

"Y-yes...I think so." She clutched the arrow shaft and stood up gently. "Yes, I can, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha sniffed the air again. Miroku had been here, where was he now? "Where's Miroku?"

Kagome nodded her head to the bushes. "Unconscious. Kikyou had caught us off guard."

More fuel to the fire. Inuyasha shook his head to try and clear it from angry thoughts and turned to Kikyou's figure. She was standing near Naraku and on the other side of Naraku was a little girl dressed all in white.

Confused, Inuyasha sniffed the air. No aura, no scent. He hadn't even known she was there.
Naraku seemed to see what Inuyasha was staring at and put a hand on Kanna's head.

"Ah, I see you've noticed my other offspring." Kanna took a step forward and Inuyasha held the Tetsusaiga up just a little higher. "Her name is Kanna. You already know about dear Kikyou and my precious Kagura should be here soon."

Inuyasha hissed through clenched and grinding teeth. "Yeah, I do, you bastard."

"Good. Then lets start." He put another hand on that small girl's head and she walked off into the woods. "Kikyou, would you be so kind as to either take Inuyasha with you or destroy him?"

Kikyou gazed at Inuyasha stonily, then tipped her head up a bit to glance over his shoulder at Kagome. Inuyasha noticed where her gaze was heading and tilted the Tetsusaiga over to block her view. Kikyou sighed.

"Yes, Naraku. I think I'll do just that."

XXXX

Sango slammed her boomerang into the ground and pressed herself up against it. Wind slices hit the Hiraikotsu and slammed both her and itself back a few feet. More followed, so many more. Growing weary and covered in her own blood, Sango braced her shoulder against the weapon to keep it steady. Any more of this and her Hiraikotsu would fail on her. Or vise versa.

Kouga looked over at Sango and saw her huddling behind her giant boomerang. He dove for her just as a new batch of wind came from that damned Kagura. Luck was on his side, though, and he made it to Sango and had pushed off when the first slice bit shallowly into his calf.

Kirara had detransformed a while ago and was now lying by Yume's side, out of the range of fire. Kouga made sure they were out of the range by keeping Kagura distracted and by continually moving away. That still didn't mean he could keep it up for long.

"Both of you are such a bother. If you only stood still..." More wind sliced through the air even before the words left her lips.

Kouga turned his head to talk with Sango, bounding across the now larger dirt clearing. "Can you manage another hit while using your Hiraikotsu?"

Sango looked at him oddly, then nodded. "Yes. I can't keep it up for long, but I can manage it one more time."

"Good, that's all I ask of you." He set her down quickly and she shoved the boomerrang into the ground. When he was sure Sango was nicely protected by her weapon, he took a deep breath, turned his back on her, and waved his hand. "Well, nice knowing you, Sango."

Sango looked up at him in disbelief. He ran off a few seconds later, leaving her to fend for herself. Stunned into stupidity, she barely kept a hold on the Hiraikotsu when Kagura sent another wave of wind.
Kagura chuckled. "Seems as if your cowardice friend has left you behind, does it not? Stupid coward of a wolf-man."

Sango winced as another wind hit the boomerang, then let out a cry when she heard it snap distinctively above her. She glanced up and saw a crack where the last wind slice had hit. Damnit! I can't keep this up for long! What the hell did Kouga think he was doing? She glanced over and saw that Yume and Kirara were still lying on the ground. What the? Kouga would have brought Yume if he really was running away.

"I've had it with you, BITCH!"

Before Kagura could notice Kouga was once again behind her, he struck her back with naked claws. Four gouges ran from the top of her neck to the base of her spine, piercing and tearing the spider design to shreds. She let out a pain filled, angry cry and turned the fan on him. Four razor sharp wind slices flew through the air.

Kouga smirked and went to dodge them when he realized his most vital mistake. He was standing before Yume and Kirara, still on the ground and definitely unconscious. If he jumped, the wind would hit them both. But if he didn't move, he'd be hit.

Kouga crossed his arms in front of him and awaited the bite of the wind.

XXXX

Inuyasha grabbed Kagome and dodged another arrow. It struck the ground and exploded. Spelled arrows! Inuyasha yelled to himself, cradling Kagome with one arm while the other held the sword. She's going to attack with spelled arrows!

Growling, Inuyasha leaped away from yet another arrow. Kagome let out a sob of pain from the movements and he looked down at her in sorrow, but there was nothing else he could do. If he didn't dodge them, he'd be spelled into a sleep once again. If he didn't dodge them and they weren't aimed for him, Kagome would be hit once again. Already her pain was as much as she could bear.
"Kagome, I'm going to set you down." Inuyasha spoke gently.

Kikyou looked at the last four arrows in her quiver. She tugged one out dramatically slowly and knotched it just as such. Inuyasha glared at her in defiance, but that was all he did. Placing Kagome down behind a mass of giant roots, Inuyasha turned all of his attention to Kikyou. The roots would keep Kagome protected from at least one arrow and he'd get her away if another should follow.

"Come on, Kikyou! We should have ended this months ago. You belong in one place and I belong in another. If anything, I'll put you to rest in that place." Trying to bend back the wave of guilt invading his heart, he leaped at Kikyou and slashed the sword horizontally.

It missed. Somehow, he had misjudged how far away Kikyou had been. More guilt ran through him, but he insisted on locking it up, pushing it back.

Kikyou looked at him with cold eyes. "You can't even strike me, let alone send me back." She hissed softly, almost gently. "Your guilt won't have it. I wonder if you'll still feel that way when my next arrow pierces my reincarnate in the heart? That very same heart she shares with you?" As if to prove what she had asked, she aimed her arrow not at the demon boy before her but at the tree roots.

Every muscle in Inuyasha's body clenched in fear for Kagome and his hold on Tetsusaiga was excruciating to his very hands themselves. His knuckles were bloodless and his claws pierced the tattered wrapping around Tetsusaiga's hilt.

He could hear the bow string stretching, stretching, could almost imagine what it would be like to watch that arrow fly. Imagine what it would be like to watch as that arrow hit his love in the heart that he had taken. Imagine-

He hadn't known when he had struck her, but the moment he heard Kagome gasp he knew. He was breathing hard yet he couldn't get any air, his heart was throbbing fast, faster, and yet his head couldn't get the efficient amount of blood.

He looked down at the body of Kikyou, split in two, and suddenly felt extremely dizzy. Looking at Kikyou and at his sword made a flash of an image enter his mind's eyes. Him standing over Kagome who lay just as Kikyou did. He threw it out of his head. The fact that Kikyou and Kagome looked so much a like made looking at Kikyou's finally dead body even more excruciating. To him, it was like looking down at Kagome's still form.

"K-Kikyou..."

Once the word left his lips, what was left of her ash and Earth body returned to ash and Earth.

XXXX

Kouga's eye peaked open the moment he realized nothing was cutting into his skin. What happened to Kagura's wind slices? Wasn't he just trying to fend them off with his own body? Acting as a shield for his Yume and Sango's kitten? What he saw caused his other eye to open as well.

Demons, in all shapes and all forms, were spread out before him. Many were missing limbs while others lay at his feet. Realizing he was holding his breath, he inhaled deeply and along with the oxygen came the raw, coppery scent of blood. Demon's blood.

Who were the demons?

"Hey, you. No the one who isn't missing a limb." Kouga called out to one of the more human looking demons. "Why are you here?"

The demon shrugged and smiled humorlessly. "The half-breed helped us so we figured we'd repay him a bit. Kouga, right? Alpha of the Brown Wolves? Well, the half-breed needs your help. We'll fend off the bitch here."

Kouga glanced over the mans head at Kagura, who seemed to be a bit enraged. Well, that was an understatement. She was whipping out wind slices as if the day was ending. He nodded and made to pick up Yume, leave the demons fighting the wind bitch, when Yume stirred.

"Yume? Can you hear me?" Kouga asked urgently, kneeling down and tugging the girl onto his lap gently.
Yume nodded gently. "Er...what the...hell...happened?"

Kouga smiled lopsidedly. "That information will have to wait another day. Right now, the whelp needs our help."

Yume started to push herself to stand when her eyes suddenly widened. "I smell...Kagura! And Sango too!" She swung her head about. "Where's Sango?"

Shit! Kouga thought harshly. I almost forgot about her! Lying Yume back down on the forest floor, Kouga ran as fast as he could to Sango. She was still leaning against her breaking Hiraikotsu, breathing heavily and sporting a few thin wounds. Kouga scooped her and her weapon up gingerly before racing back to the standing Yume.
"Come on, Inuyasha and Kagome might need us." Kouga said quickly, leaping an out of control wind slice.

Yume nodded and picked up the still unconscious Kirara. "Alright then, what are we waiting for?"
Kouga turned his head in the direction he felt the suffocating miasma and took in a sharp breath. For some odd reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that today would end the worst of battles and the victory would claim all prizes...

XXXX

A sharp, agonizing pull shook Inuyasha to the point of near madness. All he could think about was the fact that he had actually sent Kikyou to her grave. It wasn't Naraku this time, but him himself. How could he have done that? Wasn't their betrayal enough?

He sent her to her grave.
He did it, not anyone else.
Him...his sword...and his depleting morals.

Another sharp pull brought Inuyasha back from the chasm. This was physical, not emotional. What the...? He could hear, in the back of his mind, screams of pain ? Who was doing the screaming? Him, or maybe Kikyou's soul?

But the pain wasn't his. And the only person he was attached to metaphysically was....
....Kagome.

Something was wrong with Kagome! Something horrible, something that might send her to the same place Kikyou dwelled now. And who's fault would that be if a certain someone didn't save her?
Who's fault would it be but his own?

And where would that leave him?

He had to find Kagome, now. But where was she? He could feel the pain, the very wrenching of the soul from the husk that was the body, but he couldn't tell where it was coming from. His nose...her scent. That was the only way he would be able to save her.

He sniffed the air fiercely and caught the scent of her blood. The very scent enraged him and took away the pain, but it was so thick from her wound that he still couldn't exactly tell. Making his way to the tree in which she had hidden earlier, he found her gone. That wasn't a surprise. It would have been way too easy for him to find her there and rid her of the tormentor. No...but there was a trail. A trail of her own blood worming deeper and deeper into the forest.

Something jumped out of the woods, but Inuyasha didn't care. He had something to find. Someone he wouldn't let go no matter what. He had lost too much...and now he was going to savagely and possessively keep what was his.

Snarling, Inuyasha disappeared into the brush.

XXXX

Yume and Kouga leaped into the clearing with their burdens in their arms. The heavy scent of miasma choked Sango, but she placed her mask protectively over her face. After a full year of following the dreaded Naraku all over Japan, she had become quite used to his miasma. Well, almost.
The demons weren't really affected. Yume was busy searching for Inuyasha to really care what was going on and Kouga was searching for anything to fight. Naraku, perched in the tree across the clearing much like the baboon his pelt showed him as, chuckled at the sight of them.

"It seems I have lost one of my playmates to Kanna, but at least a these three will do for now. Inuyasha will come back when he hears their pathetic screams." All three heads snapped to attention, glaring at Naraku. "Kagura!"

Kouga growled hatefully as the wind sorceress landed prettily from her giant feather before them. Oh how he would love to land his claws in that ivory flesh and rip it from the bones....

Yume placed her hand once again on Kouga's arm, but this time for comfort and enthusiasm. "Go ahead, have your fun. Just leave a little for me." She whispered with a slightly evil grin.
Kouga looked at her disbelievingly, then grinned back. This would be fun. He kne

w he didn't need Yume's consent to fight, but it was nice to know she didn't mind. Besides, she was going to join in anyway. Wasn't that what she said? Without waiting another moment, Kouga leaped for Kagura.

"Just me and you now, bitch!"
"Ku ku ku, whelp."

XXXX

Yume was going to jump in. She really was. She even put Kirara down next to Sango, but something else had caught her attention. She could hear Inuyasha, or smell him, or feel him metaphysically. Whichever it was, she knew something was wrong. It was the same something that happened to her, whatever that was.
So she left Sango to herself.

She even jumped over the unconscious Miroku after yelling back over her shoulder to Sango that Miroku was there near her. Where the hell was she headed? She had no idea, until the unmistakable scent of Kagome's blood met her nose. Kagome was hurt, bad! And from the bad feeling she had, Kagome was going through much worse than a mere wound.

Passing tree by tree, she entered a small area devoid of grass and tree. It looked as if it had been scorched. Inuyasha was standing in the middle, staring down at a small girl dressed in white. Hmm...she seemed familiar. Wait a second....

Yume ducked away before she was caught and circled around the clearing. The girl was holding a broken mirror and Inuyasha was clutching onto an unconscious Kagome. Yume blinked. What had gone on?
Without waiting, Yume leaped from the woods and aimed at the white girl.

Her claws racked through the girl's body before anyone could notice Yume's arrival. It was so easy...so easy. Rage and a sort of hatred flew through Yume as she killed the little girl in white, but also a sort of sorrow. How could she destroy something so young?

That young thing was murderous, that's why.
Yume stood to face Inuyasha. She didn't look back at the mess she had made. "Inuyasha...is Kagome...alright?"

Inuyasha looked up and Yume was shocked to see the tears threatening to fall from his eyes. "I...I think so."

It had been years since Yume saw Inuyasha cry in front of someone. Hard to say he hadn't ever cried since his mother died given what he had gone through afterward, but she hadn't seen him. He either hid it very well or he just never cried at all.

Yume reached out to take Kagome. "I'll hold her. Naraku is waiting for your arrival." When Inuyasha didn't seem like he was going to give her up, she sighed. "Inuyasha, you have to defeat him or this will continue. This is it, can't you feel it? The end, Inuyasha. Everything ends here. Whether it's us or them, it will end. But we need you there, Inu-Chan."

Inuyasha stood slowly, but kept his clutch on Kagome. "I know."

"Then what are you dawdling for? I'll keep her safe with my own life, I promise." Inuyasha slowly placed Kagome into Yume's arms, but reluctantly.

"I'm going to hold you to your promise, bitch. As for Naraku..."

Now there's the Inuyasha I know, Yume thought as the flare in Inuyasha's eyes strengthened. It's the one I like to see. When Inuyasha ran off a second later, Yume looked down at the precious bundle she had been given to guard.

"Well, guess we might as well go help, ne? Just help me keep my promise kid."

XXXX

It took longer than Kouga had thought, but Kagura was finally defeated. Her chest lay in ruins and her face held the expression of one who died in horrible pain. Satisfied, Kouga stepped back and looked up at Naraku.

"Now that your kids are dead, how about we deal with you?"

Naraku clucked. "Cocky, aren't we?" Before Kouga could respond, an annoying buzzing noise filled his ears painfully. "Did you think I'd come unprotected?"

"Coward."

"Ah yes, but a safe coward at that."

Kouga snorted, but felt a bit antsy. "Yeah, that's what they all say..."

The poison insects buzzed by the hundreds in the air, all guarding their master obsessively. Kouga didn't wish to get stung by them again, remembering quite clearly how they had affected him before, but he couldn't contain his bloodlust.

He just wanted to feel more blood on his hands.

Inuyasha took that moment to show up. For a second, Inuyasha could see the world as it was before him, but then another image overlapped his vision. The smell of Kagome's blood induced it and brought it on more vividly. The alley. The storm. The blood. The smell of gunpowder. The hum of electricity. And Kagome lying in her own blood. Where was that familiar? How come he could feel himself start to change again?

But the people bending over his Kagome was not humans, but Naraku's. A lot of them. Each cackled and grinned and taunted evilly. In his hands, he could feel the Tetsusaiga tremble and pulsate. He could smell the air rip in front of him as well. Should he? And risk taking out the life of a village? Was the village even there, or was he still in that alley?

"Well, if it isn't the puppy."

Naraku's voice. The Naraku's before him all spoke simultaneously. They grinned and grinned and grinned. Maybe Inuyasha should wipe the grin away.

Am I loosing it?
"Inuyasha...keep...focused!" a voice shouted.

Like a life-line to a drowning man, Inuyasha clutched onto the voice and pulled himself up from the clutches of uncontrollable rage and deep insanity. To think he had started to travel down that road again.
The Tetsusaiga was pulsating in his hands, so that hadn't been part of the dream/reality. Naraku was before him with the baboon cloak off.

And Kagome was calmly speaking to him to help keep his sanity in check. Everything was going like he thought it was. Now all he had to do was defeat the bastard....

But there was something strange happening to Naraku and what remained of Kagura. A black light was circling them...a dark aura with something foul smelling about it...what the hell?

Miroku had chosen that moment to come out of his unconsciousness and sat down beside Sango. "What in the seven...hells?! Kami-sama...that things...disgusting!" He commented in a voice hardly above a whisper, but all who was near him had caught it.

Before anyone knew what was going on, the black nothingness enveloped the entire clearing, then imploded on itself. All had their arms up to shield from the blackness, but the dark itself didn't affect them. It was the thing protruding from it that caught their undivided attention.

A spider looking creature, towering at least fifteen feet above their heads, loomed over the group of mismatched companions. The spider had three heads, each distinctly familiar. Naraku in the middle, Kagura on the right of him, and Kanna on the left. With each head came each power. Naraku's miasma and talent for sending legs out in any direction, Kanna with her ability to not be easily detected, and Kagura with her wind slices. The creature was ugly and the body bigger than the head, but it was also an easier target because of it's size.

And besides, no one would be bored or left out of the fight now.
Kagome, fighting to stay awake in Yume's arms, pointed to the head of Naraku. "In there...the Jewel shards are in...Naraku's head..."

Yume smoothed her brow gently. "Good job, Kagome-Chan. Why don't you rest now, okay? We can take care of it from here."

Kagome seemed to nod before drifting back into a semi-conscious state. How was Yume to fight when she was sworn to protect the woman-child who stole Inuyasha's heart and soul?

The spider creature tested out it's new body slowly. One leg stretched, then the next, and so on and so forth. Shippo, who just seemed to appear, shivered. "H-H-How are w-w-we supposed to beat that t-t-thing?!"

"Feh," Inuyasha answered. "Just watch, kit."

As Inuyasha tried to step forward to take on the creature himself, a hand came out and clasped his shoulder. A very familiar looking hand. "I don't think it would be wise to take the creature on yourself, brother." An extremely familiar, and much hated, voice spoke near Inuyasha's ear.

"Sesshoumaru! What are you doing here, yarou?!" Inuyasha leapt around and made to bring his sword on his brother, but remembered what was going on and turned back around.

Sesshoumaru shrugged very gently. "I am here because of old scores. I would offer my assistance, but I know how you would react and therefore I am not offering. Instead, I intend to help rid the world of this...bastard."

Inuyasha snorted. "But I thought you two were all buddy-buddy like earlier?"

"Don't tempt me to turn the fight onto you, brother. We can settle our score later, if you survive."

"Feh, whatever."

Kouga stepped up also. "And don't think your forgetting about me, dog-boy."

Miroku was standing beside him as well. "I'm not good for much, but I am going to help."

"And me too!" Shippo called out, waving frantically though looking positively petrified.

"And me." Sango was leaning slightly against her Hiraikotsu, which was still almost broken, but she was positively determined.

Yume grabbed the kitsune by the tail with one hand while cradling Kagome with the other. "Your not helping anyone but Kagome, okay? I need you to run her to Kaede's. Don't stop anywhere for any reason on the way, got it kit?"

Shippo looked relieved for a second, then grew frightened once more. "But what about-"

Yume smiled. "The only demons in this forest are the ones that will help you. Now go! And don't stop until you reach Kaede's or Kagome's well, whichever is first in your path. Go, go!"

With the precious bundle on it's way to safety, Yume jumped up beside Sango. "And you can count me in too." Inuyasha shot her a look, but she shook her head. "It's okay, Kagome's off to her own home or Kaede's. Shippo's making sure of it."

"What? Shippo?"

"Better than her being here, ne?"

Feh."

Without warning, a sharp, almost bayoneted spider leg slammed in the middle of the group. Six people jumped in six different directions. When they landed once more, they were surprised to see even more legs aimed at them the moment they touched down and had to dodge once again.

The spider youkai was getting faster, becoming more and more used to it's new body. Legs and tentacles were flying in all directions, aimed at the six people trying to get at least one hit in. The jewel, though uncompleted, was helping the creature become accustomed, and become stronger.

Wind slices accompanied the tentacles and legs. As if they didn't already have enough trouble....

XXXX

"HIRAIKOTSU!" Sango let her boomerang fly at the tentacle aimed at her.

It knocked her boomerang away and Kirara caught it. She ran to her master and scooped her up before the tentacle speared her. Sango thanked her pet numerously as she took her boomerang back, slipped it onto her back once more, then pulled out her sword. If her boomerang wouldn't work, then her sword would. Kirara didn't dare try to test it and kept leaping out of the way when a tentacle came at them.

Though wounded still, Kirara kept up her end of the companionship. She kept herself and her master out of serious injury, but also continued to get closer and closer to the three heads. If she could only get her master to Naraku's....

Finally Kirara leapt into the air and allowed Sango to try her attack. She watched as a tentacle flew at her and she swiped with her sword. The tentacle fell to the ground and disappeared. She smiled and watched as the heads came closer, ever closer.

"DIE!"

XXXX

Miroku leaped away from the tentacle aimed at him while his other hand unwrapped the prayer beads from his Kazaan. The poison bees were gone from the air, probably in the spider body for more power.
Another tentacle sliced down near his feet. Damnit, this was getting dangerous.
"KAZAAN!" he shouted.

He opened up the air rip and watched as one of the spider's legs was ripped savagely from it's body. A few of the tentacles in the radius of the Kazaan were torn and thrown into the rip as well. He smiled, sealed his hand, and leaped away from the slices of wind before they could cut through his person.
His air rip was all fine and dandy but if he didn't get some help soon he was liable to not make it through the rest of the battle...

XXXX

Inuyasha was becoming more and more furious with each slash that was unable to hit it's target. He didn't want to use Wound of the Winds for everyone else was far to close to him and it would hurt his friends as well. Besides, Naraku had eaten his offspring, which meant he had Kanna's powers. He would just reflect the Wound of the Winds back at him.

He slashed once more at the oncoming tentacles as he leapt into the air, towards any which one of the heads. It didn't matter, but he really wanted to get at Naraku's. Sango had failed, but he wasn't going to. He had to get one of them. He slashed at another tentacle savagely, then landed on the spider's hairy body. He was just about to plunge his sword into it's leathery hide when a tentacle burst from the body, right between his legs. He eeped, snarled, and leapt out of the way.

It did a U-turn in the air and flew back down towards him. Smirking, an idea flew through Inuyasha's head. Waiting until the last minute, he dove out of the way and heard a howl of pain and rage in four different voices. His plan worked! It's own tentacle sliced deep into it's body! Whooping, then snarling, he leapt again as another tentacle emerged from underneath his feet. This time, a boomerang pierced it and cut through savagely.

Inuyasha turned his head and saw Sango. He waved before jumping off the hide of the youkai and landing back down on the ground. He had a better chance of attack from there. And he knew what he wanted to do.
"SANKON TETSOU!" He yelled, jumping into the air towards the heads once again. His attack sliced into the tentacles that tried to stop him and he smiled as he neared the heads. "BASTARDS!"

XXXX

Kouga had his own problems to deal with. He was defending himself from at least four different tentacles, all with the same command. Kill. He kept slashing through them, daring to take a few glances at his beloved mate, then watching as more took the dead ones places. He snarled to himself, until he saw what was going on out of the corner of his eye.

Yume was leaping again, trying to avoid five different attacks. In her arms was a hurt Kirara, devoid of her master who was helping Miroku keep his life. One spider leg was after her, along with four different tentacles, each as sharp as a spear.

She couldn't get a window to attack or defend herself. Instead, she leapt, did a few backflips, and continued to avoid them. That was, until she miscalculated and fell.

Kouga watched in horror as the tentacles and the leg backed up and aimed down. Yume, not worried about her own safety, threw the cat-demon as far as she could, then put her arms up in front of her, as if to fend the attack off. It wasn't going to work.

He watched as the Hiraikotsu flew towards the tentacles and destroyed them, but the leg, spear like, kept going. Kouga bellowed in rage, fighting off the tentacles madly, trying to get to Yume, but it was too late.
The leg slammed hard into her right shoulder, slamming her into the crater it made. She howled in pain, sounding so sorrowful, as more tentacles flew at her.

They slammed into various parts of her body, missing her head, but slamming into both her legs, her stomach, and finally her chest and arms. Kouga couldn't watch anymore, his eyes grew lifeless and he didn't even realize that the tentacles had stopped coming at him.

"No, Yume!" Sango yelled as the tentacles fell away from her body and disappeared.

"No, Yume!"

Sango's words reverberated through Kouga's head. It was the only thing he could hear. He couldn't see, he couldn't breath, he couldn't think. Yume was dead. He was sure of it. How could she have survived being sliced up like a demon shikabob?

He could smell the thick scent of her blood. It was as if he was inhaling pea soup, but with a more coppery raw taste. There was no thoughts entering his head nor could he feel his own body. They had a word for that somewhere. Shock. Total and complete horrid shock.

His Yume was dead.

He could feel it on the metaphysic line he shared with her. Her soul, her life force....it was gone. There was nothing left but the body, a mere husk discarded.

No, he wouldn't let her go. Not like this, not like this. He hadn't even finished marking her as his own, he hadn't finished settling down yet. No! She wasn't gone! She couldn't be! She promised to be with him forever, allowed him to give her the first mark! They went to the Festival together for Kami-sama's sake!
Kouga slowly started to walk towards the crater in which Yume lay. He gulped repetitively. He was so sure what he would find, but he didn't want to find it. Though his mouth was full of water and his eyes were as well, his throat was completely dry.

He neared the edge of the crater and looked down into the hole.
Inuyasha humped and landed hard on the ground. Naraku's head lay in his hands and the other two's were rolling about on the ground. It was hard, but he had neared the heads without permanent injury.

Glancing down at his side, Inuyasha grunted lightly. One of the tentacles had slashed through his haori and clipped the skin. It was painful, but he'd taken worse. Swinging the Tetsusaiga harshly to get the blood off, he watched the spider body topple and fall.

Expecting to hear shouts of victory, Inuyasha turned on his heel. But no one was shouting. No one was even looking at the dead Naraku spider youkai. They're attention was stuck at a crater where a few of the severed legs were sticking up like needles in a pincushion. Why were they looking over there? He wondered agrivatedly. Shouldn't they be happy?

But the scent of blood turned his blood cold. Suddenly pale and weak, he stumbled through his comrades, pushing if he had to. He felt two pairs of hands try to grab him and keep him back, but pulled away savagely.

The first sight that came to him was Kouga on his knees next to the crater. He could smell through the blood Kouga's salty tears. It was quiet enough to hear the wretched sobs emitting from the alpha wolf as well. Inuyasha wondered only for a moment why Kouga was crying, then he caught sight of the body in the crater.

Yume was mangled. She looked worse than any image Inuyasha's mind could come up with. The crater she was in was streaked with her own blood and more, darker blood was still spewing from her wounds. Half her face was covered with blood while the other was as clean as it had been earlier, but deathly pale.

To see his saviour when he was younger in such a state made Inuyasha's stomach heave and tears spring to his eyes.

"No...Yume-Chan...not you too.." Inuyasha muttered quietly. "First my father, then my mother, then after that Kikyou...now you?"

Everyone I ever loved had been taken from me. Everyone that ever accepted me for me has died. Does that mean Kagome will fall to the same fate? Inuyasha's claws dug fiercely into the Earth. Does this mean everyone close to me will die?

XXXX

CLIFFY! No worries tho, I'm not one to kill off my own characters...

Or am I?...(Evil laugh)