Inuyasha

Coming of Age

((Author Note: Well that was an interesting last chapter, right? The comments were enjoyable. They ranged from, it was so sad to I'm going to
kill you if you don't update. Haha, I enjoy the reactions. Don't worry
though I started writing this the day after I posted the story so I'm
writing this as soon as possible Grin))

Chapter 12

Tora watched as Kisho fell away from Inuyasha's attempts to grab his hand. Tora's eyes were lowered as the memories of his son rushed back to him. He could almost feel his hand brush past his sons in his own failed attempt. Everyone on the ledge yelled Kisho's name, but Tora remained silent. There was nothing anyone could do. Kisho had been fatally hit and now he was falling into unknown darkness where no one could reach. Everything seemed hopeless. Tora's eyes shut tightly as his fist clutched together. As much as Tora hated to admit it, Naraku really had them all back into a corner and it seemed like they lost their last chance to challenge Naraku.

Inuyasha's ears were laid flat against his head in a sad display. He still couldn't believe how close he was to his son. The son he had only seen when he was just a newborn pup. Inuyasha didn't even know the boy's name. He slowly got back to his feet taking Tetsusaiga with him. His amber eyes looked across the way to the stun Miroku. The monk was just as stunned as everyone else, but his face began to relax as he stared at Inuyasha. It was rare for Inuyasha to express his weaker expressions in front of anyone and just witnessing it was making Miroku feel even worst for Inuyasha.

"Do you know where this leads, Miroku?" Inuyasha said as he stared down into the darkness with his ears still laid back against his head.

"No...I don't."

Everyone else from above was either silent or they cried to themselves. Inuyasha looked to everyone for a moment, he was obviously sad but no tears rolled down his face. His face seemed almost lost, but some sort of plan was forming in his mind. He stepped forward to the ledge to take a look down again, "Miroku..."

"Yeah?' The monk said as he held onto to his staff a bit tighter.

"Lead the others out of here. I'll get him back."

"What!" Miroku shouted as everyone else looked to the desperate hanyou who stood with a renewed stance. Every feature on his face reflected his determination. His newfound hope caught Tora's attention. Something in Inuyasha's eyes sparked a new hope for the tiger. As Tora looked down into the darkness below them, he could feel that their still may be a chance for Kisho.

"You heard me. I'll get him back, now get out of here before someone else falls victim!" Inuyasha shouted with his ears perked up to their usual position.

"You can't do this alone. You need help."

"I don't need anyone right now. Let me do this. It's my job!"

Miroku was getting annoyed with Inuyasha's usual stubborn attitude, "What the hell are you talking about? Your job?"

Inuyasha opened his mouth to reply, but Tora leaped down to Miroku's ledge and gripped him by the shoulder, "Let him. We have to get out of here," Tora looked to Inuyasha. Even though the two had never met there was a silent understanding. Inuyasha gave a small thankful nod before he leaped off the ledge and began to spring back and forth off the wall, slowly descending down into the darkness after Kisho.

"Why did you let him go? You sent him to his death."

Tora looked to Miroku with his soft tiger like eyes, "You've seem to lost your faith in everyone."

"It's just...hard to have such high hopes. We've lost so much."

Tora smiled lightly, "But you've gained a lot too. I didn't send Inuyasha to his death. I don't think he'd want to live if he didn't try to save his only son. It's his job to protect his family. From a youkai's stand point it's a much greater responsibility since he is the male. They protect their mates and their offspring. Something Inuyasha hasn't been able to do on both accounts."

"You sound like you speak from experience."

Tora smiled sadly, "I do. This same thing happened to me and I regret every moment. I promised I would help them and I stand by my word."

Miroku found Tora to have such a strong leadership quality about him. Even when Tora found no hope as he witnessed Kisho fall. Something in him was rekindle again. Perhaps it was Inuyasha's determination to find Kisho or perhaps Tora just believed in Kisho. Either way the entire group would be lost for sure if they lost Tora and Kisho. Tora looked up to everyone else, "Alright, we have to get out of here like Inuyasha said."

"Hey Tora! We have a big problem," Shippo shouted down.

Tora and Miroku both looked at each other for a moment before they both replied with, "What is it?"

Shippo pointed up to the darkness above their heads. Tora stared up at nothing before he began to feel the small vibrations in the rocks. A hoard of youkai were streaming right towards them. Tora figured Naraku wanted to try and wipe the entire group out while they were still shocked with Kisho's fall.

"Alright we have to split up. If we do that we may have a better chance."

"Think again!!" a hissing voice said from below.

Tora growled in his deep tiger voice as his eyes narrow to the sound of the familiar voice.. He grabbed Miroku by his cloths and he threw him up to one of the higher ledges, just as he did the ledge Tora was standing on crumbled like dust under his feet. The hanyou Tiger fell only a few feet before he was seized by a row of sharp fangs that belonged to a dragon. The dragon flew threw the air heading straight up towards the thousands of youkai. Tora's left arm was caught in its jaws as he hung there helplessly. They flew past the group who was huddling against the wall to avoid being knocked off by the large creature, "Get out of here you guys! I'll hold this bastard off," Tora yelled down.

The dragon flew right through all the youkai that were crawling their way down to attack the remaining survivors. Tora kept trying to get his arm loose, but the dragon had a strong hold on his arm.

'Struggle all you want. You are mine!'

"Hardly..." Tora hissed as he raised his right arm. His fingernails grew into longer claws, "You are too confident, Ryo. You forget I still have one free hand." Tora jammed his claws into one of Ryo's eyes. Ryo roared out in pain, releasing Tora as he shook his head violently.

Tora tumbled down a few feet before he landed perfectly on a ledge. To his luck this ledge actually had a tunnel and Tora didn't waste anytime rushing inside. Ryo shook his head in anger as his eye was gushing with blood, which he struggled to keep close. Blood ran down the side of his long dragon face, but Tora's blood also was fresh in the air. He looked down to the ledge Tora had landed on and he could see a small splatter of blood, "I will follow you to the ends of this world if you won't fight me Tiger!"

Meanwhile Miroku quickly climbed up to the others. Shippo was holding his head, "I can't believe we just lost Tora too!"

Keiji hit Shippo across the head, "Don't say things like that! Some faith you had it him."

"What about Kisho!" Kyoko yelled out.

Sango was trying to calm Kirara down, "What about all these youkai?"

"Would everyone just shut up!" Miroku yelled. Everyone was dead silent, only the chilling call of the youkai above were heard, "Ok then...everyone just calm down. We'll be ok. Inuyasha will bring Kisho back and Tora won't go down so easily I'm sure. Now lets concentrate on ourselves. We need to split up to get these youkai off our trail. We'll pair up in twos. This place is like a maze but we need to head up so always take a higher path when you get a chance. Ok?"

Everyone nodded as they got into position. Keiji and Kyoko were taking the tunnels to the far left, Miroku and Sango were taking the tunnels straight ahead and Shippo and Kirara were going to the right. They all waited until the youkai got a good look at them all. Once the battle call was announced from one of the menacing creatures the groups all took off down their chosen tunnels. The large youkai group soon split off to chase after their chosen victim. It was only a matter of time until one of them ran into a dead end.

Deep within the cold darkness, Inuyasha leaped from one side of the wall to the next. The decent down was a long one and it took every ounce his of energy just to maintain his balance. Inuyasha was still a bit off from being sealed for so long and moving under such stress was difficult, "Feh, I'm complaining like a baby," he said to himself. Inuyasha continued on through the darkness, in search for his son.

Meanwhile deep underground where the crystal lake laid, Kisho's body was rested in the shallow water. His head was raised just enough above the water to breath if he was truly alive. He laid on his stomached with the arrow still imbedded in his back. At first he didn't move at all. Nothing indicated he was alive. His face was pale as snow and the wound the arrow made didn't bleed a drop of blood.

Walking slowly across the shallow waters came Iluska. The female Inu had a smirk across her face as she drew closer to the fallen boy. She stopped just a few feet away of his body as she stared at him with her cold eyes, "This is what Naraku desires? He is a worthless creature. Strong in spirit I give him that, but he is a reject of what life gives. He is no more then a fluke."

Kisho's eyes opened, but they were blood red in color. He wasted no time in getting to his feet and lunging out at Iluska with his claws trusted forward. His fangs in his mouth were barred in a threatening display. As he drew closer a sharp yank against his neck and arms stopped him. Kisho had failed to realize that a collar was placed around his neck and his arms were bounded in chains. Iluska was just inches from his reach. He barked and growled as he pulled against his restraints. Water was being splashed everywhere but Iluska remained standing there, not moving an inch or flinching the tiniest bit.

"Ah, so your youkai part has to come out to fight. Can't speak to me as your real self?"

Kisho's wild eyes stared at her for a moment before he collapsed again. He fell down to his knees while his arms struggled to keep his body up. His head hung low from his shoulders as he tried to breath.

"Trying to fight your inner demon? It's no use. You are mostly human no one can go against such power. Your body is dying."

Kisho's head slowly rose until their eyes were locked with each other. Iluska took a small step back to see Kisho had reverted back to his normal self. 'That's impossible. His demon self should be wild by now. There's no way he could have controlled it.' She thought to herself as she stared at him.

"I may be dying...but I'm not as weak as you perceive me."

Iluska hissed lightly as she turned to walk back to the sandy shore. There waiting for her stood Naraku with his hands folded together. His dark eyes watched her retreat back to him. Of course there was a satisfying grin across his face since everything was going according to plan. Standing next to him was Hebi. She was the snake guardian and a genius when it came to potions. Her long green hair wrapped around her body as a pair of snakes rested around her neck and shoulders. Her eyes were lock on Iluska expecting to hear some good news.

"How is he?" Naraku asked as he watched the struggling Kisho.

"Dying. He reverted back to his human form. Somehow he was able to control his wild youkai self."

Naraku didn't seem that troubled by the news as he nodded, "Ah, well he is giving as a difficult time then. All he needs is a good push. Perhaps a bad memory will unleash his youkai blood?" Naraku questioned as he looked down to Hebi.

Hebi smirked, "Its a simple poison. Put this mask on his head. It will block his eyesight so that this poison will work faster."

Hebi handed it to Iluska who snatched it right out of her hand. Iluska disliked being ordered around, but she decided this was not the best time to get into an argument. Especially since Naraku was standing right there. Hebi followed behind Iluska as she approached Kisho.

Kisho glanced to her slightly before he gave a weak growl. Iluska paid no attention to it as she grabbed him by the hair, "Listen boy. You are about to experience nightmares beyond your imagination, let your youkai self out."

Kisho winced in pain weakly as he stared at her with his blurry eyes, "I rather go to hell!"

"That can be arranged," Iluska pulled the mask over that covered his head pretty much except for his nose and mouth so he would be able to breath. The mask tightened itself around Kisho as he struggled to pull it off, but he was so weak there was nothing he could do. Hebi held one of the snakes from her shoulders. Her arm outstretched to Kisho with the snake wrapped around. Its mouth opened in a hiss as it coiled its body to strike. Kisho couldn't tell what was going on, but as soon as the snake hissed he tried to run away from them. Iluska still had him by the hair and she just applied more pressure to get Kisho to sit still. The serpent suddenly lashed out with its fangs extended, sinking its fangs into Kisho's soft flesh on his arm. The poison reacted fast as it pumped throughout his body, Kisho had already blacked out from its effects.

Hebi and Iluska stood over his body before Naraku called out to them to go back to their positions. Naraku faded back into the darkness while Hebi and Iluska headed to shore. Iluska glanced over her shoulder to get one last look at Kisho before she headed on.

Kisho's mind was consumed in darkness. He felt like he was running as fast as he could through his dream, trying to find some sort of light, but despite his efforts it was no use. His legs slowed until he completely stop. He crouched down to the ground, dropping his head between his knees, cowering. He couldn't find his way out of this and being completely alone was something he feared the most.

'He's so strange.'

Kisho's head lifted up to the sound of voices.

'Look at him. His hair is so different and have you head the stores?'

"Stop it!" Kisho yelled as he stood up, but no one was there. His voice rumbled with his youkai growl as his fangs were barred in case of an attack.

'I don't care if he dies...'

Kisho turned around and suddenly he was brought back to his childhood. He was standing just outside of his home back in his time playing a game with himself. Times back then were lonely times, but Kisho sometimes preferred being alone then being constantly teased by his fellow classmates. Only a few chose to leave him alone, but no one ever showed their pity. He remembered he was just playing on the sidewalk when suddenly two of his classmates walked up.

"Hey, Kisho. Playing one of those strange games with yourself again?"

Kisho ignored them as he continued on with his game.

"Hey! My friend it talking to you," the other young boy said as he pushed Kisho.

Kisho hit against the ground with a light thump before he slowly got back up without so much as a scratch, "Leave me alone. You bother me at school, just got lost."

"What? Are we too good for you or something?"

Kisho opened his mouth to say something, but the other friend leaped back a few steps into the street, "Yeah we're too good for him. We're not freaks."

The two laughed out loud while Kisho looked down lightly. As he lifted his head again two beams of lights reflected in his eyes. A car was speeding down the street right for the clumsy boy who was still dancing like a food in the street. The other boy just realized the same and yelled out to his friend. The car was to close for the boy to make a run for it so he covered his eyes. Kisho leaped off the curve and as he did the adrenaline caused his youkai powers to react and he moved at a far greater speed then a normal human. He pushed the boy out of the way, but there was no time to save himself. Kisho was hit dead on by the car and his body tumbled against the ground a few feet away.

Kisho's grandmother and uncle came running out to the sounds. The two frighten boys just sat there stunned by what just happened. Those faces hunted Kisho's dream as their images slowly faded away, but Kisho could still hear faint words from his dream.

"Ok, boys we're just going to ask you a few questions on what happened. Was he standing in the middle of the street?"

"Yes...he's strange."

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"We were talking and suddenly his hair changed colors. We freaked out and I ran across the road and he chased after me. He just didn't make it I guess."

"Hope you boys are telling the truth. He was dead at the scene, but we got a pulse back."

"We are, but I don't care if he does die. He's just some freak. We need less of them!" one of the boys shouted.

That was the breaking point for Kisho. His eyes snapped open again just like before. His eyes were blood red while his claws grew longer. The water around him slowly began to boil from the intense power he was admitting. His human self had lost all hope it had left while his youkai side was enraged, by the sudden rush of memories, "I saved his life....and the way he repays me is by condemning me to my death! Ahhhh!" Kisho gripped his head as his youkai powers were clawing their way out.

Inuyasha ears perked up to the sound of Kisho's voice, "I'm close."

"You're much closer then you think," Inuyasha reached for his sword as he heard the voice but he was instantly restrained. Naraku's hand stretched out like several snakes that coiled itself around Inuyasha.

Inuyasha was struggling with all his might. He thrashed violently to loge himself free, but it was no use. Naraku had a tight grip on him and he slowly began to descend towards the lake.

"Let me go you bastard."

"Oh, but we are to see your son. Aren't you eager?"

Inuyasha didn't say anything as he began to notice the lake slowly coming into view. Inuyasha's eyes were so use to the darkness that he was having trouble adjusting to the light. His eyes squinted some as he looked around. The lake was quiet large and it was surrounded by small white crystals the shinned in some sort of light. Inuyasha looked across the way to the rock wall. There was an opening that was perfectly lined up with the moon. Its silver light shinned down on the calm waters. Inuyasha's eyes follow the light on waters slowly until the trashing Kisho caught his eye.

Kisho was pacing back and forth in the water like a caged animal. His eyes glowed their deep red color under his mask as his hands flexed his long claws at his side. Inuyasha knew that look all to well. It was similar to what happened to him when his youkai power went unchecked, "Is this your plan, Naraku? To have him fight as some deranged animal?"

"Oh, no he is hardly the animal. He can actually come back to his human self if he forces himself to, but that is fixable and now that you are here its time to witness the new Kisho!"

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes to Naraku, but he watched Kisho closely to see what was going on. Naraku laughed as he pointed to the moon with his free hand, "Certain times of the month causes hanyou's to turn to their human forms, but in Kisho's case..."

Kisho's eyes looked to the moon that he could sense under the mask. The moon continued to shine its white rays of light down, but slowly the light changed in color until it matched the blue waters. The Moon was consumed in its blue light as it shined in the sky like a blue jewel. Kisho fell down to his knee's as he felt his body transformed. His bones began to snap and reposition themselves while his white hair slowly began to be engulfed in black. His short hair slowly began to grow past his shoulders as his claws started to become more refine.

"...it's the opposite. He becomes more youkai."

Inuyasha stared down at what stood in the waters. Just like the Inu youkai Kisho fought he had transformed into that very same creature. His fur was a raven black while his bent hind legs supported himself fully as he stood there in the water. His hands were clutched together tightly while his tail swayed lightly in the water. His eyes were now visible since his dog like head had torn through the mask. His eyes were still glowed blood red in color while his pearl white teeth were showing in all there furry. He raised his head and howled into the night.

"He is now mine! You have lost Inuyasha and now you'll be destroyed by your own son unless you destroy him yourself," Naraku said with his sinister voice.

Inuyasha stared down at Kisho, 'What am I going to do?'