Author's Notes: The kids' names are pronounced as followed. Shaoran (sh-ow!-r-on) and Shiori (She-o-ree)
Replicated EvilKagome stirred the stew pot filled with chunks of rabbit meat and potatoes. Inuyasha had long gotten accustomed to his love's cooking – his mouth watering with each passing minute. It was almost as good as the ramen he missed so much. Almost.
Sitting back, Kagome sighed and wiped the sweat from her brow. "Okay, it's almost ready." Looking up she smiled. "Could you go get them for me?"
Snapping his vision away from the tantalizing food, he scowled. "Why do I hafta go?"
Rolling her eyes, she replied, "Because last time I went I found Shaoran half way up Goshinboku and it almost gave me a heart attack! Now if you want any of this go! Go!"
"Feh! Since when do I do everything around here?" He commented before rushing out of the hut they shared on all fours.
On the edge of the forest, one of the hanyou's children – Shaoran stood with a fierce look in his golden eyes. Between either child, he resembled his father the most – with short silver hair coming down in strands just below his brow and familiar dog-ears on the top of his head. Lifting a thick bokken - or wooden sword - above his head, he brought it down in a quick strike until his arms were straight out in front of him. He grunted with the effort and ignored the pain in his limbs from the gesture. Then he repeated it once more.
"Why do you insist on doing that all the time?" His twin sister whined as she twirled a flower between her clawed fingers. Shiori had inherited more of her mother's looks with long black hair and dog-ears to match. Her eyes though were azure – not too dark or ice blue, but a deep ocean blue. Kagome had said it was a recessive gene on her side of the family, whatever that meant.
"Because Father wants us to be strong like him in case evil youkai come to the village after mom." Shaoran replied, cutting through the air and stopping on a dime. "You could do with some practice too!"
Shiori lazily raised her slingshot and frowned. "I'm a good shot!"
Scoffing, her brother continued his exercise. "Keh! You couldn't hit the broad side of Hachi-san's full form if you wanted too!" Uncle Miroku's raccoon friend was always good for a laugh.
Growling with anger, Shiori's fangs showed through her teeth as she clenched a fist and brought up her weapon. Loading it with a pebble from the small pouch on her waist she shouted, "I'll show you!"
As she released it, a flash of red enveloped her vision as Inuyasha's hand came to intercept the projectile. "What have you been told about fighting?" He asked. Although his tone was serious, on the inside he was proud. His daughter had a fighting spirit that might one day save her life.
"Not that she could've hit me anyway." Shaoran said from high up in a tree. With a jump flip he was instantly by his father's side.
Inuyasha smirked and juggled the pebble in his hand. "You need to stop doing that around your mother." He said.
"Why?"
Wrapping an arm around the boy's head, he gave his son a noogie. "Because she worries about you, that's why!"
Giggling, Shiori bounded on her father's back and wrapped her small arms around his neck as he interlaced his arms under her legs. "You just don't wanna hear it from her later, huh!?"
Turning towards his father, Shaoran rested his sword on his shoulder. "So what's up dad?" He asked.
"Dinner's ready – that's what." He replied.
The little hanyou's ears twitched at the word dinner and in an instant, Shaoran took off towards the village.
Grabbing the locks of hair that hung on the side of Inuyasha's face, Shiori pulled on them like the reins of a horse, but not hard enough to hurt her daddy. "Come on! We can beat him!"
Enjoying her enthusiasm, he nodded. "Yosh!" Then he took off after his son.
Finally having both children asleep, Kagome came out into the other room and decided to clean up.
There was a knock on her doorframe and when the miko looked up, she was surprised to see Miroku's head pop through the flap. "Might you have a moment?"
Nodding, she smiled to her long time friend. "What brings you here so late?"
Nervously entering the hut, he looked around. "Is Inuyasha here?"
"No, we heard a rumor earlier about youkai acting strangely and attacking people, so he left to check it out." She reported.
Sitting down, Miroku looked sadly at the ground. "Kagome-sama, what I'm about to tell you cannot leave this room."
His sudden seriousness caught Kagome off guard as she sat across from him. "What is it, Miroku-sama?"
"Do you…do you remember when I told Sango I wanted to have lots of children? Ten? Twenty? And she agreed?" Kagome nodded in remembrance. "Well, it's been six years and – well nothing."
The miko's eyes widened. He's right. After all this time they should've had two, three children at least! Maybe…She gasped. Maybe it's him?
"Kagome-sama, please if you know anything that might help." He looked at her worriedly. Obviously he thought he was the problem too.
"W-well, back in my time, they had medicine to deal with…situations like that, but now…" What could she say? "I'm sure it's nothing after all, a woman's immune system is a very strong force to be reckoned with." This entire conversation was getting a little bizarre, even for her. Since when did Miroku go to others for love advice? "Just keep trying and aim for when she's in heat. I mean – when it's that time of the month." She had been living with Inuyasha for so long that he was beginning to rub off on her.
Inuyasha went to the area where a villager was supposedly attacked and it didn't take him long to pick up the scent. "This is just a bear youkai. They usually keep to themselves instead of turning to terrorizing humans. Something doesn't smell right about this." There was crashing heard in the distance and a loud roar echoed through the trees. "Sounds like he's back."
Jumping into the branches above, Inuyasha leaped from tree to tree towards the sound of the youkai. He found him roaring and waving his arms with their dangerous claws at the end. Trees were cut down in two with one swipe and the local forest life ran in fear of the out of control beast.
Inuyasha seemed to have caught him off guard because the youkai didn't look in his direction at all and just continued his rampage. But pretty soon the tree Inuyasha was perched on became victim to the bear youkai's claws and the hanyou jumped clear of the falling lumber and onto the ground. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing anyway!?"
Again the bear youkai gave no response that he even heard Inuyasha's angered shout and roared out as he closed his eyes and slashed blindly.
Then the hanyou's ears pick up the pitch of the cry and understood. "You're not roaring out of anger, you're crying out of pain." He jumped to the side to avoid the youkai's massive foot as it stumbled back and forth, his eyes still closed as if he were living a nightmare.
Grabbing his head as he continued to cry out, the youkai ran off and out of the forest.
"Shit!" Inuyasha took chase, but had yet to draw Tetsusaiga. He had to stop the youkai, but if he really was just sleep walking, he didn't want to kill needlessly. An annoying trait he'd picked up from traveling with Kagome all those years.
When they cleared the forest, Inuyasha saw the village at the bottom of the hill and sped up to cut the beast off. "Okay, you've gone far enough!" He pushed off a boulder nearby and brought his leg up to slam into the bear's stomach.
The fifteen-foot demon cried out and fell backwards. Landing next to him, Inuyasha frowned. "Just what happened to you to make you act like this?"
Instead of answering, the bear youkai's eyes blared opened, revealing solid white eyes, as it slashed at Inuyasha. Caught off guard, Inuyasha was thrown back and hit one of the trees at the edge of the forest.
As if finally realizing that he was there, the bear youkai turned on the hanyou and came at him running.
"So now you want to fight, huh?" Inuyasha pushed off the tree and raised his claws. "Sankon Tessou!" The attack was batted away by the bear's large arm and he came up with his other arm to wrap Inuyasha in a tight bear hug. "I…never knew you…thought of me…like this…"
Pushing out with his arms, Inuyasha freed himself and turned around to land a roundhouse kick to the bear's jaw. The youkai stumbled back and Inuyasha landed, quickly drawing his sword from its sheath. "I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice!"
The youkai shook his head to clear it and bum rushed the dog demon.
"You asked for it!" Inuyasha jumped up and the winds of his attack began forming around his fang. "Kazu no kizu!"
Without even stopping, the bear youkai ran right into the powerful attack and was instantly vaporized.
Sheathing his sword, Inuyasha looked at the crispy, fried remains of his enemy as his golden orbs picked up something shiny amongst the debris. It was a blackened round jewel that looked frighteningly similar to… "Oh kami, it can't be…"
Yamatsu watched the new recruits being dragged into his layer as his already loyal soldiers lined up on the other side of the massive underground headquarters. Soon my army will be large enough that even that wimpy mutt won't be able to stand in my way. His children though…they will be excellent additions to my youkai force, even if they are half-breeds.
Noticing he had a guest behind him, the youkai slowly turned around and saw his dark general, kneeling before him. No youkai could ever be fully trusted, but when it came to dealing with Yamatsu's enemies, this creature was solely efficient.
"What news do you bring?" Yamatsu asked.
"We have hunted down all of the renegade captives minus one, but he has been…dealt with." His general wore all black armor, a black cape that connected to his shoulders, and a large two-horned helmet – used for impaling his enemies – on his head. His face was nothing but shadow minus the glowing red eyes that flashed when he was alive in battle.
"Oh? And how's that?"
Hesitating, the general replied, "The hanyou, Yamatsu-sama, has slain him."
"WHAT!?" From Yamatsu's fingers came black, whip like energy, courtesy of Naraku's attempted absorption of Sesshoumaru so long ago. With these dangerous weapons he slammed it down hard on the creature's back, making him howl out in pain. "You're telling me that half mutt has seen one of my failures!? Unacceptable!" He slashed again.
"It could have been avoided if we were to go out into view and slay it ourselves, but we thought it best to stay hidden from the hanyou's eyes!" The general shouted in his own defense.
Stopping his barrage for the moment, Yamatsu contemplated this idea. "True, it would be far worse if he were to catch wind of our entire plan before we are ready. This way we still have time before he figures out it. IF he figures it out that is."
Breathing heavily, the general ignored the throbbing pain of his wounds and the dropping blood that pooled around him. "What shall we do next, sire?"
Thinking about it carefully, Yamatsu smiled. "I think its time to try our luck at those brats again. Send one of our enhanced soldiers to the village. If he fails, Inuyasha will see him killed anyways and we will know the capabilities of my new inventions."
Nodding, the general agreed. "Yes, Yamatsu-sama."
Turning his back to his general Yamatsu said, "And Kisada? Send one of the scouts to oversee the encounter. I want to know every detail."
"As you command."
Kagome held the glass ball up to the light to make sure she wasn't imagining things. "No, it's just what it looks like: a defiled Shikon no Tama imitation." She confirmed. "Where did you say you got it again?"
Inuyasha, along with Sango and Miroku, who had come on Inuyasha's request, all conversed in the same room. "It was in the stomach of the youkai."
Sango cringed. "I wonder how it got there?"
"He ate it of course!" Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "But the question is, who's making them? We already took care of that maniacal youkai-scholar who was making the jewels before. So who else could?"
Kagome looked down in thought. "We need to find out if there are more of these things out there." She looked up at her mate. "Have you heard any other reports of youkai going crazy?"
Shaking his head, he placed his arms inside the sleeves of his haori. "Nothing. I think I got the last one."
"Here's hoping. If another youkai were to use the power of a defiled Shikon no Tama, even if it is a replica, they would cause some serious damage to any number of villages." Miroku commented.
"A lot of humans would die under such an enemy." Sango agreed in worry.
Looking at her friends, Kagome held the jewel tightly in her hand. "Let's just keep our eyes and ears open to any clues… and Inuyasha?" She tossed him the jewel. "Destroy it. That thing's too dangerous to be kept around."
"Right. I'm on it." Inuyasha got up and went outside. Throwing the ball into the air, he cracked his knuckles and used Sankon Tessou to shatter it into nothing but dust. "Now no other youkai will fall to its dark power."
While Shaoran rested in one of the branches of Goshinboku, Shiori aimed his pebble at a mark in another tree she had made a target and released her slingshot at it. It hit no more than two centimeters from the target and she jumped with joy. "All right! Let's see a youkai dodge that!"
"Feh, you really think any demon's gonna be afraid of a little rock?" He said. Without warning, Shaoran was bombarded with three rocks, all released from Shiori's slingshot. Unable to keep his balance, he fell from the tree and landed with a thud on the ground. "What the hell was that for!? Huh?" He watched his sister huff away with the temper surpassed only by their mother, and growled in annoyance. "Fine! Be that way!" He crossed his arms and bounded back into his perch. "She gets on my nerves anyway."
Shiori put her slingshot away and started looking around for more pebbles to fill her pouch with. "I swear, no matter how hard I try, I'll never be strong enough for him!" It was infuriating that Shaoran always belittled her and tried to prove he was the better of the two. "So what if I don't want to wield a sword? I like my slingshot and someday I'll use a bow and arrow, just like mom!" She promised herself.
A small tingling caught her senses and she looked over on the ground and saw a strange looking black stone. It was radiating with a strange power that lured Shiori closer. When she reached out to touch it, a crow demon cawed from above and came down swiftly. Gasping, the girl hanyou jumped back and watched as the demon not only picked up the round stone but swallowed it. "H-hey! That was mine!"
His cawing, though, soon became deep and guttural as he began to grow larger and larger, taking on the form of a black dragon more than a bird. She was frozen to her spot in fear as it flapped it huge leathery wings and blew wind in all directions. Without having enough time to react, it flew into the air, only to come back down again right on top of Shiori…
"AHHHHhhhh!!!" Her scream reached his sensitive ears and Shaoran was immediately awake in an instant. "Shiori!" He leapt from his tree in the direction of the outcry and was blow back when a massive creature flew out of the forest.
"What the hell is that!?"
Back at the village, Inuyasha picked up the sound of the youkai and looked towards the forest. "Another youkai causing trouble?" He wondered.
Running out of the hut, Kagome asked, "Where is it?"
"Over to the south." He said casually.
But Kagome gasped in fear. "Oh Kami, that's where the children are!"
Inuyasha didn't need to hear anymore. In an instant, he was rushing off towards the forest.
Shaoran looked up and saw his twin in the talons of the huge dragon. "Shiori!"
"Aniki!" She cried out. The dragon's claws dug into her skin and made her cry out again in pain.
"Let her go!" Shaoran jumped up and slashed with a weak Sankon Tessou.
It did little but get the creature's attention. It flapped around and made a u-turn towards the dog demon boy. Shaoran poised and got ready and when the dragon made another pass, he leapt up and landed on the back of the creature's neck. "Gotch ya!"
Moving this way and that in an attempt to get the child off him, the dragon flew down into the forest and began flying through the foliage, cutting up not only itself but its two unwilling passengers.
Shaoran held on as long as he could, but a branch hit him square in the forehead and he was thrown from his mount.
"Aniki!!!" Shiori called out again as the crow continued to fly straight.
Growling, Shaoran took off on foot and leapt into the trees to gain speed. He dug his nails into a wound on his arm and when the creature angled towards the sky once more, he jumped up with it. "Try this on for size!" He released his blood claws and the multiple projectiles were enough to get him to release his prey. "Shiori!"
Inuyasha appeared and jumped up out of the forest, catching his frightened daughter safely in his arms. "Got ya!"
She sniffled into his warm fire-rat robe. "Daddy!"
Inuyasha landed next to his son and put his daughter down. Taking off his upper robe, he threw it over the children. "Stay here while I handle this!"
"It was the rock!" Shiori shouted.
Stopping, he turned to the little hanyou. "What?"
"He swallowed the black rock I found and became that thing! It must be still inside him!" She pointed at the crow-turned dragon youkai.
"Got it!" Inuyasha jumped up and draw Tetsusaiga from its sheath. "This is what you get for attacking my kids!" He slashed and released his wind scar, once again turning the demon into nothing but ash. As he fell, he saw the jewel in question and slashed once more with his claws, cutting it cleanly in two.
When he landed, he was bombarded by both children giving him hugs of gratitude. "Okay, okay. Let's go home so your mother doesn't worry any more than she has to."
From the foliage behind him, another youkai narrowed his solid white eyes at his prey. "Must destroy…must destroy…" But now was not the time. He had to wait until nightfall. Then he would attack all the enemies of Yamatsu.
Author's Notes: Is it getting good? Feedback! I need feeback!