Hey, guys! I'm sitting at Starbucks and I don't have anything else to do, so here's the next chapter; hope you like the story so far. I'm sure having fun writing it… I'm thinking of putting up one for Lord of the Rings. What do you think? Feedback, people, feedback!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Raori and Takinoshi are mine. Mwahahaha.

Have fun!

"Raori!"

They all spun around at the sound of Kagura's shout. Their eyes immediately began to scan the area for signs of Raori, but she was gone. There was no sign of her attacker, either.

While the others panicked, Sesshomaru wisely chose a more sensible course of action. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on his other senses. His ears picked up a faint rustle in the bushes, and his nose noticed a lingering smell that he identified as Raori's, as well as another that he could not identify – her attacker's scent, no doubt. He immediately turned in the direction his ears and nose pointed, darting to the earth without a word to the others.

They immediately chose to trust his judgement, following him as quickly as they could. They emerged under the trees a moment later, staring at the sight that they were faced with.

A dark figure, shrouded in shadow, was struggling to hold Raori still. A long arm wound around her face and through her teeth, gagging her. Two more arms wrapped around her torso, holding her hands at her sides, and another arm wrapped around her legs. Despite her furious struggles, the strange attacker had had the element of surprise, and now that she was in a helpless position, not even her demonic strength could save her.

Nodding to Kagura and Inuyasha, Sesshomaru darted towards the creature. Two wind-blades shot past him and buried themselves in the demon's side. It turned and hissed at Kagura, its arms tightening around its prey. Raori winced, glancing up at the wind mistress as she struggled to free herself. Kagura merely winked at her, darting about to keep the dark demon's attention on her.

The attack came from all sides. A slash from Tetsusaiga sent the creature staggering, its hold slightly loose. Sango's boomerang struck it in the back. Kagura's wind-blades struck it squarely in the legs. Sesshomaru attacked it from behind, slashing downward with poisoned claws and feeling the skin of this dark demon shred under his fingers.

With a shrill scream, the confused demon turned to flee. Shippo wasted no time in quickly erecting a barrier of foxfire, which spread in a tight circle around the demon, penning it in. It recoiled, fear in its voice as it cried out again, and released Raori in its confusion.

This was the worst mistake it could have made. Faster than any of them could have blinked an eye, Sesshomaru had darted past and scooped the limp demoness up in his arms, carrying her to safety. The instant she was out of danger, Kagome let loose her arrow, willing it to strike true. Kagura raised the slightest of winds and tilted the shaft to one side an inch, sending it straight into its target – the demon's heart, as black as its skin.

The fight was over faster than they'd expected. Each of them had managed to assume a role in the attack and stick to it, cooperating with the others to form an invincible force. Such a demon may have taken Inuyasha's group hours to defeat. Now, with more allies and plans for attack, it had taken them no more than a few minutes.

They quickly turned towards Raori, who was slowly gathering her wits about herself. She was more surprised than anything else, and as far as they could see, she wasn't hurt. She confirmed this a moment later, gesturing to them that she was fine.

They relaxed slightly, wisely deciding to settle down – it was past midnight, after all, and some of them – the humans, mainly, and Shippo – could use some rest. Kagura, Sesshomaru, and Raori offered to take watch, which they would do while strategizing, which they now knew was a great help. On their request, Kagura promised to wake them all a few hours before dawn so they could join in the practice. Meanwhile, the demons insisted that even Inuyasha get some sleep. He was, however he hated the fact, only a half-demon.

He assented, though grudgingly. The humans were asleep within minutes, and the sound of the three demons not fifteen feet away assured him that he could relax. They had things covered. He didn't have to watch out for enemies like he usually did while the others slept; that was not his job anymore.

He didn't notice Kagome approaching him until she sat down beside him. Blinking, he turned and offered her a smile, putting an arm around her as he sat back against a tree. She rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and heaving a sigh of contentment. He rested his chin on her head, closing his own eyes, feeling himself slowly relax and drift off into sleep. The last thing he knew before he was gone for the night was Kagome's soft "good night, Inuyasha" and her gentle kiss as she snuggled closer to him.

When the sun had started its ascent in the sky, Kagura excused herself from the circle the demons had been sitting in and went to wake the others. They'd spent the entire night thinking up strategies for each and every scenario Takinoshi could present them with. They didn't know if he'd have any allies to fight for him, but if he did, they were ready. They had no idea on what terrain they'd be fighting – wide open ground, a tight forest, a closed-off cave, the side of a mountain, anywhere – so they had a plan for each place. Anything could go wrong, so they tried to account for everything. Undoubtedly there would be something they hadn't foreseen, as there always was, but they'd be ready for as much as they could.

Kagura moved around the camp, shaking Shippo and Kirara awake and moving on to Miroku and Sango. Kohaku had slept on the ground next to his sister, while the monk slept sitting up against a tree not five feet from them. She woke all three of them, ignoring their protesting groans at the early hour and turning to Inuyasha and Kagome.

She paused for a moment to consider them. They did look like they belonged together, nestled side by side as they were. She shook herself, smiling slightly, and knelt beside Kagome, waking her gently. She didn't know whether Inuyasha was a morning person, and didn't want to risk it, so she decided to let Kagome worry about that, turning from the sleeping hanyou towards the sleepy human.

"What time is it?" Kagome mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"Early," Kagura said softly, helping her up. "We will train for an hour or two, eat, and begin moving on. Raori thinks we may meet Takinoshi today, if we move quickly enough."

Kagome nodded, turning to wake Inuyasha as Kagura moved back to the demons.

"We will have to work hard this morning," Raori said, glancing up at the wind-mistress. "It may be the last time we have a chance to do so."

Kagura nodded and sat as they waited for the others. When they had all sat down together, Kagura started to talk. They all listened, silent and thoughtful, as she outlined every scenario the demons could think of when they put their heads together. After dealing with demons for most of their lives, Sango and Kohaku could think of a few more suggestions – what to do if you were fighting and the enemy fled into a lake or pond, for example. Actually, odd as that sounds, it had happened to Sango once before – she'd located a demon with a shard that was attacking a village and, rather than fight an exterminator, the coward had fled into the lake, taking the shard with it. Of course, they didn't expect Takinoshi to be a coward, but they had to be ready for anything.

When they had finished and all but the demons had eaten, they packed up and set out north once again. They were all on their guard, knowing that an attack could come at any minute and from any direction. They paid attention to every detail. A cloud drifting across the sky could be a dust cloud caused by a disruption in the rock by an enemy's foot; a scurry in the bushes could be a spy rather than a squirrel; anything could mean danger. Kagome jumped at every sound, and Inuyasha found himself inching closer and closer to her, intent on protecting her.

When they reached the mountain range on Raori's map – the one Takinoshi's residence was located in – they had a quick bite to eat before steadily plodding on. Everyone's senses were searching frantically for some sign of life, and they were so tense they could feel their muscles tremble. Only Sesshomaru and Raori had complete control over their minds, and awaited the attack calmly, knowing that it would come whether they were ready or not. The longer they sweated about it, the more energy they wasted in worrying.

They soon found this would be difficult. There was cause enough for even the most stoic of them to worry.

At about midday, they came to a sudden conclusion that the mountain they stood on wasn't actually a true mountain at all. A distinct rumble from the earth below their feet informed them that it was a volcano. A live, active, angry volcano.

Raori stiffened as her heightened senses noticed something. Sesshomaru and Kagura glanced at each other, having both sensed it, also. Even Inuyasha noticed that something was wrong after a moment. As they strove to discover what it was, it was suddenly painfully clear, as half the mountainside suddenly came crashing down on them.

The three demons blurred into motion, knowing they had no time to waste. Shippo yelled in terror, eyes wide, as the rocks tumbled towards them. Inuyasha held Kagome to him and squeezed his eyes shut, knowing he couldn't get out of the way fast enough – it would take demonic speed, and a lot of it, to escape a blow like that.

Thank goodness they had three strong demons with them.

They all blinked in surprise as the dust cleared away. Raori had grabbed Miroku, Sango, and Kohaku. Sesshomaru had dragged Inuyasha and Kagome out of harm's way. Kagura was holding Shippo and Kirara, both of whom sighed in thanks when they realized that they weren't dead.

Inuyasha stared at his half-brother in surprise. Sesshomaru had saved the two least likely ones in the group – the half-demon and the human he loved. Sesshomaru shook the dust out of his hair, ignoring Inuyasha's surprised stare.

Raori glanced them all over. "We'd better go," she murmured. "I don't know where Takinoshi is, but there's a fair chance he heard that."

"As a matter of fact, I did," came a low voice from behind them.

They whirled around to see a demon leaning against a boulder, eyeing them with a slight sneer. He was dressed entirely in black. He had the appearance of a human, like Sesshomaru, Raori, and Kagura, so it was difficult to tell what sort of demon he was. He was dark, shady, with bright emerald eyes that glared at them. His long black hair flowed down to his waist, blowing slightly in the wind.

All things considered, he didn't look too powerful, but they were wary even so. He was obviously a lot more powerful than he looked, and underestimating one's opponent is always fatal. So they simply stood there, waiting for him to make the first move. The demon stood silently, considering them with his calculating stare.

Finally he spoke. "You came for my shard," he said quietly. It was not a question.

Raori's eyes hardened. Inuyasha drew Tetsusaiga, muttering to Kagome over his shoulder. "Where is it?" he asked her urgently.

Kagome shook her head. "I don't know. He doesn't have it on him."

Inuyasha cursed darkly, raising his sword. Hiraikotsu stood ready in Sango's hand. Everyone had their hand on their weapon. Shippo trembled slightly, but glared at the youkai bravely all the same. Takinoshi laughed quietly as he studied them.

"So eager to fight?" he sneered. "All right, then, a fight you will have. Let me see how good you really are."

He vanished. A second later, Kagura spun around and let loose a wind-blade that smashed into a pile of rock, just missing him. He disappeared again, flashing across the clearing with speed unrivaled.

Raori quickly nodded to Sesshomaru and intercepted him, her acute vision being able to follow his path with her eyes. She slammed into him, slashing out, but hit only air. Takinoshi ducked under her swing, turning to meet her. As he faced her, Sesshomaru appeared behind him, lashing out fiercely.

It was as though the demon had eyes in the back of his head. He ducked Sesshomaru's blow and struck out at Raori at the same time. She dodged, backing away a few steps, studying this demon and measuring his strength, speed, and stamina with all of her senses. He didn't seem to be tiring at all – rather, he looked like he was enjoying himself.

Raori readied herself, darting around Takinoshi and glancing up to see that Kagura was in place. The wind mistress quickly let loose a bunch of wind-blades, which hurtled down towards Takinoshi with a soft whistle. He expertly dodged the lot of them, ducking another slash from Sesshomaru and leaping over Tetsusaiga as Inuyasha swung out from behind him.

Sango let loose Hiraikotsu, and Raori slashed out, wreathing the weapon in flame, while Sesshomaru did the same, tinting the tip with poison. Kagura used her power to conjure up a wind, tilting the weapon straight towards Takinoshi.

The demon snarled angrily, trying to dart around it, but Tetsusaiga's Cutting Wind blocked him off on the right, while Kohaku's sickle cut off his retreat to the left. Kirara stood, transformed, just in front of him, her claws bared, snarling. Shippo created a barrier of foxfire behind him, fencing him in.

Takinoshi leapt into the air, landing on top of the giant boomerang as it whistled past. When it turned in midair to fly back to Sango, he leapt off, streaking towards her in a fierce attack.

Miroku immediately unleashed his wind tunnel, using it to suck Takinoshi away from Sango. At this, Takinoshi seemed surprised, not having expected such power in the monk. Miroku winced as he felt the hole in his hand widen slightly, but kept his hand up.

Takinoshi turned away from the sucking wind, darting away, his demonic strength kicking in. Their eyes widened as he slowly managed to move against the wind, something they'd never seen a single demon do before. He was strong enough that he could move away from the wind tunnel.

Kagura floated down beside Miroku and conjured up winds of her own, which pushed against Takinoshi even more, pulling him towards the monk. Takinoshi fought against the two winds a moment longer, considering the situation, before relaxing and letting himself be pulled towards Miroku. Kagome started to rejoice, thinking they had defeated him –

But Takinoshi suddenly pushed off the ground, soaring over the monk's head and striking out, slashing his back and sending him reeling. Miroku quickly covered the wind tunnel, afraid of sucking up one of his friends, and backed away from Takinoshi, biting his lip as blood leaked down his back.

Kagome gritted her teeth as she saw Miroku in pain. She quickly notched an arrow on her bow, aiming for Takinoshi's chest. Shippo created a foxfire barrier around himself and Kagome so that Takinoshi couldn't see what they were doing.

Meanwhile, as she concentrated on her aim, the rest of the group attacked again. Kagura sent another barrage of wind-blades that whistled through the air towards Takinoshi. He dodged away, attacking Kohaku, who had struck him once with his sickle. The boy yelped and stumbled backwards, but Raori was there in a moment, slamming into Takinoshi and sending him off course. She slashed at him, and he jerked away, but not in time to avoid the searing burn that slashed his forearm. He snarled at Raori, but she darted back before he could reach her. He started to follow, intent on getting revenge, but suddenly Sesshomaru was behind him and struck out with Toujikin, giving Takinoshi another slash, this time across his shoulder.

The dark demon leapt away, facing his enemies with a glare, and swallowed slightly.

They saw with satisfaction that he was tiring. This demon was obviously incredibly powerful, but not so powerful that he could stand up to three humans, a half-demon and three true demons – and a miko, who struck just at that moment.

Her arrow didn't strike true, for Takinoshi was too fast, but it did pierce his side, causing him to cry out in pain and back away slightly. Shippo put down the barrier with a cheer, and Kagome smiled brightly as she saw that she'd hit him, however small the wound was – every little bit counted, and this would help them a lot.

Takinoshi narrowed his eyes, really angry, and was gone again.

He suddenly appeared behind them, striking out and sending Kohaku and Sango flying. They hit the ground hard, wincing as the bare rock cut into their backs. Sesshomaru and Raori fought alongside one another, but without the teamwork they'd had before, they found that the two of them couldn't keep it up very long. Kagura used her wind-blades to make him back off for a moment, but he simply leapt into the air and struck out, sending her fan toppling from her fingers.

Kagura backed away, her feather floating higher than Takinoshi was. He ignored her, leaping down towards Kagome, intending to repay what she'd done to him with her arrow.

Inuyasha was at him faster than any of them would've thought possible. Takinoshi tried to dodge around him, but Tetsusaiga forced him back. Inuyasha stood bravely in front of Kagome, glaring at Takinoshi, unwilling to move an inch.

Takinoshi darted for him, and Inuyasha braced himself for the attack he knew was coming –

But suddenly Takinoshi froze, narrowing his eyes, tilting his head and listening intently. Surprised at this sudden change, the others fell still, following his example and trying to hear whatever it was had stopped him so abruptly in his tracks.

It happened so suddenly that even Takinoshi didn't have time to dart away. Another landslide, ten times larger than the first, was suddenly upon them. It was a huge avalanche, large and small rocks alike, and it hit them like a ton of bricks – which it almost was.

The entire world turned upside down then. The rocks slid most of the way down the volcano, finally rumbling to a stop almost a mile from wherethe landslidehad started. The group was seperated, some landing to one side of theavalanche's pathwhile others were swept onward. When the rocks finally fell still and the dust cleared, they were all lying at various intervals on the mountain, alone and unconscious.

Hope you liked it. I feel like writing some more, so I'll go ahead and start the next chapter now… Oh, man, now I've gotta name this one. Hm, what to call it… Oh, whatever, I'll think of something. Happy Memorial Day (which was yesterday…) Bye, everybody!