Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters associated with the series.

Chapter 17: Battling For A Friend Part I

2 Days Later

Inuyasha and Soshi had be running for so long. It seemed like forever. They were just about there, but they feared they would not make it in time to save Miroku and even if they got there they were steadily running out of energy. They had only stopped for food once and he stopped for water here and there, but they had gotten no sleep and really wanted to regain their strength, but they knew they did not have that much time. The sun was settling as night approached.

Suddenly Soshi stopped running. Inuyasha skid to a stop. He looked at the dog demon with curiosity.

"What's up? Why'd you stop?"

"We need to sleep here for the night."

"What? No way the sooner we get back the better.

"But Dayu's castle is just up ahead. We should not fight at night when the demons are on his side and besides we need to rest or we will not have the strength to defeat him.

"I think two on one.."

"He has his half brother. Do not forget. Zane." Inuyasha growled.

"We can defeat both of them."

"With rest." Soshi said with a sigh. It would be nice to get a little food and rest. Inuyasha realized this was an argument he could not when, because Soshi was right. Which he hated to admit.

"Feh. Weak demon." Inuyasha crossed his arms. "We'll eat and sleep a little, but as soon as the sun is risen we fight.

"Agreed."

Meanwhile

Kagome sat on the couch with Umi and Uchuu. She kept an eye on the two who were just sitting on the couch looking at her in confusion. They blinked, not really knowing what to expect.

Kagome sighed and spared her children a smile. 'I miss Inuyasha.' Kagome thought to herself as she rubbed her belly and growing child. 'I hope he's okay.'

Sango came down the stairs from the shower. This was her second shower in the modern era and she had to say it wasn't half bad. Very relaxing and it gave her time to think.

"How are you doing Sango?" Kagome asked. Sango looked at her friend and the two youngsters.

"Fine." Sango rubbed her very big belly. "A little jealous, but fine." Sango giggled. "My best friends going to have three children when I'm going to have one."

"I don't think you'd want three. Two's hard enough." Kagome said rubbing her forehead. That was when Umi and Uchuu decided to be a little mischievous. The looked around and started crawling. They were about to crawl off the couch but Kagome managed to pull them back. She sighed in relief. "Yes.. two's definitely hard enough... Plus." Kagome began. "It's not like you can't just have more after you have one.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Sango went to sit down on the other couch, but noticed she was about to sit on a ball of fur. She become conscious of the fact that it was a sleeping Shippo. "I guess it's getting late. You want me to carry Shippo up to Sota's room?"

"No, don't worry about it. I'm going to stay down here and watch TV. I'll bring him up after the twins fall asleep."

"Can't sleep, huh?" Sango sat on the one person couch and looked at Kagome.

"I'm surprised you can."

"Kagome, we'll get through this. We always do. I'm sure Miroku and Inuyasha are going to be fine and if I wasn't I'd be acting... well like you."

"I know..." Kagome said looking down. "I just can't help it. Inuyasha can be so reckless sometimes."

"Yeah, but he always wins, especially when he's fighting for someone else. He knows he can't lose because if he does, he'll take you down with him. I'm sure he doesn't want that."

"I guess." Kagome said lying her children down in hopes they would fall asleep. "No... I know, but I can't help but be worried for him."

"I understand Kagome. The worry is always there. We've just got to deal with it. The more we stress ourselves the worse shape our children will be in. We can't forget that."

Next Morning

Inuyasha opened his eyes slowly. The sun was peaking over the horizon and he knew it was time to leave. He looked out Soshi who had decided to sleep against a tree, instead of in one, like him.

Inuyasha jumped down from the tree. Now that it was day, it was easier to see Dayu's castle in the distance. He growled and hoped Miroku was alright. Dayu would pay for his wicked actions. He would not leave to see the next sunrise. Inuyasha swore it.

"Come on." Inuyasha kicked Soshi in his side and Soshi coughed to get the air back into his system as he awoke.

"Hey." Soshi growled a little. Inuyasha just crossed his arms.

"Lets go." Inuyasha ordered. Soshi looked to make sure the sun was fully risen and stood, patting the dirt from his bottom.

"I'll admit Inuyasha, never did I expect to fight by your side."

"And I'll admit never did I want to fight by your side."

"A little before battle humor?"

"No." Inuyasha began to jumped off towards the castle. Soshi shrugged his shoulders and followed.

Only half way to the castle Inuyasha and Soshi were stopped. A warrior in strange clothing stood there. Zane. Inuyasha growled.

"Who are you?"

"I am Zane."

"Out of my way."

"I will not allow you to go any farther." Zane said getting into a battling stance. Inuyasha growled and flexed his claws.

"Fine. If it's a battle you want..."

"It's a battle I'll get, right?" Zane grinned and jumped forward ready to attack. Inuyasha returned the grin and unsheathed his sword as he too, ran forward.

"Inuyasha stop!" Soshi tried to call. "You can't. You need to save your strength." Inuyasha ignored Soshi's advice and began a battle with Zane.

Zane was quick and skilled with his moves and this was no surprise to Inuyasha, seeing as Zane was Dayu's half brother and they probably trained with one another.

Zane went to punch Inuyasha, but Inuyasha moved aside and got away from the attack. Zane's energy was wasted as his fist hit the ground, creating a dent. Zane left his fist there for a moment in thought. This was a battle he did not want to fight.

"What are you looking at? Wind Scar!" Inuyasha yelled as waved of power came rushing from his sword towards his enemy. Zane dodged and stood before Inuyasha. Inuyasha pulled the sword in front of his face, knowing that Zane would probably have some kind of secret attack.

"Your fast to make a move." Zane spoke. He flexed his claws with a grin. Inuyasha growled, wondering what exactly this demon had up his sleeve. "I better watch my back from here out. Who knows? You'll probably try to blow me up again."

"Probably? I will!" Inuyasha yelled feeling quiet irritated with this new threat. Usually they just fought and didn't have a personality. Inuyasha ran towards Zane with his sword held high. Zane used his agility and moved aside, so this time Inuyasha missed once more.

Inuyasha had not time to turn around as he felt a sharp pain in his back. He clenched his teeth and turned to see Zane's claws had extended to whips. Inuyasha scowled. He knew Zane was not going to fight defenseless.

"So.." Inuyasha stumbled forward in pain. "Anymore tricks hidden up your sleeve?"

"We'll just have to wait and see now won't we?" Zane answered. Before he could make another move Inuyasha was in front of him, slashing Tetsusaiga across his chest. Zane's eyes widened and he flew back and hit the ground. "You..." he growled. Inuyasha knelt down. The whips had caused deep gashes and he was losing blood fast.

"Inuyasha..." Soshi called and went forward.

"Stop. This is my battle. Stay out of it." Inuyasha called.

"Do you really want to risk Kagome and the pup?"

"Pup... Kagome..." Zane knew who he was talking about. Zane had forgotten that this was that girls mate. He stopped moving and went numb. If he followed his brothers wishes and killed this Inuyasha he would also kill an unborn child and young miko. He could not do that. He would have to get Inuyasha to the point he could no longer fight and be done with it, but he would not kill the hanyou.

Zane was so caught in thought he did not recognize Inuyasha coming at him again. Inuyasha slashed at Zane again, this time only scrapping the demon. Zane stood up and countered with his whips again.

"Not this time." Inuyasha protected himself from the whips by holding up Tetsusaiga. 'Damn.' Zane thought. He needed to boost the attack. Zane ran fast and concentrated his energy into the whips. He missed another hit, but when he finally got Inuyasha across his legs Inuyasha knelt down in burning pain.

Inuyasha looked at the wounds and noticed they were not like the ones on his back. No, these ones were literally burning through his skin. They were seeped with acid. Inuyasha's eyes widened. So the fool had had more tricks. Inuyasha looked and went to glare at Zane, but noticed the unusual demon was gone. 'He got away...' Inuyasha thought in fury.

"What was up with him?" Soshi wondered rubbing his chin. He had never met Zane in person, but had not expected the demon to run. "Perhaps he was not running out of fear, but because for some reason he did not want to hurt Inuyasha, but why?"

I'm not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but I am not the creator of Zane (and I don't own the Inuyasha characters) A friend of mine is. I'm not sure if he wants me to give away his identity or anything, but just don't give me credit for the character, k? Zane is really a good character and you'll know that later.