This is actually the last episode of Chapter Six, but it was getting long and I had to cut it short at the time. It's long enough that I went ahead and made it separate for now. Looks like I'm back to my old style, too…

Episode Six: Hanyou

Damn! There was definitely a demon or two following them now. Those stupid wolves had led some of Naraku's petty youkai towards them, and a few had broken off to chase after Inu-Yasha and Kagome. Inu-Yasha thought he smelled about three, though he wouldn't trust his nose right now. Damn that Kouga! He didn't have time to fight some meaningless battle…not tonight. A few minor youkai wouldn't be much trouble, but he couldn't watch over Kagome all the time, and what if one of them hurt her? Why did his heart clench at the thought of that?

Inu-Yasha could smell the demons coming closer, their scents growing stronger. There were three. He would have to turn and face them now. In an hour it would be dusk. Better now than later. Damn. Damned wolves!

"Kagome. There are definitely some demons chasing us now. We're gonna have to stop and face them. I want you to stay hidden while I finish them." Don't argue Kagome. She opened her mouth. Why do you always argue?

"Why can't we just keep going Inu-Yasha? I don't want to see anymore bloodshed today." She shivered. Inu-Yasha felt a bit bad over that. It was his fault that she'd seen so much violence recently. He'd been the one mostly causing it. "Your so fast, Inu-Yasha. I'm sure we can outrun them."

"No. We can't run anymore…if we keep running…they'll catch us anyways, and I want to fight on my own terms."

"Please, Inu-Yasha?" Her eyes were so innocent. DAMN! Inu-Yasha looked away. There was no way he could say no to that face. "Inu-Yasha, please, I don't want you to be hurt anymore." Her voice actually trembled. It trembled, for him!

"Fine…we'll keep going." Confusing emotions warring inside him, he turned away from her and gave one last sniff at the air. They were close. "We'll have to hurry then. Get on my back. We need to go fast."

Inu-Yasha. That was the name those pitiful rebels had given him. They'd screamed it before he had finished with them, screamed it to end the pain as much as to save their lives. The ravens would enjoy feasting on them. He couldn't punish Inu-Yasha for the death of his brother yet, but someone had to pay the price until he could. Now he was almost upon his target. Inu-Yasha would scream a thousand times longer, would feel a thousand times the pain. For vengeance.

The sun was an ominous orange as it hung just on the horizon. Inu-Yasha ran on, heedless of the weight on his back or of that on his mind. Darkness was falling now, the first stars appearing overhead. He couldn't smell the demons behind him anymore, but he ran on as if they were right behind him. Soon though, his pace slowed, and his breathing grew heavy. He'd tried running and now he was tired. He stopped and Kagome slid off his back, obviously worried that he had become so exhausted so quickly. Shit.

"Ka…Ka…Kagome…go hide. Hide somewhere safe…" Inu-Yasha never wheezed, but if there were to be a first time, then this would probably qualify. "They'll probably be here soon. I can't run anymore. Just hide."

"But Inu-Yasha…" The worry in her eyes was infuriating. She shouldn't worry about him. Why couldn't she just worry about herself? It wasn't fair.

"Go, damn you! Go hide, you stupid girl!" There was a crashing overhead that made Kagome jump, and even startled Inu-Yasha. It was just thunder. "Listen Kagome, you need to go hide. There is more than one demon and I can't have you getting hurt while if one of them slips by me." Finally seeming to understand, she nodded. She turned towards a thick tree just as another roll of thunder filled the darkening sky. Suddenly, Inu-Yasha could feel eyes on him. The demons were already there!

Inu-Yasha could feel the strength draining from his body. He clenched his fists and growled in dismay. His claws were gone. Even his growl sounded pathetic now. Human throats were not made for growling. In the growing darkness…growing because his eyesight was becoming far less sharp…he could vaguely make out the shape of a man, no a demon, floating some twenty feet above the forest. Those fiery wheels helped to keep him in sight, but the other two, who were just now emerging from behind the trees, were just grey silhouettes.

The floating one turned slightly to see the ground better, and the light from his wheels lit up his face. He surveyed the pair below him, glaring at the two humans. Where was that damned hanyou? He had been just ahead of them until now! Inu-Yasha started to edge away from Kagome, hopefully to draw their attention from the defenseless girl. Unfortunately, this drew Kagome's attention. First she saw the floating demon, then the two brutes before Inu-Yasha, and then she noticed Inu-Yasha himself.

"Inu-Yasha! What happened to your hair?!" Inu-Yasha groaned. They were about to be attacked by demons, and she was worrying about his hair? Her exclamation made the floating demon jump in a manner of speaking though.

"Bitch, did you just say Inu-Yasha? Are you saying that this human is Inu-Yasha?" Inu-Yasha was suddenly wary. This demon was looking for him specifically?

Kagome, on the other hand, was mostly affronted. "Hey, don't call me that! Who are you anyways? Why do you want to know about Inu-Yasha?" The demon ignored her questions and turned his attentions to Inu-Yasha.

"Human, are you indeed Inu-Yasha?" Inu-Yasha simply fehed and made a great show of haughtiness. "Bastard, tell me your name or I kill your whore!" Neither of them paid any attention to Kagome's protestations at being called Inu-Yasha's whore. What was there to do?

"Why do you care if I am or not? Just who are YOU?"

The demon drew himself erect and shouted down at him. "I am Hiten, and I'm am sworn to vengeance on Inu-Yasha, for the murder of my brother, Manten." Oh…that. "I do not care what Lord Naraku says about sparing the damned hanyou…I will kill him for my brother!" Sparing the hanyou? What the hell!?

"Hey wait a minute…what is this about Naraku sparing me? I'm gonna kill that bastard. Why would he spare me?"

Hiten smiled grimly. "So you ARE Inu-Yasha? It's a pity. I was hoping to kill a hanyou, but a human will have to do. Humans just don't scream for as long. I thought a hanyou would make such pretty noises."

"Shut up, you damned moron! What did Naraku say about me!? And I am strong enough to kill you any day!"

Hiten raised an eyebrow in amusement. "How can you, a mere human, kill me? Are you really a hanyou? How else could you kill my brother? But if you are a hanyou…Then this must be your day of weakness! Oh, how wonderful for me! I can torture you all night until the sun rises and then keep you screaming until your hanyou body is completely destroyed!"

"Inu-Yasha…what is he talking about? Why do you look like that? What is going on!?" Inu-Yasha just shook his head. Hiten didn't seem all that strong…but Inu-Yasha didn't think he could take all three of these demons as a human. Hiten would make a mistake if he let Inu-Yasha live until sunrise, but what would happen to Kagome during the night?

"It's time for my vengeance, Inu-Yasha! I will keep you screaming for the entire night!" Suddenly, Hiten was no longer hanging in the sky. He was a fiery streak coming towards Inu-Yasha at an alarming speed, some sort of spear held out before him.

"Kagome run! Go hide…Ahhh!!!" Inu-Yasha felt a terrible burning pain in his side as the spear sliced a small but painful gash across his human skin. Why did humans have to be so weak? The pain was terrible.

Inu-Yasha raised his hands to defend himself, but the demon was fast and the spear very sharp. It seemed to dart though the hanyou's defenses of its own accord, leaving little slices all over his body. Inu-Yasha managed a lucky swipe at the demon, giving him a brief reprieve, but then the other two demons were upon him. They were basically just huge men, nothing more than muscle, slow and stupid, but their punches hurt! Inu-Yasha felt his lip burst open, and their bony knuckles were leaving cuts beneath his eyes and across his jaw. Finally one of them struck him hard across the head and he fell onto his back.

Inu-Yasha stared up at the cloudy sky that was slowly spinning around him. Then Hiten was above him, blocking the sky completely. "Hanyou, I won't let you die quickly. You have taken my brother, and now you have stricken me in the face. I will make you suffer for my loss. But I can't have you trying to crawl away, so I hope that you are strong enough to survive this!"

Inu-Yasha tried to shout as something flashed down towards his right shoulder, but no sound would escape his throat. Then there was a searing pain throughout his body as the thing stabbed straight through his shoulder and into the ground beneath him. Inu-Yasha did scream then, a strangled sound, choking on the blood that was suddenly in his throat and trickling from his mouth. His eyes took a moment to focus on the object, but they eventually did. It was a short sword, pinning him to the ground. He couldn't move at all without it tugging at the sword, sending another wave of pain through his body.

He nearly passed out several times as Hiten then busied himself slicing at his skin, leaving little cuts that trickled blood and burned fiercely, but that would not be fatal. What little strength had been in Inu-Yasha was now draining away with his blood. Inu-Yasha heard Kagome's shouts, but they were distant and muffled to his ears. He was having a hard time concentrating on anything, a hard time remembering that it was him that was being sliced. He didn't scream, but he did pant a little harder with each new cut.

Now he was naked, his clothing having been cut off of him so that Hiten could watch him bleed. When this had happened he wasn't sure. He had probably blacked out, but he was awake now. He could hear Kagome crying somewhere behind him. That really disturbed him, but he couldn't quite figure out why. Hiten wasn't anywhere to be seen. No one was. Where was everyone?

Inu-Yasha listened as hard as he could with his pathetic human ears, one of which seemed to have been removed…and he could make out the sound of Kagome sobbing and Hiten talking to her. "Come now, pretty thing. If you'll be that hanyou's whore, surely you could not object to a much better…" Inu-Yasha growled slightly. Something about the demon's words and tone was making him very angry.

"These two enjoy beating women, but I do not like wasting such fine pretties. If you simply stop resisting, they won't hit you anymore." He could just barely hear Kagome's crying refusal and her cries for Inu-Yasha. That was him…There were sounds, like someone punching raw meat…and Kagome cried out again and again. "Not so hard you two. I want her alive for now."

Inu-Yasha could feel his blood growing hotter, what little was left in his body. He was furious. No one could touch Kagome! NO ONE COULD HURT KAGOME!!! He pushed hard against the ground, ignoring the pain in his shoulder, and lifted himself to his feet, sword still through him. Everything was going red. He could see the demons now, standing over Kagome's battered form. He could see Hiten, with that evil smile. He could see them dying, bleeding. He started to run.

End of Chapter Six

Okay, I finally ended that chapter. It was a little dark, I guess…but I tend to write them that way…especially Inu-Yasha. I like dark…it makes it better when the hero finally wins. Anyways, I'll work on Chapter Seven and try to get it out soon.