When Night Falls

Disclaimer: Do I really need to tell you guys this? I mean, you'd think you'd know it by now. But I guess not ya idiots. I don't own Inuyasha, ok?

Well, here I am with chapter 10... not too crazy 'bout this chapter, but the next one's a battle so that should be good! This one's more of and explaining thing. Anyway, onto reviews! (We're not supposed to do these, but what the hell).

Chippy: Thanks for da review! Heh... Chippy... I like that.

Siren66: Sweet. Thanks!

Moonyme: Yay! You just basically quoted the whole chapter right there! Oh well. This chapter has some humor in it, not the most of some of them, though.

Medlii: Ah, thank you. I guess you'll find out in this chapter, eh?

Veglma: I cannot at all understand the last sentence of you're review. Oh well. Thanks!

AngelofMusic516: You know what they say, finish the old and start the new!

Thank you for the kind reviews. I luv yous alls!

Anyway, here's the chapter!

Chapter 10: Miroku is the "Kenny" of Inuyasha

Miroku stared straight ahead, trying to figure out if what he just heard was true. Looking behind him, he checked that all the others were still sleeping, and he turned back to the river.

"Who said that?" he asked warily, eyes shifting left to right, keeping a steady watch for anything that appeared out of the ordinary.

"Oh my, did I scare you?" It was the same voice again, the same soothing motherly tone, yet with a undeniable undertone of pure malevolence.

"Who are you? What do you want?" asked Miroku, still searching for ways to assure himself it was truly his rattled, tired mind creating the disembodied voice. One hand slowly made it's way to his prayer beads, which he clutched readily.

"What do I want?" Miroku gasped as a wave of pure evil energy hit him, the voice spoke again, but this time all of the kindness was stripped, leaving only a reverberating, grinding, trill that rang out around him. "REVENGE!"

Two tendrils of water shot up from the river and wrapped around Miroku.

"Okay… definitely not imagining this," he muttered as he struggled to free himself from the bindings. It was, however, to no avail, and soon he was being tugged forward. With a gasp he fell forward into the freezing cold water. He tried desperately to move, but his body was completely immobile. His body was burning for air, but it did not come. His vision blurred, and any pain he felt dissolved into numbness as his eyes slowly closed.

A sudden splash awoke Sango suddenly from her slumber. She sat up slowly (not that she could quickly with her sickness) and looked around. Looking towards the river she noted slight ripples rolling across it's surface. Disregarding it as a frog, she groaned and laid back down, letting her previously interrupted sleep wash over her. Given her delirious state, one would not be surprised that she had failed to notice that one of their number was missing, or that the ripples on the river were much to large to have been caused by a frog.
Just as Sango had awoken, so did Miroku, yet it was some time later that he had opened his eyes. His first thought was that he was dead, for he seemed to be floating casually in one place in a plain lack of any discernable features whatsoever, but as he got his wits about him, he realized that he was surrounded by water, and that he was floating in what appeared to be some sort of bubble. A very unpleasant chamber, he sighed dully, it was uncomfortably moist and humid, and his spine was bent forward in a very painful manner. Growling, he prodded gently at the sides of his enclosure, testing it's strength.

"I would not do that if I were you."

His head shot up and he scanned the water, trying to crane his neck in his cramped confines to look behind him and to the sides. His attacker soon became apparent, however, as a humanoid figure swam in front of him. At first he thought it to be one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, but upon closer inspection he noticed that, while her upper half was human, her lower seemed to be the powerful tale of a serpent. Long green hair flowed from her head, encircling her body in a fashion nothing short of heavenly, all held back by an intricate tiara, encrusted with a deep, blue stone.

"And why not?" hissed Miroku, responding to her previous statement after only a brief pause of taking in her features.

"Because the moment you pop that bubble," an evil glint appeared in her eye, "the water pressure will crush you. But please, go ahead… I always enjoy watching you humans implode, the way your skull crushes is quite comical."

With a quick intake of breath Miroku drew in his arms instantly, making sure his elbows were no longer pressed up against the already-straining walls of his orb prison. Wracking is mind for a solution, he quickly pulled up a topic with which to stall for some time.

"You said you wanted revenge," he said, forcing his voice to calm, "for what, may I ask?"

"You don't know?" she grinned. "Well, maybe I won't tell you then… humans are always fun to watch when they are desperate…"

"Women…" muttered Miroku muttered in an undertone.

"What?" snapped his captor.

"Nothing. Just tell me what I did to anger you."

The woman let out a "hmph" and crossed her arms indignantly. "You sent my brother to the pits of hell," she growled.

"Possibly," Miroku smirked, adopting his smart-aleck voice, "I kill a lot of demons."

His attacker seemed to contemplate killing him at that moment, but then apparently decided better of it. "Shut up," she said simply.

"Well, if he attacked us, I would say he probably deserved it." Miroku knew he was pushing his luck, but he let his anger get the better of him and continued. "Tell me, who was this brother of yours, I was under the impression demons didn't give a shit about their families."

"I thought I told you to shut up!" She snarled. For a long time there was silence, but then the demon lady flung her hair over her shoulder and stuck her nose in the air. "If you must know, he was a wind demon, and fought with a big umbrella."

Miroku smirked, this demon seemed to have troubles holding her tongue. "Ah yes, Kaze, I believe. So am I to assume that you are to be called Mizu? You seem to be at home in the water."

The woman shot him a death glare. "If I must be called something, I suppose that would be most fitting."

"Okay then Mizu, tell me, why are you holding me down here?" Miroku asked smugly, confident she would not be able to keep her mouth shut.

"I could just as easily kill you now," she huffed, "butyou are not my master's prime target. He says nothing can overpower your hanyou friend Inuyasha when he is enraged, and that he must go first. Master says he's the only real threat."

Miroku's eye widened at this new information. So they were operation under a master… "Who is your master?" he asked. He add already thought of a way to escape, but something told him this was crucial information.

The demon's face seemed to glow with pride at the thought of her master. "My master is a great demon, the greatest demon who ever lived."

"Naraku?"

The woman grimaced slightly. "No you fool! Whoever this Naraku is, he does not hold a candle to my master, Master will destroy the world."

Miroku gasped slightly. "I see, so that is you master. Well then, you must realize you have as much to lose by your master's success as anyone."

"No, I don't, for you see, I am already dead," she grinned.

Miroku's brow furrowed slightly. So she's already dead… then what does she have to gain by working for her master? Demon's don't take orders just for the hell of it…

"But how does that make any sort of difference?" he asked.

"Master's power's work by destroying every living creature on the planet. Since we are already dead, the world will belong to us and our master."

"I see, so it must be better than hell, where I'm sure you'd be heading."

"And where you sent my brother," she snorted. "But once I capture Inuyasha, I'll have much joy in killing you… slowly."

Miroku smirked. "I'm afraid I can't let that happen, too much to live for, you see. So, if you have no complaints, I'll be leaving now."

With a quick chant he threw up a barrier around himself. The bubble burst instantly, and with a quick jerk, the water took hold of him and he was shooting upwards. As he sped towards the surface, he turned to see the demon in hot pursuit, but she was losing ground… erm, water, quickly.

With a great splash he broke the surface, but continued to shoot upwards (like when you push a beach ball underwater). His barrier flickered slightly, and disintegrated. His body reached a peak, and then began to fall again. Arms flailing, he begrudgingly noticed his attacker waiting for him on the surface, a three-pronged trident held in her hands. If the collision with the water didn't kill him, she certainly would.

Just when he thought it was too late for him, two arms circled him. Looking down in surprise, he saw that he was being carried across the water! He only knew one person fast enough to possibly run over the water.

"Koga?" he asked.

"Hmph, glad you recognized me this time monk," came the unmistakable sarcasm.

Koga ran back onto the land, and sat Miroku onto the firm ground. His legs weak, Miroku fell forward onto his hands, breathing deeply. When he finally found his strength he stood up and extended a hand towards Koga. "Thank you."

Koga contemplated taking his hand, but then turned away. "I was just conscious enough to see you save my ass back there in the cave, don't expect me to do it gain."

Miroku didn't feel the need to remind him that Koga had also saved him from a baby demon before he had destroyed the mother.

"So… where are we?" he asked.

"The eastern ocean," answered Koga.

Miroku sighed. He had been dragged that far through the river?

"I guess I should head back to my companions," Miroku grunted, he was in for quite a walk.

"No need. They're on their way. I ran into them and told them what happened to you. I had been coming to check on Kagome and just caught a glimpse of you being dragged into the water."

"Well, I guess this is the second time today I have to thank you."

Koga shrugged. "They asked."

Miroku nodded.

"Hell, here they come now," Koga said indifferently, his nose upturned in the air.

Miroku turned and looked over the treetops to see Kirara flying towards them. She landed at about the same time Inuyasha came charging out of the forest, Kagome riding piggy-back. Sango promptly hopped off Kirara (a little dizzily), and stumbled over to Miroku, where her legs gave out and she fell against his chest.

"If you ever get abducted again, I'm going to kill you," she hissed from against his body.

Miroku chuckled nervously and pushed her to her feet, making sure was steady before letting go of her. "You're feeling better I take it?" he asked.

She nodded. "Kagome gave me some medicine from her time. What do you call it again, ass-pin?"

"Aspirin," corrected Kagome, who seemed to be holding in a laugh.

"Aww, such a pretty reunion, to bad you'll be saying goodbye to each other very soon!"

In unison, they turned towards the ocean, where they felt quite displeased to see the water demon speeding towards them.

"You guys ready for a fight?" smirked Koga.

"We're always ready ya mangy wolf!" answered Inuyasha, who, for the first time in his life did not seem displeased by his presence.

"Well alright then, let's get this over with."

And so the fight began.

End Chapter 10

There, next chapter will be the fight. Anyway, side note: I'm starting a side project. It's humor/parody story that mocks all those Inuyasha stories set in modern times with the characters in school. Look out for that.

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