Disclaimer: Ok yeah, I don't own Inuyasha and I never will so let's get on with the story.
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CHAPTER ELEVEN: It Begins…It had been about half an hour since InuYasha found the underground cave, and it was becoming darker the further they went in. InuYasha was able to see since he was half demon, but Sango and Miroku couldn't see their own hand in front of their face.
"Ok guys, we're getting' close to where they are… and it's starting to get brighter now."
"Well, that's a relief…" Sango said.
"Yeah, but the scent of that demon is getting stronger too… It's probably at the end of this tunnel… Taromaru's there too…"
"What about Kagome and the others?" Miroku asked.
"They're all there… and I don't smell any blood so they must be fine…"
"Be careful when fighting this demon, Lord InuYasha. It reminded me of Goshinki because of its enormous amount of strength." Myoga warned.
"Feh… Myoga, I defeated Goshinki a long time ago… There's no way he could beat me if he's only that strong. I would think that you'd know that by now."
"Yes M'Lord, but isn't tonight the night of the new moon?"
InuYasha stopped in his tracks. He had forgotten about that. Tonight was the night of the new moon… The night he loses his demon powers and becomes a human until the sun rises again…
"Dammit!" InuYasha swore. "How could I forget a thing like that? Now how am I gonna rescue Kagome and the kids?"
"Relax InuYasha!" Sango said. "The sun was still shining outside. You still have some time left before the sun goes down!"
"Yeah, but how much time?"
"Now, now, let's not get discouraged! You still have time left and you said so yourself that this demon wouldn't be a problem for you and how tough could Taromaru be? He couldn't be much of a challenge yet considering his age." Miroku said calmly with a look of hope on his face.
InuYasha nodded once, but didn't say anything as they continued on their way through the dark tunnel.
Meanwhile…
"Stop that!"
"No! Get away from me!"
"Leave him alone!"
"Shut up!"
"WAHHHHHHHHHHHH! MAAMAAA!"
"Let go of him!"
"ow ow ow ow ow ow! Ok! Ok! Just stop it already!"
Taromaru was NOT having fun. All he wanted was the jewel. Was that so much to ask? Sure he was going to have to kill his only aunt and cousins for it but they didn't mean that much to him anyway.
He had been down there for hours trying to get the jewel fragments out of them, but they wouldn't stay still long enough for him to kill them. He could easily kill the little one but Kagome wouldn't let him get near him and then if he did, she would kick him. And her kicks hurt! Not only that but his other two cousins would bite and they have sharp fangs! It was no use. And the demon that brought them to his underground cave refused to help him kill them because he had gotten enough bruises from them already.
The demon was very large. As Myoga had said, he was about as tall as Goshinki. It had humongous fangs and clawed fingers. Its face was that of a lizard and its eyes were a dark red color. ((A/N: ok yeah I dunno… just make it look like you want for the rest of the details…))
How can I kill them? They won't let me get near enough to—hmmmm… heh heh... that could work… Taromaru smirked an evil smirk and walked over to a shelf that had been carved out of the stone. He picked up a small bottle with what looked like a sort of mist inside of it.
"Come with me." he said to the demon.
The demon (who doesn't have a name yet) followed him out of the room. As Taromaru shut the door he threw the bottle in and it broke. The mist inside of the bottle spread throughout the room.
"Don't breathe it in!" Kagome said before it reached where they were. But it was too late. Shirrow was the closest to the mist and had breathed it in, as did Noriko and Kotaro.
Kagome tried to hold her breath for as long as she could but she eventually had to exhale and she fell to her side as she started breathing again. ((A/N: Quick, stop breathing!))
Taromaru came back into the room with the (still nameless) demon. "Good! All of them are unconscious! Let's begin killing them, shall we?" he walked over to Shirrow and would've succeeded had the door not been flung open and InuYasha didn't rush into the room with Sango and Miroku.
"You just keep getting in my way of killing things, don't you?" Taromaru said with a glare.
"Feh… too bad for you, now give back Kagome and—" for the first time InuYasha saw Kagome and his children lying limply on the ground. The sight before him pulled at his heartstrings…
N-no… he thought. They can't be dead… they just can't be!
He didn't stay sad for long though because his sadness became anger. He immediately became enraged and started growling. ((A/N: The Walrus: REHHHHH!))
Sango and Miroku stepped back as they realized that InuYasha was becoming VERY angry. It was best to let him take it from here. If they got in his way, they might become his next target.
The demon noticed this too, and started to walk towards the enraged half demon. InuYasha was now on his hands and knees both angry and saddened. A few stray tears fell from his eyes and onto the ground. Anger and sadness was burning within him and he was starting to lose control of his emotions.
Taromaru watched this calmly. He expected him to act like this when he found out. He just didn't expect him so soon. Apparently he's smarter than he looks… for him to find me before I could kill them…
InuYasha's face was hidden behind his hair that hung down in front of his face. His growls of anger were becoming louder and louder. An eerie red aura started to form around him as he started to look up at Taromaru.
The demon looked down at InuYasha. This one might be a challenge… it thought.
InuYasha leapt at Taromaru, his claws stretched out and ready kill him in one attack. Right before he could hit Taromaru though, the other demon leapt at him and attacked with his own claws. InuYasha was hit head-on and was thrown against the wall. InuYasha looked up at the other demon and rubbed the back of his head.
Dammit… I guess I'll have to deal with this idiot first… A single bead of sweat made its way down the side of his face. I'll have to make this quick… I don't have much time left before I turn into a human…
InuYasha once again leapt at the demon, this time unsheathing Tetsusaiga and swung at him. The demon (who still doesn't have a name) once again used a clawed hand to attack InuYasha. He countered the attack with the Tetsusaiga. The demon saw this and attacked with his other hand, once again hitting InuYasha into the wall.
It… it must be getting late… I'm starting to lose my strength He looked up at the demon, panting heavily. I'll have to finish this now… He looked over towards Kagome and his children. I'll defeat this demon for them… I WILL avenge them!
With those thoughts in mind, InuYasha found the strength within himself to stand up. With a look of determination on his face, he rushed at the demon. He had already started to transform into a human. His ears were now on the sides of his head, his claws were no longer there, and his hair was slowly turning black. Seeing this, the demon rushed at InuYasha and was going to, once again, attack. The demon was too late though, because with one final swing of the Tetsusaiga, InuYasha used the wind scar! ((A/N: and the crowd goes wild! wOOt!)) The demon was dead. And just in time. InuYasha had turned completely into a human.
"InuYasha!" Miroku and Sango yelled in unison. They rushed forward to help but there was a barrier and they couldn't get past it. All they could do is watch helplessly as InuYasha stood in his human form.
Taromaru smirked. "You have to be kidding…" InuYasha glared at his nephew and placed Tetsusaiga back in its sheath "You don't really expect me to fight you while you're human… do you?"
InuYasha remained silent and rushed at his nephew, ready to beat him into the ground. He never got his chance though since he was much slower in his human form and Taromaru reached him first. His clawed hand started to glow a faint green color and he hit InuYasha's right shoulder.
InuYasha jumped back and held his injured shoulder. "Hmph I see your dad's taught you how to use poison claws, eh?"
Taromaru didn't answer and instead attacked again before his uncle could react and used an attack similar to InuYasha's 'Iron Reaver.' ((A/N: or for those of you who might have only read the manga, 'claws of steel'))
They continued fighting for hours. InuYasha was very tired, but refused to give up. He narrowly dodged most of his nephew's attacks. With every time that he was hit he would move slower and would get hit more often.
Just as long as I keep him away from Kagome and the kids… I don't care what happens to me! InuYasha thought. I just need to last until the sun rises… :pant pant: If… if I can last until then, I can beat this little bastard and avenge my family...
Distracted by his thoughts, InuYasha was hit again by Taromaru's attack. He was already bleeding a lot and was sweating heavily.
"Say good-bye." Taromaru rushed at his uncle and was about to deliver the final blow when suddenly a bright light flashed past him and he leapt back.
He swiftly turned and glared at Kagome who was standing in the corner of the room where some miscellaneous weapons lay on the floor. She held a bow and arrow in her hands and had it aimed at Taromaru. ((A/N: wow! What a coincidence that there happened to be a bow and some arrows there!))
Dammit! How did she get up without my noticing?
"Get away from InuYasha!" She yelled. "Your opponent is ME!"