The longer they waited with no sign of their friends, the more agitated Sango became. She did not necessarily mind being asked to stay behind and defend Kagome and the injured boy—someone did need to protect them in case things got out of hand, after all. But as it grew later and later, she began to have grave concerns about their friends' safety in her absence.
Inuyasha and Miroku were both skilled fighters, and Miroku could probably talk his way out of just about anything. So it seemed to Sango that there were two ways the problem at the village could have gone: Miroku and Inuyasha had dealt with the problem and forgotten to come back for her and Kagome, which seemed unlikely, or they had run into some unexpected trouble and couldn't come back. With each moment that slipped by, she became more and more convinced that it had to be the latter. They had been through a lot lately—Miroku had only just recovered from Naraku's poison.
She waited as long as she could stand it, as much in the hope that she was wrong as to allow Kagome time to tend to the boy's injuries. Those injuries told her she should not have to worry about Inuyasha and Miroku—the boy had taken an arrow in the shoulder, and insisted the village had been attacked by bandits. Ordinary human bandits should be no problem for Inuyasha and Miroku, and yet there was still no sign of them.
Finally, she could take it no longer. "Enough."
Kagome and the boy both looked at her, wide-eyed.
"It's taking too long," Sango told them, though she suspected Kagome already shared her fears. "Something's happened, and I'm going to go find out what."
She left her companions alone with Kirara standing guard, noting the way the boy's eyes grew even wider when the nekomata transformed into her battle form, and went to put on her armor. If something bad had indeed happened to their friends at the village, Sango couldn't risk going into battle without her usual protection. If she did, she might be the next to fall prey to whatever evil force had found its way to that village, and then she would have done no one any good.
The boy's eyes went even wider when she returned wearing her demon slayer's armor. No doubt he had never seen anything like it before. Unfortunately, she did not have time to indulge his curiosity. Right now she needed to be focused on her mission. If they were lucky, there would be time for curiosity later. "Let's go."
Shippou and the boy rode with Kagome on her bicycle, while Sango and Kirara took the lead. Despite her impatience, Sango asked Kirara to hang back; it was better to stick together in situations like this, rather than risk getting separated and picked off one at a time. And she had been charged with protecting Kagome and the boy, after all.
"Are you sure about this?" Kagome called.
"They wouldn't have taken this long if everything was fine." She couldn't explain why she was so certain, but every instinct screamed at her to go in search of her missing friends. Something was wrong. She did not yet know what or why or how, only that something must have gone terribly wrong.
"I'm worried about my grandpa," the boy murmured.
"Then let's hurry," Sango called back.
They had not made it far from the village before the scent of blood drew Inuyasha back, so it didn't take them long to make the return trip. At first glance everything was ominous: the people were all clustered together. And most of the people Sango could see were carrying weapons. Many were on horseback. These were definitely bandits, not ordinary villagers.
The nearest group of them was busy jabbing at a figure on the ground, picking on someone that had already fallen but was not yet dead, someone that looked an awful lot like the boy's grandfather. This was truly ugly behavior, even for lowlifes like these. Unfortunately, despite their current occupation they had noticed the newcomers.
Sango dismounted and put herself between Kagome and the bandits, and began having second thoughts about coming here. The numbers were very much not in her favor, but she had no choice but to stand and fight in order to protect Kagome and the others. There was still no sign of Inuyasha or Miroku. What in the world had happened to them?
Several of the bandits broke off from the main group and approached.
"Don't even think about messing with us, lady," the one in front cautioned. The fool had no idea that he had no hope of telling her what to do.
She did not really want to fight him, not when there were so many men and only one of her, and not when she also had to defend Kagome and the injured boy, but she could see no other way out.
She raced forward to intercept the group of men, bringing the hiraikotsu around in a powerful swing as she went.
Sango noted that something was happening further into the village, but she could not afford to let her attention stray from the bandits directly in front of her. She could only hope the situation was not about to get even worse.
Unfortunately, the situation almost immediately got much worse.
Something tore through the village in a raging storm of rage. Sundered limbs and bits of gore were tossed into the sky and came back down as a bloody rain as the bandits were torn apart. Everything around her dissolved into chaos… but it was over almost as soon as it had begun.
Only when the dust began to settle did Sango realize the cause of all this destruction: Inuyasha.
Something was wrong with him. Very wrong. His face was all twisted with anger, and hunger, as he swiveled his head to look around him. Belatedly horrified, Sango realized that it was bloodlust. He had killed the bandits effortlessly, and relished the deed. The sword, she realized: separated from the Tessaiga, he had become a monster, just as Myouga and Toutousai had warned.
She was lucky to be alive.
He could have killed her along with the bandits, and nothing she did would have stopped it. She might have slowed him down a little—maybe—but she couldn't have stopped him. The realization shook her to the core.
Inuyasha, however, was unfazed.
He looked around, eyes blazing with that horrifying mix of lust and hunger, his teeth bared in what might have been a grimace or a grin. He was, it seemed, looking for his next victim.
Only Sango's years of training kept her from showing just how afraid she was. But she had learned over the years that the most powerful youkai were the ones in human form, like Inuyasha, although he was only half-demon, and that displaying fear was the surest way to become a youkai's next victim.
The only person who did not seem intimidated by Inuyasha's transformation was the bandit leader. He was laughing as he stepped forward, his body already beginning to shift, to betray what he really was. "You brat," he growled, "you have a lot of nerve for someone who's only half youkai."
His face distorted; antennae sprouted from his forehead. What had seemed at first to be a man was in truth a youkai—a monstrous moth. And the transformation did not stop there. He grew larger and larger, unfurling huge wings until he fairly towered over Inuyasha.
"You think you can beat a great youkai like me, Gatenmaru?" he demanded, voice booming and awful.
In his fully demon state, Inuyasha appeared unintimidated. "Yeah? Who says I can't?" he asked. Even as he spoke, he was already leaping toward the moth-youkai. With one slash of his claws he tore the 'great youkai Gatenmaru' apart, as easily as he had dismembered the human bandits. What was left of Gatenmaru crumpled to the ground, a heap of stinking gore.
Inuyasha turned, then, to face Kagome and Sango and the few remaining bandits. He was laughing as he did it, an evil, rumbling sound that made Sango want to flee. "Don't think you're gettin' away," he cautioned. Even his voice sounded wrong. Killing Gatenmaru and all those men was doing something to him. It was warping him, tainting his blood, provoking his very worst instincts.
Sango braced herself for battle, but the bandits made a terrible mistake before Inuyasha could come after her: they tried to run. They showed their fear and paid the price for it.
He tore into them with reckless abandon.
Sango watched for a moment in stunned horror—he had defeated their leader, there was no reason to continue fighting—before Kagome pushed her way past, calling for Inuyasha. Somewhere, somehow, she had found the Tessaiga, and carried it with her now. If she could calm Inuyasha enough to give it to him, the transformation might yet be reversed, but there seemed to be no chance of that happening. Her shouts had failed to reach him so far; Sango had little hope that they would get through now.
If Myouga was right, there was no saving Inuyasha now. The friend they had known would be lost forever, consumed by his lust for violence and blood.
She knew she ought to intervene before Kagome became his next victim, but Inuyasha wasn't done with the bandits yet. He wasn't ready to turn on his friends.
Beside her, Sango heard the metallic ring of Miroku's staff. She couldn't afford to look his way and had to hope he would be all right, but it was a relief just to know he was alive. She had not had a chance to look for him at all amid the carnage, and had feared he might be dead.
For now she kept her attention focused on Inuyasha and the few remaining bandits. The men had realized there was no escape, and had begun to beg for their lives. Sango had no particular sympathy for them, but she also knew there was no reason that they needed to die. They would surrender, if he allowed them.
But Inuyasha was not willing to accept a surrender. Even as the men pleaded, he cut them to pieces with his claws.
"Stop it!" Kagome screamed into the violence.
Inuyasha did not notice.
"So even Kagome's voice can't reach him now," Miroku murmured.
With all the bandits now slain, Inuyasha turned to Sango and the others. He was their friend, or at least he had been, but now Sango feared what he might do to them. His eyes were red as blood and his lips curled into a wicked smile that bared his fangs.
"Kagome, you have to take the Tessaiga to Inuyasha," Shippou urged suddenly. Somehow he seemed more calm than anyone else. Sango had been so focused on potentially needing to defend the others that she had forgotten all about the sword, and had not even noticed that Kagome was carrying it, but she realized now that Shippou was right. They couldn't count on the power of Kagome's voice to get through to Inuyasha. If anything could save their friend, it was the sword.
Slowly, deliberately, Kagome made her way toward where Inuyasha crouched. Sango readied herself to throw the hiraikotsu, just in case, but Inuyasha gave no sign that he was about to attack Kagome. Until—
He leaped, but it wasn't to attack Kagome. He landed some distance from her, ready, waiting.
Sango followed his trajectory with her gaze and realized with horror that they were not out of the woods just yet: Inuyasha's brother had arrived.