Chapter 3

Disclaimer: still don't own inu.

Kagome strapped on the last of her armor that she knew she was going to need in order to survive. Picking up her bow she slung her arrow pouch over her shoulder. She sighed heavily as she headed out through the door. She moved toward the start of the forest where she was supposed to meet Sango and Kohaku. As she walked she reminisced about what had happened the night before between Inuyasha and her. She didn't know why, but she really enjoyed his company and really hoped that he would keep his promise. Speaking of promises she would have to keep hers and stay alive. She just hoped that she could.

She couldn't believe that she was actually going on this suicide mission. Why didn't she just run away with Sango and Kohaku? Oh yeah she would be hunted down till she was killed, that's why. She just couldn't understand why the king had even ordered the mission. Did the king value his servants and subjects so little? Was some stupid orb more important than three of his best soldiers? Apparently it was more important since they were going on this suicide mission.

Just believe. Inuyasha's words wrung through her head. No matter how many times she tried to believe a voice of doubt echoed throughout her thoughts. He just didn't understand. He couldn't understand! He wasn't the one going on this stupid mission. She was and nothing he could've said could change that.

Only the weak and cowardly give up. His words continued to go through her head. Don't doubt. Believe with all your heart and you will never fail. Unless you believe you will never come back! Promise me you'll have hope. "Argh, Inuyasha get out of my head!" She yelled. "I'm sorry but I can't believe! It's too hard." She dropped to one knee and slowly tears fell from her eyes.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled. She looked up to find him standing in the shadows of the forest. "Believe with all your heart. And keep your promise. Cause I will be keeping mine."

Kagome stood up and quickly ran to him, but as she got closer she saw his figure begin to disappear. When she stood to where he was standing she found that he was never there at all. "Great my mind is playing tricks on me. Just what I needed."

"Hey Kagome, what are you doing?" Sango asked as she and Kohaku walked up to her. The two wore what looked to be extremely heavy armor as well as their main weapons, plus back up weapons. She didn't know how they managed to carry all that and still be able to move.

"Nothing. Just realizing how well my brain works when I don't focus." She said quietly to herself. "Come on. Let's get this over with." Slowly she walked into the forest.

"Sango, I don't know if I can do this." Kohaku said with fear clearly showing in his eyes.

Sango bent down and hugged him. "Kohaku, I know that you're afraid. I am too, but we have to go through with this." she let him go before following Kagome. Hesitating Kohaku followed the two girls, quickly following their pace.

As the three entered the demon forest territory they were surprised that there were no sounds of wild life or of demons. This made the three more unwary than they already were. They slowed their pace, watching the surrounding area. Every sudden wind caused the three to stiffen, waiting to see whether it really was the wind or some demon in waiting.

"I don't like this." Kagome said, looking around. "It's way to quiet. There is absolutely no sign of any demons." Kagome could feel her heart begin to speed up. She could feel an uneasy feeling settle in her.

"I know. I don't like this either." Sango replied her hand wrapped tightly around her hiraikotsu. She looked down at Kohaku to find his hand gripping his own weapon.

Kohaku felt his hands start to ache from holding his weapon so tightly, but he couldn't loose his fingers. He had never before been in demon territory and it scared him. Especially since it was a mission where he would be outnumbered by thousands. He didn't know if he could take the stress of it.

He suddenly felt something grasp his hand. He looked down at it to find Sango holding it. "It's okay. Be strong little brother." She said in a voice that comforted him like the way his mother did. "We'll get through this. I promise." He nodded in reply his body relaxing somewhat.

"Come on. We better pick up the pace otherwise we'll be stuck out here till next morning." Kagome said as she started to walk faster, all the while her senses expanded to their limits.

Sango and Kohaku sped up after her, wary of the forest. They suddenly heard the shifting of leaves. The three froze. They looked to their left to see the brush moving. On instinct they drew their weapons, all aimed at the spot. They stared, with their entire bodies tensed up and on alert.

As the three stared they saw the brush stop moving, yet they still were watching it. Several seconds passed and not another sound was made. Slowly, ever so slowly they began to walk again, but their eyes were watching the spot as they continued forward.

Suddenly somethingshot out passed Kagome. She bit back the urge to scream and instead drew her bow back; aiming the notched arrow at whatever had scared her. Sango and Kohaku both looked in the direction of where whatever had scared Kagome, only to find it hidden under the leaves.

Kagome walked to it, kicking the leaves away. When she cleared all of the leaves away she nearly laughed at herself for being afraid of a squirrel. Sango and Kohaku let out a sigh of relief. Kagome walked over the squirrel, continuing with the mission.

Several minutes later the squirrel transformed into a little read haired little boy. "So there are humans in the forest. I better tell Inuyasha." The boy ran back into the forest.

"Sango we've been traveling for hours and there still isn't any sign of the orb or even of demons. I'm really getting a bad feeling about this." Kagome said as the trio sat down in order to eat.

"I know Kagome. There is something defiantly wrong about this. And I can't shake the feeling that we're being watched." Sango looked over her shoulder her eyes scanning the forest.

"I can't shake the feeling either." She replied her hand grasping her bow and arrow.

"Sango do you think there is anything out there?" Kohaku asked.

"I don't know."

"I hope not. I don't think that I'm ready to take on any demons." Sango put her arm around him.

"Kohaku, have some confidence. Chances are we won't even meet any demons and if we do remember that you're a demon slayer. You are trained to take on any demon."

"She's right you know. You need to have some confidence. I'm sure that no demon is strong enough to take us on and live." Even thought Kagome knew that what she had said was a lie she just needed to give the boy some courage.

She looked over Kohaku. He was so young to be out fighting demons. He had never before fought any, nor had he even had the training to be able to fight in a group. Her hand clenched tightly, she could feel her nails dig into her skin. She was enraged that her so called "King" would send a ten, eleven year old boy out into demon territory who had never fought before or even had the appropriate training. If she made it back alive and intact she knew who would receive her wrath.

"Kagome, what's wrong." Sango said snapping Kagome from her thoughts.

"Nothing. Just thinking." She smiled at her. "So are we going to eat or just sit here?" she opened her food bag hidden beneath her left shoulder armor, making sure to not remove the item that blocked the smell of the food from seeping out.

Grabbing the sandwich hidden inside she quickly ate it, all the while thing about the words that Inuyasha had said. She especially thought about his promise. "You better keep it Inuyasha or I will never be able to forgive you." She quietly said to herself.

As she finished her meal she stood up, a sudden wave of danger rang throughout her mind. She looked around intensely. Her hand reached quickly reached for her bow.

"Kagome what is it?" Sango asked curious as to why Kagome looked so tense.

"Shh. There is something out there." Kagome raised her bow.

Sango picked up her hiraikotsu and looked around. Kohaku following suit.

"But Kagome I'm not sensing any demonic aura."

"But I do." A strange feeling told her to loose her arrow, and she listened.

A high pitched scream cut through the air causing the three to cover their ears. The looked around to find themselves suddenly surrounded by dozens of spider heads, all armed with swords and spears.

"Spider heads. That's why I didn't sense anything. Their demonic aura isn't strong enough." Sango raised her hiraikotsu. "Very weak, but there are many of them. Hiraikotsu!" She let her giant boomerang fly.

Scene change

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha! Where are you? Inuyasha!" The little boy yelled as he entered Inuyasha's hut.

"Shippo what's with all of the yelling?" Kouga asked as he walked out of his room.

"Oh hey Kouga. Have you seen Inuyasha? I need to talk to him."

"Nope, what do you need to talk to him about?"

"There are three humans in the forest that he needs to take care of."

Kouga smirked. "Alright. I'll go take care of them." He took off in a blur.

Shippo smacked his head. "Why does he try to show Inuyasha up?" He couldn't understand why the two were so prideful and always trying to surpass each other. One way or another.

Kouga walked into a hut that was sort of shaped like a cloud with lighting going through it. "Hey thunder brothers! You two interested in going hunted for a couple of humans?"

"Of course. What kind of question is that?" They both said in unison.

"Good, let's go!" Kouga ran with the two brothers following.

Sango breath came outraged and uneven. She could feel a slight soreness in her arm from having to throw her hiraikotsu so much. She looked at Kohaku to see him also breathing heavily and seeing him having a hard time standing, but he was uninjured. She smiled at that.

She looked over at Kagome to find her flexing her fingers. She could see that pulling the bow string back so many times had caused her skin to go raw.

"This isn't good. I've got eight arrows left." Kagome said looking into her arrow pouch that held over seventy arrows at one time.

"We might have to turn back."

Kagome shook her head. "If we turn back we'll be hanged. We're just going to have to keep moving." she began to walk over the dead bodies of spider heads, disgusted by the way some were mangled. She ignored it and continued forward. "Come on." She said looking back at the other two.

"That's kind of surprising. Those three managed to take down over a seventy spider heads without a single injury." One of the thunder brothers said as they, and Kouga, watched from the shadows of the forest.

"Yeah I know. This fight might actually be entertaining." The other said.

"Hey Hiten, Manten keep it down. They're going to know we're here." Kouga said as he looked at Kagome, Sango, and Kohaku.

A whistling sound cut through the air. An arrow shot passed Kouga causing him to jump back.

"Too late. They already know that we're here." Hiten said. He and Manten jumped out of the shadows in front of the trio. Kouga jumped out as well. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? A couple of demon slayers and a high archer."

Kagome eyes widened. "The thunder brothers. Oh no." she wasn't expecting them to show up. She didn't even know that they were still alive. Now that she did she knew that they were her she knew that they were not coming back alive, without some kind of miracle anyway.

The two brothers laughed, clearly sensing the fear that ran off Kagome. "We are here to dispose of you three. And hopefully you'll put up an entertaining fight especially after that defeating all those spider heads."

"And after we kill you I'm going to use your flesh as an ingredient in my hair tonic, so then I may finally get my beautiful hair back." Manten said his eyes looking over the three.

"And your skulls will make fine trophies as well." Hiten said and evil glint in his eyes.

Kouga looked over the trio, sensing the fear and distress pouring off Kagome and Kohaku. As he looked at Kagome and felt a sudden wave of want. He wanted Kagome alive. "Hey you two." He said to the brothers. "Make sure you leave the high archer alive. She's mine."

"I can't believe that you want some pathetic human girl." Hiten said with disgust.

"Just do it." He growled angrily.

"Fine so long as we get to kill." As Hiten turned away from Kouga an arrow pierced his chest. He looked over at Kagome, with surprise. "You little. You'll pay for that."

Hiten flew towards Kagome, his staff raised. As he brought his staff down he was surprised to see that Sango had blocked it with hiraikotsu.

Manten blind sided Sango before she could even react causing her to fly several feet. As she hit the ground she lost her grip on Hiraikotsu and it smacked her in the head, knocking her out.

"Sango!" Kohaku and Kagome yelled. They looked back at the brothers and saw them start to inch slowly toward them.

"Hey make sure you leave the archer alive!" Kouga yelled at them. He sat down and decided not to get involved, especially since the brothers were careless and often hit their allies when they got into a fight.

"Yeah, yeah. " Hiten walked toward Kohaku while Manten started for Kagome.

She started to back away, not really knowing what to do. She was about to notch an arrow, but Manten fired a lighting bolt, knocking her bow out of her hands. She looked up at him with nothing but pure fright in her eyes.

"You know I don't care what that mangy wolf says. I'm going to kill you anyway. Your flesh is exceedingly fair and will enhance my tonic greatly. So say good-bye!" Manten fired a lighting bolt at her.

She stood frozen in fear as it came at her in slow motion. She relived her life in seconds. Every good time, bad, mistakes she made ran through her mind. Every person she ever met, their face passed through her mind. One face that appeared over and over was Inuyasha's. His promise ran through her head. He wasn't going to keep it. A tear slide down her cheek as the bolt headed for her.

A sudden wave of gold rippled in front of her causing the bolt of lighting to dissipate. She looked over to see where it had come from and found a silver haired Inuyasha with a giant demonic sword.

"Hey Kagome. Long time no see." Kagome looked at him with nothing less than shock.

She was shocked by the fact he saved her and that he completed his promise. She was shocked to see that his hair was silver no longer black and by his ears. They were no longer on the side of his face, but on the top of his head. She was also shocked that his sword was demonic. She was especially shocked to find that he was no longer human, but demon.

"Inu-Inuyasha?" She looked at him with a mix of happiness and confusion in her eyes.

"Yep, told you I'd keep my promise." He smirked at her before turning to the brothers. "Hiten. Manten. I was hoping never to see you two again." His voice carrying a heavy tone of dislike, even hatred.

Hiten glared at him. "Feelings mutual." Manten nodded.

"Inuyasha what are you doing here?" Kouga asked as he stood up.

"Kouga? I should be asking you the same question. Oh well. I guess we will be having our fight soon. Now what do you say we stop talking and start fightin?" Inuyasha shifted his sword so it faced the three.

Kouga growled angrily. "You are going to fight against your own kind? You'll be branded as a traitor. We'll be forced to hunt you down until you're dead."

Inuyasha scoffed. "Whatever. You really think I care?"

Kouga's anger began to rise. He couldn't believe he would betray his own people. Half breed or not he couldn't believe it. "You are betraying your father you know that!"

Inuyasha scoffed again. "Like my "Father" even cares about me. He's to busy to fighting this war. He cares more about this war than his own family. And besides the only thing he's ever given me is the tetsusaiga, and only so I could kill humans. Now I'm going to make sure I use it to kill you three!"

Inuyasha jumped at Hiten, his sword coming down on him. Hiten blocked the strike before kicking Inuyasha in the stomach. Inuyasha fell back and then quickly took another slash at him.

As the two fought it out Manten started for Kagome again. Seeing him come closer she had to resist the temptation to take a step back. She wasn't going to allow him to see her scared. Even if he could already sense it. She just wasn't going to give him any satisfaction. She couldn't. She just couldn't.

As Manten came closer she remembered the promise she made to Inuyasha. I have to stay alive. I promise that I would. He kept his so I now have to keep mine. Picking up her bow, which thankfully wasn't very far away, she notched an arrow and took aim. When he walked straight into her line of sight she let it fly.

It whistled through the air, closing in on Manten. The arrow struck his demon hide and only laughed.

"You really think that a puny arrow is going to stop me? It'll take more than that!" He ran at her, swinging his fist. She managed to dodge it.

Notching another arrow she quickly shot it into his skull, but it failed to penetrate it. He broke the arrow off and threw it at her. Rolling out of the way she notched another arrow. Firing it as she ran the arrow struck him in the leg and thankfully it hit it in a way that caused him to stumble and nearly break his leg.

"Ow you little! I'm going to kill you!" he attempted to get up, but his nearly broken leg caused him to fall back down, so instead he fired a lighting bolt.

She nearly froze in fear, but she shook out of it and jumped out of the way, firing an arrow all the while. The arrow skimmed the top of Manten's head causing his hands to fly up to it. His hands felt only one hair instead of three. His anger quickly sky rocketed.

"Now I'm going to make sure that you die a very slow and painful death!" Ignoring the pain that was in his leg he ran at her, but not before firing a lightning bolt, knocking her bow away. He swung his fist at her again, and again she dodged it. But she didn't dodge the knee that slammed into her chest.

She felt several cracks erupt from her chest. Three sudden pains shot through her chest, telling her that she had broken some bones. She felt another pain on her head and soon found herself being picked up by her hair and staring into an angry Manten.

"Aww did that hurt? We'll let me help it feel better!" He pulled his fist back and as he threw it forward he was surprised to feel something holding him back. He looked back to find Miroku holding his arm.

"You should learn not to hit women. They deserve more respect than that." He said shaking his finger.

"Hey you stupid human let go of my arm you're supposed to be on my side." Kagome looked over at Miroku and was surprised to see that he was human, on the demon's side. That was something she had never seen before.

Before Manten could react Miroku slammed his staff on his head causing him to drop Kagome. She let out a small yelp as the pain in her chest grew. She looked at the two, seeing that the Miroku was now fighting Manten. She silently thanked him and looked at Inuyasha.

She saw that Hiten and Inuyasha were of equal strength. Neither of them could get and edge. She watched them cross weapons over and over, yet they couldn't land a hit on each other. She saw that Inuyasha was becoming irritated. She thought she should help him, but with several broken bones she didn't know what she could do.

She looked at Kohaku and found him next to his sister's side. Slowly she got up and walked over to him, trying to ignore the pain that pulsed through her chest.

"Kohaku how is she?" She asked struggling with the words since it caused her chest to move.

"Fine, but I don't know how much longer she's going to be out." He looked over his unconscious sister with worry. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over at Kagome.

"Listen Kohaku. Get out of here. You need to go back home or to another village. We might not survive, but at least you can." Kohaku shook his head. "Go. Now!" He still didn't move. "You might be the last demon slayer left and we're going to need more people trained in the art so you have to survive. Now go!" She pushed him away and this time he listened. He ran away from everybody as fast as he could. No one noticed his exit.

Kagome looked around again, and noticed someone was missing. Kouga was missing. Where did he go? She was pushed from her thoughts when she heard a groan from Sango. "Bout time you woke up."

"Where's Kohaku!" she yelled as the memory of what happen and where she was came back into her mind.

"Don't worry Sango. I told him to run away. He's heading back home." That still didn't calm her down.

"But Kagome there are demons out there!"

"Don't worry Sango. I wouldn't of sent him out there if I didn't give him some protection. He's got a priestesses sutra on his shoulder. No demon will touch him." That seemed to calm her down somewhat, but she still worried about him.

"What's going on? Who are those guys?" Sango asked as her gaze shifted to the four fighting.

Kagome smiled. "I tell you later. Right now we need to help. Sango can you grab my bow. I'm afraid I've got some broken bones so I can't move well." Sango was about to ask what happened, but Kagome cut her off. "I'll tell you later." Sango nodded before standing up to get Kagome's bow.

Sparks erupted as Hiten and Inuyasha's weapons connected. The two pushed against each other, trying to get better footing. Inuyasha pushed Hiten away before attacking him, his sword slamming into Hiten's staff. Hiten felt his foot slip from the pressure. Inuyasha took advantage of his loose footing and took another slash at him. Hiten felt the sting of the sword cutting into his shoulder as he moved away to dodge it.

Stumbling Hiten jumped at Inuyasha dodging the on coming strike before kicking him in the back. Inuyasha swung around his sword connecting with Hiten's staff. Hiten knocked Inuyasha sword away before stabbing him in the chest with the other end. As He tried to move away Inuyasha grabbed his staff, keeping him in range of the tetsusaiga's swing, and swung at him. Hiten let go of it, cursing himself for being careless.

Inuyasha pulled the staff out of his chest and broke it across his knee. Inuyasha ran at Hiten not letting him have the chance to rest. As he swung he was surprised to find that the tetsusaiga was knocked from his hand. He was even more surprised that a lightning bolt slammed in to him.

He flew into the air several feet before catching himself on the ground. "You'll pay for that." He put his hands in his chest, covering them in blood. "Iron reaver soul stealer!" He swung his claws causing five yellow waves to come at Hiten. As Hiten dodged them he swung his blood covered claws. "Blades of blood!" Hiten tried to block the five red waves, but they cut into him anyway.

As Hiten recovered from the hit he found Inuyasha's fist was buried into his face. He jumped back, spitting blood from his mouth. He looked at Inuyasha in disbelief. The half demon had grown stronger since the last time they fought. He couldn't believe it. He really hated that he was being outpaced by a half demon.

"Manten let's go. We're retreating." Hiten said not believing that he had to run away.

As Manten recovered from another hit on the head he looked at his brother in disbelief, but not very long since Miroku threw a sutra on him causing his back to burn. He threw the sutra off and joined his brother.

"We'll see you again. Half breed." Hiten said the last word with nothing but pure hatred.

"Yeah and the next time we meet I'll kill you." Hiten only smirked.

"And I'll kill you pathetic girl." Manten yelled to Kagome before the two brothers flew away.

Inuyasha immediately ran to Kagome, sensing her pain. "Kagome you alright?" He looked over her and was surprised to see that she was smiling at him. "What?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. It's just that you kept your promise."

"And you kept yours." A sudden smack caught his attention. He and Kagome looked over at Miroku and Sango to find Miroku knocked out on the ground. "What did he do?"

"He groped me is what he did." She looked at the unconscious Miroku to make sure he was knocked out. Inuyasha just rolled his eyes. When she looked back at Inuyasha she then realized that he looked different. That he looked demon. She jumped back. "You're a demon! Get away from him Kagome."

Kagome looked up at Inuyasha. She had forgotten about his demonic transformation, but that still didn't make her move away. Well she couldn't move even if she wanted to. Her ribs or some other bones were broken and prevented her from moving.

"Kagome don't be afraid. I'm still the same Inuyasha I was last night." He said, trying to make sure that Kagome didn't get scared of him.

"Except the fact you were human last night." Miroku said as he woke up.

Inuyasha hit him on the head. "You're not helping. I know that I look different but I'm still the Inuyasha you met last night."

"Ah so that's why you were gone all last night. You were with-"Inuyasha hit Miroku in the head again.

"You're still not helping."

"If you're the same Inuyasha we met last night then why do you look demon and not human." Sango asked, her hand gripping her sword.

Inuyasha sighed. "Because last night was the night of the new moon. It's on those nights that I lose my demonic powers. That's why I was human."

"So that's why you left before morning. Because you were afraid that if I found out you were a demon that I would either try to kill you or turn you in to the king." Kagome said. Inuyasha nodded. She looked into his amber eyes to find that even though the color was different that the feelings and emotions she saw the night before were the same. "Sango it's alright. It's the Inuyasha you met the night before."

Sango looked at Kagome and loosed her grip on her sword. She knew that Kagome wouldn't lie and not only that but she had a way of seeing people's hearts. "Sorry Inuyasha."

"No problem." He looked around. "Where did Kouga go?"

"He took off during the fighting." Kagome said

Inuyasha smirked. "Coward." A sudden winds passed them and the scent of several demons were on it. "We need to get out of here." He gently picked up Kagome before running off. Miroku and Sango followed him.

"Where are we going?" Kagome asked.

"There is a cave about ten miles from here. We're going to campout there."

As nightfall approached they reached the cave. Inuyasha looked down at Kagome to find that she had fallen asleep. "Miroku get some wood." He set Kagome down. "Sango watch her." He said as he took off into the forest.

Two hours later the two returned with enough wood to last a week, along with some dead animals.

"What's with all of that?" Sango asked.

"We'll be staying here until Kagome heals." Inuyasha walked toward the front of the cave.

Miroku set two pieces of the wood into the make shift fire hole before lighting it on fire. The light from the flames woke Kagome.

"Where are we?' she asked as she sat up against the cave wall.

"Ina cave." Miroku said. He looked up at the cave's ceiling. "Inuyasha, it's still open. Go ahead." The two girls looked at Inuyasha to see him closing the cave opening with a giant boulder.

"What's he doing?" Both girls asked in unison.

"He needed to close the cave entrance to prevent any demons form entering. And don't worry about air. There are many ways by which the air enters the cave so we'll be fine." Miroku said as he took one of the animals and started to skin it.

"What about water?" Kagome asked.

"There is a water hole down here too." Inuyasha said as he sat down next to her.

"You guys have been preparing for something haven't you?" Sango asked.

Miroku nodded. "We scouted out any area we could use for shelter incase the war didn't turn in our favor." The two girls nodded. He laid the now skinned animal across the fire pit. "Food will be ready in a few hours."

The four ate in silence when the food finished. They all were thinking about their own things and really didn't care for talking. The silence endured until Miroku broke it.

"I'm going to bed so good night." He laid down on his back and shut his eyes. "Sango care to join me?" Her response was a smack. Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

Sango laid down on her side. "I'm going to get some sleep too. Night Kagome."

"Night." Kagome rested her head on Inuyasha's shoulder. "Night Inuyasha."

He smiled at her. "Night Kagome." He gently rested his head on hers and closed his eyes.

Chapter three is done and it is the longest chapter yet. Thanks for reading and I'll try to update as soon as possible.