Chapter 6-Of Meetings, Magic, and Of Voices

The giant beast form of Inuyasha ran on all fours as fast as he could knocking down all the trees in front of him creating a path of destruction in front of him for hours till it was clearly nighttime. He didn't know why he just trusted his instincts to get the hell away from all of them whether it was the place, the people, or both all he knew he was that he needed to get out of their despite the little human calling for what sounded like his name. Was it his name? He was not sure of that anymore himself since he didn't know exactly what he was except that of a massive demon of a beast. At that moment his instincts as a demon were now starting to pull him in so many different directions at this very moment he thought with what little control over his mind he had left that he was going to come apart right where he was if he stopped running.

Some of his instincts were screaming for food, others for water, and others...others that were calling for blood. All the blood of practically almost anything and everything that he could get his claws on that would be able to satisfy his thirst even though he didn't want to do something like that because somehow he knew it would be wrong. However, it was hard to ignore such things when they screamed at you nonstop from all directions and threatened to make you lose what little sanity you had left. Every once in a while on two legs just before he leaped high into the air as to land in a different spot to throw off his destructive path of destroyed trees should anyone try to follow him. It wasn't till his instincts all told him he was safe did he stop running to take in the looks of his surroundings.

As before he was surrounded by tree of various shapes and sizes, but the air had a fresh scent of pure water about it meaning there was a lake nearby. 'I am thirsty. Perhaps by getting a drink from the lake I could satisfy some of my instincts allowing me to focus more,' thought the beast form of Inuyasha as it moved slowly and carefully through the trees that bended, tilted, and sometimes on occasion broke to his body's will as he pushed forward till he could hear the water of the lake nearby.

(At the lake itself)

Shiori had been running for so long she had forgotten what it felt like to just stop, catch your breath, and not worry for once about being killed by a human or demon that hated you because you were a combination of the two. She was at the moment covered in dirt and unfortunately the blood of her mother who had died at the hands of the bandits that had attacked their home. Having escaped at the last moment through a secret crawling space of a hole made just for her by her mother Shiori long before hand the little half-demon girl was able to escape in time. Just before the ruthless bandits came in and killed her mother while she ran away to whatever safety she could find. She had discovered the lake by sheer luck and had created a small home made of sticks where the dirt was soft yet solid near the lake. She was cold and an even colder wind could be felt blowing at her direction that would probably knock her little house down whether she tried to hold the small structure together or not. 'I wish mommy were here. Or even Inuyasha as he must have gone through the same thing as me. If only he were here right now he could protect me and beat up those bad men who killed mommy,' thought Shiori who was now crying all the while praying to whatever god or deity both divine and demonic that would hear her pleas for help as she could feel the wind blowing tilting her weak structure home to her left.

(Meanwhile...)

The Sango, Shippo, Kilala, Miroku, Kagome, Sesshomorru, and Rin went back out of the Valley of Death from where they first entered to see Omen: The Mystical Shaman in the hopes him helping them find and possibly help Inuyasha. Kagome had been removed of her bow and arrows during the trip back to the shaman's home. After her attempt to kill Inuyasha or at least try to weaken him in the fight with Sesshomorru thus giving the said Demon Lord of the Western Lands a chance to do the deed himself no one would look at her, but to glare at her with pure hatred in their eyes. Even Sesshomorru himself glared at her with similar cold hatred that he would normally reserved for Inuyasha. Only this time the glare from him was much stronger then what he would normally produced whenever confronting Inuyasha. Kagome however, thought her acts were in fact justified as she saw the demon aura around Inuyasha growing and without the rosary she feared for HER life like a normal person would rather then just be a spectator and watch the fight. 'I can't believe their treating me like this? Like they wouldn't have done the same in my shoes if they were me with my bow, arrow, and Inuyasha's demon aura transformation. I bet they are just too afraid to admit it and just want to pass the blame to me well I say blame it on Inuyasha as all things are his fault anyway seeing as half-demons are a curse all in their stupid selves.

When they reached the hut they found the shaman out in the night sitting around a small bond fire he made with a large pile of sand next to him on his left and a pile of bones on his right. "So you have come back and with one shorter in our group then before I see. So the beast within him came out and free from his cage after so many years of full or partial restraint," said Omen casually throwing some sand into the bond fire making change into a greenish with upper red at the tips of the flame.

"You knew this would happen to Inuyasha?" said Sango furiously ready bash his skull in with her weapon while Kilala was seconds from doing the same.

"I admit...I had foreseen it. However, the future is always in motion and always changing at such a pace that not even I can predict what will happen in the time stream. Had I told Inuyasha this potential future he would have done something that would have been what I would consider to be...harsh. If he tried to carry out actions to stop this type of event from happening it would have made things worse then they currently are?" said Omen calmly as he now rolled bones onto the ground in front of him in a blood red circled with strange designs in it as the bones themselves went into different sections of the circle.

"Can you help us Omen? Help us find Inuyasha so we can help him tame the beast like form he is in before he goes berserk?" said Kikyo hopingly if this shaman's powers were as strong as she thought they were.

"Berserk you say? From what I can see through my powers Inuyasha is in nice quiet state at the moment whose only need is to get a drink of water. If anything dear priestess of the dead he will become hostile to those he believes are hostile. Inuyasha's poor mind is still a fragile piece of organic tissue that has yet to match the speed his body is running at and anything he senses is a threat to him he will destroy. But do not fill your hearts with such worries as I sense hope is within his reach and is much closer to him then he even himself knows," said Omen smiling a old man's smile that seemed to make some of there worries go way, but not all of them.

"Well considering it is now late out do you mind if we make camp here for the duration of the night?" said Miroku who was still caring Kagome's bow and quiver of arrows.

"Of course monk. All of you get some rest I will watch over you all tonight so you may continue your journey tomorrow to find and help Inuyasha," said Omen he stared at the flame with his third eye open expanding all his senses around him and using his powers of illusion creating the realistic effect of an illusionary of no one being in this particular area.

(Back at the lake)

It was then shortly after that moment that Shiori's prayers were answered though if they were answered by either divine, demonic, or ironically by both had yet to be determined. Soon after Shiori said her prayer a very loud noise of something walking into her general area could be heard. Something large, strong, and was covered in white silver fur with red demon eyes entered the lake surroundings. From what Shiori could see from in-between her little stick walls of a home the beast was a mighty and impressive creature that one would think twice before engaging in combat much less an idle conversation. She began to fear that the demonic dog like beast would come over to where she was hiding and find her or squash her in her little poorly made home without realizing it till after the squish sound was made. To her surprise and relief the beast was headed more towards the water then near her as it sniffed the water to see if it was drinkable then went and drank some by using its tongue to slurp up some water to quench his thirst. 'Maybe he won't see me,' thought Shiori as she peaked out of her home to see him without anything impeding her view of the demon.

Inuyasha was quite content without himself at the moment as he drank his share of water from the lake as he could slightly feel his thoughts becoming less scrambled and slightly more focused. He could make out names of people from his past and matched them up with faces he knew and who they were in his life. However, before he could even try to get through less then five of them the wind changed direction. The scent of female blood now reached his now super sensitive nose making him alert as he recognized that scent from somewhere from his not so distant part of his past. The blood was slightly fresh, but possibly dried meaning who ever was holding that scent of female blood had either killed the owner of that blood or was the owner that was now a corpse. Sniff again and turning to the source of the stench of blood he found his senses and thoughts to be more accurate on the subject as he walked over to a small wooden structure of some sort that ad been poorly made and just recently from the way it looked. The scent was coming from within the structure and he let out a growl to whatever was in there to either come out now or be destroyed by him with one blow of his clawed pawed hand. "Come...out...NOW!" said Inuyasha as he struggled to speak in human tongue though it was difficult in this form.

Shiori had to make one of two life altering choices then, there, and now as she saw the white glistening teeth of the beast that just spoke to her. One: was to go out their and face the giant figure outside that could swallow her fragile body whole. Or Two: stay in her shelter and get crushed by the beast when his patience ran out completely. She had almost nearly fainted originally when the shadow of the demon consumed her little home like structure. Deciding to face her destiny and not run anymore she stood up with her head nearly touching the sealing of her shelter's roof and walked out to meet the beast and currently her greatest fear at the moment. "Plea...please...don't...don't eat...m...e...me. I am...al...l...all ski...n...skin and...bones," said Shiori stuttering in a whispery voice though she knew with ears the beast size it could hear someone sneeze over in the next land and that it would hear her as if she spoke at a normal level.

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed as he stared at the child with his demon eyes knowing from her scent (now that he was closer he could smell her better) felt from his memory that he had known her from before and that she was harmless in a fight, but also no threat to him as she was clearly just a child of her species. It was then he realized her scent was like his once as it was half-demon of that of a bat and it was then his eyes widened noticeably as his memory of her came back full force. "Shi...Shiori? Is that you?" said Inuyasha not believing it was her that he had threatened to kill with the sound of a growl.

Shiori for her part took it well as she just stared at him shock as all thoughts of him eating her, squashing her, and any and all things pertaining to him killing frail body her flew out of her now shattered mental window all she could do was stare. 'He...knows? He knows my...my name? How?' Shiori thought as that was the only thought she could comprehend at that moment.

Inuyasha now realizing who this little half-demon girl was looked at her more careful as to see if she was in fact injured in anyway. From the scent of the blood on her and the dirt he had determined it was her mothers and that the dirt on her kimono was from running away from the direction of the carnage that obviously took place where the girl had once lived. He also realized that the girl had no trace of demon scent on her that was not her own meaning that when her mother died she died at the hands of...humans. 'They did to her what those fools at the village did to my mother. She must have gotten away in all the chaos of what happened, but what do I do with her now? I can't let her be like this as she has no one to look after her till she IS old enough to defend herself. I suppose I could watch over her, but I can't stay here in one spot for possible enemies could just be just about anywhere,' thought Inuyasha as he looked around quickly if anyone else was around.

By the time Inuyasha had come out of her thoughts so did Shiori as noticed the beast's behavior was now slightly different then what she had expected from it. "Um...how do you know my name?" said Shiori surprised at herself for not stuttering and although it wasn't a stupid question it was possibly a stupid time to ask.

Inuyasha turned his attention back Shiori the minute she had spoken to him and realized that in this form he wouldn't be recognizable to her. Even his scent would be different and unrecognizable in his transformed state so if she even used her nose to find out who he was she would be unsure or not if it was him. "Shiori it's me. It's Inuyasha! Don't you remember?" said Inuyasha earning him a shocked looked from Shiori who could do the only in this type of situation that would ensure that her mind did not explode from this massive amount of knowledge that entered her through her ears.

'What?' she thought right before she fainted and fell onto the soft dirt covered ground faster then Inuyasha could even blink.

(With Omen and the group)

Kilala stirred restlessly in her sleeping spot though truth be told she couldn't sleep as she was worried over Inuyasha's safety, sanity, and most importantly his life. 'If only I could tell him what I feel. But I can't as I don't have the vocal power to do so. All I can do is make cat like noises and have Shippo translate them with his voice and if I do that then it would sound hollow as he can't express my feelings to Inuyasha as that would just be too WEIRD!' thought Kilala as she shuddered at the thought of that all playing out making Inuyasha look like some pervert that was even worse then the monk and he was about as worse as you could get.

Kilala seeing as she couldn't get any if much sleep at all and had nothing better to do at that moment walked over to Omen who was still by the fire staring at it intently. "Hello Kilala I was waiting for you to come over here to see me," said Omen in a low voice as to not awaken the others.

'I guess I shouldn't be too surprised that he knew seeing as he is a powerful being when it comes to his field of magical expertise in seeing things that others can't. Now how do I communicate with him so he will understand me? Maybe writing on the ground?' thought Kilala as she looked around for something like a stick that she could use to write with on the ground with.

Omen saw this and just chuckled at the little cat as it looked around for something before he petted her in a friendly manner. "I take it you wish to communicate with me my dear, but you can't. Right? (Kilala nods) Well what if I told you I could grant you the power to speak like a normal human could or like Shippo or Inuyasha for that matter," said Omen knowing it was what Kilala wanted.

Kilala's eyes widened at the possibility to speak to Inuyasha like she had wanted to from the start and realized the shaman was no lying. 'How? How? HOW?' thought Kilala as that was the only thought as she unknowingly jumped up and down in anticipation of such ability to speak.

"I thought you might like the idea so I prepared a special potion for you in this small vile and if you drink it all then you will gain a third transformation that will give you a human type form of a cat demon. In truth you will look like a half-demon, but by no means will you skills diminish. "Before we go through with this do you want to have a third form? It will take a while to get used to and you will be exposed to certain things you weren't before," said Omen who wanted to at least have Kilala give it some thought before she did this.

In less then 3 seconds Kilala had made up her mind as she motioned him to open the vile that contained a bluish liquid that wasn't water. However, it wasn't anything else she had ever seen either so she really couldn't describe it. 'This is for Inuyasha! How could I not do this for him?' thought Kilala as Omen removed the lid of the liquid's container and carefully gave it to Kilala who took her time drink down every last drop into her mouth out of fear she would lose her chance at such an opportunity.

"The potion in the vile has a delay effect and won't start sometime tomorrow in the mid to late afternoon. After you transform tell them what I did and that you agreed to it even though I gave you a chance to back out of it. Now go gets some sleep," said Omen gently patting the little cat demons head before Kilala went back to her sleeping spot near Sango and silently went to sleep with the dream of Inuyasha holding her in his arms while in her new form...kissing her.

(Back at the lake)

Inuyasha was not really surprised that Shiori had fainted in front of him after telling her it was him as it was one of three possibilities he had foreseen with the little half-demon girl. Gently he picked her up by her kimono with the tip of his from teeth gently as to neither hurt her or her clothes as he moved them away from where they were to a more suitable location away from the lake and near the trees for protective purposes. 'She better wake up soon as I need to speak with her. Then again she does look peaceful in her faint induced sleep despite the information I just gave her. I'll let her wake up on her own accord as she might be startled if I wake her up. Though she probably will be started anyway when she sees me when she opens her eyes. What do I do? What do I do? God damn it!' thought Inuyasha as he considered his options for a moment only to find there was no easy solution this and he really didn't want to have Shiori faint again much less possibly scream at him thus hurting his ears.

He didn't have time to think further on this discussion as a giant dragon demon came bursting out of the trees tackling Inuyasha knocking him back towards the lake while Shiori lay past out on the ground. "You killed my child! I can smell his death on you and now I shall avenge him," yelled the dragon demon as the two went deeper into the lake while the long dragon demon wrapped around his body while its clawed hands were in a state of deadlock with Inuyasha's.

Inuyasha's mind went into a demonic primal yet mentally aware state the instant the fight had started trying to claw, bite, and tear the flesh off the dragon. With him being pushed back into the water of the lake he found himself at a distinct disadvantage. The dirt in the lake provided very uneasy footing making it hard to balance himself in his struggle with the dragon demon. 'Damn it! He's even stronger now that I'm in the lake. That's no surprise really as dragons do spend their time either in lakes or mountains because they are secluded places to breed offspring. None the less I have to kill him or else it might attack Shiori while still full of rage,' thought Inuyasha as he used all the strength his legs muscles could produce and leaped into the air away from the lake hitting solid ground and the dragon hard with it still wrapped around him taking most of the fall with it.

Taking this opportunity to strike Inuyasha took his clawed hand turned fist and punched the dragon demon repeatedly in its face repeatedly making the dragons blood cover his face, upper chest, and more importantly his hands. The blood had gushed out of the now dead dragon by the third punch covering Inuyasha's clawed hand holding the dragon by the neck and the other even more as he continued to pound the dragon harder then before not stopping till there wasn't even a head to go with the remains of the demons body. Letting out a great demonic roar while standing on his two hind legs Inuyasha finally decided to stop his assault on the beaten to death dragon demon Inuyasha before going back down on all four legs. He then turned to see if Shiori was all right and undamaged by the attack. The good news was she was alive and unharmed, but the bad news was she was awake and from the look on her face had seen Inuyasha go crazy on the dragon if the fear in her eyes were any indication as to why she was looking at him like that. Inuyasha looked away ashamed and started to walk off away from Shiori not wanting her to think he was going to hurt her next. "Wa...wait! Don't...leave...In...Inuyasha. Please?" said Shiori who even though had fear in her eyes they were not from Inuyasha attacking her; they were from Inuyasha leaving her all alone.

Inuyasha stopped walking instantly and turned to face her with sorrow filled eyes of his own though they should have been ones of happiness. He turned around all the way to face her as he walked towards her his massive form shadowing her as if she were just an insect beneath his pawed feet. "You want me to stay? Why? Look at me Shiori...I'm a monster and you know it," said Inuyasha as he lowered his head to near her height so she wouldn't strain herself from looking all the way up at him.

"I want you to stay because I'm a monster too. Remember? I'm a half-demon and like you I am considered a monster and monsters sometimes have to stick together. Right Inuyasha?" said Shiori putting her hands up and touched the edges of his nose bring him in closer to that of a hug.

Inuyasha was speechless for a moment as Shiori hugged him as best as she could under the circumstances and didn't let go. You are right Shiori. We monster's do have to stick together and from now on that's what we will do. For now you should get some sleep my little kitten and my fur is the best thing for you on these cold windy nights," said Inuyasha before Shiori broke the hug and Inuyasha proceeded to lick her face gently with his giant tongue making the girl giggle at his affection towards her.

Shiori hugged Inuyasha one more time before the larger of the two picked her up gently and placed her on top of his head where she was nearly buried up to her neck in silvery white fur. Shiori took some of the fur carefully as to not irritate Inuyasha and moved in around transforming it into blanket and pillow of sorts. "Thank you Inuyasha," said a now tired Shiori as the warmth of Inuyasha fur and body heat made her fall to sleep like there wasn't a worry in the world.

'Goodnight little Shiori and know that no human, demon, deity, and/or God will take you from me as long as I live. Who knows...I might even be the father that you always wanted,' thought Inuyasha as he moved stealthily along the area to a spot he sensed was safe and sat down with a silent grace and went to sleep himself.

Unbeknown to either of the two sleeping half-demons someone was watching them and that certain someone was holding a mirror in her hands. 'Monsters stick together. If that is the case then should I stay close and observe a little longer. I don't really want to serve Naraku, but I do so to please him and keep his thoughts away from killing or reabsorbing Kagura. If I betray him now he will take it out on her or send her to her death by sending her to kill or retrieve me for my betrayal. Still Kagura always talked of being free from Naraku's will and that if she were in my place she would have taken such freedom and left him without question. Should I betray him or should I stay loyal?' thought Kanna as she watched downwind away from Inuyasha's nose and from his other senses that would pick up her scent if she got any closer

(A/N: Well what do you think? Good? Bad? Ugly? (oh wait that's a movie) HA! Should Kanna stay loyal to Naraku? Or should she betray the bastard. I was personally thinking along the lines of Kanna betraying Naraku because I heard that the meanest of sinners could become the nicest of saints. Or was that the other way around? Well tell me what you think because it matters. I know I said another chapter by Saturday or Sunday, but I got up early and had a massive brainstorm with this one. I could literally envision this chapter I swear to God (YOU DARE SWEAR IN FORNT OF ME!) No sir! I mean yes sir! I mean ah shoot am I going to hell? (...NOT YET, BUT NO PROMISES!) Thank you. I think he likes my work so he doesn't hurt me...too much. ANYWAY before things get out of hand and I ramble on I really I mean REALLY need your reviews as I only got two reviews and I'm producing gold here. If I had a stronger union I would strike. But I can't so you guys get lucky on that technicality. PLEASE REVIEW I NEED IT OR GODS GOING TO BREAK MY LEGS! (I'LL DO IT TOO!) EEP!)