The Moths

Miroku ran towards Inuyasha but he took off towards the forest, it was then that they realized the other moth demons hadn't left.

"Well, well, look at who we have here. Move it! Out in the opening." He pointed his sword at them.

They looked at him curiously because of how he was dressed. The smiley face now had blood and dirt on it but kept on smiling. Even if they thought his dress was weird, they treated his sword with respect.

"They stayed?" Sango asked unbelieving. The gang stared at the five moth demons, one of them being held up by another.

"We-we wish to beg Lord Sesshomaru's forgiveness. Danzaemon acted on his own and…some of us are foolish and hot headed." The elder glanced at his companions.

"And so you should! My lord's father spared your retched village and now you attack us. I think Lord Sesshomaru should kill you all!" Jaken said and moved threateningly closer with the Staff of Two Heads.

"What should we do with them Inuyasha? We can't just let them go, can we?"

Inuyasha shrugged. They were talking about things that happened long before he was born but he didn't like the fact that they had attacked and may still. "I don't know but…" He didn't get to finish because there was suddenly a great flash of blue light.

Kagome went to Rin and took her hand. "Danzaemon is dead, Rin. You won't have worry anymore."

The girl flashed a satisfied smile. "I knew my lord would destroy him."

All eyes were looking in the direction of the light and soon enough, Sesshomaru walked out the trees. He looked battle worn but at the same time royal, his presence demanded respect.

The elder demon got down on one knee and bowed his head. After a moment of hesitation the other demons followed suit. All remained quiet as Sesshomaru approached them.

"Phssst. They didn't get down on their knees for me." Inuyasha murmured and flung the Tetsusaiga over his shoulder. Shippo giggled.

Sesshomaru's eyes went first to Rin. The girl smiled widely up at him. He then looked to the others. They all looked worse for wear, barely standing on their feet. Finally he looked down at the bent heads.

"Was this your doing?"

"No! No, my lord it was not. We only learned that Danzaemon was here a few hours ago. We were told by his servant that he was here battling you and that he wanted to take over as ruler of our people."

Sesshomaru, Inuyasha and the others looked up quickly. "Servant?"

"S-somehow it was able to make itself invisible. We never saw it, only heard it's voice.

Sesshomaru wasn't sure if he believed the demon but even as he stared hard at the man, Ah-Un suddenly took off. They all waited as the dragon flew off into the forest and dive out of sight. Minutes ticked by and Inuyasha finally crossed his ankles and sank to the ground.

Seeing Inuyasha sit, Kagome went to him and sat beside him resting a hand on his thigh.

Finally Ah-Un could be seen in the sky. One mouth was open but he didn't seem to be carrying anything. He landed a few feet to Sesshomaru's side and something thudded against the ground causing dust to stir.

Rin let out a little scream and hid behind Jaken who hid behind Inuyasha. As hard as everyone looked, they could see nothing but something was there.

"Show yourself. Your lord is dead, hiding won't protect you." Sesshomaru stated.

A shaky sigh was heard and before their eyes the colors of earth and grass and sky began to fade away and a pale green lizard demon appeared.

Kagome gasped, "Oh, it's a chameleon! It's able to change the color of its skin to match the environment."

"Really Kagome? Are they from Japan?" Miroku moved closer to study the slim demon.

"No, we don't have them in Japan. They live in rain forests and the like." She saw their confused looks and smiled. "I'll tell you later but he's not from here."

"So it came with Danzaemon from the continent." Sango studied the new demon, committing it's form to memory. She never knew when something like it would show up again.

"P-please my lord! L-let me go! Danzaemon said he would be ruler over his father's people and-and I was only following his orders. I-I didn't hurt anyone! I was just a servant, that's all!"

Ah-Un roughly pushed the demon making it groan in pain. It was then that Jaken stepped forward.

"It was you! You were there spying on us as Ah-Un healed! He sensed you but we could never find anything!" Jaken poked him with his staff.

Gituku shuddered; they were all staring at him. If they were going to kill him why didn't they do it already?

"So, what was the plan? Defeat Sesshomaru and go back a hero to his village?" Inuyasha wanted this over with already. Shippo and Kirara had settled down next to them, exhausted.

"Umm, sort of. We were on our way to the Moth's territory when my lor- when Danzaemon caught your scent. From that moment on he was obsessed with killing Lord Sesshomaru and his friends, especially her." A scaly finger pointed to Rin.

"I tried to talk him out of and go on to the village for help if nothing else but he had something to prove – an old grudge to settle."

"You see my lord! It was never our intention to attack you. We had no idea Danzaemon had returned or that he would think that we would want him as ruler of our people. We – I came to stop him but the battle had already begun." He bent his head again.

"But you did nothing to stop it! Some of you even joined in the battle." Miroku spoke with scorn. "Couldn't pass up a chance to get rid of Sesshomaru and all the innocents with him."

"True – true. I stood back and watched but believe me, I never sought you death! There has been peace between us all these years, please my lord don't kill us. Those who helped Danzaemon will be severely punished."

Everyone could tell the old man was sincere and very afraid that his whole clan would be destroyed. Several pairs of eyes went to Sesshomaru who stared at the old moth, wondering what his decision would be. Months ago, before Rin it would have been simple – they would all have to pay for Danzaemon's arrogance but now, who knew?

They stood near the forest with the moth demons lined up on their knees before Sesshomaru. Inuyasha and the gang were to his right and slightly behind him.

"Punished? Yes, they will be." Suddenly without warning, Sesshomaru's whip appeared. The two who had attacked them were bisected and dissected in moments. "I will honor my father's agreement with your clan. I do not wish to see or hear from any of you again or your future will be no more." Sesshomaru turned to leave when Inuyasha spoke up.

"Umm, okay but what about that chameleon thing?" He was surprised Sesshomaru had left any of them alive.

Gituku had hoped they'd forgotten about him. Seeing Lord Sesshomaru deal with those moths, he feared his fate would be the same. All he wanted was to escape with his life, thoughts of serving Sesshomaru had long disappeared.

"He is of no consequence. Ah-Un may have him unless the creature can out run him." He turned and looked to be heading back towards the temple. "Come Rin."

Grinning, Rin started after him. "Yes, my lord."

"Wait for me, Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken hustled to catch up.

Gituku got up and looked around but no one moved to stop him. He looked to the dragon who snorted and stepped forward. Gituku inched his way to the forest when Ah-Un opened one mouth and lightning poured out – Gituku set off at a run. Before their eyes, he disappeared, but that didn't seem to bother Ah-Un, he let loose another attack and Gituku's scream of terror could be heard. The dragon seemed to laugh as he turned to go join his master.

The old moth demon stood and bowed to Inuyasha. "You have been merciful, thank you and please thank Lord Sesshomaru for his mercy. We will leave now. We will not bother the sons of the great dog demon ever again. Thank you and goodbye." He bowed once more, his companions did the same. Turning they transformed into moths and flew away.

"Well its over - finally." Inuyasha sighed and placed his hand over Kagome's. "Let's go back and get some rest. It's been one long day."

Sango looked to the temple where Sesshomaru had disappeared into. "What about Sesshomaru? Do we still have a truce with him?"

"I don't see why not. Rin's not fully healed plus he's got some wounds himself." Using Tetsusaiga, Inuyasha got to his feet and helped Kagome up. Shippo jumped up to his shoulder and immediately flopped down. Inuyasha cut his eyes to the little fox, "Good job in there Shippo. You did well against those bugs."

"Next time I'll let you do the work." He said but smiled at the praise.

"Come on everyone, the sun's coming out and I could use some sleep!" Kagome grinned at them.