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Family Traits

"Ah...So your not as young as you feel" She said with something leaning to surprise lacing her voice

I took a breath and said "I am not of very great power as one of my age should possess "

"Then I grant you permission, but only for two days. Then you will leave" She said and walked away.

"So you can come in now?" Asked Sango trying to get it straight.

"Yes" I simply said

As we entered the village the locals stared at Inuyasha because of his appearance so blatantly showing that he was a demon. By the way they looked it seemed as though this village was attack frequently by demons. It explained why the Guardian was active.

"Damn it. I hate being stared at!" He said loud enough for them to hear and maybe get the hint.

"Calm down Inuyasha" Said Kagome "Don't be rude"

"Then tell them to knock it off"

As the monk and demon slayer went to look for what we were in need of I asked Kagome if she knew where we were going to stay.

"I hadn't really thought about it" She said bringing her finger to her bottom lip.

"If you need a place to stay, your welcome in my home" Said a woman in a near by shop.

"Really? We wouldn't want to intruded though" I said being as polite as possible.

"Oh no it wouldn't be a problem. I wouldn't have offered if it would" She smiled.

"Thank you. Its much appreciated. It doesn't seem as though we are very welcome here" I looked to Inuyasha

"Well your friend is obviously a demon and we get a lot of attacks" I was right. "Though if he was going to attack us I think he would have done it by now" She pointed out.

"Very true" I responded.

"We have a others with us" said Kagome.

"I know child. I saw you when you first got here"

"This is very kind of you" I said

"Its no problem really" she said "Don't worry yourself with it child"

Her calling me child made me add a few more years to her. I told them I would go and tell Sango and Miroku we had a place to stay and the woman, who's name was Ishimura Miyoshi, gave me simple and easy direction to her house after I fetched the others.

When we arrived we discovered she had three children. One was the age of three, another the age of eight, and the last twelve. They were very polite when they introduced themselves.

"My name is Hisa" The youngest said smiling.

"Sakamae" Said the eight year old with a slight bow of her head.

"Kazumi" Said the oldest.

Kagome stepped up and introduced us all "This is Miroku, Sango, Shippo, Inuyasha, Ookami, and Kirara"

"Now they are our guest, treat them with respect" Miyoshi-san warned her children.

They nodded in response.

"It will be dark soon. Fetch some fire wood Kazumi" Her mother ordered.

"Yes mother" She with a sign and to get enough wood for the night.

I sat in one of the corners of the hut and was forced to watch as Miyoshi and her children did everything from starting the fire to serving the food they made for all of us. She had refused very sternly about us helping her and kept saying it would be rude to ask a guest to do chores for her. Soon everyone was getting ready for bed, Shippo and Hisa had already beat us to it though. I couldn't help but smile at Hisa and Shippo cuddled together. It was just to adorable to resist.

I had stayed in my corner while the others, excluding Inuyasha who was leaning against the wall across from me, crowded in one space that had been cleared for them to sleep for the night. Fifteen to twenty minutes later you could hear the even breathing of a sleeping from Miroku, Sango, and Kagome, Inuyasha looked asleep but I knew better and that he was just resting while paying close attention to their surroundings. Soon I had fallen into something beyond a light sleep. Something I hadn't done in decades. I don't know why I did but I had and it was a huge mistake on my part.

Around midnight a big crash woke us all suddenly. Inuyasha didn't wait and ran out to see what it was. Feeling the familiar power of my brother and sister I ran out, swords in hand. Damn it. If I had been alert I would have known before they even got here!

The villagers had all awoken had were peeking out to see what was happening. The Guardian came to the scene in a heartbeat.

"Damn it. I hate the fast healing of our kind" I said to myself.

"Why are you here?" Asked the confused Guardian.

A sinister laugh erupted from Hyou's throat "We came for her" She clarified pointing to me.

"I'll kill you for risking the lives of these people" I promised them.

"As will I" Said the Guardian.

"Ha! You can barely stay alive in battle with us, let alone kill us" Laughed Hyou at me.

"You didn't come to trade insults and threats. Lets get this over with" I told them.

"Our pleasure" Dakatsu said and made the first move of coming at me, but Inuyasha and Sango got in the way taking his challenge on themselves. Why not Hyou? SHE you can handle. I mentally screamed.

I was tackled from the side by a still human Hyou. I struggled to kick her off. When I succeeded I got my feet under me to continue the fight. She seemed to get tired of her useless human form and started her transformation. Now that the group knew about Guardians I was able to do the same.

I went to my knees and gritted my teeth for the coming pain. As my jaw broke and reformed in the shape of a long narrow muzzle. My ribs formed to a cage better suited for a dog and my legs grew longer to ones meant for speed. Long black fur coated my body including a long furry tail. My teeth turned to sharp points and lastly my eyes turned to a bright yellow. I raised my head and howled. Standing in my place was a large jet black wolf.

She looked surprised at my choice of forms but barreled into me. All you could see was black. It was close to impossible to tell where one began and the other started as we rolled around in a mess of teeth and claws.

We eventually spilt and stared at each other from only a few feet away before she stalked forward and sunk her teeth into my side. I yelped, but grabbed onto her neck and ripped her off me and threw her into a nearby hut. She crashed into it demolishing the entire thing. She didn't get up. She was just unconscious.

Finally able to divert my attention I went to see how Inuyasha and Sango were fairing and I turned in their direction. What I saw wasn't what I wanted to see. Dakatsu had turned to his other form. A thirty foot snake. Unfortunately Inuyasha had been bitten and I watched as Dakatsu slammed him to the ground. Dakatsu was poisonous and it would kill Inuyasha with in a few hours. The fight needed to end or we would lose him.

The demon slayer threw her weapon and it left a scratch where his stomach would be. I ran to him and jumped up to bite into his neck. My teeth broke through his scales and he hissed and shook me off. That didn't stop my and Sango's continuous attacks to his body. Eventually he was bleeding so badly he was forced to change forms and again having to carry Hyou away but he left with a message "You won't always have them around, and when you don't I will kill you" Scary thing was, it was true.

I changed as quickly as possible and rushed over to where they were all crowded around Inuyasha.

"He needs help" I told them "Dakatsu's bite is fatal and we will lose him in just a few hours without it"

"Oh my god. What can we do? Is there a cure? A way to prevent it?" Rambled Kagome in worry.

"Calm down. Breathe. I have an idea that might save him" I said trying not to let the worry show on my face.

"What is it? What can we do for him?" Kagome asked still racked with worry, but had calmed some.

"Its not what you can do. It's what I can do" I explained.

"Well what is it?" Asked Sango.

"We need to take him back to the hut. I will show you then" I ordered. They complied without question. Once we were relatively safe in the hut I said that I would explain it after he was safe.

I asked them to stand back from him and they reluctantly stepped back. I kneeled next to him and removed his kimono to get to the bite wound. I looked it over and with the fangs I always have I bit into the wound and lapped up the blood that flowed out. I heard a gasp from Kagome. "What are you doing?" she asked me. I rose and licked the blood from my lips. "Removing the poison" And went back to the wound. When it started to heal I knew the poison was out of his system and he would be ok.

I moved back so that the others could get to their friend. I seized up and my breathing became short and swift. I scrambled back till I hit the wall. I groaned as my muscles twitched painfully. My whole body was in pain. Every nerve throbbed. I couldn't sit up anymore and fell to the ground and laid there in pain. Yelping or whining every now and then.

"What's happening? Why is she like this?" Kagome asked

"I get it now" Miroku in a uh-ah voice "When she drank the blood around Inuyasha wound she took the poison into her own body and saving Inuyasha's life"

"Why would she do that? Won't it kill her as well?" Questioned Sango.

"I really don't know" he said "but her body works differently from ours and his. I mean look her wounds from her fight just now they have already healed so much that it looks as though they are days old. So she might just survive it"