Chapter 2: A Village of Demons
Inuyasha and co. walked into a village that was on the way to their destination. They had the intention of visiting the half-demon girl Shiori, but night was falling and the group was getting hungry. Thus, once inside the village Miroku started doing his thing. The monk walked to the front of the group and almost instantly he found the richest looking house in the village. Inuyasha groaned, which caused Kagome to sigh and Shippo to laugh. After leading the group to the rich house, Miroku used his spiritual power, to first figure out if there really was a demon. Of course, the house wouldn't know if there was a demon or not. Miroku discovered that in fact there was a demon, and it was strong compared to the normal job. Inuyasha gripped his sword and with his signature smug smirk he said, "Heh, it's about time we found a powerful demon!" His sword hand rested on Tessaiga's hilt as he said that.
Miroku said nothing, but sighed as he produced an exorcism tag. The tag was placed on the front wall of the house, and suddenly the demonic aura could be felt by the entire group. Kirara growled and hissed with her hackles raised, then she transformed in a veil of flame. The rest of the group looked around, even Inuyasha was getting a bad feeling. "Well Inuyasha, are you still excited?" Asked Kagome, nocking an arrow in her bow and drawing the string in preparation of a fight. Out from the walls of the house came hundreds of demons, all of which immediately started charging Inuyasha and his group. Inuyasha growled in disappointment and agitation, and said, "Such petty demons. I got all excited over nothin'." He drew Tessaiga and immediately the power of the Wind Scar started twisting around it. Inuyasha raised the sword over his head, yelling, "Wind Scar!" Before swinging Tessaiga horizontally, causing streaks of yellow demon energy to burst forth from the blade.
The mass of demons was destroyed by the blast, but instead of being vaporzed, they were simply shredded. The shreds of demons started to swirl together, creating some kind of a vortex as they did. The vortex started to glow, and shortly after the parts of demons melded together to form an armored demon.. The armor was almost black in color, and the demon had a sheathed katana at its waist. The demon drew its blade, and it flashed yellow as it was drawn. Kagome swore she recognized the glow that the sword had as it was drawn, and her guess turned out to be true, the whole group gasping as the glow faded to reveal a sword that was an exact replica of Tessaiga.
Inuyasha wasn't worried. The only time he had fought against Tessaiga, he was unarmed. Now it was Tessaiga vs. Tessaiga. He was, however, wondering how the demon got the replica of Tessaiga. Sango ran to Inuyasha and said to him, "Inuyasha. This demon has the power to copy any demon energy that touches it. I'm guessing that because its components were struck by the Wind Scar, it got a taste of Tessaiga's energy and was able to replicate the sword. I wonder though if it got all of Tessaiga's abilities." Inuyasha's smug smirk was once again on his face, and he said, "Interesting. Well, let's test the fake against MY Tessaiga! It can't be all that great if it came without the barrier!" The Wind Scar once again started twisting around Tessaiga, and when it was unleashed a Wind Scar-type energy swirled around the replica. The demon yelled through the armor in a voice that Inuyasha recognized as his own, "Backlash Wave!"
The two attacks collided and the Wind Scar was overtaken and redirected. Inuyasha growled but regardless managed to keep his cool. The Backlash Wave twisted around the real Tessaiga, and Inuyasha said, "No problem, I'll just counter with my own Backlash Wave!" He unleashed his Backlash Wave and once again the attacks collided. However, something odd happened when they did. First of all they were equal in power. More importantly, however, they clashed for several moments, and then the energy turned into a multitude of the attack's whirlpool-like flows which were sent in all directions. Shippo screamed as one of the whirlpools came at him, and Kirara grabbed him and jumped out of the way. Shippo growled and yelled, "Inuyasha!" "What? That wasn't supposed to happen!" Retorted Inuyasha.
Several of the whirlpools flew in the direction of the house that had been exorcised, but to everyone's surprise they were dispersed by a barrier. Kagome and Miroku noticed this, looked at each other, and nodded. Kagome shot the arrow that she'd had ready at the barrier, and sure enough it was a demon barrier; one that broke. A very demonic scream came from the house, and the house took on a much more evil appearance. Subsequently all of the houses in the village took on similar appearances, and ominous clouds blanketed the sky. Shippo and Kagome screamed as demons started pouring out of the houses, and the Backlash Wave wasn't even done going haywire. One of the flows struck the armored demon's helmet, causing it to break off and reveal that the wielder of the Tessaiga replica was a doppelganger himself!
Confused, Inuyasha asked, "Huh?" And before he could do much else he was suddenly struck by one of the flows of the Backlash Wave. He let out a blood-curdling scream of agony, causing Kagome to turn and gasp, before screaming, "Inuyasha!" She ran toward the half-demon, and Miroku tried to stop her as the Backlash Wave continued to rage above them. Two more whirlpools struck the ground, and then the sky returned to normal except for the clouds. Time seemed to slow down as Kagome ran to Inuyasha's side. The demons pouring out of the houses noticed Inuyasha's weakened state, and started charging en masse. Kagome tried to get Inuyasha to at least sit up, and though he could it was difficult. The demons continued to charge, and Inuyasha whispered, "Ka-Kagome." Kagome suddenly noticed the approaching demons and hugged Inuyasha before screaming his name. Miroku, Sango and Shippo all yelled, "No, Kagome!"
The demons were right on top of Kagome and Inuyasha, and Kagome's desperation must have done something extraordinary, because a spiritual barrier similar to one Kikyo was able to produce while she was alive, formed around her and Inuyasha. Everyone, including the two inside the barrier gasped, and the demons screamed and roared as they bounced off of the barrier. Miroku and Sango looked at each other, nodded, and while Miroku ran forward into battle, Sango got on Kirara's back and rode into battle almost right behind Miroku. Sango grunted as she threw her Hiraikotsu at a few of the demons. The demons that were struck by it were smashed to bits. Miroku threw three exorcism tags at demons, and struck some others with his staff after making sure that the tags hit their mark.
Shippo went with Sango and Kirara, and as a demon approached before the Hiraikotsu returned Shippo tried to use his Fox Fire. It didn't work, but Sando was able to back him up by throwing her kusarigama at the demon. The demon's head was pierced by the blade of the weapon, and then Sango pulled it back and drew her katana, slicing through several more demons one or two at a time. Kirara was assisting Sango by crushing the bodies of any demons she missed with her powerful jaws. The doppelganger was keeping an eye on all of the movement, trying to decide on the best time to make a move. He saw an opportunity to do so, and tried to use the Red Tessaiga to break Kagome's barrier. However, it didn't work, something which greatly surprised Kagome. That obviously meant that her powers had been enhanced significantly by something. She wondered if it was the work of her arrows.
Suddenly the real Tessaiga started pulsing, reacting to Kagome's quiver of arrows which was pulsing as well. Kagome was confused, but she guessed that the Tessaiga was talking to her arrows. She thought to herself, 'Arrows made from the wood of Bokusen'on, the tree whose branches were used to craft the sheath of the Tessaiga. If they are why I was protected, then they must have incredible power'. Suddenly, without Inuyasha's command the Tessaiga transformed into the Dragon-Scaled Tessaiga, and afterward continued to pulse. Kagome swore she heard her arrows talking to her at that moment like the Tessaiga did to Inuyasha sometimes. Her face took on an expression of determination as she understood what she was being told. She pulled out one of her arrows, and looking at it for a little while longer she knew what she had to do to make it through this. She touched the arrowhead to Tessaiga, and in a burst of light the power of the Dragon-Scaled form was transferred to the arrowhead. Immediately an enormous yoketsu became visible to Kagome, and she looked at it carefully.
Drawing the bowstring with the transformed arrow nocked she aimed at the yoketsu and took a moment to make sure her aim wouldn't falter. When the arrow was fired, it pierced the yoketsu, causing the doppelganger to break into the individual demons that formed it, which were quickly disposed of by Miroku and Sango. As a result of the doppelganger's destruction, all of the demon houses, and the demons which had poured out of them, turned into nothing, leaving the group in a deserted area, though there was a shack just outside a nearby forest. Inside the shack, in the aftermath of the struggle, Shippo approached Kagome and asked her, "How did you do that Kagome?" Kagome looked at Shippo and then to Tessaiga, and said, "My arrow was...talking to me, telling me to use Tessaiga's power." She then looked at Inuyasha and after hugging him again she spoke again, this time saying, "Inuyasha needs help, so I'll try to explain later." She then stood up and got her first aid kit, and while she was treating Inuyasha so he could be bandaged she thought to herself, 'What a night this has been.'
