I realized that Jei and Umeko needed a way to communicate other that instinct. Besides, I feel that Jei has a strong character of his own, and this will be apparent once he's able to speak.

Also, I've been toying with the idea of royally screwing with Inuyasha and his buddies. I know that were I a demon, I would toy with them before killing them, and so would Umeko.

Also, just as a sidenote, I wanted to point out that I'm naming the chapter like the episodes. Strait forward and fun. Just because the notion of doing so made me smile.

Enjoy

-Calamity-

Episode 3

A New Ability, and Jei's Voice Revealed

It would be in a small fishing village that I killed the travelers, it seemed. Naraku had sent word, whispering through my mind, and despite my irritation of the invasion, it was helpful. They would arrive in the village by nightfall, and I was to meet them there. He told me that the rest of the attack was my choice.

As if I would have done it any other way.

Jei and I had arrived in the village long ago. So as not to raise suspicion or keep my new friends from staying, I decided not to have any fun during my wait. And so, my day was terribly boring. Even Jei had thought so, and left me to wonder somewhere. I kept to myself in the woods, close enough to the village that I would know when they arrived. To keep myself occupied, I practiced with my new sword.

I had been born with the skills of combat. Though I had never actually killed anyone with a sword, I knew the places that bled most, debilitated, and killed fastest. Naraku had given me that much, it seemed. My sword swung down against a thick tree trunk, and I squealed happily when it sliced through like butter. I was growing quite strong, which pleased me.

"Help! Someone please-"

I spun to find Jei, his jaw clamped down on the ruined arm of a dirty human. The man saw me and his jaw dropped, though thankfully he'd stopped screaming. Apparently I looked intimidating, or maybe he just saw in my eyes that I would not help him and didn't bother.

"What is this?" I asked Jei with a smile. The wolf whined dropping the man's arm with one last shake. He cried out, holding the ruined limb to his chest and blinked away tears.

"Have you brought me a toy?" I asked with a bright laugh. My hand rose, but the wolf jumped in front of me, growling low. I frowned. What was this? What reason could he have brought me this sniveling creature if not for my amusement? "I'm not hungry, Jei."

I crossed my arms and gazed down at him. I didn't like that he'd growled at me, though I knew it hadn't been threateningly. The wolf huffed as if exasperated and came forward. His teeth closed around my wrist gently and he tugged me toward the man.

"You…You're a demon." He stammered, face pale. I smiled, flashing my fangs and tilted my head to the side.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" My pointed ears, my fangs? Perhaps it was the cobalt color of my eyes, or the way the pupil narrowed to a snake-like slit when I got excited or angry. Whatever the reason, he had nothing more to add and simply lay before me whimpering and acting generally useless.

Jei tugged my wrist again to get my attention. His deep, red eyes went to the human then back to me meaningfully and again he growled. Frowning, I tried to understand what he was telling me. He'd raised my hand toward the man as if to evoke my power, but he'd made it clear that wasn't what he wanted.

"I see this whole language barrier becoming an issue." I said drolly, but the wolf wasn't listening.

Again he jerked me forward until we were right in front of the man. The human tried to crawl back, but suddenly Jei had released my wrist to snap at him with a menacing growl. The human's eyes went wide as diner plates and he froze until the ridged lines of the wolf's snout smoothed and he turned back to me with a soft whine. He tossed his head toward the man.

"What do you want?" I asked, starting to get a bit irritated. This was not fun, even if it distracted me from my wait. I didn't like it.

Jei leveled his gaze with mine then. Like the day he'd sprung from my body, we locked eyes and the world around us seemed to melt away. Tiny whispers, like jagged ice moving across my brain. Fingers that dug in and squeezed until I thought my mind might ooze from between them. But this was not Jei, this was the possessive grasp of Naraku. I push them back, willing the wolf's intentions to become clear.

"You do want me to use my power." I murmured with a scowl, "But not like before."

The wolf huffed, turning to the man and breaking our connection. I shook away the lingering daze and lifted my hand again. Was there more to my gift? Something undiscovered?

"What do I do?" I asked while the human looked between us baffled. Too scared to plead now. Jei sprang toward the man before he could scream, and sank his dual rows of teeth into his injured arm. With a cruel jerk, he dragged him onto his stomach and looked to me. Another huff meant I should come closer.

Tentative, I reached forward, fingers spread until they brushed the rough fabric of his kimono. It was disappointing when nothing happened, but Jei would not give up. He dropped the arm (the man knew enough not to move) and nudged my hand out of the way before tearing the material off the human's back. He left a few nasty scrapes, but that didn't concern me.

"I have to touch his skin?" Jei nodded, so I complied.

This time the tickle of energy was unmistakable. Somewhere in my brain a synapse fired off and I suddenly knew what to do. Better yet a voice, which had been nothing but a whisper before, became clear.

You are still growing. It said, the voice was deep and male. Like Naraku's, it held a sensual edge I could not ignore, though the subject of sex had yet to be raised for me. (I understood the mechanics of the act, but had yet to figure it out passed that)

"Jei?" I breathed, my smile growing in pleasure. "How can I hear you? Why not before?"

You were not strong enough. He explained simply. Then, not one to dilly-dally, he tossed his head toward the human who now trembled before us, sobbing quietly.

You will want to close his mouth, the process is quite agonizing for its receiver.

I nodded, pinching together my forefinger and thumb. The man went into a panic when he couldn't part his lips again, but I froze his body in place and reached forward with both hands. There was one more ability I had yet to test. My strongest, which is why I had not known of it until now. Jei, ever my protector, had known my body would not have been able to control the flow of power.

At first, it felt as if I was going to feed on him as I had the girl, but then the sensation changed. His flesh gave like clay beneath my fingers and I sunk in. Behind his closed lips, the man screamed, but I was too distracted to really care.

He would be more than my puppet, I realized as I slowly sank farther into his skin. He would be my costume. I would slip him on like a coat and waltz into the village without suspicion.

It is your greatest power. Jei explained. But know that the longer you wear a body, the more it degrades. Eventually, the body with rot around you, once you've absorbed all of the soul within it. This process is a slow one, but very important to keep in mind.

"Of coarse." I said, though my attention was on the way the man's body seemed to be sealing around mine. Eager to try my new ability, I pushed forward, laughing as he screamed in his anguish, and my body was fully submerged within his own.

The sensation of becoming another was odd at first. He was not shaped the way I was, and at first it was hard to work out the correct ways to move. Jei taught me though, and in his soothing masculine voice, the lesson was an engrossing one. By nightfall, my human suit had begun to wither around me. The process of his decaying was made swifter by the use of my powers through him. A human body could not handle the same degree of power, it seemed, as I could. And so, as the sun disappeared behind the horizon, I shed my human skin and left the withered corpse for the beasts of the forest. He would provide them with food, a step above his human uselessness.

Suddenly, I knew exactly how I would deal with Naraku's foes.

My thoughts went to the oddly dressed woman. What would it be like, I wondered, to kill the travelers through her body?