Disclaimer: Don't sue me please...I have no real claims here, only Shimofuri, Tsukiyume, Taikokajin, Garou (icky, don't want him) and Koinu are mine in any way...and even they are still rooted in the IY world so...yeah...not mine either...(grumbles)
A/N: Yes, I feel like I typed this up really fast, so if it sucks, please understand I was feeling motivated by boredom and "the mood" to write, so...please, forgive me? Cuz this is so soon after I Miss You's update that it's almost like I'm in high school again, updating every flippin day...(snickers) well...anyway. This chapter speaks I think, for itself. The only thing I would like to mention is that early in the chapter I break from the battle briefly to have a funny, sweet little interlude (that's been requested over and over again btw) of Miroku and Sango back at the Inuyasha family estate, watching their hooligans. (grins) Speaking of those hooligans, I have an author's note there too, in which I talk about my planned character traits for the Miroku-Sango children...hehe...make sure you tell me what you think about that! Otherwise...I'm done for now...till next chapter...
Battle of the Hanyou
Her world was pain. She knew it intimately, like a lover. Everything else around her vanished, ceasing in its entirety. Tendrils of the sharp, biting, torturous sensation raced through her body, tearing at her chest, ripping up and down her spine. Gasping, struggling to breathe and see the world, Tsuki could only see the red of something in front of her and the dreary gray gloom of the sky. Both blotches of color faded in and out with the pulsing of her heart, which seemed to beat in time with the pain running rampant through her.
Tsukiyume. The hanyou-eating monster's voice laughed coarsely in her mind, and Tsuki felt the muscles in her neck snap rigid. Kill the hanyou. Kill the pink bitch's demon whelp.
Tiny sounds of fear and pain escaped her lips, but Tsuki gave them little thought, in deed, she could hardly force herself to breathe, let alone think coherently about anything. She felt, dimly through her haze of agony, her arms moving of their own volition, striking out and grasping something in a hard, iron grip that wasn't her own. Warm flesh caved in around her fingers.
"Tsukiyume!" it was a voice she recognizes, a voice that momentarily pushed aside the pain within her, that made her try to think…but the pain returned quickly, surging back with a vengeance. Even as the voice came again, commandingly, she ignored it and focused more carefully on escaping the pain, on drawing each delicate breath.
"Stop this at once!" the same voice screeched for her attention, but she had nothing to give it. Her eyes fluttered shut even as she felt the stiff, cold, merciless grip harden on the thing bathed in red against the ugly gray of the sky. Breathing, if she just breathed in…and now out…she might live through the ordeal…
That's right little bitch. Her tormentor's voice cackled with an evil, sadistic glee. Just breathe.
Above her, struggling to do just that through her iron-clad grip, Inuyasha's face was tinged blue, his ears quivering. Half panicked, his golden eyes darted to Shimofuri's bristling, screaming form, but the young demon lord's words were lost to Inuyasha's strangled, wheezing attempts to draw oxygen. He had two choices: suffocate or use his claws to free himself…and probably tear the girl's arm off in the process.
It hardly took a second for him to come name off two very good reasons to survive. He had a mate and a pup to live for, to fight for. Yet even so, he didn't relish the thought of tearing apart an innocent hanyou girl…One thought skittered uselessly across his brain as he started to lift one flexed, clawed hand: shit.
"Does my little sweetie want more?" Miroku's violet eyes glimmered with fatherly pride, his nimble fingers ducked in around his baby daughter's lips and chin, scooping free the slobber and drizzled mush from her meal of pre-chewed vegetables and rice. Kasai, identical to her father in appearance with the exception of her gender, squealed and grabbed at his fingers, pulling them into her mouth to gum and suck on. Her wide smile was innocent as she clamped down on his flesh with what few teeth she had.
Miroku winced. "Sweetie—my fingers aren't food."
She seemed to know that, but preferred using his fingers as some sort of teething toy.
"Sango!" gingerly the monk tried to extract his abused fingers from the baby, only to have her whimper warningly. Miroku paled slightly, and when he called out for his wife a second time his voice had a sharper, more urgent note to it. "Sango! Honey?
Sango appeared, her face drawn, almost haggard. She'd taken to worrying nonstop since Inuyasha had left them so abruptly. "Yes?"
"Do you have the teething toy Kagome brought for us?" he lifted his eyebrows hopefully.
"No." she sighed, pursing her lips, "Shouldn't they be back by now?" Sango scowled, wringing her hands in front of her.
Distractedly, Miroku shrugged, pulling his fingers from Kasai's mouth. The baby began crying immediately, but with a sigh, Miroku scooped her up into his arms, bouncing her. For a moment Kasai was quiet, her violet eyes wide and shocked, then she decided she liked what Miroku was doing, and she giggled, letting out loud, shrill baby laughs.
"Disaster averted!" Miroku grinned proudly up at Sango's hands-on-hips stance, as innocent at that moment as the one-year old bouncing on his knee.
"You're not even listening to me, are you?"
Detecting the slight irritation in her tone, Miroku looked up at her with newfound attention. "Of course I'm listening! You wound me, lovely Sango, beautiful wife of mine…" as if to emphasize her father's words, Kasai squealed happily, waving her plump arms about.
"Miroku," she sighed, still wringing her hands, which were pale as dishtowels, "I'm serious. They should be back by now." She scowled, "What if…something happened to them? Shouldn't we look for them? Shouldn't we do something? You remember that pink-eyed dog demon…"
The monk was finally paying attention. Nodding as he considered her words, Miroku pondered their choices. "I have faith in Inuyasha. Chances are they're in no danger at all, merely taking their time…" but despite his words Miroku's eyebrows met over the bridge of his nose, kissing each other.
"But for weeks… and without word to us?"
He had to admit, his lovely wife had a point. Kasai's giggling drew his attention to far simpler, more beautiful things, and slowly, he sighed. "But if we went to search for rumor of them my Sango…" he scowled down at the back of his daughter's head, "There would be no one to protect Kasai and the boys. Only Mayuko." A smirk bloomed on his face, "Shippo was enough of a job all by himself, but with our boys…I'd pity to poor woman."
That stopped Sango too. With her gaze lost on her husband and their yearling daughter, Sango let out a long, wearied breath. "I'm probably being silly anyway, right?" she smiled, but the edges of her lips quivered uncertainly, "I mean Inuyasha can take care of himself, and so can Kagome. They're probably off trying to have another baby or something, maybe they never came back from Kagome's time at all. It's very comfortable there I hear…"
"Yes…" but Miroku found a sudden lump in his throat. He tried, hard, to swallow it, but the thing refused to die the moment he saw Sango's hands still wringing themselves down to the bone.
"I wonder what they're up to right now…" Sango's eyes were glazed over with worry and deep, hard thought.
Miroku choked a little, but forced himself to smile, forced his tone to be light and teasing. "Probably having more fun with Koinu than we are with our little hooligans."
Right on cue they heard their eldest son shouting for assistance and the pained crying of their second-born.
"Mama! Shippo tripped 'Soki again and now he's bleeding all over Uncle Inuyasha's floor!"
"WAAAAaaaaahhhh!"
"I didn't do anything, Sango!"
"Yes he did Mama! It was Shippo's fault, honest!"
"He's lying!"
"Maaaaamaaa! Owie-owie-owie!"
Sango's shoulders sank, one hand rose to cover her eyes. "How about you deal with that and I'll play with Kasai?" she muttered.
Miroku grinned, "Nope, I'm happy right where I am, lovely Sango."
(A/N: I have all of Miroku and Sango's children's personalities planned out, just so you know. If I get enough requests, and have enough time, I'd love to expand them as original characters in one-shots. In case you're interested in knowing:
Kohimu, the oldest, will be toughest, closest to Sango. He'll probably become as good as her heir, the next great demon slayer in the grand tradition of Sango's family and village. Smart like Miroku but modeling himself more after Sango and Inuyasha.
Tisoki, the second-born son will be gentler and sweeter, embodying those traits from both Miroku and Sango, he could become a monk perhaps, though he might not be as openly perverted as Miroku. And finally my absolute favorite!
Kasai the little girl will become a demon slayer like Kohimu, only to discover that just as she inherited Miroku's looks, she's also inherited his "lecherous genes." Yes that's right, the perverts will be Tisoki and Kasai. I felt that we had to play it up, change it around a little. Inuyasha the manga and anime are strong on women characters, and I shan't flinch there either. Why should Miroku's letch heir be one of his sons, eh? Course she'd handle things a little differently, with a different, womanly style to her lechery, but she'd still be the letch, through and through. Review in and tell me what you think. Hate it, love it, or whatever ;)…)
"IRON-REAV—" Inuyasha's shout was cut suddenly short by Tsukitume's fingers, which found and pressed hard on his windpipe. Choking, sputtering, the hanyou squirmed, flailing out at the girl, but she ducked and twisted, narrowly missing his swipes.
"Let her go free!" Shimofuri shook with rage, but in his blue-gray eyes the beginnings of panic had started. Inuyasha would suffocate if he didn't attack his own half-sister…
"You are a fool!" Garou cackled, "Did you think I would so easily be swayed by your request?" he snorted, lifting one hand. From his clenched palm, ugly black swirls of corporeal energy swirled, writhing like snakes. "Say goodbye to the hanyou…"
Hissing once sharply, Shimofuri dashed forward, so quickly that he was a mere streak of dark blue-gray and blue-black hair, caught in the wind. The stench of death and decay in the clearing vanished from his senses as he careened forward, desperate to protect his family, his honor, his life. He sent one clawed hand out toward the monster, unknowingly baring his teeth in a vicious grimace of hate…
Something plowed into him before he could quite reach Garou. The world spun wildly, someone was coughing frantically, struggling to breathe again, and somewhere Garou's sickening voice was croaking out in a harsh, ugly laugh. Tsukiyume's scent assaulted his senses briefly, and abruptly he found himself pinned to the ground with his sister's shiny black hair flowing around him like a curtain, her white dog ears were turned backward atop her head. Her brown eyes were cold and glazed, squeezed into tight slits of pain. She couldn't see him, wasn't seeing him at all.
"Tsuki…" he whispered, feeling hope slip away from him.
"Kill that mongrel!" Garou's angry voice barked at them, rising in a snarling laugh of triumph.
Kill that mongrel! Do it now! Tsuki shriveled, cowered before the power, the ancient, angry fury she felt in those words, the order they exerted over her body was irresistible. A shudder passed through her, a quiet, stubborn resistance that knew she had to struggle against the dark, terrible power of the voice. But she was so weak, the voice was so strong, it could overpower her emaciated will in seconds.
She didn't stand a chance.
Claws that she'd pampered her whole life, that had never once drawn blood on another creature, sentient or otherwise, flexed for the first time, full of danger and deadly promise. Part of her saw the flash of those instruments of doom, but the majority of her consciousness was already gone, banished by pain, torture and fatigue. She slashed at the thing below her, just as the terrible voice in her head demanded, the pain seemed to become bearable again, her breathing came a little easier when she gave in.
The thing below her fought back, catching her arms, holding them at bay. Tsuki slumped, her strength beginning to wane, only to feel a rush of darkness pass through her, a strength feeding into her body that was not her own. She cried out as more pain assaulted her, the voice came again, but she couldn't make out its words at all now—it was fading away…
Suddenly there was a new presence inside her mind, gentler, quiet. It pushed away the torrents of pain rushing through her, numbing her. Her vision wavered and blurred, her mind mimicked it, at times coming clear enough for her to have a coherent thought: Shimofuri! She felt tears in her eyes, felt them slip out and saw them sparkle as they landed on her older brother's face.
"Shimofuri…" she whimpered, more tears coming immediately at the sound of his name, and the suddenly distant memory of his rescue, of the red robes of another hanyou with golden eyes.
And then the second presence, which was still masking her tormentor's hold on her, spoke, and she knew, as only those who are dreaming can know, that it was her father. "Daughter, the time has come…remember what you've promised to do for me…"
And suddenly Tsukiyume was free of pain, suddenly her body was alive and her mind alert.
And she knew what she had to do.
The world swam back into focus for Inuyasha as oxygen returned to his cells. He pushed himself hurriedly to his feet, struggling not to sway as he did so, and took in the situation in the space of time it takes most humans to blink.
Shimofuri was pinned by his sister, who he'd never intentionally harm, even if it meant that he would die as a result. Garou was enjoying the torture, his eyes glued to the scene, but his body still pointed at Inuyasha, indicating more interest than he let on. A trap, the hanyou thought, that lowdown, good-for-nothing bastard!
Knowing that it was a trap did nothing to sway Inuyasha's temper, caution wasn't foremost apart of his nature. Ripping Tessaiga from its sheath, the blade transformed, glimmering bright white, a snake newly shed of its skin and ready to strike. Aiming immediately at Garou, the enraged hanyou shouted his infamous battle cry: "Wind Scar!"
Light flashed, power pulsed. The earth, stained and stinking with the blood of hundreds of innocent hanyous, ripped and convulsed as the sword's power ripped through it. Dust swirled, the wind moaned. Shouts erupted into the air, one of them female.
Inuyasha squinted through one golden eye, lips curled up over his fangs as he struggled to take in the world. Through a settling haze of dust and debris brought up from the power of the blast, Inuyasha couldn't see any sight of Garou—for a moment he dared to hope the task was over and done with. Yet, just as he opened both eyes, as he drew in one slow, careful breath to scent for the monster, he heard the girl's voice again, screaming at him.
"Run! Run! He's coming!"
Ears flicking, and coughing at the thickness of the dust in the air, Inuyasha tried to make out the girl's form through the haze, and scowled disgustedly. "What are you—"
"Inuyasha!" Shimofuri interrupted him, his figure suddenly appearing, a streak of blue-black movement sprinting through the dust, "The furui, it's—"
The dust abruptly darkened, making Inuyasha blink in bafflement. What the hell? He opened his mouth to shout the question to the air, but the curtain of black dust swamped him, pressing against his chest, his face, his arms and legs. It took on a solid shape and constricted around him, tightening until he gasped, choking at the pressure. The stench of hanyou blood assaulted him, and for a moment, as he squeezed his eyes tightly shut against the dark presence, he could feel their souls, brushing against his own. He could see them, wolf and dog hanyous, cat hanyous, bear hanyous…a myriad of suffering souls, cut down before their time, captured to be the life source of a vampire, a creature long since undead and far from belonging on their world.
Faintly he realized that this demon had somehow learned—a little like Naraku—to shape shift. When the Wind Scar had torn through the earth, heading straight at Garou, he'd somehow managed to change forms, vaporizing his essence into the black dust. The black, evil magic swirled, pulsing through the cloud, the aura of it was like sandpaper against his own body and soul.
He felt gravity knock him off balance, and he tumbled, his head spinning. His grip on Tessaiga slipped and the sword flew out of his sight, vanishing in the artificial darkness of the cloud. The weight solidified then and shifted, moving to pin and stop him. Soon Inuyasha's claws pressed against another's full flesh. When the motion stopped he choked, gasping for air, and tasted the dirt. The pressure on his back momentarily made him recall the thousands of times Kagome had punished him, sending him face first into the dirt…but this moment was not about punishment or the ancient tension between he and Kagome—it was about battle and life and death. He understood those things very well.
Garou's deep, rasping voice caught his attention then, "You fool! Did you think your pathetic blast could stop me?"
"Bastard!" he tensed, straining against the demon's weight. "Get your ass off me!" disgust and indignity disappeared completely when he felt Garou's breath on his neck, smelled the stench of blood—hanyou's blood—and hunger.
"It's rare that I find a male inu-hanyou," his voice had turned to a low purr, making Inuyasha's stomach clench up, threatening to evacuate its contents, "You're a delicious little surprise for the Pink Bitch to send my way."
"Shimofuri!" the girl shouted, somewhere Inuyasha couldn't see, and the hanyou bit his lip, cursing as he struggled to free himself again—but the demon was so heavy! He was heavier than any normal human or demon should've been at his size…
One of Garou's clawed hands closed over one side of his neck, and Inuyasha felt a stab of electricity spurt through him. Stars flashed and danced in his vision. Pain swarmed through his head then, and Inuyasha's world faded out to black. Screaming briefly before dizziness claimed him, Inuyasha noticed with horror that his heartbeat was slowing dramatically, failing. This can't be happening, dammit! Kagome, Koinu! His hands clutched at the ground in vain.
There was a loud snarling sound, and suddenly, with a whoosh and a muffled grunt, Inuyasha found himself free of the demon's weight. Rolling slowly, panting through the terrible burning pain inside his chest as his heart picked up speed again, Inuyasha started to push himself up off the ground. His legs shook, his strength was sapped. Where was the demon? Where was Shimofuri? Where was the stupid girl! Where the hell was his sword?
Grumbling weakly, the hanyou blinked, but his vision was blurred. Each breath made his lungs burn as if they were on fire. He heard grunts and shouting, Garou and Shimofuri he guessed, scuffling with one another. He shook his head, breathing in deeply…and suddenly bent over double, retching as his stomach betrayed him.
The sound of footsteps—light and dainty—caught his attention, though the noise of it made his head start to throb. He recognized the scent of the girl, hanyou as he was. She was making whimpering sounds of worry and distress, but for the life of him, Inuyasha couldn't seem to force his eyes or his mind to focus properly on her.
"Get my sword!" he shouted in the direction her footsteps came from, but she didn't move. Instead she came closer and knelt beside him. He tried, stubbornly, to growl at her to make her do his bidding, but it came out more as a moan of pain. Nausea nearly overcame him a second time as he mustered up the energy to speak to her. "Yo, girl—my sword, now…"
"He got you." She murmured, and Inuyasha felt one of her small hands on his arm.
Shaking his head, blinking his eyes, trying to make them focus, Inuyasha ripped his arm away from her—and lost his delicate balance. For the second time in minutes he tasted dirt, but this time it didn't stir a fond memory but a horrible realization: something really was wrong. He groaned one weak curse out before the pain in his chest returned, stealing his breath away. "Damn."
"I can heal you." The girl's voice hovered somewhere above him, faint, almost trembling. Inuyasha found that he didn't have the strength to answer her. "The demon—he did something to you. He did something to me too…" she sounded as if she might cry for a short moment, and then Inuyasha felt her rest her hands on his back. "It's a blackness on your soul, from his touch. I can heal it…"
There was an abrupt scream of pain somewhere in the distance, and Inuyasha felt the earth shudder slightly as something—or rather someone—fell, hard. The girl beside him gasped and cried out. Her hands on his back clenched up into fists.
"Shimofuri! Shimofuri! No!"
Inuyasha winced at her screams, but didn't have the strength to tuck his ears backward to shelter them from the noise. Stars danced in his dying vision, flickering black and steadily blotting out the whole gray, out-of-focus world. I'm dying, he realized detachedly, dying.
"Tsuki!" Shimofuri's voice was tight with pain, "Run! Just…run…"
Garou's cackling sent a second pulse of electricity through Inuyasha's body, robbing him again of his breath. "It's over, little dog. Don't even bother trying to tell her what's good for her—she's going to die same as you! My spells are too powerful, too ancient for your pathetic bodies. You may have caught me unawares once, Shimo-chan, but you won't win now! Your soul is mine!"
Shimofuri's proud young voice rose in a scream of agony. Tsukiyume cried out as well—not from pain, but from fear, terror. She was crying, Inuyasha could smell it.
"Die Shimo-chan, make sure you tell that pink bitch mother of yours that I thank her for the lovely inu-hanyou snack she sent me, your sister and especially the male…" at Garou's last word, Inuyasha's body tensed, his heart started racing, his lungs burned. Pain exploded inside his head.
His scream echoed Shimofuri's, cutting the early spring air like a steak knife, slaughtering the innocence of the world so soon in the new year.
Her father's voice spoke up inside her mind, pushing aside her terror, her fear, the lingering fatigue and pain still riding within her after Garou's spell. The time had come.
Now!
Tsukiyume spread her palms over the silver haired hanyou's back. Tears oozed out of her eyes, dribbled down her cheeks, and slipped away, landing on the hanyou's red robes. She pressed her weight onto his back, heard him choking, gasping through his agony. Something rose within her, rippling, frothing, eager to race to the surface. It flowed through her, rising from the deep, secret wells within her soul, and raced down the length of her arms, through her hands, and into the hanyou's body.
Purple-blue light exploded around her and the red robed hanyou. Tsukiyume's hands shook as the power flew from her, reaching out and cleansing the dark spell that had grabbed onto the hanyou's soul, binding it under Garou's control. She felt him jerk powerfully underneath her hands, thought she could feel his soul regaining command over his ailing body.
"You little bitch!" Garou's roar of rage made Tsukiyume look up, her brown eyes wide with terror as the demon strode toward her. Her eyes fell on the blue stone that hung around his neck, it glowed with an eerie phosphorescence that she knew was born of the souls he'd stolen and imprisoned inside it.
Her father's voice spoke up within her, guiding her. "He is indestructible as long as he wears that stone. And with each battle he must draw more of his stored souls to recover and sustain himself. The souls he uses are lost forever…" She felt her insides curdle, like soured milk. The ebb and flow of the swirling dark, evil magic around him pulsed, touching upon the hidden spiritual power that dwelt within her own soul. Once, she knew, she'd been destined to lose her soul within that very same blue-glowing stone.
The purple light about her and the red-robed hanyou vanished as Tsuki's horror made her falter. She stumbled backwards, whimpering as pain returned, once again coursing in brief, sharp spurts about her body.
"How did you free yourself from my control?" he demanded, his ugly, beady brown eyes squinted at her, disgusted and full of hatred. His face was somehow longer, pointier, less and less human as he approached. His back hunched over, his fingers grew thicker and meatier, the claws blacker and dirtier.
"Answer me little bitch!" His skin was gray, like an intestinal worm's. Tsuki whimpered and continued to back away, her eyes glued to him as she went. The demon leered at her, sickeningly, and made a dash toward her—moving straight over the fallen, seemingly dead body of the red robed hanyou.
Tsuki screamed, holding up her hands in a helpless motion of self-defense…but the attack never came. When she slowly peeked past her upraised arms, she gaped as she saw that the hanyou dressed in red had sprung up at the last second and slashed at the demon. Blood was a thick stench in the air, a disgusting reddish mist. Garou's face was purple, twisted in silent pain. His eyes lit with an inner fire, blazing a bright Halloween orange.
There was a gaping slash from Inuyasha's claws running from his shoulder to his thigh. Blood spurted, frothing and foaming, splattering over the chilled sandy earth. It slipped past the demon's finger, thick and dark, a red that was almost purple.
Inuyasha cracked his knuckles, his face set in a mask of cold rage. "Didn't see that coming, did you, asshole?" he sneered, "Didn't think that maybe one of your hanyous would bite back, did you?"
Garou flashed his teeth in a savage grimace, that could almost have been a mirthless smile. "This is the second time you've underestimated me." He rasped, and suddenly, at his neck, the stone flickered brightly, snapping to life.
A blinding wave of light rolled over the meadow for a split second, making Tsukiyume and Inuyasha both shield their eyes, hissing in pain at it. The second the light cleared, both of them found themselves staring at Garou, now pain free and completely healed. His laughter rose at their shocked expressions, bitterly triumphant.
"You moronic dogs! I am immortal! You will never destroy me so long as I have hanyou souls to feed on!"
"You disgusting piece of shit! You're nothing but a coward!" Inuyasha raged, once again cracking his knuckles, "How about we see just how immortal you really are?"
Garou's grin grew impossibly large—and kept getting bigger—as his snout narrowed and elongated, as his eyes and teeth bulged out, his legs buckled and reshaped, his back bent and twisted. Dark, scraggly, ugly fur broke free of his clothing and skin. Small pointed ears appeared atop his head. Inside his mouth a purple-black tongue lolled.
Inuyasha cursed, rushing toward Tsukiyume and grabbing up Tessaiga where it'd fallen during his tumble. The girl gaped, still half-crying as he dragged her away from furui demon's bizarre transformation. The beast let loose with an eerie, wavering wail, some sort of prehistoric howl that spoke of bloodlust and blind killing, of stupidity and arrogance, the battle to preserve oneself at all costs and to squash all others as threats and competitors.
Hurriedly setting Tsukiyume beside Shimofuri's fallen body, he took a protective stance in front of the siblings, brandishing a transformed Tessaiga. "Come and get it, asshole!" he shouted at the beast.
It turned its blocky, square-shaped head toward him, canine teeth as long as daggers glinted in the gloomy sunlight. Garou was still grinning at him. Inuyasha took quick notice of the blue glow of the stone at the beast's neck.
Leveling Tessaiga at the demon, he shouted: "Wind Scar!"
The streak of light and power rushed with a whoosh over the ground, tearing it apart as it went. Inuyasha watched the beast carefully, trying to see if Garou would transform himself into the accursed swarm of black dust again—but he didn't. Instead the beast leaped and rolled, avoiding the primary blast, and leered once again at Inuyasha's blustering red robed form, triumphant.
It let loose with a high keening chuckle—similar to a hyena's call, and spoke in a deep, ugly rasping whisper. "Inuyasha is your name—I felt it on your soul. You are the male dog demon of high birth I have been waiting for all my life. Your blood and your soul will give my people rebirth, and soon we will walk over the whole of this earth, we shall crush your bones beneath our feet. It was your whelp with the human bitch at the well!"
"Like hell I'm going to do anything short of killing you!" Inuyasha spat, white ears laying flat, "I wouldn't even let me "human bitch" put flowers on your grave!"
Garou's beady eyes, black in his now canine-like head and muzzle, glimmered sharply as he narrowed them. "It must either be you or the whelp—one of you must die!"
Dimly, Inuyasha noticed Tsukiyume's healing purple-blue glow rising behind him and thanked the heavens that he'd bought her enough time and distractions to save Shimofuri. But he couldn't wait any longer. It was time to destroy the monster.
"The only thing that's going to die today is you, bastard!" with a scream, Inuyasha whipped Tessaiga through the air, summoning all of the sword's powers, "WINDSCAR!"
The light streaked over the ground, dust rose in the air again, the wind picked up, swirling. The trees on the other side of the clearing whipped with its power. But as Inuyasha hefted Tessaiga up again for another blow, he saw that although Garou had been hit by the blast head-on, he was completely unharmed. The blue glow of the stone at the beast's neck pulsed brightly, agains making him hiss with pain at its strength. He cursed bitterly, realizing that even when he did hit Garou full on, the beast healed instantly and kept coming…racing straight toward him.
How am I supposed to fight something that won't die?
Inuyasha cracked the knuckles on one fist and steadied himself as he sent a second blast from Tessaiga, despite its futility. "Take Shimofuri and run!" he shouted over his shoulder, gritting his teeth. I'm sorry Kagome…I'm trying as hard as I can!
The blast cut through the soil again, roaring, but Inuyahsa could easily see Garou's glowing blue stone, weaving between the blasts of energy, completely unaffected by them. The leering triumphant grin was still there, and something inside Inuyasha cowered, remembering the beast's words: your blood and your soul will give my people rebirth…
No!
But then, out of the dust, Garou leapt, barreling straight toward him, and Inuyasha was frozen, seeing his death plummeting straight toward him, clothed in its ugly, threadbare fur. I always knew being a half-demon would get me killed, he found himself thinking with a strange calm sarcasm, but I never imagined it'd be quite like this. No, indeed, he'd imagined that death would come to him wearing white robes and armor and boasting Tenseiga and Tokijin…
And then from behind him, all in that one, slowed split-second, he heard the slow ring of a sword being drawn from its sheath: Sesshomaru.
Endnote: Yep, for leaving you there, I know you hate me. (grins) but really, is this as bad as last time? Hmm? And is my writing up to par? I wrote this so bleepin fast for what I do lately...(grumbles) felt like it was too fast for it to be any good. But I really wanted to get the Miroku-Sango piece out here, and also to kill Garou. We need to bleepin kill him, right? (winks) And then it's off to Taikokajin...and BOY guys, boy oh boy do I have HER fate planned out now, I think...you'll be so...well...either startled or throughly satisfied. hehe. Answering reviews now is, I've heard, against the FFnet rules...but frankly they can shove it up where the sun don't shine for all I care. So here comes my announcement: IF YOU HAVE A BIG QUESTION YOU WANT ANSWERED just ask me and I'll answer it here. To hell with those ppl who say I can't speak to you guys...(grumbles) Part of the joy of this whole posting fanfiction business is replying...though for me getting to my email these days is difficult b/c I use the online crappola stuff. (sniffles, no one emails me now that I'm in college!) Anyway...enough babbling, eh? Review in asap and tell me if I suck (blushes) Later all!