"Mother, mother, I need you! Poppa, poppa! Where are you?" Wide golden eyes surveyed the dark incline on which they left him. The little boy shivered, seeming to recall terrible memories. Tears welled in the boy's eyes and he furiously brushed away the moisture. He glared irritably at the branches that loomed far above him, and leaned his head against the tree that he was tethered to. He ran one of his small hands over the ruff bark of its trunk, and tapped soundly with his claws.

'I need to stay strong, mother and poppa wouldn't want me to cry. They'd kill the mean men who did this to me; they wouldn't have let them take me away from my home.'

"Inuyashaaaaa!"

In response, Inuyasha trembled despite his little prep talk that he had foolishly given himself.

"What in the hell do you want!" Inuyasha retorted. He stood to his full stature, glowered, and crossed his arms; hoping to deter the enemies.

"Why, little one, simply to play, that's all!" Saying this, Un'naan appeared in front of him.

Inuyasha looked up at the man as he spoke and quaked in terror. The dragon demon loomed over him, clear distaste evident on his face. Pure malice could be seen in his scarlet eyes.

"Boy." He spoke slowly, a guttural voice with an undertone of something akin to resentment. "You my little friend shall face something more terrible than death on this night; you shall wish for death to come, for you will suffer a great deal at my hands!"

"I don't understand what in the seven hells you're talking about, but I don't care! My poppa is gonna save me! He will, I just know it." Inuyasha clinched his hands into little fists, and glared up at the fair-haired daemon. 'What does he want? Why do I scent father's blood on this man's body?'

"Hahaha! You are very foolish little Hanyou pup. I'm going to love torturing you!"

Un'naan smiled down at Inuyasha, almost seeming pleasant. Taking a battle stance, the little boy growled up at his captor. Un'naan drew his sword from its scabbard and slowly lowered it to Inuyasha's neck.

"You shall change for me today, my little friend… I shall make you scream, piercing and clear for the surrounding woodland to hear!"

He swung down in a clear arc, and snarled heatedly as Inuyasha dropped to the ground and rolled beneath the cleaving blade.

"Damn you, why are you doing this to me! Where's my poppa?"

"He will not come to save you Inuyasha, not now, not ever!"

Un'naan glared icily at Inuyasha, and extended his awareness to lightly press against the little boy's.

'What, what's this? I can't move!' Inuyasha's eyes were motionless in a state of paralysis as he gazed tensely up at his captor. 'What has this man done to me?'

The dragon demon tousled the boy's silvery hair affectionately, and then raked his claws down his face. Blood and chunks of Inuyasha's flesh fell almost gently down to the sodden earth. Inuyasha attempted to dig his small claws into the demon, but he was unable to, so he kicked, bit, and thrashed when ever he foresaw an opening. Un'naan seized the boy's left arm and crushed it savagely. Rain joined the torrent of blood oozing out of Inuyasha's wounds. He howled, and cried as the throbbing of the injuries persisted, never letting up in its relentless assault on his torn and battered body.

Un'naan flung Inuyasha to the ground, wrenching the boy's broken arm out of its socket. He then proceeded to smash his fist into Inuyasha's nose, successfully breaking it in multiple places. He roughly pulled the hurting boy up by the tattered remains of his haori, and pinned him to the ruff bark of a tree.

"I shall kill you now, little one!"

Un'naan raised his blood-spattered sword and sneered. He brought the blade down in an ark, and stabbed it into Inuyasha's collar-bone. Making a sickening crunch on impact, it went strait through into the trunk of the tree, effectively pinning the worn out boy.

"I told you not to kill him, Un'naan!" bellowed a deep voice.

"Master, I have yet to kill the wretch. The bastard's still very much alive."

Izaak smirked from the shadows, his white eyes glinting. "Die you insufferable idiot!"

A scarlet flare of demonic power, and Un'naan was no more. Inuyasha quivered in trepidation, and blinked his eyes at what he saw next. A silver-haired man stood tall and regal in front of the tree that he was pinned to. 'Poppa?' the boy thought vaguely before losing consciousness.

-----

Kagome was suddenly jolted out of her slumber by an aching howl. She leaped up and ran to the aggressively thrashing Itiji.

"Boy, what's wrong!"

'What the hell, the fuck, were you thinking about that trudged up those fucking memories?'

'Not quite sure, was just sifting through your mind and wanted to know more about who I'm sharing my body with, is all.'

'Well, fucking stay the fuck away from those, bastard. I really don't like to dredge up that shit.'

'It ended at such a crucial point; I have to wonder who that inexplicable man was.'

'It was Sesshomaru, you dolt. You do remember him, right?'

'How couldn't I? You left me with him that night, after Kagome and I bonded at the river side. What a lovely day that was…'

'Shut the hell up, I'll kick your ass!'

'You can't idiot, we're stuck in my body, remember?'

'Fuck it! Why the hell did my human side pick you, of all creatures to bond with?'

'Because I was the closest object around for you to attach to.'

'Why the hell did my demon side get rid of me anyways!'

'Because Inuyasha, weren't you listening when he was talking to you?'

'Hell no, was too damn distracted while paying attention to Kagome.'

'He wanted a demon as a mate, not Kagome.'

'Fuck, now I can't even see Kagome, and now she'll think I hate her, and that I left her for that, that woman.'

"Itiji, boy, are you in there?" Kagome waved her hand in front of the canine's unfocused eyes.

She sighed and sat back. 'I wonder what's gotten into him, he's acting pretty strange.'

"Kagome?" a voice called.

"Yeah Shippo?" Kagome turned around and smiled sadly at the kitsune.

"I hurt all of that commotion, are you alright?"

He came to a stop, and peered down at her, his emerald eyes inquisitive.

"Well, the dog started yowling and throwing himself about. It was quite odd, if you ask me."

"That's good, as long as you're not hurt." He stroked Kagome's cheek tenderly.