By the time Inuyasha and Kagome got to the village they were in for a shock. The once peaceful village known to be their home was being ravaged by what looked like a pack of tiger demons. Their jaws ripped viciously at the innocent people's throats, sparing no one. Kaede was at the centre of the scene, firing as many arrows as her age would let her, hitting quite a few tigers, but it was helpless as she too became surrounded by five more. They snarled at her, advancing towards her to take her life as well.

Inuyasha, coming out of his shock, rushed in to save her. He lashed out his tessaiga, killing each demon that got in his way with a single swing of his father's fang. Kagome ran to the hut to grab her bow and arrows as well when she was stopped by another demon. She took a step back as she felt a flicker of fear towards the snarling massive tiger before her that seemed to be double her size. Its three tails were erect, ready for attack. As it leaped, Kagome shut her eyes, waiting for the blow but when it didn't come, she opened her eyes, confused, to see it dead before her, a sutra stuck to its forehead. She spun around to see Miroku and Sango racing towards her.

"Kagome, are you okay?" the demon slayer asked. She was dressed in her exterminator attire, her hiraikotsu slung over her shoulder.

"I'm fine, but what happened?" Kagome questioned. "Where are Shippo, Myori and Sarto?"

"Shippo is with Kirara, protecting the villagers. But weren't Sarto and Myori with you?" Miroku asked, a frown crossing his face.

Kagome's heart skipped a beat and her face showed worry. "They weren't with us. Let me get my bow and arrow."

Both of them gave a nod and protected Kagome as she went inside her hut and grabbed her quiver and bow. She raced out along with Miroku and Sango to protect the villagers and at the same time to look for Sarto and Myori.

"I thank ye, Inuyasha", Kaede said to the hanyou, who killed all the five demons that previously surrounded the old priestess.

"You're such a pain", Inuyasha replied as his eyes scanned for any other demons that were about to attack. "Why don't you stay inside your hut and save me the trouble."

Kaede sighed. She should've known the half-demon's reply.

"Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha spun around to see Kagome hurrying his way.

"What?"

"It's Myori and Sarto", Kagome said, nearly out of breath. "They're missing."

"What!"

"I'll go find them", Inuyasha replied, suddenly feeling fear. "You guys protect the villagers."

Kagome gave a nod as Inuyasha went straight into the middle of the chaos. He slashed at any demon that got in his way, getting more frantic with each step.

"Did they already get her?" Inuyasha pushed the thought away. There was no way that could happen, right?

"Help me!"

Inuyasha's heart stopped at the cry that sounded all too Myori's. He raced towards the source and was almost disappointed to see that it was yet another village girl. A tiger demon towered over her, baring its deadly sharp fangs. Inuyasha came before it attacked, slicing it into two. He started towards his hut to see if Myori came there and just when he was about to enter he was approached by another tiger, but this one seemed different from the rest. It was larger and its eyes were scarlet while the others' were golden.

"So, you're the pack leader, huh?" Inuyasha growled. But before he attacked, the demon swiftly transformed into a young man. He had flaming red hair that reached his waist and stunning golden eyes, which narrowed upon seeing Inuyasha.

"You reek of that girl", he said in a voice that could cut through trees.

"I don't know what the hell you are talking about, but you made a big mistake in thinking you could just attack and get away with it", Inuyasha retorted.

"Was, she your daughter?" the demon asked, ignoring him. "The girl, who so daringly killed my brother, the son of the great tiger king Riki?"

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes. "You've got the wrong person."

"Do you think I would just come up and attack a village without confirming my information? I followed the scent of that girl all over the forest and it ended up here", he answered.

It took a while for Inuyasha to understand and when he did, his eyes widened. "What the hell did you do to her?" he yelled.

"Nothing", the tiger answered, "yet. Luckily, she wasn't in the village."

Inuyasha felt relieved and tensed at the same time. Atleast she was safe, but where did she go? It would be nearly impossible to trace her now as the village reeked of tiger demons.

"But in exchange, I'll take your head", the enemy said, retracting his claws.

"Just try", Inuyasha said dangerously.

The other three, finishing off the remaing of the tigers, came in time to see Inuyasha attacking what looked like a young demon man. Shippo and Kirara joined later. Inuyasha was at a disadvantage as the demon seemed to take a liking to close range combat which made it hard for Inuyasha to use wind scar or any of his other attacks. The fang could swing so far only to inflict wounds on his opponent's body.

"Who's he?" Shippo questioned, but the rest were asking themselves the same question.

Inuyasha seemed more fueled up than usual and his eyes were full of killing intent. His moves were rash, while the other's were graceful and seem to aim solely at conserving his energy rather than to attack.

"Too scared to fight?" Inuyasha spit out as he aimed another blow that the demon dodged effortlessly.

"I'm appalled to know that the daughter of such an amateur has killed my brother", he said, smirking.

Kagome frowned. What was he talking about? Inuyasha growled and aimed another pointless attack, but this time, instead of dodging, the demon took this as a chance to knock the weapon out of Inuyasha's hand, who fell on his back upon the impact. The sword flew out of sight. Kagome rushed to his aid while Sango and Miroku stood defensively before the pair.

"Get out of my way or else you will be killed as well", the full demon warned.

Inuyasha got up, cursing. "You guys stay out of this", he said.

"But-" Miroku started to protest.

"I said stay out of this", Inuyasha repeated, his eyes transfixed on the demon.

Miroku and Sango stepped aside hesitantly and the hanyou came forward, flexing his fingers. He attacked without restraint, managing to inflict several wounds on his opponent's body, but as the fight dragged on, the dog demon's teammates could see that he was getting exhausted quickly.

"We can't let this go on any longer or Inuyasha will be defeated", Miroku said.

"I'll have to find the tessaiga", Kagome said. "I'll be right back."

Kagome hurried off in the direction to where she estimated that the fang had fallen. Meanwhile the demon got the best of the half-breed as he caught him by his throat, suffocating him. Inuyasha clutched the attacker's wrist of the hand, which was wrapped around his neck, helplessly. Before Inuyasha could do anything, the tiger demon ran his sharp claws through Inuyasha's midriff, earning a sharp cry and released him. The half-demon crumbled to the ground, clutching his wound and glared at the person before him.

"What's taking Kagome so long?" Shippo said worriedly.

Sango tightened her grip on her hiraikotsu in case Inuyasha needed help. Even though he told them not to interfere, she wasn't going to just stand by and watch her friend be torn to pieces.

"A half-breed I see", he said as he caught scent of his blood. "You thought you could actually defeat someone as great as me?"

Inuyasha growled and stood up. Just then he heard Kagome's voice.

"Inuyasha, here!" she said, throwing his blade towards him, who caught it swiftly with one hand.

The remaining three were relieved to see that Kagome made it and Inuyasha smirked.

"Game ends here, pal", he said and with that he swung his blade through the one line that was known to kill a hundred demons. "Wind scar!"

The demon had a look of shock as his body was enveloped in what seemed like razor sharp wind blades that cut through his body and then he was nothing more than a ragged corpse lying before them. Inuyasha fell on one knee, using his tessaiga for support and Kagome came to his aid.

"Inuyasha, let's go back to the hut. I need to treat your wounds", Kagome said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I need to find Myori and Sarto first", Inuyasha retorted. "I don't know what the hell that demon was talking about but I got a bad feeling about it."

"No, Inuyasha, you are in no state to search. Leave it up to us", Miroku stepped forward.

"I'm fine!" Inuyasha protested. "I just need…." His voice trailed off as he collapsed unconscious, alarming Kagome.

"He's had too much blood loss", Sango said as she rushed to Inuyasha's side, checking his pulse. "We need to get him treated."

Kagome gave a nod as they took Inuyasha to Kaede, who clicked her tongue upon seeing the hanyou's wounds. As she bandaged his cuts Inuyasha came awake.

"Ye mustn't move yet, Inuyasha", she said as the hanyou started to get up to put on his haori.

"I don't need advice from an old hag like you", he said before trying to stand up, but a searing hot pain ripped through his torso and he hissed before falling back down.

Kaede gave a chuckle. "I was not giving advice."

Just then Kagome entered the hut and kneeled beside Inuyasha who was sitting up, fuming about something.

"Inuyasha, you should rest. We will go find the two", she said.

"I will not-"

"End of discussion", Kagome said firmly, shutting her husband up.

"I will be joining you", Inuyasha said stubbornly and Kagome just sighed. She stood up, casting Kaede a glance that the old woman understood. She was telling her not to let Inuyasha move and Kaede gave her a reassuring nod, though she was uncertain that she could stop the rebellious hanyou when the time came.

Kagome stepped outside to see Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kirara all assembled.

"Ready to go?" Shippo asked.

"Yes, but how will we know which direction?" Kagome said.

"Leave that to Shinto", Sango answered as Kagome's dog stepped forward, wagging its tail excitedly.

"I think he know which way Myori and Sarto went", Miroku replied as he gave Shinto a pat on the head who gave a bark as if he understood the conversation.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Kagome said and all of them started their pursuit.

"Do you even know where we're going", Sarto asked a tired Myori. It was getting dark and the forest didn't seem any friendlier.

"Give me a break, Sarto. It's been two days and I'm exhausted as well", Myori replied as she sat down against a tree with a sigh. Sarto sat down beside her. They had been walking for two days straight and to tell the truth their legs were aching like hell. More over, it seemed as if they were going in circles. Each of them took turns in carrying the large backpack that used to be Kagome's, which was at least a quarter empty as they didn't skip any meal during their journey.

"I'm sure he took me this way", Myori reassured.

"I hope so", Sarto answered as he leaned back against the tree trunk, closing his eyes.

Kagome and the others followed Shinto, who sniffed at every tree or so and gave a bark that signaled that he got hold of the scent of Miroku's and Inuyasha's children once more. For them, it had also been two days since they set on their search for Myori and Sarto and were surprised to even think that the both of them got this far in such a short time.

"So you mean to say that she's after Koga?" Miroku asked as the five of them sat around a small fire. It was late at night and Shippo was already asleep.

"Yes", Kagome said as she finished telling them about the fight Inuyasha and Myori had that provoked her to run away.

"I don't see what is so bad about that guy", Sango said, referring to the wolf leader.

"You know about Inuyasha", Kagome said. "He is always insecure and protective when it comes to Myori."

"Who's insecure?"

The three of them looked up to the source of the voice in alarm. It was none other than their beloved dog demon. He jumped down from the tree, looking as if he recovered from his injuries completely.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome looked at him disbelievingly.

"How did you get here so fast?" Shippo, who was awoken by the voice, was the one to ask now.

"You think I'm as slow as you humans are?" Inuyasha snorted.

Kagome frowned. "Well, we're making progress aren't we? How did you get away from Kaede anyway?"

"You think that an old woman such as her can restrain me?" Inuyasha scoffed.

Miroku cocked a brow. "Well, I think we should all get some rest."

All except Inuyasha agreed, as always. But it didn't take long for Kagome to convince him. They all settled down while Inuyasha remained awake, saying that he wanted to stay guard and that he didn't need any rest. As he sat watching over his friends with his back against a tree and tessaiga held against his chest Kagome sat beside him.

"She really must be mad at me, huh?" Inuyasha said out of the blue without looking at her.

Kagome nodded without hesitation and then said, "I'm scared for her, Inuyasha. She and Sarto are still too young and are not capable of defending themselves. What if she's already-" she didn't finish the sentence as tears came to her eyes at the thought of Myori lying dead.

Inuyasha put a comforting arm around her, pulling her close to him. Kagome laid her head on his chest, wiping her tears.

"I won't let anything happen to her while I'm alive", he assured. "I promise."

Morning seemed to come too quickly for the two young friends as they set off again.

"I know we're almost there", Myori said. She was walking ahead of Sarto who took the first shift in holding the backpack.

"You've been saying that all morning, Myori", Sarto said almost as if teasing her.

"No I wasn't", she retorted defiantly.

"Yes, you were", Sarto replied with a laugh.

Just when Myori was about to shoot back an answer, her eyes widened and she became rigid as she stared behind Sarto.

"What is it?" Sarto asked as he saw the sudden change of expression on his friend's face and he too turned around. His eyes widened too at the sight and he took a step back. "Oh my god."

A/N: Hey guys! I once more want to thank all my great reviewers and readers without whom this story would have never gotten this far. I may not be able to update the next chapter that fast so bear with me like you always did!