Takai couldn't believe his eyes… his best friend was standing… he was moving and everything! But, how was he even able to move in the first place? Shaking his head, the young slayer tried to think of anything that would have told him how Inu was able to move… but nothing came to mind… only that Inu's soul had recovered but… that was also impossible since the look in Inu's eyes had told the young slayer that that was impossible… Inu's eyes looked like dull gold… a gold that had started to get worn out over thousands of years of being buried in the ground.

"His desire to protect Hana had woken him up…" Shippou said as he walked over to Takai, his eyes serious as he stared at the shattered hanyou. Inu just stood there, protecting Hana… using his body as a shield, something that a mate would do to protect their future mate from any harm… Shippou knew that Inu had found his mate but his mind was still unaware of it, only his instincts were…

It was just that obvious to see, though, Shippou had a feeling that it was so much more that was in control of Inu right now… like there was a different kind of force that was moving his shattered body…

"What can we do?" Asked Takai, trying to figure out what to do, for he had a feeling that if he had tried to go near Hana, Inu would attack thinking they would being her harm… He was still new to the whole demon thing, but he knew that if demons were anything like normal animals that they would do anything to protect their mate…

"Inu has to give us the approval in order for us to approach her… for if he doesn't, he'll kill us…" Shippou calmly said, trying to make sure that Takai could fully understand all of this.

Taking a deep breath, Takai stared at his best friend, wondering what Inu's new course of action would be. Though, Inu slowly turned his head, his golden eyes still as dull as they were when he arrived… not a single sign of him coming out of his trance… Sighing softly, Inu gave a small nod toward Hana then jumped toward the demon. Was that the sign that they were waiting for?

"Let's go!" Shouted Shippou as he ran toward Hana, gently picking her up and holding her in his arms, knowing that they had to get the sleeping girl out of there, though as soon as Shippou picked up Hana, she groaned softly, as she was finally starting to come out of her trance but, it made Shippou wonder just how light of a sleep she had been in.

Slowly, Hana opened her eyes and blinked slowly. Looking up at Shippou, Hana blinked her eyes slowly as she whispered "where's Inu…?" Takai knew that Hana would be concerned about the silver hanyou, though he guessed that she wouldn't know if Inu was even up and moving around. Taking a deep breath, Takai pointed to Inu who was attacking the demon's ankles. Slashing its legs with his razor sharp claws, when Hana looked up at him she was shocked.

Takai couldn't blame her, they were all shocked as to why Inu was moving… but maybe Shippou's words had been right… maybe Inu sensed that Hana would be in danger and therefor, had awakened and went to go protect her… But, it did confuse him as to why it took so long for him to appear out of the trees to come to Hana's rescue.

"Shippou is there anything that we can do to help?"

"No… Inu would want to stop this demon on his own. That is how demons are… even if they're half-demon's they would do anything to protect people they care for. Though, to beat a demon this big… a demon with armor like this… it would take a miracle."

"What kind of miracle?"

"A demon that can transform into their true form, but sadly the only ones that can do that are full demons… and the only one around here is me, but my transformed self isn't strong enough."

Takai wanted to curse, he didn't know why it was impossible for Shippou to transform and kill that thing… was his true form really that bad? Or was it something else? Though, the more he thought about it the more he thought that maybe Shippou is more of a trickster then a fighter. Yes, he knows how to fight… but sadly, he is a better jokester…

Taking a deep breath, Shippou placed Hana on her feel though held her by her shoulders to make sure that she wouldn't fall over. Sighing softly, everyone stared at the battle that was appearing before them. Inu had made his way to the demon's chest and slashed at the flesh, the demon howled in pain and swung his huge fist at Inu. The young hanyou flew and smashed into the tree. Though, Inu didn't make a sound that he was in pain at all.

The hanyou just rose to his feet and shook off the debris of the tree off of his body. Hana just stared at Inu with wide eyes, frightened that something bad would happen if he kept fighting like this. Though, what surprised everyone was that Inu pulled out the sword from its sheath and narrowed his eyes at the demon. Everyone thought that Inu was starting to get his soul back once again, all the pieces put together to be one… but, something was flowing around him… something was wrong… Inu howled, the energy that swirled around him was a mixture of red and blue. Everyone thought that maybe the energy that was swirling around the hanyou's body was demonic and sacred energy.

The energy kept swirling around him, as if trying to decide on what energy would take a hold of him…

"What's happening to him?" Whispered Takai, trying to figure out what was happening to his best friend… the energy that was trying to swirl around him… had fully turned red and wrapped itself around Inu and growing bigger and bigger. It was starting to worry Takai and Hana.

"It can't be… there's no way that he could transform…" Shippou whispered in shock, it was confusing him on how frightened Shippou was starting to sound… how could a demon be afraid of what was swirling around Inu? That wasn't making any kind of sense at all. Though, when the energy faded… Inu wasn't standing there… instead; there was a huge silver dog with two black stripes that start from its ears, running down its back before joining at the joint of the tail and running down to the tip.

On its face were sapphire blue stripes… its eyes were a dull gold just like Inu's…

"Where… where's Inu?"

"That is Inu… he had transformed… it must have been the
sword… it must be able to give him the boost to help him transform into a full demon but still prevent him from losing control like his father." Shippou whispered, even with Shippou's explanation, they couldn't believe that this was Inu… as a giant twenty foot tall dog…

Shaking his head, Takai couldn't believe that his best friend became a huge dog… Shaking his head, Hana stared at Hana wondering if she was freaking out about this new transformation. Though, she just stared at the newly transformed Inu with wide eyes, not with fear but with… fascination… did that make sense? How could anyone find this as fascination as Hana was…? It didn't make any kind of sense at all… Taking a deep breath, Inu let out a roar as he charged at the demon. His fangs shinning in the dim light of the afternoon sun, though when Inu's fangs dug into the demon's flesh… it made Takai sick to his stomach.

How could anyone bit into someone's skin and just take the feel of their blood on their tongue? That's just nasty… Shaking his head, Takai couldn't bring himself to look anymore… he… he just couldn't. Hana on the other hand, she couldn't believe how well Inu was doing, he was fighting like a demon instead of like a human… It was always so confusing how a hanyou would fight like a human, but the more she thought about it, it was probably because he didn't live in a world with demons but a world with only humans.

The demon tried to hit Inu in the head in the hopes that the transformed hanyou would let go. But that didn't seem like it would happen any time soon. Inu dug his fangs deeper into the demon's flesh only to pull his fangs out and banged his head on the demon's chest. When the demon was on the ground, Inu growled and dug his paw into the demon's chest going right through his heart.

The demon had stopped moving…

Inu turned slowly and faced everyone and shifted back. Hana ran to Inu, tears of joy was running down her face as she hugged him. Though, she would have been happier if he didn't have blood on his skin. Though, Inu just looked at her… he didn't wrap his arms around her… Confused, Hana looked up and saw that he just stared at her blankly.

"He doesn't remember you yet Hana… he knows that he has to protect you, but he can't remember you fully…" Shippou calmly said with a sad sigh. Though, hearing that made Hana want to cry… he didn't remember her… his soul was still shattered… but why? He was able to move and yet his soul was still missing pieces…

"Does he know who we are? Like… that we won't hurt him?" Asked Takai, still a little pale from when Inu dug his fangs into the demon's leg.

"He does on a certain level. Otherwise, he doesn't remember us at all… Why else would he trust us to protect Hana while he dealt with the demon?" Shippou calmly said before picking up the sword that had fallen onto the ground when Inu had returned to normal. Taking a deep breath, the young fox demon was confused on Inu moving… not that he was complaining, it was tough to carry him around everywhere.

Now, their next stop was to find Inuyasha, free him… and maybe figure out where the Shikon Jewel is so they can protect it once again… and maybe even destroy it once and for all… But even that seemed like a hopeless dream… for what would happen if they removed the jewel from the kind hearted demon?

Right now, they couldn't think about that… they had to get to the shrine that has Inuyasha and set him free...

"Hana… where is the shrine that has the painting?" Asked Shippou, the sooner they get there the better at this point. Hana nodded and pointed north, it was still the same direction that they have been going in, though it didn't look like it would be all rainbows and fun the way there…

"We're not that far to be honest… just another days' worth of traveling and we should get there by night fall." Calmly said Hana with a bright smile, everyone could tell that she was happy to get to the painting, maybe because something always happened when they were trying to protect it, something bad always happened… though she still didn't know what it was as of yet, but soon… they'll find out why the painting was created…

Takai stared at Inu, for some reason the hanyou was only staring at Hana… even the slightest movements that she did, Inu's eyes would follow… it was as if she held the secret to his soul being complete once more… though, Takai highly doubted that right now. How could anyone hold the key to completing his soul? Shouldn't the pieces be in him still? Or did a piece fly off somewhere?

Sighing softly, Takai calmly said "let's get going before it gets too dark…"

Everyone agreed and started to walk off. Takai walked next to Shippou as they talked about how Inu was even able to transform with his sword… since, it appears that for most demons they do use a certain item that helps them transform, but that is for full-demons, not half-demons such as Inu here… When Takai turned around, he saw Hana leaning close to Inu as if to make sure that he wouldn't wonder off.

Which was a good thing to Takai right now… Inu didn't know what was going on at all, and cause of that it would be dangerous if he was left alone.

Sighing softly, Takai looked on ahead, trying to think on what they could do to help the young hanyou… from what he could tell with his sacred powers, Inu's soul was only missing one major piece… The piece that makes him… well Inu… But where the piece is he can't be sure… it must have flown off somewhere so it would be safe… Inu was strange that way, he would protect anything wither it was himself, or even those that meant a lot to him.

Yawning, Takai tried to think of something that could be a good hint that could lead them to where Inu's soul was… but nothing came to mind… which was just great since Inu never liked to make things easy for other people.

"Inu looks like he wants to protect Hana… like she holds something that means a lot to him…" Takai whispered softly, which confused him… Inu was never that open with a girl before. He was normally avoiding any and all girls knowing that they wouldn't accept him for who he was… he wasn't human, and yet he was getting really close to Hana if that makes any kind of sense at all… It just didn't make a lick of sense to the young slayer… though, maybe it was because if what Shippou said was true… that Inu really did have feelings for Hana to the point of throwing his life in the line to keep her safe.

"All demons… even hanyou's for example, would do anything in their power to protect them. So Inu would get close to Hana in order to make sure that she stays safe. He will only let those he trusts near his mate such as us, or family. No other male though, would he allow to be near Hana." Shippou calmly said, as if it was common logic to know these things.

Takai on the other hand, wanted to back hand Shippou for sounding like he was an idiot. Okay yes, he didn't know a lot about demons but still… that just pissed him off just as much as people thinking he would rape any girl that came near him because he was a pervert. Yes, he would rub a girl's ass but otherwise, he wouldn't do any such thing… He was an honorable man and would make sure that he kept that honor.

Taking a deep breath, Takai kept on walking forward, making sure that his mind was filled with different thoughts. He couldn't afford to keep thinking about the past anymore. He had to keep moving forward… Yawning softly, Takai looked at the sword that Shippou still had in his hand. Wondering what kind of power it still had… if it was a sword of both sacred and demonic properties… wouldn't that mean that he could also become a full human with only sacred powers.

'Maybe…'

Sighing sadly, Takai didn't know… the only way to know is if they took the sword and made Inu test out the theory… but it could be risky if they did that. Who knows what could happen if they were to do that… No one would know till it was too late…

Frowning, Takai looked up at the sky, thinking that it had gotten darker than they had hoped… it made the young man wonder if they were any closer to the shrine since they left after the demon attacked. But he couldn't be for sure… "Hey Hana, we any closer yet," asked Takai as he turned around. Only to see that Inu was looking around, sniffing the air as if he smelled something, as for Hana she stared at Inu with great concern… wondering why he looked like he was searching for something… it was confusing everyone…

"Inu you okay?"

"…?"

"Maybe he smells some sort of danger maybe?"

"No, he isn't growling… if he smelt any kind of danger he would have growled…"

"How would you know?"

"I've known him long enough."

"Point taken."

Inu blinked a few times then started to run on ahead. Which, of course confused everyone, narrowing his eyes Takai turned to the cat demon, calling out to her, Kirara ran to him and transformed into a giant saber tooth tiger-like demon and everyone hopped on her back and ran on ahead. They rode off after Inu, wondering why he had just suddenly taken off like that. It didn't make sense, he wouldn't have just run off leaving Hana behind unless…

"Hana, can demons that have had their souls shattered sense their spirit again?" Asked Takai, not bothering to look behind him since he needed to make sure that he could keep Inu within his sights since the last thing he needs right now is to let his best friend out of his sights.

"It is possible yes, but their shattered soul's pieces normally stay within them… its very rare for a piece to go flying out of the body without the others following behind…"

Takai cursed under his breath, okay so if Inu's soul was still missing a piece, why would he be able to smell it and… follow the trail? It would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack and cause of that, it would make it impossible unless… "Is it possible for the shattered shard of his soul to go to someone that would hold the same blood as him?"

"Like a blood relative?"

"Yes."

"Then of course, it would go to whoever has the same bloodline as him… but it can't be his mother since she's dead… and his father has gone missing…"

"But it could lead us straight to his father."

"Or his uncle…"

"But his Uncle Souta is also dead…"

"I meant his father's half-brother Sesshoumaru."

"Wait what?"

"Inu has a full blooded demon for an uncle. Though, Sesshoumaru never got along with Inuyasha because Inuyasha is a half-demon while their father was one of the greatest lords of the west." Shippou had calmly explained while he held onto Kirara for dear life. For some reason, Takai had a feeling that Shippou didn't like riding this fast… maybe bad memories or something he couldn't be for sure. Though, Takai knew that they had to keep following their friend… even if they do run into his uncle…

Taking a deep breath, Takai blinked at where Inu had disappeared… he had went through a barrier?

"This barrier only allows those with pure hearts to enter…" Hana calmly explained, tapping Kirara's side as if telling her to keep going on ahead. The demon cat nodded and walked on inside, and through the barrier. It had amazed everyone that demons could enter… but then again, there were such thing as pure hearted demons… As soon as they had passed through, they saw a huge worn down building. It was massive; the roof looked like it would cave in at any moment… The floors looked like someone could easily fall through them even if they were light as a feather.

Running a hand through his hair, the young slayer got off of Kirara and walked on inside, as did everyone else. Kirara had changed back and jumped onto Takai's shoulder as they walked. "Is this the shrine?" asked Shippou with a bit of a nervous look on his face. Takai had an awesome idea right now…

"Yes, it had been in my family for a hundred years… the picture had arrived here about fifteen years ago and we've protected it ever since… till recently, there was a voice telling us to find the son of Inuyasha, and Kagome… we never understood who the voice belonged too, but what we did know was that we had to go and find them…

"My brothers and sisters all died at the hands of demons… so the task was left to me… and I had found him… Inu must free the spirit trapped within the painting and there, his answers may come to him."

Takai hadn't expected this… Hana had lost her entire family cause of this painting… why should they release any spirit from the stupid thing… cause it would answer all of Inu's questions about who he really is, who his father is? Shaking his head, Takai looked over at Shippou and smirked. Turning the corner quickly, Takai grabbed his flashlight and placed it under his chin before tapping Shippou's shoulder and making his face appear more, ghoulish.

Shippou let out a loud scream and fell over out cold.

"Wow… I knew he was afraid but not this afraid…" Takai said while scratching the back of his head in a nervous gesture.

Hana sighed as she said "you knocked him out, you carry him." With that, she started to walk away, leading the way to where she knew Inu would be right now. Takai sighed and picked up the unconscious fox demon and carried him down the hall. The place was really creepy, that much was for sure. Why would anyone want to live here is beyond him. Sighing softly, Takai was more focused on what was ahead of him.

The walk felt like it was endless, like they were walking into a void of darkness that was never ending… Just like their search for Inu…

Finally, they had arrived at the end of the hall, and standing there was Inu… but what had shocked him the most, was the picture-no, the painting that was hung up on the wall… It was a man that looked just like Inu, but without the black stripes in his hair… His face was hardened; like he had seen so many terrible things in his life… a face that almost looked like how Inu would be when a girl would try to ask him out.

"Is this…?"

"This is the painting that my family has protected for many years."

Suddenly, they heard a growling, Inu turned toward them, his eyes still just as blank and void of any emotion as before. He walked over to them, not like he was about to attack… like he wanted to take something. Once he had reached them, Inu swiped his sword from Shippou's belt and walked back to the painting.

"Inu what are you doing?" Asked both Hana and Takai, not sure what he was planning to do with the sword.

Just as that was said, Inu's sword glowed bright with blue energy, and he sliced the painting down the middle, and watched as it floated down to the ground. Hana screamed thinking he had just ruined a sacred item… but instead… when the paper had hit the ground, it had started to glow bright… a ghostly figure started to form… slowly growing solid as the wisps of light swirled around the ghostly image.

Finally, the figure came into full view… The tall man shook his silver hair and slowly opened his eyes. Blinking a few times, he looked around, as if wondering where he was. Sneezing, the man wiped his nose saying "just where the fuck am I? Wasn't I in the forest?"

Shippou opened his eyes and stared at the tall man with wide eyes. "Inuyasha!" Shouted the fox demon as he ran to the man, who Takai guessed was Inuyasha- wait… Inuyasha? That was Inu's name and… no way…

"Shippou is that you? You got taller… just how long was I gone?"

"Fifteen years…"

"… What?"

"You were gone for fifteen years…"

Shaking his head, Inuyasha rubbed his eyes as if trying to think more clearly. Opening his eyes, he looked around, stared at Takai for a moment before rolling his eyes, then looked over at Hana and raised an eyebrow at her… finally; his eyes went to Inu and blinked a few times. "Shippou… is… is that?"

"This is Inu… your son Inuyasha… but… there is a problem…"

"His soul shattered… I know… a piece of it came to me… I don't know how I knew, but I just… I just knew that it belonged to him." Inuyasha whispered softly, walking over to his son, Inuyasha placed a hand on the young half-demon's shoulder and watched as his eyes flickered. As soon as Inu's eyes came back to life, he looked around only to suddenly fall. It had been like he had used all of his energy just to stay awake and to free his father at the same time.

"Now… tell me what the fuck is going on and why I faintly smell Kagome's blood on my son."