First Meeting

Dawn was approaching fast and in the faint light and Inuyasha had headed out early to look around the surrounding area for any trace of Naraku. He did not know that something large had mistaken him for someone else. It was strange that he had not noticed the scent until he arrived in a clearing up ahead. Inuyasha stopped in his tracks, as the scent of this new demon filled the clearing moving at great speed through the trees. The demon then stopped and came into the moonlight and into Inuyasha's view. It remained silent as it headed towards Inuyasha. The demon, though resembling a man dressed as though he were hunting, did not look that healthy. He had very little colour in his face and his armour seemed to be split at an angle down the middle.

Inuyasha just smiled and took hold of the hilt of his Tetsusaiga "Is this your welcome Naraku" he shouted at the top of his voice.

The demon still said nothing and slowly approached.

"Not very talkative are you" Inuyasha asked but still no response.

Without warning the demon lunged forward with katana in hand slashing at Inuyasha with no skill at all. Inuyasha had no trouble blocking the attacks and sending the demon back across the grass. The demon suddenly changed its stance and katana position, which matched Inuyasha's style exactly and attacked again. This time neither of them got a hit on the other, each of them blocking the others attacks.

Inuyasha was not very happy when he saw the change in fighting style to mimic his and only had one idea to get rid of this copycat.

He raised the Tetsusaiga over his head and shouted, "I've had enough of you" and slammed it down again.

Doraiku was resting in a tree thinking about the excitement a few nights ago, which he only saw as a bit of exercise at the time. He kept his yari rested on his shoulder and his armoured left hand lent on his knee. He had his eyes closed and was listening to the forest when he heard the sound of metal clanging over and over again. He stood up on the branch and listened more closely.

"WINDSCAR!!!"

That loud shout startled Doraiku, and he only just managed to grab the branch before he fell but his belt got caught as he fell and was hanging from the branch above. His yari fell from his hand as well but that had fallen from the tree and was embedded, blade down, in the dirt below.

"What the hell?" Doraiku asked himself as he dropped down from the tree, landing on his feet. He collected up his yari, checked it for damage and then darted through the trees in the direction of the cry.

He arrived at a clearing and saw two men fighting each other. Apparently only one of them seemed to be tiring. One of them he recognised as the mercenary he had dealt with a few nights ago, but he seemed different this time, like a different person. The other fighter however was different. Dog ears were clearly visible on the top of his head and the hitoe he wore was almost like his own. Then he realized that the mercenary can't be the man he fought before as he would have noticed he had the wrong guy.

Inuyasha smirked as the wind scar crashed into the demon, thinking that was the end of it. When the smoke cleared, however, what he saw wasn't good.

The demon was somehow still standing, even though it was bent over backwards, its back broken at an awkward angle. With its neck it was the same story, broken and limp. It then managed to snap its back into the correct position and then with one motion of its head its neck snapped back into place.

At this point only one word came into Inuyasha's mind "Dam!"

The demon attacked him again and again, Inuyasha slowly growing tired and weak. Inuyasha fell backwards onto the grass, the demon ready to give one final slash when a yari appeared and blocked the attack.

"Remember me?" said a calm voice.

Inuyasha looked stunned. A human had saved his life.

Doraiku moved the katana and sent the mercenary backwards, studying him.

"You do realize he is not me" Doraiku said, but he got no reply from the mercenary.

"Did Saibannin let you out early Kawari?" Doraiku asked.

The mercenary just stood there, almost with a look of confusion on his face, and made a low noise, almost like a hiss.

"Yes I know it's you slimy," Doraiku replied to the hiss "I can smell you."

He then looked over to Inuyasha and asked "Are you alright?"

Inuyasha said nothing and just grunted "I could have got out of that."

"So do you always fight in that position," Doraiku remarked.

Kawari thought he had his chance and attacked, but Doraiku blocked his katana without looking and stared into his eyes. "Bad move" Doraiku said before spinning round and slamming the blunt end of his yari into Kawari's stomach. It staggered backwards, winded, and struggled to stand upright and just collapsed onto the grass, on its hands and knees.

"If I was you I'd stay down." Doraiku then turned back to Inuyasha and helped him up but Inuyasha wasn't that grateful.

"I don't need your help," Inuyasha said as he snatched his hand back, "or your pity."

"From where I was standing It looked like you were losing" Doraiku replied with his arms folded.

"Don't act like you saved my life, cause I was doin' just fine on my own," Inuyasha made that very clear earlier.

"You ungrateful little..." Doraiku began to shout but stopped mid-sentence and both of them covered their ears as a loud noise broke through the argument

They were interrupted by a loud screech echoing around the clearing. Their attention turned to Kawari, as he was shaking violently, smoke pouring out of his mouth, and disappearing into the cloud. After a few moments wings burst from the cloud and a monstrous serpent arose from the smoke and towered above, roaring loudly. It looked as though it had a beak, but teeth were clearly visible on the top jaw. Four small purple eyes, two on either side, one on top of the other, were glaring down at them.

"What did you do?" Inuyasha shouted.

"What are you asking me for?" Doraiku replied, almost as surprised as Inuyasha.

Kawari screeched again, louder this time and climbed higher into the dawn sky.

"I think we made him angry," Doraiku stated.

"What do you mean we?" Inuyasha asked, not wanting to accept responsibility, "You hit the dam thing."

"What?" Doraiku asked "So did you."

The argument was interrupted again as Kawari dived at them, full speed, enraged at the people that ganged up on him.

Doraiku pointed to Inuyasha's hitoe and asked, "Is that fire proof?"

Inuyasha looked confused, "I think so."

Before Inuyasha could ask why Doraiku pointed his left palm at Inuyasha's chest, called out "Dragon fire," and sent a burst of red between them, blasting them apart, before Kawari came crashing down where they once stood and disappeared into the forest. Inuyasha was clearly stunned by the blast and clutched his chest.

He regained his senses before shouting "What the hell did you do that for?"

"You're alive aren't you," Doraiku replied, tucking his yari under his arm.

This is another list of the Japanese words I used in this chapter:

Katana = Sword
Doraiku = Drake
Yari = Spear
Hitoe = The type of jacket Inuyasha wears
Saibannin = Judge
Kawari = Change