She sprang from tree branch to tree branch, never touching the forest floor as she kept Kikyo in sight. She flexed her fingers and was about to jump on the miko when Kikyo spun around and put an arrow though her robe's collar, pulling her back and pinning her to the tree branch, hanging.
"Let me down, Kikyo!" Inutsuki yelled as she struggled to get herself free. She knew she could free herself eventually, but not any time soon.
Kikyo frowned. "How do you know my name, Inutsuki?"
Inutsuki waited a while before answering. "Those villagers that came looking for you that day in the forest were calling your name."
"So you were the one that saved me that day? In that case, I must thank you." Kikyo put her hands in front of her and bowed, being careful not to allow the arrows in her quiver to fall out.
"In that case, get me off of this tree branch!" Inutsuki struggled some more. but every time she attempted to pull the arrow out, the residue of Kikyo's energy repelled her.
"I'm afraid I can't do that. After all, whats going to stop you from going after me as soon as I let you down?" Kikyo smiled and was about to turn and leave when Inutsuki called out to her again.
"Fine! I won't attempt to attack you again. Can you please let me down?" She stopped struggling and looked at Kikyo with the saddest puppy eyes she can make, one that never failed with her mother when she was still alive.
At last, Kikyo relented and nocked an arrow to her bow, took aim and shot, cleaving the arrow pinning Inutsuki's collar in half, jolting it out of its arrow hole, both landing on the ground. Inutsuki herself landed flat on the ground, knocking the air out of her. "Remember your promise, Inutsuki. If not..." Kikyo let the threat hang in the air. She thought Inutsuki looked trustworthy enough, at least as trust worthy as a youkai can be.
"I'll remember," Inutsuki said, reluctantly. She might be mischievious and evil in her own way, but her pride would not allow her to lie. She sat up, shaking her head to clear her mind and watched as Kikyo departed.
-A few days later-
"Damn it!" Inutsuki faced the horde of youkai that was heading toward the village. If the youkai destroyed the village, Kikyo would die and the Shikon no Tama will be stolen. For some reason, Inutsuki felt draw toward the powerful miko named Kikyo; no, she will not allow Kikyo to die.
As soon as she attacked one youkai, however, they all turned their attention on her. "Its getting dark, I must end this as fast as I can before it turns night!" Inutsuki thought desperately. As the sun set, the sky darkened into red. As it darkened, she felt her youki fading gradually. Exhausted, she allowed her attention to lapse for a second, and she dropped to one knee on the bloodstained floor, mountains of youkai around her.
Suddenly, a one eyed youkai lunged behind her, sinking its teeth into her shoulder. As teeth entered her flesh, purple-ish clouds exploded around the wound as miasma entered Inutsuki's body. She cried out in pain, and then tore the head apart. As she tried to stand up, the wound widened and blood flowed freely from her shoulder. Evil miasma drifted out of the wound, left behind by the youkai's bite. The other youkai, initially cautious to attack, now raced forward, sensing weakness from the unconscious blood covered girl kneeling in the midst of a mountain of youkai. The girl must die, for she had slaughtered over half of their comrades!
None of them reached their intended target, however. An arrow trailing purple streaked through the air, cutting through the foremost of the youkai, dissolving everything around the trajectory and purifying Inutsuki's wound. Kikyo continued to shoot at the gathered youkai, emptying her quiver with amazing speed. Not one shot was wasted. Next to her, Kaede, Kikyo's younger sister carried with her a armload of arrows. As her quiver emptied, Kikyo began drawing arrows from Kaede's arms.
"Arise, Inutsuki!" Kikyo called to the prone figure in the midst of the hordes of youkai. Slowly, Inutsuki opened her eyes as she raised her head. Her eyes widened as she say Kikyo emptying the skies above her. Hurriedly, she stood, and ignoring her wound, bounded over to the flat rock Kikyo and Kaede is standing on.
"Why have you come, Kikyo...san?" she asked questioning, as she treated her shoulder with a salve and bandages she pulled from her robe. Scarcely slowly her shooting, Kikyo answered.
"I'm not stupid. When our village's watchman saw the horde of youkai approaching, I was already preparing. It was when I was almost finished when he sent someone to tell me that someone is killing the youkai. I knew it was you and I had a debt to repay so..." Kikyo's voice trailed off and she fired one final arrow, clearing the sky of the last youkai. "I thank you, Inutsuki. With all my power, I cannot stop such a numerous amount of demons..."
As she watch, the girl clad in red pitched forward, stopped only when Kaede dropped her arrows and caught Inutsuki. Before her eyes, the last of the youki faded from Inutsuki and her silver-white hair turned black. As she looked up, the last of daylight faded and the night became pitch black, unlit by the moon. Inutsuki had turned human; a weak human that would not survive the night alone, should any demons become attracted to the blood she is stained with.
Far away, on top of a tree, a man draped in baboon fur gritted his teeth. He had no idea who had stopped his army of demons. All he knew was that whoever it was destroyed his entire army, demolished it without a trace. Without a word, he turned away from the direction of the Shikon no Tama and jumped off the tree, into the darkness of the forest to plan in peace.
Note: Hello, a updated after 2 days, yay! Hope you like this chapter, so please review with comments and suggestions (I love suggestions and might implement them in the future). For a attempt at suspense, "I wonder who is the man draped in baboon fur?"