A Dragon's Fang, a Human's Heart

by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

A human with the power of a demon. To many such an idea sounds ludicrous, does it not? Well he's here to prove them wrong. He will journey across time with the love of his life on his journey as he fights for friendship, for honor, for life, and above all, for love. Rewrite of the Rise of a Warrior: Inuyasha.

16. Enter the Wind Sorceress

(Enter the Wind Sorceress)

"When the ten Fangs of Ryuhogo reunite after thousands of years, the Dragon Guardian shall at last fulfill his destiny and rid this world of the Jewel that has caused so much suffering, and begin a new era for all."

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After a bit of a breather period, the Inu Gang had reunited in Kaede's village.

"Wow, these are incredible!" Kagome looked down at where Shippo was coloring, then back at a number of surprisingly well drawn pictures in her hand "Did you draw these yourself Shippo? I have to admit, I didn't know that you were so creative. This cat is so adorable too, but she looks kind of familiar."

"Good thing too, she's supposed to be you." Shippo told her "Tatsu is this dragon right here, and the wolf is supposed to be Koga. It's pretty much a love triangle between a wolf man, a dragon man and a cat, the last two hightaling it home through a magic well."

"Uh huh. Hey hold on a second Shippo, you didn't show these super familiar and somewhat embarrassing pictures in your little book to anyone else did you?"

"I showed it to Kaede earlier when I was trying to get some advice on what to do about how you and Tatsu were fighting, and she thought it was really well done."

"So what you're saying is, Kaede pretty much knows everything about what happened with the Wolf Demon Tribe and why Tatsu ended up in such a bad mood."

"Oh yeah, but Kaede isn't the only one who's seen my drawings. I was so proud of them that I ended up showing everyone in the village and I got a lot of compliments."

"Uh huh. Good for you. Well one thing is for sure, there's no chance I'm gonna be able to show my face in the village anytime soon. I'm gonna die of embarrassment if that happens. I've already got enough on my mind as it is, I mean I agreed to help Koga because he wanted to get the jewel shards away from the Birds of Paradise in order to protect his pack, but Tatsu ended up brooding over it while we were back home, even though he's calmed down now. What makes things even more complicated is that now Ayumi and the girls say I'm in love with Tatsu, but I'm not! At least… I don't think I am.'

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Meanwhile, at the den of the Wolf Demon Tribe…

"Alright men, this side is all in the clear." Ginta was in the middle of doing patrol with a small group of wolves, but then he looked down and saw Hakkaku sleeping on a ledge near the waterfall 'Look at him, sleeping on guard duty. Oh this is too easy. The enemy!"

"Wait what where, is it the Birds of Paradise?!" Hakkaku bolted upright when he heard this and started flailing around, only to end up falling into the river, which prompted Ginta to burst out laughing.

"What are you talking about Hakkaku, you know as well as I do that the Birds of Paradise are all dead, but you looked pretty funny flying over that cliff."

"Shut your hole Ginta, that was a dirty trick!"

"That's what you get for slacking off and sleeping when you're supposed to be on guard duty, you should know better."

"Yeah yeah, whatever." this was when the two of them noticed a number of other wolf demons making their way towards the cave "Who the hell are they?"

"Those are our brothers from the Northern caves. I wonder what they're doing here."

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Now for what they're doing here…

Once they met up with Koga in the wolf den, the leader of this group didn't waste any time in explaining everything "There's someone there that possesses a huge shard of a Shikon Jewel, he's the lord of some castle. I know this might seem hard to believe, but we're not joking about this bastard, so what I'm thinking is that we should combine our forces and join the Northern and Eastern tribes together as one, and then we can storm the castle. Once we do, we'll take the shard of the jewel and divide it up equally. So what do you say Koga, do you want to join us?"

"Thanks but no thanks, I'm not interested." Koga told him flatly.

"Wait what, why the hell not? It's a human lord, everyone in the tribe knows how much you hate humans, so I figured you would've gotten off on something like this."

"Yeah well, let's just say that because of something that happened while we were finishing off the Birds of Paradise, I owe someone a favor."

"I see. Well no sense in forcing the issue. I can imagine that you need to go and lick your wounds from the last battle." and with that subtle jab, the northern wolf demons prepared to take their leave of the cave.

'Go ahead, try and rub salt into my wounds, I fucking dare you.'

As they watched the northern wolf demons take their leave, some of the others seemed rather tempted by the whole prospect "I don't know Koga, are you sure that you want to turn them down so easily? If we just let them go themselves then the Northern tribe is going to get all of the power in that shard to themselves!"

"Let them go, it doesn't matter."

"Well it matters to me, I say we go with them!"

"Forget it Kiba."

"What the hell do you mean forget it?"

"I mean it's the wrong move on a rumor about this guy having a shard, one that might not even turn out to be true. If you shake this guy down then you might end up starting a war."

"A war with pathetic humans, we'd wipe them out easily!"

"A war is a war no matter who or what is on which side, and we've already lost too many of our brethren because of the Birds of Paradise. I'm not taking that risk."

"You've gone to war for far less over the years!"

"Yeah I know, and you know the difference? I would never drag the rest of our tribe down with me. If you want to go so bad then I won't stop you, but you'll have to do it on your own."

"Fine, and once we have our hands on that shard you'll see how wrong you are to act like such a weakling!" he then turned his attention to the rest of those present "I'm going to go and join the northern tribes, whoever wants to get their hands on a piece of that Shikon Jewel shard then you had better follow me!" and so he took off, with about a dozen or so other wolf demons following his lead.

'Dammit, it always has to be something doesn't it?' Koga looked down at his right arm, which now sported a faint scar from where the jewel shard had been ripped out 'It feels like longer, but it's only been about a week since the last stand against the Birds of Paradise. I never thought the leader of that pack of rats with wings would've been able to steal the Shikon Jewel shard I had in my right arm, and then that fucking meat sack (referring to Tatsu) has to swoop in and save the day, acting like he's some kind of hero. It makes me look weak in front of my tribe. Still though, I can't believe that he was able to go and kill the ldear of the Birds of Paradise with one attack like it was nothing. When they left they took the shard that the bird had, along with the one it took from my arm. No doubt that at some point he and Kagome and the rest of their group are gonna come back looking for the jewel shards that I have in my legs, and when that happens I have to be ready.'

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Meanwhile, with the Inu Gang…

By this point, Kagome and the rest of the gang had continued their quest to gather the shards of the jewel, and she looked down at her new attire as she did so "You know I have to admit, it does feel pretty good wearing something other than my uniform for once. At least with this I don't have to worry about my skirt flying up for all the world to see when we're in the middle of a fight or moving really fast. The last thing I need is for everyone in Feudal Japan to get a look at my underwear."

"I know what you mean, but at the same time it does raise a question." Tatsu pulled out one of his swords and pointed it at Miroku to silence him "How the hell do you keep that from happening in the first place?"

"To be completely honest with you, I have absolutely no idea, and I'm not too eager to learn the answer."

"Fair enough. Anyway you sure this is it?"

"Yep I can sense it, a jewel shard in this direction plain as day. So we're tracking down a demon bear that attacked a village?"

"According to what we heard from the survivors at least, that is the case." Miroku told her "This one on particular had started out as just a mischievous cub that ruined the fields, but then it suddenly grew huge and attacked the village."

"So basically we have to take it out and we'll take the jewel shard as payment for it, seems simple enough." Tatsu glanced over and noticed Inuyasha walking behind the rest of the group and brooding to himself "Okay we know you're pissed off about something, now spill your guts already."

"That's the understatement of the fucking century." Inuyasha let out a scoff "Sure we go off and track down whichever shards of the jewel Kagome senses, but why the hell should I waste my time in hunting down a bear when I could be making a new wolf pelt for myself?"

"You're talking about Koga aren't you?"

"We already know that Koga has 2 shards of the jewel jammed in his skinny little hairy legs, and frankly I'd feel more like fighting if I could smell the reek of wolf around this mountain instead of the stench of bear."

"So to sum up, you're saying you'd stop moping around if you saw a chance to kill Koga for calling you a mutt before."

"How the fuck do you not, did you forget that he fucking kidnapped Kagome?"

"Oh god no, I still plan on smashing his face into the ground, but I'm not gonna mope around whining over that since she's safe from anything like that now. Besides, he showed me he believes in a fair fight so that means he's got some measure of good in him."

"And what, you think it's fine to leave him with those jewel shards?"

"I think he's a better option than Naraku, let's leave it at that for now. Besides, it looks like we've got company." he jerked a thumb at where a group of bandits.

"Not the bear demon, so a pretty sizeable letdown as far as I'm concerned."

"No arguments here, it's nothing but an ordinary pack of bandits."

"Who the hell are you calling ordinary you arrogant bastard?" the leader of the group of bandits was quick to round on him "And by the looks of you I'd say that you don't have any money, so why don't you just leave us the women and we'll call it even?"

"Yeah look guys, we've got better things to do then screw around with you and some of us aren't exactly in the best mood." he gestured over to Inuyasha "So take my advice, if you don't want to get hurt then clear out while you can."

"You wanna run that the hell by us again?"

"Not really, we've got better things to do." Tatsu promptly drew both swords from his back and glanced back at the others "Guys."

"Say no more, we already know." Miroku brandished his staff, with Kagome and the rest drawing on their own weapons "Brace yourselves, it's about to reveal itself."

"Right about now too." this was followed by a loud crash sounding in the distance, and then a large tree being sent hurtling forward, which prompted the bandits to scatter "Sango!"

"I'm on it! Hiraikotsu!" Sango promptly hurled Hiraikotsu forward and ripped through the tree to stop it from hitting any of them, which was followed by the bear demon revealing itself to the group.

"And there's the prey we're seeking, alright Kagome what are we looking at?"

"It only has one shard and its right in the center of its forehead." Kagome told him as she drew her sword "Just stand back, a single stroke should be enough to finish this."

"Yeah it probably would be, but you don't need to trouble yourself." Tatsu held out a hand to stop her "Just stand back and enjoy the show, I'm gonna handle this one."

"I can take care of myself you know."

"I know, but what's the point of all the training if you can't put it to the test." Tatsu took a step forward towards and promptly leapt high into the air, water circulating around one of his forearms "Oh this is gonna be good. Aqua Javelin!" with one hand he summoned a large spear made of solidified water and hurled it forward, piercing the bear demon right through the neck with a burst of energy and lopping its head clean off, but it was then that he and the others noticed a large swarm approaching them from the distance "Oh crap."

"Tatsu get out of there, it's Naraku's poison insects!"

"Yeah I kind of figured that much, just stand back! Iron Spear Storm!" Tatsu held out both hands and unleashed a barrage of iron spears that ripped through a large number of Saimyosho, but as he was preoccupied with his attack one of them flew over to the head of the bear demon and pulled out the jewel shard, whereas the rest of the survivors of the swarm went on to devour the bear demon itself, leaving only bones behind in their wake "Dammit!" he let out a growl as he returned to the ground with the others "So what do you guys think, is this a trap?"

"That would be the most likely case." Miroku gave a simple nod.

"Do we follow it them?"

"I say that's fine with me." Inuyasha let out a snarl "And I'll tell you this, Naraku isn't going to get away this time."

"Any objections?" he received no reply "Just had to be sure, now let's get going."

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Meanwhile, in Naraku's castle…

As always, Naraku's castle was surrounded by a thick cloud of miasma, which didn't bother the woman clad in a beautiful kimono with piercing red eyes, a woman by the name of Kagura, as she made her way through the halls of the castle, but stopped when she reached a certain cet of blinds covering a room "Well then my dear, I can see that you've decided to watch this from a distance, and allow me to do the dirty work for you? Well so be it then, after all such a thing does make things easier for me in the long run." she pulled out a fan from within her robe and used it to slice through the blinds, revealing a pedestal containing a single jewel shard "The shards of the Shikon Jewel make demons even more powerful, do they not? This really is quite an utterly enticing opiate. I take it that you plan to lure them here through use of this?" she reached to grab hold of the jewel shard, only for her hand to be repelled by a surge of crimson energy "But why? You're powerful enough to conquer them without all of this. I can't say for certain whether you're being extra careful or if you're being cowardly, or perhaps it's nothing more than your insatiable love for coming up with all sorts of clever entrapments. Tell me my master, which one is it exactly?"

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Meanwhile, with the fools rushing to their deaths…

By this point, the army of wolf demons, with Kiba leading the group, had reached the outside of the castle, all of them being sure to keep their eyes on the prize "Here it is brothers, this castle is where we're going to find the shards of the Shikon Jewel! When the castle guards appear don't hesitate, be sure to kill every last one of them!" this was met with a series of cheers, though he seemed more serious about it than the rest of the group 'Something doesn't seem right though, I can't see or smell anyone else in the castle.' it was at this moment that they noticed the figure of a person behind the blinds "There's someone there, don't show any mercy!" and so they charged forward, hurling spears forward without hesitation and charging with blades drawn and eyes filled with lust for blood and power.

"Oh please, spare me the theatrics." Kagura let out a scoff as she let loose a single wave of her fan, releasing a powerful gust of wind that sent them flying into the air "Is that it? Now that's just pathetic, all of you are going to have to do much better than that, now try bringing me someone that could actually convince me to put some effort into this. Dance of Blades!" with another wave of her fan, she unleashed a barrage of wind blades that ripped through everything in their path, including the Wolf demons in front of her…

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Meanwhile, at the den of the Wolf Demon tribe…

'Oh for crying out loud, I am too tired for this crap.' Hakkaku let out a sigh as he did his round with his wolves on guard duty, until he came across the sleeping form of Ginta lying by the river, and a large shit eating grin spread across his face 'Oh now this is gonna be good. You know what they say, payback is a bitch. Keep quiet guys, this is gonna be good." he made his way forward to try and sneak up on Ginta, only to stop when he heard growling "Dammit guys, I told you to keep it down." he whipped around, only find Kiba stumbling out from within the shadows with a massive scar on his chest "What the- Ginta get up!"

"What the hell?!" Ginta bolted upright, and upon seeing Kiba stumble forward he let out a howl that summoned the other wolf demons present "What the hell, what's wrong with him?"

"How should I know?!"

"Alright cool it, now what the hell is going on?" Koga shoved his way through the crowd of wolf demons until he was face to face with Kiba "What happened, where are the others?"

"I'm sorry Koga… you were right…" Kiba stumbled forward a few more feet and held out his hand, shocking those present with what he was holding "I was only able… to get one…"

"You actually got a shard of the Shikon Jewel…"

"There's not much time Koga, if you don't get to the castle soon then everyone is going to be slaughtered…"

Koga didn't utter a single word, he just snatched the jewel shard from Kiba's hand and bolted down the mountain at full speed.

"You did good, now get inside and rest." Ginta and Hakkaku were quick to come to Kiba's aid and tryto help him "You really are amazing, how did you get a jewel shard and them make it all the way back here with all of those injuries?" they tried to support him, only for his body to literally fall apart and collapse to the ground in a heap, much to the horror of all of the wolf demons present "Oh shit… he's dead…"

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Meanwhile, with Koga…

'Come on, come on, come on!' Koga bolted down the side of the mountain and through the forest as fast as his legs could carry him, his mind racing as he stared at the jewel shard he held in his hand 'He actually got a shard of the Shikon Jewel. Well I'll tell you this, I'm gonna be sure to put it to good use!' he thrusted the shard into his right arm and continued on his way, unaware of the fact that the shard in question was glowing with evil energy.

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Meanwhile, with the Inu Gang…

"Get the fuck out here Naraku!" by this point, Inuyasha and the rest of the gang had followed the swarm of Saimyosho to the sight of the castle, and he busted down the castle gates, only to find the grounds littered with the corpses of dozens of wolf demons "What the hell is this?"

"Looks like they came from the Wolf Demon Tribe." Sango muttered "But what reason would they have to be in this castle?"

"The hell if I know, but if Naraku is involved then I think it's pretty obvious that they got lured into a trap like a pack of suckers." this was followed by a large gust of wind being sent throughout the grounds, and then all of a sudden the corpses of the wolf demons started rising up again "And now this is happening."

"What they heck?!" Shippo didn't waste any time in throwing himself into Kagome's arms in terror "That's not possible, there's no way they could still be alive!"

"Well they are, and that means we just have to kill them again."

"Inuyasha wait, it's not that simple." Miroku told him "I don't sense any life from these men, their souls have left their bodies and now they walk as the undead."

"Well we have to kill them either way." and so Inuyasha started using his claws to rip through the wolf demons one by one, but even though they were blown to the ground they ended up picking themselves back up again.

"This isn't good." Kagome muttered as she slashed through one of them with her sword "It doesn't mater how many times we knock them down or hurt them, if they can move then they just keep getting back up. I don't get it though, if they were dead then how could they keep getting back up?"

"Well I think it's obvious that there's some kind of outside force controlling them and making them fight to begin with." Tatsu promptly hurtled forward a barrage of iron spears at the zombified wolf demons "But I think that until we figure what's making them do this, the only thing we can do is try and put them out of their misery. Though if I had to guess, I'd say that the cause is Naraku doing this while he's hiding inside the castle like a goddamn coward.

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Meanwhile, with the mastermind…

What none of them noticed was that Kagura was watching from inside the castle, controlling the movements of the wolf demons with a few simple waves of her fan, a malicious smirk plastered across her ace "If a man loses his head then I'll put it back on him, if he's cut down to size then he can still take them out. These men are simply dancing to my undead death song, and as such they maneuver through my Dance of the Dead." then her head snapped up as a certain presence got her attention "Oh I see, so the wolf is here already? Well that's a damn shame, I was hoping to have some more fun, but if I have to do it then so be it."

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Meanwhile, with the main gang…

"Bring it on you undead sons of bitches!" Inuyasha barred his claws, only to falter slightly at the sight of the wolf demon corpses rising up into the air, flying towards him and then suddenly exploding in a rather gorey fashion, drenching him in a large amount of their blood 'What the hell is going on here?'

"Okay it's official, this doesn't make any sense." Kagome muttered "I mean first they come back to life and try to kill us, and now they just up and collapse out of nowhere."

"Try being soaked in their blood, believe me when I tell you that it's not fun."

"Hang on a second, I'll clean you off." Tatsu went up to Inuyasha and spread out his arms, earning a few odd looks from the others "Why the looks? I told you guys the third Fang lets me manipulate water and other liquid properties, so yeah I don't see why I shouldn't be able to get the stuff off him. Just give me a second." he was about to get started, but then stopped and his face fell "Oh crap."

"What's the matter?"

"We've got company, just take a whiff and I think the scent is gonna get you in the moode for a fight."

"...Oh shit."

Sure enough, Koga was standing atop the gates of the castle, looking horrified by the sight of the corpses of his comrades, but then when he saw Inuyasha practically bathing in their blood, his horror almost immediatley turned into blinding rage "INUYASHA!"

'Great, so now we've gotta deal with this shit.'

"Inuyasha how dare you bathe yourself in the blood of my comrades, for this you just sealed your fate!"

"Before you start jumping to conclusions, your buddies over here were already dead by the time me and the others got to the castle."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! You can't lie to me, I can see with my own eyes that you're covered head to foot in your blood!"

'Dammit, Naraku set me up again. I swear this shit is getting really old.'

"You're gonna pay for this you mutt, and you're gonna pay in their blood!"

"Koga stop, you're making a mistake!" Kagome called out to him "We only came here because we were searching for a demon named Naraku, and your comrades were all dead by the time we got here!"

"Kagome…"

"But then they came to life and started attacking us! But they weren't really alive, they were some kind of zombies!"

"Kagome don't waste your energy trying to protect that filthy cur. Some stupid line about how they were already dead when you got here, how stupid do you think I am you bloodrthisty halfbreed piece of shit?"

"Koga…"

'Dammit, it looks like we were set up.' Miroku and Sango shared an understanding look, and they both scowled at the events taking place 'This is another trap set for us by Naraku, and we all walked right into it. His poison insects were what led us to here in the first place. Somehow members of the Wolf Demon Tribe were lured into this castle as well, and they were quickly slaughtered in a gruesome fashion. Koga came to rescue his comrades when he heard they were in trouble, and he rushed over here and arrived just in time to find us here, and Inuyasha covered in their blood.'

"This is really bad."

"No doubt about it, there's no reasoning with someone when they let themselves sink into a blind rage like that." Tatsu drew both swords off of his back "Now he's set his sights on Inuyasha and won't settle for anything less than fighting him to the death."

"Yeah you're right, Koga let the blood go straight to his head, and I don't think there's anything that will get him to back down." Shippo muttered "I think Inuyasha is going to have to fight him to stop him."

"NOW DIE!" Koga pounced towards Inuyasha in a blind rage and let a fist fly.

'Shit!' Inuyasha was forced to go on the evasive and avoid Koga's attack, leaving the blow to unleash a large wave of energy that ripped through part of the castle grounds with ease 'He's just as fast as when he fought against Tatsu, but he's got a lot more power going for him now. Looks to me like you've got your strength back now, and I see that you managed to get your hands on another jewel shard for your arm."

"You got that right you filthy cur. I lost my original jewel shard the last time we met, but now I got my hands on a new one that's even better."

"Koga stop!" Kagome tried to call him off, only to freeze she noticed the red glow that was coming from Koga's arm "Something isn't right about this."

"You mean the fact that he's attacking Inuyasha in a blind rage and we're not jumping in trying to stop him?" Tatsu pointed out dryly.

"Nevermind that right now, take a look at his arm."

"You mean the ominous red energy coming from him right?"

"That's just it, normally you wouldn't be able to see the jewel shards. This isn't like the other shards though, it's darker and the energy coming from it feels warped and twisted. Whatever that thing is, it's not a shard of the jewel."

"Well whatever it is I'm not standing by and letting this happen. You guys stay back, sorry to be blunt but if you try and stop him you'll only end up getting hurt. Besides, I have a new technique I've been working on." he held out his arms and began gathering blue energy.

"DIE DIE DIE!" Koga continued his assault on Inuyasna and prepared to unleash another energy enhanced fist, only to suddenly find it being blocked by a large water shield sitting in between the two of them "What the hell is this thing supposed to be?"

"A new technique I've been working on, I call it the Sea God's Shield. You're not the only one whose picked up on a few new tricks since the last time we met. I would go on about how it wasn't Inuyasha that slaughtered your comrades and that Naraku was the one who did it, but I can from the look in your eyes that you wouldn't listen even if I did."

"You can save your breath you fucking meat sack! Words are cheap, I believe what I see with my own eyes!"

"Like I thought."

"Like this idiot wolf said, you can save your breath." Inuyasha told him flatly "This jackass has a block of wood for a brain, so he can't grasp anything too complicated. There's no reasoning with someone like him, the only thing he understands is a few punches in the head. Just stand back and let me handle this."

"Not on your life. I said it to Koga before and I'll say it again, if he wants you then he has to go through me first. Don't even try to talk me out of this."

"...Fine fuck it, you're the one throwing your life away."

"Whatever you need to tell yourself, now let's do this. Kagome you and the others stay back, we've got this."

"But Tatsu, I… I won't just stand back and do nothing." Kagome placed her sword back in its sheath "I can't really keep up with them in a fight like that, but maybe if I talk to Koga then I could talk him down."

"Actually Kagome, I don't think that's gonna work." Shippo told her "From what I know the Demon Wolf Tribes live in packs, and they cherish their comrades like they're part of this same huge family."

"And you think that seeing so many people he cares about dead all at once was enough to drive him insane from the grief he feels. Do you think that shard has something to do with that shard he has in his arm, like it's amplifying his negative emotions and driving him to fight Inuyasha in such a rage?"

"It is a sound theory, and knowing Naraku we can't rule it out." Miroku noted grimly "I had initially thought he would be willing to listen to you Kagome, but I was wrong. Koga is too far gone as he is right now, and Inuyasha and Tatsu both know this."

"But this is all because Naraku is trying to make Inuyasha and Koga fight against each other, and now Tatsu ended up getting in on it. He pitted them against each other in this set up, and for all we know he's probably just watching all of this happen from somewhere not far from here. You think he's inside the castle?"

"Pay attention if you want to live you fucking coward, what the hell are you looking at when you should be paying attention to your EXECUTIONER!" Koga pounced at Inuyasha at full speed and dealt him a full force energy-enhanced punch to Inuyasha's chest, while simultaneously dealing Tatsu a kick to the face.

"Well whatever it is I can't just stand back and do nothing, I have to help!" Kagome drew her sword and prepared to charge in, only to be stopped by Miroku holding out his staff in front of her "What?"

"I understand your feelings on this matter Kagome, but what you have to keep in mind is that we came here in search of Naraku, and he's the one who set this entire stage." Miroku pointed out calmly.

"And you think he might be hiding somewhere in the castle?"

"I think that charging right into a trap set by the enemy is generally not a wise strategy to be followed."

"Well it's not like we have much of a choice, case and point!" Sango promptly grabbed hold of her Hiraikotsu and threw it into the castle, and then she and Miroku bolted inside.

"Shippo say here with Kirara, I'm going with them." Kagome set Shippo down on Kiara's back and took off into the castle after the others, sword and bow in hand.

'Looks like they're chasing after Naraku. Good, as long as she's not out here I don't have to worry about holding back.' Tatsu glanced over at the castle, then over at Koga as a set of iron scales began forming along his body "You'd better be ready wolf, now it's time for us to start the second round."

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Meanwhile, inside Naraku's castle…

"Sorry to fall behind like that." Kagome quickly caught up with Miroku and Sango, only to stop when they encountered the form of Kagura waiting for them 'This woman, she's giving me this feeling like I only got from Naraku… Who are you, what are you doing here?"

"So it's a formal introduction that you desire?" Kagura turned to face them with her fan in hand as she shot a smirk at them "Good evening, my name is Kagura. Judging by your appearances, you must be Sango the Demon Slayer and Miroku the monk, and I can only assume that you must be Kagome. Am I right?"

"Yeah you are, so where can we find Naraku?"

"I'm afraid that Naraku isn't in right now, but he left a few things behind to ensure that you would be entertained. Naraku hopes that these little gifts he left behind prove to be amusing to all of you." this was followed by a small straw figure falling onto the floor in front of them.

'Is that some kind of demon puppet?'

"Now then, if you would be so kind as to excuse me, I'm off to get a front row seat to the outdoor entertainment, that being Tatsu, Inuyasha and Koga. Neither of them really take my fancy truth be told, so I don't care which of them come out alive." she disappeared, and the demon puppet came to life and took on the form of Naraku, complete with the white baboon pelt and the roots bursting out of the bottom.

"We don't have time for this."

"To be fair Kagome, it doesn't seem like we have a choice either." Sango promptly grabbed hold of Hiraikotsu "Naraku definitely has a soft spot for elaborate setups, he has the ones with no control over their tempers, and Tatsu, fight outside while the three of us are stuck in here dealing with this demon puppet. What the heck does he take us for?"

"Whatever he thinks of us it doesn't even matter, because if this works then it won't even mean anything in the next few minutes." Kagome gripped her sword and took a few steps forward towards the demon puppet "I know how you feel though Sango, I'm as sick of his deceptions and lies as you and the others are."

"Kagome what are you doing?"

"I'm putting an end to this before it begins."

"Kagome you can't just fight that thing on your own or-" Sango was cut off by Miroku holding out his staff in front of her to stop her "What are you doing?"

"I'm simply respecting her wishes." Miroku told her calmly "I know what she intends to do, and it's something that we need to allow to happen. You know as well as I do the amount of effort that Lady Kagome has put into her training in recent times. As commendable as it is, training alone means nothing if she doesn't have one essential key to success in battle. Experience. That is something that you and I, Inuyasha and Tatsu, all of us have in one aspect or another. As I said, despite all of the effort she's put in, she needs to know for herself how well it worked. I believe the best way to describe it is, this is a field test for her."

"...Alright, but if it looks like she's in trouble then I'm stepping in. Go ahead Kagome, do what you have to do."

"Thank you both, truly." Kagome shot the two of them a grateful smile, and then she turned back to the demon puppet as she brandished her sword 'I can feel it, the same sensation burning within my chest. The feeling of having someone to protect, wanting to protect them with every fiber of your being, and having the resolve to push yourself to your limit! Take this!" she brought down her sword with a single stroke, and from that stroke emerged a large wave of spiritual energy that ripped through the demon puppet and cleaved it straight down the middle, the energy spreading throughout the rest of its body and purifying it in a massive white light. Once that was done, she took a breath and sheathed her sword, then turned back to Miroku and Sango and noticed how shocked they both looked "What, was I that bad?" she received no reply "Tell me later, right now let's get back to the others." and she quickly bolted towards the outside.

"...So that was her field test then?"

"A very successful one yes." Miroku gave a simple nod as he snapped out of his stupor "We should be on our way then."

"Right behind you." the two of them started to follow after her, only to stop at the appearance of a second demon puppet in front of them "Part of me thinks I should've expected that."

"We can dwell on that later, for now let's just focus on defeating this second one. Let Kagome go and provide aid to Tatsu and Inuyasha, I think she's already proven that she can handle herself in a battle now just fine."

"...Alright fine, now let's get this thing out of the way. They're growing stronger, but that doesn't mean we can't contribute either."

"Agreed." and so the two of them charged at the second demon puppet.

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Meanwhile, outside the castle…

"Get the fuck back here you bloodthirsty mutt!" Koga continued his tirade against Inuyasha by hurling another attack at him, resulting in another powerful explosion that wrecked another part of the castle.

'Shit!' Inuyasha was forced to evade another attack from Koga and landed on the ground a few feet away from Tatsu "This is insane, where the hell is he getting all of this extra power from?"

"He's got another shard jammed into his right arm." Tatsu pointed out "That's where the main problem lies though, Kagome said herself that whatever he's got jammed in there, it didn't come from the jewel. Plus I heard her say something about how it might be messing with his head and making him lash out."

"So what then, we have to kill him to stop him? Because I can live with that."

"Or, here's a better idea. We wear him down until he's feeling a little bit more reasonable."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Think about it. We've tried talking him down but it's pretty obvious that's not going to work, so if we can get him to burn off enough energy chasing the two of us around trying to kill us, then if all goes well he might be calm enough to listen to what really happened."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"Then you smack him around a little but until he does listen."

"Good enough for me."

"Good, now let's do this."

"I said pay attention to your executioner!" Koga freed himself from the crater he had put himself in and resumed his assault.

Inuyasha continued dodging Koga's attacks, with Tatsu doing the same, and the two of them quickly took notice of Kirara pulling Shippo out of the way of another blast 'At least Kirara is there to keep the brat out of trouble. I thought I was the one you wanted to kill, so leave them the hell out of this."

"You're the one to blame for trying to avoid getting what you deserve, if your comrades die because of your cowardice then it should be on your head."

'Looks like he doesn't have a damn problem with fighting me to the death. Naraku is the one who laid the trap, but Koga went and sealed his own fate. Change of plans Tatsu, I'm gonna finish off this mangy wolf myself." he promptly drew Tessaiga from its sheath "You made a big mistake in pissing me off as much as you did wolf, and now you just signed your own death warrant." this prompted Tatsu to just facepalm.

"I was just about to say the same thing to you you worthless mut! Now prepare to die IN THE NAME OF MY COMRADES!" with his right arm surging with energy, Koga burst forward at full speed.

'He's so fast!' Inuyasha blocked the strike from Koga using Tessaiga, only for it to be knocked out of his grip, though he wasn't deterred by this "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" he barred his claws and clashed against Koga's fist, though the energy ripped through his arm and he was sent skidding back 'Shit, I wasn't expecting that.'

"Yeah see, that's what the whole thinking thing is about." Tatsu blitzed to his side and glanced over at him "He got you bad didn't he?"

"He shattered the bone in my arm with one hit, what the fuck do you think?"

"Don't take any more chances trying to fight him head on, just hang back and focus on dodging while I focus on blocking." Tatsu promptly stopped a kick from Koga with one hand, albeit one hand enhanced by the iron scales covering his body "I said it before, if you want him then you have to go through me."

"Fine, then I'll slaughter the both of you with one hit! This will finish you both! VENGEANCE IS MINE!" with a mighty roar, Koga leapt high into the air and burst down towards them at full speed, his fist locked and loaded with energy, fully intent to kill both of them.

"Terra Shield! Sea God's Shield!" thinking quick, Tatsu summoned a wall of earth in front of himself and Inuyasha, and then a shield made of water in front of it, just as Koga's fist collided with it in the blinding explosion that followed.

When the smoke cleared, it was revealed that both the water shield and the earth wall had been obliterated, and Tatsu had blocked Koga's attack using his forearms, or he had tried to block it at least, and as a result the iron scales had been blown off of both his arms entirely, while his arms themselves were heavily scorched, causing him to cringe from the pain 'Dammit, he ripped through both shields and my scales with one attack. If I didn't have all three in place to protect us, then me and Inuyasha probably wouldn't be here right now.'

"I thought you were better than this you know." Koga's eyes were still blazing as he backed off a short distance "I thought that you had a sense of honor, at least by human standards, but here you are defending a murderer. All you're proving is that all humans are alike, that they've got no problems with killing anything they don't like, and they don't care about lying, cheating or stealing as long as they benefit from it."

"They're inferior creatures wolf, that's really all there is to it." it was at this moment Kagura had decided to reveal herself to the three of them.

"Name yourself, who are you?"

"I have to admit I'm rather disappointed wolf boy, I figured that once you settled the score you would be able to die without any regrets, but oh well."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I go by Kagura of the Wind, and I came here to see that you, and those two by extension, are able to experience one final dance." she opened her fan, and that caused the corpses of the various wolf demons to rise once again, much Koga's shock.

"What the hell is this? My men were all dead, how could they be rising again?"

"The reason they rise again is so they can attend your final dance, I'm sure it would kill them to miss it."

"You sorceress, does that mean that… you were the one responsible for slaughtering all of my comrades?"

"Oh, you mean those weakling wolf demons that came here looking for a jewel shard? I wonder, such a thing actually slipped my mind." she sent the wolf demons forward.

"You wretched sorcereress, I'll slaughter you for this!" Koga blitzed through the barrage of wolf corpses and charged at Kagura as fast as he could, but this quickly came to a head when his arm started glowing with crimson colored energy, and he suddenly fell to his knees a few feet away from her 'What the hell… I can't move… what's happening to me…?'

"It would seem that the jewel shard in your arm has finally released its poison, and now it's about time for you to die. Dance of Blades!" she waved her fan and sent forward a barrage of wind blades.

'She slaughtered my comrades… and then she played me for a fool… Some leader I am, aren't I sis…?' Koga could only shut his eyes and wait for the inevitable, only for it to never come even after a few moments passed, and so he opened his eyes and his jaw nearly dropped at what he was seeing 'No fucking way… Tatsu?'

Sure enough, Tatsu stood in front of him, Inuyasha's wounded form slung over his shoulder and using a Sea God's Shield to protect the three of them "You know I could go on and give this entire speech about altruism and the like, but I'm gonna settle with this. If anyone is gonna take you down then it's gonna be me, you got that wolf?"

"You're wasting your time protecting him." Kagura told him flatly "That pathetic wolf can't even move now, that jewel shard he embedded into his arm is an imitation created through a crystallized poison and a miasma with a strong paralysis effect. His little tirade against the two of you made his blood pump faster and sped up the spread of the poison."

"You little bitch!" Koga tried to force himself back to his feet, only to stumble and fall to the ground once again.

"Now that you can't run away, I'm going to help myself to the true shards of the Shikon Jewel you hold in your legs."

"There's one thing you're forgetting about, and that's the fact that Inuyasha and I are still here and still have plenty of fight left in us." Tatsu dropped the water shield and dropped into a combat stance, then glanced over at Inuyasha as he did the same 'Inuyasha still has fight in him but he's down an arm, he's gonna be at disadvantage.'

"If you insist on rushing to your death for this wolf, then so be it." Kagura waved her fan and summoned a horde of wolf demon corpses to her side, only for an arrow to suddenly strike them and destroy the corpses in a pink and purple light, to which she glanced back and raised an eyebrow 'Okay, that didn't last as long as I was expecting.'

As it turns out, the source of that light was Kagome, having fired a Sacred Arrow as she arrived on the scene "I'm not going to let you desecrate the dead like that any further."

'So that must be the Sacred Arrow that I've heard so much about. Dance of Blades!" with a wave of her fan, Kagura unleashed a barrage of wind blades in their direction.

'Remember that feeling and let it guide your stroke!' Kagome brought down her sword and unleashed a wave of spiritual energy that cancelled out the barrage of wind blades.

Kagura was forced to leap out of the way of the blast to avoid being purified herself "Well, it would seem that you're better than I was expecting. However, I can't allow you to continue with your interference." she prepared to wave her fan, only to stop as she saw a water shield form in front of her "Oh great, you two still plan to fight don't you?"

"The hell with fighting… more like slaughter you…" this was when Inuyasha forced himself back onto his feet, a series of blood stains covering his robe as he used the Tessiaga as a crutch, but his fighting spirit wasn't diminished in the slightest "If there's anyone here that you're gonna come after… then it should be me…"

"So you still have some fight left in you dog boy, I can see that you can't trust a wolf to get the job done. You have to leave it to the women instead."

"You're living in a fucking fantsy if you think that puny wolf could do in me or any of the others with anything he's got going for him."

"Well then it would seem that I underestimated you, so it would seem that you are up to engaging in a duel with me."

"I'm more than able and willing to take you on, but I'm warning you now that you're going to die slowly. You soak me in the blood of those damn wolves and setting that fool on me, that's enough to earn you a special place in the depths of hell, but what pisses me off even more is the fact that you reek of Naraku's scent. Just having to think about that bastard is enough to give me all the strength I need to finish you off." he hurled himself forward and brought Tessaiga down towards her.

Kagura needed only to wave her fan to counter the stroke of Tessaiga and fend off Inuyasha, forcing him to retreat a short distance.

'She's more powerful than she looks, just a single stroke of her fan was enough to push back against the Tessaiga.'

"You'd better pull back on this one." Tatsu told him "The way things are right now, you're not gonne be able to beat her. Don't even try to deny it, you know as well as I do that you can only fight about half as well as you usually do."

"I am the Wind Sorceress, and as such the wind in this castle is entirely under my control. Your pitiful Wind Scar won't work against me. Dance of the Dragon!" Kagura then went on to prove her point and waved her fan, which sent forward a barrage of wind tornadoes that forced all of those present to go on the evasive.

"Sea God's Shield!" Tatsu spread out his arms and created multiple water shields in order to protect Kagome and the others, then turned to Inuyasha "If you can still use the Wind Scar then make it fast, I don't know how many of her attacks my shields can take."

"One clean shot is all that I need from her." Inuyasha dropped into a stance with the Tessaiga and pointed it forward 'This bitch's wind attacks are created from her demonic power, the point where the winds collide is the Wind Scar, and that's where the Tessaiga is able to unleash its true power in full force. I can rip through her in a single shot, all I have to do is find the Wind Scar and slice through it.' it was around this time that he ran into a problem 'Wait I don't get it, what the hell is going on? I can't see the Wind Scar around Kagura?'

"Dammit, I was afraid of this. Sea God's Shield! Tatsu blitzed in front of Inuyasha and promptly summoned another water shield in front of them "You can't use the Wind Scar can you? She said the wind around her is under her control, and if you can't use the Wind Scar then that means whatever you use to create the Wind Scar is at her mercy. You were already at a disadvantage because of your arm, now you can't even use your most powerful attack."

"So what the fuck do you suggest I do?"

"What you're going to do is stand back behind this gigantic water shield while I test out a certain theory I have going in regards to her powers."

"Which is?"

"She can control wind so that can't work on her, but that doesn't mean water isn't going to work on her either."

"...You're gonna steal the win from me again aren't you?"

"It's not stealing the win if you genuinely can't take it for yourself, and as you are right now I think it's pretty fair to say that you can't. Stand back and let me handle this." without waiting to hear another argument, Tatsu took a few steps forward as water began circulating around his left forearm and he looked at Kagura "I hope you're ready for this, you have power over wind but water is mine to command! Sea Dragon's ROAR!" he sent forward a large water dragon at full speed.

"My wind can rip through any attack it sees fit, including water!" Kagura prepared to do just that to the Sea Dragon's Roar, only to freeze when she saw a Sacred Arrow land by her feet, courtesy of Kagome firing it at her from behind which unleashed a bright light that caused the surrounding wind to disappear 'This can't be, that girl Kagome's Sacred Arrow is able to purify my wind!' that was all she was able to think before she was struck by the water dragon, sending her tumbling back in a heap covered in her own blood. Before anything else could happen, she pulled a feather out of her hair and it grew large enough to hold her, and she flew away from the scene, though as she retreated she allowed them to see something that took them by surprise: a burn mark on her back shaped like a spider.

"When you see Naraku give him a message for us: It doesn't matter how much power he has, because all of us are getting stronger, and we're coming for him." Tatsu let out a sigh as he deactivated his water shields and turned to Inuyasha "You saw it too right?" he received no reply from him "I thought so. She's powerful, malicious and likes killing and screwing with people, she has Naraku's scent. I don't know what it means exactly, but I think it's safe to assume that he has help now.'

"So she escaped." it was at this moment that Sango and Miroku appeared before the group.

"What happened to you guys? I thought you were right behind me." Kagome pointed out.

"We were, but then we got cut off by another demon puppet. We just finished it off and came out here help, but I guess we were too late."

"Well as long as you're okay." the group looked around at the sight of the castle surrounding them starting to disappear, leaving nothing but a large patch of scorched earth behind as a sign of its presence "So I guess the entire castle was another illusion he created."

"You'd think that after all this time he'd try to be less predictable." this was when Tatsu made his way over to the group with Inuyasha's wounded form slung over his shoulder, right arm dangling at his side helplessly.

"Are you guys okay?"

"His right arm got shattered from one of Koga's attacks, I got a few burns and bruises here and there but I'll be fine."

"What about Kagura, did you finish her off?"

"No, I saw her get away, but not unscathed. My water dragon attack was able to rip one of her arms clean off. She might have gotten away, but I think Naraku is gonna learn from this that he shouldn't underestimate us again."

"What about Koga?" they glanced over to see Koga on the ground a short distance away from them, writing in agony with his right arm turning purple "This isn't good, the poison from the fake shard in his arm is spreading even further. Hang on." she rushed over to Koga and reached for the fake shard, only to be met with a surge of energy that pushed her back.

"Don't get too close to him, whatever poison is coming out of that shard, we don't know if it will spread to whoever touches it."

"I can't just sit around and do nothing, he'll die if I don't…"

"Forget it Kagome… just let me be…" Koga shot her a smirk full of bitterness "You know how much blood I've got on my hands… I tried to murder Inuyasha and Tatsu… I can see it right before my eyes… my sister rolling in her grave…"

"Okay as far as the whole "trying to kill me" thing goes, you're not the only person here who did that." Tatsu jerked a thumb at Inuyasha and Sango, both of them looking away sheepishly "You aren't the first person to be tricked by Naraku into doing his dirty work, there's a pretty fair chance that you're not going to be the last either. But if it's any consolation, I can think of one way to stop the poison from spreading to the rest of your body." Tatsu drew one of his swords from his back.

"Tatsu what are you planning to do?" asked Kagome.

"I can cut off his arm and stop the poison from spreading to the rest of his body."

"What about my healing hand, that should be able to purify the evil energy and heal him before the poison spreads!"

"No Kagome… it's okay…" Koga looked up at Tatsu, his eyes deadly serious "Go ahead… cut it off…"

"But Koga!"

"I know… that healing power of yours… it probably could do the job… But right now, I don't deserve that… right now, I have so much blood on my hands… I still hate those people for what they did… I probably always will… but killing them the way I did… It didn't get back what they took from me… My sister understood that… I should've understood that… By going through with this… I'll let it serve as a reminder… A reminder of what happens when I stray from the path she wanted me to follow…" he looked up at Tatsu "Do it."

"Alright." so with a deep breath, Tatsu brought down the blade and did the deed, resulting in a sickening squelching noise echoing throughout the area "Okay Kagome, go ahead and use your healing to stop his bleeding."

"R-Right." Kagome snapped out of her stupor and formed a series of hand seals, and then she let the white glow from her hands overflow Koga's wounds, stopping him from bleeding out, and then she spoke to him "Listen Koga, what those people did to your sister was horrible and wrong, and you have every right to hate them for it. I won't bother going on about what you did to their village, but I will tell you this. Human or demon, anyone is capable of great good and great evil, so everyone should be treated like they're worth giving a chance. I know a lot of humans out there are evil and selfish, but if you give them a chance, then they just might surprise you."

"I'll… keep that in mind." once her healing spell had subsided, Koga slowly pulled himself back to his feet and stared long and hard, then glanced back at Kagome "Thank you."

"You're welcome. So what will you do now?"

"The first thing I have to do is head back to the mountains, tell the rest of the tribe about what happened tonight, and then pay my respects to those that fell here by giving them proper burials, at least to the ones that still have corpses to bury." this caused Kagome to cringe, recalling how a number of the corpses had been purified by her own arrow.

"Okay… and then what?"

"What else? Kagura murdered my comrades, and I wasn't there to save them. I'm not going to dwell on my own failures. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure that she pays, and I'll end her life with my own hands. Then once she's dead, Naraku will be next." and with that, he stumbled away from the scene.

"Inuyasha sit down here, I'll treat your injuries now." Kagome sat Inuyasha down in front of her and began forming a series of hand seals "Rin. Pyo. Toh. Sha. Kai. Jin. Retsu. Zai. Zen." her arms began glowing with white energy as she placed her hands on his chest "Take it easy and try not to move around too much, it takes a little while for it to take effect."

"Forget it, I've dealt with worse." Inuyasha gave a shrug and laid down on the ground, letting the healing energy wash over his body.

"So what about Koga, do you think he's going to be alright?"

"I think he's gonna have a long road ahead of him." Tatsu told her flatly "But the guy's a fighter at heart, and the way I see it, the more allies we have working against Naraku the better."

"Plus unlike any of us, I don't think Koga has ever been deceived by Naraku before." Shippo told them.

"First time for everything. The guy lost a lot tonight, dozens of comrades killed all at once, not to mention losing his arm on the same night. That sort of thing takes its toll on you. But for the time being we should set up camp and get some rest, I think we could all use it." he received a few nods of agreement, but then he glanced down at Inuyasha "You saw it too didn't you?"

"Yeah, she has one just like him." Inuyasha muttered, which got the attention of the others "We saw it while she was getting away, Kagura has a spider shaped burn mark on her back, the same one that Naraku has on his."

"Whatever her deal is, she's connected with Naraku somehow, we know that much. Whatever the two of them are going to try next, we're gonna have to be ready."

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Meanwhile, with Kagura…

"Alright Naraku, where the hell are you?!" Kagura stormed through the halls of the real castle, her kimono covered in blood oozing from the stump where her left arm had once been, and she stormed into a certain room in a rage "Naraku!"

Sure enough, Naraku sat in front of her and spared a calm glance in her direction "Kagura, so I see that you were able to survive the battle, albeit not coming out unscathed." he glanced at the blood covered stump that used to be her left arm.

"How dare you deceive me like some kind of fool, you never told me about the power that human wretch Tatsu possessed!"

"Ah yes, the fabled Fangs of Ryuhogo. It would seem that with these fangs, he now holds a level of power that rivals the sword that sliced through the Wind Scar. I wanted to see just how much more powerful he has become since our first encounter, and now I know. I would say that it can't be all that formidable, seeing how you came back alive after being hit by a direct attack, but considering the collateral damage you brought back with you, it would seem that it's not just for show."

"So you admit that you deceived me then? You're nothing but an audacious fool, you're going to pay for this!" she drew her fan from her robe and fired a barrage of wind blades at him, ripping through the castle walls and his clothing, but otherwise not harming him.

"So that's how it's going to be then is it? So be it." Naraku simply held out a hand to her and summoned something in his palm, a small red orb that left her in shock."

"That's-" Kagura was cut short by Naraku squeezing the object in his hand, causing her to fall to her knees in pain.

"You would be wise to keep in mind Kagura, the fact that I hold your heart right here, in the very palm of my hand."

"Naraku… you wretch…"

"It would be a simple matter for me to turn you back into your original form. This is something that you should never forget Kagura, you were created from a part of me. You're nothing more than another piece of my essence. I gave you life, and I can just as easily take it back. You would be wise not to forget that."

Kagura said nothing, she just looked down at the ground in front of him.

"Good. Now then, let's see about doing something about that arm of yours."

A/N:

And with this chapter we see our heroes make their grand return to hunting for the jewel shards after a bit of a breather chapter, but not all is well as Naraku reveals to his enemies his first incarnation Kagura, the Wind Sorceress, who slaughters dozens of warriors of the Wolf Demon Tribe, which ends up setting Koga on the same path as our heroes: the path of hunting down Naraku to destroy him.

One other thing worth noting is that this is the first time we see Tatsu use his new powers in battle, showing off one attack and how thanks to the added power of the next fang, they now rival the Wind Scar in power, as is demonstrated by the fact that the one attack in question was more than enough for him to defeat Kagura with ease, not to mention taking one of her arms in the process.

So yes, rather than just have Kagome purify the poisonous shard in his arm, I made it so Koga loses his right arm entirely. One complaint I've heard about him is that he never really pays for what he does to Rin's village. While I never felt any real need to gripe over that, I did promise to try and do right by his character, hence why I had him lose an arm, as a reminder of his past mistakes.