InuYasha Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Not Your Normal 9 to 5 ❯ Training and Complications ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter 7: Training and Complications

 

They awoke the next morning cold and wet. Thankfully, the sun had risen and quickly raised the cool temperature. Lennex and Shippo had only been able to find sparse shelter the night before. The storm had moved in quickly and had only lasted a few hours, but it had rained hard. Still weak and exhausted, they spent the night under the biggest and thickest tree they could find. It had kept some of the rain off them, but not much.

 

Lennex had desperately wished there had been a capsule house in his pill box of goodies from the future, but Bulma had only packed him food stuffs. Sleep had come only after the rain had stopped, but it was a restless sleep; the fatigue of the day's journey offered some fraction of sleep aid. The fact was that, when Lennex awoke, he felt almost as bad as when he first awoke in the past. The small access of his power had done a major number on him.

 

He looked over at the fox demon; he had woken first and already had started a small fire. Upon closer inspection, he observed that Shippo also had two small rabbits roasting on the fire.

 

“Where did you get those from?” Lennex asked, coming forward to seek the flames' drying touch.

 

“I did a little hunting at first light. My father taught me the hunt, and believe it or not, Inuyasha continued that education.” The fox said with pride. He then looked at the small rabbits and his posture deflated a bit. “Unfortunately, I could only find these, and they are not very big.”

 

Lennex laughed a bit at the fox's wounded pride, not out of maliciousness, but just plain humor.

 

“You caught more than I did,” he said simply, to which Shippo replied, “Ya, but you didn't hunt anything.”

 

Lennex didn't say anything to that statement and looked upon the kit, waiting for him to put his point across in his own mind. He didn't wait long.

 

“So you're saying that just because I did catch something is more important than the fact of what I caught.”

 

Lennex nodded his head in confirmation. He put his hand into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out Miroku's map. He had tried to keep it as dry as possible during the night, but found it was a little damp. However, it was still legible, so he looked over the map as Shippo distractedly rotated the rabbits to roast on the other side, mulling over the moral of their conversation. Lennex, after being satisfied with observing the map and figuring out how much distance they could cover today, put the map back in his jacket. The still damp jacket. He sighed and realized that his clothes were not in the best shape after the explosion. And after last night, they were now soaked. Sure they would eventually dry, but it would be a miserable time until they did.

 

He could have used his watch, he supposed. It was a Capsule Corp watch that Bulma had designed for Gohan back in his teenage years when he had taken up crime fighting in Satan City. While it was a bit corny, especially with all of his posing and posturing, something Krillian said he had picked up from Freiza's Ginyu Force, Bulma's watch had been ingenious. It held a change of clothes, Namely Gohan's Great Sayjaman costume. When he needed to don the clothes the watch would put a field of energy around the wearer and through encapsulation technology, remove the clothes being worn and replace with those in the storage. After seeing the invention one day in Bulma's lab, Lennex had asked for one himself.

 

At this particular moment he had his gi that he modeled after Goku's. It consisted of an under shirt and a pair of simple comfortable pants. Loose, but not excessive enough that the slack would slow him down or get in his way. Then there was an outer shirt that wrapped around the upper body leaving the arms bare and matching the pants. The ensemble was topped off with a belt around the waist, hiding the shirt seam meeting the pants, making it look as if it was all one piece; finally, two wrist bands and a pair of sturdy black fighting boots completed the outfit. The only difference to his and Goku's was that Goku's outer wear was orange with blue undershirt. His was a dark blue outer and black undershirt. Orange just wasn't his color.

 

He didn't want have to fall back on it though, at least not yet. After all, it was his fighting gear, and right now he couldn't really fight. He knew it was a lame excuse and one he would banish if it truly came down to using the spare set of clothes, but he would try to get some clothes in the village they almost entered last night. It would save his gi for a fight and also era-appropriate attire would help blend him in a little. Of course after last night's thievery, he would probably have to resort to a bit of thieving himself. Not really something he wanted to do, after all he was a security chief, but right now they were out of options. He wished he would have thought about it back at Kaede's. He was sure some of the villagers would have lent him clothing. But his idea had taken a hold on him so quickly and completely that in the excitement his personal appearance had not mattered at the time.

 

He was brought out of his thoughts as one of the rabbits was handed to him. He took it with a word of thanks to Shippo and bit into it. Some people might have been a bit squeamish with eating a freshly killed animal, or would have to work themselves up to eat something that still retained its basic shape, but after the field training under Piccolo's supervision, not to mention the course in survival he had taken when he was training for the security position, Lennex had no such qualms. That and his Sayjin appetite demanded he eat something now.

 

While Shippo had been right that the meal was not much, it was rather good. The little fox could cook. He commented on the fact and received an explanation.

 

“Kagome and Sango usually do the cooking, and I watch and learn. They have taught me a few things.”

 

“Speaking of teaching, how many demons are around us right now?” Lennex asked.

 

He watched the fox concentrate but then rattle off the numbers and directions of every demon he sensed. While it still took him some time to find them, his accuracy was one hundred percent, and his time had cut down some. He was indeed a quick learner.

 

“Good job Shippo. Now let's go over some of your fox magic. Explain that top trick you did the other day.”

 

After the explanation Lennex thought on it a bit. The way it worked according to Shippo was that he took an item and enchanted it with is demon power. Magic was just a term used loosely by his kind to make it sound more mysterious because most demon powers were a bit more destructive than the fox demon's. That's why they relied more on trickery and wits to get them out of a fight. Once the item was imbued with their power, it was easy to shape them and use them at will.

 

This pleased Lennex because to use the body's energy required great concentration and it looked as if the fox had that ability down. He had a hunch about the fox fire attack he had seen and pressed it to Shippo.

 

“That's right,” the fox replied, “The fox fire is the ultimate personification of the fox demon's power of attack. Mine's not very strong because my dad had only begun to teach me how to use it.”

 

Lennex nodded his head and stood up from the fire. To him, the fox fire attack almost sounded like firing an energy attack. He picked up a piece of wood and set it up about twenty feet away from their makeshift campsite. On the walk back to the fire he noticed he was walking stiffly. The impact of the tree the day before had messed up his back quite a bit. He hated feeling weak. Once he was next to Shippo he set aside thoughts of his own pain and explained how to focus the power of ki, or in this case, demon energy. After the short instructional session Shippo turned to face the piece of wood.

 

Instead of heaving back his arm and throwing the fox fire like a ball, he held his arm out straight, and tried to focus as Lennex had told him. He could feel the energy gather in his palm like normal. He tried to project the attack outwards. What happened wasn't quite what he was going for; the attack sprang forth just as it always did, but instead of flying towards the wood, it fell just a few feet from his outstretched hand, landing on the ground where it flickered briefly and died out.

 

“Try focusing the energy more tightly. Instead of a big ball of flame make it a smaller ball, but with just as much power,” Lennex said from behind him.

 

Shippo tried as instructed and had slightly more success than the first try. Still though, it fell quite a ways short of the intended target. After a few more attempts fell short, Lennex called a halt.

 

“We're going to try something else right now. You have the basic idea on concentrating and shaping your energy, but we're lacking in the projection area. So instead of an attack, I want you to use your fox fire for defense,” Lennex said. He then proceeded to explain to Shippo what to do.

 

“First, focus your energy like you do when energizing an object or using your fox fire. Center the energy in the center of your body. When you have that achieved press the energy out around. Not too far, but far enough to give yourself overall coverage by forming a shield of energy around your body. This will give you the ability to reflect attacks.”

 

“Like Naraku's barriers and the sacred barriers Kaede and Miroku use, right?” Shippo asked. Lennex thought back to the Wind Scar attack that Naraku had deflected and nodded his head.

 

He continued on, “The other thing this is going to teach you is projection. Once you have the ability to shield yourself thoroughly, you should be able to use the control you've gained to throw an attack farther. I have some tricks that we're going use to improve your shielding. But for right now, practice just getting it a foot away from you and all around you.”

 

Shippo nodded and Lennex felt the kit's energy swirl inside him, rising in power as he concentrated. He watched on for a few more moments, then turned towards the horse to get him ready for travel. The horse stared back a little forlornly at its rider. Lennex felt a bit sorry for the animal - while shelter had been sparse for Shippo and him, it was even less for the larger animal. He patted the animal's neck and promised him a nice big bag of oats and a good rubdown as soon as possible and went about securing the saddle and checking on the rest of their items to secure it.

 

While he was in one of the saddle bags the horse whinnied and backed up a bit. Lennex turned his attention to the animal's head and followed the gaze towards what had spooked it. He looked no further than Shippo. The kit was showing great promise, as he already had erected the shield. He could see the strain on the fox demon's face in keeping the field around him. What had spooked the horse however was the manifestation of the shield. Instead of just a spherical barrier, Shippo's was somewhat different. It was still spherical to an extent; the only contradiction to that statement was that the shield flickered like a fire. It looked as if the kit's body was surrounded by a raging blue fire. Lennex didn't know it, but he looked upon him just as Inuyasha had looked upon Shippo and Kagome back when Shippo's father had saved them from the thunder brothers.

 

After a few moments, the fire died and Shippo pitched forward a bit. The concentration on such a feat was strenuous on him, but Lennex knew that would get better with practice. He congratulated the kit on his quickly improved ability and together they finished picking up camp. Once the horse had been readied and their supplies repacked they put out the fire and went into town. They were met with some strange stares. A demon and a human dressed oddly would do that. They asked around, and eventually rode to a small shop that they had been told was the local seamstress and dismounted. They entered the establishment and after an hour of bartering food for clothing, Lennex walked out of the hut sporting new clothes. It was a simple garb much like Inuyasha's except the pants were a peasant brown and the top layer was a tan color.

 

As they rode out of town, the seamstress was left with the contents of one of the capsules that they carried with them, what she had considered a month's worth of food. Lennex considered it lunch. Upon thinking of the food his stomach growled and he shot a sheepish look towards Shippo. The rabbit really had not been enough for the Sayjin, but at the time, he didn't want to hurt Shippo's feelings about the size of the catch. They stopped for a brief brunch, brief in the fact that it took him fifteen minutes to eat two days' worth of food. After repacking once again they set off for the next village. Lennex wanted to reach it before nightfall and, if possible, barter once again, this time lodging for his `future food' for a night. When they set out Lennex produced a flat stone he had picked up and handed it to Shippo.

 

He would have had the kit practice the shield while riding, but with the way the shield manifested, he was sure the horse wouldn't like that too much. So he had another tactic in mind.

 

“I want you to focus your energy like you did for the shield but instead of producing it all around you, I want you to use the energy to lift the rock and hold it in the air and balance it.”

 

Shippo nodded and set to work. While he was able to get the shield to appear in a matter of minutes, lifting the rock took him longer to do. Almost an hour and a half the kit spent facing backwards on the horse, back against Lennex's, and stone in the palm of his hand. Finally, the blue energy slowly lifted the stone and held it aloft. Lennex congratulated the fox once again, and then nudged his shoulder. Of course the movement caused Shippo to lose focus and the rock fell. To his credit, he was able to catch it before it fell off the horse and gave Lennex a dirty look.

 

“Always keep your concentration, no matter the distraction. Sounds cheap now but it's sage advice. Keep on practicing.”

 

That was how they rode for the rest of the day. Shippo sat levitating the rock with his own power and Lennex causing the horse to take unexpected turns and speed adjustments. He'd lean back in the saddle and nudge and bump Shippo at random intervals. The first few times the Kit dropped the rock again but after while he kept it steadily floating.

 

When they were stopped, he would practice the shield. During the day he focused on just getting the shield to last for more than just a short interval. Every now and then, Lennex would throw a rock at him and it would bounce of the shield. But the impact caused the demon to strain a bit more. All in all, Lennex was pleased at the progress. At dusk they arrived at the next village and as he had hoped, the food worked its magic again. Lennex didn't like losing the food, but right now a good night's rest, even after only two days of travel, was important. He could dry the bundled clothes that he still carried, giving him a spare, and a chance to sleep off the affects of the small fight. It also gave him a chance for a soak in the bath house, something that he had neglected to do since arriving in the past.

 

Shippo joined him and Lennex once again turned the relaxing soak into a training exercise. He told the fox what he wanted and after forty five minutes, the bath had several miniature whirlpools, courtesy of Shippo's energy. After the bath and a late dinner, that still had Shippo's jaw to the floor from watching the amount Lennex ate and how quickly it disappeared, the two warriors turned in for the night, readying themselves for the next day. Shippo needless to say, was out as soon as his head hit the pillow. Lennex, comfortable and dry, wasn't far behind.

 

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They awoke at first light, a customary habit when traveling with Inuyasha, and prepared breakfast right away. They wanted to get an early start today since their travel had been cut a little short due to Kagura's interference yesterday. They had stopped somewhere in the middle of the forest and rested for the night. Inuyasha took watch for most of the night, but Miroku had relieved him a few hours before day break. Being half demon, Inuyasha didn't need that much sleep, but the few hours were nice and the human half of him appreciated those hours. They ate when breakfast was ready and planned out the day ahead of them.

 

“The jewel shard is definitely in the direction of the village,” Kagome said around a mouthful of a simple porridge they had taken from the village before they left. “Something else is strange though; I'm starting to pick up another shard. But I don't think it's from any of the other villages.”

 

The others pondered this while they ate. Finally, Sango spoke up. “It is true most of the shards are accounted for, but that doesn't mean we don't still have a few random demons out there. And if it's a single shard…” She left the rest unfinished. Most of the time when Kagome had sensed a single shard, it usually meant her enslaved brother was near, carrying out some despicable act for Naraku.

 

“We will cross that bridge when we come to it, as the old saying goes. But if it is on the way to the village we definitely need to check it out. The only thing worse than this Kalin getting his hands on more shards, is a random demon with the power of a jewel shard,” Miroku said while setting down his empty bowl.

 

The others nodded his head at the monk's words, though Sango with a bit more of an appreciative look on her face than the others. Kagome caught the look and hid a smile from her friends. She knew the two felt strongly for each other and was always happy to see it physically show itself. She nudged Inuyasha, who sat beside her and nodded towards the two. They had both started talking in low voices to each other but their eyes never unlocked from the others gaze. Inuyasha sent a questioning look towards Kagome and spoke.

 

“This is another one of your silly woman things, isn't it?” he said with all the seriousness of an honest question. Of course this wasn't the response Kagome had hoped for and stood in a slightly miffed huff, grabbing the empty breakfast dishes and going off to clean them, all the while muttering about a clueless half demon. Inuyasha watched her movements, the look on his face clearly stating that he expected to eat dirt at any moment. When the sit command never came he looked over and Sango and Miroku, to see that instead of each other, they now stared at him with inquisitive, yet mischievous gazes. Under their scrutiny the half demon decided it best not to press his luck and moved to help Kagome with the cleanup. “Let me give you a hand with those, Kagome.”

 

The other two smiled at each other once again and made ready to leave camp. Inuyasha and a now pacified Kagome walked out in front following the path in the forest, Sango and Miroku walking a bit behind them far enough that they could hold their own conversations but still not have to shout if they wanted to talk to the other half of the party. Kirara, in her small kitten form, rode on her customary perch of Sango's shoulder. They talked of nothing really of consequence. While they had been together for a while now, they still had not run out of stories from their younger days.

 

They walked straight on until lunch and stopped in a small clearing off the road, rationing out some of the food once again from Lennex's capsule. Many paths through the forest converged along their route; unremarkable trails cut by those seeking a shortcut. After the short rest they continued on the main trader's and traveler's roadway. They only passed a few of these on the road, but whenever they did they received information that just before the town was an unusually strong demon attacking those foolish enough to wander into the forest.

 

At least this now confirmed what was ahead of them. The news both saddened and relieved Sango. Sad because a chance run in with her brother would not happen; happy for the same reason. It pained her to see him under Naraku's control and many times wanted to free her brother, releasing his soul in death. Her friends had stopped her though, many times promising that they would get him back alive and well.

 

After another couple hours of travel, they encountered the demon, and just as Kagome had said it did possess a shard. Still, against Inuyasha, its power paled in comparison. And he was backed up by the rest. It fell quickly and Kagome retrieved the shard, purifying it with just a touch, and placed it in a new jar, since she had left the one with her own shards with Kaede. A risky decision, but one they felt was the lesser of two evils. They didn't want Kalin taking those shards; it was bad enough he had a chance to claim the shards Naraku had hidden.

 

After the short confrontation, they continued walking. When they neared the village, they knew from the smoke and screaming that Kalin had arrived before them. Kirara changed back into her larger form and Sango and Miroku quickly mounted and took off into the air for the village. Kagome jumped on Inuyasha's back and he carried her piggy back style. Both groups raced along side by side as they hurriedly entered the village.

 

The party headed towards the center of the village on the road they had been following, and soon encountered fleeing villagers, terror written on their faces. Inuyasha and company pressed on, converging on the town center, where they found Kalin demanding the shard be brought to him or the village would be destroyed.

 

“Keh, fat chance of that happening.” Inuyasha shouted, coming to a stop and letting Kagome down off his back. He pulled the Tetsusaiga from its resting place and faced down Kalin. Kagome, taking up a defensive position to the side and behind him, knocked an arrow as Kirara touched down next to them, her riders both dismounting and taking up positions facing Kalin. He sneered at them and spoke.

 

“Do not interfere in my business if you want to keep your lives.”

 

Inuyasha shook his head and retorted. “You're just like all the other windbags. All talk and no action.” On the last word Inuyasha jumped into the air towards Kalin, bringing his sword down in an overhand strike. The blade impacted into the ground as Kalin easily side stepped it; the blade bit deep into the ground. Kalin stood to Inuyasha's right and held his hand out towards the half demon, energy swirling in his palm.

 

“Die.”

 

Inuyasha had seen Kalin kill that villager with this kind of attack - a yank on the Tetsusaiga proved it to be stuck in the ground. In a lightning quick decision Inuyasha abandoned the sword and spun quickly lashing out with a left hook. The move took Kalin by surprise, the blow throwing the man back, his energy attack dissipating as his concentration was broken. Apparently Lennex had been right, his power wasn't that much greater then a demons.

 

Kalin quickly picked himself up off the ground and charged Inuyasha. In a flurry of moves he threw blows at the half demon almost quicker than Inuyasha could block. Inuyasha, seasoned by the wolf demon, Kouga's shard-induced-lightning-quick attacks, took the punches and kicks and waited for an opening, finally lashing out and connecting. The two fighters separated and glared at each other. Inuyasha was strong and fast, but his fighting style was wild and had no set pattern. His erratic style was both an advantage and disadvantage to Kalin's martial arts experience. While he could plan his moves to flow one into another, the Inuyasha's wildness allowed him to get a strike in and due to his strength, it hurt Kalin even in his energized state. It was time to take it to his max.

 

Kalin charged his power, raising it as high as it could go, and aura of flickering power surrounded him and he moved in. Inuyasha was hard pressed to keep up a defense.

 

“We have to help him,” Sango said, hefting her weapon.

 

Miroku nodded his head in agreement. He looked to Kagome. “We'll help Inuyasha, you find the shard.”

 

She nodded her agreement and felt for the shard and ran towards it while the other two ran towards Kalin. He saw them coming and deftly performed a reverse spin kick, nailing Inuyasha in the chest and throwing him up and away from the battle. He had just enough time to dodge the incoming Hiraikotsu, which Sango was now wielding as a melee weapon. The girl was strong, Kalin observed, noticing how she wielded the large weapon with ease. He noticed from her movements that her fighting ability was more like his own, a style with some control and form. The monk wasn't far behind as he used his staff like a Bo staff, always punctuating attacks with the razor edge at the top. He dodged back and forth between the two, evading their attacks with his greater speed. When the Hiraikotsu missed him and impacted the ground he kicked out at it, throwing the demon slayer of balance; he was now free to concentrate on the monk. He saw the razor-edged staff head coming in a downward stroke and he raised his arm to block, flowing energy into his forearm to handle the blow.

 

Miroku was shocked when the staff halted and didn't pierce the fighters flesh. Kalin cleared the weapon away and punched Miroku in the face, knocking the young man back. Then the demon exterminator's pet was upon him. It rose up on its hind legs like a lion and tried to impale him with her claws and teeth. He caught the cat's forward legs in mid strike and kicked Kirara in the stomach. The cat let out a whine, but Kalin wasn't done, he quickly uppercut the cat just below the jaw. The blow was enough to knock the cat up and flip it backwards. When it hit the ground it reverted back to its kitten form, curled in a fetal position. He realized he didn't deal with the monk and demon cat quickly enough as he felt a solid punch hit him in the kidney. Sango had abandoned her weapon and struck from his side. She was angry at her companion's treatment and the power of the blow relayed that. The punch was followed by a right hook that connected and once more followed by a knee to his midsection. It doubled him over and allowed Sango to strike him with an elbow to the neck sending the fighter to the ground. She was good but he was stronger and better. When he hit the ground he spun his body and kicked out, catching the girl's leg and sending her sprawling. He quickly stood and went to press his attack when the monk joined back in the fray.

 

The monk kicked out and caught him in the side with the simple attack. While he was energized it took a lot to hurt him, but he was finding that these two were stronger than normal humans. They would have made great additions as students, he thought in a brief moment before the maddening urge to destroy them rushed back into his mind. He blocked their attacks simultaneously and lashed out knocking them both to the ground.

 

Before he could press the advantage a red clad form dropped back in front of him and struck him across the face. This blow he felt more than the others and knew that the half demon was back in the fight. The three friends closed in on Kalin and attacked in unison. His jewel shard enhanced power and years of intense training were the only thing that kept him even with them.

 

All this time, Kagome had gotten closer to the prize. Her sixth sense that tracked tracking the fragments of the jewel led her to a hut close to the combat zone. She quickly entered and found the place abandoned. She walked over to a simple shelf and then focused on a vase. She reached her hand into the vase and pulled out the shard. At first it was a murky purplish black, but in Kagome's purifying hand it turned into a brilliant pink. Clutching the shard, she quickly went back to the others.

 

As soon as she had purified the jewel, something flickered in Kalin's mind. He didn't know it but it was Naraku feeding him information in the form of emotions and impulses. These impulses made him focus his gaze on the young girl in the green dress who was approaching the fight. The emotions said she had the shard. Before the others knew what was happening, Kalin had disappeared from their midst and appeared by Kagome. She quickly skidded to a stop and let out a startled shout. It was all that was needed to spring Inuyasha into action.

 

“Get away from her!” he yelled, rushing the man as Kalin was reaching for Kagome. He could see the shard in her hand. Then Inuyasha was there, grabbing his shoulder and spinning him around. This time, however, Kalin was more focused and lashed out. The power of the strike threw Inuyasha through a hut, leaving a half demon sized hole in the side of the structure. He turned back to Kagome and grabbed her wrist. His grip was like a vise and she found herself dropping the shard to the ground. She tried striking at him with her legs and other arm but it was like hitting a brick wall. Then Sango was there fighting for all she was worth. Kalin held his ground but managed to dodge all the attacks. He grabbed one of Sango's arms in mid attack and yanked the girl towards him. Thrown off balance, she had no choice but to follow her arm. When she was close enough, Kalin backhanded her knocking her to the ground. He turned his eyes back towards the shard, which Kagome was reaching for on her hands and knees on the ground. He brought his leg back to kick her away when an enraged monk brought his staff down in front of his face and to his neck. The monk held on to opposite ends of the staff and pulled back, bringing the shaft flush with his throat. Releasing Kagome, Kalin grabbed at the offending object, trying to pull it away to breathe. The monk held fast, angry that Sango had been struck so violently. The demon slayer had not regained her feet, still stunned from the attack.

 

Kagome stood from her kneeled position, shard in hand, still directly in front of Kalin. He saw the recaptured shard and went to option number two. He bowed his head as much as he could over the staff and then whipped his head back, impacting the back of his skull into the monk's surprised face. The blood poured forth from Miroku's nose as he let go of the staff and brought his hands to his face, staggering back.

 

As Kagome turned to make a getaway, in a move almost too quick to follow, Kalin reached forward and grabbed her arm, simultaneously kicking out behind him sending the monk to his back. He twisted Kagome's arm and held his free hand under hers, applying enough pressure to make her drop the shard into his awaiting grasp.

 

“This belongs to me, girl. And as you have seen, nothing will stop me from obtaining it.” He threw her hand away and lashed out, sending her to the ground once more. He held his hand out to her in an open palm gesture and was ready to release a ki blast.

 

“Kagome!” the yell rang out and Kalin looked up to see the half demon at the apex of a jump coming down straight for him. He had recovered from the trip into the hut and now had his sword once more. Kalin jumped out of the way of the attack but this time Inuyasha didn't hit the ground, anticipating the aversion. Instead he swung the sword out in a sweep. Kalin saw it coming and back peddled, but not quickly enough as the tip of the blade sliced into his chest. It wasn't a deep cut, but it did tear into his flesh enough for blood to pour. Inuyasha brought the sword back to ready position, standing in front of Kagome. He then brought the sword down in the Wind Scar attack, the energy lancing forth. Kalin for his part erected a hasty energy shield. It held off the attack for a moment, killing off some of the energy, but finally was overpowered. Kalin was strong enough to withstand the vast energy blast to the point that it didn't pierce his skin, but it did throw him back. The power of it felt as though a thousand punches had been thrown at him at once.

 

Still, He clutched the shard fragment and that was all that mattered to him. He stood up and glared at the half demon. He then noticed the demon slayer come even with Inuyasha, her giant weapon in hand. The monk also held his staff with one hand, and his nose with the other. The girl in the green skirt also stared him down, an arrow pointed at him. He probably could have defeated them, but the logical side of his mind took over. He had what he came for and he was wounded. Better to cut out now and continue the search for the rest of the shards. He was sure he could finish them later.

 

Wordlessly, he quickly rose in the air and took off. The group stood wearily on the ground and watched him leave. They checked each other out for injuries. Sango replied only having a few bumps and bruises, the same as Kagome. Miroku assured them that his nose was bloodied and very, very sore, but not broken. Sango knelt to pick up Kirara. The motion roused the cat as she mewed quietly. Sango was relieved that Kirara was alright. Inuyasha claimed to have no injury and stared at the darkening sky in which Kalin had flown off to. He sheathed the Tetsusaiga and looked around at the village. There were some buildings that had been destroyed, but the village was almost entirely intact. The people of the village came out to thank them from where they were hiding, and the innkeepers quickly ushered them to their inn to rest and get cleaned up in thanks. The weary fighters only put up a token resistance.

 

While the village had been saved, they still felt it as a defeat that they lost the shard. They ate in silence when food was brought to them, and Kagome dutifully wrapped and bandaged injuries. Inuyasha propped himself against the door as a silent guard and bid the rest of them to get some sleep. While it was still early in the night, he knew they all needed it. The girls offered no resistance and quickly got into the beds, not even bothering to put up the border to separate them from the boys. Inuyasha knew that fatigue and injury really ran deep when the monk didn't take any kind of advantage of the situation and quickly fell asleep himself.

 

Inuyasha gripped his sword in sheath tightly, glad his friends were ok, but mad as hell that Kalin had roughed them up like he did. Next time would be different, he promised himself as he closed his eye, falling into a light sleep.