I stumble through the woods, trying to get to Lady Kaede's village. She's the only one who can help us. A tear falls down my cheek, but it's hidden by the pouring rain. The screams of demons gets nearer to my position, so I push myself faster to trip on a tree root and fall to the wet ground. Mud stains my sky blue kimono but I get back up and hide behind a tree. The demons that followed me run past the tree and disappear into the night. I take a breath and move a step away from the tree. I look around as everything goes silent through the rain, until the sound of the demons who were after me gurgle in pain.

I hide around the other side of the tree without thinking and lean into the tree suddenly feel cloth behind my head. I turn to see a red kimono covering the tree. No, it's not only the kimono. It's a whole boy, held to the tree by vines as if he's been there for a long time. But he seems to be sleeping, yet he can't be asleep because of the arrow in his chest. I stare at him in awe, for his wet hair is silver and has dog ears at the top of his head. I bring my leg up on one of the roots and bring myself up to his eye level. His features are so peaceful, yet troubled.

"Who are you?" Her voice comes through with a sharpness that scares me. I turn slowly to not slip and fall. Standing at the base of the tree is a girl. Like the boy on the tree, she has dog ears on top of her head. But her hair is pitch black besides a singular strand of silver in a slim but long braid. Her hair is long in the back but short and uneven in front of her face. Only her left eye can be seen through her hairstyle, and it's a bright purple. It seeps deep within me and causes a shiver to run through my body. She's a demon, and so is the boy behind me. "Speak." Her voice is still harsh as she gets impatient with me. 

"My name is (y/n) of the neighboring village. We are under attack by many demons and we are unable to fend them off on our own. I ran from my village to come retrieve Lady Kaede and as many men possible to help my people." The girl doesn't say anything for a moment, thinking. Then she speaks.

"Were you the one those demons were following?" The rain comes down harder when a flash of lightning hits and I see she has blood on her green kimono and hands. I freeze as I realize she killed those demons. I nod timidly, so I don't lower her patience again. She grabs for her sword and pulls it out, cutting a demon down the middle of its body with such a graceful swiftness. The two halves thud to the mud puddle below and the girl is covered in another shower of blood. She slides her sword back into its sheath and turns back to me. "Kaede and the villagers are held up in the houses due to all the rain making it impossible to walk around out here."

"What about you? You're able to be out. And you can fight too. Please, we need help or we all will die." I beg, feeling stupid for going to a demon for help. But she would've killed me already if she was an enemy. She looks to the boy behind me with a glint of sadness then back to me. 

"Where is your village?" She walks toward me and pulls me away from the boy to the ground and turns her back to me.

"On the other side of the forest in the south." I point to the direction of my village.

"I can smell the blood from here. There's not much time, so get on." She pulls me on her back and jumps to the branches to then start running through the trees. The rain hits my face with more force at the speed she's running, so I hide in her soaked hair. 

I begin to hear screams of people, my neighbors. I force myself to look up and see demons diving into the streets and houses, snatching up people and swallowing them. A pained sound escapes my throat as the girl lands on the ground under a tree at the edge of town. My knees fail underneath me and I fall into the mud of the tree, looking to the death of my many neighbors. The girl turns and kneels down beside me.

"I'll handle this. Stay here and look away if it becomes too much." Her voice comes through much kinder than before and more tears fill my eyes as she stands up and pulls out her sword.

"Wait." I try to move but slip as she turns her head back to me. "What's your name?" Is all I can think to ask her when she stands there so strong with the rain pouring down on her. A grin appears on her face and I see she has small fangs.

"That is a good question. Who are you, half demon?" A slithery loud voice booms through the rain and she turns to look at it. A giant demon with three snake heads stands with two slightly smaller demons behind it, all looking at the girl. A half demon, I thought having a child with a demon was forbidden. I hear the girl chuckle, pointing her sword at the three demons.

"My name is Isayama, daughter of Inu no Taishou. Leave this village and it's people alone or there will be great punishment." Isayama proclaims with confidence. The demons laugh at her.

"You are but a half demon. And wasn't it your brother who got pinned to a tree by a mere mortal woman?" The demons snicker. Isayama's grip on her sword tightens as they seem to hit a nerve. She pulls her sword to her side. "I see the fear in your eyes because you know you have no chance."

"That's where you have it wrong. I fear nothing." She jumps at them and swings her sword at one of the three heads in the snake demon, cutting it clean off. Isayama lands on the ground as if she didn't just take a head off the thing. 

"You little-" The demon to the left of the now two headed snake moves to grab Isayama, but is cut into the chest by the sword she holds. Isayama jumps to the demon to the very right as the left one thuds to the ground. She slashes the next diagonally in half. She hits the ground once again and just stands there timidly, yet relaxed as two of the demons stop moving in the mud. The snake demon grabs her and brings her to meet it's gaze.

"I remember fighting your filthy half breed brother. He was very much like you, over confident. Which made it easier to crush his spirit by crushing his bones." The demon begins to tighten it's grip around her body, causing her to struggle to get free. "You squirm like he did too. The only difference is that you are going to die." The demon hisses with laughter. Isayama's movement becomes less and less by the second, and I panic. I need to help her. I look around and see a large stick with a sharp end. I quickly grab it and stumble my way through the mud and thinning rainfall toward the large, scaly demon. I stop at the base of the demon and plunge the stick in the side of it. The snake hisses in pain and looks down to me as I back up.

"P-pick on someone your own size." I order with failed confidence. 

"You've dipped so low as to acquaintance yourself with a putrid human." The demon smacks me and I fall hard to the ground. A ringing begins in my ears as I slowly sit up.

"You...you hurt my brother back then.... I've been looking for you...to thank you..." Isayama murmurs with trouble, taking the demon by surprise.

"What?" It looks back to her, a smirk on her face.

"I needed to thank you for giving me something to do!" She bites the demon's hand and is thrown to the ground, where she jumps back and cuts the remaining two heads off with one swing. The demon's body just stands there. When Isayama meets the ground it finally goes timber. The ground shakes as it hits the mud below. I stand up and limp to her with caution. Isayama digs the blade of her sword into the ground and falls to her knee in pain. 

~*~*~

"She went unconscious shortly after that, so I took care of her wounds for the day and a half she was out for. In that time the elders told the families who survived stories about what happened." I continue.

"The only thing the elders did was exaggerate the whole event to make me look like I was Inuyasha." Isa cuts in, and I nod.

"Yes, that is true. But, back to the story. When Isa woke up, the villagers begged her to teach us to fight like she did. It took a bit, but we finally convinced her. Well, Kuzaki convinced her." I nudge Isa, and a light blush appears on her cheeks.

"Well, what happened after that?" Kagome pushes in suspense.

"Well, she left after that. Left with a promise to return in time." A sadness comes to my voice, even though I know she's back again. But she's gonna leave again.

"Well that's anticlimactic. How long ago did that happen?" Kagome uttered with less interest. 

"Five years ago. Four years before you happened on this era." Isa speaks up calmly, standing up and wrapping a towel around herself as she gets out. "We should start heading back. I can hear Inuyasha talking to himself out of frustration." Isa pulls her kimono on and tosses me and Kagome our towels. We quickly get out, dry ourselves and get dressed.

"What's he saying?" I ask in curiosity as we begin to walk back to my village.