The Dark Jewel by aura

Easy Pickings

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Disclaimer: No. I'm not British, Japanese, or male. That pretty much covers anything I might consider writing fan fiction about.

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InuYasha couldn't believe it. After his brother's (half-brother) attack pieces of Naraku flew everywhere. This in itself was nothing unusual for a battle with the dark hanyou. What InuYasha was amazed at was that the chunk that landed pulsing at his feet, separated from all its limbs and other defenses, contained the nearly complete Shikon no Tama. Normally, it was Kagome's job to sift through the demon remains for jewel shards (hopefully before they could regenerate themselves thanks to the magic of the jewel), but Inu knew they may never get a better chance to retrieve the jewel than this.

~At least that's the justification that ran through his head as he reached for the darkly beautiful stone.~

Time on the battlefield seemed to slow down as InuYasha ripped the jewel from the lump of flesh.

Sesshomaru was still battling what was left of Naraku (who had a gaping hole in his chest, had had many of his tentacles chopped off, and had blood and gore on what remained of his kimono). Miroku was battling the lesser demons, as Kouga fought the wind witch. Sango tried to incapacitate her brother, with Kirara as backup; and Kagome provided support all around with her arrows, while Shippo protected her back with his fox fire. Kanna stood off to the side, as though awaiting orders; and Kikyo hid in the shadows, not showing loyalty to either side.

However, through the chaos, everyone's attention was drawn to the silver-haired hanyou who gazed for a moment at the malevolent feeling gem in his hand. The next instant his head jerked in the direction of his long-time best friend and he streaked to her side yelling, "Kagome! The shards!"

Seconds later, he was at her side and she reached for the tainted jewel with one hand and the jar around her neck with the other. Only, he didn't give it to her right away. "Inu...Yasha?" she asked tentatively, as she ducked her head to try to see the face of her dear friend. Slowly he raised his amber gaze from the mesmerizing jewel in his hand to meet to young woman's cerulean eyes.

What happened next was so fast and so unexpected that it took everyone by surprise and gave no time for anyone to react.

InuYasha's hand, the one not holding the stone, flashed out and tore the jar necklace from around Kagome's neck. He then sped to the opposite end, and only open space on, the battlefield. Along the way, he sliced both of the wolf prince's legs open and thrust his hand through Kohaku's shoulder, removing their jewel shards without slowing in the least.

Kouga's cry of pain as collapsed on the ground mixed with Kagome's gasp of surprise and soft breath of "no.." as well as Sango's wail of shock and agony as she watched her younger brother fall -his eyes clouding over as he took his last breaths- .

Naraku let out a roar of outrage as he realized what the other hanyou was doing, but he was too late.

InuYasha had already crushed the small glass jar in one fist, before slamming his palms -and the sacred jewel shards- together, and made his wish.

"I wish I was a full-blooded Inu demon!"

The dark, malevolent magic swirled around him in waves of increasing force, as the jewel glowed with heightened intensity from within InuYasha's hands. The lesser demons were blown away or obliterated in the show of power (which was also too much for Kikyo's clay body).

Kikyo:

She crumbled to dust without a sound. Her ashes blew away on unnatural winds, caused by the hanyou's transformation, as the souls she had been feeding on were finally released (in what would have been a spectacular display of light, had not all the humans and demons -with exception of the TaiYoukai- already been blinded by a sudden flash of light that consumed InuYasha and the Jewel).

Kagome:

With the noise of the winds and their temporarily blinded state, no one noticed the orb of pure white light that hit Kagome in the chest, knocking her to her knees. Only Sesshomaru saw the arc of violet light that flew from InuYasha into the miko, pushing her backwards, until she finally came to a rest lying on her back several yards behind the cowering Shippo.

She was briefly surrounded by the violet light before it *pulsed* and became the pink of her once purified jewel shards and the light seemed to settle onto her body like a fine mist.

Another *Pulse*, and the light seemed to be absorbed into her skin, making her entire body glow an ethereal pink.

*PULSE*

The light became a pure holy white, and with a final *Pulse* (which the Tai belatedly realized had been in the rhythm of her heartbeat) the light faded, absorbing completely into her being.

While she physically looked no different than before she got hit by the violet light, he could now sense a slight change in her aura, and (though the extent of it seemed to have hidden itself when her body fully absorbed the light) her power level had greatly increased. Sesshomaru was the only one to observe these events however, even the miko just thought that she had been knocked back by the immense display of power that was occurring around the form of her best friend. She shook off the odd sense of completion(?) she felt as she was pitched forward to her knees, and the warmth that filled her as she was thrown back several yards. The young woman simply thought she was hit by some of the stray energies surrounding InuYasha's transformation, and was just glad to have survived two such encounters. After all, most of the lesser demons had been destroyed by the jewel's power.

She lay momentarily stunned from the impact of whatever had hit her. Slowly, she propped herself up on her elbows, as she tried to look in the direction of her best friend. He was still bathed in light, bright enough that everything in between him and her was reduced to shadowy silhouettes, and friend was indistinguishable from foe. She would have tried to call out, but the winds were still loud enough to deafen and fierce enough that the sound of her voice would just have been stolen away.

Before Kagome even made it back to her feet, the display of power seemed to implode, leaving a much changed InuYasha in its wake.

Miroku:

In the meantime, Miroku had fought his way through the winds to be by the broken Sango's side. Kirara, still in her battle form, was half-curved around the collapsed woman's back; both to comfort and to defend her mistress (since she was obviously in no state to protect herself if the need arose). Nearly all of Miroku's former opponents had been decimated, so his only thoughts were to reach the side of and support his love.

Kouga:

Kouga was beyond furious, and in immense pain. Not only would the wounds Dog-breath had inflicted take at least three days to fully heal -as his legs had been almost completely severed- but it would be a day or more before he would even be able to stand. His so-called ally had left him completely incapacitated, and practically at the feet of the one who had killed and then desecrated the bodies of his pack. If she attacked, especially since she favored long-distance moves, he knew he was as good as dead.

Shippo:

Shippo cowered behind Kagome's bag. The massive amount of malevolent power was overwhelming to the young kit's senses; and had seemingly frozen him to the spot, though his instincts wanted nothing more than to flee from the scene.

Sesshomaru:

Sesshomaru observed all of this with his seemingly impassive facade. Inwardly though, he raged at his half-brother and reluctant ally's dishonorable acts. He had come to know quite a lot about the insolent half-breed and his companions over the past few years. The Western Lord recognized that the pup had just betrayed all of the beings that had ever cared for him, and unnecessarily at that.

There was the houshi, whose life was dependent on the demise of Naraku and the removal of the curse that had been placed on his family. The demon slayer's goal in this battle had been to distract and incapacitate her brother, in hopes that they would be able to free the boy from Naraku's control and have a chance (with the Tenseiga) to save his life. The onna also wanted Naraku dead for decimating her clan, just as the wolf prince sought vengeance for his pack.

Sesshomaru also acknowledged the unorthodox priestess' role. The stone was her birthright and responsibility. It was the miko's duty to protect and hopefully dispose of the cursed jewel. He also knew that the woman-child was too soft hearted for her own good, and would have likely made whichever wish the pup had asked for -if only to make him happy.

However, InuYasha had once again shamed his family name, by not only stealing the shards and wounding and killing beings that were their allies and intended to be protected; but he also abandoned them all in the middle of the battle.

~He only cared for his own selfish desires.~

The Western Lord had known from the beginning what a waste of flesh InuYasha was. In fact, he never would have joined this so-called alliance if it had been his worthless half-brother's idea. The fact that it had been the miko, along with the rest of the half-breed's tachi that had approached him -while the pup had been off cavorting with the undead- had intrigued the Lord. He knew them to be a loyal group that made a habit of defeating insurmountable odds (both traits especially true of the young miko). After some time, and the agreement that they be the ones to deal with InuYasha's complaints; Sesshomaru had agreed to help train, plan strategies, and lead the group into battle -until Naraku's threat had finally been put to rest.

Everyone:

Now, they could only wonder if the changed being known as InuYasha would be an even greater threat than Naraku had hoped to be.

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A/N: Hope you all enjoyed my first chapter. This is not beta'd.

I'd also like to thank those that reviewed my one-shot. The plot-bunnies have gone wild, and it won't be a one-shot much longer...

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-aura 06/30/07