(Hello again readers! I have to be honest, I never thought that this fan fiction would become so dang popular! Thank you for making it popular! To answer your question FMQ: Yeah, Goshinki would know what Inuyasha was planning to throw the dynamite, that's why he jumped at him. When Inuyasha threw it over his head, he probably distracted him with a different thought…or something like that. Hope that answered your question! Now, on with the story!"

Chapter 4: Deals and Battles

Inuyasha lifted his head and sniffed the air. A good distance away, he could faintly detect a small mass of people. A village.

"Oi, Myoga." he said.

"Yes, Inuyasha-sama?" the flea yokai asked, hopping onto his shoulder.

"Exactly what kind of village is the one we're going through?"

"A small one, not many people come by,"

Inuyasha pushed aside a cluster of branches, revealing a tiny village. Here and there, a human would walk out of a hut and into another, but there was not much movement.

The hanyo snorted in amusement. "It'll be easy gettin' a map outta there!"

As he stepped out of the shade from the trees, the sky went dark with clouds. People began to scream and run into their huts as two figures appeared out of a flash of light.

The first one appeared to be human, but his eyes were red and a long pole with the tip shaped like a lightning bolt was clutched in his hand. The other looked more like a humanoid reptile with a large, thick snout, beady eyes, and small pointed teeth. Wrapped around his waist was a golden fox pelt.

Inuyasha growled and quickly stepped back into the shadows from the trees.

"Hey, Myoga," he whispered. "Who're they?"

"They are the thunder brothers," Myoga said. "Hiten and Maten. Hiten is the one with the lightning rod and Maten is-"

"The fat one?" Inuyasha asked.

The flea nodded. "Every so often, they like to terrorize the villages that they consider to be part of their territory."

Inuyasha growled and watched as the two thunder brothers attacked the village, frightening the inhabitants. Finally, Hiten nodded to his brother and two flaming wheels appeared underneath his feet. A dark cloud appeared under Maten and they disappeared into the dark sky.

Inuyasha waited until the yokai were gone before running out from under the trees. He sprinted into the village and looked around, gagging at the sickening smell that washed over him. Human bodies were strewn in all directions; some even looked like they had been chewed on.

"What the hell?" Inuyasha whispered.

The sound of small footsteps made him turn. A small boy with reddish hair and bright green eyes peeked out from behind a corner and spotted the hanyo.

"Are they gone?" he asked in a tiny voice.

Inuyasha blinked and nodded. "Yup, they flew off."

The boy growled, clenching his fists. "Darn! I missed them!"

Inuyasha looked at the boy and noticed a large, poofy tan tail.

"Waugh!" the boy shouted as Inuyasha lifted him by his tail.

"Nice, tail," Inuyasha muttered. "What are you? A Badger?"

"I'm a fox! A kitsune!" the kitsune shouted his arms and legs flailing.

"Inuyasha-sama!" Myoga shouted. "Let him go! He just might help us!"

"Fine," Inuyasha said and dropped the kitsune.

"Baka," the kitsune muttered.

"Sorry about that," Myoga said, hopping up onto the kitsune's knee. "Inuyasha-sama is still new to this world."

"Why, was he born yesterday?" the kitsune growled.

Bang!

"I was joking!" he shouted, rubbing the newly acquired bump on his head.

"What's your name?" the flea asked. "I'm Myoga."

"Shippo," the kitsune said, sitting down.

"Would you by any chance have a map to the Royal City?" Myoga asked, ignoring the grumbling Inuyasha.

Shippo shook his head. "No, but I know how to get there!"

"Could you help us?" Myoga asked.

The kitsune shrugged. "Maybe,"

"What do you mean, 'maybe'?" Inuyasha growled.

Shippo grinned. "I'll help you, if," he held up a hand. "You help me get revenge on the thunder brothers."

Inuyasha and Myoga looked at each other.

Hiten and Maten flew through the dark stormy sky, laughing.

"What an entertaining hunt that was!" Hiten shouted, thinking of the humans they had slaughtered moments ago.

"Yes, brother!" Maten said, brushing the three tiny hairs on his head. "If only or hunts could be more like ours was with the fox!" he patted the pelt what was wrapped around his waist.

Hiten nodded and the two flew on through the storm. Soon, they came to a craggy, mountain edge were a small hut stood.

The brothers landed on the rocky ground and walked into the house.

"It is time we rested-" Hiten started to say, but froze.

"Brother?" Maten asked, then went quiet when his brother held up a hand. The yokai followed his brother's gaze and saw that someone was inside their home.

"Who the hell are you?" Hiten growled, his staff appearing in his hand.

Kagura snorted and looked up at the brothers. "Easy, I'm not here to fight you."

Maten blinked and looked at the wind witch. "Brother! It's that Naraku's servant!"

A blast of wind blew him back.

"I am not his servant!" Kagura shouted. She returned her attention to Hiten. "We've had a little trouble and lost a runaway puppy from the prison."

"The half-breed?" Hiten asked.

"Yes," Kagura nodded. "And Naraku wants us to find him and bring him back, but he's disappeared."

"So why come to us?" Maten growled, standing up from his fall.

"This is your territory, is it not?" Kagura asked.

Hiten crossed his arms. "So, you want us to search our territory for this half-breed and bring him back to the prison?"

Kagura looked at the thunder brothers, her eyes flashing in the light.

"Yes,"

"So let me get this straight," Inuyasha said, looking at Shippo over the fire. They were all hiding out in an abandoned hut, trying to stay out of the freezing cold. "These thunder brothers killed your dad and made off with his pelt?"

Shippo nodded. "Yeah, I've been hunting them for weeks, but they always get away before I can reach them!"

Inuyasha snorted. "Well, you're still a kid. How'd you even plan to take your revenge?"

Shippo looked down at the ground.

Inuyasha snorted and took a bite of some dried fish they had found. He winced as the overly salty fish slid down his throat.

"At least it's better than the prison food," he muttered, taking another bite.

"Inuyasha-sama!" Myoga shouted, hopping into the hut. Held high in his four arms was a large rolled-up map. "I found this in a nearby hut! Now we can find our way to the Royal City!"

The flea set the map down and Inuyasha un-rolled the paper. The hanyo stared blankly at the map for a few moments and looked up.

"Uh, where's the Royal City?" he asked.

Shippo looked at the map. "Right here," he said, pointing to a large star-shaped symbol in the center of the map.

Inuyasha's face fell. "That's a five-day walk from here!"

Shippo glanced up at the hanyo. "Did you expect it to be closer?"

Bang!

"I was asking!"

Myoga rolled his eyes as the two started arguing and hopped onto the map, looking around.

"Inuyasha-sama!" he shouted, pointing to a small black dot. "Look! This may help us!"

Inuyasha and Shippo stopped shouting and looked at what Myoga was pointing to.

"A Demon Slayer village?" he said flatly.

Myoga nodded. "Yes! I know someone in that village and she may be able to help us!"

"How so?" Shippo asked.

Suddenly, Inuyasha's ears shot up and his eyes widened.

"Move it!" he shouted, grabbing Shippo and the map just as the ceiling exploded.

The hanyo and kitsune crashed into a pile of snow. Myoga grabbed the map and took of for shelter.

"Not bad," Hiten said, appearing out of the smoke, his staff pointed at Inuyasha. "You were able to dodge that one!"

"Who're you?" Inuyasha snarled, cracking his knuckles.

"I am Hiten, and this is my brother Maten," he gestured to the humanoid creature floating next to him. "We've been sent by Naraku to make sure you return to your prison."

Inuyasha snarled. "Go to Hell,"

Hiten shook his head side to side. "So that's how it's going to be?"

A ball of lightning shot from the tip of his spear, zeroing in on the hanyo and kitsune.

"Shit!" Inuyasha shouted, and leapt away.

(Oh, what now? Just Inuyasha's luck that Naraku sends Hiten and Maten after him! Think he'll help Shippo get revenge for his father? Find out in chapter 5: Snow and Thunder!....What? It's a cool chapter name!)