The tachi stood shocked and quiet in the seconds following Kagome's abduction. The silence stretched out for an indeterminable amount of time, be it seconds, minutes or hours pressing invisible fingers into the hearts of everyone present, all eyes turned to the sky as their minds tried to absorb what had just happened.

A dark aura was growing on the horizon of the now-darkened sky. Screeches and distant growls could be heard, the sign of a familiar hoard of lesser demons barreling their way to deter them from their goal. The mass of their bodies stood like a black cloud, more than they had ever seen and the ground trembled beneath their feet in warning, as if the earth itself was trying to scream out their arrival.

And then it was like there was a sudden release of pressure, as if those scant moments spent standing there gaping had now come to demand their payment in the form of a need for intense action.

This crack in pressure began when Inuyasha took a precautionary step backwards, signalling the rest of the tachi with him, as a fierce growl sounded from Sesshomaru, deep and guttural, his eyes suddenly bleeding scarlet. The sound from his chest seemed to pierce the ground down to the bed rock and back up to the surface again, the very air constricting to absorb it.

His intended had been taken and the beast within was furious with this turn of events. For once in his long life, Sesshomaru was happy to let him take over.

His jaw elongated into a feral, unnatural grin, teeth engorging, green lightening cracking and snapping around his form while the wind picked up in his rage, carrying ribbons of his long white hair with it to fly all around him.

Something primal and ancient, a part of him deeply rooted within his bones and soul, cried out at the loss of his intended. The rage and desire he felt to protect was unlike anything he'd ever felt. And she had been taken from him so easily.

This was the final thought it took to summon the last phase of his transformation. Ruby eyes locked onto the sky as his body was lined with blood red light before his pupils dialed back, completely surrendering to the red.

"Get back!" Midoriko called hastily to the others who were struck dumb by the sight as the taiyoukai began to transform.

The earth trembled beneath their feet again as a massive dog demon stepped down onto the ground, throwing his head back to snarl at the open sky and revealing a set of massive jaws filled with sharp fangs. The sound echoed across the sky like thunder.

His hind legs pushed him into the air in an attempt to track the scent his mate had left behind but his jaunt was obstructed by a sudden onslaught of lesser demons, all bearing Naraku's vile scent. The final battle had begun.

He tore through them without hesitation, his massive jaws working to crush bone and flesh alike, ignoring the putrid stench it left on his tongue.

Midoriko flew past him on her cloud, clearing a path for him, the light leaving the sky in her wake as a black storm grew rapidly to the direction in the distance she had her eyes pinned to. A flick of her wrist and a hundred lightening bolts struck the herd, incinerating all in the front line and hitting the ground with a cacophonous crash. Still, more came, a wall of infinite numbers.

Wave after wave they came, long after the ground was soaked in blood and twitching appendages.

Totosai hovered beneath Sesshomaru and Midoriko in the air with Sango, Ki-la-la and Miroku as they handled anything on the ground running.

Kaede, still on the ground, turned the opposite direction, sprinting past Inuyasha as he brandished Tetsusaiga and made to catch up with the others.

"Shippo-kun! We have to leave! Shippo-kun, let's go!" Rin cried next to him, her little fists pulling futilely at his robes, trying to make him stand, but the fox kit continued to stare after the spot in the sky where his surrogate mother had disappeared from as if in shock.

The crash from her dish had woken him and since that moment he had not been able to move. His brain seemed to be in a loop, trying to absorb what had just happened.

Kohaku stood silently next to them in a defensive position next to Ah-Un, his scythe in one hand and his eyes trained on the sky for any oncoming attack.

Kaede knelt down next to the kit, taking his hand gently in her's, nearly flinching at the building and frantic energy around his person. His kitsune magic was like a wild storm caught up in his emotions and along with the meal he had eaten earlier, it was causing a tumult of demonic jaki to nearly spiral out of control. She sent a pulse of her familiar aura to him, letting him know she was pack.

"Shippo-kun? It's time to leave now. Team village, remember?"

His green eyes did not move, nor did his face give any indication he had heard.

"M-mother," he whispered as a single tear slid down his face, his lips trembling.

First, he'd lost his mother. Then, his father. He'd been so scared and lonely. Abandoned to live on his own until Kagome had come along and scooped him up off the ground, held him to her breast and promised to always protect him.

He hadn't forgotten all the other adults that had turned him away or pretended not to notice him. There were other kitsune clans, even, that knew his father and refused to take him in for fear of angering the Thunder Brothers. Humans and demons alike, no one wanted him. She'd taken him into her heart as her own from the moment she laid eyes on him as if it were the most natural thing in the world. As if it should go without saying.

Kagome had been there for him when he was sick, when he was hurt, when he was sad. She fed him, bathed him, took care of him. She always believed in him even when she had no reason to. She was always proud and always loved him even though he had never done anything to deserve it. She taught him how to love and trust others, how to be there for them when you needed to be, she taught him what it truly meant to be brave, to do the right thing, even if you're scared...

Last night he thought he'd finally proved himself. But all he did was put his mother in danger. He handed her over to the enemy because he hadn't paid closer attention! The green light around the boar, the out-of-season mushrooms, it all made sense now that he looked back on it but he'd been so desperate to prove himself that he hadn't second-guessed it even for a moment.

The one thing he had to be proud, the one achievement he had in his whole life could end up being the cause of her death.

Kaede's golden eyes widened for a moment hearing Shippo address her sister in such a manner for the first time. She'd known the kit was fond of her younger sister but never had she guessed he might view her in such a paternal way.

"It's-it's my fault," he whispered, finishing the sentence in an abnormally low octave as his eyes widened in horror at the realization, the tears flowing steadily now. "The mushrooms...the boar...it's my fault. Mother! What have I done? What have I done?!"

He screamed the last, growling on the last word and clenching his teeth together as he balled his fists so hard at his sides his claws punctured the palms of his hands. Kaede watched as his fangs elongated dangerously past his lips and there was a sudden heavy pulse of jaki around his person.

"Shippo-kun..." Rin whispered softly, clenching the reins of Ah-Un to steady him against the excitement as she watched her friend beginning to change.

'You picked a hell of a time, kit' Kaede thought to herself sarcastically, thinking of the stew Kagome had practically force-fed him the night before after drugging him and resetting his broken paw. His first hunt. Of course.

"Rin, Kohaku, take Ah-Un and get to the village," Kaede ordered them without looking away from Shippo. When they failed to act she looked sharply at Kohaku, who flinched at her intense expression and her bared fangs.
"Now!"

As the two-headed dragon sped off into the sky towards Edo, Shippo began to growl low in his throat, the sound building in intensity as Kaede stepped back warily.

The jaki pulsed again, even heavier this time, while his fists unclenched to reveal a much longer set of claws. He opened his arms to stare up at the sky, howling his rage and grief at the loss of his mother, brandishing a set of large canines. The wail began in one octave but quickly lowered to a much deeper, unrecognizable one. As the jaki pulsed again, he grew a foot taller with every heart beat, and then another, and another as a dark green light began to swirl around his body, finally blocking him entirely from view.

Kaede stood up straight and confident as the bubble of green light died down, revealing a teenage Shippo almost a foot taller than Kohaku, his shoulders broad and his arms muscled. His hair had darkened to a deep, burgundy red, still piled in a rather messy ponytail at the top of his head but now spilling down his back. His legs were no longer fox legs but human, no sign of his earlier injury, while the tatters of his previous clothes hung just barely covering the essentials.

He now sported not one but three tails streaked with dark red, brown and bright red stripes which flicked impatiently back and forth behind him and around his neck hung a large, round, white jewel that Kaede recognized instantly as his Hoshi no Tama, or 'Star ball.' It flickered with green and blue flames, containing the overflow of Foxfire from the new surplus he had attained. It was like a reserve shell which he could draw upon at will.

His eyes glowed a bright, neon green like his foxfire, which told Kaede his beast was in control. He had hit his growth spurt and released his inner jaki all in the same moment.

His expression was dark and full of fury as he panted for breath in front of her.

Kaede nodded to him once, her face carefully void of all emotion and moved fluidly forward, pulling a dagger from her obi. It was made entirely from jade, the blade serrated and jagged but sharp while the handle was carved into the shape of green flames, like foxfire.

She held it out to him, her amber eyes boring into his green ones and when he looked back at her he could see clearly, despite the control of his beast, that her rage, her rampant desire for retribution, mirrored his own. In this way, he knew her as pack.

"Our pack mother has been taken," she informed him coldly and simply to better appeal to his beast's nature.

Shippo's beast signaled its understanding with a snarl of contempt.

"Take this dagger and deliver our revenge."

His claws snatched out to take the knife in a swift and calculated move without even grazing her palm. In a blur of red and green, he was gone.

Kaede released the breath she'd been holding once he was gone. Kagome was going to kill her for setting him loose but what choice did she have? The growth spurt they'd been expecting but triggering his jaki, that wasn't supposed to come for at least another season. The emotional upheaval following the intake of his first hunt had obviously made his inner beast think there was a definitive need to speed things up. It was rare but it happened sometimes when the situation was dire enough.

She would just have to keep an eye on the kit as the battle wore on and make sure he stayed out of trouble. Thinking of the formidable team headed Naraku's way, she grinned. The vile hanyou wouldn't know what hit him.

Kaede tailed Shippo as he ripped through lesser demons on the ground with his claws and the jade dagger. It was sloppy, violent work watching his beast slaughter one after the other but seemed to be satisfying for the once-kit. His rage was beginning to subside with every wall they tore through. She couldn't help feeling both impressed and astonished as he decapitated with no hesitation the unfortunate stragglers who managed to avoid Sesshomaru, Midoriko, Sango, Totosai, Miroku and Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga, leaving no work for her in their wake. It was almost amusing were it not for her own desire to scratch the itch she felt to get her hands dirty.

She was nothing if not patient, however, all her time masquerading as an old woman had taught her that. There would be time for her to sink her claws in, she knew, and Shippo needed this to atone for the guilt and fury he felt at Kagome being taken.

Not that she personally supported that sentiment, if anything, she knew Kagome being taken was an inevitable part of this scenario; Kagome wasn't the only one that had seen Midoriko's vision.

At this thought, the urge to press forward increased her stride and she momentarily broke past Shippo to take out a large Oni looming their way while he was tied up with some type of lizard demon who spit a nasty acid at the ground.

As the Oni's body fell to the ground dismembered, she squinted her eyes on the horizon, glancing at the flashes of light that gave away each individual's location. Her grandmother's lightening flashed every few seconds, lighting up the scene, the smell of charred demonic flesh filling the air with a foul stench. She covered her sensitive nose with the sleeve of her horai as she ran, Shippo right behind her and tried to ignore the sound of various body parts sizzling at their feet and still smoking.

The yellow light of Inuyasha's Windscar followed Midoriko's attacks at ground level every now and again, great orbs of orange light signalling her grandfather's formidable rain of fire dotted the scene, dropping balls of molten lava on the stragglers. Sesshomaru was the most obvious, his deafening roars could probably be heard on the other side of the world and there was no missing his great white mass of fur and claws and teeth from where she was off in the distance. Every time he swiped at the line of hoards there was a great booming sound as thousands were knocked to the side and cut clean in half.

A faint blue light gave away the position of Ki-la-la as Miroku threw his sutras where he could, avoiding the use of his wind tunnel as there was no doubt Naraku had thought to bring along his horrendous bees.

Inuyasha was by the far the closest of the gang and they had just caught up to him as he panted for breath right after the release of an Adamant Barrage. He was sweaty and beginning to tire but his expression was rock hard with determination. He gave a side long glance and a nod in her direction as they came to stand on either side of him, then he turned to Shippo. His jaw fell open in surprise before breaking out into a huge grin.

"Well, look who finally decided to grow up," he teased, ruffling the dark red bangs of the now-grown kitsune. Shippo gave a growl of warning but his beast recognized Inuyasha as pack so it was only half hearted. It was then Inuyasha noticed his bright green eyes and the Hoshi no Tama around his neck. He turned to Kaede with his brow risen nearly into his hairline.

"His beast came out, too?" he asked in surprise and Kaede nodded.

"In the very same moment," she clarified, her expression grim.

"Damn Naraku," he cursed, turning back to Shippo. "Well then, kit, let's get your mother back, eh?"

Shippo gave a growl of assent and the three of them sprinted off once more.

They had barely made it a few feet, however, when the scene ahead disappeared and changed around them. The others were gone with it, leaving just the three of them in a foreign landscape.

They stood in a wasteland all but for a large, black lake before them. Mist and fog obscured their vision until they stood at the water's edge, the surface as still as glass.

Shippo gave a low growl of warning, causing the other two to look up. There they found Kanna on the other side, peering at them like an emotionless doll. The mirror in her hands was dropped into the still lake, not even making a ripple, were it floated to the center face up. A bright light and then the entire lake suddenly was the mirror and Inuyasha, having experienced and fought this mirror before, backed up. Shippo as well but Kaede was not fast enough. She stood frozen at the water's edge, her reflection caught in the glass.

"Kaede!"Inuyasha shouted as the woman fell to her knees. Inuyasha caught her around the waist and pulled her back away from the lake but it was no use; her eyes were blank and dull as the mirror sucked and pulled at her soul. The light around her body was being siphoned into the lake before them at a rapid rate and Inuyasha felt his claws lengthen in agitation.

Wasting no time, knowing the void-child would not respond to conversation, he raised Tetsusaiga to attack.

"Windscar!" His voice echoed across the barren landscape, flying over the lake and into Kanna. It hit a purple barrier and then was sent back at him. Inuyasha only just had time to raise Tetsusaiga while standing in front of Shippo and Kaede, the protective barrier erected only seconds before impact to protect them from the blast. The light from Kaede's soul continued to siphon into the lake.

The hanyou gave a scoff of frustration before raising his sword again. "Adamant Barrage!"

The diamond spears were thrown back at them again only this time Shippo, who had stepped aside after the last attack, did not benefit from Tetsusaiga's protective barrier. He was thrown back forcefully by the blow, several spears hitting home in various places, although he was lucky enough for none of them to hit vital areas. His shoulder had a gash, his cheek was now bleeding and one of his arms was bleeding freely by a grazed spear but he arose overall intact.

As Inuyasha raised his sword again for another attack, Shippo placed a hand on the blade and firmly pressed it down.

"If you do that one more time, I'll kill you myself."

Inuyasha turned with surprise to the kitsune, who was no longer controlled by his beast. His astonishment at the fox's changed state and deeper voice did not last long, however, before his anger won out yet again.

"Well what would you suggest, kit? We have to do something!"

"Obviously," he responded smartly and in that moment a flash of green caught Inuyasha's eye. The Hoshi no Tama had lit up with a bright, green light, which culminated into an explosion that moved across the lake towards Kanna. It erupted with streaks of light like long fingers which seeped easily through the barrier and hovered momentarily over Kanna's tiny, pale hands which continued to grip the mirror.

Inuyasha watched as the green light moved into her the tips of her fingers and disappeared. Kanna bent forward suddenly, her face screwed up in an uncharacteristic expression of severe concentration. Glancing over at Shippo's form, he found him standing very still with his eyes closed, the Tama around his neck now totally devoid of light. It was then he noticed the three tails his friend now had and he understood.

Shippo had grown into his next form and with that came new, instinctive abilities, possession being one of them. He knew that a nine-tailed fox was considered the wisest of forms a kitsune could take and the final level of the aging process.

Kanna gave a grunt of surprise, her tiny body suddenly racked with tremors. Her arms flailed, still griping the mirror in a white knuckled grip, before stilling quite suddenly a few seconds later. There was a pause and then her face broke out in a very creepy grin which made Inuyasha shudder at the sight. Shippo's mischievous expression was reflected back at him through Kanna's features. Still smiling that awkward smile, she lifted the mirror above her head before slamming it down to the ground. The glass shattered into a thousand pieces while the lake flickered uncertainly.

There was a violent lurch of the ground which sent Inuyasha and Shippo sprawling before the landscape changed again back to one they both recognized. The sounds of battle once again engulfed them, further off in the distance now. They stood amidst the remains of lesser youkai, their arms and legs littering the ground. Black pools of blood were splattered here and there, smoking and singed body parts.

Kaede coughed and sputtered beside them when her soul was swiftly returned while Inuyasha bent to examine her, patting her on the back rather forcefully. She swiped at his attempts at helping her with impatience as she tried to catch her breath.

"Get your hands off me, mutt," she cursed, refusing the hand he offered to help her up.

"Keh, won't happen again, ungrateful bitch," he spat, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly.

"That's more like it," Kaede grinned, "Stay in character." Inuyasha just rolled his eyes.

"Um, guys?" Shippo's voice carried over to them, causing them to look up. The sight that met them, however, left them at a loss for words.

Kanna was not only still alive but clutching her heart and looking very confused. Her hair was no longer stark white but a deep, inky black. Twin black stripes marked each of her cheeks, which were both blushing with color no one had ever seen or even thought her capable of. She was apparently no longer a child of the void but some type of adolescent demon. In fact, the only remaining features she retained of her original form was the white dress and small, white flower in her hair, now much more prominent against her black locks.

"Who are you people?" the girl asked fearfully, her eyes scanning the scene in horror, "-and where am I? What is this place? GROSS!" she cried at the smoking body parts all around her.

Her questions were met with shocked silence until Kaede suddenly broke it, exclaiming, "The mirror!" As if that explained everything.

Inuyasha raised a single brow in an unconscious move that was extremely reminiscent of his older brother. "Mind elaborating a little more there, genius?"

Kaede scowled but acquiesced none the less. "The mirror steals souls! Kanna was never an incarnation of Naraku, he just stole her soul with that mirror and made her apart of the Void. He probably only allowed her a tiny shard of consciousness to remain and the rest was sealed within the mirror, along with all her emotion. Smells like cat youkai, if you ask me."

Inuyasha and Shippo simultaneously sniffed the air and looked at each other before nodding their heads.

Kaede approached the girl cautiously. "What's your name, sweetie?"

"Kanna," the girl answered easily. "Who is Naraku? What mirror? Where am I and who are you people?"
She was becoming frantic, leaning warily away from Kaede.

"Where do you come from, child?" Kaede asked softly.

"The Vale, from the Kuroneko tribe," the new Kanna answered tentatively.

"The Black cat youkai tribe, that's in the East," Inuyasha supplied helpfully. "What will we do with her? We can't have her tagging along at this point, she's won't make it two feet."

"I'll take her back to Edo," Shippo offered. "That way I can keep an eye on Rin and help Kohaku protect the village until all this is over."

Kaede felt her face soften at his declaration. She knew how much it meant to him to help out in this fight and it showed a great level of maturity that he would offer what he was to protect the young Kanna and give up his place on the battlefield.

"Be careful, Shippo. Stay to the shadows and keep your head down. With any luck you'll make it before sunrise."

He grinned. "Won't take me that long," he supplied vaguely and outstretched a hand to Kanna, who was still sitting on the ground. After a moment's hesitation she took his hand and made to rise, crying out suddenly. Her hands fumbled with something in her robes as she pulled free Kagura's fan. She looked at it with confusion.

"This seems familiar to me somehow..." With a click, the fan opened, revealing the sharp blades at the end. Kanna 'eeped' in surprise when one of the edges almost nicked her. She held it out to Kaede. "You take it. I don't know what it is but maybe it will be of some use to you with...whatever you're doing," she finished uncertainly, casting a wary glance at the horizon where the battle ensued.

Kaede took it gratefully, humming with interest when the fan hit her palm. She gave it an experimental wave and laughed delightedly when a strong gust of wind followed. "Oh, this is going to so much fun."

"Great," Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Something else for her to torture me with."

As if in answer, Kaede grinned before sending him sprawling with another even stronger gust of wind, laughing when he fell onto his bottom roughly. "Ha! My own version of sit!"

"On that note," Shippo mumbled, took Kanna's hand and disappeared in a flash of green light.

Kaede frowned slightly. "That kid is starting to scare me with how fast he's coming along in his abilities."

Inuyasha, who was dusting himself off, scowled at her. "Pssh, him? I've got enough trouble keeping my eyes on you. PUT IT DOWN!" he shouted as she suddenly raised the fan again in warning. "For Kami's sake, woman, we're in the biggest fight of our life, we can fight later. Can we please focus on rescuing your sister and killing Naraku for one minute?"

Kaede pouted, sticking her tongue out childishly. "Spoil sport."

They sprinted off toward the battle together, Inuyasha passing her as if to prove how fast he was. She sped up but he picked up the pace even more. It was no use trying to catch him, he was faster. Rather than admit this, she pulled the fan free and flattened him into the ground one more time, laughing as she passed him and left him in the dust in her wake.

This was going to be so fun.

AN: Reviews are my fuel

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha