As Only You Can
Author's Note :: I'm not sure how long this one will be – just something that I came up with while writing countless other stories. I'll finish them all eventually – le sigh!
Disclaimer :: If you know it and love it, it isn't mine. I'm simply borrowing these things for a bit and I most sincerely thank the creators of the Inuyasha universe for this privilege.
A cold, gray autumn morning found the princess of the Northern Yoro tribe silently stalking her prey through the lower valleys of her ancestral homelands. She was further away from her den than she might have normally ventured; being that it was so close to the first snowfall of the year – the snow that would make the passes and trails impassable until spring sunbeams would melt the last frosts of winter from the mountaintop. To the lovely young demoness' credit, however, she'd not seen such a lovely doe since spring had flourished into summer. And, what, with it being so close to her beloved grandfather's eight hundredth year, she couldn't let such a magnificent prize slip through her claws.
A light snow was just beginning to fall around her shoulders. The occasional snowflake would cling to the pretty locks of her amber hair, curling gracefully around her shoulders and cascading in waves down her back. On that particular morning, she'd chosen to wear it down, pulled away from her face by a white leather cord around her forehead, tied nonchalantly in a square knot at her temple with the loose ends woven back into the cord. The princess had long since given up the childish style of wearing pigtails.
She wore deerskin leggings, covered by white fur legwarmers, and had smoothly oiled leather moccasins on her feet to keep away the cold. Around her waist, she had tied a white pelt the same iridescent hue as her leg warmers. Over the top of a lightweight deerskin shirt, Ayame's silver armor glimmered in the dim sunlight that managed to slip through the clouds.
The huntress knelt lower to the ground, pausing where a trail forked to search for any sign left behind of the beast she stalked. She closed her eyes, concentrating on her sense of hearing. From the moment she had spotted the graceful creature, Ayame had known that she would capture it alive and end its life without staining the beautiful creature's fur with blood. The winds were shifting, masking the doe's scent from her sensitive nose.
When she heard the twig snap from behind her and slightly to her right, emerald eyes snapped open and the princess smirked, remaining as firmly rooted to the ground as one of the grand pines that surrounded her mountains. Emerald eyes flashed crimson as Ayame gracefully leapt from her position, capturing the frightened doe in her strong arms and breaking its neck quickly with her bare hands. Closing her eyes, the princess said a silent blessing to Tsuki no Megami; the mistress of the Moon who watched over all of her okami children. This creature in her arms had not suffered.
Ayame exhaled, pleased with herself. Quickly, the okami youkai slung the doe over her shoulders, balancing the creature's weight above her own. She turned west but paused when the faintest scent of blood drifted to her on the eastern breeze. It traveled quickly, so faint and then stronger until, she determined, it was most decidedly okami.
Growling, Ayame sprinted with her own quiet grace, the wind at her disposal, towards her injured comrade.
The beautiful demoness knew that she had reached her destination when she happened upon a clearing stained with the blood of a female okami youkai. Her chest constricted painfully as the stench of fresh death penetrated her nostrils. Everywhere she looked was crimson, staining the frost covered brush and overwhelming her senses with its pungency. Her breath constricted when her emerald eyes found the body of a brown okami lying a few meters from where she stood.
"She's one of Kouga's," the Northern Yoro princess murmured, rolling the butchered form of her okami sister over so that she was on her back. The amber-haired demoness carefully folded the woman's arms over her chest and closed her brilliant hazel eyes softly with shaking fingertips. Her voice was a whimper as she asked, "Who did this, sister?"
But she wasn't alone as the demoness felt her heart stop beating in her chest when she heard the anguished echo of a child's cry from behind her, "Momma?"
Ayame turned sharply in the direction of the voice to find her eyes locked with a pair of the same brilliant hazel she'd just closed for eternity. He was but a cub, an okami youkai who took hesitant steps towards the white wolf in the center of the clearing. The wonder with which he stared at the amber-haired white okami indicated that he considered her surreal and Ayame felt herself blush under the innocent gaze of a cub who had likely not yet seen his third year.
The heir-apparent of the Northern Yoro narrowed her eyes and growled at the back of her throat when she saw the dominating form of an Amur tora youkai emerging from the woods behind the smaller youkai.
Without thought or hesitation, Ayame lunged for the cub, capturing him safely in her arms and leaping away from the giant white beast that roared loudly in rage. While she had been fast, the lovely youkai princess hadn't accurately timed her jump and the frail demoness howled her pain as she felt the sharp claws of the other youkai rip through the leather of her armor and straight through the flesh of her muscular shoulder.
The child she had saved was crying furiously for his fear, clinging so desperately to Ayame that she questioned whether he had melded his form to hers. She faced the tora youkai with narrowed eyes, growling low in her throat as her eyes glimmered crimson and then returned to their brilliant emerald hue.
The white tora licked Ayame's blood from his claws, almost purring for the pleasure he derived from her taste.
"The child," he growled. "Give him to me, demoness, and I shall spare your life."
"Over my dead body," the princess of the Northern Yoro growled as she struggled for control over her inner youkai. She tenderly placed the okami cub on the ground behind her, far enough away that he couldn't see the terribly mutilated form of his late mother. The white okami shuffled cautiously around the child, taking care to keep her own form between that of the cub and the tora.
"Touching," the beast mocked. "It's the same vow his mother made before I slaughtered her."
"Enough, tora! I tire of your libretti," Ayame frowned, clenching her right fist before her face as she summoned the power of her cutting leaves. With a grace that left the child behind her hypnotized, the amber-haired okami princess splayed her fingertips outward and slashed the air with her powerful claws, crying fiercely, "Senpu!"
The tora roared in pain as a swirling array of crimson and golden leaves hurled towards his body, cutting fur and flesh. He hadn't been gravely injured but the attack left him incensed and his eyes flashed crimson. He growled before lunging to attack the female okami youkai and Ayame closed her eyes, bracing for the hit. She knew that she could not move to dodge his attack for fear of exposing the cub to the beast's fury.
Ayame howled in pain, feeling the tora's sharp fangs dig into the already torn flesh of her left shoulder.
She heard the cub cry out in terror behind her as she blindly fumbled with her sharp claws against the powerful tora's face. The amber-haired youkai was so desperate to free herself from the youkai's jaws, she paid no attention to the way that her knees began to grow weak and her vision began to darken for loss of blood. The last thing she could remember was the terrified scream of the child crying, "Kouga!"
And the dimmest shout of, "Goraishi!"
