An ominous wind blew through the trees, the stench of evil in the air. All looked up in anticipation. The wolves barked and fidgeted nervously. The men, in turn, looked towards the empress.
"M' lady" one of them said nervously.
"I know" she intervened. This presence... it was unheard of. She whispered so only Mushin heard. "So tainted... I can't believe something so pure can be corrupted so easily."
"You mean...?" Mushin asked.
"Yes" the empress sighed. Then, to the rest of the men and wolves at arms, "Be on guard everyone. A shikon jewel approaches." All of them looked at the other, frightened, unsure. The evil presence rapidly got closer. Now there was no mistaking it... Only whispers reached the castle of a such an evil aura surrounding a frightening demon. Or rather, half demon. The empress smiled. This was surely going to be interesting.
With a sudden burst of energy, a whole army of demons rained down upon the castle men. Wolves and men fought back courageously, each taking two at a time. But the mass was so huge, it seemed that there would never be an end. And at the back, overlooking it all with a grin, stood the demon in the baboon mask.
Mushin stood, spear ready, poised to protect the empress. Tentacle after tentacle came soaring from the baboon, but each was hacked away. Yet again she leered.
"So persistent" the empress spoke to the baboon. "What is it you're after? Could it be..." she took a small pouch from between her breasts, the emblem of the wolf clan blazing on top, "my shard of the shikon no tama? Is that what you want, Naraku?"
He laughed devilishly. "It's like you read my mind Empress Kanadeigh. So, you know who I am?"
Now it was her turn to laugh. "The tales that blow on the western winds ring of a half demon hunting for the shards of the shikon jewel. This half demon, it would seem, started off as a petty thief who sold his soul to be devoured by a horde of demons, combining into the half breed Naraku. But you? You are neither. You are merely a construct- a golem."
"So you really do know. You are smarter than I gave you credit for. Then I might as well finish this." In one fell swoop something came down upon the heads of more than half of the wolves and comrades alike. Limp bodies fell to the blood-strewn earth. Many others cried out in terror. Kanadeigh's knees went slack, her fighting spirit weakened. This... this was too much. Her mind screamed but she neither cried nor let her face show the pain inside.
"Stop" she begged, holding out the pouch that contained her shard of the jewel. "I beg of you, take this if that is what you wish. I have no need of it. Just please do not kill any more!"
Naraku sneered. All was going perfectly. At least two more shards was in his possession. "I will take it and refrain from killing your men." The demons immediately drew back, no longer attacking. A tentacle reached and took the pouch with her shards of the shikon jewel from her grasp, instantly corrupting it with his evil aura. "But... I will also take your life."
Kanadeigh smiled, grabbing the hilt of her sword. "Fool. I would have let you get away." The tentacle flashed and all at once blood splattered across Kanadeigh's face as the sickening sound of pierced flesh resounded through the forest. Kanadeigh gasped in horror. Naraku sighed, dismayed.
"Hmm... A shame. I missed. Nonetheless, I have what I came for. Till next time, empress." All of them left, the cowards, running away. In front of her the body of Mushin went slack and crumbled. Wide eyed with terror, Kanadeigh gently placed his head in her lap, tears streaming from her face and onto his. He looked up and smiled.
"Why?" she cried. "Why would you do that? You know I can take care of him. Why sacrifice yourself for something like that?" The rest moaned softly, trying their best not to shed tears over the comrades that souls have departure.
"Well why not?" Mushin weakly asked. "I can die with honor now, knowing that I protected my empress- and a dear friend."
"Idiot! That's not good enough! You shouldn't have done that. It's not fair. What am I going to tell those at the castle? What am I going to tell Koga?"
He frowned, remembering that name as if it were a distant memory. "Koga... my dear younger brother, leader of his pack. Tell him that I died with a smile on my face. Something that, well I know, he didn't get to see very often."
"No!" she screamed. "Please don't do this!"
He smiled again. "Tell him- and forget about me. Your worries lie elsewhere." With that his eyes rolled back, his body went limp, and his eyelids fluttered shut. They all sat down and mourned.
When the sun was set over the hills, the empress stood up, tears spent. All looked up at her, waiting for her to speak. Taking a deep breath, bravely Kanadeigh began. "Carry the dead back to the castle. Tell the guards and the guards only of what transpired here at full length. We do not need to send the kingdom into a frenzy. Tell them of how the demon Naraku is solely responsible for all this. And see to it that they all get proper burials. Now go." She turned around and began walking away, but one of the men stopped her.
"Where are you going M' lady?"
"Me? I have duties elsewhere. I shall return as soon as I am permitted."
Another intervened. "Alone? Shouldn't we send your servants to protect you?"
"So I could witness another mass slaughter such as today? Never. I am much more efficient on my own. Besides, I do not plan to hunt down that demon. I simply seek more information about him. Till then." She took off, a cloak of demonic energy allowing her to fly over the woods rather than run through them. "Never" she thought to herself. "Never will I let someone like that get away with killing my friends."
"Aren't you done yet Kagome?" Inuyasha shouted.
"No way!" She shouted back. "I have been in the feudal era for over a month now! And in all that time I never even bathed!" Kagome huffed and sat down again, Sango looking over her shoulder suspiciously.
"Jeez" Sango began. "What's got him so riled up? They should probably take a dip too. All of us are filthy from fighting demons."
Kagome sighed. "Oh I don't know. Maybe it's because we insisted on stopping in the middle of the day rather than night. I think he also might be in a bad mood from not finding any shikon shards for a while."
"Well that's only to be expected. Last time we saw Naraku, his jewel was nearly complete. We ourselves only have three shards. And it might be the only ones missing from Naraku's jewel for all we know." All of them sighed. Behind some rocks and a little away, the men were having a similar conversation.
"Would you let it rest, Inuyasha" Miroku said. "We should probably join them after all. I know I feel disgusting from not having bathed."
"Shows what you know, monk." Inuyasha barked. "I'm the one always in the head of our battles, and I feel perfectly fine! The rest of you are just pansies wanting to be pampered."
"That's because you never bathe. You're like an animal." Miroku sighed, shaking his head.
"What was that?"Inuyasha growled, standing up, ready to hit the monk in the head. His veins were practically popping out of his skin from how riled up he was. Miroku sighed again. Shippo laughed. "What's so funny, Shippo?"
"Nothing really" Shippo laughed. "I just think it's funny how immature you can be, Inuyasha." Inuyasha growled again.
"Oh yeah? Why don't you say that again? After I've beaten you to a pulp!" Shippo screamed and Inuyasha chased him around and around again. All of them sighed. Inuyasha in a bad mood? This was going to be a long day.
Rin skipped through the flowers, stopping every now and then to pick some for Sesshomaru. Jaken muttered to himself "Why does Lord Sesshomaru keep around this fool of a mortal child? I mean look at her! The way she prances around. It's disgusting!" The two of them kept on like that, while Sesshomaru looked in the sky. A familiar demonic presence passed by, and Sesshomaru immediately knew who it was. He swiftly ran after it, much to the confusion of Rin and Jaken.
"M'lord?" Jaken and Rin asked together.
"Jaken" Sesshomaru answered over his shoulder, "Take care of Rin. And do not follow me." With that he sped away.
"L-lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken yelled. "Please do not leave me behind!" Jaken ran after him, but tripped and fell on his face. Rin put her head down and sighed.
Inuyasha, in the middle of chasing Shippo, stopped to sniff the air. He growled. Shippo stopped too and turned around. The girls came back out, completely dressed.
"What is it Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.
"Well I sense a demonic aura, but it doesn't seem evil." Inuyasha answered.
"Shall we go check it out?" Miroku continued.
"Yes. Let's go." Sango said. They all gathered their things and walked towards it. It wasn't long before they found out who it was. In front of them stood a female wolf demon, smirking at their confused expressions.
"I finally found you, Inuyasha." Empress Kanadeigh said. They all looked around, even more confused.
"Huh?" Inuyasha stared at the strange woman. Miroku finally realized who it was.
"Oh!" he exclaimed. "You must be Empress Kanadeigh of the wolf demon clan."
"So, you know who I am. That makes this a lot easier."