"Oh no!" Kagome said as the village the group had been traveling to came into sight and flames soared high into the air from nearly every single building. The dark haired female took off running with Inuyasha and the others quickly following after her. The air soon became too hot to continue for the young female and she skidded to a stop.
"How are we suppose to stop this?!" Sango sounded as she came to a stop next to the other female.
"I don't know!" Kagome exclaimed over the sound of crackling wood. The air was so hot even from this distance and just as Kagome was about to turn and ask Inuyasha if there was anything he could do, a black blur shot right past her. The groups gaze was drawn to the edge of the firey-blaze and the figure of a female standing there somehow enduring the raging heat.
The female's hand stretched out till it was mere inches from the flames, almost close enough that it looks as though the flames licked at her skin. Kagome opened her mouth to call out to the girl, but a loud roar of the flames drown her out. The flames appeared to be blown towards the female and it only took minutes for Miroku to have a theory.
"Is she sucking the flames in using a wind tunnel?" he asked almost in disbelief before Inuyasha responded, "I don't think so, that's no wind tunnel." They watched as the flames were sucked into the girls palm and seemed to disappear into nowhere.
It only took a few minutes before all the flames were gone and the female that stopped them turned around, a strong wind blowing her rather long red hair back as she looked up at the group. She was adorned in black kunoichi garb similar in fashion to the demon Yura. Though her tunic was pulled to cover her chest and had long sleeves with an intricate red pattern at the edges. A thick red obi tied around her middle section showing how thin her waist was and just how buxom she was. Her tunic was cut off at her knees and slits had been cut up both sides obviously to allow more movement.
"There are still people in the village, I don't imagine that they are in good shape," the female said as she approached the group, "Naraku was lurking in the area."
"What!?" Inyasha was the first to find his voice, "I would have gotten Naraku's scent if he was here!" The demon growled a little and looked around them seeing if he could catch the scent.
"He's not close enough for that, I sensed him on my way here. We should help these people here before addressing anything else," the demoness stated clearly not willing to take no for an answer.
"Look I know you just saved the village, but who are you?" Kagome asked the stranger in front of them. It was clear that she was a demon given her ability to suck up the flames.
"My name is Akaino," she said a little impatiently, "I know it's not polite to boss strangers around, but I need to tend to the safety of the village before I can report back about Naraku's whereabouts. I would appreciate the help."
She looked at the group for a moment longer before turning to search the village and allow the other's to decide whether to help her or not. "I don't see why we should help her," Inuyasha said folding his arms over his chest.
"There are people and they do need help, maybe we can get her to tell us about Naraku?" Kagome said before turning to the others. "I will go with Inuyasha and see if we can find anyone who needs help," she said to the others, a grumble coming from the dog demon.
"I shall go and help Akaino," Miroku spoke next trying to sound smooth, but the lecherous smile on his face gave him away and he narrowly missed being hit with Sango's hirikosu. "I guess it's you, me, and Kirara?" Shippo looked up at Sango as the other's disappeared into the village.
Kagome and Inuyasha
"That girl is weird. I don't like her," Inuyasha whined a little as he followed Kagome through the village."She doesn't seem all that bad to me," Kagome responded as she peered into a few buildings that looked like they could collapse at any moment. "Someone is over here," Inuyasha said instead of responding to the same topic after he smelled blood.
Kagome stepped into the place that he had indicated and the sight that met her eyes made her flinch a bit. A man was laying underneath a large wooden beam that appeared to have come down on top of him. "Please help!" he cried, "My children are upstairs!" The female's eyes lit up with concern and she glances over at Inuyasha, "Help him while I go see the upstairs!"
Without another word she took off up the stairs without Inuyasha having any say in the matter, but she heard him using his strength to shift around the rumble around the man. The upstairs was a small room that looked like it was used for storage and the girls were covering on a tilted floor across the room. It looked as though the beam that had fallen on the man had been supporting the center of the room and at this point Kagome wasn't sure how safe it was to cross. "Hey are you okay over there?" she called across the room.
"My sister! She won't answer me!," a tearful cry rang out as Kagome could now see that one sister was cowering and holding the other clearly unconscious girl to her, "Please help us!"
The black-haired female tried to edge across the room, but the floor started to cave and she had to jump back to avoid falling through. Inuyasha's voice rang out form below, "Hey watch it!" He peered up through the hole in the floor at Kagome before jumping up through the ceiling and landing near her.
"I can't reach them, is there anything you can do?" she looked at the dog demon begging him to help the two small children. Inuyasha didn't respond at first, surveying the floor area. "Go outside and tend to the man Kagome," he said to her before cutting her off as she tried to protest, "I said go!"
Kagome called across the room, "My friend is going to help you two don't be scared, I am going to check on your father." She looked worried, but turned and ran back outside and began tending to the man's wounds. After a few nerve racking moments Inuyasha came crashing through the open window on the second level, shocking both Kagome and the man as the demon landed with both children folded into his kimono so that they didn't get hurt.
"Oh thank you! Thank you both so much!" the man they had rescued exclaimed as his children were set beside him. Kagome smiled and continued tending to their wounds while Inuyasha jumped up on top of the nearest building that was stable to get a look around. When Kagome was finished she stood up, "You should be okay out here, we need to go and check for other's." She felt bad leaving them but the man waved her along after thanking her many more times, "Inuyasha, let's go," she called up to him as she made her way down the street.
Sango, Shippo, and Kirara
"At least I didn't have to go with the pervert again," Sango mumbled as she followed behind Shippo who was running ahead of her. "Oh come on Sango, he isn't that bad," Shippo said turning around and grinning at her with a mischievous look in his eyes. It was clear that neither was paying too much attention as they searched the village.
"What?!" she snapped at him as the look registered.
"You know, you're just jealous~" Shippo laughed as Kirara watched them curiously.
"Shut up!" the female retorted.
"No-" Shippo started but was cut off as he heard a noise and Kirara growled, "Did you hear that?"
"Yea," Sango responded, tensing, "There it is again, let's go check it out."
Without another word the trio took off in the direction of the noise; however, instead of finding someone in trouble, it was a dog that was trapped in some rumble and trying to dig his way out. Sango and Shippo set to trying to free the animal as Kirara stood back and hissed a little at the creature. It didn't take them long to free the animal and it was running off through the town. "Well so much for saving someone," Shippo said, "I guess let's keep looking." Sango nodded and followed him again, trying not to get lost in her thoughts.
Akaino and Miroku
It had only taken a few moments for the monk to catch up to the female demon and when he did she glanced at him, "Let's check over here." She spoke in a quiet, but commanding voice as though she had years of practice bossing people around. "Okay," was all Miroku responded with as she followed behind her and took in the sight with his gaze.
As they came to a building that had been reduced to rubble Akaino bent forward to shift some of the debris and as she did so the monk edged closer to her, eyeing her rear as it stuck out. However, just as he got close enough she glanced over her shoulder at him, "What are you doing?" She asked him watching as a somewhat disappointed look came over his face, "N-Nothing at all!"
The female bent down once more and Miroku saw his second chance, he moved closer and closer before without warning he casually reached forward and groped her behind. Akino froze, "You little lecher!" she gasped as she quickly turned to face him.
Miroku closed his eyes expecting to be slapped in the face, but the blow never came and he peeked his eyes open to see the female shaking her head with a look on her face that was somewhere between pity and 'I get this all the time'. She sighed and rolled her eyes a bit, "If you wanted to touch me, you should have just asked." She gave him a sly little grin before walking away as her words hit him and registered in his head.
The monk stared after her shocked that his cheek wasn't stinging before shaking his head and running after her, "Hey wait up!"
It honestly hadn't taken long for the group to finish their searches and they were meeting back up on the outskirts of town. Kagome and Inuyasha were waiting, the later not so patiently as Sango, Shippo and Kirara came up to them around the same time Miroku and the new female appeared. The demoness was the first to speak, "I thank you for your help. You are the group travelling with the half-demon Inuyasha yes? I thought I recognized him." She nodded at the silver haired half-breed as the rest of the group nodded, not at all surprised that Inuyasha was being recognized.
"Akaino, we have some questions if you don't mind?" Kagome spoke wanting to get information about Naraku, "Though I suppose we should introduce ourselves, you obviously know Inuyasha. My name is Kagome and we also have Sango and Shippo, I'm not sure if Miroku introduced himself." The female motioned to each individual as she named them off. The demoness got a coy grin on her face finding something amusing when Kagome got to Miroku, "He did in an odd sort of way, but you're questions?"
Sango made a guess at what the monk had done and looked like she was about to whack him before Kagome continued, "Well, I was wondering what you know about Naraku, why is he around here?"
Akaino blinked a few times, "You mean you haven't heard?" She seemed confused by the fact that they all looked at each other before Kagome shrugged indicating that she wasn't sure. "Naraku has taken over Kyokicho. The sister lands to Metesho, which is our current location. Here in Metesho are three, technically four, demon kingdoms ruled by princesses. Kyokicho had a similar set up before Naraku pretty much conquered those lands. Currently we are in Akyono-metesho which is the kingdom that I rule over." She chuckled a little at the looks of surprise, "Yes, I do not like introducing myself with my title most of the time, apologies. I shouldn't really discuss much more here in the open. If you would like to come with me to the castle I can give you more information, it's only fair given how you have helped me out."
"Why can't you just tell us here?" Inuyasha scowled a little at the invite, but Kagome gave him a look. "I think it would be a good idea to head out given the situation," she said letting her gaze go over the others in her group to make sure it was okay. Akaino smiled and turned to shoot a flame in the air and in moments a large dragon landed in front of her.
"This is the fastest way," she said before jumping up onto the beast and watching as the other's hesitantly climbed on, "Just be wary of your weapons, Kirito doesn't like being jabbed and he will throw us off." As the last of her words left her mouth the dragon lifted from the ground with a heavy sweep of it's wings taking off to the direction of the castle of Akyono-metesho.