Title: Demons

Author: Priestess Skye

Rating: PG

Characters: Kouga/Rin

Genre: General

Word Count: 1644

Summary: Eight years after Kagome has left, Kouga runs into the most unlikely of companions.

Warnings: Kouga is OOC…I'm claiming he's settle down a bit after time has passed. But yeah, OOC.

Kouga raced along the hills, blowing a large trail of dust behind him. Some days he felt the need to just run and run far.

He pulled up suddenly as a familiar scent brushed by him. He frowned puzzled by the smell.

What the blazes was the owner of that scent doing this far in the hills?

More importantly what was she doing there without her protector? Taking another quick sniff of the air, he confirmed his suspicion. She was alone, most likely lost and afraid. Most children were afraid when they were left alone in unfamiliar territory. Still…he wondered. Letting her wander off on her own would be something the mutt would do, not his half-brother.

Racing down the stream, he came to a halt as he saw her sitting upon one of the large rocks on the bank. Her eyes were closed and she appeared as if she were waiting for someone. Why the hell did he care anyway? She was human. More importantly she was a human and not Kagome. He should not have double backed.

Still…

He couldn't very well leave her there now could he? Anything could happen to her.

"Do your wolves still eat people?"

Startled at the question, Kouga's eyes widened slightly. "What?"

"I said do your wolves still eat people?"

"No."

"They ate my parents." In a quite voice, lower than a whisper, Kouga strained to hear her next comment. "They killed me."

He had heard rumours of Sesshoumaru's power and ability to bring people back to life, but he had yet to see it with his own two eyes. What this girl was saying could very well be possible given the company she kept. But if this were the case, why would he let her stray so far from him? "Where is your protector? Aren't you afraid I'll eat you too?" He let his fangs poke out at her as he asked her this question, intending to cause a little fear just for run. Living with a youkai had obviously given her courage, foolish as it was.

The defiant flash in her large brown eyes had him stepping back, and for all of a minute he swore he could saw somebody else sitting there. She was so much like Kagome in many ways, and though the priestess was gone, her memory lived within him. Yet here was almost an exact replica he thought as he looked at her. Long, dark brown black hair, large brown eyes, and like the priestess, she was petit.

But she was by no means fragile.

Her hands were calloused from labour. No doubt the dog demon made her hunt for her food and work to keep alive. That alone earned a modicum of his respect, as most young ladies would feel they deserved pampering when in the presence of a lord. Youkai lords were different than human daimyos. They offered nothing freely and expected everything else in return. The girl had obviously understood that.

"I go where I will. I can protect myself." Kouga's nostrils flared as he watched her slide her obi low on her hips, revealing slight curves that he didn't know was there previously. She wasn't a child. When had that changed? Gesturing to the knife that hid beneath the cloth, Rin looked up at him with challenging eyes. "Lord Sesshoumaru would not keep me with him for so long and not teach me to protect myself."

Narrowing his eyes at her, he really noticed this time. The slight curve to her hips, the slight swell of her breasts, the way she had grown into her face. No longer childlike, but that of a young woman. She looked exactly as Kagome did when he first found her. "How old are you girl?"

She looked surprised and shocked to hear that question, though the defiant and challenging gleam never left her eyes. "Ten and six. I am no longer a girl."

No, he hummed. She most certainly was not.

Like the predator he was, Kouga circled around her and watched her stiffen with unease. Smirking, he was delighted with her reaction. This was how he wanted them. She would offer a challenge no doubt. "Kagome told me about you," she spoke again.

The name spoken aloud caused his heart to skip a beat. It was the one name he had forbidden all from saying after she left. "And what did she say?"

"She told me you were harmless. You were all talk and no action."

Frowning, he had wondered why the priestess would dare say such things about him. He was ready to make his move after the jewel was complete. He would have given the mutt a run for his money. It was her choice to leave before he could truly make her his. "I remember you," Rin continued. "Not physically; I never saw you as a child, but I can remember your voice as you instructed your wolves to feast upon those living in my village. It's something I'll never forget. It struck me as odd that you would be labeled as harmless."

"Sesshoumaru didn't teach you about what to say and what not to say in front of a predator, did he?" he questioned. "I am far from harmless. The miko lied. Why do you come if I'm so dangerous?"

"Because I needed to see for myself. I needed to face my demons if I'm to move on. If you were going to harm me, you would have already, though I would have put up a fight."

"And I am one of those demons you need to face."

Sliding down from the rock, she walked up to him and simply looked at him, as if she were studying him. The stare put him on edge. He was the youkai. He would be the one in charge of this encounter. Lifting a hand, he watched her stiffen as he brought his claws up to her neck, pressing them slightly into the soft skin. He ignored the slight jolt he felt from touching her. "You are afraid," he murmured, though he didn't let go of her neck. Her fear only added to the allure. She was incredibly naïve, he noted as he started at her. More so than Ayame. Much more so than Kagome. Shaking his head, he smiled recklessly. "I don't kill humans. I haven't for a long time, and neither do my wolves."

"Kagome once told me that you had stopped. I knew she wouldn't lie to me. I think I just had to make sure." She stepped back, removing herself from his clawed grip, and lifted her obi back in place to secure the blade she hid beneath.

"Nah, Kagome wouldn't lie to you kid," he replied easily, taking a step back himself. The proximity with the girl was disturbing. He was beginning to feel things he had long since thought dead. Things that had died within him when Kagome faded from sight eight years ago.

He felt warm, knowing that even while gone, her legacy lived on in small ways. She would be proud to know he had grown too since she had left. He had assumed the leadership role he was always meant to hold within his tribe, and for a while, he had settled, no longer feeling the need to roam the countryside.

Though occasionally he did enjoy pestering the mutt. It brought a little levity to the days. Looking at the rock she had recently vacated, he perched himself upon it, scanning the horizon. It didn't matter that the girl wasn't Kagome. She was still too much like her to simply pass her by.

Spirited.

Unafraid.

"If you're smart you'll return to Sesshoumaru before it's too late. You may be able to protect yourself, but you wouldn't be able to protect yourself from a youkai like me if I truly wished it."

"Where are they?" she asked, looking around herself, ignoring his suggestion.

Obstinate too.

"Where are who?"

"Your wolves. I need to see them."

"Another one of your demons?"

She didn't reply. Her stubborn eyes were now serious, calculating. But even she couldn't hide her nervousness from him. Her hands shook as she clenched them into fists.

"They didn't want to tag along on my run. You have your demons to face, that's fine. You'll have to do it another time because you won't get what you want here. I wished for quiet and solitude today. I'm not getting what I want either." Kouga stretched his calves for a moment before leaping off the rock. Determined to ignore her, he wasn't about let her know how much her eyes affected him.

Kagome…

"I will see them one day," she stated, determination radiating through her. Indulging himself once, he brought his hand up to her hair and ran his claws through it. The increased rise and fall of her chest did not escape him.

"One day," he promised. This would not be the last he would see of Sesshoumaru's ward.

It was about time he found another human to amuse himself with. With a little work, she could be just like Kagome. She may not have power, but she was strong in her own way. Reaching down to her obi, he pulled it down himself releasing the blade within. "When you're ready." In the blink of an eye he slammed the blade into a nearby tree, pinning the sleeve of her kimono to it. "They won't hurt you. They don't hurt humans, but clearly you cannot protect yourself completely yet either. Tell that keeper of yours he has work to do yet."

Leaving her dazed, he took off to the west. Grinning, it was high time he paid Inuyasha a visit again. He suddenly had an excess of energy he needed expend and the mutt was such easy prey.