Rahne was vaguely aware she was having a nightmare; however this information scarcely comforted her. The dream was a reoccurring one, though it'd been some months since she'd last had it: as a wolf she was running as hard and fast as her four legs could pump while, all around, she heard/smelled/felt the irate mob that pursued her across the craggy Highlands with fiery torches.
"Kill it, burn it; send the devil-spawn to hell," thundered Reverend Craig hoarsely over the roaring throng. Suddenly the bullet hit, sending her toppling down, down, down…
Wolfsbane jolted awake, and strained momentarily to make sense of the strange surroundings before her memory sluggishly returned. She placed a hand on the shallow lacerations of her neck – they were already on the mend thanks to her modest healing factor.
Instead of finding herself sprawled where she fell, Rahne saw that she'd been moved into a thicket. She suddenly remembered the wild looking young men who she'd seen before loosing consciousness – had they relocated her to this place?
Getting carefully to her feet, the girl heard male voices carrying through the trees and quickly ducked back down.
"…not bad if I do say so myself," one of the rapidly approaching dialoguers was saying.
"Yeah, yeah…"
Rahne deliberated on weather or not to shift into wolf form even as the footsteps stopped abruptly at her hideout and a leather-banded arm pushed aside the shrubbery to reveal the same two lads whom she'd last seen.
"So you are awake," said the one with a patch of black in the middle of his grayish-lavender hair. Behind him stood the other with a white Mohawk, what looked like a deer hoisted over one shoulder.
"Er – yes, thank you," said the girl, not really certain why she'd just thanked him; "did y'put me here?"
'Patch' nodded, "Yeah, just to make sure nobody came around to finish you off."
"Thank you," she reiterated, feeling foolish.
"If you're hungry you're welcome to eat with us," added 'Mohawk', "anyone who can hold their own so well against that many opponents is worthy company."
Genuinely surprised by the friendliness of the savage-looking twosome and not really wanting to be alone anymore, Rahne readily accepted.
Her appetite all but disappeared, however, as soon as her new companions proceeded to tear into their raw kill with tooth and nail. Their eating habits aside, there was something very strange about them she couldn't quite place, something decidedly inhuman – still they seemed affable enough – at the moment.
After a few minutes of gorging, the mohawked one looked up expectantly, inviting her to partake.
"D'ye ever cook the meat," she winced, accepting a bloody chunk of hide.
The two exchanged glances before shrugging at her, "Sure, if you want."
Rahne chewed gratefully on her substantial, if somewhat plain meal and tried to ignore the stares she received from across the dying camp fire. She couldn't hear what they were whispering about from where she sat, but she felt her face redden with embarrassment nonetheless. Could it be they'd already decided they didn't much like her after all?
"So, you're not a demon slayer are you," the one with the patch questioned abruptly.
"What kind of magic do you use," pressed the other.
Of all the accusations she'd braced herself against, the young Scot was scarcely prepared for the current angle of interrogation; she nearly choked on her venison.
"Wha'? Magic – a-a demon slayer, me!"
The strange young men exchanged glances before looking back at her, "well, you do kind of dress like that demon slayer who travels with Kagome…Sango I think her name is," 'Patch' informed her.
The girl stared down at her standard black and yellow costume composed of instable molecules that transformed into a collar whenever she morphed into any advanced lupine form. She was utterly at a loss to grasp what they were talking about, and wasn't sure she wanted to.
"I dinnae ken who tha' is," she set her meat aside and eyed them uneasily, "an' I certainly dinnae ken any magic – ah'mno witch!"
Neither one appeared convinced by her vehement denial; fortunately, they didn't seem particularly concerned about pressing the matter further.
"Well, Kagome is our boss's woman," put in 'Mohawk' helpfully. Rahne noticed, however, that his statement lacked conviction, as though he were merely repeating some tired rumor. "She's a priestess from the future."
"The future y'say; what year is it," the girl asked anxiously.
Both lads shrugged in unison, neither appearing to understand what she meant.
The thought suddenly occurred to the mutant how rude she must appear having not even introduced herself yet, "Och, forgive my manners! M'name is Rahne Sinclair, bytheway."
"Your name is R-Rainsinclair-Bythewee," slurred one of the youths with commendable effort.
The redhead couldn't hold back a laugh – apparently some Scottish phrases simply didn't translate into Japanese, "Nae, just call me Rahne!"
'Patch' gestured toward himself, "I'm Ginta."
"And I'm Hakkaku," added his mohawked companion, "We're wolf demons as you can probably tell."
Rahne suddenly felt as if she might faint again: demons – she couldn't go among demons! Had those wolves actually killed her? Had she gone to hell just as Reverend Craig said she would? She knew there was something not altogether right about those two – but still they they didn't look like any demons she'd ever seen before -and she'd seen plenty while in Limbo. Maybe Japanese demons were different…
Meanwhile, the girl found she'd unintentionally shifted into her transitional form while Hakkaku and Ginta eyed her apprehensively.
"Are you okay, Rahne-san?"
The werewolf in question stared back – what did they want with her? Her enhanced senses were now keenly focused on the pelt-adorned creatures across from her. Altered as she was, she could see beyond her normal human sight into the infrared spectrum. The heat patterns radiating from the pair revealed no ill-will or secret agendas; likewise, the only emotions she smelled from them were faint concern and confusion. Could these mild-mannered boys really be the demons they claimed to be? Well, they weren't human – she could smell that for certain now – but demons were such evil, wicked, nasty things!
An image of Illyana popped unbidden into her mind – a cloven-hoofed, devil-horned, Soul Sword wielding Darkchylde, cackling hideously – and she was only half demon!
'Aye, an' ye're only a blood-thirsty, heathen monstrosity in good company', a voice in her head mocked. Rahne promptly rebuked the capricious thought which reluctantly withered away; Illyana wasn't entirely evil and neither was she! But what good could possibly come from associating with these demons – was she unfair to villainize such creatures and all of their kind?
Meanwhile, both youkai in question were standing and staring at her.
"Relax, we don't want to attack you," soothed Hakkaku slowly, "you haven't done anything to us…" an unspoken 'yet' hung faintly in the air.
She regretfully realized her thoughts must be stamped plainly on her face – or maybe, like her, they could also smell emotions.
The wolf-girl took a steadying breath; perhaps she'd simply misunderstood. With the throaty growl of her lupine form she calmly asked, "what exactly d'ye mean when ye say ye're 'demons'?"
Mouths ajar, the siblings merely gawped at the changeling as if she'd just asked them what color the sky was or why mountains were tall.
"Okay, so maybe you were wrong about her being a demon slayer," muttered Hakkaku.
Ginta opened his mouth to reply, but shut it again as a new concept dawned on him. He looked incredulously at the strange girl, "don't you even know what a demon is?"
"I do," she shot back almost defensively, and then lowering her voice added, "tha's the problem."
"Look," placated Ginta, "I don't know what kind of experiences you've had with demons in the past, but not all of them are hostile to humans;" he discreetly failed to mention the village raids and child-devouring formerly prevalent among his own tribe.
The girl's elongated muzzle scrunched in surprise and suspicion at the moot statement, but she appeared to consider his words.
"Now what about you," countered Hakkaku, "you're human right?" At her affirming nod he continued, "And you say you're not a witch – so how do you become a wolf or look and dress the way you do?"
"You must be from the Continent," Ginta concluded sagely, both sets of eyes widened in awe at the girl.
"Well, I'm from a continent…"
Rahne explained her situation and powers to the best of her ability. Though the two demons had a little trouble getting their minds around certain concepts, like mutants and inter-dimensional time travel (but then, admittedly, so did the Scottish girl at times) they basically caught the gist.
"An' that's how I came t' be here in the first place; I dinnae have any way of gettin' back other than th' way I came,"the teenager let out a frustrated sigh,"Och, I only wisht I knew if my friends were okay!"
"Wow, sounds tough," Hakkaku rubbed the back of his neck "wish there were some way we could help."
"Maybe…," began his brother tentatively, both sets of eyes traveled curiously to Kouga's right hand man.
"Well," pressed his counterpart when the other failed to continue.
Ginta frowned and tapped his chin, "I was just wondering if maybe Kagome-san would know what to do. She does come and go from her own present all the time, after all" he added at the quizzical look from his fellow demon.
"Hmm, you have a point," Hakkaku conceded.
Kagome: why did that name sound so familiar? A memory of the conversation she'd recently overheard suddenly clicked in Wolfsbane's mind and she came over to crouch excitedly beside the almost equally feral-looking young men, "This Kagome: is she by any chance a lass 'bout my age an' wi' a white blouse an' a green skirt?"
"Uh yeah, that sounds like her – she also carries a bow and arrows."
"Aye, I think I've seen her!"
The wolf siblings gaped back, "where," they simultaneously demanded.
"Nae too far from here; she was with two – no three others – another girl, a man with a strange staff, an' also a wee lad. Oh, an' thir was a frightful beast wi' 'em too."
"You must mean Inuyasha: dog-eared half-demon with a huge sword?"
"Er – nae," answered Rahne, shuddering slightly at the description, "it looked t'be some sort of cat."
"Yeah, that's still got to be Kagome."
"An' ye say she simply travels through time as she pleases?"
"Yeah. At least, it sure seems that way."
The girl nearly forgot about Hakkaku's being a terrible demon and grabbed his lean arm in excitement; only just stopping herself, she nevertheless leaned as close as she dared toward the startled supernatural, "d'ye honestly ken that she could help me?"
She watched with wonderment as the mohawked demon inexplicably flinched away, "uh, maybe."
Ginta and Hakkaku sprinted through the dense foliage; at their side, a reddish wolf also maintaining a brisk pace. Soon the small pack had neared a clearing and a steep incline at which they abruptly skidded to a halt and peered down from.
Kagome sat doling out the evening meal from her knapsack, some dumplings, tuna sashimi, and beanie-weenie (being in a hurry – she'd grabbed anything convenient). As usual, though, her companions appeared almost ridiculously pleased over the basic victuals, gobbling voraciously.
Moodily, she turned to glance down the path in the direction Inuyasha had taken hours earlier. A sharp noise from above caught her attention – she glanced up taking it to be the hanyou only to meet the gazes of Kouga's two lieutenants accompanied by a familiar rusty-coated wolf.
Another chapter completed. Things should get verra interesting once Inu and Kouga finally enter the scene!
Thanks for the reviews so far, Hotredhead and Sunshine, glad you're liking it!