Part Two
A Grave With No Body

His steps grew quicker as the scent of blood grew stronger. His heart beat fast, the lust for crimson liquid rising. The taste of blood is more satisfying and luxurious than the horrid taste of booze according to the wolf…

Inuyasha's angry calls could be heard from behind. The hanyou was still ticked off, his amber eyes burning like fire would. He knew this was Naraku's aura. It had to be…just sort of tangled in with an unfamiliar one is all. "Kouga get back here you flea bitten wolf!"

The aura grew stronger and stronger still as the group approached what appeared to be a dusty and ancient canyon. Kouga skidded to a stop just near the edge, peering down into the deep gash scaring the earth's surface.

Inuyasha then appeared, his angered expression melting into a more serious one. He stopped near the edge of the drop beside Kouga. "It's down there."

Kilala, along with her passengers, appeared next. As soon as she had stopped her flight, everyone jumped off of the cat demon's back.

"It's a canyon," Miroku pointed out. He turned to the demon slayer and then to Kagome. "Naraku is down there. And the aura has gotten a lot stronger. I think we should be very careful."

Just as he said that, Kouga started to make his way down the canyon; his leaps were quick and exact, expressing the fact that this wolf had more than just experience when jumping off of a cliff.

"Hey!" Inuyasha followed, his dog ears twitching.

"Wait! Miroku said that we should be careful!" Kagome called after the two boys. But it was too late. Both Kouga and Inuyasha had reached the bottom.

Kouga lifted his head, sniffing the air. Inuyasha did the same; his teeth clenched at the strong scent of blood. "It's blood alright," he hissed.

"Yeah…" Kouga whispered. His eyes darted back and forth as his tail swished in a somewhat nervous manner.

"This must be a trap or something…Naraku would have made his move by now." Inuyasha growled, moving forward and turning in a circle, eyeing the canyon.

"Where is Naraku?" Shippo called as he and the others rode down on Kilala.

Kouga turned his head to the side slightly, sniffing. "It's over this way!" He took off again, the hanyou, as usual, hot on his trail.

After a minute or so of weaving through boulders and what not, the group arrived at the end of the canyon facing some sort of statue carved into the rocky wall. The stone figure was so mutilated that it could not be made out. Not even a little.

"Look there!" Sango said, pointing to a slightly long, narrow hole in the ground. Blood was splattered at its end, dripping into the hole.

"It looks like a grave," Shippo whimpered, shuddering a bit as he hid himself behind Kagome.

"Yeah, a grave with no body," Inuyasha said, walking around the empty hole.

"But where is Naraku?" Kagome looked around, her eyes careful to study every inch of the canyon. "I don't sense Kouga's jewel shards anymore…"

"What?" Inuyasha turned to Kagome.

Kouga growled, kneeling down and dipping his fingers into the blood. He brought his hand up to his nose, smelling it. While the rest of the party was busy conversing over the fact that Naraku had suddenly vanished, the wolf licked his fingers quietly, careful not to attract any attention.

"What a waste of time! Naraku isn't even here!" Inuyasha folded his arms across his chest, spitting out strings of colorful language.

Kilala hissed, transforming back into her smaller self once everyone was off of her. Sango picked up the small cat, stroking her head. Her eyes moved to Kouga. "Is something wrong, Kouga-kun?"

Kouga flinched, quickly standing and turning to the demon slayer. "N-no. Everything is fine."

"Can you make out whose blood that is?" Shippo asked, slowly and carefully scooting over to the crimson pool.

Kouga put his fingers to his lips, thinking for a moment. Dropping his hand, he replied. "It's Naraku's."

A/N: Sorry this chapter was sooo freakin' short. ; I'm kinda brain dead right now.

Now, I shall answer some questions. Yay!

did you get a new user name?? and this starts out so good. and if you could could ya kind define the Kouga/Naraku relationship or are they just the main charries of this story?
Yeah, I guess I just changed my user name just for fun.
Thanks so much for your kind comment! I'll try to keep this story good the whole way through.
Aaah, the Kouga and Naraku relationship. Kouga, of course, is the main character of the story. Naraku will be very important too. Later on in the story, Kouga will be forced to develope a relationship with our favorite villian. But it's not a yaoi kind of thing. You'll just have to wait and seeee. XD

Thank you so much for reading and leaving a comment AND watching my fanfic CobaltHeart! It means so much to me!
I'll catch you all later in the next chapter.
Bye bye for now.