Once again, I do not own Inuyasha. I do own Aki, the original character you will meet later in the chapter. Inuyasha and his gang are owned by Rumiko Takahashi. Thanks to Alpha Centauri for the review.
Chapter 2 – Kouga
"Wanna play?"
Inuyasha growled low in his throat and drew the Tetsusaiga, the ancient sword ringing free from its scabbard and transforming with a small rush of wind. Instantly, Kagome had an arrow ready, bowstring humming close to her cheek and the arrowhead already beginning to glow with spiritual energy. Sango's Hiraikotsu hung easily from her right fist, ready to scatter their assembled foes. Shippou, in a moment of sheer bravado, had pulled a leaf from within his vest and it was obvious he was trying to think of some menacing form to take. The wolf pack edged closer, their growls of barely contained aggression causing the very air to waver. Their leader dropped into a defensive crouch, the morning sun glinting off her battered armor. Her white fangs glittered against her red lips.
At that instant a bulbous orange shape passed over the treetops and a dark, billowing shadow plummeted from the decidedly unnatural shape. There was a loud pop as the air around the orange form imploded into an equally bulbous tanuki who turned a neat somersault directly into a patch of stinging nettles. One paw, already puffy and red, rose weakly above the brush in assurance.
"I'm alright, Master Miroku. Don't worry about me." The swollen paw slowly descended and a prickled-looking tanuki crept into a less venomous patch of brush to lick his wounds.
"Wonderful. Just when we could have used another hand. Thanks for the lift, Hach," the newcomer huffed as he smacked the dust from his dark priest's robes.
The tension in the glade eased only somewhat. Inuyasha and his companions were still prepared, but looked to their lecherous hoshi—for what else could he be in robes like those?—as he finished dusting himself. Kouga felt secure enough in her position to rise from her crouch and take a guarded step forward. A youngster in the pack—not a demon, but a true wolf the pack had adopted recently—stepped a pace closer with her. Kouga could smell the young one's anticipation, spiced with fear due to the fact that he had never seen or smelled a hanyou of any type before now. Add to this the smell of the priest's considerable spiritual energy and the poor wolf—barely out of his milk teeth—was definitely on edge. Kouga reached down slowly and put her hand delicately on the young wolf's back.
"Shhhh, little brother," Kouga soothed. "These humans and their pet demons will not harm you. The Wolf Demon Tribe will not allow it." Keeping one eye on their prey and one on the young wolf, Kouga rose again to face the group.
"Hey! I am nobody's pet!" Shippou cried angrily and looked ready to use his Fox Magic. Kagome barely had time to slacken the bow and grab the back of his hakama. His little fox feet dangled helplessly in the air as he wiggled and struggled to get free. It seemed a chuckling growl escaped from some of the wolves and demons around them.
"Kagome! What did you stop me for?" Shippou whined angrily when she had put him down. "I was going to stomp those mangy wolves!" He crossed his arms and sulked, forgetting that they were surrounded by potentially dangerous enemies.
"Hush, Shippou. Maybe we can convince her to just give us her shards without a fight. That way we don't have to hurt any of the wolves," Kagome explained, patting Shippou's shoulder gently.
"Not likely," Kouga sneered as she stood up beside the wolf and stepped forward again. "I went to a lot of trouble to get these shards. They are the only things keeping my pack safe. And the only way you are getting them is if you cut them from my cold, dead body.
"That can be arranged, demon," Sango said frankly. Her grip on Hiraikotsu tightened.
"Don't flatter yourself, taijiya. You're a long way from your village and your family. You might kill me—which I seriously doubt—but not before the rest of the pack rips your friends to shreds. My family has a taste for fire-cat," Kouga said coolly, taking another self-satisfied step towards the group. Kouga wasn't entirely sure why she felt so confident, so certain of the pack's strength against these people. She had felt secure before the monk's arrival, to be sure, but she hadn't felt quite so convinced of their victory.
Sango growled, her arm tensed to send the Hiraikotsu on its deadly arc, but Kagome stopped her with a hand to her arm. Sango glared, exasperated with her friend.
"Wait, Sango. Let me talk to her first." Kagome gave her friend a pleading look, handing her bow to Miroku. Sango grunted in irritation but her arm went slack. Her gaze did not leave the wolf demon leader, however.
"Of course. Let's just talk. Like we always do," Inuyasha grated through clenched teeth. His knuckles were white against the Tetsusaiga's dark hilt, but Kagome knew it wasn't from any kind of fear. Inuyasha always wanted to rush in and kill things without asking questions first. Kagome shot him an exasperated look as she stepped forward.
"You said you have the jewel shards to keep your pack safe. It's a large pack, what would possibly want to harm all of you?" Kagome asked, trying to keep her voice level and respectful. She wasn't sure if this was going to work, but she had to at least try.
"What do you care, human?" Kouga sniffed. "There are things that creep out in the forest that can hurt even demons, or didn't your pet hanyou tell you that?" Kouga was getting irritated by this group's antics. Didn't they have the decency to give up or run in terror like normal prey?
"Inuyasha is not my pet," Kagome said firmly to cover the sound of Inuyasha grinding his fangs in frustration. "We are all friends, looking for the shards of the Shikon no Tama before a certain other demon can collect them. Have you seen him? His name is Naraku."
At just the mere mention of Naraku's name the assembled wolves began to howl as if in tremendous pain. Kouga's pretty features had contorted up into a snarl so fierce Kagome was obliged to step back a pace.
"Naraku!" Kouga spat. "He's the reason I had to find the shards in the first place! That wicked creature sent a flock of evil birds to attack my pack again and again. We lost so many, including my father who was our leader. We lost whole families, small pups to the jaws of those monsters. That demon will pay for what he's done!" Kouga clenched her hands so hard that her talons must have cut her palms for a slight trickle of blood stood out from between her fingers. She opened her hands and looked at the lacerations, then with a grunt of irritation at her own lack of control began to lick one palm clean.
"Oh here, don't do that. It will get infected," Miroku said, putting aside Kagome's bow to come forward and take Kouga's hands. "Kagome has some ointments that will help this heal. Kagome do you have your kit with you?"
Kagome nodded. Normally she would have thought Miroku was just trying to make a pass at a pretty girl, but this time seemed different. It was as if he didn't notice she was a girl at all and cared only to help another creature. Sango was not going to be happy about this at all. Indeed, the slayer girl had her arms crossed across her breastplate and a look of sheer annoyance plastered across her face. Kagome sighed and shook her head as she turned to get her backpack from Kilala. Those two would never just admit that they cared for each other.
Kouga looked up into the hoshi's dark eyes. It was a look she had never seen before. He looked concerned, almost touched that she was wounded. Albeit it was just a scratch, but how could a human know that a demon would heal much faster than a human? His look of reassurance and concern calmed her in a manner she had never felt before. He gestured for her to sit on a large rock while he pulled a small water bottle from within his robes. He gently washed the cuts on her palms, taking care to get any grit away from the lacerations. Kagome returned and began to bandage Kouga's hands. In the meantime, the other wolves must have sensed that their leader was in no danger and the mood of the pack had shifted dramatically. Several were sprawled in the morning sun, and a few young ones were sitting with their heads cocked to one side looking quizzically at their mistress as if waiting for permission to go off and do something more interesting besides listen to human banter.
"Feh," Inuyasha grunted. "I guess we're going to be here a while." Sheathing Tetsusaiga, Inuyasha flopped down on the ground and tucked his hands inside the sleeves of his haori. He did, however, keep an eye on as many wolves as he possibly could without seeming to care too much about their surroundings. Shippou flopped down next to him and attempted to imitate his pose, with limited success. He ended up engulfed in his voluminous blue hakama with his little fox feet waving in the air until Inuyasha came to his rescue and placed him right side up. After which, Inuyasha cuffed Shippou across the back of his head, further mussing the green bow holding back the kitsune's hair. The ribbon fell to the ground and Shippou's hair puffed out into a cloud of brown that threatened to swallow his head. Shippou turned to glare at Inuyasha before yelling for Kagome, but he was stopped by the sound of a soft laugh coming from the trees behind Kouga's back. Everyone turned to stare into the tree line, except Kouga who looked extremely annoyed.
"Aki, get out here. Now!" Kouga snarled, clenching her teeth as Kagome continued to work on her hands. To everyone's surprise, a small wolf demon girl stepped out from between the trees. She was very young, and her blue eyes and fine features showed her to be related to wolf leader, probably sisters. She wore no armor, but was clothed in white and gray rabbit furs. She did wear a knife at her belt, belying her innocence.
"What?" the little girl asked, with a look that said 'I didn't do it'. "I haven't done anything wrong this time." She stuck her thumb in her mouth in what Kagome and Sango supposed was a last ditch effort to appear innocent.
"Gah, take your thumb out of your mouth. You know I hate that." Kouga turned to look at Aki with a disgusted expression. "What did I say?"
"You said to stay back with the den mothers. But the den mothers all left! So I came to find you, sister." Aki had taken her thumb out of her mouth, but was still trying in vain to appear as cute as was demonly possible.
"What do you mean the den mothers left?" Kouga asked suspiciously. By this time, Shippou had crept forward and was scrutinizing Aki very carefully. When she turned toward him and he skittered backward, she giggled again.
"Aki, pay attention," Kouga scolded as she turned toward her little sister. This motion caused Kagome to have to turn with her as she was still attempting to bandage the wolf demon's hands.
"Yes, Kouga!" Aki said snapping to attention, fighting hard not to giggle at Shippou.
"What do you mean the den mothers left?" Kouga repeated, visibly distressed. Kagome finished bandaging her hands and taped off the ends so they wouldn't be in the wolf demon's way if she had to fight.
"One mother said she smelled something that smelled delicious and she was going to go check it out. Then another said she was going to go look for the first. After that, they all just sort of got up and walked off into the canyon one by one. I couldn't smell what this delicious smell was supposed to be so I stayed there. After a while, no one came back so I came to look for you," Aki explained
"Aki, this might be important. Did you hear or see anything unusual when the den mothers were leaving?" Miroku asked gently, stopping down to look Aki in the face.
"Yes. I heard a weird buzzing that I had never heard before and then I saw these funny huge wasps headed away from the canyon." Aki saw that her sister was worried and it was unnerving to have to explain something to a human. Aki put her thumb back up to her lips but left it there, knowing that if she put her thumb in her mouth Kouga would scold her again.
"Naraku!" Miroku said, clenching his right fist. The binding on his hand holding the wind tunnel in check creaked, almost like the wind tunnel was trying to get out on its own. Inuyasha jumped up and made ready to bound off again.
"Which way is this canyon, wolf?" It was not a polite request.
"Like I'm going to tell you where my pack lives, you mangy dog!" Kouga snapped. Pushing Aki behind her, she reached for a short sword strapped to her hip. "If anyone is going to go after Naraku it's going to be me!"
"Inuyasha, sit boy!" Kagome said quietly. Inuyasha disappeared abruptly as his face met the unforgiving earth. Shippou giggled.
"Maybe we can help you. You have to save your den mothers, and we have to find Naraku before he finds the other shards," Kagome soothed.
"Yes, if we team up, we might possibly catch him this time," Miroku said, determination making his voice more forceful than Kagome remembered it being.
"It's possible," Kouga mused. "But in order for us to combine forces, your pack must do something for mine." She was looking thoughtfully at Miroku.
"Um, ok. What would we need to do?" Kagome asked, not liking where this was going, or the look Kouga was giving Miroku as she walked around him like a farmer appraising a prized bull. Beside her, Sango was seething in her quite manner, a small vein standing out in her neck.
"This strong hoshi must agree to become my mate and give me pups. We can use a strong man like this and his spiritual powers will be most useful when fighting against the birds and other demons." Kouga looked to Kagome each time she ticked of one of Miroku's selling points. Each time, Sango's teeth ground together a little harder.
"What have you gotten us into, now?" Inuyasha said, spitting out a piece of sod as he got up from the crater he had made.