CHAPTER TWO

Rumiko Takahashi © Inuyasha, Band of Seven, and Koga

Original plotline © ilovebutch19, black-banryu, jaimed1968, and kittyb78

Revised Plotline © ilovebutch19

Jai © jaimed1968, Charlie © black-banryu, Kitty © kittyb78, and Bobbi © ilovebutch19

OPAL LAKE SCENE:

Jai drove up the winding mountain road as Charlie, Kitty and Bobbi looked in amazement at the surrounding trees, wide mountain valleys, and the glimpses of the native wildlife. "How much farther is it to this lake that you're taking us Jai?" Bobbi asked as she looked back at her friend.

"It's about another mile up the road, but we have to pack in to the lake it self about another quarter mile. With just taking the essentials such as our sleeping bags and the cooler we should have camp set up in about a half hour with plenty of time to get dinner cooked and eaten before the sun goes down," she replied, not once taking her eyes off the road, making sure that she took the correct turn off to the high mountain lake that was Opal Lake.

Looking at her friends, Kitty thought, "This will be one hell of a trip. No kids, no husbands, no worries in this well deserved getaway. Wish we'd done this sooner." She looked back out the window, spying a small herd of elk with calves grazing in a nearby meadow, as Jai continued the slow progress up the mountain road past the trees.

Charlie looked over at his trio of friends. He was grateful to be included in this retreat, especially with three of his best friends. Looking out the back window, he saw plenty of things that he'd missed out on while living in the city. He spied high mountain lakes and streams with numerous birds of every shape and size flying about. Kitty looked back over her shoulder toward Charlie. Seeing the distant look on his face, she asked, "Are you okay?"

Shaking his head slightly he replied, "I just love it out here is all. I'm wishing that we didn't have to leave here at the end of the month is all."

With a smile upon her lips, Kitty replied, "We'll make sure and take plenty of pictures so that you can remember all the fun that we have this month."

Turning back to the window, Charlie replied, "That will be great… too bad we couldn't bring this all back with us though," as he continued to watch the trees go by the window.

About ten minutes later Jai pulled the truck to a halt on a ledge a good three hundred feet above the valley floor before she turned off the engine. "Okay… we're here," she said as she quickly got out of the truck wanting nothing more than to stretch out her legs.

Kitty, Charlie, and Bobbi followed suit stretching their aching muscles from being confined to the truck for the last four hours since they left the quaint little town of Challis, Idaho where they had stayed the night before. Jai moved toward the back of her truck opening the tailgate so that they could grab their packs, sleeping bags and the cooler of food. Each person had grabbed their packs and sleeping bags, leaving the cooler for the next trip. Jai led the way across the rock strewn path to the mouth of the lake, pointing out various different things as they continued to their camp site.

Once the campsite had been chosen, which appeared to have been a previously abandoned campsite, Jai, Charlie, and Kitty moved back to the truck for the cooler and an ax to chop firewood while Bobbi collected fire wood for their dinner. Within about half an hour, a huge pile of fire wood lay near their camp as the fire crackled in its pit, eagerly awaiting the chance to cook the food that had been brought.

Using the top of the cooler as a counter, Jai prepared the onions and potatoes for foil to be thrown on the grill as she asked, "So what do you guys think of this so far?"

Kitty's eyes shimmered as she asked, "Was this your inspiration for the lake scene where Koga jumps into the cold water to 'rescue' someone in 'Uptown Girl'?"

Jai smiled as she shook her head, having added the seasoning to the packet of food. "No, that's Mosquito Flats Reservoir. It's about thirty miles or so from here north of Challis, but this is close enough to be nearly the same."

The trio laughed as they recalled the scene of the frozen wolf, while Jai placed the foil packet with three good sized steaks over the fire to cook. After about 15 minutes, Jai flipped the steaks and potatoes packet, moving them around slightly to make room for a packet of sliced up zucchini.

At the end of another 10 minutes, Jai pulled the food off the grill, and served the steaks to her self, Kitty and Bobbi while splitting the potatoes and zucchini between everyone. Once everyone was served, they dug into their food as if they'd not eaten all day. Within a matter of about 15 minutes the plates were devoid of food and were quickly cleaned and stored in a box of cooking supplies that they had brought with the cooler.

With the sun quickly setting in the eastern sky, the quartet laid out their sleeping bags, staying close enough to the fire to ward off wild animals and yet far enough to keep the embers from falling on them while they slept. Once all the plates and utensils had been cleaned and put away, and the scraps dumped far enough from the camp to keep the animals away from the campers, each stretched out on their respective beds. Each person was either deep in thought or taking advantage of the last rays of sunlight to work on a few notes or drawings as they digested their meals and succumbed to the clean, fresh mountain air, drawing from it the necessary inspiration for their works.

Bobbi sighed as she looked up at the night sky while her and her friends were chatting away. She looked at her other friends and sighed. "They all have someone for them… I never met that someone... I wish I could… it hurts just to see everyone else with their special someone…"

Just then, she spotted a bright star up to the north. "That must be the North Star… my grandmother said that if you wish on it… it may come true…" Shaking her head she mentally scoffed, "bullshit on that, but it would be nice…"

Bobbi closed her eyes and made a wish silently to herself. "I wish that I could find that someone for me…take me away from my life and sweep me off of my feet.."

Unfortunately someone else had heard the wish as well. Midoriko giggled to herself as she heard the wish. "This is just perfect… she has a wish and a purpose… now is my chance…"

Bobbi shook her head, returning her attention back to her friends as they began to relax the quartet began to reminisce about their most favorite and hysterical parts of the other's stories when all of a sudden the crack of nearby thunder shook the valley, leaving Charlie and the girls to look at one another in confusion.

"What the…?" Jai began to ask before the thunder rolled once more. Each looked into the sky, only seeing the stars twinkle in their brilliance before a streak of hot white lightning seared their eyes, causing them to fall… and continue to fall as the roll of thunder announced their arrival… their arrival into a foreign world.

Back in the feudal era:

Koga sniffed the air as he spat on the ground. "We better find that stupid Naraku soon!" he thought annoyed.

"I smell that mutt," he growled, huffing. "Stupid mutt! I wonder if the baka has any leads." He ran ahead, not bothering to wait for Hakkaku and Ginta since they were miles behind as usual. He stopped after spotting a campfire, and three figures huddled around it.

"What the hell!? Why do I smell the mutt?" he grumbled. "He's not here..."

Koga snuck around the clearing keeping mainly to the dense under brush as he saw the men, laughing their asses off by the fire. Even from his relative distance from the group, and down wind, his nose was drawn to a tall man wearing a yellow kimono, sniffing a part of Inuyasha's haori.

Koga was bashed. "W...what the fuck is he doing?!" Koga thought to himself.

"Ahh… my Inuyasha. When will I see you again..?" Jakotsu muttered as he rubbed the cloth of the fire-rat against his skin, dreaming of the time when he could cut up his crush once more.

Bankotsu heard a rustling in the bushes and stopped laughing, waving his hand stopping Renkotsu. He peered into the bushes just as Koga jumped out, folding his arms. Slightly shocked, Bankotsu stared at the young wolf demon, and then lowered his eyes to Koga's lap. He covered his face, trying to hide his laughing fit, as he cracked up again. Renkotsu chuckled along.

"Hey. What the fuck are you laughing at, corpses?!" he snapped, angry but embarrassed he was being mocked. Bankotsu pushed the scroll 'Double Trouble' over as Koga grabbed it up scoffing.

"What the hell is this?" he demanded glaring at the object they had shoved toward him. The question made the mercenaries snort, trying to conceal a laugh, and they all just cracked up again. Determined to find out why, they were cracking up, Koga glanced over the scroll. Quickly being drawn into the work so much that he slowly slid down the tree he'd been near, to sit cross-legged and read it for a while, as everyone calmed down, and the blazing orange fire crackled. As a red light blush permeated from Koga's face, it was obvious what part he was reading. Bankotsu rolled over laughing, as Koga made an awkward smirk.

"What's so funny!? There's a lot worse on you in here then on me," Koga nudged Bankotsu as he leaned closer, as he breathed, "Miko Lover."

Bankotsu shoved him away. "I would never, EVER, fall in love! Especially with some damn human wench," he snapped.

Koga shrugged, "You never know," as Bankotsu glared at him.

"Listen here you stupid wolf, I would never waste my time on a miko!" Bankotsu declared.

Koga defended, "My Kagome is a miko!"

Bankotsu countered, "Exactly my point! Mikos are weak and whiny and all goody-goody," his face scrunched up in disgust.

Koga argued, "At least my Kagome leaves the fighting to the men… most of the time."

Bankotsu argued, "I could hurt a weak girl like her without even trying."

Koga growled warning, "Try it corpse, and you'll regret ever being resurrected!" They continued arguing getting riled up even more. As the males were arguing about the scroll, the sky thundered and a single lightening bolt danced across the sky.

"Not again?" thought Bankotsu before going back to arguing with the wolf. Suddenly a frightened scream rent the air. Before Bankotsu had the chance to even look up, a woman plummeted on him forcing him to his stomach flat on the ground.

"Oof!" she hissed as she connected with him. Heart still pounding frantically and eyes wide from fear she sat in shock. "What happened?" she thought vaguely.

The moan from the man underneath her caused her to snap back to reality.

Staring at the man she thought, "Oh no! This can't be happening!" as she looked into very angry blue eyes.

"Get off!" he ordered, shoving himself up with his arms, forcing the woman to slip off his back. She landed with another "Omph!" on the hard ground. Kitty moved to stand on her feet as she rubbed her lower back in an effort to ease the pain.

Kitty's light brown eyes shot wide open as she stared at the man before her. "Oh… No! IT IS HIM!" her mind screamed, as she realized who was glaring at her like he was ready to throttle her.

Bankotsu glared at her growling, "Wench! Who are you and what are you doing here?!"

She began to take a step back, trying to avoid his piercing and frightening gaze. "Damn, he's stronger then I would have expected! I could be in trouble here..." Before she could answer, another lightening bolt tore through the air and thunder boomed.

Bankotsu looked into the sky. "Another one?" he thought exasperated. "What the hell is going on here?"

Seeing that the sky was once again clear of any suspicious clouds, Bankotsu turned his attention once more toward the clearly frightened wench before him. "Clearly this wench is afraid of me," he thought as he moved closer toward the woman, noting the deer in the headlights look in her eyes. His smirk widened as he continued, "I can use that to my advantage."

Kitty looked on in horror as he stalked forward toward her, a glimmer of pure evil thoughts flashing across his eyes as he moved closer. Kitty backed as far away from him as she could without taking her eyes off him. Carefully and slowly she moved away from the mercenary, her heart beating wildly in her chest as he got closer and closer. Suddenly, unable to stop herself, Kitty tripped over a tree root barely visible in the ground. As she fell, a flash of lightning flashed, accompanied by a black dot falling from the sky. Kitty's eyes widened in horror as Bankotsu moved to where he could tower over her, a smirk of pure evil across his lips.

"I've got you where I want you, wench," he practically purred as he knelt down over her, licking his lips in anticipation. Kitty looked on first in horror at the look upon the mercenary's face, then over his head to the rapidly falling pack. Knowing what was about to happen, Kitty turned her head away as Bankotsu leaned toward her, eager to 'thank' her appropriately for knocking him down earlier. As his leaned further over her upper body, his arm brushed against her chest. A large pack landed across his shoulders, knocking him out, causing his whole body weight to land on Kitty, nearly crushing her. Kitty passed out from having the air knocked out of her as Bankotsu's heavy body pinned her to the ground. Luckily he wasn't completely on top of her or she would have been suffocated. As Bankotsu's body relaxed, the pack slid off his shoulders to land harmlessly in the grass.

The look of pure shock and fear covered the faces of the small group. Koga and Renkotsu moved toward the couple, noticing the large pack that had accompanied the mysterious woman lay off to the side of the duo. Suddenly, without the forewarning like the first woman, a second body plunged from the air, knocking Koga onto his stomach on the ground. Struggling to get up from under the weight of the thing on his back, Koga looked over his shoulder only to get a boot to the face.

"What in the Hell is going on here?" he demanded, struggling to get back to his feet as the weight suddenly rolled off his back.

Jai flopped onto her stomach, groaning as she pulled her knees up to her chest, trying to clear her mind as it reeled from the fall that she'd just taken. Easing onto her knees, her head firmly between her knees as she tried to wave off the nausea that threatened to cause her to enjoy the wonderful taste of her dinner once more. She thought, "Don't puke… don't puke…" as a mantra to her upset stomach. Suddenly a hand grabbed her shoulder. Completely expecting either of her friends, Jai looked toward the stranger, only to come face to face with the slightly worried, confused and angry blue eyes of a wild looking man in furs.

"Are you okay?" Koga asked softly, not wanting to frighten the girl.

As her eyes briefly roved over the wild man that had asked her a question, she thought to her self, "Where the hell am I?" before her eyes widened to about dinner plate sized. Quickly she ducked her head, back toward her knees as Koga looked at her rather confused until he got hit with her missing pack, knocking him straight into her curled up form, knocking them both out.

Jakotsu mumbled, "Why is it raining wenches tonight?"

Renkotsu laughed his head off as the other guys were trampled by two other girls falling from the sky.

"At least no one has landed on me…" he thought smugly.

Just then, the skies opened up once again and Renkotsu looked up to see a red headed girl falling out of the sky. Bobbi landed on Renkotsu with a great 'thud.'

"Huh? What happened? Oh where am I? At least something has broken my fall…" Bobbi said as she rubbed her head.

"That would be me you little brat…" Renkotsu said as he pushed her off of him.

Bobbi looked up in surprise to see who she was staring at. "OMG…no way… you are Renkotsu of the Shichinintai…"

"HOW IN THE HELL DID YOU KNOW WHO I AM!??!?! Are you a stalker?" Renkotsu shouted back at her.

"PFF… as if…I see that you have a smart ass attitude that I have read about…"

"LISTEN UP YOU LITTLE WENCH…"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT YOU BASTARD!!" Bobbi said as she punched him in the jaw.

Jak looked on in surprise as Bobbi got up off her feet and brushed herself off.

"By the way… the name is Bobbi not brat and certainly not wrench…"

"Bobbi?! Isn't that a boy's name?" Renkotsu asked while chuckling. Just then he felt a hand go against his cheek.

"Ha ha ha… you are such a smarty… I was named after my father and even though I don't like him very much… I am glad to have that name…"

"Oww! You certainly have an attitude!!" Renkotsu said as he looked at his face in the river.

"You do as well…" she snapped as she placed her hands on her hips.

"SO?" he demanded, facing the girl who had slapped him. "I AM THE MAN HERE!! NOT YOU!!"

"SHUT UP!!!" she yelled, glaring at him.

As the battle between Bobbi and Renkotsu escalated with voices raised, Bankotsu and Koga groaned as they slowly regained consciousness. Needless to say the screams and yells coming from the two combatants didn't help the headaches that either human or demon sported from the falling women and gear.

Bankotsu eased off the chest of the woman who'd fallen on him, gazing upon her angelic face as he wondered where she'd come from. Quickly he moved to his knees, looking over his shoulder to where Renkotsu and an equally furious female continued their battle of words. Looking back at his own pain in the neck, he eased his hand toward the back, feeling a slight lump forming where the pack had landed. "Damn wench… must have packed rocks in there on purpose," he thought as he moved to his feet, to turn his attention toward an equally prone and confused Koga.

With little effort, Bankotsu removed the extremely large pack off Koga's back and nudged the wolf demon. Koga's eyes snapped open as he looked around the area, trying to remember what happened. Bankotsu nudged him in the ribs once more as he said, "Get off the girl, Wolf. I'm sure that she'll freak more with you on her once she wakes up."

Koga's head snapped toward Bankotsu's voice, seeing the simmering anger in his gaze, then back toward the woman that he was currently sprawled over. His eyes widened as he scrambled off the unconscious woman. "What the hell?" he demanded once he'd regained his footing, moving his hand toward the lump at the back of his head as he took in both Jai and Kitty's unconscious bodies.

Looking back at the wolf demon, Bankotsu said, "Your guess is as good as mine. And now it looks as if we have a third on our hands," as he motioned toward Renkotsu and Bobbi's verbal argument.

"This doesn't look good," Koga muttered as he moved toward the woman that had landed on him earlier, checking to make sure that she was uninjured.

With a look of disgust at one of his men getting bested by a woman, Bankotsu grabbed up a bucket that held some water that they were going to use for washing up and threw some of it on Kitty and Jai, drenching Koga in the process. Kitty shot into a sitting position, spitting and sputtering, as she turned her head to glare at the man who had the nerve to awaken her in such a fashion. Jai awoke in a similar fashion, though Koga was near her, shaking in fury at being drenched in such a deliberate way.

"Good… you're awake," Bankotsu growled as he glared at the woman who had fallen onto him and demanded, "You'd better tell me what the fuck is going on!"

Reaching out, Bankotsu snagged her arm, hauling her onto her feet, bruising it painfully. Still slightly intimidated by the infamous leader of the Band of Seven, Kitty felt her temper stirring as she bit her lip to keep the pain at bay.

She glared at him and he shook her demanding, "Answer me!" Having had enough of his attitude, Kitty kneed him in the stomach forcing him to release her arm and fall to his knees shocked.

Kitty ran over to check on her friend, seeing that she was about to be killed by another of the Band of Seven, just as Bankotsu shot to his feet ready to strangle her, but stopped a few feet away as he saw her rein in her irate friend who was about to light into Renkotsu yet again. Bobbi was just about to go at him again when Kitty rushed over to her, holding her trembling body.

"Calm down," she soothed holding Bobbi.

"LET ME GO!" she yelled struggling against the smaller woman's surprisingly strong hold.

Bankotsu ordered, "Control her or I will!" glaring at the petite woman who was trying to calm the other one down.

Kitty glared at him before returning her gaze back to her friend and saying, "Calm down. You can rip him apart after we figure out what happened."

Bobbi reluctantly sighed, "Fine," as she huffed and the struggling ceased.

All stared at them, then, even Koga, stared at Bankotsu, as if they didn't know what to make of any of this. Kitty and Bobbi looked around, and as saw who they were surrounded by... they were close to fainting. The idea of a writer going into her own stories.... The concept was absurd! Though whatever thoughts raced through their minds, or whatever idea they could not perceive... this was real.

Bankotsu, Koga, Renkotsu, and Jakotsu, they were there. And three girls, WERE there, or rather WHEN they were. This was no dream.

Jai watched the battle from her spot on the ground, not having the strength to move seeing as she'd been piled under almost two hundred pounds of wolf demon and her pack. As she saw Kitty calming Bobbi, her eyes wandered over the group of men that they had some how fallen upon. She noticed that each wore a unique style of clothing, covered by armor, though the one that held her attention was the wild man whom she'd fallen upon earlier. His furs intrigued her as her eyes wandered his handsome features to land upon his worried and concerned blue eyes. Suddenly… as if almost by some unknown force, Jai reached out toward the demon, touching his cheek as she breathed only one word… "Koga."

Seeing as all the women and men were now awake, Bankotsu glared at the three women as he demanded, "Who the hell are you three and what are you doing here?!"

At that time, right on queue, the spirit Midoriko appeared in front of them. "I can answer that." Everyone's head's snapped to stare at the new comer.

Midoriko spoke, "Until these four souls understand one another, embody their true spirit, and become..."

"Oh shit" Midoriko thought to herself. "I have only three souls here." She said, looking around, pulling her hair out in frustration. "Fuck... One is missing!"

Bankotsu glared at the ghost demanding impatiently, "Well!?"

"Um yeah... And become the human heart, this curse shall be lifted."

Midoriko raised her hand, and began chanting as six sets of beads descended upon all their heads. Three colors they were bedewed.

Bankotsu and Kitty's were a matching set of lovely sapphire blue... Koga and Jai's, Darker, wearing purple necklaces. And Bobbi and Renkotsu sharing yellow beads.

Midoriko explained, "Until this curse is lifted, you must all work together. Those whose beads match may not be more the fifteen feet from one another without the curse's painful affects taking hold. If you leave one another's sides or one dies, so will the other. Have fun," as she vanished without a trace.

Clearly confused as to what just happened, Bankotsu roared, "WHAT!?! Get back here you witch!" fists clenched angrily. "How dare she curse me! Not to mention tie me to such a puny weak bitch!" his mind protested.

Remembering the final part Midoriko whispered a solitary word into each one's mind. A different word for each person. Then thought in frustration, "Now to find the missing one. Where the hell could he be?!"

They all stared as they each heard a word. It echoed in their mind, and was etched into their very hearts. They could never forget the word. Suddenly, and a bit awkwardly, Bobbi whispered the word she had just heard to herself, as a bright yellow light flooded from Renkotsu's necklace and he was tossed to the ground. At that moment, the anarchy began. All started shouting the words they had heard and all fell to the ground, like some crazy dance to another. Everyone shouted as their faces slammed into the ground.

Knocking the women unconscious through repetitive commands, Bankotsu, Koga, and Renkotsu all shoved their bodies out of the dirt, groaning as their bodies protested at even having to move.

Bankotsu thought, "Well fuck! We can't kill them..." Grinning he added, "But that doesn't mean we have to be nice to them either." Turning to Renkotsu and Jakotsu he ordered, "Tie them up!"

Jakotsu whined, "I don't want to touch them! THEY'RE WOMEN!"

Bankotsu glared at him as he pulled his battered and bruised body toward his beloved Halberd and ordered, "Tie them up, NOW!" Jakotsu scrunched his face in disgust as he and Renkotsu jumped to do as they had been bidden.

Koga asked, "What now?"

Bankotsu replied angrily, "Now we search through these... whatever they are," pointing towards the bags. Having finished tying up the women Renkotsu and Jakotsu walked over.

"Good idea, big brother. They might contain some clue as to what's going on." offered Renkotsu.

"GUYS!!! Look at these bags!! They are so strange!!" Jakotsu shouted to his friends and Koga as he tried some makeup on from the bags.

"Let me see…" Bankotsu went over to Kitty's bag and began searching through it. He began looking though the pack and came across Kitty's undergarments. "Man these wench's sure wear different things..." he said as he held the bra up to himself. The rest of the guys giggled and went searching through the bags as well.

Koga was going through Jai's bag. "MAN!! This girl has a treasure trove full of things in her bag!!" he thought as he continued looking until he found the small hatchet. That is when he freaked out.

"SHE IS DEADLY AS WELL!!!! OMG!!!" Koga shouted as he dropped the hatchet.

"Maybe you will find the heads in there…" Renkotsu said as he went through Bobbi's bag. "This one packed really light... hmm… what is this??"

Renkotsu pulled out a digital camera and looked at it. "AMAZING!!! This is so cool! Hmm… what does this button do?" He pressed the button and it flashed which caught him off guard. Then he turned it to the back and saw himself in the back.

"GUYS!! LOOK AT THIS!! IT TAKES PICTURES!!!" Renkotsu said as he started taking pics of random things. The guys walked over to Renkotsu and took a look at the pictures that he took.

"THAT IS AWESOME!! LET ME TRY!!!" Jakotsu shouted as he took the camera and shot some pictures.

Bankotsu chuckled as he continued his search and found the pocky in the bag. "What is this?"

"It looks like a box you stupid corpse…" Koga said as he put a pair of shorts on his head.

Bankotsu opened the box slowly and looked inside. "GUYS!! I think that this is some type food…" He took one out of the box and took a bite. "THESE ARE GOOOD!!!" he exclaimed digging into the box for some more. The other guys walked over to him and each took one and placed it in their mouth.

"You are right Oo-Aniki… these are good!" Renkotsu said as he munched on the pocky.

"Where do you think these girls came from? Their clothes and everything about them is so strange?" Bankotsu asked as he continued to eat the pocky. Everyone shrugged as they finished off the small box of pocky.

After they finished sifting through the bags Bankotsu glared at Koga, who looked really uncomfortable with being forced to stay near the Band of Seven, as he growled, "Look, I'm not any happier about this then you are."

Koga nodded and informed him, "I'm staying!"

Bankotsu shrugged, "Suit your self, just stay out of my way."

Koga added, "Once this curse is lifted, we go our separate ways."

Bankotsu agreed, "Got that right wolf," as he turned back to polishing Banryu. He glanced back toward the wolf as he thought darkly, "By the time this is over, your shards will be ours and you'll be dead, wolf."

Taking up a seat near where the women had been tied up, Koga thought, "If I don't get those scrolls and burn them I will never live it down. Nor will I leave these women in the presence of these mercenaries without some form of protection."

Bankotsu thought, "These aren't going out of my sight," as he felt to make sure the scrolls were secure.