Mid Afternoons (Part Two)

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His next words were low, cold, and full of venom demanding to not be crossed.

"Find—Her—NOW."

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Koga had been in a bad mood all that days and weeks, taking out his frustrations on those around him as they searched for Kizzy, who was nowhere to be found.

As he waited, he slowly began to spend more time with this human, Kagome. Who was also worried sick about Kizzy. Parts of him began to let it sink in that if Kizzy wasn't dead, she would've come home by now. And since she wasn't… that meant she wouldn't want to for a long, long time.

But, other parts (which were sadly, much smaller than the earlier), argued with it. Kizzy wouldn't disappear like this, out of the blue. She wouldn't leave any of her friends without saying goodbye… If it was because of him, then she certainly wouldn't have left Ginta and Hakaku in the dark!

Koga glared at the sunset he saw Kizzy staring at the day they were both attacked by Birds of Paradise. His fists clenched as he took out his anger in throwing a stone as far and hard as he could… And then his muscles relaxed when he realized he could still smell Kizzy's scent here. She had been here not too long ago, and not enough other people had been here to cover it up from his nose.

He opened his eyes into a harsh glare at the sun, as if this was all the blasted orange ball's fault.

"D*mn it Kizzy,… where ARE you?" he growled

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Kizzy's body felt heavy and weak, she couldn't move, and this smell of blood continued to in fill up her nostrils—causing her stomach to want to puke itself up and the horrible images of death and slaughter to wish she was dead herself. Her mind was in shambles and she couldn't piece them back together, she couldn't wake up, her hemophobia was taking her over and making it almost impossible to even stay conscious.

But parts of her mind were still together, awake, and conscious.

They felt the sticks, hay, and bones of a nest.

They heard the horrible caws and wing flaps above them.

They could smell, just under the scent of blood, the smell of dirty feathers, molting…

They could tell…

They could tell Kizzy was in a Birds of Paradise nest.

They could tell that Kizzy wasn't going to make it out of this one.

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Kagome bit her lip. She was worried; worried about Inuyasha, Shippo, Sango, and Miroku because they hadn't come to retrieve her yet, she was worried about never getting out of her, and she was worried about Kizzy because she hadn't been seen in about a week, almost two if her math was right.

By the second day, she thought Koga had given up on Kizzy (he'd been more depressed then usual that day, and was probably drunk with sake from a nearby village or something), and when he told her to be his mate,… well, to be quiet frank, she slapped him. She slapped him because he was too straight-forward, she slapped him because she didn't like him back and he was too close, and she slapped him because she was positive Kizzy and him did like-like each other.

She hugged her knees closer, still on top of the bed of hay. Ever since Kizzy's disappearance, the wolf-demons had put their I'm-going-to-f*cking-kill-any-intruder game-face up a notch. They were sure Kizzy had been taken by the Bird of Paradise and that one of them were next.

But, there was this one little rumor, that Kizzy had been taken by the nearby South wolf-demon tribe, the pack-leader there being "fed-up with his own girls, so he decided to take one of our's" (which in Kagome's view was completely unnecessary. They treated her horribly, they have no right to say "one of our's") and that Kizzy was now living lavishly inside a castle. Of course, Kagome realized with a sweat-drop, was completely untrue. But she supposed some of the wolf-demons there had brains the sizes of peanuts, because they believed it and tried to explain to Koga that Kizzy was a lost cause. Even some that didn't believe in that rumor, and thought that Kizzy was taken by Bird of Paradise—

Well, Kagome sweat-dropped again when she saw that Koga was going to beat every one of those "traitors" up.

Either way, she was worried.

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Kizzy groaned, her head throbbing as she tried to stagger up, only to fall back down on her knees and elbows. The smell was too strong, she realized with tiny tears as she pinched her nose together. She was already starting to loose conscious again, and though she felt a pressure coming up her throat, her stomach felt empty and like it was trying to digest itself. She found a nearby Bird of Paradise and tried not to gasp, if she opened her mouth, then she'd puke.

"Ohohoho, brother, the little puppy is awake…"

"She is indeed, brother…"

Kizzy turned frantically, knowing they were talking about her, moaning because her body wasn't cooperating with the sudden movement. It was a Bird of Paradise, but instead of one body on top of the bird-like torso, it was two. It must have been rare, Kizzy decided, since no other bird had such a development. It may very well be what caused them to be leaders of the Birds of Paradise. Not that it mattered, but Kizzy needed something to distract her from her traumatizing fear.

Her mother had been here.

And even she hadn't made it out.

"What on earth could that wolf-demon mutt see in this girl?"

"I don't know brother, but he has fragments of the jewel shard. If we are to gain them, we need to use her as bait."

So that's it…! Kizzy realized frantically. They were after Lord Koga, an-and his jewel shards!

"H-He won't come…" she managed out

"Ooooh, look brother, the little puppy is trying to bark~ How cute~"

"L-Lord Koga won't come!" she managed to make her voice louder, "Y-You IDIOTS! He won't c-come! C-Can't you s-see me fr-from up there? I'm—I'm a fr-freak! L-Lord Koga cares… He c-cares nothing for me! Id-Idiots!"

The two humanoid torsos turned to one another with an evil pair of smirks, before turning back to Kizzy, "Do you believe us to be stupid, pup'? We have been watching you and that wolf-demon mutt since the first day we learned of his jewel shards!"

"We fully understand you're a freak, with that horrible shade of color for your hair… But even we are not blind enough not to see how much that mutt cares for you! He'll come…"

"And he'll come with an army! But don't worry, he won't get you. We'll kill every member of that stupid pack of his! And we'll let you see him suffer, and then, we'll kill you! We'll kill you and then we'll kill him! And imagine, all of that, just to retrieve YOU~"

"It's that wolf-demon mutt that's an idiot, not us!" they laughed in unison

Kizzy's teeth set, her eyes scrunched close together… The blood had already set that stage, and she hallucinated with that smell every time… Those dirty birds had just given her the characters for the tragedy her mind would create.

The Birds laughed, and didn't manage to hear her murmur, "No… L-Lord Koga…"

Her strength failed her as she slipped back into her unconsciousness, deciding firmly, as she prayed, hoped, and wished to the gods that they'd give her the abilty to talk to Lord Koga, just once, and tell him to stay away.

She muttered into a breath, inaudible to all but her, "I'd rather kill myself then let Lord Koga die because of me…"

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Koga stood up, firmly, from the perch where Kizzy always sat. He could still smell Kizzy here, it was one of the last places, and he was determined to be here until it was gone. He wondered why Kizzy always sat here, why she always asked those weird questions. They were like riddles! They were unuseful and-and they were unanswerable! At least riddles had an answer, those questions had none! There was that especially stupid one; Why do birds always go back to their nest? Even after they're all grown up, their parents were dead and gone, and they haven't been there for a whole year? THAT ONE WAS THE WORST. IT MADE NO—

Koga blinked.

He stood up, his eyes wide with realization as he stared directly at the setting sun.

There were three black dots in front of it. And they were too far away and too large to be normal birds.

Why do birds always return to the nest?

Koga ran, wasteing no time, to the cave.

He wasn't sure if that was where Kizzy was, but if she was—They'd just have to follow those Bird of Paradise.

And if she was there—THOSE F*CKING BIRDS WERE IN FOR A WORLDOF PAIN.

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Sorry This One Is Short-ish! X[

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