Ch. 6 The War
Disclaimer: I only own Yuki.
Warnings: Violence and more possessive Kouga!
Yuki's ankles were hurting.
He had insisted on walking on his own two feet, because his pride couldn't stand another blow from being carried like a bride by Kouga. Who, apparently, was still sulking about their little argument earlier. Geez, he says he's not mated to the guy, and he acts like Yuki just crushed his dreams. It was… Strange. Kouga has never shown such passive behavior about how angry he really was.
They had been on their way to the battle field, also known as, the birds of paradise's nest, and Yuki insisted on jogging with the rest of the 'regular' wolf demons. He could keep on a jog as long as the next guy could, but the wolf demons had their strength and resilience, mean while Yuki was only running for a few minutes before losing his breath completely. But, the wolf demons were impressed by his stubbornness.
Eventually, they made it to the battle field. And they ducked behind a few rocks before they struck to plan out their attack.
Yuki and I will go find the leader of this nest," Kouga spoke up, hovering above the others, his blue eyes meeting the golden ones of the teenage boys', "Once you locate the bird, I will take him down. Then, the rest of his parakeets will follow."
Yuki gulped nervously but nodded his understanding, "I got it. A- All I have to do is find him right?"
"Yeah, exactly," He leaned over him and wrapped an arm around his waist, "C'mon Yuki, the rest of you, you all know what to do."
Next thing Yuki knew, he was flying through the air and running up the side of a mountain. Well, Yuki himself wasn't running, of course. He was clinging to the wolf demon who thought it was a good idea to fight through a huge flock of them. Yuki kept his eyes closed in fear, but Kouga managed to dodge the majority of attacks and even kill a few.
"Come on, Yuki! Pay attention. Now, which one of these winged beasts has a jewel shard?" Kouga questioned, dodging another few attacks as he neared the top of the cliff.
Yuki closed his eyes and focused as hard as he could. He could feel a twinge near the top of the mountain. And upon opening his eyes and looking upwards, he could see the faint shine from the very top where the nest was.
"It's at the very top," Yuki told the wolf demon as they stopped on a ledge.
Just as he said this, the rock next to them began to crumble and burst. Kouga barely got them out of the way in time. A bird demon swooped down towards them, and Yuki could only brace himself as Kouga leapt through the air and avoided the demon's attack.
They landed on the ground among a group of wolf demons, "Take care of Yuki," he says as he lets said boy down.
"What about you?" Yuki grabbed his arm before he could run off.
"I'm gonna kill that ugly ass bird," Kouga put his hand on top of Yuki's, and gave it a gentle squeeze, "It's cute how you worry about me."
Yuki's face flushed a bright red, "I- I'm not worried!" he snatched his hand away, before his face softened a bit, "But be careful."
"Right," Kouga gave him a wink before he turned and leapt up on the nearest ledge on the mountain, making his way upwards. Yuki watched him go before allowing the wolf demons to lead him to safety.
Yuki ran for cover when one of the demons swooped down towards him. This was almost too much; there were dead bodied almost everywhere. Wolves and bird alike. He swallowed nervously, skidding to a halt underneath a rock overhang.
"Stay here," one of the wolves commanded him. Yuki nodded dumbly as he watched the demons run off, back into the thick of the fighting.
Only a few moments passed when he suddenly heard his name being called, " ... -uki! ... Yuki!"
He gets up, he could swear that was the voice of his cousin. He ran out from under the rock and looked around, "Kagome?" he called back, but he only saw the demonic birds and some wolves fighting. He pushed past them, trying to stay low so he wasn't captured, or killed.
Suddenly, he was knocked off his feet and landed right on his back. He groaned and opened his eyes in time to see a bird demon swooping down towards him. He didn't have enough time to get to his feet, all he could do was brace himself for death.
He closed his eyes... And nothing happened.
"Iron reaver soul stealer!"
His eyes snapped pen in time to see the dead body of the bird land right in front of him. On top of it, a familiar man with long silver hair and dog ears stood, "We've been looking for ya."
"Inuyasha?" Yuki says, stumbling to his feet.
"Keh, come on kid, you're going home," Inuyasha says, jumping down from the bird's body and landing next to him, "That is what you want, right?"
Yuki looked up at him, he honestly wasn't sure if he did. Images flashed before his eyes, images of his mother, his poor mother probably worried and wondering where he is. Maybe his long absence, for once, worried her. Or, maybe her drinking got worse. Hell, she could be dead for all he knew. And if she was okay, did he really want to return back to that kind of environment?
"I guess so," he replied in a small voice, prompting Inuyasha to look at him funny.
"Yuki!" Kagome seemed to come out of nowhere, almost scaring Yuki a little bit as she ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck, "Are you okay?"
Yuki chuckled a bit, "I'm fine, Kagome," he reassured her, but returned the hug.
Kouga was only a few feet off the ground, trying to make his way to the top of the mountain where the nest was, when he recognized the yell of his mate's name. He turned his head just in time to see Kagome and Yuki hugging in front of a dead bird's body, with Inuyasha standing a few feet from them.
"Oi!" Kouga yelled from his position, glaring daggers at the two, "What did I tell you about touching what's mine? Don't make me come down there and rip your throat out, filthy wench!"
Yuki quickly pushed Kagome away, giving her an apologetic smile before yelling back, "She's my cousin, you doofus!" he turned to face him, "And I'm not yours!"
"Hey dogbreath!" Kouga calls out, seemingly ignoring what Yuki just said, "Why don't you take your woman and get lost? No one invited you!"
"Shut up, you mangy wolf!" Inuyasha shot back, moving forward to stand protectively between Kagome and Kouga, "You're gonna pay for causing so much trouble! We're taking Yuki home!"
"You're not going anywhere with him!" Kouga retorted, one hand o his hip, the other spinning his spear, "His home is with me now, I'm in love with you, Yuki!"
Yuki blushed so red that he was afraid he would pass out, 'Please don't do this...'
"You don't need to go home to anyone, because your home is here with me! That wench will never make you feel the way I will, so forget about her! Once you've been with a real warrior like me, you won't go back to scraps again!" Kouga declared, a laugh falling off his lips as his fellow tribe mates laughed and whistled in approval.
"He's pretty direct, isn't he?" Kagome's friend, Shippo commented.
"I wish I had that kind of audacity," Miroku added, and they all turned their heads to see the mortified expression on Yuki's delicate features.
Inuyasha was enraged, "No one talks like that about Kagome in front of me, how dare you disrespect her, and humiliate her cousin! You'll pay for that, creep!"
Kouga scoffed, "Whatever, mutt face, I'm busy right now, go bug someone else!"
With that, he turned and ran up the side of the hill. Inuyasha, predictably, gave chase.
"What's going on here, Yuki?" Miroku asked, looking down at the teenage boy.
Yuki seemed to recover from the humiliation he just suffered and turned to look at him, "These birds of paradise have been harassing the wolf demon tribe for awhile now, and Kouga had enough of it. We're here to, hopefully, end the war."
"I see," Miroku responded before setting his staff aside, "If you value your lives, stand back!" he called, his hand unwrapping beads that were around his right* hand.
"Yuki, get down!" Kagome suddenly grabbed the teenage boy by his shoulders and dragged him to the ground.
He was confused, "Wh-"
Before he could finish his question, Miroku unwrapped his beads completely and aimed his hand upwards at the birds of paradise. Yuki had to brace himself against the rock as a powerful wind, seeming to come out of his hand, sucked in the birds from the air. Once the air was completely cleared, Miroku wrapped his hand back up.
"What was that?" Yuki asked Kagome in awe, his eyes still trained curiously on Miroku.
"I'll explain later," Kagome says passively, patting his arm.
Yuki's attention was diverted when he felt the jewel shard move. He looked up and focused his senses, "Kouga! It's another 50 feet up!"
'He's helping him?!' Inuyasha and Kagome thought in sync, shocked.
"Maybe Kouga isn't so deluded to think Yuki does return his feelings for him..." Miroku mused. Although he thought he was being quiet enough for the blond to not hear, the boy rounded on him with his face flushing a noticeable pink.
"Shut up! I could care less about that brute!"
Miroku took several steps back, Yuki definitely was Kagome's cousin, "Whatever you say."
Yuki was still blushing to the tips of his ears as Kouga called back, "50 feet more? There's nothing at the peak!"
Suddenly, a dark shadow flew out from the clouds and straight at Kouga, "Look out!" Yuki yelled, but the bird had already trapped Kouga against the rock and dragged him upwards.
Yuki could only watch as Kouga shoved a spear into it's mouth, but it didn't seem to have much effect. From where Yuki was, he could see that the gash in his arm was deep, and the bird continued to drag him into the air. Finally, after it seemed like forever, Kouga managed to spin and kick it in it's teeth. It lost a few, and Kouga ended up falling unto the top of the mountain.
After decades, it seemed, Inuyasha got to the top before the bird demon could get back to him. And, in one fell swoop, cut it down.
That was strange, did Inuyasha just protect Kouga?
Using their big cat demon, named Kirara, Sango flew to the top and got Kouga down safely.
Yuki helped Kouga down from Kirara and set him comfortably as possible on the ground. Kouga was holding his arm, clearly in a lot of pain as he curled in Yuki's arms. Yuki stared down worriedly at him, his eyes on the wound. It looked deep, but not fatally so. He ran a hand down Kouga's hair in an attempt to soothe him.
" ... Now that that's taken care of, all I have to do is finish off that mangy wolf..."
Yuki looked up sharply in time to catch both Kagome and Inuyasha's eyes, "Don't you dare! Kouga is seriously injured, put away your stupid pride for two seconds!"
Both Inuyasha and Kagome was shocked, 'HE'S DEFENDING HIM?!'
"I- I can still fight..." Kouga grunted stubbornly, shaking as he attempted to stand up.
"Kouga, don't get up," Yuki tried, but ended up standing up behind him.
"I may be beat, but I'll still be able to whip ya," Kouga said, his voice was confident even if he looked like he got hit by five trucks.
"Oh yea?" Inuyasha was already pulling his sword out, "Bring it!"
Yuki stepped in front of Kouga protectively, "Leave him alone!"
"Inuyasha, sit!" Kagome suddenly says. The teenager watched in confusion as an unseen force slammed Inuyasha face first into the unforgiving ground. He actually had to hold back a laugh.
Just as this happened, Kouga tipped forward. The guy was trying to fight, when he could barely stand on his own two feet? Luckily, Yuki moved fast enough to catch him around his chest, and hold him up. A few other wolf demons stepped forward to help him, but Kouga waved them off.
"Why'd ya do that, Kagome?!" Inuyasha was yelling from his position on the floor.
"Because Yuki's right, enough is enough," Kagome says an faces him, "Besides, Yuki is safe and that's the only reason we came here for, right?"
The hanyou was obviously not pleased, he glared at her but didn't respond.
Yuki looked over his shoulder at his cousin, "I'm returning to the tribe with Kouga," he announced, "I can't leave him with wounds like these. I might join you someday, but that day isn't today. Thanks for coming for me Kagome."
Kagome nodded in understanding. Even if Yuki didn't understand, she did. She could see how Yuki felt about the wolf demon, and it had to be the sweetest and most genuine thing she's ever seen, "It's alright Yuki, I understand. I'll come find you another day, okay?"
The blond nodded and turned back to Kouga, helping him stand upright and helping him walk back in the direction of the cave. The wolf demons followed behind them, silent.
"That turned out a lot different then we expected," Sango says, still comfortably seated on Kirara.
"Yeah," Kagome agreed, "But I think that it turned out for the best."
"Hmph," Inuyasha grumbled as he stood himself up, dusting off his red robe, "Whatever, let's go."
"Right," Kagome agreed.