Author's Note: So I got all the names the way I want them, finally. So now we can have more story. I still own nothing.
In Action
Inuyasha had tracked the wolf scent into the mountains. She had a vague memory of these mountains from when she was a child, though that had been so long ago now she wasn't sure when exactly she'd been through here. She'd avoided any signs of life though, she had known by then that other demons weren't going to be any more accepting than the humans who had run her out mere minutes after her mother had left this world. But that thought just made her more confused, Koga's words were stuck in her brain. He'd been so genuinely angry on her behalf. Most of the time no one noticed the beads, in all honesty if Kagami didn't say 'Sit' for a while even she forgot about them. It was always a very rude reminder. No one had ever gotten angry over them though. No one had ever called her pretty either. Well Kiken hadn't ever said it outright but he'd come close a few times, speaking more with those sad eyes of his than with his words. He'd been good at that. Inuyasha shook her head and sniffed at the air again.
"Is it just me or does Inuyasha acting a little strange?" Shippo asked from his spot on Sango's shoulder. Miroku, who was sitting behind Sango on Kilala, shrugged.
"She's likely angry she didn't get to try out her Wind Scar." Sango shook her head at the monk.
"I don't think that's all of it." Sango paused studying Inuyasha who was ignoring them. "She looks like she's thinking of someone she loved." Miroku raised an eyebrow.
"What makes you say that?" Sango shrugged.
"Back in my village it wasn't uncommon for a slayer to go out on a particularly difficult mission and never return. I knew a woman whose husband left on a mission and never returned, she had that same expression every time she thought about him. Eventually she left the village to see what had become of him, she never returned either." Miroku frowned.
"Do you think she's thinking about Kiken?" Shippo asked and Sango saw Kagami flinch from his spot on Inuyasha's back. Inuyasha's ears twitched backwards but she made no other indication that she'd heard them speaking.
"That or Koga." Miroku said matter of factly. That got raised eyebrows from both Sango and Shippo. "Any woman is susceptible to flattery. Even a half demon like Inuyasha. I would almost say especially Inuyasha as she likely hasn't experienced a lot of that kind of thing. Koga may very well be the first true demon to show any kind of care for her."
Inuyasha kept ignoring them. Miroku wasn't wrong though. But she didn't have time to think about it as a fresh wave of wolf scent caught her nose and she smiled slightly.
"Got you!" She raced around the corner and spotted wolf tails heading around a bend in the trail to her left. She raced after them. She barely noticed Shippo leaping to Kagome's shoulder as Kilala came flying up next to them. Grinning she easily outraced the demon cat and bounded around another bend in the mountain path, straight into a cloud of dark smoke that she definitely hadn't smelled a minute ago.
Kagami coughed and let out a startled yelp as Inuyasha dropped to the ground. He quickly leapt off of her and shook her shoulder.
"Inuyasha!" A cough from his shoulder drew his attention to Shippo who looked drowsy.
"Her nose is way more sensitive than ours. This smoke smells awful." He coughed again and Kagami couldn't help but agree with him. This smoke was starting to make him drowsy too, but he had to get Inuyasha out of here. But before he could even take hold of her arm, he sensed the jewel shards again and something, he had a sinking feeling he knew what, scooped him off his feet and tossed him over its shoulder. The smoke blew away with Koga's arrival and revealed his smirk as he gently picked up the still prone Inuyasha. She was unconscious. Koga had her under one arm and Kagami over his other shoulder as Sango and Miroku rounded the bend. Sango readied her weapon but Koga had already taken off running full tilt away from the two remaining members of their little company. Kagami screamed. It seemed like seconds before Koga slowed back to a more reasonable pace.
"Will you quit shrieking in my ear! Humans!" He growled.
"What did you do to Inuyasha!?" Kagami was practically growling himself at the sight of the silver haired girl still unmoving under Koga's arm. The wolf demon grinned.
"It's an old recipe passed down by the elders of my tribe. Don't worry she won't be harmed. I don't enslave half demons like you." The hatred in his words felt like a slap across Kagami's face. "A beauty like her shouldn't belong to humans like you!" Kagami was about to retort when a harsh birds cry caught Koga's attention. The wolf demon glanced over his shoulder and a growl ripped through him.
"God dammed vultures again!" Kagami looked up and spotted… well he wasn't quite sure what to call them. They had giant rounded bird bodies with enormous teeth and staring yellow eyes, but placed atop the birds body was the blue skinned torso of a human with features similar to the birds face on the body and talons instead of hands. "A good chance to test your powers though boy! Do you sense any jewel shards from them?" With no current choice but to obey Kagami focused.
"No."
"You're sure?" Kagami nodded and Koga grinned and took off at full speed again, racing away from the birds in the blink of an eye. Before Kagami could do much thinking about their predicament he was shocked by the cold sting of water soaking through his uniform. He spluttered and blinked as Koga pulled to a stop. They were inside a spacious cave filled with other wolf demons and regular wolves. Koga grinned as each person who spotted him smiled and greeted him, most calling him Chief Koga, only a specific few referring to him just by name. He tossed Kagami carelessly onto a pile of straw. Then he turned to one of the other demons, who was liking his lips hungrily.
"Anyone eats the boy before I say so and it'll be your heads! If he escapes it'll be your head. I need him alive, for now." With that dark pronouncement he carefully readjusted the still unconscious Inuyasha and carried her away, one arm under her back the other under her knees. Kagami twitched, wildly nervous. It sounded like Koga didn't plan to keep him alive for long. He jumped as something moved against his shoulder, only to find Shippo still clinging there. He found some small comfort in that but couldn't bring himself to feel better about the situation. He just hoped Inuyasha would wake up soon.
