Author's Note: Sooooo . . . I don't really have an excuse for not updating earlier. ^ ^ Sorry, guys! I know I suck. Either way, thank all of you guys soooooo much for the reviews and the views and the favorites and the everything else! It really encourages me to keep writing when you guys review so thanks again! It is 3:55 in the morning where I am right now, so I'm rather tired. =_= However, drinking stuff, listening to Block B and Big Bang, and wanting to update has kept me going! I had actually started writing this chapter about a week ago but today I looked at what I wrote and realized I kinda hated it. So, I deleted it completely and re-wrote it today! I hope since it's a longer chapter you guys will forgive me for being so late in updating! Anyways, please REVIEW! IT'S MY LIFE BLOOD!
"POV language."
"POV different language."
"POV mental speech."
"POV different language mental speech."
7
Kouga's eyes scrutinized through the crowds and chaos of burning tents and escaping Lupine in search of the familiar heart-shaped face of his little sister. Biting his lips in frustration, the Lupine alpha let out a small sigh of discontent. Where was she? His mind was restless with the endless negative outcomes that might have befallen his only surviving family member. Clenching his fists, Kouga resumed his search, his nose and eyes alert for the presence of his sibling. The aura seeping from the general's body as he strolled through the battle made many of the Vampir soldiers nearby shudder in fear, the feel pooling off of the body of the powerful Lupine parallel only to that of their own general. The Vampir knew; this man was dangerous and not to be trifled with by any other than Sesshomaru. Taking no notice to the avoidance by the Vampir soldiers around him, Kouga continued on his trek through the enemy camp. He finally stopped when the realization that Rin was not in the camp solidified in his mind.
"Ginta, Hakkaku," Kouga barked suddenly, drawing the attention of his right-hand men brawling near by instantly. The two broke apart from their opponents and rushed to their leader without hesitance.
"Yes, Lord Kouga?" the spoke simultaneously.
"I want the two of you to search the campsite once more. I am going to head farther back into the caverns to see if I can locate Rin there."
"Yes, Lord Kouga!"
Kouga nodded at the pair once before crouching down to the ground, fingers of his right hand stretching across the rough surface of the cave floor as he descending into a starting position; the muscles in his legs tightened as he prepared to launch himself deeper into the cave. Taking a breath to gather his strength, Kouga closed his eyes in concentration. A moment of slow breaths passed before the orbs sprung open, flashing icy blue before his feet dug angrily into the ground and he propelled himself forward. The pure Lupine blood running through his veins pulsed quickly in Kouga as he blew through the campsite in the blink of an eye, his movements resembling that of a tornado tearing through the countryside. Soldiers from both sides were blown away as the Lupine general tore towards the back of the cave, cries of pain and surprise rising up from the area left behind the prince.
Kouga's eyes were wide with concentration as he bulleted deeper into the cave, searching feverously for any sign of his sister. Black blurs rushed past him as rocks from the cave walls remained the only thing in his vision. Biting his lip and letting out and angry growl, Kouga was nearly ready to kill. However, as a yellow blur of a campfire flashed suddenly to his attention Kouga let out a small gasp, his feet digging into the ground in an attempt to stop his momentum. A long, thin trail was left behind Kouga as he came to an unsteady stop. The Lupine general was breathing hard as his eyes focused on the small, solitary tent near a chasm further to the back of the cave. If not for the acuteness of his Lupine senses, Kouga would not have been able to see the chasm nor the tent. Nor would he have been able to detect the strong scent of his sister coming from the campsite ahead.
A small smile gracing his lips, Kouga's heart ignited with the hope of seeing his sister again. He broke out into a happy jog towards the tent as the scent of Rin became stronger and stronger in his nose, not noticing the faint scent of his enemy that mingled with his sister's until he was mere meters away from the camp. The smile on Kouga's face froze when the suddenly overwhelming scent of Sesshomaru engulfed him. Ducking on instinct, Kouga narrowly avoided the blade rocketing towards his neck as the Vampir general seemingly materialized from behind him.
Hands smacking against the ground, the Lupine propelled himself forward in a summersault, twisting in the air so that, as he landed, he could face his opponent head on. However, Kouga was barely able to catch a glimpse of the Vampir before the lightning fast, silver haired beast was on him again. Holding up his iron gauntlets to his side, Kouga barely managed to ward off the fierce blow Sesshomaru sent towards the left of his face with his sword. The Lupine prince's feet skidded against the ground as he was pushed back by the attack for several meters. A growl erupted in Kouga's throat as his gaze snapped up towards Sesshomaru as he slowly approached him, his normally golden eyes burning now a deep crimson.
~ . . . ~
Sesshomaru couldn't stop the Vampiric hiss from escaping his lips in response to Kouga's animalistic growl of challenge. Holding his sword, Tokijin, firmly in front of him, Sesshomaru glared at the young Lupine with condescension plain in his gaze.
"GIVE ME RIN!" the Lupine prince growled. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed further as he broke out into a sprint towards the wolf, ignoring his demand as he sent another attack towards the Lupine's neck. Kouga's leg sprung up, the unbreakable material of his shin blades clashing loudly with Sesshomaru's sword as he blocked the slash. Wasting no time, Sesshomaru brought back his left fist and delivered a staggering blow to the Lupine prince's bare midsection, his body twisting forward as he attacked with no Vampir strength held back. Blood exploded from Kouga's mouth as Sesshomaru's fist connected with his vitals. Breaking away from Sesshomaru, Kouga retreated several meters to recuperate from the blow.
"B-bastard," Kouga muttered, wiping the trail of blood from his lips. Sesshomaru's hand twitched with anticipation, wanting to feel the break of Kouga's body beneath it once more.
"This Sesshomaru is lowering himself when he says he will be disappointed if you believe you can win this battle, Kouga." Sesshomaru spoke, his voice tense. "Even on the battlefield to the east you were not able to defeat this Sesshomaru. He hopes you do not believe you can now."
"You sure are talking a lot, Sesshomaru," Kouga chuckled darkly, ignoring the way Sesshomaru's anger flared in his eyes. "Don't tell me you're nervous?"
"Of what, wolf? You hold no power against this Sesshomaru; not at the foot of the eastern mountains and not here."
"Bringing up past battles is a defense mechanism, General. Is it because, for once in your glorified, self-centered, Vampiric life someone has actually managed to take your army by surprise?"
Sesshomaru's red eyes grew dark with anger.
"Watch your mouth, Lupine brat." Sesshomaru snapped. Kouga didn't have enough time to respond as Sesshomaru suddenly appeared in front of him, blade raised.
"STOP IT!"
Sesshomaru froze as the sound of Rin's scream echoed through the cavern. His mind instantly reeled in surprise as he looked at his sword, inches away from Kouga's throat, now stayed by the Princess's word.
A moment of surprise and silence passed between the two combatants before, eyes flashing in a split-second decision, Kouga lunged forward and shot his foot into Sesshomaru's abdomen. Shock registered in Sesshomaru's eyes as he felt the breath leave him and he was rocketed across the cavern space. Many meters away his body smacked down into the ground and his broken body rolled uncontrollably towards the edge of the sudden drop in the cave.
Sesshomaru had only been hit by the Lupine prince's kick once before during their battles, this was on the battlefield to the east. He was younger then, as was Kouga who was roughly the same age as him, and he had let his guard down for one second during a fight they were having atop a hill. At the time his body was weaker so he wasn't surprised that when the Lupine-powered kick connected it broke several of his ribs, ruptured several organs, and sent him flying yards away. However, he did not expect the Lupine general's kick to still have the same impact on his body now as it did back then. Blood exiting violently from his mouth Sesshomaru began chocking on the red substance as his body came to a halt just on the edge of the precipice, his mind spiraling into black.
~ . . . ~
Rin gasped in horror as Sesshomaru's body stopped rolling just on the edge of the cavern's downward descent, her eyes suddenly wide and fearful as his body made no move to get back up. She had done that, her mind reeled. She had distracted him and had caused him to get injured. However, as Kouga recovered from the powerful attack and began cradling his mid-section as he fell to his knees, Rin understood that if she had not stopped Sesshomaru he would have killed her brother. Eyes growing sad, Rin took one last glance at Sesshomaru before she rushed quickly to her brother's side.
"Brother," she spoke in their native tongue, "are you unharmed?"
Kouga looked up as Rin approached and quickly stood up, ignoring the immense pain in his stomach area as he moved in and embraced his sister. Placing small kisses on her forehead and hair Kouga basked in the fact that his sister was safe.
"Am I unharmed?" he chuckled, "I should be asking you the same thing, Rin." Kouga chuckled slightly, worry loud in his voice.
"I am fine." Rin said quietly. Kouga rested his chin atop of Rin's head as he cradled her in his arms. Rin suddenly had to hold back tears as the events from the past two days began taking its toll on her.
"I was so scared, Kouga." Rin whispered into her brother's chest. "Why did Sesshomaru capture all of the villagers? Why the women and children? I thought the battle was being fought near the mountains to the east, why did they attack the valley?"
Kouga sighed.
"The Vampir leader, Naraku, probably wanted to use you and the people as hostages."
"But why now? Why didn't they attack earlier in the war if they wanted to try and use us as hostages?"
Kouga frowned slightly as his brows drew together.
"I don't know, Rin. I don't know." His voice grew quiet. The two stayed embracing each other for several more moments before Kouga pulled away and gripped Rin by the shoulders.
"Either way," he said, his blue eyes now meeting her brown ones, "we need to leave. Ginta and Hakkaku are searching the campsite for you now, but I'm sure the two of them have already evacuated all the people in the carts."
"They're safe? The people are safe?" Rin asked, eyes wide. Kouga flashed one of his trademark smirks.
"You bet, Little Princess." He spoke light-heartedly. Rin beamed at her brother.
"You ready to go?" Kouga asked as he dropped his hands to his sides. Rin felt herself about to nod before a sudden realization struck at her heart. Instantly, she whipped around to look at Sesshomaru's unconscious body near the chasm edge. The Vampir general was without his armor as he lay helplessly on the ground. The large bulk of white metal that normally protected him was absent during the fight against her brother and Rin was very much aware of her sibling's leg strength from seeing him practice. Even for a Vampir, she was more than sure that if she didn't help him he would die from the internal injury.
"Brother," she said, her voice light and sad, "I have to help him."
Kouga's eyes darkened.
"Absolutely not." He retorted sharply. Rin turned to look up at her brother, her eyes large and pleading. Kouga stared seriously into Rin's gaze as he wrapped a hand around his mid-section.
"It was a miracle I beat that man in the first place, Rin. The last time we fought and I was actually able to land a kick he still managed to get back up and defeat me. I don't want to tempt fate, Rin. Leave him be." Kouga spoke, his voice reasoning.
His tone was one that Rin recognized as his "mature adult" tone. He normally used it to scold Rin or tell her advice. Because the two had lost their parents at a young age Kouga had to take on the job of being Rin's parental figure despite being her brother; Rin had heard this tone many times as they had grown up together. However, as she looked as the form of the Vampir general, crumpled against the ledge she couldn't fight the incessant need to help him raging in her heart. He had been kind to her. Yes, Rin realized, he had tried to drink from her. However, if there really was an allure to royal Lupine blood that Rin hadn't realized before then how could she blame him? Besides, other than that Sesshomaru had been rather pliable with Rin, which, from seeing how Sesshomaru acted towards his own soldiers, Rin could tell was not something that the Vampir General did often.
Stealing her gaze, Rin looked into the crystal blue of her brother's eyes, the stern gems illuminated by the campfire near by.
"Brother," she said determinedly, "I am going to help him."
Kouga's eyes widened at the steel his normally complacent sister presented in her eyes, and, before he could register what was happening, Rin was already on her way to Sesshomaru's side. Kouga ground his teeth in annoyance before jogging after his sister.
"Rin," he called, "stop! Get away from him!" However, the words hung emptily in the air as Rin reached the unconscious Vampir and kneeled beside him.
"Brother," she said levelly, "this man doesn't deserve to die. Both you and I know that if we leave him here that is what will happen. He may have captured me, but the last two days he has been nothing but aware of me and my needs. I cannot replace his consideration with abandonment."
Kouga stared down at his sister hard, measuring the risks of saving his enemy in his mind. Seeing his sister begin to peel away the shirt of the broken man, he sighed heavily and rolled his eyes.
"Fine," he said, "but only a quick patch-up to make sure that he doesn't die, okay? Any little scratch past that the Vampir medic that finds him can take care of."
Rin smiled at her brother's acceptance before lowering her head to the stomach of the Vampir and focusing her Lupine hearing on finding any ruptures in his organs. Frowning slightly she sat up and began feeling around his ribs for breaks.
"Brother," she said, not turning away from her newly acquired patient, "go to the tent behind me and find me a red box that smells like bandages and gauze. I'm going to need it for his ribs. Also, can you find me the canister filled with bat blood? He needs to drink, desperately."
Kouga stared at his sister in disbelief.
"You're asking me . . . to find a bottle filled with blood for a vampire so that he can drink it to get better? Rin, that is literally against every Lupine law I've ever heard of-"
"Kouga, please!" Rin groaned.
The black ears on top of Kouga's head wilted slightly before he sighed and began trudging begrudgingly towards the small campsite behind them. Rin ignored the small muttering of complaints from her brother as she once again lowered her head to listen to Sesshomaru's mid-section. By the sound of the injury, the attack itself wasn't enough to send him into unconsciousness. However, Rin had seen his body be thrown across the cave and she wouldn't be surprised if the Vampir general had hit the back of his head when he crashed and had fallen unconscious that way. Rin finally allowed a frown of worry to grace her features. Laying her head on his chest Rin began a more detailed inspection of the Vampir's ribs. Moving her fingers tenderly against each row of his cage Rin listened and felt for any cracks or breaks in the bones. She counted in her head as she went: One . . . two . . . three, four . . . five . . . six and seven . . . possibly an eighth . . . and a ninth. Sighing, Rin pulled away from Sesshomaru.
While, Rin was not a healer professionally, she did like to think of herself as possibly the best in her valley. She had been interested in the healing arts since childhood and had studied continuously on the subject for both the Lupine and Vampir body. She practiced with real healers and patients and had a multitude of experience accumulated over her twenty years of life. She was rather proud of her abilities to heal people, but even that was not enough to ensure that she could save the man in front of her in his current state. Mind now deep in worry and insecurity, Rin paid no mind to the ominous cracking noise that had begun to escalate around her.
"Rin," her brother's call summoned her from her musings, "I found the things you were looking for. Hurry up and heal him so we can leave."
Rin smiled slightly in appreciation but froze when suddenly Sesshomaru's crimson eyes snapped open. Shock overtook her as well as Kouga who stood several yards away but before either of them could react a final, loud CRACK was heard as the ground beneath Rin and Sesshomaru gave way.
"RIN!" Kouga screamed as he lunged for the portion of the ledge sinking into the abyss. Rin couldn't find the voice to scream as she, as well as the man beside her, fell into the depths of the Pitch Caves. Tears began forming at the rims of her brown eyes as the sight of her brother, arm reaching out towards her as he clung to the edge of the chasm, slowly grew farther and farther away.
As she descended into black Rin could only manage one word.
"Help."
Ooh! Exciting, right? Anyhow, I would like to thank some people for their reviews ('cause all the other author's do that and I feel like a fuck-face for not)! "Thank you very much!" to:
Moka-Chan8 (THANK YOU SOOO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT! You were my first comment and you always do comment and it makes me happy! ^ ^)
jj
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Mi Ling Chi (Thanks for the grammar comment! ^ ^ [it's a belated thanks but one that needs to be said])
overninethousand
darkstar2010
Angelical love
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Obsessed Dreamer
Big thanks to everyone! I love you guys! :D