"Hey! Watch it with that thing will you!?" Xander exclaimed as he just barely ducked low enough to avoid being cut in two by Sesshomaru's youki whip.
Unfortunately the youkai Lord's only response to his protests was to lash out once again with his energy whip forcing Xander to shut up and worry about saving his own skin. Fortunately after repeated attacks and even more repeated lectures from the Ice Lord himself the Zeppo turned inu youkai had learned the fine art of dodging attacks without looking like a complete amateur. It had in fact been a serious issue with the demon Lord that he not fight like a drunken brawler or a ningen. Sesshomaru's reason had been that since he possessed physical attributes of similar strength to his own the pseudo youkai should make full use of them. Personally he thought that Sesshomaru-sama just didn't want him walking around with his youkai looks tumbling around in battle looking like a complete idiot. After all he seriously doubted that anyone in this era would believe him if he tripped over a rock and by sheer coincidence managed to dodge an enemy's attack only to get up and say 'I meant to do that'. Still even though he had gotten better at dodging his instructor's attacks didn't mean there still hadn't been a few close calls here and there.
I know I could use a haircut but something tells me that Dog Lord over there would go about a foot overboard if I asked him to take a little off the top. He thought to himself as he tried to launch an attack of his own.
Instead of a youki whip though he decided he'd take a tactic out of a certain hanyou's play book and threw four parallel blades of energy from his claws in a slashing attack. It wasn't a perfect match for InuYasha's Iron Reaver technique but it was close enough to achieve the desired results. Unfortunately, as was usually the case whenever the two brother's fought, the Tai Inu Youkai of the West was easily able to dodge the blades of energy with his superior speed. Even though his imitation youkai eyes could keep track of Sesshomaru for the most part there were moments when he lost track of the Ice Man. Fortunately though he had an ace up his sleeve in the form of Kikyo who was watching the entire training session from the sidelines. It had been about an hour ago but when it became clear that he could not track Lord Sesshomaru as exactly as was needed the undead priestess had started to render covert assistance. Whenever he lost sight of the youkai Lord she'd look in the direction he had reappeared in giving him just enough time to either dodge or block the incoming attack with one of his own. Taking a quick glance over at her he could see that she was looking directly above him and as quickly as he could leapt backwards to evade the attack. Unfortunately as he felt a distinctly not good and likely pain oriented sensation in his back he realized that Sesshomaru must have finally caught on to the miko's trick.
Rolling with the attack he got to his feet as quickly as he could only to once again have to leap backwards to avoid a follow up attack in the form of Sesshomaru-ama's youki whip. Scraping up a little dust cloud as he finally came to a stop he could see that the Lord had decided to delay his attack somewhat. Most likely to make another snobby remark about how he wasn't fighting 'honorably' or that using an attack created by a hanyou was unbefitting of someone of his pedigree or something like that. It was times like those that he really began to remember why he had been more fond of the hanyou InuYasha than his pure blooded older brother. Sesshomaru had this arrogant air about him that made it clear he though he was above everything and everyone. He probably felt that they all should be bowing down before him and was annoyed that they hadn't slipped into that role right away. InuYasha on the other hand was a half decent guy that you could eventually call friend once you learned to tolerate his 'chip-on-the-shoulder-the-size-of-Mount-Fuji' attitude. Still wishing that he could somehow have the hanyou as a teacher rather than Sesshomaru-sama wouldn't get him anywhere. If he had wound up in a hanyou body when Willow's botched spell dumped him here he might have sought out InuYasha but since he had gotten one like Sesshomaru's instead the choice of instructor was obvious.
"This Sesshomaru commends you for your progress Alexander but will remind you again that you are here to learn how to fight like a proper inu-youkai." Sesshomaru stated coldly, "This Sesshomaru would remind you to not imitate the fighting style of a lowly hanyou like my witless half-brother."
"As you wish Sesshomaru-sama." Xander replied as he mentally prepared himself for another assault by the youkai Lord.
"We will take a break from today's lesson to give you time to reflect on your mistakes during battle." Sesshomaru said as he began to walk off into the surrounding woods, "We will resume later this evening to see whether or not your night combat abilities have improved."
Oh great! Someone just kill me now! Xander thought to himself as he did his best to hold in a groan of dread.
It had become a part of the routine that every second day they would wait until nightfall and then spar under the cover of darkness. According to the youkai Lord a warrior could never count on being able to fight in a well-lit area or during the day for that matter. Therefore it was important to be able to use you other senses to their fullest when one's sight was no longer sufficient. Unfortunately while he may be making progress with his daylight fights with the Ice Lord his nighttime fights had remained as painful as ever. He couldn't count the number of painful blows he had taken while trying to fire off a few attacks of his own. It wasn't that he wasn't trying hard but trying to find someone without your eyes wasn't easy at all. He knew that youkai senses were much more potent and sensitive than human senses but that didn't mean that it was easy to make sense of what they were telling him. He could certainly smell when Sesshomaru was in the area but he had yet to tune his nose enough that could tell which direction to look in. The same could be said for his sense of hearing as well as the other senses especially the one sense he had hoped would prove the most useful. It was something he had come to call his 'energy sense' as it allowed him to detect and locate other forms of energy whether it was human spiritual energy or demonic youki. He had come to rely upon it on his trip with Kikyo as it was a nice early warning system but as he found out during his first nighttime battle with Sesshomaru it was useless in close quarters. It was kind of like a beeping noise that got louder according to the target's power level and as the target got closer the space between the beeps decreased. Once the target got to within thirty yards of you however it became a solid single tone which of course gave him no idea where his opponent was coming from. Whether Sesshomaru had deduced this himself or was merely fighting the way he normally did the pseudo-inu-youkai didn't know. In any case he had a sinking feeling that it would be among the more painful lessons he would have to learn before the Ice Lord considered him a comptetant warrior.
For the next ten minutes or so though he decided that he'd better bandage up what wounds he had received this session and try and get some of the blood out of his clothes. After all while fighting like a proper inu-youkai might be at the top of Sesshomaru's list of important things for him looking like one came right after. Therefore wearing a blood stained outfit would not be very good and would likely earn him another lecture if he didn't at least try to clean the blood out. Since a simple spit clean wouldn't get rid of the blood given the sheer quantity of it he might as well head to the river that was nearbye and try and clean it there. He quickly mentioned where he was going to Kikyo and was soon on his way hoping that by the time he was done only a sharp eye would be able to tell that there was any blood in the cloth to begin with.
For the majority of the walk to the river his mind was occupied with attempts to find a way of improving his odds of surviving the night dueling with Lord Sesshomaru. Unfortunately the youkai Lord's speed and the natural cover of darkness made for a deadly combination and one that his adversary would use to its fullest. One of his first ideas would be to disappear briefly and set up some traps around his position so that even if he could not see Sesshomaru the springing of his traps would let him know the direction the Ice Lord was coming from. Then again any traps he could cobble together in the random ten second periods he'd manage to lose the inu-youkai Lord would probably be both obvious and horribly ineffective. Add to that the fact that Sesshomaru would probably slam him down with some extra hurt before sliding into another 'stop fighting like a ningen' lectures and any consideration to early warning traps went flying out the proverbial window.
As he cleared the forest and began to step onto the rock and dirt covered shore of the river he momentarily contemplated just tossing the shirt in the river and continuing his lessons with the Tai Inu-Youkai of the West shirtless. Fortunately that conjured up even worse images of a twelve hour lecture than anything else he had thought up so far so he shook his dead to disperse the idea like a fading fog bank in his head. Taking off his shirt he pushed it beneath the surface of the river and held it there allowing the cool water to run through it and set it up for some scrubbing. He held it for about a minute before he began to rub and brush the parts of the shirt that had blood on them. He doubted whether or not he'd be able to get them completely clean giving this century's lack of washing machines and products like 'Tide' or other similar ones that were used to clean clothes. Hopefully since most of the blood was still fresh it would be soon enough to get rid of the red stuff before the stain could set in or whatever. Much like the female need to shop he never bothered to learn the whys and wherefores when it came to doing laundry and why it was important to get them cleaned as quickly as possible in one situation but not in others. He just accepted it and made it part of his routine of chores in the Harris household and prayed he got it right so as to avoid incurring his parents' wrath.
He had been at it for about five minutes when a sound of feathers cutting through air reached his sensitive ears. He had only a moment to contemplate what it could be before something touched down behind him and wrapped a pair of slender arms around his neck. For a moment he thought he was under attack but that idea came to a screeching and extremely flustering halt when he felt a curved body press up against his back and someone blow hot hair past his right ear. Now anyone else in this dimension would probably take a couple of minutes trying to run through the various possible females that could be behind them doing such things. After all there wasn't exactly a shortage of winged youkai in these parts and he was pretty sure the majority of them were knockouts so the person currently clinging to him could be any woman out of a thousand. However given his luck and the number of winged female youkai that would make a play for him in this manner there was only one woman it could be.
"Hello Satu." He said in a polite manner even though his mind was dreaming up just how things could turn to shit if either Kikyo or Sesshomaru found them like this.
He was just glad that Jakken and Rin had been left back at the palace. Rin likely would have made innocent but embarrassing questions but the toad youkai would have prattled endlessly about proper etiquette and the like. It was during prattling sessions like those that he understood the scenes in the Anime where Sesshomaru made the toad suffer a little without actually killing him. Moments of venting such as these were probably necessary lest the Ice Lord actually lose his famous composure and kill the toad youkai outright without thinking. As for Rin he would probably try and satisfy her curiousity as best he could without delving too deep into things no child should know at that age. Though he was pretty sure that Satu would probably use the Q & A session as an excuse to wind him up inside or make him squirm with every difficult to answer question she tricked Rin into asking. He knew that he didn't know Satu well enough to really predict her actions that well but something about her reminded him of both Faith and Anya at the same time. Satu had Faith's sexy playfulness and flirtation skills but at the same time appeared to have the sex drive and bluntness with her intentions that painfully reminded him of Anya. With a combination of qualities like that he wasn't sure how long he'd be able to resist her 'charms' and what the repercussions would be down the road.
I'll worry about that particular bridge when I come to it. He thought to himself as he carefully unwrapped Satu's arms from around his neck and turned to face her.
"Oh! You remember my name! I am so touched!" Satu said with glee while not losing an inch of her sex appeal.
"You're not the sort of person I'd forget meeting." Xander stated reflexively before realizing how Satu would likely take his words given her objective.
"Really?" she asked rhetorically as she wrapped her arms around his neck again and seemed to be preparing to wrap her legs around him next.
"Um, yeah, so what brings you to these woods?" he asked trying to redirect the conversation to something she couldn't twist into some kind of flirtatious statement.
"I have an important message to deliver to Lord Sesshomaru concerning a report from one of his spies in the field." Satu replied taking on a slightly more official tone now that he had reminded her of the reason for her coming here, "I was flying overhead and decided a quick visit without you couldn't hurt and that maybe you could tell me where my Lord was."
"Well the last time I saw him he was heading to a spot further up river." Xander said as he attempted to shake loose some excess water from his shirt, "Probably so he can think up some new and interesting ways of beating the crap out of me during our night time duels this evening."
"Yes, well, Lord Sesshomaru can be a bit harsh from what I'm told by the men from the soldiers' barracks but it usually does work out in the end." Satu said with what seemed to be genuine concern for his well being, "Apparently those who got tossed around by Sesshomaru-sama eventually became warriors of great skill and honor. I'm sure you'll turn out to be the best warrior ever when the training is done!"
Xander almost laughed at her words since he knew she was just saying that to butter him up and make him more susceptible to her more intimate advances. The woman was proving more and more to him that she was skilled at these cat and mouse chases when it came to men she found interesting and likely succeeded more often than she failed in achieving her goal. Fortunately though it seemed that the news she had to deliver to Sesshomaru was important enough to get her to put her arousal on hold until the message was delivered. He was just about to escort her to where he believed Sesshomaru was when a new ping suddenly appeared on the edges of his 'power-level-percieving' power's range and it was definitely potent. Oh it wasn't as big as Naraku's or Lord Sesshomaru but it was definitely above InuYasha's with Satu just being a little weaker than it. Turning in the direction he sensed it he focused his mind and tried to pick up more information abou this demon but all he could perceive was that the youkai was apparently female. Aside from that things like her purpose and overall demeanor were a mystery to him and that did not bode well as far as he was concerned.
"What is it? What do you sense?" Satu asked apparently used to the look he probably had in his eye and the reason people usually got it.
"A demon is approaching Sesshomaru's location. A female from what I can tell but the rest is impossible to make out." Xander said as he pulled his still wet but no longer dripping shirt back on, "Given the timing of your report I don't think this is a coincidence or of the good."
In a move of speed that surprised him slightly Satu took to the air immediately and began to fly swiftly in the direction he had indicated Sesshomaru was in. Deciding it would be best if he went after her he took off at a fairly brisk pace but not all out as he suspected Satu might be doing. After all if he was right this was the part of the series where the panther demon tribe showed up so he had a good idea of what was going on and what would happen. The female he was picking up was likely Touran of the Pather demon tribe and she was here to let the dog Lord know that they were resurrecting their Pather Lord and goad him into coming to try and stop them. Of course he knew that this would prove to be a mistake on their part as the InuYasha gang would come and between the two son's of Inutaisho (when they weren't fighting one another) the Panther Lord would perish and his people would return to China. Still he knew better than to assume anything given how many times back in Sunnydale assumptions had almost gotten them killed. Things were different now that he was here and the ripples from those changes might affect the outcome of the struggle with the panther demon trible. After all in the episode, number seventy-five if he remembered correctly, Sesshomaru had Rin and Jakken with him but now he had Kikyo, Satu and himself by his side instead. Granted it was only Jakken who accompanied Sesshomaru to the temporary HQ of the panther demon tribe and he was more or less comic relief but the change in the inu-youkai's roster could affect the outcome of certain events. In short what he had in his head was more of a schedule of what Fate planned to have happen rather than something that would happen no matter what.
I guess since I'm the one that threw Fate's plans out of whack in this dimension I should probably do what I can to make sure things stick as closely to the way they're supposed to as possible. He thought to himself as he performed a few mini-leaps to climb up onto one of the rocky walls that existed on either side of the river.
His current plan for approaching this situation was to sneak in close using the trees and bushes get into a prime ambushing position and then just watch how things would progress from there. If things went the way they did in the Anime series they would just have a little verbal sparring match trying to knock the other off their guard by sounding more confident of their impending victory than the other youkai did. Once that was done Touran would pull a disappearing act to hook up with the remaining members of the panther demon tribe in order to prepare things for the ceremony. From there things were a little more uncertain on how things would proceed for Sesshomaru and Jakken as the show mainly focused on the InuYasha gang. In any case though he figured it would be a good idea to try and convince the youkai Lord to let him go along to fight the panther demons by his side. Not only would it perhaps be necessary as Jakken would not be around to lend aide with his staff but it would be an excellent opportunity for him to test his newly learned skills under actual battle conditions. He figured that there would be precious few panther demons as skilled as Sesshomaru so while he might not be able to land a blow on Sesshomaru the cat demons would be another matter entirely.
As he crossed the halfway point between where he had been washing his clothes and where Sesshomaru was he noticed much to his regret that from here on out there would be no vegetation taller than a blade of grass. That would make covertly observing the conversation between Touran and Sesshomaru impossible. He supposed he could just walk up bold and arrogant in his pseudo-Sesshomaru personae and merely stand to the side but he was unsure if the Ice Lord would appreciate the added complication of his presence becoming known to the cat-woman. That being the case maybe he could circle wide and attempt to find a position from which he could block her retreat if necessary and still overhear what was being said. That could cause some problems if the panther demon thought it would be a good idea to fight her way free as he was sure the four cat youkai that the writers actually deigned to give names in the series would be quite powerful. The fact that in the series Sesshomaru actually listened to the woman's speech and let her go rather than lopping off her head the moment she got within range implied that much at least. Still circling wide seemed to be the better option than just waltzing in there like some baka cocky vampire would. Add to that the fact that the wind was blowing in the same direction he was currently running and he'd be down wind if he circled wide and hid behind the panther demon.
You realize of course that it also means that both Sesshomaru and Touran have probably already smelled you coming by now? Came the sarcastic voice of his inner Cordelia.
Shaddup you!! He thought back at it even though he adjusted his course slightly to try and make it not quite as obvious where he was going to the cat or the dog demon.
He wasn't too worried about Satu though since given the fact that she was actually a genuine youkai and had likely been in service to Sesshomaru long enough to know how to act and what to do in certain situations. She likely wouldn't matter one bit to the icy panther demon one way or the other so the likelihood of battle was slim.
It took him a few more minutes to get to the location where Sesshomaru was but thankfully it seemed he had just missed the opening few minutes of the conversation. Continuing with his plan he circled around the perimeter of the meeting site and hid behind a rock outcropping behind the panther demon. He was fairly certain that he hadn't been detected as he saw no sign of annoyance that Sesshomaru would likely feel from an unwanted intrusion nor did Touran seem to subtley change her behavior in a suspicious manner. Pressing his back up against a large smooth stone face he listened to the conversation while also paying careful attention to what Sesshomaru said in case he dropped some kind of subtle hint that he wanted Xander to attack. Granted he wasn't exactly used to the concept of subtlety given what he and the gang did back in Sunnyhell but he figured Sesshomaru-sama would have caught onto that little fact about him. Hopefully if any cues were dropped they wouldn't be too blunt otherwise Touran would catch on to them no problem.
"Well that's a fine way to greet someone!" Touran stated with a chuckle of false humor, "This time I'm going to settle things once and for all!"
"We settled things a long time ago." Sesshomaru said with ice in his voice, "But if you insist. You won't be as lucky as you were fifty years ago."
"You're still as boorish as ever I see." Touran stated condescendingly, "I agree that things will turn out differently from how they did fifty years ago though. Our Master is waiting for you."
"Master?" Sesshomaru asked with barely a hint of interest.
"Yes, the one who leads the Panther Tribe." Touran replied with respect for her Master, "I realize your dear father is dead but our Master is going to be resurrected at long last."
"Resurrected? For what purpose?" Sesshomaru inquired and as far as Xander's ears could tell genuine concern was present in each word.
"To attack the lands in the East once again but more importantly to get our revenge on all your kind!" Touran said with a voice that made her hatred of the inu-youkai of Japan clear.
"I will personally see to it that he never breathes again." Sesshomaru said firmly in a way that left no room for doubting his resolve.
"I am glad to hear that you've accepted my challenge." , Touran stated but quickly added to her statement when she saw the Ice Lord reach for the Tokijin, "Come now don't be so hasty. We won't battle out here. Come to our castle!"
With that a blizzard cold wind came out of nowhere and began to break up the freshly frozen river into pieces of ice ranging in size from a snowflake to a boulder.
"Then you can bring all the reinforcements you require!" Touran taunted as she raised her voice so it could be heard over the roar of the blizzard cold wind.
If I'm going to do anything the time is now! Xander thought since he knew the panther demon was using the wind and the shattering ice as cover so she could disappear.
Using the skills taught to him by Kikyo to see through illusion as well as his increased ability to see rapidly moving objects thanks to his sparring sessions with Sesshomaru he quickly locked his eyes on the departing Panther demon. Knowing he would only get one shot at her before she brought her full skill to bear he took aim with his right index finger and fired a condensed stream of his crimson mist at her exposed leg. It was no thicker than a pencil but it would be sufficient to injure her leg to the point where her speed on foot would be significantly reduced giving him the edge in that area. He just counted himself lucky that whatever magic she had used to call up the blizzard wind was not going to affect his mist's course or else it would pretty much be useless. Kikyo, when she had been helping him to gain a measure of control over it, had speculated that because of the mist's temporal qualities it would take youki or human magic of considerable power to affect it. As he watched the beam reach its target he figured that as powerful as Touran was she wasn't powerful enough to divert or block his attack. The Panther demon let out a scream of pain that was both human in sound but also containing some distinctly feline elements like that of a cougar. She dropped immediately to the ground collapsing to one knee since the left leg he had hit with his crimson mist was apparently incapable of supporting her at present. An added benefit apparently was that with her concentration shot to heck the blizzard wind quickly died out completely and the ice in the river returned to its liquid state.
Stepping out from his hiding place he said in his best Ice Lord voice "I do not believe Lord Sesshomaru gave you permission to leave panther demon."
She turned to face him and was quickly overcome with a case of shock but like the ice she was capable of creating she quickly clamped down on her emotions and looked at him with the same polite hatred she had Sesshomaru.
"As if my people need permission, to do anything, from a dog demon!" Touran said using the term 'dog demon' in the same way people use 'pile of trash' or 'sicko'.
"Perhaps." he said in cool indifference even though internally his dislike of her became more real to him than it had been before he had actually seen her, "However I believe that Sesshomaru-sama has a few more questions he'd like to ask you about your plans. Isn't that right Lord?"
"This Sesshomaru would indeed like to hear more about your plans to revive the Panther General." Sesshomaru said without so much as batting an eye at Xander's sudden appearance out of nowhere.
"Well I don't know about plans but how about some of THIS!" Touran said and then she thrust her right hand out towards Xander unleashing a barrage of ice spears at him.
He had been expecting this though and bringing his own right hand up he decided to deliver a second shock to her system to go with the first. A crimson glow lit up his right hand from within and a disk of crimson mist expanded from his flat palm going from something the size of a camera's lense cap to a full-length mirror in under two seconds. It was still transparent, as the mist was not dense enough to obscure him from sight, so predictably the blue haired lady panther demon thought her attack would tear right through it. Imagine her surprise when the moment the ice spears made contact with the crimson disk they vanished into nothingness without a sign of mist to indicate that they may have just been melted by the disk. He kept a smile from appearing on his face as a look of shock did indeed reappear on Touran's face as he doubted she had ever seen anything like his crimson mist or had one of her attacks blocked in such a manner.
"Any more attempts at defiance you would like to make?" he asked as he closed down his crimson disk causing it to eventually wink out of existence.
While he did lower his arm slightly he kept it ready in case it hadn't sunk into her skull that anything she sent his way the crimson mist would nullify on contact. She looked back and forth between the two of them, no doubt deducing the odds of this plan or that plan, before she did something that she had never been shown to be capable of in the Anime series. After pressing her palms together and closing her eyes he felt her power spike immensely and at first he thought she was going to pull out her master technique to kill both him and Sesshomaru. However what happened instead was that her body seemed to go from flesh and bone to snow. Then a powerful gust of wind seemed to come out of nowhere to carry her body snowflake by snowflake off into the sky before anything could be done to stop her.
"Well that certainly wasn't mentioned as one of her abilities in the file on her." He muttered to himself as he watched the last flake of her fade from sight.
"It is not one that Touran uses often. It requires a great deal of her strength and youki in order to perform it properly." Sesshomaru stated as he walked up to a position next to Xander.
"Good. Then the fatigue combined with the wound I gave her should make it more difficult for her to get back to the rest of her tribe and hopefully delay the resurrection ceremony." Xander said as he turned his head to look at the youkai Lord.
"Why did you attack her?" Sesshomaru asked in a way that made it difficult to judge how important the answer would be.
Best go for honesty with a little tactics thrown in. Xander thought before he replied, "I wished to question her further. I found it suspicious that she would inform you, the leader of the opposing army, of something so vital and then give you just enough time to stop it if you hurried."
"The youkai of the panther demon tribe have always been an arrogant sort. No doubt her overconfidence inspired her to meet with me in order to gloat about her tribe's impending victory." Sesshomaru said with the word 'impending' spoken in such a way that made it clear her found the concept laughable.
"Perhaps. Still if my initial hunch was right Satu has some news about their movements. News I would very much like to hear." He said as be started to look about the area to see if he could spot any sign of the tengu woman.
"Satu?" Sesshomaru asked with an eyebrow raised in such a way so as to make a Vulcan jealous.
"Yes. I was further down river trying to clean up a bit when this tengu woman dropped down from the sky thinking I was you." Xander replied in an entirely convincing way that was supported by an equally believable story, "She told me a little about why she was seeking you and when I sensed Touran's approach we both moved to assist you. In truth I thought she had gotten here ahead of me given how fast she can fly."
"Of course I got here sooner." came a familiar voice from the rocky outcropping on the right side of the river, "However I thought it best to wait until my Lord's meeting was over before making an appearance."
With wings tucked in the tengu female stepped out from behind a batch of large rocks that were ideal for hiding someone of her configuration. With a little trot, hop and a jump she landed softly on the edge of the river next to them and without hesitation dropped to one knee with head bowed in respect.
"Lord Sesshomaru. I was dispatched by Jakken to bring you news concerning sightings of the panther demon tribe but it appears I was a little too late." Satu said formally without raising her head.
"This Sesshomaru will forgive your tardiness in the matter. We would also ask that you answer the questions asked by Alexander." Sesshomaru said before turning to the pseudo-inu-youkai in question.
"Yes milord." Satu said as she raised her head to look at one Xander Harris.
Here goes nothing! He thought as he took a silent deep breath.
"Satu, was there any news pertaining to the number of panther demons sited? An estimate perhaps?" he asked as he prepared to fit her answer in with what he already knew.
"The reported number of panther demons varied from informant to informant but the average number was ninety-two panther demons including Touran's foursome." Satu replied in an official manner but a twinkle in her eyes hinted at some mischief inside of her.
"Hmmm, too small a number to be consider a serious threat. Even if it was the case that they planned to attack with their resurrected Master before an army could be assembled to counter them they would have to know they would eventually be defeated." Xander said as he thought out loud, "With those numbers it makes even less sense as to why they would give away the element of surprise by telling us of the impending resurrection. Unless there is some element to their overall plan we are not aware of yet. Satu, how long would you wager it would take the panther demon trible to travel from the mainland to the western shores of Japan?"
"Depends on the weather and the state of the sea. If they were determined though it would take them at most a week to cross the water." Satu replied with a bit of actual consideration as she thought about what he was saying.
"Perhaps resurrecting their Master is just the first step. Maybe they have a larger force docked on the shores of the mainland that has orders to follow them here after a pre-determined amount of time." Xander said as he continued to speak of his thoughts for Sesshomaru and Satu to hear, "After all no matter how powerful this Master might be when he is fully resurrected I doubt that the panther demon tribe could accomplish much with so few troops."
"Sound speculation Alexander but to what end? What course of action would you propose this Sesshomaru take?" Sesshomaru asked in a professional and official manner.
"I would never presume to tell you what to do with your kingdom Lord Sesshomaru." Xander replied but when he saw the look in the Youkai Lord's eyes he knew he'd have to propose something, "However I would suggest that Satu be sent back to the palace to place your armies on alert and order those along the western coast to keep a close watch on the sea for signs of approaching ships. If the panther demon tribe does have a second wave of warriors on the way it will be imperative that they be detected as soon as possible so that word can be spread throughout your forces in time to counterattack."
"Then it shall be so. Satu, you have your orders." Sesshomaru said in approval of the pseudo-youkai's strategy.
"Yes milord. It shall be done." Satu said and without waiting for anything she launched herself into the sky with her powerful legs then spread her wings when she reached the apex of her jump.
Xander stood there for a moment slightly stunned that his off the cuff suggestion about how to handle the panther demon tribe had been taken both seriously and had been enacted by the Tai Inu-Youkai of the West. In the series he was so stern and very much with the 'you are all pathetic compared to me' attitude he had doubted very much if the youkai accepted advice from anyone. Still at least by following his suggestions there was a good chance that any reinforcements the panther demon tribe had on the way would at least be delayed if not outright repelled. Still he wondered what made Sesshomaru agree with his proposed course of action. Looking at the youkai Lord he tried to convey this question with his face since he did not trust his mouth to phrase the inquiry just right.
"You need not act surprised Alexander. Your concerns about the tactics used by the panther demon tribe were valid and your suggestions the prudent response." Sesshomaru stated with a hint of respect, "Even if it is revealed that there are not reinforcements coming from China it will prove an adequate exercise for my soliders. This Sesshomaru suggests you inform the miko of the situation and invite her to join us. This Sesshomaru believes he knows where Touran and her comrades may be."
Woah! Sesshomaru is not only complimenting me but also suggesting that Kikyo come with us to face the panther demons? He thought to himself with barely concealed disbelief, Someone sure woke up on the right side of the bed this morning!
A Clearing That Lay an Hour and a Half From Kaede's Village, Five Hours Later,
InuYasha's P.O.V
Damn cats!! They ain't getting away from me!! InuYasha growled mentally as he followed the scent of the cat demons who'd kidnapped Kagome.
While still pissed that the assholes had managed to get their hands on the strange miko so easily he'd cooled down a bit so he could focus more on following the trail rather than on his feelings. Those damn felines had been all over the area making it difficulty to sniff out the right direction but his nose was up to the task so long as he didn't get too distracted. The only question that he was concerned about aside from when would he catch up to them was just how difficulty would it be to get Kagome back. He wasn't as simple minded as some people thought. He could think things through just fine. The problem at the moment was lack of information since he'd been sealed to the tree outside of Kikyo's village before the invasion from the west had begun. He had never personally fought them before and the only one he knew about who had been around had scampered away like a coward so as not to get caught up in the battle. From what he'd seen so far their common soldiers weren't anything to gloat about but the three that stood out seemed to have some power to them. Ranged attacks looked to be their speciality thought the big one was obviously the muscle of the group.
Dumb muscle but muscle just the same.
Not that he'd have any trouble bringing the bone-head down of course. He was no stranger to fighting youkai that were stronger than he was and was already figuring out the best way to make the bastard eat dirt.
One had some kind of flower petal trick and the last one, the one that he'd fought, used fire as her main attack technique. The flower one might cause him some trouble with how sensitive his nose was but the other one was so cocky she'd slip up sooner rather than later and then she'd find out what happened to people that pissed him off. He only had to decide whether to gut her with his claws or carve her up with the Tessaiga.
Still he didn't know what sort of cheap tricks they'd have waiting for them and he was sure that they were waiting. Aside from being a snack he couldn't think of a single reason why a group of cat demons would want Kagome unless she was supposed to be bait to lure him in. He'd screwed up and made those walking hairballs believe the girl meant something to him! Of course they thought that bratty girl was his woman. Yeah right!! She was just the best chance he had to find all the Sacred Jewel Shards. Nothing more than that. It was only because of that fact that he was putting so much effort into getting her back. If he had some other way to track down the glowing pink jewel shards he'd goodbye and good riddance to the girl from the future. She was more hassel than she was worth most of the time and the only reason he could think of to keep her around was for that ramen stuff she brought back sometimes from the future. However if the price for some peace and quiet without her nagging him was to go without that stuff it'd be a sacrifice he would be willing to make.
Too bad I don't have another idea for finding the jewel shards! He thought sourly as he continued to follow the trail of cat stink, Japan's a big place. It'd be like looking for a needle in a rice field!
So as much as he hated to admit it he needed Kagome and that meant clawing through whoever or whatever he needed to in order to get her back.
It was then though that he spotted something coming towards him from the forest ahead and for a moment he wondered who it might be. However as the thing got closer he recognized the whirlwind moving swiftly towards him and growled in annoyance at the headache he knew he'd have in a minute.
"Isn't that Koga?" Shippo asked from his right shoulder.
He didn't bother answering and it turned out that he didn't need to since once the youki filled wind got close enough it dispersed to reveal the cocky wolf prince. One of the top three people he couldn't stand and the only one he couldn't pound on whenever he wanted due to Kagome liking the prick for some reason. Every time he didn't "play nice" with the flea bag she used that blasted sit command on him sending him face fist into the ground.
"Hey mutt! Where's Kagome?" asked the wolf standing arrogantly with on hand on his hip.
"None of your damn business!" he yelled back refusing to answer any questions coming from that fur-clad fool.
"I've been picking up the stench of cats lately." Kouga declared sounding annoyed, "Today though I've been catching a bit of Kagome's scent mixed in with them."
Oh great! I know what's comin' now! He thought as his mind predicted what was going to happen.
"You mangy mutt! Don't tell you that you let Kagome get kidnapped by those mangy cats!" Kouga exclaimed taking on a more angry stance.
He didn't have anything to say to that and naturally the wolf prince took that as a confirmation of his theory.
"You did didn't you!? What the hell were you doin' while she was getting grabbed!?!" asked the Wolf Prince angrily making it sound like the hanyou had been goofing off while it'd happened.
"Shut up!! They used cheap tricks to sneak by me!" he yelled back angrily refusing to let the jerk in front of him get away with talking to him like he was some inexperienced pup.
It was about then that his ears picked up dumb and dumber, the two wolf youkai that usually followed Kouga around, and the leader of the wolf tribe heard them as well.
"I'm outta here! I got better things to do than waste time with a halfbreed like you." Kouga said before tapping into his power again and taking off in the form of a mini-whirlwind.
Naturally quite a bit of dust was swept up into the air and while the others wouldn't believe him he was sure the asshole did it on purpose to mess up his nose.
"Damn that Koga!" he growled as he tried to push the dust away from his nose.
"I know you don't like him InuYasha but having one more person on our side will make getting Kagome back easier." Mirokou said from his spot behind Sango on Kilala's back.
"Miroku's right. Besides I doubt we could stop him from going after Kagome given how he gets when someone mentions her." Sango said letting her opinion be known to the group.
"And he's stronger than you InuYasha." Shippo said sounding so sure of himself.
That's it! I've heard enough! He thought before he pulled the kitsune off his shoulder and threw the kid back to the monk before yelling, "Shut up! Like we can really count on him when it counts!! I'll save Kagome without that asshole's help!!"
With that he sprinted forward as fast as he could so he could get to the cat demons before that flea ridden wolf did. If that dumbass managed to get to her and save the day before he could he'd never hear the end of it from Kagome. It'd be 'Koga did this' and 'Koga did that' for the next week easily.
He'd rather listen to his high and mighty half-brother go on about him being a disgrace to the family than listen to someone sing Koga's praises.
Hang on Kagome! I'm coming! He thought even though he knew she wouldn't be able to hear him.
The Entrance to the Hidden Valley of the Panther Devas, A Few Hours Later, Kikyo's P.O.V
"Looks like InuYasha and his friends came through here earlier." Alexander stated after taking a moment to sniff the air, "Along with that bastard wolf prince!"
He still feels hatred for the wolf youkai prince. She thought as the group of four took in the entrance to the valley where they'd tracked the cat demons.
Not that she'd expected anything different from the young inu youkai but it would be a distraction for him that could very well hinder him in the battles to come. While she didn't think him foolish enough to run off with a head full of fury like InuYasha would if the young prince chose to provoke her future weapon calming words from her would be needed. Whatever their plans were for entering the territory of the enemy youkai she would go with the younger of the two dog demons no matter what.
"Indeed. The strength of the scents also tells us that this valley has been the lair of the cat youkai for a few weeks at least." Sesshomaru-sama stated in his usual icy tone as he turned to his protégé, "Unacceptable."
"Time enough to prepare traps and defenses for this very night no doubt." Alexander said suppressing his emotions somewhat, "If nothing else InuYasha and his comrades going ahead of us will make things easier for us. Knowing the hanyou he will take the most direct route to the very center of enemy territory stumbling over every trap in his path and directing the focus of the enemy towards him in the process. We could take advantage of this."
"How so?" Sesshomaru asked sounding interested in what his pupil had to say.
"If we split into two groups and go around the area InuYasha will be going through we could further divide the enemy forces up until the individual groups sent against each of us became nothing more than annoyances." Alexander replied taking on an introspective look, "It would allow us to arrive at the spot where the cat demons plan on resurrecting their leader much sooner. Perhaps in time to prevent it altogether."
"You would suggest that we are not strong enough to face them directly?" Sesshomaru asked in a pointed manner bordering on insulted.
"Of course not Lord Sesshomaru." Alexander replied calmly with a respectful bow, "I merely thought our primary goal was to prevent the resurrection of the cat general. If this is so then time is not in our favor. We know not the requirements of the magic they seek to use save that it will likely occur sometime tonight given that they chose to reveal themselves to you today. It would be a strategic misstep to permit them to succeed in their plans."
A raised eyebrow was all the youkai lord provided to prompt the youth to continue with his explanation.
"My mentor at the school where I learned to fight always taught me that fighting an enemy on two fronts was unwise. It forces a division of forces and makes replenishing supplies difficult." Alexander said continuing his tactical explanation, "If my earlier theory is indeed correct then there is a much larger force on its way from the mainland. Better to prevent their Lord's revival and finish off his subordinates before they arrive then risk the larger force becoming organized under their leaders."
In terms of strategy she could see the wisdom of finishing the confrontation with the youkai tribe from the mainland sooner rather than later. While she doubted that any spell of resurrection would be able to fully restore the great cat general and was confident that two inu daiyoukai could finish off one weakened giant cat it would take time. Time and the assumption that the stronger cat demons didn't have an escape planned out should the battle not go according to their wishes. If the cats managed to escape with their leader then death would cover the lands worse than ever before. It was dangerous enough with the various human warlords and bandits scattered throughout the country but if a youkai war broke out the number of human deaths would triple.
The wise choice was obvious but would the Lord Sesshomaru's pride permit anything other than the direct approach.
"Do as you wish." Sesshomaru stated before striding into the valley.
With those words it became clear that the daiyoukai had paired her with Alexander while the toad youkai would as usual follow the trail left by his master.
That suited her nicely.
While she thought she could see signs of disappointment in the eyes of her charge she knew it would not last long. No doubt he had been encouraged by the youkai Lord's earlier approval of his strategic recommendations and was disappointed that the trend hadn't continued. While she had thought the trend might continue as well she was not overly surprised when things went in a different direction. Lord Sesshomaru no doubt wanted to retain his position of superiority and dominance in the relationship he had with his young student. While it was beneficial to such a relationship to permit the student to occasionally take the lead the teacher must retain a position of control until their protégé is ready to stand on his own. Alexander had made much progress since that first fight with Kagura but was still months away from truly mastering his inu daiyoukai form. What would the fateful day when he did master his powers look like? Alexander successfully maintaining a stalemate for a full day perhaps?
I will simply have to wait and see I suppose. She thought as the young man began to veer towards the left of the direction Sesshomaru-sama.
Soon after they entered the forest that ran the circumfrence though he began to pick up the pace to a light jog and she was forced to keep up by breaking into a run. While she disliked movng in such a manner the nature of her resurrection fifty years after her mortal death made it so she no longer needed to breath quite as much as she would have were she still human. Nevertheless she disliked moving in such an undignified manner.
"I trust that you have a plan for dealing with the leaders of the cat demons once we arrive at our destination?" She asked hoping that Alexander wouldn't suddenly choose to take after Inuyasha by making things up as he went along.
"I do. You pick a spot where you have the widest field of view of the castle courtyard where this is likely to take place and pick targets of opportunity. I'll focus on trying to use my crimson mist to destroy the body of the panther general they plan on resurrecting." Alexander replied as they cleared the forest and entered the city that surrounded the castle, "They can't bring him back to life if there's nothing for the cat daiyoukai's spirit to inhabit."
"Unless one of the lieutenants chooses to become a host for the spirit themselves." She pointed out as a flaw in his original plan.
"It's possible I guess but in the end it might be preferable." The young inu youkai said. "They are lesser youkai then their master so their bodies won't be able to handle his full power. He would need to keep it low in order to avoid destroying his new body. That will make him substantially more manageable than if he resurrected in his own body."
An astute observation as well as one not every demon hunter might have considered were they in his place right now.
Alexander was quite the insightful individual and had the makings of a skilled strategist.
More than ever before she was certain she had finally located the perfect weapon with which to destroy both InuYasha as wellas Naraku.
Later on the Western Edge of the Village, Xander's P.O.V
So far so good. Xander thought as he continued to slink between the buildings using them for cover, All the cats seem to be focused on Inuyasha's team and completely missing Kikyo and me. Doubt it will last though.
While according to this episode a panther youkai's sense of smell wasn't as strong as a dog demon's it'd be stupid to think that they wouldn't pick him up sooner rather than later. He just hoped that by the time they did he and Kikyo would be at least two thirds of the way to the corpse of the great cat general. By that time both InuYasha and Koga would be at the other entrances allowing a three point strike on the corpse of the great panther general. It wouldn't be easy but it would definitely be easier since the panther diva Toran would be significantly weaker since she pulled that snowy disappearing act earlier. With luck that would mean she wouldn't have as easy a time fighting Sesshomaru and hopefully that would keep her away from her master's body. With all the other devas stuck with their own fights he and Kikyo should be able to approach the target without much difficulty since there'd only be the nameless cannon fodder minions to get in their way.
Easily dealt with.
He was about to make the next dash when he spotted something in the air to his right. Pausing a moment he saw that it was Kilala, Sango and Miroku flying overhead no doubt looking for InuYasha who'd run off after Karan. If things went according to canon the trio would spot the thunder muscle guy and begin to descend thinking it was InuYasha. How they could make that mistake when the big oaf's outfit wasn't red at all nor his hair white he didn't know but Anime could be like that sometimes. They'd get hit with a nasty blast of lightning but survive to be thrown in the jail cell with Kagome as well as the original residents of the town to await being sacrificed to the great cat general. At least…that's what should happen.
But like most sci-fi fans I know that when it comes to having knowledge of the future and being in place to do something about it nothing is for certain. He thought hesitating to continue on his way, Just by being here I could've changed things big time. Question is did I change things enough that Thunderbutt wouldn't bother to take prisoners this time around. Did I change things enough to kill rather than capture?
It was a possibility he'd rather not dwell on considering how important the three of them up there were to the future plot of the Anime series. He knew he should leave things to canon and let events transpire as he remembered but the whispering in his head about the changes that could happen was being persistant. In the end though the choice was made for him when the wind shifted carrying his scent to the muscle bound electricity casting cat demon. Almost immediately the panther diva turned around and he knew that the oaf's target was no longer the members of InuYasha's pack but him.
I guess there's nothing to do now but go with the flow and hope it doesn't get me fried extra crispy. He thought as he charged the fat cat youkai.
"Well, well, well! So you're the pup that's been following that cocky Sesshomary around." Mr. Muscle said confidently falling into a combat stance, "Let's see if you're tough enough to fight with the strong!"
With that the battle was joined but surprisingly enough he wasn't doing as badly as he thought he would in his first real fight after Sesshomaru's training sessions. After trying to match speeds with the attacks of the Lord of the Western Lands his current foe was a poor substitute. That didn't mean he could be lazy about how he evaded attacks or launched his own but it did leave him confident that he could take Thunderbutt down without getting hurt too bad himself. His main obstacle was the fact that just dodging the main blast of electricity wasn't enough if he wanted to avoid injury. He had to also evade the arcs of energy bounced around the perimeter of the central blast because while they weren't as damaging they could still disrupt his offensive moves if he got careless.
"Not bad. Better than that half-breed anyway." Mr. Muscle said without an ounce of respect, "Still you're dreaming if you think you're going to win this you dumb dog."
"It'll be a cold day in hell before a cat ever gets the better of a dog." He declared before charging right for the big bad boy.
"Stupid move. You're just making yourself easier to kill." Mr. Muscle said as he began to power up for a super blast of electricity.
"You'd think so wouldn't you." He said before he revealed one of the things that he'd learned early on in his lessons with Lord Sesshomaru.
While the son of the great dog general Inutaisho could move swiftly over long distances it was over short distances that he truly showed his superiority over lesser demons. Just as he figured the cave cat was wabout to unleash his attack he pushed his speed to its maximum in the blink of an eye both evading the blast of his enemy as well as placing himself behind the idiot. Then, with an all too Sesshomaru flourish, he attacked with his youki whip not only burning the panther youkai but also knocking him off his feet. It wasn't very far though, less than ten feet, but that was more due to his reluctance to kill than an inability to do so. While he might not be willing to take a chance with the lives of Sango, Mirokou and Kilala he knew for a fact that killing this overgrown hairball would only make things worse. It was Sesshomaru reviving the four divas after their master betrayed and killed them that put an end to the conflict between the cat youkai and the youkai of Japan. If he wound up seriously hurting or killing one of them he'd only wind up pissing them off more and they'd just be more determined to win the war.
He had no desire to become the target of seven generations of feline fury.
So the moment it looked like his foe would get back to his feet he performed another super speed burst putting himself right in the guy's face so he could deliver a half strength back fist to the guy's jaw. This…this sent the guy rolling across the dirt a good fifty yards before coming to a stop. The big lug wasn't out cold though as evidenced by the groan and the slow rise to all fours but given how quick most youkai could move he could tell that some damage had been done.
Is it enough for Mr. Muscle to turn tail and make a run for the castle though? He thought as he waited to see what his adversary would do next, That's what I'm going to find out in the next few minutes I bet.
"You're gonna pay for that you mangy fleabag!!" growled Mr. Muscles as he once again got to his feet with electricity crackling around his body.
"I give you one chance to walk away cat." He said making his voice as cold as Sesshomaru's for intimidation's sake, "Refuse at your own risk."
Unfortunately it looked like this guy was too mad to thing straight and cared about payback more than he did doing the smart thing. He was about to think up a way to drive the point home that more fighting would not be good for the humanoid feline's health when another of the Panther Divas dropped down in front of her comrade.
Karan.
"That's enough Shuran! You've embarrassed yourself quite enough for one night." Karan said making it clear she was ending the fight.
"But Karan he—" Shuran argued but was silenced with a slash of kitty claws across the face.
"But nothing!" the redhead growled with her tail lashing about, "He'll get his when the Master rises! Until then we stick to the plan."
For a moment it looked like the mountain of muscle was going to protest further but one threatening flexing of female feline claws made him cave in quick enough. Either Karan was a lot stronger than she appeared to be in the Anime series or maybe the two of them were…
Ugh! Bad mental Polaroid!!
It took every ounce of willpower he had to keep his disgust from showing up on the outside but if any of them were telepaths they'd have no trouble knowing what was going through his head right then.
"I'll see you soon bone breath!" Shuran said with enough emotion to mean it, "You better hope the Master kills you first and does it quick because I won't if I get my chance."
With that the two Panther Divas leapt away across the rooftops, some of which were aflame thanks to Karan's powers, heading towards the castle where his daiyoukai eyes could just about pick out the corpse of the great cat general. Looking about he was glad to see that Sango, Mirokou and Kilala seemed to be in good shape. While mixing it up with Shuran might have cost him some time he did make sure that the three members of InuYasha's crew wouldn't get hurt or captured. His actions wouldn't put Kagome in danger either since she'd be brought up top with the rest of the villagers when the main event got started.
"You fought the panther demon to keep him from attacking members of InuYasha's safe." Came Kikyo's voice as she approached him from behind, "Why?"
"I'm just preparing for the future Kikyo." He replied before turning towards the castle, "A future where Naraku is nothing more than dust in the wind."
