Declaimer; Don't own Inuyasha.
Warning; Violence. I may have to up the rating but I don't understand this new annoying ranking system. Let me know if you think I should up the rating and what rating it should be.
Chapter 11
Full Retreat
"It is beautiful, no?" Ankokukiki laughed at the child he held in his arm while he surveyed his most recent conquest. Reimei stared back at him coldly. "You do not agree Reimei-chan?"
The child didn't answer, but her glare did darken. Ankokukiki laughed as Reimei tried to bite the clawed finger he pointed at her.
"You are so much like your name sake." Ankokukiki howled. "I can hardly wait until you are such an age that I can take you like I was never able to take her. But first, you must grow, feed into your hatred, let dark thoughts cloud your mind, loath those who were unable to protect you, and remember, to always fear me."
The last statement was punctuated with a flare of youki that sent every youkai within a mile to its knees and sent Reimei into a fit of frightened crying. Ankokukiki's mad laughter rang out across the vast field where the main force of his army gathered in preparations for their war on Japan.
Ankokukiki handed Reimei off to one of her assigned nursemaids before going out of the front doors to stand before the huddling, frightened mass of his army.
"Are they ready?" He demanded of one of his generals.
"Hai, Kurokami-dono." One of the generals answered.
"The but await your orders, Kurokami-dono." The other general added.
"Good." Ankokukiki stepped forward and all eyes turned to face him, most with fear and awe. "Give me blood, give me woman to fill my bed, give me terror and despair, but most of all, give me war." He shouted to his army, letting lose his Youki to remind them all of his power.
"Hai, Kurokami-dono." They shouted in fear.
"Go. By nightfall all of the North will be mine or blood will flow."
"Hai, Kurokami-dono."
Ankokukiki watched his generals whip the army into a forced march. An evil glint that held a hint of madness reflected off of his eyes as the rising sun peeked over the far off mountain.
"We will see how long you and your pathetic allies can hold out, Son of Inutashio, Lord of the West."
(break)
Things went a lot smoother this time with Kitsume flying Midoriko around. Now that the little foxyoukai felt confident in his trust of them, they had discovered they had found a valuable ally.
Inuyasha ran next to her as Kitsume skimmed the ground. Inuyasha, much like Kagome had not so long ago, felt a strange sense of loss and belonging all at the same time. He could also imagine them to be Sango and Kirara.
Any thoughts of old days were ripped apart when Inuyasha picked up the scent of ookami and blood, lots of blood. Kitsume also picked up the sent and growled low, ears laid back.
"Hurry up." Inuyasha shouted as he raced ahead, drawing a transforming Tetsusaiga.
He leaped from the roads and into the trees, following the scent of death on the wind while Midoriko strung her bow and prepared herself for battle.
The came over a small rise and stopped. There, on the field before them, the once green grass and vibrant trees were coated in blood and various body parts, the only sound was the buzzing of insects that were periodically drowned out by the cries of the scavenger birds.
There was no full corpse left. Pieces were littered across the field and many chunks of discarded flesh looked like it had been eaten, and not by the scavengers. Weapons lay broken and discarded all over the field.
"Kami." Midoriko breathed as she took in the sight of the massacre.
There must have been over a hundred dead. Without a word Inuyasha and Midoriko split up and search the field. Inuyasha held a sleeve over his nose to try and cut down the stench of the blood that was overwhelming his sensitive nose.
It was difficult to place the poor souls who were dead on the field, but Midoriko recognized who they were the moment she looked at their outfits, or what was left of them.
She searched the corpses quickly; looking for any signs of the prince she hoped would not be among them.
"Shit." She cursed inward. "I didn't think Ankokukiki had gotten this powerful this fast to have struck so deep into the North already. Sesshomaru must find out about this at once. We have even less time then we thought."
If Ankokukiki could strike this deep already, then it would only be a mater of time before Sesshomaru's palace was under siege.
"I hope Terea-sama and her family made it out. Damn, how could he have struck so fast?"
They finished their search and started to dig graves for what was left of the Ookami and burned the remains of Ankokukiki's men. Kitsume was a big asset in that department, effortlessly flinging dirt aside as he dug with his paws.
It was well into the night before they were done, marking the graves with rocks until Kouga or his parents could return the bones to their own burial grounds and perform whatever right the Ookami tribe preformed for their dead. They made camp on the other side of the hill upwind from the kill site and watched the black, inky smoke rise from the funeral fires to obscure the star lit sky.
"Ankokukiki?" Inuyasha finally broke the silence once the last wisp of smoke faded from sight.
"Hai. This has his kanji all over it." Midoriko answered solemnly. "He enjoys whole hearted slaughter. It's part of his twisted personality. He actually enjoys the smell of blood as though it was incense and the screams of his victims as if they were music."
It was that time all over again. When Reimei, Inutashio and her had ran all over the country fighting his hoards and coming across massacred clans and villages. The humans and lesser youkai in the area had become all but extinct or enslaved at the time. It had been the breaking point between Human and Youkai, when trust started to break down.
"What's he like?" Inuyasha asked.
"Ankokukiki?"
"Yeah."
"Very powerful, more so then any other youkai I have ever met. He is even more powerful now that he has absorbed the youkai sealed within the Shikon no Tama. He makes Naraku look like a mere child." Midoriko answered without hesitation and a slight trembling in her voice.
Neither one of them got much sleep that night and both were on the move before the sun had cleared the horizon. The youkai who had destroyed the small band of Ookami had left a clear trail, making no attempt to hide their presence. It was time to hunt and to warn those that they could of the impending disaster. They paused only to send the messenger bird back to Kagome and Sesshomaru to let them know what was going on.
(break)
Kagome shuffled through the paper work, putting the most important stuff on the top before setting to work. If it was one thing she hadn't missed in her month long training trip with Midoriko, it was paper work.
"Why did I want Sesshomaru to see me as an equal again?" She asked herself. "Maybe sitting in a chair and knitting wasn't such a bad idea."
Sesshomaru was meeting with the other males, leaving her the task of catching up on paper work, in an attempt to gather their respective armies and to call in as many allies as they could. She was stuck doing paper work, not because Sesshomaru didn't respect her, but because she was of little use at the moment. The only Youkai tribe she knew was already here.
It was a true sign of how worried Sesshomaru was that he was even bothering to out his pride aside and gather warriors and allies to fight with him. Even during the Neko invasion he had denied help. Briefly she wondered how much of that change was due to her own interactions with him.
Speaking of the Neko's, Kagome took the top scroll and quickly read over the alliance said Hyounekozoku were willing to offer them to help fight Ankokukiki. The Hyounekozoku were even sending a representative that should be arriving soon and Kagome was expected to meet him or her and be polite despite their bumpy past.
"I wonder if they will send someone I know. Kami it's been almost two, maybe three years now. It seems so long ago."
All contemplated thought was lost as Sekira arrived to inform her that the representative from the Hyounekozoku had arrived and a letter from Midoriko had just come in.
Kagome accepted Midoriko's letter and tucked it away to read once the representative had been met and taken care of.
Things may have settled down between the Southern Neko tribe and the Western Inu tribe, but Kagome was not going to take any chances. There was a possibility that the Hyounekozoku were also working for Ankokukiki like that arrogant Humar had been.
Kagearashi sheathed by her side and ready to be drawn at any time, Kagome walked confidently into the meeting room to meet the representative the Neko's had sent.
"Koura-sama." Kagome greeted the hyouneko with surprise.
"Kagome-sama." Koura bowed deeply. "I feel that I must apologies for our earlier actions against you."
"Please consider it forgiven. The past is the past." Kagome waved the apology away, being sacrificed to their former leader was one of the smallest affronts she had suffered through over the years, as she led Koura to the gardens where a table had been set to serve the two women tea.
"How are your sisters and brother doing" Kagome asked once they had been settled.
"Fine, thank you for asking. I apologize for not attending you Mating Ceremony or the Heir ceremony for you daughter, but we have been busy rebuilding our clan to its former glory. We have much to fix as Oyakata-sama left behind a rather large mess." Koura smiled with a hint or irony.
"I understand. Your clan must come first. I have learned much of clans since becoming the Lady of the West."
Koura grinned.
"You have changed a lot over the last several years. The image I have of you is different from this one. I remember an insolent, loud mouthed human burning with fire who would jump into the dark part of the lake without looking first."
Kagome didn't know what to say to that.
"Now I see a calm lady of the Western Lands that would do her mate proud."
"A lot has changed since then. Sesshomaru-sama helped me become what I am now and he showed an amazing amount of patience while I learned what it meant to be a youkai lady."
"Sesshomaru." Koura sighed. "Once, I declared that the two of us were the same, but he proved to be a far greater lord then I was."
"Might I ask how?"
"I held onto my grudge against the Western Inu Tribe for Oyakata-sama's death, but Sesshomaru held no grudge for the war our leaders fought. He cared nothing for revenge."
"I wouldn't say that." Kagome smiled. "You just never damaged his pride. Sesshomaru cares little for the doing of others, but injure his pride and you will have a war on your hands. That was the biggest mistake Naraku made"
"Is this what this war you are engage in is about then? I understand that the enemy has taken your daughter."
Kagome's face fell slightly and a hint of pain shadowed her eyes before she was able to push it aside.
"Ankokukiki no Kurokami was the one who killed Sesshomaru's mother and tried to kill Sesshomaru. This war is about Ankokukiki's desire to rule all of Japan ad taking Reimei from us was a strike at our moral and a way to flaunt his power.
"I have met Ankokukiki in battle and his power is a thousand times darker and stronger then Oyakata-sama's had been." She shuddered. "His youki brought both Sesshomaru and I to our knees and I feel that it was only a fraction of his true strength. His army, according to Midoriko, Kouga and Inuyasha who saw it, is large enough to crush the West and its allies soon if it marches as scheduled."
Koura was silent as she digested what Kagome had to say.
"I will have to speak with the others on what course of action we shall take." Koura finally decided.
"My lady, an urgent message has come from Kouga-sama." Sekira panted as the kitsune rushed into the garden. "Ginta-san needs immediate attention."
Kagome wasted no time as she sprinted after Sekira to the ward. After a moment of hesitation, Koura followed. Ginta, and many of his men and ookami, were being tended to by Akio.
"What happened?" Kagome demanded as she rushed to the side of the most critically wounded.
"Kagome-sama." Ginta gasped.
"I am here." She assured him.
"There were too many." Ginta cried, tears streaming down his face. "They swarmed over us like a black cloud. Youkai, Hanyou, Human, they slaughtered everything that moved. Pups, mates, the injured. Kouga, he tried to fight them off."
"What happened to Kouga-kun?" Kagome demanded.
"I don't know. He and most of the warriors led the majority of them away and I haven't seen him since."
Lady Terea cam rushing into the infirmary at that moment, and Ginta flung him self to the ladies feet as he stammered his story out to the stunned Ookami-youkai. In a matter of hours the Northern Ookami Tribe had fallen. Ankokukiki had made his first move.
Horrified, Kagome started to tend to the wounded pausing only to read Midoriko's note when she remembered it before ordering Sekira to deliver it to Sesshomaru right away.
A timid Sekira delivered the note to Sesshomaru as he sat in meeting with the other Lords. The Lord of the Western Lands read it before passing it on to the Lord of the North and offered him his silent condolences.
(break)
"Kuso, there are so damn many of them." Inuyasha growled as he looked over the ridge to what had once been Terea and Toushi's lair carved into the side of the cliff.
Had he been weak willed, he would have been sick a million times over already. Pups, women, the elderly; all were feeding the crows from the spikes they had been mounted on. The stench of blood, feces, and death hung in the air so thickly that Inuyasha had to cover his nose to breath.
The meadow before the den like castle was filled to the brim with Ankokukiki's warriors and occasionally the pained scream of a survivor would ring out or the wailing of a frightened pup would break out before it would be suddenly silenced.
Blood dripped down Inuyasha's hands as his claws dug into his palms while he tried to resist the urge to fly down there and start killing. As much as he hated Kouga and other Ookami, he would have never wished this type of evil upon them.
"We need to let Sesshomaru and the other lords know of this." Midoriko declared. "I will send the messenger bird once it returns and then we should move ahead of the army to help evacuate as many villages and tribes as we can."
Inuyasha merely nodded his head in agreement as they crawled away from the lair. Once they were a good distance away, Kitsume transformed and skimmed the ground with Midoriko on his back while Inuyasha sprinted beside them.
The trip back to the west was slow going. Patrols were frequently encountered and slaughter sights were becoming common. From small groups of travelers to human settlements, the stench of blood, the howls of bloodthirsty youkai, and the wailing of the survivors permeated the air of the Northern Lands.
It took two days to get a head of the army and then the hard part of locating communities and getting them moving wore on Inuyasha in frustration. At one point he just killed the stubborn cow a farmer refused to leave behind that wouldn't move.
Inuyasha and Midoriko burned all that they could as they moved and set as many traps as they could. Off in the distance they saw smoke rising from other villages. Midoriko investigated on Kitsume and was pleased to note that the survivors who had made it from the Ookami and other tribes were doing the same as they retreated to the western lands.
"Ayame." Midoriko greeted in relief as she spotted the leader of this groups retreat.
"Midoriko." Ayame waved back as Kitsume landed. "Are you leading a retreat was well."
"The best that I can. Have you sent a message to Sesshomaru?"
"Hai. Ginta went ahead to deliver a message to expect the refugees and to start fortifying the pass."
"Is there still only the one exit to the west?"
"Hai. It is well fortified."
"Does it still hold?"
Ayame paused at that question.
"I have heard nothing to indicate otherwise. Still.." Ayame singled out two of her fastest scouts and sent them ahead with orders to return on news of the pass.
"What is your plan?" Midoriko asked once Ayame was done.
"There is a river port town not too much further. I plan on getting the refugees there and taking every boat to flee down river. We are destroying everything behind us to slow the enemy down and are setting traps. You?"
"The same. The village you are talking about it Setra right?"
"Hai."
"Inuyasha and I are also making for the same town. Where is Kouga?"
"Leading the rear scouts and doing what he can to slow down the enemy army."
"Have you heard word from him lately?"
"Hai. Yesterday he came to check on our progress before heading out again."
"I see. Good luck on your mission and I hope we meet at Setra."
"Good luck." Ayame wished back as Kitsume took to the sky and headed back for Inuyasha and their refugees.
It was several hours into the flight back, and four purified scouts later, that Midoriko hit upon a great idea.
"Kitsume?"
"Hai?"
"Are there more of your kind who would be willing to help us and do you know where they are?"
Kitsume was silent as he thought.
"Hai. There is one pack ahead of us." He admitted.
"Do you think they will help us like you are?"
"Might. Don't know. Not of their pack." Kitsume answered.
Their camp came into view, the humans trudging along with help from the odd youkai they had picked up. Inuyasha alone had two kids riding his back, both of which found his ears the most amazing thing they had ever seen and calling him Wan-chan this and wan-chan that.
Midoriko laughed at the look of irritation on the hanyou's face that did little to hide how pleased he was that the children liked him and that the humans and youkai traveling with them seemed to accept him.
"In times of great strife do we find a common goal and stand beside all those who would see freedom." Midoriko thought sadly as Kitsume landed to the laughter of several of the children.
"Ayame is leading another group of refugees and they plan on meeting with us at Setra. Like us they are burning their back trail."
"What of the mangy Ookami?"
"Kouga is slowing down their pursuit. Also… Kitsume says there is another tribe of his kind ahead of us. I would like to see if they could help us as he and Kirira are doing."
"Go. If they say yes we can move faster. I swear, the next farmer who whines about losing a goat is going to die next to the goat." Inuyasha growled.
Midoriko smiled at the flustered hanyou.
"These are but simple farmers who have raised their livestock from birth and view them as much as they would view a child. To them, their livestock is their life and they can not survive without it." She explained.
"Whatever." Inuyasha grumbled, still not understanding.
Midoriko didn't bother to try and explain it to him, instead she took off ahead with Kitsume, hoping to find this pack Kitsume spoke of and earn their trust. For good measure, she took one of the stubborn goats that some fool farmer refused to let go of as a peace offering.
Well, here is the next chapter, not sure when I will get the next one out. School and full time work do not mix. But I have not forgotten. Truthfully, I know where I want to go I am just having a hard time getting there as it will require another time skip, this one a large one so I am trying to figure out where and how to implement it.
To answer questions;
Rin and Shippo are five to six years older then they would be at the start of the series. Shippo is going to mature slower since long-lived species tend to take longer to grow up. I mean, look at Inuyasha. This is true for nature if you look. Rin I guess would be, hmm, she looks seven when you meet her, so lets say about twelve. Damn, another few years and she'll be marriage bait.
I HAVE NO PLANS ON MAKING KAGOME A YOUKAI AND NO AMOUNT OF BEGGING WILL CHANGE THAT. Truthfully, and for the sake of those wanting Kagome to live forever, I do plan for it. In fact, it has already been implemented but if you haven't figured out how yet, you'll have to wait until the end.
Silver-winged-angle; Where did I refer to Shippo as a Neko? I looked but couldn't find it.
Big thanks for all reviews, they do help to encourage me and I am great full for the fact that I seem to be drawing in new readers all the time. I appreciate all those who take the time to review and who wasted a night trying to catch up. I've done it a time or two so once again, thank you.