Chapter XII: Reunion of the Wolf Demon Tribe

Akurei landed and started sniffing around. After Inuyasha wasn't getting the hint, she shook her shoulders to inspire him to dismount. He got off with a grumble but shut up when she gave him a look. Just start sniffing to try and pick up their scent, she told him. The dragon resumed snuffling on the ground to try and catch a scent and wandered off. She kept sniffing and stumbled across a small wailing mushroom. Is that Shippo's?

She looked up and saw three more pop up. They were making a definite path somewhere, so she followed it. She kept walking until she managed to catch Koga's scent, and she started jogging to wherever it would lead.

After going for a few miles with her nose stuck to the ground, she happened across Ginta and Hakkaku on guard duty. She shifted back and said, "Hey boys! Remember me?"

"Hello, I'm Ginta," Ginta called.

"And I'm Hakkaku," he called.

"I remember, don't worry. I'm Akurei. I live with Okami up north, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, you're the one Koga offered to let you come back with us," Ginta said, remembering now.

"Yeah. I kind of came to visit since I was in the neighborhood," she said, "so, can I talk to him?"

"Sure thing, Akurei. He found some priestess that can sense the Jewel Shards, so he might be busy, but for Okami's woman, no problem. You're practically family, cuz," Hakkaku replied.

"Thanks, guys," she said. She looped her arms through theirs and they walked along the cliffs to the den.

When they arrived, Ginta asked a couple of other wolf demons to take over their shifts for them. They complied and Akurei walked around to try to find Koga. Instead she found Kagome sitting on a bunch of pelts near the back. Shippo was right next to her and they looked fairly nervous. "Akurei?" the priestess questioned.

"Hey, where's Koga?" she replied.

"I don't know. He left a few minutes ago. I just really hope we can leave soon. Were you captured, too?"

"No. Ginta and Hakkaku let me in. Listen, I really need to talk to Koga, so I'm gonna ask around and see if I can find him. You two should leave. Trust me. Whatever they have in store for you might not be good."

"Koga said he wanted to use me to find a Sacred Jewel Shard that their enemies have. The Birds of Paradise keep attacking them and pushing them out of their territory."

Akurei stilled suddenly. "Did you say 'Birds of Paradise'?"

She nodded and said, "Yeah, those giant birds keep killing off Koga's pack members, and one of them apparently has a Jewel Shard. So Koga wants that."

"Crap. Those things are here? This is a lot worse than I thought. I really need to find him. You and Shippo get out of here, got that? Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku are looking for you guys." She turned and started talking to a few of her adopted cousins from the East. She kept them distracted while Shippo transformed to look like Koga and started taking Kagome to the mouth of the cave.

"Hey, Koga! Where ya taking the prisoner?" one of the demons shouted.

"The prisoner needs some fresh air. The stench in here is awful," Shippo said. He turned around again and Akurei stifled the urge to smack her face. His tail was the original yellow, fluffy fox tail rather than the brown wolf tail that Koga has. One of the wolves nibbles on it out of confusion, reversing the transformation. If a puff of magic, little Shippo reappears and lands on Kagome's shoulder. She takes him and runs to the edge of the cliff, throwing him off of it. "Get out of here, Shippo! Get Inuyasha!"

He turns into his fluffy flying form and floats away, "I'll get him for you, Kagome. I promise!"

The wolf demons swarm onto the cliff, surrounding Kagome. Akurei forces her way through, hissing and snarling at her adopted family, but never striking them. They let her through and every one of them was around the two girls, growling and snarling at them. "That's it, I'm eating you for lunch!" one of them shouted at her.

Akurei hissed and lashed out with her talons to make him back up. Just then, Koga came running back. "Hey, quit that! Nobody's touching my woman!" He turned to Kagome and said very smoothly, "You know, wolves mate for life."

"We thought you were gonna eat her when you were done with her, not marry 'er!" one of the demons replied.

"'Your' woman?" Kagome asked. She stepped around Akurei and smacked him across the face. Akurei winced in sympathy as his head rocked to the side, "Ooh, that looked like it hurt," she observed.

"Guess the honeymoon's over," someone said.

"I don't belong to anyone! And besides, I'm kinda into somebody else," she said as she turned away and crossed her arms.

"Wha—don't tell me you like that idiot Inu-trash-a," Koga spluttered.

"Shut up! His name is Inuyasha. Say it right, if you're going to say it at all," she sniffed. Akurei could tell he wasn't happy, but he put up with it anyway.

"Koga, remember me?" Akurei asked, defusing the argument. She walked over gracefully and slipped between them to give him a hug. He returned it and asked, "How are you, Akurei? Is Okami treating you well?"

"Quite," she wrapped her arm in his and asked, "Koga, please, would you let Kagome go? I know you need her but seriously, you intend to marry her? She's desirable, that's for sure, but still. You'd be fighting people off for weeks, especially considering Inuyasha's on his way now to come protect her." She curled her tail near the ground around his feet. Kagome meanwhile had taken a step back to put some distance between herself and her kidnapper.

"I can take Inuyasha," Koga scoffed. "And besides, next time I see him, I'll rip the mutt to shreds. He won't be much competition, then."

"Don't kill him. Now, how about we go and get that Shard?" Akurei asked.