Twelve
The room opened up into a huge chamber, stalactites hanging from the roof of the cave like pointed teeth. Toshiro blinked against the sudden brightness after the dark of the tunnel. Lanterns were hung all around from the walls, lighting the room to day like brilliance.
He took everything in slowly, his mind moving at an almost sluggish pace. On the far left side of the room was a huddle of filthy children, bound together with their hands behind their backs, tears and snot and blood smeared on their faces. Directly across the room from Toshiro was the youkai who'd taken Shippou. He dangled the hanyou's unconscious brother from his rust colored claws like a trophy. His one open eye glared back at him, the other scarred and forced shut. Just behind the hyena Toshiro could see a patch of darkness cut into the wall; another tunnel leading deeper into the mountain. And to the far right of the room was what at first glance looked like a woman. But she wasn't.
Leiko, the hyena clan leader, was in her human form and humming an upbeat tune to herself.
Her ears were large and rounded, spots covering her brown skin from her neck down into her bloody, tattered pink kimono. Her hair was long, and brown, and streaked through with darker spots. She sat back against a pile of red spotted pillows, small bones strewn around her feet. She was beautiful, or would be if she weren't covered in dirt and the blood of innocent children. When she noticed Toshiro glaring at her from the entrance to her chamber her happy humming cut off with a small sound and she grinned a sharp toothed grin, her violet eyes going wide in surprise.
"Kawaii!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands together and spitting the small bone that dangled from her lips to the floor.
Toshiro's ears twitched in confusion.
The hyena holding Shippou captive rolled his good eye.
"Can I keep him, Tadao? Oh please?!"
The one eyed youkai's mouth twisted distastefully as he moved across the room toward her, his gaze never leaving Toshiro. "I think he belongs to someone already, Lady Leiko."
The Alpha female pouted, and for a moment Toshiro wondered if she was sane. There was a crazed, almost childlike longing in her eyes as she stared at the hanyou. One that unnerved him and made him itch to get the limp Shippou away from her as fast as he could. He flicked his eyes to the trembling children and he frowned. He had to hold the youkai off until the pack could get to them; no way in hell would he be able to fight both youkai alone and get them all out alive.
"But I'll take such good care of him!" Leiko was whining, bringing the hanyou out of his head "Tadao, please! I want him!"
So not sane then, Toshiro thought grudgingly. She spoke of him as if he were a toy she saw on a marketplace shelf.
The youkai Tadao gave a bone weary sigh, dropping Shippou carelessly at his lady's feet in a small pile of blood before turning to glare at the hanyou. Toshiro's hackles rose. If his brother were hurt he'd make the one eyed bastard pay for it tenfold.
"Boy, my lady requests your company." The youkai said in a hard voice, taking several steps toward him.
"Your lady can go screw herself." Toshiro growled, widening his stance in anticipation. "Give me back the kitsune, and let the humans go."
"Rude." Leiko puffed her cheeks. "Tadao, why won't he play with me?"
Tadao frowned at Toshiro. "What do you care of human children, hanyou?" He asked instead of answering his leader. "They no doubt do not care about you."
Toshiro glanced at the children he was supposed to save, taking note of how they cowered into one another from his gaze. They were afraid of him. They saw his ears and golden eyes as what they were; proof that he was not human, proof that he was not like them, proof that he could hurt them if he so wished. He hated the fear in their scent, hated that they looked at him as if he were a monster. Shippou moaned lowly behind the hyena warrior and Toshiro's head snapped back to his enemy. He bit back a growl.
Keep them talking.
It wouldn't be too much longer now. Though he still heard the battle waging behind him, it sounded as if the pack had made it into the cave and were getting closer.
"I don't care about humans." Toshiro said honestly, slowly. "But my pack does, and we've been charged with rescuing these children. So you should release them and my brother before the rest of my pack comes and hacks you to pieces."
"Brother?" The warrior laughed as Leiko gnashed her teeth, her eyes flashing.
"They want to take my toys, Tadao. They can't take them. I haven't even played with them yet."
Her voice had lost all its childish curiosity, her tone as sharp as razors. She stood from her pillow thrown, her dark tail swishing behind her and brushing against Shippou's head. The children across the room whimpered.
"Be at ease, my Lady." Tadao assured, an almost impatient tone in his voice. "They will not make it past our forces."
"Don't underestimate Inuyasha." Toshiro snarled.
Tadao's eye widened. "Inuyasha, you say?"
The sudden hunger in his yellow eye unsettled Toshiro.
"He'll kill you." Toshiro said.
"Oh, I doubt that." The hyena grinned, his teeth gleaming in the lamp light. "Are you his welp? I do not smell the blood of the Inu no Taisho on you."
Tadao spoke of Sesshomaru with a burning hatred, and the hanyou couldn't help but wonder what the Lord had done to the youkai. Maybe the Inu no Taisho had carved the hyena's missing eye out of his fat head. Toshiro found himself fervently hoping that that was the case. The hanyou pushed aside his curiosity and dark wishes, taking a step to the side as the youkai took another forward, a careful look on his face.
Keep him talking. Bide my time.
"Why do you care whether I'm the Inu no Taisho's kin?"
The hyena cracked his knuckles, his voice deadly. "I will kill all connected to that flea ridden mongrel. I intended on hunting down his younger half-brother anyway. How fortunate I am to have him come to me myself."
Toshiro bared his teeth. "You'll have to go through me first."
"Is that so?" The massive hyena barked a laugh. "Am I to be afraid? Do you expect me to shiver in my boots? You could only wish, half breed."
"I wish you'd choke on your own tongue." Toshiro snorted. He took note of his opponent inching closer, and took another deliberate step to the side. "It would make my job so much easier."
"Tadao! I want to play!" Leiko snapped, flopping back into her pillows . "Bring me something to play with. Now!"
"As you wish, Lady." He spit.
And he lunged for Toshiro, his claws outstretched. Toshiro jumped out of the way just in time, swinging his claws out at the hyena as he did and cursing under his breath when Tadao ducked his strike effortlessly. He spun on a heel and kicked out at the hanyou, catching him in the gut and sending him flying across the room. Toshiro slammed into the wall of the cave with a groan, pebbles falling to the ground with him as he did.
This youkai wasn't like the others he'd faced tonight.
He struggled to his feet, forcing down the wince that threatened to escape him as his still healing side twinged. He glanced quickly at Shippou as he rose. He was still unconscious at Leiko's feet. She thankfully was paying no mind to him as she was watching Toshiro and Tadao with glee filled eyes.
"Your Alpha is insane." Toshiro said to his opponent conversationally as he and the hyena began to circle one another.
Tadao chuckled without humor. "She is a bit eccentric, yes."
"Tadao! I want to play!" She whined across the room.
Toshiro watched resentment flash quickly across Tadao's features at her voice, resentment not aimed at him. Interesting, Toshiro thought as he ducked a swipe of the warriors claws. It seemed that Leiko's loyal servant might not be so loyal after all. He could work with this.
"What was that look about?" Toshiro poked before he jumped for the youkai.
The hyena only snarled in response before he dodged, though not quite quick enough.
Toshiro's claws raked against the youkai's arm, coming away with blood and scraps of cloth under his nails. He landed on the balls of his feet and spun to face his enemy.
"Do you hate her?" He mock whispered, making a show of covering the side of his mouth from the Alpha.
He smirked when he heard Leiko gasp from her seat, and as he watched Tadao's face twist in fury.
"Shut your filthy mouth." The youkai growled. He lunged for the hanyou's neck, claws outstretched. Toshiro back flipped out of reach, landing in a crouch a mere few feet away from the captured children.
They cried out, moving back into their huddle and as far away from the hanyou as they could get. They trembled and snotted when he glared at them. He rolled his eyes before leaping back into the center of the room. Better not to bring them to a bloodthirsty murder's attention. Tadao swiped at Tadao again and when he ducked, the hanyou used the opportunity to sweep his leg out and to knock the hyena off of his feet like he'd done with Inuyasha in training a hundred times. He was shot through with pride when Tadao landed on his back with a surprised, "Oof."
He knew what he did next was risky, and arrogant, but he couldn't stop himself from peering over the fallen warrior. He tilted his head, blinking at him innocently.
"I guess I understand; she is a total nutcase. But it's more than that, isn't it?"
Tadao roared, drowning out Leiko's exclaim of indignation. Toshiro barely had time to jump back before claws reached to gouge out his eyes. Two claws nicked him, catching him under his left eye. He hissed in pain and felt warmth drip down his cheek. Smelled his own copper scent mix with the ones of the captured children, the ones snotting in a huddle and the ones long dead. He didn't reach to wipe the blood away. Across from him Tadao righted himself, panting heavily and glaring at Toshiro with an anger that could melt stone.
"Is it because she's a murderer?" He questioned lightly, ducking right, then left, then right as the youkai swung at him over and over again. All the while Toshiro continued to talk at him as if the hyena were not trying to cut off his head. "No, that can't be it. You're no better. It's because you want Alpha, isn't it? Well if that's the case why don't you just mate with her? I bet she'd be pretty once you wash the guts and death from her scent. Though I'm sure you'll end up like her last mate. Did you know him?"
He heard Leiko growl in outrage along with Tadao at his last question and he knew he'd struck a cord. He risked a glance over at her to ensure that his brother was untouched. The Alpha had risen from her pillows again and was glaring at him, her eyes bright with fury and madness.
"You've no idea what you're talking about." She snarled as her warrior tried to use the moment to his advantage.
Toshiro dodged another clawed hand and kicked out. He heard bones crunch under the force of his foot and he smirked. He used the youkai's broken wrist to propel himself across the room, pushing off of it and landing at the mouth of the tunnel he had first come through. He heard his pack still fighting, but they were so close.
Only a little longer.
"You worthless maggot."
Toshiro's world stopped at Tadao's words.
Heat suddenly shot up his spine with the force of a freight train. He turned wide, blank eyes to the one eyed youkai. Tadao's face was twisted with thunderous hatred, a hand clamped around his broken wrist. He yanked the bones back in place, growling at the hanyou all the while.
Thoughts of his mission, his pack, himself burned away to ash in Toshiro's mind. Instead something wicked, something dark began buzzing in the back of his head. Something almost whispering to him, muffling the hyenas words as Tadao began speaking again.
"You should have been drowned when you were born. Your kind should not be allowed to walk this earth. The sight of you makes me sick,"
His words didn't register on the hanyou. In his head, the word played over and over. Maggot. Maggot. Maggot. He could suddenly feel Orochi's claws on his skin, Katsumi's breath on his damaged ear. Maggot. He felt the fire in his head travel down his arms and legs, felt his eyes burn and heat on his cheeks. The buzzing, the burning in his mind formed into a voice. One with a single command.
Kill.
"But not nearly as sick as I feel when I look at you." The warrior had spun on Leiko as he finished. She stared back at him with disbelief, her tail twitching. Tadao had turned away from him, and in Toshiro's mind he did so because the youkai thought of him as no threat. Thought he was harmless, thought he was no better than a bug beneath his boot.
Maggot.
Kill him.
Toshiro's head lowered, his hair covering his eyes like a black curtain. He felt like he was on fire, and he found himself reveling in it. It began to consume him, burning away all thoughts but the one pounding against his skull like a heartbeat.
Kill him. Kill him. Kill him.
"He was my brother." Tadao was snarling at the female. "They were my kin, and you slew them. Your own family."
"Tadao . . . Why are you saying this?" She asked incredulously. She reached out a red stained hand, as if begging him to understand. Confusion lit in her deranged eyes. "They broke, Tadao. I was only playing with them, and they broke. Now I need new toys."
"Toys." The hyena spit in disgust, now completely unconcerned with the hanyou slowly nearing him. "That is how you view us all; as meaningless play things. You don't deserve to be Alpha. You never did. And once I'm done with this filthy hanyou, I'll have your head and this clan."
When he turned back to Toshiro, he didn't even have time to blink before he felt something thunk against his boot. When he looked down he saw that it was his own arm, twitching in a growing pool of blood.
He looked up in shock at Toshiro, who stood only a few feet from him now, head still down. Red coated his hand like a glove, and a malicious grin was forming on his face. Holes looked to be burning into his t shirt and hakama, and Tadao watched with wide eyes as smoke rose from those spots on the boy's skin, from his hair.
"What," The hanyou growled lowly, "did you call me?"
"Tadao!" Leiko wailed. She took several steps forward, but she did not run to catch the hyena youkai as he fell to his knees. Her violet eyes widened in shock as she watched her warrior press a hand to the bleeding hunk of flesh that used to be his shoulder.
Kill her.
She preyed on human children, the voice told him. Weak, defenseless human children who could not fight back. Toshiro could fight back. Toshiro could turn her to ash. The fire in his blood pulsed hungrily.
His hazy eyes flicked to the children, who began crying openly at his glance.
Kill them.
They would grow to be hunters. They would grow to hate him. They would grow to have pups, and teach them that same prejudice. Why shouldn't he rid the world of garbage before it began to stink? He took a step toward them, and was halted by a small, broken voice.
"T-toshiro?"
Shippou was blinking awake, bringing himself shakily to his hands and knees behind the alpha who glared at the hanyou. His eyes widened when he took in his chosen brother.
Kill him. Kill. Kill.
The voice was so much louder, the heat so much hotter. And Toshiro couldn't fight through it, he didn't want to. He liked it. Why shouldn't he kill them? Why should he save humans who never wanted him, and spare youkai who never spared him?
Maggot.
The word played over and over like a mantra. Orochi, Katsumi, all those who had shunned and tortured and beaten him flashed in his mind's eye. Why shouldn't they burn? Why should any of them be allowed to live?
Maggot.
Something monumental snapped inside of him, and what little rationality he had left was consumed by flames. He felt fire pool just under his skin. He thought he could hear crackling under the rush of blood in his ears, but decided it unimportant when something inside of him roared.
Burn them all!
As if Leiko could hear the voice in the hanyou's head, her eyes flashed. She pulled back her lips over her fangs in a manic version of a smile, her claws lengthened at her sides.
"You want to play?" She chuckled darkly.
Start with her. Then the rest.
Toshiro took a step toward her, the burning and the voice drowning out everything else. All he knew was was fire, all he wanted was blood, all he needed was death.
Kill. Kill them all!
They lunged for each other, meeting in mid air with fangs, and flames, and claws, and insanity between them.
Shippou screamed.
0:0:0:0:0
"Motherfuckers!"
Inuyasha brought Tetsusaiga down on another youkai, cutting cleanly across the hyena's chest. He jumped carelessly over it as it crumpled to the ground with a yowl, slicing through four youkai who'd managed to corner Kagome with his claws.
"Thanks." The miko said grimly, wiping her arm across her brow before she notched back another arrow.
Inuyasha's brow creased in concern even as he turned to face more enemies. Kagome was tired; they all were. All of the humans were covered in sheens of sweat, the sheer numbers of the hyena youkai wearing them down though they fought furiously. There weren't many left, but the bastards were making it a point to block their way into the deeper part of the cave. Inuyasha felt his blood boil.
His pups. He needed to get to his pups. He felt his youkai pacing impatiently in the back of his mind, begging to be released so that he could just end this. Tetsusaiga pulsed in response, beating back Inuyasha's blood so that the growling turned into low, anxious grumble. He pushed against the pull of his feral side, forcing himself to focus on how get past the enemy without putting his pack in danger. The hanyou would easily be able to get rid of the hyena pests using the Wind Scar, but the power in the attack would no doubt bury them all alive. The tunnel they were forcing their way down, seemingly carved into the mountain by bare claws, was narrow and had just enough room for the pack to fight without bumping into one another. They were boxed in, Inuyasha and Kagome clearing their way into the mountain, Sango and Miroku keeping the beasts at their backs at bay.
Hold on, brats. I'm coming, just a little more. He thought with an internal snarl.
"Inuyashaaaa!"
Everyone stopped at the screech, human, and hanyou, and hyena alike. All eyes widened at the heartbroken, petrified sound that echoed from further into the cave, shaking dirt from the ceiling as it reached them. A second later all eyes turned to the hanyou just as his eyes flashed red.
Shippou. Shippou! His youkai was roaring furiously in his head now, all thoughts of rationality gone and demanding that no more time be wasted. With that one scream the hanyou felt himself pulled under by rage, by protectiveness, by thirst for the blood of all who would dare cause his pup to sound so anguished.
Not even Tetsusaiga could hold Inuyasha back as his markings surfaced, as he launched himself at the dozen hyenas in front of he and Kagome and killed them all in less time than it took to exhale. As he turned from the carnage he'd created and glared at the remaining youkai with blazing red eyes, daring them to challenge him, begging them to give him a reason to bloody his claws further.
"Get. Fucking. Lost." He managed to growl around his lengthened fangs. "Or you'll be wishin' for death long before I give it."
There was a pause, and then the mass of youkai shivered visibly. Then as if they all had one mind, ran back toward the entrance of the cave with yelps and tucked tails between them. Inuyasha huffed before turning to sprint down the tunnel, his feet slapping loudly against the blood soaked earth. He heard his pack on his heels, heard them yelling his name but that was of no concern to him now. Pups. Pups. Pups. As he pushed himself to move faster, run harder, the scents at the far end of the tunnel made his hair stand on end. He smelled blood. Blood, and tears, and fire.
Fire?
He skidded to a stop as he came into the large cavern. A part of his mind immediately assessed that the captured children and Shippou were relatively unharmed, each on either side of the large chamber. Another part noticed the single arm sitting in a puddle of blood on the ground, and the dragging trail of red that led from it into another tunnel leading further into the mountain. The largest part of him, however, watched in shock as a female hyena fought wildly with a youkai possessed, flame engulfed hanyou in the middle of the room.
Toshiro was swinging blindly at the female, his eyes ruby red and irises a frightening pale green. He had navy blue, zig zag shaped youkai markings along his cheekbones. Inuyasha saw as he snarled at the female that his fangs had grown, and as he swiped a curved hand across Leiko's chest that his claws had done so as well.
She laughed even as blood welled from the wound, returning the blow in kind and raking her claws across the little hanyou's cheek. She was seemingly unbothered by the blistering burns Inuyasha saw decorating her hands and feet.
Toshiro's hakama and t shirt were riddled with holes, pieces of fabric burning off of him still as he fought savagely with Leiko. His growls were deafening. His eyes focused only on his chosen prey, burning brighter as the Alpha cackled and met him blow for blow.
From his skin rose fire. Fire. As if his fury had manifested into flames, and those flames covered every inch of him, burning only his garments as he and the Alpha female tried their best to kill one another without any regard to their audience. His midnight black hair swayed amongst the flames like smoke, not a single strand on his head singed.
Tetsusaiga pulsed again, stronger this time. Inuyasha felt his youkai recede just as a small figure came rushing right into his back.
"Toshiro?"
It was Kagome. She and the others had caught up with Inuyasha and were watching the spectacle with wide eyes. The larger hanyou snapped back into focus when Toshiro was kicked across the room, landing in a crouch only inches from the kidnapped children. They cringed away from his flames and wailed.
"Miroku!" Inuyasha barked out as Toshiro lept back at Leiko with a war cry. "Go to the human pups, put up a barrier around them. Now!"
"I'm on it!" The monk turned slayer sprinted across the room, shushing and cooing to the kids as he pulled blessed sutras from the purple sash around his waist. A moment later a translucent barrier formed around he and the children like a bubble, flying bits of rock and dirt from the still oblivious fighters bouncing off of it harmlessly.
Sango jogged over to where Shippou was kneeling by a pile of bloody pillows without prompting, sinking to the floor beside him and pulling the openly weeping kit into her lap to check his injuries. He winced as she touched at the gash on his forehead, but his eyes didn't move away from Inuyasha.
"Save him . . ." He heard the kit whimper, his eyes dancing between the larger and smaller hanyou fearfully. "Help him, Inuyasha!"
Inuyasha nodded grimly before turning back to the heated madness in the center of the room. Toshiro was holding Leiko off, but he was covered from head to toe in bloody gashes. He fought tirelessly regardless, the blood from his wounds sizzling as it hit the cave floor below. She seemed to be enjoying herself, the Alpha, even if she was covered in just as much blood.
Inuyasha seemed to have been taking too long, as something hot whizzed past his cheek. He saw a bright pink light slam into the Alpha female's chest just as she was thrown to the ground by the young, bloodthirsty hanyou. She pulled herself into a sitting position, turning sad, childlike violet eyes on her attacker just before white-pink light erupted like a sun. Leiko died in a scream and burst of sacred energy, the purification so strong that Sango moved to shield Shippou as he yelped. Toshiro was sent smacking into the far wall and fell limp on the ground. His flames went out as he went limp.
The larger hanyou looked to his right just as Kagome was lowering her bow. She was drenched in sweat and panting heavily. Her eyes were brown fire, the most angry and afraid Inuyasha had ever seen them. And though her arms shook, she didn't hesitate as she slung her bow onto her shoulder and raced across the room to the unconscious Toshiro. Inuyasha followed closely at her heels as she knelt beside the young boy, fat tears rolling down her flushed face. Inuyasha was swept through with so much relief and pride he thought he might burst.
He heard Miroku still comforting the human pups, speaking to them in a low calm voice. He heard as the monk asked if they were all alright, and as he asked their names. Inuyasha was glad to hear Emiko's name among them.
He looked to Shippou across the room. "You ok, runt?"
The kit sniffed, looking up from the protection of Sango's arms.
"I-I'm fine." He said, absentmindedly wiping away the drying blood on his forehead with his sleeve. "Is he going to be ok?"
"He's going to be fine." Kagome said tiredly. "I was sure I wouldn't hit him, I was sure he wouldn't be purified. He's just a little stunned. That's the only reason I did it. Right, Inuyasha?"
She sounded more sure than she looked. She turned her big brown eyes up at the hanyou as if for assurance. He grunted, kneeling beside her and the unconscious boy. He didn't doubt her for a second, and though Toshiro was out cold his youki was present, if not stronger than before. Kagome gave him a watery smile.
Then she did the absolute worst thing next.
She placed a tender hand on Toshiro's back with a relieved sigh, and almost immediately the boy lit up in flames like a match. She pulled her hand back with a startled squeal, her hand bright red and blistering as Toshiro pulled himself into a crouch.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled.
He yanked the wincing girl savagely behind his back, then turned to glare furious eyes at the still transformed boy not two feet away from him. Toshiro's flames flickered, his eyes flashed, and he bared his teeth at Inuyasha in challenge. Inuyasha's youkai was warring with itself. Defend your mate! It roared, and in the same mental breath, Don't hurt your pup! Inuyasha bared his teeth back, fighting his own rampaging instincts. He chose to flick his ears up tall, growling a warning to the fire engulfed pup. It was an authoritative sound that announced that he was Alpha, and if the pup pushed too far he would be punished severely. The younger hanyou would instinctively know to back down, would immediately understand what Inuyasha was snarling at him as he shielded Kagome from his bright red and green eyes.
Toshiro understood the warning, but he didn't back down. He lowered himself further into his crouch, as if preparing to spring himself at Inuyasha and Kagome.
But he never got that far.
Inuyasha pounced on him, pinning the boy to the ground with a knee firmly planted between his shoulder blades. He growled loudly at the squirming young hanyou, going to grab at the skin at the back of Toshiro's neck and shaking hard. Inuyasha ignored the way the flames coming off of the boy burned his leg and hand, ignored the faint guilt he felt for having to force Toshiro to submit to him. But the smaller hanyou would either submit, or Inuyasha would kill him with his own hands. Not even one of his pups would be allowed to be a threat to his mate.
Thankfully it didn't come to that.
With one last snarl, and one last tug at the looser skin at Toshiro's nape, Inuyasha felt the boy yelp under him and go limp. The fire that covered his body flickered like a dying camp fire then went out, leaving only smoke to rise from Toshiro's skin. Inuyasha sighed lowly as the searing pain in his hand and leg let up, as the burned and blistered skin immediately began to heal itself, as Toshiro fell unconscious again.
"Kami . . ." Sango murmured into the following silence, one hand over her mouth and another over her heart. "What was that?"
Inuyasha looked down at the boy still beneath him. His youkai markings had disappeared. If it weren't for the fact that he was beaten bloody, and that his clothes were nearly charred off of his body, Inuyasha could have almost believed that the boy was sleeping peacefully. He rose from his position over Toshiro, his haori blackened and singed around his wrist, a large hole burned away in the knee of his hakama. Inuyasha glanced over at Kagome, warring emotions shooting through him as he watched her cradle her scalded hand to her chest. Guilt, confusion, rage, concern, relief. All of these fought for dominance in Inuyasha as he finally spoke up in a hard voice.
"I don't know. But I'm going to fucking find out.
