Chapter Thirteen: The Hyena in the Canopy
A/N: Fiiiine I'll update. Readers kicking me in the butt telling me to get moving… lol.
Kagome had been lulled to sleep by the gentle breathing of the child near the low flames and the steady pulse of rain outside of the crooked cavern's mouth. Lixue had not made a sound after her outburst, and Kagome had feared that she had left entirely; however, she peeked at the entrance and barely made out the form of the tigress propped against the inside of the mouth, staring into the dark.
She found herself being withdrawn from her dream about having ears like Inuyasha's to the sound of someone yelling. She opened one of her eyes to blearily register Rin sitting up near the fire, eyes wide and pressing herself against the wall to make herself smaller. She shook the sleep from her mind and concentrated on the words from outside.
"Let me see her! You won't keep my woman away from me!"
Was that… Koga? She scrambled to her feet while Lixue answered, voice low in warning.
"You will wait until she comes out to you. Nobody's getting into that cave."
"Oh yeah? And who's gonna stop me? Not some mangy cat!"
Kagome tripped over her bag but managed to regain her footing before emerging into the early morning's light behind Lixue. Koga's face flashed into an immediate expression of relief, and he tried to sidestep the demoness before him to get to her. Lixue stepped in front of him once more, matching him eye to eye and gripping her sword with her hand. She spoke to Kagome while staring down the wolf demon.
"Kagome. This wolf insists for your company."
"Yeah, that's Koga. He's okay." Kagome put her hand on Lixue's shoulder, but it was quickly shrugged off. Lixue stepped back into the cave, not turning her back on the wolf until she was sure that he would not follow.
Kagome sighed. "Good morning, Koga."
Koga's face split itself into a massive grin as he pulled her into a hug. "It certainly is a good morning when my woman's around."
She returned the hug; she might not love him like he proclaimed for her, but it certainly was good to see a friendly face. "What was that all about, Koga? Sounded like the fur was going to start flying."
"I smelled you around, but with some stranger's scent. I came to investigate and she wouldn't let me into the cave to see you." He huffed, his breath warm on her head after the cool damp of the cave. "I got worried."
She probably didn't want him around Rin, Kagome guessed. That was probably where Lixue was now. "Thank you for worrying about me, Koga." She smiled up at him before pushing herself away from his chest, his grip showing his reluctance to end their hug but eventually letting her go.
"What are you doing without muttface?" He seemed genuinely perplexed, and a little miffed. "He's not protecting you."
"I was on my way back to the village, but got caught in the storm. Lixue – the tiger – offered to let me stay in the cave with her and – with her." She almost mentioned Rin, but caught herself – if Koga noticed her verbal stumble, he didn't say anything about it. "All the yelling woke me up."
"Ah, well then, why don't I escort you the rest of the way?" He offered, extending his hand in the direction of the village. "I'm heading that way anyway."
Kagome smiled at him. "I'd be glad for the company. Just let me grab my stuff. Stay here." She emphasized the stay-here with her hands. "I mean it."
"Fine, yeah. Whatever. I'll stay here." He crossed his arms and huffed.
She smiled again and bounced into the cave. Lixue crouched near the fire, packing up Rin's bedroll into the saddlebag and the girl gripping the tiger's arm. The demoness didn't seem to mind the girl's grip so much as the hindrance it placed on her packing. She didn't say a word to Kagome as she gathered her things, feeling that no words were necessary. Kagome, however, didn't share the sentiment.
"So, um. I'm going now." She shouldered her bag.
Lixue grunted.
"Are we… what will happen the next time I see you?" Kagome toyed with the straps on her backpack.
"You may understand why I am as I am now but your companions will not. The next time we see each other, if the priest is with you, we will fight. Until one of us is dead." She did not look at Kagome's shocked expression. "Let us hope we do not meet again while he is alive."
Kagome nodded and turned to leave. In some small part of her she had hoped that they could have been… well, friends. She fell into stride by the wolf demon and tried to shake the image of the tigress' face from her mind, the bone-deep hurt from the night before contrasting with the blistering rage on the day of her binding. She smiled up at Koga's searching expression, her thoughts her own.
oOxXxOo
Lixue watched their retreating forms disappear into the surrounding trees, listening for their footsteps until they faded into the birdsong and breeze. She picked up the saddlebag and looked at Rin, who smiled toothily and pressed into her side. She picked a direction and began to walk, Rin cheerily keeping step behind her. The wolf demon had seen her location, as well as Kagome. She didn't want to stick around in that part of the forest any longer, should they send others her way. Thankfully, Rin seemed to be in a much less inquisitive mood this morning, preferring to sing about walking with Lixue and wondering when her Lord Sesshomaru would be returning.
Lixue found herself wondering too.
oOxXxOo
Miroku splashed his face with water, freezing when he felt eyes on him. He glanced around him at the quiet forest, the pleasant mumbling of the water in the brook the only discernible sound amongst the birds and early morning insects. He shrugged off the sensation as paranoia and continued washing his face, goosebumps forming on his skin from the chill of the water.
When he finished, he stood with the aid of his staff and breathed deeply, adjusting his robe and dusting it fastidiously. He felt that peculiar sensation again, reaching into his robe and holding his sutras in case an ambush was imminent, scanning the branches and brush around him.
A great crashing behind him made him whirl around, lowering himself into a battle-ready position only to see the portly figure of Monk Taizu trip over a root. He tried to catch the monk but was unable to do anything but save the mirror as it flew toward him, grasping the older man's arm before helping him back to his feet.
"Thank you for saving the mirror, my boy. Damn depth perception, I'll give you depth…" he started to mumble, kicking the offending tree whose root had proved so worthy a foe and hissing when his toe protested such abuse. Miroku looked behind him again, reassuring himself that they were alone before walking back with Taizu to the camp but not believing it.
They returned to the camp for their meager breakfast. Taizu's money had been enough to feed them for a few days, but his immense appetite soon became higher than he could support himself with. They would need to stop for supplies soon, sooner than any of them would have liked, with more to get and less money to get it with. The good news, he assured himself, is that winter is over. The wildlife will all soon return and we'll be able to forage as well.
He caught Sango's expression as they ate, and raised his eyebrows in curiosity. She kept watching the surrounding forest, a restless air about her. She found him watching and whispered to him. "Do you feel it too?"
"Yeah, like someone's watching us." He replied. If Sango was feeling it too, then it wasn't his imagination. There was someone – or something – nearby.
Taizu didn't seem to feel what the demon slayer and fellow monk did, happily chowing down with Shippo. Inuyasha was sulking on the edge of camp, too busy wallowing at Kagome's absence to really pay attention to anything else. That is, until the wind shifted and his nose told him they weren't alone.
The hanyou leapt to his feet, nose twitching, before glaring at a tree near Sango and growling at her to get away from it.
A clear laugh echoed through the forest, a young bronze-colored man swinging into view and perching on a branch, swinging his fur-clad legs as he grinned. "You found me!"
Sango gripped Hiraikotsu, ready to throw it if this man turned out to be trouble. "What do you want?"
"Oh, come on now. Don't be that way. I just wanted to know a little about you guys before introducing myself." He scrunched up his nose. "What's up?"
"Who are you?" Miroku demanded, moving closer to Sango defensively. Shippou scurried behind them, Taizu feeling about for his mirror and cursing.
"How rude of me. I am Jin Adisa." He stood on the branch briefly to give a deep bow.
"Jin is a Chinese surname – but where is Adisa from?" Miroku wracked his brain. "Doesn't sound like any name I've ever heard."
"That would be because I'm from Africa, with some Japanese and Chinese in there too." Adisa plopped himself back down onto the branch. "My family is a wandering bunch."
"Why are you here, Adisa?" Sango wasn't quite as interested as Miroku was in this man's history, preferring to know the important details.
"Well I was trying to figure out how recent Lixue's scent was, but it's pretty old so…" he shrugged.
"You're looking for Lixue?" Miroku's grip relaxed on his staff. "You must have seen her bounty."
"Ah… yeah." Adisa grinned again. "When did you see her?"
Taizu finally found his mirror and lurched to his feet, puffing and aiming it toward the man. "I know your name, Jin Adisa. You're the hyena that reports to her."
"Ahhh, you caught me." Adisa chuckled. "But I haven't worked for her for a while, so put that soul-stealer away, would you?" He flapped a hand at the mirror. "I don't feel like becoming a husk today. That's more of a morning-after thing."
"Why do you want to find her?" Taizu demanded, the others nodding in agreement. "How are you involved with the tiger demon?"
"Ah, well, I'm not really involved per se. I worked for her a few years ago, and she let me stick around in the castle after she conquered it, keeping a finger on the pulse of the neighboring provinces. When she left, she didn't really say why, and I want to know. That's about it." He shrugged, furred shoulders rippling with the motion.
"You're not her ally?" Inuyasha clarified.
"I'm not anything to her." Adisa said slowly.
After pressing him for more information and finding that he wasn't particularly loyal to anything but prevention of boredom, the group relaxed and he came down from the tree to mingle. Free from the cover of leaves, his unusual attire was more clearly visible. He wore a light armor from his waist down, leather crisscrossing his chest and a dark cloth covering his legs. He carried no visible weapons, his black hair in a braid and his copper skin only visible on his face, chest, and arms. The most remarkable part about his appearance was the thick coat of fur covering from the back of his neck across his shoulders and tapering down to the small of his back, a dark ridge of stiff fur down his spine and charcoal spots spattering his dust-colored pelt. He had a tail too, a short whip of the same dust color tipped with a plume of the darker fur that slowly un-fluffed as he relaxed.
He quickly gravitated toward Sango, asking her questions about her profession and how their quest was going, occasionally picking a bit of stray grass from her sleeve and making the demon slayer blush ever so slightly at the contact. Miroku sat on his other side, subconsciously determined to turn his attention away from Sango, who didn't seem to be doing so herself. Adisa soon seemed to pick up on this, though.
"Tell me, monk – not you, fatty – how long have you endeavored to claim this woman but not succeed in doing so?" Adisa's smile fattened into a grin at the sudden fluster from the humans to either side of him. "I, for one, would have snapped her up pretty quickly."
Miroku forced his face to remain passive. "I don't know what you're getting at."
"Come on, man. Don't play stupid." He leaned into Miroku, using his shoulder to nudge him. "You can't tell me you don't find power sexy." Adisa looked pointedly at Sango, who was decidedly not looking in their direction, cheeks and ears far beyond pink. "It's rare to find a woman as powerful as that, demon or not. When are you gonna do something about it? Before someone else does?"
Miroku stood. "Excuse me." He stiffly turned and walked away. For a stranger to come swinging in from nowhere and instantly hone in on his feelings for Sango – it was either uncanny or obvious.
Adisa sighed, crossing his legs and looking up at the sky. "He'll be fine. He's gonna sort out his feelings one way or another. You're worth too much to be kept waiting, I'll warrant."
Sango glanced at him. "You meant to make him leave?"
"Nah. I meant to make him proclaim his feelings for you. The sexual tension between you two is absolutely terrible, and I've had enough of that for a lifetime already." He plucked a bit of grass from the ground and chewed on the end of it. "Didn't really mean for him to walk away but oh well."
"What do you mean about the having had enough tension for a lifetime or whatever you said?" Sango felt her cheeks return to their original hue as the conversation turned away from her and Miroku.
He chewed a moment more before speaking. "A few years ago, right before she ran off, I was staying in Lixue's castle in exchange for a few favors here and there. Nothing serious. But then she started getting really irritable and all these other demons kept showing up, all men. She came to me and said, 'Adisa. Make these horny assholes go away before I rip their guts through their eye sockets.'"
Sango giggled at his impression of Lixue, his frown a perfect parody. He grinned at her before continuing his story.
"So I start running interference, causing some minor issue or whatever in their homes so they'd have to leave, or making her unavailable to them for some reason or other. Soon enough I found out why they'd all started showing up – she was in heat." He read Sango's expression and smiled at her. "Yeah, I know. You thought regular tigers were scary? Try having a demon tiger pissed off because she's surrounded by grabby men." He held up his hands in a no-thanks gesture. "I was gone when Mr. Soul-grabby there and her had their little spat. I didn't care for a while but then, like I said, it got boring and she's usually a good focal point for stuff to happen."
Inuyasha snorted, having been lurking in the trees all along. "I guess that's what made the humans think she was gathering up generals to invade."
"Oh, no, she had an army. But it was mostly just for show to make the humans leave her in peace, sons of her late father's friends who hadn't seen a day of combat in their lives under the tutelage of one of the greatest demons of the time. Seemed like a good idea." He balled up a piece of grass and threw it at Inuyasha, who batted it away. "You know, I think she's due to go into heat again soon. That's why I think it'll be interesting to be around – she doesn't have a castle to hide in this time so there's sure to be some drama and more than a little blood." He stood. "Well, since you guys don't know where she is, I'll just be off then. Don't think I want to stick around too much longer, fatty looks like he's getting a little itchy under the collar to suck me into his mirror."
"Stop calling me fat, demon. Begone." Taizu waved his hand.
"Yeah, yeah." Adisa took Sango's hand and bowed over it graciously, flashing a charming smile to her. "Don't let him get away with stringing you along forever. If he does, you come find me. I'll treat you like a queen."
Sango could only nod mutely before he disappeared into the trees, the strange visit over and her heart fluttering oddly at his attentions. Miroku appeared just as suddenly as Adisa had gone, sitting next to her to discuss the proper route they should take the next day, brushing against her more often than necessary.
oOxXxOo
Lixue braced herself into the dirt. "Form's more important right now, Rin. Fluidity will come later. Again."
Rin breathed and started over, kneeling in front of the tigress in the proper stance before attempting the takedown once more. She was rewarded with an 'oof' as the tigress released her tension and fell to the ground. Lixue sat up, a faint tickling in her heart when the girl cheered triumphantly. "Very good, Rin. That's enough for one day. Let's find some food, shall we?"
Rin nodded and ran to the edge of the forest before pausing and turning back to Lixue. "Do you think we'll find some berries?"
She smiled. "Maybe. If you do find some, don't eat any until I say it's okay. Some berries are poisonous." The girl agreed before darting into the bushes again, the tiger following behind and thinking about shelter while they foraged.
The afternoon's hunt for food was a moderate success, turning up a few decently sized mushrooms and a rabbit. After dinner, the pair curled up in the roots of a tree and sat in the dark, the fire allowed to expire in the moderate warmth of the night. Rin fell soundly asleep in Lixue's lap while the tigress' thoughts wandered once more to Sesshomaru.
She didn't expect to feel this… emptiness in a part of her while he was gone. She hadn't felt it since her father died, a faint niggling at the back of her mind that constantly reminded her that he wasn't nearby. The thought disturbed her, his absence disturbed her. She searched for a word for it, her nose occasionally hinting at his scent when it wasn't there – she had smelled faintly of him after sleeping against his side, but the rain's drenching had erased him from her, something she didn't think she'd miss. That was the word. She missed him.
Naming her emotion didn't ease it, however, and she leaned her head against the rough bark of the tree with a sharp exhale. This sort of thing wasn't supposed to happen without eating the magnolias. She mentally cursed the Kagura woman for showing up just when he had returned and making him leave again. The longer he was gone, the harder it was to ignore the pinch of her collar. The harder it was to ignore the pinching in her heart.
She growled. Damn it.