WolfGear Presents: Inuyasha: Red Soul
Chapter 43: The Hunter and the Butterfly
Pairing: Kagome X Sesshomaru OCXOC
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha and Holo from Spice and Wolf, or Okami
Oc's Shilo Kane, Shinjuku Kane, Shinto Kane, Ishimaru Kota, Black Soul (Shikuro), Shihime
Quick note: Sorry for the wait when to Nebraska con and decided to take a little break. Also I've been misspelling Jaguar's name, it's actually spelled Jäger, also as a reminder the pup clones names are Ren (Rin's clone) Jutte (Jade's clone) and Tophi remains the same except I'm changing the spelling to Tofi.
Genki awoke with a start, looking around for any potential danger; he ventured to the doorway of the ruined building and peered outside. There was no sign of Kala anywhere; much to his relief. Even after resting his strength has yet to return to full power, though the fact that the barrier he put up before losing consciousness may tribute to his lack of energy. It was a miracle the barrier was still up and functioning, but from the looks of it, it wouldn't take much to bring it down, if someone put some effort into it.
Looking at his companions Kenshin and Yura the bull demon couldn't help but grimace at their tattered state. Kenshin was pretty beat up from tangling with Kala and his wounds were healing at an extremely slow rate compared to normal. Flying across the ocean and fighting has taken its toll on the dragon youkai.
Next to Kenshin was Yura, who was lying in ball on the floor shivering as strange black markings encroached over her skin, originating from the bite Kala had given her. From the sweat on her brow and the reddish tint of her skin, it was a safe bet that she had a fever.
At the rate things were going none of them would survive the trip back. Genki didn't want to leave them alone, but if he didn't get them some food, they weren't going to recover.
"I'll be back soon, I promise." With that he left the hut.
Outside Genki looked around the destroyed base hoping to find some sort of intact food storage within the rubble. He managed to find some bread and jerky after a few hours of searching. On his way back he found some tall grass and helped himself to a snack. Being a bull demon really had its perks when it comes to finding food.
As Genki approached the hut he noticed something was wrong. First thing was the barrier had been dispelled, that made the hair on the back on his neck stand, because he should have been alerted by its dismissal. Sniffing the air he caught the distinct scent of wolves, not like any of the wolves in the west, but wolf none the less.
On guard Genki drew closer to the hut, letting his iron skin form over his fists, read to strike. At the door he placed his hand through the doorway first; it was the smart thing to do as a steel blade bounced of his hand! Retreating backwards a couple feet Genki waited for his new opponent to show himself.
As expected a wolf demon emerged from the door. Genki couldn't help but stare curiously at his appearance. The wolf demon before him looked uncannily similar to Shilo's shadow Hans, except for the blue hair and eyes. The guy even wore a face mask and hood like Hans.
The wolf demon smirks as he draws another dagger from behind his back. "Genki Kaido, Bull youkai, known drinking buddy of Shilo Kane, and victim to a certain snake woman's twisted experiments."
Genki suppressed a growl at the mention of the snake bitch. "Who are you and what is your connection to that bitch?"
"Name's Jäger and as for my relationship to Medusa, let's just say we have the same boss, who has taken an interest in your two friends behind me. You on the other hand are considered expendable and as much as I hate doing that snake a favor. I wouldn't mind sharpening my daggers across your hide in a little match, but it'll have to be a quick one. I have other things to do."
"Don't write me off just yet basterd!" Genki said covering the rest of his body in iron.
Jäger smirked as the bull charged blindly. Ducking under Genki's arm he jabbed his daggers into the bull's side, jumped onto his back and stabbed a blade in-between the bull's shoulder blades. In a rage Genki jumped trying to crush the wolf beneath him, but before he touched the ground there was a boom sound and Genki landed flat on his back with Jäger appearing above him.
"You're much too slow." The wolf mocked jabbing at the bull's throat. Only for the attack to be defected as Genki's skin turned black. "So this is what that woman's been working on." Jäger said curiously as he avoids Genki's attack. Moving in close for another strike Jäger jabs the bull in the gut and follows up with an attack to the heart, both attacks fail and he retreats out of Genki's reach.
"Hmm I guess there are some advantages to Medusa's experiments, but…" Golden light engulfs Jäger's daggers and the sound of lightning crackling could be heard. "One should always rely on their own strength. Klappmesser (Jackknife)" The glowing blades pieced Genki's black steel skin hitting the bull youkai's jugular vain.
Genki returned to normal and desperately tried to steam the bleeding with his hands, but it was no use. His vision began to fade black as his hands fell away to his sides, letting more of his life blood spill from his neck. Within seconds Genki Kaido was dead.
As he stared over the cooling body Jäger closed the bull youkai's eyes and placed two gold coins over Genki's eyes. It was a tradition in his homeland for fallen warriors.
"This is where you're journey ends my friend. You fought admirably." Jäger praised walking away. Entering the hut the blue wolf lifted the bond forms of Yura and Kenshin over his shoulder and exited the hut with a ferry stone in hand. Tossing the stone into the air he vanished in dazzling golden light.
-break
Jäger landed on his feet as he once again standing at the base of Shihime's castle. Eagar to finish his assignment the wolf leaps up the long stairway appearing as a blue blur reaching the top in under a minute.
Passing through the gates Jäger breezed past the guards and entered the castle. Once inside he made his way to the dungeons and placed his two captives inside of a cell. He was about to make his leave, when much to his displeasure he ran into Medusa on his way out.
"Back already Jäger? I must say that speed of your is quite impressive. Good thing I had one more my little pet snakes on you or I wouldn't have caught you." Medusa said while inspecting the two new prisoners. Her eyes narrowed as she turned to face Jäger once again. "You appear to be one short. Where is the bull youkai Genki?"
"Dead," Said Jäger.
This caused Medusa to hiss with distain as she pounced on the wolf binding him tight with several large snakes. "And who said you could kill off one of my experiments without my permission!" Venom dripped from her fangs causing her breath to become poisonous.
Jäger grinned, "I don't recall needing you're permission to do anything." He said head-butting the snake causing her hold on him to loosen. Once he was free he grabbed Medusa by the neck and slammed her against the wall. Medusa began to struggle as he tightened his grip.
"Getting hard to breathe Medusa?" Jäger chuckled. "As much as I would love to simply squeeze the life out of you I'm afraid Shihime would be mad at me and I wouldn't want to get on her bad side. So I'm going to let you go. I suggest you have you're twisted fun while you can. As you know I am to gather one of our comrades and go fight Dove Kane. And you know what? I've decided to go get Seressa. I know you're just dying to see her again. I wonder if she's gotten over that little stunt you pulled on her. You know how ruthless she can be when she's angry." Jäger grinned as the color drained from Medusa's face. Releasing her he walked away with a smirk as the snake shivered in fear on the floor.
Once he was far enough Jäger chuckled nervously. "What did I just get myself into?" He asked himself. Medusa wasn't the only one scared shitless by Seressa. Any member of the death guard below the number five had the right to be afraid of that woman. To be more accurate anyone above five was to be feared.
The death guards' rank fell into the two different groups, ability and power. Ten through six where the ability types, such as Medusa and her intelligence and regenerative powers, while Jäger was speed and his uncanny ability to break even the toughest of armors.
Five through one where the power types, in short they were powerful beyond imagination, so much so that every one of the higher members is able to hold their own against Shihime herself. A very difficult feet and to make matters worse they all had their own twisted personalities.
"And I just said I wasn't going get possibility the craziest of them all. While maybe not the craziest, sadistic is more accurate." Jäger thought aloud as he made his to the courtyard. He could just go find someone else, but the prospect of seeing Medusa at Seressa's mercy was just too appealing.
"Well I guess I better get looking. She's probably somewhere in the west. The city of Rome is a good place to start." Jäger threw another ferrystone and once again vanished in a burst of light.
-break
Shilo glanced around the crowded room uncertainly. He was expecting something crazy to happen when he and Zero arranged this meeting; however he failed to realize just how crazy things could get. When six Daiyoukai arrived at the castle this morning! Plus the Daiyoukai already in the castle the grand total of Daiyoukai gathered was now eleven including him. This was a shit storm waiting to happen.
He sat the head of the long table, five Daiyoukai sitting to each side of him. On his right was Leo Tquip, a lion youkai and Zolo's first son. Across from Leo sat Kiri Tquip, a wolf youkai, Leo's niece and Zolo's… twelfth granddaughter? It was hard to keep track. Either way both Tquips sat straight keeping their posture neutral as they obverse the other occupants.
Down the line sitting next to the Tquips was Kurama Youko, a silver fox youkai, and across from Kurama was Yusuke Genkai, whose species was still unknown. Kurama's eyes darted around the room, his fingers twitching to steal something; of course it was the fox's many tails that were committing the actual crime. Yusuke looked annoyed as he drummed his fingers on the table, however a closer look at his posture would tell you the unknown Daiyoukai was ready to start a fight.
Next to the two was Rena Kitsugami, a yellow Kitsune, who sat quietly clad in her special armor with a fox design on each piece. She was a hard one to read with her helm covering the top of half her face, but she too was discreetly sizing up the competition. Across from her was Zero, the one responsible for setting up this meeting and currently avoiding the murderous glare of his lord, hence his choice of seating.
Down from them sat Kaanan and Baiken Kozuki the youngest of the group. They were doing their best to be intimidating. A hard thing to do when most of the youkai gathered had centuries of skill, power, and experience ahead of them. Even Kaanan who fought at the end of the civil war was no match for those who had fought from beginning to end.
Finally at the end of the table were the veterans Saito Haji and his counterpart before the unification of the wolf and Inu clans Edi Odarai. Saito already knowing he was a sure in for general position decided to attend for the simple fact to annoy his rival and the younger Daiyoukai with his ever present smug smile. Edi was here on similar reasons, the bald Inu wanted to prove that he wasn't over the hill just yet.
So yeah that was what he had to deal with. Shilo wasn't looking forward to this meeting, but it had to be done now, since there was no turning back at this point. Still he wondered how everyone found out about the meeting only him, Zero, and Saito… yeah it was differently Saito who told them. Damn old wolf was enjoying this a bit too much.
"I will now call this meeting to order. In light of recent events the decision had been made to reevaluate the Western Army's Generals. Currently we have one active General, Saito Haji, as you know this means we have four slots to fill." Everyone began eyeing each other more openly and aggressively. Shilo could see most of them inching towards their weapons as energy buzzed in the air as he continued with his speech. "Some you have been chosen as candidates for this position. " He looked towards Kaanan, Baiken, Yusuke, and Kurama. "Well others forced their way in." He said sending glares at the rest of the group. "But that doesn't matter. You're here now and we will proceed in a calm matter with no VOILENCE! Unless I allow it! Understand?" Shilo asked sending a meaningful glare to everyone in the room. The results were less than what he hoped for.
From the gathered Daiyoukai one scoffed and began laughing madly. Not surprising it was Yusuke. "HAHAAHA! No violence! That's rich hearing that from you kid!" Shilo's brow twitched at the kid comment, but kept his cool.
A low growl rumbled from his right, there was a loud thunk as Leo's fist hit the table. Shilo rubbed his temple knowing what was coming. "Show some respect whelp!" Leo yelled grabbing Yusuke by the caller. The lion's massive frame easily knocked over Kurama who dropped several objects he had stolen at some point in time.
"You wanna start something pussy cat!" Yusuke challenged.
"If it will teach you some manners I will!" Leo shouted drawing a Ninjato from behind his back in a reverse grip. He swung at Yusuke, who smirked as blue/red youkai engulfed his fist; their fists connected creating a small shock wave!
Adjusting her hair back into place Kiri sent her uncle an annoyed glare. "Leo-jiji, calm the fuck down." She cursed causing a few eyebrows to be raised. It was well known that in the Tquip clan, foul language was a no-no unless you were in the heat of battle.
"Kiri!" Leo said dangerously making the younger Tquip gulp. Kiri leap to her feet avoiding her uncles grasp, in her haste she accidently knocked Yusuke across the table. The unknown youkai felt something soft and squishy and instinctively gave it a good squeeze, followed by a high pitched yelp!
"You dirty ero-baka!" Rena yelled red faced as Yusuke gave her breast another squeeze much to her irritation.
"Wow these things real or an illusion?" He asked with a stupid grin.
Rena smacked Yusuke's offending hand away and reached for her staff, summoning a litter of fire foxes and slicking them on Yusuke, lighting him on fire!
"Well this is certainly amusing." Saito chucked observing the scene with a smirk.
"I agree these youngsters have spirit that's for sure!" Edi laughed heartily. "Though there are a few to many cats around here for my taste." The Inu barked ignoring the glares from Kaanan and Baiken. Leo would have joined in too, but was too busy lecturing Kiri for swearing.
Flexing her claws Kaanan stared down the old Inu. "Got a problem with cats?" She hissed threateningly. Another hiss was heard as Baiken summoned her weapon arm.
The Inu smirked manifesting a nagitana in his hand. "As matter of fact I do have problem with pussy cats." Edi purred mockingly. It didn't take much for the two feline to pounce on the Inu hissing and clawing at the Inu's flesh.
From his seat Zero sighed as more fighting broke out around the room. Leo and Kiri were having a full our argument which both Tquips youkai flared causing the castle's foundation to creak and moan from the pressure. Across the room Shilo was chasing after Kurama who continued to steal things well avoiding the wolf lord's attacks resulting in more structural damage. If Zero thought things couldn't get worse well they did as Rena and Yusuke's fight escalated resulting in the two breaking through a wall. The three way battle between Kaanan, Baiken and Edi was also getting out of hand as the Inu was covered in blood and the latter of the two felines was nursing a possibly broken arm. All and all it was chaos.
"Aren't you going to do something about this?" Zero asked Saito, who just took in all the madness with a smile. The blue wolf shrugged and lit his pipe.
"Give me about five minutes." He replied blowing out a poof of smoke with a relaxed sigh.
-break
Outside the Kane castle's wall four figures leisurely made their way toward the towering castle. One was much taller than the rest and walked ahead of the group, well the remaining three followed. One to thing to notice was they were all female.
The tallest looked at the castle with mixed emotion. She hadn't been gone long nor had she any real attachment to the castle, but felt a feeling of homecoming as they drew closer. Her three companions were also confused. They knew this place and those that dwelled there, yet didn't, it was baffling.
"Home sweet home I guess," Kala said as they approached the gates. "Are you three ready?" She asked.
"Hai," The three pup clones responded. The guards looked the four over and nodded allowing them entry into the castle's walls.
Inside Kala and the pups made their way across the courtyard intend on reporting in to Shilo when someone yelled across the courtyard. "Kala! There you are child!" The group turned to the new arrival. A tall dark skinned woman with emerald green eyes and long black hair in dread locks.
"Grandma Shala?" Kala stuttered as the elderly lion engulfed her in a tight hug. "What are you doing here?" Kala asked returning the hug with vigor.
"Oh ye ol' grandpa gone an' gotten' himself put in a coma. I' came to wake him up!" Shala said shaking her head disapprovingly. Her mate could be so troublesome. She wondered what stupid thing he did this time. "But enough about that though; who are these cuties?" The elder lioness asked bending down for a closer look at the pups. "They yours dear?"
Kala sputtered, "What no! Why would you think that?"
"Eh just having some fun." Shala said ruffling each of the pup's hairs. "So what are your names?" The pups looked between each other uncertainly. "What can't you understand me? I know Japanese isn't my first language, but I've gotten better. Right?" She asked looking to Kala for help. It was no secret that the elder lioness was a bit insecure about her speaking quirks, often speaking a mix of Japanese and her native language when really excited; like now for instance. However that wasn't the reason for the pups' silence.
Ren shifted nervously under the elder lioness gaze. She was about to say her true name, but stopped herself in time. "No ma'am. We understand you just fine. We've just never seen someone like you before. My name is Rin by the way." Ren said bowing to Shala and motioning for her clone sister's to do the same.
"Jade," Jutte said bowing as well.
"Tofi," Said Tofi.
"It's very nice to meet you three." Said Shala returning the bow with a bright smile, in the background a large explosion rocked the castle, a large hole appearing on the third floor.
"Umm…" Kala pointed to the hole as Shala continued to smile.
"Oh don't worry about that they'll work it out soon enough." Shala said waving off the explosions. "Come now let's go wake up your grandfather."
There was no denying that sweet smile, so Kala and the pups simply followed the elder lioness. Who continued to ignore the ongoing destruction.
"So did you come alone grandma?" Kala asked hoping her the answer was no. It wasn't safe for some at Shala's age to travel alone.
Shala smiled at Kala's concern. "No I had Leo and Kiri escort me here. I'm say it was worth it to see Leo's blushing face when I made him hold my hand. Such a good son he is." Shala beamed with pride.
Uncle Leo and cousin Kiri were here too huh, quiet the family reunion Kala mused entering the castle. She wondered if they would notice the changes. Most likely not, not that she could blame them, 150 kinsmen it's hard to keep track of everyone. The bigger problem would be if anyone notices the change in the pups? She's tried her best to inform them on certain behaviors excepted of youkai their age, but the three girls just couldn't comprehend normal pup behavior.
"Well I guess they'll just have to play ear." Kala muttered as they arrived at the infirmary.
Shala moved to stand over her comatose mate, the cubs stood in the doorway behind her as she went to work on healing her mate. First step… make sure he wasn't faking it. A resounding slap was heard as Shala smacked Zolo upside the head with all her might leaving a red impression on the green wolf's face.
"That usually works." Shala mused as the four youkai gap comically at the lioness attempts to wake the sleeping wolf. "So that mean he's really in a coma or he's just having fun making me worry." A streaming pot of water mysteriously appears in the lioness's hand. "Better be sure he isn't faking it."
"Grandma!"
"Alright fine," Shala pouted throwing the pot aside. She placed her hands over top of Zolo's heart and bright green energy flowed from her body into his. The light grew in intensity blinding everyone in the room!
-break
Back with Shilo and company things weren't going any better. In fact they've gotten worse! Once Shilo had finally managed to capture Kurama and subdue the sneaky fox the young wolf lord found himself in the middle of brawl between the Daiyoukai!
Acting fast he subdued the Tquips first. They put a bit of a struggle but after they realized it was him they settled down and sat in the corner with Kurama, who was wrapped in Teszanga's chain.
Rena and Yusuke were a bit harder to subdue, but using a little fox trickery he managed to stun them long enough to chain them in with Kurama. Of course Rena wasn't happy with his methods, since it involved her accidently kissing Yusuke. He was surprised that they were both so shy about locking lips; well Rena was Yusuke took it a bit far and returned the kiss once again groping Rena. This resulted in a very nasty bruise on the male Daiyoukai's head that rendered him unconscious. It did make it easier to chain him up though, as a precaution Rena was chained too less she tries to kill Yusuke.
With those two out of the way the only fight still going was the three way battle between Kaanan, Baiken, and Edi. Well it was down to Kaanan and Edi now, Baiken was knocked against the wall. Shilo wasn't sure what happened between the two, but it must have been something to piss off the usually mellow Kaanan, though the knocked out Baiken may play a hand in the Neko's fury. The shield wielding Neko was focused on hitting a certain part of the male anatomy with her shield.
"Being a bit extreme there Kaanan." Said Shilo neither of the two Daiyoukai paused in their fight to acknowledge him. With a sigh he interrupted the fight by grabbing each of them by the wrist before their next attack could connect. A blue/green flame appeared in front of Kaanan and Edi catching their attention. They stared blankly at the flame before falling over limp.
Using his fox skills wasn't his favorite thing to do, but dammit if it wasn't effective. He wondered what they were seeing though; he really didn't have anything specific in mind when casting the illusion, so they could be seeing anything from flying rainbow unicorns to their worst nightmares. Course maybe the unicorns where their worst nightmares, who knows.
With the final Daiyoukai subdued Shilo let out an exhausted sigh. At least none of them were actually fighting seriously there was no way he could have subdued them all by himself if that had been the case.
"So you want to tell me why you didn't help Saito?" Shilo asked the blue wolf with an annoyed glared. The blue wolf shrugged holding up his pipe.
"Still had a minute left of my smoke, plus I was observing them to see which ones was General material." The blue wolf defended. Shilo turned his gaze to Zero. The wing wolf held up his hands.
"I'm a pacifist. Besides it's your job as ruler to discipline unruly subordinates and I must say you did a very nice job. A little more physical then lord Shinjuku, but it got the job done."
Shilo began to speak, but paused deciding it wasn't worth arguing with the two wolves. Instead he grabbed the sake bottle from Saito's sash and walked out of the room calling over his shoulder, "Meeting over for today. We'll resume tomorrow."
"Give me back my sake!"
"No!"
-break
Marching into his study Shilo deposited the entire bottle of Sake in one gulp! Today had been such a shit feast. He should have known better then to try and have a peaceful meeting, but he wanted to try doing things his father's way. To prove at least to himself that he was capable of settling matters without fighting. Now he was just going to go with his original idea, a tournament between the Daiyoukai to decide who gets to be a general with the top four earning the position.
"Ah… it's not very…" What was word he was looking for? "Tactful? Yeah something like that, but that's just the way I am."
"I agree."
"Thanks…" Wait what? Shilo turned around so fast he nearly got whiplash! Shocked at who he saw sitting across from him. A young wolf youkai about his age with green hair and a scar over his left eye exactly like… "Zolo?" The red wolf asked shocked.
Zolo grinned nodding his head, "Yep!" He said cheerfully before becoming serious. "We have much to talk about Shilo…"
-break
He had finally found her, sitting alone in a charred and bloody battlefield surrounded by soldiers clad in white robes. Burn impressions of wings were around every body. Some had suffered worse than others. A group of the white robed soldiers were impaled on a gaint spiked torture wheel; there was a spike coffin, a Gelatin, and a… wooden horse? Crap what did she use that for?
Jäger shuttered at the sight of the multiple torture devices. He could still hear their screams. Really he could there was about five survivors she was playing with right now.
"Come closer Jäger I don't bite… too hard." Seressa said jovially. Seressa was tall with cream colored skin and long black hair that pooled around her feet. Her eyes were pitching black with purple irises. She wore a long deep purple dress with the shoulders exposed with amulets and other jewelry on her person.
"Just give me a moment will I clean up." She said.
Currently she held a battered young blonde woman by the throat while holding a bloody claymore in her other hand. Not her usual weapon. The blonde woman struggled in her grip and spat blood.
"My sisters… will… avenge… me…witch!" The blonde woman rasped.
Seressa smiled seductively. "I know you enjoyed it too, don't lie, ah I see you're blush! Hahaha such a cute toy you are! But I grow bored." Slowly Seressa raised the claymore and leveled with the blonde's heart and ever so slowly pushed the tip of the sword into the blonde's chest till the entire length of the blade passed through its owner. Who was still alive even now!
"You sure are resilient. I guess that's the benefits of being a half breed. I will give you an honorable death." Lightning cracked between the rings on Seressa's fingers shocking the blonde causing her spaz and twitch till she finally died. Seressa looked at the corpse bored letting it fall to the ground on top of her other prisoners. "Well isn't that sweet, you can all leave this world together!" Fire engulfed the witch's hand and with a simple snap of her fingers engulfing bodies in sneering hot flames. Their screams wailed and died away they sub come to death's sweet embrace.
"Finished," Said Seressa as she turned giving Jäger her full attention. Large butterfly wings spouted from her shadow as she approached the wolf. "So what brings you here? I hope it's something fun?"
Jäger gulped nervously as she grabbed hold his arm. "You could say that. Shihime had a mission for us."
Seressa grinned, "Oh that does sound fun. Tell me all about it."
-break
Author's note
Kind of a weak ending, but I didn't know how else to end the chapter. Well next one should be out sooner.
