Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, or any of the characters from the anime and/or manga. Everyone else is mine :)
And we're back in battle!
Several of the kitsune spies relayed to the Lords that the bear youkai were hiding out in Inuyasha's Forest, biding their time, waiting to attack. When Inuyasha heard this, he immediately wanted to go out into the forest and unleash the Tetsusaiga on them. Sayua agreed, offering her support with her Mofubuki-ha. Kashikoi was more hesitant, afraid of allowing anyone to go up against the bear youkai alone.
"It's not an awful idea, Kashikoi," said Kouga. "They would be able to take on the bears alone, maybe annihilate some of them, allowing the shrine to take less damage."
"And my Lord Father could also use the Bakusaiga in the forest," Sayua added. "He cannot do that on the shrine grounds."
"You are correct, Daughter," replied Sesshomaru. "Between the three of us, we should be able to unleash something substantial and greatly reduce their forces."
"I say let's fucking do it," said Inuyasha savagely, pulling out the Tetsusaiga.
"I'm in, too," said Kagome, adjusting her quiver.
"No fucking way, mate," Inuyasha told her. "It's too dangerous."
"I can make a barrier and protect all three of you," Kagome said impatiently.
"We don't know that you can protect anyone other than me, 'Gome," Inuyasha replied. "I'd much rather have you here, protecting the shrine."
"Yes, Auntie," added Sayua. "You and Hideaki can combine your power and create a stronger barrier."
"I don't know if we can do that," Kagome said doubtfully.
"I'm sure we can figure something out," said Hideaki, coming up behind them and putting his arms around his mate's waist. "Do you have to go?" he murmured.
"You didn't see what I did to those bear fuckers last time," Sayua replied, turning to kiss his cheek. "I'll be fine."
"Daughter will be with us and will be well-protected, Son-in-Law," Sesshomaru told Hideaki. "You have nothing to fear."
"When do we go, Sess?" said Inuyasha impatiently.
"As soon as we have a plan for what will happen next," Sesshomaru replied.
"Simple," said Kouga. "You go in. Annihilate as many of those fucking bears as you can. Kagome and Hideaki put up the barrier. Any bears that get through, that's us," he added, turning to Kashikoi. The boar youkai nodded, his beady eyes barely slits on his face. "My wolves will tear those bears from limb to limb," Kouga added, his face hard. "They know that the bears have been gunning for our lands as much as the West. We're fighting to protect ourselves, too."
"And you're not going to do it alone, mate," said a light female voice from near the entrance to the grounds.
Their heads all whipped around. There stood a tall female wolf youkai, her red hair pulled back in a tight braid, an iris tucked daintily behind one ear. Her green eyes blazed with fury. Her hands were on her hips, which cocked out an angle, bringing attention to her exquisitely shining armor.
"Thought you could get rid of me, didn't you, my Lord?" she added in a mocking tone.
Kouga sighed and crossed the courtyard to clasp Ayame in his arms. "You were supposed to stay safe with Kagome's family," he said into her hair. "This isn't a fight I wanted you to be a part of."
She pushed away from Kouga and pointed a finger into his chest. "Bullshit," she retorted. "I have fought by your side for almost 500 years. I'm not going to stop because some stupid bears think they can take over our lands." Her eyes scoured the grounds, taking in everyone with a harsh glare. They settled on Kagome, and a hint of red seeped into the green.
"So it's okay for Ka-go-me to be here, and not me?" she hissed.
Kagome willed herself to not wilt under the pressure of Ayame's glare and mocking tone. Inuyasha's hand on her arm settled her. Her own eyes hardened in return.
"This is my home, Ayame-chan," she said quietly. "I'll not leave the work of protecting my home to others."
Surprising everyone, Ayame crossed the courtyard and took Kagome into her arms, pulling her away from Inuyasha. "Good girl," she said softly, hugging her former rival tighter. "Now let's kick some bear youkai ass."
Sayua, Sesshomaru, and Inuyasha stood at the gate between the shrine grounds and the forest. Kagome and Hideaki were with them, prepared to strengthen the barrier around the shrine as soon as they left. Beyond the gate, the bear youkai were lying in wait; they would have to use stealth if they wanted to take the bears by surprise.
"Please be careful, all three of you," Hideaki said, hugging his mate tightly.
Sayua laughed and kissed his mating mark; he sighed. "It'll be fine, mate," she replied. "You have nothing to worry about."
Hideaki's laugh in return was tense and hollow. He pulled away from her and looked hard at all three of them.
"If there are too many of them, please retreat," he said. "Kagome-sama and I will be here. We'll let down the barrier enough for the three of you to pass through. And please, don't do anything stupid." Everyone looked at Inuyasha.
Kagome swallowed nervously. Inuyasha caught this and buried her in his fire-rat haori. "It's gonna be fine, koishii," he said roughly. "I promise. I'll come back."
She reached up and kissed him. "I know. Just please…be careful."
"Little brother," Sesshomaru interrupted, "it's time."
Inuyasha grinned at her as he followed his brother and niece into the forest. "It'll be all right, 'Gome," he said as he disappeared into the trees. "I love you."
Kagome fell to her knees, tears dripping down her cheeks. "I know," she whispered. "But I might love you more."
Never, came his voice, gruff yet so gentle, from inside her head. Kagome's tears fell faster.
"Kagome-sama?" Hideaki's voice and hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality. He helped her to stand, and gently wiped away her tears. "We have a job to do, right?" She nodded tearfully. He took her hands into his own. "Then let's do it."
Hideaki and Kagome stood together, hands clasped between them. Together, they each reached back, into their third eyes, and pulled out their power. Hideaki's burned a deep purple; Kagome's was a heated magenta. Their auras shot up into the sky and twisted together, pink and purple intertwining. A loud explosion shot up over the shrine grounds. Inu, boar, ookami, and kitsune all turned their faces upwards and watched, expectantly, as they saw the massive protective barrier fall over the shrine. Kouga, Ayame, Kashikoi, and Asuka held their breath, watching the pink and purple shell slowly cascade down above them.
"Kagome did that?" exhaled Ayame at last.
Asuka grinned. "Auntie and my brother-in-law are pretty amazing, huh?"
"So long as they can keep up the barrier," Kouga said gruffly, "we'll have a chance."
The light from the barrier reached the confines of the forest, where Inuyasha, Sesshomaru, and Sayua were skulking quietly towards the clearing where they knew the bear youkai were gathered. The three paused to look up at the sky; Inuyasha muttered, "that's my girl," and Sayua allowed a brief, forced smile to cross her face. The knowledge that their friends and family were relatively safe gave them the motivation to keep going forward.
They crept along, keeping to the shadows and watching carefully for underbrush, when Sesshomaru suddenly put his hand up. Inuyasha and Sayua stopped. Sesshomaru turned to them, nodded in the direction of the forest once, and silently drew the Bakusaiga. He pointed to Sayua first, then to Inuyasha, then to himself. His brother and niece nodded, drawing their swords as well.
Inuyasha's ears twitched, trying desperately to pick up any sound in the forest. Very faintly, he could hear the voices of the enemy, not bothering to be quiet in the forest—in his forest. He growled softly. He was gonna annihilate those bear fuckers.
"We go now," Sesshomaru barely breathed. He pointed at Sayua again, and she nodded, taking the lead, her sword drawn. Inuyasha followed, Tetsusaiga at the ready, with Sesshomaru and Bakusaiga last. Sayua was an excellent tracker; she led them through the forest, avoiding loose branches and bushes, and they were quickly only a few meters away from the cleaning. Sayua looked back at her father and uncle; they nodded. With a roar, Sayua tore into the clearing, her sword aloft, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru quickly following.
The bear youkai were mapping out their attack; a number of them stood around a large piece of paper, talking quietly. At Sayua's howl, they looked up, surprised, and had little time to respond because Sayua shrieked, "Mobufuki-ha!" and ice shards shot from her sword and into the clearing. The bears howled in pain and rage. Inuyasha immediately followed her attack.
"Niece, get back!" he roared. "Kaze no kizu!"
Sesshomaru shoved his daughter aside and raised his sword. "Bakusaiga!" he screamed.
The demonic energy surrounding the Tetsusaiga captured the wind and blew forth in a rapturous fury, laying annihilating trees and blowing away rocks. The Bakusaiga, not to be outdone, shot its demonic energy out and across the clearing in bright purple sparks and crackles. Anything that it touched would not be able to regenerate.
When the dust cleared, all the bear youkai lay scattered across the forest floor in pieces. Sayua peeked out from behind a tree; Inuyasha and Sesshomaru stood back-to-back, swords at the ready, their chests heaving.
Sesshomaru motioned to his daughter. "Sayua." She quickly joined her father and uncle, creating a triangle defensive position. They stood quietly, listening for breathing, for any sound, for any movement.
There was nothing.
"We didn't get them all," Inuyasha muttered. "Look lively. Someone's bound to come at us."
But it was still silent. Then, Inuyasha heard something that caused his chest to squeeze, that caused his heart to turn cold and fall.
"INUYASHA!"
His eyes tinged red and purple jagged streaks appeared on his cheeks. He dropped his sword; when he spoke, his voice was rough and conveying a sense of no mercy. "Kagome."
"Little brother," said Sesshomaru warningly, "we cannot deviate from the plan."
Inuyasha growled in response.
"Please, Uncle," Sayua said desperately, "you cannot leave us here. We have to stick to the plan!"
Inuyasha only growled again and gripped the Tetsusaiga tighter. "Don't make me fight you, Brother," he snarled.
"Yes, by all means," said a mocking voice from just outside the clearing, "don't fight each other. Please."
Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, and Sayua looked up. A tall brown bear youkai entered the clearing, flicking his claws lazily.
"Who the FUCK are you?" Inuyasha positively screeched, his face losing all sense of humanity.
The bear laughed. "Isn't this lovely?" he said instead. "The Lord and Prince of the West, and my Lady," he mock-bowed. "It's so nice to officially meet you all."
Inuyasha was barely holding on. His youki was ready to unleash all its fury on this damn bear.
"This Sesshomaru demands to know who you are," Sesshomaru said coldly, the Bakusaiga ready and waiting.
The bear dipped his head. "Hokutou." He grinned, his bear fangs dripping with drool. "Ussuri was my brother."
"Fuck," Sayua breathed. Inuyasha rumbled loudly next to her. Only Sesshomaru remained nonplussed.
"And you are here to…" Sesshomaru inquired, not even bothering to finish his sentence.
The bear grunted. "Finish you off, my Lord." He drew a sword from his side and rushed at Sesshomaru, who deflected him with a flick of Bakusaiga.
"This Sesshomaru recommends that you cease this silly war," Sesshomaru commented, easily parrying each move the bear threw at him. Inuyasha made to rush forward, but Sayua held Inuyasha's arm, keeping him from getting involved. "Let my Lord Father handle this, Uncle," she whispered. "Please. Keep your youki under control."
Inuyasha jostled against her grip. "Kagome," he said again, his eyes on fire.
"We'll go to her," Sayua reassured him, flinching as metal clanged against metal around the clearing but not allowing her hold on him to go slack. "I promise." She frowned; after they heard Kagome scream, she suddenly suspected that their attack had actually been a distraction, something to lure Inuyasha and Sesshomaru away from the shrine, and she was worried. There weren't as many bears here as they were anticipating. Did they go to the shrine? Fearing for her own mate, Sayua understood Inuyasha's desire to get back as soon as possible.
"You thought," Sesshomaru said quietly, dodging or countering the bear's every move, "that you could make a move against this Sesshomaru's family." He brought the Bakusaiga down hard against the bear's sword; Hokutou needed two hands to block Sesshomaru's blow. Sesshomaru brought up a leg and jammed it into the bear's middle. Hokutou grunted and flew back into a tree, cracking it in half as he sank to the ground. Sesshomaru stalked towards his prey, sword still raised.
"You thought," he continued, in the same deadly calm tone, "that you could take what belongs to the Lords. That you could take what belongs to this Sesshomaru and to his kin." The bear blinked his eyes; Sayua could see him trying to pull himself together. Sesshomaru feinted with his sword in his right hand, and cracked his energy whip with his left. Hokutou ducked under the whip, but only barely. He leapt backwards into a tree.
"Chase me then, Lord of the West," he taunted. "But see if you can catch up before I burn the shrine to the ground…and the miko along with it." With a flash of his claws, Hokutou was gone.
"You bastard!" roared Inuyasha. He made to go after the bear, but Sesshomaru held out his hand. Inuyasha stopped, growling, more inu youkai than hanyou.
"Wait, little brother," said Sesshomaru. "Do not allow him to goad you. We will follow, and we will attack at will."
"Kagome," Inuyasha said. His eyes still red with blue pupils, he snarled and his fangs dripped with drool in anticipation. Sayua shuddered at the scent of bloodlust permeating from her uncle.
"Yes, little brother," Sesshomaru replied. "We go to your miko."
The air around the shrine crackled with all the youki brushing up against the barrier created by Hideaki and Kagome. It was tense as everyone waited for the arrival of the bear youkai. Ayame stayed close to Kouga, with Asuka close behind them. Kouga lifted his nose to the air and howled. The wolf youkai on the grounds, humanoid and wolf, lifted their heads and howled in return. Ayame shivered.
"They're here," she whispered.
Standing just inside the gate that linked the grounds to the forest, Kagome and Hideki kept their eyes closed, their hands linked, and maintained their concentration. Asuka left Kouga and Ayame and hurried over to her aunt and brother-in-law, who stood silent and sweaty from their efforts. Kagome's ponytail floated straight up in the air, whipping gently in rhythm with her breath. Suddenly there was a whoosh of pink light shooting from between her hands, causing Hideaki to wince slightly in surprise and pain from the force of her aura. She shot her aura up into the sky, wiling the barrier stronger and stronger. Asuka took a fighting stance beside her family, ready to protect them.
And she needed to. Because the bear youkai were at the gates.
The first bear to reach the gate was flung back by the barrier and promptly turned to ash by its power. The other bears saw this, and shrank back from the barrier. Asuka watched, fascinated, as the bears paced outside the shrine, growling and spitting and shaking their horrible claws at Hideaki and Kagome.
"Hold on, Auntie. Hold on, Brother," Asuka murmured. Kouga, Ayame, and Kashikoi joined her.
"What's going on, my Lady?" Kashikoi murmured, his beady eyes glinting against the pinky-purple light of the barrier.
"The bears can't get in," Asuka said, not taking her eyes off Kagome and Hideaki.
"Will this hold?" Ayame asked.
"The bears won't want to risk their lives on the barrier," Kouga said. "It'll hold."
"Wait," Asuka said suddenly. "What in the seven hells is that?"
The bear youkai were parting, and striding forward were a large, black and red bear, and a small, hooded figure. The bear and the hooded figure seemed to be talking closely together. The figure stepped forward and pushed its hood back; they could see it was a dark-haired woman with fiery red eyes. She pulled several ofudas from the sleeves of her cloak, whispered some words, and flung them at the barrier. They crackled against the barrier, and Hideaki and Kagome began breathing deeply and heavily, in an attempt to maintain the barrier's integrity. The ofudas hissed; the woman placed the tips of her fingers together and began to mutter. Hideaki and Kagome clasped their hands together more tightly; Kagome was turning pale and Hideaki was sweating more profusely. Hideaki started whispering words of encouragement to Kagome, whose face was strained with effort. The ofudas hissed again and dissipated. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as Hideaki's and Kagome's countenances relaxed.
The woman on the other side of the barrier wasn't giving up, though. She took a small potion bottle, also from the confines of her cloak, and motioned to the large black and red bear, who handed her a staff. She opened the bottle; Asuka and the others could see purple smoke emanating from the bottle.
"Fuck," muttered Kouga. "Look at the jyaki coming off that bottle."
The woman dipped the end of the staff into the bottle, then handed the bottle to the bear. He placed the stopper back on the bottle and slipped it into a pouch around his waist. The woman took the staff, muttered a few words, and hurled the staff, dipped end first, into the barrier.
The jyaki from the poison crackled against the barrier. It sparked and crackled. Hideaki sucked in a huge breath and shuddered; Kagome screamed as if in pain. "INUYASHA!"
The barrier faded, just enough, and the bears took advantage. They charged the shrine.
Kouga and Asuka leapt forward; Kouga grabbed Hideaki, and Asuka grabbed Kagome, before they both collapsed. They rushed them out of the way and sat them up against the shed that housed the Bone Eater's Well.
"Auntie?" Asuka asked worriedly.
"Kouga!" Ayame yelled.
"I gotta go," he said to Asuka. "Watch them. See if they regain consciousness." He turned and raced back to his mate, howling for his wolves to join them.
He found Ayame and Kashikoi, back to back, frantically fighting back the bear youkai. Kashikoi had turned into a massive boar; he was protecting Ayame by hurling the bears aside with his enormous tusks. Kouga roared; the Goraishi came to life on his hand.
"Mate, get down," he bellowed; he swung his right hand and bolts of lightning shot forth form the Goraishi. Ayame knelt down and pounded the ground with her fist, sending up a whirlwind of leaves that pushed back any bears not impacted by the Goraishi. Even as they decimating the front line of bears, more and more kept coming through the shrine gates.
"Ginta! Hakkaku!" Kouga yelled. "Great ready!" The bears swirled through the front line of Kashikoi, Kouga, and Ayame; for every bear they took down, it felt like three more got through the gate. The bears swarmed over the buildings; they tore up the flagstones; they decimated the courtyard.
"Kouga," Ayame panted, unleashing her Cutting Leaves over and over, "there's so many of them."
"I know it, mate," Kouga replied bluntly. "There were supposed to only by fifty of them. Just where the fuck did all these bears come from?"
"We've been hiding, Lord of the North," came a sinister, familiar voice from among all the bear youkai. "Or did you forget all about us?"
Kouga looked up; the Goraishi gleamed against the night. "Hokutou."
The bear youkai grinned; his sword raised, his fangs dripping in anticipation. "Usurper," he hissed, and launched himself at Kouga. Kouga flew at Hokutou, the Goraishi crackling electricity. Ayame screamed as the bear and wolf met in a flash of light.
Ayame's scream made Kagome's eyes fly open. She looked around wildly. "What's…what's going on?" she exclaimed.
Gentle hands pushed her back when she tried to stand. "Auntie, please." It was Asuka. "You must pull yourself together. We need your power."
Kagome grunted. "Help me with my bow and quiver, Niece. Please." Asuka immediately complied. She helped Kagome hook the quiver over her back, and gave her an arrow.
Next to them, Hideaki began to stir. He opened his eyes; Kagome and Asuka looked at him expectantly.
"My staff…" he murmured. Asuka handed it to him. He used it to pull himself to his feet. He took a few breaths, and his eyes slowly refocused.
"Brother, are you all right?" Asuka asked worriedly.
"I'm good," he groaned. He looked down at Kagome. "You ready, Kagome-sama?"
Asuka now held out her hand and helped Kagome to rise. She nodded, moving her bow to the ready position.
"Let's go hunt some bears," she said grimly.
Notes:
So Kagome FINALLY gets to be the hunter, not the hunted! See you at the next update, when the battle at the shrine comes to a head!
