(Winds of Betrayal)
"When the ten Fangs of Ryuhogo reunite after thousands of years, the Dragon Guardian shall at last fulfill his destiny and rid this world of the Jewel that has caused so much suffering, and begin a new era for all."
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Nightfall had come, and the moon and stars were shining throughout the skies above.
While travelling with Sesshomaru and the rest of his group, Rin glanced up at the sky and saw a shooting star pass overhead, so she closed her eyes and made a wish that she would be able to stay with Sesshomaru forever, but then Sesshomaru called out to her and beckoned for her to keep up with them. All the while, Sesshomaru noticed that there was something strange going on, which he noticed that A-Un (the two-headed dragon) seemed to realize as well.
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Meanwhile, with a certain group of wolves…
'Dammit, this is fucking insane.' Koga screeched to a halt at the edge of a cliff, glancing down at the stump where his arm used to be 'Even with the power of the jewel shards in my legs, I can't fight like I used to. I feel so… unbalanced without my arm. I knew what had to be done, I know I deserved it, but… it feels off. Even in the fight against Juromaru and Kageromaru, feeling like I was so off balance was what made me take so many blows from them.'
"Koga, hey Koga wait up!" this was when Ginta and Hakkaku, along with the rest of the wolves in their group, came running up to him, panting heavily from exhaustion "Let's… Let's just take a little breather okay? We can't keep up with this pace, none of us can. Even the wolves are about to keel over."
"Dammit would it kill any of you to build some endurance, if I had wait for the both of you then it would be at least 100 years before we find Naraku's castle. Then there's these two and the rest of the wolves. I thought having them come with me would give me some extra noses to work with, but I end up losing time whenever I have to wait for them. At this rate, I think I'd be better off tracking down Naraku on my own.'
"Is that where we're going, so you mean we haven't just been running around in circles for days for some reason?"
"Not a chance, don't tell me you haven't picked up on his foul odor. Besides, even without his rotten stench, I can still sense it. Naraku is nearby, I can feel it. We're gonna find his castle and force our way in, and this time we're gonna finish him off. I haven't forgotten about what was done to my comrades because they were deceived by Naraku and Kagura, and they'll pay for their lives in blood. I'll make sure of it without fail.'
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Meanwhile, with a certain incarnation…
At the same time, Kagura sat on the roof of Naraku's castle, gazing up at the night sky, noting how it was the night before the next new moon and thinking about how she was forced to remain bound to Naraku so long as he had her heart, but these thoughts were cut short when she noticed a large group of demons leaving the barrier surrounding the castle.
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Morning came, and the sun was rising over the skies above.
Tatsu stood in the middle of a clearing, looking over Kagome and seeing her covered in dirt and a few scratches and bruises "You sure you wanna keep going? If you need a break then-"
"No." Kagome quickly straightened herself up and brushed herself off a little bit, her eyes still blazing with determination "I've still got plenty of strength left, this is nothing."
"Alright, if you say so, but let me know if you feel like it's too much for you. Okay, here's what we're gonna try next." he backed up a fair distance as water began circulating around the outside of his body "Okay, here's what we're gonna do next. I'm gonna fire a Sea Dragon's Roar at you, and I want you to use a Sacred Arrow to purify it. You up for it?"
"I have to be either way." Kagome held up her bow and locked and loaded an arrow "Okay, I'm ready. Do it."
"Okay, if you're sure. Sea Dragon's Roar!" with a wave of his hand, he sent a large water dragon hurtling forward.
'I have to focus, focus on my goal, to protect my friends and to ensure that no one else has to suffer because of the Shikon Jewel.' with a deep breath, Kagome let the arrow fly forward into the mouth of the water dragon, unleashing a wave of spiritual power and purifying it within a matter of seconds "Yes, I got it! I got it!" she rushed over to Tatsu and pulled him into a tight hug in a fit of joy.
"You did good Kags, you're definitely getting better." Tatsu returned the hug, his mind drifting to recent events as he did so 'It's been a few weeks since the whole thing with Tsubaki, not much has happened since then. The most that actually has happened, aside from Shippo apparently being more of a ladies man than Miroku could ever dream of being. Seriously, first he tries to help some orphaned girl with a jewel shard and almost gets killed by a lizard demon over it, then he gets a challenge from a member of the Thunder Demon Tribe and I'm pretty sure he won her over too. But in any case, we've done a lot of travelling and slaid more than a few demons, and all the while Kagome asked me to step it up with training her. I guess being under Tsubaki's curse back then, as much as it messed with her head, gave her a new drive to get better.' he snapped himself out of his thoughts as he pulled away from her "Now if you're still feeling up to it, let's try something a little bit harder for you to hit."
"You're not gonna make me try and hit you with an arrow are you? I don't want to risk hurting you or anything."
"No no, nothing like that just yet. Not with archery at least. Don't get me wrong, I know you're a lot better at archery now, but the problem is that it's not very practical if you're trying to hit a moving target."
"What about my Ki sensing, couldn't that work?"
"It can help sure, but it can only get you so far. The bottom line is, if you're trying to hit a moving target, swordsmanship would be the best way to go. But for now, we're gonna try another exercise for your archery skills."
"Right, what do you have in mind?"
"This time I'm gonna have you use a Sacred Arrow to purify my Dragon Burst. It's not as big as my Sea Dragon's Roar or as powerful, so locking onto it and hitting it will be a bigger challenge for you. Sound fair?"
"Yeah sure, sounds good to me." so the two of them both backed up a fair distance, while she prepared another bow and arrow "I'm ready when you are."
"It's gonna have to wait a minute, we've got incoming."
Sure enough, it was at this moment that Miroku made his way into the clearing "I take it that your training is going well?"
"So far so good, she only needed one arrow to purify my Sea Dragon's Roar, and the way I am right now those things have power around the level of the Wind Scar."
"I see, very impressive then Kagome."
"You know you might wanna try and pick up a few things from these lessons yourself."
"Due respect, I'm not sure what there is I would be able to gain from such measures."
"A lot more than you think, at least if recent events are anything to come by, and I'm not just talking about how you and Sango got played like a bunch of suckers by that Thunder Demon kid last week."
"...Where are you going with this?"
"With that point itself, nothing. In general, I'm telling you what you need to hear. I've been watching you lately monk, and I'm just gonna come right out and say it. You don't know how to fight."
"Come again?" Miroku looked rather salty when he heard this "I can think of a number of demons out there that would disagree with that point."
"Well I'm about to prove them wrong. Kagome let's take a little breather, and in the meantime you mind holding these for me?" he removed the Fangs from his neck and swords from his back, and he promptly handed them to Kagome "Thanks."
"So what are you gonna do exactly?" asked Kagome.
"In simple terms, the monk and I have some work to do."
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Meanwhile, with the rest of the group…
'Come on, come on…' as for the rest of the group, Inuyasha had taken it upon himself to start sniffing the ground with Sango looking on from behind 'Dammit this fucking sucks, I'm not getting anything.'
"What's the matter Inuyasha?" asked Sango "You're not picking up any traces of Naraku's scent are you?"
"Shut your hole already, I'm trying to concentrate."
"Sniffing around on all fours isn't going to get us any closer to finding Naraku's castle is it?"
"I said shut your hole and let me concentrate, I'm gonna get somewhere eventually."
"I'm honestly not so sure about that."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. I'm not looking down on your abilities Inuyasha, I'm saying that the chances of you finding him today are slim to none. You of all people should know about what tonight is, the night of the new moon. Even if we do find Naraku today, what do you expect to be able to do to him when you're human? We all want to find Naraku, but we can't do anything rash right now."
"We've made it this far, there's no way in hell I'm holding back now."
"Just be realistic, we all want to find Naraku's castle as much as you do, but if we have any hope of actually defeating him, then we need to go about it properly. For the time being, we might as well train like Tatsu and Kagome are." this was when they noticed Shippo and Kirara running past them with Kagome's bag being dragged behind "What are you two doing?"
"Trying to get snacks." Shippo told her "Tatsu and Miroku are gonna fight, and we wanna watch it happen."
"...I'm not sure how to feel about this."
"I am, gimme the dried potatoes you little bastard." Inuyasha promptly pounced at Shippo and made a grab for the bag of chips he was carrying.
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About 5 minutes later…
By this point, Kagome sat off to the side, watching what was about to unfold "I'm not sure how I feel about this."
"Well it's gonna happen either way so deal with it." this was when Inuyasha and the others made their way over to the scene, snacks in hand "I don't know what the hell you're complaining about anyway, this is gonna be good."
"Of course you guys would think this." Kagome rolled her eyes as she took Shippo into her lap and wrapped her arms around him as he snuggled into her "He said something about trying to prove a point to him."
"Which probably means he's about to punch him out. I'm looking forward to this." he promptly ripped open the bag and shoved a few chips into his mouth.
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Meanwhile, across the clearing…
"Seems like Inuyasha's in high spirits over this." Miroku glanced over to where the others were watching on the sidelines, then turned to where Tatsu was doing some stretches "Does he know that we can hear them?"
"If I had to guess, I'd say that he does and he just doesn't give a shit about it." Tatsu broke off from his stretching and stood before Miroku, analyzing him for a moment "But in any case, you and I have work to do."
"I'm not sure what benefits this will yield."
"Just listen and you might learn something. I've been observing your fighting skills this entire time Miroku, and from what I've seen up until now, whenever we go into battle your fighting style mainly revolves around using your Wind Tunnel or sacred sutras, and if that doesn't work you deviate to using your staff. And if that itself doesn't work, you run. I've seen first hand that you have impressive levels of physical prowess, but putting that aside, if I had to guess then I'd say that you've never been in an actual straight up fight in your life."
"In what regard exactly?"
"I'm talking about hand to hand combat. In that regard, I doubt you've ever been in a real fight in your life."
"Tatsu I understand that you mean well, but-"
"Punch me."
"Why would I-"
"Do it."
"I took a vow of chastity, I work to aid the common man-"
"Cool it with the preaching and imagine Sango just asked me to father her children." this was met with the sight of Miroku gripping the prayer beads on his arm "Too far, got it. But to be fair, if you get to keep asking women to bear your children then she has the fight to do the same with any men she comes across."
"You said you wanted me to hit you?"
"You willing to do it now?"
"Surprisingly, yes." so Miroku let a fist fly towards Tatsu's jaw, only to end up being knocked flat on his face, which earned a loud snort from both Shippo and Inuyasha "I… I imagined that going differently."
"They always do." Tatsu promptly helped Miroku to his feet "Why don't we try and give that another shot."
"If you're sure." so with a deep breath, Miroku aimed a punch at Tatsu's jaw, only to end up being knocked flat on his ass, which caused Shippo to burst out laughing.
"You wanna give it one more try?"
"I suppose I might as well." so Miroku picked himself up and let a few punches fly.
Tatsu dodged most of Miroku's strikes, but on the last one he caught Miroku's fist and dealt him a punch to the face that once again knocked him flat on his ass and land in a mud puddle, which caused both Shippo and Inuyasha to burst out laughing. With a sigh, Miroku pulled himself back to his feet and wiped some of the mud from his face "As interesting as that was, my Wind Tunnel and spiritual powers protect me, and with them I can overcome nearly any sort of problem I may face in battle."
"You can't always rely on your Wind Tunnel. Putting aside from the fact that it shortens your life every time you use it, you're way too dependent on it. With someone like Naraku, and even in general, you have to be prepared for anything. The same tactic isn't going to work every time, and that's why I'm having Kagome alternate between swordsmanship and archery when we're training now. You can't always expect one tactic to work on the same enemy every time, just take a look at Naraku. He tries to manipulate us and make us suffer at every chance he gets, and he fails to take us out every time. The point is, you have to be flexible and willing to adapt to any changing situations. If you don't then you get complacent, and that leads to arrogance, and that more than likely leads to you getting your ass handed to you." this was when Tatsu's head suddenly snapped up "And I'm guessing we're about to come face to face with a living example of that. Look alive guys, we've got incoming."
"What do you mean?" Kagome and the others looked up at the cyclone in the distance hurtling towards them "Oh, so that must mean…"
"Yep, another run in with…"
"With Koga."
Sure enough, the cyclone sped onto the scene, ran over Inuyasha for some reason, and then came to a stop in front of Kagome "Yo Kagome, it's great to see you again."
"Oh hey Koga, I thought I could sense you coming this way."
"From that much of a distance huh, looks like your sensing has really improved. So I'm guessing that you and the mutt and the rest of your group followed the scent around here too?"
"Yeah more or less, but don't call him a mutt. You don't see him insulting you like that. Oh wait, actually you do."
"Why you little…" Inuyasha let out a snarl as he pulled himself back to his feet, drew Tessaiga and pounced at Koga in a rage "I'LL KILL YOU!"
"Tatsu?"
"On it." Tatsu blitzed in front of Inuyasha, summoned an iron club and promptly slammed it down on Inuyasha's head, knocking him to the ground. And then he proceeded to do the exact same thing with Koga "That's better."
"Better my ass!" Koga picked himself up and rounded on Tatsu in a rage "What the hell did you do that for?"
"Aside from using Inuyasha like a literal doormat, we were in the middle of training when you decided to barge in on it uninvited. Again."
"So what, you're training Kagome again?"
"No I finished up with her for the time being, right now I was in the middle of trying to get a point across to the monk, and now that I think about it the point applies to you too." to that end, he promptly dragged Miroku over to them and addressed both of them "You two both have some incredible powers at your disposal that give you advantages over most of the enemies you come across."
"Why are you saying that like it's a bad thing?"
"Because to put it bluntly, it is a bad thing. It's made you grow complacent. The Wind Tunnel in your right hand Miroku, and the jewel shards in your legs Koga. These give you advantages in a battle sure, but you've both become dependent on them. There are times when you might not be able to fight with what you're used to, and when that happens you have to adapt to the situation and work around this handicap."
"And how do you suggest we go about this?" asked Miroku.
"In any way you can, the point is you have to be resourceful and versatile, or else you'll end up becoming predictable and your enemies can and likely will take advantage of that."
"Yeah whatever." Koga let out a snort "I don't see what the big deal is, jewel shards or no jewel shards I'm the leader of the Wolf Demon Tribe, and I'm doing just fine on my own."
"Do you seriously live in your own little world?"
"Yeah, but unfortunately I have to share it with people like you and the mutt back there, when I should be sharing it with Kagome."
"...Yeah okay, that one's on me. So getting back to why the hell you're here to begin with, you came here looking for Naraku's castle didn't you?"
"Pretty much yeah, I don't know why but I'm picking up some strong whiffs of Naraku's foul stench. That never happened before."
"Uh huh."
"That is something new to us." Sango frowned in thought "It must mean that the barrier that surrounds Naraku's castle is getting weaker."
"No that's too sloppy, this is Naraku we're talking about. For all we know, this is probably just his way of trying to lure us into another trap."
"In any case, if I follow this scent then I'll find his castle." Koga then turned back in the direction of where Kagome had been sitting before and gently clasped a set of hands, his eyes closed as he did this "You don't have to worry, I promise you that I'll have Naraku's head on a pike by this time tomorrow."
"Open your eyes and say that again."
Koga opened his eyes and found that it was Miroku he was holding hands with, which caused him to break away, only to feel something else "That better not be your hand touching my tail monk."
"It is." Tatsu pulled Koga away from Miroku and patted him on the back "He was actually trying to make a grab for Sango, supposedly, and I can tell you now that this likely won't be the last time he does that. Take it from a voice of experience."
"Good to know. Speaking of which, what's up with the mutt back there, something's different about him."
"How so?"
"He doesn't smell like a mutt, what did he take a soak in the river or something?"
'...Shit, he can smell Inuyasha losing his demon power? I'd better get rid of him fast, thank god for it too. Don't you have anything better to do right now? You've spent so long standing around with us that even your lackeys have caught up with us."
"Wait what?"
"Hey Koga wait up, hold on a second!" this was when Ginta and Hakkaku, along with all of their solves, could be seen running towards them from the distance "Oh thank god, we finally caught up with you!"
"Oh yeah right, I don't have time for this. I'll see ya later Kagome. As for the rest of you, make sure you don't forget that Naraku's head is mine!" and so he took off in his cyclone and promptly disappeared into the distance.
"...Yeah he's gonna get spanked."
"Come on Koga, please just slow down a little bit! Wait for us!" Ginta, Hakkaku and the wolves came panting through the scene "Oh hello Kagome and friends."
"Thanks for at least acknowledging the rest of us."
"Sorry we can't stay and chat, Koga needs us." and so they bolted through the scene in the direction of Koga's cyclone.
"Makes sense, someone has to keep him from getting himself killed." Tatsu then spared a glance over at Miroku "Tell me at least you picked something up from what I said."
"I admit that you raised some points that I did not stop to think about before. After all, I can almost never use my Wind Tunnel in any of the traps Naraku sets for us because he almost always sends in those poisonous insects. Perhaps I do need to rethink my tactics in battle."
"Good enough for me, at least for now."
"What about Koga, do you think we should go after him?" asked Sango.
"No let him go for now, he won't find anything worthwhile anyway. Besides, trying to get into anything today is a bad idea. If we're gonna make any sort of move then we should at least wait until tomorrow morning."
"What?!" this was when Inuyasha finally bolted to his feet "There's no way I'm gonna sit on my ass doing nothing all day, he's gonna show us up!"
"There's two big factors you're not considering right now."
"Like what?"
"Well for starters, you of all people should understand how bad of an idea it is for Naraku to see you on the night of the new moon." that caused Inuyasha to fall silent "If Naraku learns you have a moment of weakness like that, that puts you in serious danger along with all of us. You need to be careful around him."
'Shit, it had to be tonight of all nights. The timing of this fucking sucks, why did this have to happen when Naraku's scent is all over the place.'
"Besides, there's one other factor to take into consideration. I've noticed that whenever Koga is around, a certain pattern usually comes into play."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. Think about it. Up until now, our interactions with Koga have all gone pretty much the exact same way. Koga shows up, he talks shit, you blow your top within a few seconds, he talks more shit, he runs off, he takes on the enemy by himself, he gets his ass handed to him and we have to swoop in and save him at the last second."
"...Oh."
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Meanwhile, with a certain wind sorceress…
Around this time, Kagura was wandering throughout the halls of Naraku's castle when she noticed Kanna come up behind her with her mirror in hand, revealing an image of Koga while he was searching for the castle, and that Naraku was not present in the castle. Kagura decided to take the chance to kill Koga herself, despite Kanna warning her not to.
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Meanwhile, with the wolves…
'Come on, this is ridiculous!' as darkness fell overhead, Koga and the rest of his group stood in a grassy field covered by fog, sniffing around for any trace of Naraku but finding nothing 'I can't find anything about Naraku, I know the smell is strongest right here and I'm even trying to sense this Ki stuff that Tatsu mentioned last time I saw him, so I know the castle has to be somewhere around here.'
"Hey Koga check it out, up there!" Hakkaku suddenly directed Koga's attention to where an army of armed skeletons were descending towards them.
"Moving skeletons armed with swords, what the hell is-" Koga cut himself short when he was forced to dodge a wind blade being aimed at him "That sort of attack, moving skeletons and this scent…"
"So you could tell it was me." this was when Kagura descended onto the scene "It's been far too long Koga, since the last time we faced each other."
"Great, you again. So what's with the skeletons?"
"These are the guards of the castle, and their numbers are nearly limitless."
"I couldn't give less of a shit about them, you're the one I want Kagura. I could never forget the face that makes me want to wretch every time I see it. You're the one responsible for the deaths of so many of my comrades, and for that I've got no problems with staining these lands with your very blood! I'm gonna make you pay nice and slow for their deaths!" and so he pounced forward in a rage.
"I have to admit, I was looking forward to our next encounter myself. I was so close to getting the jewel shards in your legs before, but this time those wretched fools aren't around to get in my way. It's gonna be easy to slow him down, all I have to do is make him dance for me. Dance of the Dead!" with a wave of her fan, she sent her skeleton soldiers hurtling forward.
"Enough of your tricks, if you're as confident as you look then get over here and face me head on like a real warrior!" Koga didn't waste any time as he started ripping through the skeletons with one blow each.
"Dance of Blades!" seeing Koga ripping through her skeletons so easily, Kagura waved her fan and unleashed a barrage of wind blades.
"Surprise you conniving wench!" Koga blitzed around each wind blade and made a beeline towards Kagura herself as he let a fist fly, resulting in a loud impact that created a sizeable cloud of dust and left a small crater in its wake 'Did I get her?'
"You're wasting your effort fool, and for that I'll cripple you! Dance of the Dragon!" from her place in mid air, Kagura waved her fan and engulfed Koga within a large whirlwind of bones and skulls that quickly surrounded him.
"You think this is gonna trap me just like that?!" Koga promptly started attacking the skulls and bones within the whirlwind to try and free himself, though he had little success.
"You can choose your own fate Koga, you can let the skeletons within the whirlwind rip you to shreds, or you can free yourself and allow me to kill you myself. Either way, the outcome will suite me just fine."
What went unnoticed (or more likely not cared about) was that Hakkaku and Ginta were both watching the battle unfolding "This is bad, Koga may be tough but even he doesn't stand a chance against that thing. What the hell are we gonna do now?"
"Well it's not like the two of us are strong enough to help." Ginta pointed out "If anything, we'd probably only end up getting in Koga's way."
"But we can't just leave him in there!"
"I know, but still… Then there's that wench, she looks like she's enjoying this."
"Take a look at that fan of hers, if we could get her away from it somehow then maybe we'd get a chance to save Koga."
"Hey yeah you're right, you can get up close and snatch it from her."
"Back up, you want me to do it? Are you out of your mind? She'll notice me before I can even get close, and then she'll hack me to bits!"
"Well I can't do it either, so what are we supposed to do? Neither of us are strong enough, and the only person I can think of that is… Oh man, Koga's gonna be mad about this."
"Ginta stop talking like you're crazy, what are you talking about?"
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Meanwhile, with the main group…
With nightfall upon them, and Inuyasha having turned human as a result, the group had settled down near an abandoned hut for the night.
"Okay, Inuyasha's by the fire and Sango and the others are keeping him calm." Tatsu poked his head out the door of the hut, and then he turned back to Kagome and the others "I think we all know that Koga talks out his ass a lot."
"But his actions are proof that Naraku is becoming weaker." Miroku pointed out.
"Either that or it's his way of trying to lure us into another trap, but either way we should at least try to scope out exactly where his castle is located."
"But it's not like we can take Inuyasha with us as he is right now." Kagome pointed out "He can't fight and if Naraku finds out when he turns human, it's all over for him."
"He doesn't have to, I'll go scope it out myself."
"You shouldn't go alone, I'll go with you."
"And knowing you're not going to take no for an answer, he agrees begrudgingly. While we're doing that, Miroku and Sango stick around and make sure Inuyasha doesn't try to follow us or do anything stupid or reckless."
"And if he does object to you leaving him behind, we'll have Kagome make him sit and then we can simply knock him out." Miroku was met with a series of dull looks "What?"
"I said all of it today, don't become to dependent on any one method, or at the very least, make sure you're not totally predictable. Guess which category that falls into. He's already in one of his moods after Koga's unwanted visit earlier today, do you wanna deal with the aftermath of all of that? We're gonna have to come up with something new, worse comes to worse I'd probably be able to use my powers to pin him to the ground or chain him to a tree."
"Whatever you're gonna do, you're gonna have to do it fast." this was when Sango burst into the hut and unceremoniously threw Inuyasha onto the floor "Koga's friends are coming back here right now, we can't let them see Inuyasha when he's human."
"...Yeah, it's gonna be one of those days isn't it? Or nights as the case may be. You guys keep him in here, Kagome let's go find out what they want." so with a sigh, Tatsu and Kagome made their way out of the hut "I can sense them, they should be here any second now."
"Kagome, Tatsu, quick we need your help!" sure enough, Ginta and Hakkaku came running up to them, screeching to a halt in front of them and gasping for air "Koga… in trouble… Need help before…"
"Slow down, take a breath and start from the beginning." Kagome told him gently "Now what's happening to Koga?"
"Right… right…" Hakkaku took a deep breath, and then he started again "We were out looking for Naraku's castle, but then Kagura showed up with a huge army of skeletons. Koga started fighting them on his own, but it's not looking too good for Koga right now."
"So he's fighting Kagura all on his own, and you two came to us for help." Tatsu shared a quick glance with Kagome 'Well on one hand, I was right about Koga getting into trouble. On the other hand, at least this means Inuyasha isn't gonna come charging out here. I doubt he'd be willing to go out of his way for Koga. But at the same time, if Kagura showed up then Naraku himself can't be that far away. Still though, Naraku had put up a barrier around Naraku's castle to keep us from getting close. Well in any case, if one of Naraku's incarnations is involved, this isn't the sort of thing we can just ignore. I'm just hoping that-"
"Listen up you mangy fleebags!" this was when Inuyasha burst out the door, revealing his human form to Hakkau and Ginta, and then he proceeded to beat them both over the head.
"-that this exact thing doesn't happen. So nevermind I guess."
"Listen and listen you good you idiots, you tell a single soul about this then the minute I get my power back, I'm cramming Tessaiga down both your throats!"
"What he said, but less intimidating. Bottomline, Inuyasha's human right now and don't tell anyone about it. Got it?" Tatsu was met with two simultaneous thumbs up "Good, as long as we're clear on that. Okay let's get going, the sooner we get Koga out of there the sooner we can make some actual progress in defeating Naraku."
"What do you mean? All we have to to is find Naraku's castle and-"
"Let me stop you right there. I know Koga's got strength and speed going for him, but it's gonna take a lot more than that to bring down someone like Naraku, someone with that much demonic power in the palm of his hand, and someone that has no problems with fighting dirty. I know that you guys are Koga's friends and that you want to support him, but to put it bluntly, unless you guys can think of some powerful weapon he can get his hands on that can unleash huge blasts of demonic energy and obliterate his enemies, he's pretty much out of luck."
"...Wait a second." Hakkaku and Ginta shared a look, and then turned back to Tatsu "You might be onto something there."
"You have something in mind?"
"Not us, but maybe… Can you read?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Then that means you'd be able to… No wait, it woudln't work."
"What are you talking about?"
"There's a scroll that the former alpha of the pack kept back near our den, but none of us know how to read, so we could never tell what's in it. Even if we could, we left it back in our territory in the mountains. It would take us days to get back there, maybe weeks."
"...Maybe you guys, but not me."
"What do you mean?"
"After the whole thing with the Birds of Paradise, I learned how to teleport. I can only use it to places I've been to before, but since I've been around that area before, I can help you get what it is and be back within a few hours."
"Really?!"
"Yep. But even so…" Tatsu glanced over at where Kagome was grabbing her weapons and strapping them to herself "Are you gonna be okay until I get back?"
"This is what you've been training me for hasn't it?" Kagome gave him a reassuring smile filled with resolve "You go ahead and help them with whatever we need, we can take care of things until you get back."
"Okay. I promise I'll be back as soon as I can." so he promptly grabbed Hakkaku and Ginta by the arms, and the three of them disappeared in a white flash.
"Okay let's go, we've gotta get to Koga before it's too late."
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Meanwhile, with the wolf in question…
'Yes, this is nice.' Kagura's smirk widened as she watched Koga struggle within her Dance of the Dragon 'I can smell his blood in the air. Yes that's right, don't stop until you've ripped that pathetic wolf to shreds. What's the matter Koga, you're not too scared to come out and face me are you, or is it that you're already dead?"
"Don't fucking flatter flatter yourself witch, nothing you can do could ever even come close to killing me!" Koga let out a snarl as he continued destroying various skulls and blades within the whirlwind, only for several more to leave numerous cuts across his body 'Dammit this isn't getting me anywhere, every time I destory a skull or a blade it's like three more pop up in its place. My strength isn't going to hold out forever, so what in the hell am I supposed to do about this?'
"You know what, maybe I'll let you out. After all, if I rip you into too many pieces then I'll have a hard time finding the jewel shards you keeps in you legs."
"You've got nothing to worry about as far as that's concerned wench!" Koga promptly burst up through the top of the whirlwind, covered in cuts and wounds but still alive and more than ready for a fight.
"Well I have to give you credit, you're persistent if nothing else, but it's not going to remain that way for too much longer."
"You're damn right wench, now your head is mine!" Koga hurtled down towards her, only to suddenly find himself being ambushed from behind by a large group of skeletons soldiers that clung onto his back 'Dammit… I can't move!'
"You can run as much as you like you fool, but you'll never be able to escape from the wrath of my wind! Dance of Blades!" with a wave of her fan, Kagura attacked Koga with a barrage of wind blades that left several deep gashes all over his body, cutting the jewel shards right out of his legs in the process.
'My shards of the jewel…' Koga could only look on in horror as he fell to the ground in a heap, leaving his jewel shards to hit the ground just out of his reach.
"Well that went well. Now then…" Kagura promptly picked up the jewel shards and spared a glance over at Koga, her eyes radiating sadistic glee "Now that I have the two jewel shards from your legs, you're nothing more than an ordinary demon now. Since I don't have any further use for you, I think it's time for me to finish you off."
"Go ahead and try it." Koga's tone was laced with venom and defiance.
"Defiant until the end. How admirable. Too bad it's going to be the death of you." Kagura then raised her fan in preparation for finishing him off, only to be stopped by an arrow landing in front of her, and she scowled at the sight of it "Great, it had to be Kagome."
Sure enough, it was at this moment that Kagome and the others came flying onto the scene while riding on Kirara's back "That was a warning shot Kagura, step away from Koga or the next one is going through your heart."
"...Fine so be it, I have what I came for anyway. Good news for you Koga, your life has been spared. For now at least." and so she took off on the giant fan.
With Kagura gone from the scene, Kagome got down from Kirara's back and quickly knelt down by Koga's side "Sorry I took so long to get here Koga, are you okay?"
"I've had worse, and I'll live, but…" Koga tried to sit up, only to cough up some blood and glance down at his legs "She got away, and she took the jewel shards with her."
"This shouldn't take too long to heal, just give me a minute."
"Thanks."
"You might as well leave the wolf alone Kagome, he's gonna die anyway."
"Yeah well what's it to you mutt?" Koga shot a dirty look over at Inuyasha, only to falter when he saw his human form "What the hell… Inuyasha?"
"What's it to you?" Inuyasha's pissed off gaze hardened "You're just pathetic Koga, you went and let yourself get beaten so badly by someone like Kagura."
"Like you've got any room to talk, you're nothing but a weak mortal. I figured you were nothing but a half-demon, and now all of it makes sense. Half-demons are known for fearing for their lives, and I heard that when they're trapped in their mortal state they never have the guts to show themselves before the enemy. You've got a lot of courage yourself mutt, to come and show your face around me when you look like that."
"Yeah you're right about that Koga, so now that you know my secret…" Inuyasha promptly grabbed the hilt of Tessaiga and drew it from its sheath, though it didn't transform.
"You wanna fight do you?"
"I'm gonna have to drive this sword down your throat right here and now."
"Bring it you worthless son of a-" Koga tried to bolt to his feet, only to end up falling flat on his back instead.
"Koga take it easy." Kagome formed a series of hand seals and went through the incantation, and then she let her hands glow with white energy as she placed her palms down on Koga's back "My Healing Hand spell is something I learned from my grandpa, I'm not as proficient with it as he is just yet, but it's still easy enough to heal cuts like this in about two minutes."
"Oh, well then…" Koga found himself blushing at the feel of her touch "Thank you Kagome, I really appreciate the help. She feels so warm to the touch.'
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Meanwhile, with Kagura…
After escaping with Koga's jewel shards, Kagura came to the realization that Naraku was no longer in his castle and his barrier was getting weaker, and so she decided not to give the jewel shards to him. She took some time to think about how she had an opportunity to escape and free herself from Naraku's clutches, until she remembered that he had her heart. It was then that she came to a certain realization, about the one person she felt could sever the connection between her and Naraku, and free her from Naraku's grasp
What she didn't realize was that Naraku was sensing all of this going on, from where he lay in the form of a severed head in a basement full of scattered body parts of various demons.
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Meanwhile, with the main character of this story…
With a white flash, Tatsu and the others materialized atop a certain mountain "Okay here we are, what I'm guessing used to be the home ground of the Birds of Paradise. Only now it smells like roast chicken. It's not bad."
"Why did you bring us here though?" asked Hakkaku "I thought you were bringing us all the way back to our den."
"I thought I told you guys before we left, my teleporting can only take me to places that I've been before. I've been up to this mountain sure, but never to your actual den. From here on out I'm gonna need you guys to show me the way, your den is where we'll find that scroll Koga's sister left behind right?"
"Actually it's not kept in the den, it hasn't been since she… Anyway, we decided to keep the scroll hidden away at her grave. None of us ever opened it either."
"Because you guys can't read."
"Actually Koga can, Akari taught him back when he was growing up. He never opened the scroll though. I guess…"
"It was just too painful for him?" Tatsu breathed a sight as the three of them started walking "I get that a lot better than you think I do."
"You do?"
"More than you think. If I had to guess, I'd say that underneath all of his constant badmouthing and acting like a smartass, he misses her more than anything, and the reason why he hasn't opened that scroll is because to him, it's one of the last things that connects him to her, and if he reads it then that's it, it's over. I'm pretty much the same way with my dad." he tapped the necklace he wore with a single finger "In some ways, he and I aren't that different. And in other ways, he's identical to Inuyasha. Anyway where's the grave? The sooner we get this thing, the sooner we can get back to the others. I don't want to leave them alone with Koga for any more than I have to."
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Meanwhile, with the most popular character of the original series…
"Oh wow, it's sparkled!" by this point, Jaken had taken to gazing up at the stars that covered the night sky, displaying a wondrous degree of childlike innocence "A star just sparkled, did you see it Lord Sesshomaru? Are you listening?"
'Just ignore him, and eventually he'll stop talking.' Sesshomaru kept telling himself this as he kept walking in silence.
'Honestly, in recent times Lord Sesshomaru has done things that even his own vassal cannot hope to understand.' Jaken glanced over to where Rin was sleeping on A-Un's back 'I'm so lonely too, that foolish child is so ignorant of the woes that plague me, and so she does nothing but sleep the days away.' he ended up running into the back of Sesshomaru's legs "Lord Sesshomar whatever is the matter, why have you stopped?"
"Have you not noticed yet Jaken? His scent is in the air."
"The scent? Wait you're right, it's the scent of that wretch Naraku! Is he nearby?"
"He's drawing close, prepare yourself."
This was when a powerful gust of wind blew through them, sending Jaken tumbling back as well as seding Rin crashing to the ground, courtesy of Kagura as she dropped down onto the scene in front of them "Yo. Tell me Sesshomaru, I assume that you came here following Naraku's scent as the others have."
"You are one of Naraku's incarnations, Wind Sorceress Kagura as I recall." Sesshomaru's gaze hardened as he gripped the hilt of Tokijin.
"So you do remember me, I am very flattered. You can take your hand away from your sword, I didn't come to you looking for a fight. I have a proposition that you might be interested in."
"...Go on."
"You know what these are don't you?" she held out Koga's jewel shards in one hand.
'Two shards of the Shikon Jewel… and they carry the scent of wolf on them. Why come to me with those?"
"These are my proposition Sesshomaru. I'm willing to give you these shards of the jewel, and in return… I want you to kill Naraku. I want you to free me, release me from his grasp." now that got a reaction out of both Jaken and Rin, and it was one of shock "You have the power to do this, and once you kill Naraku all of the Shikon Jewel shards he's gathered will be yours. We can use those shards and provide ourselves with a little bit of amusement."
"You intend to betray Naraku?"
"It's not as though I've chosen to live with his heel pressed against my neck. So what do you think of my plan? I believe that joining forces would be of mutual benefit to us."
"...An interesting prospect, but a flawed one given the circumstances." Sesshomaru was met with a scowl from Kagura.
"What's that?"
"Unfortunately for you, I have no interest in anything the Shikon Jewel has to offer. If your wish to become free is as strong as you claim it to bee, then use those shards of the jewel yourself in order to destroy Naraku."
"Are you telling me that you're afraid of him?"
"What I'm telling you is that I'm under no obligation to assist you. If you don't have the resolve to carry out this plan of yours alone, then you should not even think about betraying him."
Kagura's scowl deepened even further as she heard this "You foolish coward, and you dare to call yourself a man?" this caused both Rin and Jaken to gasp "It would seem that I had misjudged you after all, you pathetic fool." and so she promptly took off on her giant feather.
'So she departed, and after questioning my manhood. Good riddance.'
"What a despicable woman!" Jaken started squawking on Sesshomaru's behalf "You know what, I wonder if she truly intended to make you her protector. Talk about gall, where on earth does she get the nerve? She's just an incarnation, nothing more and nothing less.
"I would not have been her protector Jaken. She intended to use me to her own end."
"You're already so strong Lord Sesshomaru, you don't even need the power of the Shikon Jewel to make yourself stronger." Rin told him.
"Well said Rin, and very true. Kagura the Wind Sorceress, her plan to use me has failed, but I still wonder. Will she be able to use the Shikon Jewel and defeat Naraku by herself? Either way, it is not my concern. Let's be on our way, we've wasted enough time here."
"Of course my lord. And Lord Sesshomaru?"
"Yes?"
"I'm not lonely anymore, I haven't been since I met you. But I wonder, do you think Kagura may be lonely?"
"...Let's go."
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Meanwhile, back with the main group…
"Alright, there we go." after finishing with the Healing Hand, Kagome took it upon herself to wrap some bandages around Koga's wounds "I didn't wind it too tight for you did I?"
"No it's fine Kagome, thank you." Koga gave a charming smirk (or what he interpreted to be such a thing), but got little reaction back 'Dammit, nothing from her? Your remedies and amazing healing abilities are more than enough to take away any pain I feel."
"Do yourself a favor Kagome, leave that half-dead wolf shit alone." this was when Inuyasha had decided to pick a fight with Koga in his typical fashion "If you can move then get the hell out of here already, it's not like any of us want you around here anyway."
"Like you've got any room to talk, you're the one that's nothing but a pathetic mortal with hair bigger than your ego. You don't have any right to try and criticize the shape I'm in."
"You think I'm like this by choice wolf shit?"
"You wanna fight?"
"Bring it on, I've got no problems bashing your skull in."
"Just what I was about to say dog shit!"
"Will you two give it a rest?" Kagome was quick to intervene in their squabble "Don't you two think we have more important things to do, like go after Kagura and take back the jewel shards that she stole from you?"
"...Oh yeah. Good thinking as always Kagome. Let's get moving."
"What the hell do you mean we?" Inuyasha shot another dirty look at him "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"What do you think mutt? Those shards are mine, there's no way in hell I'm gonna let you get your hands on them."
"Enough bickering you two!" Kagome mounted her bike and motioned for the two of them to get on Kirara's back, and the group took off running "I can sense the jewel shards pretty clearly, and where we'll find the shards we'll find Kagura too."
"So where is she then?" asked Miroku "Has she returned to Naraku's castle yet?"
"It doesn't feel like it, if anything it feels like the jewel shards are moving further away from there by the second."
'This doesn't make any sense. Kagura was created from Naraku's body as one of his incarnations, so shouldn't she be acting according to Naraku's will?'
"Do you think maybe she's stealing those jewel shards on her own?"
"I think it's possible, but don't you think this whole thing is strange? Even the barrier that surrounds the castle. How is it that Inuyasha and Koga were able to pick up the scent of the castle now of all times?"
"Well Tatsu did say that Naraku is probably setting a trap and that's why."
"It's possible, but perhaps it's because Naraku's own powers are growing weaker."
"His powers are growing weaker… just like Inuyasha's. Right, Naraku isn't a full demon, so he must be a half-demon."
"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Koga.
"You probably don't know this, but Naraku isn't a full-blooded demon. 50 years ago, he used the body of a human named Onigumo and gathered the powers of dozens of demons. He still has some humanity at the core of his being, so he's a half-demon like Inuyasha is. Inuyasha loses his powers on the night of the new moon, and every half-demon loses their power and becomes mortal at some point, at least based on what Myoga told me, so maybe Naraku has a time of his own where his powers grow weaker."
"Which means he might have a weakness too." Sango finished for him "But why now?"
"That's her, no doubt about it." this was when Koga's head suddenly snapped up, and he promptly got off Kirara's back and leapt onto the ground.
"What are you doing?" asked Kagome.
"I can sense Kagura here, there's no mistaking that rotten stench. Thanks for helping me, but I'm gonna go on ahead and rip her apart."
"Koga you don't have your jewel shards, you can't beat her as you are right now. Don't try and fight her until Tatsu gets back, he can help you."
"Shards or no shards, I'm the leader of the Wolf Demon Tribe and I have a responsibility to avenge my pack. Besides, unlike that runt Inuyasha I can say that I'm a real demon! I'll see you up ahead!" and so he took off ahead of them, not as fast as before but still having above average levels of speed.
"I have a bad feeling about this."
"Who the fuck do you think you're calling a runt?!" Inuyasha couldn't help blowing his top once again at one of Koga's insults.
"Will you give that a rest Inuyasha, we have a big problem right now. Koga doesn't have his jewel shards anymore, if he goes after Kagura then he's gonna get killed!"
"And the problem is?"
"...You know what I'd tell you to do if you weren't human right?"
"But you won't."
"You're right. I don't need to. Kirara, can you let Inuyasha down?" this prompted Kirara to tilt on her side and make Inuyasha fall to the ground with a thud, while Kagome caught Shippo in her arms and gently set him down in the basket of her bike as she pulled over, and then she mounted Kirara's back along with Sango "We'd better go on ahead and help Koga out in any way we can. Miroku, can you make sure Inuyasha stays out of sight a little bit longer?" and so they promptly took off after Koga.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me, there's no way in hell I'm gonna sit on my ass and do nothing like some kind of-" he was cut off by Miroku hitting him in the head with his staff and knocking him to the ground "What the fuck was that for?"
"I'm simply doing what I must to stop you from doing anything reckless." Miroku told him calmly, and then he gestured to the swarm of Saimyosho coming towards them "Those insects are proof that Naraku is starting to make his move, and our whole objective is to make sure he can't see you when you're like this."
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Meanwhile, up in the mountains…
A simple pile of rocks sat on the edge of the cliffside, a few aged and withered flowers placed on the top of them, and a simple scroll resting wedged underneath one of the rocks.
This is what Tatsu saw when he and the others arrived on the scene "So this is it then, we finally found the place?"
"Yep, this is the grave of Akari, one of the leader's of our pack, and Koga's sister." Ginta told him grimly, his tone somber "She wasn't like the other wolf demons. She was beautiful and strong and loyal to the pack, but she was also so kind. No matter what challenged she faced or what she was feeling, she never fought to kill or to get revenge or anything. She fought only to protect those she held close to her."
"Sounds like she was really something."
"She was." Hakkaku muttered quietly "It's still amazing that it's been six whole years since we lost Sis, the whole pack took it hard. Koga took it the worst though, and he still misses her more than he'd let anyone know."
"So what about the flowers, your handiwork I'm guessing?"
"No not us, it was probably Koga who did it."
"So he's got a soft spot then?"
"Koga can be ruthless and pretty rough around the edges, but you'll never see him turn his back on any of his comrades."
"And he believes in a fair fight, so that means he's not all bad, at least from what I'm able to tell anyway. Truth be told, if it wasn't for the whole thing about screaming at the top of his lungs that he's in love with Kagome, I wouldn't find him anywhere near as annoying." Tatsu then reached underneath one of the rocks and picked up the scroll, then turned back to the others "Is this the thing we came for?"
"Yep, that's it."
"Good, now let's get going. The sooner I get back to Kagome and the others, the better." so he grabbed onto Ginta and Hakkaku, and the three of them disappeared in a white flash.
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Meanwhile, with the Wind Sorceress…
'That impudent bastard!' after having Sesshomaru reject her, Kagura was now flying through the skies, her rage growing by the second 'The impudence of it all, how dare he have the gall to say those things to me! So he won't help me, it doesn't matter. I can kill Naraku myself, and I'll use these jewel shards in order to do it!' this was when an arrow was suddenly shot up towards her, missing her only by a few inches "Another warning shot Kagome?"
Sure enough, Kagome and Sango had come riding up towards her on Kiara's back "That's what I call it, the others wanted to call it a distraction."
"A distraction from what?"
"From me you conniving witch!" this was when Koga suddenly burst up in front of her and tried to claw at her face, causing her to retreat to the ground.
"What do you want this time wolf, are you looking for more punishment?"
"Don't fucking kid yourself, you know what I'm here for. You took those jewel shards that belong to me, I'm taking them back even if I have to pry them from your lifeless corpse. I really hope that happens, in case that wasn't obvious."
"And what, in order to do that you're relying on help from your pathetic friends back there to do it? Just admit it Koga, without these jewel shards you're too scared to fight alone." this was when she was suddenly surrounded by a horde of demons appearing around her.
"I don't need them, I'm still the leader of the Wolf Demon Tribe and I don't need any help to rip you apart!" Koga shot a quick glance back at Kagome and Sango "Go ahead and take care of these weak demon fodder, I want Kagura all to myself!" and so he charged in before he could be met with any arguments "Bring it you fucking wench!"
"Gladly! Dance of Blades!" with a wave of her fan, Kagura promptly unleashed a barrage of wind blades in her typical fashion.
Koga quickly found himself forced onto the evasive, though he was able to keep himself from being hit by any of the wind blades, though he quickly grew frustrated 'Dammit this isn't gonna get me anywhere, it's all I can do to keep dodging her. How the hell am I supposed to kill her if I can't get close to her?'
"Do both of us a favor and just die already, you should know that the pain would end so much sooner for you if you did!" Kagura continued her assault with her wind blades "I don't have time to waste bothering to deal with the likes of you!"
"That's where we differ Kagura, I've got no problems with hunting you down until I can use my claws to rip out your heart!" Koga tried to make a beeline towards Kagura, only for one of her wind blades to strike him in the back, sending him tumbling to the ground.
"Koga hold on!" Kagome tried to rush over to help him, only for a large serpent demon to block her way, so she cut it down with a wave of spiritual energy from her sword.
"Stay back Kagome, I can handle this on my own!" Koga quickly rebounded and continued his charge.
"You're nothing but an infuriating pest!" Kagura continued her own assault in a rage, her mind flashing back to what Sesshomaru had said to her 'He says that I should use these shards myself to destroy Naraku, so that's what I'm going to do.'
"What are you doing?" Kagome shot through a large ogre demon with a Sacred Arrow to finish off the horde, and then she shot a dirty look at Kagura "That's playing dirty. Koga still hasn't gotten his strength back from the last time you fought, this isn't a fair fight."
"And I'm supposed to care?"
'...Oh yeah right, I forgot that none of them have any ethics.' Kagome's head suddenly snapped upwards at the sight of an even greater horde of demons and Saimyosho descending from the skies and hurtling towards them "Those are…"
'Thoae are Naraku's demons.'
"He always sends so many demons to attack, just like a pathetic coward!" Sango didn't waste any time as she gripped Hiraikotsu and hurled it towards the incoming horde, with Kagome promptly following up with a Sacred Arrow and her sword.
'What's Naraku doing, hasn't he realized that I tried to betray him? Or is it me that he sent these demons to attack?'
"Thanks for giving me such an easy target Kagura!" seeing her distracted, Koga charged in and dealt her a solid fist to the face, sending her stumbling back and knocking the jewel shards right out of her hand "Those shards are mine!" and so he pounced for them.
"Dance of the Dragon!" Kagura recovered from the blow and unleashed another tornado from her fan.
Koga rolled out of the way just in time to avoid being hit by the tornado, but at the cost of him being unable to grab the jewel shards 'Dammit, if I still had my right arm that one would've hit me for sure. I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to be glad about that.'
"Now you're mine wolf!" Kagura prepared to hit Koga with a second tornado, only for it to suddenly be dispersed by a stray energy blast "What?!"
"Shit, I know that kind of attack… It had to be Tatsu."
Sure enough, Tatsu materialized onto the scene in a white flash of energy "Yeah, you're welcome for saving you from that."
"Yeah yeah whatever, so where the hell have you two been?"
"I've been running a little errand with your two lackeys to pick something up for you." he held up the scroll in question.
"...They showed you that?" Koga let out a growl, only to be smacked upside the head.
"You're thinking about tearing into them for letting me see that aren't you? Try and show some gratitude for them, but in any case we've got other problems right now. Speaking of which, hold on a second. Sea Dragon's Roar!" with a wave of his hand, Tatsu unleashed a water dragon that dissipated the oncoming tornadoes.
As one could imagine, Kagura wasn't too thrilled by this, and her scowl only deepened "Well well, it seems Koga isn't the only glutton for punishment here, now is he?"
"Makes sense, just looking at you is proof enough of that."
"You think you're so smug don't you? Well why don't you just die already! Dance of the Dragon!" Kagura unleashed another powerful tornado aimed at them.
"Dragon Burst!" Tatsu fired from one hand a blast of demonic energy that dissipated the tornado in a matter of seconds, engulfing the area in a massive cloud of smoke.
'Good riddance, that little bastard is finally dead.' Kagura was about to smirk, but she stopped when she saw a figure standing in front of them "Inuyasha?"
Sure enough, amidst the cloud of smoke stood Inuyasha, still in his human form, his eyes blazing with determination, but just as the smoke began to clear his demonic powes returned, his demonic features returning to him, and he gave a confident smirk "Well it's about fucking time that wore off. Be real with me Kagura, it can't be that much fun trying to go after a worthless fleabag like that wolf now can it? No need to worry about that, I'm gonna take you on from here on out."
'That's… I know I saw it, for a moment there I saw Inuyasha, but there was something different about him. He was human.'
"I know what you're gonna say Inuyasha, if you wanna kill her yourself then go for it, because frankly I don't have the energy to argue with you right now." Tatsu breathed a sigh as he grabbed the two jewel shards off the ground, dragging Koga with him as well and keeping a hand firmly slapped over his mouth "If I didn't have the energy to deal with him, I sure as hell don't have it in me to deal with you. But it still leaves a huge question, did Kagura see Inuyasha in his human form before he turned back?'
'Oh I see, there wasn't any moon last night.' Kagura felt the realization dawn on her, and she gave a smirk "So that's it Inuyasha, you lose all of your demonic power on the night of the new moon."
"So what if I do, I'm back now so it doesn't matter." Inuyasha gave a smirk of his own as he drew Tessaiga from its sheath and charged forward at full speed, wind gathering around the blade of his sword.
"You're right, it doesn't matter anymore, because you're about to die a slow and painful death, right here and right now! Dance of the Dragon!" Kagura waved her fan and unleashed a barrage of tornadoes that she sent hurtling forward.
"Wind SCAR!" Inuyasha brought down the blade of Tessaiga and unleashed a Wind Scar that ripped through the tornadoes and continued hurtling towards Kagura 'Yes, now that I can invoke the Wind Scar at will, I can rip through her attacks like they're nothing.'
'No this can't be happening, he shouldn't be able to cut through my wind! This can't be happening!' Kagura was left petrified and could only look on in horror at the sight of the Wind Scar hurtling towards her, only for the remaining demons to suddenly appear in front of her and shield her from the Wind Scar, taking the blow themselves and sending guts and body parts flying everywhere.
'What the hell, all of those demons protected Kagura just like that?' Inuyasha glanced around and scowled when he noticed that Kagura was gone "Dammit, she had to get away again."
"I can't sense her Ki either, she's long gone." this was when Tatsu and the others made their way over to him "You've gotta give it to Naraku, if nothing else he knows how to leave a scene and be discrete. But if it helps to soothe your bruised ego, this proves something. Now that she can't mess with your Wind Scar, she has no defense against it. Next time she's as good as dead."
"Keh, I would've thought of that."
"Sure you would've. You know I've gotta admit, I'm kind of surprised you came out here to save Koga, I figured you would've left him to get slaughtered."
"Don't fucking kid yourself, I didn't do it for him. I came to get the jewel shards and to make sure that Kagura didn't get away, but apparently that didn't pan out." he promptly turned his nose up and looked away.
"Uh huh. Tell you what, you go ahead and bask in that for a few minutes. I'm gonna go ahead and deal with the wolf." to that end, Tatsu promptly glanced over at Koga and held up two jewel shards in his hand "In case you hadn't noticed it yet, the things you're looking for are right over here."
"Those are my- Give me those jewel shards!" Koga reached for them, only to be stopped in the middle of his charge by Tatsu (his body now covered in iron dragon scales) stopping him by simply placing a hand on the front of his armor "What the hell, I said give me those!"
"Before I do that, there are three things I need to cover with you. First of all, regarding what you saw last night with Mr Personality over there." he jerked a thumb over at Inuyasha "Keep it to yourself, if any of our enemies find out about that then I'm gonna be looking at you. Plus think about what Kagome would say if she found out you told."
"You don't have to worry about that, I couldn't give less of a shit what form that worthless mutt takes."
"Good enough for me. Second of all, did you learn something today?"
"Son of a-" Koga let out a growl "Fine I get it, you think I depend on the jewel shards too much and I got my tail handed to me, so I've gotta get creative in a fight instead of just trying to outrun them. Are you happy now?"
"I'll be happy when you stop talking out your ass every chance you get."
"Then give me back my jewel shards."
"I said three things, that was only two. The last thing is a simple question. Once I give you these jewel shards, what do you plan to do?"
"What do you think, you should already know the answer to that. I swore that I would avenge the deaths of my comrades, that goal and their memories are what's driving me."
"I get that, all of us do, even if some of us won't admit or accept it." again they both glanced over at Inuyasha, only to find that he was now sulking "It's more of a matter of how."
"Is this more bullshit about the jewel shards? Those things don't even matter. With or without those things I'm still the leader of the Wolf Demon Tribe, I'll find Naraku and rip him to shreds on my own."
"...On your own you said?"
"You heard me you fucking meat sack, do yourself a favor and stay the hell out of it. I can and will find Naraku and kill all by myself, I don't need help from anyone like-" he was promptly cut off by an iron-enhanced fist to the face that sent him crashing to the ground. He was about to yell at Tatsu for it, but was cut off by the fierce look in his eyes.
"Do yourself a favor Koga, make sure you don't bite off more than you can chew."
"What the hell does that mean? I can do this no problem, and I told you before that it's my duty as the leader of my tribe!"
"You are stronger than the average demon, with or without those jewel shards, but your skills and talent have made you lose sight of what's important."
"What?"
"Remember this Koga. You're the leader of your entire tribe, you have responsibilities to all of the wolves in your pack. All of them look up to you and respect you, and they trust you and your judgement. It's because you strive to protect your pack, strive to do right by them, and you still do everything in your power to make sure that happens. You said that the memories of your comrades are what drive you to keep going. But now that you have the power of these jewel shards, you've forgotten about the people that trust and admire you, you've grown self-centered, and the day may come… when you end up just like Naraku."
Koga froze where he was, and whatever comeback he had died in his throat.
"No matter how strong you get, no matter how much power you have at your command, you should never try to take all of it on alone. If you do, then you're guaranteed to fail. When your older sister was the leader of the pack before she died, she had people by her side, people that she trusted and believed in, guiding her and making sure she did what was best, am I right?"
Koga stayed silent, but he gave a simple nod.
"I know what you're thinking, yes Ginta and Hakkaku told me about her. I know you have the same goals as your sister, to do right by your pack, so keep this in mind. You don't become a strong leader or warrior by relying on brute force or thinking you can do anything and everything on your own. Surrounding yourself with people you care about, people you trust and having faith in their abilities, that's what gives you true strength." he glanced over at Ginta and Hakkaku, the two of them standing on the sidelines "You've got some good and loyal friends there, and they'd never turn your back on you. Now's the time for you to return the favor."
"...I'll keep that in mind." Koga slowly pulled himself to his feet and accepted both the jewel shards and the scroll, and then he made his way over to Ginta and Hakkaku "You two ready to get going?" he was met with two simultaneous nods "Then let's go." he suddenly hoisted the two of them up on his shoulders, gave one last glance back at Tatsu, then at Kagome, and then they were gone from the scene.
"Huh. He took that better than I was expecting."
"Do you think you got through to him?" Kagome asked as she and the others made their way over to him, Shippo secured tightly in her arms.
"I think we'll find out soon enough, but he's not even the biggest concern right now."
"At the moment that would fall to Kagura." Miroku noted grimly If she did see Inuyasha in his human form, Naraku will know his weakness and that will lead to big problems for all of us later on."
"No kidding. But in any case, there's nothing we can do about it now. If Naraku does find out about Inuyasha's time of the month, I can't believe nobody's made a joke about that before, then we have to make sure we're ready for it." Tatsu then shared a look with Kagome "With brings me to my next point."
"Oh fuck, here we go." Inuyasha grumbled.
"I think Kagome and I should head back home for a few days."
"You're seriously gonna go home now?"
"We don't just sit around on our asses doing nothing when we go home. Aside from trying to get a handle on whatever's going on over there, I'm gonna do something I've been putting off for long enough as it is. With any luck, I'll be going after the next Fang."
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Meanwhile, with the Wind Sorceres…
Following her failure to free herself, Kagura returned to the castle, thinking Naraku didn't know anything about her betrayal, but in reality, he had seen everything through Kanna's mirror, and he was not happy. Kagura followed Kanna into the basement of Naraku's castle and was promptly pulled underground by Naraku, who was otherwise powerless, and discovered his weakness, and that he was a half-demon. Naraku decided to give Kagura one last chance to remain at his side, and threatened to absorb her back into his being should she betray him again. Kagura gave in to this, but still decided not to tell him about Inuyasha turning human, and instead chose to keep that information to herself as a trump card.
A/N:
Now we get to what's essentially the halfway point of the third season, in which we see Kagura make her attempt to betray Naraku by stealing Koga's jewel shards and offering them to Sesshomaru, which fails, and she ends up being defeated and forced to retreat, but not before learning about Inuyasha's weakpoint during the night of the New Moon.
So yes, I'm giving Koga some more character development in this chapter, in which he's learning not to do everything on his own, or else risk being overcome by his own arrogance. After all, he has good friends in Ginta and Hakkaku, who always have his back no matter what. And that's the strength he's going to have to rely on that strength when the time comes for the most important trial of his life. As for what that entails, you're going to have to wait and see. All I'm going to say that it's my firm belief that if it happened like this in canon, Koga would've been so much more relevant.