Chapter 113: The Foreboding Prelude of Cheated Death
The warm air hangs thick over the grounds of a new village during another summer night in Sengoku Japan, the skies reflecting a peaceful atmosphere in the shining stars peeking from behind the thin cloud cover...
But just outside the main perimeter of this populace of humans, where a simply-made tombstone shrine stood, some other force was about to stir awake, and one not of the pleasant variety.
(...Sheeeeeen)
A blinding light of cyan blue shimmers from the dirt up, before the gravestone suddenly splits in two from the pressures of a small quake, followed quickly by the billowed collapse of the shrine hut just as the light fades away...!
(...Step, step)
And moving to stand in front of the once proud structure, was our familiar young demon slayer whose mind was muddled by the dark, who looks down at the seven shards of the Shikon-no-Tama in his hand...
Time Skip
The sun would soon rise for a new day, and we now turn our eyes down between the tree cover of a rust brown dirt path cut through the forests of the northeast, as Miroku pauses at the mouth of the exit to check the direction he and everyone else was wandering.
"...Ox-Tiger. It's this way, if I'm not mistaken."
Besa, who today was wearing a grey t-shirt, brown khaki shorts and white sneakers, contrasting the colours of the monk's purple robes and making his own dark skin stand out, pulls out a small travel compass from his pocket and holds it out for both men to see.
"Hm...Yep, you're right."
"Good...That is a very handy device to carry, by the way."
"Thanks."
As those two began their trek again, the others were trailing a few feet behind them, with Kilala hanging out on Sango's left shoulder, while Shippo rested on Freeman's, he wearing a similar outfit to his twin brother but was wearing a muscle-style tank-top rather than a t-shirt. Lumos was hovering around in a steady circle around Inuyasha and Coraline, the two latter walking close to one another while holding eachother's hands.
The redheaded girl, who wore attire consisting of a black tank-top under a white/grey checkered, unbuttoned short-sleeved shirt, dark blue jeans and her brown hiker shoes, was currently lost in serious and somewhat grim thought.
Well, here we are, back on course for the Northeast...where hopefully, we'll find the source of that Demonic Aura.
"Damn that Naraku and his little tricks. Where could he have disappeared to?"
Sango replies to the dog demon's bitter grumble,
"I'm guessing that he went into hiding because you managed to break into his barrier."
The young fox demon was starting to become skeptical:
"I kind-a doubt it. Knowing Naraku, that can't be the only reason."
Freeman interjects,
"But he did get whacked around pretty hard by Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's powers. It'd make sense that he'd wanna take his sweet time to heal before comin' to lash at his enemies again...Still, even this is becoming too long a delay..."
That's when a probable theory hits Inuyasha:
"Hang on a minute...!" Coraline asks,
"What?"
Clenching his free fist and squeezing the girl's hand a little, the dog demon replies in a worked-up tone,
"What if Naraku was trying to lure us with his Demonic Aura and into another one of his little traps? We could be playing right into his hands!"
Everyone stiffens to a stop, and Miroku hms with a hand under his chin,
"Yes, that is possible," while Shippo states in a wary tone,
"It wouldn't be the first time he's tricked us, that's for sure..."
...Looking up towards the mountaintops up ahead, Coraline recalls,
That way...
That's where Mount Hakurei is, where my Soul Sister will soon be...
"Whatever may be waiting for us, it won't do to just turn around."
Everyone turns to look at her as she takes a breath in and forms a determined expression.
"Don't get me wrong; I'm a bit worried about the unknown...but that worry, also fuels the need to keep moving, to face the bastard beast who's been eluding our eyes like the coward he really is. (Small smirk) Right?"
The group stared with awe at how confident she sounded...before forming small smiles/smirks of their own and nodding in agreement.
They began moving onward once more, a bit more pep in their steps, as Coraline thinks to herself fiercely,
You wanted to start a war, Naraku?...We'll give you one.
...At the same time that group continues their way, up on one of the mountain paths bordering the trees and overlooking a high cliff edging, was Ayame, who was rushing along with a couple of her fellow white-furred wolves back to her tribe, when she catches sight of a horde of demons fleeing in another direction in the open air.
The demons are running away...
She leaps down the cliff to the lower pathways and sprints on, just as we see a thick, purple miasma rise overhead in those distant mountains...And in the lower forests, we see the Elder of the Wolf Demon Tribe pause his steps atop a fallen log, picking up an odor that made him tense.
"This scent...I know it."
Two other wolves of considerable age (one with slate-brown fur and the other sandy-brown), yet not as old as he, approach to report some troubling news.
"Elder. Our dens in the valley have all been destroyed."
"More burrows have been burned out as well."
A third older wolf, with dark brown fur and his right eye scarred, hops onto the log behind the Elder to speak his findings.
"The beast seems to be devouring everything in its path. Half of the demons on the mountain have already become its prey."
The trouble only grows as four humanoid wolf demons arrive, three of them battered and bruised while one was barely able to stand with the help of his friend.
"Our fangs and claws are useless against it."
"We don't stand a chance against its power unless we have the power of the Shikon-no-Tama."
The Elder forms a pensive and grim expression, just as his granddaughter Ayame returns.
"Grandpa. The beast is coming."
"So...it ate everything in sight on that side of the mountain and is coming down to the borders."
The injured wolf demon exclaims,
"Our comrades have been devoured!" Another one postulates,
"Kōga's the only one who can possibly stand up to it!"
A third mutters bitterly,
"Damn it all. If only Ayame grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him home to us..."
Said redheaded wolf demoness stiffens up, but remains silent, while her sharp green eyes reflected a smouldering anger from the characterization...
Suddenly, there came the crashing sound of multiple trees tumbling to the ground, echoing with the screams of horses, which gave the wolves and wolf demons the signal they all needed.
"The beast is coming!"
"Run for it!" "It'll eat us alive!"
Just as the group makes their retreat, a horde of demons appears from the air in a lunge, prompting Ayame to say to her grandfather,
"Grandpa, let's split up, okay?"
He nods, and they dart of in separate directions, while the other wolves/wolf demons began to fight off their attackers. Unfortunately, two of the men (the injured and his crutch) weren't lucky enough, and were taken down hard in a gnash of teeth...
"Why are the demons attacking us?"
"They're hungry. The beast has devoured their prey."
Her grandfather's explanation did not ease Ayame's quivering heart, nor one of the other wolf demons who exclaims in fury,
"Damn! We flee the specter only to be eaten by demons!"
The demons then start to charge at the living, but the young demoness wasn't having any of that.
"No you don't!"
She distracts them by shooting a few leaf shuriken at their heads before directing a point to the body of water ahead.
"Okay, everyone: Hurry and get across the river!"
The others run on with no hesitation, just as the demon horde catches up.
Ayame watches them come with narrowed eyes as she wonders quietly to herself,
"How could the beast, have descended the mountains so quickly?"
She then leaps up high and drops back down fast to punch the ground strongly and release a whirlwind of green to slow the attackers down, giving the wolf demon time to hurry along and meet with her fellow tribe members...
Kōga's POV
My friends and I had stopped by a river further up these northern mountains to refuel on some water, when they tell me about something that's been going on these last couple weeks...
"A giant Demonic Aura passed overhead?"
"Yeah, and the whole area's talkin' about it."
"No one has seen it since though."
"It disappeared?"
Ginta nods, and I ask another question:
"Where to?"
Hakkaku replies with a shrug,
"No one knows."
I grit my teeth with a suppressed growl, and look back at the water with a growing unease in my chest.
The river upstream flows to the mountains up north. We've come close to Ayame and the Elder...
Ayame said that the demon had come, and everyone was nervous. That's why she came to take me back...
...But I chased her away.
Recalling the hurt expression hidden by her smile, I had to force myself to bite back a wince, but I couldn't stop my eyes from shining with worry.
I have a bad feeling about this...
My tenseness would double tenfold, when my nose picks up on a sickening scent, followed by the dark crimson flowing into the watery blue...
"Blood...!"
What the hell's happenin'...?!
Ayame's POV
My fellow tribe members and I had made it back up into the mountains, but the heavy sprinting was taking a toll on grandfather, who missed his footing on one leg and toppled over.
"Elder!"
"Grandpa!"
I slowed to a halt and sped around to kneel down in front of my senior family member, who says to me in a weakened voice,
"Oh, forgive me, dear. I-I was just a bit tired. I was, careless..."
Even so, his muscles protested in allowing him to rise back up, and I chide to him,
"Grandpa, don't push yourself; stay still."
Unfortunately, time was not on our side, as our ears pick up the distant echoes of the demon horde still seeking our flesh...
"They're closing in on us; we have to move!"
One of the seniors offers up a plan:
"I'll act as a decoy and attract the demons to come after me. Make your escape while you still can."
But...he will be-
I argue back,
"We can't do that! You'll never make it out alive!"
That wasn't the senior's concern:
"Protect the Elder and track down Kōga...and then defeat that beast."
I could only stare at him in awe for his willingness to sacrifice his life...
"Don't worry about me. I won't get killed by any pipsqueak demons like them."
With that, he leaps off down the mountain face, despite my protest:
"No, wait! Don't go!...Please come back! Come back here!...(Mumble) He's in trouble, and he's wounded as well..."
"Let's go, Ayame."
I turn to one of the men with me, who says in a gentle but firm tone,
"We don't have time to delay. You must honour the elder's wishes and go."
...Damn it, he's right.
Godspeed, Senior. May we meet with you again.
No POV
We zoom down into the tree cover of the lower mountain, as the senior wolf with the scarred eye pants heavily but keeps up his trek to lure the flesh-seeking demons to his proximity...
His plan is a success, and the beasts lunge out from the air to bite into the wolf's fur and skin viciously, his blood spilling out in torrents to the tune of his pained howl...!
...But his luck would rise, when Kōga suddenly bursts out from the treetops to the other's aid!
"Get off him!"
A few swipes from his fists would bring down the demons in no time flat, just as Ginta, Hakkaku and the wolves traveling with them catch up.
"Kōga!"
As soon as it was deemed safe, the wolf demons would carry the senior wolf to the closest part of the river heading north to try and tend to the latter's wounds...
"Thank you...So, you're from one of the tribes to the South?"
"Elder, you have the gift of speech."
He tilts his head to Kōga, and we see that his fur was heavily bloodied in accordance to the deep wounds.
"You went to the trouble of saving me, but I fear my end is at hand..."
"Listen: Aren't you an Elder to the Northern Mountains?"
Hakkaku then says to the senior,
"Ayame came from the north to get Kōga not long ago."
"Kōga? Is Kōga here with us?"
Said subject of conversation kneels his head closer and states,
"I am Kōga."
"I'm, glad I had a chance to meet with you, Kōga. We abandoned our territories and ascended to the Northern Mountains...as did the demons that attacked us."
"You fled from your land?"
"Fled from what?"
The grievously-injured wolf answers both Ginta and Hakkaku in a bitter tone:
"...From a specter." Kōga inquires for more details:
"Specter?"
"It came from far beyond or northern border. It is neither a demon, nor a human, yet its body reeked of dead men and graveyard soil..."
The senior wolf's voice began to wheeze as he felt death's waiting hand close in.
"And it, began to, eat the demons, close, by..."
And with a final stuttered breath...his life came to a close, leaving Kōga to shut his eyes with a solemn expression...He and his friends then do their kindness to the dead and bury the wolf, leaving a single rock to mark the grave.
"...What'll we do now, Kōga?"
He replies to Hakkaku while keeping his eyes on the grave,
"I'm going."
That answer left the other two wolf demons confused:
"Huh?"
"To find the specter that he spoke of?"
"We're already busy in our search for Naraku."
"This specter has nothing to do with us."
...The young leader slowly rose to his feet before turning to look at his friends with a serious expression.
"We can't ignore that our brethren were slaughtered. The least we can do is see what this is about...Besides, the mutt's heading this way, so there must be somethin' to it."
"Inuyasha?"
He nods to Hakkaku:
"I know the scent of that mangy mutt anywhere. (Glance) Which means your mate's scent should be mixed in too, Ginta."
Said wolf demon sniffs the air...before his eyes widen slightly in realization.
"Uh! You're right..."
"Anyway, I ain't gonna stand by and be upstaged by that dog. Let's go!"
Activating his speeding whirlwind, Kōga began sprinting off in the direction he caught Inuyasha's scent, leaving the others to rush after him.
"Wait up, Kōga!"
...And speaking of Inuyasha, we catch up with him and his group as they enter a valley, he now carrying Coraline and Besa on his back, while Kilala took Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Freeman on hers, and Lumos zoomed on a foot ahead of them all. His nose then picks up on a scent that left him as disgruntled as the wolf demon now traveling nearby this area.
"Smells of wolves here!" Coraline asks him with a half-smile,
"Can you be more specific? We're kind-a building a list of known wolves..."
"There's only one wolf with this distinct smell. It has to be Kōga!"
Miroku says from the air,
"If your senses are correct and it is indeed him, then he must be heading for the Northeast just as we are."
"I wonder if he's come across some kind of clue?"
Besa calls back to Sango from his place atop Inuyasha's left,
"Shouldn't be too much of a surprise, considering his burning desire to crush Naraku's about as strong as ours. I'm actually shocked there isn't a growing stampede in this area with the same vendetta plot..."
"...Did someone mention Kōga?"
Everyone's heads perk up from the distant call of a familiar female voice.
"Hm?"
"Hey, did that sound like..."
A flurry whirlwind of leaves suddenly appears before fading back to unveil Ayame, causing Inuyasha to screech to a halt in time with Kilala's landing. It would be Lumos who approached the she-wolf first, hovering near for a moment...before breaking into an excited chirp and flutters around the girl in a dizzying circle, making her smile slightly.
Aw, how cute.
Coraline smiles upon getting a better look at the fellow redhead:
"Hey, Ayame! Been a while."
The twins hop off their respected rides and move to eachother's sides while whispering,
"Isn't she with one of the wolf demon tribe branches?"
"Heh, yeah and was briefly jealous of Cora 'til she saw that the other was taken by Inuyasha..."
Said girls of conversation approach one another, and awkwardly shook hands.
"Uh, nice to see you."
"Same...Have you gone to see your grandfather yet back in the Northern Mountains?"
"I-I did, but..."
Noticing the apprehensive and saddened frown, Coraline's smile fell into a concerned expression.
"...What's wrong, Ayame? What happened?"
"We were forced to flee when the beast came after us."
"Beast?"
"A beast who devours demons."
The three modern teens suck in sharp breaths, as Inuyasha mutters with a narrowed glare,
"I don't like the sound of that..."
...Moving back into the thick greenery towered by the rock formations, we find a young apprentice priest and his senior moving along as the sky darkens to a coming storm. The roll of thunder was enough jitter at some nearby birds as well as the spirit of the former.
"Gh!...Master, please listen to me: We must reach the mountains or we'll be forced to sleep out in the open...Shouldn't we turn back to that village and find an open inn?"
"Oooh, don't be such a coward. Come."
The younger man rushes to catch up with the elder as he then recalls something he heard spoken in this area.
"I heard that a giant demon has been appearing in this area in the past few days, master."
"Hm, so what if they're is? I shall suppress any demon with my spiritual powers, hahahahaha!"
The man's chuckle would be cut short when a distant rumble passes ahead, scaring a larger flock of birds away...The sky clouds over thick with an ominous purple aura, followed by a few, steady and heavy footfalls, making the younger apprentice cower in a crouch.
A few trees come crashing down near the pair...just as an enormous silhouette rises up ahead, its teeth gnashing away on a new victim of demonic origins. The senior priest looks up at the beast with wide, horrified eyes as the younger exclaims,
"Oh no, look: A demon eating demon!"
...The beast's shadowed form the turns its front to their direction, making the apprentice squeak,
"Master, use your powers to defeat him!"
Unfortunately, though he did try to hone in his energies, the elder priest was overcome by the fearful sight, and would turn around to run as fast as he could in the other direction.
"I can't!"
"Hey, wait for me, master!"
...And looking up, we see the monstrous silhoutette's eyes glow a lethal red.
Small Time Skip, Freeman's POV
We were soon lead up the mountain to a reasonable-sized cave hidden away by some boulders where Ayame's pack was resting at, mostly for the sake of her grandfather. My brother and I quickly got to work on steadily healing his injuries using our Seven Light Crystals and some light bandaging on his front legs, while sis provided some first aid to the two wolf demon men guarding the entrance. As Besa and I did our thing, we'd hear out with everyone else what's been going on in this region...
"A specter?"
"Are we talkin' full-on undead?" Ayame nods and adds,
"And it doesn't appear to be demon or human."
The Elder then very tiredly gives his insight:
"It came from...from the Northeast."
Northeast?! That's where we're heading!
Miroku had similar thoughts:
"From the Northeast? The direction of the Ox-Tiger..."
Ayame and the Elder give us a description of what this undead freak's been up to since it arrived.
"In no time at all, the specter devoured all the demons and spirits that lived in these mountains. Then it descended to the borders of our own territory..."
"So many of our friends were devoured..."
My brother forms a deeply-sympathetic frown:
"My condolences for your losses, Elder...though if I may be so bold to ask, how was your pack overcome so quickly by one specter? Is it truly that strong?"
Sango chimes from a few feet away,
"I was about to ask that myself," and Ayame replies,
"The specter is about the size of a small mountain."
Yipes...
Cora thinks to herself aloud,
"Hm, we've battled large beasts before, but I don't recall any of them being that tall..."
Shippo wonders himself,
"How can there be such a creature?"
Miroku then provides some info he knows about this kind of undead:
"It's been said since ancient times that men who've died with unfinished business turn into such creatures. They never let go of their hatred."
"There aren't many who could do this: Resurrect a terrifying creature that devours demons without any hesitation?"
Inuyasha would be the one who narrowed down the culprit of Sango's question.
"Kuh, it has got to be him."
My sister, brother and I echoed the unsaid name at the same time with matching glaring frowns.
"Naraku." I add aloud in a bitter afterthought,
"No surprise; this is totally up that bastard creep's alley of nefarious schemes..."
By this time, Besa and I had done our job for the Elder, and we formed more positive smiles before chiding,
"Okay, you should be good to go again, Elder."
"Just take it easy if you're gonna choose to run on your own legs again."
He gives us a nod, and Ayame then says to us all,
"I must leave now, and try to take the Elder and the remainder of the wolf demon clan to safety...But..."
Cora immediately caught onto what the other was thinking about:
"No worries, Ayame: I have this feeling we'll be seeing Kōga sooner than later, so we'll tell him you and the rest of your clan managed to elude the specter, despite the losses."
"(Small smile) Coraline...thanks for all your help, (turn) and you two for healing grandpa with your strange crystals."
Besa and I chime,
"Glad to help."
We'd all part our separate ways shortly afterward, Ayame and her tribe heading for the exit from this area, while we readied ourselves to keep moving Northeast...
"Be careful, and good luck, Ayame!" Shippo adds his own farewell after sis:
"Bye, take care!"
The she-wolf then calls back a last warning:
"One more thing: The specter smells of corpses and graveyard soil!"
Corpses and graveyard soil?
Hm...well, no way Kikyō's involved in this: She's become a good ally to us, and her body's technically among the living now despite being on the border between dead and alive. Plus any crazy hatred that might be remaining in her, is all directed at Naraku.
"You know...this almost sounds like that attack Kagura's used on us a few times, her 'Dance of the Dead'."
Everyone focuses their eyes on me as I stated that thought, but I then realize,
"But on the other hand, even this is too gory for her repertoire, and her loyalties have been waning...Yeah, this is a whole new ballpark of creepy, one that we're all going headfirst into. (Throws his head up) If you're listening up there, god, thanks alot for the delay and making this search for that bastard alot harder!"
Time Skip, No POV
It's now nighttime, and we return to the area of the forest mountains where the purple, miasmatic aura hung heavy in the sky, as Kohaku stood atop a tree branch observing the giant zombie from before, that was consuming yet more demon flesh to sedate their appetite...
"Master Kyokotsu."
The monster looks up, and we see that their guise was a crazed-looking man with tanned pale skin, tightened around the face to show muscle and veins with blue tattoo markings under his bloodshot eyes, sharp teeth and aqua green hair that was short and stood on end thanks to a black headband holding it up.
"The Shikon-no-Tama shards are close. The ones who possess it are approaching."
The specter, now identified as Kyokotsu, replies with a raspy deep voice and swallow of his latest meal,
"Yeah...I see. It was worth heading over there before my brothers do the same. Kohaku, was it not? You are free to leave."
Said boy turns to move on his way, just as the giant adds,
"That is all...but I will have that shard on your back!"
He then tries to snatch up the younger into his hand, but Kohaku leaps upward to dodge, before using his kusarigama to slice off Kyokotsu's hand!
"I'd advise against such deceit."
...And looking above the crouching young demon slayer, we see a few of the Saimyōshō...
"Hmm...so you're under his protection? Very well then."
Kyokotsu reaches down to grab his fallen hand and adds,
"I'll leave you alone. I value my life, especially since I was resurrected from the grave."
And we see that much like the more traditional zombies, this beast was able to reattach his fallen appendage with ease...Yet unlike the old school undead, his revival was granted by the power of the singular jewel shard embedded in his forehead...
Kōga's POV
My pack and I soon reach outside the forest and onto the path heading into the mountain valley a couple hours after we laid the Senior Wolf to rest for the afterlife...
But it was just as we began moving up the first slope, that my wolves were attacked by a giant hand springing out of the trees up top! Most of them managed to dodge, save one who was thrown backwards into the air, but I caught them before they could drop hard on the ground.
"Keep your hands off my wolves!"
Next thing I knew, this ugly bulk of a beast-man rose into view, and when I say rose, I mean he was much larger than I anticipated.
"Is it you? Are you the one who possesses the Shikon-no-Tama shards?"
Damn...he's huge, and how does he know-Unless...could he have been sent by Naraku?
"I will have the jewel shards, and your life!"
My friends fought to stop trembling at the sight of this creep:
"W-What'd he say?"
"Look at the size of that thing!" I glare up bravely at the giant:
"Kuh, so you're the specter I've heard about, just as the wolf demon tribe elder said. You reek...You stink of corpses and graveyard soil! You're neither human nor demon!"
"I still smell? It's been some time since I emerged from my grave."
Hakkaku and Ginta wonder to themselves,
"He didn't blink an eye!"
"Is he really a specter?"
"I'll have to eat more, and put on muscles. (Leers at me) You, over there: You'll become one with the great Kyokotsu!"
I leaped out of the way of his lunging hand and prepped to kick down back at him.
"No chance! Damn you to hell!"
(SLAM)
Landing a square hit in the side of his face, the freak Kyokotsu falls backwards to the ground hard.
I land and sense the rest of my pack duck behind a large boulder.
Probably a smart move for them right now: They have power, but I stand a better chance of taking this undead menace on...
"How dare you lust after my blood and that of my comrades!"
The beast just chuckles and sits up with no real effort:
"I see: In your legs...You have fragments of the Shikon-no-Tama in your legs."
"Kyokotsu, you say? Tell me, just what kind of beast are you?"
I don't smell Naraku on this one, so I'm certain he wasn't born out of the other's flesh...
"(Grinds teeth) What do you mean, 'what am I'? I am human; isn't it obvious?"
What?! No way this bastard can claim to be mortal!
"Huh, so you're an average man, who 'happened' to emerge alive from the grave?"
Kyokotsu points a thumb to his forehead, and I catch that familiar faint glow of pink.
"Thanks to this Shikon-no-Tama shard, I fell much better than the first time I was alive!"
A Shikon-no-Tama shard. A real one!
"Dammit, how'd you get a hold of that?!"
"And what if I told you? (Lunge) You're still going to end up in my belly!"
Once again, I was able to jump back fast enough to get away from that freak's hand...
"You're in serious trouble if you think you can capture me with such clumsy moves!"
"Grh, this is how I deal with quick ones like you!"
Next thing I knew, he pulls out a ginormous chigiriki made with a smooth iron ball, and spins it around before trying to whack me with the end!
"Nice try, bad aim!"
We then went into a contest of speed versus delivery, which I was easily winning...
"Aim straight if you're gonna hit me!...Missed again!"
But just as I reach the end of the path, the bastard caught a lucky break and uses his weapon to break the ground in front of me and throw me back from the impact! I hear my friends call my name with worry, and I slid on my back some before flipping onto my feet.
"Dead man or not, your tough guy act isn't foolin' anyone!"
I then invoke my whirlwind ability and speed in a circle around the giant, who tries again to strike me with the chigiriki...
"As if those tactics would work on me again!"
I barely dodge another swing of the weapon, before leaping up to snap the chain, much to his shock, giving me the opening to kick him hard in the forehead!
"I'll send you back to your grave, dead-man!"
(WHACK, Sheeeeeeen...)
No POV
The collision of opposing sides granted abilities from the jewel that sent countless lives to a world of turmoil, was so strong that the gleam of fushia pink light could be seen from a distant mountain cliff by everyone of our main travel group. Shippo the fox demon would spot the anomaly first:
"Look, Coraline: That light!" She comments with widening eyes,
"That's...the Shikon-no-Tama! No mistake." Miroku remarks,
"Yes, but why is the light so bright?" Sango wonders,
"Could Kōga and Naraku be fighting?"
Inuyasha dismisses such a theory thanks to his instinctual senses:
"Well I'm not pickin' up Naraku's scent," which has Freeman guessing,
"Then it's gotta be that zombie Ayame warned us about...Much as I wish I could be surprised by the idea of that damn jewel making the undead jump to life from the ground up, let's face it: That's no longer even close to bein' the craziest thing we've seen the Shikon-no-Tama do."
Everyone nods grimly in agreement with him, and Besa thinks to himself,
Which begs these next two questions:
Are we finally seeing the introduction of Naraku's newest scheme...and will there be more than just the one specter?
Down in the lower valley where the mountainous rock formations give way to the forest, Ayame, The Elder and the rest of their small pack could see the sheen of light as well.
"Over there..."
"The glow of the Shikon-no-Tama."
"The jewel?...Could it be...Kōga!"
The young wolf demoness wastes no more seconds in jumping her speed towards the source of the pink fushia glow to meet with her proclaimed fiance...Meanwhile, he himself was busy doing his best to fight against Kyokotsu, jumping out of the way of a palm slamming his way, only to get caught in that same hand's grip seconds later!
"Aaaagh!"
He's then pressed to the zombie's face, much to Ginta and Hakkaku's worries:
"Guh!" "Kōga!"
...But when the palm is removed, we see that the wolf demon was alright, standing atop Kyokotsu's neck!
"Thought about your lousy aim, you clumsy corpse!"
(Twiiiist-SNAP)
Next thing we know, the specter's face/head was turned completely upside-down, forcing a wince out of him before he collapses onto his knees!
"Look: He did it!" "Kōga!"
"Keh, that's a pain in the neck."
(...WHAM)
"Grrrrrrh!"
But just as the smug wolf demon turns to walk away, Kyokotsu's fist comes flying at him from behind, causing the former to go sliding into the ground hard...! The trouble was only beginning to brew up once more, as the zombie picks himself up with no issues despite his face/head being off its axis.
"So you thought you beat me?!"
Using his destroyed chigiriki, Kyokotsu begins wailing attacks against his victim until they roll away to the side.
"He, he's still alive...!"
"...Kōga!"
The wolf demon darts his head back to see Ayame emerge from her whirlwind of leaves, who then cries out in warning,
"Kōga, look out!"
Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough on the reaction time, and was snatched up into Kyokotsu's grip! Ginta and Hakkaku cry out their leader's name as they rushed to Ayame's sides, all three watching with helpless eyes as the wolf demon was raised close to the zombie's face, whose face/head pivots back to its original position with a chuckle in his breath.
"So much for your assumptions. Now I'll devour you, jewel shard and all!"
Kōga of course, would not make the end come easy:
"Oh ya think so?! Devour THIS!"
(WHACK)
The wolf demon's fist goes flying right into the specter's forehead...
"Heheheh, doesn't hurt one little bit."
"(Grin) It's all over."
And ripping his fist out, we see that between Kōga's bloodied fingertips...was the jewel fragment that gave the power of reanimation to Kyokotsu's corpse!
"My, Shikon, no-tama Shard!"
Purple-black fumes begin emitting from he as his flesh dissolves away, leaving the poor wolf demon to go tumbling down with a gigantic pile of bones and armour...!
...Meanwhile, the chigiriki fades away in a poisonous purple gleam, making way for a small drove of the Saimyōshō...
"Kōga!"
"Kōga, where are you?!"
"Are you alive?!"
Zooming into one section of the pile of white, we see that the wolf demon was fine, other than being stuck and struggling to reach the jewel fragment a few feet away from him. Success would elude the wolf demon and praise the one Insect of Hell who swipes the jewel piece into its legs before flying off.
"Uh!"
Those are Naraku's poisonous insects!
(Looks at the skeleton) So he was the one manipulating Kyokotsu...
Small Time Skip
Sunset would soon blaze its burn of deep reds and oranges across the mountaintops as the day drew to a close, the terror known as Kyokotsu having been erased to nothing but memories traced in the ivory being examined by Ginta and Hakkaku.
"Mere, bones..."
"I guess the Shikon-no-Tama shard brought 'im back to life..."
While those two busied themselves with the ginormous skeleton, Ayame approaches Kōga, whom was catching his breath after the grueling fight he undertook.
"...Um, thank you, Kōga. You avenged my comrades and friends. (Soft smile) Those who died can now rest in peace."
He nods slightly, before casting serious glaring eyes in the distant direction that other bodies were following.
"...So, Naraku's demonic aura disappeared to the Northeast."
"Yes, that's what Coraline said."
"I see..."
...Sensing what the other's agenda held, Ayame decided to take her leave.
"Goodbye."
"...Be careful, Ayame."
The she-wolf pauses, and flashes the male a sad and endearing smile.
"That's exactly what Coraline said."
She then disappears in a leafy whirlwind...leaving Kōga to form his own small smile as he thinks aloud quietly,
"...Same as Coraline, huh?"
...Our eyes then fall over a new scene in the distant Northeastern provinces, that being a massive murder of crows pecking at the fresh corpses of warriors and their horses...
The source of this new slaughter, resting on a nearby boulder and airing their face, was a male with distinctive feminine qualities, they including short black hair styled up with a butterfly pin, black irises highlighted by blue fang tattoos under his eyes, similar markings in pink on the sides of his face, and ruby red lips. His outfit consists of waraji sandals and a combination kimono/obi sash/scarf over his snake-skin armour, its shining a deep, muted purple, the kimono a lilac purple with deep green leaf patterns, the obi sash a dull plum, and the muted purple scarf was currently off his person at the moment to allow one side of his body to breathe, showcasing a lean muscle build.
"So, Kyokotsu's dead, now is he?" Kohaku, also there, replies,
"Yes, Master Jakotsu."
"Serves him right, the stupid fool. Well, I suppose Kyokotsu was the weakest one of us all...So~, what's he like?"
The demon slayer looks up with a confused expression, and Jakotsu alliterates,
"You know, my opponent, this, Inuyasha. Tell me, is he really handsome?"
"I think, perhaps, you'd be the best judge of that."
Jakotsu sighs with a dreamy gaze, and claps his palms together while muttering hopefully,
"I can't wait...Inuyasha."