Chapter 4


Half a night later, Kouga was still running as though the shards had never been ripped from his legs.

Half a night later, the promise of revenge still burned white hot behind his eyes.

Half a night later, he was still conjuring up new ways of how she'd die.

Kagura…

He could taste her in the air - a tangy, elemental sweetness that drove him wild for all the wrong reasons. He'd caught it not long after leaving the taiji village, a sign that fate was on his side.

And he was close. After foraging rivers, cutting through forests, and scurrying his way into a mountain range, the pack leader came to a skidding halt atop a small cliff overlooking a tall-grassed valley, surrounded by towering lands. He inhaled deeply.

She's here…

A good-sized village slept peacefully in the pre-dawn hours, its wooden structures, and thatched roofs illuminated softly by the fading glow of the slivered moon. A stream ran through it. No doubt their water source, and the feint moo of their cattle tickled his ears.

He scowled at the serenity of the scene. Such a docile setting didn't suit the Wind User. And with humans, no less. She couldn't be in the midst of them. Impossible.

His eyes blinked up, and scanned the surrounding territory…a batch of forestry at the south end, nearby hills that bordered the valley almost protectively…

Ah. There…

It was a small castle. Or a giant shrine, nestled securely in the side of a hill. He'd never cared about humans enough to learn the differences between Lord worship and God worship. Either way, the multi-roomed building had ten times the décor - an entirely different design than the village it looked over.

And fancy enough to house her… His hands began to tingle, as did the palms of his feet. Had Kouga been in a calmer state of mind, he might have gone out of his way to find out what the hell his sworn enemy was doing in a place like this.

But somewhere on the way over, the wolf prince had come to the conclusion that everything that was wrong in his life - the state of his tribe's territories, resorting to polygamy, even Kagome's - he winced - Kagome's rejection - were somehow all Kagura's fault. And the additional anxieties funneled neatly down into a concentration of bloodlust that doubled his strength. His rage.

Wasting no more time, he lunged off the cliff. The wind whistled angrily in his ears as he cut through it, and the ground crunched when he hit. The tall grass ripped at his feet as he raced forward, while field moths fluttered annoyingly in his eyes. It was as though the land itself were protesting his arrival here.

As though the land itself had a say in the matter.

Somehow, his presence was made known, because within moments she came out of the building before he even reached it. The bane of his existence stood, a figure of soft colors against the black shadows of her residence. Deceptively soft. But he knew better. He swore under his breath for having lost his element of surprise. Not to mention, her sudden nearness nearly pushed him beyond coherence. Pretty, lilac kimono, cream sash, perfectly styled hair… And her weapon - that cursed fan - splayed as naturally in her hand as leaves on a tree. She was the same.

He slowed. Almost…

The face that had gleefully laughed at his expression when she threw the corpses of his own men at him, the face that had mocked his attempts at retribution every time! - the face that plagued his very nightmares - was now frowning at his approach, those giant crimson irises narrowed in nothing more than perplexed annoyance.

Where was the customary smirk? The amused glint in her eye that she'd get every time they fought? Where was the sick delight she took in his presence, if only because she enjoyed the prospect of torturing him to death?

"How did you find me?" she asked with a hint of reprimand in her voice, as though he were nothing more than a child who'd stumbled upon his mother's jewelry cache.

A fair question, one he decided to answer with violence. Kouga sped up, his fist cocked back. "You thought you could hide from me forever!?"

She hissed and leapt left, sweeping the fan between them. A wall of wind slammed into Kouga, knocking him back before his forward momentum carried him crashing through her walls.

He flipped mid-air, and landed on all fours in the dirt, glaring at her through sweat-drenched bangs. "Don't insult me, wench."

"You insult yourself by obsessing over something you can do nothing about," she said evenly. "Don't you have a tribe you're supposed to be taking care of, wolf boy?"

"My tribe!?" his jaw muscles jumped, and a lump formed in his throat. "You mean the smattering of warriors who stayed behind on the day of your bloody massacre? Or were you referring to the heartbroken widows, or perhaps the young pups, who will never see their fathers again because you killed them? Tell me, Kagura! Which is it?"

She pursed her lips, her brow furrowing slightly. "What's done is done-"

"No! Nothing is done until you're dead," he said as he began to circle her, his trembling hands curling into claws. His next words were strained. Anguished. "I still hear their voices, you know, crying out to me from the dust. Demanding retribution. Demanding JUSTICE!" He sprung again…

Only to be caught up in a sudden biting tornado that spun him several feet in the air. His limbs instinctively scrambled for purchase.

"Dammit Kouga," her words dripped with frustration, carrying up to him as his world spun. "Go HOME. Your revenge against me is a hopeless quest. Or didn't I make that obvious the last four times I nearly killed you?"

He growled. Arrogant hellcat… Tucking his limbs in, he hooked his arm on a current within the whirlwind, and it catapulted him out. He cut through the air, landing in a crouch not far from her castle.

"How dare you talk to me like that," he seethed, and this time when he lunged at her, she didn't have time to throw him back. He swung at her, kicked at her, his limbs lancing out so quickly that even Kouga was only half aware of where they were.

But damn, she was fast. He thought she'd be nothing once he got within the circumference of that blasted fan, but the vixen dodged, parried, and ducked as quickly as he'd ever seen. Her defense was nearly perfect.

But that was a growing problem, he realized. Her defense… It was hard to maintain this kind of intensity when his life wasn't threatened.

"FIGHT ME!" he screamed, throwing another punch at her abdomen.

Kagura dodged, but his knuckles still grazed her elbow. She gasped, and flipped back onto her feather, which ascended her safely out of his reach. And then she had the nerve to scowl down at him as though he were nothing more than a child throwing a temper tantrum.

Kouga swore. "Don't you run away from me!" he screamed, secretly wondering where her Wind Blades were. Or the Twisting Tornado Attack that had bested him so many times before…

"I'm not running away."

"You're not fighting back!"

Something crossed her face. Something strained. But she quickly regained composure, making Kouga ponder whether he saw the shift in expression at all. "And you're complaining?"

His response caught in his throat. He blinked up at her. She had a point. If all he sought was her death, then strategically, he should have been rejoicing. A foe that didn't fight back would be easier to defeat.

He didn't like this new insight. Not one bit. I'll kill her, he reaffirmed heatedly before he lost momentum. The bitch could stand still for all I care, and I'd still take her down. "Get down here," he seethted.

"Leave," she responded.

"I won't."

"You will."

His already frayed nerves nearly snapped. Too much had happened to him in the past day. He'd lost some of his tribe's territory, he'd lost his woman, and to top it off, he finally faced off with one he hated as much as Naraku, only to find that she wasn't what he remembered.

What he needed her to still be.

Kami… his knees grew weak at the unexpected realization. Is that it?

Suddenly, something sharp got his full attention. He gasped, and looked down to see a small arrow imbedded in his thigh. What the…!? He looked in the direction from which it came to see nothing more than a child. A human child, with a small bow held tightly in her white-knuckled fist. Couldn't have been more than eight. The wind tugged lightly at her scraggly hair, and long nightgown, and the spare evening light gave her the look of an apparition. She almost seemed surreal.

Or maybe it was just the situation. Kouga gawked at her incredulously, and yanked the arrow out of his leg, holding it up demonstrably. "Are you so anxious to die, brat!?"

She was looking at him with a mixed expression of apprehensive anger. "You l-l-leave the Fujin no kami alone. Sh-sh-sh," she bowed her head, and swallowed past the anxiety-induced stuttering. "She's our p-protector. Our friend."

Kouga nearly fell over. "Friend!?" His head yanked in Kagura's direction. "Of a human village!?"

She ignored him, worrying over the girl. "Get back, child!" she ordered harshly. "GO!"

The girl hesitated, and an idea occurred to Kouga through the chaos of his confusion. Not taking the time to think it out, he lunged at the girl. Perhaps he could force Kagura into fighting him, and then he could kill her fair and square, without any of this 'all defense, no offense' nonsense.

The girl squealed as he neared, and outright screamed when he grabbed her by the neck. "How many of these do I need to kill, Kagura, before you change your mind about fighting me, eh?" he called up haughtily, knowing the second the words left his mouth that he wouldn't be able to carry through with it. Perhaps it was Kagome's influence, but the wolf prince no longer had it in him to kill innocent beings. Even humans were still self-aware.

Hopefully she would buy his bluff. He let his nails flex against the skin of the child's fragile neck, eliciting another squeal.

He saw Kagura's jaw muscles twitch. She leaned as far over her feather as far as she could without falling off, her hands clenched tightly in its fibers. Her inner conflict was nearly palpable.

The girl whimpered against Kouga's hand on her throat, and he pegged his rival with a stare. "What'll it be?"

Finally, she swore, and descended down and in one swift movement, she shrank the feather and stuck it back in her hair, landing daintily on her feet. "You're a suicidal fool."

Kouga smirked. "Is that a yes?"

She rolled her eyes.

Kouga let the girl go, and the child scurried away from him. He didn't miss Kagura's discreet glance to make sure the kid escaped. Again, he found himself asking why the hell she would care. The female had no alliances. A self-serving, blood thirsty devil's spawn. This out-of-character behavior made him uneasy. As uneasy as the fact that she'd also gone out of her way to bring him back to his mountain when he was wounded three months ago.

To bat it away, he conjured up memories - those memories. His comrades, who'd been joking and hanging with him just a day before - butchered, their eyes rolled eerily back up in their skulls, as their mutilated bodies…

Agh… His eyes stung, and he swallowed past the lump in his throat. His fire refueled, he cracked his knuckles, and motioned for her to make the first move.

A hint of her former self flitted across her face, one corner of her mouth curling up in an arrogant sneer. Kouga found himself oddly relieved. THERE'S the demon I came to destroy. Keep that face on, wench, and this shouldn't take long…

She splayed her weapon out in her fingers, swiped the air between them, calling for the Corpse Dance.

Corpse dance? Kouga looked around. But where are the…

He heard the rattling of bones before he saw them. They came from behind the castle, a few dozen armored skeletons like the ones Naraku had utilized to guard his domain.

Kouga spun around and faced them, "These guys again?" he barked, bracing himself for their attack. There weren't so many, and he could easily take them all out, given enough time…

"I keep some around to serve my purposes," he heard her lilting voice as the small army came at him. He waited for them to separate. To single out and attack him from all angles.

But they didn't.

He found himself swept up in their collective clutches, pinned by the sheer force of their numbers. His leg twitched and broke a bone here, and his fist smashed back and shattered a skull there, but it wasn't nearly enough to escape. There must have been fifty hands on him.

He heard her low chuckling as he hissed and spat at his captors, and looked over to see her standing there, solitary against the wind.

"Poor, poor Kouga," she mused in that infuriating, mocking tone. "Before I met you, I never knew that leadership was awarded to such brainless creatures. Tell me, if I stood here with a spear in my hands, would you throw yourself on that, too?"

Still taunting him. He growled and redoubled his efforts to break free of his encasement, but the grip of the undead only tightened.

"May you join your comrades on the other side, prince," Kagura said. "Just remember, you brought this upon yourself."

Kouga's eyes widened as the panic finally broke through his belligerence. Funny how he'd gotten so good at ignoring it. The Wind User fanned the air.

"Fujin no Mae."

Shit!

A myriad of luminescent wind blades materialized in front of her, swirling towards him. They sliced through the air, little scythes of death. Kouga swore at his own overconfidence, his vision abruptly filled with loved ones, life's shortcomings, his own gruesome death…

A strained cry. The rush of wind against his face. Blades, that should have been slicing through his body were suddenly yanked heavenwards, at the last possible moment, leaving the wolf prince unscathed...

And shocked as hell.

When the last of them had spun above him, he gawked at her. Kagura's weapon was arced over her head, directing the attack away from him. Her usual reticence had fallen, and for a second, Kouga thought she looked just as surprised as he.

Panting - apparently the last minute aversion had worn her out considerably - Kagura let her arms fall, and she dropped to her knees, glaring up at him with emotions he couldn't decipher.

Kouga found his voice, uttering the first conclusion that came to mind. "Are you possessed!?"

Her eyes narrowed, and it didn't take a mind-reader to know that she was fed up with his presence. With one last, weary flick of her fan, the body of bones carried him upwards. Away. From this place. From his revenge.

No! "KAGURA!!"

"Get on with your life, brat," she cried out after their retreating mass. "And stay the hell out of mine."

He swore as the valley shrunk below them, but what ailed him most was the fact that she didn't want to kill him.

WHY!?

The wind this high up was nearly suffocating, and the minions of the undead were carrying him North. With the way Kagura had been acting, he wouldn't be surprised if they were ordered to take him all the way back to his mountain. It was maddening - only further chipping away at his resolve to kill her, replacing it with a bitter sort of confused denial, and something else - something he reluctantly admitted was intrigue.

"Gah!" He struggled, trying to conjure back his hatred. Conjure back his bloodlust. But it was muted out by one of the greatest inner conflicts he'd ever experienced.

The cold bony fingers responded by piercing his skin and crushing his limbs. He found himself with all the mobile liberty of a bug caught in a spider web.

An acute sense of betrayal welled up inside of him. Perhaps it was his imagination, but he thought he heard the cries of his fallen comrades howling in the wind, protesting that he'd failed them. That he didn't have it in him to kill their murderer…

No! He denied, refusing to be swallowed up in the vortex of despair. I swore I'd avenge your deaths, my brothers, and I will…

Which meant he had to…

Kouga bit his lower lip. Transform...

The prince wasn't afraid of much, but losing himself to the feral instincts of the predator terrified him. After what happened the last time…

He cringed, and pushed away the soul-twisting memories. I have no choice, he admitted reluctantly, gathering up his courage. If I can't kill her, then the Wolf will…

He summoned it.

It awoke.

His captors fragmented into brittle splinters all about him, decimated by the crackling, destructive aura of the transformation. His screams turned to roars. His body grew. His awareness faded, shackled back by the powerful instincts of the predator.

As it swallowed him into blackness, he wondered morbidly if the great Kouga, prince of the yourouzoku, would ever be the same after this.

Somehow, he doubted it.

* * *

Kagura leaned heavily against the pillar of her residence. She found herself still staring wearily at the night sky, where they'd disappeared over the mountain range, as though expecting him to return any moment.

"F-Fujin no kami?" came a small voice, and she looked up to see her little vigilante, standing there, bow still in hand. The child's little mouth hung part open in obvious distress. "Did you destroy that bad d-demon?"

"He's gone," she said, feeling her anxieties lessen in the presence of this innocent. The village had designated the girl to deliver Kagura's offerings over the past three months, and hence they'd formed some sort of bond. "Go back to bed. Before your parents wake up and find you missing."

The girl toed a pebble in the dirt. "A-alright. B-but if you need any h-help…"

Kagura bit back a laugh, recalling that it was not polite to mock children. It was absurd, this harmless waif of a human thinking she could possibly make a difference against a warrior like Kouga. So silly, she mused quietly, taking in the girl's honest eyes, and open expression. But in a pleasant way.

"Thank you for your offer," she complied, against her darker nature. "I'll keep you in mind. Now go."

The smile she received in return seemed to brighten the entire valley, and Kagura felt another odd pang in her chest as she watched the girl skip back to her village. Kanna never smiled like that before she was killed.

Alone, she sank down on her porch, stressing over her latest visitor. "Well that was unexpected," she said to no one in particular, finding herself more emotionally drained than physically. It was always exhausting when one's body was acting without the owner's permission.

Kouga… What power do you have over me that I can't kill you?

She couldn't figure out where it came from - that desperate panic that made her avert her blades before they could hurt him. A big part of her didn't want to know, either. Just like a big part of her didn't want to know why the faces of her victims were always on the edge of her mind, like a never ending ache. Ever since her liberation…

And Kouga - especially Kouga - was the face she remembered most vividly. Most often. Every colorful expression, every fluctuation of his voice, the intensity of those angry, cerulean eyes…

Perhaps she shouldn't have spent so much time staring at it when she carried him back to his mountain.

Kagura sighed. Living here, watching this community of humans so closely, the Wind User realized now what she'd done to him. Comprehended it on some small level. Problem was, she wasn't proud of it anymore. Those memories made her cringe instead of laugh. She'd gotten so fed up with the constant, nagging sentiments associated with his face, that she'd even sought out Sesshoumaru, to-

Enough, she told herself. Now isn't the time for self-analysis. I need a plan for when he comes back. She knew he was going to return, and probably the very moment her minions set him down. The annoying prince would plague her as long as they were both alive, which meant she needed to figure out a remedy that didn't end up with one or both of their deaths. Stubborn little--

A roar sounded in the distance. Kagura froze. Listened. It sounded again, thunderous and wet like a giant waterfall. Or an earthquake during a storm. And it was getting closer.

What…!?

Its deep, reverberating echo ricocheted all the way through the mountain range, and trembled within the valley. Whatever was coming, it was huge. A sick feeling lodged in her gut. She tossed a worried glance towards the village, to see the first smattering of humans peeking out of their doorways.

Then in her peripheral vision, she saw it. A giant, canine shadow that hopped up on the cliff overlooking the valley. It was massive…monstrous…silhouetted pitch black against the star-studded sky. Its hackles rose, pulsating with each gravelly pant, and just as she wondered which family of youkai it belonged to, the thing threw back its head and howled.

A wolf.

The sound was unbearable, even the villagers' screams being drowned out by it. Kagura herself clapped her hands over her ears, feeling it penetrate all the way to her toes. But she didn't look away. Couldn't. Despite the promising feast of an entire human village, the creature's narrow-eyed glare was fixed on just one person.

Her.

And it was then that the dread familiarity registered. Its eyes, vibrant, ridiculously blue, shining out from its obsidian form like lanterns in the dead of night knew her. And she knew them...

She staggered backwards, slack-jawed and wide-eyed. Kouga!

With a menacing snarl, the magnificent and powerful beast lunged at her. As Kagura readied her weapon, she recognized something in the wolf prince's half-crazed eyes that she'd never seen before.

Her death.

* * *

Stop…

Hunger. Insatiable, maddening, mind-numbing…

Stop…

Just seeing their scurrying forms made him salivate. He cornered them. Sneered. Leaned down, and opened his jaws…

STOP!!

And pulled back. The Wolf resisted, denied him control. But with a will born of desperation, Kouga forced his way back to the forefront of his mind. He felt the transformation begin before he'd even told his body to do so. The Wolf was too much for his consciousness alone to maintain, and he shuddered inwardly as he shrank. Condensed. Down back to his humanoid form.

He uncurled himself from the fetal position with a grimace. His limbs felt stiff. Exhausted. But the first emotion that filled him was fear. Fear that he'd done something evil. The scent of blood filled his nostrils, and Kouga peeked his eyes open. Cattle lay strewn about, some partially eaten, some merely swatted aside. And within his range, and too close for comfort was a handful of gawking humans - some crying, some wounded, all afraid.

But none dead.

He felt a small ounce of relief. After all, it meant he was able to control the beast - regaining control right after his darker nature had accomplished its one directive.

Kagura…

His head snapped up, and he looked around. She was dead. Had to be, or else the Wolf wouldn't have gone on to the villagers. A pang in his chest made him wince. He frowned.

What's this…?

He should have felt contented. Satisfied, that his brethren had finally been avenged. But his heart was still laden. Almost sad.

It didn't make sense. The mumblings of the humans drew his attention, and he angrily pushed the odd sentiments aside. Kouga stood abruptly, tossing warning glances at the few villagers stupid enough to advance on him.

"Be grateful, lesser creatures," he bellowed out. "I've decided to spare you." With that, he marched through them, even though all he wanted to do was sit and sleep. He had to find her body.

Her body…

Kouga flinched internally as his eyes scanned the ruins of her castle. He normally would have crossed the distance by running, not having the patience to walk. But his feet felt unusually heavy, slowing his pace. Wisely, the humans stayed behind, and when he reached perimeter of the stone and wood debris he saw the first sign of the Wind User's demise.

Her smashed fan.

It was broken. Splintered beyond repair. Kouga battled with an uneasy wave of something,, and kept looking. The whole area was drenched in the scent of her blood, and he had to rely on his sight to find…

There…

A crimson trail smeared the ground to his left. Squashing away a sudden rush of weird, unmanageable reservations, he pragmatically walked alongside it until he came upon a delicate, bloodied arm poking through the rubble. Kouga took a deep breath.

Leaning down, he slowly removed the debris until he saw her legs. Her torso. Her face…

That face… Once so pretty, so porcelain, now in death was disfigured with dark contusions and cuts. Her hair - always shiny and styled to perfection was sticking to her scalp and neck in tangled clumps, having been ripped from its barrette. And the kimono, with its lilac colors and soft material, ruined with blotches of her own blood. Torn to shreds where the canines of the Wolf had punctured the material, and the body within…

She was mangled. He felt a moment's remorse, and wondered if he would have felt better about the victory had he been able to destroy Kagura without marring her inherent prettiness.

No matter, he told himself. It is finished, and then soberly added out loud, "You may rest in peace now, my brothers."

Unbidden, a memory flitted across his mind from earlier that evening of Kagura's irritated expression, coupled with her confusing behavior in refusing to kill him. And those words - her infuriating words, having the audacity to insist he just 'go home'.

"You knew I couldn't do that," he whispered through the tightness of his throat, finding himself crouching down next to her corpse. His hand absently reached out and peeled a blood-soaked lock of hair away from her swollen cheek. Yeah, he reaffirmed with mixed emotions. Damn shame I couldn't have just snatched your soul from your body.

Something pulsated against his palm. Kouga froze. It happened again, a warm puff of air exhaling from her mouth. He gasped and rolled back on his heels.

She's alive!?

As though in answer, her eyelids fluttered, and a barely audible, but pain-filled moan trickled off her lips. Kouga choked.

The Wolf stopped itself before it killed you!? he stammered internally. Its only directive WAS to kill you. YOU! The butcher of my people!

Completely stupefied, Kouga just gaped at her unconscious form. A small whimper sounded in his throat, and he stood to his feet in shocked denial. "This is impossible…"

He began to pace, not taking his eyes off of his victim. He had to do something. Finish it. Like he'd sworn. On the about face, he turned and lifted his heel over her skull.

And stiffened. He ordered his limb to crush her head, but the disobedient lump of flesh just hovered there, inches from its goal, refusing to take her life.

"Gah!" he kicked out, and sent a pile of debris shattering up in the air. Kouga had never felt so conflicted in all his life, the inner turmoil making him want to go on a rampage, tear through trees, storm through villages…

Do anything but kill her…

"Well if that's the way destiny wants it," he spat, leaning down and curling his arms under her limp form. "Then my tribe can do it." He lifted her against his chest, and stood. "Perhaps you were fated to be ripped to pieces by the nasty claws of 300 angry widows instead."

The words sounded rational, a solution that made sense to his ridiculous dilemma. So he repeated them like a mantra inside his head as he left the valley and headed home. After all, the sooner he got there, the sooner this madness would end.


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