Chapter 24: Mating Call

            The next few days were torture for everyone in the group. Shio never seemed to get tired of yelling and struggling. Screaming all night, screaming all day, he remained in bondage with in the hut. Not that it would have mattered whether he was inside or outside. The whole village could hear the restless demon and complained frequently, it was getting harder and harder for Miroku to keep them and the hut's landlord at bay. Even one of the neighboring village attacked because of all the noise, but Inu Yasha and Sango won them a few extra days with the hut by defeating the other village's army.

            With all of the screaning, nobody really got any sleep. When they did sleep, they usually had dreams about screeching parrots and banshees. And just being inside the hut magnified the sound and made them a clear target for his shouting.

            "Um, it's starting to rain." Shippou said, as if no one else could figure it out. He looked up and a drop of water few onto his cheek. The rolling clouds of cumulo-nimbus above them threatened a big thunderstorm.

            Kagome looked around as everyone stood around hesitating and getting wet. "Are we – going inside the hut?"

            Sango tsked once and looked like she had a headache. "No way. You couldn't pay me to go into that hut."

            "Well we have to go somewhere it's raining." Miroku said looking up at the gry sky.

            All of a sudden the screaming stopped, which took everyone by such surprise that they all looked at the hut and listened as if he would resume. But he didn't.

            "Maybe he got tired." Woody suggested.

            "Or maybe he lost his voice." Kagome said.

            "Or maybe he's dead." Shippou said.

            Inu Yasha pushed the bamboo mat-door of the hut aside and looked in. After a few moments he turned to them again and said, "He's not moving."

            Stepping into the hut, he was followed closely by Kagome who was holding onto one of his baggy red sleeves for protection. Seeking his own protection, Shippou clung to Kagome's shoulder watching Shio's still form on his bondage bed. Sango came in with Kirara on her shoulder and she was followed by Miroku. Then Sumiko came in and when she was about to be followed by her prostitutes, she shook her head and told them, "Uh-uh, wait outside."

            "We wanna see!" Bananas complained.

            "There isn't enough room to fit all of us in here, wait outside." And with that Sumiko shoved them hard out the door and joined the others.

            Shio was lying unnaturally still with his head turned away from them, silent as the dead.

            "He is dead!" Shippou whispered loudly. Miroku shushed him.

            "Somebody poke him or something!" Sango whispered.

            "Inu Yasha, poke him!" Kagome tugged on the hanyo's sleeve.

            "Me??" he whispered. "It was Sango's idea! Why doesn't she poke him!"

            "Cause I don't want to touch him!" Sango whispered.

            "Why are we whispering?" Miroku asked.

            "Miroku, poke him!" Kagome said.

            "No thank you." He replied. "I rather like my hands."

            "Well, poke him with you staff or something!" Sango said.

            "I just polished it."

            "Don't be a pussy, Miroku! Poke him!" Inu Yasha said.

            "Why don't you poke him??" Miroku asked.

            Sumiko went over and poked Shio in the arm.

            Everyone stopped arguing and watched to see if the enchanter would stir. 

            Shio's head turned ever so slightly, but it made everyone jump a little. His eyes were closed a catlike grin crossed his face. "I'll give you one last chance to set me free." He said in his seductive voice. For a guy tied down on a table, he seemed pretty confident in himself, that he would eventually get what he want. Inu Yasha knew this attitude was to be feared.

            "What are you schemeing?" Inu Yasha asked. His expression was serious and daring, but his tone of voice was troubled at what his friend had planned.

            "Relieve yourself of even worse suffering, I'm warning you now." Shio said still smiling.

            Sango looked at Kirara who looked a bit tense then back at Shio. "What do you mean by worse suffering? Why are you smiling like that?"

            Shio's smile turned into an impossible grin revealing his fangs.

            Inu Yasha watched him, trying to figure out what he was doing.

            "And what would happen if we did let you go Shio?" Miroku asked solemnly.

            "I would f*ck your females." He said causing Kagome and Sango to flinch a little. Then he added. "But it would be a lot easier to give up now then suffer and give in later." He said. When the room was silent and no one moved for the next few minutes, Shio opened his eyes and smirked at them. "No? You choose to suffer?" he chuckled. "Well then get ready for hell, humans." He closed his eyes and his expression became consentrated. He began to inhale deeply.

            It was then that Inu Yasha realized what Shio was doing. His eyes popped. "No way!" he whispered. He turned to everyone but mostly to Kagome. "Get out of here, NOW! RUN!"

            "What?? What is it??" Kagome asked.

            "GET OUT!!" he shouted and practically threw everyone outside of the hut, he had just barely gotten out himself when a loud roar erupted from the tiny hut to make all of his earlier screams look like squeaks. It was a roar so loud, so filled with magic, that the soundwaves were visable like ripples of water and echoed around the whole village and throughout the forest. 

            When it was over, Miroku's ears were ringing. "WHAT WAS THAT!!" he shouted to Inu Yasha.

            "It's a mating call!" Sumiko suddenly said. She looked at him like the shout didn't bother her at all.

            After a few seconds when the pounding in Inu Yasha's ears lessened he stated. "Almost every demon has a mating call. It can be loud enough for one demon or a city's worth. Shio once told me that he didn't need his mating call and that if he used it, there would be chaos."

            "Chaos?" Miroku repeated but before he could ask anything they heard Sango scream. She and Kagome were fighting to get inside the door of the hut like wild women. "He's mine!" Sango shouted and punched Kagome in the face. Kagome grabbed her by the hair and punched her in the stomach. Inu Yasha, Miroku and Shippou stood watching with a somewhat stunned expression on their faces. But the male prostitutes jumped in and started cheering.

            "Alright! Cat fight!" Bananas shouted.

            "Go Kagome, go!"

            "Gouge out her eyes!"

            "Oooooh! Painful!"

            "We should stop them!" Shippou said while sitting on Miroku's shoulder.

            "Yes we should." Miroku said but neither he nor Inu Yasha attempted to stop them, either out of fear or they wanted to see if Kagome could take down Sango or not.

            Then Shio shouted from inside the hut, causing the girls to stop and listen, "Oh ladies! I'm mating for sex!"

            All of a sudden Kagome and Sango's butt kicking became a lot more dirty. That was when Inu Yasha and Miroku decided to step in and end it. As Inu pulled Sango away and Miroku pulled Kagome away, there came sounds of disappointment from the watching men.

            Kagome through her hand back and grabbed Miroku by the scalp, yanked it, and kicked her feet to get free. "Ack! Lady Kagome, stop it!" Miroku said closing one eye from the pain of his hair. He pried Kagome's hand out of his hair but then her hand became a claw and dug into his arm. "Inu Yasha, help! She's like a bobcat!" he shouted.

            "I got my own problems!" Inu Yasha shouted as Sango kept stomping on his bare feet and biting his arms and hands. "God damnit Sango, quit it!" he gripped her shoulder and right away found out it was a bad move when she shrieked in his sensitive dog ears and elbowed him in the stomach. Somehow he still held onto her but his ears were ringing and he couldn't hear whatever Miroku was shouting to him. Then Snake sighed and came over to Mroku and Kagome. "Mind if I cut in?" he asked Miroku.

            Miroku atomatically let go. Snake smacked Kagome across the face stunning her.

            "HEY! Bastard, I'll kick your butt for that!" Inu Yasha shouted.

            Wang ignored him and while Kagome was stunned he wrapped one arm around her arm and neck and one arm around her other arm and pulled upward. She gasped and struggled but after a few moments went still.

            Inu Yasha was freaking out so much, that while he was holding into Sango she started to scream that her bones were about to snap. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER!?!" Inu Yasha shouted.

            "Get a grip, it's the sleep hold!" Snake said. He went over and punched Sango in the face then put her in the sleep hold as well. Inu Yasha went over to Kagome where Miorku was checking her pulse.

            "Yep, she's alive." Miroku nodded.

            Inu Yasha stomped up to Snake and grabbed him by the front of his colorful kimonos. "I swear if you ever do something like that to her again, I'll-"
            "Oh don't get your ears in a knot, Horndog! If I hadn't stepped in you and the priest would still be trying to-"

            "We got company!!" Peanut shouted. The women of the village started to surround them, willing to fight to answer Shio's mating call. Inu Yasha and Miroku protected the door and the prostitute men started going around knocking the girls out.

-

An hour later at another hut on the other side of the village, Woody and Johnson stood guard. "Tell me again, Woody. What are we guarding?" Johnson grinned impishly.

            "We're guarding a hut full of horny human women who are knocked out and tied up because they attacked us, beat a few of us up, and all so they could f*ck the fox demon Shio! And we're standing guard because Sumiko said we're imbeciles who need to make up for it!"

            Woody and Johnson howled with laughter and mimicked Sumiko's command.

            Miroku was soaking his hand in some medicine because some woman bit into it and it wouldn't stop bleeding. "I think she was a demon." Miroku commented.

            Inu Yasha was patting his soar head and ears looking to see if any women ripped out any chunks of his hair. Shippou was shivering and rocking back and forth in a fetal position, probably scarred for life. The other prostitutes sat around laughing and making jokes out of the whole thing.

            "I tell you what, we're going to have to teach you guys the sleeper hold technique!" Peanut said.

            "Why?" Miroku asked.

            "Because he's obviously going to give the mating call again." Sumiko said.

            "WHAT?? You mean we have to fight off MORE women!!??" Inu Yasha whined.

            "He's going to keep calling till he gets a women." Sumiko said. "You're going to have to fight or let Shio give in and lose his light."

            Inu Yasha sighed. "Crazy enough, I'm still going to help him."

            "Wow. Devoted friends." Miroku smiled.

            Inu Yasha eyed him, wondering if this were an implied insult or not then said, "Well Shio's helped me many times, and I can't believe I'm saying this but, I owe him."

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^___^ YEAH!! I CAN'T WAIT TILL THE NEXT CHAPTER!!! The next chapter is the stories turnpoint!!