The White Garou
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha & Co. They belong to their creator Rumiko Takahashi. I'm just 'borrowing' them for a bit to write this little fanfic. She can have them back when I'm done!
*The story opens at night with Inuyasha & friends sitting around a campfire.*
Chapter 1: Beginnings
Kagome looks wistfully out into the darkness. The air is misty and cool; a slight pleasant breeze plays over her features, blowing a wayward strand of hair to and fro. All that can be heard is the calls of various nocturnal creatures, as the group reflects on their day's adventures seeking the Shikon no Tama shards.
The silence is broken suddenly by a screech and a loud thud from Sango and Miroku's direction. Kagome, Inuyasha, and Shippo whip their heads around to find Miroku face down in the dirt with a huge welt forming on his head.
Sighing in exasperation, Kagome glares at Miroku, wondering to herself when that foolish Houshi is going to learn to keep his wayward hands to himself. Miroku gets up and groans, rubbing his head. He casts a sorrowful look in Sango's direction, but she just glares back at him. Miroku sighs and closes his eyes, pretending to pray.
Inuyasha just ignores the scene, snorting to himself and mumbling something about the stupidity of humans, and Shippo can be heard teasing Miroku for his lewd behavior. Suddenly, Inuyasha's ears perk up and he sniffs the air warily.
The entire group ceases their activity and all attention is focused on Inuyasha. "What is it, Inuyasha? What's wrong?" says Kagome. Inuyasha stands up and sniffs the air more insistently. Immediately, everyone stands on guard, ready for whatever danger might be coming their way.
Drawing her bow, Kagome moves to stand beside Inuyasha, but he gruffly forces her behind him, and growls: "Stay behind me!"
In the next instant, a silver flash of fur speeds by the group of wayward travelers. "What the?!?!" yells Inuyasha, growling and baring his fangs, and prepares to spring after whatever just flashed by them. Before he can move, a giant Oni crashes through the trees with a roar.
The sickening stench of rotten flesh emanates from its body, and the creature stops short when it sees the travelers. It opens its maw wide, and lets out another roar, charging at its newfound 'prey'. "Feh!" Inuyasha says in disgust, as he covers his nose with the sleeve of his Fire-Rat robe. He draws Tetsusaiga, and with the familiar glow encompassing the blade, lets fly with the KAZE NO KIZU, effectively incinerating the Oni.
In a nearby forest clearing, the group sees a tall wolfish creature with a long muzzle. It is well muscled, and standing on two legs instead of four, white fur covering its body, ears, and flowing tail. Pearly fangs glisten in the moonlight. One of the creature's ears flicks and swivels in the direction of the group, and it slowly turns to face them.
Inuyasha begins to growl, intending to go after it. Its ears flatten visibly at the sound of Inuyasha's growl, and a heartbeat later, it leaps backwards into the shadows, vanishing into the night mist. Inuyasha searches the entire area for the creature, but to no avail. It is gone.
~~~ The next day ~~~
Kagome awoke to the sounds of birds chirping softly, in the early morning sun. The rest of the group was already awake and preparing to eat.
At a nearby stream, Shippo leans over to gather water for the morning meal. His ears perk up as he hears a slight rustle in the bushes nearby, and he catches a glimpse of two yellowish green wolf eyes and a white furry body. Almost as soon as they appear, they vanish without a trace.
Remembering the creature from the previous night, he yelps and runs back to Kagome, diving into her lap and babbling. Inuyasha tenses in alarm at the Kitsune's abrupt arrival, and his hand moves instinctively to Tetsusaiga. He sniffs the air, but detects nothing out of the ordinary. Turning on Shippo, he yells "Keh! Baka! What are you doing?!", hitting the Kitsune soundly on the head for rushing into camp and scaring the wits out of everyone.
"But I SAW it! The wolf was there!" whines the baby Kitsune, crying and rubbing the bump on his head. "Kagome! Inuyasha's being MEAN to me again!!!".
"INUYASHA!!! OSWARI!!!" *Crash!* "Dammit! What did you do that for?!?!?" (yelling match starts). Sango, Miroku, and Shippo roll their eyes and begin to walk off for the day's journey. Tonight would be a new moon, and they knew they needed to get somewhere safe for the night.
Later that evening, under the dim light of the new moon, Inuyasha is once again human. He sits Indian style with his arms crossed, a pouting look on his face. He always hates feeling so helpless. All of a sudden, a whirlwind of dirt becomes visible and Kouga arrives in a flourish. He runs up to Kagome, taking both of her hands in his. Inuyasha doesn't fail to notice this and a scowl graces his features, but Kouga ignores it.
"Kagome-chan! It's good to see you. I see dog-breath here has taken good care of my woman for me in my absence!" (Inuyasha is fuming at this point, and he stands up, putting a hand on the scabbard of Tetsusaiga). "Human or not, you wimpy wolf, I'm going to wipe the floor with you right now!!!" Kouga just laughs and taunts him further; "Go ahead and try it fleabag! You can't possibly beat me!"
"Kouga! Inuyasha! Stop it!" yells Kagome, but it's too late, Inuyasha takes a leap towards Kouga, drawing his sword even though it's useless to him in his current form. Kouga snickers and throws a punch at Inuyasha, sending him flying back into a tree. He hits the tree hard and falls down to the ground, bruised and bloody. Trying to get up, he coughs weakly, and sinks back down against the tree. His eyes glaze over and he blacks out.
"INUYASHA!!!" Screams Kagome, rushing to his side. She breathes a sigh of relief when she realizes he's still alive, just knocked unconscious. "Kouga, Stop it NOW!" she yells, but Kouga isn't listening to her. He advances on Inuyasha, intent on killing his rival once and for all. 'Finally, if I get him out of the way, there won't be anyone to stand between Kagome and I anymore!' Kouga thinks to himself.
Baring his fangs, Kouga crouches down, preparing to spring. Before he can, a low and dangerous snarl from the nearby shrubs gives him pause. An involuntary shiver of fear creeps down his spine at the sound, and in the next instant, the unmistakable outline of a Garou emerges from the shadows. Kouga peers in the direction of the noise and can make out solid white fur, a long pointed wolfish muzzle, and two yellow-green eyes glaring at him out of the darkness.
Kagome gasps at the appearance of the creature. A slight flick of a white ear in her direction is the only indication that it acknowledges her presence. Curling back its lips to bare its fangs in a savage snarl; the creature begins to pad slowly towards Kouga, as though stalking him, its yellow-green eyes glinting dangerously.
Kouga snorts, shaking himself out of his momentary lapse and sneers at the creature approaching him. "Ha! What are you? You DARE challenge me, the prince of wolves??? Very well, I'll just have to dispose of you first, then I'll deal with dog-crap here!"
At his words, the white wolf creature crouches down, snarling angrily. It springs at him, claws and fangs bared, ready for a fight. Kouga leaps as well and the two warriors meet in midair, locked in combat. At first it appears as though Kouga has the upper hand, slashing at the creature and scoring its hide. Its fine white fur is flecked with blood, but something unexpected happens. With a great snarl, the white Garou sinks its fangs into Kouga's shoulder, tearing through flesh and bone. Digging its claws into Kouga's sides, the Garou throws him to the ground with a tremendous thud.
The rest of the fight is merely a blur, snarling and yelps of pain, dust, blood, and fur flying this way and that, whilst the group looks on, mouths agape at the speed of what is unfolding before their very eyes.
Inuyasha slowly regains consciousness to see Kagome hovering over him, but her eyes are fixated on the fight. He follows her line of sight, and seeing the blur in front of him, attempts to stand, his hand reaching for the scabbard of Tetsusaiga. Kagome, feeling Inuyasha trying to rise, turns back to him. "No! Inuyasha! Stay there! You're hurt!", she yells. "Feh! I'm fine! Let me up!" he complains, and tries to rise again, but Kagome is able to hold him down.
Almost as soon as it started, the fight comes to an end. Crouching over the bruised and battered body of Kouga is the white Garou. Its chest heaving, still snarling, white pelt matted with both its own blood and Kouga's. A low whimper can be heard from Kouga, as he squirms painfully on the ground. He gets up painfully, and the Garou glares at him, snarling a warning. Knowing when he's beaten, Kouga casts one last sorrowful glance at Kagome, and snorts "Bah. You're not good enough for me anyway!" He then disappears in a whirl of dirt.
After watching Kouga depart, the white Garou wobbles slightly, its sleek muscles constricting visibly under its white pelt, and staggers off a few feet, collapsing in a heap of bloody fur. The only movement is its shallow breathing. Kagome stands up and starts walking towards the creature, stopping at her backpack. "Kagome! Don't go near it!" Yells Sango. "It could hurt you!"
Kagome looks over at Sango and nods reassurance, leaning over to pick up her first-aid kid out of her backpack. She walks slowly over to the fallen form of the Garou, who saved Inuyasha's life. Inuyasha for once, can only sit and watch, knowing that this creature just saved him from certain death. He remembered the Oni, and the blur of white fur he saw running by just before it crashed through the trees. 'This must be the creature that Oni was after, and it's repaying me for saving its life!' he thought to himself.
Kagome leans down and places a hand on the matted and bloody white fur. The creature swivels its ears and moves slightly, letting out a low whine. Kirara lets out a feline roar, and bounds over to the fallen Garou, seeming to understand what it is saying.
"Kirara, could you help me move him?" asks Kagome. The big cat nods, and crouches down to nudge the Garou up onto her back. Shippo, not needing to be told, bounds off to find a nearby stream. He comes back in short order and leads the rest of the group there. Kagome spends a good quantity of the night cleaning the matted blood off of the Garou's fur, dressing all the wounds.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha & Co. They belong to their creator Rumiko Takahashi. I'm just 'borrowing' them for a bit to write this little fanfic. She can have them back when I'm done!
*The story opens at night with Inuyasha & friends sitting around a campfire.*
Chapter 1: Beginnings
Kagome looks wistfully out into the darkness. The air is misty and cool; a slight pleasant breeze plays over her features, blowing a wayward strand of hair to and fro. All that can be heard is the calls of various nocturnal creatures, as the group reflects on their day's adventures seeking the Shikon no Tama shards.
The silence is broken suddenly by a screech and a loud thud from Sango and Miroku's direction. Kagome, Inuyasha, and Shippo whip their heads around to find Miroku face down in the dirt with a huge welt forming on his head.
Sighing in exasperation, Kagome glares at Miroku, wondering to herself when that foolish Houshi is going to learn to keep his wayward hands to himself. Miroku gets up and groans, rubbing his head. He casts a sorrowful look in Sango's direction, but she just glares back at him. Miroku sighs and closes his eyes, pretending to pray.
Inuyasha just ignores the scene, snorting to himself and mumbling something about the stupidity of humans, and Shippo can be heard teasing Miroku for his lewd behavior. Suddenly, Inuyasha's ears perk up and he sniffs the air warily.
The entire group ceases their activity and all attention is focused on Inuyasha. "What is it, Inuyasha? What's wrong?" says Kagome. Inuyasha stands up and sniffs the air more insistently. Immediately, everyone stands on guard, ready for whatever danger might be coming their way.
Drawing her bow, Kagome moves to stand beside Inuyasha, but he gruffly forces her behind him, and growls: "Stay behind me!"
In the next instant, a silver flash of fur speeds by the group of wayward travelers. "What the?!?!" yells Inuyasha, growling and baring his fangs, and prepares to spring after whatever just flashed by them. Before he can move, a giant Oni crashes through the trees with a roar.
The sickening stench of rotten flesh emanates from its body, and the creature stops short when it sees the travelers. It opens its maw wide, and lets out another roar, charging at its newfound 'prey'. "Feh!" Inuyasha says in disgust, as he covers his nose with the sleeve of his Fire-Rat robe. He draws Tetsusaiga, and with the familiar glow encompassing the blade, lets fly with the KAZE NO KIZU, effectively incinerating the Oni.
In a nearby forest clearing, the group sees a tall wolfish creature with a long muzzle. It is well muscled, and standing on two legs instead of four, white fur covering its body, ears, and flowing tail. Pearly fangs glisten in the moonlight. One of the creature's ears flicks and swivels in the direction of the group, and it slowly turns to face them.
Inuyasha begins to growl, intending to go after it. Its ears flatten visibly at the sound of Inuyasha's growl, and a heartbeat later, it leaps backwards into the shadows, vanishing into the night mist. Inuyasha searches the entire area for the creature, but to no avail. It is gone.
~~~ The next day ~~~
Kagome awoke to the sounds of birds chirping softly, in the early morning sun. The rest of the group was already awake and preparing to eat.
At a nearby stream, Shippo leans over to gather water for the morning meal. His ears perk up as he hears a slight rustle in the bushes nearby, and he catches a glimpse of two yellowish green wolf eyes and a white furry body. Almost as soon as they appear, they vanish without a trace.
Remembering the creature from the previous night, he yelps and runs back to Kagome, diving into her lap and babbling. Inuyasha tenses in alarm at the Kitsune's abrupt arrival, and his hand moves instinctively to Tetsusaiga. He sniffs the air, but detects nothing out of the ordinary. Turning on Shippo, he yells "Keh! Baka! What are you doing?!", hitting the Kitsune soundly on the head for rushing into camp and scaring the wits out of everyone.
"But I SAW it! The wolf was there!" whines the baby Kitsune, crying and rubbing the bump on his head. "Kagome! Inuyasha's being MEAN to me again!!!".
"INUYASHA!!! OSWARI!!!" *Crash!* "Dammit! What did you do that for?!?!?" (yelling match starts). Sango, Miroku, and Shippo roll their eyes and begin to walk off for the day's journey. Tonight would be a new moon, and they knew they needed to get somewhere safe for the night.
Later that evening, under the dim light of the new moon, Inuyasha is once again human. He sits Indian style with his arms crossed, a pouting look on his face. He always hates feeling so helpless. All of a sudden, a whirlwind of dirt becomes visible and Kouga arrives in a flourish. He runs up to Kagome, taking both of her hands in his. Inuyasha doesn't fail to notice this and a scowl graces his features, but Kouga ignores it.
"Kagome-chan! It's good to see you. I see dog-breath here has taken good care of my woman for me in my absence!" (Inuyasha is fuming at this point, and he stands up, putting a hand on the scabbard of Tetsusaiga). "Human or not, you wimpy wolf, I'm going to wipe the floor with you right now!!!" Kouga just laughs and taunts him further; "Go ahead and try it fleabag! You can't possibly beat me!"
"Kouga! Inuyasha! Stop it!" yells Kagome, but it's too late, Inuyasha takes a leap towards Kouga, drawing his sword even though it's useless to him in his current form. Kouga snickers and throws a punch at Inuyasha, sending him flying back into a tree. He hits the tree hard and falls down to the ground, bruised and bloody. Trying to get up, he coughs weakly, and sinks back down against the tree. His eyes glaze over and he blacks out.
"INUYASHA!!!" Screams Kagome, rushing to his side. She breathes a sigh of relief when she realizes he's still alive, just knocked unconscious. "Kouga, Stop it NOW!" she yells, but Kouga isn't listening to her. He advances on Inuyasha, intent on killing his rival once and for all. 'Finally, if I get him out of the way, there won't be anyone to stand between Kagome and I anymore!' Kouga thinks to himself.
Baring his fangs, Kouga crouches down, preparing to spring. Before he can, a low and dangerous snarl from the nearby shrubs gives him pause. An involuntary shiver of fear creeps down his spine at the sound, and in the next instant, the unmistakable outline of a Garou emerges from the shadows. Kouga peers in the direction of the noise and can make out solid white fur, a long pointed wolfish muzzle, and two yellow-green eyes glaring at him out of the darkness.
Kagome gasps at the appearance of the creature. A slight flick of a white ear in her direction is the only indication that it acknowledges her presence. Curling back its lips to bare its fangs in a savage snarl; the creature begins to pad slowly towards Kouga, as though stalking him, its yellow-green eyes glinting dangerously.
Kouga snorts, shaking himself out of his momentary lapse and sneers at the creature approaching him. "Ha! What are you? You DARE challenge me, the prince of wolves??? Very well, I'll just have to dispose of you first, then I'll deal with dog-crap here!"
At his words, the white wolf creature crouches down, snarling angrily. It springs at him, claws and fangs bared, ready for a fight. Kouga leaps as well and the two warriors meet in midair, locked in combat. At first it appears as though Kouga has the upper hand, slashing at the creature and scoring its hide. Its fine white fur is flecked with blood, but something unexpected happens. With a great snarl, the white Garou sinks its fangs into Kouga's shoulder, tearing through flesh and bone. Digging its claws into Kouga's sides, the Garou throws him to the ground with a tremendous thud.
The rest of the fight is merely a blur, snarling and yelps of pain, dust, blood, and fur flying this way and that, whilst the group looks on, mouths agape at the speed of what is unfolding before their very eyes.
Inuyasha slowly regains consciousness to see Kagome hovering over him, but her eyes are fixated on the fight. He follows her line of sight, and seeing the blur in front of him, attempts to stand, his hand reaching for the scabbard of Tetsusaiga. Kagome, feeling Inuyasha trying to rise, turns back to him. "No! Inuyasha! Stay there! You're hurt!", she yells. "Feh! I'm fine! Let me up!" he complains, and tries to rise again, but Kagome is able to hold him down.
Almost as soon as it started, the fight comes to an end. Crouching over the bruised and battered body of Kouga is the white Garou. Its chest heaving, still snarling, white pelt matted with both its own blood and Kouga's. A low whimper can be heard from Kouga, as he squirms painfully on the ground. He gets up painfully, and the Garou glares at him, snarling a warning. Knowing when he's beaten, Kouga casts one last sorrowful glance at Kagome, and snorts "Bah. You're not good enough for me anyway!" He then disappears in a whirl of dirt.
After watching Kouga depart, the white Garou wobbles slightly, its sleek muscles constricting visibly under its white pelt, and staggers off a few feet, collapsing in a heap of bloody fur. The only movement is its shallow breathing. Kagome stands up and starts walking towards the creature, stopping at her backpack. "Kagome! Don't go near it!" Yells Sango. "It could hurt you!"
Kagome looks over at Sango and nods reassurance, leaning over to pick up her first-aid kid out of her backpack. She walks slowly over to the fallen form of the Garou, who saved Inuyasha's life. Inuyasha for once, can only sit and watch, knowing that this creature just saved him from certain death. He remembered the Oni, and the blur of white fur he saw running by just before it crashed through the trees. 'This must be the creature that Oni was after, and it's repaying me for saving its life!' he thought to himself.
Kagome leans down and places a hand on the matted and bloody white fur. The creature swivels its ears and moves slightly, letting out a low whine. Kirara lets out a feline roar, and bounds over to the fallen Garou, seeming to understand what it is saying.
"Kirara, could you help me move him?" asks Kagome. The big cat nods, and crouches down to nudge the Garou up onto her back. Shippo, not needing to be told, bounds off to find a nearby stream. He comes back in short order and leads the rest of the group there. Kagome spends a good quantity of the night cleaning the matted blood off of the Garou's fur, dressing all the wounds.