I am so sorry that I have not updated this fic before now! This one isn't written out like my other one, so I am writing as I go and I have been pulling my hair out trying to gather my thoughts on how I want this to continue. See, I like Kouga too much to really kill him off...but he can't stay as he is either...I think I finally came up with the solution. Though it will take a few chapters to find out what I mean...^.^
Writers block is apparently over, but this fic will still be updated no more then once a week. School and a screaming toddler insure that! But, I will do my best to make sure each chapter is long enough to keep the story moving at a good pace.
Thank you to all the reviewers!
Sylvannastar
Part 13
Kouga's Wish
Sesshoumaru followed the wind and considered his actions from earlier that day. Why did I run in there like some spoiled unweaned pup? I know better. He sniffed the breeze and turned toward the smell of water. It must be that woman. She still clouds my senses, impairs my judgement. I rushed in just to see his face when he found out I have the girl...to tell him she's mine. Mine...
The blue mountains rose around him, reminding him that he was on the borders of his territory. The gentle slope of the foot lands was laid out at his feet, wreathed in mist and shadow. Evening had fallen and the first stars would be sure to appear soon. The moon was waning, a sign that Inuyasha would start getting edgy about the loss of his youkai blood.
Sesshoumaru thought about the humans waiting for him in the west. He found himself slightly eager to return. His arguing with the Miko was strangely refreshing, as well as aggravating. He found her to be...stimulating.
A mere human woman intrigues me. I would have never thought-but then, she is no ordinary girl. And now I can pick her apart at my leisure. I will have all the answers I require and perhaps I will enjoy the process of extracting this information. I will break her slowly, until her only thought will be to serve this Sesshoumaru's every wish...Sesshoumaru was satisfied with his own musings, taking pleasure even in the imaginary tortures he had planned.
He began the long trek back to the camp. It would only take him a few hours to return, but there was no relaxing on this journey. There were too many things that weighed on his mind.
Sesshoumaru had many enemies. The western lands themselves brought many of them upon him. Many harbored a lust for the power and prestige his position awarded him. There were a few who thought that his tasks were easy and that he was ruling only because he was born to it, but in reality, he had fought for every square inch of these lands. His biggest problems were just beginning to weigh on him. As time went on, the responsibility of his station seemed to grow heavier. And he had no one to share it with. This was his heritage. He would live and bleed and die here for this place and its people, just like his father before him.
Skirting the obvious paths that the other animals treaded, he worked his way down the rocky slopes. The tall trees dwarfed him in this form, great towering giants that swayed in the wind and rose to impossible heights. The thick underbrush melted in front of him, courtesy of his poison claws, when it became too thick to simply push aside. He kept his pace steady and unhurried. He refused to allow those two humans to effect him so much that they could change his speed. It was inconceivable that he would hurry for a human...
Another scent tickled his nose. There were wolves near by. He scented the air and calculated the distance between himself and the closest scent. They were still a good distance away, but they were headed in his general direction. Sesshoumaru considered waiting or leaving...along with the wild wolf smell he had detected fear. It could be a problem, and even if it was, it was not on his lands. But, if they were headed toward him, whatever was scaring the normally ferocious youkai tribe would be following along behind them and would soon be trespassing on his lands.
To drive the wolf tribe out was not an easy feat. There had to be something powerful at work here...He decided to wait for the first pack members to touch their paws on his ground before making a move.
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Kouga sneered at the apparition defiling the purity of the den. He had thrown his heart into this place. This was his home and so, was the home of his people and would be the place that he would bring his mate. For two years, he had searched and strived to find the perfect den...It had to be a place untainted by darkness and bad memories for her. He would settle for nothing but the absolute best for her.
Kouga shivered and felt his muscles contort as he resisted the change in form that his demon rage would transform him into. With the change came a basic loss of rational thought...a draw back to a youkai's true form. The wolf felt the pain of his resistance but demanded nothing more then what he knew he could handle from himself. The scent of fear was so thick in the air, he felt queasy. He could see the effect that this monster's presence had on his remaining people. Several of the youkai wolves couldn't contain their whimpers and showed signs of submission already. Tails tucked and ears flat, they had already begun to give up.
"No." He growled loudly. "We will not submit!"
The creature in front of him giggled. "Submit? I want nothing from you, weak mongrel...where is the white dog?"
"Naraku!" Kouga barked, "I will kill you for what you have done!"
He ignored the strange way that Naraku was acting and the lack of weaker Youkai that always surrounded him. He ignored it because he was so focused on getting his revenge. He was prepared to take any opportunity that presented itself to him. He was willing to take the chance that this was just another trap and hopefully beat this hanyou conglomeration as the coward he knew Naraku to be.
The handsome face of the dark hanyou lost it's smile. "Try."
Enraged, Kouga hesitated only long enough to gauge the distance between him and his most hated enemy. I'll only have one chance at this...I can not afford to over shoot. He knew his eyes had begun to glow red, and he gave himself over to the primal lust for the blood of his enemy that urged him on.
He charged the still figure, a statue of the evil creature that had ordered the murder of more then half of his tribe. A demon that had threatened the life of his chosen mate repeatedly while Kouga could do nothing. A monster that took pleasure in destroying the very world that provided the beautiful things that were worth living for. Kouga hated this hanyou with his entire being...except...one small part...
A snarl broke from his lips when he felt the tips of his claws miss the intruder by a hair. Naraku moved with the same speed of the wolf. He dodged the blow and calmly hooked his claws in Kouga's fur, ripping the hide into long gashes.
"You have shards of this thing?" he held up the almost complete jewel. "I want them..."
"Go to Hell!" Kouga ignored the blood dripping from his fingertips.
"I'm looking for the puppy!" Naraku sing-songed. "Aren't you supposed to kill me?"
Kouga yelled in fury and jumped at the figure again, the two shards in his legs no match for the almost complete jewel in the other's possession. He knew the power of the jewel. Hell, he'd even sought after it once himself. Not because he wanted power, but because he wanted to keep his people safe. Until he met Kagome...then, he wanted nothing more then to rid this world of the very demon standing so calmly in front of him. But the part of him that was linked to the human woman could not hate...not even facing this abomination, a part of him remained free of anger and hate. It was the part of him that loved her...above all things, including his hate and revenge.
And it was that part that made him falter now...
Kouga was afraid for his people and the kind heart of his mate to be. He was afraid that Naraku would always be loose upon this earth, hurting forever the people he lived to protect. He did not think that he could beat Naraku when he held the power of the jewel, but, he would go down trying...
Kagome...no matter what, I wish that I could be near you always...I wish that I could be there to protect you when this monster comes your way. He ran at the Hanyou, using his speed to the best of his ability and strangely, found that his mind was not on the battle in front of him, but on the girl he feared he would never see again. This distraction, he knew, was going to cost him his life.
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