Disclaimer: See Chapter One

Legend:

'……' thoughts

"……" speech

Enter the Wolf's Den

By: wolf demoness

Chapter Six: A Forking in the Road

Inuyasha decided to stay out of sight until the party that night. Whenever he went into the village anymore the dirty looks he got told him very clearly that he wasn't wanted. That and he'd heard that Kagome was angry with him from eavesdropping on a pair of hunters who passed under the tree he was perching on in the forest. He didn't know what he'd done this time, so he figured it was best to stay away and not upset the Miko further. He'd followed the pair on their sojourn into the forest to ensure that nothing attacked the humans so late in the winter. Normally he would have joined the hunters, but recently, with all that was happening in the village, he wasn't sure that he'd be accepted. He really did want to join this hunt though. The men were hunting for meat to cook at Kaede's birthday party and they were going in the wrong direction. The silver haired demon could smell game north of the hunters who were walking east. After some thought Inuyasha quickly ran toward where a herd of deer had congregated in the forest. He chose a prime stag and set about arduously driving it toward the hunters. After half of an hour he managed to drive the stag into the path of the men. Once they had shot down the stag and begun to carry it back to the village, Inuyasha came down from his hiding place amid the snow-covered limbs of the forest canopy.

He felt sad. He knew why, but still it was a strange change for the half demon. Before, when he'd been run out of a village or shunned for what he was it never bothered him. He liked to be alone. It was…peaceful. But after he'd met Kagome and the others he'd gotten used to their company. When it was taken away he felt bereft without it. For the first time in his life he felt lonely when he was alone. It made his heart ache in his chest, but he knew he had no one to blame for it save himself. It was stupid of him to let the humans get so close. He knew that one day they'd want nothing more to do with him. He knew! And still he'd let himself become attached. Humans and demons alike have no use for hanyou's. Especially one so ill tempered as himself. It was a fact of life that for one moment he'd chosen to ignore, but he was paying for that now. Perhaps the thing that hurt most of all was that he was still bound to them. He couldn't leave until the jewel was complete and so he was forced to watch them from afar. He had to see their happy faces as they did simple things like taking the evening meal together, or merely speaking with one another in the marketplace, and know that he wasn't welcome. He could remember when he'd been a part of that, but now it was over. And whenever he tried to speak with them again there was an air of discomfort while they were in his presence. So out of consideration for them he tried to minimize the time he had contact with them. He was merely tolerated, never welcome.

There was a kind of peace in that though. Once he accepted his position in the other's eyes he gained a degree of freedom. There was no need to try to "make friends." He could go where he wanted and do what he wanted and no one would say a thing because no one cared. If only he could revert to his former attitude toward life things would be so much easier. However, he was plagued by a lingering longing for companionship. At first he tried to make himself useful in the village. For even though he never gained a true friend in his endeavors he was never truly alone when he was helping to rebuild a home or plan a way to improve the harvest the following year. There was a free exchange of ideas and the comforting feeling of a common goal bonded the humans and the hanyou together. For a time he thought that he could exist like this. It was enough to be accepted and useful, he could live with that in place of what he'd had before, but even that was not to be. Very soon the humans of the village drove him out, not in the violent way that others had done but with their cold looks and their quiet rebuff. In a way that hurt even more than any angry mob he'd ever had to face.

Shaking these rather depressing thoughts from his head the hanyou left the clearing he'd been standing in to go about his self appointed rounds, keeping the village safe from the ravages the forest could inflict upon it. It was after nightfall and the hanyou could hear that the party had begun in the village from the dim sounds of music and laughter that made their was so deep into the frozen forest grounds. Deciding that he'd patrolled enough for one night Inuyasha raced back to retrieve the bundle containing Kaede's gift. He was just approaching the village boundary when a faint odor on the wind gave him pause. He retraced his footsteps into the forest far enough to identify the scent. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing up and a low growl unconsciously emitted from his throat when he realized what had gotten into his forest. A demon boar had become starved enough to charge the hanyou's territory and try to make it to the village proper. Quickly Inuyasha ran to Kaede's hut and placed his gift just inside the door of her home. If everything worked out he could chase the boar away from the village and still have enough time to retrieve the gift and make it to the party. If not, well at least he could be sure that the priestess would find the gift when she returned home.

******

At the same time Inuyasha was racing out to meet the boar the village was showering the Lady Kaede in gifts of their own. Several women from the village had banned together to make a new quilt for the old woman, others had woven new baskets for her, and still others brought her pottery filled with dried fruits and grains. The men of the village presented her with a new bow and a saddle for her horse, and the village cobbler made her a pair of winter boots. Even the small children had made gifts for the old woman. The party was going wonderfully and everyone was having a good time. Everyone was there, with one notable exception. And it made Kagome's blood boil when a gust of wind caused the door to fly open and the old priestess turned hopeful eyes to the doorway. Kagome knew who she was hoping to see there and she couldn't believe that even he would be so rude as not to come to Kaede's birthday celebration.

Kagome withdrew from the amassed villagers that were presenting the old woman with their gifts to stand with her friends by the fire. Sango was basting the meat slowly roasting over the fire. She and Miroku were taking in hushed tones when Kagome approached them. "I can't believe he didn't come," she said.

"Yes, we are rather surprised ourselves," Miroku said.

"Kagome, I think we should go look for Inuyasha," Sango said standing up from her position in front of the fire.

"Why? He probably just wandered off somewhere and will show up tomorrow like nothing happened."

"Do you really think Inuyasha would do that, Kagome?" Sango asked.

Kagome sighed, "I don't know. I just feel like…I don't know him any more." Kagome looked around the room and sighed again, "I'm going to go get some air." Before anyone could contradict her Kagome stepped out into the breezy winter night. There was a light dusting of snow falling from the darkened sky and here and there stars peeked through the clouds which obscured the night sky. The young woman decided to take a walk to clear her thoughts. Stepping onto the main road she let her feet carry her where they would, barely noticing the passing trees as she walked deeper and deeper into the forest.

******

Inuyasha had tracked the boar through the forest for over an hour when he finally caught sight of the animal running through the trees at top speed. Racing across the treetops Inuyasha came to rest on a branch in the boar's path. When the animal approached he lunged off the branch and laid a deep gash in the animal's side. Boar demons are relatively timid animals and under normal circumstances a wound such as the one he'd just dealt the beast would scare the boar away. Inuyasha gracefully leapt into some bushes out of the boar's path. He waited a moment to see if the boar would stop its charge and swore when the boar sped past him.

The half demon pursued the demon through the trees. Once more he passed the boar and this time he laid its left flank open with his claws, disabling one of its legs. However, the demon driven mad by hunger and the scent of human flesh took no mind of the injury and continued on its kamikaze flight into the village. This was a dangerous match. The hanyou didn't dare get too close to the mad demon. Boar demons were dangerous enough when cornered, without being rabid with hunger. And the horns on its snout were covered in a poison so strong that even Inuyasha's system would be hard pressed to recover from a wound given by the demon's horns.

Inuyasha could here the villager's voices through the trees. They weren't too far from the forest boundary now. He had to bring the bull down before it broke the tree line and had a chance to run into the village. With a great leap he sailed through the air and landed directly in the boar's path. Quickly drawing the Tetsusaiga Inuyasha caught the blade between the charging boar's horns and turned the beast's head. Though his feet were planted firmly on the ground the force of the boar's charge threw the hanyou back several paces. While he was sliding backward, making sure to not to fall for things would be over very quickly if he had, the silver haired half demon quickly clawed out the boar's right eye in a single stroke of his free hand. However, feeling it's eye ripped apart the boar bucked and tossed its head, drawing a thin line of blood from Inuyasha's wrist.

The silver haired demon flipped back to land a few paces in front of the boar. He held the Tetsusaiga before him in his right hand, already feeling his left arm becoming heavy and numb from the spreading poison. The boar was staring straight at him with its one good eye. Inuyasha quickly debated what to do. A charge would be met with a charge from the bull, which was a nearly suicidal thing to do. He could not risk the sweeping blow that engaged the Tesusaiga's full power. He would present too much of a target. In such close quarters the boar could charge his torso and gut him before he had a chance to bring the Tetsusaiga down in the animal's path and release the sword's destructive energy. The decision was taken from him when the scent of a human close by blew past the pair. The next moment the boar was off and running toward the intoxicating aroma. Inuyasha pursued the boar as quickly as he was able. He was greatly alarmed for the human in the boar's path, 'What is Kagome doing in the woods at this time of night anyway?' Inuyasha thought to himself. That was it, he had to bring the boar down right now! Taking another great leap in the air Inuyasha came down with his sword extended to sever the boar's neck. However he became the unfortunate victim of a number of small misfortunes at that moment. You see for some reason the boar reared its head in the last moment of Inuyasha's flight over it and the poison from the cut on Inuyasha's wrist had spread throughout his body, hastened by the physical exertion and his rapidly beating heart. At the very last moment Inuyasha's vision became blurred and, though he did manage to sever the boar's neck, he miscalculated his jump receiving a deep gash in his stomach from one of boar's horns and a wound that laid his upper left thigh open from the inside up and across his hip from the second horn.

The hanyou fell heavily onto the ground beside to corpse of the demon he'd killed. Using his one good arm and leg he forced himself up off the snow covered ground. He could feel the poison moving into his blood and slowly paralyzing his body. The village was too far, but if he could get to Kagome… He had to get to Kagome; it was his only chance. Using the Tetsusaiga as a walking stick Inuyasha slowly began to walk toward the Miko. His left leg was completely useless and blood was already soaking his pants to the cuffs of the legs. Dragging his leg behind him Inuyasha used the sword to pull himself forward bracing himself on the forest trees as he passed. After several long minutes he stopped to lean against a tree directly in Kagome's path.

******

Kagome was just starting to calm down from her irritation at Inuyasha when a voice called out her name. "Kagome," came a hushed whisper off to her right.

Startled, Kagome looked to her right and saw Inuyasha reclining against a tree as if he hadn't a care in the world. Or at least that's what it looked like to Kagome who couldn't see the blood staining the demon's clothing thanks to the dark cloudy night and the dark red fabric the hanyou favored. 'No one has ever had worse timing than him,' Kagome thought to herself. "Inuyasha," Kagome said crossing her arms and turning toward the hanyou. "What are you doing out here?"

"I…"he began.

"No wait," Kagome held out a hand then turned away. "I don't want to hear it. No excuse you could possibly have could make up for what you did tonight." The enraged Miko turned to face the demon; "Did you know that Kaede's birthday was tonight?"

"Yes, I…" the injured hanyou tried to respond only to be cut off once again.

"You knew!" Kagome hissed. "You knew and you didn't even bother to come. She wanted you there, Inuyasha! She's been looking up at the door every few minutes all night waiting for you to come! For God knows what reason she actually likes you and wants you there, thought at the moment I'm not sure that you deserve that!" Kagome screamed.

"Kagome…please…I need…" the demon panted fighting to stay conscious despite the effects of the poison and the large amount of blood pooling at his feet.

"You need? You need! This isn't about you Inuyasha!" Kagome was so angry that she was shaking. She turned and began to storm off before she was tempted to seriously hurt the hanyou.

"Wait. Kagome," the demon called after her.

"Osuwari!" The binding spell pulled the half demon from the tree he was leaning against and to the ground with a resounding crash. During the fall the demon lord's luck had taken another poor turn and he'd dashed his head against a tree root, rendering him unconscious and dislodging accumulated snow from the tree branches above him. As she walked back to the party Kagome was completely unaware that she'd just left Inuyasha half buried in the snow to slowly bleed his life out on the frozen ground.

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A/N: Hi everyone! Thanks so much to those that reviewed! I seriously love reviews!!! So please, please, please, hit the purple button at the bottom of the screen. Did that sound too desperate? Oh well, I don't care. Review please. ;-)