More reviewers!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
kitsunekagome23 (DV; No worries about that!!! QFF; Yeah, she's become terrified of her reviewer. DV; Am not!!! Well, not all of them, at least.)
kagomewannabe-2009 (DV; Thank you!!! You're the first to say anything about Yari and Yakuso. QFF; Yeah, All we've really heard about is Ganko. DV; It's good tohear people like my characters, anyways,)
inu-angel2467 (DV; Thanks!!! QFF; Read ahead!!!)
angelkitty77 (QFF; If you think that's mean, just wait till- DV; Queenie!!!)
star's dreams (DV; 'dancing around' Yay!!!!!!!!! SOMEBODY WANTS ME TO LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! QFF; --;;;;;; You just HAD to get her started... DV; Hehe... read ahead!!!!!!!)
foxylilraven (DV; Rin and the boys went to talk to Sessho-maru about playing in the forest. It's explained a little better in this chapter. QFF; Blame it on DV's faulty writing.)
kireshi-chan (DV; Here it is!!! QFF; She knows. She just doesn't give a damn. DV; hehe...)
Luscious (DV; Thank you!!! QFF; Don't I know it.)
inuyasha92689 (DV; Thanks!!! QFF; Ditto.)
inudemoness247 (DV; Ehehe... QFF; A real shame, isn't it?)
starangel (DV; Congradulations!!! QFF; Take the advice of someone working with a Coo-coo author, Scythe, run while you still can. DV; Come on! You know you love me!)
blazingsunstar (DV; Thanks!!! QFF; We try! DV; We? QFF; Hey, work whith me!)
SlplessWitch951 (DV; Thank you and I am!!! QFF; A tad TOO proud...)
gurlhushere13 (DV; Here ya go!!!!!!!!!!! QFF; I'm sure she didn't notice. DV; SOMEBODY'S in a mood...
BaikenSeishino (DV; Thank you!!! QFF; Here's chapter 20, and here you go! 'gives BaikenSeishino a Ganko plushie' DV; Compliments of Me and Queenie!!!)
SlplessWitch951 (DV; Thanks! QFF; Ad as you probably can already tell, she's updated.
Calley Ault (DV; I'll see what i can do. QFF; Uncle M's computer just crashed recently, so he doesn't like people on it right now, and since DV's computer doesn't have internet...)
inu-yuyu (DV; Thank you! QFF; we have alot of fun doing them! DV; I hear that, the mini games were interesting for a while, but now that I've beaten themabout eighty times...)
Inu205 (DV; Thanks!! QFF; Hmph!!!)
fallen-666-angel (DV; Ehehehe... QFF; 'grinning' GET HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DV; AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
empress-of-the-shadow (DV; 'blushing like crazy' Thanks so much!!! QFF; Again... hmph!!!)
Youka, Youko's little vixen (DV; Thank you!!! QFF; At the time, it's hard to drag her away from the computer,)
Youko n kagome (DV; YESSSS!!!!! QFF; So there are two people who don't want to kill you and how many who do? DV; Don't ruin my moment.)
Sailor Mini Venus (DV; Is that a good holy crap, or a bad one QFF; One can never tell...)
Sango132004 (DV; Sorry, but I don't give away my plot secrets!!! QFF; But I will!!! For the right price...)
foxylilraven (DV; Hehe... QFF; Can a vixen do a puppy pout? DV; Of course!!! We vixens happen to be quite charming!!! QFF; Mmhm... --)
DV- YAY!!!! No school today!!! Something about flooding because of the storm last night. 'shrug' I could care less, this is now my second unexpected free day in two consecutive weeks, and it's not even snowing!!!
QFF- Shut up.
DV- 'smirking' Queenie, on the other hand, had do go to school today.
QFF- I SAID SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!
Kagome- Are you two ever going to cut it out?!
DV and QFF- 'look at each other and pick up a pair of sciccors.'
Everyone- --;;;;
DV- OH!!! And it've offically decided I hate QuickEdit. The whole being able to bold and italic thing is cool, but I had to change my whole freakin' key!!!!!!!!!! 'eyebrow twitching' Do you have any idea how annoying that is this late in the game?!?!?!
QFF- Not really. Besides, I think you're just annoyed because your so lazy.
DV- I'll show you lazy to stupid excuse for royalty!!!!!!!!!!! 'dives for QFF with staff'
Botan- DreamVixen and Queenoffanfiction13 don't own us, or anything that has to do with us. Or much else for that matter...
New Key;
::Youko:: (QuickEdit actually let me put the old way for this up, but it kept trying to make it into a link. --;;;)
((Kurama)) (Yep, they have separate thought thingies now!)
-Beast talk-
=telepathy=
--------------------------------------------The Bite of Defeat-------------------------------------------
((Kagome?!?! Sango?!?!)) Kurama's concern at the sudden absence of the women's voices was evident. I felt myself growing worried as well. We'd just lost all the energies in that direction, including the girls. The other damn fox and the taiyoukai noticed as well, and neither looked too pleased.
The little girl whimpered from the spot we had herded all the children. They had been seeking out the demon lord when our newest fox felt the kitsunes, and one showed up demanding the young shadow kitsue prince.
After we refused to relinquish him, all hell broke loose.
I smirked as I cut through three more kitsunes. This was something I really needed. I hadn't killed anything in a while, and furstration from my arguments with the neko were starting to build up, so an opponent I could slay was more than welcome. (AN; 'sweat drop' hehe... that's our Hiei...)
I ran through the mess of foxes and slammed the leader against a tree, my katana against his throat.
"Where are the females?" I asked coldly. Yusuke's head shot to me from where he was fighting three other kitsunes.
"Keiko's missing?!?!"
"Hn," I responded, keeping my eyes on the leader. He grinned at me.
"Princess Kagome is being taken back to where she belongs, and the other females have been taken with her to keep her company. Yari and Yakuso have been given the sentence fit for traitors such as themselves." Ganko glared at him.
"Fuck off. You know as well as I do that our little sister and your best female solider aren't that easy to kill."
"Which is why I had Hojo do it. Even they aren't strong enough to defeat our youngest brother." His eyes took on a much more serious edge. "Much like you aren't strong enough to beat me," Yusuke spared the shadow fox an annoyed look.
"You've gotta have the most screwed up family I've ever seen."
=It's obvious he hasn't spent much time around kistunes.=
::I heard that, you pint-sized little firefly!!!:: Youko said, insult heavy in his voice.
((We have more importaint things to worry about, Youko,)) Kurama reminded him. ((And Hiei, pay more attention to the leader before he-!)) Suddenly, the kitsune vanished. My katana and the fist that had been holding the front of his shirt slamming against the tree.
::Too late.::
"Whoa! Where'd he go?!?!"
"They're called shadow kitsunes for a reason, you oversized idiot," I snapped at the large orange haired monkey (AN; Like I said before, I don't really have anything against Kuwabara, other than the fact that he's nowhere near as cute and smart as the other spirit detectives, but you gotta admit, Hiei's got it in for him!)
"What'd you call me, shrimp!!!"
"YO, DOG-BOY!!! HEADS UP!!!" Ganko yeled to the hanyou. He blinked before jumping, nearly being hit by the leader. By now, we'd decimated the army to just him.
Taking advantage of his distraction, the taiyoukai thrashed out at the kitsune with his acid green whip. He dodged and melted away again. We stood tence, waiting for him to appear again.
"This is a load of shit!!!" the spirit detective grumbled. "Disappearing and popping up again just to reapet the process... what are these guys, youkai or cowards!!!"
"We're a race who utilizes all their resources to survive, Spirit Detective," the leader said from somewhere behind us. We froze when we realized exactly where the voice was coming from, and turned to see him standing there among the children, one hand over the young prince's mouth to keep him from screaming. "And survive we have."
I silently cursed for forgetting what these fools were after in the first place. Now, they had both the prince and princess, along with my sister and the neko.
Not that I cared they had the neko. (AN; Mmhm... Juuuust keep telling yourself that...)
"Well then, I'd love to stay and talk, but I'm afraid our time is up. The King is quite eager to see his son again." Ganko, King Kurai wishes for me to inform you that for unconsously leading us too the hiding place of his children, your life will be spared. Even think about showing up to try and kidnap them and his generosity will not be so great."
With that, the kitsune pulled out a glowing rock and dissapeared in a flash of blue lights.
"What the hell was that?!?!?!?!" Yusuke screamed.
"A time stone," Kurama explained, "They have the ability to transport a person between two designated time periods. They're very rare, though. Of course, it makes sense that a kingdom as rich as the shadow kitsunes has some."
The shadow ignored him, and everyone else, in favor of heading to the field the females had been in at the time of the attack. He wasn't exactly running, but he wasn't going slowly, either. And I could tell, dispite the confidence he'd shown in the vixens earlier, he was worried.
We looked at each other before following, the little girl clinging to the taiyoukai's leg, the orphan kit clutching Kurama's shirt from where the older kitsune was holing him, staring off into space in a defeated sort of way and the young tajiya boy nervously staying close to me. The scene we arrived upon make everyone freeze, and the little ningen girl buried her head into the taiyoukai's kimono, whimpering.
The dead bodies of kitsunes laid everywhere. Apparently, they had taken the two mikos in the group into careful consideration and sent more kitsunes after the girls than us. However, there were two bodies no one could tear their eyes off of.
"Yari, Yakuso..." the fox muttered before going over to his sister and grasping her hand. The kit sniffled in Kurama's arms, and I could smell the tears he was trying to hold back. The monk went over to the dead warrior vixen, and didn't even bother hiding his tears. Suddenly, the little girl practically jumped away from the demon lord.
"Sessho-maru-sama can fix them!!! Sessho-maru-sama fixed Rin when Rin got hurt, he can fix Yari-nee-chan and Yakuso-nee-chan, too!!!" I blinked before recalling his sword, and what had happened after the battle with the baboon clad hanyou. "Please, Sessho-maru-sama?" The little girl begged, pouting at the feared taiyoukai.
He made a soft sound, almost like a sigh, and drew his sword, ignoring the way the girl's face lit up.
A swift slice later, the vixens lost the stench of death. Their heartbeats returned, and their lungs filled with air once again. Groaning, thet sat up, blinking as their eyes adjusted frm the death glaze that had held only seconds earlier.
"What happened?" the warrior-vixen asked, "first, we were fighting Hojo and his groupies, then they started phasing through shadows, then-" suddenly her face paled, and her eyes searched the battlefield in a frantic manner, "SHIT!!!!!!!!!!"
"They've already been taken," the Taiyoukai said calmly.
"Why that little- ooh, when I get my hands on him I'll make him regret not killing me when he had the chance!!!" Then, the vixen's rambling stopped, "Wait a second, why didn't he kill me when he had the chance?!"
"He did," the little girl said cheerfully as Ganko swept his sister into a bear hug, "Sessho-maru-sama fixed you!" the vixens froze.
"Eh?"
"Where would they have taken them?" Kurama asked Yakuso. She winced as the shadow fox squeezed her harder.
"Back to the palace, most likely." She answered. "They brought the others back with them to keep them from fighting,"
"So that's where we go." Yusuke said. The shadow kitsunes gaped at him.
"You do realize what that means, right? The only reason you got them so easily before was because Kurai wanted to mock Queen Yami. Now they're serious. You go there and you'll most likely be killed."
"Who gives a fuck?!" Yusuke snapped, "These bastards took Keiko and I won't rest until I get her back!!!"
::And I used to think he was reckless for saying things like that,:: Youko murmured ::Who would have thought I'd be in a simialar mindframe.::
"Yeah, and I need to help my darling Yukina!!!"
"Kagome and Sango are very dear friends to us. While it is reasonable that we may die, I'm afraid that I personally owe both of them my life more times over than I care to remember." The monk added.
"Well? Why are we still here?" I demanded, turning and starting towards the well, "If we're going to free the women, we'd better go. Standing here ranting only gives them more time to prepare for when we do come." Everyone gaped at me before following.
((Are you alright, Hiei?))
=Fine,= I said shortly. I really didn't want to talk to the fox about this. He had a habit for knwing exactly which buttons to push.
((You sure? You didn't make a sound at Kuwabara's comment about your sister,))
::He must be worried about the neko,:: You could hear the smirk in Youko's voice.
=My thoughts are my own, fox. Worry about your miko for now and leave me be,=
::Touch-chy!::
We got to the well, and immedeatly sensed the unrest in the area.
"Something's happened," Kurama said softly. The monk nodded, and we approached the time portal.
"What? What happened?" The spirit detective asked anxously.
"They put a spell on the well," the tai-youkai said.
"WHAT?!?!?!"
"It's sealed from the other side. We are able to get through, but won't be able to return here," Kurama explained. The monk nodded.
"Well, I supose five hundred years in the future won't be that bad," Everyone gaped at him for a second. He calmly walked up to the well, and turned to Yari. "Shall we?" the vixen grinned.
"Hell ya!" She said, grabbing his hand and jumping into the portal.
"Wait for us, monk!" the hanyou called out as the couple disappeared. He swore lightly under his breath before jumping on the lip of the well, turning to glare at us. "You comin' or what?!"
"Don't forget me!!!" the kit said, jumping up and down on Kurama's shoulder, "Let's go help Mama, Kurama!" the spirit fox cast the boy an amused look, nodding as our hanyou compainion disappeared into the well.
"I will stay in this era," the taiyoukai said smoothly as Yusuke was getting ready to jump in, too. "I have my duities to my lands to consider. Perhaps we will meet again in the future." Kurama nodded diplomatically.
"Perhaps." The shadow fox turned to his sister.
"Come on, before the knuckle heads get a head start," the vixen frowned thoughtfully at the well.
"If you don't mind, Ganko, I think I'll stay here," everyone gaped at her.
"WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!"
"I want to stay here and hone my skills, that way I can meet up with you in the future and give you more help than I can now."
"And exactly were are you gonna train?!?!?!" She bit her lip and the little inu girl spoke up again.
"Yakuso-nee-chan can stay with Rin and Sessho-maru!" the taiyoukai puased for a moment before giving a single nod of consent. The vixen smiled at her brother.
"Don't worry, Ganko, I'll be fine."
"Maybe I should stay-!"
"No," Yakuso said, stubbornly, "You're needed to help them fight. You know the castle better than anyone, and you know all about Reikoku and Hojo's fighting styles. Go help them." Her stubborness increased as she spoke, "I'm not a little girl, Ganko. I need to learn to fend for myself without you holding my hand," the fox sighed.
"Fine," He grumbled, "But don't even think about getting yourself killed again!!!" the vixen smiled, hugging the boy before backing up to stand next to the little girl. Yusuke jumped, followed by the orange haired baka and then Kurama and the kit. I turned to the fox as I stood at the edge of the well.
"Coming, fox?"
"Yeah, yeah. Hold your horses, half-pint!" I shurgged and jumped through the well, leaping up and landing with everyone else. Once the fox came through, he started making a portal to the Makai.
"They've probably changed the security barriers around since your break-in, so stick close," he warned. The baka, obviously remembering the twig turned ash, practically walked on the kitsune's heels.
We made our way through the thick forest, only to see there were about twenty guards at the front gate.
"We takin' em all out," Yusuke asked quietly.
"You kidding? There's no way in hell we'll be able to beat down twenty guards without at least one raising alarm. Then, we'll have too much on our hands to get the girls," I frowned a bit.
=He's never sound so serious before,=
((Creeped out?))
=Hn,=
::You're not alone,::
((He's going to get us in undetected, I say the least you two can do is refrain from joking about his personality behind his back.))
"We're gonna need a distaction." Ganko said, "Someone who can draw their attention long enough for the rest of us to slip by that's weak enough not to draw out more guards." All eyes turned to the orange haired idiot.
"HEY!!!"
"Not so loud!" the hanyou hissed.
"You wish to see Yukina again, yes?" the monk said innocently. "If you do this we will be able to free her, and you will be the knight in shining armor,"
=As soon as the onnas are free, he's dead,= Youko snickered and even Kurama had a smile tugging at his lips.
"Well, alright then. I'll do it for my Yukina!!!" I bit back a growl. The blumbering fool race out with his spirit sword, trying to charge the front gate. "Ha!!! Let's see you foxes take on the mighty Kuwabara!!!" We swiftly leapt over the tall walls guarding the castle, but not before hearing loud laugher and an echoing 'BAM!!!!!'
Come on! There's a secret passage I found when I was a kid! It leads straight to Kagome's room. I used it all the time for my pranks,"
"And she doesn't know of it?" Kurama asked.
"No one but me knows it was built in when the castle was, and since no one's ever mapped this place, it was eventually forgotten. I found it when I was ah... recovering from the stink bomb incident."
"You mean sulking," the vixen corrected.
"I can call the guards here, you know!" the shadow fox hissed before pushing a brick and stepping back. The wall slowly slid open in front of us, and we entered the passage.
"Gross! It REEKS in here!!!" Urameshi said, covering his nose with his hand. I nearly had to force myself from following in persuit.
"Yeah, The stink bomb oder is clingy, and requires several complicated spells to remove. Guess I forgot to clear it out of here." the vixen made a sound of disgust.
We travels the rest of the way silently, following whatever twists and turns the fox led us through.
"You sure we're going the right way, Ganko?" the vixen asked.
"DON'T CALL ME PRINCESS!!!!!" We stopped at the miko youkai's random scream, which came from some way ahead of us.
"Never mind," We hurried the rest of the way, and the fox stopped at one wall, touching it until it melted away. The girs were all on the oither side.
"Kagome!"
"Keiko!!!"
"Alright!!!"
"They can't hear us." Ganko said, when none of the girls turned at the yells, "This is sort of like a one way mirror, only it's also one way soudproofed.
"Oh my god," The girls all seemed upset about something, but the door slammed open before we could find out why.
Several growls rose as the two kitsunes that had fought us in our earlier break-in came into the room, acompanied by a kitsune we had never seen before. His place in this, however was soon cleared up.
"Hello, Father," the vixen rightfully sounded mistrusting and aprehencive. Either the kitsune king didn't notice this, or he didn't care. He smriked at Kagome.
"I'm touched your mother's spell didn't erase me from your memories." He said in a smooth voice, "I just came to welcome you home, my dear."
"Were's Souta? And the boys we traveled with? What happened to Yari, Yakuso and Ganko?"
"I see you haven't lost your disrespect. My son is fine, he is in his new room right now recovering. Those males were left to whatever fate they decided and Ganko was freed of all charges. The vixens, however, were disposed of." Dead silence greeted this. Then, the rei guide began to shake.
"You horrid, wretched man!!! First you were willing to sacrifice your own children to war and now this?!?! You're absolutely evil!!!"
"I will not have a servant of Koenma speaking to me like that." The kitsune king said, unfazed. "I am not here to be lectured by you, on any account, only to speak with my daughter,"
"Well, I'm afraid you're going to have to speak with us, anyways." The neko said coldly, "We're here, and we're not about to let you do anything to Kagome,"
"That's right!" The rei guide seemed to be on fire right now.
"The king may do whatever he pleases," the kitsune genral spoke at last.
"You should bite your tongues. You are, after all, only humble guests in his home,"
"Guests my ass!!! You kidnapped us!!!"
"And this place belongs to Kagome and her REAL family!!!" the king glared at the miko for that comment.
"I earned everything here, little girl, this is MY home, MY army, and MY family, to do with as I see fit." The princess spoke again, obviously trying to draw attention away from her human apprentance.
"You said Ganko was freed of all charges, not that he is, what changed that?"
"He foolishly broke the one term of his freedom," the kitsune general said. The foxes stiffened, and the spirit detective and the hanyou looked confused.
"Which was?"
"That he not attempt to remove you from you true home," the younger kitsune answered, before turning to look at the shadow foxes exact location. "Is that not right, big brother?"
===============================================================
Yakuso sighed as she watched Ganko disappear through the time portal. Five hundred years... would she really last that long? Compaired to all the others, she seemed so fragle.
"You're unsure of your choice, vixen?" Sessho-maru said, without looking at her.
"No. I want to stay, so I can be of assistance to my friends when I see them again. I will not allow myself to be weak anymore," As much as she denied it in her friends teasings, the Sengoku Judai had changed her. Something about this place just seemed to call to her, she wasn't as timid as she had once been. For example, a week ago she wouldv'e been terrified at the thought of speaking to any taiyoukai, let alone Sessho-maru, who remained a legend far into her own time.
"Yakuso-nee-chan will have lots of fun with Rin and Sessho-maru-sama!!!" The little human turned demon said happily. "She can tell Rin all about her time!" the vixen smiled at the girl's young antics before turning back to Sessho-maru.
"If you want, my lord, I can earn my keep by teaching Rin," the taiyoukai gave her a solid look, that she met with a stubborn calm, surprising even herself, before he gave a short nod and turned.
"Come. We will return to my castle,"
"YAY!!!!!!" Rin said happily, running after the lord. Yakuso laughed. Perhaps staying here truly was the best choice. And she couldn't see Sessho- maru allowing anyone under his roof being killed without his expliced permission. Yakuso spared the innocent looking well one last smile before following her new lord.
"I guess I'm home,"
===============================================================
DV- Good news, Bad news and Worst news, people.
InuYasha- What's the good news?
DV- I'm considering a sequel
Yusuke- How the Hell is that good news?!?!?!
QFF- It's good news for the people who like this story.
Botan- She has a point there
Kagome- What's the bad news?
DV- Next chappie is probably the last, and it's my final week, so I might not have a lot of time to type it up.
Hiei- That should have been your good news, onna
Kurama- And the worst news?
DV- Ehehehe... 'ducks behind QFF and jabs her with her staff.'
QFF- DV is leaving this Sunday to visit her father, who lives in Kentucky and the closest thing he has to computer is a Web TV, which has no word, meaning if she doesn't update by Sunday, you won't get the last chapter for a month.
Everyone- O.O;;;;; A MONTH?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Botan- Yes, that's DEFINITELY a problem...
Yukina- 'nods' please review. 'cast DV a worried look as she is now cowering and whimpering in a corner in fear of the wrath of the reviwers.'