Lone Wolf

I stand alone…..

By Crystal Arrow

Disclaimer- You will notice that there are a lot of original characters in this story, along with the characters from Inuyasha. Please get it through you thick skull that I don't own any of the Inuyasha characters, but all of the original characters, which I am hoping you're able to discern on your own.

Chapter Five: the Challenge

"Aiko…." Kai whispered.

"Nice to see you, Kai." Aiko said, her voice dripping sarcasm.

Tears began to well up in Kai's eyes. "Aiko, please, I didn't mean it. Stay with me."

"Kai…" Aiko whispered, her eyes overshadowed by her wild bangs. "It's too late, I can't stay with humans, for I'm not human, I don't belong with you."

Everyone fell silent. All eyes were on Kai and Aiko. "Aiko, it's not too late, you can change back! Come home with us!!!"

From beneath the shadow of her bangs, the glisten of her tears was visible as they streamed down her striped face. "You don't understand… I never was human, I don't belong with humans." Aiko slowly lifted her gaze to meet Kai's eyes. Tears flowed freely from both of their eyes. Aiko smiled, "And you don't belong here. Farewell." With that a light shone in the distance, quickly approaching the clearing. However, before it could reach them, the ground disappeared from beneath their feet. All students from the future (minus Kagome) fell through the ground, screaming in shock and fear. As Kai fell, she reached out to Aiko, calling out her name in a vain attempt to bring her home with the rest of them, but to no avail. Kai disappeared into the ground, the light from the distance right after her.

Kai landed roughly in the middle of the martial arts academy, surrounded by her fellow students and instructors. She landed on her feet, standing stiff, unresponsive to the world around her as tears continued to fall from her face. Above her, a sparkling light rained drops of light down around her, joining her sadness to create a heavenly scene of a broken angel, the guilt in the betrayal of an innocent weighing heavily upon her shoulders. The light lowered itself into her hands, and as she gazed at it, she couldn't help but break down completely, into tears and unconsciousness, for in her hand were Aiko's shattered glasses, covered in dirt, blood and Aiko's own tears. Kai fell to the ground and into the blackness of dreams and nightmares, for in her hands was her very last link to the friend that she herself destroyed with words and words alone. The friend she had grown up with, and whom she would never see again.

Back in the clearing, Inuyasha and co. watched warily as the new arrival stood silently, all traces of tears thoroughly erased by an eerie wind that had picked up after the disappearance of the odd group of humans from the future. Untamed curls whipped wildly around her as the wind picked up slowly yet gently. From the shadows, the demon lord, Sesshoumaru watched in curiosity as the girl stood stock still, surrounded by her own glowing white aura. The wind that blew around her rustled her torn clothing, revealing strongly built limbs and smooth curves. Pale skin was bright in contrast to midnight black hair that grew wildly and beautifully from her head. From his hiding place, he could easily observe hr strengths and weaknesses, including glistening claws and strong muscles. But of all he could see, he couldn't see the demon girl's face as she stood like an angel in the field. But why was he thinking of this stranger as attractive? The great Sesshoumaru didn't give in to weak desires of the body, did he?

Inuyasha stood defensively in front of the group, growling deep in his throat to warn off the wench that may cause trouble. He couldn't see her face, and that was dangerous, for that meant that he couldn't see her next move. He was wary of this girl, was she a new creation of Naraku or a another witch out to get the shikon no tama? Inuyasha had no time to determine this, for new trouble was on the way. Kouga came speeding into the scene from the forests, a cloud of dust following him in his wake.

Kouga stopped before Kagome past Inuyasha, thus leaving Inuyasha coughing out the excess dust from Kouga's trail. Kouga took Kagome's hand and said quickly, "I sensed there was trouble so I came as quickly as possible to make sure that dog-turd didn't get you hurt. Are you okay?"

Kagome was lost for word's, but Inuyasha surely wasn't, "SHE'S FINE!!! NOTHING WE COULDN'T TAKE CARE OF, YOU WIMPY WOLF!!!"

Kouga was about to yell back that he had the right to protect his woman, but he suddenly noticed an odd scent in the surrounding area. The scent resembled that of a wolf yokai, yet intertwined in the scent were those of dog and human, but how was that possible? A wolf would never go so low as to take a dog as mate. Kouga turned to face the source of the scent to find a yokai girl standing there. The girl was Aiko, still standing in the exact same position, in the exact same place. She appeared to be a wolf, yet she had the tail one would expect of a dog. Not to mention, she bore the celestial sign, something which wolves did not carry. Kouga was interrupted from his silent train of thought by Inuyasha, " What's wrong, wolf? Scared of the little wench?"

Kouga growled defensively, but didn't answer to Inuyasha, but instead to Aiko. "Hey, bitch, what are you doing on my territory? Only members of my pack may live in these lands!"

From the shadows, Sesshoumaru asked himself, "His lands? What is this weakling thinking?" Sesshoumaru could only scowl at Kouga's mistake of words from his position.

A malevolent grin became evident upon Aiko's face as she giggled quietly at Kouga's antics. Kouga became very uncomfortable as Aiko's giggles broke into an unsuppressed fit of laughter. "Funny, Boy!" she managed to choke out between laughter. "You really do know how to amuse me!"

"GGRRRR, WHO ARE YOU!!" Kouga roared.

"My, my, my, aren't testy? I'm Aiko. What I am is of no concern to you." Aiko responded teasingly.

"Do not mock me!! You are a wolf, I can smell it! If you are on my lands, then you are part of my pack, submit to me!"

Aiko's grin disappeared. "Well, what do we have here? An arrogant little puppy whining for attention?…HA!!! Don't make me laugh."

Kouga was truly beginning to run short of temper. "Answer my questions!!"

Aiko chose to ignore him, "You know, this is really a very funny situation. Here I am, surrounded by three humans, two dogs, one wolf, and to top it off, one adorable little fox cub. I really can't help but wonder how I get myself into these situations."

Kouga was about to shout out once more, but was cut off as Inuyasha jumped in front of him, Tetsusaiga drawn and ready to attack. "What do you mean two dogs?!?"

Aiko stared at Inuyasha skeptically. "What are you, dead in the senses? There has been another dog demon in the vicinity since I arrived here."

"Where is he!!" Inuyasha shouted out. "Sesshoumaru, come out here?!"

"Sesshoumaru?" Aiko questioned. "A rather violent name if you ask me, doesn't seem to fit the guy, since unlike you, he has made no hostile move towards me since I came." Aiko dismissed Inuyasha with a carefree wave of her hand. "So, because of that, I have no reason as to betray his whereabouts."

" This girl has some sense, that's a good thing, or else I might have had to kill her." Sesshoumaru thought.

The competition between Inuyasha and Kouga was finished as Kouga pounced before Aiko, swiping at her with his claws in a futile attempt to actually harm her. Aiko simply moved gracefully and effortlessly out of his way. Kouga roared out, "I don't care what you are, but I know you are part wolf! And no wolf will exist in my territory outside of my pack! Either submit to me or DIE!!!!"

Aiko giggled as she carelessly brushed her hair from her face. "You truly are a silly puppy! So let's play a game! I'll give you five minutes, should you be able to strike me, or even touch me within that time, you may do as you want with me, should that be to kill me or to merge me into your pack, but should you fail, I fight!"

Author's note:

I know it's taken forever for me to update this, but bear with me, I'm a busy girl. The following chapter may take a while to come, but it will, providing I get reviews. (Hint Hint…)

~Crystal Arrow