Chapter Six: The Gathering of Demons
"What are you doing here Sesshoumaru?" snarled Inuyasha as he moved in front of Kagome protectively
"I was going to ask you the same thing little brother," mocked Sesshoumaru calmly, raising a brow when a certain female hanyou caught his eye.
"Don't you dare look at her," snapped Inuyasha as he flexed his claws.
"I wouldn't waste my time looking at worthless hanyous like yourselves. When did you learn to change your woman into your own pathetic species?" asked Sesshoumaru; half interested half trying to get on his younger brother's nerves.
Inuyasha clenched his fists angrily as he growled at the dog demon before him, his tension subsiding when he felt a gentle hand on his left shoulder as Kagome peaked at Sesshoumaru from behind the other hanyou.
"You felt it too didn't you Sesshoumaru?" asked Kagome, gaining a confused look from her companion and a serious look from the youkai.
"What are you talking about Kagome?" asked Inuyasha as he looked at her perplexed, his sense alert just in case his brother tried anything.
"You're pathetic Inuyasha, even your mate beat you to feeling the unbalance of part of your kind," said Sesshoumaru ignoring the glare from the male hanyou, his attention going towards the female instead.
"The demons are gathering, aren't they? Where exactly are they going?" asked Kagome a hand to her chest area as she looked at the youkai for an answer.
"The Sacred Forest of Demons," answered Sesshoumaru as he watched the girl look in its direction.
"Someone's messing with the trees there," added Inuyasha as he looked in the same place as the miko beside him.
"I'm glad that you've finally realized that; half breeds never catch on quickly," said Sesshoumaru, taking pleasure in annoying the hanyou.
"Naraku is there, I can feel the jewel shards," said Kagome, her silver mane blowing in the wind as her improved senses felt the pulse of the dark shards that their enemy possessed.
"Him again," said Sesshoumaru darkly as his eyes narrowed; he still had a bone to pick with that hanyou for tricking him before with the human hand that nearly ate his skin if he hadn't gotten rid of it.
"Then let's go," said Inuyasha as he took Kagome's hand in his and was about to race towards the forest when his brother's voice stopped him.
"Where's Tetsusaiga? Do you really expect to defeat that other hanyou with your bare claws, or are you going to depend on yourself transforming into a youkai?" asked Sesshoumaru mockingly, though a part of his voice was somewhat serious as he remembered the words that the old tree demon had told him about Inuyasha changing when his life was on the line and the sword was out of his reach; the hanyou's sanity was the price to pay if the half breed changed too many times.
"It's none of your business how I fight, all that matters is that I'm going to get rid of Naraku," growled Inuyasha as he raced on, leaving the older youkai without a real answer.
The fool is going to go insane without knowing why or how. Thought Sesshoumaru as he looked into the azure sky before bounding off after the two towards the Sacred Forest of Demons as well.
"Is it just me, or does it seem that we're going in circles?" asked the demon exterminator as she recognized that they had passed the same tree for the third time that day.
Kirara growled in recognition as well as the flea demon jumped up and down on the girl's shoulder.
"I'm sure that the sacred forest is around here, it's just that it's been so long since I've been there..." began the older demon, causing the other riders on the large cat like demon glared at him.
"Have you ever been there?" asked the monk as he looked at the flea demon annoyed.
"Well not...exactly..." said Myouga as he looked at them nervously.
"No wonder Inuyasha always tries to squish you to death," said Shippo as they all sweat dropped at the youkai's reply.
"But I'm sure that we're very close, my demon instincts are leading us!" reassured Myouga as he jumped up and down quickly.
"And we're suppose to trust you?" asked Miroku sarcastically as he hit the flea with his staff in irritation.
Ignoring the twitching flea on her head, Kirara bounded off towards the direction that her instincts were telling her to go.
"It's all up to you now girl," said Sango as she rubbed her companion's ear, causing the creature to purr.
"Inuyasha and Kagome better be there!" shouted the kitsune demon as the group raced towards the direction that they suspected would lead them towards the Sacred Forest of Demons.
"Kouga, do you feel that?" asked a wolf demon to the Leader of his pack, as he watched him stare out towards the unbalance of nature.
The wolf demon looked out at the mountain that they had regained from their old feathered enemies thanks to Inuyasha, though he knew that his pack leader would never thank the half breed no matter how many times he had helped them out.
"Silence Ginta, of course I can feel it!" snapped Kouga as his eyes scanned the area where the forest should have been. Racing up towards the top of the waterfall that hid his cave using the power of the two shards in either leg, Kouga looked about the land that he had roamed since he was just a pup.
"Do you think that Inuyasha and the others are already there?" asked another one of Kouga's right hand wolves.
"Don't speak about that mutt Hakkaku!" growled Kouga as he suddenly appeared before the two demons angrily; he hated anyone who mentioned his arch enemy who took his woman away!
"But sir, don't you think that even if Inuyasha is a hanyou he'd still be able to feel it?" asked the one known as Ginta.
"And if Inuyasha is there then Lady Kagome must be too," added in Hakkaku, they all knew that wherever they could find Inuyasha then Kagome was sure to be near him somewhere.
"You're right," said Kouga as he rubbed his chin.
"So shall we be going to see what's wrong with the sacred forest?" asked Ginta as he looked up at his Leader.
"Wait! If Inuyasha is going there and he's only half a demon... Do you think that that Naraku character is there?" asked Hakkaku; they knew that Inuyasha didn't really care about anything but getting back at Naraku and protecting Kagome.
Nodding, their pack Leader walked towards the edge of the cliff that they were on and out towards the vast green trees of their mountain.
"If Naraku is there then we have to go, I have a bone to pick with that bastard!" cried Kouga determinedly as he raced towards the forest, leaving a tornado dust cloud in his wake.
"I bet you anything that he's just going there to show off to Kagome," whispered Ginta to his wolf companion once Kouga was out of ear shot.
Shrugging, Hakkaku yelled for Kouga to slow down as the two tried to catch up the speed demon that was miles ahead of them by now.
"WAIT KOUGA!!!" yelled the two youkais transformed into their demon forms and ran as fast as their feet would allow them.
"I can't believe that I'm stuck listening to a hanyou in a baboon costume," cursed the wind demon as she glided through the air on her huge feather.
Thinking about how good it would be to feel the wind in her hair when she was free from Naraku's evil clutches and able to soar through the sky like she was suppose to instead of doing stupid errands for the hated creature.
"Maybe I should help Inuyasha and the others, that hanyou obviously has the ability to defeat Naraku, but he isn't strong enough. His brother would be able to, but he's too stubborn to listen to me. The information goes through one ear and out the other, and when he does take my advice he doesn't bother to thank me. Then again as long as he gets rid of Naraku it wouldn't really matter," said Kagura as she thought to herself.
Sighing at her thoughts, she merely sat cross-legged on her feather and looked out over the lands.
Suddenly something moving below her caught her eye, standing up she watched as what seemed like small dots moved towards where she was just at. Squinting her eyes she realized that what seemed like little ants were actually youkai, all looking angry as they rushed towards Naraku and the forest that he was in.
Looking around she heard the buzzing noise of Naraku's insects, and quickly turned her feather around. She knew that she had to go back to her Master before the Saimyoushou reported that she knew about what was going on and still decided not to help him. Not wanting her heart to be squeezed like it had been from Naraku when she first tried to disobey, she made her feather go faster as she opened her fan ready to attack those that were heading for the forest. She'd have to kill them and then use them as puppets if she wanted to get rid of most of the youkai that were streaming their way to get rid of Naraku.
"Inuyasha," said Kagome as she ran to make sure that the hanyou wouldn't drag her on the ground from the speed that he was going.
Stopping as he realized that his hold on the miko's wrist had tightened, the half demon loosened his grip and was glad that Kagome's faster healing powers got rid of the red ring that had formed from his hold.
"I'm sorry, it's just that..." began Inuyasha but Kagome moved a finger to his lips and shook her head indicating that it was alright.
"It's okay Inuyasha, you're just not yourself today," reassured Kagome as she stared into his eyes comfortingly.
Amber orbs sparkling, the older hanyou moved her hand from his lips and kissed her knuckles causing the girl to blush a nice tinge of pink as she saw the lust in his eyes.
"Inuyasha, I think that we should get at least some type of weapon if we want to go against Naraku," reminded Kagome, her eyes never leaving the half demon before her.
Letting go of the girl's hand, he only nodded seriously as he remembered the problem at hand. There would be more time to play around later when they disposed of Naraku and stop whatever plan the creature had up his sleeve this time.
"Do you think that we could borrow a bow and a few arrows from the village ahead?" pondered Kagome as she looked ahead, her senses telling her that a group of people were just a few miles away from them.
"Borrow? Why not just take it off one of the dead soldiers over there?" asked Inuyasha a bit darkly as his eyes fell in the direction of the sacred forest.
"What are you talking about Inuyasha?" asked Kagome confused as she followed his cold gaze.
"The demons are killing those in their way; they're racing to get to the Sacred Forest of Demons and a group of idiotic fools just happened to be in the middle of it," growled Inuyasha angrily as he thought about how many innocents had died for just being a by stander; it was all that evil Naraku's fault and his dark ways, he was a disgrace to all demons.
"Inuyasha, you've seem to become more... ruder ever since last night. Well not rude, but you've just... How can I say this? You've become...different," said Kagome awkwardly; his emotions seemed to be worse than it was before her transformation.
"How so?" asked Inuyasha, his voice dropping into a deeper octave as a grin wiped over his face, his silver mane shadowing his eyes as he stepped closer to her.
"This isn't funny Inuyasha!" Kagome said as she stepped backwards instinctively, something was wrong about the hanyou.
"Are you afraid of me?" asked the hanyou hurt, leaving the miko to stutter for an answer; he knew she didn't want to ever hurt him emotionally especially since she learned hints about his dreadful past.
"I-I never said that! I'm just a bit...nervous around you because...well..." began Kagome as she intertwined her fingers uneasily, refusing to look into his eyes.
"Because I'm acting more straight forward?" asked a deeper voice as he a clawed hand lifted up her chin and the other wrapped around her waist.
"By coming out more and more you're going to destroy Inuyasha's mind, you have to stop!" shouted Kagome as she struggled to squirm out of his hands but only managed to get crushed to the youkai's powerful chest.
Closing her eyes tightly as she felt a powerful hand cup her right cheek, she could feel the warmth of the demon's breath on her face. Even with her newer powers she was still helpless to him and ordering him to sit would only get her underneath him and right now she didn't want to think about what he might do when he had that advantage over her.
"Do you want him that badly? If you want him then you'll have to have me too, I'm a part of him and you'll have to accept me if you want all of him," whispered the youkai hotly in her ear, causing the hanyou's eyes to snap open in surprise and realization as her molten eyes met flaming ruby ones.
"I don't want to lose him," said Kagome, her voice barely audible as tears welled up in her eyes; she couldn't think about what she'd do if she lost Inuyasha.
"You can't lose him as long as I'm a part of him," comforted the youkai as his hold on her loosened and he wiped away the tears that had unconsciously stained her cheeks.
Letting the tears fall from her face she threw her arms around his neck, feeling powerful arms wrap around her form protectively when sapphire spheres soaked the youkai's shoulder. Kagome purred when the demon before her rubbed her back coaxingly; felt her body shudder as the heat of the demon before enveloped her form. Dizzy from the ministrations she barely noticed the youkai lift her chin with his claws and move her face to his own. Bones quivering, her legs threatened to collapse as she felt warm lips brush her own leaving her wanting to do nothing but melt into Inuyasha's form; her mind blanking as the youkai before her deepened the kiss.
"You belong to me miko, and no one else," soothed the demon as he moved the hanyou's stray locks behind her ears, his eyes roaming the maiden's round and smooth face as he traced a claw from her cheek to her neck.
Kagome could feel her eyes threaten to droop shut from the heat that she was feeling from the inside out, could feel the youkai's eyes journey over her body causing her to shiver from the lust that she saw from his volcano depths.
"Inuyasha..." whispered the half breed as she moved her hands from behind his neck to cup his face her face inching closer to his.
A/N:Well that's about it for now, I should be updating this and my other fics on March 11, 2004 for my birthday! ^^ Do you guys think I should change the rating for this fic? I think I might have gone a bit over board.... ^^;;;