Author: YAY!!!! I got a review from a new person [sheds tears of joy]. That
makes me so happy I'm actually starting this chapter the day after I
finished the last one.
Wammy: I'l go back and preview the other chapters to make sure the spacing is right. And about Sango, Miroku, and Shippo; as for now they are together (Sango and Miroku), but they are all off doing some random thing so they don't get in my way. I may introduce them later, but as for now, I dunno.
Chapter 6:
Morning came to the Den of Youkai wolves, and a faint tint of natural light could be seen a little way into the cave. All those that were not on night watch awakened at the same time and prepared themselves for breakfast, hoping that the morning hunters had gotten something really good for breakfast. The sounds of many youkai wolves yawning and stretching would have woken anyone up, anyone except Lilian, who was still passed out from the previous days venture.
Nearly half an hour after all the other members of the pack had awoken and had gotten ready to eat, Lilian awoke to the odd clanking of metal. At first the sound had only stirred her sleep, but after only a few moments, it brought her to consciousness. She yawned and sat up, just as the scent of jerky filled her nose and the mysterious sound stopped. She opened her eyes and the still dim light in the cave made waking up a little easier on her eyes.
Things were pretty much the same as the last time she had woken up, except she could move, her leg didn't hurt as bad, and now Kouga was sitting in the corner, hunched over a little sack and looking at her. She couldn't tell what was in the sack, but she really didn't care to ask him, because she didn't care to talk to him. As she came closer to full awareness, she scowled at the youkai, and quickly turned the other way.
Kouga flinched internally at the sound, still not liking the fact that she hated him, but he knew that before he could make her fall in love with him, she was probably going to hate him for a while. He stifled his feelings for a second and opened his mouth to speak.
"Are you hungry?" he asked her.
Up until this point, Lilian had ignored her stomach due to the urgency of her situation; but the question reminded her of an important fact: she was very hungry. In light of this, her stomach felt the need to answer for her, with a long, bubbly growl. Lilian's arms fell over her stomach as she hunched over (still turned away from Kouga), and it was then that she remembered the jerky that she had smelled before. She turned around to face Kouga once again, and suppressed another scowl in hopes of getting even a semi-eatable meal.
Kouga grinned and chuckled lightly to himself "I made that for you" he said pointing to a small bunch of what smelled like pork jerky on a large leaf. "It's probably the only thing in the Den that is cooked enough for your stomach to handle."
Lilian reached out for the food slowly, still not trusting the wolf, but not willing to starve either.
"Don't worry" Kouga said "It's safe, and it tastes alright too, I tried a little myself"
The reassurance didn't help things go any faster, but soon enough Lilian pulled the leaf closer and lightly clasped one of the pieces of jerky. She gently lifted it up to her nose and inhaled to make absolutely sure it was safe, knowing well that there were only about a handful of poisons she would be able to detect on scent alone. Once the morsel had passed the final test, she placed a little of it in her mouth, and closed it around the piece. The taste met her tongue, and even though it was obviously not seasoned, it tasted pretty good, and with that she bit down on the jerky. It was tougher than she expected, but it wasn't too much for her to chew without much trouble.
After she took her first bite of the food and swallowed she pulled it away from her mouth and ducked her head to Kouga. The only that surprised the youkai more than this, was the timid "thank you" that she spoke right afterwards, and at a loss for words, he could only reply "no problem".
With that, Lilian went back to her meal, and Kouga went back to his task with the sack, and the odd sound of clanking metal returned.
Out of the corner of her eye, Lilian spotted one of the daggers she had brought with her, and her curiosity got the best of her.
"What are you doing?" she asked the busy wolf youkai.
"Packing all of your weapons and stuff" he replied without even looking up from his task.
"How come?" she asked, now not really concerned with the food "what are you going to do with all of it?" At this point, she figured it was a good turn of events, she knew where her weapons were, and they were concentrated in one spot now so all she needed was the sack, and a good distraction.
"We're gonna go visit some friends, and I figure that you should have these back when we leave." Kouga responded, hoping that she wouldn't get to angry, or ask the dreaded question...
"But why?" Lilian asked "and who, what are you talking about?"
Kouga had rehearsed this tale in his mind seemingly a hundred times, but he didn't really like the idea of lying to the woman he hoped to claim as a mate. 'okay,' he thought to himself 'you can do this, it's a perfect plan, just don't screw this up'
"Well, I don't think that your leg is gonna get much better here anytime soon, since you seem so uncomfortable, and my pack doesn't really have the means to treat humans because we heal so much quicker and easier" Kouga said "But I know some old friends who should be able to help, I think you should heal a lot quicker with them, and I haven't seen them in a long time."
"Oh" Lilian said, she wasn't really expecting this, but then again she hadn't really expected much of anything she had gotten since she was first injured. She was also happy though, because she was afraid the smell of the Den was going to rub off on her and she really felt like she needed a bath too. "When are we leaving?"
"As soon as you finish and I'm done packing your things" Kouga replied, going back to the sack.
"How can you trust me not to kill you while were gone when I get all my stuff back?" Lilian asked in curiosity, but regretted it a second later realizing she had foiled a potentially good plan.
"Dunno" Kouga replied stopping and looking up at the ceiling/wall/cave...thing "I guess I just have to hope that you won't do that"
"What makes you think I won't?" she yelled, slamming the still only slightly touched jerky back on the leaf. "Because I can, and I will first chance I get!" once again scolding herself inside for ruining a pretty good plan.
"Maybe" Kouga said calmly, shrugging his shoulders but knowing that the chances of killing him were really slim unless her were either really injured or really distracted "But I doubt you will, after all, I'm only taking you to get some better help. So eat up, you probably won't eat again until we get to the village, and that's a two hour run."
"You think I can run two hours with my leg injured like this?" she asked slightly calmer and reaching again for the jerky.
"No, I'm gonna carry you" Kouga replied "but there is no reason to waste energy yelling"
Lilian was about to continue the conversation/argument, but was interrupted by yet another interference of her stomach, so she decided to be quiet and eat. Kouga finished up with the packing and walked over to her placing the sack next to her.
"I'm gonna go get something to eat, I'll be back in about 20 minutes at the most, will you be done by then?" He asked the hungry woman.
She didn't say anything she just nodded, as she picked up another piece of jerky.
"Alright then," with that he walked out of the small room. =========================================================
"Alright, I'll be back soon guys" Kouga said to his pack members. The sun was fully up and the wind was blowing gently. The wolf youkai tribe gathered around to say their good-byes even though only a handful of them knew why Kouga was really going. Lilian sat on a nearby rock trying to avoid moving her leg, her arms crossed with the sack of weapons hanging in the fingers of her left hand. She had played the scenario of putting half of the bags contents in Kouga's back through her mind many times, and the only reason why she didn't was because he had been so kind to her.
"Until I return, Gekido is in charge" he turned to his friend "I'm trusting you with this load because I know you can handle it, if anything bad happens, you know where to go."
Gekido nodded with reply, and with that Kouga walked over to the rock that Lilian was sitting on and lifted her into his arms bridal style, trying not to shock her leg too much.
Out of surprise, Lilian "meeped", and after Kouga chuckled a little, placed the sack on her torso and wrapped her arms around it. She looked up at Kouga to let him know she was alright, and with that, the wolf youkai took off with the word "good-bye" left on the trail of wind he left behind. ==============================================================
Kouga stopped abruptly at the edge of a cliff, bringing Lilian out of the day dream that she was caught up in to help pass the time. She looked up at Kouga with a bit of confusion in her eyes, before she looked over the edge of the cliff.
"We're here, look" Kouga told her, motioning with his head towards their destination a little while away. Kouga smiled, this was the beginning of what he hoped to be the best turn of events in a long time, plus he wanted to get another whack at Inuyasha if the opportunity presented itself.
Lilian looked over the cliff into the distance to see the village for herself. The village was actually barely visible, and would probably be about two or three hours walking...for a human, but she was quickly learning that Kouga was just a little faster than a human. She was glad that this trip was coming to a close, because there had only been one rest for her, and her legs were badly cramped (making the injury feel worse).
"Let's go" Kouga said. With a large leap, they were in the air on their way to the village, and upon hitting the ground, Kouga's signature whirlwind kicked up and surrounded the two in the tinted green winds.
By now Lilian had been used to seeing things from inside the whirlwind; the light green tint on the surroundings and the long distances closing quickly no longer surprised her. She looked forward as the village that was barely on the horizon a few seconds ago, became steadily larger as the distance closed second after second.
As the village became larger and larger, Lilian noticed a few people near the edge stop what they were doing and stare in her direction. She figured that they had just seen the strange whirlwind, and were curious to what it was about. As the seconds flew by and the village grew, so did the number of people awaiting their arrival.
Once Kouga had gotten close enough to village (roughly 20 feet), he pressed both his feet into the soft ground, stopping the whirlwind, and making him skid. Dust flew up all around him as he finally made his entrance into the village. He waited in the dust, standing just inside the imaginary line of the outskirts of the village, and stood tall. "Oohs" and "aahs" could be heard clearly from the dust, and did nothing but Kouga's already large ego.
When the dust cleared, Kouga stood still and strong, Lilian sat there bored in his arms, and the small gathering of village people had transformed into a mob of confused villagers, a few with pitchforks and other such farming tools.
"Can you put me down?" Lilian asked Kouga.
"Oh sure" Kouga obliged, placing her down gently on her good leg, and pulling her to lean on him so she could stand. 'Now to find Kagome' he thought to himself.
The gathering of villagers had easily become well over fifty people, and a good mix of old people, men, women, and children (most of which stayed close to what seemed to be their mothers or fathers). Kouga skimmed the crowd looking for anyone that resembled Kagome, but all he saw was anonymous faces, and a weird part being made by someone who was trying to get to the front of the crowd, but he wasn't certain who it was.
As the cleft made it's way closer to Kouga and Lilian, Kouga began to get more and more curious, and awaited the mysterious person's arrival. It wasn't until the groove had made it's way to just short of the edge of the crowd when a familiar scent pricked Kouga's, a scent that he would never forget, and that he could detect even above all the other people in the crowd.
A smile made it's way on his face when none other than Kagome emerged from the crowd. Adorned in the ceremonial red and white kimono of a village miko and her bow and quiver on her back, she smiled largely at the surprise of seeing an old friend again.
"Kouga!" She exclaimed "It's been a long time" she said as she walked toward the wolf youkai ignoring the shocked responses from the crowd. Remembering that the villagers were not used to seeing youkai just dropping by without the intent of killing them, thought it necessary to fill them in on the situation. "Oh uh" she said to the audience, turning around "This is my friend Kouga, he's okay, you can all get back to whatever your doing."
Immediately the crowd began to disperse amidst random groans and other various conversations starting up.
"Okay" Kagome said, turning back to Kouga and Lilian "What brings you here to this village of the late Kaede?" She tried to hold back her sadness at the mention of the late seasoned miko that had taught her everything she had needed to succeed her as village miko, but Kouga could hear it faintly, but didn't know Kaede, so didn't really care.
Lilian shifted against Kouga and a quiver of pain caught her off guard, causing her to "yelp" very quietly. With this both Kouga and Kagome's attention focused on her.
"Kouga," Kagome asked curiously "Who is this?" She held out her hand to Lilian to shake "Kagome, and you?"
"Lilian" she spoke before Kouga could for her "I'm a...friend of Kouga's"
"Really?" Kagome asked "well what brings you here?"
It was Kouga's turn. "Well she was visiting my pack and I on our mountain and she hurt her leg, and we aren't really good at medicine for humans, so..."
"I understand" Kagome said calmly "It's one of the things I do best. Please follow me."
With that she turned and walked towards the middle of the village, and Kouga picked Lilian up and followed the young miko.
After a few minutes of walking, the two made it to a nicely sized cottage next to a shrine that, based upon the odd yet familiar vibes Kouga was getting, was probably an incredible power source.
Without even looking back at Kouga, Kagome answered his burning question as if reading his mind, pausing in the doorway to the cottage.
"Yes, in that shrine is the shikon-no-tama" Kagome said "it is my sworn duty to protect it from any one who would use it's power for evil." Kagome stepped inside, holding the door open, and Kouga entered into the small cottage, and Lilian shifted in his arms to avoid hitting her head on the door.
"Lay her down in here and I'll have a look at her right away" Kagome said smiling with the gentle voice that was special about her. Kouga did as he was commanded, laying Lilian down on a soft feather mattress and stepped back.
The lighting in the cottage was nice, golden rays of sunlight seemed to pour in from everywhere, leaving hardly a shadow in the small room. For a brief moment, Kouga was once again captivated my Lilian's beauty and forgot his purpose in coming to the village. The sunlight danced in her hair and reflected off her perfect skin, her scent filled his nose, and for a moment he even got light headed. It took him only a little while to focus, and although Lilian didn't notice (as he had gotten a little better at hiding it) Kagome did, and just didn't respond.
"I guess I'll be off for a little while then" Kouga said. Lilian faked a smile and said a false "good-bye" followed by an internal 'good riddance'.
"Kagome" Kouga asked "I can tell that Inuyasha was in the village recently but I didn't see him, do you know where I can find him, I need to talk to him."
"Oh sure" she responded, she held out a finger pointing east. "There is a plateau to the east of the village, I think he's up there"
"Thanks" Kouga waved his hand and left out the door, wondering why Inuyasha wasn't here with Kagome in the village.
He turned to the east, with the plateau in front of him, not 2 miles away, and down wind. As he kicked up the whirlwind, a small smile drew itself on his face, his purpose wasn't to fight, but if Inuyasha was anything like he used to be, Kouga knew the two would have at least a tussle for old times sake if nothing else, and he was eager to have a good round with his old "friend".
Author: IT......IS......FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay [smiles evilly] next chappie is the first Inuyasha vs. Kouga fight scene...and it will be much goodness. BTW, this is a question to anyone who reviews before the next chapter is posted, what should Inuyasha be doing on the plateau..."relieving" his male/canine urges, meditating, sleeping, or what. Open to any and all suggestions.
Wammy: I'l go back and preview the other chapters to make sure the spacing is right. And about Sango, Miroku, and Shippo; as for now they are together (Sango and Miroku), but they are all off doing some random thing so they don't get in my way. I may introduce them later, but as for now, I dunno.
Chapter 6:
Morning came to the Den of Youkai wolves, and a faint tint of natural light could be seen a little way into the cave. All those that were not on night watch awakened at the same time and prepared themselves for breakfast, hoping that the morning hunters had gotten something really good for breakfast. The sounds of many youkai wolves yawning and stretching would have woken anyone up, anyone except Lilian, who was still passed out from the previous days venture.
Nearly half an hour after all the other members of the pack had awoken and had gotten ready to eat, Lilian awoke to the odd clanking of metal. At first the sound had only stirred her sleep, but after only a few moments, it brought her to consciousness. She yawned and sat up, just as the scent of jerky filled her nose and the mysterious sound stopped. She opened her eyes and the still dim light in the cave made waking up a little easier on her eyes.
Things were pretty much the same as the last time she had woken up, except she could move, her leg didn't hurt as bad, and now Kouga was sitting in the corner, hunched over a little sack and looking at her. She couldn't tell what was in the sack, but she really didn't care to ask him, because she didn't care to talk to him. As she came closer to full awareness, she scowled at the youkai, and quickly turned the other way.
Kouga flinched internally at the sound, still not liking the fact that she hated him, but he knew that before he could make her fall in love with him, she was probably going to hate him for a while. He stifled his feelings for a second and opened his mouth to speak.
"Are you hungry?" he asked her.
Up until this point, Lilian had ignored her stomach due to the urgency of her situation; but the question reminded her of an important fact: she was very hungry. In light of this, her stomach felt the need to answer for her, with a long, bubbly growl. Lilian's arms fell over her stomach as she hunched over (still turned away from Kouga), and it was then that she remembered the jerky that she had smelled before. She turned around to face Kouga once again, and suppressed another scowl in hopes of getting even a semi-eatable meal.
Kouga grinned and chuckled lightly to himself "I made that for you" he said pointing to a small bunch of what smelled like pork jerky on a large leaf. "It's probably the only thing in the Den that is cooked enough for your stomach to handle."
Lilian reached out for the food slowly, still not trusting the wolf, but not willing to starve either.
"Don't worry" Kouga said "It's safe, and it tastes alright too, I tried a little myself"
The reassurance didn't help things go any faster, but soon enough Lilian pulled the leaf closer and lightly clasped one of the pieces of jerky. She gently lifted it up to her nose and inhaled to make absolutely sure it was safe, knowing well that there were only about a handful of poisons she would be able to detect on scent alone. Once the morsel had passed the final test, she placed a little of it in her mouth, and closed it around the piece. The taste met her tongue, and even though it was obviously not seasoned, it tasted pretty good, and with that she bit down on the jerky. It was tougher than she expected, but it wasn't too much for her to chew without much trouble.
After she took her first bite of the food and swallowed she pulled it away from her mouth and ducked her head to Kouga. The only that surprised the youkai more than this, was the timid "thank you" that she spoke right afterwards, and at a loss for words, he could only reply "no problem".
With that, Lilian went back to her meal, and Kouga went back to his task with the sack, and the odd sound of clanking metal returned.
Out of the corner of her eye, Lilian spotted one of the daggers she had brought with her, and her curiosity got the best of her.
"What are you doing?" she asked the busy wolf youkai.
"Packing all of your weapons and stuff" he replied without even looking up from his task.
"How come?" she asked, now not really concerned with the food "what are you going to do with all of it?" At this point, she figured it was a good turn of events, she knew where her weapons were, and they were concentrated in one spot now so all she needed was the sack, and a good distraction.
"We're gonna go visit some friends, and I figure that you should have these back when we leave." Kouga responded, hoping that she wouldn't get to angry, or ask the dreaded question...
"But why?" Lilian asked "and who, what are you talking about?"
Kouga had rehearsed this tale in his mind seemingly a hundred times, but he didn't really like the idea of lying to the woman he hoped to claim as a mate. 'okay,' he thought to himself 'you can do this, it's a perfect plan, just don't screw this up'
"Well, I don't think that your leg is gonna get much better here anytime soon, since you seem so uncomfortable, and my pack doesn't really have the means to treat humans because we heal so much quicker and easier" Kouga said "But I know some old friends who should be able to help, I think you should heal a lot quicker with them, and I haven't seen them in a long time."
"Oh" Lilian said, she wasn't really expecting this, but then again she hadn't really expected much of anything she had gotten since she was first injured. She was also happy though, because she was afraid the smell of the Den was going to rub off on her and she really felt like she needed a bath too. "When are we leaving?"
"As soon as you finish and I'm done packing your things" Kouga replied, going back to the sack.
"How can you trust me not to kill you while were gone when I get all my stuff back?" Lilian asked in curiosity, but regretted it a second later realizing she had foiled a potentially good plan.
"Dunno" Kouga replied stopping and looking up at the ceiling/wall/cave...thing "I guess I just have to hope that you won't do that"
"What makes you think I won't?" she yelled, slamming the still only slightly touched jerky back on the leaf. "Because I can, and I will first chance I get!" once again scolding herself inside for ruining a pretty good plan.
"Maybe" Kouga said calmly, shrugging his shoulders but knowing that the chances of killing him were really slim unless her were either really injured or really distracted "But I doubt you will, after all, I'm only taking you to get some better help. So eat up, you probably won't eat again until we get to the village, and that's a two hour run."
"You think I can run two hours with my leg injured like this?" she asked slightly calmer and reaching again for the jerky.
"No, I'm gonna carry you" Kouga replied "but there is no reason to waste energy yelling"
Lilian was about to continue the conversation/argument, but was interrupted by yet another interference of her stomach, so she decided to be quiet and eat. Kouga finished up with the packing and walked over to her placing the sack next to her.
"I'm gonna go get something to eat, I'll be back in about 20 minutes at the most, will you be done by then?" He asked the hungry woman.
She didn't say anything she just nodded, as she picked up another piece of jerky.
"Alright then," with that he walked out of the small room. =========================================================
"Alright, I'll be back soon guys" Kouga said to his pack members. The sun was fully up and the wind was blowing gently. The wolf youkai tribe gathered around to say their good-byes even though only a handful of them knew why Kouga was really going. Lilian sat on a nearby rock trying to avoid moving her leg, her arms crossed with the sack of weapons hanging in the fingers of her left hand. She had played the scenario of putting half of the bags contents in Kouga's back through her mind many times, and the only reason why she didn't was because he had been so kind to her.
"Until I return, Gekido is in charge" he turned to his friend "I'm trusting you with this load because I know you can handle it, if anything bad happens, you know where to go."
Gekido nodded with reply, and with that Kouga walked over to the rock that Lilian was sitting on and lifted her into his arms bridal style, trying not to shock her leg too much.
Out of surprise, Lilian "meeped", and after Kouga chuckled a little, placed the sack on her torso and wrapped her arms around it. She looked up at Kouga to let him know she was alright, and with that, the wolf youkai took off with the word "good-bye" left on the trail of wind he left behind. ==============================================================
Kouga stopped abruptly at the edge of a cliff, bringing Lilian out of the day dream that she was caught up in to help pass the time. She looked up at Kouga with a bit of confusion in her eyes, before she looked over the edge of the cliff.
"We're here, look" Kouga told her, motioning with his head towards their destination a little while away. Kouga smiled, this was the beginning of what he hoped to be the best turn of events in a long time, plus he wanted to get another whack at Inuyasha if the opportunity presented itself.
Lilian looked over the cliff into the distance to see the village for herself. The village was actually barely visible, and would probably be about two or three hours walking...for a human, but she was quickly learning that Kouga was just a little faster than a human. She was glad that this trip was coming to a close, because there had only been one rest for her, and her legs were badly cramped (making the injury feel worse).
"Let's go" Kouga said. With a large leap, they were in the air on their way to the village, and upon hitting the ground, Kouga's signature whirlwind kicked up and surrounded the two in the tinted green winds.
By now Lilian had been used to seeing things from inside the whirlwind; the light green tint on the surroundings and the long distances closing quickly no longer surprised her. She looked forward as the village that was barely on the horizon a few seconds ago, became steadily larger as the distance closed second after second.
As the village became larger and larger, Lilian noticed a few people near the edge stop what they were doing and stare in her direction. She figured that they had just seen the strange whirlwind, and were curious to what it was about. As the seconds flew by and the village grew, so did the number of people awaiting their arrival.
Once Kouga had gotten close enough to village (roughly 20 feet), he pressed both his feet into the soft ground, stopping the whirlwind, and making him skid. Dust flew up all around him as he finally made his entrance into the village. He waited in the dust, standing just inside the imaginary line of the outskirts of the village, and stood tall. "Oohs" and "aahs" could be heard clearly from the dust, and did nothing but Kouga's already large ego.
When the dust cleared, Kouga stood still and strong, Lilian sat there bored in his arms, and the small gathering of village people had transformed into a mob of confused villagers, a few with pitchforks and other such farming tools.
"Can you put me down?" Lilian asked Kouga.
"Oh sure" Kouga obliged, placing her down gently on her good leg, and pulling her to lean on him so she could stand. 'Now to find Kagome' he thought to himself.
The gathering of villagers had easily become well over fifty people, and a good mix of old people, men, women, and children (most of which stayed close to what seemed to be their mothers or fathers). Kouga skimmed the crowd looking for anyone that resembled Kagome, but all he saw was anonymous faces, and a weird part being made by someone who was trying to get to the front of the crowd, but he wasn't certain who it was.
As the cleft made it's way closer to Kouga and Lilian, Kouga began to get more and more curious, and awaited the mysterious person's arrival. It wasn't until the groove had made it's way to just short of the edge of the crowd when a familiar scent pricked Kouga's, a scent that he would never forget, and that he could detect even above all the other people in the crowd.
A smile made it's way on his face when none other than Kagome emerged from the crowd. Adorned in the ceremonial red and white kimono of a village miko and her bow and quiver on her back, she smiled largely at the surprise of seeing an old friend again.
"Kouga!" She exclaimed "It's been a long time" she said as she walked toward the wolf youkai ignoring the shocked responses from the crowd. Remembering that the villagers were not used to seeing youkai just dropping by without the intent of killing them, thought it necessary to fill them in on the situation. "Oh uh" she said to the audience, turning around "This is my friend Kouga, he's okay, you can all get back to whatever your doing."
Immediately the crowd began to disperse amidst random groans and other various conversations starting up.
"Okay" Kagome said, turning back to Kouga and Lilian "What brings you here to this village of the late Kaede?" She tried to hold back her sadness at the mention of the late seasoned miko that had taught her everything she had needed to succeed her as village miko, but Kouga could hear it faintly, but didn't know Kaede, so didn't really care.
Lilian shifted against Kouga and a quiver of pain caught her off guard, causing her to "yelp" very quietly. With this both Kouga and Kagome's attention focused on her.
"Kouga," Kagome asked curiously "Who is this?" She held out her hand to Lilian to shake "Kagome, and you?"
"Lilian" she spoke before Kouga could for her "I'm a...friend of Kouga's"
"Really?" Kagome asked "well what brings you here?"
It was Kouga's turn. "Well she was visiting my pack and I on our mountain and she hurt her leg, and we aren't really good at medicine for humans, so..."
"I understand" Kagome said calmly "It's one of the things I do best. Please follow me."
With that she turned and walked towards the middle of the village, and Kouga picked Lilian up and followed the young miko.
After a few minutes of walking, the two made it to a nicely sized cottage next to a shrine that, based upon the odd yet familiar vibes Kouga was getting, was probably an incredible power source.
Without even looking back at Kouga, Kagome answered his burning question as if reading his mind, pausing in the doorway to the cottage.
"Yes, in that shrine is the shikon-no-tama" Kagome said "it is my sworn duty to protect it from any one who would use it's power for evil." Kagome stepped inside, holding the door open, and Kouga entered into the small cottage, and Lilian shifted in his arms to avoid hitting her head on the door.
"Lay her down in here and I'll have a look at her right away" Kagome said smiling with the gentle voice that was special about her. Kouga did as he was commanded, laying Lilian down on a soft feather mattress and stepped back.
The lighting in the cottage was nice, golden rays of sunlight seemed to pour in from everywhere, leaving hardly a shadow in the small room. For a brief moment, Kouga was once again captivated my Lilian's beauty and forgot his purpose in coming to the village. The sunlight danced in her hair and reflected off her perfect skin, her scent filled his nose, and for a moment he even got light headed. It took him only a little while to focus, and although Lilian didn't notice (as he had gotten a little better at hiding it) Kagome did, and just didn't respond.
"I guess I'll be off for a little while then" Kouga said. Lilian faked a smile and said a false "good-bye" followed by an internal 'good riddance'.
"Kagome" Kouga asked "I can tell that Inuyasha was in the village recently but I didn't see him, do you know where I can find him, I need to talk to him."
"Oh sure" she responded, she held out a finger pointing east. "There is a plateau to the east of the village, I think he's up there"
"Thanks" Kouga waved his hand and left out the door, wondering why Inuyasha wasn't here with Kagome in the village.
He turned to the east, with the plateau in front of him, not 2 miles away, and down wind. As he kicked up the whirlwind, a small smile drew itself on his face, his purpose wasn't to fight, but if Inuyasha was anything like he used to be, Kouga knew the two would have at least a tussle for old times sake if nothing else, and he was eager to have a good round with his old "friend".
Author: IT......IS......FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay [smiles evilly] next chappie is the first Inuyasha vs. Kouga fight scene...and it will be much goodness. BTW, this is a question to anyone who reviews before the next chapter is posted, what should Inuyasha be doing on the plateau..."relieving" his male/canine urges, meditating, sleeping, or what. Open to any and all suggestions.