Author: I'm so sorry about how long it took for my last chapter, really I am. But no I'm not dead, and no I don't plan on discontinuing this fic. This fic must be completed as it is my masterpiece...and I really like it.
It seems that none of you wanted to see a lemon chapter, in all honesty I'm glad because that was scaring the crap out of me.
Sorry about the last chapter being so short though, It really did seem like a long time while I was writing it...
Chapter 18:
For once in her life Lilian was unhappy with the bright glow of the near full moon in the sky above. Along with the sparkling of the countless stars, there was nearly no darkness to mask her from sight as she traveled along the roofs to get a look at who or whatever was near the shrine. It was now for the first time she noticed that the robe she was wearing was a slightly darker lavender than her hair itself. I nearly sparkled in the moonlight along with the hair that she had recently pulled down to warm her neck against the chilled night air.
She bit back a shiver as she rounded the shrine from the roofs above to the front of the wooden cabin used to house the infamous shikon no tama. She tried her best to peer into the darkness, never making a sound, but since her eyes were not use to darkness due to the blaring light from above, she could hear nothing. It was after only a moment that she heard a slight rustling.
She set down the daggers silently before moving her hands in sShe clutched her daggers tightly, one in each hand and waited as a figure stepped out into the moonlight.
The creature stood on hind legs that were covered in black fur. It stood on the balls of the feet, making them look remarkable feline. It's arms were also covered in the inky black fur, from it's strong and large biceps and triceps, down to his hands, there was flesh on the palms but fur on the back. The thumbs were opposable, and there were short claws that hardly passed each finger. There was a tail sticking out of the back of it's stiff looking red shorts that came down to about it's knees and continued on as frayed, softer looking material down to his mid calves. Above the shorts were two wide straps made of a similar material that went from the waist all the way up until it draped over the shoulders, making a similar path back down to it's back. The color was the same red as the shorts except for the golden yellow spikes on the straps, she noticed that the straps were in position to protect the heart, lungs, and frontal damage to the ribcages. It's head was also covered in the black fur, except it was definitely feline, piercing narrow golden eyes shimmered against the moonlight.
A black panther youkai, Lilian even had an idea of what region he was from by the armor it wore. She assumed that it was male due to the significant lack of breasts the panther had. Panthers weren't nearly as close as wolves, but they still seldom left the pack, especially not two weeks journey for one of even their speed. An exile most likely, possibly a stray.
The panther stepped into the street, descending the handful of steps between him and the ground. His right hand was clutched tightly in a ball, and his lips were pulled back in such a way as to seem that he was smiling.
He drew his head back once he stepped onto the street, revealing his neck and his rose his hand up to his head. A shimmer of pink light escaped his palm, catching the kunoichi's eye.
She jumped down and without a sound, slipping one of the daggers into her left hand so that she had a free one. In one fluid motion she scooped up a small rock and threw it towards the youkai. She armed her free hand once again as the rock whizzed through the air, hardly making a sound.
It was only right before the rock hit the youkai's throat that he seemed to notice and made a very awkward dodge, letting the rock slip between the loop of his arm while nearly grazing his neck.
'Easy Prey.'
Lilian's face remained indifferent as her huntress mode façade did it's job.
The youkai glared daggers at the woman, his bright golden, narrow eyes pierced the air as finely as a needle.
"I wouldn't suggest you try that, I'll cut that thing right out of your throat while it's on its way down."
The youkai's glare calmed, and his lips fell back into a smug grin.
"You think that you, a human, can defeat me?"
His voice was cold and arrogant, a tad on the raspy side as if his throat was a bit raw.
Lilian clutched hard onto the daggers in each of her hands before she parted her lips to speak.
"Do you really want to find out?"
The panther laughed a bit, it sounded a bit hushed.
"Well try not to scream too loudly okay? I've waited a long time for that hanyou to let his guard down, and I'm not gonna let you blow it."
Lilian said nothing, she merely looked him dead on in the eyes, sinking into a ready stance with a dagger on each side.
The panther dropped the priceless jewel into a small sash that had been hidden under one of the armored straps he wore. Once it was secured, he flared out his youki.
A black aura surrounded the youkai and there was a seemingly everlasting grin on his face.
"Hope your not afraid of the dark..."
With that, his youki thickened, enveloping all Lilian could see in mystical darkness. It blotted out the stars and the moon, leaving nothing for her to see, even her own hands were hidden from her eyes. She remained motionless however, feeling a bit more comfortable shrouded in complete darkness, this fool of a youkai would soon realize that his own weapon was also her greatest strength.
She shut her eyes to help her concentration, and focused on the sounds around her. The breeze, the dust, the moving robe, she made herself aware of every sound around her, and focused on her reflexes. She was prepared to fight this thing in utter darkness, she had been trained to be able to.
She waited, breathing evenly and quietly until she heard a shifting from where the panther had been. His feet began to walk, but not towards her, away from her...he had underestimated her. She hated when people underestimated her.
Her right combed the ground for a moment before finding what she was looking for. Her nimble foot clasped hold of another rock about the same size as the first, and without so much as a second thought, she kicked her foot out, releasing the projectile forward. Before she heard the satisfying "thunk" and resulting growl, she knew she would hit her mark.
When the tell tale sounds emerged from the darkness, she spoke.
"Don't underestimate me youkai, that is the last warning you'll get. If you turn to walk away from me again, you'll find a dagger and not a rock hitting the back of your neck."
She heard him stifle a breath, he hadn't expected for her to actually be able to aim that precisely. There was another soft growl, and then the darkness receded.
Lilian slid back into a ready stance.
"That's pretty sad if you can't hold that technique and fight at the same time."
The panther curled both of his fists into a ball and turned his body so that his side faced the huntress. His fists moved in between the two at about shoulders height, and his left foot shifted in the ground in readiness.
'How ironic, he knows Panther's Foot. Too bad I know it too'
Lilian's eyes narrowed.
"Whoever said that? I just want to see the look of horror on your face when you see me kill you."
Lilian bit back a grimace of annoyance.
'Underestimating me again, I gave him only one warning and that was all he was gonna get.'
The panther youkai charged letting out a low roar. Leaping low to the ground, he cleared the distance between them quickly, his right arm arched back for an attack.
Lilian readied herself, she had a good idea what was coming first. A punch- kick combo from the right side most likely. The punch, she knew, would be nothing more than a meager distraction, but Panther's Foot Kick Boxing had some of the nastiest kicks known to modern martial arts.
With a counter devised, she slunk back, waiting for the attack. The first punch came in quickly, and just as quickly, she stepped inside the blow, she felt the spikes on the armor graze her back just as she stopped. Her arm came up to block at the bicep, using the physics of where to position the block, she rendered the youkai's superior strength. A smarter warrior would have abandoned the combo and pulled back, but the youkai pushed on, keeping his leg curled making the kick into a knee attack.
Lilian was a bit surprised at her opponents stupid move, but managed to bring her knee up to block using the same principle she used to stop the punch. The youkai stifled a dull roar in surprise as Lilian stomped her foot to the ground and pushed her body to spin the other way, pointing the dagger in her free arm for the youkai's gut.
The dark creature followed Lilian's example, stamping his foot to the ground and pushed back, he moved just in time to have the blade come within centimeters of his exposed stomach.
Upon realizing the attack wouldn't work, Lilian pushed off the ground with her left foot, the momentum of the spin carried her body to fully twist. She extended her right leg, and crashed her bare foot against the side of the youkai's head. He stammered a bit, and Lilian finished the rotation once she hit the ground, then, without wasting a second, she charged in swinging the dagger in her right hand for his neck.
The youkai pulled his head back far enough to avoid the full extend of the blow, the blade grazed his throat, causing a slight shock to attack his spine, made of a mix of well placed fear and pain.
Once again, the lavender cloaked killer finished the spin, then coming around for another spin, embedded both of her fists in the exposed part of his stomach. The sound of metal blade hitting metal armor was drowned out only by the youkai coughing as air escaped his lungs. He jumped back, placing more significant of a distance between the two.
Lilian pulled back into a ready stance, her eyes glazed over in a fit of boredom. She half-heartedly noted that the creatures eyes had narrowed even further as anger radiated from his being. His youki rose, but didn't cover her sight.
He uncurled his fists, but his hands remained tensed as his claws grew out a half-inch. He snarled and then let out a roar.
'Now it's time for this one to die.' The huntresses thoughts echoed in her own head.
She braced herself to dodge as the youkai pounced after her, his right arm risen high above his head aiming to cleave her down the middle. As the distance between them gave, the huntress didn't even so much as break a sweat.
When the beast slashed, she ducked right under the blow, and stepped around him, turning, and throwing one of the daggers straight for his mid back. There was a start of a roar as the panther saw the attack, then quickly moved to avoid the blade by mere inches.
He turned his gaze back to Lilian, even though his eyes were golden, they poured out his crimson anger. He charged again, driven by rage, trying the same attack.
Lilian ducked under the attack again, and threw her other dagger. The panther dodged it again, this time by a wider range. It took advantage of saving time from the better dodge, and charged again towards the unarmed huntress.
Lilian pulled back, retreating from the beast, managing to keep the distance between them about the same. Her senses kept her alert to the area around her, she focused on the wall, charting her distance from both that and the first knife she threw, still wedged in the wood of the wall.
The trap was actually really simple, she didn't even bother positioning herself so the panther couldn't see the dagger, he was so caught up in his rage that it didn't matter. Her mask drowned the smile that wanted to cross her face as she neared the wall, a vision of how to slit the beast's throat in her mind.
Her back touched the cold wood of the wall behind her just as panther reached striking distance. She reached over for the dagger, pulling it from behind her with ease. It took a split second of her concentration which she dared to look away from her target as her eyes went to her weapon, when she turned around, he wasn't there.
In his place was a widely smiling wolf youkai looking in the direction of a cloud of dust that wasn't there before.
"Are you alright?" There was genuine concern in the wolf's voice.
For a moment, Lilian's façade cracked and whispered words pushed themselves to the front of her mind.
...if you stop convincing yourself that they have no soul so that you can kill them...
...you will be able to see that soul for yourself...
In a moment the crack disappeared and her voice interrupted the silence, numb and emotionless as she wanted.
"You know I didn't need your help"
"Probably didn't, but if its there, why not take it?" The wolf flashed a grin, taking the huntress by masked surprise.
"If you want to help, grab the shikon from him. I'll take care of the rest." With that she shut her eyes and began to concentrate. A low hum of energy wisped through the air around her as her ki began to rise.
Kouga grinned to himself, cracked his knuckles and turned around in time to see the panther pulling out a little sash. Still sitting on the ground, he seemed to ignore Kouga's presence as he turned the sash upside down and dropped none other than the shikon no tama into his dark hand.
Kouga reacted without thinking, he raced towards the sitting creature, clearing the distance in two leaps and plowed his foot into the panther's chest, knocking him on his back, then using the same foot, pinned him down. The resulting impact with the ground caused the jewel to jump from his hand, high enough so that with a quick swipe, Kouga now held possession of the artifact.
A chill ran down his spine, he turned to see Lilian now covered in an aura so orange it was nearly red, there was a large symbol drawn in the same color in front of her, and a smaller symbol to the left, right, and below it. Her hands traced out the last of another one above the center character and immediately all the symbols were encased in a ring. Lilian's ki spiked, sending another chill down Kouga's spine.
Without a word he jumped away, leaving the panther to face what was sure to be certain doom.
===============================================================
The arc in Kagome's back gave allowing the two to collapse one on top of the other. Breathing in the smell of musk, sweat, and love, the two lay there motionless, content with forever basking in the warm afterglow of their previous activities.
Unfortunately, their mood was ruined when Inuyasha's senses picked back up to their normal levels, just in time to feel a spike of energy.
"What the?" His voice hardly above a whisper.
Kagome looked up at him a perplexed look washed away the distant look of sheer post-ecstasy, and drowned out the memories of the time just spent with her mate.
Inuyasha shifted a bit, but not pulling away from Kagome, his gaze turned towards the wall. Each could feel the other's tension through their revitalized marks.
"What is it?"
"It's strange...kinda like youki...but not quite the same. Actually it feels kinda human..."
"What does that mean?"
"Well, there's so much...its almost like...someone was...fighting."
Instantly the lover's gazes locked as all bits of fantasy faded away into nothingness. There was only one reason there would be a battle around here, they didn't know who was fighting, because they already knew what they were fighting about.
"The shikon no tama!" Both said in unison.
===============================================================
Lilian looked coldly at the smoldering pile yards away from her, the smoke from her hands was beginning to clear up. Her body felt drained, and her vision began to blur as a warm voice came from somewhere close to her.
"What did you call that one again?"
Her voice sounded muffled as she struggled to stand.
"Its an old language, it translates loosely to Twin Fire Cannons"
"That was actually a pretty scary technique, but why didn't you use that when you fought me, it seemed a lot more effective than that lightning bolt you used before."
It was getting increasingly difficult to stand and hold it together.
"That's because I don't have a mountain to climb down while out running a pack of angry wolves this time."
Her legs buckled and she fell. At first she thought that the ground had magically become softer since the last time such a thing happened, it was only a moment before she realized that is was too warm to be the harsh dirt beneath her.
She looked up to meet teal eyes full of caring and naivety, yet at the same time courage and wisdom given only by decades of living. It wasn't until then that she realized how cold the night air actually was in the robe she was wearing. Unintentionally, she burrowed her body closer to the wolf, taking a handful of his gi top in each hand.
In return there was a deep growl that stayed unheard, merely felt in the wolf's chest, calming her in a way that she never expected. Her façade fell away completely due to the lack of a target, and she continued to cling to the warmth, enjoying the rustling chest whenever she felt it run through her body.
Kouga's arms slowly went from under her, to draped around her as he pulled her close, getting lost once again in her scent. He rustled his chest again, enjoying the feel of her body against his, calming himself too. He took in another deep breath of the woman so close, as his chest finally ceased moving from it's previous growl, completing the act once again that was what wolf youkai did in replacement for kissing.
The huntress didn't know, so Kouga didn't hold her to it. To him, it felt as though they were as close as those that have been courting for sometime, to her it was just an action that managed to comfort her and keep her warm. While she knew of youkai ritual, she didn't know of every small custom within the pack, that was fine for him. He could take this at her pace, that much he was sure about.
It was a few minutes of silence under the stars before two other scents, so closely mixed that they seemed as one entered the area.
"Hey guys"
Kouga avoided shouting as not to startle the maiden in his arms.
Kagome was donned in Inuyasha's fire-rat cloak, and the hanyou himself wore nothing other than his kimono bottom, Tetsusaiga in his hand. At the realization that everything was alright and that they were both half naked and covered with a drying layer of sweat, they both turned the same red as the clothing they had on.
"What happened?"
Kagome was the first to speak.
"Some youkai came to get the shikon no tama." He pointed to the once smoldering pile which was now beginning to wreak for those who had more sensitive noses. "Lilian managed to do most of the work herself before I got back from taking a piss in the woods."
Kagome bit back an eye-twitch at the choice of words, silently thanking herself for ridding Inuyasha of some of the same ones.
Lilian squirmed a bit in Kouga's arms, showing that she could stand and the wolf hesitantly loosened his arms, allowing her to stand on her own.
Inuyasha and Kagome shot a grin at Kouga, then when they saw that her eyes were becoming less distant, pushed it back.
"Kouga, you got the shikon from that panther right?"
"Oh yeah, it's right here."
Kouga opened up one of his curled fist to reveal the forgotten jewel, Kagome immediately tensed up at the sight, her voice became sharp as a result.
"Kouga, give me that, now." She held out her hand, her face chiseled out as if she was a strict war veteran.
"Oh, sure."
The wolf made his way over to miko stopping with his hand a few inches from hers. He had forgotten about it with Lilian so close, but now, he could feel it. Feel it's power. Feel it's pull. Unconsciously, his hand began to curl around it, and the was the slow sound of a sword unsheathing off to the side.
"You know, its funny. It took me a few years of training to get to the level I was at with a mere shard of this thing. I can't imagine the power the whole thing could grant me, I'd never have to worry about my pack being in danger ever again, we could probably even expand our territory, with this simple little thing."
Kagome's face hardened further, a short breeze blew by the wolf, signaling that Tetsusaiga was drawn and ready to hack him at a moment's notice.
Behind him, Lilian shook her head.
'Just a youkai after all, just like the rest.'
"But the thing I noticed" Kouga continued. "Is that with that small shard, I never got any stronger, every battle I fought, every enemy I defeated, I never found myself more agile, quick, or powerful. My skills never grew at all. Even if I were to devour this thing, it would mean the same thing, I could never grow beyond what I would gain. Even though there would be a bunch of power in the beginning, it would be useless to me if I could never grow..."
There were three confused people looking at the wolf now.
"That's the lie that so many youkai can't seem to see. This thing keeps you from reaching your full potential by quickly giving you power that would take time to achieve. I don't need this thing...someday I'll be stronger than I ever would with it..."
He dropped the jewel into Kagome's hand which quickly shrunk back, before turning to Inuyasha and giving him playful yet challenging smirk.
"And when that happens, I'm definitely coming back for a rematch...so whatever happened to you in our last fight...be ready, because I plan to fight it again someday."
Inuyasha sheathed Tetsusaiga and returned the smirk with equal fervor.
"Come by whenever you think your ready pup, and I'll be happy to give you a good beating again."
"Don't worry, I will"
"...Kouga...Lilian..." Kagome's now soft voice came next. "Thank you for watching over this, even though it isn't your responsibility...thank you so much."
"Don't worry about it, I owed you at least that much." The wolf's smile was wide. "As a matter of fact, how bout I stay and watch your night shift for you until I need to go back. My pack should be alright, they in confident hands. Sound good to you?"
Kagome's eyes lit up, a smirk drew itself on Inuyasha's face.
"You mean it?"
"Yeah"
"I'll help too, just to make sure that if anything else happens, I can bail him out of trouble." Lilian walked up, her voice amazingly strong to Kouga considering her most recent display.
'She said give you a chance wolf...so I'll give you that much. Let's see if you really do have a soul'
Kagome could no longer contain herself, she ran over and gave the kunoichi a nearly strangling embrace, threatening to knock both women on the ground. Inuyasha in the mean time walked over to Kouga, and placed one firm arm on the wolf's shoulder, a smirk on his face.
"Who woulda thought years ago that we could actually be friends now huh?"
"I was thinking the exact same thing."
"Mangy wolf."
"Halfling pup."
The two laughed for a moment before Kouga interrupted a devilish grin on his face.
"I think if you two hurry back, you make be able to squeeze one more in before my shift ends, believe me I will come knocking at dawn."
Inuyasha looked over at Kagome before returning a look to his newly acknowledged friend.
"You know, your almost as bad as that monk that normally follows me around."
"Who me?" Kouga held up his hands in the air, failing miserably to look innocent.
"Hey Kagome! Let's go!" Inuyasha shouted, raising his hand in a good-bye gesture before turning his back on the wolf.
"Oh sure, just gimme a second." Kagome detached herself from the kunoichi before slipping into the shikon's shrine. She slipped back out after a moment and returned to Inuyasha's side.
"Thank you so much guys" Kagome called as the two turned to leave.
"Don't mention it" Kouga was the one to respond.
With that, the two lovers strolled off in the moonlight, eagerly planning to take advantage of this smile of good fortune laid out before them.
Author: Hey, I finally completed this, took me long enough didn't it. Lol, oh well, gotta try to update sooner next time.
It seems that none of you wanted to see a lemon chapter, in all honesty I'm glad because that was scaring the crap out of me.
Sorry about the last chapter being so short though, It really did seem like a long time while I was writing it...
Chapter 18:
For once in her life Lilian was unhappy with the bright glow of the near full moon in the sky above. Along with the sparkling of the countless stars, there was nearly no darkness to mask her from sight as she traveled along the roofs to get a look at who or whatever was near the shrine. It was now for the first time she noticed that the robe she was wearing was a slightly darker lavender than her hair itself. I nearly sparkled in the moonlight along with the hair that she had recently pulled down to warm her neck against the chilled night air.
She bit back a shiver as she rounded the shrine from the roofs above to the front of the wooden cabin used to house the infamous shikon no tama. She tried her best to peer into the darkness, never making a sound, but since her eyes were not use to darkness due to the blaring light from above, she could hear nothing. It was after only a moment that she heard a slight rustling.
She set down the daggers silently before moving her hands in sShe clutched her daggers tightly, one in each hand and waited as a figure stepped out into the moonlight.
The creature stood on hind legs that were covered in black fur. It stood on the balls of the feet, making them look remarkable feline. It's arms were also covered in the inky black fur, from it's strong and large biceps and triceps, down to his hands, there was flesh on the palms but fur on the back. The thumbs were opposable, and there were short claws that hardly passed each finger. There was a tail sticking out of the back of it's stiff looking red shorts that came down to about it's knees and continued on as frayed, softer looking material down to his mid calves. Above the shorts were two wide straps made of a similar material that went from the waist all the way up until it draped over the shoulders, making a similar path back down to it's back. The color was the same red as the shorts except for the golden yellow spikes on the straps, she noticed that the straps were in position to protect the heart, lungs, and frontal damage to the ribcages. It's head was also covered in the black fur, except it was definitely feline, piercing narrow golden eyes shimmered against the moonlight.
A black panther youkai, Lilian even had an idea of what region he was from by the armor it wore. She assumed that it was male due to the significant lack of breasts the panther had. Panthers weren't nearly as close as wolves, but they still seldom left the pack, especially not two weeks journey for one of even their speed. An exile most likely, possibly a stray.
The panther stepped into the street, descending the handful of steps between him and the ground. His right hand was clutched tightly in a ball, and his lips were pulled back in such a way as to seem that he was smiling.
He drew his head back once he stepped onto the street, revealing his neck and his rose his hand up to his head. A shimmer of pink light escaped his palm, catching the kunoichi's eye.
She jumped down and without a sound, slipping one of the daggers into her left hand so that she had a free one. In one fluid motion she scooped up a small rock and threw it towards the youkai. She armed her free hand once again as the rock whizzed through the air, hardly making a sound.
It was only right before the rock hit the youkai's throat that he seemed to notice and made a very awkward dodge, letting the rock slip between the loop of his arm while nearly grazing his neck.
'Easy Prey.'
Lilian's face remained indifferent as her huntress mode façade did it's job.
The youkai glared daggers at the woman, his bright golden, narrow eyes pierced the air as finely as a needle.
"I wouldn't suggest you try that, I'll cut that thing right out of your throat while it's on its way down."
The youkai's glare calmed, and his lips fell back into a smug grin.
"You think that you, a human, can defeat me?"
His voice was cold and arrogant, a tad on the raspy side as if his throat was a bit raw.
Lilian clutched hard onto the daggers in each of her hands before she parted her lips to speak.
"Do you really want to find out?"
The panther laughed a bit, it sounded a bit hushed.
"Well try not to scream too loudly okay? I've waited a long time for that hanyou to let his guard down, and I'm not gonna let you blow it."
Lilian said nothing, she merely looked him dead on in the eyes, sinking into a ready stance with a dagger on each side.
The panther dropped the priceless jewel into a small sash that had been hidden under one of the armored straps he wore. Once it was secured, he flared out his youki.
A black aura surrounded the youkai and there was a seemingly everlasting grin on his face.
"Hope your not afraid of the dark..."
With that, his youki thickened, enveloping all Lilian could see in mystical darkness. It blotted out the stars and the moon, leaving nothing for her to see, even her own hands were hidden from her eyes. She remained motionless however, feeling a bit more comfortable shrouded in complete darkness, this fool of a youkai would soon realize that his own weapon was also her greatest strength.
She shut her eyes to help her concentration, and focused on the sounds around her. The breeze, the dust, the moving robe, she made herself aware of every sound around her, and focused on her reflexes. She was prepared to fight this thing in utter darkness, she had been trained to be able to.
She waited, breathing evenly and quietly until she heard a shifting from where the panther had been. His feet began to walk, but not towards her, away from her...he had underestimated her. She hated when people underestimated her.
Her right combed the ground for a moment before finding what she was looking for. Her nimble foot clasped hold of another rock about the same size as the first, and without so much as a second thought, she kicked her foot out, releasing the projectile forward. Before she heard the satisfying "thunk" and resulting growl, she knew she would hit her mark.
When the tell tale sounds emerged from the darkness, she spoke.
"Don't underestimate me youkai, that is the last warning you'll get. If you turn to walk away from me again, you'll find a dagger and not a rock hitting the back of your neck."
She heard him stifle a breath, he hadn't expected for her to actually be able to aim that precisely. There was another soft growl, and then the darkness receded.
Lilian slid back into a ready stance.
"That's pretty sad if you can't hold that technique and fight at the same time."
The panther curled both of his fists into a ball and turned his body so that his side faced the huntress. His fists moved in between the two at about shoulders height, and his left foot shifted in the ground in readiness.
'How ironic, he knows Panther's Foot. Too bad I know it too'
Lilian's eyes narrowed.
"Whoever said that? I just want to see the look of horror on your face when you see me kill you."
Lilian bit back a grimace of annoyance.
'Underestimating me again, I gave him only one warning and that was all he was gonna get.'
The panther youkai charged letting out a low roar. Leaping low to the ground, he cleared the distance between them quickly, his right arm arched back for an attack.
Lilian readied herself, she had a good idea what was coming first. A punch- kick combo from the right side most likely. The punch, she knew, would be nothing more than a meager distraction, but Panther's Foot Kick Boxing had some of the nastiest kicks known to modern martial arts.
With a counter devised, she slunk back, waiting for the attack. The first punch came in quickly, and just as quickly, she stepped inside the blow, she felt the spikes on the armor graze her back just as she stopped. Her arm came up to block at the bicep, using the physics of where to position the block, she rendered the youkai's superior strength. A smarter warrior would have abandoned the combo and pulled back, but the youkai pushed on, keeping his leg curled making the kick into a knee attack.
Lilian was a bit surprised at her opponents stupid move, but managed to bring her knee up to block using the same principle she used to stop the punch. The youkai stifled a dull roar in surprise as Lilian stomped her foot to the ground and pushed her body to spin the other way, pointing the dagger in her free arm for the youkai's gut.
The dark creature followed Lilian's example, stamping his foot to the ground and pushed back, he moved just in time to have the blade come within centimeters of his exposed stomach.
Upon realizing the attack wouldn't work, Lilian pushed off the ground with her left foot, the momentum of the spin carried her body to fully twist. She extended her right leg, and crashed her bare foot against the side of the youkai's head. He stammered a bit, and Lilian finished the rotation once she hit the ground, then, without wasting a second, she charged in swinging the dagger in her right hand for his neck.
The youkai pulled his head back far enough to avoid the full extend of the blow, the blade grazed his throat, causing a slight shock to attack his spine, made of a mix of well placed fear and pain.
Once again, the lavender cloaked killer finished the spin, then coming around for another spin, embedded both of her fists in the exposed part of his stomach. The sound of metal blade hitting metal armor was drowned out only by the youkai coughing as air escaped his lungs. He jumped back, placing more significant of a distance between the two.
Lilian pulled back into a ready stance, her eyes glazed over in a fit of boredom. She half-heartedly noted that the creatures eyes had narrowed even further as anger radiated from his being. His youki rose, but didn't cover her sight.
He uncurled his fists, but his hands remained tensed as his claws grew out a half-inch. He snarled and then let out a roar.
'Now it's time for this one to die.' The huntresses thoughts echoed in her own head.
She braced herself to dodge as the youkai pounced after her, his right arm risen high above his head aiming to cleave her down the middle. As the distance between them gave, the huntress didn't even so much as break a sweat.
When the beast slashed, she ducked right under the blow, and stepped around him, turning, and throwing one of the daggers straight for his mid back. There was a start of a roar as the panther saw the attack, then quickly moved to avoid the blade by mere inches.
He turned his gaze back to Lilian, even though his eyes were golden, they poured out his crimson anger. He charged again, driven by rage, trying the same attack.
Lilian ducked under the attack again, and threw her other dagger. The panther dodged it again, this time by a wider range. It took advantage of saving time from the better dodge, and charged again towards the unarmed huntress.
Lilian pulled back, retreating from the beast, managing to keep the distance between them about the same. Her senses kept her alert to the area around her, she focused on the wall, charting her distance from both that and the first knife she threw, still wedged in the wood of the wall.
The trap was actually really simple, she didn't even bother positioning herself so the panther couldn't see the dagger, he was so caught up in his rage that it didn't matter. Her mask drowned the smile that wanted to cross her face as she neared the wall, a vision of how to slit the beast's throat in her mind.
Her back touched the cold wood of the wall behind her just as panther reached striking distance. She reached over for the dagger, pulling it from behind her with ease. It took a split second of her concentration which she dared to look away from her target as her eyes went to her weapon, when she turned around, he wasn't there.
In his place was a widely smiling wolf youkai looking in the direction of a cloud of dust that wasn't there before.
"Are you alright?" There was genuine concern in the wolf's voice.
For a moment, Lilian's façade cracked and whispered words pushed themselves to the front of her mind.
...if you stop convincing yourself that they have no soul so that you can kill them...
...you will be able to see that soul for yourself...
In a moment the crack disappeared and her voice interrupted the silence, numb and emotionless as she wanted.
"You know I didn't need your help"
"Probably didn't, but if its there, why not take it?" The wolf flashed a grin, taking the huntress by masked surprise.
"If you want to help, grab the shikon from him. I'll take care of the rest." With that she shut her eyes and began to concentrate. A low hum of energy wisped through the air around her as her ki began to rise.
Kouga grinned to himself, cracked his knuckles and turned around in time to see the panther pulling out a little sash. Still sitting on the ground, he seemed to ignore Kouga's presence as he turned the sash upside down and dropped none other than the shikon no tama into his dark hand.
Kouga reacted without thinking, he raced towards the sitting creature, clearing the distance in two leaps and plowed his foot into the panther's chest, knocking him on his back, then using the same foot, pinned him down. The resulting impact with the ground caused the jewel to jump from his hand, high enough so that with a quick swipe, Kouga now held possession of the artifact.
A chill ran down his spine, he turned to see Lilian now covered in an aura so orange it was nearly red, there was a large symbol drawn in the same color in front of her, and a smaller symbol to the left, right, and below it. Her hands traced out the last of another one above the center character and immediately all the symbols were encased in a ring. Lilian's ki spiked, sending another chill down Kouga's spine.
Without a word he jumped away, leaving the panther to face what was sure to be certain doom.
===============================================================
The arc in Kagome's back gave allowing the two to collapse one on top of the other. Breathing in the smell of musk, sweat, and love, the two lay there motionless, content with forever basking in the warm afterglow of their previous activities.
Unfortunately, their mood was ruined when Inuyasha's senses picked back up to their normal levels, just in time to feel a spike of energy.
"What the?" His voice hardly above a whisper.
Kagome looked up at him a perplexed look washed away the distant look of sheer post-ecstasy, and drowned out the memories of the time just spent with her mate.
Inuyasha shifted a bit, but not pulling away from Kagome, his gaze turned towards the wall. Each could feel the other's tension through their revitalized marks.
"What is it?"
"It's strange...kinda like youki...but not quite the same. Actually it feels kinda human..."
"What does that mean?"
"Well, there's so much...its almost like...someone was...fighting."
Instantly the lover's gazes locked as all bits of fantasy faded away into nothingness. There was only one reason there would be a battle around here, they didn't know who was fighting, because they already knew what they were fighting about.
"The shikon no tama!" Both said in unison.
===============================================================
Lilian looked coldly at the smoldering pile yards away from her, the smoke from her hands was beginning to clear up. Her body felt drained, and her vision began to blur as a warm voice came from somewhere close to her.
"What did you call that one again?"
Her voice sounded muffled as she struggled to stand.
"Its an old language, it translates loosely to Twin Fire Cannons"
"That was actually a pretty scary technique, but why didn't you use that when you fought me, it seemed a lot more effective than that lightning bolt you used before."
It was getting increasingly difficult to stand and hold it together.
"That's because I don't have a mountain to climb down while out running a pack of angry wolves this time."
Her legs buckled and she fell. At first she thought that the ground had magically become softer since the last time such a thing happened, it was only a moment before she realized that is was too warm to be the harsh dirt beneath her.
She looked up to meet teal eyes full of caring and naivety, yet at the same time courage and wisdom given only by decades of living. It wasn't until then that she realized how cold the night air actually was in the robe she was wearing. Unintentionally, she burrowed her body closer to the wolf, taking a handful of his gi top in each hand.
In return there was a deep growl that stayed unheard, merely felt in the wolf's chest, calming her in a way that she never expected. Her façade fell away completely due to the lack of a target, and she continued to cling to the warmth, enjoying the rustling chest whenever she felt it run through her body.
Kouga's arms slowly went from under her, to draped around her as he pulled her close, getting lost once again in her scent. He rustled his chest again, enjoying the feel of her body against his, calming himself too. He took in another deep breath of the woman so close, as his chest finally ceased moving from it's previous growl, completing the act once again that was what wolf youkai did in replacement for kissing.
The huntress didn't know, so Kouga didn't hold her to it. To him, it felt as though they were as close as those that have been courting for sometime, to her it was just an action that managed to comfort her and keep her warm. While she knew of youkai ritual, she didn't know of every small custom within the pack, that was fine for him. He could take this at her pace, that much he was sure about.
It was a few minutes of silence under the stars before two other scents, so closely mixed that they seemed as one entered the area.
"Hey guys"
Kouga avoided shouting as not to startle the maiden in his arms.
Kagome was donned in Inuyasha's fire-rat cloak, and the hanyou himself wore nothing other than his kimono bottom, Tetsusaiga in his hand. At the realization that everything was alright and that they were both half naked and covered with a drying layer of sweat, they both turned the same red as the clothing they had on.
"What happened?"
Kagome was the first to speak.
"Some youkai came to get the shikon no tama." He pointed to the once smoldering pile which was now beginning to wreak for those who had more sensitive noses. "Lilian managed to do most of the work herself before I got back from taking a piss in the woods."
Kagome bit back an eye-twitch at the choice of words, silently thanking herself for ridding Inuyasha of some of the same ones.
Lilian squirmed a bit in Kouga's arms, showing that she could stand and the wolf hesitantly loosened his arms, allowing her to stand on her own.
Inuyasha and Kagome shot a grin at Kouga, then when they saw that her eyes were becoming less distant, pushed it back.
"Kouga, you got the shikon from that panther right?"
"Oh yeah, it's right here."
Kouga opened up one of his curled fist to reveal the forgotten jewel, Kagome immediately tensed up at the sight, her voice became sharp as a result.
"Kouga, give me that, now." She held out her hand, her face chiseled out as if she was a strict war veteran.
"Oh, sure."
The wolf made his way over to miko stopping with his hand a few inches from hers. He had forgotten about it with Lilian so close, but now, he could feel it. Feel it's power. Feel it's pull. Unconsciously, his hand began to curl around it, and the was the slow sound of a sword unsheathing off to the side.
"You know, its funny. It took me a few years of training to get to the level I was at with a mere shard of this thing. I can't imagine the power the whole thing could grant me, I'd never have to worry about my pack being in danger ever again, we could probably even expand our territory, with this simple little thing."
Kagome's face hardened further, a short breeze blew by the wolf, signaling that Tetsusaiga was drawn and ready to hack him at a moment's notice.
Behind him, Lilian shook her head.
'Just a youkai after all, just like the rest.'
"But the thing I noticed" Kouga continued. "Is that with that small shard, I never got any stronger, every battle I fought, every enemy I defeated, I never found myself more agile, quick, or powerful. My skills never grew at all. Even if I were to devour this thing, it would mean the same thing, I could never grow beyond what I would gain. Even though there would be a bunch of power in the beginning, it would be useless to me if I could never grow..."
There were three confused people looking at the wolf now.
"That's the lie that so many youkai can't seem to see. This thing keeps you from reaching your full potential by quickly giving you power that would take time to achieve. I don't need this thing...someday I'll be stronger than I ever would with it..."
He dropped the jewel into Kagome's hand which quickly shrunk back, before turning to Inuyasha and giving him playful yet challenging smirk.
"And when that happens, I'm definitely coming back for a rematch...so whatever happened to you in our last fight...be ready, because I plan to fight it again someday."
Inuyasha sheathed Tetsusaiga and returned the smirk with equal fervor.
"Come by whenever you think your ready pup, and I'll be happy to give you a good beating again."
"Don't worry, I will"
"...Kouga...Lilian..." Kagome's now soft voice came next. "Thank you for watching over this, even though it isn't your responsibility...thank you so much."
"Don't worry about it, I owed you at least that much." The wolf's smile was wide. "As a matter of fact, how bout I stay and watch your night shift for you until I need to go back. My pack should be alright, they in confident hands. Sound good to you?"
Kagome's eyes lit up, a smirk drew itself on Inuyasha's face.
"You mean it?"
"Yeah"
"I'll help too, just to make sure that if anything else happens, I can bail him out of trouble." Lilian walked up, her voice amazingly strong to Kouga considering her most recent display.
'She said give you a chance wolf...so I'll give you that much. Let's see if you really do have a soul'
Kagome could no longer contain herself, she ran over and gave the kunoichi a nearly strangling embrace, threatening to knock both women on the ground. Inuyasha in the mean time walked over to Kouga, and placed one firm arm on the wolf's shoulder, a smirk on his face.
"Who woulda thought years ago that we could actually be friends now huh?"
"I was thinking the exact same thing."
"Mangy wolf."
"Halfling pup."
The two laughed for a moment before Kouga interrupted a devilish grin on his face.
"I think if you two hurry back, you make be able to squeeze one more in before my shift ends, believe me I will come knocking at dawn."
Inuyasha looked over at Kagome before returning a look to his newly acknowledged friend.
"You know, your almost as bad as that monk that normally follows me around."
"Who me?" Kouga held up his hands in the air, failing miserably to look innocent.
"Hey Kagome! Let's go!" Inuyasha shouted, raising his hand in a good-bye gesture before turning his back on the wolf.
"Oh sure, just gimme a second." Kagome detached herself from the kunoichi before slipping into the shikon's shrine. She slipped back out after a moment and returned to Inuyasha's side.
"Thank you so much guys" Kagome called as the two turned to leave.
"Don't mention it" Kouga was the one to respond.
With that, the two lovers strolled off in the moonlight, eagerly planning to take advantage of this smile of good fortune laid out before them.
Author: Hey, I finally completed this, took me long enough didn't it. Lol, oh well, gotta try to update sooner next time.