... Wolves ...

Red wolf blood had stained the snow all around the battlefield. Never in all their years had the Yourou-zoku or the Kooriookami-zoku had a fight as fierce as this. Wolves had literally been ripped to shreds. The wounded littered the area. Naraku's Saimyoushou hell wasps began to feast on their rotting bodies. The Hyoukoumori joined in. Even some of the wolves began to eat their dead.

But still, neither side would give up. Ginta and Hakkaku were set on finally getting rid of Icehaken. He had been a pain in the ass ever since he was elected second-in- command of the Kooriookami tribe.

He leapt at them, slashing with his claws. They weren't fast enough to escape him. Fresh blood trickled down from their arms where the skin had become torn open. He sneered at them, bared his teeth and leapt again. Two of their fellow wolves tried to help, but he made short work of them.

"Fools," he growled. "You cannot beat us. We are clearly the superior tribe."

"What are we going to do, Ginta?" Hakkaku stuttered. His fellow wolf gave no reply. Neither of them could stand up to this big blue fur ball that was nothing but sharp teeth and claws; and they both knew it. But they would not give up. They tried to get back to their feet, but met with another blow from Icehaken. He would not let them back up. He wanted them to stay down. He wanted them dead.

Kouga, meanwhile, had his hands full with fighting Fuyuka, and could not come to his brothers' aid. He was faster than the ice wolf, and he knew that that. Intelligence wise, they were more or less equal. But Fuyuka was physically stronger than him.

He threw a punch at his older brother and nailed him right in the face. Fuyuka fell down, but got right back up, shook it off and smirked. Then he dashed and landed a punch right in Kouga's gut, almost bringing him to his knees.

"I hope you realize now who the true leader of the wolves is," he whispered.

Before he could rebut, Kouga heard the screams of his fellow wolves, Ginta and Hakkaku. Icehaken had pounced on them and was trying to literally eat them alive. He had to act fast. He grabbed a handful of snow and threw it in Fuyuka's face. With this time of opportunity, he dashed to Ginta and Hakkaku and kicked Icehaken clear off of them.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he helped them up. They grunted something that sounded like 'yes,' but that was all.

Icehaken snarled as he got back to his feet. "You fool," he growled. "What do you hope to accomplish?"

"Well," Kouga pondered, "I kinda wanna kill you."

Icehaken chuckled. "I see," he muttered. "Then come at me."

Kouga dashed to the blue ice wolf and tried to throw a couple of punches at him. None hit. Instead, the blue wolf clamped his teeth down hard on his arm. He punched the wolf in the head to try to make him let go, but he wouldn't. Finally, Kouga had had it. He lifted his arm, and the still attached Icehaken in the aid, and kicked his foot right into his gut. He let go, and fell to the ground.

"Insolent pup," he stuttered as he tried to get to his feet. "I'll rip you in two!" He leapt at Kouga one final time, but was unaware of the amount of enemy wolves that had gathered around them. They leapt on him, tearing him to shreds with their own claws, and allowed Kouga to get Ginta and Hakkaku out of the area.

... Friend versus friend ...

Goshinki joined up with Naraku and Sekka, and explained that they were really taking a pounding. Sekka agreed to go and help out while Naraku, Kageroumaru and Goshinki watched the fight. The one they were most interested in was, of course, the battle between Sesshoumaru and Juuroumaru.

Sesshoumaru couldn't understand what had made Juuroumaru attack him like this. He guessed that it was Naraku who controlling him, which made him very uneasy. If Naraku could take control of Juuroumaru, then maybe he could also...

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a hard punch across the face. Juuroumaru was too fast to keep up with. He reached for his sword, the Toukijin, but then stopped. He couldn't use it. Juuroumaru wasn't doing this of his own free will, and he knew it. He would have to fight using a different strategy.

He extended his poison claws and tried to grab Juuroumaru's arm. He had it in his grasp, but Juuroumaru pulled free, and landed a punch right between his eyes. He stumbled back and tried desperately not to fall. He regained his balance just in time to dodge yet another attack.

(Interesting... He seems to fight with no set plan... It is as if he is making it all up as he goes along...)

Sesshoumaru would use this to his advantage. Juuroumaru didn't really know what he was doing. He was just throwing random attacks. He also seemed to missing a lot.

(Wait... Is he purposely trying to miss me?)

Juuroumaru threw a punch that landed just short of his face. He raised his knee and got him right in the gut. He fell down on his hands and knees, and Sesshoumaru jumped back.

"Juuroumaru," he said, "I know that you do not wish to fight me."

Juuroumaru looked up. Then he looked to his left. He got some of the sense knocked back into him from that blow, and he could feel his little brother's presence looming somewhere in the background. Then, he did something he had never done before. He opened his mouth, and whispered, "Kageroumaru..."

When he spoke, Sesshoumaru felt a chill go up and down his spine. He, too, could feel this presence. It was coming from his right. "Naraku," he whispered. "So, I was right."

Naraku, Goshinki and Kageroumaru watched. The standstill was becoming almost too much for them to handle. Kageroumaru studied his brother's thoughts.

(He doesn't wanna fight...)

He looked up at Naraku, who had an evil grin spread across his face. He then felt a sick feeling wash over him. He was disgusted with himself and what he was forcing his brother to do. It had to stop. Right now.

... Downfall ...

Fuyuka had chased Kouga to the ice fortress and the two of them had gone inside. They found InuYasha, Miroku, Bankotsu, Renkotsu and Nobunaga fighting Hyoukoumori and Yukikyuu demons. Kagura had her hands full with Frostbyte, and Jakotsu was busy dealing with Sekka.

Renkotsu was backing away from a Toukaibutsu when he bumped into Bankotsu. "Hey," he whispered, "I have a plan." He proceeded to tell his fellow Shichinin-tai member of his thoughts.

"It sounds kinda rash," Bankotsu whispered. Then he smiled and said, "I love it."

Naraku's grin had begun to fade as he watched the battle start to turn against his favor. "This isn't looking too good," he whispered.

Kageroumaru looked up at him, then back down to the snow.

(The ugly purple one has to go first.)

With incredible speed, he leapt towards Goshinki and landed right in front of him. Then, with even more speed, he leapt up and cut right through his head. Not giving Naraku anytime to react, he burst from Goshinki's brains and sliced through his chest. He landed, turned and jumped back through Naraku over and over again. On occasion, he would taste his innards.

(blech!)

Panting and covered in their blood, he landed in front of the two heaps that were once Goshinki and Naraku. He smiled and dashed towards Juuroumaru and Sesshoumaru.

Back inside the ice fortress, things had begun to heat up... or cool down... whatever; they were starting to get messy. Renkotsu's plan was to set the fortress ablaze once the generals were trapped in it. This way, he would take out the fortress and the major enemies all in one single go.

Jakotsu had Sekka cornered, and Kouga had Fuyuka cornered. Renkotsu used a timed bomb that he had brought and set it to go off in a few seconds.

"Uhh," Bankotsu muttered. "Shouldn't you give it a little more time?"

"I know what I'm doing," he said with a confident smile. He set the bomb and threw it to the roof, where it attached itself. "Guys!" he called out, "Let's get the fuck outta here!"

Sekka and Fuyuka looked at each other in confusion, then back to their enemies. Kouga jumped back, grabbed Jakotsu's arm and dashed out of the fortress.

"What's going on?" Fuyuka exclaimed.

Sekka smiled. "They think they're going to win," she whispered. "Let them believe that."

And with that, the bomb went off, engulfing the entire fortress in a huge flame. The sound of the explosion went through everyone's head like a nail. After helping each other up, they watched the fortress burn and melt to the ground. All the other ice demons had fled to escape the heat. Sesshoumaru, Juuroumaru and Kageroumaru walked slowly up to the group and joined in watching the flame. The battle was over. But the war, unfortunately, was not. KooriKisaki still loomed somewhere...