AN: I can't wait to write this chappie!! It's gonna be so fun!! I got a lot of my ideas from my friend and beta reader, kit, and I'll tell you later what ideas I got from her! But right now, it's my time to...uh...hmmmmm. I guess I could just get on with the story, eh? Okay, here we go!!
Disclaimer: ::looks around:: I guess I forgot to get someone to do the disclaimer. ::sweat drops:: Woopsy! I know!! I'll let Inuyasha do it! ::Inuyasha walks on::
Inuyasha: I heard my name, what do you want, wench!?
kyuuka: ::drools, Inu came out in swimming trunks:: Oi! You're doin the disclaimer!
Inuyasha: Feh! Make me!
kyuuka: Well if you don't do the disclaimer, no one will do it so that'll mean that I own you!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Inuyasha: ::sweat drops:: What!? No, wait, I'll do it!!
kyuuka: NOOOOOOOO!!! I wuv you!!! ::hugs Inu::
Inuyasha: ::pries kyuuka off him:: Get off me!!! You don't own me!!! HA, I said it!!
kyuuka: ::sniffles:: so close...
Last Chapter:
"I see you completed your quest," noticed Myouga as the group piled up their items in the middle. "We must wait for the other groups to arrive...then the real fun will begin," he said.
Inuyasha looked at him nervously. If the scavenger hunt wasn't the real 'fun', he was scared to think what was.
Stealing Four Souls and a Few Hearts
Chapter 12: Paintball and Pranks
It was 15 minutes later and all the groups were standing in the clearing...all but Okibi's.
"Damnit, where is she!?" asked Inuyasha impatiently.
"Inuyasha, sit!" said Kagome angrily. Inuyasha immediately fell to the ground.
"What was that for!?" he yelled.
"Don't curse around the children," she explained as Inuyasha pried himself out of the hole he made.
"Feh! I'm going to look for Okibi," he said, walking into the forest, sniffing for her scent. He found her soon enough about a quarter of a mile from the clearing. She was standing in front of her group of kids with frightened look on her face. Inuyasha looked at her opponent. It was a giant tarantula youkai. Inuyasha was confused. From what Okibi told them, she should've been able to beat this youkai no problem, what was stopping her.
"Oi, Okibi, kill it already," he shouted to her. She looked over at him, her eyes now wide with surprise.
"I...I-I can't!" she yelled, turning her head away. This confused Inuyasha to no end, but he decided to step in. He flexed his claws and slashed at the weak youkai, killing it. He sheathed his sword and walked over to Okibi.
"Why didn't you kill it!?" he demanded, wanting to know the answer.
"I-I wasn't strong enough," she said, finding the ground very interesting.
"But I thought you said you were really strong!" Inuyasha ground out. No way would she lie to Inuyasha and get away with it. She sighed.
"I lied, that whole story I told was fake. The only truth to it was my family. Naraku thought my family had the Shikon no Tama so he was going to kill us. I begged Naraku to spare them...so he did, but for a price. I was to work for him as long as he kept my family hostage. One day I failed to kill someone...the boy I told you about, but it wasn't because he was important to me, it was because I wasn't strong enough, so Naraku decided my usefulness to him had ended. I managed to escape before he killed me and I've been training and trying to find a way to get my family back," she finished. Inuyasha glared at her.
"Why did you lie in the first place?" Inuyasha questioned.
"Well I hoped you guys would help me, but I figured you wouldn't just help any weakling off the street, so I told you I was really strong because I thought I'd have a better chance at getting you guys to help me," she explained.
It was a while before Inuyasha spoke. "You're right...we don't help just any weakling off the street," at this Okibi almost broke down and cried before Inuyasha continued, "but you might be useful to us, so just do what we tell you to and nothing more," he finished, standing up and walking back to the clearing where everyone was waiting. Okibi got up and brushed herself off and turned the children.
"Come on, guys!" she said, smiling and leading her group back to the clearing. When she arrived, Myouga spoke up.
"It seems you have all completed the selected tasks. And as promised, the winning group gets this bag of candy," he said holding up. Inuyasha had to hold back Ashi and Kanrakuchou from jumping up and consuming the whole bag right then and there. "And they will, after they win the competition!"
"You mean...it's not over!?" Kouga asked incredulously. Myouga shook his head violently.
"Nope, there's still a bit to do," he said happily. It was at that moment that Toutousai stepped aside, revealing a rather large box. And when I say large, I mean super large! It was a wonder they didn't see it behind Toutousai's back since it was twice his size. "Those items you gathered have a hidden meaning and the first group to figure it out gets a minute head start!" he explained happily.
"Head start on what?" asked a confused Miroku. Myouga only chuckled happily and turned to talk to Toutousai. The groups took this as a sign to start solving the mystery of the items.
"Alright, what do you think they're for?" Inuyasha questioned his group. Ashi and Kanrakuchou were consulting each other privately...well...not really, but they were consulting.
"Let's see, a flag, a marker, a key, some string, a stick, a treasure chest, a microphone, twisty-ties, headphones, construction paper, goggles, paint, a helmet, a squirt gun, and a marble," Ashi said, reading the list she managed to steal from Inuyasha when he wasn't looking. Inuyasha was about to question her about how the list when Kanrakuchou spoke up.
"Maybe it has to do with a game," he suggested.
"A game with paint..." continued Ashi.
"Guns..."
"A flag..."
"Goggles..."
"PAINTBALL!!" Ashi and Kanrakuchou screamed at the same time. Myouga immediately went over to their group.
"Congratulations, you've figured it out," he exclaimed.
"CANDY!!!" the two kitsunes cried out.
"Tsk, tsk, not yet!" Myouga said before returning to Toutousai. "Ok, it seems Inuyasha's group has figured it out. The answer was paintball. We will be having a paintball competition," he explained. Everyone's eyes lit up with excitement. Who could resist a good game of paintball? "Before you ask about the treasure chest, marker, construction paper and twisty-ties, I'll explain," he said. "Inside the treasure chest is a special weapon only your group has access to. Now, the other items; each group will have their own customized flag. You will make the design with the twisty-ties and then trace it onto the construction paper using the marker. Does everyone understand?" he asked, looking at all the groups who nodded their heads. "Okay, design your flag," he said. The groups instantly began working feverishly on their designs. After half an hour, Myouga went around to see what everyone had gotten done.
Kagome's group was designing a stick figure shooting an arrow into a heart...like cupid. Miroku's group was working a design of 3 stick figures; a man, a woman, and a child. Okibi's group was feverishly designing a random flower. Kouga's group was designing a...was that a tornado? Sango's group was constructing a figure standing victoriously on a pile of evil youkai (AN: I don't know how they made THAT outta twisty-ties! I can only make a guy and a skateboard!). Inuyasha's group...wait, that wasn't Inuyasha's group, that was just Ashi and Kanrakuchou! Well, Ashi and Kanrakuchou were designing a pirate insignia. It was a skull with 2 crossed pirate swords underneath it. Myouga recognized that as Captain "Calico" Jack's emblem. Captain "Calico" Jack was the only pirate captain to take on female pirates as part of the crew. He had 2 female crew members, Anne Bonney and Mary Reade, two of the toughest pirates on the seas. (AN: there's a little pirate background info for ya! Captain Calico Jack is my favorite pirate captain so I couldn't resist!) Myouga returned to the center of the clearing.
"Time's up!" he called, "Finish tracing your designs on the paper and submit them to me so Toutousai can go make the flags quickly." The groups speedily finished and handed their designs to Myouga who gave them over to Toutousai. Toutousai made his leave only to come back 5 minutes later, finished flags in hand.
"Whoa, that was fast," commented Kagome.
"I know a demon who happens to be an extraordinary seamstress," Toutousai replied, talking for the first time. Toutousai handed back the colorful flags. As soon as everyone received their flags, Myouga began to talk again.
"You may now open the treasure chests with the keys you found," he said. The groups did so. Inuyasha pulled out a slip of paper that said "GRENADE LAUNCHER". "Remember, you will not be using the real items, just a safer version. Now come up and give me your slips of paper," he ordered. They did so and Myouga looked over the slips. "Inuyasha's group will receive the grenade launchers, Kouga's group will get land mines, Sango's group gets the bazookas, Okibi's group gets the tranquilizer guns, Miroku's group will get the smoke bombs, and Kagome's group gets the machine guns," he finished. Toutousai pulled out the special weapons from the giant box and handed them to each group in turn.
"Now, to explain the differences in these from the real ones," he said. "The grenade launcher will launch a paintball that will explode. The paint will cover a perimeter of 3-5 feet. The land mine is just a paintball that explodes when stepped on with the same power of the grenade launcher. The bazooka fires bigger, but softer paintballs at a faster rate than a regular paintball gun. The tranquilizer gun fires a special paintball that causes opponents to get drowsy and disorientated for up to a minute. The smoke bomb is a paintball that is filled with gas, not paint. When it explodes, it emits a gas that causes opponents to lose their vision for up to a minute. The machine gun fires regular paintballs at a faster rate than regular paintball guns," he finished.
Everyone seemed so excited about paintballing. It made Myouga happy that he came up with such a great idea. "So, now that you know what the weapons are, let's move on to the rules, shall we? Now, there are 6 teams and 6 flags. We will, of course, be playing capture the flag. All groups will try to steal all the other groups' flags. Once your flag is stolen and on the opponent's territory, you group is out of the game. If you get hit with a paintball besides the tranquilizers and smoke bombs, you are out of the game. Once one group has all 6 flags in their territory, they win the game. You can not get shot in your own territory, but if you're in other groups' territories, you can. Does that cover everything?" Myouga finished. Everyone nodded their heads eagerly.
"Ok, it's now time for everyone to suit up!" he said, turning back to Toutousai who was digging through the huge box again. He pulled out a bunch of different colored helmets, paintball guns, and goggles. He handed all the red stuff to Inuyasha, the purple stuff to Miroku, the green stuff to Kagome, the orange stuff to Okibi, the yellow stuff to Sango, and the blue stuff to Kouga. The leaders passed out the helmets, guns, and goggles to each of their kids, instructing them not to fire the guns yet. Of course, the leaders got helmets, guns, and goggles of their own.
"Now, each helmet has a radio inside so you can talk to your teammates. It's on a certain frequency so none of the other teams can hear what you're saying. Now you all have 5 minutes to pick your territory and set up your flag. The territories are already marked so you can't change the boundaries, but each territory has different advantages and disadvantages. If more than one group wants a territory and they get there at the same time, you will play rock, paper, scissors to determine who gets the territory. Now that everyone understands, your 5 minutes starts...now!" Myouga finished and everyone raced off to claim their territory. Everyone picked their territory without any disputes and the 5 minutes were up.
"Ready...get set...go!" they heard a voice boom throughout the campgrounds, probably Myouga on a bullhorn or something. The groups quickly scattered, hiding themselves and making their way to different flags. Inuyasha's group was probably the only one who thought up a strategy, however. Inuyasha let Mitsukai and Hana guard the flag while he, Ashi, Kanrakuchou, Raikou, and Shinzui split up. Inuyasha would get Kouga's flag, Kanrakuchou would get Okibi's, Ashi would get Sango's, Raikou would get Miroku's, and Shinzui would get Kagome's. Inuyasha silently ran through Kouga's territory, keeping to the bushes. The kids would report to him every few minutes.
"Mitsukai to Inuyasha, no opponents have become sighted as of yet." Inuyasha smiled. 'So far, so good.'
"Raikou to Inuyasha, I'm making good time to Miroku's flag. The flag itself looks unguarded," Raikou's voice crackled over the headset. Inuyasha ducked into the bushes, making sure the coast was clear.
"Shinzui to Inuyasha, the flag is in sight but is heavily guarded. I'll stay hidden and observe enemy movement." Slight problem there, but it should be fine. Inuyasha was expecting Ashi and Kanrakuchou to report but they didn't.
"Inuyasha to Ashi, come in Ashi," demanded Inuyasha, keeping his voice as low as possible. No reply. "Inuyasha to Kanrakuchou, come in Kanrakuchou," ordered Inuyasha. Still no reply. 'Damnit,' he cursed as he neared the flag, still hiding in the bushes.
"Raikou to Inuyasha, Raikou to Inuyasha, I've been shot, man down, man down!" came a hysteric cry over the radio. Inuyasha sighed. That flag hadn't looked guarded, but the guards were probably hiding and luring opponents in to ambush them.
"Inuyasha to Raikou, return to base and stay there. Discontinue all contact, I repeat, discontinue all contact," he ordered, snatching Kouga's flag before making his escape.
"Shinzui to Inuyasha, I retrieved the flag but I was shot on the way to base," came a disappointed voice. Inuyasha sighed yet again as he reached base.
"Inuyasha to Shinzui, report to base and discontinue all contact," he said. He gave Kouga's flag to Hana, making sure the two girls guarded it when he received another transmission.
"Ashi to Inuyasha, I have retrieved both Sango's and Miroku's flags and am in familiar territory. I will return to base shortly," came Ashi's voice. He was about to reply when he received another transmission.
"Kanrakuchou to Inuyasha, Okibi's and Kagome's flags are in possession and I'm returning to base," Kanrakuchou's voice crackled over the headset. He was yet again about to reply when Ashi came into view with Kanrakuchou trailing right behind her. They soon reached base and before Inuyasha could congratulate them...
"You could've gotten me shot, you know that!?" screamed Ashi. "I wasn't replying for a reason-the enemy would've heard me! Did ya ever think of that!?" she screamed. Before Inuyasha could retort, Kanrakuchou then blew up on him.
"I almost did get shot! One of the opponents heard my radio crackle and looked over in my direction. Luckily I hid myself before they could see!!" Kanrakuchou screamed.
"Feh!" was all Inuyasha said before Myouga's boomed over the campgrounds.
"Congratulations to Inuyasha's group! They have won the paintball tournament! Everyone report immediately to the campsite!" Everyone began the walk back to the clearing. Ashi and Kanrakuchou got there first out of excitement. The winners received candy and boy did they want that candy! Soon enough everyone arrived at the clearing.
"Congratulations again!" began Myouga before handing the candy over to Inuyasha. The bag was immediately ripped out of his hands and consumed by Ashi and Kanrakuchou. Everyone sweat dropped at their antics. "Now that the entire scavenger hunt is over, it's time to go swimming!" Myouga said. "Report to your cabins and changed and then head back over to the lake. For those of you who don't know how to swim, there will be an instructor." Everyone then went to their cabins to change. Ashi and Kanrakuchou were the first one to the lake but weren't there alone for too long. Myouga and Toutousai soon showed up, thankfully not in their swimsuits! (AN: Wouldn't wanna see that, now would we? Be glad...Super Ceech has been putting those kinds of images in my head all week) They were followed by a man with long silver hair and amber eyes. He reminded Ashi and Kanrakuchou of Inuyasha...but a more girly version.
"So Sesshomaru, you see we have quite a dilemma," said Myouga looking back at Sesshomaru. "So will you fill in as the swimming instructor?"
"I will most certainly not," he replied calmly. Ashi and Kanrakuchou walked up to Sesshomaru and began staring which soon annoyed Sesshomaru. "What do you want?" he asked a little gruffly. The kids continued to stare before speaking.
"What is this fluffy thing?" questioned Ashi tugging at it. Sesshomaru immediately glared at her.
"Don't touch me," he demanded. Ashi let go for a moment and stared at him before grabbing onto the fluffy thing and swinging from it (AN: This is one of kit's ideas!) gleefully. Sesshomaru's eyes widened in hatred for this youkai child. While he was thinking up many ways to torture the girl, Kanrakuchou decided to make his presence known.
"Are you a girl or a boy?" he asked skeptically.
Sesshomaru growled. "I'm a male," he answered.
"Then why do have that fluffy thing?" Sesshomaru only growled in response before refocusing his attention to the girl, trying to pry her off.
"Hey, Fluffy, if you give her pixie stix, she'll probably get off," suggested Kanrakuchou. Sesshomaru glared and growled and did everything short of hurting the girl to get her off.
"Sesshomaru, you might want to go change into a bathing suit since you're the new swim instructor," suggested Myouga. Sesshomaru nodded and headed off to a nearby bathroom, Ashi still clutching the fluffy thing. She immediately jumped off though when she saw the bathroom come into sight. Luckily the bathrooms weren't too far away from the lake (AN: And guess where the dirty toilet water goes!! Hehe, jk! That would be gross!). She ran back to Kanrakuchou and was whispering something with an evil smile on her face when everyone else arrived.
"What are you two plotting?" asked a suspicious Inuyasha. The two immediately went into defense mode.
"Why do you think we're plotting something?" countered Kanrakuchou.
"Are you paranoid?" continued Ashi.
"Do you need to see a psychiatrist?" asked Kanrakuchou.
"You know, I saw the psychiatrist last week, and he made me wear this strange white jacket," Ashi said, hoping to change the subject.
"Oh really? When I last saw my psychiatrist he put me in a room with walls made out of cotton candy...didn't taste very good though," Kanrakuchou said thoughtfully. By that time Inuyasha had face-faulted and slowly backed away, letting the two continue their conversation. After backing up for a while, he bumped into someone.
"Watch where you're going, little brother," Sesshomaru said with his famous stoic face. Inuyasha only growled and stomped off in anger grumbling about how older brothers should burn in the fiery pits of hell. As if Inuyasha's day couldn't get any worse, right on cue, Kouga came into view...with his arm around Kagome. Inuyasha immediately continued stomping over and glared, waiting for them to notice his arrival.
"Oi, wimpy wolf!" shouted Inuyasha growing impatient. Kouga looked over at Inuyasha.
"What do you want, dog-breath?" ground out Kouga.
"I want you to get your dirty hands off Kagome!"
"What are you gonna do if I don't?" smirked Kouga.
"I'm gonna make you regret it, that's what!"
"Ooo, I'm so scared of mutt-face," Kouga said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Inuyasha growled.
"How about we let my Kagome decide?" suggested Kouga with a smirk. Kagome had started to become irritated when the two boys began fighting, but when Kouga said that remark, she snapped.
"I'm not anyone's property, so quit treating me like you own me!!" she yelled at Kouga, gaining a smirk from Inuyasha until she rounded on him. "And you!" she yelled, pointing a finger at him, "You need to quit being so protective!! I'm not your girlfriend either!!" she finished yelling before storming off with a huff. When she was out of sight, Inuyasha turned on Kouga.
"This is all your fault! She wouldn't have gotten mad if you hadn't have called her "my Kagome"," said Inuyasha, imitating Kouga on the last part.
"Well if you hadn't have gotten mad in the first place, we wouldn't have this problem!" Kouga yelled back, placing the blame on Inuyasha.
"Well if you hadn't have put your arm around her I wouldn't have gotten mad!" reasoned Inuyasha.
"Well if you-" Kouga was cut short by someone cutting into their 'conversation'.
"Would you guys stop arguing? We're trying to plot here!" shouted Kanrakuchou, getting the two arguing youkai to stay quiet. The two looked in Ashi's and Kanrakuchou's direction before looking back at each other. The both huffed and crossed their arms, turning away from each other at the same time. Right at that moment, a loud whistle rang out.
"Okay, it's now time for the nature hike!" shouted an enthusiastic Myouga, ushering everyone out of the lake and back to their cabins to change for the nature hike. Inuyasha sighed. This wasn't exactly the greatest day.
----Back at camp, after eating dinner----
Everyone was sitting around the fire, awaiting Myouga's last instructions of the day.
"Okay, everyone, it's time to go back to the cabins and get some rest. Tomorrow will be a free day and we'll have lots of activities going on around the campsite. Lights out will be in an hour, so get ready and go to bed," finished Myouga, heading back to his own cabin. Inuyasha was mildly surprised that Toutousai went to a different cabin since the two hung around each other a lot. He shrugged and headed to his cabin. Luckily all the leaders got their own cabins while the kids had to share. Each group was in their own cabin, i.e. the red group was in the same cabin, the purple group was in their own cabin, etc. Inuyasha followed his routine for getting ready for bed. He took a shower, brushed his teeth, undressed and went to bed (AN: No, Inuyasha does NOT sleep in the nude...he sleeps in his boxers! ::smilie::). Little did he know that two sets of eyes were spying on his sleeping form.
Inuyasha's door slowly creaked open and two figures silently crept into the cabin. One was carrying a bottle of something. The figures laughed evilly as they neared Inuyasha's bed. The first one opened the bottle while the other propped Inuyasha's head off the pillow, praying he was a heavy sleeper. The first figure poured the contents of the bottle onto Inuyasha's head and lathered it to cover every inch of his hair. The other figure helped where they could, but they couldn't do much since they were holding up Inuyasha's head. When they were done they waited about 10 minutes before rinsing it with water. When they had finished their task, they threw the bottle through the door and went back to Inuyasha. They pulled the blanket off him and with much difficulty dragged him out of bed without waking him. They then proceeded to drag him outside of the cabin and dropped him unceremoniously on the ground (AN: another of kit's bright ideas! ::insert smilie here::). They then happily went back inside the cabin and locked the door and happily went to sleep.
----Next morning----
Kagome had gotten up bright and early and decided to take a walk. She always woke up early when camping...she didn't know, she just did. As she was walking by Inuyasha's cabin she saw something strange. When she realized just what it was, she screamed.
AN: Well, that's it for now! ::smilie:: man, that's just not as fun without the real smilies...grrrrr. ::sigh:: guess I'll just have to get used to it! Ok, without further ado, here are the reviewer responses!!
skysong- Yep, Kikyou died...a while back, but I'm glad ya reviewed!! keep reading and reviewing!!
Serenity- HEY! aww, I feel so loved! Remember, my screen name is CapnCalicoJack74! keep reading and reviewing!!
Xessive- "im really glad nobody can stand your writing and no one will read this"...cheesecake...YA BETTER RUN COZ UR DEAD!! ::pulls out ms. flamethrower:: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Well that's it. I got 3! I kinda want more though...if ya really liked this chappie can ya PLEASE review? PWETTY PWEASE!? ok, thanks! ::smilie:: I'm gonna start another story. Why? Coz I can...anyway, I'm hopin it'll be good. it's actually going to be co-written with Xessive aka Cheesecake! Anyway, when I post the first chapter I'll tell ya so u can check it out. alright, catch ya later!
-kyuuka-kit