Chapter 13
Later that night...Sesshoumaru had left the camp to scout on ahead of the group. Inuyasha had taken up guard duty up in a tree. The rest of the group was asleep.
In the hills many eyes were watching. "The master wants the shards that the half demon carries. We have to be careful. Hyou, you and Toha go and draw him away from the others. Phy you take the others and kill the rest as they sleep. We have to work quickly the full demon will only be gone a short while."
Hyou and Toha scurried off to draw Inuyasha away from the group of sleeping humans and half-breeds.
Inuyasha was watching from high in the branches when he spotted something moving in the field just beyond the camp. He sniffed the air. "Two of them." He said to himself as he hopped down from the tree.
Inuyasha woke the boys. Inu, Samoto, Sugumi get up quickly. We have visitors.
Sugumi was up instantly. "Who?" He asked as he approached his dad.
"I don't know. I've never scented them before. Let's go see what they want."
"Uncle Inu shouldn't we wake the others?" Samoto asked.
"No, let them sleep. We can handle these." Inuyasha said as he trotted off in the direction of the two intruders.
Unbeknown to them they were being watched. High up in a tree down wind of the camp, so they wouldn't be scented, Phy and his group were waiting. "Good, he's taken the bait. Quickly Toe, Shee, Rama follow me." They jumped down from their hiding spots and raced toward the camp.
Miroku and Sango, being demon hunters, were light sleepers and heard them coming. "Sango hurry." Miroku called. The two took up a battle ready stance.
The women, Katame and Kagome were a little slower on the draw and the demons were upon the camp before they had time to get to their feet.
Sango readied her weapon and threw it in the direction of the demons. They however seemed to be prepared for it and threw a weighted net into the air catching the boomerang and dragging it to the ground.
Miroku unwrapped his hand and cried "Wind tunnel." However that failed. He had forgotten that the hole was now fully healed and could no longer be used as a weapon. He resorted to using his staff as a club and bashed at the demons. He was overrun with them.
In the commotion Kagome tripped over her bag and the contents spilled out. Some thing rolled toward Phy, it sparkled as it lay on the ground, it captured his attention. There in front of him was a small bottle and inside it were the sacred jewel shards that they had come to for. He grabbed the bottle and ran crying out to the others. "Come on Quickly. I have them. Come on, let's go." As quickly as they came they left, running and leaping over the trees and out of sight.
Miroku and Sango gave chase but lost them in the thick forest. They returned to the camp feeling defeated.
Inuyasha on the other hand had dispatched his opponents and was returning to the camp just as Miroku and Sango returned. He looked at the mess and asked. "What happened? I'm gone for a second and all hell breaks loose."
Kagome ran up to her husband. She was crying. "The shards. They got the shards. I couldn't even get one shot fired. They were too fast. What do we do?"
He held her close. "Are you alright Kagome? Did they hurt you?"
"I'm ok it's just a scratch, really. We have to get those shards back. How did they even know we had them?"
"All the demons know of the jewel and they know Inuyasha has them. They must have been sent here by someone. It seems to me that the demons Inuyasha fought were a diversion to get him away from the camp. I'm sorry Inuyasha I wasn't much help. My wind tunnel is completely gone now. I'm useless as a hunter." Miroku was feeling bad. He had always cursed the wind tunnel that would have one day claimed his life. Yet he had come to depend on it in battle. Now he felt inadequate as a demon hunter. Without the tunnel what good could he really do?
"Don't be so hard on yourself Miroku. We were all here. They came at us too fast. We didn't have time to react." Sango tried to cheer her friend up. "We'll get them. Don't worry."
Hours later...
Sesshoumaru returned to the camp to find everyone up discussing what to do next. "We have to get the shards first." Inuyasha said.
"But what about the heir? We can't just leave him in that demon's hands. What if he hurts him?" Inumouru was thinking of the Kai's heir. What if he was just a boy like him. He would want someone to rescue him if their places were reversed.
"Don't worry Inu. We'll get the heir back safely." Miroku eased the boy's fears. Even though he looked like a fierce demon, Inu was still a boy of only nine years.
"What's going on? Why are you all up? You should be sleeping we have a lot of ground to cover and I don't have the patience to deal with a bunch of tired humans. Or half humans for that matter." He scowled as he addressed the group huddled around the fire.
"There's been some trouble while you were gone, Lord." Sango took it upon herself to explain the problem and apologize for letting the shards get stolen. She bowed as she approached her master. Hopefully he wouldn't count this against her.
Sesshoumaru listened as Sango explained. His eyes went brilliant red. He was furious. Miroku thought that his friend might be in mortal danger and rushed forward and knelt before the angry lord.
"Please lord Sesshoumaru. Don't be angry we tried to stop them but they were too fast. I'm afraid I wasn't much help either. My wind tunnel is gone now, and I couldn't..."
"Quiet fool!" Sesshoumaru was in no mood to listen to the fool of a monk stammer on. He had no intentions of punishing either of the two hunters. Sesshoumaru was no fool, he had figured out who was behind the theft of the jewel fragments. It was Shamotokai. He must have sent his servants to retrieve the jewel to increase his power. The Heir, Mesosuki, must not be cooperating. Good! Now he just hoped that Shamotokai would not kill the boy.
"We must retrieve the jewel fragments before they can get them to their master." Sesshoumaru said flatly. "Gather up the camp. We leave now.
Everyone hurried to get packed. Sesshoumaru took Miroku aside to inquire as to the direction the demons had fled. "South. Not surprising. Did they fly?"
"No, they just ran and leaped like Inuyasha always does. I've never seen anything so fast." Miroku was a little worried that Sesshoumaru might be angry with him. He felt he had to try again to apologize. "I'm sorry. I..."
"Stop it monk. You are not in danger. I'll tell you when I want you to grovel. Until then keep what little dignity you have left. Go help the others get ready to leave." Miroku nodded and gave a quick half bow and hurried off to join the others.
Sesshoumaru was thinking to himself. 'Damn! If I'd have stayed at the camp I would have been able to thwart Shamotokai's effort. Instead he had left his fool of a brother to watch over things. Now they would have to delay their arrival at the Kai's palace to chase down the shards. Damn that fool of a brother of mine. What was he thinking? Leaving the shards in the keeping of these weak humans. He should know that they are incapable of defending them properly.' He stormed off the get the dragon ready for the flight.
Within minutes the camp was disassembled and everyone was ready to go.
"How are we going to do this? I take it you have a plan." Inuyasha asked his brother.
"The monk says that the demons didn't fly. I assume that means that they couldn't. So we shall scan from the air and when we find them we shall go down and defeat them. I want none left alive. If we let any of them live they will warn their master and he will then be prepared for our arrival. I want surprise to be on our side. Am I clear?" Sesshoumaru looked meaningfully at the group. They had several times in the past let opponents go if they promised never to return. But this was different. If any of them were allowed to live they would be obligated to return to their master and report the matter.
"Yes sir." Came the unified response from both human and demon alike. No one wanted to test the lord's mood by suggesting anything to the contrary.
(I hope you are enjoying this. I know I am. The next couple of chapters have some great fight scenes in them. My daughters think I should write for the show. Oooh wouldn't that be fun? Oh yeah, in your dreams! LadySesshoumaru41)