The White Dog
by Becky Tailweaver
Chapter 25: Olfactory Investigation
As Shirokiba emerged from Kaede's hut, he immediately spotted Ginnezu sauntering by, looking like she hadn't a care in the world, as if nothing bad at all had happened--entirely too smug for Shirokiba's tastes.
Something in him reacted violently to her self-satisfied expression; the image of Kouga lying bloody and broken in the woods flashed through his mind.
His hackles bristled and he growled. In one bound he was on her, hoisting her up by her tunic front. "Where have you been?" he demanded, his voice a snarl. "Who are those Dogs that are roaming about? What have you got to do with this?"
Ginnezu's eyes were, for a few moments, wide with shock and fear. This violence and anger was totally unexpected, especially coming from him. "Shirokiba...!"
"What were you doing last night? Where did you go?" the wolf-dog snarled again, and shook her. "Tell me!"
Seeing that he knew nothing definite, Ginnezu quickly regained her composure. "You will unhand me, Hunter," she said coolly, expertly masking any shake in her voice and any fear on her face.
His long white fangs still bared, the wolf-dog youkai lowered her to the ground and took a single step back. "Tell me."
Ginnezu made a great show carefully of straighening her clothing and smoothing her mussed hair. Then she turned her attention to the angry wolf-dog, with a good mask of offense and barely-concealed disdain. "Hunter Shirokiba, if you must know where I was last night, I was sleeping in a tree at the edge of Inuyasha's Forest. I have no alibi--unless you wish to question the tree--and I have nothing to dow with any vagabond Dogs that may roam here, unless they are from my Clan. Only in that case do I have reason or authority to step in."
Shirokiba rumbled at her again, angered that he could find no holes in her presentation of authority. Damn it, unless those Dogs were Silvers I can't really hold her responsible! I know she did something--she has to have something to do with it. I just can't prove it!
"And just what has you so upset, Hunter?" Ginnezu asked, a concerned--if miffed--expression on her face.
"Do you know what happened last night?" he gritted out.
"Really, I haven't the foggiest."
"A Wolf was attacked by inu-youkai last night. An ookami-youkai of my Pack."
"Oh...!" Ginnezu managed an expression of shocked sympathy. "Oh dear. You have my condolences, then. Is your...kinsman all right?"
At long last, Shirokiba finally managed to get a bridle on his temper, hiding his fangs and cooling his gaze. "He is," he replied, his tone still dark but his inflection and expression beginning to return to his usual polite indifference when dealing with her. "He survived. What I wish to know is what those Dogs were doing here in Musashi's Domain, and what you have to do with it."
"Nothing, I assure you," Ginnezu said. "I have had no contact with my people since I arrived. I came here alone."
"That you did," Shirokiba responded, gazing at her with narrowed eyes. Then he bowed, a quick short nod of his head--hiding further upset to avoid tipping her off. "My Lady. I beg you forgive my errant temper. My kinsman's condition has made me overly emotional."
Ginnezu smiled politely--a bright and pretty smile, but her eyes behind it were dead cold. "I understand completely. Apology accepted, Hunter. Good day."
Shirokiba stood aside to let her pass--watching her go with hard, dangerous eyes. Scowling, he turned to go back to his brother's side. Shit--this situation is just shot to hell, he thought angrily. I was an idiot to send Inuyasha away before this was finished. But he's so damn out of it with Kagome gone that he's no use at all--unless getting some rest at her place actually does him some good.
Growling softly, Shirokiba ducked back into Kaede's hut. Hurry back, you lovesick little mutt--I need your help here...
Inuyasha awoke feeling extremely at ease, with Kagome's quiet scent billowing soft and sweet all around him. He found himself lying sprawled out on his side instead of curled up as he had been--relaxing in his sleep to a degree he hadn't dared in years. A warm, soft quilt had been laid over him--probably by Kagome; it had her scent on it faintly.
When he sat up, he felt rested and refreshed--recovered from a long sleepless night. But Kagome was no longer present, and her books had been put away; with a frown, he cast about with ears and nose to see where she had gone. He heard voices speaking pleasantly downstairs, then the sound of footsteps coming up.
Kagome opened the door. Inuyasha, sitting in the middle of the floor still halfway wrapped in the quilt, drew himself up and stared at her for a second.
She blinked, then smiled at him. "Oh, you're awake. Sleep well?"
"Uh...yeah, I guess." Flushing slightly, he rose to his feet, leaving the blanket on the floor. "I didn't mean to fall asleep on your floor. How long has it been?"
"About three hours, I think," she told him, made a brief shushing gesture. "It's okay--I could tell you were tired. But Mama's downstairs and she doesn't know you're here. Maybe it's best if she didn't know you came up here to my room while she was gone."
"Kagome..."
"Yes?" Pausing, she looked at him pleasantly, smiling in a way that made him feel all fluttery.
Inuyasha looked down, struggling for words. "Thanks for...uh...inviting me in, and the snack, and...um..."
Kagome giggled, sparing him the torment of trying to be eloquent. "You're welcome--it was fun. I still can't believe you can do math like that."
He gave her a surprised look. "What--you can't do figures in your head?"
"Yes I can!" she protested, before lowering her voice. "Just...not as fast as you can. How do you do that, anyway?"
Inuyasha raised his eyebrows. "There's no trick to it. It's just because I'm hanyou. You know I'm faster than you anyway. My muscles and reflexes are quicker than yours. The math is the same--I can just think faster, that's all."
"Ah! I see..." Kagome frowned thoughtfully; she should have made that connection in the first place. Being half youkai, he would need faster mental response and processing times; to move as fast as he did required some quick thinking. Suddenly his mental math didn't seem quite so mystifying--only more incredible. She remained still, considering the implications of this.
"I really should get back..." Clearing his throat, Inuyasha picked the quilt off the floor and bundled it up, tossing it on her bed to keep his sleeping place from being a total mess in her room. "Shirokiba and I have some investigating to do about those youkai."
"Yeah," Kagome agreed, frowning. "I still think I should come and help you..."
"No!" His bark was sharp and almost loud in the stillness of her room, making her jump. "No," he repeated, more softly. "These are inu-youkai, Kagome--I've never faced them before, except for Sesshomaru, and he's trouble enough. I don't know what they might do. I don't...want you to get hurt."
Kagome sighed in slight exasperation. "I know, I know. I'll wait until you come for me."
"Good." soon?"
He glanced back at her, seeing the half-hidden pleading in her expression. He shivered; her tone nearly matched the one she'd used that fateful day--that day when she'd said, "Inuyasha...I love you..." in the quiet depths of sleep, turning his world upside-down and making everything feel perfect for one single moment...
He turned away to the window, mostly to hide his expression. "I will," he promised softly.
Kagome took a deep breath, sitting on her bed. "Inuyasha, can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"About what you said earlier..."
"Eh?" He glanced back at her.
"You mentioned...that your mother was like Kikyo?"
His breath hissed in surprise, as if he'd been caught doing something bad. "I said that?"
She nodded. "Yeah. You were tired, and I kinda asked you, so..."
"Oh." Inuyasha shrugged, trying to look uncaring as he perched himself on her desk chair. His expression looked to be a cross between grudging and embarrassed. "Yeah...she was. But Ofukuro practiced the art of healing and defense, not the craft of a warrior-miko like Kikyo. And she wasn't nearly as powerful."
"But she had some power," Kagome insisted. "So she could use it to protect you and her."
"Not really," Inuyasha said, with another shrug. "I hardly ever saw her use it. Just a little, sometimes."
"Why?"
"Because of me," he confessed, looking down. "She didn't want to hurt me. That kind of power is dangerous for a youkai--even a hanyou. I still...wonder sometimes why Oyaji bred with a woman like her..."
Kagome gazed at him for a while, gathering courage. "Um...Inuyasha...can you...?"
"Can I what?" he grumbled
"Can you... do any of those things?" she asked, shyly curious. "Like Kikyo and I...sometimes...?"
"I...have it in me somewhere," he admitted, almost as if it was shameful, hunching his shoulders defensively. "But not as much as you and Kikyo do. Not even as much as Ofukuro."
Kagome was still staring at him. "But still...it's an advantage. Why haven't you ever used it?"
Inuyasha all but glared at her. "Use your brain, Kagome."
"What?" she asked, startled at his gruff response.
He growled, as though it were obvious. "Miko power is anathema to youkai. Why do you think you can fire arrows that burn and destroy youkai, or revert Tetsusaiga? If I use that power...I could kill myself."
"Oh!" she gasped, feeling suddenly foolish. "Oh, I'm sorry...I didn't realize. But...I guess I understand." She frowned a little, thinking. "Inuyasha...isn't there any way you could learn to use it without...harming yourself?"
"No," the hanyou retorted, snorting. "Ofukuro tried when she taught me a few defensive spells. When I try to make it...uh, come out...it hurts. It burns...from the inside out. The youkai part of me just can't take it."
"Oh..." She looked down, feeling rather stupid--and very sympathetic. It seemed so sad that Inuyasha had a gift of power from his mother, yet was unable to utilize it. His youkai half--which, given the genetics behind it, was surely more than exactly fifty percent of his DNA--kept his mother's power locked away deep inside him, unable to be brought forth for fear of destroying him. A source of salvation so close at hand--yet so very far away from possibility.
Or...was it? Suddenly, her eyes grew wide. "Wait! Inuyasha--can't you use it when you're human?"
He actually turned to stare at her, blinking in surprise. "Um...I dunno."
"You don't know?"
"I've...uh...never tried it..." he admitted grudgingly, scowling.
Kagome laughed. "Inuyasha, you silly goose, you probably can! Just think--all those New Moon nights that went by when you had to sit there as a helpless human against all those youkai...when you really weren't that helpless at all!"
He gaped at her, swallowing hard. "I...I never thought of that..."
She was still giggling softly. "We're going to have to find out if it works this coming New Moon, aren't we? Maybe we could even get Shirokiba to be our guinea pig..."
"No way!" Inuyasha protested, eyes suddenly wide. "Even if it works--which I doubt--no way am I going to harm Shirokiba. Not with any stupid miko power."
"Okay, okay--I was just kidding." She smiled and winked at him. "But we're still going to try it, aren't we?"
"Um...I don't know if..."
"We can get Kaede-baachan to help," she went on. "I'm sure she knows lots about that kind of thing, so she can help you remember. And me, too--we could even practice together!"
Inuyasha sat still and let her bubble, looking a little overwhelmed. She seemed excited to have found something she actually shared in common with him, even if it was something a bit supernatural.
Although...he wasn't too keen on the idea of accessing a force within him that, in his memory, had always been a source of pain and discomfort--plus miko power was supposed to be a girl thing, and he was most definitely not a girl. He didn't know how he'd ended up with it--with a tiny candleflame of the same hot-white stuff that burned like a bonfire inside Kagome--but the idea of telling Kaede-babaa or even Miroku that he was even more of a freak...
All he knew was that he was not like other male wielders of the holy power; he was not bound by the use of spells, nor helpless without ofuda. It was something his mother had seen in him somehow, and tried to help him learn to understand--but his youkai blood prevented him from ever daring to touch what was hidden away in a safe little corner of his human blood, wrapped under layers and locked down to keep him from destroying himself from the inside out.
Even trying to make a small, simple shield-ward had cost him badly burned hands and a horrible, feverish trembling that lasted for hours afterward as his body ached with bone-deep agony. His mother had held him and rocked him as he cried, until the pain and terror went away...
"I don't want to," he finally stated, brave enough to interrupt her happy chatter.
"Huh?"
"Whenever I did that, it hurt," he told her, cringing internally at the way her eyes changed from bright to concerned. "It always hurt."
"Don't worry," Kagome assured him, understanding. "We can just try a little, can't we? And if it does hurt, we'll stop right away."
He snorted, regaining some of his typical grumpy composure. "I need to go--Shirokiba's waiting and it's been three hours already."
"I know." She smiled again, brighter this time--but with faint worry. "You take care over there--I don't know what you're going to do without me to keep an eye on you."
He snorted his opinion of that, hopping to her windowsill. "Come on--it's me, Kagome. No lousy inu-youkai's gonna take me down."
"Tell the others hello for me," she giggled. "I'll see you later."
He actually grinned--and without another word, Inuyasha pounced down from her window and darted across the grass, a red streak blurring into the wellhouse and down the dark hole before anyone else in the house saw him.
"Thanks for the visit," Kagome whispered softly, staring fondly after him.
"Oi, Shirokiba!"
The wolf-dog youkai looked up from his vigil at Kouga's side, his whole face brightening at the sound of the voice outside. He's back--and he sounds like he's his old self again!
Leaving Kouga still peacefully sleeping, he hurried out to meet the younger hanyou on the porch. "Hey, mutt! Took you long enough."
Inuyasha glared at him, barely hiding his smile. "You planned that, didn't you?"
"Who, me?" Shirokiba asked innocently.
Inuyasha scowled, lowering his voice so that passersby wouldn't hear. "You know I turn into useless mush when she's around!" he hissed. "Why'd you have to send me over there to fall asleep if you need my help here?"
"You're no use to me when you can hardly walk in a straight line," Shirokiba replied dryly. "Now that you're somewhat rested and recovered, do you think we can get on with business? I really hate to leave Kouga here alone...but let's go get some investigating done before he wakes up."
"So you actually liked my prowl idea, huh?"
"Only when you're in the condition to go prowling, mutt. Ginnezu's told me she's ever-so-innocent in this--swears she had no idea--but I think I know otherwise. I just need your help to prove it." Shirokiba grinned. "Let's go scare some Dogs."
With twin grins, the two headed out of the village at a steady trot, southward to the woods. It didn't take them very long to reach the site of the attack; the scent of dried Wolf blood led them in like a road map. It made Shirokiba's hackles bristle in memory as his mind pictured Kouga once again, lying in that puddle of crimson, torn by inu-youkai.
"Settle down, will you?" Inuyasha snapped quietly.
Shirokiba glanced at him, cutting off the rumble he hadn't realized was building in his throat. "Eh...sorry. So, can you catch any scents that I didn't?"
"You're the full youkai here," Inuyasha reminded him tersely. "If you can't find anything, what makes you think I can?"
"Just because your brother has a better nose than you doesn't mean you have a weaker nose than every youkai." Shirokiba sniffed briefly about. "Besides, the blood-scent's too thick here--it's distracting me too much."
The smell of Kouga's blood didn't faze Inuyasha at all; he wasn't as close to the Wolf, so he could ignore it easily as mere background noise. Kagome's blood, however...
Inuyasha shook his head, concentrating on the matter at hand. Dropping to all fours, the hanyou proceeded to sniff around the site in ever-increasing circles, discerning the direction and intensity of the scents, reading every nuance and pheromone as he tracked in a widening spiral about the clearing.
"I've got six inu-youkai," he reported after a few minutes, pausing to crouch and glance back at his companion, who watched him with interest. "Five males, one female, youngish, pretty strong..."
"And from the size of the prints, I'd guess they're not Silvers--not big enough. Can you tell what happened?" Shirokiba asked.
Inuyasha shrugged, then trotted around the area a couple more times--this time criss-crossing the attack site. "Hn--looks like four guys and the one girl did most of the beating," he grumbled, reading the smells and the physical indications on the torn-up ground. "The last one's scent doesn't come in too close--he stood out here...and watched, or directed."
"A leader?"
"Seems like it..." Inuyasha sniffed intently at the spot he'd found. "He's an older youkai. Much stronger. The five who did the deed are just pups."
Shirokiba raised an eyebrow, impressed. "That's a lot more than I got, mutt--you're good. Are they still around?"
"Seems like they ran." Fidgeting from the brief praise, Inuyasha headed out along their quarry's trail--going roughly southwest, with Shirokiba striding on two feet behind him. "Yeah...and I can't sense them either. They left--or at least they're outside my range."
"Well then, what's your range?"
Inuyasha stopped, sat, and contemplated the query. "I dunno...I guess about two hundred meters or so, depending on what I'm looking for. Outside that it's iffy."
"That much?" Shirokiba exclaimed, a little awed--then paused, thoughtful, for a few moments. "Although if it's Dogs we're dealing with, two hundred yards may not be enough if they decide to jump us."
"If there was a damn wind blowing in the right direction, I could get a scent from a hell of a lot further than I can sense," Inuyasha grumbled, briefly pinning his ears in annoyance. "It's too dead still out here."
Shirokiba suddenly froze. "Wait...wait a second..."
Inuyasha glanced at him. "Eh?"
"It is dead still." The wolf-dog looked about quickly, ears and nose twitching.
"You're right," Inuyasha said quietly, standing upright to free up his claws. "Not a bird, not an insect..." He growled, a low dangerous rumble deep in his chest. "They're still here."
"They must be further away, though--if you can't sense them."
"No...they're close." Inuyasha was on full alert; beneath his red kimono, the fur-hair all the way down his spine was bristled up. His teeth were bared, displaying his threatening white fangs as his eyes darted about the forest around them. "They're here somewhere--the animals wouldn't be silent if they were that far away. I don't understand how, but they're close--too close."
Shirokiba felt his own fur prickle as if he was being watched. "You want to try to find them--find out who they are?"
"Didn't you say that they might be Gray Dogs?" Inuyasha said softly, still rumbling. "If they're watching us, why haven't they come out? Shouldn't they know you, their Clan's famous little Wolf?"
The wolf-dog hissed in a breath. "You're right...! Dammit, I should've thought of that from the first. They've got to be Black Dogs--the Silvers' allies!"
Inuyasha grinned, suddenly ferocious-looking and eager, flexing his claws. "Ginnezu's been lying about being alone--and that means I get to--"
"Take it easy," Shirokiba cautioned, touching his shoulder. "If you just up and shred her, you'll have a whole Clan of very angry Dogs on your doorstep. That is, if you even have a doorstep by the time they're done with their revenge."
The hanyou growled. "Bring it on."
Shirokiba smiled rather devilishly. "I think I know how to go about this. If you and I can corner her by using her own words, and prove that she willfully deceived you, you can exact a blood-price from her and I'll stand as your witness. Then you can send her packing back to her Clan in pain and disgrace--and the Silvers won't be able to take cause against you and come looking for trouble."
Inuyasha cocked an eyebrow. "I'm not sure what the hell you just said, but...I think I understand--trick Ginnezu into showing what a lying bitch she is, and you'll vouch for my word. Can you do that?"
"I've got enough pure Gray blood, plus I'm of the Daimyo's House, so I can be a legal witness." Shirokiba didn't drop that conniving grin, despite his seriousness. "Shall we?"
"Yeah." Inuyasha cracked his knuckles, his claws tingling eagerly. "I'm looking forward to this..."
Not very far away from the blood-soaked clearing--just barely out of immediate earshot--two enormous dark shapes huddled in the shadows of the forest, their glittering amber eyes focused on the two humanoid figures just visible through the trees. A low, bass growl emerged from the smaller of the two shapes, a deep rumble that earned a swift cuff from the larger.
"::Silence!::" commanded the bigger shadow, in a soft, sibilant bark.
"::We could take them, Chichiue,::" rumbled the smaller shadow, fangs bared with bloodlust despite its brief submissive cower. "Rrrrr... ::There are only two. The Wolf was so easy--::"
"::You will not move,::" the first snarled in command. "::Are you blind, pup? Do you not see who accompanies the Gray half-breed? That is Inuyasha. A White Dog--son and heir to Seibunishi-sama himself.::"
"::He is only a hanyou!::" the smaller canine-shape protested, its fanged jaws dripping saliva in eagerness to taste bloody flesh. "::The Great Lady wants him dead, does she not? What better--?::"
"::Desist!::" snarled the larger shape, snapping at the ruff of the smaller in warning. "::You are a fool. That White pup defeated Sesshomaru-sama in single combat, when the elder brother was at full strength in his true shape. How well do you think you will fare?::"
Cowed by the rebuff, the smaller shadow crouched in hesitation.
"::I agree that the methods of little Silver she-Dog and her sire are too round-about, wanting to breed with that hanyou pup,::" the larger continued. "::But to move against him now is pure folly. There are not enough of us to kill him.::"
"::Chichiue!:: Hnnnnn..."
The larger shape's eyes narrowed. "::I will let you go, foolish pup, if you still wish to attack. But I will not avenge your bloody remains when the White Dog tears you to pieces with his bare claws. I will merely laugh at your stupidity.::"
"Yurf! ::I could take him!::"
"::You would be dead before your fangs touched him.::"
"::Just a hanyou pup...::" the other rumbled, a mixture of disgust and awe. "::No wonder she wants that one dead. If he is to be as powerful as Seibunishi-sama...::"
"::Let us depart,::" the bigger shadow growled. "::We must bring word to the others, and to the Great Lady. The White pup and the Wolf-cub were able to identify us, which requires a change in our plans.::"
The smaller panted eagerly, watching the two humanoids hurry out of the woods. The spittle that hung from the long jaws dripped to the forest floor, accompanied by a hungry whine.
The other bared white fangs in a canine grin. "::You shall have your chance, pup. When our numbers are greater, I am sure you will have the privilege of tasting his blood. And it will be a day to remember; it is not every century our Clan has the honor of shedding the blood of a White Dog.::"
With identical toothy, gaping smiles, the two huge dark shapes bounded away through the forest--silent and black, like living pools of shadow.