Disclaimer: No, I don't own Inuyasha. I'm just chilling for the weekend. I'd apologize to Rumiko, but I pour so much money into buying her work. She's the best! I'm a number one fan. All of this is completely original material. I just have so much fun making Inuyasha and Kagome do what I want.
Title: Companions
Kouga was running up over rocky terrain. He reached the edge of a particularly large ridge and launched himself over it. He looked around to take in his surroundings.
"Damn," exclaimed Kouga, "the land is steep! There are also all kinds of places to hide in. Not to mention that they've carved a den deep within the mountain itself. No matter. I'll find it."
Kouga leapt up again, but then a voice called out to him. The lovely Ayami ran towards him, with her white fur cloak rippling around her shoulders, her cute legs, and a flower tucked behind her ear. Not that Kouga cared. Ginta and Hakkaku followed her, panting just behind. Ayami's white wolf minions were there as well. Ayami called out to Kouga again just before reaching him.
"Kouga! Where are you going?"
"Heh, sorry Ayami," said Kouga brusquely, "but I ain't got time to talk about love to you. I have more important matters at hand."
"That's why I'm here," said Ayami ignoring him. "I was sent by the elder to show you the way to their den, and explain what we know about them."
"Didn't we go over that yesterday," stated Kouga in curiosity. Ayami shook her head.
"No, not in enough detail. They are really dangerous Kouga, you have to be careful."
"Hah," said Kouga grinning, "well we'll just have to see. Hopefully, they aren't too weak, I've been raring for a good fight."
Still," Kouga thought, "these 'demons of the mountain' have taken out half of Ayami's people. What do they do it for, land? And what are these magical powers?"
Kouga turned to Ayami with a look of seriousness. "Ayami, I need you to tell me exactly what kind of magical powers these guys can throw out."
Ayami nodded. "The first of their powers is transformation. So many of our warriors end up as snails, or frogs, or woodland squirrels. So don't eat anything okay?"
"Neha," stuttered Kouga uneasily. "Go on." Ayami continued.
"The enemy does this because they know it's somewhat of a distraction, and pares down our numbers. They also will transform a lone wolf so that its likeness is exact to that of an enemy. That way, it's impossible for us to attack, since we don't know whether it's our own or not."
"Can't you tell by its smell?" asked Kouga. Ayami shook her head.
"No, not immediately, sometimes it's hard to sort out all the scents at a distance." Kouga crossed his arms at this puzzle.
"So what do you do against this magic?" Ayami pulled a bag from the robes at her chest.
"We use magic against magic. These are dried petals of flowers which will dispel illusion."
"Heh," said Kouga. "Well, I guess you'll have to come along after all, Ayami. I'm not going to throw that."
Ayami smiled up at Kouga, very pleased. "I'd be happy to," she said.
"Great," thought Kouga suddenly sweating. "Now she's going to remind me of the promise I made to her." In his mind he saw a flashback to promise on the night of the lunar rainbow. Kouga looked very nervous.
"Thinking about it now," said Kouga to himself, "I can remember, but I'm not going to marry her!"
Ayami watched Kouga carefully, and saw the emotions fly across his face. She disrupted him curiously. "Kouga? The entrance to their den is this way."
Ayami lead Kouga stealthily along the edge of rocky ravine. She kept ducking down and searching.
"Keep looking for a scout," hissed Ayami. "We know there's one around here somewhere."
Swiftly, Ayami looked up and saw a crow-like bird. The bird sensed that she had seen it and took off flying. Before it could get away, Ayami leapt up and used blades of leaf to destroy it.
"Good," said Ayami, "now keep watching."
Ayami and Kouga popped up over a boulder to look at a tiny, trickling waterfall at the front of the ravine.
"So what?" asked Kouga unimpressed.
"That is an illusion," said Ayami all business. "This is the entrance to the den itself." Auyami took a few flower petals on her hand and gently, she blew them. The petals disappeared into a gold dust that swirled in the air, and the image before them melted. A large cavern door became apparent. Kouga stood up.
"Well, I'll just have to go in there and tear them out." Ayami put a hand on Kouga.
"No Kouga," she said shaking her head. "They aren't the sort of enemy one takes on alone. There are dozens of them."
Kouga halted and asked, "What do they do?"
"Well," said Ayami, "about a year ago they showed up on the mountain of the tribe next to us. We weren't really that concerned because we were at war with that tribe anyway. But the demons in the mountain made a den for themselves and resorted to trickery and magic to drive most of the wolf demon tribe away. Then, they attacked and killed the ones who had stayed behind in a single night, claiming the mountain." Woefully, she added, "I'm afraid that is going to happen here."
Kouga spoke reassuringly. "Don't worry Ayami. I'll take care of this. But first, what about those jewel shards?"
"Well," continued Ayami, "in each of the demons, there is some sort of glow. We think it's what gives them their magical powers." Ayami pulled out a powder of leaves.
"These are sacred leaves from the bush that grows in the rock circle of the elders. If someone with the proper training throws powder on an enemy, it is able to reveal any shard or magical object concealed within the body."
Kouga looked at the leaves interestedly. "And I suppose that means you're the one who can do this."
Ayami smiled proudly. "Yup. I told you I'd make myself be able to see the jewel shards. Now you don't need that human girl, Kagome."
Kouga muttered to himself in his head. "Great."
It was morning, and Inuyasha and Kagome, still transformed into dogs, were sitting alongside the river. Rather, Kagome is sitting staring into the water while Inuyasha sniffed around the rocky edge.
Kagome looked down into the water as she thought, "Great. Now I get to live out in the woods the rest of my days. Not that I wouldn't get to stay with Inuyasha. But I imagine he'll drive me crazy someday. Sigh."
Inuyasha the dog barked to her, disrupting her thoughts. "Kagome! Get over here!"
Inuyasha was chasing a fish in the shallows of the water, splashing everywhere. He caught it and held it in his jaws. Then he climbed out of the river to shake his wet fur.
"Inuyasha," said Kagome appalled. "You aren't really gonna eat that are you? Though I guess there's really nothing wrong with it. I just wish Songo and Miroku were here, that way we could enjoy a nice grilled fish."
"Come on Kagome," said Inuyasha without a sign that he had heard her, "come help me eat it."
Kagome got up to discover that Inuyasha has left her half a fish on the gravel. She sighed and took it in her mouth, crunching it up.
"Hum," said Kagome thoughtfully, "not too bad, excepting the bones and tail." Kagome looked to Inuyasha, who had his ears and nose up.
"What is it Inuyasha?" she queried, sensing his alertness.
"Kouga," said Inuyasha simply before trotting off.
"Wait up, Inuyasha!"
The two traveled onwards, tracking Kouga's scent. They followed the scent to the ravine which Kouga and Ayami had just left.
"I don't like this," said Inuyasha. "The smell is just not right."
At that moment, a crow flew up. Within a few seconds more, the pair of dogs was surrounded by fierce-humanoid looking demons. If there was a standard for court dress, they would be conforming to it.
"Well, well, well," spoke one of the demons mockingly. "Look what we have here. Two of Kouga's friends. Looking for revenge, or maybe a way of untransforming?"
Inuyasha tensed and growled lowly to Kagome, "Stay next to me Kagome." Inuyasha then launched a surprise claw attack on the demon talking and ran over him.
"Come on Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted back desperately. Kagome followed, by she struggled to keep up with Inuyasha's pace, so he took her by the neck with his muzzle and sped up. Kagome curled up, desperately trying to keep her bottom off the ground. It was a good thing she was a little smaller.
"Ow, ow, ow," said Kagome getting grated. Inuyasha dropped Kagome after a few strides and turned around just as a flash of light came up and punched him along the ground. Inuyasha took it with a yelp but quickly got up to growl. One of the demons walked into the clearing.
"Ha," mocked the demon. "Thought you could get away did you. Not having a good couple of last days are you? First you were tricked and transformed, and now you can't do anything about it."
"Bastard," growled Inuyasha.
The demon responded mirthfully. "Bare your fangs at me all you want. Because just for you I used a special brand of magic. The spell is impossible to reverse unless I die."
The demon laughed. "Perhaps next time you'll know better than to make allies with wolf demons, hanyou. Or maybe I should just end your misery and kill you now." The taunting demon, smug look on his face, drew his sword. Kagome moved in front of Inuyasha defensively. Kagome growled fiercely.
"Don't you dare hurt Inuyasha!"
"Foolish girl," scoffed the demon, "don't make me laugh. You no longer have any spiritual arrows, now do you?"
Kagome responded angrily. "I'm warning you!" Unexpectedly, a bright, pink orb of light emerged around Kagome. She sent it whirling at the demon and he leapt back. Yet, the demon was injured and he leant heavily back against a tree.
"Wench!" the demon said vehemently before disappearing.
Kagome spoke to Inuyasha softly. "Inuyasha, are you all right?"
"Yeah," he said sitting up. "How did you do that Kagome?"
"I don't know. I saw Kikyou do it once before though."
"Eh," said Inuyasha, made nervous by Kikyou's name. "Well, we have to find Kouga now."
The two trotted off, Inuyasha sniffing the air. It was not long before they peeked out of some bushes to find Kouga and Ayami, along with their companions.
"Ayami's here," said Kagome wondrously. "I think Kouga and her look so cute together!"
"Will you try to concentrate here?" scolded Inuyasha. "Uh, oh, look out Kagome, Kouga's wolves have found us." Kouga called out to the two.
"Who are you, who goes there!" Inuyasha and Kagome walked slowly out of the bush.
Kagome hissed at Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, what are we going to do? There's no way Kouga will recognize us! We'll be stuck like this forever."
"Be quiet Kagome! " Inuyasha whispered back. "We'll think of something."
Kouga looked at them curiously before speaking. "Muttface, is that you?"
"What?" said Inuyasha surprised at being addressed.
"I said, is that you, Inuyasha?" shouted Kouga.
Inuyasha responded heatedly. "Hell ya it is!"
Kouga lowered his voice to ask calmly, "What happened to you? Don't tell me that's…"
"Yeah, Kouga," broke in Kagome, "it's me. It seems we were tricked by mountain demons and separated from our companions."
"Ayami, can't you do anything about this?" asked Kouga.
"Sure," Ayami replied. Ayami leant down and sprinkled some petals on Inuyasha. However, nothing happened.
"That's funny," said Ayami, "this should work." Inuyasha just sneezed. Kouga turned to Ayami unhappily.
"Ayami, why aren't they transforming?"
"I don't know," she replied.
Kagome was full of answers. "It might be because that demon back there said he used a special brand of magic. He said the spell won't break unless he's dead."
Kouga exploded. "WHAT? How could you do something like this dogface! How the hell did you let something like this happen to Kagome!"
"Shut up!" shouted Inuyasha. "What would you know, wolfbreath."
"Dogbait!"
Inuyasha leapt up and landed on Kouga's chest, trying to bite him. The two fought while Ayami walked closer to Kagome to talk.
"Kagome," said Ayami calmly leaning over, "I think it's better if you and Inuyasha come with us for a while. We're going to lead an attack on the mountain demons, and maybe we'll find a way to fix this."
"Sure," said Kagome amiably.
Kagome turned her head to where the boys were fighting. Blaringly, she broke into their argument by shouting, "That's enough!"
Elsewhere, Miroku was laid was out on grass, staff beside him, looking up into the sky. He looked thoughtful.
"It's all very troubling," Miroku muttered out loud.
Songo was sitting nearby. She looked displeased herself. "We've been searching for over a day now and we still can't find Kagome or Inuyasha. If only we had figured out things sooner."
Miroku rose and dusted off his robes. "Indeed. I fear all we can do is continue to search for Inuyasha. They're out there, somewhere." Silently, Miroku thought to himself, "I just hope there is a way to fix this."
To be continued.
