I was truly amazed that within 24 hours of The Half Blood Prince being out I already had people commenting on the ending. For the record I would just like to say that I have not read the book yet and in fact, won't be getting my hands on a copy for at least another week or two or basically whenever my friend is finished with hers. I won't pay for the hardcover version of my favourite author's books (that being Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles), therefore I definitely won't pay for the hardcover of any of the Harry Potter books.
So please be nice and don't mention how much you were pissed off / dissapointed / whatever about the ending of the book. I've already had enough of a spoiler thanks to some moron who decided to announce the ending in the middle of Dairy Queen yesterday. I'm still hoping that I misheard at least part of what he said.
Having said that, this fic may actually be finished by the time I get to reading the new book, so HBP will not have any influence on this fic.
Shavaineth asked how come Moody and crew didn't react when they were told which demons had shown up. The simple answer: they didn't know what Draco, Kagome and Shippo were talking about. Notice that Draco called Kouga the Lord of the Wolf Youkai. As you all know, youkai is Japanese for demon. I'm guessing though that none of the wizards speak Japanese and so for all they know youkai could just be some fancy term for werewolf. As far as not recognizing the name Kouga. . . well really, neither did Lucius. In Draco's flashback to his childhood Lucius and Narcissa did recognize Sesshoumaru's name. But Lucius was probably in Japan for partially political reasons, hence, like any good businessman, he likely did his homework and studied the who's who of Japan. Therefore he did know who the Lord of the Western Lands was, even if it's not entirely certain if he knew said lord was a demon. Moody and the others never had to do that particular research, so they have no idea who Kouga or Sesshoumaru are.
Hope that clears that up. Otherwise, I'm confused as to what you meant by the question.
Thanks for reviewing: Shigatsu87 (actually I didn't realize that Kouga's comment came out quite that way, but don't worry, I will be sort of getting back to Inu Yasha later), kitsunekilala, MikoKyikou, GoldenRat (you're actually the first person who asked what a bunch of Japanese demons are doing in England. . .there is a logical explanation and I will be answering it eventually), Shavaineth (one demon vs death eater battle coming right up), Sweet-single, Ha-chan, orlandoroxmysox, Shadows stalk during the deep of night (nope haven't mentioned Inu Yasha yet), Inuyasha's hun, Miroku's Priestess (yeah, you're right it was Kouga's tribe that was slaughtered. . . hence why he only has Ginta and Hakkaku-duh!- but wasn't there another tribe involved in there as well? Hmm, I'll have to go back and watch the episode), shangxiang10, watergoddesskasey, Inverness, froggiesrcool (I'm glad you like my Draco), chinadoll27, The Violent Tomboy (Hermione's not with them., she's at Gimmauld Place), dragondolphin1990, AnimeMoonlightGoddess, Heaven wouldn't take me and Hell was afraid I would take over (love your user name, lol!), DraconWolf88 (wow, I am so beyond flattered right now, thanks), Raiyevern, Bus Buddie, ranchan23, Sesshyluver1, Shadow-wolf888, ladylillyofazra, Fuji the Hobbit, Moonjava, animewolfgurl, IYGURL, Hieiforever, i laugh at you, xHikari-808x, Shadowed Rains, Angel452, Kyokorain, ohiowriter, katspegussaus, lady-of-tormentdeath and Taiyoukai Lady.
Disclaimer: I own the dragon and the plot. That is all.
Warning: There's a possible spoiler for the third Inu Yasha movie in this chapter. It's only one line though and it may not even make much sense unless you've seen the movie, but I thought I'd warn you anyway.
A Clash of Cultures
Chapter 9 - Of Wolves and Foxes
"I smell blood. . . and it's not all human."
Kagome's eyes went wide.
"Kouga?" she asked. Shippo nodded.
"Then let's go!"
"Wait!" Draco said. Then he turned to the sorcerers. "Professor McGonagall, I was wondering. . . could I bring my pet cat with me to Hogwarts in the fall?"
There was a moment of silence, during which the wizards racked their brains, trying to figure out how that was a trick question.
"Mr. Malfoy," began the tall, skinny woman wearing a pointy hat, "the school rules clearly state that students may bring to Hogwarts a rat, a toad or a cat as a pet. Although, the reason as to why you are asking me now when we are surrounded by death eaters escapes me."
"I just wanted to make sure I could bring Kirara with me to Hogwarts next year, professor. She's a very rare and unusual breed of Japanese cat, you see."
"Who cares about your stupid cat, Malfoy, there are people dieing on the other side of the park!" Harry yelled angrily.
Draco spared the dark-haired boy a single glance before turning once again to the woman, who, apparently, was a professor of his from school.
'Gee, I wish I had a teacher who knew about magic,' Kagome thought to herself, 'it sure would make travelling to the Feudal Era and missing so much school a lot easier.'
"So, you're not going to change your mind professor?" Draco asked again.
"Of course she isn't going to change her mind, Malfoy!" the weird-eyed man growled.
"You're sure?"
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy, I am absolutely certain!" the professor glared at him.
"Oh good."
Draco grinned and looked at Kirara, who was still resting on his shoulder.
"Hear that Kirara," he said, "you're going to Hogwarts with me!"
Kirara meowed.
"Wonderful. Now can we go?" Shippo asked.
"After you."
"Great! Jump on Kagome!"
Kagome climbed on to Shippo's back, just like she was used to doing with Inu Yasha. However, unlike with Inu Yasha, the minute she was settled and ready to go, Shippo started growing, his body getting longer and sprouting red fur all over. Kagome yelped in surprise and nearly lost her balance.
"Wooops, sorry 'bout that," the large fox whose back she was sitting on moments later, chuckled, "should've warned you. I keep forgetting that the last time you saw me I was just a kid."
Then he turned his head to the gaping sorcerers.
"What are you lookin' at? I told you I was a fox, didn't I?"
Draco chuckled.
"Come on Kirara," he said.
Kirara jumped off his shoulder. She took a few steps before erupting into a huge ball of flames.
"What the hell?" exclaimed the odd-looking sorcerer, pointing his stick at the cat.
"What did you do to her!" one of the red-heads added.
Just then the flames cleared and the group got their first look at the transformed Kirara. They were speechless for several moments, their eyes on the cat's now-enormous fangs.
"Hey, that's what you and Kagome were riding on when she was destroying the dementors!" cried Ron.
"When she was what!" someone exclaimed, but by then Kagome wasn't really paying attention, so she didn't know who it was.
The moment Draco jumped onto Kirara's back, both she and Shippo took off, following their noses to the battlefield.
As they got closer, Kagome's senses were assaulted by bursts of magic; the after effects of some very powerful curses and counter curses. She closed her eyes and concentrated on deflecting the onslaught, shutting them from her mind. Eventually she succeeded so that she could still see and feel the magical energy around her, but it was no longer able to penetrate her mind.
Finally the battle came into view. Kagome gasped at the jyaki she saw surrounding it. It was concentrated in one spot.
'The Dark Lord,' she thought, 'he must be using his full power. But I thought he was human. No human should be able to emanate this kind of yjaki, no matter how powerful they are. There's something else there.'
Ginta was the first person they came upon. He was clumsily dodging curses being thrown by one of the masked sorcerers. Suddenly one of them hit him and he howled in pain. Kagome recognized the same curse that the Dark Lord had used on her and shuddered.
Shippo growled and sped up. He opened his mouth and Kagome saw youki forming there. Then, with a slight flick of his head, a ball of blue flames shot out straight for the sorcerer.
This time the human screamed as the foxfire flames devoured him until all that was left was a pile of bones.
"Ginta!" Kagome cried, slipping off of Shippo's back the moment he stopped. She ran to the wolf, who was down on all fours, panting. Out of the corner of her eye, she vaguely registered Shippo changing back to his more human-looking form.
Ginta looked exhausted. He was covered in scratches and bruises and his leather jacket was singed on one side.
"What happened?"
"They were more powerful than we thought they would be," he panted, "the Dark Lord. . .he- his magic isn't quite right."
"I know, I saw the yjaki."
"Yjaki?" Shippo piped in. "But don't powerful witches and sorcerers usually have a yjaki?"
"Yes, but. . . I don't know how to explain it. . . his just. . . feels different. Almost like it's trying to become youki."
"Ok, now could someone please explain what's going on in English, so that I can understand you as well?" Draco interrupted with an annoyed expression on his face.
"Maybe you should just learn Japanese," Shippo suggested with a smirk.
"Somehow, I don't think that's going to happen within the next two minutes."
"Pity. Oh well, basically, Ginta says that Kouga underestimated the Dark Lord and now they're in trouble." Shippo paused. "Does this Dark Lord actually have a name?"
"Yes." Draco replied hesitantly. "But most people just call him You-Know-Who, because they're afraid to say his name."
Suddenly the conversation her cousin was having with Harry, Ron and the other girl made so much more sense to Kagome.
Shippo rolled his eyes.
"You know it's things like that that make me think that maybe Sesshoumaru's right and humans really are just simply absolutely pathetic creatures."
Kagome coughed and glared at him.
"Present company excluded, of course."
"Oh good, I'm glad to hear it," Kagome said darkly, then she looked back to Ginta, "you're going to be alright, but you need to take a rest from the battle."
"I can't, Kouga needs me," Ginta said and began to get up.
"Don't worry about Kouga," said Shippo, "I'm going to help him."
The wolf looked up at his fellow demon and nodded gratefully before collapsing back onto the ground.
"You two stay here," Shippo told Kagome and Draco. When they both nodded, he turned away. "Come on Kirara!"
Kirara roared and the two old friends burst into the battle.
"Just be careful and don't kill them, they are still human!" Kagome shouted after them in Japanese.
But Shippo was already throwing foxfire at the nearest sorcerer, while Kirara jumped into the middle of a magical firefight, knocking down all the masked figures like they were made of paper.
Kagome scanned the park. She saw Kouga and Ayame dodging curses at one end. Every once in a while, one of them would catch a sorcerer between spells or from behind and send them hurling into a tree or another sorcerer. Close by, Kagome recognized the English wolf along with the green-haired sorceress repelling curses using some sort of magical shield. On the opposite end, Hakkaku was trying to tire his opponents out by running around a lot. Unfortunately, he only seemed to be tiring himself out.
Shippo and Kirara's sudden arrival took everyone by surprise, including the sorcerers Kagome had simply labelled the "good guys" for simplicity's sake. Not knowing who Shippo was, a few of them tried to curse him, before Kouga noticed and yelled at them to stop being stupid and fire at the enemy instead.
Kirara was recognized instantly and thus didn't have the problem of being mistaken for the enemy.
As Kagome watched Kirara dodge another green curse, loud screams erupted from where Shippo had been only seconds ago. She turned her head only to see about a dozen masked sorcerers running away from a large blue dragon.
"He sure has a thing for dragons," Draco commented.
"Apparently." Kagome agreed.
Just then the dragon exploded in a dazzling array of light.
"You fools!" someone shouted. "It's not real; it can't hurt you!"
"Well, I suppose it's good to know father's still alive," Draco said in a tone that was trying very hard to be light.
But Kagome heard the tightness in it as well. She turned to him in alarm. Draco just shook his head.
"I'm fine," he said, "there's nothing I can do for him. Besides, he's smart and powerful, he'll get out of this somehow. He always does."
Just then Ginta growled. Draco and Kagome turned around.
"Hello!" one of the red-headed twins they'd met earlier said with a slightly goofy grin on his face. Kagome got the impression that neither one of them had ever looked serious in their entire lives.
"We've come to take you somewhere safe. . ." the second twin said.
". . . away from the battle," the first one finished.
"Thanks, but no," said Draco with a determined expression on his face, "I'm staying right here."
"Me too," Kagome added. There was no way she was leaving her friends in the middle of a battle.
The twins looked at each other, confused.
"But you can't fight. . ." the one on the left said.
". . .you don't have a wand. . ."
". . .you're useless here. . "
". . . and are only going to get killed if you stay here . . ."
"I am not useless!" Kagome yelled at the twins. She'd put up with enough from Inu Yasha about how useless she was in battle and only needed to be protected.
'And who was it that ended up helping defeat the Tenka Hadou no Tsurugi?' she seethed inwardly. 'It certainly wasn't the brothers "couldn't-get-along-if-the-fate-of-the-word-depended-on-it"! And at least Inu Yasha's half-demon, these two are human! They're just as weak as I am!'
One of them took her by the hand.
"We're going to take you to where your cousin is, you'll. . . "
The red-head never got the chance to finish. Suddenly he wasn't holding Kagome's hand anymore, but was laying flat on his back with a very angry man growling on top of him.
"If Kagome doesn't want to go with you, then she's not going anywhere, human!" Ginta snarled viciously and his captive went white with fear, though his eyes were still wide with shock, as if he hadn't quite processed what was going on yet.
"George!" the red-head that was still standing cried, his wand pointed at his brother's attacker. "Get off my brother you. . you. . . oh Merlin, you're one of the wolves, aren't you!"
The grin that Ginta rewarded the twin with could only be described as wolfish. It also managed to show off all his nice, pointy teeth, so that there could be no doubt in anyone's mind that they could very easily bite through soft, human flesh.
Suddenly a number of popping noises surrounded the group, giving Kagome the brief sensation of being stuck inside a popcorn maker. Ginta leaped off the red-head, or George as his twin had called him, and stood, ready to meet the new threat.
"Oh, look what we found," an unpleasant voice sneered from behind a white mask, "a little Japanese girl, two Weasleys an animal and . . ." He paused. "But, they said that. . .how is this possible?"
"Oh hello Mr. Parkinson," Draco drawled casually, "See, I thought I'd just try death on for size to see if I liked it, you know? In the end though, I found life much more advantageous."
"Huh?" the twins asked as one.
"Yes, well, I'm sure Lucius will be more than pleased to see you. . . he has a few questions he'd like to have answered. As does the Dark Lord." Then he pointed his magic stick at Kagome. "And you are also awaited with great pleasure."
Ginta growled and the twins tightened their grips on their sticks. Draco also looked ready to fight. Kagome looked around. They were surrounded.
Out in the battlefield, she saw Hakkaku get hit by a spell and fall down. He didn't get back up.
She also noticed the man with the odd eye firing spells at someone with long, blond hair. She guessed that was Lucius, Draco's father. Further on she saw the professor and the other two red-heads. One of the red-heads looked as though he was avoiding leaning on his left leg as he swivelled around, casting spells at anything with a mask.
Then she noticed the green-haired sorceress fall down under the same yellowish-looking curse Kagome had been put under by the Dark Lord. Then it stopped as Ayame leaped in from nowhere and knocked the one responsible for the curse to the ground.
'Where's Shippo?' she asked herself as she scanned the battlefield looking for her friend, praying he was all right.
Suddenly a sensation so familiar hit her that the entire world seemed to stop for a moment. She couldn't believe it. It wasn't possible.
But it was, she felt it.
"How. . .?" she asked herself, not realizing she had spoken out loud.
"What is it Kagome?" Draco asked, his eyes not moving from the figures surrounding them.
"Is everything all right?" one of the twins asked.
"What do you sense?" asked Ginta.
Kagome heard someone chuckle in the background, but she wasn't really paying attention.
"It doesn't matter what she thinks she sees, because you'll never get to know. I don't need you three. Kill them."
"Kagome?" Ginta asked again, sounding worried.
Kagome was still looking around. She could sense it, but she couldn't see it.
"The shikkon no tama," she whispered, "I can feel a piece of the shikkon no tama nearby."
Then she looked up. And gasped.
Hehehe. I think I enjoy being evil waaay too much. Though you might be pleased to hear that this chapter was supposed to end differently, but then I got a sudden bout of inspiration while talking to a friend of mine. As a result the story's been prolonged by at least a couple of chapters. I'm a bit concerned that the battle sequences in this chapter weren't very good, but then again Kagome and Draco were both staying clear of the battle.
Author's Note:
Tenka Hadou no Tsurugi - I've mentioned this before, it's the Sword of World Conquest (I seen different ways of translating the title of the third movie and I have no idea which is right, but this is the version I know it as, so it's the one I'm using).