Author's Note: The first part of this chapter shall be written in Kouga's point of view, you will be able to tell when it switches back to Inuyasha's.
As soon as the smoke cleared, Kouga rubbed his eyes vigorously to look around. No...they were gone, he had let that wretched corpse Jakotsu escape with Inuyasha! Growling before sinking to his knees, the wolf demon slammed his fist into the ground with all of the strength he could muster, breaking through several layers of dirt and leaving a rather large crater in the ground, "Damn it! That bastard, he'll pay for stealing away Inuyasha! I'll kill him!"
"Wait, Kouga!" Kouga blinked as the familiar voice of Hakkaku called out for him, thus causing him to turn and see Ginta and Hakkaku running at him, "Don't go yet! The priestess wants to see you first, she says it's urgent or you'll fail in retrieving Inuyasha!"
Pausing to take in this new information, Kouga bit his lip and nodded, it was killing him to waste time like this, but he only had one shot at rescuing the little hanyou from Jakotsu's clutches. As much as he hated to think about it, he had to wait for Kaede's advice before he left to take on the walking dead man, but by then his scent might be completely demolished...that smoke bomb had taken out part of it, they could be anywhere by now!
As soon as he entered the hut and ripped the cloth off of his face, Kouga blinked at the old woman who was mumbling a spell underneath her breath in front of the fire, and soon enough the wolf asked his question, "What the hell are you doing and how the hell is it gonna help me find Inuyasha?"
"Patience, young wolf demon," Kaede murmured, continuing to chant for quite some time, time in which Kouga absorbed himself in looking at the mysterious beads in the fire. After completing her spell, Kaede put some tongs into the fire and turned her gaze to Kouga, holding up the beaded necklace, "It is done, at last...now, we have to test it."
"Test what?" Confused, Kouga looked at the beads that the priestess held up and out of the fire, they were glowing with an odd, golden colour. They reminded him so much of Inuyasha's eyes...but that wasn't the issue, he'd never get to see those eyes again if he didn't rescue the other soon! "What the hell are some old beads gonna do to help me find him?"
As if answering his question, the beads floated up and fit themselves around Kouga's neck, all of them turning into a bright blue as their golden glow faded along with the fiery hear it gave off. With a small and weak smile, Kaede nodded towards Kouga and gestured for him to step out of the hut before doing so herself. He followed the old woman outside, wondering why the hell she was erecting a barrier before she spoke again, "Step into the sacred barrier, Kouga."
"What! No, I'll get purified! I can't do something stupid like that, not before I save Inuyasha!" Growling and narrowing his eyes at the old woman, he couldn't help but think that she had gone senile. That priestess expected him to be stupid enough to go into a damned sacred barrier and get himself purified? Not a chance!
"Trust me, wolf demon," Kaede spoke again, which caused Kouga to feel confused, "It won't purify you completely if this test fails, we'll be able to get you out of there before it can. But if it succeeds...You'll be able to save Inuyasha."
What the hell was she babbling about? That old woman really was nuts...but then, maybe she wasn't, and if it was to save Inuyasha, Kouga would gladly take the risk of getting purified, as long as Inuyasha could be safe and happy... "All right then, but I still think you're crazy, priestess," Shaking his head and taking a daring step towards the barrier Kaede had erected, the wolf couldn't help but feel confident that whatever test the old woman was planning, it would work.
Finally taking the step through the barrier, Kouga blinked as he saw his leg go through, it didn't even hurt him, not at all! "What did you do?" Awed, the wolf demon turned back to Kaede, blinking as confusion welled up in him. The sacred barrier, it wasn't harming him in any way, shape or form! But, that was impossible; he was a demon, and anything with sacred magic always purified demons! What had happened to make this situation different?
"Judging by your reaction, the test was successful," Smiling at the wolf, Kaede took down the barrier and handed Kouga a familiar looking gas mask; it was probably the one that demon slayer always wore when there was a miasma around, salvaged from her death, "Take this and go to Mt. Hakure. The beads will protect you from the enchanted barrier around the mountain, like they did with this barrier now. I've sought the fire, and have seen the events in which Inuyasha was taken. It is my guess that the person who kidnapped him is headed there, therefore it is also my guess that Inuyasha is going to be held captive there. He is still alive, but I don't know how long he has left."
Now Kouga understood why Kaede had asked such a ridiculous gesture from Kouga, it was to see if these beads worked. Well, now he was grateful for trusting the priestess, she had enchanted the necklace to protect him from sacred magic! Taking the mask from the woman's hand, Kouga allowed a weak smile to come onto his lips before he tied it on to cover his mouth and nose, "Thank you, priestess. I am grateful for your assistance."
With that (along with orders for Ginta and Hakkaku to stay in the village to protect it while he was gone), Kouga began to take off to where he knew Mt. Hakure to be; he had to hurry for Inuyasha's sake! If not, he'd never get to see the one he loved ever again...no, he couldn't stand to lose Inuyasha, he just couldn't! He ran towards the sunset as quickly as he could, an urge in his gut telling him to hurry or it might be too late...
Inuyasha groaned as he began to regain consciousness, having the sensation of the wind through his hair while he kept his eyes closed. What the hell was going on? Cautiously opening his eyes, he suddenly remembered what had happened earlier and when he looked up, sure enough it was Jakotsu that was carrying him. But where was he heading?
"Jakotsu, you bastard! Put me down or I'll tear out your throat!" Inuyasha growled at the man who was holding him, ready to swipe his claws at that queer's face...but he was tied up at the moment. No matter, he'd just use his claws to cut through, but that was when an awful realization came to him. His claws weren't there, they were replaced with human fingernails! "What the hell did you do to me?"
"Ah, I see you're finally awake. The sacred barrier must have woken you up," With a smirk did Jakotsu lick his lips, his intent gaze on Inuyasha, which made him shudder, "You're just as cute a human as you are a half-demon, I'll bet your blood tastes just as good...if not better."
He had gone through a sacred barrier? But then why wasn't he purified? Inuyasha couldn't help but wonder until he looked out of the corner of his eye to the ebony locks that trailed behind him as his captor was taking him into the entrance of a dark cave. It looked like Inuyasha lucked out, with human blood in his veins, he became human after entering the barrier rather than being purified. But, if Kouga tried to follow them in...the hanyou's stomach lurched at the thought. He'd get himself killed trying to get through the barrier...
Inuyasha struggled against both his bindings and Jakotsu valiantly, and even though his efforts were wasted, he never once stopped trying as he angrily shouted at his captor, "Put me down, you goddamn queer! I'm gonna kill you the moment my powers come back!"
"You're going to be dead long before then, Inuyasha," Smirking once more, Jakotsu stopped when they were at the very end of the cave, the only light coming from the torch in his left hand (his right arm had been carrying Inuyasha the whole time). Then, Inuyasha yelped when he was thrown onto the ground, Jakotsu digging the end of the torch into the dirt before crawling on top of him, "You're mine, Inuyasha. Mine until the very end of you."
No...I can't let him do this! Inuyasha struggled, although with his wrists tied behind his back, it was rather hard to resist the corpse above him. His eyes darted to the sword Jakotsu had drawn from his belt, his gaze going back to the slightly taller's face when he chuckled, "Go ahead and show your pain, Inuyasha. You're going to feel a lot of it before you die."
With a twinge of horror did Inuyasha see Jakotsu jump back, and after that, spiralling pain shot throughout his face, neck, wrists, ankles, hands and feet. This caused him to cry out in pain, soon after he began to curse his human body and how it couldn't handle much pain. However, as much as the blades from Jakotsu's sword constricted around his torso, legs and arms, they couldn't break through the fabric of the fire rat.
He could see Jakotsu's eye twitching with annoyance as he frowned, crouching down in front of Inuyasha as he did so. Then, he tugged at the cloth of Inuyasha's sleeve testingly, though there was no point in his caution, Inuyasha couldn't help but think that bitterly. After all, even if the ropes were cut away by Jakotsu's snake sword, it was that very sword that bound him. If he struggled against the blades, he'd either cut off his own head or just plain bleed to death...
"It looks like your clothes will have to come off a lot sooner than expected. Pity," Jakotsu murmured, touching a cold finger to the side of Inuyasha's face, although he smirked at the (now mortal's) wincing, "But, I'll still get to have fun while doing it. After all, as a human you have no power against me. Even if you did...I'd still have my ways of keeping you here."
Unable to help but feeling disgusted as Jakotsu licked off the blood that was collecting from the slashes on his cheek (after removing the blades that had caused the slashes), the man winced at the corpse's chilling laughter, not to mention shuddered as the other licked his lips, "Delicious, better than I ever could have imagined. It will be a pleasure killing you, Inuyasha, if only to taste this blood."
However, as soon as the blades were removed from around Inuyasha's middle, he desperately tried to make his escape by getting to his feet and going into an all out sprint, but it was all in vain as he felt piercing pain in his ankles again, right before falling onto his face. Damned Jakotsu and that sword, he had almost escaped!
"Going somewhere? I think not," Jakotsu's laughter rang throughout the cave, and before he knew it, Inuyasha could feel someone sitting on his back, cold and dead hands tantalizingly moving up his back in a process to remove his shirt, which made Inuyasha struggle and thrash in an attempt to make the other stop, "Now, stop struggling so much, it'll only hurt more, Inuyasha."
Someone help me... The desperate thought went through Inuyasha's mind as he continually struggled, although part of him knew the help he sought wouldn't come in time, that he would still suffer at Jakotsu's hands...