"So you're the one in charge of those man-eating wolves," Inuyasha declared, staring down the newcomer in defiant challenge.
"What of it?" the newcomer demanded.
Sango wondered if it was a good idea to challenge this guy the moment he showed up, especially when Inuyasha had been so recently weakened by Sesshoumaru's poison. He seemed to have more or less recovered, but how much of that was mere bluster? How quickly did that poison wear off? She decided she would need to ask Inuyasha about that after this… if they made it out of this encounter in one piece.
"You fucking killed my wolves," the newcomer went on. So he was the person responsible for the wolves. "You'll pay for that!"
"You're one to talk—you reek of human blood. How many of them did you kill?"
"Wolves need to eat. You got a problem with that, dog turd?"
Sango sighed. This again? It was like his shouting match with Sesshoumaru all over again, only this time he was trading insults with a wolf instead of a dog.
Miroku insinuated himself beside her. "Dog turd," he murmured. A quick glance revealed that his eyes were sparkling with amusement despite the rather dire situation.
"He's not going to be happy about that," she agreed. It was funny, in a childish sort of way, but she didn't want to accidentally encourage either of them.
The wolf pack leader spat. "I can't stand the smell of dogs. It's giving me a headache."
"Good," Inuyasha snarled, drawing the Tessaiga. "I'll cut your head off for you. That should take care of the headache!"
Sango took a step back, both to give him space to swing the Tessaiga and to get out of the way in case he thought to use the wind scar technique again; beside her, the monk followed suit. She recalled only too well how Inuyasha in his blinded rage had nearly taken them all out along with Sesshoumaru when he unleashed the true power of the sword, and had no desire to repeat the experience. At least it seemed like she wasn't the only one.
Inuyasha swung the Tessaiga at the wolf pack leader with terrific force, but didn't use the wind scar technique. The wolf pack leader simply jumped over the blade in a tremendous leap skyward, thus neatly avoiding the blade—maybe Inuyasha should have used the wind scar.
"Remember this name — I am the leader of the wolf-youkai tribe: Kouga!"
"Youkai wolf tribe?" Miroku asked. "Do you know anything about this, Sango?"
"There were stories about them in the village. They're powerful youkai who can command wolves. On the inside they're just like wolves, but on the outside they take the form of humans," she explained. She didn't add that the village stories said these creatures were among the toughest a youkai taiji-ya could face. Not only were they immensely powerful themselves, they often had the advantage of numbers, summoning huge numbers of wolves to their defense.
Luckily for them, Inuyasha was no ordinary youkai killer, being a hanyou and in possession of the Tessaiga.
The wolf leader, Kouga, landed and immediately swung his leg around to kick Inuyasha in the face. The hanyou went crashing to the ground, sputtering as the impact tossed up dirt and rocks.
"A kick attack?" Sango wondered aloud. It wasn't what she would have expected from a wolf youkai. The stories in the village had said much about teeth and claws, and nothing at all about this.
"Inuyasha, be careful!" Kagome warned. "That Kouga guy is using Shikon shards in both legs and his right arm!"
Not one shard, but three! No wonder Kouga was so strong. And no wonder he'd gone for a kick attack, if he had augmented the strength in his legs with jewel shards. The shards probably explained his impossible running speed, as well.
Inuyasha picked himself up. "Idiot! Why didn't you say so sooner?"
Kagome stammered, unable to answer. It was plain to see on her face just how much Inuyasha's harsh words had hurt her. She was doing her best, and he had cut her down as effectively as if he had used the Tessaiga. And he was so distracted taunting Kouga that he didn't even seem to notice.
"I was wondering if you were really strong or if it was all talk," he said, addressing the wolf pack leader. "But if that's the best you can do even with jewel shards, then you're nothing special."
"Whatever, dog turd. Don't come barking at me when you're losing this fight!"
"I can't get a word in edgewise," Kagome murmured disconsolately.
"Well, they're both rather coarse, in their own way," Miroku added by way of agreement.
"Not that you could tell them that!" Shippou chimed in helpfully.
For her part, Sango was almost ready to throw the hiraikotsu into the fray just to get the two of them to stop arguing and just get it over with.
At least Inuyasha hadn't overheard his companions' conversation. He was busy yelling, "I'm gonna shut that big fat mouth of yours once and for all!"
This time he was ready when Kouga tried a kick attack. Switching to a one-handed grip on the Tessaiga, he caught the wolf youkai's knee before it could strike and hurled Kouga back. The wolf youkai recovered enough to land lightly and with a smirk.
"Really? You're going to shut my mouth when it took everything you had to stop that kick?"
"I stopped that kick with one hand — bah!" He was pretty clearly out of patience by now.
Yes, Sango thought, he's goading you on, Inuyasha, because he knows blind rage will make you weak. Don't give him what he wants! But she didn't say it out loud—yet—because she didn't want to be yet another distraction.
"Get back, all of you," Inuyasha warned.
Her heart thudding, Sango realized that he must be about to attempt to use the wind scar on Kouga.
The hanyou readied himself, and his sword, for the strike and was in mid-swing when Kouga abruptly reversed course and jumped back and out of the way.
"Watch out!" he called to the remaining wolves. "Something stinks. Let's get out of here!" And with that order given, the wolves and their leader disappeared in a hasty retreat, leaving Sango and the others in confusion.
"Inuyasha, were you about to use the wind scar attack?" Miroku asked into the awkward silence that followed.
"Yeah. Too bad he ran off so quickly. Nothing but mouth." He sheathed the Tessaiga with a sort of angry finality. For Inuyasha, at least, the fight was officially over.
"I wonder about that," the monk went on.
"What do you mean?"
Sango fell into step alongside them, as curious as Inuyasha.
"Kouga had no way of knowing about the Tessaiga's special powers," Miroku pointed out. "So why did he run? If he had some sort of intuition, or sensed that you were up to something even before you attacked…"
It made sense now. "He'll be harder to defeat than someone that depends on brute strength alone," she finished.
"Exactly," the monk said with a nod. "At any rate, we can't allow man-eating wolves to roam freely with pieces of the Shikon jewel. We'll need to do something about this."
"Of course!" Inuyasha agreed, all but shouting as he warmed to his topic. "That guy's all bluff anyway, calling me dog-turd! I'll show him!"
He forged ahead of the rest of the group, crouching low to the ground. With the mood he was obviously in, it seemed safer to ask Miroku. She moved closer so she could speak without being overheard. "What's he doing?"
"Hah! I've got his scent!" the hanyou crowed. Without waiting for the others, he moved off the main road and into the trees.
"Apparently," Miroku said, wide-eyed but managing not to laugh, "he's going to track the wolves like a dog."