Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.
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The
War Between Races
Chapter
8 - Saved by the Enemy
By:
Scaevola
Published
9/16/05
Updated
10/09/05
The army had moved through the border the day before, quickly heading into the cover of the mountains. As they climbed higher, snow began to fall around the army, blanketing the land in white.
They kept marching, ignoring the cold. However, when the snow had reached several feet, the Western Lord called the army to a halt and ordered to have camp set up.
He was not worried over the demons in the snow, no, the demons would not allow themselves to be bothered by such a small matter, but Sesshomaru knew of the dangers of the snow in the mountains. When he had originally planned to go through the mountains in the winter, he had no realized how heavily it snowed. He began to think of other options.
If the army continued marching, they were risking the hazard of avalanches, and even starvation. He began to think that perhaps InuYasha's idea had been better - the forest would have been safer. He'd never admit that InuYasha was right however. Finally, Sesshomaru called all of his generals and commanders together. He'd have to seek second opinions in this matter.
That was where he was heading now. He had decided that they would discuss the situation as they ate that evening. He had several demons set up a large tent for privacy. As he pulled back the flap to the tent, Sesshomaru was immediately greeted with a blast of warm air. Searching for the source of the warmth, Sesshomaru found that the soldiers had put a fire at the side of the tent, far enough away from the edges of the fabric to be safe.
In the center of the room was a large table, on top of which sat some roasted deer, which seemed to be the army's only source of food since they had entered the mountains.
Around the table sat all of the people he had called. They were already there, not daring to arrive after the Western Lord. When he stepped into the tent, they looked up at him and immediately greeted him, one even pulling out a chair at the head of the table for him to sit.
Sesshomaru studied the faces at the table. Kaito the kitsune leader, sat farthest from him on the right, with Torei from the tengu youkai. Next to him sat Ishimaru from the mountain oni, and next to him was Taiki from the fire demons. Taiki was glaring across the table from him at the leader of the Yuki-onna, Koori. Next to her was Koga, who had put his filthy feet on the table and was leaning back in his chair, casually twirling a pair of chopsticks between his fingers while trying, and failing, to ignore Karan from the Panther demons next to him. To the left of her was the leader of the Kappa youkai, Byooki.
Nobody spoke for some time, everyone waiting for Sesshomaru to speak first. The Western Lord calmly took some food and dished himself, ignoring the impatient people around him. He then waved for them to dish themselves.
"I have called you all here because I wanted to discuss our situation with you all." He said.
"What situation?" asked Karan. "Everything has been going smoothly, except for the prince's sudden disappearance!"
"InuYasha is none of your concern. If you must know, he is currently attempting to gather some more forces for us. He will meet us at Kirei. As for our situation, I am referring to the weather." replied Sesshomaru.
Koga put his feet down and leaned forward, wearing a small smirk. "Is the great and terrible Sesshomaru worried about a little snow? I had no idea dogs were such weaklings!"
Sesshomaru chose to ignore the remark. "I am worried that perhaps staying the mountains would not be such a great idea. I admit I originally thought that it would provide us cover and allow us to reach Kirei without much trouble, but now I fear that if we do not leave the mountains, we will lose as many men to the elements as we would if we fought our way to Kirei."
Koori spoke then. "The Yuki-onna can handle this weather, Lord Sesshomaru. However, I do not think that weak fire demons will be able to. Perhaps it would be best if we stayed out of the mountains for them."
Taiki bristled in anger. "The fire demons won't have any problems with this weather either Lord Sesshomaru! We can easily handle anything the Yuki-onna can."
Sesshomaru held his hand up to keep Koori from retorting. "Before any of you say anymore, allow me to explain fully. I know that all of you can handle the cold. However, wildlife here can not. With each passing day we have had to ration our supplies more and more. However, losing men to hunger is not the only problem. We also have to worry about avalanches and snowdrifts."
Kaito, the Kitsune leader, spoke up then. "We could leave and take on the villages at the base of the mountains. They'll have plenty of supplies to use, and although nobody else will admit it, I for one wouldn't mind having a roof over my head in the winter."
Sesshomaru nodded and looked at the others. "I agree. I have been having similar thoughts myself, and I think it would be best if we left the mountains soon. Now, eat. We will camp here tonight, but tomorrow we will head out of the mountains."
Ishimaru began to protest. "But Lord Sesshomaru! If we leave the mountains we'll be inviting the humans to attack us! And if we get caught inside a village they can trap us in there. There may be risks to staying in the mountains, but there are many more risks to staying in a village!"
Sesshomaru studied the mountain oni. He was large, twice the height of Sesshomaru and three times as wide. His fist was the size of his head and in it he often carried a large club. Many people immediately dismissed him as a brute with little brains when they saw him, even Sesshomaru had originally thought so, but after meeting Ishimaru and having several conversations with him, the Western Lord knew that the oni had quite a sharp mind.
"That is true, Ishimaru. We would be taking many risks by heading to a village, however, do you honestly believe that it is less safe than staying in these mountains? True, the village leaves us open to attack, but the humans will be slowed down by the snow. By the time they reach the village, we will already have known they are coming and be able to move on."
Torei didn't seem happy with the idea. "I agree with Ishimaru, if we go into the village we will surely -"
Sesshomaru cut him off. "I have made my decision, and I will not allow any more argument. We will head towards a village tomorrow."
Not all of the demons looked happy with the decision. Sesshomaru didn't care though. Tomorrow he would be able to rest easy knowing that he had not needlessly risked the lives of his men.
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Naraku walked through the halls of the palace. 'My palace' he thought with a smirk. Yes, he had been planning this for awhile, and now it was finally working in his favor. He had silently sent InuTaisho misleading information, telling him that his most loyal advisors were in fact traitors.
Even Jinji, who had faced such a harsh fate, had actually been a very strong supporter of InuTaisho. The fact that Jinji had spoken out to InuTaisho that one time was very convenient for Naraku. All the letters and warnings he had given InuTaisho about Jinji earlier immediately seemed believable, and InuTaisho ended up losing another supporter.
Now, with most, if not all of the Taisho family's strongest supporters out of the way, Naraku had free reign of much of the western empire. All he needed to do now was contact a few of the lords who did not support the Taisho family, and gain their allegiance.
The first and most important Naraku would contact, would be Ryuukossei, InuTaisho's longest and strongest rival.
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Kagome sat in the hut, still panting and tired from helping put the fires out. Several others sat in the hut as well. Kaede, for one, though she seemed relatively unaffected by what had just happened. Laying against the wall of the hut were several demon slayers and villagers, all who had minor burns and a few injuries.
Kagome didn't know exactly what had happened, but she and Kaede were on their way to leave the village with several demon slayers when they had hurt some shouts come from behind them. Fearing the worst, they immediately turned around and hurried back to the village, only to see several buildings aflame.
Kaede looked at the men, offering one of them a glass of water. "Can you tell us what happened?" she asked him.
He nodded as he drank. Putting the glass down with a sigh, he began. "After Kikyo-sama had told you and the princess to head back to Kirei, we began to prepare sleeping arrangements for Kikyo-sama. We were heading towards her hut with her belongings when a youkai, - no, a hanyou jumped off the roof and leapt over us."
He paused to take another drink from the glass. "The demon practically ignored us. We were a little surprised, but it didn't take long to figure about why. It headed straight towards the shrine, where the sacred jewel was held."
Kagome gasped, but was quickly silenced by Kaede's glare.
The man continued, "About ten of us followed the demon into the shrine, - it was cornered, even if it had the jewel, it was cornered in a village full of miko's and demon slayers. But the demon didn't even bother trying to fight us, he blocked our attacks like they were nothing and knocked over some torches before it jumped through the roof. We tried to follow it, but it was too fast. It just leapt over the buildings and into the forest."
Kaede sighed. Things weren't looking too good. With the jewel gone, they might as well surrender to the demons.
"Where is Lady Kikyo? I must speak with her." said Kaede.
The man looked up at her. "She followed the demon into the forest I think. She said she would return with the jewel."
It was Kaede's turn to gasp. "She's in the forest alone? With a demon that has the jewel shard?" The older miko looked over at Kagome. "Come child we must find her!"
"Shouldn't I find some of the more experienced mikos Lady Kaede?" asked Kagome.
"There's no time child! Come with me. We'll have some demon slayers come with us!" Kaede hurried out of the hut, telling a few of the men that Kikyo was in the forest chasing the demon, and that they would have to help her.
They all ran out to the village in the direction that the demon had went earlier. They continued in silence, the only sound reaching their ears was their own breathing and their footsteps. Finally, they came upon a body on the ground.
As they came closer, they realized whose body it was.
"Lady Kikyo!" gasped Kaede. She hurried over to the younger miko. They all circled around Kikyo's body.
Kagome looked around. They were just outside of the barrier now, surrounded by large trees. Kagome gasped at what she saw on one of the trees.
Kaede looked up, "What is it child?" She followed Kagome's eyes. Pinned to a large tree was a hanyou. A dog demon, to be exact. He had long silver hair and two dog ears on top of his head. An arrow pierced through his chest. Kaede instantly recognized it as a seal to keep the hanyou pinned to the tree.
"So that is the demon that took the jewel." she said. She looked down at the base of the tree. "The Shikon no Tama!"
They hurried over to the tree to get the jewel. When they turned around however, a demon stepped out from behind a tree nearby. "Yes, the Shikon no Tama." he said. "I'm surprised that a hanyou like this did it. I have to hand it to him, he must be pretty strong to do what the youkai in this forest couldn't."
The demon slayers all raised their weapons, ready to attack the demon, when many other demons came out from behind them. Realizing they were surrounded, they quickly formed a circle around the Princess and Kaede.
"Oh, I wouldn't bother. You'll all be dead soon anyways. But first, you're going to hand over the Shikon no Tama." He held his hand out, ready to accept the jewel.
Kagome looked around. There was no hope. If they didn't hand over the jewel, they'd be overpowered by the demons. She picked up the jewel, ignoring Kaede's protests.
She walked over to the demon, holding out the jewel. She was about to give it to him when the demon slayers behind her grabbed her and pulled her away from the demon.
"You must not give it to him Kagome-sama!" said one.
Slowly, the group of humans back away from the demons, trying to find away to get away from the demons. Eventually, they ended up next to the hanyou.
The head demon spoke up again. "This is your last chance. Hand over the jewel, or we'll -"
He stopped talking abruptly, looking behind the humans. "It's alive?" he asked.
Kagome turned around, only to see the hanyou opening his eyes. Their eyes met briefly.
"You!" he snarled. "You pinned me to this tree wench!"
Kagome's eyes widened. "Me? I did not pin you to this tree! I am not Kikyo!"
"Keh! You look and smell exactly like the wench who pinned me to this tree!" As he was talking his eyes found Kikyo's body on the ground. He let out a small "Oh."
"See?" asked Kagome. "I am Kagome! Not Kikyo! Ka-go-me!"
The demon spoke up again. "I hate to interrupt you to, but I am still waiting for you to hand over the jewel."
"The jewel?" asked the hanyou. "It's mine! Give it to me!" he snarled, reaching out with his hands.
The demon sighed. "I've waited long enough. Take the shard!" he signaled for the demons behind him to attack. They ran forward, snarling, when Kagome threw the jewel towards them.
They all stopped, their attack, looking for the jewel. The head demon, who had seen where she threw it, calmly walked over and picked it up.
"My thanks, humans. But I'm still going to enjoy killing you." He took the jewel and swallowed it.
The humans watched in horror as the demon consumed the jewel. They were about to resign themselves to their fate when the hanyou spoke.
"Oi." came a voice behind them. Kagome turned to see the hanyou looking at them. "Pull this arrow out."
"Nani? Why would we do that?" asked Kagome.
"Do you want to die here too?" he answered with his own question.
Kaede looked at them sharply. "No! Do not free him Lady Kagome! He'll turn on us as soon as he can!"
The hanyou glared at her. "Just pull it out if you don't want to die!"
The choice was easy for Kagome to make. She reached up and grabbed the arrow in his chest, pulling with all her strength. The arrow snapped, and a bright purple light burst out of it.
The hanyou...pulsed. The humans could feel the power flowing from him. They slowly backed away from the hanyou, slightly scared at what the Princess just released.
The demons surrounding them, realizing what had happened, roared in fury and charged at the humans. The hanyou, keeping his promise, leapt in front of them, drawing his sword.
(remember, InuYasha has his Tetsusaiga already in my story.)
"Kaze No Kizu!" he shouted, slamming his sword down. Kagome watched in awe as the attack shot through the ground, tearing it up before it reached the demons, who cried out in pain as they were hit. In seconds, it was over, and only large marks in the ground remained, along with the jewel.
InuYasha took a step towards the jewel, but stopped when he felt a necklace clasp around his neck. "Nani?" he asked, trying to pull it off. They had just put a slave necklace on him!
Kaede looked at him. "Although you saved us, we can not trust you to not do anything once you get the jewel. However, we will release you once we return the jewel to the royal palace in Kirei along with Princess Kagome."
"Princess Kagome?" muttered the hanyou. He looked at her then. "You're Kagome Higurashi?" he snarled.
Before Kagome could answer, Kaede spoke once more. "Remember my promise. You will be released once we return to the royal palace. However, if you harm the princess in anyway, I will not release you."
The hanyou looked at Kagome with pure hatred then, which made her shudder. She definitely wouldn't be able to sleep tonight! Finally, the hanyou spoke. "Fine. I won't hurt you or her, so long as you release me at the palace."
Kagome spoke up then. "What's your name?"
The hanyou looked at her then, the hatred still in his eyes. "Keh. That's none of your concern." he said, looking away.
The truth was, he didn't know what to tell her. She was the princess of the Eastern Kingdoms, the very family he had set out to kill. If he told them his name, he probably wouldn't live to see tomorrow.
They could easily kill him in an instant with the slave necklace on his neck. There'd be no way for him to escape.
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