Well damn, ppl. All I got was one lousy ...Heh.not to say that I don't
appreciate such a nice review, but c'mon ppl! I break that story out of
semi retirement, and I only get one?! *starts whining pleadingly like a
lil puppy*
Che...Figures.
Kagome Hurt: Chapter 10
In a very much overlooked room in a very little used hall, an ancient old kitsune puttered around a table. On that table were several sacred ancestral objects whose knowledge of their existence was placed into his hands at a very young age by his grandfather.
Kooranai reverently swiped a dust cloth over the gleaming surfaces of the sacred artifacts and used a thin cleaning brush to get between the intricate crevices of a smaller accompanying artifact. The elderly demon winced every time the cleaning brush depressed one of the delicately small tiles with a clack, sure that the next time he would be destroyed for such sacrilege.
And each time, the massively deep wrinkles smoothed out just a trice to their normal weather beaten visage as death from on high did not come down to claim him just yet. Well, the time was coming. Soon. After all, he had seen for himself a possible candidate to decipher the scroll his grandfather left him to guard. That girl the master brought in showed many of the signs he was told to look out for.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
As the tall silver haired being known to all throughout the Western Lands as Lord Sesshoumaru-sama stalked from the gardens and its intriguing occupant, his departure was marked by the previously desired laughter that reminded him of delicately chiming bells.
It was only the second day of his hostage's occupation, and yet he could detect a slight difference in all those around him. Things seemed lighter, took on a happier hue, and must be halted before it got out of hand.
The calm features of the Taiyoukai met all inquiring glances from the servants with a stern reminder to go about their business. He too had an errand to accomplish.
Three halls, four hidden passageways and two connecting rooms later, Sesshoumaru made it successfully to his private study without a) becoming lost, which was a trial even for him after so long in the huge ancestral dwelling, or b) running into Jakin, who had an annoying habit of turning up with a rambunctious Rin in tow. Right now, the dreaded youkai lord needed to attain the right frame of mind in order to construct a missive he would address to that mongrel who just happened to share half of his dna.
It was hard to remain so bone-chillingly cold and ruthless when he had a limpet in the form of his human charge attached to his leg. When he was in front of other dangerous youkai, it was easier, but alone in the palace, it was much worse to try to maintain his normal front with Rin grinning up at him.
'The life of a powerful youkai lord was fraught with peril' he thought to himself with an inward grin, knowing he quoted some long ago forefather.
As he settled himself in front of a low table scattered with scrolls, quills, and a handy pot of ink, Sesshoumaru closed his eyes momentarily and allowed a vicious smirk to cross his delineated features as he gathered his thoughts and ordered the right words to convey the correct amount of contempt he had in both the hanyou as well as the wench, although she was surprising him on quite a few occasions.
If only to himself, the demon would admit that she was the only human for whom he had to continually revise his opinion. Many of his preconceived notions were crushed as her actions contradicted much of what he was taught to believe. But experience also taught him that she was an exception. Well, her and Rin, but that was to be expected since that fortunate child was lucky enough to be raised by a civilized youkai with many of the privileges that were denied to the simpler peasants of the lands.
Anyway, back to his letter. Using a claw to trim the nib of his quill, Sesshoumaru gracefully inked the tip and set pen to paper. His letter began with:
"Dear Flea-bitten mongrel,
If it has not already escaped your pitiful notice, the backbone of your little group has been severed as it is missing a certain key member. I, Sesshoumaru, have gained possession of the miko Kagome, and am willing to consider trading her worthless existence for a certain something which you know I desire as the rightful heir of Inutaisho Taiyoukai. I will hold your wench until I either receive the Tetsaiga or become weary of her presence here at my palace. If the latter occurs, then her demise will be upon your shoulders as you should have gotten here sooner.
Better make haste,
Sesshoumaru Taiyoukai, Lord of the Western Lands, its provinces, the island of Konohana, and host of this year's South-Western Regional Court"
With the pale skinned youkai's smirk never leaving his face, Sesshoumaru blotted and sanded the ink, rolled up the scroll and sealed it with a wax dollop and his hanko mark of the crescent moon and two stripes.
Rising eerily to his feet, the silent lord smoothed out his features once again before exiting the safety of his private study. It would not do to ruin his perfect reputation as the demon lord who never smiled, at least not in front of the lowly servants.
Making his way on silent feet, the white and red kimono clad youkai made it to the hall (also without getting lost, point for him! It's a good day) and signaled one of the resident wolf demons by catching the messenger's eyes.
When the vassal knelt before his lord to accept the new mission, Sesshoumaru kept his instructions terse and to the point.
"Place this in the hands of the hanyou known as Inuyasha. He can normally be found about Inuyasha's forest, or at the village adjacent. Get it there today, before sunset. I do not need to remind you of the punishment for failure. Do not wait for an answer. Now go."
And as the last word escaped his oh-so-delectable lips, the wolf was off, almost faster than Sesshoumaru himself.
The inu demon thought to himself, I will have results in one day, two at the most. My father's sword, or the human wench. Heh, perhaps I will introduce her to the court before she departs. It would be interesting to see both their and her reactions to each other. I have a feeling the experience will be most entertaining.
Nearby servants brought their heads up quickly at the sound of unfamiliar laughter echoing through the halls. A few of the guards quickly discerned that no one knew who it belonged to, so they ranged through out the halls searching for an intruder. All they were rewarded with was the quizzical stare of their master. The intruder must have gone another way. No way had the uptight lord cracked a smile in decades, let alone let loose with the evil belly laugh they had just heard.
As their lord passed the respectfully bowing figures of the guards, the two men at arms shot each other a look at the sound of stifled mirth. Neither one knew what to make of it, nor had the gumption to question their lord.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Taki the Wolf messenger loped across the land at the ground eating pace natural to his kind. With endurance up the wazoo, his method of travel always made the wolf species desirable as trusted emissaries. They were speedy, loyal, and were naturally equipped to protect their missives.
Taki also had a vested interest in getting this message to the dog turd. This young male was on loan from his pack as a representative for Kouga. Although he did not know the exact contents of the letter, this lupine knew politics, so it had to involve the miko that his leader had his heart set on.
Kouga wanted the female, and there was no way in hell he would have access to her in the Western Lord's domain. It was far easier to separate the wench from the hanyou, and that mutt had the only option of extracting her from the emotionally incapacitated Taiyoukai.
As far as he knew, Sesshoumaru did not know of the wolf leader's interest in the girl, or he would have sent someone else. So it was up to him to do as he was instructed, which was deliver the message and quick. To this end, the canine demon leapt over rough terrain and blurred through forests, only a faint whooshing sound to mark his passage.
He was unaccosted, as anyone with ill intent had to see him first, before they can try to catch him, and they had to catch up with him in order to harm him. It was a three way plus.
It took him the rest of the afternoon just to reach the edges of Inuyasha's forest, and the light was starting to wan when Taki figured out that his quarry was no where to be found in either it or the village nearby. It only took a scenting with his sensitive nose to realize that the inu-kuro had not been present for the past few days either.
Plunking down at the outskirts of the village in plain sight, withdrew the rolled scroll to contemplate his fate should he fail to deliver. Not even once did he consider blaming Sesshoumaru for wrong directions. It was just ingrained in his feudal era mind that the Lord could never be held accountable for times like these.
It was here on the packed dirt of the walkway that Taki was finally attacked. A tingling in his mind warned him that powerful angry youki was focused on him, which gave the wolf just enough time to spring from his position. With barely an inch or two to spare, a large boomerang sliced from below nicking a few of the lustrous hairs from his chestnut colored tail.
Taki knew he wasn't too handsome a male, but he took pride in how well groomed his tail was. It was his only claim when it came time for him to take a mate. That this tajijya would so carelessly harm it... why, it made him seething mad.
He turned with a growl and noticed that the group had indeed come from downwind, thus ensuring not a whiff could warn him. His lip came down to cloak his bright and shiny's. Ah, here was the recipient of the message, and apparently, the owner of the youki energy that chocked highly on his personal scale.
And so, despite the danger he was in with the female exterminator and the rather surly monk that was fingering his beaded right hand, Taki gained the attention of the only other canine in the group.
Once he knew he had Inuyasha's attention, he deliberately lowered his eyes and took the ritual position of a recalcitrant intruder in another's territory. After all, in his line of work, he had to know all the different species' custom's in order to not get his block taken off. It just so happened that dog-boy and him had a native common ground.
Inuyasha's ears perked up at this change in routine. Normally, when they find a demon nearby the village, only pillage and plunder were on the youkai's mind. Instincts warned him that if he continued to attack, it would be a breech in etiquette.
And some part of his mind was stunned at this subconscious inner revelation. Inuyasha? With etiquette?! Lucifer, the demon lord of the western main lands also known as Asia and Europe was just pelted a couple of times with snowballs.
Anyway, back to the Japanese standoff...
Inuyasha cautiously withdrew from his 'attack crouch' and to the surprise of his companions, waved them back from overtly attacking.
"Don't worry humans. This one is not challenging us for territory or rights."
Sango visibly has an eye twitch. "Territory or rights?! It's a demon, Inuyasha! We should kill it now before it has a chance to invade the village!"
Inuyasha, whose memories overlaid her words with the voices of all the villagers in his youth, snarled at her. "Watch what you say."
Sango pulls back, shocked at his tone and words.
"You're turning out like all those who only have hate in their hearts for those different than you. This male," and he sneers at that, "is clearly a messenger, and comes with the proper behavior as befitting emissary. We do not kill the messenger."
Miroku retains his council, both because he has never seen this side of the hanyou, and because his words, however harsh, have a ring of truth. He was only glad that Shippo had remained in the village with Kaede. The poor kit seemed to be having withdrawal symptoms and was in a fit of depression. Fighting demons would only make it worse, since without Kagome there to be his guiding light and steady rock to hold on to. Without his unofficial okaa-san, Shippo had no confidence in his skills.
Meanwhile, Taki takes this small argument over whether they should kill him or not as time to glance unobtrusively at the present 'pack mates'. That was what they acted as, after all. It seemed Inuyasha was the dominant male. The exterminator acted as beta with aspirations to challenging the hanyou for his position. The other male, what he recognized as a ningen houshi, stayed silent, and for that silence, appeared all the more deadly.
It was also clear by the postures that each pack member took that they were a broken pack. Members were missing and the remaining felt the loss severely. Taki figured that the miko normally would be placed behind the dominant male and a little to the side, closer to the female. The way the group was arrayed against him, it would be the optimum positioning for attacking the enemy as well as defending the miko... and one other. There was a small hole in the pack's present offensive grid that can be filled with only that of a child. This particular position was also easily moved so that offense could quickly become defense, and thus have the young blood of the pack protected.
Interesting.
By this time, the beta was sufficiently cowed so that she would not present her challenge to the leader immediately. They would deal with the problem he presented before settling their differences in the safety of privacy.
"What are you here for, wolf?" barked the white haired hanyou.
Taki straightened from his temporary submissive posture in order to deliver the scroll. Although he noted that the beta remained tense with a hand on the large weapon of hers, the monk deemed the situation in hand and was unobtrusively sidling his way closer to the beta. For what purpose, the wolf did not know.
"I am here on behalf of Lord Sesshoumaru." Ah, this caused all of them to switch back to wary battle mode.
"He ordered me to deliver this," he waved the rolled up parchment to indicate that he held no surprise weapons. Taki was of the belief that it did not bode well for the longevity of a messenger if they chose to mess around with the heads of the recipients.
Inuyasha growled half in warning before commanding, "Leave it on the ground, back away, and then depart my forest. You won't be killed if you do not make a nuisance of yourself."
Taki nodded his acknowledgement of the order. Even though he hated taking them from his leader's rival for a mate, it was the hanyou's right as present pack leader and claimant of the surrounding territory.
Mission accomplished. Time to return to the castle, since the last rays of the day were just now lancing over the horizon.
From the Inu-tachi's point of view, the chestnut colored demon melted into the surrounding forest line and disappeared from sight. The humans were still tense, since their inferior senses could not tell them what Inuyasha knew.
The soft fluffy ears that Kagome so loved kept themselves swiveled to track the lupine's progress out of the hanyou's range. When the silver haired one was satisfied that his command was carried out, he stalked toward the innocent looking scrap of paper on the ground and snatched it up.
Glancing over the seal momentarily, Inuyasha acknowledged that it was indeed his brother's message and slipped a claw under it to pop the wax. Skimming the note, a very scary growl was heard by Miroku and Sango, and they were probably better off not knowing that his eyes leaked small amounts of red before returning to normal.
Inuyasha whirled on his companions and literally stamped between them, headed back to the village. As he passed his friends, (not that he would ever tell them that) his hand flashed out and threw the missive on the ground where they could look at it for themselves.
But as Miroku's hand reached down to pick it up, Inuyasha's hate filled words stilled him.
"The bastard has got Kagome. He's kidnapped her, and will kill her if we don't arrive there soon."
Sango was about to reach over and touch the red haori covered shoulder when the half demon flinched away from her.
"Pack your things, Sango, Miroku. We're going into the Western Territory."
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
A.N. Well how was that people? Eight pages, and that only accounts for about two short paragraphs I have on the overall timeline. For all those who were wondering how long this fic was going to be, let me inform you that with an 8 pg : 2 paragraph ratio, 17 pages of notes will equal a very long story.
I hope you all will be very happy, and continue to review. You want me to continue with the character descriptions I had on the last chapter? I seem to have concocted a few more personalities for my story.
Oh, and what are your thoughts on an eventual anime crossover? I have one in mind, but it will be quite a while from now, so mucho Sessie and Inu goodness.
Thanks again, everyone.
Che...Figures.
Kagome Hurt: Chapter 10
In a very much overlooked room in a very little used hall, an ancient old kitsune puttered around a table. On that table were several sacred ancestral objects whose knowledge of their existence was placed into his hands at a very young age by his grandfather.
Kooranai reverently swiped a dust cloth over the gleaming surfaces of the sacred artifacts and used a thin cleaning brush to get between the intricate crevices of a smaller accompanying artifact. The elderly demon winced every time the cleaning brush depressed one of the delicately small tiles with a clack, sure that the next time he would be destroyed for such sacrilege.
And each time, the massively deep wrinkles smoothed out just a trice to their normal weather beaten visage as death from on high did not come down to claim him just yet. Well, the time was coming. Soon. After all, he had seen for himself a possible candidate to decipher the scroll his grandfather left him to guard. That girl the master brought in showed many of the signs he was told to look out for.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
As the tall silver haired being known to all throughout the Western Lands as Lord Sesshoumaru-sama stalked from the gardens and its intriguing occupant, his departure was marked by the previously desired laughter that reminded him of delicately chiming bells.
It was only the second day of his hostage's occupation, and yet he could detect a slight difference in all those around him. Things seemed lighter, took on a happier hue, and must be halted before it got out of hand.
The calm features of the Taiyoukai met all inquiring glances from the servants with a stern reminder to go about their business. He too had an errand to accomplish.
Three halls, four hidden passageways and two connecting rooms later, Sesshoumaru made it successfully to his private study without a) becoming lost, which was a trial even for him after so long in the huge ancestral dwelling, or b) running into Jakin, who had an annoying habit of turning up with a rambunctious Rin in tow. Right now, the dreaded youkai lord needed to attain the right frame of mind in order to construct a missive he would address to that mongrel who just happened to share half of his dna.
It was hard to remain so bone-chillingly cold and ruthless when he had a limpet in the form of his human charge attached to his leg. When he was in front of other dangerous youkai, it was easier, but alone in the palace, it was much worse to try to maintain his normal front with Rin grinning up at him.
'The life of a powerful youkai lord was fraught with peril' he thought to himself with an inward grin, knowing he quoted some long ago forefather.
As he settled himself in front of a low table scattered with scrolls, quills, and a handy pot of ink, Sesshoumaru closed his eyes momentarily and allowed a vicious smirk to cross his delineated features as he gathered his thoughts and ordered the right words to convey the correct amount of contempt he had in both the hanyou as well as the wench, although she was surprising him on quite a few occasions.
If only to himself, the demon would admit that she was the only human for whom he had to continually revise his opinion. Many of his preconceived notions were crushed as her actions contradicted much of what he was taught to believe. But experience also taught him that she was an exception. Well, her and Rin, but that was to be expected since that fortunate child was lucky enough to be raised by a civilized youkai with many of the privileges that were denied to the simpler peasants of the lands.
Anyway, back to his letter. Using a claw to trim the nib of his quill, Sesshoumaru gracefully inked the tip and set pen to paper. His letter began with:
"Dear Flea-bitten mongrel,
If it has not already escaped your pitiful notice, the backbone of your little group has been severed as it is missing a certain key member. I, Sesshoumaru, have gained possession of the miko Kagome, and am willing to consider trading her worthless existence for a certain something which you know I desire as the rightful heir of Inutaisho Taiyoukai. I will hold your wench until I either receive the Tetsaiga or become weary of her presence here at my palace. If the latter occurs, then her demise will be upon your shoulders as you should have gotten here sooner.
Better make haste,
Sesshoumaru Taiyoukai, Lord of the Western Lands, its provinces, the island of Konohana, and host of this year's South-Western Regional Court"
With the pale skinned youkai's smirk never leaving his face, Sesshoumaru blotted and sanded the ink, rolled up the scroll and sealed it with a wax dollop and his hanko mark of the crescent moon and two stripes.
Rising eerily to his feet, the silent lord smoothed out his features once again before exiting the safety of his private study. It would not do to ruin his perfect reputation as the demon lord who never smiled, at least not in front of the lowly servants.
Making his way on silent feet, the white and red kimono clad youkai made it to the hall (also without getting lost, point for him! It's a good day) and signaled one of the resident wolf demons by catching the messenger's eyes.
When the vassal knelt before his lord to accept the new mission, Sesshoumaru kept his instructions terse and to the point.
"Place this in the hands of the hanyou known as Inuyasha. He can normally be found about Inuyasha's forest, or at the village adjacent. Get it there today, before sunset. I do not need to remind you of the punishment for failure. Do not wait for an answer. Now go."
And as the last word escaped his oh-so-delectable lips, the wolf was off, almost faster than Sesshoumaru himself.
The inu demon thought to himself, I will have results in one day, two at the most. My father's sword, or the human wench. Heh, perhaps I will introduce her to the court before she departs. It would be interesting to see both their and her reactions to each other. I have a feeling the experience will be most entertaining.
Nearby servants brought their heads up quickly at the sound of unfamiliar laughter echoing through the halls. A few of the guards quickly discerned that no one knew who it belonged to, so they ranged through out the halls searching for an intruder. All they were rewarded with was the quizzical stare of their master. The intruder must have gone another way. No way had the uptight lord cracked a smile in decades, let alone let loose with the evil belly laugh they had just heard.
As their lord passed the respectfully bowing figures of the guards, the two men at arms shot each other a look at the sound of stifled mirth. Neither one knew what to make of it, nor had the gumption to question their lord.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Taki the Wolf messenger loped across the land at the ground eating pace natural to his kind. With endurance up the wazoo, his method of travel always made the wolf species desirable as trusted emissaries. They were speedy, loyal, and were naturally equipped to protect their missives.
Taki also had a vested interest in getting this message to the dog turd. This young male was on loan from his pack as a representative for Kouga. Although he did not know the exact contents of the letter, this lupine knew politics, so it had to involve the miko that his leader had his heart set on.
Kouga wanted the female, and there was no way in hell he would have access to her in the Western Lord's domain. It was far easier to separate the wench from the hanyou, and that mutt had the only option of extracting her from the emotionally incapacitated Taiyoukai.
As far as he knew, Sesshoumaru did not know of the wolf leader's interest in the girl, or he would have sent someone else. So it was up to him to do as he was instructed, which was deliver the message and quick. To this end, the canine demon leapt over rough terrain and blurred through forests, only a faint whooshing sound to mark his passage.
He was unaccosted, as anyone with ill intent had to see him first, before they can try to catch him, and they had to catch up with him in order to harm him. It was a three way plus.
It took him the rest of the afternoon just to reach the edges of Inuyasha's forest, and the light was starting to wan when Taki figured out that his quarry was no where to be found in either it or the village nearby. It only took a scenting with his sensitive nose to realize that the inu-kuro had not been present for the past few days either.
Plunking down at the outskirts of the village in plain sight, withdrew the rolled scroll to contemplate his fate should he fail to deliver. Not even once did he consider blaming Sesshoumaru for wrong directions. It was just ingrained in his feudal era mind that the Lord could never be held accountable for times like these.
It was here on the packed dirt of the walkway that Taki was finally attacked. A tingling in his mind warned him that powerful angry youki was focused on him, which gave the wolf just enough time to spring from his position. With barely an inch or two to spare, a large boomerang sliced from below nicking a few of the lustrous hairs from his chestnut colored tail.
Taki knew he wasn't too handsome a male, but he took pride in how well groomed his tail was. It was his only claim when it came time for him to take a mate. That this tajijya would so carelessly harm it... why, it made him seething mad.
He turned with a growl and noticed that the group had indeed come from downwind, thus ensuring not a whiff could warn him. His lip came down to cloak his bright and shiny's. Ah, here was the recipient of the message, and apparently, the owner of the youki energy that chocked highly on his personal scale.
And so, despite the danger he was in with the female exterminator and the rather surly monk that was fingering his beaded right hand, Taki gained the attention of the only other canine in the group.
Once he knew he had Inuyasha's attention, he deliberately lowered his eyes and took the ritual position of a recalcitrant intruder in another's territory. After all, in his line of work, he had to know all the different species' custom's in order to not get his block taken off. It just so happened that dog-boy and him had a native common ground.
Inuyasha's ears perked up at this change in routine. Normally, when they find a demon nearby the village, only pillage and plunder were on the youkai's mind. Instincts warned him that if he continued to attack, it would be a breech in etiquette.
And some part of his mind was stunned at this subconscious inner revelation. Inuyasha? With etiquette?! Lucifer, the demon lord of the western main lands also known as Asia and Europe was just pelted a couple of times with snowballs.
Anyway, back to the Japanese standoff...
Inuyasha cautiously withdrew from his 'attack crouch' and to the surprise of his companions, waved them back from overtly attacking.
"Don't worry humans. This one is not challenging us for territory or rights."
Sango visibly has an eye twitch. "Territory or rights?! It's a demon, Inuyasha! We should kill it now before it has a chance to invade the village!"
Inuyasha, whose memories overlaid her words with the voices of all the villagers in his youth, snarled at her. "Watch what you say."
Sango pulls back, shocked at his tone and words.
"You're turning out like all those who only have hate in their hearts for those different than you. This male," and he sneers at that, "is clearly a messenger, and comes with the proper behavior as befitting emissary. We do not kill the messenger."
Miroku retains his council, both because he has never seen this side of the hanyou, and because his words, however harsh, have a ring of truth. He was only glad that Shippo had remained in the village with Kaede. The poor kit seemed to be having withdrawal symptoms and was in a fit of depression. Fighting demons would only make it worse, since without Kagome there to be his guiding light and steady rock to hold on to. Without his unofficial okaa-san, Shippo had no confidence in his skills.
Meanwhile, Taki takes this small argument over whether they should kill him or not as time to glance unobtrusively at the present 'pack mates'. That was what they acted as, after all. It seemed Inuyasha was the dominant male. The exterminator acted as beta with aspirations to challenging the hanyou for his position. The other male, what he recognized as a ningen houshi, stayed silent, and for that silence, appeared all the more deadly.
It was also clear by the postures that each pack member took that they were a broken pack. Members were missing and the remaining felt the loss severely. Taki figured that the miko normally would be placed behind the dominant male and a little to the side, closer to the female. The way the group was arrayed against him, it would be the optimum positioning for attacking the enemy as well as defending the miko... and one other. There was a small hole in the pack's present offensive grid that can be filled with only that of a child. This particular position was also easily moved so that offense could quickly become defense, and thus have the young blood of the pack protected.
Interesting.
By this time, the beta was sufficiently cowed so that she would not present her challenge to the leader immediately. They would deal with the problem he presented before settling their differences in the safety of privacy.
"What are you here for, wolf?" barked the white haired hanyou.
Taki straightened from his temporary submissive posture in order to deliver the scroll. Although he noted that the beta remained tense with a hand on the large weapon of hers, the monk deemed the situation in hand and was unobtrusively sidling his way closer to the beta. For what purpose, the wolf did not know.
"I am here on behalf of Lord Sesshoumaru." Ah, this caused all of them to switch back to wary battle mode.
"He ordered me to deliver this," he waved the rolled up parchment to indicate that he held no surprise weapons. Taki was of the belief that it did not bode well for the longevity of a messenger if they chose to mess around with the heads of the recipients.
Inuyasha growled half in warning before commanding, "Leave it on the ground, back away, and then depart my forest. You won't be killed if you do not make a nuisance of yourself."
Taki nodded his acknowledgement of the order. Even though he hated taking them from his leader's rival for a mate, it was the hanyou's right as present pack leader and claimant of the surrounding territory.
Mission accomplished. Time to return to the castle, since the last rays of the day were just now lancing over the horizon.
From the Inu-tachi's point of view, the chestnut colored demon melted into the surrounding forest line and disappeared from sight. The humans were still tense, since their inferior senses could not tell them what Inuyasha knew.
The soft fluffy ears that Kagome so loved kept themselves swiveled to track the lupine's progress out of the hanyou's range. When the silver haired one was satisfied that his command was carried out, he stalked toward the innocent looking scrap of paper on the ground and snatched it up.
Glancing over the seal momentarily, Inuyasha acknowledged that it was indeed his brother's message and slipped a claw under it to pop the wax. Skimming the note, a very scary growl was heard by Miroku and Sango, and they were probably better off not knowing that his eyes leaked small amounts of red before returning to normal.
Inuyasha whirled on his companions and literally stamped between them, headed back to the village. As he passed his friends, (not that he would ever tell them that) his hand flashed out and threw the missive on the ground where they could look at it for themselves.
But as Miroku's hand reached down to pick it up, Inuyasha's hate filled words stilled him.
"The bastard has got Kagome. He's kidnapped her, and will kill her if we don't arrive there soon."
Sango was about to reach over and touch the red haori covered shoulder when the half demon flinched away from her.
"Pack your things, Sango, Miroku. We're going into the Western Territory."
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
A.N. Well how was that people? Eight pages, and that only accounts for about two short paragraphs I have on the overall timeline. For all those who were wondering how long this fic was going to be, let me inform you that with an 8 pg : 2 paragraph ratio, 17 pages of notes will equal a very long story.
I hope you all will be very happy, and continue to review. You want me to continue with the character descriptions I had on the last chapter? I seem to have concocted a few more personalities for my story.
Oh, and what are your thoughts on an eventual anime crossover? I have one in mind, but it will be quite a while from now, so mucho Sessie and Inu goodness.
Thanks again, everyone.