Chapter VI: Wounds of the Wind
AUTHOR'S NOTE: GO BACK TO CHAPTER 5! SOMETHING NEW WAS ADDED, SO READ THE END OF THAT BEFORE THIS ONE!
The sun shined brightly through the small hole in the den's wall. It hit Kanesa's face softly. She closed her eyes tightly, then opened them, blinking a few times, adjusting her eyes to the light. She sat up, and stretched; that was one of the best nights of sleep Kanesa had ever had. The sun felt good on her cold skin. She yawned and looked around the den. She gasped when she saw two wolves asleep in front of the hay shawl. She moved herself as close to the wall as possible. Even though wolves were her favorite animals, she knew they were known to be hostile. One of them opened its eyes slowly, and looked over at Kanesa. The other did the same. She gulped as the two wolves stood up. But she felt better when she saw that they didn't look like they would attack. They walked over to her and rubbed against her arms and legs. She let out a sigh of relief as she scratched behind their ears.
The hay shawl was pulled aside, and Kouga poked his head in the den. He smiled when he saw Kanesa was up, "Good morning" he said, walking inside.
Kanesa smiled as Kouga sat down beside her. She blushed a bit; Kouga's hair was down and he was only wearing his fur pelt and no upper armor. "I was a bit surprised when I saw the wolves this morning" she said.
Kouga laughed silently, "Well, I didn't want to send them in before you fell asleep; I thought they might frighten you. So I sent them inside after you fell asleep, to protect you. I didn't want anything happening to you"
Kanesa smiled, and rested her head on his shoulder as she continued petting the wolves. After a little while, Kouga said something to his wolves, and they exited. Kouga and Kanesa sat together for a little while. Kouga looked down at Kanesa, "You look very nice in the morning" he said.
Kanesa blushed, "No I don't" she giggled.
Kouga smiled, looking into her eyes. She looked into his. Kouga leaned in slowly, hoping for a kiss. And this time, Kanesa was willing. Kanesa turned her head a bit, leaning in as well.
Their lips were mere millimeters away from each others, when a shout interrupted them, "KOUGA!"
Kouga and Kanesa looked at the hay shawl. A wolf demon pulled the shawl away, staring at Kouga, "Kouga! There's an emergency! We need you now!"
Kouga looked at the demon, then at Kanesa as he got up and ran out. Kanesa got up slowly and ran after him. She ran through the den and saw Kouga standing in the middle of a large crowd. She made her way to him, and looked at him. He was looking down. She looked down too, and gasped.
To wolf demons were very badly wounded, lying on wooden stretchers. They had deep gashes all over their bodies and were bleeding profusely. Kanesa covered her mouth and looked away, leaning on Kouga. He wrapped his arms around her as she buried her face into his chest, looking away from the bodies. Kouga looked at the bodies one last time, "What in the hell happened here?" he yelled at the other demons.
"They were out looking for food, when they were attacked!" one demon said.
"Who did this to them?" Kouga shouted.
"It was that woman… with the feathers, and the fan…"
Kouga's eyes widened as he looked at the bodies again, "Kagura"
The other demons shuttered. Kanesa lifted her head from Kouga's chest, but still remained close to him. She looked around at the other demons, they seemed worried and nervous. "Oh man… that name still gives me chills down my spine"
"Kagura?" she asked, looking up at Kouga.
He looked at her, "Yes, she's Naraku's servant. She uses the wind as a weapon. She's a monster, and I'll destroy her."
He squeezed Kanesa, released her and headed back to his den. Kanesa looked at the bodies again, and then followed after Kouga. When she entered the den, Kouga was putting up his hair and tucking his sword into his pelt. He had already put on his upper armor and shoulder pads. Kanesa gasped, and ran over to him.
"Kouga, you're not seriously going to go after whatever did that by yourself, are you?" she asked, worried.
Kouga looked at her, sadly and closed his eyes, "I have to, she killed many of my comrades, and I have to get revenge"
Kanesa shook her head slightly, "No…" she whispered. She lowered her head slowly and raised her shoulders. She whimpered a couple of times, "I don't want you to go…"
Kouga stepped closer to her, and put his hands on her shoulders. He didn't have to look at her face, he could smell it; Kanesa was crying. He placed his fingers under her chin and made her look up at him. Tears streamed down her face. Kouga sighed and grabbed her into his arms. He squeezed her tightly, stroking her head. "Don't you worry… I'll come back to you… don't worry"
He bent himself down to look at her face again. He smiled and kissed her cheek. He placed his hand on her cheek and walked out. Kanesa stood alone in to the den for a moment. She dried her tears and ran out the shawl. But by the time she made it to the den, but Kouga was already gone; the rest of the tribe was looking out the den's opening. Kanesa stared at them all, "He's gone?" she asked. The tribe looked at her, some nodded. She looked at them all, silent for a while, "Well? Aren't you guys going to help him?"
"Well, Kouga said that he wanted to go alone. This is his battle" one demon said.
Kanesa frowned, "Fine then, I'll go get him back myself!" and she ran towards the exit.
Two demons stopped her before she got out, "And he gave specific order to make sure you stayed here and remained safe."
Kanesa looked at the two demons, then at the rest of the tribe behind her. "So that's it then? You're going to just stand here and let your leader go kill himself?" she demanded.
Demons looked at each other. They all stood for a minute thinking about how stubborn Kouga was, but also what had happened the last time he had encountered Kagura alone. Ginta and Hakaku looked at each other and nodded, "Alright boys! We're going to go help Kouga whether he likes it or not!"
The tribe cheered, grabbed their weapons, and all ran out the exit. Kanesa, Ginta, Hakaku and a small pack of wolves ran in the front. It had been a good twenty minutes since Kouga had left. "How in the world are we going to find him?" Kanesa asked.
"Don't worry, the wolves have a good grasp on his scent, they'll find him" Ginta said, pointing to the wolves.
Another fifteen minutes passed before everyone realized that they were close to Kouga and Kagura. The sky had gone from a bright blue to a dark purple and black. The wind had picked up too. There was a foul feeling in the air. The tribe ran over to the edge of a small cliff. Immediately, Kanesa gasped, covering her mouth. She saw Kouga lying on his stomach in front of a woman with black hair and a white kimono. She tapped a small fan on her shoulder. Kanesa saw that Kouga was badly wounded. His right arm was limp and lifeless at his side; it was obviously broken. He had cuts all over his face and body and legs.
The woman walked up to his face, and lifted his head with her foot, forcing him to look up at her. "Well, well Kouga, it appears that you are at my mercy yet again," she smiled.
Kouga tore his head off her foot, "Go to hell, you bitch…"
Kagura frowned; this rude remark earned Kouga another wave from Kagura's fan. Wind blades flew from her fan onto Kouga. These blades hit Kouga everywhere on his body, and one hit him on his face, right across his face, cheek to cheek. This hit sent him flying back about three feet. He landed on his stomach again. Kagura walked up to him, "Kouga, you will never learn, will you?"
Kanesa covered her mouth. She couldn't stand watching Kouga get hurt. She had to do something, but what could she do? She looked around, and saw a bow and arrow a demon was holding, 'Kagome said that I have her powers too. And she shot one of those arrows really fair and it killed a demon with a single blow. Maybe I can do it too'
She ran over to the demon and grabbed his bow and arrow, "Hey!" he shouted.
"Sorry, but I need this!" she shouted back. She set the arrow up on the bow, and pointed it right at Kagura, "Please hit the mark."
Kagura lifted her fan again above her head, "This is the end of you Kouga… Good Bye…" she smiled.
"Hold it!" Kanesa shouted.
Kagura lowered her fan and looked over at the cliff. Kouga lifted his head slightly and looked at the cliff through his one good eye. Kanesa had the arrow pointed directly at Kagura, "Take this!" she shouted.
She released the arrow, and it flew steadily towards kagura. It hit her shoulder, and it exploded with its purifying light. Kagura's shoulder melted away as her kimono slipped away a bit. She glared over at the cliff, 'Who in the world was that?' She grabbed a feather from her hair, threw it into the sky and flew away.
Kanesa dropped the bow and ran down the cliff to Kouga; the rest of the tribe followed behind her. Kouga lifted his head and Kanesa slid down and knelt at his side. "What are you doing here? I… I told you to stay at the den, it wasn't not safe for you here…" he said hoarsely. He tried to lift himself up, but he fell to the ground again.
Kanesa grabbed his hand and kissed it and stroked it, "Please Kouga, don't strain yourself, you're hurt" she whimpered.
"Why did you come here?" Kouga asked.
Kanesa blinked hard, tears forming in her eyes, "I was worried about you. I had to make sure you were all right."
Kouga looked at her, "You came… for me?" Kanesa nodded, smiling a bit.
Koga smiled at her as she stroked his hand. But his pupils rolled up to the back of his head, and he fell to the floor; he had lost consciousness.