- CHAPTER ELEVEN – VENDETTA -


Pain numbed his limbs and clouded his brain. Jinenji was on all fours, wheezing through inhales and the beginnings of foam in his mouth. Two arrows stuck out from his back, and he groped blindly for a pouch at his waist in front of the light of the entrance doors, fumbling as poison coursed up his arms, traveling to his heart.

Amid the black consuming his consciousness, he registered movement under him. Small hands freed the pouch from his belt, picking at its knot furiously. Their owner scrambled out, opening its contents into a trembling palm.

A terrified voice whispered from below his chest. "Hurry Moegi!"

"I'm trying!" Herb leaves spilled into the girl's hand as she wrestled with his medicine bag, and some tumbled to the floor.

Asagi crawled out from between braced, orange arms that shook and threatened to buckle. Getting to her feet, she grabbed Jinenji's face – already growing slack – and forced his mouth open. His eyelids flickered as he fought to stay awake.

"Hold on," she ducked a glance back at the open doors. A motionless form lay sprawled over an open trunk – an arrow in the soft fur of their neck, foam dripping from their chin.

Moegi leapt forward and pushed her whole handful between Jinenji's teeth. "Chew," the command verged on beg. "Please. You have to."

He struggled to comply. Their voices were getting hard to hear. He felt fingers push his jaw closed.

Tears echoed into the cavern. "Try," Asagi cried, palming the sides of his face. "You can't leave us," wetness smeared his cheek as she hugged his neck, shaking against him.

Jinenji fought through the agony searing his frame. He forced his mouth to work, chewing and swallowing the white cedar in labored gulps. The plant was one of his most powerful. It combated poisons, but wracked the recipient with convulsions in the process. He didn't know if he was taking it in time.

Asagi watched him with wide eyes while Moegi climbed up his back and grabbed both arrow shafts, sunk in deeply. Snarling, as only a hanyou could, she pulled each from his flesh. Blood spurted after them, staining her arms, and she flung the weapons aside, glaring as they clattered together against the dirt floor.

Jumping down, she joined her sister, staring into oversized features she loved, hoping they could save the one who had taken arrows meant for them.


Kohaku and Sango ran, their hearts thundering louder than their steps.

"Here!" The elder taijiya pointed to an adjunct tunnel, unlit and narrow. She squeezed into it, ducking to accommodate Hiraikotsu's height, and her brother followed, clutching his own weapon close to his hip to fit.

They had lost the tatsu, and further pursuit would do them little good. He had moved as fast as any full youkai, disappearing down dark steps while their arrows struck only wall.

Things were not going as planned. While they had taken down two of the guards, their escapee would tell his clansmen. Their root was potent enough to last 48 hours, but after that, they would be exposed wherever they tried to hide.

Ahead of him, Sango cursed as the rock confines scratched Hiraikotsu's face. She moved deeper, clenching her teeth as streaks of bone flecked to the floor.

Kohaku trailed behind, thinking of the two females his sister had spared. Their scared faces, peeking out from under the hulking monster who had rushed to protect them, were branded into his mind.

The passage narrowed and split; one fork led upwards, and the other dead-ended. Sango stopped and sniffed.

"I smell air and water," she whispered. "Time is our friend today," she began to climb. "Eons must have worked tunnels into these ceilings. We can hide from the Ouja above their heads! "

Kohaku rushed after her as she was engulfed in darkness. "Wait for me!"


Inu-Yasha let go of Kagome as Youta landed at their feet.

"They've breached the western doors," the sky demon answered before his leader could ask. "A pair of taijiya. They shot Jinenji and Fuyuki with poison-tipped arrows. Kuro barely escaped to tell us."

Inu-Yasha blanched, sobering from the intoxication of another missed moment with the girl at his side. "Where are they now?"

"We think they went up into the catacombs," Youta started. "The network is extensive, and they have some kind of spell that blocks their scent. We can't find them."

"Was anyone else hurt?"

Youta grimaced. "Two of the Horai girls were visiting Jinenji at his post. Kuro didn't see what happened to them."

Kagome grabbed Inu-Yasha's sleeve, bunching a trembling handful. "Who?"

Youta's eyes fell. "Asagi and Moegi."

The strength left her legs, and Inu-Yasha reacted, catching her before they buckled.

"Don't worry," he spoke at her ear. "They're smart and tough – I'm sure these hunters underestimated them."

Kagome felt no weight in her heels as he held her. Were the situation different, she might have wondered how she'd allowed herself to be grabbed so many times in so few hours, but the memory of her morning surrounded by sleeping faces and warm arms eclipsed its importance. Tears grew in the corners of her eyes, blurring her vision.

"Whatever the outcome, we'll make them pay," Inu-Yasha wiped at the wetness threatening to spill over. "I promise."

She looked up, barely noticing the display of tenderness. "I know," she wanted to say more, but the words wouldn't leave her lips, sounding alarmingly like trust in her head.

Inu-Yasha brushed her cheek again and released her, keeping his arm near to be sure her knees wouldn't riot again. "Tell everyone," he turned to Youta. "I'll go to the main hall and devise search teams."

"We're stretched pretty thin with the increased patrol around the mountain."

"Call back the koumori," he agreed. "Without our noses to help, we'll need their ears."

Youta paused. "All of them sir? Even Ren?"

Inu-Yasha stiffened, flicking a furtive glance at Kagome. "Yes."

She caught it. "What about Ren? Is he alright?"

Discomfort edged his face. "Now's not the time," he backed up and opened the storage room. "You stay here," wafts of pungent herbs poured out into the corridor. "I'll come back for you soon."

"Wait, what?" She swiveled between it and him. "No. I want to help."

He took her elbow. "Being out of the way is helping."

"If they're using poison, you'll need me to measure out antidotes," she looked to the rocky confines above their heads. "And having one more pair of eyes might make the difference."

"No," Inu-Yasha said sternly. "If you're safe, I'll keep a clear head."

Kagome resisted his hold. "Let go. I'm not going in there!"

Inu-Yasha sighed. With a pained look at Youta, he bent down and scooped her from her feet. "I'll be just a minute," he said over his shoulder. "Go tell the others."

Youta watched as the girl began to writhe and kick, seeing strength soundly return to her legs. He jumped up into air, levitating. "What of the children sir?"

Kagome stilled as Inu-Yasha gave her a glare. "Get Norio to track down the twins and the others, and keep them with Shippo," he said. "They won't like being lumped with the youngsters, but the less of us out walking alone, the better."

Youta nodded and flew down the passage, white tips of his hair disappearing in the waver of torchlight.

Inu-Yasha strode into the storage room, turning sideways to avoid hitting Kagome's head on the frame.

"Put me down!" She struck his chest as they entered. Shelves brimming with bundled roots and bowls of powders lined the walls, and strings of hanging plants, waiting to be made into tonics, hung from the ceiling. "I'm not staying locked in here while my friends are in trouble!"

"Your friends?" He stopped in the middle of the room. "I thought we were all monsters incapable of seeing our own inner darkness."

"I'm talking about Moegi and Asagi," she clarified, staring angrily at the arms around her. "Are we still in the streets of Kanaka?" She hit him again. "Let go of me!"

Inu-Yasha set her down. "Stop punching," he muttered.

"Stop deserving it."

He didn't match her irritation. "I… just don't want you to get hurt."

Kagome tensed as her insides started to jumble. "I'm smart and tough too," she said. "Give me some credit."

A soft 'keh' rose up among the shelves. "I do," bangs shielded his gaze as he stared down at his hands. "But I won't put you in danger," he started creeping back for the door.

"Wait!" She held out an arm. "Don't go!"

Inu-Yasha hesitated. Lifting his head, he let her see his emotions plainly – the worry, guilt, and pain this assault had caused. "I'll be careful," he assured.

Kagome scoffed, feeling her face heat. "That wasn't it. I-I don't care."

Amber grew knowing as he returned to the hall. "I'll be back soon," he pulled the door closed, sliding a latch below the metal ring. It clicked, and Kagome was left alone in darkness.

From the other side, Inu-Yasha palmed the thick wood, closing his eyes. His men never saw what he'd just shown her – the doubt and fear that threatened to overtake him whenever he thought this life he'd made for others had led them astray.

Kagome began to shout and swear, and he smiled briefly, feeling something stronger flare.

He'd catch these trespassers and make them pay for their arrogance. No one endangered those he cared for.


Sango and Kohaku crawled among cold rock, skirting the main hall. Their journey was full of blackness and silence, and they moved slowly, pausing often to make sure no one was beneath them. The natural tunnels had been carved out over thousands of years, and were pock-marked with gaping holes that let them look down on the activity below. Full of weak areas as well as missing patches, they were not an ideal way to travel. Sango had discovered this by almost falling through a thin layer of rock she'd thought solid. Kohaku had grabbed her ankles as she'd dangled above dancing torches and empty corridor, and she had scrambled back up just in time. A one-eyed kuma stomped past moments later, holding the ears of two nearly identical boys, whom he called Dai and Roku. Their names alone seemed to make him angry, and he'd growled out threats as he half-dragged, half-led them. He didn't notice the scattered stones at his feet, too consumed with berating the pair who were swearing and struggling against him.

The hunters continued on, carefully feeling the strength ahead of them with searching palms. They trailed far behind the kuma and his charges until they reached a passage with a small wooden door. Pounding sounded from its other side, and they froze.

A woman's voice, furious and loud, shouted into the shadows.

"Let me out!" The door shook on its hinges, fastened directly into the stone. "Come back Norio! I know you can hear me!"

Sango and Kohaku waited, motionless. Minutes ticked by, but the kuma didn't double-back.

The pounding continued. "Inu-Yasha doesn't know I'm here!" The voice yelled. "He'll be mad if he finds out you didn't free me."

Empty passage was her only answer.

Muttered curses rose, and the door stilled.

Sango looked over her shoulder, question in her eyes.

"You think it's her?" Kohaku whispered.

She whipped a finger to her lips. A nod had tipped off the hanyou in the entrance tunnel. Who knew how far actual words could be picked out? They watched the door, now docile and inconspicuous.

Its quiet didn't last long. The scrape of metal being pried and pulled apart creaked up into the air. A heavy thud slammed against it, and the door suddenly swung open off its hinges. The siblings stared as a girl stepped out into the passage, chest heaving and cheeks splotched with exertion. Rubbing her shoulder and tossing aside the pins that had held the hinges secure, she looked to the right and left before dashing towards the main hall.

Kohaku tapped his sister's leg. "I'm not the one grabbing her," he uttered. "If she can do that to a door—."

"Quiet!" Sango followed Kagome as she ran for the central nexus of the mountain. If she was Naraku's slave, why was she heading towards her captors? "Let's follow her," she whispered. "We might be able to get in some surveillance yet."

Kohaku shook his head. "She's heading back to a room full of hanyou who can hear us half a mile away. We should be looking for Inu-Yasha."

Sango watched as the girl's run broke into a full-on sprint. "She may lead us right to him," she started turning around in the cramped tunnel. "Come on."


Inu-Yasha stood at his map table, flanked by Miroku, Eiichi, and a host of others. Eyes of varying color and size waited on his word. A hanyou who controlled elements nervously played with a palmful of fire, while another with multiple limbs wrung four hands together. A trio of figures swooped in from a back tunnel, obscured by a large hide covering. Shiori, Ren, and Baku flew past tables and benches, and Inu-Yasha beckoned them over.

They each flapped their wings near the table, causing men to grab fluttering map ends before they were whisked away, pinning them down as the disparate koumori sank to their feet.

Baku and Shiori were the same height as Ren, but shared little else with their fellow scout, having well-set human features and long, thick hair. Baku's stretched down his back in a wound ponytail, and Shiori's almost matched it in length, luminous and silver. His skin was pale while hers was dark, and their wings were equally contrasting.

The young woman looked across the sea of maps with sharp, violet eyes. "What news?" She asked.

"The hunters are humans from Kanaka who've tried infiltrating us before," Inu-Yasha turned to Miroku.

His second-in-command straightened in discomfort. "It was a few years ago. I thought they were just thieves looking for one of our vaults."

"So you let them go?" Baku's gaze narrowed. "And they took nothing from the storage room as they chased Kuro?"

Miroku nodded as faces around him grew angry.

Inu-Yasha held up a palm. "He says they were little more than children."

Eiichi glared. "And now they're all grown up," his voice shook. "This pair killed four of our brothers and sisters before we even knew they were here."

"We don't know that," Miroku cut in. "Moric and Kenta have gone to see Moegi, Asagi, and Jinenji's state."

The hebi squeezed his eyes shut, wrestling with his grief. Men looked away, knowing he felt strongly for the children from Horai.

Shiori tucked her hair back, revealing round, human ears. "We'll find these taijiya," she said quietly.

Baku nodded. "They've already used up their one dose of mercy. We'll show them no more."

At their sides, Ren stood silent.

Miroku noticed. "What do you think Ren?"

The small man surveyed the room with over-sized eyes that engulfed his face, roaming over Ibuki, Isato, and Oki, still recovering from Kagura's assault. He ducked his head, twitching his enormous ears. "I think…," they all watched him listen, knowing his hearing was the strongest of the koumori. "We have another human heading here now."

Inu-Yasha slammed his hand down on the table. "Damnit!" His own ears swiveled towards the main tunnels. "I told her to stay put!"

Ren's continued to quiver, and the koumori on either side of him tensed as they caught what he heard.

"She's not alone," he whispered.


Kagome dashed down the passage, her pockets full of wrapped white cedar leaves. The oil from them was potent enough to kill, and she'd been extremely careful handling them. Her thoughts were focused on reaching the stairs and finding Asagi and Moegi – maybe there was still time.

Above her, Kohaku and Sango watched her frantic run, growing more and more perplexed. She raced as a woman heading to rescue something valuable.

"Maybe she's another Ouja?" Kohaku murmured.

"Then why can't she hear us?" Sango swatted his legs. "And that door gave her trouble."

"Not from what I saw."

"Hurry up. We're going to lose her!"

They crawled faster, and the end of the corridor loomed close in the dim light. Both hunters slowed as they heard the stamp of feet on stairs up ahead. A lot of feet.

'"It sounds like the whole clan is coming!" Kohaku exclaimed, sending noise echoing through their small tunnel.

Kagome lifted her head and halted, squinting up into the shadows.

Sango gritted her teeth. "Come on," she tugged her brother's leg. "We have to act. Now."

Touching the boomerang at her shoulder, she leapt through a catacomb opening, dropping gracefully to the floor.

Kagome gasped as a woman in pink and black appeared out of the darkness, descending from the ceiling. A young man just out of boyhood followed, landing with equal skill. They rose slowly and fixed her with hard stares.

A cry built in her throat. "INU-YASHA!"

Kohaku surged forward, pulling a crossbow bolt from his waist. He grabbed her arm and lifted its point to her neck. "Don't move," he spoke low. "Or you're dead."

Men exploded from the top of the stairs, pouring out into the hall with heaving chests. Leading them was Inu-Yasha, and his eyes widened as he took in the three humans.

Kohaku tightened his hold and pushed Kagome in front of him while Sango unhitched Hiraikotsu, hefting it high.

She stepped to her brother's side. "We've come for you," her voice was strong and cold. "Inu-Yasha."