Chapter 17
Dig A-little Deeper
Shipo knew the Alpha, Koga, was fast. He never expected the big oaf to be fast enough to take the little kitsune by surprise. Or, for him to wrap his large calloused hands around Shipo's skinny neck.
"I warned you what would happen if you betrayed me, you little shit," the alpha snarled, his lips pulled back in a furious growl. "You've taken advantage of me for the last time."
"Wait!" Shipo squeaked, clinging desperately to the ookami's grip on him. "I can help. Y-your men. I know an antidote that will wake them up!"
"And, why should I care?" Koga demanded, eyes turning icy. "You'd say anything to save your scrawny hide. For all I'd know, you'd poison us all."
"No! I need you," the kit pleaded, big eyes starting to water. "You're the only ones strong enough to save Kagome. I can't. I wanted to. I wanted to help her but I'm too small. I couldn't save my father or Kagome! But, you can… You can."
By the end of the tirade, Shipo had completely burst into tears, much to his own shame. He was supposed to be a great and mighty warrior and he faced his enemy with sobbing and begging. He wasn't worthy of his father's name.
Sucking in a sharp breath, the little guy carried on.
"So, let me fix this," he offered, glistening eyes locking on the glaring alpha who was slowly loosening his grip on the kitsune's neck. "Let me help you…..so you can save Kagome."
Koga remained still, ragged breathing having calmed since his fury had been ratcheting about the cave like lightening. This gave Shipo hope. Maybe he could reason with the Ookami, afterall.
"B-besides," he pushed. "We don't have time to waste. We need to get Kagome before she's killed."
"They won't kill her," Koga replied in a harsh whisper before he dropped Shipo to the floor. "Not yet, anyway. The King Bird wants me. He'll use her to draw me out. Then, he'll kill her."
The biting tone caused Shipo to cringe as he considered the alpha's words. Well, this changed things. At least they had a little time.
"Then, things have changed," he whispered softly to himself.
However, the sudden rumble of a warning growl had the little guy hopping to his tiny paws.
"Not that we shouldn't hurry," he quickly added. "But, we need to be smart about this. If the King Bird is waiting for you then, we either need to draw him out or sneak you in."
"The bottom entrances to the nest are blocked off," Koga replied as he crossed his arms. "The Birds of Paradise collapsed them when they took it."
Shipo blinked up at him as he tried to put the alpha's words together. "Took it?"
However, Koga quickly snapped himself to awareness, tensing as he snarled down at the little kitsune.
"That's none of your business," he warned. "Just wake my men up. Now!"
"Alright," Shipo agreed, swallowing low. "I'll have to gather the antidote but I think I saw some near the human village."
"And, then you'd disappear and never come back," Koga challenged. "I don't think so."
"I would never!"
"Like you'd never poison a whole wolf den?"
Shipo looked down at his teeny hands, paws shifting back and forth in fidgeting unease.
"I didn't poison you," he muttered softly.
"I'm sure the idea never crossed your mind," Koga sneered, daring the kit to deny it.
Shipo tried to ignore the bloom of heat across his cheeks at the accusation. However, he wouldn't give the wolf the satisfaction of responding. However, the alpha never gave the little guy the opportunity.
"No, you're not going to find this stuff alone," he ordered. "I'm coming with you."
Shipo blinked up in shock, trying to force his mouth to work in response.
He…..he was going to what?
Koga shrugged in bored agreement. "The others will be fine sleeping it off here, right?"
Shipo merely nodded.
"Good," the alpha replied tersely before swiftly crouching in front of the little kit. "Because, I'm not letting you out of my sight again. You got that?"
Again, Shipo found he could only nod.
This,….was working out better than he thought.
SSS
Miroku wasn't new to the struggles of travel. In fact, he'd been wandering for some time, offering his assistance as a hoshi wherever he could.
He was used to all sorts of reactions to his presence, from relieved joy or absolute terror. However, he was not prepared for finding the human village at the base of the mountains looking at him with a weary sort of apathy. It was as if the villagers had no life in them at all.
What happened here?
Finding the Dogo, Miroku was pleased to hear the village leader was willing to let him reside in the village to rest. However, the hoshi found himself uncertain if he truly wanted to push the village for hospitality. They seemed to be practically hanging by a thread.
"I heard something from the mountains on my way here," Miroku replied, hoping the chieftain was be willing to give him any information that could be useful. "Are you experiencing any trouble from yokai?"
Apparently, Miroku found he'd broken a veritable dam because the Dogo was very willing to share the village's troubles with the young hoshi.
"It could only be the Ookami up in the mountains," the older man quickly supplied, eyes brightening suddenly. "They're always howling or fighting in one way or another."
"Really?" the hoshi asked as he took a steady sip of shochu, causing him to grimace.
Did they not have sake?
"Oh, yes," the Dogo continued. "They usually stay up in the mountains but….lately they've been coming down….frequently."
Miroku lowered his cup as he considered the elder's words. Raiders. As if yokai couldn't make the people suffer enough.
The young monk sighed, trying to not worry his hopeful host. There would be no reward for this job. But, Miroku couldn't turn a blind-eye to this abuse.
"Very well," he replied with a soft smile. "I will go up and see if I can….reason with these ookami."
The Dogo immediately fell to his hands and knees, thanking the young hoshi repeatedly for his kindness upon them. Miroku knew there was no going back on this.
With a forlorn sigh, he rose to his feet to start up the mountain path. He might as well get started.
SSS
"Haven't you got enough yet?" Koga snapped as he scanned the surrounding area with sharp eyes for the umpteenth time.
They'd been out in the open for too long for his comfort and was resisting the need to tear off towards the Birds of Paradise. Even now, Koga could feel his blood pounding in his ears as he struggled to keep a grip on himself.
His woman was in their talons. His woman!
And, here he was, watching the little runt responsible for all this burrowing with almost frightening speed through the slightly frosting dirt at the base of the range, looking for a damn root that was supposed to wake up his men.
"Almost," the kit yipped before he started tossing dirt madly about again.
Koga shook his head before stepping away from the little culprit. He wanted to finish what he started and ring the kitsune's scrawny neck too much right now for comfort. It grated too much that he fell for the trickster's scheme and Koga had to focus.
Even now, he still felt like his head was full of wool. That herb was a torment straight from hell and Koga fully intended to make the kitsune pay for it.
Unfortunately, he needed the little shit. For now, anyway. If Kagome was harmed in any way, the kitsune was his.
"I've almost got them all," the kits' high-pitched voice called from his hole. "Just a few more and-"
Suddenly, both yokai snapped their focus towards the opposite side of the clearing as a light step made its way through the surrounding trees. The single figure of a human, wrapped in the simple dark robes of a monk froze as he blinked in surprise at the apparent picture the two yokai must have made.
With a sudden bright smile and a wave, the human gave a cheery greeting.
"Sorry to intrude," he called. "I've apparently lost my way and was hoping you could—"
The fury Koga had been suppressing suddenly roared with a vengeance as he launched himself across the clearing, hefting the stunned human up from his feet above the ground.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded through gritted teeth, his eyes starting to bleed red with the need to kill.
However, when Koga expected the scent of terror and fear to overwhelm his senses, he was shocked to see the monk perfectly calm.
"You must be one of the ookami of the mountain tribes here," the human replied lightly as he slipped his hand into the folds of his robe.
"My name is Koga, human," the alpha snarled in warning. "And, you are in my territory."
"I see," the man answered. "Well, surely you'd be willing to talk before you kill me."
"Don't count on that," Koga snapped as he raised a clawed hand.
"Koga, look out!"
However, before the ookami could understand what the kit meant, a sudden burning ripped through his body, causing him to fling the man away from him.
Heaving in an angry breath, Koga stared in infuriated shock at the smoking char across his chest-plate. What the hell?
"I don't wish to kill you," the human called before he slipped another ofuda talisman from his robe in preparation. "But, if you continue this, I will have to put your spirit to rest."
"Why you….."
Koga pushed himself to his feet, hands bawling into fists as he felt his yoki start to rise with the need to fight. So, the human was a hoshi.
Koga didn't have time to deal with this. But, if it gave him an outlet for his anger…
"Koga, wait!" Shipo cried before he latched onto Koga's arm. "This hoshi might be able to help us!"
"We don't need him," Koga snarled, shaking his arm sharply to throw the little nuisance off.
However, the kit only clung tighter.
"We may not need him but Kagome might!" Shipo wailed. "He's a hoshi. That means he could also fight the Birds of Paradise, like Kagome does."
"Birds of Paradise?" the human asked, suspicion sharp on his smooth face. "What are they?"
"They are flying yokai that are enemies of the ookami," the kit blurted before Koga could stop him.
"So, you're in the middle of a war," the human replied, stance easing slightly. "Is that why you've been raiding human villages?"
"Is that what this is about?" Koga demanded with a huff. "Get out of here! I don't have time for this idiocy."
"Koga's not responsible for that!" the kit yelled, much to the alpha's irritation.
"Enough!" Koga yelled before turning sharp eyes on the human. "Last chance. I got bigger worries than you so, I'm going to be generous. Leave now and I don't kill you for amusement."
"Noooo!" the kit wailed. "We need him!"
"The hell we do!" Koga snapped.
"We need all the help we can get!" Shipo argued.
Koga was really losing the battle with the want to pound the little trouble-maker into the ground. He didn't need this headache. If the kit didn't shut up—
"If I assist you, will you leave the human villages alone?" the human asked, carefully tucking the sutra back into his robe.
Koga snorted. "I don't have to negotiate with you, human!"
"Your armor says otherwise," the kit had the gall to point out.
The alpha snarled a warning to the kitsune, causing him to finally release Koga's arm and scamper back towards his hole.
"I can't simply leave you to do as you please," the human replied, in that frustratingly calm tone. "Perhaps, we shouldn't work together after all."
"You took the words right out of my mouth," Koga growled.
"But, what about Kagome?" Shipo yelled. "She needs us."
"A woman?" the hoshi asked, a sudden brightening of his face causing Koga to growl in warning.
What the hell?
"Yeah, a miko that the Birds of Paradise kidnapped," the kit replied.
Suddenly, the human was across the clearing, moving with a strange assertiveness that had Koga's hackles rising.
"If a woman is in danger, we must rescue her immediately," the hoshi ordered as if the laws of nature demanded it.
"That's what I've been saying," the traitorous kit chirped before he dove out of his hole, arms full of the plump roots he'd been looking for.
Koga gritted his teeth as he spotted the situation starting to spiral out of his control.
"Hold on," he snarled. "I never said he was helping!"
"You want to save Kagome, don't you?" the kit asked, a scolding glint in his wide eyes.
"Why you—"
"Come on," the kit ordered towards the human as he started to head back up the mountain path. "We have to wake the rest of his tribe first but, that shouldn't take too long."
"Very well," the human replied with a smile. "Whatever it takes."
Koga could only blink after the two as they continued to slip from his sight. What the hell just happened?
In a matter of seconds, he'd gone from being the alpha to being ignored. And, he didn't like it.
The urge to kill started to rise again as Koga considered the satisfaction in spilling the arrogant hoshi's blood. However, the sharp bite of smoke on his armor doused the thought like a dying ember.
The human was powerful. Just like his Kagome. Perhaps, the hoshi could be of use after all.
With a chuff of irritation, Koga kicked off after the two. He must be going soft.
However, there was no sense in both of them getting eaten by a Bird of Paradise before they could be useful.
