xxx.
The moon had begun to drift lower in the sky, Inuyasha stared passively at the luminous beacon, the night had been surprisingly calm, although, half though he may be, the dog demon could still scent the unmistakable stench of the demons who had chased him and Kagome the day before.
Slowly Inuyasha stood , placing the crackling fire and Kagome's sleeping form behind him, as he watched two of their pursuers step out of the wood.
"You bastards have some nerve.." Inuyasha threatened, a petulant pout pulled at his bottom lip as he casually folded his arms, his amber eyes flicking over their forms, immediately observing the absence of their third compatriot.
"Where's the third one of you?" Inuyasha demanded, his voice booming through the eerie silence beneath the gazes of his demon pursuers.
After a series of moments one of them spoke up, he looked the most human of the three, Inuyasha's eyes narrowed in suspicion as the unknown male spoke, "That is none of your concern, Prince Inuyasha," he practically spat the title, his distaste clear, clearly he only respected what he considered as true demons, only those he deemed worthy leaders of the Western Lands. Taking a moment, Inuyasha cast his gaze perceptively over the demon again, he was a tall demon with a tan complexion, he no doubt spent the majority of his life under the sun, his broad shoulders invoked the physicality of boar demons, but boar demons rarely were strong enough to hold such a human facade, clearly, he had to be a Wolf demon. Inuyasha's eyes flicked to catch the movement of a long braid, swaying lazily behind the Wolf as he placed his hands on his hips, his hair was long, past his waist, black, like a midnight sky bereft of stars.
Inuyasha sniffed lightly at the air, catching the Wolf's scent distinctly, he fought the urge not to scoff in annoyed amusement, he was a wolf from the mountains close by, he knew that scent, it belong to a pack of Northern wolves, living on the border close to the Western lands, this wolf was from the faction lead by Koga. A relatively small pack, just under a hundred, but powerful, and held an allegiance with the Lord of West, after some assistance from Inuyasha's father with some ruthless rouge youkai from the East.
Inuyasha smirked, he knew he was dealing with a purest, a man who condemned the existence of half-bloods, perhaps one Captain Sesshomaru's men, but there was only so much trouble he could cause, after all, Inuyasha was royalty, half breed or not. And as Inuyasha considered the man before him, and making no sign of responding, the demon finally continued, "Nevertheless, I am to return you to camp, but seeing as you are..." he paused momentarily, his eyes trailed over the sleeping form of Kagome behind Inuyasha, smirking the wolf demon continued,"...currently engaged..."
The judgment in the Wolf's orange eyes made Inuyasha burn, his irritation making his claws tense, but he listened quietly as the wolf continued to speak, this asshole was not going to get a rise out of him,
"...I will simply return and inform our Lord, General Taisho, that you will be rendezvousing us in two moons time."
But at that Inuyasha barked out a defiant laugh.
"You can tell Lord Taisho and Captain Sesshomaru to shove it up their a-"
"Prince Inuyasha, Let me remind you, that should choose not to see to your responsibilities," the wolf paused and let his eyes flick back down to the sleeping, young woman behind Inuyasha, "Well, I'm sure we could find other ways to punish you..."
"What does that mean, bastard?" Inuyasha growled, cracking his claws, unconsciously hunching his back, ever so slightly, and squaring his shoulders to leap into a fight.
The Wolf demon laughed as he ran a clawed hand through his mess of black bangs, his fangs glinting in the moon light, as he glanced at his fiery, silent companion.
"Damn, half-breed, you really are as stupid as you look," he said, more to himself than to his compatriot, whom remained stoically observant, laughing cockily over Inuyasha's warning growls, the wolf looked back at him and responded simply, "If you don't return to serve your lands we will find that human girl, sleeping so sweetly behind you - tell me, how sweet is she Inuyasha? - Actually, don't tell me, I'm sure I'll find out soon enough," he muttered suggestively, his dark eyes sweeping over Kagome again, despite Inuyasha's angry growls.
"Don't even think about it, ya sick bastard!"
"You are only a half-demon, my Prince."
"Feh," Inuyasha scoffed, his fingers cracking loudly, "Half's more than I need to kick your ugly ass - now are you gonna actually fight me or just keep chattin like a little girl?"
The Wolf's eyes narrowed, it was the first time he showed any sort of irritation since he stepped into Inuyasha's camp, "Don't tempt me, you dog." the wolf threatened bitterly.
"What?! Did I strike a nerve? You girly-braid-wearin- mother-fuc-"
"Enough!" The Wolf's eyes flashed red momentarily, clearly he was trying to remain calm, despite his hatred towards Inuyasha, it was clear he was under strict orders to locate and bring in Inuyasha, but not to fight him. "You know the stakes, Prince Inuyasha."
Without another word the wolf and his friend retreated into the woods without another look back, Inuyasha waited for a moment, after a time, feeling their auras recede,including the third that had remained hidden, and as their scents faded, Inuyasha finally began to relax.
Finally, Inuyasha turned back toward the sleeping Kagome, expecting to have the opportunity to sleep himself for a few hours, but stopped abruptly in surprise.
"Hey-" Inuyasha mumbled in surprise, Kagome was leaning up on an elbow and tiredly rubbing her eyes, they were half shut and bleary as she yawned, "Who was that?" she asked, as she slowly stood and began to walk towards the tree line closest to her.
"What're you doing?!" Inuyasha exclaimed, frantically grabbing her wrist to stop her from walking into the forest. "You can't just walk into the woods in the middle of the night - there's demons, you dummy!" He exclaimed.
If Kagome had been half asleep, she wasn't any longer, the insult had her eyes flashing in bright anger as she ripped her wrist from Inuyasha's grasp.
"I am not a dummy and excuse me for having to pee! You got a problem with that buddy?!" And without waiting for an answer she stomped into the wood while adding, "You better not be looking, Inuyasha!"
"FEH!" He yelled, his back now to her, but his ears pricked for any sign of danger, his cheeks remains pink in embarrassment.
xxx.
After a few moments he heard her soft steps as she began the small trek back from the woods, but then heard a soft 'ompf!' and an 'ouch!'. He turned, an eyebrow inclined as he scented the irritation coming off Kagome in waves.
"What's your probl-" but he stopped as soon as he smelt it, her blood, it gave him pause, his amber eyes widened. His ears flattened, and for a moment he couldn't think clearly, her blood, it smelt to similar, so sweet, so much like..
xxx.
"Dangit!" She exclaimed, as she inspected her hand, she's tripped over a root and caught herself from falling by the grace of a conveniently placed tree, that had also conveniently cut her palm, stepping through the tree line she heard Inuyasha's gruff voice begin to question her, when he suddenly stopped, she glanced up at him, interested in what could've shut the guy up so easily.
But the sight that greeted Kagome, made her heart stop, for a moment, the look on Inuyasha's face was startling, he looked at her as if he'd seen a ghost, like he didn't know her at all, or he couldn't understand what he was seeing. It made her blood run cold - it made her feel alone - and that thought terrified her more than she ever thought possible.
"Inu-Inuyasha?" She stuttered, truly nervously, for the first time since she'd first met him in the woods, near that well.
Just as Inuyasha's eyes focused again and he looked like he was about to speak a crashing sound came barreling through the forest, behind Kagome. Just as she turned around, the most hideous thing she'd ever seen since she fell through the well sank its teeth viciously into her side.
xxx.
The smell of her blood, the memories that had come flooding back and the way he could feel the painful thumps of his heart, again, that with that single scent, so longingly familiar, delicious, and yet so destructive, Inuyasha had failed to realize the fast approaching demon from the woods. It was only when he was greeted with a stronger wave of this paralyzing scent and the centipede demon sinking her fangs into the side of his new friend, pulling her fragile body high into the air, like a rag dog, did he finally break from his stupor.
"KAGOME!" He yelled, as he jumped up and sliced through the demons hide, successfully severing its top half from its long, disgusting body, the fangs slipping from the human's flesh like butter as it fell twitching to the ground a small purple jewel rolled from it's mouth.
As Inuyasha caught Kagome in his arms as she fell back towards the ground, placing her down softly, he turned back towards the now, immobile centipede, her lower half twitched and shook - desiring to be reconnected to its better half, if Inuyasha did not act soon she would soon re attach her body.
"THE JEWEL OF FOUR SOULS - GIVE IT TO ME" the demon rasped desperately as it attempted to drag its bloodied and sloshing guts across the dirt. Inuyasha paused, his amber eyes widening in horror and disbelief at what he just heard.
"What?" he said.
"THE JEWEL - I MUST HAVE IT!"
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Inuyasha yelled, as his foot came down heavily on the dying demon's back, effectively halting it's morbid crawl.
"THE JEWEL IS MINE-" the demon began to yell but what silences as Inuyasha slashed razor sharp claws through her head. The corpse flopped heavily into the dirt and the long severed body that had been twitching stilled in irreversible death. Inuyasha grimaced at the disgusting creature and flicked his wrist, shaking most of the gore from his claws.
"The jewel, keh, crazy bitch, that's nothing but an old myth told-" Inuyasha paused as he noticed the palm sized purple jewel sitting a hand's length from the outstretched arm of the dead centipede.
"What the..." glancing back towards Kagome's immobile form, his brows furrowed, Inuyasha's expression was twisted with pure confusion...and indiscernible pain, his eyes never left his new friend, and they seemed to darken in sadness by each passing moment, until, almost inaudibly, Inuyasha whispered,
"Kikyo?"
xxx.
A/N: OMG I'm so sorry - its been so long - honestly, I couldn't figure out how to get this story past the initial introductions and set up and DAMMIT if I'm still not done! Although, Mulan was an inspiration to this story, this story will not be MULAN at all. It will be darker - alot darker.
Also, sorry for the lack of Sesshomaru BUT HE WILL BE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER - ALOT ! So, please read and review! I need the inspiration to write!
R&R
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