The half breed in question growled, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly. God damn his human side. If only his father hadn't been so stupid! Not only would he have been recognized, but he would have been able to kill whoever it was nearly instantly. Like this.. He was no stronger than the damn monk.
A short, round man, wearing all white, stepped forward, from the brush. His face, from the eyes down, was covered in a white piece of cloth, "Haha! If you're the one asking, I don't think we've got much to worry about." Inuyasha ran at him, ready to jab the short creature with the dulled Tetsusaiga. And yet, another wave of the smoke was sent at them stopping Inuyasha in his tracks, covering his face with his sleeve and wincing at the sudden pain all over his body.
"INUYASHA! IT'S POISON!" Sango yelled, pulling on her mask and moving Kagome, Shippo and Miroku behind herself.
The short man cackled evilly, "So YOU'RE Inuyasha! But you're nothing but a human! No doubt, this is the power of the new moon!"
"Inuyasha!" Kouga hissed, jumping into the cloud of dark smoke and grabbing the red garbed half-breed. The male only shoved him away.
"I can take this wimp- AH!" Breathing the smoke in made his throat burn, and he fell over, only to have the wolf catch him and pull him away. After clearing the smoke, he peered back, watching as Sango set her Hiraikotsu on the poison maker, "The hell is wrong with you, wolf? I COULD HAVE TAKEN HIM."
"You have more to worry about than that, Inuyasha-" Kouga and the hybrid looked over to the high cliff above them, only to see some crazy looking man. His black hair seemed to defy gravity. There were green slash marks marring his face, and his hands were steel claws. The wolf threw Inuyasha to the ground and stood in front of the already injured male, "You think you can take me on, little wolf?"
Kouga's cocky grin appeared on his face, and his hands came to rest upon his hips, "I do believe I should be asking you that question." Standing away from the poison, the scent of this strange man rode the breeze, and the wolf's features twisted into a look of disgust, "You wreak of death. What are you?" Obviously, he'd noticed the scent of Naraku earlier on, but this man couldn't be another incarnation. His sudden change of expression and silly questioning only made the man laugh darkly, "My name is Suikotsu, a member of the Band of Seven who's been brought back from the grave."Somehow, that name struck something inside him. He could almost swear he'd heard it before..
"You mangy wolf!"Inuyasha shoved at him from behind, finding his way into Suikotsu's line of sight, "He's nothing but a walking corpse. I can handle him easily!" Being that this creep was as human as Inuyasha himself, at this point, he figured there was no way he could lose. This brought a smirk to that crazy face, and the undead man jumped from the cliff he'd been standing on, standing merely feet away from the pair, "If you think that is the case, come at me."
Meanwhile, Sango kept the others at a safe distance, jumping on Kirara and soaring just up ahead to give her Hiraikotsu a good whirl at the poison-maker, who scrambled out of the way just in time. Kagome, noticing Sango was struggling with this mangy creature, stood from behind the rock, "Kagome, get down!" Shippo whined, worry lacing his tone. Kagome extracted an arrow, and aimed her bow, "Pipe down, Shippo, I have to focus." Through her eyes, for a moment, time seemed to stop. The air was still, and she could just barely see through the haze of the poison mist, thanks to the break she'd been given through Sango's unintentional distraction. With confident aim, she released the arrow, a light purple sort of light encircling it as it flew toward her target. "Damn it!" Kagome cursed, pulling out another arrow as she observed the short creature dodge quickly. It seemed he was ready for another attack, aware of her presence now, but Sango kicked Kirara forward, drawing the sword she kept at her waist and swooping in to cut him as Mukotsu lifted his arm. Having created another distraction, , Kagome now had another opening, and aimed her deadly arrow. Just as she was about to release, she heard Inuyasha scream.
Her brown eyes widened as she swung around, "Inuyasha!"
"Keep your focus, Kagome! Kouga's got it handled!" Miroku encouraged strongly, kneeling beside her from behind the rock, "Aim your arrow for the poison one before we're all killed!" Shippo whined a bit, clinging to Miroku. The monk was right.. After just a few seconds of observing, watching as Kouga charged the clawed man, she turned back to the short one, only to watch Sango jump off Kirara, and charge at Mukotsu, blade drawn. Of course, it was no use, as he opened his mouth and spewed forth something most foul. Thick as it was, Kagome couldn't fire, for chance of hitting Sango, who was now in the crossfire. With shaking, uncertain hands, she waited, arrow drawn back, for the demon-slayer to emerge.
Near the cliff, Inuyasha lifted himself from the ground, holding his chest and flinching. It seemed Suikotsu had gotten him pretty good, and he was in no shape to stop Kouga and defeat the man on his own. There was poison in his lungs, and now there was a gaping wound in his chest. He felt so goddamn useless- "HIT THE MARK!" His amber eyes snapped over to Kagome as he caught sight of Sango rising from what seemed to be a new plume of smoke. If anything, it was growing, "KAGOME!" Inuyasha yelled out, reaching for her, as if that might save her. But she was in no danger, as the arrow did finally take out the poison-maker, just as Sango swooped down and pulled the three others onto Kirara. Once they were all safely on the hell cat, Sango urged forward, raising her weapon and throwing it forward at Suikotsu, whom Kouga had just kicked back, in perfect range.
His features twisted into that of surprise, as he was cut in half by the tremendous force. Oddly enough, this didn't keep him down, as his upper half continued to move, his head tilting up toward the gang, "Fools! You cannot kill the undead!" ..but.. Mukotsu had died.. Kagome looked him over, noting the shard in his neck, then drew her arrow back, holding her bow up as she aimed for where she could sense the shard. However, someone had other plans. With swift movements, a new man stood behind Suikotsu, "Pathetic.." He said, his features absolutely calm before he jumped up and blew fire over the clawed man, "No, brother! What are you DOING? NO!" The gang looked upon this scene with wide eyes, not understanding what just happened. Kagome slowly lowered her weapon, and Inuyasha hissed from the ground, "Who the HELL are you?" He smelled just like the other two.. Dead, and like Naraku.
Without a real answer, the man, whose face bore purple marks, glared and threw one of his explosives toward the small gathering. It gave him enough of a diversion to steal the shards from both his fallen brothers and run off, leaving the gang on the ground gasping for air behind a whimpering Kirara. Seems she'd protected them all in the nic of time. ..who were those three..? Kagome coughed as the smoke dispersed, and sat up as the others started to, "...he took off with the jewel shards.."
((OH my god, you guys, it's been forever, and I'm so sorry for the wait! D: I typed this one up in a flash, and I came up with some new ideas to keep this thing rolling. The next chapter.. Is going to be a bit naughty. A warning in advance, as some readers don't like that kind of thing. Anyway! There's no Sesshomaru or Naraku in this installment, but there will be in the next, and it will be a long one. c: I promise 3 Love you guys~))