Shippo slashed his claws, ablaze with fox-fire, across the mid-level demon's chest. The grotesque monster roared in pain and rage as the blue flames boiled its blood, and cauterized its wounds.
He gagged at the stench of burnt hair and flesh, the smell threatening to overwhelm his scenes. And he needed every skill and trick he had—magical or not—if he wanted to get out of this mess, because he screwed up big time.
He lost the female's scent and had panicked. In his desperation to maybe capture her attention, he'd sent a blast out—an explosion of his youki. Expanding it out as far as he could stretch it. Hoping she'd feel him and respond…
Well, he got a response, just not the one he wanted, but should have kept foremost in his mind.
After taking him into his pack, Sesshomaru had stamped his scent into him, so much so, that the only way a demon would know he was a fox, was if he showed them his tails. He didn't mind smelling like an inu. It came with many perks. However, it also came with as many, if not more, downsides. Like, everyone outside the Western Lands trying to kill him, thinking he was a silver inu, and Sesshomaru's heir.
He always knew silver inu were feared, which was why so many tried to kill Inuyasha and attempted to harm Sesshomaru. He never knew just how much they were feared until Sesshomaru took him in. Which was more than three quarters of the demon population. However, those demons feared Sesshomaru's wrath too much to act, and the remaining demons that did think to take his lord on…
Well, they were either ignorant, arrogant, or just plain stupid.
And those dead-demons-walking that weren't stupid were members of the 'higher class'. Demons that moved in the same power circles as Sesshomaru and Mama Aimee, Sesshomaru's mother. Mama Aimee was another Daiyokai you did not want to mess with. Unlike Sesshomaru, she liked to 'play' with her prey.
"You're gonna die, dog."
Shippo sighed. Damn, but this demon was an idiot. He had all six of his red tails fanned out behind him, and yet the demon still thought he was a dog.
"Can you not talk? You make me feel like I'm getting stupid with every word you say." That, and he was pretty sure Sesshomaru was close to finding him. He was a couple days late in returning. Sesshomaru would be looking for him. The last thing he wanted was his mentor, and alpha, to see him in this messed up state. Wounded and bloody. His clothes ripped and muddy.
His only praise worthy accomplishment would probably be that he had not unsheathed his blade. But, it wasn't that he didn't want to use his sword, but because he couldn't control the power it contained without Sesshomaru next to him.
Upon 'adopting' him, Sesshomaru had located the remains of his mother and father, took their fangs, then commissioned Totosai to fashion a short sword for him. The combination of his parents shockingly powerful and wild yoki nearly overwhelmed him the first time he wielded it. And it would have, if Sesshomaru hadn't forced it into submission with unprecedented ease.
"Scared, little dog?"
Demons laughed at their leader's joke behind Shippo.
"I'm not a dog, asshole. Use your eyes more, and your nose less." Shippo couldn't help but taunt the large, ten-foot tall demon. He was hoping to confuse them—it didn't seem that hard to do, considering how stupid they were—, stalling them from completely ganging up on him.
He had fought off fifteen of them already. Using all his tricks before resorting to hand-to-hand combat, and the remaining yoki he had left, he used half to charge his claws with fox-fire and the other half he transferred into his legs just in case he had to make a run for it…which he probably did.
Because, besides the three demons behind him, and their leader trying to kill him in front of him, he could feel more demons waiting in the woods. He could feel the powerful auras of six others and a scatter of lesser, bottom-feeding demons. But it was the six he worried about, and that was six too many. He was already tired, hurt, and at his limit. He was still too young to fight so many at once.
He'd killed ten of them with a large blast of fox-fire, the next three with speed and agility, and the last two he had crushed with strength and power meant to intimidate and send the rest running… Yeah, that didn't work out quite as he had planned. His display had only pushed the other demons to test their strength against his.
If he couldn't run, he would have to admit defeat and bow his head, and shamefully call out to 'papa' Sesshomaru to come save him. If these bastards killed him, the nagging lecture he'd have to suffer through after Sesshomaru revived him…
He'd never live it down—getting defeated—or get any freedom out from under the Daiyokai's watchful eye.
"Let's get this over with," Shippo said, beckoning the demons to him with bloodied claws. If he did die, he could only hope they didn't eat him…or, too much of him. Sesshomaru would be doubly pissed if he had to retrieve pieces of him from the demons' guts.
The demons spread out around him. Slowly tightening the circle and closing in on him, attacking all at once.
"Shippo."
Dodging a few blows, Shippo thought he heard someone call his name, but it wasn't until the second shout that he realized who it was. There was no mistaking that voice, even after so long. Kagome.
"Kagom—" A burst of light, that was what Shippo saw. The pain he felt later, after he flew a few feet and a tree helpfully stopped his flight, and he slammed into the ground.
"Shippo!"
Blinking the stars away, Shippo dizzily tried to get to his feet. The six demons hiding in the woods came pouring out, and over a dozen mindless youkai—much more than he had thought had been out there.
"Run," Shippo rasped to the white-haired, leather clad female that landed in the small clearing as he struggled to his feet. It wasn't Kagome… But still, there were too many demons for her to fight. They'd kill her. The six demons were more powerful than the ones he was fighting. And way more powerful than the ones he had killed.
Shippo gasped in pain once he got to his feet, stumbling slightly. Whoever had send him flying had also scored a hit. Four jagged claw marks ran across his ribs. Blood flowed freely down his side.
A frightening snarl from the female pierced the air, startling Shippo. She wasted no time in eliminating the demons closest to him. Their hot blood sprayed across her chest and face as she tore through them with her claws.
The female paused in her carnage. Her blue eyes glanced over his wound and grew brighter, wilder.
"Kagome?" Shippo called out softly in confusion. There was no way that this female could be his old friend, it had been over a hundred years. Even with the blood dripping down her chin from the throat she'd just tore out with her fangs, and the chests she'd ripped to shreds with her claws …her face was the mirror image of the human girl he once knew.
"Kagome?" Shippo called out again. But, before the female could respond, the remaining demons attacked. Leaping into the air, the female was about to meet them head-on when a red blur slammed into her, sending her barreling through the forest, knocking several small trees down in her wake.
Shippo screamed Kagome's name. Hot rage dampened his pain. His fangs and claws lengthened as his beast fought to be released—to eliminate the one who harmed the female. But, when his reddening eyes turned to the demon responsible, Shippo could only stutter, "I-Inuyasha?"
"Yo." The not half-demon gave him a cocky middle finger salute before down-right murdering fifteen demons in less time that it took for Shippo to blink. Another female—inu, from the smell of her—dashed off into the forest, chasing the demons that had escaped Inuyasha's slaughter.
"Inuyasha!"
Shippo watch, dropped-jawed, as the white-haired female reappeared. Sideswiping Inuyasha's legs out from under him, she proceeded to grind his head into the dirt with her boot. Until Inuyasha shoved her foot off him, and he scrambled to his feet.
He watched their childish antics—them pushing and shoving one another—for a while before whispering, "Is that really you?"
"You got big, twerp," Inuyasha said, his voice slightly muffled as Kagome had him in a headlock. Twisting out of her hold, Inuyasha moved out of her reach.
"So, it is you?" Shippo could hardly work the words up his throat and out of his mouth, overwhelmed as he was with emotion.
Inuyasha grinned. "Who else would we be?"
In his heart, he wanted it to be true. But, his eyes and nose were having trouble believing it. They resembled Inuyasha and Kagome greatly, but, at the same time they didn't. The Inuyasha in front of him was a full-blooded demon, and the female…she wasn't human. They both had a wild, untamed scent to them. Dangerous. Deadly. But they also still smelled like his friends.
"It's us, Shippo."
Heart clenched, Shippo stepped forward, but stopped when Inuyasha held his arm out to keep Kagome from moving towards him. Shippo was about to ask him why he was stopping her when he felt it.
"We need to leave," Shippo said, frantically looking around. "We need to go now!"
The urgency in his voice put Inuyasha and Kagome on edge, but the lack of a threat left them confused. But, Shippo could feel Sesshomaru, feel the presence of his alpha's aura speeding to their location.
Shippo quickly glanced down at his rapidly healing wound. His blood pooled at his feet. His lord must have been close enough to have smelt his blood, and was coming. With the number of corpses covering the ground, Shippo feared the stench of death would cover Inuyasha and Kagome's scent.
Sesshomaru's temper being what it was, Shippo knew his lord tended to ask questions after decapitating his enemies.
Shippo rushed to Inuyasha and Kagome's side, thinking he had enough time to grab their arms and escape. However, his hopes were dashed when a ball of light slammed into the earth between them, sending them flying.