A/N: okay where we last left off, Korihime had split up with Getsu and Sesshomaru to go aid Koga in his battle with Genkotsu and Renkotsu. meanwhile Getsu and Sesshomaru were attacked by another member of the Band of Seven named Jakotsu... and that's where this chap lets off. enjoy!
disclaimer: i don't own InuYasha; my OCs belong to me.
Chapter 27: Shattering Stars: Animal
Both of them looked surprised to see the younger of the two wolf sisters there near the injured wolf demon.
"Korihime?" The girl began, seeing her look over at her.
She smiled at her, looking down at the wolf demon she was kneeled next to, sniffing and shaking her head fervently to hide the tears from the hanyou. "I thought I smelled dog," she mused.
The aforementioned hanyou huffed and yanked the large piece of metal off the injured male's legs. "Koga's a wolf demon, something like this wouldn't do him in." He declared gruffly.
"Koga," the priestess began worriedly, both her and the she-wolf perking up when he stirred, opening his eyes stiffly.
"Koga!" She beamed in relief, her shoulders slumping. Thank God, she thought.
"Kori… You're injured; I can smell your blood." He grunted, perking her ears, as he tried to sit up.
She helped him sit up, chuckling and smiling. "It doesn't hurt a lot. You idiot, you scared me! I almost thought you hadn't survived that blast." She declared, wiping a smudge of dirt from his cheek.
He winced slightly, perking his ears at seeing that tearstains marred her pale face; he huffed, lifting an arm to rub his thumb over her right cheekbone, brushing against the star birthmark on her skin. "Don't start cryin', Kori. It'd be like if I did die in the damn blast if you start crying." He scolded quietly.
Korihime blushed and then laughed weakly, smiling again. "I couldn't help it, Ginta and Hakkaku started the waterworks first, not me!" She defended.
Koga chuckled weakly, glancing over at the priestess. "Sorry for worryin' ya too, Kagome."
She chuckled and smiled humbly. "It's okay, Koga; I think you worried Korihime more than me." She mused.
InuYasha huffed. "Regardless, yer both worryin' over a scrawny wolf!" He barked.
Kagome opened her mouth to scold him before noticing the wolf demon had closed his eyes and rested his head on the she-wolf's knees, seeming to fall asleep like his two packmates had.
Korihime blinked before her eyes softened and she smiled, gingerly brushing strands of black hair from his forehead. "Idiot wolf." She muttered with a shake of her head.
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The transvestite huffed and his brow contorted into a frown. "Mighty words coming from a whorish wolf."
She bristled slightly and re-gripped the hilt of her katana.
"I would imagine you're just like that poison user; your dead mortal stink is the same as his was." He declared coolly.
He huffed again and smirked. "What a keen sense of smell; just what I'd expect from InuYasha's older brother!" He sent the same string of blades at the daiyokai.
He deflected it again, leaping at him and swinging Tokijin down, sending him flying with a yelp.
That was almost too easy, she mused.
"Just stay still and let him slay you, mortal…!" The imp yelped when he sent the blade-string at where he and the girl were, creating a small fissure in the ground.
"You got anything more to say; well, imp!?" He snarled.
A jet of blue fire screamed at him, throwing off his concentration, before a loud 'klang' rang out in the mountain air, sparks flying when her katana clashed with his broadsword.
"Leave them be: your fight is with us, corpse." She thundered coldly, her aura spiking with her agitation. "Jaken, take Rin and run. Now!" She growled over her shoulder.
The imp balked. "I-I don't take orders from you, you lowly…"
"Jaken, do as she says and go." He snapped coldly, making his vassal cringe at the tone in his low voice before both imp and girl scurried away from the battle.
The blades disengaged before she lunged again, blades locking together as she bore her weight down on her enemy, gritting her teeth.
"You're pretty good." He grumbled.
She huffed. "I've seen better; I didn't catch your name, by the way. It's honorable to know the name of the foe you're going to cut down." She growled stiffly.
He rammed his foot into her gut, making her stumble back before she gained her footing quickly. "Jakotsu, and what's yours?" He snapped.
"Getsu." She returned, gripping the hilt of her katana before she lunged again.
The string of blades sailed at her; she leaped into the air, briefly surprising the transvestite, before she flew down at him, sending a torrent of blue fire at her opponent from her left fist.
He managed to block the oncoming surge of fire, perking up as she crashed onto him, her katana's blade locking with that of his broadsword's, the sound of screeching metal hurting his ears.
She had indeed gotten stronger; the brief sessions of aerial practice and combat had been put to good use with her, something he had to admit he was very proud of...
She fell back after being knocked away by his string of blades, growling and flashing her teeth out of reflex, bristling like mad and panting softly.
"So you sent the girl away so that she wouldn't get hurt; well aren't you both doting parents." Jakotsu sneered.
Sesshomaru scoffed, "Big words coming from a dead mortal."
"I'm tired of hearing you two berate me because I'm dead!" He snapped, his face contorting into something like a pout before he huffed. "Never mind; with the girl gone you can focus more on our battle." He smirked darkly.
Getsu began to fire a retort before he nudged her behind him, surprised.
"Stay at my back." He ordered softly, lunging at the revived corpse and being met with the broadsword's block.
The stink of a second revived corpse surprised her; she looked over her shoulder alertly as the stink was coming from the opposite end of the bridge.
"Keep your attention on me!" He barked, swinging the broadsword at him and knocking Tokijin out of his hand, the demon sword flying to stab into the side of the gorge.
"Sesshomaru," she began, perking up as the transvestite swung his sword at him again. "Dying Wolf's Blood!" She shouted and swung the sword sharply; he ducked in time as she sent a torrent of green energy screaming at the corpse.
"What!?" He cried out as he was thrown back from the force of the attack that came from her Mangetsuga.
He nodded to her as she flicked her wrist aimlessly. "That wasn't necessary, but thank you nonetheless." He mused.
She nodded back and smiled, shrugging. "Someone has to look out for you if not yourself." She replied.
The sound of the bridge creaking and then breaking rang out before the girl's scream was heard.
"Rin!" She sprinted past him towards the noise, ducking when the string of blades flew at her and almost got her head; she whirled about in slight surprise to see the transvestite's blades retreat to the broadsword.
"And just where do you think you're going?" He sneered.
Her aura spiked angrily and she bared her teeth, dropping her katana and leaping at him blindly, lithe body twisting as she sent jet after jet of blue fire at him, forcing him to draw back with each angered blow.
"Know your place!" She snarled, landing on her right foot hard; a wide torrent of blue fire screamed at the distracted corpse, sending him flying into the trees behind them.
He retrieved Tokijin just as she snatched up Mangetsuga from the ground and flew down after the girl; he flew after her until he hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her to his side. "You fought bravely." He mused into her hair.
She smiled fondly at his praise, nodding. "A wolf protects its own, and I am no different." She replied softly.
She scowled and huffed, scowling at him. "He's still bein' a jerk," she muttered.
"Kori-onee, shouldn't you be getting back to Getsu-onee and Sesshomaru?" Shippo asked the she-wolf running alongside the large twin-tailed neko.
The aforementioned female looked at the sleeping wolf demon on the hanyou's back, quieting. "Getsu and Sesshomaru are fine without me there; knowing them, if they ran into trouble they can handle it between the two of them, given that they're both daiyokai. Besides, I wanted to make sure Koga would be okay." No thanks to a certain complaining baka-inu, she inwardly added, scowling again.
Poor Korihime, seeing Koga like that must've scared her, the priestess mused, looking at her long cobalt hair that danced in the wind behind her wake. "I'm sure he's going to be fine, Korihime." She assured her.
She looked up at her and her eyes softened, nodding. "I hope so too, Kagome. Thank you for helping." She replied.
The hanyou looked back at the two females and huffed, looking away. If I didn't know any better, I'd think that Kori's actually liking Koga, and more than normal, he thought.
It wasn't like he and her had bonded or anything like that; she was just a friend.
Sure she teased him and there was that one time she kissed his cheek, but she was just teasing! She wasn't blind: she knew he didn't like her in that way. Whatever Koga did to that Genkotsu freak, it had to involve protecting Korihime in the process before he was knocked out.
That was the only reason he could see that had said pedigree princess worrying for him.
Talk about irony: a princess falling for a knight… Just like something out of a kid's fairy tale.
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Both Getsu and Sesshomaru landed nimbly on the river bank, straightening with ease as the former favored taking the hand of the latter instead of being dragged away by his arm around her waist.
"Her scent ends here, so that means she must've been carried away by the current." She thought aloud, tapping her chin with a finger and walking off down the bank after her mate's lead.
I hope Korihime is doing okay; before we fought against Jakotsu, I almost thought I smelled InuYasha's scent mingled with hers and Koga's. Hopefully they got away without too many critical injuries, she thought.
He stopped walking once he heard the quiet groans of consciousness coming from behind a small rock outcropping by the river.
Her head crashed into his back; with a muffled 'oof', she stumbled back as pain blossomed in her nose. "Ow; S-Sesshomaru, that hurt!" She stammered, her voice nasal as she rubbed her probably-broken nose gingerly with tears in her eyes, scowling up at him.
"Are you pretending to be dead, Jaken?" He drawled, perking her ears; she looked over at the rocks as the imp squeaked an apology and bowed face-first into the rock he stood on.
She sweatdropped.
"I promise I shall find Rin even if it costs me my life!" The imp vowed.
He continued walking, tugging on her hand and leading her after him. "Come on."
"And if it does cost him his life, we can let Kori eat fried toad!" She mused with a light smile.
The imp blanched and scurried after the couple. "L-Lord Sesshomaru, you don't agree with that, do you!?"
He ignored him, continuing to walk and lightly pulling her to walk at his right side. "I'm sure there are plenty of amphibians to choose from around here." He mused quietly, his voice low enough that the imp didn't catch what he said.
She used her free hand to cover up a giggle. "Dastardly things coming from your mouth, milord!" She teased with a wink.
He smirked and squeezed her hand affectionately.
A/N: not much to put except that it might take me a bit to pull up the next chap because of the ref work. just ahead's up! ^^ also, 1200 views! whew-hoo! lol thanks a mil guys, rly! ;D
**second part of the chap title - "Animal" by Ellie Goulding