Previously…
"It'll be alright, he won't get the chance," Sango reassured her as Alice knelt down next to the injured wolf and began to heal his wounds.
As Alice healed the wounds of the wolf demon she frowned. These burn marks look familiar, like Shikigami caused them. But who would do this and why?
Shaking her head to clear the thoughts from her mind, Alice focused on healing the wolf demon's wounds. Let's hope that he can give us some answers once he wakes up, after all Kagome's safety and his own pack's could very well rely on what he has to say.
Chapter 27: Where is the Killer?
At the painful moan of the wolf demon, Alice flinched in surprise. Everyone stared down at the fallen wolf to see him slowly come back into consciousness.
"Hey, are you alright?" Shippo asked as she bent down to kneel next to Alice.
The wolf demon stiffened at the sound of Shippo's voice and slowly opened up a golden eye to see the whole group. Though once his eyes met that of Alice's he jumped, panic flashing through his eyes, and in a flash he pushed Alice away, who fell two feet away from the wolf landing roughly on her bottom. At this Shippo jumped in surprise and flung to Sango's shoulder.
"Ow! What was that for?" Alice snapped at the wolf, one eye closed from the sudden move while she held a fist up at the wolf.
"It's you!" the wolf demon gasped as he backed away from Alice, holding his hands in front of his face in protection.
"Wait a second! Alice won't hurt you," Sango said in a soothing tone towards the wolf.
Ignoring Sango, the wolf demon fixed Alice with his panicked yellow gaze while warning, "Stay away from me! I don't want you anywhere near me, especially since you'll just attack me again."
"Sure, sure. I'll just walk up and attack you right after I finished healing your wounds," Alice muttered as she rolled her eyes, sarcasm dripping off her tongue.
"What's going on here?" Shippo whispered to Sango.
"I don't know but Koga said the exact same things as this wolf demon," Sango murmured.
"Calm down," Miroku stated calmly, "And please tell us what exactly is going on around here."
"Yeah, no need to re-open your wounds," Sango added while Alice huffed.
"No kidding. Just warning you that if you do re-open them I won't be healing them again," Alice muttered while Sango shot her an annoyed look while mouthing 'You're not helping.'
"Lies! Why would you heal my wound when you yourself are the one who gave me them? You're just here to finish what you started a few minutes ago," the wolf demon growled.
"Yeah, cause that makes so much sense," Alice replied, rolling her eyes before stating more seriously, "Look, I wasn't the one who attacked you, that burden belongs to someone else."
"But you were just attacking us a little while ago! Not to mention you attack us every day," the wolf demon countered.
"Hey, weren't you listening to a word I just said?" Alice yelled at the wolf, making him flinch.
A few seconds later, the wolf recovered and glared at Alice while saying, "You'd have better be prepared because Koga will never forgive your crimes."
"Excuse me, but what you're saying makes no sense," Miroku interrupted, "We have just arrived in this village, so tell me, how Alice can be the one who is attacking you every day. If you ask me, I'd say we have an imposter on our hands that is pretending to be Alice."
"That would explain why Koga and his men want revenge on you," Sango added, with a glance towards Alice, who looked back at them, understanding glowing in her blue eyes.
"Yes, it all makes sense now," Alice murmured, "But why would someone do this?"
"That's not fair! You've done nothing wrong but are taking the blame for someone else's crimes," Shippo stated.
"Heh, that's life I suppose," Alice responded bitterly before sighing and turning her attention towards the wolf demon, "Hey, let me at least put some bandages on your wounds so all that effort healing them won't be a total waste."
After a reluctant nod from the wolf, Alice pulled out a strand of gauze and wrapped the wolf's injuries up.
I swear, if he kicks me he'll want that imposter to kill him Alice thought as she tightened the knot of the bandage and got up, wiping the sweat from her brow.
"There all done," Alice stated, happy that she finally mended all the wolf's injuries, "Now take it easy or those wounds will re-open."
"You're kidding right?" the wolf demon replied, eyes wide in surprise.
"Hmm?" Alice responded, while looking back over her shoulder at the wolf demon.
"You're the person who's attacking us, but you just healed my wounds," the wolf started, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Yeah? Go on," Alice said, turning around to face the wolf
"You're scent and aura are a little different than before, so maybe you're not the person who has been attacking us," the wolf concluded.
"Finally!" Alice exclaimed, "It's about time one of you made some sense out of all of this."
"No kidding, you wolves are really slow on this sort of thing. This is what we've been trying to tell you all along," Inuyasha put in.
"S-sorry," the wolf stammered, lowering his head in embarrassment.
"It's alright," Alice soothed as she put a hand on the wolf's shoulder, causing him to look back up at her as she continued, "I'm just glad you've finally come to your senses."
"Now all that's left to do is clear up this misunderstanding with Koga," Miroku stated.
"Yeah, but I doubt it will be easy. This is stinky wolf we're talking about, remember?" Inuyasha countered.
"If it helps, I can talk to Koga about it," the wolf demon offered, brightening up a bit, "He might have an easier time believing it if I told him rather than you guys."
"That would be very helpful," Sango agreed while nodding her thanks.
"No problem, it's the least I can do in return for you guys helping me," the wolf demon replied, "Well, I guess I should get going. Telling this to Koga will be no simple task and I might as well get this over with. I'll see you around."
"Yeah, we'll good luck," Alice stated before something popped in her mind, "Hey where…"
Alice was cut off as the wolf sped away into the forest, leaving behind no trace he was there other than the shifting of the leaves. Frustrated, Alice frowned and looked in the direction the wolf left.
"Dang, I was just going to ask for directions to the hideout so we won't have to wonder around here," Alice sighed.
"Yes, it is unfortunate. But perhaps there are other wolf demons in the area who can point out the direction," Miroku offered.
"Yeah, but I doubt they'll be too happy to tell us. Remember, I'm still a murderer in their eyes," Alice argued while taking a step in the direction the wolf vanished in.
"Well they'll tell us even if we have to force it out of them," Inuyasha growled as Alice and the others sighed, knowing the anger in his voice was due to the fact that the hanyou just wanted to get Kagome back.
Seconds ticked by and the group came to another clearing and in the middle of the clearing stood two wolf demons, scouting the area for any trouble. However, once they spotted the group, specifically Alice, they flinched and went into defensive positions.
"Hey, do you two know where Koga is?" Alice asked.
"It's that girl!" one growled in surprise, ignoring Alice's question.
"Run away!" the other commanded and in a flash the two were gone.
Alice sighed, "Well that went well…"
"Don't worry, we'll catch them next time," Sango reassured.
After setting off at a brisk pace after the two wolf demons, the group quickly rounded a corner coming face to face with the same two wolves.
"Damn it, she followed us!" the first growled.
"Run away!" the second yelled.
"Wait!" Alice yelled, taking a step towards them only to find them gone with a gust of air blowing her hair back.
"Ugh! This is getting us nowhere!" Alice grumbled in frustration as she chased after the two.
"Every time those wolf demons see you they run away," Miroku pointed out from behind.
Alice rolled her eyes at the statement. Of course they're running away baka! They think I'm the killer she thought as they came into another clearing, finally having caught up to the two and once there the two wolf demon's glared at Alice while catching their breath.
"Again? How annoying!" the second muttered loud enough for everyone in the clearing to hear.
"I swear… If you run… away… one more time…" Alice said in between gasps of air.
In a second the wolves vanished, leaving a very much angered Alice, who collapsed onto the ground with a frustrated sigh, "Damn them!"
"Whoever is pretending to be you must've done some pretty terrible things to make them that scared of you," Shippo pointed out.
"No kidding," Inuyasha growled, annoyed at the situation as much as Alice was, "Let's just catch one of them and force them to tell us where Koga is!"
"No we can't do that. If we force them to tell us that then we will really be the bad guy," Miroku objected.
"Miroku's right. I know how you two feel but we have to take things slowly or else we might get into even more trouble," Sango agreed.
"But…" Inuyasha started.
"They're right Inuyasha. We can't just go attacking them or else this impossible task might become even harder to complete than it already is, though I highly doubt it could," Alice interrupted.
A moment of silence followed as each person tried to find a solution when Alice spoke up again, "Hey Inuyasha, why don't you just find Koga's scent and follow it to his lair? They're too fast to follow on foot but if we follow there scent…"
"Don't even bother, I've already tried scenting them but there's so much wolf demon stench around that I can trace it," Inuyasha cut her off.
"But the scent might be clearer now," Alice argued.
"Yes, we may be nearer to Koga's hideout than we were before," Sango added.
"Well alright, I'll try again. But don't get your hopes up yet," Inuyasha muttered as he stepped forward and sniffed the air. After a few minutes he shook his head and growled, "Nope, the scent is still too faint."
"So if the scent was stronger, then you'd be able to follow it?" Miroku asked as Inuyasha nodded.
A stronger scent huh? What could we use that Inuyasha can smell miles away… Alice thought before realization hit her.
"Back to the village, I have an idea," Alice stated as she retraced her steps back to Ayame Village with everyone close behind her after a moment of confusion.
"What do you have in mind?" Sango asked Alice.
"I know a way to make the scent stronger and unforgettable," Alice replied with a slight wince at remembering the foul stench.
Within minutes the group was back in the small village, Inuyasha cringing at the nauseating stench in the air that grew closer as Alice led the group to the garlic stand they had come across when they first entered the village.
"I see so if we use the garlic the scent will become stronger. Great thinking Alice, Inuyasha can smell this scent even from far away," Miroku praised while Alice nodded while holding her nose.
"Yeah so now following the wolf demons will be much easier," Sango added.
"Can we just get this over with," Inuyasha muttered, pinching his own nose as well.
Inuyasha, Alice and Shippo wore disgusted faces as Sango and Miroku approached the stand owner.
"Did you change your mind? I knew you would think better of your health and return," the man chuckled.
"Well that's not exactly the reason we have returned. But I'd like the strongest smelling one you have," Sango corrected.
"Sure, take anyone you'd like. They're for free so it makes no difference in which one or how many you choose," the man replied.
Looking through the rows of garlic, Sango and Miroku carefully picked out three large cloves of garlic before bowing to the man in respect and gratitude before saying their own thanks and heading back to where Inuyasha, Shippo and Alice stood.
"Ugh! That's horrible," Alice muttered as she fanned away the stench.
"Get those away from me," Inuyasha growled while jumping away from Miroku and Sango.
"Let's just get this over with," Shippo complained.
Sango and Miroku looked at each other, obviously wondering how the smell of garlic could affect the three so much, before shrugging and starting towards the forest. After distancing themselves from the two, Alice and the other's followed.
Not even two minutes had passed when Alice spotted the wolf demons, who turned to face her while saying, "Look it's that girl again, run away!"
"You guys can't run this time," Inuyasha yelled with a smug look on his face despite holding his nose.
In a flash, Sango threw the three cloves of garlic at the two before they could move an inch. Each clove hit its target as Sango smiled triumphantly while Alice let go of her nose and breathed in a sigh of relief to find the stench gone.
After recovering from the shock of the action, the first wolf glared at Sango before sniffing the air and making a disgusted face that was mimicked by his companion.
"What's that rotten smell?" the second wailed while holding his nose.
"I can't stand it! Ugh!" the other put in while shaking his head in a vain attempt to clear the air. Seeing that it was useless, the two took off to get away from the overpowering scent.
"Now Inuyasha! Follow the scent," Shippo instructed, while Inuyasha made a disgusted face.
"No way! I'll die before I breathe in that scent again," Inuyasha argued, arms folded defiantly.
"Come on Inuyasha! You're the only one who can do it," Alice snapped before smirking and saying more softly, "Plus, don't you want to get Kagome back from Koga? Or do you want her to spend more time with that wolf?"
In an instant Inuyasha's stubborn expression lit up in worry for a few seconds before dying down to a more emotionless state, "Keh, why should I care? Kagome went to him on her own accord anyway."
"What? Then why...?" Alice started, annoyed at the hanyou's stubbornness.
"But I need to find Kagome so I can give her a piece of my mind," Inuyasha quickly cut in.
Alice sighed while Shippo whispered, "I think he's actually more worried about Kagome's safety than yelling at her."
Everyone nodded in agreement as Inuyasha blushed a bit before saying, "Shut up! Are you guys going to stand here all day or are we going to find Kagome?"
"We'll we are waiting on you…" Alice muttered while Inuyasha 'Keh'd' and started to follow the scent with a reluctant but determined look on his face.
Inuyasha led the group through the forest at a surprisingly quick pace, but once they reached the swamp he slowed down, frowning.
"The scent around here is really faint…" Inuyasha murmured, "I can barely make it out."
"How about this way Inuyasha?" Alice offered, pointing towards the swamp, "Scents disappear around water so that would explain why you can't find it as easily."
Taking a step towards the swamp, Alice stopped at the edge, just barely standing on the dry ground that bordered the mushy ground. Looking out, Alice tried to spot any wolf demons that might be in the area.
Suddenly, Alice heard Sango gasp and before she could even turn around, Alice felt the ground beneath her shift causing her to plummet into the muddy swamp. After recovering from the shock, Alice looked up to see herself covered in mud.
"Ugh!" Alice spat in disgust as she shook her hands to get the mud off of them.
"Sorry! I saw the ground shift but I guess I was too late to warn you," Sango apologized.
"No it's fine, I was just standing a little too close to the swamp," Alice sighed.
"Here, let me help you out of there," Miroku offered as he held out a hand which Alice gratefully held onto as he pulled her up to stand next to everyone.
"Ugh, I'm covered in mud," Alice complained, "Is there any way I can change into something less muddy?"
"Well we have the outfit Kaede gave us, if that'll do," Sango offered as she pulled out the priestess clothing from Alice's bag.
"Wow, I almost forgot about them," Alice replied before smiling, "But yes, they'll be just fine."
Walking over to a secluded section of the forest, Alice glared at Miroku, silently warning him to stay away. She then went behind a thick tree and changed into the priestess attire. Once securing her sword in the outfit's red hakama's loop, she walked out and twirled around, her cobalt hair shimmering in the sunlight.
"Wow Alice, those clothes look nice on you. Do they fit okay?" Sango asked.
"Thank you Sango! The sleeves are a little big but hey, it's better than being muddy," Alice chuckled as she placed her muddy kimono into her bag.
"I must agree with Sango. You have always looked beautiful in your kimono before, and this outfit is no exception to that," Miroku praised.
"You think so?" Alice responded with a slight blush.
"Of course, why would I joke about such a thing? Now how about you let me hold onto your bag so you don't have to carry it around," Miroku offered.
Smiling gratefully at the monk, Alice handed him her bag before looking towards Inuyasha and saying, "Sorry about delaying us for so long."
"Keh, whatever. Let's go already," Inuyasha replied as he turned and continued to follow the scent.
Alice nodded and soon followed after the hanyou. Wow, it's going to take some time to get use to walking in these Alice thought as she carefully placed her feet on the ground in each step she took.
A few minutes later, Alice got the hang of it and the group set out on a brisk pace after Inuyasha. Within moments, Alice heard the murmuring of a river as Inuyasha's ears perked up, catching the river's sound as well and led the group straight to it.
"I'm pretty sure the wolf demon's lair is somewhere over there," Inuyasha stated while pointing upriver.
"Great, let's get going then," Alice responded while walking past Inuyasha to take the lead.
"I hope Kagome is alright," Shippo murmured worriedly.
"Of course she's okay! Why wouldn't she be?" Inuyasha growled.
Sighing, Alice picked up her pace wanting to see with her own eyes that Kagome was safe and sound. Not even a minute had passed when Alice spotted a bridge and headed towards it. However, once she reached it she stopped in surprise.
"Those are wolf demons!" Alice gasped as she saw the two dead wolves lying in front of her.
"How horrible," Sango murmured as she cast a sad look towards the fallen creatures.
"I don't know who is responsible for this, but whoever it is they couldn't have gotten too far," Inuyasha pointed out, "Their wounds are still fresh."
With a glance towards the two wolf demons, Alice realized that Inuyasha was right. This is unforgivable! How could anyone go this low? She thought as she made her way around the two bodies.
Once across the bridge, Alice came face to face with an injured wolf demon that was leaning against a tree, clutching his side in pain as blood trickled down his claws.
At the moan of pain coming from him, Alice gasped and approached the wolf saying, "Hey, this one's still alive! Are you okay? Here let me help."
Opening up one emerald green eye, the wolf demon stiffened and let out a small whimper at the sight of Alice, who murmured, "Don't move. I'm trying to heal your wounds and if you freak out they'll just get worse."
Confusion blotted the wolf's eyes but after glancing down to see that Alice's words were true he laid his head against the tree and closed his eyes.
Thank kami. I think this whole thing is actually starting to look better. Maybe luck is on my side for once since this wolf actually trusted me and didn't freak out. Now all we need to do is get Koga to believe… Alice thought before she stiffened at the sound of footsteps approaching.
Looking up, Alice heard the startled gasps and saw the expressions of two wolf demons standing in the entrance of the cave that was known as their lair. At their horrified expressions, Alice looked to the injured wolf thinking that his injuries weren't that bad when the sight of fresh blood on her hands, from pressing against the wound, caught her eyes.
Oh this is just perfect Alice thought as she waited for the wolf demons to say something.
"What did you do to my friend?" the wolf on the left snarled, rage flooding his gaze.
"Wait, listen to me! I haven't done anything wrong, I was just healing his wounds not inflicting them," Alice defended herself.
Ignoring Alice the wolf demon on the left turned and said, "This is terrible! I must go and tell Koga this immediately!"
"Wait!" Shippo yelled, but it was too late. The wolves had already vanished into the darkness of the cave.
"This is bad, they've mistaken us as the killers once again," Miroku warned, eyes darkening with worry.
"How will we convince Koga now? Those wolf demons seemed pretty certain that we were the cause of their friend's injuries," Sango put in.
"Well we'll just have to find a way won't we? Let's get going, Kagome must be in that cave and we can't waste any more time than we've already have," Inuyasha stated.
"Right," Alice agreed as she took one last glance at the injured wolf, praying for his safety, before charging into the darkness of the cave.
Hey people! Well here's chapter 27 and the group has finally reached the cave where Kagome awaits their arrival~
But I've noticed something! Hakku and Ginta aren't in the game! OOO:
Poor wolf buddies... V.v
But maybe they'll show up in the next chapter hm? ;D
Please read and review~
