"There's a coalition that is already fighting slavery." Kouga began. "When you changed my binding, I actually assumed you were in it, because few other humans would have done that."
"Are there humans in the coalition, then?" Kagome asked.
"Yes. A few. At this point it is mostly wolf demons and wolves, though. We have a stronger natural inclination to form a pack than most other demons do. The cause is obviously compelling enough that other kinds of demons join as well, though."
Inuyasha processed this. It was good. With the numbers and resources that this coalition had, he and Kagome might actually be able to start something big. But... "How does it help with the current situation?"
"We have territory in the forest. It's a place to go. I think the first thing we need to do is just get Kagome out of here."
"No," Kagome said flatly. "I'm not leaving. I can't just walk out on my mom like that."
"We can come back for her," Inuyasha replied desperately. He didn't want Kagome to stay here any longer either. "Set up a sound loop and let's go check the place out. If there's somewhere she can stay there, too, then we'll figure out how to bring her. We can do that, right?" he asked, turning to Kouga.
The wolf nodded solemnly. "As long as she also believes in what the coalition stands for."
"So... we'll talk to her first. Please, Kagome. Do this. You hate it here." He couldn't stand the thought of her being anywhere near Naraku anymore.
She hesitated still, thinking it over. As she thought, she flexed her fully healed arm. Inuyasha was glad that is was better, but knew that the emotional scars would take longer to fade. He held his breath for her answer.
"Ok," she said. "But we have to come back for her soon. As soon as we can. The sound loop I set up earlier is still active, but only for a few days."
"So you're ready to go then?" Kouga asked. "Right now?"
She nodded.
"Great!" he replied, grabbing her around the waist and jumping out the window in one fluid motion.
"Hey! Don't just throw her around like baggage!" he cried, forgetting that he had exited the room with her in the exact same manner earlier that day. Then he swiftly jumped after them.
Kouga sped through the trees at a pace Inuyasha had never encountered before. He was able to keep up, but barely. Kagome, as usual, never screamed, but he wondered how she was handling it. They whipped through the trees, past the place he and Kagome had trained this morning, deeper into the towering trees and then, suddenly, up a cliff face. Inuyasha cursed Kouga for flitting across it so lightly and not even so much as looking to see if he was still able to follow. He was, but that wasn't the point.
Finally, Kouga slid to a stop in front of yet another towering wall of rock, and Inuyasha stumbled into place beside him.
"You still here?" Kouga asked dryly. Inuyasha glared at him, then turned a gentler gaze to Kagome, who was still dangling in the wolf's grasp.
"You ok?" he asked. She nodded, and Kouga finally set her down. Then he cupped both hands around his mouth and made a long, thrilling bird call.
When he finished, the cliff face burst open and scores of wolves and wolf demons came pouring out, barking and prancing and trying to lick Kouga's face.
"Kouga!"
"You're back!"
"We thought we'd lost you!"
"I missed you!"
"What happened?"
Kouga laughed and held up a hand to silence everyone. The pack immediately ceased any noise and looked at him in anticipation. "Everyone, I will tell you the story of my bondage and escape over dinner. But first, I'd like to introduce you to someone." He pulled Kagome around to stand in front of him. "This is my woman, Kagome."
An angry growl rose in Inuyasha's throat, but it was lost in the noise of the wolves' excitement. They all instantly tried to jump on her or shake her hand. Unable to help himself, Inuyasha sprang in front of her and began to stubbornly bat wolves away one by one. "Cut it out! She's not really his woman! She's not anyone's!"
"And that's Inuyasha. He's... also here." A few wolves spared him a nod.
"Can you just show us where we're staying?" Inuyasha demanded, wanting to get away from the situation and talk to Kagome alone.
"Well, of course, Kagome will be staying with me. Didn't you already offer to share a bed?" he asked, winking.
Inuyasha lunged at him. For some reason, picturing Kagome curled up under blankets with the likes of Kouga made him lose control.
Kouga caught him and dug his claws into Inuyasha's arms. He responded with a hard kick to the chest and they both fell to the ground still clawing and flailing.
"Stop it!" Kagome cried, and Inuyasha felt the increasingly familiar buzzing sensation of her restraining energy. Both he and Kouga were hanging in mid-air.
For the second time, a hush fell over the mass of wolves. Kagome, realizing that she had just revealed her powers, dropped them both instantly and blushed. Inuyasha fell hard, but rose quickly to stand next to her. He didn't know if they would take it well or badly. Traditionally, mikos were bred to hunt demons, and many of them were employed in slave warehouses where some of these wolves had undoubtedly spent their time. They didn't make a move, though.
Kouga also flipped to his feet and strode over. "Don't worry," he said, wrapping an arm around her waist. "She's on our side." Some of the wolves seemed to relax at this, but everyone stayed silent. Inuyasha glared at his arm, but decided to let him leave it there if it would make the other wolves less hostile.
Kagome was still frozen, probably also trying to gauge the crowd's reaction.
"Come on," Kouga said. "I'll show you around. You can meet the humans and the other demons inside." Then he pulled a bit at her hip to get her walking and guided her through the parting demons. Inuyasha followed sullenly behind.
So far, he was not liking this at all.
But as long as Kagome was safe, he'd bear it.
A/N: Who's waiting inside!? Can you think of any humans or demons that I could possibly have Inuyasha and Kagome meet and befriend!? Oh... you can? It's really obvious, you say? Well... fine. But it will still be fun anyway, right?