Chapter 10: The Man Who Fell in Love with Keara!
It's been an hour, or at least, I think. I've been sitting on the hay bed in the back of Koga's den, watching as the wolves and demons scurry about in search of ways of helping the injured. I haven't offered to help because I don't think they'd let me go search for herbs if they wanted to. Koga has been gone for a bit now, leaving the rest of us a little restless on how to react to one another. But right as I think I might burst from feeling trapped, Koga appears from the crowd and walks up to my side. He places his hands on his hips and glares over the crowd.
"Stand up," he commands.
There is something in his voice that sounds a little different. I can't pinpoint it, so I stare up at him confused.
"Get up! Please, Keara! Don't make it look suspicious!" He says in a rushed whisper.
That's when I notice the difference fully. This isn't Koga. This is Shippo.
I hadn't wondered where the fox demon went, I just thought he got out when I noticed he disappeared from the crowd with no one chasing him. I didn't think he'd come back for me if he were to have escaped. So, I stand up, brushing my legs free of hay that clings to me.
Shippo, as Koga, snatches my left arm and tugs me through the den, walking straight through the crowd and forcing the other demons and wolves to move out of the way. He sure is acting like Koga, like a leader.
"Koga, where are you going with the human?" Asks a demon up above from a cliff in the den.
"The woman needs fresh air. This place sticks and I don't think it's the wolves."
"Ginta, Hakkaku, go watch Koga's back," says a demon with a scar going down his left eye.
"What are you saying? Ginta and Hakkaku already left an hour ago for guard duty with Koga!" Says someone else up on the inner cliff.
"Then who was that?" I hear someone call as we approach the entrance to the den.
A small group of three wolves follow close behind us, sniffing at Shippo's obviously different tail which must have changed midway while walking. I am about to shoo them off when one reaches its jaws out and grabs the tail with its teeth, shocking Shippo. This forces him to burst into smoke, popping back into his original state.
"Shit," I curse and glance around for a weapon to protect us from the oncoming demons and wolves. There is a convenient pile of spears to my right, so I grab one and hold it up at them.
"Hey, you! Tryin' to fool us?" Someone says from the crowd.
Even with a pack of wolf demons and wolves coming at us, I still don't feel threatened or angry. I feel, almost, sorry for them. I pity them for the attacks the bird demons have caused, I pity them for not knowing who their leader is. I flat out don't feel the need to protect myself or Shippo, but I know I have to. So, what's wrong with me?
Without thinking much further about it, I grab Shipp's hand and sprint out of the waterfall, soaking myself entirely by the falling water, and run along the cliff following the mountainside. The demons and wolves are close behind, I can hear the pattering of their bare feet against the stone floor. But the further we run the closer we get to an edge. My heart sinks. There is no way for me to escape, but Shippo can.
"We're trapped now, Keara!" Shippo cries.
"No, we're not. You can expand your body and fly! I need you to go find Inuyasha." I demand, throwing him off the cliff a good distance away. Midair and midfall, he bursts into smoke again but pops into the shape of a large, inflated pink ball and bounces in the air downwards to escape into the forest below.
I don't see who, but one of the demons throws a chain at Shippo, a feeble attempt to capture him but to throw off the threat, I thrust the spear I hold into the chain, losing grip of it and dropping it in the process.
"Find Inuyasha, Shippo!" I shout.
"Conniving wench! I'll devour you alive!"
I turn around, and the mob of demons and wolves slowly approaches me. I back up, my foot catching the edge and my arms flailing to stabilize myself on the ground.
"Stay back," I hiss, lifting my left hand at them and trying to concentrate my energy on my palm. But nothing happens. No light, no beam. I hear them snickering as I look at my hand dumbfounded.
I glance up at them through my lashes and see a large boar fall on top of one of the demons nearest to me. It crushes his back, but I don't think enough to cause him any serious harm.
"W-who did that?" Someone asks, as they all turn their attention upwards where on top of the cliff, on another edge, is Koga and two other demons, looking down at us.
"Hey! What did I say about eating her? I warned you!" Koga barks. For a split second, I couldn't be happier to see the wolf demon leader, but it quickly sways when I realize the emotion and push it aside, reminding myself that he is my kidnapper.
"Koga, the little guy is flying! He's over there!" Says one of the two demons beside Koga. He points to the distance at which Shippo slowly disappears.
"Let me go after him, Koga! It's the least I can do after letting him escape!" A demon says; he helps the demon that has been fallen by the boar, to get up and struggles to walk him back to the group.
Koga and the two demons, leap down to the cliff we are all on, and approach me with his hands on his hips. A wide smile is on his face as he stops a foot in front of me.
"I'm gonna make you my woman!" He exclaims.
My brows furrow close together and my head falls to the side as I stare at him with wide eyes. What did he just say?
"Hey, Koga…. I thought you were gonna eat her when you were done with her, not marry her!" Someone says behind him.
"You don't want her! She's human!" Another grumbles.
"Idiots. This woman can see the sacred jewel! Those birds aren't the only ones with a shard, you know. With her ability, we'll be able to gather all the sacred jewel shards in the region."
"We'd be incredibly powerful! Our pack would be unstoppable!" Someone yells in the background, but with the confusion, I don't quite see who it is.
"That's the idea, yeah. So, you see, she's way more valuable to us than some female demon," he glances at them and then turns to me, his hands falling from his hips. He steps one foot to me and wraps his arm around my waist. I shift to leave his grip, but his hand tightens around my waist, forcing me to stay. "Your name is Keara, right? Wolves mate for life, so you're mine now! Got that?"
I blink not once, but twice before it sinks in fully. His wife? The very word has me shuddering. It's not that he's not attractive but his pride is ridiculous. I snarl and slap him across the face, realizing what I had done a little too late. A red mark blooms on his face and I step back just in case he explodes right away.
"She just slapped Koga!" Someone says.
"Honeymoon's over! She's dead now," another grunts.
"I'm not some slave! You can't just claim me as your property!" I hiss.
"Don't tell me you're with that dog-eared mutt, Inutrasha," Koga assumes.
My left-hand forms into a fist and shakes against my chest as I try not to assault him again. "His name isn't 'Inu-trasha,' so don't insult him! He's brave, courageous, and can be really good-hearted and he has a great name."
"I don't see what you like about him," Koga's eyes narrow slightly and he lowers his head towards me. The mark on his face is already disappearing.
I frown. What I like about him? The memories of us chilling out by the tree at Kaeda's village play in my mind. I felt comfortable with Inuyasha – no, I feel comfortable with him. I feel safe and at peace when he's around. But even if I have emotions for him, he's in love with someone else.
"I don't care! He won't be my rival for long. Next time I see him, I'll put a spear through his heart and feed him to my wolves! Then he won't be much competition anymore, just a pile of old bones." Koga grins.
I wonder how I got here. Mixed in the middle of spiky cliffs with a hoard of wolf demons with weapons behind me. Koga is at my side as we look up at a large mountain with multiple shark points. Even though we are all surrounded by spiky boulders, we are not invisible – I am surprised the bird demons haven't spotted us yet.
"So this is the mountain, where the bird nests?"
"Yeah. And one of them at the top possesses a sacred jewel shard."
I look up at the top, faintly feeling an aura calling out to me but I can't quite see it yet. It's here, and it wants to be found. I glance up at Koga who concentrates on watching his enemies above. I don't want to help him, but at the same time, I want to stop the bird demons before they harm other people more innocent than the wolf demons.
There is a loud, gurgling caw that echoes above us, and when I look up I see that one of the bird demons has noticed us.
"They're on to us." Koga turns to his men and points down at them. "Okay men, take on the grunts," he orders.
"C'mon, Keara!"
Koga wraps his left arm around my waist and holds me tightly, he leaps us up the cliff, putting pressure in my stomach that makes me want to scream. A crowd of bird demons come flying down at us, but Koga easily dispatches them with his claws. He breaks free through the group of bird demons and leaps us further up the mountain.
"Keara, can you see which one has the jewel shard?" Koga asks.
I focus my attention on the mountain and the mobs of bird demons above and a faint purple light glitters within the mountain. It's faint, but there.
"It's up on the cliff!" I try to point in the direction but the wind pushes my hand back down. Koga knows where to go just from my directions and when we reach the cliff' edge, the mountain shakes. A monstrosity of a beast comes bursting out of the cliff, raining rocks and boulders out towards us. Koga avoids the mess and I see what this beast truly looks like.
The bird demon is huge compared to the others, maybe four or five times the size of its underlings, with two ugly blue creatures attached to the top of its head. They both have a single horn on their heads with bird-like feet as hands.
We land on a ledge nearby and the demon turns its attention towards us.
"We've been waiting for you, you have the sacred jewel shards! My brother and I have been seeking them everywhere," the one on the right says with a scratchy voice.
"How convenient that you've decided to make a home delivery and come to us!" The other says.
"I've got somethin' to 'deliver,' all right! Keara, where's the sacred shard?" Koga asks, gripping the side of the mountain with one hand and holding me up with the other.
Now that the beast is out of the mountain, the shard is as easy to see as plain day. It's glowing from inside its mouth, bright and brilliantly as the day it was shattered.
"It's in its mouth."
"You'll get a good look at it," the creature starts to say, opening its wide mouth where its entirety starts to glow a bright yellow. "As we swallow and devour you! A wolf and a human, delicious!" The bird demon bursts at us, but Koga is faster. He leaps us away from the oncoming demon and down the mountain. I see the bird demon collide with the mountain's wall, forcing an indentation against the cliff where it hits.
We come to land on the ground where the other wolf demons are holding down a bird demon with some chains. Koga carries me over to them before placing me on my feet on the ground.
"Protect Keara!" Koga orders.
The grayed-hair wolf demon blinks. "What're you planning to do?" He asks.
"I'll cut its stupid mouth wide open!"
"You're going after the shard on your own?" Another wolf-demon asks as he approaches.
"I'm the only one strong enough to take on that two-headed talking turkey!" Koga races back up the mountain wall before we can protest.
"Don't worry, sister, we'll keep you safe," the gray-haired demon says.
"Sister?" I question, my brow furrowing together in slight confusion.
"You're Koga's woman! So, you're one of us now."
"Ugh, I am not his woman, I am not anyone's woman!" I hiss.
"Watch out, sister!" They say in unison, and as I turn, I see another bird demon flying towards us at full speed. "Look out!"
The bird demon swooshes down at us, and I leap for cover, landing on the ground with my hands above my head. I hear something clatter beside me and when I look to my side I see that it is one of the spears that one of the wolf demons was holding. There is a scream behind me.
I roll onto my back and see the gray-haired demon has been taken by the bird demon and is being flown away.
"It's too late, he'll be taken to their nest and devoured!" The other wolf-demon sighs.
I snatch the spear and stand up, holding the spear up by my head and aiming for the traversing bird demon. This will take some serious concentration, and I might not have the strength to throw it at the distance I need. But I focus, I focus all my energy and power into my hand and spear. I see a purplish glow envelope the spear and know my power has finally returned to me. I step back and then forward, thrusting the spear into the air and at the bird-demon.
I hold my breath as I watch the spear propel through the air, a whistling sound echoing from the speed and air being pierced as it flies at my target at a faster speed than I thought possible, still surrounded by my purplish power. The spear hits the target, cutting through the body of the bird-demon and tearing it in half. The bird-demon flutters to the ground with the wolf-demon still clutched in its claws.
I rush for the wolf-demon and help him as he pries himself out of the bird-demon's claws.
"Wow, did you see that!" Someone says behind me, but I pay no mind to them.
"Thank you, sis," says the wolf-demon. His eyes shoot wide open and he tries to point at the sky behind me. "There's more!"
Three more bird demons are coming down at us.
"Keara!" Shouts a familiar voice, and beyond the bird's I see a flash of red and silver. Inuyasha. He leaps between the birds with Tetsusaiga fully unleashed and swings at them, sending them into pieces down onto the world below him.
Inuyasha lands between the mess of body parts and slightly smiles as he looks down at me. My heart leaps in my chest and I feel an utter happiness I never felt before. Inuyasha has come to bring me back. He's come to save me.
I run up to him, my hands behind my back as I approach and smile up at him.
"Thank you for coming."
He blinks with confusion covering his face.
"Keara, are you okay?" Sango asks as she, Miroku, Shippo, and Kirara come landing down on the ground not too far behind Inuyasha.
"Sango, Miroku!" I sigh with happiness.
"What's going on here!" Sango asks as she and Miroku look up at the sky.
"It's a war between the wolf demons and the birds of paradise. The bird demons have been slaughtering the wolf demons for a bit now and they are now fighting back. Koga is trying to get the shard from the leader of the birds of paradise. We have to stop the bird-demons," I relay.
Miroku slides off of Kirara's back from behind Sango and starts to undo the beads around his right hand. "All right! I'll take care of them. If you value your lives, stand back!" He lifts his right palm into the air, focusing on the bird-demons' location and the hole in his hand sucks up the air, pulling the demons in towards him. They screech and squawk as they stretch and become smaller as they are sucked into the hole, disappearing and leaving the sky clear of any bird-demons.
"Amazing!" The wolf-demon says in awe.
"I'm busy…I don't have time for dog training today. So, go home, puppy…Get outta my face!" Koga says behind us. I turn around to see him on a cliff's edge, so far away he's almost as tiny as an ant, so it comes as a surprise to me that I can hear him.
"Shut up!" Inuyasha growls. "Dream on wolf! You're gonna pay for kidnapping Keara!"
"Hey, dog breath! Take this chance to run, but keep your hands off my woman, got it? She can see the jewel shards, so she's perfect for me!" Koga yells.
Miroku eyes me from the corner of his eyes. "Keara? Is there any truth to what he's saying?"
"I am not his woman," I grumble, crossing my arms firmly against my chest.
"I-I knew it! He's livin' in a fantasy, the fleabag!" Inuyasha shouts.
"It's no fantasy, she's mine now! I'm in love with you, Keara!"
I feel my brows furrow and a deep groan leaves my lips. He must be delusional, he hardly knows me. We haven't even been together for a full day! How could he be in love with me?
"You're far better off with me, and you know it! It's time to make a clean break and give up your pathetic mutt-face!" Koga starts to laugh. "Forget about him! I'm gonna kill him someday anyway! Once you've been with a real warrior like me, you'll never go back to scraps again!"
"He's pretty direct! I wish I had that kind of audacity." Miroku crosses his arms and narrows his eyes sluggishly.
"Hey! Nobody talks down to Keara like that!" Inuyasha leaps up to the mountain wall and heads up to Koga. "She's not your property!"
"Stupid mutt! I told you I'm too busy, get out of here!" Koga rushes up the wall of the mountain away from Inuyasha who's approaching.
Koga reaches another cliff edge, about fifty feet away from the top where a shrewd of a mist covers the mountain top. Out from the mist comes the gigantic bird demon, its mouth open wide as it charges at Koga. Koga jumps out of the way and the beast collides into the mountainside but quickly turns its attention back up towards Koga. It chomps its way after him with its enormous mouth.
It reaches Koga, but the wolf demon thinks fast and places the spear he is holding into its mouth. The bird demon clenches down, breaking the spear and capturing Koga by his outstretched arm.
"Thanks for giving us a hand, now we'll tear it off!" The bird demon laughs.
Koga is dragged up into the sky, where I barely see him as he kicks in the teeth that hold his arm, freeing him. I see the glow of a shard fly out from his wound and the bird demon swallows it. Koga lands on the top of the mountain with a loud bang.
Inuyasha reaches the top of the mountain just in time for the bird demon to circle the mountain top, readying to dive down once again. It opens its wide mouth and a yellow light glows from its opening as it rushes down towards Koga and Inuyasha.
There is an unleash of power that shreds through the bird demon with such immensity that it tears the bird apart before it explodes. The shards fall on top of the mountain and bits and pieces of the bird-demon come tumbling down to the earth.
Sango and I help Koga onto Kirara's back from on top of the mountain. He winces in pain with every movement, holding his damaged arm tightly. He's luckily not bleeding too terribly, but I can see why he's in so much agony. We climb onto Kirara with Sango in front and me in back, Koga in the middle to be supported by the two of us as Kirara leaps down the mountain to the ground level where everyone else is.
I can see Inuyasha pridefully boasting about his accomplishment while the wolf demons watch him in amazement. Once we land, I help Koga off Kirara's back and he knees to the ground. I follow him slowly to make sure he doesn't hit the ground hard and he ends up resting against my chest as his body finally gives into the pain.
"I've single-handedly gotten rid of the pigeon from hell, now there's just this fleabag wolf to deal with!" Inuyasha says with his hands on his hips and a smile on his face. That is until he sees us. His face crumbles in utter shock.
"You're hugging him?" He yells in question.
I didn't realize my arms were around Koga until now, holding him still as he shakes violently in pain. Inuyasha's words reach me in my mind and I frown.
"You're not going to deal with him. He's hurt."
"Never mind. This is nothin'," Koga struggles, but he leans up, slowly taking a stand. "Trying to get me while I'm down, but I can still whip ya!"
"Again with insults!" Inuyasha barks back. "You're dead!"
Inuyasha comes running at Koga, but not at top speed, giving me the time to get up and stand in between them, my hands on my hips now. "You'll stop right there." I hiss. Inuyasha comes to a halt, blinking widely and still in shock.
I hear Koga groan and turn around to see him kneeling on the ground holding his arm to his chest.
"You guys need to get him out of here," I order the wolf demons.
The wolf demons nod and a few of them help Koga up, holding him around his back and running off with him as fast as they can without terribly hurting him.
"Cowards!" Inuyasha yells, shaking his fist. "Why'd you let them go?"
"Regardless Koga kidnapped me, he was still kind to me when he didn't have to be," I sigh. "I just wanted to return the favor, I guess."
"Good to you? Are you nuts? Don't tell me you get off on that kind of thing!" Inuyasha growls.
My heart stops in my chest. Why is he yelling at me? Didn't I just do a good deed? I frown heavily and see that his face scrunches a little.
"Sorry, he protected me."
"This is stupid! Forget it!" Inuyasha turns his back to me.
The sun is finally setting, casting the sky in variation colors of reds, oranges, and pinks. We're on top of the mountain, having climbed and flown up to retrieve the sacred jewel shards that the Bird of Paradise had. One of them being one of Koga's.
I kneel next to the shards along with Miroku, and Sango who stand close by. The shards haven't spoken to me since the Bird of Paradise was defeated.
"The Bird of Paradise tore one of these from Koga's arm," Sango says. "Won't he come after us, searching for it?"
"I don't know," I sigh, grabbing one of the shards and looking at it in between my thumb and pointer finger. "I hope Koga and Inuyasha won't keep fighting and settle their differences."
"Keara, why don't you try to calm down Inuyasha? He's very protective of you, and this whole event upset him," Sango requests with a gentle smile.
I glance behind me at Inuyasha who sits like a dog at the edge of the mountain. He's been like this since I helped Koga escape, and I understand why. He must have gone through a lot to get to me, and only knowing that Koga had kidnapped me and nothing else. I get up and walk over to him, sitting on the ground beside him.
"I am sorry," I breathe out. I never had been so apologetic for anything in my life. "I never meant to worry you but thank you for saving me."
"I bet you would have preferred it if I didn't show up at all! Doesn't take much, does it? A few sweet words…"
"What do you mean?" I tilt my head to the side as he turns his face away from me. "It bothered you that Koga said he loved me, didn't it? A-are you jealous?" My heart panics in my chest, and my lungs constrict, making it hard for me to breathe. Does he have feelings for me?
Inuyasha gets up and stomps a little before turning to me. "Why would I be jealous of that jerk? I don't care!"
"Oh," I look down and frown. This isn't turning out the way I was hoping. "He's not my type," I practically whisper, but I am sure he still heard me.
"I wasn't asking! I don't care what you do. Just forget it! I don't want to talk about it anymore!"
My very being feels hollow like my insides and brain have been sucked right out of me. It hurts. His words hurt. What is this feeling, I am experiencing?
"So," Inuyasha starts. I look back up at him to see he's sitting back down next to me, his eyes narrowing as they glare daggers through me but a bit of curiosity hides behind them. "What happened between you guys?"
I blink, confused. Now he's interested in what happened between us. "Nothing. He left for a chunk of the time, that's when Shippo and I escaped. Then he came back and stopped his group of wolf demons from attacking me when Shippo got away. He confessed his feelings for me out of nowhere and I think it's because I can see the shards that he did that. Otherwise, I don't know why he has any feelings for me. It's not like we spent a lot of time together. He just protected me from his pack and then the Birds of Paradise."
"That's it?" Inuyasha's face relaxes and his eyes return to normal. "The wolf-boy got all hung up on his feelins' then!"
I nod. "I tried to tell you nothing happened between us. I was still very confused as to why he said he felt he loved me."
Inuyasha turns his head away from me again but I can see the slightest part of his lips as they upturn into a smile.