Chapter 68 - Okay?
"Stand back Rin." The quietly firm spoken words from Sesshomaru, changed the undercurrent of the entire forest. The yokai moved forward toward the wolf pack without hesitation or fear.
"Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin called after him as moved away. Jacken slowly backed A-un away from the scene, his bulging eyes wide with concern. Rin watched the silent interaction between her lord and the wolf with wide eyes. Ginta and Hakkaku, unlike Rin, were deathly afraid of the yokai. They hid behind Koga, clinging to each other and crying.
Sesshomaru ignored them both, since they seem most likely to kill themselves by accident, rather than actually contribute to a battle. Koga was the only threat here. There was a long tense moment between the two canine warriors as Sesshomaru approached them fearlessly, stopping only when he came face to face with the wolf demon leader. Koga assessed his supposed opponent, Sesshomaru did not need to - he knew he could end Koga with a single stroke. It was a sudden emerging scent from the woods behind Koga, which drew Sesshomaru's attention. A half second later, Koga also sensed the new arrival and turned to glance over his shoulder. There was a crashing noise as a hideous demon of monsterous proportions burst forth from the trees.
"Give it to me!" The monster aimed directly for Koga. "Hand over the sacred jewel shard!" The bulky demon slashed with its claws, trying to grab the much smaller wolf demon. To his credit, Koga was exceptionally fast, and dodged the attack faster than Sesshomaru had expected. Upon closer inspection, the yokai realized that the wolf demon had two shikon jewel shards. One was embedded in each of his legs.
Hm. So that's why he's so quick. Despite his lack of power, his advantage will be his extrordinary speed.
"No chance!" Koga snarled, leaping into the air and landing a solid roundhouse kick on the demon's face, before then leaping away in the opposite direction. The monster put a hand to his face, where the blow had landed - in all likelihood it had broken his jaw.
"Look out my Lord!" Jaken squealed in alarm, as the lumbering monster teetered and stumbled.
Sesshomaru's hand was already on Tojikin's hilt, it slid free of his obi with a metallic ringing sound and a flash of blue energy. With one move, the energy slashed across the body of the demon, slicing his shoulders from his body. The demon howled in pain, then fractured into a million tiny glowing pieces of energy as it vanished entirely.
Barefeet touched the ground where the monster had been standing only a millisecond before. Koga put his arms on his waist, smirking at Sesshomaru. "Thanks, but I could have handled him myself."
Sesshomaru's focus was not so easily diverted, nor his anger tempered. His gold eyes narrowed, watching Koga, who apparently was under the misconception that their pending battle was rendered moot.
"Help me master Jaken!" Rin cried out from behind.
Sesshomaru whirled without hesitation. Another demon, this one a centipede had leapt from it's hiding place amongst the trees and was reaching for Rin. Jaken had removed her from the immediate area of the battle, so they were not within easy reach. Already leaping to Rin's defense, Jaken raised his staff into the air, he was going to send fire to consume the immense bug. To it's credit, the demon was stronger than expected, and cast Jaken aside with one of its thousand arms. Rin screamed again, as Jaken hit the ground, and the centipede reached out a sharp antenna to slash her.
Leaping into the air, Sesshomaru shifted direction to eradicate the threat - but Koga was faster. The wolf shot over Sesshomaru's head faster than a wink, and kicked the centipede once, then a second time. "No humans for you today, worm!" The second hit of the wolf's heel was so hard, that the bug fell into pieces, leaving only its glowing energy to fade into nothingness. Koga landed beside A-un with a satsified smirk on his face. Rin, just gazed at the wolf beside her, with wide eyed astonishment. For a moment, all was silent.
The wolf demon gave the order, which resulted in Rin's death... only now to save her life? Sesshomaru couldn't make sense of it. Unless... he glanced at Rin, who looked so much like InuYasha's companion, Kagome. Clearly Koga knew InuYasha, though it did not seem they were on friendly terms. Perhaps this all has to do with the human girl, Kagome. A new understanding dawned on Sesshomaru. Perhaps, I am not the only demon, afflicted with these new feelings toward certain humans. Perhaps, in the end, he and I are not so different after all. Sesshomaru and Koga's eyes met briefly, in silent understanding.
"Unnecessary interference." Sesshomaru said, unwilling to say thank you, as Koga walked toward him.
"The feeling's mutual." Koga agreed as he passed the other demon by.
"Okay?" Jaken said, from where he had collected himself on the ground.
"Okay?" Ginta and Hakkaku echoed.
"Come on guys!" Koga greeted his comrades, slapping them on the shoulders. "We have a long way to go!" The three wolves turned and headed back down the trail, with Koga in the lead, and the two idiots trailing behind attempting to catch up.
"Are you content with letting them go, my Lord?" Jaken asked, standing and moving to where Sesshomaru stared after them. "Those wolves of Koga's are the very ones that attacked young Rin!"
Behind them, Rin had slid off of A-un's back, her usual peacefully content smile on her lips. Sesshomaru didn't have to turn around, to know she was smiling at him. He felt the warmth of her presence through the kizuna. Warmth directed solely toward him.
"If he had tried the same thing today, I would have killed him." It wasn't a question, it was a fact. But perhaps, like himself, some demons could change their ways and become... better. Regardless, it was clear that Koga was no longer a threat to Rin's life.
"Naraku is the only one I'm concerned about now, unnecessary conflicts don't interest me." Sesshomaru walked away, effectively ending the line of questioning from Jaken. Leaving the imp gaping his mouth in shock as his master walked away.
Rin followed closely behind Sesshomar, holding A-un's reins, still smiling. She turned back to look over her shoulder at the imp. "Hurry master Jaken, or you'll be left behind." The reminder was gentle, like a mother reminding a child. Jaken yelped, realizing that they were indeed, leaving him behind.
"Hey! Wait for mee!"