InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Mutt's Tail ❯ The Return of Kikyo ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inu Yasha or any characters from the show/manga that may appear in this fic…please…don't sue…I'm broke. *pulls out pants pockets and a moth flies away*

1: The Return of Kikyo

I sat in the sun, not quite dreaming because I didn't trust Koga or his friends when they weren't in their pen. I yawned as I stretched, trying to look like I didn't see the four wolves as they went sniffing around the horse enclosure. I was in my usual half human, half beast form. My upper body was human and clothed in a green kimono, while my legs ended in canine feet and a long, bushy, white tail hung out of a small hole in the kimono. I rolled onto my belly and opened one eye, I could see Koga leading the others towards Knobby, Kagome's oldest horse. I let out a loud growl, opening both my eyes, locking them with Koga's.

"What do you want, Bitch?" he snarled, obviously displeased that I caught him stalking the livestock…again. I used my youkai speed and stood between him and the enclosure, leaning on the fence.

"What were you looking so excited about?" I retorted. Koga was clever, but forgetful. "You forgot you have to help Jinenji with the healing herbs." Koga growled more. There was nothing worse for a canine than to have to help Jinenji smoke and prepare the herbs. Especially since all Jinenji would talk about was Kagome.

"Why should I bother, he can handle that work himself," one of the others growled. I didn't even look at him, Koga was the alpha male, he was the one I had to confront, the others would follow his lead.

"Kagome asked you," I said tapping his controlling collar lightly. "Or was that an order she gave you without thinking?" The others looked at Koga. I knew Kagome had asked him to 'please assist Jinenji' but I could tell that Koga wasn't sure.

None of us wanted to risk the pain of having our collars 'discipline' us. The collars were controlled by the main temple, we couldn't enter it to gain the keys to our collars due to the hundreds of seals that decorated the inside and outside of the temple. The Higurashis had bound their youkai to servitude using the collars. The iron ones were given to the strongest youkai, while simple beads were given to the weaker youkai and hanyous. The collars would force the wearer to obey any given order by a Higurashi or one with Higurashi blood. The collars usually sent a warning spark of miko energy through the wearing, not enough to do real damage but enough to get them moving. The outright disobedience of an order sent wave after wave of miko energy through the wearing, causing enough pain to cause the wearer to fall to the ground writhing. If one ever dared try to harm a Higurashi the same thing would happen, only it wouldn't stop till a Higurashi told the collar to stop. It was effective, I had never given my collar any reason to 'punish' me.

"Fine," Koga growled as he headed off towards Jinenji's fields and I smirked. The wolf was too easy to mess with.

"Meiken!" Kagome's voice called and I walked towards the back door, I saw she looked unhappy and I quickly moved to all fours to run faster.

"What is it, Kagome?" I asked, my long auburn bangs fell into my eyes and she smiled as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Come inside and talk with me," she said and I felt worried, I usually had to be sneaked into her room through the window. I walked in, giving plenty of room to Naraku, one of the oldest hanyous on the Higurashi estate, also the most dangerous being on the entire estate. I had to bite back a growl as I passed him, he smiled at Kagome in a manner I didn't care for, but had to ignore. I was led into the most secure guestroom in the house, it was surrounded on the outside by various seals.

"What did you wish to discuss?" I asked as I entered and saw Sango, Kagome's childhood friend. She was very wounded and I could see that Kagome had used much of her miko healing on the young woman. "I see, do you wish for me to help heal her?" Kagome smiled and I noticed Kirara sitting close, she was in her neko form so I hadn't detected her presence on the estate.

"If you could, I wasted most of my energy on restoring her left leg and repairing a large abdominal wound," Kagome said as Naraku entered with some tea and I quickly leaned over Sango. There were many cuts and I quickly decided to take the large one on her shoulder. I began to lick the blood from the wound, enjoying the salty, coppery taste of blood, my hands holding the wound closed as I finished licking. I moved up and down Sango's arms and legs. The scent of youkai was strong, I had to guess she was the one to find the army of youkai hiding in the mountains. I did not smell great amounts of human blood on her besides her own and I had a feeling she had been brought here after a successful battle against the youkai army.

*****

I finished after nightfall and watched as Kagome began to use her miko energy to return Sango into normal sleep, instead of blood loss unconsciousness.

"May I go now, Kagome?" I asked as I sat by her side, my prime hunting time was approaching and I wished to be far from this place when Sango woke up and realized she was covered in what was basically my drool. Kagome nodded, she looked tired but relieved. I knew Sango would wake up.

"By all means, Meiken, I wish you good luck on your hunt tonight," she replied and I nodded as I headed out. I would go the western most border of my hunting grounds.

*****

I was lost in the hunt, so far I had killed four deer and six rabbits, but for an estate the size of the Higurashi estate I would have to triple that. The wolves could hunt for themselves, but they had trouble supplying all the servants and hanyous of the estate. I was far more efficient with my kitsune night vision and my inu nose. I also was able to hunt for sleeping prey, while the wolves were shut up in the canine barn, sealed in their stalls by the Higurashi power. I was about to head east when I caught the scent of goats, wild goats. I smiled as I rushed through the night, elated to see that there were seven large goats. I would have to be mostly canine to do it fast but I could. I was about to attack when I caught the scent of another inu youkai from the far side of the clearing. I bit back a growl, I wasn't giving up THESE goats to a wild inu.

I quickly attacked, slaughtering the seven goats in a whirlwind of fangs and claws. I smiled as I licked the blood off my hand and stared right at the inu youkai's direction. I stopped and growled, raising my lip to show my fangs. I was unprepared for the responding growl. I stood my ground and snapped my teeth, usually the wild youkai would leave, I wore the collar of a slave, but I was alone and far from a human dwelling, making me either an escapee or a very powerful youkai.

"I'm not impressed, Bitch," the voice snarled and I bared all my teeth. I watched the hanyou step out of the brush and stand before me, he too wore a collar of iron and I sniffed. He reeked of blood and dirt, he had been successful in his hunting too. I couldn't pick up his master's scent.

"I wasn't out to impress this is my territory, I've clearly marked it in many ways," I stated, my claw marks and scent signals were all over, in warning. His robes were ragged but I had a feeling that they were once fine and lovely. I blinked at him, he was hanyou, but the scent I had picked up was clearly youkai. I jumped out of the way and snarled at the inu youkai, his claws melting the ground beneath were I had been standing.

"You're fast," his voice was calm and soothing. I looked between the two, fighting the urge to smirk. It had been a while since someone had bested me. I took in a deep breath, half-brothers. The scents were similar enough to show blood, but the fact one was hanyou and the other full blood left the idea of half-brothers. "You're a mutt, inu and…." The full youkai sniffed the air. "…kitsune." I nodded and bowed.

"Meiken is the name and outsmarting dumb inu and wolves is my game," I chuckled as I appeared to one side of the youkai and then appeared on the other side of the hanyou. "I don't know who you are, nor do I really care, this is my territory and this is my kill, I will leave you one goat in parting, obviously you just dropped from a fine life to a more….serving one." I moved between them as they attacked together and held a strip of each of their robes in one hand. I took a deep sniff. "Silk, lovely. I hope you two don't mind but I have a quota to meet and I have a feeling you're collars are at their limit." I could see the miko energy in the collars glowing, preparing for that warning shock.

"Be careful what you say, Bitch," the hanyou growled and I smiled, wagging my tail playfully.

"Enjoy the goat and welcome to slavery," I laughed as I moved quickly, taking six of the goats. Part of me felt sorry for them, they were probably wealthy youkai before humans caught them, now they were slaves and probably not to a very nice master if they were not given better robes. I was off into the night, I still had to get some more meat.

*****

I was sleeping on the ground beside the porch where Kagome and Sango were talking when I caught the scent of the youkai and hanyou I had faced the night before. I was on all fours, sitting on the main gate wall growling before Kagome or Sango could blink. I sniffed there was incense in the air so much that I was fortunate to have caught the youkai odor. I growled low, alerting Koga and the wolves of the approaching inu. Soon I was on the wall with several wolves below me sniffing the air and growling.

"Meiken, Koga, what's going on?" Kagome asked and I crawled along the gate snarling and growling. I was letting those two inu realize that I was not going to put up with them invading my home. I felt the weight of a small animal on my shoulder and Kirara's scent, she blinked before returning to Sango.

"Kirara doesn't sense danger," she replied and I ignored her. This wasn't about danger it was about territory. I was the big inu here and they weren't going to come onto my land. The wolves could smell the male odor, they could stand having a pushy bitch around because I could mate and give pups, but other males, those could be competition.

"All of you stop that now!" Kagome cried and I turned to look at her, the collars were glowing and I sighed as I stopped and continued to stare in the direction of the oncoming scent. "Meiken, off the wall now. All of you get back to work." We were silent as we returned to our previous locations. I looked at the gate and then sighed as I sat on the railing of the porch.

"What was that about?" Sango asked and I continued to stare at the gate.

"Approaching inu youkai and inu hanyou, there is a lot of incense, I think a human may be with them," I said as I took in the scent, there was no way to tell. "I think."

"Ooo, company," Kagome said with a smile and I sighed. I would have to behave around them. "How long till they arrive?" I sniffed the air.

"A few hours," I muttered and then went off to sneak into the kitchen and sneak food.

*****

I was chewing on a large bone from one of the goats when I heard the bells of the gate ringing in welcome and then, a new ringing began. The bells in the temple. I blinked and leapt from the roof of the canine barn to the ground, the bone in my mouth. I moved through a crowd of youkai in from the fields and stopped. I sniffed and found Kagome. I was by her side in a second and she smiled as me and I looked at the approaching carriage. The two inu were holding it up, the youkai holding up the front and the hanyou holding up the back. The incense was beyond intense and I slipped the bone in my belt before covering my nose. The wolves were far off, obviously they didn't think it was worth getting that close.

"Welcome, welcome!" Kagome cried as the inu set down the carriage and a curtain opened. If I still had the bone in my mouth I would have dropped it as my jaw hit my chest. The woman who stepped out of the carriage stood in miko garb, hugging Kagome. I bared my teeth at her as my hands came down to my sides in fists. Of all the people I hated in my life only one was out to get me.

"Look everyone Kikyo has returned!" Kagome called and many cheered, but none of the youkai or hanyou opened a mouth. Our eyes glazed over with memories of past abuse.

"Kikyo," I hissed below my breath, my eyes suddenly locking on the two new 'slaves'. The hanyou and youkai both wore a look of utter hatred, probably a lot like the look on mine.

"Kagome, I'm so glad to see you, come, look at the fine gifts I've brought back, I even have two for you, Meinu," she said, calling me by the name she had given me. I winced and bit back another growl, several youkai and hanyou chuckled. She smiled as she snapped and the two inu stepped forward. "This one is Inu Yasha and this one is Sesshoumaru. They are from royal lineage, I thought you might like them." I looked at them, they seemed utterly shocked at this and I had to say the feeling was mutual.

"Why would you think that….Lady Kikyo?" I had nearly forgotten her title and I saw the look in her eyes.

"Why for breeding?" she said and I felt my eyes widen.