InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Leiko ❯ Where Loyalties Lie ( Chapter 24 )

Chapter Twenty-Four

Where Loyalties Lie

 

Leiko leapt out of the well and landed on the soft grass outside. She waited for Yamainu to join her before she started in the direction of the village where the others were waiting. Yamainu caught her arm suddenly and held her fast. Leiko tried to pull away. She couldn't waste time while her sister's life hung on a mere thread of hope.

"Leiko, why are you rushing?" Yamainu asked.

"Let me go!" Leiko ordered, tugging her arm from his. "I don't have time to waste."

Yamainu grabbed her again. "Stop! Tell me why you want to find the last Soul so badly. Lei, you weren't this determined before that day in the village when Satourou took over your body."

Leiko stood, digging her toe into the soft ground. She refused to answer him. He couldn't know about Akira. It was her burden to bear alone. She was the only one who could do it. Even if she did tell him, there was nothing he could do to held her.

"How about we go visit my pack since we're so close." Yamainu suggested.

Leiko was reluctant, but figured that it would get him off of her case if she agreed. "All right." she said.

Yamainu smiled. "Let's go then."

They set out for the den and just as the moon was fully risen, they saw the rushing waterfall that hid the yawning maw that was the cave opening. Yamainu leapt through the roaring water and Leiko followed. The pack sat around a large fire, watching a wild pig roast. Kouga was the first to notice them. He leapt to his feet and ran to Leiko. The wolf pack leader flung his arms around the young woman. She peeled him off with a disgusted sigh.

"Leiko." Kouga breathed.

"Kouga." she said.

"Yamainu." the pack leader said flatly.

"Kouga." Yamainu growled.

Kouga moved towards Leiko and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She moved away from him, catching a few snickers from the other pack members. Yamainu crossed his arms, smirking at Kouga as Leiko moved back to his side. Kouga's eyes flashed with anger as he looked at his pack member and the woman he wanted.

"You filthy little brat!" Kouga growled. "Why should you have her?"

Yamainu raised his hand to his chin and stroked it in a mock gesture of thinking. "Hmmm. Let me see here? It could be that I've got all my common sense." he said. Then a sly smile crossed his face. "Or it could be that I'm so good beneath the furs. Your last lady friend seemed to think so."

Leiko shot an icy glare at the wolf youkai. He didn't notice her fiery glare as he smirked at his pack leader. Kouga roared in anger and lunged at Yamainu. The other wolf youkai moved aside and bit down on Kouga's arm. He drug his fangs down and tore a large slash in Kouga's flesh. Leiko leapt to the ledge that she'd shared with Yamainu her first few days in the feudal era.

"Man, this is a shity homecoming." Yamainu said as he dodged another of Kouga's assults.

Leiko realized that the pack leader was fighting in a blind rage. There was no way he would win such a condition. Yamainu grabbed hold of Kouga and flung him through the roaring waterfall. Leiko heard the leader splash loudly as he landed in the lake beyond. Yamainu jumped though the fall and landed on a rock that was half submerged in the lake. Leiko followed close behind, with the other pack members in hot pursuit.

Kouga came sputtering to the surface. Yamainu tapped his bare foot on the rock as if to say that he was waiting for a real challenge. Kouga rose to his feet and wipped away a glob of mud from over his eye. He glared up at Yamainu.

"Hmph! I'm no longer a pup, Kouga." he said.

"You always were a cocky bastard." Kouga said, then a twist smirk crossed his face. "That's what killed your father."

Leiko saw the anger rush over Yamainu like a wave crashing over a beach. The wolf youkai balled up his fists and leapt at the leader of his pack. Kouga caught him and they fell into the water. Yamainu bit Kouga on the shoulder and Kouga chomped down on his arm. The old wound from the first Soul they had encountered reopened. Yamainu screamed in pain and slashed Kouga's cheek.

"They are amusing, aren't they?" a familiar voice said from the ledge above Leiko.

She whirled to see Tenma standing there with her arms crossed. The stance didn't suit her. Leiko glared at the evil woman.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Leiko demanded.

"Oh, Kouga didn't tell you?" she asked in mock confusion. "He and I have formed an alliance if you will."

Leiko looked at Kouga. He had Yamainu pinned to the ground, ready to slash his chest open. She turned back to Tenma. The other woman was smiling with evil delight.

"Why would Kouga join you?!" Leiko demanded.

"Hmph." Tenma snorted. "He was so jealous of that wolf pup down there when he saw him kiss you, that he came to me for aid. He asked me to kill Yamainu so he could get you when you were so vunerable. Rather sad if you ask me."

"Well, I didn't!" Leiko growled.

Tenma laughed as Yamainu was sent flying into a tree. "Ah, loyalties are such a frail thing. When you think you know where your friends' loyalties lie, they turn on you. Isn't that right, Leiko? Your little wolf has a few secrets of his own."