InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Never Gonna Let You Go ❯ The Battle of Wolves ( Chapter 23 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

The southern wolves marched steadily on through the evening and late at night. The moonless, starless night protected their movements. They ran quietly, stealthily, keeping all movements a secret. Animals fled from them but humans had no knowledge of their advancements. They were as quiet as mice looking for food.

The northern tribe had also been alerted to the massacre of the western tribe. A wolf from the southern tribe had been sent to notify the northern tribe that there would be a retaliation attack on Rokin and his wolves at dawn. The intent, they were told, was to reinstate Kouga's line to leadership. Takeshi was prepared to take over. The northern tribe agreed to send wolves to assist in the battle to bring Rokin down.

Spies from the south had determined that most of the eastern tribe were against Rokin but were too weak to disagree with his orders. There were about 10 wolves who sided completely with Rokin. And then there was Rokin. Word from the spies after the battle in the west was that about 100 ally wolves were taken down by Sesshoumaru and two females - a demon and a hanyou. That left only 50 ally wolves to count on turning against their leader. The southern tribe was informed that Rokin fled in fear of Sesshoumaru and that he never fought. The plan was devised that the 10 wolves allied with Rokin would be engaged by the stronger wolves of the northern and southern regions, freeing Takeshi to search for Rokin.

The attacking wolves took their positions. The eastern wolves slowly returned from a night of hunting. The air ws filled with the scent of blood - demon, animal and human. Their hunger sated and their bellies full, the lazy wolves laid down to rest, their noses not picking up the scent of intruder wolves. The outsider wolves watched as Rokin's loyal followers brought food up into the cave where Rokin's scent came from. As soon as all 10 followers were acounted for, the wolves made their move.

Stepping out from their cover, they alerted the sleeping wolves to their presence. Most of the 50 males readily agreed to join in the take down, but three refused and howled to the sky ... notifying others of the intruders. The wolves took their places - over 200 wolves versus 10. It would seem to be an easy battle. But, these 10 wolves fought like 100 wolves and their attacks were vicious and cruel. The northern and southern tribes never gave up even though the battle dragged on late into the morning.

Takeshi patiently waited for Rokin to show himself. The leader eventually walked out of the cave to see what was happening. He didn't like what he saw. His wolves, except for his 10 loyal followers were fighting alongside the wolves from the north and south. Realizing this was an overthrow attempt, Rokin knew he was outnumbered and decided to flee to save himself. He would still be leader as long as he was alive.

As Rokin jumped down from the cave and headed out through the forest, he heard a loud growl and turned,

"Who the hell are you?"

"My name isn't important to you. I plan on avenging Kouga's death and taking my place as leader."

"You ... you are? Don't make me laugh. You are nothing but a half-demon! Like you could take me down!"

"Why don't we just see about that? I'll gladly take you on..."

Rokin stopped and stared. He realized now that this kid looked familiar. Very familiar,

"So, Kouga impregnated that pathetic human female he chose as a mate. And you are his son. I will gladly destroy the son of Kouga!", yelled Rokin as he made his first move, attempting to slice a chunk out of Takeshi's body.

But, Rokin had gotten fat and lazy in his years as leader and was no match for the younger, leaner, well-trained hanyou. Takeshi simply dodged the attack. Takeshi realized he easily had the upper hand but wanted to play with his prey. Egging on the slovenly leader, Takeshi would nimbly move away as Rokin attacked. He played this game out, over and over, jumping around and laughing,

"Over here ... nope ...over here...nope...too slow!"

The cat and mouse game continued until Rokin couldn't stay upright anymore. Falling to the ground, the leader tried to get up to no avail. Takeshi asked a simple question of his opponent,

"How did my father die?"

Rokin didn't answer him. He just looked at the young hanyou in disgust,

"Dammit! I asked you a question! Now answer me! How did you kill my father?"

Rokin spat out, "I sliced off his head with my sword."

"Then that will be your punishment, too!", said Takeshi as he unsheathed his sword and sliced off Rokin's head.

Resheathing his sword, Takeshi took the head of Rokin and charged up to the entrance of the den. He called down to the fighting wolves below,

"COMRADES!! I have succeeded! I have the head of Rokin! I am now Takeshi - Leader of the Eastern Wolf Demon Clan!"

Of the 10 loyal followers to Rokin, only 2 remained and they accepted death as their fate instead of agreeing to bow to the new leader. The successful wolves shouted out Takeshi's name and cheered for him. As was standard for wolves, they sought out the females. The females that agreed to bow to Takeshi were permitted to stay. The ones loyal to Rokin were banished. All of Rokin's pups were killed. Takeshi could start anew.

In the days following the takeover, Takeshi sat around with his friends Ginta and Hakkaku,

"Ginta. Tell me more about my mother.", said Takeshi.

"I've told you what I know. She was a human girl named Kagome. Kouga claimed her away from this half-demon, Inuyasha. He marked and mated her, creating you, but Inuyasha fought Kouga for Kagome and won, but he didn't kill Kouga. Inuyasha took Kagome and left. We found you when you were quite young and convinced them to allow the wolves to raise you so you could be Kouga's heir.", said Ginta.

"Hmmm.", Takeshi said, "What happened to them?"

"Don't know. Kagome, being human, is probably dead. We have no idea where Inuyasha is."

Takeshi thought to himself, 'So my mother willingly allowed me to be raised by wolves. Why did she do that?'