InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Road to Remembrance ❯ Making Progress ( Chapter 12 )

Chapter 12

 

Sango was four months pregnant when the first demonic aura reached the village in a long time. She was gathering herbs for Kaede, the only activity Miroku would allow her to do in her condition, when she sensed it.

“Miroku!” she called, but he was far out of earshot, helping the village repair a couple homes from damages caused by a vicious storm. She knew better than to go after the demon herself, she was already having trouble lifting Hiraikotsu.

“I'm on it,” Kouga said, popping out of nowhere and dashing into Inu Yasha's forest. He recognized the scent immediately, a strange, feminine mixture of flower and wolf. It wasn't long before a red and white blur became visible, shooting strait at him.

“Kouga!” the young wolf demon cried. She was shaking and looked as if she was trying to hold back tears.

“Ay—Ayame!” Kouga gasped as he saw her bruised face. The ugly black and purple mark adorned her right cheekbone and temple, “What happened? Was it a demon?”

Ayame swallowed heavily, “I-it was him...I—I never thought he'd...”

Whatever strong front she had been trying to hold shattered and she broke down crying, falling into Kouga's chest.

“Who?” he asked angrily, clutching her arms.

“Nodin—I—we...we were going to be mates,” she sniffled. Kouga's eyes widened in realization. Of course, he had heard about the coyote demon she was betrothed to when he turned her down. He suddenly felt even worse than before.

“This is all my fault,” he muttered, “I shouldn't have been so blind...so...so stupid!”

Ayame pulled away from him.

“No! You had nothing to do with this! It was arranged to help our dying clan.”

“Which wouldn't have happened if I had kept my promise,” he retaliated, mentally beating himself up.

“Look—” she began but was cut off by a growl. The air, thick with Ayame's salty tears and flowery scent, didn't warn Kouga of the new arrival, who he could only assume was Nodin. The coyote demon was tall and burly, with a tanned pointed face framed by short, wild brown hair. Like wolf demons, coyote demons often wore a mixture of armor and fur pelts. This one was no exception.

“Get away from my woman, wolf,” Nodin growled, baring his fangs in a challenge. Kouga flinched as he was horribly reminded of him self. He kept his arms around her, lowering his nose to her neck and taking a subtle sniff.

“You haven't marked her,” he stated plainly. Nodin looked more feral than ever as he let out a frustrated breath of air through flared nostrils.

“I plan to. Now move so I can give the little bitch what's coming for her. She needs to learn her place.”

Kouga maneuvered the trembling she-wolf so that she was behind him. “What kind of pathetic demon hits a woman?” he sneered.

“Keep talking wolf,” the coyote growled, cracking his knuckles menacingly, “Now hand me my bitch.”

“You'll have to go through me first!”

Even without the jewel shards Kouga was exceptionally fast for a demon. Nodin had hardly taken a step forward before Kouga shot out in front of him and punched the heel of his palm up into the bigger demon's nose, breaking it instantly. Nodin howled as he staggered backwards, blood spewing between his fingers.

“Ayame, run to the village and find the priestess. Stay with her until I come get you.”

Ayame nodded deafly, knowing Kouga would be able to handle himself, and left. Kouga turned back to the matter at hand. Nodin was already over the shock from the first attack. Without warning the coyote demon flew overhead and shot down, hoping to land a punch. Kouga dashed to the side, allowing the deadly blow to miss him and hit the ground. Causing a small crater formed in a flurry of dead leaves.

“How dare you challenge the prince of the northern wolf tribe,” Kouga snarled. Wolf demons were naturally higher ranked than coyote demons so it was borderline to appalling that Nodin would challenge him so openly over a woman who wasn't even his mate. Nodin seemed to hesitate after that; a small look of uncertainly could be seen in his hazel eyes before they hardened once more in determination.

“Don't try to pull rank on me wolf, that bitch is mine!” Nodin charged at him once more, claws extracted and rearing to tear into his flesh. Unfortunately he was just too slow for Kouga. Dodging under the raised arm, Kouga jumped up and landed a sharp kick to the back of Nodin's neck, snapping the spine and effectively paralyzing him. Nodin's body dropped to the ground as though he were suddenly dead.

“Pathetic,” Kouga snorted. He leaned down and turned Nodin's body over so that he could look into the wide, shifting eyes crowded with fear.

“I'll show you some mercy, even if you don't deserve it.”

Kouga placed both hands on either side of the coyote demon's face and, with a sharp tug to the right; Nodin's neck was snapped, severing his ties to that world as the life in his eyes drained away.

Kouga stood and left for Kaede's, leaving the cooling body in his wake. When he reached the hut Ayame was seated by the fire with a warm cup of tea in her trembling hands. Kaede was tending to her and Sango and Miroku were seated by her side, lending silent support. She looked up as he entered.

“Is he gone?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah,” he replied, “he's gone. Can I talk to you for a moment?”

Ayame nodded and followed him outside. They walked a safe distance from the village before stopping on a grassy, sloped hill and taking their seats.

“So what happened,” he asked. Ayame closed her eyes in frustration.

“A lot of things,” she sighed, “It was just one thing after another until finally he snapped and hit me. The bruise on my cheek isn't the only one, but it's the first time he's hit me in a noticeable spot. That was when I had enough and ran away.”

Kouga bit the inside of his cheek, “Why did you come here?”

She shrugged and wrapped her arms around herself.

“Well, I thought you would have been too busy to help and then I remembered hearing rumors about a village to the south that a half demon and strange miko resided in and I knew it had to be Inuyasha and Kagome. I was counting on one of them to save me.”

“I'm sorry,” he said, guilt welling up in his chest, “I just feel so responsible for all this. I could have prevented it.”

Ayame shook her head at him.

“It's just...” she began, “You think you know someone...and then they do something that changes your opinion of them forever. I don't think I can ever forgive him, Kouga.”

“You won't have to,” he said, “he's dead.”

“He's...dead?” she asked, eyes wide. They suddenly turned angry, “You killed him!” she screeched, standing up. Kouga stood up as well, completely at a loss.

“Well, yeah I killed him. He was going to fight to the death, what do you think I did? Shook his hand and said `alls fair in love and war'?”

Ayame shook her head, tears welling in her eyes once more.

“Don't you get it? He was my last chance to save my tribe!” her voice was steadily raising. But Kouga wasn't one to be out shouted.

“Wolfs mate for life, Ayame. You were willing to spend a lifetime of abuse to save a dying clan?”

“YES!” she screamed back, “I would have if it made my grandfather happy!”

“Well that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!”

“Well then what the hell am I supposed to do Kouga? Tell me, what the HELL and I supposed to do now?”

“You're supposed to mate me!”

He said it without even thinking. She stared at him, all traces of anger and fear vanished only to be replaced with confusion and the tiniest shred of hope.

“What did you say?” she asked; her voice barely above a whisper.

“I said...I want you to be my mate...Ayame,” he answered. He watched for her reaction, seeing how beautiful she was standing in the light of the setting sun, green eyes giving off a cat-like glow.

“But—I thought...what about Kagome?” she asked.

“Kagome is...out of the picture,” he said, still looking deep into her eyes, “Please Ayame, come with me to the Northern lands and be my mate. You're strong and beautiful and powerful and perfect. I promise I'll never hurt you, and I'll never, ever hit you. Just please, be with me.”

All the nervous procrastination and fear of tying himself down had fled from his mind. This was the woman he could most definitely see spending the rest of his life with. In the time he had spent at the human village, there were many times he had caught himself regretting turning down Ayame. Well he wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. Inuyasha lost his woman, he wasn't about to loose his own.

“Kouga, I...”she began, “...yes, yes I will be your mate.”

A smile broke out onto Kouga's face.

“You will, really?” he asked, excitement oozing from his voice.

Ayame beamed and nodded, squealing and throwing her arms around his neck. Kouga wasted no time in surging forward and kissing her. He hugged her body close to his, loving the way they melted together. For the first time in months, his life was starting to look up.

 

 

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It had been a month since Inuyasha left Isabel's modest home after their fun-filled night together and since then had progressed steadily north. Once again he found himself traveling by foot and sleeping in trees. He made much more ground than when he did with his human companions but the travel was noticeable lonelier. Sometimes he would stay the night at a villager's house, helping out with heavy duty chores to earn his keep, or, if it were a widow's home (which he preferred), whatever else was asked of him.

As of late he had been wandering from village to village, asking anyone who was listening if they heard or knew of the Black Estate. He was in Scotland, that much he knew, but where the bloody hell was this damn estate? It was as if it never existed.

“Black?” Inuyasha asked to what seemed like the hundredth person, “ring any bells?”

The villager shook his head and Inuyasha let him go, thoroughly aggravated with his lack of success. A hand on his shoulder spun him around and he found himself facing a heavily robed man whose face was obscured from the nose up by a hood.

“What business do yeh have with the Blacks boy?” he rasped in a hushed tone.

“Family business,” Inuyasha answered tightly. He didn't trust this man from the dodgy way he addressed him but he was desperate for any leads to the whereabouts of the Black Estate. The strange man looked around and grabbed the front of Inuyasha's shirt and dragged him to the side of a tavern, away from any eavesdroppers. He then pulled out a wooden stick and waved it around while muttering something inaudible. Inuyasha felt a strange tingling sensation spread through his body.

“The muggles might not know of it, but the Blacks rule the wizarding populace with in iron fist in these here parts.”

“Muggles...?”

“Non-magic folk.”

`Magic...?' Inuyasha thought.

“What do yeh need to know?” the man asked in the same hoarse voice.

“Where the Black Estate is,” Inuyasha answered. The man seemed to hesitate before answering.

“Don't yeh mean the Black Manor?”

“No,” Inuyasha said shortly, “the Black Estate.”

“Ah, but that has been abandoned for sixty years, lad.”

“I don't care; just tell me where it is.”

“Alright lad, no need to be snippy. It's quite simple really. All yeh do is go to the region of Tayside and find the city of Brechin. If yeh really are worthy of finding it, then yeh can't miss it.”

“Oh,” Inuyasha said, “and where is this Tayside you're talking about?”

The man raised his hand and pointed to the Northeast.

“Your almost there, lad,” he said.

Inuyasha squinted at the mountain ranges that came into view.

“Alright. What was your name again?”

A loud crack to his left caused him to jump and spin. The man was gone. Inuyasha blinked. He never got to thank him but he could not help but feel slightly relived that the man was no longer in his presence. For now, it was off to Tayside.

 

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Some Kouga/Ayame in there for you. The spell that the weirdo did was just one so that they could talk without being over heard. Inuyasha just sensed it happening.

 

Thanks for the reviews guys!