InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Solstice ❯ Chapter 5 - Revelation ( Chapter 5 )

Solstice

Notes: 7,430 words | 11 pages Okay so I finally have an update for this^^ I'm sorry for the nasty cliffie in the last chapter! Anyway, if you want to follow my progress either peek at my profile or watch my Twitter [at]Pokahydee_chan. I chopped my hair off on Sunday, it was down to my mid-thigh and is now at my shoulders. Gonna send it in to Locks of Love 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any of the characters thereof. Even though that is the case, please don't steal my plot, concept, or story out of respect for my creative endeavor as I would not do this to anyone out there.

- l - l - l - Change of scene, time, etc.
'Thoughts/dreams' will be in single quotes (IE: ' ')

Chapter 5 - Revelation

He walked along clutching a broomstick without the broom attached as they crept silently along. He had imbued some of his reiki into the simple piece of wood, hoping that all of his hypothesis were correct. If he was wrong, it would mean certain death to him. He only hoped the tall woman walking behind him with a pole that had spear points on either end followed closely behind, keeping a lookout for anything out of the ordinary.

They had tiptoed out of the hotel and dashed nearly silently across the short expanse of open grass to the foliage of the forest where the trees offered some amount of cover. Though without the leaves, it wasn't much coverage and they couldn't find enough white material for three people to be able to blend into the snow-covered forest with much success. Miroku had settled for the two woman to be in white and made them pull white robes on over their coats that they'd found lying in the floor of the hallways they had crept along.

Every so often, he would sense something dark and looming as they crept silently along. Since Sango was very familiar with the outdoors, she could move through the forest in complete silence, even with the fallen sticks and leaves invisible in the snow. Likewise with Sachiko, who had a very wide, and surprising, range of skills.

He was searching for an aura that was weaker than the ones on those men from earlier. The aura they exuded had a heavy blackness that bared down on him with an oppressive darkness that he didn't want to meet head on until he had confirmed or denied his suspicions.

Miroku glanced at Sango's alert form out of the corner of his eyes and felt a nagging guilt tear at his insides. He knew she was hurt that he hadn't told her about the scroll he'd found hidden away in the cellar, he had seen it reflected in he eyes. His insecurity is what made him keep it from her, but he was too insecure to tell her that. Despite his outward confidence, he was really just trying to hide himself from everyone because he was too cautious to let himself get attached,especially to a beautiful woman. His father had dumped him off with his drunk friend and went chasing after some woman but he never came back. Likewise with his mother, she left when his father wouldn't stay faithful and left him behind. So he had never been able to allow himself to show his affections for Sango, hence the back and forth game they'd been playing since high school.

The hurt that he'd seen shining in her eyes was proof that she didn't know this about him. She must think him a horrible player that flirts, and gropes, any one of the female species. And yes, he did enjoy the feel of a woman's supple body, it was a release since he was too unsure to touch the body of the woman that had unwittingly become to mean something to him. A soft smile graced his lips as he remembered Kagome always trying to set the two of them up saying they were made for each other and he would always go along with it, but he would inevitably mess it up with his defense mechanism that neither woman understood.

His eyes widened slightly and he raised his hand behind him, motioning for them to stop. They were coming up on one of the strange auras that the aggressive animals exuded, though it was greatly weaker than the ones with the forms of men they had seen earlier. He gripped his pole tighter and reached his hand inside his coat and pulled one of the sutras he had made earlier from his inside pocket as silently as possible. He motioned for the woman to flank him but to also stay behind him slightly as he held the sutra up in front of him while he concentrated on forcing his reiki into the paper like Mushin had taught him as a kid. After a few minutes when he felt he'd put enough into it, he crept forward quietly with the women-folk following not too far back. As they stepped forward a strange thing happened... a dome sprang up over the tree of them that gave off a faint blue hue as a crackling sound filled his ears. He had never been able to see the dome that he had been trained to create so a confident look slowly slid across his lips. His hypothesis was being proven as they crept up in, it turned on to be a toad-looking creature that was holding a staff with the face of a man at the top on one side and the face of a woman on the other side at the top.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" The small green creature cried in a shrill voice as he trudged through the snow. Miroku's eyes widened in horror as he heard the thing speak words! He heard slight gasps behind him and knew that they had been just as surprised as he had been to hear it speak. He continued creeping forward until they were only about twenty feet away and crouched down to observe the creature. It didn't seem to be able to see them so a small smile played across his lips as he mentally sighed in relief.

"Meet you match, snow!" The creature yelled in obvious frustration at being slowed to a crawl by the calf deep snow that came up to the creature's chest. Miroku's mouth dropped open as the mouth of the man on it's staff dropped out and fire spewed out, scorching the ground in front of the creature while effectively melting the drifted snow. He could feel one of the women quaking with fear and realized they were both pressed up against him for support. He peeked over his shoulder at Sango and saw a look of defiance flit into her eyes, masking the fear he'd seen moments before. He knew that look... it always showed up before she did something brash a bull-headed, like rush into a room to save Tetsuyo and Sachiko's asses from that family of foxes.

As she stood back up to her full height and hefted her weapon, he grabbed her sleeve to get her attention. She turned annoyed eyes down on him and made to wrench herself free, but paused when he shook his head. He could feel something out there... something with an overwhelmingly large and dark aura nearby that had seemed to appear out of nowhere. It was much bigger than the ones he sensed in the fur-clad men earlier and overshadowed the little green guy in front of them by a very large margin. Something of his fear and unease at this sudden appearance must have shone on his face because she nodded and then kneeled down behind him once more, her eyes scanning the area to find what had spooked him so much.

The little green guy had come within five feet of them when Miroku felt the evil aura pulse once before a man descended from the trees with the remains of what looked like a cloud dissipating as his feet touched down lightly on the ground. Miroku gripped Sango's hand from behind him and concentrated harder on the blue bubble that surrounded them. Sachiko was latched onto his shoulder painfully hard as shudders of fear ran through her body, which he hardly felt because of the seriousness of the position they were currently in.

"Jaken." The man said in a deep, monotone voice as a foot connected with the back of the green creatures head. The tall man had long, silver hair that hung below his waist with cold, calculating gold eyes that promised pain of death as they lazily scanned the area.

"Sesshoumaru-sama! You have found me!" The toad-creature said as he looked up at the tall, sinister man with utter worship shining out and tears in the corners of his eyes. A large lump had formed on the back of the creature's head, but he seemed to not even notice. "As to be expected by a Lord of your grace and strength!"

"Jaken." The tall, silver-haired man said in the same deep, monotonous tone as he turned his piercing golden eyes on to the toad creature. The creature, Jaken, stiffened immediately and stood up taller as he recognized the obvious annoyance tinging the man's tone. "There is a priest about."

"A-a priest, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Jaken said as a hint of surprise filtered into his gravely voice. "Where is this priest? I'll burn him to a crisp!" He cried as he lifted his staff up and began scanning the surrounding treeline.

"Hn." The tall one said as his one eyes scanned the area, searching lazily for the source. "He is not worth the time it would take to break his spell. His reiki is much too weak to offer a challenge."

Miroku involuntarily felt his shoulders relax as the tall man spoke. When he'd said there was a priest about, fear had coursed through his veins and made his heartbeat increase. The little green guy didn't see them at all, but the tall guy must be EXTREMELY strong if he could feel that someone was watching them. It seemed that the tall guy had no concerns about Miroku being around because he turned away from where they were hidden beneath the blue bubble and headed through the trees at a leisurely pace. The small green creature called Jaken scurried off after him and walked several feet behind him, staying in the path of the snow the tall man, Sesshoumaru, left behind him.

It was a long time before Miroku dare move but fatigue began to set in when he finally dropped the barrierhe had formed above them. He had waited for the evil aura of the creatures to fade into a dull spec before he dared to drop it. He reached his hand up to grip Sango's, which was on his shoulder for her comfort as much as his. Turning serious eyes to meet hers, he tilted his head to the side, indicating they were returning to the resort, which she acknowledged with a slight nod.

Even though he was having trouble keeping his eyes open as he leaned heavily against Sango, a confident smile played across his lips. He finally had a weapon against these creatures! Now that his hypotheses had been confirmed, he knew how to fight them!

- l - l - l -

She shivered uncontrollably as she trudged through the snow in her bare feet following the fur-clad men in front of her. The leader of the wolves, Kouga was his name, gave a sharp tug on her leash when she began to lag behind. Gods did her feet hurt! She had no clue how all of them could walk through the snow barefoot like it was nothing! They all seemed to have heightened senses so maybe they were more sturdy and the elements didn't affect them as much? She didn't know and frankly she didn't care at this point, she just knew she was COLD!

Her upper body had remained relatively warm from the red haori that Inu-chan, got to start thinking of him as Inuyasha, had draped over her shoulders. The rest of her was nearly frostbitten from her ears and the til of her nose, to her wet legs and feet that had a frozen robe rubbing up against them. Kouga affected not to notice her predicament as he urged her to move faster, something she was unable to do and only caused her to fall on her face in the calf-deep and driftedsnow. With her arms tied painfully behind her back, Kagome had no way to break her fall and a cry of pain ripped from her throat as the snow didn't cushion her fall from the stone beneath at all.

"Hold!" Kouga called in a loud, annoyed voice as he turned his electronic blue eyes to her fallen form. She spit snow out of her mouth and shivered uncontrollably as she struggled to get back to her feet when she didn't have the use of her arms. "What the hell, onna? You're slow as hell!"

"Of course I'll slow! I'm barefoot in the snow, you asshole!" Kagome spat out angrily as she turned her angry hazel eyes up to meet his glare with one of her own.

"It doesn't bother any of us, human!" He snapped back as he grabbed her by one stiff elbow and hoisted her to her feet. She cried out as pain ripped up her arm from her sore limbs and a few tears involuntarily trickled from her eyes. "Kami-sama! How weak are you, bitch?" He snarled as he gripped her upper arm painfully tight with his pincer-like grasp and forced her to look him square in the eye.

"Umm... Kouga?" One of his companions spoke up tentatively, causing Kouga's glare to snap directly at the speaker. "It's been a while for all of us, but... well... humans are pretty frail... she probably is free-"

"I know that, idiot!" Kouga snapped back, though the bridge of his nose was slightly pink that he was trying to pass off as anger rather than embarrassment. It seemed to work on the wolf because he stiffened visibly from the statement. "For speaking out of turn, you're omega for a week and will do all the grunt work!" Kagome watched from the corner of her eye as a look of terror, embarrassment, and shame washed across the wolf's face before he visibly deflated and nodded his head in ascent.

"Let's go, onna." He grunted as he lifted her up and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Kagome's teeth her chattering and she felt more grateful than angry at this point since her bare feet and legs were no longer buried in the snow. The icy air felt warm on her stinging feet as she tried to bury as much of her neck and face into the red haori as possible.

Kagome felt Kouga start running and the wind that blew against her chilled body made anything that had once had feeling in it go completely numb. This brought an unexpected relief to Kagome's as the stinging pain faded and she began to feel somewhat warm. He mind drifted lazily, falling in and out of sleep and Kagome's numb brain vaguely noted that the sensations she was feeling were warning signs of extreme hypothermia. Though the thought played out in her mind, she was still unable muster strength to even keep her eyes open. All she saw was white anyway and occasionally she'd catch a glance of Kouga's tail or feet, but the endless white lulled her further into her drowsy stupor.

"Oi! Eyes open!" She heard Kouga's voice dully from somewhere but couldn't decipher where he was or what he wanted from her. She was jarred to wakefulness when she felt a sharp slap to her ass and felt her cheeks warm with indignation.

"How-daare uu!" Kagome slurred as she tried to chastise him for treating her like an animal, but her mouth wouldn't cooperate with the messages from her brain. 'BAD!'He brain screamed out in warning and she knew that she was in a dangerous situation. If she fell asleep, there was a good chance that she would never wake up at this point.

Every several minutes, when Kagome would feel the weariness tugging her eyelids down, she would feel a sharp slap to her ass again that would jolt her back into wakefulness. For that, ans only that, Kagome was grateful. If her hazy brain hadn't been so focused on keeping her eyes open, Kagome would be terrified at this point. She could tell they were moving quickly by the sound of the wind and the amount that she was being jarred as she hung rather lifelessly over his shoulder, but the longer they traveled, the less she was able to rouse herself when she felt his occasional slap. Eventually, the sound of the wind dulled in her ears and the jagged movements from his running became smooth and steady and she felt her eyes slide shut for the final time...

- l - l - l -

The steady drip-drip of something liquid was all he was aware of. The time of day didn't matter, who he was didn't matter, where he was were all irrelevant. He just lay still and listen to the stead drip-drip that came from nearby. An ear twitched as another sound registered in his mind... the sound of labored breathing... was that his breathing? He had no clue... didn't even know if he had a body right now, all he knew was the drip-drip sound that echoed around him. He wanted to know what was dripping because it was starting to piss him off.

He was aware that he had eyes and tried to force them open. After a few attempts, his eyes opened halfway and he found he did indeed have a body. He was lying on the side of it right now and the obnoxious dripping down was some sort of dark liquid dripping off of his arm that was draped in front of him. The liquid had a decidedly coppery scent to it that made his nose sting by it's unpleasantness. Oh... he had a nose?

He could smell a multitude of scents around him as he lay motionless on the cold, stone floor. The majority of the scents made him cringe... he hated wolves... always had, and always would. Their vile odors permeated the air and made him feel slightly sick to his stomach. He could smell one of their scents on him and wanted to get up and do something to remove it or to cover it with something else. There was another scent that clung to his skin beneath the wolf stink that made his heart stick in his throat. It was a soft scent, distinctly female that reminded him of lilacs and a spicy smell that made his heartbeat increase in his chest.

He groaned as he forced himself to roll onto his stomach, cringing as pain wracked through his body. 'Damn...'He growled in his head as he managed to pull himself to his hands and knees, albeit shakily. He knew the injury was severe even though it had started to heal already. He really shouldn't be moving just yet but his intended was taken by wolves so he had to go. She still lived, the bond his mark had created told him that much and gave him a direction, but with her at this distance that's about all he could tell. The good news was that the bond was intact, so that meant the mangy mongrel hasn't mated her and severed the bond.

He growled in anger and pain as he forced himself up to his knees and he was forced to stop and catch his breath. He needed to hurry, there was no telling how long he'd been unconscious on the floor or how far they'd already taken her. As injured as he was, there was no way he would be able to catch them on foot, especially with the natural speed of the pack's alpha. That damn wolf pissed him off to no end, when he'd regained his true form Inuyasha had been forced to run and hide rather than stand and face him. He was too new to his true form for his full strength to have awakened yet while that bastard had had weeksalready to adjust! Didn't matter, when Inuyasha caught up, he would rip him limb from limb for all of the bullshit he'd had to take while he'd been stuck as a dog! He would get his mate back!

Inuyasha flexed his claws angrily as he forced his body to listen and got to his feet. He took a few shaky steps forward to the nearly hidden exit hidden in the wall. He could smell the crisp, cold air through the opening and forced his legs to move forward on step at a time. His wound was jarred with every unsteady step, but he ignored the pain and feeling of liquid trickling down the front of his body. He painfully pulled himself up the steps that were cut into the stone, bracing himself against the wall with one hand to steady his balance while the other clutched the front of his chest where the wound bled openly.

With on harsh shove, he managed to roll the stone back from his childhood hideout. It had served it's purpose but was now virtually useless since the wolves knew where it was. His mother had told him it was created by his father, though he had never met the man, as a place to hide and protect them while he was young. When he had rescued the human female, he could think of no other place that would offer better resources and protection than this place.

He cursed himself inwardly for not completing the mating process and stopping at the marking stage. His mark would repel any youkai who was weaker than he was because of the youki he had injected into her body to create it. It didn't, however, prevent a youkai who was equally as strong or stronger than him from touching her. That only happened when they were truly mated. At that point, since Inu youkai mated for life, no other male would be able to lay even a fingeron her! While he had been in his dog form, that would have been an awkward and almost impossible feat for him to accomplish, though.

He wasn't really sure what drew him to the female, but something about her beckoned to him. Her scent was absolutely delectable to him and when he caught the scent of her fear, he would use it as an excuse to stay as close to her as possible. The same with when she was sleeping, he'd use keeping her safe and warm as an excuse to lay his head on her and lick her exposed throat comfortingly.

He wasn't the only one drawn to her apparently, since that bastard wolf had challenged him for her when she was slumped over and pale in that room with the big metal bowls all over the place. Inuyasha had bested him then and bested him again when he'd conned those disgusting crows into distracting the humans so he could rescue her. The wold wouldn't take a hint, though! Even though he had been bested in a challenge twiceand the female in question bore his mark, yet the damn wolf still seemed to think he had some claim on her! Inuyasha would just have to show him differently! If only the ground would stop shaking beneath his feet.

His breath came out in small clouds of steam as he trudged through the drifted snow that came up nearly to his waist at times. He used his claws and unsteadily sliced a thick, low-hanging limb from a tree to use as a crutch. His vision was going in and out of focus and he knew he'd lost too much blood to be moving, but he forced his feet forward anyway. He only hoped his wound was properly sealed and had healed up enough by the time he caught up. He also had to hope she could hang on long enough without him there to protect her.

"Fuck..." He growled as anger coursed through his veins, keeping his feet moving forward as fast as he could in his injured state.

- l - l - l -

Kagome felt calm and content. She felt like she was floating and was so incredibly warm she concluded she must be in heaven. She could vaguely remember the cold and laying limply over a shoulder, but she couldn't recall who's shoulder not why she would be over it in the first place. She heaved and contented sigh and a smile touched her lips. She was too comfortable and tired to even open her eyes so she just snuggled down deeper into the warmth that was wrapped around her protectively.

When she felt a body shift beside her and an arm tighten around her waist, she sensed something was wrong. The smell surrounding her was all wrong. She was surrounded in a musky scent rather than the fresh scent of the forest. The body wrapped around her was wrong too, the hold was too tight... to possessiverather than gentle and protecting.

Kagome's eyes popped open and a blood-curdling scream ripped from her throat when she was met with a pair of unfamiliar blue eyes staring at her with a smirk tipping up one side of his mouth. She put her hands on his bare chest and shoved herself violently backward from him as the scream streamed from her mouth. The only reason she was able to push him away was because of the way he visibly winced at the cry and covered his ears with both hands.

"Dammit bitch! Don't fucking shriek like that!" He growled out as Kagome scooted herself backward across a cold, stone floor until her shoulders met with the wall.

She immediately regretted rashly shoving away from him when a blast of cold air hit her practically nude body. She was draped in a fur dress of sorts that barely came down to her thighs and was tight across the bust, straining to hold in her breasts. She crossed her arms over her chest and tucked her feet underneath of her as he tried to cover herself as best she could, a brilliant scarlet staining her cheeks.

"Where are my clothes?" She cried out in anger and mortification. Someone had to have stripped her from the robe and haori she'd been wearing and she was just hoping against hope that it hadn't been the man growling in front of her as he rubbed at his pointed ears. A sudden thought hit her and Kagome felt tears begin to sting her eyes. 'Inu-chan...'She thought as she remembered seeing blood dribbling from his mouth as pain flashed into his eyes.

"Where's Inu-chan?" She demanded angrily as tears began to slide down her cheeks. With the adrenaline wearing off, Kagome was becoming aware of just how badly her muscles ached. It felt like she had run a Marathon with a 70 pound pack on her back! Muscles she didn't even know existedwere hurting! I mean, come on, who the HELL would know that you have a muscle in your big toe? Even her toes were sore!

"Heh, that mutt is as good as dead." The wolf said with a smirk as he stopped rubbing at his ears and turned his ice-blue eyes up to meet her hazels.

Her vision was blurred ad the tears flowed and she rose painfully to her feet. She used to wall to balance herself as she noticed how wobbly her legs were and fear gripped her. 'I have to get back to him!' She thought as she took a few shaky steps toward what looked like the exit of a cave. She shivered uncontrollably and tried to reason with herself internally that of coursehe was still alive! He was really strong and healed super fast! Of course he was still alive!

"Oi! Just where the hell do you think you're going?" The wolf growled out. What was his name again? Kouga, right? She felt a strong hand clamp down on her wrist firmly, preventing her from taking another step.

"I'm going to find my friend." She said angrily as she pulled her wrist from his clawed hand. Before she could take another step, she felt her back hit the wall and a pair of hands on her shoulders pressing her back further.

"You're not going anywhere, bitch." Kouga growled out as he pressed her up against the wall, using his body to keep her pinned.

"Let me go!" Kagome cried out in anger as she tried to shove the shirtless wolf away from her. She vaguely noted that he was hard as a rock and had finely chiseled abs and pecks, but was too anger and scared to appreciate the view. Not that she wanted anything to do with him, he hadkidnapped her and gravely wounded, potentially killed, her dog-eared friend.

"I finally got the dog stink off you. There's no way you're leaving here to get covered in the scent of DEAD dog!" He growled out angrily as he grabbed her chin and tilted her face up to look at him. Angry tears streaked down her cheeks as she glared up at him. "Now, tell me where it is and I may decide to mate you instead of kill you." His blue eyes turned cold and unforgiving as he stared down at her.

"Where whatis?" Kagome hissed angrily as she tried to pull her chin from his hand. His grip was like steel, though, so she was unable to turn away from his penetrating gaze.

"Don't play dumb with me, human!" He snarled as he released her face and punched his fist into the wall next to her head. She cried out in surprise and squeezed her eyes shut, fear coursing through her veins.

"I... I d-don't know what you're talking about?" Kagome stammered as she gathered her nerves to look back into his blue eyes defiantly. She gave away her nervousness when she worried her bottom lip with her teeth. He stared back intently and his eyes narrowed as his grip on her shoulders tightened. She winced slightly as she felt his claws pressing into her delicate skin.

"Don't play dumb with me! Give me the Shikon no Tama already, bitch!He snarled as his eyes flashed red before returning to the normal ice blue.

"The what? I don't know what you're talking about!Kagome cried as she tried to push away from the snarling man, tears sliding down her cheeks as fear gripped her entire being. She did know what the Shikon no Tama was... well... kinda... There was a story that her grandfather used to tell her about the jewel since he insisted it originated from their shrine, but for the life of her, she could never remember it in full. She just believed the stories were meant to teach you some lesson that you're supposed to learn from with a moral and all, but she had never really even listened to the message. After all, her grandfather would try to give her a history lesson on the pickles her mother bought at the supermarket!

"Don't play dumb with me! I know you have it!Kouga snarled angrily as he tried to force the information from the human girl in front of him. Her scent was getting on his nerves, the salt smell of tears and the sharp aroma of her fear was making his nose sting. He hated when females cried, he really did. She was a human so he shouldn't care if she cried, but something about her natural scent just drove him NUTS! When she had been covered in that pathetic dog's scent, he had nearly gone insane trying to get it off of her. As it stood, there was still a slight hint of dog, more than likely put there by the mark he'd placed on her hip. There was another bite mark on the junction of her neck to her shoulder and he felt a growl rumbling in the back of his throat as his eyes fell on it.

"I really don't know what you're talking about!Kagome cried in fear as she turned her face away, her eyes squeezing shut. Her anger had melted away to pure fear as he stood above her, bearing down on her.

"Damn it! Stop fucking crying!Kouga growled as he took in the sight of her tear-stained face. Her scent was swirling around him and harsh scent of her fear was making in cringe. He leaned in and buried his nose in her neck and breathed in that intoxicating aroma deeply.

Kagome squeaked in surprise when she felt Kouga bury his face into her neck and still-moist hair and breath in deeply on the opposite side of her bite-mark from Inu-chan. He pressed himself up against her and she felt her face involuntarily heat up in embarrassment as his hands gripped her hips firmly and he pressed himself up against her. 'Oh my Kami! What the hell is he doing?' Her mind screamed as she felt him run his tongue along the column of her neck, his warm breath causing goosebumps to erupt across her already chilled skin. She squirmed against him, trying to free herself from his firm grip, but he was too strong.

"What spell have you put on me, human?Kouga growled low in his throat as he pressed his hips up against hers. She was just a human, why was her scent so addicting? Her skin tasted sweet and tangy and was soft and supple. He could smell embarrassment coming from her, the fear scent gone and replaced with uncertainty and surprise.

"Get off of me! I haven't done anything!" Kagome cried as she squeezed her eyes shut and pushed with all her strength against his bare chest. When she felt his hands sliding up over her stomach, she screamed and grabbed his shoulders, sinking her blunt nails into the skin and shoved. A warm sensation spread out from her stomach and went to her hands that were scrambling to push him away. With another frustrated cry, eyes tightly shut, she shoved and felt his hands and mouth leave her body. Her legs buckled and she slid down the wall, feeling suddenly tired.

Kagome opened her eyes slowly when she didn't hear anything but a quiet sizzling sound and the smell of something burning filled the air. She could help but gasp in surprise as she took in the sight in front if her. Laying sprawled on the ground ten feet from her was Kouga's immobile form. He lay on his back with his eyes closed and wisps of smoke drifted lazily up from him. She could make out burns on his shoulders and hands from where she sat on the floor in rapt attention, waiting for him to get up, to move, to do anything.

When he didn't move after several minutes, she rose to her feet shakily and took a tentative step toward his half-clad body. He was only wearing some kind of fur tunic around his waist with fur knee-high socksthat went under his feet like stirrup pants. As she stepped closer, she could see the extent of the damage, though the cause was unknown to her. There were angry red marks on his shoulders where she had been pushing against him and welts on the hands that had been roving over her minutes before. Uncertainty gripped her chest as she looked toward the mouth of the cave, not knowing if she should see if her kidnapper was all right or if she should just make a break for it while she had the chance.

Kagome swallowed thickly, pushing down the guilt she felt at his odd injuries and made her decision. To hell with unknown outside the door! Whatever awaited her out there was undoubtedly better than sticking with an unconscious rapist! Besides, she could tell by the gentle rise and fall of his chest that he was still alive! There was a problem besides walking into something that could potentially be very dangerous... her state of dress was less than ideal for the harsh mountainous region they were in that was currently covered in a thick sheet of snow.

As she was passing his unconscious form, she shrieked in surprise as she heard a shrill noise and felt something latch tightly onto her ankle. She immediately began kicking her feet trying to dislodge whatever it was that was sinking sharp claws into the soft skin, eyes squeezed shut as she stumbled toward the doorway.

"Let go of me!" Kagome cried out as tears stung in her eyes as fear gripped her.

"Ita-ita itai!" A small voice squeaked from below her and she felt the grip on her ankle tighten. The voice sounded young... and scared so she squeezed one eye open and looked down at a small ball of reddish fur that was latched tightly onto her anklet, holding onto her for dear life. Her fear drained away as her curiosity peaked at seeing the flurry orange tailon the rear end of what looked like a young child. "Hidoi!" The small voice cried as he turned emerald eyes up to her as tears swam in them.

"I-I'm sorry." Kagome squeaked in surprise as she stared down into the scared, pouty face of a young child. He had reddish hair adorning his head, a big fluffy tail, and tiny paws that were currently dug into her ankle. "Kawaii..." She mused as she leaned down and rubbed her hand down his fluffy tail.

"Hands off the tail, human!" The little ball of fur snapped as he released her leg and jumped back, holding his tail out of her reach. She could tell the little guy was putting on a brave face to not look weak because she could see his knees shaking as he stared her down. "I stink like humannow!" He grumbled out as he smoothed the fur out.

Kagome frowned as she looked down at him, trying to figure out just what he was. He sure didn't look like a wolf and she doubted he would be running terrified in Kouga'sarea if he were! Since the passed out wolf appeared to be their leader. She puzzled for a moment about the kid and bent down, sitting on her heels to survey him. He didn't look dangerous even as he let out a cute little growl. He looked the same as when she first saw him... ADORABLE!

"What's your name?" Kagome asked, forgetting her own fear and letting a smile settle onto her lips. The little boy in front of her looked both ways before glaring up at her.

"That's none of your damn business, human!" He said in his impression of a snarl. Kagome couldn't help the giggle that escaped as she looked at him.

"You know it's frowned on when kids your age curse, right?" She asked as she stifled her giggle when she saw the annoyed look on his face and the reddened cheeks as he flushed in embarrassment.

"Shut up! I'm not a kid!" He growled out angrily as the fur on his tail bristling as his anger peaked. "You must be the miko they're all going on about! Bet they're gonna eat you for dinner tonight."

"Ne, where are your parents?" Kagome asked solemnly as she continued to smile softly at the small child. He reminded her a lot of her brother Souta when he had been just little like that.

"None of your business!" The kid snapped back as he took a step back from her. A male-sounding groan made the kid jump in the air with a scared squawk and jump into Kagome's arms, burying his face in her bosom.

"Damn, that blast had some kick to it." Kouga's voice groaned out and before he even began picking himself up, Kagome bolted for the exit with the small child clutched protectively in her arms.

"I'm in trouble..." Kagome whispered as she ran full speed down the darkened passageway, her bare feet slapping against the floor as she headed into who knows what in front of her.

"Run faster, human!" She heard the kid yell as she continued her blind dash through the semi-darkness of the cave. 'I HATE caves!' Kagome thought to herself as she grit her teeth against the small pebbles and stones that had her feet aching and her sliding across the smooth stone. She could feel the little boy shaking with fear and adrenaline pumped through her veins as she made her dash for freedom.

Finally... light ahead! A relieved smile spread across Kagome's lips as the tunnel lit up at the end ahead of her. She put on a burst of speed, her lungs aching and her breathing labored. She'd lost count of the number of injuries that she had covering her aching body, but all that mattered at the moment was getting through that brightly lit passage!

Kagome skid to a stop as she passed through the light and her jaw dropped in shock and terror. Spread out before her was a large open cavern and laying every which way were wolves, wolves, and more wolves! 'It's not fair!' Her mind screamed as she began to walk backward, trying to trace her steps before any of the wolves, humanoid and none, noticed that she was there.

"You're stronger than I thought, bitch." Kouga's voice said nearby Kagome's ear and she cried out as she felt his arms encircle her waist and pull her back into his broad chest. "You might do for a mate after all." He purred into her ear seductively.

- l - l - l -

Inuyasha could feel his injuries knitting back together as he walked, but it was a painfully slow process and he was still suffering from blood loss. His head swam with every step he took, but he trudged on, knowing that he had to find her before that filthy wolf did anything to her. That female belonged to him! Her scent was enough to drive him mad with desire, when she's refused him back in the cave, he'd nearly lost himself and completed the mating ritual right then and there. If it hadn't been for the scent of salt water, he wouldn't have been able to stop. He had always been a sucker when a female cried. He really couldn't stand when they cried, especially if it was his fault. He blamed it on when he would see his mother cry when he was a child, but he shook that memory from his mind as he pressed on.

He was still leaning heavily on the thick branch to make sure he didn't lose his footing, but he was starting to feel a little more stead... though not by much. It was times like these that Inuyasha wished he were stronger; if he were more like his father, he would have been healed by now.

One thing that made him look up was the fact that he was getting closer to his claim. He could very faintly feel some of the things she was feeling, though they were garbled and faded at this distance. He knew wolves were fast, but the pack leader must have been exceptionally fast to have gotten this far this quickly with half of his pack in tow! Inuyasha growled low in his throat at this revelation and was forced to stop for a moment to catch his breath.

Blood was leaking slowly from his chest wound and sliding thickly down his already blood-soaked kusode. Even with his heritage, he was feeling to cold and numbly noted that the wind was picking up. Even injured as he was, his hearing and sense of smell was still as strong as ever and he could hear the storm that was brewing. It was going to be a NASTY blizzard in the next several hours! If only he could time it right, it might be just the thing he needs to spirit his claim away to safety.

"Fucking move!Inuyasha growled to his legs as he stood rooted to the spot trying to stay upright. He hadn't realized the extent of the injury until he's stopped moving and his legs had decided they wanted to ignore his commands. His head felt fuzzy and he just wanted to sleep, but a clear spike of fear in the back of his head made his eyes snap fully open and he forced his feet to begin moving again. Apparently, she was awake... and something had terrified her to her very core... He needed to hurry!

::FIN::

May 15, 2012

Notes: So this is it for this chapter! I hope you're all enjoying it! I'm absolutely LOVING this story, you'll get more information in the next chapter regarding some of the characters I've shown and about 'youkai' in general (since the characters don't even know what these 'creatures' are yet~.^). Anyway, as always, please review and let me know what you like/dislike/how I'm doing/etc.