InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Centre ❯ Let the Hunt Begin ( Chapter 13 )

Chapter 12: Let the Hunt Begin

"So how are we going to do this?" Sango asked as Rin loaded yet another pistol. Rin was a weapons master. That title meant she had knowledge of every kind of legally known weaponry, and a few illegal ones. There was a small collection on her bed that was rapidly turning into a large one.

"Well Kagome's guns blazing, ass kicking attitude worked once, but I thought we'd go a little more subtle this time. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha are going to take the perimeters and let us know if they smell anything. Miroku is going to take the south corner where the main entrance is. We are going inside," Rin explained. "Any questions?"

"Yeah! How come you get all the fucking fun?" Inuyasha shouted from the living room.

"Damn demon hearing," Rin cursed. "Kagome, this time Sango and I are going to cover you while you uncollar prisoners. Any other questions?"

"Hey Rin, I was doing the math in my head….if you knew Inuyasha before he was captured and he was there during the raid 50 years ago, exactly how old are you?" Kagome asked.

"Ah…well…that is…uh," Rin replied with a sweat drop.

<Up north>

"Kanna, didn't you say that young miko was out of the way?" Kagura asked, looking down at a rather decrepit computer monitor.

"The council demoted her to novis."

"Then why is that tracking device Naraku put on her headed right for us?"

"Kagura," a dark voice called from the shadows. "Must you whimper every time something goes wrong?"

"Naraku," she gasped, her back immediately stiffening as she felt the familiar clench of her heart. He held it long enough to slow the heartbeat to a weak pulse, then let her go. Kagura fell to the floor, coughing up blood upon the floor in a weak attempt to recover.

"Kanna, collect…my things. Kagura will be staying behind to distract them."

"Distract them? What do you want me to do? Dress in drag and do the hoola?"

"You have all the resources you need," Naraku replied. "Fail me and you'll find out just how close to death I can keep you living."

<Back at Kagome's apartment>

"Kouga! Wait up!" Ginta called out. Kouga stood at Kagome's front door, nose working furiously. Kagome was long gone, the mutt with her. He wanted answers and he wanted them now. So he did what any other demon in his situation would do. Pound on the door and threaten to break it down if no one answered.

"What the hell you do want?" a tiny fox demon asked, opening the door only as far as the security chain would let it go. "Don't you know it's not wise to disturb emotionally overwrought physically abused children? I could be scared for life."

"Where's Kagome?"

"What's it to ya?"

"Listen kitsune, I'll make you lunch, door or no door, if you don't give me some answers right now-"

"Kouga!" a wolf cried out, interrupting. Shippou took the opportunity to slam the door in Kouga's face.

"WHAT?" he snapped.

"The northern tribe, they disappeared."

"What do you mean they disappeared?"

"Princess Ayame was abducted and every wolf that went after her went missing. Now no one is left!" Kouga's eyes glowed in rage.

"Naraku," he snarled the word.

<Up north>

"Ok, everyone take their positions and signal when your set," Rin said into the radio. Sesshoumaru responded with a tone, he was already set. Fast son of a bitch.

Kagome took a deep breath. This would be just like last time. Go in, set everyone loose, get the hell out of there. No leveling this time. Hopefully no deaths. Nothing that would attract the government's attention. Then she could go to class on Monday like nothing had happened.

"Kagome," Inuyasha said, breaking her from her deep train of thought. "Here." He handed her some sort of red bundle. It felt like a strange sort of cloth.

"What is it?"

"It's made from firerat. It'll protect you."

"You want me to wear ratskin?" Kagome asked, trying very hard not to grimace at the bundle in her arms.

"Firerat," Inuyasha corrected. "You humans have weak skin." That said he stalked off, mission accomplished.

Men…hanyou men! Kagome scoffed. Oh well, if it makes him happy! She pulled on the oversized coat like thing, looking down at the material in wonder. This was supposed to protect her? From what? The fashion police? Martha Stewart?

"Remind me again why we males are sitting out here while the women go into danger," Miroku's voice came over the radio.

The three women looked at each other with knowing glares, murder still in their eyes from the previous Miroku problem. He was lucky to be alive. A man on thin ice should not dance.

"Quit while you're alive, Houshi," Sango growled over the headset. There was a long pause.

"That….was really sexy, Sango," Miroku's voice said, breathless. "Do it again?"

"Lock and load," Rin said, ignoring the radio now. Kagome looked at her empty hands while Sango picked up her rather large boomerang she affectionately called Hiraikotsu. Why a boomerang needed a name was beyond Kagome, but people had named stranger things. To each their own.

"Lock and load?" Sango questioned.

"Hey, if I am going to die in here I want to make sure I did the appropriate dialog to sound cool in the movie."

"Movie?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah, Rin's Revenge."

No one answered. They honestly weren't sure if she was serious and since she had the firearms, they didn't want to test her and find out she was.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" a voice called out from the doorway. Kagura was standing with Hiten and Manten, dead wolf bodies all around them. They looked like they were not only ready, but expecting them.

"Inuyasha! Sess, you were supposed to warn us!" Rin hissed into the radio.

"HEY, I don't smell shit!" Inuyasha replied. Sesshoumaru confirmed the same. "I'm on my way!" Inuyasha yelled before Rin could tell him to back off.

"Great, now we're blind on one side," Sango said, wearily looking at Kagura and her two body guards. They looked entirely too calm.

"Your little demons are blind," Kagura said, holding up a fan. "They will be as long as I hold this. I control the wind. They can't smell me if I don't want them to. Die you brats!" she snarled, flicking out the fan.

It was like a tornado unleashed directly over them. Sango tried to throw Hiraikotsu only to have it go spinning off erratically. Rin couldn't stabilize herself long enough to pull a gun let alone aim. Kagome clutched the nearest tree, trying to not get blown into anything.

Hiten took to the air, wheels wreathed in flame at his feet. He began hurling lightening at Sango who managed to pick up Hiraikotsu and was using it as a shield. The lightening still bore her down. Rin tried to jump Hiten as he swept down low but those wheels turned on a dime and he managed to stab her through her shoulder.

Manten seemed to be standing there, just enjoying the show his brother was putting on, clapping his hands like a little kid who'd been told he could have one of each candy.

"Me too An-chan!" he cried out. He looked at Kagome with a grin and began walking toward her, heedless of the tornado that kept her pegged to the tree.

I'll just purify him, she thought. As soon as I can touch him.

Manten stopped about five feet from her and opened his mouth, a great ball of glowing energy ready to be released. Kagome's eyes widened in horror. He didn't have to get near enough to touch her. He would just blast her to oblivion.

Inuyasha ran through the forest edge, dodging trees with speed and precision only a highly concentrating demon could achieve. Something was terribly wrong. Neither he nor Sesshoumaru could smell anything and the women were obviously in the heat of battle. He was the closest.

Inuyasha catapulted into the air from a well placed boulder, sailing high above the tree line. He could see a large amount of concentrated wind just sitting there, spinning round and round in an effort to swallow everything up. Lightening blasted, leaving a feint burnt, charred smell. He could smell burned flesh.

Hiten barely had time to turn around as the hanyou descended in a fury, lightening staff quickly brought up in parry. Lightening flashed all around them, then he pushed Inuyasha back, flinging the hanyou to the ground. Before Inuyasha could blink his muscles moved on instinct, barely saving him from Hiten lashing him with a good does of electricity.

"Kagome!" Sango screamed. Inuyasha turned to see why. Manten's mouth was open, Kagome frozen in fear not five feet from him. He began to exhale the energy.

"GET DOWN!" Inuyasha bellowed, pulling back and flinging Tetsusaiga as hard as he could. Hiten descended and stabbed him in the back, lightening burning his clothes and skin. Inuyasha cursed. The pain was too blinding for him to see what happened to Kagome. In a desperate effort he grabbed the sword sheath and twisted, putting it between him and the dangerous staff. Luckily something else had captured Hiten's attention.

"Manten? MANTEN!" he roared. All heads turned as the dust cleared, the tornado dieing down. The blast had cleared everything in its path. The tree Kagome had been clinging too was a pile of ash still smoking. Manten had fallen to his knees, Tetsusaiga buried through his back.

"Melodramatic brat," Kagura said with a sigh. "Guess I'll have to take care of you myself." She raised her fan and the tornado died down. Rin pulled herself up, shoulder bleeding profusely.

"Why the hell do I always get severely wounded?" she swore. "Get back here, you bitch. I owe you a cruel and unusual punishment. Come here so I can skin you and put you on my living room floor as a decorative rug."

"Quite a vendetta you have," Kagura said with a smirk. "Tell me, Sesshoumaru still holding out on you, worthless human?"

"SHUT UP!" Rin screamed, pulling herself together enough to throw herself at Kagura. Kagura evaded her easily with a flick of her fan, the wind knocking Rin over.

"Inuyasha," Sango said, gaining his attention. "I don't think that's a good thing." She pointed to where Hiten was cradling his brother's dead body, a clawed hand digging into his upper chest. Lightening flashed as Hiten pulled out his brother's heart and began to eat it like a famished man.

"I promise never to do that when I kill Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha said, his lip curling upward in distaste. His eyes traveled back to the area Kagome had last been, his chest becoming painfully tight. He wanted to search for any sign of her, but until Hiten was dead that was going to be too difficult. The demon rose from his brother's mutilated body, eyes glowing in rage.

"Now you bastards are going to pay," he said, power crackling from his mouth.

"Oh shit," Sango said. "He's absorbed his brother's power. Split and run like hell," she suggested. Hiten rose high into the air, energy crackling in his mouth and lightening collecting his hands. Inuyasha and Sango braced for the inevitable impact.

Only it never came. Hiten's enraged face turned to one of shock and he looked down at the green whip curled around his neck. Suddenly a deadly demon was right behind him, the green whip wrapped tightly around his neck.

"Nice wheels, lightening boy," Sesshoumaru growled. "No one hurts MY Rin." Sesshoumaru pulled back, snapping the whip back. Hiten stood there, hanging in the air for a moment. Then his head simply disconnected at the neck, falling to the ground with a dull thud. Sesshoumaru looked down at his handy work with the expression most people used when looked at an unpleasant bug they had just squashed.

Kagura already had a feather pulled out as she slowly backed away. All eyes turned to her.

"I'll just rough her up a bit so Rin can take her home," Inuyasha said, cracking his knuckles. Kagura gave them a confident smile.

"First you have to get through this," she said, waving her fan upward, then taking to the air in the large feather. Inuyasha made a step to go after her.

Except his way was blocked by dead wolf youkai rising, their eyes dead and empty, but their claws just as deadly.

"Let's see you get through my corpse dance!" Kagura called out. "Just think, you can't kill them, they're already dead!"

"Dammit!" Inuyasha cursed as the dead bodies came flying at them by the hundreds.

<Some miles away>

Kouga stopped and began to sniff the air. Blood. Wolf blood. Someone was killing wolves! His blue eyes darkened as a low, deadly growl rose from his chest. He threw back his head and let out an enraged howl, shaking the earth around so much the birds took off from their perches, intent on flying as far away as possible.

Inuyasha. He could smell him. Him and the wolf blood. Oh the half breed would pay. Slowly.