InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Price of Vengeance ❯ Chapter Thirty-Nine: Disturbed ( Chapter 40 )

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any of Rumiko Takahashi's characters or stories. This story is for private entertainment purposes only.

WARNING: LANGUAGE (Word edit on ff.net)

Chapter Thirty-Nine (Disturbed)

"I told you not to move, you stupid whelp."

There was another startled yipe of pain out of Ginta, and Koga bit back a grin that would have marred the suitably stern scowl that crossed his features as he paused before the opened entrance to Hideki's cave. As a healer, the ookami youkai had his own sickroom, and most of the other wolves' avoided it with a healthy---and rampant---dose of superstition.

Pointed ears twitched as a faint growling echo reached him. Hideki's gruff voice was a bit more gentle, if no less sarcastic.

"Don't growl at me, girl. You shouldn't move either. Here, now."

The growl dissolved into a faint hiss of indrawn breath.

"That wasn't so bad, now, was it?"

The growl was back, but lower.

"You're full of yourself this morning, girl." The rough chuckle hid most of what Ginta said, but Koga nearly growled himself at the almost worshipful worry in the wolf-brother's young voice.

"...not hurting so much, are you, my lady?"

*Stupid wolf.*

The damn witch's voice was almost kind, for her. That made Koga want to growl even more. The wind witch shouldn't be acting like a damn---

"I am healing, thank you."

There was a snort that could only be from Hideki, and the old Crack-Tooth began admonishing them both for all the trouble they were putting him through. Most of the other youkai and wolves had recovered from the bandits' surprise ambush in the forest, and had been more than ready to seek revenge on the ningen who had attacked them. But the damn witch had killed them all with her powerful Winds, and it annoyed Koga no end that there was no one left for him to take the frothing anger out on that he had over the whole debacle.

She, alone, had saved his pack, his blood. And nearly at the cost of her own life. He would never have imagined it of her, would never have believed the damn wind witch would actually risk her own hide for those of her enemies'. And worse than that, the ookami clan's sentiment had turned so that all the stupid wolves were actually supporting and protecting her, dropping hints in his ears that the witch of Naraku wasn't so bad, really, when all was said and done. She had, after all, saved them.

*Damn it all to hell.*

What they were really trying to say was that the kaze youkai had paid her debt, in blood, to the wolf tribes.

Grimacing, the wolf leader eyed the white scar left on his arm by the poisonous crystal that Naraku had given him. The bitter memory of the wind witch's taunting voice as she told him just what the malevolently fake Jewel shard would do to him flashed through his mind, and he growled. He could not resolve the memory of that mocking bitch of Naraku's to the quiet youkai who inspired such fierce loyalty from his followers, namely Ginta and Hakkaku.

Hideki broke into his grim thoughts, the grizzled grey head popping out of the cave entrance to scowl at him.

"You might as well come inside instead of standing there all morning."

Koga glared.

*Old fart.*

"Don't glare at me. And if you glare at my patients..." The head disappeared with the words, and Koga could do nothing but clench his fists and suppress a growl. That old wolf was just asking for it...

Still glaring, he followed the healer into the darkened cave. His icy blue eyes did lighten somewhat as they wandered over Ginta. The young youkai was grinning from ear to ear as a red-ruffed ookami swiped his cheek with a pink tongue. The bulky bandages over his right shoulder and leg had been reduced to a light wrapping to protect them from dirt and infection. The wounds, deep as they were, should be healed completely by tomorrow.

The witch, on the other hand, was another matter.

He had spoken to Hideki at length, after the old healer had first gone over the woman's extensive injuries. The old fart had been angry that the wind demon had been in such a state...again. All this "again" crap had gotten on Koga's raw nerves, and he had demanded to know what THAT was all about. And Hideki had told him how those two idiots, Ginta and Hakkaku, had found Naraku's youkai incarnation in the forest, all burnt and broken.

He had forgotten about it with all the other nonsense going on. All of his unanswered questions regarding the kaze youkai came flooding back to run circles in his mind. He hated not knowing what the hell was going on, and he intended to find out just WHY the witch had been found like that in the bushes by his ookami.

He scowled, his pale blue eyes turning on the white form. The witch was actually snuggled up to three wolves, the disloyal brutes, and she didn't look as bad as all Hideki's fussing had suggested. She was covered by a white yukata---the old fart must have a stash of them hidden somewhere, the packrat---and her long, wavy black hair tumbled over her shoulders and tangled with the brown fur of the wolf who curled around her back, providing a head rest. The damn witch was actually smiling faintly at Ginta, and her red eyes, which could be as hard as glinting rubies at times, were almost warm.

Her eyes turned at his abrupt entrance, and immediately the smile faded. Her eyes were once again guarded as she dropped them from meeting his. The rust-colored wolf who rested on her left side stirred slightly as a bandaged hand curled in its fur.

"Koga!" Ginta, at least, was glad to see him. Ignoring Kagura for the moment, Koga knelt down beside the wolf-brother.

"You all right?" He asked gruffly, dismissing Hideki's derisive snort.

"Oh, yes! I'm almost good as new." Ginta bared his canines in a grin, and then winced as the muscles on his injured shoulder twitched. His panting neighbor whined, and then licked the youkai's cheek.

Hideki snorted again. The old fart had an incredible supply of them. Kneeling on Ginta's other side, the healer gave Koga a pointed look before saying roughly, "Come on, whelp. You need to exercise those muscles."

"But..." Ginta's eyes rolled toward Kagura, and Koga stifled a dark scowl.

Was every damn ookami out to protect that stupid witch from him?

"Quit howling like a puppy." Hideki rumbled, and pushed Ginta's furry companion aside so he could help the injured youkai stand. Koga would have assisted, but Hideki waved him away. "I can manage this lout. I was doing it long before you were a gleam in your father's eye..."

Arms crossed, Koga glared at the old wolf as he helped Ginta to his feet. The stupid youkai actually cast a worried glance back at the witch, making Koga want to roar with irritation over it all, until Hideki shoved the wolf-brother toward the cave entrance. Hideki did match him glare for glare, and the old Crack-Tooth actually mouthed a silent order at him.

*What do you mean, `Don't upset her'? You're all acting as if I meant to bite the damn bitch's head off!*

Damn it all to hell.

There was tense silence between them as Hideki and Ginta left the cave, and Koga kept his arms crossed in anger as his blue gaze swept back over the wind youkai that was causing him such a headache.

She laid there like a damn invalid, her red eyes hidden by the thick feathers of her long lashes. Her skin was almost pallid, and the darkly purple streak of the jagged scar that snaked down her right cheek appeared black in the dim light of the cave. Smoldering coals glowed dully in the fire-pit, heating some stinky concoction of Hideki's creation. The dampened fire provided little light, but his sharper ookami eyesight could make out the woman's features perfectly.

Her fingers were still curled in the rusty fur of the wolf at her side, and the traitor wuffed encouragingly under his breath. The other two lifted their heads and stared at Koga with unblinking yellow eyes, one allowing a big yawn to open its mouth before laying its head on its paws.

"Is there something you want?" She finally asked.

Snort. *Not likely.*

"No."

"Then why are you here?"

"This is MY land. I have every right to be here!"

She just stared at him, silent.

*Damn youkai witch...*

"Are you better?" His voice was gruff.

"Yes."

What the hell to ask her now?

They regarded each other in silence, light blue and deep red. Scarlet, really.

Growling softly, he whirled around to face the sullen coals of Hideki's fire. "What the hell happened to you?"

Her silence was getting on his nerves. Damn it all to hell. Folding his arms against his braced body, because he really wanted to clench his fists and start smashing into something with his frustration and he didn't dare show such an uncontrolled display in front of that condescending snob of a female witch, he turned his head to glare at her, expecting one of her haughty, coldly disdainful looks of scorn that she so excelled in giving him.

But her head was bent, the dark curtain of her hair falling forward to hide her expression. His eyes narrowed on her bandaged hands, which gave her unease away.

She was actually wringing them, unconsciously.

A thick brow quirked up at that, and a sudden spurt of smug amusement shot through him, making a toothy grin break through his scowl. *Ha! The cold bitch shows her weakness...*

He stalked over to her, making her look up at him and flinch slightly before dropping her head again. Her hands stilled in her lap. One of the wolves stirred and whined softly. Koga silenced him with a curt growl. With a deliberate motion, he settled himself casually beside her, the rusty wolf between them, but close enough so that he could lean forward and intimidate her further.

Doing just that, he actually grinned at her, his blue eyes assessing her reaction.

She flinched again.

She had turned into a damn weakling. He should be elated at his power over her, but he didn't like it. It wasn't familiar.

"You sure look a mess."

THAT had her backbone stiffening and her red eyes flashing. She even started to snarl at him briefly, before cutting herself off and losing her spine. What the hell was wrong with her?

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Red eyes flashed again as she stiffened. "Are you always this crass?"

He grinned, fangs flashing.

She turned her head away, but this time it didn't droop like a wilted flower. She was back to being her haughty self.

*Ha!*

"You should have let me die."

*What?!*

He snarled. What kind of sick bastard did she think he was, to leave her dying in the forest after she had saved his men? The witch was stark, raving mad.

"You're crazy." His voice was flat, but accusatory.

A wry smile actually curved her mouth for a moment before disappearing. Her eyes were distant, her mind elsewhere, wherever crazy people in their crazy minds actually went.

She was irritating the hell out of him. Nostrils flaring with impatience, he crossed his arms and glared at her. "What the hell were you doing in the woods when Ginta and Hakkaku found you?"

Her red eyes focused on him, but she remained quiet, as if carefully considering what to say to him.

"You lost a battle with some youkai." Koga made a wild guess, but there was no reaction from her. It wasn't that, then.

"Naraku, then."

Something flashed deep in the ruby depths, and she couldn't contain the convulsive shiver that ran over her white body.

*Ha!*

Koga leaned back slightly, triumphant. Her eyes dropped from his, and she seemed to fall in on herself, going all boneless and weak again. Damn it all, he hated that! She even turned her head from him, flashing her neck. Did the stupid bitch even know what that meant?

A clawed hand snaked out and he grasped her chin, pulling it so he could see the jagged line of the scar on her cheek. Anger briefly flashed through her eyes, making them glow for a moment, before disappearing as she closed them, all limp and submissive.

Damn it all to hell.

His voice was harsh as he growled. "He gave you this."

There was a slight movement against his claws as she nodded once, saying nothing.

"Why?"

She jerked her chin out of his hold and turned back away from him. The wolf between them made a curious noise in the back of its throat and turned its nose to lick her shoulder softly.

"WELL?" He deliberately roared.

It worked. Her back was firming once more and those damn red eyes were heating up. At least the stupid female wasn't acting all stupid and grovelly, he hated that. One of Kagome's many charms had been that she had stood up to him. He liked that in a woman. He had no time for weak-kneed females.

"You are unbelievable." She hissed at him. Koga only chuckled.

"I try." He gave her a wolfish grin. She just glared.

Crossing his arms, his own light blue eyes narrowed on her. "Now, are you going to tell me what the hell I want to know or are we going to sit here all day while you weep and sniffle like a newborn pup?"

Her eyes widened in outrage, making him want to laugh again. Kagura was so easily manipulated.

"You are an uncouth bastard." She even snarled at him, delighting him further.

"I try." He grinned again.

*~*~*~*~*

A small rock whizzed across the placid water of the pool before it thunked down beneath the surface. Widening ripples disturbed the still pool, agitating the setting sun's reflection as Koga watched. Idly palming a second stone, he let that one fly as well.

*Damn it all to hell.*

What the witch had revealed to him had disturbed him as much as he was disturbing the pool by throwing rocks. What Kagura had not said had been as telling as what she had. He didn't like it. Not one bit.

Could he trust her? Could he believe her?

Growling softly, his claws curled around another rock that lay beside him on the dusty shore. He could sense a few of the wolves keeping their distance, not wanting to disturb him or his troubled thoughts.

*That damn hanyou is one sick, twisted bastard.*

Kagura hadn't revealed everything. She had just related the bare facts, in a toneless voice that had disturbed him more than if she had been all ranting and raving against everything that had been done to her. And some nasty crap had been done to her. The wind witch didn't really go into it, but he wasn't stupid, and he could read between the lines she gave him. Some of it, he had known. She had been created by Naraku, with the help of the nearly-completed Shikon no Tama he held in his foul claws, out of the Wind and by separating some of the devoured demons that made up the nasty hanyou's own nasty self. That was how the wind witch could be a full youkai and her "creator" only a half-breed hanyou.

But that twisted freak had kept one important part from her...her heart.

*Sick, truly sick.*

Naraku had kept it in a jar, no less. REALLY sick and twisted, that.

He could even grudgingly respect her determination to win free of him. Not many youkai would have had the claws to survive the dark hanyou's control and manipulation, and for the past three years that must have seemed like eternity to the witch. He could hear the bitterness and hate in her voice as she relayed that to him, in a few short sentences that had revealed her loathing of the dark hanyou. Turning her bitterness to those around her, it was almost as if she had protected her true feelings behind a defensive barrier of proud steel.

He might be able to forgive her actions on the part of Naraku, but could he forgive the cruel taunts that had haunted him nightly since that awful day when she had slaughtered his brothers? He could understand, maybe, how her loathing could turn on others, but still...

He wished, suddenly, that Kagome was here. That girl could help him sort it out. She would be able to forgive the wind witch. She could forgive anybody.

Hadn't she forgiven him?

That girl brought out the best in everybody around her, and if he wanted to be worthy of the little miko, he should really try and forgive Kagura what she had done to his tribe, and to himself.

Scowling, he threw the rock in his hand with force, making a splash against the pool's calm surface.

Kagura had paid her debt, blood for blood.

He still didn't have to like it.

*~*~*~*~*

Sango slipped out of the small hut without disturbing anyone. Or, at least, she thought she had not disturbed anyone. But by the time she had retrieved her boomerang from where it leaned against the outer wooden wall of Kaede's hut, Kagome was there, blinking sleepily at her and waving back a yawn. Kirara, who had waited patiently for Sango to slip Hiraikotsu over her shoulder, sat back on her haunches and matched the young miko's yawn.

Stiffening, Sango tried to pass the girl by with only a nod of acknowledgment. She should have known that Kagome wouldn't put up with that.

Kagome was sensitive enough to respect her silence, and just followed behind the taijiya as she made her way past the sleeping village and to the tall, wooden arch that stood over the bottom of the long, stone steps that led up toward the shrine. Sango was actually comforted by the girl's presence. She wished she could be more free with Kagome, but the hurt inside of her was too deep. If she even allowed one tiny crack in her desperately held armor, all of it would come flooding out, and she didn't want to lose control like that.

They were both slightly out of breath by the time they reached the top of the steps, and Sango paused, watching Kagome as the girl traced a finger along the second arch that crowned the top. Did this shrine remind Kagome of the one she had lived in, in her own time? Kagome had mentioned once that the layout, at least, was similar. What memories or regrets could be circling through the beautiful girl's mind right now?

Suddenly wanting to comfort, and be comforted, Sango reached out tentatively. But Kirara mewed, interrupting her hesitant motion, and she let her hand fall. Kagome shook herself, and gave her a small smile, barely seen in the indigo darkness of pre-dawn.

"I miss them, sometimes."

Sango knew that Kagome was speaking of her family, and her heart clenched. Kagome had lost her younger brother in a way almost akin to Sango losing Kohaku. But Kagome, at least, could hope that her little brother would have a happy and fulfilling life. Kohaku never would now.

Closing her eyes against the sudden dry, burning ache in them, Sango turned away and walked past the young miko. Bypassing the desecrated grave of Kikyo, the taijiya went inside the small temple where her brother's body had been laid out and cremated. All that remained of her little brother was a small clay urn of his ashes. She would take it, with his weapon, and bury him in her home village, to lie at rest with her father and the other demon slayers who had paid with their lives to defend their honor.

She could do no less than they, and refused to show the weakness of her lonely heart. Honor demanded strength.

Without asking, Kirara transformed to her larger form with a glowing flare of red-orange light, and she rumbled encouragingly as Sango's cold hands picked up the urn. It was surprisingly heavy in her arms. She had expected it to be much lighter.

Silently, Kagome picked up the curved scythe that Kohaku had trained with so long and hard, always hoping to impress their stern father with his growing skill. Kaede and Miroku had both done something to sanctify the blade, which had been bathed in the blood of innocents, and might have attracted evil to its side. Now it was just a scythe, notched and dented.

Sango turned her back on the temple, and stepped back outside, both Kirara and Kagome following her. The dawn was not far off. The deep sky was already turning indigo, the palest blush at the far eastern edge heralding the sun's imminent arrival.

"Sango...I..." Kagome began, wanting to comfort.

Blinking back salty tears, Sango shook her head. "I...can't...right now, Kagome."

A small, white hand curled on her shoulder for a brief moment and squeezed her understanding. It was Kagome who knelt and tied Kohaku's weapon to her side. The feel of it was awkward next to her katana. The chain rattled as Sango turned to Kirara.

The neko youkai stepped forward, and Sango settled herself gingerly on the creamy back. Twin tails flicked at her own long tail of black hair, and the cat rumbled soothingly under her. Sango cradled the urn in one hand and dug her fingers into the warm fur with the other in silent appreciation.

Kagome's pale face was a blur in the chilly pre-dawn sky, her soft brown eyes dark. "Will you return to us after you have...?" The girl could not bring herself to say it, but the words hung between them in the air.

*Will you return to us after you have buried your brother?*

"I don't know." Sango could only be honest with Kagome, no matter how much it hurt. "I..."

"Oh, Sango. Please do. I know it's all hurting and awful right now, but remember that you are not alone any longer!" Kagome said in a rush, her hands clasped in front of her.

*But I am alone right now. I am the last of my blood...*

Kagome couldn't hold back a sniffle. "I'm sorry, Sango. It's just awful how everything has come about, and..."

*InuYasha.*

Sango wasn't certain what had happened between the hanyou and Kagome, but she knew WHO had happened between them. *Kikyo.*

Kagome shook her dark head, and squared her shoulders. "Whatever happens, Sango, please come back to us...to me. I'm going to miss you, onee-chan."

Sango started at Kagome calling her "older sister", and a slight smile actually curved her stiff mouth. She was only a year or two older than Kagome, but she whispered softly, her heart a bit lighter, "I promise, imouta. When I am done with..." She shrugged, her hand tightening on her brother's urn, and the smile disappeared.

Kagome leaned forward and impetuously hugged her. Eyes burning, Sango sagged for a moment against her "little sister", her head coming to rest on Kagome's slight shoulder as the girl enfolded her. Blinking back the emotions that threatened to overwhelm her, Sango straightened and bowed her head.

"Thank you." She said softly.

"Just return to us, Sango. You promised!" There was a flash of white teeth in the palling darkness as Kagome lightly teased her. With a final nod, Sango tightened her knees against Kirara's warm sides, and the neko wuffed softly at Kagome in farewell. Kagome stepped back, and the youkai's black paws flared to life. With an incredible leap, the neko was airborne and drawing away from the shrine and the girl whose heart was so big it could heal the world.

Sango waved once, uncertain if Kagome could see it, and then turned her attention forward, holding tight to the urn nestled in the crook of her arm and holding tighter to the emotions that would dare break through.

When she was ready, she would return.

********************

A/N: Two nice, long chapters to make up for the long wait! I have some good stuff coming in the future. Thanks again for all the support, and time is in short supply. I will try and catch up on my reading as well. Some of you have sent me some good fanfic summaries, and when I get some free time, I'll attack them. Take care!

Fate