InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Transformations ❯ Big Plan Part II ( Chapter 23 )

Yes, she thought, as she moved Shippou to the spot he would need to be in for this to work. I know he's alive; I can feel it. He's going to live on with me, and then I'll. . . I'll tell him. Yes, I'll tell him I love him. I just hope I don't stutter. Gods, I can't even think it without stuttering. I'm going to have to practice this.

Skip over little notes cause I'm lazy today. . .

Twenty Three - TWENTY THREE!!!!!

Humming and skipping, a little fox demon hopped from place to place, picking flowers and tossing around grass. Three demons watched him, conversing through their ability to transfer thoughts to one another, making sure to not make a single movement and remain hidden. They knew this one was an ally of their prisoner back in their home. But this one, here, had to be taken, and punished for associating with that creature they so hated. So they moved.

They hissed, drawing back lips to show their fangs, and pounced on the fox, catching him before he had a chance to scream. The gagged him and tied up his hands and feet and ran off with him, not even seeing the tiny mushrooms that dropped from him and planted.

~*~ Kagome ~*~

She stood, her eyes closed and ears twitching, a good five hundred feet from Shippou. Ashira waited, hidden, little more than thirty feet away, ready to send the message back to the rest. Kagome tilted her head, hearing bushes get thrashed. Her ears faced that direction, and every other sound was blocked out quickly but gradually. She heard four hearts beating, and recognized Shippou's. Another sound lightly touched her ears and she recognized that, as well. A rock clanked against a tree, and then a thump sounded when it landed on her flashlight, just like they practiced. Now. She turned to Ashira and with just a mutual nod she slipped around trees to the spot he was last, and waited.

Ashira ducked under low tree branches and down a steep cliff, barely sliding on her feet and hit the ground without a sound. She looked over to her superior, Kouga. "He's been taken."

Kouga nodded and motioned to the others, and they all took off. Ashira, Kouga, Maso, and Nurino ran swiftly and noiselessly through the trees, following Kagome's scent and the mushrooms that proved their path was correct. Miroku and Sango were riding Kirara above the trees, and now Ashira, Maso and Nurino leapt up and took different heights in the trees. Ashira was highest, and from time to time went above the trees to signal a new direction to Kirara. It was a perfect way to travel; Kouga was lowest and followed the mushrooms, Maso was just above him and following him, and Nurino and Ashira did the same. Kagome followed the mushrooms a long way ahead and Kirara flew highest, keeping an eye on Ashira even as Sango and Miroku had her maneuver as extra eyes and ears. There was no possible way they could lose their way like this. And through it all, nobody made a sound, save Sango and Miroku telling Kirara she needed to fly higher or turn left and so on.

There was no possible way they could lose their way like this. No possible way.

But they lost their way.

Ahead, where Kagome was, the mushrooms just stopped. Either Shippou was knocked out, or they were running for a lot longer than they thought and he ran out of them. Or, less likely but still just as possible, there was some sort of barrier they entered that she couldn't see. She used her miko powers, trying to sense something nearby, and had been for what seemed like hours - but was probably just minutes - before everybody caught up with her. The trail went dead; she couldn't find him.

She just lost two of the men she loved, and had no idea how to get them back. She felt like crying. She felt like going mad. She felt like she had to kill something. She felt like she was going to die.

But she did none of the above. Instead, she held back her tears and anger and hatred and self pity and concentrated on smelling Shippou. It was hard, considering where they were - the edge of a clearing a hundred feet in diameter - pretty much everything smelled like grass and fields and Shippou. But she had to pinpoint him, and well. She still wasn't entirely used to her demon side, and despite Inuyasha's training with her there were just some things she couldn't do very well. Like pinpointing a single smell in a world of them. But she'd done it before, and she could do it again.

Even as she tried her best to sniff him out, her thoughts piled together and on top of one another, like a parfait.

If I don't find them both, I'll just die. . .

I still don't have this smell thing down. . .

I wonder if Inuyasha felt our kisses like I did. . .

What did my dreams mean? . .

If Miroku's right, and this pack is indeed mine, then can't I just call them forth? . .

That one got her. Even if this pack wasn't hers, the one that took her two loves, she could call forth her own and have them help her get them back. But how could she? It's not like she knew where they were. . .

She turned around, giving up on the plan and her efforts as a new idea came to her. Her eyes landed on Kouga. "How do I get my pack to come to me?"

He looked at her like she was stupid to not know this. "Wolves howl."

Kagome nodded, despite her weird feeling that everybody was still here, let her head fall back and howled like she had done when Sesshomaru was attacking her. Which she still didn't get an explanation for.

Funny thing is, nobody else looked at her strangely. Kagome was a hanyou now, and they didn't ask questions about it. This was how her instincts worked, and the wolves before her saw nothing weird about it anyway. They howled all the time.

It called the wrong person.

~*~ Elsewhere in the forest ~*~

Three traveled together, in no particular direction. The shortest, a little toad-like creature, was complaining that walking through knee-deep mud - though to the others it barely reached above their ankles - was far beyond what he considered a normal day, and it was hazardous. He got stuck three times and had to carry his staff above his head to keep that from getting stuck.

A little girl, probably just six or seven, hopped on one foot and hummed every now and again, inventing songs that didn't make sense and had no real words. Just now she tripped, her right foot getting stuck in the mud, and the toad walked over her. Just as the tallest turned around.

"Jaken, what are you doing?" asked an all-too-calm voice, as the possessor knelt down to pull the girl out of the mud. She was sniffling, rubbing mud off of her eye, on the brink of tears. He looked at the toad. When the thing just cowered he stood, taking the girl with him, and stuffed the toad into the ground using his staff. Jaken only had his head above ground before he turned started walking away, this time with a giggling girl in his arms, having found that scene funny.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken said, wiggling and trying to get up. "Lord Sesshomaru! Wait for me!" He grunted, getting one shoulder up and trying to pry the rest of his arm out of the ground.

A howl was heard, and Sesshomaru paused to listen to it. Something about needing help to find missing members of a group, and he recognized that howl. It was Kagome. Silly girl, she never thought ahead. Never thought about the possibility of flaws in plans and others that may contribute to her cause. He shook his head slightly, and the girl in his arms spoke.

"What was that? Rin wants to know! What did they say? Are they calling Sesshomaru-sama?" Cute girl. Normally, he'd never admit that about a human, but somehow this girl had wormed her way into his life and nothing he said about her was disgusting or changed his views on all other humans.

"Remember Kagome? She needs help."

"Rin wants to help! Can Jaken come too?" With that she pointed at the demon, who just got his other shoulder above ground.

"How about a race?" Sesshomaru said, a rather cruel idea coming to him. He knew the answer to his question before he asked and, giving no warning to either of his companions, just appeared before Jaken and grasped his head with his right hand. He smiled when the creature looked up at him. Jaken screamed and made a wiggle to get free and Sesshomaru jerked him out of the ground, throwing him in the direction of Kagome's howl. Jaken had just enough time to grab his staff and used it as a shield as he soared through trees and leaves. Sesshomaru launched himself in that direction as well, catching up to Jaken halfway to Kagome with a screaming and laughing Rin clinging to his neck like skin. She always enjoyed things like this.

He landed long before Jaken made contact with the ground, seeing little crying mushrooms along the way that smelled like Kagome's adopted pup. He set Rin down and then stood up straight, looking at no one but Kagome. He didn't say anything bad about her this time; Rin didn't like that and it was a waste of breath anyway. But everyone except Kagome had bulged eyes at his sudden landing and taking a human child with him, but not harming her. After a few minutes of dead silence, everyone thinking over what to say, a yell from far away rapidly came closer and Jaken hit the ground hard beside Sesshomaru and skidded forward a good five feet. He twitched.

"What are you doing here?" Kagome asked, stepping in front of all her friends and never breaking eye contact with Sesshomaru.

"You called for help, did you not?" Before either of them could continue Rin ran straight up to Kagome and tugged at her tail. She pet it. She rubbed her face in it, and made Kagome laugh. If she remembered correctly, Shippou did something similar not too long ago, after he woke up in the hut to see her back and awake and alive. He just ignored his impairments and wrapped himself in her tail and fell asleep.

"What's your name?" Kagome asked, kneeling down to look her in the eyes.

"My name's Rin, and that's Sesshomaru-sama!" she said, pointing at herself and then Sesshomaru. "And you're Kagome and that's Jaken and I don't know who those guys are!" she said, ending her speech with a sweep of her arm at each person present that still had bulging eyes.

Jaken twitched.

Kagome laughed. "Here, I'll show you who they are - "

"At another time," Sesshomaru finished for her. "That is not why you are here, or myself. Shall we talk?" he asked, Turned halfway towards the forest, as though for seclusion. Kagome hesitated. Last time they were "talking" she ended up with his claws in her back. But this time, she reminded herself, she had been trained more fully by Inuyasha, and she had an entire pack of wolf demons ready to help her - considering she could find them. On top of that, everybody else was waiting, with Rin and Jaken near. Sesshomaru wouldn't do a thing to try and kidnap her or anything of the like as long as Rin was with her friends.

So she nodded and headed in that direction, just after Sesshomaru. When they were far enough that nobody else could hear anything below regular speaking, he spoke. "What happened that you would need help with?"

"Inuyasha was taken away. And he might be dead."

He shook his head. "Inuyasha - much as I do not like him - is not the type to die so easily. If he died, you'd know it."

"How is that?"

"He is the enemy of a lot of demons. Every single one knows his name, and yours, as well as Kikyo and Naraku. The news would spread faster than you could catch it, wench. Any demon would love to be the one to claim Inuyasha's death at their hands. He is not dead."

"How do you know all this?"

"I, Sesshomaru may not like it, but he is my blood brother. Part of being his older sibling is keeping an eye on what he's doing. I know him very well, despite my dislike for him." He looked at her. "Just as well as you do."

"Uh-huh. Then why did you answer to my call?"

"I know your father. As head of the pack my father once belonged to, that brings an obligation to me as well. I, Sesshomaru am Lord of the West Lands, but still heed the call of the pack that follows you. It may not have been my idea, and I may not like it, but that makes me an ally to you. I beckon to your call as you would to mine."

"Is this a matter of honor?" she asked, feeling suddenly weird. So Sesshomaru is her ally now? Since when? And why should she beckon to his call, anyway?

"Yes. But it is also a matter of demon rules. Because my father and yours were part of the same pack, and your father came to lead them, that makes me and you allies." He looked like he was wishing this wasn't so.

"How long have you known about me being the daughter of Rare, anyway?"

"A few months now. He spoke to me."

"Then why in Hell did you try to kill me?!" she snapped, and they both winced, rubbing their ears. No doubt the demons not too far away heard that one.

"I, Sesshomaru, did not," he said, still calm and controlled. Damn him and his control. "He asked me to make certain your regenerative powers were activated, if he could not do so himself. I see it worked."

"Yeah. So now what?"

"You need aid in finding my worthless half-breed for a brother, yes?"

"Stupid little. . . Yes." Already he was back to the insults.

He sighed. "Then, should you ask, I, Sesshomaru will aid in whatever way you ask."

"Then I won't ask," she said, relieving both of them. She didn't want Sesshomaru to help her any more than he wanted to help her. "You can just take Rin and Jaken and go do whatever it is you do." She didn't wait for an answer to that; instead she just turned around and went back to her friends. She knew Sesshomaru was following her, and that he was only doing so to get Rin and peel Jaken out of the ground. . . Who just now twitched.

After Sesshomaru left with his companions Kagome faced the Spanish Inquisition. Nonstop questions flew back and forth, and Kagome found herself answering eh same questions that were just phrased differently. It was frustrating, but one Hell of an ally in the end. Now that he had his left arm back, he could be just as dangerous as before, and that left open the knowledge that allied with Kagome, her friends, and Inuyasha, Naraku couldn't be a problem. Not a damn one. And he still had the other half of her jewel. Stupid wannabe hanyou. She never really liked him, but now she was starting to hate him. He stole he jewel, and tried to kill them more times than she could count! She used to get scared, and sometimes still did, that when she got back here she was going to find her friends dead, and all because she went home for four days. Or three. It tended to switch.

But thanks to Sesshoamru's words - well, now, there's a shocker! - she had new hope that not only was Inuyasha still alive, but he wouldn't be dead until she heard the rumors start and saw his head on a pole or something. *Shudder* Horrible thought. Bad Kagome, thinking something like that.

She got to thinking, while she was still explaining, that she just might be able to use Inuyasha's prayer beads to an advantage. Maybe she could just keep telling him to sit, and going from point "a" to point "b" in the meantime. But now she not only had to find Inuyasha, but Shippou as well. But then, Shippou had some of her blood in him now. His wounds would heal fast, and he just might be able to come up with some idea to get her attention somehow. But what worried her was the fact that he was taken, and could get wounds. . .because their stupid plan flopped.

Nonetheless, she touched the piece of fire rat fur she still had on her left hand, tied down securely, and let her mind quiet down and think clearly. Sesshomaru was right; they never thought about a back-up plan incase this one didn't work. How is it he was nothing more than a hindrance whenever he showed up, but gave really good advice when he had to? Maybe he should be a teacher or something. . .

No, Kagome thought fiercely. I have to keep focused. I'll never get Inuyasha back if I keep thinking about Sesshomaru's choice in careers. Get Inuyasha back. Get Shippou back. Get Inuyasha and Shippou back. Get them back. Focus!!

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And so Kagome focused, and D L ended her twenty forth chapter. Yeowch! I wonder if any of my other stories will hit this hard? I'm writing like ten at once. Yup. And three are on fictionpress.net.

Well, well. Since I ran out of dangerous weapons to threaten you all with, I'll end this chapter here.

See ya!