InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ When a door closes... ❯ The Hunt-Part 1 ( Chapter 24 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Namiyo11 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Drama / Adventure / Action / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.20.2008 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.2K | Visits: 205 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Drama / Adventure / Action / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.20.2008 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.2K | Visits: 205 | Status: Completed
Chapter 24- The Hunt-part 1
I don’t own Inuyasha or related characters, nor do I make money from same.Recap: Sesshomaru's arrived, and he and Inuyasha are at a crossroads. Kagome and Inuyasha have learned of Miroku and Sango's marriage. What about the wolf youkai they believe are behind the attacks? Read on!
***Manga Spoiler warning! Kouga has a shiny new toy in this chapter, if you haven't read the manga, be aware it's a spoiler!***
Another day, more youkai to kill.
"Hah!" Kouga slashed with grim pleasure, the Goraishi caught the light as he took out another of the pathetic youkai who'd decided to work for the bitch Ayami.
"Cowards!" The five youkai blades that encased his fingers flicked out as he flexed his hand, the chains along the back of his hand slid slickly along his skin. The blades felt weightless, like an extension of his arm and will. But...they didn't work on the damned snakes. Close work only, the Goraishi. Damned elders! Give him these, tell him to clear out the Dokueki and kill Ayami...and they were worse than useless on the things! Sure, he'd get one, and then it's poison'd get him. Some help he'd be to the Clan then. Like he needed them to tell him to kill the little bitch anyways.
Damn it.
Kouga took out the last of the small group, making sure to get them all. The more they cleared out, the less were left to prey on the Clan or spy for her. He glanced up at the sun, not much daylight left. They'd have time to get home at least, even with the three down with hurts from the melee. They were getting sneakier. But none had died today. That was a small comfort at least.
"Alright! Get the wounded! I'll take point myself. Come on, get moving!" he barked, and the rest of the hunting party collected the weapons and the injured, while another shouldered the meal they had come for, and they began to return home. Kouga relaxed the youkai blades, and they retracted into their wristband.
Normal tactics just weren't working. They were losing by inches. Something had to be done. Soon. He knew it.
***
"He'll never go for it," Hakkaku hissed, both of them had a mad notion, insane, but...things were desperate. Though they didn't know the saying, they knew such times called for desperate measures.
"Well...what else can we do? If we don't say anything-and he comes up with it alone-or he finds out-"
"He might eat us anyways, right? Better to take a chance with a Dokueki," the wolf looked scared, and well he should.
"Yeah. But...we'll try it, I guess," Ginta said sadly. The pair had been chosen by others of the pack to be the bearers of bad news and possibly the most hair brained notion ever offered, and it wasn't comforting.
Kouga would kill them, if he liked them or not. They knew it. They just knew it.
***
A weary Kouga perched on the ledge that opened onto the caves his particular pack called home. His eyes swept the area with a frown. Gauging the temper of his folk, he knew things were far too tense. Too many damned losses! Too many attacks, they'd been penned in by that outcast bitch and her pet Dokueki and youkai too scared to stand on their own anymore, who'd chosen to ally with her after Naraku was taken down.
No wolf cared to be cornered.
Something had to be done, and done soon to break the rough stalemate. Everyday Ayami breathed was one too many. Every day she breathed, his people were paying the price for it. More than one had given him looks too near challenge lately for his comfort. Kouga needed to ensure his control was secure, for himself, for his people...and for his future mate.
Without the jewel shards, he'd had to reestablish his dominance, prove he earned it himself, deserved it without the shards in his legs granting him their power. He had, but he hadn't enjoyed it. He was many things, but he did love his people. Between the Birds of Paradise, Kagura, and now the Dokueki...there was a lot less to love. They hadn't had time to build up their strength again, and it showed.
These were their mountains though. Kouga took in their beauty and his shoulders slumped slightly. They would hold them to the last, had paid too much for them not too, too much blood had been shed. Now, they didn’t dare travel in anything but large packs, worse than the days when the Birds had been the problem. They didn’t have the freedom promised by the beauty of the mountains now.
Restoring that promise was his responsibility.
A glance up, and he straightened as a pair of scents crossed his nose. Hakkaku and Ginta. Friends, allies, packbrothers. His most faithful. They sat near him, testing his temper. Kouga wasn't a peaceful wolf, if he had been, he never would've become Lord. They'd been testing the waters for him, and what they found...wasn't good. The wolves were losing faith in him, because a mere female outcast had been making them suffer. The idea that had sprung from those most loyal, from some of the others in the pack...might be their best chance.
But he really, really, really wasn't going to like it.
“Kouga?” Ginta asked carefully, and he frowned.
“What?” he demanded.
“Uh...well, Kouga...”
“Spit it out. What’s eating you two? I said not to bother me unless it‘s important. It better be. So talk,” he asked again, eyes hard.
“Well-we-it’s-” Ginta couldn’t say it, and Hakkaku sighed.
“Look, you’ll probably eat us for it, but-some of us were talking, and we think we...could have an idea.”
“That’d be a first. Spill it, or get back inside with the others and quit wasting my time,” Kouga ordered.
“Um, You know, no one’s gotten through the passes since Fall, Kouga. We were thinking-we could try again,” he offered, and his packbrother nodded.
“And? We’ll do it, just takes a little more work. A few more youkai to clear out and then we’ll be able to flank her. No trouble.”
“Well, we think-we should get some help, because it is trouble, and if we can get out, we should try it. Please don‘t kill us!” Ginta managed.
“Help?” Kouga got up, and grabbed Ginta by the collar. “What kind of help?” he asked, face inches away as he spoke rather mildly. Oh, they were in for it!
“Uh-uh-”
“Spill it!!” he barked, giving him a shake.
“Inuyasha’s. Those other people with our little sister,” Hakkaku answered, and he nearly fled.
“WHAT? You’ve got to be kidding me!! We don’t need the help of a damned hanyou mutt who won’t back off from my woman! You want me to bring Kagome here? You want me to risk her??” he snarled, hurling the unfortunate Ginta to the ground. The wolf slid across the stone and winced away.
“They killed Naraku, Kouga! We heard that just before the passes got blocked! After that, these things should be a snap!” Hakkaku offered, as his pack leader growled.
“Exactly! They took my vengeance! They-damn it! Get out of here before I kill you both!” he roared at the cowering pair. Kouga growled as they fled, and slammed his fist into the ground as he dropped into a crouch, fuming. But the idea, once planted...didn’t go away over the next few days. Spears and nets weren’t as useful as-ofuda. That big boomerang the tajiya had...that damned sword the muttface used, that could break barriers, shot those Kaze no Kizu. All distance weapons, and that had been strong enough to take Naraku down. Damned strong weapons, trained and skilled fighters. What they needed. Damn.
Plus...spiritually charged arrows. Kagome could help. Would help. He knew that. Would make the rest help...but she’d be in danger. He’d have to be the one to ask. Pride was wrestling with necessity in the wolf. They didn’t need outside help, damn it! It was their territory. They held it against anybody who came for it.
But he intended to take her as mate. Kagome could help, as his future mate, she would just be helping her future Clan and pack. Just like with the Birds of Paradise. Might even make the elders sweeten to the idea. Not that it mattered to him if they didn’t like that idea. She was his, and that was it.
The rest of that odd group wouldn’t let her go into danger alone, not that she’d be alone, but he knew how their minds worked. If they weren’t there, she was alone. They’d come too. All he had to do was go to Kagome, grab her, and bring her back here. They’d follow, and likely blow through anything in the way doing it. She'd understand and help him. But that meant-getting out of the box Ayami put them in, and returning with a human safely. Had to be done. As for Ayami, he’d kill her personally, and afterwards, when the battle was done, Kagome’d be here already. It’d save him a trip to collect her. If the mutt didn’t like it and didn‘t back off then, well...he glanced at the Goraishi.
If he had to, they’d let him settle the score his way.
Kouga realized he’d made his decision. He would go. But first...he had to get there. Then, he had to find them fast. Fastest way was through the lynx and inu territories to the village they liked so much. Through that Yotogi baka’s lands. But it meant slipping through Ayami’s blockade at one of the strongest chokepoints and back again. But if anyone could do it, he was confident he would be the one.
What choice did he have?
A day later...as his wolves distracted her with two costly breakout attempts...feints dividing her forces, three wolves ran for it through a pass. Kouga, with Hakkaku and Ginta not far behind. Without his jewel shards, they could actually keep up. Especially after years of running full tilt just to keep him in sight. They’d refused to leave him. Inwardly, it was warming to have company on the hunt again, even if he wouldn’t admit it.
The Goraishi took out minor youkai as they made their way down the gauntlet, but half his attention was on his people fighting behind them. Kouga didn’t have a lot of time, and he knew it. Ayami’d been content to box them, send Dokueki to feed on them, that might change when she found out he wasn’t there.
It took far longer than normal with more than one close call...but the mountains were at their backs at last. They were out, and loping through the Lynx territory, worried as no challenge was presented. It took another day to realize...there was no one to offer one, any remaining had pulled back to their strongholds. Much like the wolves themselves. Kouga felt a chill fear crawl along his spine, but he didn’t expect the same from Sesshomaru. Crazier than his brother the mutt, strong too. The Inu-he’d bet they were still kicking. Canines, not cats. Even if they were second rate hounds, too humanlike to suit. Domesticated.
(to be continued...)Author’s Notes- This was a great chapter to do and still fun to revisit. We only see the Lynx in one episode of the anime, ‘Totosai’s rigid Training’, and I had to use them as Dokueki fodder. They looked pretty numerous, well organized, and have been relatively unexplored in most fics I’ve read. My reading of cannon geography is that it’s rather vague on who rules what where except that the Panthers are to the east, northeast I assume, and the wolves control the mountains. So I placed the Lynx where it suited me. They had the great misfortune of being between two canine peoples that the snakes prefer. Smack dab between a pissed off Sesshomaru and an equally determined Kouga. Result? Dokueki buffet. Yes, you may want to keep this in mind.
The Gorashi are a relatively new item in the manga, I hope I didn't spoil anyone's surprise. It was a few chapters ago, so I judged it safe enough to include them, but my Kouga gets them in a different manner then he gets them in the manga. Very cool toy he's got there, it had to be added. Thanks for Reading!- Namiyo
I don’t own Inuyasha or related characters, nor do I make money from same.Recap: Sesshomaru's arrived, and he and Inuyasha are at a crossroads. Kagome and Inuyasha have learned of Miroku and Sango's marriage. What about the wolf youkai they believe are behind the attacks? Read on!
***Manga Spoiler warning! Kouga has a shiny new toy in this chapter, if you haven't read the manga, be aware it's a spoiler!***
Another day, more youkai to kill.
"Hah!" Kouga slashed with grim pleasure, the Goraishi caught the light as he took out another of the pathetic youkai who'd decided to work for the bitch Ayami.
"Cowards!" The five youkai blades that encased his fingers flicked out as he flexed his hand, the chains along the back of his hand slid slickly along his skin. The blades felt weightless, like an extension of his arm and will. But...they didn't work on the damned snakes. Close work only, the Goraishi. Damned elders! Give him these, tell him to clear out the Dokueki and kill Ayami...and they were worse than useless on the things! Sure, he'd get one, and then it's poison'd get him. Some help he'd be to the Clan then. Like he needed them to tell him to kill the little bitch anyways.
Damn it.
Kouga took out the last of the small group, making sure to get them all. The more they cleared out, the less were left to prey on the Clan or spy for her. He glanced up at the sun, not much daylight left. They'd have time to get home at least, even with the three down with hurts from the melee. They were getting sneakier. But none had died today. That was a small comfort at least.
"Alright! Get the wounded! I'll take point myself. Come on, get moving!" he barked, and the rest of the hunting party collected the weapons and the injured, while another shouldered the meal they had come for, and they began to return home. Kouga relaxed the youkai blades, and they retracted into their wristband.
Normal tactics just weren't working. They were losing by inches. Something had to be done. Soon. He knew it.
***
"He'll never go for it," Hakkaku hissed, both of them had a mad notion, insane, but...things were desperate. Though they didn't know the saying, they knew such times called for desperate measures.
"Well...what else can we do? If we don't say anything-and he comes up with it alone-or he finds out-"
"He might eat us anyways, right? Better to take a chance with a Dokueki," the wolf looked scared, and well he should.
"Yeah. But...we'll try it, I guess," Ginta said sadly. The pair had been chosen by others of the pack to be the bearers of bad news and possibly the most hair brained notion ever offered, and it wasn't comforting.
Kouga would kill them, if he liked them or not. They knew it. They just knew it.
***
A weary Kouga perched on the ledge that opened onto the caves his particular pack called home. His eyes swept the area with a frown. Gauging the temper of his folk, he knew things were far too tense. Too many damned losses! Too many attacks, they'd been penned in by that outcast bitch and her pet Dokueki and youkai too scared to stand on their own anymore, who'd chosen to ally with her after Naraku was taken down.
No wolf cared to be cornered.
Something had to be done, and done soon to break the rough stalemate. Everyday Ayami breathed was one too many. Every day she breathed, his people were paying the price for it. More than one had given him looks too near challenge lately for his comfort. Kouga needed to ensure his control was secure, for himself, for his people...and for his future mate.
Without the jewel shards, he'd had to reestablish his dominance, prove he earned it himself, deserved it without the shards in his legs granting him their power. He had, but he hadn't enjoyed it. He was many things, but he did love his people. Between the Birds of Paradise, Kagura, and now the Dokueki...there was a lot less to love. They hadn't had time to build up their strength again, and it showed.
These were their mountains though. Kouga took in their beauty and his shoulders slumped slightly. They would hold them to the last, had paid too much for them not too, too much blood had been shed. Now, they didn’t dare travel in anything but large packs, worse than the days when the Birds had been the problem. They didn’t have the freedom promised by the beauty of the mountains now.
Restoring that promise was his responsibility.
A glance up, and he straightened as a pair of scents crossed his nose. Hakkaku and Ginta. Friends, allies, packbrothers. His most faithful. They sat near him, testing his temper. Kouga wasn't a peaceful wolf, if he had been, he never would've become Lord. They'd been testing the waters for him, and what they found...wasn't good. The wolves were losing faith in him, because a mere female outcast had been making them suffer. The idea that had sprung from those most loyal, from some of the others in the pack...might be their best chance.
But he really, really, really wasn't going to like it.
“Kouga?” Ginta asked carefully, and he frowned.
“What?” he demanded.
“Uh...well, Kouga...”
“Spit it out. What’s eating you two? I said not to bother me unless it‘s important. It better be. So talk,” he asked again, eyes hard.
“Well-we-it’s-” Ginta couldn’t say it, and Hakkaku sighed.
“Look, you’ll probably eat us for it, but-some of us were talking, and we think we...could have an idea.”
“That’d be a first. Spill it, or get back inside with the others and quit wasting my time,” Kouga ordered.
“Um, You know, no one’s gotten through the passes since Fall, Kouga. We were thinking-we could try again,” he offered, and his packbrother nodded.
“And? We’ll do it, just takes a little more work. A few more youkai to clear out and then we’ll be able to flank her. No trouble.”
“Well, we think-we should get some help, because it is trouble, and if we can get out, we should try it. Please don‘t kill us!” Ginta managed.
“Help?” Kouga got up, and grabbed Ginta by the collar. “What kind of help?” he asked, face inches away as he spoke rather mildly. Oh, they were in for it!
“Uh-uh-”
“Spill it!!” he barked, giving him a shake.
“Inuyasha’s. Those other people with our little sister,” Hakkaku answered, and he nearly fled.
“WHAT? You’ve got to be kidding me!! We don’t need the help of a damned hanyou mutt who won’t back off from my woman! You want me to bring Kagome here? You want me to risk her??” he snarled, hurling the unfortunate Ginta to the ground. The wolf slid across the stone and winced away.
“They killed Naraku, Kouga! We heard that just before the passes got blocked! After that, these things should be a snap!” Hakkaku offered, as his pack leader growled.
“Exactly! They took my vengeance! They-damn it! Get out of here before I kill you both!” he roared at the cowering pair. Kouga growled as they fled, and slammed his fist into the ground as he dropped into a crouch, fuming. But the idea, once planted...didn’t go away over the next few days. Spears and nets weren’t as useful as-ofuda. That big boomerang the tajiya had...that damned sword the muttface used, that could break barriers, shot those Kaze no Kizu. All distance weapons, and that had been strong enough to take Naraku down. Damned strong weapons, trained and skilled fighters. What they needed. Damn.
Plus...spiritually charged arrows. Kagome could help. Would help. He knew that. Would make the rest help...but she’d be in danger. He’d have to be the one to ask. Pride was wrestling with necessity in the wolf. They didn’t need outside help, damn it! It was their territory. They held it against anybody who came for it.
But he intended to take her as mate. Kagome could help, as his future mate, she would just be helping her future Clan and pack. Just like with the Birds of Paradise. Might even make the elders sweeten to the idea. Not that it mattered to him if they didn’t like that idea. She was his, and that was it.
The rest of that odd group wouldn’t let her go into danger alone, not that she’d be alone, but he knew how their minds worked. If they weren’t there, she was alone. They’d come too. All he had to do was go to Kagome, grab her, and bring her back here. They’d follow, and likely blow through anything in the way doing it. She'd understand and help him. But that meant-getting out of the box Ayami put them in, and returning with a human safely. Had to be done. As for Ayami, he’d kill her personally, and afterwards, when the battle was done, Kagome’d be here already. It’d save him a trip to collect her. If the mutt didn’t like it and didn‘t back off then, well...he glanced at the Goraishi.
If he had to, they’d let him settle the score his way.
Kouga realized he’d made his decision. He would go. But first...he had to get there. Then, he had to find them fast. Fastest way was through the lynx and inu territories to the village they liked so much. Through that Yotogi baka’s lands. But it meant slipping through Ayami’s blockade at one of the strongest chokepoints and back again. But if anyone could do it, he was confident he would be the one.
What choice did he have?
A day later...as his wolves distracted her with two costly breakout attempts...feints dividing her forces, three wolves ran for it through a pass. Kouga, with Hakkaku and Ginta not far behind. Without his jewel shards, they could actually keep up. Especially after years of running full tilt just to keep him in sight. They’d refused to leave him. Inwardly, it was warming to have company on the hunt again, even if he wouldn’t admit it.
The Goraishi took out minor youkai as they made their way down the gauntlet, but half his attention was on his people fighting behind them. Kouga didn’t have a lot of time, and he knew it. Ayami’d been content to box them, send Dokueki to feed on them, that might change when she found out he wasn’t there.
It took far longer than normal with more than one close call...but the mountains were at their backs at last. They were out, and loping through the Lynx territory, worried as no challenge was presented. It took another day to realize...there was no one to offer one, any remaining had pulled back to their strongholds. Much like the wolves themselves. Kouga felt a chill fear crawl along his spine, but he didn’t expect the same from Sesshomaru. Crazier than his brother the mutt, strong too. The Inu-he’d bet they were still kicking. Canines, not cats. Even if they were second rate hounds, too humanlike to suit. Domesticated.
(to be continued...)Author’s Notes- This was a great chapter to do and still fun to revisit. We only see the Lynx in one episode of the anime, ‘Totosai’s rigid Training’, and I had to use them as Dokueki fodder. They looked pretty numerous, well organized, and have been relatively unexplored in most fics I’ve read. My reading of cannon geography is that it’s rather vague on who rules what where except that the Panthers are to the east, northeast I assume, and the wolves control the mountains. So I placed the Lynx where it suited me. They had the great misfortune of being between two canine peoples that the snakes prefer. Smack dab between a pissed off Sesshomaru and an equally determined Kouga. Result? Dokueki buffet. Yes, you may want to keep this in mind.
The Gorashi are a relatively new item in the manga, I hope I didn't spoil anyone's surprise. It was a few chapters ago, so I judged it safe enough to include them, but my Kouga gets them in a different manner then he gets them in the manga. Very cool toy he's got there, it had to be added. Thanks for Reading!- Namiyo