I don't own Inuyasha or any of the characters appearing in the Anime/Manga.
Chapter 1 Kouga looked ahead into his immediate path to see the canyon walls about to engulf him. He looked eagerly onward into the small valley that he quickly approached. The 30 foot wide canyon sped hastily closer as the youkai charged forward in his incredible sprint. The feel and smell of the winds that he himself had aroused invigorated him and fueled the adrenaline coursing through his veins pulling into a kind of trance. The winds blew through his hair and over his skin, making the youkai feel so much more alive than he had felt earlier. The feeling was one of the reasons he did this everyday, his escape from the stress and the pains of leading a whole tribe of other wolf youkai wolves.
Kouga pulled himself together just as he entered the canyon. Stopping for a split second, he crouched down low enough for his hand to touch the ground and leaped 25 feet into easily, onto the cliff-side of the right canyon wall. Once again, the wolf youkai let his hand brush against the wall, feeling the rough surface in the palm of his hand before pushing off up further into the air to the opposite wall. 30 feet higher on the opposite wall, he repeated the process again and again, making his way up the tall canyon with ease.
With one final spring, Kouga leaped 45 feet off the canyon-side and landed on top of the valley taking deep breaths and sweating from his workout.
"Ay! Kouga, you done early today. You take a short cut this time?" called out the current guard.
"Not a chance Ragen" Kouga smirked "I did it all legit, no cheats no tricks, just ran the whole way."
"I'm impressed," Ragen called out jogging over to Kouga's location. "Even with the shikon shards, you couldn't clear the course that quickly. I swear, you get faster everyday, maybe I should start joining you." Ragen let out a short laugh afterwards and stopped in front of Kouga with his spear in hand.
"You could." Kouga started "except you have guard duty when I go" Kouga shrugged and smirked "tough luck." Kouga laughed a little bit when his comrade, and continued to joke around for a little while before continuing back towards the Den of Youkai Wolves.
On the way back, Kouga's mind started to wander into thought. 'I guess he's right, ever since I got rid of those shards, I've only improved. I remember that day so clearly.'
**********************************************************************
Kouga sat alone on the hillside gazing off into the mountain's thinking about how much he and his clan could do if Kagome would just stay and be his mate. With her ability to see shikon shards, she was a prize worth more than territory itself to him. The wind blew against his back carrying the scents of the mountain from upwind to him as the vivid dreams of conquest filled his head.
A particular scent caught his nose, though faint, it seemed familiar. It reminded him of Kagome but it was slightly different. Kouga took a moment to closer examine the air with his canine sense of smell trying to determine who it was. The following scent of Inuyasha along with Kagome, revealed to Kouga that it was actually them. Why he couldn't identify her so well was beyond him, but his 6th sense told him he'd find out soon enough.
The sound of four feet on the plush grass let Kouga know to turn around.
"Ah, Muttface I see you have finally brought back my woman" the overconfident youkai said before he even turned around.
A low growl from the dog hanyou was Kouga's response that caught him by surprise.
Koga turned around to see an angry hanyou so close to Kagome that it seemed he thought she would vanish if he strayed too far.
"What's wrong dogbreath? Strike a sensitive spot?" Kouga taunted.
This time, Inuyasha didn't growl, however, Kagome's gaze went straight to the ground. "Kagome, is something wrong?" Kouga was within a few feet with a single short leap. He reached out to grab her chin so he could look into her eyes. This brought out an even greater growl from the passive hanyou, just before he stepped right in front of her blocking Kouga's view. "What's wrong Sparky? Can't a man even touch his own woman?" Kouga prodded, about to shove Inuyasha out of the way (and preferably off a cliff).
Inuyasha's eyes opened wide at this comment. "That's enough!!!!!" Inuyasha shouted. Anger of the likes that Kouga had never seen before colored the enraged hanyou's voice just as he pulled his right hand back into striking position.
Kouga's 6th sense kicked in, and the wolf youkai hopped back a few feet and crouched into pouncing position. The air was tense and the words "Bring it" were written all over the faces of both fighters.
Kagome looked up to see the two rivals square off for what promised to be the most violent fight thus far of their rivalry. She wanted badly to stop the fight, because there was something she had come to do, however, she was afraid of what would result and couldn't find words at all.
Meanwhile the air continued to grow tenser and tenser. Inuyasha moved his hand to ready Tetsusaiga and Kouga crouched even further down. Both fighters were as ready as they would be, and all they were waiting for was for a dewdrop to fall or a mountain to chip, so they could start their battle.
A few long seconds later, a strong wind blew through a nearby tree and both fighters charged with incredible speed. With a flash, Tetsusaiga was transformed and ready, and Kouga prepared himself for the important counter he would have to make and watched Inuyasha's every move.
At this point, Kagome found her speech again and screamed. "STOPPPPPPP BOTH OF YOU!!!!!"
Kouga and Inuyasha, out of surprised, missed what would have been the first strike, and after passing by each other in mid-air simply landed and slid a few feet.
"Please don't fight, not now..." was all Kagome managed to say, then her eyes fell back to the ground. Inuyasha immediately jumped through the air and landed beside her.
"Are you okay?" he whispered into her ear, massaging her shoulders, just after sheathing Tetsusaiga.
"Yes, I'm alright." She replied "but do we have to do this?"
"Yes we do, you know as well as I do that we must." Inuyasha replied.
"Do what?" Kouga interrupted, feeling slightly uneasy.
Kagome looked up to meet Kouga's worried gaze with a look of utter sorrow in her eyes. She reached into her blouse and pulled out a nearly complete shikon no tama from a necklace.
"What? I don't understand" Kouga said confused, but he was sure that it was bad, even without the aide of his 6th sense.
"We've been collecting these shards for nearly a year and a half now, and we have most of the whole thing." Kagome said.
"All but two shards" Inuyasha said quietly but full of malice. At this Kagome shifted her gaze once again to the ground.
Revelation hit Kouga all at once when he realized what she was asking. After regaining his stature, Kouga let out only one word "No"
"Please Kouga, just give them to me. I don't want to have to?" she stopped, even voicing it was hard.
".Take them by force." Inuyasha finished her sentence and clenched his fist hard. "I protect my clan with these shards." Kouga said nobly "you will have to take them by force."
Inuyasha grinned and cracked his knuckles. "So be it"
"No Inuyasha" Kagome said still as timidly as ever. "Please Kouga, do it for me"
Kouga grinned at this opportunity "If you become my mate, then I will give you the shards."
Kagome looked one last time at the ground and took a deep breath, then she looked straight at Kouga with bold confidence. She held her left hand clenched up to her heart. "I can't do that Kouga" she stated.
"And why not?" Kouga asked.
"Because, I've already got a mate." She said as boldly as before then turned her hand for Kouga to see her palm. Across the palm of her hand, there was a scar of darker skin. Kouga recognized it from where he was as the mark of a mate, and dashed over to her, grabbing her hand before she could pull it away. Kouga brought her hand up to his nose and took in the aroma. In shock he stepped back a few feet with a look of pure horror on his face. He turned over to Inuyasha who revealed a similar mark on his right hand with a large smirk all across his face. Rage filled the wolf youkai's mind, but he subdued it, knowing that doing anything was futile.
After a long moment of silence in which Kagome was hit fully with how hard her friend must be hurt by this, Kouga taking a deep breath preparing to accept his loss, and Inuyasha gloating inside about his final victory over his rival. Kouga gathered up everything he had in him for one phrase.
"You win this time mutt." Kouga said between growls. He then turned over and walked back over to the rock he had been sitting on and sat back down. The three of them remained silent, each knowing what had to be done. Kouga reached down and removed the shard from his left leg, and then his right. He felt the significant drain of energy immediately, and stood up. He looked down at the shards in his hand, and couldn't help but feel he was giving away part of himself.
He walked over and placed the shards in Kagome's palm, and looked once again in disbelief and the mark on her left palm. He smirked a little and lightly chuckled. "I knew I shouldn't have left her with you Muttface, and this is what I get." Another chuckle "consider this a gift, I hope that you're life together is very happy"
"Thank you Kouga" Kagome said, tears welling in her eyes that this whole event was finally over. She fitted the last shards in place and shikon no tama was whole again. Kouga could feel the radiance, and fought off the urge to strike Kagome and devour it.
"Good-bye Kagome." Kouga said. As he turned and sprinted back to his den and vowing to get his speed back silently somehow. ***********************************************************************
"It's taken 3 years to regain the power I got from those shards, but now, unlike before, I can actually get stronger. To think, after a year and a half of running and fighting, I never got any stronger while using those shards. I guess it's good riddance after all."
Kouga pulled himself out of thought just as he reached the entrance to the Den. After all that exercise he was ready for a nice long nap.
"Gekido!!!!!" Kouga shouted as he entered the den. Another wolf youkai of a similar build to Kouga ran over to meet him. "I'm about to take a rest, if anything happens wake me up, until then you're in charge. And make sure that you check on the guards every so often, if they're asleep, wake them up. Got that?"
"No problem Kouga. I'll take care of everything." Gekido said.
Kouga smiled and walked back to his area of the Den and laid down on the mat where he slept. After a few moments he fell swiftly into sleep.
"Kouga wake up!!!!!!!!" Gekido's voice shook the commanding youkai out of his sleep.
Immediately on alert Kouga sat straight up "What's wrong?" he said getting quickly to his feet.
"The front line guard, Ragen, was taken to the top of the center peak by a youkai-slayer" Gekido reported. "The hunter said that they wanted to meet you or else they would kill him"
"Curses" Kouga said at his feet by now. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it." He said then he raced out of the den, kicking the winds themselves up behind him as he took off.
Gekido was left there to marvel once again at the youkai's speed, hoping that everything would turn out alright.
Chapter 1 Kouga looked ahead into his immediate path to see the canyon walls about to engulf him. He looked eagerly onward into the small valley that he quickly approached. The 30 foot wide canyon sped hastily closer as the youkai charged forward in his incredible sprint. The feel and smell of the winds that he himself had aroused invigorated him and fueled the adrenaline coursing through his veins pulling into a kind of trance. The winds blew through his hair and over his skin, making the youkai feel so much more alive than he had felt earlier. The feeling was one of the reasons he did this everyday, his escape from the stress and the pains of leading a whole tribe of other wolf youkai wolves.
Kouga pulled himself together just as he entered the canyon. Stopping for a split second, he crouched down low enough for his hand to touch the ground and leaped 25 feet into easily, onto the cliff-side of the right canyon wall. Once again, the wolf youkai let his hand brush against the wall, feeling the rough surface in the palm of his hand before pushing off up further into the air to the opposite wall. 30 feet higher on the opposite wall, he repeated the process again and again, making his way up the tall canyon with ease.
With one final spring, Kouga leaped 45 feet off the canyon-side and landed on top of the valley taking deep breaths and sweating from his workout.
"Ay! Kouga, you done early today. You take a short cut this time?" called out the current guard.
"Not a chance Ragen" Kouga smirked "I did it all legit, no cheats no tricks, just ran the whole way."
"I'm impressed," Ragen called out jogging over to Kouga's location. "Even with the shikon shards, you couldn't clear the course that quickly. I swear, you get faster everyday, maybe I should start joining you." Ragen let out a short laugh afterwards and stopped in front of Kouga with his spear in hand.
"You could." Kouga started "except you have guard duty when I go" Kouga shrugged and smirked "tough luck." Kouga laughed a little bit when his comrade, and continued to joke around for a little while before continuing back towards the Den of Youkai Wolves.
On the way back, Kouga's mind started to wander into thought. 'I guess he's right, ever since I got rid of those shards, I've only improved. I remember that day so clearly.'
**********************************************************************
Kouga sat alone on the hillside gazing off into the mountain's thinking about how much he and his clan could do if Kagome would just stay and be his mate. With her ability to see shikon shards, she was a prize worth more than territory itself to him. The wind blew against his back carrying the scents of the mountain from upwind to him as the vivid dreams of conquest filled his head.
A particular scent caught his nose, though faint, it seemed familiar. It reminded him of Kagome but it was slightly different. Kouga took a moment to closer examine the air with his canine sense of smell trying to determine who it was. The following scent of Inuyasha along with Kagome, revealed to Kouga that it was actually them. Why he couldn't identify her so well was beyond him, but his 6th sense told him he'd find out soon enough.
The sound of four feet on the plush grass let Kouga know to turn around.
"Ah, Muttface I see you have finally brought back my woman" the overconfident youkai said before he even turned around.
A low growl from the dog hanyou was Kouga's response that caught him by surprise.
Koga turned around to see an angry hanyou so close to Kagome that it seemed he thought she would vanish if he strayed too far.
"What's wrong dogbreath? Strike a sensitive spot?" Kouga taunted.
This time, Inuyasha didn't growl, however, Kagome's gaze went straight to the ground. "Kagome, is something wrong?" Kouga was within a few feet with a single short leap. He reached out to grab her chin so he could look into her eyes. This brought out an even greater growl from the passive hanyou, just before he stepped right in front of her blocking Kouga's view. "What's wrong Sparky? Can't a man even touch his own woman?" Kouga prodded, about to shove Inuyasha out of the way (and preferably off a cliff).
Inuyasha's eyes opened wide at this comment. "That's enough!!!!!" Inuyasha shouted. Anger of the likes that Kouga had never seen before colored the enraged hanyou's voice just as he pulled his right hand back into striking position.
Kouga's 6th sense kicked in, and the wolf youkai hopped back a few feet and crouched into pouncing position. The air was tense and the words "Bring it" were written all over the faces of both fighters.
Kagome looked up to see the two rivals square off for what promised to be the most violent fight thus far of their rivalry. She wanted badly to stop the fight, because there was something she had come to do, however, she was afraid of what would result and couldn't find words at all.
Meanwhile the air continued to grow tenser and tenser. Inuyasha moved his hand to ready Tetsusaiga and Kouga crouched even further down. Both fighters were as ready as they would be, and all they were waiting for was for a dewdrop to fall or a mountain to chip, so they could start their battle.
A few long seconds later, a strong wind blew through a nearby tree and both fighters charged with incredible speed. With a flash, Tetsusaiga was transformed and ready, and Kouga prepared himself for the important counter he would have to make and watched Inuyasha's every move.
At this point, Kagome found her speech again and screamed. "STOPPPPPPP BOTH OF YOU!!!!!"
Kouga and Inuyasha, out of surprised, missed what would have been the first strike, and after passing by each other in mid-air simply landed and slid a few feet.
"Please don't fight, not now..." was all Kagome managed to say, then her eyes fell back to the ground. Inuyasha immediately jumped through the air and landed beside her.
"Are you okay?" he whispered into her ear, massaging her shoulders, just after sheathing Tetsusaiga.
"Yes, I'm alright." She replied "but do we have to do this?"
"Yes we do, you know as well as I do that we must." Inuyasha replied.
"Do what?" Kouga interrupted, feeling slightly uneasy.
Kagome looked up to meet Kouga's worried gaze with a look of utter sorrow in her eyes. She reached into her blouse and pulled out a nearly complete shikon no tama from a necklace.
"What? I don't understand" Kouga said confused, but he was sure that it was bad, even without the aide of his 6th sense.
"We've been collecting these shards for nearly a year and a half now, and we have most of the whole thing." Kagome said.
"All but two shards" Inuyasha said quietly but full of malice. At this Kagome shifted her gaze once again to the ground.
Revelation hit Kouga all at once when he realized what she was asking. After regaining his stature, Kouga let out only one word "No"
"Please Kouga, just give them to me. I don't want to have to?" she stopped, even voicing it was hard.
".Take them by force." Inuyasha finished her sentence and clenched his fist hard. "I protect my clan with these shards." Kouga said nobly "you will have to take them by force."
Inuyasha grinned and cracked his knuckles. "So be it"
"No Inuyasha" Kagome said still as timidly as ever. "Please Kouga, do it for me"
Kouga grinned at this opportunity "If you become my mate, then I will give you the shards."
Kagome looked one last time at the ground and took a deep breath, then she looked straight at Kouga with bold confidence. She held her left hand clenched up to her heart. "I can't do that Kouga" she stated.
"And why not?" Kouga asked.
"Because, I've already got a mate." She said as boldly as before then turned her hand for Kouga to see her palm. Across the palm of her hand, there was a scar of darker skin. Kouga recognized it from where he was as the mark of a mate, and dashed over to her, grabbing her hand before she could pull it away. Kouga brought her hand up to his nose and took in the aroma. In shock he stepped back a few feet with a look of pure horror on his face. He turned over to Inuyasha who revealed a similar mark on his right hand with a large smirk all across his face. Rage filled the wolf youkai's mind, but he subdued it, knowing that doing anything was futile.
After a long moment of silence in which Kagome was hit fully with how hard her friend must be hurt by this, Kouga taking a deep breath preparing to accept his loss, and Inuyasha gloating inside about his final victory over his rival. Kouga gathered up everything he had in him for one phrase.
"You win this time mutt." Kouga said between growls. He then turned over and walked back over to the rock he had been sitting on and sat back down. The three of them remained silent, each knowing what had to be done. Kouga reached down and removed the shard from his left leg, and then his right. He felt the significant drain of energy immediately, and stood up. He looked down at the shards in his hand, and couldn't help but feel he was giving away part of himself.
He walked over and placed the shards in Kagome's palm, and looked once again in disbelief and the mark on her left palm. He smirked a little and lightly chuckled. "I knew I shouldn't have left her with you Muttface, and this is what I get." Another chuckle "consider this a gift, I hope that you're life together is very happy"
"Thank you Kouga" Kagome said, tears welling in her eyes that this whole event was finally over. She fitted the last shards in place and shikon no tama was whole again. Kouga could feel the radiance, and fought off the urge to strike Kagome and devour it.
"Good-bye Kagome." Kouga said. As he turned and sprinted back to his den and vowing to get his speed back silently somehow. ***********************************************************************
"It's taken 3 years to regain the power I got from those shards, but now, unlike before, I can actually get stronger. To think, after a year and a half of running and fighting, I never got any stronger while using those shards. I guess it's good riddance after all."
Kouga pulled himself out of thought just as he reached the entrance to the Den. After all that exercise he was ready for a nice long nap.
"Gekido!!!!!" Kouga shouted as he entered the den. Another wolf youkai of a similar build to Kouga ran over to meet him. "I'm about to take a rest, if anything happens wake me up, until then you're in charge. And make sure that you check on the guards every so often, if they're asleep, wake them up. Got that?"
"No problem Kouga. I'll take care of everything." Gekido said.
Kouga smiled and walked back to his area of the Den and laid down on the mat where he slept. After a few moments he fell swiftly into sleep.
"Kouga wake up!!!!!!!!" Gekido's voice shook the commanding youkai out of his sleep.
Immediately on alert Kouga sat straight up "What's wrong?" he said getting quickly to his feet.
"The front line guard, Ragen, was taken to the top of the center peak by a youkai-slayer" Gekido reported. "The hunter said that they wanted to meet you or else they would kill him"
"Curses" Kouga said at his feet by now. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it." He said then he raced out of the den, kicking the winds themselves up behind him as he took off.
Gekido was left there to marvel once again at the youkai's speed, hoping that everything would turn out alright.