Rivals in love

It was hot, almost unbearably so, which was strange for him. Usually he could tolerate even extreme temperatures, but this heat didn’t come from the environment, no, it came from his burning anger. And his rage was far beyond any extreme temperature.

“Damn that Kagome.” He cursed, clenching his jaw and narrowing his eyes at the moving water in front of him, as if it was to blame for his sudden foul mood. As if it had somehow swayed Kagome to act as she did.

He was sitting, well lounging really, by a small creek not far from where he had left the others. The cool water sparkled as it swirled around the smooth gray stones dodging past obstacles it couldn’t just plow through. He sat, watching the swirls of water rush by. He couldn’t believe her. Wasn’t it his right, his fucking obligation, to fight for his own dignity? No, she had to command him, make him behave and obey her when Kouga was there, no matter how insulting the ookami was, or how threatening, or how annoying. “Damn her!”

His ears twitched, an uncontrolled reaction, an instinct, but one long honed and well obeyed and he barely managed to dodge the strike as it came, a thick, tangled mass of vines impaling the ground where he had just sat, sending rocks and dust and whatever deposits of driftwood happened to be there. In an instant, before he even landed, he had drawn his sword and sliced down, using his falling weight, chopping into the thorny mass.

There was this shrill, whistling screech of pain, like wind being pushed through the fissures of a gorge. The vine shuddered and pulled back into the bushes, a retreat, folding in on itself like a coiled injured snake, writhing in its agony. Inuyasha had to fold back his ears against the noise. It wasn’t painful enough to hurt him, not horribly at least, but he wasn’t in any hurry to chase after the disappearing plant and get any closer to the source of the sound.

It was probably just a youkai hunting prey anyway, no bother.

Inuyasha waited until the fading screech finally died, then, sheathing his sword he turned back to continue glaring hatefully into the water. At least some of his anger had been relieved during the short, but adrenaline inducing fight.

*~*~*

Kouga trudged through the forest with the slowest, heaviest steps he could manage. He knew he was acting like a chastised pup, but why the hell did HE have to go find the mutt? Just because some argument they had ended with him face first in the ground and Kagome stomping off to places unknown, yet again. Of course, the very imposing taijiya may have helped to influence his current predicament, but only slightly. After all, he was not scared of some woman, a human woman at that. He wasn’t.

With a sigh he tested the air, sure from the scent trail that Inuyasha was up ahead somewhere, and from the sound of it there was a creak. Maybe he could sneak up on the mutt and kick him into it. Yeah, that would make him happy, at least a little bit; though it probably wouldn’t do a thing for Inuyasha’s attitude other than ignite it, again.

He had one hell of a short temper.

He could smell the dog just beyond the bushes and with him another, more putrid stench, if that was at all possible. Putting on a burst of speed to his trudging he broke from the trees and onto the bank in time to see Inuyasha strike down on a mass of thorny vines protruding from the forest and dangling out onto the sand.

Kouga stood, arms crossed and watched as the obviously weak youkai retreated into the woods with a shriek of rage and pain. Inuyasha sheathed his sword, not bothering or maybe not caring to check his surroundings to see what else lurked. Kouga smirked.

Cocky bastard.

He was about to walk over and follow through with his previous idea of knocking him into the water, cool off some of that hot headed arrogance, when he noticed something near the edge again, where a little sprout of a vine had started to slither back out timidly. Close to the ground, and moving with a quickening pace.

Kouga saw as it lifted up off the ground, pulsing, growing, thickening, knotting into a fibrous vine, shaggy with thorns and sliver-like bark it reared back like a snake ready to strike and the mutt hadn’t noticed yet. Everything went by with a creeping slowness, but he realized as he shot forward, that it was all happening too quickly, and his mind was just stuck in slow motion. Shock, perhaps, of what he knew would happen, but he couldn’t make his feet go faster.

The vine penetrated the middle of Inuyasha’s back with a sickening ease, a horribly painful, but not altogether deadly blow to the hanyou, but the creeper didn’t go straight through. In fact, it looked to be pushing into him, reaching inside.

It raised the body up even as Inuyasha swore and ripped into his own abdomen with his claws to sever the cord. Kouga stopped short as he watched that grisly scene, Inuyasha’s own hand in his gut. At first it just looked like he was reaching into his haori, then the dark stain started to spread, darker, blacker. The metallic scent of blood hit Kouga in the face and his eyes watered by the sudden assault.

Blood pulsed from the chasm and despite Inuyasha’s thrashing and digging the deadly vine pushed itself deeper within him.

Suddenly there was a loud crack, muffled slightly by squelching sounds of tissue being squeezed and torn. Inuyasha’s body arched back in pain and his cry pierced Kouga’s eardrums. Flecks of yellow foam spewed forth from his mouth and splattered on Kouga’s cheek.

His head snapping to the side as if the stuff had stung he was pulled out of his trance and fell upon him, clutching his stiff limbs and scrambling for purchase on the ground. With grim determination he began to hack at the snare, trying to pry it from Inuyasha's entrails. Pieces of flesh and viscera spattered him as he dug and slashed at the vine. The vine fought back its tendrils flexing and joining together to form a claw; it sliced at him savagely. Vines lashed out like whipcords, lacerating Kouga's face with spiny barbs, and hundreds of small tendrils wrapped around his wrists, striking like serpents trying to pierce his skin.
Kouga fought on, trying to ignore the assault. And though he had secured Inuyasha's body, the vine appeared stronger, yanking him forward in spasmodic motions, pulling him instantly toward the trees.
Branches swept across Kouga, slapping him in the face, cutting his legs and arms, but he would not let go.

With a burst of strength be dug his heals in, feeling a jolt as he latched onto an exposed root, stopping the vine dead and enticing a shuddering cry from Inuyasha, his mouth open, his body slowly going limp, his struggling halting.

Inuyasha’s skin started to take on a grayish pallor and Kouga felt his feet slip on the forest floor, wet and slick from his blood.

With a desperate cry of rage Kouga plunged his own fist into Inuyasha’s stomach and gripped at the thorny mass entangling itself with the hanyou’s spine, wrenching in out his front, sending splatters of crimson blood to land with the rest on the ground. When he felt the wriggling tentacles in his hand try and jolt back he released it, watching as it slipped back into Inuyasha’s body in an instant and out the other end, hitting his spine and snapping it completely in two before it hit the dirt floor.

The tiny thread-like tendrils started snapping, their grasp on the bleeding hanyou not so strong without the larger vine and with a high pitched shriek of rage from the creature the two finally fell limply to the ground as it disappeared under the brush, Kouga’s knees buckling under him.

Kouga stared down at Inuyasha, his breathing heavy and irregular. He had to get Inuyasha someplace safe, someplace his could heal. Precious life fluid was leaking from the veins injured around his spine Kouga could only hope they weren’t severed completely and that they would heal quickly. If not, the mutt would be dead within minutes, and there was nothing he could do to save him. Gritting his teeth he gingerly picked the dog up, stumbling to his feet under the weight he turned around in a full circle, trying to get his bearings.

Blood coated whatever scent trail he left while traveling from the human’s camp, he would have to make his way back to the mountainous crags in the center of the forest, a day’s travel for a human, but for him, he could reach his companions in half an hour.

“Hold on,” he muttered, “don’t you dare die on me, I won’t let you lay that kind of guilt on my shoulders you worthless Mutt.” He didn’t think he could bare the blame in Kagome’s eyes.

*~*~*

So, how was the very first chapter of the new and improved Rivals in Love?

I think I did rather well, don’t you? Much more in character than before, and the fight scene was better detailed. I liked the part when his spine went *CRACK!* 8D

I’ll be replacing chapter as I go along, so you can still read ahead to the next chapters if you want.