Hunted By The Wolf

Hunted by the Wolf

Chapter 16: Sibling Rivalry

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I can't think of a better title.

Someone who can spell want to
be my beta?
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Light was sparse when I opened my eyes,
and all I could be sure of was him, there, supporting
me. I shifted my head, pulled back to look at him. He
looked down and gave a small smile, loosening the grip
he'd held for however long I'd slept. How long had it
been? The sun...the sun was...in the west. Not
through the entire day and night, at least. It was still
the same day.
"Did you sleep at all?" I asked, pulling away. He shook
his head, looked off at the direction of the falling sun through
the trees. I leaned back on my arms and stretched out to
get rid of the cramps in my legs and ribs. He really had
held me up the whole time, like a child.

My gaze returned to meet with two appreciative eyes, and
I nearly hit him over the head out of sheer habit.

"We should do something..eat or, make camp, or.." The
wolf's fingers had come up to snake into hair at the back
of my head. Oh gods..he was going to kiss me, right
in front of all of these people..


But I quit caring as soon as his lips crushed to mine. Muscle
felt like liquid as I leaned forward into him once more,
uncaring of whatever eyes might be on us, if any of them
had even stirred. The last kiss was softer than before,
and he pulled away to look at me for a second before
gently pushing my head forward.

He kissed my forehead and got up.


I stared dully after him as he brushed himself off, though I
complied when he reached down for my hands. Admittedly,
this all made me nervous, and terrified..and content.

Completely, despite smelling like a corpse, I was content.


I turned away, praying that my cheeks would just cool off
and return to their normal color, and checked around for
my companions. All of them were asleep.

Almost.


"Waugh!" a little cry emitted from a thrashing kit, held
securely in Kagome's arms. He woke the both of them up
with what I could assume was a nightmare. Poor little
one, I thought.

"Shippo," Kagome cooed, her eyes heavy still with fatigue.
"It's alright..calm down, Shippo.." He calmed in her arms,
glancing around quickly. I felt awful.

No. I couldn't let myself grow morose and weak again, not
how I'd been after those fucking undead villagers had come
for us. This was a time for movement. Naraku was close-I
could feel him.

And that meant that Kohaku was close. The kid had drawn
a very distinct blazing trail where he'd been.

"Are we all ready to go?" I asked softly, Inuyasha's head appearing
between leaves on a low branch.
"What's gotten into you?" he asked simply, an eyebrow raised.
It was odd, he was being calm, not rude.. just asking a question.
And he wasn't jumping at the chance to run off.


Granted, it would be night again soon, and I didn't really think
any of us wanted to traipse through the forest without
being able to see where we were going.

"I don't want to stay stationary with the possibility
of being attacked." I frowned, glanced back towards where
we'd come away from. Hopefully there'd be no more nasty
surprises to wake up to tonight.

"It's dark, Sango.." Kouga stated, and I turned on him.
Why did none of them want to move? Leaning up
against a tree with his arms crossed, he looked defiant.
I supposed we wouldn't be going anywhere this night.
Well, that was that.


"I don't like it here," Kagome said in a small voice, gaze
skyward. What was she looking at? I followed, only
to see something that bothered me. No stars. Not a one.
"Same here," I muttered, biting my lip. Ginta and Hakkaku
had awakened, and were glancing around uneasily. I
suppose none of us really felt safe here.


And there was a reason why.

The wind picked up slowly, first casually grazing the leaves..
I was hit in the face with my own hair, and I knew. The smell
in the air overpowered the stench of all of us, covered in gore.


Miasma.


The sky was completely blacked out. Of course there were
no stars. We all stood, and I pulled the katana. No use throwing
the boomerang when the forest was this dense.


"Oh, what a pleasant surprise," That goddamned voice made me
want to vomit. Where was he? Where was that monster? My
eyes were frantic, trying to find that dreaded baboon visage. He
was here, or some part of him was here, and that was enough.
I'd take revenge for those villagers.

Kouga was poised next to me, his face cold. The tension mounted
as the wind died down, settling that smell into a stagnant poison
that was visible in the air.

It was choking me.

"I did not expect any of you to actually figure out what I was doing!"
And the laugh, the self assured, hate-filled noise that came out
of that mouth. Such a liar.

"Well you're not doin' it anymore, Naraku," Inuyasha yelled out
to the trees, Kagome shoved protectively behind him. Did he
even know what he was talking about, or trying not to let
on that we only knew that he was using people, absorbing
their souls at a constant rate? Was that what he meant?

That he was gaining power? I growled,
turning around to search for him. That coward always hid
when we weren't in some way crippled.


"Come out here and face us, Naraku," That would be houshi.
Those beads were ready to come off...and that wouldn't be
pleasant. I prayed that he'd leave them on for now.


There. In the branches of a high tree, not ten feet away. The
baboon pelt. Instinct took over as I launched Hiraikotsu from
my back. I knew of course that he would move or fade from
view or do whatever it was that he did when he ran, but I
had to attack him. I had to do something other than wait
for him to attack us.


That unholy thing dropped from the branch, landed in a crouch
on the ground, stayed in that position.

This was an offensive stance. He had something planned.

"Everybody move," I grit through my teeth, preparing to dodge
whatever he threw.


"That little brother of yours is quite the killer," I could hear him
clearly, though his voice stayed low. I see. He thought
he could shake me up, did he?


"And that little witch Kanna of yours will be quite dead soon," I
shot back, catching Hiraikotsu. I slid back a foot, the edge making
a tight circle around me as it slowed to a stop. This was the
catalyst.


They came from all around, and despite their weakness their numbers
made up for the danger they presented to us.

Scales, bloated worm flesh, the claws and teeth... These demons were
a part of Naraku, actually the physical incarnation of the things that
lived inside of him. Or festered, whichever you preferred.

I preferred to slaughter these disgusting minor demons, petty
and hungry for flesh as they were. I received wounds, but
none major. A serpentine thing with coarse hair along its' body
got in a bite on the front of my thigh, which was really a very
stupid idea. This left its' head wide open.

The thing turned to dust as I beheaded it, and I watched
with, I admit, sick satisfaction as the things' black eyes
rolled into the back of its' head.


"Move!" That was Kouga's voice. Kirara roared next to me; the
sound echoed as I brought the blade down between the horns of
a waist-length demon. Their numbers were still the same!

In peripheral sight, the wolf dove to push Miroku out of the way
of some glinting object fast approaching him.

Ugh! "Getoff.." I ground out as I threw myself backwards, the
plate sized spider on my back squished between myself and a
tree trunk. Had to focus, really..


Where had Naraku gone? These demons were easy enough to
kill, but the true problem lie with where they came from. I was sure
that there was an endless supply.

Ginta and Hakkaku proved to be more vicious than I
had originally thought. The sight of the two covered
in blood was odd, I must admit. What had attacked
Miroku?


The noise flew past my ear. Narrow miss, I thought as I ran
towards where the monster had been crouching. The
demons here thickened, so I went around. None of these
demons were sophisticated enough to use weapons..

Worse possible time to be attacked. The light was almost completely
gone now, and with the miasma blocking out the moon I was lucky
to see all that I did. The sight of tusks threw me off, reminded me
of the cave. A boar demon.. This demon I had to fight.

The blunt edge of Hiraikotsu connected with the boar's jaw in an
upward arc, sending it back a few feet. This was an opportunity.
Lashed out with blade and the hard centipede armor attached
to my elbows. The thing continued up.


And the smell. Where had I.. I shoved it back with a kick
with both feet, winding up on the ground. Which was not a good
place to be. I kicked my way up, took out something slimy
with the action. Good.

I had smelled that.. Mold? The boar charged, its' teeth
too close to my face. Oh, that was definitely an old stench.
The thing came again, and I sliced cleanly through its' ribs.
It stared down dumbly as thick, chunky blood globbed out
of the wound.

That was wrong. Very wrong.

This thing smelled of the earth. Of rock, of graves...

It smelled of that cave.


Oh no. No, he couldn't, could he? I peered into the
supposedly dying things' eyes.. Blue. Blue flame.


Naraku was using the souls of those boar demons
to his own ends as warriors. Which meant that
he could use wolf demon souls as well.

'No,' was the singular thought I had as I raced past demons
preoccupied with my companions. There, that white baboon
pelt through which all of those rotten things came.
I threw Hiraikotsu, hitting the figure directly in the
shoulder and chest. The baboon pelt flew against
the tree and then floated to the ground, empty.

Of course it was a puppet. At the very least I'd stopped
them from rebuilding their numbers. Though that didn't
stop those already spawned from being a threat.
Noise distracted me, the noise of metal against
tree trunk, or stone. The tetsusaiga did not
make that noise when it hit things. No, this noise
was familiar..

Claws, feeling as though they were made of fire, tore
into my shoulder. Oh, gods, where they'd pierced skin
burned horribly. Never had I felt such a burning.

Instinct, once more, saved my hide. Turning only the
uninjured half of my body, I skewered whatever it was
that had attacked me. That face was ruined, but
humanoid.. Almost familiar in a way.

It laughed darkly, retracting its' claws as it stepped
back, off of the blade. I gripped where the thing had
dug its' claws in. Shit, blood...blood gushed over my
hand, but I barely felt it. It just hadn't been the time
to feel the wound..
That fucking monster was so familiar.. Tall, in life
maybe regal. The-I suppose it was a demon-came
again, entirely too fast. I ducked and vaulted
away, into a tree. The thing turned on its heel,
aiming a punch to my midsection. I ricocheted
off the tree on the unbitten leg, turning mid air
so as to watch it. His fist was buried deep into the
trunk of the tree, and he spat in frustration as he
struggled to pull it out.


Now was my chance. I darted forward to behead
the cursed thing, only hoping that it would stay
where it was.

The chaos around me had slowed to a crawl,
and the only thing I could see or focus on
was the exact point where I would end the things'
life.

Here. I was close enough now to end this awful
existence. The blade was moving, too fast to stop
before it hit the flesh, after the choked growl to
my left was heard. I couldn't look, if that was one
of my party dying I just couldn't look..I had to
kill this thing. It was too fast, too vicious..

It would kill us all if I didn't attack it while it was
vulnerable. This was natural instinct, this was
what I'd been trained to do my entire life.

The cut was thick, agonizingly slow. I narrowed
my eyes to block clotted blood and the scene
in front of me. I hated the death, always would,
but had accepted long ago that it was part
of my way of life.

The blade was long through its' work and back
at my side by the time the head began to fall
and the body sagged to the ground, hand still stuck in the
heart of the tree. I resheathed the blade,
turning to fight anything else that had
come at us.

His eyes; those heartbroken eyes. I could
see them from where he stood, shoulders sagging.
What? What was it that he saw that broke him
so? Kouga had never looked to me as
broken as he did then. My gaze followed his;
the body. What of the body? Looking around
quickly for any threats, I saw none, most of the
lower demons massacred and melted away
into liquid where they'd been dealt with.

Kagome stood behind Inuyasha, shooting
arrows at the remainders of the demons.

The rest still fought. Why did Kouga just
stare that way at the body? What did he see
that I did not? I peered, keeping my guard up.

The realization hit me as though the grime over
the symbol had been rubbed away. That crest
on the armor there, this monster had at one time
been a wolf.

I looked back to Kouga, terrified of what I'd find.
His face and posture had returned to normal,
and he fought off flesh-colored monsters, worm-like
with bits of yellowish slime oozing from either end.
Disgusting, what Naraku came up with. I ran forward
to help him. It was the least I could do.

Hacking away at the creatures, I began to feel
the raw nerves where the undead wolf had dug his
claws in. I couldn't be sure of how far they'd gone in;
the focus was not there. It seemed as though more
demons were attacking us.

"Where the fuck are they coming from now!?" came from
the hanyou's quarters, and they hit once more.
"Damnit," I cursed under my breath, readying to defend. I
was beginning to feel lightheaded. Between the large bite
on my leg and the wounds on my shoulder, I was losing blood.

Kouga sniffed at me after disposing of an insectile creature,
its' neck caved in from a kick.
"Leave," came the command. That, of course, only fueled my
resolve. Who the hell was he to tell me what to do? I raised
a brow at him before hopping onto Kirara.


Maybe I would. We took off into the sky despite the things
trailing us. Kirara was perfectly attuned to my movements,
somehow knowing to dip or to rise, dodge, and turn when
she felt me shift my weight. I would be dead
many times over without this fierce kitten.
The boomerang sliced into demonic flesh again and
again. I dropped as many as I could before the dizziness
became too much. I crouched forward, satisfied for
the moment with my death toll.
"Kirara," I called, leaning forward gingerly. "Down please,"
I bit out, grasping the teeth marks on my thigh. That
damn worm thing. Why had I been injured so much
lately?

We circled around, taking out three more single-eyed
demons baring teeth. These were low-tier, less threatening
than a horse when in small numbers. My companions
had moved slowly into a more open area, a good idea
considering the density of the forest and the enclosing
miasma. That shit had started to dissipate with the
breeze, perhaps signaling Naraku's leave.

I hoped so. We were weakened, or at the very least
I was. Clang. Scrape. Drag. That metal noise
again.
"Sango!" That was Kagome, even from yards away
her face in a panic. Not good.
"Drop," I barked, and Kirara fell to the ground running.
I hopped off, continuing to run beside her. Kagome
was holding her hands to her chest, hunched
over in discomfort at the sight before her.

Clang. Scrape. Drag. Metal hitting armor.
"Sango! Get yer ass over here and help me with
this kid!" That was the hanyou, yelling again.

Kid? I skidded to a stop, feet creating dents in
the earth as I stopped. Inuyasha stood, deflecting
half-hearted attempts at his life. The curved
blade hit, Tetsusaiga deflected, the sicle fell
to the ground, and was pulled back. By its' chain.

Time slowed, and I absentmindedly pondered my
own impending dimentia. My perception had
been so odd lately, really..

He was there, and I froze. My little brother stood,
a shell of himself, emaciated but wiry and
still, supernaturally, strong. The moment the
kid set eyes on me, he seemed to come to
a sick imitation of life. The face intensified,
no longer that of my little brother, but an animal,
hungering and cruel.

The blade was wound up slowly at his side, he
swung the thing, his now 14 year old body
even more skilled at inflicting damage with
the only constant in his life. That blade
was going to be released soon, and I had
to think what to do.

He could best me. He could best me
because he was a shell, but I still saw
him as little Kohaku. Time sped up
once more, quicker than before I thought,
and I dodged the blade that flew at my face.
Shoving Kagome forward, I fell into the dirt.


Get up, Sango. Get up off of the mud. My
tired, blood-deprived body listened hesitantly,
rolling away from where the blade was
being pulled slowly back. The rest of the
group killed off the rest of the demons,
but where was Kouga? There were his
lackeys, I noted, behind Kohaku..


The boy, that is, Kohaku, was
winding the blade again, and running.
My companions dissappeared from my line
of vision. Deserting me? Perhaps. It might've been
the dementia. I was moving slowly in a circle
counterclockwise to the boy with the sicle,
crabwalking, I suppose, on hands and feet.

The direness of the situation turned me into an animal,
I suppose. I felt nothing. Not even grief for the boy
that I loved, somewhere in my tired heart.

I was tired. I'm not the most hopeful of people; after
everything had been taken from me, including
my little brother, I had given up. I was ready to kill
us both.

I almost had. I do not think of myself as morbid.
I do not think of myself as a pessimist.

But I am also not the first to see light at the end
of a long, dark, hard-traveled tunnel. My life
had been short, and the truth was that I had
not felt alive for a long time after I'd first joined
Inuyasha and the rest of them.

Life was a fleeting, almost ethereal thing to me. When
I saw this boy, I felt whatever was left drain out.

I felt like my time on earth had ended when I'd
been buried, somehow still alive, at Naraku's
once-stronghold.

The blade came closer through the air, growing
larger from my perspective. Move, I thought.
Crawl out of the way. It's the least you can do,
you coward. Give up, you might as well...

You can't even move, Sango. Mutinous as I was,
I willed the body to move. No strength, as weak
as I am. No strength left with which to move.

The blade was upon me, and I waited, face
upturned. Maybe this was how things were
supposed to be..

Abandoned by my friends, weakened by blood
loss, how else would I die but by the hands of
my own flesh and blood?

The blade was here, glinting in the now visible
moonlight. That mesmerizing glint of metal was
blocked off by something looming in front of me,
frozen in time.

So fast. So very fast.. It all happened in the
blink of an eye, I'm not quite sure how; Kouga was
there, a snarl on his lips. His eyes were closed.
He stood before me. What?

The blade, what had happened to the blade? I thought.
I felt the movement return to muscle, and I
jumped forward to support him. He staggered
forward, face frozen in ainguish. I caught him,
though not really, as I fell back on my knees.

What had he done? I looked down, his head
fallen forward onto my shoulder and I narrowed
my eyes at the object sticking out of his back.

The sicle. He'd taken the sicle for me. My gaze
followed the length of the chain leading from the
wolf in my arms to its' owner. Kohaku didn't
even flinch as he yanked the blade out viciously.

Sobs, looming and painful in my throat, stuck.

The kid took off into the bushes, and I didn't follow.

Not this time.

I pulled my face away to stare at the side of Kouga's
head, which was limp. My hand came away from
his back sticky with black blood.

"Wake up," I whispered, sounding as weak as I really
am. "..wake up.." I tried again. Nothing.

I sat there on the face of the earth, the moon staring
down, as the absent friends rushed to partake in my
misery.

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Damn that was mopey. Promise
to not dissapoint in the next chapter!!!
..so put your eyes back in your head.