Wolves
This story is rated PG-13 for sexual situations
Chapter 2 - InuYasha's Search
It took InuYasha less than a day to reach the village, arriving just after dark, where he was greeted warmly by the villagers. They soon had dinner ready and offered him a warm bed for the night. He accepted the dinner, his stomach was already growling in protest from its fast; but preferred to sleep he was eating, the village elder told him about the cattle.
"Three of our villagers went out to check the cattle as they do every morning and not a single cow was left alive. Over a dozen prime livestock had been slaughtered and partially eaten. We managed to save as much meat as possible."
InuYasha's fork stopped, suspended in mid-air after hearing that last bit. He sniffed the item on his fork.
"Oh, no, my Lord! We would never give one of the males of our Princess anything like that! You are eating wild boar which our hunters caught this very morning!"
"Okay." The fork continued its way into his mouth. "I will check out the field at first light. Don't worry, I already know the location." He indicated his nose with his now empty fork.
"Yes, my Lord. Thank you!" The elder bowed. "Please let us know if there is anything else you require."
After a few minutes, InuYasha was left alone. After finishing the rest of his meal, he stood up and stretched. He made his way out in one leap, went into the trees and soon was on the outskirts of the village. He found a large tree perfect for sleeping against, but instead of going to sleep, his thoughts turned to his Princess. The Dog Demon would have done anything to stop her unhappiness, and for the hundredth time, he wished that he had died instead of Vash, but he had failed against Naraku!
The demon had grown too strong, but not too strong for Vash. No one ever dreamed of the power that Vash was capable of. He just seemed like a regular guy, and everyone had teased him about bringing along his gun. Who knew it was not a true gun, but the trigger that transformed him into the Angel Arm; a force so powerful it not only obliterated Naraku, but an entire mountain and the capital city of Seiryuu! How many times had Vash commented on how incredible the Tetsusaiga was when it was merely a toy by comparison. In the end, it was not the powerful who won that battle. Bakura could not harm Jodah, but a boy named Malik did so with an ornamental sword. Kyo could not prevail against the Jodah's dragon; it took a crippled Keiki to destroy him. Vash sacrificed himself and left an irreparable hole in his Princess' heart. The Dog Demon sighed unhappily, and pushed away his troubling thoughts, settling down to sleep.
When the sun began to lighten the sky, InuYasha was already in the field, examining the cattle. They had been torn apart, but not by claws, rather by fangs. Wolf fangs! Why would wolves attack a herd they supposed to protect? There were many tracks in the dirt and blood which told InuYasha that there had been about two dozen of them. They seemed larger than the wolves that he knew from Kaede's Village. Their trail went into the forest and InuYasha followed it for a few miles, going southeast. And then the trail suddenly vanished.
He pressed his nose to the ground, but couldn't pick up the scent of wolves. Instead the area was trampled by many men. Had a patrol come near the wolves and scared them off? But even so, how did their trail completely disappear? He widened his area of search with no luck. Finally, since he couldn't go forward, he went backward, and backtracked the trail that they left going to the village. The wolves had made no effort to conceal their trail so the Dog made rapid progress. The miles went by swiftly and soon the day had gone by and the sun was low in the sky.
InuYasha stood up and then leapt high, going swiftly to the very tops of the tall trees. He shaded his eyes with a hand tipped with deadly claws and saw a gleam in the distance. The White Tower! It was not that far away. He could spend the night there, and see if Bya or Jaal had seen anything and then continue his tracking in the morning. Traveling over the tree tops themselves, he arrived at the Tower just as the sun set.
Jaal and Bya welcomed him warmly, and then the pair took him to have dinner with their daughter Jae and her mate, Rye. Dinner was edible, if not much else. Jae was learning to cook, without much help from Jaal who was not very domestic either, but no one seemed to mind. Neither Bya or Rye would ever say anything to the girl they both loved, and Jaal was proud that her daughter was trying new things. InuYasha prudently said nothing. However he was uncomfortable, sitting there surrounded by happy chatter. He was not good with crowds and now wished that he had bypassed the Tower completely. Sitting here with three Great Dragons, even in human form, was a bit unnerving. He still remembered the heart-stopping feeling when Rye's huge shadow flew over the Castle for the first time.
As soon as dinner was finished, InuYasha said he wanted to return to the forest to get an early start, neither of the Dragons had seen anything so they were no help with his search. Bya offered to carry him aloft for a while, but InuYasha shook his head. He wouldn't be able to follow the scent trail high in the air.
The next morning found him back on the trail, this time turning to the North and into Suzaku. By mid-afternoon he was at the beginning of the mountains. He stopped, not sure how far into Suzaku he wanted to travel. Suddenly he heard the sound of footsteps coming from the north, a little higher in the mountains. He sniffed the air, smiled and sat down to wait. In less than an hour's time, a patrol of Bobcats came into the clearing where InuYasha sat waiting.
"Hail, Lord InuYasha!" The leader called out. He had bright red hair and was more than likely another one of Tekken's numerous sons.
"Hi!" InuYasha stood up.
"I am Teriyu and my patrol is at your service. What brings you into Suzaku?"
Yes, he was right. Another son! "I am searching for a wolf pack that passed this way a few days ago and went into Otherworld."
"Then our path is the same. We found wolf spoor high in the mountains along the border between Suzaku and the Demon World and have been following their trail down the mountains."
"They came from the Demon World?" InuYasha said, surprised. He thought all the wolves were here in Otherworld under Kouga's rule.
"I could not tell you that. We do not go that far up the mountains. It would take weeks, even months, to scale those cliffs. We went as far as the Black Tower, but we found no trace of wolves there. We thought that they might have come from Otherworld and were returning home."
"Thank you for the information. This will save me a lot of time. I will go back to Otherworld and get in touch with Kouga. I think that this is now a problem for him."
"We will walk with you for a while and then break bread together. I would like to hear about my brother Tekki, if you would be so kind."
This group of Bobcats was much more to his liking than the group of Dragons from last night and InuYasha welcomed their company. After about an hour more on the road, they pitched camp and took out a haunch of venison to eat.
Teriyu offered him a portion, adding "We eat ours raw, but we can cook a portion for you if you prefer."
"No, raw is fine. I rarely get to eat freshly killed meat anymore. In the Castle, everything is cooked."
After their dinner, the Bobcats set out a guard and the rest of the patrol turned in, sleeping curled in their blankets. InuYasha and Teriyu sat by the fire quietly talking long into the night. InuYasha told him about Tekki and Kenru and how happy they were together. And about their son, Tekku, who was now 14. Teriyu listened intently. Tekki was the oldest of Tekken's sons and the heir apparent. Teriyu was his full brother, not just half, like most of the other children.
"I thought Tekken only had casual sex before his binding to Vara." InuYasha blurted and then reddened when he realized what he had said.
Teriyu laughed, "Don't be embarrassed. That is the way of our clan. But my mother is one of the fairest of all the Bobcat females and she has coupled with Tekken three times. Tekki and I have a full sister. Tylee lives with the clan in the mountains still, but every time I visit her, she talks about seeing Otherworld and the Castle."
"Why don't you bring her to the Castle? Then you both can visit Tekki and get to meet his family. I'm sure he would love to see you."
"The Princess wouldn't mind?"
"I guarantee that she will welcome you with open arms. You will never met anyone kinder or more loving that the Princess of Otherworld!"
The next morning, the Bobcats continued their patrol and InuYasha began the three-day journey back to the Castle to report his findings to Kurama. After only one night, Teriyu and InuYasha parted friends.