The Voice {Rin, Aiko}

[Lord Sesshomaru]

The grin on Soothsayer's face faded. Green eyes narrowed, he frowned in distaste as he unstrapped the large flute from his back, and held it up to his lips like a horn as he covered up the normal mouth piece. Merodi seemed to know what was coming and she covered her ears, crouching down on the floor. And suddenly he blew. A loud harsh sound bellowed from the instrument. It lasted for a few seconds but it echoed for double that time. He pulled it away from his lips. "I, Lord Soothsayer, in front of the heavens, and these wolves, has decided that Merodi's mate is unacceptable in behavior, and so..." his voice drifted off as he looked toward the deer female who was slowly removing her hands from her ears. "You're coming with me."

Merodi whimpered, knowing he was serious and she couldn't argue with him. Even so, she hesitated. She had known this might happen. Something would happen. In the meantime, Tempa had left her place where her mother had put her, and came up to Merodi, hugging her leg and pouting in complaint of the loud noise. She would be crying about it now, but her father's anger stopped her.

[Rin]

Koneko cried in pain, her ears ringing with the sound of Soothsayer's bellow. When it faded, Koneko shook her head and stared at the god in horror at Soothsayer's words.
As everythign that was going on sinked in, she sighed sadly... and ran.
She did not want to see them fight.
She did not want to see Merodi's face when she was taken away.
She did NOT want to hear Tempa's cries of sadness of the separation from one of her parents...

Just like Koneko's mother had been taken away form her.
Just like Koneko's mother had been taken away form her broken hearted father.
"DAMN YOU SOOTHSAYER! DAMN YOU KOGA!" She screamed to the sky as she ran.
"Seperating a family, because of mistakes the father made...
evne with good intentions... IT'S NOT FAIR!"

Koneko screamed as she tripped and went rolling down hill, she tried to stop, but to no avail.
Finally, she came to the bottom of the hill... she tried to stand, but fell down again, crying in pain.
Her leg was twisted.
She sighed and leaned agaisnt a tree, waiting for the wound to heal, or for an excuse to run with the injury...

(OCC- Depending on what Soothsayer and Koga do within the next posts, I'll stay out of your way until your done fighting if ya want.)

[Aiko]

There was a loud sound, like an angry scream, and Koga clapped his hands over his ears. The noise! The noise ripped through his ears and pierced straight into his brain. He cried out in pain. [brown]“AAAAAH!” [/brown] Behind him, the gathered wolf demons were likewise suffering as their sensitive ears were attacked. Koga couldn’t hear their cries. His own head felt like it was being ripped apart by the noise.

Finally, when the noise receded, Koga dared to pull his hands away from his ears. The echoes of the horrible sound still rippled through his head, and his skull still pounded from the aftershock. But Soothsayer’s words, too, reached through the wolf demon’s ears, and buried themselves like needles into his brain. He stared at the speaker. What did he mean? What…? He was trying to take Merodi… away from Koga?

No.

No!

NO!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The word echoed like a scream, louder than even the aftereffects of the flute, even though Koga was the only one who could hear it. His wide blue eyes narrowed. Any trace of cockiness, any trace of fun, disappeared from his face. His whole face hardened, like a mask that would hide the terror that wrapped its frozen talons around the wolf demon’s heart.

Rigidly, Koga stepped to the side, planting himself between the two deer demons. He stared straight into Soothsayer’s eyes. They betrayed none of his fear. It was deathly quiet in the moments before Koga spoke.

[brown]“No.”[/brown]

[Lord Sesshomaru]

Soothsayer did nothing when Koneko left his side. He had wished to go after her. And hopefully he can make things better when this was over. But right now, he had something more important to deal with. Soothsayer's serious facade did not falter. "My decision is final. Your quick decision to fight will be Merodi's downfall, and I will not wait to see that happen."

Merodi moved herself from behind Koga to speak to the deer god. "Soothsayer-sama, please, you can't take me away, if Namanie wished of it--" Soothsayer interrupted her. "I will accept my father's punishment, just as Sadhor. It is for your own safety."

"But what of Tempa?" she cried, crouching down and bringing her arms tightly around her daughter. Affect by her mother, the little girl began to cry. Only then did Soothsayer falter. "She can come too, if that is what you wish."

[Rin]

[Keep going, I don't think I need to post this round]

[Aiko]

Koga listened with uncharacteristic focus to what was transpiring between Merodi and Soothsayer. He saw Merodi move to his side from the corner of his eye, saw her soft form flicker into view. Still he dared not turn to look at her, because his heart was, in all its horror, certain that if he looked away, the deer male would disappear, and his mate and daughter with him. He moved again, coming to stand in front of Tempa and Merodi. He heard his daughter’s cries, and they shattered the fearful silence that had stayed his tongue until then.

[brown]“No!”[/brown] he repeated, never blinking, never looking away. His heart beat frantically in his chest, battering against his ribcage, and he felt his hands shaking as he raised them, readied them for use if he needed to. His throat felt tight, but he squeezed his words out anyway. [brown]“They don’t want to go with you. I won’t let you take them!” [/brown]

The tribe members, who had assembled for what they thought was going to be the usual scrap over power that was so common, surged forward, coming to stand beside Koga, swarming around Merodi and Tempa. Merodi was their sister, Tempa a daughter to all of them. Wolves came to stand in front of the deer female and her daughter, surrounded them on all sides. More demons stepped forward beside their leader, feeling dangerously close to Soothsayer. But no wolf was ahead of Koga.

The leader of the wolves squeezed his fingers into fists, feeling the blood pulse through the veins in his hands as they steadied. He shifted his feet over the ground, lifting them slightly in preparation to move as quickly as would be necessary. His gaze still had not yet wavered, and now that he had finished speaking, his lips were pressed in a thin line. But unlike most of the times when he was getting ready to fight, he didn’t feel heat flash through his body and burn just beneath his skin.

Koga felt cold and sick with fear. What if Soothsayer could win?

[Naraku]

Hiroshi awoken, to the cries into the distance of his cave. His body ravaged up as he was covered in banages. His eyes never open yet he begin darting through the woods. Hiroshi no longer wore his boots or shirt, just his pants of remeints and the banages covering his chest.
His runs seem almost like flashes as he ran much faster then he has before.

Hiroshi could soon hear them and hear countless others as he approach but his insticts was mostly in control. His body bounces up into a tree and down on the other side of Soothsayer.
His feet crunched into the leaves, as his hand was held out, a small blue flame into his right hand erupts into a small explosion revealing a scythe with the blade still burning with the flame. Hiroshi eyes would finally open back to their blood red, still having lose so much blood and none to gain. yet he said nothing just barred the passage as he looked straight towards Soothsayer.

[Lord Sesshomaru]

"You have no voice here, Koga." Soothsayer said, looking at all the wolves ready to defend two female deers. Well, a deer/wolf. Still counted as deer to him. "No amount of physical force can keep them here." He had to admit, he was very impressed with their intense urge to protect the two females. He crossed his arms over his chest. "But seeing this, I think I might let them stay." He smiled. "From this, they seem to be in good hands."

That was when Hiroshi arrived. Soothsayer blinked, glancing at at the ferocious newcomer. "Another friend?" His smile grew. "Well, I haven't heard of you." He turned his attention back to the wolves and where he assumed Merodi was. "Until I am sure that this is a good place for them, my blessing is removed. I will come by later, ja ne." he turned and walked past Hiroshi.

[Rin]

Koneko moaned as she tried to get up, gasping at the pain in ehr still healing ankel. "Damn it all to hell..." she whispered, she body shuddering in pain.
she ignored the pain and began walking again, but she limped very badly, and had to stop every 5th step to let the leg have a rest. "Could a bigger demon swallow me!?" She calle dotu to no one, feelign very upset, anger and depressed right now.
"I WILL volentairly stuff myself in someone's mouth! Or embed myself on your weapon if ya want!"

She then sat down again to rest her leg. "It's not like I'm worth anything alive at this point... to anyone."

[Aiko]

Koga had no idea what Soothsayer could possibly be planning that would make it impossible to protect Merodi. Was he going to use some kind of magic? Koga couldn’t fight magic with muscle, but for the sake of everything that was precious to him, you could bet your ass that he’d try. He remained tense, just waiting to see what the deer male would do. The wolf demons around him bared their teeth and their fists threateningly. They, too, were nervous, but they didn’t feel the same desperate terror that was seizing up their leader’s muscles.

With all this preparation, the wolf leader wasn’t sure how to react to Soothsayer’s announcement. Koga scarcely dared to breathe, a thousand terrors still battering against his brain. What if this was a trick? The wolf demon refused to relax, and so neither did those that he led. Those who stood behind Koga glanced at each other, uncertain, but Koga himself remained stiff and still.

An unusual, blood-ridden scent reached Koga’s nose, but the smell was familiar. [brown]Hiroshi.[/brown] For whatever odd reason, the vampire was unusually protective over Tempa. It made the girl’s father nervous, but for once he was grateful of any added assistance that could be offered in case Soothsayer turned on them. Still, the newcomer was acknowledged with little more than a twitch of one eyebrow. Koga refused to pull his gaze away from the deer male until Soothsayer turned and walked away.

Still, it wasn’t until he totally disappeared from view [ooc: I assume he disappears from view, anyway.] that Koga sagged out of his defensive position. A terrible trembling racked his arms and legs as he slowly turned to face Merodi and Tempa. The wolves surrounding the deer female and the half-deer, half-wolf girl parted at Koga’s unspoken command.

Trembling, Koga stumbled the few steps forward that separated him from his mate, and pulled her into his arms. For a moment he wondered why she was shaking so bad, until he realized that it was himself who was shaking.

[Lord Sesshomaru]

The blessing. The blessing removed? No, it can't be, he couldn't do that! But Merodi knew it was gone as soon as he proclaimed it. She brought a hand to her throat, Tempa clinging to her and touching her cheek and trying to get her mother's attention. Suddenly Koga was at her side as well and she leaned against him, welcoming his hug. She could feel him shaking and it was affecting her horribly. Her blessing was gone, her family was almost taken from her.

Soothsayer waited until he was further away to seem upset about the situation. He didn't want something to happen to Merodi again. He was the only one who could completely protect her. Koga was just too dangerous. He sighed, searching for Koneko and hoped that the interruption of the wolf wasn't too much. He came upon her, surprised in the even worse situation she was in then before. "Koneko..." he didn't know what to say or do. He went up to her, crouching at her side.

((ooc: koneko and soothsayer should go in their own thread now))

[Naraku]

As Soothsayer left the radius around the other two the scythe just faded within his hands. Hiroshi then collaspe backwards, into a sitting position asleep. For Hiroshi was only acting in reflexes, as his had yet gain conciousness from his lack of blood. his appearnce there was only the impulse of hearing the cries. His mind slowly going over a few parts within his sleep, putting together it's own dream. The dark glow had faded when his eyes closed.

[Aiko]

After holding Merodi’s soft body in his arms for a short while, feeling the tribe pressing close around him, Koga felt the uncontrollable shaking begin to subside to less regular, smaller tremors. Resting his cheek close to his mate’s hair, the wolf demon brought his hand to her head and pressed her close to him. His blue eyes stared out blindly, seeing nothing, and his nose was full only of her scent. [brown]“I will protect you,”[/brown] he choked out. [brown]“I will protect Tempa.” [/brown] His voice cracked and trembled like crazy, and he squeezed his eyes shut, burying his nose in his mate’s shoulder. He was strong enough. They would be safe.

The wolf demon’s ragged breathing beginning to steady, he let his hand trail down the back of Merodi’s head, barely pulling himself away from her. Their bodies still touched as Koga looked over to see his wolf-deer daughter. He had pretty much included her in the embrace the first time, but now the father gave her special attention, running his fingers through her hair. He bent further down to nuzzle the auburn top of her head, and breathed in her smell. Her unique sent was a blend of Merodi, Koga, and her own personal identity. After a few minutes crouching with his immediate family, the wolf demon leader rose on unsteady legs, scooping up Tempa as he did so. He walked over to where Hiroshi was sitting on the ground.

Koga opened his mouth to speak before realizing that the vampire had fallen asleep. Shutting his mouth, the wolf demon leader shook his head, wondering at the bizarre creature who had willingly come to their aide. Stroking Tempa’s hair, he walked back to Merodi and took her hand to lift her up.

Koga had finally stopped shaking now. Soothsayer was gone, and his family and tribe were still here. It didn’t look as though Merodi and Tempa were going to be magically spirited away, not at this time. The wolf pack, sensing the end of the dangerous time, began pressing close, yammering in a chorus of male voices. “Sister! Sister! Are you alright?” “How’s the little one?” “You’ll be safe with us!” “Merodi! Tempa! Thank goodness!” “What do we do now, Koga?”

Feeling overwhelmed by the events that had transpired in what was probably less than an hour, Koga looked around at his tribe-mates. [brown]“I want two wolves permanently guarding Merodi and Tempa whenever I’m not with them. You, you, you, and you—” [/brown] Koga pointed at the first four wolves he saw. [brown]“—You will be first. Not now!”[/brown] he added, seeing them begin to crowd closer. [brown] “I’m with them now! Later. Now,”[/brown] he looked at Tempa, still in his arms, then let his gaze, his eyes still strained from the intense focus of minutes before, travel to Merodi, [brown]“…I don’t know what now.”[/brown]

[Lord Sesshomaru]

Tempa was already over the intense feelings from her parents. Whatever it was was gone and so she made it her mission to make her parents happy again. She smiled and gurgled strange noises when she was picked up by her father. Merodi stood, accepting his hand. She felt very uncomfortable with all this attention. She smiled in reassurance to the pack. She turned her attention to Koga.

"There's nothing now. You shouldn't have tried to fight him," she said simply, rubbing her arm and realizing the shard wasn't there anymore. She frowned, remembering the habit she thought she had lost.

[Aiko]

[brown]“What else could I have done?”[/brown] Koga asked miserably. Noticing Merodi rubbing her arm, the wolf demon shifted Tempa’s weight into his other arm and patted the deer demon’s hand before gripping it again. Feeling suddenly very tired, he dropped his head onto his mate’s narrow shoulder and heaved a heavy breath. [brown]“It’s not like I started the fight. It’s not like I could’ve just let him push me around.”[/brown] Somebody who would come up from behind and try shoving Koga was, in such a simple way, trying to assert some sort of authority. As a leader, Koga couldn’t allow that kind of behavior from anyone. In this world, the strongest survived, and if you got shoved around, you weren’t the strongest.

Around them, some of the pack members drifted off. Some headed upriver, as if they were going to go keep an eye on Soothsayer. One or two paused to sniff at the sleeping form of Hiroshi, who was a curiosity to all of them. A couple headed back towards the cave. Several, though, while moving away, stayed relatively close or began to take up defensive positions along the river, acting as sentries. The tribe needed no commands; when commands weren’t given, this was what they did.

Mentally and emotionally spent, Koga thought vaguely that Hiroshi had the right idea. The leader of the wolf demon tribe just wanted to plop down where he stood, but instead he lifted his head to look into Merodi’s eyes. Even though he got to keep his family with him, he felt strangely like he’d been beaten in a fight. [brown]“Let’s go home.”[/brown]