The Demon's Love

VI

"What do you mean you can't find him?" Naraku demanded angrily. "You've had days! How come you haven't found him yet?"

Kanna showed no reaction to her father's anger. "I have tried scrying him. But every time I get close, my visions fail." She said emotionlessly. "Only a very powerful aura could block me."

Naraku growled and began pacing. Hakudōshi thought about what his sister said. The only people that he knew of who would be capable of such a thing were Kikyou and Kael. Both were a possibility, unless Lucretia had managed to find someone else strong enough to block Kanna's scrying.

It couldn't have been Inuyasha or any of his friends, none of them were strong enough to pull off something like that. Well, Kagome was, but she wasn't capable of controlling her priestess powers yet. Hakudōshi couldn't see how it could be anyone else besides Kael or Kikyou. He mentioned this to Naraku, who agreed that it was indeed a possibility.

"The only thing that makes me uncertain of this is whether or not Kael would protect the boy." He said. "I had forced Lucretia to fight him and kill his ward."

"Perhaps he is protecting him to spite you." Hakudōshi suggested.

Naraku shook his head. "Kael is not one to do something like that. If he is protecting the boy, it is for another reason. It could be Kikyou, but will she protect someone that was once my servant?" He growled in irritation. "Well, regardless of where he is or who he's with, I want the jewel shard in his back." He turned to his latest incarnation. "Find him and kill him. Then bring me back the jewel shard. Make sure to make his death as painful as possible."

His 'son' nodded. "With pleasure." He said, leaving them.

Kanna turned to Naraku. "Why not simply erase his memories and control him again?" she asked, referring to Lucretia. "He was useful."

Hakudōshi nodded in agreement. "She has a point. I'd like to kill him as much as the next demon, but he was useful against Inuyasha and the others since they wouldn't kill him."

"No!" Naraku snapped, slamming his fist into the wall. "If he broke my spell once, he can do it again. The last time I underestimated him, he and Naevia took Akago. And now he's dead. Damn them. I want Lucretia to suffer. And I wish Naevia was alive just so I could kill her again."

"I would like to kill her too." said Hakudōshi. "I no longer have immortality, because of her." He sighed and looked up at Mōryōmaru. "I wish I had your abilities. You literally can't be killed."

Naraku's eyes widened at those words. He quickly turned and looked from Mōryōmaru, to Hakudōshi, to Kanna. After a few moments of thinking, an evil smile broke out over his face.

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"It looks like rain, milord." said Jaken.

Kael would have rolled his eyes if such behavior weren't below him. Of course it looked like rain. He could smell and feel it. A storm was coming. A big one too. Now he didn't mind spending the night in the rain; he could deal with the discomfort. And he didn't really worry about getting sick since demons very rarely got sick. But Rin and Lucretia were a different story.

"I'm aware of the weather." He said. "We will seek shelter for the night."

Naevia smirked. "I'll take care of it." She said, taking a feather out of her hair.

Rin waved as Naevia took off on her feather. "Hurry back, Lady Naevia!"

Naevia smiled as she watched them get smaller and smaller. Rin was so sweet. No wonder she had been able to melt Kael's icy heart. Not only that, but she had been able to touch Naevia, and even heal Lucretia's mental wounds.

That just made Naevia smile some more. There was definitely something going on between those two. Naevia thought it was adorable. They would make such a cute couple. It was fun when they would blush at each other.

'I wonder if Kael ever blushes.'

That thought made her blush. She shook her head, trying to get those thoughts out of her mind. Now was not the time to be thinking about her feelings for the demon lord. Sure he was handsome, strong, brave, incredibly sexy, he could make her melt with just a look, his-

'Stop it Naevia!' she scolded herself. 'Stay focused. Find shelter first, then you can fantasize about your gorgeous demon lord.'

Getting back to business, she looked for suitable shelter. The only thing she managed to find was a cave a couple miles away from were the others were.

'Wonder if anything lives there.'

She settled down at the entrance of the cave and immediately caught the scent of a demon. She sighed. 'Damn, it's occupied.'

And apparently the occupant smelled her arrival, because a few seconds after she landed a large bear-demon came stomping out.

Naevia gave the demon a bored look. "I didn't know this cave was taken." She said. "I'm leaving."

But the demon had other plans. It charged at her, claws raised. Naevia just rolled her eyes and opened her fan.

"Dance of Blades!"

After making quick work of the demon, Naevia determined that the cave was now empty. It wasn't much, but it would be good enough until the rain ended. She made her way back to the others after disposing of the bear-demon's corpse.

"Did you find anything?" asked Lucretia.

Naevia nodded. "I found a cave a few miles ahead. We can spend the night there."

Thunder clapped loudly, startling Rin, who grabbed onto Lucretia. Kael looked up at the now dark sky. It would start raining soon.

"Let's get there before the rain starts." He said. "Naevia, take Rin and Lucretia. Jaken, bring Ah-Un."

"Yes, milord." Said Jaken.

Rin looked thrilled. "Yay, Rin always wanted to ride on your feather, Lady Naevia."

Naevia smiled. "Well then, climb on. But be careful."

"Rin will!"

Kael stayed a short distance behind Naevia as they flew through the air. Jaken took this opportunity to speak his mind.

"Milord, why do you let that woman and that boy travel with us?" he asked. "They are useless."

"They are more useful then you." Kael replied calmly.

Jaken's mouth dropped open. "Wha… but milord, I've been your faithful servant. That boy actually attacked you. And that wench is disrespectful. They're nothing but-"

"Jaken."

"Uh, yes, milord?"

POW!

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The rain was coming down hard. But everyone was safe and sound in the dry cave. Ah-Un slept curled up with Jaken resting on him. A few feet away, resting against the cave wall, were the others, all sleeping sitting down. Naevia sat on Kael's left, her head having fallen against his shoulder in her sleep. Rin leaned on Kael's other side with Lucretia next to her. It wasn't long before they were all asleep.

The thunder clapped loudly, startling Lucretia out of his sleep several hours later. He looked around and noticed that the others were still sleeping. At least he thought so until he noticed Rin trembling.

"Rin, are you ok?" he asked in concern.

Rin looked up at him. She looked scared. "Rin doesn't like the thunder." She said. "It scares Rin."

Lucretia knew how she felt. When he was younger, he too had been afraid of thunder. In an attempt to comfort her, he wrapped his arm around her, and she immediately leaned into him. "There's nothing to be scared of. Everything is alright."

"But it's so loud."

"I know, but you're safe. Ok?"

She nodded against him, just before another sound of thunder came. With a cry of fright, Rin buried her face into his side, holding onto him tightly.

"That was a loud one!" she mumbled.

Lucretia tried to sooth her. "Shh, it's ok. I'll protect you. I promise, you're safe with me. I won't let anything happen to you."

She nodded against him again. "Thank you, Lucretia. You're a good friend."

Slowly her trembling began to stop. When the thunder clapped again she still jumped, but not as much.

"Why's it have to be so loud?" she asked.

Lucretia smiled. "Some people say that the thunder is the sound of the rain gods playing their drums. Just think about that when you get scared. It's just the gods playing their drums."

She smiled slightly. "Rin likes that idea. It's less scary." She was silent for a bit. "Lucretia?"

"Yeah?"

"Can… can Rin lay on your lap?"

Lucretia blinked. When what she said registered to him, he blushed. "Um… sure."

Blushing slightly herself, she moved down and rested her head in his lap. "Thank you." she said, stifling a yawn. "Will you tell Rin a story to help Rin fall asleep?"

"Uh… sure." He tried to think of a story to tell her. He knew several, but couldn't seem to think of any right now. Well, there was one. "Let's see… once upon a time there was a young boy who lived with his father and his sister. He was very happy with his life. But one day an evil demon came and kidnapped the boy. The demon knew that the boy was strong and he wanted to use him as his slave.

"Though the boy hated his master, he was forced to do the demon's bidding. He didn't want to, but the demon had ways of forcing the boy to do things. He even made the boy fight his sister. The boy would rather die then be forced to do such evil things, but he the demon wouldn't let the boy die. And any time the boy wouldn't listen to him, the demon would use his magic to force the boy.

"Then one day the boy made friends with a girl. The two became very good friends. The boy promised to protect the girl from any harm. But the demon wanted the boy to kill the girl. When the boy refused, the demon used his magic to force him. Even under the demon's spell, the boy resisted. He was able to fight the spell long enough for the girl's friends to come and rescue her.

"The demon was very angry that the boy hadn't killed the girl. He was punished for disobeying. But the boy didn't care. He was glad that the girl was all right, but he did feel really bad about what had happened.

"He met the girl again later on. He was afraid she would hate him. But the girl didn't hate him. In fact, she wasn't even angry. She was just happy that the boy was all right. The boy was relieved and very happy to see his friend again. But he knew that she was in danger by being around him. He quickly told her to leave while he made sure his master was distracted.

"Later on, the boy met another one of the demon's slaves. She too wanted to be free from the demon's control. They worked together to trick their master and managed to find his weakness. They overcame their master's power and escaped. They were finally free. But the boy still hated himself for everything that happened. He didn't think he would ever be able to get over his guilt.

"Then he met the girl again. They were both very happy to see each other and began traveling together. As the days went by, the boy and the girl's friendship grew. The girl helped the boy get over his guilt and managed to get him to stop hating himself. The boy was very grateful to the girl. And though the boy had been through a very terrible experience, he was very happy that he met the girl. The two would be friends forever."

Lucretia looked down at Rin. "How was that?"

Rin smiled and closed her eyes. "It was good. Rin's happy the boy got away and got to be with his friend."

Lucretia nodded. "Yeah, me too."

"Rin's also glad to have met you too."

Lucretia smiled and stroked her hair. "I'm glad to have met you too, Rin. Now go to sleep."

"Ok. Good night."

"Good night, Rin."

As the two fell asleep, they failed to notice Kael open one eye to peek at them before he too fell asleep again.

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"Lucretia, come splash in the puddles with Rin!"

Lucretia smiled as he watched Rin jump in the small puddles of water the storm left behind. She was splashing muddy water everywhere and getting herself all dirty, but she didn't seem to care.

Jaken didn't find the situation all that amusing. "Rin, stop it! You're getting mud everywhere!"

Rin laughed. "But Master Jaken, everything is already muddy."

"Not me, although you're doing a good job at changing that!"

"Jaken," Said Kael, "let her be."

Naevia chuckled at the look on the toad-demon's face. "He's right about one thing though." She said. "You're going to need a bath later, Rin."

"Ok." Said Rin. "Lucretia, come play with Rin."

She began hopping from puddle to puddle, getting ahead of the others with Lucretia following her.

"Hey, you two, don't get too far ahead!" Jaken cried.

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"Kouga, please slow down!" Ginta cried as he and Hakkaku tried to keep up with their leader.

The wolf-demon turned to his companions, looking impatient. "Hurry up you slow pokes!" he shouted and was off again, leaving a tornado of dust behind.

Kouga was in a hurry. He had picked up a certain scent that he had been hoping to find for a while now. Technically, there were three scents he was always searching for. The first and foremost was Naraku. The second was, in his opinion, his beautiful mate-to-be, Kagome. And the last one was the one that killed a number of wolf-demons from his pack. And it just so happens that it was this person's scent that he picked up.

'I found you. And now I'll make you pay for what you did to my pack mates.'

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"Lucretia, look!" Rin cried, pointing towards the approaching dust tornado. "What is that?"

Lucretia's eyes narrowed. 'Nothing good.' "Rin, get behind me!"

She didn't even have a chance to move before the 'dust tornado' reached them. When the dust cleared, there stood Kouga, giving the two kids a curious look.

"Oh, it's you." he said, uncaring.

Rin yelped and ran over to Lucretia. She was afraid of wolves and had every right to be, considering she was killed by them. Thankfully Kael had brought her back to life with Tenseiga, but she was still afraid of them.

"Lucretia." Rin muttered, frightened, holding onto him tightly.

Kouga raised an eyebrow. "What's her problem?"

Rin whispered something in Lucretia's ear. His eyes widened when she finished speaking and he was filled with a blinding fury.

"She was killed!" he cried, glaring at the wolf-demon. "By your wolves!"

Kouga looked confused. "Killed? How could she be standing there now if she was killed?"

Lucretia raised his sickle. "Not that it's any of your business, but she was brought back to life by Kael."

"Kael? Oh yeah, the mutt's brother." He shrugged. "Guess I should apologize for that."

"Apologize?" Lucretia shouted. "You had her killed, and you think you can just apologize! How dare you harm someone as sweet and innocent as Rin!"

Kouga looked taken aback. "Jeez kid, chill out. You act like you're in love with her." Both Rin and Lucretia blushed. "Besides, she's fine now. And if it makes you feel better, I didn't tell my wolves to attack her. We were in a village and I told them to feed."

"So you sent your wolves out without caring who they attack?"

Kouga sighed. "Look, I was a different person back then. I don't harm humans anymore, and I'm ashamed for what I've done in the past. I'm just glad that your friend is all right now. I'm sorry for having my wolves attack her. I really mean it too. Now if you'll excuse me-"

"Kouga, wait up!" came Hakkaku's voice, as he and Ginta finally caught up. They were both out of breath. "Phew, we made it."

Kouga spared them a glance. "About time you two caught up."

Ginta wasn't listening to either one of them. His eyes were fixed on Rin. "Hey Hakkaku, isn't that kid…"

Hakkaku looked at Rin. "The girl that was with Kael."

"OH NO!" they cried together.

Kouga rolled his eyes. "Come on guys, we don't have time for this. We have to…" He trailed off as he caught the scent of the one he was searching for approaching. "She's coming."

He jumped over Lucretia and Rin's head, earning a scream from the latter. A moment later Kael and Naevia entered the clearing, with Jaken trailing behind, pulling along Ah-Un.

Kouga's eyes narrowed. "Well, well. Hello again, Naevia." He seethed.

Naevia looked surprised to see him, but she smiled afterwards. "Why, if it isn't Kouga. Long time no see."

"Shut up, wench!" Kouga cried. "It's time you paid for what you did to my pack."

Naevia raised an eyebrow. "You're still on about that?"

Kouga looked outraged. "Of course I am! I'm going to avenge my comrades!"

"Wasn't that why you were going after Naraku, to avenge your pack?"

"I am going to kill him. But it was you that killed my friends."

Rin found the courage to speak. "Mr. Wolf." She said carefully. Kouga turned his angry gaze on her, causing her to hide behind Lucretia. She still managed to finish what she wanted to say. "Naevia was forced to do kill your friends. Naraku made her do it. She never would have hurt anyone willingly."

"And is that supposed to justify her deeds?" Kouga demanded. "Is that supposed to avenge my pack?"

"Hey!" Lucretia snapped. "You will not raise your voice to her while I'm around!"

Kouga snorted. "Whatever. My business lies with her alone."

"Don't hold what I did against me." Said Naevia. "The only reason why I did what I did was because Naraku made me."

"You still did it!"

"I've changed. I was a different person back then.

"It makes no difference!"

Lucretia stepped forward. He wasn't going to let this wolf-demon bully the person he came to care for as a sister. "With all do respect, Kouga, doesn't this seem similar to what you said about killing Rin?"

Kouga looked confused for a moment, but the understanding crossed his face before anger took its place. "Well she is alive now. My pack mates are still dead. And it's that wind b***h's fault."

"Hey!" Naevia cried angrily. "Watch how you talk to me!"

Kouga growled. "You should be more worried about how I'm going to kill you."

He took a step forward, but stopped when Kael stepped in his way, unsheathing Toukijin.

"What's this?" Kouga demanded.

"Naevia is under my protection." Said Kael calmly. "You will not harm her."

Kouga growled. "She's Naraku's wench! His servant! Why are you protecting her?"

"Naraku forced her to do his bidding by threatening her life. She had no desire to work for him."

"It's true." Said Lucretia. "He tortured her whenever she disobeyed. All she wanted was to be free. The two of us worked together to stop him. We even found his heart and got Kael to destroy it, mostly."

Kouga growled again. "That still doesn't mean I can just forgive her."

Kael stepped forward. "Well, should you decide to attack, you shall have to deal with this Kael. I will not allow you to harm her."

Naevia and Jaken gave Kael looks of disbelief as he stood calmly in front of the wind-demon, ready to defend her. Kouga just glared at them all before shaking his head.

"Fine. Keep her. She's not worth my time anyway." He gave Naevia one last glare. "Just stay out of my way and we'll all be happy."

Naevia didn't reply. She was still staring at Kael as if she had never seen anything like him before.

"Ginta, Hakkaku, we're leaving."

With that said, Kouga was off, leaving a trail of dust behind. Ginta and Hakkaku groaned before giving chase. Once the wolf-demons were gone, Kael sheathed Toukijin.

"We are leaving." He said simply, as if nothing had happened.

As he calmly walked away, he was unaware of the thoughts going through his companions heads.

'Kael protected me?'

'Kael protected her?'

'Milord protected that wench?'

'Yay! Lord Kael loves Lady Naevia too!'