The night sky had found the group of travelers under a patch of clear sky, laying out in an open space of land & already the group had eaten. Isamu had surprised Koga by taking down a bear almost of adult age & he had meat left over & had shared it with his mother since Koga's baby rabbits hadn't been filling for anyone. But Koga was stubborn & wouldn't eat, but Kagome gladly took some when it was offered to him.
Isamu looked at the ookami who had his tail resting by his side, the air around him filled with tension & annoyance. The hanyou pup rolled his eyes slightly & looked at Kagome who seemed to be full from eating the bear meat he had provided. "Was the catch satisfying to you, Aunt Kagome?" Isamu asked, unaware that he had pushed the fact in Koga's face that his own mate had taken food from one who was the spawn of his enemy.
Kagome smiled at the boy. "Yes it was Isamu, thank you very much," Kagome answered, then realized what had passed between them when Koga growled deeply, clear enough for all three people to hear. Kagome lowered her head, feeling the oncoming fight between hanyou & youkai.
"Listen mutt," Koga growled, only to hear Catriona let out a growl of her own, causing him to look at her instead of the boy. "Is there a problem Catriona?"
"Yes Koga, there is," she answered, "You called my son a mutt & I won't stand for it. Yes he is of mixed blood, but not enough to be considered a mutt. So I would appreciate it if you didn't call my son a mutt."
Kagome wasn't shocked by the way her friend stood up to Koga, but Catriona's words had shocked Koga since he had pictured her as a submissive person. He raised his eyebrow at her, looking her over. "So you do have spine," he finally said. "I'm sorry Catriona, but after last night in the bath with you & Sesshomaru, I got the impression you were a spineless, submissive mate."
Isamu growled quietly at Koga, too quiet for Kagome or Catriona, who was sitting right next to him, to hear, but loud enough for Koga to hear. "My mother is not spineless or submissive. She has just been through a lot over the past months & needs a break from chaos," he spoke in his mother's defense.
"Koga, I will agree with Isamu," Kagome spoke up. "I've known Catriona for a long time & I've never known her to be spineless or submissive. It's just not her way."
Koga's tail fur ruffled as he listened to his own mate agreeing with the pup he was already starting to hate. But his thoughts of how to kill the kid without being found out, were interrupted by a loud roar & the ground shaking.
Kagome & Catriona gasped when they saw a large oni moving in the direction of the group. Koga growled, wondering why he hadn't smelled the scent of the beast before it had managed to get this close. With the three people near him, he couldn't take up & run since he wasn't in the mood to fight. That changed when the large oni turned it's red glowing eyes on Kagome & saliva began lining its shimmering teeth.
Koga was about to run at it to protect his mate when Isamu stepped infront of Kagome, growling at the beast with his fangs bared, his eyes turning red. He watched with wonder as the boy charged at the oni, his claws green as he slashed at the oni's face, his claws forming deep gouges.
Isamu heard his mother scream for him to come back, that he should let Koga handle the monster, but he was going to prove himself to this yaze ookami. He slashed at the oni's face, growling as he leapt away to dodge an attack.
"Koga, don't just stand there staring, help him!" Kagome shouted, looking from the boy attacking the oni, to her mate. "Now!"
Koga grumbled as he took off after the hanyou pup, but dodged an attack from the hanyou who had turned around when smelling him getting closer. "I'm here to help you brat!" He yelled, growling at the pup who stared at him while the oni behind him roared in pain from the multiple claw marks on its face.
"Don't help me!" He growled, lunging at Koga with his Dokkasou prepared. When Koga danced away from him, he jumped into the air & landed on the oni's large head. "How dare he think I need help?" He growled as he forced his hand through the oni's skull, spraying his poison within.
"Koga, what are you doing over here?" Kagome asked, looking at her mate.
"Didn't you see him attack me when I went to try & help him?" Koga demanded, narrowing his eyes at the hanyou as he looked back in his direction. "Damned brat tried to kill me when I went to help him."
"What I tried to tell you before you went off after him, is he doesn't like to be helped," Catriona said, not taking her eyes off her son, but the comment directed at Koga. "He refuses to be helped at anytime because he wants to try & prove that he's as strong as he seems, even stronger than that if he can."
"He takes after his father than?" Koga asked as the oni came crashing down to the ground with enough force to shake the ground.
Catriona raced to her son's side as he came down to the ground, shaking the blood off of his hand & claws as he stared at Koga with a gleam of pride in his eyes. "I will never need your help Koga, get that clear right now," Isamu spoke, his eyes narrowing. "You may be a full blood youkai, but I am the spawn of the tai youkai Lord Sesshomaru. I need the aid of no one."
Catriona watched her son as he walked away from the group in the direction of a river about half a mile away from the camp site. She gave an apologetic look to Koga & followed after Isamu.
At the river, Isamu began washing away the blood from his hand & under his claws, while Catriona sat down by the river's edge. He looked at his mom as she watched him. "Is something wrong mommy?" He asked as he finished drying his hands.
"Isamu, I was worried about you when you went after that large youkai," she answered. "I thought you I might lose you, & I don't know what I would do if I ever lost you..."
Isamu moved to his mother & wrapped his arms around her neck as he sat sideways in her lap. "You'll never lose me mother," he spoke softly, snuggling his head against her chest, listening to the heartbeat underneath her skin. "I refuse to let some low life take me from you until you are ready to part from me."
"Isamu, I love you baby. You know that right?"
"How could I not know you love me, mommy? You say it to me everyday," he said with a smile at her.
Catriona saw the dead appearance in his eyes & decided since they were alone, she wanted to find out what had happened to her son. "Isamu, we talk to each other about everything, correct?" Isamu nodded in response. "Honey, ever since I saw you again, your eyes don't show the way you used to be, as if you changed. Did something happen to you when Naraku was holding you captive?" She asked, feeling her son tense up at the mention of Naraku.
-Do I really want to tell her what happened?- He thought to himself as he inhaled her scent. -I want to tell her, but will she find me disgusting because of it?-