The Beasts Miko (Inuyasha/Beauty and the Beasts Crossover)

Chapter 24

      After the cubs ate, they wanted to play with Curtis. He softly chuckled as he scratched them behind their ears. They purred in happiness. I laid my head down on Curtis as I watched everyone go about their business. I saw Lanze stare at Curtis for a while.

      "Heh, Snake...are you dead or alive?" He asked Curtis.

      "What brought that on?" I asked him.

      "I saw him in the graveyard. He was inside of a rock." Lanze told me.

      "The hawks were going to kill you, so Muir and I killed them. I felt that I was going to ascend during the battle but there was a fire. I encased myself in amber, which solidified. Afterwards, it was successful and I ascended. I was resting. But I suddenly dropped into somewhere cold...I accidently fell asleep. It was my fault for being careless. I didn't find you in time. It won't happen again." He kissed my forehead.

       "I'm just glad you're all right." I felt tears roll down my face. "Sorry." I buried my face into his lap.

     "Don't cry, don't worry...it was hot, but then the chill made the pain go away." Curtis kissed the top of my head. "You saved me." He tilted my chin upwards so he could kiss my eyes. "Both on the mountain and in the sea."

     "Why do you say that? Also, I remember seeing you suddenly appear. Was I hallucinating? Did you get here that fast?" I asked.

      "You weren't wrong, that's what I'm saying." Curtis placed his hands on each side of my face. "I've ascended, and this is the protection I can give you. I can appear by your side anytime. You won't be in danger again."

      "I can summon you?" I blinked in surprise. I saw all my mates flinch with this news. Especially my tetra-marked mates.

      "If I'd known earlier, I would've tried to get it done sooner." Curtis frowned.

     "Curtis, I..." I was cut off by Parker throwing down several kills. "Parker, you're back so soon!"

      "I want to protect you like that, too." Parker frowned.

      "You're still young, you'll get stronger." I smiled as I walked over to him and licked his face. "Besides, Maru was planning on doing training sessions with all of you to maybe boost up your levels." I told them. They all looked to Sesshomaru who was looking at them and nodded.

      "How come he radiates more power than me still?" Curtis asked.

      "Those are his royal markings. He was born with them. They don't tell us what his power is. They are a birthmark." I told them.

     "Birthmark?"

     "A marking that you were born with and will stay with you throughout life." I told him.

      "Oh." My native mates nodded.

                               ****

      After we all ate, the cubs went to the bathroom and played for a bit with their siblings. They soon fell asleep into my side. The pups, though they were the size of Great Danes now, all huddled around me. They were resting their heads on me, nuzzling me. Shippo and Rin snuggled into my side as well. We decided to rest here for a bit.

        Once we were fully rested once again, we started back on our journey. The weather would get colder halfway through the rain season. In order to make it easier for everyone to travel, we decided to travel along the river that way we didn't stop every couple miles for Lanze to soak.

     We were only a few hours into our journey when the sky grew dark. We all looked up to see massive storm clouds above us. The winds started to pick up.