Fan Fiction / Wolf's Rain Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ My Father, The Outlaw ❯ The Tale of a Dog ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: *sigh* I do not own any anime mentioned nor the book, Rowan Hood.

Hi!^-^ In case you didn't read my note with the legends in it I'm hoping to include at least one legend in this chapter… After watching both Inuyasha and Wolf's Rain I'm fairly inspired.

Okay, have fun! ^-^

PS- When Inuyasha or Shippo are talking in their four-legged bodies the speech will be in (`) things. And this chapter may not be too exciting…^-^

#~#~#

I was walking with my two new friends, Kagome and Inuyasha. Neither of them had told me what we were doing or where we were going.

They probably think I'm just a baby.

`What's the matter with you, runt?'

`I'm not a baby!'

I ran ahead but I didn't see this big root thing sticking up in front of me and… I fell.

"Shippo, are you alright?"

Why do I have such bad luck?

First some strange spirit wants to kill my dad, and then… someone actually kills Father. Then I ask Inuyasha a few innocent questions and he pounds me to the ground. And after that I get woken up really early in the morning so we can travel somewhere that no one tells me about because everyone thinks I'm a baby.

And now this stupid root trips me when I'm trying to not be a baby! Well, now I'm gonna get some answers!

`Kagome, where are we going?'

This hurt look passed over her face and I felt really bad.

"We're going to find my father, Robin Hood."

`Robin Hood? Isn't that some…uh guy?'

"Yes, he's a famous outlaw. Everyone says he steals from the rich so he can give to the poor, but I don't know if it's true."

`So why are we trying to find him?' I looked at Inuyasha he had his head tilted to the side when he asked.

"Because he's the only family I have left. He's the only chance I have of a life."

`What about your mother?"

Kagome looked away but kept walking. I thought she wasn't going to answer and I was gonna go to chase a butterfly when she kinda whispered her story.

"Mother and I lived in a cottage that was tucked into some woods. The woods were named after my mother and the nearby villagers always came to our house for healing toxins and such. My mother was very good with herbs and healing." Kagome paused to take a breath, and though Inuyasha was ahead of us his ears were pointed back to Kagome.

"Though my mother was an enchantress, the villagers were too grateful towards her to report her existence to the lord of the land.

This lord was cruel and unjust; he did take care of his land because he did not want any blemishes. But if a village was diseased he would send his select few soldiers out to slaughter the entire village and erase the memory of it ever being there."

`He killed whole villages, even if the disease could be cured?'

"Yes, like I said, he was cruel. Actually, the village near us was right in sight of the mountain the lord's keep stood on.

My mother had lived in those woods since she had wandered away from the home where her own mother lived, without any trouble with the lord.

But one day…"

`He sent out his scavengers to kill her off and erase all memories of her.'

Me and Kagome stared ahead where Inuyasha was walking, I figured he had already heard the story or something.

`He killed your mother?'

"Yes. A traveler that had been going through the village heard some girls talking about my mother being an enchantress. Those girls didn't like me or mother and made all sorts of nasty things up about us.

Well, turns out that the traveler had been a spy combing through the country side to make sure the lord's subjects were all behaving. When the lord heard of mother he sent out those soldiers of his to kill her.

I wasn't at the cottage when they attacked; my mother had sent me out in the morning to collect herbs for her. During the day I felt my mother send out a powerful protector spell to me, this was strange for my mother to do it.

So I ran back to the cottage only to see it charred and burning."

Kagome's voice was low and it almost sounded like she was going to kill something.

"I found my mother's body among the remains of my home. All that my mother left in this world was that body and this ring!" Hot angry tears fell from Kagome's eyes.

"That night I slept in a tree, and the next day I met Inuyasha."

`Inuyasha, can we take a break? My feet hurt!'

He nodded.

"Thanks, Shippo."

I raised my head and started to run around with my nose up and eyes closed. Which I found out wasn't a good idea.

`Hey, runt, why is your nose stuck in between those roots?'

`Why me?!'

#~#~#

What now? Kagome told me and Shippo her story; shouldn't we answer some of her questions?

`Runt, come here.'

The little ball of fluff ran over to me.

`What?'

So I told the fox my plan…

#~#~#

"Kagome?"

I looked down to the disguised Shippo, "Hmm?"

"Well… Inuyasha was wondering if you had any questions for him since you told us your story and answered our questions and-."

Inuyasha had come to Shippo and hit him on the head.

"OW! That hurt!"

"Inuyasha, apologize!"

He mumbled something and turned his now human-ish back towards me. I sighed, who could be more stubborn than this oaf.

Should I ask him something about himself? Or maybe about wolves?

"Can I ask if dogs can disguise themselves?"

Inuyasha tilted his head back and turned sideways to me.

"If you're going to ask things like that then I have to start from the very beginning. But it could take a while. Maybe even a few days," he cast a sideways look at me.

I nodded to urge him to go on with it.

He closed his eyes, took a breath and started the story.

"In the beginning there was the Great Spirit, a deity who was neither man nor woman. The Great Spirit first created the earth then, growing tired of gazing at an empty landscape from it's palace above the clouds, decided to make new beings.

He molded them from the moon's tears, the stone's strength and a drop of blood from the Great Spirit itself.

This being was the wolf and from it came man, dog, fox and coyote. Each having their own strengths and weaknesses. The Great Spirit wanted its children to live together with each other and the land in harmony, so he gave each a disguise to make it easier to do so."

"Even the human?"

He opened his eyes a bit to look at me, "Yes, the human was given a disguise so he would be able to look like a mix between the four others."

"Okay, but why can't humans do that anymore?"

"The human didn't want to think of himself like an animal. He refused to use the disguise or interact with the others. The Great Spirit asked the human why he did this; the human replied by saying that he was obviously a more civilized being and didn't want the disguise.

The Great Spirit was heart broken when he heard that, but because he loved the human he gave him his desire to be separated from his brethren."

"So humans can't disguise themselves as…umm mixes anymore?"

"My mother once told me a legend that if a human is bitten by a wolf that has…pure intentions that the Great Spirit gives the disguise back to the human. But it's just a legend."

"That was interesting, but you never answered my question."

"Yeah, maybe after dinner. Which reminds me."

I watched as his body shortened and his face grew narrow and sleek. This process probably should have seemed disturbing, but to me it was almost like some kind of strange dance.

`You make the fire; I'm gonna go catch something.'

"It's weird isn't it?"

"What is Shippo?"

"How everything was made from wolves. Does that mean that we're all made the same?"

"Maybe, I'm not sure. This is the first time I've ever heard a story that involved a deity that wasn't what the priests from Rome referred to as God. I'm not sure if I can really believe all this."

Shippo put his tiny hands on my wrist, "How can you not believe Inuyasha? I don't think he's lying."

"Neither do I, Shippo."

#~#~#

"Are you gonna tell the rest now?"

Shippo jumped on top of my head and lazily chewed on it. I could feel my eyebrow twitch.

"OW! Do you always have to do that?"

I lowered my fist and calmly tried to start where I left off.

"A few centuries after the making of the first beings, a direct descendant of the first dog broke a rule of the disguise. The Great Spirit came to the dog and was planning on punishing him with an eternity in solitude, but when the Great Spirit saw that the dog wasn't putting up a fight or trying to say that he hadn't broken the rules-."

"Wait, what rules?"

"When the humans had populated the earth, many put on their disguises and…umm…" Inuyasha's face was light pink and he was rubbing the back of his head, "Anyways, this resulted in a lot of half human half animal beings. The Great Spirit finally got so disgusted of what the animals were doing that he took all the half-breeds and threw them in a giant hole in the earth.

Some of those half-breeds were little kids and babies. The parents of those mourned and mourned, and finally their tears convinced the Great Spirit that perhaps what it had done was wrong.

The Great Spirit took back all the half-breeds it had thrown in, but instead of setting them back on earth, the Great Spirit took them to live in the clouds. This way they could still live but it would teach the animals a lesson."

"Then the Great Spirit made the rules?"

"Yeah, there were seven."

"What are they?"

Me and Shippo looked at each other and recited the rules together, child voice and rough voice joining in an eerie chorus.

"Rule one; lust and thou shall burn in the depths of earth.

Rule two; pretend and damnation shall be for thee.

Rule three; deceive and life shall be taken.

Rule four; touch and thou suffering shall be eternal.

Rule five; cry and thou tears shall drown thee.

Rule six; create and mourning shall be thy master.

Rule seven; love and thy love shall be thy killer.

Remember,

Remember,

These seven golden rules,

If thou forsakes me,

Thou shall suffer dearly,

Remember,

Remember."

Our voices died down and the night was unnaturally silent, the forest had been listening to the words almost forgotten to it.

"What do some of those mean?" Kagome's eyes were wide and her mouth hung open a bit.

"The first should be pretty obvious, the second says pretend. Pretend means to act like a human. Three means to deceive a human, four means to touch a human in a tainted way. Six means to have a kid with a human as in create a half breed. Seven's pretty obvious."

"What's at the end? The poem thing?"

"It's a warning. Father told me that." Shippo said this while jumping into Kagome's lap.

"Oh… So when are you-." Kagome's mouth widened as a yawn escaped from its depths, which then made Shippo yawn.

"When we stop next. But we should try to get to the base of those mountains by nightfall tomorrow."

If we're lucky it won't be snowing and the elk will be going through the passes too. And that elk meat is goooood…

"Good night, Inuyasha."

"Feh."

#~#~#

Three wolves trudged through the snow laden valley, their huge paws making clear imprints on the fresh snow.

The wolves had been following the herd of elk, just like all the other years. This time however the wolves had been delayed for five nights. The leader of the other two had had his time of vulnerability, unannounced as usual. During those five nights the elk hadn't stopped, they kept moving to avoid the fast approaching snows that they could feel coming.

`I haven't seen the elk since two nights ago, Kouga. Shouldn't we turn around before we starve to death?'

`We ain't goin' back.' The growl came from the depths of the wolf's chest, deep and commanding.

One wolf decided to push his luck, `But what about the snows further up?'

Kouga stopped, his hair was on end and his body stiff.

"You wanna stop? Go ahead, let's see how long you last when your five nights come, Ginta."

Ginta sweat dropped and let the subject drop. Kouga smirked.

"Thought you'd see it my way."

#~#~#

I was tempted to start whistling again but remembered how Inuyasha had exploded on me earlier for it. But this walk was so boring!

Shippo was sleeping in a pocket of my haori, Inuyasha was walking ahead and I got stuck in the rear with an annoying bee buzzing around and around my head.

*Buzz buzzzzzzz buzz*

Why didn't I eat some of that rabbit when Inuyasha offered it?

A mental image or the torn and blood dripping rabbit carcass flashed through my head.

Oh yeah.

After walking a bit more, with the bee still by me, I was starting to feel light headed. I vaguely noticed that I was slowing down.

*Buzz buzzzzzzz buzz*

That stupid bee, why won't it leave?

I swiped at it and missed horribly. Irritated, I tried again, harder this time. Still, I missed.

*Buzz buzzzzzzz buzz*

That buzzing was mocking me. I couldn't stand it anymore! I swiped at it with all my strength, only to forget that Shippo was sleeping in my haori. His extra weight threw me off balance and I felt myself hit dirt while I heard a small thud nearby where Shippo fell. I closed my eyes when the force of the fall created a headache for me.

I smirked in satisfaction as I opened my hand. I felt the bee's body slip through my fingers.

I have been spending too much time with Inuyasha.

#~#~#

When I woke up, I felt my headache come stronger than before. A small moan escaped me.

I felt a wet cloth on my forehead and what I supposed was Inuyasha's hand tilt my head up. He pressed something against my mouth.

"Drink this wench."

I opened my mouth to reprimand him but instead got a mouth full of freezing cold water. I coughed as it forced its way down my throat.

"Dammit."

Rough fabric wiped away the water that had splattered out of my mouth. I was still laying on something and I hadn't opened my eyes yet. But whatever I was laying on was comfortable, so I snuggled closer to it.

"Sit up, you have to eat this."

Once again, Inuyasha's voice pervaded into my head, even while it was pounding painfully. But I sat up as best I could while slowly opening my eyes and propping myself up against what I thought was a tree.

When I opened my eyes it was pitch black and I panicked.

"Oh gods, I'm blind! No, no, no. This can't be-."

"You're not blind; it's the middle of the night."

After that realization hit me I tried focusing on the one source of light that there was, the moon. It gave just enough light to let me see Inuyasha kneeling beside me with a small bowl full of something.

When did he get that bowl?

"Here."

He reached out his hand to me. I couldn't see exactly what he was holding but it was very small and thin.

"What is it?"

Saying those few words increased the strain on my exhausted brain and increased the pain of my headache. Which made me let out another little moan.

He sighed and leaned over to put it up to my mouth.

He just expects me to eat this mysterious thing?

Despite feeling suspicious I let him put it in. It tasted like an onion covered in salt, hair, grass and something I couldn't place.

When I tried to spit it out and scrape my tongue off, Inuyasha covered my mouth and nose so I couldn't breathe. So, I painstakingly swallowed the disgusting stuff and blew air into his hand.

I could barely see him moving his hand around and I think he wiped it off on something.

"What was that?" My voice surprised me; it was dry and hoarse, as if I had been screaming for a long time.

"Stuff that helps with headaches and fevers, you better drink some more water."

I shook my head, "Where's Shippo?"

"By your legs."

I looked down and sure enough, a tiny curled up ball of fluff was tucked up under the…blankets?

"Where did you get the-." A fit of coughs interrupted me, "Blankets?"

"Some idiot with a cart full of junk didn't see it fall off. You better go to sleep, `cause if you're not better by tomorrow then we can't start traveling through the mountain valleys."

Before he even finished I had dropped down and was beginning to doze off. But there was still something that I needed to hear before I fell asleep.

"Inuyasha?"

`What wench?'

"Why did you come with me?"

My ears were greeted by silence and Shippo's even breaths.

Guess that's too much for him to answer. I should've known.

`Because I needed someone.'

My eyes widened as I realized what he was saying.

He needed me? The big strong dog-wolf needed me?

That soothed my frayed nerves as nothing else could. I gently moved Shippo up into my arms and fell asleep with a smile.

#~#~#

That's it for now. And Kagome's just exhausted which is why she got sick. In the next chappie they will start going into the mountains! Yay!

By the way, I forgot who asked but, yes Sango and Miroku will be in this story.

Happy reading!^-^