Fan Fiction / Wolf's Rain Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ My Father, The Outlaw ❯ The Youth of Tragedy ( Chapter 6 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: chickenlover2 
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Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction / Wolf's Rain Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Comedy / Adventure | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 02.10.2005 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.8K | Visits: 429 | Status: Work In Progress
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Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction / Wolf's Rain Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Comedy / Adventure | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 02.10.2005 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.8K | Visits: 429 | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, Wolf's Rain or Rowan Hood.
I am sorry for the delay and such but my brother deleted all my files on the computer I saved this stuff on and I had to rewrite what he deleted. It sucked and sux. I was almost done with this chapter before he deleted everything. Which included all the pictures I had that helped describe things.
And I have to write with WordPad now. Which sux because it doesn't have spelling or grammar. Luckily I'm a fairly good speller, and okay at grammar. It's just a pain to use such a primitive program that doesn't have any of my favorite fonts.
*sigh* Nothin' to do about it I guess.
Happy clucking!^-^
#~#~#
That night I stayed awake, making sure Kagome was warm enough. I wouldn't make a fire in case some stray villager or a traveler saw it and came to investigate. After all, there was a fairly large village nearby that was probably teeming with humans.
Still, what if they have a healer or someone else who can help the wench?
When I sat and thought about it, it did seem like a good idea...
I got up, shook out my head and went to check out the village from the edge of the little woods.
#~#~#
Everything was blurry and shaded amber. As if to mock my beliefs in what my mother had told me.
The wind felt so pleasant and cool, like Celandine's hand, and the things I could smell were exotic. But as good as it felt and smelt I knew nothing was as it seemed, there was a strange sound in the distance that was so familiar. Just like that other time.
So I tried to run to it this time, but I was being held by thousands of transparent hands and they either wouldn't let go or couldn't.
"I will not kill him!"
"Silly girl."
I heard the sound clearly, it was a low mournful howl. But it had no meaning behind it as I listened and screamed. It was fading inch by inch anyways, settling to the back of my conscious and I realized that only a dream could be so...so odd.
"Inuyasha."
Yes, as odd as him.
#~#~#
I trotted up a small hill so I could overlook the village, it wasn't impressive.
The village was tiny and rundown, only a few huts had doors or roofs anymore. There were no people to be seen, but then again it was night. Though who would want to sleep in one of those huts was beyond me. I glanced at the village once more before deciding to leave and caught sight of a thin trail of smoke.
I jumped off the hill and tried to see where the smoke was coming from, from ground level.
It seemed that some bandits or something had raided the village and killed everyone then camped off the edge of it. They didn't sound too happy for their victory.
Better avoid that way for the runt's and the wench's sake.
I ran back to the camp, everyone still seemed to be sleeping.
'Inuyasha...'
Shippo's voice came from within the depths of crumpled blankets, sleepy and subdued.
'What?'
I sat and waited for the runt to answer but all I heard was shifting and quiet mumbling. He finally talked after poking his head out.
'I'm hungry. Can you make some poppy seed tea?'
'Tea? Since when do foxes drink tea?'
'Mother always made it for me, and then I always felt better. Maybe it'd help Kagome...'
The runt wants tea, we're in the middle of some forest, there are unhappy bandits nearby, Kagome's sick and I'm expected to know how to make tea?! Nothing good could come out of me going to get tea stuff...but maybe it would help the wench get better. Than we could get as far away from here as possible.
I stood to go get the seeds and stuff.
'Fine, but watch Kagome.'
'Kay.'
#~#~#
As soon as Inuyasha left I ducked my head back into the blankets where it was warm. I knew that I was supposed to watch over Kagome and the camp but...I was tired!
'Oh well, it isn't like anyone is going to bother us here.'
"Wrong, little man."
'Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Inuyasha! Help! Help!'
I jumped up, dragging the blankets with me and barking, leaving Kagome wiping the sleep from her eyes. I ran as fast as I could toward Inuyasha's scent.
'Help Inuyasha!'
#~#~#
I woke up again, but this time there were no warm, soft blankets covering me and no Shippo by my feet. But there was someone in front of me, some kind of woman...?
"Such fine clothes for such a poor boy. I believe I shall take them."
My eyes still weren't completely adjusted to the dim light but I did manage to stand up. Then I stepped to the side a bit, just barely getting away from the giant double-headed ax this person was swinging around.
The person swung it sideways at me, I tried stepping backwards but fell over my own feet and landed on some roots that were sticking straight out of the ground. One root was fairly hardened and I'm almost positive it bruised my leg when I fell on it.
Where's Inuyasha?
I shook my head and dove to the side as the man, I think, plunged his ax deep into the ground.
Yes! No way he's going to be able to get that thing out now!
The man didn't even try to get the ax free, he just stood and waited with it in his hands. The ax shone red and gave off strange pulses through the ground that I could feel, then it shuddered and gave off a shower of red hot embers that sizzled by my hands.
The man grinned and he squeezed the handle just a little bit, the ax rumbled with the small squeeze and started pulsing quickly. I started backing farther away when I could see the energy coursing through the air and conflicting with my own. Unluckily I backed right into some bandit and he grabbed hold of my hoari while getting out a long dagger.
What are these guys gonna do to me?
"Relax, the boss just wants to show you a good time. So enjoy the show." The bandit's hot, rancid breath fell upon my ear, I couldn't control the shudder that passed through my body.
I hope that this disguise is working and that they don't know that I'm a girl. Or else I don't want to know what they'll do to me...
"Watch now, little man. The forest will be ablaze with fire and all those within shall burn!"
Shippo, Inuyasha. I've got to do something...
"Ah, here it comes. You watchin'?"
The bandit held onto me tighter and his dagger hilt pressed into my arm, I tried to wriggle away but he gripped me tighter until he finally stuck his dagger blade in front of my face.
"Jus' hold still."
The man with the ax began laughing and raised his giant blade from the earth with ease and got ready to ignite the forest. Everyone stood still with smiles on their grimy faces, I wished I could burn them.
Instead I took this small chance and elbowed the bandit holding me then I sprinted at the ax man. But the bandit wouldn't let me go that easily and threw his dagger at me. It went so fast I could hear the whoosh it made as it flew at me.
"Kagome, move!"
I looked up at the familiar red clad figure who had just jumped through the clearing edge, then I heard a disgusting sucking sound. I glanced down to see the tip of the bandit's dagger showing through my clothes, right through my stomach.
It...went through me.
I was blank, nothing seemed real anymore, especially not the searing pain in my middle.
"Boss! Help me! There's a wolf-!"
I closed my eyes and laid down, various roots prodded me but I didn't want to think of the pain anymore. So I stopped thinking and drifted to sleep.
#~#~#
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Leaving Shippo to watch Kagome! Am I that much of a pup to not know what to expect?
As I ran I put on my disguise, which didn't feel as bad as I thought it would, with Shippo running beside me in his natural form.
"Oi, runt, it was only humans, right?"
'I don't know...maybe.'
I looked down at the fluffy fox, his head was bobbing up and down every time he took another sprint.
"Too slow, get on."
He huffed a little but jumped onto my shoulders then crawled up to my head. His small claws dug into my scalp, though he didn't seem to care.
Finally I could sense Kagome's energy floating from nearby, along with some deep, hot energy that was making my hair sizzle.
'Inuyaaasha, I'm hot. Where's Kagome? I thought you were supposed to know where you're mate was at all times. And that you never left them. Father never left mother, or me. But then again, you and Kagome aren't allowed-.'
"Shut up."
And I picked him up and threw him as far as I could, so he could land just beyond the clearing. Before I threw him, though, I shoved his tea stuff into his mouth.
Stupid runt, always being stupid and demanding.
I picked up speed when I could smell the foul stench of bandits mixed in with Kagome's own faint scent.
Crap.
When I jumped out of the forest edge and into the clearing, I saw something that set my blood ice cold. Kagome was running at a bandit who had a giant ax, while some bandit behind her threw a dagger at her. I barely heard myself scream at her to move, panic invading my thoughts.
Just before the dagger hit her I saw her look at me and smile, I wished I could get her away in time. I would have no such luck, the dagger hit her in the stomach and one disgusting vermin actually laughed.
"That's it, you fuckin' bastard. You die now."
With that I slashed that thing with a swipe of my claws, reveling in the sheer brute joy it gave me. Blood sprayed over everything as I hacked up bandit after bandit, making my way towards where Kagome had fallen down. Soon I had a small circle cleared around her.
'Kagome!'
Shippo's voice was even more high pitched than usual with sobs threatening to choke him.
At least he escapes the rules by being a kid.
The man with the giant ax stepped forward, he was obviously a human but how he could lift that heavy thing was beyond me. But I didn't dwell on this long as he started talking in a feminine voice that resembled...his voice.
"Ahh, it is good to see such a wolf. I have not had the time to look for wolves lately, I did so miss those tasty haunches. And I do so need more pelts to keep myself warm, good pelts are so hard to find. I am sure that the fox would agree."
The man flicked his eyes to where Shippo was trying to shake Kagome awake.
"And the woman...I am sure that she would love to have a pelt to drape around her shoulders. And a strong husband along with that."
His gaze lingered on Kagome a bit too long, causing my blood to spark and burn fiercely.
"Don't you dare look at her, filthy bastard."
The man didn't seem to care about my threat. He smirked with something strange glinting in his eyes.
"Filthy, am I? At least I have true blood running through me, my parents were no desperate whores that mixed species."
My eyes must have widened noticeably because the man smirked even more, "Wondering about something, dog-wolf?"
'Kagome, wake up! You aren't dead! You can't be!'
Kagome, I have to get her away.
"You shouldn't let yourself be distracted so easily, it could get you killed."
I just moved quickly enough to avoid the man's swing, but not far enough away to leave Kagome and Shippo exposed.
"Ah, so you won't be killed by simply swinging the blade at you, energy must be used. Or perhaps threats work better towards you."
The man held up one hand and signaled two men from the back of group with a finger. The two bandits were more filthy than the others and one looked like he could have leprosy, and both had faces painted dark purple with their grimy shortened hair died dark brown, like the color of dried blood.
Between them they held a small, pathetic figure, a girl that couldn't have been much older than Shippo. She was pale as fresh snow, had heavy pale blonde locks that reached to mid-back and dark brown eyes that seemed empty but also so full. I couldn't quite explain it, she was different.
But as weak as she looked to be, the bandits had placed heavy manacles on her ankles and odd hide gloves that were tied together at the elbows. As for the rest of her, all she had was a thin, ankle length dress that was worn even thinner but surprisingly clean.
"She is a human enchantress, perfectly intact. She has much more energy than you can comprehend, simple as you are. She could easily kill that bitch of yours, would you like to see the flesh stripped from her body or would you be my pet? Come now, it is an easy answer."
My fists clenched and I felt my pulse beating stronger and faster until my eyes started clouding over with rage. The man kept talking of how he could kill us with his toy enchantress, she, however, made no motions to kill us.
"You'll die...for this..."
"Go and try then, half-breed. No one can beat the great Gatenmaru!"
As he said this he raised his ax and waited there for me to go after him, casually with a semi serious expression on his somewhat familiar face. Almost like...
"Frightened are we?"
I raised my eyes, inch by inch so as not to awaken my wolf blood anymore, but my eye sight was getting no less clouded and my blood was still rushing around and around. With my eyes my hand rose too, the sharp points of my claws glinting in the early dawn light.
"Ah, so you want to fight. Then come hit me," his eyes narrowed and his mouth grew wider, "we shall see the might of a half breed."
So you want to see my might? Fine, then.
I swung straight at this 'Got-ten-ma-you', he held up his ax with a bored expression expecting me to hit the thing and back off, I didn't.
When I hit the blunt side of the thick ax I didn't slump down in defeat or even try a different move. I just forced as much power into that one hand as possible, suspended above the air by sheer force.
"Give this up, you will surely break your limb before you break my ax. And I am sure you would like to get this done with quickly, that woman of yours appears to be dying, dog-wolf."
He looked like he was confident enough, but something in his tone seemed like he was hiding... We held our positions.
Then a small, resounding 'crack' echoed through my head. My arm had just broken. And by the man's smirk I could tell he had heard it also.
Crap...can't stop...
"As I told you-"
He was interrupted by another cracking noise, this time it came from his ax. A thin crack, no wider than a hair, had appeared running down the length and many more cracks formed around the first. His smirk disappeared.
"Told me what?"
He didn't answer, he knew he was defeated as soon as the cracking sound grew in volume until the ax split into many smaller pieces. My arm might have been broken and this hadn't killed the man but my wolf blood surging even faster at this small victory.
"Die, Gatenmaru."
A voice had come from all around, and from no where at all. It was cold and uncaring, smooth as silk. But with it the man in front of me withered, his face becoming hollow and bony, his body thinning until it was only bones. Then his skin was pulled to its limit and ripped to reveal the bones underneath. One of his eyes shriveled up and the other rolled away lopsidedly and stopped near the ring of bandits.
The bandits looked down at the single eye, that was seemingly staring at them, and broke into a fast run. Towards me. With knives, spears, rusty swords and crude clubs.
I guess they're angry...
#~#~#
I watched silently from my spot on the ground where the bandits had thrown me, my side hurt from the impact but the pain would pass as did everything else. But what I watched was something that I had never known before, bravery.
My mother had been powerful and calm as the summer winds, but never brave. This wolf showed such loyalty to the two others, and he fought with bravery knowing that he may not win.
If only I could be like him, brave and loyal to the end without questioning the will of others. But how?
The wolf fought with the bandits, making sure none of them came near the two weak ones that he was protecting. I tried to see how he could stand and fight so easily, I think I stared a bit too hard because his image suddenly flickered.
One moment he was a black and white wolf, then he was a strange looking human with silver hair. I rubbed my eyes and vainly tried to see clearly, still his image flickered. The bandits seemed to have noticed this also and shied away from his menacing figure.
"What's the matter, scared?"
His voice, it's more of a...growl than a voice. Is that what happens when you're being brave?
Then the bandits all but trampled me in their haste to get away from the wolf, one bandit kicked my stomach with his slate-toed boot. It added to the pain but I tried to act like the wolf and didn't show my pain, to be brave.
I glanced up to see the wolf looking at me, his golden eyes were nearly clouded over but he spoke to me clearly, "Guess you're pretty brave to not run away like those bastards did, girl."
He thinks I'm brave, that must make it so. I don't think someone so brave could ever lie.
"Gonna say anythin', girl? Or are you mute?"
"Th-thank you. I...could you..."
I lifted my hands, hesitantly, trying to make him understand that if he wanted help I would need help getting my bonds off. Instead of being insulted by the gesture and turning away he came forward to me, limping on one of his forepaws.
"Lift your hands."
I did as he said and caught sight of a small but deep gash running from his left ear down to the curve of his mouth, blood was slowly leaking onto the dry earth.
Blood wounds must also be a part of being brave.
He promptly sliced through the heavy chains, setting my feet free, then, just as swiftly, sliced the bonds from my arms. Then he turned and walked back to the two others who had remained silent, once by them his image flickered to his human image and he picked the girl up and held her to his chest.
"Get on runt," he shifted his eyes back to me, "You too girl."
I nodded then ran over, tripping over my feet and ending up grabbing the wolf's long hair to keep me from falling.
"Hey!"
Sensing the anger in his voice I bowed low to the ground before climbing onto his back with a small boy that had fox legs. I didn't talk to him only because he was crying and I didn't know what to say. Soon he stopped crying and only sniffled a bit and he looked at me.
"Hello."
He just stared at me.
Did I say something wrong? Maybe there are some kind of important customs that I don't know about. What if he's a prince and is angry at me for talking to him and now wants to chop off my head or...
"Hi."
We stared at each other, then I opened my mouth to say something but my stomach growled loudly. I quickly looked down at the wolf's back.
"Excuse me, please."
"You hungry, girl?"
The wolf's voice scared me and I jumped, then nodded my head.
"Can you...heal her?"
I looked over his shoulder at the girl he was holding, nearly gasping.
A dagger was sticking through her stomach with a dark coating of blood around it, her face was the color of mine by now, white, and it didn't look like she was breathing.
How can I heal a dead person?
Do this, Kanna. You will be able to. Then you will travel with this pack, until you come back to me, my daughter.
"Yes I can."
#~#~#
Everyone is running away, their feet pound on the hard packed road of the village, but the bandits still come. The bandits have horses and easily cut off the villagers' escape path. Then they brandish their weapons and laugh as they slay the innocent. Others set fire to the village after taking what they want.
One woman slips away, her face is smeared and I can't make it out, but I can see her holding a small girl in her arms. She's running away from the death, she looks calm but I can see through her facade. She's scared.
I want to reach out and comfort her but I know I'm not part of what I'm seeing, I'm only an observer.
The woman makes it to the woods but stops as if she knows I'm watching. She turns to face me and says something I can't hear. But I could see her lips move. She said one thing.
"Awake."
#~#~#
Again, I was waking up with the small comfort of warmth surrounding me. I tried to shift closer to the warmth but a sharp, restricting pain in my stomach made me stop. My hand reached down to feel the spot.
Instead of the thick fabric of my hoari, I felt a much lighter material that was much like my old dress that I had had while living with my mother.
Why do I feel so terrible? Why can’t I remember anything? Slow down, Kagome. One thing at a time.
I slowly tried opening my heavy lidded eyes. After a minute or two of convincing them to open, my eyes obeyed.
It was dark and for that I was glad, my head was already throbbing and I didn’t need a bright light shining in my eyes to make it hurt more. The warmth was a heavy quilt thrown on top of me, the darkness was because of a low wall that separated the room and shielded me from the light.
Where...where am I?
“Inuyasha?”
It was silent for a moment and I suddenly got very scared. I thought that the bandits had captured me or-or maybe someone had found me after the battle. And that could mean that...Inuyasha could’ve been killed.
“What wench?”
His voice seemed almost unreal, I could barely believe that he was right there, just on the other side of the wall. I could feel the lump in my throat get bigger as I tried to swallow it.
“Where are we?”
“Feh, the girl can tell you that.”
Girl?
I heard the door flap being lifted and the soft tread of someone’s feet. The fact that I couldn’t move my head frustrated me. And the fact that some stranger had been taking care of me.
“You are an enchantress?”
She didn’t sound very old, though the way her tongue lingered on each word made me almost believe that it was my mother speaking to me. My mother had also said things slowly, so she wouldn’t slip up. I’d never picked up that trait.
I realized that I hadn’t answered the girl’s question but when I opened my mouth to answer, the girl interrupted.
“Excuse me, perhaps that is too personal, Milady?”
Milady? Since when was I royalty?
“Erm, no. It’s fine. But my name is Kagome, not Milady.”
“Excuse me, once more, Kagome.”
“Alright...So, who are you?”
I found myself practically dreading her answer. But why, I didn’t know.
“My name is Kanna, Kagome.”
I tried to sit up to look at the girl because so far all that I’d seen of her was her shadow. She was currently sitting behind me doing something with some cloth by the sound of it. I wasn’t strong enough to lift myself up and I ended up laying back down on the cot with a small wince of pain.
“You must not move, yet. You will open your wound and if you do not heal right, you will have a scar there. And, if you excuse my saying so, you have such beautiful skin.”
“Thank you. But, I was just wondering, could I see what you look like, Kanna?”
I heard her give a small gasp and drop something before rushing to stand in front of me. The faint light that shone over the low wall seemed to focus solely on her.
“You aren’t very old, are you?”
It was a stupid question, just by looking at her I could tell she was young. Probably not even ten autumns old.
She was so thin and pale, like parchment. She was wearing a tight looking white dress, but no shoes or coats or hats or even socks. Her face was tight, like she had never laughed before and her eyes had dark circles underneath. Her eyes were such a deep brown that a person could easily be drowned in them, but they weren’t a kid’s eyes. Shippo had eyes that were full of innocence and playfulness, and trust. But Kanna had eyes that had seen horrible things and they seemed to be strangers to fun. There was one thing in her eyes, hope. For that I took an immediate liking to this girl.
“I do not think so. Though, I am at least nine winter’s old.”
She looked away in embarrassment at my gaze.
“Inuyasha?”
I heard a mumbled sentence about something or other.
“Can you walk?”
What if he can’t? What if he’s so badly injured that he can’t move?
“Ya, wench. What do you want?”
“Can you get me something to drink? And tell Shippo to find Kanna something to wear, please.”
“Oh no, Kagome, I’ll-.”
I gave her a look that, I hoped, told her to stay put. She kept quiet, seemingly understanding what I was trying to signal, and began to fiddle with more of those bandages. On the other side of the miniature wall Inuyasha’s grunt and the sound of his heavy footsteps leaving confirmed that he was gone.
“Were you at the fight?”
“Yes...”
“Can you tell me what happened?”
She scooted on the floor till she was sitting at my side. Her head was bowed and her hands firmly clasped in her lap.
“Yes, but it is not pleasant. Not for me.” Kanna drew in a long ragged breath, “The bandits had captured me a long time ago and I was forced to follow them where they went. They were pathetic bandits, and only managed to kill so many people with their leader. He was strong.”
“And evil. And everywhere you went you saw killing. Right?”
Kanna stared at me, she didn’t seem like such a polite girl anymore. Maybe I struck something?
“Gatenmaru was not evil.”
“But he killed so many people and laughed when he was about to burn the forest.”
There was a dark fire behind Kanna’s eyes when I said that. It looked like she was about to jump me.
“He was only trying to scare the wolf out. He was not going to burn the forest. He only killed because it was all he knew! If he had ever once been shown kindness and love he would have been called brave not cruel!”
Wow, she really must have liked this bandit to defend him so strongly. Well, might as well try to tell her that he wasn’t as good as she thought he was.
“He chose how he would be and act, if he wanted to be good then he would have been that way. If he truly was strong he would have done what he wanted to do in his heart.”
“He was strong! And he took care of me and you can’t understand what it’s like to not have anyone! You always have the wolf and the fox! I have no one!”
While part of me wanted to reach out and comfort the girl, another part wanted to show her how wrong she was and correct her and make her sorry for what she had said.
“How dare you! I know exactly what it’s like to be alone! Believe it or not my mother was killed and I was alone!”
After I said it I calmed down and reached towards Kanna. She was sitting there with a tight mouth and trying to look angry, but her eyes were quickly filling with tears. When I reached for her she pulled away.
“I haven’t always had someone there to watch out for me. I loved my mother but that didn’t stop the girls from the village from pushing me around. I know that those girls were next to nothing compared to some people out here, but that didn’t make me feel any better.
“I have no idea what you could have been going through. It’s been hard on you. Even I can see that. What happened?”
She sat there, unmoving with her lips pressed together. There was a ‘ticking’ sound from somewhere in the rafters but I dismissed it as being a bird or something. Time passed as I waited for Kanna to tell me at least one thing about her life. All was silent other than the ticking.
Even Inuyasha is more talkative than this... what could have happened to her, I wonder?
“Well, as long as you aren’t going to talk, why don’t you go help Shippo? Then you two can go play,” Kanna started to get up and leave, “One last thing! Would you get me some different clothes?”
The girl nodded then left with a flip of her bangs.
‘Tick’
If mother was here, I’d be running around getting my own clothes.
‘Tick’
Of course, if she hadn’t been killed, I’d still be at the village. Being teased and sneered at.
‘Tick’
And I wouldn’t have been able to see so many new places or people...
‘Tick’
Then again, Shippo and Inuyasha aren’t really people...Well, not human people at least. And Kanna isn’t ordinary either.
‘Tick’
I sighed and tried to roll myself over. No use. Another sigh came out. I raised my eyes to the ceiling, remembering the first time I had met them all.
Kanna just now, Shippo back when I still didn’t know Inuyasha’s secret and Inuyasha...
I had a strange nagging at the back of my mind. There was something missing.
“Strange.”
A deafening cracking sound came flying through the room, as if the earth was breaking in half. It was the roof, I think, because something came through it and dropped beside me.
A tiny blue-green orb.
I felt a warm sensation and seemed to fall through the air into sweet lulling darkness.
#~#~#
YAY!!!! I think this can satisfy everyone. It took forever but...actually I have no good excuse.^-^
I came up with a new fic idea so I went with it, it should be posted soon enough. School actually inspired it so I guess going to school isn’t completely pointless.
I’m quite happy with myself for sticking with this one for so long though. And Feud of Love is totally forgotten, I just have a bit o’ writer’s blockage with that one at the moment.
Converting /tmp/phpgSRAXu to /dev/stdout
I am sorry for the delay and such but my brother deleted all my files on the computer I saved this stuff on and I had to rewrite what he deleted. It sucked and sux. I was almost done with this chapter before he deleted everything. Which included all the pictures I had that helped describe things.
And I have to write with WordPad now. Which sux because it doesn't have spelling or grammar. Luckily I'm a fairly good speller, and okay at grammar. It's just a pain to use such a primitive program that doesn't have any of my favorite fonts.
*sigh* Nothin' to do about it I guess.
Happy clucking!^-^
#~#~#
That night I stayed awake, making sure Kagome was warm enough. I wouldn't make a fire in case some stray villager or a traveler saw it and came to investigate. After all, there was a fairly large village nearby that was probably teeming with humans.
Still, what if they have a healer or someone else who can help the wench?
When I sat and thought about it, it did seem like a good idea...
I got up, shook out my head and went to check out the village from the edge of the little woods.
#~#~#
Everything was blurry and shaded amber. As if to mock my beliefs in what my mother had told me.
The wind felt so pleasant and cool, like Celandine's hand, and the things I could smell were exotic. But as good as it felt and smelt I knew nothing was as it seemed, there was a strange sound in the distance that was so familiar. Just like that other time.
So I tried to run to it this time, but I was being held by thousands of transparent hands and they either wouldn't let go or couldn't.
"I will not kill him!"
"Silly girl."
I heard the sound clearly, it was a low mournful howl. But it had no meaning behind it as I listened and screamed. It was fading inch by inch anyways, settling to the back of my conscious and I realized that only a dream could be so...so odd.
"Inuyasha."
Yes, as odd as him.
#~#~#
I trotted up a small hill so I could overlook the village, it wasn't impressive.
The village was tiny and rundown, only a few huts had doors or roofs anymore. There were no people to be seen, but then again it was night. Though who would want to sleep in one of those huts was beyond me. I glanced at the village once more before deciding to leave and caught sight of a thin trail of smoke.
I jumped off the hill and tried to see where the smoke was coming from, from ground level.
It seemed that some bandits or something had raided the village and killed everyone then camped off the edge of it. They didn't sound too happy for their victory.
Better avoid that way for the runt's and the wench's sake.
I ran back to the camp, everyone still seemed to be sleeping.
'Inuyasha...'
Shippo's voice came from within the depths of crumpled blankets, sleepy and subdued.
'What?'
I sat and waited for the runt to answer but all I heard was shifting and quiet mumbling. He finally talked after poking his head out.
'I'm hungry. Can you make some poppy seed tea?'
'Tea? Since when do foxes drink tea?'
'Mother always made it for me, and then I always felt better. Maybe it'd help Kagome...'
The runt wants tea, we're in the middle of some forest, there are unhappy bandits nearby, Kagome's sick and I'm expected to know how to make tea?! Nothing good could come out of me going to get tea stuff...but maybe it would help the wench get better. Than we could get as far away from here as possible.
I stood to go get the seeds and stuff.
'Fine, but watch Kagome.'
'Kay.'
#~#~#
As soon as Inuyasha left I ducked my head back into the blankets where it was warm. I knew that I was supposed to watch over Kagome and the camp but...I was tired!
'Oh well, it isn't like anyone is going to bother us here.'
"Wrong, little man."
'Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Inuyasha! Help! Help!'
I jumped up, dragging the blankets with me and barking, leaving Kagome wiping the sleep from her eyes. I ran as fast as I could toward Inuyasha's scent.
'Help Inuyasha!'
#~#~#
I woke up again, but this time there were no warm, soft blankets covering me and no Shippo by my feet. But there was someone in front of me, some kind of woman...?
"Such fine clothes for such a poor boy. I believe I shall take them."
My eyes still weren't completely adjusted to the dim light but I did manage to stand up. Then I stepped to the side a bit, just barely getting away from the giant double-headed ax this person was swinging around.
The person swung it sideways at me, I tried stepping backwards but fell over my own feet and landed on some roots that were sticking straight out of the ground. One root was fairly hardened and I'm almost positive it bruised my leg when I fell on it.
Where's Inuyasha?
I shook my head and dove to the side as the man, I think, plunged his ax deep into the ground.
Yes! No way he's going to be able to get that thing out now!
The man didn't even try to get the ax free, he just stood and waited with it in his hands. The ax shone red and gave off strange pulses through the ground that I could feel, then it shuddered and gave off a shower of red hot embers that sizzled by my hands.
The man grinned and he squeezed the handle just a little bit, the ax rumbled with the small squeeze and started pulsing quickly. I started backing farther away when I could see the energy coursing through the air and conflicting with my own. Unluckily I backed right into some bandit and he grabbed hold of my hoari while getting out a long dagger.
What are these guys gonna do to me?
"Relax, the boss just wants to show you a good time. So enjoy the show." The bandit's hot, rancid breath fell upon my ear, I couldn't control the shudder that passed through my body.
I hope that this disguise is working and that they don't know that I'm a girl. Or else I don't want to know what they'll do to me...
"Watch now, little man. The forest will be ablaze with fire and all those within shall burn!"
Shippo, Inuyasha. I've got to do something...
"Ah, here it comes. You watchin'?"
The bandit held onto me tighter and his dagger hilt pressed into my arm, I tried to wriggle away but he gripped me tighter until he finally stuck his dagger blade in front of my face.
"Jus' hold still."
The man with the ax began laughing and raised his giant blade from the earth with ease and got ready to ignite the forest. Everyone stood still with smiles on their grimy faces, I wished I could burn them.
Instead I took this small chance and elbowed the bandit holding me then I sprinted at the ax man. But the bandit wouldn't let me go that easily and threw his dagger at me. It went so fast I could hear the whoosh it made as it flew at me.
"Kagome, move!"
I looked up at the familiar red clad figure who had just jumped through the clearing edge, then I heard a disgusting sucking sound. I glanced down to see the tip of the bandit's dagger showing through my clothes, right through my stomach.
It...went through me.
I was blank, nothing seemed real anymore, especially not the searing pain in my middle.
"Boss! Help me! There's a wolf-!"
I closed my eyes and laid down, various roots prodded me but I didn't want to think of the pain anymore. So I stopped thinking and drifted to sleep.
#~#~#
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Leaving Shippo to watch Kagome! Am I that much of a pup to not know what to expect?
As I ran I put on my disguise, which didn't feel as bad as I thought it would, with Shippo running beside me in his natural form.
"Oi, runt, it was only humans, right?"
'I don't know...maybe.'
I looked down at the fluffy fox, his head was bobbing up and down every time he took another sprint.
"Too slow, get on."
He huffed a little but jumped onto my shoulders then crawled up to my head. His small claws dug into my scalp, though he didn't seem to care.
Finally I could sense Kagome's energy floating from nearby, along with some deep, hot energy that was making my hair sizzle.
'Inuyaaasha, I'm hot. Where's Kagome? I thought you were supposed to know where you're mate was at all times. And that you never left them. Father never left mother, or me. But then again, you and Kagome aren't allowed-.'
"Shut up."
And I picked him up and threw him as far as I could, so he could land just beyond the clearing. Before I threw him, though, I shoved his tea stuff into his mouth.
Stupid runt, always being stupid and demanding.
I picked up speed when I could smell the foul stench of bandits mixed in with Kagome's own faint scent.
Crap.
When I jumped out of the forest edge and into the clearing, I saw something that set my blood ice cold. Kagome was running at a bandit who had a giant ax, while some bandit behind her threw a dagger at her. I barely heard myself scream at her to move, panic invading my thoughts.
Just before the dagger hit her I saw her look at me and smile, I wished I could get her away in time. I would have no such luck, the dagger hit her in the stomach and one disgusting vermin actually laughed.
"That's it, you fuckin' bastard. You die now."
With that I slashed that thing with a swipe of my claws, reveling in the sheer brute joy it gave me. Blood sprayed over everything as I hacked up bandit after bandit, making my way towards where Kagome had fallen down. Soon I had a small circle cleared around her.
'Kagome!'
Shippo's voice was even more high pitched than usual with sobs threatening to choke him.
At least he escapes the rules by being a kid.
The man with the giant ax stepped forward, he was obviously a human but how he could lift that heavy thing was beyond me. But I didn't dwell on this long as he started talking in a feminine voice that resembled...his voice.
"Ahh, it is good to see such a wolf. I have not had the time to look for wolves lately, I did so miss those tasty haunches. And I do so need more pelts to keep myself warm, good pelts are so hard to find. I am sure that the fox would agree."
The man flicked his eyes to where Shippo was trying to shake Kagome awake.
"And the woman...I am sure that she would love to have a pelt to drape around her shoulders. And a strong husband along with that."
His gaze lingered on Kagome a bit too long, causing my blood to spark and burn fiercely.
"Don't you dare look at her, filthy bastard."
The man didn't seem to care about my threat. He smirked with something strange glinting in his eyes.
"Filthy, am I? At least I have true blood running through me, my parents were no desperate whores that mixed species."
My eyes must have widened noticeably because the man smirked even more, "Wondering about something, dog-wolf?"
'Kagome, wake up! You aren't dead! You can't be!'
Kagome, I have to get her away.
"You shouldn't let yourself be distracted so easily, it could get you killed."
I just moved quickly enough to avoid the man's swing, but not far enough away to leave Kagome and Shippo exposed.
"Ah, so you won't be killed by simply swinging the blade at you, energy must be used. Or perhaps threats work better towards you."
The man held up one hand and signaled two men from the back of group with a finger. The two bandits were more filthy than the others and one looked like he could have leprosy, and both had faces painted dark purple with their grimy shortened hair died dark brown, like the color of dried blood.
Between them they held a small, pathetic figure, a girl that couldn't have been much older than Shippo. She was pale as fresh snow, had heavy pale blonde locks that reached to mid-back and dark brown eyes that seemed empty but also so full. I couldn't quite explain it, she was different.
But as weak as she looked to be, the bandits had placed heavy manacles on her ankles and odd hide gloves that were tied together at the elbows. As for the rest of her, all she had was a thin, ankle length dress that was worn even thinner but surprisingly clean.
"She is a human enchantress, perfectly intact. She has much more energy than you can comprehend, simple as you are. She could easily kill that bitch of yours, would you like to see the flesh stripped from her body or would you be my pet? Come now, it is an easy answer."
My fists clenched and I felt my pulse beating stronger and faster until my eyes started clouding over with rage. The man kept talking of how he could kill us with his toy enchantress, she, however, made no motions to kill us.
"You'll die...for this..."
"Go and try then, half-breed. No one can beat the great Gatenmaru!"
As he said this he raised his ax and waited there for me to go after him, casually with a semi serious expression on his somewhat familiar face. Almost like...
"Frightened are we?"
I raised my eyes, inch by inch so as not to awaken my wolf blood anymore, but my eye sight was getting no less clouded and my blood was still rushing around and around. With my eyes my hand rose too, the sharp points of my claws glinting in the early dawn light.
"Ah, so you want to fight. Then come hit me," his eyes narrowed and his mouth grew wider, "we shall see the might of a half breed."
So you want to see my might? Fine, then.
I swung straight at this 'Got-ten-ma-you', he held up his ax with a bored expression expecting me to hit the thing and back off, I didn't.
When I hit the blunt side of the thick ax I didn't slump down in defeat or even try a different move. I just forced as much power into that one hand as possible, suspended above the air by sheer force.
"Give this up, you will surely break your limb before you break my ax. And I am sure you would like to get this done with quickly, that woman of yours appears to be dying, dog-wolf."
He looked like he was confident enough, but something in his tone seemed like he was hiding... We held our positions.
Then a small, resounding 'crack' echoed through my head. My arm had just broken. And by the man's smirk I could tell he had heard it also.
Crap...can't stop...
"As I told you-"
He was interrupted by another cracking noise, this time it came from his ax. A thin crack, no wider than a hair, had appeared running down the length and many more cracks formed around the first. His smirk disappeared.
"Told me what?"
He didn't answer, he knew he was defeated as soon as the cracking sound grew in volume until the ax split into many smaller pieces. My arm might have been broken and this hadn't killed the man but my wolf blood surging even faster at this small victory.
"Die, Gatenmaru."
A voice had come from all around, and from no where at all. It was cold and uncaring, smooth as silk. But with it the man in front of me withered, his face becoming hollow and bony, his body thinning until it was only bones. Then his skin was pulled to its limit and ripped to reveal the bones underneath. One of his eyes shriveled up and the other rolled away lopsidedly and stopped near the ring of bandits.
The bandits looked down at the single eye, that was seemingly staring at them, and broke into a fast run. Towards me. With knives, spears, rusty swords and crude clubs.
I guess they're angry...
#~#~#
I watched silently from my spot on the ground where the bandits had thrown me, my side hurt from the impact but the pain would pass as did everything else. But what I watched was something that I had never known before, bravery.
My mother had been powerful and calm as the summer winds, but never brave. This wolf showed such loyalty to the two others, and he fought with bravery knowing that he may not win.
If only I could be like him, brave and loyal to the end without questioning the will of others. But how?
The wolf fought with the bandits, making sure none of them came near the two weak ones that he was protecting. I tried to see how he could stand and fight so easily, I think I stared a bit too hard because his image suddenly flickered.
One moment he was a black and white wolf, then he was a strange looking human with silver hair. I rubbed my eyes and vainly tried to see clearly, still his image flickered. The bandits seemed to have noticed this also and shied away from his menacing figure.
"What's the matter, scared?"
His voice, it's more of a...growl than a voice. Is that what happens when you're being brave?
Then the bandits all but trampled me in their haste to get away from the wolf, one bandit kicked my stomach with his slate-toed boot. It added to the pain but I tried to act like the wolf and didn't show my pain, to be brave.
I glanced up to see the wolf looking at me, his golden eyes were nearly clouded over but he spoke to me clearly, "Guess you're pretty brave to not run away like those bastards did, girl."
He thinks I'm brave, that must make it so. I don't think someone so brave could ever lie.
"Gonna say anythin', girl? Or are you mute?"
"Th-thank you. I...could you..."
I lifted my hands, hesitantly, trying to make him understand that if he wanted help I would need help getting my bonds off. Instead of being insulted by the gesture and turning away he came forward to me, limping on one of his forepaws.
"Lift your hands."
I did as he said and caught sight of a small but deep gash running from his left ear down to the curve of his mouth, blood was slowly leaking onto the dry earth.
Blood wounds must also be a part of being brave.
He promptly sliced through the heavy chains, setting my feet free, then, just as swiftly, sliced the bonds from my arms. Then he turned and walked back to the two others who had remained silent, once by them his image flickered to his human image and he picked the girl up and held her to his chest.
"Get on runt," he shifted his eyes back to me, "You too girl."
I nodded then ran over, tripping over my feet and ending up grabbing the wolf's long hair to keep me from falling.
"Hey!"
Sensing the anger in his voice I bowed low to the ground before climbing onto his back with a small boy that had fox legs. I didn't talk to him only because he was crying and I didn't know what to say. Soon he stopped crying and only sniffled a bit and he looked at me.
"Hello."
He just stared at me.
Did I say something wrong? Maybe there are some kind of important customs that I don't know about. What if he's a prince and is angry at me for talking to him and now wants to chop off my head or...
"Hi."
We stared at each other, then I opened my mouth to say something but my stomach growled loudly. I quickly looked down at the wolf's back.
"Excuse me, please."
"You hungry, girl?"
The wolf's voice scared me and I jumped, then nodded my head.
"Can you...heal her?"
I looked over his shoulder at the girl he was holding, nearly gasping.
A dagger was sticking through her stomach with a dark coating of blood around it, her face was the color of mine by now, white, and it didn't look like she was breathing.
How can I heal a dead person?
Do this, Kanna. You will be able to. Then you will travel with this pack, until you come back to me, my daughter.
"Yes I can."
#~#~#
Everyone is running away, their feet pound on the hard packed road of the village, but the bandits still come. The bandits have horses and easily cut off the villagers' escape path. Then they brandish their weapons and laugh as they slay the innocent. Others set fire to the village after taking what they want.
One woman slips away, her face is smeared and I can't make it out, but I can see her holding a small girl in her arms. She's running away from the death, she looks calm but I can see through her facade. She's scared.
I want to reach out and comfort her but I know I'm not part of what I'm seeing, I'm only an observer.
The woman makes it to the woods but stops as if she knows I'm watching. She turns to face me and says something I can't hear. But I could see her lips move. She said one thing.
"Awake."
#~#~#
Again, I was waking up with the small comfort of warmth surrounding me. I tried to shift closer to the warmth but a sharp, restricting pain in my stomach made me stop. My hand reached down to feel the spot.
Instead of the thick fabric of my hoari, I felt a much lighter material that was much like my old dress that I had had while living with my mother.
Why do I feel so terrible? Why can’t I remember anything? Slow down, Kagome. One thing at a time.
I slowly tried opening my heavy lidded eyes. After a minute or two of convincing them to open, my eyes obeyed.
It was dark and for that I was glad, my head was already throbbing and I didn’t need a bright light shining in my eyes to make it hurt more. The warmth was a heavy quilt thrown on top of me, the darkness was because of a low wall that separated the room and shielded me from the light.
Where...where am I?
“Inuyasha?”
It was silent for a moment and I suddenly got very scared. I thought that the bandits had captured me or-or maybe someone had found me after the battle. And that could mean that...Inuyasha could’ve been killed.
“What wench?”
His voice seemed almost unreal, I could barely believe that he was right there, just on the other side of the wall. I could feel the lump in my throat get bigger as I tried to swallow it.
“Where are we?”
“Feh, the girl can tell you that.”
Girl?
I heard the door flap being lifted and the soft tread of someone’s feet. The fact that I couldn’t move my head frustrated me. And the fact that some stranger had been taking care of me.
“You are an enchantress?”
She didn’t sound very old, though the way her tongue lingered on each word made me almost believe that it was my mother speaking to me. My mother had also said things slowly, so she wouldn’t slip up. I’d never picked up that trait.
I realized that I hadn’t answered the girl’s question but when I opened my mouth to answer, the girl interrupted.
“Excuse me, perhaps that is too personal, Milady?”
Milady? Since when was I royalty?
“Erm, no. It’s fine. But my name is Kagome, not Milady.”
“Excuse me, once more, Kagome.”
“Alright...So, who are you?”
I found myself practically dreading her answer. But why, I didn’t know.
“My name is Kanna, Kagome.”
I tried to sit up to look at the girl because so far all that I’d seen of her was her shadow. She was currently sitting behind me doing something with some cloth by the sound of it. I wasn’t strong enough to lift myself up and I ended up laying back down on the cot with a small wince of pain.
“You must not move, yet. You will open your wound and if you do not heal right, you will have a scar there. And, if you excuse my saying so, you have such beautiful skin.”
“Thank you. But, I was just wondering, could I see what you look like, Kanna?”
I heard her give a small gasp and drop something before rushing to stand in front of me. The faint light that shone over the low wall seemed to focus solely on her.
“You aren’t very old, are you?”
It was a stupid question, just by looking at her I could tell she was young. Probably not even ten autumns old.
She was so thin and pale, like parchment. She was wearing a tight looking white dress, but no shoes or coats or hats or even socks. Her face was tight, like she had never laughed before and her eyes had dark circles underneath. Her eyes were such a deep brown that a person could easily be drowned in them, but they weren’t a kid’s eyes. Shippo had eyes that were full of innocence and playfulness, and trust. But Kanna had eyes that had seen horrible things and they seemed to be strangers to fun. There was one thing in her eyes, hope. For that I took an immediate liking to this girl.
“I do not think so. Though, I am at least nine winter’s old.”
She looked away in embarrassment at my gaze.
“Inuyasha?”
I heard a mumbled sentence about something or other.
“Can you walk?”
What if he can’t? What if he’s so badly injured that he can’t move?
“Ya, wench. What do you want?”
“Can you get me something to drink? And tell Shippo to find Kanna something to wear, please.”
“Oh no, Kagome, I’ll-.”
I gave her a look that, I hoped, told her to stay put. She kept quiet, seemingly understanding what I was trying to signal, and began to fiddle with more of those bandages. On the other side of the miniature wall Inuyasha’s grunt and the sound of his heavy footsteps leaving confirmed that he was gone.
“Were you at the fight?”
“Yes...”
“Can you tell me what happened?”
She scooted on the floor till she was sitting at my side. Her head was bowed and her hands firmly clasped in her lap.
“Yes, but it is not pleasant. Not for me.” Kanna drew in a long ragged breath, “The bandits had captured me a long time ago and I was forced to follow them where they went. They were pathetic bandits, and only managed to kill so many people with their leader. He was strong.”
“And evil. And everywhere you went you saw killing. Right?”
Kanna stared at me, she didn’t seem like such a polite girl anymore. Maybe I struck something?
“Gatenmaru was not evil.”
“But he killed so many people and laughed when he was about to burn the forest.”
There was a dark fire behind Kanna’s eyes when I said that. It looked like she was about to jump me.
“He was only trying to scare the wolf out. He was not going to burn the forest. He only killed because it was all he knew! If he had ever once been shown kindness and love he would have been called brave not cruel!”
Wow, she really must have liked this bandit to defend him so strongly. Well, might as well try to tell her that he wasn’t as good as she thought he was.
“He chose how he would be and act, if he wanted to be good then he would have been that way. If he truly was strong he would have done what he wanted to do in his heart.”
“He was strong! And he took care of me and you can’t understand what it’s like to not have anyone! You always have the wolf and the fox! I have no one!”
While part of me wanted to reach out and comfort the girl, another part wanted to show her how wrong she was and correct her and make her sorry for what she had said.
“How dare you! I know exactly what it’s like to be alone! Believe it or not my mother was killed and I was alone!”
After I said it I calmed down and reached towards Kanna. She was sitting there with a tight mouth and trying to look angry, but her eyes were quickly filling with tears. When I reached for her she pulled away.
“I haven’t always had someone there to watch out for me. I loved my mother but that didn’t stop the girls from the village from pushing me around. I know that those girls were next to nothing compared to some people out here, but that didn’t make me feel any better.
“I have no idea what you could have been going through. It’s been hard on you. Even I can see that. What happened?”
She sat there, unmoving with her lips pressed together. There was a ‘ticking’ sound from somewhere in the rafters but I dismissed it as being a bird or something. Time passed as I waited for Kanna to tell me at least one thing about her life. All was silent other than the ticking.
Even Inuyasha is more talkative than this... what could have happened to her, I wonder?
“Well, as long as you aren’t going to talk, why don’t you go help Shippo? Then you two can go play,” Kanna started to get up and leave, “One last thing! Would you get me some different clothes?”
The girl nodded then left with a flip of her bangs.
‘Tick’
If mother was here, I’d be running around getting my own clothes.
‘Tick’
Of course, if she hadn’t been killed, I’d still be at the village. Being teased and sneered at.
‘Tick’
And I wouldn’t have been able to see so many new places or people...
‘Tick’
Then again, Shippo and Inuyasha aren’t really people...Well, not human people at least. And Kanna isn’t ordinary either.
‘Tick’
I sighed and tried to roll myself over. No use. Another sigh came out. I raised my eyes to the ceiling, remembering the first time I had met them all.
Kanna just now, Shippo back when I still didn’t know Inuyasha’s secret and Inuyasha...
I had a strange nagging at the back of my mind. There was something missing.
“Strange.”
A deafening cracking sound came flying through the room, as if the earth was breaking in half. It was the roof, I think, because something came through it and dropped beside me.
A tiny blue-green orb.
I felt a warm sensation and seemed to fall through the air into sweet lulling darkness.
#~#~#
YAY!!!! I think this can satisfy everyone. It took forever but...actually I have no good excuse.^-^
I came up with a new fic idea so I went with it, it should be posted soon enough. School actually inspired it so I guess going to school isn’t completely pointless.
I’m quite happy with myself for sticking with this one for so long though. And Feud of Love is totally forgotten, I just have a bit o’ writer’s blockage with that one at the moment.
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