InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ An Inseparable Bond ❯ The Art of Thievery ( Chapter 2 )

An Inseparable Bond

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho.

 

Summary: What is a miko to do when fate thrusts two troubled demons directly in her path? With her responsibility of reforming the jewel looming over her head, Kagome takes on the nearly impossible challenge that appear in the forms of a silver kitsune and forbidden child. Will the miko be enough to melt the ice around these demons' hearts or will their darkness over cloud her purity?

 

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Chapter 2: The Art of Thievery

 

Kagome winced at the stinging pain she felt as she hit the water. Thankfully, the river was deep enough to cushion their fall. Despite her wounds, Kagome quickly swam to shore so she could look for Shippo. She knew that it would take her much longer to locate the unconscious kit if she remained in the water, not to mention she could move faster on land in case he had landed further in the river than she first thought. Pulling herself out of the ice cold water, Kagome frantically searched the rapids for her kit. Seeing no sign of him, she dashed off down the river bank, her eyes glued to the water.

 

She finally spotted him a ways down, still being carried off by the current, and she pushed her legs to a speed she didn't know she could achieve. Her eyes widened in panic when the little kitsune disappeared into the cold water. Without a second thought, she dove right back in and propelled herself forward as fast as she could. Kagome pulled her kit to her chest when she was within reach and returned to the surface before backstroking to shore. Gently placing Shippo on the ground, she checked if there was water blocking his airways. She sighed in relief at the sound of his even breathing. Shippo was alright… With that in mind, Kagome collapsed.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Youko and Hiei~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

They sped toward the battle that could clearly be heard in the distance. Their original plan was to just barge in, kill the hanyous, take the Shikon shards and be on their way but upon reaching their destination, both demons agreed to remain unseen. They silently observed the multiple battles before them curiously. From what they could see, there were seven hanyous in the clearing, not only two. They didn't fall for the trick though and clearly realized these were mere clones of the actual hanyou. This was a sign of weakness and fear. The hanyou sent out copies of himself to do his dirty work, how degrading.

 

Youko and Hiei examined each of the different individuals fighting the hanyou clones. There was a taijiya, monk, inuhanyou, and a miko. From what they could see, the monk and slayer were quite skilled fighters but all of them seemed to be merely fighting off their enemy and not destroying them. Their confusion was quickly clarified when the miko shouted out the location of jewel shards on the demons they were battling. After the slayer and monk were told the location of the shards in their attackers, they made quick work of finishing the demons off before taking the jewel shards and placing them in their pockets.

 

Their attention turned to the miko who seemed to be restrained in some way. It looked like she could only maneuver through a certain distance and Youko immediately realized why when he spotted the small kitsune pup scared out of his mind but protected by a barrier. Obviously the miko was keeping the kit safe from harm but her barrier only remained intact if she was at a certain proximity. It was evident that the miko was the one that held onto the shards they collected. They were slightly surprised when the miko leapt forward and purified one of her two opponents, allowing her some breathing space and the time she needed to help her hanyou companion.

 

She announced the last locations of the shards after kicking away her attacker. Youko and Hiei watched as the baboon pelted demon was sent flying toward the terrified kitsune. They knew that the kit would not be harmed because the barrier would keep him safe from being crushed by the demon but apparently the little kitsune didn't. He panicked and leapt out of the way, no longer able to remain in his spot. The barrier around him disappeared and before the miko turned her attention back to her opponent, the baboon already grabbed the kitsune by his tail and knocked him unconscious.

 

The thieves watched with great interest as the group finished off their attackers before redirecting their attention to the miko's last opponent. They were amused by the way the members of the group interacted with one another; especially the fire that seemed to make up the miko's personality. Even though they were surprised by the powerful attacks that erupted from the large sword the hanyou wielded, they were even more stunned as they watched the miko leapt right off the cliff after the baboon threw the kit in that direction.

 

“We must follow the miko. She possesses the shards aside from the ones recently gathered by the slayer and monk.” Hiei stated before darting off toward the cliff. Youko followed his comrade, trailing down the steep landscape and keeping a close eye on the falling miko and kit. They reached the ground before the miko hit the water. They were impressed that the human barely seemed fazed by the fall she'd just experienced. Any other human would have gone into shock or perhaps died from a heart attack… or the impact of hitting the water so hard. Deciding to see how things would play out, they remained hidden as the miko pulled herself out of the river before rushing to locate the kitsune. Why was this miko so determined to save the life of an orphaned kitsune?

 

They were again amazed when she dove back into the ice cold water and reemerged with the unconscious kit in her arms. After swimming back to shore, she seemed to check on the kit's condition before abruptly passing out. Whether it was from her wounds or some other odd human emotion, they were unsure. Dropping down to the ground, Youko made his way toward the astonishingly gorgeous human. Without thinking twice, he snatched the small container of jewel shards from her necklace.

 

“Should we collect the shards from the other members of their group as well?” Hiei questioned, glaring down at the weak human at his feet.

 

“There is no need, this should be plenty enough to lure the other shards directly to us.” Youko stated emotionlessly, glancing down at the female. With the cold temperatures of the river and her wounds, the miko was surely to die where she was. Shrugging his shoulders, Youko turned and began making his way back toward home. Hiei scowled at the disgusting creature before turning to follow his thieving partner. Humans were so frail and weak. He doubted the miko would survive to see morning.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Half an hour later~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Kagome's eyes flew open as she shot up into a sitting position. Her breathing rushed out of her chest violently as her body tired to warm itself up. Shivering slightly, Kagome rubbed her hands against the skin of her arms. She glanced down to see Shippo sound asleep where he had been before she fell unconscious. The miko breathed a sigh of relief and thanked whoever was watching over her that her powers healed her so quickly. She was sure that if her healing abilities didn't keep her alive, she would have bled out from her wounds, frozen to death, or merely been finished off by a random demon that happened to stumble upon their unconscious bodies.

 

Gently lifting Shippo into her arms, Kagome turned her gaze up to the top of the canyon they had fallen from. She felt her stomach churn when she realized just how far she'd fallen. She shook her head clear as she wondered if she should remain where she was and wait for Inuyasha and the others to find her or go searching for them. She'd run quiet a ways down the river and since she was soaking wet, it would be hard for the demon members of her group to track her exact location.

 

Kagome suddenly felt a powerful pull from the Shikon shards and her hand flew to her neck. Her eyes widened as she realized her shards were gone. Fortunately, the thieves that seemed to have taken her shards didn't seem to have gotten very far. She wondered exactly how long she'd been out but her curiosity as to why the thieves didn't kill her plagued her mind. Sparing one last glance toward the cliff she'd fallen from, Kagome began running toward the pull of the shards. They had quite a head start on her but her healing powers helped her recover completely. She was refreshed and ready to take back her shards, no matter who she had to face to accomplish that task.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~The next morning~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“That was fast, was the hanyou that weak?” Kuronue questioned upon spotting Youko and Hiei's approach. He'd sensed their arrival and went out to meet them; they were only a few miles away from one of Youko's secret dens.

 

“We did not fight.” Hiei snorted.

 

“The shards were easy enough to take from the unconscious miko.” Youko informed in a bored tone.

 

“A miko? Was she part of the hanyou's traveling group?” the bat asked curiously.

 

“Yes, along with a taijiya, monk, neko, and kitsune kit.” Youko replied dryly, obviously not interested in the conversation.

 

“What a peculiar group…” Kuronue mused.

 

“They seemed to possess a decent amount of talent, for humans that is.” Hiei commented.

 

“Was the miko trained?”

 

“Quite so, could have been fun if she was able to defend what she tried so desperately to protect.” Youko snorted, tossing the bottle of shards toward Kuronue. He caught it easily and gazed down at the darkened pieces.

 

“I wonder, perhaps she was the guardian.” he bat pondered aloud.

 

“Doubt it; the guardian was responsible for shattering the jewel in the first place. She was a weak untrained fool.” Hiei scowled.

 

“But it's been nearly a year and a half since the jewel was shattered. She's had plenty of time to train.” Kuronue pointed out.

 

“If that was the guardian, she has changed drastically over that time. I heard the guardian was naïve and weak. The miko we encountered was obviously a skilled and intelligent fighter.” Youko explained.

 

“Was she hot?” Kuronue asked, a slight grin on his face.

 

Hiei rolled his eyes as Youko smirked deviously. “For a human. She was perhaps easier on the eyes than several demon females.”

 

“Might be worth looking into then…” Kuronue smirked.

 

“Not point. Considering the condition she was in when we left, she'll be dead by morning.” Youko snorted.

 

“I could probably reach her before morning.” Kuronue grinned.

 

“Don't come crying to us when she purifies you into nothing more than dust.” Hiei snorted.

 

“If you give me back my jewel shards then I might consider not purifying any of you.”

 

All three demons turned to see the very miko they'd been discussing standing several feet away from them. They hadn't even felt her approach, meaning she must be quite skilled in concealing her aura. Upon further examination, they could see a thin vine wrapped around her waist and trailed over each of her shoulders. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at them with her stunning blue eyes. They were curious of why she had a vine tied around her body but couldn't see behind her. They also wondered how exactly she was there in the first place. She'd been nearly dead when they left but here she was, fully recovered with not a trace of the wound she'd possessed just half an hour ago.

 

“I'm impressed miko, how did you not only survive that fall but your wound and the ice cold water? No human could recover from that type of damage within the short amount of time you did.” Youko questioned, his curiosity getting the better of him.

 

“Guess you didn't know that mikos have healing abilities too.” she snorted.

 

Youko glared at the miko in irritation. With the tone of her voice, she almost sounded like she wasn't surprised by his lack of knowledge. She was insulting him and that would not do. Continuing to glare at the arrogant human, he clenched his right hand into a loose fist and watched as the vine around her body began to tighten. They saw the surprise and a bit of anger flash across her face as she felt the vine squeeze around her. They were confused that they could sense only a very small amount of fear, but it wasn't fear of her own safety.

 

“At least leave the innocent kit out of this you sadistic bastard.” She ground out between clenched teeth as she glared angrily at them, Youko in particular. She turned slightly and they could see that the miko had made some sort of makeshift carrier for her kitsune pup that was still unconscious. They had to give this human some credit, she was quite intelligent. She knew how to improvise with the resources around her. Since the kit was an orphan of his own kind, Youko loosened his grip on the vines just enough so that the kit could fall to the ground. He may be a ruthless killer but he did not slaughter kits of his own species.

 

Kagome tried to hold back her triumphant smirk once she felt Shippo no longer in contact with her skin. Erecting a barrier around her sleeping kit, she easily purified the vines around her that were being manipulated by youki. She didn't expect the demons she was tracking would be as powerful as they were but it didn't matter. She had to get her shards back, it was her duty. Forming a barrier around herself as well, Kagome crossed her arms over her chest once more.

 

“Can't you just make this easy and give my shards back?”

 

The miko grew irritated when she realized the three demons weren't even paying attention to what she was saying.

 

“I thought you said she was decent for a human.” Kuronue said, turning his gaze to Youko.

 

“I did.”

 

“Are we looking at the same woman? That's a goddess trapped in the mortal world. Powerful and beautiful, what more could you ask for?” the bat chuckled at the dark blush that was appearing on her cheeks.

 

“The fact still remains that she is a filthy human.” Hiei snorted, looking as bored as ever.

 

“What is it with demons and breaking down a girl through verbal abuse?!” Kagome snapped. “You demons think you're so powerful and great? You kill your own kind for power! You orphan children just to get what you want!” she yelled, her aura pulsing with her anger. It was obvious that she was referring to a situation that she had been personally involved in.

 

“Calm yourself miko, unless you want to die sooner than expected.” Youko threatened.

 

“You know, I thought that maybe you three were worth keeping alive seeing as you didn't kill me after taking my shards but I can see now that you're just like all those other power hungry demons.” she ground out, glaring at them with such intense emotions it surprised them.

 

“Kagome?” Everyone's attention was turned to the kitsune that was slowly waking up. Youko, Hiei, and Kuronue were shocked to see all traces of the miko's anger disappeared within seconds as she knelt down next to her kit. With her barrier still up, they suspected that it was powerful enough to keep them safe from harm no matter what attacked them.

 

“Shippo, are you alright?” She asked, worry evident in her soft voice.

 

The kit nodded but his attention wasn't on the miko, it was on Youko. He was staring at him as if he'd never seen another kitsune in his life. “Kagome, it's another kitsune! I haven't seen any since my father died!” he said in excitement before leaping to his feet. Before the kit could race toward Youko, Kagome grabbed him and kept the kit from leaving the safety of her barrier.

 

“Shippo… they aren't very… friendly.” She tried to explain quietly.

 

The kit's mood plummeted to the ground as his expression darkened. “Oh…”

 

“We just have to get the shards back and we can go back to Inuyasha ok? Please stay inside my barrier.” the miko said softly to the saddened kit.

 

The heartless kitsune bandit felt a pang of guilt stab at his chest. The kit looked so heartbroken at the fact that he wouldn't be able to communicate with him. From what he could gather, the kit's parents were killed and this miko took him under her wing. She treated him like her own son and he obeyed her orders like a son would his real mother. It was obvious these two were close and Youko could clearly see the pain in the miko's eyes from having to tell her kit to stay away from him.

 

“Can we please just have the shards back? We will leave you be and leave without any trouble.” the miko said quietly, though she knew they'd hear her loud and clear.

 

“What makes you think we care?” Hiei snorted.

 

“I don't want to have to hurt you in front of my kit, please make this easy on the both of us.” the miko stated, staring at them with determined blue eyes.

 

Youko's attention turned to the forest behind the miko. It seemed that her power surge from earlier had indeed attracted some unwanted attention. There was a large group of demons headed their way and Youko just wasn't in the mood to deal with them. Removing a seed from his hair, he coaxed it to grow with his ki before tossing it right outside the miko's barrier. Kuronue and Hiei both glanced at him curiously but he kept his gaze on the brown smoke that was gradually seeping into the miko's barrier. Unfortunately for her, her human eyes couldn't see the smoke, therefore wasn't aware of the approaching threat.

 

The kit, on the other hand, did see the smoke but before he could save his adoptive mother from its effects, Kagome had already collapsed to the ground. The barrier around them fell and Shippo stood in front of the unconscious miko bravely. They could clearly see the kit was terrified out of his mind but he still remained where he stood, trying to protect his adoptive mother from them. He even had the nerve to growl softly when Youko approached.

 

“Silence kit, the miko will not be harmed.” Youko stated, pinning Shippo with a glare that had him quiet in seconds. He may not have been around other kitsunes before but Shippo did know that when an elder kitsune ordered you to do something, you obeyed. Especially when that elder kitsune was now carrying away the miko that had helped avenge your father and continued to protect you. Without a second thought, Shippo rushed after the silver kitsune that was taking his mother away. He noticed that the two other scary demons that had been standing there with him were following as well.

 

Shippo now felt like a hostage. He also felt it was his fault that Kagome fell victim to the silver kitsune's sleep powder. He should have noticed it faster and got Kagome away from it safely. Now they were being taken away by three powerful demons that didn't seem scared in the least that Kagome was a skilled miko. Shippo turned his worried gaze up to the kitsune that had thrown Kagome over his shoulder. He didn't seem very nice or caring but then again, neither did the other two demons behind him. Shippo felt trapped and scared and there was nothing he wanted more than to curl up in Kagome's protective embrace and hide from these demons that were kidnapping them.

 

What did they want with them anyway? They had Kagome's shards right? So why had they decided to knock Kagome unconscious and take her away. Shippo knew that they didn't worry about grabbing him because they probably figured he would follow wherever they took Kagome, which was right. It was his fault they were in this situation in the first place so he needed to do anything he could to keep Kagome safe. Where were they anyway? He glanced around briefly before quickly moving closer to the kitsune in front of him. There were deadly plants everywhere. He knew only because he was a kitsune and could sense the danger from the immobile plants. It seemed that escaping wouldn't be so much of an option…

 

“It would be wise not to attempt an escape kit. These plants will devour you within seconds.” Youko stated coldly, only drawing more fear out of Shippo.

 

“What do you want with us?” he sobbed, tears beginning to gather in his eyes.

 

“You will not be harmed as long as you follow directions.” the kitsune replied, ignoring his question.

 

“But what about Kagome…” he murmured, trying to hold back his tears.

 

“She will not be harmed either; as long as you both follow instructions.” the elder kitsune rephrased emotionless.

 

“Why are we even taking them Youko?” Shippo turned to see the bat demon staring at his silver kitsune comrade in question.

 

“If we have not only the shards those two hanyou's are after but the miko as well, it can make things far more interesting. It's obvious both hanyous will come in search of her.” Youko stated, although he wouldn't admit that he was secretly curious to learn more about the miko. She was quite a puzzle in his eyes and everyone knew Youko Kurama couldn't resist something as tempting as this.

 

Hiei smirked. “I always did like the way you're mind worked fox.”

 

Shippo remained silent, listening to his caper's conversation as he followed the kitsune toward a large rock wall covered in vines. So the reason they were kidnapping them was because they wanted to get Inuyasha and Naraku to come find them? Did that mean that these demons wanted to fight both hanyous? But why would they want to do that… and was that why they'd stolen Kagome's shards in the first place? He watched in amazement as the vines parted and showed an entrance to a large cave. After they entered, the vines recovered the entrance, dashing any last hopes he may have had for escaping.

 

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A/N:

 

Ok I'm sure if any of you have read any of my other fics; you've probably realized that the chapters for this fic are shorter. All I have to say about it is this: do you know how hard it is to make chapters twice as long as this? I'm not expert at writing and I don't have enough ideas to fill this entire fic and make it as many chapters as I want. I like making sure my fics are at least 10 chapters long so I'm going to keep these chapters half as long as my other fics before this. I'm hoping that ill be able to get more than 10 chapters for this fic. Thank you for all your guys support, really couldn't do this without you

 

~*Icyfire*~

 

Next Chapter - Chapter Three: Scattered Puzzle Pieces