InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Blue Anshan ❯ Revenge 2 - Digging for the Truth ( Chapter 2 )

The Blue Anshan

By Alesyira

Summary: Some answers cannot be found no matter how hard you look for them.

Chapter Rating: PG.

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is owned by Rumiko Takahashi, and Yu Yu Hakusho is owned by Togashi Yoshihiro. OCs are my own. I make no profit from this piece of fiction.

Author's Note: Originally posted 5/7/07.

Arc 1 - Revenge 2 - Digging for the Truth

1500

I searched through the rubble of my uncle's home and the old battlefield for hours. Sweat dripped down my face as I pulled aside rotten tree trunks and tore my claws through blast furrows that had long since overgrown with new grass.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that digging holes in the dirt would get me nowhere, but the longer I searched unsuccessfully for any sign of their remains, the more that tiny glimmer of hope grew.

Grandfather and Grandmother should have had no difficulty taking on any invaders in our homeland, especially since my father's family had lived there for generations. That is, of course, youkai generations. My grandparents were both very skilled and experienced adults with a profound sense of connection to their land, and combined, their abilities would have been more than enough to easily defend their family and territory. My father's family had lived in this valley for a very, very long time.

It wasn't until I found the fang of my Grandfather did I truly believe they were dead. His striped markings were of a very rare sort, extending from the bridge of his nose and down his cheeks, passing through the flesh around his mouth to trace the length of his fangs. I found myself staring down at that single fang, stuck in a strangely apathetic memory of Sango passing along some (seemingly trivial at the time) youkai knowledge. Markings had a very important purpose in youkai society, displaying specific heritage or serving as a sign of royal lineage. Of course, they were less distinct (but usually non-existent) on youkai without humanoid forms.

I knew that Grandfather's striped fangs were uncommon from what I'd seen in my youth, and when I mentioned the fact to Sango, she replied that it was practically unheard of (and unnecessary) for a marking to form upon parts of the body that were not immediately visible. Her guess had been that it would defeat the purpose of identification, but I think I'd just found a good reason to argue.

I was a little disturbed to not find the rest of his bones anywhere near his fang. Unfortunately for me, searching for the bones of my wise and strong Grandfather wouldn't be as simple as stumbling across Sesshoumaru' s bones (should he ever decide to leave this plane of existence.) The elders in my family didn't grow larger with age and power, they gained extra tails. Grandfather was probably twice as old as Sesshoumaru, but while transformed, only half as large. He'd had six tails, though, I think.

I stopped for a moment to sigh in frustration and rub my dirty face across the too-short sleeve. I tried to ignore it, but a sense of hopelessness had invaded my head, and I had no idea who I would turn to for answers regarding my heritage.

I continued to dig with a growing sense of desperation, hoping against hopes that I would not find any further signs of their demise. The scent of moist earth cloyed in my nostrils; bits of dirt speckled my skin and stung my eyes. I ignored the annoyances and only stopped again after I'd found my Grandmother's weapon, shattered and faded beneath the trunk of a tree.

I choked on a sob. It was stupid to dig up an entire years-old battlefield to find proof they'd all died.

I turned my focus toward honoring their final resting place. It didn't take quite so long to (somewhat) replace the dirt, rocks, and grass I'd disturbed. Before I left to pursue my growing need for vengeance, I said a prayer to honor their spirits and memory.

-o-

Daybreak found me crouched in another tree, watching one of the oft-used entrances to the mogura lair. There had been no sign of activity as I'd approached a few hours earlier, so I suspected their sense of hearing probably warned them of any approaching creature, even while still underground.

The entire day passed without any sign of life from below, although that wasn't surprising, given their nocturnal nature. I knew they were here. The dirt around the three-foot wide hole reeked of their scent and there were obvious trails in the immediately surrounding area.

As evening grew near and my patience grew thin, I was slightly surprised to see a child run from the entrance I'd watched for so long.

"Child!" I heard the older woman's sharp hiss well before she came barreling out of the darkness. "It is not yet dark! Do not go outside!" She ran after the young youkai with her massive arms outstretched. The mogura had an interesting body structure that had evolved to assist their underground lifestyle. While humanoid in appearance, their upper bodies were shorter and tucked into a permanent slouch; their arms were long and heavily muscled and their fingers tipped in deadly sharp claws. The species excelled at quickly tunneling through the most stubborn earth, but lumbered around rather slowly while above-ground and couldn't see very well for some reason or another.

The child sobbed and cried as he was caught, calling for his father. "Hush, young one! He is not coming back!" she whispered harshly. Her eyes squinted against the glare of the setting sun as she scanned the nearby woods. The fear visible on her face seemed out of place for the supposed killers of my extended family... unless they already knew I was here for revenge. She quickly ushered the child back into the safety of their den while glancing back over her shoulder, leaving me to my thoughts.

I felt a bit confused at their apparent lack of aggression. Well, I was confused about the whole situation, really. Why would a peaceful group of nocturnal, underground youkai possibly want control over the forest where my grandparents lived?

Wouldn't it have been easier to just dig underneath the desired area, since they all lived down there, anyways? I could maybe agree with a dispute over something like a cave in a prime location with a spring and natural heating, but none of that fit this situation.

And why would a newly aggressive group of moles huddle in fear from a single youkai? Even if they had caught some of my family by surprise, it still would have been a deadly fight, so if they won, then surely...

But that woman did say something about his father not coming back. Maybe my grandparents took some down before their demise.

I didn't dwell on my confusion and the morose possibilities for very long before my mind worked its way back around to ideas on how to stage my attack. They lived underground and suffered from poor eyesight, so I reasoned they probably needed excellent hearing or the ability to sense vibrations in order to adequately protect their kind.

Any attack I wanted to make would need to be swift and silent to avoid an early (and costly, if they got their hands on me) retaliation. I'd need to use a smaller form in order to slip in and out, but I wasn't sure how I could change and still make use of the liquid fire... But of course, the flammable liquid that I could expel from my fingertips would still be the best offensive choice for now. I had no real control over anything else I might be able to use in an attack, and so the familiar and reliable would have to do.

I would be able to sneak in and lay a scattered path of the blue goop, lighting it after I'd made some distance through the tunnels. In my anger, the foxfire would probably burn everything it touched.

I waited and watched the lair, following some instinct that made me pause and examine the situation. At least it gave me some extra time to think about my 'plan' (and maybe even practice my shapeshifting a little). No other members of the mogura clan emerged from their den that night, not even for food or water. The sun rose again and I held firm to my patience and continued to wait.

When the moon once more became visible in the darkening sky, an old mogura female with a dark, heavily wrinkled face and oddly skinny arms came hobbling out of the entrance used by the two a day before. "What business do you have here, stranger?" called the old crone as she stared unblinkingly up at my perch. "You have been here for too long, neither approaching nor retreating."

I suppose I'd expected some kind of delayed reception as they amassed their forces, but this obviously non-violent questioning was (once again) completely out of place, and I almost didn't know what to say.

A moment passed in silence as I regarded her tired posture. When I answered her question, it was with a quiet strength that I certainly did not feel. "I have come to find the monsters responsible for the death of my family."

Her expression remained passive and cool, hiding any revealing reaction to my words. "You shall find no such thing here, young one."

A sort of disbelief and rage clouded my vision for a moment. How could she tell me that?! Was I looking in the wrong place? Was she lying?

"We grieve for your loss as we grieve for our own," she murmured. Okay, that made things a bit clearer, and I felt the swelling rage fizzle out. Inuyasha had always been quick to anger, but I like to think that I learned enough about controlling frustration and anger through Kagome's example. (After all, she learned to deal with Inuyasha in a more civilized manner without removing his ears...) But still, I was quite annoyed.

"What do you mean? Your kind waged war on my family and decimated everything." I couldn't hide the tone of anger in my voice, but I managed to remain mostly straight-faced. Because I hadn't witnessed the battle, I had to give the woman a chance to speak, but the evidence and the man I'd spoken with had helped suspicion take firm root.

The old woman sighed, although it was more in regret than annoyance. "That may be partially true - but those who went against our peaceful ways never returned from their quest for destruction." She turned her eyes toward the moon as it peeked out from behind one of the few clouds in the night sky. She remained silent for a moment longer, and whatever brief thoughts passed through her mind caused her expression to harden into one of anger. "A shard of terrible power came into the hands of one of our own, and he turned vile and cruel. He gathered those who would follow him and left the den."

She looked down at the ground before meeting my gaze once more. "They've been gone for two winters now. They claimed to want to bring back treasures and ownership of new territory, but in truth, we lost something far more valuable."

If the mogura had come to possess a shard of the Shikon no Tama, then those that had left the lair were most likely dead. I know that our group never encountered mole youkai on rampage, and every shard had been recovered and returned to Kagome... So if they were still alive, then surely they would have come home, but I'd bet my left arm that Naraku had retrieved their shard.

You know, curiosity will eventually be the death of me, but today it merely earned me a look of incredulity. "So, what did the bad mogura take with them that was so valuable?"

She must have stared at me for a good five minutes. "You are a fool. Have you no sense of family? Surely your loss must have made you feel some kind of pain..."

I shrugged slightly and finally dropped to the ground to stand before the wizened old youkai. If I'd been heartless and set on my planned path of revenge, I probably could have easily snapped this old lady in half and gone on to slaughter most of the mogura survivors before they'd had a chance to react.

"Do you know if any of my family survived?" I asked, trying not to hope for a positive answer.

"I know nothing of their fate. If any survived, they would not have sought our assistance, as it was our kind that had attacked them."

I suppose that should have been the obvious answer, but the knowledge that my grandmother had been good friends with this woman made me believe that she would have known something... some time passed in silence as we stood in the darkness. Neither of us looked at the other, nor did we choose to part ways. It was as though we both had more to ask, but had no way to approach it tactfully.

She broke the silence first. "Why did you seek them out now? It has been years since that battle."

I smiled wryly. 'If only she knew...' Even though the mogura clan had been left crippled in the wake of the Shikon shard, I had enough common sense to trust my instincts and not tell the old woman about my desire to learn how to use my newly-developed abilities. To do so would practically be inviting those within to extract whatever twisted sort of vengeance they saw fit for the disappearance of their loved ones.

Well, like Kagome said once, anything's possible.