InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Horrible Fairy Tale ❯ One-Shot

A Horrible Fairy Tale by: Sakura

A/N Here's what happened before `Across Time'. A prelude, if you will.

~*~*~*~*~*

Matoko happily played with her older brother, Ryu. She was very fond of him; in a lot of ways, he was like their father, Inu Yasha. Inu Yasha had fallen in love with another human named Himiko, several years after the Shikon no Tama. After seeking all the fragments of the Jewel, Kagome had returned to her own time period. Surprisingly, Miroku had married Sango, and they had a child together; naming him Kohaku, in honor of Sango's deceased brother. Before, Miroku had been anxious to find someone to "bear his child", in fear that his death was near, but he stopped worrying over this after his marriage to the demon exterminator.

Inu Yasha sat outside with Miroku as the two talked about something that seemed important to the both of them. Miroku had said something about it being very urgent, and that it was to happen very soon. Both Ryu and Matoko wanted to know what it was that got their father and family friend so excited.

"...it's a war between the demons and the humans. I've heard the humans are getting weary of having `monsters' terrorize them, and damaging their homes. They want every living human or demon apart of this." Miroku averted his gaze from the hanyou's. "Men are to fight, while the women cook and tend to the soldiers."

Ryu turned back to his sister. "Does that mean Daddy has to fight in the war?" Matoko asked her brother. "And you too?" she added. The older one nodded and began walking up to his father and Miroku.

"I'm ready," he began. "If the humans are tired of us, then we'll fight, and then show them that we're stronger!"

"Ryu, humans and demons have been fighting this fight for over fifty years. Do you honestly think that a victory from you is going to change anything? You're forgetting that you're more human than demon." Inu Yasha had changed over his years of fatherhood. It seemed as though he had grown more mature than he had been while with Kagome.

Ryu sent an icy glare towards his father. "I hate humans," he spat, walking off. Miroku's eyes followed him until he was unable to be seen.

A moment later, a slender hand was placed on Miroku's shoulder. The owner of the hand was a beautiful woman with light brown hair and sky-blue eyes. "Ryu's been under some stress lately. He didn't mean what he said about humans." Ryu's mother, Inu Yasha's wife, was human, so it couldn't be possible that he hated humans.

Miroku stood, brushing off his clothes. "I should get going then." As he was walking off, he turned his head over his shoulder, saying, "Inu Yasha, remember what it was that I just finished telling you. Humans and demons- you should choose your side..."

~*~*~*~*~

As Miroku had said, it didn't take long for the war to start. A week after the monk had warned Inu Yasha and his family of the danger, that's when it all begun. The first night of the war, the hanyou had fled from the village, but was rumored by others that he had been killed. His family knew that he wouldn't have died so early in the war, but also worried for him.

Ryu had become the main man of the house, so it was his job to protect his mother and sister from the demons that would attack; after thinking through what his father had told him, Ryu had decided to side with the humans rather than the demons. Ryu also had the duty of protecting anyone of the village from the demons. He was much stronger than the humans who already had that job, so he made it his toil to protect them all.

There hadn't been many battles around the area lately. That was probably because their village was too deep in the woods for any demon to see by their eyes alone. So most of the time, no one in this village was alert. They had no idea of the upcoming danger.

"Matoko, go check the storage for more rice," Ryu instructed his sister. "There's a pack coming..." Matoko had no idea what her brother was talking about, but she did as she was told. She didn't smell anything as she made her way to the kura, in search of more rice.

After searching and counting all the rice sacks in the kura, Matoko began to head back to the house. As she continued down the path towards the house, she was sure that she smelt smoke and a slight tint of human blood. It was nothing new to her; the smell of blood and smoke seemed to be the normal. Everyday, corpses of human and demon could be seen.

Matoko reached the house and stared in horror at the sight before her. There laid the bodies of most of the humans that had lived in their village. She frantically searched for her mother and Ryu. Her nose wasn't as good as her father's, but she tried her hardest to pick up the scent of her family. Her mother's human scent was the strongest, so Matoko ran towards it.

There, by the front door of the hanyou's house, lay Himiko's beaten body; she was lying in a pool of her own blood. By the looks of it, it would seem that Himiko died almost instantly. Another familiar scent soon reached Matoko's nose- it was the smell of her brother, Ryu.

She turned to face him, tears streaming down her cheeks. Ryu too seemed to be badly beaten for his left arm hung limply by his side and a deep gash ran through his left eye. Looking down at his mother's dead form, he reached out and held a sobbing Matoko in his arms. Moments later, they were running off into the woods.

~*~*~*~*~

The siblings had been offered to stay with Miroku and his family. He had been informed of the death of Himiko and the disappearance of Inu Yasha. Matoko left most of her dinner and ended up leaving the room in tears.

"Is she going to be alright?" Sango asked, clearing up the table. "You're her only family, Ryu, and I honestly don't think that you're ready for a responsibility so big."

"He'll do fine, Sango. They are Inu Yasha's children; they have strong traits from him, I'm sure."

Though it was true that Inu Yasha was indeed Ryu and Matoko's father, his leaving the family had brought hatred inside of Ryu. He had neglected to mention his father's name to anyone, and if asked, he and Inu Yasha were not related, and Ryu was a human. The thing about this was that Ryu now had the attitude of Inu Yasha when he was traveling to find the shards of the Shikon no Tama.

"You can sleep in Kohaku's room if you'd like. He's had a fever the past few nights, but I figure you'll be fine," Miroku said smiling and putting an arm around his wife's waist.

~*~*~*~*~

The next morning was almost like all the others during these past three years. Matoko was to be twelve and Ryu was now sixteen. And though the years dragged on, so did the war; sadly, it had gotten worse- more half-breeds were being born and neither the humans nor the demons accepted them to fight on their side. And though Matoko was mostly human, she looked like her father, with his pointed dog ears, and occasionally had stones thrown at her. Ryu too had the look of a demon, but very little; his human ears were slightly pointed, had long silver hair, golden eyes, and small fangs. Villagers were stupid for they thought of Ryu as a human, whereas Matoko with her dog ears was not treated very friendly. Today was the last time; Matoko had decided to run away from the village to live on her own. She thought that if she acted like a demon, the villagers would fear her, and then they wouldn't throw rocks...

As Matoko crossed through the woods, her sensitive doggy nose picked up on the many smells of the forest. She smelt mostly blood, but also the scent of another enemy: a wolf demon. She trudged on, and the wolf scent got stronger. Then she saw him as she looked around a growing bush.

It was a wolf demon alright, but he seemed to be young, not quite as young as Matoko, but a few years older. Oddly, this youkai wasn't with a pack or a wolf guide. He didn't smell of blood, so Matoko walked up to him. The wolf growled, barring his teeth; he obviously didn't want company.

"Why are you out here alone?" Matoko asked timidly.

The wolf stopped suddenly. "I could ask you the same," he sneered.

Matoko was at a lost of words. She didn't want to tell him that she had run away from mere villagers for he didn't seem to be very cowardly. So she looked down, looking at nothing but dead grass.

"My pack was killed during the war... I lost them all. Don't be sorry," the wolf said, for he seemed to know what Matoko was going to say next, "My name's Jaeger, brother of Koga, former leader of the wolf tribe that lived around here."

"Oh," Matoko started. "My name's-"

"-don't care. Come on, we better go, or they'll find us here."

Well, there was one thing Matoko already knew about Jaeger: he was extremely rude.

~*~*~*~*~

After building a small fire, Jaeger sat in the dirt, trying to make himself comfortable. He and Matoko hadn't talked much on there way; it was mostly just Jaeger interrupting what it was that Matoko had been trying to say.

"So, what is your name?" Jaeger asked. "Where you from, what's your past? Jeez, I've told you everything about me, and you can't even give me your name."

"I've been trying to, but you never give me the chance!" Matoko's eyes narrowed. "It's Matoko... Sorry for yelling at you, but-"

"-Drop it kid! You haven't got the right to yell at me; you're nothing but a puppy! Damn you..." Jaeger's personality was very strange. One minute he'd be half-joking around and the next he'd be furious. Matoko figured his mood swings were due to his independence during all these years.

The rest of the night had been extremely quiet, with the exception from a couple of owls in a nearby tree. By morning, other sounds such as the continuing war could be heard from about a mile away.

"We'd better, uh... go look for something to eat. You know...before the demons find you," Jaeger said after a while.

Matoko was surprised. "How did you know about...?"

"You have the horrible stench of a human." Jaeger turned to Matoko. "People would never have guessed from your looks alone. You look more demon than your father," he added.

"You knew my father?" Matoko kept her gaze on the wolf demon, but he had turned to avoid eye contact.

"Who doesn't? Now c'mon, I'm famished."

And so off they went: further into the woods, away from villages but closer to food. Jaeger had managed to bring down a small bird, but Matoko refused to eat it. They then found some berries and nuts, which seemed to make the hanyou very content.

"Tell me about your family, kid," Jaeger said after finishing up the remains of his breakfast.

"You already know about my father, so then there's only my mother and older brother to talk about."

"Hmm..." Jaeger seemed to be registering this information into his head, because he said nothing for a few moments. Then, "I want to know about your brother; tell me about him."

"Umm, well... his name's Ryu; he's four years older then me. He's really cool!" Matoko paused, then added, "He could move things with his mind... almost like a how a holy person has that kind of ability- Ryu was born with it. There was also my mother, Himiko, but she died early in the war."

"And your brother, Ryu... he also died in the war?"

It seemed that this morning, Jaeger was in a better mood than he had been last night. He was quite frightening when he was angry, but he was so nice now; and for some reason, so interested to hear about Matoko's family.

"Oh no! Ryu's alive; we were living with family friends after my mother died...and my father left. But I ran away for the soul purpose of turning myself into a demon, not in reality, but to change my habits. I had been too kind and so the villagers hated me. Ryu looks more human than I, so the villagers treat him with as much respect as they would their own kind. What I want to do is at least act like a full demon... like you!" Matoko said brightly.

"No, I don't want that...I like you just the way you are," Matoko blushed as Jaeger said this. "Become a demon and your life will be a living hell, trust me," he added.

"What about your family, Jaeger?"

"They were all killed in the war... I was too young to care. I have no regrets."

Just then, Jaeger stood up, sharply. He closed his eyes and pointed his nose to the sky; he had smelt something uncertain. He flashed his eyes at Matoko and told her they had to leave the area.

As they walked around the border line of forest and village, they came across a bow; next to it was a single arrow. But the arrow had been cracked in half.

"My brother was an excellent archer," the hanyou boasted in a very prideful manner.

"Shh..." Jaeger warned as they went to look behind a tree.

What they saw was a horrible mess of blood. The blood was splattered among the trees and brush; most of it covered the ground in a giant puddle. The two demons looked to the base of the tree and spotted a severely injured dog demon.

The demon looked no older than Jaeger: he had long silver hair and slightly pointed elfish ears. His sky-colored kimono was stained with a huge blood spot in the chest area. Matoko ran frantically to the demon's aid.

"Ryu! Ryu! Come on, Ryu, wake up!" she screamed, shaking Ryu's shoulders.

Ryu's opened his eyes slowly. His normally beautiful, sparkling golden eyes were now dull and lifeless; it was almost as if he were a zombie. He made an effort to give his sister a small smile. It was soon ended as he began to cough. Removing his hand from his mouth, he looked at his hand to see what caused his cough... it was blood.

"Hey, sis," Ryu said, wiping his hand on the grass. "I'm glad to see you again, before I..."

"No, Ryu, don't talk like that! We'll get Miroku and Sango; they'll help you!"

"I think they're dead." Ryu and Matoko looked shockingly at Jaeger. Following his gaze, they saw that they were indeed dead. Sango was cradling her son, Kohaku, and Miroku was on top, trying to protect his family (all in a heap on the bloodied ground). The monk's eyes were wide in either terror or in pain, no one could tell.

Matoko's eyes fell back on her brother. She asked him what had happened, and Ryu reported that an overly large demon had attacked them, probably mistakening him to be human.

Tears began to run down Matoko's cheeks as Ryu finished his story. She knew her brother wasn't going to make it, but something still wanted her to find help. Ryu was losing the fight to stay awake and he admitted that, honestly, he couldn't wait to pass to the next world.

"There'll be no more wars, no more of humans being treated better than us..." Matoko looked bewildered. This was the first time Ryu had considered himself a demon since Inu Yasha abandoned their family. "...don't you want that?"

"Of course I do, Ryu! But I want us to be happy together." Matoko pushed herself forward and embraced her brother. She felt his body go limp and she knew it was over. "Just a bit longer," she told Jaeger as he encouraged them to leave.

"Matoko, we have to go. Now," Jaeger continued. Something was wrong: Matoko could tell by her friend's tone, but she wanted to stay with her brother's body. Ryu had meant everything to her.

After a while, Matoko stood up, just as an arrow flew past her cheek. Jaeger must have seen this earlier, because he was no longer standing next to the hanyou; in fact, he was no where to be seen. Matoko began to panic as voices around her began to get louder. They must have been humans, because they're the ones who used arrows. Demons liked to rely on their fangs and claws.

Matoko ran for her life. She jumped small hedges and zigzagged through trees until she came to a small clearing. Jaeger was there, but so were a bunch of humans. Matoko was confused as to why Jaeger was just lying on the ground, but she soon saw it: there was an arrow that had gone through his leg, just below his knee.

He opened his mouth in an attempt to say something. A nearby human seemed to notice this because he walked over to Jaeger, kicked his injured leg, and then forced the arrow in deeper. The wolf demon yelped with pain.

"No!" Matoko was furious. She ran up to them and slashed the human next to Jaeger. Once he fell, she turned and let her face be known by the villagers. She then realized that these were the same villagers that she grew up when living with Himiko and Inu Yasha.

They too seemed to realize this, because they tried to convince her to join them and to let Jaeger die there. They said no harm would come to her if she were to join the human side. One villager told her how Ryu had joined with them, but he had run off and they hadn't seen him since.

"You didn't go and look for him? If you say no harm will come of me, then did you mean that of Ryu? My brother's dead thanks to you good-for-nothings! My mother also died in this war; did you tell her you'd protect her? You knew my father left, Mother was only human... What could she have done to a pack of demons?!"

Matoko began sobbing, but she wasn't quite done talking to the humans.

"Now you want to kill the only person I have left in this world. To me, my father's dead. He's been dead ever since he abandoned us. This demon here is the only one I find comfort in, and I won't let you kill him!"

Jaeger opened his mouth again, but he didn't look afraid about getting kicked. He didn't even look like he was in pain anymore.

"Damn it girl," he said propping himself up on his elbows. "Get the hell out of here! Forget me; if you know these village people won't hurt you, then go into that well! No one will be able to see or smell you down there- it already smells like death."

Matoko looked behind Jaeger and there was the well he mentioned. She ran up to Jaeger, noticing that the humans were beginning to lose interest and began to leave.

"Matoko, I told you to go," Jaeger said; his pain seemed to return.

"I want you to come with me; you can crawl to the well can't you?"

The wolf shook his head and placed a shaking hand to his chest. He brought it out and showed Matoko the blood from his chest wound.

"I never saw the second arrow... the one that did this," he said looking down at the blood dripping from his hand. "I already pulled it out," he added as Matoko began looking around for signs of the arrow. Her eyes widened. Pulling it out had to have been more painful than getting hit with it.

"But go, that well will save your life. It's just an ordinary well, but no one would dare look in there; it' just a bunch of old bones." Blood from Jaeger's chest wound began running along the grass and staining it.

"You're a sweet girl, and I don't think I could live if I knew you'd died... not that it looks like I'll live for much longer anyway. I began feeling something for you that night, I don't know what it was, but it made me feel warm and happy. It was...something that...something I never experienced with my family. Please Matoko, leave for the well. I beg of you; I love you."

Matoko blushed, but she too felt the same for Jaeger. She never got to tell him because then he said,

"...go on...!"

It was supposed to be an order, but after it was said, Jaeger dropped off his elbows and lay in the grass, his eyes closed. He wasn't dead for Matoko noticed his breathing was coming in slow but steady breaths.

She left Jaeger's side and walked over to the well. It smelt of death, but she did what was asked of her and climbed in. No sooner had she reached the bottom that she was then engulfed in a bright light....

~*~*~*~*~

Done at last. I know, weird ending, but this was a prelude fic, so it tells about this light in Across Time. Not that you don't already know what the light it; I have faith in my readers.

But anyway, for once I like what I wrote; especially the parts with Jaeger, he's my sweetie. I want to thank Identity Thief for helping me make a personality for the wolf pup.