InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Step in Life ❯ Garden of Death ( Chapter 5 )
Zephyr: School's almost over!!!! Yaaaaaay!! Two weeks!!!! And then I'll have plenty of time to update! Sorry that it's taking a while to get updates written and up. I have too many school related projects that I have to do and it just takes forever to do. ::sighs::
Ascot: Then she comes and complains to us…
Soujiro: ::sipping a cup of tea:: Yup…
Ascot: How can you drink tea at a time like this?!
Soujiro: I'm thirsty…
Zephyr: ::pulls out a bottle of Strawberry Daiquiri and takes a giant swig::
Ascot: O_O….
Zephyr: I hate to imagine how bad my sophomore year will be… ::sighs deeply::
Soujiro: ::pats Zephyr's back sympathetically::
Zephyr: I'm writing this at 11:00 PM. I have a test tomorrow.. I hope I pass it so I can at least raise my Public Speaking grade to a B… I've got a high C+… a HIGH C+… yaaaaaaay… ::falls asleep leaning against Soujiro::
Soujiro: Well… here's Chapter 4… enjoy…
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Disclaimer: I don't have time for this… I have tests and finals to prepare for…
~* A Step in Life *~
Chapter 4: Garden of Death
By: Zephyr Luana Minamino
The group had just finished dinner. It was around six and InuYasha had decided that they would make camp in a small grove. So while he went off to fetch firewood, after some persuasion from Kagome, while the others set up the tent and sleeping materials. Miroku was helping Kagome set up the tent. Sango was gathering up Kagome and her bath items, and Zephyr was helping Shippou clear the area for a fireplace and sleeping area for the men. By the time InuYasha returned, the tent was set up perfectly, Kagome, Zephyr, and Sango's sleeping bags were set up, and the girls had already left for a bath with Shippou. Miroku was sitting by the would-be fireplace, placing rocks in a circular shape. InuYasha dumped some of the wood in the circle and the rest near the tent before sitting down in front on a log near the fire, which Miroku had begun to light. Soon bright big flames danced upon the wood and kindling in a mysterious fashion. The two men bathed in the warmth of the fire while waiting for the girls to return so that they may take a bath afterwards.
Kagome, Sango, Zephyr, and Shippou left the camp as soon as it was set up in search of a nearby hot spring. Zephyr was leading them, with Shippou in her arms, towards the nearest spring. It was about 20 meters away and the girls were a bit exhausted from the trip, but immediately lightened up as they spied the wondrous site of the steaming hot springs. Quickly undressing, they leapt anxiously into the water and relaxed in the soothing water.
"This is muuuuuuch better…" Sango sighed as she leaned back against one of the large warm rocks surrounding the spring.
"You said it," Kagome replied following Sango's example.
"Kagome… what is this stuff?" Zephyr asked as she poked the shampoo bottle questionably.
"It's shampoo. You wash your hair with it. It cleans and strengthens your hair and then you follow with a conditioner which smoothes all the knots in your hair out and makes it easier to brush it. The last one is a soap which you use to clean your body with." Kagome explained as she swam over to Zephyr.
"Oh… I've never used sham..poo before… can you eat it?" Zephyr asked and picked up the conditioner and took a deep sniff of it.
"No… it wouldn't taste very good anyway," Kagome said, pouring a little bit of shampoo in her hand and massaging it in her hair.
"Mmmmmmm… smells sooooo pretty!" Zephyr purred as she followed Kagome and Sango's movements.
So Kagome showed Zephyr the wonders of shampoo, conditioner and soap. Then Zephyr proceeded to give Shippou the same treatment as Kagome had shown her. Shippou was thrilled to be getting so much attention. After the bath, all four of them smelled like strawberries and crème (1). Gathering up their bath articles, they pulled on their robes, which had been a gift from Kagome's mother, except for Shippou who was wrapped in a towel, and headed back to camp. Upon arriving, InuYasha and Miroku stood up with their items and headed off to the springs. The girls headed into the tent and changed into their pajamas. Kagome was surprised that Zephyr had a pair of pajamas of her own, but sure enough, the little youkai child pulled out a pair of cotton pajama top and bottoms that was covering in designs of little stars and moons and pulled them on.
"I didn't think that they had pajama's like that here…" Kagome mused as she looked at Zephyr Pj's.
"Well… I don't think they do. I borrowed yours one afternoon and made a sort of copy of yours with some material I bought at a town a while back. They're sooo comfy, I just had to have a pair!" Zephyr explained as she rubbed her hands against the fluffy material.
Sango looked on in wonder, admiring the handiwork of the youkai child. It was almost an exact copy of Kagome's save for the design. Kagome's was a pretty light pink color.
"I can make you a pair if you want me to, Sango ne?" Zephyr smiled and bounded over to where Sango was seated.
"That'd be cool. Thanks Zephyr," Sango said tiredly and laid down on her sleeping bag, another gift of Kagome's mother.
"Your wel..come San..go…" Zephyr slurred sleepily before nodding off to sleep.
Kagome shook her head and beckoned for Shippou to crawl over. He was wearing one of Kagome's nightshirts and it was way too big for him. He climbed into Kagome's sleeping bag and snuggled right up next to her and they both joined Sango and Zephyr in sleep. When InuYasha and Miroku returned, InuYasha peeked inside the tent quickly before rejoining Miroku by the fire. They talked for a few minutes, mainly about Sango and Kagome, and then about where to go next, then strange enough… about Kouga, before lying down and falling asleep.
The next morning, the sun shone brightly upon the group. InuYasha, who sleeping a tree, wasn't affected too much because the tree's foliage shaded him from the rays, but the others were a different story. Miroku woke slightly agitated as the sun's light glared into his eyes. He pulled himself reluctantly out of his `bed' and started the fire back up. He briefly considered sleeping in a tree before letting that idea drop at the thought of him falling out and breaking his neck. Instead, he pondered on what Sango was doing at this moment… or rather what she was dreaming of.
Sango twitched in her sleep. The tent wasn't providing much shelter against the sun, so she was suffering from the sun's glare as well. Dragging herself up, she glared at the windows and vowed never to sleep in this spot ever again. Seeing Kagome sleeping peacefully was agitating her slightly but she ignored it and changed out of her yukata and into her slayer's outfit and then pulled on her usual kimono. Fully dressed, she stepped out into that dreaded sun and looked around, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the brightness. Miroku was sitting by the fire watching something cook in a pan. Hopefully edible. InuYasha was relaxing in a tree, dozing off. Walking up and looking over Miroku's shoulder, she investigated on what was cooking. For once it was actually looking appetizing, and that alone was strange for something Miroku cooked. And it smelled delicious.
"What are you making, Miroku?" Sango asked.
Miroku jumped and quickly turned around but upon seeing Sango's face, he calmed down a bit. "Don't do that. Anyway, I'm frying some eggs up. Kagome showed me how to make it."
"I hope it tastes as good as it smells…" Sango sighed and sat down by the fire.
While the two sat, waiting for the eggs to finish frying, neither of the two happened to notice plant vines twitching and crawling around the camp. A few minutes later, Kagome, Shippou, and Zephyr walked out of the tent and joined Sango and Miroku. Kagome and Shippou were up and lively, but Zephyr still looked asleep. Upon Kagome's exit from their tent, InuYasha jumped down and joined the group as well, sitting across from Kagome. Miroku removed the eggs from the pan and served them out to everyone, looking mighty pleased at himself. Everyone else took them happily, but Zephyr took one look at the eggs and nearly gagged. Putting on a fake smile, she kindly declined the offer and went to her bag looking for something else to eat.
"No offense Miroku-sama… I can't stand eggs… no matter how well they're cooked. I could never stand them."
"Oh okay," Miroku returned to eating his eggs.
"Ohhhhhhhh… what'd I'd do for a nice cool glass of milk!!" Zephyr whined while pulling out a container of smoked meat and started to eat it.
"You should come to my house sometime. We have plenty of milk, but I can't bring it here cause I have no way of keeping it cool and it'd spoil," Kagome said between bites. "These are really good Miroku. Congratulations on making something edible for once!"
"Yes, he can make two things without killing us. We've got some work to do Kagome…" Sango sighed and took another bite of her eggs.
The group then ate in silence. Every so often there'd be a rustle of the brush but they brushed it off. InuYasha and Zephyr would tense up sometimes but then ignored it. InuYasha only hoped it wasn't Kouga. They were getting close to his territory and he didn't really feel like running into him at the moment. Zephyr kept looking towards the brush on her left every time something moved. Soon she got fed up with it and went over to investigate. But when she walked over and looked behind and through the bushes, nothing was there. Just some vines. But as she turned around to go back to the fire, something sprung up and curled around her and pinned her arms to her side. Another pair wrapped around her legs and neck, binding her legs and cutting her air supply. Looking down she saw the source of her captor. It was those vines. And that was the only sign that the vines need and instantly sprung towards the rest of the group. They didn't have any warning when the vines wrapped around them. InuYasha ripped out of their grasp a couple times before the vines finally got a grasp around each of his wrists and neck and shoved him up against a tree and tied him up there. Sango's boomerang was against a tree by the tent and she couldn't get anywhere close to it. Miroku's staff was also lying by that tree, lying on the ground by the other weapons. Each of them were helplessly pinned and wrapped up in vines. None of them could do anything. Zephyr's water and ice had no effect and Kagome's purifying powers as well.
"Well well well… isn't this a predicament. Never thought that dog turd would get caught up in a bunch of vines… how sad," a voice rang out snidely from the trees.
InuYasha fumed while Kagome lit up brightly that they had a savior.
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Zephyr: Ehhhhh.. I can't figure out how to spell Sango's weapon's name…. ::sweatdrops::
Soujiro: ::sighs::
Zephyr: Yah.. and I hate eggs.. eggs are nasty.. milk is gooooood!! ^_^
Ascot: Milk is goooood!!
Zephyr: Yaaaaaaaaaah and strawberries and crème is smells sooooooooooo good!! That's why they're using Strawberries and crème shampoo and conditioner!! =^-^=
Ascot: Well… R+R!!
Zephyr: YAAAAAAAH!!!