InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Before There Was You ❯ Chapter Five: Dog Breath and Demon Ears ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: Don't own Inu. Do own four mismatched decks of playing cards.

A/N: Ah, four chapters, two reviews. That IS a little depressing, isn't it? Anyway, thank you for your continued support. There are a number of reasons that my updates have slowed down considerably. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, I've gotten myself into too many projects! Haha. I have so many open and running fics right now that even someone who writes like a madwoman like I do, sadistic muse glaring over my shoulder all the while, can't pull out a chapter of each story every two or three days. I've decided to focus my energies a little more than usual and take the fics that are closest to finished and focus my energies on them first, so that I can then dive back into newer works. This process has already taken out my GW fic, "So This is Love", and "Before There was You" is the next logical choice, so lucky lucky, whoever is reading this fic. Once I'm down to two or three fics again I should be able to get stuff out a bit quicker. Second, I have I.F.W.B. just now. For anyone who needs a translation, that stands for Inuyasha Fanfic Writer's Block. I'm just totally stumped on all things Inuyasha right now, dunno why. But, maybe if Inu could stop by with tetsusaiga he can chop it down for me. *hopes and prays* And finally, another big one, I got a second job recently and am now working fifty hour weeks, though this isn't as much as it sounds, it's more than I'm accustomed to, and there are times when I have to choose between writing fanficiton and sleep. And on days when I get in from work at 12:30 am and have to be up for work again at 5 am, let's just say, sorry folks, sleep wins that one. I am doing my best though, so please please be patient with me. I PROMISE I WILL finish each and every one of my fics. It's just going to take a bit longer than anticipated.

For anyone who is reading this (and not reviewing, you dorks) and finds the plot confusing, if you stick with me, I promise, by the end you will understand what is going on. I didn't want to let everything out right away and I know that as it stands there are a LOT of questions that are unanswered. Mysteries will be revealed as I proceed, and if any of my explanations don't make sense to you, then REVIEW AND TELL ME SO!!! I'll explain it better either to you personally in a notation, or in one of the future chapters of the fic. With all the time-hopping, things are sure to be a bit confusing, but I don't think any more confusing than the series, where time-hopping is the norm. (There I go with the babbling again.)

Now, I'm not a huge fan of repeating myself, but since this is part of an arc, to prevent people from being too confused, I will, once again, list the fics in this arc in their proper order:

"Falling Over You", "All he Needs", "After Love", "Before there was You"(this fic), "Love Like Water" (coming sometime after this fic is completed)

And so, bleh, and et cetera. On with the story. . .

~~~

"Before There Was You"

by: Banshee Puppet

Chapter Five: Dog Breath and Demon Ears

~~~

There was something she needed to do. She knew it better than anyone. Things that she needed to discover, but she had grown out of the habit of sleeping alone, so it was uneasily that she did so now. To find out the truth about Naraku and his relation to her, or lack thereof, this was her goal. And she had decided, certain things were worth the risks they entailed. She made this decision because, in truth, the only person who would have the answers she sought, was her, the witch of Kunukanai. Not that she knew where to start looking, but it was all she really had to go on.

And her dreams were wretched these days. Since encountering Naraku, they seemed more vivid, and new dreams were beginning to surface. Small hands, covered with blood, a red world, a man and woman torn to bits on the floor, and eyes, silver eyes. They weren't Naraku's eyes, or hers, but they were eyes that she knew as well as she knew Sesshomaru's eyes, or Rin's. How did she know them? And whose were they? Those bright, omnipresent silver eyes.

She awoke with a start and a gasp, instinctively looking down at her clawed hands. No blood, there was no blood there, but why did this surprise her? Why was she expecting to find blood on her hands? She'd never killed before, not really, her hands had never been covered with such messy, bloody death as that, though she'd seen it often enough, and though it was distasteful and she had an aversion to it, it was by no means grotesque to her. It was just so much of what living was that she'd come to expect it, hadn't cared much to say it was something forbidden, or something sacred. It just was. It just. . .was.

But in her dream now, she saw silver eyes in a red world. Everything so vague. When she tried to latch onto an image, any image, it fell away from her. A woman's corpse, "m-momma?", mangled, torn to shreds, tragedy, heartache, confusion, and silver eyes in a red world, and she wakes up screaming as bloody claws scratch across her vision, drowning out the silver, and a small pink light pulses its way into her waking thoughts.

She gasps. `The. . .the shard!" her voice, a harsh whisper, echoes through the night. "It just. . .has to be, but. . .how? I need to know, even if I have to sell my soul to the devil himself, I need to know."

~~~

"Sesshomaru-sama? Where's Kuma?" Rin asks, wide brown eyes hopeful and pouty at the same time.

"She went away Rin."

"She took a trip? When's she coming back? Rin is gonna miss Kuma."

"She isn't coming back Rin, not for a long time at least."

Sesshomaru's breath caught in his throat and he frowned deeply. He knew that look she was giving him now only to well. `Oh no. No. Don't cry Rin. Please don't cry. It. . . bothers me when you do that,' he thought. The girl's tears were an annoyance, the emotional nature of which he'd never bothered to put a name on. All he knew was that he didn't like it, and that she was already sniffling, eyes getting all watery and salty smelling, and she was about to cause that odd, uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach, the one he never quite knew what to do about, and which, could not go away quickly enough for his liking.

"Don't cry," he stated flatly.

"You don't have to be so cold!" Kagome scolded him even as Rin hiccupped back her tears and ran over to the demon, hugging his leg. He didn't respond to it, but he allowed it, and from Sesshomaru, that was response enough, the girl knew.

"What are you planning to do?" Miroku finally asked the question that was on all of their minds. Whether he showed it or not, the Western Lord was in pain, and he had shown it, a bit, when he returned this morning he had looked exhausted, weary, tragic, his habitual frown, a deeper almost-scowl. That the cold Western Lord could look like that, it wasn't something anyone had really fathomed before. And Inuyasha could see the echo of that pain, still fresh, in his eyes now as he gave Rin a pat on the head, standing closer to his older brother than he had in a very long time and said, "hey Rin, why don't you let Sesshomaru sit down for a bit huh?"

"I do not need to sit," Sesshomaru tried to glare at Inuyasha. Sitting would be nice though.

"Keh," was Inuyasha's answer as he plopped Rin in Kagome's arms and sat himself, crossing his arms over his chest. "Don't be so stubborn."

Sesshomaru's lips tweaked slightly. "As I recall, brother, the stubborn one is you," he answered, seating himself rather more gracefully than the other and watching Rin sharing Kagome's lap with Shippo for a moment before Inuyasha said, "Answer Miroku's question. What are you going to do?"

"Nothing," Sesshomaru answered flatly. "It is not my place to interfere."

"That would be the wrong decision." Everyone jumped up at the sound of that voice. Tetsusaiga drawn before any further words could be spoken.

"What is it that you want, Naraku?" Sesshomaru spoke levelly, but the venom on his voice was proof enough of his distaste for the hanyou.

"I have come," Naraku said evenly, "to propose a temporary truce between our parties as we pursue the same goal."

"Feh," Inuyasha was about to charge when Sesshomaru stopped him.

"I want him dead as much as you do, brother, but I also want to know what he is up to," he said, staring coldly at the evil hanyou as if trying to read his very thoughts.

"Think what you will of me, dog demon," Naraku said. "But I will not let that girl die. I am loathe to admit it, and more loathe to ask assistance in the task, but the witch of Kunukanai is someone even I, Naraku, do not take lightly."

Sesshomaru couldn't explain the feeling that surged through his stomach at those words. But there was no doubting that his scent had been on her last night, or that there was something about him that she was keeping to herself. Was this. . . ? `Am I jealous? Of Naraku? No. Of course not,' he thought. "Naraku desires to protect a hanyou girl. Interesting. But I'm sure there must be a motive behind it. What do you want from her?"

"Fool," Naraku said a little bitterly. "Protecting her has been one of my most important motives, almost since the beginning. And I hate that it is. I will take on Ajika alone if I have to, but if I do so, then we will probably both die. And as much as you might rejoice my demise, Kuma is precious to you, is she not?"

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed. Of course she was, but that didn't make it any easier a pill to swallow when it was Naraku's voice laying that claim. What was he supposed to do? After a silence he says, "Ajika, is it? The witch of Kunukanai. You can slither back into the hole from whence you came, hanyou. I have no further need of you. I will not ally myself with the likes of you a second time. You cannot be trusted."

"Believe what you will, Western Lord, but that child is precious to me as well," Naraku said before vanishing into thin air.

~~~

Kuma leaned on her sword at the intersection. She'd been wandering for days now, with no idea where to go. Her feet were tired, she had a headache, and at the moment, no patience for decisions. Not to mention this whole area wreaked of wolves, and though she couldn't tell you why, it was a scent she was not all too fond of. Something genetic, perhaps.

"Where are you, witch of Kunukanai?" she mused quietly.

~~~

Kouga came to an abrupt stop as a particular scent came to his nose. Not many scents could make him stop like this. Kagome could, dog breath could, but this was neither of them. It wasn't even the scent of those damn birds of paradise. This was peculiar, because it was almost unheard of any longer.

`A cougar youkai?' he almost wondered if he was smelling things. Everyone knew that the cougar youkai were all but extinct these days, and to his knowledge, all those that remained served that tyrant witch in the South. So what the hell was a cougar youkai doing this far north this close to winter. Didn't they hate the cold? Cougars had been the biggest nuisance to the wolf tribes around here for a long time, he recalled. But one day, they just sort of disappeared. And who had been behind that? He didn't know the details, but he had heard that it was a cougar witch with more power than one person ought to have. `Ajika of the Kunukanai. She killed a lot of my tribe too back then, that bitch.'

He decided to investigate. What he found was a young cougar demon sitting Indian style at an intersection in the road. She looked one way, looked the other way, cocked her head to one side and sighed slightly. "Man, this aimless wandering is getting me nowhere fast," she complained, standing and dusting herself off, slinging the kagura over her shoulder again and stiffening when she noticed a presence. She hadn't picked up the scent because it was the same as the scent that drowned these woods, but there was no mistaking that there was someone watching her.

It was all Kouga could do not to laugh. THIS is what had concerned him so much? This hanyou? He almost fell over in amusement when she stood up and said, "I know you're there, so come out and stop wasting my time."

`Keh. She's not bad,' he mused, showing himself.

"What, praytell is a cougar hanyou doing this far North, I wonder," he slurred tauntingly.

Kuma looked him over in a cursory manner and all but dismissed him. "I wouldn't know anything about the habits of cougar hanyou," she said vaguely. "Seeing as I've only been one for half-a-year or so. I'm trying to find someone who has answers that I want."

Well now, this was a little interesting. "Oh reeallly? Do tell," he smirked mischievously.

She wasn't going to bother, but then she decided, he seemed to be familiar with this area, maybe he would know something.

"Oh! Asking the locals WOULD be smart, huh?" she laughed at her absentmindedness. "I'm looking for someone called `the witch of Kunukanai'. You don't know where she is, do you?"

Kouga's expression darkened, his posture stiffened. He'd just been thinking about her actually, weird. "What're you looking for her for?"

"Well, she's got the answers that I'm looking for. If I'm to believe what I'm told, then she wants me quite dead, but that's a risk I'm just going to have to take. Not going with a very reliable source here, after all. I have to find her quickly before anyone can come try to stop me."

Kouga thought about this for a few moments. The witch was very dangerous, but at the same time, she really did need to die, for what she'd done to his tribe so long ago, not that he was old enough to really take it personally, but still.

"I know where she used to be. Whether she's still there or not, that's another question entirely. I guess I can take you there."

"Why don't you just tell me the way. I don't want to get anyone else involved. There are a lot of strong people who are going to interfere anyway, so you'll only end up getting yourself killed, if I know them at all."

Kouga raised an eyebrow at her. "Do these strong people have names?"

"Sure do," she said. "Oh, you mean you want them?" she smirked at his "well, duh," expression.

"Geez, I was kidding. . .dork. Sesshomaru will probably come looking for me first, and if he comes, Inuyasha'll definitely tag along with Kagome and Miroku and Sango and everyone. And of course, stupid Naraku is gonna try to get in my way too. It'd be nice if they just left me alone, but it's not really in their nature to do so."

Kouga's jaw dropped a little farther with each name. Had he REALLY missed so much? She knew all these people. "You know dog breath? And Kagome?"

"Sure. Kagome's my best friend."

Kouga gave a cocky smirk. "Well then she's probably told you about me. My name's Kouga and. . ."

"Nope, sorry, never heard of you," Kuma returned absentmindedly. "Kagome has boyfriend-brain though, so you shouldn't be insulted. She really only ever talks about Inuyasha. She's cute when she's happy like that though, so I don't mind."

"b-b-b-BOYFRIEND!?!!!!" Kouga seethed.

"Ow. Loud much?"

~~~

okay, this is pretty short….sorry about that. Will try to write another chapter soon. I didn't know what to call this one, but I thought "dog breath and demon ears" was a fun title for an introducing Kouga chapter. I wasn't actually going to use him in this fic, but I figured, why the hell not? I'm not an expert on his character yet though, so sorry if he's ooc…why not, anyway, most of the other characters are "justifiably ooc" so I guess it's okay.