InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Demon Blood ❯ Things to Come ( Chapter 5 )

"Demon Blood" by Jezunya

Chapter 5: Things to Come

Merry Christmas, y'all! Here's my gift to you - a new chapter!! Hope you like! ^_~

PS: I don't own Inuyasha, but he sure would make a great Christmas present! ^.~v

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Kagome slowly forced her eyes open, pushing herself upright and looking around groggily. Where on earth was she..? All around her was a thick black fog, obscuring her view in all directions. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself as it swirled around her, sending a cold chill down her spine.

Suddenly the fog seemed to clear a little and she could just make out a figure slowly making its way towards her. Baggy robes waved in the fierce wind, long hair whipping around his figure as he walked, and she could just make out the dog-ears on top of his head if she squinted.

What was he doing here? And, for that matter, what was she doing here? And where was 'here' anyway?! Shaking her head, she stood and started to jog toward him, calling out to him.

He looked up slowly, colorless eyes staring at her blankly.

Wait, colorless?

Kagome stopped in her tracks, frowning as she stared at him. What the heck was wrong with his eyes?! And.. Now that she looked, his clothes were black, and his hair… She took another hesitant step toward him. "Inuyasha..?"

"What?!"

Kagome blinked…and found herself back in Kaede's hut, awake despite the slightly less-pressing darkness of night around her. She rubbed her eyes with her good hand, looking around the hut blurrily, until her gaze fell on Inuyasha, propping himself up on his elbows by the fire, glaring up at her. "Uh.." she said intelligently, "did you say something..?"

Inuyasha scoffed loudly, scowling. "I should ask you that. You called my name.. twice!"

Kagome stared at him, feeling a blush slowly creeping up her neck and hoping he couldn't see it in the dark. "I, um.. It must've been 'cause I was dreaming, I guess…" she conceded softly, suppressing a shudder when she thought back on the dream. What on earth had that been about, anyway? It was like the color had been sucked out of him or something, and he didn't seem to recognize her at all… She shivered. Whatever it was, she had a bad feeling about it…

Over by the fire, Inuyasha shifted nervously and gave her a suspicious look. "Whadya mean you were dreaming?" You dreamed about me again..?

Kagome swallowed. She didn't really want to tell him about the dream. Knowing him, he'd take it all wrong and either call her a hentai for dreaming about him at all or would act like she was accusing him of turning evil, or hiding his 'true colors' or something like that.. which really would be a touchy subject, in light of the previous day's events. So, she went instead for a nice, safe fib.

"Oh, it was nothing important, really," she said, waving her good hand, "I was just dreaming that you were stealing all the ramen in the world and I kept trying to stop you and…" She cringed mentally. No way was he going to buy that!

Of course, when he got a look on his face like, 'Why didn't I think of that before?!' she just had to glare at him and add snappishly, "And it was a good thing I woke up right then, 'cause I was about to S-word you into oblivion in my dream!"

Inuyasha blinked and then scowled at her. He scoffed, rolling over onto his side, and pillowed his head on his arms back in the middle of the fire. "Keh. Trust you to have a stupid dream like that.."

Kagome glared at his back furiously, before huffing and leaning back against the wall with her arms folded. Okay, so it had been a stupid fib, but her real dream.. She shivered again, hugging herself. That was just creepy!

She closed her eyes and shook her head, lying back down on her futon and willing herself back to sleep.

***

The sun rose early the next morning, golden and hot, its light slowly making its way into the hut at the edge of the village to wake the inhabitants within.

Inuyasha let his eyes slide open slowly, allowing them time to adjust to the bright morning light before turning his gaze to scan the interior of the hut. The fire still crackled merrily around him, his aura having kept it alive through the night. Sango and Miroku were sleeping against the far wall, a rather obvious distance between them, and Shippou was curled up against Kagome's chest where she lay on the futon to his left.

He looked back over at the monk and demon exterminator, frowning slightly. Judging by the fact that he was still alive and whole, he guessed Kaede or Kagome had explained the situation to them. Not that he had needed them to, of course. It wasn't like he couldn't take on a couple of humans, even ones as powerful as Sango and Miroku. He snorted under his breath. Yeah, right…

He let his eyes slide closed for a moment again, before bracing his elbows beneath him to push himself up into a sitting position, and then rolling up onto his feet. Barely pausing long enough to glance back at Kagome's sleeping figure, he made his way silently out of the hut and into the morning sunshine.

Ketzia was waiting for him at the edge of the forest when he emerged from the human village.

"Figured you wouldn't be able to stay cooped up in there much longer," she smirked, and turned to lead the way back into the trees.

"I don't need a fucking escort, Ketzia," Inuyasha growled, rubbing the side of his head to clear the headache already building up there.

The she-dog pouted over her shoulder at him. "After what happened yesterday, you think I'm gonna let you wander around alone?"

"I'm fine!"

"Like hell you are!" Ketzia stopped and turned to face him, hands placed firmly on her hips. "First, you get put to sleep with that fucking miko's spell-" she ignored Inuyasha's angry snarl that she not talk about Kikyou that way "-and then you get attacked by your Shadow twice in one day! Somehow that doesn't strike me as 'fine,' Inuyasha!"

"Wait, what do you mean twice?! I only got hit once!"

Ketzia glared up at him, shaking her head, "No, I figured it out. When you blacked out after arguing with the human girl, you must have been attacked, but it couldn't do much damage because there was such a small window of time between when she left you and when I got there."

Inuyasha folded his arms stubbornly, scowling. "But you revived me almost immediately that time, so I don't see what the problem is."

"The problem is: it was all building up! The miko sealed your powers when she pinned you to that tree, and from what your mate's said, they still haven't completely returned-"

"That's another thing," Inuyasha snarled, cutting her off, "what the hell do you mean 'my mate' told you?!"

Ketzia blinked up at him, looking confused. "The human girl.. the one with the miko powers… Isn't she.. your..?"

"NO!!" Inuyasha practically screamed at her, his face reddening with both rage and embarrassment.

"But.. But I thought.. The way you act around her…"

Inuyasha covered his face with his hand, growling. "Just trust me on this, Ketzia. Kagome is not my mate."

"Well, yeah, I guess you would know..." she conceded, scratching the back of her head sheepishly. "Although, even if you haven't mated her," she added, grinning wickedly, "you gotta admit you do act like you want to…"

Inuyasha's face flamed all over again. "I DO NOT!!!"

Ketzia just laughed and turned to continue making her way into the forest, Inuyasha trailing sullenly behind her after a moment. "You can't really expect me to know these things, though..." she said softly after a moment, watching her feet. Inuyasha just snorted. Yeah, he knew - Ketzia had a damn crappy nose, and she didn't particularly like being reminded of it. She could barely find scents that should have been familiar and obvious for her, and even then she had to be right at the source of the smell to detect it.

Ketzia shook her head, sighing. "My point was, though, that the miko sealed your powers with her spell, and according to your- I mean, according to Kagome, they haven't returned in full yet. So you were already weakened when you were attacked the first time yesterday, and then even more weak after that, when you got hit the second time." She glanced back at him, a slight frown on her face, "So you can see why I'm worried…"

He scowled at the ground, letting out a soft, "Keh…"

Ketzia faced front again, smiling to herself as they came within sight of the camp Bannin and his soldiers had set up the night before. "In any case, I think it would make sense to delay our trip back to the Citadel a few days…"

Inuyasha looked at her sharply. "I thought you said we needed to leave as soon as possible…"

"Well, yeah," Ketzia shrugged, "but we really should give you time to build up your powers before we head back, and not just because of the Shadows.."

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at her. "What do you mean?"

They had stopped just outside of the clearing that had served as the dog-demons' camp site. Ketzia slowly turned to face him, her face scrunching up as she prepared to tell him the bad news. "Well, you know how you get around Yoru…"

"Keh! I can take that bastard any time, with or without powers!"

Ketzia hurriedly nodded, "Yeah, but on top of that.. well…" She looked down at the ground. "Shireisha's at the Citadel." She closed her eyes, waiting for the explosion. She didn't have long to wait.

"WHAT?!?!"

"Grandfather invited her!" she quickly added, hoping that would help. Fortunately, Inuyasha's respect for the ancient demon won out over his immediate outrage at the infringement upon his territory.

"Go on," he prompted, growling loudly.

"Well.. about a-a decade ago.. She and Gareron and Sess were fighting this dragon up north, and, well, Gare wasn't quite fast enough and, um…" She looked away, looking almost like she was going to be sick. "He got run through… Completely tore his chest apart…"

Inuyasha felt one of his eyebrows begin to twitch. "And I should care, why..?"

Ketzia turned wide, tearful eyes on him. "Because he died! And then Sess turned rogue and left Shireisha alone! So Grandfather took pity on her and had her move into the Citadel with the rest of us."

Inuyasha growled, looking away. Ketzia was getting all teary-eyed. She had always had a soft spot for handsome, happy-go-lucky Gareron, although he himself couldn't stand any of his full-demon half-siblings. Keh, just as well that they were down to just two out of the three now.

"There's also.. well…" Ketzia bit her lip, looking down at the ground as Inuyasha frowned at her.

"…What?" There were moreproblems back in the West?!

Ketzia shook her head, her face reddening. "Actually.. Um.. Never mind…" And with that she had turned and bolted away into the forest.

Inuyasha blinked. What was that all about?! Sighing long-sufferingly, he just shook his head and made his way into camp. Women…

Bannin lifted his great shaggy head from where it rested on his paws at the hanyou's approach, the three parallel slash scars on his muzzle made even more prominent by the fur surrounding them. He gave a small rumble of greeting, sitting up on his haunches. Inuyasha wrinkled his nose at him. Even sitting, the dog-demon towered over him by a foot or two. Sighing again, more irritated now, he turned to look back in the direction Ketzia had gone.

"You know what I don't get," he began, speaking half to the demon behind him but mostly to himself. "Is why you lot didn't send Mizu after me. I mean, c'mon.. Even I know there's nothing she could ask for that I wouldn't do.. But Ketzia on the hand… She's more like the annoying little sister of our group than anything else…"

"I believe it is probably because your sister has isolated herself from the rest of the court and is currently deep in mourning." Inuyasha whipped around to look at him sharply, not having noticed when he changed back into his humanoid form. Bannin blinked up at him blandly, still seated on the ground behind him.

Inuyasha growled. "What do you mean she's in mourning?" he demanded, turning to face the full-demon completely.

Bannin's eyes flickered toward the forest where Ketzia had disappeared as well before slowly continuing. "I believe the Lady Ketzia was about to inform you of this.. sad turn of events."

"What? What happened?!"

Bannin took a moment before he met Inuyasha's gaze, grey-green eyes clouded with sorrow. "I am truly sorry, Inuyasha-sama… Less than half a year ago, your sister's husband was killed."

Inuyasha could on stare at him in shock. His sister's husband… Mizuki's husband, Hatachi. Hatachi had been the second-born prince of a clan of water sprites, and had met Mizuki when he had found her swimming in one of their rivers. Mizuki's power was over water, so he had posed no threat to her. They had fallen in love and been married. Scarcely two years later, Inuyasha had left on his quest for the Shikon jewel.

He and Hatachi had become good friends in that time. Mizuki had previously been the only one he could really connect with, since they had had a very special bond through their opposite powers, and Hatachi had taken him in like a younger brother, teaching him to handle a sword and to fight beyond the simple survival skills he had developed when he had lived on his own. Hatachi had been one of the few family members who hadn't hated him and hadn't been hated in return.

"Why wasn't I told?" he ground out, squeezing his eyes closed and clenching his fists almost painfully tight.

Bannin sighed. "If you recall correctly, my Lord, you yourself were thought dead until only a few months ago." Inuyasha glared out at the full-demon through his thick bangs. He couldn't exactly argue with that logic, but still...

"So what finally clued you lot in that I was alive?" he asked, his voice flat as he turned away.

Again, Bannin sighed before responding. He sounded truly weary, knowing his news would not sit well with the half-demon prince. "Because it was yourShadow that slew Hatachi."

Inuyasha whipped around so fast he almost toppled right off his feet. "WHAT?!"

Bannin just stared up at him, before dropping his gaze after a long, tense moment. "Again, I am truly, truly sorry, my Lord. I hate to bring such terrible news to you now..."

"Keh. Save it." He was closing up again, his face hard, fists clenched, his entire body rigid with strain. Bannin just watched grimly, keeping his silence. It was approaching the young lord in such a moment that had earned him the three scars on his snout that never faded, even despite his demon blood. His mouth pressed into a hard line as Inuyasha turned away, his voice flat when he spoke, "Get your men together. We're leaving."

And with that, he took off into the trees.

***

He finally found Ketzia curled up on a tree branch about fifty feet up from the ground. It had taken him a while to pick out her scent from the others in the forest. She smelled like trees and leaves and cinnamon, so he had to be consciously looking for her to even be able to find it amongst all the other tree scents.

She didn't answer when he called up to her.

"Ketzia, I mean it! Get down here now!" Inuyasha growled, his hands clenching into fists as he glared up at her.

"Is that an order?" she shot back, scowling at him over her shoulder.

Inuyasha's face darkened, his growls echoing through the trees around them. "Ketzia..."

"Oh, alright," she sighed, and rolled off the branch to land in a crouch on the ground next to him. "What is it?" she asked, rising to her feet and folding her arms across her chest.

Inuyasha just looked at her for a moment, before turning on his heel, leading the way back toward the dog-demons' encampment. "Come on, we need to get going."

Ketzia frowned, hurrying to keep up with him. "What do you mean? I thought.. I thought we weren't leaving for a while yet..."

"There's been a change in plans," Inuyasha growled shortly, lengthening his strides further.

Ketzia stopped in her tracks, staring at his back. "Bannin told you, didn't he? He told you what happened..."

Inuyasha stopped, not turning to face her. His fists clenched and unclenched at his sides, his shoulders rigid and tense. "He told me," he growled, his voice barely audible above the deep rumbling, "that it was myShadow that.." He swallowed past the lump in his throat. "..that killed Hatachi."

Ketzia struggled for something to say, tears building in her eyes. Finally, she settled on a quiet, "I-It's not your fault..."

Inuyasha whirled on her, glaring murderously. "You could have told me! You could have at least dropped a hint! A little 'Oh and by the way, Hatachi's dead and Mizuki's killing herself with grief'! Even that would have been better than- than-" He spun back around, his face enraged, raking his hands through his hair.

Ketzia sniffled, glaring hard at his back. "You think you're the only one grieving here?!" she demanded. "I liked Hatachi, too, you know! You- You're not the only one hurting here!"

"Shut up."

Ketzia gaped at him, before her face turned angry again. "Hey-"

"I said shut up," Inuyasha growled, glaring at her over his shoulder. "Whining about it ain't gonna fix anything."

Ketzia sighed. "Inuyasha..."

"Come on. The soldiers are waiting for us..." He began to walk away.

A thought suddenly hit Ketzia. "Wait!" she yelled, grabbing his arm and pulling him off in a different direction. "We need to go to the village first!"

"What?! Why?! Ketzia!"

"Just come on! We can't leave without this, trust me!"

Inuyasha sighed, rolling his eyes, and let himself be dragged along. There really was no stopping her once she got an idea in her head...

***

They stopped in front of Kaede's hut, Ketzia letting go of his arm to make her way up the steps and into the small wooden house.

"Ketzia, what the hell?!" Inuyasha hissed, following noiselessly behind her. Ketzia glanced up at him as she tip-toed around the sleeping bodies on the floor toward the future girl lying on the far side of the room, grinned, and then turned back to what she was doing.

Kagome slowly came awake, the hand shaking her shoulder drawing her out of her haze of sleep. She yawned, rubbed her eyes with her good hand, and blinked blearily up at the figure crouched over her. "Inuyasha..?" she murmured, squinting tiredly.

The figure grinned. "Nope. Close, though."

Kagome was suddenly very much awake, sitting bolt upright and backing up against the wall behind her. "You-!"

"Ketzia," Ketzia supplied, grinning amiably.

Kagome nodded, getting her breathing back under control. "Right.. Sorry, you just startled me..."

"It's fine," Ketzia smiled, waving her hand dismissively. "Anyway, you should get dressed and gather together any things you'll need to bring with you."

"For what?" Kagome stared at her in confusion, glancing up at Inuyasha standing by the doorway of the hut.

He frowned at the other half-demon's back, also confused. "Ketzia..."

Ketzia carried on as if she hadn't heard him. "For the trip Westward, of course. You're coming with us-"

Kagome opened her mouth in surprise, but Inuyasha beat her to it. "No!" he growled, leaping forward to grab Ketzia's arm and pull her away from the human girl. "She can't come!" he hissed, almost nose to nose with the other half-demon.

Ketzia just smiled placidly up at him. "And how do you plan to defend yourself - or the rest of us, for that matter - from your Shadow, hm?"

Inuyasha blinked, then scowled. "We're notbringing her with us," he persisted, growling.

"Hmph." Ketzia brushed his hand off her arm, turning back to Kagome and ignoring the growling hanyou behind her. "You remember what I told you last night, right? About your miko powers? Well, we still need them. Just 'cause Inu-chan here is awake, doesn't mean he's up to his full powers yet."

"Okay," Kagome nodded, suppressing a snicker as Inuyasha's face reddened at the embarrassing nickname again. "Just gimme a minute to get my stuff..."

"Sure," Ketzia smiled, and turned to pull the sputtering Inuyasha along with her out of the hut. "Well, she seems eager enough to help," she commented, smiling, once they were outside and making their way away from the house.

Inuyasha rounded on her, his hands balling into fists. "Shut the hell up, Ketzia! I don't know what you're trying to pull, but I sure as hell don't need some fucking little human girl to take care of me!"

"You really don't want her to come?" Ketzia asked, finally dropping her ever-present grin and just looking tired.

"No. I don't want her to come," he replied flatly, still glaring at her.

Ketzia blew out a long breath, ruffling her bangs. "Alright," she shrugged, "we won't bring her along." Her eyes suddenly narrowed, taking on a conniving look once again. "I can't exactly go against my lord's orders, now can I?"

Inuyasha stopped short, before his face stormed over again. "Don't pull that shit with me, Ketzia!" he snarled, and turned to stalk off toward the trees.

"What?! All you have to do say the word, and she stays here!" she called after him cheerfully. As he continued to stalk away, her grin only widened. "Well, I guess if you're not going to order it, I'm free to do as I wish, huh?!" She smirked when he threw her a dirty look over his shoulder. She had won! Inuyasha may have been too proud to admit he needed some help while he recovered from the attacks yesterday, but they both knew he would have to formerly order her to leave Kagome behind before she complied.

And there's no way he'd everdo that, she smirked, and turned back toward the hut to wait for the human girl. Sometimes, it really was good having such a reluctant leader...

***

Kagome emerged from the hut a few minutes later, giant knapsack in hand, and together she and Ketzia made their way through the woods to the demons' camp.

"So... Miroku-sama said there were other demons with you," Kagome said, glancing over at Ketzia a bit nervously. Last night, they had gotten along well enough because of Inuyasha's injury hanging over their heads, but now she just wasn't sure how she should act. She shifted her wounded arm uncomfortably.

Ketzia looked over at her and nodded. "Un.. I didn't really think he'd come willingly, so I brought some back-up." She grinned, then glanced at Kagome meaningfully. "'Course, I didn't know he'd be so easily persuaded when we brought you into the picture." She waggled her eyebrows suggestively, and Kagome looked away, a blush rising in her cheeks.

"I-It's not like that," she said quietly, and felt Ketzia look at her again. "I mean, he doesn't... It's not like he did it because he..." loves"likes me, or anything... I'm just-"

"A friend?" Ketzia cut her off, smiling at her. "Don't worry, I know, Inuyasha already cleared it up. Kinda embarrassing, really, how I kept calling you his mate..." She grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of her head.

Kagome watched her feet, pursing her lips. 'A friend'? She had been about to say 'his shard-detector.'

Well, maybe this won't be so bad, after all... she thought, smiling to herself as she followed Ketzia into the large clearing where the dog-demons were just breaking camp.

Bannin looked up from where he sat, rolling up the remains of a tent, when the two females entered the camp. He nodded to them in greeting and Ketzia smiled back warmly. "We will be leaving shortly, I presume, my Lady?" he asked in a deep rumbling voice as he turned back to his work.

"Hai," Ketzia responded, watching him just a bit too intently than was necessary. "As soon as Inuyasha decides to show up. He stormed off a few minutes ago in a huff, so he'll probably be out pouting for a little while," she grinned.

Bannin glanced up at her, frowning. "You should not speak of Lord Inuyasha in such a way," he said gravely. Ketzia looked taken aback for a moment, then nodded once, blushing, and moved away to fiddle with some of the supplies with the other dog-demons.

Kagome watched the exchange with curious eyes, wondering at the two dog-demons' relationship. Ketzia was apparently some kind of noble lady, although that wasn't exactly surprising, since Inuyasha himself was technically a prince. She had brought soldiers with her, and this man here seemed to be in charge of them, if his actions now and by the well the previous day were any indication. What had Inuyasha said his name was..?

Before she could try to strike up a conversation, the dog-demon beside her sighed heavily, glancing up at her as he tied off the bundle of tent cloth in his hands. "So you are this miko who befriends demons. I have heard much about you," he commented, looking her up and down with intense grey-green eyes.

Kagome blushed slightly and looked at her feet. "I-It's really not that big a deal. I mean, it's mainly just Inuyasha and Shippou-chan.. and maybe a few others..."

Bannin shrugged, standing and shouldering his bundle. "Still, that is far more than most mikos. Indeed, most would not even pause before slaughtering any and all youkai in their path."

Kagome swallowed and stared at her feet again. He made miko sound like heartless, blood-thirsty killers, not like the defenders and protectresses that they were. Although... From a demon's point of view, especially the more human-like ones like Inuyasha or Ketzia, or even Sesshoumaru, a miko would seem to simply be out for blood, and with no better reason than the fact that they were youkai.

Kagome shivered involuntarily. It was one thing to slay a rampaging beast when it attacked a settlement, but she suddenly had to wonder how many innocent lives had been destroyed at the hands of people like Midoriko or Kikyou, just because they were youkai.

How many lives had she herself destroyed...?

"Anyway," the dog-demon continued, cutting through her thoughts, "it is good of you to agree to help Inuyasha-sama. He is... not at his full strength at the moment." He placed one clawed hand on her shoulder, the other holding the tent-bundle up, and gave a small smile. "Thank you, Lady Kagome."

And then he was brushing past her, and Kagome was left to blink in shock. After a moment, she snapped alert and spun around the call after him. "Wait! I never got your name!"

He paused to frown slightly at her over her shoulder. Then, "Bannin," he conceded. "I am Captain of the Guard at the Citadel."

"The Citadel?" Kagome asked, jogging to catch up with him.

Bannin sighed through his nose as the human girl came to follow after him like an inquisitive pup, and continued walking. "Aa. That is where we travel to. It is where Lord Inuyasha and Lady Ketzia will meet with the rest of the Six, and hopefully be able to form an attack against the Shadows and - again, hopefully - completely eradicate them once and for all."

"Okay.." Kagome nodded, swallowing hard. "You wouldn't happen to know how-"

"My Lady, there will be time enough for answering questions later on," Bannin quickly cut her off, and then smiled slightly, nodding toward where the rest of the soldiers were packing away their supplies. "But right now there are things that must be done before we leave. I will try to give you all the information you need later, once we are on the road. Until then, my Lady." He nodded to her and turned to help his men pack.

Kagome let out a long breath and looked around at the forest and at the clearing in which she stood. They were traveling clear across Japan, to meet up with a bunch of other super-powered demons, to try to destroy some other-worldly menace that as far as she knew they couldn't even see, much less fight. Plus, they still had the Shards, Kikyou, and Naraku hanging over their heads.

She couldn't help wondering, not for the first time, if this was really a good idea.

** ** ** ** **

Wow.. I'm done! And just in time for Christmas, too! ^__^ Hope you guys liked it, and please review!! ^_^

Oh, and for those of you who were lobbying for an Inu/Ketz pairing, or at least an alternate ending of that sort... It ain't happening, so just forget it. (Really, you don't want them to be together! Trust me, I'm the author, remember? I know these things!)

-chan - Name suffix used to show affection or just all-around cuteness. Used between close friends, sometimes family members, and for small children. (least respectful)

-sama - Name suffix showing extreme respect and/or a distant relationship. Would be used for a god, a lord/lady, priest, etc. (most respectful)

Aa - "yes" Note: This is a masculine word, so it is ONLY USED BY MALES!!!

Hai - yes

Hentai - pervert

Miko - Shinto priestess/shrine-girl.

Un - Yeah/Yes (casual)

Youkai - demon

Review please!!!