InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dumb Luck ❯ Wild Night – Part 1 ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer- I do not own InuYasha or any of the original characters; they are the property of the brilliant Rumiko Takahashi. This story is an individual creation for personal and shared enjoyment of true InuYasha fans that I hope is up to the quality of the real series. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

Author's Note - Don't mind me Lady Orion, it's just I get really tired of all the Kikyo bashing that goes on and I have a tendency to get on my "soap box" just to defend her. She's not my favorite character either but she has a lot of my sympathy. She didn't deserve her fate. And now she's stuck walking around, knowing that her killer still hasn't received justice for all that he has done, not just to herself and InuYasha, but to everyone he manages to harm/maim/kill/torture on his path of destruction. She also has to see InuYasha and Kagome grow closer all the time and knowing that this strange girl from the future is healing and captivating his heart the way she wanted to in life. The deep irony being that Kagome essentially IS Kikyo…tragic. She knows she's on borrowed time and is working towards ending Naraku's evil once and for all…permanently. The few times she's met with InuYasha were mostly accidental because they happened to be near each other and he can't NOT go and find her when he senses her near. She's his first love. No one can change that. Also, I think that, even though she knows she and InuYasha cannot be together, she can't help herself, any more than InuYasha can, than to go and see him. He still holds her heart, even the shadow of her heart and I liken it to prodding a sore tooth. You can't leave it alone.

O.o? - Oops…see, told ya. **grumbles** "Darn soap box…"

Translation Notes:

Saku - to bloom

Junnen - ten years

Mangetsu - full moon

Kigakuruu - to go crazy

Chapter Seven: Wild Night - Part 1

The tree shivers from the vicious punch the frustrated hanyou delivers, "Fuck!!" Inuyasha looks down, `All day and no sign…' his head comes up as the leaves knocked loose shower over them all, `Kikyo…please be safe.' He sees the sun beginning to dip below the hills and snarls, "I'll go get firewood." He avoids eye contact with the rest of them as he stomps off into the trees.

Miroku gives the fuming Sango a wary look, rubbing the red handprint on his face, and calls out, "That's a good idea!" He turns, "I'll help!" and hastily follows the silver-haired figure.

Sango is still glaring at his retreating back when she hears Kagome sigh. She looks at her glum friend, knowing that InuYasha's lingering bond with Kikyo is what is bothering her friend. `It's always this way.' Her brief anger disappears and she grabs a broken pine branch to sweep small debris from the best spot to lay the fire. "Shippo," she waits for the kitsune to look up, "why don't you find some stones for around the fire?"

Shippo nods quickly, his bushy tail twitching, and he bounds off into the undergrowth with Kirara close behind.

She looks back at Kagome's unhappy face and continues sweeping, saying softly, "Kagome-chan, do you want to talk?"

Kagome sighs tiredly and drops her pack down before kneeling and digging through the decimated contents. "I just wish he wouldn't get so…so…" her voice trails, unable to explain how lonely and distant she felt from InuYasha whenever Kikyo shows up and thoughts of her monopolize his mind.

Sango sympathizes with a nod, "Ah…"

"I mean; I know he can't help himself," Kagome mused out loud, picking up a crushed ramen container and shaking her head, "but does he have to be so…so obsessed about it?" She tosses the useless thing down and grabs the dented pot by its curved handle. "I'm going to get some water for the tea," and she walks off towards the stream with her head down.

Sango's eyes linger on the Kagome's depressed posture and sighs.

Shippo creeps out from under a bush, also watching the young girl with a frown, "That InuYasha…he's such a moron!"

Sango nods absently and looks down at him, noticing his empty hands, "Couldn't find any stones Shippo?" Her eyebrows rise in suspicion.

He looks up at her with his not-so-innocent bright eyes under the auburn mop of hair and shrugs unapologetically for being caught eavesdropping, "Oops!" He turns and scampers off again.

She rolls her eyes and sighs, "Never a dull moment…"

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Not much later, Sango is watching Kirara play with Shippo a few yards away when she notices the plant Kagome has in her hand and she asks, "Where did you get that?"

Kagome is about to wrap the sprig in a napkin for safekeeping when the query stops her. She looks over at her friend across the ring of stones laid for the fire and holds up the leafy sample, "This?"

Sango nods and quickly moves around to kneel by Kagome's side, taking it from her and examining closely the shape of the leaves and the configuration of the tiny clusters of unopened buds.

Kagome watches with curiosity, "Next to the stream. There's tons of the stuff on the other side."

Sango stands up, still holding the twig, and heads in the direction of the stream. Kagome follows her, "I've never seen it before and I was going to ask Kaede-obachan if she knew what it was." The young woman is moving quickly and Kagome hurries to keep up. "Sango-chan?"

Sango glances at her with a worried frown. "If it's what I think it is…" They arrive at the stream and, in the last light of the setting sun, they can see the wide carpet of the low-growing plant with it's tiny cluster of pale buds contrasted starkly against the dark oval leaves. It apparently covers the sloping ground as far as they can see in the failing light.

The Taijiya drops next to a nearby cluster and stares at it. Kagome squats with her arms wrapped around her raised knees, straining to see what her friend sees and gasps in surprise when the tiny buds pop open as soon as the sun disappears below the horizon. The miniscule petals sparkle attractively and Kagome touches a soft white flower, smiling with delight at the glittering dust clinging to her fingertip. "How pretty."

"Yes it's pretty," Sango grabs her friend's hand and forces it down, wiping the pollen off onto the grass, "and dangerous."

Kagome looks at her finger in alarm, "It's not poisonous is it?"

Sango shakes her head, stands and pulls her up by her hand. "No. It's called `Saku Junnen Mangetsu' because it only blooms once every 10 years," she looks at her and points up, "and only during a full moon." She takes a deep breath, "but it's also known as `Youkai Kigakuruu' because the pollen makes youkai go crazy when it blooms.

Kagome glances at the huge glowing orb in the sky as they turn back. "What do we do?"

"We need to get indoors preferably." Sango pauses and looks up at the trees for a few seconds, looking for movement, "At least there is no wind right now." She begins walking again, "There is no telling how many youkai are in the area or how it will effect them." Her thoughts turn inward, "My father told me to expect it this year but I'd forgotten…what with everything…" She goes silent.

Kagome respects her friend's feelings and remains quiet. When they reach camp they begin re-packing everything.

While tying the strings on her backpack, Kagome suddenly stops to look over at Shippo still teasing a playful Kirara with a long weed. "What about them?" She looks at Sango with a worried frown.

"I think they'll be alright. Supposedly the smaller the youkai, the less the effect it has…most likely only making them sleep. It's the larger and more dangerous youkai we need to be worried about" She looks over at the two, happily romping with youthful bliss. "I'll try to keep Kirara from transforming…but I'd feel better if we could find shelter."

A sudden thought has Kagome reaching for her friend's hand and gaining her attention. "What about InuYasha?"

Sango turns to pick up the roll of combined blankets tied together and pulls the strap over her head, settling it comfortably, "I don't know." She moves to a nearby tree where her weapon is propped, "Maybe it won't effect him because he's hanyou…" her voice trails off with her uncertainty and she sighs with a shrug and slings the huge boomerang over her shoulder. "I just don't know." She grabs the Monk's staff also leaning against the tree, "We need to find the others and get as far away from here as we can."

Shippo bounds over and stops to look around at the hastily denuded campsite. "Huh?" He notices Kagome shifting her pack onto her back, "We're not staying?"

Kagome shakes her head and picks him up, "It's not a good spot after all." She shares a glance with Sango who opens her arms for Kirara and nods in agreement before turning towards the trees. "Lets go."

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Miroku lays another stick on his armful with a feeling of satisfaction and looks up at the darkening sky through the branches overhead. "We should head back," he turns toward the hanyou with silvery-white hair who is carrying the larger pieces of wood for the fire, "I think we have enough for the night and it's getting dark."

InuYasha snaps another stick by standing on it and forcing it to break with his free hand. "Keh! Always stating the obvious." His ears twitch and his head whips around, dumping his load of wood on the ground and barely missing the Monk's feet.

"Hey!" Miroku jumps back.

InuYasha flexes his claws, "Kagome!" He leaps off towards the sound of her voice.

Miroku barely hesitates before dropping his pile too and following at a run.

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Kagome cups her free hand to her mouth and calls for InuYasha while Sango stares around the clearing they had stopped in, not sure of which direction to take from here to find their companions. The two girls look at each other and shrug. Kagome takes a deep breath to call once more just as the speeding hanyou comes crashing through the foliage.

"Kagome!" He stops with a puzzled frown and looks around the quiet clearing that is brightly lit by the full moon, then back at the two young women that begin walking over. A rustling sound behind him heralds the breathless Monk's arrival. InuYasha's scowl deepens, "What the hell is all the yelling about?"

Kagome grabs his sleeve, worry making her frown, "We need to get away from here and find shelter."

InuYasha looks up at the clear sky filled with twinkling stars and not one cloud while Miroku brushes dead leaves from his shoulder and accepts his staff from Sango. They both ask, "Why?"

After Sango quickly explains, Miroku looks thoughtfully from the wide-eyed Shippo to the tiny Kirara in concern then back at the young woman, "What can we do?"

"Try to find shelter from the air-borne pollen." With that she turns to lead them in the opposite direction of the danger.

InuYasha eventually notices the frowning look that Miroku is giving him and snarls disagreeably, "What the fuck is that look for Bouzu?"

The Monk sighs, "InuYasha, even you must realize that this effects you too."

InuYasha snorts and continues following the trail-blazing Taijiya with a pensive look on his face. Miroku raises his voice, "Sango, will the pollen effect hanyou as well?" InuYasha shoots him a dirty look that he deliberately ignores.

She glances back at them briefly, "I don't know. The subject never came up." She faces forward, ducking under a low branch. "I barely remember the last time it happened. It's long been the practice of the Taijiya to burn the plants whenever they are found, so the area around our village was safe enough but we were all told to stay indoors during the blooming. The swarms of mindlessly rampaging youkai are more dangerous than usual under the pollen's influence." She stroked the twin-tailed cat cradled in her arms and quickened her pace, worried at the slight breeze that had just appeared and seemed to be gaining strength. "We can't ride Kirara. It's best if she stays small…just in case."

Kagome had been pondering that and speaks up, "Maybe that's because smaller youkai inhale less pollen, making the effects less severe."

"You may be right." Sango stops, `inhale…?' and reaches into an inner pocket, turns and holds her facemask out to InuYasha. He looks at it in surprise and she says, "If it effects you…" she pushes it into his hand, "…it could be bad."

He stares at her speechlessly, then his eyes slide toward Kagome. She is watching him in concern and pushing her wind-blown hair back out of her face. He takes it with a grunt and ties the mask over his face, not liking but tolerating the way it feels.

Sango nods at him in satisfaction and resumes leading the little group toward the steep hills they had passed earlier that day as they had traveled deep into unsettled territory. `Maybe there is a cave or something…' She looks up when her hair is pushed over her shoulder from behind, `Oh no…the wind is changing direction.' She waves at the others to hurry. They travel fairly easily by the moonlight, avoiding the darker paths under the trees and the wind steadily increases, pushing them forward.

A loud roaring behind them makes them all turn to see a huge fur-covered form with a beaked face come crashing out of the trees, slamming to the ground as it struggles with an enormous serpentine-youkai wrapped around it. The wide, lidless eyes of the bear-like creature flash wildly as it tries to break the deadly embrace of its opponent. They tumble over and over, the serpent's head held firmly between the claws of the other.

There is barely time to get out of the way; Miroku and Sango diving to one side and InuYasha scooping up the open-mouthed schoolgirl and whisking her to safety on the other. She huddles protectively over Shippo's small frame even as she is held close to InuYasha's warm chest. He sets her down a good distance away with his eyes fixed on the nearby battle. She hears him crack his knuckles and snarl, "That's enough of that!" His voice is muffled behind the Taijiya's mask and he leaps into the fray.

She yells after him, "We don't have time for…" Kagome watches him land a blow on the serpent's head in greeting before looking down at Shippo, "He didn't hear…" She frowns as she notices the kitsune's closed eyes and his unnatural stillness. She gasps and gives him a little shake. "Shippo?!"

His eyes blink sleepily up at her and he mumbles something incoherent before snuggling closer and going limp again, one tiny hand holding tightly to her shirt.

`He's…sleeping.' Her anxiety lessens but comes back in full force as she looks over at the three-way-battle cutting her off from her human companions. Her eyes widen and her arms tighten around her young charge, quickly ducking behind a rather large tree as the enormously long serpentine body goes sailing past to hit a different tree across the way, halting its sinuous form painfully, the impact snapping the tree in two.

Kagome sets the sleeping Shippo down amid the tree roots, drops her pack and reaches for the bow tucked under a flap as the serpent shakes itself and rises up. She aims her hastily placed arrow, it's glow attracting the reptilian's attention. The creature's eyes gleam malevolently - she pulls back on the string - the wooden curve in her hand snaps and the upper half falls to the ground!

Kagome looks at the splintered end in shock then up in horror at the snarling youkai with its fanged mouth open wide--and its sights fixed on her!

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