InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Feline Enigma ❯ First Encounters ( Chapter 1 )

 

Inuyasha, Kagome, and the others were walking down a path in a forest when Kagome suddenly stopped. “I'm sensing the presence of a jewel shard… no, wait, three jewel shards!” She said, turning and facing to the left and pointing. “They're coming from that direction and approaching us pretty fast.” No sooner had she spoke than a woman with long light blue hair and the ears and tail of a cat ran past them, heading in the opposite direction. They had barely noticed she had even been there. “What was that?” Shippo asked. “Whatever it was, it has two jewel shards.” Kagome said. “After it, then!” Inuyasha said, picking Kagome up onto his back and giving chase. Sango and Miroku followed on Kirara. Soon enough, Inuyasha was right beside the running woman.

 

“Hey, slow down!” he said, and the woman looked over at him. “Not yet… if I slow down now, it'll catch me!” she said, and sped up. “What will?” Kagome asked, and suddenly, as they exited the tree line into a large field, the ground ahead of them burst open, and a giant demon that looked like an overgrown snake with two arms near the head came out of the hole. “That!” the woman said, stopping suddenly and turning around. Another hole burst in front of her, however, and the creature's tail darted out and wrapped itself around her legs. “AAAH!” she cried, and tried to get free, but it tripped her and started dragging her into the hole. “Hiraikotsu!” Sango said, throwing her boomerang. It severed the tail, and the demon cried out and went back underground.

 

The woman stood and looked back at Sango. “Thanks!” she said before starting to run again. A few seconds later, the demon burst from the ground where she had been standing. Just in time to meet Sango's boomerang on its way back to her. Seeing the demon slain, the woman stopped running and fell to the ground. “Phew…” she said, panting heavily. Miroku got off of Kirara and walked over to her. “Are you injured?” he asked, offering a hand to help her up. She shook her head. “No… I'm fine, thanks to your friend there.” She said, not even looking at his hand as she stood up. “Now that it's dead, though, it has something of mine…” she walked over and jumped into the hole for a moment, then came back out, her right fist closed around something.

 

“Thank you all for your help.” She said, turning around and starting to head into the forest. “If you'd like, you can rest for the night at my house… it'll be dark soon, and the demons in the area get more active then.” She continued to walk, leaving them to decide what to do. “Think we should?” Sango asked. “I don't see why not… a little rest after all this walking and fighting sounds good.” Miroku said, already following after the woman. “What about the sacred jewel shards?” Inuyasha asked, “Well, she has two of them, right? It's likely she just has them and doesn't know what they are.” Miroku responded. Inuyasha sighed and looked over at Kagome. “Where's the jewel shard this snake thing had?” he asked, and Kagome looked to where Miroku and the woman had gone. “She took it from the corpse before we remembered about it…” she said. “So much for Miroku's thoughts…” Sango said.

 

As she arrived at home, the woman took out a key and unlocked her door. She then went inside, immediately taking off her shoes and walking over to a stand on the wall, taking from it her sword, which she tied to her belt. `I should clean up in case they decide to take me up on my offer…' she thought, moving into the main room of her house. The only thing that was on the floor was a piece of paper, which she picked up and looked over before setting it in a pile with other papers in her room. She shut her room's door afterward and went into the only other room, her kitchen. It was small, not much more than teen feet wide on either end, and in the middle was a table that took up five feet worth of space. She stopped as she looked at its clean surface, staring into her reflection's eyes. They were deep violet in color, with pupils that were hard to find.

 

She turned around suddenly, her hand upon the handle of her sword, but she relaxed when she saw it was just her pet cat demon. “Don't scare me like that, Suinari.” She said, and the cat mewed. “Hm? A man, you say?” she asked, and the cat mewed again. “I see… I'll give him the usual greeting, then. Thanks for telling me.” Her tail twitching anxiously, the woman silently snuck out the back door, shutting it without sound and sneaking around to the front of her house. As Suinari had said, there was a man there, and he was just now knocking on her door. Drawing her blade and moving it to his neck in one fluid motion, she glared at the back of his head. “State your business! I don't like people who trespass onto my property.” The man tensed up, not moving for fear of getting cut. “But you invited us here…” he said, turning around to reveal he was the monk from the group from earlier. “Oh, it's you!” she said, putting her blade back into its saya.

 

“Where is the rest of your group?” she asked curiously, her ears perked forward towards him. “I walked ahead of them, but they should be arriving soon.” He said. “Good, good… sorry about scaring you like that. What did you say your name was, again?” she asked. “I am Miroku, a humble monk with a terrible curse.” He clasped her hands in his and stared into her eyes. “Would you do me the honor of bearing my child?” he asked, surprising her and causing her to blush slightly. “At it again, eh, Miroku?” Inuyasha said as the others arrived. Taking her hands out of his, the woman punched him in the gut. “Sorry, not interested.” She said, walking past him and into her house. Miroku fell to his knees holding his stomach. “She's stronger than she looks…” he said, standing back up. “You can't say you didn't deserve it.” Shippo said.

 

“Don't just stand around outside, come in, come in!” the woman said. When the others were all inside, she spread cushions out on the floor for them to sit on. “It's rare for me to have visitors… rarer still for them to be the friendly kind. I am Miradonia. What are your names?” she asked. “I'm Shippo!” “My name is Sango.” “I'm Kagome, and this is Inuyasha.” Kagome said, motioning to him. “yo.” He said. Miradonia stared at him for a moment, her tail giving a few annoyed twitches, before she closed her eyes. A second later, she opened them again. “So, a dog demon, huh?” she asked bluntly, not giving him a chance to answer before she spoke again. “I'll try to control myself… wouldn't want a fight to break out in my own home.” She turned to face Kagome. “So, you've got a question you wanted to ask me, right? I can tell from the way you're looking at me and holding yourself.” Kagome looked at her, a bit surprised.

 

“Well, yeah… I noticed you possessed--” Miradonia interrupted her then. “No, I'm not going to give them to you. Sorry, but I'm collecting them… don't ask why, because I'm not telling you. However… you also possess sacred jewel shards. I'd like for you to hand them over, please… they're not meant for a mere human to have.” Kagome was once again surprised, but it passed quickly into anger. “What's that supposed to mean!?” “It means that I don't think you're fit to carry around the shards of the sacred jewel. Priestess or no, you're still a human, and you can't defend them from demons forever.” Inuyasha held up a clenched fist. “Are you forgetting she has us with her?” he asked, and Miradonia whirled to face him suddenly, giving him an icy glare. “You think your power so great that you cannot be defeated? Is that what you're implying? Hah! You're just a stupid little dog that relies on the power of his companions and his sword to win a fight!” “What!? I'll show you, I don't need them to defeat you! You couldn't even handle a snake demon!” Miradonia stood and went to the door, opening it with such force it shook the entire house.

 

“Alright, then, prove you can defeat me without your magical sword!” she said, moving outside into the large clearing in front of her house. Inuyasha followed, and the others watched from the house. Drawing her blade, Miradonia pointed the tip at Inuyasha. “My sword isn't quite so powerful, so it should be an even match… if your claws are as strong as I've heard rumor of.” With that she charged at him, then suddenly seemed to vanish, only to reappear beside him. “Of course, if you can't even keep up with me, then I shouldn't use my weapon, either.” She said, tossing it aside while swinging at him with her other hand. When he caught her fist, she smirked. When he swung back, she caught his arm by the wrist. Then she moved at the extreme speed she had moved before, now behind him with both of his arms, and her head on his shoulder. “What's the matter? I thought you could defeat me.” She taunted, biting his ear playfully and drawing blood. Her expression changed to surprise, however, when he flipped her over in front of him and held her in the same type of hold she had just had him in.

 

“Well, that was easy enough.” He said smugly, and she glared at him out of the corner of her eye for a moment before an expression of defeat played itself onto her face. “Alright, you win… I guess I'm your prize now.” Inuyasha's eyes widened as a surprised look came onto his face, and everyone else's jaws dropped. His grip loosened due to his surprise, she freed herself and swept his legs, tripping him and placing a hand onto his neck. “You're predictable.” She said, her triumphant smirk back again. She took her hand from his throat and stepped a bit away from him, offering a hand to help him up. “But still, you would've won. I take my insults back… you're powerful enough on your own.” He didn't take her help, instead standing up and looking at her, still a bit angry. “What the hell was that all about!?” “Oh, never mind… if you don't understand doing whatever it takes to gain an advantage, then you're not that much better than I am.”

 

The following morning, Miradonia followed Inuyasha and the others to the edge of the forest. “So, why are you wearing armor, again?” Sango asked. “Oh, yes, I forgot to mention… I'm coming with you. After all, I figure if I can help you accomplish your goal, I might be able to accomplish mine, too.” Miradonia replied. Her armor was a sleeveless vest made from scales, though she wouldn't tell what kind of scales. Her leg armor was of the same material. “And what exactly is your goal?” “Well… that's my little secret.” She said, and walked on ahead of the group.