InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Forgotten ❯ School of Hard Knocks: Lesson 2 ( Chapter 26 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Sesshomaru, Inuyasha or anyone from the hit anime/manga series. Rumiko Takahashi does. I do own all OC's and plot in this story.

 

Lesson 2: Know Thy Strength

 

Kirara yowled as another fireball exploded just to the right of her. Fire itself couldn't harm the feline but the flying rocks did. Inuyasha clung to her back as she zigzagged along the cliff face. A hitenko kept pace with them from the back of a demon horse. The duo was lucky the stallion was of inferior breeding or the determined tenko would have caught them by now.

 

The hanyou swallowed as Kirara dropped, avoiding another flying ball of flames. “Well, I wanted their attention,” muttered Inuyasha. Kirara shot straight up and Inuyasha's chin slammed into her spine. He death-gripped her fur until the stars in his vision went out. Kirara snarled what Inuyasha interpreted to be a foul comment on his riding abilities.

 

“Well, excuse me, I'm not Keiko!” he shouted then yelped as he was nearly flung from the twin-tale's back. One hand managed to retain its grip on her fur the rest of him hung off the side. “Shit!”

 

This fiasco began after a bit of scouting had revealed several forts with massive storehouses of weapons and food in five different locations. All well behind the battle lines and all within a day's ride of each other, at least on a regular horse. Inuyasha had thought it a great chance to not only announce his presence to Kuromakaze, whose attention he needed to attract for his cousin sake, but also hurt the evil hanyou's war effort, causing him to back off from any attacks and further concealing the shift in power.

 

“I'll be counting on your speed, Kirara,” he said to the twin-tale on his shoulder. “If we can hit all five real fast and close together not only will they not be able to form a proper defense but they won't be able to warn the other forts. We can destroy them all in a couple of days. A poorly supplied army does not fight well. Kuromakaze will have to back off on any attacks until he can replace the lost supplies.” Kirara had titled her head and blinked at him.

 

Wonderful strategy, Inuyasha, he thought to himself. Just buzz in blow the place to hell and buzz out. No one would have ever thought about that possibility. Why is that I can read my opponent's strategy so well yet I can't come up with something better than a little kid? Am I sabotaging a war or playing pranks?

 

He had gotten all five forts within two days but the pursuit had been intense and he hadn't been able to shake this final one. He didn't know how much longer Kirara could last. She had been flying at top speed for almost a whole day.

 

Kirara rolled and Inuyasha was slammed back into place; emphasis on slammed. “owww…” he squeaked, one hand holding Kirara's fur the other clutching his groin. “You did that on purpose,” he hissed between gasps. Kirara snorted then shot left over the waves.

 

“What are you doing?” demanded the hanyou. Kirara yowled twice and glanced back. Inuyasha peered over his shoulder. Five more riders with demon horses had appeared and ran off the end of the cliff after them. “I guess I did too good a job,” he muttered. The twin-tail gave a muttered yowl in reply. The horses closed in at alarming speed; their pedigree being of higher quality.

 

Inuyasha blinked as he gazed at the pursuers then yelled, “Kirara, rise!” Kirara flew up just as a stream of water shot toward them from the ocean below. The hanyou grimaced. The hitenko had been annoying but relatively harmless since both Inuyasha and Kirara were of the same element. However, all five of the new pursuers were wearing the blue of mizutenko and they were over the ocean… on a cloudy day.

 

“Water below… water above… Kirara!” Inuyasha yanked hard on the cat's fur and she whirled to the left just as ice spears fell from the sky above. Kirara yowled and began a series of complicated weaves, drops, rises and spins to avoid the falling death hail. Inuyasha held on for dear life. His heart beat grew louder and a vision flooded his sight. The clouds opened up and dropped ice spears all at once until there were no more clouds.

 

“Kirara, charge them!” shouted Inuyasha. Kirara yowled a protest. “Just do it!” With a snarl, she turned and flew straight at the group of mizutenko. Water lances shot up from the waves and ice spears dropped before them and around them but Kirara proved her superior agility and avoided every attack even while continuing to close the distance. Inuyasha lay across Kirara's back squeezing his legs into her side and digging his fingers into her fur to keep from being tossed. Focusing his mind, he wiggled his ears.

 

Nothing happened. The air didn't even get hot. There was so much water in the air his wind was being doused before it could even ignite! He could feel his power spilling out of him, flooding the air but nothing burned. It was getting harder for Kirara to dodge as they got closer to the target. If he couldn't set off a firestorm they wouldn't live through this.

 

“Burn,” he whispered, pouring more power into the air.

 

“Burn.” Lances shot up all around them and Kirara yowled as one nicked her hind leg.

 

“Burn!” he screamed. His vision swam and the water lances and ice spears vanished. Kirara and Inuyasha were knocked in several directions at once by explosions they couldn't see. The mizutenko and demon horses screamed, suddenly aflame. Sunlight streamed in through a perfect clear circle in the clouds. The ocean below hissed and boiled.

 

Kirara straightened herself out and looked around. Clouds slowly formed inside the cleared space and within minutes the sun was blocked once more. The enemy was gone. Inuyasha panted with sudden exhaustion. His vision doubled and spun and his head felt like it was splitting in two. He didn't know what happened but they were saved.

 

“Let's go, Kirara, before anyone else shows up,” he whispered. Kirara growled and flew back to shore.

 

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Since the next section is a bit long, I'll take the time to comment here. These three aren't the only things happening to him during the five-year interval I indicated. They're just highlighted moments. There will be a chapter soon that pushes him into another direction and further links to Ms. Takahashi's story. Then we'll probably have another segment of “School of Hard-Knocks”.

 

All I have to say about Lesson 3 is that I was extremely happy I got to write it. I've been wanting to write that little story about Inuyasha's grandfather ever since I began writing this book. Jounochi had been designed as being obnoxious, but as a grandfatherly leader he never got to express that. This is my tribute to him.