InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Foundations of Neo Genesis ❯ Chapter 12 ( Chapter 12 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

A/N: Another chapter finished. I’m so glad everyone is enjoying this story so much, it really is my baby. Questions.

Q: Inuyasha’s claws and fang, and their use.
A: Ok, this isn’t so much a question as a lack of clarification on my part. As I said, he’s a genetically engineered creature, and thus completely unmagical. That means his claws and fangs don’t have the same deadly power as they do in the show. This doesn’t, by any means, mean that he lacks the ability to use them or even use them well. Trust me, he can. But to kill, say one of those deer from the earlier chapter requires knowledge he doesn’t have yet – for example, the ability to anticipate what they will do and the chinks in the creature’s evolutionary armor. It is folly and erroneous to assume that they have evolved the same way as Earth deer have. It is also very difficult to single handedly bring down an animal like a deer; they have speed, strength, and powerful hooves and antlers they are more then willing to use in their own defence.

Q: The people seem very relaxed about their responsibilities, why?
A: That will come up in a bit.

Q: Is it a two way trip so people can go back to Earth if they want to?
A: Nope.



Inuyasha groaned as the light pressed insistently against his eyelids. Somehow he was sure it was too early to be awake. Yet, the light persisted and brought with it the eerie feeling of being watched. Cracking his eyes open, he had to squint at the brightness directly in his eyes. Blinking, he brought it into focus.

Held delicately between two fingers, only an inch from his nose, was a fat, squirming, glowing grub. Its four tiny hook-like legs kicked frantically as it thrashed, trying to escape its captor. The red, dot sized pupils rolled wildly against their black background. Inuyasha’s eyes widened as he cursed and jumped away.

Kagome giggled. “Isn’t it great!? I found it inside the Lantern flowers. They are what makes them glow.”

“What is the matter with you, woman?!” Inuyasha growled. “Couldn’t you see I was sleeping?”

“But Shippou said you wouldn’t mind.” Kagome blinked innocently at him, though the corners of her mouth twitched upward ever so slightly. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and stood up. The sun was just beginning to burn away the morning mist. He stretched, scanning the area for the fox demon in question.
“Where is he?”

“Bathing. That’s why he wanted me to wake you,” Kagome answered, even as her attention became more focused on the bug. Inuyasha glared at her. “The worm was his idea, though, I swear.” She waved her hands in a pacifying gesture, swinging her tiny, glowing captive around as she did. Inuyasha huffed and headed towards the river.

He arrived to find all was peaceful. Shippou, Aodh, Krishna, and a dozen others were all standing waist deep in water, their clothes laid haphazardly along the bank, as they washed and talked. Inuyasha grinned. Carefully lining up his target, he crouched behind a bush as he waited for just the right moment. It came when the fox demon turned towards Krishna so his back was to the bank.

Inuyasha sprang, sprinting the ten feet to the water’s edge. He leapt. Shippou had just enough warning to turn around. His eyes widened for the fraction of a second before both demons vanished under the surface with a loud splash.

A moment later the fox came up sputtering, followed by a laughing dog demon. Shippou turned, bared his fangs, and gave a mock growl. Another splash and they were gone again. When they resurfaced, Inuyasha had Shippou in a choke hold. They continued to struggle for several minutes, churning up the water and gathering odd looks.
“Say it!” Inuyasha commanded between choking on the splashing water and laughing. “Say it, you little runt.”

“Uncle! Uncle! I’m sorry about the glowworm!” Shippou conceded, half choking on his own laughter. Inuyasha released him abruptly, causing the fox to disappear underwater again. He emerged, wiping wet auburn hair away from his eyes and with a lopsided grin on his face.

“Well,” Aodh breathed. “That was... interesting. Do you always bathe fully clothed?”

Inuyasha made a rude gesture. “It’s just water. It’ll dry.” Aodh muttered something under his breath and looked away. Walking back to the bank, Inuyasha began wringing water from his clothes and hair as he headed back to camp. Behind him he could hear several others beginning to emerge from the water as well.

His bare feet padded over the path they had forged through the brush. He had been without shoes for short periods before, usually because he outgrew them or wore them away to nothing, but this was the first time he had enjoyed it. Before, the hard concrete had scraped the tender underside raw, causing blisters and cuts. Here, the soil was soft, the dead leaves crunched underfoot, and he had not yet seen a rock.

“Inuyasha?”

He looked up to see Kirara standing in the middle of the path, two canteens over her shoulder. He lifted an eyebrow in acknowledgment.

“Is everyone done bathing yet? I need to get some water.” She held out the canteens as if in explanation.

Inuyasha shrugged. “They’ll be done soon.” He stepped around her and continued back to camp, but stopped abruptly when she caught the back of his shirt.

“Will you get it for me? Please, Inuyasha?” The young nurse looked up at him with pleading eyes.

“Keh.” He shrugged her off. “You’ll live another five minutes.”

“It’s not for me,” Her voice was soft and he could hear her pushing dry leaves around with her toe. “The sedatives made Xun more dehydrated than I expected. I’m not used to my patients being off IV.”

With a frown and a growl, he turned around, snatched the canteens from her, and headed back to the river. Kirara called a “thank you” after him, but he did not reply. As he suspected, everyone was getting dressed when he returned. Shippou raised a questioning eyebrow, but refrained from asking when Inuyasha rattled the empty canteens at him.

The dog demon moved upstream a little, avoiding the slightly muddied waters where everyone had been bathing, before kneeling down and unscrewing the first cap. As he dipped the bottle under the surface, a movement off to his right caught his eye.

Aodh stopped short a few feet away. Behind him the last of the group rounded a tree and disappeared from sight. The tiger demon shifted, running his finger through his wet two-tone hair, and cleared his throat.

“Can I, um,” He glanced toward the water, his lips moving silently for a moment, then looked back. “About the other day. Did you... did you mean what you said?”

Inuyasha yanked the container out of the water and screwed on the top. “Yeah, I guess.” he groused, snatching up the next canteen. “I don’t know why I’d want to take a mark for a– ”

“No, not that.” Aodh stopped him, then worried his lower lip for a moment. “I mean, before that.” Inuyasha gave him a blank stare. “The day before, when Furmin, may he rest in peace, you know.”

Inuyasha frowned in annoyance as he closed the last canteen. “Just spit it out before you choke on it. I haven’t got all day.”

“You don’t really believe the gods have forgotten about you, do you?” Aodh asked in a rush. Inuyasha stared at him, then slowly rose to his feet and slung the canteens over his shoulder. They clunked together as the water sloshed around inside.

“You really are as bad as that priest.” Inuyasha pushed roughly past him, almost knocking him into the water. Aodh stumbled, but managed to stay standing, before hurrying to catch up. He fell into pace alongside the dog demon, who pointedly ignored him.

“Look,” Aodh tried again. “I know we got off on the wrong foot. I didn’t realize that you were... I thought you were just being disrespectful out of spite. Let’s start over.”

“Keh,” Inuyasha snapped.

Aodh took a deep breath. “Caru teaches that forgiveness is–”

“Look, Kitten,” Inuyasha’s eyes flashed as he fixed the tiger with a hard look. “I am not going to be your fucking project. And I don’t need your pity,” He turned sharply on his heel and stormed off, leaving Aodh standing alone on the path.

“She also teaches patience.” He sighed to himself, “Gods, what a mess I’ve made.”

Inuyasha all but shoved the canteens into Kirara’s arms as he passed. The girl shrank away slightly, dropping one of the canteens so that it banged against the stone floor and dented the side. Inuyasha did not seem to notice. She quickly gathered the runaway container and scurried back to Xun’s side. The cheetah was sitting up, looking dazed and confused by his surroundings.

“I told him it was a bad idea,” Shippou said when Inuyasha reached their favorite spot on the edge of the group. The fox demon was finger combing his long red hair as he spoke, but his eyes strayed past Inuyasha to where Aodh was walking out of the tree line. Inuyasha growled back something unintelligible. “Look on the bright side,” the fox continued with a teasing smile. “You made a new friend.”

“Keh! He can go– ” Whatever Inuyasha was going to suggest was cut off by a shrill whistle that had every demon covering their sensitive ears. Many glared at the source as the trill died away. Sango frowned back, unapologetic.

Kagome cleared her throat and stepped up next to Sango. “Now that I have everyone’s attention, there are a few points we need to go over.” She looked down at the comp in her hand before continuing. “As you know, part of our mission is to find a way to build suitable living quarters. Now I have– ”

“You want us to build houses, too!” Kouga growled as he jumped to his feet. “What do you think we are? Your slaves?”

“As part of your agreement,” Sango cut in with a frown. “You are to help with the main mission of the group. That mission right now is shelter.”

“We have shelter,” Kouga snapped, gesturing at the stone around them. “Or haven’t you noticed the giant rock overhead?”
Kagome smiled sweetly at him, the same disarming smile Inuyasha remembered her often using on him. “While this cave is wonderful for group lodging, it affords us little privacy. We also only have a vague idea of what the other seasons may be like. It would be foolish to wait until we are freezing before building places to keep warm.” Kouga frowned, but seemed unable to argue the point.

“So,” Kagome continued in the following silence. “my thought was to use the cave wall and erect tents of sorts. They won’t be very strong, but–”

“You’re kidding, right?” It was Gawain who spoke up this time. The hawk demon’s voice was soft and even, but his unmoving yellow eyes gave her a piercing stare. “The only thing that has kept us safe from that cat and those monster birds are the many eyes watching the forest. If we hide ourselves away in tents, we will be easy prey for them.” Many voice rose to agree with him.

Kagome took it in stride. “Then what do you suggest?”

“Something open,” a human girl named Dara jumped in. “So we can see out all sides.”

Inuyasha started when Shippou added his own voice. “Something open to all sides must be defended from all sides.”

“Something in a tree then,” Savannah yelled. The lioness had to cup her hands around her mouth to be heard over the rising din. After that the group fell into chaos, everyone either trumpeting their own idea or rallying behind the ideas of others. The voices echoed off the stone walls, growing louder until many of the demons had to cover their ears even as they continued to yell.

“SHUT UP!!” a voice roared over everyone else, rebounding off the cave walls and causing everyone to cringe. In the silence that followed, Inuyasha’s snarl hummed from his chest as he stood over the group. Several of those closest to him leaned away under his fierce glare.

“Ahem,” Kagome cleared her throat nervously. “How about we spilt into groups and each try our own methods. Then, even if one idea fails, there are others to fall back on. Is that agreeable with everyone?” There was a murmur of agreement. Inuyasha snorted.

“What do you think, Inuyasha?” Shippou asked as they watched the people break into groups.

“I think we are about to be enlisted... again.” He motioned to Kagome as she worked her way towards them.

Shippou lifted an eyebrow. “We’re going to use her plan?”

“You know anything about building?”

“No, not really...” Shippou admitted.

“Me neither,” Inuyasha admitted with a careless shrug. Kagome finally managed to work her way around to them, Sango in reluctant tow. Inuyasha glared at their official leader and Sango glowered right back. Shippou decided to stand a little farther way from the group as Kagome put on her best smile.

“All right, I know we aren’t all on the best of terms, but if we work together, I bet we can work it out.”

“Not fucking likely,” Inuyasha growled, his eyes never leaving Sango.

“If this is who you plan to work with, Kagome, you can count me out,” Sango countered. “There are other matters that need attending anyway.”

“Sango...” Kagome started, but the other girl had already marched off into the crowd. Kagome sighed and Inuyasha smirked. “I guess that just leaves the three of us then.”

“Four,” a voice corrected. Their heads turned to see Aodh approaching. “The other groups don’t need anymore help, so I’ll join you.”

“Great!” Kagome smiled.

“Fan-fucking-tastic,” Inuyasha snarled. Shippou sighed and rolled his eyes.

If Kagome noticed the shift in tension, she showed no sign. Instead, she pulled her mini-comp from her belt and turned it on. A moment later a small diagram sprang up from the screen, rotating slowly. “All right, here’s what we need.”

&&&

Inuyasha could not believe his luck. Of all the people he could have worked with, it had to be Aodh. Shippou had claimed to know exactly where to find the smaller items they needed, and Kagome decided the best replacement for the cloth sides would be a few extra-large grass mats. That left him and the tiger to gather the larger items.

Aodh had remained quiet for the most part, neither questioning nor criticizing what Inuyasha chose to do. The only time he did speak was to question whether the half-demon felt a fallen limb was long or thick enough. Even when Inuyasha had told him to drag both of the limbs they found, Aodh had only smiled at him and quoted a verse about hard work from the Book of Kratos.

Inuyasha was ready to strangle him.

If he had thought the critical Aodh was irritating, this new friendly one was worse. He seemed dead set on “saving his soul.”
“How about this one?” Aodh nudged a fallen limb with his toe. Like Inuyasha, he could not replace his lost shoes and was barefoot. Kagome had warned them that creatures may be living under the fallen timbers, so they had to be careful.

Inuyasha crouched down next to the limb and rapped on it with his knuckles. The wood was hard, not yet beginning to soften with decomposition. He stood up and paced the length with carefully measured steps. The limb was a little long, but nothing that could not be fixed. Satisfied, Inuyasha took hold of one end and heaved.

A harsh, rattling hiss rose over the sound of shifting leaves and Inuyasha dropped the limb instantly. A small scaly, creature, no more than a few inches long, scurried out from under the limb. It was brown with a single black stripe down the length of its back to the tip of its whip-ish tail. Thin and snake-like, it had two tiny legs near its head.

It looked up at the demons with beady black eyes and hissed again, flashing the grey-blue flesh of its mouth and a pair of minuscule fangs. As it did, it opened a frill of bright crimson edged in sapphire that circled its head. The creature did a few bobbing ‘push-ups’ with its front legs, before tucking them and the frill back against its body and slithering off into the dead leaves.

“What was that?” Aodh asked.

“How the hell should I know?” Inuyasha snapped and grabbed the limb again; this time nothing ran out from under it. The half demon grunted as he began to drag the piece of wood along behind him. It was heavier than it looked.

He glanced back at the other demon, noticing for the first time how much he was sweating. Perspiration was beaded heavily on his brow and upper lip, and tiny rivers rolled down from his temples. His shirt was soaked through and sticking to his chest and arms. The tiger’s breath was coming in panting gasps as he pushed himself to his limits just to keep pace.

Leaves crunched when Inuyasha abruptly let his load fall back to the forest floor. Aodh stopped and looked up in surprise. “Let’s take a break,” Inuyasha answered the silent question. “Before you overheat and pass out.” He pulled the canteen Sango had, grudgingly, issued him from his shoulder and passed it to Aodh. The other remaining pieces of lumber crushed the leaves underneath when Aodh released them and took the canteen. Inuyasha watched as the tiger drank the water greedily, a few drops escaping to drip down his chin. “Thirsty?” Inuyasha asked flatly.

“Um, heh, yeah,” Aodh answered, blushing slightly as he wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. Inuyasha took the canteen back, annoyed to find it more than half empty, and tilted the remains of the contents into his own mouth. He almost choked to find that it was already ardent, and not at all refreshing. Still he swallowed, the heated water hitting his stomach like a lump of molten metal.

When the canteen was empty, Inuyasha screwed the lid back on and slung it over his shoulder again before finding a shady spot. He collapsed onto the forest floor with his back against a tree trunk. He rotated his ears, picking up the sounds around him before closing his eyes.

“Why keep that?” Aodh asked as he sat on Inuyasha’s right. “It’s empty. What good is it?”

“It can be refilled, dumbass,” Inuyasha answered dully without opening his eyes.

“Well, yeah,” Aodh agreed, a little flustered. “But we have a ton of those things back at camp. What difference will one make?”

Inuyasha opened his eyes and half turned to look at the tiger demon. Aodh squirmed under the intense stare. “You’re an idiot.” The dog demon concluded.

Aodh sputtered in protest, “I am not!”

“Keh,” Inuyasha huffed, but did not expand on his thought. Aodh gave a soft growl before he caught himself and swallowed it. Inuyasha smirked and closed his eyes again. “Have something else to say, Kitten?”

“In the book of Caru, it says-”

“Sorry I asked,” Inuyasha cut him off. “I don’t see why you buy into that crap.”

“It’s the truth.” Aodh answered. Inuyasha cracked one eye and studied the other demon with a steady golden gaze.

“Prove it.”

Aodh faltered for a moment, before his eyes softened and he shook his head. “I shouldn’t have to.”

“Whatever,” The dog demon sighed, closing his eye again. Silence stretched between them as they rested. The sun dappled its way between gaps in the leaves, shifting back and forth as a gentle breeze swept through the forest. Inuyasha quietly took it in; the scents that floated on the air, the sounds of unseen creatures in the trees overhead, and the warmth of the sun as it caressed his skin.

“You know,” Aodh said after a while. Inuyasha gave a soft growl and glared at him through narrowed eyes. “It’s kind of peaceful here, not like home. It’s like time just slows down. Back home everyone was always in a hurry. I like it. What about you?”

Inuyasha shrugged and took a deep breath. “We better get moving.” He pushed himself to his feet and walked back to their discarded burdens. With a rough heave, he lifted the two branches Aodh had been pulling and turned so he was walking parallel with the cliffs – that they could be seen between the leaves of the trees. Aodh frowned, but picked up the last branch and began following.

Dragging the branches proved more difficult than Inuyasha had imagined. Aside from the weight, the sticks and twigs that branched off from the main limb kept getting caught – on trees, roots, and even each other. It seemed every few steps he had to stop and tug one or the other free of something.

It was not long before his arms and shoulders began to ache, and sweat began to roll down his face. His breath was soon coming in pants and his legs screamed from the exertion. His ear flicked back, listening to the sounds of Aodh following him – his steps lighter than before because of his decreased load. One of the branches snagged again, and Inuyasha threw his weight into it with new resolve.

An hour later they were still searching for another usable limb; the last one they had run across had softened with rot. It was well past noon and the two demons were hot, tired, hungry, and thirsty – but neither seemed willing to be the first to give up. Inuyasha snarled at the branches when they caught on each other for what felt like the millionth time.

“Inuyasha,” Aodh ventured, his voice dry and horse.

“What?!” Inuyasha snapped back, his ears flattening against his skull.

“There’s one,” the tiger demon answered, recoiling slightly, as he pointed to a branch off to their right. Inuyasha snorted, dropped his burden, and walked over to the limb. He kicked it, harder than was probably necessary – watching another small lizard creature scurry off into the underbrush without interest – and found the wood solid. He took several measured steps and found it was too long, but nothing that was unfixable.

Satisfied, he grabbed the end and pulled. The branch heaved, but did not come free. Digging his heels in, Inuyasha tugged again; but the branch clung to the half-dead bush it had landed on.

“Let me help,” Aodh said, appearing at Inuyasha’s shoulder. The dog demon frowned at him, but made no protest when he took hold of the branch. They pulled, and for a moment the branch stalled, then with a jolt and several snaps of dry wood, it tumbled loose. Both demons stumbled back a few steps, but managed to stay upright.

“How graceful,” a snide voice quipped. Inuyasha and Aodh looked up to see Kouga and two other wolf demons standing over the branches they had left on the ground. The demon on his right had a tuft of grey hair shooting up from his forehead, while the other had a mohawk of white. “But what can be expected from a halfling?”

Inuyasha bared his fangs.

Aodh frowned, glancing between the three wolves and his companion. “Look, we don’t want any trouble.”

“Good,” Kouga smiled, showing his own fangs, as he placed a foot on one of the limbs. “Then we’ll just take our prize and go. Thank you ever so much for collecting them for us.” Aodh started to protest, but Inuyasha cut him off.

“You son of a bitch!” The half-demon lunged, but Kouga was ready. He dodged Inuyasha’s fist easily and brought his knee up into the half-demon’s gut. Inuyasha let out a soft “oomph” as the air rushed from his lungs. Kouga chuckled as he pushed Inuyasha away.

“Is that the best you’ve got, half-” Kouga’s comment was cut off by a bruising fist to the jaw. The wolf demon stumbled back, wiping blood from his lip and snarling. “You’ll pay for that, you stupid little whelp!”

The three demons lunged. Dead leaves and twigs crunched as the four hit the ground in a heap. Fists flew, feet kicked, and drops of blood splattered across the ground. By the time Kouga’s two cronies had dragged Inuyasha to his feet – his hands held firmly behind his back – one of them was bleeding from the mouth and had a black eye, while the other had blood dripping from his nose. Inuyasha had a long cut down his left cheek . Kouga’s nose was twisted sharply to one side and bleeding profusely.

“Think your tough, do ya?” The wolf panted, trying to wipe the blood away from his nose with his arm. “We’ll see how tough you are.” Inuyasha’s head snapped back when Kouga’s fist met his face. A moment later a knee met his stomach and he tasted blood. A right hook to his jaw brought more blood, this time from his nose.

“Cowards!”

Inuyasha fell with a thud when the hold on his arms suddenly ceased. One of the wolf demons fell next to him, crandling his arm that sported several long, deep slashes. Inuyasha ignored him, and threw himself at Kouga. He caught the other canine in the stomach with his shoulder, tackling him to the ground.

The two demons rolled across the ground. Kouga kept a firm grip on Inuyasha’s arms, while the other grasped at his throat. Suddenly, Inuyasha yanked his arm back, breaking Kouga’s grip, then slammed his elbow into the wolf demon’s face. Kouga reeled upward, giving Inuyasha the room to get a leg between them and kick the other off.

In a single spring, Inuyasha was on his feet again. Kouga crouched in the leaves where he had landed, his fangs bared behind his busted lip. One eye was now swollen shut, but the flow of blood from his nose had slowed a little.

“You damn halfling brat, you’re not worthy of your blood.” The wolf demon pushed himself to his feet, “Mark my words, you’ll regret this. Ginta, Hakkaku, let’s go,” Kouga turned and walked away, and his two friends hurried to catch up – both sporting fresh cuts and bruises.
“Says the one running away,” Inuyasha shouted after him, reaching up to wipe the blood from his face.

“You okay?” Aodh asked as he came to stand next to the half-demon.

“Keh,” Inuyasha replied, “I’m tougher than that.” He turned to look at his companion. The tiger’s shirt was torn open across the front, and a thin shallow cut ran from his shoulder to his stomach, he was missing a small chunk out of his left ear, and had blood coming from his nose. “You?” Inuyasha grunted.

“I’ll live,” Aodh replied, “Let’s get back. The sooner we tell Sango about this, the sooner–” Aodh didn’t realize he’d been hit until he found himself on his back, a fresh wave of blood dripping from his nose.

Inuyasha glared down at him, “I don’t need that bitch’s help!” Aodh nodded dumbly as he brought his hand up to cover his nose. Inuyasha snorted and offered the tiger demon his hand. Blinking in surprise, Aodh took the offering and Inuyasha pulled him to his feet.

“Uh, thanks,”

“Keh,” Inuyasha replied. “Let’s just get back and clean up.”

They gathered the discarded branches, thankful that none had been broken during the brawl, and turned back towards the camp. After a short stop by the river to wash the majority of the blood – that refused to dry in the humidity – from their wounds and clothes, the two demons returned to camp.

They were greeted by a bright smile from Kagome, which quickly turned to a gasp of shock. “What happened?! Were you attacked? What was it?” She ran over to them and quickly looked them both over. “Sit down, I’ll go get Kirara.” The two demons watched as the scientist hurried back into the crowd in search of the nurse. Inuyasha shrugged and dragged the branches over to where Shippou, Emer, and another girl with knee-length blond hair were busy weaving more mats. Aodh followed.

“Shit,” Shippou breathed, raising an eyebrow. “What happened to you two?”

“Nothing we couldn’t handle,” Inuyasha replied as he dropped the branches and sat down with his back to the wall. The cool stone and the shade the cave provided was soothing to his tired muscles, and he closed his eyes.

“Hey, don’t go to sleep, I need to treat those wounds.” A voice spoke softly near his ear. Inuyasha peeled an eye open to see Kagome kneeling down next to him, a small first aid kit in her hands. He frowned, but pushed up from the wall as she began digging around in the kit for the supplies she would need. Across from him, Aodh was sitting calmly as the girl with the blond hair cleaned the wound on his ear, a blush tinting his cheeks. Shippou had a half-hidden grin on his face. “Kirara had her hands full patching up Kouga and his friends,” Kagome continued. “So she just sent the supplies with me. You should both feel very lucky, those three look much worse. You didn’t see what attacked you, did you?”

“Nope, sorry,” Inuyasha shrugged as she began applying a blue-colored cream to the cut on his cheek. He hissed as the injury stung anew, but refused to flinch.

“Damn,” Kagome sighed. Shippou tied off the end of the mat he was working on and gave Inuyasha a flat look. Aodh grinned, but yelped when the girl rubbed some blue cream into a cut on his arm. “There, all done,” Kagome finished, taping some guaze over his cheek. “Now if you two are feeling up to it, you can break the little branches off the big ones. If not–”

“We’re fine,” Inuyasha cut her off. Aodh half-glared at him, obviously enjoying the blond girl’s attentions. Shippou snorted.

Kagome rolled her eyes. “Whatever, tough guy. You three clean up those limbs; Katrine, Emer, and I will finish with these mats.”

Inuyasha grunted unintelligibly as he pushed himself to his feet. Between the smaller groups, he caught sight of the three wolf demons, with Kirara still working to bandage them up. A small smile of pride touched his lips when Kouga looked up and caught his eye. Pointedly, he lifted one of the limbs and snapped a smaller branch off of it, tossing it aside. Kouga sneered, but Inuyasha just rolled his shoulders and looked away in disinterest.

“Why do I get the feeling,” Shippou said quietly as he began snapping smaller branches off his limb. “that neither you nor Kouga were attacked by an animal.” Inuyasha broke a large branch off his limb and gave the fox demon a smile. Shippou returned in kind. “So what, really happened?”

“Damn wolf put his nose where it didn’t belong,” Inuyasha shrugged.

“And then he broke it,” Aodh finished, breaking a piece of wood with a particularly loud snap. Shippou raised an eyebrow, then stood on his toes and leaned over to get a better look.

“Damn. And the other two?”

“Mostly Kitten’s doing,” Inuyasha tossed a branch into the growing pile and set aside his limb. He picked up the only one left and began cleaning it as well. “What about you? Don’t tell me you skipped out on me just to do women’s work.”

“Nope, I went tree climbing,” Shippou thumbed over his shoulder to a long coil of vines. “That reminds me.” He pulled the dagger from his waistband and handed it back, hilt first. Inuyasha took it without comment and tucked it away.

“Now what?” Aodh asked, adding the last of his broken branches to the small pile they had created.

Inuyasha shrugged, dropping the final limb on top of the other three. “Hell if I know. Ask her.” He motioned to Kagome with a jerk of his head. Aodh nodded and moved over to where the girls were sitting.

“So, how did it go, having to work with Aodh and all?” Shippou asked. “I mean, you both came back in mostly one piece.”

Inuyasha shrugged, looking towards the edge of the forest where a group was trying to lift a leafy branch into a tree. “What the fuck are they trying to do?”

“Well,” Shippou motioned to the two groups working at the forest edge. “That started out as one group, but they couldn’t agree on how to build a tree house, so they split into two groups. The ones on the right want to bend the branches to form the house, the ones on the left want to build a hut of sorts by placing the frame among the tree branches.

“And these guys over here,” He pointed to several groups in various stages of building. The half-a-dozen huts varied in shape and size, from a small circle of branches and leaves, to a rather ambitious shelter almost twenty feet long, but still only an outline of sticks. Inuyasha could see Kouga barking orders to those working on the largest structure. “They couldn’t agree on anything. They all argued about it. Loudly.”
Inuyasha snorted. “Figures.”

“Excuse me,” Aodh interrupted, and both demons turned towards him. “Miss Kagome wants us to wedge these between the ground and the ceiling so they make a seven foot by seven foot square, with one side against the wall.”

“Okay,” Shippou answered as he reached down and picked up a limb. He looked at the wall, shrugged, and planted the base of the limb as close as he could to the sharp upward slope. He lifted the limb vertically, until the very tip came in contact with the stone ceiling. It was just a bit too long to stand up straight, and he had to force it into place. “There,” he patted the now firmly wedged limb, causing it to vibrate, and nodded to himself. In short order the three demons had the other limbs wedged between the floor and ceiling, as well, so they formed a square the right size.

“Now,” Kagome said, looking up as she uncoiled the vine. “How do I get up there to tie this on...?”

“Spread your legs.” Inuyasha’s voice was low in her ear. Her face turned a bright red and she turned sharply, her hand raised. Inuyasha stopped the incoming slap easily and gave her a dull look. “Get your mind out of the gutter and just do it, stupid girl!” He did not give her a chance to respond before spinning her around and lifting her onto his shoulder. Surprised and thrown off balance, Kagome pin-wheeled her arms in panic, then grabbed two fistfuls of Inuyasha’s hair, including one ear. The half demon let out a loud yelp and jerked his ear from her grasp. “Bitch! Stop that!”

“Sorry,” Kagome squeaked. “You just surprised me is all.”
“Keh, just get on with it.”

Nodding, Kagome quickly tied the end of the vine to the first pole, using the small outcrops of wood where smaller branches had been broken to keep it from sliding down. She did the same for the other four, cutting off the excess vine with Inuyasha’s dagger. As Inuyasha set her on the ground, Katrine – balanced on Aodh’s shoulders – came forward and draped the edge of a long mat over one of the vines. She flexed one short side around the length of vine, and used a loose piece of grass to stitch the end back to the rest of the mat. In this manner she hung each of the other mats so that they formed an enclosure.

“There, all done,” Kagome said proudly as she smiled at the small group. “What do you think?”

“It’s great,” Katrine answered.

“Not bad, not bad,” Aodh agreed.
“I do believe, science girl,” Inuyasha grinned, showing his fangs. “That I will be calling in that favor. Now.”

“Favor?” Emer asked, looking between them with a curious expression. Shippou snorted with laughter and Aodh raised a confused eyebrow.

Kagome’s mouth fell open in protest. “B-b-but that one is supposed to be mine! I need a workspace.”

“Too bad,” Inuyasha snorted. “That’ll teach you to give out open-ended requests. You’re just lucky I didn’t ask for other things. Or were you banking on that?”

“You are such an ass!” Kagome snapped, gnashing her teeth and growling in a way that made Inuyasha laugh.

“Is there a problem here?” Sango asked as she walked up. She scowled at Inuyasha even though her question was directed at Kagome.

Kagome took a deep breath and shook her head. “No, Sango, just a disagreement.” The young woman continued to glare at the half-demon. Inuyasha returned it in kind.

“Fine,” she said after a long minute had passed. “If you have anymore... disagreements, let me know.”

“Sure, Sango,” Kagome nodded. The lieutenant turned sharply and strode away to oversee the other projects. Inuyasha snorted, unimpressed, and turned towards the new dwelling. He pushed one of the mats aside and let it fall into place behind him.

“Jerk,” Kagome huffed after him.













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