InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Hagakure ❯ Firelight Illuminations ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha or any of its characters. I simply abuse them for my own twisted means of amusement.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Firelight Illuminations

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was dark. Not dark from the night, but dark from the sheer evil of the place where he was being held.

Shiro looked around. Darkness. Even with his keen youkai eyes, that was really all he could make out. Silence. That was all he heard, only momentarily broken by his breathing and heart beating; his only grips on reality.

He had no clue where he was, nor how to get his bearings on that situation. All he could do was feel his way around, like he had been doing for a while now. He didn't know for how long; time had melted away for him.

His hand scooted across what seemed like a cave floor for the umpteenth time. It was cold like stone, but somehow much smoother, like it had been worn by many years of use. That didn't make sense. If he were deep inside a cave, as he suspected he was by the constant cool temperature and darkness, then the rocks down here should have been rough from lack of wear. Something about this situation didn't seem entirely right to him. It seemed… staged.

But why? He hadn't done anything to any demons as of late that would call for revenge. He didn't think so at least. He was a confident ruler that preferred not to cause trouble. He defended his lands, sure, but he didn't go out of his way to hunt any particular demon down without a definite cause.

Shiro tried to stand up but his muscles screamed in white-hot pain at the injustice of being moved after such a long time. He settled back down against the stone wall, letting the darkness envelope him.

He was starting to get worried. Not over himself, but over her. What would Hagakure think? He had disappeared soon after he had gotten her pregnant. That had been how long ago? She could have delivered by now for all he knew! Would she think he'd abandoned her? Or, more importantly, would she be foolish enough to come search for him in such a weakened state? He wouldn't put it above her. She was a rash girl.

"A rash one…my mate…"

~*~*~

Night had fallen. Kagome had used some of her 'matches' to start a campfire to keep the now larger group warm as well as to create some light. Kagome sat near Inu-Yasha and Sango had momentarily gone to grab some more kindling.

Hagakure sat near Miroku and stared at the fire like it was the most beautiful thing she'd seen in a long while. The light accented her golden eyes and played with the shadows all around her. She felt comfortably warm.

"Well, Kure," Inu-Yasha started, "you seem to have been doing well for yourself."

Hagakure looked up from the fire to meet the other set of golden eyes.

"Quite well." she responded with a nod and a smile. "I have my whole life ahead of me though."

Inu-Yasha was a little puzzled by this response, but decided not to push the matter further. Not yet, anyway.

"How do you two know each other?" Sango asked when she came back from collecting a few more sticks for the fire, stepping on Miroku's inching hand as she passed. Honestly, the monk had no inkling of what could happen to him if Hagakure's mate found out he'd touched her.

Miroku grabbed his hand and mouthed: "Ouch!"

Sango gave him a satisfied smirk.

"Well," the demoness began, "we were kids together at the castle. I was Inu's official playmate!"

"You were my only playmate." Inu-Yasha growled. "The only one, apart from my parents, that didn't care what I was."

"Though that fact is surprising, considering her heritage," a small voice piped up from Inu-Yasha's shoulder.

"Myoga?!" everybody asked in surprise.

"Then it must be safe to stay here." Shippo said as he snuggled up into Kagome's lap.

Hakaki looked on in mild amusement as the flea turned all kinds of shades of red. He could've sworn he saw steam coming from Myoga's ears.

Kagome was glad when the normally quiet kit giggled and smiled. She brushed her hands over Shippo's silky tail and watched. She quietly wondered what it would be like if Shippo was more like Hakaki. Inu-Yasha'd get sat a lot less, most likely.

"Myoga?" Hagakure asked. "You're still around?"

"Well I AM a demon!" he puffed a little indignantly.

"Sorry I asked," she said wryly.

"Why would her heritage be of any significance?" Miroku asked, ignoring the current conflict.

Hagakure's glance shifted uncomfortably from each one in the group. Hakaki curled up near the fire. Hagakure picked him up and began to stroke him lovingly.

"Myoga, where are you going with this?" Inu-Yasha growled.

Kagome was confused. Why did Hagakure so suddenly shut up? It was like she thought of her past as a dirty secret that she had to keep from everybody.

Myoga shifted uncomfortably.

"You mean she hasn't told you, Master? …Nor have you scented it?"

Inu-Yasha glanced at Hagakure, who was all too interested in picking burs from her kit's fur. She began to sniffle a little bit and Inu-Yasha could smell her tears. She was definitely afraid of something.

"Kure?" he asked coming over to sit near her. "Please tell me."

Inu-Yasha put a hand on Hagakure's chin and brushed the tears away with his thumb. She looked up at him with red swollen eyes. Hakaki shifted and slowly crept out of his mother's lap. He went to go sit by Sango.

"You'll kill me." Hagakure whispered so that barely even Inu-Yasha could hear.

"Why would I do that?" Inu-Yasha asked. He chuckled a little bit. "Besides, even if I wanted to, Kagome would sit me a million times before I got the chance to come within five feet of you."

"Hell yes." Kagome said firmly.

Hagakure giggled at the thought of a new Inu-Yasha shaped crater in the earth. It couldn't hurt to give him the soft side of the bad news anyway.

"Well, I'm…uh… related to…Sesshomaru." Hagakure spat out.

Inu-Yasha looked shocked, but not angry as he retreated to his spot next to Kagome. He even looked amused when Hagakure took her claw and scraped it across her tongue to get the bad taste saying Sesshomaru's name gave her out.

"That explains why you look so much like him in battle." Inu-Yasha stated more to himself than to anybody.

"Excuse me?!" Hagakure said. "How do I look like Sesshomaru?!"

"That stupid, tasteless expression you put on looked exactly like his…but then again, his never comes off…" Inu-Yasha mused.

Sango and Miroku chuckled a little bit at that last comment.

"If you don't mind me asking, how are you related?" Kagome asked.

"Cousins." Hagakure moaned.

"Wait, does that mean that you're…?" Sango asked.

"Related to Inu-Yasha?" Myoga finished.

The others nodded.

Hagakure shook her head no. "I'm related on his mother's side, not his father's."

"Its not that bad to be related to him. I mean, it could be worse…" Inu-Yasha said.

"Yes. Like being related to Naraku." Miroku joked, making gagging motions.

"If I was related to that scum bag," Sango growled in a joking manner, "I'd have to kill myself."

Hagakure gave them an awkward smile.

Hakaki yawned and returned to his foster mother giggling. She picked him up and played with his ears before setting him in her makeshift bed for sleep.

"Bed time now, Hakaki." she purred.

The kit nodded obediently and curled up near Hagakure.

"You too, Shippo." Kagome told the kit.

"But I'm not tired." he protested through a yawn.

"Yes you are, Shippo." Kagome told him. "You can barely keep your eyes open."

Shippo grumbled a bit longer but finally gave up once he realized how tired he was. He curled up in Kagome's sleeping bag.

With both kits fast asleep, the adults began to talk again.

"So…" Kagome said smartly to start conversation.

"What do you want to ask?" Hagakure asked sweetly.

Kagome had so many questions she wanted to ask Hagakure, but she wasn't quite sure how to phrase them. It was obvious that her and Inu-Yasha were very close as kids but she didn't really know exactly how. It was also obvious that this girl had had a rough time in the past few months.

"What about Hakaki?" Kagome asked, looking over at the sleeping kit and determining that would be the safest subject right now. "Where'd you find him?"

Hagakure frowned.

"He's an orphan. His parents were killed right in front of him."

Then that explains him being so quiet… Kagome thought.

"I naturally felt awful for him when I found him clinging to his mother's body out on a battlefield somewhere. I took him in about five years ago after a very interesting conversation with Shiro. After all, I know what he's going through, being an orphan and all."

"You do?" Sango asked, concerned.

"Yes, I do." Hagakure said grimly. "My mother died giving birth to me and my father had disappeared beforehand. Afterwards, I was sent to the castle where Sesshomaru, my only living relative at the time, lived with his father, father's mate, and half brother." Hagakure smiled. "That's where I met this pain in the ass, which I fought with like cats and dogs until the day Sesshomaru told everyone he died." she said pointing to Inu-Yasha. "Though I never could find out which one of us was the cat…"

Inu-Yasha stuck his tongue out and gave her the universal gesture.

Sango rolled her eyes. Hagakure snorted.

"Wow, that was mature," Kagome said under her breath.

"What about this mate you have?" Inu-Yasha asked, raising his eyebrows slightly.

Sango snorted.

"What's so funny?" Inu-Yasha growled.

"That's something I'd expect Houshi-sama to ask." Sango giggled.

"I guess you're right," Inu-Yasha chuckled. "That is right up Miroku's alley."

"Gee, thanks, buddy." Miroku said dryly.

"But seriously," Kagome said turning to Hagakure. "What's he like?"

Hagakure smiled. This was something she loved to talk about.

"Well, he's a real looker," she said with an impish grin. "He's got long silver hair, ice blue eyes, and the cutest black-tipped puppy ears on the planet!"

Inu-Yasha subconsciously rubbed his ears.

Kagome laughed. He was such an egomaniac. The smallest thing a girl said could send him into a fit. Kagome found this a perfect opportunity for mockery.

"Don't worry, Inu-Yasha," Kagome teased in a cutesy voice, "I think your ears are much cuter than anybody else's!"

Kagome then tweaked his ears to prove her point.

Miroku and Sango looked at each other and shook their heads as Hagakure laughed it up. Inu-Yasha blushed red enough to match his haori.

"Heat getting to ya?" Hagakure mocked when Kagome sat back down.

"Shut up." Inu-Yasha growled.

Before another fight broke out and woke up the kits, Miroku interrupted.

"So, Hagakure, where do you and your mate live?"

"Near Kyoto," Hagakure replied. When she heard surprised gasps she amended, "At least that's what I think the human name for it is…"

Kagome looked up at the pregnant woman.

"How stupid can you be?!" Inu-Yasha shouted, not caring if he woke the kits. "Why in all of the hells would you travel so far in such a condition!?!"

"That is rather reckless." Miroku agreed.

"How could your mate let you do such a thing?" Sango asked, horrified.

"Where is he anyway?" Kagome growled.

Hagakure stared at them. They were concerned for her unborn child's welfare? It made sense for Inu-Yasha to, but not the rest. They barely knew her.

The depth of what they said sank in and Hagakure remembered why she was this far away from home in the first place.

"Shiro…"

She broke out into a pathetic torrent of sobs and incoherent muttering. She woke both the kits who instinctively glared at Inu-Yasha, the most father-like figure currently with them and the most probable one who inflicted the damage.

"You…you… cretin!" Hakaki shouted at Inu-Yasha.

"You're such an idiot!" Shippo joined in.

Inu-Yasha sat stunned.

"Why do they always assume it's my fault!?"

"Maybe because it usually is your fault." Miroku said.

"Boys, its not Inu-Yasha's fault entirely." Hagakure managed before she sniffled again. "It's more or less my own fault."

Kagome and Sango went to comfort Hagakure, the kits instinctively following and growling at Inu-Yasha the entire time. They had no clue as to the real reason she was crying but they were certain that it wasn't entirely their fault.

"What's wrong?" Kagome cooed while rubbing the demoness's back.

Hagakure took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. After several minutes, she was finally able to get a grip and stopped sniffling.

"Its Shiro…" she said quietly.

Inu-Yasha growled. If that bastard had hurt his friend, he was going to hurt him so badly that he would wish he were never born. He'd personally hand Hagakure his head on a silver platter. Scratch that- death would be too good for him!

"What about Shiro?" Miroku asked in a calm, gentle voice that was quietly laced with venom towards the man in question.

It was funny how he could change like that. Miroku was the kind of person who was hard to read. Once you broke his barriers and gained his trust, you were able to get right down to what he was thinking, but when you did, you weren't sure if you really wanted to know anymore. Braking barriers is not something you want to do to a person; a friend especially. This was what Inu-Yasha had learned about this young houshi in the time they had been traveling together.

None-the-less, Inu-Yasha could read the obvious emotions Miroku showed. One, at the current moment, was that he cared for Hagakure and her unborn child. Not in the way he cared for Sango (at least it had better not be, or they'd have one dead houshi on their hands if Shiro got wind of it), but the way one cares for a friend.

"He's gone." Hagakure said downheartedly.

"Gone?" the girls asked in unison.

"What do you mean, Hagakure?" Miroku asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

"I mean, he just upped and left one night!" Hagakure shouted.

Hakaki winced. His mother was in pain; a kind of pain that no herb known could cure. Her mate had left her in their nest and hadn't returned since. She was overrun by worry and anxiety for him.

"He can't do that." Inu-Yasha said firmly.

"What are you talking about, Inu-Yasha?" Kagome asked.

Myoga chose this time to make his presence known once again.

"I believe the master is speaking of the inu youkai binding laws."

"'Inu youkai binding laws'?" everybody but Hagakure, Inu-Yasha, and Myoga asked.

"Yes," Myoga explained. "All dog demons must abide by the binding laws when they choose a mate. During mating--"

"Uh, Shippo, Hakaki," Kagome interrupted, "why don't you two go get Hagakure some water?"

"Why?" Shippo asked confused.

Hakaki tilted his head to one side in confusion as well.

"Boys," Sango said, "Hagakure's been crying. Water helps make you feel better after you've cried."

"If it helps momma, then I'll do it!" Hakaki announced as he grabbed Shippo and a basket and headed for the nearby stream.

Once the kits were safely out of hearing distance, Kagome beckoned Myoga to continue.

"As I was saying, during mating, the demons mark each other with a bite if they intend to actually produce. It proves that they were together and releases a poison into their blood. I'm actually immune to it…" Myoga mused.

Kagome gasped.

"I don't kill them, Kagome." Inu-Yasha said bluntly. "But it will kill any other creature that drinks its fluids."

Kagome blushed partially by thinking of what Inu-Yasha meant by 'fluids' and partially because she wasn't that stupid to think that a mated demon would die if it got poisoned from a bite from its mate. After all, if that were the case then there would be hardly as many demons as there were.

"What do you mean?" Miroku asked, either having missed the point of Kagome's blush entirely or getting it completely and feeling the need to embarrass the girls more.

"It means," Myoga said in a tired voice, "that if another creature comes into contact with a mated demon's fluids: blood, saliva, or any others, it will get poisoned and probably die."

"Oh."

"What does this have to do with Shiro leaving?" Sango asked from her new position beside Hagakure.

"That is just one of the conditions." Myoga said. "Another is a bonding spell."

Inu-Yasha growled.

"Myoga, you're saying it too complicated."

"Well then you try!" Myoga shouted from Inu-Yasha's shoulder.

"Maybe I will!" Inu-Yasha growled as he squished Myoga. With a look of satisfaction, he continued. "What the flea was trying to say was that once a demon…uh…has a mate and has been marked…that it…umm…"

Inu-Yasha looked around as if searching for the right words.

"That it what, Inu-Yasha?" Miroku asked.

"Will you shut up already!? I'm trying to think here!" Inu-Yasha snapped.

"Wow, and to think I thought that grinding noise was my alarm clock…" Kagome said under her breath.

"I heard that, bitch!"

Sango sighed.

"Inu-Yasha, just think about what you were trying to say."

"Okay, I got it now." Inu-Yasha said, slamming his fists together for effect. "The same poisons that kill the other demon that it comes in contact with, reacts if one of the mates leaves. It causes unbearable agony until the mates are back together."

Everybody stared at him with blank looks on their faces.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Miroku asked.

"Myoga," Kagome said, "translation please."

Inu-Yasha growled menacingly at the girl who ignored him in favor of the flea.

"What he means is," Myoga translated, "the same toxins that prove the mates to each other, will react if one of the pair leaves. By leaving, I mean going out in search of a different mate, breaking loyalty, or just upping it and abandoning its mate."

A collective "Oh" was heard throughout the group.

"But, Myoga," Hagakure sniffed, "what other explanation is there for Shiro disappearing?"

Myoga looked thoughtfully at the demoness. The reason Shiro left was not because of her physical attributes; that was for sure: even pregnant she was a beauty.

"Hagakure," Myoga asked, "did Shiro want a pup?"

Hagakure nodded her head vehemently.

"He did. He even asked me that night if I wanted a pup. He could smell that I would have one if we…uh, you know. Besides, he would have needed one eventually to become his heir."

"Heir?" everyone asked.

"Heir to the Eastern Lands."

"Eastern Lands?!" everyone shouted.

Hagakure blushed slightly.

"I guess I forgot to tell you," she said as she twirled one of her raven locks. "Shiro is Lord of the Eastern Lands."

"How could you forget to tell us that?!" Inu-Yasha shouted.

"You're royalty?!" Kagome gushed.

Hakaki and Shippo chose to make their reappearance at that precise moment.

"Who's royalty?" Shippo asked.

"Momma and her mate are." Hakaki said as he handed the water to his mother.

As Hagakure sipped at the water, Kagome noticed that Hakaki had never, in her presence at least, called Shiro his father. It would have made sense if he called Hagakure by her name as well, but he didn't. Kagome got the feeling that Hakaki didn't like Shiro all too much. It might have had something to do with that 'interesting conversation' Hagakure had said she'd had with Shiro before adopting the orphaned kit.

"We can ponder on this tomorrow," Miroku said ending the conversation.

"Yah, I am pretty tired." Kagome said through a yawn.

Sango and Hagakure nodded their agreement. Inu-Yasha looked like he was about to protest, but the threatening looks he caught in the corner of his eye made him do a drastic rethink.

"Feh. Go to sleep. You'll be more useful if you're rested."

Kagome smiled to herself as snuggled into her sleeping bag. She knew it was just Inu-Yasha's way of showing concern and a little bit of fear of her wrath. That big chicken.

~*~*~

Inu-Yasha watched from a tree as the group slept peacefully. Shippo had snuggled up with Kagome and Hakaki had snuggled with Hagakure. Sango slept with Kirara far away from Miroku.

Inu-Yasha's lips tugged up in the corners in a smile. In a weird way he felt as if this was truly where he belonged. That they were truly his…family…dysfunctional though they were.

***************

Opinions, comments, suggestions, questions of my sanity…? Leave 'em in your REVIEW! [sniffle] I'm kind of desperate for input…

Next Chapter: The Path Taken

Just as the attack was about to strike, Naraku stepped aside to reveal a small child. She had long black hair, burning amber eyes, and small black dog-ears.

"Hi, Inu!" she called out to him.

"Hagakure…?" Inu-Yasha asked stupefied.

Naraku smirked.

"When I die," Naraku laughed maliciously, "I'll take her with me."