InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Hagakure ❯ The New Moon's Gifts ( Chapter 4 )

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

- - - - - - - - - -

The New Moon's Gifts

Shiro stumbled slightly and breathed heavily.

He was bleeding…badly. Naraku had taken immense pleasure at desecrating Shiro's title by whipping him so thoroughly. It hadn't been a fair fight, mind you; if it had, Naraku surely would have met his death (or at least dismemberment) at the hands of one very enraged dog demon.

His clothes were tattered into ruins and he was matted with blood. None of that mattered though. He'd gotten free. Now all he had to do was find Hagakure and hope she hadn't given up on him.

"I'll find you… I promise…"

He bit the inside of his cheek in an attempt to keep himself conscious. He wished it were the full moon so he could heal faster, but that wasn't going to happen. The full moon was a full week away. Tonight was the new moon.

"The dark moon… It figures… I'll have no light to guide me…except for you…Kure…"

With that he slumped to the ground, unable to stay conscious any longer.

- - - - .

Hagakure yawned and attempted to sit up. She found it was a bit harder than she'd thought. It was starting to get a little darker and the sky was an amazing shade of blended purples, blues, reds, and pinks. Rolling onto her side, she did eventually manage to get up.

"I'll be glad when I get this pup out of me…" she half growled, half giggled.

Inu-Yasha heard her talking like that.

"You shouldn't joke around like that, Kure," he said.

Hagakure jumped at his nearness. She had been so tired she hadn't detected him. Now that she sniffed, he didn't smell the same either.

"So its tonight, then…" she mused.

Inu-Yasha knew what she was talking about instantly. Tonight was the new moon; the night he became human. He nodded his head.

"I guess you'd be pretty scared about that, huh Inu?" she asked.

"A little bit, I guess. But wouldn't you be? I mean, tonight I'll be at the mercy of all the demons in this forest and I won't be able to protect myself."

"What about Sango and Miroku?" Hagakure asked motioning at the sleeping humans in turns. She noticed that Miroku had moved himself much closer to Sango than she would have allowed had she been awake.

"I know they'd lay their lives down for me- we'd all do it for each other- but that still doesn't make me worry less."

"Do you want to get stronger?" Hagakure asked him.

"Of course! I always want to be stronger!"

"Then come here…" she beckoned him to sit next to her.

Inu-Yasha did as she told. After all, he didn't want Hagakure to take all her frustration out on him. She knelt beside him, unable to sit cross-legged because of her delicate condition and attire.

"Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Look deep inside yourself," Hagakure said calmly. "What do you see?"

Inu-Yasha raised his eyebrows but tried to do what he was told. After all, he did want to get stronger. He knotted his brows in thought.

"I see…blood, guts, and bones."

Hagakure was shaken out of her calmed state and her eyes flew open. Her expression was like she had just sniffed a pile of dung and was confused about why it smelled bad. She peered over at her 'pupil' to see if he was just trying to be a smart ass or really couldn't think of anything else to say. She determined it was the latter by the thoughtful look on his face.

"Well…that's a start…" she said, exasperated.

"Really?!" Inu-Yasha asked as he opened his eyes.

"No…"

Kagome watched the two amused. The extremely conflicting and shifty expressions on their faces made it all too comical to bear. Kagome lost all control she had over herself when she saw the confused and slightly horrified look on Hagakure's face.

Inu-Yasha looked over when Kagome toppled over laughing. Shippo and Hakaki woke up, as did Sango and Miroku.

As she sat up, Sango wondered why Kagome was literally rolling on the ground laughing. She looked at Inu-Yasha and Hagakure to see the confused looks plastered on their faces. Hakaki had raised eyebrows and was staring at Kagome with a 'what the hell is your problem?' look on his face. Shippo was just as confused. And Miroku…where was he, anyway?

Sango looked over to her left and saw Miroku lying very closely next to her, his head propped up on his hand. Her eyes flew open at the nearness of him. He was practically on top of her!

"PERVERT!" Sango shouted.

The sound that resounded from the slap she gave him echoed off the mountains and scared furry woodland creatures out of their homes. It made Inu-Yasha flinch and Kagome stop her seemingly endless bout of laughter; Hagakure hid behind a tree, with Shippo and Hakaki shortly following her.

And Miroku… Poor, poor, Miroku.

"Look at all the pretty lights!" he exclaimed drunkenly before falling into unconsciousness.

Shippo, being the child he was, came over to the unconscious monk with a stick in hand. Hakaki shortly followed.

"Is he dead?" Hakaki asked as Shippo poked him with the stick.

"I don't know…" he said between pokes. "But he ain't moving…"

Hakaki sniffed Miroku. Then he put his hand over his nose.

"He smells dead."

Shippo sniffed.

"Sure does. He's gotta be dead." Shippo said with a final poke.

Hagakure and Kagome stifled a giggle. Inu-Yasha just stared at the two kitsune kits that had just proclaimed Miroku dead. Sango got an evil edge in her eyes.

"Boys, if you want to see if he's really dead all you have to do is jump on his- "

"I'm ALIVE!" Miroku shouted as he sat up.

Unfortunately, he sat up so fast that Sango didn't have time enough to get away. This resulted in a head-on-head collision.

"Owy…" both said before falling back to the ground unconscious and on top of each other.

"That was…interesting…" Kagome said staring at the unconscious pair.

"'Interesting' isn't the word I was thinking of…" Hagakure said looking on.

- - - - .

It was getting darker; not only the sky, but Inu-Yasha's hair as well. Hagakure watched in amazement as his ears shifted and his claws disappeared.

"All the years I've lived and I've just now seen a hanyou transform." Hagakure stated.

"Its weird, isn't it?" Kagome asked, gawking at Inu-Yasha.

"Gee, thanks for making me feel right at home, Kagome." Inu-Yasha said dryly while looking at her.

"She was only joking, Inu-Yasha." Miroku said from across the fire.

He and Sango had woken up roughly around the same time- meaning of course, Miroku had gotten up before Sango. She had gotten angry when she saw her sleeping position, noticed that Miroku hadn't moved her, and the rest was blurry. Sango had hit him, he was sure- the pain and handprint on his cheek told him that- and now she was avoiding him, making sure Kirara was always between them.

"I'm not that stupid, Miroku." Inu-Yasha scoffed.

Hagakure felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. It was severe but short-lived and afterwards she felt a huge pressure release from between her legs, leaving her feeling very wet. She had a need to be alone right then.

"I'm going for a dip in the hot springs…" Hagakure announced as she stood up.

Normally Sango and Kagome would have jumped at the chance to go to a hot spring, but it was simply too warm outside. Why Hagakure wanted to be was beyond them. Maybe to release the tension in her muscles?

"Call us if you need anything." Sango said.

Hagakure nodded her agreement before walking off.

Hakaki watched her go, staring intently at the liquid that was trickling down her legs. He glanced at Kagome and Sango to see that hadn't noticed or, if they had, didn't appear to be very worried. He looked at Miroku and Inu-Yasha to see that they were in what appeared to be a very in depth conversation.

"Stupid letch! Do you think I'd actually fall for that?!"

"Honest, Inu-Yasha! I have to go to the little monks' bush!"

"NO!"

"But I fear I shall burst!"

"You can hold it!"

Hakaki shook his head.

Oh, yes…VERY in depth…

- - - - .

Hagakure found herself past the hot spring and out in a clearing with a small river running through it. She was downwind and could have smelled anyone that approached her, but that was of little use now because she was in increasing amounts of pain and was practically oblivious to her surroundings. Her spasms were roughly around eight minutes apart and slowly growing closer and more severe.

She groaned in pain and fell to her knees clutching her stomach.

A small splash was heard and a man with long, dark brown hair looked up from the water. What little light there was from the stars made the beads of water rolling off him glisten.

He saw a female form on the ground and she appeared to be in much pain. He tried to scent her but he was upwind and it proved to be of no use. He quickly grabbed his clothing and dressed, feeling a strong need to see what was the matter with this female. And, more importantly, why she was in his territory alone.

As he got closer, he could clearly smell the strong scent of pre-birth on her. Intermingled was the smell of Kagome and the others.

Were they nearby? How did their scent get on her? All these thoughts were racing through his mind as he picked up the somewhat shaking and very much pained female.

"I don't know how," he said, "but you smell of Kagome. If you're her friend, I have to take care of you."

She stared at him in shock for a moment; then another spasm hit her and she yelped in pain with her tail involuntarily twitching and nodded in agreement. He carried her off towards his den, his quick pace creating a whirlwind behind him.

- - - - .

Shiro woke to see that it was dark out. No moon lit the sky and he could barely see in front of himself. He forced himself to get up.

"Damn it… I must have fainted…" he said noticing the blood that covered him and leaning on the tree he was slumped under for support.

Shiro walked a few wobbly steps before straightening himself out. He scented the air and picked up the heavy scent of wolves.

"Heh… They made themselves right at home after I left, I see." Shiro remarked. "Once I'm back to normal, they'll be gone."

He began to walk slowly in the direction where he knew there was most likely a hot spring. Warm night or not, his muscles needed to relax and the warm water of the spring was just the thing to do it.

How he wished Hagakure were there to join him though…

- - - - .

"Ginta! Hakaku!" the wolf shouted as he arrived at what was obviously his den with Hagakure in his arms.

She was writhing in pain and he didn't know how much longer she had before she would jut have the pup out on the mountainside.

Almost instantly, the two called upon demons were out and raced up to their leader.

"Yes Kouga?" one asked.

The other looked at the female in his arms.

"Who's she?" he asked.

"I don't know, but she's gonna pup and she's friends with Kagome." the one, now identified as Kouga, said. "Hakaku, go inside and tell the old hunch what's going on. Ginta, help me get her inside."

They both nodded and did as they were told.

Hagakure watched as she was carefully brought under the waterfall that guarded the entrance to the den without getting so much as a single drip on her.

Once inside, she wished she were back out. Hundreds of wolves were cluttered in the cave and all appeared to be staring at her. The majority was male, though she could see some females sympathetically looking down on her.

Kouga and Ginta carried her to the back of the den where she was laid out carefully on warm straw bedding. An older female wolf, obviously the midwife, was led to the sectioned off part of the den by Hakaku. Behind her were three younger females that looked like they were apprentices.

"This is Shinta. She'll help you," Kouga calmly explained as he pushed a stray piece of hair out of Hagakure's face.

Shinta was tall for a female and as to why Kouga called her 'the old hunch' Hagakure didn't have an honest clue. Shinta had long brown hair that was tied back into a messy bun and piercing green eyes. Her tail was curled in an odd direction and angle, leaving her looking off balance. Her limbs were long and thin, making her good with getting into odd places.

The older wolf pushed her way past Kouga and knelt down by Hagakure's side.

"Your first?" she asked as she began to undo the trappings of her kimono carefully.

Hagakure nodded and winced.

Shinta looked over her shoulder to see that Kouga, Ginta, Hakaku, and a few other curious males were crowding around.

"Be gone!" She commanded. "Have you no sense of privacy?!"

Even Kouga yelped at the serious and slightly threatening tone in her voice. They all complied, leaving the females to do their work.

- - - -

Inu-Yasha was starting to get worried. Hagakure had been gone for quite a while and he could've sworn he'd heard her yelp a little while ago.

Then again, Inu-Yasha thought looking at the beaten and bruised Miroku, that could've just been the letch…

- - - -

Hagakure yelped in obvious pain at the need to squeeze something the size of a watermelon through something the size of a strawberry.

"I hate men!" Hagakure declared with a push. "I'm gonna…castrate Shiro when I see him!"

Kouga was a bit anxious now. He wasn't sure if he wanted to submit a female he loved to that kind of pain just to get an heir. Especially if it would make her resent him in the long run enough to make him not be able to have any more kids.

Kouga looked over at one of the male wolves that was a father.

"They always say that, Kouga." he assured his thoroughly shaken leader.

A large and deafening scream was heard and then the crying of a baby.

"A girl." Shinta declared, handing the small demoness to her mother.

Hagakure sat up best she could with help from one of the apprentices and took the baby. Hagakure looked every bit the part of proud mother, sweaty but smiling; if she'd been able, she would have run to show off her new pup to everybody she knew.

"Misoka." Hagakure declared. "Misoka for the night of the new moon."

Then Hagakure looked at the dark swirl of hair on her head as well as her fuzzy black ears. She played with one gently and giggled when it swiveled with her touch.

"And for her moonless black hair."

The other apprentices looked expectantly at Shinta, obviously waiting for further instructions.

"Ah…" Shinta mused, placing her hand on Hagakure's still swollen belly. "It appears your mate left you another surprise."

Hagakure squeaked.

"Another one?"

- - - -

"Okay, something's wrong!" Inu-Yasha burst suddenly.

This caused Miroku's inching hand to stop, Shippo and Hakaki's laughter to die in their throats, and Sango and Kagome's girlish conversation to stop.

"What do you mean?" Miroku asked, pulling his hand back so he wouldn't get into trouble.

"Kure's been gone for a long time." Inu-Yasha growled through his very human teeth. "Too long."

"We should go check on her!" Miroku declared standing up and making to walk towards the hot springs.

"Not so fast, monk." Sango growled as she grabbed the edge of Miroku's robes.

Hakaki's formerly childish and playful expression disappeared.

"Do you think something bad happened to Mama?" Hakaki asked Kagome, his eyes showing fear and concern.

"I'm sure she's okay, Hakaki." Kagome reassured him. "We'll just go check on her, okay?"

Hakaki nodded.

Sango yanked Miroku back down to a sitting position.

"You stay here." she said, giving him a threatening glare before leaving with Kagome.

Shippo and Hakaki were torn between going with the girls and staying with the boys. Eventually, they came to the decision to stay with the boys for two reasons. One: they had to watch Miroku. Two: if something had happened to Hagakure, they didn't want to be around to see it. Hakaki couldn't take loosing another parent.

- - - -

"Push, girl!" Shinta coached.

"This isn't exactly easy!" Hagakure shouted.

These were the shouts that Kouga and the rest of the wolves heard coming from the small group in the back.

Kouga looked down at the small girl in his arms. She had crystal blue eyes, black ears and a small swirl of black hair. She was tailless- a trait undoubtedly from her father- but nonetheless beautiful for it.

Her childish beauty made him want one for his own. She wasn't his and that fact made him feel a little awkward as he held her at the mouth of the cave looking through the waterfall at the moonless sky. Her father should be the first male to hold her, not him- a stranger that happened to be in a caring mood when he saw a female in pain.

As he thought of her father, numerous questions popped into his mind. Who was he? Where was he? And, most importantly, why the hell did the girl he held in his arms smell so familiar?

Soon, a string of insults and curses that made Kouga blush could be heard and was soon followed by the squalling of a baby.

Hagakure looked down at her new son. He was beautiful. He had silver, black-tipped ears and silver hair just like his father. His eyes were glittering topaz and he was- like his sister- tailless.

"Nozomu." Hagakure declared. "For his hair, which is so like the full moon."

After Shinta gave him the okay, Kouga came to the rear of the den, carrying Misoka in his arms as delicately as if she were glass. He handed her to Hagakure and watched as she cooed both of her twins to sleep.

"My two moons…Misoka and Nozomu." she said taking in their scent. She looked over at Kouga. "My name is Hagakure. I don't believe I had a chance to tell you before."

Kouga shook his head.

"You had a good excuse, unlike me. My name is Kouga."

Hagakure took his hand and shook it without waking her two sleeping pups.

"I do believe I wouldn't have heard you anyway."

Kouga chuckled quietly.

"I guess you're right."

- - - -

Sango and Kagome came back to the boys out of breath. They had obviously run all the way back.

"She's not…there." Kagome said between pants.

"What do you mean she's not there?!" Inu-Yasha shouted as he stood up.

"She's not…at…the springs." Sango explained while catching her breath.

"Why tonight?!" Inu-Yasha moaned.

"We gotta find Mama…" Hakaki sobbed. "Kagome, we gotta find her!"

"It's okay, Hakaki," Kagome consoled the now crying kit. "We'll find her. Shh…"

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

[A/N:] the part where liquid was trickling down her legs was actually her water breaking. I just had to clear that up so some people wouldn't think she'd peed herself or something like that.

Enough with the actual intelligent part of the notes that actually MEAN something…its now time for my ranting and stupid commentary! I bet you thought Miroku was going to deliver the baby! HA! I like doing the unexpected… I personally liked the bit about the 'little monks' bush'. I don't know where that came from… ^^ but I like it! I also liked the part about what Inu-Yasha sees inside himself. Does anybody know where that's from? Cookie if you get it!

REVIEW!

Next chapter: Blue and Gold

Shiro woke up from his face down position in the dirt; he never made it to the hot springs during the night. Instead, he found himself dangerously near to the wolves' den; the same wolves that he had driven out of his territory a few months back.

"Shit…" he growled as he struggled to sit up.

He was still in so much pain from his skirmish with Naraku. That stupid bastard thought he could break Shiro's spirit by hurting his body, but he was far from the truth. As long as he had the hope of finding his mate and, hopefully, his pup, he would always win out.