InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Haishin: A promise to meet again ❯ Interlude of the Injured ( Chapter 3 )

Haishin: A promise to meet again

Disclaimer: You know what? Look back a few chapters to see this..

Authors notes:

There you have it folks, the last chapter I wrote before my inspiration went "ftt" out the window.. *sighs*

oh well, at least you have 4 chapters to keep you busy for a while hm?

Please please please don't give up hope, I'm still planning this story, just not.. writing..
*sighs*

Take care all!! ^^

^*^

It was with great regret that I forced my eyes open, gaining a sharp leap of my stomache for my efforts. Shifting my head to the side slightly I tried burying my face in the pillow, in hopes to make the pain subside, and failing miserably. However I did gain an interesting distraction, as in my movements, a dark strand of hair had gently caressed my cheek, and settled quietly across my nose, in my line of vision. This worked to pull me out of my initial shock of feeling such pain, and I managed to wrap my arms partially around my body, shuddering in the muggy summer air. "Haha-ue..onegai, make it stop...make it go away." I murmured in a fevered daze.

I waited for a moment, unsure of whether or not she'd heard my call, and decided to concentrate on trying to sense my surroundings. Closing my eyes, I realized that I would find nothing with my extra senses, because I didn't seem to have them. Unwrapping my arms I lifted one arm weakly up to the top of my head and found my ears, were no longer there. However, I didn't have time to dwell on this fact, as a slight relief was brought to me, that of cool water trickling down from my forehead, to my cheeks, and slipping carelessly to the pillow beneath my head.

I still felt horribly cold yet hot at the same time, but, it wasn't as bad as it was before...

Glancing up I caught site of shadows playing on the wall in the candlelight and sighed softly as I heard an angelic voice call to me softly. "Oh, my little angel..." For a moment I thought I caught a glimpse of somebody in the corner, another girl, but my thoughts were haulted as my body was lifted from bed. Smiling weakly I felt the gentle caress of the silk from my mothers robes encircle me as she cradled me in her arms.

"Haha-ue..." I muttered sleepily sighing in relief as, at the touch of her hands the pain lifted, if only slightly, and I could breathe easier as I rested comfortably in her embrace.

"Why--why does it hurt so bad haha-ue?" I asked, glancing bleary eyes upwards, and wincing as the movement took its toll.

"You've got a terrible bug little one. You'll only feel it for a few hours...I promise you it will all be over very soon." she assured and I couldn't help but smile at the sound of her voice. I believed her, I believed everything she said, because mother never lied.

"Why now...why is tonight so different from every other...?" I muttered weakly around a yawn.

"Because it is the night of the new moon little one. You must have been sick for quite some time now, but because of your special blood, you didn't feel it at all, but...because of the new moon, you.." she trailed off and smiled sadly.

"I went human...right?"

She winced and nodded, and glanced down at me, her dark eyes filling with tears. Why was she crying? "That's right angel, you became human, and now that your demon blood has disappeared, so has your ability to fight off such bad bugs...you feel everything regular little boys do." she explained gently.

"If I weren't so tired," I exclaimed, voice nearly dying as I tried to shove my way out of her arms, "I'd find this bug and kill it." with whatever strength I had gone, I fell limply back into her arms and cuddled closer, eyes shutting.

She laughed gently and I felt cool finger tips gently brush my bangs out of my face as she started to hum a gentle tune, a familiar one and I suddenly felt very tired.

Her melodic voice was the last thing I heard, and cool hands the last thing I felt as I drifted into a deep and painless sleep.

(scene 1: 467 words)

*

All I could feel was dull pain and very uncomfortable warmth when I came back around to consciousness. I lay still for a moment, trying to examine my surroundings without actually opening my eyes. A familiar haze drifted through my senses and I felt very sleepy again, but fought off the urge to give in to the darkness and I managed to open my eyes slightly, semi-bright light invaded my senses and caused me to close my eyes again and shift uncomfortably, which only made the pain I was experiencing worse than it already was.

Of course, upon repeating the action of forcing my eyes open I realized that the light was the least of my problems at the moment. My vision swam and was terribly blurry as I struggled to concentrate on one object or another, my hearing was dampened and the rest of my senses were lagging as well.

Bringing my hand to my stomach I noticed that my chest and abdomen were newly bandaged and the stench of herbs protruded my nose, which wrinkled at the unwelcoming smell. What's worse, the pounding in my head did nothing to ebb the terribly foreboding feeling that had buried itself deep within my mind.

Pushing myself up to a sitting position I looked around the room, after it span momentarily and struggled to concentrate on one solid object. Finally however, I was lucky enough to gain my eyesight enough to see that it was probably just past dawn, and Kagome was wandering around in the next room.

Something was burning in the back of my mind, an unnerving and very curious fear that just wouldn't stop pestering me.

"K-kagome-" I rasped, and stopped, completely baffled at the weakness in my voice. My arms shook after a moment from the pressure of sustaining the upright position I had donned earlier. "Kagome," I tried again, voice thankfully stronger, "come in here." I called.

I heard the clattering of dishes and a startled gasp before she appeared in the room and glanced around curiously, then her gazed landed on me. "Inuyasha! Lay back down!" she all but shouted as she rushed to my side and barely stopped me from crashing painfully back to the ground beneath me. "What are you doing up, Kami, you shouldn't even be awake, those herbs should have kept you out for at least half the day." she admonished and then sighed and looked me over. "What's wrong, are you in pain?"

Too exhausted was I to make any sarcastic comments, so I remained silent and shook my head. "I'm fine." I muttered gruffly, pushing her helping hands away and then closing my eyes momentarily to catch my breath. "The-the human..." I said quietly and looked at the doorway, wondering if the experience from earlier was but a dream...

"His injuries are pretty bad, but he'll live, I expect he'll-"

I cut her off with a grunt. "Not him. The other human...the little girl. Where is she, did she ever come back?" I asked lamely, remaining in my current position and closing my eyes. "She was here, injured, I was going to have you fix her up..." I trailed off, attempting to answer my own question..."she could have went back to her family, maybe... but she really didn't look like any of the villagers. Not at all. But then who was she, strange child.."

I stopped muttering when I realized Kagome had been staring at me quite oddly. "What?" I asked in honest curiosity and winced absently again.

"Inuyasha...are you sure you're ok? Maybe your fever went up again. I should go get some more herbs anyways, I want you to be resting, not trying to force yourself to wander around like I know you'll try to do once the sun rises." she admonished and stood up, ignoring my very aggravated protests.

"Kag-Kagome!"

She ignored me completely for a few minutes before wandering back into the room carrying a small bowl of that putrid liquid and knelt down next to me again. "Now...I want you to take this and sleep for as long as possible. You'll only heal faster that way...please?" she asked gently and looked down at me.

The latter half of my protests died in my throat at the expression she gave me and I sighed quietly and nodded, finally giving in to the weakness that had been fighting to take control and let her lift my head up, accepting the horrid herbal drink and grimacing at the taste.

With that, I let my control over my senses go and felt the temperature sore back into rather unbearable heights, hissing in pain. "Gah. Damn it!" I yelped and felt Kagome jump next to me.

"What's wrong-Oh my god, you're practically radiating heat! Inuyasha!" she cried in shock, and any defenses I had were lost to me as I felt my vision swim again.

"Sorry..." I muttered weakly and closed my eyes. For a moment I expected her to yell at me for hiding my illness, only, just as I felt myself slipping away, I felt a cool hand on my forehead, brushing my bangs away from my face.

"Just rest..." was the last thing I heard as I once again drifted off into unconsciousness.

(Scene 2: 889 words)

*
(Remember to add something about the breeze from outside.. it's summer remember.. ^^;;)

It must have been near evening when next I woke up, and, much as I hate to admit it, I think Kagome was right when she said sleep would do me well. Not only was it no longer unbearably hot in here, but my vision was sharp as ever, and besides a little bit of dullness, most of my senses were back to normal as well, something I was more than happy about.

Now, what surprised me was, though the wound I'd received from Sesshoumaru still hurt like hell, I could move around a bit easier, and it seemed, by feeling the bandages and not sensing the coppery smell, the bleeding had stopped, if only for a little while. Good, that meant I could get up, I think.

For a moment I wondered vaguely what would happen if I did get up. Would Kagome freak out? Or would I pass out. Neither option seemed very appealing...but I had to attempt it, I'd been laying down far too long for my own good.

Looking out the room I sighed and could hear vague voices outside, stifling a yawn I shrugged and pushed myself up gingerly, wincing as wave after wave of pain went crashing through my stomach at the movement. Oh, today was going to be hell, er tonight that is. Well, whatever. Either way, Kagome was right earlier, there was no way I was staying on my back a moment longer.

So with that last thought I moved from my tentative crouching position, to fully standing, as I grabbed Tetsusaiga and moved out of the room in search of my Kimono shirt and Haori.

The darkening sky greeted me when I peered outside, watching as the others, including Kagome, who was holding Shippo in her lap, talked as they settled around a campfire not too far away from the hut. Not even traveling and they feel the urge to settle around a campfire...feh.

For a moment I was tempted to join them, why? I don't know, but it did seem like a good idea at the time, but something stopped me. But what? Oh, yeah, the human...who was currently still as death. I could only get so lucky.

My ears twitched and I looked around as a startled gasp then pain filled moan caught my attention. Trying to find the source of the commotion, I remembered my current train of thought and looked back at the young boy curiously then stepped forward. What the hell huh? It's not like he's gonna bite.
The worst he can do is go insane and then die on me. Wouldn't be so bad, if you didn't count the fact Kagome would blame me, and then sit me till I couldn't possibly stand again.

With that I decided to walk over and kneel down next to the now partially conscious boy who was struggling to wake up and looked him over once. Dark hair, almost black was pulled back into a ponytail, which was now matted in blood and dirt, he had once, I remember, donned a simple travelers outfit and armor, nothing that could have withstood Sesshoumaru's wrath that's for sure. His eyes, I also remember, were an emotionless, empty brown tinged black. Though now shut, I can almost still feel his gaze on me from last night, staring through me as he murmured one single word. It still gave me an odd chill, though I tried to shake it off.

For the most part he looked to be healing nicely, which I suppose is a good thing...Kagome really does know what she's doing. Smiling absently I shook my head and sighed, now all he wore was the bandages that covered three quarters of his upper abdomen, and his pants, which were tattered in areas, soaked in the remnants of muddy water, and scattered with flecks of dry blood. All in all he looked like the typical injured human. Though he wasn't typical, he'd survived a fight with my older brother, and I suppose that does say something for him.

Eyeing him curiously, I watched him stir in his unsettled sleep. His breath was so fast it was almost coming out in gasps, and just getting my hand close to his neck I could almost feel the pulse pounding in his neck. Nightmare if I ever saw one...

Suddenly, however, his eyes flew open and fixed on me almost instantly, causing me to fall backwards and hiss in pain.

"No!" he exclaimed and tried to push himself up and away from me, but was unable to move at all really. "You! Leave here! Leave here this instant!" he cried and my ears flattened against my head pensively. Damn it all he's getting on my nerves! If only he'd stop staring at me, then maybe I could move. Something about him just paralyzes me.

"Damn you!" he spat and with that I was finally able to get up and scramble backwards, almost hitting the opposite wall as Kagome came hurrying in, examined the scene then gave me a quick glance, rushing over to the humans side.

Blood pounding in my throat I worked on trying to sooth my nerves, which was failing miserably as I watched her talk to him, giving him some dark liquid and smiling gently at him. Eventually her words seemed to sink in because he nodded and lay back down, eyes remaining open and fixed on the ceiling of the hut, though his breathing, pulse and general air were back to normal...or a reasonable fac-simile.

Wincing in pain I swallowed the bile that threatened it's way up at the sudden sharp movements I'd made and finally spotted my clothes, clean, and fixed up. She'd done that already? Now too bad I can't seem to convince my legs it's ok to move.

"Ningen no baka.." I muttered under my breath and pushed myself up shakily, ignoring the blurriness that took my vision for a second as I looked around, and spotted Kagome watching me closely, almost boring a hole through my head with her eyes. "Nani?" I asked gruffly and she blinked slightly.

"What are you doing up?" she asked calmly.

"What do you think I'm doing up?" I replied shortly and moved to get my clothing, only to have her block my way.

"You shouldn't..."

"Kagome, I don't plan on rushing on in to battle anytime soon, I don't even think we'll have to deal with anything for a day or two, at least grant me with the ability to move around freely." I said and she looked ready to back down. Good.. "Besides, remember I told you I'd be fine in a day or two? The wound may have been meant to kill, but it's already healing nicely." Blunt faced lie. "I'll be fine if I just move around a little, I can't let this get to me." She had to back down. "I'll take it easy Kagome. No huge fights with Big Brother or Naraku." I said and watched her lips twitch with a smile.

"Alright...you can come outside and talk with the others, the village leader and his wife are here. They've actually been anxious to meet with you..." she trailed off thoughtfully and shrugged, then turned around, picked up and handed me my shirt and gi. "Come on!" she said and cast the human one more look then hurried outside.

Slipping on my kimono shirt I took a step outside and was hit by a gentle breeze, and the scent of the fire wafting towards me. The heat of the flames almost seemed to be overly real tonight as I looked over at the group, who were all talking quietly amongst themselves, Kagome sitting down on one side of the leader, saving a spot for me next to her. How kind.

Walking gingerly down the single step again I looked around, half expecting to see Keika come charging out towards me in the darkness. But all I saw was brush, trees, and shadows. Nothing of interest. Unless you count the two crow demons that were lurking up in one of the farther trees to the southwest. No harm there.

Ears twitching absently I slipped on my fire-rat gi and walked up to join the group, gaining a wave from Miroku, a smile from Sango and two very curious looks from the village leader and his wife.

They looked a little young to be true leaders of the group, the leader himself having a bluish black hair that fell a little longer than usual down his back, I couldn't quite see his eyes but he seemed to be jovial...and his wife, a petite little girl of no more than 21 with long obsidian hair trialing down her back in tendrils of unnatural curls, my guess is, his father passed away recently, and he took over power a year or so ago. It seems that way to me anyways, but, I wasn't going to be the one to ask. All though I was curious about this village, why did it seem so familiar to me...?

And their clothes reminded me a little bit of Keika's last night. Perhaps she was their child?... Perhaps... but again, I wasn't going to be the one to bring up that subject. In fact, if I could get away with it, I wasn't going to say a single word tonight.

Hah, yea right. As soon as I made my appearance next to the fire Kagome hopped up again and began introducing me.

I did my best to put on the smile I'd perfected over the years of trying to get my way into a village for the night when I was little. Humble, yet slightly bored. As if there was nothing too special about me. Just another being in this wonderful little world. Yup...

"Lord Bodai, lady Mijukai, this is Inuyasha, the one you've been wishing to speak to all day. He's been resting, so, forgive his attitude..." she said without thinking and gained a glare from me, which dissolved instantly as the two strangers turned to me, a strange respect in their eyes.

Their eyes... their… wait a minute! His eyes were a hazy purple, and hers, though masked so a human couldn't tell (easy magic for a demon), were a brilliant turquoise. Turquoise, Elven decedents. They were allies with the dog and white wolf demons.

I blinked twice and suddenly found my own newfound respect for the two people standing in front of me. I wonder if anybody else noticed the subtleties about him or her.

"Lord Inuyasha, it is a pleasure to see you a...in our humble little village." Mijukai said smiling gentle and bowing.

For some reason I felt compelled to return to favor.

And as if that wasn't enough, her husband stood up and walked closer to me with a cheerful smile on his young face.

Scanning my memory I remembered greeting a member of the royal family from the Fae once, and I tried to remember the proper greeting. Why in the seven hells I felt the need to be formal was beyond me, but I felt the need now.

Before he could speak I finally remembered just a general, down on one knee bow would suffice. So I did that, and ignored the very, very astounded looks I received from my friends, and the twinge in my wound from the movement.

"Honorable Lord Bodainashi, it is of the greatest pleasure to be in your presence." I said as quietly as possible, unsure if I had the correct person with that true name. If I did, then he was older than me by at least 1000 years. As the Fae aged by human standards, but were immortal.

"Stand young heir." he said just as quietly and for a moment I wasn't sure to whom he was speaking to, till I remembered it was me and I stood up. "Lord Inu Taishou's youngest son, Inuyasha. You do remember me." he said happily and grabbed my arm by the wrist. For a moment I was stunned till I remembered it was a more relaxed greeting, and I returned the gesture.

"Brilliant!" He exclaimed and with that burst into a low laugh, which made everybody jump, save for his wife and I. "Young heir Inuyasha, you have no need for such formalities around me. I remember when you were just a little pup all those years ago, even back then you did not do so much as smile at me, what brought this sudden change." he said, asking the question quietly.

"I haven't the faintest.." I said honestly, gaining a chuckle from him. "I just remember fae etiquette from a little bit of my history, and from seeing father greet people like that..."I said vaguely, again trying to grasp at a memory that was far too old to be remembered.

"Fae...heh, I knew I could not fool a demon such as yourself." he said and with a small motion towards his wife, he smiled as she dropped her own magic. And boy was she beautiful. Hair a deep lavender, trailing down her back in waves, ending just above her ankles which barely covered the pointed ears she had, she was wearing a white and purple kimono, a blue and gold sash at her waist, and her eyes, which were now staring at me kindly, were that mind blowing turquoise that I remember from my childhood.

"Mijuni!" I exclaimed breathlessly and she smiled fondly.

"Hai..." she replied gently and nodded.

My father's oldest allies, the true leaders of the Fae and Elven clans...in a small village like this. On the edge of my father's domain, which meant that there had to be an underground world somewhere around here. If I wasn't mistaken. I'd have to get more detail later.

This was all too weird for me. I guess I was to be speaking a bit more than I had planned tonight.

***

Mijuni had taken Kagome and Sango (as well as Shippo) in to the village a little ways to keep them busy, and Miroku...being Miroku, had gone off somewhere, leaving the Fae Lord and myself alone to talk. Mijuni was always thoughtful in that manner... of course that means that something he has to say isn't for others ears.

He had asked about my life, and, after some prodding managed to get almost a full story out of me, glossing over some area's, mostly those I can't remember, and those I wish to keep truly personal, like Ookami-sensei. I told him what I could remember of mother, and of being bound to the tree, which he'd heard of, but never truely believed. I also told him of the journey my friends and I were on, to defeat Naraku and collect all the jewel shards.

In return, he told all of what I've missed from my world, that of the Dog Clans, and yes, he explained we were atop of an underground world of the Fae...

"Bodainashi-sama..." I started quietly, "I've heard...rumors, of a demon around these parts, that was our original goal for being her today, not, as it seems, my being injured in battle with Sesshoumaru, is this true?"

He looked at me thoughtfully, and then nodded. "It is indeed true, on two accounts. We have two demon children whom reside in our village. One, a teenager, such as yourself, and her little sister. They are both Hanyou, such as yourself. Inu Hanyou in fact. The Kumori siblings, Kijo and Sakura. But the demon you inquire about, a neko-oni."

"A ca...a CAT demoness?" I sputtered in disbelief. A cat demoness, of all the...pathetic..

"Indeed." he said raising an eyebrow in what I presumed to be amusement. Great, I was amusing the lord. Wonderful. "She has three jewel shards, and she is stronger than you would expect."

My ears perked up at this revelation. 3 jewel shards..."Ah, I thought that would get your attention." he chuckled quietly and nodded. "But you should also be on the look out for Kijo, for a female she is very powerful, she carries two jewel shards, and she is an excellent swordsman." he warned quietly.

Smirking slightly I scoffed, "like I'm afraid of-of, some on'na with a sword, she's no match whatsoever for Tetsusaiga." I said patting the sword at my side with pride.

His eyes brightened at this announcement. "That sword your father had created especially for you. I remember when he had it made, not long before he died...he came to the Fae and Elven world, and had us create the sheath for it-"

"What?" I interrupted and he stopped.

"Yes, that sheath that holds Tetsusaiga, was created by my people, and blessed by my wives. He came to us in hopes that we could create something to contain Tetsusaiga's immense power. Said that he was going to give it to you at your coming of age...which should have been about 45 years ago." for a second he trailed off then looked at me curiously.

"You... you said that you were sealed to the Goshinboku for 50 years correct? Which means, as your heart stopped beating, you never aged...for 50 years you remained in a dead sleep. You are still 17 correct?"

"Yeah..."I blinked. "I had turned 17 about nine years before I was sealed to the tree, so I had about six years left before I turned 18. Why does any of this matter anyways?" I asked crossing my arms and staring at him. There had to be a good reason for this sudden interest in my age.

He didn't reply right away, which got on my nerves, but he looked up and waved a hand, "which means in another 6 years you'll be 18 and of age. It's been so long though...you have the sword, and the strength of your father, from what I hear...it should be time." he looked suddenly uncomfortable though.

"Has anybody spoken to you of your family after your mothers death?" he asked in an entirely too serious tone of voice.

"No...like I said, I spent the latter half of my childhood running from demons and hiding, since they really seemed to want to kill me something fierce. Nobody ever took the time to tell me anything, or even give me sanctuary." I said, unable to keep the icy bite out of my voice at those words.

"You're own brother said nothing to you? Nothing at all?" he seemed very intent on getting something from me, well, he wasn't gonna get it, cause I didn't know what he wanted.

"Look! Just spit it out already! Sesshoumaru didn't tell me nothing! Ever! All he's ever done is remind me of my 'dirty blood', my 'station' and how he was going to kill me."

He blinked at me when I mentioned that and then shook his head. "That insolent whelp of a dog demon...he speaks with such empty pride. He has no right whatsoever to be speaking to you in such direct disrespect. He's known all along...and he's never said a word...he must have known, either that or he's been left unknowing for all these years..."

My patients was starting to wear thin...

Growling slightly, I narrowed my eyes. "Enough of this! Tell me what you want to tell me! Or what I need to be told before I completely lose my patience!! I'm NOT in the mood to deal with word games and riddles!" I snapped and his eyes widened slightly.

"Forgive me young lord, but.. I am unsure of whether or not it is my place, as only an Elven ruler, to speak of the Dog Clans rightful information. But you need to know this information, and your father spoke to us of this clan ritual many years ago, with pride. Everybody was shocked though, with his decision."

"Decision!? What decision! Tell me!" I ground out, now very irritated.

"My dear boy, the decision to name an heir for lord of the western lands and leader of the Dog and White Wolf clans, as that is the blood that runs through your veins as we speak." he said seriously, and I fell silent, then blinked.

"That's all? I know already that Sesshoumaru's been named lord of the Western lands, he rubs it in my face all the damn time, along with the fact that I'm weak."

"No, young lord, that is where you, and he, are mistaken. He, generally because he has taken the name himself, as an unofficial title...and you...where you had no prior knowledge apparently."

Ok, wait a minute, he's saying Sesshoumaru, all high-and-mighty, preach it from his soap box that he's the mighty Lord of the Western Lands, is not, in fact, who he says he is? Hah! That'd teach him...then who is?

"Who then? Who was named..." I stopped, breathless, unable to finish my sentence.

"You, young heir." Bodainashi said as he bowed once more to me. "You are the true heir and future lord of the western lands." he said respectfully and I was speechless.

Which is how Mijuni and the others found me moments later, as I stared at the Fae king in complete shock.

^*^*^*^

The only bad thing abotu this chapter, is that it wasn't re-written before I lost my interest, so you get it in pretty much it's original form. *sighs*

Sorry huh?

Ah well.

Yup..
Hope you all enjoy it, and please, remember, all comments and everything are very helpful, never know my muse'll let me back into this story..

*raises an eyebrow*