InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Heart of a Thief ❯ Brother ( Chapter 2 )

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

As Kuromu attempts to cope with the loss of his brother, he has a dream that makes the loss all the more painful.

Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Angst / Romance / Psychological / Hentai | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 03.21.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.6K | Visits: 130 | Status: Work In Progress

Disclaimer: I own nothing InuYasha-related and make no profit from this fic.

Chapter 2: Brother

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Hushed voices and the soft crackling and warmth of a fire met Kuromu as he awoke, as well as a throbbing headache. He opened his blurry eyes slowly, taking in the scene of a camp set up at the edge of a forest. He looked up at the great expanse of the night sky above him, stars sparkling like diamonds scattered across black velvet, before closing his eyes against the hurt. “Awake finally?” came a gentle voice to his right.

He reopened his eyes to find a girl, about his age, kneeling down beside the cot he was lying on. She produced a small cloth from a bag laid next to his cot and dampened it, using the water from a jug she had been carrying when she came to him. “I had been getting pretty worried there for a while,” she said, keeping her voice low so as not to aggravate his headache as she lay the cool, moist cloth against his hot forehead.

“Where am I?” Kuromu asked, his throat dry and voice raspy.

“You are several miles south of your village, near the place where my people are staying,”
she answered, helping him to sit up a little so he could have a drink of water.

He lay back after he had had as much water as he'd wanted, brow furrowing as a new wave of pain was sent to his head. “Try eating some of this,” she said, giving him a small section of a plant's root. “It should help with the pain.”

He tentatively put the end of it in his mouth, nibbling on it before deciding that the mildly bitter taste would be worth enduring if the root could take away some of his pain. He paused when he was about half way done with it, taking a break from the sour flavor that was assaulting his taste buds. “What's your name?” he asked, truly looking upon the girl for the first time.

He saw vivid violet eyes and blond hair tied in a loose bob that rested at the nape of her neck. “My name's Shikaeru,” she said with a small smile.

“My name is Kuromu,” he returned, giving her the best attempt at a smile he could manage at the time.

She suppressed a giggle at the lopsided half-grin, half-grimace he gave her. “There are a few others from your village here,” she brought up. “I was a part of a small hunting group that happened to be in the area when the soldiers began attacking your village. When we realized what was happening, we started gathering what survivors we could, though we were only able to get seven, including you, away from the village alive. If you want, I can mention your name to the others to see if there are any friends or family members among them.”

He closed his eyes and shook his head. “No,” he said after a moment. “There wouldn't be any need to.”

Kouhai had been his only family, and they had made quite a few more enemies with their mischievous ways than friends. Shikaeru gave him a sad smile, despite his closed eyes, and reached out to clasp his hand in hers. “I'm sorry,” she whispered. “I'm going to go check on one of the others who isn't fairing too well, but I'll be back to see how you're doing in just a little while, alright?”

He nodded his head and she let his hand slip from hers as she rose and walked away towards the next cot. His head began swimming with thoughts of Kouhai. He tried to push them away but he couldn't stop reliving the memory of his brother's death over and over again. The way he had fallen, the look of fear on his face, his scream. The way the crimson of the blood had begun to spread through the tan color of his shirt… He brought the half-eaten root back to his mouth and decided to try to finish it as his headache began to worsen. Closing his eyes, he let the sounds of the night and camp fill his mind, bringing pictures to his weary mind that pushed away the images of his brother until they, too, faded into the still night. Only the crackling of the fire remained.

He heard the rumble of hoof beats rise from the sound of the fire and turned to see one of the soldiers, mounted on a horse black as the night with a main and tail like smoke and eyes that shone like polished armor. When the soldier spotted him, the horse reared up, hooves lashing out at the air as its echoing cry made the night shiver and cower beneath it. They were charging towards him, chunks of dirt and grass kicked up by the horse's hooves, as the soldier's sword was drawn and pointed towards him, marking him for death. He tried desperately to move but fear kept his legs from responding to his frantic requests for movement of any kind to get him out of the path of the soldier.

He watched as they came closer and closer so swiftly it almost seemed as if they were flying. He turned his head, not wanted to see his death as it came, only to see another boy standing beside him. He too was frozen to the spot and shaking in terror. The thundering hooves became louder as the soldier came bearing down upon them. It was when the boy brought his hands up to shield his face that Kuromu realized that the soldier wasn't coming for him but for the other boy. The soldier came like a phantom, a fleeting image of horridness, as he ran his sword through the boy, knocking him to the ground. The horse whinnied loudly as it was halted and turned around so that the soldier could have another pass at the wounded boy. A dark laugh emanated from the soldier as he took in the sight of the bleeding boy lying on the ground, gasping for breath as if the air itself would be able to save him from his fatal wound.

The horse walked slowly towards the boy and stopped at his side. The soldier dismounted, cape sweeping around him like the black wings of an angel of death. He yanked the dieing boy up from the ground by the front of his shirt and held him close to his face. “Young belong to me now. You can never escape me and not even your brother can help you,” came his hissing voice.

Brother? Kuromu looking to the boy's face, distorted by pain and fear. His eyes widened as he realized it was Kouhai. “No!” he shouted, pushing past the fear and getting his legs to move once again.

He ran to his brother and the soldier, grabbing onto his brother to pull him from the dark warrior's clutches. The soldier dropped Kouhai to the ground, laughing again as Kuromu gave him a look of defiance and rage. “Do you actually think you can save him? Do you actually think you can defeat me?” he challenged, looming over Kuromu.

“I will fight for my brother,” he shouted back, trying to keep the fear from his voice.

“Very well then, you foolish boy,” the soldier answered, raising his sword to prepare for attack.

He swung at Kuromu, barely missing him as the boy leapt back. He stepped forward, swinging again and managing to hit the boy's arm. Kuromu gritted his teeth again the pain and kept moving, determine to lure the soldier away from his brother. The soldier swung at him again, managing to leave a shallow wound on his side. Kuromu found a stone in the grass and picked it up, throwing it at his attacker with all his might. But the soldier dodged it easily and continued to advance towards Kuromu. He suddenly found his back against a wall and knew his only chance was to run. He bolted around the soldier and back towards where his brother was, pushing past the thick mists that had begun to gather.

The soldier whistled and was answered by the call of his horse. Kuromu watched as the dark beast emerged from the mists, the ground trembling every time it came in contact with the earth. He could almost feel its hot breath against his skin as it shot past him and towards its master. He urged his legs to carry him even faster as the horse vanished into the mists and he hoped he wasn't misremembering where Kouhai had been. Only moments later, he found his brother and kneeled by his side, finding that he was only taking in shallow, irregular breaths. “Brother,” he called softly, watching as Kouhai turned his eyes to him.

“I can't,” Kouhai whispered, coughing weakly.

“No, you can. You can fight this, brother. Please don't go,” he pleaded though he knew Kouhai was already too far gone.

“I'm sorry,” he answered, the light fading from his eyes.

“I told you that you couldn't save him,” came to dark voice of the soldier.

Kuromu looked up, grief and rage mixing in his gaze. “Bring him back! You took him, so bring him back now!”

“It is not your place to order me around,” he said, kicking Kuromu away from his brother.

Kuromu hit the ground hard, the wind knocked out of him. He struggled to get up but wasn't fast enough to get back to his brother before the soldier took Kouhai and mounted his horse. “No! Don't take him!” he called as he ran towards them.

But the horse only reared up and once again lent its unearthly cry to the night, the grass coming alive with flames as it galloped away. He chased after them, his eyes filling with tears from the loss of his brother and the smoke. He began to lose his speed as the fire pressed against him, holding him back. The evil laughter of the soldier echoed reverberated through his mind as the fire surrounded him and the flames clung to his body and kept him from moving forward. He thrashed against their hold, calling for his brother and cursing the soldier, tears streaming from his eyes. “Kuromu!” came a sharp voice suddenly.

His eyes shot open as he found himself back at the camp, gasping for breath as he looked up into the face of Shikaeru. “You were only having a dream,” she reassured him calmly as she relaxed the hold she had had on him.