InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Heart of a Thief ❯ Secrets - Part I ( Chapter 3 )

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

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

Chapter 3: Secrets - Part I

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Kuromu's heart was still pounding even after Shikaeru had pulled him from his nightmare. He couldn't deny the urge to glance over his shoulder every so often, as if needing to check to make sure the dark soldier and his horse weren't there waiting for him. He jumped as another log was added to the fire and there was a particularly loud series of pops and a bright flurry of sparks was sent into the air. “You're liable to give yourself a heart attack if you don't calm down soon,” Shikaeru teased lightly as she came back to kneel by his side and handed him a water skin again.

As he sipped on the cool liquid, he wondered for a moment about why he couldn't remember her ever leaving, eventually deciding it must have been sometime right after he'd woken up when he was still too agitated from the dream to pay much attention to what went on around him. Glancing around, he noted that only a few people were still watching him and most had lost interest in his condition. “There are some real characters in the bunch I'm traveling with so someone having a bad dream isn't going to hold these peoples' attention for too long,” Shikaeru explained when she noticed Kuromu looking around for what audience he might have left.

“I'm fine with that,” he answered. “I've had people watching my every move and judging me my whole life; the fewer eyes on me, the better.”

Shikaeru raised an eyebrow. “Why have they been doing that?”

“My parents died when I was only six. My brother and I had no money, and my brother was hardly old enough to start working at the time, so everyone assumed we might just start stealing what we needed. Someone was always there, keeping on eye on us, ready to catch us red-handed should we try anything.”

“Did you?”

“I tried one time but at the last minute backed out.”

“Why? What stopped you?”

He paused for a moment, his eyes gazing out into the woods as if looking upon a distant memory. “I don't know. I guess I just didn't want to turn into what everyone had always thought I would be. I didn't want to give them that satisfaction of being right.”

She gave him a sad smile and he got the distinct feeling there was something she wanted to tell him but couldn't bring herself to. He was quickly learning that those violet eyes of hers could do little to hide her emotions and when he looked into them then, he saw a strange sort of suffering. What could it be that she wanted to say? Her emotions were plain to see, but he wished that the meanings behind them could be just as decipherable. “We plan to leave early tomorrow,” she spoke, breaking through his thoughts. “You should get some rest so you can have the strength you'll need. If you're hungry, there should be some food left that I could get you.”

“No, I'm fine,” he answered, eyes finally turning away from hers.

“I'll be just across camp if you need anything. Good night,” she said to him as she stood up.

“Good night,” he echoed, and as she turned to leave, he suddenly remembered that he was still holding onto the water skin she had given to him earlier. “Do you want this back?” he asked, holding up the item in question as she turned.

“No, you keep it. You'll need it for tomorrow,” she responded. “Sleep well,” she said with a small smile before she turned and made her way across the camp, leaving him with his thoughts.

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The next day came early as Shikaeru had warned, though Kuromu thought it to be arguably sooner than it should ever need to be. He was still yawning at fairly regular intervals as he met up with Shikaeru again when the camp had been packed up and the people supposedly ready to move. “No more bad dreams?” she asked, looking much too awake and alert for his liking.

“No, none at all,” he lied, deciding it would be better to keep the dark soldier to himself and not allow the demon-like warrior to bring suffering to anyone else.

“That's good. Here, this is the closest thing we have for breakfast for now,” she said, handing him a partial loaf of bread. “I know it's not much but we never expected that we'd need to feed so many other people.”

“That's alright,” he replied, tearing off a piece of the bread to begin eating as his stomach growled impatiently. “So where are we going now?” he asked when he'd finished the bite.

“To where my people are settled at the moment.”

“Where's that?”

“South, in a valley with a river running through it. I think the river might even be an estuary to the Hikage River that runs to the east of here.”

“Oh,” he replied through a mouthful of bread as the group finally began to move.

The journey to where Shikaeru's people were staying took most of the day and the sun was dipping low behind the hills when the group finally began the descent into the valley. Kuromu looked around as they drew close to the river but was unable to find any traces of civilization. The other survivors also seemed puzzled as they tried to figure out what was going on. One of the members of the hunting party produced a horn from the pack he was carrying and let out three short blasts that rang through the valley. Another horn answered his call and it was only moments before a small group of Shikaeru's people appeared mysteriously from the lush foliage of the hillside across the river. Kuromu gave Shikaeru an incredulous look but she only motioned for him to keep watching.

The small group made their way down to the river and began greeting those in the hunting party. A few of them paused at the edge of the undergrowth and together picked up what looked to be two logs strapped side by side. As they came to the edge of the river, they let one end of the logs rest in the water as they began to push it out to bridge the gap between the two banks of the river. When they had secured the logs, the members of the hunting party began to casually cross over the makeshift bridge, while the survivors from Kuromu's village hesitated to step onto what they saw as an accident waiting to happen. Shikaeru took Kuromu's hand and dragged him along after her when she found him stalling to cross over the river. “Come on, it's not as bad as it looks,” she reassured him as he began to resist being pulled onto the bridge.

But he followed her nonetheless, though his grip on her hand became notably tighter as he didn't want to test just how good his balance was. When everyone had finally crossed, they began to make their way up the next hill. They reached a point when the people at the head of the group seemed to just disappear into the hillside and as Kuromu and Shikaeru reached that vanishing point, he was able to see that it was the carefully camouflaged entrance to a series of caves. Inside the caves, the air was a cool but not uncomfortably so. They traveled down a sort of hallway and into a main living area. Others could be seen moving through the area, going about their various tasks. A tall man came to greet them and by the reactions of the people in the hunting party, he seemed to be a leader of their people.

The man, dressed in black and dark blue, began to address the newcomers. He welcomed them to stay with his people for as long as they'd like and offered them accompaniment during travel should any of them rather wish to stay in a nearby village. “Let's go,” Shikaeru whispered after a while, “He'll go on talking like this forever if people let him and he's already said anything important he has to say so there's not much point in just standing around here.”

Kuromu nodded in agreement to Shikaeru's decision and followed her as she headed for one of the adjoining rooms, only half listening to what the man was saying. But right as he was stepping into the other room, he heard the man say something about how the people living in the caves were not the most respected in society. He paused to try to find out more about what he was talking about but Shikaeru tugged on his sleeve to remind him to keep moving. He took one last glance back to the man before following after her deeper into the cave system. “What was that man's name?” he asked after they had been moving steadily further away from the cave entrance for a while.

“That was Danuko, he's main person in charge around here,” she answered, her tone telling him she didn't want to say too much about him.

They walked on in relative silence for a bit more before they came to a small cavern with a large fur rug in the center and a fire burning brightly in a small fireplace located under a hole in the ceiling that presumably led to the outside. A few long sitting pillows adorned the borders of the rug and an old table sat in the center, its planks dark with the many coats of lacquer it had been layered with over the years when there had been attempts made to keep the knot-ridden wood from being destroyed by moisture. In one of the corners was a large, chest whose lock looked to have been fairly well destroyed. A few boxes of varying sorts were tucked against the walls of the room, giving the room the odd look of a living space crossed with a storage area. Only three people other than Shikaeru and Kuromu occupied the room, one of which was an old woman who was digging through the contents of a large crate, another a small girl no more than five or six who was sitting beside the fire playing with a doll she had, and the last a boy who looking to be a year or two older than Shikaeru.

The old lady and young girl paid Shikaeru and Kuromu no mind as they entered the room, but the boy looked up from a quiver strap he had been mending when he noticed their presence. “You're back early, Shikaeru,” he acknowledged, giving her a grin that made Kuromu immediately dislike him. “And you brought someone along with you,” he added, his grin becoming tainted with something akin to a sneer when his eyes fell upon Kuromu.

“Yes, his name is Kuromu,” Shikaeru said, her voice uncharacteristically muted, as if she'd rather not be speaking to him.

But her words were almost lost the to boys who were engaged in a battle of wills, neither wanting to be the first to break the stare between them and show the sign of submission associated with turning one's eyes away from another's gaze. “Pleased to meet you, Kuromu,” the other boy stated, the icy look in his eyes telling Kuromu he was anything but pleased to meet him. “My name is Genkotsu.”

“Please to meet you too,” Kuromu replied, putting forth his best effort to make his stare just as cold as the other boy's.

Shikaeru, sensing the tension between the two, decided to break it up as soon as possible. “You must be hungry, Kuromu. You've had hardly anything to eat today. Why don't we go and get dinner?” she asked, watching as he hesitated to turn his eyes towards her.

“Sure,” he said with a nod.

“Will I be seeing you around then?” Genkotsu asked as Kuromu began to walk away with Shikaeru.

“Yeah,” he said almost smugly, smiling inwardly at the look of disdain that rippled over the other boy's features.

“Come on, Kuromu. They might be closing down the kitchen soon,” Shikaeru brought up, trying to get him away from Genkotsu before the fight that was already threatening to happen broke out.