InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Inunori ❯ The Funeral ( Chapter 3 )

“I can't believe you did not tell me that he was coming!” Inunori said angrily to Saurina.

“I'm sorry mistress. I just turned away for a moment and then there he was. It was a little… startling,” she replied.

Inunori took a deep breath. “It's not your fault Saurina,” she said laying down on her bed. “I'm just mad at myself. There was a perfect opportunity to see if he even wants me and I act like an idiot.”

“You didn't act like an idiot mistress.” Saurina leaped up on the bed and started playing with Inunori's hair. “He was staring at you for a while.”

“What do you mean a while?”

“Well,” she paused not knowing if Inunori would get mad again or not. “I turned away to collect your armor and when I turned back he was standing there. It scared me a little.”

“When was this?”

“You had just finished washing your hair, I think. Yes! You had come up to scrub at your arms and he was just watching you.”

Inunori smiled and relaxed on the bed thinking, At least he wants me. There was a knock on her door. She sat up quickly and checked her kimono. “Come in,” she called.

“I see you are feeling better,” Inutaisho said pushing the door aside. “We are making preparations for your parents' funeral.”

“Oh, good.” The smile slipped from Inunori's face.

“I thought that we should give you some time to mourn before we go on with the wedding.”

“Wha-what? You mean-?”

“Sesshoumaru wanted to have the wedding tomorrow, but I insisted on giving you time.”

“When did this happen?”

“He told me after we arrived and he took you to your room. He said that he was going to talk to you. Didn't he?”

“No…though I think he was distracted…” She blushed and looked away.

Inutaisho chuckled. “That's my boy.” He ran a hand over his face. “In all seriousness, we have begun the preparations. Is there anything special that your family did?”

“What are you planning?”

“A feast of the dead following the burial-”

She interrupted, “No burial. Mother was under the belief that the soil would block her journey to the next world. She said once that she wanted her ashes thrown over the cliff into the ocean. Father said that he wished to follow Mother in death.”

“I see.” He stroked his chin in thought. “We will have to move the ceremonies elsewhere then.” He paused for a moment. “I will send some scouts out and look at the battlefield to see if any of the wolves are still around.” He turned and walked out of the room.

The next morning Inunori went to find out what the scouts had found. She went to the main hall where both Inutaisho and Sesshoumaru sat. She paused on seeing Sesshoumaru, not knowing how to react. She shook her head and moved forward.

“Did you hear from the scouts?”

“Yes, we did.”

“And?”

“It appears that the wolves abandoned your lands not long after you were wounded and completely left the area after we collected your fallen comrades.”

She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. “So they attacked for no reason? Those damn mongrels killed all of them for nothing?” Her voice rose with every word until she was practically screaming on the word `nothing.'

Sesshoumaru stood and gripped her shoulders. Suddenly he tugged her into his arms and held her against his chest. “We will take care of them,” he whispered into her ear. His hands stroked down her hair slowly, attempting to comfort.

Inunori nuzzled her face into his pelt and gripped his sash. “Thank you Sesshoumaru.” She pulled back just enough to look into his face. Unshed tears shimmered in her eyes. He reached up and brushed the tears away. She rested her head on his shoulder.

“We will be able to carryout your parents' final wishes,” he said continuing to comb his fingers through her hair.

The next morning Inunori got up and dressed in her armor. She left her hair flowing free knowing that she would need to take comfort from Sesshoumaru and remembering the way it felt the day before when he ran his fingers through it. She took a deep breath and walked outside to join the others in the procession.

Someone had arranged her parents bodies so that they were curling around each other, as they often did, in their true forms. They were laying on a pallet that was attached to two long polls so that it could be carried. Attached to the pallet was red and black flags and at each corner there was a small tube with incense sticks and a shorter tube on either side filled with flowers. A servant walked around the pallet and lit the incense, while four larger demons gripped the polls and lifted the pallet from the ground.

Inunori felt a hand on her shoulder and turned.

“It's time,” Inutaisho said gesturing to the head of the procession where Sesshoumaru waited. She moved forward to his side.

Inunori felt her ribs shift, widening. Her fangs lengthened and she looked to either side seeing that both Sesshoumaru and Inutaisho were shifting to their true forms as well. She let her body continue to shift until she became the large black dog that was her real self. She looked again to either side seeing her new family with true eyes. The three dog demons ran east followed by the lesser demons carrying her parents.

After an hour they arrived. The cliff had been cleared of all signs of battle. There was piles of wood for the fire stacked around. The demons that carried the former masters of the eastern tribes set their load. Some other demons moved the wood under and around the pallet and started the fire. Inunori let out a loud howl that was echoed by Sesshoumaru and Inutaisho. Tears streamed from her eyes and soaked the fur down her muzzle. Sesshoumaru nuzzled her with his nose and swiped his tongue along the tear tracks. She curled into a ball and watched the fire take her parents bodies. Sesshoumaru curled around her and rested his head on her neck.

The flames raged all through the day and long into the night. Eventually Inunori and the others took their human-like forms. She spent most of that time wrapped in Sesshoumaru's arms with Inutaisho looking on protectively. By dawn the next day there was little left of the pyre. Inunori filled each of her hands with ashes and walked over to the cliff edge. She lifted her hands and let the ashes slip through her fingers. “We will meet each other again,” she said as a final tear slipped from her eye.