InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Kagome: Enter the Hanyou ❯ Intro ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: Akebo

Kagome: Enter the Hanyou
Chapter 1
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&# 8220;Dance of blades!”

Sharp blades of white, hardened air clashed against the ground. Long gauges tore up the earth, sending bits of soil flying everywhere, some falling to rest back on the scarred dirt. The rest landed on a snowy white head, decorating it like the polar opposite of a snowfall.

InuYasha shook his head wildly, trying to get bits of the earthy grime out of his velveteen ears. Loud curses issued from his mouth, and he cracked his knuckles, grinning in a sickening delight at hearing the bones pop and crunch menacingly. His amber-hued eyes glared spitefully at his attacker—a woman floating a foot from the ground, clutching a large fan in her creamy white hand like a weapon.

“Kagura! What the hell are you doing here?!” the hanyou demanded, his tone leaving no trace of a doubt that he was angry—it seemed to waft out of his aura, which cackled in a sinister way, one that Kagura thought would leave her in pain unless she fled.

In all honesty, Kagura had only been a decoy to avert the sullen hanyou's attention while Naraku left on his business. He had mentioned some form of demon, one that could prove very valuable in his later schemes.

“Why don't you ask Naraku?” Kagura taunted, flicking her wrist daintily. The fan positioned in her palm rattled with demonic energies, and the fang-tipped edges shined a magnificent bring white before the demonic energy broke free, sending more blades of wind.

Inuyasha ran between the blades, pausing only when they were aimed for his feet. Groping at his side, his hand clasped around the handle of his sword. He rushed at an oncoming strike, before pulling the blade all the way out and turning gracefully. The colossal fang twisted methodically in his hand, and he brought it up against a wind-blade, which quickly dispersed as Inuyasha cut through it cleanly.

Kagura narrowed her eyes irritably, reaching for the fan in her hand yet again. The pulsating demonic energy coursing through the weapon flowed out roughly, creating large whirlwinds. The hanyou seemed unabashed by the display, and his face almost seemed to hold a smirk.

“Backlash Wave!” InuYasha cried out, feeling the slight tingling in his hand as the Wind Scar erupted from the blade and wrapped around a whirlwind, doubling its size. The Backlash Wave snaked towards the wind sorceress. Kagura tucked her fan away into the folds of her kimono and sailed above the oncoming assault. The attacked drifted into nothing but a fuming half-demon. InuYasha gripped his sword, ready to strike again, but Kagura knew her limits. Her giant feather pushed off and she headed back into the sky.

InuYasha glared at the distant dot, his ears twitching hysterically. He placed his sword back into its scabbard, and the fang resumed its natural form—a rusty, chipped, dull blade not even capable of cutting butter. The hanyou stood still, glowering at the spot where Kagura had taken her leave, and wondered for a moment why he was in this small clearing anyway.

“InuYasha?” a soft tone floated into his ears, snapping him back from his pouting. Oh yeah…he thought when the figure made its way towards him. Kagome's back. The miko stopped a couple of feet away from Inuyasha, panting and trying to regain her breath. On her back rested her ridiculously big yellow backpack.

“Where are the others?” she queried when she regained her breath. InuYasha tucked is hands into his haori and pointed towards Kaede's village with his chin noncommittally. Kagome nodded, but the action sent her wobbling with all the weight she carried. As she teetered back, he reached out a clawed hand and steadied her. He pushed the backpack off of her and swung it onto his own shoulder.

“Keh. Pathetic wench.” Inuyasha muttered, drawing a smile from the girl. Offering a quick word of thanks and a bob of her head, Kagome moved towards the village with Inuyasha right behind her.

They had made it half-way to the village before a rustling in the bushes made both of them freeze in their tracks. Inuyasha's hand inched towards his sword and Kagome's toward hr bow. The quivered of the bush stopped, and something flung out of it. All Kagome saw was a blur of orange before she found Shippo nestled in the crook of her arms.

“Mama! I missed you!” the kitsune said, nuzzling up to his adopted “mother”. Kagome gave him a squeeze.

“I missed you too, Shippo!” Kagome said, tearing the fox kit from their hug and ruffling his hair. InuYasha snorted and pushed ahead of them, muttering something about attention seeking kitsune. Shippo stuck his tongue out and pulled down at the skin under his eye. InuYasha snorted and moved his head to the side, making his white hair swing wildly.

They moved on, because the sun was already setting. The village was still a couple miles away, and Kagome was so tired, all she wanted to do was to slip under her covers and go to sleep. Luck was apparently not on her side when a quake resounded from underneath them. InuYasha smelt the demon first, so he latched onto Kagome and pulled her up to him. Shippo hung on by Kagome's skirt, eyes tearing as he looked back.

Underneath them, a large Worm Youkai was pushing up from under the earth. Kagome's cheeks turned green for a second, but she held it back through sheer will alone. Kagome looked hard at the worm youkai in front of her and gasped as a tiny prickling in the back of her mind appeared. And with the feeling, it could only mean one thing…

“He's got a Jewel Shard, Inuyasha.” Kagome explained, reaching down to smooth out her skirt. The hanyou landed down a couple of feet from the worm and released Kagome, who grabbed Shippo and retreated further.

“Alright, time to die!” Inuyasha growled out, holding up his sharp talons in an offensive position. The worm youkai, who apparently didn't have a mouth or at least anything discernable, grunted in response. The hanyou snorted and lunged forward, kicking up some dust with the force of his jump.

Soaring high in the air, Inuyasha angled his claws downwards. In a mighty slash, InuYasha yelled out the name of one of his most-cherished attacks. “Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!” Inuyasha shouted. His claws ripped through the worm like butter, causing the worm to scream and writher in pain.

When Inuyasha pulled back, he grinned in self-adoration at his accomplishment. Two large, heaping masses of youkai flesh, blood and muscle lie before him. They were silent, and Inuyasha mentally praised himself for a job well done. He headed back for Kagome, but a loud scream tore through the clearing, and Kagome echoed what she was pointing at with her own scream.

The worm-halves were wiggling together, tendons roping out to connect across each half. It slowly pulled itself together, blood leaking tremendously from the parts still not connected. As soon as the pieces were made a whole, they were sealed by a pink glow. Kagome willed down her utter disgust again and yelled over to Inuyasha.

“It's a piece of the Jewel, InuYasha!” she screamed through cupped hands. She put them down after she remembered he could hear her fine. Inuyasha nodded and scanned the worm for anywhere it might be. Finding no plausible place, he looked back at the miko.

“Where is it?” he yelled. Kagome looked at it, ignoring Shippo's terrified mumblings as he clutched her leg in fear. When she reached over to pat his head, she found the shard.

“It's by his heart!” Kagome yelled back, pointing at the thing that was starting to rise again. Inuyasha arched an eyebrow at her, and Kagome remembered that worms have about seven hearts. “It's….the heart by his head!” she corrected, straining her eyes to see the jewel shard. Inuyasha nodded and turned back to the worm, which had stop convulsing and was slithering towards Inuyasha.

“Alright, worm, I've had enough of you!” Inuyasha yelled, raising his claws once more. “I don't even need Tetsusaiga to handle you!” he yelled, swinging his dagger-like claws at the demon. It grunted and slithered towards Inuyasha, and the hanyou jumped up, spinning forward in mid-air. He kept his claws held out to make a spinning ball of claws.

InuYasha sliced through the worm demon's fleshy exterior, digging into the meat underneath until he reached bone. The hanyou, still ripping at the worm, dug his hand in a little deeper to close around the jewel shard. He finished gutting the worm and dropped down out of the ball.

The tainted jewel shard in his hand burned the skin, but InuYasha gritted his teeth while Kagome rushed towards him, Shippo at her side. She grabbed the jewel fragment from his hand, hr nails accidentally scraping against the tender flesh where he was burned. Inuyasha winced in pain, but closed his hand so Kagome wouldn't notice and get worried for his sake.

“What do we do with…that?” Kagome asked, pointing toward the worm carcass, split right down the middle. InuYasha wiped his blood-filled hands on his fire-rat haori and grimaced at the smell of it.

“Aw, just leave it. Some scavengers will eat it up in a day.” Inuyasha replied, trying to get bits of flesh and meat out from under his fingernails. Kagome nodded and turned her back so she wouldn't have to watch him. Shippo looked anxiously around and jumped onto Kagome's shoulder.

“D-do you think there's more?” he asked in fear, twitching at any sound. Inuyasha snorted at the child's display of weakness. He was never like this when he was small.

“Keh! Of course there aren't. I would've taken care of them anyway. You don't have to get your fur in a bundle.” InuYasha answered, satisfied that his nails were clean and turning around to stare towards the direction they came from. The village wasn't that far off. If InuYasha squinted, he could catch the faint glow of the village's many torches and lights in the distance.

“Now come on,” he commanded, shifting the backpack on his shoulder awkwardly. Why that girl had to carry so many things in a bag was beyond him, but InuYasha was happy that Ramen was tucked away along with thousands of other items.

Kagome nodded, herding Shippo with a wave of her hand. The kitsune hopped up into her arms, and Kagome patted his head. After a half an hour of constant walking, the numerous trees and foliage turned into rice fields and small, shabby huts. It gave the area a nice, rural peacefulness, and Kagome couldn't be happier. Her aching feet and swollen ankles throbbed painfully when she walked, creating the desperate need to lie down and sleep for a long, LONG time.

The shrine steps leading up to Kaede's house rose up before them like a monstrous behemoth. Kagome looked up at the stairs and groaned. Shippo moved to bound up the stairs, but when Kagome didn't follow him, he turned back.

“Mama?” he questioned, moving towards her. Kagome stood, dimly aware that Shippo was calling out to her. Right now the ground seemed like a really nice place to sleep, and her eyes were drooping.

InuYasha looked at her. He placed a hand on her shoulder to silently comfort her. Kagome looked up, and he moved her so she was situated on his back. She snuggled into his back and fell into a deep sleep. InuYasha smiled faintly, moving his hands so he could keep a hold on her. Shippo, who was still standing on the stairs, shot a confused glance at the hanyou. Inuyasha pointed up the stairs with his chin, whispering that Shippo go ahead. The kitsune nodded and ran up the steps, entering the hut on the top.

InuYasha crouched and jumped like a spring uncoiling. He cleared half of the steps with a single leap and almost lost his balance. InuYasha flapped his arms pathetically and let out a breath of relief when he steadied himself. Kagome groaned in her sleep and shifted, hugging his neck from behind. InuYasha shivered from the contact, but he leapt again, reaching the top of the stairs.

The hut was lit with the warm glow of a fire. InuYasha moved the bamboo flap of a door and sauntered inside. Miroku and Sango were awake in the corner of the hut, talking in hushed tones. Shippo was snuggled into Kagome's sleeping back, a piece of paper and a box of crayons around him. Kaede wasn't to be seen, most likely tending to some of the others in the village.

They all looked up when they noticed InuYasha. The han you shot them a warning look and set Kagome down on the sleeping back, pushing Shippo a bit so there was room. He laid her down and wrapped the sleeping bag around her. Miroku and Sango noticed that an almost content look spread across his face when he viewed the sleeping girl. They shared a look and turned back to their conversation.

Not bothering to say a word, InuYasha left the hut, and the three awake could hear the creaking on the roof boards as the hanyou made his protective coop there. For a while, InuYasha looked out at the village and the forest beyond it. At some point, Kaede had returned and everyone inside had fallen asleep. InuYasha raised his gaze to the moon, which was half-full. In a couple of days, his transformation would take place.

InuYasha supposed he must have fallen asleep because he awoke to the smell of clay and dirt caressing his nose. InuYasha knew what the scent was, and moved towards it in a flash of silver and red. He bounded towards the forest, and stopped in a clearing where a familiar figure stood.

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Kagome woke up to her throat burning. She looked around to find the others, figuring that InuYasha had carried her there. I'll have to thank him she thought. But right now she needed to get a drink of water. She moved Shippo, who was nestled beside her, and stood up. She still hadn't gotten used to the darkness and almost tripped over a sleeping Miroku.

When she finally found the door, she pushed it open and walked outside. The water sprout was by the door. Kagome moved towards it, but stop when she felt an aura coming closer. She looked overhead to see Kikyo's shinidamachuu flying, clutching souls in their demon claws. Kagome took a last glance at the door to Kaede's, and ran in the direction of the shinidamachuu.

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A/n:

This is the Revised Edition everyone has been waiting for. I'll update this tomorrow. The length will be defined on how much I can lengthen the old chapters.
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Blanket Disclaimer for Kagome: Enter the Hanyou:

I do not own InuYasha, Rumiko Takahashi and other corporations do. I do, however, own this fanfiction and the original version it was borne from.
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