InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Long, Stout, and Sharpeye - A Fairy Tale ❯ Long ( Chapter 3 )

[ A - All Readers ]

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A/N: Thanks to all who have read and the two who have reviewed (star555555528 and @__@) I appreciate your reviews and am glad that you are enjoying it. : )
Oh, and to @__@, yes the princess is indeed Kagome. Although it does sound very much like Kikyou, that is actually how it is described in the original version of the fairy tale, with very little literary licence. It wasn’t until after I had written it out that I realised the similarity to Kikyou. However, I once again assure you it is Kagome.

As well I would like to mention the reason for my delay in updating. A friend of mine died a few weeks ago. It was a difficult thing to go through and I found that writing anymore was something I was not able to do at the time. Anyway, I am doing better now and felt that I could continue, so here is the next chapter - I hope you enjoy it!

Oh, and I am still looking for a beta reader if anyone reading is interested, let me know, either through email or just mention in your review - I would greatly appreciate it!


Disclaimer: (this applies to any and all chapters, what is known as a blanket disclaimer, in case I forget one or two) I do not own the characters mentioned in this story, and I do not own the original story plot. Rumiko Takahashi owns the characters, and I’m not sure who owns the original fairytale. I, however, own this version and any OC that should appear (which isn’t likely, but you never know). Thank you.



Inuyasha headed out on foot, and being half demon, was making terrific time, easily covering twice the distance of a human in half the time, when he suddenly came upon a rather ominous looking forest. He could sense a strange aura emanating from the trees, and was mildly concerned. He looked to see if he could perhaps avoid the forest, instead going around it, but quickly concluded that it would take far too long - at least an extra day or two, so he cautiously entered into the forest.

Upon entering into the forest, Inuyasha felt a strange tingling engulf his entire body, and he realised that his concerns about the aura were indeed founded. The forest was enchanted. He cursed to himself in a very un-prince like fashion before heading in what, at last check, was north.


Inuya sha was walking through the forest for some time when he came upon a somewhat disturbing sight. It was the remains of a carcass. And, he identified it with his nose. It was a human carcass. Inuyasha shuddered as the sudden realisation that the enchantment that was placed upon the forest was one that was meant to make travelers lose their way, leaving them to wander until they perished.

He shivered again, ignoring the confusion in his senses he had been feeling for the past hour, and hurried off with the belief that if he kept walking straight he would simply have to find his way out of the forest. So he headed straight. But he soon realised that that plan failed to take into account the enchantment, that his efforts were futile as he glanced down to see the same peculiar looking rock formation that he had already passed by three times.

Inuyasha sighed and was just about to give up and set camp for the night when suddenly, out of nowhere a large object, flying through the air nearly severed from his head the two fuzzy triangles that rested there in place of human ears.

Instantly Inuyasha whirled to face his attacker in a battle stance, his hand to his hip, where his trusted sword lay in its sheath.

However he was surprised to find himself face to face with a fairly tall woman wearing a rather inappropriate skin-tight black and pink body suit, crouching low to the ground, staring at him in equal surprise.

“Oi! What do you think……” Inuyasha began to yell angrily at the woman who had thrown the offending object when - ‘whack’! - said object, a boomerang as it was, did what boomerangs do and began it’s round trip back to the person who had thrown it, coming most unpleasantly into contact with the young princes head, instantly sending him sprawling face first onto the ground.

Now more irritated than ever and with what he was sure would turn into a killer headache and a massive bump on his head, he glared vehemently at the woman, his eyes promising certain pain, as he sat up and began to spit the leaves, dirt and other forest floor debris from his mouth.

Seeing the man, whom she quite quickly recognized as the prince of these lands, struggling to regain his footing and his composure, the young woman stood up to her full and rather impressive height to help him to his feet.

“Are you hurt?” she asked, somewhat wary of him and the possible consequences she may have to face for attacking a member of the royal family.

However, as she received no response other than a searing glare that she thought she surely felt boring holes into her, she gracefully lowered herself to her knees, bowing her head. “My Lord, I beg your forgiveness. It was not you whom I intended my Hiraikotsu to hit. I was simply trying to catch myself some dinner for the evening, when seemingly out of nowhere you appeared. I was not sure of who you were, you may well have been a bandit and it was so sudden that I was not thinking, nor did I have much chance to warn you of Hiraikotsu’s return trajectory. As a result of my startled state were you hit, and for that I am sorry.”

She glanced up at him to gauge his reaction, but upon still seeing anger in his amber eyes, she continued once more, hoping to bargain with him. “My Lord, Perhaps, if you would be willing in order to make up for my attack, I would gladly come into your service. I know I perhaps do not look it, but I do have my uses. I am a skilled weaponist and am a strong fighter if you needed me to fight for you, you would not be displeased.”

She paused before continuing, a little trepidatious at being about to reveal her biggest secret. “My Lord, I have also another ability you would perhaps find of great use. My name is Sango… but I am also known, more informally as ‘Long’. I know it is not a very flattering nickname, but it is accurate. You see, I can stretch, in a sense. Grow taller if you will. I have indeed been well over 15 feet tall - though it wasn’t very comfortable the first time, as there was a terrific wind that day and it nearly knocked me over, and it was so bitterly cold, my cheeks were frozen and I found my teeth chattering…..” She trailed off, realising she was babbling. “This may not sound like much, but I can travel great distances in single steps, look over tall obstacles…and I can rescue cats from trees…” she ended with a wry smile, remembering the small cat she had rescued shortly after discovering her abilities, which had turned out to be a fire-cat youkai, who quickly became her ever loyal companion.

Inuyasha gaped at the woman in front of him, whom he was certain was mad. She had just told him the most unlikely story he had ever heard and she expected him to take her into his service?!

Sango sighed audibly at the disbelief that clearly was displayed on the prince’s face. “I see you do not believe me. My Lord, if I proved it to you, would you accept my offer? Take me into your service and in return my debt will be cleared?”

Inuyasha scoffed, he was not one to make deals with lunatics. However, he was pissed off, and was in a somewhat mean mood, and so began to mock the woman. “Ok,” he sneered, “how about you just grow yourself taller then, tall enough to see over these trees and get me the hell outta this forest! Then I will certainly more than gladly take you into my service.”

Sango nodded. It was an easy request, enchantment or no - she indeed had used it once or twice before in this very forest, as she had passed through these lands on one adventure or another.

And so, before the young prince’s very eyes, the strange woman in front of him stood to her rather impressive height and began to grow. And grow. Taller and taller, quickly doubling in height and soon, Inuyasha found that he could no longer clearly see any of her from the waist up as she was quickly engulfed in the heavy brush of the tall trees.

Inuyasha stood once again, gaping. He couldn’t believe it. Maybe it was the bump on his head, he reasoned. Or maybe it was the enchantment. Whatever it was, he simply could not believe what his eyes were telling him - that this woman - this ‘Sango’ - had indeed grown taller, as she claimed.

Sango relished in the feel of the cold winds slashing across her face, something she had long since gotten used to, as she glanced around, quickly determining the direction and path out of here, before slowly beginning to shrink herself back to ‘normal’ size.

“My Lord, the direction we must head is back this way,” she pointed in what would turn out to be slightly north east. “We must head in that direction, and that direction alone, no matter what our eyes or our senses tell us. It will lead us out if we follow straight, no matter when it looks as though we have turned or are now heading on a new path.”

Inuyasha nodded, still slightly dumbfounded, but figuring if she was just his imagination or a part of the enchantment or whatever else he thought she might be, then he may already be too far gone and what harm could there possibly be in following her? So he did. He followed her as she led them down a twisted and rapidly darkening path, often seeming to get them even more lost, before she finally led them from the dark reaches of the forest.
But suddenly they came upon a path that was lit beautifully by the sun that was suddenly once again able to shine through the trees. They were nearly out.

And then they were. And as he broke through into the open air, he felt as though he had stepped from a dense fog. He breathed a sigh of relief, inhaling the fresh, clean air.

He turned to the woman before him, and as his head cleared, he spoke: “Lady Sango, you have indeed held up your end of the bargain, and as such I shall certainly hold up my own. I am very grateful and indeed can see your usefulness and the value of your service.”

Although Inuyasha had really no intentions of holding her attack against her, especially since he truly believed it was an accident and as he had believed her to be slightly insane, however he knew that this warrior-type woman who could grow to amazing heights with but a thought, would indeed not accept not being able to atone for a perceived wrong. She was too proud. It was clear in the way she spoke, in the way she moved, and in the way she stood, with her back tall, and her head high. Plus, as he had said Inuyasha could certainly see the merit of having her in his service.

Sango smiled at the Prince’s words and nodded before she was received formally into his service, and they headed out.


I t was not long before they decided to make camp. Inuyasha made a fire while Sango skinned and cleaned the rabbit she had managed to catch afterall. They ate mostly in silence, speaking only of small pleasantries, until the small talk turned to talk of the quest Inuyasha was currently on, and the one that Sango would now be helping him complete.

He told Sango about his aging father, how he feared he was near the end and about the enchanted room with the enchanted windows filled with the beautiful princesses. He paused before mentioning the last princess, the beautiful girl in the white and how he had been struck, instantly falling in love. He then told her of all that his father had then told him of Naraku, how he had kidnapped her and the ‘iron castle’ in which he was holding her.

Sango listened, enchanted by the touching story, so much like a fairy tale was it. That was until the mention of Naraku. His name caused her eyes to grow large and her breathing ro become erratic. She knew of him. She knew all to well of him, and it pained her to think of it.

She waited, for the prince to finish his tale, which she was no longer listening to before she spoke of her own vendetta against the evil Hanyou.

“My Lord, I too have had trouble with Naraku.” She paused at length, the memories coming crashing upon her in a tidal wave of painful emotions, before she continued, telling him about her life as a child, how she, like most of the children born there, had been raised to be a demon slayer. She told him of Summers, training in the open air, of the beautiful fields near her small and usually quiet village, of the sometimes cold Winters and of the beautiful Autumns, her favourite season, when the leaves would begin to fall and a slight chill fill the air. And she told him of one particularly haunting Autumn night, during a lively festival.

It was not really in celebration of any one thing in particular, but instead a celebration of the many wonderful things they had received that year, including the birth of several new babes to the village, one being her brother. She remembered she was dancing, spinning wildly around in almost complete abandon, basking in the glow of the festivities and what they represented when she heard, loud above the music a piercing cry.

The attack came about swiftly, giving very few enough chance to reach weapons, and though they were indeed trained to defend and even kill that which attacked them, a demon as it was, they had never before been caught so unawares by such a powerful creature.

He soon overtook them, slaughtering them all. All but one. The small child who was just moments before lost in carefree abandon and joy was now huddling under the cloak of the body of her once strong and lively neighbour. She did not dare to breath. She was scared, and, as she had vowed later would be the last time in her life, she was weak. She allowed her fear to overtake her and drown out her ability to even fight for her own survival. Had she been found, she would not have had the will to fight, she would have simply died. It was alone by the grace of God that she survived.

Although at times she felt sure that it was indeed not by the grace of God but, instead by the wrath of him. That he would allow her to live, when her friends, family and all she had ever loved had perished in a brutal and gruesome manner. Including her new brother, Kohaku.

Sango’s voice cracked and her eyes shone with unshed tears of the memory.

“It was several years before I sought to seek revenge on him, though those years were not wasted, as I continued on in my training, sometimes alone, sometimes with a trainer who lived in a village not far from the remains of my own. But when I finally did seek to get revenge, it did not take as long as it should have to learn the name of the creature who did it. It was Naraku. But up until now I have not known of his location. I was actually searching for him myself upon our…encounter in the woods. Now I am even more grateful to be in your service as I wish to seek out my revenge on the creature.”

Her eyes burned with a fury and a hate that Inuyasha could see had allowed her to survive mostly alone and all but broken as a child. He felt panged, and suddenly the princess was not his only reason for wishing this monster a slow and painful death.

They fell into silence, and soon into a dreamless sleep.




A/N: Well, that’s it for now. I hope that it was worth the wait! And as always, please read and review, and know I appreciate constructive criticism. If you find any mistakes you feel you need to point out, go ahead.

Next chapter we learn of 'stout's identity and meet another familiar character.



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