InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Manipulated ❯ Blood on the Wind ( Chapter 6 )

Kunoichi: *sings* 'Twas brillig... and the slithy toves... did gyre and gimble in the wabe...

Corisu Li: *rolls eyes* Remind me never to let her watch 'Alice in Wonderland' again...

Kunoichi: All mimsy... were the borogoves... and the mome raths... outgrabe...

Corisu Li: Yeah. Well. *points to Kunoichi* I made the mistake of giving the insane alter-ego a weapon...

Kunoichi: *while still humming 'Jabberwocky', holds up Whackin' Stick of Disintegration*

Corisu Li: To top it off, I kinda created a new universe when I gave her that. Quite the situation, really...

Kunoichi: *whacks Corisu's mug of hot cocoa, which promptly disappears*

Corisu Li: --;;; Not AGAIN...

Kunoichi: ^_____^

Disclaimer: I don't own Lay's Potato Chips. *holds up a bag* Well... I own some... but not the company.

Chapter 6: Blood on the Wind

Kagome was perched beside Inuyasha on top of Hiro's home, her knees drawn up to her chest. The building was beautiful, closely resembling the one where they had found Princess Tsuyu. The village was nearly silent, swimming in darkness as they kept up a quiet vigil, each in their own way. Inuyasha searched for intruders by physical means: sight, smell, scent, and hearing. Kagome, whose senses were not at all as sharp, forced herself to be aware of any abnormal power signatures.

The young miko slanted a glance at Inuyasha. The moon was full overhead, and his silver hair caught the moonlight, shimmering like silken strands of the same substance. He appeared to be deep in thought; his intense golden eyes were fixed on some point far away. A chilly night breeze ruffled the hair of the sentinels as they sat on in slightly uncomfortable silence.

Finally, Kagome spoke. "Ne, Inuyasha?" There was no reply. With a jolt, Kagome made a quite painful realization. 'He's thinking about her... Kikyou...' She turned away from him then, setting her chin between her knees. After a few more seconds, she tried again, a little louder. "Inuyasha?"

This time, the hanyou's ears twitched toward her. "What?" he asked gruffly, not even turning to face her.

"Have you... have you thought any more about that haiku that Sango told us about?"

Inuyasha still didn't turn his head toward her. "No."

Seeing that she wasn't going to get anything out of him but one-word sentences for now, she fell silent, trying not to look at the figure beside her. She occupied her mind by thinking about Miroku and Sango's slightly more eventful jobs. Sango was supposed to be scouring the murder scene, hoping to use her tracking skills to reveal the direction that the killer had come from, and possibly where he had gone. Inuyasha had visited the scene before, but he found himself unable to catch the scent of the attacker anywhere in the area, rendering his abilities fairly useless. Miroku was busy placing ofuda at strategic points around the village.

Kagome leaned back on her hands, shifting her balance carefully to prevent a fall. "You know what I think?"

"Feh."

Kagome sighed. "Are you going to say more than one word at a time tonight?"

"Mm." Kagome's eyebrow twitched in irritation. She fell silent once more, staring into the heavens as the stars blinked and winked overhead. They sat in silence for several more minutes. The wind changed direction, blowing toward them from the trees.

Then, abruptly, Inuyasha stood, his clothing rustling gently.

"Inuyasha? Daijoubu ka?"

"I smell blood." His eyes strained to see, but whatever it was was hidden behind the wall of foliage. "Come on." He knelt and she climbed onto his back, clasping her bow tightly in her left hand.

"Do you think it's the Phoenix?" Kagome asked as they quickly closed the distance to the edge of the forest. Suddenly, Inuyasha halted, foregoing a reply. He didn't need to answer her; she could see for herself.

The light of the full moon gave them just enough light to make out something odd. One of the trees in front of them was undeniably dimmed. Gray.

A dark form was slumped against the ashen bark.

Inuyasha quickly closed the remaining distance and let Kagome slide from his back. The body was that of a young girl, no more than six. Her head was bowed over her chest, still rising and falling with her breath, and proving that she still lived.

The blood was issuing from two identical gashes: One at the crook of each elbow. Though she wasn't dead, the wounds could prove fatal if she wasn't tended to immediately. "Inuyasha, we have to get her back to the village!"

The hanyou quickly knelt and pulled the girl into his arms, trying not to disturb the cuts on her arms too much. When he finally straightened, he just stood for a while, looking off into the distance with an almost forlorn look on his face. He then began the trek back to the village, going much slower to prevent injuring the girl any further.

Kagome watched him depart, wondering at his odd behavior... then, quite suddenly, she understood. Upturning her face, she watched a lone shinidamachuu soar overhead, clutching a iridescent orb.

A single tear fell from her eye.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It knelt over the moonlit water, practically leering at his reflection. How weak this form looked! Soft violet eyes, short, smooth black hair pulled back into a ponytail... pathetic. They would have to be altered, and soon. But... not just yet.

One of the group seemed to be catching on. The taijiya... she seemed to notice that the monk was acting differently. 'How is he acting differently?' it mused, absently loosening the ponytail at the nape of its neck.

Ah. Better. Not much, but an improvement.

It dipped the blade of its beloved knife into the small stream, allowing the flowing current to remove the stains from it.

A beautiful blade. Nothing of the ningen world could match its power. It was a spectral knife, and Phoenix was the only being who knew how to summon it. Pure evil, solidified.... Its cut would leave no scent of the attacker, making it the perfect weapon. The blade would hide from those who were not its master. Also, it shared the desire of the wielder, and one never lived when it decided to kill.

Tonight... tonight was entertainment. The girl would live. It was well fed, and didn't need her. Perhaps later.

The cold metal gleamed as it was dried on the hem of Phoenix's robes. Smiling maliciously, he tucked it back into his robes and stood.

Strength flowed through it. It wouldn't be long before it took control... but until then, the houshi needed to be supplied with false memories, false alibis... It smirked, then faded.

Miroku blinked. 'What am I-' But before he could even finish the thought, he caught sight of an ofuda plastered to a nearby tree. Relaxing when he remembered his mission, he continued laying an aura of protection around the city.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Sakai-san!" Kagome began calling for the man as she rushed toward his home, well ahead of Inuyasha and the child. "Sakai-san!"

Finally, a familiar brown-haired head poked out of the front door. "Kagome-miko-sama? What is troubling you?"

"There has been another attack! I need my bag!" Hiro had to swiftly step aside as Kagome rushed past him, heading for the room that had been set aside for her and Sango.

As soon as she entered, Shippou snuffled in his sleep and awoke. Kagome realized that he was wrapped in one of her shirts and snuggled in the covers of her futon. "Kagome?"

"Go back to sleep, Shippou-chan," she said firmly, pulling her first-aid kit from her bag.

The kit fully awakened at the sight of the 'healing box', as he sometimes called it. Now he wasn't going back to sleep for sure! He scurried after Kagome as she strode back down the hall towards the entrance.

Hiro had instructed Inuyasha to lay the girl on a futon in a guest room that was close to the door, trying to avoid moving her unnecessarily. Her skin was already paling, and her breaths were becoming ragged. Kagome entered the room, not sparing a glance to any of the male occupants as she knelt beside the prone child.

The wounds were already beginning to close, but Kagome needed to clean them - very carefully. Hiro had obviously had a bit of training as a healer, because he had a pot of water ready for her, sitting beside the futon. She spared him a grateful smile before dipping a piece of cloth into the water and beginning to bathe the girl's cuts.

Shippou watched, wide-eyed, from the door as Kagome tended the cuts with some foul-smelling substance that she called 'rubbing alcohol' and wrapped the girl's wounds securely.

When the task was done, she turned to Hiro, a troubled look on her face. "I think it would be best if we tried to locate Sango and Miroku now... Maybe they saw something."

Hiro nodded. "I understand. After I tell this girl's parents of what has happened, I shall inform everyone that no person is to venture out alone, under any circumstances."

"Especially the girls," she added, standing and glancing back at the young child. Already, she had fallen into a natural sleep; color was steadily returning to her face. "Inuyasha, can you find the others?" Kagome put the first-aid kit in the corner of the room and stepped to the door, bending down and picking up Shippou. She didn't look back at the hanyou.

"Feh. Of course I can. Sango's not far, and Miroku-" he frowned. In the short time that they had been in the forest, he should have caught some hint of the monk... but he hadn't. "-should be close by, too," he finished.

"Shippou, stay here. Inuyasha?" Kagome set the squirming and protesting kitsune down and stepped outside, turning to Inuyasha to urge him to hurry. He flinched slightly at the look on her face. She was angry about something... or hurt.

Instead of acting on this knowledge, he snorted and followed her out of the house, frowning when she made no move to climb onto his back once more. "Oi, wench! What's your problem?"

Kagome turned her head to the east, away from the woods where they had found the child. It had been nagging vaguely at her mind all day, but now she was sure. It had been faint, so faint, in fact, that she had thought that it was too far away to bother about at the moment. But now, it was being used.

"I sense a jewel shard..."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Corisu Li: ^___^ Wicked place to end a chapter... and NOW what are they going to do? They can't chase a jewel shard AND protect Sakai-san's village at the same time, ne?

Kunoichi: *whacks Inu's ears with the Whackin' Stick of Disintegration (WSOD)*

Corisu Li: O.O;;; What have you DONE!?!!

Fangirls: *appear out of nowhere* NUUUU!!!! The object of my affections! MUTILATED!

Inuyasha: WHAAAAT? *blinks around in confusion*

Fangirl # 49: How DARE you! You have insulted his bishiness by removing a lust factor!

Kunoichi: Uh. Oops?

Corisu Li: Calm down, girls. We just have to retrieve them from Chocospace...

Fangirls: WHAT??!?!?!

Inu: WHAAAAT?

Corisu Li: It's where things that get hit with the WSOD go. *whips out the Scythe of Inter-Dimensional Travel* And this will get us there! *blinks around at fangirls, drops scythe, pegs them all with the dart gun in 0.0004 seconds, and picks scythe back up* There. Now, I need reinforcements. No way I'm going in alone!

Kunoichi: But who? Who?

Corisu Li: I know! *snaps fingers and Aamalie (my beta reader) appears*

Aamalie: What have you done now? *glares at Kunoichi*

Corisu Li: --;;; She whacked Inu's ears.

Aamalie: *gasps* Oh, the horror!

Inu: WHAAAAT?

Corisu Li: *sighs and pegs him with the tranq gun* I was getting sick of that.

Aamalie: Well... *looks around at KO'ed fangirls and sighs* Should we get going? We have to find those ears!

Corisu Li: *raises Scythe and cuts a rip in the air* Go on!

Kunoichi: WHEEE! Field trip! *goes into Chocospace*

Aamalie: *does a back handspring through the rip*

Corisu Li: --;;;; Show-off. *blinks at reader* Well? Aren't you going, too? After all, we must see how this turns out... You may want to check the bottom of my bio for facts on my various weapons... And don't forget to review! *leaps through rip, beckoning for you to follow*

~*~*~*~*~*

Preview of Chapter 7: The Tachi Splits

The youkai whirled around, bearing its large fangs and snarling...... In its clutches, it held a girl, not much younger than Kagome.

Inuyasha blinked in recognition. "It's that wench who wanted to bear the bouzu's child..."

"Koharu..." Kagome breathed.

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