InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Moving Pictures ❯ Misconceptions and Deceptions ( Chapter 4 )

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Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

 

Chapter 4 - Misconceptions and Deceptions

 

“Does he do this a lot?” Charlotte sent another stone skipping across the surface of the water. She'd gotten good at it over the last day and a half that they'd camped at the edge of the river waiting for Sesshomaru to return.

 

“Yep,” Rin said cheerfully, searching the ground for a good skipping stone. “But he always comes back.”

 

“Hmmm,” Charlotte crossed her arms and stared at the dregs of the sunset staining the sky orange, the third she'd seen in this foreign land. She'd made up her mind that she would continue on in the morning, with or without the cold tai-youkai and his followers. She would miss young Rin, but sitting on the bank of a river, no matter how pleasant, would not bring her closer to getting back home.

 

In the meantime, she had a craving for meat. Rin's fish, charred last night over the campfire with makeshift spits, had been tasty but unfulfilling. She longed for something rare, spiced with adrenaline from the hunt. “How about I go get something for dinner?” she cocked her head and grinned at the young girl who was squatting on the bank, abandoning her search for skipping stones.

 

Rin blinked up at her, “Like what?”

 

Charlotte shrugged. “Whatever I find. I`m a pretty decent hunter.” It had been a while since she'd gone hunting somewhere other than a grocery store, but those skills were ingrained, a integral part of herself. Her beast wouldn't let her forget something like that.

 

Jaken's rude snort from the line of trees grated on her nerves. The closer it got to the full moon, the more difficult it would be for Charlotte to resist throttling him. Yes, a hunt was what she needed - she could run out her irritation and satisfy her hunger. “I'll be back in a bit, Rin.” She waved once and entered the forest.

 

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

 

Sesshomaru glided through the forest at the edge of a wide meadow in which deer grazed, oblivious to his presence. His errand had been fruitless; the saimyoushou had died and fallen from the sky before he'd found them and there had been no indication of their direction.

 

A glimmer of gold caught his eye and he paused, curious. Sharp eyes piercing the darkness, he recognized the filthy human of whom Rin had become so unaccountably fond hiding in the brush, watching the herd of deer. Idiot, she had should have stayed close to Jaken and Ah-Un. He still didn't know why her tolerated her presence.

 

Sniffing the still air, he caught the scent of cat. Nostrils flaring in anger, he growled softly. He had already driven those damn panthers from the West; it was their deaths they were courting by returning. His hand flexed around the hilt of Tokijin as he picked his way toward the interloper. The cat odor hit him again, but it wasn't the scent of panther. It had a dry, sagebrush scent that was strangely familiar and it was very close to Rin's human friend whose name he couldn't bear to say. It would serve her right if she were torn apart by the cat youkai lurking nearby.

 

The human shot out of brush toward the deer, running in a crouch, her arms stretched out behind her, bare legs flashing in the moonlight. She was scantily clad, wearing only the tight-fitting shirt that left her arms bare and a garment that barely covered her butt. She must have removed the ridiculous pink pants.

 

A large buck raised its head, ears cocked to the danger it sensed approaching. Rearing back on its haunches, the buck sounded the alert that sent the rest of the herd racing toward the safety of the forest. Surprised into immobility, Sesshomaru watched as the golden-haired creature skimmed the ground, feet barely touching the grass. No human could attain that speed, he knew for certain. She leapt, close to the ground but covering many yards, and landed firmly on the buck's back. Sharp claws locking into the buck's hide, she bit into the back of its neck and threw her weight to the side, rolling them both into the long meadow grasses. The dying deer flailed it legs into the air, bleating frantically as its life pumped onto the ground. The woman dug her teeth deeper into its neck, holding it down until its struggles weakened, then stopped altogether. As he strode through the meadow, Sesshomaru couldn't help but admit that it had been a clean, efficient kill, but he wasn't sure what angered him more: the fact that she had charaded as a human or that he had enjoyed watching her bring the big buck down.

 

He slowed as he approached, taking time to register the change in her features. Small, golden, triangular ears poked out of her hair and she was definitely the source of cat scent. Each finger was tipped by a sharp talon, which she used to deftly gut and filet the buck. She didn't seem to notice his presence; his scent was masked by the stench of freshly spilt blood and her quiet muttering in an alien language covered his footfalls.

 

“Man, what I wouldn't give for a nice cold bottle of Chardonnay and a pint of chocolate ice cream,” Charlotte popped into her mouth the piece of flesh that had been skewered by her claw, chewing happily. She sat cross-legged in the grass, separating the best pieces of meat from the scraps and placing them in a pile. The rest of it she would leave for the wolves that would surely be attracted by the smell of the carcass. She shuddered in delight; it had been ages since she had gotten to go hunting without the fear of poachers, bicyclists or errant dog-walkers. Maybe this place had some redeeming qualities, after all. Humming to herself and licking the blood from her claws before she let them slide back into her fingers, she pushed herself to her feet.

 

A sudden sense of being watched prickled the hairs on the back of her neck and she spun around, dropping into a defensive crouch and baring her long fangs in a fierce hiss. Her heart thumped wildly until she recognized the intruder. Rising to her feet once more, she pressed her hand to her heart and glared at the silver-haired inu-youkai. “What gives? You almost scared me out of my skin!”

 

“Explain yourself” his cold voice cut her to the bone.

 

“Uhhh…” she realized abruptly she was wearing nothing but a camisole and cotton panties, drenched in blood and in her natural form.

 

His golden eyes narrowed as he waited for her answer.

 

“I'm thinking!” she snapped before she could stop herself. What was it about this man that so completely flustered her? She'd dated handsome men before, but they had been narcissistic fools, more concerned with the strategic tousling of their highlighted hair than making intelligent conversation. This man was not only gorgeous; he had a presence that commanded attention and obedience. His gaze was almost tangible, roughly caressing her skin with their golden fire. Suppressing a shiver, she crossed her arms and glared up at him, annoyed that any man could make her feel so vulnerable.

 

“You told me you were human.”

 

“I didn't tell you I was human. You assumed I was human.” She hugged herself tighter and tried to regain her composure under his intense, unsettling gaze, a difficult feat even when not clothed in nothing but underwear. Something cool and sticky trickled down her thigh and she glanced down, aghast at just how gory she was. The thin fabric of her camisole was soaked with blood, clinging to her skin and outlining the curves of her breasts. Poor `Hello Kitty' had gone splatter punk. She grimaced and pulled the wet fabric from her chest. “I never once said: Sesshomaru, I`m a human being.”

 

“You are hanyou,” he intoned, tearing his eyes off the blood gleaming on the swell of her breasts. He could almost taste it as he imagined cleaning her skin with his tongue. He mentally shook himself, disgusted by his lack of control. Had it really been so long since he had lain with a female that he could have such thoughts about an unclean creature?

 

She wiped at the rivulet of blood on her leg and glanced up at him, “What's a hanyou?“

 

“A half-breed: one parent is human and one is youkai.“

 

“Oh. Well, one of my great-grandfathers was human so that would make me…one eighth human. And I`m not a demon.” She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, ears flicking nervously. Wolves howled at the edge of the forest and she jumped.

 

“You are youkai. I can smell it.”

 

Some battles were simply not worth the fight, and who knows, maybe that's what they called weres around here. “Whatever. The wolves are here, so I'm gonna go clean up and get dressed,” she edged toward the meat, feeling his eyes on her back. Gathering up the pieces she had piled, she resisted the urge to sprint back to the forest. Instead, she raised her head high and sauntered back to the place she had ditched her pajama bottoms, swinging her hips. `Get an eyeful of that, Sesshomaru.' She knew he had been looking at her boobs and she also knew that she had a nice ass, even if she did need to work off a couple of pounds.

 

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

 

Charlotte stepped into ring of firelight illuminating their campsite on the riverbank. She'd found vines and wide-leafed plants and had managed to tie up their dinner in a neat package. She'd also rinsed her camisole and underwear further down the stream, doing her best to get out the bloodstains. Though her clothes were still damp and her hair unstyled, she considered herself reasonably presentable. She smiled down at Rin and held up her prize, “Dinnertime!”

 

Rin stared up at her open-mouthed. “Kitty, your ears…”

 

Charlotte's smile faded; she'd forgotten to change back to her human form. “…well,” she shrugged, “there's a reason people call me Kitty.”

 

Her eyes sparking, Rin grinned and hopped to her feet. “Can I touch them?” She stretched a tiny hand toward her, pointing at her soft, golden ears.

 

“How about after dinner,” Charlotte set down the package, relieved that the girl wasn't upset or scared. She traveled with demons, after all.

 

“What's that?” the little girl poked the ball of leaves and vines.

 

Charlotte paused a moment, not knowing how to say `deer' or `venison' in Japanese. She settled for saying the word in English and shrugging apologetically.

 

“Huh?”

 

“You know, with the…” again at a loss for the Japanese translation, Charlotte mimicked antlers with her fingers, pressing the backs of her hands against her forehead and crooking her fingers.

 

Rin laughed and shook her head.

 

“Deer,” an emotionless voice supplied from the shadows.

 

Her face lighting up, Rin clapped her hands and squealed. Charlotte slit open the package with a sharp claw as Rin showed her the twigs she'd collected for skewers. Eyeing the large hunks of flesh on their makeshift wrappings, Charlotte found a couple of sturdy branches with forked ends and sunk them on either side of the small fire, the `Y' ends up. Another sturdy branch impaling the largest chunks of meat made a nice rotisserie and the venison was soon hissing and sizzling over the flames. They strung the smaller pieces on Rin's skewers and sat back to admire their work.

 

“How long will it take?” Rin asked, her mouth watering.

 

Charlotte frowned, “I don't know. I like meat really rare, though.”

 

“Can I touch your ears now?”

 

“I guess,” she sighed, lowering her head so that the girl could get a good look.

 

“Oooh, they're soft. And pink inside!” her little finger tickled the long white hairs on the inside of her ear, making her ear flick reflexively. “They're like your brother's ears, Lord Sesshomaru! Except yellow instead of white.”

 

“Rin! Do not mention that disgusting hanyou to his lordship!” Jaken snapped from the other side of the fire.

 

“What's wrong with being a hanyou?” Charlotte asked him, annoyed that he'd broken his silence.

 

Jaken glared at her, the firelight reflecting off his beady black eyes. “They have dirty blood, as do you, apparently.”

 

Charlotte rolled her eyes. She should have known better than to ask that stupid toad a question. Sesshomaru had seemed to dislike hanyous as well; must be a racial issue. Turning to the demon lord and wincing as Rin tugged on her ear, she asked, “You have a brother?”

 

He stared at her, his golden eyes flat and dangerous.

 

“Half-brother, Inuyasha. He's an ignorant half-breed,” Rin stated matter-of-factly. “What's this?” she fingered a small notch at the base of her ear.

 

“Oh, my brother Charley did that. He accidentally bit too hard when we were roughhousing as cubs. Mom was pissed.”

 

“Is he a half-brother too?”

 

“No, he's my twin.”

 

Rin was silent, her fingers releasing Charlotte's ears and her eyes distant. “My family was killed by bad men.”

 

Charlotte's heart ached for the little girl, so young to have suffered such a tragedy. She ruffled her bangs and smiled at her. “But you have a new family, now, right?” Rin's face split into a sunny grin as she nodded. Charlotte glanced up at Sesshomaru and smiled. Cold or not, he couldn't be all that bad if he made Rin so happy.