InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ One Strange Link ❯ One-Shot

Disclaimer: I don't own any of them. But, I do own this story save for the characters!

 

A/N: This is what boredom does to a girl like me. XD

 

There aren't really any pairings that are made in here. Of course, the main characters are two of my faves though!!

 

 

 

 

Splash!

 

Her hands shaped in a bowl shape, the girl scooped up some water from the stream and splashed the refreshing liquid to her face. It was a hot summer day, but the gentle breeze kept her from completely going insane under the heat. The water also helped to keep her thoroughly rejuvenated as she sipped the crystal clear fluid and looked up. The ravens overhead seemed to be attempting to escape the sun's rays as they circled around aimlessly until finally landing by the stream to cool off.

 

She smiled slightly, her unusually native crimson lips curling up as she stood to leave. Her wavy dark hair was tied up into a short ponytail and it shifted slightly in the calm wind. Beyond the stream was a forest connected to a camping site for travelers. She had never met any of the travelers, for she considered them strangers, but she enjoyed watching them roast white puffy material over a fire and gasp when it turned a crispy black.

 

Though the forest was legally part of the camp's property, she resided in the trees without care for what they might do to her. As far as she knew, they were not even aware of her existence.

 

Her cherry lips curled into a smirk this time. She was used to being ignored or unnoticed. For her whole life she had lived in the forest with only the beasts of the lands as her companions. The only other person she had known was her sister, but she had long left the earth after struggling under a rare disease. Of course she missed her dearly, but she had had to protect herself if she planned to survive.

 

As she strode towards her resting tree, she heard a strange crushing sound and knew instantly that she was being watched. Without turning around, she asked the stranger:

 

“Why are you watching me?”

 

The unfamiliar person approached her with two steps before he finally considered answering her.

 

“I've seen you here before.”

 

At last, she turned to face him. He looked at her with a stoic expression, his long silvery hair flowing loosely down his back. His eyes were a lovely gold and his face was rounded in such a shape that for a moment she thought him an angel's creation. He stared at her and she gave him her most mocking smirk.

 

“You've got a fine face,” she remarked and she smiled inwardly when he raised a thoughtful eyebrow.

 

For a moment, he thought she was just going to stand there, looking him over as if studying his appearance carefully. He was certain that she would have felt nervous and uncomfortable if he approached her, but she had yet to show discomfort. Her crimson eyes complemented her lips and he found himself entranced in their unusual rapture.

 

Neither of them said anything for a moment. Both studied the other before she finally spoke up.

 

“Are you a camper?”

 

He was taken by surprise, much to her satisfaction. Regaining his slightly lost composure, he gave her a reply that she had assumed would pass his lips. “In the vaguest way possible.”

 

She laughed. He seemed the type to care more in constructing his words and thoughts in a professional way. Enjoying how he answered her questions, she continued on. “What's your name?”

 

It was a simple question. As well as `How are you?' and `What's up?' it was a question used on a regular basis. Still, he couldn't help but feel strange when he replied with, “Tanaka Sesshoumaru.”

 

As if he had asked her, she said, “Kagura.”

 

He raised an eyebrow slightly. No last name? Could it be that she was ashamed of her family or that she was an orphan and so therefore never had claims to one? Either way, it uncannily suited her. From the first time he saw her, he pictured her as an outcast and short of an ending name just seemed to fit the difficult puzzle that she was.

 

“I've never seen you before, so how is it you've seen me?” she finally asked. She leaned against the trunk of a large tree and watched him as he remained where he was. Absentmindedly, her hand reached up to fiddle with the small, delicate feather that she had planted in the strands of her raven colored hair. She twirled it between her fingers in an attempt to keep herself from becoming bored. Twirl... twirl... twirl...

 

Sesshoumaru pondered on what his response should be. As if on cue, an old memory replayed itself in his mind.

 

*

It was a cold, fall night. A father and his two boys curled around a campfire, seeking warmth from the cracks of flames it produced. After a while, the father took the fire out with a pail of water for forest safety and cuddled with his children in sleeping bags. They all played a game of `Who can say the most goodnights' before they finally yawned and closed their eyes.

 

Some time near midnight, the youngest son nudged his brother rather roughly. He woke up tiredly, moaning about what time it was.

 

“Brother,” the little boy said quietly so as not to arise their father. “I need to go potty.”

 

Sighing, his older sibling rose up to his feet and took the hand of his brother, using a flashlight to guide them through the forest. They found the bathroom stalls that had been installed for the campers' conveniences and the older brother waited outside for his younger brother to finish his business. After he was finished, they set out back to their campsite.

 

Unfortunately for them, they had both completely forgotten the way back.

 

“I'm scared,” whined the small boy as he clung to the older boy's pants leg. “It's dark.”

 

“Of course it is,” his brother replied. “It's night after all.”

 

They spent quite some time circling around the forest in a failed attempt to locate their father and the campsite before they finally sat down on a pile of rocks in defeat. The younger boy curled himself up into a ball and looked frantically around whenever a sudden sound emanated throughout the trees.

 

There was a sudden crunching sound and the boy shrieked. His brother jumped up and stood protectively in front of him in an instant. The flashlight was pointed towards where the sound came from and they heard footsteps move toward them. The footsteps were not that of a person, they observed, for a low growl suddenly accompanied the crunching footsteps. Before either of them could make a move, a girl's voice was heard from the same area that their flashlight pointed to.

 

“Kouga-kun! Come here, boy!”

 

The growling stopped almost instantaneously and the footsteps fell softer and softer until at last they could not hear a thing. They were so sure that they were safe at last...until the battery in the flashlight ran out that is.

 

With one last flicker, the flashlight turned off and the two boys were left in complete and total darkness, save for the slight light the moon provided for them. The little boy shrieked again, this time for fear of the dark. His brother sighed and threw the object down. It broke, of course, and the light bulb was forever out of use. They were in grave danger now, the older brother was sure. Without any light to guide them, they'd never make it safely back to their campsite.

 

The older boy knew from sheer instinct that they would have to rest there for the night and try again when the sun was shining.

 

After a while, the younger sibling fell asleep against his brother's shoulder. He breathed evenly and slowly, clutching onto the shirt of his brother. The older boy sighed. What had they gotten themselves into?

 

Then, as creepily as the first time, crunching steps approached them. But his time, the beast was not growling and his steps were escorted with the steps of the girl. In the dim light, Sesshoumaru could barely make out the girl's appearance as he hid behind the blades of grass. The two things that he could see were the ruby orbs and lips that she had. She rubbed the nose of the beast which, by careful observations, appeared to be a wolf. He was still a pup, though. The wolf nuzzled against her arm and she ran her hand along his fur.

 

“You ready?” she asked and the wolf looked like he gave her an excited nod. She climbed onto his back and grinned when he took off into the forest.

 

Intent on following them, the older boy carefully placed his brother onto his back and ran off in the direction that the girl and her wolf had rode in. He didn't see them, but he could faintly hear the wolf's feet as they rode off into a direction that seemed vaguely familiar to him. He followed them for as long as he could before finally they could no longer be heard.

 

And before he knew it, he was back at the campsite.

 

Relieved beyond words, the boy tucked his brother into his small red sleeping bag and he himself curled up in his dark blue one. Just then, his father woke up to place an extra layer of blankets around their shoulders.

 

“Goodnight Sesshoumaru, Inu Yasha,” their father murmured.

 

In his mind, the boy said goodnight to his father as well. Closing his eyes with a renewed sense of tiredness, the boy fell asleep the instant his eyes closed completely shut.

*

 

He didn't expect her to remember. In fact, he had completely forgotten about that time, until he saw her again, that is. He looked at her for a moment, watching her as she anticipated an answer from him.

 

“Well?” she said impatiently. “Are you going to answer me or are you going to stand there?”

 

“It's in the past,” was his reply. It truly was. He had not thought of her for years, at least not since the week at that camping area. She had been only a vague wisp of wind since then.

 

Her reaction was simple- confusion. She gave him a perplexed look, her hands firmly placed on her hips. (She had learned that from one of the other campers and had loved it so much that she used the action whenever she didn't get something)

 

“And just what is in the past?” she asked.

 

He didn't answer her. Instead, he walked over to a large rock and sat down. His leg crossed over the other in a rather professional position, he turned his head to gaze out at the stream that was barely visible behind the trees and large shrubs. Without even thinking, she came to sit beside him, only a little uncomfortable at being so close to another being. Although she had never been around anyone else in years, she had taught herself to act casual around one if the chance arose.

 

They sat there for an extremely long period of time just staring. He gazed at the stream while she looked up at the sky. Neither of them said a thing and the only sound was that of the rustling trees and the chirping birds.

 

From the corner of his eyes, he could see her looking contently up at the skies. He hadn't noticed before, but she wore rather unusual earrings. Each consisted of five jade orbs that were finished with strands of black string located at the bottom of the orbs. Each was a different size, the smallest ones being farthest from the earlobe. Now that he thought about it, she had worn those same earrings back when they were younger.

 

She knew he was staring at her- she could feel his golden gaze piercing her neck as he almost saw completely through her. She slowly turned her head towards him when he said her name.

 

“What is it?” she asked, flipping a strand of hair back when it refused to stay tied up in her ponytail.

 

“How long have you been here?” he asked in a monotonous tone.

 

Just how could she reply to that? With a sigh, she explained, “I live here. I was left very young with my older sister when my father decided that he had no need of us anymore. Last I heard he died after committing suicide.”

 

To say that Sesshoumaru was shocked would have been a major understatement. He looked away from her, saying only, “I see.”

 

For some unknown reason, she was suddenly angry with him. Was that all he could say after hearing what she had to say? She could go into more descriptive explanations...

 

And that's just what she did. “My mother died a few months after I was born from a rare disease that eventually killed my sister years ago as well. I don't remember her at all, but from my sister's stories, she was obviously a nice woman. She spent all her time with the two of us, and my sister thought that she was too young to have died. Luckily for me, she didn't blame her death on me.

 

“After her death, my father started drinking to help him get over her death. It worked, except that he had officially become addicted to drinking. It became a routine for him to come home from work drunk. In fact, it was really unusual to see him in a `normal person's' state. He'd yell at us and break tables and dishware, but he'd apologize in a low tone after doing so. Sometimes, my sister would find him sleeping in his bed with a picture frame in his hand. The picture was something he took himself, of our mother holding me and my sister standing beside her.

 

“That before he became really terrible. He took up smoking and left the dark realm of drinking, but soon he left both of those for cocaine. Each drug he could get his hands on lasted for about a week before he searched for another.

 

“I was only two years old when he decided to take us camping. I thought he was actually going to be a nice father, but I was wrong. He led us into the woods and left us there to fend for ourselves. For the first time, I vowed to hate him for life. I did and to this day his very name makes me nauseous.

 

“When I was six, my sister came down with the exact disease that had killed our mother. I stayed with her and begged her not to leave me. But, she did leave me and I was left alone.”

 

Before she could say another word, there was a low growl from the trees. Sesshoumaru recognized the sound immediately.

 

A wolf crept out of the forest, advancing towards them carefully. It wasn't the wolf he remembered, for this one had silky white fur and the other had a dusky brown. From behind this wolf, however, came the wolf that he recalled.

 

“Kouga-kun!” Kagura exclaimed as she nuzzled up nice and close to her dear wolfy friend. The white wolf nudged her slightly and she hugged her as well. “Ayame-chan, how have you and Kouga-kun been?”

 

The two wolves gave her a satisfied expression and she smiled. From behind her, she could hear Sesshoumaru clear his throat.

 

“Should I leave now?” he asked her after he had gotten her attention.

 

She thought that over for a moment before standing up, back still turned to him. The wolves looked expectantly up at her and Sesshoumaru as well found himself waiting for a response. Turning around with a grin, Kagura's reply was, “How about I show you what I know about this forest?”

 

He could see the adventure that lit up in her eyes and knew that she really wanted to show him what she had learned from experience. He just didn't know how to object to that kind of spirit. With a sigh, he nodded.

 

It was going to be a long day.