InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Passion Flowers and the Moonlight Path ❯ A Journey Begins With a Single Step ( Chapter 5 )

Hell. That had been the word she had used to describe where she would be going. Where Mr. Hammond had convinced her to go back, though it had caused her great pain.

Inuyasha sighed as he stared out the hotel window. The world outside had become dark and grey and wet. Behind him, Torie shoved things into a backpack.

She had explained to him what had happened four years ago, of how she'd been offered the job with InGen Corp., and of the loss she had suffered as a result of some careless doctors in a place called Costa Rico. He didn't understand why she would even agree to go back after everything she had gone through.

"Why?" he inquired.

"Why what?" she murmured tiredly.

"Why are you going back? Why must you do this?"

She stopped what she was doing and moved to sit next to him.

"Because," she whispered. "Because if I don't, more people will suffer and die . . . Peter wants to harvest and bring those creatures to the mainland, like they're some sort of attraction to be exploited. Like they don't deserve to be free simply because they're now human creations. We're going to observe them and stay out of their way."

"Like what he wanted to do with me . . ."

"Yes . . ."

"And you're going so he can't do that with them."

"Exactly."

"Then I'm going with you."

"You can't," she began.

"Try and stop me. I'm a hanyou, after all, and much stronger than you. You'll need someone to protect you."

"Inuyasha, you'll have a hard time protecting yourself, especially if Peter's team shows up while Hammond's team is still there. Anything can go wrong . . . You can't be in two places at once."

"I'm still going with you," he insisted. "As long as I know and can see that you're all right, I'll be all right."

"I can always sedate you . . ." she warned.

"But you won't . . . I'm going with you. You can't stop me, Torie."

She merely sighed then went back to what she was doing. For a moment, he feared that she would live up to her threat and sedate him, leaving him here to fend for himself. He knew she wouldn't leave him without someone to watch over him but he didn't want to be without her.

"If you're going to be coming with me then you better get ready to go. The private jet for Costa Rico leaves in two hours."

"You're letting me come?" he blinked. She nodded.

"We're meeting up with an old friend of mine," came the statement. "His name is Ian Malcom. Of course, he'll try talking me out of going."

"Why's that?" Inuyasha asked, walking over to the bed. Torie sighed softly, sealing her bag shut.

"Because he was with us on Isla Nublar when Dennis Nedry betrayed us and shut down many of the security systems at the park," she explained. "He suffered a broken leg . . . and his reputation as a reputable mathematician has been tarnished because he made the truth publicly known."

"Because he tried to take on InGen . . ."

"Right."

"What happened to you there, Torie?" he whispered softly. "If it was hell, why are you going back? And don't tell me because it's so others won't get hurt, the same as you did."

"It's a long story, Inuyasha," she murmured. "One that I'll tell you on the plane. In the meantime, we'd better go. We can't keep John waiting."

* * *

"Sarah!"

"Sarah!"

"Sarah!"

"Sarah Harding!"

Inuyasha's ears perked up at the sound of male voices. They sounded a little frantic and he cast a quick glance at the two women in front of him. Only Torie turned her head before shaking it and returning her attention to the task at hand. He sighed inwardly.

There had been a slight misunderstanding between John and Torie. Instead of the man, Ian Malcolm, they had met up with someone else, a red-headed woman whom Torie had called Sarah Harding. The two women were mutual acquaintances, mainly through Ian. Sarah was what Torie had called a palaeontologist, someone who looked at old bones and studied them, and she had a great passion for studying predators.

'A strange profession,' he'd thought when Torie had explained what a palaeontologist did. 'Studying old bones. Why would anyone want to do that?'

The ground shaking under his feet brought him out of his reverie and he glanced at Torie, wide-eyed. She, however, didn't move, didn't react. He didn't even detect the faintest bit of fear from him and he gradually relaxed. If Torie wasn't alarmed then he had no reason to be, either. Within a few moments, several dragon-looking creatures walked by them. A clicking sound came from Sarah as Torie stood by yet Inuyasha could have sworn he heard the same clicking noise coming from in front of them.

'Can't investigate just yet,' he frowned. 'Those creatures might attack me or the girls.'

It turned out he didn't need to investigate. And he could put faces and names to the voices he'd heard a few moments before. Nick. Eddie. And Ian. The rest of Hammond's team. And one would never make it off the island.