InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Regaining Time Lost ❯ Foreboding Meeting ( Chapter 4 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: SexyCtarlCtarl 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Drama / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 11.17.2012 | Pages: 1 | Words: 3.9K | Visits: 180 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Drama / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 11.17.2012 | Pages: 1 | Words: 3.9K | Visits: 180 | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer:I do not own Inuyasha. I wish I did but I do not. However, any OOC that is brought into this story belongs to me.
Author's Note: Hello everyone! I want to thanksuperemanandwolfshifter1001againreviewing. :: offers a red velvet cake :: I want to point out that Rin is a teenager and teenagers do go through phases and phases end. Anyway, if you choose to flame me, BRING IT ON! Anyway, sit back and enjoy the next chapter ofRegaining Time Lost.
The woman that had been hiding in the village was going to be Sesshomaru’s mate. However, Rin wanted to be his mate which was really dumb. Rin had traveled with Sesshomaru for a long period of time and it was really odd that Rin was not aware of Sesshomaru’s demeanor towards her. It was odd that Rin had yet to see it when he came to visit. Had Rin been oblivious to his expressions, the yips and the growls that he would do or maybe she didn’t understand what all of that meant? Sesshomaru obviously treated her as his pup.
“Ya-chan, aren’t you going to help?” Akane asked.
“No,” Inuamaya replied, “I have to keep a look out.” Her ears twitched and turned about as she listened out for danger.
“Ugh. You can be really boring and grouchy sometimes. Just like your Dad,” Akemi said.
“Tssk. Of course,” Inuamaya replied before sticking her tongue out at her.
“You should stop acting like a boy Ya-chan. You’re never going to get married if you keep this up,” Akane added.
“Married? Why in the world would I be thinking about getting married?” Inuamaya asked in shock,” I am only eight winters old!” She just didn’t understand human females. They were always running around giving boys flowers, worrying about getting married and ignoring her mostly. That was the reason she wanted to be like her father and Sango-san. She didn’t have time to worrying about stupid things. There were more important things than that.
“We’re talking about when you’re older. You know Ryu-chan likes you,” Akemi said.
Inuamaya blushed before turning her back to them. She knew all about that. Christmas night he had hit her in the head with a ball while she was trying her best to behave in front of Otou-san. Due to him, it obviously failed and she was going to make him pay for it. A black eye from a girl would have the other boys picking on him for months but all thoughts of revenge had been deserted when Ryu gave her that necklace. It wasn’t anything fancy. It was a simple silver chain, but the fact that he worked on the chain with his father for her made it special. The village they lived in was a friendly one but there were still some reservations towards youkai. It was why she only played with Akane, Akemi and the boys. Her behavior was unfitting for a female and maybe if she tried a little to fit in, she would have more friends but Inuamaya didn’t want to fit in. Okaa-san told her to never change who she was and Inuamaya didn’t plan to.
A twig fell from a tree and Inuamaya’s ears twitched. She looked up and saw a blur move through the trees. Inuamaya turned and snatched Akane and Akemi out of the way not a second too soon. A snake youkai hit the ground where they were. Akane and Akemi stared in horror as the snake youkai rose up hissing at them. It lunged and Inuamaya leaped. She landed on the top of its head and bit its eyes causing it rear back hissing in pain.
“RUN!!!” Inuamaya screamed.
Kagura’s legs were becoming stiff and her body was aching. She could see the sun brightly beating down on her as it was slowly going down. It was almost nightfall and she was sure they had put over forty miles between them and Kaede’s village. Her legs were screaming it to her. However, they were nowhere near Sesshomaru’s castle. He slowed his speed a few hours ago when Kagura began to lag behind. She was not use to traveling this way but it still annoyed him that at this pace he would be at his castle with only a day to prepare. Sesshomaru gave a quick bark before he made his descent to the ground. Kagura followed after. Her body twirling in the air as her body was engulfed in blue light. She landed gracefully even though her legs were trembling. Kagura brought her arm out and caught the falling, screaming Jaken before he hit the ground. She sat his trembling form on the ground before sitting herself.
Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at Kagura. He knew she was tired but she was not saying a word about it. She was determined to not cause any problems. This wasn’t the Kagura he was used to but he wasn’t complaining. He did not want to hear complaining from a wench that chose to come with him but she wasn’t. Sesshomaru wanted to tease her but all three of them needed to eat.
“This Sesshomaru will return,” he said before walking off.
When he was out of sight, Kagura finally relaxed with a deep sigh. She rubbed her sore thigh muscles and stood up slowly. There was a hot springs not too far. Kagura could smell it and she was yearning for it. It wouldn’t take her too long to get there and get back. She was sure she probably smelled. Kagura could feel the sweat trickling down her back. It was disgusting.
“Jaken, I will be going to the hot springs,” Kagura said before leaving Jaken to his lonesome.
“Sango you missed it. I have never seen Sesshomaru show so many emotions before,” Miroku said, “He adores her.”
“Adore? Are you sure?” Sango asked. She knew Kagura had feelings for Sesshomaru. It was very apparent that she did. Kagura went out of her way to make sure that she and Kagome told no one about her rebirth and she practiced nonstop to perform to perfection to show her agility and gracefulness to Sesshomaru. However, Sango never saw any emotions from Sesshomaru nor was she around to really tell. Sango knew he was deeply bothered by the death of Kagura because it was unnecessary but she didn’t think too much into it.
“Yes, my lovely Sango. He looked upon her the way I did when I first met you,” Miroku said.
“So he had his hand on her rear end?” Sango asked with a smirk.
“Oh Sango, how you tease,” Miroku replied, “I do remember something about you telling me last night to put my hand there.”
Before Sango could retort, screams ruined their playful banter. Sango moved quickly and grabbed Hirakotsu and Miroku grabbed his staff before rushing out of their hut to see Akane and Akemi running through the snow towards the village. Akane and Akemi did not turn back to see if Inuamaya was behind them. Inuamaya made them promise if something like this was to happen that they would obey her no matter and they did. They did what she told them to do and that was to run. Run as fast as they could to get help.
“I can’t believe Kouga sent us out to do this again,” Hakkaku groaned.
“Well what do you expect? He’s always getting us to do this,” Ginta replied, “He should have never challenged the spider youkai for their territory.”
“Who would have thought that they had a taste for wolf flesh? Female wolf flesh at that,” Hakkaku said, “It was a good thing that we did wipe them out.”
“But look at the cost. He has searching high and low for unrelated females. We have only found six so far and that was winters ago,” Ginta replied.
Kouga’s pack had grown exponentially since the fall of Naraku and his marriage to Ayame. A few years into his success, females and pups were turning up missing. A search party stumbled across a spider youkai clan in control of a nice size territory not too far from their pack den. The leader of the snake youkai requested wolf flesh from now and then. He had a taste for females. Unaware to the pack, Kouga made an agreement with the previous leader that allowed him to stay within the territory as long as no harm came to his pack. The new leader did not honor this truce which caused a full out war that lasted for a week or so but it took the lives of many of their brethren. The ratio of males to females was every five males there was two females. Kouga sent out search parties to bring back any ookami females: youkai or hanyou to join the pack. Kouga still had the notion that hanyous were inferior but beggers couldn’t be choosers.
Hakkaku inhaled and caught a scent of a female, an ookami female. Before he could say anything, Ginta was moving in the direction of the scent. They began to jog towards the scent. They were both elated that they had found another one. This would put Kouga in a less than foul mood. He had so much to worry about since his position as pack leader was being threatened for his decision to go into full out battle with the spider youkai. Kouga had already killed two rivals for his position. The bloodshed was enough to show that he was not playing around with anyone question his leadership capabilities.
Ginta and Hakkaku came across a female bathing in a hot spring. She was running her hands through her hair in the water to get out the tangles. They crept closer and the female whipped around with her fangs barred as she sank lower into the water to cover herself.
“What the hell are you two doing?!?” Kagura exclaimed as her red eyes glared at them with such intensity that made Ginta and Hakkaku cringe.
“We are sorry for startling you. But you are ookami aren’t you?” Ginta asked.
“Partly. What is it to you?” Kagura replied.
“Kouga request all females to come join his pack for protection and safety. Due to last war, we are trying to regain our numbers. I am sure you know of this and,” Hakkaku explained.
“I will not be coming with you,” Kagura said. It had taken her a moment to figure out where she knew those two from. She knew they were not a threat to her because she was sure that both were weaker than her but alarm bells were still going off in her head. When one of them had said Kouga’s name, she remembered who they were. They were the two wolves that were always trailing in behind that arrogant, loud mouth wolf. Kagura would die first than to join his pack and she was sure he would prefer that.
“Wait, what? No you have to,” Ginta said.
“I don’t have to do anything and I am sure Kouga wouldn’t want me to be a part of his pack,” Kagura replied, “Did you two forget me that easily?” She brought her hands up to wrap her hair up in a bun and she glared at the two wolves. “Do you remember me now?”
Ginta and Hakkaku stepped back in disbelief. It was Naraku’s pawn. She was the wind witch but she thought she had died. That was what Inuyasha and Kagome had said. And why was she an ookami? None of this made any sense. Sensing their confusion, Kagura spoke again, “I was given a second chance at life. I don’t know why since some of the things that I did while being controlled by Naraku was distasteful. I am sincerely sorry about what I did to your pack. I know that my apology probably means nothing but I wish to say it anyway. Please inform Kouga that I will not be joining his pack. I think that would be wise, don’t you?”
Ginta’s mouth hung open for a brief moment. He would have never thought he would have heard apologizing for anything. Hakkaku tugged on his arm as he was already retreating. He didn’t trust the wind witch. It didn’t matter if she apologized or not. She rubbed him the wrong way and always had. “Ok. Sorry for bothering you,” Ginta said before retreating with Hakkaku.
Inuamaya didn’t really think her plan out to well. She simply thought to lead the snake youkai away from Akane and Akemi. Of course she was too much of a hassle for the snake youkai. Inuamaya was leaping all about in the trees and he was obviously much too hungry to waste energy on trying to capture her. Akane and Akemi were running in a straight line. Of course, the snake youkai would turn his attention back on them. They were easy targets.
‘Idiots,’ she thought as she jumped from branch to branch to keep up with them. The snake youkai was only a few feet from them. He was dangerously close and Inuamaya had to act quickly. Scared beyond rational thought, she leaped from the tree she was in and on to the snake youkai’s head. Inuamaya frantically tried to cover his eyes while trying to hold on. The snake youkai bucked and Inuamaya was launched into the snow. As she tried to stand, the snake towered over her to swallow her.
“FOX FIRE!” Shippo yelled as blue flames came out of the palm of his hand as his claws ripped through the snake. He dropped down and snatched Inuamaya up before leaping away as the snake youkai writhe in pain on the ground while it disintegrated. Shippo sat Inuamaya down and said, “What the hell were you doing?”
Inuamaya uncovered her eyes as her whole body shivered. She stared up at Shippo and screamed, “Onee-chan!” She jumped into his arms and clung to him as she began crying. Shippo was coming to visit Kaede’s village. He had news to bring to his old friends when he saw Inuamaya trying to battle a snake youkai on her own. Shippo immediately went into action to save her.
“Inuamaya!” Kagome said as she took her from Shippo, “What were you doing? You could’ve been killed!!!”
“Don’t be angry with her!!” Akane yelled as she rushed over holding Akemi’s hand while Sango and Miroku followed in behind them.
“It wasn’t her fault,” Akemi said, “It’s our fault.”
“What in the hell were you two doing in the forest on your own in the first place?” Inuyasha replied. He had been helping some of the villagers take down a tree when he heard screaming. He rushed over as quickly as he could. Inuyasha saw Inuamaya at the last few seconds. He felt dread in him as he watched the youkai tower over her. Inuyasha couldn’t have made it to her in time nor would have Kagome’s arrow and Sango’s hirakotsu. He was glad that Shippo came when he did.
“We were trying to find that flower the villagers talked about to give as an anniversary gift. We asked Inuamaya to come with us,” Akane started.
“She’s an adult, so we thought it was okay for Inuamaya to come with us,” Akemi added, “The youkai came out of nowhere. Inuamaya distracted it while we ran to get help. If it wasn’t for Ya-chan, we would’ve been eaten.”
“Please don’t be angry with her,” Akane and Akemi pleaded at the same time.
“Inuamaya is not an adult. We had this discussion before,” Sango said.
“Because she is a hanyou like me, she has matured more than you two have. But she is in no way capable of protecting you two properly. She got lucky this time but there’s no telling what would have happened if Shippo didn’t show up,” Inuyasha replied, “You three both know that there have been an increase of…” Inuyasha stopped in midsentence when the scent of blood hit his nose. He turned to look at Inuamaya who was holding her arm. Her eyes were half open and she was very pale. While the adults were talking, Inuamaya felt the pain creeping up her arm but she didn’t have the strength to alert anyone. Inuyasha removed her hand revealing her arm. Inuamaya, immediately, started wailing. The wound ran the length of her arm and it was puffy.
“She’s been poisoned,” Kagome said, “We need to get her inside immediately.”
Inuyasha was going to grab Kagome and get to the hut before the blink of an eye but Sango grabbed his arm. Inuyasha needed to make sure that nothing else was coming to endanger the village. Inuamaya would be okay. Sango vast knowledge of poisons and Kagome’s healing hands would make sure Inuamaya would be up and running tomorrow with no problems. “We’ll take care of her. You three make sure that there isn’t any more lurking around,” Sango stated as she gripped Akane and Akemi’s hands as she followed Kagome back to her hut.
Kirara found herself at a river bank. She stared down at the water as steam was coming off her body in waves. Behind her were a few foolish youkais’ bodies lie burned to a crisp because they did not heed her warnings and succumbed to their hormones. Kirara was in full estrus and it was wrong. It had to be very wrong. Nekos did not go into estrus until the spring but here she was beckoning each and every demon to her in a fifty mile radius. This would not do. She could not risk another fight, another batter. Another battle could cause her severe harm that would keep her from being able to achieve her goal forever. Kirara could not bear staying in this form for the rest of her time in this realm. She had already spent a quarter of it walking around like some beast of burden. Kirara did not mind escorting her friends around but she sometimes felt as if that was all she was good for and that would not do.
“Kirara,” a voice said to her. Kirara jumped at the sound. She looked around but neither saw nor smelled no one but she knew that voice.
‘Midoriko,’ Kirara thought.
“It is my fault that you have suffered so. I have chosen that it will be you that I will use the last of my power on before I leave this world,” Midiroko replied to her, “Plunge yourself into the river.”
‘No. I will surely drown,’ Kirara thought. She was not the best swimmer and it was widely known that Nekos despised water. The real problem was that if she was submerged in water for too long it would put out her flames thus killing her. Kirara backed away from the river’s edge.
“Please trust me Kirara. I have never betrayed you before,” Midiroko replied.
Kirara mused over the voice in her head. She could just be hearing voices due to her hormones or it could actually be Midoriko. Kirara could take the chance. She could swim to the other side before the current took her if she was fast enough. Kirara padded into the water and was immediately hit with an intense pain. She roared in pain as she tried to walk back to the shore. All of the sudden, the current picked up and Kirara was dragged under. She struggled to keep her head above water as she went downstream but her legs would not move.
As water filled her lungs, Midoriko spoke again, “You were always a well-respected friend.”
“Damn it all to hell,” Inuyasha exclaimed as he marched angrily towards the forest. He would have to make another display to show the idiotic youkai that he meant business. Inuyasha was bitter that he wasn’t the one to kill the snake youkai, but it did make him feel better that someone that he saw as family did. Shippo was like a son to him. “What are you doing back here runt?”
“Runt? I don’t think I can be called that anymore since I am taller than you now Inuyasha,” Shippo replied as he kicked the remains of the snake youkai out of his way. He was now an inch taller than Inuyasha and slightly more muscular than Inuyasha as well. Shippo wore a similar outfit to the one he wore growing but this outfit was made for his more mature body. He was now fifteen. The same age Inuyasha was when they first met. Besides getting older, taller, hair and tail becoming longer, Shippo hadn’t really changed much. “I have passed the Kitsune Demon Examination. I am among the top five of my class,” Shippo said proudly.
“Congratulations. This calls for a celebration,”Miroku said.
“Oie monk. Are you that stupid? That’s not why he’s here,” Inuyasha stated. He picked up on that as soon as Shippo arrived. If his visit was on a pleasant one, he would have visited the human girl that he was fond off. Shippo deliberately took the route to him and Miroku’s huts.
“Hmm? Is this true Shippo?” Miroku asked.
“Yes unfortunately. It has something to do with the frequent occurrences of youkai lately,” Shippo replied.
Author’s Note: Cliffhanger a little bit. This was a long chapter. I hope you all enjoyed. Please review and stay tuned for the next chapter of Regaining Time Lost.
Author's Note: Hello everyone! I want to thanksuperemanandwolfshifter1001againreviewing. :: offers a red velvet cake :: I want to point out that Rin is a teenager and teenagers do go through phases and phases end. Anyway, if you choose to flame me, BRING IT ON! Anyway, sit back and enjoy the next chapter ofRegaining Time Lost.
Chapter 4: Foreboding Meeting
Inuamaya trailed in behind Sango and Miroku’s daughter, Akane and Akemi. They had overheard some villagers talking about a beautiful flower that grew somewhere in the forest. Akane and Akemi wanted to get the flower, so it could be grown in the village as well as offer it as an anniversary gift for their parents. They knew they wouldn’t be allowed along in the forest without someone older, so they asked Inuamaya. Inuamaya wasn’t technically older than them but hanyous matured faster than humans. She had the mentality of a 13 year old most of the time. After much begging and promising never to tug on her ears, Inuamaya agreed to accompany them. She didn’t want to stick around the village anymore with Rin running around with an attitude. Inuamaya played dumb about changing out the gifts. She knew what was going for a long time. It wasn’t really hard to put everything together since her ears allowed her to listen in on private conversations.The woman that had been hiding in the village was going to be Sesshomaru’s mate. However, Rin wanted to be his mate which was really dumb. Rin had traveled with Sesshomaru for a long period of time and it was really odd that Rin was not aware of Sesshomaru’s demeanor towards her. It was odd that Rin had yet to see it when he came to visit. Had Rin been oblivious to his expressions, the yips and the growls that he would do or maybe she didn’t understand what all of that meant? Sesshomaru obviously treated her as his pup.
“Ya-chan, aren’t you going to help?” Akane asked.
“No,” Inuamaya replied, “I have to keep a look out.” Her ears twitched and turned about as she listened out for danger.
“Ugh. You can be really boring and grouchy sometimes. Just like your Dad,” Akemi said.
“Tssk. Of course,” Inuamaya replied before sticking her tongue out at her.
“You should stop acting like a boy Ya-chan. You’re never going to get married if you keep this up,” Akane added.
“Married? Why in the world would I be thinking about getting married?” Inuamaya asked in shock,” I am only eight winters old!” She just didn’t understand human females. They were always running around giving boys flowers, worrying about getting married and ignoring her mostly. That was the reason she wanted to be like her father and Sango-san. She didn’t have time to worrying about stupid things. There were more important things than that.
“We’re talking about when you’re older. You know Ryu-chan likes you,” Akemi said.
Inuamaya blushed before turning her back to them. She knew all about that. Christmas night he had hit her in the head with a ball while she was trying her best to behave in front of Otou-san. Due to him, it obviously failed and she was going to make him pay for it. A black eye from a girl would have the other boys picking on him for months but all thoughts of revenge had been deserted when Ryu gave her that necklace. It wasn’t anything fancy. It was a simple silver chain, but the fact that he worked on the chain with his father for her made it special. The village they lived in was a friendly one but there were still some reservations towards youkai. It was why she only played with Akane, Akemi and the boys. Her behavior was unfitting for a female and maybe if she tried a little to fit in, she would have more friends but Inuamaya didn’t want to fit in. Okaa-san told her to never change who she was and Inuamaya didn’t plan to.
A twig fell from a tree and Inuamaya’s ears twitched. She looked up and saw a blur move through the trees. Inuamaya turned and snatched Akane and Akemi out of the way not a second too soon. A snake youkai hit the ground where they were. Akane and Akemi stared in horror as the snake youkai rose up hissing at them. It lunged and Inuamaya leaped. She landed on the top of its head and bit its eyes causing it rear back hissing in pain.
“RUN!!!” Inuamaya screamed.
Kagura’s legs were becoming stiff and her body was aching. She could see the sun brightly beating down on her as it was slowly going down. It was almost nightfall and she was sure they had put over forty miles between them and Kaede’s village. Her legs were screaming it to her. However, they were nowhere near Sesshomaru’s castle. He slowed his speed a few hours ago when Kagura began to lag behind. She was not use to traveling this way but it still annoyed him that at this pace he would be at his castle with only a day to prepare. Sesshomaru gave a quick bark before he made his descent to the ground. Kagura followed after. Her body twirling in the air as her body was engulfed in blue light. She landed gracefully even though her legs were trembling. Kagura brought her arm out and caught the falling, screaming Jaken before he hit the ground. She sat his trembling form on the ground before sitting herself.
Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at Kagura. He knew she was tired but she was not saying a word about it. She was determined to not cause any problems. This wasn’t the Kagura he was used to but he wasn’t complaining. He did not want to hear complaining from a wench that chose to come with him but she wasn’t. Sesshomaru wanted to tease her but all three of them needed to eat.
“This Sesshomaru will return,” he said before walking off.
When he was out of sight, Kagura finally relaxed with a deep sigh. She rubbed her sore thigh muscles and stood up slowly. There was a hot springs not too far. Kagura could smell it and she was yearning for it. It wouldn’t take her too long to get there and get back. She was sure she probably smelled. Kagura could feel the sweat trickling down her back. It was disgusting.
“Jaken, I will be going to the hot springs,” Kagura said before leaving Jaken to his lonesome.
“Sango you missed it. I have never seen Sesshomaru show so many emotions before,” Miroku said, “He adores her.”
“Adore? Are you sure?” Sango asked. She knew Kagura had feelings for Sesshomaru. It was very apparent that she did. Kagura went out of her way to make sure that she and Kagome told no one about her rebirth and she practiced nonstop to perform to perfection to show her agility and gracefulness to Sesshomaru. However, Sango never saw any emotions from Sesshomaru nor was she around to really tell. Sango knew he was deeply bothered by the death of Kagura because it was unnecessary but she didn’t think too much into it.
“Yes, my lovely Sango. He looked upon her the way I did when I first met you,” Miroku said.
“So he had his hand on her rear end?” Sango asked with a smirk.
“Oh Sango, how you tease,” Miroku replied, “I do remember something about you telling me last night to put my hand there.”
Before Sango could retort, screams ruined their playful banter. Sango moved quickly and grabbed Hirakotsu and Miroku grabbed his staff before rushing out of their hut to see Akane and Akemi running through the snow towards the village. Akane and Akemi did not turn back to see if Inuamaya was behind them. Inuamaya made them promise if something like this was to happen that they would obey her no matter and they did. They did what she told them to do and that was to run. Run as fast as they could to get help.
“I can’t believe Kouga sent us out to do this again,” Hakkaku groaned.
“Well what do you expect? He’s always getting us to do this,” Ginta replied, “He should have never challenged the spider youkai for their territory.”
“Who would have thought that they had a taste for wolf flesh? Female wolf flesh at that,” Hakkaku said, “It was a good thing that we did wipe them out.”
“But look at the cost. He has searching high and low for unrelated females. We have only found six so far and that was winters ago,” Ginta replied.
Kouga’s pack had grown exponentially since the fall of Naraku and his marriage to Ayame. A few years into his success, females and pups were turning up missing. A search party stumbled across a spider youkai clan in control of a nice size territory not too far from their pack den. The leader of the snake youkai requested wolf flesh from now and then. He had a taste for females. Unaware to the pack, Kouga made an agreement with the previous leader that allowed him to stay within the territory as long as no harm came to his pack. The new leader did not honor this truce which caused a full out war that lasted for a week or so but it took the lives of many of their brethren. The ratio of males to females was every five males there was two females. Kouga sent out search parties to bring back any ookami females: youkai or hanyou to join the pack. Kouga still had the notion that hanyous were inferior but beggers couldn’t be choosers.
Hakkaku inhaled and caught a scent of a female, an ookami female. Before he could say anything, Ginta was moving in the direction of the scent. They began to jog towards the scent. They were both elated that they had found another one. This would put Kouga in a less than foul mood. He had so much to worry about since his position as pack leader was being threatened for his decision to go into full out battle with the spider youkai. Kouga had already killed two rivals for his position. The bloodshed was enough to show that he was not playing around with anyone question his leadership capabilities.
Ginta and Hakkaku came across a female bathing in a hot spring. She was running her hands through her hair in the water to get out the tangles. They crept closer and the female whipped around with her fangs barred as she sank lower into the water to cover herself.
“What the hell are you two doing?!?” Kagura exclaimed as her red eyes glared at them with such intensity that made Ginta and Hakkaku cringe.
“We are sorry for startling you. But you are ookami aren’t you?” Ginta asked.
“Partly. What is it to you?” Kagura replied.
“Kouga request all females to come join his pack for protection and safety. Due to last war, we are trying to regain our numbers. I am sure you know of this and,” Hakkaku explained.
“I will not be coming with you,” Kagura said. It had taken her a moment to figure out where she knew those two from. She knew they were not a threat to her because she was sure that both were weaker than her but alarm bells were still going off in her head. When one of them had said Kouga’s name, she remembered who they were. They were the two wolves that were always trailing in behind that arrogant, loud mouth wolf. Kagura would die first than to join his pack and she was sure he would prefer that.
“Wait, what? No you have to,” Ginta said.
“I don’t have to do anything and I am sure Kouga wouldn’t want me to be a part of his pack,” Kagura replied, “Did you two forget me that easily?” She brought her hands up to wrap her hair up in a bun and she glared at the two wolves. “Do you remember me now?”
Ginta and Hakkaku stepped back in disbelief. It was Naraku’s pawn. She was the wind witch but she thought she had died. That was what Inuyasha and Kagome had said. And why was she an ookami? None of this made any sense. Sensing their confusion, Kagura spoke again, “I was given a second chance at life. I don’t know why since some of the things that I did while being controlled by Naraku was distasteful. I am sincerely sorry about what I did to your pack. I know that my apology probably means nothing but I wish to say it anyway. Please inform Kouga that I will not be joining his pack. I think that would be wise, don’t you?”
Ginta’s mouth hung open for a brief moment. He would have never thought he would have heard apologizing for anything. Hakkaku tugged on his arm as he was already retreating. He didn’t trust the wind witch. It didn’t matter if she apologized or not. She rubbed him the wrong way and always had. “Ok. Sorry for bothering you,” Ginta said before retreating with Hakkaku.
Inuamaya didn’t really think her plan out to well. She simply thought to lead the snake youkai away from Akane and Akemi. Of course she was too much of a hassle for the snake youkai. Inuamaya was leaping all about in the trees and he was obviously much too hungry to waste energy on trying to capture her. Akane and Akemi were running in a straight line. Of course, the snake youkai would turn his attention back on them. They were easy targets.
‘Idiots,’ she thought as she jumped from branch to branch to keep up with them. The snake youkai was only a few feet from them. He was dangerously close and Inuamaya had to act quickly. Scared beyond rational thought, she leaped from the tree she was in and on to the snake youkai’s head. Inuamaya frantically tried to cover his eyes while trying to hold on. The snake youkai bucked and Inuamaya was launched into the snow. As she tried to stand, the snake towered over her to swallow her.
“FOX FIRE!” Shippo yelled as blue flames came out of the palm of his hand as his claws ripped through the snake. He dropped down and snatched Inuamaya up before leaping away as the snake youkai writhe in pain on the ground while it disintegrated. Shippo sat Inuamaya down and said, “What the hell were you doing?”
Inuamaya uncovered her eyes as her whole body shivered. She stared up at Shippo and screamed, “Onee-chan!” She jumped into his arms and clung to him as she began crying. Shippo was coming to visit Kaede’s village. He had news to bring to his old friends when he saw Inuamaya trying to battle a snake youkai on her own. Shippo immediately went into action to save her.
“Inuamaya!” Kagome said as she took her from Shippo, “What were you doing? You could’ve been killed!!!”
“Don’t be angry with her!!” Akane yelled as she rushed over holding Akemi’s hand while Sango and Miroku followed in behind them.
“It wasn’t her fault,” Akemi said, “It’s our fault.”
“What in the hell were you two doing in the forest on your own in the first place?” Inuyasha replied. He had been helping some of the villagers take down a tree when he heard screaming. He rushed over as quickly as he could. Inuyasha saw Inuamaya at the last few seconds. He felt dread in him as he watched the youkai tower over her. Inuyasha couldn’t have made it to her in time nor would have Kagome’s arrow and Sango’s hirakotsu. He was glad that Shippo came when he did.
“We were trying to find that flower the villagers talked about to give as an anniversary gift. We asked Inuamaya to come with us,” Akane started.
“She’s an adult, so we thought it was okay for Inuamaya to come with us,” Akemi added, “The youkai came out of nowhere. Inuamaya distracted it while we ran to get help. If it wasn’t for Ya-chan, we would’ve been eaten.”
“Please don’t be angry with her,” Akane and Akemi pleaded at the same time.
“Inuamaya is not an adult. We had this discussion before,” Sango said.
“Because she is a hanyou like me, she has matured more than you two have. But she is in no way capable of protecting you two properly. She got lucky this time but there’s no telling what would have happened if Shippo didn’t show up,” Inuyasha replied, “You three both know that there have been an increase of…” Inuyasha stopped in midsentence when the scent of blood hit his nose. He turned to look at Inuamaya who was holding her arm. Her eyes were half open and she was very pale. While the adults were talking, Inuamaya felt the pain creeping up her arm but she didn’t have the strength to alert anyone. Inuyasha removed her hand revealing her arm. Inuamaya, immediately, started wailing. The wound ran the length of her arm and it was puffy.
“She’s been poisoned,” Kagome said, “We need to get her inside immediately.”
Inuyasha was going to grab Kagome and get to the hut before the blink of an eye but Sango grabbed his arm. Inuyasha needed to make sure that nothing else was coming to endanger the village. Inuamaya would be okay. Sango vast knowledge of poisons and Kagome’s healing hands would make sure Inuamaya would be up and running tomorrow with no problems. “We’ll take care of her. You three make sure that there isn’t any more lurking around,” Sango stated as she gripped Akane and Akemi’s hands as she followed Kagome back to her hut.
Kirara found herself at a river bank. She stared down at the water as steam was coming off her body in waves. Behind her were a few foolish youkais’ bodies lie burned to a crisp because they did not heed her warnings and succumbed to their hormones. Kirara was in full estrus and it was wrong. It had to be very wrong. Nekos did not go into estrus until the spring but here she was beckoning each and every demon to her in a fifty mile radius. This would not do. She could not risk another fight, another batter. Another battle could cause her severe harm that would keep her from being able to achieve her goal forever. Kirara could not bear staying in this form for the rest of her time in this realm. She had already spent a quarter of it walking around like some beast of burden. Kirara did not mind escorting her friends around but she sometimes felt as if that was all she was good for and that would not do.
“Kirara,” a voice said to her. Kirara jumped at the sound. She looked around but neither saw nor smelled no one but she knew that voice.
‘Midoriko,’ Kirara thought.
“It is my fault that you have suffered so. I have chosen that it will be you that I will use the last of my power on before I leave this world,” Midiroko replied to her, “Plunge yourself into the river.”
‘No. I will surely drown,’ Kirara thought. She was not the best swimmer and it was widely known that Nekos despised water. The real problem was that if she was submerged in water for too long it would put out her flames thus killing her. Kirara backed away from the river’s edge.
“Please trust me Kirara. I have never betrayed you before,” Midiroko replied.
Kirara mused over the voice in her head. She could just be hearing voices due to her hormones or it could actually be Midoriko. Kirara could take the chance. She could swim to the other side before the current took her if she was fast enough. Kirara padded into the water and was immediately hit with an intense pain. She roared in pain as she tried to walk back to the shore. All of the sudden, the current picked up and Kirara was dragged under. She struggled to keep her head above water as she went downstream but her legs would not move.
As water filled her lungs, Midoriko spoke again, “You were always a well-respected friend.”
“Damn it all to hell,” Inuyasha exclaimed as he marched angrily towards the forest. He would have to make another display to show the idiotic youkai that he meant business. Inuyasha was bitter that he wasn’t the one to kill the snake youkai, but it did make him feel better that someone that he saw as family did. Shippo was like a son to him. “What are you doing back here runt?”
“Runt? I don’t think I can be called that anymore since I am taller than you now Inuyasha,” Shippo replied as he kicked the remains of the snake youkai out of his way. He was now an inch taller than Inuyasha and slightly more muscular than Inuyasha as well. Shippo wore a similar outfit to the one he wore growing but this outfit was made for his more mature body. He was now fifteen. The same age Inuyasha was when they first met. Besides getting older, taller, hair and tail becoming longer, Shippo hadn’t really changed much. “I have passed the Kitsune Demon Examination. I am among the top five of my class,” Shippo said proudly.
“Congratulations. This calls for a celebration,”Miroku said.
“Oie monk. Are you that stupid? That’s not why he’s here,” Inuyasha stated. He picked up on that as soon as Shippo arrived. If his visit was on a pleasant one, he would have visited the human girl that he was fond off. Shippo deliberately took the route to him and Miroku’s huts.
“Hmm? Is this true Shippo?” Miroku asked.
“Yes unfortunately. It has something to do with the frequent occurrences of youkai lately,” Shippo replied.
Author’s Note: Cliffhanger a little bit. This was a long chapter. I hope you all enjoyed. Please review and stay tuned for the next chapter of Regaining Time Lost.