InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Secrets of the Past ❯ Jaken's Discovery ( Chapter 3 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Chapter 3: Jaken's Discovery

Early that morning, Kagome awoke to strange sounds outside of the shrine.
"Shh," Nintashiro said as he looked intently at Kagome.
"What is the matter?" Kagome whispered.
"A group of demons have gathered not far from the shrine. Inuyasha and mother are outside, in the trees watching them. So far, they seem to have no interest in the shrine at all. They look like they are setting up an ambush for someone. Mother wants to make sure the shrine is not detected. She had me stay here to protect you. "
"What if they are going to ambush our friends, they were supposed to meet us in Tomi Village."
"That is why Inuyasha is out there. Now stay quiet. We do not know how well these demons can hear. If they are Oni, they might detect us."


"Rin, Rin, come back here." Jaken bellowed as he walked on the path. "Rin, you should not run off like that. Sesshomaru sama will have my head. Rin, where are you? It is dangerous here. These woods are known to contain Oni. Sesshomaru will kill me if one of those soul stealers gets their hands on you!"
Rin jumped out from the trees and yelled, "boo," at Jaken.
He jumped and started to run when Rin's laughter made him turn around.
"You are funny, Jaken."
"This is not a place to play. Demons that do not ally themselves with youkai live here. They are dangerous. " Jaken sputtered out, but Rin ignored him and skipped along the path.
Jaken followed the girl and hoped that they reached the other side of this accursed place quickly. Sesshomaru was supposed to meet them in the meadows past the village on the other side of this forest.


Murasaki held her staff in one hand as she perched on the tree above the demons.
"What do you smell?" Inuyasha faintly whispered.
"Several lu-nat, two henge-youkai, a couple of hanyou, an Oni, and a tengu The tengu seems to be the leader. Wait, I smell a human, a small one, followed by a Toad. Those two could be what these inferiors are trying to trap."
"Toad? What kind?"
"Let's see. Water Toad, The scent is familiar, but I can not place it."
Inuyasha sniffed in the direction that Murasaki was pointing.
"Jaken, its Jaken. The human must be Rin. Feh, let them get caught."
"Jaken? How can you say that, Inuyasha. He loved for you to chase him when you were little."
"He works for Sesshomaru. My brother must be the real target."
Murasaki jumped and landed in front of the demon bandits.
"Youkai," The tengu chirped out at her. "This is none of your busyness."
"These lands belong to me. That makes it my business. Leave now, or die."
"One Hanyou against all of us, don't make me laugh."
"You were warned, " Murasaki said as she firmly planted the staff in front of her with her left hand. She extended her right arm out to the side and began scissoring her fingers.
"Fa ma ra Ka!" she repeated several times. With each chant of the sutra, the staff began to glow. Energy shot out from the staff, disintegrating most of the demons in the path. Within a matter of moments, only the tengu and one henge-yokai were left.
The tengu began pleading with Murasaki for its life. The henge-youkai ran off into the forest where Inuyasha was quickly able to kill it.
"Oh, Queen of Tomi forest, please forgive this tengu for trespassing on your lands. We were sent here by another. We do not want you, we are seeking a traveler through your forest, oh great queen." The tengu chirped.
Murasaki grabbed the tengu by its wing," And what traveler were you seeking? You must know that all who travel her are under my protection."
"Oh great queen of the Tomi forest. We seek a one armed youkai. He travels with a toad and a girl. That is all I know, honest!"
"Who dares send his servants on my land without my permission."
"The great conquerer, Naraku. Please, let me go. Better, let me stay here and serve you! If Naraku's insects see me confessing, I am dead for sure! Please oh please, great queen of Tomi Forest! Spare my life! I promise to serve you until I die."
"Do you swear on all of your ancestors and your offspring?"
"Yesss great queen of Tomi Forest, I swear on all of my ancestors, their guardians, and my chicks! Please, let me live! I am called Tomoaki."
Murasaki touched the head of the staff to the tengu's head.
"You are now fully bound by your oath, Tomoaki You are to be my servant. Now go, patrol the woods. When you find those travelers. Bring them here." She said as she leapt to a tree above."
"I will do as my mistress bids."

Once the henge-youkai was dead, Inuyasha looked up to hear a faint buzzing sound. He did not know where the bees were, because of the thick foliage, but he knew those bees belonged to Naraku. He headed back to the shrine.
"This is going from bad to worse," he said to himself.


Murasaki made a series of taps on the tree. Once done, Nintashiro opened the door.
"Are you alright, mother?"
"I am fine."
"Where's Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.
"He ran off after a henge-youkai. He should be back shortly. Kagome, do your friends travel with a Kitsune and a LiLung?"
"What are henge-youkai, and what is a Lilung. My friends do travel with a Kitsune."
"A henge-youkai is a youkai who is wild born, one with no house and no knowledge of their parentage. A LiLung is a shape shifting cat demon."
"Oh you must mean Kiara. Yes , my friends travel with a Kitsune and a LiLung."
"They are headed in this direction. Three humans, one badly hurt, a Kitsune, and a LiLung"
"They must be bringing someone for you to heal, Murasaki. The ones Inuyasha and me were traveling with only consisted of two humans."
"That may be so. Well then, I must prepare. You go ahead back inside. I smell Inuyasha making his way back here. Jaken is coming closer as well. I hope Inuyasha does not plan to start his feud here. This forest reacts to violence. Most of the trees, including the shrine tree, are sentient and alive. I will inform you when your friends get here. I need to stay close, so Jaken does not get hurt."
"Alright." Kagome replied as she slid the door shut.


Inuyasha came into view shortly after the door slid shut.
"Easy hunting?"
"Feh, I don't know why you needed my help. You handled most of them by yourself."
"I was not sure if I could. This is the first time I have used Saiminjutsu. I was not sure how well it would channel my powers. Normally, it would take me an hour or more to dispatch that many demons. Most of the time, I need Nintashiro's help. "
"Tell me something. It is clear he has inherited much of his father, has he inherited" Inuyasha tried to say.
"I have suspected he has some of my miko powers as well. He hides it, but I can smell some of it on him. That is another reason we stay hidden here. A Youkai miko is very rare, but a MALE with the powers"
"Is nearly unheard of. Some say, impossible." Inuyasha finished.
"It could be because Sesshomaru and me are cousins. Mind you, we have only one relative between us, and the bloodline is far enough removed for problems, but.."
"You are saying that he could have inherited it from both of you! Feh, Sesshomaru has no powers like that, and neither do I."
"Are you sure? Perhaps why you and Kagome have a mutual scent has less to do with your affection mark, and more to do with your powers. Your latent miko-like powers."
"You are talking nonsense. I have NO miko powers."
"Are you sure? Tell me have you done anything, and I mean the smallest anything, that indicates you have a power that purely does not come from your demon side?"
Inuyasha thought for a moment, "Feh, no. Nothing. Bakka, why would I?" he said, but he was not sure himself.
Tomoaki came into view with Rin giggling and dancing behind him.
"Birdie, come here birdie!"
"Oh queen of Tomi Forest, I have brought this traveler to you. The other one his in the trees. I will fetch him for you, I will." the tengu said as he took to the air.
"Don't go birdie," Rin said sullenly, until she saw Murasaki, whose back was facing the girl.
"Sesshomaru sama!" The girl yelled, run and flung her arms around Murasaki's leg.
"Bakka! Murasaki, you get inside. That tengu is back, and he is bringing your enemy right to your door!"
Rin looked up to see the demon she had grabbed onto was not her Sesshomaru sama.
"Oh, hello pretty lady." she said as Murasaki reached down and stroked the child's head lovingly.
"Inuyasha, you get inside. The tengu is now under my control. If you do not want to see Jaken, you do not have to. I will talk to him out here. Keep your anger in your ghi, and go inside."
"Feh! Inuyasha said as he slid the door to the side and entered the shrine."
"So, little one, why are you wandering alone in my forest? It is dangerous here. If my friend, the bird, had not found you, you could have been hurt very badly."
"You are a nice lady. You are like Sesshomaru sama. You would not let me get hurt."
"True, but I wouldn't want to bee too late to help you."
"Jaken is with me. I am not alone."
Murasaki's face brightened, "I am right, he is still the kind one I remember. There is hope." She thought to herself.
"Where is Jaken?" Murasaki asked Rin.
"He is silly. He is afraid of the birdie. The birdie won't hurt him."
"I know, but Jaken gets scared easy. You will have to be a big strong girl, and help him not be afraid. If you help him not be afraid, he can protect you better."
The sound of Jaken bellowing at Tomoaki came to Murasaki's ears.
"Get back here you stupid bird and tell me where you took Rin" Jaken commanded as he came into view.
Tomoaki was squawking and flying circles above Jaken as Jaken tried to hit him with his staff.
"Jaken!." Rin squealed as she ran to him, " I found a nice lady. Come here Jaken. Come see the nice lady!"
"Girl, this is no time to be playing. I need to get rid of this tengu."
"Tomoaki," Murasaki commanded, "go find a place near for a suitable nest. I will call you when you are needed."
"Oh yes, great Queen." he said as he flew off.
Jaken looked up at Murasaki and screamed," Oh ho, ho! Rin, run! It's a ghost, an evil spirit!"
"Now that is not a very nice thing to say, Jaken. After all it has been years since we saw each other last."
"Mu .. Mu.. Murasaki! It can't be. You are dead! You died the night Master InuTaitio's palace was attacked."
"Calm down, Jaken. I am not a ghost and I am not dead. If you talked to any of the other of my great uncle's servants that survived, you would know that."
"Oh! Murasaki sama! Lord Sesshomaru will be so happy to see you live!"
"See Jaken, she is a nice lady." Rin added.
"Jaken, where is Sesshomaru?" She said as her face became sullen.
"We are going to meet him in the meadows on the other side of Tomi Village. You should come. He will be so pleased to know you live."
"I can't leave this forest, not yet. I have responsibilities. Besides, I am not sure Sesshomaru will want to see me. I do not want him to feel trapped, by our mating arrangement. Besides, I did something awful to him. I still have not forgiven myself, so how can I expect him to forgive me?"
"Oh, Lady Murasaki, that is not true. He thinks of you. He does not say it, but he still keeps the flute tied to his obi. Perhaps seeing you alive will help to end the feud he has with his brother. Part of the reason he fights Lord Inuyasha is out of frustration. He thinks the servants left you to die while they saved his brother. He thinks that their actions to save a hanyou over his noble youkai bride was inexcusable."
Murasaki smiled and began to shed tears. "Thank you, Jaken. I can not go to him just yet, but please tell him to come visit me soon. This forest is lonely."
"I will do that, Lady Murasaki. Come Rin, Sesshomaru sama is waiting for us."
"Goodbye nice lady!"
"Goodbye, sweet child, and Jaken."

Notes:
Spirit demons that can reach up to eight feet tall. They are, evil, bloodthirsty and are known for their exceptional hearing.
A small, malicious, spirit demon that wanders near carnage. They are known to create and spread plauges and disease over entire villages. They are not bright and are willing to sell their services to any who promise them the type of food they desire.
Demons which look like a cross between a human and a crow. Their heads often take the form of crow heads, but sometimes have human-like heads. They known for their wit,wisdom, and shrewd trickery. They are fierce warriors, but prefer to negotiate a battle rather than fighting.
the name means, autumn friend
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