InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Shippo and the Magic Wand ❯ Part Three ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Shippo and the Magic Wand

By Alesyira

Canon Universe, Continuation

Summary: Inuyasha, Kagome and Shippo return to the North, and meet up with friends along the way.

Rating: PG for mild language and mild-ish violence.

Author's Note: Part Three

Friendly Faces

“Were you unable to catch anything?”

...We were asked that question many times between giving the boat back to the man in charge of the small fishing harbor and our departure from town. To save us some time as we exited, I began telling everyone who'd asked that I'd eaten everything we'd caught before we could return to shore. The villagers were amused by this and accepted it easily as an answer, for it seemed even obvious to them that I was larger than I'd been when we'd left.

The trip back from the island had been uneventful, a pleasant breeze pushing us along the way, so Inuyasha (thankfully) managed to avoid becoming completely soaked in ocean water and sweat. A few people sent Kagome odd glances, as though they realized something was wrong. Most kitsune can alter their appearance with a simple illusion, like I have many times before... but I think it may have seemed out of place for Kagome (who now appeared to be known throughout the village as really a kitsune in disguise) to have changed her form back to the more familiar human appearance for the short walk through the village, unless there was some sort of danger looming that the villagers did not know about. As we finally left the village, I glanced back to see a few of the more skittish congregating and speaking with looks of obvious panic as they watched us leave.

“Kagome,” I said, tugging lightly on her hair as I perched easily upon her left shoulder. She turned a little to look at me, a bright smile upon her lips. I tried to keep my face straight as I pointed my thumb behind us. “I think we scared them...”

Her brow furrowed in confusion she twisted to look back at the now-scurrying villagers. “What? How did we scare them?” She seemed distressed and ready to turn around as Inuyasha laughed aloud.

“Sometimes I wonder,” he said, twining his fingers behind his neck, “how such stupid humans survived for so long.” Kagome rolled her eyes at his remark, pushing her now-black bangs from her forehead.

“Better safe than sorry, I suppose,” she said, pulling her yellow pack from her shoulder. She tossed it to Inuyasha, who turned just in time to catch it before it knocked him over. “This `stupid human' is tired of carrying that,” she said with a smirk, and I took that as my cue to hop down from her shoulder. Together, Kagome and I ran ahead on the road, taking turns to chase one another.

“Oi, wench! I wasn't talking about you!” Inuyasha shouted as he ran to catch up.

It was shortly after noon that we reached the familiar cliff edge, and Kagome stretched and plopped down onto the bright grass in front of the twisted tree we'd slept in before. She pulled food items from her backpack and patted her lap as invitation for me to sit. With our short-lived quest at an end, she must have deemed it necessary that we take our time returning home. We snacked on crackers and dried fruit and drank water from Kagome's clear plastic bottles as we quietly enjoyed the rest of our time near the ocean, and even Inuyasha stopped nagging for our continued movement for a while.

Kagome was in an even better mood than usual, which became very obvious after she started `flying' small slices of dried banana around my mouth with little whooshing noises. I tried to sit still with my mouth wide open, but it was difficult to do so while trying to control my laughter. On the fourth or fifth piece, something on the horizon caught Kagome's attention just as she was slipping the fruit in my mouth, and she ended up cutting the tip of her finger on one of my fangs. I gasped as I realized what happened, immediately reaching out to grasp the wounded digit as she moved to stand up. I barely noticed that Inuyasha had leapt down from his tree to stand beside us as I stuck Kagome's finger into my mouth to lick away the welling blood.

She seemed to have not even noticed the small slice upon her finger as she shaded her eyes with her free left hand, staring intently toward the north. Kagome was still relaxed and calm, and so I knew there was no looming threat as I carefully prodded her finger to check the seriousness of the cut. I was slightly surprised to see that it had already stopped bleeding, considering how much blood had welled at first, but then I realized that Kagome's ability to heal herself had probably increased since the last time I'd had a chance to really see her get injured.

It wasn't too often that I'd be in the midst of a battle serious enough to cause wounds, since I wasn't of much use during a fight... But the few times I'd been around had resulted in situations where I'd been injured as well... or had been kept far away from the recovering adults so as to not disturb whomever was working to heal them. It was frustrating during times like those, when I wanted to do nothing but comfort those who cared for me, but I understood their reluctance to have a `rambunctious' child around in delicate situations.

The familiar shouts of greeting nearby finally drew my attention away from Kagome's nearly-healed cut, and I dropped Kagome's hand as we moved toward our descending friends. Sango and Miroku leapt from Kirara's back as they touched down. Kagome and Sango exchanged their customary hug, and true to his nature, Miroku tried to sneak in a good grope. Twin strikes from the annoyed females laid him flat out on his back with an amused expression on his face.

“You know,” Kagome said as Sango moved to sit with us in the shade of the large tree, “...even after all of these years, I still think he likes getting hit more than he likes to grope...”

Sango nodded sagely, “If I didn't know better, I would agree with you.” She leaned toward Kagome, her lips tilting into an amused grin as she cupped her mouth with one hand. “Actually, last night...” she began to whisper. Kagome's eyes widened in horror as she clapped her hands over my ears, muffling out whatever Sango had said next. I frowned in annoyance as I tugged at her hands, not liking to be left out of the conversation. By the end of Sango's sentence, Kagome had turned beet red, her hands falling from my ears to rest upon her cheeks.

“I had no idea...” Kagome muttered, sneaking a glance over at Miroku, who still lay happily dazed on the ground nearby. I sighed and tugged on her shirt, trying to pull her attention back where it obviously belonged at a time like this: Me. “Shippo...” she murmured, running her fingers through my bangs with an amused smile. “Some things are...” she paused, biting her lip as she tilted her head to the side. “Sometimes it's just a little too much for you to hear, yet...” she whispered, leaning closer. She snuck a glance around at the clearing as though she were about to reveal a terribly juicy rumor...

I held my breath, the tingle of excitement of discovering something new and secret and most likely `inappropriate for my age' wormed its way through my stomach as I clenched my tiny fists in anticipation. She smiled cutely and spoke, her voice the smallest whisper possible: “So, I'll tell you when you're older.” Of course, this answer caused me to puff up with humongous annoyance and disappointment, but I immediately remembered something I'd meant to ask when we had a moment of peace. Regardless of the fact that Kagome and I had plenty of time to talk about whatever came to mind while we traveled to the south, my mind had been so full of Kagome-possibilities and magic-wand repercussions that I'd kind of forgotten pretty much everything else.

The first of many soon-to-be-asked questions fell out of my mouth: “Does Sesshoumaru wear socks?”

Sort-of-Sesshoumaru Strikes Again!

Kagome's mouth dropped open in her confusion, and I reached up after a moment to push her jaw shut as well as remind her she had yet to answer. “Uhm... I don't think socks go with that type of shoe...” she said, leaning back against the tree with a look of total bewilderment at the odd change of subject. “Why do you ask?”

I shrugged slightly, shooting a glance over at Sango, who had just begun polishing her gigantic bone boomerang. Inuyasha and Miroku (after he woke from his moment of unconsciousness) had stepped out of sight, probably to collect firewood and food for the evening. “I just wanted to know, so that in case I did this--” I had just pulled the leaf from my pocket when the transformation occurred, my form blurring into the taller stature of the Inu-youkai Lord of the West.

“Impressive...” Kagome breathed, now having to look slightly upwards as we remained sitting. I frowned in confusion at the leaf still clutched in my hand, wondering why I'd changed before it had made it to my head.

One of my deadly-Sesshoumaru-hands pulled up a piece of billowy material from my ankle, “...I was unsure if socks would be visible while I am seated,” I said, the timber of my voice sounding deep and smooth, making the illusion seem even more complete.

“GAH!!” Sango shouted in surprise, flipping over backwards from her seated position to land in a defensive crouch, boomerang at the ready. Kagome and I jumped to our feet as well, looking around for the intruder. A moment passed in complete silence as we both turned confused looks in her direction, wondering what had her on guard... Until we realized that she was watching me with a look of disbelief.

Of course, one would be asking for an immediate death by evisceration to confuse the Great Lord Sesshoumaru with Tiny Insignificant Shippo, so she was probably unsure of how to ask who I really was just in case I turned out to be the real youkai...

“It's just me...” I said, rolling my eyes and plopping back into the dirt. My voice still came out in Sesshoumaru's deep tone, but the obvious expression and careless motion made Sango blink twice and slowly slide back into her spot on the other side of our soon-to-be campfire.

“Shippo,” Kagome said, looking around for any sign of where Inuyasha and Miroku had disappeared to as she sat back on the ground. “You might want to drop the illusion before they get back, so that you don't...” she tried to hide her smile behind a discreet brush to her face, “...worry Inuyasha again...” Of course, the idea of getting another scare out of Inuyasha appealed greatly to my mischievous side... Both girls visibly shuddered at the sight of Sesshoumaru sporting the most evil grin in my arsenal.

Now, I've always thought Miroku to be a courageous and intelligent man, capable of standing tall and fighting to defend his comrades -even at the risk of his own life!- in almost any situation thrown our way... So, I knew that evilly looming over Kagome and Sango (with the two illusory swords I'd created the last time I'd scared Inuyasha) would probably end with me getting seriously injured by a very protective houshi. I chose, instead, to carefully work on braiding Kagome's hair with a shining ribbon dangling out of my mouth. It was probably as unthreatening as I'd ever be able to appear, but I suppose the real Lord Sesshoumaru would kill me on sight if only he knew what I had been doing with his image...

The soft sound of grass blades shifting and crunching alerted us to Miroku's return. Kagome did her best to hold still as I carefully wove the soft strands into a thick braid, but I couldn't help but cast a quick glance in his direction. Miroku hadn't even looked up at us yet, for he was in the middle of trying to shift an armful of kindling and sticks so that they wouldn't fall. I watched his gaze flick to the small clearing in which we sat, and I could see the thought in his eyes as he made a quick choice of how and where to set up our campfire.

A strong gust of wind from the cliff edge pulled the long strands of silver hair into a flowing dance, finally catching Miroku's attention. I could hear the moment his breath stilled in shock; his eyes narrowed as he carefully took in the scene before him: the tall, imposing form of the Lord of the West carefully weaving strands of Kagome's hair into a thick braid. From so many years spent in each other's company, I know that the members of our group are all attuned to each other's auras, and it was obvious that he was trying very hard to not believe his eyes. “Hmm,” was all he said as his mouth twitched in thinly veiled amusement. He set the firewood in the center of our small clearing, arranging it carefully as he would with any other task.

Kirara, whom had apparently snuck away during the brief reunion earlier, stepped into the clearing in her smaller form and cocked her head once as she saw me. She sniffed the air briefly before moving forward again to curl up next to Sango's leg. (I'm pretty sure she rolled her eyes at me...)

Miroku pulled a battered metal lighter (a gift from Kagome a long time ago) and started a small fire, pushing the twigs and sticks around so that the flame would even out as we sat together in silence. The sharp crack of snapping wood was heard nearby, giving us our only warning before Inuyasha landed in the small clearing with a dull thud. He didn't even look back in my direction as he brought a few fresh kills into sight and began skinning them. I bit my lip as I racked my mind for something to say to him, for the Sesshoumaru-voice trick was something that I hadn't been able to master before, and it was just brimming with possibilities...

“Ignorant whelp, that is not enough sustenance for a pregnant female,” I said, trying to slip enough disdain into the smooth speech. Of course, that was far more than I've ever heard Sesshoumaru say in one sentence, but it would have to do. Inuyasha's ears flattened as he twirled in annoyance, his lips curled into a snarl as he gripped the hilt of his sword. “Sesshoumaru--!!” he growled as he crouched, glaring at me. His expression changed immediately as what I'd said finally clicked, and he jerked his gaze toward Sango in confusion. “What?!” he asked, forgetting I was still sitting here, partially-braided strands of Kagome's long black locks entwined in my fingers.

“Not me!!” Sango shrieked in mortification, pulling her boomerang to an upraised position. (For good reason, too, since Miroku seemed to edge closer with a wicked gleam in his eyes...)

“Wait, what?!” Inuyasha demanded, whirling back toward Kagome in confused anger. He finally realized what was so utterly wrong with the picture that met his eyes, and he plopped into the soft grass with a growl of annoyance. “Damn, it, Shippo! Quit that before someone accidentally kills you!” He grumbled a moment longer as he started once again on cleaning his catch for dinner. “You aren't pregnant, are you?” he asked Kagome after a short moment, leaning forward to take a few sniffs.

“Of course not, idiot!” Kagome replied indignantly.

Story Time

“It sounds as though you've experienced this before, Inuyasha,” Miroku stated, studiously poking at the fire. “Shippo's illusion of Sesshoumaru, I mean,” he added, an amused gleam in his eyes.

“Keh,” he mumbled, flicking a small piece of bloodied flesh from his claw.

I finished braiding Kagome's hair and tied the bright ribbon around the end to hold its place before I stood and stretched my very long limbs. “This is actually quite nice,” I said, turning my slender hands around to inspect my deadly claws. “Don't I look cool?” I grinned, flipping my hair around haughtily as I flexed. Kagome giggled as she was brushed with the long silvery strands. “But you should have seen Inuyasha, earlier...” I said, a mischievous look crossing my face.

My form melted into a very short, childlike version of Inuyasha, and I leapt into the low-hanging branch of the nearby tree. “So here I was,” I began, telling the story in a slightly high-pitched Inuyasha-voice, “...napping in my favorite branch of the Goshinboku, when suddenly, something woke me!” At this I pretended to sleep for a moment, then jerked `awake' to sit up and look around like a frightened deer. I tried to contain my own amusement as everyone (minus Inuyasha, of course) tried various methods of hiding smiles and chuckles behind carefully placed hands and disguising coughs.

“When I looked down, I was shocked to see my evil-half-brother standing at the foot of the tree, staring up at me with his really-scary-evil-glare!” I exclaimed, twisting sideways so that I could fall from my branch. A little bit of youki helped slow my descent so that I could make a few twists and flails before landing in a carefully arranged heap in front of my onlookers. “But it was really just me, in disguise,” I said, changing again into a very short, childlike version of Sesshoumaru. I tilted my head back for a victorious laugh, but it was made so much more amusing by the childlike voice that my impression carried.

“Why you little--” Inuyasha growled, his eye twitching in annoyance as he reached for me.

“Ugh,” Kagome said, hiccupping once. Inuyasha and I (both still concerned about her strange bout of lethargy during our recent travels) froze in our spots and watched her warily.

“Are you okay?” Sango asked, reaching out to place a hand on Kagome's forehead. Kagome reached down and placed a hand against her stomach, looking a little green.

“Kagome,” I said, approaching her slowly, “You look like you're gonna be sick...” I stopped in front of her, changing back to my real form as I touched her arm. She gave me a faint smile and waved off everyone's concern.

“I just felt a little nauseous there for a moment, but I'm feeling better now. I guess I'm just hungry or something...” she said, opening her arms so that I could climb into the circle of her embrace. She nuzzled her face into my hair and breathed an audible sigh of relief, and I felt better knowing that just holding me brought her a measure of comfort.

“Are you sure? You might be getting ill... Sometimes climate changes can leave you open for sickness,” Sango insisted.

“I'll be fine. Besides, we'll be back at Kaede's in a few days, and if I'm not well by then...” she trailed off. “I'm sure it's nothing to worry about.”

The group fell into silence as Inuyasha worked to set sliced-up pieces of meat over the fire to cook while Sango prepared some water for tea. “Shippo, your illusionary skills have improved greatly since your last display. Your practice has paid off,” Miroku noted, folding his hands in his lap.

“And have you gotten bigger?” Sango asked, reaching over to finger the edge of my sleeve. It was becoming obvious how much I'd grown during our short trip to the island, for my clothes kept seeming shorter and shorter as the hours passed.

“I have been practicing lots,” I admitted. “But I'm not sure about why or how much I've grown. I think it has something to do with the island that we visited,” I suggested, looking back toward the small mass of land. If it was true that my noticeable growth was due to the strange energies of that island, I was sure that I'd be able to come back to spend more time there. But until we were sure, it would really be best to get back to familiar ground. And plus, the shift in my own powers was unexpected, and I needed time to get used to how they would work.

“Shippo, I didn't realize you were able to make an illusion without a sound,” Kagome said, running her fingers through my bangs as she cuddled me close.

“Me neither,” I said, snuggling back into the circle of her arms. Anything could be wrong in the world, but as long as she held me, I think I could ignore it all and take a nap. I still felt a pang of sadness when I thought of how long my mother had been gone, and I knew that Kagome would never take her place in my life, but she was easily the (living) woman I loved most in this adventure-filled life of mine. I would do anything to make Kagome as happy as she'd made me over these last few years.

“So, Kagome,” Sango began, looking over her carefully, “We see you're back to normal now, but Kaede mentioned something about you having a magic spell cast upon you. What happened?”

“Shippo thought I needed a makeover to bag myself a man,” she replied, and both girls giggled. Apparently, this `makeover' was something they both had discussed before, because none of the males in our group recognized the word (judging from our shared looks of confusion). “But in the end, we all decided it would be the best idea to undo the spell before I got myself into trouble. It probably would be a bad thing to run around looking like a pretty fox youkai when I'm really a human in disguise,” Kagome winked.

“So it was merely a change in appearance?” Sango asked, smirking. “I think it would be interesting to be disguised as a youkai. It might be much easier to infiltrate extermination sites if they didn't recognize my humanity.”

“True,” Kagome admitted, “But in my case, that flaming red hair and tail may have drawn too much unneeded attention, especially in my own time. I think my mother would have a heart attack.”

“So how was the spell broken?” Sango asked, passing warm cups of tea around the campfire.

“The old lady had me go into the middle of the jungle to find this rare blue vine, and I had to collect one of its seeds before I could put on this bracelet,” Kagome replied, holding up her wrist for everyone to see. “Shippo, am I wrong, or did I see you give this bracelet to her the night before?”

“I did,” I admitted, fingering the metal lightly. “It was my mother's.” I looked up at her face, my eyes probably shimmering with a few tears I was trying to hold back. “But now it's yours, because I don't want you to be unhappy!” I threw my arms around her neck and held on tight, hiding my face from view. I was slightly upset that I had given my most precious treasure away, but it made me feel better that it had been used to make Kagome happy again, and I couldn't help but cry at the damned confusing emotions swirling around in my head.

“Oh, Shippo,” she said, rubbing her hands along my back. “I'm sorry it made you sad,” she whispered, hugging me tight.

“I'm not sad, Kagome.” I pulled back from her to show her my smile. “I'm just a little confused about everything.” I leaned forward then to whisper in her ear so that the others would not hear, “...and it helps to cry every once in a while.”

“Let's eat before this food gets cold,” Inuyasha grumbled, handing out portions of meat. (Inuyasha never has liked our little heart-to-heart conversations...)

After we'd eaten, cleaned up for the night, and settled down for sleep, Sango asked more questions about our adventure on the island. All three of us tried to relate the fantastic flora and fauna we'd seen there, but it was hard to describe some of the strange things we'd encountered. Kagome took over most of the storytelling that evening, because all Inuyasha would comment on was how long the trip had taken, and how annoying it all had been.

I half-listened to her words as I held one of her hands between my own, mentally comparing the memory of her clawed fingertips with her now blunted human nails. I traced my fingers along the pads of her hands as she spoke, watching the digits twitch as they were tickled. A memory came to mind, and I found myself frowning in confusion as I examined her fingers for the small wound she'd received earlier that day.

Every one of her fingers were completely unharmed, including the hand I hadn't been playing with. I was certain I hadn't imagined the taste of her blood as I'd licked the shallow cut clean, but even Kagome's slightly accelerated healing wouldn't have left her without any trace of injury mere hours later...

“Then, when we had to hunt down this blue vine as part of my cure, so we walked around in the jungle for what seemed like hours before we ended up at this thorny clearing. The vine didn't seem to be as dangerous as the old lady made it out to be,” she said, carefully pulling a brush through my hair, which reminded me that I still sat in the middle of everyone. “But we all figured it wouldn't be safe to just stick a hand in there and grab one of the seeds I'd needed, so I shot at it with an arrow from a safe distance...” I realized that I would have to save any confrontation with Kagome about her `disappearing cut' until I had her in private.

I cleared my throat and sat up a little higher, drawing the group's attention to my dramatic expression, “And then it shot a whole bunch of sharp vines right at us! I was sure we were gonna be killed, but Inuyasha pulled us all out of the way just in time!” I added, making sure everyone knew I had been paying `full attention' to what had been said. If Kagome had retained something from the spell I'd cast, I'm pretty sure it would be best discussed out of range of interfering companions. Of course, I know that they would have Kagome's best intentions in mind, but I just can't see something like possibly accelerated healing being something worth going wild about.

“How were you able to retrieve the seed once it had retaliated?” Miroku asked, swirling the contents of his cup thoughtfully.

“My first shot was lucky, I guess,” Kagome said. “We found one seed with the shredded pieces of vine near the entrance to the thicket.”

“What happens if you take off the bracelet?” I don't remember who asked the question, because as soon as it fell from their lips, we all paused to stare down at the thin piece of silver that encircled her slender wrist.

“I'm not sure,” she murmured, fingering the frozen vines. “You know, I'd rather not know for now...” she said, smiling up at us. “She'd said that I'd regain my identity by having these two objects, and I'll keep faith in her words. Besides, I'm still Kagome no matter what I look like, right?”

“It is regrettable that I was unable to see what your youkai appearance had been,” Miroku said, his eyes closed and hands folded into an innocent prayer position. “Female youkai are --more often than not-- stunning creatures.”

It was easy for the rest of us to fall asleep with the monk lying next to Sango in an unconscious heap of limbs.

I woke to the rays of the sun rising over the ocean to the east. The unhindered beams of light spilled across our small camp, rousing the group with a push of cool air laced with the flavors of sea life. We stretched and prepared ourselves for the more leisurely return to Kaede's village, eating a small breakfast and packing our supplies.

“We need to stop in the next village to buy you a new set of clothes,” Kagome said as she tugged on the edge of my even-shorter sleeve. It was apparent that I'd grown another few inches overnight, but nobody had any idea how.

“We know you've been behind in development, Shippo, but we are unable to explain how your body is managing to catch up.”

“Thanks, Miroku, for stating the obvious,” Inuyasha growled. I almost laughed at the way he sounded just like Kagome on one of her really bad days. “Let's just get moving, since we've still got to stop and shop at the next village.”

Kagome tugged on a lock of his hair in her slight annoyance as she adjusted her position on his back. I was stuck with riding on Kirara with Sango and Miroku, and I looked longingly over at the girl that I wanted to cling to and never let go.

We traveled quickly that morning, stopping at the next village along the road to purchase some simple new clothes. Kagome thought it would be best if we bought something a little big, just in case I still had a little bit left to grow as we made distance between ourselves and the strange island. It was simple and a little too gray, but it would have to do before I ended up too big for decent covering.

The Birds and the Bees

The trip southeast had taken us about three and a half days with Inuyasha rarely taking any stops to rest, but once our group had gotten on the road, our return trip was just a five-day journey, complete with enough sleep and breaks to keep us on our toes. (And a few side-trips to springs or streams so that the girls remained sufficiently clean and happy.) We only had one youkai encounter worth mentioning, because after years of the same-old-thing, it gets a little silly to talk about every randomly attacking gigantic snake that threatens us with dripping fangs and a terrible lisp.

It had been in the wee hours of early morning, when the little bugs and animals were all silent and at rest. Something woke me from sleep that morning, just a few days after we'd left the coast. Kagome shifted from her spot on the ground and I toppled over onto the sparsely wooded forest floor. I was still half asleep as I reached around to try and return to where Kagome lay, but something weird tickled my senses, pulling me fully from that sleepy daze.

Inuyasha sat alert in a nearby branch, looking off toward the southwest. Then I felt it: the thrum of something heavy in the distance smashing against the earth. It was faint at first, but when it repeated once, then again, I could feel its steadily growing intensity. By this time, everyone had roused from sleep, and we sat in eerie silence with weapons in hand as we waited for a sign of attack.

Kagome stood slowly, slipping an arrow into position on her bow. “It's coming for the Shikon,” she whispered, her eyes scanning the woods for our slowly approaching foe. We heard and felt a few more of the massively heavy footfalls before the sounds of splintering wood and groaning tree trunks met our ears. A flock of startled birds took flight from a tree a short distance away, easily visible over the tree line.

“Shiiikon~ nooo~ Taaamaaa~” came the slow, slurred demand. An enormous hoof-like foot tore a tree from its roots within our sight as the creature stepped to the edge of our small clearing, and we found ourselves craning our necks to see a squashy head high above.

“Eh,” Kagome said, almost bewildered.

“What's wrong?!” Inuyasha demanded as he drew his blade, never taking his eyes from the odd youkai that towered above us. It stood on four massive legs, the front two were hooves, the back two seemed to be hands of a sort, flattened under the weight of the beast, but sporting claws in an odd shade of brownish yellow. In fact, the whole beast was primarily this shade of color, with large spots of darker brown in odd patterns and stripes along its torso and neck.

“I think... it's a giraffe...?” Kagome ventured, her face scrunching into an expression of disbelief.

“What's a giraffe?” I asked, (although later I would realize that her response of `That's a giraffe!' should have been expected.)

“I thought they only lived in Africa, but I guess when it comes to supernatural creatures, anything goes...” she muttered.

“Sloooww~” came the creature's tremendous voice, “neeeds faassst~”

“Obviously,” Inuyasha grumbled.

Miroku was the first to try reasoning with the beast: “You do not look like the type to fight for the Shikon. You should go home, youkai.” Miroku shouted up at the creature. Each of us could easily see that the being was not the sort to engage in any kind of fight, as it didn't seem to have much speed or grace or any indication of power that could prove useful against anything.

“Eats biiirds~ beeees...~ topsss of trees...~” it bellowed. Inuyasha snickered into the back of his hand, but I was kind of impressed that the youkai could rhyme even a short phrase like that. “Neeeds faassst... Neeeds ssscaary...”

“You're big enough to scare away most humans, so you don't need the power of the Shikon no Tama, trust me! It only brings disaster!” Sango yelled up at it.

“We really don't want to hurt you,” Kagome reasoned. “Just go home!” At that, she glanced back at Sango and Miroku, motioning toward Kirara as she mouthed `Let's just leave!'

I was confused and amused, because this weird, slow-moving oaf was just standing there, randomly spouting out his silly rhymes or the demand for the Shikon. His head towered above the treetops, dwarfing our much smaller forms.

As we stood there for the few moments of Absolutely-Nothing-Happening, I considered the options our group had in mind: Run away from this idiotic youkai who couldn't take a hint, or stand here just as idiotic as him while we waited for something to happen. It was obvious our group could take him down without any difficulties, although everyone (minus Inuyasha) seemed hesitant on hurting someone so lame.

I wrung my hands together in anticipation as I looked around at everyone. Sango and Miroku were edging backwards slowly, so as not to draw attention to the fact that they were planning on slipping away - most likely completely unnoticed by the hulking beast. Kagome was trying to catch Inuyasha's attention with low-toned whispers, but Inuyasha seemed to be tuning her out as he smirked up at the youkai. His grip visibly tightened on the hilt of his sword as he waited impatiently for the fight to start, for it seemed obvious that the creature didn't want to back away and leave. Time was running out for the hapless giraffe-youkai, and I knew I'd need to act before Inuyasha just leapt into action.

I knew that a little bit of a scare would probably startle the beast into leaving (just like every other low-level youkai we'd encountered) so I slid into the foliage near our campsite, edging my way toward the youkai's humongous feet. They were each nearly as large as tree trunks, and so I did the only thing I knew how: “Kitsune-bi!” I set his toes on fire.

Giraffe youkai, I discovered at that moment, don't have very good balance, can't take off running when they've been frightened, and most definitely cannot hop around in surprised pain. The damned thing fell over backwards with a howl of agony, crushing many trees with the impact. After the ground had stopped shuddering from the collision, we were quick to notice the horrible wailing noises the beast made as it kicked and flailed around, squashing more foliage.

“Oh hell...” I muttered, suddenly feeling very sheepish.

“SHIPPO!” Kagome shouted, appalled at my (very minor) attack.

“What?” I asked, trying to hide my disappointment at the creature's unexpected fall. “I didn't mean to do that,” I whined, kicking my toe into the dirt. “I was just trying to scare him into leaving...”

She sighed, stepping forward to lay a calming hand on the now-whimpering youkai. It seemed that he was too top-heavy and wouldn't be able to right himself without assistance, and I'd effectively rendered him helpless... (More than he already was.) “Inuyasha, we can't just leave him like that,” she said, frowning slightly.

“Why not? It would save everyone, and not just us, and whole heap of trouble to just leave this moron in the dirt to be finished off by something weak,” Inuyasha said, crossing his arms.

“You jerk, he may be a youkai, but that doesn't mean we're allowed to just take away his life by not helping. He looks like he's normally a peaceful creature, so let's help him back up.”

Inuyasha rolled his eyes at her. “Fine. But we're outta here as soon as this damned thing's on his feet again,” he growled, pushing up his sleeve. It took our group a few hours (of mostly Inuyasha working) to push the beast back to its feet, and it seemed so grateful to be back in motion again that it completely forgot about its foolish quest to somehow talk us into giving over the Shikon no Tama.

Kagome gave me a stern talking-to after we'd started our journey once more, but the short matter was over. After all, it was a semi-memorable moment in our travels, considering I'd been the one to fell such a towering youkai. I couldn't help but giggle to myself later that night, thinking how easy it would be to impress girls with the story of my `powerful' foxfire defeating a gigantic youkai.

Home Again

We arrived in Kaede's village two days later, just before lunchtime. The girls immediately bee-lined for the nearby spring to take a bath, while the rest of us unpacked our weapons and supplies next to Kaede's hut to find out what we'd need to replenish before leaving on our next hunt for Shikon shards. Kaede was still out in the village, tending to a woman who'd recently had a baby, but by the time she'd returned to her hut, the girls had dressed in clean clothes and rejoined us.

“I see that your journey was a success,” Kaede said, smiling slightly as she sat. Of course, she expected us to tell her the details of our journey to the southeastern shores, as well as our brief experience with the strange woman who had ultimately been the cause and cure of Kagome's problem. Kagome shook the thin bracelet free from her sleeve to show her, then pulled the small pouch from around her neck to give everyone a peek of the strange little blue seed.

“The seed is dormant,” Kaede observed. “Very good, considering how close of contact you have with youkai. There's no telling what kinds of trouble it could be if it were actively seeking out sources of youki.” Kagome's arms tightened momentarily around me as we sat next to the crackling fire. Especially after Kagome's retelling of our story, we all knew that terrible things could happen if it ever broke out of its seedling stage. “And Shippo,” Kaede continued, looking over my obvious changes with a glimmer of amusement, “It seems you have finally sprouted.”

“Keh, more like exploded,” Inuyasha grumbled. “The runt's twice as big as he was when we left.”

“Indeed,” Kaede agreed. “You'll need new clothes,” she chuckled. My sleeves were already halfway up my forearms, even after buying new (too-big) clothes during our trip.

“You know, maybe I could go home and get some of Souta's old clothes for now, so we don't have to worry about keeping up with buying or borrowing from the villagers,” Kagome suggested, tickling me a little bit. I giggled and hugged her, happy that my arms were almost long enough now to wrap around her middle.

“That's a good idea,” Miroku said, standing. “Sango and I will make a trip to a few villages nearby and see if anything new has been heard, and we'll meet you back here in two days' time.”

“While you're at home, I might as well run to the Western Lands and check with Sesshoumaru,” Inuyasha sighed, unable to hide the slight frown of annoyance on his face.

“Shippo, you stay here with Kaede, and don't cause any mischief!” she smirked down at me, ruffling my hair once for good measure. “I'll be back soon with some things for you, okay?” she said, pulling me close for a final hug.

“I'll draw you something while you're gone, Kagome!” I said, all of the ideas I'd had during our trip coming back in vivid detail. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to draw any for her that had her temporary kitsune-appearance in them, but at least I had plenty of inspiration and other ideas to work with from the strange and fantastic things that we saw.

Inuyasha and I accompanied Kagome back to the well, and as soon as she disappeared from sight with a wave, he ruffled my hair and leapt out of sight. I sighed once, knowing he wouldn't be back until around the time Sango and Miroku returned. It would be a boring few days with no one to pick on. I fingered the edge of my sleeve, pulling a thread free as I walked slowly along the worn path leading back toward the village.

Something unusual caught my attention as I turned to cast one last glance back at the Bone-Eater's Well. It was the whiff of something strange, the scent of something that didn't belong in Inuyasha's forest. Something mildly sweet, like the special rice confection Kagome had brought back to share with us one holiday. I followed my nose to the source of the scent, pushing through foliage as my curiosity grew.

`No... No way...' I thought as I looked down upon the beautiful white flower.

When we'd left, the flower had looked like a lily, but had smelled like the thorny weeds it had once been. Now it smelled just like Kagome had that day so long ago... Much to my horror. If the flower's basic essence was turning into what I'd originally imagined, then that would mean... `The chocolate...?' The illusionary chocolate I'd snuck Inuyasha hadn't made him gag and get mad at me... he'd just complained that it had melted. It had been a sign that I'd practically ignored...

Kagome...

`Had Kagome been truly turning into a kitsune youkai? Did the witch's last spell change her back before anything drastic had altered her? What if she'd been too late to stop Kagome's physical change? What if her miko energy had changed while we traveled to something more like my own foxfire?' My thoughts ran in circles for more than an hour, wondering what could or would come from such powerful magic running through her for that long. Kagome was a miko, but her body might have been turning into a youkai, which would be against her very nature. But... if Kagome's body could handle the alterations... What would this mean for our group?

Would we lose our miko? She was the deciding factor in many difficult battles we'd had before, and her unique energy was a definite advantage over the more powerful youkai we'd encountered.

Kagome hadn't been feeling well, and she showed signs of sleepiness when she would have normally been active... And this all started happening around the time I started getting bigger, just days after the spell had been cast. My stomach clenched as it all began to fit together: my growth catching up from years of halted development, my powers flaring and working better than they'd ever worked before... it all coincided with the time that it would have taken for the spell to take a firm root in Kagome as it had with the not-so-fake chocolate and --most likely-- the flower that stood so beautifully perfect before me now.

There was no other explanation; Kagome had been turning into a real kitsune youkai during our travels, and I'd been instinctually absorbing her youki like she was my own mother. Her youki had most likely been what made her feel unwell, and my contact with her pulled it away from her and put her body at ease while it aided in my own growth.

I stood and walked into the woods in a slight daze, coming to a stop in front of the Goshinboku. I barely thought of anything beyond Kagome as I latched into the bark with my growing claws, climbing slowly up the trunk to a worn branch high above the ground. Kagome would be back, hopefully very soon, and she and I would have to have a very important conversation before the others returned from their short trips. But the longer she stayed away, the more time her youki would have to flare and make her feel sick again...

I eventually fell asleep on that tree branch, hoping and praying that she didn't get so sick that she remained in the future. If Inuyasha were to be gone for possibly days, and her youki was truly the cause of her illness... then the longer she stayed away without someone to go get her, and the worse it could get...

`I should have figured this out sooner...'

The tears that leaked from my eyes were ignored as they dried in the cool night air, leaving twin trails of misery as proof of the terrible guilt and worry that plagued my mind.

AN - I'd wanted this chapter to be as long as the previous two, but the next section just didn't fit with this part... So I decided to stop the chapter at this point, post the `Interlude', then get back to work on the rest of the story. As soon as I re-read the interlude, I'll post it, so expect another (semi-short) chapter before I head off to work tonight. :)