InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Bearers of the Shards ❯ The Kirin and the Shard ( Chapter 3 )

Notes: An "oufuda" is a paper with a charm or spell written on it. A "kehai" is like an aura or magical residue left by the presence of something very powerful or possessing very strong emotions. "Houshi" is a monk of lowest rank----or Miroku, to be specific. "Hanyou," for those of you who don't know, means "half-demon." "Kenatsu" refers to the energy surrounding something that magnifies the object's powers.

{#} {#} {#} THE BEARERS OF THE SHARDS {#} {#} {#}

{#} {#} Chapter 3: The Kirin and the Shard {#} {#}

Through the wood the creature ran, glinting white in the moonlight as it passed between the trees. There was no place for it to conceal itself in the night, for its hide gleamed the color of pearls, and its eyes shone like twin stars, undimmed by the surrounding shadows. For a moment, the pounding of its hooves upon the earth were the only sound in the wood.

And then, crashing through the underbrush came its pursuer: a roiling mass of flesh that flowed between the trees like a tide of darkness. From that flesh faces protruded: demons and monsters---some hideous; some beautiful beyond description---all of them violet-eyed and full of hatred. And then, having taken form from the seething mass, they melted back into it to some unknown depth, disappearing with all the fleetness of shadows.

The white beast's long, graceful legs carried it swiftly over the forest turf, but the monster drew ever nearer. And the creature was running out of ground to cover. Ahead lay a deep chasm, cut through the land by the river in its depths. The monster pursuing it slackened its pace, seeing that its quarry had nowhere to run. Yet the white beast, though it had run long and hard, had strength in it yet. The muscles in its hind legs bunched and bent, then straightened, and it was airborne, sailing over the chasm as if on wings.

The monster's grasping tentacles flailed after it, whipping through the air with wicked force, but somehow it eluded their clutches to land smoothly upon the opposite side. The dark tide of flesh attempted to span the ravine with its own body, but recoiled instantly as if burned. The white beast stood silently for a moment, watching the enemy with eyes bright as diamonds. Then it turned and fled into the woods on the other side, knowing itself to be safe for a time---until the enemy found a way to cross the holy river's barrier.

Suddenly the monster was gone, swallowed into itself until no trace of it remained. Then there was only a man standing there, upon the edge of the chasm. His face was angular, sly, and ever-shifting: the face of a thief. Yet though he wore the rich raiment of a prince, he cared very little for wealth itself.

The object of his desires now lay across the river, safe from him for the moment.

`Yet it won't elude me for long,' he thought, lips curved into a mirthless smile. `There are other ways to cross.'

He did not move away immediately, though, but stood there deep in thought. His violet eyes burned into the night, as if to pierce the veil of trees through which his quarry had fled.

"Disgusting," he said softly, staring. "They say the beast is purity itself."

His eyes narrowed, and he went silent.

`It moves ever southward, despite my attempts to corner it,' he thought grimly. `Something draws it there; what, I do not know.' He brushed back his long hair back from his eyes, his smile slowly returning. `It matters not. The beast carries something that I want. I will not be denied.'

{#} {#} {#}

Slipping dream-like through the forest, the white beast ran southward. Nothing would deter it from its singularity of purpose---not even the enemy. For to the south lay a head, waiting to be crowned.

Upon the creature's own brow there rose a crown of a different sort: a great silver spire, reaching toward the very heavens where the beast had been born.

Inserted into this accoutrement was a tiny shard of the Sacred Jewel.

{#} {#} {#}

The first thing Inuyasha saw, upon opening his eyes, was a blinding ray of morning sunlight shining directly in his face. He shifted, squinting, and the second thing he saw was Miroku sitting nearby. The monk was leaning against a tree, watching him with an expression of great amusement.

"So," Miroku drawled. "How was it?"

Inuyasha yawned, baring his fangs, then lay there, blinking groggily. And then, when comprehension dawned. . .

"HEY, IT'S NOT LIKE I'M INSIDE THE FUCKING SLEEPING BAG!" he cried, hoisting himself up onto his elbows so he could glare at Miroku.

"Hush, you'll wake her," Miroku cautioned, holding a finger to his lips. "And what would she think?"

Looking as if this thought had just occurred to him, Inuyasha glanced down at Kagome's sleeping face.

At that moment, she flung out an arm, caught him around the neck, and pulled him close to her. Inuyasha, once again lying prone on the ground, looked stunned and quite unsure of what to do next.

"Mph," she mumbled, squeezing him close. "Buyo. . ."

"WHAT did you call me?" Inuyasha demanded, quite forgetting that he was lying inches away from her face.

By some miracle she didn't awaken, but ran her nails through his hair.

"Buyo," she said again.

Miroku had lost his smirk, and seemed to be at a loss for words for once.

This was too much. Inuyasha sat up abruptly, hair bristling. Kagome's arm fell limply onto the sleeping bag.

"WHO THE FUCK IS `BUYO'?!!" he yelled.

Kagome's eyes flew open, and she was on her feet in a flash. However, she was still practically mummified in the sleeping bag, so she immediately fell over backward on her rear end.

"WELL?" Inuyasha insisted, advancing on her. He had yet to notice the menace that now clung to the air around her.

Slowly, she sat up, hair sticking out at odd angles. Her expression was halfway between fright and prelude to explosion.

"What's. . .going. . .ON?" she asked slowly, glaring at Inuyasha.

Not about to be intimidated, he moved over and crouched down next to her, pointing an accusatory finger in her direction.

"So who's this `Buyo,' EH, Kagome? Is there something you'd like to TELL us?"

Kagome was so surprised that she was struck speechless for a moment. Then she seemed to regain her composure.

"Inuyasha, where did you hear that name?" she asked him calmly.

His face reddened, and the accusatory finger drooped away.

"You said it when you---that is---when I was---oh, forget it." He turned away in a huff.

Kagome watched him as he rose and turned away. She seemed to be trying very hard not to laugh.

"I'll tell you," she said primly, "when you're ready to explain yourself."

"Shaddup," he fired back. "All right, you lot. I smell the demon again, so get ready to move out."

Miroku and a groggy-looking Shippou stared at Inuyasha as he issued this mandate: a noticeable tic had developed in the muscle just under his left eye.

{#} {#} {#}

Half an hour later, they were off and running through the forest---Miroku running with Shippou on his back and Inuyasha with Kagome on his. He was very grumpy; the tic hadn't gone away.

Kagome's cold seemed to have improved somewhat during the night---now, at least, she had time to turn her head away from his hair whenever she sneezed. (Shippou had collected some leaves for her to use in place of the depleted tissue supply.)

The sunny weather gave no indication that it was going to change anytime soon, and Kagome counted her blessings as she was jounced along on Inuyasha's back.

There had been more signs of the demon because the rain had let up, and from the freshness of the tracks Inuyasha seemed hopeful that they would overtake it that night.

Privately, Kagome was not so sure she wanted to overtake it. Aside from its bloodlust, it also seemed to be immensely strong. They passed through places in the forest where even the thickest stands of bamboo had been torn asunder and flung to either side. There were deep claw marks on the thick stalks. Very little remained of the trees the demon had destroyed---jumbled splinters of bark, strewn across the path.

Echoing her thoughts, Miroku murmured, "What mindless rage would drive it to destroy everything in its path? There's no reason behind all this. . ."

"Heh," Inuyasha laughed harshly. "Demons don't need a REASON for their hatred. When you're that powerful, every feeling you have, every passion of yours. . .leaves a mark on the world around you. That's why tracking this thing is so fucking easy."

"I'd say it's certainly made its desires apparent," Miroku commented thoughtfully. "We know it bears an exceptional grudge toward human children; it chooses to kill unnecessarily in that instance. We know something vital lies to the south, because it destroys everything obstacle in its path."

"But we also know the limits of its strength," Kagome said suddenly, "because none of the hills have been destroyed, and those are certainly in its way. And we know it's afraid of something, because at night it hides itself away somehow where you can't pick up its scent."

"Hey, you guys, watch where you're going," Shippou cried.

Inuyasha halted mid-stride, one foot poised to step out over the chasm in front of him. Kagome looked down over his shoulder and screamed.

"Kyaaaaaah!"

"STOP THAT FUCKING NOISE!" Inuyasha demanded, stepping back into a safer position. "I wouldn't let you fall!"

"You can ride me instead," Miroku offered from behind them.

This earned him a glare from both of them---Inuyasha's punctuated by the persistent twitch under his eye.

"What river is this?" Kagome asked. She climbed down from Inuyasha's back and fished a map out of her pack. "I don't see it here anywhere."

"Eh? River?" Inuyasha peered down into the depths of the ravine and espied the silver ribbon of water cutting through its shadows. He crouched down, staring at it intently.

Miroku had put Shippou down, and was now investigating the area. He fingered the broken twigs on a nearby tree, then bent to examine the hoof-prints that he had noticed hidden amongst the leaves.

"Something unusual has passed this way," he observed, tracing one print with two fingers. He placed an oufuda upon it with the other hand, and abruptly the tracks that came after it became visible. They shone with the unearthly light of the monk's power, leading to the very edge of the chasm.

"A horse?" Kagome suggested, puzzled. "Why would it jump? It must have really been panicked."

"Something was chasing it," Miroku said grimly. "The twigs were broken on trees over here as well. . ." He pointed to a stand of cherry trees ten feet away from the first. "The horse---or whatever it was---had a very large enemy."

"Look, it made it to the other side," Shippou interrupted, pointing excitedly to the opposite edge of the ravine. "Your oufuda lit up the hoof-prints over there, too."

Miroku and Kagome followed his pointing finger and saw that the shining tracks led off into the forest there.

"The kehai left with the tracks is good," Miroku said. "In fact, I detect no evil in it at all. But on the trees. . . The pursuer leaves a kehai that is distinctly dark."

"They aren't far off, either," Kagome murmured, her eyes taking on a far-away look. "I can still sense the Shikon shards. One of them has some. . .no, a lot of them. . ."

"Naraku was here," Inuyasha said, unexpectedly. He was still crouching at the chasm's edge, staring fixedly at the river. "I'd know that stench anywhere." He frowned, then straightened and rose to his feet.

"Is something wrong, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked, coming to stand beside him.

Reluctantly, Inuyasha turned away from the edge.

"Nothing. This place just seems familiar, is all." There was a strange note to his voice that belied greater meaning, but the monk knew better than to pursue something the hanyou didn't want to reveal.

Miroku held his staff out over the chasm, and the rings around its head jangled inexplicably. A great wind rose suddenly, ruffling the monk's sleeve, then subsided as quickly as it had come. He quickly withdrew the staff.

"There is a powerful warding spell on this river," he noted. "We can cross, I think, but I doubt Naraku was able to."

"Well, then let's get across," Inuyasha said gruffly. "C'mon, Kagome."

Obediently she climbed onto his back and he leaped across the gap. Strangely enough, no wind arose with his passage; nor when he leaped back across to help Miroku and Shippou. When he re-crossed the chasm with both of them in tow, the wind did arise.

"Interesting," Miroku murmured, looking thoughtful. "Did you notice---?"

"Cram it, houshi," Inuyasha snapped.

And then, of course, they were off.

{#} {#} {#}

Two days of relatively uneventful travel passed. The scent trail of the dragon-footed demon remained clear as ever. The rains picked up again, making Kagome's cold worse and everyone crankier in general. Whenever Miroku brought up the phenomenon of the chasm warding Inuyasha responded by coldly ignoring him.

`It's not like him,' Kagome thought worriedly. `I much prefer him when he's threatening physical violence to THIS. . . He must really be hiding something for it to make him act this way.'

Inuyasha's twitch hadn't gone away, but he was in such a foul mood that he wouldn't let Kagome get him alone to talk. At night he took extra care to sleep at least ten feet away from her, all the while sending her suspicious glances whenever she zipped herself into her sleeping bag.

Then, on the third day, Inuyasha picked up Naraku's scent and bolted on ahead, leaving Miroku and Shippou in his dust. Kagome clung on for dear life, because hatred of the enemy had given wings to the hanyou's feet.

They finally skidded to a halt in a clearing---or, rather, the site where the battle underway had destroyed the surrounding foliage. Naraku---taking on the form of a man, save for the scythes protruding from his elbows where his arms should've been---seemed to have cornered his intended prey. A white horse, bearing upon its head one horn, pawed at the ground and then reared, striking at its enemy with its front hooves. Its blows left deep runnels in the hard-packed earth, and when its horn happened to touch Naraku, he flinched away as if burned by it. At its back was a stand of bamboo, too dense to allow it to escape.

Embedded in its horn was a Shikon shard.

"Naraku," Inuyasha growled, cracking his knuckles in anticipation. "Long time, no see."

"Leave it alone!" Kagome replied, addressing Naraku and referring to the white beast.

"Inuyasha," Naraku breathed, and in a great explosion of flesh discarded his humanoid form.

"I HATE spiders," Kagome cried in horror and disgust.

Inuyasha shoved her aside and into the trees, and then flew at the enormous multi-eyed spider, which reared overhead. (All of its eyes were violet.) He drew Tetsusaiga and swung at it, but though the thing was big it wasn't slow. In a flash it had dodged the attack, and bore down suddenly upon its original prey.

"The ssssshard," the spider hissed, clacking its mandibles. "I will have it."

One of Naraku's legs stabbed downward. The white beast moved swiftly, but nonetheless its enemy scored a glancing blow, leaving a wicked-looking gash in its heaving side. It screamed: a high, pure note of rage and pain.

And then Inuyasha was moving, swinging Tetsusaiga once more.

"Shape-shifting BASTARD," he snarled. "Don't you ever get tired of fucking PURPLE? TET---SUSAIGA!"

The blade's kenatsu nearly clove the spider in two. The carcass crashed to the forest floor, scattering dead leaves in every direction.

"Oh, my, a kirin!" Miroku exclaimed. He had just emerged onto the scene, closely followed by Kagome, who was carrying Shippou.

"A what?" Inuyasha asked, wiping purple gore off his blade and onto the grass, which promptly withered.

The beast paced nervously back and forth---Inuyasha and the carcass stood between it and its escape route. The hanyou wasn't about to let it leave just yet; not while it possessed a jewel shard.

"A kirin," Miroku repeated, approaching it cautiously.

It watched him warily with its fierce, diamond eyes.

"It is the purest creature to walk the earth," he went on. "It is said that the kirin is only sent down from Heaven when it comes time to choose a new ruler. The creature then ordains that ruler by kneeling before him." He paused, frowning. "Though why it's using a Shikon shard is beyond me. . ."

"It's beautiful," Kagome breathed, approaching it as well.

"Can you eat it?" Inuyasha inquired.

"NO!" Kagome and Miroku cried at once, horrified.

Inuyasha shrugged and got to his feet, slinging Tetsusaiga over one shoulder.

"Well, too bad. It'll have to be wasted when I kill it for the Shikon shard."

Miroku chose that moment to crack him over the head with his staff.

"UWHAAA!" Inuyasha cried, thudding noisily to the ground.

The kirin, wasting no time, sprang over his prone body and galloped off. It skirted around the bamboo grove and then returned to its previous course.

"It's heading due south," Kagome observed. "How odd; just like the demon we're tracking."

"And Naraku's heading south as well, pursuing it for its jewel shard," Miroku added. "Sooner or later they're going to cross paths with our quarry. Hopefully one will kill the other off."

Kagome's gaze became narrow and steely-eyed.

"Excluding the kirin, I mean," he amended hastily.

"Hey, Kagome, where's Naraku's shard?" Inuyasha asked, rubbing his head and looking sore in more ways than one. "You sensed he had one, right?"

"Up its butt," she snapped, still miffed at him for wanting to eat the kirin.

Miroku looked quite surprised, and Shippou's eyes went luminous with mirth.

"I'm SERIOUS!" Inuyasha told her.

"So am I," she replied. "It really IS---"

Inuyasha frowned at her suspiciously. "You're lying."

"Certainly not," she said crossly. "And in case you're wondering, I am NOT going to be the one to get it."

"Feh," Inuyasha muttered, eyeing the spider's enormous purple abdomen with obvious distaste.

But in the end he dug it out with both arms and his sword, and after presenting it to her made a run for the nearest brook to bathe.

{#} {#} {#}

That night, with the rain pattering softly on the leaves above, the group sat huddled around the campfire. Shippou was recounting in vivid, gruesome detail the earlier shard extraction process for Inuyasha's benefit, while Miroku listened with poorly-disguised amusement. Inuyasha was shoveling ramen into his mouth and trying to appear unruffled by it all. He still had the tic.

Kagome was poring over her maps once again, squinting at the tiny lines and squiggles. Ever so often she would turn away from it to sneeze, but for the most part she remained intent upon her task.

"Is that for an `exam' in your `geography' studies?" Miroku asked politely.

"No," she replied. "But it's weird. I'm looking at these maps of feudal Japan that I brought, and apparently there's nothing special to the south. If we're here [she pointed to a dot on the map near a squiggle] then straight ahead of us there's nothing but some mountains and a lake beyond them. That's down here [she pointed to a very large wavy spot surrounded by squiggles]."

"Say, Inuyasha," Miroku said slyly, looking up. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you? You said this territory seemed familiar to you. . ."

"I said the RIVER seemed---oh, fuck off," Inuyasha finished irritably, not about to be tricked into revealing whatever it was he was keeping to himself.

"So why are the demon and the kirin heading along the same course?" Kagome mused. "Villages are scarce down there, so there's not much human prey for the demon. Neither are there any kingdoms for the kirin to visit."

All of them were quiet for a while. Inuyasha gradually grew more and more fidgety (and the twitch more pronounced), until he finally heaved a great sigh of resignation and opened his mouth to speak.

But before he could utter a single word, he paused, sniffed the air, and was instantly on his feet, blade in hand.

"SHOW YOURSELF," he called into the darkness of the trees. "Or I come after you and wipe the ground with your guts."

Out from behind a large oak tree there stepped a very scared-looking human boy. He looked to be about twelve or thirteen years of age, though it was difficult to tell because he was painfully thin. He wore a very torn and dirty hakama and nothing else.

"My name's Yaburenumaru," he stammered. "Can you please help me? I'm lost."

Inuyasha sniffed the air, then replaced Tetsusaiga into its sheath.

"He's only human," he announced. "The only blood I smell is his own."

Yaburenumaru sank to his knees, shuddering. Across his back and left shoulder there stretched an ugly, bloody weal, as if someone had struck him there with a whip.

"I have to return home," he whispered. "I am the rightful lord."

Kagome hastened to his side, overcome by pity.

`The "rightful lord?"' she thought, putting an arm around his waist and helping him over toward the fire. `Then is HE the one. . .that the kirin is searching for. . .?'

{END OF CHAPTER 3}