InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Guardian Cu' ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

The Characters and World of InuYasha belong entirely to the admirable and talented Rumiko Takahashi. I in no way lay claim to them or make any money off of them.
Cu' the Guardian, aka GinCu' is mine, so is his meadow and the plot of this story.





Chapter Three



Hidden within the deeply shadowed recesses of an age-hollowed ancient oak, a pair of owlish golden-yellow eyes intently studied the strange figure seated before a small campfire with both interest and envy. The eyes owner had never seen anyone quite like the person who's choice of campsites effectively blocked the only available means of escape from what had unexpectedly become the yellow eyed spy's temporary prison. Superficially the stranger resembled some of the higher, human appearing youkai in that he was not only exceptionally tall and clean limbed, but also crowned with a shimmering cascade of dark silver colored hair which framed a pale, ethereally beautiful face. He gave off no type of aura that marked him as being youkai at all though, with even his scent betraying nothing more than the clean essences of a piney woodland on a spring morning after a gentle rain.

His manner of dress was decidedly odd as well. The silver haired man was clothed in a snow white under garment that gaped open at the throat to hang in sharp points of cloth on either side of his neck while it's full sleeves tapered to fit very snugly from mid forearm to wrist. This unusual top was tucked into a pair of light gray wide legged pants blousing over a pair of supple knee-high dark gray boots. Over this the man wore a sleeveless surcoat of soft gray leather which fit tightly at the waist before falling to the knees in a wide circular skirt. A fringed silver silk sash was tied neatly around the man's waist with a scarf of the same color covering the top of his head and tied loosely at the nape of his neck. Only the long sheathed sword tucked neatly through the sash by the man's left hip held any real familiarity for the little Spy.

Of far more interest, being the source of the Spy's current state of envy, were a half dozen fat trout each browning on it's own individual wood sliver spit that were stationed around the outer perimeter of the gray haired stranger's fire. Having enjoyed no real meal for the last several days had the Spy hoping to be able to at least snag the scraps of those glorious fish after the Cook had eaten his fill and turned in for the night. Just sitting so close and smelling them was a wicked twist of sublime torture and it took all of the Spy's concentration not to slip out of his bolt-hole and snag a fish on the run.

Snagging and running could result in some form of very unpleasant punishment if you got caught, he had at least learned that lesson after a past series of painful encounters, so showing himself to the gray haired man was out of the question. Begging for leftovers, no matter how pathetically inadequate they were, was also out of the question. Better to go hungry than get beaten bloody asking for a small handout. As a rule he had learned that humans reveled in beating someone who looked different bloody while begrudging him even the smallest portion of their foulest garbage to eat.

Still, this strange man didn't really appear to be a human, or at least not any type human the Spy was currently familiar with. Didn't look human, didn't feel youkai, didn't smell of anything more threatening than deep pine forests on a cool morning. These 'Didn't s' didn't change the fact that he was still sitting like a great gray stone on the one log blocking the only path of escape as he mindlessly whistled a merry tune and concentrated on cooking those delectable fish.

The pitiful growl of an empty stomach issued from the hollow tree. Cringing, the Spy sucked in his grieving belly and pushed farther back into the shadows, but the Cook only continued whistling, apparently still unaware of the hidden audience salivating behind him over the smell of trout and woodsmoke.

While the Cook radiated no discernible youkai aura, what suddenly began to make it's approach towards the campfire from deep in the woods certainly did. Feeling the oppressive threat of what was crashing noisily through a nearby thicket made the Spy try to pull even farther back into his dark niche in hopes of somehow being completely overlooked by what was coming. Figuring the stranger to be either deaf or completely stupid the Spy watched in morbid horror as, oblivious to the all racket, the Cook continued unconcernedly tending to his dinner.

After much snapping, crashing, popping and crackling of low hanging limbs and thick underbrush a rather stocky, disagreeable looking creature appeared from under the trees on the far side of the clearing across the fire. Rough, yellowish scaled skin encased the broad shouldered body from the neck down, it's inhuman modesty preserved only by a thick pelt of glossy black fur around it's hips that matched the spiky mane growing from the crown of an unattractively flat-skulled head. Glowering with bulbous red-rimmed eyes at the gray clad figure seated before the fire, it slowly licked a curving set of oversized tusks with a meaty black tongue and snarled in a deep guttural voice, “ You have a half breed here. Give it to me...Now!”

The Cook glanced up at the intruder seemingly unperturbed by it's rude demand and replied quietly, “ Mind taking yourself elsewhere? You smell as repulsive as you look and I am fixing to eat my dinner.”

A hidden pair of round yellow eyes grew even wider at hearing the Cook's dismissive remark. The Intruder's eyes widened as well, then narrowed in anger at being so quickly put off by a skinny young man who was more interested in browning a few measly fish than he was about saving his own measly life. Taking a heavy step forward the Intruder repeated his demand in a much louder tone of voice.

“The Damned Halfbreed...Hand It Over....NOW!”

Arching a black brow the Cook fixed the Intruder with a level stare before rising gracefully to his feet. He evidenced no sign at all of being the least bit intimidated by the hulking creature standing across the campfire as he said in a soft voice, “Listen you great sniveling bastard...if I had such a creature I wouldn't hand it over to you. Now, vacate my sight or I will dispatch you back to the rotting hellhole you crawled out of.”

Clearing the campfire in an effortless leap, the Cook strode over and squared off against the now livid Intruder. Tucked away in the shadows of his hiding place the golden-eyed Spy peered out at the impending fight. A slick sound of metal slithering from scabbard cut through the still night air as the Cook unsheathed his sword. Held loosely in his right hand the long blade was bathed in a soft white glow. Mesmerized momentarily by the sight of the Cook's curved sword as it pointed down towards the earth, the little Spy caressed the beauty of it with his eyes, following it's deadly gleaming length down...down...down to the sight of those delectable roasting fish that now called out to him from their unguarded place by the fire. On a night that suddenly seemed to have gone completely silent the unmistakable sound of a stomach gurgling emanated once again from within the hollow tree.

Regardless of the Cook's already drawn sword, the scaly Intruder was totally unafraid of someone it deemed to be so obviously not youkai. This skinny gray haired creature evidenced no aura, radiated no power and in spite of this it still refused to hand over what had been rightfully demanded of it. Taking another step forward the Intruder raised up a threatening talon clawed hand and bellowed, “ I'll Take Both You And The Half Breed Then !”

Soundlessly leaping straight up into the air the Cook spun, using the momentum to bring his sword around in a brilliantly flashing arc of light which laid open the Intruder's torso in a strangely bloodless oblique slash from left shoulder to right hip. With a singularly loud 'POP' the creature abruptly disappeared leaving behind only a billowing cloud of chalky dust. A hard quick puff of breath from the Cook sent the cloud off to dissipate among the trees on the far side of the camp.

“No, you wont,” he said quietly to the now vacant space before him as he re-sheathed his sword. “And you were most definitely very well warned.”

Shaking his head in irritation at the overwhelming stupidity of some supposedly cognitive beings, the Cook walked back over to the log, sat down next to the fire with his back to the hollow oak and counted a total of five fish.

“ Hmm... I suppose its time for me to say...” the Cook raised his voice only slightly to address the hole in the side of the tree, “You can come out now.”

Silence.

“ I don't suppose you are going to find one all that filling.”

Silence.

“ I have five more out here. You know, I really can't eat them all. Shame to waste them.”

Silence...then a soft shuffling noise came from deep inside the hollow, followed by a sniff...then more silence.

“ As you may have noticed, I didn't give you up to that youkai as a bedtime snack and since I think you're probably a little too scrawny for my tastes...” Snaking his arm into the hole the stranger pulled out a filthy little figure sporting a wide-eyed stare over a mouth stuffed with fish.

“ Well runt, lets see what I've caught here,” the Cook said with a wry chuckle as he plopped the Spy turned Fish Thief down on his right knee and sized him up with amused silver colored eyes.

Although the purloined trout had been reduced to little more than a partially gnawed head swaying atop a well picked over spine it was still clutched tightly by a pair of grubby hands sporting a formidable array of sharp pointed claws. Wary round yellow eyes, perched over a pair of food plumped cheeks, solemnly watched the Cook as the Fish Thief tried to surreptitiously manage what he had so quickly crammed into his mouth.

“Chew what you have..and try not to choke on it.”

The unwavering stare didn't change, but it was more obvious that the little fellow's jaws were now working on the mouthful he had packed away in his cheeks.

“ You know, you resemble a greedy squirrel at the moment.”

A pair of black eyebrows pinched down across the bridge of the Fish Thief's short turned up nose in a childish scowl. An emphatic,“ Em numpha skwull,” spilled out of his very full mouth along with a fish flake spray.

“ Well that's certainly good to know,” brushing off the front of his coat the Cook glanced down at the remaining trout still warming their scales next to the fire. “ Chew that one up and you may have another.”

Nodding slowly the Fish Thief banished his angry scowl and dutifully continued to chew, never taking his wide yellow eyes from the face of the man who still held him firmly by both a handful of hair and the back of his red jacket. Swallowing the last of his stolen fish the child raised his eyebrows questioningly. In silent answer the Cook leaned forward, retrieved another golden brown trout from it's berth by the fire, waved it around on it's stick to cool and presented the coveted prize to his tiny famished captive. Before he could admonish the child to take his time and chew, the second trout had been reduced to head and bones as quickly and efficiently as the first.

“ I suppose you wouldn't mind having thirds?” A grin teased the corners of the Cook's mouth as the child nodded enthusiastically at the offer, his tangled head of light silvery hair dancing wildly around an eagerly smiling face.

Presenting the boy with another trout, the Cook sat back to further inspect the Fish Thief now sitting quite contentedly on his knee. Running long fingers through the child's thick mop of hair he gradually teased the knots and snarls into loosening, at last causing the somewhat matted mass to fall entirely free as though it had just been freshly combed. A pair of white furred, upright dog ears were revealed once the unruly mess was tamed and the sight of them, peeking through the silver hair atop the little boy's head caused the Cook to break into a truly mirthful grin.

“Well, I see there is more to you than just hair, big eyes and a mouth attached to a bottomless pit of a stomach.”

The child nodded in agreement as he noisily chewed up the third fish, this time approaching it with somewhat more restraint than he had the first two.

“Why are you running about in the forest by yourself?” the Cook asked once he saw the child finally swallow the last mouthful of fish.
No answer.

“Going to start this again? Ok...”

It was then he noticed that instead of listening to him, the still hungry child was busy cutting his dark yellow eyes down toward the three remaining trout. The Cook tapped the end of the boy's snub nose to regain his attention. “Answer questions first, then more fish...fair?”

“ Fair,” the Fish Thief whispered.

“Now, my name is Cu'. How are you called?”

As the yellow eyes drifted down to stare at the picked over remains of the third fish in his lap an almost inaudible mumble found its way out of the boy's mouth in answer to Cu's question.

“ What was that? Are you trying to strain my sense of hearing?” With a mock frown, Cu' pulled the silver scarf from his head to expose a pair of silver furred dog ears sitting proudly atop his own head. “ Speak up this time Mumbles..”

The boy's large yellow eyes widened in shock. Swallowing, he started to reach up with a small clawed hand to touch the pointed ear closest to him, but jerked it quickly back into his lap instead.Then he gave Cu' a beautifully innocent smile. “ You have ears that look like mine,” he exclaimed in wonder. “ Are you a hanyou too?”

“ No, I am not. I am the Guardian of Earthward.” Cu' brushed the child's bangs out of his eyes as a small frown creased the little brow.

“I don't know where that is. Mama never told me about a place named.. arth war ?” The boy's face clouded over with disappointment. “ I was hoping you were hanyou... if you were, then I wouldn't feel so alone.”

“ Well, if you wish to think of me as being hanyou, I will be happy to oblige you.” Smiling warmly Cu' shifted the boy around so that he could look directly into his eyes. “ Now, how are you called ?”

“ InuYasha.” It was a shyly spoken answer shadowed by an equally shy smile.

“ That's a fine name. You father chose well.”

“ How do you know my father named me?” Black brows were beetling into another stormy frown.

“ Because it sounds exactly like something he would choose.” Cu' continued to smile benignly in spite of the darkly suspicious glare he was receiving.

“ How do you know?” It was surprising how quickly such a sweetly innocent face could be twisted into a countenance marred by anger simply born from the fear of being tricked.

“ I knew your father, from a time when he was no bigger than you are now. He used to call me GinCu'.” The Guardian brushed the thick bangs back away from the child's forehead again. “ There is no need to be afraid of me InuYasha. I have sought you out only to talk with you.”

InuYasha chewed on his bottom lip, as he tried to decide whether or not the gray haired man was being truthful. “ You look too young to have known my father..when he was little. Mama told me he was a Daiyoukai and a General. If he was old enough to be those things, how could you have known him when he was my age?”

“ Because I'm a great deal older than what you are currently able to see, InuYasha.”

Sighing, the boy's shoulders slumped as his momentary anger passed. “ I never saw him..he died when I was born.”

“ I'm truly sorry, InuYasha. That should never have happened.” Cu's large silver eyes gazed deeply into those of the little boy. Slowly the Guardian extended his left index finger until the tip rested gently on the center of InuYasha's forehead, then he very lightly traced a counterclockwise spiral. “ Time to wake up for a while, Child,” he whispered.

Sudden awareness flooded the young face as a far more adult visage seemed to superimpose itself directly over the childish features. “ Guardian, it is good to see you again.” InuYasha's voice sounded years older as well, hinting at the deep underlying timbre that had marked that of his father. Once again the jet black brows pulled together in a scowl, this one far more menacing than that of the temporarily suppressed child. “ This is a hard life you have sent me into,” there was no mistaking that the speaker was highly pissed.

“It wasn't foreseen that you would be left alone to deal with such a sorry situation. Unfortunately, both of your parents deaths were the result of an early wave off the Chaos ripple. When they returned to me the only detail they could both remember clearly was that your father died protecting both you and your mother.”

A low growling sound rumbled up out of the child's throat as his eyes cut away from the Guardian's to stare at the tree he had been hiding in earlier. Once again Cu' tapped him sharply on the nose to focus his attention.

“ InuYasha, what happened to your mother?”

“ You stupid bastard, she died dammit !” InuYasha spat out. Shocked at himself, he took a deep breath, cheeks coloring in embarrassment at the vehemence behind his rude outburst. Knowing full well that the soul's responses while incarnate were always primarily influenced by intense corporal emotion, Cu' ignored it. The child sighed then slumped forward to rest his head in resignation against the Guardian's chest, his voice seemed noticeably subdued when he finally found the words to continue.

“She died. She was sick.. deep in her chest and began coughing a lot. Sometimes she would cough up blood. She tried to hide that part, but I could always tell. I could smell it, you..you just can't hide a smell like that. The healers all refused to tend her, because of me. They wouldn't even come near her be..because of me.” Tear-bright yellow eyes turned upwards to gaze into the Guardian's face, “ They said I was the reason she was being punished, tha..that ..it was all...all my f..f..fault.”

With gentle fingers, Cu' wiped away the tears streaking down the boy's cheeks. “ I know this is very difficult for you, InuYasha, especially right now as you are still only a child...”

“ But Mama should have lived for a long time...Mama was young..”

“ Yes, she should have. She should have lived for many more years...and your father should have as well.” Hugging the boy to his chest, Cu' said quietly, “ Somethings can't be foreseen or changed when dealing with the vagaries of a Chaos ripple, even by me and once a soul comes home there is no returning it to the life that has ended, no matter how attractive that option may seem.”

There was a prolonged sniff as Cu' felt a small nose being rubbed rapidly back and forth across the front of his coat.

“ I miss her,” whispered the grieving child. Such an undertone of immense sadness evidenced itself in that simple statement that the Guardian himself let loose a tear. “ She was the only one who loved me...Why?”

“Why what?” Cu' regarded the small figure which had suddenly reared back in his arms to once again flash an angry black-browed scowl his way.

“ Why did you send me into the body of a hanyou? Why? Everyone hates me...everyone hated my mother because of me. Why? Why why..Why?”

Idly Cu' mused that if he had thought so small and beautiful a face couldn't look any angrier his thinking had been grossly in error. Glinting in yellow eyed fury, the scowl was back fourfold only this time a set of tiny claws were latched into the recently smeared leather coat covering his chest as well.

“It was necessary,” the Guardian's voice remained calm, soothing, as he stroked the child's long hair.
“Remember, I told you the task this time was very important. What you are is exactly what you need to be...” Small claws eased their grip as dark brows relaxed, the furrow between them fading. Cu' smiled inwardly, it was good to see the soul was indeed listening to him. “ A full youkai wouldn't do because Earthward is meant to be primarily a human realm. A human wouldn't be nearly strong enough to complete what needs to be done.”

That pair of intense yellow eyes were caught up in a look of profound concentration as the still childlike mind presently driving the soul strove to really grasp what the Guardian was saying.

“ The greatest heroes of legend in Earthward have always been partly divine, InuYasha....half human..half god and you Child, are no different. You have been born a hanyou to have both the strength you will need to fight and the heart to see the task through to the end.”

As the soul regained it's equilibrium the scowl once again disappeared, leaving behind only the sad face of a very small boy. “ I don't feel very heroic,” he said bitterly, “ All I feel is hungry most of the time and lonely all of the time.”

“Being left on your own at your age...”Reaching down, Cu' retrieved another fish and handed it to the appreciative boy, “...is a stroke of misfortune indeed. Just how long ago did your mother die?”

“Just before my last birthday,” was the slightly muffled reply as the boy tried to answer around a new mouthful of fish.

“ I know she had time to teach you a few manners...” Cu' glanced down where another fine spray of flaked fish graced his already much maligned coat front.
Swallowing, the boy blushed. “ Sorry... You're right, she did ..She was always very careful that I should have very good manners to prove to everyone that I wasn't just some wild animal.” Reaching over he brushed the offending particles off of Cu's chest and right into his lap. “Uh...oops...”

“It's alright. Go on.”

“ It was very cold that night. Aunt Honoka wouldn't allow us to keep a fire in our room anymore. She said I was a froward boy who might toss something into it trying to burn the house down around the heads of decent people.” InuYasha's nose wrinkled in disgust,” She enjoys telling lies about me.. Anyway, I woke up during the night and heard Mama coughing. She always seemed to cough more at night when she lay down to asleep,” The boy's small body seemed to uncontrollably droop in sadness as he related this particular memory. “ I slept next to her as close as I could, to help keep her warm...but I wasn't big enough to do very much good... It was just too cold that night. She..she didn't wake up the next morning. I tried to make her wake up, but she had already grown as cold as our room. One of the servants heard me calling her. When they came in and saw that she wasn't waking up, they took her away from me.”

“ This happened in the home of your grandfather?”

“ Grandfather died just after the last blossoms fell from the Ume tree last year. Mama cried for days. She begged Uncle to let us attend the funeral. But he wouldn't listen to her so we couldn't go. Mama said we had a duty to obey Uncle Yoshiro's wishes because he was the new Lord and the head of our house. Not long after that is when Mama first became sick and started coughing a lot.”

“ And your Uncle permitted you and your mother to remain under his roof?”

In answer only the silver haired head bobbed silently in affirmation.

“Why are you not still there?”

“ He.. my Uncle.. he had the servants lock me up in one of the garden sheds with an ofuda on the door to seal me in. Then he sent for a priest to purify me. They left me in that shed all day without any anything to eat and no water...” Anger began to again cloud the boy's small face, making his yellow eyes gleam like hard shards of golden topaz. “ That night, I overheard one of the guards outside the shed say 'it's a real shame the priest couldn't get here till tomorrow morning'. His friend laughed and, and said..” the boy's voice caught in his throat,”...and said..”

“What did he say?” Hugging InuYasha gently Cu' continued stroking the child's long silvery hair.

“ He said that if I survived the priest's purification, Uncle had already told him to knock me in the head and toss me into the river in a sack full of stones.” Looking up into Cu's silver eyes the child seemed to be weighed down by a feeling of complete defeat. “ Even if I had been left a human..my Uncle didn't want me.”

“ How did you manage to sidestep your Uncle's plans for you?”

“The ofuda only protected the door, it didn't prevent me from digging a hole under the back wall of the shed and getting out that way.”

“ An excellent move, Child,” Indicating that the trout only held in the hand was a wasted one, Cu' watched the boy continue to eat for a few minutes. As the fish's now naked backbone was being thoroughly searched for any minute scraps the Guardian cleared his throat to again re-attract InuYasha's attention. Once the round yellow eyes were affixed to his, Cu smiled wistfully. “ It is a shame,” he said, “ that this is yet the home of so few truly enlightened souls. The simple truth is that for the most part, Earthward's souls are all very young. They are still consumed by the fears of superstition and find comfort in destroying what they are not yet mature enough to understand...”

“Yeah? Well because of their immaturity I might not survive long enough to carry out this great task of yours,” Once again the adult mask filmed over the child's features as the soul within spoke up. Tossing the well picked fish backbone over his shoulder, the small figure glanced around to see how many more were left.

“You know...” he commented dryly while craning his neck around in the opposite direction , “....every human I meet wants to kill me. That goes for youkai too and most of them want to spit me up like these fish and snack on me afterward. It's getting to be a really shitty existence, Ya know?”

Giving him an encouraging look, Cu' passed the youngster another trout. While inwardly chuckling at the effect the brash hanyou personality was already having upon it's inhabiting soul the Guardian watched quietly as InuYasha laid into another fish. He had not expected the youkai-human mix to be quite so volatile but considered that under the circumstance a little volatility would serve the child well. 'Of course, ' he reflected, 'by the time he meets his Other, this one is going to be a real handful.'

“ Obviously your human relatives wish to be of no help to you,” Cu' said mildly. “ What about your brother?”

“ Him? He wants to kill me too,” InuYasha glared over a mouthful of trout, “ ...don't think he wants to eat me though...bet he'd really gag at that idea.” Chewing thoughtfully a moment the boy contemplated the thought of getting any help from his proud older brother. The thought was promptly dismissed by a very contemptuous and unchildlike snort. “ After Mama died, I hoped he would help me, but you know...Sesshoumaru can be one stuck up, self righteous...”

“ Bastard?”

“ Yeah, exactly. Last time I saw him,” InuYasha chewed along the side of the fish,filling his cheeks up once again, “ he popped me across the back with that nasty-ass whip of his...damn thing hurts like a mother...”

“ Manners ? ”

“ Oh, yeah....Sorry,” Several minutes of noisy chewing disturbed the otherwise tranquil sounds of the night. After finally wolfing down what amounted to half of a five pound trout, the boy resumed his previous train of thought. “....fucker..” Cu' winced as the boy continued on seemingly quite unabashed by his crudely burgeoning vocabulary. “ He told me..” InuYasha's voice took on a curious whiney singsong quality, “....it is certainly unfortunate for you, little brother, that they did not decide to drown your sorry ass at birth.”

“ He sounds like that?”

“ Well, yeah,” a black eyebrow arched up in a 'you don't believe me look?'.

“ He'll come around in time. Like many adolescents he is still sadly misinformed about the way the world really works. Sesshoumaru was really quite a pleasant child..”

“ Well he sure the hell ain't now. Every time he sees me it's ...I'm going to kill you Halfbreed... your life is mine.. crap like that.... it's making me sick the shit he spouts off.”

“He will change..”

“Hey , asshole...in the body of a small child here,” InuYasha grimaced over a half chewed mouthful, spitting a bone neatly over Cu's right shoulder. “....and as slowly as it seems to be aging, I'm gonna be feasting on bugs and garbage for a long damn time. Whats gonna stop him from just squashing me like some fuckin worm...just for the hell of it? I ask you...what?”

“ Just how old are you right now?”

“ Turned ten last winter, but I look like I'm maybe five.”

Raising his eyebrows, Cu' just looked at the boy.

“ Feh...Whatever, I'm just a little small for my age...OK?” Dropping the hand still clutching the trout into his lap the boy shook his tousled silver-haired head sadly. “ Hells, my Mama taught me how to read, write and paint pretty pictures. She even taught me how to pour fuckin tea... She was a Lady..she didn't know shit about fishing..or hunting rabbits..or living by yourself in the woods and running from youkai and wild animals and stuff. Until she died, I'd never been further from home than on a picnic by the river or a walk through orchard behind the great house.” The penetrating look he gave Cu' was both heartbreaking in its sadness and demanding in its intensity. “ How in the hell am I going to survive like this...tell me. I know what I need to do to survive, but this little body doesn't. The child I am hardly has even a clue. All this body knows how to do is run, hide and slowly starve. It's a miracle that I've made it this far.”

“ Hmm.. an understandable problem. When I return you to sleep that knowledge needed to insure your survival will remain within the consciousness of the child. You will not be left entirely defenseless as you are now. You will survive, Child and be that much stronger for what you must endure.” With a smile, Cu' raised his left hand extending a slender index finger toward InuYasha's forehead but was stopped by the grip of a surprisingly strong little hand.

“ Guardian, will I meet my Other soon? It wouldn't be so lonely if we were at least together.”

“ Not for a very long time, I am afraid. Your Other will not grace this life for well over a century,” Cu' replied softly, aware of the waves of despair washing over the lonely soul before him.

“ That is so long... How will I ever make it...”

“ Just know that you shall,” Cu's voice whispered as his finger made contact with the child's smooth forehead.

“ How do you know?”

His slender index finger was already lightly tracing a clockwise spiral as he quietly said, “ Because even now I am standing with you both, there at the end.”

InuYasha's expression lapsed back into that of a very apprehensive child. Staring up with his wide expressive eyes at Cu' and wearing a look of confusion , no easily discernible trace remained of the adult personality which had manifested itself within the small body only moments before. The Guardian's eyes were lit by a warm light, his smile a gentle comfort to the tiny boy. “ Now then,” he said with a twinkle in his eye, “ Would you like another fish?”