InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Heart Within ❯ Chapter Seven ( Chapter 8 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, etc., of Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. This story is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit.

THE HEART WITHIN

Summary: She has carried vengeance in her shadowed heart for 500 years, sacrificing her self for that dream. Now, Sango just might get her chance… (IY/YYH crossover)

A/N: I changed the summary, again. LOL. I just have not been satisfied with it and just don’t know whether I should keep the original or the second one I created. Sigh. Anywhatever, thank you for the continued reviews, the response to this little story has been awesome! Thank you! (Fate)

WARNING! SPOILERS FOR YYH BLACK AND THE THREE KINGS SAGA!

WORD DEFINITIONS

Katana - sword
Kitsune - fox

Chapter Seven

Sango awoke from one moment to the next as if her mind was yanked from dreams and into the waking world by the mere opening of her eyes. She knew where she was and who she was with even as she rose up into a sitting position, blinking around her to realize there was no one else inside the cave but for the snoring Spirit Detective. She took the time, then, to stretch and unfold herself from the tangled blanket of her cloak as she yawned. Pulling free the small water-flask at her hip, she drank sparingly, wondering if there was more. Perhaps that was where the other two demons were, out searching the local terrain. She couldn’t be sure, though, and would like more than a few swallows of water for breakfast.

She wasn’t about to wait on any other to do what she could for herself, so once she put her small canteen back in its place and flicked her cloak across her shoulders, she gingerly stepped past the snoozing detective and out the cave’s grey shadows. The morning that greeted her was young and just past waking, puffy purple clouds dotting the pale fuchsia sky. The clouds, while an off color, were just as those she had known in the living world, and although there was no sun, there was a distinct lightening in the distant east, as if the sun lay veiled by a thick haze. It cast pale tints across the darker fuchsia, lighting the purple clouds on one side and casting divergent shadows across the green landscape.

The forest was verdant and distinctly empty. A light wind blew through the tall trees, setting the branches to swaying gently as the leaves rustled among themselves. She breathed it in and felt strangely revived by the fresh scent of growing and living things. There was a vibrancy to the air that she had missed in the other worlds and she felt an ache in her chest as she took in the morning view. A bird cheeped from the forest, another answering, and Sango smiled.

Jumping from the rocky lurch that fronted the cave, she slipped down among the trees. Following her instincts, she soon found the small spring that burbled up among a thorny outcrop of tangled bushes. An overhanging willow-like tree draped its long, leafy tendrils along the water’s edge, and Sango knelt at its root to cup her hands in the cool water and splash her face. The water felt so good that she slipped her cloak, katana and arm-band off and used the small, trial-sized bar of soap she had brought to make quick ablutions, at least getting her arms and face and neck clean.

Luxuriating in the simple peace of being alone, she took down her ponytail and scowled at the tangled length that fell across her back and shoulders to just below her waist. She wished for a longer bath---or, O heaven!---a hot shower, but made did with what she had. Using her pocket-comb, she winced through the tangles and bound it up in a high tail again, thinking it would be better if she were to braid it but not wanting to take the time. Recalled to her situation, she made quicker work of filling her flask, after brushing her teeth and drinking her fill. Thirst satiated, she wondered what game she might be able to find in Makai. She knew one of the reasons humans couldn’t survive that long in the demon realm was that they couldn’t really eat any of the food. Something about the jyaki that existed in everything in the demon world didn’t set too well with human stomachs. She shrugged, knowing that Kagura’s heart saw to that problem for her. The same probably held true for the fox demon Kurama and the Mazoku heir, Yusuke.

Recalled to her dubious allies, she frowned. That was a quandary in itself. She wasn’t sure how she should interact with them and was distinctly uncomfortable at the thought that she had to. She should just cut her losses and take off on her own, but the taunt of Hiei’s words was too enticing a lure. The acknowledgement sat sour in her stomach and she abruptly stood up with a frown, her easy contentment with the morning fading.

Enough. She would do what she had to and quit worrying about it. Right now, she needed to go track down some breakfast----

She froze, suddenly aware she was not alone. Edging back from the bank, she noiselessly drew under the willow’s draping leaves, pulling a knife free as she waited in tense silence, crouched at the tree’s base.

There was a snap of twigs and a whuffle of sound, as if someone were snorting to themselves. A grunt and a splash, and the being was suddenly there, facing her across the small spring’s placid surface, its eyes as wide as hers as they fronted one another in astonished surprise.


Kurama looked up, a brow raised, and wasn’t surprised when the fire apparition abruptly appeared beside him, the branches still swaying slightly as he sprang down from his perch. It was Hiei’s turn to raise a brow, seeing the woven basket made of reeds under the fox’s arm, and Kurama shrugged. He had spent the time since dawn had awakened him in foraging for useful plants. The forest abounded with them and he had made quick work at harvesting those he could use, from fruits to herbs to a dozen or so useful seeds he could employ in a variety of ways.

It seemed Hiei had not wasted his time, either, for there was a pair of fat forest fowl, their necks neatly broken, looped together with a strip of vine that he held over his shoulder. The apparition frowned, seeing the fox’s appraising eye, and explained sharply, “The humans will need to eat. They’re weak enough to have to.”

Kurama only smiled.

“It wasn’t as if I was out hunting, fox. These stupid birds just happened to stumble across my path---the more fools they.”

“Of course.” Kurama soothed the demon’s growing ire. “One wouldn’t expect you to let such a fortuitous opportunity pass.”

Hiei only grunted, swinging around as he heard the noisy arrival of their missing friend. He was hardly quiet, tramping through the woods like only the city-bred could, twigs snapping and dead leaves rattling as he scuffed past them. He waved half-heartedly as he saw the two demons watching him, his other hand covering his mouth as he barely stifled a loud yawn.

“’Sup, guys?” He blinked sleepily at them as he scratched his bare stomach, which rumbled hungrily. He made a face, and then looked hopeful. “Any coffee?”

Hiei’s lip curled in derision as Kurama shook his head. “No coffee, I’m afraid.”

“Damn.” Yusuke rubbed his eyes, cracking another yawn before stretching. “That sucks. I hate mornings.”

“Hmph.” Hiei added his sour opinion as Kurama thoughtfully sorted through the leafy contents of his basket.

“I can make a tisane, I think,” he offered, clarifying at the boy’s confusion, “Tea. I can make tea.”

“Tea?” Yusuke looked appalled, and rubbed a dirty hand over his face. “Ugh.”

Kurama merely looked at him, and noted with some surprise, “You’re tattoos are gone.”

“Huh?” Yusuke looked down his torso, sucking in his flat stomach and then rolling his arms so he could stare at his bare shoulders. “Well. Whaddya know?”

“It seems your demon form has finally worn off,” Kurama said.

“Pity.” Hiei couldn’t help but add.

Yusuke only grinned, cocking a brow at the dead birds strung up on his friend’s shoulder. “That wouldn’t be breakfast, would it?”

“If you care to clean them.” Hiei smiled sardonically at the Mazoku’s baffled look. Slinging the dead pair off his back and at the ex-detective’s feet, he smirked. “I caught them, so you can make yourself useful and gut them.”

“Ugh.” Yusuke eyed the feathered offering with distinct unease. His stomach growled again, more insistent. He looked resigned as he made a face. “Ah, well. Can’t be that hard.”

Hiei only smirked.

“Don’t worry, Yusuke,” Kurama said, ever helpful. “I can show you how.”

Pushing the slightly curling, black hair from off his forehead, Yusuke moaned, “Gods, what I wouldn’t give for a fucking café right about now---or a shower. I stink.”

“There’s a spring nearby,” Kurama told him, shrugging at the boy’s heavy groan.

“This living rough shit sucks.”

“Welcome to the real world, Detective.”

“Aw, shut up, three-eyes,” Yusuke groused. “This ain’t the real world, it’s the demon world, and it sucks.”

“This world is as real as any other,” Hiei growled, liking the Ningenkai less than this, his true home. “What you call the living world is not even half the paradise this world is.”

“Then why the hell are demons always want to come conquer it, huh? Can you tell me that?” Yusuke cracked one eye open to challenge the shorter demon as he rubbed the sleep-boogers from the other with an index finger.

“For the food, Detective.” Hiei's fangs flashed. “Humans are such easy prey.”

“Ugh. Gross.” Yusuke made a face. “Damn cannibals.”

“You’re only a cannibal if you eat your own kind.” Hiei returned with acidic disdain.

“It’s close enough I can’t see the difference,” Yusuke growled.

“Not all demons require humans flesh,” Kurama said, trying to ease the tension between his two friends.

“Hn.” Hiei turned away.

“Ah, hell, I don’t really care if demons eat people or not,” Yusuke said, growing serious. “God knows if that’s what they need, than that’s what they need.”

“Such a sentiment is surprising for a Spirit World agent.” Hiei’s red eyes narrowed. “It could be one of the reasons the Reikai is now out for your blood, Detective.”

Yusuke shrugged. “Whatever, three-eyes. I just know that it’s not my place to tell any being how they ought to live, and I know there’s enough bad people in the world that if some demon decides he wants a snack, there are plenty of rotten apples in Ningenkai that I would stand aside and just let him have at ’em.”

There was a sadness in Kurama’s green gaze and he turned to look up at the trees, which swayed gently in the wind. Birds cheeped and scolded as other things stirred in the brush, busy about their own small concerns, and he felt the weight of centuries settling across his shoulders. He suddenly felt old, with the burden of Youko’s experience and knowledge of the evils of both human and demon-kind, and wondered if it was always to be thus, that they would always be in contention, that there would always be those who sought to exploit their brothers or those they considered unlike or beneath them. People---both youkai and ningen---rarely came in black and white. They were more like shades of gray, from dark smoke to pale mist, and it was sad to admit that most were selfish, rarely rising above their own concerns to consider another’s…

“Hello? Earth to Kurama!” Yusuke waved a hand in front of his face and Kurama blinked.

“Pardon my lapse,” he said, chagrined that he had been so caught up in his own dark thoughts.

Hiei eyed the fox with a bland expression, having noted the sadness in the young man’s telling green eyes. Deliberately changing the subject---and refusing to admit it was concern for his friend that caused the action---he suddenly asked, “The girl---she still sleeps?”

Yusuke frowned, caught off-guard. “Huh? No.”

“She’s not in the cave?” Kurama asked, concern over-riding his other thoughts as he focused on that alarming fact.

“No, she’s not in the cave,” Yusuke repeated impatiently, not seeing why the fox should be so worried. It wasn’t as if she were some defenseless damsel needing to be rescued every time she saw some boogey monster. Not that he minded rescuing damsels---he rather liked how Keiko depended on him for such things, it made him feel all manly and strong and needed for protection.

The fox and the fire apparition exchanged a long glance, and Yusuke rolled his eyes. “Oh, c’mon! What are you so worried about it? She’s a demon slayer, or whatever she said she was. She can take care of herself.”

“This is Makai, Yusuke,” Kurama patiently explained even as he started walking back toward the cave, determined to follow her path, if she had left any. “There are things here that can appear to be one thing and are yet another. The illusion of friendliness or even defenselessness is an old one to lure the unwary as prey for many a demon.”

“Hn.” Hiei sneered his contempt for such pathetic posturing as he fell in beside his tall friend. “A tool for the weak.”

“Perhaps,” Kurama flashed the smaller demon a wry smile, “but it can be quite effective on the innocent.”

“The stupid, you mean.” The corner of the fire demon’s mouth twitched as Yusuke picked up the dead birds with a gagging look and followed after them.

“I can’t see that crazy chick being all that innocent.” Yusuke wrinkled up, trying to picture it. He finally shook his shaggy head as he fell into step beside the pair. “Nope, not working.”

His friends made no reply as they emerged from the woods, crossing the small outcrop of rocks that fronted the cave’s hilly ascendance. Hiei flashed up the crest in two leaps with his typical speed as the other two followed more slowly. Dropping the birds on a convenient rock, Yusuke put his hands on his hips as he watched Kurama scan the forest’s horizon with one hand over his eyes, his expression troubled.

“What the hell are you so worried for?” Yusuke groused. “Jeez, fox, one would think you had a thing for that stupid assassin.”

Kurama shot him a look that made the ex-detective grin, totally unrepentant. Hiei’s nostrils flared slightly with impatience as he regarded the boy with an icy stare, foregoing the opportunity to point out the obvious foolishness of pushing the aloof kitsune too far. Instead, the apparition asked, “Do you want to go look for her?”

Kurama nodded once, an abrupt gesture, his eyes still drawn to the peaceful-seeming forest.

“Oh, come off it, you two!” Yusuke looked heavenward, as if seeking patience from a higher power. “Sheesh. The girl’s probably gone off to go wash her face or something. Didn’t you say there was a spring or pond or something nearby? She’s probably there---girls hate dirt.”

While the boy’s reasoning was convoluted and hardly sound, still it was the best suggestion they had, and at least somewhere to start. Discarding his basket, Kurama glanced at Hiei, who nodded, and disappeared. Kurama followed with a graceful leap, two strides taking him back under the trees as Yusuke rolled his eyes and went after his vanishing friends, his bare feet stretching into a run to catch up with them.

Damn girl was delaying breakfast---he would have a word or two for her when they finally caught up with her for that.


The big eyes that fronted her across the spring were a beautiful shade of sky blue, lashed thickly with a white, feathery fringe and just as wide with surprise as her own. Sango found herself rather at a loss for words for once, and could only stare as the animal’s delicate ears pricked forward as it regarded her with a measuring wariness to its blue gaze. Snorting to itself, it finally shook its head, tossing its mane as it decided she was nothing to fear. Bending its graceful head, it started to drink with barely a ripple to mar the spring’s still surface.

Sango stared, rather stunned at the bold sight, and could only breathe in wonder as she watched the light glimmer off of the pearlescent horn that grew in a single, straight spire from the center of the small horse’s forehead. He---for now that the half-grown foal had stepped out further into the spring, his cloven forefeet now up to the feathered hocks in the water, she could tell that it was male---was too beautiful to be real, his coat so brilliant a white it seemed to shine with its own luminance. Although he appeared more horse-like, he had the slender delicacy of a woodland deer and the tail that flicked lazily from side to side as he drank was more bovine or lion-like than a horse’s flowing mane.

Dropping her knife with barely an acknowledgement, Sango felt as one beguiled. Pulling up some of the sweet green grass around her, she kept her motions slow and easy, not wanting to scare him away as she extended her offering, her brown eyes melting at the magnificent sight of the shy animal, who snorted in alarm as she moved, water dripping from the small tuft of beard at his chin. His nostrils expanded, taking in her scent and her intention, and he eyed her with cautious appraisal. She stilled, hardly daring to breathe, as he took a step closer to her, extending his white head to snake a tongue out to taste her offering. He suddenly huffed, blowing the torn grass everywhere, and she couldn’t help but giggle, the laughter bubbling out of her in joyous recognition as he whinnied, as if sharing her merriment.

Leaping forward, he bowled her over with his chest, nuzzling her hair with his wet lips as he snorted over her. She laughed, pushing up at him, letting her hands tangle in his soft coat as he neighed, his silver hooves carefully avoiding her shoulders as he shuffled his weight, as if he would urge her up to dance. Sango slid out from under him, her fingers trailing up his neck and scratching lightly behind the ears, which he seemed to love, for he leaned into the caress, eyes half-lidded and breath huffing out in a contented grunt.

“You are so beautiful,” she breathed, unable to stop touching him. He snorted, as if in total agreement, and she laughed again. Her heart felt so light and free in his presence---she couldn’t believe how easy she was in his company. He nuzzled her cheek, lipping at the short black bangs as he breathed in her scent. He turned playful, butting her head with his, though he was careful with his horn, which appeared rather sharp at the tip. Sango rolled away, and he whinnied, a high sound, and pushed her right into the spring. She went with a splash and a startled cry of alarm as the water closed over her head. The spring was not deep, but it was enough that she came up sputtering, dragging her wet hair out of her eyes as the foal looked at her with utter bewilderment. She giggled, ignoring the water that streamed out of her drenched clothing as she stood up.

“That was not fair!” She put her hands on her hips and grinned as he regarded her with blue-eyed innocence. He snorted and she froze---for it was answered by another, the deeper sound coming from right behind her. She slowly turned, icy dread killing her laughter as she turned to confront the sudden, forbidding presence behind her.


Kurama knelt to examine the torn turf surrounding the hidden spring, which swirled with muddy agitation, as if something had struck the bottom, sifting the mud up from the small pool’s floor. His fingers marked out the distinctive hoof-prints and noted with growing unease the larger prints of multiple animals pressed deeper into the grassy bank.

Hiei suddenly appeared on the other bank, dropping down from the willow’s upper branches to pick up the discarded knife, arm-band, sword and cloak that lay neatly folded beside them. His eyes met the fox’s, and they both turned as one as the detective finally burst through the brush, panting slightly from his jog.

“What the hell? Isn’t that her stuff?” He jerked a thumb at the other bank, his demand for the fox, who had looked up at his arrival.

“Yes,” Kurama said, eyes peering through the brush as if he would spy her out. The spring was empty, but he did see a small tuft of white hair, caught on the thorny end of a bush, and he picked it free. Bringing it to his nose, he took a quick sniff. His eyes widened, and he looked deeply troubled. Turning to gaze back at his friends, he said with dawning dread, “Unicorns.”

Yusuke let out a sharp bark of laughter, which died abruptly as he saw the look exchanged between the two youkai.

“What’s the matter, fox?” he demanded, brows drawing down as he glared at them.

“Let’s just hope that the Detective is wrong and that the girl proves innocent,” Hiei said, eyes sweeping past them to the surrounding woods, which had grown ominously quiet.

Yusuke’s wide shoulders twitched. “I don’t get it. What the hell is going on? Did you or did you not just say ‘unicorn,’ as in little white horsies?”

“This is Makai, Yusuke,” Kurama said heavily as he stood up, absently brushing the grass roots off his knees as he stared around him. “What you know as only legend is very real here in the demon world, and bears little resemblance to the fairytales told to amuse children in the Ningenkai.”

“So what the hell are you trying to say?” Yusuke demanded, taken aback by the wary look in the kitsune’s green eyes.

“What he’s trying to say, you buffoon, is that what you consider a little white horsie who prances around all day playing in the woods is anything but that in the real world,” Hiei growled, leaping the short distance from bank to bank in a single, graceful motion. “Let’s go, fox. The tracks are distinctive, we should find them easily. It doesn’t look as if they have circled their prey yet.”

“Circled their prey?” Yusuke felt totally out of his depth as Kurama nodded.

“That’s true. Perhaps we’ll prove lucky, and they won’t have started the chase yet.”

“The chase?” Yusuke was damn tired of repeating everything those two said and finally snarled, “Damn it, guys! Will one of you tell me what the fuck is going on?!”

Kurama’s fist curled around the tuft of white hair held in his palm. “The unicorns of demon world are not the same innocent creatures you have grown up knowing.”

“Not like I ever knew any,” Yusuke muttered as Hiei shot him a scornful look.

“For one, Detective, they aren’t herbivores. They’re carnivores.”

“What?” Yusuke did a double-take.

“Yes, Detective. They eat meat, preferably fresh meat.” The fire apparition’s fangs flashed in a blood-thirsty smile, and Yusuke drew back with a startled stare.

“The whole herd will circle their chosen prey, chasing it to ground until it is completely exhausted and cannot fight as they close in for the kill,” Kurama added with dire emphasis as Yusuke’s mouth fell open. “They will then spear the helpless prey on their sharp horns, hopefully ending its life before they tear into its flesh with their powerful jaws.”

“They have teeth rather like a shark's,” Hiei remarked grimly.

Yusuke’s mouth snapped shut as his eyes glittered. “Well, then, what the hell are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

“Already gone,” Hiei growled, vanishing into the trees as the others took off after him.