InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Prophecy ❯ Curiosity Killed the Kitsune? ( Chapter 21 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
The Prophecy
By: mshutts
WARNING: incest
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any other characters here-in
A/N: In regards to Shippo�s thoughts: This entire chapter is inside his head. Yeah, you heard me right, inside SHIPPO�s head. He most likely refers to the other people in their group differently when he thinks about them than when he speaks to them. There�s more info on it at the bottom.
* * * * *
Chapter 21: Curiosity Killed the Kitsune?
Shippo was the first in the group to wake up. He never slept very well when Kagome was gone. His adoptive mother always made him feel warm and cared for in her own way. Without her there, he had to turn to his second source of comfort, but with a cursory sniff, he realized that Inuyasha was not there either.
The lack of his adoptive father�s presence made him feel uneasy. True, the other members of this little, mismatched pack of theirs were still there, but without either the presence of his mother or the protective youki of his father in sensing range, his instincts were becoming quite skittish. He felt vulnerable and unprotected even in the safety of Kaede�s hut.
Careful not to wake Sango, who he had been lying next to, Shippo got up and went to the entrance. Checking on the porch and roof to make sure that he had not missed the scent of the dog hanyou, Shippo saw that both were, indeed, empty. He weighed his options. He could either go back inside and wait for dog boy to show up again, or he could try and find him himself.
On the one hand, dog boy would most likely show up on his own. After all, Kagome had just seen him yesterday and said he was fine before she left. But that still didn�t explain why he didn�t come back at all. While it was true that he often spent time at the well while she was gone, he normally came by Kaede�s to see if there was anything of importance to be done during her absence first.
Shippo knew that his father did not like to sit idly by. If there was something, anything that needed to be done, he would do it. Depending on what it was, the kitsune often asked if he could come along and help. No matter how much he protested it, he really did like spending time with the inuhanyou.
In many ways, Inuyasha reminded him of his deceased father. A little on the rough side, but he always knew that he was cared for. The type of care he got from Inuyasha was just not the same type of care he got from Kagome.
The dog boy tended to be brusque and to point, but, being a demon himself, he didn�t really take offense to it. In fact, after spending so much time with humans, Inuyasha�s rather harsh attitude was a bit of a welcome relief to the kitsune. He had lived with solely demons for his entire life up until about a year ago, after all.
He sometimes wondered why Kagome took so much offense to some of his father�s comments, but generally brushed it off to just being a Kagome thing. His adoptive mother was a little on the odd side, after all. She would freak out about the strangest things like a little spider and then brush off something like an encounter with Sesshoumaru as if it were nothing.
It was no wonder that the two of them together made so many sparks fly. But, by now, Shippo was more than used to the arguments between the two. They were comforting in their frequency. He would worry more if they stopped fighting.
However, for all that, he knew that they loved one another and had not given up on the hope that they might get together at some point. Then, they could actually adopt him and he could really have a new family. With these happy thoughts in mind, Shippo turned his concentration to where his father might be at the moment.
Knowing the inuhanyou was most likely at the well, Shippo wondered why he had not stopped by Kaede�s first. Inuyasha knew the kitsune missed Kagome as much as he did and he had more or less left an open invitation for Shippo to join him when he decided to haunt the well. Knowing that the young fox demon had no way of getting there without possibly coming to harm without him, Inuyasha was normally kind enough to let him tag along on his shoulder but he seemed to have forgotten to come get him yesterday.
Shippo had many rather fond memories of sitting with his adoptive father next to the well, waiting for his mother�s return. If he had a question that he did not think the humans in their pack would understand, that is when he would ask it. Not having anything better to do, his father would generally answer the question then or tell him he was too young to know yet.
He actually had a few things he had wanted to ask the hanyou the next time Kagome went through the well. However, Inuyasha had not come by all of yesterday. Another thought suddenly occurred to the kitsune, what if Kagome had been wrong? Her nose wasn�t anywhere near as good as a youkai�s nose. He knew from past experience that the hanyou tended to play off anything that was wrong with him.
A perfect example was after the fight with his brother when he had gotten the hand through his gut. He had insisted that he was good to go, but Shippo could still smell the stench of poison on him. Even a couple of weeks later, the scent lingered, not yet completely out of his system, although he had managed to convince the others that it was.
He hadn�t said anything about it at the time for fear that they would not allow his father to fight. He had noticed as time went by that humans had a tendency to think that just because you were injured, you couldn�t fight. This idea made no sense to him.
His first set of parents had fought numerous times when they were injured. There was sometimes no way to get around it. He had seen Inuyasha do as much quite often. To be a strong youkai, you had to downplay weaknesses and hide pain. As a result, you tended to fight while injured, pretending the injury did not exist.
He shook his head. Humans were so dense sometimes. He knew that, most likely, his father was injured in some way but had not wanted to worry his mother and so had kept silent. Which meant there was only one thing to do. It was now up to him, the Great Shippoinni, to rescue the poor inuhanyou from whatever trouble he had gotten himself into.
Bolstering his courage, Shippo walked out of the hut and out of the village, traveling to where the well was. As he walked further from the safety of the village, he could feel his courage beginning to waver. There were many things out here that would love to eat a small kitsune.
He tried to remember what his deceased father had told him about being on the lookout for trouble. Always be aware of your surroundings. Feel for any youkis with your youki. Sniff the air for unfamiliar scents. Trying to do all of these at the same time, he continued on his way to the well, sure that would be where his adoptive father was.
Knowing that as soon as he found his father, Inuyasha would take care of any potential enemies in the forest, Shippo hurried on his way to the clearing. The faster he got there, the sooner he could feel safe and protected in his father�s youki�s aura.
As he entered the clearing, however, he saw and could sense that his father was not there. He had not even been there for a rather long time. Kagome�s scent was a little old, but still relatively fresh, but Inuyasha�s scent was weeks old. It was barely detectable.
Beginning to think that maybe this had not been as good of an idea as he had originally thought, Shippo tried to find any scent trail of his father. If he was not around here, the possibilities of where his father could be were nearly endless. He could move a lot faster than Shippo after all.
As he was sniffing around, focusing on trying to find his father�s scent, the young kitsune did not realize he was, in fact, being watched. If he had been older or better trained, he would not have missed the presence, but, much to his misfortune, he did not even notice anything wrong until it was too late to do anything but scream.
* * * * *
Oooo. Change of pace. Let�s hear it for a new character perspective! But seriously, while there is not much argument about Shippo�s view of Kagome, there is a lot about Shippo�s view of Inuyasha. I personally think that Inuyasha does the best he can (or is allowed to) with trying to raise Shippo to be a decent youkai.
However, since fighting and tolerance for pain seem to be quite important in the demon world, any attempts by Inuyasha to try and bolster those questionable traits would be looked down upon by the humans in their group (especially Kagome who comes from a very peaceful era where the ability to be able to laugh when someone gouges you is not so highly rated). As a result, Inuyasha comes off as being unnecessarily rough with Shippo when he is most likely being relatively gentle, by demon standards. (Besides, am I the only one who�s noticed that Shippo only cries about it when Kagome�s around? Otherwise, he just pouts.)
Sorry about the long take on the Shippo/Inuyasha relationship. It does bear some level of relevance to the story. As always, thank you for reading and/or reviewing. Both are very much appreciated.
By: mshutts
WARNING: incest
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any other characters here-in
A/N: In regards to Shippo�s thoughts: This entire chapter is inside his head. Yeah, you heard me right, inside SHIPPO�s head. He most likely refers to the other people in their group differently when he thinks about them than when he speaks to them. There�s more info on it at the bottom.
* * * * *
Chapter 21: Curiosity Killed the Kitsune?
Shippo was the first in the group to wake up. He never slept very well when Kagome was gone. His adoptive mother always made him feel warm and cared for in her own way. Without her there, he had to turn to his second source of comfort, but with a cursory sniff, he realized that Inuyasha was not there either.
The lack of his adoptive father�s presence made him feel uneasy. True, the other members of this little, mismatched pack of theirs were still there, but without either the presence of his mother or the protective youki of his father in sensing range, his instincts were becoming quite skittish. He felt vulnerable and unprotected even in the safety of Kaede�s hut.
Careful not to wake Sango, who he had been lying next to, Shippo got up and went to the entrance. Checking on the porch and roof to make sure that he had not missed the scent of the dog hanyou, Shippo saw that both were, indeed, empty. He weighed his options. He could either go back inside and wait for dog boy to show up again, or he could try and find him himself.
On the one hand, dog boy would most likely show up on his own. After all, Kagome had just seen him yesterday and said he was fine before she left. But that still didn�t explain why he didn�t come back at all. While it was true that he often spent time at the well while she was gone, he normally came by Kaede�s to see if there was anything of importance to be done during her absence first.
Shippo knew that his father did not like to sit idly by. If there was something, anything that needed to be done, he would do it. Depending on what it was, the kitsune often asked if he could come along and help. No matter how much he protested it, he really did like spending time with the inuhanyou.
In many ways, Inuyasha reminded him of his deceased father. A little on the rough side, but he always knew that he was cared for. The type of care he got from Inuyasha was just not the same type of care he got from Kagome.
The dog boy tended to be brusque and to point, but, being a demon himself, he didn�t really take offense to it. In fact, after spending so much time with humans, Inuyasha�s rather harsh attitude was a bit of a welcome relief to the kitsune. He had lived with solely demons for his entire life up until about a year ago, after all.
He sometimes wondered why Kagome took so much offense to some of his father�s comments, but generally brushed it off to just being a Kagome thing. His adoptive mother was a little on the odd side, after all. She would freak out about the strangest things like a little spider and then brush off something like an encounter with Sesshoumaru as if it were nothing.
It was no wonder that the two of them together made so many sparks fly. But, by now, Shippo was more than used to the arguments between the two. They were comforting in their frequency. He would worry more if they stopped fighting.
However, for all that, he knew that they loved one another and had not given up on the hope that they might get together at some point. Then, they could actually adopt him and he could really have a new family. With these happy thoughts in mind, Shippo turned his concentration to where his father might be at the moment.
Knowing the inuhanyou was most likely at the well, Shippo wondered why he had not stopped by Kaede�s first. Inuyasha knew the kitsune missed Kagome as much as he did and he had more or less left an open invitation for Shippo to join him when he decided to haunt the well. Knowing that the young fox demon had no way of getting there without possibly coming to harm without him, Inuyasha was normally kind enough to let him tag along on his shoulder but he seemed to have forgotten to come get him yesterday.
Shippo had many rather fond memories of sitting with his adoptive father next to the well, waiting for his mother�s return. If he had a question that he did not think the humans in their pack would understand, that is when he would ask it. Not having anything better to do, his father would generally answer the question then or tell him he was too young to know yet.
He actually had a few things he had wanted to ask the hanyou the next time Kagome went through the well. However, Inuyasha had not come by all of yesterday. Another thought suddenly occurred to the kitsune, what if Kagome had been wrong? Her nose wasn�t anywhere near as good as a youkai�s nose. He knew from past experience that the hanyou tended to play off anything that was wrong with him.
A perfect example was after the fight with his brother when he had gotten the hand through his gut. He had insisted that he was good to go, but Shippo could still smell the stench of poison on him. Even a couple of weeks later, the scent lingered, not yet completely out of his system, although he had managed to convince the others that it was.
He hadn�t said anything about it at the time for fear that they would not allow his father to fight. He had noticed as time went by that humans had a tendency to think that just because you were injured, you couldn�t fight. This idea made no sense to him.
His first set of parents had fought numerous times when they were injured. There was sometimes no way to get around it. He had seen Inuyasha do as much quite often. To be a strong youkai, you had to downplay weaknesses and hide pain. As a result, you tended to fight while injured, pretending the injury did not exist.
He shook his head. Humans were so dense sometimes. He knew that, most likely, his father was injured in some way but had not wanted to worry his mother and so had kept silent. Which meant there was only one thing to do. It was now up to him, the Great Shippoinni, to rescue the poor inuhanyou from whatever trouble he had gotten himself into.
Bolstering his courage, Shippo walked out of the hut and out of the village, traveling to where the well was. As he walked further from the safety of the village, he could feel his courage beginning to waver. There were many things out here that would love to eat a small kitsune.
He tried to remember what his deceased father had told him about being on the lookout for trouble. Always be aware of your surroundings. Feel for any youkis with your youki. Sniff the air for unfamiliar scents. Trying to do all of these at the same time, he continued on his way to the well, sure that would be where his adoptive father was.
Knowing that as soon as he found his father, Inuyasha would take care of any potential enemies in the forest, Shippo hurried on his way to the clearing. The faster he got there, the sooner he could feel safe and protected in his father�s youki�s aura.
As he entered the clearing, however, he saw and could sense that his father was not there. He had not even been there for a rather long time. Kagome�s scent was a little old, but still relatively fresh, but Inuyasha�s scent was weeks old. It was barely detectable.
Beginning to think that maybe this had not been as good of an idea as he had originally thought, Shippo tried to find any scent trail of his father. If he was not around here, the possibilities of where his father could be were nearly endless. He could move a lot faster than Shippo after all.
As he was sniffing around, focusing on trying to find his father�s scent, the young kitsune did not realize he was, in fact, being watched. If he had been older or better trained, he would not have missed the presence, but, much to his misfortune, he did not even notice anything wrong until it was too late to do anything but scream.
* * * * *
Oooo. Change of pace. Let�s hear it for a new character perspective! But seriously, while there is not much argument about Shippo�s view of Kagome, there is a lot about Shippo�s view of Inuyasha. I personally think that Inuyasha does the best he can (or is allowed to) with trying to raise Shippo to be a decent youkai.
However, since fighting and tolerance for pain seem to be quite important in the demon world, any attempts by Inuyasha to try and bolster those questionable traits would be looked down upon by the humans in their group (especially Kagome who comes from a very peaceful era where the ability to be able to laugh when someone gouges you is not so highly rated). As a result, Inuyasha comes off as being unnecessarily rough with Shippo when he is most likely being relatively gentle, by demon standards. (Besides, am I the only one who�s noticed that Shippo only cries about it when Kagome�s around? Otherwise, he just pouts.)
Sorry about the long take on the Shippo/Inuyasha relationship. It does bear some level of relevance to the story. As always, thank you for reading and/or reviewing. Both are very much appreciated.