InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Time After Time ❯ The Waking of a Legend ( Chapter 2 )

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

Chapter 2:  The Waking of a Legend

Kagome trudged along quietly behind the stoic daiyoukai, wondering when they would arrive at their destination.  They had already been traveling for four days, and evening was approaching, meaning that this days travel was almost over.

They had entered the mountains after two days of swift travel, and now they were taking a slower approach - giving Kirara and Inuyasha a break from the faster pace of travel.

But Kagome wasn't curious enough to ask Sesshoumaru - she was happy with the peace and quiet at this point, even if she was still walking.  It wasn't often that Inuyasha was silent, and when he was, it was something to cherish.

The hanyou hadn't stopped sulking the entire trip, and it looked as though everyone in the group was willing to beat him over the head if he even looked like he wanted to complain anymore.  Kagome was pretty sure it had to do with the fact that he couldn't tell Kikyou where they were going - Sesshoumaru had threatened to disembowel him if he did, and Kagome had said she'd sit him long enough for his brother to do it.  

With that kind of threat, he'd been forced to leave his lady love behind.

She was pulled from her thoughts as Sango came forward and walked beside her.

"What do you think is going to happen when their father wakes up, Kagome?"  she asked, concerned.  "I mean... with all of us.  Are we going to be traveling together from now on?"

Kagome noted that though Sesshoumaru didn't respond, he'd heard - and was awaiting her answer.

"I'm... not sure, Sango, though I think it's a very real possibility.  It seems to make the most sense, at least to me, but in the end, Sesshoumaru-sama and Taisho-sama will make their own decisions."

Apparently, Sesshoumaru wasn't the only one listening, because Inuyasha instantly started harping.  "Keh!  What about me, Kagome?  Isn't it up to me, too?  Maybe I don't want my bastard brother around - or our father!"

Kagome gave an impressive growl, and spun around to glare at the hanyou.  "Your only complaint is that you can't have Kikyou shadowing us with Sesshoumaru-sama around, you baka!  And none of the rest of us care about your lack of opportunities to undermine our chances against Naraku any further by always telling that witch what we're doing!"

The entire group froze at that, knowing that things were about to come to a head - Kagome had never spoken about Kikyou that way.  But the truth was, all of them felt that way - Kikyou wasn't to be trusted.  Too many times after Inuyasha's meetings with the dead one, Naraku had attacked with all the precision of one of the dead woman's so-called 'sacred arrows'.

"What the fuck is your problem lately, wench?!  You've been being a real bitch lately, you know that?  And just what the hell did you mean with that crack about Kikyou anyway?!"  he shouted.

At that point, Sesshoumaru stepped in.  "She means that your dead miko is a traitor, Inuyasha.  She undermines your group every chance she gets by reporting what you say back to the spider.  She does it for her own reasons, however, not for Naraku's sake.  Now be silent - none of us wish to listen to your childish ranting any further."

Inuyasha was silent, though not because his brother had told him to be; no, he was enraged at their words against Kikyou.  Even though some part of him uneasily knew they were right, he fought that part, refusing to listen to it, or anyone else about her role in Naraku's obvious ease in finding them every single time they went anywhere.

But saying anything now wouldn't do him any good, so he decided to wait until later, and he watched as the group once more began walking, heading into the deepening dusk of evening.

Sesshoumaru led the group along for a little while longer, finally coming to a halt in a small clearing that carried a stream of snowmelt along one edge; this was the best campsite available, and they would only have to walk for about three hours tomorrow to reach their destination.

"We will rest here for the night."  With that, he disappeared under the trees, and the group watched for a moment, before beginning to set up camp.

Before long, everyone was comfortably sitting around the fire eating ramen, and glad to be relaxing finally.  It had been a long last few days, and that wasn't likely to change anytime soon.

It didn't take long for Inuyasha to scarf his food, and then he was glaring across the fire at Kagome.

"So what the fuck was that earlier, Kagome, huh?  Why all of a sudden are you going off on Kikyou?  Jealous?"  he asked snidely.

A dead silence had fallen over the rest of the group at that, but Kagome ignored him, instead, she just continued to eat her food.

Inuyasha didn't like to be ignored.  "Well, wench?"  he growled out louder.  "What's the matter?  Realized that you were acting stupid, I bet."

Kagome finished off her ramen, and set the cup down gently, her chopsticks neatly laying atop the lid, and looked up at the hanyou with a blank look on her face that had him a bit uneasy.

"No, Inuyasha - I don't feel badly about anything I said.  The fact of the matter is that you need to grow up.  I'm getting tired of constantly dealing with a child with a bad attitude over everything.  I'm sorry your past with Kikyou was messed up - but don't take it out on me anymore, because I don't deserve it.  It wasn't my fault, and I refuse to put up with you demeaning me all the time any longer."

Flushed red with anger, the hanyou said,  "Well, if you were half the miko Kikyou is, then we'd have already won and you wouldn't have to put up with anything!"

"That's funny, Inuyasha,"  she said quietly,  "seeing as how Kikyou is still wandering around, if she was half the miko you both seem to think she is, then she'd have already defeated Naraku, right?  So, then why are the rest of us even here?  If she was so great, none of the rest of us would have been needed."

That left Inuyasha sputtering in incoherent rage, as the rest of camp was still silent, everyone hanging off of every word being spoken.

"The truth is, Inuyasha, if Kikyou had been half the miko she was supposed to have been, then the gods wouldn't have had to drag me back five hundred years into the past to fix her mistakes.  I should be living my life, in my time - but I'm not... because Kikyou screwed up.  So I don't want to hear it again, do you understand?  I will not take your abuse any longer."

Sesshoumaru had to say he was slightly impressed.  The miko was handling this with maturity that Inuyasha sorely lacked; and her words were true, as well.  She was strong - where it counted... on the inside.  He, still rather grudgingly, had to admit that she had character - and honor.

With that in mind, he stepped back into the camp to head off any further ranting from his brother by siding with the miko, once again.  "Do not, Inuyasha,"  he said warningly to the hanyou that looked ready to kill.  "The miko speaks truth.  You are like a spoiled child.  As for the dead one, she is an abomination - she does not belong on this plane of existence."

Jumping to his feet, the hanyou looked around at everyone, and seeing no support for him or his behavior, he spun on his heel and took off into the night.  The entire camp breathed a sigh of relief when he did.

Kagome looked at the daiyoukai and smiled a little.  "Thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama."  Then she chuckled.  "Do you know... I'm very glad we're going to wake your father up - perhaps he'll be able to beat some sense into Inuyasha's head.  Kami know I've tried for years, but it hasn't worked in the least,"  she finished wryly.

Everyone laughed at that, as Sesshoumaru let a slight smirk tilt the corner of his lips.  "Indeed, miko... I had not considered things in that light, but now that you mention it, it will be most enjoyable to watch father discipline the whelp.  Under no circumstances will he continue to allow his spoiled and selfish behavior."

Everyone in camp liked the sound of that, and the rest of the evening was spent enjoyably enough with pleasant conversation around the fire, that even the daiyoukai occasionally participated in.

---sSs---

They had finally arrived at the cave that Sesshoumaru said the body of the Taisho was resting in - Kagome could feel the presence of something powerful within... and that made her wonder.  If the Taisho's spirit had resided within Tessaiga all this time, why had none of them ever figured it out?

She didn't realize she'd asked that question aloud until Inuyasha actually looked a little interested, and Sesshoumaru answered.

"Because father did not want anyone to know until it was time.  One thing to understand about my father is that if he does not want something known, it will not be.  He does nothing by halves."

"Huh."  Kagome sincerely hoped that he could indeed kick some sense into his youngest son, then, before she was forced to bludgeon him to death - with the ground.

"Slayer."  

Sango looked up at the daiyoukai, surprised he was addressing her.  "Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"The kit, and Rin should stay out here.  Will you allow the firecat to stay here with Ah-Uhn and Jaken to defend them?"  he asked, staring into the mouth of the cave as he waited for her answer.

"Oh!  Sure, no problem,"  she said, allowing Kirara to leap down from her shoulder and settle with Shippo on the ground.

"But...!  I wanted to come, too,"  Shippo protested.

"Shippo, do what you were asked, please?"  Kagome asked.  "I think it's going to be crowded enough in there, and we don't know what's going to happen.  You can help keep Rin occupied, okay?"

The kit glanced over at Rin and blushed, then nodded, moving over to sit with her and dig through Kagome's bag to get his crayons and drawing pad to share with the little girl.

Once that was settled, the rest moved to follow behind Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha as they began to move into the cave.  They were all insanely curious, and awed to be given the chance to meet a youkai Lord the caliber of the Inu no Taisho.

There was a reason he was legendary.

Obscenely powerful, he was wise, and ruled with a fair and impartial hand - human and demon alike fared the same beneath his rule.  He was highly intelligent, none had ever managed to outsmart him when it came to a game of minds, and he had the highest standards of honor.

Even two centuries after his death, his name was known and respected - and that said all that needed saying about the youkai they were going to wake from sleep.

As they all piled into the grotto at the end of the entry hall, eyes were drawn immediately to the stone platform at the back of the small cave - the platform with the youkai Lord laying atop it as though merely asleep, and the moment of awe was compounded as both the Tenseiga and the Tessaiga began a deep thrumming the moment they were both standing before the body.

Glancing at Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru said,  "Draw your sword, son of the Taisho."

With a tiny glare at his brother, who'd always refused to call him such before, he did as instructed, drawing Tessaiga but leaving it untransformed.  In the instant that he did, a pillar of softly glowing light erupted from it, swirling around the blade, then drifting from it to hover over the body of the Taisho.  

As everyone stared on breathlessly, Sesshoumaru drew Tenseiga, and crisply swiped through the air above the light and the body, drawing it through both.  The moment he finished his swing, he returned Tenseiga to its sheath, and the group waited, silent yet keyed up, as the light was seemingly pulled down into the body, and settled there.

Nothing happened for a few moments, but just as Inuyasha was about to start a rant, the figure on the dais breathed in, and then out...

And just like that, he started breathing again.

Kagome, for some reason, couldn't pull her eyes from the handsome male on the slab of rock.  It was insane... he was both Inuyasha's and Sesshoumaru's father - yet he looked barely older than Sesshoumaru.  He still looked so young... and as she watched, something stirring within her, the male opened his eyes, staring straight above himself for a few moments, and then looked over, catching her eye.

One brow shot up as he looked at her, and then at everyone else, until he caught sight of Sesshoumaru - and then Inuyasha, who was staring at him with his arms crossed and his normal scowl.

"Ah... both my sons... and their swords.  So, I gather that it was finally time for me to return, and Bokuseno directed you here, Sesshoumaru?"

Kagome almost crumpled; his voice was amazing, and with a blush, she cast a sidelong glance at Sango, only to see her best friend blushing as well.  

Nope, not just me, she thought, relieved.  That makes me feel better... I think.

She tuned back in to the conversation between Sesshoumaru and his father.

"... sent me here.  Once I arrived, Tenseiga instructed me on what was necessary to revive you."

"Good... then everything went as planned."  At that, he stood, then stretched, and looked at the rest of the group as he reached to the slab behind him and picked up his armor.  "Introduce me to these people."

Inuyasha spoke for the first time, then.  "Keh.  That's the bouzo, Miroku - he's a hentai, that's Sango, she's a taijiya,"  his father cocked a brow at that,  "and that's Kagome, she's a-"

When his eyes met hers again, Kagome blushed, and looked down, and the Taisho chuckled, interrupting his son.  "A miko - I can feel her power, her aura touches everything around it, calming and soothing and merging with the world around her.  Midoriko was much the same."  He turned and nodded at the group at large.  "It is a pleasure to meet you all - but I suggest that we leave this cave - it is a tad bit overcrowded.  We can all speak more outside."

Kagome was pretty much at the back, so she was the first to turn and lead the way back out, chastising herself for her blushing schoolgirl act - she was hardly a fifteen year old girl anymore.  No, she was a mature woman now - she'd turned eighteen four months ago, and after three years in the feudal era fighting the war she was fighting, she'd matured far more than most her age.

So she couldn't understand why this demon was affecting her the way he was.

Sure, he was gorgeous, and his voice was liquid sex, to put it bluntly, but still... she'd better get over this real quick like or she'd make a huge fool of herself almost immediately.

With a sigh of relief, she reached the entrance to the cave, and exited, heading for the children to give herself a little more time to calm her racing heart.

The moment she breached the opening, Rin and Shippo practically knocked her down in excitement - they wanted to see this famous demon as much as everyone else.  Oddly enough, Kirara simply sat up, as though waiting for something.

As Kagome grasped the children in hand and calmed them, the rest of the group spilled out of the cave, followed at the rear by the Taisho, and both children stared in awe as Kagome blushed again.

Sugimi looked at those that had waited outside, and then at Kagome, smiling inwardly as he noted another flush rising in her cheeks.  "So, introduce me to the rest of our companions, young miko."

Eyes wide, Kagome stuttered in surprise for a moment, then managed to force herself to function - barely.  "Oh... uh, this is Rin, and she is Sesshoumaru's ward.  And this is Shippo - he's my little kit - his parents were killed and I took him in."

Brow rising again, he turned to look at Sesshoumaru, surprised.  "Your ward, Sesshoumaru?  A human child?"  

Sesshoumaru stared back, but said nothing, and Sugimi chuckled, turning back to look at Kagome.  "And you adopted a youkai.  That is as strange as Sesshoumaru adopting a human."

Kagome frowned.  "Well, it shouldn't be, Lord Taisho.  I think it's sad that it would be so surprising - Shippo needed someone to take care of him, so I did.  That's all."

"Ah... well, I meant no offense, priestess, and please, I would prefer to be called Sugimi - the titles get old after a while."  With that, he looked down at the firecat sitting patiently to the side, and smiled.  "And Kirara - you look well - I am glad to find you still here, my old friend."

Silence fell among the group as they took in the fact that the two knew each other.

Kirara mewed, and moved forward to rub against his legs for a moment, then sauntered over to Sango and hopped onto her shoulder.

"So she is your companion, slayer.  I imagine she comes in handy in battle, does she not?"

"Hai, Sugimi-sama, she does, most certainly - but she is more than a battle buddy - she is a friend."  Sango smiled and scratched Kirara's ears, and everyone except a strangely quiet Inuyasha, and Sesshoumaru, chuckled at the loud purr that erupted from the firecat.

Rin and Shippo were still staring in awe at the new addition, but Kagome finally managed to get Shippo to put his crayons and paper away so that they could move on to wherever they were going to go.

Sesshoumaru looked at the sky thoughtfully.  It was just noon, so they had plenty of traveling time, and could get quite a ways down from the mountain.  But... they also needed to sit down and fill his father in on what was going on, and why he'd been awakened now.  And the sooner they did so, the better - so he decided that it would be best to simply go back to last night's camp, and then move on tomorrow.

"Come.  We will go back to last night's camp and discuss what to do next there."

Inuyasha opened his mouth for the first time since his father'd been woken, and Kagome could tell from the look on his face what was coming - so she broke in before he could even get a word in.

"Inuyasha,"  she gritted warningly, teeth clenched tightly together.  "Don't even start.  Sesshoumaru's suggestion was a good one, end of story.  Start moving, or I'll start saying 'it'."

He clamped his mouth shut and his ears to his head at the same time, glaring angrily at her before huffing and starting off back the way they had come.

Sugimi watched the interaction with interest, and frowned at what he was seeing from his youngest.  It didn't sit well with him.

As they all started to follow along behind the hanyou, he looked at Sesshoumaru and said,  "Explain what just happened."

Sesshoumaru sighed.  

This was going to be a long conversation.

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