InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Time Soul Exodus ❯ Chapter 2: =First Battle, First Blood= ( Chapter 2 )

Written by: Zelix

A/N: Sorry it took so long, here's the second chapter for the few of you who are actually interested into this story, heh… anyway, from this point on the length of my chapters will change all the time, some will be long, some short while others are going to be SUPER long, I will keep you notified about the length of the chapters at the ending of each chapter so you will have the general idea of how long it will take for the next one to come out… also, this story is mainly focused on Arcerdo's adventures in the past but I will tell what's happening in the present too, just not so often, anyway, enjoy, read and review!

Disclaimer: Still don't own nothing and never will… except my fabulous OC :)

"Talking"

`Thinking'

[Check the bottom for details]

*Flashback/switch in time or place*

=Used when mentioning a technique, attack or something important=

If this was a TV series:

Opening: Chihiro Yonekura - Butterfly Kiss

Ending: Hikaru no Go - Bokura no Boken

Time Soul Exodus

Chapter 2: =First Battle, First Blood=

Arc was taking in the scenery of the world 500 years ago… the scents, the air, the scenery… it was all so… different and more, natural than the modern era… his Youkai blood was literally howling with excitement because here it felt more at home than anywhere else, he too wanted to howl but before he could think any further, a loud scream was heard.

His eyes snapped open immediately and he looked around frantically, where did it come from? He then thought as he closed his eyes slowly and began to breathe slowly: `Okay… calm down, remember what dad taught me about all this…'

*Flashback*

"Too slow!" Was the last thing Arc heard before his father pounced out of nowhere and pinned him to the ground, they were in the woods at the moment and this was the 10th time his dad had caught him like this… to be honest, it was really getting onto his nerves.

Arc growled dangerously and shouted to his dad above him: "Dad! I was trying to take a piss and every time I leave the camp site for even a minute you pounce out like that and…!!" His dad just growled back, it was an order from father to his pup to shut up and pay attention, it worked too, Inuyasha then replied with a stern voice: "Son, do you think the enemy gives a shit if you're alone in the woods no matter what the reason is? If you're alone or un-aware, any Youkai or human that wants you dead could attack at any moment, anywhere and anytime, if I was one just now… you would be dead and your mate would also die from heart ache soon after your death, is that what you want?"

He couldn't reply to that one, Arc wanted to protest but he couldn't find any flaw in that logic… his dad was right, were he to die, his mate Kagura would also die soon after from a broken heart… he then said with a lower voice, sounding more like a whimper, he didn't normally sound like this but the time of being separated from his mate was making his moods swing from one another like he was pregnant: "I know that father… it's just… I've been trying to use my senses but it doesn't work at all… sometimes I wonder if I really CAN go to the past… I don't have the skills to survive…"

Inuyasha growled again, though before his son could wail out anymore he did something quite drastic, he lifted his son up from his collar and head butted him right on the forehead, after a moment of rolling on the ground in pain his son turned to look at him with a look that would either freeze or kill someone where they stand… anyone but his dad though, he hadn't endured all of Kagome's glares for nothing (Though he's still trying to figure out how to endure them) so his sons glare had pretty much no effect at all, he just said sternly: "If you're through wailing out like a little girl, let me remind you that it was YOU who INSISTED on going after YOUR mate that had been taken to the past and YOU agreed onto this TRAINING so you could survive out there, remember now? Or do I have to give you another head butt to help you refresh your memory, eh?"

Arcs glare died down and was replaced with a shocked expression, it was true, he HAD insisted on going after his mate and his dad had literally dragged him out here so he would be ready for whatever he would face there… then he realised that he had sounded like a little girl just now and literally smacked himself three times to compose himself, then he replied with a deep sigh: "You're right dad, sorry about that… I guess my `mood swings' got the best of me there for a moment…" Inuyasha just put his arm on his sons shoulder and said with a smirk: "I know what you mean brat, (Arc glares, he just chuckles) one time when your mother went missing after our mating I remember how I acted, heh, I could have put a hysteric pregnant woman to shame with my mood swings, it's just a natural reaction for you to be like this, annoying as it is but it's in-evitable since you've been separated from your mate for so long…" Arc just nodded and smiled, when it came to things like these, his dad really knew how to comfort him.

Inuyasha then said with a teacher like voice: "Son, your instincts are good, maybe eve better than mine… though that still doesn't take away the fact you're horrible predictable…" Arc just made an `oi!' sound and his dad continued after chuckling: "But even though your instincts and senses are good, you lack the natural ability to use them since Youkai learn how to use them at early childhood and grow by using them constantly, since you haven't started to use them until recently it will take a while before you get used to them completely… but the main problem you have is your human blood, a 3/4 of your body's blood is human so it gets scared and uncertain very easily, which will make you lose your ability to calmly use your senses and instincts, leaving you wide open in battle… so, the best tip I can give you is this: Don't get panicked or frantic, calm down and let your senses take over, both in battle and in life itself, do this for a while and your instincts and senses become a natural part of you and you'll use them without even realising it… but remember, it will take time."

*Flashback ends*

Arc kept thinking with his eyes closed: `So, as long as I keep my head cool and don't let my panic or fear get the best of me, I can use my senses to they're fullest… now… where did that scream come from…?' The following that happened was something that took Arc quite a lot of time to get used to… he still isn't completely used to it but he's getting there, when he let his sense of hearing and smell take over, it felt like his eyes were everywhere around the forest… as if he could see everything, it was like the eye in his mind had opened or something similar, every scent and sound had a colour of it's own and he could feel his mind moving throughout the forest with a speed unlike any other, it felt like ages to see everything but in real world it was taking only a few seconds… then he found it, the sound and scent of a little girl, barely 6-8 years old, she was running from something… something big, smelly and angry… they were… he snapped his eyes open and looked to his right and mentally said: `THERE!' and with that, he began to run to that direction, he did not use his Youkai speed since they were close enough and he did not want someone to see him running like a demon… the warning his dad and mom had given him was:

"Whenever you can, DON'T use your Youkai speed or strength… you're going alone and the people in there might still be recovering from the war between human and Youkai so you mustn't draw attention to yourself… so try to use them as little as possible, understand?"

That was the reason why he had also spent his human nights training like a madman, he needed to know the limits of his human side so he wouldn't give himself away, though his holy (I'll be using the term `holy' rather than `purifying', I'll use both of them but they are one and the same, okay?) powers could hide his demon aura and scent he didn't want to chance anything, especially since he had just arrive here.

As he kept running through the forest, making sure he wouldn't trip on any rocks or roots, he finally arrived at the area where the scents and sounds were coming from, his mind quickly took in what was happening: There was a little girl on the ground, unconscious… her head had a small injury in it, she must have tripped over a root or something and hit her head. Then, above her, there was a huge… and I mean HUGE insect like looking Youkai… it looked like a gigantic bee, with orange and black stripes, red eyes, antennas etc. you know, a regular bee? Except the little shit eater was almost the size of a hut and had six `legs' and a stinger, though it's mouth was not very bee like, it's mouth could open to reveal a row of very sharp teeth and the smell that emanated from it's mouth was least to say… disgusting, though he did wonder, why was a Youkai here? Shouldn't they be hiding because they lost the war?

Arc didn't have any time left to think about a strategy or anything because the bee was now flying closer to the unconscious little human girl with it's stinger exposed and ready to stab, Arc dropped the backpack onto the ground being the good guy he had always been (What a shocker… LOL) he pulled Toukijin from his back while it was still in it's sheath, since he couldn't make it transform he had to use it like that and ran straight towards the bee with his Youkai speed this time, since there was no one watching and the girl wasn't conscious so who would complain? When Arc used his Youkai speed he was pretty fast (Those who read "Loneliness of the Free Wind" should know it) and before the bee could hit the little girl Arc managed to come from the side of the bee and brought his Toukijin with a heavy {BAM} straight onto the bees head, making it let out a very angry sound and fly up, away from them for now… Toukijins scabbard was hard like a diamond so hitting someone or something with it would bring a very heavy level of pain onto whoever or whatever he was hitting.

The bee looked down onto the new enemy form it's position above them, it let out a heavy, angry like sound (I have no idea what bees sound like so…) and kept looking at them. Arc in the meantime looked at the girl one more time and seeing that she wasn't hurt he directed his gaze back at the bee Youkai above him, he remembered what his dad and mom had taught him about insect Youkai:

"Listen son, there are VERY many kinds of Youkai in the world, most of them should be extinct because of the war but there are some that will keep surviving no matter what, insect Youkais are most likely some of them, insect youkai are not very smart and most likely not very strong either… but they can be very great in numbers and can be sometimes be faster than sound itself, so if you meet an insect Youkai, remember these basic rules…"

Arc then began to think: `Firstly, talking to them is a waste of time, they are so stupid they don't know how to speak and cannot understand words either… so kill them if they attack you… secondly…' Before he had time to think the bee suddenly flew down straight towards him with it's stinger… it was so fast! Arc could barely see it coming in time but he still barely, just and just in time managed quickly roll to his side to avoid it, though it did cut some of his hair off, as he stopped rolling he kept thinking as the insect flew up again and began to get ready to attack again: `Secondly, because they are stupid they have no fear of death, they will attack you regardless of who you are…' That was when the bee came down again but this time he didn't see it coming in time and didn't have time to dodge, so instead he put Toukijin horizontally in front of him and with a luck worthy to be called devils own luck, the stinger hit the scabbard instead of him… though, because of the speed and strength the bee had used to attack, Arc soon noticed that the force of the hit didn't crack the scabbard of Toukiji but it did send him flying back first into a tree.

"Uurgh…!!" was the only sound he got when he hit it, hard, causing the trees bark to crack slightly, the force of the hit though sent him flying forwards and landing onto his hands and knees, his right clutching Toukiji really hard, he could feel his back aching, it had hurt but being a quarter Youkai had it's advantages, because had he been a human that impact might have broken his back… he then looked at the bee while it got ready for another attack and he could feel his mind starting to go numb, his adrenalin was now starting to skyrocket and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest… he hated to admit it, but he was getting scared… this was his first real battle and it was against a real Youkai… he hadn't expected that he had to fight for the first time this soon, with the life of a innocent child in his hands too… he could feel his legs starting to shake and his mind was beginning to panic, the thought that if he failed was now seeping into his head too…

It was really getting to be too much for him, he could feel his breath shaking as his he saw in slow motion as the bee began it's third attack run… he also thought of running away, that thing was too fast… and if he didn't run it would kill him! He was still on his hands and knees and found he couldn't move… fear had made him freeze onto where he was… then he saw in slow motion as the bee began to dive towards him yet again, he decided… he had to run away, this might just be an insect Youkai but it still had more experience in battle than he had and… {Running away? Coward…} he suddenly heard in his head, he thought with confusion as the world around him seemed to stop completely: `Who… who's there? Who said that?!' The voice sounded taunting as it replied: {Who… who's there? You sound like a wimp… bloody coward…} Arc then suddenly, he wasn't sure how but he suddenly realised that the voice that was talking to him was in fact… his Youkai side… his own blood…

Arc then felt and saw something: memories, memories of both his time with Kagura and his training with his parents… his feelings that he felt when he was training… the feelings he had when he knew that he was leaving home… ending with one image, the look of his parents when they saw him with his mate, Kagura… that look of utter pride, warmth, happiness that signalled: =We're proud of you son…= Then he heard that voice say again with a snort: {So all that was for nothing? This is your first battle and already you're giving up? Coward, you are not worthy of having a mate or a family like that, nor are you worthy of having the blood of your father… you sicken me.} That was it, something inside Arc snapped, suddenly, his blood began to boil, his instincts were suddenly becoming very heated up… then, he suddenly thought: `Run away? Me? From an insect!?' Arc then suddenly shot onto his feet and threw Toukijin spinning into the air and with a look of cold concentration in his eyes he concentrated his holy powers onto his palms, creating a small, skin tight `shield' into them while his eyes stayed dead focused on the insects movements…

He feel his obsidian eyes becoming slits as the bees movements became slower and slower in his eyes, he could see it's wings moving up and down, he could hear the sound it emitted loud and clear and he even saw the fur that it had move with the wind… his eyes stayed focused on one point though: It's stinger, as it slowly came closer and closer… he could see it's white black surface shining in the sunlight, he could smell the scent of pure poison it had in it's tip and he could feel the winds movement around it… it was like a screeching of a car that was trying to stop at high speed… he heard his own heartbeat, with each beat the bee came closer and closer… just a few more inches… {NOW!!}

If someone had seen what happened next they would have gaped at the sight of it: Arc, with a movement that even the sharpest of eyes couldn't possibly see he grabbed the stinger with both his palms from the sides of it, right after he grabbed it, his feet locked into position and wouldn't budge one bit, he was not only holding the stinger no more than a few inches away from his body but he was also keeping the bee stuck in mid air, his palms were smoking from the poison but the holy powers he had in his palms were working like isolation gloves, keeping the poison from making contact with his skin, he didn't know how he was using them like that but right now he wasn't thinking, the bee was trying to push forward with all it's might but Arc wouldn't move an inch from where he stood, his own muscles were fully tensed and his blood was boiling with power… then, the next thing that happened would have been unbelievable if someone had actually seen it, right when you would think Arc wouldn't be able to hold on any longer, he suddenly jerked his arms sharply to his right, turning the stinger in his arms very sharply but before the bees body managed to turn to the right properly Arc then suddenly twisted his arms to the left, making the stinger first crack and then… {Snap}

The stinger suddenly broke off, making the bee suddenly jerk backwards from the sudden, yet extreme pain… but before it had the chance to even make a sound, Arc turned the now loose stinger into stabbing position and with both of his arms he thrust the stinger straight into the bees `throat'… he wasn't sure if they had any but it was better to think that way, the bee's wings stopped moving and it fell down onto the ground and began to violently jerk back and forth, from one side to another as it was dying from it's own poison… Arc had a feral grin and the look of pure battle joy in his eyes, then he extended his right arm to his side as the Toukijin landed on it (He had tossed it into the air, remember?) and after grabbing onto with both his hands he lifted it above his head and said with a rough voice: "You low level insect, how dare you attack me…? Now DIE!!" then he brought the Toukijin straight onto the insects head, squashing it like it was a water melon and he could see and feel the hot, sticky green blood splashing all over his clothes and slightly onto his face.

The insects body jerked for a few seconds until going completely limb and stopped moving completely, it's scent becoming that of death, Arc still had that feral grin in his face and his eyes were still slits, his breath was heavy and his body felt hot… then his eyes became normal again and he could feel breath returning to normal, that was when he fully realised what he had done… he slowly, hesitantly looked down onto his sword and clothes… sure enough, the green blood was there, the scent of death and blood was all over him, his arms were trembling and his brain felt numb… he had… he had just… killed… for the first time… and… he had… loved it… he could remember it perfectly, the feeling of pure joy when he stabbed that bee, the rush of adrenalin when he smashed it's head… the way he was thinking at that time… was that… was that how a Tai-Youkai thinks in battle? It sees it's opponents as inferiors? It loves to kill like this? He then remembered what his mom had said to him:

"Arc, you must be careful when you fight… you know that when your dad loses his sword and his life is threatened he turns full Youkai? In your case, it might also happen, if you allow fear and panic overwhelm you when you fight, your demon blood might take over and then there is no telling what will happen… your fathers sword kept him from going full Youkai but you… there might not be anything that will keep you from transforming…"

Arc suddenly fell onto his ass, it had happened… he must have… he must have transformed into… no… that wasn't it, if he had fully transformed, then he shouldn't be able to remember anything of it and… maybe… maybe it was because he hadn't fully transformed… he thought: `It might be because… I was so overwhelmed by my own fear that my Youkai blood slightly took over to save me… maybe because I really wasn't in a life-threatening situation it didn't take over completely… maybe it just wanted to feel the `joy' of battle since I came here to the feudal era where it wasn't so peaceful, when power was needed to survive… yeah, that must be it, it was just a `spur of the moment' kind of thing… yeah, that's gotta be it, next time I will just have to stay cool and not give into panic, okay… now then… what was i… oh shit, the girl!' He then looked a bit to his side and saw the girl, she was still unconscious but other than that she was okay… he sighed with relief…

He then looked at the girl more closely, she indeed looked no more older 7 or 8… she had a neck long chest nut brown hair and her skin was slightly pale… must be from hunger or something… she was laying face down on the ground and seemed to be clutching onto something, Arc slowly and gently rolled her onto her back before picking her up and cradled her carefully against his chest, she was wearing a tattered and torn up kimono and was barefooted… her face was bruised and with his empathy side (A small side thing of being a Quarter Youkai with holy powers, he can feel other persons pain and feelings if he tries) he could feel she was in pain, he could feel her leg, it was an inch away from breaking and he could smell small traces of blood, she didn't have any serious wounds but he had get her help or those wounds might get infected… while holding her Arc could feel her free arm clutching onto his kimono and she mumbled something, it was barely audible but he heard it loud and clear: "Mama…" Arc frowned, he knew the feeling… then his nose picked up a weird scent, lot's of scents to be precise… more insects! Crap… but how? Then he remembered something else he'd been taught about insect Youkais:

"Brat, there is one VERY critical thing you must always remember about insects, they NEVER move alone, an average group they move in ranges from 5-10 so if you kill one, you can expect that the others will be there in a matter of moments, in those cases, either hide or run, since you don't have any experience on fighting a large group of enemies."

He didn't argue with that one, without thinking any further he ran deeper into the forest after quickly recovering his backpack, he hid along with the unconscious girl into the bushes near the dead bee Youkai and watched with keen eyes what they would do… he could smell and feel them, there were at least 6 of them… he noticed his breath was getting fast and erratic and if he kept it up they might hear him, so he willed himself to calm down, he kept the girl close to his chest and was rubbing her back soothingly, trying to keep her warm and comfortable so she wouldn't make any sudden noises… then those insects came into view…

Two of them were similar to the one he had killed but the 4 others were completely different… they weren't yellow and black but instead they were grey with dark blue stripes… they were even taller and had four wings instead of two and they had two quite strong looking legs too… at the end of they're two long arms, they had only two as where the other had many, at the end of those two arms were large, `sickle' like looking blades, just seeing them made him flinch mentally, they looked really deadly… they also had stingers but the poison in them smelled different… he couldn't put his finger on what it was though…

The six other insects were buzzing around the dead one… as if trying to see what happened to it, then Arc noticed something strange about they're way of moving… the larger, grey and dark blue ones (Which will be labelled `soldiers') seemed to be touching with they're own antennas the other ones antennas… what the hell were they doing? That was when the orange and black striped bees (Labelled `Scouts') descended enough to pick up they're fallen comrade, they then flew off but two of the `soldiers' stayed behind, Arc was beginning to see the pattern, when he killed that scout, it must have sent out some kind of `distress' signal so the others would find it, then, the two remaining scouts take the body somewhere, most likely to the nest and two soldiers escort them, while the two others stay behind to find the one responsible for the death of they're comrade… crap, this wasn't good… it wouldn't be easy… no, it would be downright impossible to sneak out of the forest with the little girl and not get detected… but, looking down on the little girl, seeing her pale face and that pained look… he slowly got up and began to move very slowly and silently through the woods, away from the bees and then figure out just HOW to get out of this forest… from what his mom and dad had told him, there should be a village near here… the very village where his mom and dad met for the first time… he would have chuckled for the irony of the situation if he didn't need to be quite… his mom had ran into Youkai trouble when she first arrived and now he too ran into MAJOR Youkai trouble when he first arrived… how ironic is that?

`Trouble on arrival, just like my mom… I just wonder, why are there Youkai in this forest? Even the stupidest of Youkais should know to stay hidden, humans won the war and… now that I think about it, this forest doesn't have almost any traces of human scent at all! There are old scents but no new ones… something is wrong in this era, something has gone wrong… I can feel it.' Thought Arc as he kept moving through the thick bushes, trying not to make any kind of sounds, he also wondered why there weren't any animal scents here either? He couldn't smell anything, no deer's, no boars, no birds… only insects… he gulped, this was worse than he thought… somehow, he just knew that… things would go from bad to worse any moment now…

To Be Continued…

Preview of the next chapter:

"Forest of crawling with insects, a little girl I have saved…

The unknown world around me filled with unknown beings and mysteries…

This was where my journey began, my journey through the world that for some reason no one remembers… It is my lone Exodus…" - Arcerdo Higurashi

Next chapter:

=Little girls story=

A/N: Okay, there we go… not the best possible but I hope it will do, see ya in the next chapter!

- Zelix, please read and review.