InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Twist of Fate ❯ The Creature Guthrow ( Chapter 11 )

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

Chapter Eleven: The Creature Guthrow

Story: Twist Of Fate

By: Sky

InuYasha didn't want to move. The wounds on his chest stretched uncomfortable every time he attempted to take a larger breath then normal, and his shoulder throbbed.

"You know," answered a gruff voice from his right, "if you pretend to be awake, I'll give you the pain tincture Karamina left for you, and smooth the poultice on your shoulder. If you want to pretend you're awake that is." InuYasha groaned in response to Guthrows verbal prod. "That doesn't cut it InuYasha. You have to act more awake then that."

"If I felt like I could manage and get away with it, I would jump you and beat you into the ground. It has to be a crime to pick on someone who hurts." He opened violet eyes dulled by pain and sleep, and gave a wry grin to Guthrow.

"Oh good. You've shown life. I thought you were going to sleep for another day."

"Another day?" asked InuYasha, propping himself on his good arm, and wincing as he stretched the wounds on his chest. "How long have I been asleep?"

"At least four days, with thanks to Karamina."

"Thanks to Karamina?" Guthrow walked up to the boy, and handed him a cup.

"Yep. She been mixing some Sornin pollen into the poultice we've been putting onto your wounds. You might recall; she used them on you before, when she first encountered you in this cavern."

"That overpowering sweet scent."

"Yes. Kept you asleep for three days too, if I recall."

"I seem to have a record, since I've met her, to sleep for several days straight," InuYasha mumbled, as he drank from the small cup. Guthrow chuckled deep in his chest.

"She has that effect on people. She did it to me too, so don't feel too badly."

InuYasha glanced at Guthrow, and was about to tease him, when he did a double take. Before him sat not the four-footed creature he had always associated the male with, but a man wearing a wolf-skin pelt around his waist, and hair matching Guthrow's pelt with pointed ears on the side of his head (like Sesshomarus').

Guthrow turned to face his charge after he had been silent for a bit too long. He had been expecting a retort, and when he hadn't gotten it, he figured the boy was planning something else. When he turned though, he saw the boy propped on his side, cup hanging in a loose hand, and his jaw dropping slowly as he stared at him.

"What?" he asked, a bit confused by the boys look.

"You…you're….how…." InuYasha was dazed. He couldn't figure out how to phrase the question. He was just too stunned. Guthrow looked down at himself.

"So I switched forms? What of it? It's easier to change bandages with hands then paws." Guthrow was a bit angry now. He hardly ever changed his form, and he had enough respect for this boy that he had done it. Now, though, he was regretting his decision. The boys' next words though, wiped his anger right out of him.

"You can do that?"

"Didn't you know?" asked Guthrow in confusion and surprise. Did this boy really not know he could do that?

"No. I didn't. Who else can do it?"

"Full demons, even most cross-demons."

"Can Karamina do it too?"

"Yes, but you won't see her. She doesn't do it that often. She rather enjoys four feet instead of two. You've seen Kagome change. Why is this such a shock to you?"

"Kagome changed?" InuYasha thought for a moment. "I guess she did. We were so busy arguing though, it really didn't sink in." Guthrow gave an exasperated sigh. Sometimes, this boy was quite intelligent. And sometimes, he was quite dense.

"Figures. You're male alright." At the boys' confused expression, he waved him off. "You'll understand when you're older."

"Well, it's nice to know you can do that," InuYasha stated, raising his chin to try and regain some of his composure again. "Though, I don't know why someone didn't say that before."

"It's nice to know you weren't affected by the shock of information," Guthrow replied with a smirk, reaching to his side and pulling out a bowl full of poultice. InuYasha eyed it warily.

"That's not going to put me back to sleep, is it?" Guthrow gave a throaty chuckle, and then an evil grin.

"Maybe." However, the boy didn't move when he reached forward to undo the bandages on his chest. As he got closer though, they started sticking a bit. After one particular pull from his shoulder, InuYasha put a hand up.

"Give me a moment. That hurts." Guthrow nodded, and allowed the boy to take a few breaths. Finally, he continued, and the rest of the bandages were removed. InuYasha looked down at the wounds on his chest, and couldn't believe what he was looking at.

The claw marks across his chest were scabbed over, with a few patches missing where the bandages had caught and pulled them off. But where they were missing, it was still pretty well healed. He had never healed that fast before.

"Surprised?" asked Guthrow, watching the boys' reaction.

"Yes. I don't understand." Guthrow dipped two fingers into the poultice, and gently smeared it on the chest wounds.

"Simple. This stuff, is potent."

"How can a simple goo help with healing?"

"This 'goo' as you called it, is made by a kitsune. And not just any kitsune; a Silver Clansman. They have secrets I couldn't begin to dream of, and don't want to. Karamina wanted you healed fast, and therefore, she's made it so that you would heal fast. I'm not going to question it, and neither should you. Just be glad she'd rather help you, than kill you. Don't think you're getting off the hook though. You're still in trouble for earlier."

"How did I know that was coming?"

"That was reckless you realize; running off like that. You could have gotten yourself killed."

"Yeah, but I had to get out. And that damn girl…"

"Goaded you, didn't she?" He said with a knowing grin.

"Yeah," InuYasha mumbled, turning away from the older male.

"Yeah. Women have that touch, no matter what age they are. You'll discover that they never forget it either."

"She asked if I was afraid to go with her. To go with her! She's a girl! What could she possible get into that I would have to be afraid of?"

"Well, you've learned first hand, and will have the scars to prove, what sort of trouble mischief in the shape of a female can get you into. The fact that you're alive says much about both your skills. I know several pups who'd have been rendered limb from limb if they had gotten into the same situation. You should be proud that you survived, especially since you're just a human."

"I guess." They were silent for a long time; InuYasha not looking at Guthrow, and Guthrow continuing to tend to the wounds.

"How….is she anyway?" asked InuYasha cautiously, still not looking at the older male. Guthrow almost crowed with glee, but carefully kept his expression neutral and his tail still.

"Kagome is fine. She has a scar across her arm, but other then that, she is fine."

"Good." Guthrow couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, and have a bit of a quirk to his lips. InuYasha, looking out the side of his eye, saw this, and hastily continued. "Not like I'm worried or nothin'. I was just wondering if the wench was alright or not."

"Of course. I didn't think anything different." Guthrow finished bandaging the wounds then. "Alright. That should hold you now. As long as you don't go running off to face countless hoards of unnaturally sized velkir that is."

"Feh," was all Guthrow got in answer to his comment.

"Yep. I think you'll live." He turned to cover the poultice, and store it away, along with the bandages, when he sensed confusion in the boys scent. Placing the items away, he then turned, placing a hand on his hip, to face him. "What is it?"

"You're not going to yell at me?" came the boys question. Guthrow blinked several moments in surprise, then crossed his hands over his chest. He didn't understand. "You're not going to threaten to use a cane on me, ground me, send me to bed without supper? Promise that if I screw up again, that you'll kick me out?" Guthrow was getting more confused, but then he caught the tone in the boys voice that he had been desperately trying to hide; he was afraid.

"Why would I do that?" Guthrow asked, showing plainly his confusion.

"Because I screwed up again, just like all the other times. And every time, I would hear all those over and over again like a litany, until they would finally send me off to someone else." And there, was hurt and sorrow in his tone. Guthrow was finally understanding a bit more about this boy, but was still confused.

"Didn't your father protect you?"

"I never had one." That shocked him even more. Pack law required that if a male mated a female, he stayed with her for life, or at least until the pup was grown. If something happened to the male, and he was badly injured and couldn't care for his family, or was killed, the pack was supposed to be the surrogate father for the pup. They would also care for the female until her mate could care for her again himself.

"Didn't your pack raise you? I mean, I've seen villagers take on lost or parentless pups before, and raise them inside their pack. Didn't your own village pack raise you?"

"No. No one cared after my mother died." Now there was great bitterness, and Guthrow decided it was time to change the topic of conversation, or withdraw. He chose to withdraw.

"Well, now that you are feeling better, I'll get you something to eat." With that, Guthrow changed back to his four-footed stance, and dashed outside of the cavern.

He ran through the forest, not caring about the noise he made. He had to think. Karamina had taught him well to read signs and changes in voice and body language. And the boy he was in charge of, was hurt. Not in physical wounds, though he knew those hurt, but emotional ones. Originally, Guthrow was sure that he just had a boy with a bad attitude; running on his own and not listening to any authority. Now, he wasn't so sure that story was true.

"A blind pup would be able to find you, with the noise you're making," came an amused voice from his right. Guthrow stopped short, leaving some track marks in the soft soil, and turned to face the silver kitsune coming out of the dark undergrowth.

"Karamina…"

"What's the rush Guthrow? I don't think you're going to catch anything making that much noise."

"I was just thinking."

"Apparently. You only run like that when that's the case. So how's our boy?"

"The poultice you gave him is working wonders. There is still some great pain in his shoulder, which was wounded the worst. The scratches on his chest though, are scabbed and nearly finished."

"It's good to know that it's working like I wanted it to."

"Karamina, can I talk to you?" She lost her smile instantly.

"What is it?"

"That boy."

"What about him?"

"He had no pack to run with, and had no father to raise him, or a pack that took him in."

"Yes. I've heard that sometimes that occurs."

"He would never admit it, but he's still hurt. Ever since his mother died, apparently."

"Hmm. That is serious."

"What can we do for him? It would be unfair to leave him on his own. It isn't his fault he had no pack to care for him." Karamina thought about it for a moment, looking at the canopy above. Guthrow sat still, letting the kitsune run it through her complex mind. He would never fully understand how she worked, but he was content with that.

"We will do nothing." That shocked Guthrow out of his thoughts.

"What?" Karamina lowered her head, and gazed directly into his eyes. He knew that look. With eyes blazing that brilliant light blue, she was being the old knowledgeable kitsune she was known for.

"We will do nothing different then what we have been doing. Should we change our tactics now, he would surely resist us, and everything we have managed to this point would be in vain. So, we will practice patience, and we will do nothing different. Including trying to keep Kagome from him. Though it would be best if several times, we let her in. She is one of the keys to helping him. As are you."

"How do I play a part in this?"

"What you have been doing. You are someone he's starting to respect. Think of him as a lost pup from the pack, and he's choosing you as a father. Keep it up, and don't lose him. That is your role in this." Guthrow nodded.

"Yes fidre. I will do what I can." With that, he turned and padded back towards the cavern.