InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Western Lands ❯ Prologue ( Chapter 1 )

~ * Western Lands * ~
By Professor Moony

Prologue

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`Another beautiful day in the Era of Warring States,' Kagome thought dreamily, propping herself with up one elbow from her sleeping bag. The sun rays drifted lazily down the through the trees, shading small patches of forest grass a soft gold. The fox cub next to her snuggled a little deeper into her stomach against the cool spring air and Kagome stifled a giggle, knowing she really should let him catch up on his rest. Carefully, so as not to wake him, she slid herself out the sleeping bag and reached for her nearby backpack.

“Feh, where do you think you're going, bitch?” A voice demanded. Kagome shielded her eyes and peered up into the tree over her sleeping bag, just making out red and silver among the sunlight and leaves.

“Keep it down, Inuyasha!” she hissed. “I'm taking a bath.” She huffed and heaved her bookbag onto her shoulder. “And I expect you to keep away.”

“The hell-?” he asked indignantly and jumped from the tree, landing with catlike grace in front of her. Thankfully, he did seem to be careful to keep his voice down. “What would make you think that? I never follow you! Why the hell would I want to?”

Kagome stomped her foot. “Inuyasha, sit!”

“DAMMIT!” Inuyasha screeched from his crater.

Immediately, their companions were roused; Sango had jumped up and grabbed her boomerang, Miroku was clutching his staff, Kirara was growling, and the little lump in Kagome's sleeping bag began to move.

“What's wrong?” Sango asked, eyes darting to her friend, then to the crater as her shoulders slumped. “Oh gods... please don't tell me that you've already started arguing.”

“It is much too early for this,” Miroku agreed, settling himself down again and leaning his staff against the tree trunk.

“Sorry guys,” Kagome said, wringing her hands. “We were trying to keep it down-”

“She thinks I'm going to spy on her while she's bathing!” Inuyasha shouted, pushing against the spell and pulling himself up from the ground.

Sango shrugged and walked to the remains of the previous night's fire. She pulled a flint from her robes. “Well, it is a valid suggestion.”

“NO IT'S FRIGGIN NOT!”

“Momma, I'm scared!” Shippou whined, his head poking out the sleeping bag. He still looked half asleep.

“Stop it, you're scaring Shippou!” Kagome cried, sweeping up the fox cub up and holding him tightly.

“It's good for him!”

“ENOUGH!” Miroku erupted, stepping between them and holding his hands out. “Miss Kagome, go take your bath. Inuyasha, go hunt some breakfast.”

“Feh, fine. But I'm going to go in the FRIGGIN OPPOSITE DIRECTION!” Inuyasha roared, before stalking into the trees.

“FINE!” Kagome shouted after him, turning on her heel and storming off.

The walk cooled her down. Why were they even fighting? Kagome wondered. It seemed so silly. It was probably just all the tension in the air. She sighed, looking down at Shippou's head. The fox cub had fallen asleep again, his head against her chest. She stroked his fiery hair. What would the day hold?

She saw the hot spring just ahead, and just the sight of the rising steam made her tension ease. She made a bed of grass and flowers and lay Shippou in it, then arranged her things on the bank.

Tentatively, she stepped into the steaming water and lowered herself into it. Sitting on a small shelf of rock, just enjoying the scenery and the sounds of the forest, she touched the pendant - the Jewel of Four Souls - around her neck. Just last week, amidst a lengthy monologue of passion, Kouga the wolf prince had presented her with his shards. She smirked, massaging shampoo into her hair, recalling some of the more memorable lines and Inuyasha's angry reactions. At one point he had even-

“Momma?”

Kagome whirled, hands still her hair, then sighed with relief. “Shippou, you scared me!” she laughed. “What's wrong, sweetie?”

Shippou looked around himself and sat up. “When will it happen? The fight with Naraku?”

The day seemed to darken around her. All that remained of the Jewel was Naraku's half. She had been trying very hard to distract herself, she thought as she washed the shampoo out of her hair, but she never really could take her mind off of it for too long. One day very soon, if not even today, the final battle would begin. The rest of the group sensed it too.

“I don't know,” she answered finally.

“Do you think we're strong enough?”

Kagome smiled softly, looking into Shippou's curious green eyes. She wanted to cover things up, tell him that of course they were strong enough - they had Inuyasha with them, after all. But Shippou, though a cub, was still a member of the group and deserved to know the truth. “I don't know.”

She shook her head, looking down into the water at her reflection. She looked so much older than the young slip of a girl who had tumbled through the well four years before. Much older and refined. A bit like Kikyo. But, unlike Kikyo, were her holy priestess powers enough to defeat Naraku?

She hoped so.

She glanced at Shippou, who was now scampering up the bank swiping at butterflies.

For his sake, she hoped so.

She pulled herself from the water, toweling herself off and pulling on her jeans and sweater. They were much more practical than her old school uniform. It was always so embarrassing to fight demons with a skirt flying up and, besides, it was not as though she was at school much anyway.

“Ready to go, sweetie?” she asked, patting Shippou on the head.

“I guess,” the cub moaned, peering at the butterfly caged in his fingers.

The two walked back to camp in relative silence, Kagome enjoying the tranquility of the trees and Shippou regaining his energy and bouncing nearly everywhere. It was only when she could see the camp through a gap in the trees did she stop and pause.

There was someone else in their camp.

Several someones, to be exact, some shorter than others.

“Kagome!” Sango exclaimed as she saw her friend walk out of the wood. She rushed to her and grabbed her hands. “Lord Sesshoumaru has offered us his help in defeating Naraku!” she whispered into her ear.

Kagome started, peering around her friend. Miroku was still napping by the tree, Inuyasha was crouched by the fire, and Shippou was watching the meat cook and trying to mimic Inuyasha's stance. And there, sure enough, was the pale, imposing figure of the Lord of Western Lands. He was leaning against a tree, gracefully devouring a chunk of deer. Of course, the young lord could probably hear their whispers with his keen demonic senses, but he continued eating without pause.

“Miss Kagome!” a high-pitched voice shrieked. Kagome turned and saw Rin, Lord Sesshoumaru's adorable gap-toothed ward, tackle her waist. She remembered the little girl from the very few times that she had accidentally met with Lord Sesshoumaru's party on her own, usually when she was returning to the well by herself from long distances. Those few times she had spent hours with them, picking flowers with Rin. Now the girl was clinging her, a wide smile on her face. “Do you want to pick some flowers with Rin?” she asked breathlessly. She looked older, perhaps she was eight or nine now.

“Not right now,” Kagome said, running her fingers through the little girl's hair. “Maybe in a little while.”

“Okay!” Rin laughed and ran through the trees into the meadow.

Kagome turned to Lord Sesshoumaru and bowed, knowing that it was polite in these times to acknowledge a lord before anyone else. “Good morning, Lord Sesshomaru.”

Lord Sesshomaru inclined his head without looking at her and resumed eating.

“You've decided to join us?” she asked, shaking out her towel.

“For now,” he said. “This Sesshoumaru comes and goes when he pleases.”

Kagome smirked and supposed that was about much commitment as anyone could hope to get out of him.

“About time you got back,” Inuyasha interrupted. “The damn deer's finished cooking.”

“At least I bathe once in a while,” she muttered, hanging the towel over a branch to dry.

“I heard that!”

Miroku coughed loudly, catching their attention. Maybe he had not been sleeping after all. “Pardon me, but I believe that since Miss Kagome has returned, this may be a good time to begin discussing strategy.”

Everyone nodded as Sango cut Kagome a chunk of deer meat and handed it to them. Kagome sat down to eat it, Shippou on one side and Rin snuggling into her from the other.

“The first obstacle involves actually luring Naraku out to meet you in battle,” Lord Sesshoumaru began in his toneless drawl. “Your portion of the Jewel has been, as this Sesshoumaru believes it to be, completed for at least a moon. Obviously, Naraku is biding his time to meet you until he is certain that he can be victorious.”

“So what do you think we should do?” Inuyasha huffed. “We don't even know where he is.”

“We need bait,” Miroku said.

“Precisely,” Lord Sesshoumaru smirked, his golden eyes sweeping over Kagome as he sat himself gracefully on the ground. “I believe the young priestess should excel at the part.”

All eyes fell on Kagome.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked.

Lord Sesshoumaru's face remained as impassive as she had always remembered it. She studied his face for ay kind of emotion at all, even a hint of what he could be thinking, her eyes running over the twin crimson stripes on his cheeks and the blue moon on his forehead. No emotion was to be found. “We need to put you somewhere exposed but far away from villages, completely unguarded. No doubt Naraku will be drawn to such an easy opportunity.”

Kagome gritted her teeth. Did Lord Sesshoumaru think she was an easy opportunity - that she was weak?

“No way,” Inuyasha suddenly growled. “We are NOT putting Kagome needlessly into danger.”

“I'll be fine, Inuyasha!” she snapped. “And it's not needless.”

“Like hell it's not! What if something happens to you? We can track Naraku down, it shouldn't be too hard if he's the only other person in Japan carrying shards!”

“That could take years,” Sango sighed.

“I DON'T CARE!”

“Please be reasonable, Inuyasha,” Miroku said. “Miss Kagome has proven time and time again that she can take care of herself.”

Thank you! Kagome thought. At least Miroku did not think that she was weak.

Inuyasha's face twisted between consent and refusal. Kagome smiled lightly, touched by how much Inuyasha cared. Was it possible that he liked her the same way she liked him?

“Fine. But I WILL be nearby and I WILL be watching. If I sense any sort of danger, I will not be restrained.”

“Naturally,” Lord Sesshoumaru shrugged. “That is, after all, the entire point of an ambush.”

“Shut up,” the half-blood mumbled and thrust his hands into the sleeves of his outer shirt.

“Now, what kinds of demons should be expecting and what do we need to prepare?” Sango asked to the group.

It ended up being a long talk, lasting well past the sun had set and Rin had bounded back into camp with flower chains galore and insisted that everyone wear one. The two children were put to bed in Kagome's sleeping bag. Sesshoumaru had, not surprisingly, turned out to be an excellent addition to the group. He explained to them in his deep voice many military tactics and how they could use various strategies to their advantage. Jaken the toad demon bumbled along eventually, dragging Ah-Un by a tether and cursing his own miserable existence. A swift kick in the face from his lord had led him to a string of apologies, and yet another had him in perturbed silence.

And, far away in a snowy mountain fortress, their enemy heard every word through a magic mirror.

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Author's Note: I realize this chapter was slow-goings, but I can guarantee the chapters to come will be much more exciting. This was more of an introduction than anything else. Anyhow, in this story I will not be using any Japanese (besides proper names, like people, places, or swords). Please don't think I am trying to be a fire starter, but I think it's silly when American authors use only select Japanese in their stories (are the stories in English or Japanese? I wish they would choose one or the other, but not both). In any case, please let me know if you like it so I know if I should continue.

Author's Note II: I revised this chapter.

Disclaimer!: And, let it be noted, that I do not own nor claim to own Inuyasha, nor his totally righteous buddies, nor his stuck-up brother, nor anybody else including that hot wolf prince. Or the plot, I don't own the plot either. Basically, I pretty much own nothing pertaining to Inuyasha, except a little keychain I bought at the mall for my friend and even that's probably copyrighted (by someone who is not me). Well, I think that covers just about everything. Don't sue. Thanks.