The Little Tin Hanyou
A/U A story based on my favourite fairytale. Please read and review.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters… except the ones I've invented…
The five year old twins Inka and Suki were making the usual fuss about getting into bed. So much fuss and panic that their father gave up trying and called their mother in despair.
A young woman walked in gracefully and pecked her distraught husband on the check. "Don't worry darling… leave the kids to me" she said as she turned to her children. "Now then" she said sternly "if you don't get into your beds immediately there'll be no bedtime story… and tonight I was going to tell you a very nice fairytale about toys which came to life ..."
She really had a way with kids… in seconds she had their full attention. Without further ado they jumped into their bed, eyes fixed on their mother, with their cute little ears perked up waiting for her expectantly to go on. She smiled warmly at her children as she tucked them carefully under the blankets, then sat down on the side of the bed and started her tale…
Story
It all began in a little boy's nursery. His name was Shippo and he loved toys and had lots of them. In fact he had a nursery full of different toys including his sister's old dolls and dolls houses. Shippo's father traveled a lot and brought him lots of different toys from his travels.
One stormy winter's night, Shippo's father came home from yet another long voyage. He brought his son a nicely carved wooden box. Shippo opened it and to his delight found a set of 12 tin soldiers.
"Oh they're beautiful daddy!" exclaimed Shippo happily.
"They're demon soldiers from an old era" said Shippo's father and he proceeded to explain to his son about their clothing and katanas.
"What about this one?" asked Shippo taking out a tin soldier distinctly different from the rest. His robbing was the same as the others' but the most particular thing about him were his small puppy-like ears atop his head.
"That's strange" mused his father turning the toy in his hands "This is a hanyou, not a demon… he must have gotten packed with the demon soldiers by mistake." He said as he carefully replaced him into the box.
"Well I like him best of all!" exclaimed Shippo as he took his new toys into the nursery and placed the box on the small shelf near his other soldiers. He removed the box's lid.
"There" he said proudly "now you can meet the other soldiers and make friends."
He walked out of the nursery and shut the door. Then he tiptoed back and pepped through a small crack in the door hoping to catch one of his toys moving. But like every night…nothing…no movement whatsoever. He sighed softly and went to bed. Minutes flew by and soon enough the clock in the nursery struck midnight.
An ethereal light appeared in the nursery and one by one the toys came to life. The little windows in the dolls' houses lit up and the dolls walked out of their houses to greet each other. To giant bears on the mantelpiece locked themselves in a warm bear hug, the clockwork engine and cars sped about on the floor. The toy soldiers straightened themselves out in a row and the captain took himself to the front to inspect his subordinates.
The new demon soldiers got out of their box, marched in front of the other soldiers and raised their katana's in salute. The hanyou was left behind having got his ears stuck on the string tying him to the back of the box. He had the rest of the toys laughing a t his futile attempts to get out until a female warrior doll took pity on him and threw her giant bone boomerang successfully cutting him free from the string. The hanyou fell out from the box with a thud and turned red as his clothing in a mixture of anger and embarrassment as the gathering of toys laughed at him.
He went to join his fellow soldiers in march but both demon and human toy soldiers turned him away, shooing him like a dog due to his puppy ears, calling him a half breed. This was no news to him. He had been made fun of wherever he'd been… at the toymaker who made him, at the shop… everyone treated him like an outcast. He hung his head and stalked off to a dimly lit corner, sat cross-legged with a frown and watched the toys laughing, playing and having fun. He saw the warrior woman who had freed him and was about to go and talk to her when a young Buddhist monk doll walked over to her and tugged at her bear-skin ragged skirt. She turned angrily and slapped him hard and walked off with the monk doll following her like a shadow.
The hanyou looked round the nursery when he caught site of a beautifully lit fairy-tale-like castle in the far off corner. He edged closer to look at the castle trying to pass unnoticed by keeping to the sides. He got closer and saw that it was quite big with ivory white walls and blue turrets. The large central door opened, and out waltzed a petite , black-haired ballerina doll –
"Oh just like you mommy!" cried Inka and Suki in unision "a ballerina and black hair and blue/grey eyes."
"yes…yes… she also had blue/grey eyes … now will you let me get on with the story or shall I stop here tonight?" asked their mother…
This successfully silenced the twins so she went on…
'The ballerina was dressed in a white tutu and had a silver tiara with pearls and white roses. She had tiny fairy wings attached to her dress that spread out when she pirouetted on her white satin pointed ballet shoes.
The hanyou stared at her… she was so beautiful and graceful that he couldn't stop staring at her whilst she danced away into the night.
She finished her dance with a graceful bow and spotted the hanyou. She smiled sweetly at him and was about to walk over to say hi but something held her back. A toy had stepped out from the shadows and grabbed her roughly by the hand. It was a large warrior doll dressed in a baboon pelt and even his face was hidden behind the mask. He tried to make the ballerina dance with him while she struggled to get free…
"Let me go Naraku!" she said with a touch of anger in her voice.
"Not a chance my dear" he replied in a low and scary voice "Now dance for me!" he added as he tried to force her into a spin. This caused the ballerina who was trying to pull away to twist on her ankle and she fell clutching her ankle in pain.
Naraku laughed evilly "That'll teach you not to go against my wishes little girl!"
He was about to grab her hands once more to get her to stand but the hanyou jumped in front of the ballerina pointing his katana at him.
"Go away!" he growled at him menacingly.
"And who might you be dog boy?" he laughed at him
"I said GO AWAY!" repeated the hanyou, his eyes flashing red in anger.
"Oh how sweet… the pwetty ballewina has a pet dog" he sneered "Well, well…until tomorrow then" he added as he turned around and walked away "This is not the end dog boy!"
The hanyou sheeted his sword and turned to help the ballerina up. "Are you all right?" he asked
The ballerina smiled at him "I'm ok thanks to you" she said as she accepted his hand. She tried to stand but fell back holding her ankle in pain.
"Here let me help you with that" he said. Taking a handkerchief from his pocket he bandaged her ankle securely then lifted her in his arms and carried her to the castle door. An old butler door came at the door to help the ballerina in.
"Thank you so much" she said. "Please come see me tomorrow" she asked with a smile. Then she hugged him close and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you again" she said and disappeared through the castle door.
The hanyou stood hammered to the spot with a deep red blush on his face, eyes fixed at the closed door.
The night passed away and the clock struck 5:00. The toys scattered about finding the places and positions they had been left in the night before. At the last stroke of five, the light in the nursery and the dolls' houses went out and everything was quite when the maid came in the morning to clean.
The day passed pleasantly. The little boy played with his new toys all day long. He particularly liked the hanyou tin soldier fir the simple reason that he stood out from the rest.
That evening, Shippo, placed the hanyou soldier on the window sill, just above the fairy castle. Much to his delight, the hanyou could see the pretty ballerina doll standing at the castle window. They stood looking at each other, motionless, but with a distinct smile on their faces.
Night came and on the stroke of twelve the nursery once more came to life. Dolls pottered happily in their houses, played and showed off their pretty dresses, trains and coaches ran around after each other, soldiers march, bears hugged and played and balls bounced around. From the castle window, the ballerina waved at the hanyou and then danced her way out of the castle. The hanyou picked a small white flower from the pot on the window sill and jumped down next to the ballerina.
"Your ankle seems to have healed well" he said as he watched her twirl on pointed toes.
"Yes thanks very much for your help" she replied as she stopped her dance and gave him back his handkerchief.
"You're very welcome" said the blushing hanyou "Here… this is for you" he added handing her the tiny white flower.
"It's beautiful" she exclaimed "Thank you so much" as she placed the flower securely in her hair and smiled sweetly at the ever blushing hanyou.
Not far off a music box started plating a waltz. The ballerina's eyes show brightly "Will you dance with me?" she asked softly with a curtsey.
"I…I…" the hanyou stammered embarrassed. The ballerina laughed merrily and took his hands without waiting for an answer. She placed on hand on her tiny waist and kept the other in her own hand. Tentatively she started to dance in simple steps, moving the hanyou with her. Soon enough the hanyou got the hang of the dance and together they danced all night long chatting and laughing like they'd known each other for years.
From the shadows, a pair of green eyes watched them enviously whilst planning a way to separate them.
As the clock struck five, the ballerina and the hanyou hugged their farewell and took their places. The ballerina at the caste window and the hanyou on the window sill, smiling contentedly at each other. They spent all of the next day in the exact same position except the few hours Shippo played with the tin hanyou.
The maid came in to clean, for the second time that day, late in the evening after Shippo spilt his hot chocolate on the nursery floor. She left the window open and the hanyou could feel the cold evening breeze on his face.
Later on that night, the ballerina rushed out to dance with the hanyou. The hanyou saw the ballerina coming out and went to jump from the window sill when he was bombarded by dozens of marbles and bricks. From between dodging the objects he could see the doll in the baboon pelt, Naraku, firing the catapults and throwing nearby stuff at him. The ballerina and some other dolls rushed to help try to stop him but it was too late… a wooden block hit the hanyou hard, throwing him off balance and right out of the window. Unfortunately for him, there was the gutter below the window and he fell straight into the sewers.
A few moments later, when he opened his eyes, all he could see was darkness. It was a good thing that he was a hanyou for that gave him excellent eye sight and soon he grew accustomed to the dark and could make out his surroundings. He could see a long dark tunnel and a canal full of foul smelling water filled with floating bits and pieces. He decided to follow the flow of the water since he reasoned out that it must go to some exit somewhere. He ran and ran, and walked and walked, but still no sign of an exit. He paused for a rest, leaning against the side of the tunnel, when he noticed a pair of red eyes staring straight at him. Another pair of red eyes appeared, and another, and another… soon the wall opposite him was covered with red eyes. He heard a squeak and all of a sudden a pattering of paws and the red eyes were coming straight at him. They were hundreds of enormous rats running after him.
He ran as fast as his feet could carry him, forgetting all tiredness. Then he could feel himself slowing down unwillingly, his limbs slowly stooping out of his control. The rats were catching up and he couldn't help it, it was morning and he became a stiff tin soldier again.
The body of rats ran over him with such force that he fell in the canal. The poor hanyou was flushed along with al the clutter in the sewers right to the outflow in the sea. The pressure of the flow sent him down in the dark waters of the deep. Huge fish swam past him in a rush forcing him to spin about in the currents when suddenly he got stuck n a large net and felt himself being hauled up with lots of sea creatures.
The little tin hanyou found himself on a small fishing platform in the middle of the ocean. One of the fisherman pulled him out of the net.
"Look I found a toy!" said the fisherman to his mates.
"Can I have that?" asked a slightly familiar voice. "I have a young boy who collects them"
The fisherman handed the hanoyu to the man who happened to be Shippo's father. By pure coincidence he happened to be on that particular fishing platform because his ship required some repairs.
He placed the toy soldier in his luggage and the hanyou had to wait patiently night after night locked in a bag for the day of his return home. He had nothing to do when night came but train with his katana. At least he was lucky in being placed in a spacious bag.
Days and days passed before the man journeyed back home. The day came when he finally found himself in the hands of a very happy and overjoyed Shippo who had cried in torrents when he found he had lost his precious tin hanyou, and had almost gotten the maid sacked for leaving the nursery window open.
Shippo played with his newfound toy all afternoon and then carefully placed him on a shelf by the window on which he had no danger of ever falling out again. The hanyou was very happy to see that he still had full view of the fairy castle large window. However, the ballerina was nowhere in sight.
Midnight came and the hanyou jumped down from the shelf the moment he came to life, and ran to the castle door. He knocked at the large doll until the old butler doll opened the door. The ballerina saw him and ran to him. He caught her in his arms and they hugged each other like the two cuddly bears on the mantelpiece.
The baboon doll jumped out from the shadows with flashing eyes. He pointed a large spear at the couple. "How dare you came back here again!" he snarled through gritted teeth.
The hanyou took out his katana. "Let's finish this!" he replied angrily, stepping in front of the ballerina to protect her.
They circled each other around the nursery floor until Naraku made his first move. The hanyou skived the point of the spear just in time and returned the attack. The hanyou fought bravely and was doing quite well until Naraku found himself in trouble and started playing dirty. He moved the fight towards the fire place and kicked some hot sooth in the hanyou's face momentarily blinding him. The hanyou fell on his back and found Naraku standing over him with the spear at his throat.
Naraku laughed at him evilly. His hand rose to give one final thrust when a giant boomerang hit the spear out of his hand. The boomerang returned to it's owner. Naraku looked behind him and saw the female warrior doll, the monk doll, and several other toys he had tortured and terrorized over the years closing in on him.
They pushed him as one whole body in the heart of the fire which magically lit and slowly consumed and he disappeared in it never to return. The ballerina ran to the hanyou and helped him to his feast whilst he other toys applauded the both of them who had finally managed to stand up to the evil Naraku.'
The young woman finished her story with a smile. The kids looked wide eyed at their mother waiting for more. When they realized that no more was coming, they almost jumped from their beds bombarding her with questions.
"But what happened to the ballerina and the hanyou? Did they live happily ever after?" they asked.
"Of course my dears… the ballerina and the hanyou got married in the little white toy chapel and lived happily ever after. They even had to little children just like you" replied their mother sweetly. "Now my two little darlings it's time to sleep" she said tucking the once more under the blankets and turning out the light in the room. She kissed them on their cheeks, rubbed their cute puppy ears and tiptoed out of the room shutting the door softly behind her.
"Kagome are the kids asleep?" came his voice from the living room. Kagome walked in the room straightening out her dress and looked at her husband lovingly who stood by the fire place.
"Of course Inuyasha" she smiled. She walked over to him and took both his hands in hers and dragged him to the spacing in front of the fire place. "Dance with me" she asked.
Inuyasha smiled at his wife, placed one hand around her waist and waltzed with her around the room to the music box's tune like they had danced the first time.
They heard the clock chime and they stopped. "I'd better be off to work Kagome dear" he said.
"Of course darling" she said walking him to the door. Inuyasha got his katana and hung it at his side. Kagome rubbed his puppy ears which she was hopelessly in love with and kissed him fondly and waved him goodbye. She shut the door slowly and ran to the window just in time for the final clock's chime. She took her position, looking at her husband with a smile.
Inuyasha stood proudly on the shelf, a hand on his katana, looking down at his castle, his beloved ballerina standing like always at the window, and his two kids sleeping soundly in the window above. The nursurey door opened and an older Shippo walked in with his friends to show the his beautiful collection of tin sodiers.
The END
A/N I hope you all liked it. I look forward to reading your reviews. Thank you