I guess that this wasn't the first time I had been hunted. But I had
a sneaking suspicion that it would be the last. I had always been able to
extricate myself from nearly impossibly situations. This was obviously the
exception to what I had thought was a rule.
I ran nearly blindly through a densely wooded area, wind and branches whipping through my hair. I wasn't running blindly because it was midnight on a new moon. No, I was running blindly out of sheer terror. I'd be the first to admit that while I was most definitely not a creampuff, as it were, I was also totally incapable of dealing with two full-strength, fully mature, extremely well-trained male panther youkai. But that statement is a little deceptive. It might make a more truthful statement to say that I, as an untrained, young and rather emaciated female of the same youkai persuasion, really didn't have a chance, despite my innate tendency to "concentrated violence". I got that phrase from a bear youkai before I killed it, one of my previous hunters.
But that hunt, that meal, was weeks behind me now. Now, I was running for my life. Not uncommon, it is true, but this chase seemed a little more urgent than the last. Why the pair sought me, I don't know. I'm not a particularly impressive specimen. I had never had quite enough to eat, the result being my rather diminutive stature coupled with a delicate-looking frame. On the bright side, years of fending for myself has taught me a great deal that I'm sure I'd never learn about if I were the pampered beasts hot on my trail.
Speaking of whom, they were getting uncomfortably close. My lungs felt like they were on fire, so my only real choices were to stop and make a stand, resulting in my death, or do what comes naturally to a cat: climb, which had a slightly smaller probability of resulting in a rather painful end for me. So, looking around me, I saw what seemed to be the largest tree I had seen in my life. I launched myself up, scrabbling to find purchase on the slick surface of the trunk with my extended claws. Unfortunately, my pursuers were not so green as to fall for that pathetic trick. One leaped up after me, settling on a branch just above me, the other remaining on the ground.
The brown eyes stared down at me with something that was almost pity, but it quickly turned into a scornful sneer. I had time to mutter an explicative before he reached down and grasped my shoulders, and deliberately pushed his hind legs against the tree, pulling me from the tree, falling face-up. Considering the state I was in, it was impossible to maneuver, so I landed heavily, and with a painful thump on the uneven forest floor. A pine cone seemed to have broken a rib, which burned, but in a different way from my lungs. Maybe that wayward rib found a new home, through my lungs.
He landed gracefully, his heavy armor shining in the dim light that the stars provided me with, his tail swaying behind him, like a stalk of wheat swaying gently in the wind. It coiled firmly about his waist, and he kneeled beside me. Keep in mind, I was mildly distracted by the complaints of my ribs. And the back of my head. It felt a little sticky, but this didn't really feel like the right time to investigate.
"Did you really think that you could outrun us, kitten?" That really does sound creepy, until you realize what we were, and how old I was, which wasn't very.
I tried to say something witty and sarcastic, but all I could manage was a dull-groan. Again, his expression was softened by pity. Which really made me want to knee him in the balls. Unfortunately, this was not to be. His partner, unhampered by whatever pity the other seemed to carry, kicked me rather swiftly, somewhere in the vicinity of my head. I've never been particularly sure on this point, as I disappeared into a welcome cloud of darkness. If I was going to die a death like that, I'd rather not be there for it.
But soon, the comforting black faded, and I was left with pain in more places than I thought was physically possible. I opened my eyes and groaned. The light was blinding. I guess it was morning. It hadn't been too far from morning when the pair of panther youkai had cornered me, but I never expected to be alive long enough to see the morning. Just being alive was surprise enough, but when my eyes finally adjusted to the light, I saw what used to be two panther youkai lying in pieces on the pine needles and dead leaves that made up the floor of this forest.
I also saw a rather arrogant grin stretching across the face of a self- satisfied looking kitsune. But don't quote me on that. Things started fading from my vision as I sunk back into the comforting black of unconsciousness.
When I woke again, it was in the dim light of what I assumed was dusk. As I opened my eyes further, I realized that I was actually inside a building, a construct which I hadn't been near in probably over a decade. I reached back to investigate the back of my head. I was concerned about the sticky felling that remained behind my left ear.
The grinning kitsune was nowhere to be seen, but I could smell him, as well as a variety of inuhanyous, a miko, and a few humans somewhere near. Figuring my best bet for survival would be to affect my escape through a conveniently located window, I tried to sit up. I failed miserably, and fell back down onto a worn tatami, my head bouncing on the smooth boards of the room. My ribs throbbed with pain, and I involuntarily cried out, trailing off into a pained moan when I realized how much the sound hurt my head.
The door slid open a few seconds after I made the noise and an Inuhanyou entered. But he smelled...odd. Slightly miko, I suppose. I would have given it more thought, but my right arm took this opportunity to make its complaints. Make its very loud complaints. I moaned again, unable to really put together a coherent sentence in my head, let alone have it exit my mouth intact.
I guess the inuhanyou kneeled next to me and raised my head, because I felt a cool clothe on my forehead, and a bowl at my lips. I was in more pain that I thought possible, (which is really saying something, considering some of the fights I have had) so I did the most logical thing and drank whatever was at my lips. It was water, but had a tangy aftertaste, something I didn't get the chance to contemplate as I lapsed back into sleep.
When I woke again, it was dark, but I felt like I might be able to move. I stood up, and was assaulted by a wave of nausea, dizziness, and pain. I tried to step forward, but my foot encountered something rather soft, and that, coupled with that sudden spell of illness, resulted in my falling face first over a sleeping kitsune. Who, of course, instantly awoke and was on his feet. Thinking me unconscious, he lay me back down on the tatami, and pulled a thick blanket over me. After my little escapade, short as it was, I was too weak to try again. I stared at the ceiling until I fell asleep.
I continued to stare at the ceiling after I woke to an empty room bathed with pale yellow morning light, that is, until the fox youkai reentered with another bowl. His smell was far less confident than it had been the night before, but he again kneeled next to where I lay.
"I am Shippou," he said, obviously intending to continue after that statement, but I never gave him the chance.
"And why do you think I care?" I interrupted, making my tone as confrontational as possible. He colored, and mumbled something about ingratitude under his breath. At this point, I remembered exactly what kind of position I was in; namely, so injured I couldn't move more than three feet.
"Sorry" I muttered.
He continued as though that little tangent had never occurred, "You are in the house of Inuyasha and Kagome. She has decided to care for you until you are well. Please remain in this room unless other wise instructed."
Like hell I would stay in this room like a good little panther. I hadn't spent the last 13 years on my own to be ordered about by a miko and a hanyou I had never met, let alone heard of.
As if sensing my dissidence, Shippou began to speak again. "You'll find it to be in your best interest to remain here. If my father finds you have disobeyed my mother's instructions, his wrath will...not be kind to you."
I snorted, and crossed my arms.
"What is your name, girl?"
I stared over his shoulder at woven wall hanging until the silence began to stretch into uncomfortable minutes. Shippou blushed again, and gently put a hand behind my shoulder to bring me up to a sitting position. He put the bowl into my left hand and allowed me to sip mouthfuls of a stew.
Between sips, I asked the blushing kitsune questions, leaving his unanswered one hanging in the air.
"Shippou, what happened to the two panther youkai pursuing me?"
He blushed yet again, and I wondered if he were capable of doing anything else. "I...well...I...I ummm...I took care of them."
Curious, I continued in this line of questioning. "How did you manage to take care of two panther warriors?"
He looked sheepish. "Would you make fun of me if I said that I used an elaborate illusion to make them kill each other?"
"Yes."
"Kitsune, why was I saved? It is not the law of youkai, or even humans, to prevent the extermination of...anything." Which was the truth, the truth I had seen played out more times than I cared to think about.
"Mother told me to." He said simply, as I finished the stew. He left the room, and returned with an armful of fresh bandages, a bowl of ointment, and a bowl of water. He announced his intention of changing my bandages, a task I was more than willing to let him do. After-battle infections always made wounds heal badly, as witnessed by the numerous scars covering my legs and torso. I may be demon, but not even that can save my skin from the numerous wounds I couldn't take care of properly.
They fade after awhile, but it always felt like the scars were replaced almost immediately after they vanished into the surface of my skin.
As I contemplated scars, Shippou carefully peeled the blood-crusted gauze from my legs, whose bandaged state had gone unnoticed. Using a square piece of cloth, Shippou tried to wash the dried blood away from the deep gashes. The bowl of water he had carried in with him soon had a distinctly brown tinge. He carefully applied the thick green paste of the ointment and rewrapped my legs. The paste felt cool against the heat of the cuts. But I was getting irritated. I did not need his help. I tried to sit up again, without and assistance from the kitsune, and was rewarded with mind- numbing pain. So I laid back down, as seemed the best option. I had a hard time figuring out why my ribs hadn't hurt like this the night before, until I remembered the water. My shoulder throbbed with almost unnatural amounts of pain, and I realized just how badly I was injured: I had incredible gashes on my legs and all over my torso, multiple broken ribs, and my right arm was probably broken, in addition to at least one serious head injury, as well as injuries I couldn't even begin to consider. My demon nature was helping me faster than one would think, but this would still take a while.
I had a choice. Trust this house of miko and youkai, and allow myself to lapse into a healing sleep, or try to escape to a location better suited for the solitude necessary for healing. I knew little about the people I was now residing with, but I figured my chances were about even for death if I left. I may not be able to trust them, but I would have about the same chance of survival outside as in. So I spoke a few words under my breath, and fell rather gracelessly into sleep.
When I woke up, I could tell many days had passed from the altered smells of the house. The smell of the stew was at least a week old, and fresher, more appetizing scents littered the air in the small room. I moved my right arm, and was glad to find it fully mobile and healed, as were my legs. The back of my head had a thin line where the skin had been broken by the steel toe of the panther's boot, and a heavy knob where the bone had healed itself. My ribs still felt tender, but I could move. A voice in the back of my head breathed a sigh of relief. The last time I had been hurt anywhere near as bad as this, I hadn't been able to lapse into a healing sleep because of the constant presence of humans.
Apparently one of the occupants of the house heard me stir, and the heavy scent of a miko moved closer to the door. A miko (at least a decent one) smells like nothing else, the scent pungent with raw power. The smell has such staying power that a good scenter, like me, can locate where a miko stood several years ago. This miko radiated the smell of power like nothing I had ever encountered before, but that's not really saying much. The only villages I dared enter were those lacking a distinct miko scent. I wasn't going to put my skin on the line for food.
The thin door slide open almost soundlessly, and the miko appeared. She had large, expressive brown eyes, and a pale face framed by long black hair. She looked sweet-faced and young, far too young to be the mother of the kitsune who had cared for me. She stood over me for over a minute, and then gracefully let a hand fall to assist me in rising from the tatami.
"I am Kagome." She stated, not really looking for a response. Once I was on my feet, she beckoned for me to follow her, and we left the cramped room for a slightly larger room where a small group sat cross-legged, drinking tea.
A white-haired hanyou sat on the far side of the table, a vacant seat to the right of him. I could smell the miko all over him. His red robes almost reeked of her. That really makes it sound like she smells horrible, which isn't true. She smelt clean, but not like bathed-clean. She smelled like the way small children smell;" pure, I guess. It was just overpowering. Anyway. Sitting to his left was a white-haired boy, obviously his son, both from the smell (Inu mixed with miko) and appearance. Next to the empty seat sat the kitsune, daintily sipping tea, his tail swishing gently behind him like a rice-paper fan.
Flanking the inuhanyou was a very small boy, again obviously the son of the hanyou. He raised frightened face to take a quick glimpse of me, and rapidly hid his golden eyes under his bangs. I stifled a derisive giggle behind my hand.
Kagome turned, and flicked a finger at an empty seat at the table, next to the kitsune. Despite having spent years without so much as a roof over my head, it did not seem foreign to me to sit cross-legged at the table and quietly sip tea. I attribute it to my excellent instincts and incredible poise.
I ran nearly blindly through a densely wooded area, wind and branches whipping through my hair. I wasn't running blindly because it was midnight on a new moon. No, I was running blindly out of sheer terror. I'd be the first to admit that while I was most definitely not a creampuff, as it were, I was also totally incapable of dealing with two full-strength, fully mature, extremely well-trained male panther youkai. But that statement is a little deceptive. It might make a more truthful statement to say that I, as an untrained, young and rather emaciated female of the same youkai persuasion, really didn't have a chance, despite my innate tendency to "concentrated violence". I got that phrase from a bear youkai before I killed it, one of my previous hunters.
But that hunt, that meal, was weeks behind me now. Now, I was running for my life. Not uncommon, it is true, but this chase seemed a little more urgent than the last. Why the pair sought me, I don't know. I'm not a particularly impressive specimen. I had never had quite enough to eat, the result being my rather diminutive stature coupled with a delicate-looking frame. On the bright side, years of fending for myself has taught me a great deal that I'm sure I'd never learn about if I were the pampered beasts hot on my trail.
Speaking of whom, they were getting uncomfortably close. My lungs felt like they were on fire, so my only real choices were to stop and make a stand, resulting in my death, or do what comes naturally to a cat: climb, which had a slightly smaller probability of resulting in a rather painful end for me. So, looking around me, I saw what seemed to be the largest tree I had seen in my life. I launched myself up, scrabbling to find purchase on the slick surface of the trunk with my extended claws. Unfortunately, my pursuers were not so green as to fall for that pathetic trick. One leaped up after me, settling on a branch just above me, the other remaining on the ground.
The brown eyes stared down at me with something that was almost pity, but it quickly turned into a scornful sneer. I had time to mutter an explicative before he reached down and grasped my shoulders, and deliberately pushed his hind legs against the tree, pulling me from the tree, falling face-up. Considering the state I was in, it was impossible to maneuver, so I landed heavily, and with a painful thump on the uneven forest floor. A pine cone seemed to have broken a rib, which burned, but in a different way from my lungs. Maybe that wayward rib found a new home, through my lungs.
He landed gracefully, his heavy armor shining in the dim light that the stars provided me with, his tail swaying behind him, like a stalk of wheat swaying gently in the wind. It coiled firmly about his waist, and he kneeled beside me. Keep in mind, I was mildly distracted by the complaints of my ribs. And the back of my head. It felt a little sticky, but this didn't really feel like the right time to investigate.
"Did you really think that you could outrun us, kitten?" That really does sound creepy, until you realize what we were, and how old I was, which wasn't very.
I tried to say something witty and sarcastic, but all I could manage was a dull-groan. Again, his expression was softened by pity. Which really made me want to knee him in the balls. Unfortunately, this was not to be. His partner, unhampered by whatever pity the other seemed to carry, kicked me rather swiftly, somewhere in the vicinity of my head. I've never been particularly sure on this point, as I disappeared into a welcome cloud of darkness. If I was going to die a death like that, I'd rather not be there for it.
But soon, the comforting black faded, and I was left with pain in more places than I thought was physically possible. I opened my eyes and groaned. The light was blinding. I guess it was morning. It hadn't been too far from morning when the pair of panther youkai had cornered me, but I never expected to be alive long enough to see the morning. Just being alive was surprise enough, but when my eyes finally adjusted to the light, I saw what used to be two panther youkai lying in pieces on the pine needles and dead leaves that made up the floor of this forest.
I also saw a rather arrogant grin stretching across the face of a self- satisfied looking kitsune. But don't quote me on that. Things started fading from my vision as I sunk back into the comforting black of unconsciousness.
When I woke again, it was in the dim light of what I assumed was dusk. As I opened my eyes further, I realized that I was actually inside a building, a construct which I hadn't been near in probably over a decade. I reached back to investigate the back of my head. I was concerned about the sticky felling that remained behind my left ear.
The grinning kitsune was nowhere to be seen, but I could smell him, as well as a variety of inuhanyous, a miko, and a few humans somewhere near. Figuring my best bet for survival would be to affect my escape through a conveniently located window, I tried to sit up. I failed miserably, and fell back down onto a worn tatami, my head bouncing on the smooth boards of the room. My ribs throbbed with pain, and I involuntarily cried out, trailing off into a pained moan when I realized how much the sound hurt my head.
The door slid open a few seconds after I made the noise and an Inuhanyou entered. But he smelled...odd. Slightly miko, I suppose. I would have given it more thought, but my right arm took this opportunity to make its complaints. Make its very loud complaints. I moaned again, unable to really put together a coherent sentence in my head, let alone have it exit my mouth intact.
I guess the inuhanyou kneeled next to me and raised my head, because I felt a cool clothe on my forehead, and a bowl at my lips. I was in more pain that I thought possible, (which is really saying something, considering some of the fights I have had) so I did the most logical thing and drank whatever was at my lips. It was water, but had a tangy aftertaste, something I didn't get the chance to contemplate as I lapsed back into sleep.
When I woke again, it was dark, but I felt like I might be able to move. I stood up, and was assaulted by a wave of nausea, dizziness, and pain. I tried to step forward, but my foot encountered something rather soft, and that, coupled with that sudden spell of illness, resulted in my falling face first over a sleeping kitsune. Who, of course, instantly awoke and was on his feet. Thinking me unconscious, he lay me back down on the tatami, and pulled a thick blanket over me. After my little escapade, short as it was, I was too weak to try again. I stared at the ceiling until I fell asleep.
I continued to stare at the ceiling after I woke to an empty room bathed with pale yellow morning light, that is, until the fox youkai reentered with another bowl. His smell was far less confident than it had been the night before, but he again kneeled next to where I lay.
"I am Shippou," he said, obviously intending to continue after that statement, but I never gave him the chance.
"And why do you think I care?" I interrupted, making my tone as confrontational as possible. He colored, and mumbled something about ingratitude under his breath. At this point, I remembered exactly what kind of position I was in; namely, so injured I couldn't move more than three feet.
"Sorry" I muttered.
He continued as though that little tangent had never occurred, "You are in the house of Inuyasha and Kagome. She has decided to care for you until you are well. Please remain in this room unless other wise instructed."
Like hell I would stay in this room like a good little panther. I hadn't spent the last 13 years on my own to be ordered about by a miko and a hanyou I had never met, let alone heard of.
As if sensing my dissidence, Shippou began to speak again. "You'll find it to be in your best interest to remain here. If my father finds you have disobeyed my mother's instructions, his wrath will...not be kind to you."
I snorted, and crossed my arms.
"What is your name, girl?"
I stared over his shoulder at woven wall hanging until the silence began to stretch into uncomfortable minutes. Shippou blushed again, and gently put a hand behind my shoulder to bring me up to a sitting position. He put the bowl into my left hand and allowed me to sip mouthfuls of a stew.
Between sips, I asked the blushing kitsune questions, leaving his unanswered one hanging in the air.
"Shippou, what happened to the two panther youkai pursuing me?"
He blushed yet again, and I wondered if he were capable of doing anything else. "I...well...I...I ummm...I took care of them."
Curious, I continued in this line of questioning. "How did you manage to take care of two panther warriors?"
He looked sheepish. "Would you make fun of me if I said that I used an elaborate illusion to make them kill each other?"
"Yes."
"Kitsune, why was I saved? It is not the law of youkai, or even humans, to prevent the extermination of...anything." Which was the truth, the truth I had seen played out more times than I cared to think about.
"Mother told me to." He said simply, as I finished the stew. He left the room, and returned with an armful of fresh bandages, a bowl of ointment, and a bowl of water. He announced his intention of changing my bandages, a task I was more than willing to let him do. After-battle infections always made wounds heal badly, as witnessed by the numerous scars covering my legs and torso. I may be demon, but not even that can save my skin from the numerous wounds I couldn't take care of properly.
They fade after awhile, but it always felt like the scars were replaced almost immediately after they vanished into the surface of my skin.
As I contemplated scars, Shippou carefully peeled the blood-crusted gauze from my legs, whose bandaged state had gone unnoticed. Using a square piece of cloth, Shippou tried to wash the dried blood away from the deep gashes. The bowl of water he had carried in with him soon had a distinctly brown tinge. He carefully applied the thick green paste of the ointment and rewrapped my legs. The paste felt cool against the heat of the cuts. But I was getting irritated. I did not need his help. I tried to sit up again, without and assistance from the kitsune, and was rewarded with mind- numbing pain. So I laid back down, as seemed the best option. I had a hard time figuring out why my ribs hadn't hurt like this the night before, until I remembered the water. My shoulder throbbed with almost unnatural amounts of pain, and I realized just how badly I was injured: I had incredible gashes on my legs and all over my torso, multiple broken ribs, and my right arm was probably broken, in addition to at least one serious head injury, as well as injuries I couldn't even begin to consider. My demon nature was helping me faster than one would think, but this would still take a while.
I had a choice. Trust this house of miko and youkai, and allow myself to lapse into a healing sleep, or try to escape to a location better suited for the solitude necessary for healing. I knew little about the people I was now residing with, but I figured my chances were about even for death if I left. I may not be able to trust them, but I would have about the same chance of survival outside as in. So I spoke a few words under my breath, and fell rather gracelessly into sleep.
When I woke up, I could tell many days had passed from the altered smells of the house. The smell of the stew was at least a week old, and fresher, more appetizing scents littered the air in the small room. I moved my right arm, and was glad to find it fully mobile and healed, as were my legs. The back of my head had a thin line where the skin had been broken by the steel toe of the panther's boot, and a heavy knob where the bone had healed itself. My ribs still felt tender, but I could move. A voice in the back of my head breathed a sigh of relief. The last time I had been hurt anywhere near as bad as this, I hadn't been able to lapse into a healing sleep because of the constant presence of humans.
Apparently one of the occupants of the house heard me stir, and the heavy scent of a miko moved closer to the door. A miko (at least a decent one) smells like nothing else, the scent pungent with raw power. The smell has such staying power that a good scenter, like me, can locate where a miko stood several years ago. This miko radiated the smell of power like nothing I had ever encountered before, but that's not really saying much. The only villages I dared enter were those lacking a distinct miko scent. I wasn't going to put my skin on the line for food.
The thin door slide open almost soundlessly, and the miko appeared. She had large, expressive brown eyes, and a pale face framed by long black hair. She looked sweet-faced and young, far too young to be the mother of the kitsune who had cared for me. She stood over me for over a minute, and then gracefully let a hand fall to assist me in rising from the tatami.
"I am Kagome." She stated, not really looking for a response. Once I was on my feet, she beckoned for me to follow her, and we left the cramped room for a slightly larger room where a small group sat cross-legged, drinking tea.
A white-haired hanyou sat on the far side of the table, a vacant seat to the right of him. I could smell the miko all over him. His red robes almost reeked of her. That really makes it sound like she smells horrible, which isn't true. She smelt clean, but not like bathed-clean. She smelled like the way small children smell;" pure, I guess. It was just overpowering. Anyway. Sitting to his left was a white-haired boy, obviously his son, both from the smell (Inu mixed with miko) and appearance. Next to the empty seat sat the kitsune, daintily sipping tea, his tail swishing gently behind him like a rice-paper fan.
Flanking the inuhanyou was a very small boy, again obviously the son of the hanyou. He raised frightened face to take a quick glimpse of me, and rapidly hid his golden eyes under his bangs. I stifled a derisive giggle behind my hand.
Kagome turned, and flicked a finger at an empty seat at the table, next to the kitsune. Despite having spent years without so much as a roof over my head, it did not seem foreign to me to sit cross-legged at the table and quietly sip tea. I attribute it to my excellent instincts and incredible poise.
