The God of the Demons
The Great Demon Inuyasha: Part 1
By B.C.
Sound of Death
There was no moon that night, for the lunar cycle had begun again. No light shined in the darkness, darkness that Inuyasha could not see through. For that night, much like all those nights before it, Inuyasha found himself as a young human boy. On those nights, more than any others, Inuyasha wished that his blood was pure. That it wasn't "polluted", as some would put it. However, "polluted" could be considered a euphemism, for others have used more vulgar terms. These words include mutt, mix, a demon's last resort, and a Hanyou. Hanyou. The word echoed in Inuyasha's mind. That word used to send bolts of hate and anger through Inuyasha's veins like lightning through the sky, but no longer. Inuyasha has a new way of dealing with that word. In recent days those who dared to use that word in an insulting tone of voice usually met with Inuyasha's blade Tessaiga, and found themselves staring into a Kaze no Kizu or Wind Scar. However, as fun as it is to punishing those who would mock him, Inuyasha had become a bit more lenient. One could even say that he'd become a little proud of being a Hanyou. Of course, Kagome's positive use of the word has helped tremendously.
"Inuyasha, I like you as a Hanyou. Please don't change who you are." Kagome's pleading voice echoed in his head. She doesn't understand, he thought, I can't live off my father's power for ever. There has to come a time when I can defend myself, by myself. Realizing the emotional conflict he feels over the issue, he quickly abandoned the subject from his mind.
Inuyasha, who was sitting with his legs crossed and his elbows resting on his knees, leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes in hopes of falling asleep. The hour was late and all around him his companions were deep in their slumber. Kagome, Shippo, Sango, Miroku, Kirara, and Myoga-jiji had been asleep for hours. Inuyasha opened his eyes to see Kagome, but instead he only saw dark outlines of her. The lack of a moon and his human condition made it incredibly difficult if not impossible to see anything. Inuyasha became nervous at this thought. Anyone could be here and I wouldn't even know it. Inuyasha then heard Myoga moan in his sleep. If he's here there must not be any real danger near by. At that time they were sleeping in what appeared to be an abandoned shack deep in the northern woods. It simply consisted of two rooms, one slightly larger than the other. It had only one window on each wall, and only one door. The wall that separated the two rooms had only one door lacking opening. The shack looked old, weathered, and in serious need of repair, as though no one had lived there for years.
Although the shack's appearance alone was unappealing enough, the circumstances of their stay was what was really troubling Inuyasha. They had been traveling rather quickly for a straight day, and were completely exhausted by dusk. Only yesterday Kagome got this unusually strong sense of a Shikkon shard coming from somewhere in the far off woods. What made it so unusual, however, is that as soon as Kagome felt they were beginning to approach the shard, it got weaker, and then disappeared. Kagome insisted that it was not moving away, just dwindling.
How can a Shikkon shard do that? Inuyasha grumbled this quietly to himself. It doesn't matter. Inuyasha finally let his mind go, and began to fade into dream. Thoughts of past and present became a kaleidoscope of images as Inuyasha swam through the river of slumber. Perhaps only an hour passed when suddenly…
Crying? I hear crying, thought Inuyasha as he woke slowly from his sleep. He didn't know the time, but it was still night. He rose to his feet and began to walk towards the window. He listened carefully, his human ears strained to capture the sound, then… There it is again. Like a small child, maybe three or four years old, crying its eyes out. Inuyasha could easily recall this sound. He usually hears it come from small ravaged villages, when orphans lay weeping for the loss of their parents. Yet there was more than just desperation in this cry. He could sense despair and immense sorrow, such as old longing. He couldn't take it. He had to find the child, find out what is wrong, and make it stop. To Inuyasha it was just too unsettling. He leapt through the window and headed into the forest.
These forests were foreign to Inuyasha. He had never been this deep into the valley before. Not that he was afraid, but finding his way back without his Hanyou nose will be difficult, especially since there is no moon, and it is as black as oil in these woods.
After a few moments of running towards what he thought was the source the cry, he came to, from what he could make out in the dark, a clearing, maybe even a field. In the center seemed to be a very old run down hut made of ancient logs. From what little he could see, there was no roof and the walls must have barely been standing. Inuyasha approached with caution, looking in all directions for anything (not that it helps in pitch black night). Once within a few yards of the structure, he could see the back of a small naked boy kneeling in the hut. From what Inuyasha could tell, he seemed to be holding his stomach and crying. How terrible this cry is now that I'm this close, thought Inuyasha. Inuyasha didn't realize it, but he himself was also crying from the emotions the child was emitting. He walked closer, carefully resting each step in the tall grass. He slowly reached out to touch the shoulder of this boy. There was a small breeze. The wind felt cold, dry, and bitter. It was as though the hut had its own atmosphere. Inuyasha could feel a pulse of melancholy emotion coming from the child. His hand, only inches away from the boy's shoulder, began to shake from weakness. Then the boy attacked!
He screamed an ungodly loud shrill, and threw a clawing slash at Inuyasha's throat, only missing because Inuyasha, who was startled beyond imagination, fell as he tried to lunge back. Inuyasha landed hard on his back, and his legs rolled up and over his chest until he landed face down in the grass. He rose as quickly as his human body would allow, but by the time he was on his feet the boy was gone. Inuyasha had his hand gripped firmly on his sheathed blade. His heart was pumping with enough power to drain the ocean, and yet he was frozen. The sorrow had gone. There was no sound of crying, just darkness and a weak cold wind. But Inuyasha was not simply staring at darkness. He had caught a glimpse of the boy's face, and the image was burned before his eyes.
"He…he had no eyes…", he whispered with a quivering voice. Just holes…that went clear through his head, he thought. Inuyasha pulled himself together, and after a long pause he headed back to the shack. Once he turned around he noticed a blue hue building over the trees. Thank god, he thought. The sun is rising.
By the time it was mid-day, they had spent most of the morning traveling in the general direction that Kagome had last sensed the shard. They had been talking all morning, and it seemed no one else noticed the noise last night except Inuyasha. He didn't tell them about it of course. It just isn't Inuyasha's style to admit when he'd been scared witless. Yet even so, he just couldn't let it go.
"Oh, Kagome" said Shippo from the front basket of Kagome's bike. "I had a terrible dream last night" Inuyasha's Hanyou ears began to twitch. "I was in a field and…"
"There was a boy?!" Inuyasha said in a low voice as though he were finishing Shippo's sentence.
"No… I was alone and I couldn't find anyone. I could only find clothes, and they were torn." said Shippo with a scared look on his face. He was swaying his arms about, acting like he was reliving the nightmare.
"Why did you say a boy?" asked Miroku curiously.
"Huh, oh…nothing."
"Now now, you seemed as though you thought you knew something. What made you respond like that?"
"Feh, when that's your business, I'll tell you."
"Inuyasha, you have been quiet all morning. Is something wrong?" Kagome asked.
"Shut up. I just…"
"Ooooh, Inuyasha had a bad dream too, huh? I bet it scared you really bad." Shippo said in an antagonizing voice, and received a firm bop on the head from Inuyasha for it which in turn made Shippo cry small rivers down his face. This caused a faint recollection from last night and, probably for the first time, Inuyasha reluctantly apologized and asked Shippo to please stop. Damn it, thought Inuyasha, I don't believe a ghost could shake me up like this. It was ghost, wasn't it? What else could it have been?
The rest of the day went just as it did yesterday. The shard became strong around sundown and then faded away with the coming of night. They set up camp and started a fire. Kagome began cooking dinner, and all sat around the fire.
"Grrr," grumbled Inuyasha, "We've been chasing this shard for two days. I say we forget it and head back. It's only one shard, and we can always get it later."
"I agree. I am constantly feeling as though we are being lured. Although, I must say I am surprised to see you, Inuyasha, not spouting off words of encouragement" Miroku said teasingly.
"That's because his nightmare has him afraid of the dark" said Shippo, and quickly received another bop from Inuyasha on the head. However, this bop was weak. Shippo took it as a warning, and said no more about it.
"Then we all agree that we are on a wild goose chase?" Sango asked, and all nodded in agreement.
"Then we shall head back in the morning." said Miroku, and all nodded again. They finished their meals and readied for bed one by one.
Night had come. That night Inuyasha was a Hanyou. That gave him a strong sense of security, and it kept him comfortable. Inuyasha looked around at his sleeping companions. They were now a good distance from the shack they'd slept at the night before. Inuyasha preferred sleeping out under the stars anyway. He rose up, scanning the terrain and decided to go and think on the southern hill. Once there he laid down in the short grass with his hands behind his head. Maybe I should have checked for that hut during the day. Nah, it would have been a waste of time. I can't wait to get out of this damned forest. I suppose I should feel more at ease now that I'm not human. Still, what was that thing? Was it a ghost?
"Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered.
"Ga…!!!" Inuyasha groaned as his heart stopped. The shock made him sit straight up. He thought everyone else had fallen deep asleep, and he alone was on this grassy hill.
"Sorry Inuyasha. I couldn't sleep. All this talk about nightmares and these creepy woods are beginning to get to me." said Kagome as she sat next to Inuyasha.
"Heh, don't waste your time worrying about these woods."
"I know it's silly, but…"
There was a noise.
"Shhh!," Inuyasha hissed. He heard it. The crying. He heard it again.
"What? What is i…" She heard it. "What is that?"
"Do you hear it too?"
"Yeah, it sounds like…crying."
"You stay here!" Inuyasha said, he turned and leapt away to investigate.
"SIT!!!!" Down he went. "There is no way you are leaving me hear alone in this creepy forest with crying in the distance!"
Inuyasha piggy-backed Kagome to what he thought was the source of the crying. When he got there, he found that he was back at the grass field, at the same hut that he was afraid to look for earlier in the day. Kagome clenched the back of Inuyasha's fire-rat's fur coat. They could both hear the crying, clearly. It was so strong and somber that Kagome had already begun to tear. Inuyasha stopped a short distance from the hut, and let Kagome down from his back.
"Hey! I won't fall for that again. If you want help then just ask, damn it!"
"No one can help my son." said an eerie feminine voice that seemed to come from everywhere yet nowhere. "He is just a Hanyou. If you try to hurt him, I will kill you!"
To Be Continued…
Authors Notes: Well, this is my first Inuyasha fic. It's not a ghost story, although, I know it seems like it so far, but trust me. Another thing is that I have only started watching the English dubbing of Inuyasha, I'm used to Fan Subbing, and so I don't know any of the English catchphrases. Also, for those of you who have seen more recent episodes, this story takes place before the introduction of the Shichinintai, or somewhere before episode 100 (I think). For those of you who don't know those episodes or haven't seen that far in the series, don't worry there aren't any real spoilers in here nor will there be. Well, that's about it. Thank you very much for reading my fic. Criticism is always welcome whether good or bad. Thank you again.