By Luna Silvereyes
A/N: I do not own InuYasha. I only own whomever you do not recognize.
Prologue
Through the dark and dank forest, a swift figure leapt from tree to tree, scaling each branch with skills of those of a demon, though he was anything but. He landed noiselessly on the floor of the forest and crept past the various types of foliage and undergrowth until he came to a large fern in particular, and pushed the great leaves aside. A small bundle was tucked beneath his arm and he opened the fold at the top. He grinned wickedly. It was getting ready to die. He had to move quickly to make sure it did before he had gotten away with the replacement.
He spied through the leaves, a small cabin with candlelight flickering within. He could hear the jumbled voices of the women inside as they bustled about anxiously. Either it was happening, or it had already happened.
" Oh hurry, Leiko! You don't want to cause trouble by dilly-dallying." One said. It was obviously an older female, nothing interesting to him. Not that the young females were interesting either. He was only interested in what they were interested in.
" I'm coming, Yoko. I'm going as fast as I can. How is she?"
" All right. She's doing very well. But that doesn't give an excuse for slacking. Hurry up with those!"
The figure slowly approached the cabin and pressed himself against the wall so he could see through the window. He peeked in. There were three young women and an old hag coming in and out of a back room. The old hag, Yoko seemed both distressed and pleased at the same time. " Now, now, I mean it. This shouldn't be taking this long." She snapped. A young woman with black hair tied back loosely bowed as she passed with a bottle of something green and powdery.
All of a sudden, a shrill cry echoed from the back and Yoko nearly jumped out of her skin. " Ack! Hurry!" she yelled to the girls. The figure was close to cackling with glee as he went over the plan in his head. He checked the bundle again and chuckled malevolently. " It's almost time. I might as well wait here until they leave." He said. He closed his eyes wearily. It had been a long journey.
The figure by the cabin snapped awake and almost panicked. Had it already happened? Had it already been cared for? He gasped and shot up to the window. The cabin was dark and he could see the old hag sleeping and snoring soundly in the corner, her head in her hand. The figure sighed in relief. He slowly lifted himself up and climbed in through the window, cat-like until he was on the floor. Stealthily, he crept through the hall to the back room. He opened the door a crack and peered in.
He could see her, lying still beneath a blanket at the other end of the room. This had to be it. A tiny bundle, the exact same size as the one he held lay beside her. The figure sneaked forward until he was kneeling by the young woman, deep in an exhausted slumber, her hand resting gently on the bundle. He stared down eagerly at the tiny face. Just as he'd hoped, pure white hair showed through, exactly like his own fake.
He set his own bundle down and gently lifted the girl's hand from its place. She moved slightly, but did not stir. He carefully slid the original bundle out of her range of movement and placed his in its place. Then, carefully, so carefully, he picked up the other one in his arms and glowered down at the girl, still soundly asleep, her hand still resting where it had been moments before. Then, he slowly backed away.
He had almost reached the window when he heard a sound in the next room. Yoko was waking up. He froze. He hadn't counted on this. Worse still the little one in his arms was also beginning to stir. He spotted the window and quickly made a dash for it, jumping through just as Yoko appeared in the hallway. She didn't notice and went into the room where the girl was. He paused beneath the window, unable to resist listening in as they made their terrifying discovery.
" Wake up, dear. Would you like to see her?" Yoko said gently. He heard a moan as the girl awoke. He poked his head up and watched, beady-eyed. Yoko scooped the bundle up and placed it in the girl's arms. At first, a proud and delighted, yet exhausted look all at once was etched onto her face. But when she looked into its dark eyes, her expression went from puzzlement to fear and then to downright horror. " NO!" she screamed. " NO! This can't be!"
Yoko seemed confused. " But, it's yours. She became so just an hour ago. What do mean by 'this can't be?" Yoko asked gently, thinking the girl was delirious from strain. The girl let the bundle fall and Yoko caught it. The girl was screaming; her eyes covered as though they had been burned out. She continued to scream hysterically and Yoko, in deep concern over what the matter was, lifted the cover on the bundle and looked at the infant within. Her eyes widened, she covered her mouth and automatically dropped the bundle to the floor, where it lay screaming as loudly as the girl. " Oh my! No! I'd…I'd better fetch the master!" she gasped, stumbling out of the room. The girl, sobbing and screaming at once tried to stop her. Her dark, close to black hair fell over her face as she yelled hysterically. " NO, don't get him! Please! Don't get him! I don't know what he'll do!" she yelled, her voice growing hoarse. The figure outside was chortling evilly. But she needn't have bothered, as a shadow suddenly darkened the room by the front door. The owner of the shadow stood framed in the doorway and didn't move. " What's happened? What did you do? I'll kill you if you caused this!" he shouted furiously. Yoko fell to her knees. " I don't know what happened! I don't know what it is! You must see it! It's terrible and she's far from heartbroken!" Yoko stammered. She tried to get to her feet. The shadow lifted a clawed hand.
" Take me to her." He growled angrily. Yoko nodded and hurriedly got to her feet, running blindly into the other room, smacking into a wall once. The girl was still trying to stop her. " Don't get him! Don't get him, please! No! No! No!" she repeated over and over. The cabin was still dark, so the figure outside the window couldn't see as Yoko led the master into the back. He couldn't see his face, but he could tell he was concerned and angry. Yoko scooped up the still-screaming bundle on the floor. The girl was covering her ears and crying hoarsely. She had already lost much of her voice.
Yoko showed the infant to him. " I don't know what it is." She repeated shakily. He glared down at the infant in the old woman's arms.
The figure watched, wide-eyed as the figure raised his hand and with a single sweep of the arm, slashed the infant apart, halting the screams and spattering its blood on the walls and the blanket that covered the girl, furthering her hysteria. She could no longer cry, speak, or scream, but cowered against the wall, traumatized. The figure could see, in the dim light of the dying candle, rippling scars on the girl's arms. He still couldn't make out any details of the master, but saw his silhouette as he moved toward the girl, and knelt down beside her, embracing her. " Be still, now. It's gone." He whispered. The girl still shook in a spasm like manner, but nodded and took several shaky, short breaths. " It isn't…it isn't…." she kept saying. He sighed and gently pushed her back down against the pillow, where she lay staring up at the ceiling, eyes glazed over. He stood up and turned to Yoko, glaring at her. " What happened?" he demanded, drawing horrible emphasis on each word. Yoko gulped and struggled to think of a suitable explanation for him. His eyes narrowed in the darkness and she froze up, paralyzed by fear. The figure outside saw him raise a clawed hand threateningly. The girl suddenly gasped.
" No! Please, don't kill her. Please!"
He turned to look down at her. " She didn't pay better attention. This happened because of her."
" NO! Please! I should have stayed awake! I should have…It's my…fault." She rasped out. He lowered his hand. " You are worn out. I won't kill her. But I will find out who did this to us."
The girl sighed and lay back down. He went over and bent down beside her again. " I will find her. I promise you." He mumbled. The girl nodded. He stood up and whirled to face the old hag. " Start searching the woods. If you find anything, send for me. I'm going to search by the borders."
He hurried out of the room, leaving Yoko to faint in peace. The figure cackled silently. It had worked beautifully. Clutching the infant tightly, he turned and ran silently into the woods. All he had to do now, was activate the T.T.P.P he held in his other hand and he'd be out of here. The only real problem was that the master had gone out to search and would probably have picked up the infant's scent by now. This worried him. The darkness was suffocating. He could barely see the little glowing dials on the T.T.P.P.
Suddenly, a horrible snarl sounded from behind him and he whirled to see the thing he'd seen earlier in the cabin, crouched on a fallen log, glaring at him with horrifying red eyes. The sight was sickeningly garish at night and here of all places. He clutched the bundle tighter and held out the T.T.P.P.
" S-Stay back! I'm warning you!" he yelled, trying to hide the panic in his voice. The red-eyed creature instead came closer. He could see that whatever it was had fangs. The man was shaking like a dead leaf.
" I don't want trouble. I'm visiting a relative."
"I'll rip your throat out, thief." The creature growled. The man gulped and looked down at the bundle in his arm. " I know what you want. But you won't get it! If you come any closer, I'll kill it!" he threatened. The creature didn't seem convinced. Perhaps it was the fact that the eyes narrowed and it started growling again. The man decided that it was either now or have his stomach slashed open. He quickly whipped the device in front of him, pressed the red knob and turned it to the right, just as the creature attacked. The man vanished before he could get a look at his attacker's face, but he knew that he saw more than he'd seen before. He'd have to commit the white hair to memory. That and the red eyes.
A/N: OOHH! Scary! This is the first chapter of the fourth book. So who were those people in the cabin? Whose child did the man steal? Why did he steal it to begin with? Why am I asking you this? Hehe. I'm weird like that. R&R!