Shippo's Woman
Chapter 1
Brown eyes met crimson orbs as two women stared one another down daring not to make a move. The warrior-ettes were locked in a stalemate; their weapons in shoddy condition and fatigue overcoming them quickly. No one knew how long they were fighting – in fact it was quite hard to keep track of time in general considering their battle ground was deep within a cave.
Finally, "You best give up now wretched hag! Clearly I have won this battle! If you make even the slightest of movements, I'll have no choice than to strike you down with my thunder!" the red eyed woman shouted from across the way.
The woman possessing brown eyes – and growing irritation – merely scoffed at the demon witch's claims. She may have been human but she was known to hold her own against even the most fearsome of monsters. Some villages even compared her to the great demon slayer Sango.
"Give Shippo back to me Souten! He wishes not to be with the likes of you, but with I, the legendary slayer Rin!"
The demon by the name of Souten, growled under her breath before shouting back, no words went withheld. "The fox is mine, you hear? MINE! I've searched high and low for him and I know that he is the only one who can truly fill the lonely void in my aching heart!"
"Enough!" Suddenly all went quiet as both women moved their gazes to focus on the mentioned fox demon struggling to come to a stand. "I have already reached a decision on whose hand I want to make my own…"
A Few Days Before
Winter frost melted away to make room for spring's life. Sakura buds dangled delicately from their branches and the forest animals had begun to stir from their hibernation homes. Deep within the trees, two women – one fair and young, the other showing signs of age – were meditating peacefully by a small stream. All was tranquil until the younger woman spoke.
"Lady Sango?"
"Quiet, Rin. Save all your questions until after meditation."
"But…"
Rin was met with Sango's silence; an annoying habit in the younger's eyes that the old woman picked up when she wanted Rin to focus. But focus on what? There was nothing out here of interest. There were no demons to slay, no thieves to thwart, and sadly her Lord Sesshoumaru had never returned to visit. Speaking of such, he hadn't made one trip to see of her well-being since she was the mere age of 10. Now at the – somewhat - more matured age of 20, Rin could barely stand the thought of her previous caretaker without feeling the temptation to cry. Grumbling, she shook her head of the silver mane and tightly shut her eyes in an attempt to think of something different, but to no avail. Instead the cries of townsfolk in panic freed her of the depressing thoughts, and Rin jumped to her feet, taking off without the old woman Sango.
"Rin! Don't be so hasty! You are not armed!" She cried out.
Rin stopped in her tracks turning around just in time to see Sango finally catching up with her.
"You… You ought to be more careful! I th-thought I taught you better!" Sango chastised through labored breaths.
Scoffing, Rin rolled her eyes before turning her back to her. "Aw, lay off will you? I was going straight home to get my gear and also grab yours so we can sort out this mess."
Sango gave her a suspicious look, "Right, you were going to grab my gear for me?"
Rin stayed silent knowing that Sango may have been older but she wasn't born yesterday. For years under Sango's training, Rin had her hopes on wielding the equally as legendary Hirakotsu. But Sango would strongly advise against it and limit Rin instead to simple blades and smoke bombs. It was only just this past winter when Sango had finally bestowed upon her an actual katana blade.
"Alright fine, I was hoping I could finally get some action with your Hirakotsu…"
"Rin, you know-"
Before Sango could finish scolding her, Rin had already begun running off toward the village. Shaking her head, Sango picked up the pace and ran after Rin.
Upon arriving at the village, citizens were screaming in fear as a giant dragon loomed over their home sending down a rainstorm of lightning bolts, setting a few huts ablaze. Gasping with panic, Rin headed inside her own hut and pulled out her katana and other weapons before charging out the cloth door duel-wielding her sword and a dagger. Sango, though still significantly slower than Rin, came running out on the battlefield with her Hirakotsu in hand, both women not bothering to change into their armor.
"Rin! Sango!" A voice cried.
Rin turned to see that the voice came from none other than her best friend – and love interest – Shippo who was charging onto the scene with familiar faces Kagome, Inuyasha, Miroku and Kirara.
"Thank goodness you two arrived!" Shippo started as he stood next to Rin, "I thought you two had perished in one of the homes set on fire!"
"Ha! You think rather lowly of us Shippo! For there is no demon strong enough to defeat the Slayers Sango and Rin!"
The always cynical Inuyasha rolled his eyes as he withdrew his own blade, Kagome drawing her arrows and Miroku quick to stand by Sango, staff in hand.
"Hmph, well if the Oh-So-Great-And-Powerful Rin is finished babbling, we ought to take care of this overgrown lizard!" The dog demon huffed.
Suddenly, the attacking dragon from above veered his gaze in Inuyasha's direction. "Hey, who are you calling a lizard!? I am a dragon which is feared throughout these lands!"
Shippo's ears perked up at the sound of the dragon's tone. "Say… this seems rather… familiar."
Kagome flicked her gaze at Shippo, "What do you mean?" she questioned curiously.
"I mean, I'm starting to piece two and two together… the lightning bolts, the arrogance from the dragon from above, in fact he even looks familiar." Shippo responded.
With a smirk, Shippo broke his fighting stance and stepped closer to the dragon asking Inuyasha to refrain from attacking. "It's ok Inuyasha, I think I got this one on my own."
"Are you joking? That think is about one thousand times your size you need us. Jeez fight off couple demons on your own and now you think you're such a tough guy!"
Shippo ignored Inuyasha's rant and crossed his arms over his chest. "Alright Koryu, I know it's you so you can quit this act! I bet this fire is just one giant illusion set up by none other than Souten herself!"
The red-skinned dragon Koryu flashed a fang filled grin as he snickered. "I figured you'd recognize us, but you're still a fool. Do you honestly believe we would go searching for you and then attack your home without proper training?"
Shippo's confident smirk diminished as the dragon continued to explain himself further.
"Ever since you abandoned me and Souten, we vowed that the next time we saw you, it would be your last battle. We trained ourselves, gotten stronger and Souten discovered different types of magic and illusions beyond your limited comprehension. She even perfected thunder and fire spells, so I assure you this blaze is the real deal."
Before Shippo could retort, Inuyasha was already charging gung ho toward Koryu then with a powerful swing, the dog demon unleashed his Wind Scar. As the smoke cleared, the gang was stunned that Koryu was still alive. In fact, he didn't even look fazed, much less damaged.
"What the hell?" Inuyasha exclaimed.
The dragon's chuckles echoed across the village before he returned to speaking with Shippo, "You should explain to your mutt friend that I am merely an illusion but possess the ability to deal physical damage…"
"It's also a rather high-level technique that requires an extreme amount of focus and energy to cast and to perfect." Shippo stated, finishing Koryu's sentence. "So where's the caster might I ask?"
"You need not look any further fox demon!" A voice called from afar.
Emerging from a cloud of smoke, Koryu's true form was revealed. The dragon seemed to have grown at least to Kirara's length and took on the features of a fearsome dragon. Standing next to Koryu, was the honored "guest", Souten. A lot had changed about Souten since she and Shippo had met. Her black locks grew to an elegant length and she no longer wore the tomboyish ponytail from her youth. She took on a womanly figure, as was expected, and her clan's armor no longer decorated her body. Souten donned a noblewoman's kimono – similar to Kagura's choice of clothing – instead.
"It's been awhile but I've finally found you! You Shipoo, my greatest advisory! You Shippo, my greatest…
"…love…"
Well hello once again everyone! It's been awhile, but I'm back online and in the process of finishing my other stories (as well as writing new ones as you can plainly see.) This story kind of popped into my head while I was searching through fanfics, and realized that there weren't a lot of Shippo-focused stories out there. Kind of sad because he has such potential as far as character growth goes. Now I'm sure there will be a few of you thinking, "Who in the Blue Hell is Souten and Koryu?" Well they are in fact canon characters (except I heard Koryu was only in the Anime... which is quite weird but I'm not questioning it.) If you guys forgot who they were - or if you're just curious - I suggest you look up the episode, Shippo Gets an Angry Challenge. One of my fav episodes in the series. Young Souten is just too adorable! Also you guys may have noticed but... I have no OCs in this story. *Le Gasp!* Yea, it's just a little challenge that I'm giving myself since I always - and I do mean always - use OCs in my stories. I'm not entirely sure how long this story in particular is going to be since I gave myself a very narrow time window here in the story, but I hope you guys still enjoy my first "All-Canon Character Story" (A-CCS) == Like my new abbreviation? I hope to start a new trend here! Lol x-D But anyways, I'm still working on my other stories with hopes on finishing 'Next Door' first then moving on to Blind. Keep on the lookout for my next installment and Happy Reading/Writing!
~Rose26