The forest rang with the soft hoots of the owls and the rustle of wild animals in the leaves. A dark shadow streaked through the trees, hardly more than a blur. The owls ignored it, as did the larger animals, but the mice and other small night creatures scurried away until it was gone. The shadow itself didn't notice any of this, choosing to ignore it to go about its way. A sudden flash of moonlight glinted off a jewel tied around its neck. The shadow ignored it, and kept running, even though the jewel was now glowing softly purple on the shadow's neck.
A sudden howl broke the relative silence in the woods. The shadow stopped suddenly, grabbing a branch of the tree to steady itself on the branch it stood on. The howl sounded again, coming closer to the shadow, bringing a smile to the lips of the creature who stood there.
The moonlight shown on the shadow revealing a young, handsome kitsune demon, with bright red hair, and sharp brown eyes. His eyes scanned the forest, searching out the source of the howl, watching for signs of the origin. His sweeping fluffy tail was curled around his right shoulder, and then up under his left arm, crossing his chest like a large tan, fluffy chest plate of armor. His baggy red outfit looked worn, but had no tears or holes. His sharp pointed ears poked out of the sides of his hair, which was long and hung down to mostly cover his eyes. A small scar marred his right cheek, but his hair or the fluff of his tail often hid it. The jewel was hung on a rosary made of prayer beads and fangs, and it sparkled with the moonlight, as well as its own light. The kitsune grinned again as the howl came closer, then readied himself as the source came into view.
A huge white dog bounded into the clearing, snarling and sniffing around. Its fangs glistened with the moonlight, making them seem longer, even though they already hung well past its bottom jaw. A pair of purple stripes adorned both cheeks, and a purple crescent moon was centered in between its red eyes. The dog was quite large, easily being more than eight feet tall at the shoulder. Its red eyes scanned the forest around it, looking for something, all while its nose was constantly sniffing as well for its prey. The kitsune smiled to himself, the dog couldn't see or smell him. He sat completely still for countless minutes, until the dog seemed to loose interest. The great white creature moved off, slowly, still sniffing in great loud huffs. The kitsune smiled once again, and waited still longer, until he was sure that the dog had gone, then slowly resumed his darting through the trees.
He was so close he could smell it. The old well that he'd been searching out, for so many years, was close. His ears twitched with excitement, his whole body tingled. He was so close to his goal, he could almost taste it. His heart leapt with joy; soon he would be rid of this accursed task, and would be free to start over. He approached his target with great caution; he could never predict when the dog would find him again. That was why his task was so important. He needed help to defeat the dog, his own strength, though greatly increased from his first meeting with her, was no where near what he needed to defeat the dog. He had to find the one he needed, the only one with the strength, and the abilities to defeat the dog. Though he wasn't sure if after so many years the one he sought would still be willing to fight.
The kitsune's thoughts overwhelmed him, so that as he watched, he simply missed what was most important. The dog was suddenly on him, and in a flash of white fangs, the much smaller fox demon was thrown to the ground. The wind was knocked from his lungs as the huge beast landed on top of him, pinning him to the ground, snarling and snapping jaws inches away from his nose. The kitsune fought to regain his arms, but the dog's paws were not normal. They had thumbs that were able to grasp onto his wrists and hold him still. A great evil chuckle came from deep in the beast's throat, sending a shiver through the kitsune's spine.
"Oh, how I've waited for this day, young fox…" the beast said in a guttural, harsh, cackling voice. "You will not escape this encounter, nor will you retrieve your so hard sought after prize. I will kill you, and take the jewel for myself, and no one will help you." The dog lifted its head and gave a loud howling bark of evil laughter.
The kitsune growled and summoned his demon magics. The bright green flames licked to life in his palms, and he sent them full force into the dog, sending the huge beast stumbling. The kitsune leapt to his feet, scrambling as fast as he could for the overgrown well. Behind him the dog snarled as it regained its footing, then opened its muzzle sending forth a wave of bright yellow energy with a roar. The fox leapt aside as he heard the roar, but not before the attack had scorched his shoulder. He yipped in pain, but kept moving towards the well, running as fast as his legs would carry him. The dog howled again, leaping to intercept the kitsune as he raced towards the well. The dog landed in front of the fox, but he curled into a ball and slid under the huge beast, keeping his momentum, and rolled right back up onto his feet. He continued forward, not pausing to look back to see what would have been a very funny sight. The dog, bewildered by where he had gone had tried to follow him with its head and had ended up with its head almost between its back legs. It snarled again as it realized he was almost to the well and let loose another blast of the yellow energy. The fox didn't hear the attack coming, otherwise he would have dodged. As it was, the fox was struck full force in the back, thrown through the air and landed heavily on the edge of the well. He grunted loudly in pain, but realized that the red outfit that he wore had protected him, just like it was intended to. He lifted his head and saw the dog charging for him, and his face broke into a grin. He lifted a hand to wave at the enraged dog, and hefted his sore and torn body over the edge, falling headfirst into the well.
A groan escaped his lips as the fox demon woke. He looked around, frightened at first, not realizing where he was, then calmed as he realized he was at the bottom of the well. He looked upwards, expecting to see the snarling dog, but instead, he saw a roof and that the bright moon light that had been filling the sky when he had hefted himself over the well edge was replaced with the filtered light of a bright sun. He whooped with sudden pleasure, and leapt upwards, out of the well. He landed in a large shrine, apparently built for the well itself. He let out another whoop of pleasure and raced out into the broad sunlight.
As he looked around, the scenery was very different from what he had left. Where there was before only trees, grass and the unobscured horizon, now there were huge metal and glass buildings, noise that came from no normal creatures, and had to come from machines. The fox twitched his ears, trying to drown out the loud noise that made his headache. He looked around again, noting that he seemed to be in a large temple ground, though the buildings were much more strange than any he'd ever seen. He walked towards what he thought would be the living building, and found the entrance, moving cautiously, silently, trying to hide in the shadows. He entered the building, still moving stealthily. He smiled, he'd never been here before, but the way it had been described to him still stuck in his mind. He moved to the stairs and just past them to the first door on the right. He knew after so many years, that the person he sought would not be in the same room that they had been. He assumed they would have moved to the largest room in the house, seeing as they were probably the only one living here. He slid up to the door, crouching in the shadows of the stairs, and listened. A pair of voices wafted to his ears, speaking softly, but not whispering secrets and plans. They seemed to be speaking of everyday affairs, talking to each other in soft, even loving voices. The fox hated to come in on a conversation such as this, but he knew he had to move quickly.
As his hand slid to the door latch, a soft hiss was heard inside. He paused, remaining silent, but readied himself for anything. He waited listening and heard rustling, but no more voices, nor quick movements. He decided that it was time to enter anyway, and threw open the door, a ball of his green foxfire magic in his hand. He was assailed from the side, a figure throwing itself at him, knocking him to the side. The fox quickly recovered though, and threw his assailant from him, quite easily. He leapt back to his feet, leaving the attacker on the floor in the hall, and raced into the bedroom. He was stopped again, this time by an arrow pointing into his chest. He grimaced, but then chuckled softly.
"You've only gotten better, Kagome." The fox said, kneeling and bowing his head.
The woman with the bow stopped, lowering it, but not releasing her draw on the string. Her hair was dark and her dark eyes flashed with anger and confusion, but she was suddenly distracted as the first attacker staggered into the bedroom.
"I'm sorry," the attacker said softly. "I'm not as good as I used to be Kagome." He lowered his head and moved past the fox into the light, next to the woman Kagome. "Course, then again, He has aged and gotten only stronger since we last met." The attacker chuckled softly.
The fox lifted his head and looked at the attacker in proper light. His hair was dark like the woman's, as were his eyes. However, his eyes held a flash that was more like an animal trapped in a human's body than that of anger, rage, or normal human emotions. He held himself with the air of a warrior angry at his age and his lack of ability because of age. He flashed a smile at the kitsune, then stretched out a hand towards the fox.
"Welcome back into our lives you rotten little fox." The attacker smiled as the fox demon got up and took the outstretched hand. "Its nice to see you again Shippou."
Shippou smiled widely as he took the hand in his, noting the age in those once strong hands. "It's nice to see you too Inuyasha." He smiled back, chuckling loudly. "Though you seem to have aged quite a bit since we last parted ways."
Inuyasha sighed and released Shippou's hand. "Well, that's what happens when you're human."
Kagome stepped forward at this moment and threw her arms around the fox. "Is it real? Are you real?" she gasped, seemingly on the verge of tears.
Shippou nodded and returned her hug, remembering how he used to hide in those arms that would hardly fit around his chest now. He chuckled softly and rested his head on hers, breathing in her scent. She hugged him as tight as she could, sniffling, trying not to cry. Shippou rubbed her back, still resting his head on hers before she pushed him back at arm's length to look him over.
"You look like crap!" She exclaimed, seeing the scorch marks on his shoulder, then turning him slightly and noting the ones on his back. "What happened?"
Shippou took a deep breath. "Well, that's why I'm here. We've got a bit of a problem. I've got to get rid of this accursed jewel. There's been this huge white dog chasing me ever since it pulsed about two months ago. I've never been so harassed in by life. It's like this dog can feel the jewel and is following it wherever I go. It's almost killed me a couple of times. And I've seen Sesshoumaru a couple of times. And it seems like to me that the dog and him are in league together. I'm at my end, I won't be able to hold them off too much longer. I can't keep running as fast as the dog can catch me. I'm exhausted and my body's giving out. The dog almost got me before I got into the well." He sighed heavily and shook his head.
Inuyasha bristled at the mention of his half brother's name, but listened to Shippou's tail quietly. "I don't know who this dog is, but it's obviously a demon. And I don't know why Sesshoumaru would be siding with a normal dog. He's not prone to doing things like that." Inuyasha shook his head, then looked at the jewel hanging around the fox's neck. "Now, what did you mean it pulsed?"
Shippou shook his head. "Like I said, it just pulsed. And since then it's been putting off it's normal light." He lifted the jewel and tilted it. "See, it hasn't done that since you used it Inuyasha. I just don't get it." He shook his head.
Inuyasha sighed and shook his own head. "Well, what's that got to do with us?"
"That's just it, I don't know where else to turn. I can't stop this dog, and if I don't, I'm dead." Shippou sighed and moved to a chair and dropped into it.
Inuyasha sighed and sat cross-legged on his and Kagome's bed. He crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes. Shippou took this time to look over Inuyasha. The half demon that had once been white haired and young looking was now getting tinges of grey in his black hair. His face was starting to get lines in it, showing age that Shippou had never thought he would see. The fact that someone he looked up too so much had become old, and what seemed to be almost sedated saddened Shippou. He never thought he'd see the day that a person as powerful as Inuyasha would grow old. As Shippou looked over Inuyasha, he was shocked at how thin the half demon had grown. The white tee shirt that Inuyasha wore hung off his once strong shoulders and the jeans were baggy on his once well muscled thighs. Shippou sighed, he didn't know what he had been thinking when he had come here. He knew that because of Inuyasha's decision to make himself fully human with the jewel would also shorten his life and take away his strength. He knew that Inuyasha wouldn't be able do much, but Shippou couldn't bring himself to believe that this once great half demon couldn't help him.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Inuyasha said suddenly standing up. "Let's go get this demon."
"What!" Kagome exclaimed. "Are you stupid? How can you fight a full demon? You're hardly strong enough to lift me any more."
Inuyasha chuckled. "Well, maybe not right now, but if I use that jewel to put me back half demon, well, then I'll be able to help our friend Shippou here, wont I?"
Kagome looked at Inuyasha with a startled look on her face. "What about the children? What about my job and yours?" she approached Inuyasha and poked him in the chest with one thin finger. "What are we going to do, just float around in the feudal age again?"
Inuyasha shook his head and grabbed the poking finger with both of his hands. "No, my love, we're not." He inclined his head towards Shippou. "But he needs our help. Why do you think we shouldn't help him? I can use the jewel only to put me back right, not to make myself full demon, or use up all of its power. I'll only use it to make myself half demon again, then use the rest of its power to make myself full human again." Over the course of his speech, Inuyasha had pulled Kagome to his chest, and was now softly stroking her hair as she sniffled into his tee shirt.
"Inuyasha, you're not as young as you were. It will be very hard for you to fight this dog, let alone Sesshoumaru." Kagome sniffled into Inuyasha's chest.
Shippou sniffed loudly and tilted his head up. "I'm not a cub anymore. I'm strong enough to help him fight, Kagome." He said wearily.
Kagome wheeled on him in an instant. "What? Are you saying he needs help now!" she yelled.
Shippou sighed and shook his head, frowning heavily. "Well what do you want me to say? That, yes he can take both this dog that's hunting me, as well as Sesshoumaru, as well as the twenty to thirty demons who track me down every month?" The kitsune sighed again and swung his hand around, growling impatiently. He pointed a clawed finger at the human woman. "You make even less sense than you did when I was little!" he snapped in his frustration.
Inuyasha smiled down at Kagome. "I'll be fine. You just stay here, and I'll be back in a couple of days."
Kagome opened her mouth to argue, but Inuyasha closed it for her by kissing her firmly on the mouth. "Don't go…" she whispered as he pulled away from her.
The once half demon smiled and followed the fox out of the bedroom. "I'll be back," he said softly before closing the door behind him.
"C'mon," Shippou growled, moving quickly towards the well house. "We'll change you back in here."
Inuyasha followed the fox with a strong sense of foreboding. Something nagged in the back of his brain as he ran towards the well house. Somehow he knew that if he took this step, if he changed himself back, there would be nothing to put him back to the way he was right now. Somehow he knew that his children and his wife would soon be missing him. He knew that it wasn't going to be a couple of days. He knew he might never come back at all.