Disclaimer: The only people here that I made up are Hashiaku and Kureru,
and the rest belong to Takahashi Rumiko-san. Oh, the depression! Please do
enjoy, minna!
Changing Wyrds
Chapter One: On Your Own
Shippou scurried through the woods, small chest heaving. Every once in a while he shot a furtive glance behind him, to see if it was catching up. This was no Inuyasha, who would let him go with a few bruises. This was something different. It was big, it was mean, and as far as he could tell, it wanted him dead. Shippou dove into a thicket, hoping to trap the creature behind him. It crashed through the underbrush, tongue lolling and eyes wild. And then it stopped.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Inuyasha?" Kagome lowered her hashi and glanced towards the hanyou.
"Hai?" Mrs. Higurashi and Sota watched the two of them as though they were their favorite soap.
"Do you think we should have left Shippou behind?" Kagome looked worriedly in the direction of the wellhouse.
"Feh. We asked him to come, and he didn't." Miroku cleared his throat.
"Of course, Inuyasha, that may have been because you were being mean to him before we left." Inuyasha didn't answer, but instead glared at the monk with a low growl.
"It's just...Shippou isn't really used to being on his own. We met up with him just after his dad died, so he didn't get much experience even then. I know he runs off sometimes, but so do we all. We still can expect help from the others if trouble comes up. Shippou can't get through, though. We have the Shikon no Tama shards." Everyone mulled over this for a moment.
"He'll be fine," decided Inuyasha. "The little brat's too fast to catch even if someone is after him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shippou stared at the youkai. Its breath was even, as was its stare. It was small for an inu-youkai, which made Shippou wonder if it would be a lapdog without its demonic powers.
"You are a companion to the hanyou, the monk, and the Priestess, are you not?" Its voice was like a volcano erupting, albeit a very small volcano with a cold.
"Nani?" The inu-youkai pounced before Shippou could move. His claws stabbed the earth by the kitsune's head.
"You will tell me of them," the youkai growled threateningly, "or you will suffer." Shippou shuddered as one of his oppressor's claws slashed a line of burning pain across his cheek. He tried to scramble away, but he found that he couldn't move.
"Inuyasha!" he cried, knowing his friends couldn't hear him. The inu- youkai took him in his mouth like a pup and dashed away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Higurashis and their visitors had finished their meal and cleared it away, and it was time for their guests to go back to their own time. Kagome was more anxious to do so than her mother liked, but Mrs. Higurashi understood why, in this case, it might be a good idea. Miroku, too, had become a bit worried about Shippou, and was almost as ready to leave as Kagome. Inuyasha was not.
"Why should we hurry to get back? It's probably night over there, we can't do anything useful." Kagome whirled round, sticking her finger in his face.
"Don't be so selfish! Shippou is all alone over there, and you just want to hang around here? What do you want to stay for, anyway?" Inuyasha looked embarrassed and refused to answer.
"Inuyasha-niichan said he'd let me see his sword," Sota piped in. Kagome turned to 'Inuyasha nii-chan', looking dangerous.
"You want to let my little brother play around with a demonic weapon?!" she yelled. Inuyasha looked away, turning pink. "Baka! He'd kill himself!"
"Hey!" interrupted an indignant Sota. Kagome ignored him.
"Listen up, you!" she continued. "This is my world, and you're not gonna bring in any of the demon part from yours. And you're defiantly not giving Tetsusaiga to my little brother!" Inuyasha looked about to yell back, but Miroku intervened.
"Come, come. Let us settle this calmly where we won't bother anyone. Goodnight, Higurashi-sama; Sota. Inuyasha, Kagome-sama; let's go." He and Kagome led a red-faced Inuyasha to the wellhouse.
"Hey, stop complaining, Inuyasha! It's not like we'll never go back, ne?" Kagome climbed out of the well behind Inuyasha and Miroku. Neither answered. "What is it?" she asked, paling.
"Shippou...isn't here," Miroku said. Kagome swallowed.
"Are you sure he's not just wandering around nearby?" she pleaded. Inuyasha shook his head slowly.
"He hasn't been here since soon after we left. He's no where near here now." The hanyou's ears drooped guiltily. "It is my fault, isn't it?" Kagome hit his shoulder briskly.
"Enough with the guilt trip. Make up for it by helping us find him." He looked at her through slit eyes.
"That could be a problem."
"Why, exactly?" He chuckled, in the crazed way that people do when they're entirely hopeless.
"There's no trail."
"What?!" Kagome took a step back and Miroku looked up sharply. Inuyasha shook his head.
"There's not a trail anywhere. The only scent is from a few hours ago, and it starts and ends right here."
"Whatever happened," said Miroku softly, "someone didn't want us to follow."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shippou woke up. He hadn't even realized he'd been unconscious up till now. He tried to look around without moving. His paws were tied together, hand and foot, and something that tasted like blood was stuffed in his mouth. The cut on his cheek ached fiercely. Wherever he was, it was dark, large, and smelled of dirt and stone. He tentatively moved one of his bound paws, setting off a sharp pain that nearly made him cry out.
There was a breathy noise, and Shippou realized that he wasn't alone. The breathy noise was followed by scrapings and shufflings, and a small fire caught and grew. By its light Shippou could see a man-formed youkai. It looked like the inu-youkai that had captured him. In human form, he was still shorter than average, sharp-eyed, and crowned with a head of short but shaggy dirt-brown hair. His ears were mottled brown and black, and stuck out from the sides of his head.
"You are awake, then, kitsune." It was not a question. "I suppose that means we can get busy." Shippou didn't agree at all, for what he had seen had told him that 'getting busy' would mean the worst for him. He shivered, trying to pull out of the tight ropes. The youkai grinned, then bent down and in one quick motion ripped the gag out of the young fox's mouth. Shippou gasped for air, stretching out his sore muscles, and the youkai laughed.
"Don't get too comfortable, young one. We have buisiness, you and I." With that he lifted Shippou in one hand, dropping him onto what could have been a chair, though it was really no more than a pile of stones. Shippou winced at the pressure on his front paws, but he stolidly refused to make a noise. The inu-youkai flashed another sharp-toothed smile, baring his claws.
"Shall we?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They were tired, dirty, and very worried. Even though it was night, and despite Miroku's sage advice, Kagome and Inuyasha had refused to stop the search. And this from the hanyou who had said they couldn't search at night. Honestly.
He had been given no choice but to follow them. The trouble was, there was nothing to follow. They were still going in circles, even after hours of looking. Kagome was close to tears, and Inuyasha was growing angrier than Miroku had thought possible.
Miroku himself was concerned, certainly, but he was also unimpulsive. Well, when women weren't involved. He realized that if they kept charging around the forest like this, they'd be more likely to attract unwanted attention than to do any real good. He'd tried to explain this to them several times, but they'd muttered things about the trail growing cold, and the value of friendship. What he wanted to know was, what trail? And what kind of friend gets herself killed before she's saved the other?
One thing he had to say for them was that they were determined. Stupid, maybe, but determined nonetheless. However, that wasn't enough. Without sleep, they couldn't keep up the search.
"Kagome-sama. Inuyasha. We need to rest. We'll never find Shippou like this." They turned to him, and he knew that this time, he was winning. Kagome's eyes glimmered in the thin moonlight that reached through the trees.
"Then how will we find him, Miroku?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shippou gritted his teeth as Hashiaku pulled back his arm to strike the smaller youkai. The kitsune had learned the inu-youkai's name four or five strikes ago. He had learned to hate it more quickly.
"What are their weaknesses?" Hashiaku demanded. Shippou stayed silent, and the claws flew towards him. Even then, he didn't make a noise.
"Tell me!" the inu-youkai demanded, pulling his hand away. "Tell me what you know of them, or you will die." Then he would die, Shippou thought grimly. He stared up into Hashiaku's face. There was something happening there. He'd been noticing it for a while now. Occasionally, the dark youkai's eyes would flicker with some indecision, as though he didn't know why he was standing here and doing this. Shippou wondered at it, but not deeply. He was rather too busy worrying about himself.
Hashiaku looked back. For a moment, that confusion came into his expression, but it was gone long before it could be of any help to Shippou. He loomed over Shippou despite his small stature. His arm was raised again, this time in a fist.
"Why won't you tell me, brat?" he cried, fist rushing towards his victim. And suddenly, the change was over his entire face. The fist stopped in mid-charge.
"What have you done to me?" he whispered, looking at his bloody claws and then at Shippou. Shippou stared at him wide-eyed, pressing himself against the wall. Hashiaku- if this was Hashiaku- shuddered and closed his eyes. A moment later they snapped open again.
"No," he begged someone, "get out of me! Stay out! Leave me alone!"
He screamed, loud enough for the entire forest to hear. This was a battle between two beings. The good one was losing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inuyasha's ears pricked up when the scream started, but he wasn't the only one who heard. Kagome sat up like she'd been bitten by a snake.
"Who...?" she gasped. Miroku rolled over and stared in the direction of the terrible noise. The three of them looked at each other in horror.
"Shippou!"
_______________________________________________________
Author's Notes: Hey, all! Hope ya liked. You can thank my podunk lifestyle for this fic. We had snow and some of the back roads were covered, so no school. Lucky!!! Here's a few notes for those of you who know no Nihongo.
Hashi= chopsticks inu-youkai= dog demon
youkai= demon hanyou= half demon
nani= what kitsune= fox demon
nii-chan= big bro sama= lord or lady
Changing Wyrds
Chapter One: On Your Own
Shippou scurried through the woods, small chest heaving. Every once in a while he shot a furtive glance behind him, to see if it was catching up. This was no Inuyasha, who would let him go with a few bruises. This was something different. It was big, it was mean, and as far as he could tell, it wanted him dead. Shippou dove into a thicket, hoping to trap the creature behind him. It crashed through the underbrush, tongue lolling and eyes wild. And then it stopped.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Inuyasha?" Kagome lowered her hashi and glanced towards the hanyou.
"Hai?" Mrs. Higurashi and Sota watched the two of them as though they were their favorite soap.
"Do you think we should have left Shippou behind?" Kagome looked worriedly in the direction of the wellhouse.
"Feh. We asked him to come, and he didn't." Miroku cleared his throat.
"Of course, Inuyasha, that may have been because you were being mean to him before we left." Inuyasha didn't answer, but instead glared at the monk with a low growl.
"It's just...Shippou isn't really used to being on his own. We met up with him just after his dad died, so he didn't get much experience even then. I know he runs off sometimes, but so do we all. We still can expect help from the others if trouble comes up. Shippou can't get through, though. We have the Shikon no Tama shards." Everyone mulled over this for a moment.
"He'll be fine," decided Inuyasha. "The little brat's too fast to catch even if someone is after him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shippou stared at the youkai. Its breath was even, as was its stare. It was small for an inu-youkai, which made Shippou wonder if it would be a lapdog without its demonic powers.
"You are a companion to the hanyou, the monk, and the Priestess, are you not?" Its voice was like a volcano erupting, albeit a very small volcano with a cold.
"Nani?" The inu-youkai pounced before Shippou could move. His claws stabbed the earth by the kitsune's head.
"You will tell me of them," the youkai growled threateningly, "or you will suffer." Shippou shuddered as one of his oppressor's claws slashed a line of burning pain across his cheek. He tried to scramble away, but he found that he couldn't move.
"Inuyasha!" he cried, knowing his friends couldn't hear him. The inu- youkai took him in his mouth like a pup and dashed away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Higurashis and their visitors had finished their meal and cleared it away, and it was time for their guests to go back to their own time. Kagome was more anxious to do so than her mother liked, but Mrs. Higurashi understood why, in this case, it might be a good idea. Miroku, too, had become a bit worried about Shippou, and was almost as ready to leave as Kagome. Inuyasha was not.
"Why should we hurry to get back? It's probably night over there, we can't do anything useful." Kagome whirled round, sticking her finger in his face.
"Don't be so selfish! Shippou is all alone over there, and you just want to hang around here? What do you want to stay for, anyway?" Inuyasha looked embarrassed and refused to answer.
"Inuyasha-niichan said he'd let me see his sword," Sota piped in. Kagome turned to 'Inuyasha nii-chan', looking dangerous.
"You want to let my little brother play around with a demonic weapon?!" she yelled. Inuyasha looked away, turning pink. "Baka! He'd kill himself!"
"Hey!" interrupted an indignant Sota. Kagome ignored him.
"Listen up, you!" she continued. "This is my world, and you're not gonna bring in any of the demon part from yours. And you're defiantly not giving Tetsusaiga to my little brother!" Inuyasha looked about to yell back, but Miroku intervened.
"Come, come. Let us settle this calmly where we won't bother anyone. Goodnight, Higurashi-sama; Sota. Inuyasha, Kagome-sama; let's go." He and Kagome led a red-faced Inuyasha to the wellhouse.
"Hey, stop complaining, Inuyasha! It's not like we'll never go back, ne?" Kagome climbed out of the well behind Inuyasha and Miroku. Neither answered. "What is it?" she asked, paling.
"Shippou...isn't here," Miroku said. Kagome swallowed.
"Are you sure he's not just wandering around nearby?" she pleaded. Inuyasha shook his head slowly.
"He hasn't been here since soon after we left. He's no where near here now." The hanyou's ears drooped guiltily. "It is my fault, isn't it?" Kagome hit his shoulder briskly.
"Enough with the guilt trip. Make up for it by helping us find him." He looked at her through slit eyes.
"That could be a problem."
"Why, exactly?" He chuckled, in the crazed way that people do when they're entirely hopeless.
"There's no trail."
"What?!" Kagome took a step back and Miroku looked up sharply. Inuyasha shook his head.
"There's not a trail anywhere. The only scent is from a few hours ago, and it starts and ends right here."
"Whatever happened," said Miroku softly, "someone didn't want us to follow."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shippou woke up. He hadn't even realized he'd been unconscious up till now. He tried to look around without moving. His paws were tied together, hand and foot, and something that tasted like blood was stuffed in his mouth. The cut on his cheek ached fiercely. Wherever he was, it was dark, large, and smelled of dirt and stone. He tentatively moved one of his bound paws, setting off a sharp pain that nearly made him cry out.
There was a breathy noise, and Shippou realized that he wasn't alone. The breathy noise was followed by scrapings and shufflings, and a small fire caught and grew. By its light Shippou could see a man-formed youkai. It looked like the inu-youkai that had captured him. In human form, he was still shorter than average, sharp-eyed, and crowned with a head of short but shaggy dirt-brown hair. His ears were mottled brown and black, and stuck out from the sides of his head.
"You are awake, then, kitsune." It was not a question. "I suppose that means we can get busy." Shippou didn't agree at all, for what he had seen had told him that 'getting busy' would mean the worst for him. He shivered, trying to pull out of the tight ropes. The youkai grinned, then bent down and in one quick motion ripped the gag out of the young fox's mouth. Shippou gasped for air, stretching out his sore muscles, and the youkai laughed.
"Don't get too comfortable, young one. We have buisiness, you and I." With that he lifted Shippou in one hand, dropping him onto what could have been a chair, though it was really no more than a pile of stones. Shippou winced at the pressure on his front paws, but he stolidly refused to make a noise. The inu-youkai flashed another sharp-toothed smile, baring his claws.
"Shall we?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They were tired, dirty, and very worried. Even though it was night, and despite Miroku's sage advice, Kagome and Inuyasha had refused to stop the search. And this from the hanyou who had said they couldn't search at night. Honestly.
He had been given no choice but to follow them. The trouble was, there was nothing to follow. They were still going in circles, even after hours of looking. Kagome was close to tears, and Inuyasha was growing angrier than Miroku had thought possible.
Miroku himself was concerned, certainly, but he was also unimpulsive. Well, when women weren't involved. He realized that if they kept charging around the forest like this, they'd be more likely to attract unwanted attention than to do any real good. He'd tried to explain this to them several times, but they'd muttered things about the trail growing cold, and the value of friendship. What he wanted to know was, what trail? And what kind of friend gets herself killed before she's saved the other?
One thing he had to say for them was that they were determined. Stupid, maybe, but determined nonetheless. However, that wasn't enough. Without sleep, they couldn't keep up the search.
"Kagome-sama. Inuyasha. We need to rest. We'll never find Shippou like this." They turned to him, and he knew that this time, he was winning. Kagome's eyes glimmered in the thin moonlight that reached through the trees.
"Then how will we find him, Miroku?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shippou gritted his teeth as Hashiaku pulled back his arm to strike the smaller youkai. The kitsune had learned the inu-youkai's name four or five strikes ago. He had learned to hate it more quickly.
"What are their weaknesses?" Hashiaku demanded. Shippou stayed silent, and the claws flew towards him. Even then, he didn't make a noise.
"Tell me!" the inu-youkai demanded, pulling his hand away. "Tell me what you know of them, or you will die." Then he would die, Shippou thought grimly. He stared up into Hashiaku's face. There was something happening there. He'd been noticing it for a while now. Occasionally, the dark youkai's eyes would flicker with some indecision, as though he didn't know why he was standing here and doing this. Shippou wondered at it, but not deeply. He was rather too busy worrying about himself.
Hashiaku looked back. For a moment, that confusion came into his expression, but it was gone long before it could be of any help to Shippou. He loomed over Shippou despite his small stature. His arm was raised again, this time in a fist.
"Why won't you tell me, brat?" he cried, fist rushing towards his victim. And suddenly, the change was over his entire face. The fist stopped in mid-charge.
"What have you done to me?" he whispered, looking at his bloody claws and then at Shippou. Shippou stared at him wide-eyed, pressing himself against the wall. Hashiaku- if this was Hashiaku- shuddered and closed his eyes. A moment later they snapped open again.
"No," he begged someone, "get out of me! Stay out! Leave me alone!"
He screamed, loud enough for the entire forest to hear. This was a battle between two beings. The good one was losing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inuyasha's ears pricked up when the scream started, but he wasn't the only one who heard. Kagome sat up like she'd been bitten by a snake.
"Who...?" she gasped. Miroku rolled over and stared in the direction of the terrible noise. The three of them looked at each other in horror.
"Shippou!"
_______________________________________________________
Author's Notes: Hey, all! Hope ya liked. You can thank my podunk lifestyle for this fic. We had snow and some of the back roads were covered, so no school. Lucky!!! Here's a few notes for those of you who know no Nihongo.
Hashi= chopsticks inu-youkai= dog demon
youkai= demon hanyou= half demon
nani= what kitsune= fox demon
nii-chan= big bro sama= lord or lady