Nightmares
By: Kadasa Mori
Shippo breathed in and out quickly as he raced along the forest path on all fours. He took a moment to glance backwards and saw Naraku closing in on him.
"Kagome! Sango! Somebody!" He screamed in terror as one of the claws ripped through the side of his shirt. He tumbled head over heels and skidded to a stop in front of bare feet. Looking up farther his eyes rested on the haynou.
"Inuyasha! I knew somebody would come!" He shouted.
The haynou grinned evilly, bangs shadowing his eyes. He cracked his wrist holding up his sharp claws. Slashing downward Shippo leapt out of the way and raced along the forest path. His nose picked up a scent and he recognized it. Running into Kaede's hut he found everyone dead.
"No." He whimpered. "Kagome?"
The door flap opened and he flipped around to see Inuyasha grinning at him.
"Hello Shippo." He laughed before rushing at him, claws extended.
"AH!" He sat up quickly, breathing in quickly. He trembled and felt Kagome's slender arms pulled him in close.
"Sh..." She said quietly. "It was just a dream."
He nodded and curled up tightly against her. His nose twitched as his mind got fuzzy before he fell asleep again.
Kagome glared at Inuyasha as he yelled at her for going back to her weird home. Shippo hid behind her legs, remembering his nightmare. Inuyasha glared back at Kagome then looked down at Shippo who froze.
"Aren't you gonna start arguing runt?" He asked.
Shippo whimpered and rushed into the hut. Kagome looked at Inuyasha dumbfounded, him doing the same.
"What... what just happened?" He asked and she shrugged, the argument forgotten.
He shrugged. "See you in a couple days." He said heading back into the hut.
Kagome smiled. "Thank you Inuyasha." She took off for the well as Inuyasha walked into the hut, Sango and Miroku looking up at him surprised, Kaede as well. Shippo tried to look invincible but Inuyasha ignored him.
"So what happened Inuyasha?" Miroku asked. "There was no 'sitting' today."
Inuyasha growled and plopped down grabbing his own bowl of food.
Shippo looked over at Inuyasha. 'He didn't do anything to me. Was it just a nightmare?'
Shippo happily splashed in the river as he waited for Kirara and Sango to come back from demon hunting with Miroku. It was just a couple good deeds for a nearby village and Shippo didn't want to be in the way so he decided to go explore the river. He giggled as a fish splashed and got him wet.
"What are you doing?" A harsh voice called.
Freezing Shippo turned. "Inu... Inuyasha?"
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow walking to the edge of the bank. "What's your problem kid?"
Shippo bit his lip trying to back away slowly. "N-n-nothin!"
Inuyasha frowned. "I can tell you're scared of something."
"N-no no I'm not!"
"Yes you are. What's the matter?" Inuyasha asked concerned.
"Nothing."
"Shippo..." He took a step towards the frightened kitsune.
Shippo squeaked in fear and darted towards the woods.
"Shippo!"
Shippo quickly rushed through the woods. He darted in between bushes and trees and after 5 minutes of full sprinting he hid behind a tree and peeked around the corner.
Breathing hard he leaned back against the tree and looked forward with a gasp. Inuyasha stood in front of him. Shippo froze and didn't move. When Inuyasha knelt in front of him he winced.
Instead of feeling claws rake across him, Shippo felt Inuyasha pick him up under the arms. Opening his eyes he saw Inuyasha looking at him with worry.
"Shippo? You all right?" He asked.
Shippo whimpered. "Uh... yeah?"
Inuyasha's usual frown formed and Shippo winced. Inuyasha let out a sigh and pulled Shippo close to his body and took off towards the well.
Kagome looked up from her schoolwork when a shadow fell over her papers in the sunset light. Inuyasha sat there, Shippo in his arms.
"Shippo?" Shippo leapt at her, curling up against her. "Inuyasha?" She asked confused.
He looked down at Shippo then up at her. "I'll be back tonight before you go to bed to take the runt back. You get him back to normal."
"Normal?" She asked but by the time it got out of her mouth he'd left. She looked down at Shippo. "Shippo? What's wrong?"
"Well..."
Inuyasha leapt through the well, landing on solid ground at 8:30. He hopped across the lawn and up onto Kagome's window, sliding through. Kagome looked up from her papers with a smile.
"Hello Inuyasha!" She chirped.
"Hey. So..."
She pushed his shoulder towards the bed and sat down next to him. "Here's how it goes... Shippo had a nightmare last night that you had killed us all and was about to kill him."
Inuyasha just stared then let out a laugh. "As if I'd ever do that!"
"Inuyasha... he's just a little kid. Nightmare's usually make little kids scared of the real world."
"So basically, he has dream I murdered you all, he thinks I'm gonna kill him?"
"Basically."
He sighed and shrugged. "All right. Where's the runt? I need to take him back. Kirara's been going crazy because she lost her hide and go seek partner." Under his breath he added, "And I've been going crazy cause she's been annoying me."
Kagome giggled. "Shippo!" She called.
"Coming Kagome!" He raced into the room but stopped dead when he saw Inuyasha.
"Shippo... listen... your nightmare was just a nightmare. Inuyasha would never try to hurt you."
He looked up at her with a small nod. "All right Kagome."
She smiled. "Good. I have to do some studying so Inuyasha will take you home."
Shippo gave her puppy eyes and Kagome frowned. "Sorry Shippo. You have to go."
"All right Kagome." He looked at Inuyasha who walked over. Shippo stiffened.
Inuyasha sighed but picked him up under the arms like Kagome would do.
"See ya Kagome!" He called as he rushed towards the well.
'It's been a couple days since Kagome left.' Shippo thought looking up at the stars before curling up close to Sango.
SHIPPO'S DREAM Shippo looked around the small field he was in. Kagome stood smiling. "Shippo!" She called. Shippo ran to her when she suddenly fell over, Inuyasha's claws stained red as well as her body. "No... Inuyasha?" Shippo asked. The haynou laughed evilly throwing his other friend's bodies on top of Kagome's. Shippo turned on his heel to run when he felt Inuyasha's claws rake his body. END DREAM
Shippo sat up quickly and looked around the small campfire. Sango and Miroku were out cold, Kirara curled up next to them. Inuyasha was in his tree a ways away.
Shippo took a deep breath and headed quickly for Inuyasha's tree. Looking up into it he saw the glow of Inuyasha's silver white hair. Climbing into the branches Shippo lost his balance and gasped as he slipped and fell.
A strong pair of arms caught him and he looked up to see Inuyasha's face.
"What are you doing out here?" He asked quietly.
"I uh..." Shippo twiddled with his thumbs
"Another bad dream?" Inuyasha asked. Shippo nodded. An instant later the wind whipped his face as Inuyasha jumped into the highest branch of the tree and settled in.
"Uh... Inuyasha?"
Inuyasha opened one eye. "Bedtime runt." Shippo smiled and curled up in his arms.
"Kagome!" Shippo cried as he latched onto his adopted mother.
"Shippo! I hope you've been all right?"
"Yup! No more nightmares!"
"Great! How's everything been?" She asked as they headed towards the village.
"Wench." Inuyasha growled as he dropped down in front of them.
After a quick heart attack, Shippo was the first to recover. "Inuyasha! Don't do that! You gave me a heart attack!"
He grabbed Shippo by the tail pulling him up to his face. "Shut up runt!"
"Lemme go!"
"Gladly." He dropped Shippo he rushed behind Kagome.
"Inuyasha..." Kagome sighed and headed towards the village.
Shippo looked at Inuyasha who gave him a quick warm smile then followed after Kagome. Shippo smiled and rushed up to Kagome, jumping onto her shoulder, Inuyasha walking up next to her side.
'My new mama' Shippo thought happily, 'and papa.'
Kadasa: Cute no?
Sesshoumaru: No.
Kadasa: SHUT UP!!!
Sesshoumaru: (whines) Kadasa... I wasn't even in it. (starts to pout)
Kadasa: (rolls her eyes) That's because you're in almost every other one. I never used Shippo in my stories so I made one that's just about him stupid.
Sesshoumaru: Fine.
Kadasa: (nods and turns to viewers) Feel free to slice and dice this story and kill it. It's really bad but I really don't care. It's 3:35 AM on a Saturday. I'm watching Inuyasha episode 1 on Cartoon Network and wanna go to bed so G'night! Say Good night Sess.
Sesshoumaru: Good night Sess.
Kadasa: Sesshoumaru!
Sesshoumaru: That's my name, don't wear it out.
Kadasa: (sighs and turns back to viewers) Oh well. The stubborn stay stubborn. G'night.