Summery: InuYasha meets his younger sister.
InuYasha, Kagome, and their group made their way up the grassy knoll, their feet slipping on the occational patch of mud. They had trekked for miles through the countryside of Feudal-era Japan, and they were ready for some rest in a nice, peacefull villiage.
"How much farther is it?" Shippo complained. The little fox demon trudged along beside of Sango, Miroko, and Kirana.
"I'm sure it's not far," Sango replied. Her gigantic hiratsu boomerang seemed very heavy to her now.
"What makes you think we'll find a villiage?" InuYasha asked, turning to speak to them. He and Kagome was scouting ahead, and were almost to the top of the hill.
"We might," Miroku replied. "We might not."
"Can he be any more vague?" Kagome quipped sarcastically.
"I don't think so," InuYasha answered her. They turned back toward the top of the hill that was their immedate goal.
When the Dog Demon and the girl reached the top, they looked down the other side. What they saw stunned them into inactivity. At least, for the moment.
"What is it?" Sango asked, scencing that the two had stopped.
"Trouble," InuYasha answered. That one word was enough insentive for the others to join the two at the top.
What they saw when they got there was a band of outlaws attacking a small village. Standing in their way was what looked like a young, white-haired girl, dressed in red samuri clothes. She wielded a slender katana blade.
"Hero time!" Miroku cried. Any female in trouble was a chance to get lucky for the the young monk. He sprinted ahead of the others, intent on being the one to "rescue" the girl from the bandits.
Sighing, the rest of the team followed, hoping to minimize any damage Miroku caused.
GinTsuki faced off against the theives, her sword at the ready. The villiage had taken her in, feed her, and relatively welcomed her, even though she was a Dog Demon. Now, she was returning the favor. No one else in the village knew how to fight. The entire village was defenceless.
Except for one Dog Girl.
Gin thought she was alone; one girl against many villians. So one can imagine her surprise when a group of fighters also joined the frey.
InuYasha caught a glimpse of the girl during the battle. He noticed something that noone had seen before: The girl had a pair of dog ears!
She's a Dog Demon?!? InuYasha thought wildly. He did not have time to ponder the signifigence of the odd hearing organs, as a bandit attacked him, and the young half-demon had to defend against him.
With the aid of the new arrivals, GinTsuki beat back her attackers. The bandits, seeing themselvs outmatched by the combination of the girl and her new allies, turned and ran, heading into the relative safety of a nearby forest.
GinTsuki turned to reguard the young man at her side, and grinned when she found that she recognized him.
"Hi, InuYasha!" she smiled, showing gleaming white fangs. "Good to see you again, my brother!"
"I have a sister?!?"
InuYasha stared at the girl, blinking occationally. Yes, she was a Dog Demon; he could tell by the canine ears peeking up out of her frost-white hair, the claws on her hands, and the canine fangs that showed whenever she smiled.
"Yes," GinTsuki laughed. "Younger sister, actually."
"InuYasha's been stuck in tree for fifty years," Kagome said. "How are you still as young-looking as he is?"
"Because I've been stuck in a giant crystal for those same fifty years," Gin answered. "A met up with a priestess that cast a spell on me and locked me within a large diamond. I would have stayed in the crystal longer, if not for a group of theives..."
A group of three men and a young boy walked through a dark cave. The ceiling was dripping with water, and the theives could hear the echo of the drops hitting the little puddles they were forming.
"Are you sure about this, Kamu?" Kago asked the man next to him. Each man carried bags and tools for the task ahead.
"Of course I'm sure," Kago replied, trying to keep his voice down. "There's a giant diamond in this cave, and if we find it, we'll all be rich."
"If you say so," Seki said.
Behind the three men, the boy --Hiku-- felt unsure. They had only reluctantly brought Kago's son. He was too young, too skinny, too weak, --too everything! Why he was with them, even he was not sure.
Presently, they found the crystal lying in one of the deeper caverns. What they did not expect was the girl in the crystal.
"It's someone's tomb!" was what Kamu gasped out. He trembled as he gazed at the form within the crystal.
Kago did not hesitate, however. He removed the chisel and hammer from his toolbag, and began to chip away at the crystal.
The other three joined him in his task, working together to break the clear stone apart.
Hiku struck his chisel over the part of the crystal over the girl's heart. The ten year-old must have hit a crucial spot, because the crystal's surface began to crack, splitting appart like a watermelon under a large knife. Rays of light began to emit from the cracks, and the entire crystal began to shake, although the floor remained stationary.
The theives backed away from the crystal in superstitous fear. What was happening was beyond their experience.
Piece-by-piece, the crystal fell away from the girl's body, scattering everywhere in the cave. Many pieces rolled near the theives, but they made no move to pick them up, so terrified of the breaking crystal and its prisoner.
The light faded, and the girl stood up. She was dressed in red, and had white hair and gold eyes. A pair of dog ears poked out from her frosted tresses. She turned to regard the four theives.
"Thank you for breaking the crystal and freeing me," the girl said. "You can have what's left of it, except for one small piece." She began looking around the many chunks of broken stone. "I'd like a little momento of my time in that thing...Ahhh!"
The girl bent down and picked up a small piece of crystal that looked like a dog tooth. There was even a hole at the what would have been the base of a real tooth. She turned, and saw Hiku. She noticed that he carried a pick-axe.
"You must have been the one to hit just the right spot that freed me," she said to him. "And this must have been where you hit. The hole could have only been made by a pick-axe. Thank you." She picked up one of the biggest chunks of the crystal and handed it to him. "This one's for you." With that, the girl left the cave.
The four theives just watched in dumbfounded confusion.
And so, GinTsuki, the Dog Demon Girl, walked the Earth once more.
"...and that's how I was freed from the crystal," GinTsuki was saying. "I soon made my way to this village, and I've been defending them against those bandits ever since."
"I guess this means that you won't be coming with us," Shippo said. "Those bandits are still out there."
"They'll keep attacking," Sango said. "And when they see us leave, they'll know that it's just you. They'll attack as soon as they are able."
"Which is why I'm going to train some of these villiagers to fight," GinTsuki answered. "I know I won't be around forever."
"Can we talk about this tomorrow?" Shippo asked, yawning. "It's time to get some sleep." The small fox boy curled up in Kagome's arms and went to sleep.
"He's right," InuYasha said. "Let's get some sleep. We'll finish talking in the morning."
The group agreed, and found places to sleep. Soon, not a one was awake.
The next morning, the group parted ways with GinTsuki and the villagers, but only for the moment.
"As soon as I'm done training these villagers, I'll catch up to you," she said. "It shouldn't take me too long to teach them what they need to know. Then, we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other, my brother."
"Okay," InuYasha replied. He was still stunned by the fact he had a sister.
"Don't worry, brother," Gin grinned, her canine fangs showing. "We'll be together again soon."
That wasn't what I was worried about... InuYasha was thinking.
"See you then," Kagome smiled back.
GinTsuki watched as the group continued on their way. She would join them soon enough, but not until she finished what she had to do here.
Kagome looked over at InuYasha, and was surprised that there seemed to be a lift to his step. She wondered what was going through his mind at that moment.
I have a sister, he was thinking, a smile on his lips. I have a sister...I have a sister...I have a sister...
Not too bad for someone who has just gotten into the InuYasha anime, thanks to Cartoon Network, a website or two, and especially thanks to LighthouseKate, my fanfic writing buddy! I hope to get better the more I learn about InuYasha and company.
Notes: Gin = Silver, Tsuki = Moon. All Japanese terms are from a Japanese - English Dictionary, and many of them are from the English - Japanese section, which only lists the words. Other sourses for terms will include my manga collection, including Shonen Jump magazine.
Next: Chapter 2: YukiNeko. Before she reunites with InuYasha and friends, GinTsuki meets a cat girl, who joins her in her journey.