Chapter 4 Starting Challenges
A drop of dew clung to the leaf, fighting not to fall on the sleeping half demons below. The wind caressed the drop of water, making it fall on the sensitive nose of the elder half demon.
InuYasha opened tired golden eyes and swiped at his nose in minor annoyance. Seconds later, another drop fell, this time on the tip of his ear. His ear twitched, flicking the water away, but it did its job, and he was awake. The little boy next to him had surprised him, for a few moments until he remembered exactly what had happened the previous day. Sometime during the night, the little boy had moved from the warmest part of the cave, to the entrance, where he was, and curled up at his side. InuYasha ran a hand through the boys' hair, watching as the boy purred in his sleep.
He sat up, stretching slightly, and glanced at the sky. It would be a beautiful day, he thought as a few fluffy white clouds swam across the sky. It was just passed sunrise, and everything seemed to be in a good mood. Golden eyes closed for a moment, feeling nature singing a cheerful melody.
When InuYasha's eyes opened, he was looking into dangerous green eyes of the cub he had rescued last night. He pulled himself up, before picking up the adorable little boy.
"We're gonna go find a friend of mine, alright?" Ryou nodded and curled up in his guardian's arms, tucking his head under the older hanyou's neck.
After a few minutes of walking, InuYasha let the small boy down next to a patch of berries that he had planted years ago. He glanced around, there was a large valley surrounded by a forest that was filled with plump prey. A small lake was on the far side, and a cave that winded underground were the only noticeable things besides grass. But he could work with that. He roamed the valley again, leaving the cub to eat. It was safe here, so the little boy could explore, or find him, easily. He went over to the lake and took a long drink, before continuing his survey of the land. After a few minutes, the little cub found him again, and walked with him.
The whole thing only took half an hour to walk, and the land was perfect for his newest project. After making sure that the little boy was ready, he picked him up, and ran towards a place that he remembered well enough.
He slowed to a walk when he heard fighting in the distance. Normally, he would have just left it, but he recognized three of the scents that were obviously bleeding. His eyes widened and he cursed. Humans were attacking Jinenji, his mother, and a little white haired girl that he knew was another hanyou, Shiori. He ran into the fight and pulled Shiori into his arms, shifting his grip on Ryou, who was clinging to him, terrified. He set them both down on the other side of the clearing, and after yelling at Shiori to bring up a barrier around the two, he went back to join the fight. The old woman was dead by this point, and Jinenji was fighting with tears running down his face. InuYasha quickly killed the humans and ran over to the other hanyou who had collapsed when he saw InuYasha finish his opponents. Jinenji was bleeding, and his normally scarred body was in horrible condition. He bit his lip, before retrieving the two little ones, and moving over to the older half demon.
He pierced his wrist and held it to the other half demons mouth. It took a few minutes, but when Jinenji forced away his hand, InuYasha knew he would be alright. That done, he turned to the two kids and pulled them into his arms, making Shiori freeze and Ryou break down crying. Once she saw that he wasn't going to hurt her, big tears ran down her dark amethyst eyes. He shushed the children, rocking them slowly back and forth, and whispering that everything would be alright. After a few minutes, Shiori pulled away, looking at him with tears, before her expression turned into a mirror of his own when he was determined.
"They came out of nowhere." She began, looking at the older lady in sadness, "Mom and I came here because I could tell that you had been here. The other bat demons started hurting me again, and we left. There were four kids that also had your protection on them, so we invited them to join us. We were attacked by humans, and mom and the youngest girl died, but Jinenji-san and Kira-san saved us. Now the humans…" she trailed off with another harsh sob. InuYasha gave a small sigh, but pulled the girl close for a moment.
"Where are the others?" He asked quietly.
"Down in the basement." Jinenji's told him, his voice was filled with pain as his body tried to stitch itself back up again. InuYasha gave a small sigh, but gave the children instructions to not move and pull up a barrier if someone came by, before walking towards the house, if it could still be called that, and heading towards the scents of fear. He opened the small door that he couldn't fit into even if he tried, letting his scent travel.
Next thing he knew, he was being tackled by a now thirteen year old, in looks, Asagi. The twins, Dai and Roku if he remembered right, were more hesitant.
Moegi gave him a large smile, which was rare for the little girl, but it made him scoop her up in his arms.
They were alright, but InuYasha knew that mentally they were not. The smallest of their odd family, a little girl named Ai, had died, and if they were anything like him, they were still suffering from her death. He gave a small grunt, but put the girl down and headed outside.
His demon side was purring at the trust that the pups were showing as they followed without a word. He walked over to the other adult demon, telling the kids to stay there, before taking the body of the old woman behind the house. It took less than ten minutes to bury the body, but when his nose twitched at an unfamiliar scent, he moved slightly faster.
Earth. There was no other word that could possibly describe the scent. Dirt, soil, and life. He wanted to close his eyes and enjoy it, but he knew that his pack might be in trouble, so he forced his body to move. What he saw made him freeze. Where Jinenji once laid, was now a stranger. Instead of the elongated face, large, bulging blue eyes, curly black hair that was always tied back on his horse like head, and torn dark tan skin laid a tan skinned man with no visible scars. His face was more human-like, taking most of his mother's features, except for unearthly light blue eyes and hair that was a light blue at the scalp but darkened as it moved down his body, ending just passed his shoulders. His body was still tall, but no longer did he tower over them, now reaching a height of just past six feet. His body was strong, muscular, and quiet appealing to the eyes. InuYasha cursed under his breath. His blood must have done something to the other half demon, who was now staring at him like he was the main course on a buffet.
InuYasha couldn't help but flare his youkai, showing the other that while he may be a beta, he was still the others alpha. The other hanyou broke eye contact and looked down, tilting his head slightly in a show of submission.
InuYasha picked up the larger male, before gesturing for the children to follow. They headed back to his haven. This new pack of his followed his directions much better than his old one, who never listened to him, and always doubted everything he had to say.
Once they reached the place, the sun was high in the sky, and it was time for lunch. He inhaled deeply, sensing the other's demon sides. Most likely, all but three of his new pack ate meat. The twins were Coyote demons. Both were still skinny and had overly sharp features, including the whisker like marks on their faces. The orange haired one with a stripe of green, Daidai, or just Dai, lay down on the soft grass, tugging his twin, the green haired one with the orange strip, Roku, down with him.
Moegi, who was a deer hanyou if he was right, decided to go over to the lake, dipping her feet into the cool waters, and hummed a quiet but pretty song. Her hair was a muted brown, and her eyes were dark blue, but they had wisdom well beyond her years in them. She hadn't spoken a word yet, but she did stay close to him, seemingly wanting his attention without actually asking for it.
Shiori, a bat hanyou, cringed slightly in the sunlight, and with his permission, went into the caves. Ryou followed her with a small smile in the direction of his guardian. Asagi looked at him with a slightly curious glance, before returning her eyes to Jinenji. He laid the older man down under a tree, and told the girl to watch him, before jumping into the trees and disappearing.
"Will he take care of us?" Asagi asked quietly, ashamed to admit that she and the others needed help.
Jinenji couldn't help the small laugh that escaped his now humanoid lips. "I have never met a kinder soul." He told the girl. She gave a small laugh, before going over to the twins and lying down, leaving the elder to rest.
/././././././././././././././.
Less than an hour later, InuYasha came back into the clearing with a large buck over one shoulder and a string on fruit over the other. He sat down his load before returning to the forest and gathering wood and rocks. After making a small fire, he sat down, calling the others too him, before passing the food out. As he had guessed, Jinenji, Moegi, and Asagi ate the fruit only. Shiori nibbled on both, and the rest of them ate mostly meat.
"InuYasha-san, do you need any help?" Asagi asked as he got up to return to the forest.
He tilted his head slightly, before shrugging.
"I'm gathering wood so that I can start to build houses." He told the girl, who followed him into the woods. The twins decided to help, making sarcastic comments under their breath.
It took almost an hour, but InuYasha was satisfied with the work.
Now for the hard part. He started smoothing the wood and cutting it into workable pieces. That took a few hours, and way too many splinters. By sunset though, he had set up the base of the house.
Now though, he was sitting at the front of the cave, running his claws through the hair of both Ryou and Shiori. Moegi laid down next to him, and he couldn't help but move her closer. The little girl was adorable. The twins were speaking softly to each other in one corner, and Asagi was curled up beside Jinenji.
An hour later, everyone was asleep, but InuYasha couldn't help the restlessness of both his body and his mind.
That was when a shiver ran through his body. He was being called. He nibbled on his bottom lip for a moment, before laying his fire rat robe over the youngest three, maneuvering them carefully so they were lying side by side and tucked the robe around them. InuYasha walked to the back of the cave and shook the horse hanyou awake.
Their eyes met, and Jinenji nodded his consent. He would keep an eye on the kids as long as InuYasha did his best to hurry back. InuYasha raised another eyebrow, asking silently if he could handle all six kids at once. Jinenji glanced at Asagi, before nodding again. Satisfied, InuYasha headed out of the cave.
It took two or so hours to get back to the village, but he honestly wasn't worried. They had yelled for him, but from what he could tell, they were fine. What he saw made no sense to the poor hanyou.
The royal whites, all of them, were waiting around, trying not to be touched, or spoken to, by the Ningen. The humans were looking at them with mixed awe and hatred. Then there was his pack. Sango was now with child. Miroku was still trying to flirt with the beauties, and almost getting himself killed. Shippo seemed interested in just watching the show play out. Then there was Kagome. She looked like hell, he thought with a mental snort. Her hair was messy, and her eyes were puffy. The biggest thing was the fact that she had a dark red handprint on her left cheek. Well, that and the fact that both Sango and Miroku seemed intent on ignoring her.
InuYasha rolled his eyes once more, before stepping into the village.
He encored the demons for a moment, turning an exasperated voice to his pack. "What could you possibly need in the middle of the night?" He asked.
"They asked us to call for you." Miroku told the hanyou.
"Thanks. Now get to bed. Especially you, Sango." Another argument was coming, he knew it, but by the gods, he wanted to be back with the pups, not here, in the middle of a village that no longer held anything in it for him.
Sango and the others protested, but in the end, he won. Finally, he shooed away the rest of the villagers, who automatically felt safer with him around protecting them, and turned his attention back to the demons.
'You lead very well for a hanyou." One of the wolves told him with a small smirk. InuYasha shrugged. It wasn't that big of a deal.
That was when they got serious. An elder of the Fox demons stepped out, watching how the hanyou was able to shift from nonchalant to an attentive stance without the usual gesturing that he had to do.
"We will give you the other hanyou's. While most of them may be useless, to us, we are willing to give them to you in exchange for peace, information, and mating one of the royal foxes and wolves. It's a good deal, no?"
"What do you mean by giving me the other hanyou's?" he asked, deciding to start with the first statement.
"We will gather all of the hanyous from are respective homes, starting with the west, then the north, the east, and finally the south. We will give you a large chunk of land to grow your village on, and if any hanyou gets into trouble, they will go to you, and not our own courts. The area where we found you, and fifty miles on each side will be yours. Should you need more land, you will have to ask."
This was his chance to be known for more than his blood, yet still retain his freedom. But there was still a question that he had to know first. "What information do ya want, and how will ya use it?"
The elder turned to Sesshomaru. "I thought you said he did not have a high intelligence."
Sesshomaru looked as surprised as the rest of them. No one quite knew what to do with this smart version of the usually reckless hanyou.
"We want to know about Hanyou's. We want to understand your race, and find out if it's even possible to make hanyou's into successful parts of their respective villages. We want to understand how their minds work, and what it is that they want out of their lives. We also wish to know if a hanyou could be used as a leader in moments of paranoia. You are still the prince of the west you know."
InuYasha paused; none of their demands had anything to do with wiping out hanyou's, destroying them, or harming them in general.
"In five years, if you keep your side of the bargain, and leave them to me, I'll agree to mate with your princes."
The elder shook his head. "Mate with both of them now, and we'll get started on our end. As it is, we don't trust you too keep your end."
"I won't mate with anyone yet. I need my whole mind to be able to survive these next few months. But, they can come with me, or visit whenever they want."
"We can't just leave a beta without a mate! You'll be taken in days!"
InuYasha snorted. He couldn't help it; they were just being stupid now.
"I've been a beta for almost six months now. If I haven't been taken yet, it's a pretty good guess that it won't happen for a while, if ever." He was right of course. He had been born as the year was getting ready to die, where the world was changing colors. Now it was ready to grow new life. A beautiful spring will soon give way to a scorching summer, before a cool autumn and deadly cold winter take over the world.
"Take guards with you at the least! If anything happens to you, the deal is null and you come live in the palaces, like a good little prince."
InuYasha sighed quietly, before nodding his consent. By this time, the moon was getting ready to disappear from sight until the sun set once more. The elder turned towards the fox guards, randomly picking five, before allowing the wolves to do the same.
As much as he wanted to complain, he really didn't have time. Kouga, Ginta, Hakkaku, a grey wolf, and a black wolf were his guards, excluding the five fox guards. Kouga gave him a small smirk, before mock bowing. InuYasha rolled his eyes.
"The first part of our bargain, little brother." Sesshomaru muttered, before snapping his fingers. A group of no less than twenty five half-breeds of all ages were led over to him. The youngest was still a babe in the arms of a half deer demon who looked to be in her mid-thirties. They were all dirty, and looked to be in horrible condition.
Great.
He rubbed his aching temples, before coming up with a plan that hopefully would work. He roamed the village, leaving his new guard at the village square, and tried to find…
His eyes lit up when he saw a large wagon. Most of them would have to stand up, but at least they wouldn't have to walk. He dragged the wagon back to the square. Now what? Umm…Well, he figured he could probably drag the damn thing, but he really didn't want too. It would take too long. Not that there was much of a choice.
"Is there anything else?" he asked semi-politely. The elder chuckled, before making a shooing motion. InuYasha shrugged, and helped the tired people on the wagon. It hadn't taken too long, thankfully.
"Ya riding or running, flea bag?"
Said flea bag just jumped on the wagon, well aware that his weight was hardly anything to the hanyou. The rest of his guard decided to walk, and after straining his muscles for a few seconds, the wagon lifted. He settled it on his arms, holding tightly, before taking off in a light run. This was a pace that he was pretty sure he could keep up.
Three and a half hours later, he stopped, stretching his now sore muscles, before yelling for Jinenji and the others. Ryou tackled him, his tiger-cub ears twitching in excitement. Shiori was next, and more graceful, though her dark purple eyes showed her happiness at his return. Finally, the twins, Asagi, Moegi, and Jinenji came over.
He closed his eyes for a moment, before barking out directions. He told Dai to dry out some of the meat that they hadn't eaten the night before, and Roku was to get the skin dried out. He figured it would be as good of a blanket as any. Asagi went to catch some fish, Jinenji went to gather some herbs that would help heal the other half demons, Shiori gathered some of the berries, and Ryou went with the injured into the caves so they could sleep. Moegi went to gather water for the others. Thankfully, the stream and the lake were fresh water, so she didn't have to go very far.
The guards were coming hunting with him. They would need a lot of food to keep up with that many demons. It went from eight to thirty eight in one night, and if his brother was to be believed, more would be coming.
A few hours later, they had successfully gathered fruit; the seeds would be planted in a garden that Jinenji wanted to grow, and plenty of meat. He allowed the sick people to sleep though lunch, but woke them up for dinner, before sending them once again to bed.
Jinenji and InuYasha were the only ones awake now, both watching the stars. Neither had been in a particularly talkative mood in the past day, but now, InuYasha knew that the older-looking demon needed to talk.
InuYasha looked over at the other demon, before letting out a soft sigh. "Go ahead."
Jinenji gave the other a confused look, which InuYasha answered with a look of his own.
As expected, the other started a rant.
"Why can't they just leave us alone?" Jinenji asked an hour later. InuYasha thought for a moment.
"Their scared that if they don't hurt us, we'll hurt them first." InuYasha answered quietly.
"I'm an uma-hanyou! What do they expect me to do? Eat all of their grass? Destroy their crops?"
"Why did they treat me, an inu-hanyou, like they did? Or Asagi, an ahiru-hanyou, like they did? Ningen are scared of all hanyou, horse, dog, or duck. They have a reason to be scared. Once we grow up, we can do a lot worse to them than just snapping their necks. They hurt us because we can't fight back as children, and as adults, you let them escape with nothing more than a few bruises. If you had fought back, they wouldn't have gotten a chance to do any damage. Not that it's your fault. As a horse half demon, you're way less violent than I am."
Jinenji sighed. "I don't want to fight anymore, InuYasha-san, I just want to grow my plants, and never think about those horrible things again."
InuYasha shook his head. "Your mom was human, so was Shiori's and mine. I'm assuming Ryou's mom was human too. There are some good ones out there." He muttered, "But, ya, most of them are psychos."
Jinenji gave a small laugh.
"If you could change your name to anything, what would it be?" InuYasha asked quietly.
Jinenji gave him a look, before seeing that he was serious, "Daichi or Yukia. Why?"
InuYasha looked into the ethereal eyes of the uma-hanyou. "Because this is your chance to get rid of the past and start over. I can introduce you tomorrow as something else. But you have to want to start over." He got up and dusted off his pants, before offering his hand to the other.
"Yukia."
InuYasha paused, but gave the other a small smile. "You should get some sleep, Yukia."
"Alright. Goodnight, InuYasha-sama."
InuYasha almost choked. "Can't you just stick to InuYasha?"
The newly dubbed Yukia shook his head; his blue hair glowed in the moonlight, not unlike his own.
"This is going to be a proper village, with a proper lord. Would you rather be called Lord InuYasha?" Yukia took it as a no when the other flinched at the title. That was when he decided on the perfect name. "Very well, Alpha."
InuYasha didn't mind that name nearly as much as the other suggestions, Yukia could tell. So, with a quiet goodnight, he went to the cave with the others.
"InuYasha has grown up hasn't he?"
Yukia jumped and turned towards the three wolf demons. Seeing as they were friends of the newly dubbed Alpha, he gave them a small smile.
"He pretends otherwise, but I think he's been through more than any of us."
"And yet, he's still so much fun to irritate." Kouga said with a small smirk. The other two were hiding their snickers behind their hands.
"Yes," Yukia told them as he gazed out to where the subject of their conversation was hauling wood over to the spot he had decided to build the first of the houses on, "he is, isn't he?"