Reborn, an InuYasha fanfic by Tsunami Storm

Chapter 7: Spirits and Angels


"Y'all set, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked as the two prepared to leave the next morning. "Yep. I'm ready." The miko called back as she pulled the brush through her hair before packing it back into her bag. She put the enormous knapsack over her shoulder and walked out of the ancient house behind Inuyasha. When she came to the open doorway, she stopped and gasped in wonder.

"Wow! It's like a winter wonderland!" Kagome observed as she looked around at all the buildings in awe. The ones that were still standing sparkled with icicles that hung from the eaves, and a thick blanket of snow covered the ground- sparkling as the sunlight reflected off of hundreds of snowflakes.

"Yeah, great. Jus' more 'fun' terrain I hafta run through." Inuyasha complained as he put his arms behind him, the signal for Kagome to get on his back. She obliged, but not before asking, "Why are you always barefoot, Inuyasha?"

"It's just easier." He answered as he took off, choosing an alternate route out of the city. After all, their destination was on the opposite side of the mountain from the demonslayer's village. "Sandals an' tabi(1) would only slow me down, an' I can get better traction on the ground with my own feet than some slippery shoes." He shrugged, adding to himself, 'Sides, shoes 're kinda hard to come by in this time. They're expensive, an' I don' exactly have a huge wallet. Plus they'd get worn out in no time with all the running I do.

"Yeah, but this way your feet freeze." Kagome argued, but Inuyasha shrugged again. "They'll thaw." He reached another cave- one opposite the one that they had used yesterday- and ran inside, glad to be out of the cold snow.

-A while later-

"Hey, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked. "Where are we going?" The hanyou smiled mischievously, answering, "Jus' thought we'd take a different route home. 'S actually a bit shorter than goin' back the way we came." He explained, avoiding the answer to her question on purpose. But then he elaborated. "Ya once mentioned that ya wanted ta see where I grew up. That's where I'm takin' ya."

"Wow! Really?" Kagome gasped. "I get to see the castle where your mother lived with you as a child?"

"Yep. That's where I was born." Inuyasha answered, a soft smile on his face as he remembered his mother, Lady Izayoi. "I gotta warn ya, tho. It ain't much ta look at." Inuyasha explained as he ran through the cave. "After my mother died, everyone abandoned the castle, includin' me- tho I was only a li'l older'n Shippo at the time. It's prob'ly in a terrible state of disrepair by now."

"Ah, I don't care. It's still gonna be neat to see it." Kagome shrugged, and Inuyasha smiled. Despite his nonchalant attitude, he too was looking forward to seeing his childhood home again. They came to the end of the cavern, and Kagome blinked as the bright sunlight shone in her eyes. "Here we go. Hold on back there, Kagome!" Inuyasha called back, then he began his descent down the mountain.


"Come on, Shippo, Kirara." Kohaku called as he left the old forge of the demonslayers, all his weapons in perfect working order. "It's time to go!" The boy adjusted his pack a little higher on his shoulder as the kitsune and cat-demon walked out of the door. Kirara changed into her battle form, and Shippo climbed up on her head as Kohaku climbed on her back. Once she was sure that her passengers were situated, Kirara bounded into the air and headed toward the peak of the nearest mountain.

-An hour later-

After flying, Kirara touched down in the ruins of Tenshi no Toshi, then let her passengers off so that she could return to her normal form. Kohaku surreptitiously checked through his arsenal of weapons, verifying that everything was where it was supposed to be. Unfortunately, Shippo spotted his little inventory check. "Are you expecting something to happen, Kohaku?"

"No, but one can never be too cautious." He answered cryptically, finishing his mental check-off and smiling at the kitsune. "These ruins have been abandoned for a long time. Who knows what kinds of creatures could've made this their new home. It's better to be safe than sorry." He imparted sagely, and Shippo quivered. "Cut it out, Kohaku. You're making me nervous."

Kohaku laughed. "Don't worry, Shippo. You've got an experienced demonslayer and a powerful cat-demon on your side. And you're no pushover, either. We'll be fine." He looked around the ruins with interest, studying some of the less dilapidated buildings and sighing. He could still see evidence of the battle that decimated the Tenshioni hundreds of years before. There were scorch-marks on the walls, chips in the stone blocks from swords, spears and arrowheads, and cracks in the walls from flying debris.

"Wow. They really were angels!" Shippo breathed, gaping at the larger-than-life statue of the king of the Tenshioni. "Their wings were huge! They're like twice the size of the body!"

"Yeah. The wings had to be big to be able to carry them. Although, the Tenshioni had hollow bones- kinda like birds- so they aren't as big as you'd expect. Also, I think their muscular and organ structure is different from ours. They were born to fly, so their anatomy is designed to be more streamlined and lighter than humans." Kohaku explained, studying the statue next to his friend. "Other than that, though, they were mostly like humans- or demons that can take human form like Sesshomaru or his father, Inu no Taisho."

"You can tell all that just by looking at a statue?" Shippo asked, amazed and impressed at his friend's analytical skills.

Kohaku reddened a little at that in a moment of bashfulness and elaborated, "Well, that and prior knowledge. I knew about the bone structure before, but I could just tell that the muscles and organs are different from ours- er, humans."

"Cool! D'you think that you could teach me how to see that kinda stuff? I think it would be really helpful in the future. Maybe for more demons that we might encounter."

"Sure can. I'd be happy to pass on some of my knowledge." Kohaku answered, grinning at his friend. After a few minutes more of studying the sculpture, the two boys and cat-demon left to tour the rest of the ancient city.

-A few minutes later-

"There's one thing I'm curious about with the Tenshioni." Shippo began as they walked. Kohaku looked at him. "D'you think that the Tenshioni babies were born like humans, or like birds? Did they lay eggs or were they mammals?"

"That's a good question, Shippo." Kohaku answered, turning pensive as he considered his answer. "My father told me that they were born as humans are, but that they developed their wings after a few weeks. It's kinda like the metamorphosis of a caterpillar to a butterfly, minus the cocoon. Remember: the Tenshioni were masters of magic. They could go into a hibernation state in which their wings would develop naturally without any pain. That was actually the defining trait that made them demons: the magic. After all, humans can't grow wings." He joked, lightening the mood a little. Shippo laughed, and they continued on through the city.

"They did have one major disadvantage, though." Kohaku continued, lowering his eyes. "Even though they were masters of magic- unparalleled in their skills with the bow and downright deadly when it came to swordplay and hand-to-hand combat- they were easily susceptible to injury. Especially broken bones. Because their skeletons were hollow, their bones would break more easily than ours would, and- for that reason- they wore extremely strong, elaborate armor. Light enough to fly in, but tough enough to protect them."

"They must've been really good craftsmen too then, huh?" Shippo commented as the three walked through the ruined city.

"Yeah, they were. I kinda wish some pieces of their armor had survived. It would've been a sight to behold, that's for sure." Kohaku answered. "Before their destruction, my father told me that the angel-people were revered far and wide for their skill in forging- treasures, armor, weapons- anything. That skill was only surpassed by their skill in battle, despite the fact that they were a peaceful race. And demons at that. It's quite the oxymoron, isn't it? A race of peaceful demons." Kohaku laughed, and Shippo laughed with him. "Hey! Not all demons are evil! My father never hurt anyone if he didn't have to! And the same goes for me!"

"I know, I know. I'm just teasing." Kohaku chuckled, smirking at the kitsune walking beside him. Then they both laughed again and resumed their pace, taking in the ruins with wonder and awe on their faces.


Miroku woke to the feeling of a cold, wet cloth on his forehead. He felt the presence of someone beside him, and he looked down to his right to see Sango asleep on the wood floor next to him. Between them was another bucket of cold water with a small cloth floating inside it. Miroku guessed that it was used to help bring his fever down. He had heard Kaede-sama and Sango talking earlier, saying something about the risks of having a fever as high as his for too long. Miroku still felt quite disoriented, but already he could sense that his temperature had lessened somewhat from earlier. He spotted a small item next to him on his other side that he recognized as one of Kagome's tools from the future. He couldn't remember at the moment what it was called, but he did recall how it worked. He put the smaller end of the thermometer under his tongue, then waited for the tool to do the rest.

After a few seconds, the device beeped twice in quick succession, and the monk removed it and looked at the number displayed on the small screen. Hm. 40.4ºC [≈104.7ºF]. Kagome once said that a normal body temperature is around 37ºC [98.6ºF]. I guess my fever has gone down a little bit. It was 40.5ºC [≈105ºF] earlier.

The shrill beeping of the thermometer woke Sango, and she gasped, "Oh, Miroku! You're awake! Thank Kami-sama, we were so worried!" Her husband graced her with a weak smile and Sango returned it, relieved that Miroku finally seemed to be on the mend. She removed the cloth from his forehead- which was no longer cold- and replaced it with the wet one from the bucket. "That feels- so good." He whispered as he closed his eyes, a peaceful smile on his face.

-After another minute-

"Sango, you don't need to stay with me like this. I'll be fine on my own for a few hours. You should get some rest." Miroku suggested. He smiled a little when she shook her head, stubbornly choosing to stay by his side. "Besides-" He added, "I don't want you to get sick too."

"I concur with the monk, Sango." Kaede agreed as she entered the hut, carrying another pitcher of water from the nearby stream. "Ye should rest as much as possible, for thy sake and for thy unborn child."

"I'll be okay. Trust me. Go get some rest." Miroku urged, and he said it with such love in his eyes and in his voice that Sango gasped. Wow. He really has changed from that lecherous pervert that I met so long ago- That pervert I fell in love with- She shook her head to clear her thoughts and did as Miroku and Kaede suggested, leaving the hut to go rest.

Miroku sighed quietly and turned pensive. I wonder how the others are doing. Shippo and Kohaku said they were going to check out some ancient ruins today, and Inuyasha and Kagome should be on their way back by now. Kami-sama, please protect them on their journeys and keep them from harm.


"Oh, Inuyasha!" Kagome gasped. "It's more beautiful than I'd ever imagined!"

They were standing on a ledge about a hundred feet above the base of the mountain, looking over the manor that Inuyasha had been born in and lived in as a child. All the trees around the place were colored in shades of red, orange and golden leaves- some of the leaves having already fallen to the green grass below them. A small stream flowed through the area, surrounding a small island that was bordered by gigantic hydrangea bushes. A small bridge connected the island to the mainland, and the stream sparkled almost happily as it flowed through the grounds.

"Huh. Dun' look as bad as I thought it would." Inuyasha observed, moderately surprised. "Sure, everythin' looks overgrown, but the buildings have stayed more or less intact. I'm impressed it's survived this long."

Kagome could only nod in agreement, struck speechless by the picturesque scenery. She got back on her boyfriend's back and they descended the mountain, heading toward the castle.

"I'm actually shocked this place hasn' been taken over by a demon yet." The hanyou continued as they leaped toward the structure. "Normally, a castle like this'd be an ideal dwelling fer all kinds a' demons an' apparitions. Wonder why it's still deserted?" He muttered this last part to himself, confused at the unnatural silence that surrounded the area. Not even the sounds of birds could be heard. The utter lack of sound was eerie, unnerving the miko and causing the wary hanyou to scowl.

"Somethin' ain't right here-" Inuyasha growled. "I can't put my finger on it, but the feeling's still there."

Eventually they reached the castle and jumped over the wall, landing in the courtyard. Inuyasha let Kagome climb down, then began sniffing around the place. "There is something weird here." She agreed, "But it doesn't feel malicious. Just like Tenshi no Toshi."

"You can sense it too? Good. That means I'm not the only one." Inuyasha commented, feeling slightly better about the matter. So I'm not chasin' after things that ain't there. But what could this scent be? It almost smells familiar, an' yet I know I've never smelled it before.

"So, how 'bout it, Inuyasha?" Kagome suddenly asked, making the tense hanyou start with surprise. "How about giving me the grand tour?"

Inuyasha grinned at his girlfriend at that, then shrugged, "Sure, why not. Hop on, Kagome."

Kagome did as she was asked, then she and the half-demon took off. They decided to start at the back of the mansion and work their way back to where they were in the front courtyard. The last room they came to was his mother's old room, the room where Inuyasha was born.

"Sure is musty in here." Inuyasha complained, sneezing in reaction to all the dust. "An' there's still a lingering scent of blood. My mother's blood, an'- no, that's impossible." He stated. Could this scent that I'm detecting belong to my-

"Uh, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, her tone suddenly seeming frightened. Inuyasha quickly turned to his girlfriend and saw that she was staring wide-eyed at something that he obviously couldn't see. He squinted in the correct direction and thought he barely saw the outline of something standing right in front of his girlfriend. Kagome, however, could apparently see it quite clearly.

"What is it, Kagome? Whaddya see?" The boy asked, looking between the fuzzy outline and his girlfriend.

"This is going to sound crazy. I know it's impossible, but- I think it's the spirit of your father." She breathed.

"What?" The teen gasped, completely struck speechless at this revelation. Is it an echo of the past again, or is she really seein' the ghost of my father?

"He's- he's smiling at you, Inuyasha." Kagome answered after a minute, echoing the spirit's expression as she looked at the half-demon. "I can see in his eyes that he's proud of you. With good reason."

"He's- proud a' me?" The boy breathed, disbelief still in his eyes as he watched the spot that Kagome was looking at. He could barely see the outline, but even that looked like the drawings of his father in his 'human' form that his mother had shown him as a child.

"That must be why the demons avoid this place!" Kagome realized. "They must sense your father's presence and his lingering demonic aura. He must've been something else when he was alive."

"You have no idea." Inuyasha grinned, happy to brag about the father he'd never known. "He commanded thousands of demons, an' all of 'em followed him without question. Not just any demon can do that. He ruled over the lands a' the west- unmatched by any other demon- until his battle with Ryukotsusei- the day he died." He trailed off, lowering his gaze to his feet.

Inuyasha suddenly felt a slight pressure on his shoulder- as if someone's hand was there- but when he looked, there was nothing there to see. Kagome was still looking at the spectral entity, although now she wore an awed smile on her face. A whisper of wind blew by- a warm, gentle breeze that somehow washed away all his worries. The boy could almost hear two words in the gentle whisper, as if someone had spoken. "My son." The voice seemed to say. He felt a brush of something against his forehead, then another warm breeze blew by and the outline vanished.

Kagome was looking at him with the oddest of expressions on her face. It was something between astonishment and fawning, looking like she was about to say 'Aww!'- her brown eyes sparkling like amber.

"What- jus' happened?" Inuyasha asked, once again confused.

Kagome sighed happily and explained. "He put his hand on your shoulder and kissed your forehead. I don't think I've ever seen such a gentle kiss in my whole life. Then he left, smiling."

"So he's finally at peace." Inuyasha whispered, tiny tears budding at the corners of his eyes. "All these years, he was waitin' here fer me. Ta say goodbye." To himself, he thought, Rest in peace, old man. You've earned it.


"Hey, Kohaku! Come check this out!" Shippo called, and the demonslayer followed his friend's voice to the old armory. "Remember how you said that you wished some pieces of armor survived? Well, take a look at these!"

"Wow, Shippo! You hit the jackpot!" Kohaku gasped in awe, even though he was only looking at large lumps of tallow. Some edges of metal were sticking out of the animal fat, so they could tell more or less what the pieces were. "Let's find some kindling and build a fire. Then we can get all this tallow off and see what the armor looks like." He suggested.

"Good idea." The kitsune nodded, walking out the doorway and out to the rest of the ruins. Kohaku left too, searching the nearby structures for pieces of wood that they could use. Approaching the ruins of the old forge, he spotted a giant cauldron and thought to himself, Score! This must be what they used to melt the metal for their armor and weapons. We could use this to melt off the tallow.

-Less than half an hour later-

The cauldron sat upon a circle of logs- which were burning brightly with flames started by Shippo's Fox Fire. Each piece of tallow had been skewered on a stick and suspended the piece of armor above the empty cauldron, dripping the liquid fat into the belly of the pot. After each piece had been freed from the tallow, Kohaku would remove the piece from the stick and rub off any remaining fat with a piece of cloth.

"This suit of armor looks a little too big for us." Shippo observed as he helped clean off the breastplate. "It looks more like it would fit someone like Inuyasha or Miroku."

"Yeah, I guess this one is an adult size. I don't think they made armor for the children." Kohaku agreed, studying the chain mail shirt that they'd found. "This is the most impressive craftsmanship I've ever seen, though. I don't think it's possible to make the chain links as small as this without magic. They really were master smiths-" He breathed, studying the armor appreciatively.

"Wow, there's even gold designs worked into here! This armor set must've belonged to someone really important. Maybe even the king!" Shippo exclaimed. "Maybe it was his 'ceremonial armor' for special occasions and stuff like that."

"No, I don't think so." Kohaku disagreed. "It feels more like battle armor. It's more durable than a ceremonial outfit would be. Hey, look." He pointed to a section of the backplate. "Here's where the wings came out of the back. Hmm. Their shoulder blades must be a lot like ours, if not the same. I can imagine exactly where the bones of the wings would connect to a human's shoulder blade." He muttered to himself at the end.

"I guess they helped each other with their armor. It'd be pretty difficult to put this armor on alone, especially considering those wings of theirs." Shippo guessed, and Kohaku nodded. Near the wall where the boys had placed the cleaned pieces of armor, Kirara sniffed at the helmet- cocking her head from side to side. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she cautiously fit her head inside the helmet and somehow got it stuck. Unable to get it off by herself, she mewed at her two friends to help, and Kohaku and Shippo snorted with laughter at how silly she looked. "Oh man, you look so funny with that helmet on, Kirara! I wish I had that thing of Kagome's that draws a picture within a few seconds [aka, a camera]. She would love this!" The kitsune laughed, wiping tears from his eyes as Kohaku helped the cat-demon out of the helmet.

Once the helm was off, Kirara shook her head and then proceeded to clean herself off, embarrassed that she'd gotten herself into that mess. Kohaku and Shippo chuckled again at the curious cat-demon, then continued to clean off the large breastplate. Good thing I brought this extra pack with me. Kohaku thought to himself. Now we can carry these armor pieces back to show to the others back in Kaede's village.

-Hours later-

The two boys finally finished cleaning off the rest of the armor pieces and packing them carefully into Kohaku's spare pack- which Kohaku then shouldered. "Wow. This armor is nearly weightless, yet I can tell that it's as durable as that armored shell that Moryomaru had from that one demon-turtle." Kohaku observed, once again marveling at the smithing skill of the Tenshioni. Outside the old armory, it had grown dark while the boys were cleaning off the pieces of armor. Since it was too dark to make the journey home, Kohaku and Shippo decided to stay in Tenshi no Toshi for the night. They chose one of the few dwellings that hadn't collapsed yet, and Kohaku built a small fire to roast some fish and mushrooms that he had scavenged in Kaede's village. After they had eaten, the boys and cat-demon curled up to sleep for the night, knowing that they would need plenty of energy to make the journey home in the morning.

-Several hours later-

"Kohaku! Wake up, quick!" Shippo cried, his terror breaking through his voice- making it sound much higher than normal. Kohaku roused from the waves of unconsciousness and rubbed his eyes, still groggy from sleep. "We're surrounded!"

The young demonslayer started awake, his eyes wide with shock and a little bit of fear. All around them were clicking the pincers of legions of spiders and spider demons, bringing back bad memories of Naraku when the demonslayer tribe had first encountered him. And lost their lives.

"Kohaku! What're we gonna do?"


End of chapter (Episode) 7

Next chapter teaser: A Flaming Realization

Boy, this chapter took forEVER! Sorry about that!

Inuyasha and Kagome are on their way home, and Kohaku and Shippo finally get to Tenshi no Toshi. Yay! It looks like Miroku will recover just fine from his illness too.

I was having a major case of writer's block on what to put in this chapter, so I asked my co-writer for 'Empire of Shadows' for ideas. Thanks again, Sailor Phoenix1997! It was their idea to put the spirit of Inuyasha's father in.

You just had to be cute again, didn't you, Kirara? Ooo, I just wanna pick you up and cuddle you like a fluffy baby! You're too cute! * dies from cuteness *

And I ended with a cliffhanger again. I can't help it, it makes the story interesting!

Translations:

Tabi - Put simply, the white socks that the people sometimes wore under their sandals.

Ja ne, minna-san!

God Bless!

Tsunami Storm