Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
A/N: Here's chapter fourteen! Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed/ favorited/ alerted this story.
Sorry if you feel it's a little short, it ended up having to be more of a conglomerate of different parts than a cohesive whole; I had to get all this out there before the story line moves forward. Enjoy!
A Path Preordained
Chapter Fourteen: Reunion
Families, merchants, beggars, and people of all other sorts lined along the main cobble stone road running through the capital city. The tight quarters along the street, coupled with the heat of the huddled masses, made the noon sun almost unbearable. Several individuals trapped within the crowd fanned themselves in a futile effort for some relief from the oppressive heat. Others pushed and shoved to the edges of the side walk for a better view of what was to come, eliciting complaints of discomfort from the other onlookers.
A few more lucky individuals gazed down upon the scene from the windows of their homes built along the main street, with awnings installed above them providing appreciated shelter from the unforgiving light. From their elevated view points, each turned their heads to the middle of the capital, where a large castle-like structure stood, in anticipation.
The volume of the masses decreased considerably when a trumpet sounded from the back of the long street. It echoed to the front gates of the capital, eliciting smiles from the myriad of onlookers. A few moments after the short song, a solemn procession on its way out of the large city gradually came into view. The crowd clapped and yelled joyfully as the season of festivals was officially beginning. Those looking out their windows waved whatever clothes they could get their hands on excitedly, hollering from above.
A group of knights adorned in heavy shining armor marched in the middle of the road, their garments clanging together through the exit of the capital city. Each held a spear as they continued forward in perfect harmony, their faces remaining expressionless despite the loud cheering around them.
Behind the row of knights were two aged men dressed in white robes to match their hair, both with serious expressions of their faces as well. Each clasped beautifully decorated boxes, gilded in gold and adored with hand painted flowers in their hands, pressed protectively against their torsos.
Between the men entrusted elaborate boxes and before another row of knights walked a young woman wearing a traditional miko outfit. Her long, straight dark hair fell behind her neatly, not a strand out of place. She smiled lightly and waved gracefully as the procession made its way through the crowds.
"Return safely high priestess!"
"Bless my village at its festival, high priestess!"
There came assorted shouts from the congregations of people as she passed, all yelling enthusiastically as they caught an elusive glimpse of the famous woman. They continued to do so until the precession had left the large gates of the capital and approached the horizon, setting out for the long road ahead of them.
Kagome rushed to where Inuyasha was standing. "Who is he?" she whispered behind his back, looking at the elegant man in the distance. From his reaction, the teenager could clearly tell Inuyasha had recognized him.
"He's my brother."
Kagome pressed her brows together and looked back to the man who now began gracefully approaching the two; a few feet behind the small toad youkai who had already begun his approach towards them earlier. "He's a hanyou too?" Kagome questioned incredulously, the first of many inquiries arising in her mind after the white haired boy's abrupt response.
Inuyasha merely shook his head, causing the human girl to look back at the man once more with a perplexed expression playing her features.
By now, the small green youkai was within earshot of Kagome and Inuyasha. "Now you're going to get it hanyou!" he warned in the most menacing manner he was capable of, slightly out of breath from his jog over to the pair, "Master Sesshoumaru is going to-"
Before Kagome could blink her eye the man, previously a considerable distance behind the screeching toad youkai, now stood directly in front of her and Inuyasha, "Shut up Jaken," he ordered before narrowing his golden eyes at Inuyasha's matching pair.
His nearness forced Kagome to recognize the similarities between the two, even though their demeanors were clearly worlds apart. It hit her at that point that they really were brothers after all.
"I told you to stay away from the West, half breed," he explained to Inuyasha in a monotone voice. The youkai then turned his gaze to Kagome, and the cool way he looked at her sent shivers down the teenage girl's spine. "You and your human."
Inuyasha scowled, "I'm not in the Western Territory," he snarled, in a rage.
Jaken jumped up angrily at his response, "Half breed you were told to stay as far from the West as possible!"
Kagome bit her lip at the hanyou's unconvincing excuse. She was not completely sure of what was going on, but she had a feeling the strange encounter would not turn out well.
As if on cue, Inuyasha started cracking his knuckles, and before Kagome could stop him, he attempted to punch his brother.
Without faltering his expression the older youkai grabbed Inuyasha by the wrist. His grip was so tight the hanyou could not help but grimace. "Do not forget who is stronger," Sesshoumaru warned, not even a hint of strain from the hanyou's attack detectable from his features or his voice. "I could crush you in a second, and I will not hesitant to do so if you are idiotic enough to show your face here again," he pronounced pushing the hanyou's arm away and forcing him to stagger backward a few steps.
He then turned to Kagome, causing her heart to start pounding quickly, "I suggest you and your human leave. Next time I will not hesitate to kill you."
Without another word, the youkai turned his back on the pair and began walking towards the dragon.
"I-uh, Master Seshoumaru!" Jaken yelled, frantically turning his head back and forth between the two brothers, "That's it?"
The youkai lord did not respond to the toad youkai and continued his path towards his steed without interruption.
"Oohhh," he grunted, "Next time you won't be so lucky, hanyou!" Janken pronounced before scuttling quickly behind the elegant youkai, "Wait for me!"
In the middle of the night, the only illumination throughout the thick forests of the Western territory was a small fire crackling in the middle of a clearing. Sitting around it were five Ymir, staring at the flickering flames in pensive thought. There were far fewer of them now after the hanyou had killed three of Ryudo's followers, causing the dynamic and morale of the group to change significantly.
The largest of the five sat on one side of the fire by himself, adjusting the large piece of metal covering his arm.
"Ryudo." started one of the Ymir, looking over the bright flames to his leader.
Ryudo looked up from the intricate metal incasing and gazed at the small Ymir expectantly.
"Shouldn't we re-group and get more youkai to help us? We lost a lot because of that hanyou…." He paused for a moment, looking around to see if any of his fellow Ymir would chime in. They only stared back at him blankly.
Swallowing nervously, the Ymir resumed, "With just the four of us how will we manage to re-stock our jewel shards? They don't even have to be Ymir…" He questioned hesitantly. Their leader's silence ever since the failure of their plan in the western village had seriously worried him.
The smaller Ymir couldn't help but consider if he was wrong for leaving his homeland to follow Ryudo.
"Have faith, Kazuo;" the leader told his follower calmly, "We lost one jewel shard. There are more out there. In fact, I have heard the high priestess of the humans is holding unto quite the collection herself," He explained with a smirk and leaned against the thick tree behind him, "We need no more help."
Kazuo nodded, but looked down and bit his lip. Perhaps he was wrong about this quest, after all.
Inuyasha slammed his fist into another tree of the unlucky forest they had traveled to immediately after the encounter with Sesshoumaru. A few loose leaves fluttered to the ground, and the hanyou revealed a deep impression the size of his fist as he lifted his hand from the bark.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted for what seemed like the millionth time that day, "Would you calm down?" She paused for a moment, hoping to emit some sort of response from him.
Kagome sighed in resignation, however, when the silver haired boy just stomped forward, looking for his next victim.
She was unsure of what to do in the situation. One the one hand, she could always sit him. But, he was so angry from the earlier confrontation with his brother that doing so would probably only serve to infuriate him more. Plus, it wasn't as if Kagome was in any possible situation to deal out some kind of advice to the hanyou. Even after all the time they had spent together, she was still in the dark about his past and his family.
With no other options, Kagome continued to follow Inuyasha in his fruitless rampage through the woods, even breaking into a jog to avoid losing the hanyou altogether.
After looking around for a few more minutes; the hanyou closed in on his next victim. He glared at an aged pine tree with a thick truck, cracking his knuckles eagerly.
Once within a few feet of him, Kagome slowed down and put on her hands on her hips to witness the hanyou rendering another tree to his punch, a loud lurching sound emitting from it as soon as Inuyasha's arm made contact.
Kagome lent a thought as to how long he would keep this up but a few seconds after his hand made contact with the tree's bark, Inuyasha's eyes bulged open in surprise.
"OW!" he suddenly shouted, gripping his wrist in pain and crumpling to the ground.
"Inuyasha?" Worried, Kagome jogged over to where the hanyou was kneeling on the ground. "Are you okay?" She pressed.
The hanyou, while grimacing, looked at his red and rapidly swelling wrist, "That shouldn't have hurt…" he murmured under his breath. His face contorted into a worried expression, it seemed that within in rage, he had forgotten about something very important.
At the realization a look of panic suddenly adorned his features, "It's the new moon isn't it?"
Kagome tilted her head, wondering what was going through his mind, "Yeah, but…"
"FUCK!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, causing Kagome to almost fall backwards.
"What?" she demanded angrily. She was beginning to question the hanyou's sanity at this point.
"We have to get out of youkai territory now." Before Kagome could even question further, the hanyou grabbed her by the waist, draped her over his shoulder and started sprinting at an unbelievably fast past. So fast, in fact, Kagome's hearing was rendered useless as loud wind roared past her.
In a panic herself now, Kagome adjusted her body so she could see over Inuyasha's shoulders. They were already out of the forest and now in a vast expanse. After a little more time past, the girl made out a small spot on the horizon, until it assumed the form of a human city.
They approached the city and it grew larger and larger by the second at the rate at which Inuyasha was speeding towards it. Kagome wanted to ask why they were headed there, but Inuyasha was running so quickly that she was afraid of what would happen even if she picked her head up from his back even slightly. This wind roared as they covered vast expanses of ground, and Kagome was left to do nothing besides wait for the arrival at their destination.
By now several bright red colors illuminated the sky as the sun began to set behind the horizon. The sky quickly grew darker as Inuyasha continued at an unrelenting pace toward the city. It was barely before nightfall before he finally reached the town and slowed down, to Kagome's relief.
He stopped beside the immense wall surrounding the city. It so was tall Kagome didn't think even Inuyasha could jump over it. The human girl slid off of Inuyasha's back, and was thankful to be able to put her feet back on solid ground.
"What was that about, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked and she turned to the hanyou. It was difficult for the girl to see at this point, the sun had almost vanished behind the mountains in the far west.
"You'll see," Was all that she received in response as Inuyasha stood still in front of the city.
"Are we going inside of the capital?" She pressed further.
"In a minute we'll be able to," the hanyou muttered under his breath in a frustrated tone, not meeting the dark haired girl's eyes.
Before Kagome could throw another question at him the sun finally set and night came. Kagome then watched in amazement as Inuyasha began to give off an ethereal glow.
"What is this Inuyasha?" She whispered and covered her mouth, wondering what was about the come.
"Just wait," Was his curt response. There was an aura around him that grew brighter and brighter until his form was no longer visible to Kagome. The teenager shielded her eyes from the light as it enveloped Inuyasha.
When it finally faded, Kagome put her arm down to see just what had transpired.
She gasped lightly and covered her mouth with her had as the hanyou's figure came into view. He looked exactly the same as had before except all of his features were… human. Black hair, brown eyes, and blunt nails replaced the white mane, golden orbs and claws she hand grown accustomed to.
Inuyasha anticipated her inquiry eyes still averted from the stunned girl's gaze, "Every month, on the night of the new moon I turn human," he explained in a solemn manner.
Kagome narrowed her eyes from a moment in thought, attempting to be as understanding as possible. "So when the sun rises again…"
"I'll be back to normal," he reassured her, "But for tonight we have to stay in a human city for protection," he murmured angrily.
Kagome nodded. She could tell he was extremely uneasy revealing this aspect of himself, so she stopped asking any further questions and instead replied, "Uh ok- so let's go inside, then?"
A/N: Look for chapter fifteen soon, and please review!