Chapter Fourteen
Welp here's the next chapter you've all been waiting for~ I'm so sorry it took this long to write and post, but the few of you that follow my facebook page know exactly why, at least a little bit, it took me so long. I've had a lot on my mind and plate and it just was basically me writing a paragraph or two at a time before having to jump and do something else.
But I finally managed to finish it today, thankfully, A whopping 3k+ words to boot (Almost 4k). Not as long as I had hoped, but hopefully it'll be enough to pacify you until I manage to write up the next chapter.
Anyway, I don't have much to say anymore, so I'm just gonna leave this here and let you all read.
-I do NOT own Inuyasha or it's characters
-I DO own Sonya, Niki and the plot
~TL S0nya
~ * ~ REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW ~ * ~
Hours later, they made it back to the bottom and began to set camp up in a small, hallowed out area against the cliff. Too shallow to be a cave, but deep enough for them to sleep in out of the wind.
After convincing the increasingly confusing Touga to set her back down, Niki helped Kagome gather wood for a fire while Sango and Sonya set up the inside of the hallow, the men... Well they claimed to be scouting out the area, but Niki had the sneaking suspicion that they were really out there having a secret man meeting. Talking about man things, like... Women... And flexing whatever it is they flex.
"We could have made the guys do this." Niki piped up as she and Kagome stacked the wood near the fire. Kagome laughed lightly and straightened up, rotating one shoulder then the other with a small sigh of relief. "If we let them set up camp, we wouldn't have a camp." Sonya walked over and used Kagome as a support to lean against.
"True, I can't really trust Inuyasha to set the camp up, last time I did that we had a huge stack of wood but no fire and no place to sleep." Kagome added dryly, earning twin laughs from Sonya and Niki. "How much you want to bet they really aren't 'patrolling' the area?" Sonya smirked, nudging Kaogme in the ribs and received a jab for it.
"I figured they were off talking somewhere to be honest." Niki agreed, running a hand through her hair while she lapsed into silence, deep in thought. "Touga looked like he had a lot on his mind when we left."
Hearing this, Sonya shared a sly smile with Sango and Kagome and the three of them surrounded the unsuspecting woman effectively cutting off any escape. "Speaking of Touga, the two of you seem to be awfully close." Sonya started, learning into Niki's face, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Anything to say about that?"
Niki blinked at her mirror image then quirked an eyebrow at the insinuation. "Nothing, he's the one that attached himself to me. I can't exactly stop a six foot whatever dog demon that most likely has about two hundred pounds on me and could probably uproot a tree without batting an eye, now can I?"
Pursing her lips slightly, Kagome, Sonya and Sango all shared an understanding look. "True enough, either way, it seems he's rather... Interested, if you will, in you." Sonya continued, making Niki splutter slightly and try to back away from the wolf, hands raised in defense. "I don't think so! Look at me! I'm hardly the catch of the day, if you know what I mean. I'm a puzzle and he can't figure me out, that's all. I mean, Dog demons are notorious when it comes to their curiosity, aren't they? Well I'm probably the biggest, most curious thing he's seen in ages and he just wants to know what makes me tick, that's all."
"Oh, he definitely wants to know what makes you... Tick." Sonya mumbled under her breath, making Sango and Kagome both, who had caught what she said, turn several shades of red and choke on air once they understood just what she said.
Niki, hearing this, let out a gusty sigh and turned away from the triad of troublemakers and shook her head. "I hardly thing now is the time to talk about that. It'll never happen, just leave the subject alone and drop it." Sonya blinked at the sharp tone in her voice and went to reply only to have Kagome stop her with a hand on her shoulder. Glancing over at the miko, she saw her head shake slightly and let out a low breath. "Alright, alright."
With the small camp now in a somber mood, they finished setting up then settled down to wait the men to finish their so-called 'patrol' of the area.
With a small flare of his aura, Touga once more called his sons, both of them, to where he stood, a good quarter of a mile away from where they had set up camp, and waited patiently. Within seconds, Sesshomaru made his presence known just before stepping through the trees, followed closely by Inuyasha, who wore a sour look on his face.
Ignoring his youngest's poor attitude at the moment, Touga turned to Sesshomaru and sized him up quietly, contemplating just how to broach the subject of his mating with Sonya before being interrupted by Sesshomaru himself. "I already know what you wish to speak of, Father." He narrowed his eyes slightly at his sire while he spoke. "And I do not wish to speak of the subject."
"You know it will come up with her eventually." Touga raised an eyebrow idly, seemingly unconcerned with Sesshomaru's rare display of displeasure. "I simply want to know how you plan on explaining how exactly you slept with Kagura while at the same time, not sleeping with her? You saw the signs yet refused to believe in them, blinded by your new mating. I assume she will be... Upset." He lifted the corner of his lip in a semblance of a smirk when his son growled lowly at him. "Do not bother growling at me, boy. Or I will show you why I am known as Alpha."
Choosing to stay out of a confrontation with his formidable sire, Sesshomaru fell silent and simply looked away, dismissing the topic completely to Touga's amusement. Shaking his head lightly, he turned to Inuyasha next, eyeing him for a moment then leaned against the tree behind him. "Do you still feel uncomfortable around our new pack-mate?"
"Keh." Inuyasha snorted lightly, looking away from his father as well before glancing over at Sesshomaru and noted the slight stiffness in his posture. "She ain't a pack-mate. Once we get back to Edo, we're dropping her off-" A low growl cut him off and made the hanyou look over at his father with a small ounce of surprise at the small gleam of anger in his eyes. "We will not be leaving her behind."
"What! She isn't even supposed to be with us, the only reason she came along was because Kagome insisted on helping her get her memories back! Well, she's got them back now and she can go home where she belongs!" Inuyasha argued, ignoring the small warning bells going off in his head as he stood toe to toe with his own father, each growling in anger at the other's words.
"You will listen to me, pup." Touga managed to growl out between clenched teeth. "She will stay with us, and that is the final decision." Straightening up from his standoff with Inuyasha, he tossed an irritated glance at Sesshomaru before vanishing into the trees, easily ignoring Inuyasha in his anger as he passed him by.
"What makes him think he can do that!" Inuyasha snapped into the air, eyes narrowed in the direction his father vanished in, forgetting completely Sesshomaru still stood behind him until said demon made a scoffing sound. "Father is the Alpha, weather you like it or not, half breed. And his word is law to us and the pack. I do not see his interest in the human either, but until he says otherwise, we will simply go along with his plans." Turning away from his fuming brother, he too stalked into the trees, intent on finding Sonya so he could drag her away and speak in private on the same matter his father had brought up.
Weather he wanted to admit it or not, he was right and it was best to talk about the issue before his mate brought it to him herself. Waiting would only give her time to become bitter and he refused to let that happen. His mistake, and he could admit to that even with a sick feeling his his stomach, was one he needed to fix before it became too much to fix.
Letting out a low sigh, Niki watched Kagome heat up water for tea and propped her chin up in her hands, eyes gazing into her past rather than what was in front of her. The only thing on her mind at the moment, however, was the fact that Kagome had told her she had no hot dogs at all to roast over the fire. Not even one marshmallow either! How could anyone camp without either of those things? It's like... Law you had at least one of the items before you set out to go camping, if there's going to be a fire, there has to be either hot dogs or marshmallows, if not both.
Letting out another sigh, she ignored the confused glances from her companions and closed her own eyes, simply imagining she had at least one hot dog to roast with. Now that would make her feel more at home than ramen or... Roasted rabbit. Now, not that she couldn't hunt, trap and skin her own food, she'd taken a survival course at the nearby Guard station in her town, not to mention she read enough books to be at home in the wild. And, not to boast, but she was pretty handy at projectile weapons and staffs. She could throw a knife and just barely miss the center of a target, her archery wasn't too shabby either if the bow was a large one instead of a small one, she never could aim properly with a small bow, it shook too much for her taste.
Then on top of all that, they didn't even act like they were camping, they simply sat around, ate, talked for a bit then went to bed. None of them really did anything fun to be honest, and it was boring her out of her skull. Maybe if she had something to do, a knife to carve with would be fun, she could make herself a fishing pole with one of the limbs near the fire and some thread from Kagome's first aid kit... The hook would be tricky but making one out of pine needles wasn't too hard when she really thought about it, she'd just have to be careful...
Someone clearing their throat brought Niki from her thoughts and made her blink up at Touga who stood right beside her, an amused expression on his face as he stared down at her. "What could you want now, 'o mighty one?" She sniffed, turning away from him and stared at the fire in front of her with another heartfelt sigh. "What could you be thinking about that has you so upset?" Touga asked idly, sitting beside her as he turned his attentions away from the camp and focused entirely on the woman beside him.
"I miss roasting hot dogs." She murmured without thinking, completely missing the startled looks from several members of the pack, the only ones not surprised being Kagome and Sonya as they simply shook their heads with small smiles on their faces.
"You... Roast... Dogs?" Touga managed to get out past the started state he was in, earning a surprised look from Niki as she glanced over at him. "What? No, what's wrong with you. It's a food, it's just called a hot dog because in Chicago, they sold them that way. It was easy to say and basically when first made, hot dogs were meant to be a dog treat." Rolling her eyes lightly at his narrowed eyes, she turned away and closed her own eyes. "They're basically the throwaway meats from other foods, meat that most people wouldn't eat, they mash it all together and sell them to people that enjoy the bottom of the barrel. I happen to be one of those people."
"I didn't know they were meant to be a dog treat." Sonya finally piped up, making Niki flash a wry grin in her direction. "Don't ask me how I know it, I probably read it somewhere and filed the information away. I do things like that, words are easy to remember when read, you have two forms to remember it by. The word you say in your head, as well as the visual you take in while reading it. When a word is said, all you have to go by is the sound and the vague image of whoever said it." Shrugging her shoulders, she brushed her ever growing hair back over her shoulders with a huff.
"Anyways, I already told you, I know a little bit about everything, so it shouldn't be that surprising I know random stuff like that. However..." She paused, a small grimace crossed her face at the thought. "I cannot for the life of me, do math besides the basics. I despise math with a passion, you could ask me how each of the planets in our solar system came into orbit around our sun and I could tell you. But ask me to solve an algebraic equation and I'm lost. It's kinda pathetic really." Snorting under her breath, she pointedly ignored the soft laugh from both Kagome and Sonya by tipping her nose up and away from them in a huff.
"Laugh all you want, but I'm pretty sure you have no idea how a prism refracts light the way it does, so go stew in that for a while." sticking her tongue out at the now giggling women she shook her head and cracked a small grin at their antics, completely missing the absolutely confused expressions from the others around the fire as she continued playfully breading the two across from her, earning more laughter for her efforts as they dissolved into helpless piles of mirth.
Sharing a look with his oldest, Touga frowned slightly, trying to make sense of what Niki was saying. Half of the words she said made no sense to him. Algebraic, solar system, prism? They seemed to be important the way she spoke of them, but he couldn't think of any subject he was taught as a growing pup that brought any of those words up. It was obvious she was well versed in knowledge, but to be so well versed to know words and subjects he didn't was something he never thought of.
Oh sure, he knew of Kagome's schooling and how well taught the people of her time were, as well as Sonya, but neither of them seemed to be as... Competent as Niki was when she spoke, she was absolutely certain of what she said and seemed to be sure it was correct, and from the other two's reactions, it seemed she was right after all. Maths he knew and understood, when asking about it at one point, Kagome had taken out one of her school books and showed him. he couldn't solve any of the problems written there, but he knew what it was. He was taught sums by his own sire when teaching him how to care for the people of the west. Each village received a small sum each year from him to grow what they needed and to buy cattle for the winter, and in turn they gave a portion back to his sire of their food so he could stock the kitchens in the Shiro for their winter as well.
But he never knew of the solar system, planets, prisms even. He knew of the sun, what creature that lived didn't? But to think there might be other things out there with the sun was staggering to find out, and it only fed his curiosity to know and understand this small slip of a woman. Her mind was one he knew he would never come across again in hundreds of years, and he was determined to pick her mind until he was finally satisfied. However, with how often she spoke of odd things, it was apparent he wouldn't hear all of what she knows if she were to sit down with him and simply talk for years. She would grow old and die before he knew all she did and that alone would be a waste.
Turning his gaze back down beside him where Niki sat, still teasing and laughing with the other two of her time, he frowned slightly in thought. It would simply be unsettling for her to die anyhow, all her knowledge could help many people, not to mention he had grown accustomed to her more unusual traits. It just wouldn't do, now if he could get past both of his son's seemingly dislike of her, he could broach the subject. But until then, he'd simply have to come up with excuses to keep her around.
Sitting up and settling her arms across her knees, Niki set her chin on them and simply sat there in the darkness while the others slept. Well... Not all of them, she knew for a fact, actually, she was a little surprised Touga hadn't come poking his nose in her business yet, asking why she wasn't sleeping. At that thought, she turned and looked around suspiciously, trying to spot said demon only to find he wasn't even there. The only one, it seemed was Inuyasha and he was propped against a tree with Kagome's head on his lap while he kept watch.
Ignoring him, she got to her feet and brushed the dirt from her pants then made her way towards the trees, heading for the small creek that ran through them not too far from the camp. Without a word from the hanyou, she stepped under the shadows and headed deeper in, simply content to be alone with the quiet and her thoughts for the first time since their visit with the witch.
Sure, she said she'd gotten her memories back. It wasn't really a lie, but there were pieces missing, small bits here and there and it bothered her more than anything at this point. It was frustrating to think back only to find a blank spot in her memory or even a whole area that was black when she knows something should be there. Gritting her teeth, she let out an irritated hiss of frustration and plopped down on the soft grass beside the water, hands already busy yanking her shoes and socks off so she could soak her feet in the slow moving creek.
Leaning back on her hands, Niki tipped her head back, looking up at the moon just barely peeking through the trees above her and smiled softly. One thing was certain, she loved the moon and the stars both. At least you couldn't get a moon burn or star burn at night, and with her skin, it was a blessing. A soft, rueful laugh broke through her lips as she thought back to the year she had somehow managed to get a sunburn in the winter. Only she could manage that one and she could even remember her mother's astonishment when she found out, it wasn't exactly hard to miss the red on her nose and cheeks.
Of course most people thought it was windburn, and she let them, it was easier to explain than an actual sunburn at the time. letting out a low breath, Niki relaxed once more, letting her mind wander over newly restored memories with curiosity. One other thing she found out, she wasn't exactly from Kagome's or Sonya's time. No much farther ahead in fact, if anything the both of them were older than her if she really thought about it. But it was confusing to explain to anyone that didn't travel in time so she kept quiet about it, at least until the subject came up, then she'd try to let them figure it out.
But the one thing that bothered her the most? The one subject she couldn't grasp no matter how hard she tried, was what she wrote about. Oh, she knew she was a writer of some sort, she loved words and languages so it wasn't too hard to believe, but if she tried to think about what she wrote, she came up blank each and every time. Nothing, just a empty space she couldn't put any information in at all. She could remember sitting down at her computer and writing, that was easy, but she couldn't even recall a single word she typed. Not one.
Growling under her breath, Niki sat up again and settled her arms on her knees once more to lay her cheek on, eyes staring unseeingly ahead as she pondered over what it could mean. She remembered from somewhere that a particularly disturbing bit of information could be blocked or even erased from someone's memory if it was bad enough to cause mental problems. But she couldn't imagine what could be disturbing about what she wrote that she'd make herself forget it. So the only other option was the information just either wasn't important at the time or she just didn't think she should remember it at all. Something about it wasn't right and it was obvious her own mind seemed to think it was a bad idea to even remember it.
And the more she tried to remember, she knew the more it would slip away. A soft sigh left her lips as she shook her head lightly. It was just best to leave it alone at the moment, eventually it'll come back when her mind seems to deem it ready for her to know. And until then, she'd just have to be patient.
"I hate being patient. It sucks and takes forever for anything to happen." Gritting her teeth, she let out another little growl and got to her feet, intent on heading back to the camp before anyone decided to sound the alarm. Picking up her shoes and socks in one hand, she turned and headed back through the trees, determined to force herself to sleep, even if she had to ask Inuyasha to knock her out just so she could. As she disappeared into the shadows once more, she missed the glimmer of silver hair as Touga backed away from the area and circled around so he wouldn't be seen when he returned.
Just from that one sentence she uttered, Niki had given him enough information to realize she missed something in her memories still. It was obvious it frustrated her as well, and what bothered him, was the witch assured she would regain everything once she woke up. So why would she continue to miss any memories unless she was blocking them herself, even without knowing she was doing so?
A sparkling fang glimmered in the moonlight as he flashed a predatory smile to no one at all. His kind were naturally curious and wouldn't let up until it was sated, and with the way things were going with this particular female, he would be busy enough for several lifetimes, and that alone sated him, even without any answers at all.
~ * ~ REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW ~ * ~