The morning after the new moon had been cast in shadows as overhanging clouds threatened to deliver a harsh November storm.
It was a terrible day to start a new life, however that was exactly what Inuyasha planned to do. He watched the retreating figure of his brother from the small cluster of bushes where he had hidden himself in the pretense of returning to the village.
Ensuring that he was completely alone he slowly started back to the cave…
-Only to quickly dive back into a prickly mulberry bush at the sudden sound of someone tromping through the woods.
Inuyasha frowned as he tried to puzzle out why Sesshoumaru would come back to the cave and judging from Sesshoumaru's aggravated look, he didn't know either.
The Youkai glanced into the cave briefly before his gaze swept over the ground as if looking for something that was small and possibly furry.
"Here ratty, ratty, ratty… Where are you, you little shit?"
Inuyasha ignored the taste of dirt as his jaw hit the ground. 'What in the hell? He came back to kill the rat? What is he, mental?'
He watched as Sesshoumaru continue to search for a few moments before finally huffing in frustration, turned and left.
Remaining where he was, disregarding the prickly thorns before once more stepping out into the little clearing, shaking his head in the direction Sesshoumaru had gone.
'What the fuck was that? I thought Sesshoumaru was above such menial tasks…'
Shrugging, Inuyasha once more entered the cave.
"It looks like it's just going to be you and me from now on," he smiled down at the rat that had immediately come out to greet him.
Dropping his sack down again, he stepped back from the center of the room and took in the large chamber with new eyes. 'Mine,' he thought with pride. 'Okay, so it's not exactly a palace… hell, it's not even a shack, but it's MINE!'
The fire pit would have to be moved, that was the first thing he had to do, and make something more substantial for a bed in place of the little pallet he had been using. He wondered if he should make some sort of den for Sesshoumaru but decided that it could wait until later.
Old leaves from past occupants would have to be raked out and perhaps some rushes brought in for warmth in the coming months. It would be a lot of work, but when Inuyasha was determined to do something, he made sure that he got it done.
Still with a slightly maniac grin of triumph, Inuyasha sat down and dragged his bag towards him and began to unpack his few precious belongings. The rat, which was a little surprised at the hanyou's remaining presence, wandered over curiously and began to sniff the few meager contents.
"This is everything I own," Inuyasha explained. "It's nothing really special but they're mine and mine alone."
The rat disagreed by immediately gnawing on one of the scrolls.
"Do you mind?" he asked, taking the precious parchment away from the rodent and placed it with grate care on his other side, far away from the rat. "Do you ever stop eating?" he asked in amusement as the rat moved onto his already half eaten strap.
'Oh god, I'm talking to a rat…' Inuyasha realized as the rat almost pulled the bag down completely in his frenzied eating.
It was stupid, he knew but he was eager to tell someone –anyone- of his plans and the rat at least wouldn't call him a complete baka.
"You know, with your endless appetite, I think I'm going to call you Kuufuku. How does that sound?"
The newly named animal squeaked in approval and devoured half the fastening in a minuet and a half.
Inuyasha chuckled. "Glad you approve," he said as he searched for a good place for his things.
The total count of his possessions consisted of three shirts, two antique hair combs of his mothers that were missing most of the teeth, a small dagger, and four cups of instant ramen he had snitched before he left the village the day before.
The last but not the least of his collection was the six small scrolls, carefully wrapped in poorly, but lovingly made leather covers. Inuyasha had been completely relived that the scrolls had survived in their little hiding place for all those years he had been trapped to the great tree.
It was the one secret that no one, not even Myouga knew about his love to read.
'Hell, people take one look at me and automatically think I'm completely illiterate!'
In truth, it had been the one thing his mother had never wavered from. There were many fond memories of him sitting upon his mothers lap under a blooming Sakura tree or in his mothers chamber, the eerie glow of a single candle dancing across the pages, just reading.
They had quickly depleted her small pile of novels and his mother struggled to get her hands on something, anything, for her to use in teaching her son the multitude of kanji and just about anything she hoped could help him through out his life.
Smiling, he moved the scrolls aside and set in to clean his new home. It was hard work, as he knew it would be, but Inuyasha was bound and determined that he would have at least one place that would feel like a home.
The only thing he ever had to go by was his mother's small chamber in his "uncle's" palace. Just stepping out of the small room was like stepping into hell and sometimes his mother had a hard time to convince him to go out and enjoy the sunshine and to get some color in his cheeks.
Inuyasha smiled fondly at the memory of his belief that it was hiding in his mother's room that made him so pale and silver… It was a childish notion but one that he clung to in explanation of why he was so different from everyone around him.
It had taken him a full week before his effort had even begun to show. The removal of the leaves had taken the longest but he was pleased with the result as he laid down some dried long grass and other foliage as a barrier against the cold stone floor.
Kuufuku had a blast hopping through the grass-covered floor. Every once in a while Inuyasha would see a flash of grey as the rat leapt from one side to the other and burrowed through the terrain, leaving little rat sized tunnels behind.
He had even taken to hanging some dried flowers and fruits to the walls to make the cave more inviting. Happy with his work, Inuyasha glanced around to see if he was forgetting anything before stepping out into the bright sunshine.
The storm had finally broken on the second day of his mad cleaning and had lasted for three. However the fresh scent of the rain soaked forest was worth it.
Quickly dashing into the woods, Inuyasha kept a keen eye out for possible food. Winter was barely a month away and he knew from vast experience that if he wanted to eat during those three long, harsh months he had to hunt now.
Jumping from tree to tree, Inuyasha occasionally leapt down to investigate something that looked promising before continuing onward.
He spotted some promising mushrooms but it was an hour later when he hit pay dirt.
He would not have spotted the creature if it hadn't been for the sudden flick of it's tail and Inuyasha had to force himself to a stop and turn around to confirm he saw anything at all.
A lone adolescent buck was grazing as if without a care in the world just a few feet away from him. Inuyasha grinned excitedly. Deer meat was not one of his favorite, but a kill that size would last for quite a while.
Dropping to the forest floor he slowly made his way towards the animal rejecting the idea of using the Tetsusaiga and instead flexed his claws as he stealthily crossed the woods.
He was almost upon the buck, poised for the kill when he suddenly had this undeniable feeling of eyes staring at him. As he hesitated, there was a harsh snort behind him.
Freezing in his place, Inuyasha slowly turned, fearing what he would find.
…It was.
An older buck, with a large rack of horns was staring menacingly down at him.
"Er…"
The deer flattened his ears and raised his head to let out a long baying call that forced Inuyasha to flatten his sensitive koinu ears.
There was another answering call from the young buck he had been hunting but what worried Inuyasha was the multitude of similar answers that echoed through the forest.
"Oh SHIT!" Inuyasha screamed as a sudden thunder resonated throughout the woods.
He turned to try and move out of the way but the heard was upon him in an instant and Inuyasha was quickly overrun. Soon he was simply trying to avoid razor like hooves and even sharper horns as escape became impossible.
The herd disappeared as quickly as it had come and Inuyasha was struggling to his feet staring after the dancing white tails of the animals.
"Damn it! Who needs you?" he screamed as he started to make his way through the forest after the beasts. "No one would want to eat you anyway!" he huffed as yanked his Fire Rat Robe free from a jutting branch.
"Immaculate appearance as always," a voice suddenly declared in an amused timbre.
Inuyasha jumped at the recognition and whirled around. There, standing right in front of him was Sesshoumaru smirking at him as usual.
"Sesshoumaru! What are you doing here? It's not…" he trailed off as he spotted the little girl that stood behind Sesshoumaru's cloak.
Rin peeked around Sesshoumaru's legs and gifted Inuyasha with a warm smile. She told him of the small cluster of twigs in his hair and Inuyasha immediately started with their removal.
"What on earth were you doing?" Sesshoumaru asked as he sneered in disgust at his disheveled look.
'Who does he think he is to give me orders?' Inuyasha thought angrily as he glared at the other. "None of your business!" he huffed in annoyance.
Sesshoumaru's reply had been to yank a twig out violently from his hair.
He jumped back, ensuring that Sesshoumaru could not reach him. "Careful!" he shouted as he stared at the few strands that Sesshoumaru had taken along with the twig.
"You look as if that herd of deer ran over you," the Youkai announced and Inuyasha could feel the heat rise to his cheeks.
"Couldn't get out of the way fast enough," he mumbled and smiled down at Rin who was attempting to remove the dust from his pants.
"Why were you chasing the deer anyway?" Sesshoumaru asked.
Inuyasha could feel his tolerance ware thin. "None of your business!" he repeated.
"You always say that," Sesshoumaru told him, "so I'm making it my business."
'You make anything that has to do with me your business,' Inuyasha thought sarcastically as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
Sesshoumaru suddenly changed the subject. "Why are you standing funny?" he questioned.
Inuyasha flinched in surprise. "I'm not!" he insisted but still took a mental stock of any and all injuries. He could swear that he was not standing funnily and he scowled at Sesshoumaru's keen instincts and took the option to deny everything
"Yes you are." Sesshoumaru's contradicted.
Inuyasha shifted under his gaze again and Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. "Are you still limping?"
The word "no" was already out of his mouth before he could think better of it.
"Yes you are. Just what the hell is wrong with you?" Sesshoumaru demanded.
"There's nothing wrong with me!" he insisted, even as he could feel his muscles freezing up on him. He grit his teeth and continued to stare at the Inu Youkai.
"Besides your terrible lack of ability to lie?" Sesshoumaru drawled.
Inuyasha could feel what was left of his endurance finally snap at the barb. "That's it! If we're going to fight, lets go. I've go no time trade insults with you."
Sesshoumaru simply stared at him for a few moments before turning his back on the angry hanyou.
Inuyasha gapped as Sesshoumaru helped Rin onto the dragons back and with a quick nod to Jaken, made his way back towards him.
Sesshoumaru made a point of walking past him so closely that the fur of Sesshoumaru's stole actually brushed against him.
Inuyasha tensed, waiting for something to happen.
So it was no surprise when Sesshoumaru's parting phrase of "don't get killed" confused Inuyasha even more as he watched them go.
'What the hell?' he thought in bewilderment. 'Bah, "don't get killed"… Like I haven't taken care of my self for the better part of a century…Still, what did he mean by that?' he wondered. 'I'm the one he wants dead…'
Inuyasha gave the little team one last longing glance before leaping back into the trees feeling almost dejected that they left him behind.
While it had been a tense encounter, Inuyasha was almost desperate for company. Kuufuku, for all his entertaining wonder, could not hold a conversation very well.
It was sad almost, that Sesshoumaru's group was actually better behaved than his own… of course one imp and a little girl wouldn't cause as much trouble as say a lecherous monk.
They seemed to be much closer too… Well, Sesshoumaru and Rin were at least.
Sighing, he turned and continued on in the search of food for the coming winter.