Update (March 2021): Chapter edited and lengthened!
Chapter 61: The Stone Flower & Shippō's First Love
The sun sends its rays down on Japan for another day in the Sengoku Period, warming the grounds of a large village nestled by the forest with flooded fields, small individual vegetable gardens and various fruit trees...
Standing atop a nearby hill is Shippō, who overlooks the area with thought.
...Looks like the village I lived in with father...
"Hey, Shippō!"
"C'mon, little dude! The view will be better the closer we get!"
He snaps out of his inner monologue when his ears pick up on Coraline and Freeman, before rushing to catch up with them and the others.
"Coming!"
...
...
Once the whole travel party is inside the populace, Inuyasha comments aloud,
"I dunno; you sure about this? It doesn't look like the kind of place to find a jewel shard..."
Sango turns to her fellow woman to ask,
"How about it? Are you sensing a shard of the Shikon-no-Tama, Coraline?"
"Negatory. Th's village is dry."
Miroku then suggests in a casual tone,
"Well, I guess we may as well split up and see what we can find. See ya later."
He then turns to walk down one way, and Sango glances at his form suspiciously...before deciding to follow. Sensing her form tailing his, Miroku stops and asks with an 'innocent' smile,
"Yes~, what is it?"
"So, convince me that you're not going womanizing, will ya, monk?"
The young man with Prussian blue eyes starts laughing nervously in a sweat, before Freeman walks over and hooks an arm around his shoulder.
"How 'bout you and me team up for some clue-combing, Miroku?"
"Uuh..."
The teen with naturally-cut coarse hair leads his fellow man down the street, calling back with a smile,
"Besa, how 'bout you and Sango try askin' the opposite way? And don't worry: I'll bring Miroku back in one piece, hahaha!"
Said twin shakes his head in amusement and calls back,
"Sure! Just don't go making trouble with any of the local men!"
"Auh, you wound me, brother!"
Besa only rolls his eyes, before turning to Sango and saying kindly,
"I'm sure the both of them will keep eachother out of unnecessary trouble. In the meantime, let's try asking questions around this direction."
"Um, okay...Are you sure they won't act callous?"
"Nah, Freeman's a bit smarter than that. Worse case is he might get slapped; it's happened before. He'll likely be more focused on keeping Miroku out of trouble, anyway. (Turn) Shall we meet up later, Cor?"
"'kay."
With that, the slayer and single Brownlee make their way down another route...
Shippō asks Coraline as Inuyasha lets out a yawn,
"Is there any point in asking around if you can't sense a shard, Coraline?"
"(Shrug) Can' say f'r sure, but if there's one thing my brothers are good a', it's playin' detective...Hm?"
The girl then watches her fellow teen lift her rucksack from the ground and over his shoulder, before heading down the hill in front of them by the river. The gingers each ask,
"Where are ya goin', Inuyasha?"
"Um, shouldn't we try combin' for hints, too?"
"If there was a demon around, I'd smell 'em..."
Coraline rolls her eyes with a head-shake and mentally quirks,
Guess he's on a manda'e break until somethin' exciting happens...Oh well.
Soon it would just be her and Inuyasha laying on top of a soft sky blue blanket by the riverside...Coraline then shucks off her plain dark cerulean flannel shirt, leaving her in just a white v-neck, forest green jeans and her hikers, before grabbing out an apple from her bag to eat.
"(Munch...) Haah, finally, the gods decide to give us a free-bee hour...Hm?"
She notices that the fox demon wasn't in her sight.
"...Odd. I could've sworn Shippō was behind us..."
Inuyasha lazily replies,
"He probably went off to play. He's just a kid, remember?"
"Righ'...Oh. I brough' some of that dried meat from my era we both like. Wanna split the bag?"
"Sure."
As the two teens begin sharing a package of food, we zoom on a tree on the other side of the river to find the smaller redhead sitting atop a root eating a lollipop.
"One day they'll appreciate what I do for them."
We've been in a lot of battles lately. Coraline and Inuyasha could probably use some time alone...
Once he finishes his candy, he yawns and stretches before hopping off the root...
"Hey, you, stop running!"
"Grab her!" "Get her!"
"Hm?"
He turns to see three young boys around his age - each one with short black hair, dark eyes and wearing simple green and blue kimonos - chasing after an equally young girl - she with longer-cut black hair tied back in a small ponytail, brown eyes and wearing a muted pink kusode with a square pattern on the shoulders - down the hill. One boy tackles the girl, forcing her to roll on her front to the ground below.
"Aaah!"
...With her down, the three boys begin kicking her.
"Satsuki, you stole those persimmons from my house!"
She darts her head up and shouts in a retort,
"You can't prove that I did it!"
Another one of the boys punches her:
"You're a thief!"
"Mph! You'll be sorry, 'cause when my brother comes, you're all gonna get it!"
"Riiight, 'cept your brother died a long time ago in the civil war."
"My pa was righ' there with 'im when he was slain!"
Satsuki is insistent:
"My brother isn't dead!"
She then lunges at one of the boys and bites his leg!
"Yaaaah!"
Another one kicks her off, before all three begin beating on her again...
Thankfully, this brutality would not last long, and the sky begins to mysteriously darken.
"Huh?"
A familiar pink balloon with a face appears between a few floating blue flames, uttering in a fierce voice,
"You, retched, scoundrels...!"
"Yaaah!"
"It's a ghost!"
"Run!"
The boys turn tail and bolt out of the area...Shippō waits until they were gone, before reverting back to his original form.
(Pop)
"(Smug smile) Sure showed them."
He tucks his leaf back into his kimono with a small chuckle, and Satsuki stares at him in awe...
"You'll be safe now."
The girl brushes her hand against his hair and replies cutely,
"Thank you, little racoon."
"I'm a fox..."
Ignoring the disgruntled tone, Satsuki reaches into her clothes for something.
"Thanks alot for your help. (Holds item out) Do you want some?"
"Huh?"
"It's the persimmon that I took."
She breaks the fruit in half and gently shoves one piece into Shippō's mouth.
"You'll like it."
The fox demon stares blankly at his previously 'damsel in distress' and quirks mentally,
Terrific. I saved a thief.
"...You're pretty strong for a little guy. (Smile) I'm Satsuki. What's your name?"
Shippō blushes and mumbles a bit in a panic, before swallowing his piece of persimmon and replying just as kindly,
"My name is Shippō."
"Shippō? That's a really nice name."
His tail twitches a bit happily:
"My father gave it to me."
"Is your father a demon racoon too?"
"(Deadpan) No, a fox."
"Just teasing~."
They both laugh, Shippō's being the more awkward of the two...
Shippō's POV
Satsuki and I sit by the river as we chat and get to know eachother...
"Satsuki, don'tcha have any parents?"
"They passed away years ago."
"...Too bad."
Nobody I know seems to have their parents these days...
"It's okay, 'cause I still got my big brother."
I see her smile brighten as she talks about her older sibling.
"He's gonna prove himself in the war and become a samurai, then he's coming back for me!"
"Huh? So were those boys lying to you before then? Your brother didn't die?"
"(Frown) He's gonna come back home. Even if he is dead, he's gonna come back to life."
I recoil a bit in confusion:
"Uh..."
"Hey, I'll show you something that I've never shown to anyone before. It's my special treasure, and can make any wish come true."
I stop my slow back-up:
Hang on...Could she...
I then see her take a crystal fragment out of her clothes.
"Isn't it pretty? It's a shard of the Shikon-no-Tama, a jewel sought out by demons."
It's the Shikon-no-Tama!
...Or is it? It's hard to tell; I'm not good at telling jewels from one another...Maybe Coraline would know.
She then tells me about they day her brother left to go fight in the war, promising to become the samurai he felt he was destined to be, and come back for her...The way she was staring at the shard in her hand...it had so much innocence and hope.
"My brother would never lie to me."
All I can do is stare at her, unsure of how to respond to something like that...
Time Skip, No POV
As dusk begins to settle over the village, casting shadows with the retreating red and deep orange hues of the sun, we turn our focus to the large home belonging to the headman where everyone - minus Shippō - were currently at...
"Are you certain, monk? Is my home possessed by a demon?"
Miroku replies to the elderly owner of this place,
"Yes, and we must exorcise it immediately. This is my duty as a man of the cloth; I expect no payment, headman."
"Absurd! You shall all be given a bed and a meal tonight."
Inuyasha whispers with a suspicious stare at the monk's back,
"Look at that guy, lying through his teeth again..."
Coraline elbows him lightly with a half-smirk, before Lumos floats over to her other side, shaking with intent.
"Hm? What is i', Lumos? Something wrong?"
Unless...hang on...
Using her Aura Sight, the girl picks up on something in a room coming up.
"Wha', the..."
Freeman notices her shoulders tense:
"What's up, sis?"
"Hold tha' though', bro."
Miroku enters another room with the headman, and he too senses something off.
"Hm?"
He stops, causing Inuyasha to bump into him before asking,
"What?"
"Shh!"
The dog demon grunts irritably at him, but then feels a tap on his shoulder and turns to see Coraline's eyes flash icy blue for a split second as she points up.
"Huh?"
...Suddenly, there came a low rumbling and wood creaking from the ceiling. Freeman wonders,
"What's that? Earthquake?"
Besa replies,
"In Edo? Possible, but unlikely..."
Miroku then takes a sacred sutra out of his robes, placing it on the wall in from of him...
"Hmph!"
He presses it firmly onto the surface, making a specific gesture...before the area around and on the sutra emits watery rings of energy and burns the paper!...There came a pained groan, and a spectral shadow comes flying out the wall before turning to escape through the roof and away from the mansion. Miroku hurries outside, then stops when he sees the demon shadow was gone...Sango asks aloud in astonishment,
"You mean there was a demon?"
Coraline hums,
"Tha' explains why Lumos got a bit tense and the low-level dark energy I saw..."
Her brothers turn to one another and comment,
"Well I knew Miroku was being serious for once."
"Really? I actually thought he was bluffing..."
Inuyasha mutters,
"There's a first for everything," causing Miroku to turn to the men with a slightly testy frown.
"Pardon me?"
But before any argument could start, Shippō finally catches up with everyone, running to them on all fours.
"Ah, hh, hh, hh, you guys!"
"Hm?"
They turn to see the little fox demon, he hopping into Coraline's arms.
"Coraline!"
"Hey, good timing, lad...bu' how'd you know we'd be here?"
"I figured Miroku wouldn't waste any time in exorcising the wealthiest-looking house in the village."
Said monk felt his eyebrow twitch irritably, while Freeman and Besa stifle their laughter...
Shippō then gets onto the topic that motivated him to rush over.
"You won't believe it: I found a shard of the jewel!"
"What?"
"No way!"
"Seriously?"
He points over to an area a couple feet away, where Satsuki's form stood...
"Her?"
The headman recognizes the young face:
"Oh, if it isn't Satsuki!"
The little blackette in pink looks sideways with an uncertain expression, before everyone comes over to meet her. Coraline is the one who engages in conversation with the younger soul.
"(Kneel) Hello, lass. My name is Coraline. I was wonderin' if I could examine yur jewel shard for a momen', please?"
"You won't steal it, will you?"
Inuyasha replies with a fierce stare,
"Sure we will, if the jewel shard's real."
The redhead lets out a breath of exasperation, while Besa slaps the back of the silverette's head.
"Ouch!...What was that for?"
"Save answers like that for those who deserve it, not the innocent."
Inuyasha glares at him mildly, while Coraline turns back to Satsuki with a kind smile.
"Ignore them. My only mission is to look a' i' more closely."
Shippō then begins to panic internally, realizing what his actions have done.
Oh no! If it is real, we'll have to take it from her!
Then Satsuki's wish won't come true...
He lets out a yell and proceeds to knock his fists against his skull over his blunder.
"Oh, stupid me! What have I done?! Stupid, stupid, how could I have been so stupid?! Unbelievable how stupid I can be!"
Meanwhile, Coraline was staring at the fragment with intent...Sango nudges her with a soft call of her name, prompting Shippō to stop his panic attack around the time Satsuki brings her gem back to herself.
"That's enough now. I'm gonna go home."
Coraline smiles at the retreating form:
"Of course. Thank yeu for allowin' us to see it!"
The fox demon is understandably confused:
Uuuh, you're gonna let her go?
The headman suddenly calls to the leaving girl's form,
"Satsuki! Won't you consider coming to live with us?"
"No thanks! My brother will come for me any day now!"
With that, she's gone...Shippō hops onto his fellow redhead's shoulder to ask,
"Coraline, what about the shard?"
"Well, y' see..."
Sango smiles and says,
"Shippō, that was just a Stone Flower."
"Are you sure?"
Coraline nods,
"Oth'rwise known as Rose Quartz," and the brunette adds,
"It's a common rock found up in the mountains, not a Shikon-no-Tama shard."
"The colour is similar to the actu'l jewel shards, but the difference is tha' i' doesn' have that poten' energy radiance."
Shippō mutters sadly,
"It's, just a fake? Hmm...poor Satsuki..."
...Nightfall soon hits full-blast, and we find everyone having a meal with the headman as he gives his own narrative about the little girl in question.
"Such a pitiful child. Her brother truly has passed on, but Satsuki refuses to believe it."
Miroku replies solemnly,
"How sad..."
"I've told her to come live with us, but she won't move from the hut that she shared with her brother."
Besa meets eyes with his twin as they comment in low tones,
"A bond between siblings is a strong one, but sometimes it can be too strong when one passes...Satsuki must've loved her older brother unconditionally with a hope that high..."
"Yeah...If only she could see that holdin' onto hope in that fashion can also prevent her from moving on with life."
Speaking of Satsuki, we jump back outside to see her heading down a hill back to her home, glancing at the little rose quartz fragment in her fingertips.
"...Please, shard; bring my brother back home to me."
Unbeknownst to her...a lizard demon was skulking in the bushes on her left.
"I may have been driven out from the headman's residence, but I will have retaliation. I'll use the girl."
With that, he fades into a camouflage...
A few hours pass, and we turn back to the headman's home as everyone in our titular group settles down to sleep for the night...Unfortunately, our little fox demon found sleep eluding him as he lays beside Freeman while thinking about Satsuki and the Shikon-no-Tama.
The Shikon-no-Tama has the power to create Naraku's incarnations.
...If a wish were made on a real shard, would Satuki's brother come back to life and return home?
He gets up and peers behind the cloth barrier separating the men and women, staring past Coraline as she groans in her sleep and locking the small bottle of jewel shards near her head...He then proceeds to check that everyone is in fact asleep as he forms a plan to help his new friend...
However, one of our group members was not having a restful slumber.
(Flash)
Diving into the mind of the sole survivor of the Croft family, we find ourselves witnessing the final hour of her father Mathias, he standing against his desk in his study as the entire home flares up in an inferno...
A gun blast echoes through the muffled rush of the flames, and Mathias is dead, dropping face-up with a fatal wound in his chest!
"Father!"
We see our current Coraline standing as witness, before she turns to the killer: Bishop.
"Gh, you!"
...The former Trinity commander turns her way, and aims his handgun at her.
Coraline tries to turn and run, but finds herself...stuck.
"W-What's happenin'? I can' move!"
(...BANG, SHATTER)
A bullet flies, and the butchered memory breaks like glass, fading to black...
The next scene that unfolds from the darkness like origami, is Coraline and Bishop's last encounter, shortly after she unleashed the full brunt of power from the ShatterSoul Sword, and she prepares to end him once and for all...
"Goodbye, Constantine Bishop."
...But just as she raises the blade, the soul begins shaping into, something else.
"Wha', the..."
It then fully transforms into a Shadow Being with Bishop's face in it, poisonous purple eyes gleaming menacingly at the girl!
"Uh-h!"
The mutant beast lets out a hoarse roar, then lunges at Coraline to slice at her with its claws...
(SLASH)
"AAAAAAAAHHHH!"
She falls backwards, and the mosaic floor breaks as she falls into darkness again...
Our third and hopefully final scene opens to Inuyasha in his demon form engaging in battle with the girl...But unlike the area of the actual event, this place is covered by a dark red mist, with no other bodies present but them...
"Raaah!"
"Aaah!"
Coraline is thrown backwards by the half-demon, who then pins her to the ground and pushes her sword blade towards her neck!
"I-Inuyasha, please, no!"
He only snarls at the girl...and jumps off, causing her to sit up on her elbows in confusion.
"What?"
...She then hears a dark, evil laugh bubble from Inuyasha, before he lunges at her with impossible speed!
"NOOOOO!"
"...Hehaha, aw man, you're liable to believe anything, aren't ya?"
Coraline stops cringing, and looks to see...nothing.
"What the he-...Wai' a minute...Aaaach, dammi', Bill!"
We hear another booming laugh before the area shifts into a small sitting area of sorts, the colour scheme being various shades of gray and white, and Coraline is comfortably seated in a plush chair...The dream demon then pops into view in all his triangle glory, still chortling from the redhead's fright.
"That was the best one yet! Your face of terror is gold, Little Doll, real~ gold!"
Coraline snaps her angry eyes onto his singular eye and barks,
"Will yeu stop doin' tha'?! Those memories are hard enough for me t' handle! You don' have the righ' to come here and make 'em even worse!"
"Ooooh, well, actually, I do, 'cause here's the thing: you and I made a deal, I'm the one having to wait on ya to get me what I want, which does not include consuming your soul like other demons would, and I gotta kill time some way besides combing around this boring era, so you better suck it up and deal!"
The girl is appalled by the demon's arrogance:
"Why you...!"
She then hops off the chair and tries to punch the triangle-shaped menace, but he disappears before she could hit him...
"Damn it!"
Bill's laughter echoes again...before one of his hands hand pops up and lifts her by her tee shirt.
"Uh!"
"You wanna try that again? I got aaaaall night, kid. Save your silly temper tantrum for someone who cares!"
"(Struggle) Put me down!"
The hand disappears and Coraline drops to the carpet floor.
"Ouch!"
She pushes herself off the floor with a frustrated groan...then folds her arms to herself with a pout...
"Aww, is someone finally learning to quit while they're ahead? Gold star to you!"
"...No' funny."
He reappears and says with a tut-tut,
"Come on, Little Doll, don't be like that. Being a little brat's not very attra-Hold that thought."
Coraline looks at him confusingly...before she senses it too.
(Flash)
We return to reality just as Shippō watches Coraline's face screw up anger, before quietly muttering,
"D-Damn, you..."
He whimpers a bit, before saying quietly,
"Forgive me, Coraline," and reaches out to the bottle of jewel shards...
(Grasp)
"Uh!"
But just as he grabs the bottle, the girl's hand shoots out and snags his hand into hers!
"(...Blink) Evenin', lad."
"C-Coraline, h-how-?!"
"(Knowing smile) Aura Readers like me aren' tha' easy to sneak up on. Trust me; my kid brother Sōta's tried too many times and failed."
It was then Inuyasha steps out from behind the barrier between the boys and the girls.
"Hey."
"Sup."
Shippō darts behind him and says a bit nervously,
"Ooh, Inuyasha, I thought you would've been fast asleep by now!"
He then turns back to Coraline and pleads,
"Let me take it, please! I need to help someone; come on!"
"Shippō..."
Inuyasha mutters,
"Oh, don't be ridiculous," before taking the fox demon into his hand by the other's tail.
"Shippō, you know how powerful one shard of the Shikon-no-Tama is. It's not something you go giving around to humans."
Coraline agrees, easily deciphering the younger ginger's intent.
"He's righ'. You could be putting Satsuki in danger by giving her one."
"And besides, why the sudden need to help out that new friend of yours?"
Shippō begins to sweat with a tinge of pink on his cheeks, just as Miroku and Freeman come popping over the barrier, having been woken up by the collective noise.
"He's infatuated with her, obviously. And she was fairly attractive, I must admit..."
Freeman elbows the monk and says,
"Oi, careful with that description, or Sango will wake up and beat you to a pulp."
Inuyasha taps Shippō's forehead and says teasingly despite the deadpanned frown,
"So that's what this is all about..."
Coraline smiles exasperatingly and replies,
"Come on, you guys, don' give ou'. It's his first crush."
The fox demon suddenly blurts at the dog demon,
"You're one to criticize! Sure I may have fallen for her, but what about you, darting back and forth between Kikyō and Coraline?!"
Inuyasha gains a tick-mark at the same time the Croft emits a heavy blush, to which Freeman would snicker at.
Uh oh~, careful he doesn't see your red face, sis...
(BONK)
Shippō's comment of course earns him a large bump on the noggin by a heavily irritated half-dog demon.
"Get to sleep..."
Coraline could only sigh and gathers the younger ginger into her arms.
"Alrigh', tha's enough craic for the nigh'. (Turn) Freeman?"
"Yeah, I got 'im."
She hands him Shippō, and he whispers a goodnight before ducking back over to where Besa is to tuck the smaller male back under a blanket...Coraline lets out a breathy sigh, and lays back down in her own futon while quirking mentally,
Mo dhia, b'tween this and Cipher, it'll be a miracle if I ge' any sleep tonight.
Time Skip
Morning rises to greet the large village, and we find ourselves at a little hut under the bridge by the river, the place that Satsuki calls home...
Suddenly, footsteps limp her way, stirring her from sleep.
"Mm?...Huh?"
Turning to the doorway, she meets eyes with a familiar silhouette of a young man with black hair and wearing a muted blue kimono that matched the blanket over his shoulders, using a sheathed katana as a crutch, and a gauze around his forehead.
"Satsuki...I have finally returned."
"Hh!...Is it, really you...?"
"(Smile) Yes, it is. You've waited so long."
Satsuki gasps again, and rushes over to embrace her older sibling.
"My brother!...I knew you'd come! I just knew it! (Sob) No one else believed it, but I did!"
...
As the little girl celebrates the return of her samurai brother, we find Shippō making his way down the hill to his new friend's home, a little disheartened that his plan last night backfired.
"At the very least, I should say goodbye to her. Poor Satsuki: I wonder if she'll continue to wish on that fake shard? Haaahh...I don't have the heart. I can't tell her the truth."
"...Shippō!"
He looks up and sees Satsuki running over to him with a big smile on her face.
"Hm? Satsuki?"
"My wish came true! My brother finally came home to me!"
Surprised, the fox demon hurries to follow the girl and see for himself...Meanwhile, back at the home of the headman, Coraline lets out a big yawn as she finishes brushing out her hair, her white tee switched up for a tan-coloured cold shoulder top, blinking her eyes a few times to try and rid herself of any lingering sleepiness.
Damn, I'm exhausted...Devil to tha' dream demon.
"Rough night, sis?"
She turns to Freeman, he wearing a red and black-striped tank top over a pair of dark brown jeans and his monochrome high-tops.
"Besa said he saw you lookin' a bit stressed in your sleep earlier before you woke."
"I'll survive. I' was jus' one of those nigh's my mind decided to play 'scare the heck outta me'."
With an extra stimulus from Cipher...
"Gotcha."
Freeman then turns to Inuyasha - who was sitting on the deck - and asks,
"Yo, Inuyasha, any chance ya know where Shippō left for?"
"I dunno. Maybe he's with that new friend of his or somethin'."
Miroku adds,
"Yes, he was very worried about her..."
The redhead hums and mutters,
"I feel sorry for Satsuki. She's go' all her hopes built for her dead brother to return, and doesn' even realize the quartz she possesses is only a symbolic gesture..."
Putting her brush back into her bag, she stretches her arms...just as something else comes to mind.
Wait a second...That demon Miroku banished from th' mansion...
What if it's still hangin' 'round in this village?
...And, if i' hears abou' what Satsuki claims to have...
"Oh crap!"
The men turn to Coraline upon her outburst and ask,
"What?"
"I gotta find Shippō and Satsuki, fast!"
She begins dashing off down the hill, with Inuyasha calling after her,
"Are you butting in again?"
"It's not like that; I think Satsuki migh' be in danger!"
Sango comes out the doorway and calls,
"Wait up, Coraline; I'll come with you!"
Shippō's POV
Satsuki led me back to her small home under the bridge where her brother is...
"See? He's injured, but at least he's back here with me."
He groans a bit and lifts his head from the futon to see us standing in the doorway, before focusing on his sister.
"Satsuki, thank you. You and the shard guided me home."
...Can it really be true? Was Satsuki's hope really enough to bring her brother back?
I stare at her brother for a moment...before sensing something, off.
"Hm?"
I subconsciously turn my gaze to the bucket of water by his head...only to see a lizard demon's reflection instead of a human one!
"Uh!"
A demon!
Satsuki is oblivious to the danger and says to the imposter,
"You rest. We've got so much catching up to do when you're better."
"Aye. You had to suffer so long without me, but I promise to make it all up to you."
"(Nod) Mhm."
I decide to cut in to get Satsuki out of the room.
"Satsuki. We need to talk..."
But then the imposter turns to address me:
"You're new around here, aren't you? (Smile) You must be with the group that's staying at the headman's house."
How does he know that? Did Satsuki tell him?
...Or...wait. Hh! He's the demon Miroku exorcised from the mansion!
Aw man, I really need to get Satsuki away!
"Satsuki, c'mere."
"Shippō...?"
The imposter then brings Satsuki close to him with an arm wrapped around her.
"I need you to bring me something now: a real shard of the jewel."
I ran at the imposter shouting,
"Let go of Satsuki!"
But the demon faker hits me away with his fist, and as I roll to the ground, I hear Satsuki gasp before asking,
"Why did you strike my friend? Look: I have a shard of the Shikon-no-Tama right here!"
I lift my head up to see him holding Satsuki's stone flower between his fingertips with a mean smile.
"Can't you tell by looking at it? It's a piece of rubbish. Completely, useless scrap!"
(Shatter)
"He crushed Satsuki's precious wishing stone!"
The imposter moves to grip her more tightly with his arm around her neck, and she struggles as he demands me,
"Move, boy. Get me a shard of the jewel. Do it, or I'll have to break Satsuki's neck."
"Auh! You imposter! Who are you?!"
The demon chuckles at Satsuki,
"Your brother, who else would I be?"
I had enough of his tricks and decided to counter with my own.
"Show yourself, demon! Fox Fire!"
My flames hit the mark and break the disguise, revealing the lizard demon wearing human clothes!
Satsuki's eyes widen in shock, and the demon laughs before saying in a deeper accent,
"Well that wasn't nice at all. You could've at least let her think that I was her brother."
(Grip)
"Argh!"
"Satsuki! Nobody messes with my friend!"
I use another one of my illusions - my snake - to force the lizard to release her, and I gather the shattered pieces of the stone flower before taking Satsuki's hand.
"Come on, we gotta get out of here!"
"'kay!"
...We manage to make it up most of the hill away from the home, before the demon destroys it as he changes into his full form!
"He must be onto my trick!"
"You won't escape!"
I have to get Satsuki away from here...and I know just the trick that'll help.
I pull out my toy horse...
"This'll work. I'll keep him busy while you escape!"
"No! I won't leave you behind!"
I give her no chance to argue further:
(Poof)
"The horse can only take one!"
"Shippōōōō!"
I watch as my toy horse flies Satsuki out of the area, before turning my focus on the lizard.
"I have you now!"
Better me than Satsuki...
Alright, I better prepare myself, 'cause this could get rough real fast!
No POV
As Shippō prepares to battle with the lizard demon, we find the rest of our titular group gathered in the area where Satsuki's home once stood...
"Wha' in the world happened here?"
Sango steps over to the large pile of splintered wood, and sees an impression in the dirt.
"Look: a demon with a large torso must've done this."
Miroku gets a look himself and adds,
"Whatever it was, it seems to have fled."
Freeman finishes circling the area and comments,
"I don't see Shippō or Satsuki anywhere. Whatever did this must've chased them off."
Inuyasha turns and calls,
"Let's move, you guys. We gotta find Shippō."
Miroku calls back as he runs in step with the dog demon,
"Yes! The two of them have better be safe!"
The twins follow not too far behind them, followed by the women...
It was then Satsuki comes flying overhead on the toy horse.
"Look at that horse, it's Shippō's fox magic!"
Coraline adds after Sango,
"Auy, and i' has Satsuki!"
The horse flies on for a little longer...before the fox magic wears off.
(Pop)
"Aaaah!"
Satsuki falls, but then Kilala jumps off the slayer's shoulder and catches her by her kimono!
Coraline lets out a sigh of relief as her brothers call,
"Nice catch, Kilala!"
She brings the little girl down over in front of the females, who then warns,
"A demon is after Shippō!"
"Yes, we know."
Sango takes Satsuki into her arms and says to the redhead,
"Better hurry, Coraline."
"Right."
Shippō's POV
I continue to dodge the lizard's tongue, and dash to the right as I pray,
I hope you're safe, Satsuki!
(Slam)
"Ah!"
I barely dodge the tongue again, and stop to catch my breath as the lizard approaches me with a laugh.
"The girl may have escaped, but it's useless. It was you who I desired; I'll hold you hostage to get a Shikon-no-Tama shard!"
"If you wanted me, why didn't you come after me from the start? You went out of your way to crush Satsuki's hopes, and now I'm gonna make you regret it, demon!"
"So I presume you wish to try and take me on?"
The demon inhales deeply, and I bark back,
"You bet, ugly!"
"Stomach Acid!"
He tries to spew some sort of milky white acid on me, but I dodge it in a jump before unleashing more of my magic.
"Multiply!"
(Pop-pop-pop-pop...)
My decoys and I then throw low-grade dynamite at the demon.
"Bombs away!"
He's hit dead-on and cringes from the impact...
"Now's my chance!"
I spring with my decoys and bite his neck hard...
Unfortunately, my teeth weren't strong enough to leave any real damage.
"You, pest! I've had enough of you!"
(SLAP)
"Ooow!"
I roll to the ground hard, and as I laid on my stomach, I mutter to myself discouragingly,
"Maybe I'm just not strong enough to defeat him..."
I think about all the skills and strength my friends have, including Freeman and Besa, despite them still learning somewhat...
"Don't I have what it takes to fight like my friends too?"
I struggle to look up angrily at the lizard demon:
"Playtime's over!"
...But just when it looked like this would've been my last fight, I hear a rustle in the grass, and turn to see,
Hh! Inuyasha!
No POV
The silverette in red steps out of the tall grass in front of the lizard demon, leaving the latter confused.
"Huh?"
...He looks the dog demon up and down before stating,
"So, you have gone and transformed yourself into something else yet again, have you?!"
Inuyasha - not knowing who the lizard was addressing - is understandably just as befuddled.
"What? You have some kind of grudge against me?"
He takes a few steps closer before brandishing out Tessaiga.
"Fine by me. I'll use my new Backlash Wave."
"And what kind of trick are you trying to pull now?"
The lizard demon then gasps when they notice the power of the Wind Scar billowing over Inuyasha's blade of...The dog demon reminds himself of the conditions for the Tessaiga's ultimate technique.
This move uses the Wind Scar to surround the demon's energy, and send it right back at 'em...
"Backlash...!"
But before he could finish, the Wind Scar suddenly dies down into nothing.
"Huh?"
The lizard demon is a bit taken aback as well, and that's when Inuyasha realizes the problem.
"Oh great; this lizard demon's energy is so weak, my Backlash Wave is useless!"
"Is this a debate or a battle?"
"(Tick-mark) It would be a battle if you weren't so weak!"
(PUNCH)
Inuyasha socks the opposing demon right in the face, sending them flying into the air!...The lizard then transforms into its original form and tries to scamper off, only to be stopped by Miroku's staff...He then bends down to the struggling reptile to get a closer look, with Besa bending down beside him.
"Hm? This is the very demon that I exorcised from the headman's house last night."
"Huh. Small world..."
Shippō weakly looks up at Inuyasha and mutters his name, causing the other to turn to address him.
"Hm? Hey. (Smile) That was some nice work ya did against this demon lizard, Shippō."
The young fox stares at the older dog in surprise, just as everyone else catches up courtesy of Kilala.
"Shippō!"
"Coraline..."
Freeman holds up the little ginger in his lap as Satsuki cheers,
"Shippō; you beat the demon!"
"...It wasn't me. Inuyasha did it."
But the dog demon says while looking up at the sky,
"Mm, that lizard was already on his last legs by the time I got here..."
Shippō weakly turns his head to the silverette.
Inuyasha...
"I think that the demon must have used Satsuki to get at us, hoping that we could be overpowered."
Besa nods in agreement to Miroku's deduction.
"That sounds right."
Shippō then reminds himself of the Shikon-no-Tama's trail of misfortune.
Everyone who encounters the jewel becomes unhappy. I forgot that, and Satsuki suffered for it...
He frowns sadly, taking out the shattered pieces of the rose quartz to present to Satsuki.
"Huh?"
"I'm sorry, Satsuki."
She takes the pieces into her open palms...before replying,
"It doesn't matter anymore."
She then stands up and tosses the pieces into the grass, much to Shippō's shock.
"Your stone!"
"...You know what? I've decided to go live with the headman of the village...Oh, I'm not sad...I knew all along that my brother was gone."
Satsuki turns to flash a small smile at the fox demon, who in turn stares back silently...
Soon, the sun began to set, and everyone in our group prepares to leave the headman's home, with Satsuki seeing them off. Coraline waves to the young girl,
"Take care, lass!"
She calls out,
"Thank you for everything, Shippō! I'm sure glad that I met you!"
He turns to silently wave back, a look of concern on his face as he thinks,
I hope you'll be happy one day, Satsuki. I don't have a mother or father either...
(Half-smile) But I'm not alone, so it's okay.
Passing the river again, we see a large gathering of fireflies floating over the bank, sight which the small fox demon would spare minute to watch...The group continues on, and Sango glances behind at the little fox demon.
"Shippō really was quite taken with that young girl."
Coraline and Freeman reply,
"Yeah..."
"Heh, he was, wasn't he?"
Inuyasha lightly scoffs,
"Huh, what's he doin' actin' like a grown-up?"
Miroku and Besa reply respectively,
"He may be little, but he's still a man."
"Mm, still, he has time..."
The redhead sighs a bit and remarks,
"First loves are always memorable. (Turn) Shippō, come on!"
Inuyasha adds,
"Move it along! We haven't got all day to wait around!"
"I'm coming!"
And with that, Shippō rushes to catch up with everyone as the fireflies scatter and float up to the sky, glittering with the glow of the stars...