Chapter 12: Shippo and the Thunder brothers

Slurp, slurrrp, slurp

Behind me the slurping sounds of Inuyasha inhaling an entire bowl of ramen echoes through the field of the dead. Kagome has supplied us with a great amount of travel food with a few extra items such as a mini boil burner to provide an easy fire to cook small warm meals. How it fits in the bag is beyond me but I no longer question much now a day. Especially now, as I look amongst a field of dead bodies. Here and there piles of skeletons and bodies with flesh still on the bone stinks up the area to the point I couldn't bring myself to eat. I would think this would disturb me; tangled grey and purple limbs mix together with grey and white skeletons with arrows poking out from the piles are scattered about like a messy jigsaw puzzle.

Somehow this seems normal now. Instead of feeling sick to my stomach I am questioning on this battle occurred. My eyes focus on every detail like an inspector searching for clues on a crime. From what I can tell, all these men are from the same clan, they wear the same armor with the same sigils. They were fighting something but whatever that something was left no body behind. It is almost like these bodies were just dumped here.

"I wonder what happened here," I question out loud.

"It's an old battlefield," Inuyasha answers between slurps, "It's normal."

Old my ass. I don't even have to squint my eyes to see the first body that still has flesh. It is not even three feet away from me.

While I stare puzzling at the battlefield I start to notice an odd shadow roll over it from behind me. The shadow gets dark fast, and when I turn to investigate I notice a light blue color ten feet away from us. It takes on a spiral shape with multiple light and dark blue shades and that grows larger with each second. The slurping has stopped altogether, the ramen bowl rolls by Inuyasha's feet. He is standing now, his eyes on the same spiral with his hand on the handle of his blade but his eyes show no concern.

The spiral stops growing after about ten feet in diameter, it swirls for a seconds, a gust of wind comes from it, picking up tiny pebbles and dirty off the ground. Neither of us budge as they tap us. There is no feeling of threat – no feeling of a shard – not even a feeling much of a concern when it comes to it being a demon. I do feel a tiny bit of demonic aura but nothing at all that I am concerned about, not even a bad feeling in the back of my mind.

Out from the spiral speaks a voice. It is obviously a child's voice who is purposely trying to deepen his or her tone to sound more menacing but they are ultimately failing., making the words they say sound more like a joke than anything serious. "You down there! You possess a piece of the sacred shikon jewel."

We glance at one another, both of us raising a single brow with expressions that scream, 'this has to be a joke.' From Inuyasha's shoulder, the little flee demon speaks up, "I believe it is a fox demon." Out of the three of us, he is the only one that doesn't seem to be annoyed by this little scene.

The spiral shrinks to the size of a pea and then explodes into a gigantic round pink…thing? It is ugly looking with two large white eyes with dots as irises, a triangle for a mouth and stick figure like limbs with white round balls for hands and feet. It floats in the air with no effort, using hopping motions when it starts to move.

"You got to be kidding me," I mumble. We've fought ugly centipede ladies, giant crows that control dead bodies, an ugly frog demon and this is what comes after us now? Crossing my arms and sighing, I shake my head in disappointment. I guess this is better than getting bruised, cut and beaten up. My wrists are barely healing from the last fight and I am sure there will be permanent scars. I look like a bonded up sacrificial victim.

"Hand over the jewel." The blob commands.

Inuyasha chuckles unamusingly.

"Ah, no." I exclaim.

Inuyasha's eyes narrow and his jaw tightens. He's looking pretty irritated now, and even more so as the blob hops hovers over to us. With each hop it sounds like a balloon bouncing on a surface. Unthreatened, neither of us move. We don't even blink. The pink blob eventually pops Inuyasha on the top of the head, but the movement doesn't even push him. It doesn't even nod his head back in the slightest bit.

"The jewel or your life!" It threatens.

Inuyasha grumbles incoherent curses, clenching his teeth in anger, he raises his hand and smacks the blob so hard it bursts like a balloon and spits away with releasing of air. After a few feet it implodes altogether into another small blue spiral that shapes into a tiny form. Out pops a little boy who falls onto the ground. He has reddish orange hair, about the shade of a red fox, that is pulled up into a small ponytail. A fluffy crème colored white tail wags behind him, small in comparison to a regular fox tail. He appears mostly human, his face is human like except for sharp fangs, tiny pointed ears and eyes much like Inuyasha's. He also has human hands but his feet are paws. The outfit he wears is very reminiscent of a common villager. Long sleeved shirt underneath a workers vest with baggy pants, except that his long sleeved shirt as leaves as décor on a blue background, and the vest looks like animal skin. He is so small that he wouldn't reach my knee caps even when standing.

The little demon rubs his cheek where a handprint mark starts to glow a brilliant red. He whines with a high-pitched voice that can be confused with a little girl. This is not the representation of a fox demon I grew up with. Of course they are mischievous, as he's shown, but they are also intelligent and can be a bad omen. This kid…

"Who dares to burst my bubble?!" He shouts, hopping up onto his feet; he raises his fists ready to fight.

Grunting out a small snicker, Inuyasha whips up the kid by the tail and dangles him a few inches from his face. Just enough to keep those hands from reaching him. "Feisty little thing, aren't you? Nice tail."

"Put me down!" The kid cries.

"Looks like a badger or a squirrel."

"I'm a fox, you heathen!" He screams.

I step closer to the two, fingers at my chin as I examine his features, "Weird. Usually fox demons shapeshift between fox form to demon form. Maybe there are different types of legends."

Inuyasha glances at me with a confused look, "what do you mean?"

"Well…" I begin.

Abruptly Inuyasha is dropped down to the ground by his left hand. On top of it sits an ugly looking statue with big eyes much like that of the pink blob. It has hands positioned in a prayer with a red bandana around its neck. It looks like a monk with a bald head and heavy since it looks to be made of stone.

The sound of rummaging comes from behind the both of us, we both look over our shoulders to spot the kid digging through the large yellow bag of holding that has our belongings. Instinctively, my fingers reach for the little bottle around my neck but I don't feel them there. That's when it hits me; yesterday night when we stopped by a stream, I took them off so I could bathe. I must have forgotten to take them back out of the bag.

"Shit," I rush at the kid, but just as I do, his tiny little thieving hands lifts up the small jaw. The jewels sparkle in the daylight but they do not scream for help. A big toothy grin spreads across his chibi-like cheeks. He turns to us and leaps into the air higher than I can reach as I leap to grab for him. He bursts into another spiral that implodes in a second. Inuyasha just now reaches me, leaving behind the ugly statue that had him trapped.

Another second goes by of our eyes searching the area before we both hear the sound of clunking and scurrying. We turn around to spot a grey skull zigzagging off with a fluffy tail popping out from behind it. Now frustrated, Inuyasha growls and shakes after it.

We sit around the yellow bag; Inuyasha on one side with the little fox boy next to me, who we have come to know as, Shippo. On top of his head is a nice sized swell that Inuyasha gave to him during the chase. It should heal fine especially since he is a demon, but just in case I spray it with a medical ointment that should lessen the pain and swelling.

"Explain to me why you tried to steal our shards?" I ask.

"For my father. I need to get the shards of the jewel to avenge him."

Hearing this has me glancing at the piles of dead bodies not even a few feet away. I can see him dilemma. Many people must have lost family and friends during this time period. This was a time full of battles and wars, many lives were lost, it was terrible but not surprising. Regardless of all the loss, I can't say I understand. I never knew my real parents, and cared little for any of the foster families.

"Now I get it – He's not strong enough, so he needs the power of the jewel to take out his enemies." Inuyasha comments. Between his fingers the tiny glass bottle with the shards, twists and dances. They appear less brilliant when in his grasp, maybe it is just a warning for me. The brighter they glow, the larger the chance they will be taken? He under throws the bottle at me and I just barely watch it with the tips of my fingers. Taking the chain that was originally on the bottle, I clasp it back around my neck, the entire time I watch Shippo as he watches my movements.

There is no denying that he is plotting to steal them again, but he is still a child, I have to consider his safety after just learning his father has recently passed away. Until otherwise, I will not kick him off. Just in case though, I shove the bottle inside of my gown in the hopes he's not a complete pervert.

"I am strong enough to take on any enemy – I just merely wanted the jewel as a precaution."

Inuyasha and I both eye each other from our peripherals, and raise a suspicious brow.

"So, two demons have how many shards already?" I ask.

Shippo and I walk along a dirt path with Inuyasha scaling the trees above.

"Five – from what I was able to count." The tiny fox demon answers. He's calm down quite a bit, warming up to us but still not enough for us to be comfortable. His eyes are determined and he seems ready to go the moment we suggested we may be able to help.

"Let me get this straight: two demons come along and kill your father to get his shard of the jewel? Why'd he have one to begin with?"

"I couldn't tell ya – all I know is that the Thunder Brothers steal the jewels from demons."

"There name reminds me of a boy band…" I mumble to myself.

"What'd you say?" Inuyasha questions from above.

"They got their name for their thunder and lightning attacks." Shippo adds in.

"Heard of 'em Myoga?" Inuyasha pauses on the tree branch he's reached, leaves come hovering down around Shippo and I. We both stop as well and turn our heads in his direction so we can try to see the little flea on Inuyasha's shoulder.

He's but a speck, but his voice is loud and clear even from here. "He must be talking about Hiten and Manten. And if the rumors are true, those two are evil incarnate."

"Big deal! All I gotta do is defeat the brothers and I'll walk away with all their jewel shards." Inuyasha gloats.

"And one-day man will walk on the moon! You're no match for the evil thunder brothers! You're only half demon. I can smell the human in you. This is a problem between us demons. It's got nothing to do with half-breeds such as yourself- stay out of it!" Shippo argues, turning his head in the opposite direction of Inuyasha.

Inuyasha leaves no seconds between Shippo's comments before he leaps down and smashes a fist across the top of the boy's head.

"You big-!" Shippo continues but is cut off when Inuyasha continues to smash his curled fist to the same spot. They aren't terribly hard beatings but enough to leave another swell on the fox demon's head. Crossing my arms, I shake my head, I have nothing to say to this. The little demon had guts to say what he said when he could just be asking for help. Obviously we have some sort of experience since we have our own shards, more than he has, so he really shouldn't be talking.

Shippo digs his tiny hands into his own shirt, grabbing at whatever he was searching for before smashing it onto Inuyasha's raising fist. Just as before, a medium sized statue forms on the back of Inuyasha's hand, slamming him down hand first into the dirt pavement. It is the same ugly statue from before with the same red bandana, the difference is, that Shippo slaps a paper prayer on the back of its head.

The fox demon leaps away from Inuyasha with a proud grin on his chibi face, "You're stuck under the statue until you can get the spell scroll peeled off!" He turns his grin to me, and I return it with a glare. "I don't like playing tricks on women if I can avoid it."

"I wouldn't." I hiss, my glare narrowing.

"Just don't hold it against me," he says this while leaping at me, I react by side stepping just enough for him to miss. He lands grumbling something incoherently. He charges at me again this time reaching for something in his shirt at the same time. My heart starts to pound fast, my eyes darting from his hand to his eyes trying to figure out his next move. Pulling out his hand, he starts to throw something in my direction, I side step again seeing absolutely nothing fly by. We collide. It was a distraction. He lands against my chest face first; my face heats up.

My body responds for me, my right hand curls up into a tight ball, and as I am about to throw a punch at the demon's face for the intrusion, but before my fist can reach his round cheeks he kicks off my chest and shouts, "Fox Fire!"

Between us a blue swirling flame starts up from nowhere, distracting me long enough for him to scamp down the road. When the flames disperse, he twists back towards us and dangles the shards in his fist. "Thanks! I'll use this to lure out the Thunder Brothers!" He giggles delightfully; he bolts off down the road.

"Son of a bitch!" I curse, without another thought I chase down the fox demon, only just barely hearing Inuyasha cry out for me to help him in the background. "You got this Inuyasha! But I can't let him go with those shards!"

I've lost him once we entered into the swampy landscape not far from where we left. The tall grass and reeds hide him fairly well but I don't stop my pursuit; instead I listen intently.

"Now hand it over like a good little lad!" This isn't Shippo's voice but something much louder and more of a male adult tone. I catch something white to my left from my peripheral so I take the turn and run into a scene much uglier than I ever anticipated. This thing – this demon – has a triangular shaped face: all white with a pointed nose and upon its ugly head sparkles two shards. They shine brilliantly, as if beckoning me forward.

The demon opens up his mouth exposing rolls on rolls of sharp triangular teeth, beyond them an electric glow ignites and fills his mouth completely with a ball of lightning that sparks out at all sides. This must be one of the brothers Shippo mentioned. And with that lightning coming from his mouth – he is dangerous. With Inuyasha far behind and now my shards and the demons up ahead, I have to do something. I can't let this slip.

Deep in the pit of my stomach I can feel energy swirl much like those times my abilities were triggered. I focus all the energy I feel on the demon, lifting up my left hand and concentrate on the demon's open mouth. Closing my eyes, I feel the pit of my body shiver and coil, a tingling shoots up into my left shoulder and along my arm to my hand where a canon like explosion sets off. It bursts from my palm; I open my eyes to a brightness that is almost blinding. My feet come to a stop below me but the burst from my palm keeps going.

Never before had I seen the color of my abilities to their fullest, only dim shreds of what it could be, but this color is a mixture of electric blues and purples. The blast collides with the demon's mouth, throwing him off his feet and onto his back with a loud thump. The lightning within his jaws chokes out into nothingness. Once he's out of my sight beyond the tall grass and reeds, I close my palm and the burst of power sparks at the edges of my hand before slowly fading away. My heart is beating so fast that my breath comes out in awkward chunks.

"Keara!" Shippo shouts. His large blue eyes are full of panic and fear. He rushes to me with his hands out in front of him like a reuniting child to his mother.

"S-Stop, I must have that Shikon Jewel!" The demon demands, rolling onto his side and pushing himself back up while struggling under his weight. He turns to us with a broken nose that is blackened with red hidden underneath. Blood drips from the two nostril holes at the end.

"You WILL give me your shards." I demand back.

The shards brighten on his forehead, tempting me to go forward and pluck them from his ugly flesh. At my sides my fists clench tight; the demon's eyes squint at me, but then he starts to laugh hysterically at my commands. Rage boils inside me, the sparks return to the edges of my left palm. There is a tingling in my right, and when I glance down to check on my right hand, I notice that sparks are eliminating from it as well. The demon's laugh halts and his eyes also turn to my fists.

He snarls his teeth at us. Shippo squeaks in fear and runs behind my legs. Lightning flashes from around the demon's opening lips, and like before, as he opens his mouth, a ball of electricity starts to form. This time he rolls his head back, the ball gets larger and larger, as if powering up while in this position.

"We have to run!" Shippo screams from behind me.

The demon snaps his head back down which releases the now enormous lightning ball for us like a gun shooting off. Every heart beat chimes loud in my ears but I stand my ground, I feel no fear. Lifting both my fists I open my palms towards the incoming attack, and I too, release my blasts. Yellow and blue meet amidst the middle of the swamp between us, sparking an explosion that rushes out in a radius that hastes at me unexpectedly. Before I can respond, heat brushes across all my skin even underneath the miko clothing and then, cold air blankets my back briefly. No longer can I feel the ground beneath my feet and ahead of me I see the blue sky; I'm thrown back, knowing and waiting for the impact. I land back first onto the ground below, the air knocking out of me.

I can't breathe, I try, but it is like my lungs have been knocked unconscious. My head rolls to the side as I choke on bits of air. Still in the middle of the swamp, both powers struggle between one another while both of us; the demon and I, lie in different parts of the swamp. My vision blurs, and as it does, I see the demon on the other side, far from me, get up slowly while feeling his head – and then black.

"Keara…"

It's her voice again…The one I hear every night, every time I close my eyes to sleep…All except last time…When I was knocked unconscious during the frog demon attack.

"You need to wake up, Keara…" She whispers, her voice is like a lullaby for me now. There is no sound of battle in the background, this isn't right. There is nothing but darkness except for her voice echoing on through. "Get the shards…You need the shards…"

The image of the ugly white head demon resurfaces in my mind; the two lonely shards in his forehead that brilliantly sparkled when I came near. They didn't talk to me but I could feel their need for me to get them…or was that me…wanting them selfishly.

"Wake up…" She whispers one last time, and this time I oblige without struggle.

The sound of vacuuming echoes in the darkness being replaced with the sound of boiling. A nasty human decay-like smell fills my nose and I'm brought out of my slumber with heavy coughing. Below me, I lay on cold flat stone in a room that is small with green clay walls with a single window above me whose cold air is refreshing from the smell. My lungs and head throb in unison with my heart, my back hurts and my eyes feel strained but not enough to blur my vision.

"Awoken, have you, my fair hair maiden?"

It is the ugly demon from before, the one with the broken nose face. He's facing a boiling cauldron that protrudes out from the stoneground, but he is slightly turned in my direction, his large eyes watching me. From where I lay I can see just a bit of the purple liquid that pops and boils in front of him. Sitting up causes my head to throb more than before and for a second, the world shakes around me before steadying. Seriously, why don't I have a concussion yet?

"I plan on using your flesh and blood to create a magical hair growth. Some call it the wonder potion of the century." He bellows out a loud laugh, patting it thick, armored covered belly. I didn't notice it before, but around his waist is a pelt of a fox that is much too large to be of a normal species. That must be Shippo's father.

"You must have gotten your information wrong," I start, "the flesh and blood of a human, female and if virgin are usually seen as holy and used only in the dark arts; never really for cosmetics. I heard worms and urine deals along those terms."

When my eyes meet his, his face looks disgusted and pained a little from my comment but I am not bothered. If there were a few things, I enjoyed in school it was the occult and folklore of the country and others. Something about mystical gods, creatures, occult and folklores I found more interesting to listen too than math or science. Maybe it was due to my soul-less state. Maybe I felt more of a connection to it all due to it. It seems understandable now that I am here in feudal Japan instead of believing I was some sort of anti-social psychopath.

"What would you know anyway, hum-," he pauses and takes a better look at me, as if seeing me for the first time. An expression of deep thought triggers in his eyes, "You are wearing a priestess garb, and that…ability you used."

Crash!

Wood chips go flying across the room from my right. What was once a door is now just a frame with two demons standing within. One is a tall male with a long dark brown bread with three shards in his forehead. This must be the other brother. It is hard to see a comparison since this one is very attractive, not a plain white color and is more human in shape than his brothering. Standing in his grip is a woman with her arms cross and a lone snake wrapped around her breasts keeping us from see all the goods. Her reddish green eyes peer at us with a sense of piousness.

"I thought I heard voices, back so soon, Manten?" His voice is deep but something like that you'd hear a prince use to speak.

"That thing is your brother?" The demon woman speaks, her voice very much as she appears. As if too rich to care about the world.

"H-Hiten! Good to see you!" The blubbery white demon responds, getting to his feet the second his brother walks in. Obviously there is some superiority between the two since now sweat drips down the balding white head of the lightning demon.

"Who's she? What's she doing here?"

Manten throws out both arms in front of me, bringing himself to stand between his brother and I. "She's mine – I found her first!"

"I'm not the potion your looking for Hiten – I told you, urine would do it and I don't have to pee." I say non-chalantly, shaking my head.

I can see the demon rolling his eye, with a smirk.

"No need to worry I have no use for her. Not when I have this little vixen," he squeezes his arm around the woman demon's shoulder and grins. "And while I am thinking of it, how did you fare in your search for more jewel fragments?"

"My apologies, dear brother! I found one but I lost it!"

Hiten releases the demon at his side, his hand coming up in front of him as it twists into a fist. "You found one but lost it?!" He throws his fist back at the female demon and a white light blasts from his palm, "don't tell me you were more interested in this woman, so much so that you forgot about the precious jewel shard!" Much like Manten's mouth lightning ball, out from the palm of Hiten's hand explodes bolts of lightning that completely annihilates the female demon. The bolts on impact sends smaller bolts of lightning into the room. Hiten and I both cover our faces pathetically with our arms, just barely the bolts miss our bodies. Heat scorches parts of our clothes but at least the closeness of the lightning doesn't kill us alone.

The lightning dissipates. Manten enters the room slowly his red eyes full of anger and discontent. "You bring nothing but shame to this family! If you were not my younger brother, I would have done with you in long ago!"

"It was a fox demon, brother! That one who is the son of the pelt I have obtained. Shippo." Hiten cowers down to the ground, his hands covering his head in fear and his eyes wide.

"So…This little Shippo tyke has our jewel shard?" The anger washes away from Manten's face.

"Are you going after him?" Hiten asks.

"Of course I am! And you're coming with me!"

Now's my chance! Standing up from the slab of stone, I brush off the dust on my pants, "Let's go then."

They both turn their heads to me slowly, both with confusion as to why a human would want to come with or even why she'd try. But I am no idiot and I have definitely not gained enough of my soul back to realize what fear is when fear should be present. God, I hope that never comes to me otherwise I'd be another Kagome. Stepping down from the slab I head for the door that Manten is in, earning a curious brow from the older brother.

"The rest of the shards aren't with Shippo, they are with Inuyasha."

"Oh?" Manten straightens his position, he crosses his arms and smiles wickedly, "That half demon I keep hearing about? How did he get some many shards?"

"Because of me. I am a human shard detector. He forced me to look for them for him, and honestly, I would love to see you kill him."

"Human shard detector?" He asks.

"She is different, brother," Hiten surprisingly chips in, "She got in my way when I was there getting the shard from Shippo. Probably doing the bidding for this Inuyasha character. She has powers, Manten, ones I have never seen before."

"What kind of powers?"

"How about I just show you on the battle field? And then you can decide if I am further of killing or not." Manten and I stare into each other's eyes, both of us unmoving – challenging. He's interested otherwise I'd be dead by now, his smile never falters, so I am entertaining him.

"Deal." He grins.

"Manten!" Hiten calls.

We've been at a distance for a while now. The elder brother is faster than Hiten, who uses a dark cloud as a source of transportation. We both sit on the fluffy surface; the very touch starts to dampen our behinds through the fabric. The sky above is blanketed in dark purple and blue clouds that spit out lightning bolts here and there, thunder roars and shakes the world below. The very atmosphere is suffocating on how humid it is compared to normality. Down below I spot Inuyasha, he watches as Hiten and I come into the battle area. A part of me wants to smile at the sight of him, just glad that he even tried to come for me regardless I am shard less, and this makes me a little happy. On his back sits Shippo, the two having must have reunited after my knock out.

"Keara!" Inuyasha shouts. I lean forward, my hands falling into the solid yet damp cloud as I look further down at him. He looks worried…Is it for me?

"Judging from your expression, the girl was right. Give me the fragments of the Jewel or I will kill you and her!" Lightning forms around Hiten's body like an aura, bolts shoot out all over.

"Ha!" Inuyasha chuckles, a grin spreading across his face, he pulls out Tetsaiga from its sheathe, the blade forms perfectly in his grip, "Or how about I kill you and your brother and go on my way."

"I believe I've heard my fill," Hiten closes his eyes and brings his spear forward. The spear is long with a metal tip that is in the shape of a lightning bolt at the top. It's lightly decorated with a single red gem just below the lightning bolt décor. "It's clear that you do have some jewels for us, Inuyasha. Jewels that will be mine!"

Hiten charges down towards Inuyasha, little wheels by his feet that help him glide, hover and fly, spit fire out from the back side, thrusting him incredibly fast. He lunges his spear forward, screaming out, "God of Thunder!" Bolts of lightning climb from Hiten's body into the spear head that meets the side of the Tetsusaiga that Inuyasha throws up to block himself. The blades combine but there is no other sound but thunder – lightning roots everywhere, somehow missing Inuyasha and instead kissing the ground below, exploding rocks and boulders into the air like an anti-gravity force.

"No one can withstand my attacks for long!" Hiten gloats.

Inuyasha groans, he pushes the heavy sword away from his body along with Hiten and his spear, swinging it enough to throw the lightning demon off. Hiten just barely misses being sliced by Tetsaiga's tip and laughs hysterically when he sees this.

"You have power, but no style. This should be an interesting battle!" Hiten continues laughing, behind us lightning dances and thunder roars. One of the most dangerous things on the planet during this time period, is now fighting against us.