Inuyasha POV
Why is this taking so damn long? I rest my chin on my palm as I watch Kagome walk back and forth in the kitchen. She grabs things from here and there, and stuffs them into the yellow bag she's provided for us. She's not smiling, which is unusual, and I can feel a tension in the air. I don't want to bother to ask why, if I do, she may go on a tangent.
She closes up the yellow bag and pats the top, "I have to admit something." Damn, I half expected to get out of here before she'd say anything. She stares thoughtfully down at the bag; her eyes look as if she's not even here. "I went looking to see if I could find Keara's house so I could find a way to get some of her own personal things." She sighs deeply and runs a hand through her hair before turning to me. "No one's looking for her, Inuyasha. No one. There are no missing persons reports on her, no one's asked about her at school and I was able to locate her foster parents and they seem to have moved on without a blink of an eye."
My brows furrow in agitation. Keara has mentioned to me that she didn't know who her real parents were and she also told me what foster families were – but no one is looking for her? Not even a friend? There is a sinking feeling in my chest. Images of Keara fighting as hard as she does flutters through my mind. She's been taking a beating with these abilities she has, but she's growing strong and fast with every shard we find. The aura that comes off of her is different than any human or demons I've come across. It is strong but something feels amiss from it.
When she uses her abilities, a sort of …spirit envelopes her shape and every move she makes. Almost like a guide in showing her how to use her own abilities. It is hard to distinguish who the person is or what they look like but it is obviously not Keara.
"She has these…abilities," I mutter, but I don't know why I am even bringing them up. Kagome won't care, and if she does, what will she even be able to do?
"What kind?" She asks, "I remember seeing a beam of light from that time with Lady Centipede, is that what you mean?"
"Kind of…But it has grown. Every jewel we come by she seems to get a little stronger. Every few we collect, another piece of her soul returns. I wonder if we collect all the shards, if she'll get all of her soul back and…how strong she'll be."
"Does this worry you?"
'Not really'…I say to myself. Matter in fact, it is kind of nice having someone fighting alongside with. I don't always have to be looking over my shoulder…wondering whose attacking me from behind. I have someone there – ready to protect my back. And she's not hard to be around…She's quiet and when she talks, usually only something useful comes out or pleasant. Though she doesn't smile much…when she does, it doesn't annoy me.
"Did you add more of that bandaging shit in the bag?" I ask, purposefully ignoring her last question. I really don't want to hear any whining.
She half smiles and nods, "I will also try to get in contact with Keara's foster family and find a way to get some of her belongings. I saw them from afar but it just felt weird going up to them. They looked happy, and had another kid with them."
They replaced her? The sinking feeling drops my heart to my stomach. My mother, even after knowing what I was, didn't once think about just letting me go. My eyes wander to the window where just outside I can see the small shrine where the well sits inside. I'm coming to realize; I wasn't as alone as I thought I was. I at least had a mom, but Keara; she had no one.
I guess she can stick with me until we get all the shards. Then she can…I don't know – go be girly somewhere.
But she has nowhere to go…
"Inuyasha?" Kagome asks, bringing me back to reality. I look up at her, her wide brown eyes full of curiosity.
"I gotta go."
I can smell it from here. Pig stew. Lugging the bag back over my shoulder I head for Kaeda's hut where the wafting smell of dinner can be caught. Pushing the reeds to the side, I see Keara and Kaeda sitting by the pot and fire, stirring away and adding a few herbs. Keara is the first to respond to my entrance. She smiles and waves, and as she does, her long white sleeve drops and bruises and cuts can be seen all over her arm.
She always just shrugs off the pain. By her side, I can just barely spot Shippo lounging about. At least…She's not alone anymore.
Keara's POV
The water is beautiful. Clean and clear. I can see every little fish and salamander even down at the bottom where pebbles are smooth and almost soft looking. The little waves that rock the wooden boat shakes it so gently that it is almost putting me to sleep, but it causes an unrest in Shippo. He leans over the side of the boat and dry heaves. He's a pale green, hands dangling pathetically against the wood. Inuyasha doesn't seem bothered by the tiny demons' distress and keeps still as he watches ahead of us. Like a mounted statue, he keeps to the head of the boat with his normal sitting position of legs and arms crossed.
"Spider webs…" Inuyasha breaks the long going silence that was surrounding all of us, from where I sit I can't tell what he's looking at. He stands up, barely moving the boat below, and reaches up towards the sky. A clump of something catches his fingers, and I finally see it. Silvery strands of web break. He brings it down to get a better view, where even from his shoulder Myoga can spy over it as well.
"Master Inuyasha, what manner of webs are they?" the flea asks.
My eyes scope the surroundings around us, now able to pinpoint exactly where these webs are. They are taught from one side of the bank to the other, a good fifteen feet spread. They are glued to the rocks like nothing I've ever seen. This is unusual…
Up ahead I notice a speck of black combing through green forage. It approaches the ridge of a rather high cliff. "Inuyasha…" I mumble, earning a glance from him but all I can do is point a finger at the black speck. I can't tell what it is, or what its intent, but I know his eyes can see whatever it is well enough.
A black swarm rushes out towards it from the forest near the edge, pushing the speck from the cliff with a scream. It's a girl! The boat rocks vigorously under Shippo and I as Inuyasha leaps for the falling girl. In the matter of milliseconds, he catches her, landing on a boulder amongst the streaming water. Our boat approaches on its own slowly but surely as we can see the girl better. She's wearing a green peasant dress with a bow in her black hair.
Inuyasha watches the cliff, the black swarm frets back into the woods in order to not be seen. "Looks like some type of demon." He mumbles.
"My thanks. You have saved me from certain death." The girl, who is probably my age, looks up at Inuyasha. Her navy blue eyes widen when they finally rest on Inuyasha pair of ears. "A demon!" She shouts, her body becoming restless in his arms. "Unhand me!" She screams out, slamming a fist into the side of Inuyasha's head.
He groans, losing his footing on the boulder below, they both go tumbling into the water.
"These mountains have been plagued by the spider - head demons since spring time. Spider heads trap humans in their webs, paralyze them and then devour them alive! They're terrifying demons!" The girl looks over her wounded arm as she speaks. A rash burns bright on her pale skin but it's nothing to be really concerned about. I spray some antibiotics on the rash and place it back into the kit. She and Inuyasha both are drenched from head to toe from falling into the stream but luckily, we were able to get to the land relatively quickly before anyone drowned.
"Sounds like a kumo or a Tsuchi-gumo…" I mutter. I roll over to my side to pry out the few small books Kagome provided for me. Originally when she left I asked for her to have Inuyasha return with some history and demon books in hopes to help our adventure with some knowledge of the time period. She was able to get the few in small form, pocket-sized, so the load that I carry isn't weighed down by books. Luckily, one does mention demons.
I flip through the pages of colorful art and easy to read writing. The descriptions give names, sizes, potential locations, what they eat, how they attack and even how to defeat them. Not all the information is accurate given the fact it was written during modern times when these demons no longer existed but it's a good reference instead of nothing at all. The girl looks over my shoulder, casting a shadow on the yellowed pages. I finally come across the name I was looking for.
Tsuchi-gumo. "An insect demon the size of an elephant, eight legs…lives in caves…" I mutter mostly to myself, reading only keywords as my eyes skim the pages. "Doesn't seem to attack humans unless bothered…. when so, becomes extremely aggressive. Kills and devours as it would the insect of choice. But there are subtypes." I close the book and look up at Inuyasha.
The half demon has his arms crossed, his silver hair sticks up randomly on his head from his previous shaking to dry off. I know he knows what I am going to say so I simply lift a brow and wait for his response. He grumbles, and though I can't see his face, I can tell he's rolling his eyes at my silence.
"Do you hear them or sense them?" He asks.
He's asking about the shards. Though I don't feel anything yet, I amuse him by closing my eyes and attempting to focus. I block out all sounds around us; like a homing device I listen for any small whispers…and wait to feel for any urgent auras.
But nothing.
"No…"
"Then let's go. I want to cross these mountains before nightfall."
"I'm leaving!" The girl grunts beside me. She stands up with her fists tight at her sides; obviously annoyed with Inuyasha's answer. "Being obliged to a demon does not sit well with me, because I have always despised demons!" She heads for the cliff wall three feet from us and snatches a vine that dangles along it. With a scoff she throws back her head and starts a very slow climb up the cliff. Shippo and I watch as every inch she struggles and as she gets to about a foot from the ground the vine snaps and she tumbles down into the bushes below.
My eyes dart back to Inuyasha who looks over his shoulder at the girl and then, he glances down at me. "Are you sure about not helping?" I question.
The sky turns a pinkish purple above, the clouds cast a mystical light upon the temple we approach. The stairs we scale have been long and tedious, cramping my calves only a quarter way up. I have to force myself from heaving in front of the boys otherwise they'd point out my flaw.
Ahead of me Shippo hops up the stairs with absolutely no problem. He hums some sort of song I am not familiar with. Behind me Inuyasha lugs both himself and the girl up the stairs. After her fall, she sprains her ankle and needed to be carried up the stairs to keep from further injuring herself. There is something different about Inuyasha today though. I glance over my shoulder down at him to see his eyes are somewhere else…staring off in the distance with an almost uncomfortable expression on his face.
"If it is the same kind of demon, all we'd need to do is beat it a little with Tetsaiga. Apparently all it takes is regular weapons." I advise in a false attempt to break the silence. When all I receive is silence, a frown breaks my cheeks and I am left feeling hopeless.
As we reach the top of the steps, there stands an elder man in front of a large Temple, amongst the temple are shrines that litter the cobble stone land under a massive mountain full of dense trees. He's hunching over, bald with massive wise men eyebrows. He appears frail, walking slowly to us as his weight forces him to wobble.
"Nazuna, are you injured?" Is the first thing he asks when he notices us approaching. His tired eyes dotted black don't match his worried tone. My heart pulses much like it does when a shard or a demon is nearby, and this has me pause. Beside me, Inuyasha approaches, his eyes still at a distance; not even noticing the elder human ahead. Nazuna kicks off his back the moment her eyes lie on the elder, she stumbles on her feet, her ankle giving away before she ultimately falls on her butt. This doesn't stop her, she crawls the rest of the way to the old man and only stops when her bent form reaches his sandal feet. "I feared that a spider head may have attacked you." The old man continues, he barely glances over her wounded leg and arm before his eyes skim over us.
As he speaks I search the horizon for any potential danger but find nothing but peaceful wilderness and an even more peaceful Temple. The mountain is the perfect place for a spider demon to live, littered with caves and holes for them to sneak into and hide. But they usually don't attack unless provoked. Slowly my eyes fall on the girl and the old man and I can't help but wonder. Could they be the demons?
The girl appears to weak and fragile to be a demon of any sort; even clumsier than myself. Could she be bait for the demon? The old man still watches us, eyes firm and unmoving. I don't think she is bait…not for us, but in the actual sense of things.
"It spied me while I attended to the gravesites, I had no choice but to rely on these demons to bring me home. I am sorry Master." Nazuna cries.
"Hey! All demons are not created equal, you know!" Shippo argues.
"I suppose not…" The elder man responds, his eyes widening bit at the little demon's comment.
"Don't worry, we're leaving anyway." Inuyasha crosses his arms and makes a point to start heading for the stairs.
"W-wait, friends. You must stay the night here with us at the temple." The elder persists. My eyes squint in suspicion, "Nazuna, go prepare a meal for your kind guests."
The injured girls face twists in discomfort at the command, but she's quick to follow direction, however reluctantly. She gets up slowly and immediately limps off with her arms dangling at her sides. Clearly she's hurt and should be in bed resting, but the elder man doesn't look at her. He watches us, now with a much kinder smile and warmer expression in his eyes.
Yep. He's the demon.
My hands reactively grab the silk red back of Inuyasha's shirt and tug lightly while remaining still – eyes on the elder man as he eyes me back. I can feel Inuyasha's eyes on me, and when I know I have his full attention, I whisper, "Trust me, when I say this, we need to stay."
"What a delicious meal! We should stay and get to know Nazuna better." Shippo says, falling back on the yellow backpack with a belly plump from eating.
My fingers tightly grip at the bowl of white rice. I haven't eaten, not a single bite. The idea of the old man being the spider demon lingers in circles in my head. The way Nazuna responded to the man when we approached was that of admiration, meaning he must he a kind, caring man to her generally. So why suddenly ignore her injury to feed a couple of people he doesn't know when demons have been apparently plaguing the area? For all he knows, Inuyasha and Shippo could be using me as bait to earn respect over humans so they can attack instead.
I look over to Inuyasha, his eyes piercing through the dark sky as he's clearly thinking of something. I don't want to interrupt his thoughts but I feel like I need to inform him as to why I felt we need to stay. Obviously this demon has been doing quite a bit of damage in the area, taking and eating humans, taking families away from one another. Leaving…leaving them orphans. The beating of my heart slows, and I can feel my heart drop to my stomach. Realizing that I am also an orphan and have been all my life. These emotions never bothered me before…Not until the shards started to give me back my soul. The real question on that is…why? Why do the shards have my soul?
Placing the bowl of rice down, and ignoring my hunger, I crawl over to Inuyasha's side and sit so that I am face to face with him. "He's the spider demon."
Inuyasha turns his head to me with a curious raised brow, "Oh?"
"She shows so much admiration towards him, meaning she sees him in a high respect. He must have treated her kindly and with compassion – if so, why would he ignore her wound and force her to cook and bring us food. It doesn't add up. She was limping the entire time, you saw it."
His face smooths out and he appears to be concentrating on my words. His skin looks young and tight, making me wonder how old he truly is. He was stuck on that tree for 80 years, wouldn't it have affected his growth? Does his demon type age slowly? Thinking back on it now. Sesshomaru was never cursed and he is Inuyasha's older brother yet he looks like he is in his mid-20s.
While dwelling on his age, my heart leaps back to my chest and starts to pain. My hand smacks against my torso suddenly as if to slap the ache away, earning a curious look from Inuyasha and Shippo. Shutting my eyes tight, I try to focus on breathing but instead I hear something. A whisper. "In the woods…" She says, the voice is coming from my chest where the jewels tickle between my breasts.
"The woods…" I grunt out.
Reopening my eyes, I spot Inuyasha peering outside, his own amber orbs locked and widening at something. He bolts to his feet, hand already on the handle of his blade.
"I think you're right Keara, Shippo, get her out of here."
"No," I bite back; using the wall to get back to my feet and as I do, the pain slowly dissipates until I can finally breathe again.
"Their numbers are increasing, but they aren't a formidable enemy." Says Myoga out of nowhere. How does he even do that? There on Inuyasha shoulder, the little flee demon can be spotted, sitting relaxed under the shade of Inuyasha's thick silver hair.
Outside there are hundreds red dots peering at us through the woods, but most come from the black silhouettes that take up majority of the darkness; blending together like a sick black wall that moves ever so slowly. Behind us, a scream can be heard from a girl, and immediately, I know it's Nazuna.
"Shit," Inuyasha and I say in unison.
Turning on my heels, I rush out the door towards the hallway, following the sounds of Nazuna's screams but as I do, I hear the irritated yell of Inuyasha. By chance I glance behind me to see Inuyasha being covered in thick white webs. Now I have to make a decision – to save Inuyasha or the girl.
The longer I take to decide, the more he becomes covered and unable to even pull up his sword. I don't need to think. Inuyasha is my companion – my friend. Bolting back into the room, I reach underneath Inuyasha's arms and tug him out of the filth of the webs. A stench of burnt silk and sulfur engulfs my senses, it swallows down into my throat and burns my lungs. It has to becoming from these damned webs but I don't have time to take them off of him until we're safe.
"Run…" Inuyasha mumbles underneath all the webbing.
"Over my dead body." I growl back.
We continue to back up along the porch until we reach the end. The demons' eyes follow us slowly but surely, so I take the small step down and lug Inuyasha's heavy weight with me. My arms and legs ache, but I can ignore them for now. Shrugging him further onto my arms, I quicken my speed as we push pass bushes upon bushes and pass tree on tree until I no longer hear any growling, hissing, breathing or sighing. Until there is nothing but utter silence surrounding us. Helping Inuyasha to sit, I am swift to start digging my fingers through the web to free him from the white captors. Not even sure if he can breathe under the weight and stickiness of the webs.
Tug, rip, tug, rip; it goes on and on until I am met with something unusual. Strings of black hair. I slow down my pursuit and the more I pull, the more I start to realize the black hair is coming from Inuyasha. My fingers stop, and as they do, he rips off the rest from his head, and his eyes, which are normally amber, are brown and peer deep into mine.
"Your…hair." Is all I can stupidly say.
"His dog ears are gone!" Shippo points to Inuyasha's head.
"You're lucky my fangs and claws are gone, too!" He growls, quite cutely now that he's taken on a more human appearance.
"All half demons such as Master Inuyasha are subject to certain times when they lose their supernatural powers as demons. From, time to time, half demons are rendered no stronger than yourself or any other mere mortal. It is that simple. For him, the time must fall on the first of the new cycle, when the moon is dark." Myoga says, now from my shoulder.
I look up at the sky, the stars are bright and sparkly, much more than they were in the city which left them nearly invisible. But an extinguishable feature is that there is no moon. "A new moon. Explains why you've been acting strange. You could have trusted us about this."
"I don't trust anyone!" He bites back, and my heart feels it; a hard lump gets stuck in my throat and my brain racks through all we've been through so far. Every fight, battle and conversation. I thought we were doing good – being patient and decent to one another. He sees this, the hurt, I must not be hiding it because his eyes soften but regardless, all I feel is an ache I can't described. "It has nothing to do with you…" He starts but I won't let him finish.
Turning on my heels I head back towards the shrine, hearing him call out for me from behind. Partly…I can understand. How can I trust anyone either? How can I trust Inuyasha when all he wants from me are the shards? Why do I care….
"Where are you going?!" He shouts.
"To finish the job I came here to do." I snap, glancing back at him with a look I know has to be dangerous.
Nazuna rushes out from the forest brush suddenly, slamming into my stomach and taking all the air out of me. I've been walking for some time, wondering how we got this far without realizing it. She's crying, and her limbs are shaking violently, "Help, you must return."
Gently I grab her shoulders and lift her up, "Go to Inuyasha, he can protect you right now. I will go take care of the demons," I turn towards the deeper parts of the forest and point, "Just keep going straight, you'll find him with Shippo."
"Wait, you're going by yourself?" She asks with wide, terrified eyes.
This smothers my hope for me winning a battle to mere smoldering ash. "Yes…I can fight too, you know."
"O-oh. Okay." She walks around me and limps off in the direction I pointed in. Taking a deep, frustrated breath I head for the temple, pushing pass the brush Nazuna had just run through to find the Temple beyond it. The oil lamps no longer breathe fire, and the shrine is casted in webs and darkness. I feel anger and despair but not fear. I feel no such thing. Just…something else. Sadness – I think this is.
I head for our bedroom first, knowing that the demon would most likely be searching for the shards, but little does he know, I am no Kagome. My fists plants against my chest where the shards lie against my chest. Stepping up to the porch, I notice all the spider demons are gone. I round the porch and see the elder man digging through the large yellow bag from where I stand and shake my head. Too be expected.
Lifting my hand up, I take a deep breath and gather up the energy I need to summon my abilities. But seconds pass and the palm of my hand remains as it was before. My brows furrow and I look at my hand in confusion. "What…"
"So you have them!" The elder man hisses, "What an unfortunate mishap that your demon lover isn't around to help you."