Chapter 2: Comatose
Shippo woke up in a cold sweat. "Whew. What a horrible nightmare…" He surveyed the campsite, making sure that no ghost or goblins from the nether regions of his mind were able to follow him here.
"It was just a dream, then." Sighed Shippo. And then he went back to bed.
Or tried to go back to bed, anyway.
Shippo didn't like dreams; his philosophy behind the idea being that the only ones you even remember are nightmares, and if you happen to actually be having a good one, you wake up and find it was all fake. He tossed and turned, thinking that the reason he couldn't sleep had to do with comfort. Unfortunately, if it was, it would be far easier to deal with than the real truth. He was too scared to sleep.
His gaze just happened to fixate itself on Inu-Yasha, sleeping soundly. Shippo had decided that it would be best to tell someone about the dream he had, and then to put it to rest. He slowly crept up to the half-youkai, making certain even the smallest tiptoe made no sound. He didn't want to wake him until he had completely thought about what he would. Say.
"Uh…Inu-Yasha?" He began. "I, uh… had a bad dream. Can I tell you about it?"
There was no response. "Okay, then!" said Shippo. "So anyway, I was in this big cave all alone, and I used my fox-fire to see what was going on, and then it turned out there were a ton of monsters in the cave! Really big ones, with beady eyes and sharp teeth! So I tried to change into something to fight them or scare them off, but for some reason, my powers weren't working! So I started running! But it seemed like the cave went on forever and ever! So I kept running and running, but I never reached an exit! Then, there was this big cliff at the end, and I tried to stop running before I hit the cliff, but I couldn't! So I fell and fell, and before I hit the ground, I…"
Inu-Yasha was still out like a light.
"Inu-Yasha, are you listening to me?" Shippo demanded angrily. "Hey, wake up! WAKE UP!" Shippo was now tugging at Inu-Yasha's hair, and pulling his robes. "I saaaaaaaaaaaid…WAKE UP!" He demanded again. He was obviously angry now. He may have been just a child, still, but Shippo didn't like being snubbed.
He began frantically slapping Inu-Yasha in the face, his palm striking the youkai's face with each syllable he shouted.
"WAKE-UP, I-NU-YA-SHA!" Still nothing. He was dead to the world.
Shippo darted around the campsite, looking for anything that might wake the half demon up. He spied a small pond not 20 feet away from his current location. "Heh heh heh…" he chuckled evilly.
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Shippo Returned with his cupped hands full of water. He pulled them back, then flung them at the sleeping youkai's head. Water droplets splashed all over Inu-Yasha's face. It dripped from his hair onto his brow, and from his brow, onto his clothes. "Got 'im!" cheered Shippo. "Man, he's gonna be really mad…"
But he wasn't mad. He was still asleep.
Shippo was scared now. Even more so than when he was having the nightmare. He stared at Inu-Yasha's blank face. He looked frantically for any signs of life at all. But Inu-Yasha wouldn't wake up.
"Inu-Yasha…" choked Shippo. "T-this isn't funny. Please…please wake up…" Inu-Yasha gave him the same, lifeless face. "INU-YASHAAAAAAAA!" Shippo screamed. Still nothing. Shippo rested his head on Inu-Yasha's chest, and began sobbing. "Please…" he begged. "You've got to get up! You've just got to!" he pleaded hopelessly. "Inu-Yasha…." He started again. "I…"
He can't hear you, now.
Shippo whirled around frantically. "Who's there?" he asked the faceless voice.
A lone figure stepped out from the shadows of the night. He was tall, and had long silver hair. He wore a jagged piece of armor over his shoulder, and wore a white coat that looked like it was made out of some sort of fur.
"He is lost. He will never wake up." The figure spoke.
"You!" screamed Shippo. "Sesshomaru!"