Disclaimer: Inuyasha and co. doesn't belong to me. But Torikari and her family do!

AN: My first Inuyasha fic. Please don't flame me if you think it's really bad. Hopefully this
chapter will be longer and better than the first.


Swords, Talons and Love
Part 2


A reluctant peace had been made between Inuyasha and Torikari, Kagome refilled the tea cups
and sat down.
"I apologize for attacking you Kagome-san. My anger blinded me."
Kagome blinked, she had not expected the youkai to apologize but accepted it anyway. Inuyasha
grunted, snarling quietly to himself about 'damn wenchs' and 'why did he like her?'.
"I've never seen a Youkai quite like you, where are you from?"
"The Southern Lands, there we tend to ignore humans and they ignore us so there is really no
quarrel."
"Pacifists, the lot of you." Inuyasha grumbled.
Slightly annoyed both females glared at him, but no 'Sits' came.
"Well I am sorry that we bird-youkai of the Southern Lands do not behave like rabid animals."
Kagome smiled slightly before turning to Torikari. "You don't feel like a full youkai. But not
like a half-youkai either."
"What have I told you about abusing our language like that? Very well then, I shall tell you."


~~~Torikari Narrating~~~

Father was full youkai and my mother was a miko with some youkai blood in her ancestry. By
father's account I am about three quarters youkai and one quarter human, my little brother Shingo
was the opposite and was able to pass as a human.
One day, Shingo got very sick. We took him to the healer but nothing could be done. Packing
only the essentials, mother, Shingo and I left for the next village.
We travelled for weeks, going from healer to healer and priest to priest; hoping something could
be done for him.
That day, I was in the tree beside the healer's home, hiding. The humans outside the Southern
lands did not react well to me in the past so it had become custom to hide somewhere while
mother took him to the healer.
You, rather Naraku came. He killed mother and Shingo with one swipe of his claws. I swore
revenge.

~~~end narration~~~

"Oh poor you!" Kagome sniffed at the end. Torikari looked at her and sighed.
"I thank you for your hospitality Kagome-san, but I really must be leaving soon. However I
would like to have a word with you in private."
Kagome glanced at Inuyasha, he huffed and to storm his way to the well. Once she was sure he
was out of even his excellent hearing range Torikari looked back at Kagome.
"I must congratulate you Kagome-san, you have managed to tame him to some extent."
"What?"
"Even in our Southern lands he is known to us, the hanyou son of the Great Western Lord. I do
not normally interfere in such matters however I will make an exception. You love him very
much Kagome-san, I can sense it. But you must release him if you want him to come to you."
Kagome blushed a bright red before removing the prayer beads from Torikari's feathered neck.
"Thank you. Please take my advice into consideration Kagome-san, you will be surprised at what
a little trust can do."
And with a great leap of her powerful legs she dropped into the well, leaving Kagome with a lot
to think about.

Inuyasha growled in his throat as the bird youkai passed, he could not see the prayer beads around
her neck and this made him growl some more. How dare Kagome release the bird but not him!
For once he hadn't been worried for Kagome, even alone with the youkai. The Southern Birds
were pacifists and rarely fought. It was amazing they had survived this long.
"Oi! Wench! Why'd you take of her beads?!"
Kagome looked at him and his next words froze on his tongue.
"Torikari . . . she pointed some things out to me during our little talk. And I have been thinking
hard about this for awhile now." Kagome sat under the thick, leafy branches of the God Tree and
fidgeted with the beads in her hands. "Inuyasha . . . I think it's time we talked."

Meanwhile in the Feudal Era of Japan during Kagome's and Inuyasha's talk, in her hut Kaede
looked worriedly out the window at the startling number of bird youkai that were roosting in the
trees surrounding the village. The villagers were nervous but their uninvited and unwanted guests
weren't doing anything that warranted panicking over. They hadn't panicked because Kaede had
a friend in the Southern Lands who she occasionally contacted through messengers. Her Priest
friend's most recent letter had told of almost all the bird youkai flying away in a most unusual
manner. This was what Kaede's Priest friend of the Southern Lands had written.

Kaede:

Greetings to you my old friend. I am writing this as a possible warning to the Western
Lands. I do not send this to the Daimyo because I am not worried for the villages in Musashi's
Domain.
In previous letters I have told you of our relationship with our Tori-Youkai neighbours and how
we are at peace with them.
This past week however, they have been acting most unusual. One came into the village today
and visited with me. He seemed quite upset. A state of mind I have not seen in any of them for
just over fifty years when the mate of their deceased Lord and his heir were killed by Inuyasha.
He tells me that his eldest daughter has found their murderer and sent word that she will be taking
revenge.
As his only child Torikari has become the Lady of our lands by default and she commands that all
who wish to partake in revenge should come.
This letter is to warn of their impending arrival at your village, but do not attack them for they
will leave you and the villagers alone.

Sayonara

Goma

Setting the letter on a shelf she walked outside to talk to this Torikari to ensure the villagers
would not be harmed.
"Inuyasha is not the murderer!" A girl screeched as she tried to get her point across. With her
crest high in frustration a blood curdling shriek erupted from her throat, finally gaining the
attention of the chatting others and most of the village.
"Hear me my friends, my subjects. Fifty years ago an Inu-youkai bearing remarkable resemblance
to Inuyasha, the hanyou son of the Lord of the Western Lands, was seen rampaging through this
village!" Much angry chatter erupted from the other birds whose crests were raised high in their
agitation.
"Silence! Today I discovered the truth of the death of my mother and brother! It was not
Inuyasha! It was a puppet of Naraku!"
"I will rip his legs out!"
"We will feast on his innards while he still lives!"
"Slowly he will die as he watches us eat him alive!"
"Naraku will feel our pain when his puppet killed our Lady and her son!"
"Yet we will leave him alive enough to see our Lady Torikari deliver the death blow!"
Kaede felt slightly ill as the more imaginative ones voiced their opinions before making her way to
Torikari, their leader.
"Pardon me Lady of the Southern Lands."
Her falcon gaze turned from her subjects to Kaede as she waved to the others to be silent.
"Yes?"
"I am Kaede, the Miko of this village. And I ask if you and your followers would please move a
little farther away. The villagers are very nervous of you all."
"Of course, I apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused. Come! Let us relocate and
prepare for our battle!"
With a resounding snap of wings the Tori-youkai began flying west of the village to where there
was a mighty grove of trees.