The Dog's Outta the Bag.
By Shenlong Girl
Author's Note: I'd like to thank my proofreaders/friends, Patty S. and Jax. Sorry for the wait! I hope it was worth it. ::Gulp::
This story's been added to this nice Inu-Yasha site:
- Flashback *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ - Transition *___* - Italics
Chapter Four: First Battle
"So, he's harmless?" Makoto questioned doubtfully. Inu-Yasha's ears twitched, and he scowled.
"Well, no. He's dangerous, but he won't hurt you. And, if he does, I just have to say, 's-mph,'" Kagome prattled before Inu-Yasha's hand clamped over her mouth.
"Oi, Kagome, what're you doing?" He looked rather irritated, but Kagome knew he was being gentle with her. It was funny how much he had changed since she first met him; he probably would have hurt her then, whether from his lack of understanding of human fragility, his uncaring attitude, or both.
"Mmph shtfp."
Inu-Yasha let her go, and she answered, "Oh, I was just joking! Now, let's go. Makoto, you're calling your dad?"
Makoto had, of course, insisted on accompanying the small group to the Feudal Era. Kagome was still not sure how she felt about recent developments, but a small bit of relief did shine through. She had more people on this side of the well to help her now, and they could do things that her family could not, including helping to suppress the random disease- related rumors fueled by her grandfather's imagination. As his stories became less believable, her reputation became less clean. Oh, the theories circulating! They included cancer, leukemia, and various STDs. Like she'd even been kissed yet!
Back on track, she hoped her friends' interest in the shard hunt would fade to a more distant curiosity after a little while without the convenience of a modern bathroom. If not, she would be worried sick about them every time they came along.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
The unusually large posse hopped down the well, although there existed some hesitation on Sakura's and Makoto's part, and Inu-Yasha froze. That smell! It belonged to a big youkai that was very close. He detected quite a bit of blood as well! He let a growl escape his throat. Kagome began worrying when he visibly stiffened.
"Inu-Yasha?"
"I smell trouble; we need to go!"
"You can't carry all three of us."
"Then stay here; they need help!"
"You need me to detect shards!"
"Then come alone!"
"I can't leave them alone!"
"Then catch up and leave them in a safe spot; I'm headed towards the village." Inu-Yasha easily leapt from the well and hurried off. Within moments, the village came into view, the backdrop to a violent scene. He could hear the buzz of poison insects, proof of Naraku's meddling. Kaede sat on horseback, surrounded by some loyal fighters, and Shippo sat on her shoulder. Inu-Yasha supposed he was there for safety. A couple villagers who had tried to help were on the ground, but a few more were still up, shooting arrows at what looked like a samurai, sans armor. However, upon closer examination, it was clearly not human.
The foe was not very big; he stood just a few inches taller than Inu-Yasha and was bulkier. He wore light blue hakama, free at the ankles, unlike Inu- Yasha's, but the hanyou could still catch glimpses of brown, long-toed, black-clawed, somewhat birdlike feet. His gi was brown, faded, and decorated with light yellow triangles, and his sleeves reached his hands with little widening at the end. He did not have long, flowing extra fabric like many did. Inu-Yasha could see deep brown scales on his chest. When he thought about it, Inu-Yasha realized it very well might be a she; not all youkai were humanlike enough that one could tell so easily. Also, it had its head covered in a deep purple executioner's mask.
Miroku was barely managing to block the beast's sword blows with his staff; the katana had a strange bluish tint to it, suggesting something other than steel. Miroku grunted as a particularly hard swipe knocked him back and to the ground. If he had not had such good balance, he would have lost his staff! The beast wasted no time in going in for the kill.
"Hey, ugly!" Inu-Yasha snarled, giving himself the moment he needed to close the distance between him and the youkai swordsman. He wondered if the dazed Miroku noticed his savior as he reached for Tetsusaiga.
The beast leapt back as Inu-Yasha tore his sword from its sheath, but his eyes widened as the mystical blade glowed, widened, and lengthened. He could not achieve sufficient distance to save himself at that point, and Inu-Yasha smiled grimly as Tetsusaiga materialized centimeters from the youkai's neck and sliced through it!
Or, rather, it should have. Instead, the cloth of the executioner's mask was sliced and torn off to reveal nothing - it was a headless beast!
Startled, Inu-Yasha did not press his attack. Still, it had given Miroku time to recover and stand up. The youkai gave a snarl, though it took a moment to detect the noise's source: the creature's chest. Shaking himself out of his shock, Inu-Yasha took up a defensive position and was joined by Miroku.
"You jerks! I just like to look normal; it's so hard to pick up women when they can so easily see, or not see, your most unattractive feature. That was my extra mask, too; I have to wait until I sew a whole new one!"
"That's just creepy," Miroku said while cocking an eyebrow.
"I can fix that!" Inu-Yasha exclaimed, leaping forward. He crossed swords with the youkai, but neither could land a blow on the other until Miroku yelled, "Your fashion sense is worse than Inu-Yasha's!"
Thus, Inu-Yasha managed to cut open the youkai's gi and lightly scratch what was apparently its face. At least they could look their foe in the eye now.
Planning to get revenge on Miroku later for using him to play on the youkai's obvious vanity, he shouted back, "Where's Sango?"
A giant white blur grazed the enemy youkai's head.
"Here!" Sango said as she flew in on Kirara's back, "We were transporting wounded."
She leapt down and readied Hiraikotsu again.
"Yoshi," Inu-Yasha exclaimed with a reckless grin, "let's go!"
The three warriors and cat demon jumped into a concerted attack.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
The trio of girls finally made it to a place where the sounds of battle were all to clear.
"Okay, wait here, where it's safe," Kagome ordered before running through the brush towards the fighting. However, Sakura and Makoto just looked at each other before proceeding in silent agreement. Sakura refused to be left out, and Makoto apparently felt the same way. They crept to the edge of the foliage and watched the unfolding scene.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Kagome's traveling companions were tackling what seemed to be an extremely swift, headless samurai. She also sensed a familiar tingling: A Shikon shard! Shards and bugs.this stank of Naraku. Worse, she was too far away from the fight to spot the shard's exact location.
Fortunately, that also meant that no one had noticed her yet. After asking a downed soldier for his bow, she prepared to take aim.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
The duo from the future sat in the bushes, entranced by the battle. However, just as Sakura started to make a comment about Kagome taking up a bow, a cold chill left her breathless. A frigid hand had clamped itself over her mouth. She perceived a peculiar, pleasant smell, but she could not make herself turn around. As a matter of fact, she couldn't move at all!
She heard, "Mm, extra surprises for master," as she lost all sense of herself.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Kagome tried to pick out a target. Though the samurai's clothes were in shreds, he appeared unscathed. He looked to have tough scales all over his body. Still, if she looked closely - blood! Ack! Was that a *face* on his chest?! Well, if that area was soft enough to slash, maybe she could penetrate it with an arrow.
She crept a bit closer, took aim, and finally loosed the arrow with a mighty twang, bursting with pink miko energy!
Yatta! She had aimed well; the demon fell to his knees, clutching his eye. Inu-Yasha flashed her a grateful grin as she began to run up to him, then simply slashed the injured Youkai in half.
"Inu-Yasha, we could have questioned him!" Miroku snapped, frustrated and tired.
"Argue later; we need to remove the shard! It's in that piece, in his right arm," Kagome interjected.
"Miroku, Sango," she continued, "I'd like you to meet some good friends of mine. It's a long story, but I'll tell it later. Guys!" She ran to the tree line all smiles, expecting to hear her friends as soon as she was close enough. She got some amusement out of the monk and taijiya's confused expressions.
To her surprise, she was greeted with a rather un-girl-like voice coming from her left.
"You looking for these cute girlies?"
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Inu-Yasha halted in shock, his fingers slick with gore from the youkai's arm. How? There was a hulking, cricket-like youkai standing a ways away, just a few yards from the tree line. Behind him, Sakura and Makoto stood in line like zombie ducklings.
Clearly dismayed, Kagome yelled, "What have you done to them?! Sakura! Makoto! Can you hear me?"
Inu-Yasha threw the Shikon Shard at Kagome's feet and reached for his sword.
"Uh-uh-uh!" The beast wrenched Makoto to his front and placed a claw to her throat. "No closer, halfling. She won't even struggle."
"The shard! It was a distraction! You don't have one, so I couldn't sense you. But, how did you know about them?" Inu-Yasha could see Kagome's emotions switch from fear to anger; her voice deepened as she clenched her fist around the bow she still held.
"Well," the trickster said with a ghastly smile, "I didn't. I was told to capture the miko and anyone else who looked vulnerable. I came too late to grab you, but I also saw you leave these two behind." He shrugged as if to say, "What do you expect?"
"What do you want?" Miroku demanded, stepping forward.
"You, wench in odd clothes. You come with me. I'm taking you somewhere, along with your little friends. Perhaps another messenger will come in a day or two to make demands. Or maybe not. However, you *know* that this pair will bite it if you don't come with me. Hmm, hows about having them commit seppuku? They're under my spell, after all, and that'll be fun to watch." There was a long silence, and nobody moved or said anything.
"Inu-Yasha." Kagome finally said, resigned. Her bangs obscured her eyes.
"No. NO! You can't just give yerself up like that!"
Kagome walked up to Inu-Yasha and looked into his eyes. Though blurred by unshed tears, they also showed great determination. It had to be done, and at that moment, Inu-Yasha realized something. He clenched his teeth in frustration.
He would have to let her go.
He would allow her to walk into danger, even death, without a fight. Not because he was incapacitated, but because he was sending her off intentionally. It was almost too much.
Inu-Yasha pulled Kagome into a hug. He perceived their friends watching, but he didn't care, and he held her a moment before speaking gently into her ear.
"Die, and the kitsune gets it." He stepped away, gave her a look, and turned her towards the youkai.
Inu-Yasha watched him summon a youkai beast of burden and carry the trio into the forest, then stayed there until Miroku placed a hand on his shoulder. The hanyou couldn't look at his or Sango's face because it was like looking into a mirror; they looked just as helpless and defeated as he did.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
At around eight, Mrs. Higurashi resigned herself to the reality that something was probably wrong. It was only supposed to be a short visit, and the trio of girls had left in the early afternoon. It was Saturday, so they had only had a half-day of school. Of course, they also had the next day off, and it seemed Mrs. Higurashi would have to use that information.
"Yes, hello, Mr. Honda. Makoto was wondering if she could spend the night... Well, I'm calling for her because her nails are drying. You know how those girls are... Thanks. Can you get her sister to pack a bag for her? The girls want to go to a movie, and it starts soon."
She wrapped up that conversation and made a similar call to Sakura's parents. If nothing was wrong, the pair would not mind spending the night. If something was, well, she just hoped that they would make it back by the next night. Preparing her usual smile for her visitors, she placed her mother's worry aside until the bags would be dropped off.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
End Note: o_O That was hard. Also, it seems that being trapped at home by the snow for a week is not conducive to one's creativity, or at least not mine. It was slow going, and I think it sounds forced. Ah, well, give me tips if you have 'em, 'kay? I'm new at writing action scenes and emotional scenes. Have mercy!! :P
By Shenlong Girl
Author's Note: I'd like to thank my proofreaders/friends, Patty S. and Jax. Sorry for the wait! I hope it was worth it. ::Gulp::
This story's been added to this nice Inu-Yasha site:
- Flashback *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ - Transition *___* - Italics
Chapter Four: First Battle
"So, he's harmless?" Makoto questioned doubtfully. Inu-Yasha's ears twitched, and he scowled.
"Well, no. He's dangerous, but he won't hurt you. And, if he does, I just have to say, 's-mph,'" Kagome prattled before Inu-Yasha's hand clamped over her mouth.
"Oi, Kagome, what're you doing?" He looked rather irritated, but Kagome knew he was being gentle with her. It was funny how much he had changed since she first met him; he probably would have hurt her then, whether from his lack of understanding of human fragility, his uncaring attitude, or both.
"Mmph shtfp."
Inu-Yasha let her go, and she answered, "Oh, I was just joking! Now, let's go. Makoto, you're calling your dad?"
Makoto had, of course, insisted on accompanying the small group to the Feudal Era. Kagome was still not sure how she felt about recent developments, but a small bit of relief did shine through. She had more people on this side of the well to help her now, and they could do things that her family could not, including helping to suppress the random disease- related rumors fueled by her grandfather's imagination. As his stories became less believable, her reputation became less clean. Oh, the theories circulating! They included cancer, leukemia, and various STDs. Like she'd even been kissed yet!
Back on track, she hoped her friends' interest in the shard hunt would fade to a more distant curiosity after a little while without the convenience of a modern bathroom. If not, she would be worried sick about them every time they came along.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
The unusually large posse hopped down the well, although there existed some hesitation on Sakura's and Makoto's part, and Inu-Yasha froze. That smell! It belonged to a big youkai that was very close. He detected quite a bit of blood as well! He let a growl escape his throat. Kagome began worrying when he visibly stiffened.
"Inu-Yasha?"
"I smell trouble; we need to go!"
"You can't carry all three of us."
"Then stay here; they need help!"
"You need me to detect shards!"
"Then come alone!"
"I can't leave them alone!"
"Then catch up and leave them in a safe spot; I'm headed towards the village." Inu-Yasha easily leapt from the well and hurried off. Within moments, the village came into view, the backdrop to a violent scene. He could hear the buzz of poison insects, proof of Naraku's meddling. Kaede sat on horseback, surrounded by some loyal fighters, and Shippo sat on her shoulder. Inu-Yasha supposed he was there for safety. A couple villagers who had tried to help were on the ground, but a few more were still up, shooting arrows at what looked like a samurai, sans armor. However, upon closer examination, it was clearly not human.
The foe was not very big; he stood just a few inches taller than Inu-Yasha and was bulkier. He wore light blue hakama, free at the ankles, unlike Inu- Yasha's, but the hanyou could still catch glimpses of brown, long-toed, black-clawed, somewhat birdlike feet. His gi was brown, faded, and decorated with light yellow triangles, and his sleeves reached his hands with little widening at the end. He did not have long, flowing extra fabric like many did. Inu-Yasha could see deep brown scales on his chest. When he thought about it, Inu-Yasha realized it very well might be a she; not all youkai were humanlike enough that one could tell so easily. Also, it had its head covered in a deep purple executioner's mask.
Miroku was barely managing to block the beast's sword blows with his staff; the katana had a strange bluish tint to it, suggesting something other than steel. Miroku grunted as a particularly hard swipe knocked him back and to the ground. If he had not had such good balance, he would have lost his staff! The beast wasted no time in going in for the kill.
"Hey, ugly!" Inu-Yasha snarled, giving himself the moment he needed to close the distance between him and the youkai swordsman. He wondered if the dazed Miroku noticed his savior as he reached for Tetsusaiga.
The beast leapt back as Inu-Yasha tore his sword from its sheath, but his eyes widened as the mystical blade glowed, widened, and lengthened. He could not achieve sufficient distance to save himself at that point, and Inu-Yasha smiled grimly as Tetsusaiga materialized centimeters from the youkai's neck and sliced through it!
Or, rather, it should have. Instead, the cloth of the executioner's mask was sliced and torn off to reveal nothing - it was a headless beast!
Startled, Inu-Yasha did not press his attack. Still, it had given Miroku time to recover and stand up. The youkai gave a snarl, though it took a moment to detect the noise's source: the creature's chest. Shaking himself out of his shock, Inu-Yasha took up a defensive position and was joined by Miroku.
"You jerks! I just like to look normal; it's so hard to pick up women when they can so easily see, or not see, your most unattractive feature. That was my extra mask, too; I have to wait until I sew a whole new one!"
"That's just creepy," Miroku said while cocking an eyebrow.
"I can fix that!" Inu-Yasha exclaimed, leaping forward. He crossed swords with the youkai, but neither could land a blow on the other until Miroku yelled, "Your fashion sense is worse than Inu-Yasha's!"
Thus, Inu-Yasha managed to cut open the youkai's gi and lightly scratch what was apparently its face. At least they could look their foe in the eye now.
Planning to get revenge on Miroku later for using him to play on the youkai's obvious vanity, he shouted back, "Where's Sango?"
A giant white blur grazed the enemy youkai's head.
"Here!" Sango said as she flew in on Kirara's back, "We were transporting wounded."
She leapt down and readied Hiraikotsu again.
"Yoshi," Inu-Yasha exclaimed with a reckless grin, "let's go!"
The three warriors and cat demon jumped into a concerted attack.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
The trio of girls finally made it to a place where the sounds of battle were all to clear.
"Okay, wait here, where it's safe," Kagome ordered before running through the brush towards the fighting. However, Sakura and Makoto just looked at each other before proceeding in silent agreement. Sakura refused to be left out, and Makoto apparently felt the same way. They crept to the edge of the foliage and watched the unfolding scene.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Kagome's traveling companions were tackling what seemed to be an extremely swift, headless samurai. She also sensed a familiar tingling: A Shikon shard! Shards and bugs.this stank of Naraku. Worse, she was too far away from the fight to spot the shard's exact location.
Fortunately, that also meant that no one had noticed her yet. After asking a downed soldier for his bow, she prepared to take aim.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
The duo from the future sat in the bushes, entranced by the battle. However, just as Sakura started to make a comment about Kagome taking up a bow, a cold chill left her breathless. A frigid hand had clamped itself over her mouth. She perceived a peculiar, pleasant smell, but she could not make herself turn around. As a matter of fact, she couldn't move at all!
She heard, "Mm, extra surprises for master," as she lost all sense of herself.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Kagome tried to pick out a target. Though the samurai's clothes were in shreds, he appeared unscathed. He looked to have tough scales all over his body. Still, if she looked closely - blood! Ack! Was that a *face* on his chest?! Well, if that area was soft enough to slash, maybe she could penetrate it with an arrow.
She crept a bit closer, took aim, and finally loosed the arrow with a mighty twang, bursting with pink miko energy!
Yatta! She had aimed well; the demon fell to his knees, clutching his eye. Inu-Yasha flashed her a grateful grin as she began to run up to him, then simply slashed the injured Youkai in half.
"Inu-Yasha, we could have questioned him!" Miroku snapped, frustrated and tired.
"Argue later; we need to remove the shard! It's in that piece, in his right arm," Kagome interjected.
"Miroku, Sango," she continued, "I'd like you to meet some good friends of mine. It's a long story, but I'll tell it later. Guys!" She ran to the tree line all smiles, expecting to hear her friends as soon as she was close enough. She got some amusement out of the monk and taijiya's confused expressions.
To her surprise, she was greeted with a rather un-girl-like voice coming from her left.
"You looking for these cute girlies?"
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Inu-Yasha halted in shock, his fingers slick with gore from the youkai's arm. How? There was a hulking, cricket-like youkai standing a ways away, just a few yards from the tree line. Behind him, Sakura and Makoto stood in line like zombie ducklings.
Clearly dismayed, Kagome yelled, "What have you done to them?! Sakura! Makoto! Can you hear me?"
Inu-Yasha threw the Shikon Shard at Kagome's feet and reached for his sword.
"Uh-uh-uh!" The beast wrenched Makoto to his front and placed a claw to her throat. "No closer, halfling. She won't even struggle."
"The shard! It was a distraction! You don't have one, so I couldn't sense you. But, how did you know about them?" Inu-Yasha could see Kagome's emotions switch from fear to anger; her voice deepened as she clenched her fist around the bow she still held.
"Well," the trickster said with a ghastly smile, "I didn't. I was told to capture the miko and anyone else who looked vulnerable. I came too late to grab you, but I also saw you leave these two behind." He shrugged as if to say, "What do you expect?"
"What do you want?" Miroku demanded, stepping forward.
"You, wench in odd clothes. You come with me. I'm taking you somewhere, along with your little friends. Perhaps another messenger will come in a day or two to make demands. Or maybe not. However, you *know* that this pair will bite it if you don't come with me. Hmm, hows about having them commit seppuku? They're under my spell, after all, and that'll be fun to watch." There was a long silence, and nobody moved or said anything.
"Inu-Yasha." Kagome finally said, resigned. Her bangs obscured her eyes.
"No. NO! You can't just give yerself up like that!"
Kagome walked up to Inu-Yasha and looked into his eyes. Though blurred by unshed tears, they also showed great determination. It had to be done, and at that moment, Inu-Yasha realized something. He clenched his teeth in frustration.
He would have to let her go.
He would allow her to walk into danger, even death, without a fight. Not because he was incapacitated, but because he was sending her off intentionally. It was almost too much.
Inu-Yasha pulled Kagome into a hug. He perceived their friends watching, but he didn't care, and he held her a moment before speaking gently into her ear.
"Die, and the kitsune gets it." He stepped away, gave her a look, and turned her towards the youkai.
Inu-Yasha watched him summon a youkai beast of burden and carry the trio into the forest, then stayed there until Miroku placed a hand on his shoulder. The hanyou couldn't look at his or Sango's face because it was like looking into a mirror; they looked just as helpless and defeated as he did.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
At around eight, Mrs. Higurashi resigned herself to the reality that something was probably wrong. It was only supposed to be a short visit, and the trio of girls had left in the early afternoon. It was Saturday, so they had only had a half-day of school. Of course, they also had the next day off, and it seemed Mrs. Higurashi would have to use that information.
"Yes, hello, Mr. Honda. Makoto was wondering if she could spend the night... Well, I'm calling for her because her nails are drying. You know how those girls are... Thanks. Can you get her sister to pack a bag for her? The girls want to go to a movie, and it starts soon."
She wrapped up that conversation and made a similar call to Sakura's parents. If nothing was wrong, the pair would not mind spending the night. If something was, well, she just hoped that they would make it back by the next night. Preparing her usual smile for her visitors, she placed her mother's worry aside until the bags would be dropped off.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
End Note: o_O That was hard. Also, it seems that being trapped at home by the snow for a week is not conducive to one's creativity, or at least not mine. It was slow going, and I think it sounds forced. Ah, well, give me tips if you have 'em, 'kay? I'm new at writing action scenes and emotional scenes. Have mercy!! :P