Times of Change
Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of its characters don't belong to me. Neither does Kurama (he's from the cast of Yu Yu Hakusho). This isn't a crossover as he's the only character from that series in this. Why? You'll find out later. *grins* I do claim all original characters though, even the bad ones. Well that about wraps it up, let me know what you think at the end!
Chapter 1: The Meeting"Tell me again why we're actually fighting this idiot!" Inuyasha yelled at Kagome as he dodged yet another water attack from the cowering human on the other side of the river. Although the human wasn't very powerful the spells he kept chanting were.
"Quit whining Inuyasha!" Miroku chastised him.
"Now all of you will die!" The human screamed as he held up a scroll and began to read from it.
I summon the Guardians to me.
Across the ages and barriers do I summon them.
Their powers will I command as they do my bidding.
Come to me now Guardians! Tis time to slay!A minute passed. Then two minutes. Then three and still nothing happened. "Aww… Did your little spell not work?" Inuyasha taunted and prepared to run the offending man through with Tetsusaiga. Before he had even begun to move the sky darkened and a strange greenish light swirled all around them.
"What evil magic is this?" Kaede asked worriedly to herself.
"Whatever it is it's strong!" Kagome said and looked at Inuyasha in fear. The light flashed brightly then and the sound of splashes and men cursing was heard as the light vanished and revealed a number of men in the water and others along the banks. All of these men had black hair and dark brown eyes; their bodies were stout and heavily built with a few exceptions among them. However there were three of them who stood a little in front of Kagome and behind Inuyasha that looked very different.
The tallest of them of them was a well-muscled young man with dark red hair tied back neatly. He wore snug fitting black pants and a dark green muscle shirt that he filled out quite nicely. His eyes were a brilliant emerald green that looked slightly confused. The second tallest man had sorta shaggy midnight black hair that gave him a bit of a wild look. He also wore black pants but no shirt. His jade green eyes flashed with annoyance as he took in the situation around him. The third man was shorter than his over six feet companions by a good margin. While the other two were obviously well formed and clean muscled men, he was as slender as a boy and dresses all in black. To top it off his shirt sleeves were long, black leather gloves, and he wore a cloak and a cowl that completely hid his face except for his eyes which were a brilliant sapphire blue with intriguing silver flecks in them.
"What the hell is going on!?" Snarled the one with no shirt as he crossed his arms over his bronzed chest and glared at all of them, especially the men in the water. "What are you idiots doing? Were you told to take a bath? No! So get your sorry carcasses out of there and get back to your training!" He snarled at them. Kagome was so startled by his seemingly casual acceptance of showing up in feudal Japan that she didn't even move when he whirled around to look at her. Effectively cutting her off from Inuyasha.
"Were you the one to summon us?" He demanded angrily in a tone that reminded her a lot of Inuyasha for some reason. But he terrified her in a way that the dog demon never had. She could actually feel the power radiating off of him and the amount of it stunned her.
"Shad, you're scaring the poor girl." The red head said in a disapproving tone.
"Hey! Who are you humans!" Inuyasha demanded.
"Guardians! Ignore these simple fools and come to me! Give me your power!"
The black haired one, Shad, rolled his eyes and turned around. "Don't you love it when they volunteer information?" He asked his companions with a grin but his eyes glinted dangerously.
"And who are you mortal?" He called and walked to the river's edge.
"I am Langon!"
"We're not impressed." Inuyasha muttered and Shad nodded his agreement.
"And what do you want?" He asked in a bored tone.
"For you to serve me of course!" Langon answered.
"Of course!" He said mockingly and turned around and looked at his two companions for a moment and then glanced over at Inuyasha. "This is all of your fault pup." He stated irritably and continued, "why didn't you just take care of him before he managed to summon us?" He asked, causing Inuyasha to gape at him in shock.
"What!?" He yelled.
Shad sighed and shook his head. "Later pup." He replied and turned to Langon. "How did you summon us?"
"With the scroll."
"A scroll?" He repeated softly and turned around to face the short man. "Destin?" He asked, receiving a shrug and then a nod in return. The man reached out his hand and the scroll jumped from Langon's grasp and flew towards Destiny, who handed it to Shad.
"I summon the Guardians to me. Across the ages and barriers do I summon them. Their powers will I command as they do my bidding. Come to me now Guardians. Tis time to slay." He read aloud and started laughing. "Who would write such corny yap?" He asked. "And how did it manage to summon us? There's no oath-bond to bind us to this." He added in a much calmer tone, ripped the scroll in two pieces, leaped across the river and began walking slowly towards Langon, almost stalking him. "Where did you get this mortal?" He asked dangerously.
"I. Uh.. Ummm…" He stammered and backed up hurriedly from the approaching man.
"Yes?"
"I… astide!" He yelled and disappeared in a flash of light and smoke.
"Well damn." Shad muttered and turned back around to scowl at them.
"Well this isn't good." The red head said with a sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. Destin, the short man, nodded and placed a gloved hand upon his arm briefly before moving away and looked at the two pieces of the ripped scroll.
"Who are you people?" Inuyasha asked warily, and the man across the river began to laugh again.
"Always that question!" He said and leaped nimbly back over the river. "I guess we'll see how we can actually answer that question." He added and grinned charmingly at Kaede, Sango, and Kagome. "Over dinner if you please."
"Pathetic." The red head said with a wry grin.
"Shut up Kurama." Shad replied and glared at him, causing him to laugh.
As it turned out they did end up feeding them, well except for the shorter man they called Destin. He'd been asked to come and tend to a few of the men's wounds that they'd acquired. It was eerie how silent he was but his eyes were expressive enough to convey their meaning. "Can he talk?" Shippo asked curiously.
"Interesting question." Shad murmured and grinned evilly at his companion who glared at him in return.
"Taunting Destin to get rid of the men won't work, unlike some people I know, he doesn't go back on his word."
Inuyasha glanced at Shad and growled lightly in his chest. The human had given him his word that he and his companions wouldn't try to harm anyone in the village. Not that he could even if he wanted to. Inuyasha thought smugly. But there was still something odd about these humans, what he just didn't know what. Although they all had accents, Shad had one that was the most different. He had a warm musically lilting voice that had the girls paying close attention to him every time he spoke.
"Have I killed any of them?" Shad asked arrogantly.
"No, but threatening to eat them and calling them mortals probably isn't helping their mental health."
Shad glared at Kurama and protested, "but they are mortals!"
Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango, and Kaede all glanced at each other before focusing their attention back on their guests whose conversation seemed to be getting more and more interesting.
"What does thee mean when you call your men mortals?" Kaede asked.
"Especially since you yourself are human and a mortal." Miroku added.
Shad tilted his head a bit and looked at them thoughtfully, much as a dog or wolf would. "It is a long story Elder. And one told best when all the key parts are revealed as they truly are. But for now let's just say that it's a term that I use."
"No ego there?" Kurama murmured softly and Shad grinned at him.
"Can I help it that you're ugly?"
"About as much as I can't help it that you're even uglier." He answered and grinned in return.
A snort from the doorway caught their attention and they could see Destin leaning against the doorframe and shaking his head. "And the ugliest of all!" Shad teased, and Sango hit him upside the head.
"How can you be so mean?!" She demanded and Shad's jaw dropped in surprise when he noticed that most of the people in the hut were glaring at them, with the sole exception of Destin.
"Ummm… Brother's privileges?" He offered wryly and would have been hit again but Destin moved from the doorway to Sango quickly enough to stop the girl's hand. Although he didn't say anything his eyes sparkled with amusement and he shook his head at her before reaching over and messing up his brother's hair affectionately.
"Ugh. I'm older and you still do that!" He complained and got a shrug in answer.
While the others talked among themselves, Inuyasha stayed quiet and studied Destiny intently. There was no way he could have moved that fast from the doorway to Sango. He thought moodily and switched his focus to the other two. Completely missing the amused and thoughtful look that Destin tossed at him.
"No you idiots! Block! Block!" Shad yelled at two of the four men in the makeshift training arena. He was obviously very annoyed and Inuyasha didn't blame him. These men had been making the same mistakes over and over again.
"Why are they doing that?" He asked Kurama.
"They're not trying to do well. They don't want to learn and so Shad doesn't want to teach them." He answered with a frown.
"So why aren't you out there then?" Inuyasha questioned curiously and got a slight smile in return.
"The sword is Destin's forte, as are most weapons with blades. But since Shad and he have traveled together for so long Shad is also an expert swordsman."
Inuyasha looked over at the short human propped up and asleep against a tree and shook his head. How can he be a swordsman? He wondered and then studied Shad for a moment. How two brothers of such said skill could get along together without fighting was almost beyond his ability to understand. He and Sesshomaru had so much bad blood between them that it was doubtful they'd ever be anything besides enemies. Well bad blood and human blood, and the human stench is mine. He thought in disgust. Neither youkai nor human, so where did he belong…?
With a low growl Inuyasha stood up and swiftly walked away from the training area and into the woods so that he could think. He didn't notice the three sets of watchful eyes that studied him thoughtfully and in silent agreement with the others.
He had just settled himself comfortably into a tree when he saw Kagome standing below him with a puzzled look on her face. "What do you want?" He snapped harshly.
"I wanted to talk to you!" Kagome snapped right back.
"Well I don't want to talk to you so go away!"
"Why do act so immature even after two years?!" She yelled.
"I am not immature like a certain stuck up bit-"
"Sit!" Kagome yelled, bringing him flat to the ground.
"What'd you do that for!" Inuyasha snarled as he painfully picked himself up from the ground.
"Why can't you ever be polite!" She yelled and stalked off angrily.
Shad frowned thoughtfully at Kagome when he saw her come stalking angrily back from the woods. "Break!" He yelled at the two men sparring and sneered at them. How he hated having to train men like this! Lazy, useless, greedy, smelly, pathetic… His thought darkly and glared at the men as they hurried away from him.
"What's wrong littling?" He asked Kagome curiously when she came within hearing range. She stopped instantly and looked at him, blushed when she saw he was bare-chested, and looked away. Shad sighed and shook his head. "What is it with you mortals and your obsession with hiding what you already know is there?" He mumbled and picked up a plain, light, cotton shirt that he'd thrown down earlier and buttoned it up. "Now then, what's wrong?" He asked her, sat down on the ground, and looked up at her expectantly.
"Are you always so nosy?" She asked him in a disgruntled tone.
"Not if I'm eating." He answered with a grin.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"You just did." He pointed out.
Kagome glared at him and frowned. Shad chuckled and shook his head. "Peace littling, I'm used to treating mortals such as yourself like siblings; there's no reason for you to become angry."
"Oh." She replied with a bit of a blush and looked away from him in embarrassment. Just then they saw Inuyasha coming from the woods and Kagome scowled at the young demon and turned away from him.
So that's how it is! Shad thought in amusement and quickly put the pieces of the puzzle he'd been handed together. Ah young love, so much fun to watch; yet so annoying when neither will admit how they feel about the other. He caught the glare that Inuyasha threw angrily at him and returned it levelly. I wonder which way fate will roll the dice now? He thought briefly when the young demon turned around and stalked off.
"That's okay, Kagome. I think I understand now." Shad said and stood up gracefully.
"Wha-what do you mean?" She asked while blushing lightly.
"Oh," he answered with a chuckle. "Nothing at all." Let's just see if we can't get the two of you together eh?
~ Well are you interested yet? Some people might seem a little out of character but I'm trying really hard! *smiles innocently* Scouts honor! Oh, don't forget to review! Pleease? ~
