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.  *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!

Author's Note- Umm… usually to show that they're using mind speech I bold and italize the words but since I couldn't get it to do that on this chapter.  blah will stand for that.

Chapter 6:  Limitations, Changes, and Doubts

            When Destiny and Kurama arrived they found Shad lying calmly on the ground next to a tree while the others sitting in a half-circle across from him.  Destiny sighed and was about to sit down with back up against the tree when Kurama slid behind her and pulled her down into his waiting arms.  "Behave you."  She said teasingly and began to softly play an old ballad on her harp as they waited for the first question to come.

            "What are you?"  Miroku asked finally.

            That is a question with many answers mortal, for we have been said to be many things.  Shad answered in mind-speech but directed it towards everyone.

            "Shad, quit being difficult."  Destiny chided him and got a glare in return.  Destiny ignored him and looked at Miroku.  "Shadow and I are the last of a race called Learians that was destroyed centuries ago by our ancestors."

            "Wait a minute!  How can you be a race that's been dead for thousands of years?!"  Inuyasha asked.

            A good question pup.  But that's one question that we don't know the answer to.

            "So you're both giant wolves?"  Shippo asked.

            "No.  We are both Learians but different species.  Shadow is a Learian wolf, I'm merely a Learian.  Right now Shad is in his true form."

            "Wait.  You said that your ancestors destroyed your people.  Why did they do that?"  Sango asked.

            Our people were as innocent as children in the beginning of our days as star travelers.  Although we are a curious people by nature not many chose to leave Lear and so, some of the few that left made a discovery.  Compared to the rest of the people in the universe Learians were an abnormally powerful people.  In time that knowledge corrupted many of our people and soon there was a split between those who wanted peace and those who wanted to go out and conquer and make others our slaves.  The anger and sorrow in his voice vibrated through their minds and Destiny stopped playing for a moment and placed her hand on his fur.

            In the end however, it was the King of the Learian Wolf Clan and the High Queen of Lear who decided our planet's fate.  For as our people were more powerful than those they wished to conquer, so were the two leaders of Lear.  The two came together and made a blood pact that from that day forward they would be as heart-brother and sister, as would all of their descendents and all of their memories and their children's memories would be passed on to the next generation and so and so on, so that what one generation learned the next would know and so that no generation.  Thus ensuring that every generation would remember the pain and heartache that they felt when they destroyed their home and all of their people to ensure the safety of all of the people in the universe.

            He fell silent then and Destiny picked up the retelling of their history.  "And so we became known as the Forgotten Guardians.  Warriors who were held to strict codes and watched over by the Dragon Clan.  If one has ever been given an oath by a Guardian then the oath lasts until every member of that family has died and nothing, not time, love, or hate can break the oath once given.  Which is why it is so rarely given as it is a pledge of protection that we will die for if necessary."

            Oh no, you won't.  We are going to die of old age unlike those before us.  Shad countered.

            "What does thee mean?"  Kaede asked.

            It means that so far none of the Guardians have ever lived out their natural life spans.  Fate, it seems, has claimed us for its own and has often demanded that we die to protect those that we love.  He answered sadly.

            "But that's horrible!  How can you accept that so calmly?!"  Kagome cried.

            "Because such is life.  No one will live for forever so if you must die, die for something actually worth dieing for."  Kurama explained.

            "So where are you three from then?"  Miroku asked.  "Are you from Kagome's time?"

            "Alright, here's where things get a little complicated.  Shad and I are time travelers so we don't really know what time we're from, but we can also travel from one dimension to another."

            "But that's impossible!"  Kagome said and shook her head in denial.

            Who decides what is possible?  As long as you set limits upon yourself then that will be as far as you can go.  But if you take away the limitations then the possibilities are endless.

            Destiny tilted her head to the side and looked at him thoughtfully.  "You're quoting Silvon a lot lately."  She noted.

            Shad gave her a wolfish grin and replied, what's the point in having a heart-father if you don't use his words every now and then?

            "Thee's heart-father?  Who is he?"  Kaede asked.

            He is the Leader of the Dragon Clan.  His rank would be equal to that of a king and he is very old, and although I hate to admit it, wise.  He was there to witness the destruction of our world and helped the first Guardians find their place in the universe.

            "You forgot to mention that he brought us back from the brink of insanity."

            Ah yes.  Those were times of slow recovery.

            "What are you talking about?"  Shippo asked.

            Destiny smiled at the small kitsune and shook her head.  "Old memories littling.  The don't mean anything."

            Kagome and Sango exchanged a glance that spoke volumes between the two girls.  They were both thinking about the scars on Destiny's back and had a feeling that was what the two siblings were discussing.

"Wait, how dangerous is this dragon?"  Inuyasha wanted to know, his thoughts on the dragon his father had failed to defeat.

Who knows?  The old one is more like a scholar than anything.  Always trying to tell people what to do.  Shad answered gruffly.

"So why are you here?"  Inuyasha wanted to know.

"We were summoned by the scroll that the human you were battling first arrived."

But it should not have been able to summon us at all.  Only those we have sworn an oath to may summon us and we never forget an oath.

"Which probably means that there is a traitor somewhere."  Kurama muttered.

"That may not be true."  Destiny countered.

I agree with Kurama, there's just something somewhere that doesn't fit.

Destiny scowled and rolled her eyes.  "I'm surrounded by pessimists."  She complained.

"So what happens now?"  Inuyasha asked thoughtfully.

"Now?  We get to walk back to the village so I can change and pick up the killer shoes I ditched somewhere and basically go on as normal until something presents itself."  Destiny replied and stopped playing the harp and stood up.  "Agreed?"  She asked and held out her hand to the hanyou with the palm of her hand face up.

Inuyasha stood up as well and walked over to her.  He could sense that this was important to the older girl by the intent way she, her brother, and Kurama all watched him.  They're not so bad.  Different, and they say they are really powerful but I haven't seen any real evidence of that.  "Agreed."  He said finally and received a smile in return.

It was the beginning of a friendship and trust that would be sorely tested very soon.  For fate was a fickle master and it had plans for Inuyasha, Kagome, and the others just as it had plans for Kurama and the other two.  And it had no problem in doing the extremes to get its way…

            "No Inuyasha!  You can't just blunder around in a sword fight!"  Destiny scolded as she nimbly dodged his attacks and scowled at him.  They were both using wooden swords but so far all Destiny had been doing was evading attacks.  It wasn't that the attacks were weak it was that they were performed with no grace whatsoever.  And that was a very, very serious mistake to Destiny.  "Sword fighting is more than just whacking off heads or winning."  She said and spun around gracefully before flipping over his head and tapping the point of the wooden sword lightly against the back of his neck.  "Without grace you will fight like a berserker.  That means so have no control, no plan, and you could be killed very easy."  She said and lowered the sword again and backed away.

            Inuyasha spun around and leapt at her and slashed the sword down forcibly on where she was standing.  Destiny sidestepped and brought her sword up and knocked his to the side and brought her hand up and tapped his throat softly.  Showing him that if she'd held a weapon in that hand he probably would have just been killed.  Damn!  Why can't I hit her!?  He thought angrily and took a halfhearted swipe at her with his claws and was surprised when she didn't move to block.  "Damn."  He muttered and just barely stopped his hand in time to stop his claws from piercing her skin.

            "You've got good control Inuyasha."  She complimented him with a smile.

            Now how do you stay mad at someone who treats you the same way she does her brother and gives compliments as sincerely as Kagome?  He wondered moodily but only nodded as he stepped back.  Inuyasha knew that he was going to have to calm down if he wanted to even try to hit Destiny.  Fact one, she wasn't stronger than him.  Fact two, she was a hell of a lot faster though.  Fact three, she also had more experience and training.  Fact four, they were both very intelligent.  Fact five, Inuyasha really wanted to do well.

            "Destiny, you can't expect him to learn all this at once!  Give the kid a break!"  Kurama shouted from the sidelines.

            "I forgot."  Destiny said actually blushed.  "My apologies, Inuyasha."  She said formally and placed the tip of her sword into the ground.

            Poor little heart-sister.  She's still forgetting that he doesn't know the language of the sword.  Shad teased and grinned companionably at Inuyasha.

            "What are you talking about?"  Inuyasha asked curiously as he watched Destiny shoot death glares at her brother and betrothed.

            "Did you see notice how she held the sword straight into the ground in front of her while her head was bowed?  That is a formal apology that one swords master gives another, or a trainee."  Kurama explained.

            The basics need to be learned first.  Then you can beat at him.  Shadow added teasingly before he grew serious.  But not with you Destiny.  You're a good teacher but let Kurama take over the first stages of his training.  And then he grew playful again and glanced at Kurama slyly.   We can't have the pup fighting like a girl.

            "Hey!"  Inuyasha growled but calmed when Kurama placed his hand on his shoulder. 

            "He's just joking Inuyasha."  He said calmly and then dropped his hand.

            Thanks a lot kreelie.  Now I have to go find someone else to torture.  He muttered unhappily and was about to turn away when he stopped and directed his gaze on Destiny.  You need to sleep anyway.  He said to her.

            Destiny frowned and shook her head but Kurama also agreed with Shadow and decided to back him up.  "He's right Destiny."  She turned around and glared at him as well but Kurama returned her gaze steadfastly until she finally looked away.

            "Fine."  She muttered, gave him one last glare, smiled encouragingly at Inuyasha and walked out of the training area.

            "Looks like you're in the dog house."  Inuyasha noted.

            "Maybe."  Kurama conceded and turned to face him.  "And what of you and Kagome?"

            "What?!"  Inuyasha very nearly yelled.

            "It's obvious that you care for the girl but you're always shoving her away."

            "That's none of your business!"

            "Then I'm making it mine."  Kurama challenged him coolly as he picked up a wooden sword from the nearby rack.

            Inuyasha growled low in his throat and studied the human.  A part of him understood what was going on and the other part was confused by all of this.  His youkai side recognized that Kurama was taking his position as leader as he was the older male and resented it.  His human side was both grateful for the shift in responsibilities and wary of it as well.

            "Why do you care?"  He asked finally.

            "Because you're giving that girl so many mixed signals that it's a wonder she hasn't gone insane."

            "Huh?"

            Kurama sighed and shook his head.  "We'll discuss this later.  As for now, raise your sword straight up into the air and then…"

            Kagome checked up on Destiny all throughout the afternoon and evening but Destiny never woke until it was nine o'clock that night.  "You're finally awake!"   She exclaimed happily.  "For awhile there I was worried that you were getting sick."

            Destiny smiled and shook her head before getting up and stretching out her muscles like a cat.  "I'm fine.  Thank you for being concerned though."

            Kagome nodded and bit down on her bottom lip a little nervously.  "Can I ask you for a favor?"  Destiny looked at her curiously but nodded and sat back down on the bed.  "Do you think that maybe you and Kurama can distract Inuyasha enough so that I can go back home for a few days and get some studying done before I have to take all my make-up tests?"

            Destiny stared at her a moment and then placed her hands over her mouth to muffle the soft laughter that just came pouring out.  "Hey I'm serious!"  Kagome protested but smiled from Destiny's infectious laughter.

            "I'm sorry."  Destiny apologized but she was still grinning.  "He's that protective of you?"  She asked in amusement.

            "Well not exactly.  He's just worried that if something happens to me then he'll lose his 'shard detector'."  Kagome answered and her smile faded from her face.

            "Surely that's not all."  Destiny protested softly and Kagome turned away from her.  If only you knew.  You have Kurama and everyone here can see that the two of you love each other deeply but what would you do if he loved another and you still loved him?  She wanted to say but didn't.

            "It's true.  Ask him someday and he'll tell you that he's in love with Kikyo."  She answered instead with a false cheeriness.

            Destiny frowned and narrowed her eyes slightly as she thought over a few things and shook her head.  "I tell you what, why don't I come with you and give you a hand?  I was pretty good in school and might be able to help you study."  She offered.

            "That'd be great!"  Kagome exclaimed happily.

            "And that way you can tell me about who Kikyo is and all the stuff I'm not understanding."  Destiny added and Kagome's face fell a bit.

            "I'm not sure if I can."

            Destiny smiled at her and shook her head.  "You never know till you try."  She said and grabbed a pack and began to quickly pack some clothes and important personal items, like her toothbrush.  When she finished she tied a simple black leather headband under her bangs and some of her hair so that it covered the star on her brow.  "Ready?"  She asked Kagome as she slid an intricate silver bracelet with a large dark blue stone on her right arm.

            "Yep."  Kagome said and the two went to go find Sango to tell her that they were leaving.

~ Aww…  Poor Kagome!  She thinks Inuyasha loves Kikyo, hmm… maybe he does.  Is it possible to love two people at the same time?  Maybe but I don't thinks so.  Maybe Kurama can get Inuyasha straightened out.  Can anyone say bad hurricane weather?  These next couple of chapters may take awhile because we're evacuating.  *frowns*  I hope my house doesn't get flooded or blown away…  Oh well, it's a good thing I have a laptop!  Don't forget to review, after all, reviews equal more chapters. ~