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!
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.
Okay, I forgot to add a few things.
Learian Words and their translated/loosely translated meanings:
Kreelie- idiot
Tione- sister
Tionto- brother
Eliree- lover
Lireeh-tionto- Heart-brother
Lireeh-tione- Heart-sister
Chapter 10: Words of WarningKagome and the others woke to the sound of harp music being played and someone singing a lovely old ballad. Then the sound of a child's laughter was heard. "That's Destiny!" She exclaimed in delight.
"And Rin." Sesshoumaru added quietly and left the hut. The others soon followed.
Destiny was sitting on the ground and playing the harp with Shad lying near her. A youkai Kurama stood next to her but his eyes held a gentle look as he watched Rin and Shippo playing together. "Destiny, you're all right!" Kagome cried happily and rushed to the girl.
Although she stopped singing Destiny's hands never ceased to play their beautiful song as she smiled at Kagome and a fast approaching Sango. "Mostly, I'm still a little weak but other than that I'm better." She answered.
"The child is well also." Kurama said, his icy expression back in place.
"Sesshou!" Rin cried happily and ran to her guardian. Sesshoumaru didn't exactly smile but he did look down as he placed his hand on her head. "Rin is very happy to be better." She continued. He nodded and looked over at the woman who had saved her life, and very nearly stared. She was beautiful, much more so than any human or youkai he had ever seen. But it was the silver star on her brow that caught his attention the most. What does that mean? He wondered before turning his gaze to the youkai next to her. There was no such thing as a silver kitsune, and yet, there he was…
"Just for the sake of curiosity, what is going on?" Kagome asked.
"Care to be more detailed?" Kurama asked smoothly and received a glare from all three girls.
Methinks they're teaming up against us. Shad joked and gave them a wolfish grin.
Destiny glanced at Shad and then looked up at Sesshoumaru and studied him curiously. "Who are you?" She asked.
"Why should I answer you?"
Inuyasha and the others tensed slightly at his words. If he was planning on attacking them he would never have a better chance. Destiny, Kurama, and Shad just looked at him as they would a disobedient child. "Well for one reason, to be polite. Another is that you are in my debt." She answered and stopped playing.
"Codes of Honor do not extend to humans." He sneered.
"Hey!" Kagome yelled and Inuyasha hurried to her and clamped his hand over her mouth. He knew that there was no way she could win a fight against Sesshoumaru and wasn't about to let her provoke him into attacking her.
"Fine," Destiny replied add stood up gracefully with Kurama's help. "Will you come here a moment Rin?" She asked the small girl and smiled kindly at her.
"Rin will come!" The little girl cried and would have done just that if Sesshoumaru hadn't stopped her.
"What are you trying to do?"
"Codes of Honor do not apply to humans right? Fine, I'm not human, she is. I would not leave any child with an idiot who has such shallow beliefs." She stated regally.
"If this wasn't so strange I'd be laughing my head off about now." Inuyasha muttered. Sesshoumaru, on the other hand, just looked like he wanted to kill her.
"I am Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands. My word is law here. Can you say the same, runt?" He taunted her.
"Why you arrogant jerk!" Kagome yelled angrily and Inuyasha looked at her in surprise. So fierce. He thought fondly of his Kagome but covered her mouth just the same. Wait a minute! My Kagome? He yelled at himself.
However, despite all delicate appearances, Destiny had a will of iron that had been tempered over the years of her short life. "And I am Destiny Victoria Hope Lockhart, High Princess of the once world of Lear. Heart-sister to Shadow, Prince of the Learian Wolf Clan, heart-mate to Kurama of Maikai, adopted daughter of Silvon, King of Dragons. Can I stop here or do I have to go on?" She replied in a sweet sarcastic tone.
Ouch. That was harsh. Shad murmured and then glared at her. Why'd you throw my rank in there? He complained.
"Because if I have to be stuck up then you do as well." She answered. Behind them Kurama just shook his head in amused exasperation.
"Can't you two ever carry off your titles with grumbling about it?"
No.
"No." They answered in unison and turned to glare at him.
Kagome started to laugh quietly and turned around in Inuyasha's arms and hid her face in his chest to muffle the laughter that came out of her. He was a little shocked but more than a little pleased to have her in his arms, Inuyasha decided and linked his hands together at her waist.
Both he and Sesshoumaru watched in a kind of fascination as the two heart siblings argued good-naturedly with one another. But the more they argued the thicker their accents became until they finally switched to a language none of them knew. "Stop! You're being very rude!" Rin finally yelled and the two Learians shut up instantly.
Ah, called to task by a littling. How the mighty fall. Shad joked and grinned at Rin.
"Rin doesn't understand. And why are you talking in Rin's head?"
Uhh…
"Ignore him little one." Kurama said with a slight smile.
"You look like Sesshou, except taller with no stripes and a different tail." She said excitedly and before Sesshoumaru could stop her, she ran straight to him.
Easy. Believe it or not he actually likes children. Destiny said soothingly to the rigid youkai and offered a smile as well. "Look, we can all fight later about who's the most bad ass. But for now we need to get to the matter on hand." She said aloud.
Right. Shad agreed instantly and sat up so he could look at all of them more easily. This morning we received a message, so to speak. It was embedded in a tree a mile from here. He continued and Kurama handed an arrow and a scroll to Kagome.
"This looks like one of Kikyo's arrows." She said quietly, but everyone heard her clearly.
She must be very evil then. Shad stated slowly.
"No she is not! You don't even know her!" Inuyasha roared.
"Be silent pup!" Kurama growled dangerously, never raising his voice as he stared into the young hanyou's eyes.
Although her heart stung more than a little at Inuyasha's outburst, Kagome was determined to support him. "Why do you say that Shad?" She asked.
Shad looked at Kurama and Destiny and whined quietly in his throat, not knowing how to explain. "Can't you feel the taint?" Destiny asked.
"What taint?" Sesshoumaru asked as he very easily took the arrow and scroll from his brother's wench.
Evil, hate, sorrow, bitterness, lies, rage and death all rolled into one at the very heart of the wood, the paper. He said and looked at Destiny questioningly. Perhaps even despair?
"We'll get to that in a moment. Read the scroll." Kurama instructed.
With a light scowl Sesshoumaru did so and stared at the paper in shock. "What does it say?" Miroku asked.
Sesshoumaru glanced at the kitsune and received a nod. He wanted him to read the words aloud. Sesshoumaru cleared his throat and began:
To those who would seek me:
You will never complete the Jewel of Four Souls.
I have in my possession a way to gain more power than that of any youkai.
As for the star travelers, you will soon be mine, and the power within you as well.
Oh yes, Kikyo is now mine, as she was always meant to be. As will her reincarnation be.
And when I am tired of them I will move on to the child Rin.
Farewell, until we meet…
"Naraku!" Inuyasha snarled and for once Sesshoumaru felt the same as his worthless half brother did. No one threatened to take what was his and got away with it.
"Hold on a minute Inuyasha, we don't know who it is yet." Destiny said soothingly.
"Who else would write such a thing?" Miroku asked.
"Someone who wanted you to go after the wrong target?" Kurama suggested mildly.
"So this could be an entirely new demon then." Kagome said thoughtfully.
"Wait! What could be more powerful than any youkai?!" Shippo asked.
Destiny, Kurama, and Shad all glanced at each other uncomfortably and made shrugging motions. "Destiny…" Sango drawled out slowly and received a glare in return as well as a sigh.
"There are a lot of powerful artifacts and beings in the world Sango. Unfortunately, power has, and always will, come with a price." She said and shook her head sadly. "However, whoever wrote this letter is wrong about being able to possess such power."
"Why?" Sesshoumaru asked.
Because such power is not meant to be contained by one person alone. Once one acquires a taste for it they can never have enough; thus, tyrants are born, chaos is born, rebels arise, and good once again triumphs only to one-day fall again. A balance that is delicately maintained and woven in the hands of fate.
"You and your ancestors must have seen a lot of pain for you to know so much." Miroku said softly. "It's almost as if you don't even know what hate is…"
Here, Destiny and Shadow burst into laughter; but it wasn't their usual carefree sound. No, this was something darker yet full of untold sorrow and pain. Memories that could not be shared but couldn't be forgotten either. It was a sound that caused chills to run down all of their spines.
Think you that we have never hated? That we are perfect? Once, that was all we knew. It burned and seethed within us, encouraged on by whips that fed on our blood; second only to the disgust we felt for ourselves. No, little mortal, do not put us on pedestals of some sort. If you seek perfection then you will have to search elsewhere, it does not exist within us. He growled, almost angrily.
Destiny looked over at Kurama a moment and then to Shad. "Lireeh-tionto." She said soothingly and placed her hand on his shoulder.
Shad growled at her and snapped his teeth before walking away stiffly.
"Now there's a 'go away' if I ever saw one." Shippo commented.
Destiny shook her head and leaned back against Kurama briefly. To Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's surprise he wrapped his arms around her, tilted her head up, bent down a bit and kissed her. For them to see a youkai showing affectionate was strange as neither had ever witnessed such before. It was a foreign concept, yet those two made it seem so… so natural. "Go find your heart-brother." Kurama said quietly and allowed her to slip out of his arms.
"You'll finish explaining?" Destiny asked first.
"Yes."
Destiny frowned slightly at him and smiled at Sesshoumaru and the others briefly before casting a warning look at the silver kitsune. "Be nice." She said and followed after her brother.
"Will someone explain what is going on?" Sesshoumaru growled.
"Of course." Kurama said pleasantly. "Kagome, explain."
A long time later Kagome had finally finished bringing Sesshoumaru up to date since Kurama had flatly refused to do so. Probably thinks it's beneath him to talk for so long. She thought moodily. I wonder why I can't sense him like I can Inuyasha and other demons. Is it because he's from a different dimension and they have different powers there?
"So what are we to do now?" Sango mused aloud.
"The wisest thing would be for those two to act like the brothers they really are and work together." Kurama stated and looked at Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru pointedly.
"What!?" Inuyasha yelped and even Sesshoumaru seemed in a state of shock.
"Are you doing that on purpose?" Kagome asked.
"Perhaps." The silver kitsune answered with a smug look.
"Such an alliance would not be possible." Sesshoumaru stated.
"Why not? Are you afraid that you just might not hate each other as much as you would like to?" He challenged curiously.
"This Sesshoumaru does not wish to be wished to be contaminated from prolonged exposure to the worthless hanyou."
"You want to say that again to my face?" Inuyasha snarled but was interrupted but Kurama.
"Enough pups. Unless you work together then you will fail. Who will see to your loved ones then?" He said coldly and glared at both of them scornfully. He was fast becoming tired of these petty squabbles. Their survival depended upon them being able to work together not against one another. Divided they would be too weak against whatever force taunted them; and he was now bound to the same codes and oaths that Destiny and Shadow were so he could not interfere either unless it was clear that they would not win.
"Umm… How old are you?" Shippo asked the silver kitsune timidly and received a shrug in return.
"I lost count after nine hundred." He answered in a bored tone and focused his brilliant gold eyes back at the two dog demons. "Do you understand what I am saying? Neither of you can make it alone, deal with that, or be prepared to lose everything for the sake of your pride." He added and looked at Kagome and the other humans and used mind-speech to tell them to give the two brothers some privacy to talk. They all pretty much agreed with the kitsune and Kagome picked up Shippo, looked at Inuyasha pleadingly for a moment, and then left the two alone. Kurama waited until the humans had left and then he also walked away.
"You actually trust one such as he?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"Well considering he could grind your ass into the ground, yeah."
Sesshoumaru glared at his younger half-brother and growled very softly. "Are you trying to start something?"
Inuyasha was silent for a moment and shook his head finally with a sigh. "No, it's kinda pointless right now anyway." He said and scowled as he turned to face Sesshoumaru fully. "Look, I know you hate my guts and we can get back to being enemies after this is all over if you want; but until then we're going to have to work together and that means that you're not allowed to kill anyone in the village or Kagome or any of the others." He said calmly.
So little brother, it looks as though you are finally growing up. Sesshoumaru mused thoughtfully to himself and nodded his agreement. "I do not hate you." He said aloud.
"Then why have you tried to kill me so many times for the Tetsusaiga?" Inuyasha asked pointedly.
"To challenge you so that you would not grow weak; I cannot have a little brother who would not live up to the great name of our father."
It was a stunning revelation; maybe, just maybe, the two sons of the deceased Great Lord of the West would learn what it meant to actually be brothers in heart, as well as blood.
A/N- A special thanks goes to DemonBlade and Twin Star of Suzaku, you guys have kept up the most with my story. Thank you, thank you thank you many times times many times *grins*.
~ In case anyone cannot tell I do not know Japanese, French and Spanish I can scrape by in and English I've got but no Japanese. So now that fact is out I need help with! I need a Japanese name for Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's father, Inuyasha's mother, and last but not least, Sesshoumaru's mother. Please, please help! Thanks and don't forget to review! ~
