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). 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!
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 11: A Chance of HopeThe next morning preparations were being made on a grand scale, only to be downsized by the group that would have to carry them. Earlier that morning Destiny had gathered all of the men that had come to Earth with them and had sent them back to their own world with instructions to tell their king what had happened. Although she had said nothing to her brother or Kurama she was worried. Shad still felt guilty about not being able to protect her when they were children and Kurama could not change back into his human form plus they needed to help the two dog demons train, establish an order in their pack, the list went on and on.
But she did not regret their decision to help them. She liked all of them, even that pup Sesshoumaru. Destiny grinned and shook her head slightly. That one had a lot to learn; the question was, would he? She hoped so; it would make life much easier.
"But Rin doesn't want Sessho to go!" Rin cried and latched unto the dog demons leg.
Sesshoumaru looked down at the girl sternly and said, "Rin, stop crying." However, she only cried harder. Inuyasha, Miroku, Sesshoumaru, Shad, and even Kurama all looked at each other in panic. "DESTINY!" Shad yelled and very probably would have gone off and dragged her there if she hadn't shown up, sword in hand, and looking ready to fight with Kagome and Sango right behind her. The girls stopped at the scene in front of them and started to laugh at the helpless guys. Destiny took pity on them though and knelt beside Rin and carefully pried her off of Sesshoumaru, picked her up in her arms and spoke soothingly to her.
"Hush now little one. You'll see your Sess soon." She crooned and rubbed her back.
"Sessho doesn't want Rin anymore!" She wailed and sobbed even more as she wrapped her little arms around Destiny and held on to her like she was a lifeline.
Destiny focused her eyes on Sesshoumaru curiously but only received a blank look in return. "Why do you say that Rin?" She asked the child instead.
"Because if Sessho still wanted Rin he wouldn't leave Rin behind!" She sobbed.
Destiny smiled softly and shook her head. "Do you want to know why Sess doesn't want you to come?" She asked gently and tilted Rin's head up so that she had to look into her eyes. Rin sniffled a bit but seemed to calm under the steady sapphire blue eyes that looked so hypnotic with their silver flecks.
"Rin would like to know." She answered, unable to break the eye contact.
Destiny smiled and tapped Rin's nose lightly with her finger. "Because he cares very much for you and doesn't want you to get hurt. So to keep you safe he wants you to stay here with Jaken to watch over you." She closed her eyes then for a few moments and when she opened them they had lost their hypnotic intensity.
"But what if Rin really wants to go and promises not to be any trouble?"
"Then she would still have to stay because if anything happened to Rin her Sess would cry! Not to mention me, Kurama, Shad, Inuyasha, Kagome, and everyone else!"
Rin tilted her head and looked up and studied Destiny carefully. "Would Destiny really cry?"
"Yes."
"Would Sessho really cry?"
"Beyond a shadow of a doubt." Destiny answered, ignoring the dark look on the western lord's face.
"Then Rin will stay so no one cry!" She said happily and wiggled around a bit so that Destiny put her down. "Rin go find Jaken now!" She cried and went to go find the toad-like demon.
"You must have a death wish, wench." Sesshoumaru growled and flexed his claws slightly.
Destiny looked at him rebukingly and raised one of her eyebrows. "No Sess, I don't actually." She replied.
"And who are you to call me such?" He demanded, surprising even Inuyasha with the coldness in his voice. Destiny didn't get angry or upset though. She recognized in Sesshoumaru what Silvon must have seen in her and Shadow when he found them dieing after they had escaped their enslavement, a mask of coldness and disgust that hid his true heart and feelings. Yes, she could see what he so fervently hid. Destiny grinned at him then and tossed her hair back a bit before answering.
"Destiny, just like you are Sess."
Kurama and Shad groaned then and shook their heads at the now puzzled youkai. "Just give up Sess, she's claimed you." Shad stated and frowned as he muttered, "great. I'm related to a dog now. Ack!" Kurama shot an amused glance at a revolted looking Shad and focused his attention on a confused Sesshoumaru.
"The translation for all of that is now you, like Inuyasha here, are considered as a tionto." He said.
"Meaning?"
"Brother."
"What?!" Inuyasha yelled.
Kurama shook his head at the pup and smirked slightly and waved his hand at the retreating girls. "Once claimed as family by a Learian it holds forever."
"Damn." Sesshoumaru muttered.
And they were off. Kurama, Inuyasha, and Sesshoumaru took the lead position as they headed out with Kagome, Shippo, Sango, and Kirara in the middle with Miroku bringing up the rear. Shad had transformed back to his original form and then downsized it to that of a large wolf. Then he and Destiny took up the positions of scouts and circled ahead, behind, and to the sides of the group, checking in every now in then with mind-speech or in person.
"So what are we looking for?" Shippo asked in a bored tone.
A dark evil forest, with beings that don't believe in eating… Shad said in mind-speech.
Quit thinking with your stomach kreelie. Destiny scolded him and their voices faded off again as they drew farther off.
"Are they always like that?" Inuyasha asked.
"Not usually." Kurama answered in the same tone that Shippo had used.
Question, when youkai kill do they usually scatter the body all around but don't eat the meat? Destiny called out.
The three males in the lead glanced at each other and Kurama answered for them, no. Why?
Can you and either Sess or Inuyasha come here? Make sure the girls don't come. She replied privately.
"Well that's interesting." He murmured and looked at Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru. "I need one of you to come with me and one of you to stay and protect the girls."
"I'll stay." Inuyasha grumbled, he still didn't trust Sesshoumaru very much and wasn't about to leave him alone with Kagome if he could help it!
Kurama nodded and placed his hand on Inuyasha's shoulder briefly before moving into the forest. Like a shadow, Sesshoumaru followed.
"Inuyasha, what's going on?" Kagome asked as she came to stand beside him, panting a bit from carrying her heavy bag so long.
"Destiny found something." He answered and lifted the pack of her back and set it on the ground. "We'll rest until they get back." He added a bit grumpily.
"What did she find?"
"We don't know yet." He answered and looked off into the woods moodily.
"Inuyasha." Kagome said softly.
"Yeah?" He asked and focused his attention back on her.
"You don't think that this is someone more dangerous than Naraku do you?" She asked worriedly and stared at her feet. Inuyasha looked away a moment and then up at the sky above them. It was just barely past noon and the sun was shining down on them comfortably. Ironic, considering all of the danger that lurks around us it seems like it should be cloudy or something but it's just another clear day. Inuyasha thought to himself.
"I don't know, Kagome. We can only hope that it's not, but if it is then we'll just have to take it out too." He said with a smirk.
Kagome laughed quietly and shook her head at him. "Isn't there anything that scares you Inuyasha?"
Just losing you. He thought but answered, "not very likely."
When Sesshoumaru and Kurama finally reached Destiny they were more than a little shocked to see the amount of carnage scattered around the clearing. The smell of blood was everywhere and saturated the very air that they breathed. But there was also a hint of something more… Of death waiting to happen. None of the animal had been eaten, just scattered about like peas spilling from a bowl.
"What was it?" Destiny asked Sesshoumaru as she stood up from examining a large piece of the carcass.
"It smells like a horse youkai." He answered. She nodded and looked at he scattered pieces thoughtfully.
"Why would anything do something like this?" She murmured, more to herself than them and her eyes sparked with life as she whirled back around to look at them. "Can either of you smell any poison or anything like that?" She asked. Sesshoumaru and Kurama exchanged a glance and then started to breathe in the fumes around them again, but this time they were searching for the bitter smell of poison. They found it everywhere.
"How did you know?" Sesshoumaru asked.
Destiny frowned at him and shook her head in mock despair. "One day Sess, you will realize that I am not the idiot you seem to believe me as." She said and turned to Kurama. "Can you tell me where the highest concentration of poison is?" She asked and eventually he found that it was in what was once the stomach cavity. "Of course, that's were all the treats like the heart and liver are." She murmured and dipped her fingertip in the blood delicately and tasted it with her tongue.
"Destiny!" Kurama growled as Sesshoumaru looked at her in shock. Doesn't she know that poison can kill her? He wanted to ask but said nothing.
"Poison berries and some kind of poison frog skin." She muttered and spat out the little bit of blood she had placed in her mouth.
"How can you tell?" Sesshoumaru asked, genuinely curious this time.
Destiny smiled softly, bitterly for a moment and answered, "I'm well acquainted with various types of poisons." She looked around and looked at him in confusion. "Usually I would guess that something was trying to poison an animal of some kind but all the animals seem to be avoiding this clearing. I don't understand."
"What's to understand? Only a human would do this." Sesshoumaru growled.
Destiny glared briefly at him and then began to pace from him to Kurama. "Yes but why? Why kill in such a senseless matter ant them scatter the carcass? Or maybe they killed the thing with poison but how would they get the youkai so sliced up? She scowled then and bent down to study the slashes made on the carcass. After a long moment she pulled back the sleeve on her right arm and exposed an intricately designed bracelet with a large blue stone as its centerpiece. The bracelet began to glow then with a dark blue light as it transformed into a beautiful, but deadly, sword. The metal making up the blade was unworldly; a silvery type of metal that swirled with bluish tints just below the surface that would spark every now and then. The hilt was also made of a silver metal that didn't have the swirling blue tints but the stone that had been in the center of the bracelet was now embedded in the center of the hilt with strange writing written around it.
"What is that?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"Remembrance." Destiny answered and smiled at the sword. "The same weapon my family has used for generations."
"May I see it?" He asked.
"Sess, this sword really doesn't like to be touched by anyone but me." She said slowly but all she received was an icy stare in return. She sighed then and shook her head slightly. "As you wish. Place your hands over mine then." She said. Sesshoumaru frowned but leaned down and did as she said. Almost immediately he felt a pain that was fire hot and ice cold at the same time race through his body and grip his soul.
You are not the wielder! Never shall I betray the Guardians! A voice yelled in his head just before Kurama yanked him to safety.
"Why did it react so violently?" Kurama growled as he glared at the weapon in her hands.
"Remembrance always acts like that with those it does not recognize. It tolerates and allows you and Shad to hold it because Shad is my heart-brother and you my heart-mate, without that bond it would do the same to you as it did to him." She answered and reached out with her left hand and touched Sesshoumaru's cheek gently and used some of her energy to rid him of the shock and pain that the sword had given him. After a moment his eyes returned to normal and Destiny patted his cheek affectionately. "Take care brother, some things are more deadly than what they appear." She said and knelt back beside the carcass and slowly the sword changed from its form to that of a claw like weapon that fitted over Destiny's hand like a glove.
"Could that thing have just killed me?" He asked Kurama quietly.
"If Destiny hadn't been acting as a buffer zone, then yes." The kitsune answered.
"Whoever it was either had claws or a weapon like this." Destiny interrupted and stared at the claw-like weapon thoughtfully for about a minute and then jumped up. "I've got to go find Shad and talk to him for a bit. Kurama, Sess, thanks for helping." She said with a grin, smacked Kurama on the lips with hers and was about to leap into a run when she stropped and looked back at them. "Oh yeah, try to see if any of you know where, or can locate a village that is near here and a few caves." She said and then took off.
"She's fast." Sesshoumaru noted in surprise.
"Yes."
"What was that all about?"
"I have a feeling we'll find out soon enough."
As it turned out there was a village about a half a day's journey from where they were and it was also rumored to be built on top of an old set of abandoned caves that were said to be cursed. "I think Destiny is a witch or something." Inuyasha said grumpily when they still had no sign of the Learians after an hour had passed.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded and swiped at his head.
"Hey, what did I do?!" He yelled and ducked.
"You're being mean!" She answered.
"So?!"
"That's the point! Guys aren't supposed to be mean!"
"Says who?"
"It's just a common fact!"
"Feh! Sounds like something a wench would make up just so that she could get her way." He stated coolly and stuck his nose up in the air.
"Aww… How sweet. They act like they're married." Shad joked as he and Destiny approached.
"Whatever. Like anyone would ever want to marry someone as ugly, weak, and disgusting as that!" He said arrogantly and jerked his thumb back at Kagome.
For a moment there was only dead silence and the a small cry made it's way out of Kagome's throat as she whirled and ran from all of them and into the forest. Sango started to go after her friend but was stopped when Shad grabbed her around the waist and made her stay put at the exact same time that Kurama leapt at Inuyasha and lifted him up by his throat; his blazing gold eyes glared into Inuyasha's amber ones.
"What did I tell you about being deliberately cruel?" He growled angrily and shook Inuyasha when he tried to answer. "Rest assured that I will keep my end of the bargain but first you are going to mend what you have just slashed open." He added in a deadly calm voice and tossed Inuyasha in the direction that Kagome had gone. Inuyasha glared angrily at the silver kitsune but didn't reply when he saw the look that Destiny was giving him. It was full of disappointment and sympathy but it was just as obvious that she was going to stand with Kurama on his decision
"Fine!" He snarled and stalked off after Kagome.
"What do you think is going to happen now?" Shippo asked and leapt onto Destiny's shoulder.
"That's up to them now. There's only so long that one can love a person without receiving any love in return. Whether they go forward or not go at all depends entirely upon them." Shad answered and let Sango go.
"They're doomed then." The young kitsune groaned.
Destiny laughed and rubbed her cheek against Shippo's. "Take heart little one. Love is not so easily dismissed and often wins the most difficult of wars." She said.
"Often isn't always." He pointed out.
"No, but sometimes you just have to believe that the impossible is possible and take the chance."
Shippo wrinkled his nose up at her and asked, "How do you know that?"
Kurama placed his hand on the kitsune's head and rubbed his ears affectionately. "Because she took a really big chance in agreeing to become my mate. After all, what if I get hungry and decide to eat her one day?" He joked.
"Then I will personally hunt you down and chop you up into pieces for daring to get rid of my cook." Shad answered and all of them save Sesshoumaru burst into laughter, but the corners of his mouth did lift just a little bit…
~ First things first folks! I want to thank Miaka Kennyuuki for providing me with names for Inuyasha, and Sess's parents. You rock! *grins* So do all of the other nice, wonderful people who review but right now I'm so happy to have those names. Now all I gots to do is remember where they come in… Umm, back to point… I know, I left it off at a cliff hangar. Bad me, but don't worry! I'm working on the next chapter, much to my teacher's everlasting dismay. Well let me know how you liked this chapter! Adios! ~
