{Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, so don't sue me. College has a strict hold on my wallet anyway.}
Vengeance
By Striking Falcon
Chapter Four: The Sparks of Hate
"Another day and we'll be in the village, Kagome," Sango called out from ahead. She assumed Inuyasha's normal position as lookout in the group, with Miroku walking beside her, Shippou in the bike basket and Kagome pushing it along. They started on this venture four days ago, and she was glad they were almost there. She and the others sent Kirara ahead every night to the village to see if she saw Inuyasha anywhere. The fire cat came back with the same news. No one had seen him and he wasn't there.
Kagome sighed, rubbing the scratch on her neck. It was healing nicely, but the scratch didn't bother her. As a matter of fact, nothing bothered them since Inuyasha disappeared. One demon attacked them, and almost succeeded in finishing them off. It picked up Kagome, who had been hurt in the fight. It was instantly knocked back in a flash of energy, its claw burned beyond recognition. It crept to where it had dropped her and moved her shirt aside. One look at the scratch was enough to send it running, leaving the others to scratch their heads in wonder at exactly what it was. Kagome's fingers left the scratch and tapped her pocket absentmindedly. In it was the parcel Inuyasha left behind. Inside were three locks of hair, a white rose and a note. She wondered over the contents, especially the meaning of the note. She found it their second day out, rolled around the rose's stem. She read the message carefully.
Inuyasha, remember your promise.
Kagome pondered the meaning for a long time. The pack had his name on it in beautiful script, as if the sender didn't expect Inuyasha to be so easy to find and that the messenger would likely have to leave it in the hands of another. She sighed. She really did miss him. Of course the others did too. Even Miroku wasn't the same lecher he normally was. Don't get me wrong, if it was out there he made a grab for it, but now it wasn't as eager a grab. Kagome shook her head and smiled at Shippou. He was asleep. Kagome wished she slept so peacefully. Every night since before Inuyasha left she had nightmares. She never remembered all of them, but bits and pieces stayed with her the closer they got to the village. There was something about Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha fighting, but not each other. She still didn't understand why she screamed Inuyasha's name, or why when she did so she felt as if her heart were breaking. They walked an hour after the sun went down, then set up camp. Kagome looked up, into the branches above her. Instead of the red robes she was accustomed to, the bright flames of the fire cat glowed from the limbs. She lowered her head, wrapped her arms around Shippou, and went to sleep.
******
'Sesshoumaru has fully lost his damned mind,' Inuyasha grumbled to himself as he settled down for the night. Sesshoumaru wasn't kidding when he said they would be training for the whole week. The blue potion increased his powers beyond anything he could have imagined, including the jewel shard around his neck. Inuyasha had a sneaking suspicion that he wasted his time in stealing it in the first place.
He removed the white haori, so familiar to him now, and the slippers. He crossed the room and looked out into the landscape below. He had a good view of the village from his window. He glanced down and imagined it was Kaede's village, and Kagome was there somewhere looking for him. He sighed wistfully. This week was killing him. 'I should have brought her with me. The others could have stayed, but I should have brought her with me.' Inuyasha turned away from the window and crawled to the head of the futon, his hand resting on the hilt of the Tetsusaiga. He still didn't trust Sesshoumaru, so the Tetsusaiga was never too far away. Inuyasha closed his eyes and slept, allowing his dreams to replay his reason for being here in the first place. For leaving her behind.
Reasons three hundred years in the past.
************
Inuyasha ran for his life, trying desperately to drown out the memory of the sounds of his mother's screams. Hours earlier, their house had been raided. She hid him in a section of the wall, surrounded by incense and hidden wards to hide his scent from their attackers. Inuyasha wanted to stay with her. He saw fear in her eyes, in her smell, and he wanted to comfort her. She had flatly refused and hidden him. Inuyasha could hear her arguing with another man, but he couldn't move. She had told him not to. Now the words turned to screams, and he grew more frightened by the second. Finally her screams died down, and he could hear small whimpers. The man laughed as his minions searched for Inuyasha, but they never found him. He could hear a scraping sound as the man dragged Inuyasha's mother across the floor and in front of his sealed hiding place.
"Where is he, human?"
"I don't know. I told him to hide."
The man growled and Inuyasha heard skin connect sharply with skin. His mother cried out in pain.
"Try again, bitch. Where is he?" She refused to answer. The others with the man started to laugh.
"You're gonna get it now, human," one of them said. Inuyasha held his breath. Oh how he wished he were stronger, like his father. But he wasn't and could do nothing but hide and wait.
It would be the last time he would ever do nothing but hide.
Inuyasha's mother screamed suddenly, breaking through the little boy's thoughts. Then the scent of her blood came to his attention. He held his breath until the man and the others left. Inuyasha crept out of his hiding place. His sandal settled into a puddle of blood. He knew immediately whose it was. Inuyasha found his mother in the hallway, a hole in her side. The blood had pooled under her, and left her lifeless. Beside her was a dead demon. Inuyasha surveyed the damage her arrow had done to the demon's jaw, finding some sort of small comfort in the fact that she went down fighting. He fled then, afraid the others would smell him and return.
Inuyasha ran deep into the forest, afraid for his life. His flight was so frantic, he failed to see the older boy in front of him until it was too late. He lifted Inuyasha by the scruff of the neck, holding him up while he dangled in the air, sobbing and kicking at nothing. The older boy sighed and shook him, finally gaining the crying child's attention.
"Stop whining, Inuyasha," he scolded, his face expressionless. Inuyasha stopped crying abruptly and looked into the boy's face. He recognized him.
"Sesshoumaru, they killed my mother."
Sesshoumaru set him down gently and looked into the distance.
"I know that, half-breed. I saw them leave."
Inuyasha gaped at him. "You SAW them LEAVE? Why didn't you help her?"
"No one helped my mother. Nor my sisters. Why should I have helped her?"
Inuyasha stared at him for a moment, then lowered his head. Sesshoumaru was right. Why did he even ask that stupid question?
"What do you want most, Inuyasha?"
Inuyasha looked up at him, hate dismissing the tears in his eyes.
"Vengeance." {Nothing creepier than a five year old saying that one word, ne?}
"Then vengeance is what you shall have. In three hundred years, we shall have our chance against our families' murderer. Will you vow to fight beside me?" Inuyasha hesitated, then nodded solemnly.
"Yes, I will."
Sesshoumaru patted the child's ears, tweaking one in his hand as he walked away. {Even Sesshoumaru can't resist the ears!}
"From now on, you live like me, wandering the lands until you find a place to call home. I'm still Lord of the Western Lands, with no challengers. You, half-breed, are nothing. Become something in three hundred years. Then the Demon Tournaments will begin, and our father's blood will be avenged."
Sesshoumaru walked into the distance, leaving Inuyasha behind. Inuyasha stared for a moment before returning home to bury his mother.
-------
Inuyasha: Hey, I'm even cool as a kid.
Sesshoumaru: You're cowardly as a kid.
SF: HEY! No fighting! Can't you two behave for once?
Sesshoumaru: I will not take orders from a half breed.
SF: You won't will you? {::eyes glow silver as lightening strikes the middle of the stage:: Kagome and Sango gasp and grab a very happy Miroku.}
Sesshoumaru: Alright. Calm down.
SF: That's what I thought. You might want to hit Miroku before his hand reaches something important, Sango.
Thwack!
SF: {::shaking her head::} Lord, why me? Chapter five is really short, so I updated it too. Please resume to that chapter. All answers to reviews are there.
