Moonlit Encounter:
A Tale of Dogs & Wolves
By: ChocolateEclar
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any other character from the anime/manga "Inuyasha." So don't try to sue me. ^___^
Claimer: I own Koinu (Nobara), Shirakaba, Yu (Yousukou), Hime (Yuck!), Mashiro, Itoshii, Haipaa, Koishii and her children, and all of Yu's younger siblings and cousins.A/N: This chapters features Rufio's song "Decency." I've never heard this song but I thought the lyrics kinda fit this chapter. This is a really strange chapter… Btw, I don't own the song so don't sue me. ^_^
A/N 2: ^__^ Yay! Chapter 10! Double-digits woo! *laughing* Anyway, here's the next chapter!
Part 10: Trapped Within
Yu reached the edge of the forest only to be thrown back in. He was being pressed against a tree by a clawed hand that had wrapped around his throat. He looked up and met the eyes of Inuyasha and Kagome. Inuyasha was the one throttling him and he coughed out, "Wha?!?! Let go! I need to tell you-"
"Where's Koinu, bastard?!" snapped Inuyasha. Kagome, who had been on his back, now hopped off and placed one hand on the hanyou's shoulder.
"Let him go, Inuyasha," she reprimanded, one eyebrow raised.
Inuyasha obliged reluctantly causing Yu to land in a coughing heap on the dirt. Shi appeared a moment later panting and leaning forward, his hands on his knees. He looked up and blurted out, "Geez, Dad! Did you try to kill him or somethin'?"
"Now," said Kagome smiling at Shi before turning back to Yu. "Where's Koinu? She didn't come home last night and we knew she had gone to see you."
Yu stood up, brushing the dirt off his jeans. "She-well. Yesterday my otousan's clan, Koinu, and I were ambushed by a gyangu of youkai," he explained. "We won but not before Koinu turned into a hanyou and then a full youkai. Many of both sides died and I brought her back to our dens to rest. But now she's still having trouble keeping her youkai blood in check and I don't know what to do! So I was going to go tell you guys but obviously you beat me to it!"
By then they had started walking towards the urufu dens. When Yu was finished Inuyasha nodded in understanding and picked up Kagome. "Lead the way, booi," he muttered to Yu who consented.
For the time being, they would be little help to Koinu though.
************************************************************************
Koinu lay rigid on a bed of furs, her eyes shut. If anyone where to lift their lids, they would see golden eyes with swirls of blood red.
She was fighting it. The youkai blood.
***
Feeling locked up and,
I'm seeping in this,
Falling over myself.
Sheltered memories.
I'm trapped inside my mind.
My mode has decayed.
***
Inside her subconscious Koinu stood facing a mirror while pitch-black darkness surrounded her. Her reflection was not that of a quarter inu-youkai's though. It was her full youkai self that looked back at her, inu ears and all. The purple slash marks and the elongated fangs and claws were clearly visible. Her hair was pure white as well. The 'real' Koinu looked normal though, her hair was raven black as her environment and her eyes were golden. The gold orbs met red ones in the mirror and she flinched. The youkai Koinu in the mirror smiled at her counterpart's pain and said, "Why don't you let go? Let me take control forever."
***
Sometimes I feel like I'm holding onto something,
Will I feel free again?
So ask me where will I be,
It seems I'll never know.
You'll never find me again.
***
"No!" cried out Koinu, glaring at her demonic copy.
She backed away from the mirror as the demoness leaned out and queried, "No? Why not? Don't you want to be strong?"
"Don't come near me!" screamed Koinu as the she-demon reached out to grab her with her claws.
The youkai Koinu smirked and the 'real' version let out a strangled cry as the youkai clutched her wrist. Koinu tried to break free, attempting to yank her arm away. The youkai laughed, cold and cruelly. Then she pulled Koinu into the mirror and jumped out. She tapped the golden frame of the mirror and it sealed with the quarter youkai Koinu inside. Koinu rapped on the glass, panic taking hold of her.
Cold, icy tendrils gripped her.
Koinu let out a shriek both inside and out. It rang out of the cave and to the sensitive ears of Yu, Inuyasha, Shi and the nearby urufu youkai pack.
Everything went dark and her body went limp.
***
My decency is bleeding red,
I can't see.
Everything's gray in my head.
It's over.
Thoughts we defined.
The problems remain the same,
There's no end.
***
Yu, Inuyasha, Shi, and Kagome reached the den and Kagome pulled away from Inuyasha hurrying to her ojousan's side. The others followed her. None of them could get Koinu to wake up.
************************************************************************
"Someone has to know what to do!" protested Kagome. They had tried to use Tetsusaiga to control Koinu's youkai blood by placing it in Koinu's hands as she lay unconscious but to no avail.
"I've tried everything I know," sighed Mashiro. "My sister's a hanyou so I have dealt with similar situations, but the difference in youkai blood is causing Koinu's state to leave me baffled," she admitted. "She is only a quarter youkai after all."
Kagome nodded. A thought struck her. "Inuyasha, do you think Myouga would know anything that could help?" she asked.
Her mate pondered this for a moment before nodding in agreement. "He might but the flea's on some island relaxing."
"Oh yea. I remember now. He's in Hawaii drinking blood from sunbathing tourists," muttered Kagome wryly.
"How could that cowardly bug help Ko?" inquired Shi from his seat in the far corner of the den.
"He is cowardly, but he's still very old and knowledgeable on youkai type affairs," replied Kagome laughingly. "He's the one who told us about how quarter youkai become ninjen twice a month."
"Oh," muttered Shi leaning back against the cold stonewall.
"I bet Shippou would know a way to contact him," continued Kagome.
Inuyasha nodded, standing up and saying, "I'll go ask him then."
Kagome kissed his cheek and whispered, "Hurry."
Inuyasha left in the next instant, passing by Yu as he leaned against one of the walls, his arms crossed.
************************************************************************
Koinu awoke internally, she was still trapped in the mirror, the tendrils wrapped around her arms and legs tightly. She could see the mirror opening before her. She was still trapped inside and could make out the shape of her youkai equivalent on the other side, smirking at her.
She shivered, trying to remove the vines. They were freezing, causing her quaking to intensify by the minute. She could see the she-demon walking away from the mirror into the infinite darkness that surrounded it. 'She's leaving me to die here,' Koinu realized. The discovery caused her to struggle harder, digging her nails into the tendrils and pushing away from them. She groaned as she strained against the thin yet strong vines.
'Almost there,' she thought, leaning forward and jabbing her nails into the ground.
"Think again, weakling," called a voice almost identical to her own but a bit deeper and far colder. The voice of her youkai self.
Koinu's ankles were the only things still entrapped in the tendrils' grasps. She grabbed onto the tendrils, trying to yank them off her. That was when all the other vines clutched onto her and she was pulled in again. Her nails scraped on the floor as she struggled against the vines.
This time there was no escape. She let out a strangled screech as the tendrils dragged her to their mouth. It was a gapping hole in its tendril-covered body that led into an even deeper darkness. Instinct told her that if it swallowed her she would most likely never get out. She squirmed and scratched and bit several of the vines, but they held on, pulling her along.
"No!" she screamed, thrashing at the vines harder.
That was when the tendrils threw her into the mouth and she let out another shriek. Infinite darkness and cold gripped her and she fell into a pained slumber.
***
Feeling locked up and,
I'm seeping in this,
Falling over myself.
Sheltered memories.
I'm trapped inside my mind.
My mode has decayed.
Sometimes I feel like I'm holding onto something,
Will I feel free again?
So ask me where will I be,
It seems I'll never know.
You'll never find me again.
***
The youkai Koinu let out a whooping laugh and smirked. She had control now.
************************************************************************
Yu, Kagome, Shi, and Mashiro watched with horror as Koinu's body transformed. She was turning into a youkai, her hair white and her cheeks accented with two purple lines. Her claws and fangs lengthened and her ears turned into the pointed ones of an inu youkai.
Her eyes snapped open then, revealing red ones with thin pupils. She stood up rapidly, smirking.
"Koinu!" cried out Yu, taking a step towards the youkai. The demoness slashed Yu across his chest, throwing him backwards.
Koinu left then, springing from the cave and into the dense forest. They called after her but she simply twitched her inu ears at them.
Yu let out a low yell of anguish and stood up. "I'll go after her, keep thinking of a way to get her back to normal," he explained.
Mashiro and Kagome nodded and Shi suggested, "I can come with."
"No," said Yu firmly. "I need to do this by myself. I don't want you to get hurt."
"I-" Shi began to protest, but stopped at a stern look from his okaasan. "Alright. Be careful, Yu."
Yu nodded and left, jumping into the woods after Koinu.
************************************************************************
"Just try and catch me," muttered youkai Koinu as she sensed Yu coming after her. "Either way you can't get the little mutt back," she added chuckling wickedly.
Inside the 'real' Koinu, shifted in her arctic prison inside the tendril monster. "Y-Yu," she whispered, curled into a fetal position. The darkness rippled slightly at her mutter and the whisper was carried away.
***
My decency is bleeding red,
I can't see.
Everything's gray in my head.
It's over.
Thoughts we defined.
The problems remain the same,
There's no end.
***
Miles behind the demoness Koinu, Yu heard a tiny whisper that stopped him in his tracks.
"Y-Yu."
***
My decency is
bleeding red,
I can't see.
Everything's gray in my head.
It's over.
Thoughts we defined.
The problems remain the same,
There's no end.
And I say,
There's no end.
***
Yu shook his head in disbelief and sped after Koinu. He had to hurry.
************************************************************************
The demonic Koinu laughed and whispered, "There's no end."
************************************************************************
A/N: This chapter was a bit strange. *laughing* ^_^;; A/N 2: Here's the only translation: Ojousan=daughterA/N 3: Review! ^__^ Bye!