The Welder of BlackFire:
Thorn's Past Life- A Mysterious Ally
Chapter Nine: BlackFire's Explination and Offer
The fire licked the air greedily, its flames reflecting in the hanyou's eyes. A soft padding came from the woods to the half-demon's left. He jerked his head toward the sound. The falls became heavier, closer, but the shadows cloaked the beast that made them. A white scar materialized in the darkness, and with it followed a pair of sapphire eyes and a silken black muzzle. Drops of water splashed onto the soft grass from the coat as the wolf stepped into the clearing.
"I thought I smelled blood," said InuYasha with a sneer, catching the attention of his companions. A set of ivory teeth flashed in the rays of the fire, glinting in its light.
"I washed most of it off, lucky for yourself. Or you might have a horde of demons walking into your peaceful little camp. I'm surprised though, that the monk did not give you better accommodations at a near-by village." A chuckle rose in the shaggy throat of the wolf.
"We didn't want to draw attention to ourselves, unlike you," retorted the hanyou.
"Well then, I'm sure I wouldn't draw half as much attention with those little white ears on top of my head now would I?" he asked mockingly, making InuYasha grit his teeth in anger.
"Calm yourself InuYasha, let's see what he has to say," said Miroku, who was sitting calmly on the other side of the fire from the wolf.
"Yes, listen to the monk, he tends to know things," sang out the brassy voice. With a disgruntled snort, the dog-demon crossed his arms sulkily and stared into the fire's ambers.
"I want to know, before anything, why she's doing Naraku's dirty work," Miroku stated, his eyes closed as he sipped tea. The wolf shot him a look of amazement before subduing it into a mask of a cold stare.
"How did you know about that?" he snarled.
"Ha, even a human could hear what you said back at the village," spat Inuyasha.
"Why?" asked Kegome, lack of sleep making her bleary.
The wolf sat down calmly. "Only because he has something she wants of course. The Jewel shards? Yes, but you know of that already after that battle with the wolf youkai after this whelp tossed you into the well don't you?" he nodded his head in Inuyasha's direction, a smirk slit his features at the amazed look on the girl's face. "Anyway, I wouldn't worry about that, its the least of your concerns at the moment. Her anger is far more powerful then anything Naraku could dish out. Besides, she'll be leaving him behind soon, he's much too weak and she's had enough of killing for him to get the shards. Next he's bound to ask her to kill someone she does not want to." The wolf snorted, disgusted.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Inuyasha. The wolf sighed.
"Questions questions! You never stay silent for long do you?" he asked, looking at the hanyou. This time it was the half-breed's turn to snort.
"Not when I have questions that I don't have the answers too and I'm talking with an 'all knowing dragon' that can answer them," he retorted. This brought a glare from the cloaked dragon.
"Fine. What I mean is that she feels that he'll soon ask her to kill someone she doesn't want to die, yet."
"WHO?!" growled the hanyou. The wolf's eyes bore into his own.
"You should feel honored, she's saving you from having your hide tanned on Naraku's wall." This brought a startled look from everyone in the small camp and a small gasp from Kegome.
"W-what are you talking about mongrel?" asked the awe-struck Inuyasha savagely.
"I'm talking about her saving your puny life pup!" growled the wolf seconds after laying down.
"Don't antagonize him, Inuyasha. Besides he didn't come here to answer your questions," Miroku said, looking up from the wolf to the hanyou. He was answered with an aggravated grumble from Inuyasha.
"That's right. I came here to tell you a remedy to Mistress' anger," nodded the wolf.
"But I have a question," said Kegome, who was now fully awake and excited. "How did she come about you? And you said that its your blood that's making her this way, what do you mean by that? And-" Kegome began only to be cut off by the glares from the group. "What?" she asked innocently. The wolf sighed.
"I suppose I'll have to tell you the whole story if you're to be satisfied." He looked up. "I'll tell you through your minds though. Because this jaw is not designed for such carrying on." And with that he lowered his gaze and closed his azure eyes. "Close your eyes and I shall begin," he said and the darkness swallowed the group.
*
The demon was a fool. His anger got the better of him when I refused his blood and he tried to pry me from the stump, but I was granted the power to steal the soul from any creature that I refused and by doing so was granted the power to seek out the human that would bring me back by any means necessary. So I searched for the human that would set me free. Kegome, you were nearly her, I could feel it, but not quite. I had one month to find the girl and so I thought that you, Kegome, would lead me to her. You did. This brought a confused furrowing of the brow of the girl. I followed you down the Bone-eater's well and looked for her in your time. I found her. In what you call, America. She was a girl with the heart of a child, just as the prophecy said, tinged with the mind of a woman. Her mind had advanced passed the stage of childhood from a recent death of her grandfather. It softened her, yet at the same time, hardened her as well and her eyes took a gleam of fear, and then hatred. The prophecy spoke truly. I possessed her sister, and gave her a dieses that would kill her, slowly, with such evidence that she could not ignore it. Then I went to her other family members, an uncle and a grandmother. They all began to die, or, in her sister's case, slowly decay. The scene that they envisioned made Inuyasha and Miroku cringe and ball their fists and Kegome take a quick breath. Hold your anger. I was selfish, but I wouldn't have traded it. When her sister died, she snapped and her anger became hatred that knew no bounds. I compelled her to walk in her backyard woods, where I opened a portal like the Bone-Eaters well. She saw you, Inuyasha, at the tree stump when I refused you. Of course she knew nothing of the prophecy, but it didn't matter. I know you saw the golden light I emitted, just as the prophecy foretold. She excepted me, and when I was touching her skin, my powers came back. Only, I couldn't use them, and so I had to pass them on to her. One shard of the Jewel gave me power enough to speak with her and give her some of my powers and as I gained more shards, her power grew. With four shards I was able to pass on my shape-shifting power, though she now only shapes into what she was the reincarnation of; a wolf, even though she has the power to change into any creature desirable. But, she excepted the challenge, to get away from her own world, but also to make her stronger. She knew that by the deaths, I had made her mind stronger, and now she wanted bodily strength. I told her that she needed to collect the Jewel shards, to help me regain my powers and return to my former state, for I knew if there was any hope of me regaining my true shape, then I would need the Jewel's power. So she set out. But she knew more of this world then most, and somehow, she said a box told her, she knew people from this time and what was going to happen before it did, like when she watched your battle with the hell-painter, as she called him, before he was absorbed by his own ink. And when she told me about Kikyou. Yes, she knows about the 'dead' priestess, so don't be so shocked. She knows many things still to come, but knows too that they could bring about disaster if told. She came across you three, well, in a way, she knew you were there, only she could not predict the demon going out into the road when she stalked him. But she knew you were there, and did not run. We had been trailing you, much to the confusion of myself. But she knew that you had those Jewel Shards, and she seemed almost drawn to you, as if, and I think this is true, she only knew your fates. But it doesn't matter. She is powerful now, and nothing will stand in her way. But now, that is not why I came here. Now I've told my tale, and now I will tell you, why her anger is so great. As she gained the jewel's fragments, she installed them in the hilt of my prison, her sword. Don't get any ideas, Inuyasha, the sapphire in my hilt cannot be broken, ancient magic has insured that I will forever suffer as a whole, not in pieces; ever. As I gained more shards, as you know, it gave me power, and so I installed her with even more of my great energy. A power that used to make the most powerful demons quiver in fear. A power that took the magic of many to bind, a power that will not be bound again once I have the Shikon no Tama. But the more power I give her, the more of my own blood that flows in her body because my energy is so strong it overpowers her human blood, although I question the idea that she is a full-blooded human. Anyway, with my blood comes my anger for the ones that bound me, but because she hates her own race, yes, she hates the human race, my anger has become her own. Don't look so shocked, she realized the weakness of her fellow kin, and if she knew that I said that, I'd be cutting mountains with a dull blade. Very painful. But she swore to herself she'd never bond with such disgusting creatures, much less breed with them. She reasons this statement by saying that she doesn't want to contribute to such a shameful race of creatures. But I think, that by breeding her, she will calm, and so can focused on her mission more clearly without the aggravation of her times of uncontrollable rage. Frankly, you two were lucky when you caught her when you did, Inuyasha and Kegome. She calms at certain times, and you caught her just a few days after those times and so the demeanor wore off into that week you spent with her. Now, Miroku, she told me of your need, well, lust I should say, and so I began planning that perhaps she could be bred and calmed so she may achieve her mission. Now, monk, do you except my offer? Now, I warn you, she will be hard to win, for I doubt that even I have won her over yet, and we have been one for months now. But she'll be extremely stubborn, maybe even..well...difficult at times. You take this task at your own risk, so if you refuse, it is understandable. But I bid you to take it, for everyone's sake, for perhaps the worlds.
*
With a heavy sigh, they awoke, opening their eyes to the low ambers of the fire, feeling as if waking from a dream. The wolf looked at all of them for a moment, lingering on the monk before standing. "Now you know all you need to know, I will answer no more questions and you should know not to ask the girl any. I have to go, my time of freedom ends at dawn, and if she finds me here, I will pay dearly." He rose and turned around as the stunned trio watched him, silence cut only by Shippo's murmurs in his dreams. Inuyasha was the first to recover from the experience.
"Wait!"
The wolf paused and looked back. "What? I told you, no more questions. I'm drained from the nights hunting and my tale. She will seek you out when the time is right. She knows where you'll all be, and who your next adventure will involve. But monk, remember my offer, even though your new ally shall prove to be...challenging to resist. But I'm sure we'll meet again before that time comes...." and with a smirk and a small wave of his raven tail, the wolf disappeared into the forest.