The Welder of BlackFire:

Thorn's Past Life-A Mysterious Ally

Chapter Thirteen: Say Good-Bye to the Shards

Dawn crested over the horizon. The first rays shone in the hanyou's golden eyes as he began to wake.

"You sure do sleep a lot, Inuyasha," came a familiar growl from above him. He immediately jumped to his feet, balancing easily on the tree branch where he had been sleeping, his hands on the hilt of the Tetsusaiga. He looked up, seeing a woman sitting peacefully watching the sun rise.

"Thorn! Where the hell did you come from?" he growled. She looked down at him, her eyes unreadable as golden rays reflected off their surface.

"I want to know how your companions can trust their lives in your care when you sleep so heavily," she said, turning back to the horizon, ignoring his question.

"I want to know why you're here tormenting me instead of Naraku!" he growled back at her. This brought a sinister glare from the woman. She jumped down from her branch on to his, facing the him. Her staff appeared at her hand, and it went to his throat in a flash. She almost smiled.

"I am curious as to how you found that out. But I guess you should know that I have split my alliance with the villain," she said.

"So you came back here to annoy me!" he hissed quietly, making sure not to wake his companions.

"I just came for a visit, to talk to Kegome mostly. And you'll be happy to know I will not be staying, I have a new ally in which I keep company with." She pulled back the sharp point of her staff and jumped down from the tree with the grace of a cat. Grumbling, Inuyasha followed suit.

He took a deep sniff at the air as he stretched. He paused. Her scent, it was different, changed, but still the same. She smelled mostly of river water, and the scent was hidden beneath. He watched her a moment. She moved differently now too, her gait, if possible, prouder than before, seeming to know that no harm would come to her. Before she had been almost shifty compared to this, her eyes darting, as if looking for trouble, but now they only turned at some sounds that hinted threat, wise to the world around her. She kept her staff at her side.

She's taken to the defencive! Inuyasha thought. She's not out looking for a fight, but almost seems as if waiting for one. But her gait says that she doesn't care if danger came and started to strangle her. She's confident, that's for sure.

The sun broke entirely over the horizon, and the camp was awake and shinning. Thorn watched as the group ate their breakfast, gazing off into space and answering questions with a touch of a growl.

A whoosh sighed near her ear, and she pulled her staff up in time to block a blow to her shoulder from the Tetsusaiga. She turned around, her swirling glare piercing into Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha!" Kegome cried.

"What did you do that for?!" Shippo exclaimed.

"Yes, Inuyasha, explain yourself," said Miroku, his voice stained with slight aggravation. He was amazed at her skill, how she could block the blow without hardly looking at her opponent.

But it seems BlackFire did not get his wish, her anger is still very great, the monk bemused at the woman's angry glare, one that he had received what seemed like ages ago.

"Huh. You actually think she wouldn't block it? Your skills have improved, even if just a little, Thorn," Inuyasha huffed. He didn't like the look of anger she was giving him.

"I have a very good teacher," she countered, her voice deadly soft.

"Yeah? And who's your teacher?" he asked with a smirk in his voice.

"Inuyasha! Its not polite to pry!" Kegome said, a warning in her tone.

Thorn's lips curled in a sad smile that never reached her eyes. "Its a secret."

"Yeah right, you just don't want us to know," he said gruffly, resheathing the Tetsusaiga and sitting down.

"Exactly," she said, placing her staff by her side.

When she traveled with us before, she always put her staff away, confident. She's paranoid on protection. This is confusing, the hanyou thought.

The day wore on into early afternoon, and they sat down to make a small camp to eat. Thorn refused to eat. Inuyasha sat up in a tree, being the lookout after scarfing his meal. He was thinking, looking in the distance. He looked down suspiciously at the black-clad woman below him, who seemed to be listening with her eyes closed. Her hand lay over her bare stomach, beneath the edge of her top and her face was blank, showing no emotion. Then it hit him. He jumped down directly behind her. She didn't move.

"How much longer do you have?" he asked, his arms crossed, his voice flat.

Thorn's eyes opened. "I don't know yet. It depends on how much I eat," she said. "Its different for me then it is for normal humans or demons." He seemed satisfied by this answer and nodded. Silence cheerfully began to dance around them.

"Ahh, do you mind explaining, you two?" asked Miroku when neither elaborated or chose to inform the rest of the group about what they were speaking of.

"Yeah, what are you guys talking about?" Shippo asked.

"This isn't for the ears of kits," Thorn said. She stared at the kitsune, and his eyes began to droop. He lay down next to Kegome, and began to breath regularly.

"What did you do to him?!" Kegome asked, her voice worried.

"He's just taking a nap," replied the woman.

"Are you going to answer our questions?" asked the monk.

Thorn sighed, "Yes."

"Well?" the monk prodded.

"Basically, BlackFire told me of his excursion to your campfire the last time I saw you. He told me everything he said to you and, frankly, you lost your chance, Miroku," she said, smirking.

"What do you mean, 'lost my chance'?" he asked, clearly confused. She didn't say anything.

"Agg! Don't you get it you stupid monk? Someone beat you to the punch! She's already been taken," Inuyasha said, exasperated at Miroku's stupidity.

Kegome and Miroku stared at Thorn in utter disbelief.

"But I want to know how you figured it out, Inuyasha," she said, giving a sideways glance at the hanyou. He snorted.

"It wasn't that hard. You smelled different for one, and the river water only hid part of it. You moved different too, I noticed that you had taken to the defensive, and you only proved it when I attacked you. You didn't fight back," he said, almost disappointingly.

"Hmm, I should have known that your powers were that good," was all she said.

"When are you due?" Miroku asked, shaking the shock from his mind.

"I've already answered this question once," she growled.

"Well what did you mean by it depending on how much you eat?" Kegome asked shyly when she realized what she ment.

Thorn sighed and closed her eyes. "My body doesn't work like a normal humans or even that of a normal demon, since the cub is demonic, so if I eat a lot, which I have been doing too much lately, then it grows much faster. If I continued my feeding schedule, it should be born in a few months or so." She shrugged. "BlackFire seems to think that I am too irritable like this and that I should eat more and so bear it sooner," she snorted, a growl rumbling in her throat.

"I think he's right," Inuyasha whispered, hulking down in his shirt, his voice a breath on the wind, but that didn't keep Thorn's sensitive ears from picking up the sound. She turned to face him, her eyes glaring chasms of silvery green and her growl growing louder.

"Better watch your tongue, Inuyasha. I wouldn't mind adding it to a collection of mine," she said, amusement and threat hinting in her seductive tones.

"Be careful, Inuyasha, I'm sure she's very capable of it," Miroku said, fidgeting were he sat, making Shippo stir. Thorn's glare turned toward the monk.

"I am, Miroku, very perceptive," Thorn said, before Inuyasha made a rash retort. "But I didn't come here for tongues. I wanted to tell you that the jewel shards that are currently in BlackFire's possession will be out of your reach until I turn back into my..hanyou form." Her statement brought confused looks from the group, and a groggy one from the slowly waking kitsune. "BlackFire told you that I am a reincarnation of a wolf, and that with his shape-shifting powers I am able to turn into one. But now that I am with cub, I will have to stay in my wolfish form, because the cub is much more canine then human. So by doing this, the Shikon shards will be unreachable, because I know that Inuyasha is still looking for a way to get them." She smirked as the hanyou growled, burrowing lower in his shirt. "So I came to tell you that it will be pointless for you to come after them for a while, for if my mate were to find you, well, let's just say that death will soon be a close friend of yours."

She stood up, taking her staff, and sighed. "You have been warned. Especially you, Inuyasha. I'd stop your train of thought right now if you hold your life to any value."


"WILL YOU CUT THAT OUT, THORN? I'm sick and tired of you doing that!" Inuyasha fumed, stamping up and down. The woman glared at him before fading into the shadows.

"What's going on?" Shippo asked, holding his head.

"Nothing," Inuyasha grumbled, turning away. Miroku and Kegome looked at each other and sighed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Authoress' Note: yay! Another chapter done! I'm going to try to post the rest of this story ASAP. So I'll quick have the disclaimer done. This final disclaimer will be for the rest of the story.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA AND COMP. I OWN ONLY THORN AND BLACKFIRE.

Thank you and review!