Chapter 4
[I thank you all once again for the reviews ^^ sorry this took so long but
school has been murdering me. Essays x_X And I have many other fan
fictions to work on. Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Inuyasha.]
Inuyasha sighed, sitting in front of a small fire in one of the small homes and crossed his arms. Kagome poked the burning wood of the fire with a larger stick then set it beside her.
"You know," Started off Inuyasha. "We're going to regret Miroku's decision. And I'm already regretting carrying you around everywhere for the whole afternoon! And from our little travel, we've only found one shard of the jewel. ONE!"
"Inuyasha!" Kagome said. "It helps us more than it'll help Sesshoumaru though."
"Where -did- the cat and Miroku go off to..." Asked Inuyasha suspiciously, eyeing the door.
"Inuyashaaaa!!!" Shippou yelled from outside and plowed into the home. "There's some sort of monster in the middle of the village that's trying to kill everything! Miroku and that cat lady are there!"
Inuyasha growled and he stood up. "Great... just great."
In the centre of the quite little village, it was greatly known that it wasn't a peaceful little place with a scorpion monster chasing the villagers away and ruining homes. Inuyasha jumped onto a nearby roof and scowled. He saw Miroku standing in front of Tairei, trying to protect her at all costs.
"What are you doing, you idiot?" He yelled down at Miroku. "She's a demon! She can take care of herself!"
Miroku lightly pushed Tairei back a bit, keeping her directly behind him in case the monster wanted to attack.
"Oh come on, already!" Snapped Inuyasha as he jumped down. "You damned cat bitch, move it!"
"Watch out!" Yelled Kagome from a distance away, holding Shippou. "Miroku, look out for its tail!"
The giant scorpion stabbed its poison-coated tail at the two and Miroku pushed Tairei back and jumped away himself, barely getting away. He almost hissed in pain as he clutched his wounded leg. Tairei looked down at Miroku, tilting her head slightly to the side.
"Does it... hurt?" She asked.
"Y-yes. Yes, it does." Said Miroku, wincing immensely. "Get away from it!"
Sango ran over to Miroku and kneeled beside him, looking at the wound on his leg. "... It's poisoned."
"I'm fine." Miroku winced again. "I still have a lot of time before it spreads."
"Kagome!" Yelled Inuyasha as he kept his eyes on the monster. "You and Shippou hurry the hell up and ask around if anyone has an antidote or anything!"
Kagome nodded hesitantly and ran off to the group of people who stood around, letting Shippou run off on his own.
"Iron Reamer Soul Stealer-GAH!" Inuyasha was about to slice the monster in half when it scattered away quickly, avoiding the worst of the strike but just got its side split open. "Damn it!"
Tairei watched silently as the scorpion ran right towards the three, seeing the giant boomerang that belonged to Sango, bounce off of its exoskeleton. The scorpion started to attack them with its tail, missing them very slightly.
"Oh no! Watch out!" Yelled Kagome, clutching her hands very tightly. "Miroku! Sango!"
Tairei jumped forward, right past the poison-coated tail of the monster and extended her claws, pulling them back over her head then slashing down in almost a blurring speed, as Inuyasha unknowingly slashed at the monster from the side. The monster fell to the ground, in pieces then reformed almost immediately, into two scorpion monsters.
"HEY!" Yelled Inuyasha. "What the hell is going on around here?!"
A pink glowing spot appeared on each of the monsters, and Inuyasha's eyes narrowed. "The jewel pieces..."
Inuyasha saw a black and silver blur careen right past him and right through one of the giant scorpions, causing it to fall to pieces and the shard of the jewel fell to the ground. He picked up the pink glowing shard slowly and glanced back at Tairei, who had stopped running and looked down at her bloody claws.
"..." Tairei stayed silent, not even taking notice of the vulnerable state that Sango and Miroku were in.
"... Guys! Look!" Shouted Shippou as he madly pointed at the giant monster.
Miroku struggled to get up on his own, while the monster edged closer and closer.
"Iron reamer soul stealer!" Inuyasha cried out, slashing the monster into pieces and snatching the jewel bits.
Miroku and the others sighed heavily, while Shippou scurried towards Miroku as quickly as his little feet could take him. He started to pour some of the antidote on the open wound and Miroku grit his teeth, hissing a bit because of the burning feeling.
"The old woman that gave us this medicine said that you'll have to keep off of your feet for a while. She says that it should do the trick and you should be fine in a couple of days." Explained Kagome, looking down at Miroku.
"Hey! What about me!" Inuyasha yelled, holding up the Shikon Jewel shards. "I did all the work!"
"You had a little help, Inuyasha." Kagome said, pointing towards Tairei.
Inuyasha crossed his arms, hiding his hands in his sleeves. "Not much help. I could have taken that thing on myself."
"... Right." Kagome acknowledged.
"Hey guys!" Shippou jumped up and pointed to where Tairei once stood. "Someone has to check her to see if she's alright and all."
Sango glanced over and saw no one there. "... Oh great."
Inuyasha glared back at some of the villagers. "HEY! Did any of you idiots see that cat demon run off somewhere?!"
"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled. "Be more respectful!"
Inuyasha rolled his eyes and tried again. "Hey you guys over there! Did any of you morons over there see a cat demon run off just a while ago?"
Kagome sighed. "Hopeless."
A little child stepped forward, looking no more than ten years old. "I saw the kitty lady."
Inuyasha looked down at the kid. "Really. And where did the kitty go, little girl?"
The small girl held her hands behind his back and lightly dug the toe of her sandal into the dirt.
Inuyasha started getting impatient but kept his voice even. "Well?"
"She walked off into the shadows. Into the shadows towards the water spring that is through the big trees." She said quietly, keeping her gaze at her toes.
Inuyasha shook his head. "Figures. Kagome, let's all return to the place where we're staying and let the cat return on her own."
"But Inuyash-"
"No buts, Kagome. Just leave her alone." Inuyasha warned, strolling back to where they left the fire.
Kagome looked at Sango, but only received a shrug in response. The two helped Miroku up and helped him walk back towards the small home; giving him sharp warnings not to pull anything funny.
In the middle of the night, the fire had burned low and Miroku was given a makeshift crutch close to him if he really needed to move. He sighed, looking at the ceiling while the rest of the little party slept almost silently. He shifted uncomfortably and winced, feeling a sharp pain shoot up his leg. He decided that he had enough lying around and got up very slowly, being extremely careful not to wake any of the others up. He put his weight on the crutch and limped out of the place they were staying at.
The village was basically bare and the air hadn't cooled down all that much.
"It's going to be warm tomorrow.." he said to himself, starting to make his way towards where he thought Tairei was.
After a few minutes, he found what the little girl said. There was a spring there. A hot spring even and it looked almost bare, with exception of Tairei sitting in the shallow part, letting the blood be washed off by the water. Miroku limped over to her and sat down on a rock, resting the crutch beside him. Tairei didn't bother to look up. She just lightly swished her hand through the water, watching the blood drip off and swirl with the small current made by her hand.
Miroku cleared his throat then racked his brain for something. "... What are you doing here?"
Tairei set her claws hands on the bottom of the shallow area, keeping her back to Miroku. "... Washing it off... erasing it..."
Miroku raised an eyebrow. "What are you erasing? The blood?"
Tairei nodded, watching the blood disappear into the water. "It doesn't feel right... keeping it there..."
Miroku nodded, even though Tairei couldn't see it. "Ah. And it would attracted any other blood-thirsty demons if they caught the scent."
The two sat in silence again, with only the noise of the crickets and the small waterfall a little ways around the outside of the hot spring.
"... Tell me something..." Tairei said quietly. "What is it that you're looking for... what are you seeking in this... quest?"
Miroku clenched his gloved hand slowly, making the beads rattle slightly. "... The quest is to help people. You see, my family has had this... curse for a very long time. My grandfather had it first, because of Naraku."
Tairei looked back at Miroku. "... Who is this Naraku you speak of?"
Miroku shook his head and averted his gaze towards the ground. "I had a feeling that you didn't know him... He is a very cruel man who had damned my family with this curse. He's a demon, ruthless and doesn't care if he loses any of his allies. He is the one that cursed my grandfather... the void was the curse. The void can suck anything into it and it will never be seen again. If the curse is not broken, then the void will expand slowly and make the person disappear. That's what happened to my grandfather... and my father... and it will happen to me if we don't complete this little quest."
Tairei sat silently in front of him, listening almost attentively.
Miroku sighed again, looking back at Tairei. "That's about it. That's all I can tell you because I know no more."
"That's so... what is it... upsetting... almost tragic even." Tairei said quietly, flattening her ears.
'... She can feel more now.' Miroku thought to himself. 'I suppose that's a good thing, if nothing else...'
He sat there a while longer, then got up. "We both should be heading back now."
He started to make his way back then stopped, looking back at Tairei. There was another moment of silence, then Tairei got up and followed Miroku, not even caring is she was soaking wet.
[Another short chapter but... yeah. Sorry!]
[I thank you all once again for the reviews ^^ sorry this took so long but
school has been murdering me. Essays x_X And I have many other fan
fictions to work on. Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Inuyasha.]
Inuyasha sighed, sitting in front of a small fire in one of the small homes and crossed his arms. Kagome poked the burning wood of the fire with a larger stick then set it beside her.
"You know," Started off Inuyasha. "We're going to regret Miroku's decision. And I'm already regretting carrying you around everywhere for the whole afternoon! And from our little travel, we've only found one shard of the jewel. ONE!"
"Inuyasha!" Kagome said. "It helps us more than it'll help Sesshoumaru though."
"Where -did- the cat and Miroku go off to..." Asked Inuyasha suspiciously, eyeing the door.
"Inuyashaaaa!!!" Shippou yelled from outside and plowed into the home. "There's some sort of monster in the middle of the village that's trying to kill everything! Miroku and that cat lady are there!"
Inuyasha growled and he stood up. "Great... just great."
In the centre of the quite little village, it was greatly known that it wasn't a peaceful little place with a scorpion monster chasing the villagers away and ruining homes. Inuyasha jumped onto a nearby roof and scowled. He saw Miroku standing in front of Tairei, trying to protect her at all costs.
"What are you doing, you idiot?" He yelled down at Miroku. "She's a demon! She can take care of herself!"
Miroku lightly pushed Tairei back a bit, keeping her directly behind him in case the monster wanted to attack.
"Oh come on, already!" Snapped Inuyasha as he jumped down. "You damned cat bitch, move it!"
"Watch out!" Yelled Kagome from a distance away, holding Shippou. "Miroku, look out for its tail!"
The giant scorpion stabbed its poison-coated tail at the two and Miroku pushed Tairei back and jumped away himself, barely getting away. He almost hissed in pain as he clutched his wounded leg. Tairei looked down at Miroku, tilting her head slightly to the side.
"Does it... hurt?" She asked.
"Y-yes. Yes, it does." Said Miroku, wincing immensely. "Get away from it!"
Sango ran over to Miroku and kneeled beside him, looking at the wound on his leg. "... It's poisoned."
"I'm fine." Miroku winced again. "I still have a lot of time before it spreads."
"Kagome!" Yelled Inuyasha as he kept his eyes on the monster. "You and Shippou hurry the hell up and ask around if anyone has an antidote or anything!"
Kagome nodded hesitantly and ran off to the group of people who stood around, letting Shippou run off on his own.
"Iron Reamer Soul Stealer-GAH!" Inuyasha was about to slice the monster in half when it scattered away quickly, avoiding the worst of the strike but just got its side split open. "Damn it!"
Tairei watched silently as the scorpion ran right towards the three, seeing the giant boomerang that belonged to Sango, bounce off of its exoskeleton. The scorpion started to attack them with its tail, missing them very slightly.
"Oh no! Watch out!" Yelled Kagome, clutching her hands very tightly. "Miroku! Sango!"
Tairei jumped forward, right past the poison-coated tail of the monster and extended her claws, pulling them back over her head then slashing down in almost a blurring speed, as Inuyasha unknowingly slashed at the monster from the side. The monster fell to the ground, in pieces then reformed almost immediately, into two scorpion monsters.
"HEY!" Yelled Inuyasha. "What the hell is going on around here?!"
A pink glowing spot appeared on each of the monsters, and Inuyasha's eyes narrowed. "The jewel pieces..."
Inuyasha saw a black and silver blur careen right past him and right through one of the giant scorpions, causing it to fall to pieces and the shard of the jewel fell to the ground. He picked up the pink glowing shard slowly and glanced back at Tairei, who had stopped running and looked down at her bloody claws.
"..." Tairei stayed silent, not even taking notice of the vulnerable state that Sango and Miroku were in.
"... Guys! Look!" Shouted Shippou as he madly pointed at the giant monster.
Miroku struggled to get up on his own, while the monster edged closer and closer.
"Iron reamer soul stealer!" Inuyasha cried out, slashing the monster into pieces and snatching the jewel bits.
Miroku and the others sighed heavily, while Shippou scurried towards Miroku as quickly as his little feet could take him. He started to pour some of the antidote on the open wound and Miroku grit his teeth, hissing a bit because of the burning feeling.
"The old woman that gave us this medicine said that you'll have to keep off of your feet for a while. She says that it should do the trick and you should be fine in a couple of days." Explained Kagome, looking down at Miroku.
"Hey! What about me!" Inuyasha yelled, holding up the Shikon Jewel shards. "I did all the work!"
"You had a little help, Inuyasha." Kagome said, pointing towards Tairei.
Inuyasha crossed his arms, hiding his hands in his sleeves. "Not much help. I could have taken that thing on myself."
"... Right." Kagome acknowledged.
"Hey guys!" Shippou jumped up and pointed to where Tairei once stood. "Someone has to check her to see if she's alright and all."
Sango glanced over and saw no one there. "... Oh great."
Inuyasha glared back at some of the villagers. "HEY! Did any of you idiots see that cat demon run off somewhere?!"
"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled. "Be more respectful!"
Inuyasha rolled his eyes and tried again. "Hey you guys over there! Did any of you morons over there see a cat demon run off just a while ago?"
Kagome sighed. "Hopeless."
A little child stepped forward, looking no more than ten years old. "I saw the kitty lady."
Inuyasha looked down at the kid. "Really. And where did the kitty go, little girl?"
The small girl held her hands behind his back and lightly dug the toe of her sandal into the dirt.
Inuyasha started getting impatient but kept his voice even. "Well?"
"She walked off into the shadows. Into the shadows towards the water spring that is through the big trees." She said quietly, keeping her gaze at her toes.
Inuyasha shook his head. "Figures. Kagome, let's all return to the place where we're staying and let the cat return on her own."
"But Inuyash-"
"No buts, Kagome. Just leave her alone." Inuyasha warned, strolling back to where they left the fire.
Kagome looked at Sango, but only received a shrug in response. The two helped Miroku up and helped him walk back towards the small home; giving him sharp warnings not to pull anything funny.
In the middle of the night, the fire had burned low and Miroku was given a makeshift crutch close to him if he really needed to move. He sighed, looking at the ceiling while the rest of the little party slept almost silently. He shifted uncomfortably and winced, feeling a sharp pain shoot up his leg. He decided that he had enough lying around and got up very slowly, being extremely careful not to wake any of the others up. He put his weight on the crutch and limped out of the place they were staying at.
The village was basically bare and the air hadn't cooled down all that much.
"It's going to be warm tomorrow.." he said to himself, starting to make his way towards where he thought Tairei was.
After a few minutes, he found what the little girl said. There was a spring there. A hot spring even and it looked almost bare, with exception of Tairei sitting in the shallow part, letting the blood be washed off by the water. Miroku limped over to her and sat down on a rock, resting the crutch beside him. Tairei didn't bother to look up. She just lightly swished her hand through the water, watching the blood drip off and swirl with the small current made by her hand.
Miroku cleared his throat then racked his brain for something. "... What are you doing here?"
Tairei set her claws hands on the bottom of the shallow area, keeping her back to Miroku. "... Washing it off... erasing it..."
Miroku raised an eyebrow. "What are you erasing? The blood?"
Tairei nodded, watching the blood disappear into the water. "It doesn't feel right... keeping it there..."
Miroku nodded, even though Tairei couldn't see it. "Ah. And it would attracted any other blood-thirsty demons if they caught the scent."
The two sat in silence again, with only the noise of the crickets and the small waterfall a little ways around the outside of the hot spring.
"... Tell me something..." Tairei said quietly. "What is it that you're looking for... what are you seeking in this... quest?"
Miroku clenched his gloved hand slowly, making the beads rattle slightly. "... The quest is to help people. You see, my family has had this... curse for a very long time. My grandfather had it first, because of Naraku."
Tairei looked back at Miroku. "... Who is this Naraku you speak of?"
Miroku shook his head and averted his gaze towards the ground. "I had a feeling that you didn't know him... He is a very cruel man who had damned my family with this curse. He's a demon, ruthless and doesn't care if he loses any of his allies. He is the one that cursed my grandfather... the void was the curse. The void can suck anything into it and it will never be seen again. If the curse is not broken, then the void will expand slowly and make the person disappear. That's what happened to my grandfather... and my father... and it will happen to me if we don't complete this little quest."
Tairei sat silently in front of him, listening almost attentively.
Miroku sighed again, looking back at Tairei. "That's about it. That's all I can tell you because I know no more."
"That's so... what is it... upsetting... almost tragic even." Tairei said quietly, flattening her ears.
'... She can feel more now.' Miroku thought to himself. 'I suppose that's a good thing, if nothing else...'
He sat there a while longer, then got up. "We both should be heading back now."
He started to make his way back then stopped, looking back at Tairei. There was another moment of silence, then Tairei got up and followed Miroku, not even caring is she was soaking wet.
[Another short chapter but... yeah. Sorry!]