Chapter 5
[I'm glad you enjoyed those last chapters ^_^; Sorry for the wait... school work is murdering me xX Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Inuyasha. I
only take credit for my original character; Tairei.]
The group decided to stay in the village for the day and rest in the hot spring. Miroku sat at the edge of the pool and kept his bandaged leg out of the water, while letting the other one soak. Thankfully to Sango and Kagome's relief, the hot spring had two separate sections and the girls could be away from the boys.
"Get back here you little runt!" Snarled Inuyasha as he ran through he bushes and into the hot spring.
"Kaaggommmmeeee!!" Shippou yelled, running full speed through the water to where the girls were relaxing. "Inuyasha's hurting me!!!"
Kagome sat up, covering her chest with her arms and looked over the edge of the rocks, seeing an enraged Inuyasha charging right behind the small fox demon. She ducked back down in the water and pointed to the rocks. Sango was wringing some water out of her hair and stopped, looking to where Kagome was pointing.
"Sit boy!" Kagome yelled at the top of her lungs.
Inuyasha stumbled half a step then went crashing to the bottom of the pool, causing a geyser of water to explode upwards. Shippou looked back and stuck his tongue out at Inuyasha, then jumped off of the rock backwards. Tairei stood up at the same time and Shippou smacked her in the back of the head, making both of them fall into the hot spring. Shippou surfaced first, gasping for air and looking around frantically.
"What'd I hit?!" He asked quickly.
Inuyasha growled and jumped back up, crawling over the edge of the rock and immediately averted his gaze when he saw Kagome and Sango.
"Inuyasha! Privacy would be nice!" Snapped Sango, ducking behind another rock.
"Where'd Tairei go?" Kagome asked, looking around the water pool. "I don't see her."
"Did I hit -her-?" Shippou shouted, looking around again. "She's going to eat me, isn't she!"
"I don't even think the cat knows how to swim! Damn it!" Snarled Inuyasha, then he dived into the pool.
Tairei pulled herself halfway out of the water a few feet away from Miroku and laid her upper body on the flat rock, looking down at it. She coughed, almost sounded like choking and spat out quite a bit of water.
"She's over here!" Miroku said, shifting himself over to where she was. "... You're not supposed to breathe water, you know."
Tairei coughed a few more times then rested the side of her head on the ground, switching her gaze over to the water. Miroku placed his left hand on her upper back and patted it a bit.
"Just spit it out and you should be fine." He said, taking a glance over to where the others were gathered.
Inuyasha broke back up to the surface and wondered what everyone was staring at. "... You mean to tell me that I went all the way underwater for NOTHING!?"
"... I think she considers Miroku as her security." Sango said slowly, pulling the rest of her clothing on. "She trusts him much more than she trusts any of us and that might be dangerous... either she's very naïve or something else is up...fear? I can't really place it but from what I've seen, what we've all seen, she stays around him."
"Are they going to be like Inuyasha and Kagome?" Shippou asked. "I mean, they fight all of the time but they are with each other almost all of the time!"
Inuyasha and Kagome's faces flushed immediately and they glared daggers at Shippou.
"No... I don't think so..." Sango answered, tying her hair back again. "Tairei seems to trust Miroku more than she does to us and it is almost as if Miroku is teaching her things... teaching her how to feel again."
"That -still- doesn't explain how she got all the way over there..." Growled Inuyasha, crossing his arms.
"Ahem, it's quite simple really." Said a little voice on Inuyasha's shoulder.
Inuyasha slowly looked down and narrowed his eyes. "And where have you been, Myoga..."
The flea jumped off of Inuyasha's shoulders and landed on one of his arms nervously. "... Just keeping a watchful eye on your new group member... a watchful eye that was very, very distant."
"The flea chickened out again." Sighed Kagome, walking back from where she got dressed.
"Ahem... as I was saying, since it is getting closer to the full moon, the demon cat girl's powers are becoming stronger. Completely the opposite of Lord Inuyasha when he loses his demon powers at the time of the new moon." Myoga explained. "It -is- very rare to see one of her type alive at the moment and starting to know true emotion. The barrier can only be surpassed from one thing."
"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Inuyasha asked skeptically.
"Is it not clear? You do not need my clues to hint the obvious, Lord Inuyasha." Myoga said.
Inuyasha grabbed the small flea in two fingers and held him in front of his face, squeezing him. "What-was-that?"
"Irk! It can only be surpassed or broken through from one emotion that is universal." Myoga said quickly. "True affection will only make her normal, for lack of better words. And can you let me go??"
Inuyasha closed his eyes and turned his head, squeezing the flea until he was flat.
"I thought so..." Myoga groaned, falling to the ground.
"You know, this completely goes against what Miroku said before and he doesn't like demons that much." Kagome said in wonder. "It's already proved with Inuyasha and him fighting... Do we really know what we're getting into?"
The group stood in silence until they heard some children yelling obscure things.
"Get out of here, demon!" One boy yelled, throwing a few stones towards Tairei.
Miroku stood up, leaning on the crutch. "Hey, leave her alone. She's done nothing to you."
"Want to bet?" Snapped the boy, pointing back towards the village. "We've never had a demon problem, or even a monster in there and when she came along, it appeared there last night!"
Miroku furrowed his eyebrows. "Then what about that furry-eared individual over there. What about Inuyasha?"
The boys looked at the half-breed dog demon and started laughing. "From what our dad's told us, he's only a stupid half mutt!"
Inuyasha seethed, clenching a fist. "Why you..."
"Inuyasha, don't." Kagome said, looking back at the children. "Why don't you boys go back home? These two saved your town from being destroyed and you should at least be a bit more grateful that it is still standing!"
The boys threw another stone then ran back off. Miroku sighed, putting a hand on his forehead. Tairei pulled herself out of the water and crawled away from the edge, sitting cross-legged on a flat rock. Her dark hair was shadowing her face and the silver tips had water dripping off of them. Miroku looked up, seeing one of her pale hands twitch slightly from time to time.
"... Tairei? Is everything alright?" He asked.
Myoga jumped back up on Inuyasha's nose and was waving his four arms wildly. "Lord Inuyasha! Look at the sky!"
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow then looked up, seeing the fade image of the moon in the sky, almost complete.
"Tonight will be the time when Tairei shows her true power as soon as the sun sets and the full moon rises!" Myoga said, jumping up and down. "We have to take the extreme caution and keep her away from the town!"
Kagome looked closer at Myoga, not noticing the blush that crept up on Inuyasha's cheeks from the distance between their faces. "Have you actually witnessed this?"
"... Only heard tales of it and seen paintings of the view from the artist..." Myoga said shamefully. "But, all your efforts are needed to force her to move. Now if you look over there, she found a suitable place to sit. See how she looks? Her face hidden and if you go over very carefully and examine her hands, they are convulsing very slightly. She will not move until the full moon rises and then all literal hell will break loose!"
Inuyasha growled, grinding his teeth and looking up at the cat girl demon. "Miroku!"
Miroku looked up, upon hearing his name and saw Inuyasha jump over to the water and land on the edge. "Since you wanted to use the cat as bait for Naraku, we got ourselves another problem!"
"Oh?" Miroku asked, standing up and putting his weight on his other foot.
"Yes, oh. More like uh oh to me. Myoga happily informed the rest of us that there is a full moon tonight and little miss psycho is going to hit the top of her power tonight. We have to get her away from the humans or the village is as good as gone." Inuyasha said, pointing a clawed hand at Tairei.
"... She hasn't even said a word all day." Miroku said quietly.
Inuyasha hissed and grabbed the collar of Miroku's robe. "Just say there is an evil spirit in the town, which there is... and tell them that you have to exorcise it during the night..."
Miroku sighed, holding a hand up. "I'll do my best..."
He started making his way back towards the town, thinking up a proper way of introducing the problem while Inuyasha turned his attention back to Kagome and the others.
"You three better be ready tonight because if Myoga is right, and not being a liar, we're going to have one hell of a time tonight..." He warned, crossing his arms in his sleeves.
"When have I never been ready?!" Shippou said, jumping on the rock ledge. "I'll protect you all with my fox magic!"
Inuyasha sweat dropped. "... I don't think your little spinning tops will help us..."
"Who said it was gonna be that? Maybe I'll turn into this really big monster and save the day!" Then Shippou did a mock roar, holding up his arms like claws.
Kagome laughed a bit, earning a sharp glare from the half dog demon. "Oh lighten up, Inuyasha. It's not like Sesshoumaru is going to show up."
Inuyasha flattened his ears at his brother's name. "... We can only wish that he doesn't."
"That reminds me.... Sooner or later she's going to figure out that it was just a trick to get to Naraku... have you even thought what would happen at that point?" Asked Sango, crossing her arms calmly.
"We'll have it under control..." Inuyasha growled.
"If you say so..."
A few hours past and there was much talk in the village.
"My boy told me that the cat woman is going to attack our village!"
"I heard that the half breed demon is leaving us here to rot! We have to run them both out of here, as well as their shifty looking friends!"
"Hold your comments," the village elder said, walking up with Miroku limping up beside him. "This monk has detected a very evil spirit that is heading towards our town and he offers to do everything in his power to protect this place, in pay for our hospitality."
Miroku nodded, straightening his staff. "That is true to the very last word. I can sense the spirit heading closer and if my assumption is correct, it shall arrive this evening. I offer my services to exorcise this spirit and free your village from harms way, but I cannot guarantee that everything will be intact. I will attempt to let minimal damage occur but other than that, I'll do my best. For precautions, I advise you all to move to a safer area until morning and prepare yourselves soon."
A murmur of uncertainty rushed through the crowd of worried villagers.
"How do we know that we can trust him!?"
Miroku sighed, closing his eyes for a moment then opening them. "Would you really risk the safety of your people and village? I warn you all, this spirit is dangerous and very, very big from what I've been able to sense. I advise you to do what I say and hopefully, no casualties will occur."
Another murmur of uncertainty arose and people started to agree.
"I'm glad that you have decided to heed my warning." Miroku said, shifting his gaze to the awaiting faces. "Remember, you must stay away from this place until morning, no matter what horrible sounds or other such things that you may here. This has to be done properly."
A woman held her child close to her. "Please, save our village."
Miroku nodded at the village elder and he took over in the explanation. Back at the small house that was offered for Miroku to stay in, Kagome and Sango waited patiently for Miroku's answer.
Kagome looked up, seeing him limp through the cloth covering. "Well? What did they say?"
"They agreed to what I told them..." Miroku said quietly, sitting down carefully. "This will be difficult. How are Inuyasha and Shippou doing?"
Sango looked back at Miroku. "No such luck in moving Tairei. As soon as they touch her, she jabs at them with her claws. Her reflexes are much quicker and she seems... almost completely focused."
"This isn't good then... I only hope that all the villagers listened to what I told them and stay away from here... otherwise, the damage or loss of lives will certainly be blamed on me..." Miroku said, lowering his eyes to the ground. "Kagome, I need you and Shippou to keep a look out for any stragglers that decide to be stupid enough to return after they were ordered not to... the main damage control will be Inuyasha and I and Sango, you will be needed on both posts... keeping the villagers away from here and if we need extra help, you'll be our back-up."
Sango nodded, looking back out of the window. Just then, Inuyasha poked his head through the door.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, a little surprised.
"She's shivering now." He said in a low tone. "She has not moved an inch and the wind is not helping by freezing her from her little swim in the hot spring..."
Kagome was about to say something when Sango's gasp interrupted her. They all turned their eyes towards the door and window, seeing the full yellow moon rise ever so slowly from the mountain tops.
"It's time..." Sango said out loud, almost in a hushing whisper.
[I'm glad you enjoyed those last chapters ^_^; Sorry for the wait... school work is murdering me xX Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Inuyasha. I
only take credit for my original character; Tairei.]
The group decided to stay in the village for the day and rest in the hot spring. Miroku sat at the edge of the pool and kept his bandaged leg out of the water, while letting the other one soak. Thankfully to Sango and Kagome's relief, the hot spring had two separate sections and the girls could be away from the boys.
"Get back here you little runt!" Snarled Inuyasha as he ran through he bushes and into the hot spring.
"Kaaggommmmeeee!!" Shippou yelled, running full speed through the water to where the girls were relaxing. "Inuyasha's hurting me!!!"
Kagome sat up, covering her chest with her arms and looked over the edge of the rocks, seeing an enraged Inuyasha charging right behind the small fox demon. She ducked back down in the water and pointed to the rocks. Sango was wringing some water out of her hair and stopped, looking to where Kagome was pointing.
"Sit boy!" Kagome yelled at the top of her lungs.
Inuyasha stumbled half a step then went crashing to the bottom of the pool, causing a geyser of water to explode upwards. Shippou looked back and stuck his tongue out at Inuyasha, then jumped off of the rock backwards. Tairei stood up at the same time and Shippou smacked her in the back of the head, making both of them fall into the hot spring. Shippou surfaced first, gasping for air and looking around frantically.
"What'd I hit?!" He asked quickly.
Inuyasha growled and jumped back up, crawling over the edge of the rock and immediately averted his gaze when he saw Kagome and Sango.
"Inuyasha! Privacy would be nice!" Snapped Sango, ducking behind another rock.
"Where'd Tairei go?" Kagome asked, looking around the water pool. "I don't see her."
"Did I hit -her-?" Shippou shouted, looking around again. "She's going to eat me, isn't she!"
"I don't even think the cat knows how to swim! Damn it!" Snarled Inuyasha, then he dived into the pool.
Tairei pulled herself halfway out of the water a few feet away from Miroku and laid her upper body on the flat rock, looking down at it. She coughed, almost sounded like choking and spat out quite a bit of water.
"She's over here!" Miroku said, shifting himself over to where she was. "... You're not supposed to breathe water, you know."
Tairei coughed a few more times then rested the side of her head on the ground, switching her gaze over to the water. Miroku placed his left hand on her upper back and patted it a bit.
"Just spit it out and you should be fine." He said, taking a glance over to where the others were gathered.
Inuyasha broke back up to the surface and wondered what everyone was staring at. "... You mean to tell me that I went all the way underwater for NOTHING!?"
"... I think she considers Miroku as her security." Sango said slowly, pulling the rest of her clothing on. "She trusts him much more than she trusts any of us and that might be dangerous... either she's very naïve or something else is up...fear? I can't really place it but from what I've seen, what we've all seen, she stays around him."
"Are they going to be like Inuyasha and Kagome?" Shippou asked. "I mean, they fight all of the time but they are with each other almost all of the time!"
Inuyasha and Kagome's faces flushed immediately and they glared daggers at Shippou.
"No... I don't think so..." Sango answered, tying her hair back again. "Tairei seems to trust Miroku more than she does to us and it is almost as if Miroku is teaching her things... teaching her how to feel again."
"That -still- doesn't explain how she got all the way over there..." Growled Inuyasha, crossing his arms.
"Ahem, it's quite simple really." Said a little voice on Inuyasha's shoulder.
Inuyasha slowly looked down and narrowed his eyes. "And where have you been, Myoga..."
The flea jumped off of Inuyasha's shoulders and landed on one of his arms nervously. "... Just keeping a watchful eye on your new group member... a watchful eye that was very, very distant."
"The flea chickened out again." Sighed Kagome, walking back from where she got dressed.
"Ahem... as I was saying, since it is getting closer to the full moon, the demon cat girl's powers are becoming stronger. Completely the opposite of Lord Inuyasha when he loses his demon powers at the time of the new moon." Myoga explained. "It -is- very rare to see one of her type alive at the moment and starting to know true emotion. The barrier can only be surpassed from one thing."
"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Inuyasha asked skeptically.
"Is it not clear? You do not need my clues to hint the obvious, Lord Inuyasha." Myoga said.
Inuyasha grabbed the small flea in two fingers and held him in front of his face, squeezing him. "What-was-that?"
"Irk! It can only be surpassed or broken through from one emotion that is universal." Myoga said quickly. "True affection will only make her normal, for lack of better words. And can you let me go??"
Inuyasha closed his eyes and turned his head, squeezing the flea until he was flat.
"I thought so..." Myoga groaned, falling to the ground.
"You know, this completely goes against what Miroku said before and he doesn't like demons that much." Kagome said in wonder. "It's already proved with Inuyasha and him fighting... Do we really know what we're getting into?"
The group stood in silence until they heard some children yelling obscure things.
"Get out of here, demon!" One boy yelled, throwing a few stones towards Tairei.
Miroku stood up, leaning on the crutch. "Hey, leave her alone. She's done nothing to you."
"Want to bet?" Snapped the boy, pointing back towards the village. "We've never had a demon problem, or even a monster in there and when she came along, it appeared there last night!"
Miroku furrowed his eyebrows. "Then what about that furry-eared individual over there. What about Inuyasha?"
The boys looked at the half-breed dog demon and started laughing. "From what our dad's told us, he's only a stupid half mutt!"
Inuyasha seethed, clenching a fist. "Why you..."
"Inuyasha, don't." Kagome said, looking back at the children. "Why don't you boys go back home? These two saved your town from being destroyed and you should at least be a bit more grateful that it is still standing!"
The boys threw another stone then ran back off. Miroku sighed, putting a hand on his forehead. Tairei pulled herself out of the water and crawled away from the edge, sitting cross-legged on a flat rock. Her dark hair was shadowing her face and the silver tips had water dripping off of them. Miroku looked up, seeing one of her pale hands twitch slightly from time to time.
"... Tairei? Is everything alright?" He asked.
Myoga jumped back up on Inuyasha's nose and was waving his four arms wildly. "Lord Inuyasha! Look at the sky!"
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow then looked up, seeing the fade image of the moon in the sky, almost complete.
"Tonight will be the time when Tairei shows her true power as soon as the sun sets and the full moon rises!" Myoga said, jumping up and down. "We have to take the extreme caution and keep her away from the town!"
Kagome looked closer at Myoga, not noticing the blush that crept up on Inuyasha's cheeks from the distance between their faces. "Have you actually witnessed this?"
"... Only heard tales of it and seen paintings of the view from the artist..." Myoga said shamefully. "But, all your efforts are needed to force her to move. Now if you look over there, she found a suitable place to sit. See how she looks? Her face hidden and if you go over very carefully and examine her hands, they are convulsing very slightly. She will not move until the full moon rises and then all literal hell will break loose!"
Inuyasha growled, grinding his teeth and looking up at the cat girl demon. "Miroku!"
Miroku looked up, upon hearing his name and saw Inuyasha jump over to the water and land on the edge. "Since you wanted to use the cat as bait for Naraku, we got ourselves another problem!"
"Oh?" Miroku asked, standing up and putting his weight on his other foot.
"Yes, oh. More like uh oh to me. Myoga happily informed the rest of us that there is a full moon tonight and little miss psycho is going to hit the top of her power tonight. We have to get her away from the humans or the village is as good as gone." Inuyasha said, pointing a clawed hand at Tairei.
"... She hasn't even said a word all day." Miroku said quietly.
Inuyasha hissed and grabbed the collar of Miroku's robe. "Just say there is an evil spirit in the town, which there is... and tell them that you have to exorcise it during the night..."
Miroku sighed, holding a hand up. "I'll do my best..."
He started making his way back towards the town, thinking up a proper way of introducing the problem while Inuyasha turned his attention back to Kagome and the others.
"You three better be ready tonight because if Myoga is right, and not being a liar, we're going to have one hell of a time tonight..." He warned, crossing his arms in his sleeves.
"When have I never been ready?!" Shippou said, jumping on the rock ledge. "I'll protect you all with my fox magic!"
Inuyasha sweat dropped. "... I don't think your little spinning tops will help us..."
"Who said it was gonna be that? Maybe I'll turn into this really big monster and save the day!" Then Shippou did a mock roar, holding up his arms like claws.
Kagome laughed a bit, earning a sharp glare from the half dog demon. "Oh lighten up, Inuyasha. It's not like Sesshoumaru is going to show up."
Inuyasha flattened his ears at his brother's name. "... We can only wish that he doesn't."
"That reminds me.... Sooner or later she's going to figure out that it was just a trick to get to Naraku... have you even thought what would happen at that point?" Asked Sango, crossing her arms calmly.
"We'll have it under control..." Inuyasha growled.
"If you say so..."
A few hours past and there was much talk in the village.
"My boy told me that the cat woman is going to attack our village!"
"I heard that the half breed demon is leaving us here to rot! We have to run them both out of here, as well as their shifty looking friends!"
"Hold your comments," the village elder said, walking up with Miroku limping up beside him. "This monk has detected a very evil spirit that is heading towards our town and he offers to do everything in his power to protect this place, in pay for our hospitality."
Miroku nodded, straightening his staff. "That is true to the very last word. I can sense the spirit heading closer and if my assumption is correct, it shall arrive this evening. I offer my services to exorcise this spirit and free your village from harms way, but I cannot guarantee that everything will be intact. I will attempt to let minimal damage occur but other than that, I'll do my best. For precautions, I advise you all to move to a safer area until morning and prepare yourselves soon."
A murmur of uncertainty rushed through the crowd of worried villagers.
"How do we know that we can trust him!?"
Miroku sighed, closing his eyes for a moment then opening them. "Would you really risk the safety of your people and village? I warn you all, this spirit is dangerous and very, very big from what I've been able to sense. I advise you to do what I say and hopefully, no casualties will occur."
Another murmur of uncertainty arose and people started to agree.
"I'm glad that you have decided to heed my warning." Miroku said, shifting his gaze to the awaiting faces. "Remember, you must stay away from this place until morning, no matter what horrible sounds or other such things that you may here. This has to be done properly."
A woman held her child close to her. "Please, save our village."
Miroku nodded at the village elder and he took over in the explanation. Back at the small house that was offered for Miroku to stay in, Kagome and Sango waited patiently for Miroku's answer.
Kagome looked up, seeing him limp through the cloth covering. "Well? What did they say?"
"They agreed to what I told them..." Miroku said quietly, sitting down carefully. "This will be difficult. How are Inuyasha and Shippou doing?"
Sango looked back at Miroku. "No such luck in moving Tairei. As soon as they touch her, she jabs at them with her claws. Her reflexes are much quicker and she seems... almost completely focused."
"This isn't good then... I only hope that all the villagers listened to what I told them and stay away from here... otherwise, the damage or loss of lives will certainly be blamed on me..." Miroku said, lowering his eyes to the ground. "Kagome, I need you and Shippou to keep a look out for any stragglers that decide to be stupid enough to return after they were ordered not to... the main damage control will be Inuyasha and I and Sango, you will be needed on both posts... keeping the villagers away from here and if we need extra help, you'll be our back-up."
Sango nodded, looking back out of the window. Just then, Inuyasha poked his head through the door.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, a little surprised.
"She's shivering now." He said in a low tone. "She has not moved an inch and the wind is not helping by freezing her from her little swim in the hot spring..."
Kagome was about to say something when Sango's gasp interrupted her. They all turned their eyes towards the door and window, seeing the full yellow moon rise ever so slowly from the mountain tops.
"It's time..." Sango said out loud, almost in a hushing whisper.