Disclaimer:
V: Inuyasha and all related characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. They're not ours.
A: Yea, I don't have the confidence to own such a good anime. But I' wont protest if she lends them to me for a while, though!
V: You just want to make Inu gets over his feelings for Kikyou and be with Kagome.
A: Yup. Exactly my thought! What can I say? I'm a die-hard Inu/Kag fans! ^^
V: There's no WAY they're going to be together! They came from two different worlds!
A: We don't know the ending, yet! ~.^ Duh, I'm having fun writing this fic, you promised it will be an Inu/Kag.
V: This is not a romance fanfic, A.
A: Do I look like I care? ^^
@_@
The Bandits
Ch 2: Unexpected Surprise
Inuyasha zoomed to his father's room as quickly as his hanyou strength can, while Miroku tried to tail him and that got him almost out of breath. When they arrived, the poor human almost collapsed. Despite his friend exhaustion, Inu told him to wait outside (no wonder Miroku avoid him when he's angry).
Inu opened the door and without any 'Good afternoon', he approached his father and angrily asked for explanation, "Chichi-ue! What do you mean by telling the evil-man to train me next week?!" (A: Personally I like 'fluffy' better for Sess' nick name ::pouts::)(V: but it sounded like dog, honey.) (A: What can I say? He IS a dog… a Dog Demon at least…)
His outburst amused his father, who was reading a book. The Tai-Youkai looked at his youngest son for a while before calmly answered, "Is there any problem with that, Inuyasha?"
"Of course it is!!! That's obvious; he never meant to train us! All he thinks is how to kill us as fast as he could!!!!"
"Why do you think that way?" his father replied with the same calm voice, as if his youngest son telling him that his *other* son trying to kill him is an everyday thing.^^
Inu lost his words, "It's because…it's because…" He couldn't say that Sesshou always punished him badly, because that means he HAS to tell his father about the 'chaos' he did with Miroku. Ahh… the joy of being 'The Bandits'.
Inutaisho (who seemed to miss his son's lack of words) continued, "Don't worry, son. I know Sesshou will teach you well."
Inu couldn't believe his ears. What in devil's got his father to think Sesshou will teach him well???!!!!
"And I hope, Inuyasha, after the training you'll be more than just troublemakers." his father continued, still completely oblivious to his youngest son's thunder-stroked face.
Inu surprised that his father know about the troubles he (and Miroku) made.
"Don't be so surprised Inuyasha. I'm not a fool. Even though nobody tells me about your behavior, I know. I know that you and Miroku are 'The Bandits'"
Inu went pale.
"Don't be so scare, son. Your behavior reminds me of myself when I was 17. You still have a chance to make it right." Still keeping his amused look, his father continued, "Well, do you have any other problem?"
Inu sighed in defeat. "No. That's all. I guess see you on dinner, then."
"Yes, see you on dinner," his father replied.
Inu is about to leave the room, but his father stopped him, "Train hard, Inuyasha. Make me proud."
"Yes, Chichi-ue." answered Inu flatly and he left the room.
Miroku, who waited outside, felt very curious about the conversation. He enthusiastically asked Inu about what his father told him.
"Nothing, Miroku. We still have to do trainings."
"What ?! You failed to persuade him to cancel the trainings ???!!!"
"It's beyond my power, Miroku" said Inu sadly.
"Oh my God! I can't imagine how we will survive next week! We will die before we complete the trainings," said Miroku almost crying.
Inu shrugged, "I'm as clueless as you are, Miroku."
~@_@~
After the 'announcement' day, 'The Bandits' passed the days un-enthusiastically, they even left Westernland in peace. Many people (esp. the girls) (A: *chough* *chough**chough*)(V: is there something wrong with ur throat? ::look worried::)(A: ..yea! I just found the 'esp. the girls' thingie tickled my throat) worried about them. Were they sick? Were they going to go to another country? Nobody knows the answer.
But before the 'Armageddon' day (as Inu and Miro called the first day of training), something happened to Westernland. In the middle of the night Sesshoumaru woke his brother up.
"Wake up!!! Wake up!!!" Sesshou hissed, shaking his half-brother in urgency.
Inu finally woke up and said angrily "What?! Do you know what time is this? It's midnight!!!"
"I know what time is this. But do you know what happened right now??!!!" said Sesshou lost his temper. (A: Sess? Lost temper? I've never seen it before ;p)
Inu looked confused for a while, but his hanyou hearing can caught screaming, many big things (houses) burned, and children crying from outside the palace. He finally understood what his brother talking about. He panicked, "Sesshoumaru, are we under attack? An ambush…?"
Sesshou seemed to get his temper back and said "No time to explain. Hurry; bring only the stuff that's important to you. Make it fast. Miroku and I will wait for you outside,"
"Miroku is here??!!"
"No time for panic. Quick. Pack your clothes."
Inu packed very quickly. He took only clothes that he really like, and grabbed anything he could think important. He had this feeling that he would not see his room anytime soon. Just when he was ready to go, something caught his eyes; Tetsusaiga. The sword was a gift from his father and a brother sword to Sesshou's Tensaiga. Though both he and his brother can't figure it out why their father has given them a useless sword.
Tensaiga is a good sword that can revive a hundred youkai (or human if necessary) in one swing, Therefore the sword will be rather useless for battling. Tetsusaiga however, should be able to kill a hundred youkai in one swing. SHOULD, because Inu still can't figure it out how a rusty old katana that can't even cut a paper without ruining it can do so.
Useless or not, Inu couldn't find the will to abandon his father's gift like that. He grabbed Tetsusaiga then rushed out of his room. There he saw people running and screaming. Still confused, Inu find Sesshou and Miroku near the secret passage that his father had made in case on something like this occur, not far from his room. He saw Miroku's face was also confused and pale. He was silent when Inu finally arrived at the spot. No time to ask anything.
"Come!! Quick!!" said Sesshou in low voice.
He told his brother and Miroku to enter a small hole behind a painting. The hole leads them to a narrow passage. Only an Inu-youkai royalty and their mates can open the entrance. After making sure that nobody saw them, Sesshou let Inuyasha and Miroku in before he entered the secret passage himself.
The passage is very dark. Though he and Inuyasha can see just fine (they are demons after all), Sesshou light a torch. He knew their journey will be more comfortable with some lights on. He handed it to Inu, which was in front.
"Here, grab this! Just follow the passage," he ordered, back to his non-expression and calm voice.
Inu was about to ask many questions that were flying in his head, but he dropped his attempts. He has to concentrate on the passage. Besides; the air there is thin, he can hear Miroku breathing slightly faster than usual. He didn't found suffocating in the middle of a secret passage with an ambush not far above his head was tempting enough.
It was a long journey. Inu can't help but wondering where the hell they are right now. He knew the passage ends outside the Westernlands, just behind the city walls. The air is thinner now, and he realized that his breath has quickened as well. He considered putting off the torch but decides against it because he knew there will be more chaos in telling Miroku which is a wall and which isn't. ^^ It was already bad enough that he (Miroku) had just started to play with some soil he grabbed from the wall. Clenching, unclenching, clenching, unclenching, clenching again… really *really* irritating, but Inu and Sesshou ignored him.
Inu sighed. They had managed to avoid any conversation except a very short exchange of words when they had first entered the passage. Boring as it was, he didn't feel like arguing right now.
After what seemed like forever, they finally reached a part of the passage that goes steadily upward. With the air as thin, they can't help but started panting while climbing the slopes. Despite his un-existing mood to start a conversation, Inu asked his brother, "Just how far do we still have to walk?"
Surprised at Inu's sudden question, Sesshou replied calmly, "It shouldn't be much longer, Inuyasha." Then he smirked, "Tired already?" (V: y Sesshou becomes so annoying???)(A: He's not annoying… he's teasing.)
Inu rolled his eyes. THAT is exactly why he didn't want to start a conversation. He's not a girl; he can bare the lack of noise in the air. (A: no offence to the girls, heck, I'm a girl myself!) "If you hadn't notice, brother, the air is getting thinner, it meant we're putting more distant with the entrance and the exit is still far."
Sesshou's smirk grew, "You amused me, Inuyasha. I guess you do have a brain behind that thick skull of yours. But you forgot one thing;" He took a minute to enjoyed Inu's surprised expression before answering, "The exit was blocked with a stone door, therefore it cut the air supply. The lack of air only pointed that we're putting a distance from the entrance. Besides," he took a sniff at the air, then mention to Inuyasha to do the same. "Can't you smell a new current in the air?"
Inu followed his brother action, and yes, he could smell it. "There are two current," he observed, "They're sort of crashing with each other, but one is weaker than the other, it turned back right to where it came from. So we're either closer to the exit, or there's some sort of narrow air supply. But I doubt the second."
Sesshou nodded, "Good, this is supposed to be your training day after all. Learn this, Inuyasha; be observant to your surroundings, the slightest noise can prove fatal to your actions." He turned to Miroku, "You can observe things even without demon's sense, Miroku. Tell me what you can found out from the soil you kept gripping." Sesshou smirked again.
Miroku looked at his soil covered hands, and tried to think observant. "They are slightly more moistened than the soil we first entered." He clenched and unclenched his fist to feel the soil's hardness. "I think we might be near a river, or at least near some sort of underground water supply, maybe a well."
Inu grabbed a fist of soil, tried to feel what his best friend did.
Miroku continued, "But that's not just it, the upper part is wetter than the lower. So the water must come from the surface, must be a river OR a canal."
Sesshou eyed his two tutees; he tried not to show too much amusement. "Correct, and you should know the only soil-grounded river in our kingdom is only half mile away from the city wall."
Miroku nodded.
Sesshou thought a little about the conversation that had just occurred. Truth to be told, the two catch on pretty quick. He can't help but tease them, "Years being 'The Bandits' can teach you something after all. Just put that knowledge in a good use from now on."
Inu and Miro groaned. "Sess, you sounded like my father!" Miroku protested.
Sesshoumaru smirked one last time before masking his face to a non-expression one again. "Just continue observing, at least that will stop you from bothering me. I have more important things to think about right now."
Inu had to keep himself for asking what the 'important things' were. He still had no mood to start a conversation, or a potential arguing in this case, since Sesshou had made it clear that he has a lot in his mind right now. 'That explained why he was not trying to threaten us with a small brush for our training session,' Inu thought. He decided to put this question in his mental list of 'the questions I should ask Sesshou when we're out of this hell hole'.
After another long silence, the finally covered the half mile left from their journey. When they finally got the stone door away from the exit (which is not very hard considering their group includes a youkai and a hanyou), Inu never thought that fresh air could be so amazing. He took deep breath to clear his lungs.
He had just covered the tensest journey in his life, but something tells him that there is more trouble about to start. He looked at the sky beyond the inside city wall. Not much farther until dawn he guessed.
"Okay. We have to leave The Westernland. Father told me to bring both of you to Myoga's house. I think it's about 3 days walk." Myoga is one of Inu's father best friend, he's a flea youkai. He runs an inn in a small town just outside the kingdom. No one actually knows how they met, maybe in one of their father's journey to outside his territory.
"What?! But Chichi-ue…?!" said Inu, didn't like what he just heard.
"The others said they'll try to catch up with us as soon as they can," Sesshou answered, still looking at the map that he brought. He has started examined it the soonest they're out of the narrow, slanting upward passage.
"What?! Hell no! We will wait for Chichi-ue!" Inu barked.
"No time for argues. Follow me or die here." his brother replied, back to his cold tone.
Inu couldn't argue anymore. He reluctantly stayed silent.
Sesshou finally found the direction they should go. "Okay. We should go into that forest." He pointed to a pine forest.
Inu had never set one foot outside the city walls; it was rather amusing because of his rebellious nature. However, he knew one or two things about that forest. 'The Enchanted' forest they called it. They said that five hundred years ago, a priestess sealed a vicious inu-hanyou to a tree there, ^^ but it was a folktale nonetheless, every single village have at least one similar stories. They used it to scare the children so they will not set a foot into that forest, not because it was 'enchanted' like the named stated, but because the forest itself is dangerous; too many wild hungry animals and vicious youkai at loose.
His brother statement brought him back from his musings. "Walk quickly but silently. We don't want enemies to hear us," hissed Sesshou.
'Enemies?? So… there IS an ambush!!' Inu thought, he glanced back at the sky beyond the city wall, 'Chichi-ue….'. He then turned his heels, following his brother. Miroku walked in front of him, also following Sesshou, he managed to remain silent through the whole ordeal.
Maybe Miroku is just like him, thinking about what just happened. Or maybe he has more or less guessed like he did. His best friend was never the loud-mouthed type, quite the contrary to himself, but they still manage to get along fine.
Again, they walked in silence and the journey was uneventful. The boredom finally gets into Inu's nerves and he decided to observed his surroundings like his brother told him to do back in the secret passage. He took sniffs and tried using his eyes to the darker part of the forest. He actually encounters some new smells, and the air there is much fresher than the town. He tried to store this newfound information, but with his bottomless list of 'the questions I should ask Sesshou when he felt like answering', he'll be lucky to remember even half of the information.
They finally stumbled upon an abandoned campsite. Sesshou decided to stop and actually take a rest. "We rest here. You should get all the sleep you can. We'll continue our journey later."
Inu stared into the night, but he can't figure it out how much longer until dawn breaks.
"You haven't explained what just happened," stated Miroku suddenly.
Sesshou stiffed, but he did a great job hiding it, though Inu can smell his uneasiness. "Can we just talk tomorrow? I'm sleepy and exhausted, and so are you. Tomorrow will be a tough journey. Don't waste your time. We should get up early." (A: Sess? Admitting his tiredness and exhaust? Wow, we got some serious matter here…)
"But how we could sleep??!!" spat Inu irritated, "You surely realized that right now I have a bunch of questions to asked you!"
"I said *sleep*," Sesshou stated coldly. He made a campfire and settled down under a tree. The 'Bandits' gave up and tried to sleep not far from Sesshou.
After trashing and turning a lot, Inu finally decided that he'll try sleeping on a tree. Though not many inu-youkai did that (more like neko-youkai), Inu found that high places is a lot more comforting and save than land. After waking a groggy Miroku and told him that he'll be sleeping on a tree, he climbed on the one Miroku leaned.
He observed his surrounding once again, noted that his sense can cover much farther range this way. He took one last glance at the palace, now is no more than medium-sized in the distance, the sky above the town full of smoke, he can even get a hint of its smoky scent.
'There IS an ambush,' he concluded. 'I hope Chichi-ue is okay…' He turned to Sesshou and saw him not sleeping at all, then to his best friend who is sleeping like a pig. ^^ He finally let his eyes closed, one ear twitching every now and then, taking any movement in his surrounding.
His brother is right though, tomorrow would be a very tough journey. Better took all the sleep he can get, then. "Keh…" he stated, to no one in particular, and finally let sleep took over him.
@_@
Glossary:
Youkai : full-blooded demon
Hanyou : Half-demon
Inu : dog
Neko : cat
Chichi-ue : Father (Royality)
Haha-ue : Mother (Royality)
Tai-Youkai : Great Demon
@_@
A&V: That's for Chapter 2! We hope you enjoyed it!
V: It will be a while before we post chapter 3, though! I haven't even started to write it.
A: And school has started again. We were only in for one day and teachers already filling us with many *many* projects…. :sigh:
V: I hate school.
A: Agreed.