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The Sacred Jewels

Chapter Five: Becoming Acquainted

            InuYasha and the others, excluding Sesshoumaru, stared at the young woman who was pacing back and forth nervously. Every once in a while she would stop and sigh, or curse under her breathe. Ever since the fight the previous night, she had been silent. Akia didn't even know what could possibly be going on in her friend's mind. If she were were Nayru, she would be out searching for the jewels. But of course, nobody had any clue as to where to start so they were waiting for a suggestion of what to do.

            Akia rolled her violet eyes and turned around. She plopped down on to the groud and crossed her arms. No point in standing around all day waiting. InuYasha and Kagome looked at each other. Both silently nodded and sat in front of the female demon. Akia looked at them curiously.

            Kagome decided to speak first. "So what's your name?"

            Akia cocked her head to the side. Didn't the human hear her name spoken before?

            The teenager understood the look. "Oh, it's just I heard 'Akia' and 'Aki' so I was wondering which is really your name."

            "Akia. People call me Aki for short. Nayru and…well Nayru started it. She said it suited me better." She shrugged. "So what is you name?"

            Kagome smiled. "I'm Kagome. And this dog boy is InuYasha."

            InuYasha's eye twitched. "Do you have to call me dog boy?"

            "Sorry. It slipped." Kagome held back a laugh.

            Akia looked at him. She noticed his dog ears on top of his head. Strange. She'd never seen any demon like this before. His scent was even different than that of a pure demon. Is he a half-breed, she asked herself. She suddenly gave in to a sudden urge. She sat on her knees and leaned forward to him. She grabbed his ears and pulled.

            "Hey," he shouted. He pushed her away angrily.

            Akia looked sheepish. "Sorry. I couldn't resist. I've never seen anything like that before."

            Kagome was laughing hysterically. "Don't worry. I think everybody gets the urge to do that."

            InuYasha huffed. "Well everyone should learn to hold it in. Next person to try is going to pay."

            Akia sat up straight again. "Don't worry. Urge is long gone. By they way, what kind of demon are you?"

            A voice to her left answered. "A half breed."

            "Thank you brother, but who asked you?"

            Sesshoumaru walked into view of the three. "Don't be angry at me for your misfortune little brother."

            Akia raised an eyebrow. "Brothers? But your definitely full demon and he's half."

            "I was born from to demon parents. My father later had a child with a human woman. We are merely half brothers."

            "Now it makes sense." She looked at InuYasha. "What kind?"

            He looked at her questioningly. "Huh?"

            "What kind of demon?"

            "Oh. Dog demon. Well, half." He looked at Sesshoumaru angrily. "So is he. But full blooded."

            Kagome remembered her question from the previous night. "And what kind are you Aki?"

            Hearing her nickname said by someone she barely knew startled the young demon. "Um…the same actually."

            Both demons glanced at her. She had the features. Pointy ears, face markings, and the tail. InuYasha noticed she had violet, slanted eyes. She even had the scent of one. Why hadn't they noticed before?

            Kagome spoke again. "I'm guessing full blooded because of your reaction to InuYasha."

            "Yes. As far as I know I'm all dog demon blood."

            The demon lord turned to her. "I've never seen you before."

            "I'm not surprised. I've been in some sort of hibernation for some time now."

            Sango joined the group, followed by Shippo and Miroku. Sesshoumaru left the group. Everyone shared a little of information with the female dog demon. Excpet for InuYasha who just sat there, arms crossed, listening.

~*~*~*~*~*~*A little while later~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Akia was not used to being questioned about herself. She lay under a tree thinking to herself. Memories of her younger self flashed in her mind. Why were they being so accepting of her? Humans never really reacted so nice to her. They usually avoided being near her. Luckily, some of them had seen passed her demon blood and saw the other part of her. They had seen the kind friendly girl who just wanted to be accepted. Nayru had been one of the first people she met, and her best friend. They were like sisters.

            The village. Her home for most of her life. When her mother began to fear her safety, she sought a place to leave her child. She had come across a village that surrounded a temple. She begged them to take her in as their own. The elders of that village discussed for hours until they reached a decision. They took her in, but not without reservations. The girl was a demon. True, she still was young and could adjust to leaving peacefully with the humans, but what if her demon blood denied that chance? Only two of the elders welcomed her with open arms, along with a woman named Kaia. Kaia was the mother of Nayru, and a very important person in the village.

            Akia rubbed her eyes. She looked at her outfit. It was the uniform of a warrior from the village she was from. A sort of dress outfit that ended just above her knees with slits on each side and black shorts underneath. The dress reached up just past her neck. Below the front of the neck, the dress was open just above the chest area. It was white, with a black stripe going down either side of her, ending at the black sash tied around her waist. A sword was at her right hip. On the back of her outfit was a pattern consisting of five odd symbols. They represented the sacred jewels. She wore no shoes. Her hair was still tied in a tight braid with a small black cloth.

She thought back to before the spell was cast by the Destiny jewel. Last she remembered she was around nineteen years old. Where had all the time gone? Why did the jewel cause them to "sleep" for so long? She looked up at the sky. She wished for her life to return back to the way it was. She wanted to be back at the village training to become stronger in order to protect. She wanted the jewels to be back in the hands of their guardian. She wanted Talon to be back to being the kind, strong, loving, person he was before the jewel had seduced him. She wanted everything to be right again.

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

            Nayru had finally stopped pacing and was now sitting by a nearby river. She was still torn about failing to protect the jewels. She closed her eyes and listened to the running water. She could sense the different fish inside their home. On the other side of the river, she sensed a deer drinking. The deer was soon joined by a younger one. Above she could sense the birds flying happily. Everything was perfect to these creatures. They didn't have to worry about anything except predators, shelter, and food. A sigh escaped her lips.

            Suddenly she felt the presence of a little girl. Her eyes opened and met a pair of innocent ones. A little girl with hair pulled back in a ponytail held a flower out to the woman. She smiled as the flower was accepted. She sat down next to her, still smiling. Nayru looked at her curiously. The little girl looked back at her happily.

            "My name is Rin. What is your name?"

            Nayru still had a curious look in her eyes. "Nayru."

            The little girl smiled even more. "Nice to meet you Nayru. I didn't get a chance to talk to you earlier because you were busy." She lost her precious smile. "Are you still sad?"

            The woman looked at the flowing river again. "A little I guess. I've lost the things I swore would always stay with me. I was supposed to protect them."

            Rin moved a little closer to the woman. She looked at her closely and noticed a tear begin to fall from her eyes. "Don't cry."

She grabbed Nayru's slender hand and moved it closer so that the flower she held was near her nose. The woman inhaled the scent. It was wonderful. She's hadn't smelled flowers like this in a long time. She grinned and looked at the girl. The girl was smiling again.

            "Better?"

            Nayru nodded. "Thank you Rin."

            The girl blushed pink. "Whenever I feel sad or lonely, I smell flowers or sing a song to myself. Then I begin to feel better because I realize that there is so much wonderful things around me."

            "You're very smart Rin." She smiled warmly. "I sing to myself as well. And sometimes I just close my eyes and feel what's around me."

            Rin cocked her head thoughtfully. "You have a pretty smile."

            Now Nayru blushed, but a darker pink.

            "Wanna hear a song I learned on my travels with Lord Sesshoumaru?"

            "Sure. Then I'll teach you one I was taught by an eleder from my village."

            Both of them sat by the river, staring at the colorful fish swimming by. Rin began her song. Nayru smiled to herself. Both of them closed their eyes. Rin continued her song. She leaned onto Nayru's arm. Nayru smelled the flower again. From somewhere behind them, a certain demon aristocrat watched curiously.

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Writing-Angel18: I like this chapter. It gives a little in sight into the two new characters. I didn't want to give away too much just yet. Notice how I didn't say anymore about Kaia, the jewels, or the village. That will all sneak in later. For now, tell me what you think of how things are going with the story right now. Keep checking for updates.