Disclaimer: ::sitting in a tiny padded room with a red straitjacket on:: I don't Inuyasha.I don't Inuyasha.I don't Inuyasha.I don't Inuyasha.I don't Inuyasha.I don't Inuyasha.
Doctor:: She's doing much better~!
____________________________
To Be With You Tomorrow
Part Six :: Illusions
Chapter Eighteen :: The Truth About Tsutsuji
Tanpopo sighed as she trudged down the dirt road. Okaan had returned, but how could she have left them? Shippou, Tama-san, Kagome-san and Inuyasha no ahou. Miroku-sama and Sango-san and Kirara. They who had rescued her when her mother had deserted her, who had become her friends when she was alone.
Those to whom she had become even closer than to her father, whom she had adored. Closer than to her mother who despite her tough exterior was a good person.
"Okaan, is it true that I can visit them sometimes?"
"No."
Tanpopo was floored. "What?!! WHY?!!" Suddenly Tsutsuji snatched her up, and Tanpopo felt her mother's claws at her neck. "Because you'll be dead soon enough, little girl."
Tanpopo froze. In a moment she realized exactly what was happening. "You... you're not my okaan at all!!! Who the hell are you?!!!"
"Very perceptive for a brat," said a voice, no longer her mother's, but different. The body holding her changed around Tanpopo and before she knew it, she was spun around and she was facing a woman her mother's height, but not at all like her dear mother.
She had wheat-colored hair and cold red eyes. She was wearing a violet kimono, and simple woven sandals like Tama-san's. Her pointed ears and claws more than screamed "youkai."
"I am the illusionist youkai Terrace, my little dandelion." the woman purred, and from a nearby tree, another woman, who looked exactly like Terrace, appeared. Except that this woman wore a red kimono and navy hakama, and she had a katana at her hip. She was carrying a pair of kodachi. "That," Terrace cooed, "is my twin sister, Terith."
Terith smirked and then looked at Terrace and slipped the swords in at either hip between Terrace's thin obi. "Your kodachi, Terrace."
"What the hell do you bitches want with me?" Tanpopo demanded, only slightly afraid. If she was lucky, someone would hear her if she screamed, which she planned to do very soon.
"You, my dear, are bait for your friends. If they're stupid enough and caring enough about you, they'll follow you right to our mother's temple."
"Your mother..." Tanpopo gasped, realizing what they meant, and Terith grinned. "...is the youkai miko Uramiko-sama herself."
Tanpopo bit her lip, and in that one moment, her fear peaked. She screamed. "TAMA-SAN! INUYASHA! SAVE ME!!!!!"
~*~
The early morning calls of the waking birds, despite how pretty it sounded against the background music of the gentle breezes through the fluttering tree leaves, did not move Tama as it once might have.
Tama was born a child of high-class, both her father and mother members of their own respective royal houses. But since their mother had died she and Inuyasha grew up as Shippou had been, a child of the forest. Both she and her brother respected nature and took solace in its symphony, but today she had lost a third daughter.
She couldn't bear it.
Shippou sat in her lap, crying quietly, sniffling every so often, and she would rub his small back gently, hoping to ease the sadness there. It didn't help though, when you try to comfort a grieving soul when you too suffer.
So the pair sat in silence, understanding each other, when suddenly they heard her distinct soprano. "TAMA-SAN! INUYASHA! SAVE ME!!!!!"
Shippou bolted upright, his eyes red and his face clammy from the intense crying, and Tama's matching features looked down at him. "Tanpopo-chan..."
Shippou bolted into the forest, Tama hot on his heels. In one sweep she reached down and scooped up the kit, setting him on her shoulder as she burst into her much quicker hanyou speed. They reached the edge of the forest in time to see twin youkai women turn to face them, both of them drawing weapons. The one in red drew a long katana, and the one in violet drew twin swords, both about half the size of the other's sword. Tanpopo was unconscious on one of the women's shoulder.
"Tanpopo!!" Shippou cried, and then turned his angry glare on the woman. "You bitch!!"
"My my, both children have such potty mouths," the woman in violet cooed, "Where we come from, children had their tongues cut out for such language, and they were not allowed to grow them back for an entire week."
Shippou growled, his tail frizzing up as he prepared to launch himself at the women, but Tama put a hand down gently on his head. "Shippou, you can't fight them. Go back and get Inuyasha and the others."
"B-but!" Shippou whined but Tama ignored him as she pulled herself into stance. "Terith and Terrace... the twin illusionist sisters. I thought you two bitches were dead."
The one in violet, Terrace, laughed aloud. "Dear, dear Tama-chan! You remembered us!!!" Terith cocked a grin. "We were so afraid you hadn't."
"Terrace played Tsu-chan then, I suppose? Where's the real Tsutsuji?"
Terrace grinned. "Well, since it was true Tsutsuji had the treasure of two Shikon shards, Haha-ue sent me to apprehend the little kit. And after taking her shards..."
Tama's eyes widened furiously, "You killed her?!!"
"Damn she's perceptive," Terith teased. Tama shook with anger. "You... You... FUCKING SCUM! I'LL KILL YOU!!!!"
She launched herself at the pair, blocking Terith's katana strike and then bringing her foot up in a sharp dropkick. Terith went down, and Terrace flew in to take over. As Tama and Terrace went into a fast-paced exchange, Shippou heard the hanyou call out his name.
"Shippou!" she yelled, "Go get Inuyasha!!"
"But..!" The kit exclaimed and instantly she bared her fangs at him in nasty snarl. "GO NOW!"
"Y-yeah!" he yelped, turning and speeding back to the village. Tama turned back just in time to feel one of Terrace's kodachi slide cleanly into her belly. She yelped slightly as Terrace ripped the sword away and grinned. "Where are you looking?"
Tama let out a loud battle cry as she raked her claws over Terrace's eyes, and the illusionist screamed in pain, both kodachi clattering to the ground as she clapped her hands over her bleeding eyes. Tama grinned, holding her other hand over the heavily bleeding wound in her side. "Too fucking bad, bitch."
"Yes, too fucking bad."
Tama whirled on the owner the second voice, but not before she felt a painful chop to the back of her neck, and the world faded from view.
~*~
Inuyasha stared at the empty road blandly, his face clouded with concern. The signs of a battle were evident by the scratches and kicks in the dirt, and the blood staining the dusty ground. But there was no sign of the wheat-haired twins Shippou had spoken of, or Tama or Tanpopo.
Kagome bit her lip as she too surveyed the area. "..Where...??" she mused softly. Miroku and Sango, who had wandered into the trees around the road to look, both returned, looking grim. Inuyasha felt a stab of fear at the expression.
"We found more blood, trailing to the north. It seems to be both Tama-chan's and someone else's," Sango reported, and Miroku added, "But no bodies. And the trail is very small; it doesn't seem like enough to be life-threatening."
Inuyasha felt a wash of relief, a small one. The rest of him couldn't swallow past the lump in his throat. It was just Tama, after all. Just his stupid, loud-mouthed, bitchy, bossy twin sister. Why.. was he so... scared?
He jumped slightly when he felt Kagome give his hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze, and he looked down at her hopelessly. She looked calmly at him. "It's okay," she told him, "Tama-chan will be fine."
Inuyasha nodded, and looked up at Sango. "You said north, huh? Let's go."
~*~
Sesshoumaru looked towards the sky, the slight wind ruffling him as he casually walked towards the blood scent he had picked up.
The fact he had picked it up at all shocked him. She was dead, had been for 50 years. Unless of course, she hadn't died to begin with.
50 years ago, his beloved younger sister Tama had disappeared. He eventually found her, but she was kidnapped shortly after by a pair of twins, to get to him. After a lengthy battle, he had killed one of the twins, but Tama was nowhere to be found. Not long after he gave up the search for her, he discovered his younger brother Inuyasha had been killed by a miko.
Both of his siblings, his only remaining family, were dead. And Sesshoumaru was alone. As he always had been, but for some reason, knowing the twins were still somewhere in the world of the living had comforted him. Even knowing his annoying younger brother Inuyasha was living... comforted him.
And yet now, he had picked up the scent of Tama's blood, trailing north. He had started tracking it immediately and left Rin and Jaken behind to await his return.
Another scent bombarded his nose and he snarled inwardly. His stupid hanyou brother. His scent was different, as it was on those nights past, the night of the new moon, when Inuyasha and Tama became human. Sesshoumaru recalled those days from longs ago, when the twins were still very young, living at the den with the rest of the family, when their monthly change would take place. How aggravating the twins had been those nights. It was one of the several things he missed not.
But, now that he thought about it, the new moon was about a week past. So why was Inuyasha still human? Besides a provocative circumstance, it didn't much matter to Sesshoumaru whether or not the younger man was still human. The provocative circumstance being that he refused to fight Inuyasha while the idiot was human. It was a waste of time, and not at all entertaining.
He veered to the right a bit, and as his brother and the human brood he associated himself with came into view, he made himself noticeable.
They reacted as expected, with alot of shock and unnecessary squealing. Inuyasha was the first to speak, with his usual snarl, minus the fangs.
"Sesshoumaru, you bastard... what do you want?! I don't have time for this!"
"Something happened to her, correct?" the demon lord asked, and Inuyasha flinched. Her? Oh, Tama. Of course. Sesshoumaru's beloved sister, the only one out of his extended family he had claimed. *I guess... he still thinks of her as a sister...* Inuyasha narrowed his eyes and nodded faintly.
Sesshoumaru looked royally pissed off then, a low growl forming in his throat. "What happened?"
"We don't know. Shippou said she was with two women with wheat-colored hair--" The hanyou-human was cut off by a sharp snarl from his brother. "You said... wheat-colored...?" Sesshoumaru growled, and he turned north, stopping after a few paces.
"Inuyasha," he began, "You are no match for the people who took our sister. Stay back and do not interfere in my battle."
Inuyasha looked irked as he always did when in the presence of his brother. "Are you fucking nuts?! Tama's MY sister, I'm going to save her! YOU stay the hell out of MY way!" Inuyasha yelled, and Sesshoumaru turned one eye to his little brother. "You save her. I don't care what you do. But I will kill the pair who took her. They are Tama's and my enemy, not yours."
With that the lord disappeared, and Kagome blinked. "Tama-chan's.. enemy? What does that mean?" Inuyasha glared in the respective direction of his elder brother before shaking his head. "I dunno. But who cares. We have to save Tama."
~*~
Uramiko sighed gently as she tended to her daughter, Terrace, healing the younger woman's eyes. The illusionist youkai snarled. "That bitch, Tama... I'm going to kill her for this..."
"Now now, don't be so vengeful," Uramiko cooed, "I plan to use Tama in a different way, and you also have a part, my little Terrace. You will enjoy it very much."
Uramiko went to the corner where Tama hung, protected by a barrier. The demon miko took out five shards of the Shikon no Tama and inserted one into each of Tama's limbs. Then she pressed the fifth against the hanyou's forehead, muttering a spell the entire time. The unconscious woman jerked, her yellow eyes snapping open.
Tama bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. "You bitch... what... did you..."
"Do to you?" Uramiko finished as Tama lowered her head, the transformation taking over her. Uramiko smiled. "I'm using the unpurified Shikon no kakera to draw out your sealed youkai blood. You are going to test something for me. The black soul that lives within your heart... Release her now."
Terrace stared in horror. Tama's youki was much stronger, like that of a real youkai's, and it swirled around her in a great cloud. The hanyou's eyes glowed red as she glared up at Terrace. Her fangs jut out against her lip. The claws on her hands grew several inches longer. Terrace's horror gave way to amusement.
"I think I will enjoy this after all."
~*~
Tanpopo opened her eyes weakly, looking around. She was sitting on an altar, hands and feet bound with rope and a seal to prevent her from trying to break the rope. She looked around. She was in a large shrine, and it was dark and empty.
She wriggled a bit, trying to get more comfortable and failing. As she did she thought about events past. Her mother had been faked. She had been stolen by the daughters of Uramiko to be bait for Tama and Inuyasha.
Secretly, in one part of her heart, she wished they would not come. She wished they would not come to save her, that they would stay away and stay safe. But the rest of her was screaming that she had seen Inuyasha fight, she had seen him do battle with all kinds of monsters and that he was tough, even as a human, and that he had damn well better save her.
Her thoughts drifted back to her mother. If Terrace had been playing her mother, then where was her real mother? Was she dead? If she wasn't, would Tsutsuji ever know the fate of her little kit if Tanpopo were to die today...?
The large doors suddenly opened and the wench with the katana, Terith, appeared. Tanpopo swallowed thickly, trying to be brave as Terith came in and lit all the candles. And with the room now lit, Tanpopo
realized that she was NOT in a shrine.
She was in a dojo. The room was huge, and the ceiling went very high. Candles trailed from the doors to the altar on which Tanpopo sat, and there was a nothing but hard floorboards in the middle. Perfect for a fighting arena.
Terith cooed at her from across the room. "Little kit, are you scared yet??" Tanpopo, despite trembling, pulled off her best imitation of Inuyasha's trademark keh. "Yeah RI~IGHT," she drug out the word, "Like a stupid bitch like you could scare me!!"
Terith shrugged and then pulled in a large stake, to which a silver-haired youkai was attached, bound to it by a barrier. She looked up and Tanpopo gasped. The youkai smirked at her, the pure pleasure at the thought of killing reaching even the redness of her eyes.
Tanpopo gasped. "Ta... Tama-san!!!"
~*~ To be continued ~*~
a/n :: Uwa~! I've been wanting to do that for AGES!!!! ::evil cackle:: Please review~! It's good for the heart~ Like Reeses Pieces. Or Cheerios. Or ramen. Or Cherry Coke. Or Sprite. Or anything else that quacks your duck.
~*~ V^-^V ~*~
~Tessen
Doctor:: She's doing much better~!
____________________________
To Be With You Tomorrow
Part Six :: Illusions
Chapter Eighteen :: The Truth About Tsutsuji
Tanpopo sighed as she trudged down the dirt road. Okaan had returned, but how could she have left them? Shippou, Tama-san, Kagome-san and Inuyasha no ahou. Miroku-sama and Sango-san and Kirara. They who had rescued her when her mother had deserted her, who had become her friends when she was alone.
Those to whom she had become even closer than to her father, whom she had adored. Closer than to her mother who despite her tough exterior was a good person.
"Okaan, is it true that I can visit them sometimes?"
"No."
Tanpopo was floored. "What?!! WHY?!!" Suddenly Tsutsuji snatched her up, and Tanpopo felt her mother's claws at her neck. "Because you'll be dead soon enough, little girl."
Tanpopo froze. In a moment she realized exactly what was happening. "You... you're not my okaan at all!!! Who the hell are you?!!!"
"Very perceptive for a brat," said a voice, no longer her mother's, but different. The body holding her changed around Tanpopo and before she knew it, she was spun around and she was facing a woman her mother's height, but not at all like her dear mother.
She had wheat-colored hair and cold red eyes. She was wearing a violet kimono, and simple woven sandals like Tama-san's. Her pointed ears and claws more than screamed "youkai."
"I am the illusionist youkai Terrace, my little dandelion." the woman purred, and from a nearby tree, another woman, who looked exactly like Terrace, appeared. Except that this woman wore a red kimono and navy hakama, and she had a katana at her hip. She was carrying a pair of kodachi. "That," Terrace cooed, "is my twin sister, Terith."
Terith smirked and then looked at Terrace and slipped the swords in at either hip between Terrace's thin obi. "Your kodachi, Terrace."
"What the hell do you bitches want with me?" Tanpopo demanded, only slightly afraid. If she was lucky, someone would hear her if she screamed, which she planned to do very soon.
"You, my dear, are bait for your friends. If they're stupid enough and caring enough about you, they'll follow you right to our mother's temple."
"Your mother..." Tanpopo gasped, realizing what they meant, and Terith grinned. "...is the youkai miko Uramiko-sama herself."
Tanpopo bit her lip, and in that one moment, her fear peaked. She screamed. "TAMA-SAN! INUYASHA! SAVE ME!!!!!"
~*~
The early morning calls of the waking birds, despite how pretty it sounded against the background music of the gentle breezes through the fluttering tree leaves, did not move Tama as it once might have.
Tama was born a child of high-class, both her father and mother members of their own respective royal houses. But since their mother had died she and Inuyasha grew up as Shippou had been, a child of the forest. Both she and her brother respected nature and took solace in its symphony, but today she had lost a third daughter.
She couldn't bear it.
Shippou sat in her lap, crying quietly, sniffling every so often, and she would rub his small back gently, hoping to ease the sadness there. It didn't help though, when you try to comfort a grieving soul when you too suffer.
So the pair sat in silence, understanding each other, when suddenly they heard her distinct soprano. "TAMA-SAN! INUYASHA! SAVE ME!!!!!"
Shippou bolted upright, his eyes red and his face clammy from the intense crying, and Tama's matching features looked down at him. "Tanpopo-chan..."
Shippou bolted into the forest, Tama hot on his heels. In one sweep she reached down and scooped up the kit, setting him on her shoulder as she burst into her much quicker hanyou speed. They reached the edge of the forest in time to see twin youkai women turn to face them, both of them drawing weapons. The one in red drew a long katana, and the one in violet drew twin swords, both about half the size of the other's sword. Tanpopo was unconscious on one of the women's shoulder.
"Tanpopo!!" Shippou cried, and then turned his angry glare on the woman. "You bitch!!"
"My my, both children have such potty mouths," the woman in violet cooed, "Where we come from, children had their tongues cut out for such language, and they were not allowed to grow them back for an entire week."
Shippou growled, his tail frizzing up as he prepared to launch himself at the women, but Tama put a hand down gently on his head. "Shippou, you can't fight them. Go back and get Inuyasha and the others."
"B-but!" Shippou whined but Tama ignored him as she pulled herself into stance. "Terith and Terrace... the twin illusionist sisters. I thought you two bitches were dead."
The one in violet, Terrace, laughed aloud. "Dear, dear Tama-chan! You remembered us!!!" Terith cocked a grin. "We were so afraid you hadn't."
"Terrace played Tsu-chan then, I suppose? Where's the real Tsutsuji?"
Terrace grinned. "Well, since it was true Tsutsuji had the treasure of two Shikon shards, Haha-ue sent me to apprehend the little kit. And after taking her shards..."
Tama's eyes widened furiously, "You killed her?!!"
"Damn she's perceptive," Terith teased. Tama shook with anger. "You... You... FUCKING SCUM! I'LL KILL YOU!!!!"
She launched herself at the pair, blocking Terith's katana strike and then bringing her foot up in a sharp dropkick. Terith went down, and Terrace flew in to take over. As Tama and Terrace went into a fast-paced exchange, Shippou heard the hanyou call out his name.
"Shippou!" she yelled, "Go get Inuyasha!!"
"But..!" The kit exclaimed and instantly she bared her fangs at him in nasty snarl. "GO NOW!"
"Y-yeah!" he yelped, turning and speeding back to the village. Tama turned back just in time to feel one of Terrace's kodachi slide cleanly into her belly. She yelped slightly as Terrace ripped the sword away and grinned. "Where are you looking?"
Tama let out a loud battle cry as she raked her claws over Terrace's eyes, and the illusionist screamed in pain, both kodachi clattering to the ground as she clapped her hands over her bleeding eyes. Tama grinned, holding her other hand over the heavily bleeding wound in her side. "Too fucking bad, bitch."
"Yes, too fucking bad."
Tama whirled on the owner the second voice, but not before she felt a painful chop to the back of her neck, and the world faded from view.
~*~
Inuyasha stared at the empty road blandly, his face clouded with concern. The signs of a battle were evident by the scratches and kicks in the dirt, and the blood staining the dusty ground. But there was no sign of the wheat-haired twins Shippou had spoken of, or Tama or Tanpopo.
Kagome bit her lip as she too surveyed the area. "..Where...??" she mused softly. Miroku and Sango, who had wandered into the trees around the road to look, both returned, looking grim. Inuyasha felt a stab of fear at the expression.
"We found more blood, trailing to the north. It seems to be both Tama-chan's and someone else's," Sango reported, and Miroku added, "But no bodies. And the trail is very small; it doesn't seem like enough to be life-threatening."
Inuyasha felt a wash of relief, a small one. The rest of him couldn't swallow past the lump in his throat. It was just Tama, after all. Just his stupid, loud-mouthed, bitchy, bossy twin sister. Why.. was he so... scared?
He jumped slightly when he felt Kagome give his hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze, and he looked down at her hopelessly. She looked calmly at him. "It's okay," she told him, "Tama-chan will be fine."
Inuyasha nodded, and looked up at Sango. "You said north, huh? Let's go."
~*~
Sesshoumaru looked towards the sky, the slight wind ruffling him as he casually walked towards the blood scent he had picked up.
The fact he had picked it up at all shocked him. She was dead, had been for 50 years. Unless of course, she hadn't died to begin with.
50 years ago, his beloved younger sister Tama had disappeared. He eventually found her, but she was kidnapped shortly after by a pair of twins, to get to him. After a lengthy battle, he had killed one of the twins, but Tama was nowhere to be found. Not long after he gave up the search for her, he discovered his younger brother Inuyasha had been killed by a miko.
Both of his siblings, his only remaining family, were dead. And Sesshoumaru was alone. As he always had been, but for some reason, knowing the twins were still somewhere in the world of the living had comforted him. Even knowing his annoying younger brother Inuyasha was living... comforted him.
And yet now, he had picked up the scent of Tama's blood, trailing north. He had started tracking it immediately and left Rin and Jaken behind to await his return.
Another scent bombarded his nose and he snarled inwardly. His stupid hanyou brother. His scent was different, as it was on those nights past, the night of the new moon, when Inuyasha and Tama became human. Sesshoumaru recalled those days from longs ago, when the twins were still very young, living at the den with the rest of the family, when their monthly change would take place. How aggravating the twins had been those nights. It was one of the several things he missed not.
But, now that he thought about it, the new moon was about a week past. So why was Inuyasha still human? Besides a provocative circumstance, it didn't much matter to Sesshoumaru whether or not the younger man was still human. The provocative circumstance being that he refused to fight Inuyasha while the idiot was human. It was a waste of time, and not at all entertaining.
He veered to the right a bit, and as his brother and the human brood he associated himself with came into view, he made himself noticeable.
They reacted as expected, with alot of shock and unnecessary squealing. Inuyasha was the first to speak, with his usual snarl, minus the fangs.
"Sesshoumaru, you bastard... what do you want?! I don't have time for this!"
"Something happened to her, correct?" the demon lord asked, and Inuyasha flinched. Her? Oh, Tama. Of course. Sesshoumaru's beloved sister, the only one out of his extended family he had claimed. *I guess... he still thinks of her as a sister...* Inuyasha narrowed his eyes and nodded faintly.
Sesshoumaru looked royally pissed off then, a low growl forming in his throat. "What happened?"
"We don't know. Shippou said she was with two women with wheat-colored hair--" The hanyou-human was cut off by a sharp snarl from his brother. "You said... wheat-colored...?" Sesshoumaru growled, and he turned north, stopping after a few paces.
"Inuyasha," he began, "You are no match for the people who took our sister. Stay back and do not interfere in my battle."
Inuyasha looked irked as he always did when in the presence of his brother. "Are you fucking nuts?! Tama's MY sister, I'm going to save her! YOU stay the hell out of MY way!" Inuyasha yelled, and Sesshoumaru turned one eye to his little brother. "You save her. I don't care what you do. But I will kill the pair who took her. They are Tama's and my enemy, not yours."
With that the lord disappeared, and Kagome blinked. "Tama-chan's.. enemy? What does that mean?" Inuyasha glared in the respective direction of his elder brother before shaking his head. "I dunno. But who cares. We have to save Tama."
~*~
Uramiko sighed gently as she tended to her daughter, Terrace, healing the younger woman's eyes. The illusionist youkai snarled. "That bitch, Tama... I'm going to kill her for this..."
"Now now, don't be so vengeful," Uramiko cooed, "I plan to use Tama in a different way, and you also have a part, my little Terrace. You will enjoy it very much."
Uramiko went to the corner where Tama hung, protected by a barrier. The demon miko took out five shards of the Shikon no Tama and inserted one into each of Tama's limbs. Then she pressed the fifth against the hanyou's forehead, muttering a spell the entire time. The unconscious woman jerked, her yellow eyes snapping open.
Tama bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. "You bitch... what... did you..."
"Do to you?" Uramiko finished as Tama lowered her head, the transformation taking over her. Uramiko smiled. "I'm using the unpurified Shikon no kakera to draw out your sealed youkai blood. You are going to test something for me. The black soul that lives within your heart... Release her now."
Terrace stared in horror. Tama's youki was much stronger, like that of a real youkai's, and it swirled around her in a great cloud. The hanyou's eyes glowed red as she glared up at Terrace. Her fangs jut out against her lip. The claws on her hands grew several inches longer. Terrace's horror gave way to amusement.
"I think I will enjoy this after all."
~*~
Tanpopo opened her eyes weakly, looking around. She was sitting on an altar, hands and feet bound with rope and a seal to prevent her from trying to break the rope. She looked around. She was in a large shrine, and it was dark and empty.
She wriggled a bit, trying to get more comfortable and failing. As she did she thought about events past. Her mother had been faked. She had been stolen by the daughters of Uramiko to be bait for Tama and Inuyasha.
Secretly, in one part of her heart, she wished they would not come. She wished they would not come to save her, that they would stay away and stay safe. But the rest of her was screaming that she had seen Inuyasha fight, she had seen him do battle with all kinds of monsters and that he was tough, even as a human, and that he had damn well better save her.
Her thoughts drifted back to her mother. If Terrace had been playing her mother, then where was her real mother? Was she dead? If she wasn't, would Tsutsuji ever know the fate of her little kit if Tanpopo were to die today...?
The large doors suddenly opened and the wench with the katana, Terith, appeared. Tanpopo swallowed thickly, trying to be brave as Terith came in and lit all the candles. And with the room now lit, Tanpopo
realized that she was NOT in a shrine.
She was in a dojo. The room was huge, and the ceiling went very high. Candles trailed from the doors to the altar on which Tanpopo sat, and there was a nothing but hard floorboards in the middle. Perfect for a fighting arena.
Terith cooed at her from across the room. "Little kit, are you scared yet??" Tanpopo, despite trembling, pulled off her best imitation of Inuyasha's trademark keh. "Yeah RI~IGHT," she drug out the word, "Like a stupid bitch like you could scare me!!"
Terith shrugged and then pulled in a large stake, to which a silver-haired youkai was attached, bound to it by a barrier. She looked up and Tanpopo gasped. The youkai smirked at her, the pure pleasure at the thought of killing reaching even the redness of her eyes.
Tanpopo gasped. "Ta... Tama-san!!!"
~*~ To be continued ~*~
a/n :: Uwa~! I've been wanting to do that for AGES!!!! ::evil cackle:: Please review~! It's good for the heart~ Like Reeses Pieces. Or Cheerios. Or ramen. Or Cherry Coke. Or Sprite. Or anything else that quacks your duck.
~*~ V^-^V ~*~
~Tessen