GCN: Howdy! I'm finally updating. I'll try to make it a longer chappie because of the wait. Grrrrrr...I have limited computer time now, meaning that every time I wanna update one of my parents is breathing down my neck to get off the damn computer. :::sigh::: Oh well, so usually when I update things, it'll be a lot at once. Like today...when they're out of town...heh heh....
In this chapter, be prepared for: FLUFF! And lots of it.
THE END OF THE TRIANGLE (AND BEYOND) --- CHAPTER 6
Really early the next morning, so early it shouldn't have even been legal, (according to Shippo and Inuyasha) the group of travelers set out. Sango offered to let Fenaux ride Kilala, but the youkai refused, saying that she knew the ground better if she was standing on it. Sango found this odd; if Fenaux was a raven youkai, couldn't she in one form or another fly? She shrugged it off.
Instead, Miroku and Shippo tagged along with her; Shippo standing on Miroku's head, clinging on as to not fall off and go 'splat!' Kagome was riding her trusty pink bicycle, with Fenaux jogging effortlessly beside her. Inuyasha brought up the lead, even though Fenaux was really leading them where to go.
Kagome took a sideways glance at Fenaux. For a moment she pondered the young youkai. They had no clue as to what her powers were, or who she really was. Oh sure, they knew who she SAID she was: A member of a clan of raven demons that build and sold enchanted boats, whose parents had sent her out on a quest to rescue her ten-year-old brother, Yoippari Ashitaka from the lazy, slave-driving Cougar demons in their capital city of Chuushin Mountains.
But, for all they knew, she could be a spy of Naraku's. She wasn't an incarnation, they new that for sure, because Inuyasha would've picked up on the ominous sent. But that didn't mean she wasn't truly another of their many, many enemies.
"So, Fenaux-san, what is the fastest way to get to the Chuushin Mountains??" Kagome asked, adjusting the gear speed on her bike to work better for uphill riding.
"By water. I'm not entirely familiar with all the area, but I'm sure that there is a river around here somewhere that goes right through the Chuushin City," Fenaux too, adjusted her pace, as they were now heading up a barren, steep hill.
'Water?' Inuyasha thought dubiously. 'How the hell are we supposed to travel on water?' Fenaux didn't seem to be carrying any of her family's canoes with her. Inuyasha 'Keh!'-ed softly, convinced that the raven youkai was full of it.
As Fenaux said, there was a river coming up in front of them. Fenaux explained that the Yoippari's had detailed logs and maps of all Japan's water systems. That information helped them set up their business-homes where they would get the most business.
The river appeared before them, a calm gurgling giant: over a quarter mile across, and probably a third that deep in the middle. Kilala and her passengers came to a halt were Inuyasha, Kagome and Fenaux had stopped moving. They had paused at a crook in the river's edge, where one could easily wade on out.
"Now what?" Shippo asked innocently.
Inuyasha crossed his arms and tilted his head upward. "Exactly my point."
Fenaux looked at him like he was a horse's ass. "Are you always like this? I didn't get such a negative impression from the old woman who recommended me to you."
"You think I LIKE following you to hell and back? You think I like being ordered around on some mission that has squat to do with me? All I wanna know is how the hell a river will do us any good if we have no way of travelin' on it!"
Kagome looked a bit taken aback by his outburst. Miroku came over and laid a hand on the hanyou's shoulder. "Now, now, Inuyasha. Is that any way to talk to a beautiful woman?" (Fenaux made a face.)
Inuyasha snorted. Kagome sighed, stepping forward. Inuyasha cringed, as if she was going to hurt him. But when she opened her eyes, she didn't look pissed. "Seriously though Inuyasha," she took one of her hands in hers. "Could you at least TRY to be a little more cheery sometimes?"
Inuyasha started to make a snide remark, but ended up blushing. He knew he could never stay mad at Kagome, even if he really, really wanted too. He sighed, holding her hand back, staring into her eyes as if to ask, 'How DO you do that?' Kagome stared back.
Someone coughed.
The two broke out of their trance, finding Fenaux looking a bit perturbed. Shippo had rotated from the top of Miroku's head to Kilala's forehead, and the little kitsune was blushing. Miroku had this idiot look plastered on his face and was on the verge of giggling like the lecher he was.
Inuyasha got these great big eyes, and he bared his fangs slightly, but he did not drop Kagome's hand out of embarrassment. "Got a problem? Tojikomeru! [1]" he sneered, and Miroku and Shippo snapped of it.
Fenaux coughed again. This time everyone averted their attention to the youkai. She was standing with one hand on her hip, the other back behind her hair. "If you guys are through, I have something to show you." She removed her hand from her hair, holding what appeared to be an inch-long canoe. "You do have a right to be suspicious of my thinking, but please do try to be more discrete. Like when you're wrong."
She held the small wooden canoe out in front of her. There was a single hole drilled through the middle of it, like a bead.
"Bakayarou! Just what the hell are we supposed to do with that? Maybe an ant could boat from that, but not the rest of us!" Inuyasha snorted. But as soon as the words were out of his mouth, he regretted them.
Fenaux had placed the bead between two of her fingernails, holding it in front of her, with her eyes closed tight. "Bi-zuno no mokusei..." As she spoke she opened her eyes halfway, revealing that the pupils were glowing a pale red. "Konba-to!" ([2])
A bright flash of light blinded Inuyasha for a spilt second. As soon as his vision returned to normal, he couldn't believe what his eyes were telling him.
In front of where Fenaux was standing, sat a very beautiful, very well made boat. It was about twelve feet long, and could seat two or three passengers along each of its three, plain simple planks that made benches. Each end had been tapered into points, which had been rounded off into decorative spirals. But where the hell had that thing come from?
Inuyasha repeated his thought. "Where the hell did that thing come from?"
Fenaux glanced his way somewhat smugly. "You should have known I'd have the journey all planned out. I can use my yoki to transform simple beads into whatever I want. See?" She reached back behind her head, this time pulling out a thin braid of hair that had been tucked under everything else. Along the braid were several beads, another like the canoe bead, and about two-dozen others made of various metals, mostly iron and steel. The end of the blade was tipped with another, very small, black feather
"Oh I get it," Sango mused. "You can transform those beads into boats and stuff? That sure could be useful."
Inuyasha was speechless. The hanyou wasn't going to apologize, or admit he had been quick to judge, hell no, but he could be a gentleman and help everyone get moving.
"Eh, well what are we waiting around here for?" he asked, somewhat impatiently. He scooted the canoe to the waters edge. With amused expressions on their faces, Sango, Miroku and Shippo climbed carefully into the boat as it rocked and bobbled with every move they made. Fenaux did an unnaturally long jump into the front end of the boat, but it didn't wiggle more than an inch. Kilala became surrounded in flames, then as her small and cute self, jumped into Kagome's arms. Within seconds the neko-youkai was snuggled in, grateful to not have to fly for a while and getting to replenish her energy for possible battle.
Kagome put one foot on the edge of the boat. She scratched behind one of Kilala's ears, turning to face the inu. "Inuyasha? Aren't you getting on?" The young miko turned back around to climb aboard, but the boat tipped out from under her and she swiftly lost her balance.
"Yeeeaaahhh!" Kagome stammered as the boat rocked crazily, causing everyone on boat to get all discombobulated. Miroku all-too-eagerly grabbed at Sango to hold her in the boat, while Shippo jumped up, grabbing onto the monk's neck. Fenaux didn't look upset, but was clinging to the front-end spiral for balance. Kilala jumped out of the flailing ningen's arms to the stability of the ground.
But before Kagome could tumble to the ground, she found she was cradled quite comfortably in Inuyasha's arms. She had wrapped her grasp around his arm, so as not to tip over again.
"Oh, Inuyasha. Arigato ugoza-i masu [3]," Kagome felt slightly embarrassed, she wasn't at all usually that clumsy. But, on the other hand, she was being had by her Inu-kun for it...so the embarrassment was a minor factor.
Kagome could tell that Inuyasha was nervous. He had made a total jerk out of himself not too long ago, (on multiple occasions), and now he was being extra careful of where her rested his hands as he carried her into the boat, so as not unleash the wrath of Kagome. She smiled, despite herself, and was inwardly disappointed when Inuyasha set her down in the back row of the canoe.
"Shippo...can't breath..." Miroku gasped from where Shippo was still clinging to his neck.
"Now that THAT ordeal is over," Fenaux muttered. She pushed off the bank using her left foot, being careful not to fall in. The river quickly made the canoe pick up speed. The clear water swirled in little ripples in the wake of the boat, sending the few bubbles and leaves spinning away.
When the boat was traveling at a quick enough pace, Fenaux sat down in the front row. Miroku and Sango sat in the second row, (one on the right and one on the left of the canoe), with Shippo clinging over the edge, looking a little unwell. Finally, Kagome sat in the back row, with Inuyasha standing beside her.
"Why don't you...eh, well..." Kagome thought of another word to avoid saying 'sit' and sending Inuyasha careening through the floorboards. "...take a seat?"
"I'm keeping lookout. You never know what strange stray demons will come charging at us from anywhere, even the water." Inuyasha took a look around.
"Oh. Well, I hope your legs don't get tired, that's all." Kagome turned to face forward, so as not to get seasick herself. She wondered how long it would take to get to the Chuushin Mountains.
Inuyasha kept his ears, eyes, and nose on the lookout for trouble, but mostly kept his gaze facing in the direction that they were going. He soon noticed a kind of blob on the horizon, a smudge of brown that began to poke up into the hazy sky. The further that they traveled, the taller the smudges became, until a whole line of the blemishes dotted the entire horizon.
"Keh, that didn't take long," he muttered to no one in particular. The river took them closer and closer to the smudges until it became evident that the river did indeed pass THROUGH them.
"So, Fenaux," Miroku began, attempting to make conversation. "We don't know all that much about you and your family. How old are you?"
Fenaux turned away from the watching the water rush by. "Hmmm, in your ningen years, about eighteen. But for a youkai...hmm, that'd be about 88."
Miroku was shocked, even though he knew that demons aged at a much slower pace than humans, and that some were pretty much immortal. Hell, Shippo was almost fifty years old, and he was still just a kid.
"So when you say your brother is ten, he's really..." Sango leaned forward.
Talking about her brother made Fenaux feel a pang of discomfort, but she too, was bored and glad to be talking. "He turned 67 this year."
"Hey, that's about the same age as YOU Inuyasha," Miroku looked amused. Inuyasha snorted. Even though he had been in a spell that stopped time for him for fifty years, when people said that it made him feel old. In the back of his mind he noted that raven demons must age slower than inu hanyous, because he sure as hell wasn't ten in human years.
Kagome adjusted the quiver on her back. "Where exactly is your clan from?"
Fenaux sighed. "Hell, I don't exactly know how to explain it. We live in what you would call nests you see, though they are much larger than that of an ordinary bird's. Our lines are broken up into three clans, which are all located up north. Really, we aren't all that interesting."
"What I'm interested in is that 'Konba-to' shit," Inuyasha crossed his arms, still looking out at the growing mountains. "How the hell does that work?"
Fenaux glowered at him. "From ancient methods and our youkai tradition. I would actually appreciate it if you wouldn't—"
Shippo made a pathetic gagging noise, leaning further over the edge of the boat.
"Something wrong, Shippo?" Sango asked, leaning over to check up on him.
"Ug, not feeling well...getting...sick..." the kitsune squeaked as the boat tossed and wiggled.
"Not IN THE BOAT!" Fenaux cried. She quickly abandoned her position at the front of the canoe and her precious sentence, lifting Shippo around the middle and holding him out over the water.
"Ari-arigato." Shippo felt better just not being ON the boat, what with all the motion. He closed his eyes, trying to stop the dizziness in his head. But when he opened them, he noticed a darker blot of water shifting under him...and the pale glimmer of teeth below water.
"I-I-I-I-I-EEEEE!" he screamed, waving his arms and legs wildly in Fenaux's grasp.
"What is it?" She asked, but as soon as she finished she felt an ominous presence. Just in the knick of time, she pulled the kitsune backward.
SNAP!
A huge, stubby, wannabe-alligator head exploded out of water, closing its jaws around the air where Shippo had just been. An impossibly long neck followed the head, and was attached to a sleek, streamlined body consisting of a turtle-shaped, mud-colored body, four dolphin-like fins, a tall and thin shark's fin and an insanely long orange tail that twitched and coiled, spiraling in on itself.
Shippo squeaked again as the thrust to stay aloft and came crashing down again, just barely missing the boat and sending it rocking.
Kagome gaped at the enormous kappa. How could something that large find the momentum to propel its entire body out of the water at once, just for the one little snack that Shippo would've been to it?!
Kagome docked an arrow, attempting to aim as the canoe struggled to stay upright. Since she wasn't someone who had perfect aim otherwise, her shot went wildly off course. Inuyasha was flailing his arms around, loosing his own balance. Miroku and Sango were thrown out of their bench and on to the floor. The one who was in control the best was Fenaux, holding Shippo, no doubt because of her experience on the water.
The kappa jumped out of the water again, this time aiming for the front end of the boat. It landed with and huge crash and a snap of jaws, as it broke off the front tip of the boat. With the laws of physics against them, Kagome and Inuyasha were thrown far off of the ship like they were blast out a slingshot.
"Yeaaaaah!" They landed some distance away from each other with giant splashes. The Kappa was ignoring them, and heading back toward the boat.
"Maybe it isn't hungry enough to fight them for its meal, eh Shippo?" Fenaux tried at a laugh. When Shippo didn't answer, she repeated, "Eh, Shippo?" looking down.
"What in all hells??!" Shippo wasn't there, in her arms or on the boat. Where WAS that little shit?
"H...elp...(blub)...someone...(blub, blub) PLEASE!!" Miroku and Sango dived to look over the edge of the boat and saw Shippo floundering in the water. Normally the kitsune could swim quite well, but right now he was panicking.
"Shippo!" Miroku yelled, leaning over to grab him, then dodging backwards as the boat began to tip.
"Shippo-chan!" Kagome echoed on the other side of the river. She was an excellent swimmer, so she began power swimming over to the kitsune. But before she reached him, the Loch-Ness Monster wannabe came up from under him.
"EEP!" Shippo frantically clawed at the monsters nose, as it eyed him hungrily. As they were suspended in midair, the kappa managed to clamp down on his fluffy tail.
"I'm coming, Shippo-chan!" Kagome noted with no small amount of dismay that all her arrows had sunk to the bottom of the river. And a bow wasn't very useful without arrows.
The beast turned her way, apparently oblivious to the fact that Shippo was still stuck in his mouth, despite all the commotion he was causing kicking and screaming. Now it wanted Kagome.
As it passed beside her, ready to encircle her in its tail, she hooked the bow on the fin on its back, and used the thing's own motion to propel herself up onto its back.
"Kagome, what the hell are you doing?" Inuyasha sputtered, he was still swimming (though not half as well as Kagome), but was still far away from her or the boat.
"I have to get Shippo!" Even as Kagome was speaking, she was wondering how exactly she was going to do this. She had not a weapon on her, and even though the beast was swimming around in a tight circle, too stupid to know that its prey was now sitting on it, she was nervous to reach down and grab Shippo. That might attract its attention.
"What are we going to do?" Miroku asked Sango and Fenaux. Sure they could wait on Inuyasha getting there, but Miroku wasn't so sure of the hanyou's abilities to sword fight in water. He looked out at Kagome, and she shrugged, looking hopeless.
Kagome noticed that Fenaux didn't seem to be paying attention to anything but her hand. Then, softly, she was able to pick up on Fenaux's voice saying, "Bi-zuno no tekkou, kurie-to bi-zuno no buki...KONBA-TO!" ([4]) The small bead of steel she had been holding in her hands became a glowing orb of light, then began stretching out.
Before their eyes, the harmless bead turned into a razor-edged katana, the hilt made of a bronze-ish colored metal as well. Fenaux pulled back her arm and hurtled the katana at Kagome, hilt first.
"Here! Use this!" she called after it.
Nervous as hell that she would end up stabbing herself, Kagome reached out and grabbed the hilt of the katana out of midair. She stared at it strangely, knowing that moments before it had been a dot of steel a few moments before. "Kagome, what are you waiting for?" Inuyasha sputtered, now less than twelve feet away and attempting to draw the Tetsusaiga underwater.
So Kagome drove the sword up to the hilt in the back of the kappa's head. Blood sprayed out as well as some yellowish liquid. The beast made a gagging, 'in-the-throes-of-death' noise, and trashed once. Then, it began to sink.
Abandoning the katana, Kagome made a dive for Shippo, who had almost literally frozen from fear. A few of the kitsune's hairs from his tail were severed, but other than that he was virtually unharmed.
As Inuyasha caught up with them, Kagome handed him Shippo, and began to lead them back to shore.
As relieved as Fenaux was that they hadn't lost the boat or any lives, she was practically bubbling over with rage. She knew where that monster had come from. The orange paint on the freak's tail said it all. It was one of the many trained pets that the Cougar Tribe kept for entertainment and protection.
They were getting close now.
And it wasn't going to be as easy as Fenaux had thought.
GCN: Ta-daa! Another chappie. I tried to make it longer. I hope you enjoyed. Now, please review, it'd be much appreciated, and would help the next chapter come that much quicker. School starts here soon, ugg...but that actually might mean more computer time for me!!!
As for the romanji Japanese I used, I'll try and explain it.
[1] – Tojikomeru – literally "Shut up!" Very Inu, huh?
[2] -- Bi-zuno no mokusei......Konba-to! – Fenaux's chanting. Basically means: Wooden bead, convert. It's how she changes the beads.
[3] -- Arigato ugoza-i masu – Thank you very much.
[4] -- Bi-zuno no tekkou, kurie-to bi-zuno no buki...KONBA-TO – more chanting. This one means: Bead of iron/steel, create bead of weapon, convert.
Any other Japanese that you have questions with I'll answer. Or, for easy reference, go to (w w w . f r e e d i c t . c o m ) and go to the Japanese-English Dictionary. Or, if you really want, I can tell you in another chapter. (Thinks like ningen, arigato, nani, etc...)
Now you can also check out my clan's website at (a n i m e f r e a k 2 0 0 7 . t r i p o d . c o m) For a quick link go to my bio. Arigato! I need feedback!
Sayonara!!!! ---GCN anime dragon