A/N: Ladies and gentlemen, PLEASE do not kill me! I realize that months with no updates is a long time, and I'm really starting to hate myself, but with the way my life has been lately, I think anybody in my position would get writer's block...
Anyway, enough of my hopeless life... and on with the fic! I hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing. But I can deal with it...
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ENCHANTED DAWN
Shards of Hope
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"I can't do this... You know I can't place her at risk!" Inuyasha whispered venomously to Kaede. He glanced over at Kagome, who was busy trying to claw at the pendant that hung around her small neck. "I will search for the jewel ALONE. I am not going to drag Kagome into this!"
"You have no choice, you blithering baka," Kaede shot back. "She too is cursed. Do you think she would appreciate it if she goes back to being human without you here since you have begun the search without her? And how will you continue the search once night falls and you become a wolf once again?"
"I don't care! I will not put Kag-chan in danger! Besides, do I really have to find this Shikon thing? Won't killing Naraku do the trick?"
"No! This is a powerful, ancient spell that lives on even after the death of the caster. You have no choice! Besides, she bears one of the necklaces, does she not? It means she is one of the people destined to mark the Shikon no Tama."
"Have you forgotten, old hag, that I gave her that damn necklace?" Inuyasha said in irritation as he got up off the floor and secured his clothing. Some bits of earth and dust still clung to his clothing, and he hastily dusted himself up.
"But the necklace didn't reject her, did it?" Kaede insisted.
Kagome looked up at the arguing pair, tilting her head to the side and perking up her ears. Why were the two humans fighting? And why did they keep glancing at her as they did? Did she do something wrong?
She slowly walked over to the human who was standing, seemingly mad at the chubby one who sat in front of her. The human looked disgruntled, so she did the only thing she could – she went up to his feet, and rubbed herself against him.
Inuyasha looked down at the cat by his feet, once again cursing whoever god came to mind at the moment. "Oi... Kag-chan. You know I don't like cats," he said with a grin as he slowly leaned down to stroke her lustrous fur. "I guess I have to learn to like 'em, then."
Inuyasha sat back down, pulling a contented neko onto his lap. He turned back to Kaede with a raised brow, before murmuring, "What do you mean, it didn't reject her? It's a damn necklace, how can it reject anyone?"
"It is not an ordinary necklace, Inuyasha."
Inuyasha quieted down. She was right.
"Kaede-sama! Kagome!" an anxious voice called out from the outside, and Inuyasha immediately recognized the voice and scent of Kagome's mother. Two other scents were with him – Kagome's cousin Miroku, and their friend, the ex-taijiya named Sango.
He looked down at his lap, guilt gnawing at his insides. Somehow... he felt Kagome's condition was his fault. He couldn't protect her from that damned daimyo, and now here she was, cursed, like he was.
Kaede stepped out of the hut as they heard the call, and Inuyasha heard the old woman usher the worried mother and her companions in amidst the flurry of questions. They were speaking quietly, but he didn't even bother to listen. He was too caught up in his self-loathing.
The moment Kagome's mother set eyes upon Inuyasha and the dark feline in his arms, she burst into sobs and immediately knelt beside him. She pushed his hands back slightly to look at the cat, who just stretched and looked inquiringly at her – the unmistakable blue-gray eyes making the woman cry even harder.
"It IS Kagome... oh Kami... oh Kami!" she cried, holding her hands over her lips in an attempt to silence her sobs.
"Higurashi-san... I'm sorry," Inuyasha whispered, not daring to lift his eyes to the woman. "This is all my fault... I..."
"No," she interrupted. "Don't blame yourself."
Silence settled between them at the statement. Inuyasha shook his head slightly. There was no way he could ever stop blaming himself for this.
Kaede sat back down at her usual place. Miroku and Sango remained frozen by the door, staring at the forlorn woman and the chastised hanyou.
Something had caught Sango's attention though, and she stared long at it before being the first to break the silence.
"Who did this, Inuyasha?" she asked, her hands clenching into tight fists.
Inuyasha could smell anger, agitation and fear radiating from Sango, but he made no comment about it. "It was the damn daimyo. Naraku."
Sango gritted her teeth. The Dawn Bane. It was the same curse that... the self-same curse that had...
She shook her head of her morbid thoughts. There was no use dwelling on the past. She had to move on.
Miroku noticed the taijiya's conflicting emotions flicker across her usually calm face, but did not mention it. She only ever got this way whenever her thoughts were on her past, and he knew that the woman's past was nothing short of painful.
"I may know how to break the curse... I may be able to help," Sango said, her eyes rather far away as she said so.
This made Inuyasha look up. "You... you do?"
Miroku was surprised. "Sango-sama, I had no idea that you knew so much of this curse. I didn't know the first thing about it!"
"Yes, dear, how did you..." Kaede started as Higurashi-san looked hopefully at the girl.
"It doesn't matter," Sango replied. She turned to Inuyasha. "All I know is," she started as she reached into her robes, and pulled out something that hung from a simple chain around her neck. "Kagome, you and I all wear the same pieces of jewelry. I am not quite sure how this works, but from what my father had told me about these when he was alive, these are special pendants that could grant the wishes of the ones who could complete their core, a magical jewel."
Inuyasha looked on in shock, and Miroku gave a soft gasp as they watched her pull out a pendant that looked exactly like the ones that hung from their own necks. It took Miroku a few moments to regain his power of speech.
"Sango-sama... Inuyasha..." he started, looking between the two as he pulled out his own pendant. "Look."
Both looked at him in surprise. Kaede and Higurashi-san were just too overwhelmed to speak.
Kaede's mind was spinning in circles, though. The pendants had been given to different people soon after they were forged... Four completely different people. How could they have ended up in the hands of these four people?
Miroku watched Inuyasha slowly lift his pendant into his hand. He then pressed lightly against a side of it, and everyone, except Kaede, stared in shocked silence as it glowed slightly before splitting in two, revealing a single shard.
"This pendant was from my father," he stated, before reaching for Kagome's pendant. She just lay on his lap as he opened her own necklace before her eyes. "So was this. I don't know what's going on, but I think that these things can help us... and I don't know how."
"I already told you how. You have to find and make whole the Shikon no Tama," Kaede said as she snapped out of her stupor. "But this is complicated since the other pendants are with your friends."
"No, this makes it easier," Miroku stepped in. "I still don't understand this, Kaede, but by looking at these pendants, I am starting to believe that these are the parts to a certain whole. We now at least have a few of the pieces."
"How did you get that thing, Miroku?" Kagome's mother asked, her eyes still wet with tears. "And you, dear, where... how? What is going on?" she asked Sango, before turning confused eyes on the old miko beside her.
"I inherited it from my father," Miroku said at the same time as Sango. Both glanced at each other with a small blush.
"And I got these from mine," Inuyasha added. "But now what?"
"Inuyasha," Miroku began. "Kagome is my cousin. You are my friend. I want to help you get over this curse as much as I can. And if by having these pendants mean that I will HAVE to anyway, I know I will not have any second thoughts about it."
Sango nodded her agreement. A firm believer of destiny, and of her father's words about the pendant, she had no qualms about embarking on whatever it may take for her to fulfill the deeds fate has in store for her. "This is no coincidence. I think we were destined to put the enchanted jewel together."
Higurashi-san couldn't keep her eyes off the three young people in the room. "Would you truly help my dear Kagome?"
Inuyasha looked straight at her as he spoke. "I will do anything for Kagome. Anything to make sure that she is restored to normal, and that the caster of the spell is punished. Even if it kills me."
Sango's wince went unnoticed by everyone but Miroku.
"Are you all sure of this? You could always just give Inuyasha your shards, and he and Kagome can go off on their own," Kaede asked Miroku and Sango.
Miroku violently shook his head. "I cannot let them do this without me. I have, through some strange instance, managed to inherit this pendant. Something that has clearly been forged by the same person who forged Inuyasha's..."
"My dad did that," Inuyasha interjected.
"And I agree with Sango-sama. This is no coincidence," Miroku continued.
"Besides, this is a very tricky curse. You cannot expect Inuyasha and Kagome to accomplish the deed without help," Sango added. "I know Inuyasha is a hanyou, and he could easily do anything, but he is CURSED. Once the curse befalls him at sundown, he will be helpless, whether he accepts that or not, and Kagome will definitely have a hard time fending for herself alone once SHE becomes human."
"She's right," Inuyasha said. "I... I can survive on my own, but Kagome... she isn't like me."
"Then it's settled! I am going to help you in this!" Miroku cried, tenacity filling his eyes.
"So am I." Sango said, more softly than Miroku.
Inuyasha looked at the two with a grateful smile on his face. Miroku was just his friend, Sango just an acquaintance, but they were so eager to help him and Kagome in their dire situation. "Thanks... both of you. From both Kagome and myself."
"Think nothing of it my friend," Miroku said, crouching beside Inuyasha, right across his aunt. He gave him an evil grin before he added. "I mean, you never know... I may have my own evil agenda about this entire deal. Maybe I want an excuse to get away from my duties at the shrine."
"Or, we may just be bored out of our heads and are in need of an adventure," Sango added as she too, sat beside Inuyasha and her friend-turned-cat, on Miroku's side.
"Hai. But before we go," Miroku said. "Would somebody PLEASE tell me what the curse is in the first place? And could someone tell me EXACTLY what we are supposed to do? I have to admit... I'm very confused."
All three turned towards Kaede with expectant looks on their faces. Even Higurashi-san looked at her as she worried her bottom lip with her teeth.
Seeing the determined look in their eyes, Kaede had to agree. It would be impossible to complete the Shikon no Tama without help. She sighed as she asked everybody to sit down. This would be a long discussion.
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A/N: Short, ne? Fear not... they begin their "journey" next chapter. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! Please review. I would love to know what you think. Besides, reviews make me write faster. You all saw how s-l-o-w I could get when ya' all don't. Just see how long it took me with this update. Hint, hint. Ok, so I'm begging... PLEASE REVIEW! Ja!