Disclaimer: Hiten and the world of Inuyasha are creations of Rumiko
Takahashi.
AN: I just want to say thank you to everyone that reviewed. ^_^
Chapter Three: In Death
Hiten slowly drew himself up, the stiffness in his wounded shoulder protesting in a throbbing mummer of sensitive nerves. The last two days had passed in an uneventful fashion, his muscles becoming cramped by his confinement. Haruki remained his only contact with the world beyond the shield, talking as though to the dark rather than to the thunder demon. Hiten had learned a great deal about the fall of demons and how he had been pulled from his time nearly five hundred years in the past now to this age. Humans massed and seethed like an infestation of hapless insects. Demons chose to remain hidden among the ignorant population.
The time had come where humans far out numbered demons, pure or half breed. Hanyous themselves were rare, the demon blood so thinned that one could easily live life as a human and never even think other wise. Silence stretched like a gapping mouth as Hiten took in things he never considered possible.
"You said you had family?" Hiten gazed out into the false dark, the windows of the great buildings in a random pattern of dark and light squares like a mad man's checker board.
"I have a sister," the fox boy looked up, taking in the profile of his companion. "We aren't related by blood. I was adopted into a human family when my parents were killed," The depths of the young demon's pride did not allow him to elaborate. Again an uneasy quiet darkness descended. "The process of sustaining Midori's youth ages demons as quickly as time dose humans. I am only eighteen human years old."
The thunder demon grew tense. This fox boy was dying, ever tick of the clock that passed his body was ravaged by the slow decay of time. His body seemed like that of a nearly full grown demon where in age he should still be a small boy still grasping his mother's shirts, protected and sheltered. "Then it is the demons that serves that wench in the past have died, aged like mortals to dust?" The slow nod of the fox boy's head was the only answer Hiten received. His gut twisted at the though of how many generations of humans he had seen be born, raised, age, and wither.
"Are you afraid to die?" The quiet mummer of Haruki's voice barely audible over Hiten's thoughts. Turning away from the window, Hiten's scarlet gaze fell upon the fox boy. Unsure whether to pity him or offer a different kind of support, the thunder demon sat in silence with wishing more than anything the fox had not asked such a question. The curtain of flaxen hair that fell down concealing the youth's eyes suggested that the boy shivered in emotional turmoil.
"Demons should not be afraid of death," Hiten callously took the obvious answer, the one the fox boy expected to hear. Covering his distress as the he remembered the cold and lonely feel of his narrow escape from death only a three days or would it be five hundred years in the past. Sliding the empty bowl from his breakfast though the barrier, Hiten felt a weight pull at his conscience, if that is what it could be called.
"Heh ... of corse not," the fox boy rose from his seat against the wall, his voice trailing off as he picked up the bowl. His face remained down toward the floor as he reached for the door knob, Hiten not failing to notice the quiver of the fox's hand. Opening his mouth as though to say something, Hiten turned away in a scowl. Why did he care is this whelp was in pain? The door slowly swayed open, like a shadow the young demon stepped though the portal with no more noise than the whisper of air.
"Hey," Hiten spoke up just as the door started to swing close. The demon fox paused, his hand still clutching the outer door knob. Swallowing before continuing, the thunder demon carefully considered what best to say, "When I kill that wench, you wont have to worry about dying like a human." In a breathless laugh, the fox closed the door leaving Hiten alone with his thoughts.
Did he sympathize with the feeling of impending doom or was it that he felt a family like connection with the youth? A strange similarity between the fox and his younger siblings found a home in his closed heart.
* * *
Standing in the restricted floor space between the bed and the barrier, Hiten stretched his unused muscles.
"Are you getting restless confined like that?" Hiten's body tightened with the aknowledge that Midori had been watching him for who knows how long. Bringing himself back under control, Hiten casually sat back down on the bed, before turning toward her.
"One would think you were afraid of me," He gestured toward the barrier, "Such an elaborate and powerful barrier to hold one demon." The early morning light slowly brightened the room as he studied her contracting choice of clothing. In his previous encounters she had worn a cloak which hung to the ground, but now she wore black pants and a white sleeveless turtle neck.
"If I feared you, I would not have let you live this long," the sorceress absentmindedly ran a hand though her long dark hair. "The barrier is merely a precaution to make sure I can find you when I need you." Her smile held a dark malice which seem to be directly solely at him. Walking to the boundary, just out of reach, she looked down at him like a predator. Her eyes dancing, entertaining seemingly amusing thoughts.
"You are a fool if you do not fear me," In a swift jerk, ripped the bar from the foot of the bed, the metal screeching as it broke. Stabbing though the barrier, Hiten's uttered a vicious laugh as the half inch steel bar pierced her chest. The bone gave way to the demonic strength that forced that pipe though her sternum, into her heart. In a high pitched trill, the shield dispersed. He was shocked to find the human girl alive, much less laughing.
"I am not the fool, thunder demon," Her hand shot to her necklace, power charging the air. Her dark hair glowed and eerie light before being replaced by short blond hair. Her eyes became the auburn fightingly similar to Haruki's. "I do not merely select useless demons to act as my life force," Fox fire licked at her hand as she grasp his wrist. Pulled out of shock by the searing pain, Hiten released the metal bar which still remained impaled in the sorceress, the metal shattering like glass at her touch. "Although it is a pity that the fox body had to be sacrificed," Her body shimmered and then stepped back, into two. Midori stood just behind Haruki, her eye color and hair restored to their original state. The fox boy fell forward into a shocked Hiten, barely managing the catch him. "It seems that I must rethink my strategy," Midori disappeared in a flurry of wind.
"Hey, Haruki," Hiten slowly lowered the young fox, demon's body to the floor. The cooling feel of the young demon's skin made Hiten's stomach turn. The fox's eyes closed as though sleeping, his body still and quiet like a grave. The wound that had been inflicted had been by Hiten's own hands left blood spray on them both. The sharp contrast between Hiten's tanned skin living flesh to the ashen grey of the fox burred as tears welled in the thunder demon's eyes.
The emotional wound that had not yet stopped bleeding for his brother was gouged again with the cruel blade of fate's hand. Hot tears fell onto his hand as Hiten struggled to get control of himself. He hadn't know the boy very long, why did it hurt to much? Choking down a sob, he was unsure how long he lingered there. 'Are you afraid to die?' The echo of the demon fox's voice twisted the dagger which had lodge itself in his thoughts.
"Why do you die all around me?" Hiten tilted his head back, as he held the small frame of the fox boy against his chest. The heavy silence hung in the air as though time had stopped. Closing his eyes as new tears raced down his cheeks, he felt lost. He had no where to focus his emotions. His grief tore at him like a stared beast. This event rang though the same cord as his brother's death. Nothing he could do would bring either of them back and in a one way or another he had been directly responsible for their deaths.
Standing, holding Haruki's body in his arms, Hiten would see that he would have a burial. In his rage he regretted not doing the same with his brother. Not for that it promised some degree of closure, doing all he within his power to do what was right. Alone in the morning light, Hiten was just that, utterly alone in a world he did not fully understand.
To be Continued...
AN: Thanks again for reviewing!
AN: I just want to say thank you to everyone that reviewed. ^_^
Chapter Three: In Death
Hiten slowly drew himself up, the stiffness in his wounded shoulder protesting in a throbbing mummer of sensitive nerves. The last two days had passed in an uneventful fashion, his muscles becoming cramped by his confinement. Haruki remained his only contact with the world beyond the shield, talking as though to the dark rather than to the thunder demon. Hiten had learned a great deal about the fall of demons and how he had been pulled from his time nearly five hundred years in the past now to this age. Humans massed and seethed like an infestation of hapless insects. Demons chose to remain hidden among the ignorant population.
The time had come where humans far out numbered demons, pure or half breed. Hanyous themselves were rare, the demon blood so thinned that one could easily live life as a human and never even think other wise. Silence stretched like a gapping mouth as Hiten took in things he never considered possible.
"You said you had family?" Hiten gazed out into the false dark, the windows of the great buildings in a random pattern of dark and light squares like a mad man's checker board.
"I have a sister," the fox boy looked up, taking in the profile of his companion. "We aren't related by blood. I was adopted into a human family when my parents were killed," The depths of the young demon's pride did not allow him to elaborate. Again an uneasy quiet darkness descended. "The process of sustaining Midori's youth ages demons as quickly as time dose humans. I am only eighteen human years old."
The thunder demon grew tense. This fox boy was dying, ever tick of the clock that passed his body was ravaged by the slow decay of time. His body seemed like that of a nearly full grown demon where in age he should still be a small boy still grasping his mother's shirts, protected and sheltered. "Then it is the demons that serves that wench in the past have died, aged like mortals to dust?" The slow nod of the fox boy's head was the only answer Hiten received. His gut twisted at the though of how many generations of humans he had seen be born, raised, age, and wither.
"Are you afraid to die?" The quiet mummer of Haruki's voice barely audible over Hiten's thoughts. Turning away from the window, Hiten's scarlet gaze fell upon the fox boy. Unsure whether to pity him or offer a different kind of support, the thunder demon sat in silence with wishing more than anything the fox had not asked such a question. The curtain of flaxen hair that fell down concealing the youth's eyes suggested that the boy shivered in emotional turmoil.
"Demons should not be afraid of death," Hiten callously took the obvious answer, the one the fox boy expected to hear. Covering his distress as the he remembered the cold and lonely feel of his narrow escape from death only a three days or would it be five hundred years in the past. Sliding the empty bowl from his breakfast though the barrier, Hiten felt a weight pull at his conscience, if that is what it could be called.
"Heh ... of corse not," the fox boy rose from his seat against the wall, his voice trailing off as he picked up the bowl. His face remained down toward the floor as he reached for the door knob, Hiten not failing to notice the quiver of the fox's hand. Opening his mouth as though to say something, Hiten turned away in a scowl. Why did he care is this whelp was in pain? The door slowly swayed open, like a shadow the young demon stepped though the portal with no more noise than the whisper of air.
"Hey," Hiten spoke up just as the door started to swing close. The demon fox paused, his hand still clutching the outer door knob. Swallowing before continuing, the thunder demon carefully considered what best to say, "When I kill that wench, you wont have to worry about dying like a human." In a breathless laugh, the fox closed the door leaving Hiten alone with his thoughts.
Did he sympathize with the feeling of impending doom or was it that he felt a family like connection with the youth? A strange similarity between the fox and his younger siblings found a home in his closed heart.
* * *
Standing in the restricted floor space between the bed and the barrier, Hiten stretched his unused muscles.
"Are you getting restless confined like that?" Hiten's body tightened with the aknowledge that Midori had been watching him for who knows how long. Bringing himself back under control, Hiten casually sat back down on the bed, before turning toward her.
"One would think you were afraid of me," He gestured toward the barrier, "Such an elaborate and powerful barrier to hold one demon." The early morning light slowly brightened the room as he studied her contracting choice of clothing. In his previous encounters she had worn a cloak which hung to the ground, but now she wore black pants and a white sleeveless turtle neck.
"If I feared you, I would not have let you live this long," the sorceress absentmindedly ran a hand though her long dark hair. "The barrier is merely a precaution to make sure I can find you when I need you." Her smile held a dark malice which seem to be directly solely at him. Walking to the boundary, just out of reach, she looked down at him like a predator. Her eyes dancing, entertaining seemingly amusing thoughts.
"You are a fool if you do not fear me," In a swift jerk, ripped the bar from the foot of the bed, the metal screeching as it broke. Stabbing though the barrier, Hiten's uttered a vicious laugh as the half inch steel bar pierced her chest. The bone gave way to the demonic strength that forced that pipe though her sternum, into her heart. In a high pitched trill, the shield dispersed. He was shocked to find the human girl alive, much less laughing.
"I am not the fool, thunder demon," Her hand shot to her necklace, power charging the air. Her dark hair glowed and eerie light before being replaced by short blond hair. Her eyes became the auburn fightingly similar to Haruki's. "I do not merely select useless demons to act as my life force," Fox fire licked at her hand as she grasp his wrist. Pulled out of shock by the searing pain, Hiten released the metal bar which still remained impaled in the sorceress, the metal shattering like glass at her touch. "Although it is a pity that the fox body had to be sacrificed," Her body shimmered and then stepped back, into two. Midori stood just behind Haruki, her eye color and hair restored to their original state. The fox boy fell forward into a shocked Hiten, barely managing the catch him. "It seems that I must rethink my strategy," Midori disappeared in a flurry of wind.
"Hey, Haruki," Hiten slowly lowered the young fox, demon's body to the floor. The cooling feel of the young demon's skin made Hiten's stomach turn. The fox's eyes closed as though sleeping, his body still and quiet like a grave. The wound that had been inflicted had been by Hiten's own hands left blood spray on them both. The sharp contrast between Hiten's tanned skin living flesh to the ashen grey of the fox burred as tears welled in the thunder demon's eyes.
The emotional wound that had not yet stopped bleeding for his brother was gouged again with the cruel blade of fate's hand. Hot tears fell onto his hand as Hiten struggled to get control of himself. He hadn't know the boy very long, why did it hurt to much? Choking down a sob, he was unsure how long he lingered there. 'Are you afraid to die?' The echo of the demon fox's voice twisted the dagger which had lodge itself in his thoughts.
"Why do you die all around me?" Hiten tilted his head back, as he held the small frame of the fox boy against his chest. The heavy silence hung in the air as though time had stopped. Closing his eyes as new tears raced down his cheeks, he felt lost. He had no where to focus his emotions. His grief tore at him like a stared beast. This event rang though the same cord as his brother's death. Nothing he could do would bring either of them back and in a one way or another he had been directly responsible for their deaths.
Standing, holding Haruki's body in his arms, Hiten would see that he would have a burial. In his rage he regretted not doing the same with his brother. Not for that it promised some degree of closure, doing all he within his power to do what was right. Alone in the morning light, Hiten was just that, utterly alone in a world he did not fully understand.
To be Continued...
AN: Thanks again for reviewing!
