Disclaimer : I don't know what you're talking about . . . I never said I own Inuyasha!
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AN:
Sorry about the prolonged update. For the past week and a half I've had some computer troubles. You see, the main computer had a virus and I just got a new one with no internet (and with no MSword - just wordpad), so they transferred all my files to my new one (actually, it's a '98, but . . .) and rebooted the old one. So, now the internet's on one computer and my website files, my fics, and my graphics are on another one. Life is cruel, ne?
Basically, I desperately need a beta, since I now am without a spell-checker.
Anybody ever read any books by Tamora Pierce? I love her Protector of the Small series, but right now I'm reading Trickster's Choice (in the Trickster series). Parts leave me a bit lost, though, because I never read the last three books in Song of the Lioness. I really like Aly, but Dove is my favorite character from Trickster and Kel is my all-time favorite. I really like the quiet, observant ones as opposed to the others. The weird thing about Aly, though, is unlike Daine, Kel, or Alanna, we don't meet up with her when she's a kid - we meet her at the bright and bonny age of sixteen. It's kind of scary, though, that the longer she's away from her mother the more like her she becomes . . . If you're lost, go to your local library/bookstore, look in juvenile fiction/fantasy, and search for Tamora Pierce. Protector is the most like Inuyasha of them all, but the others are good, as well. I'd start out with Lioness, though, and then get Immortals, then Protector and Trickster, because they're all connected and if you don't read Alanna, Daine, and Kel's series you might be lost in Aly's (truth be told, you don't have to read Kel for Aly, but Kel rocks hard, especially if you're a Sango fan).
So, without further ado, here's FY: Interlude one.
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Reviews:
Whoa . . . I got eighteen reviews at least! I love you all . . . -huggles all her reviewers- Sorry if I didn't get to you. There were just too many . . .
KimonoChick: Tsk, tsk . . . you shouldn't make fun of gay people. :)
Dreamerchan: Thank-you. Cotton candy is good . . .
Just an Inu fan: Miroku's not gonna have a name because he'll return to adulthood shortly. Don't worry, though - there will be plenty of fluff in the coming chapters, especially once he hits thirteen. xD (You'll have to read to see what I mean . . .)
Xichiathik: Thank-you for your nice and long review. ;)
Aprill May: Thanks. I'm sorry that I broke my chain of consistent updating, but I have a legitimate reason. -points to AN-
rogueandkurt: Actually it's more of a spell that makes you ten years younger sort of thing, hence Kagura saying in this chapter "unless you wish to repeat the last ten years of your life." :)
NightMistCrystal: In the anime, Sango's sixteen and Miroku's nineteen. In the manga, Sango's seventeen. I don't have a clue why it's different . . .
Heart of Friendship: Yes, you are in dire need to update . . . again. -pokes you- Update, Chibi Queen, or I shall send the muffins to get you! Mwuahahaha! -cough-
Iggy04: No, no, I didn't have a fever. I just wasn't in the mood for a cliffie. Don't worry, though. The next few chapters will get into their "teen years" - like, thirteenish - and fluff is assured.
ninalee-chan: Yup. Just like plushies . . . ;)
Aamalie: Don't worry, they will . . . -starts planning for last chapter- And, yea, it's probably a little of both. :)
PriestessMiko: Glad you finally decided to read it. Oh, and it's because Sango's Japanese voice is Houko Kuwashima, which will also explain Sango's last name in DQ.
Kitten Kisses: -gasp- You mean someone actually put this on their favorites? Wow! Thanks for reading. :)
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Interlude One: Kagura's Choice
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The crimson-eyed woman grunted, turned on her heel and storming out of the castle. Being at Naraku's beck-and-call wasn't exactly what you'd call "a walk in a garden". Still, she didn't have much of a choice. And he was sending Kanna with her, meaning he would have no way of watching her to make sure she did exactly as she was told.
"Good. Everything has gone as planned . . . so far. Now, I want you to kill them." She shuddered, remembering his cold command. She didn't really have much of a reason to let them live, other than the fact that she hated Naraku more than she hated them. It was true that Inuyasha was probably what you'd call "the ring leader", but the two might play an important role in the death of her cruel master. She smirked wickedly, removing the small, porcelain bottle and a Shikon no Kakera from her kimono sleeve.
"Kagura, are you sure Naraku will not find out?" a ghostlike voice asked. She turned to her elder sister, eyes twinkling with mischief.
"You aren't with him for him to spy, remember?" Her face hardened as she studied the girl intently. "Unless you plan on telling him . . ." She snapped open her fan threateningly, letting the statement hang in the air.
"Where are we going?" the seemingly younger girl asked, watching her sister remove a feather from her hair.
"Bara's forest," she replied simply before throwing it into the air. The two glided away, silent for the remainder of the trip.
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The young girl scowled from her perch in the tree, running a hand through her brown tresses. "Yea, I remember," she affirmed. "A dog hanyou, a monk, and some weird girl. They had two runts with them: one kitsune youkai, one human. And a neko youkai. Why do you ask?" She dropped down from the trees, eyes twinkling in the light of the Shikon shard the red-eyed, red-lipped wind-youkai held between her thumb and forefinger.
"For the jewel fragment Naraku owes you and the antidote, will you do me a favor . . ." she began, closing her hand as the young teen tried to snatch the shard from her. "Against Naraku."
"What do I have to do?" she questioned, folding her arms across her chest. "And what does this have to do with the runt?"
"You have to deliver the antidote to the young girl named 'Sango' and the monk, Miroku, both of which have been done in much the same as you." The Young girl raised her eyes suspiciously.
"Why would a demon help a human?" she growled, circling the woman to inspect her. "What are you trying to pull?"
"My freedom," the woman spat venomously, grasping the girl's wrist and viciously digging her nails into it. "You can either deliver this to them-" She held up the antidote. "-or you can repeat the last ten years of your life. Make your choice . . ." The girl jerked her arm away, grabbing the antidote and the jewel.
"Fine, I'll help your stupid humans," she snapped. "So where do I find them?"
"The forest beyond the next village," Kagura told her plainly. "I'll be watching, so don't screw it up, and don't say anything other than what it is. Give no names and no details. If it comes down to it, tell them a priestess supplied you with it and requested for it to be delivered to them." The girl scrunched up her nose in confusion and distaste, but finally sighed and walked away.
"Whatever . . . not my problem . . ." She pressed the shard to the back of her neck, feeling its power sink in almost immediately. She bit her lip, opening the bottle. "Hey!" she called back, turning to Naraku's minion. "How does this work? And what does it taste like?" The woman rolled her eyes.
"Three drops," she recited dully. "It will take ten day for you to return to your normal form. Take more than three and the spell might leave you older than you need be. Take less you might end up younger than your actual age. Each day you will age another year. And I don't know what it tastes like, I haven't drank any myself." As the girl walked away, she could hear her snide mimicking of Kagura's reply. This girl's new-found age was getting to her head . . .
Then a thought occurred to her: she had yet to torture Kouga or talk to Sesshoumaru. "Come, Kanna." She yanked a feather out of her hair, soaring off into the sky with her elder sister.
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AN:
Yea, yea, you're all thinking, "What the crap?! We wait three friggin' weeks and she gives us an update that barely fills up the screen?!" Well, two things: one, I'm kind of running low on inspiration; and two, it's an interlude and is not meant to be long. Understand that anything ending in -lude (at least, written by me) will not be extremely long - postludes, preludes, and interludes. Yea. Review and I may update within a reasonable amount of time.
Watch for my two upcoming stories: Inuyasha: the Musical and My Angel. Both will be posted about the same time as the epilogue to Thirteen. I'll warn you, The Musical, though it will not be in script form, will not be as spectacularly written as my other stories, since they do nothing but sing through most of it. It will be amazingly random, as well, plus all the songs are written by moi. So, yea. Read it if you're in the mood for a bunch of fluff or you want a laugh or two.