Nights in White Satin
Chapter eight: The Night of the Dog
Written by Sleepwalking Chicken
Written on August 27, 2004

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She held him gently for a long time, no words needed to be spoken between them; the simple feel of their warm arms wrapped around each other was enough to keep them content. Kagome smiled softly at him as he pulled away. His eyes were just the slightest bit pink and slightly puffy, and thin trails of tears ran down his cheeks, nearly invisible. She lovingly rubbed away the liquid with her thumbs, her hands gently cupping his cheeks. Inuyasha closed his eyes gently melting into her simple touch.

He felt her lips against his closed eyelids and let out a small contented sigh. Kagome bashfully kissed him, her lips softly feathering across his tanned skin. He smiled faintly and reopened his eyes when she was done. She shyly returned the smile.

Leaning down he captured her lips again as clawed fingers gently touched her cheeks. He felt her smile widen against the contact and he let out a small growl of pleasure at the sensual touch.

As they pulled away her face ignited into a red flame and she bowed her head, a small, goofy smile plastered across her lips. She let out a small giggle and he raised an eyebrow. 'Women…' He shrugged.

Shortly afterwards, Kagome suggested they return to sleep and she snuck back into her sleeping bag. She turned to him and smiled, holding open her arms. He stared for a short moment before realizing what she was suggesting. He crawled over to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Good night, Inuyasha," she murmured, her voice laced with sleep, her eyes drooping.

"Night…" Inuyasha said softly and watched as she gently fell into the realm of sleep. But sleep refused to claim him.

He watched her soft breathing, her breath ruffling a piece of hair lying across her face. A small smile still graced her lips and her beautiful blue eyes were hidden behind heavy lids, her dark lashes brushing across her pink cheeks, colored from her days walking in the sun. His eyes softened as he gazed down at her. He reached out a hand and brushed her black hair away from her face.

He watched her, trying to ignore the feeling within him. The agonizing feeling inside him dug away at his stomach and he was again brought back to reality when a sudden jolt rushed through him. He hissed in pain and grasped his stomach, his haori twisting in his long fingers.

"What…the hell?" he whispered to himself before his eyes flickered to Kagome, making sure his jerky movements and his muttered curses weren't waking her from her sleep.

Satisfied that the girl would not awaken, he sadly disentangled himself from her and scooted away, his back resting against a tree. He panted lightly and a bead of sweat ran down his cheek as he continued to grasp his stomach. A pounding headache was beginning to form in the middle of his head and his muscles twitched.

"My Lord…" murmured a small voice beside him and Inuyasha tilted his head to the side, eyeing the small flea demon on his shoulder. He panted slightly but was unable to get words out. "My Lord… I…" the flea began, but the demon smashed him under his hand.

"What is… wrong…" He clenched his teeth as a new wave of pain seeped through him. "With me…?"

"My Lord…" Myouga tried to say but Inuyasha fell to the ground, his shaking arms supporting him. With a small gasp of pain, Inuyasha threw his head back and let loose a loud howl.

Before he could stop the howl, it grew louder in volume and his fangs seemed to grow in his mouth. Pain burst in his mouth and he stopped his howl quickly, as he felt as if his jaw was dislocating and rearranging. Soon he realized that his whole body was morphing and shifting like it was made of clay or mud. He whimpered in pain as his bones shaped and reshaped, as if repeatedly being broken by some unknown force. His vision spotted red and he nearly blacked out for a moment when the pain became too much.

He was faintly aware of Myouga screaming his name, but after that he remembered nothing else.

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The howling scream awakened Kagome and the others. They sprung up at once, expecting some kind of youkai attack. Slightly disoriented, they realized that there was no threat. They looked at one another in confusion before turning their attention to little whimpers.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome called, worried that something had happened to the inu youkai.

A soft growl acknowledged that the whimpering was coming from Inuyasha. Casting a hesitant look at Sango and Miroku, Kagome trotted to the bushes and shoved them aside. "My Lady," came Myouga's voice as he jumped onto her cheek, quickly filling his mouth with her blood. Kagome slapped him with a sigh and watched the little flea fall into her hand.

"My Lady," Myouga repeated once he had regain himself, "You must be cautious, my Lord is not himself."

"Myouga-jiichan," Kagome murmured and stared at the bush where Inuyasha was hiding. "What's wrong with him?"

"Yes, what has happened to Inuyasha?" Sango asked, her voice filled with concern for her friend.

"It is the new moon," Myouga said gravely.

"Myouga," Kagome said softly, "You know that Inuyasha is a youkai now. He isn't affected by the new moon."

"That's what you think," the flea said and jumped from Kagome's hand onto a leaf on the bush. "See for yourself!"

Kagome and the others walked forward and pushed the bushes aside to see a restlessly sleeping Inuyasha. Or who they had assumed was Inuyasha.

What lay before them was not the youkai they had fallen asleep with. Before them, curled up in a whimpering ball of pain, was a large white dog. He wasn't as large as Sesshoumaru, Kagome noted, but the dog was certainly larger than any dog she'd ever encountered in her own time. Its white fur ruffled in the night breeze and his eyes were clenched in pain. The purple stripes still appeared on his cheeks.

They stared in shock, not daring to move towards the pained animal. "Inuyasha?" Sango whispered in disbelief and rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't going crazy. "He's as big as Kirara," she mused.

The dog's ears twitched, and they realized they were the ears that had once been on their friend's head. The dog shivered in its sleep and another whimper escaped its clenched muzzle. The others seemed hesitant to step forth, but Kagome moved smoothly forward, unafraid.

"Inuyasha," she murmured as her hand reached out and gently touched her friend's head. The dog paused in its whimpers to crack open molten golden eyes, the whites of his eyes, however, were stained crimson. It looked odd but Kagome softly stroked the fur on the top of his head, in between his ears.

He stared at her and let out a small whimper before nuzzling against her, his tongue darting out and gently touching her arm.

"Myouga, what happened to him?" Miroku asked, feeling out of place while the two showed a rare display of affection.

The flea sighed and scrunched up his brow. "When he was a hanyou, Inuyasha-Sama would turn human. Now that he is a youkai, he participates in what inu youkai call 'youkai's tsuki'."

"What do you mean? I've never heard of it before!" Shippou protested with a pout. "And I'm a youkai."

The dog version of Inuyasha stared at his friends as if hanging on their every word. Kagome gently looked at Inuyasha, trying to help ease the pain the dog youkai was no doubt feeling, if his whimpers had anything to say.

"It is a secret that the dog demon prefer to keep to themselves," Myouga said gravely and looked at his lord. "Rarely do outsiders see the demons in such a state. The process is quite simple."

"Oh?" Kagome asked. "How so?"

"The demons can determine their time of transformation by the symbol on their forehead," Myouga said firmly. "My lord had no markings on his forehead, therefore he transformed on the new moon. The young master, Inuyasha, has no markings as well, which means that he transforms on the new moon."

"That explains why he turned human on the new moon," Sango said lightly and they nodded.

"Do they all transform into dogs, then?" Kagome asked curiously.

"It's not so much transforming as it is that they lose control of their humanoid forms," Myouga said. "It takes quite a bit of energy and power to stay in the form that looks human. The dog form is the dog demons' true forms and contains the least amount of energy needed to maintain."

There was a moment of silence spent where the group watched the dog Inuyasha.

"So Sesshoumaru transforms on the crescent moon?" Miroku asked suddenly.

"I would assume so," Myouga said with a nod.

"This is all a little overwhelming," Kagome said faintly. "Is Inuyasha stuck as a dog for the rest of the night? Wouldn't he have transformed when the sun went down?"

"Well," Myouga was silent for a long moment as he tried to think of a good explanation. "Since it is his first transformation ever, his demon blood was probably unfamiliar to what was happening and tried to resist. I would imagine that would cause him great pain."

"He's in pain now," Kagome whispered sadly.

Myouga nodded and stared hungrily at his lord. With a delighted jump, he landed softly in his Lord's fur and took refuge for the rest of the night where he could feast without interruptions. His hasty departure signaled that the conversation was over.

"This certainly is odd," Sango said with a sigh, "I've never heard of this from any of the demon slayers."

"Agreed. It must be a well guarded secret," Miroku said with a nod.

"Then we won't tell anyone," Kagome vowed with a nod of her own.

"Should we return to sleep, then?" Sango asked and the others turned to leave, minus Kagome. "Kagome-Chan, are you coming?"

"No, I think I'll stay here with Inuyasha," Kagome said kindly and smiled. "Don't worry about me."

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Kagome sat, gently stroking the dog's ears, her fingers grazing across the sensitive fur that covered the twitching ears. She sighed softly and smiled gently at Inuyasha. "It will be over soon," she assured when the man turned dog whimpered.

His golden eyes stared at her and he gently nuzzled into her hand, silently asking her to continue the rubbing of his ears.

Kagome sighed again and leaned over, resting her head on his long, muscular back. His head tilted and he watched her. "You really are as big as Kirara," Kagome agreed with what Sango had said earlier.

Inuyasha growled lightly and the girl giggled. "If it's all right, Inuyasha," she said softly as her eyes drooped, "I'd like to go to sleep. But I won't leave you alone."

The dog said nothing, but simply let out a small breath. Kagome's smile faded as sleep captured her and she dropped off into a peaceful dream, the youkai's warmth surrounding her.

When the sun began to rise, Inuyasha felt the pain slowly subsiding. He let out a small sigh of relief. That is until the sun rose. When the sun was peeking out from the tree line, Inuyasha's bones and muscles rearranged themselves again and he resisted the urge to yelp in pain, especially since Kagome was sleeping right next to him.

He found himself a youkai again. Blushing brightly, he grabbed his clothing and retied them around themselves, the material having come loose during his first transformation last night. He stared at Kagome, who was sleeping soundly on his stomach and felt himself gently shifting again so that her head was resting in his lap, her breath lightly breezing against a hakama covered thigh.

His fingers lightly touched her silken black hair and the long claws ran gently through the dark mass. Kagome shifted in her position and continued to sleep on.

He smiled faintly, "You're always here… aren't you?"

Kagome didn't answer but he already knew. He'd always known that she was with him, but for how long? She had said that she'd stay with him, but how could the girl give up her home, her family, her friends and her time… just for him?

He pursed his lips and leaned over, his lips gently touching her cheek. After a moment with no response, Inuyasha gently shook Kagome awake.

She yawned and was happy to see Inuyasha back to normal. "Inuyasha. Good morning!"

"Morning," he greeted and Kagome smiled.

"Shall we go wake the others?" she asked kindly and the hanyou nodded.