Lost to be Found: Section Two - Canis fenris
Slowly Kagome looked down as best she could at where her hands should be. In their place were furry paws, like those of the purebred dogs in the kennels.
Exactly like them.
Realization made its sluggish way through Kagome's fogged mind, so slowly that she was attempting to speak aloud in a voice recognizable as her own before she finally understood.
She'd changed.
Majorly.
The next thing that crossed her mind was much less earth-shattering.
Her clothes were absolutely confining. At times the garments could be uncomfortable when she was in a more. . . Normal. . . State, but now. . .
Now she was having trouble breathing.
The words that had been on the tip of her tongue rolled off as a choked rumble, "R'kggr." Blessedly, the word of power managed to come across unmangled, sending all she had been wearing into the Fifth Enclosure, a magical storage space of sorts. There is no way, she thought, No way in hell this can get any worse.
Footsteps echoed in the dark hall, forbidding.
I thought too soon. Kagome awkwardly scurried behind one of the other tables, absently noting that her mangled command had worked after all.
Heavy footfalls paused outside the door, slowly beginning again as their owner enter. Tanuki's voice came out as a low, slightly surprised and annoyed breathing. "Higurashi?"
Kagome cringed from where she sat, shoulders hunched, behind her temporary refuge. Afraid that the youkai would further enter the room and discover her, she let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding as the footsteps retreated.
The feeling of relief was quick to be replaced by an urgent need to escape. The dungeon classroom was rubbing at her frayed nerves even more so than before, leaving her mind buzzing.
Kagome craved release.
Without any conscious decision, her feet coordinated themselves into a four-beet pace that took her out of the room and through the dark of the hall with incredible speed. Up the stairs she went, stopping in her head-long rush only to encounter the slowly closing door and the strong scent of what she assumed to be Tanuki: A thick, musky smell.
Diving forward, Kagome slid on soft paws into the trodden pathway to the aptly named dungeons.
A hand clamped down on her back, tripling her heart rate in fright. A familiar voice, using a familiar tone (though never before one used on herself), crooned. Kagome felt alien objects swivel on her head, and knew with sinking certainty that they must be her ears. Her new ears, as it were.
"Hey there, little one, why are you out here all alone? You should be back in the kennels, sweetheart, with the rest-"
Kagome turned her head as the flow of words stopped. Some part of her was glad she had understood their meaning, having not lost as much as she could have, but as her eyes met Shippou's she knew something wasn't right.
Shippou frowned, one clawed hand searching her newly acquired ruff while the other snaked its way to her unfamiliar ears. Kagome couldn't have moved if she wanted to, so she stood trembling. "Where's your tags, little girl? You look too well fed to be a feral, but then," Shippou continued, wrapping a clawed hand around Kagome's muzzle and drawing her face around to meet his, "You're a step above the rest, aren't you? You're not meant for our kennels, pup. We aren't equipped to deal with Canis fenris."
Kagome felt an unfamiliar tickle in her belly and throat, a low moaning whine arising while Shippou still stared into her eyes. See me! she urged silently. See me, Kagome! It's me, Shippou, Kagome! I'm not a Canis fenris, not one of them!
The youkai's eyes hardened. "Normally your kind are too intelligent to come around here." One of his hands reached back behind him, into one of various pockets Kagome assumed.
The urge to flee returned, full force.
"Calm down, girl, calm down!" Kagome's attempt to escape was thwarted as the adult youkai threw his weight onto her back, forcing her to the ground. He called out, hurting her sensitive ears and provoking yet another unwanted whine from the depths of her belly. "Hachi! Hachi!"
The robust Tanuki poked his head around the corner, only seeing Shippou at first. "What is it you want, Tamakano?" For once the Tanuki sounded annoyed, rather than just blatantly uninterested. "I've got to go see Daichi about that Higurashi, I can't just. . ." he trailed off. "What's with the mutt?"
Kagome could feel Shippou's chest rumble in what she thought was laughter. In surprise, she heard her friend growl. Learn something new everyday. Her limbs ached as she labored to breath under Shippou's added mass. Some better than others, she added in disgust.
"This is no mutt, Hachi, and that you well know. She's a fenris."
The Tanuki's round eyes bulged. "H-Here?" he managed to squeak before composing himself. "I. . . See. Still, what do you expect me to do?"
Kagome could hear Shippou's teeth grind in frustration. "I would like you to help me kennel her. Then we can go to Daichi on both Kagome and this little girl."
Tanuki stepped around the corner, walking slowly toward Kagome's pinned form. "Little? That thing's as big as you are."
Something tickled Kagome's nose, stirring something deep within her. The spicy, salty scent was achingly familiar, yet she couldn't say just what it was. Fear, she realized, watching Tanuki approach. He's afraid.
He's afraid of me.
Shippou spoke once more. "She's a female, not a thing, and yes, she is little for her kind. I would have thought she was just one of the kennel dogs if it wasn't for her eyes."
Both Kagome and Tanuki blinked in surprise. But. . . But I'm not a fenris! What could you have seen, Shippou, to make you think that of all things? Tanuki voiced her questions, if unintentionally. "Her eyes?"
Shippou nodded slightly, tightening his grip around Kagome's shoulders. "She understood what I was saying, Hachi."
Hachi shrugged. "So? Most animals recognize tone. It's not like they really know what we say."
"Not a fenris, Hachi. They know. She knows. She knew exactly what I was saying, what I was going to do."
"So that's why-"
"Yes, that's bloody well why I'm draped over her back! Now, will you please just go get one of the harnesses from the dragon kennels?"
Tanuki nodded, then paused in amazement. "The dragon kennels?"
By now, even Kagome was annoyed with Tanuki. "Yes, the damn dragon kennels Hachi, now can you please just get the damn harness?"
Kagome's extremities were beginning to feel numb. She struggled a bit, throwing Shippou around as she did so. At that sign of fiestiness, Tanuki took off at a run that belied his bulk.
Had Kagome thought the situation to be even faintly amusing for her, she would have laughed. As it were, with her teacher talking to her like he did with the other animals in his care, Kagome found precious little to be amused about. What exactly had that scroll been for? What had been in the cauldron?
When was she going to go back to normal?
Perhaps the only limited comfort was that her attempts at spells had worked earlier, and that the one she had cast for true sight earlier was still active. Not that she could actually remember how to undo that particular spell anyhow.
Which reminded her - Why not try to use the words of power she knew now, when she most needed them? What about Light? No, that won't do anything. . . Maybe wind? Or maybe even- The thought was never completed as the cool leather dragon muzzle slipped up her snout and tightened cruelly. She caught Shippou's mutter, and the heavily breathing Tanuki finally registered as her fore paw was forcefully manipulated into the harness legs. "Finally, fat old dotard."
"I. . . Resent. . . That," Hachi managed to huff out, gasping for breath. Shippou chose to ignore him as he pulled back Kagome's head to keep her still.
She had decided, somewhat unwisely, to begin fighting as soon as she had understood that the kitsune's weight had shifted.
Kagome felt the final buckle tightening over her left hind, effectively hobbling her. Shippou began to slowly coax her to stand, helping right Kagome when she stumbled. Oddly enough, she felt somewhat touched, right up until the point he referred to her as a little girl for the thousandth time.
Then she concentrated on ignoring him and walking.
Whenever she had walked to, around, or in the kennels in the past, Kagome had never truly understood the differences in scent, noise, and inexplicably feel each separate building had. There was the thick, rich airy scent to the avians, the loamy scent of the rabbiteer's, and the pleasant singed cinnamon and spice of the dragons.
Shippou tied her to the containment posts outside the dragon kennel, pulling her into the bodily restraints so she could barely move. "Don't worry, little girl," he began reassuringly, patting her head absently, "This is only temporary."
Kagome had the sinking feeling that this wouldn't be the case. She watched, standing stock still on all four feet, as Shippou and Tanuki moved off toward the main building, presumably to locate Daichi.
Ironically, Kagome was the reason for both visits. Tanuki to complain of her disappearance, and Shippou of her sudden appearance as one of the most reclusive creatures on the planet - The highly intelligent Canis fenris.
Never mind she was only a mockery - She knew as well as any other student that had taken Shippou's animal husbandry classes what was done with the fenris when they were located. The Hunters would claim them, train them, and use them to hunt down the Rouges. Even thinking about the Rouges, twisted youkai that had long ago given into their acquired taste for the taking of life, made her shiver.
There was only one Hunter that was on decent terms with the academy. A Hunter with a reputation as a cold-hearted, aristocratic youkai. One whose name aptly fit his job description.
Sesshoumaru.
If Kagome wasn't mistaken, he'd be paying a little visit before long. With her re-emergence as a fenris the driving factor behind said visit.
Kagome wished she had never seen that damn scroll.
Voices spoke in the distance. Her ears flicked back to better pick up the low murmur she had caught earlier.
"You're kidding me, Tamakano. In all of our history as an academy we've never had a fenris walk on grounds. They're too intelligent to come near here, especially considering our affiliation with Sesshoumaru." That was Daichi, no mistaking his pedicured voice or slightly off putting scent of lilacs. Kagome idly wondered why she hadn't noticed the repugnant smell before.
"Daichi, listen to me! I found her by the-"
Footfalls that she had been unconsciously following stopped. "Female? Tamakano, did you just say female?"
Shippou spoke after a moments pause. "Well, yes, she is female, but-"
"Get rid of her." Daichi's voice had just turned into ice, unfashionably cold.
Tanuki finally spoke. "Surely, Daichi, that's a bit of an over-reaction on your part. She's just an animal-"
"An animal? An animal? The fenris aren't just animals, and the females are the worst of them! Can't you recall the legends behind them?"
"They're only legends, Daichi! You can't just kill her over a legend that has never been proved as fact," Shippou pleaded.
"Never been proved as fact, eh, Tamakano? You know why they don't have the facts on them, Tamakano?" Daichi spoke lowly, an edge to his voice Kagome caught and disliked immediately.
Shippou's own voice held a glint of steel. "I know perfectly well why, Daichi. I'm just saying keep her for the night, and call Sesshoumaru over to pick her up in the morning."
"I'm afraid I have to agree with the kitsune on this one, Daichi. One night can't hurt, plus," the Tanuki added, "Think of the money we'll get from Sesshoumaru. You know the academy needs whatever it can get."
Daichi sighed. "Fine. But," he continued, a razor-sharp edge cutting through the minor sounds of joy that Shippou was emitting, "She's in the queen pens for the night. If anything can keep her under control, those queens can."
Shippou didn't like that; Kagome could smell his distaste from where she was confined. At least that's what she assumed it was. The bitter taste it left in her mouth wasn't boding well for agreeableness.
"Fair enough, Daichi."
Kagome heard someone turn on heel, assuming that it was Daichi. "Hachi, you will assist Tamakano with the fenris. After that, you will be searching for Miss Kagome Higurashi." The edge returned to his voice. "She was in the damned dungeons, man. Where could she have gone? You must find her. She is imperative to this academy and. . . Never mind. Begone." The footsteps faded, carrying their owner back toward what was most likely a comfortable bed and warm room.
Kagome could look forward to the straw and sands of the dragon queen kennels.
". . . I'm not a man, and it's not my problem that the little brat's gone AWOL."
Kagome growled slightly at the comment as two separate pairs of feet began moving toward her.
"He just hasn't gotten over himself yet, Hachi. He's human, and he lords that over his youkai staff more than anyone else. He's big on that equality bull, but all he ever preforms is a mockery of ideals he doesn't really care for."
Tanuki sighed. "I feel pity for that poor brat. It would almost be better for her if she just stayed gone."
Shippou snorted. "Or worse. At least here she's safe. Out there," he paused, having reached the hindmost of Kagome's restraints, "Who knows what would happen."
"You think she's really the Grand-Mistress's reincarnation?"
For a while, Shippou merely worked on undoing the easily done-up bindings. Finally, he spoke. "That, and then some. No soul's reborn exactly as it was before. Kagome, she's. . . Different, in a good way. She just wants what everybody wants in the long run."
Kagome's ears had perked. I want what everybody else wants?
"What's that?" Tanuki asked, his tone speaking of disinterest but his scent more telling of his curiosity.
"Love." Grabbing the middle of the harness that crossed Kagome's back, Shippou forced her to walk out backward as he cleared his throat. "You going to help or what, Hachi?"
Silently, the Tanuki took hold of the harness opposite of Shippou. Kagome moved along with them, tripping slightly every time her coordination became too much for her. The two youkai silently bore with her, lost in their own thoughts.
Which left Kagome to her own.
The kennel's sharp, hot smell assaulted Kagome's sensitive nose, producing a low pounding headache as she tried to interpret information she had no idea could be analyzed.
Shippou silently pointed to a stall door, Tanuki nodding grudgingly as he unhooked the latch and slowly pushed the outer door inward. An awkward shuffling later, Kagome found herself pinned between the two youkai as Shippou closed the stall door. He kneeled next to her, unhooking her hind leg and loosening the straps around her muzzle. "Behave yourself and you'll be just fine little girl."
Kagome was too disorientated to bother with a final attempt at escape as Shippou pushed her into the stall with its draconic inhabitant. A slightly interested snuffling alerted Kagome to the dragon's presence, but she had know that the queen was going to be there from the words exchanged between the three adults.
All she could do now was wait and leave the queen well enough alone. Morning would come soon enough.
If she lived that long.