OK, readers! Send any requests or advice or corrections to me on review! Remember, it's the purplish box on the left hand corner on the bottom of the page! Just click it! There you go! Ok, ok, I'll shut up. (grins) anyway, here's the chappie! Oh, and BTW: Inu Yasha is NOT mine though everybody wishes that he is theirs..... (sigh) however, the ficcy is mine and there is nothing you can do about it!!! Eh heh...
Hakisuma woke up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She yawned and looked around. It was close to dawn, and the sun had not come up yet. The air was cool and refreshing. Quietly, she hoisted herself up, grabbed her katana, and walked silently to the spring where she had been attacked the day before.
The water was still, and not a ripple broke the surface. Hakisuma cautiously edged toward the edge and scooped up a handful of water. She quickly washed her face and wiped it off with the sleeve of her kimono. Then, she cupped her hands and sipped the cool water.
Hakisuma's eyes shifted and she growled quietly. Something wasn't right. She straightened up and spun around casually, pretending to be walking back. She unsheathed her katana under the folds of her short kimono. She slashed at the overhanging branch without warning. A shadow fell from the branches and snarled menacingly. Hakisuma did the Inu Yasha battle smile and growled louder this time. She eyed the creature.
'This one I can kill and save for Inu Yasha and the others to look at...' she grinned savagely. The creature eyed her suspiciously. Suddenly she lunged forward with a yell. Her katana went through the creature like a knife through butter, and the poison gas slipped out. Hakisuma changed direction in mid-jump and landed on a branch over head. (Do you ever wonder how they do that?! Its amazing!) The gas missed Hakisuma and it cleared. Hakisuma jumped down when all of the poison gas disappeared and she cautiously peered at the figure. It was completely black and were definetly the creatures who attacked the party while they were searching for the shards. Hakisuma nodded and stood up, grabbing the figure by the leg after making sure it was dead. 'That seemed almost too easy...' she thought while dragging it to the camp.
Inu Yasha was already awake, clearly lost in thought.
"You're an early bird, aren't you?" he smirked.
Hakisuma sent him a glare and pointed at the creature she was dragging behind her. Inu Yasha looked at it and stood up. He walked over to the figure and crouched to take a closer look at it.
Hakisuma sat down opposite of him. They both studied the creature.
The figure was made of what seemed like a mass of shadow, except that it was a solid. The hands, like described the other day, were three-fingered, and had one thumb. The arms and legs were long, but the torso was short. The head was small and it had yellow eyes that were half open. It had a snout, undoubtly for sniffing out the party of Inu Yasha. Inu Yasha scowled at the creature. It also had sharp claws, which were curved and wicked looking.
"You killed this by yourself?" he asked.
Hakisuma nodded and sighed. She kept her eyes on the beast. "It was spying on me when I was taking a drink. I sensed it and I killed it."
Inu Yasha surveyed her face while she said that. "Can you control your transformations?" he asked out of the blue.
Hakisuma looked up startled. "Not really, but it has gotten better, I mean it kinda...well....I don't know. I have always transformed at almost the right time."
Inu Yasha shook his head. "Almost the right time is not good enough. Come on, I'll train you."
They both got up and walked to a safe place to practice without harming anyone. They stood opposite of each other and Inu Yasha folded his arms across his chest.
"Stand at a fighting stance," he instructed.
Hakisuma eyed him oddly but obliged. She took up the fighting stance.
"Now, concentrate, awaken your demonic side, the gentler one, like mine, not the crazy one." He said.
Hakisuma closed her eyes and concentrated like he said. She could feel her demonic side awakening. She felt a little weak. She opened her eyes and looked at Inu Yasha. She shook her head.
"It's not working. I tried to, but it is too deep within me." She said.
Inu Yasha also shook his head. "Do not give up. You have to master it. You might one day save our lives with it." He said stubbornly.
Hakisuma sighed and closed her eyes. She squeezed them shut and concentrated with all her might. She clenched her fists very hard. Blood dripped down from her palm. 'Blood? My nails aren't sharp or long enough to do that...' she thought. The reality struck her. She opened her eyes and looked at her fingernails. They had turned into claws and she felt her head. Her fox demon ears were there. She looked up and Inu Yasha grinning.
She smiled and sighed. Suddenly she swayed.
Inu Yasha lunged forward and held her still. "You feel a little weak?" he smirked.
Hakisuma ignored the smirking part and nodded. "Yeah. The concentration used up all of my energy." She said.
Inu Yasha grinned. "You're stating the obvious. Besides, you've did it. Now just practice. Soon you will do it every time." Hakisuma nodded and walked to the camp with Inu Yasha supporting her.
Hikari looked up from Kagome's bow she was adjusting. She saw Inu Yasha holding Hakisuma's shoulders and growled. Inu Yasha's eyes bored right into hers.
"We were TRAINING," he emphasized. Hikari looked at Hakisuma and who nodded. She looked drowsy.
Hakisuma stumbled over to her futon and collapsed onto it.
Hikari and Inu Yasha both watched her and shook their heads.
"She's so weak now." Inu Yasha stated.
"I heard that..." Hakisuma said, her voice muffled by her blanket.
Inu Yasha glanced at her fox ears and grinned. "I should've known. Hakisuma, turn yourself back to human form." He said.
Hakisuma's head turned to look at Inu Yasha. She stuck out her tongue but willingly concentrated and her claws and ears vanished. She opened her eyes and said, "Happy?"
Inu Yasha tossed his head and ignored Hakisuma. "See? That's what we were training on." He said looking at Hikari. Hikari waved his statement away and went back to work, grabbing beeswax she found for the bowstring.
Kagome looked at Inu Yasha from her sleeping bag she was sitting on, studying. "You seem happy," she remarked.
"Feh! We've got a lot of new Shikon shards ever since Hakisuma and Hikari joined us...I'm starting to think that they are good luck." Inu Yasha said lightly.
"They're not good luck charms, you know?" Kagome scolded. Hikari stared at Inu Yasha, which was giving him the creeps.
"Party pooper," Inu Yasha mumbled. Kagome shook her head and went back to studying. Sango and Miroku awoke at the same time. Sango looked at the position of the newly rising sun and yawned. She got up and stumbled off to the spring. Miroku followed after her.
Shippo was helping Kii and Kirara gather herbs, and just walked in from behind a bush. "Geez, not even a 'good morning' from anybody!"
Hikari grunted and held out the bow for Kagome to try. Kagome scrambled up from her reading spot and took the bow. She grabbed an arrow from her quiver and walked to a clear spot. A dead tree stood about five and a half meters away. She closed her eyes, mumbled something, opened them again, and nocked her bow. She pulled back the string and let go with a twang. The arrow flew swiftly, hitting the blackened tree. The arrow embedded itself into the charred bark. A white glow formed around the arrow's tip and it spread throughout the tree. After the glow vanished, the tree was leafy and very much alive. Kagome smiled and pulled out the arrow.
OK! End of chappie 21. Sorry for the lame ending but I was in a hurry and I had a brain-freeze. Keep checking in for new chappies! Bye for now! Oh, and thank you readers!