Torie-san: Hi guys! Second chapter! WOOT OvO. If any of the statements sound English...sorry, I've been reading copious amounts of Harry Potter lately. Oh, and if you haven't figured out by now....thoughts in italics...if you hand figured that out...Sylvan. Review Responses!
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Oh yeah, and my Disclaimer....
Disclaimer: I don't freakin' own InuYasha, dumbass lawyers! So back the hell up! holds up Tokijin threateningly
The Darkness Before the Dawn
Chapter Two: The Awakening
Deep into the night, when only InuYasha was still awake and when stars were beginning to disappear from the sky, the Lord of the Western Lands awoke. He sat up quickly and winced...in fact it was all he could do not to let out a small cry of pain. He felt the bandages around his chest and vaguely wondered who had put them there. Sesshomaru held himself back because he could smell the scents of others--- one in particular. His little half- brother.
"Awake are you," InuYasha spoke from the branches of a nearby tree. It wasn't a question, more of a dry comment.
Sesshomaru growled low in his throat. Dammit, I don't believe this! Why the hell is he here?!
"Losing your cool already? That's usually me."
The full dog demon could hear the smirk in his brother's voice. Choosing to ignore him he lay back down--- just sitting up was exhausting. InuYasha jumped from the tree, landed at the base, stood up, and walked over to Sesshomaru. The next thing he knew, InuYasha's face appeared above him, smirking. For once it was his big brother lying on the ground, not him.
"Heh, now this is a change isn't it," InuYasha voiced, the smirk growing larger and more triumphant.
Sesshomaru shut his eyes, gave another low growl, and opened them again. Then, in a voice missing some of its usual cold menace, he said, "Leave little brother."
"I ain't leavin'! This is probably the only time I'm gonna see you lyin' flat on your back at my mercy!" A bark of laughter accompanied these words.
Narrowing his eyes, Sesshomaru thought with annoyance, Well, he's right about one thing...
Sesshomaru carefully attempted sitting up again. He succeeded, though wincing. InuYasha took an unconscious step backward. Maybe Sesshomaru could do more than InuYasha gave him credit for when he was hurt...but all his brother did was slowly move himself to lean against the trunk of the tree from which InuYasha had leapt. They surveyed each other with golden gazes, the hanyou gauging how much he thought his brother could do when hurt, the full youkai still wondering why the hell he was here and who had brought him...or given the order to bring him. In either case he suspected Jaken.
The two half-brothers were in the same positions, still staring at each other, when Miroku, Kagome, and Rin walked into the clearing. The three humans stopped short of the demon stare-down. At least two of them had expected something like this to happen, though perhaps on a slightly more violent scale. It was Rin who finally broke the silence.
"Lord Sesshomaru! You're awake!" she cried, running towards him. When she reached him, she stood beside him and gave him a hug around the neck, at which he looked slightly ruffled. After all...that was the first time anyone had really hugged him. Rin still hadn't let go when his sensitive ears picked up a soft giggle coming from the direction of the other two humans. He gave a low warning growl and Rin let go quickly and jumped back, a slightly afraid look flickering quickly across her small face.
Kagome immediately stopped her giggling. She'd figured he'd probably hear it, but she couldn't hold it in. The expression on his face had just been too funny. She hadn't meant to make him frighten anyone...Though, she thought, a sweatdrop appearing on the back of her head, he'd probably frighten someone anyway...
A slightly hurt look now resided on Rin's face, but she still stood by her Lord. InuYasha, a few feet away, began walking toward Kagome and Miroku. As he passed them, he pulled Kagome's arm, and, since she basically had no other choice, she followed him.
After he had apparently dragged her far enough away from the clearing, he stopped and let go of her arm. She looked questioningly at him, for his eyes were closed and he was taking deep, slow breaths.
"Uhhh....InuYasha?" she asked tentatively.
His golden eyes snapped open. He opened his mouth and Kagome realized he was about to yell. She opened her mouth to say the "magic word" but he beat her to the point.
"WHY THE HELL'D YOU 'SIT' ME LAST NIGHT?! I WASN'T DOIN ANYTHING WRONG!!!"
She yelled right back, though at least a little softer, "YOU WERE BEING JEALOUS AGAIN! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! I WAS HELPING YOUR BROTHER! IT'S NOT LIKE I LIKE HIM!! IF YOU THINK THAT, YOU'RE INSANE!!!"
He stood blinking at the sudden onslaught. "I wasn't being jealous," he said simply.
"Oh? Then what was the growl for?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Uhhhhh....my.....uh..." InuYasha just couldn't seem to get the words "my ears were twitching" out. She'd laugh, he knew she would.
"Yes?"
He stayed silent for a long time. Then, speaking quickly, he said, "Myearsweretwitching."
Kagome blinked. "Say that again slower."
His face taking on a pinkish hue, he spoke slower. "My ears were twitching." He saw the amusement behind her eyes, and waited for the laughter...But it didn't come.
"That still doesn't explain why you were growling," Kagome simply said.
"The monk made a comment. So I growled. There, happy?"
"So you weren't being jealous?"
"I already said that, stupid!"
"SIT!"
She walked away, leaving him fuming and muttering curse words to the ground. Before she left and right after she 'sat' him, she heard him say, "Fack you!" Though his words were muffled, she knew what he meant, and she called out over her shoulder, "SIT!"
Back in the clearing, there was an uncomfortable silence between the three still there. It continued, growing more awkward by the moment, until Shippo came running into the clearing, grasping the Staff of Heads and being chased by Jaken.
"Give that back you pestilence!" the old retainer squawked, chasing Shippo around the burnt-out, but still hot, fire. Shippo's only response was to bring the Staff over his head and whacked Jaken squarely on the head. The little green man fell into the hot coals, lay there for a moment, then caught on fire. He leapt screaming out of the coals and ran around the perimeter of the camp...well, almost the perimeter. Blinded by fire and obvious pain, he ran right into Sesshomaru, falling over his legs, which were stretched out in from of him, and catching his pants on fire.
Sango, Kirara, Kagome, and InuYasha, who had come running at the sound of the commotion, stared at the scene with obvious amusement. And what a scene it was! Jaken, still on fire, was trying to beat out the fire on Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru was trying his best to hit Jaken and beat out the flames at the same time, succeeding only in burning his hand and practically killing his already hurt back.
It was Shippo who laughed first, followed by InuYasha and the rest, all but Rin, who hovered around the two. Eventually Miroku regained his senses, disappeared into the woods, and reappeared back into the clearing a few moments later with a bucket of water. This, since he dissolved into laughter again, was snatched by Sango and dumped on flaming Master and Retainer. The action was repeated several more times, until Jaken and Sesshomaru were soaked through.
Sesshomaru growled, loudly, at Jaken, who picked up the Staff of Heads and rushed out of the clearing as fast as his short legs would carry him. It was then that, finally, Rin giggled, which started the others laughing all over again. The soaked Sesshomaru began growling, but no one took any notice of the irate youkai.
In the darkness of the cavern, something stirred. Stretching itself, blood red eyes flew open. It stood from the broken fragments of its shell and let out a mighty roar. It was awake...and it was coming.
Torie-san: Oooh! What could this be? Hope you guys liked the added humor in that chapter. Funny how almost all of this chapter was written in GA History and Study Hall, with the two strictest teachers, and I didn't get in trouble! Uhhh...better shut up or I might jinx myself. Lol.
Next Chapter:
Memories Not My Own