Disclaimer I do not own Inuyasha... -.- But I do own a Sesshou plush! (glomps plushy) X)
A/N: (nervously looks at readers) Um...don't hurt me? (sweatdrops) (sees various weapons being raised) OO; Oh, shit... AHHHH! (runs) I asked you not to hurt me! (hides behind barracade) Ok! I'm sorry, alright! I got hit with writer's block! Yes, it lasted 5 months! Again, gomen! It's actually 5:30 right now...and I haven't gone to sleep yet! XD For reasons unknown, I'm feeling hyper. Oo; Weirdy much. I'll let you read the fic now, 'kers?
As always, enjoy!
Shards of Memories
Ch2: Evasion Attempts
He didn't know what to make of this. Here he'd been, minding his business, catching a quick nap in the stillness of this forest, when these people had the gall to show up out of the blue, single him out somehow, and confront him!
He didn't like the looks those two in the front were giving him, either… Especially the first one…a male… One who appeared to be demon-blooded, at that. This was easy to see, with him having silver hair, dog ears, and those slit-pupils in his golden eyes. Eyes of which were currently glaring, reflecting his battle-ready position of hand over hilt. He was ready to attack. Attack why, though, he could only guess. The best hypothesis being…he wanted his shard…
In fact, the entire group that had gathered—6 individuals, if one included the cream-colored cat on that young woman's shoulder—seemed to be staring at the pinkish sliver.
It was…a bit unnerving, really… And he didn't know why, but there was something strange about this group. They were such an odd assortment of people…
There was a young woman carrying a gravity-defying boomerang on her back—he didn't know how she could carry that thing, it looked so heavy!—with that little cat still sitting on her shoulder… He just noticed, though; it had two tails! He blinked. 'It's a demon, then…'
Next to her, stood a young monk, dressed in black and purple robes and carrying a staff, with his black hair tied back in a short ponytail. He noticed, with amusement, the large handprint on his cheek… 'So, he was the one that got smacked, nee?' Somehow he managed to hold back the grin that threatened to crack his face. Had to remain serious when being confronted, after all…
Then, there was that dog-eared boy—who yet to remove his eyes from the crystal—, dressed in a red haori and hakama. An off-white gi was barely visible at the collar and through the slits in his clothes. Right now, he gripped the black sheathe of his katana tightly, as if urging to draw it.
At his side had to be the most incongruous of the whole party. She was a teenage girl, dressed in the shortest kimono he'd ever seen… It consisted of a green, pleated bottom, and a white…shirt of some sort, with a collar of the same shade as the bottom…with a red…cloth… He just didn't know what to make of it.
"Hey, guys? Why are you just staring?" Every one of them seemed to jump, turning their attention to girl's strange contraption briefly.
Now was his chance! Making sure they weren't looking, he took out a dark-colored sphere, threw it on the ground, and was off, a cloud of smoke rising in his wake, temporarily hiding him from their senses. Just before the cloud was too thick, his blue orbs briefly singled out the form of a young child, sitting in the basket of that device. Only, the thing was…he had a puffed-up tail…
This surprised him. 'The young one was a demon? …Stranger group than I thought…' His thoughts got cut short when suddenly, the white-haired youkai leapt over the dust, wielding a giant sword in the shape of a fang!
"Nani!" he yelped.
His chaser hit the ground running, bent on catching up with him. "Oi! Get back here!"
'I don't think so!' he mentally answered, gaze narrowing briefly. Instead, he just quickened his pace, searching out a suitable means of escape…or at least evasion. Whichever he could do.
All he could see around, though, were trees. Lots and lots of trees on all sides… But wait! His eyes widened as an idea came. Maybe he could use that… Yea, it just might work!
Approaching one specific, tall tree in particular, he picked up his speed even more, reaching into his gi for the necessary items needed to accomplish this. His hand returned with two kunai, the deadly blades long and sharp.
He smirked. 'Perfect!'
---
Inuyasha got confused when the stranger suddenly decided to start running towards a tree, and instead of stopping or slowing down, he sped up!
'What the hell…? Does he have a death wish or something?'
He was surprised even more when, all of a sudden, the blond jumped straight into the air at the base of the tree, and as if that wasn't enough, began to run vertically up the side of it!
"The hell!"
---
His momentum wearing off, he reached the stopping point, doing the only thing he could think of to stop any possible descent…
He jammed both kunai into the bark…and held on for dear life…
There weren't any branches around this section of the tree. This had been the reason he'd chosen it; without branches, the tree would be difficult to climb, it would be difficult to get to him and, thus, he was safe…for now, at least.
Glancing over his shoulder, he assessed how high he had traveled.
"Whoa…" he breathed out in shock. He'd gone much farther up than he'd thought he would. Must've gotten some good speed on that one! But it didn't seem that'd be enough. The dog-eared fellow had reached the bottom of his tree, and didn't look too happy. He was currently muttering curses not fit for young ears, obviously unsure of how to reach his prey, and it appeared to be irking him, too!
It was a bit nerve-wracking… He turned azure orbs skyward again. Perhaps he shouldn't stay in one spot for too long…? Nope. He shouldn't. Especially not in such a vulnerable position as now! But those branches up there seemed promising. Now, to get to them…
Securing nimble fingers around each blade, he psyched up the nerve required…
Firmly grasping the right kunai, with a swift movement it was freed from the wood, only to be re-stuck just a few feet higher. Repeating this pattern with the left dagger, he slowly began to scale the tree, being sure to use his feet to help propel himself a bit faster and to remain balanced.
It was tedious work, but it got the task done, for, soon enough, he'd finally reached a suitable limb.
Swinging onto the branch, the knives were pocketed—within easy reach, of course; just in case.
Gazing back down at the group, he couldn't help but smirk at how small they looked from up here. It turned into a grin. "I'd like to see them chase me now!" he mumbled to himself.
But then something caught his eye. A small, white dot had jumped from one of the figures, and where it landed…erupted a ball of flames!
"Nani!" He reeled back in shock. What was that?
Once the blaze vanished, in its wake stood a larger white shape, of which the figure it jumped from climbed aboard. It then leapt into the air, making its ascent up to his location!
It was approaching with incredible speed, getting closer by the second. All he could think of as it became larger was 'Oh, shit!'
Instantly, out returned the kunai, with him dropping into a defensive stance. He didn't have to wait long, either. The shape of the huge creature loomed up to be level with his perch, stopping in mid-air near him.
It was a saber-toothed cat, with reddish-flames licking at its black paws and tail tips! It looked exactly like a larger version of the cat that was sitting on the boomerang-wielder's shoulder… And, sure enough, astride the great beast was the mentioned girl, still with the monstrous weapon strapped to her back.
Then, that meant…that this neko was that kitten!
'Amazing that it has such an ability…' He couldn't help but gaze at the creature in awe for a moment…until he was brought back to the current situation by a throat clearing.
Blue eyes shifted to a pair of chocolate brown orbs. "What?" he blurted roughly, making his annoyance of this ordeal apparent. "You got a bone to pick with me?" He didn't mean to sound so cruel; it was just he was in no mood for such occurrences.
She didn't even flinch, though, like she was used to hearing brazen words. "Look," she began, "we aren't here to cause you harm—"
He scoffed, cutting her off. "That so? Well, fang-boy down there," he indicated the white-haired figure on the forest floor with a jerk of his blond head, "sure didn't seem to think that way."
"Yes, well…" She sighed in frustration, resisting the urge to massage her temples. "Inuyasha's not one for peaceful confrontations…"
"Hmph." Assuming that was the hanyou's name, he mumbled quietly to himself, "You could say that again…" He rolled his eyes before setting her with a calculating gaze. "So, what do you want from me?" He wanted answers, and patience wasn't one of his best qualities.
"Well…" she hesitated, sounding almost reluctant to answer, "…it's about that shard you possess…"
Blonde brows drew together, the defensive stance of his becoming more guarded. "What about it?" An edge of suspicion laced his sentence.
"Have you ever heard of the Shikon no Tama?"
He blinked at the unexpected question. ""Shikon no Tama"? …You mean the jewel that was shattered almost a year ago?" He received a nod.
"Yes. And my companions and I believe that your shard is a piece of the jewel."
A blonde brow rose in query. "Ok…" His arms dropped from in front of him to cross across his chest, realizing that if the girl had wanted to attack, she easily could have by now, simply with a word to the youkai cat. "So…what exactly does that have to do with me?"
"Well—"
"Hey! Sango!" They both blinked as the girl he now knew to be Sango was cut off by a call. Gazing downward, they were met with the site of…
…a pink bubble? With bulging, comical eyes?
It floated up towards them unsteadily, drops of sweat forming to indicate its strain, until it came to a stop above the feline's head. With a pop and a puff of smoke, in its wake appeared…
He blinked. "…a fox-demon…?" His voice was laced with mild surprise at this bit of information.
An auburn-haired head turned in surprise to look at him with the big, sea-green eyes of a child who appeared to be no older than six, with a puffy tail of wheat fur.
The young boy blinked at him, before awareness seemed to fill his orbs. "Oh, so you're the one who has the jewel shard Kagome senses."
"…Wha…?" Mouth agape, he tilted his head, arms dropping to his sides to add to the dumbfounded expression. ""Senses…"?" Ok. Now, he was really confused.
He was about to receive a response to that, when the girl decided to interrupt. "Shippo…" The kit seemed jump, before setting his green eyes behind him. "What exactly are doing up here?"
"Well…" he sighed heavily in mock annoyance, "Inuyasha was starting to get impatient, and since I'm the only other one who can get up here…" Trailing off, the young kitsune shrugged.
"You decided to see what was going on, yourself." Sango finished his sentence with a small, knowing smile.
With a guilty grin, the kit rubbed a hand behind his neck. "Heh heh…you caught me…"
"Look…" Another voice brought the fox and girl's attention back to the current matter at hand. They both turned their gazes back to the—surprisingly, now unarmed—stranger. It appeared they'd momentarily forgotten he was there. "As interesting as this all is," he sounded a little annoyed, "you still haven't said what you want from me."
Sango's face gained a look of realization. "Oh, right! I was just starting to explain before, wasn't I? But perhaps," she gazed downward for a moment, "it'd be better to continue this on the ground."
He blinked at her, and, glancing at the amount of air below them briefly, remembered the great distance up they were. "…Hai…I guess that would be better…" he agreed. He was just about to make a move to descend from the tree when he recalled something else. "Oh, by the way…" A pair of brown orbs faced him again. "I never did catch your name."
Said eyes blinked at him. "Oh… Well, I'm Sango."
"I'm Shippo!" The little kitsune exclaimed enthusiastically from his perch atop the feline's head. "And this is Kirara." He patted the saber-cat who purred slightly in return.
"My name's Kinsha," he answered with a nod. "I'd say it was nice to meet you…" A humor-filled smirk alighted his mouth. "…but it's a little too early to decide that, now isn't it?" he finished with his smirk growing into a grin.
---
So now you know the stranger's name. X) Feels like I could've ended that better, but I couldn't think of anything else... Um, is Sango OOC at all? Seems like it a bit to me. - -; Oh, if you wanna see a pic I drew of Kinsha, check out my deviantart account (link in bio). The pic is called "Kinsha". Real original, nee? XD
Review Responses
Danah: If it's better than my other stories, then that means I'm improving! Yayness! And that was the plan - leaving you in suspense. XD You'll find out soon. ;)
I'll try not to take as long with the next chappy if I can, 'kers? I can't make any promises, though. -.- But listen to this! I graduated last week! YES! I'M FREEEEEE! Mwahahahaha! XD ...(sweatdrops) Gomen. And I turned 18 last month! X) Which means..gasp! I'm an adult! O.o Doesn't mean I'll act like one, though! XD I don't even feel like one yet! X)
Ok, thas it from me. 'Til next time (whenever that'll be...)!
Peg
