Eo: Erm… hi all! I'm sorry for the rather looooooong break between updates. I just wasn't feeling the love for this story for awhile (not to mention I get sidetracked by everything and anything), but here's the next chapter, and longer than usual!
Okay, a Note, if you please: my author name has been changed from Cyan I'd to Eostra. I decided that I wanted to cut down the number of net aliases I have, since there's too many to manage, and Cyan just didn't make the cut (too purple for my tastes nowadays).
Disclaimer: I still don't own Inuyasha. If I could own anything, it would be Microsoft because it has made Gates very rich and I would also like to be very rich. That is all.
Raven Moon: Ch. 7, Best Served Cold
Author: Eostra
Beta: Special Thanks to Numisma!
Plagued by disturbing dreams, Kagome had hardly slept the night before. She kept thinking about that one nightmare, where she'd clearly felt the waters of death and spoken with a girl that bore her image.
"He didn't! He couldn't!"
"Kaede's dead."
"I love you."
What did it mean? She frowned to herself, chewing her lip in frustration. She'd heard talk before of dreams being much more important than the fragments of thought and memory she'd always passed them off as. The fortune tellers that occasionally sought out her village for revenue would settle in the streets, their cloaks billowing around them as they pulled out various trinkets and herbs that had different purposes and meanings – and they always talked about dreams.
'Your dreams mean much, miko-sama. Your dreams are your intuition, your past lives and the spirits that guard you given voice, but little reason. Heed them with care.'
Now she wished she hadn't blown them all off as enterprising fakes. She might be able to get a little further with her thoughts on these dreams otherwise.
With a sigh, she rolled over, searching her companions' sleeping faces for any trace of waking. The world outside was just barely lightening – it wasn't even sun-up yet – but there was no point in lying here and running circles with her thoughts and musings. As quietly as she could, she crept from the hovel and made it outside, scrunching her toes in the cool grass and stretching. She sucked in a deep breath and sighed pleasurably – because she was not usually a morning person, she'd nearly forgotten how beautiful mornings could be. Like the world was holding its breath before it dove into another busy day.
A bath, she decided. She would take a bath. There had to be some sort of spring or other water source in the woods nearby, or else a village would not have sprung up in this area – and as long as she took her bow and arrow, she would be fine. She skipped over to the wagon and snatched up her weapons, placed near the end of one edge so that she could reach them easily if she needed them.
She wandered into the woods, letting the soft chirps of birds calm and soothe her as she picked her way around roots and fallen logs. Her ears strained for the tell-tale gurgle of water, but so far she heard nothing.
What she found was not water, as she had hoped – it was Inuyasha. Stumbling around a particularly thorny bush, she glanced up to see something propped against a tree just in front of her. Belatedly, she realised it was Inuyasha, his back to the trunk and his head folded in his arms, which rested on knees drawn up to his chest. He looked much younger like that.
"Inuyasha?" she called tentatively. His head jerked up, startled – had he really been so lost in his own world that he hadn't heard her approach?
"Oh. It's you," he said evenly, his expression closing in on itself – but not before she caught a glimpse of something so human it made her uneasy with her position in all this mess. She shifted uncomfortably, caught off-guard and unable to mask her surprise.
"You're… still here?" she blurted, for lack of anything better to say, although she regretted it right after. He rolled his eyes and stood.
"I don't know, that's a tough call," he drawled sarcastically, indicating his physical presence with a broad sweep of his arms. Kagome filed away a mental note about how it was never pleasant to make oneself an easy target and hesitantly picked her way forward. Figures the stupid boy would choose the roughest, rockiest and most overgrown area to plant his sorry ass in. Figures she'd want his company just enough to find her way through all that mess to get to him. She was playing a dangerous game and she knew it; getting too attached would make it next to impossible to do the right thing when the time came. But, is it really the right thing?
She pushed the troubling thoughts aside.
"I just… I thought you'd leave," she explained.
"I like my spine in one piece, thanks," he snapped coldly. Kagome was a little taken aback – he seemed harsher today, more distant, but maybe that was just her imagination. It wasn't like he'd ever been particularly friendly, after all.
"Well," she began, gathering her resolve, "thanks. I'm glad. I'm glad that you stayed."
With that declaration, she marched off to the right, leaving a very surprised hanyou in her wake.
I'm glad you stayed… as if she wanted him there, enjoyed his presence, would miss him if he were gone. The idea brought with it a pang of nostalgia, and a painful twisting in his chest. He wasn't at all comfortable with these things. His surprise quickly turned to a cynical suspicion – just what game was she playing at now? Maybe acting nice, trying to get his guard down so she could stick a knife between his ribs later. Well, he wasn't so stupid to fall for that. Not twice.
"Wait – where do you think you're going?" he demanded, inexplicably pissed that she would turn her back to him.
"I'm going to find water. I'm going to take a bath," she explained, perhaps a little tartly – she'd heard that demanding anger in his tone, and she didn't like it one bit. Kagome was not a girl who was used to being ordered around, especially by men – and she wasn't the least bit interested in starting now.
"Keh. Stupid chit, the water's that way," he sneered, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. Apparently she'd managed to pick the complete opposite direction. "You're lucky you're not travelling this road alone – you've got the survival instincts of a rock."
Kagome bristled. "Well rocks do pretty well for themselves, don't they?" she snapped, kicking lightly at a nearby stone. Okay, so it was a pretty weak retort, but she managed to polish it a little more with a toss of her hair and a steady march with her head held high. He watched her walk past, wondering how often she'd been dropped on her head as a child.
The day had been nice enough when they took their leave from Kaede –
"Bye-bye, miko-sama! Thanks for everything!"
"Your skills were most appreciated, miko-sama."
"Good riddance, you withered old hag."
-- but the clear blue sky had quickly given way to angry, rolling clouds that choked out the sunshine and left the countryside nearly as dark as night. The small group hustled their wagon onward, hoping to reach some sort of shelter before the storm hit, but it soon overtook them and forced them to the side of the road.
Kagome leaned against the inside of the covered wagon, tilting her head upward to peer at the sky. Every so often, a flash of light would illuminate the swell of the thunderhead, or an arc of lightening would split the sky in one dazzling moment before the answering rumble of thunder followed. It wasn't directly over them, but it would be soon, and already the gusting winds and pelting rain promised quite the show.
Miroku was further inside, his head bowed and the staff nestled into his shoulder. Across from him, Tanuki was sniffing miserably, his ears still dripping with rainwater. When the rotten weather had first blown over them, the monk had escorted the priestess to shelter while assigning the task of securing the wagon to the rotund little demon. By the time he'd finished tying down the last lash, he was already soaked from head to toe. Kagome felt a little sorry for him, and offered some of her food rations, which quickly went to satisfying his hunger.
And Inuyasha… was outside. Kagome frowned to herself. She'd done her best all morning to keep her thoughts far away from the undead boy, but they always wandered back all the same. He evidently didn't have quite the same problem – while she'd found her eyes straying to his broad shoulders and red-clad back, he hadn't given her so much as a glance since the pseudo-conversation they'd had in the woods that morning. She found herself trying to sort out the best way to deal with him – it was obvious that he lacked any and all social skills, so normal social conventions simply wouldn't work on him. All of her attempts at being nice or simply acknowledging his existence were met with hostility and insults.
A smarter girl wouldn't have bothered, she thought, but then again, she always prided herself on her compassion. One emotionally-stunted half-demon wasn't about to defeat her now.
Said boy was currently off closer to the trees, his head tilted down while water dripped from his hair and clothes. She thought it was strange that he was watching the earth instead of the sky… it seemed so… hopeless.
With a weary sigh, Kagome shifted and hopped down from the wagon, ignoring Miroku's questioning glance. She wasn't going to find any peace until she settled her thoughts about Inuyasha, and simply staring at him wasn't doing the trick – maybe if she talked to him, calmed this newfound (and unwelcome) hatred he faced her with, she'd be able to relax a little more. It really wasn't her imagination – he'd never really liked her before, but he never used to sneer at her and flex his claws, as if imagining what it would feel like to run them through her flesh and feel her blood bubble over either. She shivered, but not because of the rain that now stuck her shirt to her back.
His ears were flicking irritably. With a small frown, he listened to the girl approach, wondering what she wanted now. The stupid woman was damned persistent, he'd give her that. He toyed briefly with the idea of just flat-out telling her that he was going to kill her (that ought to drive a wedge between them) but he figured it might hurt his chances of pulling this whole mess off, which would be… regrettable.
"What do you think you're doing?" he snapped as soon as she was close enough to hear him over the pounding rain.
"Coming to see you," she answered. It should have been a friendly reply, but he could plainly hear the challenge in her voice.
"Don't you have anything better to do with your time?" he asked, rolling his eyes.
"Not really, no. We can't go very far, or haven't you noticed?" she surprised him by answering – he hadn't been expecting a response at all. He half-turned to look at her over his shoulder. Her arms were crossed tight over her breasts, her hair was scraggly and clung to her cheeks and skull, and her skirt was all but translucent (a minor oversight on her part).
"Idiot," he answered. When her expression darkened for a moment, he thought she might use that infernal 'sit' command on him, and flinched involuntarily – but the moment passed, and she smiled sunnily, although he figured that probably had more to do with defying him than actually being that cheerful.
"Maybe," she answered with a small half shrug. He had to kill the smile that tugged at his lips before she caught sight of it.
She stared down at her hands for a moment, then shifted her feet, wincing when her shoes squelched in the mud. She fervently wished for that warm bath with the scented oils and rising steam she used to have back home, but ruthlessly crushed the notion – she couldn't have those things anymore.
Her brow furrowed as something tugged gently at her senses. At first, she worried it was another dead creature, but then…
"Damn," she muttered, missing the bemused look Inuyasha shot her.
"You just realised it now?" he taunted, flicking some water from his claws. She diplomatically chose to ignore him, instead trying to pinpoint the creature that was giving her that tingling feeling. It seemed a little ways off, somewhere in the woods that they'd had to stop by.
"Do you think it noticed us?" she asked hopefully, willing to risk even a sarcastic put-down from the hanyou in the hopes that he would tell her, 'no, I don't think it did'. Surprisingly, he didn't cut her down for the silly question – but his answer wasn't all that uplifting, either.
"Yeah. Demons usually notice humans from this range."
She bit her lip and looked back through the sheets of rain at the wagon. "We'll just have to outrun it, then," she decided.
"Fat chance. We wouldn't get far," Inuyasha replied, looking up at the sky. Kagome risked a glance too, and with a sinking feeling realised that the storm was nearly on top of them – if the whipping winds and driving rain didn't stop them, it would certainly slow them down too much.
"What kind is it?" Kagome floundered, grasping for anything to take her mind off the fact that she would have to fight again.
"Well, gee, I don't know, why don't I just stroll on over and take a look?"
Once again, Kagome diplomatically ignored the heavy sarcasm. She was an affirmative action girl, and right now, a very good example of affirmative action would be to head back to the wagon, warn Miroku, prepare to face something all sorts of nasty (but at least not in the latter stages of decomposition) and hope the storm didn't pass over and muddle things too much. She rubbed her hands together to work some of the chill out of them before grabbing Inuyasha's sleeve and tugging.
"Come on."
"Whuh-you can't just order me around, stupid girl!" he barked, jerking his arm back.
"Quit being such an idiot and let's go."
"I'm not your lap dog!"
"…fine then. Stay here. You can welcome our new friend." She turned on her heel and marched back towards the wagon. The wind had picked up considerably since she first came to talk to Inuyasha, and it was driving the rain like cold knives into her exposed arms and face. She hunched up her shoulders a little, feeling the chill temperature in her very bones, but it didn't come close to comparing to the ice of death. A few heartbeats later, she felt rather than heard or saw the hanyou's presence at her side, and suppressed a knowing grin.
"I thought you weren't going to follow me…?"
"Lesser of two evils. I am definitely not doing your fighting for you, priestess," he snapped, stubbornly staring straight ahead. He wouldn't do her fighting for her, but he wouldn't let her die either – even if it was for all the wrong reasons.
By the time they made it to the wagon, Miroku had already been alerted to the demon's presence. Kagome couldn't hide her flush of shame – she had presumed that the monk was just as weak in holy power as he was in morality, but she'd misjudged him again. He stood tense but ready by his wares, and Kagome joined him, their eyes on the tree line that hid their soon-to-be opponent. As the storm grew in fury they had to change plans and take shelter beneath the tarp of the wagon. A decidedly less strong impression and defence, but it couldn't be helped. Inuyasha kept his casual lean against the side of the vehicle, evidently unperturbed by rain so heavy you couldn't even see a metre before your nose.
As the presence finally reached the edge of the trees and moved to the road, Kagome realised there were actually two demons, so similar in energy and close in proximity she had mistaken them for one. They came straight up to the small party without even a trace of hesitation, two wavering silhouettes behind a sheet of water.
"Well, well… what's this?" drawled a masculine baritone. Kagome jumped, clutching her bow a little tighter, and Inuyasha snickered at her.
With a grand gesture, the shapeless blob that had spoken suddenly broke up the storm, calming the winds and lightening the rain until it was no more than a fine drizzle. Kagome blinked in surprise, her ears ringing from the sudden lack of noise. She stared up at the two youkai (who apparently had some control over this weather) and studied them carefully. A tall, slender man with a long black braid and some sort of bladed staff in his hand, and a short pudgy one with a beak-like jaw and who was practically bald.
"Oh, brother Hiten! A maiden! Please, let me take care of these vermin for you, and as reward, allow me to grind that maiden into my hair potion!" the fat one called. Kagome's eyebrow ticked. A hair potion… what, she wasn't pretty enough to eat?
The other one, 'Hiten', let loose a long and rolling laugh that sounded just a little bit scornful to her. He clapped his brother on the back jovially, and then turned his fanged smirk on the bedraggled little group before them. Kagome subconsciously clutched at her clothes, now hyper-aware that they clung to her every curve and were slightly see-through.
"We'll see, Manten. So, what have we here? A monk, a hanyou, and a priestess," Hiten summarised. Manten was quizzically staring at Inuyasha, and Kagome wondered if they could actually tell that he was less than living. Somehow, she doubted it – could they use that to their advantage at some point? Possibly, if the stubborn boy ever co-operated.
"But you're not just any priestess, are you?" Hiten continued, leering at the girl. "You're that girl that can touch the dead, aren't you?"
Her eyebrows lifted in surprise, but Miroku seemed unaffected. Hadn't he told her that news would travel fast?
"No, Manten, I think she might be able to help us. What do you say, girl? In exchange for your life, you'll do us a favour."
Well… this was new. Demons had never tried to bargain with her before. Eat, maim, kill, kidnap, rape, infest, charm, and frighten, yes, but bargaining? Hell no.
"Um… what is it… what do you want?" she stammered, figuring, hell, if they could avoid a nice messy fight, why not? The prettier of the two smirked at her, crooking his finger as a signal to come out from under their canopy. Miroku narrowed his eyes but crawled out easily and with enviable grace. Kagome stumbled and likely would have landed flat on her face if not for Inuyasha's inhuman reflexes – he caught her arm and steadied her. A surprised expression flitted across his features before he managed to hide it with a roll of the eyes. She wasn't sure why he'd caught her. It seemed he wasn't, either.
"We have a slight nuisance, and your skills would be more than adequate to take care of it," he explained, hovering a little closer. Kagome took note of the wheels that spun madly at his heels, apparently what allowed him to fly.
"What is it you want us to do?" Miroku piped up patiently.
"A little while ago," Hiten began, "we came across an insolent family of foxes. They were short work for the Thunder Brothers – hardly worth the effort. They had a little brat with them, but apparently he really can't take a hint."
"Yeah, the brat has been hounding us ever since we dumped the bodies," Manten added. Kagome suppressed a shiver… a kit? A child.
"Idiot childish tricks," Hiten told them, his expression slightly miffed. "They are getting on my nerves."
"Yeah – he's such a nuisance! And he just won't go away – it's been weeks!"
"We want you to exorcise him for us, little girl," Hiten said, jabbing his weapon in her general direction. Kagome scowled, a firm and angry 'no' on the tip of her tongue – these murderers were annoyed by the restless spirit of a child they slaughtered? In her mind, they deserved every scrap of torment that poor spirit could manage to inflict on them.
Before she could say anything, Miroku cut in, his expression unreadable.
"You want us to exorcise the restless spirit of one of your victims? In exchange for avoiding a battle?" he summarised.
"Absolutely. See how generous we are?" Manten grinned, puffing his chest out with pride.
"It hardly seems fair. It will take such time and effort to track this wayward spirit, not to mention considerable effort on both mine and Kagome's parts to coax his soul to the afterlife – we are being taken advantage of, I fear."
Kagome shot him an incredulous look. Did the silly monk want to be slaughtered over something as petty as what he considered to be a 'fair trade'? As if he knew anything about the subject. She much preferred to be slaughtered while valiantly defending her morals, thank you very much. Or maybe not slaughtered at all. One look at his tight expression, however, convinced her that this man was simply itching for a fight – over what? She wasn't sure. It made her distinctly uncomfortable.
"Are you implying that our generous offer to spare your worthless lives is not worth the minor task of doing away with a silly ghost?" Manten spluttered.
"Why, yes, I believe I am," Miroku answered smoothly. Kagome jabbed at him with her elbow, but he neatly ducked aside.
"Why, you—we—my brother has more power in his pinky finger than—" Manten shrieked, but a firm hand on his shoulder choked the tirade before it really got rolling. He glanced nervously over at his beloved sibling, a little nervous. Hiten's moods weren't exactly what one would call 'stable'. He'd once seen the demon waltz into their home with a gorgeous female on his arm, laughing and chatting – and then put a fist through her face two minutes later.
Lucky for the humans (in Manten's opinion), his brother was in a jovial mood. He smirked at the impertinent monk, and then outright laughed, eyes twinkling with some sort of hidden joke.
"Don't worry, brother. This man is a fool, but he's bold – I like that. Are you willing to… 'settle' for our offer, monk?" Hiten calmed his brother, but there was a warning gleam in his eyes despite his light words. Miroku flashed a grim smile, his gloved hand clenching imperceptively.
"Perhaps…" he drawled.
"Now hold on!" Kagome cut in, but her two cents didn't make it very far. Inuyasha chose that moment to offer his own illustrious opinion on the matter.
"Keh, you stupid girl. Can't you see a lucky break when it's staring you straight in the face? Just exorcise the damn brat, and your skin won't end up as some rug on a youkai's floor."
"Very well," Miroku agreed, considering the undead hanyou very carefully. "We'll do it. Come along, Kagome-sama – Hachi, please stay with our supplies." He grabbed her gently by the arm, leading her under the watchful stares of the two youkai towards the woods they had emerged from. Inuyasha followed at a small distance, lost in his own thoughts.
"We'll keep an eye on you. If you don't keep to your end of the bargain, we'll hunt you down," Hiten warned.
"Hey… wait," Kagome whispered once she was sure they were out of earshot. "Weren't you listening? Those two are cold-blooded murderers. They slaughtered a child, and you want to help them?"
"Don't think of it as helping the demons, Kagome-sama. Think of it as laying a child's soul to rest," Miroku consoled. Kagome scowled to herself, but accepted that tidbit of reason. After all, if she abandoned the pair to the haunting they had brought on themselves, that poor child would wander restlessly.
"And you," she started, whirling on Inuyasha. "What was that? Since when are you all gung-ho to charge into a fight?" she demanded.
"I'm not 'ghungo' anything. It was just obvious that you were going to fuck up your only chance to keep your life," he snapped.
"They weren't that powerful, and you knew it," Miroku cut in calmly. Inuyasha's jaw snapped shut with an audible click, and the rest of the trek deeper into the woods was made in silence.
It was nearing nightfall, and she felt like they weren't getting any closer to their goal. Miroku had instructed her to extend her senses to try to find the grave of the little child, and she had, but she wasn't certain they were heading in the right direction. Association had taught her what something dead felt like, but she'd never searched for the spiritual signature of a grave before.
The mosquitoes were coming out in hordes now, leaving the poor girl slapping and scratching at her exposed skin. Miroku had declared that his status as a monk had forced him to learn the true meaning of endurance, and as such, the efforts of a few measly mosquitoes could hardly affect him. Whenever she wasn't looking, though, he discreetly scratched at the bites. As for Inuyasha… well, he followed behind, arms crossed behind his head and a pleased expression on his face. Apparently there were a few perks to having blood at the same temperature as the outside air. He sped up a bit to walk slightly in front of Kagome, heaving a contented sigh and scratching lazily at his arm before continuing with his relaxed, mosquito-free little stroll. Kagome glared daggers at him, but when it became apparent that this was having no effect, she smacked him as hard as she could on the arm. He nearly stumbled and whirled on her, his fiery temper already kicking in.
"…what? There was a mosquito on your arm," Kagome told him, blinking innocently.
"Maa… you'd think you two were married, the way you go at it," Miroku sighed. If the pair could glare daggers, the poor monk would have had about twenty or so lodged in his back in the span of three seconds.
The grass and leaves rustled softly as they brushed past them, but other than that, there was absolutely no sound. No birds chirping, no wind in the trees, no cute and fuzzy forest creatures… nada. Frankly, Kagome found it a little disturbing, but she cheerfully attributed it to the presence of Hiten and Manten, and not the dead kid they were hunting.
Perhaps a little too cheerfully, but one had to keep their spirits up, especially when it was getting very dark and very cold as the night approached. Kagome shivered, rubbing her arms fiercely to try to warm them up a bit. Beside her, Inuyasha watched from the corner of his eye, but said nothing.
"My, what an ugly girl!" Miroku cried. The declaration was so sudden Kagome nearly jumped out of her skin. She glanced around, scanning the trees carefully for whoever the monk was talking about, but the only girl there… was her.
"What?" she snapped, deadpan. Miroku gave her an incredulous look.
"I… didn't say anything," he answered, bewildered.
"Oh come on. I heard you plainly."
"You need your ears checked, too! Or isn't that what those flaps of skin on the side of your head are for?" Inuyasha goaded. Kagome clapped her hands over her ears and whirled on the hanyou, her anger diverted.
"You just watch it, or I'll—" she started to threaten the befuddled half-demon.
"Knock him out with your icky smell?" Miroku cut her off. She nearly choked on her words. Icky?
"What?"
"What an idiot!" Inuyasha crowed. Kagome turned on him once again, ignoring his wide-eyed stare.
"Wait – I didn't…!" he spluttered, but Kagome wasn't doing a whole lot of listening at the moment.
"SIT!" she shrieked, not even waiting to watch the hanyou go down (the thump and muffled curses were gratifying enough) before she gifted the wary monk with her fiery temper.
"And you – what's gotten into you? Can't you at least show some maturity?" she hissed. Miroku backed up, raising his hands in what he hoped was a pacifying way. Kagome would have elaborated on what she thought of the wayward holy man, but high-pitched childish laughter cut her off. She stared almost mindlessly at him before she finally realised that it wasn't him at all – and it couldn't be Inuyasha, his voice was too low and rough.
"…huh?" she muttered, scrunching her brow and searching the foliage. Now that she thought about it, the sound didn't seem to be coming from any specific place.
"…you're such a moron," Inuyasha spat venomously. "We're hunting a kitsune child – and foxes do nothing but play tricks." He'd managed to lift his upper body off the ground a little and prop himself up on his elbows although the subduing spell hadn't worn off yet. Kagome glanced down at his furious expression and caught sight of the little twigs and leaves caught in his hair. It nearly triggered a bout of nervous giggles.
"Sit, sit," it chanted, shifting into something that sounded eerily like her own voice. Beside her, Inuyasha finally managed to regain his feet, dusting his clothes off disdainfully.
"You… are you the spirit of a lost child?" Miroku called, taking the lead when it became apparent that Kagome wasn't about to.
"No shit," Inuyasha muttered, but was ignored as usual.
"Mortals… fools… who dares to enter the forest of Shippou? These woods are cursed; all who enter will never leave with their lives!" it cried, booming with false bravado and dramatic exaggeration. There was a gust of wind and Kagome gave a sharp cry, trying to shield her eyes from the dust and debris that blew up from the forest floor. A strange pop sound echoed in the forest, and grey smoke crept along the ground towards the huddled group. Something moved out in the trees, something large and slow, lumbering through the shadows. Kagome squinted to try to see better, her heart beating fast against her ribcage. This was why she didn't want to meet a ghost.
It was big… it was round… and it was…
…pink. It was a large pink ball with one lazy eye and strange stick-like appendages poking out.
"Prepare to meet your doooooooooom!" the pink thing declared. Kagome clutched her bow a little tighter, glancing at her companions to try to figure out what her reaction should be. Scared? Humoured? Questioning her sanity? Miroku looked a little put out, and Inuyasha looked like he wanted to hit something. Which, consequently, he did, once the pink blob got within easy distance of his fist.
"Ow!" it squealed indignantly. With another pop and explosion of smoke, the pink blob shifted to the shape of a small boy glaring at the hanyou from beneath a red tuft of hair while his bushy tail flicked in anger.
"How'd you hit me? I'm a ghost!" he declared, pounding his little chest. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and snatched up the child by the tail, shaking him a little for good measure.
"You're not very good at this, are you? We're the same kind, idiot," he berated. With the boy still in hand, he turned to Kagome.
"Well? Can we hurry up and do this?"
She stared blankly at him while her thoughts worked hard to catch up with the current situation. "What…? Oh. Oh, right," she muttered, frowning. They were here to take care of a ghost so that two youkai would refrain from attacking them. Right.
"Um…" She turned to Miroku helplessly. Her mother had done a few exorcisms before, but she'd never been invited along to those. From what she understood, those instances involved spirits being driven from whatever home or body they infested – whether or not they passed on properly afterwards was of no concern to the priestess or the people. This… was a little different. Shippou was not possessing a person or place, he was haunting his murderers – and she did not intend to merely displace him. She intended to give him peace, if she could.
"I suppose it's time our young friend here thought about moving on," Miroku sighed, taking a few steps forward. He'd performed many exorcisms in his time – granted, most of them were farce for free lodging, but he was experienced. Still in Inuyasha's grip the kit began to thrash.
"No no no! I'm not going anywhere! I'll avenge my mother and father and stay in these woods forever, and there's nothing you can do about it!" he shrieked indignantly. The hanyou shook him roughly again, then smacked him upside the head.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome rebuked him. Almost instinctively (Kagome always had tended to mother things, after all) she rescued the kid from his grip – a stunning turn of events for Shippou, not at all surprising for Miroku, and mildly curious for Kagome. Inuyasha was typically unimpressed.
"You can… you can touch me too?" Shippou warbled. What a failure of a ghost he was – he was even corporeal to the living!
"I suppose you would have that ability, Kagome-sama," Miroku said. Not that it really cleared anything up for poor Shippou.
Kagome was barely listening – she was more focussed on the curious feel of the mischievous little spirit. He was like mist against her skin – she was pretty sure it was comparable to holding a cloud. It wasn't unpleasant at all.
"Don't worry. We won't force you to do anything," Kagome soothed, her smile shining down on the post-mortem child. Inuyasha hmphed and looked away, uncomfortable with the warmth and tenderness she was capable of.
"And the Thunder Brothers…?" Miroku prodded.
"We promised to 'stop that nuisance', not kill it. If Shippou leaves the two alone, we're fulfilling our end of the bargain, right?" she reasoned.
'Kill it'… it rang in Inuyasha's ears. What a stupid way to think of the situation – the damned brat was already dead. And there was no possible way this girl gave a shit about it beyond what was considered to be her duty and moral obligation… right?
"I'm not 'leaving' until they're punished! They murdered my mother and father, they murdered me, and they have to pay! I have to be strong for my father. I have to bury his pelt, like it's s'posed to be," Shippou declared vehemently. He didn't try to move from his spot in the priestess's arms, though – somehow, although it shouldn't be possible for him to feel it, she seemed… warm. Then again, he was quickly beginning to grasp that there were a lot of impossible things about this girl.
"What're you talking about, squirt? You can't get justice for your parents. On top of being weak, you're dead, or haven't you noticed?" Inuyasha sneered.
"I know… but I can't… I can't just give up," the fox whined plaintively. He seemed to pull himself together a little more to glare at the hanyou. "But I don't expect you to understand. Hanyou don't know anything about honour!"
"What was that?" Inuyasha hissed dangerously. Sensing the situation was quickly spiralling out of control, Kagome ducked away with Shippou still ensconced in her arms and swiftly changed the subject.
"So, how about we head back, then? I'm sure Shippou will leave those two alone, won't he?" she soothed.
"No I won't, I already told you!"
"Look, Shippou-chan… Inuyasha's right, even though he could put it nicer. You can't kill the Thunder Brothers – do you really want to spend all eternity haunting them? You'll never find peace that way…" Kagome reasoned softly. The fox looked downcast.
"What am I supposed to do, then?" he asked miserably.
"Why don't you come with us?" Miroku offered. Kagome looked up in surprise at the monk, but the idea appealed to her greatly.
"Yeah, you could stay with us until you feel you can move on. I'm sure you'd be a great help Shippou-chan, especially with the undead – unlike some people I know," she said, casting a slanted glance at Inuyasha, who pointedly looked away.
"…really?" he asked hopefully.
"Of course!"
"Do I get a vote?" Inuyasha piped up, but as was the custom, he was ignored.
"The first thing you can help with is to guide us back towards the road," Miroku told the kit. He wasn't at all bothered by the idea of a ghost joining their little troupe – after all, the hanyou was much worse company, in his opinion.
"I thought 'Buddha guides the way,' or whatever shit you like to spout…?" Inuyasha snapped.
"My, but you're just a ray of sunshine, aren't you?" Miroku replied with hooded eyes. Inuyasha smirked, and Kagome sighed tiredly. She gathered up the spirit of the child again, making her way through the woods in the direction that Shippou silently indicated. She figured she had a good ten minutes to get a head start before they realised she'd gone.
"Are they always like that?" Shippou asked, once they were out of earshot.
"Miroku's maturity comes and goes. Inuyasha's attitude is pretty much a constant. It's the only thing about him that's dependable," Kagome sighed irritably.
As Kagome had predicted, roughly ten minutes after she first started her solo trek back to the wagon, the other two came running up behind her, Miroku considerably put out and Inuyasha pissed beyond all reason. They travelled for roughly another hour before it got too dark to properly see the road and all its hazards, so they set up camp.
Kagome poked idly at their crackling fire, her gaze straying every once in a while to the madly flickering shadows that it threw. It made it impossible to distinguish the dark between the trees and the motion of living (or dead) things, though, so she would have to rely on instinct and luck to alert her to any danger. Youkai were awfully sneaky, though, so it really wasn't a new state of affairs.
Miroku was seated opposite her, his eyes closed in real or feigned meditation and his hands folded together in his lap. Every once in a while, he would clench his gloved hand – Kagome wondered if it was maybe sore or bitten by an insect, but she decided against asking – it didn't seem worth it to interrupt his thoughts. With a sigh, she flopped back on the grass, staring up at a cloudless night and wondering if maybe her little brother was looking at the exact same thing. When they were younger, he used to sneak into her room at night. He'd rub his eyes and yawn, telling his big sister that he had a scary dream, and could he please sleep in her room tonight? Please?
Begrudgingly, she always said yes. She put on a grand show of being put out, but she could never refuse her one and only little brother, pest that he was. They would spend hours staring at the night sky, naming stars and constellations and cloud shapes. In the morning, her mother would come and wake them up, pretending not to have noticed the second little lump under the covers. It was okay – Kagome loved to see that secret little smile her mother wore after such discoveries.
She missed them. So much.
Kagome sighed and flipped onto her side, staring at the hanyou. She worried her lip, trying to will away the guilt that flooded her so constantly these days, but naturally it didn't work. She saw the hypocrisy in her own actions, and it ashamed her. Telling Shippou he could stay, that he shouldn't be trapped in the earth's aura to wander, forever lonely… yet condemning Inuyasha to a similar, if not worse, fate?
Maybe she was supposed to find him. Maybe she was supposed to free him. Or maybe she was just supposed to die at birth, and this whole misadventure was a terrible fluke. Destiny, in her eyes, wasn't all that dependable. In the end, she would do what she thought was right.
With a small grunt, she hauled herself up, pausing to brush twigs and grass off her clothes before jogging across their campsite to where the hanyou was propped against a tree. He had his legs crossed and his eyes closed – a pose that Kagome secretly hated. When he was limp and relaxed, he looked… well… dead. At least when she could see his eyes, she knew there was something in there.
With the rustling of cloth and vegetation, Kagome took a seat reasonably close to him – close enough to touch, if either wanted it. She sat still for a moment, listening to (and still marvelling at) his breathing, the occasional sigh of wind in the trees, the song of crickets in the thick, long grasses.
"Hey," she prompted softly. He didn't so much as stir, so she tried again. "Hey, Inuyasha…"
"Mm… what?" he answered irritably. She was quiet for a moment.
"I'm sorry."
He finally opened his eyes to look at her after that one, confused and more than a little suspicious. In the dark, she was a pale-faced ghost, and for some reason that made him feel a little more confident, a little less set apart. He decided that when he killed her, it would be at night under a moon just like this.
"What are you 'sorry' for?" he demanded. Kagome stared stubbornly at her feet.
"I'm sorry for… you know… subduing you back there," she elaborated.
"Keh. Like you care," he dismissed peevishly, turning away. To him, that signalled the end of the conversation. Kagome, however, tended to miss such obvious verbal cues.
"Of course I do!" she cried. "You didn't deserve it, and I'm sorry. You hadn't done anything wrong, it wasn't fair. I shouldn't have… I shouldn't have used it so liberally, and for that, I'm sorry."
Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably, searching her tone and manner for any sign of sarcasm or lie – in vain, it seemed. What a stupid girl -- worrying for the feelings of dead kits and undead hanyou.
He would definitely have to kill her at night.
"Whatever. What's done is done," he begrudgingly replied, accepting her apology in his own way. She gave no indication whether she sensed this or not.
"Yeah, I can't undo it… but I think I can make it up to you, if you'll let me," she offered hesitantly. He turned to her in his surprise, only to find she was smiling at him through the darkness, friendly and open.
"What?"
"I'll make it up to you. I'll owe you one favour – but a special kind of favour. A 'freebie' – no subjugation, if you tell me not to. How's that sound?" she asked brightly. He stared at her hard, wondering whether she was deceitful, crazy, or incredibly naïve – and then decided it had to be a bit of them all.
"…fine," he accepted, standing and marching off into the woods. Kagome watched him until her human eyes could no longer pick out the red of his clothes from the shadows of the trees, and then she smiled sadly to herself and moved to where her blanket was rolled out. There were so many things she couldn't fix… but maybe she could still make a difference.
Everybody dreams. Sometimes they don't remember, sometimes they retain snatches, but they always, always dream. Kagome dreams of her family, and the village she used to protect. In her dream, she sees her mother's smile, warm and loving, and her brother tumbling in the grass with another child that is terribly familiar yet unfamiliar to her. She sees her temple, with its weathered wood supports and worn tapestries, and she sees the grove of trees where her father's grave rests. She smiles and laughs and cares for the children, her bow slung over her back and arrows in her fist as the wind whispers in her ear and tells her all is well, she needn't worry. It brings the distant smell of flowers and showers – it will rain soon.
And under the overhang of the temple, where the shadows are night-deep and crawling, a girl stands solemnly, her face pale and eyes black. Kagome knows her face, but doesn't dare look her way – it's cold there.
Miroku's dreams are secrets. He has them silently, wakes silently, and mourns them silently. In his dreams he often sees his father, sometimes smiling and happy, sometimes shrieking in terror, always with a red scarf binding his hand. Sometimes he is in the middle of a storm, sometimes at a funeral, and sometimes the funeral is the scene of a murder – a man is being buried alive.
Miroku guards many secrets, but he thinks that maybe he should share some of them with Kagome. After all, they are very important secrets – and he thinks that soon, she will become tangled in them, whether he voices them or not.
Shippou doesn't sleep, per se, but he does drift, and when he drifts he also dreams...
He sees his parents, alive and well, his father's sinewy form bounding through the fields, his mother's laughing eyes. Every night since he first felt the searing pain of Hiten's weapon ripping through his flesh, first smelled his own skin burning, Shippou's dreams turn to blood. He sees his mother's head ripped from her neck, catches a glimpse of pristine white spine before she crumples. He sees his father fighting and fighting, even as electricity lances over his body and strips his fur. He watches the twisted smiles of the brotherly pair draw closer, and is not surprised to find he is covered in his own blood.
His father is screaming for him to run, to find shelter, to live, run run run… but then, he is saying something different now, different from all the other nights.
Wake up, his father tells him. Wake.
Shippou was pretty new at the whole 'spirit' thing. He understood that he was not bound to the physical world anymore, but that he could affect it. He understood that there were energy patterns and auras that surrounded and flowed through every living being, and with a touch of malicious intent, he could twist these and drive people to depression.
So it was with some confusion that he woke from his nightmare, much like swimming up through murky water. What had brought him back to consciousness?
A rustiling, snapping sound alerted him to the approach of another. He tensed, ready for a fight or flight, but he recognised the energy almost immediately after. It was Inuyasha, although where he was coming from was a mystery to the kid. His aura was different… Inuyasha's aura had given him a headache to try to concentrate on before – it was too many different things all at once, and the overall effect was unfamiliar. Now, though, it was roiling – black and angry and seething just under the surface, and twined with all that was pain and suffering and hatred.
He stepped out into the clearing and stopped, staring Shippou right full in the face. He looked paler now, more sinister, and Shippou knew instinctively that it was not the light (or lack thereof) that made this effect.
It didn't help that he was covered in blood. Head to toe, matted in his hair, glistening on his fingers, red and wet and dripping.
"You were right," the hanyou admitted softly. It was enough to startle Shippou out of his stupor.
"Eh?"
"About me. About honour." His lips curved into a humourless smile. "I don't know shit about honour."
He rubbed absently at the blood that was coating his arms (it was itching as it dried), crossing the campsite to get to the woods on the other side where Shippou knew there was a river.
"Honour is just a lie. Honour is a made-up code that idiot mortals use to make their lives seem a little less pointless. It's just a way to make themselves feel better as they die. I wouldn't know anything about it – I'm not so stupid to fall for such a thing," he continued. His tone was bitter, lecturing.
"But I know all about revenge."
Shippou clenched his little fists, his head bowed.
"Inuyasha," he called. The hanyou stopped just short of the solemn trees on the other side.
"…thank you."
To Be Continued, as usual… (same bat-time, same bat-channel)
A/N: Okay, I admit, this chapter was boring… I'm sorry… I'll do better next time!
Reviews:
Lake of Fire: Voila! 'Tis an update!
Anonymous/jajuana: Garth Nix's series is awesome. My favourite is still Sabriel, by far.
Crimsondemon: Things are better when twisted… or sugared up.
Foxcat: Oh dear… I hope this becomes a little more memorable for you. '
Camudekyu: Well, that has got to be the most flattering review I've ever gotten. Thanks so very much! I'm happy to hear the descriptions are alright – I sometimes worry that I'm being a little over-the-top. It's funny that you should mention 'tweaking' – the whole concept for this fic came from one little tweak in the story.
Fire: Sorry for the long wait! I wouldn't want to kill you… O.o
LadyPearlDragon: Sango will show up in due time, don't you worry. She's the only one left, after all. All Hallow's Evening – who is that by?
MM: Or… is it another chapter?
Ixchen: Danke!
Varethane: Yes, the dreaded osuwari has come. Mwa ha ha ha! Thanks for the lovely compliments as always – death is a big part of the story (obviously) so it's good to hear that it's fitting in seamlessly. As for the manner of Inuyasha's death… well, you'll just have to wait and see.
Scherezade7: I am willing to leak a few of those secrets… for a price, that is. $476.00, to be exact. And if I told you who Onigumo was, that would be spoiling the plot, ne?
HMPrune: Oh, now I'm feeling bad for taking so long to come out with this chapter. As for your questions… well, I just can't answer them – that would take all the fun out of it. Although I can promise some Sango in the next two chapters or so .
Call me k: Those're some mad skillz you got there, yo. Get yourself an agent and market that shiznit!
Lady Kira of the North: Yeah, I wouldn't recommend it '
Numisma: I have only one thing to say, my dear: ALRIGHT. Ku ku ku…
And I think that's everyone! If I missed you, I'm very sorry '
As always, please review and leave your thoughts! Input is muchly appreciated and very motivating!