Shippo finally takes over as main character… Yay!
Chapter Two
Maeko
As the sun drifted below the western mountains, the yellow moon rose itself high into the sky. The village of Akebi quieted done as evening turned to night, the tranquil village becoming as silent as a ghost town.
Shippo was sitting on the deck of the headman's house, eating a lollipop Kagome had given him as a gift from her 'world'. His stomach growled at him, he gave it dirty look. Sure, the headman was kind enough to supply food, quite a bit actually. But… there was something about the taste he didn't like, so pushed dinner aside and skipped right to his 'desert'.
"This… is pretty good." He thought aloud, taking another lick. "Kagome's world must have a bunch of neat stuff… sigh…" Why does InuYasha get to travel realms and I don't?
Later that night, when everyone was finished eating and was ready for bed, the futons were rolled out in the guest room, the candles blown out, and everyone went to sleep except InuYasha, who took watch.
"…Just in case that demon decides to make a visit." He had said earlier.
Shippo curled into a little fur ball beside Kagome and dozed off into the realm of dreams…
Or for a little while anyways… Shippo woke up to the sound of a cough. He opened one of his eyes, and looked at Kagome who was sharing the futon. In the dark, he couldn't see clearly, but he heard her cough many times, often loud and hoarse.
"Ka…gome?" Shippo whispered. Kagome moaned and rolled over. "…" Shippo closed his eyes in return and went back to sleep.
That morning, they prepared to venture into Akebi Forest. Sango was dressed in her exterminator uniform, putting the finishing touches on by fastening her long dark brown hair into a ponytail, throwing her Hiraikotsu behind her.
"Well, you ready?" She asked everyone.
It wasn't much longer till they finally set out. The headman bowed and waved goodbye. Yumi and Kousuke, and another village woman, possibly Yousuke's wife, all waved good bye and luck as they passed them down the road.
Akebi forest itself seemed ancient. Most of the trees look old and some withered, but many continued to bare branches filled with vivid green leaves.
The gang walked down an old dirt path that seemed to lead them nowhere. InuYasha used his strong dog nose to sniff for any traces of demon, and it didn't take long for a scent to pick up.
As the group walked along the dirt path, there was a deep… loud roar that echoed through the trees.
"It's here…" Sango said grabbing hold of her Boomerang Bone.
Everyone went into battle ready mode as the air around them grew dark and the roaring ceased…
Then… behind them… the air began swirling into blue flames.
That almost looks like my fox fire… Shippo thought gazing at it.
An enormous creature emerged from the blue fire, large and round with wide eyes. "GIVE ME YOUR SHARDS…" It hissed.
Everyone paused, including Shippo. This was the demon?
"I'LL KILL YOU…" It growled, charging at InuYasha.
InuYasha looked at the strange demon, whacking it hard on the head. The swirling blue fire dispersed, and the giant demon fell to the ground revealing its true form…
It was very short, with a large puffy blue tail and ocean-blue hair that was fixed into pigtails. It sat there looking at them with a rude stare, with a little tear drop in its eye. The 'demon' was a little fox she-demon.
"OW! That HURT! Meanie!" It cried.
"This is the demon? Pathetic…" InuYasha said grabbing her by the tail. "This all seems so familiar…" He thought aloud, the fox demon squirming under his grasp.
"Let me go! Let me go you stupid dog!" She screamed, continuing to struggle.
"What did you call me!" InuYasha hissed, bonking her on the head again.
"This is just like when we met Shippo…" Kagome murmured. She looked at the helpless fox. "Are you the one that's been killing the villagers?"
The fox demon had given up, dangling upside down. "No! I've done no such thing!"
InuYasha let go of her tail, and she fell to the ground. "What a waste of time, come on, let's go."
"Hmm…" Miroku said putting himself into thought. "Could there be another demon? The villagers said their men were killed, and this demon obviously didn't do it."
"I don't smell any demons, and for they know their men probably just fell into a hole somewhere." InuYasha said putting his back to them.
Miroku said nothing further, but continued to ponder as he followed InuYasha, Sango right behind him, Kagome behind her.
Shippo stayed, looking at the blue fox demon. "Just ignore InuYasha. He's always like that."
The demon regained her posture. "Like I'd pay mind to him!" She snarled. She looked at Shippo, smiling. "But its nice to see a fellow fox demon! I'm Maeko."
Shippo paused for a moment, stunned by her dramatic change in personalty. "I-I'm Shippo. Hey, what are you doing out here anyways?"
Her smile dropped to a frown. "N-nothing important. Just walking around… Hey, can I come along you and them? Just for a little while? Since mommy and daddy left me behind, life's sure been lonely… its nice to finally be able to talk to people."
Shippo blinked. What could she mean by that?
Chapter 2 – Maeko END
Thus concludes chapter two. Enjoying it so far?
Next Chapter…
Chapter 3
Maeko's Story