I was thinking… and thinking…. And kinda zoning out a bit, and then it hit me. I know how I shall end this. I KNOW! THE KNOWINGNESS IS MINE!
Which is weird cuz usually I'm just writing along in a daze and all of a sudden I realize that I'm not typing anymore, and I wonder why and it's just like… oh. I'm done. When did that happen?
By the way. For Kikyo and Shippo, he's kinda patronizing of her. He should be, it's the equivalent of, say, Kagome and Inuyasha getting into a fistfight. Inuyasha: Dominates.
If I can play this right… I may get more than I bargained for.
Slowing down substantially and hoping he hadn't blown it already, Shippo lashed out at Kikyo. He had anticipated her move and struck accordingly. As a result, it looked like he had genuinely tried to hit her. And missed. One second later, a rather powerful blow caught him in the chest. That he hadn't actually expected, but the look of shock on his face probably added to the performance.
So that's why he hasn't been fighting back. Offensive motions throw his defenses way off.
Kikyo dodged another hit, and landed another of her own. This was working out rather well. The more he tried to actually hit her, the less attention he paid to dodging her attacks.
She landed another two hits, and he landed one as well.
And another.
Now he wasn't even attempting to dodge, and Kikyo was having to move so fast just to keep up on the defense that she couldn't get her offense back up.
Last chance… leave myself open for one second… hopefully she's good enough to see it.
Shippo overbalanced for one second, putting too much weight in a swing intended to miss. He flailed his arms, trying to regain his balance. This, of course, left him wide open. He felt himself get hit, really hard, right in the chest.
What's that one spot called? Solar something. Damn, does that ever hurt.
Kikyo took advantage of his momentary disorientation to swing one foot under his, bringing the man to the ground.
Should'a brought my handcuffs, would THAT ever have freaked this guy out.
Placing one knee squarely in the canter of the flattened kitsune's back, Kikyo twisted his arms behind his back. Here, she definitely had the advantage. She'd cuffed perps three times her own size before.
"Say uncle," she quipped.
"What? Why?"
"Oh, just say it."
"Uncle."
"That means I win, you know."
"I know I know, just get your knee outta my back would ya? Ow…"
Haltingly, Kikyo complied.
"Well, damn. Never thought I woulda lost to a girl."
"Sexist."
"And always have been."
"We'll start working on the well in the morning, all right?"
"Yeah, fine. Dibs on the bed. Unless," he sent a sly grin at Kikyo, "You want to share?"
"No, that's okay. You can have it."
Shippo hadn't even noticed that it was getting really dark outside. The lichen inside the cave glowed slightly red, making it kinda hard to tell time.
Kikyo moved to the corner of the cave, as far as she could be from the bed. Always one for making blunt points, that girl.
Shippo looked a bit guiltily at her. For just a second, he felt bad about letting her win. But he shook it off. Hopefully, it would work out better for both of them in the long run.
Picking up the blanket from the sleeping pallet, he walked silently over to her. With a bit of shock he realized she was already sleeping. Sleeping or faking really well.
Trusting the natural heat of the rock to take over the rest, he lay the blanket over her, and retreated to his own sleeping area.
"WHEN EXACTLY DID THIS HAPPEN?" Sesshoumaru choked out. Kagura woke up very slowly. It must have been close to ten o clock in the morning, and she was very comfortable.
"Ten more minutes," she mumbled, burying her face in her pillow.
… wait a minute….
Her eyes flew open to reveal what she had mistaken for a pillow was actually a very displeased daiyoukai. She must have latched on to him in the night. Her face burning, she let go and jumped backward.
"How long have you been doing that?" he asked.
"I'm not sure. I don't really remember much after I fall asleep, believe it or not."
"Kanna!"
"Yes?"
"When did she decide I was part of her bedding?"
"Shortly after you fell asleep. I would have awakened you, but you didn't seem all too displeased about it at the time."
It was Sesshoumaru's turn to flush red.
"Right, from now on, we're sleeping at least ten feet apart. I don't care if it's negative infinity degrees and we freeze to death."
"Deal!"
"Probably drooled on me and everything," the boy muttered, examining his clothes for drool marks. There weren't any.
"Oh, shut up."
"Make me!"
"You wanna go?"
"Not now," Kanna said in her eerie monotonous voice. "Now we must move."
"Why, Kanna?" Kagura asked, all hostility forgotten.
"Someone is looking for us."
"Don't worry, it's probably just my stupid brother and his idiot friends. Where are they, Kanna?"
Kanna extended one milky-white finger to where the trees stopped. Emerging from them was a familiar white-cloaked figure.
"Shit," Kagura and Sesshoumaru said in almost perfect unison. "He's looking for me."
They looked at each other questioningly.
"Jinx."
"Why's he looking for you?"
"Why the hell should I know? One minute he's rambling on about world conquest and then three seconds later he's trying to eat me, and then he's just gone. Why, how do you know him?"
"I'm his daughter. Well, kinda."
"Kinda? How are you kinda someone's daughter?"
"It's a long story."
"I expect to hear it."
"I'm sure you will. But right now… let's run."
"Run? Why? I thought you were the all powerful wind sorceress. And according to him, I'm the super-amazing daiyoukai. Come on, we can take him."
"Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that. I can't fight him, literally. If he sees me, I'm screwed. So let's move."
"This must really be one long story."
"Less yap more move."
Taking Kanna by the hand, Kagura moved silently down the hill, putting Naraku's puppet out of eyesight. Once she was sure it couldn't see her, she turned and ran to the opposite side of the field, disappearing onto the forest.
Sesshoumaru quirked an eyebrow and, taking one last look at the puppet, followed.
"Are you sure you don't want a guide?"
"We're sure. We can take care of ourselves. Thank you though, for everything."
Kagome smiled at the children. The villagers had provided them with enough food to make it to the demon slayer's village. It was only a day's journey or so, on foot.
"Follow this path, and ask at each village which way to go. Everyone for miles around has knows of the taijiya. If you lose your way, you will have tried very hard indeed."
Inuyasha grinned.
"Bye! And thanks for letting us stay here."
Kagome remained stoically quiet. Every instinct she had was urging her away from the boy, though she knew he was no threat. As she watched the three children walk away from the village, and old cliche occurred to her.
I will see them again.
"So let me see if I've got the timeline straight here," Miroku asked. "Right about a year ago, here, that Naraku guy cursed my ancestors with the wind tunnel. Right after that, he was sealed somehow, but not killed. That's why he hasn't been around for the last five hundred years. So, recently, in our time, he must have been released, and then went on wreaking as much havoc as ever."
"Right. He must have been the one who drew Sesshoumaru away from the house. Without him around the humans had as easier time attacking. He probably had something to do with Sesshoumaru's attacks on me, as well."
"So, logically, if we destroy him in this time period, he will have never existed in our time."
"So our parents come back to life?" Inuyasha asked.
"Technically, they will never have been dead," Sango corrected.
"On the other hand," Miroku put in quietly, "We will probably never meet one another. This being the past that we are messing around with, none of us will remember anything that happened here."
"I want Mommy and Daddy and Sesshy back," Inuyasha said stubbornly.
"I want my parents," Sango agreed.
"Then we're agreed. We'll destroy Naraku, and that's all there is to it."
"And it'll be easy because he's sealed," Inuyasha piped up. He took Sango's hand, and the two of them quickened their pace slightly. Miroku looked sadly at Sango for only a second, then focused his eyes ahead.
Naraku cursed. Everything was going very, very wrong.
His daughters were missing, and very pointedly so. He had a daiyoukai incredibly pissed at him and running loose in the sengoku jidai. To top it all off, he had a score of new enemies all of a sudden. Granted, they were just children, but sweet, innocent children change quickly enough into hardened, bloodthirsty adults. Particularly if they were vengeful, as these three were.
He wasn't worried for himself, as much. What he was worried about was his other self, the one from the past. Somewhere, he was helpless and trapped inside a black crystal. He didn't even know where the stone was. It came into his life somewhere near Okinawa and left it five hundred years later in southern California, where it was shattered, releasing him.
In other words, it could be anywhere at all.
And he had no choice but to find it before anyone else did.
Thanks, as always, to Invader Iza and Kitsune Ryune. Thanks for sticking with me, guys.