Welcome to the Lost Chapter! Simply put, that means that this chapter is written on a different computer and I don't know how I can put it on the same Word document as the rest, as E-Mail is blocked because this is a school computer! Waaaaaaah!
The idea was so great. The others are coming afterwards. But I still need more!
The morning was magnificent. The sun had broken the horizon with its usual splendor, making the trees sparkle brilliantly with their fall colors. The light glittered off the water of lakes and rivers all around, then rose to meet the castle on the hill. It slipped in through the curtains of a high window, falling across the nearby bed and straight onto the closed eyes of the young hanyou curled up there.
Inuyasha groaned and rolled over, for once not eager to get out of bed. For today was the day of doom he had been brooding about apprehensively. Today was the day of the Family Reunion from Heck.
A soft knock at Inuyasha's door made him grumble incoherently. Sesshoumaru entered silently, shutting the door with a snap behind him. He was already dressed in full court regalia, long hair shining in the slivers of light peeking in, setting off the color of his amber eyes.
"Today's the day," he said, not sounding enthusiastic at all. "Excited?"
"Of seeing all the relatives I hate and having all the ones I like not being there? And all those aunts who pinch my cheeks and squeal about 'how cute' I am and 'how tall' you're getting? And the conservative uncles who all hate me because I'm only half demon? Not in all the Nine Hells," Inuyasha told him decisively.
"Me neither," Sesshoumaru agreed. "All the kids are younger than me. I get the blame when they mess up the cellar."
Traditionally, the younger demons always played and ate in the cellar, while the adults had their boring 'remember that time when…' talks upstairs. Every time there was a party, the cellar became a mess. Being the oldest, Sesshoumaru was always reprimanded for not having kept everyone in line, and delegated to cleaning up afterwards.
"You'd better get cleaned up," Inuyasha's older brother advised. "Jakken's on the warpath."
Inuyasha managed a small laugh. The toad demon, Sesshoumaru's future steward, was such a neat freak. Not wanting to get out of the warmth of his bed, he dressed under the covers, then started on his hair just in time, as Jakken's huge yellow eyes peered around the doorframe.
"Are you boys ready y… Oh. Good. Very good. You'd best come down, the guests are going to start arriving any minute. You teenagers are all the same. Sleeping in until the late hours of the morning, neglecting your appearances unless someone forces you to look nice…" Jakken rambled on and on until Sesshoumaru stood up, shoved him out of the door, and slammed it. Jakken's voice continued to talk, muffled by the door. Inuyasha doubted he had even noticed the change.
"Scatterbrained little toad," he muttered, finishing with his hair and finally crawling out of bed. "I hate family reunions. The only good thing about them is the food."
This prompted the tiniest of laughs from serious Sesshoumaru.
"With you, food is the only good thing in the world."
The brothers left the room, passing Jakken, who was indeed still rambling to the wall, and headed downstairs to the grand entrance hall, where their father awaited them. Some of the guests had already arrived.
"There you are," their father hissed, pushing them towards their young cousins. "Go down to the cellar with them. The rest will be here shortly."
Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha exchanged identical long-suffering glances, then ambled over. Their cousins looked just as thrilled to see them too.
"What's up?" asked the oldest, after Sesshoumaru. She was a warlike badger demoness, complete with shining black hair with a stripe down the center, by the name of Shalynn. She was Inuyasha's favorite cousin, although she was by no means nice.
The next oldest, a coyote demon named Etoyok, shrugged indifferently at Sesshoumaru's solemn greeting. The other three were wolf demons, the oldest of which was Inuyasha's least favorite cousin, Koga. He nodded stiffly at Inuyasha, then had the nerve to lead the way to the cellar. They sat in a circle, staring at each other awkwardly.
"So…" Shalynn said at last. "What are we going to do next?"
Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha shrugged. Etoyok stayed still. Koga glared. The other two leapt up.
"Let's play tag!" they said in unison. "Come on, it'll be fun!"
"That's scary," Inuyasha whispered to his brother. "How do they talk at the same time like that?"
"Twins," Sesshoumaru replied flatly. He raised his voice. "I'm only going to say this once, so listen up."
Everyone else's heads turned in his direction.
"I'm sick and tired of cleaning up the messes you guys cause every year. This time, before you leave, you'll put your own stuff away. And this year, we're not going to play in the Restricted Areas." He pointed dramatically towards the roped-off area of the cellar, where the family kept things of great importance. "Get that into your heads or you will be punished for lack of obedience."
Inuyasha noticed the effect this had on the cousins. Apparently Sesshoumaru didn't just scare the servants. There was silence for a moment. Finally Etoyok stood up.
"I've got an idea," he said bluntly. "We're going to play hide-and-seek… in the dark. There are no windows down here, and we can just blow out the torches. I do it all the time with my friends at home."
Everyone else pondered this.
"That sounds fun," Shalynn said at last. The others nodded. They blew out the torches, leaving them in darkness.
"So who's it?" Koga's voice said from the darkness.
"Not me," came a chorus.
"Gee, boss, looks like you're it," one of Koga's pals giggled.
"Sit down and count to thirty. Out loud," Etoyok commanded. There was the sound of Koga flopping back down onto the cushions, and then the wolf demon began to count. Everyone scattered blindly, using their canine sense of smell to find their way to a good hiding spot. The game was on!
Is a badger in the dog family? I don't know. Original names are lacking for me (Coyote/Etoyok). And it stands to reason that Koga is a second or third cousin twice removed, however that works, because wolves and dogs are in the same family. So. Reviews? Ideas?