.:Curse of Dragons:.
.:By: Maiden of the Seven Stars:.
.:Chapter 10: By Moon's Lost Light:.
She finally regained her breath before getting up from her crouch. She wobbled for a moment, nearly falling forwards, her hands reaching for something, anything they could grab and they found something.
"Thanks." She muttered, thinking she had grabbed someone's hand, judging from the soft leathery thing beneath her hands.
"You have to get away, we have to—" She started to say, then saw what she was holding.
A jet of hot breath scalded her hands, causing her to shake them quickly before jumping back in fright.
"Inuyasha?" She asked, not sure what was standing in front of her.
In place of the silver dragon stood a black one, his eyes of a dark brown-black. Instead of the silver dragon's strange ears, his were normal. In fact, the dragon before her was entirely normal, like those that stood stud at Naraku's compound.
If normal dragons often glared at her, tails whipping and claws sheathing and unsheathing with menacing scrapes.
The brown eyes gleamed at her, but they didn't bear the fire of Inuyasha's amber eyes. The pupils were slits, the irises duller somehow. They stared with the dull intelligence of a beast, an agitated beast at that.
It growled, stepping forwards, and she immediately stepped back. Its eyes narrowed and its jaws opened, revealing the same pearly fangs, and snapped them before her face. She flinched and backed away again, and the dragon advanced, head swaying.
A smarter person, or one who knew more about dragon characteristics, would have noted the mistake at once. Backing down from a dragon challenge meant the other was better than you, not something you'd want from a tame, nevertheless a wild, dragon.
She turned and ran for the way she had come, only to be yanked back like a catapult. She felt something cold and sharp run down her back, dragon claws only half-sheathed but still able to pierce her kimono and scrape at her back before she was dropped to the ground beside the rock face behind where Inuyasha had made his roost.
The dragon growled, baring his fangs, and she shivered, feeling beads of blood well up on her back.
"Stop, Inuyasha stop! I know you're in there!" She pleaded as the dragon advanced. It paused, cocking its head at her voice. Natural dragons spoke only in growls and snarls, with the occasional trumpeting and chirp, and she could see her voice troubled it.
"Think! You know who I am, you know me!" She called again, her voice firmer, and the dragon stopped. She could see the old fire flare once in the dulled brown irises, and along with it came the old anger.
With a guttural rumble the black dragon moved stiffly forwards, neck snaking about, fangs revealed and tail lacing behind him. She preferred the wild dragon.
"Inuyasha, it's Kagome! Not her, Kagome! Ka-go-may!" She cried, closing her eyes tight as the dragon got within striking range and reared back in a hind foot rise, his wings flapping.
"Inuyasha!" She cried again, ducking down and folding her arms over her head, preparing for the inevitable blow. It never came.
There was a pause, and then hot steam laced her scalp, ruffling through her hair.
"Inuyasha?" She asked cautiously, lifting her head from her hands. The black dragon's snout was snuffling about her hair, his nostrils twitching. Some black tendrils touched at his nose and he sneezed, backing away before sniffing again.
He seemed calmer now, and she took a step forwards. He wouldn't go wild on her, would he?
He didn't, the dragon stepped back.
She advanced again, and once more the dragon stepped back, but she took another step and closed the distance. As the dragon shifted back again, his claws met the cliff ledge, his neck arched, his eyes flicking back at the drop. She could see his wings shift; he was preparing to fly.
No doubt he'd be wreaking destruction somehow, the Taijiya had kitchens going, and would for a while to feed hungry warriors. If Inuyasha hadn't found anything to eat, the Taijiya camp was done for.
Quickly she stepped forwards, closing the distance between her and the dragon, and reached out with her hand, flat palmed to show there was nothing she was hiding.
The dragon stopped unfurling his wings at the sound, staring back at her with great brown eyes, then reached out with his snout, touching her hand with its very tip.
At once the dragon began to shake, tremors that started from his neck and then down through his chest and legs until even his tail fell limp, his wings folding back against his sides. He looked so pitiful there it made her heart ache, and a soft keening howl drifted from him.
If dragons could cry…but they couldn't.
Without meaning to so she stepped forwards again, reaching out for the scaled neck and folding her arms tightly around it, just as the dragon's knees gave way. With a sigh it slumped down, scales rippling, as if it hadn't even realized she was there.
"Go to sleep." She murmured, and the dragon neck curled around her, the black head ending up wrapped around her, encircling her in a loop of scales. A moment later she was hit with a softer warm steam, and she realized he was asleep.
She sighed herself and tried to get up, only to find her left arm still wrapped around the dragon's neck, effectively pinning her. She was stuck out here, with Inuyasha.
It was going to be a long night.
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Amber eyes blinked open, squinting at the light that gleamed off his own silver scales. He grumbled softly, shifting slightly, but did not move other than that. He was warm, probably in the sun, and around him was this almost intoxicating smell, of fresh earth and flowers… He would have dozed again, except his memory plagued him.
There was no moonlight; the distant flickering fires of a human civilization didn't provide much light, and the sun was setting fast. Yet he was still awake, and roaring, explaining… It was the new moon; it was his time!
With a yelp his eyes popped open, and one met with gleaming sunlight, and he promptly blinked quickly, closing the inner membrane that shaded the eye from the glare of the sun. His other eye met with a blurred image and it took him a moment to focus.
A face, a girl's… Kikyo— no it was Kagome.
Kagome!
He snorted quickly, exhaling deeply before scenting again. It was Kagome, what was she doing next to him?
- - -
She opened her eyes as a scalding breath brushed against her face. Wincing, she blinked, to get used to the sun's silvery glare. Silver? Silver, as in silver scales?
"Inuyasha…?" She asked, and the amber eye swiveled into view.
"How long have you been staring at me?" She demanded, glaring at him, suddenly aware that the front and back of her kimono had been torn, perhaps to shreds. Inuyasha only grunted.
"I'm not a sexist like that monk, and I've been awake for a few minutes." The dragon growled, and she jumped.
"Inuyasha!" She cried, throwing her arms, one of which he had freed moments before, around his muzzle. He blinked in confusion then shook her off quickly.
"What do you think you're doing, girl?" He snapped, "And how long have you been here?" He lifted his neck, his head swiveling, then realized he was on the same cliff side he had been perched on before the sun had set.
She groaned and yawned, getting up before wincing. He turned back to her, the fleeting expression of pain not going unnoticed to the dragon.
"And what's happened to you?" He snapped, and she turned back to his glaring amber eyes.
"I've been here since last night, and you should know what's happened to me! You were—" She started, then fell silent as she saw the glaring amber eyes falter for just a moment.
The glare was nothing more than a façade. He was doing a rather good job of hiding his true feelings, but she had seen it. He knew what he had done, and it jabbed at him again. He didn't say a word in response, only turning his head away and getting to his feet.
"It's morning… they'll be looking for you…" He said softly, and she could feel his pain. Something in his tone reminded her of the black dragon, and that baleful keening note last night and it struck her.
It was all her fault, that Kikyo, who she had been reincarnated as. She had done something, something terrible in the past, and it still hurt Inuyasha. He didn't seem like a great hero or leader now, encased in silver scales, hiding behind his new draconic features, and that prompted her to speak.
"I won't let her hurt you again, I promise." She said, and he turned back to her, eyes mournfully staring into her own for a moment before the inner membranes slid over them, effectively shielding any emotion they could reveal.
"… You can't promise that." He said dumbly as she stumbled to her feet.
"I can try." She growled defiantly, mimicking him, but her image was ruined as she stumbled, the pain from her chest and back overwhelming her for a moment. She reached out again for something, anything, to latch onto.
Once more her hand connected with something soft and leathery, but this time she was not shaken off.
The silver dragon blinked back at her, eyes carefully shielded by the protective inner membranes, but as she watched the inner lids slid open.
"Thanks…" She mumbled, and the dragon slid up besides her, offering her his shoulder, which she leaned onto gratefully.
"We're going… home." The dragon said.
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"They're back!" Sango cried, relief filling her voice, and the monk turned towards her fast approaching figure.
"We've caught sight of Inuyasha, and Kagome's with him!" She cried, racing past him, Hiraikotsu still held at ready in her right hand as she interrupted her own training, Kirara at her heels.
"They're back?" He asked Sango's flying ponytail and she turned and nodded.
"Hurry up!" She cried and was off again.
He got up, taking his staff with him, pausing only to bow to the Buddha statue he had been kneeling before.
He arrived just as Kagome fell to her knees, Sango next to her.
"What's happened?" He called, pushing his way through the gathering warriors. His authority in the band cleared him a messy path, but he got to the side of the silver dragon just a moment before one great silver wing shielded them from sight.
"Kagome? What's happened to you two?" He asked, glancing towards Inuyasha, but the dragon's head was conspicuously absent from the circle of his wing.
"Kagome?" Sango asked, fingering the shredded cloth of the front and back of the kimono. The girl winced.
"I- I was out for a walk." She lied, and she felt Inuyasha shift beside her. He knew it was lie, and she could feel the golden eyes on her.
"I got tired quickly, and started to head back, but I tripped and fell over the edge." She continued, ignoring the gasps from Sango and Miroku.
"Inuyasha caught me…" She paused again, knowing this would not explain the tears on both front and back of her kimono.
"His claws were sheathed, though, and he couldn't hang on to the front of my kimono, so he switched claws."
Sango and Miroku nodded, they believed her, and she sighed inwardly. Best that they did, she didn't think Inuyasha would want them to know the truth.
Let him tell them if he wants, his secrets are his to keep.
"Lets get you two inside, there's a crowd gathering." Miroku whispered, extending a hand towards her, but Sango grabbed his wrist.
"Oh no you don't!" She hissed, "Kirara?"
The little cat demon meowed then got to her feet, transforming in a ball of fire into the large cat shape she and Inuyasha had seen in the forest.
"Get on." Sango motioned with her free hand before giving Miroku's wrist a hard pinch. He winced visibly.
She climbed onto the fire cat's back, clinging to Kirara's white mane, hardly noticing as Sango climbed up behind her, and Kirara rose into the air, flames flickering from her paws, and soared easily over the gathering crowd. Miroku looked after them, and then turned to the bulk of silver scales beside him.
"Guess we have crowd duty, eh?" He jibed, but the dragon unfurled his other wing and flapped, launching himself into the sky, heading in the vague direction Kirara had flown through, but then again that way was to the kitchens too.
"Sango leaves me for Kagome, Inuyasha abandons me…"Miroku grumbled, then took a look at the puzzled warriors, several right out of combat practice. "Right, I'll just take care of crowd duty"
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"Okay, now what really happened?" Sango asked, and she jumped.
It was evening, and she was sitting in bed, propped against the pillows, with her back bandaged, and smelling of medicinal herbs. Her chest was only bruised and cut a little, but her back had been scraped roughly.
She blinked back at Sango for a moment.
"I already told you—" She began but Miroku, who was standing right behind Sango, cut her off.
"We know, and that was some quick thinking then, but that was a lie." He said simply.
She stared at them, and they stared back.
"How do you know?" She asked and they glanced at each other, apparently having discussed this already.
"Simple, really." Miroku began, "First of all, you aren't the type to do something foolish such as tiring yourself out on a stroll, after all, you are her reincarnation."
"And, if Inuyasha snagged you from the front of your kimono there shouldn't be bruises on your chest, only on your back, if he caught you late in the fall, and with sheathed claws his grip would have been slowed and the rips in your kimono would be more defined." Sango continued.
"Besides, Inuyasha isn't like a normal dragon. He has four claws, three digits and one thumb, not two that could have shredded the front of your kimono, or the three that shredded the back." Miroku finished, nodding pointedly at her.
"Okay, so I told you a lie, but I can't tell you the truth." She replied, matching them stare for stare. "That's not my story to tell."
"You mean it's mine." Growled a voice, before either Monk or Warrior princess could say another word. Inuyasha's fast emerging head had appeared beyond the tent flaps. A moment later the entire silver dragon had slid into the tent and settled in the cleared corner, closing his eyes. Along with the musk of dragon he bore the slight stench of blood, he had been eating.
"Well Inuyasha?" Miroku asked, turning to the dragon, the rings of his staff jangling together. "What happened last night?"
The dragon eyes flew open and he grumbled, his ears flicking. For a moment his nose quivered then he sighed, sending a waft of warm air through the tent.
"You know half demons have periods of weakness, where their human blood runs stronger. My time's the new moon, but now I revert to a normal dragon's form and mind, take it as you will." He growled, and one by one the two lids, the outer lid and the inner membrane, slid closed over his eyes.
"Two cuts, two fangs… Three scrapes, three claws… It makes sense." Sango muttered.
"So, you couldn't control yourself." Miroku pondered aloud, and the silver dragon's eyes opened again.
"Not like you could do any better, monk. Not you, nor your father, nor your father's father."Inuyasha hissed, glaring, and from the monk's suddenly rigid stance it was apparent that the dragon had struck a nerve.
His right hand tensed, then clenched around the light blue rosary and he opened his mouth as if to speak, then turned and stalked out of the tent. Inuyasha shook his scaly head and with a dismissive sniff closed his eyes again.
"Why the sudden mood swing?" She asked Sango, whose eyes hadn't left the waving tent flap.
"It's not my story to tell-" Sango began, but Inuyasha interrupted her.
"Everyone, besides Kagome, in this entire stronghold knows his story." He hissed, "And if she were to ask anywhere else they'd give her the same answer, now tell her before I do."
Sango shot a glare at the dragon, sighed, and then met Kagome's inquiring eyes.
"He's right, everyone knows why Miroku's hand is like that." The Taijiya admitted, and she nodded, the picture of rapt attention. So many things were being revealed lately, like the curtains being drawn from a window, but there were so many veils left, so many shrouds that did not budge.
"It began with his father's father, his grandfather." Sango continued. "Like Miroku, his grandfather and father were both womanizers. They couldn't resist a pretty face. However, his line still had powerful spiritual powers. Miroku's grandfather had a particular quarrel with one demon in particular, and they were fairly evenly matched. Finally the demon appeared in the form of a beautiful young virgin, and catching the monk by surprise he pierced Miroku's grandfather's palm, cursing the wound to become a fathomless void, one that sucked in all things, even its vessel. When that happened the void would appear again, in the palm of the next generation, dooming the Otoshi line to failure."
"Who was this demon?" She asked, purely out of curiosity, and Inuyasha snorted.
"Naraku, idiot." The dragon snapped. "Haven't you realized it by now?"
"I'd assumed you were asleep." She snapped in return.
"I would be, if you females weren't so chatty."
"Then why did you insist Sango tell me that story?"
"Because otherwise you'd have pestered her into it, taking even longer!"
"Well, what's stopping you from leaving this tent then?"
"Because there's no other place to stay!"
"Then go stay in a god be darned stall!" She cried, and the two glared at each other, panting at the speed of their retorts. Inuyasha lifted his head to speak again but Sango cut him off.
"Done acting like babies? Good, because, Inuyasha, we've got plans to discuss tomorrow and Kagome needs her rest." The warrior demanded, giving them both a level glare before leaving the tent, Kirara at her heels.
"No need to get into a fit." Inuyasha growled after the departing girl, then turned to Kagome. "And you, I didn't know you knew that kind of vocabulary." His tone had changed from sarcasm to amusement.
"Well… I was stuck with you for a few weeks." She replied, breaking off into a yawn.
"Gosh I'm tired, arguing with you really wears a girl out. Goodnight Inuyasha." She mumbled, pulling up the covers, half asleep by the time his voice projected to her ears.
"Night… Kagome."