Author's Notes: BLAH! ... hmm... is it time for another chapter already? hmm.. YAY! i was bored... i'm tired of reading fics over and over and over and over again when i'm bored... hmm... i need some new fics... AND I PROMISE I WILL REVIEW THE FICS OF THE PPL WHO REVIEWED ME! i just haven't really had time... lame excuse, i know, but i haven't really been on... hmm... YAY I GOT THREE NEW EMAILS AND THEY'RE ALL GOOD REVIEWS! YAY! I FEEL LOVED! ((hugs reviews)) ((kicks computer)) i hate this thing... it always deletes my reviews.. and the last chapter should be fixed now.. i know it was REALLY effed up, but it should be better, CUZ THIS IS THE REFORMED VERSION OF THIS CHAPTER, TOO! YAY! all of the chapters are getting corrected, re-uploaded, and replaced with the right version. and reviews will be at the bottom like they usually are... or are supposed to be at least...
and if you wanna skip this chapter all it is is Kitsune's past and more tied to the Shikon Jewel... blah blah blah... anyhoo, u can skip this chapter but it might help u to understand the story more... how should i know.. i don't even have it planned out or anything.. i don't even know how it's going to end or WHEN it's going to end for that matter... ((continues babbling pointlessly as story begins)) OH YEAH! THE DISCLAIMER!
disclaimer: blah! they're all the same... i don't own it but I DO OWN A CRAPPY COMPUTER! BOO FOR ME! BLAH!
Kitsune sighed and tried to begin his story. He soon found that this wasn't as easy as he'd hoped.
"Wait... 'City of Demons?'" Kagome asked, looking a bit confused.
"Yes, in the Sengoku Jidai, the city of Yokohama is the city of the demons," Sango said, nodding gravely.
"Correction. City of the 'Sacred' Demons," Kitsune put an accent on the word 'sacred,' making it clearly sound like he thought it was bull.
"What's so sacred about a city of demons!" Inu-Yasha snapped.
"They're supposedly 'great veterans that protect the earth'," Kitsune said, striking a mock-regal tone.
"Start the story!" Shippo said, his eyes were fixed on the Shadowfox.
"Sheesh! All right!"Kitsune snapped in return.
"Sorry, but I love stories!" the little red fox said excitedly.
"Yes, start the story!" Ayame said. She was as worked up as the kit.
"Why do I think I just backed myself into a corner by letting Kagome see this scar?"
"'Cuz you did!" His partner wasn't helping at all. Obviously.
"Fine... It started in the City of Yokohama about fifty years ago..."
"Fifty years!" Miroku, Sango, Shippo, Kagome and Inu-Yasha chorused.
"Yes, fifty years, do you have a problem with that!" the Shadowfox growled.
"Just how old are you?" Kagome asked.
"Hmmm..." he began to count on his fingers, causing everyone to perform a perfect anime-style sweatdrop. He finally seemed to come to a conclusion, "I'm sixty-five!"
"WHAT!" Was everyone's reaction except for Ayame, of course, who had known that for quite a while, apparently.
"So? Inu-Yasha's sixty-seven..." Kitsune said defensively.
"You are!" Kagome turned to Inu-Yasha.
"Well, yeah, it makes sense, doesn't it? I was seventeen when I met Kikyo, and then I was pinned to a freakin' tree for fifty years so that adds up to sixty-seven, doesn't it?"
"Yeah... but" Kagome looked quite confused.
"Just forget it! It's way too confusing for humans to understand, since demons live much longer than they do," Myoga piped up, for the first time in a while. He then looked around, trembling, "Ummmm... Where did Kiru get to?"
"I dunno, probly off hunting or sumpthin'," Kitsune shrugged nonchalantly.
"Hunting what, might I ask?" Sango inquired suspiciously.
"Uhhh... Time for the story!" Kitsune clearly didn't want to go into that.
"Okay!" Shippo exclaimed.
50 Years Ago, In The City Of Yokohama
A beautiful priestess sat there, her bow balanced delicately over her slim frame, hidden in a long cloak she wore, for the evening was cold. She glanced to her guardian, and couldn't help but sigh when she saw he was asleep. She resisted the urge to pull his fox ears, that balanced in such a cute way on his head. She sighed again. She was tired. In fact, if it wasn't for some 'anonymous' tip they had received from one of the bordering groups of rogue demons, she would be asleep. But no, someone had to attack the village tonight, of all nights, when she was extra-tired from her unusually stressful day of purification.
Of course, she should've known something was wrong, since so many demons seemed to be hovering about that day. A young demon had knocked on her door earlier today and had told her breathlessly that a powerful youkai planned to send hordes of demons down on her village. And, as the priestess, it was her sole duty to protect it. It would be her responsibility alone if a young fox demon hadn't found his way here from the neighboring forest. He challenged her, and defeated her easily. Her excuse when he teased her about it now was that she was young, still coming into her priestess powers and that if they were to fight now, she could effortlessly exorcise him. But the strangest thing was, that when he defeated her, he spared her. He was not only a rogue demon, but a Shadowfox. Both species were not known for their mercy or compassion, but simply, their love to kill and skill in battle. Instead of simply murdering her, which he could have done easily, he offered to be her guardian by means of tricking her into it. Making her think that she needed him, when in truth, now that she knew more about his past and the fox himself, it was he who needed her.
She smiled at the memory of the ten-year-old demon she had met five years ago, and how he was still cocky and arrogant to this day. As she remembered, she drifted off to sleep. Almost immediately, she felt herself shaken awake by a very familiar hand on her shoulder.
"You're falling asleep, Tomoe!" Kitsune smirked down at her, in that self-confident way of his.
"You got to, leave me alone!" The High Priestess Tomoe of Yokohama shoved his hand away.
"I was not! I was resting my eyes!" He protested, sounding like a small child that hadn't gotten his way.
"Yeah right.. That's what you always say!" The two teenagers continued to argue. Tomoe, the immortal Priestess, and Kitsune, the rogue fox-hanyou. Until the voice of an old woman snapped through the previously-still air.
"Tomoe! Kitsune! You two should be preparing to fight demons, not ARGUING!"
"Sorry, mom!" Tomoe called out, flushing with embarassment at being repremanded by someone whose skill was lower, but whose rank was much higher, not to mention being yelled at in front of Kitsune. The aformentioned demon laughed.
"Yeah, okay, mom!" He called back sarcastically to the second room of the cabin. His response was getting hit in the head by a pan, held by the hand of the former lady of Yokohama, namely, Tomoe's mother.
"That's what you get, you arrogant little"
"Tsk, tsk!" Kitsune scolded in a perfect immitation of the old woman's voice, "Priestesses should not stain their lips with cursing!"
He got whacked again.
"OW! QUIT IT!" The fox hanyou tried to escape the abuse he was currently experiencing.
"No! You should respect your elders!"
"You're not MY elder! I don't even know how you're related to TOMOE!"
"Shhh! Both of you!" Tomoe hushed the two, "Do you hear that!"
"Of course I do, you dolt!" Kitsune snapped, "I can hear better than you! I can also smell, and feel that..."
"Their auras are tremendous.." The retired priestess said wearily.
"This battle will not be easy..." Tomoe sighed yet again, for the third time that evening.
"Yes, Fox, do you think you can handle it?" The elderly woman teased the youkai.
"Of course!" He snorted, "They're just a bunch of loser lower-class demons!"
"And you are...?"
"Shut up, hag!"
"Would you two stop it!" Tomoe interupted them once more.
"All right then, girl, are you ready for this!" Her guardian charged, and she smiled at his eagerness to fight.
At that time, the two didn't realize that this would be their last fight together, and from then on, one side's love would turn to hatred, and one side's sadness would rule them.
She watched as her fox drew the simple twin katana at his sides. To see a demon of any kind fight with human weapons was rare. She hesitated for only a moment before launching next to him, she kept up easily, since he wasn't going nearly as fast as his godly speed could allow. He smirked at her, as he disappeared, using both his inherited rapidity and his teleportation skills. She slid to a stop, and drew her trademark six arrows that no other priestess had ever been able to match. She knocked them into her bow and launched them all in one fluid motion. She looked up and smiled as the arrowheads gleamed with her powers of purification. The glowing lights, now no longer her arrows, but streaming jets of her own determination to protect, slashed through the hordes of demons. Once they were touched by the young priestess's power, they screamed protests and launched an attack of their own, seeming to ignore their brethren who exploded and evaporated, due to being exorcised by the arrows.
Tomoe looked satisfied before she saw the demons split up, into at least five groups of about five hudred of them each. She didn't like the looks of this. What youkai could possibly be so strong that he could bribe this many demons to come to his aid? She glanced toward her guardian, and again,didn't like what she saw. Kitsune had sheathed his blades and was now resorting to his shapeshifting abilities. He was currently still fighting strong, slaughtering the demons that would have overpowered him if he didn't have the extraordinary skills he did. She turned back to another team of demons that had alighted on the village itself, she was filled with a new courage, seeing her protector rip through them easily. It was always a contest between them. Who could kill the most demons without getting hurt. Who could live through this battle, even. Tomoe turned skillfully and fired more of her powerful arrows. She cursed slightly as one arrow missed as a demon swerved frantically, but smirked as his dodge took him into Kitsune's range, and he was ripped apart in a rather gory way.
He ran to her, not noticing a demon that managed to get behind him and rip a large hole through his shoulder. He turned on one heel and slashed through its body, leaving the shreds of it fluttering through the air to the ground.
"Kitsune!" She called him.
"Shut up, you moron!" He snapped at her.
"Why!" She growled defensively, "Because I saw you get hurt and I was worried!"
"No! Because we're in a barrier and the more we talk, the easier they can see through it, stupid!"
"Oh..." She could now see the glimering evidence of the foxfire shield flickering through the night air.
"Okay, we need a plan. There are too many of them to fight with brute strength!" Kitsune said breathessly.
"Wow.. you came up with that on your own?"
"Shut up! Now's not the time to be teasing each other, okay!" Tomoe nodded. He was right. They really needed to come up with an idea that would destroy these demons. They were distracted, though, as several set fire to the village, and the straw rooves and wooden buildings caught easily. The town was soon ablaze.
"Oh... shit..." Kitsune cursed, quite audibly.
"No!" Tomoe protested, she hit her knees and held her face in her hands, "I can't let this town be destroyed! Kitsune, what are we going to do! I can't let this happen! Everything I know exists here! This is my home!"
"Okay, I have a plan."
"And the villagers! They're sacred demons, and noble guardians! I have to get them out too!" She continued to shout, with tears now running down her face visibly.
"I know, idiot! Shut up and let me tell you how we're getting out of this!" She looked up at him and he gave her that confident smirk.
"O-Okay." She smiled through her tears.
"What we have to do is get you and the demons out of here!"
"Those demons!"
"Yes, those demons.. NO! Your sacred demons, you moron!"
"Oh! I knew that!"
"You're a bit thickheaded for a priestess, y'know that?
"Shut up! I can't think straight when I'm stressed!" Kitsune groaned at her response. This would be a lot more work than it should be.
"Okay, you go into the cabin and get your parents and have them help you evacuate the village!"
"All right."
"Then, I'll take care of the demons with my aura.. It's simple!"
"Is your aura that strong?" The young priestess looked and sounded doubtful.
"Yes, it is!"
"Okay! Let's do it!" Kitsune's barrier pulled back and they both shot forward, in different directions. Tomoe headed towards the cabin where she was born and raised and woke her parents.
"Haven't you two taken care of those demons yet!" Her mother asked, quite peeved that she'd been woken up, only to discover that her daughter and her supposed 'guardian' were slacking off of their duties.
"That's the problem! There's too many of 'em! We have to evacuate!"
"Surrender!" Her father asked incredously.
"Yes!" Panted Tomoe, this shouldn'tve been so much work to convince them, "Then Kitsune will take care of them with his aura!"
"All right, let's go!" Her mother ran out of the tent, followed anxiously by Tomoe and her father. They were stunned by how much damage had been done and Tomoe was just plain pissed that Kitsune had let three buildings burn down in around ten seconds.
"Kitsune, you idiot, you're s'posed to protect the town, too, moron!" She shouted towards the fox, who was currently being pinned down by a saber-toothed cat demon.
"Y'wanna trade places, girlie!" He snapped as he turned into his fox-demon form, a giant kitsune with equally long saber teeth. He curled his back legs under the cat and kicked hard, ripping open its stomach and disemboweling it easily. Tomoe winced as its horrible screech of pain shattered the night even more. She stopped to fire several more arrows on her way to the cabins that sheltered her beloved sacred demons. She finally was able to reach several and ran down them in a row, ripping open the screen doors and shouting at the demons to follow her. They didn't protest, they just did what she said. She was the one they trusted most, the one who gave them sanctuary now. She soon had many out in the woods, gathered around her, while she counted them. Her parents ran into the clearing with about a hundred more demons each.
"Great! That's all of them! I'll go tell Kitsune!" Tomoe shot off in the direction of the collapsing city of Yokohama.
Kitsune saw her coming and immediately knew her message. What he didn't see, however, was the dragon that was currently parting the great scores of demons still left. He was huge and now towered over the unexpecting youkai. Tomoe shouted something at him and as soon as he understood it, he turned back slowly. The giant dragon curled over him and laughed as the fox launched worthless little attacks at him.
"That is pointless effort, boy, and we both well know it!" The dragon boomed in a deep voice that sounded chillingly amused.
"Tomoe, get back! Go back to the others!"
"I'll come back to help you after they're gone!"
"Whatever, just go!" He watched as she shot away, to the shelter of the trees that would hide her for now. He knew that if he failed this, they were all as good as dead. Oh, goodie, let's just let that weigh in on my conscience, shall we? He thought bitterly. The dragon laughed again, a powerful voice that matched his aura and size and shook the very ground.
"You're far too inexperienced to mess with the likes of me! Do you honestly think you have even the slightest chance, fox!"
"Oh, please let this work..." Kitsune muttered as he focused his mind on releasing the powerful aura that he had kept hidden until now. Tomoe felt a growing power, purely demonic and devastatingly evil. She gasped as she realized it was her Kitsune's.
"What is this, hm? The fox has some skill..." The dragon still loomed over him, and still ridiculed him. What he didn't know, Kitsune realized, is that the young fox's aura wasn't even near a fraction of being fully-released. The Shadowfox decided to shapeshift once more, in a form that was rarely seen among even the most skilled of shapeshifters. Tomoe watched from a tree deep in the forest, as her town burned down and her guardian's power grew. She looked on as his shape and size changed, the familiar foxfire curling around his form meaningfully. Finally, it revealed his new form, a beautiful black dragon, with a long wild mane of the same light blue in his eyes and the same-colored crystal talons and teeth. This clash wouldn't be one to be forgotten easily. She slid down the trunk as Kitsune's aura blasted over the top of the forest. They would have to run, the fox himself had underestimated the force of his own power. She could hear the slamming force and feel the horrible hot pressure of the iron-thick scales hitting each other. The two dragons dueled, unaware and uncaring of the damage they caused.
Finally, after about an hour, both of them had shrunk to a smaller form that wasn't so heavy on their shredded muscles. They went from being about five hundred feet long to being about ten feet long. Tomoe stumbled out of the bushes in the clearing where their exhausted fight continued. The other demons had dissipated, which made her suspicious. But what she saw now scared her more than anything else she had seen that evening. Her guardian was losing. Both dragons were pouring blood that their bodies couldn't spare. The fight was pointless. Both of them would most likely die. At least one would. She turned and ran. She couldn't watch her Kitsune's death. She knew she was doubting him, but it was for a good reason. Only an idiot would still have total faith that he could win and keep his life. As Tomoe ran back towards her helpless villagers, she heard a dragon's cry of death and pain. She didn't recognize it, but that didn't say anything at all about the outcome. She had never seen or heard Kitsune in a dragon form before, much less heard him die. Tears dripped down her face as she ran from her guardian, as she left him to die.
"So did he win!" Shippo asked, leaning forward almost to the point of falling flat on his face.
"No, he didn't. That's why Kitsune's sitting there, you idiot!" Inu-Yasha snapped, nudging the kit, and causing his actual fall.
"Owww! Meanie!" The kit bawled.
"Would you shut up!" the dog hanyou and kit began to argue. They were ignored.
"So, you mean to tell me you were the legendary guardian of Yokohama!" Sango asked, shocked.
"I'm legendary?... Now that's a new way to put it..." Kitsune said, looking off into space, his eyes fiery at the memory of his greatest weakness.
"So earlier when you said we were too close to the town, you met we're too close to Yokohama?" Kagome asked.
"You have a good memory... Yeah, that's why." The fox hanyou said absently.
"Cool! Can we go see the town!" Shippo leaped out of Inu-Yasha's grip, causing the dog hanyou to be the one to do a faceplant this time.
"I'd rather not..." the Shadowfox groaned. He clearly wanted nothing more to do with the city of 'Enchanted Demons.'
"Awww, c'mon, Kitsune! PWEEEZ!" Ayame said, giving him puppy-dog eyes.
"Yeah, what can it hurt, after all?" Inu-Yasha had recovered from his meeting the ground and was now sitting upright again.
"But wait, you said it happened fifty years ago! Did it have something to do with the assault on Lady Kikyo and Inu-Yasha!" Miroku had been pondering this story and was now looking as if he'd just discovered something important.
"Yes, it happened on the same day." Well, that was a really helpful tip from Kitsune.
"Sooo, what does it have to do with the incident in Edo?" Shippo asked.
"Because, you know how Kikyo's powers were fading?" The Shadowfox addressed everyone.
"Well, yes..." Kagome said, "But"
"The reason that Yokohama was attacked was because Tomoe was Kikyo's successor. Y'know, to look after the Shikon Jewel. She had trained her whole life to do it. She and Kikyo were very close. They helped each other keep both towns safe." Finally, something a bit more useful.
"Well, what're we waitin' for! Let's go get Lady Tomoe's side of the story!" Ayame grabbed Kitsune's sleeve and jumped up, dragging the other unwilling shadowfox with her.
"D'we hafta!" Kitsune complained.
"She's right, it could be helpful to further understand the predicament we're in against Naraku..." Miroku nodded wisely.
"Yes!" Ayame bounded off, still dragging her uncooperative partner. The others followed them closely.
"Stop!" Kitsune shouted at his comrade. Ayame halted abruptly. "We're at the outskirts of Yokohama!" He hissed up at her. She ducked down and joined him, crouching behind some bushes.
"What are we doing?" She asked him.
"I, too, would like to know that," Sango said, she and the others had caught up.
"So would I!" An unknown call rang out angrily. Kitsune flinched.
"Oh, shit!" He spat.
"Who is that!" Ayame asked, they now faced a small, purple dragon with dark eyes. She looked very ticked that there were intruders on her watch.
"The High Priestess's advisor... the dragon, Mai..." Kitsune growled in disgust.
"Oh, it's just a bunch of humans and a few pet demons!" She spat at the group, her gaze lingering on the Shadowfox and his partner.
"Nice to see you again, too..." He snarled at her.
"I assumed you had gotten yourself killed somewhere else, where people actually cared.." She had this superior look on her face that made you really want to slap her.
"Actually, I'm giving a tour of Hell, y'wanna come!" He snapped.
"I live here and personally, I think it's an Eden on earth!"
"Well, that's one stuck-up hag's opinion!"
"Are you insulting me, fox!"
"Depends! Are you smart enough to figure that out on your own!" The dragon huffed angrily at that last comment.
"Fine!" She stomped away, her heavy feet leaving deep imprints in the earth.
"So tell me, Kitsune, are you truly that stupid, or do you always insult dragons?" Sango asked, sighing with relief that the demon was gone.
"Me an' her always hated each other!"
"Oh, like that's a surprise!" Ayame whacked him.
"Ow! What was that for!" Her partner rubbed the back of his head.
"Who are you and what is your business in Yokohama?" A new voice called out, and rang clearly around them. The sound tingled with the power of a priestess, and a powerful one at that, Kagome sensed.
A young-looking woman walked forward, her long black hair trailing down to her knees, forming a dark halo around her face. "I will have you know that demons are not welcome here unless they have contributed to the wellfare of the earth and humankind, and humans themselves are only allowed here if they are Immortal Humans or heroes!" She drew a longbow that had been strung across her back.
"Wait!" Kagome said hastily.
"And I should because?" The priestess could sense her power and both of them knew it. The great miko drew closer, and Kagome shrank back, as the woman's aura burned the air around her.
"B-Because we don't mean any harm!" Kagome called out. Her voice sounded incredibly small, lost in the priestess's power.
"Yeah, 'cuz we know HIM!" Ayame shoved her unfortunate partner forward, and gave her a smile.
"Ayame, c'mon! This isn't fair!" He protested. A look of sad recognition came across her face.
"K-Kitsune?" Her voice trailed off to almost being silent as her expression faded to one of old memories and times gone bad.
Author's Notes: BLAH! Another cliffy! WHEEE! and the reason this chapter took so freakin' long is cuz i was grounded from the computer for about a week! A WHOLE STINKIN' WEEK! WHAT THE HELL AM I S'POSED TO DO WITH MY EXTRA TIME, THEN! well, i could plot out a new chapter... and actually be prepared to TYPE it... BUT THAT'S NOT AS FUN AS JUST CHANCING IT AND HOPING IT WORKS! and before you ask, no this isn't a Kitsune fic
Kitsune: oh, damn...
Me: ((glare)) ANYHOO.. it IS an IY fic and there WILL BE A FINAL BATTLE AGAINST NARAKU! WHEEEE! BUT IT'LL PROBLY END IN A CLIFFY! YAY! and there will be run-ins with KOGA and KAGURA AND ANOTHER ONE WITH SESSHOMARU! WOOHOOOOOO! Only thing is, this fic may be only for ppl who can read a fic with around twenty chapters. lol. I'm serious, though. this fic's gonna be a long one! WHEEE! be prepared for the long haul, ppl! and i promise i haven't forgotten my vow to review, like i said, i was grounded. and i WILL do it! TONIGHT WHEN I'M ALLOWED TO GET ON THE NET! (psst, no i'm not s'posed to be on now... don't tell, 'kay?) but i think my grounding ended pretty successfully, don't you? this chapter is 8 pages long... that's pretty good... and it's in a pathetic little font, so if i changed it, it'd go back to being 11... anyhoo, enjoy! and thanks for my reviews! here are their responses!
Review Responses:
FlamingKitsune21: YAY! A FELLOW KITSUNE PERSON! YES! thanks for your review! and sorry for getting you in trouble with the librarian but most can just kiss ass and die for all we care, right? lol hope you enjoy the rest of the story! i know this chapter wasn't that funny but the next couple will be to make up for it!
shadowthehedgehog: HIYA JORDAN! THANKS SO MUCH! like i said, this chapter wasn't gonna be real funny, but anyway the next few will, like i said. . i think i'll call you shadowthehedgehog from now on... lol
waterdragonmaster: thanks! well, here's this chapter! and as I've said to anyone else, the next few WILL BE FUNNIER! WHEEE! i'm gonna have fun with this fic, i can tell... MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! . ENJOY!