Author's Notes: I changed my penname. It was Dark-Spirit-Kitsune. Now it's Winter-Whisperling. and sorry if Shadowfox is bitterly spiteful or helplessly fucking sarcastic. I'm fucking pissed. That's it. You people are going to think I'm a cold, cruel individual for lashing out so bitterly to one person in particular in my Review Responses. Know what? I don't give a fuck. I'm tired of being tested. Fuck stupid anti-songfic laws. Fuck anti-otaku who hate anime and torture those who like it. And Fuck everything that is happy and good in the world. Hope all that stupid ass SHIT burns in hell. On to the Fucking story...
Dislcaimer: Fucking lawyers... go fucking fuck yourselves you stupid fuckers...No, I don't fucking own fucking anything. Except my fucking OC's, including the fucking new one I'm fucking introducing in this fucking chapter... Bite me.
Sango awoke. Her brown eyes shot open and she sat up immediately. She nearly knocked heads with a massive black dog with piercing blue eyes that seemed to borrow even past the mind itself. Needless to say, this scared the living shit out of her. She screamed and fell backward.
"AHHHHHH!" The taijiya jumped at least three feet in the air, which was pretty impressive, considering she was sitting down. She scrambled backward, drawing the nearest weapon. Unfortunately for the dog, it was the same frying pan he'd been abused with earlier. She brought it down over the sleek, black head gracelessly, screaming like a banshee as she did so.
"Ow... fucking.. fucker... fucking ... GOD!" The dog recoiled, taking a human form and crouching in a feedle position, holding his head between his knees, with his hands over the top to protect himself.
"Who the hell are you!" Sango demanded.
"DON'T HIT ME AGAIN!" Kitsune said, waving his hands frantically in order to fend her off.
"Jeez, Sango..." Kagome said in a tiny little, slightly horrified, voice.
The slayer took a deep, shaky breath, they could practically hear how hard her heart was beating.
"Good... GOD..." Inu-Yasha observed bluntly, staring down at his little brother's fox form, curled up on the floor with its tail over its head as shelter.
Sango turned to Inu-Yasha and noticed that the High Priestess Tomoe was bandaging his arm. A closer inspection revealed a massive gash that stretched from just past his shoulder to all the way down to the top of his hand. Sango attempted to move forward and winced. She didn't know what had hit her, but it had hit her hard and in a lot of places.
The slayer held her head slightly. She noticed Shippo had bandages on his arms and leg. Kagome wasn't much better. The vixen Ayame was nowhere to be found. Until Sango heard ragged breathing and turned around. She saw two things. One shocked her, one slightly surprised her.
The slightly surprising bit was the fact that Ayame was laying there, also in her fox form, her sides barely rising and falling, with a single wound sticking out: a large hole in her side which had clearly left her in pretty bad shape.
A bit more shocking, though, Sango soon discovered, was that Kohaku was there. He was in the huge Shrine of Yokohama... Not even six feet behind her. She could reach out and touch him. He was out cold, he couldn't hurt her. He couldn't see her. He couldn't hear her. She could talk to him. The realization of this fact shook her greatly.
"Kohaku..." The slayer breathed.
"Sango, please, don't." Sango looked up at Miroku. His face was grave and solemn. She had never seen him look so serious in the entire time she'd known him. She didn't like it.
"What is it, Miroku?" She returned, sounding a bit more icy than she'd intended. How could he tell her to stay away from her very brother? The one she cared for more than anything else in the world?
"Sango.. please, don't take it personally or anything but, you can't touch him." The monk sounded desperate.
"Miroku. May I ask why not?" Sango's voice was dead cold now. It wasn't hard to tell she didn't like that answer.
'Shit...' Miroku thought immediately, He knew that tone of voice. His arguement wasn't going to go anywhere at this point. "We're not sure what his current state of mind is..." He trailed off.. He didn't want to be beaten over the head with the frying pan.
"And?" The returned remark was dripping with venom and suspicion.
"Please, Sango." The slayer turned to Tomoe, who continued: "We are not sure whether or not he is free of Naraku's control. And if he is, what a place we are left in..." She too, trailed off, though sounding thoughtful rather than terrified.
"How do you know about all this?" Sango asked timidly. The priestess still intimidated her. She wasn't sure why, but there was something hidden in the aura, that made her seem so strong, so capable.
"I was informed while you slept as to what happened at your village. I am deeply sorry, Sango. I wish there was something I could do..." Tomoe sounded genuinely apologetic. Like it was her fault, "But, until we are sure of the presence of his sanity and self-control, we must not touch him."
"Oh... Sorry, Miroku.." Sango returned, sounding like a small child.
"Don't worry about it!" Miroku said brightly, while secretly uttering a sigh of relief that he wouldn't have his head bashed in by the damn frying pan, which was still hovering about in the corner, waiting to attack an unsuspecting victim. Haha.
Sango turned again to look at her brother. His eyes were closed, and his ever-messy hair swept across his face, but she could still picture every detail of those shining eyes and the constantly cheerful smile. Just by looking at Sango's expression, Kagome swore she'd never take Sota for granted again.
"I assure you, Sango, Naraku will pay." Sango turned and gave Inu-Yasha a slight smile.
"Thank you..."
Suddenly Kitsune lunged across the room and started frantically shaking Ayame. "Dammit, Vixen, wake UP!"
"Nnnnnrrflll...?" Was his received response, from the ever-tactful Ayame. In a moment though, she was beating him over the head with... the stupid pan again.
"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM, YOU STUPID, INCONSIDERATE BASTARD! IS THAT HOW YOU ALWAYS TREAT WOMEN! IT'S NO WONDER YOU'RE SUCH A FREAKIN' LADIES' MAN!" Ayame screamed at him. She hit him one last time, before concluding triumphantly with "Pervert...!"
"Ugggghhhh..." Was her response, from the ever-tactful Kitsune.
"Well, now that that's cleared up," Ayame began brightly, grinning, "What did you want, dearest partner of mine?"
He sat up, rubbing his head. "I was going to say that..." He looked at the door, or rather, past the door, it seemed..
"Say what, already!" The vixen growled, "Spit it out! What're you trying to do, build dramatic tension?"
"Well, actually..." Kitsune began, but with Ayame's deathglare he quickly recovered: "Jeez, I was just kidding... I was going to say that Kasu's coming..."
Ayame squealed with delight and shot to the door, threw it open, and lunged outside. A moment later, when she realized something, she popped her head back in through the doorframe... "Errm... When?"
"Who's Kasu?" Inu-Yasha answered her.
"Nevermind! I'll find him myself!" Ayame bolted off again.
"And... okay..." Miroku said, watching as she left.
"Kasu's another Shadowfox rogue.. He was a warrior in the Lord's army... But, after all his friends got exiled, he left and became a rogue, too."
"Who might his friends be?" Sango inquired.
"Well...erm... there's a funny story behind all that," Kitsune could seemed like a powerful speaker at times. This wasn't one of those times, "Y'see.. If there's any bitterness between us.. It's prob'ly because.. erm... umm... Eh heh.. it's a really funny story... eh heh heh..."
"And we would love to hear this story." Miroku said, his voice sharp and clear. It was a tone that didn't allow room for arguement, "And what do you mean by 'bitterness'?"
"Erm.. well... uhhhh... See... Y'know how Ayame's my partner...?" He asked, one hand behind his head. He looked almost innocent. Well, mostly he just showed only one thought in his expression: Oh my god, someone KNOWS. They had yet to learn what it was that they knew, but they sure as hell were about to know something.
"Yes... Almost all foxes have partners.." Shippo said, trailing off suspiciously and looking at the older fox.
"Well, erm.. y'see.. Ayame wasn't s'posed to leave the Shadowfox City... Because she's... kinda.. umm... the erm.. she's kinda the... umm..."
"Just spit it out already!" Kagome said, her patience at its end.
"Well, she's the princess... Not next in line for the thrown, but she'll take the title of the Shadowfox Queen when her bastard of a father kicks it..."
"And this is relevant because...?" Inu-Yasha asked. Yay for him. He knows the word 'relevant'.
"Well... y'know... since the other Shadowfox cities are wayyyyyy far away... then the captain of the Shadowfox Hell-Warriors would become the new Lord, by marrying the Princess... and.. like I said, it's a funny story, cuz you'll never guess who the Shadowfox captain is..."
"WHAT!" Was basically how all of this was accepted.
"Heh heh.. yeah... funny, funny, stuff, that is..." Kitsune said, still incredibly nervously.
"Sooo.. why did Ayame run away, anyhoo?" Kagome inquired.
"Because..." He took a deep breath, "BecauseIwasn'tsupposedtobeherpartnerandthewholethingwasjustastupid dareanywayandweshouldn'tvedoneitbutwedidanywayandnowKasu'sgonnakillmebecauseAyame'shisfianceeandsheranawaytobemypartnerandthat'sit!"
"Erm...what?" Sango asked, reading everyone's minds.
"Well, y'see..We were bored one day. I had been exiled so technically they weren't really supposed to be talking to me. But Kasu was on "Patrol" as he calls it... or whatever. And Ayame had decided to 'bravely join him'. Or something... Anyhoo, I said I was going to wander around and look for something interesting to do. Kasu randomly dared Ayame to follow me, because she pulled her princess line of 'I wouldn't be caught dead with all the rogues out there.' So, the both of us got this plan to trick her into it, just because she's stupid and won't refuse a dare that insults her. So we were saying that we bet she couldn't even last a month out here and when she protested, we dared her to do it. It's not like it was hard... But anyhoo, I haven't seen Kasu for... geez... umm... Hell, I think forty years..."
"It must be great to be immortal..." Kagome said, rolling her eyes. She had noticed something about people with extended lifespans: They had trouble keeping all their stories straight and un-intertwining (that's a word now.. tough shit). For example: Inu-Yasha's adventures before he had met them, Shippo's stories of his own bravery, Totosai's constant lectures and lore, and her grandfather. Especially her grandfather.
"KASU-KUN!" They heard an extremely over-eccentric squeal of excitement from outside.
"Umm.. Hello, to you, too, Aya--OOOFFF!" Kasu's sentence was cut short and the Inu-tachi plus Kitsune ran to see what did it. Ayame, in Shadowfox form, was sitting on his chest, her head bent over his, staring him dead in the eyes...
"Umm.. Ayame.. Although I give you points for originality, this is highly unorthodaux..." Kasu stated nervously..
"I have something I've wanted to say to you for years, Kasu..." Her voice was suddenly haunted and raspy.
"Erm.." He looked terrified now, "What might that be, Ayame-chan?" He added the name ending as though to reassure her that they were friends and she shouldn't kill him.
"I've wanted to say..."
"Yes...?"
"I've wanted to say..."
"Yes?"
"I..."
"You what?"
"I WIN!" With this final triumphant conclusion, Ayame leaped up and transformed back into her human shape.
"You win... what?" He asked uncertainly.
"Our dare! I WIN! HA! You immature IDIOTS said I couldn't be a rogue and what am I now! I'm the Rogue Princess, Ayame! HAAA! So there!"
"Erm... right then, you ... umm... win, then...Oh, hi, Kitsune!" Kitsune walked over and held out a hand to pull the other demon up.
"Thanks," Kasu stated, brushing himself off, "Overzealous little bitch, ain't she?"
Kitsune gave him a long, dry look. "You have no idea..."
"So, how did our little dare go, exactly?"
"You have no idea..."
"Been a long forty years, has it?"
"You have no idea..."
Author's Notes: Well, that's it... this is a pretty long-ass chappie if I do say so myself.. that is all.. and I'm going to start a poll... I'm thinkin' of killin' a couple people off in the final battle with Naraku.. I'm not asking you to cast your votes now, seeing as we haven't really met Kasu yet officially, and not all the characters that will be featured in Shadowfox have made their appearance, so hold your reviews (at least about the poll) til the later chapters.. I'll announce its official start. So, that being said, here's where you're gonna hate me.
Review Responses: good first, then bitter hatred, 'kay?
casandra,ryusan- Thankies much for your review! and I can't wait til next IY eppies start premiering on Sat's at 11:00 pm again! wooooooot!.. random, I know, but seriously, thanks for the review.
Okay, HERE's the part where you're gonna hate me:
Katie-I wanna say a whole lotta things to you, but this fic is PG-13 so I can only say so much. I'll start by saying you've got a whole helluva lotta fucking nerve.. You torture me daily, all because I like anime and manga. Before we left for Canada, I was talking to Rachel, a LOYAL friend, about how I probably wouldn't be able to record InuYasha in Canada, and, without even being announced or invited into the conversation, you screamed at me "WE'RE NOT WATCHING THAT CRAP IN CANADA!" So, then I got pissed at you, and I had a goddamn reason to be. Then you got all mopey and shit because I 'was mad at you for no reason' or whatever. So now, you're reviewing Shadowfox as a desperate attempt to patch things up! What the hell is your problem! I never provoked you, I never involved you, and you still fucking tortured me. So don't pretend you like this story, don't pretend I'm good at this, and, most importantly, don't fucking say you're sorry. Just don't. It's just makes me seem like the bad person here, cuz I won't accept this apology, cuz apparently, I'm the only one who realizes how fucking fake it is. So don't apologize.
Well, hate me. There. I said it. I don't give a fuck if Katie reads it, either. So, since I've said that, I know Jael or Jessica'll print it off and show it to her. well, if you do, Fuck you then. see ya next chapter. and, with emotions being spilled here, I'd like to say sorry for how long it took me to get this damn chapter up. The Demon's Reign will be the next fic I update, hopefully. If not that, then Anywhere But Home. Peace out, beotches...