Servant By: OtakuSailorV
Chapter 13:: Battle for Our LivesYuhi investigated the strange village the rest of the day, sniffing the air every now and then, when she thought that no one was looking, to see if she could find anything good to eat.
Her ears hurt underneath the scarf she had placed over them, and her tail felt stiff hidden underneath her kimono. The rocks and pebbles she had repeatedly stepped on made the pads of her feet numb, and she was aware that she was getting tired and rather bored.
Dusk was starting to settle over the town, and Yuhi briefly wondered where she might stay for the night. A gnawing pain hit her in the stomach. Yuhi frowned, pressing one hand to her stomach thoughtfully.
As being only partially-youkai, she could go for some time without food or sleep, though she had accustomed herself to eating and sleeping normally as humans did from the time that she was young with her father. Since her father's death though, she had become more and more accustomed to going on at regular youkai hours; though at times she did fall back into her old human-like habits, but that was only when she was around humans for an extended period of time. Like now.
Her stomach growled imploringly again and Yuhi frowned further. Looking to make sure no humans were watching, Yuhi sniffed the air hungrily. She knew she had passed a food vendor somewhere in this town, but could not remember exactly where. Now, as she paused, she slowly turned in the direction that the smell of food was coming from.
As she went off toward the scent, a new thought struck her: how was she planning to pay for this food? She started for a moment at this, just about stopping in her tracks to ponder it. She had no money, but she had not really eaten in the last few days either, or had much to drink either. There had been that chocolate and tea from Kagome, but other than that, she had not touched anything else.
Another frown threatened to cross her lips. She hated the idea of stealing, no matter who it was from. But there wasn't much she could do. From what she had seen in the forests, there was nothing to eat, and she had not hunted for food since she was a child and knew that she lacked the patience and skills to try her hand at it now. Even if her body somehow remembered the motions and behavior of one during a hunt, she knew there was little hope for her in this form. To have much effect she would have to take a more demonic form, and she knew not if she could do that as a hanyou.
A bird sang from the rooftop of the house she was standing next to, and she looked up, watching it as it flexed it's feathery wings and took flight, still singing gaily. Yuhi briefly felt a childish envy of the bird stir in her. When she was a child, she had wished that she were a type of youkai that could grow wings and take to the air like the birds that sang so sweetly in the trees. But most children had dreams like that, of being able to fly like the birds. And it had been banished except for a brief childhood heart-flutter every now and then that managed to escape unheeded.
Yuhi brightened, though still apprehensive about having to steal anything. 'I can pay them back later though; I'll figure out a way.' She told herself confidently. Some waning part of her argued that such a thing would never happen, but it was silenced by another demanding growl from her stomach.
She sneak along between the buildings, her demon abilities shifting into gear and taking over for a brief period of time. Stealthily, she padded along, her footsteps going unheard by any passing humans. Even the old ones, who had spent years sitting and listening and could tell if someone was coming just from the smallest creak of a board and scuffle of stones did not catch even a breath of air trailing behind her.
Instinctively, her tail twitched her ears fought to stand upright, and her body arched low to the ground, her hands almost trailing on the ground. She was not aware of this change, but anyone that might have seen her would have thought she looked peculiarly like an actual coyote, sniffing around the bases of the houses. That is, if she had exposed her tail and ears, otherwise she just looked insane.
She stopped dead at the corner of a raised building; the smell of food was the strongest here. Quietly, she huddled down in the shadows, her strange colored eyes gleaming in the half-light. The humans passing by in the street didn't take notice of her at all, and as she watched the vendor didn't even spare a passing glance around at the feeling of eyes watching him intently.
Yuhi became suddenly aware of a vicious creature in the back of her mind, lurking there where she had never looked before, a kind of deranged pleasure radiating off of it as it anticipated as something it could only name as 'the hunt.' Yuhi absently corrected it, it was not a 'hunt' it was stealing, it was bad, and she would get in a lot of trouble. 'Humans food, they should give in to us, we're stronger.' It seethed, reasoning in that barbaric way that it did.
Yuhi found herself arguing with it, and in such, starting to lose a piece of control as well. She was trying to concentrate on too many things at once, and her hold over the youkai half of her mind was slipping. Eventually, she corrected herself though, for she found that trying to reason with the youkai was a losing battle. She was correct in the end, but it still had that pompous, arrogant tone to it. It would not admit defeat to her pacifist ways.
Eventually, when the vendor was looking the other way, her muscles suddenly tensed and she felt something mentally shove her forward. Her heart suddenly sped up, and she felt a wave of anxious adrenaline sweep over her as she sped forward, becoming a brown blur in mid-air. Humans could barely see her, but the ones that did notice cried out, their minds blanching in fear as they registered what it must be.
"A demon!" An old man croaked just before she struck. Grabbing up some of the vegetables that were being sold and a small satchel of what she guessed was rice, she appeared in front of the group of people for a mere flash of a second before she was gone again.
As she peeled away, dust flying out behind her, she heard cries and saw humans dodge aside of her. If anyone might have noticed, they would have seen the briefest flashes of red highlighting her eyes, telling of an inward battle with her youkai blood. 'Kill, destroy, blood, death, kill.' It hissed venomously inside of her mind, red splashes of color dotting across her mind, accentuating the snarling beast's desires.
'Stop! Food was what I wanted and I already took too much. I don't know how I'm gonna repay that human merchant back there! I didn't even get to see what he looked like I was moving so fast.' Yuhi fought back just as hard as the youkai half was fighting to gain control.
Bloodlust threatened to overcome her, the want to lunge and strike out at one of the humans she was passing in the streets rising in her. She let out a suppressed growl and fought it, trying to leave the village as far behind as possible.
Vacantly, some sane part of her was sending some kind of warning though, and Yuhi broke from the conversation with her youkai-self to consult it. It was the smallest of sounds that reached her ears above the roar of whistling wind and feet pounding against dirt and gravel.
It was the sound of human voices shouting loudly, the sounds of many tramping feet chasing after something, and the whistle of arrows and other weapons in the air. Yuhi turned her head slightly, peering out of the corner of her eye at the humans racing after her.
They were far enough behind that she did not have to worry about them catching up, but not far enough that she did not have to worry about their arrows, spears, and other make-shift weapons. A finger of dread laced through her human, rational soul and mind, but the sight only furthered the excitement running through the youkai veins.
Her fangs showed in a sudden sneer, her vision blurred with red. "They want to fight, let me fight." It begged, hissing devilishly.
Her head whipped back around, and the red vanished immediately, replaced by a steady, determined gaze. 'Stop it, I will not allow you to win.' She growled angrily at the inner voice.
It back down, still hissing, cursing and sending an oath as she strapped it back down and hid it away deep inside of her. Content that it was gone for the moment, she focused now on escaping. She was moving, as she fast as she could, but she was starting to tire out, not used to expending so much energy so quickly.
She hissed suddenly as an arrow caught her, ripping through her side, a trickle of warm blood running down her body. The hit slowed her, and she bared her teeth against the pain.
She cleared the edge of the rather large village now, and headed straight for the forest. The youkai instinct took control as she wavered with the pain, but her other self did not dare come into the light, though the smell of blood was intoxicating.
Yuhi took to the trees, holding tightly to her parcels and jumped from branch to branch, keeping her balance by some miracle. The humans stopped at the end of the forest, cursing as they saw darkness falling and the 'youkai' they were chasing falling away in the distance. A string of curses met her ears, and Yuhi felt a leap of joy suddenly fill her. Despite herself, she grinned broadly and stopped on a branch about fifty feet off the ground, watching the humans secretively from her spot.
Intently, she listened to them, not yet aware that her tightly tied scarf had slipped down and hung from her neck; her ears flexed until she could hear them quite clearly.
"We can't go in after it now, it's too dark, and who knows what comes alive in there at night." The one who appeared to be the leader growled.
Another scoffed, eyeing the trees thoughtfully. Unconsciously, Yuhi bent on her tree limb, lowering herself closer to the bark, shielding her eyes from his gaze in case he should spy them glowing at him in the moonlight. "There're probably more of 'em in there too." He added, mostly to anger the other's than to rile himself up.
The rest of the group agreed, clanging their weapons before they broke off, still talking amongst themselves.
Yuhi watched as they left, leaving the forest edge behind as they retreated to the safety of the glittering lights of their village. The demon inside of her sneered, suddenly speaking up again un-checked.
'Huh, we could take that lousy excuse for a pack of humans any time of the day.' It voiced smugly.
Yuhi scowled, forcing it away from her. 'I stole today because I was hungry and there was no other answer tot hat problem. I will not do it again if I can help it. And do not think that this means I will give in to you and your madness. You make me do things I will regret.' She growled at it.
When she had been young was the first time Yuhi had even come into contact with her youkai self, the bloodthirsty, battle-hungry monster that resided inside of her. She had been angry and had not noticed that she had been acting on the wishes of a demon that would be beyond her control if she ever let it dominate. She had stopped herself before she had done any real damage, but she had learned from her mistake and had since corrected herself whenever it came to life. Though it had been a very long time ago it had last spoke. She was surprised it had chosen such a time to come to life again, but put that aside for later.
'And I will remember this,' She added, reaching down with a free hand to touch the warm, wet spot where her blood was seeping out. The spot ached and was set on fire from the contact of her fingers.
The demon seethed with the pain, renewed anger making it flourish inside of her. 'They hit us! Those filthy humans caused us to bleed!' It hissed. How it had overlooked the pain and blood before was unsure, but now it was screaming with outrage. 'Humans, slime, filth, dirt! Kill!'
Yuhi wrestled and tussled with it inwardly; outwardly her brows were twitching angrily.
Normally, she was not so violent; she had a relatively quiet and calm demeanor. But when dealing with her youkai self she was never soft or gentle. The thing understood nothing but violence, it was like fighting fire with fire, and it would only back down if Yuhi got angry, though it is hard to imagine her ever unsettled.
The howl inside of her mind was cut short as she set it straight once again, dismissing it without another thought. The youkai now banished, she hopped down from the tree and marched off in search of a place to stay and eat what she had stolen, and possibly try and put a poultice on her side.
Naraku watched as the group of unsuspecting travelers was lured once again into one of his ingenious traps. Soon, he was sure, he would be rid of them at last. There would be nothing to stand in his way of finally dominating! Nothing!
Satisfied, he descended at just the right time, savoring victory with a smirk as his red eyes danced.
As he came through the part in the miasma, he felt the smirk grow as he saw Inuyasha's infuriated gaze. "Goodbye, Inuyasha."
Whew, finally got out a new chapter. sigh
Heh, I find it kind of ironic that in the last two - three weeks, I have discovered that a coyote is runing around in the field behind my house. We have deer and raccons and opposums and things like that back there all the time, but this was the first time we've ever seen a coyote! We saw a fox once, but that was only once. This coyote was seen by several of our neighbors and appears tohave a busted back leg. Poor thing.....Anyway, I thought that was kind ofamusing since Yuhi is a coyote hanyou. And it was funny since we're in a rather populated area, and it's not like we're in the middle of nowhere or anything, and it's just strange to ahve a coyote out here.....
Anyway, enjoy your Holidays everyone! It's snowing like no other out here where I am, andI hope that wherever you are, that you have just as much fun, if not more. Also - I'm going to be out of town from December 30 - January 2, so I'm not sure what I'll be able to get done between now and then, but I hope to at least finish a few things before I go.
Thank you for the continued support, minna-san. I truly appreciate it. bow See you all soon!!
Review Please.