One of the Fox's nine tales
By Gonah Hawking Inaraku
Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha or any of its characters, and any money I make now a-days is found in my couch.
Warnings: Slash, some of it Yaoi, some hetero (I'm not gonna tell you the pairing) and NC-17 in the beginning.
Summary: It's been 25 years since the gang defeated Naraku and went back to their respective eras. Now they come back for a reunion and stuff happens… yeah, you know you want to read it.
Chapter two
Shippo looked around himself, he did not recognize his surroundings, it was a dark, damp cave, and the walls glowed with an almost magical luminance that gave only the faintest of light. He took a single step from where he stood and heard it echo all around him, as the noise died down, he found himself calling out to anyone who would answer, "Hello?" His voice mockingly answering him back ten-fold, "I-is anybody there?" He took another few steps, finding them to almost deafen him in the silence.
"Hello, young one." Came a sultry-sweet voice from the shadows.
The young fox jumped back, He knew that voice and wished to never, in this life or the next, hear it again. "Get-get away from me, you've cone enough!" His voice raised in pitch out of fear of his adversary. He backed himself up against the slick cave wall, his paw searching for something, anything to take hold of to fight back his enemy, only to find the walls smooth and bare to his searching fingers.
The voice laughed at him, a barking, howling laugh, "You fear me little one? But I though you enjoyed it sooo much."
As the voice mocked him, he felt arms come around him from behind. The boy tried to jump away, only to find himself held fast. His mind told him not to turn around, not to look at what he knew would be behind him, but his heart told him to be brave, told him to look fear in the eye and tell it to kiss his ass.
Slowly, and with a great effort of will, he turned. He found himself looking into two beautifully yellow eyes. The yellow demon eyes that held ice in their glance, his entire body became cold in sweat, the one that he feared was their, embracing him, his torso partially coming out from the wall. His name came to the boys tongue, but he could not speak it, for all that he tried, he could not say a word.
The human-like face changed into a canine shaped thing, his nose elongated, fangs growing out from a slobbering mouth, his pale white skin turning now to fur, his eyes became bright, blood red, with the slightest of yellow pupils slitting through his eyes.
The dog-like tongue reached out and licked the boys face, only licking with the very tip of the tongue but still managing to slobber on the child. "You taste so good, little one, I only wish I could have more-"
He was cut off as a flash of light filled the room. When Shippo could again discern shapes and visions, he saw a girl standing before him, sword unsheathed, she wore a silken orange kimono with leaves sewn for the pattern, her hair was done up in a simple pony-tail. He could not yet see her face, but he knew who she was without seeing, "Rin?"
"You can not hurt him Master Sesshomaru. I won't let you." She widened her stance, waiting for more of a fight.
The Dog demon writhed in agony, yelling out against every God whose name came to mind. His body retracted into the wall, disappearing completely in a matter of seconds. The girl, Rin, sheathed her sword and spun on her heal to face the fox, her face a hard and fast glare. When she turned fully to Shippo she smiled brightly, offering her hand in help from where he sat on the wet and slimy ground.
When Shippo took her hand, the scene changed. They were now in a meadow, the grass was verdant green, long and shining in the sun, seeming to praise and give glory to the life-giving deity, all of it stretched out to the ends of forever. There were no caves here, no woods that could hide an enemy from any angle, here you could see for miles and no harm could come to you… ever. Flowers sprinkled the field in patches of rainbow colored bliss, Shippo smiled, happy that he was finally some where that he could feel safe. It was then that he noticed that his hand was still wrapped around the human's, blushing violently, he let go, nearly jumping away in fear that he would have somehow insulted her.
When he looked back into her eyes, he saw that she was still smiling, and sighed in relief, he didn't know why, but it seemed that he didn't want to disturb her or make her anything but happy, ever. As they looked into each other's eyes the time seemed to melt away, becoming a part of all the glorious things around them, shifting itself until it became comfortably settled into nothingness. Rin looked out into the meadow and then back at the fox boy, she put one finger up to her lower eyelid and pulled it down, sticking her tongue out at the same time. Shippo cocked his head for a moment, slightly confused, then when she started to run he caught the idea and started to chase her. They frolicked in the meadow, it seemed like hours, then days, never becoming boring or tiresome. Always just being. Finally, at the end of eternity, the two flopped down in a flower bed, panting and laughing at their own antics. The orange haired child, his name lost to the winds of time and space, turned to the black haired girl and whispered in a gasping voice, "Why did you save me? I'm so thankful, but you went against your master didn't you? Are you going to get in trouble on my account?"
For a millennia his question went unanswered, but then at the exact moment that the final year ended she answered, shaking her head and smiling. She opened her mouth to speak, "Shippo, come one honey, wake up. You can't stay asleep forever, I promise it's okay to wake up." The fox quirked an eye brow, that was not Rin's voice, it was one from his past, a motherly one that reminded him of warmth and comfort.
Something broke, the spell that had been cast over the realm here cracked and shook, slowly falling away until only oblivion was left. Shippo swam through the black depths, searching desperately for air. He groped and grasped for the girl, but could not find her. His consciousness told him what he knew in his heart to be true. She wasn't real, she was just one of the many facets of his dream… The darkness started to press in on him, forcing him to wake up, for if he did not soon, he would die. He knew that for certain…
Shippo opened his eyes gasping for air, his lungs wouldn't allow it though, something was constricting them, like a heavy weight. As he got something of a hold on his surroundings, he noticed a vibrant red shape on his abdomen, he was also aware of voices floating through the room. He started to sit up, only to be reminded of the weight that sat on his stomach. The weight removed itself when it realized that the fox was awake, saying in an arrogant, familiar tone, "See, I told you I could wake the brat up."
Shippo's sight began to straighten itself out; slowly shapes became more solid as oxygen filled and expanded his shriveled lungs. He found himself in the old cottage of Kaede, the priestess woman. Sitting or standing all around him were the familiar figures of Sango, Kagome, Miroku and Inu Yasha, they all seemed to be holding their breath as they waited for him to speak and tell them that he was alright.
When he said nothing, the dog demon decided to prompt him further, "Well, what happened? Are you okay kid?" He leaned forward and tapped him lightly on the skull as he used to when the fox was a mere child.
The red haired demon tried to speak, finding his lips to be silent and parched, he licked his lips in frustration and tried again, "I-I'm fine, h-thanks." Was all he could force put, and even that was in a reedy, tired voice. Kagome took this as a cue to fetch the boy a small cup of water; she kneeled next to him and helped him sit up just enough so he could drink from the glass.
Sango kneeled down on the opposite side of him, taking a wet cloth to some of the wounds that had opened up with even this slight amount of movement. The two women fussed and preened over him for several minutes until they finally deemed him fit to speak again. The demon slayer pushed a few strands of hair from his face as she asked him in a whispered voice, "What happened Nii-chan? Who attacked you?"
Shippo opened his mouth and found himself unable to speak once more, only this time it was not because he was thirsty, it was because of fear, he did not want to speak the Dog-demon's name for fear that he may appear in this sanctity of home, so he tried to appease her by shaking his head simply. When Kagome started to nudge him into answering, Sango put up a hand to stop her. They both knew what had happened; they could both feel it through the mother's intuition that they had developed for the child. They knew only all too well what had happened to their brother, almost son out there in the woods, the only question was, 'Who?' Who would dare to touch him? Who would feel such a strong death wish as to spur those two women into action? Who ever it was, they both knew, was in a world of hurt.