06/17/06: This chapter has been edited. I made it longer and by all gods, it makes more sense now when you read it
Chapter 1 – Why?
In a forest in Feudal Japan, in the middle of a beautiful and shiny afternoon, a gang of Shikon shards hunters were arguing again. There was Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Kirara, Chikara and her young son Takato asleep in her arms, Kagome and finally, Inuyasha.
The active subject was about that last bag of chips that Kagome had given to Inuyasha. His feelings were a bit… negative when something 'bad' happened to it.
°°°
"Inuyasha, come on, stop wasting your time on that little detail" said Kagome.
"No I won't! Shippo stomped on my last potato chip and I'm gonna get my revenge!" Inuyasha growled.
As soon as he got up to try something on the cub, Kagome unleashed the word. "SIT!" and BANG! poor Inuyasha got buried in the ground. Miroku and Sango looked at the hole in the forest ground.
After the spell broke, someone very angry struggled to get out of the fresh ground fissure.
"Hey what was that for! I ain't done anything!" yelled Inuyasha. The gang could almost see the steam coming out of his cute little doggy ears.
Shippo backed away to be sure not to anger more the half-demon.
"That's what you get for trying to hurt little kids and you know it…" laughed Chikara, while wanting to help him getting up, but only to be rejected: "Thanks," he said harshly "but I don't need any help, I'm a grown up, after all" he said arrogantly, dusting off the dirt on his pants after finally getting out of the hole. Being her childish because of her Sun form, she gave him a nudge on the shoulder to thank him for his arrogance and stuck out her tong.
"Sometimes I wonder if that's true…for both Inuyasha and Chikara…" said Miroku, while facing the demon slayer.
"Indeed." agreed Sango, while giggling.
Inuyasha, angry, sat so roughly that the dirt elevated from the ground and spread on everyone. He then started to act like a five year old child and pouted while sitting crossed-leg, showing that he had no intentions of continuing to travel: "There! I won't move an inch until I receive some excuses… from everybody."
"Aww, come on Inuyasha," said Kagome "it was only a joke…" She rolled her eyes toward the sky.
"Yeah, we all know how mature you are… when you want to show it of course" Chikara said, putting emphasis on her last words. "Don't get all mad just because we are having a little fun on your back. Come on now, let's continue our road; Kagome felt a Shikon shard in this direction, we have to go east the fastest we can" she said, chirpily.
Miroku, seeing that they would change nothing to Inuyasha's mood, he sighed and spoke up: "Well, why not camp here for tonight, it's early enough so we can go hunt and get something fresh for dinner. Maybe fish? What do you think guys?"
Sango looked around and answered: "I don't know Miroku; I sense something weird about this place…"
Chikara waved her unoccupied hand at Sango showing the girl that she had a solution. She told her that they should only have to stay on their guard for the night and each one of them, except for Shippo and Kirara, would have a turn of watch for the night.
So they went on and prepared their camp. Miroku, Sango and Kirara went to fish, while Kagome kept her worries for herself as she helped Chikara to gather the wood for the fire.
°°°
Around midnight, the turn of guard of Inuyasha was done and it was Chikara's. She sat from her sleeping position as Inuyasha approached her: "Do you want me to hold Takato while you guard?" His mood had changed from the afternoon and he realized he had been a bit harsh with her; though he would never apologize he wanted to help her instead.
She looked at him hesitantly, thinking about her answer. Her Night form reflected much more than her Day form, taking all elements in question most of the time, so she wouldn't act stupidly.
Chikara sighed, decided of her answer: "If you wish so. It doesn't bother me at all; in fact, I think it would be the best, because like this I can concentrate on my duty." She smiled. "It's okay, but you have to be careful. He's so small and with your clawed hands, you might hurt him unconsciously."
So Inuyasha took the baby in his arms to go to sleep and yawned. He said goodnight to Chikara and found himself a comfortable spot between the roots of a nearby tree. He laid there and after a few minutes, he started to snore softly.
Chikara looked at the fire and sighed; there was definitely something strange about this place; she had to stay alert. She poked the fire with a stick; she hoped that it wasn't something terrible.
°°°
A few hours later, the whole gang woke up, sensing evil stirring in the area. Kagome, the first one of them to be fully awake, was very aware of the danger: "Guys, can you feel this? It's coming from the north and it's pretty powerful. Everyone on your guard! Watch out…!" Everyone looked around. Shippo, shivering, jumped on Kagome's shoulder, trying to gain a bit of protection from her. The young priestess took an arrow from her quilt and took her bow, ready to attack.
A sinister laugh echoed from the trees and a cloud of smoke quickly surrounded the area where the gang was camping. Two figures emerged from it: one very small and a larger one. As the cloud disappeared, the gang was able to see that it was an old sorceress and her monstrous demon slave.
"What do you want, you ugly woman?" launched Inuyasha, not caring if he'd provoke her quickly.
"I was sent here from someone to kill you, of course" the old witch said, shrugging, like it was as normal as a walk in the park.
"By whom? Naraku?" Inuyasha quickly shot back.
"Hum, let me think," the witch tapped her finger on her repulsive chin. "I don't know. I didn't even see him; he was in the shadows and didn't say much." She shrugged. "Only that if I could find a way to eliminate the half-demon Inuyasha, I was to be greatly rewarded!" She grinned evilly, thinking about her reward.
"Feh! As if you could kill me, you bitch! Prepare - "
Inuyasha was cut by the small cry of a baby. At that moment, he realized that Takato was still in his arms and was supposed to stay safe.
He lanced a look at Chikara and he saw her emotions all written over her face; she wanted her son close to her. He could have given her back Takato, but it was too risky; the enemy could spot the baby and target it as a weak point. He couldn't engage a battle, either, because he couldn't take the chance harming Takato, so he gave a sign about that. Everyone saw that move and understood that this battle couldn't be fought with Inuyasha, they had to fight alone.
Sango made a move first. She released her Hiraikotsu and missed; it passed trough the enemy, just like if that sorceress was like thin air. She caught her weapon that came back. She frowned not liking what happened.
The witch didn't even flinch.
Next was Miroku; he tried to hit her with his staff, but still no effects. He and Sango looked at each other desperately. They backed down to let Kagome try; maybe her light arrows could do something about that monster.
Kagome took one from her quilt and stretched her bow. As she was about to release it, the old witch opens her scarred mouth: "That will not work, young priestess!" Kagome looked perplexed. The witch continued: "My slave: go and bring me that half-demon and hurry up!"
At the instruction from its master, the demon jumped in the air. Kagome tried to hit him, but he was too fast and she missed. He landed right in front of his target and let go a maniacal laugh, one of those that sends you chills down your spine. Inuyasha was showing no signs of fear or moving. He tried to hide Takato with his sleeves, hoping that that monster didn't see him.
"Hold him down! I need time to think about how I'll destroy him, and I don't think he'll want to wait calmly while I do that" the sorceress barked at her demon slave.
At that moment, Chikara jumped on that occasion to take her chance at killing that demon that was threatening her son and her brother in law. She took her staff that lied beside her and lounge to attack the slave demon. He evaded but retaliated and she blocked with her goddess staff. The battle continued as intense as it begun. She was a bit frustrated because she wasn't strong enough to kill it, only able to block his attacks or evade them.
Seeing this, Shippo got an idea. Since he was on Kagome's shoulder, he told her his plan in her ear. She nodded and Shippo jumped in the air: "Fox Fire!" He aimed for the demon. The fire was burning the monster's face and that got its attention fast; he tried to stop it from stinging. At that moment, Kagome shot an arrow and hit it right in the middle of the nose, making its head explode. The body fell instantly to the ground, lifelessly.
Looking at the result, the witch's eyes widened and she yelled: "No! My precious slave! What have you done to it? Oh, it will not end like this! No after all these efforts I made to find my prey! If I can't eliminate you in this form, Inuyasha, I'll try something else! Take this!" She chanted something and waved her hands. A black energy poured from them and went right into Inuyasha's direction.
Miroku tried to stop it with his wind tunnel, but it didn't work, it continued its path toward its target. But it was too late to try something else. It enveloped Inuyasha and a crying Takato. As it glowed a bright blue light, Inuyasha fell to the ground unconscious. Out of bad luck, he didn't fell on the baby, who was lifeless too.
"NO! My baby!" cried Chikara, while running toward her friend and child.
"Why you-you BITCH!" Sango yelled almost flying toward the sorceress, her eyes wet with tears. Her anger made her fight like there was no end. The old woman could fight too; but she only evaded Sango's attacks.
The witch jumped on a tree branch, and laughed.
Then she vanished, as well as her follower. An evil laugh was heard, like it was coming from nowhere: "Hope you'll all like my little gift in return to what you did to what is mine. But don't worry, we will all meet again, since I haven't finished my job with little Inuyasha here… Ha ha ha…" The laughing echoed in the forest and then stopped.
Everyone rushed to check on Inuyasha who was still unconscious, as well as Takato. They feared the worst, but since the old sorceress said that her business was unfinished, that probably meant that they weren't dead… at least they hoped.
Chikara kneeled down to Takato, touched his forehead and checked if he was still breathing. She then petted his short hair and whispered: "Wake up, baby… please, mommy needs you! I couldn't bear life without you…"
She cried and everybody hoped that Takato and Inuyasha would wake up fast and be okay. They too wanted to cry, but kept it for themselves not to worry Chikara. It must be horrible to lose its child of such a young age.
Kagome shook her head, a bit frustrated, looked at Chikara and saw that something needed to be done. She took the crying woman by the shoulders and said: "Could you please stop crying? I'm trying to think about a way to wake them both."
Chikara was so stunned that she stopped. Her mouth was hanging open like a gaping fish.
"Now that's better, right?" Kagome asked more nicely, a shy smile on her face.
"No, no-not really." Chikara's ebony hair fell in front, covering her face.
Visibly, the goddess was still downbeat. But, it was a bit understandable, but still, it was better to find positive in the negative situation. Kagome got an idea of what to say and smiled. "But at least you stopped crying for nothing. Don't worry and be happy that he's still alive."
Chikara looked in Kagome's eyes and saw the determination that gave her hope. "Yes… you-you're right. I-I must be strong for my child." Chikara stuttered confidently, slowly stopping to cry, only shaking from all the emotions.
And with this, she wiped her tears with the sleeve of her kimono. She took Takato in her arms from Inuyasha's, got up and gently tickled her son's belly: "Wake up little one, your mommy wants to see your beautiful eyes. Don't you want to see me?"
As Chikara tried to wake her son, the others tried to wake Inuyasha too. Kagome started to check his pulse; she raised his eyelid, to see if there was some reaction. She let go a loud sigh, as his iris was shrinking to the small light of the still burning fire. At least, things were not as bad as they first thought they would.
°°°
A few minutes had already passed, everyone was anxious to see those two awake, but they were waiting patiently: Miroku was pacing, Kagome was chewing her bottom lip, Shippo was asleep on Kagome's lap and Sango was petting so hard Kirara that the poor cat demon jumped off her and climbed onto Miroku's shoulder.
Then, when nobody expected something to happen, Chikara whispered excitedly: "Oh my, by all Gods! He's waking up!"
