Note: By the way, I'm really sorry about not telling you guys how Hato, Shotu, and Kana look like. I will do one for each chapter. Hato stands at 5'4". She has fiery red hair and red eyes. Her face is slightly round. She has a little scar above her left eye. She has a normal build, with some muscle mass, and the legs are more muscular then the arms. She relies mainly on her agility and her intelligence. Oh, and she has reached maturity equaling 18 human years.
Chapter 2
"How did you survive that?" Shippo asked.
"I rolled with it. That means that I moved with the… uh… what was the name of the move he used?" Hato thought about it, "It doesn't matter what it's called. The point is I survived." she sat down.
"Does it hurt?" Shippo pointed at all the cuts.
"Yes it does, but I'll be fine." She pointed to the pond. "Do you think you could get me some water though, please?" As Shippo ran to get some water, Kounda walked up to Hato.
"Well isn't this funny? Planning a family reunion so soon? I thought you would live a little longer than this." Kounda looked around.
"Get lost. You have no right to desecrate my land."
"Your land? Since when has it been your land?"
"It belongs to my family. Most of my family is dead, except for the two that you fought, so this has become my land."
"Well I guess land like this could only have belonged to your family. It stinks." Hato stood up, and challenged Kounda. Kounda pulled out a kunai, and swung at Hato. Hato gracefully sidestepped, and was about to kick when Sango's boomerang came from behind Kounda and hit Hato,s left leg. She collapsed to the ground. Kounda lunged forward in an attempt to stab Hato in the neck, when she was cut short. A small demon had thrown something at Kounda. It missed the head (which was the intended target) but it hit her leg. Kounda fell just short of Hato.
"What was that?" Kounda yelled in frustration.
"That was a well aimed throw!" The one who said that, walked out from behind Hato. Hato turned to see who it was.
"Shotu! Kana! You're alive!" Kana walked up to Kounda
"Care for a rematch?" she said calmly.
"No, she is mine. As the eldest member of this family, this is my responsibility." Hato tried to stand up, but fell down.
"You don't need to take this so seriously. It's not like she did anything. At least not too you." He moved ahead of Hato. "And this fight belongs to me and Kana."
"No. I want to leave. It's no use fighting her, at least not right now.
"Fine. Kana we are taking off." He went to pick up Hato.
"Wait. Shippo, I'm leaving now. I want you to stay with Inuyasha." Shotu carried her away, with Kana trailing behind.
"Well, that was weird." Sango said, picking up Shippo. She walked up behind Kounda. Kilala transformed, and Sango jumped onto Kilala's back. "I'm going to go find them. You go back and tell Kagome what happened."
"You won't find them. Once a cat demon disappears, you will not find them."
"Well, then we should head back. Hop on."
Hato watched them, as they flew into the sky. "Glad that's over!" Shotu said as he put Hato done. "What was that all about anyway?"
"I was looking for you, when I chanced upon this group. They seem to be good people that need to know what I am like. The only problem is that person that we all fought. Her name is Kounda, and she doesn't want me near them." Hato looked at Kana. "Can you go find some long sticks, please? Shotu, I need you to go get water." As she watched them leave she felt a forbidding presence. Shrugging it off, she started thinking about Shippo.
After a little while, Kana and Shotu returned.
"You have to stop working too hard. We can protect ourselves too, you know." Kana said as she picked some berries. She crushed them into a paste and put some on Hato's leg.
"You don't need to do that. I'm fine." Hato took the water, and drank it.
"This will help with the pain. Your leg is broken, and I know how much it can hurt." Kana looked at her sister. "Besides, I want to take care of my invincible sister. It won't happen that often."
"Me? Invincible? You are joking right?" Hato laughed, then looked at Kana. "If I'm invincible, then what am I doing with this leg?"
"You have had a bad day!" Shotu walked up to her. "But I have to ask you something. Why do you spend so much time with that kid? Is it the reason I'm thinking about?"
"Yes, it is." Hato said with a great yawn. "I think it's time to go to sleep, though. Goodnight." When Hato fell asleep, Kana looked at Shotu.
"Why does she spend so much time with Shippo?"
"She has her reasons. Ask her, and if she wants to, she will tell you. Until then, I won't say a word." Shotu sat down at the base of a tree, and beckoned Kana over. She went and sat with him. He hugged her close, and whispered, "We can live as a family again." Kana had already fallen asleep. Shotu drifted off to sleep, soon after.
In the morning, Hato was up bright and early. She was walking around, testing to see if her leg was still troubling her. Kana woke up next, and jumped onto Hato. Hato pulled Kana off and started to chase her around the area. Kana tripped over Shotu's leg and fell. As Shotu was waking up, Hato whipped beside him. She was laughing at Kana, who was stunned.
"What did she do this time?" Shotu asked as he stood up.
"We were just playing, like old times. And just like then, neither of you can win against me." Hato boasted. She looked at him with a grin. "Well are you going to even things up a little more?"
"Of course! You should be ashamed. Picking on your younger sister, and without waking me up to join." Shotu stood up and stretched. "Well now, let's see if we can win this time."
"Good luck." Hato said, preparing to fight. "The same thing will happen that always happens. You will lose."
"Why is that always the case? Kana has proven that she's stronger, faster, and more agile than you, yet you always beat us." Shotu stood there with a puzzled look.
"There is a lot more to fighting then being better than your opponent. It requires skill and knowledge of the surrounding area. If you know what is around you at all times, and how to use them to your advantage, you can win whether they are stronger, or faster than you. It goes for your opponent's surroundings too. If you know your opponent's options, you can limit them." Hato looked at them, "Well, now that I've taught you my secret, let's see you master it."
Hato dashed forward, and watched them break off to each side of her. She turned to face Kana. Kana ran at Hato, jumped to the right side, and rolled behind Hato. Shotu ran forward and jumped straight at Hato. Hato turned and saw him coming, and with all the speed that she possessed, she sidestepped his lunge. Hato noticed a small stone just slightly behind Kana. She moved forward and pushed Kana backwards. Kana tripped over the stone and landed flat on her back. She whipped around in time to see Shotu run forward. She was preparing to tackle him, when he dodged to her right and ran beside Kana. Hato stopped and looked at them in wonder, while Shotu helped Kana up.
"What's wrong?" Hato asked, walking over to them.
"I think we have lost this one, like usual." Shotu sighed, and sat down.
"Well why do you say that? It's not over, until u think it's over." Hato looked at Shotu,
"There's something else bothering you isn't there?"
"Why is it that we are all alone now? Our family shouldn't have died, not like that at least, and definitely not then." Shotu looked into the sky as Kana started to cry.
"Well we are never going to be alone, not while we have each other. We are still alive, breathing, and that means that our family is still alive. While on that note, think about the people we meet. They are our friends, right?" Hato stood up. She went and picked up Kana, "We are not alone, because we have friends and each other. And that's all I need."
Hato laughed. "Well we should go and find breakfast."
After they had breakfast, Shotu stood up. "I'm going to take Kana for our morning walk." He walked up to Hato and whispered to her, "You now have the time to think about how much the kid really means to you."
Hato stood up, "What do you mean about that? You have no right telling me what I should think about and what I shouldn't."
"But you will, I know that you will. And I was hoping you would think about how all of them feel about you and Shippo. You have to respect them, for they may turn out to be our foe."
"I don't think they will try to kill us, if we don't piss them off." Hato said, crushing a stone underneath her foot. "They seem to be nice enough." Kana started to walk across the open field, and then she turned and looked at Shotu.
"Come on!" Kana shouted, "Hato will be ok." Shotu looked over at Kana, "We'll be back soon." He then ran up to Kana, and they walked out of sight.
Hato sat there, looking at an old tree. She stood up, walked over to the tree, and touched it lightly. She heard something rustling the grass. Looking over her shoulder, she saw a man standing there. He was well built. His skin was tanned a golden color that matched his eyes. His short choppy hair was a nice brunette color, and his face showed no fear. Hato noticed a scar running across his face, on the right side. It stretched from his hairline all the way down to his neck. He looked directly at Hato, "I've met much more intelligent demons, though they died years ago. You might want to pay more attention to your surroundings." Hato laughed, and then turned completely around.
"Don't be worried about me. I would like to know what you were doing watching me. I have known you were there for longer than you know. My brother and sister will know that you have finally come out." Hato looked at his scar. "What happened with that scar there?"
"This? It happened while I was fighting a demon. He used a golden whip. I'm lucky I survived." He turned his back on Hato, "Well, I'll leave before they come back. I think you will survive the first... encounter. I wish you well." With that, he vanished.
Hato moved forward, then stopped. She heard someone moving behind her, and she bolted forward. She heard Shotu shout her name, but she didn't stop. She ran to the spot where her family lived just a year before. The area still carried the demonic aura from her family. She walked into the clearing and started to tear up. She slumped to the ground, looked around, and screamed.
Shotu walked up behind Hato. "I wish there was something I could do for you." He sat down, "You took off, so I knew you were going to be here, but you can't keep dwelling on the past. You have to move on."
"Why did this have to happen though? Why was it when we were gone?" Hato stood up and walked across to the only building left. "This was our house, remember? We built it with our own hands, just you and me."
"I remember. You used to always hide from everybody in there. They could never get you out." Shotu smiled at the thought. "I could never fit in there though, so they always caught me." Hato smiled. "It was never that bad anyway." Shotu laughed, as he looked around.
"Well you never really did anything, it was always me. But… oh Shotu…" Hato started to cry again. Hato stopped crying abruptly, looked at the rocks just a few feet away, and then sniffed the air. "Face me!"
"Are you okay?" Shotu looked at Hato, then followed her gaze to the rocks. Hato moved forward, cautiously, until she was right in front of the rocks. She jumped over the rocks, and landed right behind a man. He turned to look at her, and took a swing. It hit her right cheek, and sent her flying into a tree. The tree shattered from the impact. Hato stood up, while Shotu moved around the rocks to see what was going on.
"What are you doing here?" The man growled.
"It's none of your business." Hato glared at him, "This is our home, not yours! So, before you go claiming land, make sure no one else owns it."
"Hato, let's just leave it. There is no need for a fight right now." Shotu sized the man up,
"And besides, if he wants it so bad, just let him have it."
"Yes, listen to your friend. He has a wise head on his shoulders." The man laughed with glee. "Or you might just become my next target."
"Enough, demon!" said a young monk, stepping out from the trees. He looked to be about 17 years old. He had short hazelnut hair, strong face, and brown eyes. He stood about 5 feet tall, and had a strong build. "You will terrorize us no more." He ran forward, but then stopped when he saw Hato and Shotu. "What are cat demons doing helping him?" He looked puzzled, "Sis, I think I'm going to need a bit of help here!"
"Wait, we are not helping him." Hato said with disgust. As she said, that a demon slayer walked out of the trees. The man took one look at the slayer, and took off with haste.
"I thought cat demons were extinct." the slayer said, looking at Hato. "You get one chance to explain what you are doing here, before I kill you."
"This land belonged to our family." Shotu started, "One day, while my sisters and I were gone, someone came and killed our family. Ever since then my sister here has been attached to this land." Shotu explained.
"And what about Bonsetsu?" You mean to tell me you don't even know him?" the slayer asked.
"That was his name?" Hato laughed. "I shall remember this."
"Do you believe them, sis?" the young monk asked, looking at his sister.
"Yes, I do. I'm sorry for thinking that you would do such a thing as help him." Hato looked at the slayer. She wasn't wearing the normal slayer clothing. She wore more of a dress style. The dress from about the hips down had a slit on each side. It was a blood red color, with blue and purple flowers here and there. On her upper body, she wore a Skin tight shirt. This was of a light red color, with a cat demon in the center.
"What is your name?" the monk asked. Hato snapped out of her concentration.
"Huh? Oh, my name is Hato, and my younger sister is Kana. My older brother is Shotu." Hato looked around, "Where is he anyway?"
"Oh, don't worry about him. He went back to get your sister." the slayer said, "I should tell you my name though. It's Kagari, and this is my brother Hiro. I'm 20 and he's 16."
"I have a question. Why are you two after that demon?"
"He destroyed our village, and only me and my sis remain." Hiro said. "So we are trying to prevent him from killing anyone else."
"Well, then would you want to come with us then?" Hato asked, looking at Kagari.
"Sure, I suppose it wouldn't hurt. What do you think, Hiro?"
"I'd like that. It's been too long since we've talked to friendly faces." Shotu came back with Kana. Hato walked up to Kana, and hugged her. Kana pushed Hato back, and then jumped on her. They lay there for a few minutes, then Kana looked up.
"Who are they?"
"Friends, I'll tell you in the morning. But it's time to get some sleep." Hato said, yawning. She jumped into a tree, curled up, and went to sleep.