A/N I do not own Inuyasha
Chapter 2
After gazing at her surroundings, Yuutsuki decided to move forward and try to find her way to a village, where she could start gathering information. She was unsure of the direction she had chosen, but greatly hoped for it to be the right one.
The ring wielder's hands were still shaking in fright. One would imagine a descendant of a family of brave warriors would not tremble in such a situation, and even though Yuutsuki was taught that nothing can be achieved without one's sweat and tears, she believed in this case it would be labelled with a greater price.
Not long into her walk, cries of children could be heard among the sound of the wind. Yuutsuki made haste following the sound. Wanting to stay unnoticed the girl noiselessly approached the scene.
Her eyes witnessed four boys picking on a smaller boy with a scared cheek. They were all poorly dressed and their ragged clothes were covered with dirt and mud. The oppressors, that couldn't be older than ten, were too captivated in throwing stones at their victim to notice Yuutsuki's approach.
She didn't want to make herself involved in strangers' affairs, but couldn't help feeling sorry for the little boy. Since it would be too much to scare them off with her family's sword, she grabbed a nearby stick, and shouting ran towards the misbehaving brats.
Yuutsuki wasn't sure what had scared them the most: her scream or a possibility of being beaten up with a wooden stick, nonetheless she achieved her goal, they left in a hurry.
Reaching closer to the boy she noticed his bruises and fresh wounds, blood staining his garments.
"Are you fine boy? Can you stand?" Yuutsuki touched his shoulder. The reaction surprised her greatly. The kid abruptly cleared off her hand and with his big, scared eyes he screamed:
"Aaa! Leave me alone demon!" The lad took off as fast as his legs could carry, his injuries didn't seem to bother him anymore.
"Demon?" Yuutsuki couldn't believe her ears. She looked just like another ordinary person. Maybe her outfit wasn't suitable for the time, but surely not demon like.
There was no time to contemplate about what had happened. In order to find a village the girl followed the boys' direction, slowly walking, not to appear to chase them.
She was cautiously moving, still fearing to encounter the yokai that grandma had told her about.
The forest began to thin out when she noticed shapes of huts in the distance. Dropping her guard with a small feeling of accomplishment she hurried her step towards the village. A horse gallop was audible and shortly after she found herself surrounded by a dozen of men armed with pitchforks and an elderly woman dressed like a priestess holding a bow with an arrow pointing at her.
In desperation Yuutsuki fell on her knees for she thought her mission was over, furthermore she could be facing death. As if ignoring the fact, she kept her head high and looked firmly into the eyes of the priestess while saying:
"I mean no harm to you and I wish you could say the same" Her voice was quiet but calm.
Before anyone uttered a word a boy in a red kimono jumped between the two women.
"Where's the demon I'm to slash?" He had long, silver hair that made a contrast with his shiny, golden eyes. He had to be a demon for he had dog's ears, long, sharp nails and fangs in his mouth. He still looked a lot like a human. Yuutsuki had feared demons would be more monstrous.
"Inuyasha!" The priestess shouted "It's in front of you, it's disguised as a human!"
The demon's gaze moved on Yuutsuki and his face changed expression from excited, to bored.
"Keh, she's not a demon, she's just dressed funny. You are getting too old Kaede, can't feel the yoki anymore?"
Yuutsuki spoke out taking advantage of their distraction:
"Since I pose no danger to you, would you be willing to speak with me?" She directed it at the priestess who now had her bow lowered and appeared less tense.
Suddenly someone captured Yuutsuki's attention. It was a girl dressed in middle school uniform hasting to reach the crowd.
"Kagome…?" – Yuutsuki quietly spoke to herself. It shouldn't have had been a question though. It was quite obvious who was standing in front of her. Nobody from feudal era would wear a modern uniform like that.
"Kagome?" She repeated with a louder voice while getting back on her feet.
"Eeeh?" Kagome screamed " You look like you are from the modern era!"
The silver haired demon looked surprised. He threw a quick gaze at Yuutsuki and turning to Kagome said:
"You know her, Kagome?"
Kagome shook her head in denial and stood by the demon boy.
"My name is Yuutsuki." She tried to pick her words carefully, not to reveal too much in front of so many people. "And I am here to…" Yuutsuki bit her tongue in the last moment. Kagome didn't awake a sense of trust in her, moreover Grandma had told her that demons can be deceiving, and Kagome seemed to trust the demon boy too easily. Touching the ring she spoke calmly:
"I am here to find and speak with the Ren family." She assumed it would be safe to state that. "And I know your name, because we attend the same middle school." That was not completely untrue. She indeed had attended the same school, but surely not anymore. Yuutsuki saw no other way of explaining her previous words.
"Ren?" Kaede asked curiously "The family of generals?"
Yuutsuki nodded "Yes, it's of great importance that I speak with them" She figured that at least her ancestors were sure to be humans.
"Why would you want to speak with them?" The priestess was intrigued.
"I am very sorry. With all respect, but those are personal affairs."
Kaede looked at the traveller. Yuutsuki's educated manner of speaking reflected her good upbringing. Her pale complexion and brown, wavy hair combined made a pleasant sight.
"Reaching them won't be an easy task, they live far from here and the way is filled with strong demons. Let us go to my house, we'll talk more and better about this."
On the way to the priestess house, she couldn't help not noticing the still untrusting eyes of some of the men and especially from the demon boy who kept most of his attention to her sword.
Upon reaching the elderly woman's house and before the party dispersed, one of the men said:
"If anything else comes up, please do not hesitate in calling us Kaede-sama"
Already inside the house, Yuutsuki made a request:
"I would feel more comfortable if I could speak with the human only. I don't trust demons"
"Keh, this woman gets on my nerves…" and before Inuyasha could finish, two more walked in, one was a monk of young age, the other was a pretty and tall young woman. Both of them threw a curious look at the new comer. In an instant, the monk kneelt next to Yuutsuki and grabbed her hand saying:
"Will you bear my…" Before the monk could finish, with a swift move, Yuutsuki unsheathed her sword. The monk could feel the cold, sharp metal next to his throat.
A moment passed as everyone was astonished at the unexpected event, such a petite person being able to so rapidly and aggressively handle the weapon. A thought shadowed everyone's mind that maybe she wasn't as passive as she had seemed earlier.
Yuutsuki became puzzled with the actions of the girl that came together with the monk. She'd hit the monks head and now was apologizing for the monks rude behaviour.
The demon boy tore the sword from her hands, looked at it carefully and said:
"How'd you get a demon sword?"
"Inuyasha, sit!" Mysteriously the demon fell to the floor "Demon sword or not, it's hers, return it"
"Why did you do that KAGOME? Don't you think it's fishy? Came out of nowhere, doesn't wanna speak about herself, uses a demon sword, don't you feel the sword's yoki?"
Kagome and the rest observed Yuutsuki suspiciously awaiting an explanation.
"I…" Yuutsuki said "The sword was a gift from my family. I am not sure myself how to use its demon powers yet. I do not even know what these powers are."
"Let's all calm down" Kaede said. "We all are friends in here, and we all trust each other, so there is no reason for anyone to leave, Yuutsuki. I am the priestess of this village. You seem to know who Kagome is. Inuyasha is a half demon, he might be rude, but he's a good boy."
"Keh" Inuyasha's voice sounded annoyed.
Yuutsuki ogled the monk and his company.
"Ah, this is Miroku, and Sango, she is a demon slayer. They all travel together in order to find shards of Shikon no Tama. Miroku has a big weakness, young, pretty girls, but Sango tries to control it a bit." Kaede smiled slightly.
"I want to warn you of the risks involved in the usage of a demon sword. It might possess you, if badly used. Now child, you have to tell us something more about yourself and stop swinging your sword around for us to trust you. Inuyasha, return her sword."
The half demon threw it at Yuutsuki and she caught the sword easily.
Yuutsuki had to calmly estimate the situation. She was there to help Kagome in mending the Shikon no Tama and preventing its foul usage. Kagome was clearly clueless about the Ren family and apparently nobody recognized the ring she was wielding. She could tell them about the alliance between the two families, could tell about the ring. But what was the right choice for her at that moment?
Saying the truth about her arrival would expose more than she wanted right now.
A sparkle of unease went through her body. Wouldn't it be better just to find her relatives and ask them for help? On the other hand, as the elder woman had said, it was a dangerous way, not the kind one would go alone. Yuutsuki finally decided to speak.
"I am sorry if I made any wrong judgements. For me the conditions I am in are bizarre. As you already know, just like Kagome, I came here from the future. I have never seen a demon before, as well as I do not know who I can put my trust in." Yuutsuki squeezed her hands and continued "I need to speak with the Ren family." She touched the ring, because it was giving her a feeling of comfort, as if it opened a link to her grandmother.
"Lady Yuutsuki" The monk spoke "But how did you travel from your times here? Was it the same way as lady Kagome?"
Here they got her. The question she'd been hoping to avoid, skip, forget, albeit she had known it would come.
"Yuutsuki?" Kagome put her hand on her shoulder
Despite the thunderstorm inside her mind, she answered rather calmly, yet coldly:
"I apologize, that I will keep for myself"
After her answer there was a sense of dissatisfaction in the air. Inuyasha broke the silence:
"It's us who don't trust ya, so if it's so top secret stop making us a favour and leave!"
"Inuya…" An alarm cut Kagome short.
"It's the demon alarm! A demon is attacking us!" After Kaede's words everyone ran out to face the demon. Yuutsuki followed them shortly after. The alarm had come as if a saviour to Inuyasha's words, but at the same time brought terror of an unknown creature.
Outside Yuutsuki experienced a view that terrified her deeply. A gigantic scorpion-like creature was rapidly approaching the village.
"It has a shard!" Kagome warned
Inuyasha unsheathed his sword and Yuutsuki couldn't hide her astonishment on how from an old, ragged sheath a big, beautiful sword was drawn out. The demon slayer took out her weapon that resembled a big boomerang and the monk placed his hand on the beads of his arm, as if ready to remove them. Kagome was holding a bow ready to fire.
Suddenly Yuutsuki heard Kaede's voice behind her back:
"Hide yourself with villagers, child. It's dangerous in here"
She ran as she had been told. The scream "KAZE NO KIZU" made her look back and she saw several lights blazing out from Inuyasha's sword, cutting the ground and reaching out to the beast.
Yuutsuki was amazed at the half demon's display of power, then disappointed to see that such an attack did not harm the foe.
"HIRAIKOTSU" Sango threw her weapon against the intruder and it went forward with immense speed, but it failed as well.
She reached the hideout and continued spectating the battle, something unexpected happened.
Inuyasha got hurled across a wall and Kagome rushed to help him. Meanwhile the beast briskly drew near the hideout full of villagers. Some women screamed, some kids cried, but to Yuutsuki it all seemed distant, for her whole attention was directed at her ring. The three jewels aligned while the beast began to scream. A small, lustreless stone appeared on its forehead, and fell to the ground as the demon's shape changed. A flying arrow struck the opponent, immediately turning it to dust.
The fight was over. Yuutsuki heard Kagome saying to Inuyasha:
"I can't feel the shard, help me to find it Inuyasha"
Yuutsuki moved herself towards the weird stone that fell out of the beast, for she had noticed it earlier. She bent to pick it up, and the moment she touched it the ring went back to normal and the stone lighten up with a violet gloss. Kagome's eyes turned to her with disbelieve.
"Just before the monster changed its appearance this fell out of it, it looked just like a pebble" Yuutsuki told Kagome, reaching her hand out to her.
"Lady Yuutsuki is right, I saw it as well. It never happened before. The shard changed its appearance." The monk said.
Kagome spoke slowly:
"So, basically what you want to say is that the shard turned to stone, fell out from the yokai, and when it did fall the monster weakened? And funny enough, when it was 'stone' like, I lost the feeling of the shard?"
"This is how it looked to me" Kaede stepped in. "And I believe it was provoked by no one else, but Yuutsuki."
Yuutsuki's thoughts went wild. Apparently she had just experienced the process of nullifying the foul usage of Shikon No Tama. It didn't require anything from her, but being close to the demon. What was she to answer for the rightful accusation? Revealing the power of the ring wasn't desired yet.
"You've got some explainin' to do" Inuyasha said in harsh voice.
On one hand telling the truth would save her from the trouble of having to lie further, on the other hand she wasn't sure how much they could be trusted. Yuutsuki just hoped that they would not take advantage of the ring's powers, and would not use her.
The decision had been made. Yuutsuki spoke:
"I have the power to nullify the Shikon No Tama."
"Nulli what?" – Inuyasha asked Kagome quietly
"NULL-IFY, in other words to cancel out" Yuutsuki answered.
"Keh, using big words like she's something"
"Inuyasha, SIT" Kagome got annoyed at his plainness.
"As I said then, I can neutralize the jewel when used in foul deeds." – Yuutsuki continued.
"ANOTHER big word" Inuyasha hissed while getting up from the ground.
"How is that possible?" The demon slayer asked.
"It's a long story, I do not know details myself, that's why I wanted to meet the Ren clan. Surely they can clarify the issue. My name is Ren Yuutsuki and I am the youngest of the Rens' blood."
"If what lady Yuutsuki's saying is true, we should keep it a secret. If that information reached unwanted ears lady Yuutsuki could be in a great danger." Miroku spoke quietly.
Kaede nodded and added:
"Reaching the Ren family will not be easy. You must go across the swamp forest and to the western lands. You would need company at least to cross the first one. It's like a nest of demons."
"If she has such powers maybe it could help us defeating Naraku?" Kagome asked hopefully.
"That is, if lady Yuutsuki is willing to help us" Miroku threw a smile at the traveller.
"Do not know how much a person without control over her abilities is able to help around. That's why I want to meet my relatives, they know the answers." Yuutsuki stated while looking at no one.
"It's settled then. Tomorrow we go to find your family, and meanwhile you help us around" Inuyasha spoke out.
"Welcome to the group lady Yuutsuki." Miroku threw a friendly gaze at the girl.