~Ch. 4- Yomigami and Tachigami~

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi

Okami © Capcom

Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippo all walked along the forest path together. Well, Kagome and Inuyasha were the ones who were walking. Shippo was still hitching a ride on Kagome's shoulder.

"So...do you have any idea on where to look for the rest of the powers?" Kagome inquired.

"Why are you asking me?" Inuyasha asked. "I was hoping you knew."

"What?!" Kagome questioned. "I was just following you! You looked so determined when we left the village so I figured you knew to where look!"

"Some god you are," Shippo added.

"Okay, you!" Inuyasha barked as he pointed at the young kit. "Shut your yap before I shut it for you!"

"Hey, don't be mean to him!" Kagome argued. "He's just a kid!"

"A smart-aleck kid," Inuyasha pointed out.

Kagome groaned as she thought back to an earlier conversation with Kaede in the village.

~Flashback~

"So ye are really going to help Inuyasha, then?" Kaede asked as she watched Kagome pick up her longbow and a quiver full of arrows.

"Yes, Kaede," Kagome answered. "I mean...I figured I might as well, right?"

"Kagome, you don't have to do this," Shippo said. "He doesn't really seem like a pleasant guy."

"I don't really want to help him," Kagome replied, "but...he did help save the village, so I guess I owe him that, at least."

"So ye are mostly going with him out of obligation, is that?" asked Kaede, prompting a nod from her pupil/granddaughter figure. "I see. Well, Kagome, I suppose I can only ye good fortune."

"Thanks, Kaede," said Kagome as she headed out. "I think I'm gonna need it."

"Hey, wait!" Shippo exclaimed as he jumped onto her shoulder. "You're not going without me, are you?"

"Shippo, you don't have to come along," Kagome said.

"Nope! I already decided!" Shippo rebuked. "You can't change my mind!"

"Well...okay, then," Kagome answered. "If you're sure."

"Kagome," Kaede called, prompting the young priestess to glance back at her. "I know that Inuyasha might seem brash...but try and tolerate him, just a bit. Who knows? Ye might start getting along."

"Hey, wench!"

Kagome winced before she turned to Inuyasha, who stood leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

"Are you coming or not?" he asked with an irritated look in his eyes.

"...Yeah, I'm coming..." Kagome murmured as she walked out.

~Flashback end~

'Some advice that was,' Kagome thought as she glanced over at Inuyasha, who was looking around in the forest. 'So far, all he's done is continue to call me wench. He acts like such a spoiled brat! I can't believe that this is the same guy I found back when I was a little girl!'

She momentarily thought back to the time she was a child, looking up at the sleeping Inuyasha as he remained to the tree and all the times she visited him in the forest with her mother...and all the times she'd talk to him about her day, especially when she was feeling sad.

She felt especially sad for him because she was always thought that she was lonely.

'At least I used to think that...' Kagome thought as she walked along behind Inuyasha. As they did, though...they didn't seem to notice they were being watched by several shadowy creatures that lurked behind the trees. They stared down at the trio as they walked by...or rather at Kagome in particular.

"There's a pretty little thing..."

"Yeah...she looks like she'd make a nice little playmate."

"But that guy with the dog ears might be trouble...we should get rid of him, first. And the little runt, too."

With that, the shady figures soon slinked off after the trio, who just kept walking through the forest, seeming none the wiser.

"Well, I'm stumped," Inuyasha said as he leaned against a tree with his arms behind his head.

"We've only covered a few feet of the forest," Kagome replied. "You're not giving up, already, are you?"

"Who says I'm giving up?" Inuyasha asked. "I just need a moment to think, that's all."

"Yeah, right," Shippo said as he stood on the ground. "You're just being a slacker. For a god, you sure are lazy."

WHOMP! Inuyasha soon stomped his foot against Shippo's head, pinning him down while the kit let out a pained cry.

"Didn't I just get through telling you to watch your smart mouth, you little turd?!" Inuyasha questioned as he ground his toes against the kit's auburn hair.

"Stop that!" Shippo shouted. "That hurts!"

"Inuyasha, leave him alone!" Kagome scolded.

"Why should I?!" Inuyasha asked. "I'm teaching the runt a lesson, here!"

"Yeah, but he's still a child!" Kagome argued. "Don't be so rough with him!"

"For your information, the kid's a demon, not a human child!" Inuyasha retorted. "He's gotta know who's boss or he'll walk all over you...or me!"

"Oh, please, Shippo wouldn't hurt a...a..." Kagome started, but then trailed off as she noticed something off in the distance.

"What's up?" Inuyasha asked.

"How long has that been glowing?" Kagome asked.

The Inugami blinked in perplexity before he turned around, and imagine his surprise when he saw a golden glow coming from the very tree that he had once been bound to.

"Uh...Kagome?" Shippo asked. "Has that tree always done that?"

"I don't think so," Kagome answered, and that's when she noticed Inuyasha walk toward it. "Uh...Inuyasha?"

"I wonder..." Inuyasha muttered as he raised his hand and reached for the light...and to his surprise, his hand sank right into it, prompting him to pull it back out.

"Hey! How'd you do that?!" Shippo asked in disbelief.

"...You guys wait out here," said Inuyasha.

"Huh?" Kagome asked. "Why?"

"Just shut up and wait, wench," Inuyasha replied. "I won't be in here long." He then gave her a snide smirk. "If you're scared, why don't you run back to the village to Old Lady Kaede?"

"I am not afraid, for your information!" Kagome barked. "I used to come into this forest all the time when I was a little girl!"

"Keh!" Inuyasha scoffed before he entered the light and disappeared.

XXX

Inside the tree, Inuyasha gaped in disbelief as he found himself in sort of valley with nothing but a starry sky and a huge, red torii gate. There seemed to be a road leading through the gate and further on ahead to a shrine entrance...except the shrine seemed to be sitting on an island on the side of this strange space.

"...Okay, then," Inuyasha muttered to himself as he walked along the path, climbing up cliffs and leaping up onto ledges in a single bound. As he walked, he found himself standing in front of what looked like a tiny puddle of some sort. It didn't look like water, but it was sparkling with a deep indigo color. That's when Inuyasha noticed a stone with some kanji carved into it.

"'River of the Heavens'," he murmured before he took a closer look at the puddle and scoffed. "Seems more like a puddle to me." He raised his hand and squinted his eyes as he spotted the shrine on the other side, from which he could see another golden glow...but there was no way he could make it that far, even if he did jump. Not to mention if he fell, there wasn't really anything to catch him, especially since it looked like there was nowhere else for him to land if he did fall. Just clouds and stars...and those did not make good footholds, last time he checked.

Suddenly, his ear twitched as he saw a different glow, and this time, it was coming from the stars above, prompting him to look up toward a ledge and see an odd shape in the sky.

"Is that...a constellation?" Inuyasha asked as he took a closer look at the odd pattern and saw that the constellation only had four stars, and yet one was missing from the end. "It looks like it's not finished." He then pulled out his Celestial Brush from his fur cape. "Well, I can fix that." He then made a tiny little dot in the sky, causing a star to appear. "That's better." He then gave a smug grin. "I'd like to see that runt try something like this...huh?"

Suddenly, the constellation flashed as something seemed to leap out from it, forcing Inuyasha to cover his eyes. As he looked up, he gasped silently as he saw that it looked like a giant white dragon with red markings similar to his own. In his claws were four orbs of yellow, red, green, and purple...and it looked like he was stuck inside a scroll painting.

"Ahh..." he said in a booming voice. "If it isn't the Great Inugami, Inuyasha, the origin of all that is good?"

"Oh, it's you, Yomigami," Inuyasha said, although he sounded almost bored. "Why did I have a feeling I'd run into you, first?"

"50 years have passed since we last met, Inuyasha," Yomigami answered. "I, Yomigami, the God of Restoration, have eagerly awaited your revival. During your slumber, the 13 Celestial Brush techniques you once possessed have scattered across this land of mortals."

"Yeah, tell me something I don't know," Inuyasha muttered in annoyance. "I'm willing to bet that the other gods are sleeping in the stars somewhere, too, huh?"

"Indeed," Yomigami replied. "You must seek out the remaining gods and restore your lost powers."

"Thanks again, Captain Obvious..." Inuyasha murmured.

"Farewell, Inuyasha," said Yomigami as his body began to glow. "I bestow upon you the power of Rejuvenation. Use it to restore the realm of mortals whenever it is needed."

With that, the dragon god soon morphed into a ball of light and flew into Inuyasha's chest, causing him to glow momentarily before it subsided.

"Ah..." he sighed before he looked down to the River of the Heavens, then looked to his Celestial Brush before he gave a smug grin, once more. As he dipped his brush into the tiny puddle of stardust...the ink flowed from the tip and spread all the way across to the island where the shrine waited. Soon after, the ink disappeared, revealing a river made of stardust.

Inuyasha smirked, proud of his success...then he took in a deep breath and jumped into the river, swimming all the way across.

XXX

"Are we seriously gonna wait out here for him?" asked Shippo. "He sure seems bossy."

"Hmph," Kagome harrumphed as she sat down on a nearby log. "I can't believe I felt sorry for him, once. He's such a jerk."

"Yeah, you said it," Shippo agreed...unaware that several hands were reaching out behind them.

XXX

"Okay, now where am I?"

Having swum across the River of the Heavens and entered the shrine, Inuyasha now found himself in a forest with a path made of cobblestones. The road led him across a red bridge. As he crossed it, he saw yet another torii gate and a stone stairway beyond it.

"Where does this go, I wonder?" Inuyasha asked as he walked up the steps. At the very top, he found himself entering a dank cavern...where he found a huge, moss-ridden statue of what appeared to be a man that clad in samurai armor and his hair in a topknot. Inuyasha seemed to glare at the statue for a moment, but then he noticed something: he appeared to be holding something in his hand, except...it looked like that part was broken.

Wasn't he supposed to be holding a sword?

Whipping out the brush, once more, Inuyasha held the tip against the sword's hilt before making a long stroke, leaving a large glob of ink. With a splash, the ink soon vanished, revealing a huge sword.

"There," said the Inugami. "Now...I think that..."

Sure enough, there was that same glow, again.

"Yep," he muttered as he looked up at the sky and saw yet another constellation. Just like before, this one was also missing a star at the very end. Whistling a tuneless song to himself, Inuyasha gently dabbed his brush against the constellation, forming another star. Soon after, the pattern flashed as something came leaping out at him: a little white rat with red swirling patterns on its fur...brandishing a huge sword!

"Whoa!" Inuyasha cried as he dodged the blade, which the rat swung feverishly before he landed in front of him. "Dammit, Tachigami, watch where you swing that thing!"

"My apologies, Inuyasha," said Tachigami. "It has been far too long since I have last seen battle. Now that I am free, I, Tachigami, God of Rending, bestow my power upon you. Your ink now has the power of my mighty blade at your disposal."

"Yeah, sure," Inuyasha replied. "Now gimme."

Tachigami's body began to glow a bright light before he shrunk into an orb, which flew into Inuyasha's body, just like with Yomigami.

"Phew..." Inuyasha sighed. "3 down, 10 more to go." He paused. "You know...I think I've been in here long enough. I better check back in with the wench and that brat of hers...but I'm sure they didn't get themselves into too much trouble."

"INUYASHAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Huh?" Inuyasha muttered as he turned around, only to see Shippo running up to him, panting heavily.

"INUYASHA, COME QUICK!" he cried with tears falling from his eyes. "IT'S KAGOME! SHE'S BEEN KIDNAPPED BY BANDITS!"

"...I stand corrected," Inuyasha deadpanned.

Ohhhh, dear.

Review, please!