Chapter 5: The Child and The Truth

Well, hey. I was a little stuck on where to take this, but I'm just going with the flow and I hope you guys liked it.
And yes, I did use actual quotes from the manga/anime for both Mukotsu and Renkotsu in the last chapter.

Hope you guys like it! Love getting reviews and PMs

I didn't remember much of what happened. All I knew was I was taken into the sea and Inuyasha was with me. Why was I on a ship? Why did I know who that silver haired half-demon was? I had absolutely no clue right now. Everything but my last moments above the water was a total blur.

But here I was, facing the great blue sky while my back burned on the hot sand.

"The beach...?" I wondered, sitting up straight to view my surroundings.

I was a couple feet from the water, and behind me was a large forest. What scared me, though, was that I was alone. What happened to the hanyou? I must've been pulled out and laid nicely by someone. I couldn't be completely alone.

That's when the memories came back. I left to find Ayame, only to discover that she was happy (even though I don't why she believes anything she was told.) I was attacked. There was a storm... And now, I'm here. That was it, right? The overwhelming amount of small details that slowly poured into my head pressed against my skull.

My eyes closed for a bit to relive the past couple of days. I couldn't help but clench my fists in a fit of internal anger and frustration. But I had learned from a young age to keep myself calm even when all seemed hopeless. And right now, hopeless was being stranded on an island after losing your home to go on a pirate ship that was probably now destroyed.

"Aaaaah!" A child ran through the forest and into my sight, obviously trying to get away from something or someone.

I stood up and turned to witness whatever it was he was running from. There was the sound of ruffling leaves and a large grunt.

"Listen, you stupid kid!" Inuyasha appeared in his soaked outfit, "Don't you dare try to steal anything from me again! Or I'll rip your heart right out your chest!"

The little boy hid behind my legs, but didn't respond to the pissed off hanyou.

"Inuyasha, what are you doing!?" I shouted, immediately feeling bad for the kid. I mean, who threatens little children like that? He had to be only like seven years old.

"This runt tried stealing my sword!" He answered, as if that justified his actions.

I can't believe this guy! He's really getting that mad over some little kid? "He's just a child, ya know!" I retorted, "You don't have to be so cruel!"

"Keh, I'll say what I want." He crossed his arms over his chest, "Besides, why should I listen to you? I didn't even get a thank you for saving your life!"

I ignored his arrogance and turned to boy, who was shivering scared.

"What's your name?" I asked, smiling.

"S-Shippo..." He answered, not wanting to look me in the eyes.

"Why did you try to steal Inuyasha's sword?" I asked, still being as gentle as possible. I'm surprised he didn't piss his pants already. I'd be scared of Inuyasha if he was after me like that.

Shippo paused, fiddling with his thumbs, "...I want to be strong..."

"Well, stealing swords ain't gonna make you strong." Inuyasha hissed, "It'll get you killed. Don't you got parents to go to, anyways? Aren't you a fox demon? Tell them to teach you fox magic. But don't go stealing my shit!"

A fox demon? I hadn't even noticed the puffy tail he had. I had just focused on how innocent his big green eyes were. Still, Inuyasha shouldn't threaten such a young child, demon or not!

"My parents are dead! And I have to be strong in order to avenge them!" Shippo announced, raising a small fist into the air.

"Then, train." Inuyasha scoffed.

I gave the hanyou my best death stare and his ears drooped over his head, but he didn't take anything back.

"Shippo, do you have a home to return to?" I knelt beside him, watching him shrug.

"Not really." He answered, drawing patterns in the sand with his foot.

"Why don't you come with us! We got nowhere to go for now, anyways." I watched him look up at me, confused.

But before he could ask any questions, Inuyasha had one first, "What the hell, Kagome!?"

"You shush!" I growled, "We can't just leave him all alone!"

"Yes we can!" He shook his head, "I'm a pirate, not a babysitter! And we got shit to do!"

"We?" I scoffed, "You mean you. I got you the scroll but that doesn't mean I'm a part of your crazy quest!"

"Keh, fine, then! You can stay with the brat, but I'm gonna continue with what's really important."He turned his back in a fit of rage, his broad shoulders stiff while his hands were made into furious fists. But after taking one step back into the forest, he stopped.

"What's the matter, then?" I smiled at his hesitance, thinking it was that he didn't want to leave me alone.

He growled, "I don't have the scroll...I... Dammit!" I watched him turn back around in disgust, holding up his fist.

"It's back on the ship..." I sighed, realizing he really didn't have a mission without it.

He raised an eye to me, "Tell me, Kagome, you know anything about that scroll?"

"I know the story... didn't you read it?" I asked, scratching my head as I tried to think of any specifics my mom might have told me.

"Keh, I know Midoriko's whole story." The hanyou complained, "But there should be more... Something to help me."

Thinking hard, I remembered the only thing my mother had said to me about Midoriko that was not in the scroll, "Her home... She was born in a small village off the coast of Lake Horaijima but after seeing the wickedness of the people in the village, she hid away in Limestone cave...That's what she considered her home."

Inuyasha blinked for a moment, then recited the words in the scroll, "A barrier was created to protect Midoriko's home and to conceal the power within it."

"The power is the Shikon Jewel..." I humored him a bit, not sure if I actually believed it existed, "But there were expeditions to Limestone cave in search of the Jewel and it was never found. That's why the theories about it are just considered fiction. Most people just believe she was a strong and successful priestess."

"Keh, she put a barrier on it." He responded, "Of course no one would find it."

I wasn't really sure if this guy was serious, "Barriers are demolished after the person who summoned it is dead. Midoriko died. If there was a barrier, it would've been gone."

"Keh, she was strong. Stronger than most or maybe all priestesses." He countered back with a little attitude, "It also says she'd open her front door only when there are no trespassers...All those expedition men were probably bad."

I shook my head, not wanting to further this pointless conflict because the only place we would go is off a cliff and back into the sea, "Well, where is Limestone cave?"

When Inuyasha didn't answer, the previously frozen kitsune raised his hand like a student in school and hopped up and down, "I know where it is!" The excitement in his words whisked all their breaths upwards towards the sky.

"You do, huh?" Inuyasha, although obviously grateful due to him not immediately brushing him off, turned his face towards the blazing sun, while letting his eyelids lazily press against each other in an effort to keep a serious and tough demeanor.

"Yeah! But I won't tell you unless you take me with you!" Shippo smirked, soaking in his confidence.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, knowing that if he wanted to find that jewel of his, he would have to give in to Shippo's request. I didn't have a problem, though. Shippo had no place to go and I'm not some unsympathetic girl. The boy just lost his parents, and I hoped maybe that would hit close to home for Inuyasha, so he wouldn't leave him.

"Keh, listen runt." The hanyou started, "You better know where you're going!"

I smiled, almost forgetting myself in Shippo's stance of success, where he laid his fingers gently on his right collar bone and grinned, his eyebrows raised up, almost touching the heavens. It was almost too cute.

I invited the kid in my arms, as he proceeded to describe the location of the cave in very little detail.

"Well...I know that it's a really dark cave hidden amidst a large rocky mountain. And..uh...it's near this village." He explained, "But it's not just any village. It's a Demon Slayers' Village!"

Inuyasha groaned, "Of course is it."

"No. But it's an abandoned one!" Shippo continued, shaking his head to dismiss any of the hanyou's worry, "A demon attacked it a few years ago, killing I think every inhabitant. No one lives there now."

"Well, that's sad." I thought aloud, watching as Inuyasha's 180 degree mouth rose up a bit in its corners, almost laughing at me.

"If that demon hadn't destroyed that village, gettin' that jewel woulda been a whole hell of a lot harder." He teased, knowing fully that I hate violence and unnecessary deaths.

"Why are you looking for a jewel?" Shippo asked, tilting his head in Inuyasha's direction, almost unaware that the glare he was receiving back was telling him to shut his mouth rather than ask away.

Instead of bothering him more about it, Shippo stayed quiet in my arms for a moment, silently hoping that he'd eventually say something. I laughed to myself as I saw Shippo let his head down in defeat, but occasionally raise his eyes at the half-dog demon in case of a late response. When that didn't happen, I decided to take the initiative and walk towards the forest, causing me to get weird looks from the two demons.

"And where the hell are you going?" Inuyasha asked, though I found it quite obvious. In fact, I questioned why the silver haired boy couldn't just hypothesize a reason why I would be walking towards the forest.

"Don't we have to actually go to the cave?" I responded almost sarcastically, but silently scolded myself for being a little rude.

A little taken back by my sudden "interest" (one could call it) in the mission, the hanyou was certainly surprised. I bet he didn't think I would be the person to take the first step, but then again, no one else was so why wouldn't it be me?

"I'm pretty sure it's that way!" Shippo pointed northwest, and, without a word from anyone, we all went in that direction where, eventually, we were met with a road. I let out a small sigh of relief, knowing that a road was a good sign and that there had to be a village somewhere along it. Even if it wasn't the village Shippo was talking about, maybe someone would know.

Unfortunately, a couple hours into the non-stop walking, my legs got a little tired. Well, a little would be a huge understatement. I was terribly tired and out of breath. Inuyasha and Shippo knew it, too. So, we stopped and sat down for a bit, while my body rested.

"You look terrible." Inuyasha stated, while staring me straight in the eye.

I rolled my eyes, "Well, getting stranded in the middle of nowhere with some dirty pirate isn't exactly the best way to get good looks."

"Hey! No one told you to come on my ship." He grunted, "You wanted to come, remember?"

I sighed. He was completely right. And I hated it.

"You guys are really crabby." Shippo exhaled, "Do you guys ever get along?"

"No." Inuyasha and I answered almost simultaneously. Immediately, our eyes met in utter disgust, but after a couple of seconds, we both turned away, a pink tint growing on our cheeks. I hadn't meant to, but I accidentally found myself comparing the color of his eyes to the color the sky wore when the sun was retiring for the night, a sparkling gold blending with a rose kiss.

"Besides, we don't have to get along. As soon as I get what I need from that damned cave, I'll drop her off at the nearest coastal village and she can get back to her precious kingdom!" He said, dryly. Soon after he said that, I found myself just feeling a bit dumb.

"Why can't you do that, now?" I asked, sincerely. There was no reason for me to be here, and to him, I was obviously nothing but annoying and a burden. Can't believe I didn't think of that.

"Keh..." Was all that came out of his mouth.

I sat there and contemplated all the different reasons why he didn't drop me off somewhere. I mean, sure, while I was on the ship, taking me to a nearby village that (of course) wasn't an enemy of my kingdom would be a waste, especially since we have the demon barrier which aggravates most other demon filled kingdoms and we have a woman ruling: a lot of other places hated us. But we were on an island and have probably passed many villages.

"Well, I don't need your approval. Thanks for everything, Inuyasha, but I won't be here to burden you anymore!" I piped up, walking in the direction of an empty plain, where I could see a river. (Which, of course, meant villages.)

"Hey!" The captain called, but I kept walking. I really just wanted to get home to my castle and my mom. Since most of these are unbiased poor villages not belonging to any system of governing, I was sure that, as long as I offered a reward, getting a ride home would be easy.

I ambled onward with confidence and motivation, which was cut short by a hanyou pirate who hopped in front of me.

"Listen, wench." He started, "You're not going anywhere!"

"And why not!" I countered, "You don't need me!"

He crossed his arms and turned, "Never said I did."

"Then why keep me here?" I questioned, angrily. When Inuyasha didn't answer me, a lightbulb went off over my head, "You do need me, don't you!"

He raised his fist up in defense, "I never said that!"

"But that's why you won't let me go, isn't it!?"

"No!"

"Then, let me leave!"

"NO!"

"WHY NOT!"

"BECAUSE!"

I scoffed, "That's not a good answer! You need me for something and I wanna know what!"

"Well, you ain't gonna find out because I don't fucking need you." He stated.

To my luck, the wiser than his age Shippo jumped on Inuyasha's shoulder, "Hey, if Midoriko put a barrier on her cave to prevent trespassers, wouldn't demons count as trespassers because she was a priestess?"

"WHY DON'T YOU SHUT UP, BRAT!" The silver-haired boy growled, sending the small kitsune into my arms.

"I get it." I nodded my head in understanding, "Because you're a half demon, you can't enter the cave. And since none of the human pirates are here, you need me to go get that jewel for you."

"And since you're a priestess, too, there's no way the barrier would affect you." Shippo chimed in, wearily, keeping a sharp eye on the threatening Inuyasha.

"I'm not a priestess, Shippo." I corrected, "I'm a princess."

Shippo shook his head, "I can sense your spiritual powers."

"That can't be right, though." I assured, feeling a bit uneasy. I know I'm just a human girl. My mom isn't a priestess. My grandmother isn't. None of my relatives are. And I never showed any sign of having powers. So, I'm definitely not a priestess.

"Keh, can we just either rest or go?" Inuyasha grunted, "All this talkin' is just wasting my time."

"Hey! I never said I would go with you!" I reminded him, pursing my lips to display my bold attitude.

Again, the pirate was caught off guard, and for a moment, he said nothing while his fists were clenched so hard, they turned red. After a couple of seconds, though, he released his grip and exhaled, "You owe me for saving you." He smirked devilishly, "Without me, you'd be dead."

Now, I was caught off guard. He had saved me. It was hard to believe that the man on board who fiercely and heroically saved me was the same stubborn boy standing in front of me, but it was. And he was right, I did kind of owe him.

"Fine." I gave in, "I'll go in the cave and I'll look for that jewel, but after that, you have to take me to a safe village and you have to find somewhere safe for Shippo!" I cuddled the kid against my chest, like a baby.

"I wanna go with you!" The fox demon confessed, looking over sourly at Inuyasha, "He's mean!"

"Keh, listen" Inuyasha scoffed, "If the brat can lead us to the cave and you can get the jewel, I'll take you both wherever you want."

I smiled, "See? Don't worry about him, Shippo. You'll end up somewhere nice."

"Can we just go now?" The hanyou complained, "This entire conversation could have happened while we were on the way."

Satisfied with the outcome of this interaction, I nodded optimistically, although my legs were still a bit sore and my throat dry, but I shut my mouth and walked for another hour before finding a nice tree to lean against.

"Don't tell me you're tired again." Inuyasha rolled his eyes dramatically.

My pointer finger rose in his direction, "I didn't even really get to rest!"

"Who's fault is that?" He said in a mocking tone.

Again, he was kind of right. Although it was easy to blame him because of his stubborn and unnecessary attitude and tone, there were some things that were the result of my doing.

"I'm tired, too!" Shippo piped, "Besides, it's getting a bit dark. Seems like sleep could be good for all of us."

"Uggghhh!" He moaned, "We'll set up camp now, but in the morning, I'm carrying you weaklings. Maybe then we can travel without having to stop all the time."

I laughed to myself. This guy is insane. I mean, he's strong, but he as mature as Shippo! We stop twice and, of course, this guy has a fit. It was only twice out of the hours we have been moving! And the first time, we didn't even really get to rest! I placed a hand on the back of my head and took in a deep breath. I hoped we would arrive at Limestone cave soon.

While Shippo drifted off into a deep sleep, Inuyasha set up a nice fire. The flames were at first small and pathetic, but grew into a fierce beast, able to consume the bodies with its heat. He sat next to me, with his legs crossed and shut his eyes. I watched him for a bit, wondering if he was actually sleeping, but after a brief mount of time, he reopened his eyes and looked up at the sky.

"Aren't you tired?" He asked.

"I-uh...well yeah..." I admitted, blushing.

"Then, sleep. I'll make sure nothing happens." He ordered.

But I couldn't find it in myself to give my body rest. "That man who was steering the ship...where is he?"

"Probably getting consumed by sea creatures." He answered nonchalantly, "He was a weak guy. You woulda had that sort of fate, too, if you hadn't hung onto me."

"But I passed out..." I whispered.

"Yeah, but by then, we had already taken the crash and I was able to grab onto you myself." He explained, "Lucky for us, the shore wasn't too far off."

"Even luckier that this is where you were trying to go..." My eyes wandered to where he was looking, "What about the crew?"

"Keh, that ship can survive anything." He smirked, "Guess the strongest ones who can either hold on or swim well enough will survive. I got a good guess on who those mates are."

"Bankotsu?" I guessed.

"I'd bet money on him. And Kouga."

"Which probably means Ayame is alive, too...right?" I hoped.

"Pretty sure Kouga would risk his life protecting her. So, if he's alive, then I bet so is she." I watched him lower his gaze onto me, "Now, get some rest. You're human. You need it."

Again, the man was right. Leaning my back against the bark of a tree, I let my body have its rest.

Did you guys like it? This was more of an introducing chapter. Shippo has joined the gang and so has the reason for Kagome staying with Inuyasha! Of course, it's not exactly the same as the anime, but it's a fanfic, so I can creative.

Don't forget to review and all that! Love you guys!

InuKag!