Ch15
Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the plot and the characters that don't seem familiar.
AN:Please assist me for those who haven't read the note I posted or the recent chapter of The Return of Tenshi, please vote either in the reviews of Sailor MoonFruits Basket crossover coming up or in the polls.
In a small run down temple hidden in the woods, a bunch of patched up injured soldiers thanked a miko for her services. The long raven haired miko just smiled and bid them farewell as they left. However, not too long after they left, they came back scurrying in fear for the miko's help once more.
"Kikyo-sama, help us!" one of the samurai pleaded.
The amber eyed priestess stood up and looked at them in confusion. "Is something the matter?" she asked. She looked around her surroundings, trying sense what could've startled the soldiers. Sure she sensed several youkai, but this is a forest so it's normal for youkai to be around.
"Youkai!" one of the warriors cried. He pointed towards the road. "There is a large youkai! An ookami!"
Kikyo narrowed her eyes as she whispered, "Ookami?" She grabbed her bow and arrows. "Stay here," she ordered. She hurried down the road while the samurai waited shivering in fear of the large wolf. As she hurried down the path, she saw what had frightened the samurai, lying across the path was a large blue white wolf that appeared to be sleeping. Even if it wasn't doing anything, if she doesn't get rid, what are the chances of it attacking the minute it wakes up. Reaching behind, she grabbed an arrow and pulled the string of the bow back.
The sound of the string being pulled back made the wolf's ear twitched. Suicine lifted his head and stared at Kikyo. The miko froze as she stared at the brown eyes observing her; she kept her fingers on the pulled back string as she felt her reflexes tightening and getting ready. Suicine looked away and glanced at the trees in front of him; after a few minutes of staring at the trees, he stood up on all four legs slowly. Kikyo straightened her back and pulled the string farther back. Instead of attacking her as she had expected, Suicine just paid closer attention to the trees in front of him. It wasn't until she noticed the leaves began ruffling, but not because of the wind; her eyes narrowed as she stared at the trees before firing into the leaves.
"What?" she gasped as she watched Suicine leapt into the air and caught the arrow in its mouth. The wolf's actions did surprise her, but what shocked her even more was the fact the wolf remains standing and still very much alive with the arrow still in its mouth.
The leaves rustled once more before Kohana jumped down from the branches with a basket full of food she found in the trees and the ground. "Sorry for the wait, Suicine," she cheered, lifting up the basket for the wolf to see. "We better get going before hahaue becomes worried," she said, smiling with her eyes closed. She opened her eyes and stared at the arrow in the canine's mouth. "Ore? Suicine, where did that arrow come from?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.
Suicine just whined as he glanced over to Kikyo. Kohana followed his gaze and stared at the miko. She pouted and pointed at the miko. "You tried to kill Suicine!" she accused.
Kikyo studied the child's pink hair that was tied up resembling rabbit ears, only they resided right next to each other on the back of her head with the rest of the hair cascading down, her narrowed red eyes glaring at her in anger, to her pointed ears that signified her youkai heritage. Not sensing the two as a threat, Kikyo lowered her bow and turned around to head back to the shrine, but she hesitated when she heard a sound in the air.
"Ah!" Kohana said, staring at the sky. She glanced over at Suicine and smiled. "We better get going or hahue's gonna get worried." She readjusted the basket in her arms and walked through the forests, humming the word dinner over and over again.
Kikyo, with her back still on the leaving duo, turned her head and watched them disappear into the woods. She lifted her hand up as one of her flying snake-like youkai landed gently on her hand. Her black eyes stared at where the child and wolf left as youkai followed along after them, watching every step and move they made.
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Kohana ran straight out into a small clearing by a brook, where her mother was roasting a few fishes by the fire. She held out the basket in front of her, shouting, "Hahaue, I got some fruits and vegetables!" She placed the basket down by the brook and asked, "Do we have to wash them?"
"If you don't want to taste dirt on them, then I suggest that you do," the blond told them. She went on to turn the stick so one side of the fish doesn't burn. Usagi watched as Suicine walk over to her and was surprise to see an arrow being clutched in his jaw. "Where did that arrow come from?" she asked, taking the weapon and inspecting it.
Splashing a long daikon(1) in the water, Kohana replied, "A miko." She dragged the thick white carrot-like vegetable in the brook as she splashed her feet in the water. "I guess she shot one into the tree that I was in and Suicine caught it to protect me."
"A miko?" Usagi replied. Her blue eyes stared at the arrow and studied the spiritual power laced around the weapon. "You're lucky you have a shard to protect you from being purified," she told the wolf. A small glisten on the middle of Suicine's forehead to reveal a shard Usagi had taken from her gem and gave to the wolf to protect in case they run into a houshi or a miko and she wasn't around. Hanging around Kohana's neck was another piece of shard. While they don't get any special power boost as they would've with the shikon no tama, they will be protected from any means of forceful purification, or in youkai's terms, termination.
"Hahaue, I'm done!" Kohana cheered. She plopped down beside her surrogate mom and stared at her hairstyle, which was the old style of the pigtails. "Hahaue, I like how you did your hair," she said, "Is my hair done just like yours?"
Usagi hummed a bit. She ran her hand through the her daughter's hair and said in a sad tone, "Somewhat. If done differently, it would look like Chibi-Usa's hair. The rabbit buns on each side of the head rather than together and then pigtails rather than leaving the hair down."
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Kikyo lifted up her hand for her youkai pet to land back on; from its memory, she was able to see what had happened. "A ningen hahaue and a youkai mesume?" she wondered silently to herself. What she couldn't get out of her head was the crystal she saw on the two youkai. They weren't the shikon shards that Naraku was searching for, but they weren't something that should be overlooked.
They didn't hold the same presence of drawing attention of power hungry forces as the shikon did, but they do hold some kind of power that might prove to be even stronger than the cursed jewel. As if it wasn't enough, she had sensed Naraku's hell wasps spying on the young female, meaning that the dark hearted hanyou sees a significance in her and a possibility of using her in one of his schemes.
Kikyo shook her head and continue on to the shrine. If Naraku does end up using the blond, it's got nothing to do with her. But somewhere deep in her mind, she couldn't help but think that she was connected by this strange being, not by physical contact, but perhaps by knowing someone dear to each of them. She shook her head yet again and narrowed her eyes. The only one dear to her would be her aged younger sister, Kaede…and the hanyou she had hoped to pledge her entire eternity with.
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Usagi watched as her child went to sleep, snuggled up against the side of the wolf. Her blue eyes then traveled to the trees. "It appears that one of our spies has left," she said softly to the still awake, but not caring wolf. He just stared at her with a look that said, 'Well do something about the other one.' Usagi rolled her eye and just waved her hand in the direction of the insect. She glanced at the waters with a sad look in her eyes as she whispered, "Why can't I shake off this feeling that something bad is going to happen?"
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InuYasha was lying on a sturdy branch, staring at the moon. His clawed fingers toyed with the jewel he keeps close to his body. "Something bad is going to happen," he whispered, "I just know it." He closed his eyes and sighed deeply, clutching to the fragment, praying that nothing bad would happen to his sister.
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(a few days later)
Kohana was rejoicing for the break they were taking along the river bank. Her mother had met with the kind wolf leader, who had quickly left yet again after reassuring her that he would be back for her, whatever that meant. She ran along the shoreline, feeling the blunt gray rocks pressed against the soles of her feet as she laughed. With a great leap, she jumped into the river and began splashing along. She motioned for Suicine to come over to play with her, but the large wolf had no intention of having another bath.
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Not to far away, just farther west of the riverbank behind several large boulders, Rin was playing in the waters, trying to catch some fish and then letting them go. Her beloved Sesshoumaru-sama had left her there along with Ah-Un and Jaken to accomplish an errand elsewhere. Rin glanced over at Jaken and Ah-Un to see them sleeping and pouted. She was hoping to be able to play with one of them, or rather play with the two headed dragon or torment the green lizard.
She knelt close to the waters, but not too close to get her clothes wet, and pouted at her reflection. "Rin is bored," she muttered, "Rin hopes Sesshoumaru-sama comes back soon." Her ears perked up when she heard laughter coming not too far from where she is. Being the usual curious self, Rin stood up straight and walked in the waters towards the sound.
Placing a hand on the boulder, she peeked around the corner and watched as Kohana ran around the fishes. She watched with a smile on her face as she observed Kohana calling the wolf, who was blatantly ignoring her, over to play with her. Her brown eyes widened with excitement when she saw Kohana create a large green leaf out of thin air; the pink-haired girl used the leaf to scoop up the water and immediately dumped it over the wolf. She laughed out loud at the sight of the wet canine, causing the two to look in her direction. Being conscience about herself, Rin quickly hid behind the rock.
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Suicine got up on all four legs and shook himself dry as Kohana stared curiously at the place she last saw the girl. "Who is that?" she asked the wolf, who stared at her for a second before going back to drying himself. She pouted at being ignored and turned her head to the boulder. She walked over to the place and stared at Rin. "Konnichiwa," she said, smiling gently.
Rin couldn't help but think that this child has pretty hair and just grinned, replying, "Konnichiwa."
"My name is Kohana. What's yours?" the hana youkai asked.
The raven-haired girl replied, "Rin." She stared at the wolf and asked, "Is that your pet?"
"Suicine's not a pet," Kohana said, "He's a member of the family." She placed her clasped hands behind her back and continued, "Hahaue helped give birth to him, so I guess he's more like a brother." She stared at the two sleeping youkai. "What are you doing here?"
"Rin's waiting for Sesshoumaru-sama. He told Rin to stay here," she replied. Her brown eyes stared at the river shyly as she asked, "Do you want to play with Rin?" Kohana nodded her head and grabbed Rin's hand. Forgetting all about her two protectors, Rin ran down the river and played in the waters, splashing around and occasionally helping Kohana getting the wolf wet yet again.
They continued to play until Suicine began to walk away. Rin looked curiously at the wolf and then at the young youkai who chased after him. "Where are you going, Hana-chan?" she asked, getting out of the water.
"It's Lunch time," Kohana replied, "Does Rin-chan want to eat with us?"
"Is it okay?" Rin asked.
Kohana grabbed her hand and pulled her gently in the direction further north. "Of course. Hahaue wouldn't mind the company, in fact she would love it," she said. Wanting to meet this mother she heard so much about, Rin nodded her head and followed along, the two youkai stationed to look after her was forgotten as the two friends talked the adult figure in their lives.
(1) daikon: is similar to a white radish, looks like one only a bit wider and white.