A special thank you to…
Y .A.R
The Lonely Bird
dragonflamez13
sweetrosie
Mistress of Demons
Sakurascent
TouchofPixieDust
crazypicciloplayer014
Punk Rock Miko2
Clouds of the Sky
MeiunTenshi
ffgirlmoonie
Smiley Gurl 87
Avelyn Lauren
Goddess of the Moonlit Sky
cookies-will-invade
AznxAngel
Al: Me is sorry.
Boylessgirl52941
readingwriting wench
Remenescent
Disclaimer:
Jenny: We don't own the characters.
The Stamp Of-
Readers: Hey! Wait a minute! (They glare at Inuyasha, who is looking up at them from his card game, rather surprised at their sudden manifestation)
Inuyasha: …What the hell?
Readers: Where's this disclaimer!
(Inuyasha points up the page)
Readers: That's it? No funny script? No weird joke? No total rambling nonsense!
Inuyasha: Pwale just watched Humphrey Boggart…is that how you spell his name?
Readers: …(They walk away. For who can win in the face of such random nonsense?)
Pwale: By the way, I'll be at camp for the next two weeks, but I come home on the weekends, so I'll update if I can but I'm not promising anything.
Al: …(sniff sniff) I LOVE TAMORA PEIRCE! ROCK ON DAINE! ROCK ON!
Lia: Did Al just say 'Rock on'?
Pwale: Don't steal my shtick.
Calcifer: What the hell are you people going on about?
The Stamp Of Gold
All The Pretty Little Horses
By Pwalefriend
This chapter (though slightly depressing) is dedicated to a dear friend of mine, in what is all that I can offer as sympathy for her loss.
I'm sorry that you have to feel this particular pain, my dear. I really am.
It was still winter. The snow had melted, but the sky, bleak and dark, promised a new onslaught. It was very cold on the plains and a harsh wind blew, drying the tears on Kagome's face and making her red eyes burn even more then they already were. She clutched an old horse blanket to her small frame. Now, to her, it felt even frailer then ever. Not like when she played with the children or argued with Inuyasha. Not like when she danced with Koga or walked with Sango. Not like when she smiled with Miroku or gossiped with Kagura. Not like when she was happy or angry. The letter that she clutched in her hand, as if it would just disappear if she held it hard enough, was the source of her misery.
My Dear Kagome-
I wish that I could write to you with good news from your home, but I'm afraid that I can't. I'm so sorry, Kagome.
There's been an accident, love. Now, I don't want you to get alarmed, but Grandfather's taken ill. Your father's old colleague, Mr. Lee, his son is in medicine and they kindly decided to take a look at Grandfather.
Kagome, it doesn't look good. According to the doctor's, it's all in Grandfather's head. But he's not getting any better.
Sota and I send our love, Grandfather wanted to send a mummified hand, but I'm afraid that the post wouldn't let us.
Thank you so much for what you're doing for us.
Sincerely
Mother
It wasn't a long letter, but the tiny slip of paper had the same impact as a fist in her gut.
What was she supposed to do now?
Shippo was desperate. That was his only excuse. He had asked everyone from Sango and Miroku to that talking cat in the forest that only he could. And no, he wasn't insane, he asked the Elementals and apparently it was some sort of disappearing grinning cat from another world. It was rather complicated.
But none of them had seen or heard from Kagome that day. Not even the talking cat that only he could see. So here he was, outside of Inuyasha's doorway. When he opened the door and stepped in a strange noise made him pause.
"Inuyasha?" He called. The noise stopped. "Are you ringing a bell?" Inuyasha stuck his head past the doorway so that he could see Shippo.
"So what if I am!" Inuyasha demanded heatedly.
How could they be aware of pain, if they didn't know that there could be pain?
Riddle me that, if you can.
G
When Kagome found them they were prancing in the breeze, their manes dancing and their breath coming out in little clouds. The ground beneath their hooves shook with each step that they took. They were like thunder and lightning, as different as they come yet working together in perfect harmony. Kagome knew immediately that what she had so innocently stumbled on was one of the beautiful and hidden secrets and mysteries of the Feudal Era Mansion. A stallion and a mare that danced together, with the Earth as their music, in a pen made of all the types of woods.
Tetsusaiga and Tensaiga.
G
That night the dinner in the kitchens was quiet. Most of the servants had gone to bed early, for tomorrow was the day when the supply train came and if you ever wanted to get some supplies for yourself before they all ran out then you had to get there early.
But even more so, there was something in the air. There was something that forbid conversation, and for the life of her Sango could not figure it out. It weighed on their shoulders like a boulder on a paper, keeping it down on the ground though the wind tugged and pulled at it in vain.
Kagome abruptly stood and put away her dish.
"Goodnight, all." She said with a nod in their general direction. She left the room, and the tension disappeared.
"What the hell was that?" Sango hissed at Miroku, who sat across the counter from her. He shrugged.
"Someone's…dying…" Kanna said in her soft way. Miroku and Sango looked at her in silence, the tension coming back full-force. Both of them were thinking the same thing.
'There is no way that she can be that creepy by accident.'
G
The next day, after lessons, Kagome returned to the horse pen in the middle of the plains where the stallion Tetsusaiga and his mare Tensaiga resided. She had (quite undetectably) done some research and had discovered that Tetsusaiga (who used to be the lead stallion of the herd) was Inuyasha's own personal horse.
But Inuyasha hadn't ridden nor even seen him for years.
The same could be said for Tensaiga, except, well…she was Sesshomaru's horse and he probably had forgotten about her.
Kagome held out her hand, she wanted nothing then to go for a ride. Tetsusaiga came trotting over, his black coat gleaming in the cold winter sun. With a note a of surprise she saw that he was an Arabian, one of the best horses on the market.
And a pure bred Arabian, as he clearly was, was extremely and shockingly expensive.
Where did Inuyasha get all that damned money?
Tetsusaiga almost, well, stomped on and killed her. Now to be fair it wasn't exactly his fault. It works something like this…
Horses have an incredibly strong Fight-or-Flight instinct. They are social animals and travel in herds; each herd has one 'Herd Stallion' who is the alpha. Sometimes the alpha will allow other of-age stallions to remain in the herd, but not often. At least not in the wild.
Domesticated stallions are often turned into geldings and there for pose no threat and are allowed to stay.
It is exceedingly rare, but has happened, that a stallion will find a human (in this case a female human) to be a threat to their dominant status. In those instances, they will attack.
The human must win.
When Tetsusaiga reared up, his forelegs thrashing with murderous intent, Kagome was ready. With a practiced skill that she had developed in the city (she and her brother had gotten along fine with the police, but their horses had never liked either of them very much) Kagome leaped up and grabbed his bridle. With all her weight she pulled him back to Earth and, without a moment to lose, blew in his nostrils to familiarize him with her scent.
After a what must have been hours of struggle the stallion, the infamous Tetsusaiga who no one would approach (not even Kanna) for fear of Death (by his hooves or Inuyasha's claws, no one was really sure which), lowered his head and allowed a young teacher to ride him.
It was the second step towards the end of our story.
And the first step towards Healing.
Now, my dear readers, we're getting somewhere.
G
Well, I daresay that I am the first person to depict Tetsusaiga and Tensaiga as horses. If you know of another story that does, please tell me I would love to read it.
The Review Lion is back and better then ever!
If you were wondering where she's been, she's been on strike. But we gave her her own room and she's ready for the job, so don't think you'll be getting off as easily anymore. Oh, and the A/N stuff was only 4 pages long this time. (Looks around egily)
I'M GETTING BETTER!
The story does outweigh the A/N!
Well, see you next time
ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!
See? You better Review.
Sincerely
Pwalefriend