Inuyasha: Sweet Dreams and a Happy Life

Chapter 12: Young Love

About a week later, the area around the village that had once belonged to Kaede was still flooded, but the waters were starting to slowly subside from the lands. The day after bringing Eri across the well to help her with the evacuation of her village, Kagome had returned to the well, despite the heavy rains, and had brought her back to the future, telling her family about her new position, and what had happened to Kaede the day before when she had revealed her true self to her friends. Her mother and jii-chan had congratulated extensively her on her success, but Souta wished to see his sister more often than what he was able to, or to at least go across the well, even if she wasn't his biological sibling.

"Souta, I'll come by and visit you, and I'll bring you across the well when you are a few years older. I don't want you to get hurt over there. Don't worry though. I'll even bring Rin and Shippou with me next time I cross over," Kagome told her brother. "But I have to go. I have a village that is in my care, and I don't plan on abandoning them to the mercy of the youkai."

Satisfied with that answer, Souta nodded, and happily stuffed his face with some take-out food. He was hungry, and seeing his sister had satisfied his curiosity for the moment. He also wanted to see Rin again, and really hoped that Kagome would bring her across sometime. It was possible that Cupid's arrow had struck him when he first laid eyes on her.

Kagome waved good bye to her family and jumped through the well, and landed in the pouring rain. She ran all the way to the taijiya village, the landscape blurring. Arriving at the village, Kagome shook the water out of her eyes and stood in the shelter of the village's barricade before heading back out in the deluge in order to make her way to her hut.

Kaliya and Kyashii, even though they were just a few weeks old, were trying to get to their feet. The hanyou children were very determined, and Kaliya was starting to develop a bit of an attitude, but not enough to become a problem. She would become a fighter, and do her parents proud.

Many years passed, and Kagome continued to go back and forth through the well, sometimes bringing her children, or the two that she had adopted with her, Rin and Shippou. Souta had become much more bold and had told Kagome in private that he had a crush on Rin. The girl had told the miko the same thing. Smiling with the pride of a mother, Kagome made sure that they would meet in a certain place at a certain time and that they were alone.

Kaliya had proven to her parents that she was a fighter. There had been a small horde of youkai that had invaded the village, and she had fought alongside the villagers, and destroyed many of the demons where they stood. She had used an attack that called forth the power of the sun in the form of a spear, and when she threw it, there was a beautiful explosion where it landed.

Kyashii, on the other hand, was more peaceful, and proved to be very adept at healing the humans. Her skills came from Kagome, as did her twin sisters' abilities. The oldest twin had a kind heart and could read Kaliya like a book, which was different because no one else could read her.

One day, Kaliya was pestering Kagome in order to go hunting for food alone. No one else was readily available to help the young hanyou and she wasn't about to be turned down.

"Mother, I can hunt on my own, you know. No one will come near me and harm me, I swear. I won't allow it to happen," Kaliya said, crossing her arms across her chest, pouting.

"I know that, Kailya. I just think that you're not ready to take this hunt on right at this age. There is always that possibility that you will get hurt. Look at Sango, Miroku, your father or I. Not all hunts go according to plan," Kagome answered her feisty daughter.

"And just what age were you when those bullies hurt when you knew about your youkai side? Or when you started hunting the Shikon shards and fighting Naraku for their possession?" Kaliya countered.

"I get your point. Fine, I'll let you go on your own, but if you get hurt, you'll be grounded after you are healed," Kagome gave in.

"Don't worry, Mother. I won't get hurt," Kaliya said and hugged Kagome before bounding out the door, grabbing her set of daggers, her bow and arrows and her sword as she passed them. She grinned at the people she knew when they called out to her. They all could tell by her demeanor that she had been allowed to hunt on her own for the first time.

An hour later, and about ten miles away from the village, Kaliya crouched down in the undergrowth of a few very dense berry bushes. There was a young deer not all too far away from her position. Quietly placing an arrow on her bow, she aimed it very carefully at her target. Taking a deep breath, she let the arrow fly after expelling half of it. It struck home in the animal's heart. As the young hanyou got up and started to her fallen prey, a youkai jumped out from behind a tree not too far away from the deer and attacked her. Taken by surprise, Kaliya tried to fend off the demon herself, but she couldn't see the attack that it threw at her. Crying out in pain and surprise, Kaliya dropped to the ground. Struggling to get away, she palmed one of her daggers when something blurred at the edge of her vision.

Tenshi Suoh, a half demon of the northern dark dog tribe, turned out because of his heritage, growled at the youkai, his fingers tightly clenching the sword that he held in both hands. 'Come on, Hayabusa. Don't fail me now.' He thought. "Hinotama," he shouted, the sword throwing balls of fire at the demon, killing it. Sheathing the weapon, he turned to the injured female hanyou and brought her to his cave, where he was staying for the time being. He had to heal her, and it would be better to do so while she was still in a state of unconsciousness.

Kaliya groaned and sat up. Her head swam with pain but a hand kept her from falling back on her back. Eyes opening wide, she took in the handsome features of a hanyou with chestnut hair and amber highlights. His ears were medium brown and his deep sapphire blue eyes bore deep into her golden orbs. "Who are you?" she asked in a hoarse voice.

"My name is Tenshi Suoh. I saved you from that demon. I brought you to my cave, where I am staying at for the moment and healed you," he said.

"Arigatou," Kaliya replied and did a double take. "Wait. If you healed me, how long was I out?"

"Not that long. You were only out about thirty minutes or so. I have this ability to heal people, hanyou or youkai immediately if they need it. I refrained from healing you back there for fear of another youkai coming around and killing you and me," Tenshi Suoh answered her question.

"Oh man. I told Mother that I wouldn't get hurt while I hunted. What is she going to do?" Kaliya panicked.

"You have no wounds to account for, except for the blood on your clothes. I have an extra pair of clothing for you, if you want it," Tenshi Suoh said, holding out a plain haori and hakama.

Quickly changing into the offered clothes, Kaliya grinned. "Come with me. I'm sure that my mother will find a place for you to stay in her village, well, my village," she said.

"Why should she be able to find me a place to stay?" Tenshi Suoh asked containing his surprise as well as he could like he had been trained to do before he had been turned out from his tribe.

"She's a miko. A hanyou miko and she's sympathetic to those without homes. She took in a kitsune whose parents had been killed by a couple of demons aptly named the Thunder Brothers," Kaliya answered.

"I see," Tenshi Suoh said, unable to hide the suspicion in his voice. He couldn't help it. He had heard many stories about priestesses killing demons because of what they were.

"Don't worry. She won't purify you into dust. She has a kind heart and I am her daughter after all," Kaliya reassured him.

"Unfortunately, I don't think that we are going any where. There is a storm brewing and it will hit this area pretty soon," Tenshi Suoh told her, and true to his word, a flash of lightning struck, and it began to pour buckets.

Kaliya curled up in a corner of that cave, with her savior taking first watch. After the day's events and the healing, he was tired, and he unintentionally fell asleep by the cave's entrance.

Deep in the silent forest, a small gang of rogue ookami youkai made their way as fast as possible to the cave in this weather, intending to stay there until the storm had passed.

Kaliya was rudely awakened from her sleep by a rough, clawed hand covering her mouth. Trying to twist away from the grip, the young hanyou found a dagger at her throat. She could hear scuffling as the invaders tried to subdue Tenshi Suoh, and so far the invaders were winning the short battle.

"Cease struggling, or do you wish to see your mate hurt?" a harsh voice demanded from some where above her.

Falling into the role of Kaliya's mate, Tenshi Suoh quit struggling and allowed himself to be bound, his hands behind his back. He growled when they approached Kaliya, but they ignored him, choosing instead to continue their rough fondling of the hanyou miko's daughter. He was disgusted with himself. How could he have fallen asleep like that? You were exhausted from the healing you performed on Kaliya, he reminded himself.

Kaliya whimpered as the ookami youkai ran a hand over her breasts. They knew that she was an inu; they could smell her scent, she was sure of it. As she tried to pull away, she was rewarded with a hard slap across the face for her actions. Angered by the move against her, she summoned the powers she had inherited from her mother and lashed out, causing several of the wolf demons to receive burns, some of which were quite serious. She watched as they all cautiously backed away from her, now wary of their captives.

"You want to let us go, or do I have to get serious with you all?" Kaliya snapped at them.

Suddenly afraid for their lives, the demons turned tail and ran. Staggering to her feet, Kaliya made her way to Tenshi Suoh's side and unbound him. She hid her surprise when he caressed her cheek and looked her straight in the eye. "Daijobu desu ka?" he asked.

"Not really. I got a nice headache right now, and I want to go back to sleep. Just hold me for right now, okay?" she said.

"Sure," Tenshi Suoh said and watched as she slept. Sighing, he curled up beside her and fell asleep, too.

When morning came, Kaliya had it in her mind that she was going to hunt down those wolf demons and find out from which tribe they all came from. She had a sneaking suspicion that one of them was the son of the wolf demon tribe leader, Koga, his tribe located near her place.

"And what makes you think that?" Tenshi Suoh asked her as they followed the trail as best they could since the rain from last night's storm had washed away nearly every scent there was.

"It's just a feeling I have, and I always listen to them. I've survived much by listening to them when they pop up," Kaliya replied, taking a sharp turn, heading for the river. As she tracked the ookami youkai, she contacted her sister psychically. It was an ability that they had picked up one day after they had hit puberty in human years, and no one else knew about it. There would be a change in that information, since Kaliya was telling her twin sister, Kyashii to tell their parents what was happening. 'Kyashii, I need your help.'

'You need my help with what, sister?' Kyashii's calm response floated through her mind.

'I need you to tell mom and dad about our secret. I also need you to tell them that we are hunting a band of rogue ookami youkai. I have a feeling that one of them is Koga's son. Can you ask them to find him and ask him, nicely, if possible?' Kaliya explained.

'I can do that. Is there anything else you need me to tell them other than that?' Kyashii asked.

'Tell them that when they see me, don't attack. I have a hanyou friend with me who saved me from a demon attack after I killed a deer for some of the village, and I don't want him hurt. He was angry with the ookami youkai when they started to fondle me inappropriately,' Kaliya told her. 'We're going down the river that's located a few miles away from the village.'

'I got it. I'll tell them now. See you in a bit,' Kyashii said and her presence disappeared.

Continuing on down the side of the river, Kaliya finally found traces of where the ookami youkai had stayed for the night under a dense copse of trees to protect them from the falling elements. "There's a sign of our quarry. They aren't all that far ahead of us now. This was here earlier this morning," she told Tenshi Suoh, unaware of many sets of eyes burning in anger as they watched Kaliya and her companion walk down stream of the river and the falsely laid trail. They were walking into a trap, and they had no clue what kind of dangers lay ahead of them.

Kagome stared at one of her daughters. Kyashii had just come in the hut and told her that Kaliya could speak to her sister with her mind and that they were hunting a band of ookami youkai that had come into a cave and had fondled her with malicious intentions. The fact that one of the members of the small band might be one of Koga's sons was new, including the fact that Kaliya had picked up a friend who hated the wolf demons for what they were doing to her daughter and wanted to rip their throats out when he found them.

"I'll kill those wolves," Inuyasha snarled when he digested the news, his eyes flashing dangerously to red before turning back to gold, preventing him from turning full demon.

"Not if I get there first," Kagome said, laying a hand on his shoulder, easing his anger and frustration. "But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Where did she say she was going? Do you know?"

"They were heading downstream of the river that's almost two miles away from the village," Kyashii answered. "And please don't attack the other hanyou. He's the one who saved Kaliya from a demon attack when she had killed a deer for the village. I don't know how, but I know that he did."

"Thank you for telling us about this secret and about what's happening to Kaliya, Kyashii," Kagome said, throwing her quiver of arrows over her shoulder and tying Midoriko's sword around her waist.

Inuyasha made sure that Tetsusaiga was securely attached to his hip before following his mate out of their hut and letting Kyashii lead them to where Kaliya was heading. They trusted her with all of their heart and soul and knew that there would be no mistakes as to where the other two hanyous had gone when Kyashii was in direct psychic contact with her twin.

It was slow going, the rain having turned the ground into soggy mud. It was difficult. For each ten steps they took, the mud bogged them down to reduce their efforts to half that pace, and that put them behind faster than they made any leeway. Still, they were extremely determined to make it to the river side and help Kaliya and her hanyou friend. Many hours later, they made it to the river bank, but discovered that they had a long ways left to go. They had to go downstream for a long walk before they came across the evidence of the camp that the ookami youkai had been during the night. As they walked, Kyashii was in constant mental contact with Kaliya, updating her parents on what was happening. Unfortunately, as they reached the shelter, Kyashii stopped in horror.

"Kyashii, what is it?" Kagome asked.

"It's Kaliya. They've been thrown into the river, both of them," she answered. "They're heading to the water fall, and they have no way to stop it. They are going to go over the edge."

Their hearts racing at the thought of losing Kaliya, the family ran all the way downstream, stopping when they found the group of wolf demons. There was nothing that would stop Inuyasha from killing the entire group for harming one of his girls, as he reached for Tetsusaiga, whipping the sword out of its saya.

Jii-chan—grandfather

Youkai—demon

Taijiya—demon slayer

Hanyou—half demon

Miko—priestess

Tenshi—angel

Suoh—dragon

Hayabusa—falcon

Hinotama—fireball

Arigatou—thank you

Haori/hakama—shirt and pants, respectively

Kitsune—fox child

Ookami—wolf

Inu—dog

Daijobu desu ka—are you ok

Saya—scabbard