Chichiue (Honoured Father)
Written by Sarga
July to December 2006
Summary: On their quest to destroy Naraku, Inuyasha's group comes across another half dogdemon. Why is he so anxious to join their quest for the Shikon Jewel? What startling secrets will he reveal?
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and I have no money to sue for.
Translations:
Inu :: dog
hanyou :: half demon
youkai :: demon
- - - - - - - - - -
Chapter 2: A-Hunting We Will Go
The group of six trekked towards the nearest village. There had been a rumor of another jewel shard, this one held by a bear demon. The demon, who had been a minor problem before finding the jewel shard, was now attacking mercilessly every few days, using his newly found power to terrorize the villagers.
As they approached the village, the sight that met them was one of obvious hardship. Several small plots of farmland, the ones closest to the forest's edge, were left untended. Several of the outlying huts were dilapidated, gaping holes clearly showing their lack of occupation.
As the group went deeper into the village, they saw little activity. Tightly sealed huts buffered with sutras were the only sign of habitation.
The group approached the largest building and a tall, lanky adolescent garbed in monk robes pulled aside the door. He quickly stepped out and shut it tightly behind him again.
"Welcome to our village." The boy bowed formally. "I regretfully inform you that we have nowhere safe for visitors. Please make haste to find refuge elsewhere before the nightfall leaves you stranded."
"We're here to kill the bear demon. Where is it?" Inuyasha demanded darkly, crossing his arms. He wanted to kill something and he wanted to do it now.
The boy, startled, bolted upright. "Get inside!" he hissed, glancing around nervously. "Don't say anything else!" He ushered the group inside and was met with a vicious snarl as Inuyasha and Adachi were both forcibly propelled back from the door frame. Shippo paused at the door, looking up to protective sutras. The boy froze in fear, his eyes wide as he realized the trio were of demon blood.
With a reassuring pat on the boy's shoulder, Miroku stepped back outside and removed several sutras from the door frame. Motioning for the three to enter, they all watched as Inuyasha and Shippo, followed by a hesitant Adachi, attempted to enter the hut again. As they entered, Miroku fixed the sutras back onto the door and shut it behind them again.
As if splashed by a bucket of cold water, the boy suddenly lunged towards a staff resting by the door. Miroku, being the closest to the staff, quickly pulled it towards his own and attempted to calm the boy.
"You have no need to fear, as you can see, I am a monk myself and travel willingly with these two." Miroku motioned towards Inuyasha and Adachi, both of whom looked less than impressed with the boy's reaction.
Confusion crossed the boy's face before he looked carefully at Miroku, as if inspecting him for some sign that he was lying. Seemingly convinced of Miroku's words, the boy's shoulders slumped visibly and he turned towards an inner room, motioning for the group to follow.
Inside the room, an injured man lay unconscious near a cooking fire. A bandage around his torso was stained with fresh blood, his injuries new and severe.
"The demon you speak of has grown exceedingly vicious recently. We used to be able to keep it at bay when it attacked, but these past few weeks it has attacked far too often for us to be able to keep up. We've had to abandon the outer fields and we will likely be unable to feed everyone in the coming harvest." The boy sat on the floor and motioned for the others to join him. "He has been coming both day and night these past few weeks. He injured our head monk in his last attack and killed his apprentice. I've been aiding them for the past few months and have enough training to place protective sutras, but..." The boy's face hardened, "...but, this demon is strong. He feeds off of his victims and he's been hungrier since he found a new source of power."
"Where does it live?" Inuyasha cracked his knuckles, ready to tear the creature apart.
"It's been attacking from the North. We think it lives in the caves there but no one has been able to survive in the forest for more than a few hours, let alone get all the way to the caves. It seems to be rather protective of its home." The boy looked hopefully at the two hanyou in the group. In a voice that betrayed his age, he asked softly, "Do you really think you could kill it?"
Inuyasha's chin raised proudly. "Yeah, it's as good as dead."
Sango shifted the Hiraikotsu on her back. "We'll need a place to stay for the night. When we get back we may have injuries."
The boy grew solemn again and nodded.
"The monk and I are the only ones in this hut. You can take the two other rooms for yourselves." The boy motioned towards the remaining unoccupied rooms.
Inuyasha nodded. "Let's get this thing," he growled.
Without further discussion, Inuyasha headed towards the door of the hut. Waiting until Miroku had removed the offending sutras once more, Inuyasha led the group outside.
"I can sense a jewel shard coming from that way," Kagome pointed North. "It's pretty close." Turning towards Shippo, Kagome grew solemn. "It's up to you to keep this village safe while we're gone, Shippo." The child's chest puffed up as he attempted to meet the challenge.
"Right!" Shippo intoned with pride.
Taking the lead, Inuyasha drew the Tetsusaiga in full form and proceeded into the forest. Moving quickly towards the North, Adachi caught up with Inuyasha.
"Make sure you keep her safe this time, mutt," Adachi muttered.
Inuyasha growled low and sped up and pulled ahead. Stopping suddenly, Inuyasha motioned for the group to stop.
"I can smell it," Inuyasha whispered.
Crouching low, Inuyasha stalked carefully forwards, his ears vertical as he sought out his prey.
A loud crash to their left, followed by the sound of splitting wood, indicated its location. With a guttural roar, the creature snapped more trees, breaking through to the group.
The sight that met them was grotesque.
The bear demon, enlarged by a jewel shard, was covered in blood. It's thickly matted fur told of the countless victims consumed. Teeth, unnaturrally long, dripped with saliva as blood-red eyes gazed hungrily at the humans.
As it's sight fell on the sword in Inuyasha's grasp, it's eyes narrowed with a calculating fury. With a startling roar, the beast practically flew towards his foe. Fang clashed with fang as Inuyasha matched the demon's attack with the Tetsusaiga.
Several smaller noises alerted Sango to several of the bear's allies, flying carrion demons. Not to be caught unawares, Sango gave a mighty heave, sending the Hiraikotsu into the hovering flock. Several of the beasts disintegrated on impact, the blade slicing cleanly through flesh and bone. A surviving demon dive-bombed towards its attacker in murderous fury. With a flurry of motion, Miroku's staff impaled the offending creature as Sango retrieved the Hiraikotsu and readied for another attack.
Adachi leaped towards another demon as it swooped towards Kagome. His claws lashed out, making short work of the vile creature. Kagome nodded in thanks, drawing out her bow. Taking aim at another of the demons, she also joined the attack.
Miroku, taking up the rear, grimaced as he noticed his friends mixed among the attacking demons. Turning his back to his friends, Miroku released his wind tunnel. The scant few demons who had strayed away from the others were pulled in with the deafening sound of his deadly vortex.
With a feral growl Inuyasha repelled the bear demon, it's sprawled form quickly contorting in anger as it regained composure and attacked again.
"The jewel's in its stomach!" Kagome yelled from behind, a break in the attack allowing her to focus on the bear.
Shifting his focus to the creature's midsection, Inuyasha swung the Tetsusaiga with vigor. With startling speed, the beast clamped its jaws around the blade and beat away Inuyasha with a crushing blow. Flicking its head to the side, the Tetsusaiga was flung out of reach as the creature lunged towards Kagome. Grabbing her with its right arm, it swung its left at Adachi, knocking him into a cluster of birds.
Kagome screamed as the beast's claws tore into her body, a victorious peel of laughter coming from its snarling jaws.
In a burning fury, Inuyasha felt a rushing surge of power well from within him. With a speed previously left untapped, Inuyasha lunged forward once more. The cackling demon, distracted by its assumed victory, found itself no longer possessing Kagome with its right arm. In fact, it found itself no longer possessing a right arm. With a feral snarl, the beast snapped its elongated teeth towards its renewed threat.
With a sadistic grin, Inuyasha stretched his fingers, cracking the knuckles as he did so. His blood red eyes narrow and with a calculating glare, Inuyasha allowed himself a laugh of his own.
Kagome cringed as she heard the foreign sound coming from her dear friend. Tears began to form as she realized that he had once again fallen into his carnal side. All because of her.
Inuyasha lunged forward, his speed too great to track. Within seconds both he and the one-armed demon were at each other's throats. Saliva dripped from the larger beast's jaws as it renewed its attempts to tear the smaller demon apart. This time, however, Inuyasha was prepared. With a vicious swing of his razer-like claws, Inuyasha jumped upwards. A torrent of blood gushed from the side of the demon as his left arm joined his right. The beast fell face first into a snarling pile on the ground. Not to be left defenseless, it jumped onto its hind legs, rebalanced, and lunged forward. Inuyasha met it with another upswing of his claws, tearing through flesh as easily as water.
There was no second lunge.
The demon's carcass fell to the ground with a sickening squelch. The mutilated pieces oozed about Inuyasha as his breath heaved in and out of his body. Turning towards Kagome, Inuyasha's expression was hardened.
"Now for the mongrel..." Inuyasha's voice, heavy with rage, left no room for doubt as to whom he was referring.
Kagome felt, rather than saw, as Inuyasha sped past her towards Adachi and her fallen friends. With a heartbroken scream, Kagome did the only thing within her power.
"SIT!"
Inuyasha plunged into the ground with a heavy grunt as Kagome whirled around and raced towards the abandoned Tetsusaiga.
"SIT!"
His prone form embedded itself further into the ground as she pulled the sword from the ground. Turning back to Inuyasha, Kagome's tears flowed freely down her face as she brought it towards him.
"Sit," she sobbed, stabbing the sword into the ground by his body. Backing away quickly, she stumbled into a strong grasp. Whirling around, she sobbed heartily into Adachi's shoulder as her weight rested solidly against him.
Inuyasha lifted his gaze from the ground, amber eyes full of regret. He had protected her, but he had almost gone after his own brother as well. Adachi met his brother's gaze as he stroked Kagome's hair comfortingly. With a half smirk unseen by Kagome, Adachi raised an eyebrow towards Inuyasha in an 'I told ya so' manner.
With an audible snarl, Inuyasha pulled himself up and yanked the Tetsusaiga from the ground. Returning it to its scabbard, Inuyasha whirled around and headed towards the village. He was wounded and needed to heal and he'd be damned if he was going to be sat again on account of his brother.
- - - - - - - - - -
Kagome, still shaken by the afternoon's battle, gently tended to the unconscious Sango's head wound. She would have a small concussion, nothing that a few day's rest wouldn't heal.
Miroku, having acquired several minor abrasions during the battle, was in the other room tending to Inuyasha. Any mention of the hanyou had Kagome in tears and, being the ever-sensitive monk, Miroku had offered without hesitation to tend to his wounded friend. Besides, he did not think his body could handle a crack from the Hiraikotsu if he was lax in his restraint around the fair Sango. Even he had his limits.
As Kagome gave her unconscious friend one last look over, she allowed herself to relax. They were all safe for now. Shippo was asleep, Sango would survive and the boys would live another day. Kagome felt a sob escape as she shifted towards her sleeping bag.
"You don't need to worry, Kagome," Adachi's soft voice made the girl jump slightly. She had forgotten he was there. "All of us are more or less intact." Adachi shifted towards her and sat back against the wall.
Kagome, still upset, tried to explain her apprehension to her new traveling companion.
"I just...I mean...When he loses himself like that..." Kagome gave up and just put her head in her hands, tears flowing silently between her splayed fingers.
Startled, Adachi moved forwards and took the girl gently into his arms, as a parent would do to a child.
"It'll be okay, Kagome," Adachi crooned. Kagome's sobs grew stronger, yet still remained silent. After a few moments, she calmed down enough to trust herself to speak.
"Thanks," she whispered as she pulled back slightly. Shimmying backwards, Kagome leaned her head against the wall, knowing it was useless to try and sleep at this point. "So Adachi," Kagome began, her eyes fixed unseeing on the opposite wall. "Why are you so interested in helping us find the jewel anyway?"
After a few seconds of silence, Kagome brought her questioning gaze toward the hanyou beside her. He seemed to be lost in memory, a frown betraying his unpleasant past. As Kagome set her head back against the wall, he spoke.
"I want to avenge my mother," Adachi's reply was thick, his tone sorrowful. "She was killed because I was just a child who didn't know how dangerous our lives really were. She protected me and I couldn't do the same." Adachi smiled sadly as he looked toward Kagome. "She wanted me to be a normal human child so much that I had no battle training, no ability to defend myself...or her."
Adachi's ears flicked on top of his head as if batting away a fly. "My father was responsible for her death."
Kagome's eyes went wide. This was a part of Inutaisho that she had never before heard of. "Are you sure?" she whispered. All of the things that she had heard about the great lord made this seem out of place. Then again, the only ones who had spoken of him were his children and loyal servant.
Adachi let a wry smile play on his face. "I'm sure. She told me herself before she died. She was mercilessly mangled, not even allowed a quick and painless death." Adachi let his expression fall neutral as he recalled his childhood.
"She never told me why, but he kicked her out of the castle when I was a child. She managed to find a human lord who accepted her as a member of his family. He gave us a home, safety...peace. I was able to grow up in a safe village with little violence. The people weren't friendly, but they weren't particularly hostile either. I've heard of some hanyou being brutalized in their childhood but mine was fairly uneventful." Adachi took a deep breath and closed his eyes, a small smile playing on his lips with the memories he was reliving. He paused for a moment, the smile slowly falling away.
"As a child I came across my mother's beaten body. She was left in her own bed, bloody and mangled, but still alive when I found her. She told me to avenge her, that my father was responsible."
Kagome turned a shocked head back towards Adachi. His closed eyes seemingly replayed the gruesome scene in his mind.
"I had intended to use the jewel to allow myself to become stronger than my father so that I could crush him as painfully as he did her. But now..." Adachi shrugged and opened his eyes again. "If he's already dead, I suppose I'm more interested in getting my mother back."
Kagome nodded solemnly. Inuyasha was not going to be happy to hear that his father, the great demon he was so proud of, was responsible for such a heinous act. He would deny it, perhaps even to the point of challenging Adachi, but what did they really know about the great demon lord? A demon lord does not come to power by being all sunshine and roses...
- - - - - - - - - -
Review please!
:-: Sarga