Apology from the Author: Sorry this took so long! The notebook was missing and I didn't find it till December 8th and it took me a while to write this chapter so I didn't want to rewrite it! Anyway, enjoy the long, long awaited continuation of An adventure all my own.
WW - Forgive me of any misspellings. Its not intentional really.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original Inuyasha characters. However some of these characters do belong to me, I'm sure it's not to hard to figure out which ones.
Chapter 16 - Deceit's Around the River Bend –"I definitely smell my brother." Inuyasha said as he sniffed the wind that was blowing from the west.
"Half brother." Kagome said, and she smiled as he turned around to glare at her.
"Feh. Lets keep going, I think were catching up."
Malon walked away from Koga and over toward where Ami had slept on the opposite side of the hill.
"Hey Ami-sama, lets go find some breakfast."
Ami stirred and yawned as she sat up.
"Hm?" she mumbled.
"Breakfast."
Ami opened her eyes wider and smiled as she stood and stretched her stiff muscles. Malon smiled and turned away then started to walk toward Sesshoumaru only to find he was already awake and sneering at him coldly.
"Urk!..." he turned away from the demon.
He still hadn't gotten used to seeing that face in a friendly way, or at lease semi-friendly way. Sesshoumaru looked so much like the creature that had destroyed his village and his parents.
He had dreamed about the slaughter of his family last night, as fate would have it. Koga had noticed that he looked especially tired during their watch and had told him to get some sleep. Malon smiled in the back of his mind. He liked Koga; he had such a cool attitude toward life. He was glad the wolf was traveling with them. And now that he thought about it, Koga had never told them where he was going. Maybe he would ask him about it later.
He heard Ami start singing one of her songs as she searched the nearby hills of something to eat. Ami had a beautiful voice and the lyrics seemed so strange to him. He paused in his thoughts to listen to them.
"May it be an evening star; shines down upon you. May it be when darkness falls; your heart will be true. You walk a lonely road, Oh how far you are from home."
The tune sounded sad and haunting. He didn't even notice Ami's singing stopped or that she was standing behind him.
"Can I borrow your blowgun and a dart?" she asked
"Hm? What for?" Malon asked as he dug in his small bag of the items in question.
"Breakfast!" Ami smiled happily as she took the weapons and disappeared over the hill again.
Shortly after the two humans had finished eating that the party set out again, and the day was much like the one before. However, as night approached, the dark tree line of a forest came into view. The closer they got the taller the trees became and soon a clean, blue, river joined the forest in the odd groups' view.
"Oh wow!" Ami said as she looked over Koga's shoulder.
Inside the line of trees the demons stopped and let down their cargo onto the earthy floor beneath the darkening canopy of leaves above them. Here and there Ami could see animal trails, some of which old, some of which new, and she was tempted to follow one or two just to see where it would take her but there were more pressing matters at hand. First priority went to finding a good place to camp. Some were they could rest without having to worry about beast or other demons. Of course with both Sesshoumaru and Koga near by there wasn't a need to worry. The second thing on her long priority list was to take a bath, something she'd been neglecting because of the absolute lack of fresh running water. Ponds and pools were nice to get a drink from but they were rare and often easy to spy on, not that perverts would be a problem out here in the boondocks but one never knows.
It wasn't long before they came across a place that felt just right and after clearing a place for a small fire Ami stood and grinned.
"It there something wrong Ami?" Malon looked up at her from where he was sitting under the darkening shade of one tree.
"Wrong? No, nothing comes to mind." She pretended as though she had to think for a moment then just laughed.
Koga stretched his arms and yawned.
"Well, I smelled something tasty earlier so I'm going hunting. Smell ya later!"
And he was gone, off into the woods somewhere. Probably to find a deer or boar trail they had crossed earlier.
"If that's the case then I'm going to the river." Ami announced
"I'll come with you!" Malon said, standing up.
"No you will not!"
"Hu? Why?"
Ami just gave him a look; she crossed her arms and stared at him. He just looked back at her, confused for what seemed like the longest time before he finally realized just what she was planning. He blushed bright red.
"I... I'll just... um... stay here and make the fire..."
"Good boy." She said in a mocking tone before she turned a way and jogged off in the direction she heard the river.
Sesshoumaru stood silently for a moment as Malon stood blushing and looking down at his feet.
"Idiot." He said in the deadpan voice he was so famous for, and then he to disappeared into the woods, leaving Malon all alone to build the fire.
At the river
The bank of the river was a sandy one, and after slipping out of her worn shoes Ami let her feet soak in the cool water before returning to the edge of the woods where she found a bush that was just right to hang her cloths on, after she washed them. She placed her shoes and socks at its base and then waded into the water, hissing as the chill nipped at her skin. She removed her clothing one piece at a time, washing it carefully in the cold water, giving special attention to the silk kimono as it was obviously expensive and would be hard to replace if she didn't take good care of it.
Next came her clam digger style pants, she secretly longed for her something longer, as it was autumn now, and the days and nights were growing colder. Her underwear followed her pants, which was then followed by her hair. Her scalp felt insufferably oily so she ducked under the water and scrubbed her scalp hard several times till her head became tender from the rough treatment. The sun was weakly giving its last few moments of warmth when she finally emerged from the water, her fingers had started to prune even though her body had just finally become accustom to the temperature of the water. She stood bare on the shore as water dripped from her slender form. Squeezing the water from her hair, and running her fingers through it in an effort to detangle it.
When she felt she was dry enough she redressed, placing her switchblade in her Obi. She had given her book to Malon for safekeeping. It was easier for him to carry it in his satchel then it was for her to carry it in hand constantly.
She had just finished lacing up her shoes when she heard a twig snap a few yards away.
Back at camp
It hadn't taken long for Koga to return, even so, Malon had gotten a strong fire going by the time he re-entered the campsite with his kill slung over his shoulder. It was a young boar, and though it wasn't terribly large Malon couldn't help but drool at the thought of eating roasted meat that night. It seemed like forever since he'd eaten something other than scrawny rabbits or the half squished berries that Ami used to pick before they had come onto the plains.
Sesshoumaru returned too, though long after the wolf demon. The sun was almost gone when he stepped back into view. He discreetly looked around the clearing, checking the parameter with his eyes, ears, and nose before joining the other two near the fire. Ami wasn't back yet, and he felt a particular uneasiness in her absence but it was Malon who voiced his uneasiness first.
"Ami sure has been gone a long time...
Koga nodded, he'd noticed too. The boar meat was nearly done cooking and it was very unusual for Ami to smell food and not come running.
"Maybe one of us should go check on her?" Malon suggested sheepishly, blushing again as her remembered what it was she was doing at the river.
Koga raised an eyebrow at the blushing boy and sneered.
"You've never seen a woman naked before, have you there kiddo?"
"What? Of... Of course I have!"
'liar..." both the wolf and dog demon thought inwardly
The night wind rippled through the campsite and Sesshoumaru stiffened instantly. Ami's sent, she was indeed still at the river but... who did the other sent belong to!
Before Malon or Koga could react, Sesshoumaru was gone.
At the river
Ami turned around and saw him standing there, his white hair flowing in the soft night breeze as it reflected the pale light from the just risen moon. His golden eyes glowed in the dim light. Behind him she could just make out footprints in the sandy boarder of the river that winded up along its bank.
"Sesshoumaru? Geez, you could have at least called out or something! Any normal person would have screamed pervert or something and run."
"You didn't run."
"I'm not normal."
Ami stood and shrugged her shoulders at the taller demon.
"Well I'm all done bathing so lets go meat the others back at camp, Malon is probably starting to worry."
She started to turn and step into the woods but Sesshoumaru stepped forward and blocked her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and smiled at her, a toothy grin that sent a shiver down her spine... wait... hands? Two hands? Ami looked back and forth from one limb to the other and then, at last, up at Sesshoumarus face. Inwardly she grimaced; his face was not how she remembered it. This demon was not Sesshoumaru, this was some one completely different.
She ducked out of his hold and stepped back, placing one thing fingered hand on the hilt of her switchblade.
"Who are you?"
She narrowed her eyes at him, it she were a beast all her fur would have been standing up on end. Something was very wrong here and somewhere in the back of her mind was a dark foreboding feeling.
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WW: Well well well, it has been quite some time but here it is! Finally!
Sesshy: Glare
WW: what?
Sesshy: You are completely hopeless!
WW; don't say that! You know you love me!
Sesshy: You keep me locked in that bloody closet of yours of years and this is all you can give!
WW: ...point taken... leave a review!
Sesshy: Ja Ne!