Shippo sat on a rock, biting his lip. They'd done it again. They all left him alone. No one was there to greet him this morning, save Kirara and a note.
"Shippo: Caught wind of a jewel shard, will return in the evening." He read it over again and again. Wondering if Kagome taught him to read just so he could be quietly left behind more and more.
"The whole thing sucks Kirara," he started. Kirara cooed preparing herself for Shippo's morning rant. "Every time they get close to a jewel shard they just leave me here, behind. Like I don't matter, like I don't contribute." His voice was raising as he continued. "I'm nearly a man now damn it. I can hold my own in a fight. They keep treating me like a little kid. I hate it." Kirara let out a sigh. Seemed nearly every day Shippo would be irritated about something. Sometimes it would be about Inu Yasha teasing him or Kagome and Sango fussing over him, however what really ate him was being left.
He stared out into an overcast morning. The air was still, not even birds were singing feeding his loneliness. "I just want a chance Kirara, just a way to show them I'm not a useless kid." He jumped up from his perch. Looking out into the distance, the forest stared back. There was nothing left to do but wait. Wait for them to return. Wait for them to share their adventures. Wait. Wanderlust began to pick away ate him tearing a hole in his stomach. Then, inspiration struck him. "Hey, what if we went out Kirara? Ya' know, look for a jewel shard ourselves?" Kirara cocked her head in a curious fashion. "Hear me out okay? Why can't we go searching for one? I mean, sure we can't sense them like Kagome, but like. We can still go out and look right?" A smirk was inching its way across his face. "Beats sitting here right?"
He started straightening himself out. Stretching his legs, and his arms. Preparing himself. "Yeah, we're doing it Kirara. We're going out to show them why they shouldn't leave us." a confidence possessed him. The idea was sounding better and better as time went on. He jolted over to the tiny cat. "C'mon, get up and transform!" He couldn't help but nudge her, a light hiss was her retort. "Doesn't it bother you? Left behind to what? Babysit me? C'mon, I'll make sure we pick up something nice to eat." Food was a good motivator, well trained or not, Kirara was still an animal. Near immediately at the mention of food Kirara burst into flames growing dramatically in size.
"That's the ticket Kirara!" He hopped on her back. "Let's go." They sharply ascended. The earth getting further and further away. She shot him a quizzical look followed by a grunt. "What do you mean which way? How would I know?" He looked out to the open sky. "Well which way did they go?" bitterness seeping through. Kirara shook her head eastward. "Alright then, west it is!" and like a shot they went off. Wind blasting through his hair.
Everything below them was rushing by. Trees, lakes and rivers. The promise of adventure was intoxicating he couldn't help himself, a large pointy grin was painted on his face. "Just think about what would happen if we found one. How stupid are they going to feel?" the thought of his companions dumbstruck was all too amusing. Kagome and Sango would probably be angry but quietly proud. Inu Yasha would be furious, would probably try to play it off like it's no big deal. "I can just hear him now Kirara, 'Oh look, the shrimp found himself a shard. What did you do? Nick it off some kid?' He'll look so stupid." he giggled to himself. "We'll show them to treat us like kids."
Hours passed and they came across nothing. No signs of life anywhere. "Geez, I didn't think we were so far out in the middle of nowhere. Maybe we should turn back." Kirara kept quiet. "No you're right! We can't give up now can we? Let's keep going on for a little while." Sleepiness was starting to settle in. His eyes growing heavy, he couldn't fight it off much longer. "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up if you find something okay?"
Shippo slipped slowly to sleep. He was taller, big. A man fully grown. He stood as a proud warrior. He liked this dream, here he was no longer a meek little sprite but an all powerful demon capable of defending himself and others. He looked at his his strong muscled hands, grinning. Of in the distance of the verdant dreamscape he heard a noise. twigs and leaves were being disturbed and trampled, something big was drawing near. Birds fled their perches and the being appeared in the clear meadow. It was a shadowy thing, standing much taller than even the fox demon. It bellowed out an air cracking roar and rushed towards him it's amber eyes burning with wrath. Shippo was not afraid, he concentrated for a moment and produced a blazing blue orb in his left palm swirling it a bit, feeding it more magic. He raised his arcane weapon, prepared to draw first blood.
A sharp change in direction awoke him. There was a clamoring below, a village of towns people chasing what looked like a small girl. "What's going on?" Shippo asked battling out the last bit of sleep from his eyes. From up here he could see the mob slowly gaining on the girl as she made her way to a river, holding something in her hands. "Whatever is happening, we should investigate. Kirara bring us down." The cat cooed in response and prepared for their descent.