InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Stardust ❯ Every Dog Has His Day ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Inu-Yasha. (Though I could create a few perverted jokes from that disclaimer. . . ^_~ Just kidding.)

Author's Note: Hiya, y'all! Here I am with a brand new fic- which is probably a really stupid thing to start what with my first year of high school now looming overhead, but what the hey! ^_^ I'm really excited about it and I managed to update two things at once last year, so maybe I'll live this year, too. ^_~

Please enjoy- and don't judge my plot until later on in the story. It gets much more complex than this. . . ::cue evil anime laughter::

^_^

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"A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars. Because she was with child, she wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.

Then, another sign appeared in the sky: it was a huge dragon, flaming red, with seven heads and ten horns; on his head were seven diadems. His tail swept a third of the stars from the sky and hurled them down to earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, ready to devour her child when it should be born." ~ Revelation 12:1 - 12:4

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STARDUST

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"If wishes were horses, beggars might ride." ~ John Ray (1627-1705)

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CHAPTER ONE: EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY

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As he peered through the little cracked hole in the very, tiptop corner of the crumbling ceiling, he could just make out the velvety blackness that always accompanied the coming of night. He tugged a bit against his restraints, lavender eyes narrowing as he attempted to pinpoint the little pinpricks of shimmering gold that he and the rest of the world fondly called `stars'. Well, most of the world called them stars. . . Staring up at them like he was now always reminded him of his mother, gods bless her soul, who had probably been one of the few to laugh at any mention of that word.

"Those aren't stars, Inu-Yasha," she had told him when he was a boy, hugging him close to her body as they lay upon their sand covered, shack roof. "And it is disrespectful to call them so."

"Then what are they, mother?" he had asked, full of a child like innocence that he now laughed at.

"Why, they are souls, my darling. The distant souls of all our ancestors, watching over us from afar. And when the gods choose to make a new special someone, they pick one of those `stars' from the sky as the fodder." She would then kiss him on the top of his ebony wreathed noggin and smooth away his bangs, resting her chin lightly on his head before sighing wistfully. "That's where your father is, right now, love. Watching over us from the heavens. . . So you remember to be respectful to those souls. Never address them as inanimate objects- address them like friends. And they will always protect you."

Yeah, right. Inu-Yasha scoffed silently, turning his smudged, mud-caked face away from that far away peephole. What a bunch of crock. . . Then again, his mother had also been the one to teach him the phrase `every dog has his day'. If that load of shit was true, then at the very least- today wasn't his.

"Psssst! Inu-Yasha!"

The teenager glanced up, the tight chains on his wrists and ankles clanking in the dark. "Miroku. . . ? Is that you?"

"The one and only," a new male voice chuckled, ignoring the other weak cries of prisoners as he made his way to his friend. "On time, per usual, for your nightly bust out of jail. Was the princess as lovely today as she was yesterday?"

Inu-Yasha kicked Miroku in the heels as his tall, muscular pal squatted down next to him and pulled out his tiny, dark haired pony tail. "No. . . she was prettier," the younger of the pair insisted a bit haughtily, though he knew a small blush was already growing on his cheeks. "Now, hurry up!"

"I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying! God, hold your fricken' horses," the twilight eyed man grumbled, gently chewing his tongue as he used a hidden pick in the thin strap of worn leather to undo the locks on Inu-Yasha's hands and feet. "There! Happy?! You know, I don't have to do this for you every night. I could always let you rot in here for- - -"

"Stealing one or two dates? Come on, you wouldn't be that cruel," Inu-Yasha smirked, rubbing his freed wrists as he got to his feet, stealthily creeping through the shadows after Miroku, who was putting his hair back up. "Would you?"

"Well, I was about to say `ever', but since you seem to have so much trust in me, I'll forgive you this once and say: No, I wouldn't," the older male grinned cheekily, snickering as his friend glared. "Now come on, let's go. Sango's waiting outside."

"No morning sickness tonight? Good," Inu sighed, following Miroku to the end of the huge, almost circular prison. There, in the corner, the pair kneeled down and brushed away a fine layer of Arabian sand; locating the handle of their little, wooden trap door. "Let's go."

Dropping into the cool, dark rabbit hole- pulling the door shut behind them- they stealthily bumped and banged into one another (and the walls) as they made their way to the outside word.

"Ow! That was my foot!" Miroku hissed, blindly smacking Inu-Yasha upside the head.

"Damn it! Don't do that!" the other snapped, rubbing his now sore cheek as he glared through the darkness.

"Then don't step on my foot!"

"I didn't step on your foot!"

"Riiiight. Then who did?!"

"I don't know! A scorpion?"

"Scorpions don't have feet to step on others with! They have little crawly leg thingies!"

"All right, then- a whole bunch of scorpions!"

"Who simultaneously decided to leap on my foot?!"

". . . Whatever."

Luckily for both, they soon had smacked face first into the opposite end of the secret passage, thus signifying that their escape was almost over- they just had to crawl out of the hole through the hidden trap door above them; the one located right behind a make-shift cart. Of course, it was always a lot easier when there was someone there to help you get OUT of the stupid hole. . . And tonight there was.

"Yo! Sango!" Inu-Yasha whispered loudly, pushing himself onto his toes in order to rap the underside of the wooden barrier. "You there?"

"Yeah," the teen girl replied quietly, wrenching open the door and smiling. "You ready to get out of there?" she asked cheerfully, cocking her head of long, flowing chestnut locks.

"Gee, I dunno- he sure seems to like it a lot," Miroku laughed as he helped hoist Inu-Yasha out of the passage. When that relatively easy task was done he expectantly held out his hands, taking his wife's and Inu's in turn and crawling up the side of the passage as the pair helped tug him to surface. "I think we should just leave him. . . it's almost not worth our troubles to collect him every night."

"Oh, shut up," Inu-Yasha grumbled, dusting off his raggedy pants and running the back of his hand across his face.

"Yeah, Miroku, shut up," Sango repeated with a mock growl, faking her friend's dark attitude as she crossed her arms over her top of patches and holes, readjusting her sarong. She was only a few weeks along- so (thank the gods) they didn't have to worry about bigger clothes for a while. "Inu-Yasha's simply following his instincts to act like a love sick puppy."

"Can it!" he all but barked as he hid the trap door once more, covering it with dirt and stone. "I don't purposely get caught just to see the princess!"

"We never said you did," Miroku smirked, ruffling the boy's hair as they all made their silent way though the disserted, midnight streets of the bazaar. A desert wind picked up, blowing a bit of sand at the trio as they scavenged for a little left over food in the empty carts and shops. There was none. Another night of empty stomachs ahead. . . "You did."

Inu-Yasha simply graced his friends with a rude hand gesture (ignoring their fake cries of hurt) as he began hopping up the hill towards their hidden hut.

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It took until the early hours of the morning to get home, but it was worth it just to be able to crawl into the tiny, falling apart wooden house (if you could call it that) and lay near the wall-wide window (actually, the hut was just missing a wall, but they had decided to call it their window instead), and stare dreamily at the far-away palace. Inu-Yasha smiled to himself as his friends yawned and cuddled into their few, featherless pillows, almost instantly falling asleep. He, however, was wide-awake.

The princess. . . she had looked just as gorgeous as she had the day before. And the day before that- if not more so. Her long, charcoal tresses. . . her creamy, flawless skin. . . her deep blue eyes. . . her cheerful laugh. . . They were magnetic. Even her name- the one that had only just been announced to the public- caused his heart to rush. He needed to see her each day- he had ever since he had first laid eyes upon her two weeks ago.

And he would see her again- he would- tomorrow. . .

The princess. . .

Kikyo.

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It still wasn't the dog's day, apparently.

Inu-Yasha blew out his cheeks in frustration as he grumbled incoherently under his breath. Sure, he risked his freedom every afternoon to see the princess and all- but did he ALWAYS have to loose what he risked? Evidently so. . . Because here he was again, locked in the dungeon, per usual, with only that tiny crack in the ceiling to keep him company. (Well, it wasn't like he was going to talk to the others around him, was it? What would he say? `So, what did you do wrong to get locked down here for a lifetime?') But that was all right, for he could use this time to daydream about what had happened to him that day. And it had been good. . .

Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to drift back. . .

It had been later, towards evening- when the hot sun was slowly beginning to cool down and the princess was out on her huge marble balcony, looking over the city. He had simply watched her for a minute; admiring how her sea-colored veils perfectly hugged each curve of her body, how the jewels around her limbs and neck paled in comparison to the beauty of her eyes, how she was expertly braiding her knee-length hair. . . Then, as always, he created some sort of ruckus- today he had knocked over a jewelry wagon- to attract her attention. It worked- she glanced up and cocked her head as the guards came running and subdued him. They yelled white noise in his ears as her sapphire pools locked with his own, sparkles of amusement in their depths. And as he was dragged away he saw her smile- and give a little laugh as he grinned at her.

Oh, she was perfection at its best, the princess. . .

"Hello? Inu-Yasha? Is there anyone HOME in there?"

The `criminal' gave a start, blinking in surprise as he felt someone rap his head with irritated knuckles. "Huh? Miroku?" He was here early. . . the sky hadn't even turned completely black yet. "Izzat you?"

"Well, YEAH," the second sighed in exasperation, crouching down and pulling out his hair toggle, performing his usual lock-picking act. "Who else would it be? You've really got to stay more alert, my friend. It'll be the end of you if you don't."

"Feh!" the boy snorted, acting the usual rebel as he gained feeling back in his wrists and ankles. "Worry about your own neck, Miroku, and I'll worry about mine."

"Hey, now, don't get so defensive," the elder of the pair retorted lightly, helping Inu-Yasha to his feet. "I'm just looking out for my little brother."

"I'm not your brother," Inu countered automatically, lip curling in distaste as he ripped his hands away. Ugh, don't even mention the WORD brother. . . it only brought bad memories of his real half sibling.

"Oh. . . well- Maybe not," Miroku shrugged, masterfully hiding his semi hurt feelings as he smiled. "But I think of you as one."

"Whatever," he grunted as his hair was ruffled.

Shaking his head and turning on his heel, Miroku started for the hidden passage; only pausing for a brief moment in order to allow Inu-Yasha to catch up.

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"I'm hungry," Sango suddenly announced, stopping in her tracks and waiting for her friends to do the same. It took them a moment but they eventually did so, consequently banging into a few late shoppers as they spun to face the female.

"Yeah. . . so?" Inu-Yasha prompted, crossing his arms over his bare chest. "When aren't you?"

"When aren't any of us?" Miroku added as his own stomach gave a timely growl. He smiled and sighed, scratching his head as one upper crust woman past them, "subtly" holding her nose. "Guess we need a bath, too."

"I'm REALLY hungry," Sango insisted, shooting them pointed looks as she jabbed her head towards a near by shop. "Really REALLY hungry." Finally catching the hint, the two boys chanced sidelong glances in the indicated direction.

They found themselves examining a table. And it was shining. Literally. Stuffed to the brim with gold- plates, goblets, necklaces, bracelets, statues, everything!- it looked about to collapse under the sheer weight of treasure. Two women were seated behind it, neither really paying much attention to their goods. The shorter, younger looking one was too busy staring at herself in a silver mirror to care, and the other was grumbling silently, looking a bit murderous as she drummed her nails on her forearms.

Eventually having their fill of staring, Inu-Yasha and Miroku exchanged glances before deftly pulling Sango aside, covering her mouth before she could emit even a squeak of surprise.

"What are you suggesting?" the violet-eyed man asked calmly, his voice low. "To steal some of those riches?! They're probably going to the palace! We'd get executed if we got caught!"

"IF we got caught," his wife repeated slyly, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she ripped her arms out of the men's strong grasp. "And we never do! . . . Well, except Inu-Yasha."

Mentioned boy's eyebrow began to tick. "I do that deliberately! You know that!"

"Yeah, right. That's not what you were saying las- - -"

"Look," Miroku interrupted, playing peace maker as he separated the two with his hands. "Why don't we just pillage some food, like usual? Then we can eat all of the evidence and no one's the wiser! Besides, food grows back. It's not the same when you steal precious gems and the like."

"Miroku, I'm sick of stealing food!" the magenta-eyed girl complained, stomping a bare foot. "Whenever we do that we always make sure to steal enough for the week, but then it gets rotten and gross! If we get our hands on some gold, we could buy fresh food when we were hungry and eat it- and then buy more instead of choking down worm-infested crap!"

". . ." Inu-Yasha turned blankly towards the eldest of the three, blinking once. ". . . She has a point."

"Inu-Yasha! We're talking morals here! What about pride? Honor?" Miroku all but cried, banging a fist to his chest.

"Well, I for one am willing to swallow my pride if it means swallowing something to eat," Inu shrugged, smirking slightly as Sango nodded empathetically; smiling thankfully.

Miroku stared blankly at his friends for a moment- - -

And then beamed. "Point taken. Let's go!"

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"Excuse me, good madams- - -"

"WHAT do you WANT. . .?"

Miroku cut himself off in mild indignation at the younger female's cold, crisp, monotone reply. Never once tearing her eyes away from her mirror, the white haired girl frowned. Presumably at Miroku. It was sort of hard to tell since her gaze was locked on the hand-held looking glass.

"Er- well, I was simply wondering what sort of load you've got here," he questioned good naturedly, watching Inu-Yasha and Sango from the corner of his eye. They were carefully sneaking in from behind, crouched low and breath held. "Is it going to the palace?"

"Why do you want to know?" the expressionless one retorted, casting him a sidelong glance. "It is none of your concern."

"Why do YOU always get to talk to the townsfolk?" the second female grumbled rudely, shooting the younger girl a cold glare. "Every day for the two weeks we've been here- no matter WHO comes to chat! I'm just supposed to sit here in silence and twiddle my thumbs! It's not fair!"

The silver locked girl sighed silently, turning her head to reprimand her partner- - - when she suddenly noticed the pair of thieves in the reflection of her mirror, stuffing their shirts and pants and arms with treasure. "Robbers," she whispered, snapping around to apprehend all three strangers- But they had already fled, laughing loudly as they raced into the night.

They were gone before the pair at the cart could even get to their feet.

"Wha- - -? No! This is all your fault, Kanna!" the elder of the two moaned, banging the handle of a silver fan against her forehead. "At least they didn't get the lamp, right?!"

Kanna said nothing, only returned her gaze to her mirror. But she already knew-

The lamp was gone.

They would all pay.

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"Oh yeah! Look at all this!" Sango gushed, dumping the loot with a clatter onto the ground of their small home, eyes sparkling like the expensive metal before her as she fell to her knees. "We'll never go hungry again! . . . Well, at least not for a few weeks."

"We may not be able to stuff our faces right now, but I'm feeling full already!" Miroku beamed, examining a statue of a cat and dusting off its ear with the pad of his thumb. "Look at all this gold!"

Inu-Yasha began to nod excitedly- but quite quickly his lips had turned downward. "Wait- it's not all gold."

"- - - Huh?" The other two did a double take, glancing at each other before turning to their friend.

"What do you mean?" the girl questioned, trying on a pair of earrings. "It's not fools gold, is it?"

"No," her husband replied, picking up a small charm and biting it lightly. It easily bent in his mouth. "It's all pure gold."

"Not this," Inu-Yasha countered, picking up a small, old fashioned oil lamp that had fallen near his feet. Displaying it to his friends, his expression darkened slightly. "Why try and sell something of silver amidst all this gold? No one would care!"

"You're right! We don't care!" Sango sang, waving a now jewelry-heavy hand. "Silver is almost as lovely as gold! We can still sell it for food- no worries! In fact, we can sell it first and enjoy all our gold longer!"

"I'm with Sango," Miroku grinned, crossing his legs and laughing gleefully, placing a crown on his head with an air of mock dignity. "Just clean it up and we can go to town tomorrow."

"Oh, all right, whatever," Inu-Yasha shrugged, propping up one leg and resting an elbow on it as he quit his examination of the innocent object. "It just seems strange to me. . ."

"Shut up and clean it!" the elder man rolled his eyes, counting how many bracelets he could fit on each arm. "Oh-" he added in afterthought with a laugh, winking jovially at his friend. "And be careful for genies!"

"Ha ha ha," Inu-Yasha retorted dryly, rubbing off the sand covered lamp with his palm. "Like such things exist anyway."

"Existence is merely the belief that something is true," a female voice giggled, the soft scent of frankincense seeping into the room from somewhere unseen.

". . . What?" The boy instantly stopped his scrubbing, turning to face Sango with a questioning gaze. "Did you just say something?"

"Hm?" the woman murmured, not paying attention at all. "Did I what?"

"And you," the voice continued as a sudden, powerful blast of blood colored smoke billowed from the lamp, causing both Sango and Miroku to look up in surprise as Inu-Yasha froze in place; eyes wide. "You, evidently, do believe, somewhere inside- - -"

From the center of the lazily twisting maroon typhoon in the middle of the golden circle, a teenage girl appeared. A teenage girl dressed in a tight tube top of red silk, and low, baggy, gauzy pants of the same color. A dragon-shaped belt of identical silk covered her more private areas as it helped keep her bottoms from slipping off her hips; cuffing the legs of her pants and her bare wrists as well. Golden bangles and dark gems glittered on her ankles and decorated her upper arms; chains of rubies lazily looping her bare midriff and locking at her belly button- at the belt-dragon's mouth. Her full, pink frosted lips- covered by a shimmering veil- curled into a smile as she closed her eyes- eye shadow and glitter sparkling on the lids as she fell into a deep bow.

"- - - My master."

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There ya go! ^_^ Chappie one. Don't go comparing this fic to anything yet- because very soon it's going to become completely. . . twisted. XD Mwahahahaha!

^_~ Please R&R!

Ja ne!