Crossover Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Journey to the City of Endless Night ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two

 

Inuyasha tensed behind the old man that had led them to the small cottage. He smelt his brother, and he muttered, “Sesshomaru. I knew the bastard was here.”

Kagome entered before he could do anything and she thanked the strange woman within. He saw his brother's expression shift only slightly from its normal stoic calm to angry and protective. Then he realized why. His young ward was with him and she was ill.

Kagome turned towards him. “Inuyasha, she's prepared dinner for us! Don't just stand there. It smells wonderful.”

He entered, wary of his elder brother. The woman inside raised an eyebrow, obviously curious about his ears. He let them raise to full alert, listening to what was inside, the slight snoring of the sick child, the shuffling of items in the pantry, the chatter that Kagome had struck up with the woman inside and something else. . .a soft growl from his brother. Inuyasha may not have entirely understood his brother, but he could tell the girl meant a lot to him.

“Inuyasha, come intro---” she stopped when he placed a finger over her lips, tilting his head towards the sleeping child, then towards his brother. Her eyes grew wide and she turned, smiling softly. “I'm sorry. I had no idea she wasn't feeling well.”

Inuyasha hoped it would placate him. He watched his brother's unreadable face flicker with shock then acknowledgment. Sesshomaru nodded his acceptance of her apology and Inuyasha felt less tense. Their usual confrontation when they met would not happen and he felt as if he could relax. He realized that Sesshomaru's first concern was the young child.

Kagome sat down at the table, pulling her book bag off. She quietly asked, “What is wrong with the little girl?”

At this point, the woman intervened. “Dear, she's only exhausted and when supper is ready I'll wake her and let her eat then. Why don't you and I set up a room for her?”

Kagome nodded, glancing at the wary brothers before replying, “I'd like that.” She smiled, and then quietly said to Inuyasha, “I'll be back down soon. Please, don't fight with your brother.”

Inuyasha crossed his arms and snorted. “Feh. You're the one who almost angered him, not me.” He sat down at the table as far from his brother as possible. Inuyasha looked over towards Sesshomaru and the sick child from the corner of his eye, keeping watch over what his brother might do next.

The old man emerged from the pantry, a keg of ale on his shoulder. “Thanks, Pol.”

The woman arched an eyebrow. “Father, you shouldn't. I'll want to talk with you later and you should be at least sober. Oh, and if you see Garion, please do send him this way. Ce'Nedra should be with him so before you and uncle get too incoherent I'd like to see both of them.”

Inuyasha watched the exchange, noticing how odd the woman looked. Her hair was the oddest, the color of Kagome's, except longer and for the lock of white at her left brow. Her eyes were unlike any he had seen and she seemed to hold herself with a regal air, although so far as Inuyasha could tell she was only a peasant due to her plain gray dress. He was thankful that Miroku was not with them.

“Alright, Pol. I'll tell them.” The old man shuffled towards the door.

“Oh, and Old Wolf, I do intend to make sure you are competent when we talk.” She crossed her arms, glaring at the man. “I don't want to have to repeat myself.” She turned towards Kagome. “Well, dear, shall we?”

After the women and the old man left, Inuyasha was left with his brother. They sat in silence, neither willing to acknowledge the other's presence. He looked around the cottage, the interior tidy and organized. On the fire he smelt a lamb stew and felt his stomach growl.

“Why are you here, half-breed?” His brother's controlled voice asked.

“I was going to ask you the same thing, bastard, but I don't have to.” He glanced over towards Rin, proving his point. “So, what exactly is wrong with the pup?”

Much to his surprise, his brother answered without any hint of superiority, “She had a fever a couple days ago and I've spent all this time searching for humans. I don't have the means to care for her illness.” He shifted his gaze towards Rin as well.

Inuyasha nodded. “We've been wandering towards a village for about that long, too. We do need a place to stay and this place was mentioned so here we are.”

The door flew open and a tiny, red haired girl flew inside. She stopped, staring at the two dog demon brothers at the table. Her emerald eyes grew wide. “Who are you? Where is the Lady Polgara?”

Inuyasha stood. “We're travelers. I believe she's upstairs.” He wanted to keep the flighty from angering his tense brother.

She giggled. “Can I touch them?”

Inuyasha blushed slightly. Why did this have to happen in front of his brother? She wanted to touch his ears and he knew it. He wondered why she hadn't been surprised when he felt a tug on his ear. “Ow. Don't do that.” And as the day had been full of surprises, he was greeted with another. His brother laughed softly in his throat. “Don't laugh. If it weren't for your pup and Kagome, I'd shove Tetsusaiga up your ass.” It was half-hearted and he knew it. His brother only laughed more.

The small girl let his ear go and ran up the stairs. In the doorway stood a young man with blond hair and sharp blue eyes. An enormous sword was strapped to his back and his expression was sober. “I'm sorry. My wife is a little flighty sometimes. Ce'Nedra's always been fascinated and has always needed to touch things she thinks are cute.”

Inuyasha glared at his brother, whose golden eyes held mirth even though the rest of his expression remained unreadable. Then his eyes grew unemotional as Rin coughed. Faster than he could see, his brother was at her side, providing a water cup. He would never understand his brother. One moment he was an unfeeling asshole, the next tender towards his ward. He turned towards the young man. “Feh. Big deal. I get that sometimes.”

The young man unstrapped his sword, setting it against a wall. “That thing was starting to chafe my neck.” He glanced from Inuyasha to Sesshomaru who was still tending to Rin. He looked back at Inuyasha as if he were going to ask about their appearances but thought better of it. “I think I'll go see what Aunt Pol and Ce'Nedra are up to.”



Sesshomaru watched his brother from where he sat with Rin's resting form. Most meetings he had with his brother involved Inuyasha wildly attacking him but he realized that his brother fought him that way because perhaps he didn't really want to kill him. Inuyasha's silencing of the human woman who traveled with him proved this. And, he had to admit that he hadn't wanted to kill Inuyasha either.

Inuyasha sat back down, arms crossed, his expression irritable. He scuffed his bare feet on the floor. Sesshomaru suspected that others found his irritation to be only on the surface, but he realized it stemmed from his concern over the young miko that traveled with him, his hunger, and surprisingly to him, Inuyasha's concern over Rin. While neither traveled together, he noticed that Inuyasha did care for his ward, even if it wasn't evident to most.

Sesshomaru gently settled Rin back onto the cot. He quietly crossed the room to join his brother. “Inuyasha.”

Inuyasha looked up, his golden eyes wary.

“Thank you for looking our for Rin's well being.” He waited for his brother become defensive.

“Feh. The pup needs to rest.” His body had tensed. He looked at the floor, pulling his legs onto the chair he sat on. He held his feet in his clawed hands. “So, where do you think we are exactly?”

“I was told that we are in the Vale of Aldur. I have never heard of such a place.”

“That's what we were told, too. This is an odd place. I wonder why it is not a village.” He pushed hair out of his eyes.

“I noticed that as well. Listen, we should talk tonight. This place unnerves me and I do not like it. I only admit this because of Rin. It is her safety that concerns me.”

Inuyasha nodded. His eyes looked shocked but than became wary. He let a growl escape his lips. “Wolves. The same from earlier.”

Sesshomaru picked upon what he had. “Two. A bitch and a male.”

“I smelt them earlier and then they vanished.”

“Vanished? Your half-breed nose must have been confused.”

“No. You know that's not the case, jackass. There's something odd going on here.” Inuyasha stood, drawing his sword. “I'm going to look.”

Sesshomaru nodded. He watched his brother exit, transforming the Tetsusaiga into its full sized fang. He hoped no wolf demons were around as they were had been known in the past to partake in consuming human flesh. It didn't really concern him often, but he simply needed these humans at the moment.



Inuyasha tracked the smell of the wolves. He found two running in the grass by the large tree and he leaped up into its branches, hoping they'd not pick upon his scent. They seemed to be playing and loping. They yipped and barked and Inuyasha realized that they were mates and they were courting one another. Then the wolves stopped and seemed to shimmer. In their places stood the old man who had stolen the ale keg and a tawny haired woman with eyes not unlike Inuyasha's own.

A bird circled above, descending towards the earth. It landed and shimmered into a hideous dwarf. “Hey, love birds, you do realize that dog-eared man is watching, right? Belgarath, did you manage to get that ale, anyways?”

Belgarath glared at the dwarf. “Yes, Beldin, brother of mine.” He then turned towards the tree. “And you, what are you doing up there, young man?”

The dwarf scratched an arm pit. “Isn't it obvious, dummy. Your brains must be turned to mush. If I was 10,000 years old my brain would be the same.”

“Beldin, I'm 7,000 years old and no, my brain is not mush.”

“Could have fooled me.” The dwarf turned to the tawny haired woman. “Poledra, your behind is growing wider.”

“One notices one has not washed for some time.” Her nose wrinkled.

“It rained on me six months ago.”

“Well, what are you doing up there?” The old man turned towards Inuyasha.

“I smelt wolves.” He didn't want to admit he had seen them change. “With the sick pup I was concerned a certain wolf would come with them.”

“One wonders why you feel wolves would attack a child. It is not in the wolf's nature to do so.” Her golden eyes locked onto his own.

Inuyasha jumped down from the tree, still holding Tetsusaiga, letting it transform back to its smaller state. “I've run into some man-eating wolves in the past.”

She nodded. “How remarkable.”

Beldin commented. “My what a sword you carry, dog-eared boy.”

Inuyasha growled. “That's half-dog demon to you.”

“Half-demon?” The old man's eyes widened.

“Yeah. Why do you think I have these ears?” He sheathed Tetsusaiga.

“How can you be here? Our master would never tolerate your kind.”

“I'm used to hearing that one. Demons and humans alike hate me. That is until I defeat a demon for some humans and save their village.” He crossed his arms, stepping away from Beldin. “Besides, you shouldn't talk. I've never come across humans who turn themselves into animals.”

“But if you're half-demon, why don't you devour everything near you?”

“Oh, I'll be devouring that stew if I ever can get back in time, but I'm not fond of human flesh. I've seen it cause enough indigestion.” He turned his back, trying to get away from Beldin's smell. He swiveled an ear towards them. “You're human, I can smell that, but you're not ordinary.”

“We're disciples of Aldur, our God. He's the one who found us and awakened our abilities.”

Inuyasha covered his nose with a sleeve of his haori. He looked at the old man. “God?”

“Yes. Why he let you here is not for me to question.”

His stomach growled, announcing his hunger. “Old man, might we return? By now I'm sure my brother is growing frustrated. I saw a red haired girl enter and if she's not careful he'll handle the situation.”

“The man with the sick child?” Belgarath asked.

“Yeah. Sesshomaru's full-blooded demon; he's a Demon Lord. He thinks he's so important because he's full-blooded and I'm only half. He's on edge because of his ill ward. It's bad enough that Kagome almost angered him enough.” Inuyasha sneezed. “Besides, I'm going to suffocate if I remain here much longer.”

The three of them looked at one another, then nodded. “Poledra, I'll be back in my tower in awhile. We better keep our Demon Lord guest entertained.” He then glanced at Beldin and something passed between them.

Inuyasha started to make his way to the cottage. The old man caught up. “Half-demons are not supposed to be despised by demons. It's their gate way into a monstrosity on earth. Yet, you don't seem to be evil.”

“Thanks, old man.” He snorted, then stopped. “Your mate, she seems different than you or that smelly one.”

“Yes. Poledra's not exactly human.” He smiled. “She's naturally a wolf. Our Master chose her to be a very important disciple.”

Inuyasha nodded. They reached the cottage and he followed the old man inside. Sesshomaru's expression had become more irritated since he had left because Rin had started to suffer chills and coughs racked her body. He held her, cradling her away from everyone else. His eyes warned everyone in the room away as they flashed from burnished gold to blood red and back again. Inuyasha felt sorry for him.

The woman who had cooked supper dished a bowl for the child. She knelt down next to the softly growling Demon Lord. “Now now, dear. She needs this. The tonic I gave her for her cough needs food to help it along.”

Inuyasha was amazed by her audacity and lack of fear. He watched as Sesshomaru took the bowl, never ceasing soft growls of warning. Inuyasha knew the woman had played with fire.

He joined Kagome at the table. She had taken up conversation with the flighty red-haired woman. The red-haired woman chattered on and on about how his ears were adorable. This strange set of humans perplexed him. They could do things humans shouldn't but had concepts about his kind that confused him even further. They were human. His nose told him that. He noted what he had seen to file it away for later when he discussed the situation with Sesshomaru.

A new man entered the house and instantly Inuyasha marked him as to be the strange dark-haired woman's mate. He looked plain faced and strong. Taking his seat next to the dark-haired woman, he gratefully accepted a bowl of stew which only confirmed these suspicions. He obviously was the opposite of the blond man's mate.

The woman gave to him his own bowl and he gratefully accepted it. He glanced over at his brother who struggled with the anxiety of Rin's racking coughs and feeding the small girl. He set his bowl down, ignoring his brother's frustrated and protective growls. “Here, let Kagome do it. She's patient.”

He watched as Sesshomaru's eyes flashed a dark red then back to gold. He relented, gently placing Rin into Inuyasha's arms. Inuyasha nodded towards the bowl, asking him to place it onto the table. “Kagome before he gets angry.”

Kagome stopped in mid sentence of her conversation with the girl. “Inuyasha, okay.”

Inuyasha then gently guided his brother outside. “Sesshomaru, she'll be fine. Kagome can handle it.” He waited for his brother's response. “Listen, we really need to talk. Those wolves I went looking for, they're humans.”

“What do you mean, half-breed?” Sesshomaru was still more angry and worried than anything else. “They are not of demon blood.”

“I jumped into that large tree down in the valley. The two wolves are mates and were playing. Then suddenly they transformed into human beings. The old man is the male. A bird landed, a hawk, then it transformed into this smelly dwarf.” Inuyasha crossed his arms. “You and I may not get along, but you've got a sick human girl and I've got Kagome to protect.”

Sesshomaru nodded. “Yes. This place is strange. This place. . .it is not like others.” He turned his back. “Jaken.”

“Yes, Sesshomaru-sama?” The toad emerged from a small space between the stone cottage and stables. Inuyasha sighed.

“Jaken, stay here outside.” He looked over to Inuyasha then back to Jaken. “Alert one of us if something should attack.”

“Mi lord, why do you tolerate such half-breed filth?”

“Do you question me again, Jaken?” His eyebrow arched in amusement and his hand squeezed slightly on Tokijin.

“No, Sesshomaru-sama. I only wanted to know why he was here.”

Inuyasha crossed his arms. “Feh. I could ask why he puts up with you.”

Sesshomaru smiled slightly before letting his face settle back into his usual calm unemotional facade.

Inuyasha kicked the dirt. “Damn it. I still haven't eaten.” He looked at the toad. “If you weren't so slimy, I'd eat you.”

“Inuyasha! Filthy half-breed!” the servant squeaked.

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow. “Jaken, just do as I say.” Jaken bowed, backing away.

“The woman who is caring for Rin, she disturbed me. I watched as she mended a sock and then she ran her fingers on the torn cloth. It mended itself under that touch.” He paused, staring up at the night sky. “She told me that she was 4,000 years old.”

“The old man, he said he was 7,000 years old. It's not possible, is it?”

“I'm only 480 years old.” Sesshomaru remarked. “Young for a Demon Lord.”

“I'm about 200 if you toss in my years on that fucking stupid tree and my travels with Kagome. But we have demon blood.”

“Yes. And they are but human. It simply is not possible. They have odd powers, that'll I give them, but they are still only human.”

“The young are always saying how something is impossible.” The old man joined them. “I can't tell you how many times I've discussed this same topic with my grandson. You'll recognize him as the fellow with the big sword.”

“Old man,” Sesshomaru asked. “How is Rin?”

“Asleep. She ate and Pol put her down on the cot.” The old man looked up. “They say you are a Demon Lord.”

“Yes. And I have heard you turn yourself into a wolf.”

“It is not so hard to understand. It is merely the Will and the Word. You have enough Will and speak the Word it will happen.” He looked over the two brothers. “Sometimes another form suits me better than this one. I prefer the form of a wolf, my daughter an owl.” He pulled a flask out of his shirt, taking a sip. “Now that you understand a little bit about myself, help me understand a bit about you.”

“What do you want to know?” Inuyasha asked.

“In all my life demons have come from one place and have always returned to that place. Yet, you two seem to be unlike any I've ever met.” He looked towards Sesshomaru. “You, you care for a sick human child, yet you are a Demon Lord, or so you claim.” He turned towards Inuyasha. “And you, you are born of a human mother, no?”

“What's it to you?” Inuyasha asked growing nervous.

“Well, since you two are unlike anything I've ever met, just exactly what are you?”

“Dog demons. The wolves I mentioned earlier attacking humans is a wolf demon. He controls a pack and they used to tend to eat human flesh.” Inuyasha crossed his arms, knowing full well that Koga had put an end to that practice now that Kagome had entered the picture.

Sesshomaru remarked, “Demons of my class do not care if your kind exist or not. I wouldn't fulfill my hunger with human flesh. The woman inside, she spoke of this same thing as you about devouring humans.”

“Yes. Usually the magician who summons the demon makes a mistake in the spell controlling the demon. They might say the wrong word, draw the wrong diagram on the ground, or lose control of the illusion encasing the demon they have summoned. When that happens, the demon breaks free and eats the magician and then whomever is still around.”

“Interesting.” Sesshomaru inched towards the door. He nodded before entering.

Inuyasha was left standing by himself. “So, what you're saying is someone has to summon you here if you're a demon?”

“Yes.”

“My brother Sesshomaru is far older than me, but I do know that my particular breed of demon mate for life. His mother died a long time before I was born. She died in battle, or so I've heard.” He looked towards the cottage through the window. “We don't know how exactly we got here.”

“Well, perhaps we can discover that.”