InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ 30 Shards of Jaken ❯ While Hanyou's Sleeping ( Chapter 23 )

Theme: Water

 

Genres: Humor/Gen/Backstory

 

Rating: K

 

Word Count: 1,212

 

While Hanyou's Sleeping

 

“So… the rumors were true.”

 

Sesshomaru was standing in a glade in front of a towering tree. Its branches were so vast and high above, they seemed to reach into heaven itself. For one as petite as Jaken, even if he had craned his head all the way back, he wouldn't have been able to see the tree's end. But now his focal point was not the top of the tree, but instead what resided at its bottom, plastered to the trunk.

 

A boy, no more than 15 years old in appearance, with long white hair, a bright red haori, and a pair of ridiculous canine ears, stood as though resting against the tree, his eyes closed. A long, fine arrow was pierced through his heart. It was indeed Lord Sesshomaru's contemptible half-brother Inuyasha, whom Jaken had had the displeasure of meeting once before long ago. He'd found the hanyou, who had a human of all things for a mother, typical of that inferior species: He was weak, brash, foul-mouthed, and distempered. And he'd had the gall to smack Jaken on the head when the little youkai had told him so. But the worst injustice he'd committed of all in Jaken's eyes, besides existing, was inconveniencing Sesshomaru by getting himself stuck to a tree just when he might finally prove himself useful.

 

“Perhaps the fool is only sleeping, my lord,” Jaken said. “Let me have the honor of waking him for you!”

 

Sesshomaru watched in dispassionate silence as his tiny vassal set Nintoujou down and shimmied up the trunk, finding little holds in the bark with his claws, until he reached up to Inuyasha's chest.

 

“I'll have this out swiftly, my lord!” And with that, Jaken raised one hand and reached for the arrow. As soon as his fingers brushed it, he was sent flying back as though struck by lightning. With a squeal, he landed on his head by Sesshomaru's feet, slightly charred. The arrow was still crackling.

 

“Are you blind, fool?” Sesshomaru said. “That arrow possesses a powerful spiritual seal.”

 

As Jaken lay on the ground, his hand smoking slightly, he silently wondered why his lord had failed to mention that before he'd tried.

 

But Sesshomaru was no longer paying him any attention. He stared up at his half-brother's cursed form, deep in contemplation. Jaken thought he heard his lord mutter, “… a fool to let a human defeat him….

 

“Come, Jaken,” Sesshomaru said louder, and was already striding away. “This cretin is of no use to me sealed. I shall find the location of my father's grave some other way.” Sesshomaru had already disappeared into the brush by the time Jaken recovered from the arrow's spiritual charge and could pick himself up. Apparently, his lord either didn't notice or didn't care that the little youkai was not at his side.

 

Normally, Jaken would have run after him calling, “Wait for me, Lord Sesshomaru!” but something stayed his feet. He peered up at the hanyou again, thinking hard. He had just humiliated himself and failed his lord in one fell swoop. There had to be a way to win Sesshomaru's favor again. If only he could somehow wake the dratted hanyou up, then Sesshomaru would know his worth.

 

Suddenly Jaken squealed in delight. He'd formed an idea! But he would need to gather the proper supplies first to carry it out. And that meant raiding the nearest human village…

 

Chuckling to himself at his own cleverness, Jaken trotted off through the forest in the opposite direction from Sesshomaru to carry out his plan, leaving Nintoujou behind so that his hands would be free to make their mischief.

 

 

His small stature came in handy, as he was able to sneak into the village unnoticed. He stole into the nearest empty hut and had to stifle an outburst of glee when he found the equipment he was searching for: Two wooden buckets.

 

He was just sneaking back behind the hut with his stolen treasures in hand when he heard two voices approaching, and froze.

 

“I have the medicinal herbs for you right here,” a young female voice said, going into the hut and coming back out again.

 

“Thank you, priestess,” an older male voice said.

 

Jaken stole a quick glance around the side of the hut. Formidable youkai though he may be, he did not want to risk tangling with a priestess when his flame-throwing staff resided some miles away. But when he saw her, he felt he needn't have worried. The priestess wore a patch over her right eye. Jaken magnanimously decided not to start a fight with one so obviously disadvantaged.

 

The priestess was telling the villager how to apply the herbs when suddenly she stopped mid-sentence.

 

“What is it, Lady Kaede?”

 

“I feel the presence of an evil aura,” she said.

 

“Oh my!” the man said. “Should I send for help?”

 

“You needn't worry,” the priestess said calmly. “The aura is very small. Almost unnoticeably small. I suspect it belongs to a harmless youkai child. As long as it goes on its way back to its parents, I wouldn't attack one at such a disadvantage.”

 

Jaken positively bristled with anger at the wench's insinuation! Harmless youkai child? How dare she! But alas, he had no time to retaliate, for he must hurry forth on his mission. With the prized buckets in hand, he snuck out of the village, disgruntled.

 

 

Jaken soon found what he was looking for in the forest: A stream. He filled the two containers to the brim with water, and trudged back to Inuyasha's tree, quite saddled by the weight of his baggage.

 

By the time he arrived at the Goshinboku, seeing that despicable hanyou resting so peacefully and untroubled, Jaken was in a foul mood. He'd gotten shocked, humiliated, derided, abandoned, insulted, and exhausted all in one day, all because of that stupid, no good lout of a hanyou.

 

Setting the buckets down, he took a few moments to catch his breath. Then he picked one back up, yelled, “Wake up, you deplorable half-breed!” and threw the bucket of water in Inuyasha's snoozing face.

 

For a few seconds, Jaken thought his plan had worked. But as the water trailed down the hanyou's shoulders to his feet, he saw that Inuyasha was as still as ever, except, in Jaken's eyes, the peaceful visage now had a hint of smugness to it.

 

“Drat!” Jaken cried, kicking fruitlessly at the hanyou's shins. He had better start catching up to Lord Sesshomaru, though he hated the thought of returning to him empty-handed.

 

Sighing, he picked up his Nintoujou and turned to go. Then, with a second thought, he set the staff back down, and picked up the other bucket of water instead. And with a great yell, he tossed the water in Inuyasha's face.

 

“And that,” Jaken said in a huff, “that was because I just don't like you.”

 

And the little youkai scurried off into the forest, calling, “Wait for me, Lord Sesshomaru!” as loud as his small lungs would allow him.

 

Water dripped down the hanyou's hair and from the tip of his nose, and still he slept on unawares of just how frustrating he could be. Even in sleep, he and Jaken just didn't get along.