InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Royal Birth: Sequel to His Little Girl ❯ Deaths in the family ( Chapter 11 )

 

 

“Grandpa,” Souta called to the old priest lying asleep in his bed. “Grandpa it's time to wake up, you've gotta open the shrine…Grandpa?”

 

Souta came completely into the room, having before been standing in the open doorway. He walked to the bed that the old man lay in, a cold chill traveling slowly up his spine like creeping fingers of ice. Souta slowly let his hand fall in front of his grandfather's face, held over the old man's nose and mouth. His eyes widened as he let his hand over his grandfather's face move to his neck to feel for a pulse.

 

Tears gathered in Souta's eyes as he came to the realization that his grandfather had died sometime in his sleep the night before. The skin of his neck was cold and his breath had long since stopped. The tears gathered in the teen's eyes didn't fall, but merely sat there bathing his deer brown orbs in crystalline salt water.

 

The boy's mind shut down, his only living relative on this side of the well was now dead and gone, leaving him alone. Souta felt no consciousness nor noticed the path his feet carried him on as he made his way outside the house and into the well house. The boy didn't notice a thing as he fell into the well and passed through the time slip, the only image he could perceive was that of his grandfather's lifeless body lying still as death in his bed.

 

Far beyond conscious thought and unnoticing of his surroundings, Souta climbed the creeping thick vines out of the well and fell limply over the side to lie in the plush snow covered grasses. He saw nothing around him, his mind only able to perceive the death of his grandfather as he walked aimlessly through the forest, noticing nothing.

 

He didn't hear the voices off in the distance of the villagers talking amongst themselves as they strolled lazily in the early morning daylight. He didn't even notice the coldness on his bare feet from the snow lying on the ground in an ankle deep blanket. The boy noticed nothing, simply traveling along dressed in only his sleep pants and shirt, not even a coat to chase away the falling temperatures.

 

 

 

Kouga had just come from Kaede's village after asking if the old miko knew of an inuyoukai named Maito. The youkai in question had come into his lands and offered him a royal standing, unaware of the royal standing Kouga held by birth. As he was walking away from the village he noticed a human boy fall out of the well that he had seen Kagome use before and walk listlessly through the snow. The adult child was dressed unusually and quite unprepared for the weather.

 

As Kouga drew near to the child and came to a stop standing in front of him, he noticed the absence and vacancy in the boy's eyes. What could have happened to the child, he wondered.

 

“Hey kid,” Kouga called, frowning when the boy didn't respond. “Hey kid you got any family around here?”

 

“'Gome,” was all the boy said his eyes staring off into empty space.

 

“What?” Kouga asked the unmoving child.

 

“Ka…gome.”

 

“Don't worry kid I'll get you to her,” Kouga said and lifted the listless boy in his arms, disappearing in a tornado as he sped off for the Western Lands.

 

 

 

 

“Pappa!” Kagome screamed from outside the castle.

 

She stood still as stone in front of Kirara who had fallen unconscious to the ground an injured Sango and Miroku on her back. Their collective injuries alarmed her yes, but the slight barely there rounded lump on Sango's lower abdomen alarmed her more. Was the taijiya pregnant?

 

Inuyasha's head popped up from his snow covered nest, snow gathered in his hair and he shook his head to dislodge the fine cold powder from inside his puppy ears. Toga and Sesshoumaru came running outside along with the children trailing behind, the infant pups still in there cradle. All anyone had known was that Kagome had gone out to watch the sunrise.

 

As they all gathered around, they found the same sight that Kagome had. Quickly, taijiya, houshi, and neko youkai were lifted from the ground and taken into Shinta's healer's chambers. The large room holding several futons for those who were sick or injured, Sango and Miroku were set down on neighboring futons, while Kirara, still in her larger form was placed along a wall bare of futons.

 

Shinta worked quickly to tend to them and assess all their injuries as her daughter and Kagome's mother tended to Maika who lay in the healer's personal chambers deep in labor. Toga and Sesshoumaru watched on as Inuyasha crouched down onto all fours and shook himself full body sending snow and ice crystals flying everywhere.

 

“Why'd you sleep outside?” Kagome asked knowing the shake well from the past two years of travel with the hanyou.

 

All she got from her hanyou friend was a grunt and a half hearted `Keh'.

 

“That would explain why I couldn't find him last night,” Shinta said as she looked up from Sango's sleeping form. “Go into the room through there,” she said pointing to a shoji door along side the wall that connected her personal chambers to the infirmary. “Your mate's in labor.”

 

Inuyasha's eyes opened wide and he stood tall as he walked quickly into the room she had motioned to. As he opened the door a soft cry was heard from his mate along with a sharp cry from a newly born pup. He looked to his mate and smiled softly at her when she noticed his presence. He walked over to stand beside her and kissed her sweaty brow.

 

“She's beautiful,” Inuyasha said looking upon his newborn pup. “Maika,” he called to her softly as he looked at his pup.

 

He turned back to look upon his mate just in time to see her smile gently at him before her eyes closed slowly and her head fell limply to one shoulder. Alarmed the hanyou sat next to her and took her face in his hands. She smelled of death and Inuyasha knew she was gone.

 

“Maika,” he called as his voice cracked. “Damnit Maika wake up!”

 

Toga came into the room at his son's alarmed cry and his eyes saddened as he too smelled the scent of death growing heavy upon the female in the bed. He came up behind his son and laid a hand gently on his son's shoulder.

 

“Make her wake up,” Inuyasha begged his father.

 

“I can't my son,” Toga said sadly as he pulled his son up from the bed and into his arms. “You have a pup of your own now to look after.”

 

“She's not dead,” Inuyasha stubbornly refused to believe what he knew to be true. “She's just sleeping,” he said as he pulled away from his father. “I just have to make her wake up.”

 

“Inuyasha-”

 

“No. She's not dead. She's not dead.”

 

“I'm sorry,” Toga said softly and once again pulled his son into his arms. “I'm sorry my son.”

 

Inuyasha broke down against his father, his face buried in the elder youkai's chest as his body began to shake with silent sobs. Toga tightened his hold on his son and turned his eyes upon Kashu and Shinta's daughter.

 

“Take the child into her uncle,” he said softly and the women nodded as they left.

 

Toga stood silently, simply holding his sobbing son against him before nodding a silent goodbye to the warrior - his son's mate - who died in birth. It was a common and sad death for a woman, the honor in the death only held if the child were successfully born into the world. Lifting his son into his arms he carried the hanyou boy out of the chambers and down the hall and out of the castle.

 

Once they were outside the castle walls and near the gardens, Toga set Inuyasha back on his feet. He and his son walked in silence and as they were nearing the garden they were stopped by a tornado moving toward them. Inuyasha hastily scrubbed away the tears on his face knowing who the tornado belonged to.

 

“Kouga,” he greeted his usual gruffness gone leaving only somberness in its wake.

 

“Hey Inuyasha,” the wolf said, his own voice somber and Toga and Inuyasha then noticed the human boy held in the wolf youkai's arms.

 

“What are you doing with Souta?” Inuyasha asked unable to even gain a mask of his usual gruffness.

 

“Is that his name?” Kouga asked as he looked upon the boy that lay still and silent in his arms, his eyes still vacant. “All I got out of him was Kagome's name…What happened?” the wolf prince asked as a few more tears escaped from the hanyou's eyes unchecked.

 

Inuyasha clenched his jaw before he spoke, his voice low and gravely with the effort to hold back his tears and sobs. “Maika died…a few minutes ago…in labor.”

 

“Hey I'm sorry,” Kouga said as he looked sympathetically on his favored sparring partner and reluctant to admit - friend. “Can I see your pup?”

 

The hanyou nodded and led the wolf and his father into the castle and back into the room that held Sango and Miroku and all the others. Upon entering Kagome gasped and rushed to Kouga's side, seeing her brother in her friend's arms.

 

“What happened?” Kagome asked as she brushed her brother's bangs aside.

 

“I don't know, he was like this when I found him,” Kouga said.

 

“Mamma,” Kagome called out and the woman looked up from the infant in her son in law's arms. “It's Souta.”

 

Kashu's brow furrowed before she moved quickly to her daughter's side. She too brushed the bangs off her son's face and asked Kouga to follow her as she led him to her chambers where he could lay the boy down.

 

Kagome watched her mother and her friend leave and walked over to Inuyasha. She stood before him for a moment and then enfolded him in her arms. The sadness she felt at loosing her friend was greatly outranked by the worry she felt for Inuyasha. Inuyasha's arms came up to wrap tightly around Kagome, crushing the girl to his chest. His head buried itself in her neck and soon his body was shaking violently against her as he cried.

 

“I'm here puppy-chan,” she said to him softly and stroked his hair as she held him close.

 

Kagome led him over to one of the futons and sat down with him. Once the hanyou was seated on the futon he pulled Kagome down into his lap and held her in his arms as he tried to control his tears. The human girl that had come to mean so much to everyone pulled the hanyou's head down into her arms as his face nestled into the crook of her neck.

 

Toga watched as Kagome urged his son to lie back on the futon and then asked for her niece to be brought to her. Taking the tiny pup into her arms she handed her to her father as she loosed the obi around her so that she could more easily open the top of her kimono.

 

Inuyasha looked down at the tiny girl pup in his arms. Not even three hours old and she'd already lost her mother. The tiny female opened her eyes, and Inuyasha smiled and gave a watery chuckle as he looked into them. One eye was a bright sun gold while the other was the color of violets in a storm. Like her father she had tiny little slicked back puppy ears on top of her head, her ears black where her hair was white. She had both her mother and her father in her looks. She would be the most interesting child he'd ever seen. And from her face he could tell she would have every bit of her mother's beauty.

 

Kagome asked for the pup and Inuyasha handed her over seeing that Kagome had partially opened her kimono, enough so that she could feed the child from her breast. She smiled upon Inuyasha as she put the pup to her breast and felt the child suckle greedily from the milk held within.

 

“There's often milk left after I feed the twins so it's ok. I can't replace Maika and I won't try to,” she said softly to Inuyasha. “But I can offer your daughter life.”

 

If not for Kagome holding and nursing the pup in her arms, Inuyasha would have again crushed her to his chest in a fierce hug. Kouga stepped up beside Toga and Sesshoumaru as he heard Kagome's words and saw her feeding the pup from her breast.

 

“That's what made me first fall for her when I met her,” Kouga said as he simply watched the girl. “She's different from everyone else. It doesn't matter what you are, not to her, everyone's family in her eyes.”

 

“Yes, my mate is quite amazing,” Sesshoumaru said being sure to emphasize `my mate' instead of calling Kagome by name.

 

“No need for that mutt, I know who she belongs to. If you'll remember I'm mated as well. Though I'm beginning to think that Ayame has a far greater temper than Kagome.”

 

Sesshoumaru chuckled softly, “You just don't remember her bouts of temper.”

 

“Yeah…Sesshoumaru it was my intent to come here before I found the boy, is there someplace we can talk?”

 

Sesshoumaru looked at the wolf as his face grew serious and he nodded to him and his father and led the wolf, Toga following behind as they left for his office. Once inside and the door closed Sesshoumaru was reminded of just who he had left in here before rushing out at his mate's cries early that morning. The bleating cries of the pups alerted all three youkai to their presence and being closer, Kouga moved to crouch next to the pillow they were nestled upon.

 

“These are Kagome's pups?” he said as he stared at them in wonder and let the hanyou girl play with his hand.

 

“Yes,” Sesshoumaru said as he watched the wolf play with his daughter.

 

Kouga turned questioning eyes up to the inu taiyoukai, “How is it that one is youkai and the other hanyou?”

 

“That still remains a mystery.”

 

Sesshoumaru kneeled down and lifted the pups into his arms and as he stood and walked toward his father, Kouga walking behind him.

 

“What is it you wish to talk to this Sesshoumaru about Prince of Wolves?”

 

“Do you know a youkai named Maito?”