InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ I Am the Moon ❯ Lost and Found ( Chapter 1 )

Legal Disclaimer - I do not claim ownership over Inuyasha or any of its characters. They all belong to Rumiko Takahashi. God, I wish I was her.

Summary: When Inuyasha suddenly goes missing the rest of the gang gets worried and sets out to find him. Only when they do come across Inuyasha again, he's changed quite a bit . . . .

Chapter 1 - Lost and Found

A small group of assorted humans and youkai traveled down a small road that ran in-between two large rice fields. The sun was high in the sky at that point, suggesting that the time was about noon, letting the travelers know that they had been walking for over five hours in the spring heat.

The only male human was dressed in the traditional garbs of a middle-class monk; every time he took a step, the rings on his golden staff would jingle and clang in a rather annoying tempo. One of his female companions was dressed in a summer yukata; she carried a large and heavy looking weapon on her back made of polished bone. The other human was a young girl of about 15 with very unusual clothing on. Her green skirt was short, shorter than the average kimono while her shirt hid nothing of her upper body.

Two demons traveled with them: a small, red-headed kitsune and an even smaller neko-youkai. Both were riding in a tiny wicker basket at the front of a magenta contraption being pushed by the girl with odd clothes.

"Where do you think he could've gone?" Kagome wondered aloud as she pushed her pink bicycle down the beaten path.

"I don't know. Perhaps it is another scheme prepared by Naraku," Miroku replied, spitting out the offending name like venom.

"In that case, we should be on guard. You never know when that foul beast will attack us," Sango suggested, hoisting her boomerang to a more comfortable part of her upper back.

"True. He his as evil as he is unpredictable," the monk agreed, shouldering his staff.

"You guys! Can't you see that all your talking isn't helping our situation very much!" Shippo cried, nodding his head in Kagome's direction.

Indeed, the girl from the future was looking very worried and afraid for her friend. Inuyasha had gone missing over three days past and he was showing no signs of returning. And the strange thing was that the one thing he left behind was the most important: the Tetsusaiga. His sword had been found resting next to Kagome and that was all. Neither a note nor a whisper of to where his travels would take him. Just the sword that would protect them in case of danger.

The taijya and the monk exchanged a glance, but said nothing to the expression on their friend's face and continued on in silence.

~

The next morning, the group set out again. They continued to head northwest in hopes of finding Inuyasha. Japan was a big place, and their chances of running across their Hanyou friend were slim to nothing, but they still headed out with their heads held high as their spirits.

They walked past a large, open field covered in green grass. Trees were sprinkled across its threshold here and there, providing shade to several spots on the open plain. The wind picked up, breezing through the long blades of grass and making them dance somewhat lazily.

Miroku stopped suddenly; Sango and Kagome also. Shippo tensed and cowered in Kagome's backpack as Kirara transformed into a large, terrifying fire beast. The wind continued to blow, getting stronger as rain clouds gathered along with an evil and ominous energy; Kirara growled. A light rain fell upon them as the wind turned into sharp blades, cutting their unprotected faces and arms.

And then the clouds parted as the rain drizzled and ceased. The wind died down and the sun shone through grey splotches in the sky; Kirara growled again. It started again and the wind caused the rings on Miroku's staff to create the sound of sliding metal; Kagome notched an arrow in her bow as Sango let loose the strap across her chest, clutching her boomerang with her left hand.

A strong gust of wind nearly knocked them over and the group shielded their eyes against the flying debris. When it stopped, they looked up to see a woman standing in the middle of the field before them, her dark brown hair swooping over her crimson-colored eyes. Her blood-red lips smiled cruelly, standing out on her long pale face. Jade earrings hung from her elfish ears, swaying with the wind. Her long, intricate kimono billowed out from her well-built body. A pale hand held a large black fan at her side; the wind stopped.

"Kagura . . ." Miroku muttered with loathing.

"Houshi," Kagura began coldly, "how nice that you remembered me."

The group of travelers stiffened as she held up the fan above her head.

"Though you won't needen't to remember much longer, because you'll be dead soon!" Kagura said, and brought down her ogi in one smooth sweep. "Fuujin no mai!"

And blades of wind were sent towards them. The sound of the attack was that of screeching beasts and scraping metal, so intense that the blades actually became visible, may it have been from the quick speed or the pulsing evil youki around them.

Miroku and Sango darted to the left, Kagome to the right with Shippo still cowering inside of her bag; Kirara circled from overhead, watching the battle and waiting for the right moment to attack.

The wind sorceress didn't look amused, she merely sent another round of wind cutting blades towards them; the attack left huge slashes in the once beautiful field. Crimson eyes widened slightly with realization.

"It seems to me, that you are down one member of the team. Where is that infernal half-breed, Inuyasha?" Kagura asked.

"None of your business, you foul beast!" Kagome spat, shooting a purity arrow at Kagura. The wind temptress evaded the life-threatening attack with ease.

"Yes, enough of these games! KAZAANA!" Miroku shouted, opening up his air void.

"Houshi-sama! No!" Sango cried, watching from above on Kirara's back.

The monk looked and saw the swirling mass of yellow and black headed their way beneath the darkened sky.

"Saimyoushou?!" Miroku gritted his teeth angrily, sealing the air rip in his hand with his prayer beads.

Kagura seemed interested now. The elite team of fighters, that her master feared so much, was missing their key element. In fact, it wasn't as fun to battle them without that silver-haired, hot-tempered hanyou that always accompanied them. He always made the fight just a little unpredictable, and a lot more interesting.

"Hmph. How boring. Without that inu-youkai, this battle seems to already have a predictable ending," Kagura said, feigning disappointment as she opened her ogi all the way and held it above her head. "Now it is time to die. And don't worry; I shall make sure that you dance so prettily."

And with that said, she brought down her fan.

"Ruuja no mai!" Kagura shouted as a rush of wind gathered into many different tornado-like entities.

The swirling twisters headed in all directions, tearing up earth and rock. Kirara swooped down to gather up Miroku and Kagome from the ground; Kagome's pink bicycle was ripped to shreds. Shippo was dead unconscious in her bag.

When the smoke cleared, all that was left was rubble and debris from the once peaceful looking field. And Kagura stood in the middle of it all, laughing to herself. She laughed until it got so loud, the group could hear it from their high altitude.

"What do we do?" Sango asked quietly, fearful of drawing attention to themselves.

"I do not know. What do you think, Lady Kagome? Should we run?" Miroku inquired, turning his cerulean gaze to her.

"Ano . . ." Kagome murmured to herself, trying to think.

"We are no match against her without Inuyasha. Maybe we should run while we can," Sango suggested, but stopped when a wind cutting blade was sent towards them.

Kirara headed back to the ground; the group jumped off and resumed their battle stations. Kagura laughed again at their feeble attempts at fighting stances.

"I think that it is now time to put an end to your pathetic interference," Kagura said, and raised her fan once more; Kagome and the rest prepared for the worst.

But Kagura did not move, and neither did the group of travelers. There was a rustle, a sharp sound like something breaking, and then a large intake of air.

"Omigawd, I thought I was gonna suffocate in there…" a voice cried out.

It was sort of shrilly and childish, as if it belonged to a kid around the age of seven or so. Everyone's attention turned towards the sound and their eyes fell upon a pair of gorgeous, honey-colored eyes staring innocently back at them through a curtain of silver bangs . . .

^_-

Ooooh. Cliffie. You like so far? Please, tell me what you think! If this has been done before, let me know! This is the first new Inuyasha fic that I've written all year and I'm so proud of it! So . . . who's this mysterious golden-eyed little kid, huh? Well . . . I'll give you three guesses.

Now it's time for Nihongo no kurasu. Or, Japanese class:

Houshi - name used to describe a middle-class monk

Kazaana - Air Void; Wind Tunnel; Air Rip, etc.

Saimyoushou - The Insects of Hell; Naraku's poisonous insects.

"Fuujin no mai!" - "Wind Blades Dance!"

"Ryuuja no mai!" - "Dance of the Dragon!"

Ogi - Fan

Hentai - pervert (did I use this expression yet?)

Miko - priestess (did I use this at all?)

Neko - cat

Kitsune - fox

Youkai - demon

Youki - demon energy

Miasma - poison gas/fog

Shikon no Tama - Jewel of Four Souls (and if you don't know this by now . . . there's something wrong with you, okay?)

Taijya - demon slayer

Inu - dog

Hanyou - half demon

"Ano . . ." - equivalent to the English "Um . . ."

yukata - a light (normally cotton) summer kimono

Review and you'll get some bandie candie that I bought off my friend. All flames will be used to set fire to detention slips, parking tickets, and whatever other miscellaneous goodies I can find in my glove compartment.

~The Random Queen

Thanks, and see you soon! Hope you enjoyed!