InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Lady Unicorn ❯ Inuyasha and Lady ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

A/n: Sorry for the long wait o.o;;... honestly, I forgot about this fic e.e;;... That's what I get for having so many fics at once. Gah. I learned my lesson...

SailorDraca: Well, thank you! No offense taken. I can recognize a compliment when I get one. (most of the time ^^)

LadyOfFire: I forgot! I'm sooooo sorry!

IceFyre1222: I sorry :x. Let's just say he was a bad, bad man... T_T;...

Ah, the difficulties of the will to write and the mind not willing to cooperate. For those who waited, forgive me for the long wait. I was caught between Silence the Fairytale and Sleep Paralysis. I also wanted to finish The Gamble... I shall not start another story, I swear, even though my mind is whispering to me in temptation... I shall not falter >>!




Shippo watched haplessly as the knight on the unicorn scorned him, turning away on the unicorn as he said, "I have no need for you."

"But I'm only just a kid!" he shouted out in protest, trying to chase after him as the man faded off into the misty night. "Come back! Wait for me!"

He felt big, giant globs of tears form in his eyes from the injustice of it all.

How could an 'honorable' knight leave him behind?!

Looking around, Shippo started shivering from the cold. His teeth rattled in his head, and he hugged himself to ward off the freeze.

"Stupid man..." he grumbled dismally, wandering in the forest for a sign of anything that might help his poor situation.

Though, he couldn't stop the sniffle that escaped his nose.

"I will NOT cry! I am a man! And men don't cry!" he ascertained in aggravation and determination, rubbing at his dewy eyes and snotty nose...

The problem, though, was that he failed to see the man standing before him.

And when he so happened to look up, and there the man was with his axe above his head and a crazed look in his eye, Shippo shrieked.

"S-stay away!!"

But he only came nearer, and from his head grew two horns and from his back grew a forked tail.

"I am the devil, and I shall eat you, little boy!"

Shippo couldn't help himself... he began to cry. And he turned, fleeing for his life.

"Stupid knight, how could you have let this happen to me?! I'm only a little kid!!" he bawled, blaming all his current problems on the man who left him behind.

A sudden and sharp pain to his head caused him to yelp aloud, cursing the knight's name once more.

"I'm too young to dieee! Help mee!"

A grunt answered him.

"Oi, runt, wake up."

Shippo opened his eyes.

And he was greeted by a pair of horribly familiar golden hues.

"Eek!"

Another bop on his head was issued.

"Idiot."

He was dropped unceremoniously onto his rump, and Shippo cursed. "Hey, don't manhandle me, you jerk!"

The knight in black armor standing before him, his Unicorn standing not so far from him-unbridled and unsaddled as usual-and he snorted.

"This jerk saved your life, runt," the man muttered, turning away from him just as he did in the dream Shippo had had only minutes before, and mounted the mare.

The unsettling memory of the night previous came rushing back to him, and the nightmare he had just had sent Shippo launching himself onto the knight's leg, latching himself there viciously like a leech and an unwilling person to let go so easily.

"Don't leave me!" Shippo cried, tightening his hold onto the armor clad leg.

The man peered down at him gruffly, critically.

"What's your problem, runt?"

Shippo sent a heated glare his way, tears shining brightly in his eyes.

"Y-you left me last night! Alone! I nearly got killed because of you!" he said accusingly, and the knight seemed to soften ever so slightly at his words.

"You did, did you?" he questioned, grabbing Shippo by the back of the collar and lifting him onto the hind of the unicorn. "I told you... I saved your life then. You just don't know it. But still, I apologize for your trouble. You happy?"

Shippo became indignant, unable to voice his frustrations any longer and turned away from the man unspeaking.

Instead, he just cried.

That was, until a memory of jeweled eyes and raven hair reminded him...

"The woman!" Shippo gasped, turning to the knight and grabbing his arm. "What happened to the maiden?!"

The knight turned to look down at him. "Woman, you say? She escaped."

Shippo breathed a great sigh of relief, but still he pressed.

"And she was unhurt...?"

"Yes, yes, she was fine."

Shippo melted onto the back of the unicorn, happiness flooding his being.

"I'm glad..."

The knight leered at him a bit, but faced forward then and urged the mare on, who whinnied in return. He patted her neck, as if to placate her, though she had already started on.

Shippo breathed then, running his hands over the undeniably soft hairs of the beast... she was a spectacle, but by now a welcome sight after what had happened...

He shuddered at the thought, sniffing ever so slightly.

What made cruel men like that live in the world?

They were inhuman...

And for the first time he noticed, all fear of the supernatural creature had melted away, and that he had even come to find her... comforting...

Beautiful, even.

"...where..." he began to ask, but thought better of it...

Where did you find something so mystical?

The knight seemed to either ignore, or be unaware he had even spoke at all, and Shippo felt melancholy set in.

While he should have been happy he was alive to see another day... he couldn't help but constantly remember the things he had seen...

All those poor souls.

"...don't linger on bad thoughts. It'll bring bad things to you," the man commented naturally, so randomly even that Shippo had been surprised.

"I'll do what I please," he snapped outlandishly, and rather unintentionally, but he felt emotionally betrayed.

He still felt he had been abandoned, and the knight was to blame for his misgivings.

"Whatever. Do what you want."

They continued at a leisurely pace in silence until about midday, Shippo bringing in a full-on silent treatment to show his displeasure.

Though, he wasn't sure if his companion even cared.

When they stopped to rest at a small lake, the knight dismounted and went to sit on the bank as the unicorn drank from the calm waters. Shippo leapt off as well, but stayed from the knight, staring at him indignantly from a distance.

The knight was, of course, immune to the child's antics and went about his business. First, he opened a satchel that was on his waist, and broke out bread and cheese, followed by a flask.

Watching him, Shippo was suddenly reminded of how hungry was, and his stomach growled loudly to mention too.

Turning red with embarrassment, Shippo looked down at his stomach in pointed anger, finally finding something worthy of his selfish need for something to blame. All in all, he could at least pretend his stomach cared about what he complained on.

"Stupid stomach! I'll feed you when I'm good and ready!" he proclaimed loudly, ignorant of the strange looks brought on by his ranting via the knight.

Still, though, his tummy continued its unwanted protest.

A slight pinching in his abdomen made him squirm uncomfortably, and he sighed dismally.

...lately, he had such wretched luck...

Wasn't the fox ever so resourceful?

...just like his Papa had taught him to be...?

The thought made his heart sigh, ever so softly, but he couldn't ignore the tears that gathered behind his eyes.

Really, he had every right to be so upset, didn't he?

Insane men possessed by the Devil himself and indifferent companions and men who wanted him dead...

...and all in all, really, he was just a kid...

...didn't society, by reach, the world have an obligation of mercy on children?

...at least, that was what he had been taught.

Children are precious, and should be protected.

Humbug.

...no one gave a shit, really.

All anyone cared about was money, and wealth, and possessions, and the ever delicious looking bread in front of his face and--

Shippo's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he instinctually grabbed the loaf that dangled before him as if by magic and scarfed it down.

When he finally took the time to stop and think about what he was doing, he peered up a little ways, and finally took note of the hand that previously had been attatched to the loaf of bread that was attatched to the black armor clad arm that was attatched to the knight who so happened to be sharing his lunch in an uncharacteristically kind way, or so Shippo might assume from what little he knew of the knight.

So far, the man had seemed uncaring, and belligerent, and with little interest in pretty ladies Shippo randomly met in the forest...

"That good?" the man smirked casually, teasing Shippo in his poor eating habits.

"No," Shippo lied, rather grouchily. In fact, it had been delicious, but that didn't deter him from his foul mood.

He had been abandoned, after all.

"That's probably because you breathed it in instead of eating it," the man remarked, rather falling next to Shippo than sitting, and tore into the chunk of cheese in his other hand.

Shippo eyed that as well, but if anything, Shippo was at least not so ungrateful.

"...yeah, well, thanks for the bread anyway..." he mumbled, remembering that things were still infact hard to come by in the world, especially for one such as himself.

The knight grunted noncomittally in return.

Soon, they were accompanied by the Unicorn, who came to the knight and nuzzled him ever so sweetly. The man patted her gently on the side of her face, and then scratched under her muzzle, as the mare came to gently lay down next to him.

Observing the two together, Shippo noticed how the mare was really not overly large... she was easily 15 hands, only a bit larger than the size of a pony, really... yet she had been as efficent as any other size horse he had seen, in ways of a knight's needs.

Usually, the knights rode on horses a bit larger than that, usually 15 hands at the shoulder... yet, she was a wonder, quick and light and sharp to turn. Maybe that was the true use in having one so small.

...that, and she was a Unicorn, after all.

...not like you see one everyday.

Still, it was now that he couldn't maintain his curiousity to himself, and he found his tongue tripping over itself as he asked, "...where did you find her, anyway?"

The knight stopped in the middle of sharing his cheese with the beast, and turned to look at Shippo in surprise, as if he had forgotten he was there.

...this made Shippo feel a bit put out, for he wasn't generally so easy to ignore...

That was, unless he wanted to be ignored.

The knight, for his part, seemed to seriously consider the question and turned his eyes back towards the mare.

For the first time, Shippo realized exactly how blue the unicorn's eyes were... quite shocking, in all reality, and he found himself reminded of a certain girl only from the night before...

"I can't really say I found her. More she found me. We've always been together, it seems..." his voice trailed off then, and he seemed sullen, as if remembering something distantly.

Shippo really couldn't keep his mouth shut though.

Even though he felt he was intruding.

"How come no one else says anything about her?"

The knight shrugged, seeming to have no answer for this himself. It appeared he had pondered this himself, but could only speculate on the truth.

"I'm not sure. I read a couple of legends. They said something about pure maidens and what not... but I'm not a maiden, obviously. And I'm not sure how pure I could be considered. Then, there's also belief. The church has kind of killed any idea of mystical beasts, or many people just have assumed them to be extinct for a long time... but either way, it doesn't matter. It's better they don't know, because she'd be killed if they did," was his reply, and he seemed grateful for her secrecy, as the mare nuzzled him gently once more.

"...what's her name?" Shippo inquired, knowing he may have been pushing it with his interrogation, but he was just so curious.

"...Just call her Lady."

Then, Shippo realized something.

He didn't even know the knight's name.

"..and wait, what's yours?"

The knight, already in the process of standing and stretching his stiff limbs, looked down upon him.

"...Inuyasha."

Shippo crinkled his nose.

...the man was definitely a forgeiner.

"Yeah."

Turning away from him, the proclaimed 'Inuyasha' mounted the mare again and looked expectantly at Shippo to come.

"Hey, wait, you never asked my name!" Shippo complained, for that was the proper way one introduced oneself to another.

'Hi, my name is... what is yours?'

Inuyasha shrugged carelessly at him, reaching down and pulling him up by the collar as Shippo hoped would not become habit, placing him once more at his station on the rear of Lady.

"I didn't care."

Shippo, feeling insulted, fumed quietly and was about to give Inuyasha a large piece of his very opinionated, very small mind before Inuyasha did ask.

"So, you gonna tell me what it is, runt?"

Shippo found his jaw opening and closing in a profound speechless manner, caught between his anger and his annoyance.

All in all, he never was able to answer before Inuyasha said, "...that's a very nice name. I'll be sure to remember it."

It was a sarcastic mutter brought on by the stretched silence, and Shippo made a keening noise of irritation.

Still, he found he lacked the proper words to express his irritation and once more fell into a fit of silence.

Two steps forward, one step back as they might say...

Except, for one thing.

"Jerk."

And in the very near future, Shippo would find that would be his more common name for Inuyasha than Inuyasha's own name.