InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Sight Unseen ❯ Your Mission, Should You Choose To Accept... ( Chapter 17 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: SylverAngel 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Adventure / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 08.09.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.5K | Visits: 1.5K | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Adventure / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 08.09.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.5K | Visits: 1.5K | Status: Completed
Sight Unseen
Chapter 17: Your Mission, Should You Choose To Accept...
"Inuyasha?"
The hanyou's head shot up at the hesitant call of his name. His heart rate began to slow as he recognized Sango, Kirara in her arms. Fortunately, neither Miroku nor Shippo was with the demon exterminator. He glared at her anyway, for disrupting the quiet that had surrounded him and Kagome.
Kagome had fallen asleep in his lap, his warmth and the soft buzz of chatter from the windwalkers lulling her into slumber. He'd been in the process of shifting her so he could stretch his legs when he'd heard Sango's voice.
If she was surprised at seeing them together as they were, the demon exterminator didn't show it. "Lady Tamaeri requested we meet with her in the morning."
Inuyasha's eyes tracked past Sango, to where he'd last seen the windwalker and her son sitting in the crowd. Somehow, he'd managed to lose track of them. The hanyou scowled at his own distractedness. The winged youkai must've departed while he was busy trying not to wake Kagome up as he moved.
"If you're looking for her, she just retired for the night. With her little boy. Such a cute child, too," the demon exterminator added, following Inuyasha's gaze to the crowds of youkai. "All of them are. Their wings look so soft... Were you watching any of the skits, Inuyasha?"
Sango turned around, only to find Inuyasha watching some point past her, eyes narrowed. He was tense, as if ready to spring up at any moment, the only thing apparently preventing him from doing so being Kagome, who was still sleeping in his lap. She looked over her shoulder, one eyebrow raised in question.
"Sango!" she heard shortly before a small ball of russet fur with a bushy tail tackled her shoulder. Shippo grinned at her excitedly. "Did you see it? Did you see that one? They-- Kagome! Did you see?"
A growl from Inuyasha stopped the kitsune when he would've leapt off of the demon exterminator's shoulder towards Kagome. The low, menacing sound warned that the little fox demon's presence was very unwelcome-- to come any closer was to face the consequences.
Sango held Shippo back with one hand as he cocked his head in surprise at the hanyou. "She's asleep, Shippo. And remember, she wouldn't be able to see the skit, so there's no reason to wake her up over it. I don't think it would be very nice to remind her what she's missing out on," she murmured, trying to tamp down her amusement at Inuyasha's reaction to Shippo's arrival.
The kitsune sat back on her shoulder, considering the sight of the half dog demon with Kagome in his arms. Even if it didn't look like he wanted her there at that particular moment. "Well, you must've finally said or did something right, Inuyasha," he commented, oblivious to the scowl he received in return. "Considering you usually mess things up one way or another, and we end up with Kagome mad at you, and Miroku trying to give you advice, and me getting hit in the head for-- Eep!" he yipped and latched on to Sango's neck when he realized the low rumbling noise was coming from Inuyasha, and that the hanyou looked ready to throw the girl in his lap to the ground in favor of capturing a certain kitsune and doing who-knows-what unnamable terrors to him as punishment.
Miroku chose that moment to join the others. He took one look at Inuyasha with Kagome in his arms and grinned widely.
"If you say one word, monk...," the hanyou let the barked threat trail off, baring his teeth.
Miroku held up his hands in surrender, still grinning.
"Inuyasha?"
The sleepy, disoriented voice drew all of their attention to Kagome, who had been awakened by the loud, sharp tone of the half dog demon's voice. "What's going on?" she asked, rubbing her eyes with her fists. Her eyes opened and blinked in surprise, her mind still muzzy and disoriented. The girl's shoulders slumped a bit later as her brain sluggishly made the connection and brought her fully awake, registering in seconds the events that lead up to where she presently was-- she was blind, they were summoned to the windwalker's village by Lady Tamaeri, the leader, and somehow she'd managed to fall asleep on Inuyasha.
"Lady Tamaeri wants to meet with us in the morning," Sango told Kagome, trying to draw the other girl's attention away from her condition and onto a somewhat brighter topic. "It's late, and the performances are almost over. We should head back to the village and get some rest."
"I can show you the way back, if you'd like," Marieko put in as she strode up to the group, yawning. "After all the excitement today I'm almost dead on my feet. And I'm certain you all must be too."
"Thank you, Lady Marieko. We would be honored if you would escort us back to your village," Miroku replied with a small bow to the windwalker.
Sango and Shippo rolled their eyes. "You never change, do you," the demon exterminator muttered as she walked past Miroku to stand beside Marieko.
"Are you two coming?" the monk asked Inuyasha and Kagome, who hadn't yet moved to follow the others.
"As soon as I get some of the feeling back in my legs," the hanyou grumbled, the comment aimed pointedly at Kagome. In his shifting her earlier, he'd apparently placed her right in a spot that pinched a nerve.
"Oh! Sorry, Inuyasha!" Kagome laughed sheepishly, quickly scrambling to crawl off his lap and to the side.
Miroku shook his head and chuckled, striding towards where Sango stood with their guide.
"It's not as if I need to be shown the way like you humans," the hanyou called after him.
"Well, then, don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Miroku threw over his shoulder as he, Sango, and Marieko moved off into the darkness.
"Keh. What wouldn't he do," Inuyasha muttered, pushing himself to his still-a-bit-unsteady feet.
Kagome ducked her head to hide the blush she could feel rushing over her cheeks.
"Come on," she heard Inuyasha mumble a minute later. She held out her hand, hoping the tell-tale pink tinge was gone as he helped her to her feet.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ;>>>>
"I hope you enjoyed the festivities last night?"
"Indeed, my lady. They were quite entertaining," Miroku answered Tamaeri's question as the windwalker gestured for each of them to join her in sitting on the cushions placed on the floor of her hut. "You have some very talented young ones."
"Including your son, Lady Tamaeri," Sango added with a smile as she waited for Inuyasha to lead Kagome around to her other side. Despite Miroku's teasing about the night before, the hanyou had taken up his role as the girl's guide with no complaint.
"Thank you," the windwalker chuckled. "I agree, he is one to play right to your heart, isn't he?"
Sango and Miroku both nodded in response.
After a moment of silence, Tamaeri looked around the group and began to speak once again, this time in a much more business-like tone. "I am sure you would like to know why I invited you to our village."
Inuyasha's ears perked up, and he turned from staring out the window with a bored expression to focus intently on the winged demon's face. His arms were, as usual, folded across his chest.
"Marieko, I am certain, has mentioned the fact that my mate could not be here for the festival last night." She waited for their nods of affirmation before going on.
"He has not been here for several phases of the moon, actually." Tamaeri stopped, looking at the floor in the center of their loose circle and taking a deep breath. "He was kidnapped," she announced when she lifted her head. "Morihiko is a healer. He was out tending to one of the wounded members of his-- our clan that can no longer fly. A few of the hunters were with him, but we never expected an attack. One of them returned with just enough breath to deliver a message to me." The windwalker's eyes closed in pain.
She again took a steadying breath, and when she continued, her voice was detached, as if trying to distance herself from the situation. "I was to renounce myself as leader, and declare Ataru, my-- the male child of my father's brother, would take my place as ruler of our clans if I wanted to see Morihiko again.
"It took my hunters many, many days to find out where he had been taken. While they were searching, I received a couple of other messages from Ataru. He was letting me know Morihiko was still alive, though that might not last, and demanding an answer to his request."
When the winged youkai paused for a moment, Kagome tentatively spoke up. "So your mate is not... has not been..." She couldn't finish the sentence, but Tamaeri caught on to what she wanted without further prompting.
"No. Killing Morihiko as he did the others with him would be too kind. Ataru is too cruel to simply do that. That is the only reason I am certain my mate is still living. None of my hunters have been able to get past the guards that surround Ataru's stronghold, now that we have found it."
"Have you... spoken to him?" the girl asked hesitantly.
Tamaeri looked at Kagome in surprise. The question threw her off guard. "I... yes. Only three times. And then, only briefly."
"Wait, you talked to him?" Inuyasha demanded, restraining the urge to yell as he alternated between glaring at the windwalker and the girl, ears twitching agitatedly.
"Yes." The clipped answer was all he received in response as the winged demon turned to focus on Kagome. "How did you know my people are telepathic?"
"I just figured it out from something Marieko said...," the girl replied sheepishly, fidgeting with the edge of her skirt.
"I see."
"So why the hell do you need us?" Inuyasha growled impatiently.
Kagome reached a hand to his arm to stop any further comments. He shrugged it off forcefully, angry that she had kept the information from him.
"Morihiko had just enough time to tell me he was being attacked, and nothing more, before he was knocked unconscious. Ataru has kept him drugged to ensure his silence." The cool mask Tamaeri had dropped at Kagome's question was back in place as she related the facts to those before her. The faint tremor in her voice betrayed the calm facade, however. "Twice Morihiko has been able to resist the drugs running through his system enough that he was able to tell me he was alive, but someone there discovered his ploy, beating him back into unconsciousness and severing our connection."
Inuyasha snorted, amber gaze pointedly fixed on the windwalker. "What could possibly be in it for us if we help you?"
Tamaeri held up a hand. "I know who you are, and what it is you seek. I have heard much of your small band, of the power each of you holds, and of the aid you have given to many of the human villagers." She paused, wings loosening and resettling against her back as if steeling herself to deliver the rest of her speech. "Several moons ago, I sent some of the hunters to try and break Morihiko out of his prison. Again, only one returned to me, his will the only thing giving him the strength to live. Ataru would have been defeated easily, were it not for the shards of Shikon no Tama that he carries."
The information drew gasps from Kagome, Sango, and Shippo. Inuyasha's eyes narrowed and he bared his teeth. Miroku merely looked surprised.
"I know not how he came upon them," the windwalker continued. "Only that he has them. That is how he was able to kill the hunters I've sent-- he used them to augment his already twisted skills. Ataru is a healer, like Morihiko, though he has never once put the abilities to good use. He prefers to inflict pain, not treat it."
"So, this Ataru kidnapped your mate on his own?" Miroku asked, drawing Tamaeri's attention his way.
"No. He has gathered a small army of his own, exiled criminals, and rebels who believe he is the rightful leader. It was they who assisted him in capturing Morihiko. I understand you met up with Shiori?"
"Yes, Lady. Maruku helped us to recover the shards she had," the monk responded.
Tamaeri nodded. "She was given those by Ataru. Shiori was banished several moon phases ago, along with many of his other followers, for attempting to assassinate me, and Morihiko."
"How many shards does he have?" Inuyasha growled, thinking the youkai would have to have several, given that Shiori had two herself.
"I am not certain. The hunter who informed me that Ataru had them only heard about the shards from one of the guards."
Inuyasha tried to picture how much of the jewel they had restored. Naraku certainly had a few pieces, but could this new enemy possibly have very many?
Silence fell as the group digested all that they had been told.
"Time is growing short. Ataru is becoming more impatient in waiting for my answer. He believes I will give in after hearing his most recent threat, one designed to wound me more than the loss of my mate."
"Your son," Miroku murmured quietly.
The windwalker met the monk's gaze steadily before nodding. "Yes."
"We would need to leave as soon as possible, then," the monk went on decisively.
Inuyasha glared at him, but said nothing.
Tamaeri nodded. "Maruku will accompany you."
"You're not going to help save your own mate?" Inuyasha snorted derisively. "I'm sure you have enough here to protect the kid."
The windwalker turned to him, head cocked to the side. "That is true. There are enough hunters and healers to ensure his safety, even from Ataru, but his future brother or sister would not necessarily be safe if I traveled with you to save his father."
Inuyasha looked puzzled for a moment, then grumbled to himself as he realized what she meant. "Keh."
"Maruku can summon others if need be. Even myself it that becomes necessary."
"Then we leave as soon as he is ready," the hanyou announced, standing up.
Kagome felt him move. "Inuyasha--" she called, hoping to stop him from leaving. Sango's hand on her arm indicated she was too late as he left the hut without another word.
"Now he really _is_ mad at me," the girl murmured dejectedly, shoulders slumping.
"What's wrong, Kagome?" Sango asked, concerned with the shift in her friend's mood.
Kagome only shook her head, inwardly hoping she hadn't just destroyed most of the closeness she and Inuyasha had developed the night before.
Chapter 17: Your Mission, Should You Choose To Accept...
"Inuyasha?"
The hanyou's head shot up at the hesitant call of his name. His heart rate began to slow as he recognized Sango, Kirara in her arms. Fortunately, neither Miroku nor Shippo was with the demon exterminator. He glared at her anyway, for disrupting the quiet that had surrounded him and Kagome.
Kagome had fallen asleep in his lap, his warmth and the soft buzz of chatter from the windwalkers lulling her into slumber. He'd been in the process of shifting her so he could stretch his legs when he'd heard Sango's voice.
If she was surprised at seeing them together as they were, the demon exterminator didn't show it. "Lady Tamaeri requested we meet with her in the morning."
Inuyasha's eyes tracked past Sango, to where he'd last seen the windwalker and her son sitting in the crowd. Somehow, he'd managed to lose track of them. The hanyou scowled at his own distractedness. The winged youkai must've departed while he was busy trying not to wake Kagome up as he moved.
"If you're looking for her, she just retired for the night. With her little boy. Such a cute child, too," the demon exterminator added, following Inuyasha's gaze to the crowds of youkai. "All of them are. Their wings look so soft... Were you watching any of the skits, Inuyasha?"
Sango turned around, only to find Inuyasha watching some point past her, eyes narrowed. He was tense, as if ready to spring up at any moment, the only thing apparently preventing him from doing so being Kagome, who was still sleeping in his lap. She looked over her shoulder, one eyebrow raised in question.
"Sango!" she heard shortly before a small ball of russet fur with a bushy tail tackled her shoulder. Shippo grinned at her excitedly. "Did you see it? Did you see that one? They-- Kagome! Did you see?"
A growl from Inuyasha stopped the kitsune when he would've leapt off of the demon exterminator's shoulder towards Kagome. The low, menacing sound warned that the little fox demon's presence was very unwelcome-- to come any closer was to face the consequences.
Sango held Shippo back with one hand as he cocked his head in surprise at the hanyou. "She's asleep, Shippo. And remember, she wouldn't be able to see the skit, so there's no reason to wake her up over it. I don't think it would be very nice to remind her what she's missing out on," she murmured, trying to tamp down her amusement at Inuyasha's reaction to Shippo's arrival.
The kitsune sat back on her shoulder, considering the sight of the half dog demon with Kagome in his arms. Even if it didn't look like he wanted her there at that particular moment. "Well, you must've finally said or did something right, Inuyasha," he commented, oblivious to the scowl he received in return. "Considering you usually mess things up one way or another, and we end up with Kagome mad at you, and Miroku trying to give you advice, and me getting hit in the head for-- Eep!" he yipped and latched on to Sango's neck when he realized the low rumbling noise was coming from Inuyasha, and that the hanyou looked ready to throw the girl in his lap to the ground in favor of capturing a certain kitsune and doing who-knows-what unnamable terrors to him as punishment.
Miroku chose that moment to join the others. He took one look at Inuyasha with Kagome in his arms and grinned widely.
"If you say one word, monk...," the hanyou let the barked threat trail off, baring his teeth.
Miroku held up his hands in surrender, still grinning.
"Inuyasha?"
The sleepy, disoriented voice drew all of their attention to Kagome, who had been awakened by the loud, sharp tone of the half dog demon's voice. "What's going on?" she asked, rubbing her eyes with her fists. Her eyes opened and blinked in surprise, her mind still muzzy and disoriented. The girl's shoulders slumped a bit later as her brain sluggishly made the connection and brought her fully awake, registering in seconds the events that lead up to where she presently was-- she was blind, they were summoned to the windwalker's village by Lady Tamaeri, the leader, and somehow she'd managed to fall asleep on Inuyasha.
"Lady Tamaeri wants to meet with us in the morning," Sango told Kagome, trying to draw the other girl's attention away from her condition and onto a somewhat brighter topic. "It's late, and the performances are almost over. We should head back to the village and get some rest."
"I can show you the way back, if you'd like," Marieko put in as she strode up to the group, yawning. "After all the excitement today I'm almost dead on my feet. And I'm certain you all must be too."
"Thank you, Lady Marieko. We would be honored if you would escort us back to your village," Miroku replied with a small bow to the windwalker.
Sango and Shippo rolled their eyes. "You never change, do you," the demon exterminator muttered as she walked past Miroku to stand beside Marieko.
"Are you two coming?" the monk asked Inuyasha and Kagome, who hadn't yet moved to follow the others.
"As soon as I get some of the feeling back in my legs," the hanyou grumbled, the comment aimed pointedly at Kagome. In his shifting her earlier, he'd apparently placed her right in a spot that pinched a nerve.
"Oh! Sorry, Inuyasha!" Kagome laughed sheepishly, quickly scrambling to crawl off his lap and to the side.
Miroku shook his head and chuckled, striding towards where Sango stood with their guide.
"It's not as if I need to be shown the way like you humans," the hanyou called after him.
"Well, then, don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Miroku threw over his shoulder as he, Sango, and Marieko moved off into the darkness.
"Keh. What wouldn't he do," Inuyasha muttered, pushing himself to his still-a-bit-unsteady feet.
Kagome ducked her head to hide the blush she could feel rushing over her cheeks.
"Come on," she heard Inuyasha mumble a minute later. She held out her hand, hoping the tell-tale pink tinge was gone as he helped her to her feet.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ;>>>>
"I hope you enjoyed the festivities last night?"
"Indeed, my lady. They were quite entertaining," Miroku answered Tamaeri's question as the windwalker gestured for each of them to join her in sitting on the cushions placed on the floor of her hut. "You have some very talented young ones."
"Including your son, Lady Tamaeri," Sango added with a smile as she waited for Inuyasha to lead Kagome around to her other side. Despite Miroku's teasing about the night before, the hanyou had taken up his role as the girl's guide with no complaint.
"Thank you," the windwalker chuckled. "I agree, he is one to play right to your heart, isn't he?"
Sango and Miroku both nodded in response.
After a moment of silence, Tamaeri looked around the group and began to speak once again, this time in a much more business-like tone. "I am sure you would like to know why I invited you to our village."
Inuyasha's ears perked up, and he turned from staring out the window with a bored expression to focus intently on the winged demon's face. His arms were, as usual, folded across his chest.
"Marieko, I am certain, has mentioned the fact that my mate could not be here for the festival last night." She waited for their nods of affirmation before going on.
"He has not been here for several phases of the moon, actually." Tamaeri stopped, looking at the floor in the center of their loose circle and taking a deep breath. "He was kidnapped," she announced when she lifted her head. "Morihiko is a healer. He was out tending to one of the wounded members of his-- our clan that can no longer fly. A few of the hunters were with him, but we never expected an attack. One of them returned with just enough breath to deliver a message to me." The windwalker's eyes closed in pain.
She again took a steadying breath, and when she continued, her voice was detached, as if trying to distance herself from the situation. "I was to renounce myself as leader, and declare Ataru, my-- the male child of my father's brother, would take my place as ruler of our clans if I wanted to see Morihiko again.
"It took my hunters many, many days to find out where he had been taken. While they were searching, I received a couple of other messages from Ataru. He was letting me know Morihiko was still alive, though that might not last, and demanding an answer to his request."
When the winged youkai paused for a moment, Kagome tentatively spoke up. "So your mate is not... has not been..." She couldn't finish the sentence, but Tamaeri caught on to what she wanted without further prompting.
"No. Killing Morihiko as he did the others with him would be too kind. Ataru is too cruel to simply do that. That is the only reason I am certain my mate is still living. None of my hunters have been able to get past the guards that surround Ataru's stronghold, now that we have found it."
"Have you... spoken to him?" the girl asked hesitantly.
Tamaeri looked at Kagome in surprise. The question threw her off guard. "I... yes. Only three times. And then, only briefly."
"Wait, you talked to him?" Inuyasha demanded, restraining the urge to yell as he alternated between glaring at the windwalker and the girl, ears twitching agitatedly.
"Yes." The clipped answer was all he received in response as the winged demon turned to focus on Kagome. "How did you know my people are telepathic?"
"I just figured it out from something Marieko said...," the girl replied sheepishly, fidgeting with the edge of her skirt.
"I see."
"So why the hell do you need us?" Inuyasha growled impatiently.
Kagome reached a hand to his arm to stop any further comments. He shrugged it off forcefully, angry that she had kept the information from him.
"Morihiko had just enough time to tell me he was being attacked, and nothing more, before he was knocked unconscious. Ataru has kept him drugged to ensure his silence." The cool mask Tamaeri had dropped at Kagome's question was back in place as she related the facts to those before her. The faint tremor in her voice betrayed the calm facade, however. "Twice Morihiko has been able to resist the drugs running through his system enough that he was able to tell me he was alive, but someone there discovered his ploy, beating him back into unconsciousness and severing our connection."
Inuyasha snorted, amber gaze pointedly fixed on the windwalker. "What could possibly be in it for us if we help you?"
Tamaeri held up a hand. "I know who you are, and what it is you seek. I have heard much of your small band, of the power each of you holds, and of the aid you have given to many of the human villagers." She paused, wings loosening and resettling against her back as if steeling herself to deliver the rest of her speech. "Several moons ago, I sent some of the hunters to try and break Morihiko out of his prison. Again, only one returned to me, his will the only thing giving him the strength to live. Ataru would have been defeated easily, were it not for the shards of Shikon no Tama that he carries."
The information drew gasps from Kagome, Sango, and Shippo. Inuyasha's eyes narrowed and he bared his teeth. Miroku merely looked surprised.
"I know not how he came upon them," the windwalker continued. "Only that he has them. That is how he was able to kill the hunters I've sent-- he used them to augment his already twisted skills. Ataru is a healer, like Morihiko, though he has never once put the abilities to good use. He prefers to inflict pain, not treat it."
"So, this Ataru kidnapped your mate on his own?" Miroku asked, drawing Tamaeri's attention his way.
"No. He has gathered a small army of his own, exiled criminals, and rebels who believe he is the rightful leader. It was they who assisted him in capturing Morihiko. I understand you met up with Shiori?"
"Yes, Lady. Maruku helped us to recover the shards she had," the monk responded.
Tamaeri nodded. "She was given those by Ataru. Shiori was banished several moon phases ago, along with many of his other followers, for attempting to assassinate me, and Morihiko."
"How many shards does he have?" Inuyasha growled, thinking the youkai would have to have several, given that Shiori had two herself.
"I am not certain. The hunter who informed me that Ataru had them only heard about the shards from one of the guards."
Inuyasha tried to picture how much of the jewel they had restored. Naraku certainly had a few pieces, but could this new enemy possibly have very many?
Silence fell as the group digested all that they had been told.
"Time is growing short. Ataru is becoming more impatient in waiting for my answer. He believes I will give in after hearing his most recent threat, one designed to wound me more than the loss of my mate."
"Your son," Miroku murmured quietly.
The windwalker met the monk's gaze steadily before nodding. "Yes."
"We would need to leave as soon as possible, then," the monk went on decisively.
Inuyasha glared at him, but said nothing.
Tamaeri nodded. "Maruku will accompany you."
"You're not going to help save your own mate?" Inuyasha snorted derisively. "I'm sure you have enough here to protect the kid."
The windwalker turned to him, head cocked to the side. "That is true. There are enough hunters and healers to ensure his safety, even from Ataru, but his future brother or sister would not necessarily be safe if I traveled with you to save his father."
Inuyasha looked puzzled for a moment, then grumbled to himself as he realized what she meant. "Keh."
"Maruku can summon others if need be. Even myself it that becomes necessary."
"Then we leave as soon as he is ready," the hanyou announced, standing up.
Kagome felt him move. "Inuyasha--" she called, hoping to stop him from leaving. Sango's hand on her arm indicated she was too late as he left the hut without another word.
"Now he really _is_ mad at me," the girl murmured dejectedly, shoulders slumping.
"What's wrong, Kagome?" Sango asked, concerned with the shift in her friend's mood.
Kagome only shook her head, inwardly hoping she hadn't just destroyed most of the closeness she and Inuyasha had developed the night before.