InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Beginning of Darkness ❯ Chapter 5
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: SnowySilence 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 03.26.2004 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.2K | Visits: 306 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 03.26.2004 | Pages: 3 | Words: 2.2K | Visits: 306 | Status: Work In Progress
Part 5
~*~*~
Inuyasha scowled at the big grin on the wolf’s face. One of Kouga’s favorite things to do was make Inuyasha beg. Which was what Inuyasha did. ‘Keep your cool, Inuyasha. You need his help.’
“Of course I’ll help you. I like the kids, even if I can’t stand you, mutt.” Kouga crossed his arms, this grin fading. “Besides, I don’t like to see Kagome so upset.”
Inuyasha let out an exasperated breath. “Then why did you make me do all that begging? ”
“Because, it was entertaining to see you hold that rotten temper of yours.”
They both walked out of the cave. Shippou was standing with Kagome, Miroku, Sango and Kohaku. When Inuyasha and Kouga joined them, they all headed down the mountain.
They made camp at the base of the mountain. No one was really in the mood to talk, but Miroku was unusually quiet.
“Why are you so silent?” Inuyasha looked over at Miroku.
“I think that this was all a set up.”
This, of course, gained him a full audience. “What do you mean?” Sango said, looking quizzically at her husband.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about those little demons that attacked the village. Did you notice that they really didn’t do much damage? It was like they were waiting for us.”
“And why, might I ask, would they do that?” Inuyasha crossed his arms over his chest.
“I think to wound us.”
“Huh? That doesn’t make any sense. They didn’t wound us. And they ran away.”
“But they did wound us, Inuyasha. One bit Kagome’s ankle, one clawed Sango’s cheek and one bit your ear and your hand. All of those little wounds were bleeding.”
“There is a flaw in your logic, monk. You weren’t injured.”
“Yes. I was.” Miroku pulled his sleeve up and showed them all a long, thin slice down his right arm, ending in the palm of his hand. “One of them did this.”
“Okay, say you’re right. Why? Why would they go to all that trouble to give us little scratches.”
“Two reasons. One, to distract us from the munchkins. Two, I think the point of these wounds were to steal our ability to find the kids on our own. Inuyasha, you can’t smell anything, Kagome can’t sense the jewel, I can’t use any of my powers, and Sango can’t find any trace that the Munchkins were anywhere near the house. We needed Kohaku to find their tracks.”
“Why would someone go to all this trouble though?” Sango said, moving closer to Miroku.
“I’m not sure, but I think it’s because they want the kids. I don’t know why, but one this is for sure. We were slowed down because we couldn’t use our abilities to find them. The munchkins can be anywhere by now.” Miroku sighed. “Of course, this is just speculation.”
“And you’re normally correct when it comes down to it, Miroku.” Kagome lowered her head. “It just means we have to hurry and find them.”
~*~*~
The children had been wandering in a western direction for about four days. Kiyoshi hadn’t slept for more than two hours at a time for every ten hours he was awake.
Kiyoshi was exhausted. But since he was the only one that knew how to use any form of weapon, he felt it was his responsibility to take care of the others.
“Please Kiyoshi, just take a nap. I promise that if anything happens, I’ll wake you up. I promise.” Aiko looked at her twin. She was very worried about his health. He hadn’t been sleeping, or eating much. All Kiyoshi did was keep watch and hunt for food.
Kiyoshi yawned. “I’m fine.”
“Please Kiyoshi. I don’t want to have to take care of you if you get sick.”
Kiyoshi looked at his sister. He sighed. “Oh, alright. But wake me up in a few hours. And if anything happens, wake me up immediately. Promise?”
“Promise.” Aiko smiled in relief.
Kiyoshi yawn again and wandered over to the sled. All the kids were playing by the fire, so he crawled on top of the sled and pulled one of the huge quilts over his head. It was about noon, and they always stopped for a few hours at noon so the little kids could play.
“Kiyoshi, wake up Please, wake up Someone’s coming ” Kiyoshi was shaken awake by Aiko who was looking rather alarmed.
“What’s going on? I just laid down.” Kiyoshi sat up, rubbing his eyes.
“No, you laid down three hours ago, but never mind that.” Aiko was pulling him off the sled and and was ushering the little kids onto it. “Someone’s coming, and it doesn’t smell human.”
This brought Kiyoshi fully awake. He climbed a nearby tree and waited to see who was coming. Below, Aiko was pulling the sled along further into the brush and next to an old tree. There was a hollow at the base of the tree, and Aiko pushed the sled into it and covered the opening with rocks and shrubs.
Kiyoshi watched the road intently. Then the demon came into view. There were two demons. One was very small. It was ugly and looked just like a fat walking toad. It carried a very odd, two headed staff. The other demon was tall, and very elegant looking. He had long silver hair and golden eyes. ‘He sort of looks like dad...’
Aiko touched his shoulder. She had hidden the other kids and then joined her brother to look for the demon. They exchanged glances. As long as they didn’t cause a disturbance, the demons should walk right by without noticing them. Unfortunately, the tall demon had a very good nose.
The demon stopped. And looked in their general direction. “Jaken.”
“Yes, my lord?”
“Someone is hiding in those shrubs over there. I want them brought out.”
“Yes, my lord.”
The little toad named Jaken took a step towards the side of the road and raised his staff. A large fireball emerged from the end of the staff. Aiko cried out in surprise, and unfortunately the tall demon also had good hearing. He looked up into the trees. Kiyoshi swore. He grabbed Aiko’s hand and raced through the treetops. When they were about 5 miles away Kiyoshi stopped for breath.
“Go back to the others. That big demon is following us. I’ll keep him busy looking for me while you go and make sure that toad stays away from the others.”
“Okay. Just hurry back, okay?”
“Yeah, don’t worry.”
Aiko took off toward the left and then zoomed back the way they came. Kiyoshi closed his eyes and smelled deeply. The demon was still heading towards him. ‘Good.’
Kiyoshi headed down to the ground and started to loop around the area. He’d confuse the demon by leaving his scent on everything in the area, so he couldn’t tell where he was. Then Kiyoshi would make a break for it and go back for the others.
After making sure his scent was all over everything, Kiyoshi hid in the brush opposite the direction the demon was coming from.
Moments later the demon came through the trees and into the clearing. “Come out here, now, boy, before I get angry.”
Kiyoshi didn’t answer. He watched the demons every move. But he gasped when the demon looked right at him. “Come out here, now.”
Kiyoshi, finding no reason to continue hiding, stood up. He backed away until his back was against a tree and then pulled his dagger out of it’s sheath and held it in front of him. “Please, just go away. I just want you to leave.”
The demon raised an eyebrow. “After that chase? You’ve wasted my time, and I require you to explain why.”
“I didn’t want you to follow me I was just trying to get away from you. Just, please, go ” Kiyoshi stared hard at the demon. Why had he come after them if he had no reason to?
“What about the others? Did you abandon them, then?”
Kiyoshi blinked. “How did you know about them?”
“I have a nose. Now did you abandon them, or was that girl going to go and get them?”
This was frustrating Kiyoshi. This demon had a very good nose. He knew he had sent Aiko back to the others. Hopefully she could take on that little demon.
“Umm, Mr. Demon, sir, please leave us alone. We didn’t mean to waist your time, but we didn’t know if you’d hurt us, so we ran. Can’t you just forget this?”
“My time is valuable. You will repay it.”
Kiyoshi didn’t like the sound of that. Did that mean this demon was going to kill him for wasting his time? Kiyoshi raised hi dagger and pointed it at the demon. “Just go away. I don’t want to fight you.”
The demon’s expression didn’t change. “If you throw that dagger, you better aim to kill. It will be the only way you survive.”
Kiyoshi’s eyes widened. He was going to let him have a go? Was this guy that confident that Kiyoshi would miss, or did he want to test him?
Before Kiyoshi could think about it, he threw the dagger as hard as he could at the demon, aiming for his heart. The man dodged the knife but the knife passed through the robes covering his left arm. But the dagger passed right through the sleeve and the demon plucked the dagger out of the air. Within a blink he threw it back at Kiyoshi. It hit with a dull thud.
Kiyoshi’s eyes were wide. He felt blood run down his right cheek. He turned his head slightly and saw that the dagger was imbedded into the tree to the hilt. He gave it a tug but the blade didn’t move.
He felt the front of his Kimono being pulled and he was lifted off the ground, raised eye level with the demon.
The demon seemed to be examining him. He looked over Kiyoshi’s face, clothes, and then he looked at Kiyoshi’s ears. The demon ran a finger over one of the ears. Then he dropped Kiyoshi. “You’re Inuyasha’s pup.”
Shock ran over Kiyoshi. How did this demon know his father? Was he a demon that his dad fought and lost to? “How did you know that?”
The demon looked down at Kiyoshi. “Because, I’m his brother, and I could never mistake that attitude or those ears.”
“WHAT? Your Dad’s brother? ” Kiyoshi stood stunned. ‘Well,’ he thought, ‘at least we don’t have to go to the west lands, now.’
“That is correct. What is your name?”
“Kiyoshi.”
The demon grabbed Kiyoshi by the scruff of the neck, pulled the dagger out of the tree, and headed back the way they had come.
“Hey Let me go Put me down ”
“No.”
Kiyoshi continued to struggle until they reached the place where the chase began. Then the demon dropped Kiyoshi.“Call out the other children.”
“What makes yo think I’m gonna do that.” His uncle raised an eyebrow. Kiyoshi gave him a sulking look before he turned and called for Aiko. Aiko stuck her head around the tree.
“Are you okay, Kiyoshi?” Aiko looked at the tall demon behind her brother.
“Yes. This is who we were looking for.”
Aiko’s eyes got big. “He’s our uncle?”
“Yep.”
Aiko smiled shyly at the tall demon. “He kinda looks like dad.” She stepped out from behind the tree and gave a small curtsy. “How do you do? My name is Aiko.” Aiko then moved behind the tree and tossed out the toad demon, who was tied up and gagged, then led out the other kids.
“Good lord, are all of you my brother’s?”
Aiko giggled. “No. Kiyoshi, me, Midori, Misa, Mitsuko, and Teito are. This is Naoko, Toshihiro, and Chika. They’re human and Uncle Miroku and Aunt Sango’s children.”
The tall demon eyed the children for a moment. “My name is Sesshoumaru.”
~*~*~
~*~*~
Inuyasha scowled at the big grin on the wolf’s face. One of Kouga’s favorite things to do was make Inuyasha beg. Which was what Inuyasha did. ‘Keep your cool, Inuyasha. You need his help.’
“Of course I’ll help you. I like the kids, even if I can’t stand you, mutt.” Kouga crossed his arms, this grin fading. “Besides, I don’t like to see Kagome so upset.”
Inuyasha let out an exasperated breath. “Then why did you make me do all that begging? ”
“Because, it was entertaining to see you hold that rotten temper of yours.”
They both walked out of the cave. Shippou was standing with Kagome, Miroku, Sango and Kohaku. When Inuyasha and Kouga joined them, they all headed down the mountain.
They made camp at the base of the mountain. No one was really in the mood to talk, but Miroku was unusually quiet.
“Why are you so silent?” Inuyasha looked over at Miroku.
“I think that this was all a set up.”
This, of course, gained him a full audience. “What do you mean?” Sango said, looking quizzically at her husband.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about those little demons that attacked the village. Did you notice that they really didn’t do much damage? It was like they were waiting for us.”
“And why, might I ask, would they do that?” Inuyasha crossed his arms over his chest.
“I think to wound us.”
“Huh? That doesn’t make any sense. They didn’t wound us. And they ran away.”
“But they did wound us, Inuyasha. One bit Kagome’s ankle, one clawed Sango’s cheek and one bit your ear and your hand. All of those little wounds were bleeding.”
“There is a flaw in your logic, monk. You weren’t injured.”
“Yes. I was.” Miroku pulled his sleeve up and showed them all a long, thin slice down his right arm, ending in the palm of his hand. “One of them did this.”
“Okay, say you’re right. Why? Why would they go to all that trouble to give us little scratches.”
“Two reasons. One, to distract us from the munchkins. Two, I think the point of these wounds were to steal our ability to find the kids on our own. Inuyasha, you can’t smell anything, Kagome can’t sense the jewel, I can’t use any of my powers, and Sango can’t find any trace that the Munchkins were anywhere near the house. We needed Kohaku to find their tracks.”
“Why would someone go to all this trouble though?” Sango said, moving closer to Miroku.
“I’m not sure, but I think it’s because they want the kids. I don’t know why, but one this is for sure. We were slowed down because we couldn’t use our abilities to find them. The munchkins can be anywhere by now.” Miroku sighed. “Of course, this is just speculation.”
“And you’re normally correct when it comes down to it, Miroku.” Kagome lowered her head. “It just means we have to hurry and find them.”
~*~*~
The children had been wandering in a western direction for about four days. Kiyoshi hadn’t slept for more than two hours at a time for every ten hours he was awake.
Kiyoshi was exhausted. But since he was the only one that knew how to use any form of weapon, he felt it was his responsibility to take care of the others.
“Please Kiyoshi, just take a nap. I promise that if anything happens, I’ll wake you up. I promise.” Aiko looked at her twin. She was very worried about his health. He hadn’t been sleeping, or eating much. All Kiyoshi did was keep watch and hunt for food.
Kiyoshi yawned. “I’m fine.”
“Please Kiyoshi. I don’t want to have to take care of you if you get sick.”
Kiyoshi looked at his sister. He sighed. “Oh, alright. But wake me up in a few hours. And if anything happens, wake me up immediately. Promise?”
“Promise.” Aiko smiled in relief.
Kiyoshi yawn again and wandered over to the sled. All the kids were playing by the fire, so he crawled on top of the sled and pulled one of the huge quilts over his head. It was about noon, and they always stopped for a few hours at noon so the little kids could play.
“Kiyoshi, wake up Please, wake up Someone’s coming ” Kiyoshi was shaken awake by Aiko who was looking rather alarmed.
“What’s going on? I just laid down.” Kiyoshi sat up, rubbing his eyes.
“No, you laid down three hours ago, but never mind that.” Aiko was pulling him off the sled and and was ushering the little kids onto it. “Someone’s coming, and it doesn’t smell human.”
This brought Kiyoshi fully awake. He climbed a nearby tree and waited to see who was coming. Below, Aiko was pulling the sled along further into the brush and next to an old tree. There was a hollow at the base of the tree, and Aiko pushed the sled into it and covered the opening with rocks and shrubs.
Kiyoshi watched the road intently. Then the demon came into view. There were two demons. One was very small. It was ugly and looked just like a fat walking toad. It carried a very odd, two headed staff. The other demon was tall, and very elegant looking. He had long silver hair and golden eyes. ‘He sort of looks like dad...’
Aiko touched his shoulder. She had hidden the other kids and then joined her brother to look for the demon. They exchanged glances. As long as they didn’t cause a disturbance, the demons should walk right by without noticing them. Unfortunately, the tall demon had a very good nose.
The demon stopped. And looked in their general direction. “Jaken.”
“Yes, my lord?”
“Someone is hiding in those shrubs over there. I want them brought out.”
“Yes, my lord.”
The little toad named Jaken took a step towards the side of the road and raised his staff. A large fireball emerged from the end of the staff. Aiko cried out in surprise, and unfortunately the tall demon also had good hearing. He looked up into the trees. Kiyoshi swore. He grabbed Aiko’s hand and raced through the treetops. When they were about 5 miles away Kiyoshi stopped for breath.
“Go back to the others. That big demon is following us. I’ll keep him busy looking for me while you go and make sure that toad stays away from the others.”
“Okay. Just hurry back, okay?”
“Yeah, don’t worry.”
Aiko took off toward the left and then zoomed back the way they came. Kiyoshi closed his eyes and smelled deeply. The demon was still heading towards him. ‘Good.’
Kiyoshi headed down to the ground and started to loop around the area. He’d confuse the demon by leaving his scent on everything in the area, so he couldn’t tell where he was. Then Kiyoshi would make a break for it and go back for the others.
After making sure his scent was all over everything, Kiyoshi hid in the brush opposite the direction the demon was coming from.
Moments later the demon came through the trees and into the clearing. “Come out here, now, boy, before I get angry.”
Kiyoshi didn’t answer. He watched the demons every move. But he gasped when the demon looked right at him. “Come out here, now.”
Kiyoshi, finding no reason to continue hiding, stood up. He backed away until his back was against a tree and then pulled his dagger out of it’s sheath and held it in front of him. “Please, just go away. I just want you to leave.”
The demon raised an eyebrow. “After that chase? You’ve wasted my time, and I require you to explain why.”
“I didn’t want you to follow me I was just trying to get away from you. Just, please, go ” Kiyoshi stared hard at the demon. Why had he come after them if he had no reason to?
“What about the others? Did you abandon them, then?”
Kiyoshi blinked. “How did you know about them?”
“I have a nose. Now did you abandon them, or was that girl going to go and get them?”
This was frustrating Kiyoshi. This demon had a very good nose. He knew he had sent Aiko back to the others. Hopefully she could take on that little demon.
“Umm, Mr. Demon, sir, please leave us alone. We didn’t mean to waist your time, but we didn’t know if you’d hurt us, so we ran. Can’t you just forget this?”
“My time is valuable. You will repay it.”
Kiyoshi didn’t like the sound of that. Did that mean this demon was going to kill him for wasting his time? Kiyoshi raised hi dagger and pointed it at the demon. “Just go away. I don’t want to fight you.”
The demon’s expression didn’t change. “If you throw that dagger, you better aim to kill. It will be the only way you survive.”
Kiyoshi’s eyes widened. He was going to let him have a go? Was this guy that confident that Kiyoshi would miss, or did he want to test him?
Before Kiyoshi could think about it, he threw the dagger as hard as he could at the demon, aiming for his heart. The man dodged the knife but the knife passed through the robes covering his left arm. But the dagger passed right through the sleeve and the demon plucked the dagger out of the air. Within a blink he threw it back at Kiyoshi. It hit with a dull thud.
Kiyoshi’s eyes were wide. He felt blood run down his right cheek. He turned his head slightly and saw that the dagger was imbedded into the tree to the hilt. He gave it a tug but the blade didn’t move.
He felt the front of his Kimono being pulled and he was lifted off the ground, raised eye level with the demon.
The demon seemed to be examining him. He looked over Kiyoshi’s face, clothes, and then he looked at Kiyoshi’s ears. The demon ran a finger over one of the ears. Then he dropped Kiyoshi. “You’re Inuyasha’s pup.”
Shock ran over Kiyoshi. How did this demon know his father? Was he a demon that his dad fought and lost to? “How did you know that?”
The demon looked down at Kiyoshi. “Because, I’m his brother, and I could never mistake that attitude or those ears.”
“WHAT? Your Dad’s brother? ” Kiyoshi stood stunned. ‘Well,’ he thought, ‘at least we don’t have to go to the west lands, now.’
“That is correct. What is your name?”
“Kiyoshi.”
The demon grabbed Kiyoshi by the scruff of the neck, pulled the dagger out of the tree, and headed back the way they had come.
“Hey Let me go Put me down ”
“No.”
Kiyoshi continued to struggle until they reached the place where the chase began. Then the demon dropped Kiyoshi.“Call out the other children.”
“What makes yo think I’m gonna do that.” His uncle raised an eyebrow. Kiyoshi gave him a sulking look before he turned and called for Aiko. Aiko stuck her head around the tree.
“Are you okay, Kiyoshi?” Aiko looked at the tall demon behind her brother.
“Yes. This is who we were looking for.”
Aiko’s eyes got big. “He’s our uncle?”
“Yep.”
Aiko smiled shyly at the tall demon. “He kinda looks like dad.” She stepped out from behind the tree and gave a small curtsy. “How do you do? My name is Aiko.” Aiko then moved behind the tree and tossed out the toad demon, who was tied up and gagged, then led out the other kids.
“Good lord, are all of you my brother’s?”
Aiko giggled. “No. Kiyoshi, me, Midori, Misa, Mitsuko, and Teito are. This is Naoko, Toshihiro, and Chika. They’re human and Uncle Miroku and Aunt Sango’s children.”
The tall demon eyed the children for a moment. “My name is Sesshoumaru.”
~*~*~