Feelings

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. I do own Shrugen.

“Speech”

(Thought)

*Actions*


Thank you nobodie2u for betaing!

Training


Everyone sat in Kaede’s hut, watching the foreign god inspect Tetsuiga, as Inuyasha held it. Hephaestus drew his finger along the blade’s edge and examined the cracks.

“This sword has been forged well. The blade is straight and nary a flaw to be found besides the fracture; although the blade’s tempering leaves something to be desired. And the edge has dulled some. The finishing is poorly done as well. Overall… amateurish at best.” Hephaestus said in his native tongue.


“What’d he say?” everyone asked at once.

“Heh, ah… he said that the sword is well forged; but lacks quite a bit. Amateurish craftsmanship at best.” Shrugen translated

“Amateurish!? Why you… pompous, old windbag! I’ll have you know that it is one of the finest swords in the land.”

Shrugen translated what Totosai said to Hephaestus, who gave a curt reply in Latin.

“He says, that if your craftsmanship is so good, how come the blade cracked not once, but twice?”

“How… I mean the only reason it broke is because this brute” Totosai said, pointing at Inuyasha “swings it carelessly around. Expecting it to withstand anything that comes at him.”

Once again Hephaestus spoke; Shrugen listening intently.

“He says…oh screw it, I’ll let him tell you.”

Speaking to Hephaestus, the god listened and nodded his head, held out his hand and Shrugen grabbed it. A faint glow surrounded their grasping hands and in the same instant it came, it was gone.

“Isn’t that what swords are made for?” said Hephaestus, now understandable. “Swinging them around to kill their master’s enemies? You think that the sword is merely a work of art. He thinks it’s merely a weapon. In this, you are both right, and yet, you are both wrong. The sword is a work of art, as well as a weapon. Favor it for one reason over the other and it will surely fail in the task you set upon it. Use it in battle and neglect to attend to its needs, such as sharpening the edge or keeping its sheen; the blade rusts, the edge chips, and the sword becomes weaker. Leave a sword above the mantle never to be used and it loses its purpose. But, perceive it as both and it will become a masterpiece of art and swordsmanship.”

Turning to Inuyasha, Hephaestus addressed him. “You, boy, what is your name?”

“Inuyasha.”

“Inuyasha, your sword shows traces of what I spoke of, but has more than one personality. What is this sword made out of?”

“My father’s fang. He was a great demon dog general who commanded much strength. Before he died, he asked Totosai to forge two swords from one of his fangs. I got Tetsuiga and Sesshomaru” he said, nodding in his brother’s direction, “got Tensuiga.”

“I see. And when it first broke, Totosai used one of your fangs to re-forge it, which is how some of your personality was infused with the sword. But now that you have awakened your holy powers, another fang is not acceptable, for it is a demons blade; incapable of channeling divine strength. I understand now.”

Hephaestus closed his eyes and everyone wondered if he would re-forge the sword or not. For a few moments he was silent, then he began to chuckle and then started laughing.

“HAHAHAHAHa!” He laughed in a deep, booming voice, full of mirth. “Inuyasha, you present to me a challenge I could not possibly refuse! I must admit, I have never worked with demonic weapons and I can feel that this sword will be difficult to work with, which is all the better. Give me a day to create a forge and I swear to you that I will not only fix the blade, I will make it stronger than ever!”

It went without saying that everyone was a little taken aback by his sudden change of character.

“You will?” asked Inuyasha

“Of course! But before I do, I have a question. You….” he said, pointing at Shrugen “How did you know the ritual to call upon me? I do not know you; neither have I seen you at the gatherings.”

“My father’s journal. Imix of the phoenixes?”

“Ah yes! I remember him. Kind fellow, charmer of the ladies and a voice that not even the muses could match. How is the old bird anyway?”

“He is dead. Died about a century and a half ago.”

“That is… sad news. The others at Olympus will mourn his passing when I tell them of his death. He was well liked there. We would often wake with the dawn just to hear him sing. I swear all of Greece would stop and listen; even Apollo would stop his run across the sky to hear it.”

“He sang? I… didn’t know that.”

“Oh yes. The mortals often referred to him as “The Siren’s Husband”. Although instead of calling sailors to watery graves, he would call beautiful women to a night of unparalleled pleasure.”

“….oh.”

Noticing the amused glances that Shrugen’s companions were giving him, Hephaestus decided not to continue the conversation.

“Well then, down to business. Totosai, if you could show me were you work, I will see if it is worthy enough to be graced by my talents.”

Mumbling something inaudible, Totosai led Hephaestus out of the hut and mounted his ox.

“My place is about a day from here. Half a day, if I ride my ox. I suppose I shall have to have you ride with me?”

“Usually I would ride my ass when traveling great distances, but since he is not here I guess I will have to ride your ox.”

After he climbed up on the animals back, Totosai struck the ox with his hammer and they both took off towards Totosai’s home.

“Ride his ass? How could he-”

“His donkey, Inuyasha. A donkey is also called an ass.”

“…oh.”

“So, what happens now? Do we just wait fro him to build a forge?” asked Sango.

“That’s pretty much all we can do. Inuyasha, I want you to meet me at the nearby lake tonight. It’s a new moon tonight and it would be the perfect time to have you practice controlling your holy powers.”

“You’re right. I almost forgot about that.”

“You’re going to train again!? But we’ve hardly spent any time together these past few days.”

“I’m sorry Sango, but I have to. I need to learn how to control these new powers; otherwise I might accidentally hurt you with them.”

“I know, but does it have to be tonight?”

“Yes it does, but I promise I’ll make it up to you. C’mon, let’s go see what Shippo is up to.”

“You go ahead; I need to talk to Shrugen.”

As they both watched Inuyasha wonder off in search of Shippo, Sango turned to speak to Shrugen, but stopped when she saw Sesshomaru.

“In private, Sesshomaru.”

Silently walking off, he left the two of them standing in front of Kaede’s hut.

“Okay Sango, what did you want to- UFF!” Shrugen had started to speak, but was cut off by a jab to his gut and Sango grabbing the collar of his shirt.

“Listen Shrugen I know your training Inuyasha is for his benefit, but lately he and I have been spending hardly any time together. After tonight I want that to change. Got it?”

“Sango I-” Shrugen tried to retort, but was cut off by another jab to the gut.

“I said, got it?”

“With all due respect, it is not entirely my fault that you haven’t seen much of you mate. You could have found ways to be with him more. Joining us in our practices for starters. I will give you more time with him, on that you have my word. Really, all you needed to do was ask. Now, if you don’t mind I would like you to release me. I dislike being” he smirked slightly, “manhandled.”

Letting go of his shirt, Sango blushed slightly and left to find Inuyasha.




“There you are Shippo. I was wondering where you went.”

Inuyasha found Shippo near the bone eaters; while playing with Kilala and Rin. They looked to be playing a game of tag and it seemed that Shippo was it. He nearly caught Rin when Inuyasha spoke to him.

“Hey Inuyasha!” He said, running up to him. “I was just playing with my new friend. This is-”

“Rin. I know we’ve met before. So Rin, how is it traveling with my brother?”

“It’s ok. He doesn’t talk much and talking with Jaken gets boring very quickly, so I spend most of my time with Ah-Un. Say…ummm you’re Lord Sesshomaru’s brother, right?”

“He’s my half-brother, but yeah.”

“Would it…would it be ok if I called you Uncle Inuyasha?” before Inuyasha could retort, Rin hastily explained her reasons.

“IaskbecauseallofmyfamilyisdeadandShippospeakssohighlyofyouandLordSesshomaruis,well,LordSesshomarusoIwaswonderingifitwouldbealright?”

“Please Inuyasha? It would mean so much to her,” begged Shippo.

“Well… Uncle Inu does have a nice ring to it…”

“Oh thank you Uncle Inu!” Rin said and hugged him.

(*chuckle* How could anyone refuse those eyes, let alone me? I had better- wait, what’s that coming?)
Sniffing the air, Inuyasha could tell that something was coming at them, fast. Suddenly recognizing the scent, Inuyasha told Shippo and Rin to go play somewhere else.
(So Koga…. you’ve come back and from the smell of things you’re not in a good mood.)
Shortly after the children were out of sight, Koga stopped a few feet in front of him, fangs bared and eyes blood red.
“Where is she?! What have you done with her?!” Koga growled.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
“Do not lie to me!!! She was with me last night and now she is gone and her scent has led me here. Where is she?!”
“Kagome isn’t here Koga. She probably went back to her own time.”
“LIES!!!” Koga snarled and grabbed Inuyasha by the collar. “She promised that she would stay.”

“I told you, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Now let go of me or lose that hand.”

Reluctantly Koga released his hold on Inuyasha’s collar and backed away, still glaring at him with murderous intent.

“Calm down and tell me what happened when you left.”

Taking a deep breath, Koga’s eyes faded back and grew calmer; he then started to explain what happened when Kagome and him left last night.

“When you broke the news to her last night, she was devastated. I chased after her to try and calm her down, but when I caught her, she begged me to take her away and to spend the night with her. You can guess what happened. Before we fell asleep, I asked her to stay and be my mate and she agreed. In the morning, I woke up to find her gone.”

*Sigh* “Koga! You ass! You took advantage of her when she was vulnerable and you expect her to stick around? Chances are, she went back to her time never to return thanks to you!”

“Hey, don’t blame me! You’re the one who broke it to her that you chose the demon slayer over her.”

“DAMNIT KOGA! Don’t go blaming me or Sango for YOUR mistakes. You’re the one who did her wrong and you have to live with the consequence that you might have lost any chance in hell at being with her-EVER.”

Koga looked away from Inuyasha knowing that he was right. (Damn I really fucked up didn’t I? I took advantage of her and I just might’ve blown my one and only chance at living with her for the rest of my life. Koga, you idiot.)

“Inuyasha” Koga spoke, hesitantly “Could…could you go to her time and ask her to come back? I… need to atone for what I’ve done.”

“Keh. I’ll go tomorrow and talk to her. Whether she’ll come back or not is completely up to her, so I’m not making any promises.”

“I…thank you Inuyasha. If you don’t mind, I’m going to leave now. I need to think.” And with that Koga, sped off into the forest, leaving a cloud of dust behind.

(Kagome. I can’t remember how many times I warned you about him. Seems they did fall of deaf ears after all.)


The rest of the day was uneventful; mostly filled with conversation and laughter. As the evening crept upon them, Sesshomaru, Jaken, Ah-Un, and to Shippo’s great disappointment, Rin, decided to leave for the night; because there was little room in Kaede’s hut and the villagers were becoming uneasy with Sesshomaru being there.
When night fell, Inuyasha left to go meet Shrugen at the lake. As a human, Inuyasha stepped from the shadows of the forest, he was met with the sight of Shrugen kneeling over the lake. Noticing his presence, Shrugen stood up and turned to Inuyasha, an empty leather pouch in his hand.

“What’s the pouch for?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

“Okay… so what are we- hey wait! You’re a half demon like I am so how come your hair is still white?”

It was indeed true Shrugen’s hair was still white, but it had changed tone from a bright white to a dull grey. His voice had gained a slightly grave tone to it and he looked more tired than usual.

“That’s because I am an old man, Inuyasha. In human years, I would be eighty-seven years old. My guess is that I have one or two more days before I die.”

Inuyasha was about to speak, but Shrugen waved him off.

“But that doesn’t matter now. Right now, I need you to get into the middle of the lake.”

Not even bothering to take off his clothes, Inuyasha jumped in and waded out to the middle of the lake, the water merely reaching up to his chest. Shrugen jumped in as well and stood about ten feet away facing him.

“Alright Inuyasha, now before we begin I need to know, have you seen the ocean before?”

“Keh, of course I have.”

“Okay good. Now, I want you to close your eyes. Good. Now, place your hands just beneath the surface. I am going to try and mimic the oceans waves and I want you to concentrate on how they feel against your hands and body.”

Inuyasha stood still in the lake, waiting for the water to move. After a few moments, he felt a gentle gust of wind begin to blow. As it grew stronger, he felt waves begin to form and disperse, as they struck his body. After getting fair sized waves to form, Shrugen began to talk.

“Alright now Inuyasha,” Shrugen spoke, in a quiet voice, “I want you to channel your holy powers to your fingertips and let it flow from your body into the water. I want you to imagine a soft, glowing light flowing from them into the water and watch as it disperses throughout the entire lake.”

Inuyasha did what Shrugen said and imagined a soft, white light spreading out from around him canvassing the entire lake in light. The more he focused on doing it, he could begin to see details in the light. There was a small void where the light was absent and he knew that it was Shrugen standing there. He could even see the faint outline of the trees in the background.

“Very good Inuyasha. Now, I’m going to stop making the waves and leave it to you to continue the wave’s ebb and flow.”

Inuyasha felt the wind suddenly die down and the waves begin to lessen in strength. Inuyasha tried to force the waves to continue; willing them to strengthen, but to no avail.

“Don’t try to think about making them move Inuyasha, just do it. Remember what you felt when I was doing it; how the waves gently tugged on your clothes, as they crashed into you, remember the sound they made when the waves traveled from side to side and how it felt as the waves moved through your fingers.”

Doing as Shrugen commanded, Inuyasha remembered the sound the waves made and how it felt when they moved around him. Slowly at first, the waves gained strength and then they soon gained their original strength.

“You’re doing good Inuyasha. Now, I want you to try and think of a rainstorm. I want you to think of what it would look like if the raindrops were suddenly stopped in their fall; suspended in time.”

Doing as he said, Inuyasha imagined raindrops suspended in the air, their body’s perfect circles warping the images that can be seen through them. Inuyasha was so focused on what it would look like, that he didn’t even feel the water line falling down to his waist, then his knees and then his feet. It wasn’t until there was no water left in the lake that he noticed that his clothes felt heavier than before.

“Open up your eyes Inuyasha.”

Slowly opening his eyes, Inuyasha saw a spectacular sight. Thousands upon thousands of small water droplets were suspended in midair, the lake being completely emptied. The starlight was distorted, from the droplets, and cast shimmering images upon the earth. He looked around in awe.

“You’ve exceeded my expectations by far Inuyasha. Honestly, I doubted you could do this.”

“I didn’t even know that this was possible.”

“Oh anything is possible, if you’re put your mind to it. We’ll talk more about this later. Right now, I think your audience would like to talk to you.”

Confused at his remark, Inuyasha turned to ask Shrugen what he was talking about, when he saw Sango standing in front of the empty lake, eyes wide with wonder.

“Inuyasha, it’s so… beautiful.”

Inuyasha walked towards her, climbed out of the large hole and walked to where to she was standing. The water droplets caught the light, casting a sheer light upon Sango; increasing, her physical beauty. Indeed, it was a beautiful sight to behold.

“As beautiful, as it is, it is getting late. We should be getting back.” said Shrugen.

Inuyasha and Sango entered the forest, hand in hand, leaving Shrugen alone. With one wave of his hand, the water droplets came crashing down, reforming the lake.

(Inuyasha you take my lesions in stride. I look forward to our next one.)

Shrugen headed back to Kaede’s. unknown to him that the entire event had been watched with interest.

A sudden breeze shook the trees, as a large, white feather appeared in the skyline.

(So…. Inuyasha has obtained new powers. I am sure Naraku will be very interested to hear this.) A slight smile formed upon Kagura’s face, as she took off into the night.