Ears

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or his friends, and Taptai has decided that it's make more sense if he owns me, oh well.


Warmth-

Taptai returned to his senses slowly, noting the slight chill in the air and the warm body pressed to his back he tried to recall just how he had wound up here.

‘Did Jensai and I stay out last night? ‘

Reaching out to sense more of his surroundings he feels the warmth behind him gently move, turning to look behind him Taptai found himself staring into amber orbs gazing at him coolly. Definitely not Jensai.

“Well- about time you got up.”

Too shocked to move, Taptai’s mind froze as he tried to remember why he was sleeping with a dog, and where were his clothes! Allowing his hands to gently trace his body he was relieved to find that nothing had happened, at least he couldn’t find any evidence of anything. Glancing around the small clearing they were in he saw his clothes resting on a rock, drying.

At the sight of his clothes he felt memories flood into his mind. The tree, a snapping limb, the freezing river, and with the memories a realization came to his mind, causing the blood to drain from his face.

“This mutt saved my life.”

Glancing back over his shoulder he saw the mutt still staring at him coolly, his blood running cold just at the thought of being in the presence of a damned dog. But then his thoughts caught up to his reactions, no not a damned dog, his master.

Pulling away just enough to be able to bow in front of the dog-demon, Taptai bent himself low as he rushed to get through the actions his honer demanded of him before his traitorous mind could change.

“Master, you have saved my life and I am now in your debt. Please accept the service of your humble servant- Taptai.”

A low eep and the sound of a body shuffling backwards quickly drew Taptai’s attention up from the ground where he found a wide eyed Inuyasha looking at him in shock.

“Listen, tappy or whatever your name is, I don’t need no servant.”

Looking up to see the fear filled golden eyes Taptai had to wonder just what had caused this reaction in the other hanyou, but was ready to dismiss it as he felt relief flood through him.

‘He has dismissed me, I can leave this mangy mutt and continue with my quest.’

At the thought of his quest though he felt his ears droop- he still needed this dog to train him. Looking back up to see the dog-demon still crouched against the rock with a wary eye on him, Taptai tried again.

“Master, please do not dismiss me, I have been searching for you to ask for your training.”

“I am not anyone’s master and I sure do not train people. I have enough responsibilities as is.”

“Would you consider training me. I can be of service to you and your traveling companions.”

When he mentioned the traveling companions Taptai wondered if he had said too much, but from the look on Inuyasha’s face he could tell that he had his suspicions that his group had been being followed, and now he knew who it had been. Taking a moment to look the other hanyou up and down Inuyasha rose with a snort as he went to get dressed.

“Fine, just stay out of my way.”

Unsure of whether he was being dismissed or not, Taptai rose and dressed then turned to see Inuyasha bounding away in search of his group.

‘Oh well, I guess he wants to see if he can lose me.’

Determined to prove himself to his new master Taptai set out behind him, managing to catch the retreating form of his master easily and to keep up with him.

‘Damn- that guy’s fast, and what if he can tell’

Fear began to trickle through Inuyasha’s mind as thoughts of his upcoming time flowed through him. He had hoped to be able to ditch his group for a while, but now he had to get rid of yet another freeloader. Glancing back he could see that his new “friend” was staying a half pace behind, just as servant should.

“Humph, maybe I can through him off”

Seeing the spot where his friends made camp Inuyasha came to an abrupt stop, almost losing his own balance in the process when he swung to watch Taptai, much to his chagrin the other hanyou merely stopped and looked at him expectantly.

“Whoo- who’s that Inuyasha?”

The nervous voice of Shippo wrenched Inuyasha from his thoughts as he rounded on the kit.

“Where’s Kagome and the others?”

“They went to look for you when you hadn’t come back from last night, they should be back soon.”

“Fine, Taptai stay with Shippo, I’ll go find the others.”

Not waiting for a response from either party Inuyasha bounded off into the trees, leaving a still upset kitsune staring at the new hanyou. Deciding that if he was to be traveling with his master’s party he should try to stay on good terms, Taptai bent down to introduce himself to Shippo.

“Hi, my name is Taptai.”

His nervousness of a moment ago forgotten the fox child came forward and held his hand out to Taptai.

“I’m Shippo. What are you doing with Inuyasha?”

Grimacing slightly at the question, Taptai knew it was best to explain things quickly, and get that detail out of the way.

“Master Inuyasha saved my life when I fell in the river. Now I owe him a life debt.

“Can’t you swim?”

Feeling his cheeks burn as his humiliation burned in his belly, Taptai merely nodded no as he closed his eyes, trying to hold in his tears of shame.

“You know, you really shouldn’t look so down, Inuyasha saved my life too. He may be a real grump most of the time, but he’s not really all that bad of a guy.”

‘Well, maybe my new master won’t be that bad of a guy, hey maybe he might actually be all right.’

Taptai’s thought’s were interrupted when he felt small hands wrap gently around his tail. Looking down he saw Shippo inspecting his appendage as he gently pulled it from the child's grasp.

“Um- Shippo?”

“Oh, sorry, I was just curious. Your tail isn’t like mine or Kouga’s” Noticing the questioning look in Taptai’s eye’s he continued. “Kouga’s a wolf demon we see on occasion, he and Inuyasha fight over Kagome but sometimes I don’t think either of them have a clue. Did you mind that I touched your tail?”

“Well, no it was just kinda unexpected.”

Deciding that it couldn’t be any worse than his friends at the village, Taptai curled his tail back into Shippo’s grasp, running it over the fox child’s head first, getting a small giggle from him.

“Neat, you can move your tail” Looking up he noticed the hanyou’s nod “I can’t really do much with mine, cept move it back and forth.

Smiling down at the fox child’s antics, his face set as he concentrated while making his own bushy tail wag back and forth Taptai let out a chuckle as the fox child did a good imitation of a dog wagging his tail.

“So, what kind of demon are you? I know your not a fox, and you look kinda like Inuyasha but you don’t smell like a dog-demon.”

Reaching around the fox child with his tail Taptai pulled him up to sit on his shoulder.

“No, I am a cat-demon. I guess I look like Inuyasha because we are both hanyou’s”

Smiling at the child on his shoulder Taptai was mildly surprised when the fox looked mildly downcast at the mention off his being a hanyou.

“Oh, sorry to hear that.”

Turning to ask the kitsune what he meant by his statement Taptai was interrupted by the return of Inuyasha.

“Hey- have you two wasted enough time- the others are right over here.”

Not even waiting to see if they were following Inuyasha turned on his heel as he stalked towards the others, a mildly surprised Taptai shrugged as he carried Shippo to join the rest of the group. As Taptai and Shippo made their way into the small circle Inuyasha had already begun his usual argument with Kagome.

“I’m telling you, we don’t need another stray”

“Oh, so Shippo’s just some stray now.”

Taptai glanced around the rest of the group to see just what was going on, from everyone else’s expressions it was obvious that there was a little more than just the argument of whether he should stay going on between his new master and the miko.

“Besides that means another person to feed, and we’re running low on ramen already.”

Walking closer to Shippo who had been rummaging in a large yellow bag for something, Taptai tried to get some idea on just what was happening, noticing his questioning glance Shippo answered his unspoken question.

“Don’t worry about those two, they’re always fighting over something.”

Turning back to the argument still in progress, now having been focused on something called “ramen” Taptai turned to ask the kit another question, keeping his voice down so as not to be over heard.

“Are those two mates?”

Of course as is the way with questions that should never be heard, Taptai’s timing came right in a pause between the two combatants, and so everyone in the group could hear quite well. Glancing up Taptai was certain he was about to be receive a very severe beating from someone, the two members of the group who had so far been quiet were glancing nervously away as both Kagome and Inuyasha had frozen for a moment while their faces had changed to a strange shade of red.

“No, we’re not mates, he’s just a friend.”

“I would never take her as a mate.”

Realizing his mistake a moment too late, Inuyasha backed away from Kagome, his hands held up as if to ward her from attacking him while he tried to stutter out an apology.

“Well, I mean that I wouldn’t want to just say that I was going to be your mate if you didn’t want to be mates or something- oh kami”

Realizing that he had just managed to dig himself a very deep hole, Inuyasha threw his hands up in defeat as he saw the dreaded word form itself on Kagomes lips.

“Inuyasha- sit boy, sit sit sit SIT SIT SIIITTTT!”

Threw this entire experience Taptai sat spellbound as the necklace around his masters neck glowed, then threw him face first into the ground, each time the miko repeated herself pulling the dog-boy further into the hole he had made. Turning back to Shippo he was surprised that to the rest of the group this seemed to be an everyday occurrence.

“What was that?”

Pulling the lollipop from his mouth that he had finally found in the large yellow sack, Shippo looked up at Taptai as he explained the strange matter.

“Inuyasha has a necklace that Kagome can use to keep him out of trouble, you would think that he would have learned to behave better but he’s still just a big grump.”

Staring at the hole that the hanyou had formed Taptai noticed with a start that the girl responsible was now headed his way. The strong desire to flee ran through his veins as the terror he had just seen inflicted on his master flooded through his eyes. Instinctively his hand reached up to protect his neck as she closed in on him.

“Hi, I’m Kagome, Inuyasha said you would be traveling with us for a while so I wanted to welcome you, this is Miroko, Sango and Kirara, and I think you’ve already met Shippo.”

Taptai stood and stared at the smiling miko as his mind tried to place her earlier events with her current demeanor, noticing his wide fearful eyes and the hand wrapped protectively around his neck, kagome reached out to sooth the new addition.

“Hey, don’t worry. I only do that to Inuyasha, besides I don’t have any more of the rosaries. Well welcome to our little group.”

Taptai merely stood in shock as the strangely dressed girl smiled then walked off to join the other humans, glancing down at Shippo he could tell by his unconcerned attitude that this was what passed as normal, at least around here. His thoughts were cut short as a growl announced the presence of his master.

“Well, do you think you can try not to do that again?”

Bowing low with his ears pressed back Taptai mumbled his apology to Inuyasha, even if he was still uncertain of what was happening.

“Well, fine. Since your going to be traveling with us, you can carry this stupid thing.”

With that Inuyasha pressed the strange yellow bag into Taptai’s arms as he turned and set off with the rest of the group. Falling in behind them he felt Shippo scramble up to rest on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about that, Besides I think Kagome like’s you so Inuyasha will have to be nice to you.”

“You don’t think she’ll put one of those things on me, do you?”

“No, besides it was Kaede who made the rosary, not Kagome, she’s just upset because of what Inuyasha said to her.”

And so Taptai spent the rest of the day following the new group, listening to Shippo as he told him of the groups travels and adventures so far. As the group set up camp for the night, thankfully far from the river, Taptai decided that his current lot wasn’t that bad, even if he was just regarded as a pack mule. Now all he had to do was convince Inuyasha he was worthy of training.

Curling himself up he prepared to rest for the night, letting the tales he had heard from Shippo run through his head, he never even noticed the eyes of his new master watching him as he drifted off to sleep.

‘Keh- this one will never make a worthwhile warrior’ Inuyasha smirked to himself as he leaned back on a limb, trying to relax after the fairly boring day. ‘So why am I even going to try.”