Bloodborne Duties
An ancient curse was placed upon the Inuyoukai family: if the youngest born heir does not produce an heir-apparent before his 205th birthday, the Dogs will surrender to the Panthers. Inuyasha is the youngest heir and it is his duty to avoid the curse.
Inuyasha panted as he finally came to a stop in Jinenji's village. His head snapped left, then right, but he couldn't find the half-demon anywhere. Snarling, he cupped his hands over his mouth and began bellowing: "JINENJI! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!"
Doors flew open and the villagers poured out to see what the commotion was about. Was Jinenji about to get into a fight? But Jinenji didn't hurt
anybody! One of the village men stepped forward and was about to say something but Jinenji waddled in to the main village square.
"Inuyasha?" He said, his voice quiet as always. Inuyasha's eyes locked with his and he ran up to the grotesque demon, coming to a rapid halt in front of him.
"Witch Mountain Pretoria," Inuyasha breathed. "I need it. Now. Please!"
Jinenji knew the situation was serious; Inuyasha never said 'please.' "Witch Mountain—" Jinenji frowned. "But that's to stop the effects of a Dream Demon."
"Exactly, moron. I need some,
now!"
Jinenji shook his head, solemnly. "I don't have—"
"You can't
not have it," Inuyasha roared as he grabbed Jinenji's shirt. "I need it
now or Shippo will
die. Do you
fucking understand me?!" Inuyasha pushed Jinenji back and his eyes began darkening into the familiar deep red colour. He was trying
very hard to control his inner demon but the beast wanted to be unleashed. It was angry and felt threatened; his
pup... his
child was hurt and nobody was able to help him.
Not even Inuyasha himself.
"Listen to me," Jinenji said trying to keep his voice as calm and soothing as possible; he knew what Inuyasha was capable of and, if memory served correct, Shippo was the little kitsune that was part of their ragtag team. Jinenji was well aware of how protective Inuyasha was of his pack and with Shippo being the youngest, Inuyasha would be extra protective. "Witch Mountain Pretoria is on the highest peak of Hakurei-zan. I've only seen it once and never again—if you go there, you can most probably find it."
"Highest peak you said?" Inuyasha asked. His voice had turned gravelly because he was partway through transforming into his demon and his eyes caught between red and ochre. Jinenji could only nod; he didn't know how else to respond to semi-transformed Inuyasha.
"Yes. For it to work, you must crush the flower and feed it to Shippo." Before Jinenji finished talking, Inuyasha had turned around and began running. The ogre-like demon closed his eyes.
My prayers are with you Inuyasha. Shippo.
.xx.
"He's not—why isn't he breathing?" Kagome was hysterical, her heat stopping when she saw Shippo's chest stopped rising and falling. "Daiki,
why isn't he breathing?!"
Daiki gulped not knowing how to respond to Kagome's question. The doctor hadn't returned with Sesshomaru yet and, as Prince Inuyasha's mate stated, the kitsune's life force was gone. Kagome wrestled against Daiki, who was still holding onto her, and managed to break free. How she managed to fight aganist a full demon army general? She didn't know. All she knew was that Shippo wasn't breathing and he needed her. Kagome staggered up to Shippo and grabbed his tiny, lifeless hand. "Shippo? Shippo!"
There was no response and the tears broke loose for Kagome. "SHIPPO!" She screamed as she clutched his body. He was unmoving and the image etched into Kagome's mind; she was never going to get that picture out of her head. Her body wracked with sobs and she wasn't aware that Sesshomaru and the doctor came rushing in.
Daiki turned to Sesshomaru with a sombre expression on his face. "He… he…"
"Move." Sesshomaru brushed past Daiki and lay a hand on Kagome's shoulder. Looking up Kagome could only stare at her brother-in-law.
"Sesshomaru?" She said, softly. He simply nodded and Kagome tried to control her sobs; wordlessly she got up and moved out of the way. Sesshomaru grabbed the hilt of tensaiga and immediately saw the gremlins feasting on Shippo's soul; he wasn't dead. Not yet. Unsheathing his sword of life, Sesshomaru bore his fangs and quickly sliced Shippo and, in front of their eyes, Shippo gasped for air. Kagome couldn't help but yelp in happiness.
"Where's little brother?" Sesshomaru glanced at Kagome who, not expecting to be spoken to, jumped.
"He uh," Kagome was still trying to control her sobs; her breathing was jagged. "He went to find Jinenji to get some Witch Mountain Pretoria for Shippo."
Sesshomaru frowned. "Witch—but that only grows on the highest peak of Hakurei-zan."
Kagome's eyes widened drastically. "Hakurei? But that's a two day journey…"
Sesshomaru looked back down at Shippo. "Pray, Kagome—" He never addressed her by her name and that made Kagome's heart sink. Even
Sesshomaru knew the dire circumstance Shippo was in. "Pray that Inuyasha returns on time."
Kagome could only nod before sitting down beside Shippo and taking his hand in hers. He wasn't fighting the demon in his dreams any longer but everybody knew that it was only a matter of time before the kitsune was attacked again. And the next time the demon would do more than just kill him—
It would annihilate Shippo.
.xx.
Inuyasha didn't care.
As he ran towards Mount Hakurei, he allowed the demon blood surging in him to surface. He knew that he was incapable of completing his run
in time
in his half-demon form; his demon was stronger, faster, and a lot more ruthless than his half demon was. Because of that knowledge, Inuyasha allowed his youkai to emerge.
He allowed the blood to take control.
Inuyasha was learning how to control the actions of his demon a lot better after he and Kagome mated. His demon listened to his human thoughts and because of that, Inuyasha knew his demon wouldn't hurt any humans.
His eyes were bleeding red and the purple scars on his face, the ones that marked him as the son of a daiyoukai, darkened in colour the more his demon blood surfaced. Inuyasha felt himself speed up and somehow, somewhere in his heart, he knew that he would make the run in time.
He would save Shippo.
Watch over him, mother. The humanness in Inuyasha pleaded.
Please, watch over him. Don't let him die… not yet!
.xx.
Kagome didn't eat and neither did she move from her spot beside Shippo. It had been at least six hours since Inuyasha left and since Shippo's short death in which he was subsequently revived thanks to Sesshomaru, there had been no more dream demon attacks on the kitsune. Kagome's head was leaned on the palm of her right hand and her left was holding onto Shippo's. Her stomach churned in hunger but she didn't care—it didn't matter. She was
not leaving Shippo until her husband returned.
Shippo's fingers gently squeezed Kagome's and she lifted her head off of her hand to see him smiling weakly at her. Kagome's eyes widened.
"Shippo? When did you wake up?"
"Now," he croaked. Kagome looked around the hut and found a small gourd of water. Hurriedly, she retrieved it and helped Shippo drink some of the water—he accepted it and guzzled it down as if he hadn't drunk anything for eons. Laying his head back down, Shippo closed his eyes and groaned softly.
"Sweetheart?" Kagome whispered, leaning over Shippo slightly. He cracked an eye open and smiled weakly.
"I love you, Kagome."
She stopped her sob, not wanting to cry in front of Shippo, and hugged the young boy. As Kagome pulled back, she kissed his cheek. "I love you too, Shippo." She whispered. "As long as Inuyasha and I are around, nothing will ever happen to you."
Shippo smiled. "I know—speaking of Inuyasha, where is he?" As soon as the question left his lips, Inuyasha hurtled into the hut. He had scars over his body, his left arm was bleeding, and his eyes were red: he was in demon form.
"Inuyasha?!" Kagome gasped. She stood up and raced over to her mate. As soon as she placed a hand on his cheek, Inuyasha's eyes returned to normal and his body sagged. Within seconds, Daiki, the doctor, and Sesshomaru raced into the room. Daiki helped Inuyasha remain upright and the doctor retrieved the herbs that were clutched in his right hand.
"Save… the runt…" Inuyasha groaned. "Everything… hurts…"
Daiki helped Inuyasha sit down and Kagome immediately set herself next to him. She glanced at Shippo, caught his eyes, and nodded. Sesshomaru, seeing that his brother was being attended to by his mate, made his way over to Shippo. "You alright?" He asked, peering down at the fox.
"I will be." Shippo responded.
The doctor had crushed the Witch Mountain Pretoria and was beginning to instruct Shippo of the side-effects and whatnot.
"It'll put you to sleep for a whole day. After you wake up, your body will have flushed out any demons or entities that have been trying to control you. I'm not guaranteeing that the effects will be permanent, but it's better than nothing."
Shippo nodded and the doctor began, slowly, sprinkling the crushed up herb into Shippo's mouth. Kagome watched for a few moments before turning her attention back to a tired Inuyasha. Daiki had brought some water and a washcloth and Kagome began cleaning down his wounds.
"What happened?" She whispered as she dabbed some blood off of his cheek. Inuyasha sighed and cracked an eye open.
"Fucking birds of paradise and giant worms and three headed tarantulas and walking cacti… did you know there are fucking cactus demons?!" Inuyasha sounded very annoyed. "The one damn time I was in a rush and a whole gang of fucking demons wanted to attack me for killing their beloved Naraku,
keh!"
Kagome smiled, in spite of the situation. "So you unleashed your demon to kill them all?" She had opened his haori and gently slipped it off of his shoulders before beginning to untie his inner haori.
"No," Inuyasha whispered. Talking required so much energy. "Jinenji said that he didn't have the herb and that's when my demon wanted control. When he said that I had to go to Hakurei, I thought why waste time if my demon can run faster. So I let it out."
Kagome leaned forward and kissed his cheek gently. "You're amazing," she whispered. "I couldn't have asked for a better mate."
Inuyasha struggled to open both of his eyes and Kagome saw a flame of passion within his orbs. "C'mere," he instructed and Kagome leaned closer to his face. Using the last ounce of energy he had, Inuyasha kissed the tip of her nose. "You're amazing," he complimented before slouching back and shutting his eyes again. "But I want sleep now."
Kagome giggled. "Alright, do you want me to help you inside?"
Inuyasha shook his head no. "Nah, I wanna be by the runt." And as the words left his lips, Inuyasha began softly snoring. Kagome, content with having Inuyasha back and not too hurt, and Shippo being healed, stood up. She suddenly felt the exhaustion overcome her. A gentle hand lay on her shoulder and Kagome turned around to see Sesshomaru.
"Are you a bit happier now?" Her brother-in-law asked. Kagome shook her head.
"Content, yes. Happy, no. Inuyasha's hurt, Shippo was hurt, the jewel shards are scattered throughout the lands, and a whole section of your lands has been wiped out by the same demon hurting Shippo," Kagome felt tears coming again, "I'm just happy he's alive."
Sesshomaru squeezed Kagome's shoulder. "He's alive," he affirmed. "I suggest you sleep as well. Little brother wouldn't want his mate to stay awake worrying for his and the runt's wellbeing."
"I'll sleep here."
"He wouldn't like that either," Sesshomaru stated. "You should retire to your room."
"No." Kagome vehemently opposed. "I'll stay here. Thank you for your hospitality, Sesshomaru, but I stay where my mate stays and there is no way in
hell I'm leaving him and Shippo alone." Without letting the Lord of the West respond, Kagome made her way over to Shippo (who had fallen asleep because of the Witch Mountain Pretoria), and snuggled into the futon beside him.
Sesshomaru glanced at Daiki and the doctor and instructed them silently to let the three sleep.
Feisty one, that human girl. Even though Sesshomaru didn't want to admit it, Kagome was the perfect candidate to be Inuyasha's mate and mother the future heirs to the Western Throne.
.xx.
Gah! I'm so sorry for the freakishly late update! I went on vacation then came back then updated everything else because I wanted to edit THIS story before updating it again- and I did, all the previous chapters before this one have been edited :D
