Cats and Dogs
Blood and Tears
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A/N:
I don’t do this often because author’s notes annoy me, but I just want to thank
all of you who have reviewed for this fic. This if my
first and I have gotten back nothing but good results. I had one person from
ff.net give me excellent advice and worthy criticism and I will keep it in mind
for future fics. Thanks again, this is for you guys!
^_^
Disclaimer:
point, but I just pictured myself falling in the toilet… (in
other words, no!)
Cats and Dogs
Blood and Tears
No one, not
a single person in the village was asleep. Everyone was gathered outside of
Kaede’s hut, waiting in anticipation to see if their beloved speed demon would
be ok. Riquo’s moans and screams kept every human alert, as well as Inuyasha
and Kouga, just in case her cries and blood attracted any hungry passing
demons. Riquo writhed and thrashed about, her long brown hair matted to her
face from sweat. Her eyes were squeezed shut in pain and her fangs were bared.
Kagome and Sango pinning her arms as their demon friend fought against them
unconsciously while Kilala nuzzled her face in an attempt to soothe her. Shippo
held one of her hands, petting and stroking it comfortingly. Inuyasha sat in
between Kouga and Miroku due to his previous behavior prior to bringing Riquo
into the hut: apparently Kaede should have never suggested that Riquo may not
make it.
“Child! Ye must hold still if this
old woman is to help you,” Kaede irritatingly mixed together a poultice meant
to subdue the pain.
“But Kaede, what is this?” Shippo asked, dodging Riquo’s
rabid tail.
Kaede lifted her gaze to Sango and Kagome, “Ye two said she
was in a heated battle with coral snakes, was she not?” she said, masking the
tone in her voice that revealed what she already knew.
Kagome's eyes bled the worry she felt her her injured
friend, “Yes, but Riquo seemed well aware of all of her injuries and took care
of them herself, it doesn’t make sense that she would ignore a wound this
serious. I should have been able to smell it, right?”
“Yes, but then again so should Riquo. But if this happened
during the battle, why is the poison just taking affect now?” Sango asked.
“Maybe she got into another fight when you all were asleep,”
Inuyasha said quietly, his bangs hiding the tears that streamed down his face.
Kouga smelled the salt and patted Inuyasha's back.
“I know what you’re going through, Inuyasha,” he said in a
whisper meant only for Inuyasha, “if there’s anything
I can do to help, please let me know.” Inuyasha nodded and then the room fell
silent minus Riquo’s groans and screams.
***Riquo’s Dream***
stood in total darkness, surrounded by a thick blanket of nothing. She smelled
the salt of tears and several presences around her but saw nothing. She began
to panic, “SOMEBODY HELP ME!” She cried out but her voice did not carry into
the darkness. Suddenly she was surrounded by a powerful whirlwind, completely
encircling her except for the black cloud that spilled over the top and bottom
of the whirlwind. Riquo sniffed, that
scent is of Kouga but where is he?!
As if on cue, an image of Kouga materialized next to Riquo
inside the whirlwind. He was crouched down holding his head anreamreaming.
Riquo ran over to him and shook his shoulders.
“KOUGA! Kouga answer me! Where am
I?” No answer. Kouga just stayed there screaming with his claws digging into
his temple. Riquo gasped as she realized what Kouga was trying to do.
***End Dream***
Riquo hissed and arched her back, moaning, “Kouga…don’t do
it…”
More tears fell from Kagome's eyes, “Riquo…what’s going on…”
she shook her shoulders again, “please! Tell me what’s happening!”
“It seems that Riquo is dreaming, but why of Kouga is beyond
me,” Miroku said. Riquo hissed again and strained against the hold Sango and
Kagome had on her. “Kouga stop it! Somebody…help me…please…” Black tears
dripped from Riquo’s closed eyes.
Kaede grinded another leaf into her poultice and then
applied the clumpy mess to Riquo’s thigh. It seemed to have no affect since she
still writhed in pain, gasping, hissing and screaming.
“Inuyasha, do ye promise to behave?”
Inuyasha didn’t reveal what was hidden behind his white
bangs, “What do you need me to do.”
“Exactly what ye want to do, Inuyasha.
Come, comfort your mate.”
Inuyasha paused before standing, keeping his eyes hidden
from the world. He silently walked over to the wall where Riquo’s head was and
sat down, lifting her head into his lap. Unknown to the others, Inuyasha stared
at his lover’s distressed face as it contorted to match every contraction of
pain that coursed through her body. Why,
why does it always have to be you? For once can you not be the hero!
Inuyasha snorted to himself. No, that’s
what you do, isn’t it my love? Even before I met you, you were always the one
to shed your blood first for someone else. You’re the kind of demon this world
needs more of. Inuyasha stroked Riquo’s face, wiping her ebony tears away
while everyone kept to their thoughts. Riquo’s delicate cheetah features ceased
contortion and she purred lightly, resorting to pants andns ans as an
expression of her pain.
Suddenly Kagome gasped, “I’ve got it! This happened in the
future, right?” A silent “Duh,” filtered through the air and Kagome stifled a
nervous giggle.
“Well, Riquo said herself that demons in my time are more
advanced then demons in this time, hence the concealment techniques and my
hidden demon blood. So maybe, the coral snakes have poison that’s…oh
“Delayed?” Miroku offered.
“Yes! That’s it! They bit her, and she probably didn’t feel
it until the poison until it released itself.”
Inuyasha scowled, “That doesn’t make any sense, and she
would have felt the bite at least immediately after the battle.”
“Actually,” Kaede muttered, “delayed poison is not that
uncommon even in this time. I’ve never dealt with a patient with this kind of
condition, but from what I’ve heard, the moment the victim is bitten, the spot
goes numb and the poison courses through the body until the victim is in a
state of complete content, then the poison is triggered.”
“Kind of like a ‘last laugh’ technique?” Sango asked.
“Exactly.”
“That still doesn’t make any sense to me, I’ve never heard
of it,” Kouga offered.
“Well, I’m sure that there are key
facts that we are missing that are factored by Kagome's future conditions. All
I can say is that Riquo needs to have this poison drained from her body
immediately,” Kaede said standing slowly with Miroku's aid.
Sango paled, “Kaede…you don’t mean…”
Shippo looked around at everyone as the room became silent
once more, even Riquo calmed down momentarily, “What are you going to use
Kaede?” the young kit asked.
***Riquo’s Dream***
Nothing. Nothing Riquo did could
keep Kouga from penetrating his temple with his claws. His demon blood dripped
from the holes on his head onto the blackness around them. The end result was
Kouga continuing his suicide mission and Riquo huddled away from him in the
middle of the whirlwind. Her black tears fell down her face to join Kouga’s
blood. “Why…why is this happening…why am I here?”
Then the whirlwind surrounding them turned into bright
lavender. Riquo looked around and then it hit her with a powerful force.
energy! Riquo’s conscious read her mind (AH: haha,
get it? ^_^) and Kagome appeared in front of Kouga holding a bow and arrow to
his head and ready to fire. Riquo gasped and flung herself forward.
***End Dream***
“Kagome!! NO!” Riquo cried out in
her sleep.
Everyone in the room jumped out of their skin minus Kaede
who continued to tend to Riquo’s wounds. Inuyasha growled, Fuck! Whatever is happening in her dream is frustrating her. She has to
calm down!
>&nb>
previous memories of Kagome and Kouga.” Sango said. Kilala meowed and licked
Riquo’s sweaty cheek. She meowed again, causing Riquo to sniff and tilt her
cheek towards Kilala again.
“Kilala! You can talk to her so
maybe you can pull her out of whatever crazy dream she’s having!” Shippo said
excitedly.
“That is not a good idea little one. Riquo needs to be
unconscious if she is to be cured properly.”
Kaede pulled a jar off the shelf that was filled with water
and something black. She turned around showing them the jar. Inuyasha squinted
at it and sniffed, “What the hell is that?”
“I’ve never seen or heard of anything like that,” Kouga
said.
“This is a leech,” Kaede said.
Kouga paled as well, “Never mind.”
“Does that actually work?” Kagome said, gagging.
“This one will. This leech accommodates to any demon, now
stand back,” Kaede limped forward and knelt in between Riquo’s l Inu Inuyasha
leaning over Riquo’s body to see.
“Kagome and Sango, ye may want to let the men hold her down
before I do this.”
They switched places, Sango and Kagome behind Kaede,
Inuyasha holding Riquo’s shous ans and Kouga and Miroku getting her arms. As if
sensing what was about to happen, Riquo had begun to pant and sweat.
“Get ready,” Kaede opened the jar and dumped the leech onto
the floor next to Riquo’s bloody wound. The leech sensed the blood and
immediately latcon aon and began to suck. The moment it attached to her thigh,
Riquo shrieked and thrashed against the guys. As the leech sucked, it began to
get bigger as Riquo got paler.
Inuyasha snarled, “It’s sucking out all of her blood hag!”
“No, only the poisoned blood, which is
more than we may have predicted.”
***Riquo’s Dream***
worst fears becoming a fantasy in my mind. Well fuck…I hope I wake up soon. After
Kagome appeared with an arrow aimed at Kouga’s head, the others in their group
began to appear in abstract situations as well. Miroku appeared with his wind
tunnel unleashed, bloody in several places and his clothes torn. Standing
before him was Sango, battered and bloody as well, with her Hiraikotsu swung
above her head a sword placed at his throat. Kilala appeared as well in her
full form with several bloody wounds on her body with Shippo clamped down in
between her jaws, her teeth marks breaking his skin and his blood pooling
beneath them, mixing with Kouga’s and Riquo’s tears that seemed to float
beneath them. As Riquo watched this, her black tears never
ceased, and the blood and tears kept building up at her feet.
much…is this what is destined to happen? Are we to destroy each other?
Then Inuyasha appeared standing directly in front of Riquo,
unscathed. Riquo’s tears never stopped as she stared into the golden depths of
his eyes. Inuyasha…love of my life…who at
any second now will unsheathe tetusaiga and attempt to slay me…and for what?
Riquo decided to stare death in the face, if this is really what was to be. But
Inuyasha never creased his brow in anger, unsheathing the tetusaiga to kill
Riquo. No, he just stood there staring at her. Riquo frowned.
Her breath caught in her chest and the tears bled from her eyes faster than
before. Kikyo stood behind her with her trademark “dead” look, looking through
her to Inuyasha.
Suddenly Riquo felt something or rather someone’s spirit go through her. Inuyasha had
walked completely through Riquo towards Kikyo and did something Riquo had to
witness for the first time. He embraced Kikyo…he embraced his past.
***End Dream***
Riquo let out a gut-wrenching scream and thrashed against
Kouga and Miroku with all her strength. She began to weep, her eyes remaining
shut against the world before her. “Inuyasha…no…please…stop it…”
All eyes flew toward Inuyasha. He looked up, confusion
written all over his face. “What?!”
“If she is reminiscing Inuyasha, why would
she be saying this?” Kouga said.
“Like I know! I’ve never done
anything to her that would cause her to say this!” Inuyasha snarled.
“You abandoned her once…” Shippo said, mentally shoving his
foot in his mouth.
Inuyasha snarled, “Why you little!”
Inuyasha reached to pound the ever-living crap out of
Shippo, but Kagome stopped Shippo’s near death experience.
“Inuyasha, don’t punish Shippo because he said the truth.”
Kagome growled. Inuyasha fell silent after that, occupying himself by
comforting and stroking Riquo’s face. She continued to moan and writhe against
him and the others.
Then Riquo added in the final puzzle piece, “You…love
her…not me…it never changed…”
Sango gasped, “She’s talking about Kikyo!”
Inuyasha flattened his ears against his head.
again!
“But that doesn’t explain what that has to do with the rest
of us. Why she’s crying out our names.” Kouga said.
Suddenly, Riquo’s tail lashed out and wrapped around her
thigh, squeezing the leech in an attempt to kill it. Kaede’s eyes widened,
“This is the only way! She mustn’t kill the leech!”
Shippo bounded forward, trying is best to ignore Riquo’s
nether regions, and stood before her tail and the leech.
“Forgive me Riquo,” he whispered. He jumped onto her thigh
and as gently as possible bit her tail.
Riquo threw her head back into Inuyasha's lap and shrieked
again, louder than ever. Inuyasha and Kagome flattened their ears onto their
heads trying to block out her scream, and Kouga just winced since his hands
were occupied. Her grip on Miroku and Kouga’s arms tightened, drawing blood
that ran down her claws. Her tail dislodged itself from her thigh and chased
after Shippo, who hopped into Kouga’s lap. Its target out of ranged, Riquo’s
tail settled for wrapping itself around Miroku’s forearm.
When the leech was as big as Riquo’s thigh was around, it
off off and crawled back into the jar. Riquo gasped and stilled, panting
rapidly. Kaede put lid on the jar and the leech deflated itself, blue liquid
oozing out of its body.
“I’ll take this down to the river to clean it; she should
awaken soon after the holes heal. She may not understand what just happened so
it would be wise to enlighten her when she awakens,” Kaede hobbled out of the
hut into the hoard of villagers ready to interrogate her about Riquo’s
condition.
***Riquo’s Dream***
Riquo sat in the middle of the chaotic whirlwind that
surrounded her. Her friends, frozen in a fatal position in an
attempt to kill each other. Riquo furrowed her brow,
each other like this? Then, Riquo’s answer came forth in a rush of
bright…lavender…light. Everyone except her were
surrounded by the eerie lavender glow, but they remained in their fighting
positions. Then the light from their bodies shot towards the middle of the
whirlwind above Riquo’s head and manifested a blinding light. Riquo squeezed
her cat eyes shut and put her head on her knees, wrapping her tail around her
ankle.
When the light dissipated, Riquo looked up into the soul
purpose of everyone that surrounded her. The
missing. Its iridescent lavender glow was tainted by a darker more menacing
black, obviously representing the evil that the jewel brought forth. Suddenly,
her friends that surrounded her broke from their fatal positions and in a rush
of screams and shouts of jealousy, greed and anger, moved forward to pounce on
the jewel and Riquo.
***End Dream***
Inuyasha sighed and leaned back against the hut’s walls,
stroking Riquo’s face. Her grip had loosened on Kouga and Miroku, but neither
bothered to pluck her claws out of their arms. A bruise started to form on
Miroku's arm where her tail had wrapped around him.
Suddenly Riquo gasped, arching her back and coughing
harshly. She looked around the hut, her eyes locking with everybody’s and
wincing at the morning light that seeped through the hut’s window. She tilted
her head back in Inuyasha's lap and locked her sleepy green eyes with his
relieved golden ones.
“Inuyasha…I missed you.”
Inuyasha smiled, “I missed you too. You gave us quite a
scare. How do you feel?”
Riquo opened her mouth to speak but no sound ever came out.
Her face had paled as realization hit her. Looking at the ceiling with a
horrified look on her face, Riquo gently and slowly plucked her claws out of
Kouga’s and Miroku’s bloody arms. No one spoke as she did this and Miroku
gritted his teeth to keep from wincing, but Kouga bared it all he could. When
all of her claws were out of their arms she clenched her fists, the dry blood
cracking on her fingers. She unraveled her tail from Miroku’s wrist as well,
choking back tears.
She swallowed back the lump in her throat, “Forgive me…I
didn’t know…”
Kouga shook his head, his black hair glistening, “Think
nothing of it. If you didn’t do this, it could hbeenbeen much worst.”
“What happened to me?” Riquo sat up against Inuyasha's
chest, sighing in relief.
“You were bit on the thigh by one of those coral snake
demons and the poison didn’t manifest until after the battle when you were
content. Kaede had to have a demon leech suck the poison blood out of you,”
Kagome explained.
Riquo’s lips formed an ‘o’ as all of this information
registered in her mind. She frowned, that
still doesn’t explain all the weird dreams!
“Those stupid bastards…” Riquo snarled.
Shippo popped up from Kouga’s lap, “Riquo are you okay!? You
were yelling and shouting in your sleep and you chased me with you tail because
I had to bite it to get it off the leech and are you okay?!”
Riquo smiled weakly, her eyelids refusing to stay open,
“What was I saying?”
“We think you were reminiscing on the fight with Naraku. Do
you remember anything from your dream?” Sango said. Riquo situated herself with
Inuyasha's arms wrapped protectively around her.
She cleared her throat, “Well, I was surrounded by this
lavender whirlwind, and all of you were around me in different situations and
positions. Kouga was trying to shove his claws into his temple and Kagome had
an arrow at his head. Miroku had the wind tunnel on Sango who had Hiraikotsu
and a sword against him. Kilala and Shippo were at each other, all of you
bloody and battered. You all were fighting for the Shikon
Jewel. It was whole and you all went after it.” Riquo fell silent after that,
hoping she didn’t say anything that may clue them in on the Inuyasha and Kikyo
scene.
But Kagome pressed on, “And what about Inuyasha? You were
mentioning him as well.”
Fuck.
“I saw him and Kikyo…hugging.”
They were quiet; each of them contemplating what would be
the right thing to say for this situation.
Kouga came to the rescue and squeezed her hand, “
other and the Jewel will not turn us against each other. Sleep Riquo, you need
your rest.”
God Bless you Kouga.
Sango and Kagome guided the men out of the hut and Riquo
sighed against Inuyasha.
“Stay with me? I’ve been away from you for so long my love.”
Inuyasha nodded and nuzzled the back of her neck, “I missed
you so much. Don’t ever leave me, please.”
Riquo nodded and yawned, stretching her jaw and exposing her
fangs. Inuyasha laid down next to her, molding her
body against his, but Riquo was asleep before he even wrapped his arms around
her. Her tail unconsciously wrapped around his wrist and both slept in peace
while the day started to begin.