Hanyou

The Tears of Memory


Meishou stayed with them through the night, Inu Yasha was rather shocked to see her there in the morning, four rabbits over a spit cooking and a fifth in the tree with him, obviously she thought he ate his meat raw. Still, it shocked him beyond belief to see her still with them. Kagome was thrilled and was especially nice when Meishou pointed out she had cleaned herself completely of the human blood and left a marker in town to honor the dead.

“So, are you coming with us Meishou?” Miroku asked as he looked at the hanyou female as she sat in a tree not far off from where they were eating.
“I…I suppose I will,” she stated and Kagome snapped.
“That reminds me, we never told you what we were doing,” she said and Inu Yasha growled, he didn’t want to share the secret of the Shikon no Tama with another hanyou.
“You’re hunting the Shikon shards,” Meishou said plainly as she jumped down. “Which reminds me…here.” She held out her hand to Kagome and the miko looked shocked.
“What…” Kagome asked as she held out her hand and Meishou dropped her two shards from her legs into Kagome’s hand.
“If I can continue to borrow the shard in my head till I can find a way to become a full demon, I figured it would be honorable to give you the shard from my legs,” she stated.
“How did you know we were hunting the shards?” Inu Yasha demanded and Meishou’s ears twitched as she blushed.
“I can smell them, you have a bunch right now,” she said as she looked at him.
“How can you smell them?” Inu Yasha cried and Meishou blushed more.
“My mother had a gift with magic, she never completed the miko training, but she had a gift with all sorts of herbs and plants, so I have a good nose for magic,” Meishou said, her eyes seemed heavy at the mention of her mother. “So…can I help you?”
“You are welcomed to join us, Meishou,” Miroku said and her ears perked up and she smiled slightly before looking at the others. Sango and Kagome nodded together and Shippo raced up to hug the female wolf. They all looked at Inu Yasha.
“She can smell jewel shards of COURSE she’s coming,” Inu Yasha snapped and the others of the group smiled except for Meishou who simply nodded.

~*~*~*~*~ Four Miles Later ~*~*~*~*~

Meishou began to walk next to Inu Yasha, further ahead of the others for their voices not to be heard.
“So, what happened to you?” she asked quietly, her nose and ears twitching as she scouted for danger. Inu Yasha felt something in him fall in sync with this hanyou. She was unlike the other hanyou he knew: Jinenji was massive and monsterous, Naraku was a shape-shifter with no real clue about his form, and Shiori was cute, but mostly human and harmless in appearance. Meishou was too close to himself, both canines, both able to lose themselves in demon rage, both sired by a demonic father, both distrustful of humans, and both in search for a way to become full demon.
“My father died when I was very young, I don’t remember much about him, I was raised by my mother mostly, but still, she also died young, I grew up alone,” he stated, keeping it quick and short. Meishou nodded as she let her ears move flat against her skull in anger.
“My father was slain by his own full-blooded nephew when I was ten winters, we didn’t find out till a month after he vanished. My brothers and I protecting our mother from the villagers until they found out our father was dead. Once they knew he was gone that was the end for my family, I’m the only one left,” she said sadly and Inu Yasha could pick up that there was a lot unsaid between the two of them.
“How long were you alone?” he asked.
“Almost eight winters now,” she sighed as she looked up at the sky. “I was fortunate to have had my father for ten winters, he taught me how to use my youkai powers and instincts.”
“Yea, I basically had to learn on my own,” Inu Yasha growled as he looked at his clawed hands. Meishou smiled. “What?”
“You remind me of my brother. Hakkou. He was always pretending to be tough too. Ever since we were little and the village children teased me,” she said as her smile faded into a sad look. “I miss them. Both Hakkou and Joubu. They were good to me.”
“Two brothers?” Inu Yasha asked as he looked at her. He tried to picture two more males like him.
“Yea, we were each a bit different. Hakkou had dog feet but we both had the same hair. Joubu had a tail, his hair was as white as Father’s, he kept it tied, he always looked handsome. Mother was so proud of us, she would sit and brush my hair for hours in front of our hut as Father, Joubu, and Hakkou took care of that night’s kill,” Meishou looked sad.
“You miss them,” he stated as he looked back to see Kagome and Sango yelling at Miroku.
“Don’t you miss your family?” she asked and he looked at her eyes, so much like his only blue. He looked down and thought of his mother holding him before he went to bed each night.
“Of course, but…I only really remember my mother, she would hold me every sunset, protecting me from my uncles and aunts,” he said and she nodded.
“My father was disowned by his family, he took up the life of a human but returned to his demon ways once we were born. Mother’s family wouldn’t speak to us, but we were happy,” she said. “It was hard losing them. I think it’s worse because of my wolf blood. We need a pack, being alone goes against our nature.” Inu Yasha looked back at the group. Yea, it had been hard being alone, it was nice to have a pack.
“Wait…your father was disowned, why?” Inu Yasha never heard of wolf youkai being disowned. Was it because he mated with a human woman? Meishou looked down at the ground nervously.
“My…my father warned us of speaking of his family,” she whispered before looking back.
“Who am I going to tell?” Inu Yasha huffed and Meishou smiled as she realized the truth. She looked down suddenly in a rage.
“My father’s own sister brought death to my father. They were the only children of the Great Wolf Prince Tenmaru. My aunt was born nearly a human lifetime before my father. In that time she was married to the Great Lord of the Western Lands, secured in her belief that she would inherit the lands of my Grandfather she was not happy when my Grandmother gave birth to my Father,” Meishou sighed as she looked ahead on the path. “When my Aunt found out my Father was the heir of our family, she was not happy. Soon after my father reached boyhood, my cousin was born. He who would one day banish my Father for a crime he did not commit and then murder him. The great Lord of the Western Lands….Sesshoumaru!”