Truth in Blood

This chappie was not 100% what I planned. Seriously Inu kindda took it over. Read and enjoy and review.

Chapter 9 : Hanyou

Inu watched the Kagome come to him, a strange strand of beads in her hands, the glowed with a pink purple light. They were going to put the beads on him to control what had been released. He would not be dangerous them.

“No!! “ A voice on Inu's mind shouted at him. “No! Inu don't allow this!” The voice was his own, and yet it wasn't. The voice was wilder, stronger, different. “Inu please trust me, trust us! You can control yourself, you are stronger then you know. They will turn us into a dog, they will control us! Do NOT allow this!”

“But halflings belong no where, at least they are giving me a place to belong!” Inu said his pain clouding his thoughts.

“Inu! What will they do to Shippo and Kaede if they control us? The church of Angels tries to cleanse full demons!” The inner voice cried out.

Kagome walked up to Inu she raised the beads to put it over his head.

Golden eyes snapped open, his hand came up, gesturing for the lady to stop. “No please milady, I can control this, please!”

Kagome was entranced the boys eyes earlier had been strange and pretty, now they were golden, larger then before. She could see strength, energy and pain in those eyes. She could see courage and honor, and she could see innocence, the innocence of one who would never be guided by greed or lust. This one would protect those he loved without question, this one would never betray. Kagome now knew that he would be beautiful once the transformation was complete, and she wanted him. She was the cause of his inner self being freed, she freed the truth in his blood, and she would have him.

“Hush! Don't worry Inu, the beads are just to keep you and the people around you safe. Halflings have no place in the world, humans, demons and even Serph have no place for halflings. You would be hunted and killed. But once this chain is around you, you will have a permanent place beside me.”

Ignoring his gestures she brought the chain to his head.

The beads brushed his head, and Inu felt it, the energy and power of the beads. They had been used to control Unicorns, and some remnants of the Unicorn remained in the beads. And Inu knew, he KNEW! No matter what the Ladies told themselves, it was they that LIED! The beads were not what they seemed, they were no not a present. They were abominations.

Inu's hand curled in a claw, his hands reached up caught the beads before they settled around this neck, and ripped. The chain broke in his hands beads scattered. The Ladies looked aghast at the broken heirloom. At the urging of his inner voice, Inu did not hesitate, he leapt. It was debatable who was more shocked Inu or the ladies, when the lead took him straight over Kagome's head. He landed on the fountain, smashing the crystal he had so carefully placed earlier. Inu knew he would never make it through the temple without being caught, so he went up. Inu leapt from the fountain to a crevice in the wall, his body twisting with a fluid grace. Inu was so focused on escape that nothing else mattered, not the pain, not the fear, not the fact that his body was moving with impossible speed and strength, escape first and worry later.

There was shouting and yelling behind him, arrows zinged past him. Inu never stopped, he kept his movements erratic to avoid the arrows. On the roof, he ran, jumped off the temple of angels, went up the next building, he used the roofs as his walk ways. It took two hours of running, ducking, and hiding. Keeping his movements erratic, Inu finally lost the people chasing him. He made his way to one of his most secret hideaways. He had not visited here since he had first found Shippo and Kaede.

Night was falling and Inu's body was beginning to change, slowly and painfully. Inu curled into the crevice at the top of the city's library. Inu bit on a piece of wood to stop his screams, his organs were burning, liquefying, changing. His head and ears were on fire, his fingers and feet burned and contorted. Claws unnoticed dug into his own arms. Then it stopped, but it was not over. It was a period of rest before the change process would continue. Inu could not move, too exhausted to even consider it. He lay panting and crying, gathering energy for the next wave of change.

Then a wave of dizziness took him, and he found himself standing on the clouds and staring at a demon.

“Who are you?” Inu choked out.

“Is that the right question?” The demon asked with a growl. The demon had red eyes, long, sharp fangs, claws a good 10 inches long, there was a wildness and power about it, that was terrifying and pure.

“No, no! The right question is what am I?” Inu whispered.

The smile seemed strange on the demonic face, a claw reached out and stroked Inu's chin. “You are Inu, the pure human half of us. You have the potential to be so much more. Before this goes further, know this, you can remain pure human. Kill me, destroy the Demon part of you, utterly. And you may still reverse the process and be only human. You will lose your stronger senses, and your strength and speed would be that of a normal human. But kill me, before this dream ends and you will be human.” The demon placed a blade in Inu's hand.

“But you are me? How, why? If I don't kill you, what will happen to me? Will I die? Will I become you?” Inu asked, his hands gripped the blade.

“No, let me explain. Even I cannot totally recall our birth, but I remember our mother. She was human, beautiful and she loved us. Feared for us. They were chasing her, humans and demons both wanted to hurt us. They were chasing her because of our birth.” The demon sad sadly. “She escaped with us on a big boat. But something happened, it may have been a storm, or it may have been an attack...”

“How could you not know that!” Inu interrupted.

“Grrr.. because I was a pup too, my senses were better then YOURS! You cant even remember mother's scent. All you did was cry!” The demon growled a little guiltily at his human counterpart. Both sides glared at each other for a second, then in unison relaxed. There was a shared sadness, shared guilt.

“All I know is we were sleeping, then there was fire, and our mother holding us tight. Then there was a loud sound, and the world went black. When we woke, we were in water and we were alone. We were afraid, and I took over. I managed to find a floating stick and pulled us on to it. We floated and floated, for many days. Luckily there was some rain, or we would have died. Then when my energy was almost gone, we floated close to this place. A human city. I could only smell humans, and I was tired, so tired. Do you remember?”

Inu hesitated, a veil in his mind lifted. “Yes, you had used all your energy just to keep us alive. We went into our mind, and I was holding you, we were small. I did not like seeing you hurting. You said there was a choice, a one time only choice. Because we were small, you would sleep to protect us.”

“Yes, because we were so young, and I was so weak, I found a place deep inside us and sealed myself away from you, and went to sleep. Inu I never intended to awaken, I was content - asleep inside you. I experienced everything you did but in a dream. Now that we are older, I cannot sleep the sleep of a babe, I cannot sleep the way I once did, especially since that damned priestess burned my seal open. How could you bear to kiss the little bitch?”

“Hey, she kissed me, and it was sortta nice, well – she had a bad smell, but the touch was nice.” Inu went red.

“Keh! Humans! Pay attention to your senses next time. We need to wash our mouth with soap!”

'Ya....” Inu said slowly. “So what happens now, will you take over and start rampaging? Hanyous in legends have been wild and uncontrolled?”

“That will not happen to us, because we were apart for so long, when we combine, we will never want to separate. Because you are Inu, because you have over the years developed a strong will and self control, you will never lose that to me. Because I slept, willingly, we are stronger, different then we would have been. Most Hanyou are at war inside themselves, with their halves warring for control. But in my dreams I watched you, respected you, and loved you. My desire is only to be one with you, if we merge I will no longer be a separate voice, we will be one or if you find that repulsive, I seek only to find eternal rest.” The demon said softly.

“If we became Hanyou, they will hate us right? Both humans and demons, both would hate us. Shippo he...” Inu hesitated.

“He will probably reject us..” The Demon said sadly. “If you accept us, we will truly be alone. Expect none to accept a halfling, we will be hunted and chased.... ” The demon said resigned.

“So we will be alone again.” It was more of a statement then a question.

“Yes, the priestess were right in that.” The demon said sadly.

“Kill a part of myself to make my life easier.” Inu lifted the blade and gazed at it. Then he deliberately opened his fingers and the blade vanished. “Renkotsu did that, killed the street rat in him. And what was left was a shell, something that regretted being born. I have been alone, I have been rejected, I have been beaten. I have survived that all, because I refused to be less then myself. I.. I.. think a part of me, faced it all, because it knew, that I could be more, but to be truly me.. there would be a price to pay. I will never regret being born who I am! That is my decision. What ever the price.. finish the transformation.”

The demon and human each took a step forward in the dream, and they merged seamlessly. They were one. Light and color flashed all around.

On the roof top, sliver white hair flew in the breeze, human ears disappeared as the second wave of transformation, began.

Golden red tinged eyes snapped open, “I am INUYASHA!”

---

Chapter 10 : Bonds, Brothers of heart

They had waited and waited, Inu had not come back. Kaede was worried and Shippo was retless. The kit searched for a whole hour but there was no sign of his Inu in the normal places. He returned to the cottage sobbing. Kaede put him to sleep.

Something stirred the city.

Guards of the Angels of Light were suddenly everywhere. They searched each and every home, looking for what they would not say. Kaede had her concerns. As soon as they left, the rumors started. A Demon, a Seraph or a Hanyou was loose in the city. Normal monsters would have been handled by the guards, it had to be something else, something big and dangerous. The hidden Temple of Devils took note and in less then 10 minutes both fractions were on in on the search.

Shippo was whimpering and crying in his sleep. Kaede went to sooth the kit, when he sat bolt up. “Grandma, Nii-chan, nii-chan in pain. Help Nii-chan!” the kit sobbed as he grabbed Kaede's hands.

“Shippo, do you know where Inu is, right now, do you know where?” Kaede asked urgently.

“Nii-chan is up, in pain.” Shippo replied.

“Shippo focus, which direction?” Kaede urged, Inu was in danger she knew it.

“I..I..I..don't know. I DON”T KNOW!!” Shippo began to wail.

Kaede considered the crying kit, if her instincts were right, they had to find Inu or he would disappear rather then bring danger too her door. She considered her options. She shook the crying kit sharply to get his attention. When he stopped sobbing she looked him in the eye.

“Shippo, you have to tell me, truthfully. If Inu had to go, would you want to stay with him or with me?” Kaede asked. She knew the question was unfair, but then so was life.

Shippo sniffed, Kaede was his grandmother by blood, but.. but.. “Inu, Shippo wants Inu.” As soon as he said it, he launched himself at Kaede, hugging her tight. “Shippo loves Granny, buts Inu.. Inu-Nii-chan. Shippo loves Inu-Nii-chan!Shippo sorry!”

“Hush, kit don't be sorry. I'm glad. You need each other.” Her voice was a little thick, but she was happy for the most part. “Shippo, listen to me, I am going to give some of my magic to you. It will age you physically by about 2 years, all over. You will lose a little of your childhood but your next 4 years you will age slower and catch up. With the extra power you should be able to find Inu. Is that alright?” Kaede looked at the kit seriously.

The kit nodded, all that mattered was that he would be able to find Inu.

Kaede placed her hands on the side of Shippo's head, warmth glowed in her hands and moved slowly to engulf the kit. His body stretched less then half a centimeter, but his mind absorbed the experience, his spirit soaked in the magic. The magical increase was exponential, far beyond the growth of his mind and body. Shippo went limp, Kaede cradled the little kit. This magical sharing was not traumatic, just a little overwhelming.

After 10 minutes Shippo's eyes snapped open. “Granny, I feel funny.” He said a little groggy.

“Shippo you have no time for this, go find Inu, no matter what the both of you must come back here. Are you ready?” Kaede asked urgently.

Shippo shook off the grogginess, Inu-Nii-chan, he could sense him now, Inu-Nii-can was in pain. Shippo did not waste another second. He shot off. Shippo's magic had created a bond between him and Inu, and now his magic was strong enough to lead him to his older brother. Shippo didn't think, he just followed his instincts, with a couple of false leads and wrong turnings (Shippo was new to this magic) he finally scrabbled puffing and panting on to the roof of the library. He was excited, he could sense, he could smell Inu, but he was also worried. There was something off about the smell, something very different.

On the roof at first Shippo saw nothing, then he heard a whisper of a whimper. Shippo carefully made his way closer and he swa a figure huddled in a small space behind a statue on the roof.

“Nii-chan?” Shippo whispered, the figure turned away from Shippo. Something was wrong, and tears began to well in the green eyes.

“Go, go away.” A much loved, but strained voice said from the huddled mass.

“Nii-chan in pain. Shippo wanna help.”

“No! Get away Shippo, go back to Kaede. I cant be your Nii-chan anymore.” Inu replied his voice thick with tears as well.

“Was Shippo bad? Inu-Nii-chan no love Shippo anymore?” the kit asked stricken, tears leaking out.

“No! Shippo is good, so good. But.. but.. I'm not Inu anymore.” Inu said sadly. He had been covering his half transformed face, and now he slowly dropped his arms and stepped out into the moonlight. His hair was long almost until his waist, his eyes had gotten larger and more golden, his hands were now claws, but though he could hear, he had no ears. The change was not yet over. “See, Im not Inu, Im a Hanyou, Inuyasha. Go home, Shippo. I won't cause you and Kaede any trouble. Be well little brother, and thank you.”

Shippo stared at his half transformed brother, surprise was plain on the little face. Then Inu smiled his slightly sad smile, and asked Shippo to go. Shippo was moving before his next thought.

One instant Shippo had been staring at him, the next, the kit was in his arm, small fists beating against his chest, as the smell of tears rose in the air. “Inu is Inu. MY NII-CHAN! You MY BIG BROTHER. Shippo only not well, when Nii-chan not there! I'll be better, please, please Inu-Nii-chan don't leave Shippo. Please don't stop being Shippo's big brother, Shippo loves Inu.” the kit sobbed in his arms, the little head rising, to lick under Inu's jaw. Then burying in his chest.

Inuyasha pressed his head to Shippo's red hair.

The moon glowed off the two boys, both young, both so achingly vulnerable, different in so many ways, and yet so strong. The two glowed in the moonlight, and the bond between the two brought comfort, under the glow of the moon.

The final wave of transformation hit Inuyasha. He collapsed to the floor, and curled into him self, he curled into a fetal position. The pain was centered in his head now, with Shippo there, he bit back his cries, and allowed the final transformation to run its course. So extreme was the pain that for a few seconds the world went black, and then it was over.

Inu lay on the ground trying to catch his breathe. He could hear everything, his hearing was amazing, rivaling and maybe surpassing his sense of smell. Then he felt a small fingers touch and stoke his ear. “Inu Nii-chan that is so cute!” Shippo exclaimed.

“Cute! You Brat!” Inuyasha's head shot up and he grabbed Shippo by the tail lifting his so they were nose to nose. “Hey did you get bigger?” Inuyasha asked distracted by the kit's extra weight.

“Yeah, I am now 6 years old, Kaede gave me some of her magic so that I could find you.” Shippo caught Inuyasha cheeks between the palms of small hands. “Nii-chan, please don't disappear like that again. I missed you. I'm scared when you are not there, don't go.”

“Aaa Shippo! Then you won't have a reason to be scared. Since I'm a Hanyou now, I can look after you better, and I'll be there for you, I swear as long as you need me I'll be there, little bro.” Inuyasha knew it would be harder not easier now that he was a halfling. Like the monsters in the bay, he would probably have to hide in the basement and come out only at night. It didn't matter, his smile was resigned, he would do what he had to, and find a way to make it work.

“Granny said no matter what we have to go back to the cottage.” Shippo said grabbing Inuyasha's hand he led the Hanyou off the building. Inuyasha picked up Shippo and the kit sat comfortably on his shoulder. With his new senses Inuyasha made his way to the cottage without incident. His heart beat a little faster, he was nervous and a little afraid of Kaede's reaction. What he shared with Shippo was special, but Kaede was an old demon, and her prejudices against Hanyou may be more established. Shippo burst into the room, Inuyasha followed a little behind.

Kaede stood by the door, staring at the young Hanyou.

“So I see you have finally got your ears, my little halfling. May this old demon have the honor of touching them?” Kaede asked with a straight face.

“Umm, ya sure, if you want.” Inuyasha muttered not quite looking at the old demon. He bent slightly, the change having given him a few more inches. Kaede reached out and stroked the white velvet triangles, then her weathered hands, stroked the silver hair. She suddenly hauled Inuyasha into her arms. This was really the first time she had done something like that. She held him tight to her bosom. “My poor little one, I am sorry, for all that you are going through, I am so sorry.” She sobbed into his hair.

Inuyasha a little clumsily returned the hug.

She dragged the two boys, to a food ladened table and made them eat, watching them both with hungry eyes. She missed them already, she wanted to look and look so she would remember everything.

Inuyasha always the planner began talking about the future, saying how he could hide during the day and look after them, perhaps work more dangerous night jobs, collecting bounties and the like.

A part of Kaede, the selfish part that wanted her boys with her, wanted to jump at the offer, but she knew that life was not suited for a 14 year old Hanyou, who loved high places. Inuyasha needed the sun, the moon and the winds.

“No Inuyasha, before dawn breaks, over the city walls, you and Shippo must leave here. Go to the Western Wilds, head for the forests of Emerald Gold. That forest is unclaimed, it lies between Demon and Seraph lands. This means that not many humans, Demons nor Seraph venture there, it will be safer for you then any other place I can think of. There are monsters, that roam the forest but I am confident, that you will be able to outrun or overcome them.” Kaede said.

“Why must we leave? We are demons and we hide okay.” Shippo said.

“Yes, we hide successfully because no one except Inuyasha (Kaede like this version of his name) knew we exist here. The Priestess know of Inuyasha's existence, I do not believe that they have given up on claiming him. If you stay in the city they will catch you.” Kaede said sadly.

Inuyasha, hesitated and then he nodded. “You are right, They will catch me if I stay here. So you are both coming with me?” he asked a little shyly.

“Course I am coming with you Big Brother, you are not going anywhere without me.” Shippo said scurrying up Inuyasha to cling with a death grip to his shoulder.

'I will not be accompanying the two of you.” Kaede said softly.

“What! Why? No! You have to come.” The two boys protested.

“Your protests warms this old heart, children. But there are many reasons I will not come. Firstly, I am old, and the poison of the monster long ago has weakened my body. Here in the city, in a protected area, I may live for many years. But in the wilds.. my body can no longer take the strain, winter would be the death of me. Secondly, I have a place here as a healer, I do good work and can get along with very little magic. Thirdly, I have given Shippo enough magic and information, that he will be able to grow into his abilities without my presence, and it will take me at least a year to recover from the magical drain of that spell.” Kaede listed out, her carefully planned reasons.

She left out her biggest reason, one she woulld not share with her grandsons, as it would add to their burden, If they were in danger, and she went along, Inuyasha would be protecting her and Shippo, and she suspected that he would make himself too much of a target to protect them both. Inuyasha would die to protect her, of that she had no doubt, and that was why she could not go with them. She would rather die alone than have that come to pass.

The next two hours were melancholic for the little family. They packed and made their final goodbyes.

Kaede was the only one who watched from the battlements, as two figures, made an impossible jump from the walls. As they slipped into the shadows of the coming dawn, her silent prayers went with them.

--tbc--