A Pup and a Cub

Disclaimer: It is a downright shame, but I do not own Inu Yasha.

A Pup and a Cub by FrustratedPhoenix

Chapter 1: Enough!


A gentle morning breeze carried the hanyou and wolf demon’s curses through the sleepy village of Edo. Tossing restlessly on her sleeping mat, a feverish Kaede groaned as the loud, angry shouts pierced her aching head. Mopping her dear friend’s sweaty brow, Azarni soothingly whispered, “Hush, Kaede. Ignore those fools and try to get ye some rest.”

“Tis nigh impossible to ignore those two” replied Kaede in a raspy voice.

“Aye, Inu Yasha and Kouga fight over your young apprentice as if she were a bone.”

“More like a tree,” muttered the ill miko.

Azarni’s smile turned into a concerned frown when Kaede’s wry chuckle transformed into a hacking cough. Azarni assisted her life-long friend into a sitting position, gently patting Kaede’s back as she said, “I’ll brew some more of my special tea for thee. It will soothe ye till your Kagome returns with more of her special medicines.”

“I am grateful to ye.”

“Tis nothing ye have not also done for me,” Azarne quietly stated. “Now, lean against the wall and close ye eyes while I gather the ingredients for the tea from your garden.”

Stepping outside, Azarni shook her head in irritation as the verbal warfare between Kagome’s possessive suitors increased in volume. She gasped in stunned amazement at some of the more creative curses and insults spouting from their lips. “I never knew ye could put that appendage there!” thought the shocked miko.

Never in all her years as the miko of a tiny neighboring village had Azarni felt as exposed to vulgarity as she had during her brief visit with Kaede. Had her dearest friend not fallen seriously ill, Azarni would have left as soon as the group of shard hunters returned from their latest conquest.

Appalled could not begin to describe her reaction to the odd group upon first meeting them. The loud, surly hanyou had bounded into Edo with the indecently clad young miko clinging to his back. After dumping Kagome unceremoniously onto the ground, Inu Yasha had stomped into Kaede’s hut demanding Ramen. A large fire-cat descending from the sky shortly thereafter did little to ease her jittery nerves. Spotting the monk astride the fire-cat calmed her until her shocked gaze spied his hand brushing against the taijiya’s nether regions as they dismounted. She was further stunned when the seemingly mild-mannered Sango shrieked, “Hentai!” and promptly slapped Miroku with enough force to leave a red handprint. She thought the kitsune was adorable until she caught Shippo peeing into Inu Yasha’s ramen while the hanyou was arguing with a screeching Kagome about returning home to study for tests.

Despite the screaming, lechery, violence and crude pranks, the past few days with the motley group was a quiet interlude compared to the arrival of the Wolf Prince earlier that morning. When she first spotted Kouga’s whirlwind, Azarni feared Edo was about to be destroyed by the rapidly approaching mini-tornado. As she kneeled on the ground praying for the village’s deliverance, the cocky Kouga sprung out of his dust cloud bellowing for ‘his woman’.

The arrogant wolf demon stubbornly refused to believe Kagome had left for medical supplies and insolently called the hanyou a “lying piece of dog shit”. Already angered by Kouga’s mere presence, the wolf’s snide insult further enraged Inu Yasha. The half-demon wittily responded by shouting to the entire village that not only was Kagome not Kouga’s woman but that the Wolf Prince wasn’t “worthy to wipe Kagome’s ass let alone mate her!” By this time Kouga’s two closest comrades, Hakkaku and Ginta and their wolves had finally caught up to him and it was all they could do to restrain their leader while Miroku and Sango struggled to restrain Inu Yasha.

Never having had to confront anything other than lesser youkai before, Azarni’s frayed nerves were about to snap. For her own sanity she strategically retreated into Kaede’s hut but was angered to discover that the demons’ argument had woken her sick friend. She made Kaede as comfortable as possible before going outside to pick herbs for the tea.

Azarni was almost finished in the garden when the sounds of fists hitting flesh and bodies being slammed against hard objects halted her return to Kaede. Some innate sense of self-preservation forced Azarni’s wobbly legs to move just as the two incensed demons crashed into the tiny garden. While biting and scratching each other Kouga and Inu Yasha rolled on the ground crushing Kaede’s precious herbs. Kouga managed to pin Inu Yasha to the ground when they landed in Kaede’s vegetable patch and attempted to force-feed Inu Yasha a large zucchini. Inu Yasha wrestled free and sprung to his feet. Grabbing a tomato vine he slung it around Kouga’s neck dragging Kouga across the garden to slam him into the back wall of Kaede’s hut. Wood splintered as both Kouga and Inu Yasha crashed through the meager wall landing on top of the ill miko. A shocked silence reigned as the dust settled and a corner of Kaede’s roof sagged dangerously toward the ground.

Coming out of their stupor Ginta and Hakkaku sped forward to hold the roof’s corner in place while Miroku and Sango hauled the two demons off Kaede. As gently and as quickly as possible Miroku and Sango carried the bruised and battered miko out of the rubble. As Ginta and Hakkaku let go of the roof’s corner the demolished hut’s walls swayed and fell inward as the roof completely collapsed. Her hut in ruins and a crying kitsune patting her cheek were the last sights Kaede saw before she lost consciousness.

Fear coursed through Azarni’s veins as she raced to her closest friend’s side. Kaede was like a sister to her and she couldn’t bear losing the only person left in her life she considered family. Placing her fingertips gently across Kaede’s forehead, Azarni’s healing powers flowed into her friend’s body searching for fatal injuries.

Several tense minutes passed as everyone worried about the grandmotherly miko. Miroku prayed while Sango rocked a sobbing Shippo. Not knowing what else to do Hakkaku and Ginta started clearing the garden of debris. For once the two demons responsible for the accident behaved with a dignity few believed they possessed and kept their heads bowed out of remorse and respect.

“Thank Kami,” Azarni murmured, “the worst injuries are a few bruised ribs and a nasty bump on the head. ” Relieved sighs sounded across the garden. Kaede was already returning to consciousness when Miroku left to arrange temporary lodging for Kaede until the miko’s home could be rebuilt. Sango shot a look that could freeze Hell toward the two demons as she left to retrieve bandages and ointments for Kaede’s wounds from the villagers.

Kouga and Inu Yasha approached Kaede to apologize. Shippo leapt toward them biting and clawing at their legs. “Stay away! You idiots could have killed Granny-Kaede!” Inu Yasha grabbed Shippo by his tail and held him upside-down. “Calm down, Runt. It was an accident.” “Yeah, the old Hag’s gonna be all right.”

“Calm down!…Accident!…HAG!” Their seemingly calm dismissal of their reckless actions infuriated the young kitsune. Shippo bit Inu Yasha’s hand, dropped to the ground and started pelting the biggest, sharpest rocks he could find at Kouga and Inu Yasha. Not about to be beaten by a child demon, both Kouga and Inu Yasha growled and started chasing the kitsune around the ravaged garden.

“ENOUGH!” shouted Azarni. Shocked by the audacity of a woman, let alone a human woman, yelling at them Kouga and Inu Yasha stopped chasing Shippo and stood staring at the old miko with their mouths hanging slightly open. Trembling from the sheer force of her rage, Azarni pointed a shaking finger at the wolf demon and hanyou. “If ye insist upon behaving like children, then so shall ye be children!” Violet fog encircled Kouga and Inu Yasha as Azarni chanted ancient magic. Dizzy from the swirling fog and its fumes, Kouga and Inu Yasha fell to their knees struggling to remain conscious.