Adult-FanFiction.org : Inuyasha / Yashahime

Where I Belong	By : Royal_Kitsune Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female Views: 3097 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or ideas from Inuyasha, manga nor anime. I also do not make a profit from this work of fiction.

Chapter List
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~Are You Serious?!~
“Are you tired?” Katina questioned and I shot her a glare. Katina was in a particularly bright mood. I could guess it had a lot to do with the new mark she was sporting on the left side of her neck. It was a yellow dragon-dog with a red outline.
“What was your first clue?” I grumbled as yet another yawn escaped me. I had, yet again, had a night of very little sleep. With Sesshomaru’s beast knowing it was being sealed, it was particularly insistent last night on certain activities.
“There, everything is ready.” Izu called from where he had been making marks in the ground. We were about a mile or so from the castle in a huge clearing. It could easily fit ten or more demons in their true forms. “The only thing the two of you need to do is keep Lord Sesshomaru in the circle. I will do everything else.” He said pointing to the larger of the circles he’d drawn.
I looked around the large circle that Izu had drawn and the markings he had placed around the edge. The circle was wide enough to accommodate Sesshomaru should he transform.
“That’s all?” I asked thinking this might just be easier than I thought.
“Yes but I would suggest that you not underestimate the simplicity.” Izu remarked as if he was guessing my thoughts. “For the time that you will be restraining him, Lord Sesshomaru’s consciousness will be completely gone leaving his beast to run wild.”
“Ok, we’ll keep that in mind.” I said stretching in an effort to wake myself up a bit more. “So how long will this spell last and what about releasing the spell?”
“This is a spell that I created for the Dog General. He was the only one it was tested on and unfortunately he passed before I could fully study the spell. So the length of time it will hold is questionable. By my studies it should last a decade’s time. I have the release spell so that is not a problem, but the release will take a week to complete. Thus I will do the release spell two weeks before the council meeting in the north.” Izu said as he took a seat in a smaller circle that was a few feet away from the largest one.
“Guess we’re starting.” Katina said as she motioned to where Sesshomaru had entered the clearing.
He wore no armor and his weapons were not on his person. His facial expression was as indifferent as always though his movements did seem a bit tense.
“Lord Sesshomaru.” Izu greeted, doing his best to bow from his seated position. “If you’ll move to the middle of the circle we can begin.” He said and then turned to Katina and I as Sesshomaru walked. “You must not enter the circle until I complete the first part. If you enter, your inner demons will also be sealed. Do not worry, the first part is merely the constraining part, it is the sealing part that his demon will rebel against.”
When we nodded Izu turned back to the western lord who had reached the center of the circle and was facing the three of us. The old fox took a deep breath before he began to chant in a foreign tongue.
As he chanted I could make out shifts in the ground where the symbols outside the large circle were. I squinted to see that the symbols were rising from the ground with long streams of other characters behind them; they reminded me of a chain from the way they looked. The symbols slunk their way towards the middle of the circle. Once the symbols reached Sesshomaru they began to snake themselves onto his skin and began imprinting themselves on the western lord. The process moved surprisingly fast and soon all the symbols were now laid in lines circling along the dog demon’s body.
“The first part is now complete. You can step in the circle now.” Izu said. “Remember, you must keep him in the circle until I say. Also keep him on the ground. If he flies, it won’t work.”
“Yay.” I said rolling my eyes. “Let’s just get this over with.”
“I am beginning the sealing.” Izu said as he began his chanting again.
The symbols on Sesshomaru went from inky black to blazing red, which also matched the change in Sesshomaru’s eyes.
“Let’s go ahead and transform.” I said as I transformed to full size. ‘I can see my house from here.’ I barked with a slight laugh as I looked over to the western castle.
‘You’re special.’ Katina said as she rose beside me, standing an inch or so shorter than me.
‘No I’m tired.’ I corrected.
‘Ready?’ She barked.
‘Do I have a choice?’ I asked.
‘No.’ She responded with a grin.
Katina’s grin faded as we felt a blast of Sesshomaru’s aura and turned to see him standing in his true form. He had us by at least five feet. The symbols were still covering his body, making a sharp contrast to his silver fur. The western lord wasted no time in trying to get to Izu in an attempt to stop the spell.
‘Oh no you don’t.’ Katina said placing herself in front of the fox and sending a blast of wind to keep Sesshomaru back.
He let out a snarl and changed his attention to Katina, but I was able to get behind him and give a sharp nip to the end of his tail. With a loud snarl the western lord turned towards me, Katina did the same thing.
‘If we can keep him distracted and unable to focus on one of us, we may be able to avoid a direct fight.’ I suggested. ‘Or not.’ I thought as the western lord still continued to charge towards me and rammed his head into my shoulder. I barely managed to stay on all four paws as the force of the hit knocked some of the air from my body. Making sure to keep my claws as out of the way as possible, I swiped across his muzzle.
‘I don’t think we’ll be able to avoid a fight.’ Katina whined as she tried to regain the western lord’s focus.
‘Yea, I was just thinking the same thing.’ I growled. ‘In that case just make sure that his focus stays on me then.’
‘Why?’ Katina questioned.
‘. He won’t seriously injure or kill me no matter how riled up his beast gets, but you on the other hand...’ I trailed off knowing she would understand where I was going with this. ‘I’d never hear the end of it from Ryo if something happened to you.’
‘Ok, but it seems like he’s more interested in getting to Izu than either of us. We’re just in his way.’ Katina muttered as Sesshomaru turned his attention back to the fox.
‘Then we’ll just have to stay in his way.’ I said bunching my muscles together and jumping onto the dog demon’s back. I landed with my front paws on his shoulder, my hind paws on the ground and my fangs gripping his scruff. ‘Damn I’m not heavy enough.’ I thought as the western lord stumbled but stayed up though I continued to try and pull him down.
‘Good idea.’ Katina called as she rushed to my side and nipped at Sesshomaru’s paws to off balance him. It worked and the western lord fell onto his side.
I maintained my hold but the bastard rolled so that I was caught under him. I tried not to give in, but with my grasp on his scruff I had no room to breathe around his fur and the dirt which forced me to let go. Out of frustration, I made sure to take a good amount of fur with me as I yanked away.
Katina seemed intent on going over me to make sure that I didn’t have any injuries but I shook her off. We watched as Sesshomaru got up to his paws again.
‘Eww he’s drooling.’ Katina murmured.
‘I don’t think that’s drool.’ I mentioned and was confirmed as we watched some of it fall and the ground beneath begin to sizzle. ‘Nope, definitely not drool, large amounts of lethal poison.’
‘Guess we shouldn’t get too close.’ Katina suggested.
‘It’s best that we don’t.’ I agreed. ‘The question becomes, how do we stop him now.’
‘We’re not that bad at mid-range attacks and I’ve been working on my attacks along with the healing spells.’ Katina stated. ‘If you stay on the ground, I can attack from the air.’
‘Go for it.’ I said and watched as she rose up a few feet above the western lord. ‘Cut that out.’ I barked as I saw Sesshomaru’s cloud forming to form beneath him, signaling that he was about to take to the air. Placing my front paws firmly in front of me I was able to summon mounds of dirt to pack on his paws to keep him from rising. His head turned swiftly to snap at me. I was able to jump out of the way but some of the poison flew from his mouth and caught me on the shoulder. ‘Damn that hurts.’ I thought and resisted the urge to roll in the dirt to get it off.
Despite the dirt, Sesshomaru was doing a pretty good job of freeing himself. Thankfully Katina began sending down large beats of air to buffet the dog demon and keep him from being able to move as much.
‘Hey Kazuko! I know you may not be able to notice from down there, but from up here it looks like the circle is shrinking.’ She called and I looked over to Izu for an explanation.
“Do not worry! It is part of the spell. Once the circle shrinks completely the spell will be done. You must keep him in the circle even as it gets smaller.” Izu said, his voice sounded strained from effort.
‘At this rate, in a few minutes, it will be too small to hold him.’ Katina said sounding worried.
‘We just have to trust Izu.’ I barked and turned my attention back the western lord who was showing an amazing ability to still fight against two elements at once. ‘Let’s add another.’ I thought and let my jaws part slightly as I felt he electricity running through my fangs. I let the charge build up enough for a large shock and let it loose in Sesshomaru’s direction. As planned, the shock stopped his movements, the only problem being that it didn’t stop him for long.
‘Kazuko?’ Katina called and I looked up for a brief moment. ‘I think Sesshomaru is getting smaller.’
I looked back to Sesshomaru and concluded that she was right. Normally the tip of my ears just reached the bottom of his jaw. Now we were standing muzzle to muzzle. A felt a small trickle of relief as I started to understand what Izu had meant.
‘I get it. If we keep him in the circle, he’ll shrink with it.’ I called, thankful that this would give us a bit more of an advantage.
We continued our fight as the sun peaked up and rose until it was high above us. Sesshomaru showed an annoyingly amazing ability to still provide a formidable opponent even as he shrunk in size. By the time Izu called for us to stop the sun was past noon and the three of us had several scratches and clumps of fur missing. Katina and I transformed back to normal and stood beside Izu as he finished up the spell. Sesshomaru had shrunken to the size of our smaller forms before he shifted back to his normal form. His glowing red eyes flashed for a moment before they returned to gold.
“That will do it.” Izu said as he struggled to get up. Katina helped him stand while I walked over to the western lord.
“You back to normal?” I asked stopping a foot or so in front of the dog demon.
“I will not be ‘normal’, as you put it, until this spell is broken.” He responded and I sighed.
“I’m just going to take that as a yes.” I said and turned back to Katina. “I think we’re done here.” She nodded and began helping Izu back to the castle. I turned back to Sesshomaru. “We’re leaving Swift here. If anything happens, send him to get us.” I said and continued before he could respond. “You’re not working at full strength, so I’m not going to take no for an answer.” I finished and began heading back to the castle. “Masaru wants to leave at dusk and dammit I’m going to get some sleep around here even if I have to kill someone for it.”
I made it a few steps before I felt myself being picked up bridal-style. My immediate response was to growl for him to put me down but his eyes showed that he meant no harm.
“Sleep.” He said in a purring growl. I let out a sigh of content, placed my head against his shoulder and was more than happy to drift off.
~Masaru~
‘Where is she?’ I grumbled as I stood waiting at the western castle’s main gate. Katina, Ryo, Shippo, Dagger, Hawk, Leaf and Oak were all here, leaving only one person missing.
“Last I saw, Sesshomaru was carrying her to their room. It’s been quite up there since.” Katina said with a shrug.
‘She’d better hurry up. Shadow Falls isn’t exactly close.’ I huffed.
“I’m here.” We turned to see Kazuko heading towards us. She looked less grumpy than she had this morning.
‘Where have you been?’ I questioned.
“I’ve been getting that sleep I’ve been missing for the past few days.” She responded.
‘Let’s go.’ I said and waited for Kazuko, Katina, Ryo and Shippo to transform. ‘No one knows you’re going north. Even with the new moon, we can’t risk anyone seeing us flying, we’ll have to run it. Try and keep your steps as light as possible.’ When they all nodded I took off, at a full sprint, towards the western and northern border lands. Thankfully everyone was able to run lightly even at the speed we were going.
~Kazuko~
I felt refreshed for the first time in almost a week. It was the first uninterrupted sleep I had gotten since Koru had arrived at the western castle. Sesshomaru had been nice enough to stay with me while I slept. I could tell, even though he wouldn’t admit it, that he was a bit uneasy with having his inner demon sealed away.
‘Lady Kazuko.’ Masaru barked. His tone was quiet but annoyed as if he may have been calling me for some time. I put on a small burst of speed so that I could go from where I had been running in the back of the pack, to the front beside the guardian leader.
‘Yes?’ I asked as I finally reached his side.
‘Swift has told me you have him staying at the western castle for a secret task. Care to tell me what it is?’ He asked and I understood what his annoyance was targeted at. I could understand how frustrating it must be to be a leader, yet have those under you doing things without your knowledge. Unfortunately, this secret could not be shared.
‘Sorry I can’t tell you. Trust me, as soon as we come back, you’ll be the first one to know.’ I said offering as much consolation as I could. He eyed me for a while before giving a curt nod and turning his attention back to guiding us.
‘The village will be completed by the time you return. Ryo, Katina and Shippo intend to move into it.’ He said and I could tell what his unasked question was.
‘I’ll be staying at the western castle.’ I said as I thought over things. Somehow I had expected Shippo to stay at the western castle with myself, yet I wasn’t entirely surprised with his choice. He’d really gotten close with the Ryo and the guardians. Plus with his feelings towards Rin being as they were, it would be unfair torture to have him living under the same roof.
‘I thought as much.’ Masaru said.
‘I have a task for you.’ I said and saw his ears flick in interest though he didn’t say anything. ‘I want you to find all information on Ryu-Inu law, traditions and ceremonies. I have something I want to do when we get back, and I want to make sure that I do it right. Also I’ve heard of a sword smith who specializes in demon weaponry. I want you to find him and give him my fangs to create me a new staff and a short sword. I don’t care what they looks like; just make sure that they can amplify my elements. I left the fangs with Shadow.’
‘A sword and staff?’ Masaru asked having seemed fine with my plan until he heard the part about the weapons. ‘You have your family’s staff and what use would you have for a sword?’
‘It never hurts to have a backup weapon and I have a just have a feeling that I’m going to need a new staff.’ I would have shrugged if we hadn’t been running. ‘Can you get that done for me over the next decade?’
‘Of course.’ Masaru huffed. ‘We’ll get it done in a year’s time.’
‘No need to rush it. I’m not going to need them anytime soon I think.’ I said with a light smile.
We ran in silence as the moon rose higher and higher into the sky. I was concerned that we may not make it in time but just as midnight hit; Masaru gave an order to slow down.
‘We’re here.’ He said as he brought us to a swift walk. I could hear running water in the distance but could not see anything through the thick forest we were in. ‘Shadow Falls.’ Masaru stated as we exited the forest.
‘Why would something so bright be called Shadow Falls?’ ’The water before us was so bright and clear that I thought we had to be in the wrong place. Though I did wonder how it shone so bright in the darkness created by the new moon.
“This waterfall is a magical place, or so some say. While normal water reflects clear in the day and shadowy at night, this waterfall is different. During the day, the water is as dark as midnight during the new moon, and at night it is as clear and bright as the full moon. No one knows why this is, but it makes for a quite the sight.” Koru’s voice called out from the other side of the river as if he had read my thoughts. He sat on a boulder, and it made me wonder how long he had been here. “Nice of you to be on time.”
‘Thanks we weren’t sure we would make it in time.’ I said.
“Well then let’s get back to the north.” Koru said as he stood. “If we push it, we can make it to the Ryu-Okami village by morning, the castle by sun high. Then Kazuko will come with me.”
‘You mean we’re not going to train together?’ Ryo interjected as he stepped forward.
“You two will train with the Ryu-Okami in the village.” Koru said pointing to Ryo and Katina. “The fox kit will train at the northern castle with the other foxes. And Kazuko will come with me to train.”
‘Where are you going to train?’ Shippo questioned, his paws shuffling uneasily.
“I can’t tell you that. It’s a sacred and secret place that only Shogakkos can know about.” Koru said and shrugged. “So let’s go, we’re going to want to get there as soon as possible.”
‘See you when we get back, Masaru.’ I commented to the guardian leader. I gave him an affectionate head-butt on the shoulder, which he returned.
‘Come back strong, we’ll be waiting for you.’ He said and took off back towards the western lands. Just before he disappeared from sight he turned and called out over his shoulder. ‘Remember, plans for attacking the east will begin as soon as you return.’
‘Ready?’ I turned to see Koru standing in his true form. He was in his smaller form and only stood about an inch or so shorter than Ryo. His fur and wings were a dark red with black markings scattered across. He looked just like a Ryu-Inu, only his canine features had a more feral look to them.
‘Yea let’s go.’ I replied and again we were off as we crossed the river and followed Koru into the northern lands.
The run was silent as we moved swiftly through the northern lands and towards the Ryu-Okami village. The landscape here was much different. While the west was full of dense forest and grassy underfoot, the north was covered in rocky terrain and mountains, the ground we ran on felt like gravel. By the time we reached the village the pads of my paws were soar from going over the rough ground for so long.
“Welcome.” The Ryu-Okami leader, Kiba was waiting to greet us as we arrived at the village. “We look forward to working with you, Ryo and Katina.” He said.
‘I guess I’ll see you guys in a decade.’ I said and gave them each a goodbye. It was a strange feeling knowing that I would be separated from them as well. I had expected to at least see their familiar faces during this journey. Now I was faced with spending an entire decade with a male I barely knew. This was definitely not information that Sesshomaru needed to know, I could only imagine his reaction.
‘Yea, see you.’ Ryo said as he Katina, Oak and Leaf followed the Ryu-Okami into the village.
‘Okay we’re heading to the northern castle now.’ Koru said as he led Shippo, Dagger, Hawk and me away from the village.
It didn’t take as long to reach the castle but the terrain wasn’t much better. I was definitely bleeding from the bottom of my paws as we reached the castle gates. By the time we got to the gates, the sun had risen. Waiting for us was Lord Di and Lady Lily both seemed as happy as when we’d last seen them, though again Lady Lily had a look that I couldn’t quite read on her features.
“Welcome Shippo. We’re so happy that you’ve decided to come.” Lady Lily said going up to the kit.
‘I’ll see you in a decade.’ I barked to him as he followed the older foxes with Hawk at his side.
‘Now we’re going to head to the Shogakko training grounds. You must promise to never speak of the location grounds to anyone other than another Shogakko.’ Koru said as he eyed Dagger and I.
‘You have our word.’ I said and beside me Dagger nodded.
‘Then let’s go. There is only one way to reach the training grounds, and that is through flight. It’s located in the mountain range that is at the center of the four lands. No lord owns it or the land it is on, since it is vital to the four Ryu clans. We should arrive by nightfall.’ Koru said as he shook his wings and took off towards the south.
It felt good to be off of my paws for the time that we soared through the air. Koru led us higher than I was used to flying, because he wanted to ensure that no one saw us.
~Shadow~
Masaru had come back in edgy mood, and I could guess that he hadn’t gotten the answers about Swift’s task. He had sent Moon, Claw and I to find the sword smith Totosai. I had wondered why Kazuko left two of her fangs and now I had my answer. Finding the sword smith wasn’t too hard, he was in his volcano home as usual, but convincing him to make the swords proved to be the hard part. He kept losing track of what we were telling him and twice we had to give him a light bump to get him focused again.
“Ah, you want a sword and staff for the Ryu-Inu Shogakko of the west. I suppose I could do so. Come back in a year. They will be done by then.” The sword smith made shooing motions towards us as he finished speaking.
‘We’re going to hold you to that Totosai.’ Claw growled as we turned to leave. ‘I swear that senile old man should not be making weapons anymore.’ He added as we took off.
‘Perhaps, but it is undeniable that he is the best at it.’ Moon commented. ‘I’ve never heard of a weapon of his being anything less that superior.’
I gave a mumbled agreement as I thought over why Kazuko would want a new sword and staff.
~Kazuko~
“This place is beautiful.” I said as I looked at my surroundings.
We had arrived at the Shogakko training grounds. Koru had been right; we’d made it just as the sun set. I ran my hand over some of the statues that were lined up. As I reached the end of the statues, I noticed that the last statue in line was one of me. “Who did this?” I asked in wonder. The statue was so life like that it looked like someone had simply trapped me in stone instead of carved it.
“No one knows. When a Shogakko reaches maturity, their statue just appears here.” Koru said as he watched me. “There is a row for each of the four clans. Each row shows that clan’s past and present Shogakkos. The first ones are the original four Shogakkos and then their predecessors go down the line until you get to the end where the current Shogakko statues are.”
I took in the rest of the training grounds in the rising moonlight. The training area was made in a giant square. In one corner, there was waterfall that fed into a stream that cut through the grounds. In another corner, off to the side there was a stretch of burned ground. To another corner was a pile of boulders. And in the fourth corner a white circle was on the ground. One thing I noticed was that there wasn’t anywhere to sleep, it was all training grounds.
“So we’ll fly out here every day? Seems like a lot to do especially since we’re a bit pressed for time.” I commented and turned as I heard Koru gave a light chuckle.
“No we’ll be staying here the entire time.” He said.
“So then we’re sleeping outside every night for ten years? Great…” I grumbled.
“Nope.” Koru responded and I gave him a confused look. “You’ll only be sleep outside once a year.” He added.
“So we are going to have to come here every day then. Is there a hut or something nearby?” I said, feeling my confusing rising.
“There is a hut for normal Shogakko training, but you won’t be using it. You’ll only be sleeping outside once a year, because you will only be sleeping one night a year.” Koru said and continued as I opened my mouth to protest. “A demon can go up to a year without sleep before it affects them on a severe level. I have a century’s worth of lessons and training to teach you in the course of a decade, we can’t waste any time. So I hope you enjoyed your sleep last night, because it’s the last one you’re going to get for a year.” He said with a grin at my stunned face.
I couldn’t even think of a complete sentence or even a single word to say to him as I processed what he was telling me. No sleep for a year? This had to be a joke of some kind. I was ready to kill someone after three days of no sleep. Going three hundred and sixty five days without any sleep was insane!
“You have to be testing me or something. There is no way that you can say that I have to go a full year without any sleep. That’s just insane.” I said.
Koru shook his head and took on a very serious look. “I will be testing you often, but I can ensure you that this is not one of those tests. Sleeping takes up about a fourth of the time we have, and we can’t afford to lose that time. Every moment wasted sleeping is a moment that you could be learning something vital. Now we’ve wasted enough time and we must begin. But first,” he said and turned to face Dagger. “I understand that you’re here as escort to Lady Kazuko, thus I will permit you to stay. But you must swear that you will never breathe a word of what you see here to anyone else.”
‘You have my word on my honor.’ Dagger said with a dip of his head.
“Good, now let’s get started.” Koru said as he turned to face me again. “We’ll start simple and test what you already know in combat.”
I was still caught up on the whole not sleeping thing. “Are you serious?” I asked with a look of disbelief still on my face. I got my answer as Koru pulled his sword from its sheath and charged at me. It appeared this decade was going to be harder than I had thought.
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Where I Belong