"Kagome!" Inu-Yasha yelled and suddenly she was in his arms,
being carried away from the attack, which just slammed harmlessly into
the ground.
Inu-Yasha set her down and turned to face the half-youkai. He drew out the Tetsusaiga and glared at her. Kagome looked out from behind Inu-Yasha and studied the half-youkai. This was the first time she'd gotten a good look at her.
She was about Kagome's height, maybe a little more, though the expression on her face rivalled a typical Inu-Yasha scowl. Her hair was interesting in itself. It seemed mostly black, but was gathered into three buns on the top of her head, and from those buns came three braids that went down to a little past her shoulders. The most noticeable thing about those buns and braids were that they were three different shades of purple. After that one noticed the large, translucent butterfly wings on her back.
Three seemed a common theme with her. She had three feathers hanging down from her earrings, which were on the pointed ears that seemed so prevalent in the more humanoid supernatural beings. Three beads and feathers were on the band that cinched her buns and braids.
Her outfit was a short dress, cinched at the waist in typical Japanese style, though the outfit itself did not seem especially Japanese. If Kagome didn't know better she'd almost say that the outfit was a combination of Japanese and Gaijin, but that was just silly. Around her neck and down her arms were strings of beads.
In the seconds it took her to size the half-youkai up, Miroku and Sango joined them.
"Most interesting," Miroku commented, "This half-youkai has a seal on her. That is likely why she needed the Shikon shards."
So that was what the beads were for.
"Very smart, Houshi. Okaa-sama sealed away most of my power. So I had to do something to bypass that."
"Who are you?" Kagome asked.
"What a name to scream as I kill you? Sure, I am Époque. Now you may die." Époque moved her hands in a complicated bunch of gestures and purplish energy collected.
"Kisama!" Inu-Yasha yelled and attacked. Époque dodged and cursed as all her hard won energy dissipated. She dodged the Tetsusaiga a few more times before just disappearing. Kagome looked around, she doubted that Époque just gave up.
As soon as she felt the aura of the Shikon shards she turned and pointed, "There!"
Miroku stepped up beside Kagome and held up his hand, unravelling his own seal as he yelled, "Air Rip!"
Époque's eyes widened in panics as she was drawn down towards Miroku. Her hands were a flurry of movement as they worked another attack, "Reverse!"
Suddenly the Air Rip stopped drawing her in, and started spewing out everything Miroku had sucked up in the past. Miroku quickly sealed his hand again, but it was too late. Now they had to deal with paintings turned real, Naraku's poisonous youkai, one very ticked off praying mantis youkai, as well as about a hundred or more other youkai.
Miroku hafted his staff, and Sango held her boomerang ready. Kirara
transformed, and Kagome grabbed her bow and arrows.
Shippo cowered in the midst of them all. In his mind he repeated over and over, I am not afraid, I am not afraid. It was his hopes that if he said it enough times it would become true. Unfortunately it didn't. As Shippo tried to avoid all the youkai that were swarming around he watched the others.
Inu-Yasha and Époque were fighting. Neither seemed to be gaining the upper hand though, as every time she tried to form some sort of attack Inu-Yasha would slice at her and she'd have to dodge. She was very quick though and Inu-Yasha just couldn't seem to hit her. Since her dodges often took her close to Kagome and the others Inu-Yasha didn't dare use the Cutting Wind, since he might accidentally hit a friend. As they attacked, they threw obscenities at each other, as though in contest to see who had the worst language.
"Hiraikotsu!" Sango cried over and over as she threw her giant boomerang. As it sliced through youkai she sliced right and left with her kitana, before catching the boomerang to throw again. A little ways away from her was Kirara who was using her long teeth and sharp claws to savagely tear into youkai.
Miroku was welding his staff fiercely, dispatching any youkai who would dare to come too close to him. At his back was Kagome, who was firing her power charged arrows. Whenever they hit a youkai, said youkai exploded.
Shippo screamed as a youkai popped up in front of him. "Fox fire!" he yelled. The youkai emerged from the fire unscathed and Shippo screamed again. He turned and ran.
"Hiraikotsu!" Shippo's hair was ruffled as Sango's boomerang flew past his head and tore apart the youkai behind him. Shippo turned to thank her but she was already busy fighting another couple of youkai. Shippo whimpered and looked around for a place to hide. He was discovering another drawback to his adult body; it was just too big to hide easily.
Poof! With a cloud of swirling mists Shippo transformed into a small, but rather demented looking mouse. Unfortunately, despite this, Shippo found himself being chased across the battle ground by a drooling, hulking youkai. The good news was that it didn't look very smart. The bad news was that it looked very, very hungry.
Shippo put on an extra burst of speed as he felt claws grab at him. Three lines of blood welled up on his back, and he hissed with pain, but didn't stop. He weaved between and behind of the decaying bodies, and when he finally risked looking back he saw that he had lost the youkai.
Shippo breathed a sigh of relief. Taking the time to actually notice where he was, he saw that he was quite far from the main battle. He couldn't make out what was happening, and Shippo decided to risk getting closer.
He scurried from body to body, hiding within the shadows. Finally he scurried under a torn battle standard. As he peeked out from under the torn and bloody cloth he saw that things were going badly from his friends. Kagome was out of arrows and was relying on Miroku and Sango to protect her. Both Miroku and Sango had sweat pouring down their bodies and were starting to breath heavily. Shippo felt guilty. He should be out there, fighting with his friends, but what could he do? He cursed himself, even as an adult he was still a coward. He tore his eyes away to look at Inu-Yasha.
Inu-Yasha was faring better. He was pushing Époque back, gaining more ground with each swipe. He slashed high and she was forced to land. She backed away and tripped over a body. Inu-Yasha smiled triumphantly and sliced down. Époque's eyes widened and she forced her hands up and desperately yelled, "Freeze!"
Inu-Yasha did. He stood, not moving, in mid stroke. Époque stared at her hands as though wondering why she didn't do that earlier. Shippo watched in disbelief. Inu-Yasha couldn't lose. He never lost. Shippo was counting on him to win and save the day, like he always did.
Shippo trembled as he watched Époque stand up and approach the frozen Inu-Yasha. There was a small smile on her face and her hands moved in an insanely fast pattern. At last, her hands covered in a writhing purple energy, she thrust them out, "Accelerate!"
Inu-Yasha began to move once again, but his movements were restricted by the purple light. As Shippo watched Inu-Yasha's hair grow he realised with horror that this was the same thing that he jumped into, and by the smile on Époque's face he knew that she wasn't going to stop until Inu-Yasha had died of old age.
Shippo took a step forward and almost tripped on some ivy. He stared down at it and then looked out over the battle field. It was covered in ivy, but the bodies had distracted him from noticing before. Ivy...
Shippo began to formulate a plan. He took a big gulp and gathered his courage. Inu-Yasha's hair was pooled around the ground now and wrinkles were actually starting to appear. Shippo would need to work fast.
Poof! With a swirling of mist Shippo transformed into his truest of forms, not that of a cute little child with a tail (or an adult with a tail as was the case now) but that of a red fox.
On the soft pads of his paws he ran for Époque. This was one advantage to being an adult, as a child kitsune his fox form was rather small and very clumsy. He didn't use it very often. But this, this was swift, graceful, powerful, and silent. Époque didn't even notice him until he slammed into her, causing her to stumble and release her hold on Inu-Yasha.
Using his kitsune magic, or trickery as some labelled it, Shippo used the ivy to bind Époque, wrapping her tight in it. To the others it would look as though it was his fur that bound her so tight. Either way she was bound.
Inu-Yasha snarled. He raised the Tetsusaiga high.
"No!" Époque screamed, terror in her voice.
As the Tetsusaiga swung down Shippo said good-bye to his childhood. At least his friends would be safe. He closed his eyes, and everything stopped.
When he opened his eyes a couple of seconds later, things were different. Shippo folded his ears back in confusion as he took everything in. Inu-Yasha had just finished his down stroke, only he no longer had the Tetsusaiga in his hands. Rather it was in the hands of a woman who stood a short distance away.
All the youkai attacking Kagome, Miroku, and Sango were frozen in place. They stared at their opponents in shock, as though not understanding what was happening.
Inu-Yasha recovered from the shock the quickest and promptly attacked the woman.
"Sankon Tetsusou!" he yelled as he slashed down with his claws.
Unfortunately for him the woman disappeared and he fell flat on his face.
A couple of seconds later she reappeared, in exactly the same place.
{trans; Sankon Tetsusou = Soul Shattering Iron Claw or if you go by
the Viz version; Claws of Steel}
Inu-Yasha untangled himself from all his hair, got to his feet, and
attacked again. Once again the woman disappeared. This time
thought Inu-Yasha managed to keep his balance. This went on for a
few more times until the woman looked impassively at Kagome and asked,
"Could you do something about him, please, before I am forced to?"
Kagome stared at the woman. She could feel the power rolling off her in great waves, power that matched the other half of Époque; the non-youkai half. That, and the fact that she greatly resembled Époque caused her to believe that they were related. But that wasn't the thing that made Kagome stare at her. Rather it was what the woman was wearing; a three piece business suit. She had on stylish glasses and her hair was tied back into a French braid. To top this off she was holding a briefcase in her free hand. She was the epitome of a modern working woman.
Inu-Yasha made another swipe and the woman disappeared again. When she reappeared she raised an eyebrow at Kagome. Kagome could feel the power mounting, and got a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach. She'd best stop Inu-Yasha before the woman did something more drastic than just disappearing.
"Inu-Yasha, sit!" she yelled out. Inu-Yasha promptly slammed into the ground.
"What'dcha do that for, wench!" he yelled out from the ground.
"Arigato," the woman smiled at Kagome and took a few steps forward.
Out of the corner of her eye she could see Miroku and Sango tense.
Kirara gave a low, warning growl.
{trans. arigato = thank you}
"I assure you, there's no need to worry. I'm just here to pick up a recalcitrant daughter. Époque, dear, whatever have you been doing?" the woman fixed a level glare on the half-youkai still held within Shippo's grasp.
"Okaa-sama! These two have been meddling in time! They need to be stopped!" Époque protested.
Aha, I was right. That woman is Époque's mother! Kagome thought triumphantly to herself.
"Enough, Époque!" the woman said sharply. Époque was immediately silent. The woman looked at Kagome again. "I'm terribly sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Miyoko, a pleasure to meet you."
"Uh..." Kagome was a little lost at what was going on, but decided just to go with the flow, "I'm Kagome. This is Sango, and Miroku. The one on the ground is Inu-Yasha, and the fox is Shippo... I think."
"It's nice to finally meet you all. You play an important part in time, you know.... though I really can't say anything more than that," Miyoko smiled.
"Shippo-san? Would you mind releasing my daughter?"
The fox stared at Miyoko for a few seconds before consenting. Époque glared at Shippo before joining her mother. She seemed rather subdued. Of course, Kagome reflected, One's parents do tend to have that effect.
Miyoko looked around at the dried blood, carrion animals, and decaying bodies. She tsked, "Well now, this certainly isn't the place for a nice chat."
Kagome watched in confusion as Miyoko held out her hands. There was a blinding flash of light and suddenly there was no more awful stench, no more blood, and no more dead bodies. Instead the sun was shining on a green clearing, covered in flowers and patches of ivy.
"Where are we?" Kagome asked as she looked around.
"Same place as before."
"But-"
"It's just a different when, that's all."
Everybody stared at her.
"Good folks, please sit," Miyoko invited, "And I will explain some things."
Everyone but Inu-Yasha complied. He remained standing and shot Miyoko a wary glare. She smiled in response, "As long as you promise to listen to me before doing anything rash I'll give you your sword back, Inu-Yasha-san."
"Feh."
"Good enough." Miyoko handed back the Tetsusaiga. Inu-Yasha took it with a snarl. Kagome shot him a warning glance, one that said behave-or-I'll-tell-you-to-sit. Inu-Yasha fehed again and sat down next to Kagome.
Miyoko and Époque sat down as well. Miyoko smoothed out a non-existent wrinkle on her suit, then started her explanations, "Now perhaps your wondering what I am. I'm what you would call a kami. Only I don't have power over any of what you would consider the 'normal' elements. Rather I traverse through, and have some manner of control over, time."
"Which is how you were able to bring us here. Am I right, Miyoko-sama?" Miroku asked.
"Indeed you are, Miroku-san."
"Époque's half-youkai... and she's your daughter?" Kagome brought up the crucial point.
"Indeed she is. Half-breeds, though rare, do occur between the three races; kami, human, and youkai. Why Inu-Yasha here is proof of that, is he not?"
"This story begins a few years after my own parents had died, leaving me as the reigning time kami. Then, while I was still young and rebellious, I took a bit of a vacation in Paris. There I met Yukio, a youkai who was also supposedly vacationing in Paris. It was a stereotypical Paris romance. I was won over by his sugar tongue. After about a week of his courting we ended up in his hotel room. Époque was conceived that night."
"Okaa-sama..." Époque whined. Kagome actually found herself sympathizing with her would be attacker. Parents could be so embarrassing sometimes.
"I found out he was using me because of my powers over time," Miyoko shrugged, "He had some big, diabolical scheme... and so we had to fight. I won the fight, though he escaped. And that's about it."
"Why was your daughter attacking Kagome?" Sango asked.
"I have no idea. Époque?"
"I told you Okaa-sama... they're mucking around in time," Époque moodily explained, "I just wanted to prove to you that I could handle more power."
"Oi. Well you did just the opposite. Your powers are restricted young lady, and you're grounded to one time."
"Um..." Kagome interrupted, "What about Inu-Yasha, Miroku, and Shippo?"
"Oh, silly me," Miyoko gave a small laugh, "I almost forgot. Époque fix your mess."
"Hai..." Époque reluctantly walked over to Inu-Yasha. He growled at her, so she glared at him and moved her hands. The now familiar purple energy gathered, and when it had peaked she voiced, "Reverse."
And Inu-Yasha was back to his young self. Next she went to Miroku. "Forward."
Finally it was Shippo's turn. She approached the fox, and he stared at her balefully. As Époque drew up her power, Kagome pondered on why Shippo had never transformed into a fox before. Really it was rather odd if one thought of it.
"Reverse."
Everyone watched as the fox got smaller and cuter. He's so
kawaii!! Kagome thought to herself. The now tiny fox cub stood
up, took a step, and promptly tripped over his own feet.
{trans. kawaii = cute}
Poof! With a cloud of swirling mists Shippo was back, and back to normal, with Sango's now too large kimono pooled around him. His face broke into a grin.
"Now the shards, dear..."
Époque seemed even more reluctant about this one. With a huge scowl she took the two shards out of her wings and handed them to Kagome.
"Well, now that everything's settled, we ought to be going." Miyoko told them. There was another blinding flash of light and suddenly they were back on the battle field, with the hoards of youkai. Said youkai were now unfrozen and still bound and determined to cause grievous bodily harm on their persons.
Everyone who had been smiling suddenly was no longer. Inu-Yasha, who hadn't been smiling before, was now grinning recklessly. He held up the transformed Tetsusaiga.
"Cutting Wind!" he yelled as he took a broad sweep, slewing the youkai with one pass.
"Heh..."
Shippo gave a contented sigh. Life was good. He was perched upon Kagome's shoulder, the whole gang was off to find more Shikon shards. Granted, he was going to miss the graceful power of his adult fox form, but he'd grow into it.
Yeah... he'd grow into be a powerful kitsune. None were going to dare challenge him, that's how powerful he'd be.... in the future.
It was great to be young.
--Owari
Written by Koneko, June 12, 2000.
If you really want to read my ramblings on you can read my rather long author's note, here.