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A young hanyou lept through the trees, taking off at a surprising speed. A pack of wolves below him barked as they raced to keep up with him, glancing at each other and the half wolf demon worriedly. 'I must... I must keep running!' he panted to himself as he ran, begining to tire from his flee. He hoped they weren't following him, he couldn't fight them, refused to fight them. The hanyou cried out when he lost his footing on a branch, falling to the ground. The boy lay there for awhile, breathing hard. He put a hand down his still slightly baggy blue shirt, pulling out a small shard. A small shard of the Shikon no Tama, the jewel of four souls. He looked down at the jewel with his strange violet eyes shaded by his matted orange hair. He narrowed his eyes and gripped the shard tightly. 'I won't let them take you from me... this is the only thing I have!' he growled desperately.
His pack came up to him, panting as well, wondering what was going on. To them, he had just ran frantically away from an old friend, a strange friend, but still. The largest, and oldest wolf of the pack trotted up to the hanyou, Kumo, whining quietly and licking his face. Kumo looked up at the wolf smiling weakly. 'Sorry about that...' He sighed, sitting up and trying to catch his breath.
He saw that the pack was all tired from the lengthy run, and felt guilty for practically forcing them to flee like that. He scratched the old wolf behind the ears, completely alert of any movement, and kept sniffing the air for the scent of the one that should be after him. It had been three years since he last saw the legendary half breed, and Kumo was now a fifteen year old hanyou. He had trained hard since they parted, turning more into a demon slayer like one of the human girls that traveled with that half breed. He probibly was as strong as the inu hanyou was when they met, when he tried to steal the shards for his adopted mother. He winced at the thought of his adopted mother, he hated thinking about her, it brought back so many sorrowful memories, and a strong feeling of guilt. He wished faintly that she was still there with him, that he hadn't have killed her.
He sighed again, looking around and seeing that his pack had caught their breath from the run, and most had laid down on the ground to sleep. He closed his eyes, exhausted himself. For when the hanyou had shown up, he had just come back from hunting, and had gone to sleep. He would've been caught off gaurd if it wasn't for his one friend's warning. She had been sitting in her nest in an old tree deep in Kumo's forest, when she heard the priestess and the hanyou. She was happy to see them, but decided to tell Kumo first of their presence before greeting them. Kumo knew his reaction to hearing that the hanyou was in his forest wasn't what she had expected. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't even said good bye to the girl he knew loved him when he fled. He made a mental note to appoligize if he saw her again, if he lived through this for that matter.
The boy's breath deepened, however hard he tried to stay awake. He blinked furiously and shook his head, trying to keep his eyes open. He felt a hand on his shoulder and almost jumped, but the hand also came with a soft and quiet voice. 'its alright little one... they won't find you yet...' his ears flicked, the voice was familiar, and soothing to him. His eyes closed, mumbling quietly, 'I'm not little.' before he passed out.
As the boy slept, a young woman, who was clearly a fox demon stood over him, smiling sweetly. ~don't ever forget me...~ she thought quietly to him. She knew he could probibly hear her, for she was connected to the boy. She looked down and saw the Shikon no Tama jewel fragment, knowing that was the main reason she was able to still stay beside the boy she had raised. She brought a hand up to her neck, remembering the pain she had felt when the boy had killed her. However, she held no hatred for the boy, none at all. She knew fully well she probibly deserved her death, but didn't want to leave him for others to try to kill him. She knelt down next to him, hugging him, she thought to herself if it would be alright to send him back into his memories. She felt weak, and knew it was because the boy was trying hard to forget about her. She sighed, she didn't want to hurt the boy, but to save him from the greedy creature Inuyasha, she would have to. 'I'm sorry...' She whispered into his wolf ear and embraced him tighter, closing her eyes as she forced the boy to dream about the memories he wanted to fade.
The first memory
'Kumo... come on kid, rise and shine!' he heard faintly, opening his bright violet eyes, wincing at the morning sun. He groaned and rolled over to go back to sleep, but something round hit him hard in the face. He let out a yelp, sitting upright and blinking around, looking up to see a silver haired woman wearing a pink kimono with plum blossoms patterns to make it look as if they were falling around her gracefully. She was holding a ball she had created and squeezed it seeing that the hanyou was up, letting it disapear with a pop. 'Come on Kumo! I need you over here!' she called cheerfully from the branch she was on, looking out onto the dirt path with a gleeful smile. Kumo sighed and shook his head to clear it. He was slightly confused as to why he was here. He could've sworn he was running from something earlier... 'Kumo!' He heard a shrill cry and ducked just in time to dodge a thrown rock. 'Get up kid! We have work to do!' She said, glancing back. Kumo grumbled something about impatient old hags and rose, climbing the tree in which the demon stood with some difficulty. 'oh for crying out... here.' the demon said impatiently and pulled the struggling hanyou up by the collar of his horribly baggy blue shirt which had been stolen. 'Thanks, mother.' He grumbled, a little annoyed with the demon. The demon whacked him hard over the head with a clawed hand. 'I told you not to call me mother! Call me by my name kid!' she snapped at him while he put a hand on the bump that had appeared through his messy fiery hair. 'Yes, Samuski.' he said sarcastically through clenched teeth. 'Good.' She said and grabbed him and held him up so he could see the path. He yawned and blinked again, seeing two girls and a boy monk walking down the path, The monk was quiet as the girl dressed in strange clothes was talking rapidly to the girl with a large weapon strapped to her back. 'See them Kumo?' pointing a clawed finger at the group of strangers. 'How can I not when you're-' He was about to snap back, but was interupted. 'Good! You know how we greet people in my forest, right Kumo?' Kumo sighed and nodded. 'But its not really your-' he was about to point out, but again, was interupted. 'Well! off you go then!' She said, dropping the hanyou unceremoniously on the branch. Kumo groaned and looked up at the demon's eyes, 'Do I have to?' The demon glared down at him and placed a clawed finger on his head. 'Of course you have to!' she replied, yanking on his hair. 'Keh! What if I don't want to, what then?' He asked her as he struggled out of her grasp. The kitsune gave him an evil smile and picked him up by the collar. 'I won't tell you, I'll show you!' She told him as she swung him back. 'Hey-wait! What do you think you're- GAAAAAH!' He cried as he was thrown out into the path, thankfully out of sight of the group. 'Why you...' He growled, standing up and glaring behind him. 'N-nani?' He blinked, looking around for the kitsune that had thrown him. He didn't have time to look for her however, for the group had made their way over to the hanyou, wondering what all the commotion was about. 'Anou... konnichiwa?' the strangely dressed girl greeted. 'GAAAH!' Kumo cried out, surprised and grasping his chest. 'Gr... don't do that!' He growled at them, panting and squirming a bit under their gazes. The normally dressed girl frightened Kumo, that cold glare she was giving him freaked him out a little bit. 'Hmph! Oi, baka travelers, I am Kumo, the ookami youkai!' He told them in a booming voice, bringing himself up to his full hieght and puffing out his chest, trying to look a little more threatening. The three were just staring at him, for the little hanyou didn't look very threatening at all, kind of cute actually the way he was trying to bully them around. The hanyou cleared his throat after a few moments, a sweatdrop forming on the back of his head from the moment of silence. 'May I know the names of my victums?' He asked, sounding annoyed that they didn't know the drill. 'Oh! Gomen!' the girl in the strange clothes snapped out of her daze, smiling at Kumo. 'I'm Kagome, Kumo, nice to meet you.' She told him with the same smile, this was also starting to freak Kumo out. '...I'm... Miroku...' The monk told him, still staring at him in disbelief. 'Sango...' The glaring girl told him, her grip on her weapon tightening. Kumo Looked to them all, then nodded. 'Baka one, baka two, and baka three!' He laughed at them, not noticing the sweat drop that formed on Miroku's head, Kagome's whisper of "kawaii!" or Sango's irrated glare. 'Well then!' Kumo started, clapping his hands in front of him before placing them on his hip. 'There's a rule for passing through this forest of mine-' 'Samuski, baka...' he heard a whisper, and he glanced around, looking for the fox that was hiding and listening. 'Is there something wrong?' asked the monk as Kumo's pause was lengthened as he looked around. 'Eh? Oh! Iie... correction, "Samuski's" forest!' He said irratibly before puffing out his chest again, trying to look pissed at them. 'Doesn't he know this is Inuyasha's forest, Kagome?' Sango asked, deciding that Kumo was too stupid to be much of a threat. 'Eh...?' Kumo said and blinked before turning his glare to the trees around him. 'See, baka? I TOLD you I smelt another demon here! But NOOOOO! You have to be the baka that you are and try to-' 'Just stick to the plan!' the woman hissed at him, trying to keep her presance unknown. 'Anou... Who are you talking to?' Kagome asked him, looking around and sensing a jewel shard, but, where ever the shard was, it moved swiftly to the other side. 'No one! I'm just... talking to myself, yes! talking to myself!' Kumo responded quickly before setting his gaze back on them. 'The rule to cross is simple, you cough up your goods so that a certain youkai friend of mine doesn't come out and eat you!' He told them, snapping his jaws open and closed to try to make the threat seem worse. Again, all he recieved as a reaction was Miroku's sweat drop, Sango's sweat drop, and Kagome's giggle. Kumo cleared his throat irratibly, glaring at them before holding out his hands. 'So! Cough it up, punks! Weapons, staves, clothes, food...' he paused, he knew he was forgetting something in his list... 'Shards! Baka!' hissed the kitsune from the branches again. 'Oh! right! Shikon no tama jewel shards will let you pass with clothes, food, and weapons, and a much better chance we won't eat you for the fun of it if you cough those up!' He told them proudly before putting his hands back out, waiting. Kagome blinked at Kumo, breaking out of her little spell at the mention of Shikon no Tama jewel shards. 'Hai... I have them little one-' Kumo twitched at the mention of little. '-but we're not going to give them to you, especially when you're bullying us around!' Kumo glared at them, before giving a wide, fanged smile. 'Alright then! I don't like doing things this way, but if you wish...' He told them before crossing his arms, putting his hands into the opposite sleeves. 'Inu!' He shouted out. 'Neko!' Came a reply to Miroku's right. 'Tori!' He called out again, gripping the hilt of a dagger hidden in his left sleeve. 'Ookami!' came the reply now directly above Kagome. 'KITSUNE!' Came both Kumo's voice and Samuski's as they charged after confusing thier prey. Samuski dropped down on top of Sango, quickly grabbing the tijiya's mouth, trying to bring her down. Kumo had leapt at Kagome, he saw the shards around her neck, and drew his dagger. 'Kumo! Watch out!' came the kitsune's voice, she hadn't been able to stop Sango from throwing her hiraikotsu at her child. Kumo turned in mid air, trying to move to get out of the way like he was trained, but, dodging in the air really was hard. 'Oof!' He cried out, dropping his dagger as he was sent crashing into a tree. He slid slowly down, lights flashing before his eyes from hitting the tree as hard as he did, and even though he tried to get up, he couldn't really move. Nor could he really see... he could hear though. 'Kumo! KUMO!' he heard the kitsune call out his name before hissing in pain from being punched by Sango. She left Sango however, and ran over to him, stopping to throw... something that screeched loudly at the others before he felt her fand on his face. 'Kumo! say something, kid!' she urged, shaking him. 'Itai...' he responded quietly, still unable to move. 'Thank god...' She sighed, before letting out a gasp, some kind of wind started whipping past. He felt himself moving then, hearing his "mother" dig her claws deep into the tree he had flown into. 'Kumo!' he heard faintly as he slowly seemed to be floating towards the darkness. He closed his eyes then, thinking he was about to pass out, until he heard a shrill call over the wind. 'Miroku! The kid!' He hit something then suddenly, something... purple. He couldn't figure out what he had hit this time, nor did he have time, for he rather quickly passed out after words.
Realization
'Nnn.... ahh... itai...' Kumo grumbled as he stirred, awakening to the worst headache he'd ever have. And also, his worst nightmare. He blinked at what he saw, trying to make his eyes focus... whatever it was, it was really red... He yawned and rubbed his eyes, thinking it was just Samuski, forgetting completely that she wore a deep pink, not red. 'Keh! the little bastard's awake now I see.' And he was very sure she had never said that before. 'Huh...?' He started, looking slowly up, realizing what he had awoken to was the leg of a very large, and intimidating looking inu hanyou, who didn't look too happy with him. 'keeeeee!' He started, immeadiatly sitting up and backing away from him, a nervous smile on his face. He did however, just back up into something else soft. 'Hey! Watch where you're going!' he heard a little, annoying cry behind him. 'E-eh...?' He said, blinking and turning his head around to look down at a little kitsune. 'S-Samuski?' he asked, thinking she was just messing with him again. 'No! The name's Shippou!' 'So... I'm... here... alone...?' he asked him, looking around at the rest of those gathered, including the monk, strange girl, tijiya, and now this strange little cat... He sat there, his arms crossed as he thought about his situation. '.... KUSO!' he cursed as he curled up into a ball and covering his head. 'W-what do you want from me?!' He hissed at them, his mind working quickly. 'I-I'm just a little human village boy!' that was a lie, and he knew that. He did take a quick memory check, had he let them see his ears or tail? no... although he had claimed he was a youkai... at least he could say he was just possessed... if it wasn't for the fact one of his silver wolf ears were poking out of his fiery hair. 'Human village boy my ass, ookami.' The inu hanyou growled as he grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up so he had to stare into the inu hanyou's golden eyes. 'Ahhhh... let me go! I didn't hurt you, and I have nothing on me!' This, was also a lie, which was rather quickly found out when this inu hanyou turned him over and began shaking him. Several gems, jewels, necklaces, bracelets, toys, his knife, and even a crown fell out of the ookami hanyou's shirt and pants. 'Heh, looks like you have quite a load.' Kumo glared up at him and tried to reach for his knife, but the other hanyou was holding him just a half of a foot above it. 'H-hey!' cried the kid as Shippou made his way over and picked up the hanyou's favorite toy, a little doll of a wolf pup that he had used as a chew toy when he was little. With a sudden wave of struggling, the younger hanyou kicked the older one hard in his sensitive nose, freeing himself to fall upon the little kitsune, snatching the toy back and retreating to a nearby log to hug it closely to his chest. He then sent a glare back at them all, 'Don't touch Mr. Snizzles!' Shippou sweatdropped as the older hanyou let out a string of curses and threats. 'Mr. Snizzles?' Kumo gave him an annoyed look and turned bright red, 'Just shut up, and don't touch my stuff, I worked hard for it!' 'Heh, I'm sure you worked hard for this.' The now annoyed inu hanyou growled and picked up the crown. 'Working as a mugger must be tiring work.' Kumo then sent the older hanyou a glare. 'I don't mean to mug people you know, ass mutt. Who is this to judge me?' He snapped, it truly wasn't his fault, his mother sent him to do this work, it was one demon or the other. 'Why you-' 'Inuyasha, leave the poor kid alone!' the strangely dressed girl interupted the silver haired hanyou as he took a step forward, meaning to beat some respect into his skull. 'Inuyasha? what a stupid name.' Kumo commented, enjoying the fact he had someone on his side. 'And Mr. Snizzles is a better name?' Inuyasha responded, sending the younger one a smirk. Within a blink of an eye, a stone had been sent at blinding speeds towards Inuyasha's forehead, the young hanyou up on one knee for he was the one who had thrown it.
