Chapter Text
The two women rushed inside, the older one leading Guinevere to a futon where she laid Inuyasha down, who, despite being unconscious, was whimpering and shivering.
“Sorry for my rudeness earlier; we’re not used to having visitors. I'm Tatsuko,” the woman apologized as she brought a pail with water and a couple of rags. Guinevere guessed she must have been in her forties.
“It’s alright. My name’s Guinevere,” she replied as she applied a soaking rag to Inuyasha’s forehead. “Thank you for helping us, Tatsuko.”
“What’s his name?” Tatsuko asked while she ground a small amount of seeds inside a pestle.
“Inuyasha,” the young woman replied, who was now cleaning his wound with the other rag.
Tatsuko smiled kindly. “He’s an adorable little one.”
“Yes, he is.” Guinevere turned to the other woman. “Really, thank you for helping us. He got bitten by a snake demon late this morning, and nobody wanted to help us.”
“He’s a hanyo; they’re always considered monsters and abominations, and they’re blamed for every unnatural death. People don’t care if they are kind and have feelings,” Tatsuko sneered. “I should know, been dealing with that ever since my Jinenji was born. That’s why I helped ya.”
Her son is also a hanyo? No wonder she was so distrustful.
Guinevere smiled gratefully at the older woman, who was applying a paste of the ground seeds on Inuyasha’s wound.
“This will help heal the wound, but won’t remove the poison already in his blood. My son went to gather more seeds; we only had a handful here,” Tatsuko explained as she placed folded linen under his head as a makeshift pillow. “We can’t do much more until he returns.”
Guinevere nodded, still too shaken up; a whinny outside reminded her of her promise to the horse.
“I hate to ask since you are already doing so much for us, but do you have anything I could feed my horse with? I don’t know when it last ate,” she asked sheepishly.
Tatsuko frowned. “How can ya not know that?”
“Because I stole it from a violent samurai so we could make it here on time.” Guinevere didn’t even blink.
The other woman nodded knowingly at that. “There’s some hay and carrots in our stable; follow me.”
Guinevere hesitated, looking back at Inuyasha. “Should we leave him alone?”
“He’ll be fine; we’ll be gone for just a few minutes,” Tatsuko reassured the young woman as she led her outside.
It was already getting dark as they made their way to feed the horse; Guinevere briefly wondered where Myoga was as she hadn’t heard him talk ever since they arrived at the farm. But that was a worry for another time: her priority was Inuyasha. After feeding the horse, Tatsuko offered to put him in their stable, along with their own horse.
“Are ya hungry?” the older woman asked as they went back to the farmhouse.
“I don’t want to burden you, but if you could spare me some vegetables, I can cook for myself,” Guinevere replied while checking Inuyasha’s wound. The festering seemed to have slowed down, but the wound was still swollen and scarring.
“Nonsense! I can make extra rice, and there’s enough miso soup and fish for all,” Tatsuko replied as she set a pot on the fire. “Just stay there keeping yer son company.”
The assumption shocked Guinevere; she definitely liked how it sounded and she smiled longingly at the unconscious boy.
“He’s not mine,” she admitted sadly.
“Nephew, then,” Tatsuko assumed while moving around her pantry.
“He isn’t either. He’s an orphan I met in the woods some days ago,” Guinevere said while reapplying the wet rag over Inuyasha’s forehead; a loud clanking sound interrupted her task. She turned around at the noise and found the other woman staring at her in disbelief while picking up the mug she had dropped in her shock.
“And ya still helped him. For the way ya were crying, I was sure he was yer son.”
“I wish that was so,” Guinevere smiled sadly at the other woman. “I’ve grown quite fond of him ever since I found him. He’s such a sweet little boy.”
“So he spent all this time with ya?” Tatsuko asked, and at Guinevere’s nod, she added, “I’m sure he feels the same, or he wouldn’t have stayed with ya. Hanyo don’t trust people outside their family.”
Those words filled Guinevere with a warm feeling, and she dearly hoped Inuyasha said yes to her offer once she mustered the courage to ask because he would survive. She wasn’t going to allow herself to think otherwise.
“I’m back, Ma,” Jinenji announced as he bent down to make it through the doorway. His appearance took Guinevere by surprise; he was a massively large and tall young man—he couldn’t be older than sixteen—and clearly not entirely human. His large eyes were unnaturally blue and bulging, but there was warmth and kindness behind them.
“Thank ya, Jinenji,” his mother said as she took the seeds and branches from him. “These are Guinevere and Inuyasha, and this is my boy Jinenji.”
“Nice to meet you, Jinenji,” Guinevere greeted him with a smile, but noticed the young man seemed hesitant to approach her. “Thank you for gathering the seeds to help him.”
“No problem,” he replied timidly.
“Excuse him, he’s shy,” his mother explained, but Guinevere understood the underlying meaning of them: he doesn’t trust strangers, and she couldn’t blame him for it.
“There’s nothing to apologize for,” she replied as she turned back to check on Inuyasha.
“Lady Guinevere, how’s Master Inuyasha?” Myoga suddenly asked, making Tatsuko gasp in shock.
“Mister Myoga! Where have you been?” Guinevere scolded, crossing her arms to emphasize her annoyance.
“He came with me,” replied Jinenji as he approached her and the unconscious inu hanyo.
At the older woman’s confused face, Guinevere explained who Myoga was and his relation to Inuyasha.
Tatsuko ground half of the seeds and made an infusion out of the leaves, then told Guinevere to force the ground seeds into Inuyasha’s mouth and wash them down with the infusion. It took half an hour to accomplish the task given how much liquid there was in the flask, and that only a small amount of it at a time could safely go down the little boy’s throat.
After that, it was a matter of waiting.
During dinner, Tatsuko told the story of how she had met Jinenji’s father, that he had been a horse yokai, and how they fell in love. The woman didn’t give any details of how he had died, and Guinevere definitely wasn’t going to pry. The younger woman gave an abridged version of where she came from; there was no need to confuse their hosts with the magical aspects of her journey. Or spook them with the mention of her own powers.
Tatsuko confessed that at first sight, she had thought Guinevere was a demon because of her blue eyes and light golden hair. It was then that she learned that the grand majority of highly evolved demons in this world had a true form, which resembled the animal part of their demonic heritage, and a humanoid form, with lightly colored hair and colorful eyes, such as both Inuyasha and Tatsuko’s beloved husband.
Unsurprisingly, the woman urged Guinevere to stay until Inuyasha was back to full health, and in return, the witch offered to help around the farm.
Guinevere remained awake the entire night watching over Inuyasha. The fever was slowly receding, and his skin was gradually regaining a healthier hue. The wound didn’t look as nasty as earlier, but it hadn’t yet fully healed.
The little boy whimpered from time to time, but otherwise didn’t wake up during the whole night, and Myoga reassured her that it wouldn’t be long before he finally did so.
“I’m sure he feels the same, or he wouldn’t have stayed with ya. Hanyo don’t trust people outside their family.”
Tatsuko’s words kept repeating in her head. Could it be that he already saw her as someone worthy of his fragile trust? As something akin to family?
She succumbed to sleep next to him at the first rays of light, his little hand still held in hers.
His limbs felt incredibly heavy, and his side hurt so much. Even breathing was painful. His sense of smell seemed skewed; he mostly smelled lots of overwhelming herbs and unfamiliar scents, and he almost panicked until he caught Guin’s scent. It took Inuyasha a few minutes to open his eyes, and slightly turning his head to the right, he found her curled up next to him and holding his hand.
Somehow he was still alive.
“Yer awake!” a woman said, and he whimpered in panic as he turned his head the other way and spotted her. She had dark hair and looked older than Guin.
At both sounds, Guinevere jolted awake. “Inuyasha?” she sleepily whispered and he turned back to look at her. She couldn’t help crying in relief.
“Master Inuyasha! You had us all worried!” Myoga said as he hopped from the young woman to his master.
He tried to sit up, but the unknown woman gently held him down. “Ya still need to rest, child. I’m going to make breakfast; I’m sure yer starving.”
Inuyasha turned his panicked, pleading eyes to Guinevere, and she instantly knew what he meant.
“It’s alright. Tatsuko and her son saved your life; you can trust her food,” she reassured him.
“Oh, kami! People try to poison ya, too?” Tatsuko exclaimed indignantly. “That’s why I never let Jinenji accept food from strangers when he was a little boy. The damned villagers tried to poison him when they found out about him.”
“I cannot believe people could be so cruel!” the witch angrily agreed, then at Inuyasha’s questioning look, she replied, “Her son is a horse hanyo.”
His eyes went wide in surprise; he had never met another hanyo.
“Here, drink some water. Ya sweated a lot so ya need to hydrate.” Tatsuko brought him a cup, which Guinevere held for him while he drank.
“Thank you,” he rasped.
“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” the younger woman asked while lovingly stroking his ears.
“I’m tired, Guin. And sore.” He looked around, taking in the unfamiliar location for the first time. “Where are we?”
“Our farm,” Tatsuko replied while bringing a bowl of rice for Inuyasha, smiling warmly at him. “The plant to heal ya grows nearby, so yer friend Guinevere brought ya here. She’s very brave! She even stole a horse from a bad man to arrive faster.”
Inuyasha gave the witch a surprised look, then giggled. “You stole a horse?”
“I did,” she confirmed, and Inuyasha saw a brief hint of fear and anger in her eyes.
Something else had happened after he passed out, and it worried him.
As Guinevere fed him the rice and soup, she felt all the worry, fear, and pain from the last twenty-odd hours finally leave her body. She couldn’t help crying.
“What’s wrong, Guin?” the little boy asked worriedly.
“Nothing’s wrong. I’m just happy you are alive, Inuyasha,” she confessed while brushing his bangs. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.”
“It’s not your fault; I should have been more careful. I thought I could take on that yokai.” He shrugged and went back to accepting the spoonfuls of soup.
After everyone had their breakfast, Myoga remained with Inuyasha while he rested, and Guinevere went to help Jinenji and Tatsuko out in the fields.
“Yer going to take him with ya when ya go back home?” the older woman asked while planting some seeds.
Guinevere sighed heavily. “I want to, but I just haven't yet mustered the courage to ask him. I’m afraid of his answer.”
Tatsuko frowned. “Why?”
“Because I would be taking him from everything he’s ever known right into a different place, with different people. And I’m sure Myoga will object.”
“Ya said he’s all by himself, living in caves and up in the trees. Taking him with ya to raise him as yer own is the best thing that could happen to that child. And I doubt that flea could do better than ya.” Tatsuko patted Guinevere’s shoulder reassuringly.
“That’s true.” In all honesty, Guinevere was more concerned about Myoga’s reaction since the tiny man was the little boy’s servant. She still had a lot of questions about Inuyasha’s parents, because going by everything she heard from the hanyo and the yokai, Inuyasha didn’t seem like an average child. He was remarkably well-spoken and polite despite having spent about a year out in the wilderness.
“How will yer people react to him?” Tatsuko’s words interrupted the young woman’s thoughts.
“I guess they will be surprised or even hesitant at first, but they are accepting of what’s different,” she explained while picking up herbs. “We are more than used to… peculiar.”
Tatsuko gave her an inquiring look.
“There are some demons near our village that trade goods with us.” Guinevere considered her next words very carefully. “And most of us are gifted, which is the reason why we keep to ourselves and only trade with normal humans we trust.”
“Gifted? Like a miko?” the other woman asked.
“Not exactly.” Guinevere steeled herself. “We are a community of witches and warlocks that serve nature and help when we can. We have a field not unlike this one, though smaller, and farm animals. It’s very peaceful.”
“Then the more reason to take him with ya.”
During the rest of the day, Inuyasha’s wound completely healed, and all the poison had finally left his system; he was well enough to travel, but since the sun was setting, they didn’t want to make such a long journey at night, so they decided they would leave the following morning.
Inuyasha spent time with Jinenji, helping him with cutting wood and other chores that were too heavy for the women. He couldn’t help wondering how much worse Jinenji had it with the villagers, given his intimidatingly large size. At least, in his own case, he had speed and his claws and a small, agile body that helped him escape from danger far more easily.
On the other hand, Jinenji had something Inuyasha didn’t have anymore: a loving mother and a home.
“Ya shouldn’t be lifting that much weight; ya just recovered from yer wounds and poisoning,” Jinenji gently pointed out while taking the logs the little boy was carrying.
“I’m alright now,” he replied dismissively. “I’m fully healed and I cannot stand lying around all day.”
Jinenji smiled at him. “Yer lucky she brought ya as fast as she did or ya wouldn’t have survived. Ma said ya met Guin some days ago. She’s a kind woman.”
Inuyasha nodded. “Guin’s been so nice to me. She is not from around here; she said that people in her village aren’t scared of yokai, or even hanyo unless they see them attack and hurt people.”
“Must be nice to live in that village,” Jinenji commented longingly.
“Yeah,” the little boy agreed sadly. “I’m going to miss her once she leaves.”
“She’s going to leave?”
Inuyasha nodded. “She’s going back home in little less than a moon’s cycle.”
“Ya should go with her,” Jinenji suggested with a kind smile.
The little boy turned his gaze to where the women were gathering herbs. He had actually thought about it, but he was afraid of being a burden to Guin; and, more importantly, what if she had exaggerated about her people? The last thing he wanted was for her to be shunned because she brought him to her village.
The following morning, and at Tatsuko’s insistence, they departed after a succulent breakfast. The kind woman even had packed lunch for them, so Guinevere didn’t have to worry about fishing or hunting for food along the way. The witch promised to visit before leaving for England. They said their goodbyes and went on their way; since there was no rush, she didn't push their horse to go faster than a canter.
Inuyasha took in the landscape as it went by, lost in thought about everything that had transpired in the last two days.
He had smelled the snake yokai and had felt its yoki, but had decided to not tell Guin to not worry her or put her in unnecessary danger; it surely was a weak yokai, he had arrogantly thought. Oh, how mistaken he had been! And to add insult to injury, his primary claw attack had delivered a weak blow, barely scratching the snake’s skin; the bastard then had knocked him off his feet and had dived for his head, and Inuyasha had barely avoided it, getting bitten in his torso instead. He had been sure he was going to die, and having Guin by his side, knowing she would be the last thing he ever saw, had given him some sort of peace at that moment. He hadn’t expected to survive, and learning that she had stolen a horse to ride a long way in order to save him, made him turn Jinenji’s suggestion over in his head.
She had stolen a horse. From a samurai. To save him. She had put herself in danger for him.
“Guin?” he timidly called. “How did you get the horse from the samurai?”
Guinevere took a moment to formulate her answer; she was definitely not going to mention the man’s sick intentions toward her. “Hm, well, he tried to rob me, but then he tried to hurt you so I did what I had to protect you,” she explained, then placed a soft kiss on the crown of his head.
“Did you–” kill him? He wouldn’t judge her if she had; he understood that sometimes it was kill or be killed; she didn’t let him finish his question, though.
“I burnt him badly, but no, I didn’t kill him.” If she had to be honest with herself… She kind of hoped he hadn’t survived. It was a truly awful thought, she knew, but if that samurai was dead, then many women would be spared from his cruelty.
“Thank you for taking care of me.” Inuyasha gently squeezed her hand, and she held him tighter in return.
They stopped out of the road for lunch sometime after noon. Tatsuko had packed two abundant servings of rice with vegetables and chicken in a bamboo container that was still slightly warm.
Guinevere was astonished at how Inuyasha’s wound had completely healed without even leaving a scar. It was as if he hadn’t been hurt at all. Myoga had told her that once the medicine had overpowered the poison, the boy’s demonic blood had hastened the healing. The flea had also told her it was of utmost importance for Inuyasha to go seek his father’s relic, a powerful sword that would help defend himself from foes like that snake yokai. Or the half-brother Inuyasha had neglected to mention when she had asked if he had any relatives.
“But I have this sword I took from that man, and besides, Inuyasha is too young to be traipsing around with a sword!” she argued.
“Lady Guinevere, it was his Lord Father’s will for Inuyasha to inherit that sword. The Tessaiga is a yokai weapon meant to destroy enemies when protecting innocent lives. It was created out of one of Lord Toga’s fangs to protect Lady Izayoi when they fell in love,” Myoga explained.
“He shouldn’t have to be thinking about such things at such a young age! Swords are for adults, not children!” she insisted.
“You’re right, but, unfortunately, his circumstances are dire and he needs to be able to defend himself. His yoki-based claw attacks haven’t fully developed and he’s still mastering them, or else he would have defeated that snake.”
“But—” Myoga interrupted her retort.
“And there’s another problem: my Lord’s eldest son is after the sword, too. To wield the Tessaiga, one must possess compassion and the desire to protect; Lord Sesshomaru lacks all those qualities, making him ill-fit for the sword. If he managed to somehow wield it, or even master it, he would use it to destroy. Inuyasha, on the other hand, has a kind, human heart—even if he’s just a child—and wouldn’t give it such nefarious use.”
Guinevere shuddered at Myoga’s recount of Sesshomaru’s personality and his blind obsession over that sword. The flea had also mentioned that the older sibling despised the younger one and had apparently tried to kill him; but he had no actual confirmation, just hearsay from other yokai. Guinevere suspected it wasn’t just rumors and the reason why Inuyasha hadn’t mentioned his half-brother.
She was definitely going to ask Inuyasha about that at some point.
“Please, you have to convince him to go look for it.”
“What makes you think he will listen to me, Myoga?”
“Because he trusts you and he knows you have his best interests at heart.”
Inuyasha mentioning how delicious the food was pulled her from the memory of her conversation with Myoga.
“They were very kind to give us food for the road,” she agreed.
“You know? Jinenji is the first hanyo I met,” Inuyasha confessed. “How did you know about them?”
“I honestly didn’t. Myoga mentioned a farm, he simply guided me along the way,” she admitted. “Where is he, anyway?”
“Who knows? I’m sure he will turn up later,” the little boy shrugged, already finished with his food.
“Alright,” Guinevere nodded thoughtfully. “Let’s get going. I’d like us to get back to the cave before dark.”
Inuyasha was honestly surprised at the distance between their cave and Jinenji’s farm and realized that without the horse, they wouldn’t have reached it in time and he would have died. A few miles before arriving at their cave, Inuyasha smelled a couple of rabbits and they stopped so he could catch them.
Predictably, while they were gathering water from the river near their cave, the old flea returned. He didn’t give any explanation about his absence, but Guinevere suspected it had to do with that sword. While she didn’t like the idea of Inuyasha carrying around a weapon at such a young age, she did think he should have it for its sentimental value.
And it definitely will be helpful once he’s older.
She wasn’t fooling herself; she knew he would encounter other dangerous demons—whether here or in her world—and it was best he was prepared, even if she’d like to think he would always be sheltered by her and her coven.
You are getting ahead of yourself, woman.
While they were preparing dinner, Inuyasha noticed she was overly pensive and distracted, and he guessed it was about everything that had happened these past two days. He hated that he had worried her so much, but at the same time, it made him feel truly valued in a way he hadn’t felt for a long, long time.
“Are you alright, Guin?” He sat next to her, staring at her intently.
“Yes, I just have a lot on my mind,” she replied vaguely; but she should have known it wouldn’t do.
“Like?” he inquired.
She took a deep breath; this was going to be touchy, at best. Guinevere certainly didn’t want to overstep any boundaries, but what Myoga had said made a lot of sense. Inuyasha needed to have the means to protect himself, even if she didn’t relish the idea of the little hanyo carrying around a sword.
“I-I think Myoga is right, and you should probably look for that relic.” She began hesitantly; she didn’t want to upset him after he had vehemently said no to looking for it.
“But why?” he whined. “And what is it, anyway?”
“A sword,” she replied, looking around for the flea, and hoping he would explain it better than she could.
Inuyasha frowned. “A sword will be useless against yokai, and will be bothersome to carry around.”
“It’s a yokai sword, Master Inuyasha, meant to fight powerful yokai like the one you fought the other day,” Myoga interjected, and Inuyasha perked up at that.
“I’m listening. Tell me more about it.” The hanyo sat up straight, crossing his arms, and at that moment, he seemed older than he really was, at least mentally.
During dinner, Myoga explained the sword’s origins, how his father had defeated many enemies with it to protect his mother, and everything else he had told Guinevere about it. The emotional aspect and connection to both his parents definitely had Inuyasha actually considering looking for the damned thing. But what finally convinced him to follow that quest, was the mention of Sesshomaru also desperately seeking it.
Over his dead body that bastard would get the sword created to protect his mother.
Inuyasha remained awake long after Guinevere had fallen asleep, thinking about the sword, thinking about Sesshomaru, and the fear of encountering him when they went looking for it. He didn’t dare think what would happen to Guin if that bastard saw her; while she had her fire powers, Inuyasha was absolutely certain she was no match for his bastard of a half-brother. That thought alone had him profoundly terrified. And then there was the question of whether or not to ask her to take him with her when she left for her country.
“Master Inuyasha?” He would have missed the flea’s whisper had it not been for his demonic hearing.
“What?” he whispered as quietly as he could so as not to wake the sleeping woman.
“Are you going to tell her?” Myoga asked, unhelpfully vaguely.
The boy huffed, still keeping his voice down. “About what?”
“What is going to happen in two nights.” The flea gave Inuyasha a meaningful look.
It took the little boy a moment to realize what Myoga meant. “The new moon,” the hanyo gasped, and the flea nodded solemnly.
Crap! Between spending these past few nights sleeping inside a cave and having been ill, he had completely forgotten to keep track of the moon. In fact, the last time he had seen the night sky had been the night he met Guin.
“If I may, I think you should tell her,” Myoga said, then pointed at the cave entrance. “That barrier she always puts up is the best protection for such a night.”
Inuyasha thought for a moment and scoffed at the irony of things: revealing his most guarded secret to her was also the best protection he could ever ask for on his human night. Besides, she already had his trust.
Mind made up, the little boy settled down on her cloak next to her and finally fell asleep.