Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Japan, circa 1470

He had been orphaned for at least a year: not that he kept an exact track anyways; he had lost count at around the eighth moonless night. How could he forget those? Endless nights spent in sheer terror in human form and completely unable to defend himself, hiding from hungry and murderous yokai.

Not that it was any different when he was in his normal hanyo form; he was still hunted, but in a way, it was much, much worse. Humans considered him an abomination as well and would attack him too, so Inuyasha had spent all these long months running and hiding after he had been chased away from the palace after his mother had died. They had intended to kill him, but his instincts had told him to run, and so he did.

The crushing grief and heartbreak over losing her, plus the almost daily abuse he received from both humans and yokai alike, had traumatized him to the point he had stopped talking. It also didn’t help not having anyone to talk to.

It was too much to endure for such a young child of only ten years old, though five in appearance; hunger was the norm unless he managed to catch small game, like a rabbit or a hare, or catch some fish. But such luck wasn’t always on his side when it was winter and the rivers were almost frozen, and small game remained in hibernation. Sometimes it was humans who caught those prey right in front of his eyes, while he remained hidden, biding his time. Sometimes, he braved venturing close to a village and stealing food under the cover of the night; he was successful most of the time.

The evening had started normally enough; he was currently hiding in a cave he had found earlier in the day that was right next to a river where he had caught a couple of fish. He even managed to light a small fire in a part of the cave hidden enough to not cast any light outside. It looked like it would be an outstanding night. Warm food and warm shelter at once? Yes, that was indeed beyond fortunate.

Or so Inuyasha had thought.

Despite being an inu hanyo, whose sense of smell was far superior to that of any yokai of the non-canine or feline varieties, he had failed to pick up the scent of the duo of ogres trailing him downwind. So when he finally felt their yoki, it was already too late, and all he could manage was a couple of swipes and use the advantage of his small size to sneak in between them and run.

Inuyasha was running as fast as his little legs allowed him, and although the ogres were relatively slow, they were increasingly gaining on him due to their large size.

He should have known, there was no such thing as a fortunate night.

He didn’t know how much he had run but he was getting tired, and crushing despair was slowly creeping in. They were still chasing him, and it wouldn’t be long before they caught up to him. This was it: this would be the night he’d finally die.

Taking a last glance behind to see the location of his pursuers, he failed to pay attention to what was in front of him, and promptly collided against something that wasn’t there the last time he had looked. The momentum of his run made him land on his ass.

Had he miscalculated where that big tree was? Impossible.

Inuyasha looked up to find a young human woman in a hooded cloak looking at him in confusion.

[“Are you alright?”]

The stranger was saying something to him in a language he didn’t understand, and his panic only grew. She looked over in the direction he had been running from and frowned.

[“Is something chasing you?”]

Inuyasha turned around to look and spotted the ogres several meters away.

[“I see them!”]

He wished he could understand whatever she was saying, but it wasn’t the time to worry about that. He stood up intending to get away from both the ogres and the foreigner. But before he started running, the woman lifted him in her arms, turned sideways to place him further away from the monsters, extended her free hand toward them, and shouted another strange word.

[“Ardeat!” Burn!]

Inuyasha watched in shock as his predators burst into flames, leaving only ashes once the fire died down. He was broken out of his shock by the woman speaking again.

[“You are safe now, little one.”]

He needed to get away fast from this woman —she was clearly dangerous— but when he turned to face her to free himself, he saw something he hadn’t seen in well over a year.

The kindest of smiles.

It had to be a trick, right? Nobody, other than his mother, had smiled at him like that. Why would this woman do that? He involuntarily whimpered, and the woman’s expression turned to one of concern.

[“Are you hurt?”]

Inuyasha merely stared at her and she looked apologetically at him.

[“How silly of me, to keep talking when you clearly do not understand me, but I hope you can tell that I mean you no harm.”]

Inuyasha blinked, and she smiled back at him.

Please don’t trick me, please don’t hurt me.

The woman shifted him in her arms to hold him more securely. He wouldn’t hurt her if she didn’t, but if he sensed any danger, he would do whatever it took to survive.

Inuyasha found it strange how she kept talking when it was clear the conversation was one-sided. Maybe it was for her own sake? Maybe she was insane? Whatever the case was, he found that he liked her voice.

They headed towards the big tree he had spotted before, where she picked a bundle up and hefted it over her free shoulder. She then pointed her forefinger at an oil lamp that was on the ground and uttered a single word.

[“Ignis!” Fire!]

A small flame lit the lantern.

[“I was finishing my meditation when I heard you running.”]

She studied him for a moment before frowning.

[“Are you lost? Where are your parents?”]

She sighed and seemed lost in thought.

[“Don’t worry, little one, we will search for them come morning. We better get to the cave before anything else attacks.”]

Inuyasha wasn’t expecting to get his hair stroked, but when it happened, all he could feel was comfort and nostalgia. Who was this woman, and why was she so kind? Humans were never kind to him.

She picked up the lamp and started walking, Inuyasha still in her arms.

Before long, they reached the side of the mountain and stopped; Inuyasha looked around for a cave but saw none. Odd, why would she stop there? She gently put him down and extended both hands, palms almost touching the stone.

[“Sit illusio dissipare.” Let the illusion be dispelled.]

Inuyasha watched in awe as part of the solid rock shimmered before disappearing, revealing a cave. The woman took his hand and led him inside, where a small fire was already roaring and cooking some spitted fish; she then turned to face the opening of the cave and extended her hands as she had done before.

[“Ut appareat illusio impedimentum.” May the illusion barrier appear.]

A blue shimmer covered the entrance. What was that? She removed her hood, revealing long, light golden hair held in a braid that reached her lower back. He had never seen such a color on a human before; her eyes were light blue and it reminded Inuyasha of the color of the sky on winter mornings.

[“We should be safe for the night; nobody will be able to see or enter this cave.”]

She smiled at him and walked over to the fire, where she inspected the fish.

[“They should be done in a moment. Are you hungry?”]

She reinforced her words by doing a round motion on her belly and then pointing at him. Inuyasha tilted his head in confusion, not sure if she was offering him food, or saying she would eat him. He prayed it wasn’t the latter.

Guinevere had never seen such a peculiar child; though it was clear that he was some kind of demon, he looked mostly human, despite his silver-white hair, golden eyes, and inhuman ears. She couldn’t figure out if they resembled those of a cat or a dog. But either way, they gave him an endearing quality. It was clear he didn’t quite understand English, but she couldn’t bring herself to not talk to him.

She loved children, and being a mother had been a dream of hers ever since very young, but the gods had denied her that dream and made her barren. She had married at sixteen, but her husband had left her soon after when he discovered her infertility. She spent the next six years devoting herself to her coven since she was considered damaged goods, and no honest man would take her as a wife. Most of her sisters in the coven were married and had children of their own, and Guinevere found her happiness in playing with them. It was the closest thing she had to being a mother, and she relished in every second of it.

So when she ran into this scared little boy, she couldn’t help herself; it didn’t matter if he wasn’t entirely human: a child was a child and needed protection. It was clear those demons had been chasing him intending to harm him, and she would not have allowed it.

Apart from her pyrokinesis, her other natural gift was reading children's emotions, and this child’s emotions were screaming distress, and not just because of those demons. She just wished she could communicate with him and figure out what was troubling him. She had many questions and no way of getting answers.

Why was he all alone in the woods at night? Where were his parents? Did he even have parents? Were they docile demons like he was? And if he didn’t have parents, how long had he been alone? What was his name?

She could tell he didn’t fully trust her, hence why she kept talking to him, despite the language barrier. She just hoped she could soothe him in some way; it always broke her heart to see a child in pain.

Guinevere removed her cloak, placed it on the ground, and motioned the little boy to sit down. Once she noticed the fish were done, she picked two, sat next to him, and handed him one.

He inspected it and gave it a tentative sniffing before looking at her hesitantly. Was he not hungry? Or did he not like fish? Only when she began eating hers did he start on his own.

A chilling thought crossed her mind. Was he… Was he sniffing for poison? She was horrified at the prospect. What had this child gone through to perform such an action?! Her heart constricted in her chest at the thought of anyone trying to poison such an innocent little boy.

She brought the two remaining fish and let him pick whichever he wanted in case he still had doubts about the safety of the food. And for the first time, the little boy smiled. It was then that she noticed his little fangs. Such a peculiar little demon. It was clear to her that he wasn’t a wild creature given the clothes he was wearing, although she noticed the lack of footwear.
 

So many questions…

Guinevere made a mental note to pick up a charm to spell the next day; some years ago, her mentor Mary had taught her a spell where one could charm an object so it could grant the wearer the ability to understand and be understood in a foreign language. It was a basic prayer to the god Hermes that required some roots, a piece of paper with the name of the language written on it, and an object. Until now, she had not needed such a spell, for she had remained mostly away from villages, gathering the herbs and stones she was tasked with finding.

She grabbed a cup and filled it with water she had boiled earlier that day. She drank first, then passed it to the child, who eagerly gulped its contents.

“I wish I had more fish, I was only able to catch small ones.” She smiled sadly at him.

When the boy cleaned his mouth with the sleeve of his coat, she noticed his little claws. She also noticed a small cut on his wrist.

“You are hurt; let me rub some healing balm on that,” she said as she pointed to his wound. Then she retrieved some herbs from her bundle and snapped a succulent leaf in half. She caught some of the dripping salve in her hand and dabbed the forefinger of her other hand in it before gently applying it to his cut.

He tensed for a moment but otherwise didn’t try to pull away. When she was done, she cleaned her hands with a rag and put all the herbs back in her bundle.

“It will help you heal and soothe any pain.”

The child sniffed his wrist and then looked around to inspect the cave. Guinevere had a second, larger bundle against a wall where she had another set of clothes, an extra dagger, assorted tools for her spells, cookware, and her spellbook. She retrieved a thick coat and set it aside; it would serve as a blanket for him.

“We should sleep, so we can rise early, and I can try catching more fish before we try finding your parents, alright?” She tenderly stroked his cheek, and her heart melted when he leaned into her touch.

His little ears swiveling this way and that way made her smile wide. What a precious creature he was! She dearly hoped she could help him find his parents. And if he didn’t have them…

Maybe… maybe even keep him.

Inuyasha watched in wonder how the woman picked him up and sat him on her lap, embracing him. She began humming a melody while gently rocking from side to side; the action was relaxing, and soon he found himself leaning into her. She was warm and soothing, and her scent reminded him of some flowers he couldn’t identify, but it was yet comforting.

He gasped in surprise when she tenderly kissed his head. Was he dreaming? Had he died and found peace? Was she a kami sent by his mother? Whatever the case, he was grateful for this small reprieve.

She gently placed him on her cloak and covered him with the coat she had retrieved earlier, then she laid down next to him.

[“Sleep well, little one.”]

Inuyasha guessed she told him goodnight, so he smiled at her in return. He watched as she fell asleep after a while. It took him well over two hours for him to finally fall asleep. Never would he have imagined he would achieve such a thing next to a stranger.

He woke up just before sunrise and found himself being held by the still-sleeping woman; he couldn’t help caressing her face. Why was she so kind to him? He quickly retreated his hand when she stirred awake, slight panic showing on his face.

[“Good morning, little one.”]

She smiled at him before stretching and getting up. She headed over to the firepit and relit it in the same manner she had done with the oil lamp the night before. The woman then walked over to the entrance of the cave, chanted one of her strange phrases, and the barrier shimmered into nothing.

[“I will try to catch some fish.”]

She pointed to the discarded sticks from their meal and grabbed a bundle of cloth and a sharpened long stick that were against the wall next to the entrance; then she motioned for him to follow and he did. Once again, she chanted, and the illusion of rock covered the entrance to the cave.

They traveled a short distance to the river, where they spent about an hour catching some fish. Inuyasha noticed she lacked experience in the task; the rudimentary lance she was using wasn’t sharp enough to spear the fish. His fast reflexes, though, would be more helpful, so he stepped into the water and waited. After twenty minutes, they had enough catch for a decent breakfast.

He felt pride when she beamed at him, jumping and clapping her hands in delight.

[“You are really good at this.”]

He gave her a toothy grin when she stroked his face.

After finishing their breakfast, Guinevere picked up all her belongings and they left the cave. She needed to procure an item to enchant before attempting to find his parents. The closest village was about an hour away, and she hoped the boy would be able to walk for that long. Halfway through their trek, they encountered a farm, where she had intended to ask for some fruit for him. She never imagined they would get such a negative reaction when the farmer saw the child.

The man started yelling and throwing rocks at them, she then watched in horror how he grabbed a pitchfork and was coming at the little boy.

“What is wrong with you?!” She yelled in anger as she lifted him and ran.

When it was clear the farmer wasn’t chasing them anymore, she gently put him down to check he wasn’t injured. Guinevere’s heart broke at the look of shame on his face, eyes cast downwards, his little ears flattened against his skull. She had the sinking feeling this hadn’t been the first time he had been attacked in such a way.

She pulled him into her arms and rubbed his back comfortingly.

“I will not let anyone hurt you, alright?” She kissed the crown of his head before standing up and taking his hand. He smiled sadly in return.

During the rest of the way to the village, Guinevere kept reliving that awful moment. Was it because the child wasn’t entirely human? It wouldn’t be the first time people acted like barbarians when facing something or someone different. How many good women had been murdered because they were witches? People automatically assumed they were all evil.

An idea hit her as they reached the outskirts of the village; she searched inside her bigger bundle and procured a kerchief. She fashioned it over the child’s head so it would conceal his ears and hair. The next part of her plan would be the hard one to execute.

“I hope you can understand what I mean,” she said before pointing at him, then placing her palms together over one of her shoulders and leaning her head over them, eyes closed as if sleeping. Then, she resumed her normal position and finally pointed at the village. She repeated the motion twice and hoped her message was conveyed.

She lifted him in her arms, and gently guided him to turn his head in such a way so his face would remain hidden. Guinevere took a deep breath and walked over to the village.

The child was doing an amazing job pretending to be asleep, although he would peek at her from time to time. They reached the market and found a vendor where she purchased some charcoal sticks, the type artists used for drawing, and some parchment. The market was bustling with merchants, and as much as she would have liked to spend some time there perusing the wares, she had a pressing matter that could not be delayed for much longer: performing the spell so she could communicate with the little boy.

She walked around until she found the cart with the kind of items needed for the spell. A necklace was the ideal charm for it, and she spotted one she just could not resist: a rosary of purple beads with pearly fang-like beads in between. It made her think of the little boy because of the fangs. After successfully bartering with the merchant for a good five minutes, while pretending to be mute so she could dispute the price with her fingers, they made their way out of the village and back into the woods.

It took her about half an hour to find all the roots needed for the spell; then, the pair sat under a tree, and Guinevere began her work. She produced a metallic bowl from her bundle where she ground the roots, then wrote ‘Japanese’ on a piece of parchment and added it to the bowl; lastly, she added the rosary. She went over the spell in her book one last time before beginning, then placed her hands above the items in the bowl and began chanting.

“Hermes, messenger of messengers, bless these items with thy gift. May thy power pass through me; may thy generosity bless this rosary. Translate, translate, translate!”

Purple fire erupted from the bowl, and upon disappearing, only the rosary remained in it. Guinevere noticed the wonder and surprised expression on the little boy’s face.

“Here goes nothing,” she muttered as she picked up the rosary and slid it over her head.

“Can you understand me now?” She asked, hope sipping through her voice.

The child gasped, eyes going wide in surprise as he nodded vigorously.

“Finally! My name is Guinevere, what is yours, little one?” She asked, unable to hide her joy, and extending her hand to him.

He placed his little hand in hers and he mumbled shyly.

“Inu-Inuyasha.”

Chapter Text

Inuyasha was ecstatic he could understand the woman, although he was having trouble saying her name in his mind because it was such a foreign word.

“Nice to meet you, Inuyasha,” she said, and tenderly squeezed his hand.

It took him hearing her say his name to realize he had spoken. How long has it been since he last did it? Suddenly, he wanted to ask many things.

“How did you do that? Are you some kind of priestess?” He pointed at the bowl and he noticed his voice was rough, likely for the lack of use.

“A priestess? No, I am a witch,” she replied in that same, kind tone he'd grown accustomed to.

A witch? It couldn’t be; Mother had told him witches were evil. He realized too late he had expressed that thought out loud, and panicked.

“Well, I do not know about the witches of these lands, but where I come from, there are good ones and evil ones. I am a white witch, the good kind. We serve nature and help others.”

Inuyasha was relieved to see his words hadn't offended her, but still felt guilty for having assumed; he had done the same thing that had been done to him so many times.

“I’m sorry.” He looked away in shame, ears flattening against his skull.

“There is nothing to apologize for, Inuyasha; you are just a little boy and it is normal to be afraid of strangers with powers.” Guinevere gently stroked his head and he smiled in return.

“Why are you so kind to me?” he blurted out without thinking, and she looked at him in confusion.

“Why wouldn’t I be? You are a small child,” she replied matter-of-factly, and it confused him even more.

“But I’m a half-breed,” he stated, feeling ashamed once again.

“I do not comprehend,” she said without stopping stroking his head.

“I’m half demon and half human,” he explained.

Inuyasha feared she would realize what an abomination he was; he didn’t want to lose her kindness.

“I understand that part, but what I do not understand is why I shouldn’t be kind to you because of that.” Guinevere smiled sadly at him.

She still thought he deserved kindness? She was definitely one of a kind; he was about to ask why, when she spoke again.

“Inuyasha, where are your parents? We need to find them.”

Guinevere had even more questions than before, it was deeply troubling how this child was surprised a stranger was showing him kindness. But first, she needed to take him back to his family; she could ask more questions on the way.

She felt her chest tighten when she watched him lower his gaze, extreme sadness overtaking his beautiful face.

“They’re dead,” Inuyasha replied in a small voice. “Mama died over eight moons ago; Father died the day I was born.”

Her heart broke for him. Orphaned at such a young age? How terrible! He had to have other family members, right? Grandparents, uncles, aunts, anything. Right?

“Who is your caretaker, then?”

“Nobody,” he replied sadly, “I have nobody.”

He definitely wasn’t going to bring up his half-brother, and he definitely wasn’t going to mention that said half-brother had tried to kill him.

Guinevere was finding it hard to breathe. How could it be? How could this small child be all alone?

She pulled him into her arms, stroking his head. “I am so sorry to hear that, Inuyasha.” She felt him shrug like it wasn’t a big deal, and her heart sank even more.

“It’s alright, I’m used to it now,” he mumbled, trying as best as he could to convey that he was fine, which naturally he wasn’t, but he didn’t want to worry her. “Don’t be sad.”

Guinevere schooled her features before pulling away. “I cannot help it; you are too young to have endured that.”

Inuyasha didn’t have the heart to tell her that he had endured far worse. “What were you doing in the woods last night?” He asked, hoping to change the subject.

She instantly picked on his intentions and went along. “Oh, I was meditating and looking for herbs and stones.”

“What do you need rocks for?”

She giggled at his confused expression. “Not regular rocks—precious stones, but so far I only found crystals, like quartz. Which is fine, because those are pretty useful, too.”

Inuyasha tilted his head, still not understanding why.

“We use them for charms, similar to this,” she further explained while grabbing the rosary she had just enchanted. “They are really good for protection spells and helpful charms.”

That, he understood.

He reached out and gently grabbed her braid; he was fascinated by its light color. “I have never seen a human with gold hair. I would have thought you were a yokai, but you lack yoki.”

Guinevere squinted her eyes in confusion. “Yoki? What is that?”

Inuyasha scrunched up his face adorably, clearly in thought. “Mama explained it as demonic energy. Normal people cannot feel it, but spiritualists and other yokai can.”

She didn’t fully understand, but she wasn’t about to ask him to elaborate. She noticed he was still examining her hair.

“It is very common where I come from. The color of my hair, I mean.” At his curious expression, she added, “I come from a kingdom in the west called England. It’s an island and it’s very, very far away, across the continent.”

Inuyasha’s eyes went wide. “Did you come by boat?” he asked excitedly.

“Something like that,” she replied. She wasn’t going to tell him she had arrived through a portal from a world somewhat different, and yet similar to this one, or from 250 years in the future. It would be too confusing for him.

Unless… Unless she asked him at some point if he wanted to go back with her.

“How long will you be staying in Japan?” His question broke her out of her musings, and Guinevere didn’t miss the longing in his voice.

“Around an entire moon cycle,” she replied.

Inuyasha fidgeted with his sleeves, debating if he should ask her or not. He didn’t want to impose or bother her, but he really wanted to spend that time with her; it probably would be the only time in his life when someone other than his mother would be kind to him, and he wanted to experience that kindness before he was left all alone once more. He yearned for the company of someone that, oddly, reminded him of his beloved mother.

“Would—would it be alright if I accompany you until you have to leave?” He timidly asked.

Guinevere smiled brightly at the little boy. “I would like that very much, Inuyasha,” she replied.

They traveled for a few hours before they found another cave they would use during the night, and possibly for the following couple of days. Guinevere didn’t want to submit the little boy to walk for extended periods of time, especially because of his lack of shoes. The problem with this cave, though, was that the river wasn’t close.

After starting a fire and concealing the cave with her spell, they went to find food. Since the river wasn’t as near as before, they ventured into the woods, and Inuyasha managed to catch a couple of rabbits. Guinevere wondered if two were too much for a woman and a small child, but she kept her thoughts to herself.

She was about to skin and clean them when Inuyasha offered to do it himself. Before letting him, she offered a small prayer to the goddess Gaia. The little boy looked curiously at her, his little ears twitching just so, and she laughed lightly. He really was a precious child.

“Gaia is considered the mother of all life, so as a servant of nature, I ought to be thankful to her for the sacrifice of an animal that will serve as sustenance or fur to fight off the cold weather,” she explained, and Inuyasha nodded in understanding.

While he worked on the rabbits, she picked sticks and small branches to use as skewers. Guinevere regretted not having gone back to the market to get some carrots to go along with the meat. She would have loved to make a stew, but that required more vegetables and much more water than she currently had.

Once back in the cave, she cut the meat in quarters so they’d cook more quickly. Guinevere was sated after only half of a rabbit, while Inuyasha was finishing off the other one. She noticed that he kept glancing at the half that remained, his little hands opening and closing reflexively.

“Inuyasha? You can have what’s left if you want,” she offered.

His ears perked up and looked at her shyly. “Are you sure? Will you not be hungry if I do?” He asked, trying to hide his embarrassment.

“I’ve had my fill; you go ahead if you are still hungry,” she smiled.

The little boy grinned wide and grabbed the remaining meat. “Thank you!”

“You are very welcome!”

Now the two rabbits made sense to her; she hadn’t considered that his appetite might be bigger because he was a demon. If only she could have prepared that stew… She was certain he only relied on roasted meat or fish, given his homelessness. A rabbit stew would have been more nutritious and comforting.

Could it be possible to grow so fond of someone she’d known for barely half a day? Well, he was a child after all, so naturally, fondness would bloom rapidly. But more than anything, it was the knowledge that he was all alone in the world that tugged so fiercely at her heartstrings. That he was part demon was just a peculiar occurrence. Granted, back home, the grand majority of demons were visually scary or off-putting, sometimes even repulsive, and it didn’t help matters when most of them were just mindless beasts that sought pleasure in murder and mayhem. Even the warrior demons who fought on the side of good were imposing and exuded strength, and would send others running in fear with just a look; they certainly didn’t inspire tenderness like the small demon in front of her. Inuyasha, though, looked nothing like the demon children, or even the occasional hybrid children she had encountered. He definitely looked far more human than demon, even with the adorable ears.

The young woman was itching to satisfy her curiosity, but she just wasn’t sure whether she should ask or not. The last thing she wanted was to upset or offend him with her inquiries.

“Inuyasha?” she said tentatively. “May I ask you something?”

The little boy nodded enthusiastically while biting on his last piece of meat.

“What—what kind of demon are you?” Her warm smile told Inuyasha that she was merely curious.

“I’m an inu hanyo. Mama was human; Father was inu yokai,” he replied shyly.

He’s just like a cute puppy. No wonder he’s so sweet.

Guinevere’s smile grew wider. “I was half right. I wasn’t sure if they were cat or dog ears,” she explained.

Inuyasha frowned, slightly offended at being confused with a neko. “Why would you think I was a cat?” He pouted adorably and crossed his arms, eyebrows knit together.

She laughed lightly. “My apologies, Inuyasha, I did not mean to offend you, I simply never encountered a demon like you. You are vastly different from the ones back home.” She explained.

He tilted his head, curiosity clear on his face, “how are they, then?”

“Well, there are a lot of types, and most are scary looking, like the ones that were chasing you last night.” Her eyes caught the slight flicker of his ears. “Definitely never seen a demon over there with such lovely ears.”

Her comment took him by surprise. “You think so?” He asked, uncertainly.

Guinevere smiled, “Absolutely, you are so adorable!” She briefly paused, hand tentatively halfway to his head, then asked, “May I?”

Inuyasha considered it for a moment; normally, he was distrustful of people anywhere near his ears, but the young woman had been nothing but kind toward him, and oddly enough, he trusted her.

“Alright,” he nodded slowly.

The tender rub punched through his heart and sent him back to a happier time—back in his mother’s arms, back when he had her love to soothe all the insults and rejection from everyone else. Back when he had a sliver of hope. He hadn’t realized he was silently weeping until Guinevere’s voice woke him up from his memory.

“What’s wrong? Have I hurt you?” She asked alarmingly, instantly pulling him into her lap and embracing him. “I am so sorry. I thought I was being careful, please forgive me.”

Inuyasha shook his head rapidly, sniffling into his sleeve. “No, you were gentle. It’s just—it’s just—it reminded me of Mama. She used to rub my ears like that.”

She hugged him tighter and kissed the crown of his head. She could feel his longing, his loneliness, and his hopelessness. It made her impossibly sadder.

“I am so sorry you had to suffer so much loss, honey,” she whispered into his hair, and she felt him shrug.

“It’s alright,” he merely said.

“No, it is not! You should have a home, and your Mama and Papa, and love and happiness.” Her words were coming out in short puffs of breath, tears furiously slipping down her cheeks. “You should not be all alone, wandering about. It is not right!”

Inuyasha was stunned at her words and the way she was crying for him, he leaned back, and began tracing her tear tracks with his small hands.

“Please don’t cry,” he smiled sadly. I’m not worth it.

Guinevere mirrored his expression. “I cannot help it; you are such a sweet little boy and it saddens me that you are all alone.”

Before he realized what he was doing, Inuyasha found himself hugging her neck tightly. He wanted to comfort her just like she had done with him.

“You are going to be a great mom one day.” He didn’t realize he had said that out loud until he felt her cry harder, and he panicked.

Inuyasha pulled away to look at her. Had he accidentally hurt her? He didn’t think so; he didn’t smell any blood. Had he said something he shouldn’t? The raw pain in her eyes was like a katana to his heart.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to intrude,” he whispered, looking down in shame.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Inuyasha. You had no way of knowing,” Guinevere replied with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

Her last statement made him freeze in place. Had she lost her child? He really wanted to ask, but decided against it: he had already intruded too much.

Guinevere examined his face, and she could see the question dancing in his golden eyes, but she also could read his hesitation.

She took a deep, cleansing breath, and spoke. “Unfortunately, that is something that will never come to pass, no matter how much I pray for it.”

“Why?” Inuyasha asked sadly.

She mulled over exactly what to tell him but ultimately decided on the truth. “My body is defective and I cannot bear children.”

Guinevere’s extremely sad smile and eyes broke Inuyasha’s heart. He could tell being a mother was something she deeply desired, and he could also see she felt enormous shame. He hugged her again and caressed the back of her head.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“It’s alright,” she shrugged, mirroring his earlier attitude. She didn’t want to burden him with her pain.

More and more, Guinevere wanted to take him with her back home.

After their heart-to-heart, they went back outside in search of the river. Guinevere not only wanted to procure drinking water but also wanted to bathe. It had been nearly a week since she had done it and was starting to feel very uncomfortable. The only reason she had been avoiding it was because, back at her previous cave next to the river, she had spotted several samurais and bandits near the stream almost every day, and she was dreading being seen. Or much worse.

Inuyasha assured her that he would keep watch for any threat –yokai or human– and that she shouldn’t worry about any danger. She argued with him that a little boy like himself couldn't fight off a foe. Inuyasha hesitantly showed her his hands.

“My claws are sharp,” he stated, then almost shamefully he added, “and I have a couple of yoki-based attacks with them.”

The young woman huffed, still unsure. “I just don’t want you getting hurt, Inuyasha.”

The little boy stood straight and smiled brightly. “I’ll be alright; don’t worry.”

Guinevere considered telling him 'no', but the sheer determination in his eyes made her change her mind.

“Alright, alright! But if it’s more than you can handle, you will let me know, and I will resort to my fire. Understood?” She tried to sound stern, but failed miserably, what with the wide smile that broke through her face at seeing him standing so proud.

Inuyasha nodded profusely and bounded off toward the tree line.

Guinevere marveled at seeing such a small child jump from tree to tree, almost as if flying. She hadn’t expected him to possess such skill, and she wondered what else he could do.

Once she was finished, Inuyasha decided he wanted to bathe, too, while she remained at the shore, washing the clothes she had just taken off.

He looked so carefree and unburdened while splashing around in the water, playing with the small fish that swam around. They were too small to serve as food, so he just let them be. It was still around early afternoon so she let him play some more.

When he finally emerged from the water, she couldn’t help laughing in delight when he got on all fours to shake all the water off to try and dry himself. Just like a little puppy.

Inuyasha frowned slightly, almost offended until he noticed the warmth in her eyes.

“I am sorry! I didn't mean to laugh; it’s just that what you did is so endearing. You are so full of wonderful surprises, Inuyasha,” she explained while drying a rogue tear of mirth. “You are truly precious.”

He visibly relaxed and grinned in return before putting his clothes back on.

“Guin—Guin—I’m sorry, I’m having trouble saying your name,” he apologized, “do you want to go upstream? Only small fish over here.”

“Do not worry about it; you can call me Guin if it’s easier for you.” She caressed his head lovingly, then looked up at the position of the sun. “Alright, we should still have a couple of hours before we need to return.”

Inuyasha nodded and picked up the bundle that had her wet clothes, hefting it over his shoulder.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that; I can carry it,” she told him, but he shook his head, saying he was stronger and should do it. She giggled at that and let him do as he pleased.

Some distance away, a pair of eyes watched with great interest the scene unfolding.

I finally found him, and he’s not alone, the demon thought.

Chapter Text

Inuyasha and Guinevere headed upstream, where the little boy spent some time fishing under the young woman’s watchful eye. She kept trying to ask him if he wanted to go back with her once she left for her world, but every time she opened her mouth, she could not find her courage.

Maybe some other time.

Once they had enough fish for their dinner, they returned to the cave, completely unaware of the demon trailing them at a considerable distance.

While their food was cooking, Guinevere separated all her belongings into two equal bundles at Inuyasha’s insistence. The little boy had argued it would be easier that way to carry her stuff, one bundle each; no matter how hard she tried telling him that she could carry it all, he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“My Mama would disapprove if I didn’t help you carry your things. She taught me better than that.”

How do you argue with that? So Guinevere had conceded.

She kept thinking about her schedule: Sister Jane would be coming to collect her in four weeks, at a lake near a designated shrine in Kyoto. But she still had to find a good amount of the stones she needed, have them all blessed by a Shinto priest, and finally, have them infused with the reiki of a priestess. The enchanted stones would help her coven protect not only themselves but also innocent lives.

Amongst the witches in her coven, there was also a very powerful seer, Sister Margaret Anne, who recently foretold of a great threat that would be unleashed in their world. The means to fight that evil didn’t exist back home, and that was why Guinevere found herself here. What she didn’t quite comprehend was why she had been chosen—there were far more powerful witches than her—or why the portal had taken her 250 years behind her time.

When Guinevere had brought her questions to the seer, the woman had merely said that it had to be her and only her. Margaret Anne never explained the time gap, either.

Of course, once she started finding the stones and crystals, she would have another problem on her hands: how was she going to carry all that weight? There was no way she could carry it all, even with Inuyasha's help. And she definitely wasn’t going to let him carry the heavier items.

She would have to find a horse, but so far, she wasn’t sure she would find one to buy in a village. And being a foreigner, chances were they would refuse to sell her one. She would resort to theft if all other options were exhausted.

“Guin? The fish are done.” Inuyasha’s words broke her out of her thoughts.

“Thank you, Inuyasha,” she smiled at him while setting her cloak on the ground for them to sit.

Inuyasha tilted his head, examining her expression. She seemed troubled about something.

“What’s wrong, Guin?” he asked as he brought a skewered fish in each hand, and sat next to her on the cloak.

“Oh, nothing serious.” She waved her hand dismissively, then proceeded to tell him about their transportation predicament.

“But I can help you carry the weight,” the little boy predictably offered.

“It will be too much for us, even if we split the load. Not to mention it will be uncomfortably bulky,” Guinevere explained, and after a few tries, she managed to convince him a horse was their best option.

Originally, Guinevere had planned for them to use their current cave for a couple of days, but honestly, the river being somewhat far away was a great inconvenience. So the following morning, they packed everything and abandoned their hiding place.

To avoid another incident like the one with the farmer, Inuyasha donned her kerchief over his head, hiding his hair and ears. While it was uncomfortable on the furry appendages, he understood that it would spare the both of them any trouble, especially if they were going to set foot on the next village they found.

They slowly made their way southwest, arriving at a small village some hours later. While she was very tired from the trek, Inuyasha seemed like he had just walked a short distance, showing no trace of being remotely tired.

Now that she had the enchanted rosary, she was able to talk with the vendors and buy some vegetables, an apple, and a bigger flask to carry water for both of them. She didn’t fail to notice the strange looks she got because of her appearance. It was clear these people had never seen a Westerner, especially one with fair hair. Her idea of spending the night at an inn was quickly dismissed after that.

It was bad enough she was getting those looks, but it would be much worse if they discovered what was hidden under the little boy’s hood. Guinevere was not going to put either of them in danger in exchange for a comfortable bed.

Time to search for another cave, hopefully, one near a river.

On their way to the side of the mountains, Inuyasha caught a big rabbit, and finally, they found a cave near a river and set up camp. Since they had skipped breakfast, they were both quite ravenous after such a long trek; Guinevere was glad she had bought some vegetables because now she could make a succulent rabbit stew to properly fill their bellies.

Once Inuyasha cleaned the rabbit, and she collected water, they began cooking. While the pot she had was rather small for two people, it was better than nothing at all.

Inuyasha couldn’t remember the last time he had eaten such a delicious and abundant meal. While his mother had been a princess, she had been the one to always cook for him; she hadn’t trusted anyone in the palace when it came to her son’s food.

He was also fascinated with the way Guinevere was eating. While he had fashioned a pair of chopsticks out of two thin sticks for himself to grab the meat and was drinking the broth straight from the bowl, she was using a metal spoon and a knife to cut her meat into smaller bits and lift everything to her mouth.

She smiled at Inuyasha when she caught him curiously staring at her.

“Isn’t that difficult?” he asked while pointing his chopsticks at her utensils.

She lightly laughed. “I could ask you the same thing. I do not think I could eat anything with those; everything would end up on the floor!”

He adorably giggled at her response.

Once they finished eating, Guinevere handed him the apple. Inuyasha had tried to give her half of it, but she reminded him that he was a growing boy that needed more sustenance than she did.

With all the walking they did for so many hours, she was overly exhausted and decided to take a much-needed nap; Inuyasha assured her he would wake her up when the sun started to set so they could gather more wood to stash in the cave.

After waking up from her nap, and before heading out to collect wood and water, she put the remaining uncooked meat and unused vegetables back in the pot for a second stew that would be their dinner. She hoped Inuyasha didn’t mind the repetition.

While they were collecting wood and water, Inuyasha kept feeling a faint trace of yoki, but whenever he sniffed around, he found no yokai nearby. It was probably too far away to worry about.

After the fourth time he felt it, he informed Guinevere and decided to do a quick patrol after setting all the wood in the cave.

“I’ll go with you,” she offered.

“No, it’ll be safer if you stay near the cave; besides, I’ll go over the trees,” he explained, and at her worried expression, he added, “I can run really fast back to the cave if there’s danger.”

Guinevere hesitated before finally nodding in agreement. “Please be safe; I will wait here in case you need help.”

“I’ll be fine; don’t worry,” he replied before bounding up the trees.

After ten minutes of futile search, he returned to the cave. The whole thing was honestly bugging him. He had picked up that faint trace of yoki several times, but it was impossible to pinpoint a location or even distance. While making his way back to their hiding place, he still could feel it but decided that the barrier that Guin would erect probably would be enough protection for them.

But the feeling of that yoki didn’t dissipate once they were behind Guinevere’s barrier, and that made him frown.

“Inuyasha, what’s wrong?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, Guin; I couldn’t find the yokai and I can still feel his yoki,” he apologized; he was more worried for her than himself.

“Please, don’t worry, Master Inuyasha,” a male voice inside the cave suddenly said.

It caused Guinevere to let out a bloodcurdling scream and flatten herself against the cave wall, looking around frantically, yet seeing no one else. “Who’s there?! Show yourself!” she kept yelling as she quickly made her way to the little boy, instantly embracing him and shielding him, though she noticed he didn’t look frightened in the slightest.

He looked annoyed.

“Master Inuyasha! It’s me, Myoga!” the voice said again.

“It was you who was following us around, right, old man?” Inuyasha replied rather petulantly, crossing his arms and unflattening his ears once Guinevere had stopped screaming.

“Well, yes,” Myoga merely said.

“What's happening?” Guinevere’s bewildered eyes searched around, finally landing on Inuyasha. “I cannot see him. Is he an invisible yokai?”

Inuyasha giggled and caressed her face comfortingly.

“No, just very small. He’s a flea yokai,” he explained with a toothy grin, pointing at where her bundles sat on the floor.

Guinevere followed the direction of his small finger, where she finally saw a small dot frantically jumping up and down and saying “Over here!” time and time again. She honestly wished she had some ale. A tiny, tiny demon was the last thing she would have imagined; the familiarity between him and the little boy certainly put her at ease, though, and she finally calmed down as she slid down the wall to sit down.

She still needed a minute or two to get her heart rate under control. And ale, she definitely needed ale.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, my lady,” Myoga apologized as he bounded his way to her arm and bowed politely. “I’m Myoga, and I was a servant of Master Inuyasha’s late father, and now his.”

“Do not bite her!” the little boy scolded, and her eyes went wide.

“What?! Why would he bite me?” Guinevere was ready to flick him off her arm.

“Well, he’s a flea. He likes blood,” Inuyasha stated, and at her stern expression, he added, “It’s not as bad as it sounds, believe me.”

Guinevere visibly relaxed at that. Her reaction had been more than justified, though; back home, a creature who fed off of blood meant just one thing: death. She didn’t think such a small creature like Myoga could drain someone of their blood like a vampire could.

A smacking sound broke her out of her musings.

“I didn’t tell you to bite me, either!” The little boy glared at his own palm.

“But your blood is so rich, Master Inuyasha!”

“What are you doing here, Myoga?” the boy demanded. “Where have you been all this time?”

Guinevere heard the hurt in his voice, and her heart constricted in her chest.

Myoga lowered his head. “I’m sorry for your loss, Master Inuyasha. I was after some vital information when I heard what happened to your Lady Mother, but when I finally made it back to the palace, everything was gone, including you. I’ve been after your trail ever since but kept losing it, eventually. You are a hard one to find, Master.”

Palace? There was definitely more to the little boy than met the eye.

“Yeah, well, that was deliberate. I didn’t want to be found.” Inuyasha was sitting on the floor, arms and legs crossed; his demeanor clearly closed off. “What do you mean everything’s gone?”

The tiny man fidgeted nervously. “The palace and every hut around it had been burned to the ground.”

Inuyasha scoffed at that, clearly not surprised at Myoga’s statement. Guinevere felt a chill run down her spine; she instantly picked the little boy up and sat him on her lap, gently running her fingers through his hair. He smiled sadly at her and the gesture.

He honestly wasn’t surprised; he supposed the lord of the palace assumed Inuyasha was hiding somewhere on the premises, including the servants’ quarters. The hideous man obviously burnt everything down in hopes Inuyasha got caught in the fire and perished, but he had run away before that. His only regret was not taking something that had belonged to his mother when he made his escape.

“I’m glad you’re safe, Master,” Myoga smiled at the boy, then looked at the young woman. “I don’t think I caught your name, my lady.”

“My name’s Guinevere; a pleasure to meet you, mister Myoga,” she replied cordially, though her thoughts still lingered in all the information both Inuyasha and the flea demon had provided.

“What information were you after? You left an entire moon cycle before—” she died. The boy couldn’t bring himself to utter those words out loud.

Myoga stood straight. “The whereabouts of one of your Lord Father’s relics.”

At Inuyasha’s clear lack of interest, the flea added. “It was left for you, Master Inuyasha.”

Guinevere remained silent, checking on the stew, while Myoga kept insisting Inuyasha needed to search for said relic; the little boy, on the other hand, kept replying petulantly that he didn’t care for it.

She decided to cut the tension by mentioning dinner would soon be ready.

“I apologize for the repetition, Inuyasha, but I didn’t want to risk the meat going bad if we waited to cook it tomorrow.” She smiled at him, then turned to the flea. “I don’t suppose you’d like some broth, mister Myoga?”

“It’s alright, Guin, I like it very much,” Inuyasha smiled warmly at her. Like he would get upset over something as trivial as eating the same thing on the same day. It was warm, delicious, filling food, and that’s what counted. After going hungry for so many nights, food was always a blessing.

The flea demon was surprised at the offer. “I’m not really hungry—Master Inuyasha’s blood was quite filling—but it would be rude of me to turn down your offer. I would like to try your broth, my lady.”

“Please, just call me Guinevere or Guin. I am no Lady, mister Myoga,” she requested while setting a spoon filled with broth on the ground. Never would have she imagined that she would be serving food to a flea.

“Very well, Guinevere,” the flea replied as he sat on the spoon. “I have to say, for a foreigner, you speak flawless Japanese.”

Both she and Inuyasha giggled at that, and Myoga looked from one to the other, puzzled.

“I am not speaking Japanese; I am speaking English, but the enchantment on this rosary allows me to understand Japanese while making others understand me in that language,” Guinevere explained while touching the beads.

“Fascinating!” he replied while slurping his broth.

After that, Myoga began asking about her, about how she had met Inuyasha, and about many more subjects. The little man was clearly surprised at seeing his young master being so trusting of a human that wasn’t his mother, and at how the young woman was so keen on the hanyo’s company. It was even more astonishing to learn they had only met a couple of days prior.

Myoga decided he would stay with them and keep an eye on Inuyasha; after all, there would be a moonless night in four days; and maybe she could convince his stubborn master to go find his father’s sword.

The following day after their breakfast of fish, they headed further south in search of some of the stones Guinevere needed to find. They decided to travel light and leave everything else in the cave behind the protection of her barrier.

Myoga watched the interactions between the woman and his young master with great interest; Inuyasha looked happy while scurrying about, asking Guinevere if the stones he had found were the ones she needed. The only time he had witnessed such happiness was when Inuyasha had been alone with Lady Izayoi, without anyone else around.

Guinevere, Myoga noticed, had a longing look every time she watched the little boy wander off to check a cluster of rocks.

It would be greatly painful for the both of them when she returned to her kingdom, Myoga lamented.

Inuyasha screaming in the distance broke Myoga out of his musings and had Guinevere’s knees almost give up, and no sooner had she recovered her balance that she ran towards him while screaming his name, terror gripping at her heart. The flea instantly jumped onto her shoulder.

A huge serpent-like demon was looming over the barely-conscious little boy, ready to strike again and finish him off.

In a fit of rage, Guinevere focused all her power on the demon’s head and set it on fire. It landed in a heap of ashes on the ground some feet away from the wounded boy. She picked Inuyasha up in her arms, who caressed her face and smiled sadly before passing out. She instantly noticed the twin holes in his coat.

She kept mumbling a string of ‘no’ as she removed his coat and shirt, her eyes going wide in horror as she saw the nasty, festering bite on the little boy’s left side. It was too close to his heart.

Myoga tried sucking the poison out of him, but unfortunately, there was too much of it and it was too risky since Inuyasha was so young and small. It didn’t matter that the boy’s demonic blood was powerful; extracting even half of the poison would kill the little hanyo. Despair and a sense of impotence and failure were quickly invading the flea demon.

He turned to the woman, who was crying inconsolably while hugging Inuyasha. “Lady Guinevere, I cannot help him.”

“There has to be something we can do! I am not letting him die!” She had a crazed look in her eyes that gave Myoga the chills.

The flea nodded. “We need a particular herb to counter the poison.”

“Alright, we head to the closest village and get it.” Guinevere stood up, Inuyasha secured in her arms and with his head resting on her shoulder.

“Lady Guinevere,” Myoga began in a regretful tone, “no village will help us.”

“Because of what he is?” she asked incredulously, despair creeping into her voice. At Myoga’s sad nod, she added. “Then we take it from them!”

“They won’t have that herb. Unfortunately, it’s only useful to heal demons, and it’s very rare,” he explained.

“Then where do we get it?!” the woman all but yelled as she marched purposefully in the general direction of the road she had seen the day before.

Myoga thought for a moment, trying to remember the closest location where he had encountered that herb in the past. “There’s a farm about a day’s walk that is likely to have it,” the flea said timidly, sure of what her reaction would be.

“A day?! He won’t last that long at this rate!” Guinevere countered in anger.

How could she have been so careless? She should have gone with him, should have protected him, should have been able to dispose of the snake demon before it attacked him. And now, because of her stupidity, this beautiful, innocent soul would die. It filled Guinevere with a crushing heartbreak she never felt before.

“Master Inuyasha is stronger than he looks; his Lord Father was one of the most powerful demons to walk this world and his blood runs through his son’s veins. He will last at least another day,” Myoga tried to placate, partially lying to her. He didn’t have the heart to tell her the boy wouldn’t survive the night.

That snake yokai had been too powerful, even for a strong hanyo like Inuyasha. His lie also served to calm his own aching heart: he had miserably failed his masters.

“I don’t care! I will do anything so he can survive; I refuse to fail him!” she argued, voice chock-full of tears.

Myoga definitely agreed with her on that.

Two hours into their journey, they encountered a traveling caravan of merchants moving wares on carts; two riders were their only escort.

Guinevere saw a glimpse of hope that was instantly crushed when they refused to lend her—or even sell her—one of the horses. For a fleeting moment, she considered taking one by force; but she drew the line at harming—and possibly murdering—innocent people, even if they were being particularly cruel towards a little hanyo boy who hadn’t done anything wrong. She would find a way; the gods would surely not allow such an innocent creature to die.

This cannot be happening, was the desperate mantra repeating non-stop in her head.

They made their way along the road in complete silence; Guinevere would check Inuyasha’s heart rate from time to time; it was slow, but not as slow as she had feared. However, the little boy was burning with fever, his wound getting darker as time went on.

Please, hold on, Inuyasha, don’t you dare die on me, she kept repeating mentally.

“Lady Guinevere, watch out!” Myoga’s warning broke her out of her downward spiral, and she turned around to the sound now reaching her ears.

A chill ran down her spine when she saw a samurai galloping straight at her; it made her hold Inuyasha tighter.

“This must be my lucky day,” the man said, leering at her up and down as he stepped off his horse. “What a beautiful foreigner to keep me warm at night.”

“Stay away from us!” she warned as she backed away from the man, purposely drawing him away from his mount.

The man looked at the boy, then back at her with a disgusted expression all over his face.

“You must be quite the shameless whore for having lain with a demon and spawned such an abomination,” he sneered as he quickened his stride toward them.

His cruel words and the impending danger made her see red and she snapped; Guinevere barely remembered burning the samurai as she rushed to set Inuyasha on his horse. Despite his extensive burns, the disgusting man wasn’t dead, but he wouldn’t be able to get up anytime soon; she made a last-minute decision to also steal his sword and the hefty bag of coins inside his coat.

She disposed of all the stones they had collected since they would add unnecessary weight—she could always find more—then swiftly got on the horse, holding Inuyasha close to her chest, and rode off, wind in their favor, as fast as the animal would allow it.

With directions from Myoga, they reached their destination just as the sun was beginning to set. The farm was bigger than anything she had seen back home; it was full of vegetables and medicinal plants. Guinevere secured the horse to a fence, patted its head, and promised she would feed him as soon as she got help; then, she picked up the feverish little boy and made her way to the farmhouse.

“Get off my land!” a woman yelled as she quickly made her way to the foreigner.

“Please, we need your help!” Guinevere begged, tears furiously running down her cheeks. “He’s been poisoned and nobody will help us.”

The farmer’s retort died on her lips when her eyes landed on the little boy’s ears, then on the festering wound.

“Please, he’s an innocent little boy, he doesn’t deserve to die just because he’s not entirely human,” the young woman pleaded.

“Bring him inside,” the older woman replied kindly this time, then turned around to face the fields. “Jinenji! Go gather seeds of the thousand-year-old plant; it’s urgent.”

“Thank you!” Guinevere breathed in relief just as she heard a young man replying to the other woman.

“On my way, Ma!”

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.

Chapter Text

Inuyasha woke up at dawn, his conversation with Myoga and Guin about his father’s sword still plaguing his thoughts. He had already decided to go looking for it, but he was worried the quest would take longer than he had; what if the search lasted longer than a month? He wanted to get it done before Guin—and hopefully he, too—left.

He glanced at the sleeping woman, who had the most peaceful expression on her face, and decided to let her rest a bit longer. Guinevere had undoubtedly exerted herself these past two days and needed to recover her energies. He would have liked to surprise her with breakfast once she woke up, but unfortunately, Inuyasha couldn’t leave the cave because of the protective barrier; and so, he decided to use his downtime to keep thinking.

How would he bring up the subject? Correction, subjects. While in his mind he was more than eager to tell Guinevere—to beg her—to take him with her once she left, he was terrified to actually do it. He knew she’d never treat him rudely, but the idea of her telling him no, even if she did so kindly, had him second-guessing himself. He decided to postpone that particular topic for another day; there was still almost a month left to gather his courage.

But there was a more pressing matter that superseded the search for the sword and the subject of Guin’s departure: the new moon. Myoga had been right; Inuyasha needed to tell her, and even when he had already made up his mind, he was still struggling with bringing up the subject. One did not simply change deeply ingrained fears overnight, even when there was newfound trust involved; he had spent his entire life in absolute fear of the moonless night, even when his mother had been alive and protecting him. Inuyasha had a little more than a day to talk to Guin about his human night, and he didn’t know how to bring it up.

He noticed the fire hadn’t completely died down during the night, so he silently crawled out of her warm embrace and placed more wood to fuel the embers.

Guinevere stirred awake shortly after, briefly panicking when she didn’t see the little boy on her cloak, but soon calmed down when she found him sitting next to the fire pit.

“Morning, Guin!” he greeted cheerily and bounded up to her. “How did you sleep?”

“Good morning, Inuyasha!” She stretched and yawned loudly. “I slept like a babe, you?”

“Me too,” he answered with a big grin. “Shall we go catch some fish for breakfast?”

She nodded sleepily.

“I can go while you rest a little more,” Inuyasha suggested when he noticed her grogginess, “though I will need you to lift the barrier first.”

She instantly sat up at his words. “No! After what happened the other day…”

Inuyasha frowned; he wasn’t helpless; he had spent over a year surviving on his own. A short trip to the river to catch some fish was hardly a dangerous situation. Why couldn’t she trust his strength and abilities? He was a hanyo; he could defend himself. He was going to express this when he remembered Guin had felt guilty for what had happened to him, and most likely was still shaken up about the incident.

Inuyasha realized it wasn’t about her not trusting his abilities, but because she cared about him and was terrified for his safety. It was something beyond her control and it clearly unsettled her, if the slight stench of fear tainting her normally flowery scent was any indication.

“Alright,” he smiled at her and waited for the young woman to lift the barrier, which had also been hiding the horse outside.

Before fishing, the pair took turns bathing. Inuyasha went first while Guinevere filled her pots with water and took them back to the cave. Since the river was a short walk from it, she hadn’t bothered with replacing the concealment spell.

When it was Guinevere’s turn to bathe, Myoga took the opportunity to talk to the boy and remind him that he needed to tell her about the events of the following night. Inuyasha petulantly replied he would do it later.

After breakfast, they headed to the closest village to buy some vegetables, a small sack of rice, and a couple of baskets to carry on their backs; the bag of coins Guinevere had taken from the samurai had helped considerably, although she still felt slightly ashamed about the theft. Then again, it was likely he had stolen said money as well, so she decided to not dwell on it anymore. She also procured a hen for lunch, a bigger pot, and some sacks and rope to fashion into saddle bags; those would come in handy once she started collecting the stones and crystals.

Guinevere decided to not pay attention to the looks they were attracting. Inuyasha’s features were safely concealed under her kerchief, so she surmised it was her appearance that was causing the whispers around the market. Maybe it was time to hide her foreign features as well, so she indulged herself and bought a colorful piece of cloth. She wanted to buy a pair of sandals for the little boy, but Inuyasha insisted it wasn’t necessary; in fact, he pointed out the footwear would hinder his ability to leap and run at high speeds. Still, something compelled her to buy them anyway. In addition, she got a pair of chopsticks for Inuyasha, and an extra cup since all this time they have been sharing hers.

Guinevere noticed Inuyasha had been curiously eyeing her purchases, and most likely he was wondering how she was affording all the wares they were purchasing. She decided she would come clean after they were far away from the villagers.

As much as she would have liked to spend more time looking at the carts, they left as soon as it became clear to her that Inuyasha was starting to feel restless around so many people for such an extended period of time. Once the items were secured inside the bigger of the two baskets, she strapped it on her back and they leisurely rode back to their cave.

Guinevere used the entirety of the vegetables and the hen to prepare a stew that would last them for both lunch and dinner, and possibly serve as the following day’s breakfast, too. Inuyasha had reassured her more than once that he had absolutely no issue with the repetition.

During lunch, she noticed the little boy seemed lost in thought, and she could also feel a small level of anxiety coming off of him; but, every time she asked, Inuyasha told her everything was fine. She decided not to press him and hoped he would open up whenever he was ready.

Once they finished eating, they headed out in search of stones. Myoga had mentioned knowing of a well-hidden spot up the mountains, where one could find some clusters of amethysts, along with other varieties of crystals. At first, Guinevere had been reluctant to make such a trek, until the flea assured her there was a safe, hidden pathway leading to the location. During their outing, Myoga recounted many of the heroic battles Inuyasha’s father had fought, and while the boy pretended not to be interested in them, Guinevere noticed his puppy ears reacting every time the small demon mentioned the Great Dog General.

In addition, the flea told the story of Inuyasha’s attire, and how his father had scoured every corner of Japan for the elusive fire rats. Myoga explained how the fabric made from those rodent demons’ fur could be infused with yoki and thus turning the resulting clothing into one of the strongest armors one could ask for. The other characteristics of the enchanted fabric—the little demon explained—were its adaptability to the wearer’s body as they grew up, and its self-repairing and self-cleaning capabilities. It actually explained a lot, Guinevere thought; she had been wildly confused when she had noticed that the holes from the snake demon’s fangs had magically disappeared from the boy’s coat, as well as his blood stains.

A couple of hours later, the trio returned to the cave with a decent bounty. Apart from the amethysts, they also found azurite, malachite, and quartz crystals of both the clear and rose varieties.

Inuyasha was happy they found all those crystals; he had felt incredibly guilty when he learned that after his poisoning, Guin had abandoned the ones they had collected that day. She was doing so much for him—feeding him comforting food, sheltering him, listening to him, treating him like he mattered—that the least he could do, he thought, was make her mission as easy as he could.

He still didn’t fully understand why her people had sent her all the way to Japan for some crystals. Did they not have those back in England? How many moons did it take to travel by boat from there to here? When Inuyasha had asked Guin that last question, she had been awfully vague, claiming to have spent most of her journey sick and sleeping. It had been the only time he had caught her lying to him, but he had also realized there had not been maliciousness behind her lie.

Myoga left them right before reaching the cave, mentioning he needed to go talk to an old friend, so dinner was a bit quieter than usual. When they set in for the night, Inuyasha gathered all his courage and decided to tell her about the moonless night.

“Guin? I have something to tell you,” he began, trying his best to keep calm, his anxiety trying to get the best of him. This was a huge step for him, and even when his self-preservation was trying to take over, he needed to get this out of the way.

Guin frowned, worried about the clear anxiety sipping through him. “What is it, Inuyasha?” She stroked his face, trying to offer the comfort he clearly needed.

“Well…” How to begin? After some seconds of silence, he decided to explain in a general manner at first. “You know how I’m a hanyo, right?” At her nod, he continued, “well… hanyo—” He interrupted himself, thinking.

Guinevere brought him closer to her. “Are you alright, sweetheart?”

He nodded, sinking into her comforting embrace. “Tomorrow night… I’ll turn into a human because of the new moon.” Inuyasha took note of her confused expression. “It’s something that happens to hanyo.” She blinked at him, still confused. “It’s our moment of vulnerability; it’s a secret.”

Realization dawned on her and held him tighter. “It’s a scary moment for you, is it not?” She felt him nod, and her heart broke for him. It was then that she also realized, to her absolute horror, that he had spent those nights this past year completely terrified, vulnerable, and alone. “D-does Myoga know?”

Inuyasha nodded again. “Yes, he had to remind me; I lost track of the moon these last couple of days.”

There was something that didn’t quite add up. “But, how is it a secret if all hanyo turn on the new moon?”

He couldn’t help giggling at her assumption. “No. My moment is the new moon; it’s different for others. I can’t remember the reason why is like that; you should ask Myoga when he comes back.”

Guinevere kissed the crown of his head. “Thank you for confiding in me, Inuyasha. We can talk more about it at breakfast and prepare for the night. Now, let’s sleep.”

He snuggled closer to Guin and sighed contently. One subject down, two to go.

They didn’t need to hunt or fish for breakfast the following morning since they still had stew from the previous day, so Guinevere and Inuyasha enjoyed a slow morning. When Myoga returned, he explained to her how hanyo’s human transformation was tied to the moment they had been born; in Inuyasha’s case, his birth had happened during a lunar eclipse, so his vulnerable time was during the moonless night.

Guinevere couldn’t help wondering what his human appearance looked like; she almost asked him, but then decided she preferred to be surprised. She was certain he’d look as adorable as he looked now.

Myoga finally explained his previous night’s absence; he had paid a visit to the weaponsmith who had crafted the Tessaiga. The flea suspected that Totosai may finally provide some information about the sword’s whereabouts; initially, the ox demon had refused to disclose anything until Inuyasha was found. The other clue Myoga had was regarding a pearl, and he suspected the one who could shed some light on the connection between the sword and the pearl was the oyster daiyokai Hosenki.

It was decided then that the trio would set out to visit Totosai the following day; the ox had been adamant he’d only give the information to Inuyasha himself. Since the weaponsmith’s lair was to the southwest, Guinevere decided they would relocate to yet another cave; she had less than four weeks to reach Kyoto before she was collected and she wanted to slowly make her way to that destination. At least, now they had a horse to make that journey faster and less exhausting.

The young woman had wanted to go back to the market to procure more vegetables, but upon noticing Inuyasha was more restless than usual, she decided a lunch of rabbit meat would suffice. According to the little boy, his powers and senses started to slowly diminish throughout the day leading to the new moon, and that was why he really didn’t want to go to the village. Guinevere definitely wasn’t going to leave him alone in the cave to go by herself.

After lunch, they collected enough wood and water to last until morning; the large pot Guinevere bought the previous day served to store it after being boiled. Since Inuyasha had mentioned he never slept during his human night—a thing that broke Guinevere’s heart—she decided to take a short nap; she should take another after fishing for their dinner so she could remain awake the entire night. No way in hell she was going to leave him alone during his vigil.

The smell of cooking fish woke Guinevere up from her second nap; Inuyasha was sitting by the fire pit, watching over their dinner to make sure it didn’t burn. She noticed he looked even more distressed than before, and one glance through the protective barrier told her the sun was close to setting.

“Oh honey, you didn’t need to do that! I could have prepared dinner. Why didn’t you take a nap, too?” she asked as she slowly started to sort out and store her belongings in the baskets and sacks she purchased at the market.

The little boy shrugged. “It’s the least I could do; you’re already doing too much for me. I wanted you to rest since you said you’d stay up. And while I’m still normal, I don’t need that much sleep anyway.”

The witch interrupted her task and walked over to him, picking him up in her arms. “Inuyasha, please don’t feel like you have obligations or that you owe me anything. Everything I do, I do because I want to.” She kissed his temple, and he hugged her in return, both of them completely oblivious of Myoga watching the exchange.

It was both lovely and heartbreaking to witness; Myoga feared the negative impact Guinevere’s impending departure would cause his young master. He could see the enormous attachment the little hanyo had for the young woman, and the flea had no doubts Inuyasha would suffer a painful heartbreak once she was gone. A pulse coming from the little boy clued him that the sun had finally set.

Guinevere watched in awe as Inuyasha’s puppy ears disappeared, replaced by human ones at the side of his head; his little fangs and claws retracted until they turned into regular teeth and nails. But what surprised her the most was the stark change in his hair and eyes; silver turned into onyx black, and gold turned into a mix of dark green and brown. Even though on the surface he looked nothing alike, his eyes showed the same loneliness that always tugged at her heart. She couldn’t help caressing his face to try and erase that ever-present sadness that seemed to be so deeply ingrained in his soul. “That’s quite the change,” she pointed out while readjusting him on her lap.

Inuyasha looked down. “Is that good or bad?” he couldn’t help asking. As much as he hated being human, he couldn’t help fearing Guin would treat him differently once he turned back come morning.

“Neither good nor bad. It’s just fascinating to witness, is all,” she tried reassuring him while handing him a skewered fish. “What truly matters is what’s in here,” she said as she placed her hand on his heart.

Inuyasha hugged her once more before taking a bite out of his fish; he was overly conscious of his overflowing emotions. He wanted to ask a lot of things but reminded himself he had all night to do so.

Guinevere watched him attentively; he definitely seemed more vulnerable than normal. His face showed his emotions more evidently, and she couldn’t help the ache in her heart. It was bad enough that he had spent over a year all alone as a little boy with demonic advantages, but it was infinitely worse to know he had spent a dozen or so nights completely vulnerable and at the mercy of the elements and predators.

No child deserved such a cruel fate, especially one as kind-hearted as Inuyasha.

After dinner, Guinevere resumed her task of arranging her belongings for their upcoming journey; and soon, Inuyasha joined her, despite her protests that he should just relax. Doing something as menial as arranging their cargo definitely helped him fight the overwhelming sense of uselessness that was invading him.

The little boy then started asking questions about the demons in Guinevere’s land. How big they were, what kinds of powers they had, if they hated humans for the sake of it, if they were difficult to fight. On and on he kept asking for over an hour. It struck Guinevere as odd, his sudden barrage of questions, but she figured it was some sort of coping mechanism connected to his human state, so she didn’t comment on it.

Inuyasha committed every piece of information to memory; he was pleasantly surprised to learn that, unlike in Japan, those yokai in England didn’t have extraordinarily lethal powers: most just had heightened strength, some had claws and fangs, and some had weird powers, but weren’t very common to find.

Myoga decided to provide information about local demons, and how a lot of them had different abilities despite being of the same kin. Inuyasha mentally thanked the flea yokai; his contribution to the conversation was helping the boy hide the real reason why he had been asking such questions. He didn’t know if it was his overwhelming human emotions or what, but he found himself desperately wanting to ask Guin to take him with her; ironically, it was during his most vulnerable moment when he was finding his unwavering courage to do so.

Which is why he then started to ask about her village, much like he had done when first meeting Guinevere. What surprised him and encouraged him more, though, was learning that there were gifted children in her village who were taught from a very young age to master and control their abilities and to not use them unsupervised. Children already familiar with powers and demons definitely would help him fit in. Still, Inuyasha just hoped they wouldn’t try to hurt him.

But he was getting ahead of himself; he still hadn’t asked her, and he didn’t know what her answer would be.

“Do you have family back in England, Lady Guinevere?” Myoga asked; and, for the second time that night, the little boy silently thanked his vassal for unknowingly aiding him in his cause.

Inuyasha’s heart constricted in his chest at the way her gaze turned sad. “No, mister Myoga, I have not. My parents died three years ago during an illness that came to their town. Before that, I lost my brother during one of the many wars with France. I was shortly married but that didn’t work out.” Guinevere paused to collect herself, unsure about why she was revealing so much. “I do have a sister, though, but she sailed for the Americas shortly after marrying. It is unlikely I will ever see her again.”

“Americas?” Myoga asked, and Guinevere instantly realized, to her absolute horror, the gravity of her statement: in this timeline, the western continent had not yet been discovered.

Oh gods, how could she have been so careless? Taking a deep breath, Guinevere made the ultimate decision and told them the truth about how she had arrived in Japan, about the actual year she was from, and what exactly the Americas were. She only hoped neither of her companions would think her insane.

Inuyasha was speechless once Guin had finished her story; it explained so much, and he realized it was the reason why she had lied to him when he had asked about the duration of her boat trip. It explained why the demons she had described were so different. It explained why she had powers he had never seen in a human. It explained why her people had a different mentality about demons.

Because it was a different world; and now, more than ever, he wanted to be part of it; he wanted to be part of her life, and knowing she had no family other than her village only strengthened his resolve.

“Take me with you when you go,” Inuyasha blurted out before he had a chance to lose his courage.

“Master Inuyasha, what are you saying?!”

He completely ignored Myoga’s words, focusing intently on Guin, instead. “Please.” The boy didn’t care if he sounded utterly pathetic.

Guinevere was momentarily frozen in place. Was she hearing what she was actually hearing? Was she feverish, and her brain was conjuring lies? Inuyasha’s desperate tone and the pleading expression painting his face told her that no, she was not imagining anything. He wanted to go with her!

“Yes,” she breathlessly answered before the little boy had a chance to mistake her silence for a denial.

“But, Master Inuyasha—”

Inuyasha couldn’t contain the utter happiness bursting in his heart; he launched into her arms as soon as her reply left her lips. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Guinevere laughed between sobs. “You are braver than I am,” she whispered into his hair between tender kisses to the crown of his head.

“What do you mean?” the little hanyo-turned-human mumbled in a broken voice; his tone chock-full of tears.

“For days, I’ve been meaning to ask you the same thing, but I was scared you wouldn’t want to come with me,” she confessed. “I even considered it on the day I found you.”

Inuyasha pulled away in shock to look at her; he had not expected that admission. “Really?” he asked in a hopeful tone; and at her smile and nod, he hugged her again.

“But, Master Inuyasha—”

The little boy extracted himself from Guinevere’s embrace to face Myoga, frowning angrily at the tiny yokai. “No! Nothing you tell me is going to change my mind. I am leaving with her, old man! I’m tired of being alone! I’m tired of having to hide! I’m tired of the hate I get from humans and yokai! I’m tired of being scared! I’m tired of thinking ‘is this the day Sesshomaru’s going to find me and kill me?’! I am. Going. With her! And there’s nothing you can do about it!”

By the time he was finished venting, Inuyasha was furiously crying; Guinevere instantly pulled him into her arms, comforting him and glaring at Myoga.

Myoga knew a lost battle when he saw one; and, in all honesty, he didn’t think his young master was in the wrong. Inuyasha deserved a better life than the one he was living; he deserved to grow up in a loving environment. And the flea also knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Guinevere would make sure of that. “Very well,” he replied, bowing respectfully. “But I must beg you to not dismiss the search for the sword.”

Inuyasha turned to him again, not leaving the warmth of Guin’s embrace. “I wasn’t going to. I meant it when I said that bastard is not getting that sword!”

Myoga nodded, still in thought. While Guinevere clearly had what it took to act as a mother figure to Inuyasha, she certainly lacked the yokai knowledge and experience needed to guide him during his growth, especially since he was a hanyo. She would certainly need his help in that area, and Inuyasha would definitely need him once she was long gone.

“I will come with you as well, and that’s non-negotiable, Master Inuyasha,” the flea stated with finality.

Guinevere was surprised at Myoga’s words, but she guessed it was a matter of loyalty.

“Why?” Inuyasha asked rather petulantly.

“For one, you are my master, and I would be dishonoring your Lord Father if I didn’t follow you, especially now that we know we are not talking about a journey I could make on a bird in order to reach you. And secondly, Lady Guinevere will need help; she’s unfamiliar with yokai in general. And the fact that you are an inu hanyo adds another layer of complexity,” Myoga explained, and at Guinevere’s confused face, he added, “Inu yokai have specific behaviors according to mood, age, and phases of the moon. Master Inuyasha has a human heart, which is something that influences those behaviors and changes them slightly. You will need my knowledge to help you raise him.”

Guinevere nodded. It made sense, and she welcomed the flea’s help. “Thank you, mister Myoga. But I wonder, you mentioned having friends; are you not going to miss them?”

“Well, of course, but my master comes first. I promised Lord Toga I’d watch over his son, and I clearly failed this past year. I do not intend to repeat that error,” Myoga admitted solemnly.

Inuyasha kept a pout while the flea spoke. He had hoped to detach from everything and everyone pertaining to his past and start anew. But he guessed having Myoga was better than not; he had honestly thought the old man would fight him more to convince him to stay. Having him around would also help the little boy keep his memories of his mother fresh, and learn more about his father.

Guinevere pulled him closer, sighing contentedly. “It's going to be wonderful. I’m going to take good care of you, you are not going to starve anymore, or sleep at the mercy of the unforgiving weather,” she kissed his temple.

She did it; she finally got the one thing she had wanted more than anything in the world. She was going to be a mother! She was going to have a little one to dote on! She knew it would be challenging because of his demonic side because she knew nothing about dog demons. But she didn’t care; she would learn with the help of Myoga and raise him with all the love and understanding Inuyasha deserved. She didn’t care if he never called her ‘mum’; she understood the wound of losing his birth mother was still open, and she would never demand him to refer to her as such.

The gods had finally smiled at her and given her a child. Guinevere couldn’t contain her overwhelming emotions any longer and began crying.

“What’s wrong, Guin?” Inuyasha asked, completely panicked. Has she changed her mind?

The witch hugged him tightly. “Oh, nothing is wrong; on the contrary, I’m infinitely happy.”

“Me too, Guin.”

Chapter Text

Inuyasha sat near the cave entrance waiting for sunrise and thinking about everything that had transpired during the night. He still couldn’t believe he had succeeded; part of him was scared that Guinevere would change her mind once he was back to his hanyo form. He quickly dismissed that dark thought. It was clear it didn’t matter to her if he was human or hanyo because she cared about him all the same. Despite all her efforts to stay awake, she had fallen asleep a couple of hours ago, and the little boy let her rest.

Guinevere stirred awake a few minutes later, noticing it was still mostly dark. “I’m sorry, Inuyasha, I fell asleep.”

“It’s okay, Guin, don’t worry,” he reassured her as he sat on her cloak. “We have a long journey, and you needed to rest.”

She held a strand of his black hair in her hands. “But you didn’t rest, did you?”

Inuyasha shook his head. “It’s alright, the sun’s almost up, and I’ll be back to normal.”

Guinevere sighed in resignation. She was concerned about his constant dismissal of resting, but she wouldn’t mention it for the time being. “Let’s sit near the entrance to watch the sunrise.”

Inuyasha sat on her lap, leaning into her shoulder as they watched the steady rise of the sun. He could feel his imminent transformation and noticed Guin’s eyes on him, her smile turning fonder as she watched him turn back into a hanyo. She instantly rubbed his puppy ears as soon as they reappeared.

“Shall we go?” she asked.

“Aren’t we going to have breakfast?” Inuyasha inquired as he stood up.

“I was thinking of stopping to eat once we are on our way.” She turned to look at the basket and sacks. “I should have left a pot out.”

“I’ll catch some fish; we don’t need any pots,” the little boy pointed out.

After loading everything on their horse, the trio set out for Totosai’s dwelling, with Myoga pointing out the fastest route. Their destination was half a day away as the horse galloped, and with any luck, they would reach the swordsmith by nightfall.

Their first stop was after noon. Guinevere set up camp on the riverbank so Inuyasha could fish for lunch and to give their horse a well-deserved rest. She would have preferred to cook something more nutritious for the boy, but they couldn’t afford to waste time if they wanted to reach Totosai before it got dark. Once they had finished their meal, they briefly stopped at a village to get some carrots to feed the horse and soon were back on the road.

Inuyasha was alert the entire time in case Sesshomaru was in the area; it wouldn’t be odd for the daiyokai to also be searching for Totosai to get information about the Tessaiga. The little boy just hoped they wouldn’t cross paths with his cruel half-brother. According to Myoga, Sesshomaru was being fed false rumors about the relic’s whereabouts. The flea would mention the sword in passing—along with some misinformation—to some small yokai, who would then repeat it to another, and so on. Inuyasha doubted his half-brother could be so easily fooled, yet he still hoped.

Since they were making good time, they decided to hunt a couple of rabbits and cook them once they reached the old ox yokai’s location. Since Myoga mentioned a stream near Totosai’s, the pair didn’t bother gathering extra water.

An hour before sunset, the group reached the weaponsmith’s dwelling. Guinevere frowned upon setting her eyes on it: it was the giant skull of a demon at the foot of a small volcano, and she couldn’t help feeling cautious. “Mister Myoga, are you sure this is the right place?” she asked, unconsciously holding Inuyasha a little tighter.

“Well, yes. Why do you ask, Lady Guinevere?” Upon noticing her expression, he added, “Don’t let that skull scare you; it belonged to a moth yokai that Totosai bested some centuries ago. He’s an honorable man, just like Lord Toga was.”

The young woman nodded in understanding, relieved there didn’t seem to be any danger despite the grotesque view. Both she and Inuyasha dropped off the horse at once, and she tied the reins to a bone before approaching the giant skull.

“Totosai! Totosai! I brought Master Inuyasha! Totosai!” Myoga yelled as he hopped into the dwelling. Guinevere and the boy stayed behind to avoid intruding uninvited.

“I heard you, Myoga; stop yelling!” came a voice from the skull’s mouth, and a moment later, Totosai walked into view. He was an old man with tanned skin and huge eyes with pinpoint pupils. His head was mostly bald, except for what little remained of his gray hair tied in a topknot. He had a thin, slightly scorched goatee at the end of his chin and a mustache shaved in the middle. At first glance, Guinevere would have thought him human if not for his elfin ears and bulging eyes. Totosai stopped when he spotted her and Inuyasha. “Come in, come in!” he ushered them on.

“Pleased to meet you; my name is Guinevere. Mister Totosai, is there a cave nearby where Inuyasha and I could set up camp?” she asked.

“You and the boy can stay in my home; there’s enough space.” The old man waved a hand dismissively, then turned to the hanyo. “It’s great to finally meet you, Inuyasha. Come on in!” The pair looked at each other before walking in.

The inside of the skull was indeed spacious and surprisingly warm, Guinevere noticed. “Thank you for your hospitality, Mister Totosai,” she said with a slight bow, then made her way to the back of the dwelling and set down her basket while Inuyasha set down the sacks. “Is here alright?” she asked tentatively; Totosai nodded in reply.

Noticing a fire pit, Inuyasha began cleaning up the rabbits, all while still refusing to address the ox yokai, who shrugged at the boy’s silence. “Myoga tells me you want to fetch the Tessaiga,” Totosai asked, and the boy merely nodded. “You should wait until you’re older, methinks.”

Inuyasha scowled and crossed his arms petulantly. “No, I need it now.”

The ox yokai crossed his arms and frowned. “Why are you in such a hurry? Are you that eager to fight yokai, boy? You should grow up first; your Lord Father wouldn’t have wanted you to go around fighting while so young.”

The words made the hanyo even angrier. “And I’m sure my father would have wanted either you or Myoga to look after me after my mom died! Neither happened, old man.”

Before Guinevere could intervene, Myoga explained the situation and the need for haste, leaving out the bit about crossing to a different world. Totosai silently nodded while clearly being in deep thought. “I don’t see why he cannot return once he’s older,” he questioned.

“Because it’s not an easy and normal journey, Mister Totosai,” she finally spoke, and at the weaponsmith’s questioning look, she provided the missing information.

Totosai blinked a few times. “I see.” He remained silent, stroking his goatee, deep in thought. “It’s certainly going to be a problem. How am I to help him master the Tessaiga’s extraordinary powers?”

Guinevere wanted to tell him that Inuyasha wouldn’t need the sword’s powers, that she and her coven would keep him safe. Ultimately, she remained silent; she knew that no matter how much she wanted to, she wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on him at all times.

“I’ll figure it out,” the boy said while watching the cooking meat, “and if I don’t, it’s fine. I just want to have it.”

Totosai nodded, already suspecting Inuyasha’s reasons. “Very well, I’ll help you find it.”

“So you know where it is,” the hanyo’s voice was full of hope and anticipation. “Can we go tomorrow?”

“It’s not that simple, Inuyasha. I know where it’s hidden but not how to access it,” the weaponsmith vaguely explained.

“Huh?” The boy tilted his head in confusion, reminding Guinevere of an actual puppy, and she couldn’t help smiling fondly.

Totosai seemed to consider something before sitting down next to the hanyo. “You see, Inuyasha, your father was one of the most powerful demons to walk this world. And as such, he quickly made lots of enemies—some of them equally as powerful.”

“And the list of enemies grew when he met my mom,” Inuyasha interrupted bitterly, unsuccessful in his attempts to keep his emotions in check, “and he asked you to craft the sword to protect her. Myoga already told me the story.”

The ox yokai nodded. “Correct. The Tessaiga’s power is far greater than any other weapon’s, and while it was designed for protection, it still has devastating destructive powers. Your Lord Father and I made sure only someone with love in their hearts could wield it.”

Inuyasha fought the urge to roll his eyes. Again, he knew all this; Myoga had already explained it!

“Nothing is foolproof,” Totosai continued while utterly oblivious to the boy’s petulant attitude, “and if the sword landed in the hands of someone with dark intentions, such as your brother, it would be catastrophic.”

“Half-brother,” Inuyasha muttered sullenly, yet again interrupting the old sage, who simply ignored the hanyo and continued with his explanation.

“Which is why, when it became apparent that the number of his enemies kept growing, he went to great lengths to make sure the Tessaiga remained hidden and protected in the event he died before he could pass it down personally to you.”

“So that Sesshomaru couldn’t get it?” Guinevere asked.

“Not just him,” Myoga interjected, “many of those enemies were after the sword to weaken my Lord’s power while he was alive and to keep the sword as a trophy in case he fell. It didn’t matter if they couldn’t wield it; simply possessing it would give them greater stature.”

Totosai nodded, silently supporting the flea yokai’s statement. “But the main reason was Sesshomaru. Your father realized his eldest was after power and kept asking Toga to hand him the Tessaiga. You see, he believed your father wouldn’t need it once he settled down with your mother, but Sesshomaru didn’t know why the sword was truly created. He was under the false impression that your father had it made to assert his place of power. Nor did he know your mother was already expecting when he confronted your father.”

Inuyasha was tired of hearing about his half-brother; all he wanted was to get the sword so he and Guin could be on their way. “Alright, I get it; my father didn’t want that bastard to have it. I don’t want that bastard to have it. So how do I get it then, old man?!”

“I told you, Inuyasha, I don’t know how to access its hiding place, only where it’s vaguely located.” Totosai was beginning to lose his patience, but Inuyasha honestly didn’t care. “He only gave vague instructions, saying that the right people would understand. This was when he asked me to make a minor modification to the sword so that he would be able to order it into hiding in the event of an untimely death.”

“Then where is it?!” the boy yelled, finally losing all his patience at the neverending riddles. Guinevere instantly picked him up and sat him on her lap to try and comfort him.

“In the place where your father saw your mother for the first time,” Totosai revealed with a sigh.

Inuyasha felt like mangling all of the old man’s belongings. How the hell was that helpful? When his mother had told him how they’d met, Izayoi had only mentioned a sakura tree and how they had spent hours talking. His mother always seemed to die a little bit inside every time the little hanyo had asked to know about his father. Seeing—and smelling—her grief had prompted the boy to stop asking altogether if only to spare her from her neverending pain. “That doesn’t really help,” he muttered in defeat. Guinevere holding him tight helped him calm down slightly.

Totosai looked sympathetically at him. “I wish I could give you more, Inuyasha, but that’s the only information your father left for me.”

The boy sank further into Guinevere’s embrace if only to calm his darkening mood; he had let Myoga talk him into searching for that damned sword and had allowed the old man to fuel his hopes of obtaining something that connected him to both his parents. Now, that hope was slowly slipping away.

It was unfair.

The flea yokai cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “I-I know where that tree is located.” His tone held a sense of caution that Inuyasha found strange.

He knew he should be ecstatic that Myoga knew the location, but something inside was giving him a sense of dread. “Where?” His voice was small, almost breathless; somehow, he was terrified of the answer.

“The palace grounds,” Myoga replied, almost bracing himself for whatever angry reaction would come his way.

He knew, somehow he knew it would be that cursed place, even though he hadn’t really known. Inuyasha remembered that tree; he and his mother had spent most of their afternoons sitting under its shade. Izayoi never told him the significance of that particular tree; he just knew she was very fond of it. “Is it still there?” he asked, trying so hard not to show how terrified he was of Myoga’s answer.

The small yokai nodded minutely, “Yes, Master Inuyasha. The tree survived the fire.”

Guinevere remained silent throughout the exchange, worried about Inuyasha. Very worried, she could sense his distress rising to alarming levels, and she guessed the palace in question was the same one the little boy had been chased from—and set on fire to murder him—over a year ago. She got up and walked to the fire pit, deciding it was time to take a break from the subject. “The rabbits are ready, Inuyasha. Shall we eat?”

Inuyasha smiled brightly at her, grateful for the reprieve. “Yes, Guin.” Thank you.

The group ate in silence, and Guinevere decided she wouldn’t let the men upset her boy for the rest of the night. They could discuss the sword the following morning.

After breakfast, the group departed for Hosenki’s swamp, though Guinevere hadn’t expected to make the journey atop a flying, three-eyed… bull? Ox? She wasn’t sure what the creature was. Clearly, it was demonic in nature but seemed peaceful as a regular cow. Their horse was left back at Totosai’s home behind a protective barrier with food and water to last the remainder of the day.

And while this means of travel was vastly faster than going by horse, she couldn’t help feeling squeamish about the height. They were really, really high up in the air.

Inuyasha must have smelled her slight fear because he turned to face her and gave her a reassuring smile while squeezing her arm slightly. “Don’t be afraid, Guin; I’m sure he won’t let you fall.” Raising his voice and scowling at Totosai, he added, “Isn’t that right, old man?”

Totosai shook his head in wonder. “You’re quite brazen for a child, Inuyasha. Don’t worry, Lady Guinevere, neither I nor Mo-Mo will let you fall.”

Mo-Mo? It took her some embarrassingly long seconds to realize he meant their current mount.

“Thanks for the reassurance, but please, just call me Guinevere. I’m not a Lady; I’m not part of the nobility,” she pleaded while making eye contact with Myoga, hoping he took the hint.

The flea demon was already shaking his head before she finished talking. “I’m afraid I cannot do that. You outrank me solely by the fact of becoming my master’s guardian. And unlike in your homeland, it’s not strictly associated with nobility, but a sign of respect,” he explained.

Guinevere could certainly understand that, and she also supposed that she shouldn’t change his traditions. “Alright,” she conceded in resignation.

Despite her initial fear, she soon got used to the feeling of being high up. The view from above was breathtaking, and she couldn’t help lamenting that she would never experience something like this ever again once she returned home. Flying would undoubtedly simplify traveling. Would flying ever be accomplished by mankind?

It didn’t take long before they spotted their destination, a giant clam occupying the center of the small swamp. It was surreal. Mo-Mo landed in a small clearing not far away, and the group soon dismounted and walked the short distance.

“Lord Hosenki! Lord Hosenki!” Myoga yelled as the group approached the swamp’s edge. Guinevere marveled at the loud volume of his voice despite his minuscule size.

“Stop yelling, Myoga; I heard you!” came a deep voice from within the opening clam, and soon after, a large demon emerged from it. At least twice as tall as a human, Hosenki had light blue skin, long gray hair, and a mustache. Two coral-like horns adorned each side of his forehead. Despite his odd physical appearance, Guinevere didn’t find him intimidating.

“Hello, Hosenki, it’s been a long time,” Totosai greeted.

The jewelcrafter nodded politely. “Good to see you, Totosai. To what do I owe this visit?” His own question found its answer when his eyes landed on the child. “I see. You must be Inuyasha,” he added, staring appraisingly at the hanyo.

Inuyasha scowled, not at all comfortable with the scrutiny. “Yeah, they say you know where I can find my old man’s sword.” He pointed a clawed thumb over his shoulder at Myoga and Totosai.

Hosenki rubbed his chin in thought. “Well, I do not know where it is—” Inuyasha’s frustrated growl interrupted him, “—but I know about the artifact needed to access its hiding place.”

“Is it related to a pearl?” Myoga asked.

“Indeed it is. Lord Toga requested I craft a special black pearl that would serve as the point of access. The uniqueness of this particular gem was that it should remain in a liquid state until used as intended,” the jeweler explained in a tone that signaled even he found it peculiar.

Inuyasha scratched his head, not understanding and fueling his frustrations. “So, where is that pearl, then?”

Hosenki simply stared at him, tilting his head minutely. “His orders were to have it delivered to his beloved wife with a cryptic note; I assumed he intended the pearl to be part of her jewelry.”

Both Myoga and the hanyo stilled at those words, concern becoming apparent in their expressions, but it was Totosai who verbalized their fears. “So the pearl burned when the palace burned.” It wasn’t a question, and everyone noticed.

Hosenki kept staring at the little boy, a kind smile on his face as he studied the child. “I don’t believe so. My eyesight may not be what it used to be, but I am almost certain I am looking at it as we speak.”

Everyone around him gasped in surprise.

“Wait, what? It’s with us?! Where?!” Inuyasha couldn't hide his excitement. Finally, they had a solid lead!

“It’s in your right eye, Inuyasha.”

Silence fell on the group as they tried to grasp the sage’s words. Guinevere looked from Inuyasha to Hosenki and back again. “Lord Hosenki, what do you mean the pearl is inside his eye? How is that even possible? Doesn’t it hurt him?”

“The pearl was in a liquid state, so it wouldn’t be difficult to get inside his eye,” he explained in his usual calm and polite tone, “and no, it doesn’t hurt him.”

Inuyasha remained silent, staring unfocused into the middle distance, hazy memories materializing in his mind. It was a miracle he could recall them, since he had been barely a toddler at the time, but he was remembering them now, clear as day.

It was a spring afternoon, and they were sitting under the sakura tree his mother loved so much. His senses were still developing, but Inuyasha could clearly smell the salt in the air, and even if he hadn’t smelled her tears, he knew his mother had been crying.

At the time, he hadn’t known his father had been killed; he knew he had died, but Inuyasha wasn’t privy to the details on account of being too young. He had tried to comfort Izayoi and had managed to coax a smile out of her. His mother always called him ‘her pride and joy’, Toga’s greatest gift to her.

And while she always was emotional when it came to her beloved husband, Izayoi was more emotional than usual that afternoon.

Truth be told, Inuyasha didn't remember what excuse she gave him, but he did remember her pulling a vial of black liquid from her robes. The container was nowhere nearly filled, and his mother used its dropper to gather all the black liquid and drop it into his right eye.

He hadn't felt pain or any truly uncomfortable sensation; it wasn’t unlike that time he had pinkeye and she had applied some medicine in the same manner. At the time, he had wondered what it was but figured it was a potion to heal his eye. Now he realized that she had been hiding the pearl in his eye.

As he relived the memory, Inuyasha also recalled his mother’s words as she administered the dark liquid.

Bokuseno will have the answers to extract it.

The oddity about this last recollection, though, was that it didn't come from his mind but as a vision from his right eye. When Inuyasha came out of his trance, he realized everyone was looking at him in concern.

“Inuyasha, what’s wrong?” Guinevere asked, kneeling in front of him and placing her hand on his forehead.

“I’m fine,” the boy replied kindly, then turned to the men. “Who’s Bokuseno?”

“He’s a Magnolia Sage Tree, one of your Lord Father’s advisors. When I crafted the Tessaiga, Bokuseno provided one of his branches for its sheath,” Totosai explained.

Myoga hopped onto the little hanyo’s shoulder. “Why do you ask, Master Inuyasha? And how do you know him?”

Inuyasha retold the memory and the vision, leaving everybody speechless at the sudden and unexpected revelation.

Totosai chuckled in clear amusement. “I guess we know what’s our next destination.”

After thanking Hosenki for his help and saying goodbye to him, the group hopped on Mo-Mo and left the swamp. Bokuseno’s Forest wasn’t too far away when traveling on a flying mount, and according to Totosai, it would take them about two hours to reach their destination.

Guinevere felt content that things were moving along much faster than she had expected, and she could sense Inuyasha was practically vibrating with anticipation.

“I cannot believe the pearl’s been with you all along, Master Inuyasha,” Myoga declared from his perch on the little boy’s shoulder. “Your honorable Father certainly thought of every detail.”

“He was certainly smart in choosing Hosenki, Bokuseno, and me to hold the key clues to the Tessaiga’s location. Sesshomaru wouldn’t dare confront any of us, and even if he had, he would only have gotten an incomplete puzzle that would leave him empty-handed,” Totosai added.

“I didn't know Lady Izayoi was in on the secret, though I doubt she knew the full extent of your Lord Father’s plot.”

Totosai hummed in agreement. “Toga wouldn’t have risked his beloved knowing too much.”

Inuyasha remained silent, trying to recall more details from the memories of that day, but came out blank. The vision of his mother that the pearl provided had been so vivid that he could practically smell her unique scent. It had filled him with both sadness and love. He missed her so much, the pain of losing her was still too raw in his heart.

“Are you alright, dear?” Guinevere whispered in his ear.

Inuyasha nodded, smiling at her and leaning back against her chest. “Totosai, let’s stop for lunch. I’m hungry and I’m sure Guin’s too.”

“Sounds good, Inuyasha,” the ox demon agreed, signaling his mount to land, “why don’t you and Guinevere set up camp while Mo-Mo and I go to fetch food?”

When Totosai had mentioned fetching food, Guinevere imagined it would be some rabbits or several fish, but the ox demon had shown up with a full-sized boar.

It had taken over two hours for it to properly roast, but it had been worth the wait. Between the three of them, they almost finished it off, and what remained would serve for dinner for Guinevere and Inuyasha.

After cleaning up the camp, the trio resumed their trip toward Bokuseno’s forest in silence. She could tell Inuyasha was lost in his own thoughts.

When they finally arrived at their destination, Guinevere marveled at the beauty of the lush forest, and she could feel the life and mystery ebbing from it. Since Bokuseno was located amongst a tight cluster of trees, Mo-Mo landed just outside of the tree line. The trio had to walk for a while before reaching the Sage Tree.

“Welcome, I am Bokuseno the Sage Tree. What can I help you with?” a deep, old voice announced itself.

She didn’t know exactly what she had been expecting, but a face within a tree was definitely not it.

“Hello old friend, it’s me, Totosai, it’s been a long time.”

“Indeed it has been. I can tell Myoga is here as well,” Bokuseno said as his eyes surveyed the ox demon’s companions, taking an evident interest in the hanyo before him. “Is this the Inu no Taisho’s youngest?”

“He is,” Myoga declared. “We’re searching for the Tessaiga, my late Lord’s sword. I believe you have the last piece of information we need to access it.”

“I see. So that was what Lord Toga was protecting; he never explained—nor did I ask—the reason behind the words and instructions he left in my care. Neither did I know there would be other parties involved, only that they were to be given to his youngest son in person.”

“That would be me,” Inuyasha announced even though the Sage Tree already knew who he was, eagerness evident in the little boy’s voice. “So… what are those instructions?”

It’s not like he was trying to be rude to Bokuseno, but Inuyasha was tired of riddles and going around hunting for clues; he just wanted his sword and to have a tangible memento of his parents so he could start focusing on what would become his new life with Guin.

“Very well, Inuyasha. Pay attention, for the words must be spoken exactly as your father requested, and the instructions must be followed in the order he provided,” Bokuseno explained.

“Wait!” Guinevere interrupted as she rifled through her small bundle for parchment and a charcoal stick that she handed to Inuyasha so he could write down the instructions.

Thanking her, he got ready to write. “Alright, what do I have to do?”