FicWad

Chapter Twenty Three

Inutashio was still not overly confident in his descion to give the boys the swords, and Inuyasha's outburst when he found out that his father had known the whole time how to get down the well and just hadn't told them so that they could mature before he did, made him second guess again.

The dealbreaker was that Kagura was carrying Sesshomaru's seed for a second time and he wanted a full demon grandson to keep the name going. It no longer bothered Inuyasha that Jace was an outcast, like he had been. He wouldn't wish all this demon royalty crap on a child in the first place; too many rules and expectations to limit what you could do. You could not have a life of your own it seemed.

And so it had come down to this, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha facing each other over a black hole in the ground swords in hand. With no wasted words the two swords came together and sparks shimmered in the midnight air. Purple shot up from the well-- like pyro before a concert, Inuyasha thought, wincing as the blinding light wrapped around he and Sesshoamru, sucking them down.

Inuyasha sat up to find his brother staring at him. "Where the hell are we?"

"I have a feeling this is the Feudal Era," Sesshomau said, looking around.

They appeared to be in a lush forest, for they were surrounded by trees and fields. Inuyasha tested the air--

"Something is coming!"

Sesshomaru nodded and the pair took cover in a nearby grove of trees to watch the two boar youkai make their way by. The pair had never seen anything like that before, most demons who walked the earth were in human form except for small quirks like Inuyasha's ears. Once the demons were passed the demons took up their swords and moved onto the well rutted wagon road deeper into the forest.

"Sesshomaru, I hate to be a pain in the ass but if Kagura is here, we have very little hope of finding her without some serious help. Can you track her at all?" Inuyasha drew in gulps of air and filtered for Kagura's scent.

Sesshomaru nodded, "This Sesshomaru knows where my child and mate are. They are this way."

"I didn't know Kagura well enough to know her scents. Wait, I think it's that way!" Inuyasha had not heard his brother, he'd been too busy searching for scents.

MEANWHILE:

Gypsy wished Kouga would go home but he'd made a half-baked promise to stay and help her while Inuyasha was away. The truth was he was hoping to get a chance to talk to her-- maybe rekindle a passion like that night at the club even though he and Ayame had been serious for months. She liked him, but he irritated her on nights like tonight when Jace was being a brat and not listening.

"You have to go to bed, son!" Gypsy demanded. "I have had enough of you for one day!"

"I want daddy!" He cried, refusing to be touched. His mother growled.

"Ok I'm gonna go get you some cookies? Deal?" Her voice was more gentle than she felt like being. He nodded, wiping his face with a fat little hand.

While Gypsy fetched the cookies, Jace started sniffing, he smelled his father and though he was still just a pup he knew he could track that scent. And so he set off to do just that.

"Where are you going?" Koga said sternly from behind the little hanyou pup who was alreay half-way out the door and into the yard.

"To find my daddy, wolf." Snapped the little white and gold haired boy, his features set into a snarl like his fathers.

"I don't think so," Kouga squatted down. "I think your mom's ready for you."

"No!" Jace attacked the startled ookami's dangling hand as if it were a treat, sinking his needle like teeth deep into the flesh.

Kouga spewed a string of curses and shook his wrist to dislodge the attached pup, but as soon as he hit the floor he was off running on all fours, vanishing into the night. Gypsy saw most of what happened and followed Kouga out into the LA evening, it was near midnight and the pup could be run over if he tried to cross the freeway.

The adults were no match for him though. He'd discovered how to make false trails, probably from the fox demons from down the street he played with. Gypsy made a mental note to ban his going down there.

"Oh for heavens sakes," She said, panting. "He can't have gotten that far!"

"Hey, Rin!" Kouga exclaimed. "Ya think he may have gone to get her? I mean I don't know him well but they are pretty close, ne?"

Gypsy nodded, "Yeah but we gotta hurry."

"Oh, no!" Kouga pointed at the flourescent purple light coming from just up the hill from where they stood. "We're too late!"

"The well! Oh Kami! They opened that fucking well and Jace must be trying to get down it with his father!" Before she could finish her thought, Kouga swept her into his arms and ran as fast as he could towards the light.

Jace was standing on the edge of the well calmly peering down it.

"Jace!" Gypsy spoke sternly but he only gave her that half cocked grin he inherited from Inuyasha and shook his head.

"Jace, do as your mother says!" Kouga thought the whole alpha wolf thing would work, but it didn't. Instead, Jace dropped his ears and looked angry just before plunging head first down the well, with Kouga clasping the back of his little white tshirt.

The purple light engulfed the three beings as they too were taken to the next era through a well portal.

The ground broke the fall, they landed within inches of where Inuyasha and Sesshomaru landed, in fact, their scent was still very very strong. Jace recovered before his mother and Kouga and was running once again to the West, looking for his father.

"Jace! Damn it!" Gypsy took off after him followed by a winded and limping ookami.

A mile ahead, Inuyasha and his brother were searching for Kagura's scent once again. It seemed to have spread out over the area so much it was hard to follow. Thats when Inuyasha picked up a very different essence wafting on the air.

"Jace?" He spoke aloud.

Sesshomaru turned around quickly, "What? He's here?"

"Damn it to Hell, that bitch can't control that brat for shit!" Inuyasha ranted, huffing as he made his way back up the trail. Jace broke the clearing in front of him, coming out of the bushes with a huge smile plastered on his face.

"Daddy!" He ran to his father and hugged his leg. Inuyasha knelt to him to give him a hug.

"Jace, why are you here?" Inuyasha asked, playing with his sons hair to hide the anger in his voice.

"I wanna help you find Aunt Kagura." Jace exclaimed.

"I know-- but didn't I tell you to stay with your mother?" His voice took on a firmer tone that made Sesshomaru smile. He had no idea his brother was this good with his son. Jace started to protest but was shushed by Inuyasha's glare. "Where is your mother now?"

"She is coming. She is with Kouga, I pulled them into the well myself but it was an accident," Jace said, wrapping his arms around his hanyou fathers neck. "Am I in trouble?"

"Yes," Inuyasha told his son, scooping him up. "You not only did not do as I asked, you put people in danger, mostly yourself!"

"You should see if your mate is with him." Sesshomaru was staring straight ahead. "And be quick. I will remain in search for Kagura and my pup."

Inuyasha nodded, "I am really sorry about this, Sesshomaru. I'll have a chat with him." He glared at his small son.

"I'm sure you will." Sesshomaru chuckled lightly as he moved off into the bush, thanking Kami that Rin was an angel next to Jace.

Gypsy and Inuyasha found each other, both walking into the same clearing at the same moment. Kouga hobbled along behind Gypsy, a nasty cut to the bottom of his foot slowing him down a bit. It was a relief to see everyone was ok, but Inuyasha was angry that they had dared get into this situation.

"Can't you fucking watch the kid for two hours without losing him?" Inuyasha plopped the child down on the ground freeing up his hands to wave them about.

"Lay off!" Kouga snarled, waving his injured hand about in Inuyasha's face. "The brat bit me and took off--"

Gypsy cut him off then, furious that he dare berate he like this when this was clearly not her fault this time. "Yeah, and those damned fox bratlings from down the street taught him how to make false trails and he got away. We saw him just as the well lit up to accept him into it."

"And I grabbed his shirt just as he jumped and it pulled us in!" Kouga finished her sentence yet again.


"He was tracking you!" Gypsy growled. "Now what the fuck is this?"

"I think this is the Feudal Era," Inuyasha looked around. He'd been born here but brought to the surface as soon as he was able to travel to escape demon persecution, well hanyou persecution. It didn't look familiar at all.

"And have we found Kagura yet?" Kouga looked around. "Where's Lord stick-up-my-ass?"

Inuyasha raised a brow. "Sesshomaru is still tracking her. I had to come find you three. Now if you don't mind, lets get you back through the well so I can get back to business."

"Well, why can't we stay here and help?" Kouga scanned the horizon, he was always up for adventure and this promised to be an adventure like no other.

"Cause you clog up my sinuses with that foul wolf smell!" Inuyasha snapped.

Wrong thing to say.

Gypsy punched him so hard he lay flat on his back looking up at his giggling son. "Hey, what the fuck? I wasn't talking about you!"

"Asshole," Gypsy said with a frown. "You should really think before you speak."

A rustle from the woods made everyone turn and go on the defense, Inuyasha shoved Jace behind him and grabbed the hilt of the sword he was still learning to use. Sesshomaru broke the woods with a deer tossed carelessly over his shoulders, a smirk on his face.

"I happened upon this thing-- it wil suffice as dinner," he said calmly.

"But what about Kagura?" Inuyasha replied, inspecting the good sized buck.

"We cannot starve to death and we need to gather a plan before we rush headlong into whatever trap that son of a bitch is planning. Surely, you had thought of this, Little Brother?" Sesshomaru said it as if Inuyasha was the most inconsiderate asshole ever born for not thinking it. "Besides with your family here, we cannot hope to make any progress."

"He's right," Kouga said, leaning on an ancient tree. "My foot is killing me. I mean damn, I'm a demon I can heal myself but not when I keep reopening it time after time."

"I suggest we rise at first lght and take the child and Gypsy back to the well. Kouga can stay if he wishes, I don't mind." Sesshomaru was being unusually compliant, Inuyasha thought. But then that was his older sibling for ya, he planned out things to the last letter before making a move.

The three set out making a fire in the cover of a small cave that Kouga found and waited for the deer to cook. Jace crawled up in his father's lap and snuggled against his warm chest.

"Daddy, I want to stay." His voice was pleading almost.

"No," Inuyasha replied, leaving no room for debte. "This is dangerous and you might get hurt."

"You might get hurt too and I wanna be here to help!" Jace pouted. For three he was more perceptive than his father sometimes, but that was how demon children were, they matured faster.

Inuyasha sighed, avoiding the smirk on his brother's face as he listened serriptiously to the conversation. "Jace, when I tell you something like that its for yor own good. Now do as I say and eat your dinner. Its probably way past your bedtime."

Sulking the pup did just that, sitting near his mother who cut up the meat into smaller bits. Inuyasha attacked the leg of meat that his brother gave him as if he were the victim of a hundred year famine and ate with much gusto. Kouga did the same, both of them getting disdainful looks from the older taiyoukai in their prescence.

"When you are quite finished devouring that poor animal," Sesshomaru began, graceful eyebrow arched as usual in amusement. "We should probably do a bit of planning. I think I know where we might find my mate and Naraku."

Inuyasha nodded, juice glistening across his lips and chin from the cooked meat that was still half raw. "Ya know where they are?"

"I found the grounds to what looks like a castle over there." He gestured with his hand towards the wets, stuffing a dainty bite into his mouth.

"I don't like it--" Kouga snarled and bit down on a hunk of meat as big as his head, juice dripping to his lap.

"Well ya can't tell by the way you're scarfing it down! Geez show some restraint!" Inuyasha blurted out.

"As if you could talk." Gypsy cleaned up the squirming hanyou pup as best she could.

"No not the meat-- the castle--" Kouga was again rudely cut off but Inuyasha.

"Fuck, you ain't even seen it yet!"

Sesshomaru waved for silence. "Listen to me. This Sesshomaru has a plan. I am going to wlak into the castle, and while I distract the bastard, Naraku-- the rest of you will enter the castle and find Kagura. I am assured you can handle a bunch of 3rd rate demons, ne?"

Inuyasha growled, "That plan sucks! I think we should storm it-- me, you, and Kouga!"

"Well of course you would, runt. But that is not wise, and besides I have noticed something." Sesshomaru grinned at Gypsy. "Your bitch is pupped is she not?"

Gypsy blushed, but didn't know why-- everyone here could smell her scent. Inuyasha nodded, "What does that have to do with this?"

"Hanyou and demon bitches alike have a power of a protective barrier to protect them and the pup they carry from any harm. That also goes for anyone within that aura. Inuyasha, she is an indestructible force if we carry her along, we MIGHT get out alive." Sesshomaru mused.

"Oh yeah? So what of Kagura, why can't she defend herself?" Kouga wondered, coming up for air at last but still licking the bones in his hand.

"Because that worthless hanyou has something over her, I don't know what- but something. By the time I leave this place I will know! And I will end it." Sesshomaru went back to eating.

Inuyasha looked across the fire at his sleeping son, wondering what the Hell he'd do with the pup. But his musing was short lived, a clearing of a throat brought his amber eyes upwards-- to meet his father.

Sesshomaru too looked shocked to see the demon who had sired them. "Hello. I am sure this is a surprise."

"How'd you get down here, old man?" Inuyasha demanded, he had not liked the fright his father had given him.

"Simple, I came down the well. You two were not very careful you left it open so anything could get down here. I had to close it as well as bring you these." He tossed packages at Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. "In addition to the swords, I have brought you more armor. For you Inuyasha--"

"Pajamas!" Inuyasha yelped when he opened the package.

InuTashio shook his head and ignored the rudeness. "No its called a fire rat, it will protect you from anything that comes at you-- just don't drop Tetsaiga! And for you Sesshomaru, I have this plated armor."

"Thank you father." Sesshomaru was grateful but not emotional.

Inuyasha almost giggled at the tiny fire rat made for his son, it was exactly like his only smaller, and he slipped it onto the sleeping tot with his mates help-- they both admired it. InuTashio nodded silent approval and slashed off a piece of meat, eating it before finishing his speech.

"I will remain here to watch the pup while you rescue Kagura." He had spoken the words but no one there missed the glare in his eyes, he wished Kagura had never linked the two families together, but it was too late to change that too without looking dishonorable.

"I would thank you for your kindness but I know your reasons are selfish, father." Sesshomaru stated coldly, indiscriminate emotion on his face. "I know you cannot stand my mate or my daughter. I know the only reason you tolerate my new seed is because you'd like at least one full blooded demon grandchild to carry on our good name."

"And you know the truth!" InuTashio snarled. "The wench has been dishonest from the beginning."

"Dishonest?" Sesshomaru inquired, not showing that he was queasy inside.

"She did not tell you of her other child did she?" InuTashio asked, a knowing look on his face.

"What child?" Sesshomaru snapped.

"Kagura had given birth to a son the summer before you were married. Why would she not tell you this?" The fatherly demon sounded as casual as if discussing the weather.

"Why indeed." Seshomaru stared thoughtfully at the dying flames of the fire.

Then with no warning the usually calm taiyoukai plunged to both feet and growled. Sesshomaru was usually not this violent and the outburst sent everyone sliding back a bit. Poison dripped from his claws.

"That bitch had disgraced this Sesshomaru for the last damned time!" He turned on his heels and stalked towards the forest, fire dancing in his iris'.

"Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha tried but his voice fell on deaf ears. "Guess that plans shot to hell."

"Go after him." InuTashio replied. "He isn't acting in his right mind."

Inuyasha scoffed, "Let the fool get killed, see if I care. Kouga pass me that last bit of meat."

The wolf grunted and tore off a hunk of meat to toss to Inuyasha but Inutahio grabbed it in mid-air. "If you wish to retain the teeth you will require to eat that, you will rise and go after your brother!"

"Why can't you go?" Inuyasha snarled, immediatley backing down from the look he was getting from his demonic father. "Alright! I'll go."

InuTashio ate the hunk of meat he was holding and cast a look to Gypsy. "He's so stubborn. I believe his son posesses that quality."

She nodded, a bit in awe of the huge demon. She knew very little of him, besides what Inuyasha had told her about him and most of it scared her. "He is a lot like his father. Was Inuyasha like that? Active and all wild, I mean?"

InuTashio smiled faintly and nodded. "He was. He drove Sesshomaru crazy following him around asking questions and generally getting underfoot. If my hair wasn't already silver it would have been white by the time he was six. We had to remove all the valuables from the home after he started learning to fight and such, he broke everything in the house up."

Kouga was dozing by then, curled on the ground on a blanket brought by InuTashio with Jace. Gypsy looked at her son and then at the big demon beside her. "That's Jace alright. Little guy is a walking disaster!"

"Does Inuyasha spend enough time with him?" InuTashio looked serious now. "You know a hanyou pup his age needs a strong father to enforce discipline and morals. I dare say Inuyasha might be lacking in experience."

"Inuyasha does the best he can." She replied, looking down at the ground. "But you know he has this career--"

"Do not play that card with me. I know that the band he is with has done nothing in three years, I may not like Motley Crue but I do know that they're pretty much broken up. I want the truth, Gypsy--" He paused a moment and allowed her shock at his using her name for the first time pass. "Inuyasha is drinking isn't he? Among other things.."

She looked over at their son agn, sucking his thumb and wiggling in th throes of a dream under Kouga's arm. She could not lie to this man, and the truth was he was right. Gypsy nodded.

"I think he started doing it to loosen up after so much stress in touring and recording. But the truth was they weren't touring that much and there has only been one album and it still isn't finished. It's become so bad now that it's hard to find him sober." Gypsy felt relieved at having said it out loud.

InuTashio looked at her with eyes so clear it was hard to tell what he was feeling. "I was wrong about you. I thought the child was one made in some elaborate plan to trap my son and getting your hands on our fortune. You see when you're as rich as we are, you worry about that. I was wrong and for that I apologize. I thought it about Kagura as well, and I sadly think I was right."

Gypsy smiled, "Thank you. It would mean a lot to Inuyasha to know you care."

"I would like to arrange to see my grandson more if that is ok with you." InuTashio smiled when his daughter-in-law nodded.

Sesshomaru growled at his brother, "Get out of my way you stupid hanyou or face my wrath."

"Get a life!" Inuyasha snapped. "You just got through telling me that we can't go bargng in there! We're gonna need everything we got to go in."


"That was before I found out the wench had lied to me!" Sesshomaru's voice remained pretty soft in spite of the raging emotion inside him.

"Sesshomaru, I told you from the start the girl was a tramp. As much as I hate to admit I am wrong I think you changed her somehow-- I dunno. I don't care! The point is whatever she did before you is the past and should be left there to die." Inuyasha explained, studying his brother's face for signs that he had gotten through to him.

"That may be--" he replied softly, but his voice was like a razor. "But damn it I'm going in that castle and find out whats going on."

"Sessh--"

"Inuyasha, if that were Gypsy in there, you would be storming the gates with or without help," Sesshomaru said, but his bravado was failing him fast.

"Your right about that." Inuyasha shook his head, he knew how his brother felt. "OK, but if you're going in so am I."

Sesshomaru nodded and fingered his sword. "This will not kill anyone, I will have to rely on my claws and the whip. Lets go."

The castle door was open, this should have been the first sign something was wrong-- dreadfully wrong-- it was like someone was laying out a welcome mat for them.