+--------+ M i z u - C r y s t a l ' s . D o m a i n +--------+Future
Chapter 5: Future
*****Later that day on the borders of Nazo and some foreign lands*****
A fancy carriage was resting next to a riverbank. Its four beautiful manes chewed on the grass happily. A small flank of trained soldiers sat on the ground, resting their feet. Inside the carriage, a man with long black hair and a woman sat opposite of each other.
�Naraku-sama, you shouldn�t have sent a youkai to do the job. He can�t be trusted.� The woman was apparently very angry.
�Nonsense, Tsubaki,� The man called Naraku stared her with an evil grin. �Kouga is the fastest of all the youkai here, he�ll be back soon with the news we need.�
The woman inhaled deeply, trying to keep her rage down. �That�s not what I meant, Naraku-sama. I don�t doubt Kouga�s speed, but he�s a youkai! I do not trust a youkai to spy on the enemy for us.�
Naraku laughed. �Why, do you think Kouga will betray us just because we persecute youkai? No, no, he wants power, and I�ll give him power once he proves himself loyal to me.� Naraku raised the curtain of the carriage window. �Besides, Kouga blames the Inu family for exiling the wolf clan out of Nazo. He hates Taisho much more than he hates us.�
The woman crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. �Still, Naraku-sama, if your goal is to rid the world of youkai, why do you keep youkai under your arms is still a mystery to me.�
�We�re talking about eliminate all youkai here,� He gazed at the woman disappointedly, �we can�t just depend on dark miko like you, any outside help is welcome.�
�Oh, just like how you keep Kagura and Kanna?�
Naraku raised an eyebrow. He leaned forward and placed his white, thin hand under the woman�s chin and raised her head. �Jealous, my lovely?�
But before the woman had a chance to answer, a commotion was started outside. All the soldiers were shouting �Kouga�s back�.
Naraku and the dark miko stepped out of the carriage, facing a grinning Kouga. �Good news, I perceive?� Naraku asked.
�Very good news.� Kouga paused for suspense. �The old Taisho�s gone.�
The shock on Naraku and the dark miko�s faces were impossible to describe. �What? How?�
�Well, I posed as a hunter that was traveling through the village Mura, and waited for Taisho and his family to come out. But Mura has been flooded, the rain was horrible.� He pointed that out by squeezing out some water from his fur. He went on explaining how the flood devastated Mura, and how King Taisho made a wish on a pink ball and all the water went away, but Taisho vanished with the water.
�Wait, a pink light, you say?� The dark miko asked in a hurry.
�Yea, and it was bright too, surrounded the old dog and a little girl.�
�A little girl?� She echoed.
But before she can go further pondering on that subject, Naraku cut in. �You don�t think old Taisho would�ve used the jewel, would he? He should know better.�
The miko sighed. �It�s definitely the power of the Tama. Only it wasn�t purified yet, and it took Taisho as a trade for subside the flood.�
�And another thing,� Kouga wasn�t interested in a jewel; this was probably the best day in his life. His old nemesis gone, and� �Taisho�s hanyou son was drowned by the flood. They couldn�t find his body; I think the boy�s probably dead.�
It�s a day full of surprises. �What? You mean that little hanyou Inuyasha�s gone too?� Naraku burst out laughing. �Brilliant! Absolutely wonderful! So now all it remains of the Inu royal family is a 13-year-old youkai boy who can�t even use his powers fully, and a weak human queen!�
�Don�t forget, they still have the Tama, Naraku-sama.� The woman reminded him. �As long as they have that Tama and a pure miko to protect them, we can�t attack.�
Naraku knew that. But he pretended not have heard her. He wasn�t going to let anyone rain on his parade, although rain was what had made him so happy in the first place.
Suddenly a soldier yelled out. �Naraku-sama, we found two bodies by the river!�
"Bodies? Dead?�
�No sir, both just unconscious. One is a human boy, six or seven years old or so, the other��
�Yes?�
�The other looks like an inu-hanyou, not very old either.�
Naraku�s attention was now intrigued. Can�t be� He thought to himself. �Bring them here!�
Soon two soldiers carried the two bodies to Naraku. They were just little boys, drenched with water.
�Wake them up.� Naraku commanded the dark miko, and himself took a seat on a large boulder.
The dark miko took out some powder out of a pouch a spread them over the boys� faces, they both woke up instantly, sneezing because of the powder.
�Who are you?� Naraku asked them.
�I�m� Hojo� from Mura.� The human boy answered first, still sneezing. �Where am I? Where� Kagome-chan? And Kaede-sama?�
�He knows Kaede, the old miko.� The dark miko whispered to Naraku. �And he�s from Mura, he could have very valuable information for us.�
Naraku sniffed and whispered back, �I know that.� Without answering Hojo�s questions, he turned to the hanyou boy. Although he already guessed the answer, he still wanted to be sure.
�And you, hanyou?�
The hanyou boy looked dazed, out of place. He looked up at Naraku�s voice. �Hanyou� dare wa hanyou?�
Naraku sneered. �Who�s a hanyou? You! Now tell me, what�s your name? Who are your parents? Where did you come from?�
The hanyou boy looked back down to the ground. �My name�� He whispered very lightly, �I� don�t know�� He began to panic. �Who� am I?�
Hojo turned to look at him. �Inuyasha-sama? What�s wrong?�
The sound of the hanyou boy�s name reached Naraku�s ears and confirmed his suspicions. �Memory loss?� He whispered to the dark miko and saw her nod in a very serious manner.
Meanwhile, Inuyasha has already grabbed Hojo�s shoulders and began shaking him. �Inuyasha? Is that my name? Do you know me? Who am I?!�
�Inuyasha-sama, don�t you remember me? I�m Hojo, Kagome-chan�s friend.� Hojo looked at the hanyou prince in surprise.
�Kagome� I don�t know her� What�s wrong with me?!?� Inuyasha let go of Hojo�s shoulders and stood up, he started to run around in a wild manner.
�Stop him!� Naraku commanded him. A bunch of soldiers went for Inuyasha at once, but by the time they finally pinned him to the ground, Inuyasha has fainted once again.
�Inuyasha-sama!� Hojo yelled out to him.
�He�ll be fine, Hojo-kun.� Naraku walked over to the dirty human boy on the ground. He smirked evilly inwardly, already forming a plan. �But I have some bad news for you, Hojo-kun. Your village, Mura, and your parents and friends� they didn�t survive from the flood� we rescued you, but we could do nothing else for them.�
Naraku nodded with fake sorrow. �I�m very sorry to be the one to tell you this.�
Hojo started to weep. �It�s� not your fault� thank you, sir, for saving me, but there was nothing you could do, I�m just��
�Oh, you poor boy, it�s going to be okay.� Naraku began to smile, �And don�t call me sir, my name is Naraku, king of the country Onigumo. But I hope you�ll call me otoosan one day, because I want you to be my son. I have no children, and since I saved you, I�ll take full responsibility for you.�
Hojo looked up in surprise, his weeping has stopped. �You�re mostly kind, sir. But� what about Inuyasha-sama?�
Naraku put on a fake concerned expression. �I will take responsibility for him too, for he can�t go back now that his family is also gone. But the people of my country fear youkai.�
�But Inuyasha-sama is just a hanyou, and he'd never hurt anyone.�
�I know that.� Naraku sighed. �But I�ll tell you this, I�ll raise him to be a soldier, fight for our country, and he�ll be well taken care of.�
Hojo stood up. �Okay then, will I get to see him?�
�That�s another problem. If you�re going to be the prince of our country, you have to be careful not to come close to any youkai. It will jeopardize both you and Inuyasha-kun�s life, understand?�
Hojo nodded, wiping away the tear on his face.
�Alright, why don�t you go into the carriage, we�ll be back in my castle soon.�
�I�ll miss my family though.�
�Well, on our way back, you can tell me all about Mura and your friends. Now go inside the carriage.� Hojo followed Naraku�s order obediently and went to sit in the carriage.
�Naraku-sama, what are you planning?� After watching Hojo get inside the carriage, the dark miko approached Naraku with a puzzled expression.
Naraku laughed but didn�t answer right away. He first turned to Kouga and pointed a finger at the unconscious hanyou. �I want you to train him, Kouga, brainwash him. In seven years, I want him to think of the Inu family as his worst enemies. I want him to be a soldier, with absolute loyalty toward me, understand?�
Though Kouga didn�t like the idea of teaching Taisho�s son everything he knew, he had no choice but nod.
�This Hojo boy, he�s close to the miko Kaede, and now apparently the royal family.� Naraku rubbed his palms together. �He can tell us details about Mura and even the capital Kira that any good spy can gather, without the risk of putting one of our men in danger.�
�Naraku-sama, we found this on the hanyou boy.� One of the soldiers ran to Naraku, showing him a fan-shaped jade pendent.
Naraku looked at it and scoffed. �Let him keep it. It�s probably just a piece of jewelry.�
�Naraku-sama, Kouga mentioned something about a little girl also being surrouned by the Tama�s light, I think��
Naraku raised his hand to silence the dark miko. �You worry too much, Tsubaki, it�s just a little girl. In ten years, no, not even ten, I will be able to take over Nazo. And these two boys, will be the keys.�
Date Started: July 14, 2003
Date Finished: July 14, 2003
Word Count: 1702
