Crescent Moons and Whisker Marks
Chapter 2
Impending Imprint Revival

Morning struck Inuyasha like a carrot to the head; unexpected and slightly bewildering. At first it had been a fairly tired and sloppy morning feeling as he rubbed at his sleep-ridden eyes before remembering the events of last night. He jumped from his formerly content position upon the futon, twisting the sheets which lie beneath him and leaving them in a trampled mess. Not really caring about the fate of the messy bed he stormed out of the room, shoving open the sliding—fragile—paper door, disinterested as to whether it broke or not. "Sesshoumaru!" he shouted with a fresh rage only to find himself face to field with a familiar setting… Kikyo's village. He stared—or glared, rather—and let it all slowly set in. It hadn't only been a dream… had it?

Kagome sighed. "The day's only just begun and he's already in a fussy mood," she complained to Miroku and Sango, who were perched upon either side of a trail-lining fence, munching on breakfast.

Shippo quivered and clung to Kagome's shoulder in visible fear. "Just don't let him direct that anger at me…" Shippo whined, knowing he was likely in for it.

"Perhaps if you want him to stop ragging on you, Shippo, you should train yourself to be passive with Inuyasha," Miroku suggested, always the advice giver.

Shippo would've said something in return like how hard it was to do that when you were dealing with someone as temperamental as Inuyasha but he couldn't seem to keep his eyes off the dog, who was now staring frantically at his hands.

Sango stared curiously. "What's all this about this 'Sesshoumaru' guy? He is Inuyasha's brother, correct?"

Kagome nodded, her oblivious mind thinking of multiple false possibilities.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha couldn't stop staring at his palms. Each had a crimson crescent burning into the lower quarter of the palm nearest the thumb; a waning moon on his right, and a waxing moon upon his left. "What the hell?" he asked, his brows knitting in furious confusion.

He suddenly stopped and remembered the markings from last night—the one's that he had seen in the reflection of the sword. The ones with equal similarity to that of Sesshoumaru's that had stained the tan skin of his face. He ran inside once more, not even noticing the curious stares of the gang as he rushed to find composure. He gasped as he reached the mirror and found the same markings, his eyes rimmed with an inerasable crimson line. He then ran to the bathroom to find the sink, nearly tripping over Kagome's abandoned backpack, which she had so carelessly left in the middle of the hallway. "Damnit, Kagome," Inuyasha grumbled in irritation.

He glared as he stormed into the room, frantically twisting the faucet knobs so as to get some water going. It was hot and it burned is hands but he cared not of the pain as he delved both hands into the water and began continuously splashing his face with the burning liquid. He felt a hand upon his back and he jumped and stopped suddenly, turning to find Sesshoumaru staring back at him with open concern.

Inuyasha's eyes shot open wide in shock before a voice which did not match his brother's came out of his pale lips. "Inuyasha, are you alright?" said a concerned, feminine voice.

Inuyasha blinked and the image was gone. Sesshoumaru was gone. Instead, his stoic form had been replaced by that of the frail girl whom he knew as Kagome—though often he confused her with Kikyo. "Ka…" But before he finished his eyes darted to his palms and then to the mirror, finding not a trace of the strange tattoos.

"What's wrong with you today?" Kagome asked.

"I don't know, I…" Inuyasha struggled to find an answer to that. "I have to go." And with that, he roughly shoved past the girl, ignoring the shriek and the angered "Inuyasha!" which was called as he left.

He stalked right back outside to get a fresh whiff of the air, searching for that one distinct, familiar scent… it wasn't there. He had lost it. Casting his eyes downward in a mix of anger and disappointment, he didn't notice as they gang came up beside him, Shippo just waiting to shout some sort of smart-ass remark at him. He didn't notice as Sango just sighed tiredly and Miroku did his best to hold Shippo tight in his grasp. He didn't notice anything of this until an automatic and involuntary flinch took over his body as he reacted to the words spewed vehemently from Kagome's mouth.

"Sit, boy!" she called, her temper obviously thrown. "Sit, sit, SIT!!"

However, the chain around Inuyasha's neck did not reach as it usually did, did not pulse and force Inuyasha to obey the given command. Instead the beads morphed slowly from deep purple in color to a glorious golden shine before they crumbled into a shimmery pile of sparkling dust. They were swiftly carried away by the wind.

Inuyasha's eyes widened. What was happening? First a—a dream? Then the marks… now this? He was silent, probably a first considering his awfully out-spoken and often impulsive personality. This time around, however, he was speechless.

He could feel the eyes of everyone staring at him in great confusion, their mouths agape, and tension in the air. Kagome was the first to speak. "What… what happened?"

"I was just wondering the same thing," Sango stated, rolling her eyes.

Shippo's eyes widened and he knew he was now defenseless. Inuyasha now had no weakness, save for his time of the month—it seemed he and Kagome had something in common in that area, the fact they both got rather pissy at one time each month. Kagome's aggressiveness tended to last longer and Shippo still had yet to figure out what it was all about. No one would explain it to him. Perhaps she was a half-demon, too? Shippo's mind whirled to find random theories about demons and their weaknesses as his mind drifted further off-track…

Inuyasha finally found the power to speak. "You… broke it…" he said, astonished.

Kagome felt guilty, Inuyasha looked almost… disappointed. "I'm so sorry, I—I didn't mean to—"

"Wouldn't be the first thing she's broken, would it now?" Miroku added. Though he used a rather neutral tone, his eyes could not hide the shock and surprise he felt at that moment. "Though this time I believe it has been for the best."

"Hey, how did you find out about that?" Kagome asked, still wrought with deploring guilt.

Sango and Miroku just stared back at her in disbelief. Who didn't know of the fate of the jewel at the hands of an infamous, clutter-brained schoolgirl.

"Thank you…" Inuyasha whispered. The gang's attention turned, however… he was not speaking to any one of them.

--x--

Sesshoumaru chuckled as the pleasant, autumn breeze blew past him, causing his long, soft hair to whip about in solid waves. "My pleasure," he said, his ears keen to the words of his brother. He had made sure to get far enough away from the half-demon so as to not cause too much of a fuss with Inuyasha's friends. He never much liked them. He wanted Inuyasha all to himself. Perhaps he was selfish, but he had indeed waited a very long time. It was only fair that his claim be everlasting in comparison to their temporary human grasp. It was only a matter of time...

A demon's imprint cannot not be erased; the joining of souls, not broken by the wrath of eternity. No... it simply has its impurities.

Yikes. That took much longer than expected but hey--at least it's continued, ne? Anywho, updates should be more timely than this in the future. Sorry for the wait! Comments/reviews are always welcome :)

xMDx