Outcast Dog (Inuyasha FF)(Boyxboy)

Chapter 5

The little one is quite amusing to have around. He can only walk for so long, so he often rides atop my head. I've taken to remaining in my beast form to avoid setting him off. So young and so frail. Every tiny tumble he takes worries me.

Ah, paternal instincts.

He's very quiet, rarely speaking at all. If he does, it's usually to tell me he's tired, hungry, needs to pee, or feels gross. I'm glad he's male. It would be quite awkward for me to help a female human child bathe. Well.

He's not actually human. He's the spawn of a half-demon and a human. A quarter of his blood is that of a demon. A wolf demon, to be precise. Perhaps that's why he's taken to me, seeing as wolves and dogs are both canines. I do not mind his presence. It's soothing, in a strange way.

"Horu..."

I rumble softly in response to let him know I'm listening. We've stopped for the evening in a cave. I managed to catch a few fish for him earlier, which he's quickly learned how to cook and eat.

"Sleepy..."

I feel his small hands tugging at my fur as he climbs over my back. The heat from the earlier fire still lingers, though the flames were blown out some time ago. I'm curled up at the front of the cave, my back towards the outside. He had gone out to go relieve himself. I open one cobalt eye to look at him as he drops down by my head. He crawls between my front legs, laying down pressed up against the thick fur of my chest and neck. It's the warmest place for him to be. Within just moments, he's softly snoring away. My eye closes, and I drift off myself after an hour. I'm a light sleeper, so I'll wake at any sign of danger or if my little charge stirs.

But luckily for us, the night remains calm.

>>>>>>

The next morning, I wake much later than I usually do. It seems odd to me, seeing as usually he would wake me up when he was hungry or needed to pee. At first, I don't worry, as I can hear him sleeping soundly in his spot.

It's only when he continues to sleep that I begin to worry. I lift my head to get a better look at him, which ends up in him stirring from my own movement. He smiles at me, placing his hands on my nose in a hugging gesture. I can feel the unusual warmth from his hands, his flushed face and glazed look telling me the only thing I cannot fix has him in it's clutches.

Sickness.

I do not fear the possibility of his death. I am a demon, persecuted by his kind. I only feel fondness towards him because he is a child. Carrying him with the back of his clothes in my teeth, I leave the cave. He won't choke, due to their design. After an hour, he falls asleep.

It's nightfall when I arrive at my destination.

A human village, quiet in it's slumber with scattered standing torches to light the area. I rumble as I walk down the main road a ways, just barely into the village itself. Without delay, men are venturing out of their homes to investigate, women and the occasional child peering curiously from the doorways. To my surprise, the men ready weapons, but do not attack me. They stand around me in a semi-circle, but I have little eyes for them. My focus is on the elderly man shuffling closer with the aid of a staff.

"Why do you wake us in the night, mighty dog, a child clutched in your teeth?"

I vaguely notice the usage of words, most likely to get on my good side. A closer examination shows that most here are past breeding age, the few children almost a rarity considering the amount of houses. Not that it really matters to me. I lower my head, gently placing the boy on the ground in front of the elder, murmurs of awe and confusion stemming from the other villagers. My work here complete, I turn, heading back the way I came.  They make no move to stop me.

A call for a healer is made, and as their voices fade, I notice some regarding me as deity of some sort. I'm curious to see what sort of rumors they'll spread now. For the time being, I remain as a beast, returning to the cave and sleeping until morning.

I head back on my travels around midday. I sneak a good distance around the village from before, but I still can't help but overhear their words.

'Maran the Benevolent' they call me now. They think the boy is some sort of blessing, and I some sort of guardian of these lands. I'm simply satisfied that he is in good hands. My heart satisfied with that knowledge, my travels continue ever onward.

Farther and farther I will travel, always seeking that which I fear cannot be reached in this world. That man, no, beast, that my father served for years. The one Father abandoned me and my brother for. I do not hate my father, but I no longer feel affection towards him. No, he gave up a long time ago.

I only despise the one who turned him into such a wreaking from the proud warrior he used to be. The Great Dog General....

I will hunt you until at last I stand before you, be it your countenance or your remains. You have my word, scum!