Thursday, November 24, 2005

Inumittsu
*episode 3*

Over the next two weeks, Inuyasha learns much from the priestess Konpon. He learns to catch fish, and how to make fire. He learns what plants must not be eaten, and which may. She instills in him the need to test and expand his superhuman capacities; and to use his special strengths. As the days go by and the moon shrinks in the sky, both become silently apprehensive. As the sun goes down on the night of the new moon, Konpon cannot find her young ward. Worried by her own concerns, the priestess stays out looking for him until well into the night. At last, answering her calls, the boy emerges as a shadow among the trees. He says, “Go home Konpon.” Relived, she says, “Little one, where have you been?” As she steps toward him, he instinctively takes a step back. Reaching out to him, the priestess’s hand brushes against the side of his head; and she feels something unexpected; an ear, a human ear, sitting on the side of his head. As she pulls him to her, he begins to cry. She feels his entire head, and then turns and leads him back to the hut and into the light. As she had guessed by now, she is not leading a half-demon. The boy with her now is human in every regard. His hair has turned from silver to black, his ears and claws are gone, and his eyes are a deep shade of violet. As a priestess, Konpon knows that his kind loose their demonic aspects every so often, and now it seems to be his time. He tells her, still crying, “It won’t last. I turn back a dawn. Mother always hid me when it happened, so I thought…” The priestess nods, “Yes little one; you were right to hide. I mean you no harm; but there will be many who will. They may even pretend to be kind, just to learn when you will become weak. They might then destroy you when you are powerless. Inuyasha,” she uses the name to instill in him the importance of her words, “Inuyasha, guard the secret of this night; guard it well. When the night comes, hide from humans, and from demons. No one must know of this; it is your greatest weakness.” He nods, and she smiles. She says, “Now to bed; when you wake up this will all be behind you.”
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