A young girl wondered aimlessly through the forest near her village with a look of utter misery etched into her lovely pale face. She looked to be about the age of 12 or 13, but she carried herself as a grown woman would. Her long black hair was coiled like a thick, black rope on the top of her head, and she wore the robes of a noble woman.
Her name was Kikyo Tama. She had been orphaned at the age of 9 when her parents had been involved in an accident, and ever since then she and her younger sister had been under the care of the village elder. From the way she carried herself, it was visible that she had not led a pleasant life since then. Her shoulders were stiff with tension and she walked as a wildcat would when stalking prey, her senses strained for the slightest sign of movement or change in her surroundings.
A swish of leaves in the tree branches above her told her that something had indeed changed. She was being followed by something, but, as to what it was, she was unsure. Carefully, with a movement that would be practically invisible to the untrained eye, she drew a kunai out of her inner robes, and stilled her movement.
"Who is there? Show yourself!" she called, turning so that she was facing the tree the movement had come from. It was only a few moments before a silvery white head peaked out of the thick leaves and golden eyes peered down at her. Kikyo felt her mouth fall open a bit as she took in the appearance of the one who'd been following her.
It was a boy, which was certain, that looked to be about the same age as her. His hair was long and a very light silver color. His golden eyes seemed as hard as ore they resembled, and his sharp features were drawn back in an almost disgusted look.
"Who –Who are you?" she asked, staring at the boy in awe still. Taking in her look of amazement the boy turned an agitated red, and dropped down to stand in front of her. Startled, Kikyo stumbled backwards and her foot caught on a large tree root, taking her feet out from under her. She cried out and fell backwards, but just before she struck the hard ground she felt hands, quick and smooth, catch her wrists and stand her back up.
"Be careful…" the boy muttered, crossing his arms over his chest as if she disturbed him. She smiled, if a bit bitterly, and bowed formally to the boy in front of her.
"I beg your pardon…my name is Kikyo Tama, ward of the Elder of my village. I very much appreciate that you helped me. Might I ask you your name, sir?" Kikyo said, her cobalt eyes glinting like cold metal when she stood to her full height once more. The boy before her looked flustered again, and turned his head to the side, making a sound that sounded a bit annoyed.
"My name is none of your business. Think nothing of me helping you…I just didn't want that stupid Elder of yours thinking that I like to watch people get hurt, or blame me for it." He grumbled, narrowing his eyes at her. Kikyo raised an eyebrow and looked over his appearance thoughtfully. For the first time, she noticed the two pointed, snow-white ears that sat at the top of his head and gasped. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks.
"You're that hanyou that everyone in the village is in an uproar about, aren't you?" she gasped, taking a cautious step back from him. The hanyou's face hardened into a look of bitterness and his lip drew back over his teeth in somewhat of a snarl.
"Yes, I suppose I am." He answered matter-of-factly. "I've never done a thing to disturb your village or anyone in it. In fact, I go out of my way to avoid you people, but you all got bored and decided to pick on the only thing that could bring you any excitement, right? The half-breed that lives in the forest just outside your little village in exile from the home he once held dear to him. By all means, blame all your worthless little problems on me. In fact, go running back to your village right now and scream about how the big bad Oni tried to take advantage of you or some other worthless nonsense that you humans spew." He spat bitterly.
Kikyo was stuck in between feeling sorry for him and her own bitter feelings about what had just been said to her. As she fought to restrain the emotions, her own bitterness won out.
"How dare you? I am not as cruel as you're trying to make me out to be, and I'm certainly not a liar! I would never say something so awful about someone who just helped me!" she snapped, surprising the hanyou, "And I certainly would never pick on an innocent creature that had just lost their home! Don't try to make me out as something that I would never let myself become!" she growled, turning on her heal and making her way toward the edge of the trees, leaving the shocked boy in her wake. After a few moments, he broke out of the shock and followed her.
"Hey! Wait a minute! I'm not finished talking to you! Get back here!" he called, but she simply ignored him and continued on her way. Letting out a frustrated sigh, he jumped up into the air, and landed gracefully in front of her, spreading his arms out in front of him as if to bar her way.
"Get out of my way." Kikyo said coldly, not letting an emotion into her voice, but he did not move.
"Give me a second, okay? Jesus…" he grumbled, "I owe you an…apology." He gritted out, looking as if the words stung him. "I acted a bit harshly, and –"
"A bit?" Kikyo muttered, raising an eyebrow.
"Hey, at least I'm being somewhat nice!"
"I suppose so…I accept your apology then." She stated sounding bored now, "Now, can I be on my way? The village Elder will be angry if I do not get home…"
"Well, I…" he said, noticing something different about the girl as she spoke about the Elder. Something that seemed cold almost scared even, but the boy only frowned and stepped out of her path. "My name is InuYasha…by the way." He said, raising his golden eyes to meet cobalt ones.
"As I said, my name is Kikyo…it was nice to meet you." Kikyo said, smiling at him and walking the path back toward her village. InuYasha watched her go with curious eyes, and leaped back up into the trees just as she left the forest's cover.
--
"KIKYO!" an angry voice yowled from the top of the landing. Kikyo had just made it home as the sun had started to go home and had been headed up the stairs when she spotted the elder standing there. He looked absolutely furious, and she felt her insides go cold with dread. "You are late! Why are you late?" he hissed, his gray eyes as hard as steel.
"I was…on a walk in the forest. I was clearing my head after working all day, sir, I am very sorry." She murmured, bowing deeply. She heard something whistling through the air toward her a moment later, and jumped out of the way just in time to see a vase shatter in the place she had just been standing in. Her eyes flew back up to where the elder had been standing and found him hurtling down the stairs toward her. Horrified, she turned to run but was caught on the side of the head by another vase that shattered on the floor.
"You…bitch…" panted the elder. The corners of her vision were beginning to swallow her into darkness, and she stared at the man who was supposed to care for her, but did these kinds of things instead. "You will pay for this tonight…" he growled, grabbing her roughly by the hair and dragging her toward the stairs. She was almost grateful when the darkness swallowed her into the black nothingness that was her abyss.
She opened her eyes in the blackness, and stared around in wonder. In the back of her mind somewhere she was vaguely aware that she was dreaming, but she ignored it and began to wander around. 'Where am I…?' she mused staring at the thick darkness.
"You are where you belong…" an almost silent voice answered. Kikyo started at the sudden noise, and turned to find a tall, thin man with a wide smile on his face. His shoulder length, soft brown hair twisted in a breeze that she couldn't feel, and his cobalt blue eyes, which were exactly like her own, seemed warm and friendly.
"FATHER!" she cried out running to the man in front of her. He held his arms open to catch her as she fell into his arms and clung to him as tightly as she could. A smile made her the lovely woman that she was supposed to be, and her father smiled down at her warmly.
"My little Kikyo…" he murmured softly, tucking a few stray locks of her raven hair behind her ear. "How are you my daughter?"
"The village Elder hates me, Father! I think he likes me for nothing more than a who–" she began but quieted when her father hushed her. He pulled her away from him then and held her at arms length by the shoulders to meet her eyes with his own, which had gone from friendly and warm to determined and proud.
"Listen, I know you hate it there, and I know how he treats you. You must understand that your sister needs you though, and you cannot leave her to suffer your current fate. Ever." He said, locking eyes with his daughter and setting her with a slight frown. Kikyo nodded slowly and looked down, away from her father's piercing eyes that were so much like her own, and yet so different. "Good girl…"
The image of her father began to fade then, and she stared in horror as he deteriorated into ash in the breeze that had been blowing his hair away from him. The wind that she had not been feeling then, struck her in a sudden cold, icy burst that chilled her to the bone. As if sensing her weakness, the wind picked up so that it was no long a gentle breeze but enough to start a desert storm. Kikyo cried out in fear, and suddenly–
She opened her eyes to find that she was lying in the floor of the hallway, her clothes stripped away from her, and found that the wind from her dream was coming through an open window nearby. Without much thought, she began to get up, but felt a sharp pain streak up through her from between her legs. Tears leaked out of her eyes from the pain, but she managed to limp to the window and slam it shut.
"Sister…" a small voice whimpered. Kikyo's eyes shot toward the direction of the voice and found her baby sister Kagome standing in the hall with tears of remorse leaking from her eyes. She felt a stab of pain in her heart from the image, and limped to the little girl. Kagome made her way toward her as well, and met her halfway, wrapping her arms around her sister and crying silently.
Kikyo knew that these tears were not because something had hurt her little sister, but because Kagome was sad for her. Sad that she was tortured and that they could do nothing to stop it, and scared because she feared that the elder might come for her one day as well. That thought scared both of them more than anything in the world.
"Let's go to bed…" Kikyo finally murmured, ushering her sister toward their room, and locking it tightly after them.
--
InuYasha sat in a tree just outside the village that Kikyo lived in, and stared toward the Elder's house. It was the middle of the afternoon and he had yet to see Kikyo emerge from the house. All he had seen was the Elder leave with some books, heading for the Council of the village, and then the house seemed dead. It was as if nothing was alive in the house at all. Nothing moved inside the windows, and nothing came out of the house.
'I know I saw her go inside of that house 3 nights ago…' he mused, 'I wonder why she hasn't come outside.'
He felt the urge to investigate the house a bit, but stayed in his place in the tree. No one would take kindly to the village "enemy" wandering around the Elder's house. Then again, when InuYasha looked closer at the village, the entire place seemed deserted. When he glanced over, he noticed that most of the villagers were working the nearby field.
"I suppose no one would see me go to the Elder's house then…" he chuckled, hopping down from his branch and sprinting off in the direction of the house.
--
Kikyo woke to the sound of someone lurking around in the house, and rushed to get her throwing knife from the case she kept it in. She found the jade green case she kept it in, and flipped the lid back. She snatched her knife from is velvet lined case, and crept out of her room.
She could hear that whoever was in the house was just at the bottom of the stairs, and lunged around the corner, throwing her knife before she could see who it was. There was a shriek of panic and then the sound of her dagger hitting the wood.
"SON OF A BI–"
"InuYasha?" Kikyo squeaked spotting him pinned by his sleeve to the wood. The silver haired boy looked up in surprised relief and tugged the knife free of the wood.
"Thank goodness…Kikyo, I was wondering where you were. For a second I was worried I'd picked the wrong house and–"
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" she shrieked, leaping down the stairs to stand in front of him. InuYasha yelped in surprise and stumbled backwards. "You shouldn't be here!" she hissed, sliding around him and locking the front door.
"Well, excuse me for getting curious as to why you haven't been out of your house in 3 days." He grumbled. Kikyo glanced over at him with a look in between curiosity and unbelieving rage. He seemed to notice the look, and got a flustered air about him, as he had the first time they'd met. That seemed to calm Kikyo a bit though, and she let her shoulders sag in exhaustion.
"I just…I don't want the Elder finding you here." She mumbled, leaning against the wall.
"Is it because he thinks that I'm a danger to?" InuYasha growled back, setting her with a hard look. The smart remark he was waiting for didn't come, and when he looked closer at the girl in front of him he noticed a cold fear in her eyes. "Kikyo…what is it?"
"Nothing! I mean…its nothing." She answered, her eyes a wild and angry blue. The hanyou's eyes widened in shock, but he said nothing and let it slide. After a few moments of awkward silence between the two, InuYasha reached out and took her hand carefully in one of his. Kikyo sucked in a sharp breath, but didn't jerk her hand away. "InuYasha…"
"Calm down…" he muttered, releasing her hand, "Keep that."
Kikyo looked down in her hand and noticed that he'd left a small piece of jade there. Her eyes widened in awe, and her eyes shot up to lock with golden orbs. "I can't possibly keep this…" she wanted to say, but couldn't bring herself to. The look in her eyes stirred something inside her, so instead she tucked it into the folds of her nightdress.
"Thank you…I'll treasure it."
"Good…now I guess I'll get out of here." InuYasha mumbled, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Will I see you soon, though?"
"I'm not–" she broke off when the look in the boy's eyes changed from kindness to lonely fear. She quickly changed her mind and smiled brightly at him. "Of course, InuYasha. I'll see you soon." She said. He brightened visibly, and nodded before vanishing through the sudden open doorway.
--
"What the hell are you doing out of your room?"
"Elder I–"
"SHUT THE HELL UP!"
"NO PLEASE, DON'T–"
A slap resounded through the house followed by a yelp of pain. After that there were several loud thumps that sounded like someone hitting their head against something solid, and then there was silence. That silence was broken a moment later by the sound of someone choking, and then the swish of a knife through the air before it was planted in someone's flesh.
Kagome sat quaking in fear in the room she shared with her sister, and winced when she heard that. Silent tears began to spill down her cheeks as she imagined what could be happening in the room, but before she could come to worse conclusions the door flew open. She let out a yelp of fear, and backed into the far corner of the bed she was on. In the doorway stood a sinister looking cloaked figure with a knife dripping with blood, and it was coming closer!
--
Tahsara: So ends chapter one!
Sesshou: Well…this story has definitely changed…
Kagome: I know! It's so…so…
Tahsara: Dark? Morbid? Creepy?
Akina: Shut up…no one cares anyway.
Tahsara: Who pissed in your Wheaties this morning?
Akina: Your cat.
Tahsara: Emme would never!
Akina: Right…
Kikyo: Why don't the people who are actually involved in the story talk?
InuYasha: YEAH!
Tahsara: Darn…to late. Well, for those who aren't clear, I'm fixing this story. It'll be like this from now on, so says I, the author! Well, read and review!