Disclaimer: My name is not Rumiko Takahashi, so I do not hold any power pertaining to InuYasha!

Description: Kagome is a distraught princess in the Feudal Era, but when she comes upon a magical well she somehow ends up in the present era. Oh, how the tables have turned.

Five Sided Dice

Staring Out the Window

Chapter I : More Like a Rabbit

Staring out the window. Fingers connecting to white knuckles clenched harshly to the wooden seal. Rain covered the palace gardens with sparkling crystals; dripping from the roof slowly as if deciphering each new air-borne trail during the descent. Still yet a faint haze remained after the shower, seeming to leave everything renewed and youthful. A smell of flowers on the breeze mixed with the fresh scent of rain; undaunting and real. The rising sun left an extra terrestrial glow to the scene, casting a rainbow that sliced through the haze like a sword.

A lone tear struck down her porcelain face without struggle.

She overlooked thinking, and pulled herself to a squat on the window seal. Her bare foot found a limb of the tree next to the window, then the other foot rested right alongside of it. She turned her body so both hands could cling to the window seal until she got another foot on a lower branch. She let go of the seal and instead held onto a branch above her head until her other foot found a spot. And it didnt take very long before she found herself on the moist ground. Bare feet chilled, she stealthily made her way through the garden and toward the gate. Leading outside.

She had been outside of the palace grounds, of course, but never wihout an escort; never without many escorts. And various times when their party had stopped for a break she had snuck off and hid in the underbrush of the forest. She had been found everytime, but each time she had gotten better at concealment. The last time she had snuck off, they had had to use the hunting dogs to track her down. Everytime she got a chance she would disobey orders given to her; there was never before a reason besides the internal feeling she got about her whole life--as if everything were a lie. A huge lie; but now she had proof of ill-will and treachery. Though the only thing stopping her from letting it be known is the fact that the traitor is her very own father. The king. And no one would ever speak against him; if they wanted to live.

So here she was running away after hearing a private conversation between her father and one of his many subordinates. He was raising an army against the West, to take advantage of its momentary downfall since the Lord of the West had died only a month ago. And now everything is in chaos in the Western areas. This would all be fine and dandy, but for two things. One, he and the Lord of the West had made a pact many years ago that they would always look after the others' back, even if they should die. Two, she had overheard many a servant gossiping over the treasury room; saying that the supply was dropping quickly, too quickly for them to act sufficiently during war-time. And so, she had also heard talk of her father selling her to a rather rich lord to make up for the funds and so he could go through with plans of taking the West.

Kagome, daughter of the Lord of the East, slipped through the garden gate and closed it back silently. She ignored the chills fleeting through her body as she ran through the tall grass. In her mind, she began making plans. These plans evolved around where she would go; and obviously these thoughts continued around in a circle of nothingness. Where would she go? There was no place that she could think of. If anyone found out who she was then she would be sent immediately back. Not to forget the countless degrees of punishments she would receive from her father; death if she were lucky. So... there was no known place she could go. Her features were too distinct to hide them; there had to be something.

Kagome had made it far into the close company of the woods by the time the sun was topping the trees. She was by now quite more than lost, and every step took her even further away from anything she knew. Suddenly her eyes alit upon a tree. But it wasn't just any tree, of course. It was huge and ancient and full of a magical feel. The bark on the tree was gone in some places, showing through with the white of the trunk.

She found a moss-covered area on the base of the tree and decided it was as good a place as any to rest for the moment. She quickly fell into a shallow sleep and dreamed of the sound of the forest. Birds singing to one another, chipmunks and squirrels scampering about and making various vermin sounds, the cough-like warning sounds of deer, the distant sounds of yowling, the... The... distant sounds of... yowling? Her eyes flew open and she was standing before a second thought came. She knew the sounds of yowling. The yowling so akin to the dogs of the palace when chasing their prey. The dogs of the palace that were once again on her trail. She felt like a rabbit at the end of the hunt. Her heart began beating faster than she could move, but soon she was leaving the tree and following her feet. And her feet took her to a well that seemed as equally ancient as the tree.

Her mind seemed to be a black hole--void of any coherant thought. She glanced at the worn wooden lip of the well before gently placing her hands on it and peering down into it's dank depths. Then, the search party had come so close that she could almost feel there ascent; feel the pouding of hooves and paws upon the solid earth. Just as before, she allowed her body to guide her, instincts over thought. And she felt herself falling into the darkness of the well just as she heard the scratching of the dogs' claws against the dirt as they skid to a stop outside of the well and as she heard the voices of men calling her name. "Princess, hurry and come back to the palace with us", they called in sweet tones, as if she were to be awarded a grand prize for winning a game of hide and seek. A grand prize of what exactly? She was not hoping to find out.

But she was still falling, and it didn't seem as if she were to stop anytime soon. A moment later she was surrounded by a blinding electric-blue light and she was seemingly suspended in air--or whatever the space-less, mass-less area could be classified as. Just as quickly as the experience came, it left--and she was back in the bottom of the well. As if it had never truly interrupted her descent. She looked up out of the well at the dawning sky, then finally noticed she had reached the bottom of the well and that she was no longer falling... but looking up it didn't seem as far a fall as it did before. She also noticed that not a sound was emitted from outside of the well. No dogs, horses, or men. Strange. An old rope ladder caught her eye as it hung lazily against the wall of the well, the thread of the rope was shredded and split in some places making it seem almost a test to climb out of the well. After a few failed attempts she had thankfully made it and she clung to the wooden side. She had just set her second foot on solid ground when she saw something quite... different than what was there before. A structure sat only a few yards away that was too big to be a peasant's hut but too small to be a palace. Quite intriguing, thought her as she slowly took cautious steps toward the building--that was before, as she could easily remember, only a clump of trees.

Kagome was still unsure of what to do so she followed her feet, as usual. They took her to what was obviously the entrance to the structure and her hand fell over the object that opened the door. This reminded her slightly of the doors of her castle, though when she tried pulling on the object the door remained motionless. She studied it a moment longer before trying to turn her wrist to the side. She heard a faint clicking noise that she did not exactly expect and so she let go immediately incase it were enchanted with some sort of spell. Nothing else occurred other than the object turning back to it's original position. She scowled at the evil mechanism that reasonlessly scared her and went through with the same motions as before, only this time with more determination. This ended up with her pulling fruitlessly--observing once more she began to push instead and was awarded with the door successfully moving. Now she was impressed and most utterly believing that the forest was enchanted by witches or demons.

She took her first steps inside while her eyes took in all the knew sights, which was most everything. Her heatbeat had sped up and she noticed that the temperature of the room was sufficiently cool compared to the out-of-doors. Fascinating, the thought came without much force and she noticed what was a strange enough circular table surrounded by three chairs. A little way a'ways she saw another cryptic object. The handle on said phenomenon reminded her fiercely of the handle of doors of her castle, Unlike the terribly mean little doors to this place, she thought tersely. She easily gripped the handle and tugged, but the thing was not a door to a miniature room but to what seemed to be a very fascinating ice-box. At this she smiled, for some mysterious reason or other. She threw a quick glance at the contents vacating the ice-box before closing it back and turning to face the next victim of her captivation. Kagome walked through the opening into another room, this one holding a shorter table that stretched out horizontally between an ottoman and yet another perplexing gadget. This one was a black rectangle surrounded by a silver-y colored metal sitting inside what looked to be a cupboard with the doors open wide to show off the black and silver 'thing'.

Before she was able to figure the mechanics of this object Kagome was quite rudely startled by the sound of a throat being cleared behind her. Eyes wide and heart pounding she slowly turned to face a tall odd-looking man. His hair was waist-length and so blonde it almost looked silver, his eyes were of the finest shade of brown they seemed to sparkle golden, and his skin was pale, though it was a natural healthy pale. She was thunderstruck by his exotic beauty. She could barely stand there, much less apologize for intruding; and so that's very well what she did. Stand there like a complete and utter illiterate fool. How could years of being taught diplomacy and ettiquette come in handy when one was too shocked to speak? Pathetic... How could I be so--so like other girls! Forget myself just because of a stupid male!

She quickly cleared her mind and blinked once before curtsying," Excuse me, sir, for intruding upon you and yours. I am but overly curious of the many things you have. What is...," here she motioned toward the unknown entity that stood at her back as it hid in the cupboard. She looked him straight in the eyes through the whole thing, noticing that for just a moment something flickered behind those golden-brown orbs--or maybe it was just her imagination.

His head tilted to the side much like a dog's as he looked Kagome over. He seemed to be debating something in his mind: Is this woman of absolute insanity or is she only one of those cosplayers... But why, then, would she be in my home? He seemed to come to a conclusion, then answered.

"That is called a television," he had decided to humor her--for the moment.

She bit her bottom lip for a moment as she narrowed her blue eyes at the 'television' then looked back at him, taking his eyes once more.

"And how is it that your--home?--is so cool and yet outdoors is positively hot?" she continued her investigation.

"That is due to the air conditioner." He pointed a long finger to one of many metal-grated rectangles on the ceiling.

"It... conditions the air?" She had a most unbelieving smirk on her face until she tested his knowledge for herself. She found herself walking to stand below one of the white little boxes and lifted her delicate hand to feel for the air. Indeed the man was correct.

"Now that I have been 'proven' correct, do you not think it is time for being acquainted?"

She turned to him quickly, then gracefully crossed the room to stand infront of him.

"Do forgive me, Princess Kagome Higurashi of the Eastern Kingdoms." She curtsied again, though this time it was more thorough and spoke of her position in volumes.

The man hesitated. She was so serious and unquestionably telling the truth that he did not exactly know what to say. Either she was the best actress he had ever met or she... was... a... princess. A PRINCESS. How likely was that? Well, somewhat if you still count the royalty that yet resides in the European countries, but not in Japan. Sure, there were Lords and Ladies and such decades ago, but not now. Not in the twenty-first century. How positively antonymous; there was no way for there to be a princess here, but he knew for a fact that she was not lying. The reasons for this were simple enough, but not a subject to get into at the moment. At the moment he was figuring this 'princess' out.

He tilted his head in something resembling a bow and revealed part of his self to her.

"Sesshoumaru Taishou of the West."

"It's an honor," she smiled radiantly, then something seemed to come back to her and her smile all but faded in the shadow of a question.

"Um... Well, where am I exactly? I do not seem to be where I was before. And this does not seem to be the forest of the Dog Spirit. Or... it does, but it is quite altered.

"The Dog Spirit."

"Ahh,... InuYasha. Yes, the forest of InuYasha. Is this still such forest? If I am not mistaken that is where I last had a clear memory of my being..."

"Inu--Yasha..." The man hesitated again, a far away look took over his golden eyes before he seemed to shake it away.

"That sounds... familiar." The way he said it sounded almost cryptic, but he left her question purposefully unanswered and instead countered with his own question.

"What year were you born?"

She was glancing around his home until the question came up," Pardon? My birth? Well..." she began counting in her head then looked at him again with a smile.

"That would be 1489. My birthday was some months ago."
"1489."
"Yes, of course, what else would it be?" she still held her smile, but the longer she looked at him the less her smile became until it all but disappeared.

He continued to watch her, trying to uncover the slightest traces of a lie, the least hint of a joke; but nothing came of it.

"The year now is 2007," he dropped the bomb.

She smiled again without hesitation," That would explain many things, yet it is highly impossible. Just a short while ago I was being hunted by my father's most esteemed, I'm sure, search party." Though immodest the words themselves seemed if disected from her tone of voice, they were by far not bragging words.

"Your father, he's the king? Lord of the East?"

She frowned this time," Yes. I ran away because he was going to break a blood pact with the West and make wwar with them. And also because he was going to trade me to stock his treasury to give him the ability to go to war."

"Your father is an ignoble coward. That is certain."
She made an indescernable expression, then," You might want to be careful to whom you say that. My father has spies everywhere..." She bit her bottom lip again.

At this he almost snorted but held back enough to simply smirk," Your most esteemed coward of a father is dead. He holds no power while dead. It has been five-hundred years, I do not think he could survive so long."

"Once more with the 'the year is now 2007' deceit. It can, absolutely, not be five-hundred years in the future. There is no physical possibility. You must be a witch or a demon... or something with these contraptions(-flicks her hand toward the television-). There is no way..." The longer she spoke and watched how his face never changed, the longer she began to doubt.

"Believe, you, me: I am no witch and it is two-thousand seven. Since you do not comprehend the information, then I shall show you the proof you so desperately require." His tone was cold and the gold in his eyes sparked once more before merging into the normal brown. This human woman was more hard-headed than most, but she would by the day was over believe him. And he would come to understand how she came of this time.

A/N: Yay! Woohoo! Anyway, I am rather proud of this one I think. I have no knowledge of another like it, so it is quite original if I do say so myself-! Unless... there IS another similar to it--then I would very well like to know who's story so that I might read it and either beg their forgiveness of making a story of close resemblance or continue to make mine original enough. Yes, the evils of my rambling, oh how I am sure you adore it. ;p

Five Sided Dice