"The mist licked up at the horse's hooves, making him buck her off and she fell hard on the cold, hard sand. He took off before she was able to get back up and calm him, but she needed to figure out where to go quickly. Kagome could hear the rapid footsteps of the demons close behind her. She looked over her shoulder at the ominous looking trees and accompanying mist behind her, a sign posted before it's opening. "The Forbidden Forest," she whispered out of breath. She stumbled to her feet and across the array of boulders blocking her path, grunting as she slipped across the damp surfaces. Finally reaching the forest's edge, she hurled herself through the thick branches, knowing if she stopped at all she wouldn't find the strength to keep going. The branches hung low and thick in the untraveled path of the forest, and she called out numerous times as they pulled at her skin, her clothes, and her hair.
She could still hear the demons close behind, not losing them in the trees like she had hoped. She slid around some large boulders and down a small slope just as one burst through the rocks behind her, dust and rock shards cascading around her. I need to move quicker, she thought as she rounded a massive tree. Checking behind her for the massive centipede demon, she missed a step and tripped over a large root. Before she knew it, she was falling down a small cliff, screaming as she went, and then splashing into a shallow pool of water. She arose from the waters spewing and coughing, and trying to get out of whatever she was caught in.
"Hey!" Her head shot in the direction of the voice, not one of the demons from behind her. "That's my net!" A man was over on the shore, glaring at her. He stood out against the green of the forest with the deep red of his tunic. That and his silver hair. She stared at the man (or at least who resembled a man) before her for a moment, until a huge splash and a shadow blocked her view. The demons had followed her down the cliff. The terror began to creep in, until she heard a growl come from the man on shore. The two demons turned and set their focus on him. The first attacked, but he swiftly dodged it and then kicked the demon over to a rock, which opened up and devoured the centipede. The second demon hesitated after that, and the man on shore smirked, slowly drawing the demon further to the left of the small pond. Before the demon could even attack, he pulled on a vine of a nearby tree, which quickly knocked the demon into a whirlpool that had opened up in the pond.
Kagome just stared for a moment in shock, then realized that she was still sitting in the cold water, wrapped in this man's fishing net. "Wow!" She started as she stood up and unraveled the net from around her. "That was incredible…how you smashed those creatures, how you avoided that thing! You're amazing. You're…not even listening to me."
She paused, but the strange man just "kehed" and muttered, " Great. It took me six weeks to make this net."
"The net? You saved my life! Do you realize that? Thank you!"
"Well, anyone can make a mistake." The man muttered again, glaring at her.
"Oh! Ha ha," Kagome laughed falsely, "This must be where King Sesshomaru sends his unfunny jesters, right?" The stranger's glare deepened at the name of the king.
"No, but thanks a lot."
"For what?"
"For reminding me why I'm stuck out here!" He yelled, dropping the net and turning to leave. Kagome couldn't help but wonder about that last response from her unlikely rescuer.
"Wait! Please wait! What's your name?" She said, following, ringing her hair out as she went. He barely turned back to look at her before muttering his response.
"Inuyasha." What a familiar name, she thought.
"I'm Kagome!" She responded cheerily. "Inuyasha, why don't you look at me when I'm talking to you?" She said, quickening her steps a bit to stand in front of him and look him in the eye. He stopped, but looked very annoyed. "Oh," she let out, "I didn't realize." She noticed now his bright, golden eyes, with slit-like pupils, and the silver ears that popped out the top of his head, which he had pushed down, clearly trying to hide them. He let them pop back up now.
"Yeah, yeah." He said, pushing past her, "I'm a half-demon." He walked a few more steps, before turning to her again, gauging her reaction. She didn't seem afraid, or really to care that much even. Just surprised when she first found out. "What the hell are you even doing out here? The Forbidden Forest is no place for a human girl like you."
"Not that it's anything to you," Kagome started, not appreciating his rude attitude, "The sword Tessaiga is somewhere here in the forest. Naraku has stolen it and taken my mother hostage. That's why I'm here! I have to find the sword and return it to Sesshomaru, or my mother and all of the Western Lands are doomed."
"Right, and you're going to find it?" He gave her a look of disbelief, "Hah, okay. I'm going after it." Kagome's face lit up, clearly misunderstanding.
"Great!"
"Keh, not with you. I work alone."