Hello everyone, Luna here. Hope you enjoy the first chapter of this fanfic, it's been brewing in my mind for a while. If you do like the story, please comment. Thank you very much!
"Inuyasha, I thought you knew where we were going." Kagome yawned in his ear, falling asleep on his back. "Shouldn't we have found Sango and Miroku by now?"
"Of course I know where the hell I'm going, stupid." Truth was he had taken a detour to the village, something ominous was heavy in the woods. Something didn't feel right, and so he continued on deeper in the forest.
"Hey…" Suddenly Kagome lifted her head up from his shoulder, "I think… I think there's a jewel shard near us."
That would explain the feeling spreading through the woods, the one of dread that had worked it's way into the air. "Where? Which way?"
She pointed and he followed, suddenly both of them looking sharply into the darkness. "We're getting close." She whispered in his ear to slow down and he obliged, his entire body ready to jump whichever way she directed.
They came to a clearing where something white lay ahead of them, the power of a jewel shard flooding the scene. They took a few steps closer and realized that there was a girl beneath a white sheet. Kagome hopped off of Inuyasha's back. They stood quietly, observing from afar.
She was laying on her side covered by only the sheet. Her hair fell around her face, falling down her shoulders in tangled waves. Long, pointed ears poked out from the waves. Her eyes stayed open, unblinking and unmoving, focused forward. She very much resembled a broken toy, thrown out with the rest of the garbage.
Inuyasha walked towards her cautiously, the jewel shard on her forehead glowed ominously and pulsed with light. "Is she… Is she dead?" Asked Kagome, her voice barely a whisper. She didn't dare move from her spot, something unsettled her about the abandoned body.
"She's not, I can smell the life on her." He crouched next to her, pulling the sheet up to cover more of her naked body. He was careful not to touch her skin as it glowed in the moonlight. "But it's weak, she's not gonna last long."
"What's wrong with her?" Kagome took a tentative step towards the two. "She looks like she's frozen."
It felt wrong to look at her, it felt as if they were trespassing on a private moment of her passing. They had seen plenty of people die, but no one that seemed so lovely yet sad in doing so.
"We should close her eyes…" Mumbled Kagome as she sat on her knees next to Inuyasha, who was strangely quiet. Death had never seemed quite as intimate as it did then. Typically, the demons he slayed were grotesque, screaming, and bloody. It was easy to detach oneself from slaughtering them, especially since it was typically in self-defense. But now, suddenly, this girl had done nothing to them.
She was not bleeding, she was not screaming. The silence around her was worse.
"First, the jewel shard." Inuyasha's voice was gruff, breaking the silence. Kagome wanted to protest, but his fingers were already poised at the shimmering jewel. His fingertips gripped at the protruding edges, his nails digging gently into her skin.
As soon as he came in contact with her skin her pupils dilated, suddenly the black of her eye focused and grew with consciousness. Her eyelashes fluttered, casting long thorny shadows on her cheeks. Inuyasha pulled his hand back as if burned, pusing Kagome behind him instinctively.
"She's awake!"
"Stay behind me, Kagome."
The sheet stirred as her muscles began to move, her movements slow and awkward as if learning how to move again. Her eyebrows furrowed together, as if every bend of her bones was painful effort.
Inuyasha and Kagome didn't dare move as she propped herself up on her palms, her elbows shivering under the new weight. Her eyes focused on her splayed fingers, curious about them. Her gaze lifted slowly from her hands to Inuyasha, Kagome's eyes shutting in fear of what was to come. Inuyasha's golden eyes met her green ones and time froze for a moment, the air suddenly too small and the wind too loud.
The girl parted her lips, "Who am I?"
"How the hell should I know!?" Inuyasha tossed Kagome further behind him and stood, hand on the hilt of Tetsuaiga. "If you come any closer, I'll—"
She struggled suddenly, shifting her weight to her legs. The sheet fell to the ground as she stood, her toes pointed together. Her legs were thin and pale, her glowing skin stretched up from her calves to her stomach and up her neck, every part of her shone in the moon as if she were a jewel herself. Again, her lips opened, "Who am I?"
Inuyasha's nose twitched suddenly, and he reacted quickly with unsheathing Tetsuaiga. "Kagome, get away. She's a demon, I can smell it on her."
"Inuyasha, I don't think she wants to hurt us!" She tugged on his arm, begging for him to be patient. "She's confused."
"I don't care what she is, she's got a shard of the jewel and has to go!"
The girl took a shaky step forward, reaching out a limp arm. Her eyelids blinked heavily, everything about her actions was slow and thoughtful. She touched the blade gingerly, her fingers dragging along its edge until the blade gently tugged the skin of her fingertips open.
"Oh…" She pulled her hand back and stared at the red leaking down her arm. Her eyes fluttered back to Inuyasha. "My name is Isa." Her eyes then promptly rolled back into her head and she dropped to the ground, her legs finally crumbling beneath her weight. For a moment, neither Inuyasha nor Kagome moved a muscle.
"What the hell just happened?" Inuyasha sheathed Tetsuaiga, suddenly it felt even more wrong to steal her shard.
"I don't know…" Kagome, stuck in a trance, quickly shook her head and knelt back down next to the girl's body. "She said her name was Isa, but I think she only just found that out herself…" She made quick work of covering her body back with the sheet, her skin cool and slick with sweat. Her breath quivered, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "She's definitely still alive."
"Feh, what kind of demon is this? Powerless."
"Get my backpack, Inuyasha."
"What, am I your maid now?" He grumbled but grabbed the backpack left behind, tossing it next to Kagome. "What're you gonna do?" His ears twitched curiously, but he turned away indifferently.
Kagome pulled out clothes, emergency clothes for when her own were dirtied. "I'm glad I pack for emergencies." She glanced over her shoulder, "Don't you dare think about peaking."
"Heh, wouldn't dream of it." He turned his back to the duo and stared at the stars, curious about the girl. "We're not keeping her, ok? She's not a pet."
"We're helping her. We can't leave her here or else who knows what'll happen? What if someone worse finds her?" Kagome's eyes fell downcast thinking about the girl's fate if they were not the first to happen upon the prostrate body. "Besides, someone has to care for her hand."
"She's your responsibility, then. I ain't got nothing to do with it." He crossed his arms, not willing to argue any further. He had already made up his mind to take her back with them, but he couldn't let on that he would consider that option on his own. He had a reputation to uphold, and adopting stray people seemed too often a commonality of his life.
"Fine. My responsibility."
"Done yet?"
"Done." Inuyasha turned around and was pleased to see the girl looked far more alive when clothed. Kagome had put on a pair of jean shorts and a long sleeved grey shirt on the girl, and that was all it took to make her look as if she was simply sleeping. Kagome knelt next to her and pulled Isa's arm over her shoulders, standing up slowly.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Inuyasha quickly snatched Isa from Kagome and tossed her on his back. "If I let you bring her home it'll take forever. Let's go."
"What happened to her being my responsibility?" Kagome chided sweetly, slinging her backpack back on her shoulder and jogging to catch up.
"If she was your responsibility she'd die before we got her back." His voice was low and cautioned Kagome not to dig any deeper, which she did not. She smiled though, happy to see the human side of Inuyasha once more.
The human Inuyasha showed himself in the way he gently tugged Isa's arms around his neck. He gripped her legs firmly, securing her to the safety of his back. He couldn't leave anyone behind, and for that he was surrounded by people who loved him fiercely.