Transported to the Wrong Dimension
They were now in the final battle with Naraku. They have fought fiercely with Sesshomaru, Kouga and his clan, and of course, the gang. It was a long battle – yet they tirelessly fought to regain the remaining shards of the jewel so that it would not be in the evil clutches of Naraku. They won, and miraculously, though all were injured severely, no one had died, and Naraku's 'children' were freed. Yet, all was not well, because once the jewel became whole, as many expected, Kagome was sent back home. But, contrary to many people's belief that Kagome was safe at home, with her family, she was not – the former guardian of the jewel, Midoriko, had accidently sent her to the wrong dimension – she was sent forward in time, of course, but not enough, and not in the correct destination. She was sent to Tortall, and not for some great cause – just due to a slight miscalculation that Midoriko made.
Kagome laid on the ground with her eyes closed. She felt extremely stiff and sad, tears running down her cheeks. She expected that she would be sent home, away from her second family. But despite the fact that she expected it, it still hurt. The only consolation she had was that they were alive and well, and going on with their lives without Naraku's interference.
She could still see her friends' sad, yet understanding faces as they watched her disappear before their very eyes. She was so sad that she could not even bear to open her eyes to see her home, the place where she knew she would never see her friends. True, her family was dear to her, but she did not know how to confront them anymore – she was gone for so long. So, as she contemplated her fate, she laid on the ground for hours, never opening her eyes, until she told herself to get up and make peace.
She slowly sat up, and opened her eyes very slowly. It was dawn, and there was grass all around her, the air felt crisp and comfortable, and she could feel the soft breeze. She smiled slightly, because it reminded her of the feudal era, but then she was hit by a sudden realization. Her smile left, and in place of it came a most panicked face. She was not at home – there was no shrine – rather, in an alien environment she had no knowledge of. This was not where she was supposed to be sent.
She stood up quickly and looked around. She was in a forest. With her blue eyes suddenly bright in wonder, she saw that this was a whole different place entirely. She quickly looked to see herself to make sure she still had her friends' gifts. These gifts were the only thing that she had left from them. She had her bow and arrows from Kaede, her blue-rimmed boomerang and battle suit from Sango, the special sword she made with her priestess powers with the help of Kaede and Sesshomaru, a staff from Miroku, a fire robe from Inuyasha, and a bracelet from Shippo, which was modified by Kaede and Miroku so that she can use her priestess powers to shrink these items to fit on the bracelet. With the help of all her friends, she was able to master these weapons to some degree and defend herself. Although, she would have to admit that the level of her sword skills are above the rest of her weaponry skills just because her instructor (Sesshomaru) always made her training difficult and mocked her whenever he could. She sighed in relief.
Suddenly Midoriko, shrouded by a mist, came before her. She looked at Kagome apologetically.
"I am sorry, Kagome. It seems I have miscalculated. I accidently sent you to the era of knights…" She looked sorrowfully at Kagome. Kagome looked at her carefully.
"Well, then can you fix it and send me back home? Or, if possibly, allow me to go back to my friends?" She looked hopefully up to Midoriko, who shook her head sadly.
"No, I am sorry, I can do neither. First of all, in this form, my power is greatly diminished, and I will not be able to send you to your family until two years later, for time traveling is a tricky business. As for the second, I cannot do. It is against the gods' will. You will have to remain here until I have the power again." She looked sadly at Kagome. "I am sorry, but I can do nothing more." She let Kagome think about her situation.
Kagome was currently trying to take this calmly, but she couldn't. She began to cry. It was bad enough that she could not see her friends, but to not see her family, or anyone she knew, hurt her. She needed support badly. Midoriko looked at her sadly.
"I am sorry. I must leave you now. I will come back for you in two years. In the meantime, why don't you seek shelter at Tortall? It might do you good, though it is your own choice. Think about it. I will place a map of Tortall in your mind so you may find your way. I will also give you better clothes to suit this time. Your clothes are in a horrible condition."
Hearing this comment, Kagome looked down at her clothes. With her dim perception clouded by grief, she noticed that her clothes were tattered and bloody. Seeing the state her clothes were in, the events coming after the final battle came crashing down on her.
Midoriko quickly turned her clothes into a comfortable white shirt and dark red breeches, which signified her role as priestess, though of course, the people of Tortall would not know.
"I will see you in two years notice. Goodbye." With one last glance at the brokenhearted priestess, Midoriko vanished again.
Kagome stared at the place Midoriko vanished, wishing to be away from this place. Then she looked around. Animals were staring at this strange creature who had appeared. They did not seem afraid of her, due to her calming nature, so they stepped closer. For some unfathomable reason, she could understand them. She laughed in amazement.
"Probably an effect of being transported to this world." She sighed. She might as well head to Tortall. With the endless chatter of the animals saying what they do every day, she listened contentedly for the first time since she left the feudal era.
She walked for days on end, stopping every now and then to hunt or listen to the advice of the animals to find food, until she finally reached Tortall. People stared at this peculiar, solemn girl who now walked in their midst. She listened to her instinct and asked to speak with the leader, whoever he might be. She walked up to a patrolling knight off duty.
"Excuse me, mister, but will you direct me to your leader? You do have a leader here, do you not?" The knight looked at her weirdly.
"Miss, I'm sorry – I don't understand what you're trying to say." Kagome quickly realized that she was speaking in a different language. Thankfully, her language lessons (which were grueling and awful to the point she wanted to bang her head against a wall) with Sesshomaru paid off, for once. She switched languages.
"Yes, I'm sorry. Can I see your leader please? I want to find something to do, as I will have to stay here for two years…" Her accent was perfect, due to Sesshomaru being OCD. The knight looked at her in amazement. It was obvious from her appearance and her previous language that she spoke that she was a foreigner. He began to think she was a most educated person.
"Well, I think we can find something useful for you. You seem to be well educated. I will lead you to the king right now. If you would please, follow me." He led through the busy streets of Tortall until they reached the palace. It was magnificent; although, she would have to say that she preferred Sesshomaru's palace. The gentleman led her through the palace until he stopped and bowed in front of the king.
"Your majesty, this educated lady here is looking for a job. I have already ascertained that she at least knows two different languages." Then he turned to Kagome.
"This is King Jonathon. He will help you find something to do." With that, the knight bowed to the king and left.
Jonathon looked at the Asian girl with interest. He had never seen a person like her.
"What is your name? Where are you from?"
"I am Kagome Higurashi, and currently, I have no home." Privately, she thought to herself, in this dimension, she really does not have a home, and it is also possible that Japan may not yet exist in this world. Jonathon looked sympathetic.
"Oh? Okay then. What skills can you provide and what work is it that you wish to pursue? Perhaps you can teach different languages."
"I know how to fight with a variety of different weapons. I know how to speak many different languages. I am also a healer. Wherever you wish to send me is fine." Privately, Kagome thought to herself that she cannot state that she has priestess powers, as she does not yet know if she will sacrifice something for it. Nor does she tell him her newly found powers, such as understanding animals, and knowing the whole layout of Tortall, which would be suspicious, as she is not of their nationality. She does not yet know her other powers that may come as a result of being in this dimension.
Jonathon could tell that she was hiding a few things, but did not demand her to tell what else she can do. He could tell that she was telling the truth, and that was enough for now.
"Alright then. Well, I will tell you this – we do have need of a healer. We are in the middle of a war with Scarna, and our knights are being hurt. I will send you with Raoul and his group, because they are in deep need of one. You would be sent far from any safe environment. Can you handle that, Kagome Higurashi?" She looked at him confidently, yet sadly.
"Yes, your majesty. I have been in worse conditions without many allies." Jonathon could see the hollowness in her eyes, though she tried to conceal it. He knew suddenly then that this girl was no ordinary girl, and that she has been through tougher situations.
"Alright then." Quickly, he called a guard. "Please bring Raoul and Keladry of Mindelan. I have need of them." Quickly, the guard was sent, and returned with these stated people. Jonathon turned to them.
"Raoul, this girl is to be sent with the own, and she will be your healer." Raoul looked at this petite girl who seemed very unlikely to be able to heal.
"Jon, does this girl have the gift?" Jonathon did not know.
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" They all turned to stare at the strange Asian girl. She hesitated.
"I know not of this 'gift', but I do have a power." Raoul stared.
"Might you tell us what this 'power' is?" She hesitated once again, but then spoke decidedly, as she had nothing to lose.
"I am a priestess. It is my nature to heal." She stared at them squarely. They looked puzzled. They had nothing like a priestess there.
"Well, we know not of this power, but it will come in handy, one way or another." Raoul looked at her calmly. Jonathon looked at them cheerfully. This actually simplified matters. Now he need not look for another healer.
"Good then. Everything is settled." He looked at Kagome. "You may go with them now. Try your best to keep the men alive." Kagome nodded. Then Jonathon dismissed them.
Along the way, they introduced each other properly. Their demeanors changed instantly.
"Hello Kagome. I am Keladry of Mindelan. And this is Raoul –" Raoul cleared his throat loudly, and introduced himself while glaring at Kel.
"I am Raoul of Goldenlake. A pleasure to make your acquaintance." They shook hands. "So tell me Kagome, can you do anything else besides heal?"
"Yes. I can fight and translate languages." Kagome stated. Raoul looked at her with interest.
"This is good. You can help us with more than one thing then." At that point they reached the point where Keladry and Raoul part. "You will sleep with Kel today. Tomorrow we will leave extremely early, so get some rest while you can. Goodnight."
Kel and Kagome headed to her room. As soon as they opened the door, the sparrows came crashing down not on Kel, but on Kagome.
"Ah!" Kagome yelped in surprise as a flurry of sparrows descended upon her. They were chattering happily with her. Kel had never seen anything like it, except with Veralidaine Sarrari, or in short, Daine, who was a wildmage. Kagome looked at Kel with dread, expecting some back outburst, or a flurry of questions. Kel chuckled a little after seeing how funny Kagome looked with sparrows covering her from head and toe, and began to see that Kagome has more abilities than she let on. She decided to worry about the mysteries surrounding Kagome the next day, or at least later on. She shooed the birds away.
"Alright, let's just go to sleep." Kagome looked at her unbelievingly.
"You aren't going to question me?" Kel looked at her tiredly.
"I'm more worried about sleep right now. I can question you later. I know I don't have to worry if you are an enemy, since you obviously are alone and have no one to turn to, so I'll leave you alone for now. The more important thing right now is sleep." She prepared the extra bed and set it up. Kel's motto is to always be prepared for the unexpected, and that goes for having an extra bed as well. They settled down and laid on the beds. The lights were off and all was quiet and calm.
Kagome was still feeling downhearted, but she knew that her friends would scold her if they saw her now. She began to realize that perhaps life in this strange country won't be as bad as she thought. After Kel's reassurance and the descending birds, she suddenly realized that she might not be as alone as she initially thought, and that made her feel better for the moment. She relaxed into the bed and lightly clasped her bracelet.
"Goodnight, and thank you." Kel was not yet asleep either. She had a lot of things on her mind – one of which was about Kagome, who she thought had been hurt in many ways. She smiled when she heard Kagome speak to her.
"Goodnight Kagome."