Take Me Away

Bound together in a most unlikely way, can two beings from the opposite ends of the spectrum, find a way to break this curse? Or are they destined to remain together… forever?

I don't own Inuyasha.

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She sat at the bottom of the well, staring up at the bright, blue sky that was currently the source of her problems. Her ankle throbbed painfully; sending jolts of not-quite-but-close-enough agony shooting up her leg. Slightly calloused hands gripped her ankle almost unconsciously, as she held back tears she knew were not too far from spilling over onto her cheeks.

Why?

Why hadn't the well worked?

She was not a bad person; maybe a little selfish here and there, but she figured she deserved it. Running around in a time not her own, purging evil, saving lives- one was allowed to go home and simply relax every now and then, weren't they?

So why in the world, was she sitting in an old, dried up well, clutching at a certainly sprained ankle? She often wondered if the world hated her. She got in enough trouble to have one wondering- what did I do to deserve this?

Why wasn't she back home, with her family, and staring pitifully at her devilishly large pile of homework? Why had the well rejected her? She had the jewel shards; that alone should have granted her access to her own time.

"Kagome…?"

She looked up, tears finally breaking free as she saw Inuyasha's silhouette against the sky. "…It didn't work." She whispered, "The well…" She looked down, tightening her grip on her ankle with a grimace. Not the best idea, but frustration was quickly taking a firm hold.

He growled, "What do you mean, it didn't work?" His tone was sharp, and she looked up with an impressive – though pitifully human – snarl of her own, "What do you think, Inuyasha? I'm obviously sitting here with a hurt ankle! You do the math!"

Almost instantly, she wished she hadn't yelled at him. Inuyasha had almost no emotional depth at times, and one of those times seemed to be right now. His ears pinned back against his head, and he frowned. He didn't say a word, as he leaped in the well, and landed with some careful maneuvering so he didn't land on her. He picked her up gently, far more gently than the scowl on his face seemed to suggest.

The walk to Kaede's hut was done in tense silence, Kagome caught up in her thoughts, and Inuyasha not wanting to bother the girl in his arms, who was obviously still upset with his questions. That was best 

left to the others- he wouldn't even pretend that he knew what he was doing when it came to extracting information from distraught young women.

Kaede looked up from her place near a fire, a large pot simmering just above the flames. She stirred it slowly, frowning as she looked up to acknowledge their presence. "What are ye doing back so early, Kagome…?" Her voice made it clear that she had noticed that something was wrong. Her eyes briefly trailed down Kagome's body to land on her ankle, and the frown deepened.

"The well didn't work." He grunted, and walked over to set Kagome down by Kaede, being gentle despite the way he glared at everything around him. He was just as bothered as Kagome was; nothing good could come of the well mysteriously malfunctioning. Magic was a dangerous thing, and whenever it went wrong, trouble was sure to follow.

4 sets of eyes that had been quiet since their unexpected entry, followed him as he stalked to a corner of the hut and sat down heavily. Once he noticed their stares, he scowled even more. "What are you guys looking at?" He barked, and glared until they turned away, to instead see how Kagome was doing.

Kaede was trailing expert fingers around the injury, and sighed. "It is merely sprained, child. I'll get you something for the pain; try not to move it too much for now." With that said, she heaved herself up slowly, and shuffled over to her store of herbs.

Kagome's eyes did not miss the look of brief pain that had darted across the older women's face, and silently vowed to bring some medicine for Kaede's joints as soon as the well started working once more. Thinking of the well, she fell back into her own depressed thoughts, and stared forlornly up at the ceiling. Kaede almost missed the whispered "Thank you" sent her way.

--

His teeth gnashed together almost painfully, as he seethed. Small rivers of blood ran down his muzzle, dripping off his fur, soaking into the dirt beneath him. It pained him to admit it, his pride was taking a very harsh blow with this one battle.

He was trapped.

And he couldn't get out.

There was supposed to be nothing that could hold him, stop him, or kill him. Nothing. He wasn't the Lord of the West, Killing Perfection, son of the Great Dog General, full Youkai.

Something was not right here, and it had everything to do with the glowing, pink – for lack of better description- bubble that held him captive. And what made it worse, not only was he trapped, he was cramped.

His massive, intimidating form was hunched into the most undignified position he had ever been forced into. But he couldn't transform out of it, oh no; that would be admitting defeat. And he did not lose, ever.



Really.

The top of his head was shoved into the dirt, and his neck was bent far too much to be comfortable. His spine was arched in a way that was clearly not natural, his back muscles screaming in protest. His back legs were forced up, and shoved into the sensitive skin of the inside of his ears, sharp claws nearly puncturing through. His front legs had been shoved in the opposite direction, and had he not been in present company, he would have praised himself for reaching the entire length of his body. Alas, in present company, it was humiliating and a harsh lesson learned:

Women were the devil.

He glared, the way his head was currently forced; it gave him the view of his own fuzzy genitals, the pink bubble that held him prisoner, and the women beyond it, who was completely at fault for this.

God damned females; he hated every single one of them. Especially this one.

Dark purple hair was pulled up in a sort of half-bun, leaving the rest to flow down around her shoulders, and spread out on the rock she currently rest against. Her purple hair framed a face pretty by any standards. Long lashes accented eyes as blue and clear as the sky above her. Dark blue lines ran down from her eyes, to the bottom of her jaw, with the same colored markings circling her neck.

She was dressed fairly similarly to himself, the only difference was that it was tailored to fit a female's body, and that she wore hers in black, with golden and silver patterns, her obi was gold with two seemingly twin swords tucked on either sides of her hips. This, however, was unsurprising. The Inu-Youkai clan was not spread out and diverse like most other clans; all dog demons were related, and belonged to the same family. They often dressed in a similar style, mostly for show, to alert others to their status.

They also tended to be anti-social, and hid themselves away from the world, and each other. The only groups that stayed together were usually only Grandmothers, Mothers, Children, and their Mates.

Which worked just as well for him; he did not need weaklings coming to him for protection.

"So, Sesshomaru-sama," She taunted, a grin curling her lips, "Ready to give in now, you stubborn old fool?"

He bared his fangs, "This Sesshomaru is neither old, nor a fool." He informed her coldly, mentally adding that he was merely a tad stubborn.

"Suit yourself; I can lie here all winter." She stretched out even more, eyes sparkling in amusement, as his eyes narrowed at the obvious taunt.

Yes, women were most definitely evil. He would rid the world of them once he got out of here.

"Bitch, you will release This Sesshomaru at once, or you will not live to regret it!" He hissed, resorting to threats he knew he couldn't keep at this moment. She was absolutely infuriating; and he knew she knew it, as well.



"I don't believe you're in any position to be making threats, My lord." She smiled, and stretched her arms up above her arms, her shoulders popping audibly. "By the way, my name is Callisto; use it."

Damn.

"No."

"Ahh, the breeze sure is nice out here."

Double Damn.

He snarled at her, and let his eyes flash red, hoping that maybe it would startle her into letting her control over the barrier drop. His aura flooded the small space, and pushed with all his might.

She frowned, and her eyes flashed white for only a second, before it was gone, and his aura was slammed back at him. He hissed at the pain, and clenched his eyes.

He didn't see her rub her temples, before she stood up. Her face was fixed into a glare, but it was readily returned once his eyes opened. They narrowed even more, noticing that she did not even seem bothered by the wound that should be steadily draining her life; if the poison didn't get her first.

She walked quickly over to kneel by Rin, and vicious grin splitting her lips. "What if I were to kill your young ward, hm?" A clawed hand grabbed a fistful of the young girl's hair, and jerked her head up. A dirtied, tear-streaked face was forced into view. Rin's brown eyes locked with Sesshomaru's for a split second, before she looked down at the ground once more, eyes closing in acceptance. No matter how much she admired her Lord, he was not a kind soul. If left up to him to ask for her to be spared, she would surely be killed.

But she wouldn't blame him for this.

Sesshomaru felt his fury grow, that was over the line, and he was sure she knew it as well. It wasn't that he really cared for the girl; but his honor would suffer. It would suffer because he couldn't protect one measly child, against a woman of all things!

He said not a word, as she was jerked closer to the barrier, so that he could clearly see the small tears that worked down her face. "Well, Sesshomaru?"

"Sesshomaru-sama." Was all he replied.

"Have you no heart!?" She spat, a claw held up against the now-shaking girl's throat, a small whimper working its way out of her.

"Emotions are worthless; do not think to threaten This Sesshomaru into submission. It will not work." His voice was cold and stable; not a hint of a bluff in his voice.

The Demoness shoved the child behind her, letting her fall to her butt with a surprised gasp.

Her pupils were rapidly transformed from a round, human-like pupil, into a slit. She bared her fangs, and her hands grasped the hilts of her swords. "Sesshomaru, I have been sent from the heavens themselves 

to test you!" She thundered, her aura whipped her hair and clothes around her in a frenzy. "And you have failed! You are a wicked, beast! You are not worthy to walk this Earth as you are!"

His eyes widened, as the barrier shattered like glass around him, and golden, glowing chains appeared around him. He snarled and thrashed as they bit into his skin, burning away fur and flesh.

"I pass your judgment, now, Sesshomaru!"

The words had barely registered, before he understood who this was.

Callisto, the name should have rang every single alarm in his brain, but in his pride, came his downfall. No one in their right minds would have named their Daughter after the Goddess of the Moon!

"You are truly wicked; soul deep. You will learn to be weak; to see through another's eyes. You will learn to love; to show sympathy to those weaker than yourself. You are hereby stripped of your title; no longer are you Lord of the West, you are Sesshomaru, the lowly dog that you are!" Her voice echoed loudly through the clearing, at a decibel that just didn't seem possible.

The swords were pulled from their sheathes with a fluidity that came from years upon years of mastery. She formed an X in front of her, and brought the blades down in an arc, her body following the movement, allowing her blades to bite clean into the dirt at her feet. Two lightning bolts had formed at the tip of each blade, and were 'slung' off mid-strike, and flew at him with deadly accuracy.

For several seconds, he wondered if the blow would actually come; before agony like none he had ever experienced shot through his body. The Golden Chains bit even deeper, before sinking into his skin, and taking his size with it.

His bones snapped audibly, ripping an agonized roar to echo through the surrounding forest. The ground beneath him shook as he writhed and twisting, attempting to escape this pain. It felt as if fire were burning his insides to nothing, and then building them again from nothing. His senses dulled, and once dangerous claws blunted into a laughable shadow of their former glory. His muscles weakened, once almost-hard-as-steel, were now what you would expect of a common street mutt. Silver fur dulled to dirty white, and shaggy. The markings sizzled, and sank back underneath the skin, and his poison glands boiled away in their ducts.

"Be true to those around you, and good to those who deserve it. Kindness can go a long way; give it freely, as it can go a long way. When you can truly regret what you have done, and for the right reasons, only then may you become the Lord of the West."

He rolled over onto his stomach, pushing himself up on shaky legs, his vision blurring everything together. She stared at him for a few moments, before she spoke again. "I am not so unkind as to let you live without companionship, be grateful, as I have given it to someone far worthier of it than you. Seek out the Priestess of your Brother's; she will be your guide." Her voice had softened, and she stared at him with sympathy. She did not delight in the punishment of others, and though this mutt in front of her did not deserve her sympathy, it was in her nature.



When he merely stood there, staring at her blankly, she frowned. "Go!" She snarled, and grinned in satisfaction when he jerked in surprise.

And go he did. He turned and ran, at a speed that felt as if he were wading through mud; this would not do. This would not do at all.

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A/N: I decided to give this story another try; so here it is! Rewritten, because my writing has improved since my first try!

Hope you guys enjoy! I don't promise to update quickly, or on any schedule, so just sit tight; I'll get the next chapter out ASAP. But 'Hands On Me' takes priority, so you may be in for a bit of a wait.