Based off of the story 'The Frozen Kingdom' by Zonza
This is an alternate universe.
Background: Kagome is in her time, but she goes adventuring by herself a lot. She is 17-18 years old.
-Kagome's POV-
I walked past a big tree, which was growing vivid colors: yellow, orange, and bright red. Fall was getting towards its end, but there were still going to be color for about a couple months.
I was walking through a forest, one that was quite a far away from civilization or anything man made. I wanted to go someplace that had beautiful scenery at this time of year. Somewhere that I could hear the crackling of leaves and the rustle of branches as I walked without cars honking and sirens going off.
With my yellow backpack on, I started to search my way through the trees that bombarded me. This trip should only take about one week or so. Even though I wanted to stay in the woods longer, I had a duty at home. Looking up, I saw that it was almost sunset. I have about two hours or so till I have to set up camp. I'll continue for a while longer.
Taking a big step over a puddle, I trekked across grass that reached up to my ankle, brushing my smooth skin that miraculously hadn't been scarred with all my adventures.
"Caw!"
Swinging my head to the suddenly screechy sound, I saw a white bird on a branch a couple steps in front of me. I was taught that if you have nothing to do, follow a bird. Well, that was just a last minute advice from a friend. Most likely a joke. Pandering over my curiosity, I thought about what I should do. I got a week, why not?
While I was walking in the direction of the bird, it took off, flapping its wings, towards the west. The direction the sun sets.
"Ouh, I better keep up!" I said while jumping, trying to get my backpack lifted up on my shoulders. The conspicuous bird started gently flying from branch to branch, acting like a guild to a lost traveler. I found this amazing, like nature itself wanted me to explore what it had to offer.
Having enough energy to burn off, I started to jog slightly, keeping a rhythm with my heart beat. I jumped over a fallen tree with ease and passed by a family of deer as they were feasting on a berry bush.
Without knowing it, I was outrunning my heartbeat, following the bird that kept ahead of me. The chilly breezes of the night started to blow through my hair, pushing against my face. It sent loose strands of hair from my ponytail striding across my face. It tickled slightly, like someone whose arm would accidently brushed against your stomach.
Feeling a slight increase of weight, I noticed that my backpack started to slip off. It was about to fall if I didn't fix it.
Coming to a slow stop, I slid off my bag to check in case something fell out. Bending down, I saw that one of my side pockets had opened up.
"Oh no…"
Quickly trying to remember what was in that pocket, I stood up and started to walk in circles. It's strange, I know, but for some reason, if I walk in circles, it helps me jog my memory.
In the distance, the white bird continued to fly, soaring towards the last rays of sunlight.
*Couple minutes later*
"Oh! Now I remember. It was just some of jewelry. Why did I even bring that anyway? I must have left it there from my last trip. It wasn't that important anyways, so I'll just leave it." I thought out loud. "Anyone who finds it can keep it!" I yelled out to anyone who was listening. "Like anyone's ever going to be here."
Suddenly I felt something soft brush against my leg and I quickly jumped in the opposite direction. I bumped into a tree that was conveniently there.
"Ow!" I yelled as I felt my head knock against the rough bark of the tree. Raising my hand up to the back of my head, I started to rub it. "Oh please don't have a bump."
Looking down, I saw a squirrel staring up at me with a nut in its cheek. It tilted its head to the side and quickly scurried off under a bush and disappeared.
That's when I could help but slightly giggle at myself. "Wow…I'm such an idiot. How long have I been adventuring and that happened? And I'm still scared of it," I whispered in a slight childish tone as I backed away from the tree. I didn't find any bumps, thankfully.
Then suddenly reminiscing about my bag, I tried to spot it. Looking left and right, I squinted my eyes to see if it would help my vision. That's when my surroundings settled in. It was getting dark.
Spotting my bag from the outskirts of my eyesight, I scooted over to it and heaved it up my shoulders.
"Oof."
Settling it on my back, I looked in the direction of the west. Past the trees and vines growing, I saw that the sun only had about 30 minutes left to shine enough for me to take use of it.
"Ack! What was I doing this whole time! I need to set up camp!" Being in a hurry, I ran towards the sun, seeing if I can find any open area to set up.
10 minutes or so pasted and I couldn't find anything. Now strolling around, trying to save my energy, I finally took in the beauty of my surroundings. This really was a perfect place for some pictures. The tall trees, seeming like it could touch the clouds, and the leaves scattered on the ground that still had its color. But that's when I spot a slight glimmer of light in-between two trees.
"Whaa-" I stopped dead in my tracks, silently holding my breath. A few minutes passed and nothing happened.
I thought, "I must have just been my imagination. Ya, that's it." Taking another step, I saw the little glimmer again. "Ooooook…How about I go check this out then," I stated to myself, as I walked over to what had caught my attention. The wind picked up slightly, pulling leaves off their branches, following the path that the wind has given them. They float past me and I take no notice because that one little glimpse had my full attention.
"What could have made that shine? Here in the middle of the forest?" I thought to myself, as I stepped into a puddle. Lifting my foot, ripples were left behind in its place. Unheard to me, birds started to chirp, slightly in sync, slightly not. The small forest animals started to follow behind me, totally out of my knowledge.
Reaching out to the tree that I saw the glimmer at, I skimmed my hand over the smooth bark, trying to feel it there was something odd about the tree or not. At my touch, the glimmer popped out again, but it was farther ahead than I thought.
Whipping my head to the direction where I saw it, my eyes widened. My hand dropped down to my side at the sight that I saw. Magically, my body started to stride towards it, curiosity getting the best of me. I walked around a bush and right into a big opening that was empty from any trees or bushes or life besides grass that was only about 2 or 3 inches tall. That's when I tilted my head 20 degrees to the right.
My jaw dropped in a split second at the big castle I saw.
It was enormous! The wondrous thing though was that it was surround by smaller houses, about 20 or so. I don't know! Look! It's a castle! Who has time to count?
Without even thinking, without even knowing myself what I was doing, I ran. I ran straight towards the castle. Straight to this…
Wait…WAIT! WHAT?!
I stopped in my tracks, almost missing the fact that I was on top of a hilly cliff and could have just rolled off it if I didn't stop. Quickly looking down at my feet, I rubbed my forehead in confusion. "OK, what in the world am I seeing, or a better question is thinking?!" Taking a peek back up, I saw that the castle was still there, slightly giving off a sparkly reflection.
Swinging my head down, I thought, "Oook, so I'm not hallucinating. It's was defiantly there, or I hope it is and I'm not losing it." I took another swift check. "Yup, still there. Come on Kagome. Take a deep breath. It's just a castle. This is completely normal."
Taking in a huge breath and standing up straight, I rolled my shoulders back and stared in front of me.
…
…
...
"Pfffffff!" All my air escaped out of my lungs as I couldn't hold it in. "Ya, this isn't normal." The castle stood there, mincingly hovering above the smaller buildings.
"Sooooo…I guess I'm going to have to check this out then?" I asked myself, because turning around and pretending this never happened is something impossible right now.
"Well, how I'm I going to get down there?" I spoke out to no one in particular.
As an innocent answer to my innocent question, I innocently looked to my right and saw a completely innocent staircase leading innocently to the "innocent" town, innocently.
*Silence*
…
*More silence*
…
Without saying anything, I picked up my bag that slid off my shoulder somehow and headed straight to the staircase.