A/N: If I do this writing thing right, you don't have to read "The Snow Queen" to understand this story! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, and I certainly don't own Andersen's fairytale.
Cover image made by the wonderful Grapefruit Wannabe; check out her art at grapefruitwannabe. tumblr. com
Fateful Meeting
They were not brother and sister, but they loved each other as much as if they had been.
"The demons lunged at the powerful priestess," Old Kaede said, widening her eyes and mimicking claws with her wrinkled fingers. "To overcome them, she had no choice but to seal her own soul with the demons' in the form of a jewel!"
A little boy and a little girl kneeled by the old woman's feet under the Goshinboku. Kagome, a sweet yet agitated six-year-old, had her tiny hands clasped over her mouth as if suppressing a scream. Inuyasha, a quiet seven-year-old who wasn't quite human, rolled his eyes at his friend's exaggerated reaction.
"Who would even do this?" He asked exasperatedly.
"Someone who wanted to save the world from the forces of evil, Inuyasha," Kaede explained patiently. "A true hero."
"But she's as good as dead!" The boy frowned, his puppy ears drooping.
"Well, not exactly," the woman continued. "She was forever trapped inside the jewel, fighting the demons. The Shikon no Tama, which is how they called it, was so powerful that it had a mind of its own, and it started attracting all kinds of trouble. Humans and demons alike wanted to possess it."
"What for?" Kagome asked, her brown eyes not even blinking.
"Because the jewel had powers, that's why!" Inuyasha replied. "Aren't you listening, Kagome?"
Before the girl could retort, they heard Lady Higurashi calling her from the door of their hut. Sota, Kagome's baby brother, was nestled in her arms, his chubby hands waving wildly at the sound of his mother's voice.
"I think I better go..." Kagome sighed. "Will you tell us the rest tomorrow, Old Kaede?"
"I certainly will!" She agreed. "There's not much else to tell anyway, child. Go to your mother."
Kagome got up and patted her cotton kimono. "You should go too, Inuyasha," the girl wisely suggested. "Your mama must be waiting!"
The boy smiled at her, showing his tiny fangs, and waved goodbye as Kagome turned around. He got up and bowed respectfully to Kaede, thanking her for the story—even though he much preferred the tale of the Snow Queen who could turn into a giant dog.
"You would prefer it, wouldn't you?" The old woman muttered with a small smile.
Inuyasha didn't reply nor smile, but his golden eyes were dancing with mirth. Kaede observed his retreating red form until he reached the tree line, her heart clenching in her chest with each step the child took.
Inuyasha and Lady Izayoi lived isolated in a hut on the other side of the small forest. It was the closest the village chief would allow them to live, and both mother and son had to walk from there to get food and interact with Higurashi's family—the only people who truly accepted them. A widow herself, Lady Higurashi hadn't had the heart to cast the former princess aside like everybody else did. They became close friends and allies, which irrevocably led to an isolation of the Higurashi themselves.
The worst part of this little tale was that Lady Izayoi was getting weaker with each passing day. In spite of her many efforts as a healer, Kaede couldn't find a cure for the woman's aching lungs. It felt as if Izayoi's illness didn't come from the flesh, but from the heart; and that was something Old Kaede couldn't understand.
What will happen to the half-demon when his mother is no longer there? She wondered.
Observing a maple leaf make its way from a tree to the ground, Kaede felt the chill of the first winter wind. Sighing to herself, the old woman made her way back to her tiny hut, which stood right beside Higurashi's.
I will not allow a child to starve, even if he's the son of a demon.
I could never forgive myself.
Nine years later
Kagome was completely aware that she was being followed as she made her way back through the forest, but that didn't worry her one single bit.
"You can come out now, Inuyasha." The girl rolled her eyes impatiently. Looking up to scrutinize the treetops, she bellowed, "The same trick doesn't work twice, you know?"
She suddenly stumbled on something red and fell, stopping when her nose was almost touching the ground.
"It's not the same trick, wench." Inuyasha chuckled while pulling her up.
She huffed and turned to face him. "You have a nerve to pester me when I'm just coming back from your mother's grave, you know. You should be more grateful."
"Keh." Inuyasha huffed back, but he visibly sombered after that remark. Lady Izayoi was a touchy subject. "Let's go back, shall we? You're so slow that the sun's already setting."
She thought about retorting, but any possible snide comment died in her throat when the boy turned around and presented her with his back.
Well, as long as I don't have to walk home, there's no harm in a little insult.
Pulling her kimono above her knees, Kagome climbed on her friend's back and put her arms around his shoulders.
Soon enough, they were flying.
"As it happens to most things people can't see nor touch, the Shikon no Tama became no more than a legend. Mankind forgot the truth in the story, and so they stopped pursuing it," Kaede told the little children kneeling at her feet—and the slightly older children sitting above her, invisible to everyone else. "Demonkind didn't forget, though. It is said that the jewel got broken into a million pieces during a nasty fight, and its pieces fell all around the land. Some of them are still floating in the air, and we must be careful not to let them touch us!"
"Why not?" A small girl with huge gray eyes asked.
"They say the shards retain the jewel's power. They make everything good and beautiful seem insignificant, and everything worthless and bad seems worse," the woman explained.
After a few more questions, the children went down the road to their homes and Kaede made her way back to her own hut, hearing Inuyasha and Kagome jumping from limb to limb in the canopies as they followed.
"Why don't you tell them the Snow Queen story?" Asked Kagome when they landed beside the old woman.
"Because it scares them too much, child."
"And all that crap about an evil jewel that turns everything dark doesn't?" Inuyasha asked, one eyebrow lifting.
"Not as much as a giant white dog that brings snow, it doesn't," Kaede retorted. "I can always tell you the story again, if you want to."
"I'm a man already," Inuyasha grumbled.
Kaede and Kagome exchanged a knowing look and smiled.
"Let us sleep then, young man," Kaede said. "Tomorrow you have to chop as much wood as possible. Winter comes, and we don't have nearly enough!"
"Fine, old crone."
Kaede pushed the hanging mat aside and entered the hut, leaving the pair alone.
"Wanna go chasing rabbit demons tomorrow?" Inuyasha asked Kagome. "You can collect berries or something while I hunt."
"I guess I can, after I help mama with the laundry," the girl contemplated. "It'll be nice to eat rabbit meat during winter."
"I'll catch as many as I can get my hands on. It's not like we can count on anyone's help," Inuyasha muttered. Kagome heard the frustration in his voice; even if she hadn't, his ears were drawn back in silent rage.
Sighing, she lightly brushed the back of his hand with her fingertips. The boy didn't look at her, but she saw his ears were pointing back up. Kagome offered him her silent comfort, knowing that soon he would let it go. There was nothing they could do about it.
Truth be told, they kept mostly to themselves ever since she could remember. Her mother's decision to befriend an outcast princess had made sure of that. Kagome was actually very grateful for the woman's good sense and heart, otherwise she wouldn't have Inuyasha. White hair and golden eyes were imprinted in every important memory she had, so close to her heart that she didn't know if it was even hers anymore.
"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Kagome mumbled, briefly squeezing his hand before letting go.
Inuyasha looked at her intently, eyes shining in the darkness, and eventually smiled.
We'll be fine, was Kagome's last thought that night before she fell asleep.
Dry leaves flew everywhere, leaving the trees naked and the land desolate-looking. The morning chill didn't bother Inuyasha, though. He could feel the wind picking up like everyone else did, but its coldness didn't reach his bones; in fact, the more wood he chopped, more hot he felt.
The boy momentarily stopped to take off his fire-rat robe, figuring the white cotton shirt underneath would be enough to protect his rough skin.
Suddenly, every hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Inuyasha stopped again and planted the axe on the thick tree trunk he'd been working on.
His eyes were immediately drawn to the other side of the clearing.
A man was silently standing there.
Why didn't I hear him?
The stranger was pale, his black hair was long and wavy, and his eyes were a deep crimson color. Inuyasha could tell by the sheen layer of sweat on his brow that he was in pain, even though the boy could barely hear his ragged breaths.
Is he a demon?
"I don't want it anymore," the man said hollowly. A human wouldn't have been able to hear him from that distance.
"Who the hell are you?" Inuyasha asked.
Before the newcomer could answer, the boy smelled them.
A swarm of demons was approaching very fast, and from what Inuyasha could sense, he'd never seen so many of them gathered.
He sprinted toward the stranger.
Reaching for the man, the boy put one of his arms around his shoulders, forcing him to keep up with his pace. Inuyasha could feel his burning fever through both their clothes.
"You must take it off me," the man said urgently, sounding bitter. "It's useless. It outlived its purpose."
Inuyasha thoroughly ignored him in favor of running. He needed to get back to his axe if they were to stand a chance against so many demons.
He'd never had to fight so many.
The stranger suddenly stumbled on his own feet, apparently running out of strength.
"God damn it!" Inuyasha swore, kneeling down and not-so-gently putting the man on his back.
"Stupid boy, listen to me!" He grunted, grasping Inuyasha's shoulders. "If you don't take it off, they'll keep coming. They just keep coming, it never stops…"
"What are you rambling on about? We don't have time for this!"
Before he could answer, they were surrounded.
The first thing that got to Inuyasha was the noise: the hissing, screaming and cheering of the demons. Then, he saw the dark cloud of creatures hovering above their heads, and he knew for certain that there was no escaping this.
It didn't mean he wouldn't try, though. Adrenaline made him stand up and start running in spite of the extra weight.
They didn't get far.
Inuyasha heard his cargo groan right before feeling an excruciating pain.
Looking down, the boy saw a long horn coming out of his own chest, wetting his white shirt with blood—his and the man's. Inuyasha turned his head and saw the chuckling boar demon who stood behind them.
"I'm sorry," the stranger rasped, but he sounded angry instead of contrite.
The horn was pulled back, and the pain in his chest was unlike anything he'd ever felt.
Inuyasha fell to the ground with a dead body on top of him. Through the curtain of black and white hair, he could see his axe not too far ahead.
The boy closed his eyes in agony.
He couldn't know that a shard of the legendary Shikon no Tama had just been attached to his heart.
A/N: If you've read "The Snow Queen", you must've realized that I put the Shikon no Tama as the mirror from the original story. Kay's behavior changed after the shard was planted in his heart, and so will Inuyasha's.
Kaede is not a priestess in this AU, just an elderly village woman whom everyone respects (which is why they're sort of tolerating Inuyasha). She's like the grandma from the tale. Inuyasha is gentler and not as skilled in fighting because he didn't have to fend for himself, though he was still an outcast. It's also more natural for him and Kagome to be around each other, having grown up together and all—like Gerda and Kay.
I wanted Naraku to come in like a wrecking ball: he set the story in motion without meaning to, while dying, without even saying his name. What a guy, huh?
In the original story, the shards just happen to attach themselves to Kay while he was reading a book. It wouldn't have worked here lol.
Anyways, thank you so much for reading it! :)
Ps: I will always open the chapters with a quote from the fairytale.
