Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
Chapter One
Inuyasha is excited. He and his mother are going on an adventure!
At first he doesn't want to wake up, because it's late late and he was sleepy. But then Mother says that they were leaving to go on a long trip, that they might not come back, and suddenly the little hanyou is wide awake. He thinks he remembers this happening before, when he was very very little, but it's hard to remember back so many years.
He grabs his little bag and follows his mother out into the dark night. For some reason, she looks like she's trying to be sneaky. Inuyasha doesn't know why, but he decides it would be best if he played along.
He's been learning to do this a lot lately. Even though he still doesn't understand some things. Like when village women whisper behind Mother's back. They think he can't hear, but he does. Strange words often reach his ears. The one he hears the most is "half-breed". He doesn't know what all of them mean, but he knows they are bad words. Inuyasha knows better than to ask his mother what a "half-breed" is.
He also doesn't understand why the boys throw rocks at him sometimes. They call him "hanyou"- except they say it like an insult, a dirty name, which confuses Inuyasha. When his mother calls him her "little hanyou", she always says it in the most gentle way, as if she's talking about a precious treasure.
Inuyasha knows he's a half demon. Every night, Mother tells him stories of his father, the great inu-youkai, Inutaisho, and how brave and powerful he was. About how much he loved her and his son. She tells him never to hate his father, never ever, because he died protecting him. "You were just a newborn, and he saved your life," she had said, gently touching his nose.
"But, Mother," Inuyasha had complained, "if Father was so strong, then why did he die?" He couldn't grasp the concept.
She had given him a sad smile, and drawn him into her lap. Stroking his little white ears, she had replied, "Because Inuyasha, even the best warriors aren't invincible."
He always loved it when she stroked his ears like that.
Inuyasha follows his mother silently. By now, he's learned how to move without making a sound. He is very proud of this as he and Mother creep out of the village, hiding in the shadows, moving swiftly and cautiously. He pretends he is playing a game, where if he makes a noise or shows his fear, then he's out.
He's used to this game. He's played it a lot.
Inuyasha is so caught up in trying to be quiet that he almost misses the fear on his mother's face. Almost. He looks at her, a frown creasing his troubled face. When Mother is afraid, something is wrong. She's always so brave. He wishes he could be as brave as her.
"Mother, why are you scared?" he whispers.
She looks down at him, trying to hide her worry behind a smile, for his sake. "I'm not scared, just excited," she tells him, as memories of angry men and suspicious women gathering in the streets, whispering, planning, surface in her mind.
Inuyasha knows she's lying, but she hushes him before he can say any more. "Come," she tells him, taking his hand and leading him out of the village and into the surrounding forest. "We're going to a special village this time. It has a sacred well."
A sacred well? Inuyasha is interested and curious, and all thoughts of fear leave his mind as they take cover under the safety of the trees.
~/~/~
He wonders where they're going. They've been walking for hours, and already the sky is lightening. Dawn is coming soon.
Inuyasha yawns. Even though he has more stamina and strength than most human children, he is tired. He's spent the whole night trudging along after his mother, trying to decide whether or not to ask about why she's chosen the middle of the night to leave their home and move. Remembering the look of fear on her beautiful features, he decides against it.
"Mother, when are we going to stop?" he asks instead, sleepy.
"Not too much longer," she answers, scooping him up and carrying him on her hip. "The village is not far ahead."
"How long will we be staying?" he asks innocently, rubbing his eyes as he struggles to stay awake.
"I don't know, Inuyasha," she replies. "A while."
He has to fight back another yawn. Mother notices anyway. She always does.
"Go to sleep," she sing-songs, and starts to sing him a lullaby as they walk. "I'm right here, so sleep, my little hanyou."
The endearing nickname brings him comfort as he snuggles into her shoulder and drifts into unconsciousness.
~/~/~
"Mother!"
Inuyasha wakes up breathing hard, his nightmare already fading into an uncomprehending haze in the dark recesses of his mind. The first thing he notices is that he's lying on the floor, on a mat with a blanket draped over him. He searches around the unfamiliar room wildly until he sees his mother, also asleep, lying across the small space by the wall.
He can breathe again. His pounding heart slows a little.
The second thing he notices is the smell of smoke. He thinks this is strange. There was no fire in their hut last night.
However, the scent is faint but there, and he smells smoke, tears, and an odd mix of flowery stuff that he hasn't ever smelled before. It's coming from outside, from the forest. He thinks he can almost hear the echoes of someone crying, if he listens. The fuzzy images from his nightmare dance at the edges of his memory, making him strain hard to remember. He wonders if they have anything to do with the odd urge he has to go investigate.
Inuyasha gets up and goes to the door. He considers following the funny feeling he has, to go find the source of all the confusing smells and sounds. He glances back at his sleeping mother once, wondering if he should tell her he's going out.
She's so beautiful when she's asleep. He decides that she is the prettiest, most wonderful mother in the world.
He shakes his head. No. She's tired. He shouldn't wake her up.
Inuyasha leaves the little hut and steps out into a village just waking up. The sun isn't far over the horizon, and people are beginning their morning routines. He attracts a few curious stares, but as the gossip has gotten around a little, they don't seem too shocked.
He doesn't care, as long as no one throws rocks at him again. That makes him angry.
He follows his nose, eventually breaking into a run, the trail leading him to the forest that he and his mother had just traveled through on their journey. The stink of smoke mixed with the fragrance of fresh flowers is stronger now, traveling on the breeze towards him. Inuyasha can definitely hear someone crying now. He's close; he can feel it.
But to what?
He thinks it might be a little girl that's crying. The voice is high pitched and a little muffled, and punctuated by the occasional murmur of "mama". Inuyasha's sensitive ears can pick up more and more the farther he runs.
Before long, he comes upon a relatively small, open clearing. And off to the side stands an old wooden well.
He can practically feel the sacred energy radiating from the worn object. It feels ageless to him, as if time doesn't control it. He remembers what Mother said about a sacred well in the village. This must be it.
Inuyasha almost forgets about finding the crying little girl in his sudden curiosity. Though his mother has warned him many times about staying away from miko and sacred objects in general, he thinks that just looking at the well might be okay. I won't touch it, he tells himself as he draws in closer. I just want a closer look. His youkai is screaming a warning at him, his inborn fear of purification rising up with the nearness of the well. His youkai is telling him to run away with everything it has- but the human in him knows, for some Kami-only-knows reason, that he needs to continue.
The little hanyou is within reaching distance of the well when he hears it.
Crying. From inside the well.
He can smell the tears and the smoke and the flowers strongly now. Without realizing it, he has been drawn in by the overpowering scent- of her. He knows it now- there's a little girl in there, and she's upset.
Almost afraid, Inuyasha slowly looks down into the dry well. And sees a pair of very frightened, very lonely chocolate brown eyes looking back up at him.
The girl looks a little younger than him. She is barefoot and wears unfamiliar clothes, some sort of shirt that is too big for her and soft looking... shorts?
He is shocked. All the little girls he'd ever seen in summer had been wearing lightweight kimonos. He thinks that his mother would complain about the sort of mother that would let their little girl run around dressed like that. But the wondering and the surprise are fleeting, because she is staring at him and he knows what is about to happen. He tenses in anticipation of the ear-splitting scream he knows is about to pierce the air, his heart sinking.
He expects a lot of things in that moment. The normal reactions little human children have when they first catch sight of a hanyou.
Shock. Fear. Disgust. Accusations. Mostly fear.
He certainly isn't prepared for what happens next.
The little girl stares at him, taking in his long white hair and twitching dog ears, his golden eyes, tiny fangs, and sharp claws... and her face brightens with the widest, most beautiful smile Inuyasha has ever seen. Her innocent brown eyes stare into his amber ones, and looking back on it later, he thinks that the wordless conversation they have right then is more expressive than any words they will ever say afterwards.
"I'm Kagome," the little girl says in a childish voice, still hiccuping a little from her tears. "Can you help me?"
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Author's Note: Yes, I've decided to actually attempt a chaptered Inuyasha fanfic. This idea literally came to me out of a dream- back in June, I was in Colorado with my friend, and I woke up early and randomly decided to write this. I didn't want to post it until I'd fixed F&B, however. Hopefully the idea is at least semi-original. I haven't really seen too many like this, so I think it might be.
Updates will be sporadic. Not sure whether or not this is considered a drabble series. But don't expect a lot of drama or length in the chapters- I'm just writing this for fun. ;) Funny situations will be abundant, I'm expecting.
Anyway. I hope you read and enjoy. Reviews are greatly appreciated(:
Lady E