Hey guys! I'm really excited cause my computer's been down for so long and I've had this idea boiling in my head for some time now. I won't be able to finish my other story for a while now, (though as I look back there's a lot of mistakes and pieces chopped out) so instead I'm starting this one. I plan on updating once every two weeks, but possibly earlier depending on what kind of reviews I get. Enjoy!
"Did you see what he did? He offered you a romantic date to the movies! How could you turn him down like that?" Kagome simply shrugged her shoulders but Yuka proceeded right along not actually listening for an answer. "You may think you're all hot stuff now but just wait till you get older! You can't be so picky! He's, like, a total hunk!" Eri added her two cents.
Kagome couldn't help but roll her eyes at the two of them. After all, she didn't very well understand what made the guy so important... 'I mean, I guess he could be considered cute…yeah, a freakishly polite annoying so-called 'cute' guy….every girl's dream!' She humored with herself, hardly surprised that she wasn't smiling.
"Maybe next time they could try the park!"
The group sweat-dropped at Ayumi, who in turn gave each of them a questionable stare. Each simply shook their heads at the confused schoolgirl, blessedly ending conversation the rest of the walk down.
It was true enough though. Hojo truly was polite, apparently good looking, and honestly cared for her well-being. But it felt like something was missing…for some reason unbeknownst she could not shake this odd feeling...It was strange because she was taught from Gramps long ago to fall in love with someone with that exact description. 'Of course, Gramps isn't exactly the best guy to go to for advice' Kagome reasoned, thoughtful.
The last piece of advice she had followed was in the third grade when she awoke many nights to horrid nightmares. Gramps, being his usual supernatural-believing self, had advised her to where a string of onions to bed every night. Of course, since then even the smallest scent of onions made Kagome want to hurl.
'Then again, that's not nearly as bad as Gramps' old voodoo treasure chest,' she thought, remembering how she found accidentally found it, each ancient and creepy looking with sewed-on buttons. 'Well, at least it cured my nightmares of vampires,' Kagome thought dryly.
"Bye, Kagome!"
Snapping out of her thoughts, she waved a half-hearted goodbye, glad to be home. The shrine was small, yet spacious enough to be cozy. Red tiles lead up to a warm roasting fire place, with pinecones ready to be lit underneath it.
"What's this?" She asked aloud.
Two sticky notes had been stacked one on top of the other on top of the doorknob. Peeling them off carefully, as if they were ticking time bombs instead of regular notes, Kagome read:
Kagome
I will be out looking for the last missing piece to my voodoo collection. Please get some food at the grocery store. My back has been killing me, and I have reason to believe it is caused by the spirits that haunt our household.
'Sure, Gramps, blame your old age on the non-existent.' She mentally rolled her eyes, nonetheless peeling off the second note.
List of stuff you need to buy so that the spirits that haunt our household are satisfied and do not take out their anger on my back:
10 rotten yet edible apples
21 socks that do not match
13 eggs with no filling
12 dentures with no teeth
5 mildly-disturbed kittens
Kagome's eyes bulged as she read through the list, not entirely sure where to find any of the queer items Gramps had asked for. 'What does he mean by 13 eggs? They only come in by the dozen.'
Scowling in determination, Kagome decided to set out on foot to find out where in the world Gramps assumed she would buy all the…items. So far, all the regular stores she tried had either given her a look that clearly read 'You are psycho. No psychos allowed,' or calmly led her to the exit.
"And stay out!" A particularly annoyed store clerk yelled. With his crooked nose and long greasy brown hair he looked nothing short of a witch. Kagome let out an un-ladylike grunt as she was shoved out of the small store and into a puddle of mud. Growling in equal annoyance, she tried to shoot the store clerk a fiery glance, which proved futile since he had already closed the door and whipped out his 'CLOSED' sign.
"Oh, isn't this lovely?" She sarcastically remarked, as she brushed the mud off her skirt.
Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.
At first it started off slow: a few droplets of water here and there. By the time the very last speck had been brushed off, by some struck of luck, thunderclouds came strolling in followed by wails of misfortune that matched her dark mood.
But it was not the thunder and lightning, nor the rain, which had caused her to stop her ill thoughts and slowly, cautiously, turn around. Kagome felt like she was being forcefully pulled to the forest. This was simply crazy, because it was pouring down rain and lightning flashed what seemed like meters before her eyes. Something, she couldn't exactly tell what, beckoned her forward anyways, leading to a steep narrow trail. In fact, it was almost…spiritual…?
'Don't be ridiculous! Come on now? Spiritual? I'm turning into Gramps!' She mentally berated herself. Yet the feeling strongly throbbed, causing her to grasp her head for the oncoming headache. Knowing the odd feeling wasn't going to leave until she followed the strange calling, Kagome waved goodbye to the voice of reason and tromped straight through the forest. She knew the idea was simply preposterous, yet...strangely enough…she didn't care. 'At least it'll get this weird feeling gone once and for all,' she reasoned.
Well, this worked all in good, for a while.
That is, until night decided the rain and thunder had had their fun and it was its turn.
Cold wind jabbed at her face; her school clothes that she had cleaned earlier became mudded up so thoroughly to the point that she had given up on brushing the mud off, as well as became completely drenched. Each crunch beneath her feet seemed to ring out like missiles.
Yet every time she went to turn around, the oddly strong sensation pulsed beneath her fingers, seemingly forcing her onward.
Kagome let out a worn sigh, dragging her poor tired body across each stretch of land for all she was worth. Her stomach growled in protest. Her knees continuously buckled up. It had to be hours that she was just meandering pointlessly in a stretch of unknown forest territory. 'Come now, Kagome, you can't be serious. You've never even been to this forest. Besides, what if you get lost?' She mentally argued with herself. Yet she knew she wasn't going to stop until she found the source of the persistent…was it a feeling? A calling? Or was it just her heart beating irregularly? Kagome did not know…but she had to try and find out.
As if on cue, the weather dropped for what seemed like ten degrees. Kagome buried herself deep inside her clothing, annoyed to find what little heat resided there. "Stupid…stupid…stupid…" She chanted, quietly berating herself even though she was so cold by now to the point that became a difficulty. So instead, she substituted it with frantic running, because, well…she was lost; having only relied on the pulse beforehand was causing her to become frantic.
'What if leads to nowhere?' Kagome thought, feeling suddenly sick to her stomach. The idea was so overwhelmingly sad; to simply die out in a forest she wasn't even sure the name of, that she pushed it aside. Night was falling quickly though. So quickly, in fact, that Kagome could no longer guide herself through the forest due to the pitch black darkness.
Her frantic jog soon became a slow walk, for she no longer had vision. "This is not good," she muttered to no one in particular. 'Way to go captain obvious…' Kagome thought sullenly, though her thoughts ran more along the lines of: where the heck am I going to sleep tonight?
Her knees, which had earlier began to buckle, were now beginning to lock themselves. It wasn't until her hands began to slowly turn purple, however, that Kagome truly began to worry. "Need s-s-sleep…Need…s-sleep…" She chanted to herself, as if by doing so her wishes would magically be granted. Sadly, this did not work out. The only real change was the throbbing beneath her fingertips that had slowly traveled to her whole body-only to have the feeling completely disappear all at once.
Kagome furrowed her brow; there was no real change. It was still just as cold, she was still extremely hungry, and it was still just as dark-
"Ouch!"
She fell back, landing on her bum. Clutching her poor head in pain, Kagome noticed something rather frightening…she was having a hard time trying to get up due to her near-frozen bones. "I guess I'll sleep here…" she mumbled sadly. It was a huge tree, with cowering branches, but somehow being around it made the throbbing disappear. Edging the tree, she tried to find the best spot on the tree that would suffice for the night that wasn't already inhabited by insects.
Eight small scoots to the right; she finally managed to situate herself into a small cocoon, covering herself with leaves. This did little to warm her, thus she shivered every so often in the night, barely able to sleep even though Kagome was both mentally and physically exhausted. Whining, she rocked herself back and forth in the effort to maintain a semblance of warmth.
Kagome cried softly. Sad, because, she did not want to perish out in a forest she wasn't even sure the name of, and because of missing her warm bed back at the shrine. She was also annoyed with herself for making such a stupid decision. What on earth made her walk right into the forest without a second thought…?
'Goshinboku'
Her eyes snapped open. "Who's there?" She asked in a whisper, half because the voice scared her and half because her own voice was nearly gone.
With a frown, she stood up and circled around the tree, curious to find nobody there. Yet she did notice one thing different-a bright light in the distance. 'Wait-are there people there?'
Kagome felt such an immense tug of relief that tears began ran down her face. Laughing, and feeling immensely giddy, she ran as fast as she could toward the light source. She couldn't even feel her legs, she was running so fast. It was the most beautiful feeling in the world…well not really considering she was somewhat beating herself up by running into a few branches along the way…but still.
By the time she made it to the front steps, her heart was pounding wildly in her ear, and she could scarcely breathe, due to the cold wind flaming her lungs. All feelings of pain came flooding back in. It was as if by being near the odd tree, it was protecting her…
'Hmm, that's strange,' she mulled, 'maybe I can ask whoever lives here about the tree.'
Kagome gently knocked on the door. A sudden, wild thought occurred to her. 'What if nobody's home? Then where will I go? There's no house out here except this one!'
She would've panicked had she not had her energy zapped out of her.
A cold wind blew. Kagome tried to huddle inside herself, but that method proved impossible. 'Please answer…please…' A few minutes passed. She glanced nervously at the door, waiting in tensed silence for the owner to answer.
The faint sound of a door creaking welcomed her ears.
Kagome didn't even look up before dropping to the floor from a mixture of pain, fatigue, exhaustion, hunger, and cold. She saw a brief figure of brown before handing over her body to the welcoming darkness.
'….thank… you…'
Eyes gently flickered open. Kagome grimaced, trying to adjust her eyes to the suddenly bright world. Oddly enough, she felt warm and cozy. Smiling, she noticed a small tray with a nice bowl of soup and crackers were placed right next to the sheets someone had wrapped around her.
Hunger kicking in, she greedily grabbed the bowl of soup, wasting no time in shoveling all its contents down her throat. After slurping up the entire bowl, Kagome moved onto the water placed right next to it, gulping down the remains of it feeling quite full. Feeling relaxed and healthy, she took a moment to peer around the room.
A large comfortable fluffy red rug…with lots of hair and fur…the room was rather small, but Kagome could vaguely remember how large the castle…house…thing was. Where was she again?
Curious, she abandoned the small cozy room in exchange for some exploring.
"OH MY GOD!"
The place was obviously a castle, what with its long gaping red drapes and long marble hallways. Blinking in surprise, Kagome felt as if she were Alice and the world was amazingly large. The ceilings were even long… 'I wonder who lives here?' she mulled, bubbling at the thought of meeting some famous person after all of her troubles.
Letting out a wistful sigh, Kagome noticed all the beautiful red banners draping alongside the ceiling. Each was decorated with the face of a dog…a strangely enough it wasn't completely dog, it was more like a half dog half human figure…interesting…
It looked more like a ballroom to be honest, what with nothing in the center of the large room. It felt almost as if she had stepped into a different era…
The lighting lacked electricity, lit up by candles instead with long towering chandeliers. Large stain glass windows portraying the same dog-like face surrounded the expanse of room as well.
"-we needn't do that sir, after all, time is of the essence. I think I may have found someone worth seeking-"
Kagome let out a small gasp, hiding behind one of the walls as the nasally voice drew nearer, suddenly nervous of meeting the owners. Who were they talking about? Curiosity settling in, she decided to meet them later.
"-but be warned, master, she is very powerful and knows many spells, yet I believe she wishes seldom people harm."
A second voice, however much more masculine, ground out, "Fine I'll meet the damn witch lady! If I do you stupid people better stop nagging me or all slice all your throats!"
A little 'pop' noise closely followed.
"You've still got the tastiest blood ever master…" the nasally voice dwindled.
'Witch lady?' Kagome pondered, wondering who exactly a 'witch lady' was, yet for some reason afraid to interrupt.
With that followed a large crashing sound. Without another word, she scampered through the hallways, more afraid so than ever to be caught, for she felt ashamed that she had just heard something private and had indeed eavesdropped.
Running blindly down the halls, Kagome opened the nearest door, shutting it firmly behind her. What exactly had she just heard? Where was she, really?
"What are you doing here-"A woman's voice said, then gasped, suddenly moving into a defense position.
Surprised, Kagome gasped, racking her brain for an excuse. 'Well, you see, I have just eavesdropped on some people talking about a witch lady and one of them burst through the door,' she thought sarcastically.
"W-well I wanted to explore the castle…sorry,"
The woman had long dark brown hair tied up in a ponytail, with a pair of matching fierce brown eyes. Her face looked oddly white for some reason, and before Kagome could count her blessings, she found herself being dragged by her hand out the room she hadn't even the chance to look at.
Surprised by the woman's strength, Kagome could only follow dumbly. She found herself being invited to the same room she woke up in. Her eyes widened a fraction-this woman was the one that took care of her!
Feeling relieved, the feeling died immediately upon arrival as she was dropped unceremoniously to the ground.
"I don't know who you think you are coming to this castle, Kikyo, but you better expect to be hanged!" The woman glared daggers at her. Confused, Kagome nervously gulped.
"I'm not Kikyo. My name is Kagome-"
"Don't play dumb with me! You're lucky Prince Inuyasha was too preoccupied with some chores to bother with you otherwise you'd be slaughtered mercilessly!"
The mental picture of her being slaughtered like a cow raced through her mind.
Dropping to the floor, Kagome felt weak.
"Is there anything I can do to prove I'm not this 'Kikyo' person?" 'Perhaps I wondered into the wrong castle…' she mulled wearily.
The current of fierce anger coursing through the lady's eyes seemed to momentarily pause. When ten minutes passed and no answers came about, Kagome racked her brain for a solution.
"Uh…uh…ah ha!" She raised a finger in the air determinedly. "I am Kagome Higurashi. I live with a cat named Buyo. My Gramps believes in magical nonsense. I grew up in a shrine. I have three slightly dim-witted friends whose only concern in life consists of which celebrity is hooking up with whom," she counted off the tip of her finger. Feeling a bit more confident now that the lady looked confused instead of angered, Kagome continued.
"My dad moved to America for his job. He used to work as a barber-"
Quickly silenced by the lady's finger, Kagome peered up at her face, relieved to find all traces of anger left the woman's face. It was instead replaced by a small smile.
"Nice to meet you Kagome, I'm Sango," Sango, apparently, offered her hand. Kagome welcomed this chance with a smile as well, clasping the offer with a small shake.
"How did you know I wasn't this 'Kikyo' person or whatever?" 'I mean, you were about to chop my throat just a minute ago,' she thought wryly.
At this a smirk appeared on Sango's face.
"I know because Kikyo isn't creative enough to whip up an answer. Plus, you're way too naïve to possibly be Kikyo."
Choosing to ignore the insult, Kagome nodded, wanting instead an earlier question to be answered.
"Who exactly is Kikyo?"
A dark look quickly flew over her face, before being masked almost immediately by a blank face of indifference.
"She is nobody."
'Well, you sure didn't react like she was a nobody," Kagome puzzled, completely unconvinced.
"Why don't you go take a nap? After all you still look weak."
The earlier kindness dissipated from her face, leaving no emotion. Instinct telling her she was to get no answers, Kagome simply nodded, yet she still had so many questions. Where was she? Who's Kikyo? What did they mean by 'witch lady'? What exactly was Goshinboku?
Frowning, for she knew these would all have to wait to be answered, Kagome snuggled into the small pile of blankets.
"One more thing,"
Twisting around, she refocused on Sango standing at the doorway, who she originally presumed had left.
"Make sure you do not be seen by Prince Inuyasha until I explain to him the situation. He already put one person in the cellar and won't be in the most accommodating mood," before Kagome could ask what Prince Inuyasha looked like, or even what she meant by that, Sango disappeared.
Sighing in annoyance, she tossed all of her questions and worries around in her head, eventually falling into a deeply peaceful slumber. It was all a dream. Soon, she'd wake up in her bed with Buyo rumbling happily on her chest, no castle with 'witch ladies', 'Sango', 'Goshinboku', or 'Prince Inuyasha' to worry about.
Little did she know how much trouble she really stumbled on…
Let me know what you think as well as any mistakes I might have made :).