Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, but I like to use him because he's fun to abuse, hehe!

Curse of the Gypsy

Chapter 1

It was a dark night, a moonless night when the sky wasn't a star to be seen. A cold wind blew from the north, sending the last of the fall leaves skittering down the empty roads. The trees howled. And through the darkness ran three people. One was an old man, short and stout with a mane of gray hair and beady brown eyes. In front of him ran a woman of middle years. Her hair was short and chestnut brown, eye eyes dark and clouded with tears. The man in the lead was tall and well-built, also of middle years but still in his prime. His long black hair was held back and his dark blue eyes flashed with anger and worry. All three were dressed in the traditional clothes of their people, the gypsies. The elder man dressed as a Wiseman, the woman in a long skirt, and the younger man dressed in the clothes of a clansman--the head of a gypsy caravan. Behind them was silence and darkness. Before them was the outskirts of the nearest village. And rising on an open hillside was an abandoned barn, dark and foreboding.

"There's the barn!" the man yelled.

"That's where the children are!" the woman yelled back. Her fear made her voice catch. "Oh, we must hurry!"

Before the man could respond, the barn erupted in flames. Hot yellow and crimson waves raced up the dry wood, eating at the structure. Screams came from inside. The screams of two terrified children. Dark figures carrying torches ran at the sound of voices coming from the road, leaving the evidence of their crime behind as they raced back to their village.

"NO!" the woman screamed, racing faster then the two men, on the very heels of death itself. She was ready to race into the burning building herself, but her husband held her back. "My children!" she screamed. She struggled against the restraints of her father's arms around her.

"You must not go inside Yumi!" he told her.

"I'll get the children, stay here," her husband said, then leapt through the doorway.

"Koryu!" Yumi shrieked, tears falling uncontrollably from her eyes.

"He'll get them Yumi, he'll get them," her father soothed. "It will be alright. Just have faith."

"Oh please," Yumi whispered to herself. "Oh please let them be safe."

Heat surrounded him, the smoke trying to choke his lungs as he searched in vain for the owners of the voices that filled his ears. "KAGOME!" he shouted. "SOUTA, WHERE ARE YOU?"

"PAPA!" a young female voice cried. "Papa help us!" An accompanying wail signaled him to the presence of both his son and his daughter.

"Where are you Kagome?!"

"We're upstairs! Papa, there's so much smoke!"

"Stay there, I'm coming!" Koryu yelled, bounding to the flaming staircase. The fire licked at his clothes, but he paid it no mind, he just kept running. He reached the top of the loft, less flaming then the bottom because of the sodden hay bails. Crouching in the corner of such hay bails was a small black-haired girl who was hugging a smaller black-haired boy to her chest. "Kagome!"

"Papa!" she yelled, joyful tears falling from her eyes and she got to her feet with her brother and launched herself into his arms. Koryu easily swung both of his children into his arms and raced off once more down the stairs. But before he was halfway down, the case gave way at his feet and collapsed, trapping all three of them on the top floor. "Papa?" the small girl asked fearfully.

"Everything will be alright Kagome," he assured her, planting a kiss on her forehead. "Just hold on tight to your brother." The small girl nodded and clutched the little boy to her tighter, causing him to cry harder. "Easy Souta," he calmed. "Just a few more minutes, then we'll be outside."

Both children were small, the girl only seven, the boy only four. Koryu's arms reflexively tightened around the two precious beings in his arms when he found no other way to the bottom floor. There was only one way out of the burning building, and that was through the window.

"Kagome," Koryu said to his daughter, just loud enough so that she would hear him over the crackling fire and the crash of falling beams. The small girl looked up at him through midnight blue eyes, crystalline and glassy with unshed tears. "I'm going to get us out, do you believe me?" She nodded her head wordlessly, without hesitation. Her faith in her father was as great as the faith she put in God. Koryu smiled at his daughter. "I'm going to help you and Souta get out of the window. I'll follow you."

Kagome whimpered, afraid of heights, but she would do as her father asked--always. Koryu used his clothed elbow to break the glass of the window. Yumi and her father had run over at the sound of the breaking glass. "Koryu!" Yumi shouted at them.

"I'm going to hand down the children, can you catch them?"

"Of course I can!" Yumi shouted indignantly. Already her dark eyes clouded slightly as the winds began to pick up around the barn. The flames hissed, being fanned higher.

"You must be calm Yumi!" her father cautioned. "Too much of your power and the fire will consume them all!"

"Yes Papa," she said, calming herself. The winds lessened to a gentle but persistent breeze. It was Yumi's gypsy's gift, the power she was born with. She was a Wind Tamer, one capable of controlling all manner of winds and air currents. "Alright!" she called to her husband. "I'll catch them!"

Koryu needed no further encouragement as he gently let his children fall from the open window. The wind controlled by their mother caught them in safe arms, lowering them to the awaiting family. "Kagome!" Yumi cried, hugging the girl as her father hushed the wailing Souta once more. But the happy reunion was cut short when another beam from the barn fell, blocking the window from Koryu.

"PAPA!" Kagome screamed, struggling in her mother's arms. "Papa, papa!" But there was no reply from the window. The beam had fallen on the gypsy, knocking him from consciousness and stealing any hopes of freeing himself from the burning barn.

"KORYU!" Yumi cried, ready to run to the aid of her husband, had her daughter not remained in her arms. There was no saving him. The leader of the gypsy clan was dead.

"Papa!" Kagome continued to cry, tears falling uncontrollably.

~~Ten Years Later~~

"Papa!" The sound of her own voice woke Kagome from the bitter nightmare. She sat up in bed, shaking and breaking out in a cold sweat. She brought her hands up to cover her face, sobbing softly. Her shoulders shook with the effort not to wake the two tiny bodies laying next to her. The small tent was pitch black, signaling that dawn was still hours away. This did nothing to comfort Kagome.

"Kagome?" a sleepy voice asked. The girl choked back her tears and quickly wiped her face.

"Yes Shippou?" she responded, looking to the young boy that lay at her right side.

"Were you having another nightmare?" Two bright, demonic green eyes looked up at her with unquestioned devotion mixed with worry. The belonged to Shippou, a small fox demon with rusty brown hair that puffed at all angles. Kagome felt small paw-like hands on her bare shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," she apologized, tucking a strand of hair behind one ear. It hung in a loose mane halfway down her back, slightly curling and giving her a wild look no matter how many times she plaited it. She met the gaze of the green-eyed demon with a tranquil midnight-blue gaze of her own.

"You didn't wake us," he said looking to Kagome's left side. She whipped her head around to come face to face with a small girl. Her large cinnamon brown eyes were wide upon and questioning.

"Rin, you should be sleeping," Kagome chided gently. The small mute girl only shook her head slowly, her shoulder-length black hair falling around her face in an unusual way. She flung her arms around Kagome's neck and hugged her. Kagome pulled the girl into her lap and faced Shippou again, offering him her free arm. He promptly took it. Kagome leaned back, cuddling both children against her for equal parts warmth and comfort.

After a little while, both children fell back into the rhythm of sleep, their breathing calmed and regular, their hearts beating against her. Kagome looked up at the thin white ceiling of their tent, in her mind's eye seeing past it and up at the stars. It was nearing winter now, snow would have already fallen on the mountains to the north. It was time for her family's annual migration to the south. They were return to this part of the country in the summer, as they did every year. It was the way of things for a gypsy family. They had no real home to call their own, only a route which they traveled with the seasons. They stopped to perform in villages and cities during carnivals and fairs which provided them with the money they needed to live. Such was the life of the gypsies, even a clan as unusual as their own.

After the death of their clan leader, Kagome and her family had tried to remain in one place and start a new life. But a gypsy is always a gypsy. They were asked politely to leave one town after another, until they just continued upon their travels. Kagome, at the age of ten, had taken over the responsibilities that had once belonged to her father. She was the main attraction in all of their shows, and she was the person consulted when there was any communication needed with village officials. Kagome had also taken on the habit of brining strays into the clan. Their clan had indeed grown since the death of Koryu, and had once more become the caravan in had been in better days. The credit was due to Kagome, though she would take none. Her only response was that she was Gypsy, and that was the title she had more pride in then her own name. Every clan member had a story and Kagome knew them all. She was the pride of the clan.

But there was one thing that every member of the clan had in common. For it is the one thing that every gypsy knows. Each member of the clan had a power that was unique and different. That was the reason some of them had joined the clan to being with. Whenever someone had a power that they didn't understand or didn't know how to control, it was common knowledge to go to the gypsies for aid. When outcaste or looked down upon, the gypsies would take you in. They never judged, they never shunned. A gypsy was open-minded and they were as spiritual as they were mystical.

When dawn broke, Kagome shifted away from the children, careful not to wake them. She dressed quickly in a traditional long shirt that was the deep blue color of her eyes, with a loose white shirt and a red vest over it. The vest was embroidered with her family crest of gold, green, and red. It was the shape of a cross with a rose vine that grew up the stem and inside the open bloom of the topmost rose was a small violet orb. Anyone who saw the vest would know from which gypsy clan one belonged to.

Kagome walked barefoot from the circle of tents. In the center of the tents was a fire pit that had burnt down to embers during the night. Kagome rekindled the flames with the left-over wood and the lighter flint. Once there was a good flame that sent waves of heat from the circle, others had begun their daily stirring. Kagome was soon joined by another girl her age, with long brown hair and light brown eyes.

"Good morning Sango," Kagome greeted with a smile.

"Good morning Kagome," Sango said with a sleepy smile and a yawn. "Did you sleep well?"

"As good as ever," Kagome responded. She was saved from further questioning by her mother and grandfather when they emerged from their tents and took their places by the fire. "Good morning Momma, Grandpa," Kagome said cheerfully. "Could you make breakfast this morning? I'd like to take a bath before we move camp today."

"Of course Kagome dear," her mother said with a returning smile. "You're going to the hot springs I take it?"

"Yes, I'll return soon." Kagome got up from her seat and turned to Sango, who turned down the implied offer.

"I have to help Kohaku pack up the tents. You should take Rin and Shippou with you, though."

"Yes, you're right. We'll be back for breakfast."

"Be careful dear," her mother said with a wave. Kagome stopped at her tent to rouse the two small children.

"Rin, Shippou, come with me," she said, grabbing up a change of clothes for them. "We're going to take a bath before breakfast." She also folded up their blankets to take with them.

Both children rubbed their sleepy eyes and got up to follow. "A bath? Do we have to?"

"Yes, we leave this morning and I would like to be clean to do so," she laughed, chasing after the small demon. "And you should be clean too!"

Rin smiled and followed after them until they came to the hot springs a little away from the clan's camp. Kagome tossed Shippou into the water and Rin followed soon after. Kagome disrobed her shirt and vest and skirt, lowering herself into the water wearing only the thin slip linen that she wore as an undergarment. The water was hot, not unpleasantly so, but just hot enough to make her sigh in contentment.

The two children swam around her, splashing and laughing. After a little while, they grew bored and got out. "Dry quickly or you'll freeze!" Kagome told them as they shivered and quickly complied. Once they were dressed, Shippou began chasing Rin around the springs. "Do go too far!" Kagome warned, ready to get out herself.

"Kagome!" Shippou yelled suddenly from her left. Kagome leapt from the water, still wearing only her soaking slip that clung to her body as she ran to wear the children were standing. Rin looked up to her and pointed down to what they were staring at. Laying across a few rocks, barely moving, was a young man. Kagome grabbed Rin and Shippou, pushing them behind her. Her breath ran out in white gasps that hung in the air in front of her as steam ran of her still wet body.

"Stay here," she cautioned the two children before climbing down from the small slope and ducking under a low-hanging willow branch. She crept over to the rocks and to the person who lay on them. He was alive, she knew that because of the steady rise and fall of her chest. But he was curled into a ball for warmth, wearing only a red gi. Long silver hair fanned out around him on the rocks. It was then that Kagome saw he was wounded. There was an arrow lodged in his chest, a few inches shy of his heart. Blood trickled down the rocks in a tiny stream.

"Is he dead?" Shippou asked from the slope.

"No, he's not dead," Kagome confirmed. She overcame her temporary fear long enough to rush over and turn the unknown boy over to look at his wound. The young man's eyes flickered open and unfocused amber orbs zeroed in on her face. Kagome, damp hair hanging limply around her, wet linen clinging to her body, and a fresh rush of blood in her pale face, leaned over him and smiled. "Hi, don't worry, you'll be alright."

"Kagome?" Shippou whispered fearfully.

"What Shippou?"

"He's not human!" Kagome looked up at the small demon on the slope, then back down to the young man before her. Her hands flew to his face. It looked human enough, apart from the eyes. The golden eyes of a demon. A flicker of movement on his head drew her eyes. Two triangular ears sat on the top of his head. Yes, he was not a human. There was that first flicker of initial fear, but then the gypsy instincts took her over. There were demons living in the clan, Shippou was evidence of that. Not all were evil, and even if he was, he was hurt and sides don't matter when it came to medicine.

"Shippou, Rin, go to the camp and get Sango and Miroku," Kagome told them quickly. Rin nodded and ran, Shippou hesitated a moment. "Tell them to bring blankets with them too. And tell my mother to prepare a sickbed!" Shippou quickly ran to comply.

Kagome looked to the wound again, then grasped the bottom of her slip and tore off two strips. Kagome quickly tied one tightly around his arm to stop the wound from bleeding out. The second went around his shoulder and along the arrow to try and cut off the circulation to the wound. It only took a few minutes before the sounds of footsteps came from the slope. Sango, Miroku, and the two children appeared.

"Kagome!" Sango called, quickly coming to her side. "What happened?"

"No time, we have to get the arrow out before he bleeds to death. Miroku," she called, looking to the young man who had just appeared at her side. "Grab the blanket, you too Sango, and we'll ease him on to it and get him to the camp." The two teens rushed to comply as Kagome ordered. "Rin, Shippou," she spoke without looking up to them. "Go grab out things from the hot springs and take it to our tent. Then stay there." They rushed off. No one questioned Kagome when she assumed the role of the clan leader. "Ready?" she asked the two holding the blanket.

"Yes," Sango said.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Miroku quipped.

"Then let's go," Kagome said as the three worked together to lift, move, and carry the wounded boy from the riverbank toward their camp.

A/N: Well, this is my first fanfic. I do hope you like it. Please remember to review it!