{Author's note}
I liked writing this chapter because of a certain character that comes in *cough* *cough*.
InuYasha: We all know it's me!
Me: SHUT UP! You just ruined it!
InuYasha: Keh. Like I care!
Kagome: InuYasha…
InuYasha: No! Stop it Kagome…I didn't mean it…I…
Kagome: Oswari!
Me: Like a boss. (lol)
Anyway…InuYasha spoiled it for you, sorry…I hope you enjoy it anyways. I'm still going to have some characters from the actual manga come in here and there, and you'll find in places this story is similar to the actual manga. I meant it to be that way, so yeah…there will be parts similar to it.
Japanese
'Thoughts'
Translation for Japanese words is at the bottom of this chapter. Thank you.
Enjoy~
Chapter Two: InuYasha's Forest
Kagome looked at the wet grass as she climbed the hill to the edge of InuYasha's forest. She had woken up late this morning, causing her to leave later than expected, and the sun was going to set in two hours or so, not giving her enough time to search for an answer to her questions. She guessed she could stay after the sun set for a little while, but once it became dark, she knew she had to leave; the last thing she wanted was Kaede looking for her.
She reached the edge of the forest and looked up at the massive trees and mountains behind them. InuYasha's forest was huge, and Kagome didn't know how long it would take her to find the answer to her dreams. She might have to stay in there for weeks…maybe years. Letting out a sigh, she walked into the sea of trees, staying alert.
'I wonder if I'll come across the Hanyou…' Kagome didn't know why, but she longed to see what state InuYasha was in. 'Who was this hanyou who so many feared? Why was he sealed? Who sealed him?'
As each of those questions ran through her mind, Kagome found herself getting excited over the idea of finding InuYasha. His story made her curious, and Kagome was a cat when it came to curiosity. {A/N: Curiosity killed the cat? Familiar with this saying?} In fact, Kagome found Kikyou's story enticing as well, but Kaede refused to answer any questions about Kikyou. Kagome, in the beginning, thought it was because of Kaede's feelings towards her lost sister, but as time wore on, Kagome couldn't help but think that Kaede was hiding Kikyou's past from her to keep her from being afraid of the same fate. Kagome wasn't one to fear things, though, and so she tried, with no avail, to make Kaede see this. Nothing changed. The villagers were no help, either; they treated Kagome as if she were too pure to be around them, too pure to be associated with. This made her life a lonely one where her guardian and sensei was also her only friend.
"Well, if it isn't a young miko?" a voice hissed, making Kagome freeze in her tracks.
Kagome glanced around herself, feeling lost and unable to sense anything. Taking out an arrow and setting it on her bow, Kagome braced herself for the first danger of her journey.
"Don't be afraid," the same voice continued. "I won't hurt you."
"Then show yourself!" Kagome yelled, her eyes darting to the source of every sound that made its way to her ears.
"My, my, such harsh manners…"
Kagome jumped, hearing something in the bushes to her left. She turned and aimed at the bush, ready for something—anything—to jump out at her.
"Answer me something, Miko," there was a pause and an intake of breath before the voice continued. "What is that energy coming from your chest?"
"Come, and I shall show you," Kagome replied, turning slowly. "I promise not to hurt you, if you do the same."
"I can't promise that…What if I want the source of that power, Miko?"
"Well then, I understand," Kagome replied, eyes searching for any movement. "Then, I must also break the promise."
"You look familiar…" a shadow loomed to the right of Kagome. She could see it out of the corner of her eye, but didn't acknowledge it. "You look like the miko who sealed InuYasha to the tree...What is your name?"
"Come into the light, and I shall tell you my name," Kagome replied, loosening her grip on her bow to show the shadow she meant no harm unless it did.
"You smell like her, too," the voice continued. "Ghastly smell, but I see you have a bow an arrow. She was good at that."
"Who is this miko?" Kagome asked, lowering her bow.
"I have forgotten the name, and she left this forest many years ago," the voice paused. "I see…I know what is around your neck…"
Kagome, in a flash, had her guard back up; her bow and arrow were in place, and she was aiming at the shadow, "Well, what is it then?"
"Something that will make you break your promise," the voice replied as the shadow lunged as quick as lightening, "and me to break mine…"
Kagome shot her arrow, scathing the shadow and causing it to cry out in pain. Kagome could now see the youkai. It was half woman and half millipede, but a youkai.
"You'll pay for that, Wench," the youkai hissed and in one quick movement had Kagome stuck within her coils, squeezing the air out of her.
Kagome writhed in her hold, trying to get her left hand free.
"How does it feel, Miko?" the youkai crackled. "How does it feel to know that you failed at protecting the Shikon No Tama and are about to lose your life?"
With her left hand free, Kagome plunged her arrow into the body of the youkai. She retracted her coils, screaming in sheer pain. Kagome fell to the ground and immediately got up, and she began to run deeper into the forest.
'I've got to get to a bigger clearing…I'm stronger where I have more room!'Kagome realized that she had no training in wooded areas. Always having some space to run, dodge, and shoot from a distance, she was not use to close combat, giving her a disadvantage.
A few yards away…
A boy hung on a tree with an arrow pinning his chest to it. Through the some odd years he had been asleep, vines had grown over his body, pressing him further to the tree in a deadly hug. Still, he seemed as if he were part of the tree, as if he were always there. The forest would be nothing without him; it wouldn't have a name.
Something, a force of sorts, coursed through his body, awakening him from his slumber. Smirking, he opened his eyes, for the first time in decades, and sniffed the air, scowling at what he picked up.
'I can smell you, Wench. Come, I've been meaning to see you, Miko.'
Kagome stumbled into a clearing, bending over to catch her breath. She didn't notice the boy on the tree, but he noticed her.
"Oi, Wench," he called out to her. "So out of shape that a mere run tires you?"
Looking up to see who had the audacity to insult her in such a way, her eyes widened with realization on who was talking to her.
"That's right, Wench," the boy smirked, nodding his head. "I'm awake. Looks like your seal isn't as strong as you thought it was."
Kagome straightened and answered, "Seal? I put no seal on you."
"What are you talking about?" the boy screamed, angry at her denial. "You shot this arrow! You sealed me to this tree!"
She walked forward, climbing onto the tree's roots that had grown above ground. When she was as close as she could get to him, she replied, "I'm not the miko that sealed you. Take a look."
He looked down at her, his amber eyes scanning her every feature, "But your scents…they were identical…"
"That may be, but I am not who you think I am. My name is Kagome," she smiled up at him.
"Keh," he looked away from her, slightly blushing. "Don't smile at me as if we knew each other. I don't like to be familiar with mikos."
"Okay, then," Kagome jumped down from the tree roots.
"Eh?" the boy noticed her retreat. "Where do you think you're going? Get me down, wench!"
"Why should I? I don't know you," she winked one of her brown eyes at him before jumping to the ground.
"Keh! Like you didn't know who I am!" the boy hissed, annoyed by her ignorance. "I'm InuYasha!"
Kagome turned, eyes wide. She had a nagging feeling it was him when she first saw him, but how could that be, "InuYasha…" 'What is he doing awake?'
Coils surrounded her again, throwing her unto InuYasha and keeping her there.
"Eh?" InuYasha squinted. "What in damn's name…?"
"Thought you could escape me, Miko?" the voice from before chuckled.
"Damn it all," InuYasha snickered, making Kagome look up at him. "I can't smell it because of your horrible scent!"
"Well, excuse me," Kagome hissed, glaring at him. "I can't really help that because of the certain situation we're in."
"Shut up, Wench," InuYasha commanded her. "We wouldn't even be in this situation if you hadn't shown up."
"Give me the Shikon No Tama," the youkai demanded. "Or I'll squeeze it off of your fragile, little neck."
InuYasha's eyes flashed, looking down at the woman against him. 'She has the Shikon No Tama? Hmm…this is interesting…'
"Oi, Wench," he tried to get Kagome's attention.
"I told you my name," she replied, irritation behind every word that passed her lips. "Use it."
"Just listen to me," he rolled his eyes. "I can get us out of this mess if you break the seal on me."
Kagome, under Kaede's tutelage, had been accustomed to seals and spells, but she wasn't familiar with InuYasha's. 'How am I supposed to do that?' She looked around, trying to find some clue. 'Does he know how to?' She glanced at him but shook her head at the idea. 'He's too arrogant. I'll never hear the end of it…Besides, he's a hanyou. What could he possibly know about seals?' Scanning his body, she came face to face with the arrow in his chest. 'That's it!'
Just as Kagome was about to pull the arrow from his chest, the coils around them got tighter, smashing her closer into InuYasha.
"Stop squishing me, Wench!" he yelled, looking down at her.
"I'm sorry," she said between clenched teeth. "It's not like I want to be in your personal space."
"Keh," was InuYasha's reply. "Any woman, much less a human woman, would kill to be this close to me."
It was Kagome's turn to laugh, "Oh, yeah. Every girl…especially the one that sealed you to this tree."
Apparently, that struck a nerve; his confident expression turned to fury, "Damn wench! How dare you insult me in such a way! I will rip you to pieces when I get out of here!"
"I'm the only one that can break the seal," Kagome pointed out. "So I suggest you stop threatening me."
"I think I've given you enough time, Miko," the youkai, long since forgotten by Kagome and InuYasha, interrupted their quarreling. "Give me the Shikon No Tama or die along with the hanyou."
With all the strength she could muster, Kagome freed her right arm and reached for the arrow. Once her hand came in contact with it, the arrow glowed a magenta color; it deteriorated in her hand until there was nothing left. InuYasha smirked, managing to free his right hand.
"Iron Reamer Soul Stealer!" he yelled as he dug his claws across the coils surrounding him and Kagome.
They retracted, causing Kagome to fall to the ground with a thud. InuYasha managed to break free from the vines around his body and was in the air, fighting the youkai. Kagome got up off the ground, knowing she had to either escape before InuYasha noticed and warn the village, or she had to find a way to contact Kaede for help.
"Don't you dare try to escape, Wench!" InuYasha yelled at her as he brought his claws down on the youkai. "You have something I want, and I will kill everyone in your pathetic village to get it."
'Well, that crosses off idea number one.' Kagome sighed, knowing the only way to get Kaede. 'If it attracts other demons, so be it. The more to stall dealing with InuYasha, the better.' She opened her mouth and let out a scream so loud that InuYasha stopped in mid attack to cover the two, white, dog ears on his head.
"Damn, Wench! What do you think you are doing? You'll cause more trouble!" InuYasha hissed, recovering from the loud wail the miko had let out.
Outside the Forest, in the Village
Kaede and many villagers looked to the forest, listening to the loud scream that had emitted from it. Kaede's eyes widened with realization as she got up from her garden, "Kagome…"
TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER…
{Vocab}
Miko…Priestess
Shikon No Tama…The Jewel of Four Souls
Youkai…Demon
Hanyou…Half Demon/Half breed
Iron Reamer Soul Stealer…InuYasha's attack with his claws.
Oi…Hey, an improper way to get someone's attention
Sensei…Teacher