Chapter 1: A Violent Return

Buyo's ear twitched slightly as he listened to Kagome and her grandfather bicker about something or other. Buyo, finally sick of their loud voice, tuned them out and curled up, yawning widely, and curled his tail over his nose. Almost a split second after that something hard and brown, with leathery scales, was pushed up against his mouth. Buyo opened an eye and saw a bright red ribbon tied around it.

"Here Buyo, lunch," Kagome muttered.

Buyo felt a twinge of annoyance, but took the…whatever it was…and trotted off, while Gramps stared after him, open-mouthed. As soon as he was out of the room Buyo ditched the scaly thing and stumbled sleepily to his favorite napping place—a spot warmed in thick rays of golden sunlight. Sighing contentedly, Buyo curled up in the warm rays and promptly fell asleep. He was awoken almost immediately by the thumping of footsteps. Buyo hissed in annoyance. With an irritated lash of his tail, Buyo stalked away into the kitchen and scratched the door.

Mrs. Higurashi turned to him and smiled. "Would you like to go out Buyo? Don't bring any dead things back inside." That said, she held op the door the Buyo slowly trudged out.

Buyo padded around the property, staring blankly ahead. The day had made a sudden turn for the worse. The skies darkened into a dark slate-gray color, and a sudden chill filled the air. Buyo shivered, fluffed out his fur against the wind, and looked up to see where he was. His paws turned to stone when he saw the Bone Eater's Well looming up before him, still as old and foreboding as the first time he'd entered it. Buyo was about to race away when he heard Souta calling him. Buyo clenched his teeth, wondering why the Fates were against him today, and leaped at the door to the miniature shrine.

It creaked open upon impact and Buyo tumbled inside. He slammed into the sliding door again and eventually managed to force it close. Buyo sat panting in front of the door, hoping that Souta would just leave for school already. Again, the Fates were against him as he heard Kagome's and Souta's voices outside the shrine. Without a second thought Buyo fled deeper into the shrine and crouched against the side of the well, flattening himself to the floor and before long managed to melt into the shadows.

The door slid open. "Buyo?" Kagome called, her voice echoing eerily. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

Kagome stepped into the shrine and moved toward the well. A sudden, sharp banging and rough scratching started instantly, and Kagome jumped as Souta let out a loud yelp. "Souta!" she chided. "I bet it was just…Bu…yo…"

Kagome stopped mid-sentence when Buyo flicked his tail across her ankle and looked up at her, meowing loudly. "Umm…" Kagome picked Buyo up and looked at Souta. "Well, here's the cat—"

Behind hr, the trapdoor covering the well slammed open, and several long, clawed arms shot out, snatching Kagome by her waist and dragging her back. Buyo screeched and struggled wildly, finally managing to break free of Kagome's grasp. Buyo leaped, and dug his claws into the wood of the well's rim, but he felt himself slipping, and the old wood creaked, and snapped away. Buyo yowled in alarm, and lashed out at the rocky wall, but he couldn't find a solid foothold. Buyo shut his eyes tightly and went rigid as the ground rushed up to meet him.

His head throbbed painfully s he began to stir. Buyo weakly raised his head and tried to stand, but his legs buckled and Buyo collapsed on the ground, sending a new burst of pain through his body. Buyo moaned. He assumed he'd been battered by the rocky walls, because, if memory served, when he'd first come a blue aura warped him to—wherever he was—and allowed him to touch down gently on the ground.

Buyo wasn't sure, and he really didn't care, as long as someone found him soon. After the fresh burst of pain subsided—somewhat, if anything—Buyo attempted to stand again, but this time his legs didn't even buckle. Instead, a shadowy wave of pain filled his body and dimmed his senses. Buyo's eyesight went blurry, and he blacked out before he hit the ground….

When he came to, the pain wasn't nearly as bad as before, and he felt somewhat better, but not by much. When he stood, he found an irksome stiffness in his legs, and his head still spun, but Buyo managed to stagger to one wall, where he easily found the footholds he'd used the first time he'd come to…this place.

Shaking away his weariness, Buyo unsheathed his claws, flexed them repeatedly for several moments, and then fitted them into the footholds, and then began his accent. Panting with exhaustion within the first ten minutes, Buyo muttered to himself, "And I thought all things were easier the second time around."

Buyo sighed, sucked in a deep breath, stubbornly continued up the well. When he finally reached solid ground, he was tired, filthy with dust, aching all over, and had ripped out two of his front claws, while several more were bleeding, and one on his hind foot was about to rip loose. Buyo flicked an ear in irritation and shook out his pelt.

He scented the air and instantly recognized the same scent he'd tasted the first time he'd come. Buyo twitched his ear in the direction of the woods, shook off the longing in his heart, and quickly padded off in the direction of the village.

The village was large, which surprised him a little, though a bit old fashioned. The houses were single-story made out of logs with a thin sheet of—bundled sticks…hay?—for a roof, A/N: sorry, forgot what the roofs are made of…) and was weighed down with rocks. A mat hanging from the doorway served as a door.

Buyo sniffed the air. He scented a lot of different things—herbs, crops like corn and rice…um, sake?...fish, and a lot of other stuff he couldn't identify. Buyo only just realized how hungry he was, and thought about how he could get food. There had to be a river somewhere around here, otherwise, where'd the fish come from? He could fish…but then again, he doubted he'd be able to catch a fish seeing as how tired and battered he was, and even if he did, would he have the strength to drag it back? But, thought Buyo, would I even want to bring it back? He noticed several pairs of golden cats' eyes leered at him from alleys, well, they were more like narrow spaces between the houses and food stands, but still….

Buyo tensed as a thin gray tomcat with short, matted fur and torn ears crept from an alley and slunk up to him. Buyo forced his fur to lie flat as two more cats—a brown tabby with filthy, ruffled fur and a cat with fur so filthy it was hard to tell its pelt color—fell into step with the gray one.

"So, a newcomer?" growled the tabby. "Don't get many of these."

The third cat twitched a limp, sagging ear. "Most don't even make it out of their own village—if they can make it out of their house." Buyo must've missed the joke, because the cat who'd just spoken and the tabby broke out wheezing laughs.

The tip of the gray tom's tail twitched, and instantly the other two froze, straightened up, and glared at Buyo. The tom curled his lip, revealing long, crooked yellow teeth. "Listen cat, I don't know where you come from, and I don't care, but you'd better get back to wherever that place is. This here village is my territory and only cats I deem worthy are allowed to stay here. Got that?"

Buyo held his head and tail up, and bristled. "I'll stay if I want to. You can't tell me no."

The gray tom's face twisted into a snarl, and he lunged suddenly at Buyo. Buyo ducked low and sidestepped to avoid the tom's slashing claws. The moment the tom's paws hit the ground he spun around, hissed furiously, and launched himself forward again. Buyo let out a shocked cry, and staggered back as the gray tom's claws bit into his flesh.

Buyo's eyes began to blaze as he unsheathed his claws. Risky as it was, Buyo was mad and wanted to see the look of shock on the alley cat's face when this chubby housecat ripped his fur off. Buyo bore his teeth, growled, and leaped at the tom as he landed, catching him off guard and from behind. Buyo snatched the tom by the scruff, and began to shake him violently, ignoring the gray cat's furious caterwauls until he felt a set of claws rip past his fur.

Buyo released the gray cat and watched triumphantly as he went sailing into the way of a passing cart led by a large bay mare. The horse glanced down at the hissing gray tom, shrieked, and stumbled backward as she reared in distress. Her forelegs pounded the air and her lethal hooves lashed the air. The tom spat and dodged around the mare's thrashing hooves, and charged at Buyo.

Buyo whirled and was about to flee when the tabby and its friend each grabbed a shoulder and twisted him around just as their leader threw himself at Buyo. Buyo felt the cat's claws tear into his belly and a stream of blood spattered the air. The wind was crushed from Buyo's lungs and he felt himself grow lightheaded. The gray tom appeared no more than a blur.

Buyo grunted, and slashed at the nearest cat's face. He caught the tabby in the face and managed to sink one claw into its eyes. The tabby shrieked in pain and tore away from the fight, fleeing into the nearest alley with its tail down. With an angry bellow the other cat slammed into Buyo and sent him lurching sideways. Ribbons of blood spun into the air and Buyo instinctively lashed out with a hind foot. He felt his claws nail the cat in the face, and it reared back with a hiss of alarm.

The gray tom decided to butt in by this time, and scored his claws along Buyo's cheeks. Buyo grunted and smacked the tom's face his claws, leaving another set of tears in his ears. The tom snarled, and tackled Buyo, biting into his neck. Buyo grit his teeth and managed to twist around enough to grab the tom's head in his paws. Buyo kicked at the gray tom's stomach with paws and bit at his throat as well.

Soon the tom's belly and throat were stained red with blood. Finally, with a yowl of rage, the tom pulled away and stood several yards away, legs braced as if to charge and panting heavy. The tom glared at Buyo, but back away as his fur began to bristle. Two vulnerable areas had been opened—alley cat though he was, he knew when to back down. "Looks like your worthy enough to stay," he spat, not sounding the least bit happy.

"I'm staying because I can," Buyo snapped in reply.

The tom hissed, then turned tail and fled into the alley, with his remaining crony following at his heels.

Buyo sighed and collapsed where he stood, feeling lightheaded and dazed. His belly had been torn open, not scratched, torn. He wasn't sure if he'd survive. The wounds he'd given the tom weren't bad—just enough to make sure he remained stiff and out of action for a while.

He coughed painfully, and began closing his eyes, but jerked his head up when he felt someone pick him up. He heard a maiden's voice say, "One minute! I must get this poor cat to the Lady Priestess!"

"Will she heal a cat?"

"I don't know, but I might as well try! Just wait for me!"

Buyo blacked out then.