"Ah, Mom's going to be so excited to see me! I bet she's going to make my favorite dinner. It's going to taste so delicious!" Kagome was thrilled about going back to her time. She couldn't wait to see her family's face when she walked through the door. 'Grandpa will be working outside so he will be the one to see me first. Souta will be playing video games inside on couch and mom will be pestering him to go outside and do something productive.' She kept going over the situation in her head, smiling to herself at the relieved expressions that she knew would be on their faces.
Kagome's fantasies stopped as she started to pick up on some jewel fragments near by. 'I sense jewel shards. It seems like there's two…I hope Kouga isn't following me!' Kagome stopped and looked behind her to see if she could spot the owner of the disturbance. She couldn't find any traces of the wolf demon, but decided to take a different path just to make sure. 'That should throw you off you nosy wolf!'
Kagome walked for another fifteen minutes until she saw an opening to a clearing. Stepping through the trees she couldn't believe her eyes. She saw flowers decorating everywhere see looked. The field was a rainbow of colors, touching until her eyes couldn't make out. It was breathtaking. Multi-colored butterflies littered the field, sitting atop every other flower, some resting and some playing a fun game of tag. The sky was an unseasonal blue, warming you to the core. The fields had a peaceful aura, making kagome calm down and appreciate the spectacular view. 'How could I have always passed by this?'
The miko stepped further into the field and bent over onto the ground. She sat her backpack and weapon down beside her as she spotted a diamond in the ruff. Tears filled her eyes as she found her favorite flower in the sea of wondrous beauty. She picked the amaryllis flower and turned it around in her fingers gingerly, careful not to break the delicate beauty. While she was looking at the flower, she noticed that there was a crown made up of different colored flowers lying upon the ground. It didn't have a pattern and was some what dull, but it was beautiful. You could feel the sincerity the person had while making it.
"Kyaaaa!" Kagome's head snapped up and she dropped the blood red flower onto the ground. She bolted in the direction of the scream, almost tripping over her feet in her haste. When kagome got to the path, she laid eyes upon an unsightly scene.
Rin was running for her life towards the direction of the bones eaters well with her dragon friend along side her. A huge ogre demon was swinging his big mallet of a weapon around furiously in the air, aiming for the little girl as he ran.
"Rin…" a broken voice crocked from the trees.
"Jaken, is that you? Are you alright?!" Kagome ran over to the little green imp and rolled him over to his back. She held on to his hand to comfort him and evaluate the level of damage he had taken at the same time.
"What a Terrible head wound!" But that wasn't the only one there. Jakens left eye was hanging out of its socket, threatening to drop off the cord of nerves at any sudden movement. While reaching in her bag, she dug around for her medical supplies only to find a lone gauze pack present and nothing else of value. 'I left the first aid kit back at kaedes village! How could I have been so stupid?!' Kagome was not happy with herself. This was a life or death situation and she only had gauze?! She couldn't even apply it with out some medical tape!
"Save…Rin…" Jaken was using the last of his energy to speak to the angelic being that was beside him. Rin was in danger and Lord Sesshoumaru would have his head if he let his ward die. He knew that this wound wouldn't be enough to kill him, but he was lucky that the ogre didn't finish him off in some ungodly way.
A blue light lit the air making the weather go dark and the wildlife fall silent. Kagome poured the contents of her bag onto the hard ground. Grabbing her sleeping bag, she ripped off the strings that kept it rolled up neatly and started to fasten the gauze to jakens injuries making a mediocre head wrap and eye patch. After applying the only medical supplies she had, she dragged Jaken to the stump of the tree and sat him up right. He didn't appreciate the sudden movement and started swinging his hand around to ward off the disturbance.
"I'm going to go see if Rin and Ah-un are okay, you stay here and don't move." Kagome pulled her bow and arrows onto her back and ran toward the clearing, leaving her bag with Jaken just in case he would need anything.
"GYAAAAAA!" Rin managed to scream her last bit of breath as she saw the ogre demon closing in on her. Kagome slipped her bow and arrows off her back and got into position. 'Good thing I decided to bring these with me.'
She took her bow and loaded her ammo as she pointed it at the huge demon, making sure to aim towards the two jewel shards embedded in its right shoulder. She charged the arrow with a magnificent amount of power and set it ablaze with colors of powder pink and cerise. She let go of the specially engraved arrow that she had gotten from Sango on her last birthday and sent it hurling in the direction of the ogre.
The demon had its deadly weapon high into the air ready to smash its lunch when the arrow shot completely through its shoulder, disintegrating its arm in the blink of an eye. The cerise tinged fire traveled down its body, leaving glowing ashes in its place. The tainted shards hit the ground with a plink, making the area around them darken slightly.
Kagome ran over to Rin and grabbed her hand tenderly, taking her pulse in the motion.
"Oh thank kami! She's still breathing! It looks like she fainted from shock." Relief washed over kagome lightening her mood just a bit. Rin didn't have much damage to her on the outside, a few cuts here and there, but she probably had a few broken bones. 'At least she won't bleed to death.'
"Ah-un, I'm going to go get some medical supplies. You need to keep watch over Rin until I get back." Kagome set the little girl by the dragon and went to pick up the jewels. Right when she picked them up, the tainted color fell off the jewel forming a blackened powder onto the ground. The miko went to turn towards the well when she felt a tugging at her clothing. Ah had her sleeve in his mouth while Un nudged kagome in the calf.
"Don't worry; I'll be back as soon as I can."
She pated them both on the head and climbed up onto the lip of the well. 'I hope they'll be okay while I'm gone.'
Kagome leapt into the air and went plummeting down the opening of the well. Colors enveloped her body as she floated through time and space. Her feet touched the ground and she grabbed the nearest vine, climbing up as fast as her arms would let her. Her hand hit the top and she hoisted her body onto the edge of the wells opening. She jumped off, flew up the stairs, and burst open the wooden doors.
Grandpa Higurashi was raking the leaves from around the sacred tree when he saw kagome emerge from the well house doors and run into the house with out even saying hello. He was so happy to see her. She hadn't been home for a couple of months and he was getting worried. He knew about how harsh demons could be and you never know when one could get the better of you. He dropped his rake and ran inside after his granddaughter.
Kagome opened the door and it slammed open, startling her mother.
"Kagome, you're okay! I was so worried!" Miyuu put down the laundry she was folding and wrapped her arms around her daughter. She was so glad she made it home in time!
"Mom, I need medical supplies fast. Did you buy more?" Kagome returned the hug slightly and pulled away. She had missed her mother terribly, but there were people who needed her help. She kissed her mother on the cheek and briskly walked up the stairs to raid the medicine cabinet.
"Kagome dear, what happened? Is everyone alright?" Miyuu went to the coat closet and pulled out a medium sized black bag she had stuffed full of supplies in case of emergencies.
"A demon attacked a little girl named Rin and she needs medical treatment fast. Do we have anything to help with pain?" Kagome was sifting through the cabinet, searching for some pills to stop some of the pain her patients were experiencing. She found a bottle of morphine pills that were prescribed for grandpa's arthritis in his spine. She took a few of them and put them in a small empty pill bottle. Kagome walked down the stairs and her mother pulled her into a bone crushing hug. Grandpa joined in as well.
"Dear, I packed an emergency bag for you a while back in case you were in a situation like today. It has all you need, be safe. "Miyuu released her daughter and slid the bag onto her back, moving her hair out to the side so it wouldn't get caught. She slipped a note in the side pocket and zipped it up for safe keeping. 'She should be able to find that later.'
"I'm sorry I couldn't stay this time, but I'll make sure to come back soon. I love you!" kagome said her last farewell and opened the door.
Souta was walking with his friends up the pathway kicking a soccer ball back and fourth between them. He saw kagome and slammed into her, hugging her waist furiously. It had been a few years since kagome had first traveled into the past and he had gotten taller and more mature.
"Sis! I'm so happy you're home!"
"Souta, I have to go now, but I promise to visit soon, alright?" She quickly returned the hug and rustled her hand in his hair.
She ran back into the old well house and made her way towards the well.
"But kagome!" Souta shouted after her.
"Souta, you know kagome. Whenever someone needs help, she's the first one to volunteer." Miyuu hugged her son to comfort him and maybe even herself. She bent over and whipped his tears.
"But-but it's her birthday! How could she leave on her birthday?!" Souta was heart broken. He hadn't got to see his sister in forever. He had saved the money he had earned from doing yard work for grandpa to buy kagome an 18th birthday present. He hadn't even gotten the chance to give it to her, let alone wish her a happy birthday.
"I know dear, but people need her help. She's doing a good thing. We can always celebrate it later. Come on now dear, let's get back inside. You should invite your friends to dinner." The sadden mother walked inside to start preparing dinner. She made sure to get extra ingredients and place settings for her guests.
Kagome's legs hit the floor of the well and she stared to climb out. Her head popped out to see if her patients were still in the right place and they were. They hadn't moved an inch. When Ah-un spotted her, he huffed. Kagome guessed it was a sigh of relief.
"It's good to see you too." Kagome giggled at his reaction. She bent over to check and she what her mother had packed in the bag. There was a first-aid kit (jumbo sized), towels, some bottled water, some snack food, along with some paper and writing utensils. 'Alright mom, you go! You packed everything that I would have.'
She took out the first aid kit and opened the tin box. She used some of the bottled water to clean the cuts on Rin's delicate body and sprayed some disinfectant on it. She bandaged up all of her injuries and was able to make a make shift splint out of some wood, a small blanket, gauze, and medical tape. She moved to work on Ah-un next. He didn't have as much damage, but his hind legs were a bit banged up. 'They don't seem to be broken…but maybe I should give him some pain medication just in case.'
Kagome ripped open a small aspirin packet and crushed the pills into powder. 'Wait, can demons have pain killers? I don't see why not, but how much should I give him…He's big so it will burn out of his system quickly, but…'
She decided to just give him two to see if it did any harm. She didn't want to make him sick.
"Alright Ah-un, I'm going to go take care of Jaken. I'll come get you when I'm done. Hopefully you'll be healed enough to walk by then." Kagome walked over to where Jaken was and went to her knees.
"Hello Jaken, I'm going to change your bandages, okay?" She removed the bandage on his head first; she would work with one at a time. She picked up her yellow bag and pulled out the pot that was used for cooking and filled it up with the bottled water. She set the blood soaked bandage onto the ground, got a clean one and set it aside. She ripped a piece of cloth off of the towel that she usually used to dry off with and dunked it into the water. Wringing it out, she used it to wipe some of the blood off so she could see where the gash was opened. It was about 4 ½ inches long and 2 centimeters wide right above his eyebrow.
"I'm going to have to stitch this up. It's going to hurt. Here, Take this medicine and bite onto this towel." She cut the morphine pill into four sections and gave him one. He was a little guy, so that would be plenty. After swallowing it, she shoved the small towel into his mouth so he wouldn't be able to bite his tongue from the pain. She put the green thread through the needle and tied the knot. Being as gently as possible, she started sewing the wound closed, careful not to pull too hard. Jaken whimpered at the pain on his head and bit down on the towel.
After sewing the wound, she whipped it clean, sprayed some disinfectant, and lathered it with medication. Bandaging his head with a head bandage, she went for the eye patch that she had made. She lifted it up and had to catch her breath. There was blood everywhere, while lifting it up a pool of blood ran down in droplets all down his face. 'It's not looking to good. There's blood everywhere! It won't stop gushing.'
"Jaken, I'm going to have to heal it with my purification powers, so don't attack me. I won't purify you."Kaede had taught kagome how to heal using her powers. She had gotten extra lessons on how to heal demons in case inuyasha or shippo needed her help.
She put her hand over his eye and let the power flow into it. The powder pink light slowly traveled from her hand, soaking in and around his eye socket. The blood flow came to a halt and the hole started to scab at the edges. His eye that was dangling onto the ground, visibly shrunk, turning into dust that blew away with the wind.
"There. Now that isn't going to bring your eye back, but it will make it skip the pain and go strait to the healing stage. It should feel better in a few days." Kagome cut a rounded shape out of the cloth that she had and stacked multiple layers on top of each other. She applied it to his eye and strapped it onto a long piece of cloth that she would use to tie around his head.
"That should do it." Kagome stood up and grabbed onto the tree above the injured imp for balance. 'Gah, my legs are asleep. 'She stomped her foot onto the ground until she gained control over her limb and walked over to Rin. She was still sleeping next to her dragon friend, twitching every so often from the ache in her bones.
"Alright Ah-un, can you stand?" The beast started to stir, moving each leg out and testing it to make sure it wouldn't buckle under his body weight. He stood up carefully and walked around in a few circles before turning to kagome and rubbing their heads on her shoulders.
"Alright, we need to get to a safe, quiet place to rest. Do you think you can carry Rin While we walk?" The dragon went over to Rin and stood next to her, waiting for kagome to put the sleeping girl on his back. Kagome took that as an okay and carefully place the injured girl onto his back close to his necks so she had somewhere to lean on.
The miko tapped on Ahs head and pointed him in the direction that Jaken was located. On the way over there, kagome took notice on how all the bird started to tweet again, flying overhead from branch to branch.
Jaken looked up through his only eye at the person who was approaching him. Now that his wounds didn't hurt as bad, his mind cleared, making him able to fully understand the situation he was in. His Lords half brothers wench was helping him! He saw Ah-un following her with Rin upright on his back with her eyes closed. 'She seems to be alright…but what is this person doing here?'
"You stinking human, what are you doing here?!" Jaken attempted to get up, but he fell over from dizziness.
"You little imp, what does it look like I'm doing? I'm helping you. Now I don't know about you, but I'm starved. I'm going to get food. It's up to you whether you follow after or not."Kagome looked at Ah-Un and after packing up her things, started to move forward angrily. 'How dare he call me a stinking human! All I was trying to do was help!'
Jaken looked over to the retreating miko and watched as his companions followed after her. His eyes widened at the betrayal. Being stubborn, he sat there until you almost couldn't see where they were going. His stomach growled and he had second thoughts on previous his decision. He didn't like it, but he got up carefully and walked as fast as he could over to the retreating group. He was so dizzy that he walked in a zigzagged line. He stumbled and fell to his knees.
He looked out in front of him and quickly shook his head. He put his hand on the ground in front of him and was startled to hear a crunching sound beneath him. He looked at the strange object and picked it up, flipping it over and examining all sides. 'It seems to be some type of paper.'
He read the writing and his brow creased. 'What a weird way of speech.'
"Jaken, you better hurry up or we'll leave you behind!" Kagome yelled over her shoulder, giving the imp one more chance at following her. He shoved the paper in between the folds in his clothing and ran after them, yelling at kagome to slow down the whole way.
As always, thank you for reading 'Behind the Golden Ice'!
~AiOtaku