AN:
So. Redux. It came about, oddly, because I read a lot of Harry Potter fanfiction. There's a certain type of fic that I go to on occasion, when the mood strikes. It's a type that's pretty popular and completely redoes the story. From square one. The author picks up from the moment Harry is left at the Dursleys' or the day he goes to Hogwarts… it varies slightly- very slightly, but it does vary a bit.
Anyway, I went looking and I realized that I've never once come across an Inuyasha fic that does this… starts at the very beginning and redoes the whole thing, veering off of the plot just slightly at first and then plunging the fic slowly into a complete divergence.
So… I started one. I'm literally watching the episodes of the anime as I write so, for the first few chapters, it's going to be pretty dang close to the anime. It'll veer off and abandon canon eventually, but not for a bit. It might be fun to have one of these out there in the fanverse. Who knows?
-Ele
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Disclaimer: Not mine! Just playing with their concepts… Many thanks to the creator for allowing it.
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Posted: 4.13.2021
Edited: Unedited
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Redux
Chapter One
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Placing the last box of souvenirs atop the stack, Kagome sighed and plopped down next to them all. She watched warily as her grandfather opened one and pulled out two keychains- gaudy, brightly colored things.
Each consisted of a bright yellow plastic rectangle with a prayer on one side and bold lettering on the other declaring 'Higurashi Shrine. Home of the Shikon-no-Tama'. A few links of chain attached the rectangle to a key ring loop and on the other end of each dangled a hollow plastic ball, painted in a variety of garish metallic colors- with, as she noticed when she accepted one grudgingly, what was probably little jingle bells inside. Overall, the chains were cheap and very touristy.
She cringed inside as she held one up to eye level. So this is what their shrine and its legends had been reduced to?
"You don't actually think people are going to buy these dumb things, do you?" She muttered at her grandfather, knowing exactly what response she'd be provoking.
"These are not just key chains! They are replicas of the ancient Shikon-no-Tama."
Biting the inside of her cheek to ward off a smile, Kagome prodded at her grandfather a little more.
"The Shikon-no-What?" She'd never admit it out loud, but she enjoyed these little play-by-plays with him. He got to act all serious and 'impart knowledge' and she did actually like hearing the legends.
"The Shikon-no-Tama, my dear granddaughter. The Jewel of Four-"
She bit harder on her inner cheek to keep her straight face as the family cat began batting at the little shiny ball she was still holding at eye level. Her grandfather's narrowed eyes and annoyed countenance did nothing to help her and she nearly lost control of the indifferent mask she was so struggling to keep up.
Her grandfather's eyes slid shut and he cleared his throat, apparently deciding to ignore the cat who was attempting to turn the 'replica' into a pet toy. She swallowed slowly and sucked a deep breath in through her nose, scooting closer toward her grandfather on the floor as he began speaking again.
"As I was saying. That crystal is a replica of the ancient Jewel of Four Souls, which-"
And she stuck out her arm as far toward her grandfather as she could manage, causing the cat to topple onto his ack in the space between their knees- interrupting her grandfather again.
"..the ancient Jewel which-"
"Oh! You do remember it's my birthday tomorrow, right!?" She let all the silliness in her mood that had been piling up behind the mask spill forth into her expression, knowing how rude she was being but also knowing that her grandfather was used to her mirth and antics and that he was just as amused by their by-play as she was. It was almost a game with the two of them and they both knew that she could recite the real legend in her sleep.
The look of mischief on her grandfather's face perfectly mirrored hers as he reached over to the stack of boxes, moving them around until he unearthed a smaller, much more ragged one.
"I was going to wait until tomorrow to give it to you. However.."
She probably shouldn't have been surprised. She'd inherited her sense of humor from somewhere, after all, and it certainly hadn't been from her mother. When she pulled the leathery, dried out, webbed appendage from the tissue paper, though, she knew she'd lost this round.
"That, my dear, is an authentic mummified hand of a water imp."
She cast an eye at their cat, perched on her leg and staring at the greenish-brown 'hand'.
"Here, Buyo. Eat it."
Which he seemed utterly content to do as he took it and strolled happily away from them.
"Ahh! Ha! Kagome, That one was real! It's an antique!"
She did feel a little bad about it until they both started laughing together. They unpacked the so-called replica key chains, hanging them on racks in the gift shop for a while until her grandfather pointed at the clock and sent her back to the house to change and get ready for school.
She jogged across the shrine grounds toward the house, making sure to stop in the kitchen once inside so that she could wash any remaining dust and water-imp-hand smell from her fingers. Changing into her school uniform didn't take long, and she was back out the front door in no time- calling out her goodbyes to her mom and grandfather as she passed them.
She's nearly made it to the shrine's steps when she noticed the door to the well house open. She walked cautiously toward it, spotting her little brother's mop of dark hair just a step inside.
"Souta! You know you're not supposed to play in here."
He startled and turned toward her.
"I'm not. It's the cat."
"Oh. Sorry." She noticed the bowl of kibble and table scraps in his hands. "Did he go down to the well?"
Souta turned back to peer into the dark well house with a nod, sliding open the other door in an attempt to let more light into the structure.
They exchanged a wary look and stepped through the doors together.
"Buuuyooo…?" She called.
"Buyo!" Souta echoed.
If the cat was in there, he didn't make any noise to let them know it. They squatted down at the top of the stairs, peering down and staring at the dimly lit square of wood that was the old sealed well.
"I don't know where else he could be, sis. I swear I saw him come in here."
"Well, then go down there and get him."
Wide eyes looked up at her.
"Why do I have to be the one to go get him?"
"Well, because you're the one looking for him."
"You're here too."
Soft scratching noises floated up to them from down near the well.
"Uhhh!" Souta jumped up and ran behind her, bumping into her shoulders and nearly sending her sprawling down the steps. "Something's down there!"
Her eyes reached skyward and she laughed breathily, standing up.
"Uh. Yeah. The cat." She snorted at his fearful expression, remembering years ago when she had once been creeped out by the old well, too. "Nothing for it, I guess." She ruffled his hair and started carefully down the old steps, careful of her footing, not quite trusting the wood to be steady under her weight. As she got closer, the sound of the scratching got louder and she noticed something strange as she neared the last few steps from the bottom.
That sound…the scratching was coming from inside the well? As far as she could tell from where she stood, there was no way that Buyo could have gotten himself inside- the thing was all boarded up. Her foot finally touched down on the earthen floor and warmth enveloped her ankles, a startled scream escaping her throat.
"Buyo!" Souta yelled, relieved.
Kagome stepped back, looking down at their cat and trying to will her heart to slow down and tell herself that of course the scratching sounds had stopped. She was just startled and there couldn't be anything in the old well.
She scooped the furry troublemaker up and pivoted toward her brother, who was giving her a teasing smirk.
"You make fun of me for being scared and then you're all Ahhhaaahhhaa!?"
"Look who's talking, Mr. Why do I have to go down!?"
Fully expecting the banter to continue, her brows drew together when fear began to creep back across Souta's face.
"Sis! Behind you!" He took a few steps backward, bumping into the edge of the open doorway and pointing down past her shoulder at the well.
The scratching noise stopped, but a flash of light lit up the interior of the well house for a fraction of a second, making little spots dance in her eyes as a wind began to lift her hair from her shoulders. Buyo leaped from her arms, toward the steps as she turned her head to look over her shoulder, only to watch the wood that sealed the opening of the well splinter and streaks of something shoot toward her from the depths.
All of her breath was knocked from her as the things surrounded her body, fear freezing her as they pulled her into the well. She could hear her brother calling after her as she fell- he sounded further and further away, more than the distance of the steps should have accounted for as light swarmed around her. Beautiful and terrifying light that flashed brighter than she knew light could be, in blues and pinks and purples that should have strained her eyes but didn't.
She felt her body being turned in the grasp of whatever had grabbed her and finally was able to breathe again as a gasp of shock sucked air into her lungs. Her eyes tried to take in and comprehend what she was seeing, some sort of creature… and it was speaking.
"Ooohhh to be alive once more. Already my strength returns." It…she..? The thing tilted its head backward, long black strands of her hair whipping around them both as they fell together for what Kagome knew for sure was very very much farther down than the well should have gone. Pale eyes met her own deep blue ones as the monster's head whipped back up. "You have it! You do! Give it to me!" Then it stuck its long tongue out and licked a wet trail up her cheek.
"Wha…what!? What are you? What are you doing!? Let me go!?" And Kagome thrust out her hand toward its face, screaming again, in confusion this time, as a bright pink light seemed to encompass her own skin.
It lost its grip on her and she fell, still down further but at least freed from the thing's hold. She seemed to be falling faster than the monster, now. Propelled by the light that had come from her hand. Past a giant expanse of what looked like a massive bug's body and she was further confused and afraid to realize that the bug part was attached to the woman part. What was happening?
The lights around her began to fade as she fell, the creature fading out of sight above her as the distance between them grew. Her descent began to slow and she looked down, her feet touching down as if she had been in slow motion against the damp, musty floor of the well's bottom. She collapsed over onto her hands and knees, eyes wide and breaths heavy as she took a moment to register the silence around her. The lack of lights or wind or monsters around her.
"Maybe…I bumped my head…when I…fell?"
Pushing back onto her feet and seeing the detached arm of the thing that had pulled her down made another scream bubble up from her chest. She managed to shove it back down but her heart sped ack up and she knew that she had definitely gone through exactly what she had gone through- though what that was, she was still unsure of.
"Souta!?" She yelled as loud as she could. "Get grandpa!" Silent seconds passed and no response came. She shuffled closer to the wall and away from the twitching arm. There were thick vines covering the slick brick walls of the well and she figured that was her best shot of getting out right now, so she grabbed the biggest one she could see and gave it an experimental tug. It didn't snap, so she heaved in a fortifying breath and began to climb.
Halfway up, she noticed sunlight streaming down around her and a butterfly cheerily fluttering around her head, and she grit her teeth. She wanted to ignore the fact that there shouldn't be sunlight or butterflies or vines that bit into and blistered her palms- because the well was inside of a manmade structure that kept all of those things outside. She couldn't. So, she wasn't exactly surprised when she made it out and sat on the lip of the well…but her heart was still thundering in her chest and her mind was still racing with disbelief and confusion.
'Okay. I'm… in a clearing. In… a forest.' She thought. 'I could be wrong, but…' Her mind and heart slowed to a more normal rhythm as she ook it in and struggled to accept and adapt to the things she had experienced…was experiencing. 'Toto…I don't think we're in Tokyo anymore.'
Doubting that sitting on the rim of the well could help her either get back home or figure out how to get back home, she steeled her nerves and hopped down, stepping lightly and cautiously across the clearing, picking a random direction and putting one foot in front of the other.
As she passed through the dense trees, she tried not to be disheartened by the fact that she could see no sign of her family's shrine, the grounds, or her house. A spark of hope lit in her chest as the branches opened above her and she got a glimpse of something familiar, though.
"The sacred tree!" She chocked out in a whisper. Her steps faltered, then steadied, and she was off toward the familiar silhouette, running as fast as the underbrush would allow. Practically feeling herself being pulled toward the tree, she shoved her way past some tall bushes- only to come to a shocked halt as she stared up at the tree she had known her whole life… with a boy, shot through with an arrow and tangled up in thick roots, pinned against the bark. He wore red, old-fashioned clothing and had long white hair that flitted about his figure in the breeze.
"Hey!" She called to him. "Hi! I'm-" But the words failed as she began to scale the roots and see his face more clearly. He was sleeping..or.. dead? He did have an arrow through his chest, after all. Though she couldn't see any blood.
Reaching the top of the roots and coming up level with the boy, she leaned in close, doing her best not to think about the fact that she could be less than an arm's length from a dead body. The breeze picked up for a moment, tossing his hair wildly. When it settled she stared in amazement at the top of his head- and what she could swear were dog ears perched among shining white strands.
"It's probably a bad idea.." She whispered under her breath. "But… I really want to…" Her arms reached out. Both slowly crept through the air toward the boy. "Touch them.." And they were softer than Buyo's coat and invitingly warm under the pads of her fingers.
Chagrined, she let go and leaned away from the boy, glad that he hadn't woken up to her groping his…dog ears.. But hey! Stranger things than sleeping boys with dog ears had happened to her this morning. What could possibly be worse than being pulled into an old dry well by a monster and ending up in a different dimension?! At least, that was the explanation she had come to. Monsters and forests and boys with dog ears. Different world. It seemed feasible at this point.
"Hey!" The shout made her jump and almost lose her footing on the roots. "Get away from there!" Almost reluctantly, she slid her gaze away from the boy and to the side. Where a group of men, again in very old-fashioned clothing, were pointing arrows and farming tools at her.
She stared at them. They stared at her. She shot her hands into the air, quickly, in a sign of surrender, just as a volley of arrows found purchase in the bark of the tree behind her, haloing her and the sleeping dog-boy in a deadly arch.
"Hey!" Whatever indignant tirade she could have launched into was cut off as she was roughly pulled down and restrained. Her ankles and wrists were tied and a cloth was forced between her teeth as a gag in seconds. She'd been unceremoniously tossed over a man's shoulder and carried along a rough path, away from the Goshinboku.
She was dumped onto a straw mat that scratched at her calves and thighs, her gag removed, and people gathered around her in a circle- staring, as she tried to find something, anything to say. Their stage whispers about her uniform, her possible nationality, the idea that she might be a harbinger for war, and her 'tryst' with 'the hanyou' only made her tired. One of them even called her a kitsune. Ridiculous. This was all… a lot. Maybe she was dreaming? Yeah. She had to be dreaming, which meant that if she just played along, she'd wake up soon enough.
"You didn't have to tie me up, you know." She said to the man who had pulled her from the roots of the tree. She hoped the annoyance that she didn't feel but tried to portray showed on her face. This was her dream and she was going to make it go the way she wanted it to. It hadn't exactly been fun so far.
"What's with the hair and clothes anyway? What is this, the feudal peroid!?" But as the words left her mouth, her eyes widened and events started to fall into place like a puzzle. Was it possible that she'd actually…?
"Make way for Kaede!" One person yelled.
The crowd parted for an elderly woman in the traditional garb of a miko. For all she knew, if she was right… this really was a real miko. Her teeth snapped together as the woman approached her. She stared silently up into the miko's one good eye for a long stretch of time, her gaze only dropping as she watched the old woman's hand reach into the folds of her haori and pull out a leather sack.
"Be gone youkai!" Kaede shouted at her sternly, tossing some sort of herb and sand mixture all over.
"Hey! Heeey! Stop that, I'm not a youkai!" Kagome shouted back.
"Are you not?" The old woman's face was skeptical. "Then why were you found in the forest of Inuyasha? With Inuyasha?"
"Could she be a spy from another village?" One of the men asked, stepping forward.
"In that case," Kaede looked at the man with a throaty laugh. "She would be a fool. Who would invade such a poor village as ours?"
As much as it seemed impossible, Kagome was really starting to believe that she may have somehow ended up in the feudal times. Thinking about it was as interesting as it was strange. She tuned out the miko and the village man's conversation and speculations as she went over her own memories. If she was right….she'd be sitting right in the middle of the organic grocer's just down the road from the shrine. If this is the village that was the starting point for Tokyo. Woah.
She was jerked out of her perusal of the 'neighborhood' when the old miko grabbed her roughly by the chin.
"Let me have a closer look at you…"
"Huh..?" was Kagome's articulate reply.
"Are you clever, girl?" She asked slowly, her face close enough to Kagome's own that she could smell the woman's breakfast on her breath. "Or be you a half-wit?"
Kagome twisted her face out of Kaede's grasp, fixing her with the most offended expression she could muster, her eyes blazing and her lips pursed in a tight line.
"It's there. Though I know not why." Was muttered at her as the old miko walked away from her. Villagers were directed to untie her and she was led by the silent woman to a small, but sturdy wooden home at the outskirts of the village. The one closest to the forest. Kagome figured that it would be right at the base of the shrine's steps if she had to pinpoint it. In fact… just a few steps along the sidewalk where her shrine's steps ended was an old stone wayside shrine.
A bowl of stew was settled into her hands as she wondered whether the ancient little shrine was connected to this woman's home or not.
"Wow…" She smiled in thanks. "This looks great. Mmm. Food." She sipped at the steaming broth of the stew as she watched Kaede.
"Bear us no ill will, child. In these troubled times of war, no stranger may be welcomed among us without deep distrust. I do see now that you mean us no harm."
"This is nothing like Tokyo, all all." Kagome murmured into the bowl.
"Tokyo? I have never heard of it? Is that the name of your village, child?"
Kagome wrinkled her nose at the question, berating herself for saying it aloud, thoughtlessly.
"Ahh..ha. Yeah. So, uh. I should really get going.." She didn't mention that she had no idea how to get back, or even if she could get back to…her own…time. It was still an unsettling thought, but with the dark of night outside of the doorway and her own trepidation- the thought bounced around in her head relentlessly. She was in a different time. She was in a different time with no idea of how to return to her own era. Kagome's eyes flitted to Kaede's face, observing how deep in thought she seemed to be. She had nearly convinced herself to just spill it and ask for the old miko's help when the crash of trees slamming against the ground and wood splintering shattered the silence.
They both scrambled to their feet and out the door to screams of fear and shouts declaring the presence of a youkai in the village. The same men who had captured her and brought her to the village earlier were shooting arrows at the very same many-armed bug-woman that had pulled her into this time.
Kagome stumbled as she was roughly yanked backward by Kaede's hand fisted into the fabric at the back of her uniform top- right as the carcass of a horse, with a giant bite taken out of its side, landed where she had been standing moments before.
"It's that thing that brought me here!"
"Give me the sacred jewel!" It shrieked, lunging directly at Kagome.
She and Kaede both leaped out of the youkai's path, Kagome rolling out of the way again when it dove at her a second time.
"It said sacred jewel!" Kaede exclaimed, eyes fixed on Kagome's hastily dodging form. "Do you still bear the jewel!?"
Kagome threw her hands up.
"I have no idea! I mean… I know the legend, but I've-" She scrambled to her feet and flung herself into the dirt at Kaede's side.
"I must have it! I Muuust!" The shrill sound of the youkai's cry cut off anything else she would have said.
Kaede stood as quickly as she could manage, pulling at Kagome's wrist as she began hurriedly away from the village. The screams of the villagers and shouts of the men who were trying to fight filled the air and Kagome had to strain to hear her.
"We must lure it to the dry well."
"The well?"
"In the forest of Inuyasha."
"Okay! Toward the light, right!?" Kagome shook off the grip that Kaede had on her wrist and took off at a sprint toward the light above the trees that she was sure had to be coming from the well. It was a time portal, right? Glowing could definitely mean a time portal.
"How is it that she can see…?" Kaede gasped out as she watched Kagome's fleeing back.
Her lungs burned as she ran, though she could tell that the youkai was gaining ground. She didn't know what else to do and her mortality flashed through her as she wished desperately that someone, anyone would come to help her.
The light pulsed brightly ahead of her, spreading through the treetops before retreating to its previous glow.
She didn't know how she managed to make it all the way to Goshinboku, but she found herself skidding through the thick grass at its base as the youkai knocked her down and demanded the jewel again.
"I don't have it!"
"Hello, Kikyo." A new voice said. "Playing with bugs now?"
Kagome looked up, brushing dirt and grass and tears from her face as she did. The dog-eared boy from before was awake and staring down at her with disdain.
"Why are you taking so long to kill it? You didn't hesitate to shoot me.." He smirked at her, which was sort of annoying, considering that there was a bug youkai trying to kill her and he was stuck to a tree. "You look pretty dumb there, Kikyo." He taunted, raising her ire another notch. "The Kikyo I know wouldn't be wasting time."
Kagome pulled herself off the ground, where she was even more annoyed to remember that she had spent most of the day. She made her way quickly and sloppily, stumbling and slipping as she climbed, up the roots of the tree that bound the boy.
"Kikyo? Kikyo! Whoever she is, she's not me!"
The boy's nose and ears twitched and right as she was about to let out all of her frustration on him, she heard it. His quiet "She's here." Didn't tell her anything she didn't already know. She heard the thing crashing through the trees again, launching itself at her.
It stopped inches from her face, spikes burying themselves into the youkai's side, ropes attached to the spikes pulling the monster away from her and the boy.
"You're pathetic, Kikyo." He whispered in her ear, mocking and malicious.
Her hands balled into fists and she turned back to him, satisfied that the giant bug youkai had been dealt with.
"I'm not Kikyo! Whoever she is, I'm telling you, I'm not her!"
"And I know you are her! I know your scent!" He leaned his face closer to her, though he could only manage an inch or two, and inhaled deeply. "You- You're…not her."
"I know that! I told you that! My name is Kagome! Kagome! Not Kikyo!"
"You're right." He huffed, looking away. "Kikyo was cuter. Much cuter."
Kagome's whole body nearly vibrated with the urge to just scream in his face. Noting in particular, just something loud and shrill that would hopefully cause those fluffy dog ears of his some pain. When hands wrapped around her from behind, just the way this whole madness had begun, her first reflex happened to be grabbing onto whatever was in front of her.
What was in front of her happened to be handfuls of thick white hair.
"Let go of me!" She yelled over her shoulder.
"Owowowww! You let go!" The boy yelled into her face.
"Give me the sacred jewel!" It demanded once again, just as horses- one of them bearing Kaede, entered the small clearing.
"Inuyasha has revived!"
"Stoooop it!" Kagome did the only thing she could think of and thrust her hand out toward the youkai's face, just as she had in the well. The light that flowed over her skin was brighter than it had been last time and she let go of Inuyasha completely, twisting to bring up her other hand as well.
More than one arm fell off of the youkai this time, landing on the ground around her just as she fell from the air, back connecting solidly with the earth. She sat up slowly, clutching her head, only to see the same pink light that had surrounded her hands dancing across the skin of her left hip where the uniform shirt had ridden up.
"What the…?"
She didn't have time to finish her thought as pain seared through her, sharp teeth sinking into her whole left side as the youkai's jaws clamped down over her and lifted her into the air, ripping through skin as she was shaken and then tossed away.
She was sure she's pass out at any second, staring at the bright pink gem that rolled into her line of sight as she landed.
"That came from inside me? Is it really the Shikon-no-Tama?"
Her fingers closed weakly around it and pulled it closer to her eyes. Its glow was somehow comforting, in a strange and morbid way.
"Quick! Give me the jewel!"
She turned incredulous eyes to the boy on the tree. Inuyasha. Now he wanted the stupid thing too? What was this thing? She dropped it back into the dirt in favor of pushing her palms against the ground. She somehow managed to get back on her feet after a few tries, unsteady but standing, just as she was flung again. This time, right at the tree- pressed into Inuyasha's chest and held there by coils of the long bug youkai's body.
"I heard some half-breed spawn was searching for the Shikon Jewel." The laugh that followed sent chills of disgust up Kagome's spine. "Was that you?"
"So what if it was? So what if I am? I don't need to be any more than half to kick your scaly butt!"
"You sure do talk big." Kagome poked him in the chest. "Can you back it up?"
He just stared at her, silent.
"What can he do?" The bug taunted. "Pinned there like that? For that matter, what can you? You're powerless to stop me. You're both completely helpless."
From where the coils of the youkai's body crushed her against the tree and pressed her face into Inuyasha's haori, she couldn't see it happen but she heard the exclamations of the villagers when the thing bent over and pulled the Shikon-no-Tama into its mouth.
She heard the pace of Inuyasha's heart rate pick up as he watched whatever was going on behind her and she could see the grim look on his face. The sounds coming from the creature didn't bode well. That expression just confirmed it.
"Hey. Can you pull out this arrow?" She looked from his eyes to the arrow in his chest.
"I- I don't know."
"Well, try!"
She struggled around, freeing her elbow from the coils that bound them together, and reached over to the shaft, grasping it and doing her best to tug it out, cursing the awkward angle her arm was at.
"No, child! If you remove the arrow from Inuyasha, he will be free to destroy us all."
Her weak pulls at the arrow halted, her mind turning over the warning but not coming up with any alternative ways to get rid of the thing that had pulled her into this era and seemed intent on killing her and anyone else in the vicinity. She tugged again, harder, clenching her teeth and telling herself that this had to be the right choice.
"Don't be stupid, you old hag! That thing is ready to eat you all. At least with me, you've got a chance."
His blunt words pierced through her, as good as the arrow that bound him to Goshinboku and a warmth began to rush through her body as the reality of the day really took hold. She was about to be eaten. She couldn't let that happen if there was any chance, any at all that she could do something to fight. If freeing dog-boy was the only shot she had, she absolutely had to do it… somehow.
Her grip tightened on the shaft of the arrow so much that she could feel splinters pricking at her palm. Her eyelids crashed together and she let that warmth that was rising through her free, nearly sighing in relief as it exploded around her in a rush of wind and light.
Breathing hard, she realized that she couldn't feel the arrow anymore and her arm dropped down to her side. She recoiled at the laugh that rang out from Inuyasha's mouth. Then she was falling. Again. With pieces of youkai falling along with her. Again.
And she hung her head, exhausted from the insanity of it all.
"Quick, girl! It still moves, still lives! Find the glowing flesh and reclaim the jewel!" Kaede's voice tore her illusion of peace from her, forcing her eyes back open when all she wanted to do was fall back to the ground, sleep, and wake up safe and sound in her bed, in her home. In Tokyo. In the modern era.
She sat on her knees, looking around at the chunks of writhing flesh.
"There! That one!" Kagome pointed to where she was the pink glow, just like it was when it came from her hip. She watched as Kaede walked over and plucked it from the flesh, brought it to her, and dropped it into her hand.
"Only you may possess the jewel. You who so resemble the dead priestess, Kikyo."
Kagome didn't bother looking at the thing, closing her hand around it tight enough to feel the skin stretch over her knuckles. She didn't want it. Not if it caused this kind of madness. What was she supposed to do with it anyway, shove the thing back into her side? No thanks.
"Why?" She stared off to the side, watching the flesh of the youkai that had tried to kill her begin to turn to ash. "Why was it in my body? Why would I have a jewel inside of me that youkai want?" Her tone was weary and her voice soft, complete opposite of Inuyasha's own when he interrupted whatever answer Kaede was just opening her mouth to give.
"Exactly. A jewel wanted by youkai. Humans can't use it, so why bother keeping it?" He strode toward the two of them, crushing bones and scattering the ash from the evaporating flesh around him as he walked. "It's obvious that you don't want it anyway. Just hand it over right now and I won't have to sharpen my claws on you."
"What?" Kagome brought the hand clenched around the Shikon jewel to her chest. Sure, she might not want it….the idea of giving it away felt wrong though. "What!? But! You just-" She gestured with her free hand at the nearly-gone remains around them all. "You can't! No. I won't give it to you."
"Pay no heed to Inuyasha, child. You must not give the jewel to any other."
Kagome knew it was childish, but she was tired and overwhelmed and she stomped her foot into the ground, letting a strangled cry of frustration escape her.
"I'm not going to!"
She turned her back on both Kaede and Inuyasha and ran in the vague direction that she thought the well would be. She didn't know if it could help her at all, but this had all started there and she was hoping that if she could just get back to it, it might all end. If that failed, at least she could jump in and hide there.
"Where do you think you're going!?"
She felt a tingle crawl up her spine at the tone of his voice, something else too. A feeling of static across her skin, and she dove for the ground just in time to hear the unmistakable sound of fabric ripping. She gasped as trails of yellow light followed the streak of red that was Inuyasha, sailing barely over her head as she fell.
"You! You really just tried to kill me, didn't you!? After I took that arrow out of you!?" She pushed herself onto her hands and knees as Kaede came up beside her.
"Somehow, I knew it would come to this." The old miko said, pulling a rosary from the folds of her haori. She held them up and began chanting as Kagome took off again, Inuyasha close behind.
She burst out through the underbrush with only half a second to stop herself as she saw the cliff. Just as the edge gave way under her feet, she realized that she must have gone the wrong way. She'd gone toward the park, on the other side of what would be her family's temple shrine. The well had been in the other direction. She slid down the rocky mud, the jewel falling from her fist and clattering over an old wooden bridge.
She looked down at the rushing waters of the Yazawa river, at the jewel laying on the very unstable looking bridge, and at Inuyasha soaring over her head to land mere steps from the jewel.
"Ha! Now it's mine!"
Streaks of light shot through the air, surrounding Inuyasha and settling around his neck and the rosary Kaede had been chanting over reformed itself and the light faded to a dull glow.
"Quickly, child! Say the word of subjugation!"
"The word of- What word!?"
"It matters not! Your word will have the power to hold his spirit."
Kagome scrambled up to her feet from what she hoped would be the last plummet to the dirt she took tonight, wracking her brain for the right word and looking on as Inuyasha bent to pick up the jewel.
The world narrowed down for Kagome and time seemed to slow as he bent further toward the jewel.
Then his ears twitched.
Whether it was fate, stupidity, shock, or just plain bad luck for the inuhanyou, the word burst from her with almost no conscious thought on Kagome's part.
"Inuyasha! Sit!"
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AN:
Well. I hope you guys like it. I know it's just the basics, but it's here and in text form for what is, from what I've seen, the first time in the fanfiction world. If anyone knows of any fics like this out there, please drop a review and point me that way! I'd really like to collect and read any.
This partially came about from my want to get back to writing after a lot of real life insanity, but I don't feel ready to pick up my other fics yet. I've typed a bit on some of them, but I'm just not able to get into that pure creative mindset after all that's been happening on the other side of the screen. This one might be able o ease me back into, so… here we are.
Reviews would be appreciated more than I can express!
Happy reading
~Ele
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