Hello every one! Apologies for the wait, I've been quite busy with college and life in general so I can't promise I'll always manage to update on a regular schedule. However, I will be making an attempt to update more often. That being said I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Kagome instantaneously felt herself falling, blinding shades of sapphire and sky blue encompassed her surroundings when a hideously gruesome face made its way into her line of sight. What could only be described as an atrocious fusion between the lower half of a colossal centipede and the upper torso of a human female, sank its gnarled claws into her forearms and eyed her with a hungry look in its eyes.
The monstrosity's lips moved to form words but the sound of the deafening wind drowned out its voice. Kagome attempted to wrench herself free from its grasp but as their descent began to slow down, the sound of its warped laughter began to fill her ears. A cold slimy appendage dragged down the side of her neck causing Kagome to stiffen in response. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes and in her wild desperation Kagome grit her teeth and braced herself, before sinking her teeth into the arm wrapped about her shoulder in a rash split-second decision. A loud screech emitted from the female centipede, before it tore its limb away from Kagome's teeth and wrapped its free hand around her throat as it dragged her out of the well.
Kagome grappled with the offending hand, as she struggled to breathe before the limb relaxed its hold on her and all of a sudden she once again found herself free falling. Panic took hold of her upon realization of having been tossed high up into the air. Her eyes widened in terror as she concluded that there no was no chance in hell that she'd survive a fall from that altitude. Seconds before Kagome's form made contact with the earth's crust, the tail end of the centipede wrapped itself around her torso before flinging her against a tree. The impact of the crash knocked the wind out of her and Kagome could swear she'd heard a rib crack.
"Odious wench!" the distorted voice of the creature hissed, "Give me the Jewel!"
Kagome gasped for breath as she scrambled to get on her feet but gravity pulled her back down hard onto her knees as dark spots marred her vision. Her labored breathing filled the silence of the fast approaching night air before faint shouts could be heard from a distance. The sound of several objects whipping through the air were discernible, before another blood curdling screech emanated from the centipede. Another wave of dizziness hit Kagome at full force and she only managed to fight it off for a few seconds before she ultimately fell into a crumpled heap on the ground.
Kagome rose with a violent start at the sensation of something gritty being flung against the skin of her face. Met with a pounding headache, she groaned as she silently attempted to make sense of her surroundings. The faint impression of being dragged down the well sobered her up quickly enough. Blinking rapidly as she attempted to clear her vision, Kagome growled in frustration as she felt something whip against the raw flesh of her knees once more.
"That's enough!" Kagome snarled as she leveled the old woman that stood before her with a hard look.
The elder female—that had been flinging salt upon Kagome just mere moments ago—was taken aback for a second, before ceasing her actions and arching an eyebrow at the female youkai that sat before her on the ground.
The old woman slanted her one eye and studied the female before her intently. "That is quite the audacious attitude for one that currently lies at my mercy."
Kagome exhaled in exasperation at the ridiculousness of her situation. She was tired, bruised, and absolutely fed up with this second life. Furthermore, she could not bring herself to feeling sympathetic towards the villagers that surrounded her in fear, believing her to be one of the creatures that were a thing of nightmares. She shouldn't have bothered with the damn well at all. This could have all been avoided if her paranoia hadn't gotten the best of her and she'd just refrained from going anywhere near the stupid well. She'd been so close to getting eaten. Granted she did owe that much to the villagers. Ignorant as they might be from telling an ordinary human from a youkai, they'd still managed to fend off one all on their own.
Regardless of this, Kagome was upset. She did not want to have to find it in herself to be understanding of others at that moment, because the fact of the matter remained that currently she was just feeling downright unpleasant. It'd only been two days—well technically three now—since she'd transmigrated into her current body and absolutely nothing was going her way. "Old woman, you've clearly gone senile if you truly believe me to be a youkai. If I were a youkai, I can assure you I would not be lying helplessly at your feet."
"No?" The elderly female tested coolly, clasping her hand around the knob of the wooden stick that was supporting most of her weight.
"No," Kagome took a deep breath as she attempted to compose herself, "because the rope that binds me would have long been broken and you along with the rest of your village would have long been dead by now."
Silence ensued as Kagome stared into the old woman's one eye with her head held high, back as straight as a needle, and a face completely devoid of expression. She knew exactly who it was that she was currently dealing with at the moment. While Kaede had not been a major stakeholder in the events that took place in the manga, the old miko had nonetheless still been an individual worthy of note. Though her vague words had often irritated Kagome throughout the course of the storyline, she had to admit that the woman was remarkably wise—however the salt scene always did confuse the hell out of her. You would think that for someone so wise they would know better than to rely on a bag of something used to season food with, when confronting a potential danger.
The old woman tilted her head and regarded the young female before her once more before addressing the middle-aged male at her side.
"Ye told me that ye had captured a youkai."
"Lady Kaede, as you can see the dastardly creature is dressed in strange clothing and was in the company of Mistress Centipede when we apprehended her," the man attempted to explain, with no small amount of pride lacing his tone of voice.
"Dastardly creature?" Kagome scoffed, somewhat affronted by his words. "Isn't that a bit harsh?"
"Youkai you say?" Kaede ignored the girl's snark and looked back at Kagome impassively with a cursory look. "From where this one stands, it seems all ye have managed to apprehend is an ordinary young lady. One with a mouth on her but an ordinary woman nonetheless."
"What's more," Kaede paused for a second before continuing, "this particular young woman seems to bear an uncanny resemblance to someone that I once was quite familiar with a long time ago."
The man that Kaede had spoken to wore a conflicted expression on his face, before broaching hesitantly, "And who might that be, Lady Kaede?"
The hard lines of Kaede's face painted a guarded expression as a distant look set in.
"My sister." Kaede frowned before instructing tersely, "Untie the girl. She poses no threat if she can't even manage to get up off the ground by herself."
"But Lady Kaede surely…" the man opened his mouth to object.
"I don't like having to repeat myself," Kaede bit out dryly.
The man closed his mouth abruptly and conceded to the old woman's wishes—albeit somewhat begrudgingly. The piece of rope that bound Kagome's wrists behind her back was sliced through with a short dagger. Rubbing at the burn marks that wound across her skin, Kagome fixed the old miko with a reserved look.
Kaede huffed in disgruntlement, "For one that felt so strongly about lying at someone's feet, ye sure do seem to have quite the attachment with the ground. Unless ye wish to stay there all day, I would suggest ye get up already."
Upon registering the meaning of the crotchety old woman's words, Kagome lifted herself off of her protesting knees and rose to her feet. Taking a second look at the group of people that surrounded her, Kagome felt a tad more guilty about the ungracious thoughts that had crossed her mind earlier. Many of the villagers that were present wore wary expressions, as they kept at a safe distance from what they clearly saw to be a rather suspicious looking woman.
"Don't just stand there looking like a fool girl," Kaede barked at her without warning, "Quickly! Follow me and try not to dawdle."
Though slightly miffed at the elder female's derisive tone, Kagome pursed her lips and followed closely, eager to leave behind the multitude of inquisitive eyes that were burning holes into the back of her head.
As she settled into the small hut she'd been led to, Kagome eyed her surroundings and began to question how the hell she'd managed to find herself in her current situations. Her plan to render the old well useless had backfired hard on her and from that point on everything had gone to hell in a handbasket. Now the issue most pressing at the was how in the hell was she going to make it to the well safely without attracting any dangerous youkai?
And if she remembered correctly, the old miko—who was currently busying herself with bowling a pot of water—had had very little talent in the art of purification, as well as very little stamina for that matter considering she looked like she had one foot in the grave already. It was safe to assume that Kaede was someone she would most certainly not be able to depend on as a reliable escort, unless she wanted to end up six feet under herself that is. Kagome also did not want to have to contend with a spiteful adolescent half-inuyoukai—or rely on moreover. It was bad enough she greatly resembled the miko the kid believed to have once spurned him, but furthermore Kagome also happened to be in the possession of someone greatly sought after by many a youkai. The Shikon jewel.
Her shikon jewel, Kagome corrected herself. Considering the damn thing was currently somewhere inside her body, it might as well be equated to a limb or vital organ, for that matter. Seeing as how the only way to remove it was to be sliced open like sashimi, Kagome was not eager to part with the jewel anytime soon. So long as the jewel was inside her body, Kagome contended that the jewel was as good as hers and there was no way in hell she'd be allowing anyone to take it from her—as that would entail a lot of digging around inside her organs in an effort to hit jackpot.
That wasn't even the worst of her worries at the moment either. After the not so gentle knock in the head Kagome had taken, she'd come to find that many of the specifics regarding the plotline of the manga had begun to quickly fade from her memory. She could not remember for the life of her, how long it would take before the creepy hair lady appeared in the village. Which is why Kagome knew that she could not linger for too long, that was for sure. If not the centipede that was still lurking about somewhere the well, Yura the hair would show up eventually, shortly followed by Inuyasha's sociopathic and overly-conceited ass of an elder brother.
One thing she did know for certain though, was that many of the events that were supposed to take place had already digressed greatly from the original plotline. For example, the fact that the body she currently possessed was not in fact fifteen but rather twenty-four at that—though thank the lord for small mercies. There also remained the small but ever present issue that not only did Kagome not purify the centipede in the well, but that the centipede had managed to linger long enough to be warded off by the villagers. Finally, though least worrying of all, that Kagome had not even been afforded the chance to happen upon the ever-frozen and strung up figure of a teenage brat in the forest. Of this however, she was thankful at least. She did not want to risk having a homicidal puppy wake up at the mere introduction of her presence, especially when wearing the face she currently did.
"So child," the old woman interrupted her musings, as she took a seat before her and offered her a cup of tea, "seeing ye as ye are, if I didn't know any better I would think ye to be the reincarnation of my dear elder sister."
Kagome's stoic mask cracked at this, "Let me guess… You think you do know better?"
"Ye are correct in your assessment. Ye are not the reincarnation of my sister. At least your soul is not. Your vessel however, I cannot say the same for."
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