Disclaimer: Must I? We all know that I don't own Inuyasha...^_^ I
wouldn't mind though!
Just want to give some thanks to Poe, my wonderful first reviewer!! Yeah, I know site and sight were mixed up. but it was 4 am in the morning and I didn't really care at that point lol. Thanks so much for your enthusiastic liking of my story! I hope you enjoy this next chapter!
Chapter 2: Sudden Surprises
A/N: We've switched briefly to our favorite dueling pair, Kagome and Inuyasha. Just a little bit o' background for the story. *Grins* Well, I won't keep you wonderful readers any longer...are you still reading this? Stop! Read the story, not this lil' authors note! ".." People speaking '..' Thought
"I told you you wouldn't be able to find him, Inuyasha. That storm was bad. You could've gotten sick, ya know.
"Feh. Demons don't get sick, you know that Kagome. Come on, I'm taking you back; we should be hunting my shards!
Kagome growled under her breath, a pretty good trick for a human. They only reason they were still here was because Inuyasha had to go Hojo hunting! She told him as much and the only reply she got was another of his "Feh's." Really, he could be so irritating. At least she had passed that math test she had been worried of. "At least let me get packed, dog- boy. It's freezing out there. I need some warmer clothes.more food.oh and I'll need this too probably."
Inuyasha could only stare at the already bulging pack. How did she manage to put so much into it?!?! He zoned out her chatter, turning to stare out her bedroom window broodingly. How dare that Hoho kid come around HIS Kagome? 'Feh. Stupid mortal, hounding (a/n lol ^_^) around my ma.er.shard detector!' Had he almost thought.? No. She was just his 'Tama detector, yeah.
Had Kagome turned around to look at him at that moment, she'd have seen the faint blush spread across his cheeks. As it was, she was too bust trying to get the over packed pack to close.
"Hey, you ready to go? The packs all packed now, Inuyasha.Inuyasha? He-e- l-l-l-l-o-o-o??? Earth to Inuyasha?
Nothing.
"Sit!"
~Thud~
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR, WENCH???"
Kagome calmly looked down at his head buried in her carpet. "Well, you weren't answering me. That was the only way to get your attention. See? It worked!" She giggled at his pissed expression. "Come on, let's get going." She hefted the pack to her back, tottered a moment, then fell over backwards with a surprised eep. She lay on top of the pack, arms and legs sprawled face turning bright crimson as Inuyasha doubled over laughing. Still laughing, he left the room, calling over his shoulder. "Come on, get a move on Kagome!"
She glared at his retreating back, looking like an upside down turtle, still trying to get up. "If you'd help me up, we could go! Guess I'll just stay home longer." She mentally counted down the seconds until he would come back, arms crossed over her chest with a smug smile.
'Three.two.one.'
"Oi, wench, can't you do anything yourself?" Inuyasha had returned, as predicted, and picked up the pack, Kagome still attached, slipping her out and shouldering it. "Keh, can we go now?"
"Of course, what are you waiting for?" She walked past him, exiting the house and heading for the well on her families shrine. Just before entering the building, she paused, a vague uneasiness making the back of her neck tingle. She looked around, squinting her eyes against the glare the snow threw off, but could see nothing. Shaking her head, she entered the building, Inuyasha right behind her. 'Thought I could sense a demon.but here? Huh, must be imagining things.' She decided to ask Inuyasha later if had felt anything, and jumped into the well.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Outside, the air was every bit as clear as the view from the window promised. All about her, she saw things with a startling clarity she'd never had before. The cold air cleared her head, bringing with it a plethora of aromas sounds. A wide grin splitting face, Poppy stepped out into iced over city. Unzipping her parka, she started walking down the slippery walks. It wasn't that cold, the TV weatherperson Sata heard must have been wrong. Ah well, its happened before, she thought with a grin. 'Huh, seems like a perfect day to me, barely even cold at all. I'll bet most of this melts soon. Now where was that shrine.?' Looking at the street signs for a moment, she decided and headed off, humming under her breath.
Turning around a corner, Poppy stopped in front of a long flight of stone steps leading up to the shrine. 'Well, here it is. Upwards, and onwards!' Grinning, she set off up the stares, parka carried over her shoulder. Up here, away from the city streets, it seemed more quiet and peaceful, any sounds of the city muffled by the trees. So weighed down by their burden of ice and snow, they bent over the path she was on, making it into a tunnel. Walking along, she almost failed to notice the boy sweeping the snow away in front of her. At the last second, she caught herself from knocking into him. He looked up, smiling, pushing his dark hair out from his face.
"Hi, can I help you? I'm Souta, this is my families shrine." He looked over the girl, deciding that she must be a tourist. Not many natives to Japan had amber-ish hair, pale eyes, or skin that was a golden shade. 'Huh, she's kinda cute, for a girl, I wonder what she wants?'
Poppy looked around as she spoke, drinking in the quiet beauty of the shrine grounds. "Hey, Souta. Sata has told me a lot about you, and your sister Kagome. I'm her roommate, Poppy Taylor." She dipped her head briefly in a bow, remembering that that was the Japanese custom, instead of a handshake. Smiling down on the young boy, she teased him lightly. "Since your cousin decided to do one of her little trance tricks when I asked her a question, I decided to come down here for a walk. I've heard a lot about your family's shrine, but I've not seen it yet. I was wondering, if perhaps you could give me bit of a tour?"
Souta nodded, putting his broom away. "Sure, I can. I know what Sata's like when she does that little thing of hers, she could be hours!" Souta grinned, closing the door to the little tool shed and turning to lead Poppy further into the shrine complex. "I've listened to my grandpa tell his stories so much, I could do it in my sleep! Follow me." He headed off, Poppy in his wake, and told the history of the shrine, how a Buddhist monk founded it around 500 years ago. There were quite a few stories that went with the shrine, some of them seemingly very farfetched, dealing with things like demons and people with powers, so Souta stuck mainly to the history. Walking by the God Tree, he did stop to tell its story, knowing that it was actually true. "This is called the God Tree. It's well over 500 years old. There is a legend that says once a strong demon was trapped in it, held there by an arrow shot by a priestess. He'd been terrorizing her village and she had to stop him. She enchanted an arrow and shot him, pinning him to the tree. She had been wounded by him before, though, and died doing it. 50 years later, he was released by the reincarnation of that priestess, and spell bound to help her on some quest." While he related the story, he saw that Poppy was listening avidly. He finished up by pointing out a nearly covered scar in the trees thick bark.
"Wow, that's some legend. Pretty cool. This whole place is pretty impressive."
"Yeah? I've been here my whole life, grew up hearing all this from my grandpa. I guess you kinda forget how the place may seem to an outsider."
Spying a small building a ways from the tree, she started heading towards it, until called back by Souta.
"Hey, I'm sorry Poppy, but that area is off limits to visitors."
"Oh really? What's in it?"
Souta paled briefly, then stammered out an excuse, saying it was just an empty shed that held the shrines maintenance equipment. Poppy saw his hesitation, and grew curious again. She had to find out what was in there! Deciding on her plan, she said good-bye and thank you to Souta, and then headed off in the direction of the exit. Once his head turned away, though, she ducked off the path behind some trees, watching him enter the house. As she was about to step out of cover though, two figures emerged from the building.and one looked rather familiar. "The boy from last night."
~*~Flashback~*~
Ducking her head down, Poppy fought against the driving wind, trying to ignore the little stinging particles of ice that stung her face. Glancing up, she noted that she was passing the Higurashi shrine. 'Almost home then, just two more blocks, then hot tea with Sata!' She thought to herself, once more ducking her head as another blast of wind tore at her.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, voices were carried by the wind, rather loud and.angry ones, at that.
"Sit!"
Thud.
"What was that for, wench?!?"
"Because you seem intent on going out there, in the blizzard, to look for a guy I don't even like, so you can beat him up! Why shouldn't I say the s-word since you seem so intent on bringing bodily harm on Hojo??"
"Feh. Because I don't like the way he looked at you. He could be trying to get the shards!"
While Poppy had stood in the wind, trying to make sense of that rather odd conversation, a red coloured blur vaulted in front of her, having jumped down the stairs in a single jump. Poppy stared after him in complete shock. 'Dog-ears? Did that kid have.? Now way. Must be my imagination.' Shaking her head in bemusement, she continued on to her apartment.
~*~End Flashback~*~
She held her breath, watching as he and a dark haired girl headed for the shed. The boy carried a huge pack with ease, and was dressed in some red.garment. She thought it might be some sort of ancient Japanese costume. 'Now why would a kid be dressed like that, and with dog-ears? It's not Halloween.' The gears in her head turning, she kept watch.
Waiting silently, she saw them enter, though the girl paused as she did. Poppy could have sworn that she looked right at her, before they finally entered and closed the door behind them. 'Now what could they be up too?'
She snuck closer to the shack, still watching. After 10 minutes, neither had emerged yet, so Poppy came closer still, and listed at the door. Nothing.
"Now what on earth?" Cautiously she opened it to find.nothing. No trace of the two whatsoever. The door was the only entrance to the place. Walking inside, she abandoned all caution and started to explore. It was roomy inside, and heavily festooned with paper protection wards. "Equipment my cute ass.there's nothing here except an empty well!" She walked across the wooded platform that surrounded the well, leaning over the edge to look in. Again, nothing. Just dirt at the bottom. Unknown to her, Souta had come back, hoping to see his sister and Inuyasha again before they left, and had seen her enter the shed. Running up, he entered behind her, and shouted out.
"Hey, you can't be in here!"
Poppy jumped, startled. Her shoes, slick with melting snow and ice, slipped on the smooth wooden boards, and toppled into the well with a startled exclamation.
A/n: Another week, another chapter. ^_^ I'll have a new chapter every week, if not sooner, promise I will! *Crosses heart with finger, while ignoring hysterical laughter of roommates.* Any who, please review! If ya do, I'll give ya a review on any work you do! *BIG puppy eyes* Eep, enough of my brown nosing. Hope yall enjoy this! Next week- Poppy meets the gang ^^
Just want to give some thanks to Poe, my wonderful first reviewer!! Yeah, I know site and sight were mixed up. but it was 4 am in the morning and I didn't really care at that point lol. Thanks so much for your enthusiastic liking of my story! I hope you enjoy this next chapter!
Chapter 2: Sudden Surprises
A/N: We've switched briefly to our favorite dueling pair, Kagome and Inuyasha. Just a little bit o' background for the story. *Grins* Well, I won't keep you wonderful readers any longer...are you still reading this? Stop! Read the story, not this lil' authors note! ".." People speaking '..' Thought
"I told you you wouldn't be able to find him, Inuyasha. That storm was bad. You could've gotten sick, ya know.
"Feh. Demons don't get sick, you know that Kagome. Come on, I'm taking you back; we should be hunting my shards!
Kagome growled under her breath, a pretty good trick for a human. They only reason they were still here was because Inuyasha had to go Hojo hunting! She told him as much and the only reply she got was another of his "Feh's." Really, he could be so irritating. At least she had passed that math test she had been worried of. "At least let me get packed, dog- boy. It's freezing out there. I need some warmer clothes.more food.oh and I'll need this too probably."
Inuyasha could only stare at the already bulging pack. How did she manage to put so much into it?!?! He zoned out her chatter, turning to stare out her bedroom window broodingly. How dare that Hoho kid come around HIS Kagome? 'Feh. Stupid mortal, hounding (a/n lol ^_^) around my ma.er.shard detector!' Had he almost thought.? No. She was just his 'Tama detector, yeah.
Had Kagome turned around to look at him at that moment, she'd have seen the faint blush spread across his cheeks. As it was, she was too bust trying to get the over packed pack to close.
"Hey, you ready to go? The packs all packed now, Inuyasha.Inuyasha? He-e- l-l-l-l-o-o-o??? Earth to Inuyasha?
Nothing.
"Sit!"
~Thud~
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR, WENCH???"
Kagome calmly looked down at his head buried in her carpet. "Well, you weren't answering me. That was the only way to get your attention. See? It worked!" She giggled at his pissed expression. "Come on, let's get going." She hefted the pack to her back, tottered a moment, then fell over backwards with a surprised eep. She lay on top of the pack, arms and legs sprawled face turning bright crimson as Inuyasha doubled over laughing. Still laughing, he left the room, calling over his shoulder. "Come on, get a move on Kagome!"
She glared at his retreating back, looking like an upside down turtle, still trying to get up. "If you'd help me up, we could go! Guess I'll just stay home longer." She mentally counted down the seconds until he would come back, arms crossed over her chest with a smug smile.
'Three.two.one.'
"Oi, wench, can't you do anything yourself?" Inuyasha had returned, as predicted, and picked up the pack, Kagome still attached, slipping her out and shouldering it. "Keh, can we go now?"
"Of course, what are you waiting for?" She walked past him, exiting the house and heading for the well on her families shrine. Just before entering the building, she paused, a vague uneasiness making the back of her neck tingle. She looked around, squinting her eyes against the glare the snow threw off, but could see nothing. Shaking her head, she entered the building, Inuyasha right behind her. 'Thought I could sense a demon.but here? Huh, must be imagining things.' She decided to ask Inuyasha later if had felt anything, and jumped into the well.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Outside, the air was every bit as clear as the view from the window promised. All about her, she saw things with a startling clarity she'd never had before. The cold air cleared her head, bringing with it a plethora of aromas sounds. A wide grin splitting face, Poppy stepped out into iced over city. Unzipping her parka, she started walking down the slippery walks. It wasn't that cold, the TV weatherperson Sata heard must have been wrong. Ah well, its happened before, she thought with a grin. 'Huh, seems like a perfect day to me, barely even cold at all. I'll bet most of this melts soon. Now where was that shrine.?' Looking at the street signs for a moment, she decided and headed off, humming under her breath.
Turning around a corner, Poppy stopped in front of a long flight of stone steps leading up to the shrine. 'Well, here it is. Upwards, and onwards!' Grinning, she set off up the stares, parka carried over her shoulder. Up here, away from the city streets, it seemed more quiet and peaceful, any sounds of the city muffled by the trees. So weighed down by their burden of ice and snow, they bent over the path she was on, making it into a tunnel. Walking along, she almost failed to notice the boy sweeping the snow away in front of her. At the last second, she caught herself from knocking into him. He looked up, smiling, pushing his dark hair out from his face.
"Hi, can I help you? I'm Souta, this is my families shrine." He looked over the girl, deciding that she must be a tourist. Not many natives to Japan had amber-ish hair, pale eyes, or skin that was a golden shade. 'Huh, she's kinda cute, for a girl, I wonder what she wants?'
Poppy looked around as she spoke, drinking in the quiet beauty of the shrine grounds. "Hey, Souta. Sata has told me a lot about you, and your sister Kagome. I'm her roommate, Poppy Taylor." She dipped her head briefly in a bow, remembering that that was the Japanese custom, instead of a handshake. Smiling down on the young boy, she teased him lightly. "Since your cousin decided to do one of her little trance tricks when I asked her a question, I decided to come down here for a walk. I've heard a lot about your family's shrine, but I've not seen it yet. I was wondering, if perhaps you could give me bit of a tour?"
Souta nodded, putting his broom away. "Sure, I can. I know what Sata's like when she does that little thing of hers, she could be hours!" Souta grinned, closing the door to the little tool shed and turning to lead Poppy further into the shrine complex. "I've listened to my grandpa tell his stories so much, I could do it in my sleep! Follow me." He headed off, Poppy in his wake, and told the history of the shrine, how a Buddhist monk founded it around 500 years ago. There were quite a few stories that went with the shrine, some of them seemingly very farfetched, dealing with things like demons and people with powers, so Souta stuck mainly to the history. Walking by the God Tree, he did stop to tell its story, knowing that it was actually true. "This is called the God Tree. It's well over 500 years old. There is a legend that says once a strong demon was trapped in it, held there by an arrow shot by a priestess. He'd been terrorizing her village and she had to stop him. She enchanted an arrow and shot him, pinning him to the tree. She had been wounded by him before, though, and died doing it. 50 years later, he was released by the reincarnation of that priestess, and spell bound to help her on some quest." While he related the story, he saw that Poppy was listening avidly. He finished up by pointing out a nearly covered scar in the trees thick bark.
"Wow, that's some legend. Pretty cool. This whole place is pretty impressive."
"Yeah? I've been here my whole life, grew up hearing all this from my grandpa. I guess you kinda forget how the place may seem to an outsider."
Spying a small building a ways from the tree, she started heading towards it, until called back by Souta.
"Hey, I'm sorry Poppy, but that area is off limits to visitors."
"Oh really? What's in it?"
Souta paled briefly, then stammered out an excuse, saying it was just an empty shed that held the shrines maintenance equipment. Poppy saw his hesitation, and grew curious again. She had to find out what was in there! Deciding on her plan, she said good-bye and thank you to Souta, and then headed off in the direction of the exit. Once his head turned away, though, she ducked off the path behind some trees, watching him enter the house. As she was about to step out of cover though, two figures emerged from the building.and one looked rather familiar. "The boy from last night."
~*~Flashback~*~
Ducking her head down, Poppy fought against the driving wind, trying to ignore the little stinging particles of ice that stung her face. Glancing up, she noted that she was passing the Higurashi shrine. 'Almost home then, just two more blocks, then hot tea with Sata!' She thought to herself, once more ducking her head as another blast of wind tore at her.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, voices were carried by the wind, rather loud and.angry ones, at that.
"Sit!"
Thud.
"What was that for, wench?!?"
"Because you seem intent on going out there, in the blizzard, to look for a guy I don't even like, so you can beat him up! Why shouldn't I say the s-word since you seem so intent on bringing bodily harm on Hojo??"
"Feh. Because I don't like the way he looked at you. He could be trying to get the shards!"
While Poppy had stood in the wind, trying to make sense of that rather odd conversation, a red coloured blur vaulted in front of her, having jumped down the stairs in a single jump. Poppy stared after him in complete shock. 'Dog-ears? Did that kid have.? Now way. Must be my imagination.' Shaking her head in bemusement, she continued on to her apartment.
~*~End Flashback~*~
She held her breath, watching as he and a dark haired girl headed for the shed. The boy carried a huge pack with ease, and was dressed in some red.garment. She thought it might be some sort of ancient Japanese costume. 'Now why would a kid be dressed like that, and with dog-ears? It's not Halloween.' The gears in her head turning, she kept watch.
Waiting silently, she saw them enter, though the girl paused as she did. Poppy could have sworn that she looked right at her, before they finally entered and closed the door behind them. 'Now what could they be up too?'
She snuck closer to the shack, still watching. After 10 minutes, neither had emerged yet, so Poppy came closer still, and listed at the door. Nothing.
"Now what on earth?" Cautiously she opened it to find.nothing. No trace of the two whatsoever. The door was the only entrance to the place. Walking inside, she abandoned all caution and started to explore. It was roomy inside, and heavily festooned with paper protection wards. "Equipment my cute ass.there's nothing here except an empty well!" She walked across the wooded platform that surrounded the well, leaning over the edge to look in. Again, nothing. Just dirt at the bottom. Unknown to her, Souta had come back, hoping to see his sister and Inuyasha again before they left, and had seen her enter the shed. Running up, he entered behind her, and shouted out.
"Hey, you can't be in here!"
Poppy jumped, startled. Her shoes, slick with melting snow and ice, slipped on the smooth wooden boards, and toppled into the well with a startled exclamation.
A/n: Another week, another chapter. ^_^ I'll have a new chapter every week, if not sooner, promise I will! *Crosses heart with finger, while ignoring hysterical laughter of roommates.* Any who, please review! If ya do, I'll give ya a review on any work you do! *BIG puppy eyes* Eep, enough of my brown nosing. Hope yall enjoy this! Next week- Poppy meets the gang ^^