~ A Feudal Fairytale ~




Nihao, all, welcome to our little ficie! We do not own InuYasha, or Ranma. *sigh* We tried to buy it from Rumiko Takahashi, but she wouldn't sell. We only own Patience Galloway and Serenity Ikari - who are *giggles* based on us. Oh, one more thing, WE ARE BOTH ADVOCATES FOR THE COUPLE OF INUYASHA AND KAGOME!!! There are no two people more suited to each other, we just got really bored and decided to do this to amuse ourselves.

That being said, on with the story . . .





Chapter One: Down the Well


It was the strangest dream she ever remembered having. She was standing at the base of a giant tree . . . the God Tree, she realized, except that instead of being surrounded by concrete it was in the middle of a wild, seemingly endless forest that was about as far from the Nerima district of Tokyo as possible. But in the back of her mind, she knew she had been here before . . . when or how, she didn't know, but she knew where she was - the Dark Forest. She glanced around her at the shadowed trees. Something about it sent chills up her spine; not only was it enveloped in an eerie dark purple light, but it felt as it were trying to suffocate her. It might have been pretty in the daylight, but it was definitely not a place she would want to be at night . . . like now. She couldn't help thinking the place had a mind of its own. But a moment later, as she continued to take in her surroundings, something else entirely held her attention.

A slender young man dressed in a loose red kimono, a rusty scabbard - and the sword looking no better - hanging at his side, was pinned to the tree with an arrow - the arrow itself, when she looked at it, seemed to glow with a soft, translucent pink light - and vines entwined themselves around his legs and bare feet. Long silver hair flowed around his face, gentle and peaceful in sleep with his dark eyelashes resting against the pale skin, and his ears were furry and pointed, more like a puppy's than a human's.

He wasn't human - that didn't surprise her, and it wasn't just because of the ears. She would have known even if there hadn't been any ears. And she wasn't surprised to seen him there unconscious and bound to the God Tree. In fact, she had the strangest feeling she had seen him before . . .

She stood, unable to take her eyes away from the boy's face, her heart doing some kind of wild, rhythmless dance in her chest as she stared at him. There was something so . . . so innocent and sorrowful about him. Forgetting that this was nothing but a dream, she started forward, wanting to touch him, to see if he was real or just some figment of her imagination that was too good to be true.

For a single moment as she stepped toward him, her foot caught on a root and she became off balance. She put out a hand to keep herself from falling. It met with something long and slender, but it came loose in her hand. To her, it felt as if a candle had been snuffed out; she sensed rather than saw that the pink light was gone -

She fell to the ground, the arrow in her hand. She stared at it in curiosity. What had happened?

But then she was suddenly distracted - she felt someone watching her. She looked up and found herself staring into a pair of wide amber eyes, so full of repressed rage they glittered like ice . . .


Serenity jerked into a sitting position, her hand automatically reaching for her dog, Shin. She calmed a little when she could feel the German Shepard's coarse brown fur under her fingers. She was dripping in cold sweat, her dark hair plastered in ringlets to her forehead, but her heart had ceased pounding and slowly her breathing returned to normal. She took several deep breaths, giving her time to collect her thoughts.

It was just a dream, she told herself.

She smiled wryly at her own stupidity. Just a dream, huh? she thought. Riiight. That was no dream . . .

She was still shaking from the overwhelming presence of that strange forest and the intensity of that boy's eyes. It seemed so wrong to have those cold, unfeeling eyes peering out of such a kind face. She just didn't understand it. He had the sweetest, most serene expression on his face, at least when he slept, that made it seem as if he should be peaceful and benevolent, but when you looked into his eyes you could almost imagine him to be the kind of person who could murder someone in cold blood and think nothing of it . . .

Serenity shuddered involuntarily at the thought, but gave a weak smile when Shin raised his head up to look at her, his warm brown eyes questioning.

"I'm all right, boy," she whispered, and gave him a reassuring pat, then she sighed, running a hand through her damp, dark brown hair, pushing it out of her eyes.

Just a dream, she thought again.

I wish.

She leaned back onto her pillows with another, heavier sigh, and closed her eyes, only to see those amber eyes gazing back at her in all their glinting fury. Her eyes snapped open. It appeared sleep would be a long way off. Every time she tried to close her eyes so she could get some rest, she would see those eyes again and she would be staring at her wall, once more feeling wide awake.

I'm going to be paying for this tomorrow . . .


~ * ~


She was standing at the foot of a huge cliff. Nothing looked familiar. It was so bleak, so bare. She was chilled to the bone. Where was she? This place was like nothing she had ever seen.

Suddenly there was a flash of golden light atop the cliff. She backed up so that she could see highest, flat surface of the cliff. Why did she care? It had just been lightening, or was it?

She had been walking forever. She saw herself fall from exhaustion. She looked back at the cliff.

That figure! That man, no he wasn't human. He was too perfectly built to be human. He was robed in white. The white had red stitched onto it. She knew him, but how? From where?

"Patience." The sound of his voice sent a shiver up her spine. He didn't speak loud enough that she could have heard him and yet she felt he was screaming for her. There was desperation in his voice and such a lose and sorrow it physically hurt her to hear it.

In his face there was such pain and fear and sadness it threatened to draw her in.

A single tear rolled off of his cheek and fell to the ground and from that one tear a river of lose sprung up. It was so cold. Ice formed on the banks. She was swept up by the current and hurtled down stream. The icy waters were just a front and underneath was a warmth that threatened to drown her.

She screamed and thrashed trying to avoid the current. A pair of strong arms covered in white; a chest, strong and safe. As safe as she had felt in her father's arms, but he was dead now. Who would hold her so safely again?

She saw the blue crescent moon . . .


"Patience, Patience. Wake up! It's just a dream!"

Patience woke suddenly. Serenity was perched on her bed, gently shaking her, as Shin was over in the corner licking Gertie (Patience's miniature Collie) in the face in an attempt to comfort her.

"You were screaming when I ran in and saw Gertie in the corner. Was it another nightmare? You haven't had one of your parents in almost a year," Serenity said gently.

"I'm fine." Patience was shaken. She wasn't by any measure fine. Who had that figure been? "We better get ready for school," she said, her voice calm. "It's almost six o'clock."

Serenity left, taking Shin with her. Patience was left with the thought of who was that figure? He had looked so sad, but how had he known her name? And why had he been screaming for her?


~ * ~


"Morin' Grandpa!" called Serenity cheerfully as she came into the kitchen where her grandfather was busy making breakfast and her younger brother, Kouji, was already sitting at the table waiting.

"Good morning, girl," he answered. "Did the talismans I put on your door last night keep the spirits out?"

"Uh . . . yeah, it sure did, Grandpa."

"Good, good," he muttered, flipping a pancake with a quick motion of his wrist.

She ruffled her brother's hair and perched herself on the edge of the table and began to braid her damp hair. A shower had been just what she needed to make herself forget what she was now convinced was just a dream. She felt a lot better and even though she barely got an hour of sleep she felt like she could get through school without falling asleep. Well, at least until fourth period when she had Algebra.

"Have you seen Snickers?" asked Kouji suddenly, looking up at her anxiously.

Serenity shook her head. She hadn't seen the cat since she had let Shin and Gertie outside around midnight.

"Oh . . ."

"I'm sure she's around here somewhere, though," she said quickly.

Kouji just nodded.

"So, what's for breakfast?" asked Patience tiredly as she dragged herself into the room

"Pancakes," their grandfather replied.

"Any orange juice?"

"No," said Kouji. "I took the last of it." He pointed to the glass sitting in front of him, only half-full.

"Thanks," Patience said as she snatched his glass. "Saves me time. And we're already late!" she cried, looking at the clock. Patience gulped down the rest of the juice, grabbed her bookbag and ran out the door. "Love you, Gramps!" she called over her shoulder.

"Love you too, Patience," he yelled back.

"Stupid . . . YEAH, THANKS FOR WAITING!" Serenity yelled. "C'mon, Kouji."

She grabbed her bag, giving her grandfather a quick hug as Kouji shoved some papers in his backpack, then the two ran out after Patience. It was at that moment their grandfather realized what was going on.

"Hey, children . . . what about breakfast?"


~ * ~


"Hurry up, Kouji," Patience yelled.

"But I'm looking for Snickers," he said.

"You do that, kid," Serenity told him. She glared at Patience. "Don't yell at him."

"What are we going to do about them?" Patience asked, quickly diverting Serenity's wrath.

A thoughtful look crossed Serenity's face. "Hmm . . . I've been thinking about that, but I'm not exactly sure yet . . . You know Ranma and Akane. They're both stubborn beyond belief and besides, nothin' I can think of would work unless I got rid of Shampoo . . . Ukyou . . . Kodachi . . . Ryouga . . . that . . . that one freaky dude . . ."

She continued to count her obstacles off on her fingers. They seemed endless.

"What!?! Whatever. Anyway, more importantly, how can we get Kuno obsessed with Nabiki? I know Nabiki likes him. She won't admit it, but all the signs are there. Now neither of them have anything planned Saturday . . . Kouji! We have to get to school! The cat wouldn't be in the well shrine! You idiot!" Patience pushed Serenity towards the door to the shrine. "You go after him. He's your brother."

"Yeah - and I'm proud of it . . ." Serenity grinned. "However, you are going first."

She slipped away from Patience, got behind her, and pushed her through the door.

"I said DON'T YELL AT MY LITTLE BROTHER!"

The place was dark and as soon as Serenity walked into the well house it felt like a bucket of ice water had been dropped on her. She shivered. She didn't like being in here . . .

This feels too familiar, Patience thought.

"SNICKERS! WHERE ARE YOU!?" Serenity yelled from behind Patience, hoping her voice didn't tremble. She didn't want to be in here anymore. This place scared her . . . Where was that stupid cat!?

"THANKS!" Patience turned around yelled at Serenity. "We are going to miss first period - and we've already miss Akane's fight with Kuno. If it wasn't for your stupid little brother . . ." Patience pushed Serenity's shoulder lightly as she began to walk toward the well to get Kouji.

"I said don't yell at him, Patience!"

Serenity charged at her cousin. She wasn't going to anything except maybe make them even later . . . and she wanted to get out of this stupid shrine.

Patience felt the air leave her lungs as Serenity slammed full force into her, sending both of them hurtling head first into the dry well. They hit the bottom at the same time with a dull thud. Patience stood up first, glad to find herself unharmed. She dusted herself off; to her dismay, her skirt had gotten dust all over it. Great! Just what I need! thought Patience. Not only am I going to be later to school, I'm going to be covered in DIRT!

"Umm . . ." Patience mumbled, her anger leaving her, as she saw the well walls were now covered in vines. "Serenity, I don't think we're in Tokyo anymore."

Serenity was staring at her. She knew that all too well already. OH NO, OH NO, OH NO . . . I KNEW I DIDN'T WANT TO GO IN THERE . . . KOUJI, YOU IDIOT, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!




a/n: Again, I would like to state that the authors of this fic respect and promote Inuyasha and Kagome as a couple, so no flames please. This is something we did out of boredom and . . . well . . . call it curiosity.