~ A Feudal Fairytale ~
Nihao, everyone, we're baaaaaaaaaaaaack! Hopefully you cared enough to continue this far. Once again, the disclaimer: neither one of us owns InuYasha or Ranma, because Rumiko Takahashi wouldn't give up the rights. *sigh* What do you do, right? We only own Serenity and Patience. Anyway, BOTH OF US LOVE, LOVE, LOVE INUYASHA AND KAGOME AS A COUPLE - THIS IS JUST SOMETHING WE DID FOR FUN. And there is nothing wrong with a little fun if no one is getting hurt. Right? *looks around* Right. Good. Glad we agree.
All right, now, we can continue. Oh! I'm so excited. *dances around singing*
Chapter Two: Up the Well Again
"Hmm . . . these vines seem sturdy enough." Patience tugged on a vine to prove her theory and it came crashing down and hit her on the head. "Well, thank goodness there's a ladder on the other side of the freakin' WELL!!!"
Serenity stared at Patience for a moment, her face ghost white as she shook slightly, then she took off and was at the ladder in a blur of green and had begun climbing.
She poked her head out and looked around cautiously. The forest seemed disturbingly familiar . . . but, she told herself, at least it also looked normal. She pulled herself up, landing on soft grass. Patience had been right. There was no way they were anywhere near Tokyo, much less Nerima. There was nothing like this anywhere near the city - not even in the many parks spread out around Tokyo.
"My God, she has the patience of a demon." Of course Patience was right behind her. "Hey! There's the God Tree! Let's go toward it and see if we can get a better view of this area."
Patience looked around and realized Serenity was gone. "SERENITY!?!"
"I'm up here," Serenity called.
"Why?" Patience was beginning to wonder about her cousin.
Serenity just looked away. She had a good view that stretched for miles from the top of her tree. All she could see was the dense, green forest - the God Tree towering above all others, for some reason sending a deep chill down her spine - and . . . she squinted her eyes . . . a small town, nothing but a spot in the distance, but still there.
Hmm . . . maybe they could ask the people there how to get home.
She started the climb down. It felt good to have the rough bark under her palm, as strange as it was. It had been a long time since she had climbed a tree. She had forgotten how much she loved it.
"Hey, Patience, there's a . . . WAIT UP!!!"
Patience had already headed into the forest. Angry and slightly annoyed, Serenity dropped lightly to the ground then jogged to catch up with her, her face pinched into a frown.
"You little . . ."
Patience could hear Serenity mumbling, but at this point she didn't really care. She had to find out where in the Hell that stupid well had taken them.
A branch smacked her in the face. She put a hand to her cheek. "SHIT!" That was all she needed. Once more thing to add to the long list of junk she had had to put up with this morning. AND SHE HAD ONLY GOTTEN THREE FREAKIN' HOURS OF SLEEP!!!
She didn't like this . . . she didn't like this . . . she definitely did not like this . . . Serenity as if her lungs were being crushed, the power of the forest was so incredible. It was trying to suffocate her, just like in her dream.
She trudged along slowly behind Patience, her arms wrapped around herself so she wouldn't start shaking uncontrollably as she stared at the ground. This place was not 'normal' as she had thought. That was all too obvious now. It wasn't any better than the well house. In fact, this was even worse . . .
She wanted to go home.
"Serenity, hurry up! I think I see the God Tree!" Patience couldn't wait any longer. She had to do something. She grabbed the nearest branch and climbed the tree. She saw a small village off in the distance, but what in the world had happened? Nothing looked familiar. Absolutely nothing. Where were they?
"Well, we are definitely not in Tokyo. But where could we be?" Patience asked Serenity as she climbed down. Her foot slipped as she was descending the last few branches. Patience landed on her butt. "God damn it!" This was definitely not her day. "I just wanted to get to school on time!"
"Shut up!" Serenity yelled. "Get up and let's go. I want to get out of here . . . Tokyo or not . . ."
She looked around her fearfully, her greenish-gray eyes wide, making her look like a deer caught in the headlights of a car, then held out her hand to help Patience to her feet.
"Thanks." Patience got up. Just one more bruise and on a place she didn't care for one. And why was Serenity being so, so ANNOYING and, well GROTCHY!?! Well, at least for today and maybe until they got home, she couldn't tell her just how, for lack of a better word, shitty a day she was having. And that god damned dream waking her up hadn't helped any, or had it been Serenity that had woken her up? ARGGG!!!
Why is this forest taking so long to get through!? Serenity's mind screamed. It couldn't possibly be that large - could it? Oh, God, she hoped not! She shuddered even to think about it. She wanted to be free of these trees so badly she was ready to burst into tears any minute.
She just wanted to breathe, was that too much to ask!?
Serenity tilted her head back to look into the sky. It was blue and cloudless . . . She couldn't wait to be able to see it without the - she gritted her teeth - limbs of the STUPID FREAKIN' CREEPY FOREST blocking her view.
She suddenly found herself face-first on the ground, a terrible pain wrenching through her ankle.
She groaned.
Patience whirled around - what in the Hell had Serenity done now? Patience saw that she had sprained her ankle. "Yeah, just add one more thing to my day! You just had to go and trip, DIDN'T YOU!?!" Immediately she regretted saying it. Serenity's expression darkened.
"Oh, and how do you think I feel, huh? I've been through the same crap as you. Now help me up," Serenity retorted. Why was Patience being so crabby?
"I'm going to get help. I can't carry your butt anywhere."
"I'm not askin' you to carry me. HELP ME UP!"
"Serenity, be SERENE!"
"Patience, be PATIENT!"
"Bye."
"WHATEVER!"
Patience was gone before Serenity had gotten the word out of her mouth.
I can't believe she just left me here ALONE in this . . . this place.
It was at that point she glanced up -
- And gasped. She was at the foot of the God Tree.
It didn't really become clear until that moment, but this was just like her dream. Her heart began to pound heavily with fear. She had to know if she was right.
Using the tree for balance, she got to her feet and, careful to keep her weight off her injured foot, hobbled around to the other side. She knew before he even came into view; she could sense the arrow. How, she didn't know, but none-the-less she knew for a fact it was there.
Once again she saw the kind, sorrowful face. Serenity's heart fluttered in something other in fear for a split second and, without thinking, she stepped toward him, wanting to see if he truly was real.
It happened just like in the dream she had: she started to fall, having tripped over a upraised root, and reached out for something to help her regain her balance, finding the arrow and taking it with her as she hit the ground. She sat there in a crouch for a moment, wondering if she should look up or not . . .
She couldn't resist. She glanced at the boy . . . and again, those hate-filled eyes bore into hers.
Serenity fell back with a soft cry and hit her head against a rock.
Then everything went black.
~ * ~
Patience stalked through the forest, wondering if she was even going in the right direction.
Why had she left Serenity in that place when she had obviously been so scared? Of what, Patience could only guess. Serenity was such a wuss . . . and where was she, anyway?
Patience tripped, fell to the ground, and skinned her knee. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed. She screamed until she couldn't scream anymore. What in the Hell was going on here? Was the world against her today or something? And she was getting blood on her new skirt. She had just gotten it in a package from Courtney in Arizona. It was a beautiful flower print that was light and fairy-like.
Patience tore the sleeve off her school vest. Oops! Such a pity. She would really miss that ugly school blue-gray.
She saw a stream. The sleeve of the vest soaked up water well. Well, she thought, at least I wore my fairy sleeve shirt. I can stay a little bit warm tonight!
Patience decided to let the water clean out her cut before she went on. No use getting myself sick, she thought. She sat down against the nearest tree. Man, that bruise still hurt. But if felt sooo good to sit down.
Patience was soon fast asleep.
She awoke hours later to a soft giggle. And it seemed to come from the tree across from her. And just when she began to believe it was true, a head popped out from behind the tree. It was a little girl, no more than six years old.
It had gotten darker, almost sunset in fact. What was this little girl doing here at this time of day? OH! And did she know of anyone who could help Serenity?
"Hey! Sweetheart. Do you know someone who can help a hurt friend of mine?" She would get the girl home later. She had to help Serenity.
The child nodded eagerly.
"Can you take me to them?"
The child again nodded quite enthusiastically. She grabbed Patience's hand and began to pull her deeper into the forest. Where is she taking me? Patience wondered to herself, letting the girl drag her along behind her. They arrived at their destination sooner than Patience had expected.
Standing with their back turned to Patience, the person spoke as the child tugged on the hem of their pant leg: "Yes, Rin? What do you want?"
That voice! It was . . . but no.
Rin pointed to her and the figure turned around. NO! It wasn't possible. But there he was. It was from her dream. The blue crescent moon.
"Yes?"
Patience grasped for words, but only one thing escaped her lips: "Wow."
a/n: Again, I would like to state that both of the authors of this story respect, promote, and love Inuyasha and Kagome as a couple. No flames, please. This is something we did for fun.
