By: Lady Tiger LiLy
Disclaimer: I do not own Inu-Yasha. I own what I own.
Chapter 2: Discovering Your Roots
"What happened?"
Junko walked away from the well until she noticed a large tree. She stood in awe as she gazed upon it. "Oh wow. What a gorgeous tree. Come to think of it, it looks like the tree near the well house." She walked up to one of the giant roots that stuck up out of the ground. She touched the root in silent wonder.
She then looked around her. Forest. She was surrounded by a gorgeous forest. "Tokyo never had so many neat trees before. I don't think this is Tokyo. But then, where am I? How did I get here? Maybe I fell in another tunnel connected to the well or something. Well, however it happened, I need to find a way back." She climbed up on one of the giant roots of the tree. "Maybe I should wait here and see if someone finds me." She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin and sighed. "This could take a while…"
It was not long when she heard something rustling in the forest. She turned to the direction of the sound as she hopped off the root. "Hello? Is someone there?" She shouted. A giant bug that looked like a beetle, about one story high, sprung out and roared. Junko stood in surprise and shock. Was this thing for real? It was headed for her fast so she decided not to stick around and find out.
"AAAH! HELP!" She screamed as she ran for her life.
In the nearby village, a man ran up to an old woman accompanied by a younger woman with dark brown hair. "Lady Kaede! There is a disturbance in the Forest of Inu-Yasha! Shall we send out our men?"
"Don't bother." Came the voice of a young man. "I can defend the village without breaking a sweat!" He smirked.
"Aye. If ye wish, then go now." Kaede nodded to the young man.
He bowed to Kaede and her young companion and fled fast.
Junko saw what appeared to be a village ahead. 'Maybe someone there can help me!' She thought desperately as she looked back to see the giant insect still behind. 'I hope that thing can't fly!'
Suddenly, Junko lost her footing and her body slammed into the ground. She made a small cry of pain as she tried to pull herself up. When she got to her feet, a jab of pain struck her and she fell down to her knees. 'I can't… run!'
She heard the monster insect scream so she turned around. When she did, she saw the thing lying on its back struggling to turn over.
"Huh…?" She wondered.
"FOX FIRE!"
She looked up in the sky and saw a blurred figure. Suddenly, blue flames shot out at the helpless insect from the blurred source. It caught on fire and shrieked terribly with the sound of pain. It struggled for a while before it became motionless and was consumed by the flames.
"What? AH!" Junko yelled. She fell back when something fell out of nowhere and landed in front of her. "Huh? What's this?" she pulled on the ball of yellowish fluff in front of her.
"Hey! Watch the tail!" He turned around to see who had done that.
"AH!" She screamed again. Before her stood a man. Well, she wasn't sure if he was a man. After all, he had a tail and… pointy ears?
"Hm…?" he raised his brow as he got down on his haunches and stared at her square in the face. "Kagome?" He asked.
She said nothing as she sat staring back at him.
"Kagome!" He cheered as he suddenly wrapped his arms around her and began spinning her around.
"Kagome! Wow! Kagome! I can't believe it's really you!" He cheered.
"PUT-ME-DOWN!" She hollered.
He did so and smiled at her. "It's me, Kagome! Shippo! Remember?" He pointed to his face as if that would help her remember. "I guess you won't recognize me, after all, I'm a grown up youkai now!" He said while puffing out his chest.
"Y-youkai?" She squeaked.
He got right up in her face and smiled. They just stared at each other for a moment. She sweatdropped and blinked at him.
"A-are you going to eat me?"
Shippo sat back and cocked his head sideways while giving her a strange look. "There's something different about you..." He crawled over to her and seemed to be sniffing her. She leaned back as he seemed to be sniffing her face and hair. He then moved down past her chest and to her stomach still sniffing. He started sniffing farther south when he suddenly felt a sudden pain in his stomach. "OW!" He yelled as he held his stomach.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" She yelled, her face flushed red.
"You are definitely NOT Kagome!" He groaned.
"NO SHIT, SHIRLOCK!" She continued to yell.
"WELL YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO KICK ME TO PROVE IT!"
"I KICKED YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE A HENTAI! YOU… YOU… WHATEVER YOU ARE!"
"I know what I am, but what are YOU!"
"NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS!" She turned from him.
"You have some hanyou blood in you. I can smell it."
"So what if I do?" She replied with annoyance.
He looked her over. "You look pretty human to have hanyou blood."
She turned back and looked at him.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"I'm Junko Higurashi. But… how do you know my mother?"
"You're mother?"
"My mother's name is Kagome Higurashi."
"You're Kagome's… daughter? Wow..."
"… Do I really look like my mother?"
"Last time I saw her." He leaned in towards her face. Junko sweatdropped. "Except, you're eyes are a lighter brown, I think." He sat back. "If you're Kagome's daughter, then your father must be Inu-Yasha, which explains why you have hanyou blood!" He slapped his forehead. "It all makes sense now!"
"How do you know my father?" She wanted to know.
"Wait. How did you get here?"
"I don't know. I was climbing down the well at my house and the next thing I know, I come out here! I answered your questions, now you answer mine! Starting with what is that thing!" She pointed behind him to the remains of the giant insect.
"Oh, that? A beetle demon. They're pretty weak. You were lucky that I came along and saved you when I did." He gloated.
"I never asked for you to come and save me!"
"Hey, they may be weak, but you're just a human. That thing would have killed you for sure if I hadn't come along! He's no match for a youkai like me!"
"That's right. Before, didn't you say that you were a… a youkai?"
"Yep! My name is Shippo! I'm a Kitsune youkai!"
Junko gasped and Shippo turned to see behind him, two more beetle demons coming out of the forest.
"You sure have a thing for bugs!" Shippo shouted as he rose to his feet.
"What do they want!"
"A death wish." Shippo grinned as he jumped up into the air. He landed down by the giant beetles, and with his youkai strength, flipped them onto their backs. He then jumped up into the air once more. "FOX FIRE!" He shouted as he crossed his arms and released the same blue flames as before. The two beetles caught on fire like before and soon were dead.
Shippo jumped back over to Junko. "They normally don't cause any trouble. For some reason they really like you!"
"It's not funny!" She shouted at him.
"Here, come with me." He held out his hand to her.
"Why? Where are you taking me?" She asked him suspiciously.
"I'm going to take you back to the village. It's a lot safer than staying out here! Besides, I think Kaede will want to meet you."
"Kaede?"
"The village priestess." He held out his hand to her still.
She looked uncertain for a moment before taking his hand. He pulled her up but when Junko took a step, she let out a gasp of pain and fell into Shippo. "Ow!" She groaned.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"It's my ankle. It hurts to walk on it." She looked up and saw how much taller than her he was.
"No problem! Here, climb on!" He turned and bent down with his back to her.
She did so and wrapped her arms around his neck. He then wrapped his arms around her legs. "Hang on!" He warned, and with that, he leapt off towards the village.
"That was so cool!" Junko stated as Shippo landed in the village.
"Uh, is that a good thing?" Shippo asked as he let her get down from his back.
"Hell yeah! I've never been so fast! That was the best!"
"Here..." Shippo turned towards Junko and swept her up into his arms and carried her.
"Drop me and you die." She spoke threateningly to him.
He rolled his eyes. "You are definitely Inu-Yasha's offspring!"
As he carried her, he had stopped and asked people if they knew where Lady Kaede was. Junko was expecting a village of more kitsune youkai but to her surprise, it was a village of human people. Soon, Junko began to hear talk among the villagers.
"Is that that Kikyo's reincarnation?"
"Aye! That be Lady Kagome!"
"Has Lady Kagome returned?"
"I think it be her!"
'Everyone seems to know my mother...' Junko thought.
Shippo carried her to a hut. "Lady Kaede? Are you here?" He called.
"Oh aye!" She replied. "Has ye taken care of…" Kaede stopped when she came out of the hut and discovered the young woman in Shippo's arms. "Kagome?" She said with surprise and confusion.
"No, Kaede. This is Junko. Kagome's daughter." Shippo informed the old woman.
Kaede stepped closer to Junko to get a better look at her. "Aye, ye resemble Kagome a great deal."
"She hurt her ankle when she was being attacked by a beetle demon."
She nodded. "Take her inside." She instructed.
"Ow…" Junko groaned as Kaede moved her ankle.
"It's not broken." Kaede evaluate.
Just then, a young woman with long dark brown hair entered. "Lady Kaede, I brought the herbs." She informed Kaede before she bowed to her in respect.
"Aye, come."
The girl sat next to Kaede and observed.
"This herb will help the swelling to go down and heal quickly if ye does not walk on it for a day or two." Kaede smashed the herbs into a paste and put it on her ankle before bandaging it.
Junko turned to Kaede. "Thank you."
"How did ye find your way here?"
"She said she came from the well." Shippo replied.
She turned to Junko. "Then ye has the Sacred Jewel? That would be why the beetle demons have come out of hiding."
"I don't know of what jewel you speak of." Junko replied to her.
"Ye does not know of the Shikon no Tama?"
Junko shook her head.
Kaede turned to Shippo. "Does ye know of the Jewel's whereabouts?"
He shook his head.
"What is this jewel?" Junko asked.
"The Shikon no Tama, The Jewel of Four Souls, was in possession of my sister Kikyo, and is now under the protection of your mother, Kagome."
"I don't understand."
"Kagome had wandered into this time through the old well and it was discovered that she was the reincarnation of my older sister, the priestess Kikyo, who had taken the Jewel with her into the next life. Thus, Kagome was found to have the Jewel within her own body. Ye mother Kagome never told you?"
Junko shook her head again.
"Because of earlier circumstances, Inu-Yasha had been shot with a sacred arrow and pinned to a tree for fifty years."
"What! My father!"
"Aye, but Kagome broke the spell and set him free. He then saved her by slaying the demon that had come for Kagome because the demon had sensed the Jewel in Kagome's body."
"It sounds kind of like a fairy tail." Junko observed.
"But after slaying the demon, Inu-Yasha had tried to slay Kagome."
"WHAT? HE TRIED TO KILL HER? BUT WHY?"
"He wanted the Jewel as well. Ye father was only a half demon."
"Half demons are looked down at." Shippo explained. "Humans hate them because they're not human, but youkai don't like them because they aren't as superior. Half demon; half strength."
"Hey! Don't insult my father!" She yelled at Shippo.
"Don't worry. I have to give him some credit. After all, he's pretty strong for a half-breed. And he did save my life a few times." He shrugged.
Junko huffed and turned from him to Kaede. "What happened to my parents, Kaede?"
"I put prayer beads around his neck and in doing so, your mother was able to subdue him."
"Oh?"
"Later, ye mother had accidentally shattered the Jewel when trying to retrieve it from a crow demon. It was then that I told Kagome and Inu-Yasha that they must work together to gather the shards of the Jewel. If but one shard should fall into the hands of a demon, his strength shall increase. That is why demons search for the jewel."
"For the power it can grant them." Junko answered showing her understanding. "Did my parents get along after that?"
"Nay, they did not get along at all at first. You're mother and father were two of the most stubborn people I had ever know. But in the end, they found not only the shards, but their true feeling for one another."
Junko nodded.
"Kagome and Inu-Yasha left together, with the Jewel, back to Kagome's time so to keep the Jewel from falling into the wrong hands."
"Wait, what does this have to do with my coming here?" Junko asked.
"Kagome was only able to travel through time to here with the Jewel. Otherwise, it is impossible."
"But… I don't have the Jewel."
"LADY KAEDE! LADY KAEDE!" A man ran into the hut.
"What is it?" Kaede asked.
"A group of beetle demons are headed this way!"
"What! Why are they doing that?" Shippo thought aloud. "I'll go take care of them!" Shippo got up and ran out of the hut.
Junko watched him run out. "I'm beginning to think they really do like me…"
"It will be alright, child. Shippo will protect the village from harm."
"Why does he? I noticed this is a village of human people, not of demons of any kind, let along other kitsune youkais."
"I do not know why. He came to the village quite often when he was smaller. Now, he just stays in the village. I do not ask why."
"The villagers don't seem afraid of him."
"Because they know that he protects the village and means no harm."
"I see."
"He is a youkai with a good heart if I ever saw one."
Junko said nothing.
Kaede sighed. 'Why did ye not tell her, Kagome?'
Ok, the way I figure it, Shippo is over seventy-three human years old in my story. But demons age slower than humans, right? Well, that's the logic that we shall go by. (Supposedly, Shippo is about fifty years old in the Inu-Yasha series but looks about five years old.) Shippo here though, seems to have hit some sort of growth spurt in the last twenty-one years, for now he looks about eighteen-ish I suppose. Either way, Shippo looks like a young man now. Does that work? My head hurts trying to figure this out…so I think I'll stick with the growth spurt theory because it would also explain Shippo's behavior that even though he's gotten older, his mind still is much the same as it ever was. And, like Inu-Yasha, Shippo has developed a cocky attitude about his youkai strength.
Kagome was sixteen when she left the feudal era with Inu-Yasha. She was twenty-one when she married him, and about a year after that, Junko was conceived. Now Junko is fifteen, making Kagome about thirty-seven years old.
Kaede should be really old by now, right? Well, actually, I did the math and by now Kaede should be about eighty or around there. So yeah, she's still around! But don't worry! That young woman who had accompanied her is her apprentice! We'll meet her later on in the story.
Oh! And incase you haven't guessed it, Shippo and Junko end up falling in love! I mean, it was REALLY obvious, right? Is it just me, or do the two of them act a lot like Inu-Yasha and Kagome did? Hehehehe! Until next chapter!
Lady Tiger LiLy