Tailz: Yay!! Tailz updates!!! Throws sparkly confetti I'm happy to make
you guys happy!! The only thing that bothered me about the reviews from
last chappie was that Anandria said I enjoy torturing you....that's not it at
all! I'm just trying to make the ficcy interesting.
Sanji: The people in the back row don't believe you! And, well.... Neither do the people in the front!
Tailz: ::Sweatdrop:: Uh... right....here's the chapter...
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Kagome could hardly believe her eyes. That Inuyasha—or anyone she knew—could be standing ten feet away was more than she could've hoped for after the terrible ordeal with Tsuki (and the uncertainty that she would even live). She wanted to laugh and cry all at once. Her heart was fluttering madly, joyously; she wanted to sing, to call to all the forest that she was alive and okay again, that she wasn't dead—her disease hadn't killed her, and neither had the demon—she was alive and back in her world, and everything was fine.
Unable to contain herself any longer, she ran forward and flung herself into Inuyasha's arms. Oh, how she had missed those arms in the short time she'd been away.... He hesitated a moment, then put his arms around her. Was he surprised that she was so happy? And wasn't he? Kagome glanced up uncertainly, only to meet a similar expression. "Kagome—? What in the world—?"
"Aren't you glad to see me?" she asked, feeling slightly disappointed and confused. She'd expected him at least to yell at her for leaving, and even more so to be happy she'd come back....As of the moment, he just looked confused.
"I guess so." He raised an eyebrow. "I just saw you five minutes ago."
It was Kagome's turn to be baffled. What was he talking about? She pulled herself from his arms and backed up, studying his expression. It looked earnest enough. He wasn't joking. What was going on? It made no sense. She had to have been gone at least two days....And she'd last been awake in the muddy gully.....hadn't she? She was almost sure. Not in Inuyasha's Forest. Not a few minutes from the village, where they most certainly were at the moment. And, hadn't she been somewhere else only a few minutes before? It was hard to recall, but she remembered something about a desert....
'But that can't be right,' her mind argued. 'What would you be doing in a desert? There's no desert anywhere around here!'
"Kagome....are you feeling okay?"
Inuyasha's voice broke into her thoughts as he stared at her with the manner of someone dealing with an unbalanced person. She blinked and stared back, not sure what to say. Maybe she was unbalanced. None of the images her mind kept thrusting and refusing simultaneously made any sense or logic. How could she have been anywhere than there? While those odd memories seemed dreamlike, the forest was real.
"Kagome?"
"Huh?" She blinked again, glancing at the hanyou whom was now wearing a concerned expression. "What?"
"I said, are you okay? You're acting kinda.....weird."
"Oh. I'm fine." Kagome forced a smile that looked somewhat dizzy. "You....you wanna go back to the village now?"
"Yeah, okay," Inuyasha answered slowly, taking the hand she offered and following her from the clearing.
It was as Kagome'd expected. They were in Inuyasha's Forest after all, for Kaede's village was minutes away. They went immediately to the familiar hut at Kagome's urging—or forcing, if you prefer. She pulled Inuyasha so insistently that he felt it necessary to bark at her that he wanted to keep his sword arm, if she didn't mind. "Sorry," had been the sheepish apology, and she'd loosened her hold, allowing the hanyou to pull his hand away and mutter negatively about impertinent human wenches.
They entered the hut with Kagome in the lead. She ducked through the door and glanced about the dim hut. It was empty. Her face fell, and she turned uncertainly back to Inuyasha as he followed her inside. "Where is everybody, Inuyasha?" He gave her another look (he was doing that more and more frequently) and shook his head disbelievingly. "Whaddya mean where is everybody? You know they've been traveling for a week now. They should've reached Sango's village sometime yesterday." Kagome raised an eyebrow and Inuyasha continued, speaking slowly as if she were stupid. "Sango said she needed to talk to that old woman that lived on the outskirts of her village....remember?"
"Oh...right." Kagome decided to play along. It seemed she was having memory lapses or something. Having Inuyasha think she was a total nutcase couldn't help matters any. "Sorry. I forgot." She smiled her most convincing smile, and Inuyasha's tense expression relaxed a bit. "Would you mind if....Could we go for a walk?" There was no reason to stay in the village if Miroku and Sango and Shippo weren't there. A walk in the forest always did her good. It could help clear her mind. Inuyasha shot her a confused glance but nodded, and, still puzzled, followed her back into the brush.
They followed the familiar path that led away from the village, past the fields and farmers. Kagome waved and called out to them. Normally, they smiled when they saw her, their replacement miko—but this time they didn't even look up as she and Inuyasha passed. Kagome was mystified, but Inuyasha didn't seem to notice at all. He was staring ahead, and walking steadily as if she weren't there.
"Inuyasha?" He glanced down at her as she inquired.
"What?"
"What's wrong with the farmers?" Inuyasha glanced back.
"The farmers? What about them?"
"They're awfully quiet...."
"Oh." Inuyasha treated her to another matter-of-fact glance. "It's the hottest part of summertime, you know. They have to get the crops in before it's too hot and they all wilt." He shook his head, looking mildly irritated. "Honestly, don't you know anything?"
Kagome glared right back. "What do you mean the hottest part of summertime? It's not even spring yet, Inuyasha." Kagome stopped as the words came out of her mouth and the hanyou stared. That couldn't be right. It was burning up around. The trees' leaves were all lush and bright green summer leaves, not autumn red-brown as she was SURE they had been only a while back. Hadn't it been raining recently? But there wasn't a cloud in the sky.... Kagome glanced down at her shuffling feet, trying to puzzle it out. Either she was having some serious memory issues, or the weather had gone completely nuts.
Or maybe....both.
But Inuyasha didn't seem to think that the weather was strange. He seemed to think she was strange—and little blame to him. She'd showed up out of nowhere, claiming to remember nothing that he verified as correct. Had everything been a dream before? The images certainly seemed dreamlike enough—the desert, the gully, and the darkness. Where could there have been such things? There was no desert or gully anywhere close, and while darkness was possible, she couldn't seem to remember it as normal darkness. It had been complete pitch-black, not normal nighttime.
Inuyasha was still staring incredulously when she looked up, and she blushed out of habit. His eyes were always so intense...Kagome stared tentatively into their depths. There was something odd deep within them, something that shouldn't have been there. Inuyasha fidgeted under her unfaltering gaze. "Uhhh...what?" She looked up at him and smiled. There was nothing odd about his face. Actually, that expression was kinda cute....
She squashed that thought immediately. "Oh, nothing."
They continued walking. They passed field after field after field until only forest was surrounding them on all sides. It was so peaceful in the forest....too peaceful. Kagome noted with curiosity that there was not a singe bird's singing to be heard about the entire place. Did it mean that demons were about? She glanced at Inuyasha's face, looking for a telltale expression of interest, but found it only blank, staring mutely ahead.
What time was it, anyway? It had to be getting late—it felt late to her. But the sun wasn't setting. Kagome glanced at the wristwatch Eri'd given her for her last birthday. She stopped hiking again. Both the minute hand and the hour hand had stopped moving. The tiny second hand was at a complete stop as well, still in a position between the other two. Weird....she'd only replaced the batteries two weeks before. Could water have gotten inside and messed with the gears? ....No, the thing was waterproof. There wasn't a single scratch on the entire timepiece.
"Something wrong?" Inuyasha was standing at her side again, following her gaze to the watch.
"My watch stopped," Kagome said slowly, pointing to the hands. She was about to explain in short about what could've happened—but Inuyasha began talking before she had the chance.
"The batteries probably just need to be replaced," he said casually, turning to walk away again.
Kagome nodded and began following him, murmuring, "Yeah, you're probably—" She stopped herself, bewilderment playing about her features. "Inuyasha, wait."
"What now, wench?" He turned to face her, looking mildly irritated as usual.
"Tell me what's going on here." The firm tone in Kagome's voice surprised them both. She continued. "First, Miroku and everybody are missing. Then, the farmers don't even notice us when we call to them. Then you say it's the middle of summer. Last time I checked, it was still winter. It should be around eight o'clock, and the sun still hasn't set. My watch isn't working. Something's going on here that I don't know about." She watched Inuyasha's face as he glanced at the ground. The strange something was moving about in his eyes again, and this time, she could feel it. It scared her. "T-tell me now. Who are you?"
Inuyasha looked up, a maniac grin plastered oddly on his face. His eyes were malicious slits that spoke depths of deceit and evil glee. They were not the amber orbs of the man she loved. His fangs poked over his lips—much too long to be Inuyasha's. Even as she watched in horror, the thing met her eyes and cackled an unearthly, spine-tingling laughter that could never have come from the hanyou she knew so well.
It wasn't Inuyasha.
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Tailz: Okay, guys. I hope this makes up for the cliché ending of last chappie. Yay, update!!! - R/R, make Tailz happy!!
Sanji: .......
Sanji: The people in the back row don't believe you! And, well.... Neither do the people in the front!
Tailz: ::Sweatdrop:: Uh... right....here's the chapter...
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Kagome could hardly believe her eyes. That Inuyasha—or anyone she knew—could be standing ten feet away was more than she could've hoped for after the terrible ordeal with Tsuki (and the uncertainty that she would even live). She wanted to laugh and cry all at once. Her heart was fluttering madly, joyously; she wanted to sing, to call to all the forest that she was alive and okay again, that she wasn't dead—her disease hadn't killed her, and neither had the demon—she was alive and back in her world, and everything was fine.
Unable to contain herself any longer, she ran forward and flung herself into Inuyasha's arms. Oh, how she had missed those arms in the short time she'd been away.... He hesitated a moment, then put his arms around her. Was he surprised that she was so happy? And wasn't he? Kagome glanced up uncertainly, only to meet a similar expression. "Kagome—? What in the world—?"
"Aren't you glad to see me?" she asked, feeling slightly disappointed and confused. She'd expected him at least to yell at her for leaving, and even more so to be happy she'd come back....As of the moment, he just looked confused.
"I guess so." He raised an eyebrow. "I just saw you five minutes ago."
It was Kagome's turn to be baffled. What was he talking about? She pulled herself from his arms and backed up, studying his expression. It looked earnest enough. He wasn't joking. What was going on? It made no sense. She had to have been gone at least two days....And she'd last been awake in the muddy gully.....hadn't she? She was almost sure. Not in Inuyasha's Forest. Not a few minutes from the village, where they most certainly were at the moment. And, hadn't she been somewhere else only a few minutes before? It was hard to recall, but she remembered something about a desert....
'But that can't be right,' her mind argued. 'What would you be doing in a desert? There's no desert anywhere around here!'
"Kagome....are you feeling okay?"
Inuyasha's voice broke into her thoughts as he stared at her with the manner of someone dealing with an unbalanced person. She blinked and stared back, not sure what to say. Maybe she was unbalanced. None of the images her mind kept thrusting and refusing simultaneously made any sense or logic. How could she have been anywhere than there? While those odd memories seemed dreamlike, the forest was real.
"Kagome?"
"Huh?" She blinked again, glancing at the hanyou whom was now wearing a concerned expression. "What?"
"I said, are you okay? You're acting kinda.....weird."
"Oh. I'm fine." Kagome forced a smile that looked somewhat dizzy. "You....you wanna go back to the village now?"
"Yeah, okay," Inuyasha answered slowly, taking the hand she offered and following her from the clearing.
It was as Kagome'd expected. They were in Inuyasha's Forest after all, for Kaede's village was minutes away. They went immediately to the familiar hut at Kagome's urging—or forcing, if you prefer. She pulled Inuyasha so insistently that he felt it necessary to bark at her that he wanted to keep his sword arm, if she didn't mind. "Sorry," had been the sheepish apology, and she'd loosened her hold, allowing the hanyou to pull his hand away and mutter negatively about impertinent human wenches.
They entered the hut with Kagome in the lead. She ducked through the door and glanced about the dim hut. It was empty. Her face fell, and she turned uncertainly back to Inuyasha as he followed her inside. "Where is everybody, Inuyasha?" He gave her another look (he was doing that more and more frequently) and shook his head disbelievingly. "Whaddya mean where is everybody? You know they've been traveling for a week now. They should've reached Sango's village sometime yesterday." Kagome raised an eyebrow and Inuyasha continued, speaking slowly as if she were stupid. "Sango said she needed to talk to that old woman that lived on the outskirts of her village....remember?"
"Oh...right." Kagome decided to play along. It seemed she was having memory lapses or something. Having Inuyasha think she was a total nutcase couldn't help matters any. "Sorry. I forgot." She smiled her most convincing smile, and Inuyasha's tense expression relaxed a bit. "Would you mind if....Could we go for a walk?" There was no reason to stay in the village if Miroku and Sango and Shippo weren't there. A walk in the forest always did her good. It could help clear her mind. Inuyasha shot her a confused glance but nodded, and, still puzzled, followed her back into the brush.
They followed the familiar path that led away from the village, past the fields and farmers. Kagome waved and called out to them. Normally, they smiled when they saw her, their replacement miko—but this time they didn't even look up as she and Inuyasha passed. Kagome was mystified, but Inuyasha didn't seem to notice at all. He was staring ahead, and walking steadily as if she weren't there.
"Inuyasha?" He glanced down at her as she inquired.
"What?"
"What's wrong with the farmers?" Inuyasha glanced back.
"The farmers? What about them?"
"They're awfully quiet...."
"Oh." Inuyasha treated her to another matter-of-fact glance. "It's the hottest part of summertime, you know. They have to get the crops in before it's too hot and they all wilt." He shook his head, looking mildly irritated. "Honestly, don't you know anything?"
Kagome glared right back. "What do you mean the hottest part of summertime? It's not even spring yet, Inuyasha." Kagome stopped as the words came out of her mouth and the hanyou stared. That couldn't be right. It was burning up around. The trees' leaves were all lush and bright green summer leaves, not autumn red-brown as she was SURE they had been only a while back. Hadn't it been raining recently? But there wasn't a cloud in the sky.... Kagome glanced down at her shuffling feet, trying to puzzle it out. Either she was having some serious memory issues, or the weather had gone completely nuts.
Or maybe....both.
But Inuyasha didn't seem to think that the weather was strange. He seemed to think she was strange—and little blame to him. She'd showed up out of nowhere, claiming to remember nothing that he verified as correct. Had everything been a dream before? The images certainly seemed dreamlike enough—the desert, the gully, and the darkness. Where could there have been such things? There was no desert or gully anywhere close, and while darkness was possible, she couldn't seem to remember it as normal darkness. It had been complete pitch-black, not normal nighttime.
Inuyasha was still staring incredulously when she looked up, and she blushed out of habit. His eyes were always so intense...Kagome stared tentatively into their depths. There was something odd deep within them, something that shouldn't have been there. Inuyasha fidgeted under her unfaltering gaze. "Uhhh...what?" She looked up at him and smiled. There was nothing odd about his face. Actually, that expression was kinda cute....
She squashed that thought immediately. "Oh, nothing."
They continued walking. They passed field after field after field until only forest was surrounding them on all sides. It was so peaceful in the forest....too peaceful. Kagome noted with curiosity that there was not a singe bird's singing to be heard about the entire place. Did it mean that demons were about? She glanced at Inuyasha's face, looking for a telltale expression of interest, but found it only blank, staring mutely ahead.
What time was it, anyway? It had to be getting late—it felt late to her. But the sun wasn't setting. Kagome glanced at the wristwatch Eri'd given her for her last birthday. She stopped hiking again. Both the minute hand and the hour hand had stopped moving. The tiny second hand was at a complete stop as well, still in a position between the other two. Weird....she'd only replaced the batteries two weeks before. Could water have gotten inside and messed with the gears? ....No, the thing was waterproof. There wasn't a single scratch on the entire timepiece.
"Something wrong?" Inuyasha was standing at her side again, following her gaze to the watch.
"My watch stopped," Kagome said slowly, pointing to the hands. She was about to explain in short about what could've happened—but Inuyasha began talking before she had the chance.
"The batteries probably just need to be replaced," he said casually, turning to walk away again.
Kagome nodded and began following him, murmuring, "Yeah, you're probably—" She stopped herself, bewilderment playing about her features. "Inuyasha, wait."
"What now, wench?" He turned to face her, looking mildly irritated as usual.
"Tell me what's going on here." The firm tone in Kagome's voice surprised them both. She continued. "First, Miroku and everybody are missing. Then, the farmers don't even notice us when we call to them. Then you say it's the middle of summer. Last time I checked, it was still winter. It should be around eight o'clock, and the sun still hasn't set. My watch isn't working. Something's going on here that I don't know about." She watched Inuyasha's face as he glanced at the ground. The strange something was moving about in his eyes again, and this time, she could feel it. It scared her. "T-tell me now. Who are you?"
Inuyasha looked up, a maniac grin plastered oddly on his face. His eyes were malicious slits that spoke depths of deceit and evil glee. They were not the amber orbs of the man she loved. His fangs poked over his lips—much too long to be Inuyasha's. Even as she watched in horror, the thing met her eyes and cackled an unearthly, spine-tingling laughter that could never have come from the hanyou she knew so well.
It wasn't Inuyasha.
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Tailz: Okay, guys. I hope this makes up for the cliché ending of last chappie. Yay, update!!! - R/R, make Tailz happy!!
Sanji: .......