INUYASHA

No clue what I was doing. I got the song from something we sang in choir in the seventh grade. It sounded very...magical. Well, the alto part did. It sounded like something I would imagine fairies to sing. Mythical, spirit-you-away fairies, not the tiny little babies with butterfly wings, although back then my image of fairies did include the fancy, thin wings.

I don't know what was wrong with me.

Faerie Vale

Come away and Sing with me Today.
Hand in Hand, we join in great Delight.
Gather round and Raise a festive Sound.
Dance and Sing together Day and Night.
Take your Choice-
Let all rejoice,
With us the Whole day Long.
Oh Come and Sing-
Hear Music Ring,
Oh Make your choice in Song.

The beautiful, light notes drifted in through the forest's branches to where he stood. He'd heard that this was the Faerie Vale, but he never thought he'd hear one of their songs.

The fairy's song started over again, and he followed the notes to where a beautiful maiden stood.

Her long black hair hung down over her back to her knees, rolling where her halo of silver leaves sat on her head. A white dress shimmered almost silver around her torso, the billowing, pearly skirt seeming to be as naturally frayed as leaves and short on her legs. There were no sleeves on the dress; it didn't even come over her shoulders. When she turned, he saw the silvery blue-violet wings that hung down her back, breaking the stream of her hair, seeming as worn out and tattered as her dress, but in a more intentional-seeming way, almost patternistic.

She was rinsing clothes in the water, singing to herself.

Gather round and Raise a festive Sound.
Dance and Sing together Day and Night.
Take your

She let out a startled gasp and spun around, hiding behind a near-by boulder. "Wh-wh-what are you doing here?" she asked, shivering and shaking from the surprise.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I heard you singing, and I-"

She let out a sigh. "It's alright. I'm sorry." she said, walking back over to the little pond. The waters were just a little too blue to be normal.

She laughed, drawing his attention back to her. "It's a unicorn pond." she said, as if reading his thoughts. "I thought it was a bit odd when I first saw it as well."

"Right. Will the...ah...unicorn mind if...we use it?" he asked.

She laughed again. "The unicorn that created this pool lives on the other side of the forest. He gave it to my mother a few hundred years ago. It belongs to me now." she said, giggling. "He doesn't care who uses it."

She stood and gathered her clothes. "If you don't mind, my little haven is just around the bend here." she said, motioning to a path he hadn't noticed before. "You can stay there. I doubt you have somewhere to stay tonight."

He blushed slightly, looking away. "Yes, thank you."

They made their way through the trees, forest, and over many roots along the path. Sometimes Inuyasha wondered how she knew her way, because he could no longer see the path.

Eventually they wound up before a little cottage, dug half into the earth between a large tree's roots. The windows, which were nothing more then gnarled roots that crossed over a whole in the wall, shed no light, but the fire wasn't burning inside anyway.

"This's it!" the woman said cheerfully, pulling back a clothe to allow him to enter the home. It was rather large for a young woman to live in alone. "My haven. Every fairy or elf needs a haven if they aren't small enough to live in the flowers."

"I...see." Inuyasha murmmured.

"Haha, I bet you thought all fairies look the same, didn't you? Well, now you know. There are lots of differnt kinds of fairies." She tittered away starting the fire. "I'll have to show you the shrine fairies. They're mighty interesting."

Inuyasha only nodded. "Ah...you never told me your name." he said, sitting down in a chair beside a table.

The woman stood up, slapping her hands to her face. "Oh, that's right!" she cried. "How silly of me. If it wasn't for that insident with Maybeth, I would've told you my name whether I intended to invite you home or not! She cast a curse on me for giving my name to every passerby. She's a which, you know. If I hadn't given her my name, I wouldn't have had to deal with all those..." She trailed off with a shudder. "Anyway, my name's Kagome. I'm a fairy, if you didn't notice. Nothing special about me. Just a fairy."