Inuyasha
Vol. 1

This requires reasons. coughs expectantly and fumbles with a few papers. Well, I have to say this in advance: I was dying to write an Inuyasha story for FF but I haven't seen any episodes of the show, I only own the first six volumes by Viz. So, I thought I might do the novel version of them.

My problem is that I haven't read any Inuyasha stories on here (except one which is a 'what-if' of book six) because I haven't got as far as Sango in the manga (though I know who she is) and I don't know if anybody else has done this kind of thing before me. So, if they have I am so sorry – but please read mine and see my version. And if it's the same as any others and you're upset then say in a review and I will take my versions off (if there are a lot of negatives for them).

I own none of the characters; they all belong to Rumiko Takahashi. The plot and story is hers too, since this is her book – just written as a story and not as manga. All the dialouge will be practically the same unless I insert some more for certain characters, bla bla!

Dedicated to anyone and everyone, but most especially to my friends – who I made read Inuyasha and are following in my footsteps – down to the pits of obsession!

So, without further ado – here we go. (The stories will follow what's mentioned in the books. I've seen a few screenshots for episode 1 and I won't have anything about Inu leaping from roof to roof, causing fires and stuff (at least I don't think so). What you see in the manga is what you read here.

Scroll One
The Accursed Youth

The sky seemed to be brighter than usual this particular afternoon – with clouds dark and stormy hanging along the horizon. It wasn't hot, it wasn't even sunny, but the sky was pink – almost red. Like blood. And exactly like the boy shooting through the sky at top speed, white hair billowing around him like a cloak.

Flames licked the roofs of buildings as he flitted past, and the helpless villagers screamed and sprinted from underneath him – running nowhere, in and out of buildings and back again as the walls of their homes collapsed and toppled down around them.

Laughter rung out over the sound of timber falling and fires crackling – laughter so tainted with hatred that it could only just be recognised as someone who had been hurt – someone in pain, physically and mentally. And it was the boy causing all this destruction. The boy wearing bright red and flying through the sky like an arrow.

He turned to face the townspeople collapsing on the floor with their wounds and swung down lower so they could catch a glimpse of the jewel hanging in his hands from a cord that was once a badly strung necklace. But now it had been ripped from the owner's neck and the jewel was slipping along it dangerously – pink and circular like the sun in the sky.

Feeling the need to explain himself – to say something to make this easier – he managed to yell out: "This is only what you deserve! Just as I deserve the Jewel of Four Souls!"

The villagers looked up at him in surprise, vision dancing wildly. They hadn't known that it was him doing all this and they also realised that something was terribly wrong. Something that made this boy go out of line this far… and…and… oh, and where was their priestess?

The boy didn't stop until he reached the courtyard bordering the village. He slowed his descent enough to drop down softly and swiftly on the grass before the large 'Go-Shinboku' God-Tree, sheltering the path that led up to the village. The grounds were shadowed. No one was around. Finally he could take a rest.

He dangled the jewel before him, basking in the true pride of actually having it and not watching someone flash it around before him. He didn't have to long for it any longer – it was actually his.
"With this… I can become a true demon..." he whispered, so full of awe that he couldn't help but breathe those few words out, even though he wondered immediately afterwards if he had truly gotten away with it.

He was right to think that, because he hadn't. The shadows that clung around the borders of the village harboured one shady figure standing alone at the top of the entrance steps. And this 'figure' had the boy in her line of sight.
The bow in her grip twitched for an instant. Should I be doing this? she wondered, and without even blinking, she realised yes, she should. Because he would have done the same without even thinking.

"Inu-Yasha!" she screamed, her voice as loud as she could manage. Despite the gaping wound in her shoulder she could still stand and certainly still raise enough anger within her to rip that name from her lungs. She'd been severed, almost to the point of losing her arm, but she could still hold her trusted bow – and fire the arrow that struck Inu-Yasha in his own shoulder. Right in the spot where she, herself, was bleeding and her life was being drunk away.

The demon boy in question jerked his head in her direction just in time to see the arrow glint in his line of sight. And suddenly – before he had time to react in any way – he was forced against the God-Tree by the arrow. The picture suited him, as if he belonged to it – belonged for eternity against the rough bark of the ancient tree.

Deep down, he didn't feel any surprise, but he still said her name as if he were on the verge of tears. She'd hurt him and now she'd done it again. "Ki-Kikyo…" he rasped. At this, she stepped down as if she were gliding, more of an angel than she ever was in that small moment, oily black hair falling about her shoulders dramatically as she swayed in pain.

Kikyo frowned, lowered her bow and walked over to the trapped Inu-Yasha, eyes glinting as she saw the boy before her. So helpless… and she'd done that. Before she died she just wanted one dig at him, one more hit out that meant she was still fighting. It was hard, but she could still gather enough energy to speak. All she could think of was how in the world he could have managed to get away with it, how he'd managed to pull it off… How dare you. She wished she had telepathy, to voice her real thoughts. But that didn't matter. She had breath enough for this.

"The jewel." She bent down and retrieved it from the spot right below Inu-Yasha's feet, where he'd dropped it from the force of the arrow. She looked up to watch his response but his eyes were slowly drooping shut and his head was lolling on one side. The effect of the entrapment spell, cased within the arrow that held him to the tree.

Kikyo grasped the jewel a little tighter than she meant to, unleashing all her pain and sorrow in one clench of her fist. Villagers were gathering around, stumbling out of the village and clambering down the steps towards her. A particular little girl ran whilst the others could not – her eye the only thing damaged. She'd self-bandaged it herself. The girl was called Kaede and she was now blind in her right eye. She also happened to be Kikyo's little sister.

The villagers were pondering over their priestess' gaping cuts and only few took hold that this was bad – that maybe she wouldn't live through this... Kikyo collapsed to the floor, bending down on one knee as she stared helplessly at the cause of the destruction. She didn't look to the white-haired boy; she looked at the jewel in her hand.

"Lady Kikyo… what terrible wounds," a man whispered, hovering above the woman in question, trying to lay a hand on her shoulder – then withdrawing it when he saw her robe drenched in blood.

Kaede seemed to be holding back tears, but her elder sister had always taught her to be strong. She gulped them back and put her arm around her. "Please, sister, we have to take care of you."
It was pointless to say. She knew that Kikyo wouldn't accept it. She knew she was too far gone – almost on the point of no return. And justifying that, Kikyo raised her head.

"I will not live." She breathed, sweat dribbling down her forehead as she panted her last breaths. She turned to face her sister, her eyes warning her that this was important – this was advice she had to carry through. She begged Kaede to understand, her eyes pleading. "Listen well, Kaede…" she handed the jewel to her smaller sister, enclosing both of their hands around it so they were locked together. "Take this… and burn it with my remains. It must never fall into the wrong hands again!"

Kaede didn't even flinch. She nodded in understanding as her sister's hand pulled away. Kikyo let out a sigh and fell backwards, much to the gasps and involuntary cries of the surrounding villagers. Kikyo shot a satisfied glance at the boy dressed in red, clinging to the tree, and then shut her eyes. Her last words were torn right from her heart. "I'll take this jewel with me… to the world beyond!"

It was only too soon that the fires of her funeral pyre engulfed her body and the jewel. And all the while, the demon boy was left alone in the courtyard that grew to be his forest, tied to the tree for fifty years while the village grew up and on, and the woods around swallowed up the whole gardens. Abandoned.
Tokyo, 1997

"The Shikon Jewel?" came the high-pitched chirping of a teenage girl, sitting cross-legged in her grandfather's quarters. The hustle and bustle outside was enough to drive her mad alone, without her grandpa talking about ancient relics and legends. The window was open, letting in the sounds of cars honking outside and bikes whizzing past, but even so – it was still hot enough for her to keep fidgeting.

The room was small – a preparing room for spells and rituals. The neighbouring room of her grandfather's bedroom – right at the back of the Higurashi Shrine. It had been in the family for generations, and so the annoying story telling had passed down with it too.

Right now, the girl was holding the 'Shikon Jewel' up to the light – her cat, Buyo, at her side trying to flick it with his paws. This annoyed her too, but she put her attention into the pink circle swaying before her. She could tell at a glance that it was a fake. The jewel was for tourists, she could tell that much by the form it took. A key ring, bearing the words: Sunset Shrine. But her grandpa liked to believe that he owned the real thing – though he'd shipped in a whole crate of them only yesterday morning.

In answer to her question, he smiled and held up a key ring of his own. This one was a shade or two darker, on the border of being purple. "Yes." He nodded. "So long as one has this, one's family will know safety and prosperity."

The girl groaned, changing position again. Why did her grandpa always have to talk like he was out of a history book?
She gave her key ring an angry glance – blaming it for getting her so bored.
"And people actually pay money for these marbles?" she mused, lowering it to the floor.
Buyo was happy. He lifted up his paws and played with it a little more, the brown and black markings on his back getting flecked with pink light as the jewel swam before the sun, casting the fluorescent shadows over his small body.

Grandpa Higurashi was feeling inpatient towards his granddaughter's attitude. He sighed and leant further forward. He shut his eyes, trying his best to be calm. He didn't know how to make her understand. One day… the Shrine may belong to her. And she needed to know these legends if anything were to happen to him.

"Hear its legend, Kagome. In the beginning, the 'Jewel of Four Souls'…" he stopped, because the girl in question was opening her mouth – yawning.
"Save your breath, Gramps."

Immediately, Grandpa lapsed into silence.
Then, bouncing up happily, Kagome smiled, hands clasped in excitement. "You remember what tomorrow is?" she said, her tone laughable – black hair framing her delicate, olive skin.
Grandpa sighed and put his hands behind his back. He'd been anticipating this. He just hoped her response was… agreeable.

"Could I ever forget my adorable granddaughter's birthday?" He pulled a neatly wrapped package out from behind his back and smiled brightly. It was all worth it when he heard his granddaughter withhold a gasp.
She sprang forward happily. "Wow! For me!" she cried, hands itching to clap.

Grandpa nodded. "It's a day early, but… happy birthday, Kagome!"
Barely being able to control herself, Kagome accepted her present and started pulling the paper off hungrily – praying it was a mobile phone, or a GameBoy, or something fun.
But she got a shock.
As soon as the bright wrapping paper was on the floor and Buyo was rolling in it, she saw that there was an ugly white box beneath – and inside that was a hand so contorted with years of wear, that it was hardly recognisable as a hand at all.

"It's the mummified hand of a 'Kappa' Water-Sprite. The legends hold that whosoever possesses this…"

Kagome could see what it was as soon as she looked at the damn thing. This was her present? Surely grandpa was about to hand her another one, surely he'd stop talking and just laugh and hand her…
But he didn't stop talking. She cut him off. Anger was welling up inside her.
Time for something drastic.

"Here, Buyo. Lunch." She said, bitterly, feeding the hand to her cat. Buyo looked at it, curious, took a few licks and then started chewing on one of the fingers – apparently satisfied.
Grandpa leapt up in shock, trying to tug it out of the cat's mouth. "Do you know what those cost!" he roared, moving pretty fast for someone his age.
Kagome snorted and stood up, leaving the old man to tangle with her cat.

She decided to take a trip round her house, reminiscing over how she came to be and how this world she lived in had become home. Her house being the shrine that it was, in the centre of town,was loud and obvious in the street of nicely built brick houses, while hers was mainly wood. The posters in the living room window advertised many of the shrine's traits. Fortune telling. Exorcisms. Wards and amulets. Contacting Gods and dead relatives.

Kagome walked around until she came to the kitchen and was called in for dinner. Crowded around the table was Kagome's little brother, Sota, tucking into her Mom's special dish – Oden – and Grandpa, looking sulkily at the food laid out, obviously thinking about how Kagome had rejected his present. Her Mom sat down next to him, trying to cheer him up.

Kagome sidled into her seat, slipping in next to Sota. Grandpa still seemed grumpy. He refused to look at her. Mom, remembering the rest of the food still left on the kitchen counter stood up to get it. Kagome began filling up a bowl before her grandpa found one of the most annoying things he could say.
He lifted up the jar of pickles and smiled to himself. "The legend of these pickles is that-"

Kagome bowed her head, groaning again. "You bought them from Mr Ujiko, right?"
Her mom withheld a laugh and placed the food down, swivelling around the back of Grandpa to reach her chair.
Sighing, Kagome looked out of the window. There, surrounding the house (it was that huge), towered a huge sacred tree called the 'Go-Shinboku'. She remembered running around it when she was little, being chased by her grandpa. In that instant, she realised they had to make up.

"See ya!" Kagome called. It was the next morning (her fifteenth birthday!) and she was on her way to school – passing the old Bone Eaters well that stood a few feet from the Higurashi Shrine. It, too, belonged to her family. She wondered what its legend was, before actually realising that Sota was there peering inside of it, looking distressed.

"Hey! Sota!" she called, running over to him – her green skirt fluttering about her as she went past, the same skirt that matched her white and green school blouse.
The dark-haired boy turned to face his sister. "Sis?" he called, squinting as the sun flared up in his eyes. He could just make out her shape coming closer.

She stopped before him and narrowed her eyes, giving that 'older and wiser' look.
"You're not supposed to play in the mini-shrine!" she noted, referring to the shrine-like building covering the dried up well. Sota started gibbering a response and then pointed, furiously, through the open doorway. "But Buyo… He's…"
Kagome followed his finger. "In the well house!" she whined, dropping her satchel from her back and letting it down neatly on the steps leading up to the small building.

She followed her little brother inside, clambering over the loose floorboards and ending up inside the mouth of a damp room that was almost a cave. Sota dropped down at the top of the steps leading down to the well and cupped his hands over his mouth – apparently amplifying his voice. By the way he shuddered, Kagome could tell he was scared. The room was poorly lit. They couldn't make out a thing down there.

"Buyo!" Sota called. When there was no reply, he looked at Kagome. He smiled sheepishly, his eyes glinting. "He's somewhere down there…"
Kagome could hear the faint pleading sound in his voice, but she didn't want to go down there either. It wasn't her fault that their cat was hiding. Sota's eyes seemed to be begging: please, sister, please go and get our cat. But she wasn't falling for it.

"So go get him out!" she directed. Sota latched onto her arm, shivering. "But doesn't this place kinda… give you the creeps?" he asked, looking down into the darkness.
Somewhere down there came the dripping of water. Strange. It wasn't raining, and the well was dry. But Kagome paid no attention; she was more concerned about being late for school. She wanted to get this wrapped up – end of.

"What, you scared? You're a boy, aren't you?" she mocked, teasing him. Sota leant further down the stairs when suddenly they both heard a scratching sound ring out from beneath. Sota gasped and huddled behind his sister, almost pushing her towards it. Kagome was curious but she wasn't scared. No doubt it was Buyo, running his claws up the well.

"Th-There's something in there!" Sota squeaked, voice high. Beads of sweat were clinging above his eyebrow, just like the tears coming to his eyes. He really is scared, a distant part of Kagome's mind thought, but she batted that away. She thought of something really irritating to say in response. Something really sly.

"Like, oh say… our cat?" But she knew when she was beat. No way was Sota going down there now. Slowly she stood up, cursing under her breath. He really was annoying. For a nine year old, he could be quite useless. Especially at learning how to keep cats inside.

Her eyes were adjusting to the dark now. She could make out the ghostly shape that was the well. The rest of the mini-shrine was empty. No sign of the cat. Again there was that scratching sound… somewhere near the well. By now, Kagome had stepped down the stairs and was walking across the dirty flagstone floor, which was, in places, more mud than it was stone.

Sota was scrabbling about above her, taking deep breaths. She had to show him it was safe. It was her duty as a sister. Stuff this, Kagome thought. Where are you, Buyo? There was a sound that resembled wood splintering… very slowly like it was being prised open. Kagome spun to face the well. That was where the scratching was coming from. But inside of it? How could Buyo have managed that?

Something wet and hairy teased around her legs, mewing. "YAAA!" Kagome squealed. Sota fell backwards in shock, blinking rapidly. Then he composed himself and jerked forward. "Don't yell like that! You scared me!"

Kagome frowned and snatched her cat up off of the floor. "You little…" she began, shaking him slightly.
Sota's heart was in his throat; he found it hard to get a decent breath. And then suddenly, there was a lurching sound behind Kagome, like the wet slapping of something damp and rotten being thrown open.
The wood covering the old well was cracking – Sota could see the lines where it was splitting into pieces. One slide was opening, as if someone was pushing it to the side. As if it had the force of a crowbar behind it.

Blood roared in Sota's ears. He crawled slowly backwards.
"Ka-Kagome…" he croaked, hoarsely – eyes wide.

Kagome looked up, but it was too late. She wasn't facing the monster that was pulling itself up and out of the well, hissing delicately in something that could have been anxiety. Buyo – as cats went – had a sixth sense and leapt out of Kagome's arms. As soon as he hit the floor, he took off in a run – sprinting in the direction of the house.

Kagome turned her head very slowly until she felt the chill of something grab her – something powerful. The monster seemed to flail like a crab. It reached out with more hands. They seemed to keep coming and coming. There were about three either side of Kagome's waist by the time she was finally pulled in. Her world was thrown into darkness.

The monster seemed to illuminate the fall with its own body. And with this new light, Kagome could see that it was a woman – or half of it was. It had the face of a woman with short, circular eyebrows and wide, blank eyes. The mouth seemed to be fit only to moan and hiss. Her skin was as pale as the ivory notes on a piano, her dark hair hanging in folds around her. Her chest was human, except for the many arms protruding from around it. Kagome saw three pairs.

And the rest of her… was like a long snake. She couldn't see the colours of the rest of its body in the darkness, and she was pretty sure that there was no colour – that it was only bone. All the while, Kagome kept thinking that it was all a dream – nothing like this could happen in real life.

"What joy…" the monster moaned, lips parted in thought. "What strength I feel…" Kagome tried to unlock herself from the thing's grip, but she couldn't move so far as to turn her body. The hands held fast.

She looked down at the creature's body. From some unknown place, molecule after molecule was being restored over the skeletal fragments of the monster trapping her. Taking the form of skin. And when that layer was built, skinny little appendages appeared at the ends – legs. Dozens of pairs, possibly even a hundred. A giant centipede.

"My flesh returns to me!"

The monster was turning Kagome and soon they were face-to-face. The creature chuckled, a gaping smile crossing its human features. Then it opened its mouth and a long, slimy tongue licked its way across Kagome's cheek – disgusting her. She slammed her eyes shut and winced, trembling. That wasn't a thing a human could do – it was far too long to be a human tongue.

"You… have it… yes?" the centipede croaked, seeming to be trying to intimidate her by licking her to death. Her breath seemed to be odourless itself – but just feeling that thing sliver up and down her face made Kagome want to scream.

"Let me… go, you… freak!" Kagome gasped, between pulling out her hand from the monsters grip and pushing it away. Her hand batted the air - her fingers fizzling. A loud bang – like a balloon popping – seemed to emanate from her wrist and a pulse surrounded her whole palm in steady red light, which dissolved into a pale, colourless glow. The centipede woman shrieked and vanished for a second in the shock of white light, collapsing – descending faster.

What just happened? Kagome wondered, staring at her hand in wonder. It was as if she'd used some power deep inside her to force the creature away with some shield. A withered arm still clung to her own. She threw it off, shaking with fear.

"I will not lose it now… the Jewel of Four Souls!" the creature whined, before striking something deep down in the dark abyss they were falling through. A chime went off in Kagome's mind. "Jewel of Four…?" she recalled.

Her foot caught on the floor and she fell forwards, dizzy and light-headed with fear. Panting, she looked about wildly. "I'm in the well?" she wheezed, trying to get a sturdy breath. Sunlight washed through the square opening above, illuminating the world and settling it back into place.
Kagome sat up, confused and dazed. Wiping her forehead with the back of her hand, she tried to calm herself down.

Was that just a dream? She wondered. She looked around the well for an answer, before her eyes fell on the waxy, pale arm protruding from a mound of rock. Guess not, she realised.

The words of the centipede woman still clung in her mind, forcing her to remember something that was only told to her yesterday.
"I won't lose it now. The Jewel of Four Souls…"

Kagome cupped her chin with her hand – thinking. It unnerved her to be in the well with that thing – but as far as instinct went, she was sure it was dead. "Jewel of Four Souls… Now what did Gramps say again?" She wished that she'd listened to the old man, now.

Looking up, there was more pressing matters. Like how the hell she was going to get out of this well. "I – I've gotta get out of here…" Tilting her head back, she prayed her brother hadn't left her to the mercy of the centipede monster. If she hadn't did that thing with her hand then she'd have been dead meat, surely.

"SOTA! You there!" she called. "Go get Gramps! Now!"
There was no reply. The well merely echoed her voice and gave her false hope. Kagome started trembling with anger. Some kind of brother he was.
Reaching up for a vine, she found that there were plenty of footholds in the wall. She could easily clamber out, but she was still annoyed.

Chicken… run away and leave me, will he? I'll show h… She stopped. By now she'd pulled her head out of the well. But what surrounded her wasn't a damp building. Nor was it the grounds of her house. It was a beautiful forest, and the only sound was the whistle of the breeze through the trees.

"Huh?" Kagome clambered out, stood up and brushed herself down. These woods were plush and full of life, green and bright. Yet something about it… something evil… something in the past… she could feel the forest as if it had lived fifty years in a deep sleep. She didn't realise, then, how right she was.

"Where's this?" she wondered aloud, looking around once she'd gotten the dirt off of her school uniform. No mini-shrine… no house… no streets. No people. She was alone, in this silent world without animals – with only the wind to keep her company.

"Grandpa! Mom?" she called. She felt as if she were yelling into darkness – even though that the sun shone brightly and the whole world seemed to whisper: it's morning. It was as if she were conjuring up monsters by just disturbing the silence of the forest. She didn't like the quiet that tried to engulf her – trying to suppress her.
She felt that if she didn't call out, she'd become as dead to the world as this eerie place.

Turning from tree to tree, she looked up to see a familiar sight. A large tree that was as thick as two men standing side to side – not so far in front of her. The 'Go-Shinboku'. Now she could find her way home – all she had to do was turn right when she reached it, walk a few feet and…

She was running towards it, heart thumping happily. As soon as she was home she could forget this ever happened – settle it as a nightmare. Running her hand over the bark of the tree felt good… familiar. And she turned around it, ready to wind round it in a full circle. She could already imagine seeing her house in the distance.

But when she was on the other side of the tree something obstructed the view. No, not something. Someone. A boy. About seventeen with long white hair – wearing a bright red outfit that had hilariously large sleeves. But it sort of fitted him.

He was held against the tree by an arrow in his shoulder, and he hung from it at about mid-height. God knows how he managed to get that high up. But Kagome felt sorry for him. Wrapped around him were roots – large and thick like arms, winding up from the ground to squeeze him tighter to the God-Tree that he was collapsed against. Nature's steps.

Kagome balanced her feet on top of one and started to climb – scrambling most of the way in case she fell.
The boy's eyes were shut – but not tightly. Yet he seemed to be in a deep sleep – almost coma-like.
"Um… are you okay?" Kagome whispered, finally finding her voice.
There was no reply. The boy didn't move. The wind blew his hair slightly, fanning it out around him like a veil.
"Hello?"

Kagome was up to his face now – she was a mere two inches away from him. She couldn't feel any body warmth – she couldn't even hear him breathe. But somehow she knew he wasn't quite dead. The wind shoved his hair more furiously this time and revealed a pair of fluffy white ears. But not on the side of his head. At the top of his head, parallel to his eyes. Cat ears? Kagome wondered. No, they weren't anything like Buyo's… they were more… like dog ears.

Whatever they were – they weren't human. She didn't realise she said it out loud.
Her hands were itching to touch them. She didn't have to reach up by much, the roots had propped her up higher. If the boy had been standing on the ground with her, he'd have been about a head taller, though.

His ears… were soft. Just like dog ears. Soft and fluffy, almost like Plushie fur. Kagome smiled to herself and rubbed them again. They felt… nice. She didn't care that she was invading his private space, or that she shouldn't be feeling a boy's ear after mangling with a centipede monster. She just wanted to hug him… he looked so much like a little teddy bear, that–

"What do you there?"
Kagome turned her face to the side, only to hear the sound of arrows whizzing past. She started, and let out a gasp as about six of things flew into the tree and showered her with bark. Still more came and bile rose in her throat. Someone was trying to kill her.
Pressing herself up against the boy, she waited for the bowman to stop.

"This land is forbidden!"
Kagome turned to see a man holding a bow, glaring at her threateningly. There were two men, in fact, staring at her – except one was a little more sympathetic and was lowering his weapon.
"Be you a stranger!" he called.

What happened next was all a blur. The two men raced over and grabbed Kagome, forcing her hands behind her back and tying her up hastily, looking at each other and thinking what to do with her. Like anybody would – Kagome struggled, but she was no match for the men that held her.

Eventually they dragged her back to their village. Kagome felt a longing to be back with that boy again – she wanted to wake him up. Why would these people be so mean as to leave him alone up there on that treeand not let him down? Why would they abandon him? Everybody deserved to have somebody in the world, right?

But she kept her thoughts to herself. Maybe they just didn't realise...
The men placed her on the floor, right in the town centre. Around her, people crowded – whispering to themselves and wondering who she was. One thing Kagome noticed was that they weren't wearing modern clothes – they were all ragged and so... so old looking that she felt like she'd been sucked into the past. The houses were like her own – wooden and shrine-like.

Her face went red. She was ready to yell at someone. "Hey! You didn't have to tie me up, y'know!" she called after the disappearing bowmen, who were running off to fetch someone.

"She's come spyin' I wager!" a middle-aged man crowed, pointing at Kagome, disapprovingly.
"Then another battle's a'brewin'?" a bent-over man asked, his face lined with wrinkles.
Two women stood by a building, nursing their babies, were chattering to each other. "She's one of them 'Kitsune' foxes usin' magic to look a girl, I say!"

What? These people really believe in magic? And battles? There's no battles in Japan nowadays, is there? Kagome wondered. A thought struck her. The weapons… the clothing… the buildings… Kagome happened to suck at Maths and (not so badly) English, but she was great in her other subjects. Especially history. And there she was, thinking: I'm in a history book. The Sengoku Period. Feudalisms. Warring states…

The men who had captured her were running back now.
"Make way! Make way!" they called. The crowd of people departed, shuffling to their lefts and rights, eagerly.
"Lady Kaede, the priestess is come!"
Chatters rang out around the crowd. Maybe Lady Kaede would exorcise this demon…

Kagome saw a stooped woman holding an old bow, looking at her through one beady eye (the other was hidden by a patch that looked more like a cucumber). She was old, but not so old that she couldn't walk without aid. She seemed intelligent enough, especially when she started barking at Kagome in the same commanding way as her grandpa talked.

"Who are you? Why were you in the forest of Inu-Yasha?" she crowed.
Kagome just shook her head, gobsmacked.
Was Inu-Yasha the name of the forest… or the owner of it? Was someone here the one who shot that boy? Did they even know about him? Or was the boy called Inu-Yasha, and that was his forest?
Somehow, that name seemed to suit him. Inu-Yasha. The white haired boy with puppy-dog ears.

"Eh…?" Kaede mused, bending down. "Let me see your face." She chucked Kagome under the chin, giving her a once-over, before pinching her cheek and shaking her head from side-to-side. "So, trying to look like a clever one, are you?" she grumbled, as Kagome shot her a glare that was enough to torch straw. Her eyes danced with fire.

Kaede stepped back. That girl's expression… reminded her of someone out of the past. The same hair, the same wise eyes… the same complexion and figure. "You're her image, though... My elder sister… Kikyo…"

"What?" Kagome finally managed to say.

It was late. Kagome had been led into the priestess's home, and was sat there on the carpet – watching Kaede dip a ladle in and out of a cauldron above a scarlet fire. She was grateful for the warmth. But the smell of the food cooking above the flamesalso made her hungry. The sky outside was dark and scattered with stars. The night air seemed to be as quiet as the forest of Inu-Yasha had been.

Which reminded Kagome. She wanted to ask Kaede who the boy was. Whether he was Inu-Yasha. But Kaede had started to talk. She was describing the girl called Kikyo… the girl she said Kagome resembled.

"Kikyo was the village priestess… and its protectress." Kaede sighed. The memories of the past were surrounding her in a dark swirl again… just like they always did when she thought about her late sister. How she'd had to burn that jewel with her sister's remains. She sighed. "But… that was over fifty years ago. She died when I was but a child."

All the while through talking, Kaede had been pouring the contents of the cauldron into two bowls – one for herself and one for Kagome. She'd placed it in front of her when thinking about the slaughtering of the village. But Kagome hadn't even touched her food.

"What's wrong? Not hungry?" she asked now. It was many a time that mentioning her sister put people off their food – but this child didn't know about the siege of the town. She shouldn't care so deeply.

But it turned out it wasn't that at all. Not meaning to be rude, Kagome smiled. "Um… You think maybe you could untie me?" she asked, holding out her bound arms that still hadn't been seen to.
"Oh," Kaede grinned, guiltily.

Once the ropes that had bound her hands were on the floor, Kagome rubbed her wrists instinctively. She picked up a pair of chopsticks and then her bowl of food. She was starving – and soon she was pawing at it, hungrily.

Between a few mouthfuls, she managed to say: "I, uh, don't s'pose I'm in Tokyo anymore…?"
Kaede looked up, pondering something. Then she shook her head – her grey hair wiggling in its long braid. "I've never heard the name. Is that the land of your birth?" she asked.
Kagome smiled sweetly and nodded, trying to resist the urge to panic. No Tokyo? How could she get home?

"I, uh, guess so… I was just thinking that I should get going soon…" How? Her mind asked.
Kaede said nothing in response and sat there, eating. Kagome did too, taking the time to look around. The room was nice as feudal homes went. It was spacious with wood panelling and a high ceiling – definitely cosy. She didn't have time to think about much else.
Someone was screaming outside. There were people running, yelling… and a slithering that made Kagome's stomach turn. A roar seemed to sound out of nowhere and something large seemed to swoop down upon the house.

"What could be–?" Kaede stood up and pushed back the flap that cordoned off the house from the outside world. Kagome followed behind.
No sooner had the 'door' been opened than a horse came flying across the ground at high speed, whinnying in pain. It careered to a stop near the threshold, eyes rolling in its head. Kagome, unfortunately, got to see why. Its side had been ripped open – and its ribs were visible.

Above all that was the creature yelling throatily above the villagers trying to hit it with spears and arrows. A creature with dark ebony hair contrasted to the pale, corpse-like white of its skin. Behind it ran a massive body of legs and feet. It was hideous, winding itself round a building and crushing it with ease. The centipede monster from the well!

Kagome now saw the awesome power she'd escaped from. She'd have hated to die like that in the well. Crushed to death. But that wasn't important. What was important was that it was here – now. Destroying the village. It had a piece of the horse's hide in its mouth. A centipede had killed a horse – how ironic.

"Run! A demon!" a group of villagers shrieked, running for cover, arms flailing. The centipede woman hissed and turned – only so its eyes could lock with Kagome's. Immediately, it dropped its morsel and lunged, covering ground faster than it would by writhing in the air.

It slithered along like a snake, hands pushing itself along – legs weaving a curious pattern in the air. "Give me the Jewel of Four Souls!" it wailed.
Kaede's mouth dropped open. She turned to face the girl next to her. "The… The jewel?" she clenched her fists and her face went pink. "You have the jewel!" she cried, praying to God that it wasn't true.

Kagome's expression was dark. "I – I'm not sure… That thing only wants me!" she snapped back. "But unless I lead it away, everyone's going to…"
Kaede recognised the authority in Kagome's voice. It was as if she were willing to do anything just so others could live. There were few who spoke like that. One, especially, had been Kikyo.

A terrified man ran over, seeking refuge with the priestess. His breath came in short gasps. "Nor spears nor arrows stop it!" he exclaimed, looking over his shoulder at the centipede demon. It was coming closer. Close enough now for Kagome to really worry.

Kaede's mind went into planning mode. "If we can lure it to the dry old well, we might trap it!" she thought aloud.
Kagome turned, taking interest in the 'well' part. "Dry old well!" she repeated.

"In Inu-Yasha's forest…" Kaede replied.
Kagome was sure of it now. That well had brought her here. It was the thing she'd crawled out of.
"Where's the forest!" she replied. She'd been too sidetracked with escaping from her captors earlier to note which route they'd been taking.

"East, toward–"
"Toward that light? O… Okay." Kagome cut in, taking off in a sprint towards the wooded area in the distance. To get there she'd have to run through the village borderwall, but she thought she could make it. She had to try, at least. The way home must be there too.

"You will not slip me!" the centipede woman cried, closer than Kagome thought she'd been. Kagome shrieked and didn't just run - she practically flew towards the forest in her haste.

Kaede started to tremble and looked at another villager for conformation. "That child… did she truly say…?" she stopped whilst the other nodded. Then almost to herself, she spoke again – looking toward the forest, where a red light shone around it, cocooning it. "She saw the evil aura of the forest… that no earthly being can see!"
The forest was silent, despite the cries from the nearby village. The trees had blanketed fifty years of sound out, but it couldn't hold it any longer. Slowly, the chaos outside the woods seemed to seep in. And somewhere in the heart of all the trees, came a slight movement that wasn't due to the wind.

An ear twitched. The boy who'd been asleep for fifty years was awakening. Slowly, he opened his eyes and bore his talons, snarling. "The smell…" he croaked, his throat getting used to working again after half a century. He sniffled, trying to conjure up the path of the scent, fleeing towards him. "The smell of her who killed me is coming closer!"

He tried to pry himself off the tree, but couldn't move for the arrow in his shoulder. Cursing under his breath, he bowed his head. She was coming. And she'd better let him free. Kikyo.

"I could sure use a rescue!" Kagome screeched, running as fast as she could go. Her red sash on her blouse was blowing in the void of air being rushed up by the giant creature behind her.
"Give me the Jewel of Four Souls!"

Feeling the helplessness wash over her, Kagome let out a cry. The demon was almost upon her. If she could convince it that she didn't have it…
"B-But I… I don't have anything like… EEEE!" she dropped to the floor just as the demon swooped overhead. It would have run her through so easily if she hadn't been aware. Kagome was desperate now.
The centipede woman was ducking further into the forest, she hadn't realised her prey wasn't running anymore.

"Why toy with second-raters like Mistress Centipede?" came an amused voice above her. The voice was deep, but not too deep. It wasn't that old – just like that of a teenager whose voice had broke.
Kagome looked up, surprised, hands over her head to protect her.

And when she did look up, she saw the white-haired boy staring at her and grinning. The boy she'd felt sorry for… The boy trapped against the God-Tree.
His skin was bright and alive… tanned. And his eyes… they were the same colour as the sky at sunset. Amber.
This boy…Kagome realised, isn't human…

Sorry, I know that was long. I hope that was okay. Sheez, this is the longest chapter I've put up on here. My arm aches smiles. Well I hope that wraps it up. I don't know anything about individual colours and scenery and stuff – I only know what's in the manga. Of course I know the outfits of Inu and Kagome cause of all the pictures. There are only a few screenshots of episode one that I've seen – like the courtyard when Inu gets arrowed down. But that's it. The thing about the key ring colours holds up arms and shrugs I have no idea.

But I hope that chapter was good despite that. crosses fingers. See you in the next chapter! waits for arm to heal… it may take a while.