Chapter 5
From the deepest shadows, a pair of ice blue eyes watched Inuyasha as he leaped through the forest hunting for a scent.
That was a bust. Sesshomaru ain't been 'round here in a week, but…Something's not right, Inuyasha thought as he paused for a moment. I can't find a scent to track. Suddenly, Inuyasha froze when he realized what was not right. There ain't any scents at all around here. What's goin' on? Inuyasha narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he began to move forward slowly.
The eyes in the shadows, narrowed as Inuyasha's had done. What's this? Why has he stopped his rushed pursuit of his beloved katana? Then the creature's eyes widened in surprise. After a hundred years or practice she still screwed up by making the spell too strong. Now he smelt nothing, and that had tipped him off. Hopefully, he would not find her; but then again, her luck had never been good.
Inuyasha continued to walk swinging his head side to side testing the air. He began to realize that the farther he went in one direction, the less smells there were that assaulted his nose. Hmm…wonder what's over here.
Inuyasha headed over toward a perfect circle of a clearing, and in the middle of this clearing there stood a tall tree. To this tree there was pinned like Inuyasha had been a small sprite with crystal blue eyes, and silver hair that reached to her chin. It was from her the lack of smell came from. In fact she was the very center of the spell. She had taken his sword.
"Bitch, what have you done with my Tetsusaiga?" he snarled out.
"Whatever do you mean, dear sir?" she simpered out. "I have never heard of this 'Tetsusaiga' you speak of." In fact the sprite had heard of it many times, just it had been when it had been in the hands of the Lord of the Western Lands. "However, if you release me from this prison of a tree, I will help you with my powers."
"Bitch, I know you took my Tetsusaiga. Now hand it over!" Inuyasha demanded. "You're the cause of this lack of smell so I know. Now GIVE ME MY SWORD!" the hanyou raged.
The sprite gave him a cold glare that could freeze the hells. "My name is Fuyu you filthy half-breed, and if you ever want your little katana back, give me what I want!" she spat out.
"And if I don't?" Inuyasha asked with a smirk thinking there was nothing this "Fuyu" could do to him.
A twisted smile crept its way across Fuyu's face. "I know a miko who could most definitely sway your mind, and I know how to get to her even when she is not in this era."
Inuyasha felt his demon blood start to come up, but he made no move to fight it. If this…thing was stupid enough to threaten Kagome, then it was stupid enough to die. He plunged his hand through were the sprite's heart should have been, except she suddenly became like a ghost, and his claws, ravenous for her blood, passed right through to dig into the tree trunk.
"Hee hee. Can wittle Inuwasha not hit the big bad Fuyu?" she chattered out in baby talk while floating away seemingly not pinned to the great Sakura tree anymore.
"Damnit. Come back here and fight!" Inuyasha yelled out, his eyes red from the youkai blood raging within him.
"Now, now dear, what would Kagome say if she saw you like this?" Fuyu smiled out. "Now calm down so I can tell you how to get your beloved sword back so you can safely allow Kagome back."
This got Inuyasha's attention, and he calmed down…by about an inch's worth, but enough that his eyes returned to normal and he could be talked to reasonably well.
"First off, whether you like it or not, you will remove that boulder plugging up that cute little well. Kagome must be here for you to retrieve the Tetsusaiga. Understand?" Inuyasha answered with just the barest of nods. "Good, now off you go, and don't come back until you have Kagome," the sprite finished with steely resolve. And with those parting words she floated back to the tree to appear peacefully asleep.
Inuyasha stared at the sprite for a moment. Something in his heart, however, told him it was useless to attack her if not downright dangerous so he leaped away in the direction of Inuyasha's Forest towards the setting sun. After he left, a blue eye cracked open a bit before closing in true sleep and a small smile curled up the ends of ice blue lips.
Five hundred years in the future Kagome still sat in the bottom of the well even though she had been there for at least two hours now, and night was approaching. She had cried all of her tears, and had nothing left within to purge out. She was horribly sad. Once again Inuyasha had pushed her away. Kagome did not know what to do. She could not go back in time, and she did not want to trudge up to her home and continue forward.
In the feudal era, Inuyasha had finally reached the well. He looked down inside at he boulder and grimaced. Not at the prospect of moving it; that would be easy, but at what awaited him on the other side. He jumped down inside and a minute later a great stone was seen barreling from the ground by several local villagers and one merchant, all at least a mile away.
Where Kagome sat suddenly turned a bright shade of violet as Inuyasha materialized beside her. As soon as he was all the way in her time, he jumped a foot in the air to cower on the other side of the well, expecting the dreaded "SIT BOY!" at any second. The funny thing was that it never came. Inuyasha slowly inched over to where Kagome was to shake her gently on the shoulder.
"Kagome, you okay?" She slowly looks up at Inuyasha from her hands with red-rimmed eyes, and then slowly brings them back down to stare at her hands never saying a word the entire time.
"We have ta go Kagome, okay?" Inuyasha said somewhat quietly. All the teen did was shake her head yes, and grab hold of Inuyasha's sleeve. When they reached the other side she grabbed hold around his neck as he climbed out of the well with her on his back. Then she slid to the ground, leaning against the wood that was old even then.
"Kagome, listen" Inuyasha pleaded. Kagome looks up at him. "I need your help, 'kay." Kagome's bursts out in a smile a mile wide at his words. This worries he half-demon for a moment before he realizes that it was not Kagome's evil smile.
He asked me to help him! Kagome kept repeating over and over in her mind full of bless. Then she frowned. Why does he need my help? she wondered.
"Listen Kagome," Inuyasha began, "the reason I blocked the well was because I couldn't find the Tetsusaiga, and I was worried about my demon form. To get the Tetsusaiga back, I'm gonna need your help, all right wench?"
"You shouldn't have worried; you've got the restraining beads on, remember?" Kagome told him. "Now, how are we gonna find the Tetsusaiga?" she queried.
"Hop on."
"Wait one moment Inuyasha," she said. He turned around to see what was keeping her, and then he saw it: the evil smile. "SIT BOY! Now don't ever block that well up again!" Kagome screamed at him before helping him up so they could get going. Along the way, Inuyasha filled her in.
As before, Inuyasha followed his nose to find Fuyu. They reached the clearing just as night fell completely. Strangely enough, it was as bright as day for the little sprite was emitting a light of her own.
As soon as Inuyasha and Kagome touched down on the grass, Fuyu sprang to life to glide over to the two.
"Well done Inuyasha! You got back so quickly!"
"Quit the act bitch; tell us what to do!" Inuyasha commanded fiercely.
"Oh dear, no time for a quick chat?" Seeing the looks on both faces, she answered her own question. "No? To bad, but down to business. Inuyasha to retrieve your Tetsusaiga, you and Kagome must go to Lake Kibou. There you both must dive down to the bottom of the center of the lake. BOTH OF YOU! There you will find a small violet robe. Obtain it, and bring it back to me. Then, you shall get your precious sword back." With that the sprite went back to her tree, and fell asleep.
"Come on Kagome, Kibou isn't too far away." Kagome after a moment's hesitation, and a glance at he silver-haired sprite, climbed aboard Inuyasha's back as they headed out in the dark for Lake Kibou. On the way, Kagome began to ask questions about the lake.
"Why is it named Kibou?"
"Because it is the deepest lake around, and someone had some wishful thinking that hope was everlasting."
"Oh. How deep is it?"
"Hundreds and hundreds of men deep, and its deepest point is its center."
"You're joking, right?" Kagome asked worried.
"No wench, I ain't," Inuyasha answered plainly.
Kagome gulped several times throughout the journey at the thought of the lake.
When they reached the lake, it was beautiful. A full moon had arisen from the cloud cover, and its beam hit the round, glass-smooth lake at its heart. Inuyasha landed on the bank, and deposited Kagome on the ground before going to study the lake. Kagome stood up to join him.
"You know there's no way that even YOU could reach the bottom," Kagome stated at Inuyasha's side. She now saw that he had not been exaggerating in any way.
"Feh," was his only answer.
Kagome frowned at this as the wheels of her mind began to turn. Secretly, Kaede had been teaching Kagome how to make a bow and arrows from her miko energy. They were only to be used for an emergency since they lasted such a short time for the amount of energy they used up. Well, this was definitely one heck of an emergency.
"Inuyasha, I have an idea…"
In five minutes, Kagome was on Inuyasha's back as he leapt over the center of the lack. Kagome began to concentrate on her power, drawing it out to form a glowing green bow with a single arrow. Kagome drew back the string and let the arrow go towards the center of the moon's beam on the lake. The arrow hit the water at a surprising speed, and left a cleft all the way to the bottom of the lake, and there lay a purple kimono.
"DIVE INUYASHA! DIVE BEFORE THE WATERS COME BACK!" Kagome screamed. And that's what he did with Kagome. Their hands reached the kimono at the same time, and Inuyasha pushed up off the lake bottom with all his might. They just made it above the water level when the fresh waters came crashing together with a large wave.
"Now let's hurry wench, so we can get back my katana!"
Inuyasha traveled quickly even with a conked out Kagome. When he reached Fuyu's clearing he shook the girl awake. She awoke with a groggy start before realizing where they were, and standing up strait and dignified next to the hanyou whose sword was on the line.
"All right, Fuyu. We've got the robe, now hand over the Tetsusaiga!" Inuyasha called out.
"Kagome must drape it upon my shoulders, and then you'll have your rusty old fang," Fuyu called back.
Inuyasha turned to Kagome with pleading eyes. "Don't, it's a trap Kagome. I'll do it."
"No Inuyasha. I have to do it. Anyway, if it is a trap you'll just beat her ass," Kagome said reassuringly. She then flashed him a smile before heading over to the ancient Sakura tree were the sprite was contained.
Kagome cautiously drops the violet cloth onto the sprite's shoulders before zooming back in the direction of her protector.
Before she could though, Fuyu flew up into the air, screaming joyously. "FREE! FREE AT LAST AFTER ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF CAPTIVITY!" This worried the miko and the hanyou. What had Fuyu done to be locked to a tree and a clearing or one hundred years, and what had they unleashed?
Fuyu interrupted their thoughts to throw the sword at Inuyasha. "Thank you ever so much Inuyasha for freeing me. However, seeing as how neither you nor Kagome actually dove into the water, I'm going to need some extra payment." With that Kagome was lifted up into the air.
"INUYAHSA!" Kagome screamed for help stretching out her hands towards Inuyahsa's as he leaped to her. Just as he was about to grasp her in his strong grip she vanished along with the trick some sprite.
"DAMNIT!" Inuyasha howled to the wind. Twice now in one day Kagome had been kidnapped from right under his nose. His demon blood began to try to take over, but the Tetsusaiga held it in check.
Amazingly, Inuyasha seemed relatively calm as he started to hunt for a scent he knew would not be there. Of course, he did punch ten foot in diameter tree over on his way by it.
In a castle miles away, Kagome was being locked away in a dungeon next to two miko skeleton of those who had passed on many, many years ago.