Chapter 2: The Lone Wolf's Awakening

"Well look who decided to join the living," I hear a male voice say.

Groaning, I sit up and look around. It took me awhile to remember where I was. Until I saw Kagome watching me….again.

"How long have I been unconscious?"

"About 3 hours," Sango said.

"3 hours! My mom is gonna kill me!"

"I think that is the least of your problems," Inuyasha said

I felt completely lost. Until I went to scratch my head that is. On either side of my head the were ears. Not just any ears, wolf ears.

"Great, I have wolf ears," I say

"That's not all you have," Shippo added, "You have a tail too,"

I stand up and twist my torso so I can look behind me, and sure enough, I have a tail. I let out a scream of disbelief. Then out of the blue, I start laughing. Don't ask me why, I really didn't think the situation was funny. But I couldn't help it.

"Great, she's lost her mind," Inuyasha said in a disgusted voice. I just kept laughing. After about 5 minutes of non-stop laughter, my sides began to hurt. So my laughter soon turned to crying. Finally I stopped making any sounds at all. The others just stared at me for a while.

"Sorry about that," I said, "But I still need to go home to let my mom know I didn't die".

"How can you go anywhere looking like that?" Inuyasha asked

I thought for awhile then I had an idea.

"Kagome, do you have a hoodie I could wear?"

"A what?"

"A sweatshirt with a hood," I explained

"Actually I do," Kagome said.

"Great, that's all I need to disguise myself. Don't worry, I'll be back by tomorrow,"

"Just be careful back in our time," Kagome warned.

Waving, I jumped back in the well. I appeared back in my time. Kagome appeared soon after.

"Follow me. I'll get your jacket so you can get home".

She led me up to her room and grab a sweatshirt from her closet and handed it to me.

"Now what are we gonna do about your tail?" she thought aloud.

I had forgotten that I even had a tail.

"I have an idea," she said suddenly.

She pulled out a pair of really short shorts. I understood where she was coming from and I slipped the shorts on under my skirt. After thanking her, I walked out of her house and started for home. A few minutes later I walked in the front door.

"Mom!" I called, "I home!"

"Where were you Artemis?" my mom shouted back.

I was still in the entrance way, so she hadn't seen my little surprise. She walks into our entrance way and saw me standing there in somebody else's hoodie.

"Where did you get that jacket?"

"It's my friend Kagome's,"

"Well why are you wearing it?"

In response to her question, I pulled down the hood. My mother gasped. But oddly enough she didn't look to surprised.

Instead she said, "So it's finally happened"

"My father was a demon wasn't he?"

My mom nodded.

"What about David? Is a half-demon too?"

My mom shook her head.

"Well this is just lovely," I said in disgust, "Thank you so much for hiding this minor detail from me".

At least my mother had the grace to look ashamed.

"Is this why we moved to Japan?"

Again my mother nodded.

"Lovely. Well I just came back to get some stuff, and then I'm off".

My mom looked stunned, but didn't say anything.

I went up to my room and started backing stuff I'd need. You know, the usual stuff. Clothes, towels, soaps etc. I also packed my CD player and a pack of un-open batteries, along with my CD case. As I'm rummaging through my closet to find my sleeping bag, David walks in.

"Mom told me your leaving," he said quietly.

"I have to," was my response.

"Well believe it our not, I'm gonna miss you,"

"Same. But I'll come back every so often".

After I'm finished packing, I give my mom and brother a hug good-bye, I head back toward Kagome's house. Thankfully she's the one who opens the door when I get there.

"Ready to leave already?" she asked

I nodded my head quickly, afraid that I might change my mind about leaving.

"Well we're getting ready to eat dinner, would you like to join us?"

"Uh, sure,"

"Great, just let me tell my mom,"

She leads me into the dinning area

"Sorry about this," I say to her mother

"It's no problem Artemis. Kagome explained the situation to me early," her mother said with a warm smile.

"So when are you two leaving?" Kagome's grandfather asked us.

"Tonight after dinner," Kagome answered, "Inuyasha and the others are waiting for us at the well".

I felt a cold shiver run down my spine at these words. The shock that we were actually leaving tonight shocked me. But I have no other choice, now that my demonic powers have been awakened. And I do owe it to my father to continue his line. Even though I don't want to marry this Sesshomaru guy. Maybe if I'm lucky, I wont have to. He might be married already. One can only hope. After dinner, Kagome goes and to get her stuff. We head outside and enter the shrine. The Well truly gave me the creeps. Kagome jumps into the well. I follow suite and jump into the Well. I emerge on the other side and look up into the pink-gold sky of sunset. Along with the sky, I see Inuyasha looking down at me.

"Welcome back," he calls to me.

"Good to be back," I say sarcastically.

I climb up about half if the Well, then Inuyasha pulls me out the rest of the way. As he's pulling me up, I notice that he has incredibly sharp claws. Not to mention fangs. But I could tell that he wasn't as tuff as he made himself out to be.

"Thanks," I say, but he doesn't respond.

"Welcome back Artemis," Shippo says to me.

I just smile in response.

"Well, it's to late to go anywhere tonight," Miroku said looking at the sky.

"We'll leave first thing in the morning," said Sango.

As us women set up the campsite, Inuyasha and Miroku go to get firewood. After they set up the fire circle, I notice that they're having issues lighting the fire. I quickly dig through my bag and pull out a lighter.

"Thanks Artemis," Kagome said

"No problem," I reply.

I unroll my sleeping bag and pull out my CD player.

"What's that?" Shippo asked me

"A CD player," I respond, "It's a modern way to listen to music,"

Shippo still looked confused, so I hand him one of my headphones. He holds it up to his ear. The look on Shippo's face was priceless. At that moment he was listening to "Girl Anachronism" by the Dresden Dolls. I couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny?" Miroku asked me.

"The look on Shippo's face," I managed to say between gasps for air.

I hand Miroku my other headphone. And again I start laughing. His face matches Shippo's.

"What an astounding device," he said, "It's a shame that the others can't hear this as well,"

"They can," I responded, "Just give me the headphones".

After Shippo and Miroku gave me my headphone back I cranked up the volume on my CD player till it couldn't go up anymore. Inuyasha and Sango didn't seem as impressed with it as Shippo and Miroku were. Granted the song was over so there wasn't any real sound. The next song on the CD was "Helena" by My Chemical Romance.

"Wow," was all that Sango said and Inuyasha shrugged.

"Well good night all, but I'm exhausted, see y'all in the morning," I said, still chuckling at Shippo's reaction. I lied my head on my pillow and fell asleep almost instantly.