VII
Sit Realis
It takes Kagome's eyes a long minute to adjust to the dimness of the room she is in. It has no windows, but light comes in from the spaces between the slats of the wooden roof, and cracks between the boards of the walls – just not very much.
The man that is near her – Kouga, the Wolf-Alpha? What does that even mean?- is still and has not spoken since she said her name. He appears enraptured by it; his lips are moving silently, making the shapes of the word. It disturbs her, but memory is flooding back to her – the why of her position, even if the how and the where and the what is going on have yet to be answered.
The well. I was pulled into...I was pulled through the well.
She is suddenly paralyzed with fear. She remembers – she remembers what it is that has taken her – what it is that has pulled her. Wounded her. Torn something from her -
What was it? Small. Glowing. Not flesh – but – I -
She feels empty. Like her soul is leaking out. She feels the loss of something she never even noticed before, a loss that leeches richness from her perception but not from her senses. The thing – the thing that had ripped her open is nowhere near her now, her darting eyes can see at least that much. But in the calmer moment that follows, while she reaches down to touch the wound at her side again and feels cotton cloth, skillfully bound, she stares at Kouga and tries to understand what she is seeing.
Kouga, the Wolf-Alpha. The...Ookami...Prince.
Her eyes remain on Kouga; specifically, on his swishing tail. She swallows, and uses her hands to push herself up so that she is sitting and also a bit further away from him. Her hair swings across her face and her eyes widen to see it, pale and violet and bleached of all its blackness – but that is not nearly as compelling as her terrible suspicion.
Kouga's eyes are steady on her, a gleaming pair of ice blue crescents; they are wolf eyes. Night eyes. Hunter's eyes -
Wolf eyes! And that tail -
Kagome's thoughts flicker.
The centipede-woman-thing.
The screaming of her soul.
A jewel torn from her body, and a blazing light.
The centipede-woman-thing. A youkai. A youkai!
And Kouga...Kouga, who calls himself Wolf-Alpha? Who addresses her – who addresses her as shikon woman?
Youkai!
Within her, an inner sense that she knows to trust screams it at her. Youkai. Ookami. A real beast –
She knows it is the truth.
Kagome takes a deep breath, and then regrets it and winces in pain. Kouga is by her side in a moment, but she is all right – and despite herself the first question out of her mouth has nothing to do with what she needs to know.
Later (much later) she will wonder why her survival instincts chose that day of all days to go on vacation.
"Kouga...is it real, Kouga? Your tail?"
And she reaches out the fingers of her left hand to stroke his living fur.
A/N: Today's portion, complete with tail! The title of "Sit Realis" means "Be Real"; I'm sure you can all guess what that refers to! Many thanks to those who have read and commented; I'll see you all tomorrow with the next installment!
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