The Doctor gazed at the blade, his left arm still extended to protect Elanna behind him. "Ah." He breathed out. This wasn't the first time that a weapon was pointed at him, and he knew it wouldn't be the last. He looked to the man in red with silver hair, keeping a calm voice. "Hello, we mean no harm. I'm the Doctor, and this is Elanna. We felt a tremor earlier and wanted to find out what caused it."
Elanna peeked her head out from around his shoulder, gave a little wave with a sing-songy voice, and thought nervousness laced it. "Hello."
The black-haired priestess stepped out from behind the man to take a closer look at the two Time Lords. The man immediately tried to block her path with his red haori sleeve. "What do you think you are doing? They could be dangerous."
She pushed the man's arm down and out of her way. "They don't have any weapons, Inuyasha. Besides, look at their clothes. They aren't from here. If they wanted to attack us, they would've done so already." The man they now know is Inuyasha lowered his sword slowly. He sheathed it, and it returned to the katana-sized sword at his side. He clearly trusted the woman. He continued to glare at the pair as he slipped his hands into his haori sleeves. The woman nodded to his actions, accepting them as the right course of action, and turned to the pair. "Sorry about Inuyasha. He can get rather protective. I'm Kagome."
Elanna stepped out from behind the Doctor, more relaxed now that the weapons were put away. She stepped towards Kagome, "I'm sorry, but you mentioned our clothing. Why?"
The Doctor butted in suddenly, grabbing Kagome's hand and shaking her hand with a bright smile. He could feel her pulse under her fingers. There was a slight waver to her pulse. He stared at her face, then squinted as if searching for something in her expression. Speaking as though he wasn't fully paying attention. "Ah yes, we're from overseas." Suddenly, looking Kagome straight in the eyes. "Very eclectic style. Much more form-fitting from where we're from. Nice to meet the two of you. I'm afraid our ship broke suddenly, and we appear to be stranded for a while. Do you know where we'd be able to have lodging for a day or two?"
Kagome gave him a confused expression as if not quite believing him. She turned to Elanna, who gave him an equally perplexed look, a hint of jealousy glazing over her eyes. The priestess turned back to the Doctor, a nervous smile on her face. "Well, you're welcome to stay in our village. We gladly welcome travelers." There was a growl from Inuyasha behind her. The Time Lord took a step back from her to stand next to Elanna. The silver-haired man leaned closer to her ear, making her give him a side glance.
"Kagome, are you sure we can trust them? The girl smells somewhat human, but I don't know what the guy is. They smell different. You sure they aren't demons?"
"Demons? Like specters or ghosts?" Elanna chimed in. She looked up at the Doctor, using her hand to cover her mouth to whisper to the tall man next to her, "Those are real?"
He tilted his head to the side in thought, closer to Elanna's face. "Well, it's not impossible. I'm not sure if 'demon' is a correct term to describe them. More like a subspecies, I guess. Though 'demon' is probably simpler."
"How come I've never seen them around before?"
He slipped his hands into his pockets, shrugging his shoulders. "Humans are known to not see what is in front of them. Aliens often show up in public, and people keep writing it off as hoaxes. You people must be pushed into a corner to finally accept something different. Once you have your mind to something, it's tough to change that view. They could still be around, just hiding in plain sight."
"Feh. Tell me about it. You, humans, make assumptions about us all the time without even understanding who the hell we are." Inuyasha retorted. Kagome's lips pursed in annoyance as she stared up at him. She reached up and pinched the top of one of his triangle ears sitting on the top of his head, tilting his head towards her.
"Not everyone, Inuyasha."
He pulled his head away from her hand and huffed, turning his face away. Elanna looked more closely at Inuyasha. Her eyes were drawn to his ears that swivel towards them to show he was still listening. They looked like dog ears. She thought they were kind of cute. She gasped as if she had just realized what he was. "You're a demon? Those are your real ears? I thought that was cosplay or something. Oh, that is cool!"
Kagome turned to her, giggling a bit. "He's a half-demon. My old friends used to think it was a costume as well. Caused all sorts of trouble back home that you wouldn't believe. He had to cover them whenever we were out in public. He attracted enough attention wearing his robes, but he refused to wear anything else. Believe me, my mom and I tried."
"Hey! You get into your fair share of trouble back here, always getting kidnapped and me having to save your butt. Let alone that weird uniform you used to wear."
The Doctor and Elanna watched the scene of the bickering couple. It wasn't a heated exchange, but like they were used to arguing with one another. Elanna laughed softly, "It's kinda cute to watch them, though I'm glad you and I don't argue like that." The Doctor nodded a bit but perked up at hearing a townsperson running up the hill.
"Lady Kagome! Lady Kagome! We have another one! It's Shiro. We found him passed out in the field!"
The priestess immediately looked towards the man. Her face was tense as she turned to the man; the fight was suddenly forgotten. "What happened?"
"We aren't sure. We were working, and suddenly he collapsed. Hotaru and Len are still unconscious. Kaede is seeing to them, but she said that she requires your assistance."
She nodded. "Tell her that I'll be right there. Inuyasha?"
"Yeah, yeah." He turned around and kneeled to the ground, allowing Kagome to climb onto his back. After standing up, the priestess turned her head to look over her shoulder at the Doctor and Elanna.
"Follow us to the village. You said you were a doctor; you might be able to help." Then she turned back around, and Inuyasha took off down the hill, running way faster than a human could.
Elanna just stood there, her mouth agape in amazement. In excitement, she jumped up and down, stuttering out, "Did he just-He's Fast-He just took off like a bullet!" She busted out laughing, "How did he do that? He's like freaking Sonic the Hedgehog over here!" The Doctor couldn't help but chuckle at her amusement. Shaking his head with a smile, he took her hand and led her down the hill towards the village.
The village was quaint. Most of the land was covered in rice fields with a man-made river running through. About 15 wooden huts in total in the whole village, each with a single door with a straw mat over the threshold. Kaede's house sat at the center of the village, at the bottom of shrine steps. The Doctor and Elanna followed the flash of red Inuyasha's robes into the house, where they saw Kagome and an elderly woman attending to a man on a tatami mat in the back of the hut. Perspiration soaked his face as his eyes were screwed shut, and he moaned in pain. Kagome was by the man's head, dabbing it with a cold, wet cloth. Inuyasha stood leaning against the wall by the doorway to not get the women's way. Elanna went to stand by the half-demon, unsure what she could even do to help. A small girl with black hair sat next to the old woman. She looked up to the new arrivals.
The Doctor stepped closer to the women, looking down at the man. There were no visible injures on him, but there was a pull that the Doctor felt inside his mind. He didn't understand the cause. His eyebrows furrowed in thought. "How long has he been like this?" He knelt and looked up at the elderly woman.
"One person collapsed last night, but it suddenly increased a short time ago. Kagome has caught me up to speed with ye, Doctor. I am Kaede, I am the elder priestess in this village. I have not seen this condition before." She lifted his arm up as to examine his pulse. "His heart races, but there seem to be no injuries to speak of."
"Any changes to diet recently, could something have gotten into the water?"
Kaede shook her head, "Nothing has been new has been brought into the village."
Kagome looked up from the man, "It's strange, though. There seems to be a presence circling around his head. I can't seem to tell what it is."
The Doctor lifted his hand and placed it just over the man's head. He felt what was like smoke slipping through his fingers. He gasped slightly over the sensation. A weirdly giddy smile creped over his face as he wiggled his fingers. "Oh… that's weird…. fascinating. Someone or something is trying to connect to this man's mind. I should be able to…". He trailed off, lifting his hands closer to the man's head. The light consistency he felt about the man's head enveloped his hands as it crawled its way up to his arms. He placed his forefingers to the man's temples but was immediately thrown back. His chest heaved, there for a second, he was connected. Pain. So much pain and fear surrounding that man. It was like he was living in a nightmare.