Another chappie accomplished! I realized I used to write really short chappies, or maybe I'm used to reading long chappies these days. Oh well. On to the next chappie!
Happy Reading!
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CHAPTER 6
Startled, Kagome sprang to her feet, causing the animals to take a step back. She looked to the tops of the trees in front of her, searching for the source of the voice. "Who – who are you? Show yourself." She demanded, her voice not quite steady.
"What? Is that how you greet an old friend?" the disembodied voice called out somewhere from her left.
She swiveled her head to search for the source, her heart pounding against her chest, cold sweat breaking out on her forehead. Somehow, the interjection that she supposedly knew this person, or more rightly that the hime, whom she's impersonating, knew this person, was making her panicky. It was one thing to pretend in front of the people from the castle, she was briefed on them and knew what was expected of her, here, it's a different story. No one had told her that the hime had befriended a talking woodland creature.
"How can I be sure that you are a friend and not a foe?" she insisted in a confident tone she did not feel. With trembling fingers, she reached for the bow she had left beside the base of the rock and the quiver of arrows right next to it.
"I can't believe that you had forgotten about me. You yourself made me swear never to run off and wait for you to visit me. You had been gone for, what, ten years or more, and this is how you treat someone who had waited for you all alone in this forest?" The tone had turned harsh; a shudder went through the creatures assembled at her feet.
Kagome looked to her right, trying to find where the voice came from, but the incessant roar of blood in her ears made it harder to listen. She desperately scanned the branches for any sign of disturbance, her eyes darting here and there all around the clearing.
A light tap brought her about face. The body behind the voice was behind her, crouching on top of the rock she had been on. "Oi!" it greeted her.
With a shriek, she fell back on her butt, scattering the terrified creatures into hiding.
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At length, she remained there on the ground, her sense of self momentarily forgotten as she eyed a being unlike she had ever seen before. It had a mane of silver, with things atop its head. Eyes the color of amber and skin as fair as Tenshi's tawny mane, it was dressed in red with no sandals or footwear for its feet. Nails grown long and uncut, looking sharp and painful, that she couldn't help but shiver on sight, graced both appendages.
The creature leaned forward, its feet moving not an inch, its eyes studying her, Kagome tried to shrink lower, unsure of its intentions. "Are you okay? That was a nasty fall." It commented.
Startled at the concern in its voice, she looked up to meet the golden orbs. "What did you say?"
"I said, are you okay? But seeing that you can still talk tough, I shouldn't have asked at all. Keh." It arranged itself on the rock by crossing its legs and arms.
Slowly, Kagome got to her feet and circled the creature gingerly. She looked at it cautiously as it stared back at her, watching her every move. Satisfied that it would not harm her, she took a step forward. She watched one of the things atop of its head twitched. Tentatively, she reached out a hand to touch it. Her finger first met some hair, and she pulled back a little in surprise. Getting no reaction, she reached out more boldly, touching the pinkish inside of the thing.
The feeling was a study in fascination. It was warm and velvety. Delighted with this discovery, she felt for the other thing with her free hand. An unconscious smile of wonder graced her lips.
"Must you always do that every time we meet?" the being growled out, clearly irritated.
Kagome quickly pulled away her hands and looked down at the frowning face of the being. "Excuse me?"
"Oh come on, Kagome, my ears aren't your plaything. How many times must I repeat myself? You'd gone for so long and the only thing you missed are my ears." It snarled, sounding like a wounded animal.
"Am I supposed to know you?" it was Kagome's turn to frown.
"This is not funny Kagome. I had not stayed in this forest for some ten odd years to have you completely forget about me." With such deft movements, the being grasped Kagome by the shoulder and began shaking her violently.
"Stop it. I'm not the person you think I am." Kagome fairly cried into the being's angry face.
It took awhile for the words and tears to register. When it did, the shaking stopped and the eyes turned suspicious, piercing through hers. "What do you mean?"
Relieved that the anger had faded, she sank to her knees, her weight dragging the being down with her. "I've been trying so hard to pretend I fit in when I didn't. I rode away from the castle to get away from it all but it seemed that whatever it is that brought me here wouldn't let me have a moment of peace." Kagome talked to the ground more than him, for she had become certain that it was a male being due to its strength. "Why must I find myself in this strange place? I should be out there on the gym, practicing for the cultural festival, not stuck in this god knows where in the middle of god knows when. This isn't my reality, this isn't my world, and I am so tired of having to put a front for everyone. I just want to go home!" her tears came faster as the composure she had kept crumbled at her feet. She was but an actress, trained to play an assigned role, not to make her role into a reality. It was merely a character that supposedly exists in fictional fantasies. And yet, here she was, playing the role of the estranged hime returning to her homeland for an indefinite period of time.
The being stood motionless next to her sobbing form, watching her out of surprised eyes as her fear and uncertainty rushed to the surface. It was a long time before the sounds of her crying was replaced by the gentle sway of the leaves overhead.
"I'm sorry." The being lifted her face to meet his. "Let me start over. My name is Inuyasha and I am a beast man."