"What happened to their heads?"

It's the first thing Kagome asks when the three of them stumble across the bodies scattered around a small bonfire in the middle of the woods.

"They're guys from the village, or their bodies, anyway. Looks like their tops came clean off." Inuyasha says to them after he's moved closer to examine the bodies, when he turns to find Kagome's back facing him he continues with a terse, "Now what's the matter? I better not hear you say you're scared or you want to go home."

Kagome doesn't lash out in the way Andy had been expecting. Instead she reaches out to gather the bow and quiver of arrows left on the ground before turning to face Inuyasha.

"Actually, I thought I'd borrow these." She says.

Seeing as she's the only one without a weapon Andy creeps closer to one of the bodies and kneels beside it so she can go about searching for a weapon. It's not a good feeling, stealing from the dead, but Andy justifies her actions by telling herself that at least she'll be avenging them by killing their murderer. While it's a nice thought it doesn't exactly make it easier for Andy to unstrap a knife from one of the dead men, nor does it ease the slightly nauseous feeling. This is technically a crime isn't it? Robbing from the dead? Or is that not a thing in this time period? It's definitely frowned upon either way. Andy shoves away from the soldier's body as soon as the knife is secured to her body.

"You know you're not gonna hit so why bother?" She hears Inuyasha snap at Kagome, who huffs as she begins making her way back into the forest away from the bonfire and the dead men.

"I just need practice!" Kagome snaps back.

The further they get from the bodies the less Andy feels like she's going to puke. She's still not comfortable with taking it and if they do end up killing Yura tonight Andy's going to find a way to get it back to the family, because keeping the knife feels wrong on so many different levels. Andy grits her teeth as they all begin making their way up a hill.

"Practice?" Inuyasha asks, "Don't you mean "learn"?"

"I'll do it! I really think that I can!" Kagome says and Andy hopes she actually does manage to strike Yura down with an arrow.

While points must be given for determination Andy doesn't think it's going to be that easy. Nothing ever is. Knowing their luck, Kagome's going to fire off an arrow at Yura and end up hitting either Inuyasha or Andy instead. It's unfortunate but that's what they're bad-luck dictates is going to happen. Andy grits her teeth as Inuyasha's arm creeps around her waist seconds before they go flying into the trees where the three of them stare out into the darkness.

"They're closer," Kagome says to them, "lots closer."

Somewhere in the distance thunder rolls mere seconds before their tree goes tilting violently to the side. Inuyasha's quick to jump them out of the tree but the second his feet touch the ground they're swarmed my masses of ebony hair that gleams like water in the moonlight. Prying herself away from Inuyasha, Andy stumbles out of the way of a large cluster heading straight for Inuyasha and Kagome. Staying still is a fool's move. One that might even result in her death. So in a desperate attempt to stay alive Andy starts running, zipping back and forth in jagged patterns which only just manage to save her from the hair chasing after her. In the chaos Andy hears Kagome cry out for Inuyasha which causes the red haired girl to twist around to see what's happened, that split second of distraction is all the hair needs to lash out and twist around her ankles before it pulls her up into the air.

Batting at the hair doesn't get her anywhere, nor does attempting to wriggle out of it, as every attempt she makes to move away from the hair is thwarted by said hair coiling tighter and tighter around her legs as it creeps up to her waist. Soon enough it feels like her bones are grinding against each other and she's forced to go still beneath the hair lest it crush her.

"Oh my, look at the cute doggie!" Andy looks away from the hair around her legs to get a better look at Yura, who is perched upon delicate strands and smirking at Inuyasha. "You must be Inuyasha."

"And you must be Yura of the Hair. How'd you know my name?" Inuyasha asks, somehow managing to seem entirely too threatening despite being trussed up like a pig.

"Let's just say a little birdie told me. Everyone's saying Half-Demon Inuyasha is playing fetch with some reincarnated shrine maiden and a filthy little foreign girl." Yura replies, tone cloying and sickly sweet.

Filth. It's never been a word used to describe Andy and so it throws her for a moment, but that moment passes and the shock fades into a dull sense of contempt for the demon currently taunting the boy in red.

"Me? With those half-wit humans down there!"

Yura simply smiles as she reaches into the space between the strip of fabric acting as part of her shirt and her breast so she can pull out Kagome's jewel shard purse as she says, "Oh, you're all half-wits to me. Just look what you've done to the poor jewel!" Yura holds the shard up for them all to see and Andy focuses on it even as her head begins to ache. "Once you three here have been wrapped up I'll go and find the rest for myself."

"You?" Inuyasha snorts, "Take care of me? When this is over you're going to wish you never met me, or ever heard my name!"

And then he's free, tearing apart the strands of hair holding him aloft with a grunt and a slash of his claws. He manages a simple attack that results in Yura flouncing away and, with a swing of her arm, sending a wave of hair toward Inuyasha. It tangles around him, hoisting him back up into the air and leaving no room for his arms to move about. Seeing as they're too far away Andy doesn't quite hear what Yura says to Inuyasha but he reacts poorly. His second attempt at attacking Yura proves just fruitless as the last but Yura seems thrilled as it gives her the perfect opportunity to unsheathe her katana and swipe the blade in an upward stroke across Inuyasha's body.

Blood sprays through the air in a macabre arch, dark in the moonlight but stark against the pale off-white coloring of Inuyasha's clothes.

Yura giggles and drags her tongue along the blade where Inuyasha's blood has colored the metal dark.

"I'm going to cut you into little pieces." she says, smiling imperiously down at Inuyasha before adjusting her grip on her blade and going after Inuyasha once more.

She makes it about halfway before an arrow nearly embeds itself in her neck, forcing her to retreat to a grouping of hair that she uses to crouch on. Andy whips her head around as best she can to stare at Kagome. It's a difficult thing to do but Andy manages well enough, managing to catch a glimpse of her friend as she strains.

"Put them down! Right now!" Kagome yells, another arrow notched and drawn back. "Next time, I won't miss. I promise."

Andy takes the moment of distraction to wiggle her fingers beneath the band of hair creeping around her waist where the stolen knife is secured. If she can just get the knife she'll be able to cut herself free of Yura's hair and... and what? What is she going to do? She has a knife, that's it, unless Andy can find a way to out maneuver Yura in a combat situation there's not much she can do expect fight like hell and hope Inuyasha or Kagome manage to get a kill shot in. Andy grits her teeth as the knife cuts into her side as she manages to worm it out from the obi she'd shoved it into earlier. The pain settles her somewhat. It's certainly not pleasant but it's something tangible, it's something that makes her mind go into sharp focus.

"Ooh, I think she wants you back, Inuyasha!" Andy hears Yura call. "What a sweet widdle doggie you must be!"

Gritting her teeth against the pain and the dizziness Andy adjusts her grip on the knife so she can hold it more comfortably.

"I told you to hide! Not draw attention to yourself!" Inuyasha yells.

Clearly he doesn't know Kagome very well.

"Of course, her hair's not as pretty as yours Inuyasha, or even your filthy foreign friend's, but then... waste not, want not."

Pressing the knife against the strands of hair wrapped around her body Andy manages to begin cutting the strands away as Kagome snaps out an angy, "Not so pretty as his? What would you know about it, anyway? You live in a world where they don't even have shampoo!"

Metal cutting through the air and Inuyasha's angry cries for Kagome to watch where she's aiming helps to cover the sound of Andy's body hitting the ground. Or maybe it doesn't. Maybe Yura's so concerned with Inuyasha and Kagome, the perceived major threats, that she doesn't even care what Andy's up to. But what does it matter anyway when all of their attention is quickly pull away from one another and to the giant ball of hair that has begun glowing where Kagome's arrow had sunk nearly fletching-deep.

Bright, purple-pink light emits from the orb of hair in a nearly blinding display of power but if fades quickly, allowing the ball of hair to deform enough that a long tangle of hair and calcified skulls come tumbling out. Startled, Andy sucks in a breath as she scuttles backward away from the hair.

"Oh no! What have you done?" Yura's horrified wail snaps Andy's attention to her.

Desperate animals, she knows, are usually the most dangerous. Because most of the time they're frightened or feel threatened and resort to fighting instead of fleeing. Yura is like those animals now. Whatever that orb of hair was to her was obviously important. Now that it's damaged? Now that it's leaking its innards all over the place and likely exposing something Yura didn't want them to find? Well, there's likely not going to be a flight response from the short haired demon. This is confirmed when Yura sends a wave of hair in Kagome's direction with the intent to kill as opposed to main or capture like she had with Inuyasha and herself.

Andy screams as the strands of hair catch on fire, the yellow-orange flame raining down on Kagome and forcing her to her knees before there's any time for her brain to process what's happening and begin the desperate attempt at reaching Kagome before the wave of hair. Andy isn't even aware that she's sprinting toward Kagome until she's skidding to a stop and dropping to her knees beside the burning girl. An echo of cackling, disjointed laughter echos through the air as Andy beats at the flames covering Kagome's body but she hardly pays it any attention. Slowly the flames begin to die, dwindling down into nothing even as Kagome raises her head to meet Andy's terrified gaze.

She doesn't look like she's been hurt, there aren't any burns or seared flesh or exposed bone that Andy can see.

"You're ok," she breathes as she pulls Kagome into a tight embrace, fingers slipping beneath her hair to curl around her neck. "You're ok."

The two of them pull away from each other and Kagome looks off to the side. Andy follows her gaze and finds Inuyasha thrusting his hand into Yura's chest and out her back from between her shoulder blades. It should be a killing blow, it normally would, but Yura is smart. She won't be so easily killed.

"Go. Find her weak spot. I'll cover you." Andy says, voice hard.

Because she's going to beat Yura into the ground for what she's done to Inuyasha and Kagome both, and to all of the other people who's heads she's taken.

"Andy-" she shoots Kagome a withering look, that fire burning bright in her chest once more, "Go. Now."

Kagome doesn't need to be told again and soon she's running for the pillar of hair that's formed where Kagome's arrow first struck while Andy is left to harness her rage. She's not sure how, but Andy knows that for right now she needs that rage. Needs it like her life depends on it. Needs it like she needed it back at the well when she and Kagome first encountered Yura. Whatever happened, whatever she did, Andy needs to figure out how to make it happen again because it's becoming more obvious that there was no other demon in the clearing with them. It had just been Yura and Andy and Andy's great, terrible rage.

Trembling, Andy digs her nails into her palm and uses the pain to fuel her rage.

Come on, she thinks, come on! I know you're there!

Across the way Kagome's terrified shout seems to echo ominously through the air.

It's enough to make Andy see red seconds before that distant, ancient rage fills her entire being with fire. And all of it is directed at the demon currently glaring at Inuyasha. Andy finds herself moving closer to the pair on silent feet.

"When I took your hand it was like you broke a nail," Inuyasha says, eyes narrowing on Andy as she approaches Yura from behind, "but now you seem mad for real. What are you hiding that you're so worried about?"

Andy's pulse drums in her ears but there's no white noise this time, only a screaming need for Yura's blood.

"Inuyasha! Andy! It's that red skull up there! Concentrate on that!" Kagome screams, which causes Yura to tense as she whips around to face her.

Only to come face to face with Andy, who smiles widely at Yura's shock before backhanding the demon. Dark hair flies as Yura's head whips to the side, closely followed by her body as the power behind Andy's hit propels the demon through the air. Laughter spills from Andy's mouth as Yura rolls up onto her hands and knees where rolls her neck before twisting to stare at Andy through wide, horrified eyes. Andy snarls as she reaches out to take hold of the strands tangled around Inuyasha's body. They tighten a great deal in an attempt to keep her from freeing the half-demon, who grits his teeth as he strains to move against the hair tangled around his body.

Silly little demon girl, that honey voice coos, does she not know how easily hair burns?

Slender fingers curl aggressively around a large chunk of hair, twisting and pulling until the strands are wrapped around a slim wrist and held firmly in her palm. The strands burn away beneath Andy's touch, leaving behind nothing but the stench as they wither away into nothing. Inuyasha rolls his shoulders and everything about his body language tells Andy that he's hardly even bothered by her little display of power.

A sharp cry is torn from her throat as Andy's body is sent flying alongside Inuyasha's. The two of them land on the rocks and get there bearings just in time to watch as Yura goes after Kagome. There's a low growl from Inuyasha before he swings Andy onto his back so that he can get both of them up into the air. Yura seems to have forgotten about them for the moment in favor of trying to kill Kagome. This time, when Yura swings her katana at Kagome, Andy finds herself less enraged and more amused at Yura's incompetence.

Beneath her, Inuyasha shifts so that he can dig his claws into the hole made in his shoulder by Yura's katana and when he removes them there's blood coating the skin down to his base knuckles. Andy can see the curl of his mouth as he raises his bloodied hand into the air.

"Blades of blood!" He cries as he brings his hand down in a wide arch.

Yura screams as the magicked blood rains down upon her, tearing her body to shreds. The echo of her scream rings for a moment before the hair around them goes slack and begins to tumble to the earth. With no one to command them Andy supposes that at this point it's just hair once more.

"Don't faint on me, you stupid girl!" Inuyasha screams as he sends them both after Kagome, who is being dragged down by the masses of hair tangled around her body.

Andy clenches her thighs around Inuyasha's hips and wraps her arms around him tighter so that he doesn't have to worry about her falling off, and with both arms free he's able to grab Kagome and get them all down to the ground before they're crushed by the falling hair. Standing on the skulls of the many dead Yura has collected Andy watches as the hair falls around her while Inuyasha crouches over Kagome to keep her face from falling bone and hair columns.

"Inuyasha! Look out!" Kagome's startled cry has Andy twisting to look at the pair, and it's this simple movement that accidentally puts herself between Inuyasha and the katana that had previously been aimed his his chest.

Cold metal rips through the soft sink of her stomach, sinking deep until the edge of the blade scrapes against bone. Andy chokes as she stumbles back, fingers curling around the katana's hilt even as the strands of hair wrapped around it try to tug the blade free.

Oh.

Oh.

Rage is not a word strong enough to describe what Andy feels as she looks up to find Yura of the Hair standing on a pile of dead man's skulls. Sh seems perfectly fine, the only thing marring her natural beauty being the hole centered between her breasts. Andy snarls at her as she goes to pull out the blade, only stopping when tremblings hands come to rest over her own and Kagome's voice filters through the rage, rage, kill, kill, destroy swirling in Andy's head as the younger girl tells her not to remove the weapon. She hardly understands what she's being told as that ancient thing in her head gently slips into the unoccupied spaces of Andy's body. The action is startling considering the absolute wrath that being feels toward Yura.

Stepping between them and Yura in a truly admirable attempt to protect them Inuyasha growls at Yura, "You again."

"You forget, I'm immortal."

Andy laughs. A deep rumble like rocks grinding against each other as the sound bubbles up from her lungs and spils into the air as she bats Kagome's hands away and pulls the blade out of her body. The katana vibrates in her hands as Yura attempts to call it back to her but Andy merely tightens her grip on the hilt until it warps under the pressure of her grip. Andy looks up to meet Yura's eyes, ignoring the startled looks of both Kagome and Inuyasha, and is pleased to find fear in those red eyes.

"Immortal?" She finds herself asking, voice deep and smooth as honey, her voice but not. "You? No, no, no, silly little demon girl. You have no idea what that word means."

Something hot splashes against her legs and a glance down shows that Yura's katana is melting in her grasp, the metal the same glowing orange-gold of magma before it cools. She tosses the melted weapon at Yura's feet and the demon stumbles back a few paces. Andy smiles as she closes in on the other girl, stalking across the skulls peppering the ground until they're toe-to-toe and Andy's able to wrap her hand around Yura's slender throat. The veins in her hand and wrist glow like they've been lit on fire, flaring and fading along with her heart beat, and it's such a stark difference between what she knows her hand should look like and what it currently looks like that Andy almost balks. But before she can Yura is reaching up to pry her hand away, hair and flesh tugging at Andy's limb in a futile attempt to escape that's rewarded with Andy tightening her hand around the demon's throat until red eyes bulge.

"It's here! This red skull!" Andy can hear Kagome yelling from somewhere behind her, "The hairs are connected to her hand."

Yura goes absolutely feral in her grasp; kicking, scratching, yelling threats of violence even as she attempt to send her hair after Kagome. The attack barely moves more than a few feet, and Andy's hand has only barely risen to wipe the hair away in a wave of fire, when a sharp thunk and a flare of power has Yura releasing a truly horrible gasp. Andy releases her and steps back as Yura's body disintegrates into shiny blue dust, leaving nothing behind but her clothing and her ruined katana. The red silk bag containing the jewel shard is absently picked up before Andy moves to where her friends are gathered around the remains of a pretty red comb.

"So that's what Yura really was." Inuyasha says, hand pressed to the fresh wound on his shoulder.

"Yura was a comb?" Kagome asks.

"Sure. With all that you've seen since you've been here, are you surprised? It's probably got powers, 'cause it was once used to comb the hair of the dead. Yura didn't really use it so much as it used her." Inuyasha explains before grunting and falling to his knees.

"Inuyasha, that stab wound in your chest! It only happened because I've got your kimono!"

"It's no big deal, what happened to the jewel shard?" He demands.

Andy stares at the comb for another long moment before turning to Inuyasha's prone form. With Yura no longer being a threat and the rage fading along with her strength Andy takes the opportunity to help Inuyasha as he helped her. Reaching out Andy eases Inuyasha's hand away from his shoulder and replaces it with both of her own, he tries to shake her off but Andy ignores him in favor of closing her eyes. In an act of pure instinct that Andy will hardly understand later when they ask her how she did it she pushes her fire, now calm and warm and soft, deep into Inuyasha's body where it flows through his blood and settles in his wounds. When she pulls away Inuyasha and Kagome both go about checking over his wounds. Andy watches as bloody fabric is pulled away to reveal taut muscle and pale skin. Around her the world sways, tilting and heaving violently. Andy trembles as she pulls the jewel shard out and tosses it to Kagome.

"Andy?" she thinks she hears Kagome ask seconds before the girl's startled blue eyes register in front of her.

The world around her fades in and out, black bleeding in around the edges of her vision, and Andy stumbles as her knees give beneath the weight of her body. Thankfully Inuyasha is the one that catches her, taking her by the elbows and allowing her to rest her forehead where his neck meets his shoulder despite the fact that the sweat beading on her skin will likely ruin his collar.

"You need to stay awake, Andromeda." He says, voice sharp like a crack of thunder.

"Inuyasha! Can't you see she's hurt?" Kagome asks and her fingers push the hair that escape Andy's braid out of her hair.

"Trust me, right now she needs to stay awake."

"Why?"

"Because if she doesn't it could possibly kill her. We need to get her to Kaede."

Kaede, Andy hadn't even thought about the older priestess. Hopefully she's alright. It wouldn't be too out of the realm of possibility for Yura to attack the village in her search for the jewel. As Kaede's the priestess of the village it would be her who would act as the first line of defense if no one else had been there to do so in her place.

"Kagome," Inuyasha's voice cuts through the worry as he hoists Andy into his arms, "let's go."

"You never said my name before."

"Yeah? What of it?"

"S'pretty name..." Andy mumbles into Inuyasha's chest.

"I think he likes me more now, is all... Don't you think?" Kagome asks.

Andy pries her eyes open to stare at Kagome for a moment before rolling her head to the side so she can smile weakly up at Inuyasha.

"Don't get excited. I still think you're pretty useless." Inuyasha huffs.

There's a round of playful banter between Kagome and Inuyasha that Andy doesn't bother to try and follow but she manages to keep aware of her surrounding enough as they continue into the forest that she fills Inuyasha's requirement of not going to sleep. It's getting more and more difficult, though. Every time someone asks her something or say something the words sound garbled or make absolutely no sense to Andy so she doesn't bother trying to respond to anything the other two say. The other two. Inuyasha and Kagome. They're her best friends and she's glad that neither of them have brought up any of the happenings of the night since Andy attacked Yura. But maybe they're waiting until she's not tripping over her own words.

Maybe when they get to the village Andy will be able to convince Kagome to go home and get her aunt to make her Semolina Halva or Revani. Either. Or both. Andy thinks Kagome could definitely get her aunt to make both. And then Kagome could bring the treats back to the village and Andy could eat them, probably share with the others too but she would definitely eat the most. Because aunt Phoebe's Revani is the best and her halva? That's phenomenal too. The woman should have been a chef or something. Speaking of her aunt, they're going to have to talk about this, because there's no way Phoebe hadn't known that Andy has the ability to... do whatever it is she can do. Maybe it's a family trait. Something passed on between parent and child. Andy never knew either of her parents so it would have been one of them who had the ability and passed it along to Andy.

Nausea makes Andy tug frantically at Inuyasha's collar until he stops walking long enough for her to roll out of his arms, hit the ground, and crawl a few paces away so she can vomit. Kagome holds her hair back as she heaves, one hand rubbing soothing circles into the space between her shoulder blades.

"Andy? Are you alright?" Kagome asks, tone soft.

"M'fine."

Andy wipes angrily at the tears blurring her vision as a result of her being ill and stumbles to her feet. She staggers away from the mess she's made in the grass with Kagome's hands hovering around her shoulders and sucks in a few deep breaths to steady her nerves and assess herself. Everything hurts and she feels like she's going to pass out again but she doesn't want Inuyasha to have to carry her around if his sense of smell is good enough to pick up the stench of stomach acid on her breath. So she stands in the middle of the path, swaying back and forth slightly, until someone's hand rests on her shoulder.

"Do you need to sit down?" Inuyasha asks, his gruff kindness enough to make Andy burst into hysterical tears.

Ok, maybe it's not his unusual show of concern. Andy's had a pretty messed up couple of days and she's surprised she hasn't broken down before now. She sniffles as she wipes at her eyes, shaking her head and stepping away from her friends even as they try to offer her comfort. A few rattling half-sobs escape her before Andy manages to get herself together enough that the tears stop.

"Let's get back to the village." She says, and even to her own ears she sounds miserable.

"Andy..."

She holds up a hand. "Kagome, I'd really like to be somewhere that isn't this forest when I let myself process what happened tonight. I'm cold, I feel terrible, and I just want to eat my weight in junk food, ok? I don't know what happened with Yura, it's an issue we all need to discuss but we don't need to discuss it right now so is it ok if we just go back to the village and pretend I'm not snotting all over myself right now, please!"

By the end of it Andy's voice has pitched violently and her lips are quivering, the pressure in her chest from holding back her own tears making her feel even more ill. She hates the look Kagome is giving her despite it being well meant and thankfully when she looks at Inuyasha he just nods and steps closer. Instead of concern and pity Inuyasha is looking at her with something soft, maybe it's understanding or maybe it's his best attempt at comforting her, either way Andy likes that look much better than Kagome's. It makes her feel less like a mess. She shakes as Inuyasha gathers her up into his arms again but he doesn't mention it as he begins walking, Kagome a few steps behind but quick to catch up.

None of them say much after that. Not until they reach the village and even then none of them really speak to one another as Inuyasha leaves them to go and get Kaede. Andy watches him go before turning back to enter Kaede's home where Kagome is already lighting a fire in the hearth. She offers a tentative smile as Andy makes her way to the space they've been using for sleeping and settles down beside her after Andy has gotten situated. Kagome's fingers thread through her hair, uncaring of the grime that's built up there and the soothing touch lulls Andy to sleep.

"Shouldn't I stay awake?" She asks.

"Don't worry about it. I think you're in the clear, but I'll stay up until Inuyasha and Kaede come back just to be certain." Kagome says.

"Thank you, Kagome."

"Get some sleep, Andy."

It doesn't take long for Andy to fall asleep, the darkness dragging her under into a peaceful, dreamless sleep that isn't broken for several hours. When she does wake it's to the scent of food cooking and Inuyasha arguing with Kagome about going back through the well to get supplies. Andy groans lowly as she rises. A bowl is quickly shoved into her hands the moment she's noticed and Kaede is kneeling in front of her to check her over.

"Not a demon." The woman mutters.

"Pardon?"

"Not a demon, but not human either. I would speak with yer family if I were ye." the priestess explains to which Kagome turns a smug expression on Inuyasha.

"Ha! I told you we would need to go back! This way we can gather supplies, talk to Andy's aunt, and get our homework before we come back!"

Andy doesn't even want to think about the amount of homework she's going to have to do when she gets home, or rather, the amount of homework she's going to have to make up fo and continue to do when they come back. Resisting the urge to thump her head against the floor Andy finishes her first bowl of stew and is quickly given another. Kaede seems hesitant to give her anything solid, which is probably a good thing as she's had a rather taxing few days and hasn't been eating consistently like she should. The stew is lighter on her stomach and takes incredible. Andy finishes off her second bowl by the time Inuyasha and Kagome have finished their argument, looks like she and Kagome are going home for a bit.

Once she's done eating Kaede hustles Inuyasha and Kagome out, claiming that further examination is needed and that it's a private matter between herself and Andy. The two leave reluctantly, both offering Andy supportive glances as they go. Once they're alone, Kaede instructs Andy to remove her clothes so that she can look at her wound which she apparently treated last night while Andy was sleeping. It's a simple matter of pulling off the borrowed clothing she's been sporting and all too quickly she's standing before Kaede partially naked. Though, that's not what startles either woman.

What startles them is the lack of wound marring Andy's stomach.

Truthfully, it should have crippled her. Yura's katana had grazed her spine, that alone should have done some serious damage, but Andy hadn't thought about that last night and Inuyasha had carried her around like she wasn't injured. With nothing to see too Kaede tells Andy to keep an eye out for anything unusual as the younger girl pulls her clothes back on.

"What sort of things should I be concerned about?" Andy quietly asks.

"Weakness, incoordination, paralysis in any part of your body, numbness, tingling, or loss of bowel or bladder control can indicate ye've injured something important." Kaede says before offering a carefully reassuring smile.

"Oh."

What else is she supposed to say?

"It is not unusual for demons to survive these types of injury child. Inuyasha would have healed even without yer assistance." Kaede pats her shoulder.

"But I thought I wasn't..."

"Demon? No... But something."

But something.

Andy nods timidly before leaving Kaede's home. She finds both Kagome and Inuyasha waiting for her, lingering far enough away to offer a semblance of privacy but not too far away. Andy offers a thin smile as she makes her way over to where they're waiting.

"So," Inuyasha begins, "you're not human."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cries, outraged on Andy's behalf.

"It's alright, Kagome, he didn't offend me."

Blue eyes narrow dangerously on Inuyasha before they soften and Kagome turns to Andy.

"I'm glad you're healed." She says and Andy bows her head in acknowledgement.

"I knew you smelled funny." Inuyasha says, and undeterred by Kagome's angry squawk continues with, "I just didn't realize it was because you were... well, ya know. Kagome smelled funny too so I just figured it was something else."

Andy shrugs, "It's something I'll have to talk to aunt Phoebe about."

"Do you think she knows?" Kagome asks.

"She raised me, didn't she? My mother and father must have been like me and I don't think either of them would keep a secret like that, I mean, I could have hurt someone."

"Unless she wasn't told." Inuyasha offers. "Plenty of times humans don't recognize when they have something in their home that isn't like them."

"But why wouldn't her parents have told her?" Kagome asks to which Inuyasha's eyes flash.

"Families aren't always happy and loving Kagome. Whichever one of Andy's parents weren't human could have been hesitant to tell anyone for fear of Andy being mistreated later on."

No, aunt Phoebe would never do that to her. Phoebe has been nothing but good to her and the possibility that she could be some magic hating freak is laughable because Phoebe loves old myths. When she finds out Andy's not entirely human she's going to loose her head, if she doesn't know already which Andy is certain she does. She has to.

"Her aunt isn't like that, ok?" Kagome snaps before turning to smile reassuringly at Andy, "It'll be fine. We'll figure this out."

Andy hopes that neither of them are wrong about her aunt if for no other reason then she doesn't want to have to admit she was wrong to Inuyasha. Nodding, Andy allows Kagome to loop her arm through Andy's and lead her through the village toward the forest along with Inuyasha. Apparently, she and Kagome are returning home a lot sooner than Andy had anticipated and she has to swallow the nervous bile that rises up in her throat as she stumbles along after her friend while Inuyasha shoots her curious looks. By the time they reach the well Andy feels like she might feint, but she allows Kagome to pull her up onto the lip of the well and smiles nervously before jumping in alongside her friend.

There are flashes of bright purples, blues, and pinks along with pinpricks of starlight that fades rather quickly into shadowy darkness as the two of them come out the other side of the well. Taking a deep breath in through the nose Andy is assaulted by all too familiar scents and it's nearly enough to make her cry. She keeps it together for now though because Kagome is smiling and telling her that her gramps left a ladder for them, which is amazingly kind of him. When the two climb out of the well Kagome stretches her arms above her head and turns to Andy with a bright smile.

"Want to come in? Gramps would love to see you!" Kagome says and frowns when Andy shakes her head.

"I'm," she licks her lips, "I think I'm just going to go home and get all of this over with you know? I'll, um, I'll call you later?"

"Yeah, of course! Everything's going to be just fine, Andy, I promise!"

Somehow, Kagome's promise feels empty. Probably because there's no way for her to ensure it. Andy moves forward to embrace the younger girl before pulling away and offering Kagome a playful little grin.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Kagome!"

And then she's gone, trotting off away from the wellhouse and down the stairs leading to the pavement. A typically short walk turns into a drawn out process as Andy finds more and more ways to distract herself, but she doesn't want anyone calling the authorities if her face has been flying around as a missing person so she doesn't linger for too long. When she finally reaches the house Andy unlocks the front door and enters to find it empty. Oh well, this is probably best. It'll give her time to think of what she's going to say to her aunt when she gets home. With a deep, steadying breath Andy makes for the bathroom so she can take a shower.