Well, here's chapter two folks. Hope it's still to your liking. And thank you all so very much for all the reviews and encouragement. Please, keep them coming, they make my day, I love to hear what you guys have to say :3

Sadly, I need to also ask of you not to get used to updates as frequent as this one. I rarely update once a week, which is a shame, I know, but unfortunately, there's this annoying thing called school and real life that are distracting me.

Anyway, enough of my babbeling. Enjoy and please review :3

Tracks for this chapter:

Riviera: the Promised Land Music: Elegant Melodies (link: www. aimini view /?fid=j6RlYEOhjcYHpov3oDgG)

Riviera: the Promised Land Music: Hector's ambition (link: www. aimini view /?fid=IOT794Dg8w94jO36a5fq)

Metallica:Ecstasy of Gold (S&M version) (link: www. youtube watch?v=kKypYslGEA8)

Breakers:

XxX: change of scene

~ξ~: time-skip

乗: Beginning/End of Flashback

[T] and [/T]: Beginning/End of soundtrack

Reminder: 'Inuyasha' written normally refers to Inuyasha, while written in cursive (cursive and bold in thoughts) refers to Kagome, the "Gentle Dog Demon".

Chapter 2: The Inuyasha

Inuyasha spent the rest of the day in Kaede's hut since the elder woman asked him not to leave the house without her. He could somewhat understand her reasons, for the second he walked into the small village, he could see the distrustful gazes send his way. As much as he hated the fact, he had to admit that wherever he was, he was actually the weird one, the alien, not everyone else. This however confused him to no end as he had virtually no idea where he could possibly have ended up at.

Since during the day he was left to his own devices as Kaede had to tend to some sort of duties of hers, which, she didn't specify, he grew bored quite quickly, but had little idea what he could do to occupy himself, besides trying to figure out where he was. At one point he had even peeked out through the window of the hut at the village and saw the women working in the rice field nearby while the men did harder labor: repairing roofs of some huts, sharpening weapons and the like. Honestly, what he saw reminded him of the pictures he saw in his history book or on the internet when he searched for material for his history home work concerning the Sengoku Era. Even Kaede's hut reminded him somewhat of those illustrations, what with nothing but one room, a futon and a fireplace to warm the hut and cook, completely empty of any kind of modern technology. However, the comparison was quickly squashed in his brain as he wasn't one to think much of school if he didn't have to.

The thought of technology reminded him of his cell phone and he pulled it out, hoping to at least be able to call his mother and tell her he was alright. She was bound to be worried sick about him, seeing as she probably went up to his room this morning to wake him when he didn't come down on his own just to find an empty bed and nothing saying where he'd gone. Guilt washed over him at the thought of the worry he must have caused his mother. He hated to make her worry about him, but that seemed to be the thing he was best at.

Sighing, he flipped his cell open, only to curse when he saw that he had no network. Guess he couldn't even tell his mother not to worry. Just great. 'I really need to get home,' Inuyasha thought for the millionth time that day. The sun was setting already and it wouldn't be long before night settled in. That would mean he was away from home with his mother worrying and knowing nothing of his whereabouts (not that he was any better in this regard. Heck, he didn't even have an idea how he got here, much less how to get home) for about twenty-four hours. Life was just peachy, wasn't it?

It was only well after sunset that Kaede finally returned to her hut from whatever duties she had been attending to. She had leaned her bow against a wall and started to prepare dinner, seemingly unaware of Inuyasha's presence. The black haired boy was so lost on his own guilt-trip that he didn't even notice when she returned and silence reigned in the hut. It was only once the elderly woman finished preparing the stew and offered a delicious smelling bowl to him that he snapped to attention. The violet eyed boy quickly sat down and accepted the bowl presented to him with a small bow of his head.

"Thank you," he said simply, only now noticing how hungry he actually was. That was to be expected though, since he'd hardly eaten anything the whole day.

[T]

"Forgive us," he heard Kaede say as he slowly started drinking the soup from the bowl. Confused, he stopped and looked at the older woman with a questioning gaze. "For this morning," she explained. "With so many wars these days, our young ones have become rash. Even if I tell them we have no business with wars they refuse to listen and only give me more to worry about."

Disregarding the comment about ongoing wars, Inuyasha lowered his eyes to the ground. Kaede's words had hit home. He wasn't very different from the 'young ones' she was talking about, now was he? His mother had told him to at least try and make some friends in school, to stay out of fights and to stay away from the Hidden Well, as she called it, but he never listened to her. He didn't have friends and he always got into fights, always making her worry. And he had disregarded her request of staying away from the well, too, and now he was Gods only knew where, with no way to get back home as of yet and making his mother worry… again.

Kaede seemed to notice his sudden change in mood as she glanced at him when he didn't respond.

"What is on your mind, child?" she asked, seeing the guilty look in his eyes. Inuyasha sighed as he set the bowl down in front of him. He didn't know why, but somehow, even though he'd known her but for a few hours (he could hardly say he had known her for a day, since she was elsewhere most of the time he spend in her hut), the young boy felt as if he could tell Kaede of his problems, that he could trust her. Which is why he wasn't holding back the words that were spilling out of his mouth as a response.

"I was just thinking of my mother," he confessed quietly. "She must be worried sick about me by now. And I don't want her to worry. I need to get back home, but I don't even know where I am or how I got here, much less how the Hell I'm supposed to get back."

Kaede seemed to overlook the mild curse that slipped out of his mouth by pure habit as she studied the boy in front of her. Now that it was just the two of them and that he allowed himself to show more of what he was really like, Kaede saw just how lost he really was. His whole posture screamed that he didn't know what to do and his facial expression showed more than enough of the guilt he was feeling. Guilt about making his mother worry, no doubt.

"Where are ye from, child?" the elder woman asked. If she knew of the place he lived at, then she could send him on the right way the next morning as soon as the sun rose far enough that it was more or less safe to travel through the Inuyasha no Mori.

"Tokyo," he replied curtly. He wasn't entirely sure how he knew, but something inside him told him that whether he told her or not wouldn't change a thing. And the worst was that he was right.

"Tokyo…? Never heard of such a place," Kaede admitted and Inuyasha shoulders slumped in defeat despite the fact that he was awaiting this kind of answer.

[/T]

Kaede regarded the boy beside her for a moment longer as he reluctantly returned to his meal before gazing back towards the flames of the fire. Suddenly, a rather old memory resurfaced in her mind.

乗

She was kneeling next to her beloved, dying sister, Kikyo. The villagers were surrounding them in a circle. Kikyo was gravely wounded and beyond saving in her own opinion and as much as Kaede hated to admit it, she knew her sister was right. Her sister was holding a necklace with a pink Jewel at the end in her hands, holding it close to her chest. The reason for it all: the Shikon no Tama.

Inspecting the wound closer, Kaede noticed that it was undoubtedly made by demon claws, almost like those of a dog. If she didn't know any better, she would have said the half-demon now pinned to the tree to her right had done it. But given what she herself had seen, she knew it couldn't be true and she had said so to her sister when she noticed Kikyo had pinned said demon to the tree.

Kikyo didn't want to believe her at first, she had said something about the demon attacking her and taking the Jewel. But once Kaede knew her sister was about to die no matter what she did, she refused to let her elder sibling die consumed by hatred towards her other sisterly figure for something the white haired hanyō had not done. Once she had explained everything, Kikyo had tears in her eyes and even attempted to go to the tree and free the hanyō-girl as she was the only one able to do it, but her wound wouldn't allow her to anymore and she sank to her knees. Kaede could also swear she could hear her sister say something along the lines of 'forgive me… I will at least follow you in death then'. What she said aloud however, so that all could hear, was something else entirely.

"Take the Sacred Jewel… and burn it with my body," she said with her last breath as life left her body. Tears sprang into Kaede's eyes as she watched her sister fall.

"Onee-sama!" she screamed, letting the tears fall freely. One day. In one day, she had lost both her sisters.

乗

Kaede frowned as the vision faded. She had respected Kikyo's last wish and seen to it that the Shikon no Tama be burned with her body. Fifty years have passed since that incident, since her sisters' death. In those fifty years she had become a miko in her own right, following Kikyo's footsteps. But she also did it in hopes of one day being able to free her other sister from the spell that bound her to the Goshinboku. She had tried several times, but she had yet to be successful.

Why did that particular memory resurface in her mind now?

Sudden explosions from the outside made both her and Inuyasha jump in surprise. Kaede narrowed her eyes as she stood up and grabbed her bow and arrows. She could feel a demonic aura. The village was quite obviously being attacked by a yōkai, then. But why? Such attacks hadn't occurred since the Jewel of Four Souls was burned with her sister's body.

Deciding to ponder the why's later, Kaede swiftly exited the hut with Inuyasha in tow. The sight that greeted her was the body of a gigantic centipede demon wreaking havoc on the village. It had already destroyed half of the huts and defeated most of the village men, though Kaede prayed none of them were dead yet. Suddenly, a terrified neigh of a horse was heard above her and Kaede jumped just in time to avoid being crushed by the creature. Looking back up, she saw the upper body of the evil spirit, which was like that of a woman. The elder priestess recognized it immediately as a middle-class demon, one of those that called themselves 'Mistress Centipede'. What surprised her however was to notice that one of the arms of the demon was cut off.

"That again!" she heard Inuyasha's voice behind her, but she ignored it as she notched an arrow. So long as the demon wasn't too focused on her, she might have enough time to fire an arrow strong enough to kill it. However, fate was against her as the demon looked straight at her. At least that's what the priestess thought. In reality, the centipede's target was right behind her; it was Inuyasha.

"Hand me the Shikon no Tama!" the centipede yelled as she lunged in their direction. Both Inuyasha and Kaede threw themselves to the ground as the demon passed between them. But as the demon's words registered in her mind, the old miko was quick to turn towards Inuyasha again, staying on the ground as the demon bypassed them a second time.

"The Shikon no Tama?" Kaede asked in surprise. She then directed her gaze directly at Inuyasha, her eyes hard. "Do you have it?" she asked the boy.

For the first time in his life, Inuyasha felt truly afraid. Sure, when he first met that thing, he was creped out. But back then, it wasn't displaying the strength it did now and thus was way less scary. He refused to show how frightened he truly was, though. It was against his nature and it would hurt his pride to show anyone that he was truly afraid.

"I don't know! I don't know about any Jewel of Four Souls, damn it!" he yelled back as he stood up and gazed around. The villagers were still trying to fend the demon off, but it quickly threw them aside with its long body.

"Give it to me! Give it to me!" it kept yelling. 'That demon! It's coming after me!' Inuyasha realized as the monster's attack continued. He couldn't stand to watch it and do nothing. This demon was after him, whatever its reason for targeting him was. These people didn't have anything to do with it. They shouldn't be getting killed trying to protect him (even if they did protect their village at the same time). He had to do something… but what could he do? If those people so used to dealing with things like that were no match for this thing, what could he, a mere inexperienced boy, possibly do?

'Snap out of it!' he yelled at himself angrily. He couldn't let his fear reign his judgment. This demon was after him. It was here because of him. Logic said he was the only one who could do something about it then. And in that case, he had to do something. He couldn't just stand here doing nothing goddamn it!

"Our spears and arrows have no effect!" he heard one of the villagers close by yell in Kaede's direction. The older woman frowned.

"We must throw her into the Dry Well!" was the miko's reply. Inuyasha's eyes widened. The Dry Well… the well he had climbed out of most likely.

"A dry well?" he asked to assure himself as he half turned towards the forest he had met Kaede at, a plan slowly forming in his mind, the fear forced down to the back of his consciousness.

"The well in the Inuyasha no Mori," Kaede replied gravely and Inuyasha nodded, his expression turning from slightly scared to a determined one. Kaede had just confirmed his thoughts: they were talking about the well he had climbed out of.

"The forest?" he asked as he turned in its direction. A colorful light could be seen above the trees, but Inuyasha ignored the beautiful sight before him as he prepared to run. "Where the light is shining?" he asked, more himself than Kaede actually, as he took off in the fastest sprint he could. Kaede's eyes widened a fraction as she gazed after him.

"What did you say?" she yelled after him, but the boy didn't hear her and just kept running. Noticing his retreat, the demon quickly passed Kaede, throwing her to the ground in the process as it followed the escaping black haired boy. Kaede could only stare after them.

"It'll follow after me!" was the response Inuyasha yelled back as he continued running. If he said anything after that, then he was too far for Kaede to hear. 'That boy,' the old priestess thought in wonder. 'How can an ordinary boy see the foul vapors that rise from the forest?' she wondered. A villager's voice calling her name brought her out of her thoughts as she quickly grabbed her bow and arrows again and mounted the horse brought for her. That boy was risking his life to protect their village. Kaede would not stand for him dying doing something as foolish as that. He was too young for that. They were the adults and they should take care of their own problems. That was what the old priestess thought as she urged her horse forward, many of the unhurt villagers following after her. They all understood more or less what Inuyasha was up to and it seemed like all of them thought among the same lines as Kaede; they could not allow the boy to die.

Inuyasha was meanwhile running towards the forest he had first arrived at, glancing over his shoulder from time to time. It wasn't as much to reassure himself that the creature was still following him as to reassure himself that it still was a safe distance away. Now that he was all alone though, the fright was mounting again. But he still tried to keep his calm and refused to let the fear rule his actions. 'Some help would be nice right about now,' he thought desperately as he continued to run. He then shook his head to get those foolish thoughts out of his head. 'Forget it. You're on your own, just like you always are. And you don't need help. You've always taken care of your problems by yourself without ever needing anyone's help, why should now be any different?'

But no matter what he tried to tell himself, Inuyasha knew that this time was not like the others. This time, he really did need help. But he also knew he wouldn't get it from anywhere.

Then why did he get the feeling all he needed to do was to call and help would arrive? That thought was just plain ridiculous. And yet he acted upon it when it entered his mind.

"I could really use some help right now," he hissed under his breath as he glanced over his shoulder again. To his discomfort, the centipede was much closer than the last time he checked. He cursed, inwardly scolding himself for believing that anyone would come to his aid if he just called for it… well as close as he ever came to calling for help thanks to his pride anyway. But him even admitting to need help was a feat in itself actually. Too bad no one heard it, since it hardly really left his mouth.

Unbeknownst to Inuyasha, however, even that almost not outspoken admittance of needing help had been heard as a sudden pulse of power came from a white haired girl pinned to the Sacred Tree and cradled in its roots like a hurt child would be held by its comforting mother.

One hand hanging lifelessly by her side moved and soon the girl raised her head a little bit and opened her eyes, revealing deep amber orbs. She blinked in confusion as her nose detected the scent of a centipede demon and a human nearby. She didn't pay them much attention however as both weren't too close and neither was familiar in any way.

'What happened?' the girl thought as she moved her hand towards her face and examined it. It wasn't actually a hand, more like a claw. The girl frowned, remembering what the last thing she saw was. 'I should be dead. Kikyo shot me right through the heart with one of her Sacred Arrows. I should be dead… but I'm not. How can that be?' she wondered as she examined the arrow in her chest. It was now that she noticed she felt weakened. But not the same type of weakness she felt when she turned human once every month. It was the kind of weakness as if a major part of her demon powers were sealed away while a small part was left for her disposition. Her eyes widened.

'The Arrow of Sealing,' the girl realized. 'Kikyo didn't kill me, she sealed me. But then… did she now come to free me again?' that thought was quickly discarded, seeing as Kikyo's scent was nowhere nearby, not even a trace of it.

Her ears twitched at the top of her head as she heard hurried footsteps and deep, uneven breathing. The human she had smelt the second she awoke was getting closer and so was the centipede. Maybe they were headed here? Maybe they could bring her some answers?

The girl sighed slightly as she waited. She could hardly do anything else. While she was awake, she couldn't move from the tree because of the arrow and the roots. And she couldn't remove the arrow either; its spiritual power was reacting to her youki, however weak it was at the moment, making any touch impossible. 'Guess all I can do right now is wait,' she thought dejectedly.

"I don't have any such thing!" a faint, masculine voice reached her sensitive ears and the girl's head snapped up. An explosion soon followed the statement and her keen eyes were able to make out the cloud of dirt that rose thanks to it. A figure quickly got up and the girl quickly recognized it to be the human boy she had scented and heard previously. She could also tell the centipede wasn't far off either. Somewhat interested in what was going on and unable to do anything else anyway, she decided to just watch for a moment.

Inuyasha cursed under his breath as he glanced around wearily. Following him, the centipede demon had crashed into the ground and the collision had sent him flying forwards a few feet. He was quick to get up, but now due to the dirt flying everywhere and the darkness surrounding the forest because of the late hour, he had no idea where to go, much less where the demon disappeared to.

Still, said demon was anything but stealthy and even less patient, so it was quick to reveal itself as it attacked him head on. Unable to do anything else, since he still didn't have any idea where to go, Inuyasha opted for trying to fight the thing off for as long as he could or as long as the cloud of dirt was limiting his vision, whichever came first.

He dodged her head on attack and rolled away, quickly getting back on his feet. He then used the back part of the demons body, which was next to him, as support for his hands and jumped over it, avoiding her second attack. The momentum he gained from the jump and the fact that his support was moving was used as he quickly flipped in mid air so that he landed on his right hand instead of his feet. He quickly used his other hand to turn around without setting his feet on the ground, the thus improvised spinning kick hitting the approaching demon in her face. It didn't seem to do much damage though as she only changed course a little before turning and flying straight at him again, which he avoided by ducking.

The girl was watching the fight with mild interest. 'He isn't half bad for a human,' she thought to herself. 'But he'll need more than a little luck and improvisation to win this. He doesn't stand a chance without help.' And true to her thoughts, the centipede managed to surprise the human boy by hitting the ground hard, the resulting explosion sending him flying again. He landed on his back only a very little ways away from the tree she was pinned to and she gazed at him worriedly as he didn't get straight back up again.

"Hey, are you alright?" she asked and the black haired boy's eyes snapped open. 'Did I just hear… talking?' he thought bewildered. Violet eyes met golden ones and he stared at her for a short while before turning onto his stomach and getting up to all fours, his gaze never moving away from her own.

"Are you alive?" he asked her in wonder and she raised an eyebrow at the stupid question. 'Obviously,' she thought rather sarcastically, but decided not to say anything. Inuyasha meanwhile couldn't believe his eyes. Here he was, staring at the same girl he had first seen that morning, but this time she was awake and obviously alive. But she shouldn't be! She had a fucking arrow in her heart for God's sake, how could she be alive?

"You look like you need some help with that centipede, boy" she stated the obvious. "Why not call for Kikyo? It wouldn't be a problem for her, she'd kill it in one go and it'd be off your back," she added, not even bothering to offer her own help. He was human after all and she was a hanyō. Knowing humans, he'd probably rather die than trust her to save him and free her so that she could do just that. Besides, he was just a mere human. There couldn't possibly be a way for him to free her. Only Kikyo could do that.

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes as he glared at her. Fine, he knew he could use some help with that thing chasing him, but did she really have to point it out like that? And how dare she even hint on the idea that some girl would be able to help him? There was no way in Hell any fragile girl could take on that thing that was following him. Not this Kikyo person and not the girl in front of him either. Girls shouldn't even try to fight anyone anyway, since they're weaker than men by nature.

"Now listen here, just because it had caught me off guard once doesn't mean it can beat me," he almost yelled back, the anger coming from the blow she dealt to his ego controlling his words. "And I certainly don't need some woman to…"

"She's coming," the girl interrupted him calmly yet firmly and next thing he knew, he was jumping over the centipede's body again as it attacked from above and tried to corner him. The demon was quick to turn around and attack again however and it was all Inuyasha could do to keep dodging her attacks, having way less openings this time around.

The girl watched the battle closely, getting slightly more interested in the weird boy in the process. He intrigued her. 'He's arrogant,' she thought recalling his words. Her offer to get Kikyo to help him had obviously bruised his ego. Did he think himself stronger than the priestess guarding the Shikon no Tama? Or did he not know who Kikyo was? No, that wasn't possible. Everyone from around here knew of Kikyo and her duty to protect the Jewel of Four Souls.

'But he has guts, I have to give him that,' she added as she noticed that the boy was actually really trying to fight and win, rather than flee like she half expected him to do and like she knew he had done before. She winced in sympathy for him as he was flung to the ground by the centipede's bug-body-part. 'Too bad he doesn't have the power to back it up,' she thought, sighing inwardly. Her eyes widened however when she noticed that the demon was about to lung for him again, while he was being effectively trapped by her lower body-part. 'She'll get him,' the girl thought, frightened for his safety. She would have struggled against the roots and the arrow holding her in place, had she not known that it wouldn't bring anything anyway. She would not be able to free herself. She needed someone else to do it. More precisely, she needed Kikyo or someone with about as strong spiritual power as her. That could prove to be tricky, however.

She let out a sigh of relief when the centipede stopped about five feet away from the boy's body, unwillingly releasing him and letting him fall to the ground as four spears embedded themselves in the demons body. Turning her head, the girl saw a group of villagers, probably from Kikyo's village, standing there. A familiar scent was among them and the girl quickly traced it to the old woman sitting on a horse with her bow and arrow over her shoulder. Golden eyes widened in surprise.

'Kaede?' the girl thought in surprise as she recognized the scent. 'No way! She was just a small kid when Kikyo…' she cut of that thought as another question entered her mind. 'Just how long was I sleeping thanks to that enchanted arrow?'

"Alright, heave!" the village headman's voice reached the girl's ears and she noticed that the spears had ropes tied to them that the villagers held. On command they started to pull on those ropes, slowly but surely forcing the demon away from the black haired boy.

Inuyasha let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as the demon was pulled away from him.

"I'm saved…" he said quietly to himself, unaware that the girl at the tree heard him perfectly well. Her golden eyes traveled to him as she only now noticed how scared he actually was. 'He was afraid and yet he still decided to fight… he's really strong in his own way. He has guts and he's good at hiding his emotions… all that lacks is strength and proper training,' she mused as she regarded him. He was full of surprises, that was for sure.

"You weren't half bad for a human, but you're still weak, boy" she said as she looked off towards the struggling demon again - it probably wouldn't be long before it got free – and opened her mouth to continue, wanting to tell him that he could become stronger, but he beat her to it.

"What the Hell? What do you know? It's not like you had to fight that thing, baka! I'd like to see you fending it off for as long as I did!" he yelled, his anger getting the better of him again and coming closer to her with each word so that by the end of his mini-tirade, he wasn't even a meter away from her.

The girl raised an eyebrow. Was he dense or something? Did he not see what she was? She was a half-demon for the love of God, and he was just a mere human. She was stronger than him by nature, even in the state she was in now. Heck, given how close he was, she could even kill him right now if she wanted to, she had a free claw (her right one). All she needed to do was swipe once and he wouldn't even know what hit him. And he thought himself stronger than her?

"Had I been free, I would have killed it in one strike just like Kikyo could, boy" she replied as calmly as she could, though she started to get angry now as well. This guy's arrogance was just impossible. He didn't really think she was weaker than him just because she was a girl, did he? Surely he couldn't be that stupid.

The boy's facial expression was that of livid rage. She had obviously pissed him off with that statement, but she didn't care. She was only saying the truth anyway.

But then she realized that the angrier he got, the stronger her instincts were calling to her to be careful. She knew that feeling. She felt the same way with Kikyo and Kaede at first. 'He's a priest!' she realized, but frowned upon the discovery. Not only was he a priest, but if her instincts were anything to go by, he was almost as strong as, if not even stronger than Kikyo. 'But if that's the case, why didn't he just purify that centipede?' her thoughts were interrupted by his yell.

"Quit calling me that! I have a name and it's Inuyasha," he yelled right back and she raised an eyebrow in wonder. 'Inuyasha?' she thought. Was that his 'title' like in her case, or was that his real name? "And as for you being as high and mighty as you say, why don't I free you then, since apparently despite your so called strength you can't do it yourself, and we test that theory?" he was smirking now, but even though he managed to throw an insult into his somewhat kind offer, she couldn't help but laugh.

"Are you challenging me, boy?"

"My name's Inuyasha, damn it!" he interrupted her, but the girl continued seemingly unfazed. She did start to use his name, though.

"You have a death wish then, Inuyasha, or do you really believe you could defeat me in a fair fight?" She was the one to smirk now as he shook with anger directed at her. But before he could respond, the inevitable happened. The centipede demon had come free and had grabbed the unsuspecting Inuyasha by his shoulders. Surprised, Inuyasha let out a curse and reached out his hands to grab on to something to stop the centipede from taking him and ended up grabbing the arrow that was stuck in the hanyō's body.

"Let the fuck go of me!" he yelled over his shoulder at the demon while he held on to the arrow. The half-demon-girl meanwhile had to fight to stop herself from wincing. The way Inuyasha was pulling at the arrow hurt, but she would rather die than let a weak demon like the one in front of her, not to mention a weak human boy, see her in pain.

She didn't get her hopes up though. She knew Inuyasha wouldn't be able to pull the arrow out. Not this way anyway. 'He needs to pull on it while being willing to free me,' she thought. Well, the thoughts of freeing her were obviously not in his head right now, which she could hardly blame him for given the situation. So the arrow would just stay where it was. Just her luck…

"Kaede-sama, the Inuyasha!" she heard one of the villagers yell and she couldn't help but glance their way. Her gaze met with Kaede's for the first time since the priestess arrived and Kagome couldn't help but smile slightly at her expression. She was wearing it ever since she arrived, as if unwilling to believe that she was alive and it had taken the villagers yelling at her for the priestess to snap out of her stupor. The Inuyasha could imagine her thoughts easily. It went probably something among the lines of 'she's awake! But how can that be?'

Inuyasha, meanwhile, was having different thoughts entirely, missing the fact that when they called 'Inuyasha', they hadn't meant him but the girl pinned to the tree.

"Let me fucking go, dammit!" Inuyasha yelled again and the girl's attention snapped back to him and the centipede demon.

"Give me the Shikon no Tama!" Mistress Centipede yelled as a response and the Inuyasha's eyes widened. 'Shikon no Tama?' she thought in bewilderment. Did Inuyasha have it? If so, then no matter what, he couldn't let that demon get its hands on it. But if he did… how come? Kikyo was supposed to guard the Jewel wasn't she? But then again, if Kaede was as old as she was, Kikyo was probably even older by now. Maybe she just wasn't strong enough to guard the Jewel anymore so she entrusted Inuyasha with it. 'No way. She would have chosen someone stronger than him, not an arrogant kannushi(1)who has yet to reach his full potential and who doesn't seem to even know how to fight demons properly. Didn't he have any training or something?' that thought struck her as odd, but at the same time, it would explain why neither she nor Mistress Centipede were being purified and why her instincts were yelling at her to run louder than ever. 'He never had any training!' the Inuyasha realized. 'He doesn't know how to control his spiritual power! That's why he didn't purify that bug!'

Apparently tired of pointless pulling, Mistress Centipede bared her fangs, which she allowed to grow larger, as if she had suddenly become stronger. The girl at the tree quickly realized that the Jewel was probably indeed nearby and was making her stronger, as if tempting the demon to find it. The Jewel wanted to be found!

As the demon lunged for him, Inuyasha's fear momentarily controlled his mind and he did the only thing he could think of: he let the arrow he was holding on to go with one hand while still holding on with the other and swung his fist in a wide arc.

"Stay the Hell away!" he yelled as his wild swing connected. The demons face turned to the side and she stopped her advance, but it only took her a moment to turn back around and prepare to lunge again, this time one of her remaining arms keeping Inuyasha's hand in place, keeping him effectively trapped. 'He needs to trigger his powers somehow! He needs to use them or he'll die!' the sealed girl thought frantically, but she knew that in his current state of mind, until he got his fear back under control again – which he probably lost due to surprise only – there was no way he would use them, even as a total fluke. She had to do something then and buy him some time.

Realizing that not only was her right claw free to move but that she could somewhat make a use of her left claw as well, the girl quickly came up with a plan of action.

As the centipede demon lunged at him again, Inuyasha was about to close his eyes in defeat, but he snapped them open immediately afterwards when he felt someone grab him from behind by his shirt. Next thing he knew, he was pulled backwards, his back hitting the tree and a red sleeve obscuring his view. Was the girl shielding him or something?

When the half-demon removed her arm from his vision, he saw that the centipede now had four deep claw-marks on her face and she was visibly angry. She had backed up a bit, but did not let him go. Looking to his right, he saw that the girl's claw was bloody, probably with centipede blood. She had protected him.

[T]

A deep growl, like a warning, sounded from her and he turned his head to stare at the girl behind him. Her glare wasn't fixed on him, though, she was staring at the centipede. Almost as if commanding her to let go with the feral growl emitting from the depths of her throat.

"You'll pay for that, you little half-breed. Just wait until I get my hands on you - you'll pay for scratching me!" the centipede hissed at her in anger. The girl behind him, however, only laughed.

"Oh, did I hurt you that much with that one swing? Oh, I'm so sorry," there was just so much sarcasm dripping from her voice that Inuyasha almost laughed. "I guess you're even weaker than I thought," he heard her say next and there was just so much confidence in her voice, that he couldn't help but feel confident as well. And even though he still felt somewhat afraid of the thing before him, he had regained control of himself again. And so when the centipede lunged at them both again, Inuyasha decided to let the arrow go with his other hand, seeing as the one he hit with before was trapped, and moved in to strike again. This time however, it was more of a move as if to stop the monster's advance than to hit it.

"I said stay the Hell away!" he yelled and a sudden light blue light emitted from his hand. The girl behind him smirked as she let go of his weird clothing, just to make sure the energy wouldn't hit her as well. The centipede yelled in pain as the black haired boy fell to the ground, just like the arms that had been holding him. Whatever he did, he ended up cutting off the remaining arms of the centipede. He stared at the visible results of what he'd done before gazing at his hand again.

"That's right! Something like that happened in that well," he said to himself as he studied his hand as if to find something unnatural about it. The villagers and Kaede stared in wonder at him, but he didn't notice it.

"But why can I do these things?" he asked himself. It was then that he noticed something at the height of his ribs and his eyes went wide. "Something's… shining?" what the Hell was going on now?

"Look out!" he heard the girl behind him yell and he snapped his head up; but it was too late. The centipede had bitten hard into his side and lifted him into the air before throwing him even higher towards the sky. As he flew, he noticed a pink pearl appear seemingly out of nowhere next to him. It was only because of the blood flying around it as well that he figured out where it might possibly come from.

'From within me… Is that the Shikon no Tama?' he thought as he fell back towards the ground again, falling hard onto his stomach and the pink pearl falling not far away from him.

"Grab that Jewel! Don't let the centipede get it!" he heard someone yell in front of him and looking up he noticed it was the girl by the tree.

"Huh?" he asked intelligently, not understanding the problem at all. So what if the centipede got the pearl? It was just a gem right? And if that was what the demon wanted, it was better to let her have it and let it leave. What he didn't know was that this pearl was more than just a jewel and that once the centipede got it, it would do anything but leave them in peace.

"Hurry!" the Inuyasha yelled at him when he didn't move, but before Inuyasha could do anything to obey her request, the centipede's body has surrounded him and the demon succeeded in slamming him against the trunk only a little below the girl that was already pinned to it, effectively trapping him. He cursed loudly as the next thing the demon did was apparently try to squeeze the life out of him and it didn't look like she'd have to try really hard to actually succeed. But in the end, the centipede released her iron grip somewhat, allowing him to breathe again.

"I'd heard that a hanyō brat was after the Shikon Jewel. So you're the one?" Mistress Centipede laughed as she allowed her humanoid part of the body to approach the tree. Inuyasha glared at her from his vantage point by the tree, but his eyes quickly traveled upwards towards the girl above him as the monster was definitely talking to her. The black haired boy frowned. 'Hanyō?' he repeated in his thoughts. 'Well, it's not like I wasn't aware she ain't human already… but what the Hell is she anyway?'

"You heard wrong then, Centipede. There was no hanyō desiring the Jewel anywhere near here. There was, however, one who helped protect it. And yes, I do happen to be the one and you should be glad I'm the way I am or you'd have been in pieces a long time ago," the half-demon girl replied. Her voice was sarcastic yet pleasant at the beginning, as if she were talking about the weather, but the end of her little speech was hissed… almost in warning Inuyasha realized. This girl… she was pinned to a tree and visibly unable to free herself or she would have done that already, which in turn meant she couldn't be as strong as she let on. And yet here she was talking like the centipede monster before her was nothing but a small bug. She either wished to die… or there was more to her talk about being strong than he had wanted to believe at first.

"Keh, all you do is talk! Do you have the strength to back up those words of yours?" he asked, though somewhere deep down, he already knew the answer. She had to be strong. If she weren't, how could she have protected him the way she did despite her condition? After all, she had managed to wound the centipede demon quite nicely, especially considering her restricted ability to move.

The girl didn't respond as she glared at the centipede before her, her mind working overtime. Yes, she did have the strength to back up her words, but it was being sealed by the arrow. And yes, she could defeat the yōkai before her without breaking a sweat, but she had to be free to do that and she couldn't break free on her own. Somehow the girl knew the black haired human knew all that though, so she stayed quiet.

'I know he's a priest… And my instincts are telling me his strength is comparable to Kikyo's… but he doesn't have any control of them. Could he manage to free me and break Kikyo's spell regardless?' she wondered, her glare never wavering as the centipede laughed.

"What can she do strapped down like that?" the centipede demon asked and Inuyasha turned his head to glare at her as well. "She's under a powerful spell," it added and Inuyasha's eyes widened. 'A spell?' he thought. 'Is that why she's trapped here? Why she can't free herself? Is the spell weakening or holding off her true strength or something?' he thought frantically. If that was the case, then maybe his way to survival was to break that spell. But to do that, he'd need to know how to break it and he had no idea how to do it whatsoever. Great.

"Just stay where you are and watch!" the centipede yelled and Inuyasha felt the girl above him tense somewhat as her eyes went wide.

"Shit!" the girl by the tree said and Inuyasha stared at her. He didn't know why but somehow, he never thought that girl would be able to swear however mildly. 'Definitely not good,' the Inuyasha thought as she watched the demon swallow the Jewel. Her eyes narrowed. 'There's no other possibility. We have to give it a try. It's do or die now!' she thought as the demon's appearance started to change before her very eyes.

"It swallowed the Jewel! What will we do now, Kaede-sama?" she heard the villagers yell and her resolve hardened. If she didn't try this, they'd all die and she couldn't allow that.

Inuyasha stared with wide eyes as the woman's arms slowly rose up and reattached themselves again, before the centipede lowered herself to the ground where, to his utter disgust and, he had to admit, horror, she shed the human skin revealing a green skinned beast with red eyes and sharp yellow teeth. He swallowed. If he hadn't been afraid before, he definitely was now.

"Rejoice! My power is being restored!" the monster yelled and in the next moment, Inuyasha had to fight hard in order not to let a scream of pain escape him, as the centipede's body that was still trapping him to the tree started to started to pull him harder against it, squeezing the air out of his lungs and preventing him from drawing a second breath. If she held him any tighter, he had a feeling a few of his bones, one of them being his spine, would snap and it would be the end of him. A rather pathetic way to die, but he could do nothing about it in his current predicament. And he hated that fact. But the least he could do was not to give her the satisfaction of seeing and hearing in just how much pain he was. He wouldn't let her see it. No bloody way.

"Oi, can you pull out this arrow?" he heard the girl above him ask in a weirdly calm tone. She wasn't looking at him, her eyes locked on the monster before her. Inuyasha stared as a rather important detail hit home. 'She doesn't look affected by that demons hold in the least!' he thought as he fought to draw another breath into his squeezed lungs. Indeed, the girl before him was as calm as she was since he first saw she was awake and didn't seem to be bothered by the centipede's attempt to crush her the tiniest bit. Almost as if she didn't feel it. Which unbeknownst to Inuyasha was actually true.

"This one?" he asked as he tried to reach out for the arrow embedded in her chest, but before he could reach it, the centipede tightened her hold on the both of them even more, forcing him to back down.

Kaede watched the happening like in a sort of trance. She knew that now that the yōkai had swallowed the Jewel, neither she nor the villagers could do anything to stop it. Their only hope was the Inuyasha now, but she was trapped to the Sacred Tree and unable to free herself.

The old miko's one good eye widened when she noticed the black haired boys attempt to reach for the arrow sealing the hanyō's power. She knew that he was a priest, she saw him blast away five of the centipede's arms in one blow. But she could also tell that the immense power he held was not in his control. For him to try to break Kikyo's spell was folly. It could result in tragedy just as it could result in a surprise.

However, one look at the half-demon's face told her what she was thinking. She was aware of the danger as well. And still, she decided to hazard it. 'If ye pull out the arrow, the Inuyasha will be free again as she should have been for the last fifty years… can ye undo the mistake of my sister, boy?' Kaede wondered to herself. But then she noticed something that almost made her blood freeze in dread.

"Do not give up! Ye must pull out the arrow that secures the spell on the Inuyasha. Ye must free the Inuyasha!" she yelled as she dismounted her horse when she noticed Inuyasha pulling back. Violet eyes widened as realization hit him. 'The Inuyasha… They aren't talking about me, they're talking about her,' he realized as he stared up at her again. 'The Inuyasha… Gentle Dog Demon… They seem to trust her to save them. In which case… why shouldn't I?' he thought as he attempted to reach for the arrow again.

Up until that point, he hadn't been quite sure what to do. One part of him wanted to free the girl so that she could defeat the centipede like she said she could. But another was telling him to let her stay where she was. After all, he had no guarantee that once the deal with the centipede was over and done with, she wouldn't turn on him next. Though why she should do that was beyond him. But now that he saw Kaede and the villagers trusting this girl to save them… why should he allow himself to be killed if there was a way to get out of this alive?

The half-demon meanwhile had glanced away from the centipede, locking gazes with Kaede instead. 'Kaede… you… want him to free me?' she thought in disbelief. There was something in Kaede's eyes that made her feel at peace and warm. 'No, it's not that… you never wanted Kikyo to seal me away in the first place,' she realized, and thought she didn't know how, but she could tell that it was the truth; Kaede never wanted her to die, partially or truly. But… Kikyo did. And that thought stung, the Inuyasha couldn't deny that. 'But… it's good to know there's at least one person who cares…' she thought before shaking her head and turning her attention back to the demon before her. Inuyasha was taking his sweet time deciding whether to help her or not, so she decided to help him.

"Come on! Do you want to die here?" she hissed at him, hoping her words would finally snap him out of the stupor he was in ever since Kaede had yelled at him to free her. In response, he glared at her and reached for the arrow. His mind was made up. 'I… I don't understand. Not any of it,' he thought as his palm closed over the arrow. The girl smirked when she saw he was finally doing what she was asking of him. 'But I know one thing,' he thought as he prepared to pull. He couldn't die just yet. He had a life to live and he couldn't leave his mother alone just yet. It was enough dad had left them. Inuyasha couldn't bear to leave his mother all alone as he knew she couldn't bear to leave him.

The black haired boy frowned. He'd have to use all of his strength in order to pull this thing out and then some. He knew it stayed in place when he held on to it when the centipede grabbed him, which meant it had to be struck really deep.

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" he yelled as he pulled with all his might. Suddenly, the arrow shone a bright, pale blue light and before he understood what was going on, it broke in his fingers. He cursed, believing he had only made things worse, but then his eyes widened as he noticed something.

[/T]

"It disappeared…" Kaede said as she stared at the tree. She never thought she'd see that day. That day when her other 'sister' was awakened from her slumber and back among the living again. And yet here she was, witnessing her true awakening with her own eye.

The light faded slowly and Inuyasha opened his eyes, which he had closed as the light suddenly blinded him. He gazed up at the girl. She had her eyes closed as well and her head was leaning against the tree's trunk. Frankly, she looked as if she were sleeping… again.

[T]

Then he felt it. Her body pulsed. Then a second time, and a third. It continued to pulse with power like the beat of a heart before slowly dying down. And still, the girl didn't move.

"Inu… ya… sha?" he called the girl by the only name he knew for her, the name that sounded exactly like his own. The only response he got was a tremble of her body and it took him but a second to realize what it meant. She was chuckling. Soon, the suppressed chuckle turned into an outright laugh as the girl leaned forward towards the centipede monster.

Realizing only now what had transpired, the demon let out a scream, but before it could do anything, the part of its body that was wrapped around the tree was blown to pieces by an unknown force along with the roots of the Goshinboku that were trapping the hanyō before. The force of the thus resulting explosion sent Inuyasha towards the ground and the boy closed his eyes as he braced himself for the impact that was bound to follow soon. But instead, he felt a hand grab his arm and then a rush of wind. Opening his eyes, he saw the girl he had freed setting him gently on his feet next to Kaede and the villagers.

"Stay here and don't get in the way," she said simply as she leaped towards the demon again. She flew over it in a somersault then landed right in front of it, her back to its face, and didn't waste time in turning around with an even wider grin spreading out on her face. How good it felt to be able to move again. To smell all of the scents of the forest, to hear every small sound there was around. And to feel that familiar power coursing through her. She was ecstatic right now. This wasn't how she felt every time after she had been human once a month, this was a completely new feeling. Then again, the weakness she had felt before wasn't like the one she felt while human, either.

"You brat!" the centipede yelled as she lunged for the girl.

"Why don't you at least keep quiet in your last pathetic moments of life?" said 'brat' yelled right back as she lunged as well raising one of her claws. "Sankon Tessō!" she yelled as she swung at her opponent. Next thing Inuyasha knew, a series of golden flashes like blade shaped lights tore though the flesh of the centipede, and before he could even blink, the monster was in pieces as the white haired girl landed lightly on the ground, completely unaffected by the blood and centipede flesh-parts falling around her. The black haired boy could only stare in disbelief. 'One strike… just like she said,' he thought rather dumbly. 'She really is strong.'

[/T]

Sudden movement caught his eyes and he stared in disbelief at what used to be the centipede demon. The weird thing was that even though it was in bloody pieces, the thing was still moving. And something told him it wasn't the last spasm natural for a freshly deceased body.

"Do you see the flesh that shines?" he heard Kaede ask behind him and glanced at her over his shoulder with a questioning look on his face. "The Sacred Jewel is embedded there! We must remove it, else it will keep rejuvenating!" she said and Inuyasha blanched.

"No way!" he replied as he hastily started to look around. A sudden glow in one of the pieces of flesh caught his attention and he pointed straight to it. "There! I can see it!"

Kaede made a move to walk over to the piece of flesh he was pointing at, but the priestess didn't even get two steps closer to it when a blur of red passed them and the sound of something sharp cutting through flesh was the next thing they heard. The girl who had defeated the centipede had cut up the junk of meat Inuyasha had been pointing at and was now holding the pearl in her palm, while the rest of the meat chunks slowly turned to nothing but bones. The old miko glanced at her in bewilderment.

"Inuyasha…" she said quietly, not wanting to believe her eyes. Surely, her 'sister' wouldn't turn on them?

The girl sighed.

"Don't call me that, Kaede. I have a name and you know it," she said calmly and Kaede couldn't help but relax. There was something in the hanyō's voice that assured her that everything was alright. "And you, boy… Inuyasha, was it?" Inuyasha's head snapped up just in time to see a small, pink object thrown at him. He caught it reflexively and stared at the pearl before glancing up to the girl. "Either keep it, and keep it safe, or give it back to Kikyo who I know can keep it safe," the girl said as she turned around, apparently planning to leave.

"Kagome," Inuyasha heard Kaede say and the girl stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Kikyo died fifty years ago… she died that day," the old miko said and Kagome's eyes widened for a while before turning sad.

"Then that makes two of us," she replied quietly as she turned around again. "In that case, he's the only one who can posses the Jewel, as I'm sure you noticed," she said, motioning over to Inuyasha without looking around. "Just make sure he's able to protect it properly."

And just like that, she leaped away and was gone as if she had never been there, disappearing into the woods in but a second's time. The only signs that she had really been there were the bones of the yōkai she had defeated without breaking a sweat and the scar left on the Sacred Tree by her body being pressed there for fifty years.

(1) kannushi – Shinto priest. I checked this time.

Well, that's it for chapter two. Like it? Hate it? Personally, I hope it lived up to your expectations :3

Anyway, that's about all I have to give you for now. Next chapter will be better though, I'll start some original parts there. Of course, there will still be reference to canon here and there, but not as much as in the previous one or in this one for that matter. See you then XD Ja ne… And please leave a review :]