Blanket Disclaimer: The writer does not own any characters created by Rumiko Takahashi but like everyone else wishes she did. All original characters or concepts are the author's Inuma Asahi De's (with the exception of historical figures).
Chapter Forty Nine
The Compass
"What's wrong?" Inuyasha asked Kagome as they sat side by side in the small hut, the compass poised in Kagome's hand and Onaconah stationed in front of them staring at the object, waiting for a miracle that seemed to be impossible.
"Storm Eyes?" The old demon pressed as well, the nickname making Kagome's heart beat a little faster in her chest for fear of disappointing such a kindly old man. "Tell us."
The young girl glanced at the hopeful eyes of Onaconah and shook her head before training her visage back downwards on the small object. She licked her lips and then bit down on them as the arrow continued to spin around in a circle, not settling for even a instant. "Just, give me a second." She asked softly as she turned the compass this way and that, holding it out in front of her to see if it would pick something up, hoping that the different direction would gain different results—nothing changed.
She narrowed her eyebrows in confusion at the sight of the constantly moving arrow, trying to remember if there had been any special trick to making it point before: she couldn't think of anything. With Jinenji, the compass had done all the work, the faint whisper of her name had called to her and then the arrow had been suddenly pointing—she had done nothing, at least nothing she could think of.
Kagome tilted the compass in her hands, gazing at it intently, trying to push her power through it without knowing how. She drew her face into a frown of concentration attempting to find that spot where her power generated, but nothing happened and she relaxed her features into a depressed and confused grimace, feeling empty and discouraged. "What won't you work?" She asked it silently as she resisted the urge to shake it. "What's so different between now and then?" She scowled and hunched over. "Why?" She spoke softly almost to herself but the Captain still stared at her, his ears poised and intrigued.
"Kagome?" He posed her name into the air softly, his own heart starting to pound with the anticipation of the compass pointing. "This has to work." He told himself as he imagined his son, he imaged his daughter-in-law, he imaged his ship, and all the people on it from Shippo to Myoga. "Please Kagome, make it work."
"Before," She began her explanation, her heart sinking into her stomach with each word. "With Jinenji and even when we were on the ship yesterday," She froze, her voice dying in her throat as she realized the implications of her failure. "We can't find them without this, what if we never find them—it would be all my fault."
"Come on Kagome," Inuyasha interrupted her thoughts, reaching forward to place a hand on her chin, trying to raise her eyes to look to at him.
She pulled her chin away in response and shook her head refusing to look at Inuyasha's hopeful but worried eyes. With a deep breath she forced herself to speak, ignoring the worry coming from the two men around her. "Before—the compass just pointed, it kind of did it on its own." She muttered sadly as she finally raised her face to look over at Inuyasha whose gaze had now shifted to the compass, his honey gold eyes firm. "I didn't do anything to make it point, it just did it and I don't know why. I don't know how to make point now—," She tilted the compass towards him further, one finger taping on the glass. "I don't know how to make it work." She whispered, her voice tittering off into silence.
"You don't how? But I thought—every time—." His voice trailed off and he waited for her to speak.
She tried to smile apologetically but the expression came off as pained. "I never did anything." She admitted to him. "It just always—kind'a happened."
Inuyasha leaned back in his spot, his expression unreadable as he stared at the wall of the hut, past Onaconah's shoulder. "Damn it." He cursed to himself, the word not really even penetrating his mind. He wanted to yell at her, to scream, to break something, to ask her why she had never bothered to tell him. "Damn it." The sentiment repeated in his head and he growled as he brought his head down to hold in his hands, his fingers digging into his hair, his claws nearly nicking at his scalp. "Calm down." He told himself, the blood pumping through his head loud in his ears. "Don't get angry at her, it's not her fault." He took a deep shaky breath, forcing his heart rate to go back under control.
"I shouldn't have assumed." He told himself, putting the blame on him instead of her. "That Kagome could just use the compass, I shouldn't'a thought that she just naturally knew." He frowned darkly to himself. "But come on!" He scowled deeply. "I mean, she used it with Kaede like it was nothing and then again with Jinenji and just fucking yesterday!" He bit his lip hard in disbelief, "How did I never realize that she couldn't just use the compass at will?" He sighed in his frustration and unclenched his hands from his hair that was close to being ripped out from the roots. With a slight growl, he rubbed the now tender spot before glancing over at Kagome who was looking more and more like a wilted flower with each passing second. Instantly, his anger started to drain as he took in her sadness.
"It not mate fault." The voice of the demon in his head was soft.
Inuyasha sighed in response and shook his head: he knew the demon was right. With a few more deep breathes, he looked at Kagome, his anger now under control and focused more on his own overreaction. "So you have no idea?" His voice was soft but the sound still came across as blunt and cold to the two others in the hut. "You don't know what makes it work?"
"I'm sorry." She replied as she brought the compass towards her chest, holding it close to her as her lip trembled with both sadness and self loathing. "It was a great idea," She spoke softly knowing her words were hollow, she started to open her mouth to speak further but stopped when she caught sight of the Captain lowering his head, staring at the floor darkly.
Kagome lowered her head as well knowing that it had been a great idea, that it had been a wonderful false hope for their plight. "We were so close." She thought as she closed her eyes and allowed a tear to drop down her cheek, a wave of sadness haunting her. "If only I knew how to make it point, if I only knew how to just find the shards, this is all my fault." She lowered her head farther down and tucked her chin to her chest while she pulled her knees to her chin, attempting to hide her shame in her tight closed off position. "If I could only control it," She sniffled softly as she continued toberate herself, her mind wandering on its own making connections to her current state and one of the past, thinking back to a memory that wasn't quite a memory but a thought that wasn't just a thought.
"You must find something to channel it..."
Kagome blinked, that world of white seeming to surround her if only in her mind for just a second, taunting her vision. She could see the swirl of unmistakable energy, that strange absent space completely filled with it and with something she couldn't identify, something that wasn't meant to be identified. "A white void." She felt the phrase enter her heart as if they weren't even coming from her mind.
She closed her eyes, the whiteness before her vision seeming to go on forever. "Was that real?" She wondered as she tried to remember everything about that place, that none definable place. "I wonder," She shook her head feeling silly for even wondering if a dream could be real. "But it could be, couldn't it?" She tried to reason with herself: after all, it was possible for her to not have died but to have still appeared as if she had. "While I was in that world, could I have appeared dead to the people in this one?" She shook her head. "I'm assuming it happened, that it was real—was it really?"
She closed her eyes and imagined that weightless sensation again, imagined her universe completely upside down, imagined that voice in her head.
"You are neither alive nor dead," The voice spoke tranquilly the sound seeming to cover everything in a supple blanket of warmth and security. "You neither exist nor do you not exist, you are neither a part of the earthen world nor a part of this one."
Kagome opened her eyes and was met with the dark color of the hut's wall jarring her back to reality. She licked her lips and then looked down at the spinning compass. "Was any of it real?" She questioned, it seemed possible. "I didn't feel like I died," She glanced over at the Captain who was now staring at the ground intently.
"I won't," His voice was determined and strong, scary and commanding. "I won't let you—not again—I can't watch you—I can't see you like that—not again."
The memory faded and she blinked, taking in his brooding features. "He sure seems to think I did though." She looked away at the ground and frowned deeply, something deep inside of her told her that the world of white was real, that she had been there, that she had been alive while she was there, a soul removed from its body, and that the voice of the unknown spirit had spoke the truth—
"You must find something to channel it..."
—there was something she needed to find and if she did she would be able to control her power.
Kagome frowned darkly at the very thought. "If I had it, could I make the compass work?" She felt her heart stop dead in her chest. "If I had only thought of all of this sooner, realized what was going on, that the hallucination was not an hallucination nor a dream nor anything similar—," Her thought trailed off, she felt like screaming. "Would I be here now?" She looked at the compass, spinning round and round, tears formed in her eyes. "Why, didn't I think of it?" She lower her head and buried her face back in her knees, trying to hide the fact she was crying.
To her right, Inuyasha's nose twitched from the smell of unnatural salt and he side glanced, both of his fist immediately clutching as he took in the sight of Kagome's tears by way of a small space between her arm and knees. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it immediately when the words wouldn't come. There was virtually nothing he could say anyway, at least there wasn't anything he could say without hurting her. "Fuck." He ground out internally. "What are we going to do now?" He turned his head to look upwards, staring at the ceiling of the small mud hut.
"It not work?" Onaconah asked from his spot across from them, his eyes trained on the two. "Storm Eyes?" He pressed as he scooted closer, attempting to get close enough to Kagome to make her look at him.
The young girl only shook her head and burrowed her face farther into her legs. "I don't know how." She admitted again but her voice was muffled and hard to hear. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay, Kagome." Inuyasha whispered suddenly from beside her, causing her to bring her head back up to look at him. Her eyes were puffy from her tears and her cheeks were bright red from her embarrassment and perhaps from the heat of the room. He frowned as he watched a tear run down her chin and reached forward touching her cheek to wipe it away. "We'll find a way." He spoke softly as he gave her a slight smile, it looked forced.
Kagome shook her head, causing his hand to fall away from her reddened cheeks before she put her chin back on top of her hands. "This is the only way and it's my fault we can't use it." She told herself as she scowled, the look not suiting her normally soft features. "What other way is there?" She told Inuyasha out loud, her frustration turning into a sad apology as she looked up at the heartrending eyes of Onaconah. "You and your tribe have been looking for years and can't find your brother, right?"
Onaconah nodded in response. "They move around," He informed both Inuyasha and Kagome, his words really already known. "So it is hard find them."
She gave Inuyasha a sidelong glance trying to convey the horrible truth about their situation. "A whole tribe of demons can't find them, it's impossible if they're moving." She spoke evenly. "With the compass we could have had a chance but what possible difference could the two of us make without it?"
Inuyasha shrugged, he honestly didn't have an answer for her. Kagome was right, a whole tribe of demons couldn't find this ship and they had been trying for almost two hundred years, since the tribe had split in the first place. According to Onaconah, they had even come close several hundred times but each time the split off tribe's ship had won out, sailing so far off shore that the demons on land were unable to see and tract them allowing the ship wielding tribe amble time to disappear easily. Without the compass the track them, Inuyasha and Kagome would be just as useless—neither of them had better eyesight than the demons surrounding them; if anything they would most likely only cause more problems than they could solve because of that.
"What can we do?" Kagome whispered as she looked down into the face of the compass in her lap, her eyes questioning it, begging it to work.
The half demon didn't respond, his own eyes staring into the face of the compass that was spinning in a circle, never stopping, always moving. "What the fuck are we gon'na do?" He asked himself as he looked away from the compass and turned his attention once again towards the ceiling, "I wish the roof could talk." He thought oddly, knowing that at the moment he would take advice from anyone or anything.
"Trust your gut."
Inuyasha eyes immediately widened his ears twitching on his head, "Did the roof just talk or am I going insane?" He thought to himself before he dropped his head back level to look around, dragging his eyes this way and that to look at the rest of the hut. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, only Kagome and Onaconah and shelves and dishes. "Hey—," He cleared his throat, his eyes still darting around for just a moment before he turned his attention to Onaconah and Kagome. "Did you hear that?" He asked, his eyes fixated on them while his ears still darted around trying to hear anyone who might be hiding about.
"Hear what?" Onaconah asked his head tilted to the side as he drug his eyes away from the floor he had been staring at to look at Inuyasha.
"Yeah," Kagome added as she raised an eyebrow and gave him a confused look. "I didn't hear anything."
Inuyasha quirked one eyebrow slightly and waved his hand to brush the odd looks Kagome and Onaconah were giving him off. "Never mind must'a been the wind." He gulped watching both Kagome and Onaconah give each other a look before going back to the task at hand: trying to figure out what they were going to do.
Their eyes off of him, Inuyasha turned back to the hut giving it a critical eye. "I know I heard something," He told himself as he looked around, his eyes going from pot to pot, from shelf to shelf, from ceiling to wall. "I know it wasn't the wind." He inhaled deeply, his most precious sense picking up the smell of late summer/early autumn accompanied by the scent of a hundred people he didn't know. "It could have been any of them." He reasoned pushing the very idea that the words had really been meaningful away and down. "Probably just a villager of something messing with us, maybe one of Onaconah's children."
He glanced around the hut as the thought trialed off, studying every dark corner for anything out of the ordinary, a set of eyes, a giggling laugh, he saw nothing of the sort, heard nothing of the sort. He was just about to turn back to his thoughts, brushing the incident off as imagination when something caught his eye. The reed mat over the door was moving slightly, a light breeze rumpling it from the outside—an ordinary occurrence but somehow out of place. He blinked and stared at the reed mat, which was keeping the heat out of the small hut expertly. "Wasn't it," He realized as he watched the mat move, "A different color a second ago?"
Inuyasha closed his eyes counting to ten before he opened them again, to see if perhaps the discoloration was a trick of his eyes, only to find the color was darker as if a shadow was being cast over the mat, projected across its surface.
"What in the world?" He wondered as the strange discoloration started to change, to morph, less and less light being permitted through the entryway as something seemed to form behind the mat. His eyes widened as the outline became recognizable, as boots and the shape of legs cut off to be a blur of shadow by the bottom of the mat, took shape. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at those boots, they were dark black, a solid color, with no signs of lacings, and the tops of both were creased over and made to be tight to the leg to prevent water from getting down inside: they were seaman's boots.
Bewildered, Inuyasha glanced at Onaconah's feet his mind moving in slow motion brought on by his disbelief, noting that the other man's feet were covered in moccasins just like the ones that Kagome was currently wearing. "Why would someone be wearing seaman's boots?" He thought, his head swimming as he turned back to the door, his whole body freezing as he took in the sight that met him. The feet were still there, covered in black boots with high collars but what was truly unbelievable was the outline of a man apparent, vivid, and very real.
"Trust your mate, boy, that's what yer gut told you, isn't it?"
He heard the voice again, he knew the voice but refused to believe it was real, and then the boots turned and started to walk away, the strange discoloration of the matting fading as if a shadow had moved. The sight brought Inuyasha out of his daze and he darted to his feet running towards the door as Kagome and Onaconah gasped in complete surprise and called after him, the sounds of "Common Dog" and "Inuyasha" hissing in his ears as he moved.
Undeterred, he ignored their cries and grabbed for the reed mat ripping it aside so he could look out across the village for any sign of the man that wore the strange black boots. "Hey!" He called loudly, several people stopping from the sound giving him strange looks as his head darted this way and that looking for something that wasn't there. "What the hell?" He whispered as he stepped outside completely, the reed mat dropping from his stunned hands as he looked out at the village. "Where?" He gritted his teeth looking at the villagers. "There was a person in front of this hut," He yelled at them as he pointed to the spot the figure had stood in. "Where'd they go?"
Behind him, Kagome stepped through the mat, Onaconah not far behind her. "Inuyasha?" She questioned as she came to stand by him, one of her hands coming up to touch his shoulder. "What's going on?"
He didn't respond to her as he stared at the people staring back at him. None of them were wearing boots, or even shoes that were black, they were all Indian villagers who were staring at him as if he was crazy—hell they probably didn't even understand a word he was saying. "I'm losing my mind." He thought to himself as he took a deep breath and looked at the ground. There were no footprints in the dirt and the grass that surrounded it was springing up from the soil, no one had walked on since Hyalei had swept it earlier after they had gotten Kagome to use the compass.
"Inuyasha." Kagome called to him again, her small hand digging into his white shirt. "What's wrong?" She pressed, her fingers tugging on his sleeve trying to turn him.
After a moment, he allowed himself to be turned and looked at her. She was holding the compass with one hand still, propping it against her breast that was clothed in the Indian's traditional clothes instead of the ones she had been wearing up until now. Vaguely, he remembered something about her old clothes being destroyed but he really couldn't be sure about that. "We'll have to get her new clothes either way." He thought absently as he studied her soft hand which was pressed to her chest, holding the strange wooden instrument right against her heart.
Slowly, he reached forward and touched that hand with shaking fingers, the voice replaying in his head over and over again. "Trust your gut." It said and he felt his stomach twist.
"Inuyasha." Kagome whispered and he glanced at her face, her cheeks were flushed from the contact of their skin and he smiled.
"Trust her." That feeling, that instinct—that place in his gut that Captain Roberts had always told him about, said. "My gut—I've always trusted it before." He told himself as he allowed his hand to drop away and turned back towards where the voice had seemingly generated. "My gut." He looked for Captain Roberts, his eyes scanning, looking for him even though the man was long since dead. He blinked after a moment, his eyes drying out in the southern climate, but when he opened his eyes to see the village again he found himself somewhere else entirely.
Inuyasha stood aboard The Fortune, his hands on the wheel expertly, performing a duty that had become his job since his life changing conversation with Captain Roberts. Carefully, he adjusted their heading, using all of the daytime navigational tools Roberts had taught him over the past few months with practiced care. His eyes scanned the horizon, looking for anything out of the ordinary from ships to weather. He glanced to port, taking in the position of the sun. "We're a little off." He thought as he carefully turned the well back to starboard, keeping their heading as accurate as possible.
"You got a good gut boy."
The young Inuyasha jumped at the sound of his Captain who was just now appearing from the staircase to his left. "Pardon, ser?" He questioned as he turned the helm of Captain Robert's ship to starboard, maneuvering it easily in the calm sea as Captain Roberts came to stand on deck, his old human eyes surveying their heading without preamble.
"Yer gut," The man said as he walked back behind Inuyasha towards the railing leaning forward and over it, his red jacket opening around his trim waist as he looked over the side of the ship studying the water trailing behind them intently before turning back around. "You got a good one."
"I'm sorry ser, I—," Inuyasha stumbled over his words, trying to figure out the odd English phrase, he couldn't recall in all his life in Western Hemisphere ever having heard it. "I have no idea what that mean by yer gut."
"You really are a foreigner." The older man grumbled as he turned around and leaned his back against the railing instead, supporting his weight against his elbows at an odd angle. "Your instincts boy, you got good ones." He pointed out to the opened sea. "Yer keeping our heading tight, the speed is good, the mast are orderly gettin' the maximum amount of wind." He nodded his head as if confirming a suspicion. "Not bad for yer first solo since Porto Rico, huh?"
Inuyasha smiled slightly at the praise, his back turned to his Captain as he looked out over the opened water. "I'm doing my best ser."
"Well yer best is beyond adequate." Roberts told him with a firm nod as he came up to stand next to the younger man, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "It was a good decision to make you my apprentice, don't you think?" The Captain laughed at his own words, patting Inuyasha's back hard as he turned to walk back down the stairs, waving his hand as he added off handedly. "You got this handled well, so I'm gon'na go below for a nap."
"Aye ser." Inuyasha replied calmly his face firm and bold, while inside a large smile was forming in his mind, larger than even the moon. Outwardly, though, his chest merely puffed with pride.
"Captain." Inuyasha thought before the sudden renewed contact of Kagome's hand on his shoulder made him jump and come back to reality. He turned to look at her before turning back around quickly, not wanting to hear her worry at the moment. Instead, he focused on the village that was slowly going back to business, his outburst all but forgotten. "He's the voice I'm hearing." He told himself as he strained his ears hoping for a sound, a whisper, even a grunt. Nothing came.
Inuyasha shook his head, "That was always his way." He spoke out loud, just quiet enough not be heard. "You said yer bit, huh? Now it's up to me, to figure out what you want me to do." He closed his eyes and smiled faintly as he repeated the words his Captain had said out loud. "Trust my gut?" He opened his eyes quickly, he knew what his gut was telling him, he knew what he was supposed to do, so turned to look at Kagome behind him.
The girl was gazing at him, her eyes seeming to be frightened and confused, the hand holding the compass white from the strain of holding the object as tightly as she was to her chest. His stomach turned over in his abdomen at the sight and he reached forward instinctively, his fingertips brushing against the wood causing his stomach to knot again. "I haven't been trusting my gut lately." He told himself. "And its nearly got us killed." He inhaled deeply through his nose and closed his eyes. "I won't make that mistake again."
He exhaled, the sound loud amongst the hustle that was coming back to the village after his outburst and opened his eyes looking right into Kagome's own. "My guts telling me," He spoke, his words random to everyone but him. "To trust the compass." He bit his lip and gulped unable to add, "To trust you."
"The compass?" Kagome whispered as she looked down at the object, tilting her head to the side. "But ii—it won't work."
Inuyasha frowned, staring at the small needle like arrow, watching it circle in her grip. "But its spinning." He licked his teeth. "Isn't that like working? I wonder—." He reached forward and took the compass from Kagome's startled hands.
"Hey—wha—," Kagome shook her head completely baffled. "What're you doing?"
Inuyasha didn't respond for a second, his eyes trained on the compass in his hands, turning it over and over again as he watched the arrow slow until it wasn't moving at all. In his hands, the compass was useless, the arrow wouldn't even spin, but it had still spun in Kagome's hands. "The compass won't work for anyone but you." He showed her the arrow that now wasn't moving at all in his hands. Beside them Onaconah stood silent watching the scene unfold with avid but soundless interest. "The arrow won't spin for me." He told her as he nearly shoved the compass into her face to get his point across.
Kagome blinked as she stared at the compass which was practically pressed against her nose. "Yes, we found that out at Mrs. Kaede's." She shook her head slowly back and forth as she raised her hands and pushed the compass away.
Inuyasha didn't say a word as he brought the compass back towards her, pressing it into her hands without giving her a choice. Instantly, the arrow began to move again going around and around in a circle just from the contact with Kagome's skin. "The arrow still moves for your hands though." He deduced as he watched the arrow spinning slowly in a constant motion.
"Yeah," Kagome gave him an odd look, shaking her head back and forth as she tried to figure out what he was going on and on about. "I know, I can make it do that I just can't make it point." She sighed exasperated with both him and herself. "It's like I said with Jinenji it just did, at Kaede's it just did, yesterday it just did—it pointed all on its own—I don't know what I did personally to make that happen."
Inuyasha frowned at her words, his eyes trained on the spinning compass. "Why would it suddenly work and then suddenly not work?" He thought to himself as he watched the compass move around, his eyes following each slow determined circle. "It's like it doesn't know where to point." He mumbled out loud as he crossed his arms over his chest and snorted.
"What did you just say?" Kagome whispered as she lifted her eyes away from the glass to look at Inuyasha.
"Huh?" He grunted as he lifted his head upwards toward her.
"What did you say?"
"You mean that it looks like," He reminded her, tapping one of his claws on the glass of the compass as he gave her a dark contemplative pressing look. "It doesn't know where to point?"
Kagome eyes widened, "It couldn't be?" She whispered to herself her eyes widening in shock before she looked back down at the glass face. "It couldn't be that simple."
Inuyasha frowned and brought his ears forward to perch towards her. "What?"
Kagome only shook her head and reached for the necklace that was tucked away into the top of her blouse. Holding the compass with one hand she brought the necklace up and over her head, studying the jewel that glistened in the bright sunlight. Her eyes darted to the compass, it continued to move in a circle the gem right next to it. "Maybe," She thought as she tightened her hand around the jewel, her mind racing. "They're too close, the compass won't work when they're this close."
She inhaled sharply and without hesitation or even thought pulled her arm back and above her head and threw the jewel as hard as she could.
"Hey!" Inuyasha yelled, panic welling up in him as he watched the sparkling jewel fly across the village. "What the fuck, Kagome?" He growled as he turned to look at her with complete horror before starting to turn to jump after and grab the jewel. "I can't touch it." He realized at the last second and barked literally and loudly, turning back around towards her to scream. "What the—what's wrong with you, go get it." He pointed towards the jewel that had landed a few hundred feet away (an impressive throw for a socialite girl).
"This will only take a minute." Kagome bit out as she held the compass in front of her face watching the arrow intently as it turned and turned, dancing still. "Come on." She whispered as she glanced at the jewel, the villagers had once again stopped and were looking at the object as if debating to pick it up.
"Don't touch it," Inuyasha yelled as he stepped forward, extending out his hands in a sign of warning. "Onaconah, tell them that demons can't touch it." He called over his shoulder before looking over at Kagome who was still staring at the compass intently, waiting for something. "What the—what is she doing?" He grumbled to himself as he watched her hold the compass up towards her face with his sharp eyes.
"Tla-hv a-sv-na-s-di nv-ya-o-sa-ni!"
Inuyasha's ears twitched as the sound of Onaconah's voice filled the air, giving some unknown command in Cherokee, probably relating to them not to touch the jewel.
"Common Dog?" Onaconah said a few seconds later, the change to English making Inuyasha glance towards the other man. "Is that the jewel, the one told about?"
Inuyasha only shook his head up and down hastily in response before turning his attention back to Kagome just in time to hear her screech in delight without warning, causing both men and the entirety of the village to nearly jump out of their skin.
"Holy shit, Kagome what's wrong with you?" Inuyasha yelled as he reached his hands out to grab her shoulders, trying to hold down her giddy form, the irrational part of him thinking she had been possessed or enchanted or something of the like.
"It's pointing." Kagome told him as she danced on her toes from foot to foot. "—they were too close to me for it to point before." She spoke before he could even say a word, her mouth hanging opened with delight as she pulled the compass tighter to her body before looking up at him with bright stormy eyes. "You know what that means, you know? We're not close enough!" Her face split into a smile. "It's not because I can't do it, it's because they're too far away!" She started to jump up and down even though his hands were gripping her shoulders tightly.
"What?" Inuyasha felt his heart about to burst out of his chest as fear for her life still gripped him. "What on earth are you going on about?"
"We're too far away." She told him as she pulled the compass back so he could see it.
He blinked at the sight, his eyes struggling to focus on the arrow that was no longer circling as it had been for the past hour and a half. It was firm and steady and pointing. He slowly turned his head and looked over out across the village, ignoring the stares and the horror on none English speaking Indian's faces. His eyes lit of the jewel's half moon form, it was sitting there a glimmer in the sun and the arrow was pointing right at it. "It's pointing." He stated the obvious feeling stupid for having said it.
"I know," She smiled brightly, her eyes sparkling with delight as she waited for him to look down at the compass again. "It's pointing right at them, you know what that means right?"
Inuyasha shook his head up and down, his hands dropping from Kagome's shoulders to touch the edges of the compass that weren't covered by her hands, his mind coming to the same conclusion Kagome had already come to. The compass was pointing, the arrow was fixed because it finally had something to fix onto, he turned and looked at the spot on the ground where the jewel had been thrown by Kagome only moments before then back to the needle that was fixated on it.
"The compass has a range—we're too far away." He spoke as Kagome's thrilled laugh rang in his ears. "It'll work," He told her his face splitting into a grin, the villagers watching them in terror, wondering if they were possessed or had gone insane. "We just need to get closer!"
"Yes!" Kagome cried out loudly as she pulled her hands off the compass, leaving it in Inuyasha's grip before leaping forward, her hands going around his neck hugging him in her exuberant delight, her feet dangling off the ground as her guilt faded away. "We can find them, I can find them, I'm not a failure." The thought was loud in her brain, covering up all other ones about the world of white or the object she was meant to find. Now was not the time for them, her heart was much too happy to even think of them right now. "We're gon'na find them," She felt tears form in her eyes. "Sango and Miroku and Shippo, we can find them." She cried out all of her hope overflowing in her heart as she clutched Inuyasha tightly around the neck, her face buried in his shoulder as her emotions overflowed becoming tears upon her cheeks. "God I feel so stupid, how could I not realize!" She babbled as her tears permeated his shirt. "We were just too far away for the compass to fixate on any one shard."
Inuyasha relished in the feeling of her happiness and without hesitation he brought his arms up around her and pulled her firmly to himself, his hands positioned at her waist, holding her securely as he closed his eyes and lost himself in the sensation of her hope washing over him. "Just wait Miroku." He thought as he held her tighter, his hands slinking around her in a true hug. "I gon'na find you pup. I promise." He buried his nose into Kagome's shoulder, pressing it to the mark that rested there, that claimed her.
"We'll find them, I'll make those bobcat's tell us everything." He whispered into her hair lowering his nose until it pressed to the point of her shoulder where she was marked, his mind slowly coming to realize how close they actually were to each other right now but not caring if it wasn't proper or decent—he needed her right then, he needed her comfort, her scent, her very essence, he needed it. He tightened his hold on her, wanting to convey to her how happy he was, how lucky they were. "Those bobcat's know what happened to the Shikuro." He held her a little closer. "If it sunk, if they captured it, I'll make them tell me, if it's the last thing I do."
"So—," Onaconah interrupted their celebration, his voice sounding both hopeful and shaky. "It work?"
Kagome pulled away from Inuyasha seemingly unaware of anything that had just happened, her feet still dangling and her arms still strung around his neck holding herself to him. "Yes," Her smile split her face. "We just have to get closer to their current location, when we're close enough the compass can pick up the jewel shard and tell us exactly where they are."
Inuyasha nodded his agreement as he lowered her back to the ground, the action alerting her to the fact that she had even been in the air. Immediately, Kagome turned back to him, her face going bright red as she flushed with embarrassment.
"I'm sorry." She cried out as she instantly brought her hands away from him, untangling herself from him in her mortification before looking down at the ground, her hands coming together in front of her in a worrying motion. "I was just so hap—."
"Don't," Inuyasha cut her off, causing Kagome to look up and him, her bright eyes taking in the slight, just barely there blush on his cheeks. "It's no big deal, I was—," He cleared his throat and offered her a small smile as he lowered his head allowing his bangs to hide his eyes but no amount of tilting his head could hide the blush. "Happy too."
Kagome felt her heart flitter in her chest at the sight and allowed a slow, sweet grin to form as she leaned over, tilting her head to the side so she could look up at him. "He's blushing, he's blushing because of me." Her heart beat accelerated from the very thought as her own cheeks grew even darker. They made eye contact through the shadow of his bangs and she opened her mouth wanting to say something, wanting to question why he would blush, why he would react the way he had but soon closed it biting her lip as her flush grew and her naivety won out over her curiosity. Hastily, she straightened and turned away from him, her face beet red by the time she looked at Onaconah who was chuckling.
"Um," She mumbled out flustered by the old man's knowing look. "I'll just go get the shard." She let the words tumble out quickly before turning around and sprinting in the direction of the gem on the ground.
Inuyasha's head snapped upwards at the sound of her voice, just in time to see her turn, a flash of short curls shinning in the bright light of the afternoon sun. He took a deep breath at the sight his body still warm from where she had been only moments before.
Behind him, Onaconah cleared his throat rather loudly bringing the dog demon's attention back around. "Explain." The older man commanded but a smile was already forming on his face as if he already knew but just needed to confirm for the sake of his own sanity.
Pushing his embarrassment to the back of his mind, Inuyasha turned completely back around towards Onaconah and looked the older man straight in the eye while clearing his throat. "So—we can find the—um shard, its working and um the ship had one so, we can find them" He spoke as evenly as possible, his expression fixed as if daring Onaconah to say a word. "We just need to get in range of them, then the compass will work."
"So Storm Eyes can do it, if get closer?" Onaconah deduced his face breaking into a large smile at the very idea. "I can find granddaughter!" He nearly fell back at his own words, stumbling over himself as he smiled in disbelief, not falling only because he managed to grip the side of the hut at the last possible second. "Wa do a-ta." He whispered with a shake of his head looking over Inuyasha's shoulder at Kagome before repeating the unknown words. "Wa do a-ta."
Inuyasha quirked his brow at Onaconah's words and turned his head, glancing over his shoulder just in time to see Kagome kneeling before the jewel, reaching forward with tan hands to pick it up between two delicate fingers. She brought it to her face, studying it for a second, the skin of her cheeks still apparently flushed in contrast to the jewel's bright white. After a moment, she lifted it over her head putting it back in its proper place, one hand adjusting the clasp in the back, while the other held the compass to her lap. Once situated she brought her hand around to the front, discretely (with the word used to the least of its definition) tucking the jewel away into her dress, hiding it from prying eyes.
Finally, she stood, jewel fixed into place and turned back towards them, the now afternoon positioned sun shining in her face as she turned. She winced from the brightness, her face drawn into a cute look of annoyance, and brought a hand to her face shielding it as she began to walk back towards them, the jewel no more than a strange almost unnoticeable lump in her dress.
"She amazing." Onaconah whispered as he watched Kagome continue towards them, her dark hair moving softly in the breeze, the slight deep chocolate brown streaks, normally hidden from prying eyes, seeming to glow as the sun danced through her tresses. "She is amazing girl."
"Yeah." Inuyasha agreed, as he watched her, the spots she had been pressed against on his body growing even warmer as they pleaded to feel her once again. Instinctively, he inhaled when the wind changed directions, bringing her scent of Irish lilies and the ocean right towards him, filling him with her warmth as he took in the very essence of her. He closed his eyes from the sensation and fought to control every instinct her scent always awakened in him.
Beside him Onaconah smiled, watching the look on the younger man's face. He scented the air to, took in the sign of a mark with no connection. "She will," He spoke softly so the quickly approaching Kagome would not hear. "Make great mate for you. Finish mating soon you should."
Inuyasha's eyes snapped opened and he turned to look at Onaconah with blunt horror on his face seeing as the man had practically just told him to have sex with Kagome and get it over with. "Excuse me?" He struggled to keep his voice low enough for the quickly approaching Kagome to not hear.
Onaconah waved his hand brushing Inuyasha's words off as he smiled brightly, his look of unparalleled happiness lost to Inuyasha's shock filled face. "I'm so happy I shake," He dodged Inuyasha's words expertly, showing the younger man his shaking hands instead. "I need smoke." He wrung his hands together giving Inuyasha a brilliant smile as he tried to come, "Come back in hut, when Storm Eyes back, we talk 'bout what do next." and then turning disappearing back into the hut without another word, the sounds of him shuffling hurriedly to get his pipe loud to Inuyasha's red hot ears.
Still, red to the roots of his hair, Inuyasha watched the man disappear into the cool darkness of his home. The young demon's body was frozen in place—Onaconah's words echoing in his head over and over again. "Finish mating soon you should." He gulped, the demon in him slowly coming back awake, the words sparking its instincts causing it to growl with delight.
The human in Inuyasha, however, mentally cowered at the very thought. It wasn't time yet, they didn't know each other that well, she was young, she might not even want him, she might not love him—but, on the other hand. He looked towards her she had stopped for a second to study something on the ground: what he wasn't sure, nor did he really care as he watched her bend picking up the unknown object between long delicate tan fingers.
"She' beautiful." He thought to himself as she stood back up straight, holding whatever it was up to the sunlight. He noticed it glimmered and she smiled, a look of pure innocence and humility gracing her lovely features. "Beautiful," He found himself whispering, reiterating. "In so many ways."
She started back towards him and he looked down away from her at the ground, his eyes focused on the dirt beneath his boots. For only a moment, he let his mind drift, let his thoughts go to a woman he hadn't seen in years, hadn't thought of romantically in even longer, the only woman he had ever slept with for reasons other than simple pleasure.
She had been beautiful too, with her own luscious wavy hair, sweet smile when so inclined to smile and midnight eyes. She had been beautiful in her own right but at the same time had been not so beautiful in different ways in distrustful ways and in biased ones. "Kikyo." He turned and looked at Kagome who was growing ever nearer but taking her dear sweet time at it.
There was no sadness in Kagome's eyes, there was not blackness either. There was only sweetness and acceptance. He tilted his head to the side watching her without looking directly at her so she wouldn't know. "There's more than even that though, isn't there?" He thought as he imaged her reciting Shakespeare and recounting Milton, playing her violin under moonlit skies and blushing inside cabin doors, yelling at him when he was stupid, taunting him with games of wit.
Kagome was something entirely different than Kikyo in that regard. Kikyo had been a sad girl, who saw the world through eyes clouded by melancholy and the pressure of her surmounting fate; Kagome, Kagome was a girl who cut her hair, disguised herself as a man and changed it—laughed fate in the face as if it was merely some two bit player in the scheme of her life and changed everything she was ever meant to be.
Kagome was brilliance personified, utter brilliance.
Inuyasha smiled to himself, for the first time allowing a thought to blossom in his heart, that up until now he had bluntly denied. "Onaocnah's right she would make a fine m—."
"Inuyasha?"
The half demon jumped at the sound of her voice and turned around looking at her with large and panicked eyes. "Kagome." He spoke the word quickly. "How the hell did she sneak up on me?" He growled at himself realizing how lost in thought he had become and feeling like a moron for letting it happen. "This is not the place for this you moron!" He yelled at himself as he brought a hand up to literally slap to his forehead. "Come on," He berated himself hitting himself in the head again as a reminder. "My pup's in only god knows how bad of danger, my ship's destroyed, I'm surrounded by demons who can probably smell my own arousal and I'm thinking of Kagome like some fucking puppy!"
"Um," Kagome stepped forward, her face drawn in a line of worry as she watched him hit himself in the head for a third time. "Are you okay?"
"Huh?" He mumbled as her voice snapped him out of his own stupidity.
"I said," She repeated calmly but the look on her face spoke volumes. "Are you okay?"
"Oh, um," He rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, just thinking—a you know about Onaconah and his granddaughter, and a—Miroku, Sango—yeah." He winced as his voice trailed off, "I sound like an idiot." He growled but stopped immediately, not wanting Kagome to think he was angry with her. "So, you got the jewel?" He quickly changed the subject and awkwardly shuffled the dirt on the ground with his foot.
"Yesss." She replied slowly.
"Then um—we can—," He looked around as if trying to remember what they were supposed to do, his eyes landed on the hut and he took a deep relieved breath. "Go inside." He said while nodding vigorously. "We should go inside, Onaconah's in there already."
"Okay," Kagome gave him a strange look before starting towards the hut, giving him little side glances of concern as she entered and he followed.
"I couldn't had sounded more stupid, could I?" He groused as he held the reed mat aside for her and entered.
Inside, Onaconah had already arranged himself and taken out a strange looking long pipe that he was stuffing with something that looked similar to tobacco. He glanced at the both of them and oddly looked at bit guilty as they entered, motioning for them to sit again. "I know smoke not supposed to use—unless ceremony but," He said as he turned the pipe this way and that nervously in his hands. "This celebration." He concluded before offering the pipe up to Inuyasha. "You want smoke?" He asked Inuyasha.
"Maybe in a minute," Inuyasha responded quickly as he took a seat leaning against the wall as far away from Kagome (who had taken a seat on the panther pelt) as possible. "I'm not really much of a smoker though." He added as he arranged himself to lean against the wall comfortably, the blush on his face still burning and hot.
The older man nodded in response as he took a deep breath of the calming smoke. "Hmm," He let the smoke out slowly. "I need that." He nodded to himself as he smiled brighter and held up his hand to show it shaking with his own happiness. "Smoke calm, I need calm."
Inuyasha smiled in response, the blush leaving his face as his thoughts of Kagome ebbed away from the sight of the barely concealed excitement on the older man's face. "I understand," He said with a small grin as he seriously contemplated taking the pipe and inhaling some of the calming tobacco smoke. "We'll find your granddaughter with the compass," He changed the subject. "All we have to do is get close enough to them that it will pick them up."
Onaconah nodded as he took another deep puff, the soothing smoke filling his lungs deeply, permeating his body. "I guess, we head towards them then."
Inuyasha licked his lips preparing to go back to business. "Do you at least know which way they travel, up or down the coast?"
"I know they always go up," The Indian pointed towards the North. "When they leave Charleston." He took another deep puff his face contorting into a frown when he was done. "We have thought that they are in an enclave up further, Carolina territory but," He dropped both hands down, the one with the pipe resting on his knee, the smoke rising as it wafted through the room. "There are many enclaves up coast, many places for them to hide."
Inuyasha nodded his head. "Let's go up the coast then." He concluded his eyes watching the smoke with interest, his hands starting to shake a little bit. Normally, he didn't smoke but when he was stressed or when he was—he glanced at Kagome before quickly glancing back— "Yeah," For both of those reasons, he found himself craving the taste of smoke of any kind. "Never should have started." He thought to himself and silently cursed his old Captain's name before a slow smile formed on his lips. "Taught me everything you knew, huh, Captain Roberts?" He chuckled nearly silently. "Damn you." He reached his hand out towards Onaconah. "Mind if I have a bit?"
Onaconah smirked in response and passed the pipe to the other man who took it quickly and brought it to his lips, drawing one large puff deep into his lungs. He held it in for a minute, allowing it to completely soak into his lungs before he exhaled, the strange substance entering all of his senses, calming and comforting him all at once. For a moment, his nose did twitch in response and he shook his head fighting off the inevitable sneeze as he handed the pipe back to Onaconah.
"The smoke bother nose?" The other man asked as he put the pipe back in his mouth, puffing slightly as he held it between his teeth while talking. "It bothered my," He pointed at his nose with his free hand. "When young."
Inuyasha nodded his head and shrugged his shoulders at the same time. "It's always bothered me a bit but—," He gave an almost lopsided grin, the brief inhale having already done its job verily well. "Like you said, I needed that."
Sitting on the small pallet bed Kagome smiled almost lulled by the conversation as her fingers ran over the panther pelt; the sound of the two men talking no more than that, sound, their words drowned out by her own thoughts of hope and relief.
"The compass works, it really works—it was working all along." The thought repeated itself over and over again in her head for no reason, an almost annoying action that she couldn't help and didn't want to help. "There's a real chance we might actually find them now." She closed her eyes overjoyed by the very fact that they now at least had a chance of finding their odd but true family. "Thank god." Her heart beat a little faster. "I couldn't stand to have lost them completely, especially if it was my fault." She opened her eyes once again, slowly swallowing despite a lump that had formed in her throat.
Shaking the thought off and swallowing hard to remove the lump in her throat, she turned and for a moment glanced at Onaconah and Inuyasha, watching as the two men passed the pipe back and forth, one taking a puff while the other talked.
"As soon as we get close," Onaconah said as he allowed Inuyasha his turn with the pipe. "The compass react and point us to their exact location."
"Yes," Inuyasha smirked at Onaconah and looked over at Kagome almost shyly, that cute almost childish face she had seen so sparingly grace his features lighting on her taking in the sight of her hand as she continued to run it over the panther pelt. "We just have to be close enough and Ka," Inuyasha paused mid name, his mouth posed, prepared to call out Kagome's name, but for some reason as he looked at her, his gold eyes watching her large grey eyes ones, he froze.
Kagome felt self conscious at the strange behavior and raised her stroking hand up to cover the spot where the jewel rested underneath her clothes with a fist. She blinked her eyes, unknown to her the action caused the slight white color to intermix with the black even further, turning her vision into the perfect dark cloudy night that the Captain loved so very much.
Once again Inuyasha opened his mouth prepared to continue what he had been about to say but stopped and then frowned as he licked his lips. She was looking at him that one delicious hand posed on her chest, her eyes swirling with faux clouds that might as well have been real. His heart speed up in his chest at the very sight. "She doesn't even look like a Kagome right now." He thought as he adjusted his position and handed the pipe back to Onaconah who was watching them both intently. "Those eyes, they're really a storm, a true storm." He thought and then smiled at her, his eyes soft and beautiful and gold like the sun as its rays shine through clouds.
"Storm Eyes," He whispered it and Kagome flushed instantly.
The way the name seemed to come across as more of a caress than an actual name sink chills down her spin. "I've never—I—no one's ever said my name—well—I guess it's my name but—no one's ever made my name sound like," She looked away insecure at the attention he had been giving her today, "I don't even know what that sounded like." She glanced up at him and waited for him to speak again, she didn't have to wait long.
"She'll," His voice was smooth, the smoke having calmed him more than either he or Kagome had realized. "Be able to point us in their exact direction."
"It could be a very long journey." Onaconah informed, trying to pretend he was unaware of the tension forming in the room between the young couple, his words effectively easing the tense atmosphere that had seemingly formed from Kagome and Inuyasha's looks alone at least a little. "We will prepare all the warriors."
His words brought Inuyasha and Kagome both out of their perspective dazes, the two teens looking at the older man as if he were insane. "But that will make us slow—," Inuyasha even ventured to interrupt but the man only raised his hand commanding for silence in such a way that Inuyasha couldn't ignore it.
"Do not worry Common Dog," He spoke honestly as he moved to put the pipe away back in its small wooden case. He paused for a moment, touching the mud brick siding of the old hut before turning around, allowing his fingers to slip away as he looked at Inuyasha, appearing to be a much younger man than he actually was when he smiled at them with nerve racking confidence. "As the chief of this village, I can make them move faster than even your ships."
Inuyasha felt his job drop opened and his eyes go wide. He glanced at Kagome who didn't even look the least bit surprised (at least by that comment) before he turned back and took in Onaconah's bright smile.
"You did not know I was Chief, did you?" Onaconah laughed heartily, taking one last puff on the pipe before frowning at it, there was nothing left to smoke. Turning away, he grabbed the box the pipe was stored in and carefully arranged it as he continued to speak. "Believe I neglected tell you as I told Storm Eyes."
Inuyasha only frowned, shaking his head back and forth—the admission did make sense. After all, Onaconah was old, the villagers seemed to listen to him very seriously, he could even command the doctor of the village and on top of that his brother was the leader of the other division of the tribe suggesting that he had been a person with high title, therefore it was only natural that the other brother have a high title as well. "Well, Chief Onaconah, when do we leave?"
"Tomorrow," The old man said as he placed the small box back on the shelf, his hands lingering there before he stood and walked over to the reed mat door of the hut, pulling it back, surveying the village that lay beyond it. His eyes focused on the villagers, watching them intently as they worked. "The women will stay here." He let the reed mat fall to the side as he turned around and looked at Kagome. "Storm Eyes must come with, yes?" He asked Inuyasha pointedly.
"Yes." Inuyasha said with no hesitation, although his voice did come across as sounding a bit tight. "She is the only one who can use the compass, after all."
From her spot next to Inuyasha Kagome smiled, glad to know that this time she would not have to convince him to take her along as she had with Jinenji. "I'm the only one who can do it and you know it, Inuyasha." She nodded firmly to herself not feeling the least bit afraid of the road that was before them, or the possibilities that road presented.
Onaconah nodded in the direction of Inuyasha before turning towards Kagome, giving her a small but worried smile. "I know I told of my brother—of—," He stopped for a moment looking down at the ground to gather strength. "I know I told how he killed son's mate so coldly."
Kagome nodded although Onaconah couldn't see her to acknowledge her acknowledgement.
"Storm Eyes should not worry, though." Onaconah cleared his throat and continued as if he had never paused. "My warriors best in all of Carolina." He told her as he once again lifted the reed mat, this time looking as if he was preparing to go through it but he hesitated at the last second and turned back around. "And," He pointed at Inuyasha, "Your ma—."
Inuyasha growled then, the sound silent to Kagome but loud to Onaconah.
The older man's eyes lit on the younger's fast who was still sitting exactly where he had been when he first came into the hut. The two men made eye contact and Onaconah gave him a knowing grin while Inuyasha gave him a look that could have almost killed. "This man," The older man once again skillfully covered. "Tougher than any man I know, he protect you with life."
"I know and thank you for your protection." Kagome replied sincerely, thankful for the kind words even though she had not thought to be afraid until Onaconah had said them.
The man gave her a nod of acknowledgement before turning back to the reed mat, lifting it with the parting words: "I will tell villagers now, they prepare and we leave when first light appear," before steeping outside. The mat fell in place behind him leaving Inuyasha and Kagome alone with their own separate thoughts.
Kagome leaned back against the wall of the hut, the pelt soft against the underside of her thighs that the short Indian attire had exposed. Briefly, she glanced at the flesh but found herself used to the sight even though she had only be wearing the clothes for a few days—not even a few days more like a day and a half. She reached forward, touching the edge of the fringed dress, fingering the leather gently as she smiled. "Thank god for Indian fashion." She thought as a cool breeze came through the reed mat, touching her skin. If she had been wearing her normal attire she would have died of heat exhaustion by now. "These dresses are so much better than the ones my mother made me wear."
The thought trailed off as an image of her mother filled her brain. That proper woman, what would she think if she knew what Kagome was about to do, where she was about to go, the dangers she would soon be facing. Kagome turned and looked towards the reed mat, her eyes studying the shadows that passed back and forth outside, villagers moving about their daily routines. "She would be horrified." Kagome knew this without a doubt. "I'm a bit—horrified myself." She shook her head wanting to thought and the fear to leave her but she couldn't help it.
Onaconah's story of his brother had actually scared her a bit. The whole thing reminded her of her own encounter with Manten, a man who was just like Onaconah's brother. Neither one of them cared about the people they had killed or had, at least, attempted to kill—all they cared for was the end result, getting what they wanted. With Manten it had been Kagome's Virginity one way or another, and for Onaconah's brother it had been his great niece: the only one left in the tribe who could use the mysterious orb. Neither man cared for the consequences, they just wanted, wanted a death, wanted a life, either way ended badly for the people they preyed upon. And there was nothing she or anyone could do about it except— Kagome looked down at her palm, studying her fingers, remembering that wave of power she had no control over.
"I need to find it, whatever the soul in that white was telling me to find." She turned her hand over looking at the back of her knuckles. "Otherwise, every time I protect myself could be my last." She frowned at the thought. "It would be a sad fate to die by your own hands." She sighed and closed her hand tightly into a fist. "But how, how do I find it, what's supposed to control it—channel it?"
Kagome frowned deeply and closed her eyes trying to envision that white world again but saw nothing behind her eyelids. "Damn it," She thought, the curse words actually starting to feel natural to her. Disappointed, she opened her eyes only to freeze as her vision was met with white and her ears were met with that voice once again.
"It will call to you Kagome and you will have no choice but to pick it up and through it channel all your power."
Kagome opened her mouth thinking to respond but didn't as a thought tickled the back of her brain. "It will call to me?" She turned her attention to the compass. "It's something that calls to me?" She watched the arrow spin around, circle after circle, now that the jewel shards were back on her person. "The compass calls to me and I channel my power through it too, don't I?" She narrowed her eyebrows, it was true she did use her powers to use the compass but did that mean that it was the something she was looking for, somehow she didn't think so, something seemed wrong with the idea. "I went to the world of white after I got the compass—wouldn't the voice have just told me it was the compass, that I already had the object?"
Kagome blinked several times, allowing her fingers of the hand not holding the compass to gently caress the glass surface that covered it's face. "I wish I could see Kaede right now." She thought as she allowed her fingers to dance over the wood. "She'd probably know, when we were their her and Inuyas—." Her thought stepped dead in her head and she snapped her neck around to look at Inuyasha.
The man was deep in thought, not having moved even an inch since Onaconah had left. He was focused and determined and keeping his eyes stationed on the ground. She wasn't sure what he was thinking about but that didn't matter at the moment anyway; all that mattered was his own knowledge. Inuyasha knew things, he had known a Miko, a Miko who had existed before Kagome's parents had even been born, a Miko who couldn't use the compass but, as far as Kagome knew, could use her power. "Kikyo must have had something to channel her power through—the soul in the white said that all Miko's needed one." She stared at Inuyasha, her mind going numb preventing her from controlling her voice.
"How," She started to speak, her voice not even sounding real to her ears as her words bubbled up from her throat. "How did Kikyo channel her power?"
It wasn't till Inuyasha turned his head to look at her, that she realized she had spoken out loud.
End of Chapter
Please Review
A/N: Here it is another chapter, hope you enjoyed it! By next chapter, we should find out a lot of good old storyline information. For instance, how did Kikyo channel her power? After all, Kikyo couldn't use the compass, so she had to of had something else to channel it with? Also, will the compass locate the other tribe, will Onaconah find his granddaughter, will there be a giant Indian battle scene between the Land Fighting Indian's in Onaconah's Tribe and the Pirate Indian's in his Unnamed Brother's Tribe? My god, so many possibilities!
P.S. Personally, I don't feel one way or the other on smoking but I just want to put it out there that I am in no way encouraging smoking in this fanfic. It is in there because of the time period and nothing more.
Bonus Point:
Name the three characters who are 'in-love' with Kagome, their race (ie demon and what breed, half demon and what breed etc) and, if eligible, their title (Emperor, King, Chief, etc).
Last Chapter's Bonus Point:
The first is of course, Shiori the little half demon girl they met that can erect a barrier with that orb thing. And the second is the Godfather, "I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse." Congrats to the winners:
HeavenlyEclipse (both), Sahora (One), Storm Eyes (Both, glad you like the name), hms5375 (both), TheRealInuyasha (One), Glon Morski (One), Coka Cookie Cola (One), HentaiLemon, Dark Angel and Silver Savior (One), Lady Elisabeth (One), Amarelle (One)
Cherokee Translations:
Tla-hv a-sv-na-s-di nv-ya-o-sa-ni: Do not touch the Jewel!
Wa do a-ta: Thank you, young lady.
Next Chapter:
If I told you, you'd know too much.
See you then!
UNEDITTED
POSTED 4/24/2012