Final Feudal Fairy Tale
Chapter two: The Boy in Red
Yeah...InuYasha isn't mine. He's Rumiko Takahashi's. Hiko is mine though.
There was a sense of peace there, and she saw them again. Kagome, and the boy in red. He looked, tied to the Goshinboku, no...not tied, vines were there. Who was he? And Kagome, an arrow...a spell. What was this? A centipede, no...! Lookout Kagome!
" Kagome!", Hiko gasped, glaring her dark eyes against the bright sun." Ugh... my head...what a dream." She sat up carefully, feeling a few bumps and bruises she hadn't realized she had before. Her eyes finally cleared and she took in her entire surroundings, stone, dirt, a few bones, all lit by the bright sun. Wait a minute...The sun! She looked straight up, and saw clear blue sky above. That's odd...I thought the well was inside the little shrine. Sighing and rubbing her aching temples gently she took a better look around the little square well she was in. There was a simple rope ladder hanging off one of the sides, how convienient. Grabbing hold of the ladder she made her way out of the well. Flinging herself over the rim and onto thick grass. Hiko gasped again, grass? Where am I! All that met her eyes was thick, green woodland in every direction, and a sudden rush of panic swept through her body. She knew something odd had happened when she went through the well, but she couldn't remember what it was! All she remembered was darkness, then light, then more darkness.
" Okay Hiko, get a grip. You've probably just fallen through to another well..." she nodded, trying to bring everything into some semblance of reality, before her resolved cracked slightly, " So...falling into another well isn't possible. Right...next option." She stood then, taking a good glance around, before pacing back and forth around the side of the well. She never even saw the figure that approched from the side, until he dropped down right in front of her. Nearly on top of her actually, and Hiko was so startled her own reflexes kicked in, she thrust out her arms, turned her head, and shoved the figure away before running in the opposite direction.
She couldn't remember a time she had run so fast in her life. She tore through the woods brazenly, ripping the bottom of her skirt on the underbrush. She had thought she'd out run the figure when she felt her legs cramping and she peeked over her shoulder and didn't see anything, but that was until it plopped down infront of her again, crouched slightly ahead of her. This time she could do nothing but stare, the hunched form looked human almost, but all she could make out was white, and red, and...twitching dog ears? She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by a rather gruff voice, " Keh, what the hell was that back there Kagome?" Hiko's mouth snapped shut and she asserted herself a little more, eyes narrowing at the crouched figure ahead of her, she was just about to speak again, when the figure stood. It was a man, hardly older than herself, and dressed very strangely. He looked back at her as if she was just as astonishing to him as he was to her.
" You're...you're not Kagome...!" He growled at her, which shocked Hiko, she had never heard that sound from a man before. She backed away, but in another astonishing move, he was directly infront of her, sniffing at her hair. " You smell like Kagome though, kinda look like her too..."
" WOAH! Back off there, buddy!" She shoved him away roughly, he had just crossed a line, a complete stranger was sniffing her hair! What a weirdo!, she thought angrily. She huffed indignantly at the strange man and gave him her patented 'look', an odd little move she did where she haughtily crossed her arms over her chest, stuck out one hip and gave him the most dubious look she could muster.
The man gave a suprised look at the rough treatment and balled up a fist, snarling at her, " What the fuck was that for!"
Hiko's eyes widened at the crudeness of it all and replied in an elevated voice, " Ever hear of something called 'personal space'!? I don't even know you!"
The man gave her another frustrated growl, glaring at her with bright, amber colored eyes, " Keh, you must be related to Kagome. There's no way anyone else in the world could act the way you two do and NOT be related."
Hiko stopped and raised an eyebrow, before suddenly withdrawing into herself, speaking softly, " K...Kagome is my cousin. I went looking for her, and she wasn't in her room, so I felt this weird thing from the well house, and there are the peices of the Shikon no Tama, and ojiisan, and then there was this light, then grass and sunlight, now you and I still don't know where I am!" She gasped as her knees wobbled and she fell to the grass, she was exhausted from running and confused. Tears were already pooling at her lashes, and she couldn't quite figure out why. She was just so utterly lost, and now she just wanted to find a familiar face.
The man, on all accounts, looked totally dumbfounded, one second this girl was ready to jump down his throat, the next, she's crying? It just didn't make sense. Then again, a lot things women did didn't make sense. He growled at her again, the acrid scent of tears plaguing at his nose already, " Just stop cryin' already! Damnit, that's all you women ever do! You say you were looking for Kagome? Well she's not here. She was supposed to go back to visit family."
She sniffed and looked up at the man with wide eyes still glimmering with tears, " But she's not at her home! And what do you mean, "go back."? Where am I now!"
Groaning, he made his way over and crouched in front of her, staring her in the eyes. She could tell he was thinking, and it was taking a lot to try and figure a way to say what he wanted to. She glanced over his face, his eyes were a shocking color of amber, and he had sharp fangs in his mouth, or what she thought were fangs. And, there, right on top of his head, two small triangles of silver, they looked just like ears...dog ears...She made a motion to check and see if they were real, but a clawed hand shot out and caught her by the wrist, and her eyes fell on a smirking face in front of hers. " You are related to Kagome...", she huffed and looked away from him. She had already told him that they were cousins, what other evidence did he need? Her jerked her hand away from his hold and kept her eyes averted while he spoke, " Kagome says that she comes from, " The Present.", and sometimes I hear her call it "the future", or something stupid like that. But she calls this time "Sengoku Jidai.", she showed it to me a few times in her hees-torie books." He looked proud of himself, confident that should be the answer to any and all of her questions of where she was. Hell, it even answered of few of when she was.
Hiko just stared at him, open mouthed, before giving him the 'look' again, " So, you're telling me I fell into an old well, and traveled 500 years into the past, and Kagome's been doing this for a while?"
The person infront of her, completely missing the skeptisism, nodded innocently, " Yeah, she's been going back and forth for about...eh..." Hiko couldn't help but grin as he counted out fingers, " about two years, seven months..."
" Two years! She's been time traveling for two years?"
"Yes! That's what I said, you deaf or somethin'?"
"Well sorry! But this is hard to swallow! If I wasn't living it I wouldn't believe it. I still don't think I believe it!"
He growled at her then, " Well believe it, and if you're here looking for Kagome, and she's not here, that means she's gone somewhere...or she was taken." His face suddenly grew stony, and he swore darkly before punching the ground and creating an indention through sheer force. He stood swiftly then and started walking off, but he stopped when he realized she wasn't following, " What are you waiting for? I'm not carrying you!"
Her cheeks blushed in an embarassed sort of way and she stood, though still a bit wobbly, and made her way after him. He knew Kagome, and it was Hiko's closest clue for now, but now her cousin was missing. Something horribly akin to dread knotted itself in her stomach and she tucked her arms over her abdomen. One of his ears twitched her way, and she managed a weak smile as he turned his head to look at her through the sides of his eye. " I never got your name, I'm Hiko Higurashi...you are..?"
He closed his eyes in a rather arrogant sort of way and his two ears flattened defensively over his head.
"InuYasha."
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The entire walk to the villiage was filled with InuYasha answering Hiko's many, many questions. Some of which he only gave the reply of, " Keh!" Hiko knew why Kagome was traveling back in time now, she had shattered the Shikon no Tama with a spiritual arrow, and pieces had spread themselves all over the country. She was more suprised that her little cousin had powerful miko powers, and that the actual jewel lay embedded in her body for so long. She never heard a more interesting story in her entire life, it all seemed so unreal, Demons, cursed hands, demon slayers, betrayal, the Shikon no Tama, and Kagome, all stuck in the middle. Needless to say, she was absolutely enthralled with what InuYasha had to say. It was something straight out of a fairy tale, even InuYasha himself was a hanyou, but she had to admit she had never met a more brash individual. He was rough and blunt, but she smiled inwardly everytime he mentioned Kagome. She could just tell there was something between the two, though she couldn't be sure until she saw them together.
" Hey you, wake up! Damn, can't get you to shut up the whole way here, now when I have a question you get all quiet." He crossed his arms over his chest, something she noted as one of his favorite positions before she shook her head.
" Sorry InuYasha, I was just thinking about something else, what did you say?"
" I said, It's getting late already, you gonna be stayin' here?" He rolled his eyes and pointed ahead towards a few small huts scattered about, she could see the forms of people moving about busily, attending to daily village duties before the sun set. Which was a blessing, because the walk over was almost unbearably hot. She couldn't understand how InuYasha managed to wear those thick clothes he had on. She was just glad she still had on her cottony summer clothes, even though they were dirty and ripped now.
" Oh, yes, I suppose so. I want to help you find Kagome." Hiko nodded at him, and he just gave her another, " Keh!" before turning up his nose. She ignored this for the most part, and kept her eyes staring ahead. The village was a quaint, cozy little place. Several children were running this way and that, filling the air with happy giggles, smells of dinner wafted to her through the doors of several of the huts, and she realized then just how very hungry she was. She kept her hunger hidden though, it was bad enough how InuYasha thought Kagome was so weak, when it was obvious she wasn't, she didn't need him jumping on her case too.
She was so busy concentrating on trying to keep her hunger pains hidden from InuYasha that she gave a yelp when a russet ball of fur ploughed into her stomach, sending her sprawling to the ground.
"Kagomeeeeee!", it squealed, the ball of fur was actually what looked to Hiko like a child, he had bright orange hair, and a fluffy cream colored tail. She gave a meek smile as he snuggled into her tummy, looking for all the world the most adorable thing she had ever seen.
" Shippou, am I right?" She looked up at InuYasha for reassurance, and the hanyou just nodded at her, muttering under his breath, " Yeah, that's the brat."
Shippou jumped up when he heard her voice, and took a good look at her face, before pointing and gasping, looking utterly offended, " Y..You're not Kagome!"
" No she, isn't! Now get lost! Go do something useful and find Miroku!" InuYasha growled, the little kitsune squeaked and hid behind her as she stood up, peeking out at the angry hanyou from between her legs.
"InuYasha take it easy on him, sheesh. Anyone ever tell you, you've got a short temper when it comes to kids?" Her arms folded over her chest, and Shippou gave a brave, yet not-so-brave nod from behind her.
InuYasha's voice dropped a few tones and became almost dangerously quiet, " I've got a short temper when it comes to anything, now move IT!"
Hiko's eyes widened in outrage, and she turned her nose up at him, obviously displaying her defiance by not moving an inch from the spot she was standing. This just caused InuYasha to growl loudly, a vein formed on his forehead, and his hands balled into fists, " Fine, there are other ways to move you.", and with that he moved over, and hoisted her up over his shoulder, litterally carrying her down the street kicking and screaming, with a tentative Shippou following behind.
" Why you chauvanistic, overbearing, arrogant, impatient...", Hiko spat as InuYasha set her down inside one of the larger huts, " How dare you! Dragging me through the street like that!" She felt her anger rise when he just shrugged, folded his arms and legs, and flopped down on the floor in a corner placidly.
Hiko had almost forgotten about Shippou when she felt a tiny clawed hand tug gently on her sock; she looked down to see a curious little fox demon staring up at her with large eyes, " How come you smell a lot like Kagome?", he asked her gently.
Hiko's anger for the surly hanyou melted at the sound of uncertainty in the baby youkai's voice, " It's because we're related. Kagome is my itoko, my cousin.", she knelt down, doing her best to comfort the little kitsune by ruffling his bangs with her fingers. He just gave her an indignant sort of look then smiled, taking in her answer. He didn't say much else after, just toddled off by the fire and watched her.
Hiko raised an eyebrow, they both looked so comfortable, was this their house? She was just about to approach InuYasha on the matter, when the reed mat that served as a door swung open behind her, she turned to find an older woman, dressed in ancient miko robes. Her skin was marred by wrinkles and scars, and she had an eyepatch covering one of her eyes. The older woman regarded her with something akin to suprise before looking past Hiko towards InuYasha, who had a single eye peeked open. The old woman turned to Hiko again, giving her a good look over before speaking, " Who might you be child? A friend of Kagome's? You are dressed in much the same way."
Hiko just shook her head, This must be Kikyou...no wait..that other miko, what was her name? " Uhm...I'm Kagome's cousin." she was getting a little tired of saying how she was related to Kagome, she never had to do it before, it was just like people knew, now, it was like Hiko was some sort of alien, or they didn't know Kagome even had other family members outside of Tokyo. Maybe I should just wear a sign.
Meanwhile, the old miko just nodded and spoke faintly before making her way over to the hearth, " I am Kaede, the priestess of residence in this village." Kaede began to gather things like pots and herbs Hiko thought were faintly familiar as she spoke, " I suppose ye will be staying for supper then?"
Hiko gave a faint blush and nodded, bowing in an apologetic sort of way, she had thought this hut was InuYasha's and Shippou's, but it was painfully obvious now, the hut belonged to Kaede and she had just invited herself right in. " Please, let me help you, Kaede..." she started, but the old miko was already in her zone. She had already started tossing in several bundles of chopped vegetables into a large wok that sizzled over the fire pit.
Kaede shook her head gently, but offered Hiko a smile, " Don't ye be troubled by an old woman, ye can go out an fetch me a pail of water. There is a river just outside, towards the end of the village."
Hiko just simply nodded and started for the door, spotting the bucket and taking a step outside. Outside the little hut, the village was quiet, the sun was setting now, she must have been knocked out in the bottom of that well longer than she'd realized. There were no more children laughing, just the sound of crickets chirping, and a few older men and women gathering things about for their own dinners. A few of them looked at Hiko with questioning glances, but none ever approached her. She kept her head down and sped up her path to the river, the other villager's stares were making her uncomfortable. Soon enough, Hiko heard and smelled the sound of rushing water, which was a good thing, the quickly setting sun was making it near impossible to see clearly. She filled the small pail with fresh water from the fast moving stream and turned, wanting to get back inside the safety of the little hut. Outside in the wilderness of feudal Japan didn't seem to be the best place to be alone in the dark. She didn't quite understand why, but the three of them, InuYasha, Kaede, and Shippou even, they all seemed to radiate a sense of security. So she nearly ran back up the path to the village trying to get back before the sun completely set, sloshing water about everywhere as she went. She gave a sigh of relief as she spotted the firelight of the village and was just about to enter Kaede's hut again when she heard voices, and her name.
"Hiko's nice! She hasn't done anything wrong!", that was Shippou, defending her?
"Aye, Shippou. I do sense a kind heart within her, but there is something else that radiates from her aura. Something I cannot define." That was Kaede that time, the old miko was looking at her aura, and she didn't pick up on it. I need more study, Hiko thought bitterly to herself.
"Keh, she's just some stupid human. She probably has miko powers like Kagome. They are related, remember?" and nothing could mistake InuYasha's gruff voice, she was just about to enter and have them include her in the conversation, when two more voices she couldn't identify cut through the stillness outside the hut.
"Well well, a cousin of Kagome's, hm? We'll just have to meet her! I could interrogate her myself if you wish, it would be a pleasure. The poor maiden must be so terrified and confused, she will need someone to comfort her in her...time of need.", that was a male's voice, Hiko wasn't exactly sure she liked the tone of voice he was carrying.
" You lecherous monk! You had better not lay a single finger on that girl!" This time it was another female, Hiko winced inwardly, the woman had almost the exact tone of voice that her own mother did. When they all started arguing again, she sighed and made herself known by entering the hut. Immediately, all went quiet, and Hiko shuddered at the amount of tension inside such a small structure. She set the pail by Kaede, who looked quite comfortable by the fire, and Hiko did the same, quietly setting herself near the fire, her eyes roaming over the two whom she had never seen before.
It was Kaede who broke the silence, " Hiko, this is the Taijiya, Sango, and Miroku, the monk. They are both good friends of your cousin."
They two looked at Hiko with questions swimming over their eyes. She had to admit, the both of them looked so very familiar, it was as if she was having a disturbing case of deja vu, they both looked almost like her own parents, only younger and ancient at the same time. " Hajimemashite..." she muttered quietly to them both with a respectful bow of her head.
They both nodded their heads in unison, but the houshi had a grin plastered over his face. He took a step foreward and sat by Hiko, taking both of her hands in his. His face was serious and he gazed at her as if she were his own saving grace, " My beautiful lady, you resemble Kagome so very much. I would be greatly honored if you would bare me a child, so that your beauty may live on through the land."
Hiko just stared at him with wide eyes, she had no idea what to day to that! She was just regaining her senses and balled up her fists, how dare he! Did he really think she was that cheap! The houshi had a huge smile on his face, but it was quickly removed, to Hiko's suprise, by a huge boomerang made of bone. The Taijiya, Sango took her weapon and cracked it over the monk's skull with a sickening thwack, and stood fuming over the monk's unconsious body, " I told you not to touch her!"
Shippou, Kaede and InuYasha all just shook their heads, as if this was normal behaviour for all of them. Hiko was a little more than suprised now, they all seemed to get along so well, yet bicker and fight so much. Must be one of those Love, Hate relationships. She thought, staring at Sango with wide eyes, Sango in turn, gave her a look of shame and walked quickly over to her, " Don't worry! I only do that to Houshi-sama, he deserves it though, no one here's going to hurt you." Sango had mistaken her look of suprise as fear and was trying to reassure her. How odd.
Hiko just shook her head and smiled, " Don't worry, i'm not frightened...uhm..Sango." she stopped to look at her, and Sango nodded telling her that she got her name right before Hiko continued, " I know Kagome trusted all of you. That's good enough for me, for now." She gave everyone in the room a bright smile, and they returned a warm one to her, well, except InuYasha and Miroku, seeing as how one was ornery and anti-social, and the other was knocked out on the floor. It was then Hiko's hunger made itself known, and her stomach gave out a loud growl.
Sango and Shippou gave a small giggle at the funny noise, InuYasha's ear twitched, and Kaede just nodded sagely. " Dinner time then." the old miko announced.
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Dinner was simple, but filling, and the dinner conversation consisted of why Hiko was there, and where Kagome was, along with a few personal questions about Hiko. InuYasha was especially adamant about finding Kagome, infact it had to take some strong reasoning on the parts of Miroku and Kaede to keep him from dashing out into the night to look for her then and there.
"Hiko, You said you're a shrine maiden as well, a miko, just like Kagome." Sango was sitting across the fire from her, looking at Hiko over a bowl of food with a very critical eye, " But you haven't said anything about having miko powers, or being able to perform the tasks a miko can do."
Hiko choked slightly on the carrot she was chewing, " Well, I...uh...you see..." she looked for an answer somewhere, anywhere, in truth she really didn't know why she didn't have the powers of a miko, the shrine maidens of her time usually couldn't do more than purify a few ofuda, ward off demons, the really "powerful" ones could heal a few scratches, but she had never heard of the kind of power Kagome possessed.
" I was wondering that as well, child." Kaede mumbled from nearby, she had nearly forgotten the old crone was there, and listening in, "You do have a strange aura about ye, but not one of a miko. At least none that i've come across before." Hiko could hear the sounds of InuYasha and a newly bandaged Miroku mumbling about something in the corner, and little Shippou...the little fox had already fallen asleep in a corner.
Hiko gave a yawn, watching the kitsune made her sleepy as well, before she just shrugged at the two women, " I really don't know what you two are talking about. I wouldn't have become a shrine maiden if I didn't have some of the powers of a miko, and Kaede obaasan, I don't know what you're sensing, but as far as I'm concerned, i'm just a normal girl. Nothing extraordinary, not like Kagome."
She gave them both a rather uncomfortable look, sending them a clear message that the conversation was over. Sango looked like she was about to press the subject, but Kaede just shook her head at the young taijiya, and she lowered her head with something dangerously close to anger flitting through her eyes.
Hiko noticed this, and decided her best bet would to be what Shippou had done, and just fall asleep. She was so tired of being compared to Kagome, everyone asking where Kagome was, why she looked so much like Kagome, why wasn't she as powerful as Kagome. Argh! You'd think she was some kind of goddess around here, the way they speak of her. I don't care what they say, I am NOT calling her Kagome-sama. She just needs to be found so we can both go home, and mostly so she could explain a few things to me. Hiko gave another tired yawn, doing her best to stifle it with her hand, but Kaede noticed and piped up, " There is a futon ready in the other room child, ye may sleep there if ye wish." She never looked up from the hearthfire, and instead spoke to the flames as she stoked the embers with a poker.
Hiko nodded gently and made her way into the other room, keeping her eyes averted so she didn't have to look at the others and their demanding glances. " Arigatou, Kaede obaasan..." she mumbled before moving the reed mat aside and stepping into the darkened room. The entire thing was little more than a large closet, with a few futons lined against the walls. She picked out one that was farthest away from the doorway and curled up uncomfortably. It wasn't that the bed was uncomfortable, but she was laying in a way so that her head was facing the entrance, just so she could see if anyone was coming.
She heard a few lowered voices comming from the next room, but couldn't make out anything they were saying, probably talking about me again...Hiko frowned. Just then InuYasha's resounding, " Keh! She probably IS just a regular human." and then Sango's responding, " Shhh!" cut through the mumbles. They ARE talking about me... Hiko gave a moan and rolled over to face the wall of the hut, shutting her eyes tight. Just help them find Kagome, then you can go home, it's your responsibility, she's your cousin...mou, I gotta stop talking to myself. She heaved a sigh and lay there for what seemed like the longest time, before she finally drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
There was a haziness, all around, like a thick fog on some winter morning. And Hiko, What is this? A dream?As if in answer, her body lurched foreward and then there was an incredible heat, it beat on her skin, but did not burn. She saw a brief flash of an ancient temple, surrounded by what looked like molten lava, before her body descended. There, in a window, she saw Kagome, unhurt, but also unconsious. She did her best to open her mouth and call to her, but no sound came from her throat. Whispers and voices echoed through to her, and the scene changed, she was outside now, high over a large, bubbling crater of an even larger volcano. There, in the middle, she could see the temple, but that was before the ground beneath her gave a visible jolt, and the crater rumbled, then exploded, engulfing the temple in hellfire...with Kagome still inside.
"NO!" Hiko gasped and sat bolt upright, eyes wide and panting in the darkness. Her body was drenched in a cold sweat, even though she felt like she was on fire. Her dream was so vivid! She could still see all the details in her mind's eye. She took a moment to figure out where exactly she was, when two figures burst into the doorway.
" You alright in here? We heard you yell." It was InuYasha, he looked a little angry about something, but then again, InuYasha always seemed angry about something.
"Yeah, InuYasha, i'm alright. Just had a nightmare." She sighed and wanted to go back to sleep, but the other figure, who turned out to be Kaede approached her, looking her over with a gaunt look of shock.
"A nightmare ye say? Come child, tell me what ye have seen." She turned and walked back into the main room, setting herself by the fire again.
Hiko groaned and forced her aching body to get up, then made her way into the much warmer common room. InuYasha gave her an odd look as she brushed past him, before actually following her into the other room. Hiko sat silently next to Kaede, and InuYasha, as was per usual for his nighttime routine, sat vigil by the door, listening to the two women with his enhanced hearing. Sango and Miroku were no where to be found, and for some reason, that only made Hiko more nervous.
Kaede looked at her expectantly, and Hiko just nodded before explaining her dream to the older woman, when she told her about the heat that didn't burn, Kaede's eyebrow raised, but she said nothing, and let Hiko finish her story. Hiko lowered her eyes when she told them about the volcano erupting and burning down the temple with Kagome inside. Dreams like hers just never improved any situation, and she thought the whole thing would only raise paranoias.
InuYasha just sat there with his eyes wide, he hated to hear anything that might suggest Kagome was in serious peril, and this girl's dream was one of those things, he snapped up at Kaede, who looked like she had been deep in thought, " Oi, Baabaa, what does it mean? Is Kagome in trouble?"
Kaede frowned and paused before answering him, " Aye InuYasha, I think she may well be soon. But for now, from what I can read from Hiko's dream, some event is waiting to happen. If it does not, or we do not find Kagome in time, the fires of the deep earth may destroy our Kagome."
InuYasha was on his feet and growling now, scowling at the both of them, " Then we should go out and find her! Why are we just waiting here! If Kagome's in danger we need to save her!"
Kaede frowned again, " Calm yourself InuYasha, we do not know where to begin looking." Hiko, who was absolutely mortified that she dreamt her own cousin's death, had been quiet, until the old miko turned to her with a very serious look. " I believe if I read into ye child, I may find where this temple is located."
InuYasha growled and punched the wooden frame of the door in frustration, sending a jolt through the entire hut. Shippou gave a small whimper from his corner at the noise, but didn't wake up, and InuYasha only turned around and stormed out of the hut. Obviously frustrated that they weren't going to look for Kagome right away. Hiko, on the other hand looked at the old woman oddly.
" Read into me?" she frowned, she wasn't sure if she liked that idea.
Kaede nodded solemnly, " Aye child, I will read into your soul, to see if the information is stored inside you. We may quite possibly find if a spell has been put on you to hide your aura from me as well." the old miko turned and readied herself quickly gathering a few nearby bowls and herbs before holding out a wrinkled hand to the younger girl.
Hiko gave a small gulp and placed her palm in the older woman's wrinkled hands. Kaede glanced over her palm, reading the lines she found there, before chanting something under her breath that Hiko couldn't understand. Kaede raised an eyebrow when her incantation didn't work, and instead of trying again, she changed it. Hiko noticed with a frown that a stress wrinkle was appearing on the woman's forehead as she chanted. The older woman continued her incantation as she took a bowl of some sticky, black substance, placed a finger inside, and drew some ancient kanji on the palm of Hiko's hand.
It was then that Hiko felt something. Her eyes went wide as her heart gave a searingly painful thud and she nearly collapsed on the floor. Her hand was getting almost uncomfortably warm, like it was too close to a fire. Kaede's chanting had faded, but Hiko looked with frightened eyes that her mouth was still moving. The old miko had her eyes closed in concentration, and sweat was starting to bead on her forehead. Another painful thud wracked her body and she desperately tried to get a breath of air into her lungs. The mark on her hand began to pulse wildly as she struggled to breathe. What is going on!, her mind screamed frantically. Her body shuddered, and it seemed like it was only her and Kaede in some sort of neverending blackness.
Hiko was just about to pass out when Kaede pressed her fingertips to the mark on her hand. She felt something inside of her snap and give way then, like Kaede had opened something deep inside of her soul that had always been there to keep her held back, like she had broken some sort of dam that kept some horrible secret at bay. Hiko's whole body was warm, she could no longer see Kaede or hear her at all, but there were no more painful beatings of her heart, no suffocating blackness, just the calming feeling of complete release. She could breathe again, and was being set free from a prison she didn't even know she was in. She could vaguely make out something dancing along her vision, it was all around her, keeping her safe, making her body warm and kinda tingly all over. A relieved smile spread over her lips, she almost wanted to curl up and sleep here, but something else was nagging in her mind. The sound of a faraway scream sliced through her warm reverie, and she fought to regain all of her senses. Slowly but surely, the dancing warmth around her came into focus. Sound returned, then smell. Everything Hiko was getting back told her that something was very wrong. Another scream jolted her, that was Shippou...
Immediately Hiko's head snapped up. She was still kneeling on the floor of the hut, but something else was wrong. Kaede wasn't there anymore, and she could still hear muffled screams. She focused her eyes on the dancing objects that were the source of her warm saftey and gasped. Fire. Kaede's hut was on fire.
Roasty toasty Miko.