A/n: Yippeeeeee!! Chapter 3 begins! And this actually goes somewhere! Yes! *gives high-fives to all the reviewers* Well, have fun!
Disclaimer: Sigh..................
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Chapter 3 - The Mission
Kagome stirred the soup that was boiling over the open flames on the floor. Souta whimpered every once in a while that he was hungry, and Kagome shushed him in response.
Grandpa was sitting rather dejectedly in the corner, having been whacked by Kagome's spoon - ever the formidable weapon - across the knuckles when he tried to sneak a taste.
"How much longer Sis? I'm starving," he whined for the bajillionth time. Kagome sighed and ignored her little-brother-going-through-puberty.
For a girl of 18 years, she sure had one of the crummiest jobs. She should be out in the world, maybe even in another hut, with little children running around her ankles. A husband may or may not be in the picture, depending on whether or not she was angry at that moment.
Finally, all three were seated around the fire, content to slurp their stews loudly. Except for ojii-san. He was - again - sitting alone, pouting. Kagome looked up at him curiously, and he glared at his stew.
"Did you bless this stew Kagome?" He asked. She rolled her eyes, but obliged by waving her hand over his stew and muttering some mumbo-jumbo. He seemed pleased enough, and he eagerly dug into his meal.
As she was scraping the last bits of stew from her bowl, she felt a tingling on the very edges of her magic that surrounded the hut, warning of someone approaching. No... not warning. Welcome.
Souta jumped to his feet at the sound of horse hooves, and ran outside to greet both the horse and it's rider.
Kagome too, got up, but somehow kept her cool and walked calmly to her mother. Who, unabashed, grabbed her daughter lovingly and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Kagome smiled and hugged her mother, who had been absent for nearly three weeks now.
"How was Obaa-chan mama? Was she ill?" A cloud came over the older woman's face, but she smiled brightly down at her children.
"No darling, she merely needed my help and advice. I went over, and I helped them device a plan, so we no longer need to worry about our Kaede. She'll be fine." Kagome looked curious at her mother's words, but the former Higurashi-hime simply went into the hut to be welcomed home.
~~~*~~~
Kaede sat at the dining room table, a piece of furniture that occupied the length of the entire dining room. It was a table meant to hold many people, but as of late, it had seen no one but servants and an occasional inu-hanyou.
Inuyasha had come out of his room a few times now, apparently more acquainted with this new situation. Sometimes, one would see him flex his muscles, and his knuckles would pop and crack. His eyes would blaze with an unknown fire that frightened all. Then, it would be gone. But as he was walking away, Kaede would see the blood dripping down his fingers.
He needed a solution, and fast. Because Kaede had been with him longer than anyone else, he had told her the gist of what had happened.
The miko Kikyo, had been courting Inuyasha. At least, she thought she was. Inuyasha had shown neither opposition nor acquiescence, and Kikyo had thought herself his fiancé. Inuyasha, upon discovering this, had told her the truth, that he didn't really love her, and she had attacked.
She had placed the spell on him. And she left him one thing. The Shikon no Tama. With it, she said, one with a pure heart could make a wish. But, once she turned Inuyasha into a full-blooded demon, he would be without purity.
To gain the purity, and his hanyou self once more, he must fall in love, and be loved back.
Kikyo had laughed cruelly and insanely, claiming that one without a loving bone in his body would never succeed. And, to push matters, she placed another spell on Inuyasha and the jewel.
Exactly one year from the day she cursed Inuyasha, the Shikon no Tama would explode. And with that explosion, Inuyasha himself would die. Painfully.
The only way to stop this from happening, was to rid himself of his demon form, to which the spell was clinging.
In other words, Inuyasha would either live and love, or die in pain and sorrow.
Such an ultimatum, and it was horrible that the victim of the curse was such a stubborn ass about things. He would claim that he didn't care, that he would live. Nothing a worthless miko could do would harm him.
Kaede sighed wearily. Would Inuyasha ever be freed from his horrible curse? She sure hoped so.
On a lighter note, Kaede warmly recalled when her god-daughter had visited. The poor woman. Once a hime herself, she had lived and grown in a castle. But when the wars had traveled over to her father's lands, he had fought, and lost everything. Higurashi-hime was cast out, left on her own to try and survive.
She had found a husband after years of searching for the right man, and he had died in a war soon after his son was born. Souta had never known his father. And Higurashi-hime was left with two young children and a grumpy old father-in-law.
Kaede had been her lady-in-waiting before her family's demise, and had had to move to another castle to find work. And she had discovered Inuyasha, a poor boy whose mother paid near to no attention to him.
Kaede had pounced on him, claiming that she would raise the child as her own, and raise him she did. But he never listened to her much anymore, even when he had been a hanyou. She just wasn't his mother. But the daiyoukai's widow wasn't able to take care of her child, and had died soon after her lifemate.
The old woman sighed again, thinking back to her god-child. The woman had been told of the situation, and swore not to reveal anything to anyone. But she promised she would find a solution to the problem, and Kaede hoped it would come soon.
Inuyasha had 11 moons left to live.
~~~*~~~
"Kagome? May I ask a favor of you darling?" Kagome looked up from yet another set of poultices. Apparently, children didn't want to get better, and she had to lace miko magic into the herbs for them to work. She was exhausted, as the work drained her energy.
"Hai, mama?"
Her mother traced some patterns in the dirt floor, trying to think of something good and believable. Then she took one look at Kagome weary, drained face, and knew exactly what to do.
"Well, I couldn't help thinking how much you look tired lately, and I believe it would do us all some good if you took a break."
Kagome raised an eyebrow. "What do you want?" she asked slowly. Her mother laughed.
"Sweetheart, no! I simply wish for you to take a few days to go down to a hot spring I stumbled upon in my travels. It's near that old castle, where Kaede used to work." The woman twiddled her thumbs in secret, hoping Kagome would buy it.
She did. "Sure mom," she said. "As soon as I get these finished..." her mother jumped to her feet and grabbed the travel bag, stuffing a few outfits and other necessities into it. Kagome watched her warily.
When her mother was quite finished packing, she grasped Kagome's arm and hauled her upwards. Her daughter sputtered, and tried to point to her herbs.
"I'll finish them darling. You just worry about getting refreshed." She went outside, trailing the girl behind her, and tied the bag and some food to the horse. Then she turned to her daughter with tears in her bright eyes.
"Momma, what's wrong?" she asked. The woman hugged her fiercely then, and Kagome laughed. "Momma, I'll only be gone for less than a week. No need to worry, I can defend myself just fine," she added as she tied a bow and quiver full of arrows to the poor animal.
Her mother nodded, and wiped the tears away.
So, with a final farewell to her family, Kagome clucked her tongue to the horse, and it tottered away under the bulk, heading toward Inuyasha's castle.
Little did she know that she wouldn't be returning home.
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Well, I think this is coming along nicely, don't you? Oh yeah, I wanted to add a little dictionary of Japanese words in here....
Hime: a princess (in the sengoku-jidai, there were many provinces, and many princes, princes, etc. It would be natural for one to simply be kicked off the map)
obaa-san: grandmother/elderly woman
ojii-san: grandfather/elderly man
daiyoukai: Inuyasha's daddy, a great youkai (not his actual name though)
Tell me if there are any more words that need clarification. You can also ask me for words in Japanese. I do have about three or four dictionaries, and I'm taking the class... So yeah....I'm actually moving forward into the plot! It's amazing! And I'm not being angsty! Am I? I'd like to think I'm not... Anyway, review and tell me what you think okeedays? And please, please please please read my other stories? I never realized that people (unlike me) don't click on the author's name to see if they have more fics! Sigh... Please read and review? Okee...later days! -Ariana