Instinct had InuYasha sprinting back the way he had come to find the girl strung high in the air by a rather large bird demon. "And what do you think you're doing, bird brain?" the hanyou yelled, brash as ever.
The bird screeched loudly from its perch in the tree, and with a horribly gnarled voice cried, "Find your own meal, half-breed!"
"NO!"Seika yelled as rising panic filled her chest. The branches of the Tree of Ages shook violently and the vines that had long grown along its trunk became snake-like as they slithered towards the petrified girl. The bird demon squawked noisily at the sudden shudder, squeezing the girl tighter in its talons. Then she was airborne with the creature, and if her lungs were not being crushed she would have screamed again.
InuYasha advanced towards the demon but by a flap of its large wings, he was thrown back as he leapt into the air. His comparably slighter weight made fighting against the gusts of wind a challenge. Seika squeezed her eyes shut and prayed for salvation.
Her eyes snapped open at the sudden spray of warm liquid. Vines from the Tree of Ages had reached into the sky and pierced the body of the bird, showering her in blood. Roaring in pain, the demon released its grip on her before retreating into the distance to nurse its wounds.
Any normal persons heart would drop into their stomach seeing the height Seika was left to fall from. Curling into a ball was the only thing she could think to do, and hope she would be dead before she felt the impact. InuYasha wasn't normal, however, easily leaping into the air to snatch her out of the sky.
Once she realized she was no longer facing death, she threw her arms around the half-demons neck, allowing herself a moment of comfort. InuYasha on the other hand, stiffened considerably at the sudden attack on his personal space. No one had ever been so forward with him in his life, especially so soon after meeting him. If it were Kagome hugging him like that, he would have dropped her on the ground for acting so strange and walked away. But with this girl who had already been through more than she could handle in the last twenty-four hours, he wasn't sure what to do. Uncertain what the best course of action was he stood there awkwardly until she let go of him and pull herself out of his arms. She was still shaking, he could tell, but she hid her terror well besides.
"Thank you," she muttered taking deep breaths to calm herself, though tears were in her eyes. She would have to get used to attacks like that after all, this was her home now.
InuYasha huffed and turned away from her, crossing his arms. "Stupid girl," he said shortly.
She sighed, knowing she should have followed him back to the village when he had left earlier. He was right, she was stupid. She should have known better than to think she could stay out in a place like this without consequences. She let her gaze fall to the ground as she continued to let her commonsense beat her up from the inside. "Oh no," Seika mumbled as she examined the red splotches that now stained her uniform.
"Now what?" the half demon grumbled, turning back to the girl and watching as she scrutinized her clothes. "Big deal," he huffed, ignoring the fact that her clothes were the only things she had with her that connected her to her own time. He headed off towards the village again, silently kicking himself for the filter he seemed to be born without. Why couldn't he keep his mouth shut around distraught women? He always ended up making an ass of himself.
Forcing herself to accept the loss, Seika followed InuYasha back to the village, making a mental note to ask Kaede for help finding something clean to wear. She had declined Kagome's offer for any of her things from her home, so she'd have to make do with what she could get in this time. If she was going to be living in this time for the rest of her life anyway, she might as well look the part.
"Child, what happened to ye?" Kaede gasped when the pair returned. She shuffled over the girl and began looking her over for wounds.
"Huh?" Seika mumbled, being pulled out from her daze, "Oh, I'm fine for the most part. My clothes are just ruined." She looked at her stained shirt again, sighing inwardly. "Could you help me find something clean to wear?"
The old woman patted the girls arm sympathetically, "I think we can find ye something suitable." Seika followed the priestess back to her hut and sat patiently while Kaede rummaged through old clothes she had put away for occasions such as this. She shuffled back into the room with a short, earth-green kimono with long bell sleeves and a deep blue obi. "This should fit ye nicely. It was a gift to my sister but she never wore it. What do ye think?"
Surprised by the simple sort of beauty that the garment possessed, Seika found herself smiling at the idea of being allowed to wear such a thing. She especially liked the subtle leaf pattern that adorned the fabric. "It's lovely, Kaede-sama. Thank you." She bowed slightly and accepted the clothing.
The aged woman called InuYasha into the hut and eased herself down in front of the small table. He begrudgingly walked into the little home crossing his arms defiantly. "Make yeself useful and show Seika the river. I'm sure she'd like to clean off before changing."
"Me?" The half-demon immediately became flustered, "Why can't you take her?" he cried.
Kaede frowned at him, "If ye hadn't noticed, it be difficult for me to get around these days. Elsewise she may be needing someone to watch out for her if other demons be lurking around."
Seika lowered her head slightly as she mumbled, "I'm sorry to be so much trouble to everyone." She held the gifted clothing to her chest in quiet despondence.
"Oh, child," Kaede sighed, patting the girls leg with a comforting hand, "Ye be no such thing." The elderly woman shot a disapproving look in InuYasha's direction, making it clear she blamed him for upsetting her.
"Fine! I'll take her," he huffed with irritation then stalked out of the hut, assuming the girl would follow him and not caring if she didn't. Grumbling the entire way, he lead her just outside the village to the small lake, closed off enough for bathing without much need to worry about prying eyes.
"Hurry up, I've got things to do!" InuYasha called as he made himself comfortable in a tree a short distance from the lake to give Seika some privacy.
The brunette mechanically shed her ruined clothes before diving into the water to wash her horrifying first demon attack from her body. Once she scrubbed the blood from her skin and hair, she let herself drift underwater and cry for the last time. She wasn't going to get the chance to leave this time period. This was no longer the past, but her present, and she couldn't despair over her predicament the rest of her life. All she could do was move forward, so she gave herself the opportunity to shed her tears for the last time and resolved to find some manner of peace in a time that was foreign to her.
A/N: So I think by now everyone can agree that I suck with deadlines and updating. I'm really sorry about it but I haven't been overly inspired to work on this story as of late. I've mostly been working on my drawings lately instead of writing. However, I couldn't help but be inspired today after the wonderful TaeBalla05 from deviant art posted the request I made to them for a cover picture. It's really gorgeous and I'll be posting it later once they send me the variations they made too so I can pick the best one to post.
I hope you enjoy this chapter, and don't worry, I intend to post another one either a little later tonight or tomorrow as an apology DX
~Nox
