(A/N) I am so sorry for the wait. If you were waiting for this please accept this long chapter as my apology. Now that summer vacation has started I'll be able to upload more quickly. (I never go anywhere for the summer X3) Yay! Please review and let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is welcomed.
Tally ho! (See I found a new start up phrase. Yeehaw!)
Chapter five: Of Priestesses and Villagers.
Kagome opened her eyes groggily. The late afternoon sunlight was shining harshly through the window of the healing hut. She sat up slowly assessing herself for any other injuries that she might have sustained from the other day. She stretched experimentally and yawned. Just as she was about to attempt getting up from her futon Rinsuke walked into the hut to check on her.
"How are you feeling my lady?" he inquired starring at her intently. Kagome looked at him for a moment, still lost in the oddity of his eyes, before she answered.
"You don't to be so formal you know you can just call me Kagome." She finished with a smile. Rinsuke blushed and scratched the back of his neck nervously.
"Okay…um…Kagome how are you feeling?"
"Just fine thank you for being concerned about me." Kagome smiled and looked at Rinsuke for what to do next.
"Do you think you can stand up?"
Kagome made the attempt but wound up falling back down on her futon.
"I guess not." Rinsuke laughed out loud as he bent down to pick Kagome up. He hooked his arms underneath her back legs. As he brought her into the air Kagome began to struggle violently, causing him to almost lose his balance.
"What are you doing!" she screeched in protest and wriggled out of his grasp. Kagome glared at him with all of the intensity that she could muster. If looks could kill Rinsuke would have died on the spot. The young girl waited patiently for her question to be answered.
"I was picking you up so that I could take you to see the headmaster. He has requested an audience with you and he is unable to leave to his home at the moment. I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend or upset you!
Kagome looked into the eyes of the genuinely sorry man sitting in front of her: she sighed and responded to his apology.
"You don't have to be sorry you just caught me off guard okay. I guess you should take me to the headmaster now, um, but can I try standing again?" she looked at him hopefully, "I think I can now."
Rinsuke helped Kagome to her feet. She stumbled a bit at first but then regained her equilibrium. Rinsuke supported her as she began to walk forward. They walked ten steps before Kagome's legs gave out. Without a word of conformation, Rinsuke picked Kagome up and continued on his way. Kagome sighed, not even bothering to mention that he had picked her up, once again, without her permission.
As the two drew nearer to the headmaster's dwelling, Kagome began to worry her bottom lip. She was hopping she hadn't done anything bad enough to prompt the headmaster to be upset with her. Rinsuke watched as the young woman in his arms began to worry. He chuckled lightly and told her that there was nothing to worry about, that the headmaster merely wanted to discuss the events of the other day. This seemed to calm Kagome down slightly, however she still bit her lip in anticipation.
Rinsuke brought Kagome to the screen that would take her to the headmaster.
"Well, here goes nothing." Rinsuke joked as pushed the screen back. Kagome's eyes opened in fear at his statement. Rinsuke chuckled and stepped through the screen.
Kagome sighed. She had been worried for absolutely no reason. The headmaster had only wanted to thank her for her efforts from the other day.
The girl sighed and contemplated the proposal that had been given to her. The headmaster had offered her a permanent place of residence in the village. She would become their priestess for as long as she wished.
"I don't know what to do," she whispered to herself quietly.
The young priestess lamented over her current situation. On the one hand she did truly want to get to know the people of the village, on the other hand she didn't want to become attached; she still wanted to back to her real home.
What's the old saying six in one hand half a dozen in the other? Well I guess that applies her, sort of. Mainly I feel like I've got twelve in one hand and a dozen in the other… so how do I choose?
She concluded that the choice was clear. Truly there was no choice. In the four years that she had taken residence in Kaede's village she had always tried to get home. This usually resulted in her getting stuck at the bottom of the well waiting for the odd villager to notice that she had gone missing, only to find her at the bottom of the well. This had been the regular routine for three years consecutively. The well never worked and Kagome never got home. So obviously she would have to stay and become the village's priestess.
Kagome got up from her place at the edge of a field that the men were working in. She was ready to inform the headmaster of her decision to stay in the village as their priestess.
The headmaster blinked a couple of times, slightly surprised at the confrontation he was having with the young woman by the name of Kagome.
"Are you sure you wish to stay with us?" the man asked. "You made your decision rather quickly."
Kagome simply smiled cocking her head to the left.
"I have nowhere else to go," the priestess began, looking at the headmaster intently. "Since I have nowhere else to go there wasn't much of a choice." Kagome continued to smile as she watched the headmaster contemplate her explanation.
"Well you will always have a place here with us in our village." The headmaster amended with a good-natured smile directed toward the young woman.
Kagome stood and bowed respectfully, thanked the man and walked away from his place of residence.
Rinsuke watched curiously as Kagome ran into a nearby clearing, tears welling in her eyes. He wondered what could be the matter. He made the motion to follow the girl; however he was stopped by an exclamation of pain from one of the fieldworkers. Rinsuke had no choice but to run to the old man. He would find Kagome later; he would have to…in order to settle his own conscience.
Kagome heard a scream from her new home but she kept running. She couldn't handle helping anyone at the moment. She wanted to go back to the twentieth century. Kagome wanted to go back to the century that contained microwave ovens, televisions and her friends; family as well.
Eri Yuki Ayumi I miss you. Mom Sota I wish you were here. Grampa, Buyou please be there when I get home. I'm trying, I really am! I'll be home just wait for me!
Kagome fell to her knees. She had made it to the middle of the clearing and began to cry. Her hands came up to her face as tears began to stream down her flushed cheeks. Her body began top shake as she was racked with sobs. Deep strangled breaths could be heard had any one been listening.
Indeed someone had been listening, watching as well. The creature hid itself in the shadows as it watched the girl. It took every detail about her in. It memorized her graceful yet calloused fingers as they covered her slightly puffy cheeks, probably puffy from her tears. It memorized her black hair tied up in the standard priestess fashion. It memorized every conceivable thing about the girl all the way down to the grain of her fingernails.
Your task is complete now return to me A voice called out to the creature that was lurking in the shadows. The creature did as it was instructed and it slithered of in the direction of the voice for earlier. As the creature reached the brush it vanished in a bright pink light that had a purple edge. The creature's disappearance went unnoticed by the young priestess and the small village nearby.
Well done the voice from before stated, Very well done. The words echoed through the wind. The voice that had said these words's seemed to be of a slight hiss low in octave and appealing to the ear. It continued to lament upon the situation and continued to speak to its own content.
The script is complete, the stage is set, and now all we need are the players.
Five hours. It had been five hours since Kagome left the village, and she figured that it was about time for her to start heading back. However she couldn't bring herself to get up from the ground. Over the course of her tears she had fallen over onto her side, and now she had no urge to get up. Her eyes were bloodshot and dry from her excessive tears. She had rubbed her eyes to make them hurt less. However this only exacerbated her situation. Finally she had given up and just stayed on the ground her arms in front of her in that same position; untouched by nature and man.
There was a noticeable difference in her appearance though. Her eyes had glazed over and her lips slowly pressed stiffly against each other. Her face had become hard and rigid along with the rest of her body.
Kagome began to come back to the real world. She curled her fingers experimentally and blinked her eyes slowly.
"I guess I should get up now," she whispered to no one in particular, yet she didn't truly manage to follow through with her actions. Yes she had managed to sit up, but that was as far as she had gotten. Kagome couldn't bring herself to get up and walk back to the village.
A warm spring breeze blew through the clearing and it caressed Kagome's sullen face. It tossed her hair to and fro as if to tell her to get a move on.
"Leave me alone," she said aloud, knowing that no one was there to hear her.
Kagome looked around to make sure that her assumption was correct; and it was…for all of ten minutes. Those ten minutes later found Kagome staring into the azure blue eyes of Rinsuke. She could see the worry and the concern, yet she was not able to say anything in order to quell those apparent feelings. The only thing that she did was look at him with a passive expression. This seemed to concern him more.
"Are you okay Kagome?" the man asked her slowly, as if she didn't speak the same language. Kagome merely blinked in response. Rinsuke took action and picked Kagome up in his arms. He expected her to fuss and fight but she just sat still in his grip, letting him continue with his actions.
"Come on; let's get you back to the village."
It didn't take long for Rinsuke to get Kagome to the village. It also did not take long for the Villagers to figure out that their priestess was not well. Her eyes were still void of emotion by the Rinsuke too her to the headmaster's hut.
The head master had tried to elicit an emotional response from the young woman; however it was a futile attempt. Even Rinsuke, who seemed to be the closest to the young woman couldn't get a response from her.
This process of trying to "wake" the priestess lasted for three days consecutively. Three days became dull for everyone as they waited for Kagome to become well again.
Three Days.
Kagome blinked her eyes, regaining her bearings. She looked to left then to right and forward. On her turn forward she met the blue gaze of Rinsuke.
Kagome blinked once more.
"Good morning," he said smiling at Kagome good-naturedly. "It's been a while hasn't it, lady priestess?"
Kagome chuckled lightly. "Hmm," she lamented, "I'll take your word for it mister villager." She cocked her head to the left in a teasing manner, smiling.
A crimson red blush was kind enough to grace Rinsuke's chiseled features.
"You do that a lot don't you?" Kagome asked the man seated in front of her.
"Do what?" he responded obliviously.
"Blush," she deadpanned, and then began to giggle. "Whenever I say something you blush. I didn't say anything bad did right?" Kagome looked to the man for an answer. This seemed to make him blush further.
"Well no it's I um… I've never um talked to a girl as much as you before."
Kagome blinked back in surprise.
"What…but there are a lot of women your age out there right? You've had to have talked to at least one of them..." Kagome stated with a puzzled expression.
"Never in depth…" Rinsuke said.
"Why?" Kagome asked, curious as to why such a handsome man would be shunned by so many young women.
"My eyes," Rinsuke stated pointing to the offending body parts. "They say that they're a bad omen; a possible curse."
"You mean the girls?" Kagome asked becoming increasingly confused with each passing second.
"Well them and the rest of the village. For as long as I can remember I've always been an outsider in this place and every other. My eyes have always scared people. According to the headmaster they scare my mother as well."
Kagome let Rinsuke's situation sink in.
His mother was afraid of his eyes? I wonder what that could mean. Hmm I guess I'll find out sooner or later or not at all…well whatever. I guess I'll be his friend since his eyes don't bother me too much…though they are kind of odd…
Kagome looked at Rinsuke with determination and then she spoke.
"Well your eyes don't scare me. I'll be your friend alright?" With a small giggle Kagome smiled at Rinsuke and held out her arms as if to hug him. This action brought a blush to Rinsuke's face once more.
"No I…I couldn't possibly!"
"First thing you need to know about true friends: friends give each other hugs, no questions asked," Kagome stated matter-of-factly. She opened her arms wider. Rinsuke looked conflicted but finally he gave in and moved into her embrace.
The connection didn't last long however. A villager had burst through the curtain of Kagome's hut panting and trying to from coherent sentences.
"Slow down sir, what are you trying to say?" By this time Rinsuke had come out of his embrace with Kagome in order to grasp the shoulders of the man in front of them.
"What happened?" he repeated a few times before the man responded.
"It's Old Man Lee," the man panted out, "The man that came from the continent." He stated as if to clarify who he was talking about when he saw the confusion flash across Rinsuke's face.
"Oh you mean the man that got injured all those days ago? What's happened to him?" Rinsuke asked urgently, seeing the panic in the other mans eyes.
Once again the man began to have trouble forming sentences and breathing. He finally decided to just pull Rinsuke to the old man's home. Kagome thought it best to follow the two of them.
The villager that had Rinsuke's sleeve in a death grip led the two quickly to old man Lee's hut. He was panting even more now. Kagome thought he was about to have a heart attack; however an agonized scream interrupted her musing.
"What's happening in there? Kagome looked to Rinsuke for an answer. He was only able to answer her question with the shrug of his shoulders.
"Well your helpful aren't you?" Kagome sighed and pushed back the screen of old man Lee's home. Almost immediately she was forced to place her hand over her nose. The smell of rotting flesh had accosted her senses. She could almost taste it on her lips. She looked further into the hut, while fighting the urge to vomit everything that she had in her stomach.
As she entered the hut she felt the pressing need to look down. She regretted this decision in its entirety.
Kagome couldn't help herself, she stumbled back and fell o her rear. As she thought over what she had seen she began to hyperventilate. She regretted this action as well. Kagome gagged as the smell of rotting flesh intensified and strained upon her senses.
Oh gosh…she thought when she regained some of her composure.
"How exactly was Old Man Lee injured?" Kagome asked not caring which one of the men responded. The man that had escorted them to the old man's home began to speak.
"Old man Lee was working out in the fields, like always, doing the reapin' like always. Then out of the blue he threw his scythe and screamed clawin' at his leg like a mad man. He was bitten by a…" The man was cut off by a loud moan of pain form the injured old man Lee. He waited kindly for Lee to finish before he continued his story. The man began again.
"As I was sayin' Old Man Lee was bitten by a snake, a real big one too. It was all long blue and nasty lookin'. We didn't know if it was poisonous or not and no one was willing to try suckin' on the wound to see if there was any poison. That is except for blues over there, but Old Man Lee refused, said he didn't want a demon child bitin' at his leg. So we did what we could. I myself bandaged 'im up and he looked like he was gonna be okay, until 'bout twenty minutes ago." The villager stopped and looked at Kagome while recaptured his breath.
"What happened twenty minutes ago?" Kagome pressed as she began to un-bandage Old Man Lee's bitten ankle. She cringed as she heard his skin peel off of his marred flesh. Tears began to scream freely from the man's eyes.
Right as the villager was about to finish his story Rinsuke put his hand over Kagome' to stop her from taking off the rest of the bandage. She went to glare at him but the concern in his eyes was too evident for her to ignore. Kagome pit the bandage down and turned around in order to see the villager.
"Continue." Kagome instructed with a forced smile. The man didn't notice Kagome's attitude and continued.
"Well twenty minutes ago he began scratchin' at his bandage while he was groanin' in pain and all. He was speakin' that weird tongue so those of us lookin' after 'im at the time didn't know what he was sayin'. Then outta nowhere he started smellin' like a corpse and all. People started runnin' away; that's when I came to get you, miss, and found you huggin' up on blue eyes."
The villager's last statement made Rinsuke's blush creep up once mare.
There he goes again, Kagome laughed as she looked at Rinsuke's flushed face. Well back to the matter at hand.
Kagome's face grew serious once again. She resumed the peeling of the bandage of the marred ankle when once again Rinsuke stopped her. The girl's eyebrow ticked in uncharacteristic aggravation. She glowered at the hand that was stopping her from working. Then she looked to the owner of the hand.
"What's the matter?" she asked him as calmly as possible, given the current situation.
"It's hurting him," Rinsuke replied. Kagome's facial features softened and she placed her other hand over Rinsuke's.
"I know; but if I let the wound fester he'll be in more pain and that'll be worse. I don't want to see him suffer anymore than you do I swear but I need to do this to help him."
Rinsuke hesitated for a moment feeling caught between a rock and a hard place. Then he reluctantly removed his hand from Kagome's.
"Thank you," she said and continued to work. She peeled the bandage as quickly as the squirming man would allow. At one point, Kagome was forced to pin his leg down with her free hand. This caused Old Man Lee to howl with pain and all Kagome could do was keep working as she whispered a sad apology. Kagome finished peeling the man's bandage. His flesh burned once it made contact with the air: Old Man Lee screamed in sheer agony. Kagome winced, muttered an apology and continued with her task.
With the bandage out of the way Kagome was able to asses the true gravity of Old Man Lee's injury.
The young priestess nearly lost the contents of her stomach at the sight presented to her.
Kagome looked at Old Man Lee's ankle and saw an infection unlike any other. The flesh that had been exposed was pulsating with a dull purple hue. With each pulse, the infection seemed to imbed itself further and further into the man's ankle.
Kagome cringed as she found that not only was the infection eating away at the ankle, the infection seemed to spreading up the man's calf. When it reached his knee the pulsing seemed to calm slightly. However, Old Man Lee's whimpers had become full blown wails and now the entire village was trying to get a glimpse of what was happening.
"Get them away from here," Kagome instructed Rinsuke and the previous villager. Rinsuke rose and began herding people back into their places. Kagome turned her attention back to the old man that she was supposed to be helping. The infection had started spreading once mare and Kagome had no idea what to next; she hadn't eaten or really done anything for three days, so she had no where to draw her spiritual power from. With that said there was no way that she could purify the wound. Obviously it was a demonic bite, since nothing else bit to where the skin would glow purple. Kagome stared at the bite a bit longer, having no idea what to do next.
Well what now? She questioned to herself, she wasn't exactly well versed in demon bite first-aid. Kagome decided to treat it as any other snake bite. Just as she was about to call Rinsuke back to get her some water, her sleeve was pulled harshly from behind. She turned around to see Old Man Lee grasping her sleeve like a life line. She put her hand on top of his in order to quell his fear. This was the wrong course of action for the young girl to take.
Old Man Lee took Kagome's hand in his. Kagome thought he was merely re-assuring himself that she still was there. What she failed to notice was that Old Man Lee did no longer inhabit his own body.
The old man's hand began to pull Kagome down toward its body. The girl did her best to get the old man to release his grip, but he wouldn't relent. Kagome began to struggle against him until she started to panic.
What does he want with me? She asked herself frantically.
Finally Old Man Lee was able to pull Kagome's face to his own. He brought his dry, cracking lips toward her ear and began to whisper to her. Kagome's eyes widened in fear; not only could she hear the words coming from Old Man Lee's mouth, she could also hear them ringing through out her skull.
Do not linger in this village my dear, it will only bring you despair. I am certain that you do not wish for more heartbreak to befall you and I am also certain you do not wish to owe your life to anymore demons. Or am I horribly mistaken my dear Kagome?
Kagome shuddered slightly. The voice she heard had a hypnotic quality to it. She felt compelled to answer its question but she couldn't bring herself to do so. She merely watched as Old Man Lee struggled to regain control over his body. She also watched as the old man failed. Once his eyes closed his wound began to consume him. It crawled steadily up his body and spread itself evenly. Finally the wound consumed the man and he literally dissolved right before Kagome's eyes.
Kagome shuddered.
Heed my words my love, leave this village or every one will suffer the same fate that you have just witnessed. Leave now.
Kagome shuddered once more as the voice resounded through her skull. She watched as the remains of Old Man Lee slowly congealed and took shape.
A snake…how…appropriate, Kagome thought complacently as she got up to head toward her hut in order to retrieve her belongings.
As Kagome pushed the curtain back on Old Man Lee's home the snake slithered past her feet.
Kagome ignored the snake for a moment. For a moment she only stared after it, and then she came to her senses. Her eyes widened as her head cleared and she realized what had just happened. Her hands automatically flew to her face to cover her mouth. Tears began to stream down her face as she replayed what had happened to the old man. As Kagome relived the scene she remembered the words from earlier. With the words flowing back to her Kagome began to sprint toward her hut.
On her way, Kagome ran into the periodically placed villagers. However just as the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, Kagome was unable to stop and apologize. She was only able to throw a generic sorry in their general direction.
As Kagome neared the hut her heart began to pound, partly from her sudden exertion and partly from anticipation. She felt like a walking time bomb. Her mind told her that if she didn't move fast enough, the village would crumble right before her eyes.
Kagome made it to the entrance of her hut and hastily pushed the curtain away. In he hast, the girl failed to notice that Rinsuke had been sitting in the middle of the entrance way. On her way in, Kagome found herself coming into closer contact with the ground than she wanted. Before she could fall completely, Rinsuke managed to catch her.
"Thank you," Kagome said quickly before she began to gather her things frantically. Rinsuke watched in awe as Kagome scurried about like some poor child on a sugar high. Her hands quivered as she picked up her bow. She went to retrieve her quiver just as Rinsuke grabbed onto her wrists.
"What are you doing?" he questioned, a curious glint in his azure blue gaze. Kagome looked at him for a moment before responding in a dead pan tone.
"Leaving."
Rinsuke looked utterly floored.
Didn't she just decide to stay? He questioned himself internally. He looked up at her in confusion
"I thought you had decided to stay," he said, voicing his earlier confusion to her.
"I changed my mind," she dead panned once again as she began to walk out of the hut.
"Well wait," Rinsuke called out to her as he followed closely behind. She stopped to look at him. Once Rinsuke saw that he had grabbed her attention he spoke once more.
"I'm going with you," he said sternly looking Kagome directly in the eye.
"No," Kagome replied as she began to walk away. Rinsuke grabbed her by her shoulders and spun her around to face him.
"It wasn't a question," he told her defiantly. Kagome blinked in surprise. Before she had time to truly react, Rinsuke pulled her in the direction of his home. He made the trip a quick one seen as how Kagome was regaining her senses. He had only grabbed some essential and stuffed them into a pack.
Kagome stared back at the blue eyed man in disbelief.
"What?" he asked her.
"You're not coming," she told him once more. Rinsuke rolled his eyes and grabbed Kagome's hand in his, smiling at her.
"You said that we were friends," he began with a mischievous smile. "I happen to know for a fact that not only do friends give hugs, but they also help each other when they're in trouble. You're in trouble, so let me help you." He smiled at her even more. The young priestess sighed and headed for the exit of the village. She didn't stop Rinsuke from following, so he continued after her. Luckily for them the villagers were to busy crowding around the empty hut of Old Man Lee/ Rinsuke chuckled at their amazing, yet slightly gruesome, stroke of luck. He began to lag behind.
"Hurry up," Kagome called to him over her shoulder. He nodded picking up hi pace in order to catch up. Soon the two were walking I perfect step with each other.
"So where are we going?" Rinsuke asked her. He gained no response form the girl. Rinsuke took this as his cue and kept his mouth shut as they continued forward.
Good, my love, good. Leaving is the best choice for you my dear. However bringing that man with you may not have been the best decision for you to make, though I won't fault you for it. Evil laughter began to resound through Kagome's voice from earlier had invaded Kagome's mind once more and She did her best not to respond. The young priestess looked to Rinsuke and pointed her arm to the left.
"Let's head that way," she instructed him.
"You're the boss," he said with a slight chuckle and a shrug of his shoulders. With that, both of them set of in direction of the setting sun. The village became smaller and smaller until in was nearly invisible to the both of them. They left thoughts of the village behind them as they searched for a path to follow.
And so it begins, my dear Kagome, and so it begins.
(A/N) Hooray I have finished this chapter without killing the creator of Word. Ugh this took too much effort to complete/edit and I still have X amount of chapters to type up. Oh well I've already started so I'll do my best to finish. This chapter is kind of long and detailed so if you have any questions I'd be happy to answer them (as long as they don't spoil what's to come XD). Alright that's it for now. Please review and I shall meet you all in the next chapter. Tah-tah for now!
~shastar27