"So, you're telling me I'm in the feudal era? And what attacked me was a demon," Bailey stated.
She then pointed to Inuyasha, making his right ear twitch. Bailey continued.
"And his name is Inuyasha, and he's a demon, too. But he's different; he's only a half-demon. And the little one in my lap is Shippou."
The old woman sitting across from her, Kaede, nodded, encouraging her. Shippou grinned up at Bailey in response.
"Aye, child. That is correct," Kaede remarked. Bailey looked at the little fox sitting in her lap. His furry tail was adorable, so were his bright, curious eyes. She thought for a minute before asking her next question.
"So, um…do you know how I can get back home?"
Kaede gave her a skeptical look.
"That I am not completely certain of, you see, no one has come through that well since young Kagome left us, and that was a few years ago. I've no idea how you came through, you don't seem to possess spiritual powers, and the Shikon no tama has been gone for a while now. "
As soon as Kaede mentioned Kagome, Inuyasha growled and stomped out of the hut. Bailey's right eyebrow shot up and she looked to Kaede.
"So, what's his problem then?" she asked Kaede. Bailey took this moment to readjust her ponytail. The elderly woman shook her head and Shippou spoke up.
"Well, since Kagome left, Inuyasha hasn't really been himself. He's been really quiet, and he goes off by himself a lot."
"Huh, I'll bet he had some major feelings for her then." Kaede nodded.
"Aye, he did, though he refuses to admit it, and I have witnessed him at the well, waiting for her return."
Bailey felt quite sorry for the poor guy…err… half-demon. He was head-over-heels for a girl who didn't even live in the same time period as him. But didn't Kaede mention something about a Kikyou? What had happened to her?
"Um..What about this Kikyou girl?" A sad look came across the elder's face.
"Aye, my elder sister. She was revived by Kagome using the Jewel of four souls. But soon after she was brought back it appeared that Kikyou was not the same as she was before. I blame it on the tainted powers of the jewel, but it matters not. Soon after Kagome left, Kikyou attacked the village. I know not of her reasons, but she had slain many of the people before she was stopped. It was Inuyasha himself that delivered the fatal blow."
Bailey sat in surprise.
Wow, no wonder he seems so crabby. He trusted this crazy chick, and she threw it back in his face! But that doesn't bring me any closer to getting home.
"So, you say Kagome got here through the well right?"
"Aye, this is true."
"How did she get back home? Did she use the well?"
"Aye she did, child. She simply jumped into it and returned to her time. But I know not if this will work for you also. She possessed the powers of a priestess, and she had the sacred jewel. You do not have either. "
"Well, it can't hurt to try, can it?"
She moved shippou out of her lap as she stood and walked out of the hut. She looked from right to left, searching for the red-clad hanyou. After a little more searching, she spotted him sitting in a tree, staring into space.
"Hey, Inuyasha!"
He flinched, almost falling off his perch.
"WHAT?!"
Bailey padded closer to the tree.
"What are you doing up there?"
"None of your damn business, now whadda want?"
Bailey thrust her hip out and crossed her arms in an aggressive stance.
"I just wanted to know if you'd help me get back to the well. I want to at least try to get back home."
Inuyasha jumped down from his branch and landed with a soft thud in front of Bailey. He then began to walk off into the woods. Bailey stared after him.
"Hey where are you going?!"
Inuyasha turned his head as he walked.
"Well, if you wanna get back home, I suggest you come on."
Happy, Bailey hurried to his side, and the duo set off for the well.
"AHHHHHHH!" Bailey screamed as Inuyasha soared above the treetops, with her on his back.
"Would you PLEASE quit doing that?!" He bellowed at her.
"If you would stop doing THAT!" She yelled back at him. Inuyasha rolled his eyes at her.
It's not my fault she's scared of heights.
Inuyasha snickered as he jumped atop another tree and quickly soared into the air again, accompanying another shriek from Bailey. She buried her face into his hair and prayed she didn't fall off.
If he drops me, so help me god, I'll come back and haunt him.
Inuyasha landed with a thud and Bailey let out a yelp of pain.
Stupid ankle. Stupid dry well. Stupid dog demon. UGH!
Flashback
Bailey & Inuyasha both stood staring at the bone eaters well. Bailey strode to the edge and peered inside. It was, in fact, dry and very dark. She turned to Inuyasha.
"So, do I just jump in or what?"
Inuyasha shrugged.
"Well, that's how Kagome and I did it."
Bailey sucked up her courage and climbed atop the well's edge. She gazed into the darkness.
Don't think about it, just do it.
She jumped, and landed on the bottom with quite a solid thump, twisting her ankle and bruising her bottom in the process. After letting a few colorful phrases fly, Bailey called to the dog demon. He helped her out of the well after he had let her know what an idiot he thought she was.
"Oh yeah, well why don't you try it? Didn't you say you used to go through it?"
Inuyasha seemed to contemplate this. He quickly leapt to the edge of the well, as Bailey had a few minutes ago, and jumped into the recesses of the well. When nothing happened, he leapt back out of the well, disappointed.
"There's no way I'm going to be able to get back to your village, my ankle is pretty screwed up."
Inuyasha strode to her and picked her up, with a squeal of surprise from Bailey. He shifted her onto his back and began to run at incredible speeds, at which Bailey was not fond of.
"Please don't tell me you can fly or something, because I hate heights."
Inuyasha's thud happened to land them right in front of Kaede's hut, a welcome sight for the air sick Bailey. She quickly wriggled out of Inuyasha's grasp and limped inside the thatch building, hoping for some kind of herbal remedy for her ankle. The elderly woman gingerly examined Bailey's ankle, declaring she ought to rest it for a while and caked it in a smelly herbal paste, which cooled Bailey's skin. After she had her ankle wrapped in cloth, Bailey decided to step outside, against Kaede's wishes for her to rest the leg. She hobbled to the door and stepped lightly into the afternoon light. Since Inuyasha was nowhere to be seen, Bailey decided to explore the little village.
She walked down a dirt path, looking at the houses and gardens and many people scurrying about. She strolled until she came to the edge of the housing and continued walking down a little path heading through the trees. Bailey made sure to baby her leg as she made her way down the forest path, gingerly stepping over roots and avoiding branches. The path led her to a meadow, filled with beautiful yellow flowers. She could see tiny butterflies flittering to and fro and a sudden movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned to see Shippou bounding towards her, a giant smile on his face. He skidded to a halt in front of Bailey, and jumped at her. Bailey caught the kit in her arms.
"So, the well didn't work did it?" he asked her.
Bailey frowned slightly.
"Not quite, although I did get a lovely bruise on my butt and a twisted ankle for my effort."
This made Shippou laugh. The little fox was so cute, and his adorable bushy tail was just too much.
"Well, I guess that means I'm pretty much stuck here for a while."
Shippou smiled.
"Yeah, but its not really all that bad, there are lots of games we could play and I could show you all the best springs for bathing, and we'll have lots of fun!"
Shippou's babbling made Bailey chuckle. The little kitsune was really growing on her and she had only been in the Feudal Era a few hours now.
"Ok, well why don't we go see those springs, and we can pick flowers on the way there."
Shippou's face lit up.
"Yeah, that'll be great! Come on, I'll show you!"
The little fox bounded of her arms and hopped up and down with excitement before taking Bailey's hand and leading her through the meadow.