Chapter 03 – The Storm

She ran in the direction of the scream and soon reached a clearing in the forest. There she saw a small kid curled on the ground trembling. He wore long coat with a cape, so she couldn't see his face, but she didn't need to see his face to know just frightened he was.

"Hey kid, are you alright?" She asked. The child looked at her and stood up in attempt to run away, when another thunder rang through the sky and he slid to the ground again, covering his head in fear.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you." She quickly came running to him and wrapped her arms around him. She felt him tense, but didn't let him go. This kid was obviously scared because of the storm, so she deduced, that he was scared of her just because he didn't have clear mind right now. She felt something wet on her hand and noticed that it was starting to rain.

"We have to find some shelter, before the rain will be too strong." She told to the boy and picked him up, because she was sure, he wouldn't be able to keep up with her in this state. She tried to cover him with her own body to protect him from the rain and the branches, as she ran through the forest searching for some place they could hide in.

After a while she spotted a cave and quickly headed that way. It was just a small cave, but it was dry inside, and even the sounds of the storm weren't so loud in there. She put the boy down from her grasp and she herself sat down on the ground leaning against the wall.

He watched her for a while. She was a priestess, but she seemed she didn't notice yet, who was he, otherwise she would have probably killed him immediately. Good, that his father taught him how to cover his demonic aura from the others and that he reacted quickly enough, that she didn't manage to notice it.

Though, he would still have to be careful. If she saw him, he would be no longer able to deceive her. He decided that for the moment, he would stay here with her. There was no way, that he would go outside in such storm, so he just sat next to her, but didn't look at her. Instead he looked away from her and started to think about some things.

"Why is the storm so frightening?" He asked after a while. He didn't know why, but he didn't want to sit here in silence. He didn't like the sounds of the storm and this was probably just his attempt to be able to focus on something else.

She looked at the boy. He didn't look at her, but he asked her really unexpected question. She still felt him tremble and the fear was even in his voice. She thought about it. What should I tell him? I don't know the reason, I am not afraid of the storm, but I am afraid of another things. Though there isn't any reason behind my fears as well, but I must tell him something.

"I think, that it is because people don't understand it and don't know how to deal with it. And also it makes a lot of noise. I guess, that when you know why the things are happening and what causes them, then you can deal with them better. Because sometimes, when you uncover the truth behind something, you may find out that it is not frightening at all."

"But the storm IS frightening. It attacks at everyone and everything without aim." He opposed.

"It's not attacking." She chuckled. "It's just a natural phenomenon, it's not a demon or something. You can't destroy it or make it run away. And it doesn't think about where it will strike, because it doesn't think at all." She explained. He was confused. What is she saying? Something what has such power cannot be just some randomly striking, nonthinking phenomenon.

She noticed his disbelief, but didn't try to convince him anymore. He was just a kid and furthermore, he's a kid from who knows how far past. She thought about what could she do for him, because explaining obviously didn't have any effect to calm him down. She remembered that she had a pendant which she wanted to give to Inuyasha, but he refused it, so she took it back.

"Look, do you know what is this?" She took out the pendant and showed it to the little boy. He watched it, but didn't say anything, so she continued.

"It's a lucky charm. If you keep it with you, the lightnings from the storm won't strike you." She smiled at him and put the charm in front of him. He seems that he wouldn't take it from me directly, but if I will put it in front of him and look away, maybe he will take it. She thought and looked outside for a while. When she glanced back at the pendant later, it was already gone and she smiled.