AN- Late as usual. Sorry to make you guys wait so long. Just so you all don't worry in the future though, I plan on finishing this no matter how long it takes. I won't leave it hanging, as that pisses me off to no end when other people do it. :-)
Confusion Abounds
While many colorful phrases and applicable swear words raced through Inuyasha's head, all squarely intent upon complimenting his idiocy, it was one small, profanity free sentence that popped up which caused his ears to lay back in trepidation. A short compilation of words that sent more fear coursing throughout his body than any kind of charm the old man in front of him might be holding.
'Kagome is going to be so pissed.'
Why, oh why did he have to be sitting on the side of the well just now? It figured that the grandfather couldn't have come in during one of his marathon pacing sessions, or while he had been laying on the floor staring at the ceiling, or even that one time he had actually gone outside. Sure, Kagome's grandfather would have had to sprint in and out faster than an Olympic track star to have actually been here while Inuyasha was out, but that was entirely beside the point.
And the point, of course, was...
Oh yeah, here came the point now. Waving his arms around and yelling like he was trying to exorcise a demon from Hell. Then again, Inuyasha supposed, that's probably exactly what he was trying to do.
It would have been easy enough to leave. All he had to do was stand up and he would disappear, leaving the old man either completely confused or suspicious as to whether or not he was still hanging around. But...
He was bored.
Inuyasha quickly weighed his options. He could get up and hope her grandfather didn't mention his chance meeting with a demon in the well house. Not very likely, having seen firsthand the man's love for telling a good story, or even a not so good story. Not to mention all the bad stories. And the completely boring and pointless stories.
Anyway, the guy just couldn't keep his mouth shut.
So...
That left him with his other choice.
A little game Inuyasha liked to call, Pass the Time Until Kagome Comes Back by Messing With the Old Guy. Formerly known as, Pass the Time Until Kagome Comes Back by Messing With Buyo. It was an interchangeable theme.
There were probably other options, but he wasn't really that great at thinking of anything other than the obvious. Sometimes he wasn't even very good at seeing the obvious.
And between the two choices he gave himself...
He kept his seat on the well and hoped Kagome would be in a forgiving mood when she came back.
Kagome swallowed heavily and stared at the floor beneath her bent knees.
"I'm sorry child, I had not wanted to tell ye. The jewel was destroyed many years ago. It did not occur to me that it might return. Forgive me, but I did not wish to burden ye with such details, especially when ye felt so strongly about helping him."
Shaking her head, Kagome stood and gave Kaede a kind smile. "It's not your fault, so please don't blame yourself." Kagome paused and looked back to the floor for a brief moment. When she looked back up to the old Priestess, she had an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, Lady Kaede, but-"
"Ye wish to return home?"
Kagome nodded. "I need to talk to Inuyasha. I need to hear what happened from him." Again she paused for a moment, biting her lip as she thought. Kaede waited patiently for her to continue.
"I'll be back next week though."
Kaede smiled gently at her. "Ye are so sure of this?"
"Yes," she answered with a sharp nod of her head. "No one deserves this fate. Even if..." Kagome gave a slight shake of her head. "I have to talk to Inuyasha. Um, about Shippou." She jerked her head to the little kitsune who was currently napping in a corner after having gorged himself on the breakfast Kaede had prepared earlier for Kagome and herself. For such a small body, his stomach could hold an amazing amount of food.
"Provided he keeps the mischief down, he is welcome to stay. Kitsune trouble-making was never more than we could handle."
'That's one thing off my mind, at least.'
"Thank you." Kagome waved a goodbye and stepped out into the early morning sunlight. As she squinted through the light, waiting for her eyes to adjust, her thoughts bumped about madly in her head. Question after question sprung up at her, nagging incessantly for her attention, but she had no real answers for any of them.
'But Inuyasha will have answers. I hope.'
With a small sigh, Kagome made a slow trek back to the Bone Eater's Well and her home. Though her thoughts swirled mercilessly around in her brain, by now Kagome was well trained enough by Kaede to know that she shouldn't be distracted while in the forest. She managed to remember this most of the time at least. It was fortunate for her that she followed her training today, or the attack from her left would have gone completely unnoticed. As it was, she barely managed to grab her bow from her shoulder and swing around before she was leaped upon and thrown to the grass.
The breath was knocked from her as she landed rather jarringly on her backpack and for a heart stopping second her vision blackened. Kagome managed to keep her arms up though and her sight returned almost immediately, much to her relief. The first thing she saw was her bow, held tightly in her clenched hands. Then she registered the teeth. And then the fur. And finally her brain put together all the images in front of her and gave her a rather frightening picture.
A huge and shaggy brown animal was pressing her to the ground, with only a small piece of wood and an arms length of space separating them. She couldn't tell exactly what kind of animal it was, having only a mawing group of teeth and some peripheral vision of the rest of it to go on. Sure she could turn her head and look, but at the moment, finding out what kind of wild animal was attacking and trying to eat her wasn't as important as trying to get said wild animal to stop attacking and trying to eat her. Easier thought than done.
Sweat broke out on her forehead as she struggled to keep the gnashing teeth away from her throat. Her arms burned with the effort and she was at the same time both grateful that the animal was large enough to have its feet on the sides of her body instead of on top of it and terrified at the thought that there was no way she could win against something so huge.
'Do something!'
But the logical, thinking part of her brain had gone blank with terror and it could only scream stupidly at her ('What happened! Oh my God! Oh my God!') without providing any actual ideas for escape. Only seconds had passed, but already she could feel her strength waning against the sheer brute force of the animal on top of her. Tears formed in the corner of her eyes, but she rapidly blinked them away before they could cloud her vision.
'Come on girl! Think! What would Inuyasha do?'
Amazingly, as soon as Inuyasha's name came to mind, Kagome's will bolstered. What would he do? Well he sure as hell wouldn't give up, that's for sure. He'd fight.
With a fresh burst of energy, Kagome brought her knees up to her chest and kicked out with both of her feet as hard as she could. The beast hurtled backwards with a force that would have surprised Kagome if she had stuck around to see how far it flew. However, as soon as the creature was gone from on top of her, running was the only thing on Kagome's mind. As hard and as fast as she could, straight to the well. Unfortunately, her bow had been lost to her, having still been in the grip of the animal's teeth as it was shoved away, but Kagome was now only focused on getting the hell out of there and didn't waste time to look around and see if it had been dropped.
The well came into view and Kagome ran even faster, her breath coming out in harsh bursts of air, tearing at her throat and turning it raw. Only a little further, but where was the animal? All her instincts told her not to look back, to just keep running. Every scary movie she had ever seen had told her the folly of looking over your shoulder when you were trying to get away from the bad guy. You always trip or run into something or get caught.
So of course, like every stupid heroine ever yelled at, she looked back.
And immediately whipped her head back. She sprinted faster than she ever had in her life and thought in a brief flash of inane and completely unsurvival-like idiocy, that if her gym teacher could see her now, she would weep with joy at having found their school's new track star.
The thing was catching up, its paws thudding heavily on the earth behind her, so close she could hear its loud panting even over her own. Kagome shrugged off her backpack and tossed it clumsily behind her at the animal, catching it by surprise, but not hitting it. It gave her an extra second, though, and less weight to carry. She ran faster still.
Only a hundred feet more! So close!
She felt a sudden jerk at her waist and heard the ripping of material. She stumbled slightly and kept going, not looking back this time.
'Just keep going. Almost there. Almost there.'
The tears that threatened to fall before were now streaming down her cheeks, but she could still see the well and focused on it like there was nothing else in the world.
Fifty feet.
Another jerk at her clothes, this time accompanied by a searing pain on the right side of her hip. Crying out in pain, Kagome stumbled once more, barely keeping from falling over again. Her only saving grace was that the beast kept tripping too, each time it missed her, giving her a precious second to keep going.
Kagome ran for her life.
Twenty-five feet.
The animal was practically beside her.
Ten feet.
It made another lunge, but Kagome was ready for it and swung her arm to the side of its face. Sharp teeth gashed her flesh, but the attack was unsuccessful enough that she could keep going.
Five feet.
'Please, please, please.'
She gave one last burst of speed, using up the last of she reserves. With the well only a foot away, she gave a sudden desperate leap and flew down the shaft head first.
'I made it!'
Kagome's heart soared as the bottom of the well loomed in front of her. Suddenly, she came stopped falling, floating in midair. At least she thought this until the pain registered like a shock of white hot fire on her ankle half a second later. Turning at an awkward angel, she saw the top of the animal hanging over the edge, paws braced on the edge of the well, teeth locked around her ankle.
It began to drag her back out.
Horror and despair welled up in Kagome's chest.
"No!"
She twisted and turned,kicking and clawing at the side of the well, trying to find something to hold on to. Vines slipped by her hands and she clung to them. The animal continued to drag her out. Kagome gripped tightly to the vines, screaming at the searing pain that shot up her leg as the beast continued to pull at her.
Her strength began to give once more and her hands slipped slightly on the plants. Sobbing, Kagome caught at them again and pulled desperately against the powerful jaws of the animal. Warm blood flowed steadily up her leg from her ankle, soaking the legs of her already torn pants.
Arms trembling, Kagome continued to play tug-of-war with her own body, until finally, her hands slipped completely from the vines and she found her self almost completely out. She made one last helpless grab at the ledge and manged to catch the inside edge. Her head and shoulders were now the only thing left in the well.
'Oh God, is this it? I'm going to die... Mom... Gramps... Souta... I'm so sorry. Inuyasha...looks like you were right after all. This place was too dangerous for me. Inuyasha...'
She suddenly heard a memory of his voice in her mind.
"Don't ask her! Make her teach you!"
Kagome's arms were shaking violently now and she could barely feel her ankle, small blessing that it was.
"I'm sorry... Inuyasha," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "We never really got to that."
But she did remember something Kaede had taught her, at the very beginning of their training.
"Will, Kagome. Ye must have a strong will to use the powers of a priestess to their full potential. Focus your will and ye shall be able to control the power to any form ye wish. We shall work more on that later."
Oh why hadn't she insisted on being taught like Inuyasha had told her too?
'I can't give up... I can't. But I'm so tired..."
Even as she thought this, her arms gave up their hold on the well and she was quickly pulled the rest of the way out, her chin smacking sharply on the wood before she dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. Twisting around to her back, she could see the animal still had her ankle in its mouth. It growled around the flesh in its jaws and Kagome's heart raced in fear.
"Focus your will..."
The beast dropped her ankle, causing Kagome to bite back a cry of agony. She considered backing up to the well, but thought better of it. The animal was standing there, just baring it's teeth, growling. Any movement would set it at her throat, she knew.
"Focus..."
'I don't want to die. Not now, not like this.. I have too much left to do!'
"...your will."
'I want to live! I can't die here, what will Inuyasha do? Souta and gramps will never understand. Mom won't be able to forgive herself. I have to live!'
"I won't let you kill me!" The words burst from her throat and hurled themselves toward the beast in front of her. It blinked, as though confused by her fury, then gave an angry snarl and leaped.
"Focus..."
"No!" Kagome threw her hands up in front of her, palms out.
The beast was inches from her outstretched hands when an explosion of pink light erupted from her open palms, engulfing the animal in flames. It dropped on top of her, thrashing violently, clawing at the ground and tearing at her arms and chest as well.
Kagome screamed again and tied to move from under it. She finally managed to push it off her and rolled away, her back thumping against the side of the well. She watched in fascinated horror as the animal whined helplessly as the flames continued to eat at its body, until finally it went limp and unmoving. She continued watching until there was eventually nothing left but a pile of ash and charred bones.
For several seconds, Kagome stared, unblinking, at the pile of gray mess before her. Her brain had gone blank with shock and she barely registered the haggard, noisy breathing she heard as her own. Finally, after a small eternity that probably lasted no more than ten seconds, Kagome began to feel the aches of her body screaming for her attention. Her ankle throbbed sickeningly, her chest and arms burned and her chin, hip and hands stung. Though her more immediate worry for the moment was her stomach. Or more specifically, the horrible nausea welling up inside it.
Sore and pain ridden though she was, Kagome still managed to crawl the distance to a group of bushes before throwing up what little she had eaten that morning. It was almost a full two minutes before the retching subsided, leaving her with a hollow empty feeling in her gut. Crawling back over to the well, Kagome hosted herself to her one good foot and looked back to the pile of ash and bones once more. For a brief moment, Kagome thought of going to tell Kaede what had happened. She startled herself with a rough laugh.
Go back? She could barely hold herself up as it was. Going to the village was not an option.
Then, the only thing left to do was go home. Sitting down, Kagome levered her legs over the edge with as much gentleness as she could, hissing in pain as even that small movement cause fire to lance up from her ankle. Upon closer inspection she could see, through the tattered and blood soaked cuff of her pants, a nauseating vision of mangled flesh and muscle.
'I had too look.'
Gulping rapidly, Kagome closed her eyes to try and block the image from her mind.
"Oh, I think I'm going to be sick again." Her whisper turned out to be incorrect, however. Instead, she merely blacked out and tumbled headfirst into the well. A momentary feeling of weightlessness occurred to her before she gave in to the pull of unconsciousness. Three last thoughts skittered across her mind as she fell. The first: she was glad to have been at least been facing the right way before she fell. The second: Inuyasha was going to be so pissed at her. The third: stupid wolf.
"Where is he? Where is he?" Inuyasha laughed as he repeated back the words.
This was too much fun. Much better than Buyo, in fact. Why hadn't he ever thought to torment the old guy before?
A sudden image of a ten foot tall Kagome with fury in her eyes and fire shooting from behind her popped into his head.
Oh, yeah. That's why.
'Well Kagome isn't going to be back for another day and a half, so what she doesn't know yet, wont hurt me.'
Giving the old man's shirt another flip, he leaped over to the ledge of the well and crossed his arms, waiting for Kagome's grandfather to stop turning around and look back to him. As with the last four times, as soon as he turned back and saw Inuyasha standing on the well, he began chanting again, waving a slip of paper in the air.
Inuyasha gave a wide yawn and flopped down to sit on the edge.
"I don't know what you're mumbling over there, old man, but chances are it ain't gonna work. Though I would be real impressed if it did." He knew he wasn't being heard, but continued to hold his end of the conversation anyway. "It's probably a good thing there aren't really a lot of demons and such around anymore. You would be out of business real fast. Though on second thought, people are awful gullible, so maybe you would end up being stinking rich after all."
Closing his eyes, Inuyasha gave a hearty sigh and locked his hands behind his head, thinking about one specific and highly gullible person. No, that wasn't entirely true. Kagome wasn't so much gullible as... too willing to believe the best of people. Too willing to help and trust. Too willing to think she was capable of taking care of herself.
He growled at that last thought, baring his teeth angrily as he remembered all too well how steady she was in her belief of her ability to take care of herself. She just wouldn't listen to reason! No matter how many damn times he told her what his former era was like, she just brushed him off as being overprotective.
What was it going to take to convince her? Inuyasha slammed a fist into the wood beneath him and opened his eyes.
Oh, right... forgot about him for a minute.
Seeing that the charm was obviously not working, or at least making the recipient very angry for some reason., Kagome's grandfather backed quickly to the steps and raced up to the door. In his haste, he had left if open and Inuyasha could see him speeding to the storage area of the shrine.
Inuyasha rolled his eyes and got up to follow.
"What the heck is that old man up to now? Some old relic, guaranteed to get rid of demons, no doubt. Well, let's just test it out shall we?"
Feeling only a tiny twinge of guilt, barely even deserving of the name really, Inuyasha trailed after the old shrine priest.
"Damn! Who knew the old coot had it in him?" Inuyasha inspected his arms once more, wincing slightly at the tiny speckles the dotted the back and palms of his hands and traveled part way up his wrists and forearms.
"Holy salt, go figure."
At first when he had seen the tiny packet of white grains, Inuyasha had nearly had a fit laughing at the old man, but once he had come back to the well house and had it thrown at him, the burning sensation hadn't been so funny anymore. At least self preservation had come forth enough for him to throw his hand up before it hit his face. Now that was something he didn't need. A mouthful of toxic table salt.
At least the geezer had been satisfied his cheap trick had worked and left him in peace after a quick circle of salt around the inside and outside of the well house. Inuyasha was smart enough to keep from reappearing in front of Kagome's grandfather again. Let the old guy think he won. Didn't hurt his pride any, and if it kept him from getting a dash of seasoning added to him, all the better.
Inuyasha flopped down to the floor and sighed deeply. Glancing out the window, he could see the sun hanging low on the horizon.
"Huh, guess I took up more of the day than I thought. Well that's good at least." Finding nothing more of interest either inside or out, Inuyasha laid down on his back and fell asleep with happy thoughts of less than a day left until Kagome would be home.
Something was wrong.
Actually, if she could only properly wake up, Kagome was sure she could find many, many things wrong, but at the moment she felt one certain, very specific thing wrong.
She wasn't home.
Even with her eyes closed, she knew she wasn't home. Not safe in her bed, not in the hospital, not even laying at the bottom of the well. The air was wrong, the noise was wrong, the smell was wrong.
She was still in the feudal era.
And that was very, very wrong.
'I know I fell down the well, I know it.'
Forcing her eyes open, Kagome tried to focus her vision to see what exactly had kept her from going home. Her eyes were being rather uncooperative, though she could tell she was outside at least. Wanting to look around better, she tried to sit up.
"I wouldn't recommend that just now. You are in a rather delicate condition."
Startled, Kagome ceased her, rather unsuccessful, attempt to get up and instead turned her head to see who had spoken, as it wasn't a voice she recognized. Her vision was still somewhat cloudy so she blinked a few times to clear them and gave a little gasp as the person beside her came into focus.
"I..." her voice came out in a scratchy whisper and she cleared it impatiently, with little result.
"I know you!"
AN- Evil, I know, but I wanted to get this out. You've been waiting patiently as usual for my slow butt and I didn't want to run late yet again.
Next one will be sooner, for sure.
Review responses will be given in reply format, since it is now frowned upon to answer questions after a story. So, slowly but surely I will get to thank you all (at least who signed) and answer questions. For those I can't reply to, I thank you now and I'll try to answer any question I can through story or ingenious hidden code.
So, bye for now. Thanks for reading and see you soon.
P.S. I keep a somewhat reliable status update for this fic on my profile page if anyone ever wonders when I will be getting around to updating. I know a lot of people already look, but for those who didn't know, well, now you do.