Red hair; the crown you never take off.

The defining feature you can never truly shake.

Andy sighs as she wrangles her hair, wild and thick, into a braid that falls down her along her spine to brush against the small of her back. Once her hair is out of the way she slips on her school uniform and smooths down the pleats of her shirt so that they lay flat and pristine along her thighs. Officially dressed Andy looks herself over in the mirror, scowling slightly at her reflection before turning away and making her way out of the bathroom and to the kitchen where her aunt Phoebe is making breakfast.

Her aunt Phoebe is a lovely woman; shorter than Andy by about a head with golden hair that brushes her shoulders and a pair of dark blue eyes that look a bit too big for her face, there's a sharpness to her that's come from years of telling people what to do, how to do it, and when she wants it done. Andy doesn't look all that much like her honestly, it's hard to believe the two of them are related, almost impossible. Still, Andy likes to think there's something of herself in her aunt's features and she tries to pick them out as she watches her aunt make breakfast over the stove. Their cheekbones are similar, so is the shape of their mouth. Andy smiles as she steps further into the kitchen.

"Good morning Andy! Are you walking to school with Kagome today?" Her aunt asks, smiling bright and wide as she twists away from the stove.

Higurashi Kagome lives a little ways down the street at her family's shrine. In the year Andy's lived in Tokyo they've become really good friends and it's not uncommon for the two of them to walk to and from school together. Today's no different and it's a little weird that Phoebe's asking as it's so routine. Andy stares at her for a long moment before sliding into her seat at the table.

"Yeah, we're meeting in a little bit actually."

"Good, are you coming straight back after school?"

Andy glanced at the older woman as she slides a plate full of fetoydia in front of her. Her aunt smiles as she pulls away, it's a thin smile, full of tension that Andy can't find a reason for. Kagome has always been welcome in their home, encouraged to come over as often as she's available, and there's never been an incident that would result in her aunt not liking the slightly younger girl. As she places a napkin across her lap and takes up her fork Andy wonders if it has anything to do with her aunt's job. They move around a lot and this would be the ninth time she's moved in fifteen years, the thought of moving again makes Andy's eyes burn. She doesn't mind moving around but she has so many friends here and she genuinely enjoys living in Tokyo which is why the possibility of moving away again makes her want to rage against her aunt. But she's jumping to conclusions and so Andy swallows the mouthful of food in her mouth.

"I'd planned on it, yeah." She says to her aunt.

Her aunt smiles and nods before offering a gentle, "I've got to go. Lock up when you leave, ok?"

Andy nods and accepts the chaste kiss Phoebe plants on her forehead before she goes, the heels of her shoes clicking against the floor before disappearing as the front door snaps shut. Andy shakes her head slightly before turning her attention back to her breakfast. As she picks at her meal the not-quite-sixteen-year-old wonders what's got her aunt all riled up. She can't come up with anything reasonable so Andy drops the subject for the moment, finishes her breakfast, cleans up her mess, and gathers all of her things together before leaving her house.

It's rather warm out considering it's early March, there's not a cloud in sight and the typical hustle and bustle of Tokyo is a welcome familiarity to Andy as she begins making her way down the street to the Higurashi shrine where Kagome and her family live. Within a matter of minutes Andy is making her way up the extensive amount of stairs leading to Kagome's home, sucking in deep breaths rather deliberately because she's noticed that sometimes she tends to hold her breath, and that's far from a good thing. When Andy reaches the top of the stairs she's panting slightly but doesn't feel like she's dying. So that's good she supposes.

"Hey Sota!" Andy calls when she sees the boy lingering around the wellhouse.

Trotting over to where he's standing Andy carefully removes her bag to set it on the ground beside Kagome's familiar square one. The bag tilts precariously to the left but doesn't tip over and Andy leaves it half propped, half toppled against the side of the wellhouse as she gently nudges Sota away so that she can get a look inside the wellhouse. It's dark, the only real light coming from the door.

"Good morning Andy! How are you today?" Kagome greets as she trots down the stair.

"I'm good! Happy birthday by the way!" Kagome turns to flash her a bright smile before returning to the task at hand. Andy turns to Sota, "What's going on?"

"Buyo's in there." Sota explains, the bowl of cat food still clutched in his hand.

Something isn't right.

Andy doesn't know what it is, doesn't know why she feels the way she does, but all the same she ends up pushing passed Sota so she can begin slowly creeping down to the bottom of the well where Kagome is searching for her cat. Kagome's terrified shriek has Andy practically jumping out of her skin before she shoots down the rest of the stairs to put herself between Kagome and... the cat that is weaving between her legs and mewling up at her as he rubs his body along her ankles.

Grunting in faint annoyance Andy crosses her arms and steps away as Kagome gathers the cat into her arms.

"You make fun of me because I'm scared," she hears Sota say, "and then you're all, 'Ahhh'!"

"Look who's talking Mr. Why-Do-I-Have-To-Go!"

Ignoring them in favor of listening to the faint scratching coming from the well Andy steps back and wraps a hand around Kagome's wrist, gently pulling to get the younger girl away from the well.

"Hey, maybe we should go..." she says just as Sota cries, "Sis, behind you!"

Andy cries out as the wood planks covering the well fly off, the seal keeping it shut having been ripped to shreds along with the wood, and something that looks vaguely like shredded flaps of silk or hands reaches out to wrap around Kagome's shoulders. There's only a split second before Kagome goes tumbling back into the well that Andy has to wrap both hands around Kagome's foot to try to keep her from tumbling further into the well... In the end she loses the battle against whatever else is latched onto Kagome and they all end up sailing into the well together as Sota calls out to them both.

Falling, she and Kagome are falling but they aren't actually landing on the packed earth of the well's bottom or splashing into water. Andy knows for a fact that the well has a bottom, that it's not limitless, and so she pries her eyes open just in time to see dark shadows bleed into endless night; a plethora of unidentifiable stars blinking and winking at them in the darkness. It's lovely. It calls to something ancient in her blood that sings at the sheer radiance of whatever is happening around her. Andy thinks that maybe the sudden heady taste on her tongue might not be from the leftover honey and cinnamon from breakfast.

"Alive, oh, to be alive once more!" a woman practically moans, forcing Andy's attention away from the stars blinking around her and back to the think that grabbed Kagome. "Already my strength returns! You have it, don't you? Give it to me."

Andy clings desperately to Kagome's ankle as something leans close and licks Kagome's face. It's terrifying. Andy has no idea how to help Kagome and there's a strange burning in her chest that doesn't make all that much sense to her. Secondary senses maybe? Some ancient fight or flight response that's been bread out of humans for centuries? Andy isn't sure what it is but the burning doesn't go away as Kagome rears back.

"Wh-What are you doing? Let go!"

A flash of purple light forces Andy to close her eyes and turn her face away, the burn in her chest fading as the strange light stings her eyes, but even with her eyes closed she can still hear the thing's angered cries as whatever is happening affects it too.

"Wretched girl! I must have the sacred jewel!"

Andy isn't too sure what happens after that but one moment she and Kagome are hovering in the not-void and the next the two of them are sprawled out on packed dirt. It's the bottom of the well, Andy realizes that when she opens her eyes and finds herself staring at vine covered stone walls that rise high above their heads. She groans as she shifts up onto her knees.

"You alright?" She hears Kagome ask and immediately twists to look at the other girl.

"Yeah, you?"

"I'm fine." Kagome glances around the well, eyes locking on something just behind Andy before she grows pale and turns to look at the top of the well. "Hey Sota! Get Grandpa!"

No one answers.

Andy turns to look at the severed arm laying limp on the ground. Obviously there's something not right about the arm, Andy's not stupid enough to think that what happened to her and Kagome is natural, but there's something... wrong with it. If that makes any sense. She's never claimed to be a spiritual person, or even someone to believe in the supernatural, but the feeling she gets whenever she looks at the arm is like touching something slimy. She just gets a bad feeling from it. Which would tell any sensible person that the best thing to do would be leave the severed lump of flesh alone.

"Come on," she says to Kagome, "we might as well climb up while we can."

It doesn't look like it'll be too hard of a task. There seems to be several natural footholds and whatnot for them to use to aide their ascent and they're both physically fit enough that while it might not be a pleasant experience it's not going to be impossible for them to climb up and out of the well.

"Do you think Sota's ok?" Kagome asks as she makes her way over to the wall Andy is closest to.

"I think he's probably scared out of his damn mind and took off to get help. Either way, we need to get out of this well before that thing comes back and tries to eat us." Is Andy's clipped response.

"You think... You think it'll eat us?" Kagome squeaks.

"Didn't seem overly friendly to me so it's not out of the realm of possibility." Andy says as she rolls up her sleeve, "Come on."

Kagome makes a noise of hesitance before sighing and beginning the climb. Andy watches her for a long moment to make sure she doesn't fall, and also to make sure she isn't dreaming this entire situation up because that seems like a reasonable possibility, before she begins climbing up after her friend. Hopefully, if Kagome slips and falls Andy can gab her or steady her before anything bad happens. While she's in no way going to be able to stop the other girl from falling at least she can try to catch her before she actually can. Thankfully Kagome doesn't fall, neither does Andy, together they scale the length of the wall little by little until they're both able to hoist themselves over the lip of the well. Andy allows herself to tumble out of the well and onto the ground, a mess of limbs and green fabric and vibrant red hair, while Kagome merely perches herself on the well.

"I could be wrong... but Toto, I don't think we're in Tokyo anymore" Kagome mutters, causing the other girl to open her eyes and look around, because, what?

The moment she actually gets a good look at their surroundings Andy's heart is beating a crescendo against her sternum. There are trees everywhere, and grass, and pale blue sky, and not a single hint of anything resembling the shrine that either of them can see. Kagome calls out to her family, probably hoping that she's hit her head and is hallucinating this entire thing. Andy knows neither of them are hallucinating or crazy. Whatever pulled them into the well somehow managed to dump her and Kagome somewhere else, which is terrifying in and of itself.

After a few minutes of pacing around the well and calling out for her family Kagome suggests they head out and search around for living, breathing people. It's a good idea. This way they can ask for help and figure out where they are but... Andy rubs her chest as that heat from earlier flares hot. Still, despite her hesitance Andy follows Kagome deeper and deeper into the forest - an actual forest!- and makes sure to keep an eye out for anything suspicious while Kagome calls out for her family. The last thing either of them need is that thing catching them unaware.

"It's like the family shrine's not even- Oh! The tree!"

Kagome reaches out to lace her fingers through Andy's and begins tugging her along in the direction of the familiar tree rising higher than any of the others around it. Having come to and gone from the Higurashi shrine as many times as she has Andy recognizes the Goshinboku rather quickly as she and Kagome come charging out of the foliage growing near the tree, she does not, however, recognize the boy pinned to its trunk.

"Is that a... boy?" Kagome asks as she takes a few tentative steps forward, fingers slipping from Andy's grasp like water.

Upon closer inspection Andy finds that not only is the boy pinned to the tree, with an arrow of all things, but he's also got a pair of ears sprouting from the top of his head that look vaguely like those of a dog. He's handsome, pretty even, and Andy thinks that if the circumstances were different she would be just as entranced with him as Kagome seems to be but she just can't shake the bad feeling she's getting the longer she stands there staring at the boy.

"Oi! Kagome! What do you think you're doing?" Andy cries as Kagome hops up onto the roots growing around the boy.

The other girl doesn't even respond. She just reaches up, hands hesitating around the boy's ears, and then grabs them so that she can run her thumbs over what looks like incredibly soft fur... Hair? Andy makes a distressed noise in the back of her throat; something like a high pitched whine and a mad giggle, because what the fuck is Kagome even doing? She continues to make the sound as Kagome pulls away to look at her.

"Not that that's out of my system-" "-Get away from there!"

Arrows shoot past them, one grazing Andy's shoulder as it goes by, and both girls shriek as they attempt to hide themselves from the volley of primitive death missiles raining down on them. In the scramble to find cover Andy drops to create a smaller target and the burning from earlier returns full force, heat pooling in her chest and seeming to light the rest of her veins on fire. She tentatively holds her hands out in front of her, palm up, and finds that the veins in her hands are glowing a sort of off-golden-orange hue. Fire. The color reminds Andy of fire.

"What the fuck," she mumbles lowly, hysterically, as someone wrenches her hands behind her back and ties them with coarse rope that feels like it's biting into her bones.

"Hey! What are you doing? Let go of me!" She hears Kagome shriek.

Knowing she should probably not freak out right now Andy forces herself to count backwards from ten and assess her situation. So far she and Kagome have been sucked into a well, accosted by something less than human, they've found a dog-boy in the forest, Kagome essentially groped him, they've been shot at and pretty much abducted, and are now being shoved down a packed strip of dirt that leads through the forest like some kind of road. Kidnapped. They're totally being kidnapped.

Andy takes a couple of deep breaths to steady her nerves as they exit the forest and enter a cleared stretch of land that's being used for crop ground. She's lived in Tokyo for about a year now and she has never ever, ever seen this farm before nor has she ever seen that particular forest. Why? Because it shouldn't even be there! Unless people can tear down an entire city and rebuild a feudal style village in less than an hour Andy seriously doubts that she's even in the Tokyo she and Kagome left behind. The men pushing them around drag them to the center of the village, shove them down onto the ground, tie up their ankles, then take off to find someone named Kaede.

Andy tugs experimentally at her bods, aware of the people watching her, and swears under her breath when Kagome pops off with a loud, "You didn't have to tie us up, you know!"

"Kagome, be quiet." She hisses as the villagers ponder over their clothes and Andy's hair and whether or not they're foreigners.

Her personal favorite is that it's some ominous war tiding and that the villagers won't be able to finish their crop season in peace. Because priorities.

Around them people murmur and mutter and throw theories around but none of the people seem overly hostile which Andy seriously appreciates. The longer she sits on the ground and the calmer the people are the less burning she feels in her chest. It's a tense situation all around but at least Andy doesn't have to worry about whether or not she's going to have another panic attack or hallucination like she did back in the forest. What else could it have been? She seriously doubts that she was actually glowing.

Someone else would have noticed it if she was, right?

"Make way for High Priestess Kaede!" Someone calls, bringing the attention of the crowd to an elderly woman with long hair, an eye patch, a bow, and the traditional clothes worn by priestesses.

The woman, Kaede, approaches them and stops just a few feet away from where Kagome and Andy are sat. She reaches into the pocket of her hakama and produces a large bag that's tied off with a leather cord, after handing her bow off to a man that lingers beside her the priestess unties the bag, reaches in, and thrusts her hand out to shower Andy and Kagome with a mix of herbs with a cry of, "Demon be gone!"

Kagome shakes her head back and forth in a possible attempt to shake the herbs out of her hair while claiming that neither of she nor Andy are demons, that they're lost and need help. Andy would appreciate the effort but she can't hear Kagome over the roaring that's started in her ears. The herb mix doesn't hurt exactly, it's more of a sting, but it still makes that burning from earlier flare up with a ferocity Andy couldn't have ever anticipated. Even after the shower of herbs has stopped Andy finds that it's difficult to catch her breath or soothe the raging, aching thing in the back of her head screaming at her to defend herself.

Several moments must have passed while Andy fought to control her breathing and the ringing in her ears because suddenly Kagome is brushing her hair back from her face and rubbing her back.

"Are you alright?" She asks, voice barely over a whisper but Andy can see the worry in her friend's eyes.

"Yeah. Fine."

"Come on, we're going to go and talk to Kaede... She might be able to tell us what's going on."

Andy nods and Kagome helps her to her feet after freeing her ankles. Once she's up and settled Andy carefully brushes the herbs off of her clothes, gritting her teeth against the stinging in her hands as she does, and when it finally doesn't bother her to touch her own clothes Andy looks up to find the woman with the eye patch staring at her inquisitively through a narrowed brown eye. With a slight scowl at the older woman Andy squares her own shoulders in reply, tilting her chin up to meet the older woman's eye, neither quivering nor cowering - body still with a confidence she doesn't understand.

The woman turns away first, losing whatever weird battle the two of them might have been having to tell one of the men to untie her. Not one to disobey orders a man with terrified brown eyes moves to cut through the ropes wrapped around Andy's wrists and ankles, trembling as she moves to rub feeling back into her hands. Beside her, Kagome frets and mutters before falling quiet as the older woman tells them to follow her.

A look is shared between the girls. If they follow the woman it could mean bad things for them, but if they stay then they won't get any answers. With a sigh of defeat- she'd really like to go home, honestly- Andy rises and trails after their newfound host alongside Kagome. It's a quick trip and soon enough both Kagome and Andy are settling in the woman's home, being served a stew that smells like absolute greatness. Smiling, Andy takes her bowl from the woman and begins eating as she and Kagome talk.

"Bear us no ill will, children," the priestess says, "for though I now see ye mean us no harm, in these troubled times of war no stranger may be welcomed among us without deep mistrust."

Which is a valid reason for not trusting Kagome or Andy but maybe not the most valid reason for tying them up and showering them with burning herbs. Andy wonders what it is the mix is made with. Obviously she's allergic to something in it and the quicker she finds out what that herb is the better off she'll be later down the road.

"We really aren't in Tokyo anymore are we?" Kagome asks.

No, Andy thinks, we're really not.

"To-ky-o? Never heard of it. Is that where your people are from?" Kaede asks.

"Uh," Kagome and Andy share a look, "yeah. So I, we, should get going"

Despite the fact that neither of them have any idea where they're going, how they've gotten here, or where the thing that dragged them into the well even is. Great, excellent, Andy sips at the broth in her stew and wonders if Kagome's just really uncomfortable or has no sense of self preservation. Because if they go into the forest right now it's likely neither of them are going to be getting out of it alive. Not with that thing crawling around in the dark where Andy or Kagome can't see. While it obviously hadn't been going to Andy it's not like she's just going to let it go after Kagome. As martyr-ish as it is Kagome is Andy's best friend and if it came down to it Andy would do some pretty ignorant things for her.

Boom!

Andy's bowl drops from her hand as she whips around to face the sound of tumbling wood and terrified screaming. A bell begins tolling soon after the commotion settles for a moment and then it's chaos. The three of them share a wide-eyed look before scrambling for the hanging covering the front entrance. Andy watches as people race by, looking terrified, and wonders what the hell is going on.

"What's going on?" Kaede calls out before she begins running for the street, followed closely by Andy and Kagome.

What they find is terrifying.

The thing from earlier is back and destroying the village. She tears through homes heedless of the people she's killing and when she rises up into the air there's a horse dangling from her mouth by its withers. Andy cries out as she flings the poor thing in the direction of her and Kagome. The three of them fall back as the animal gets closer and Andy just hopes it dies quick because there's no possible way it's going to survive such a traumatic fall without some seriously fatal internal injuries.

"It's that thing!" Kagome cries and it's beady eyes narrow as they focus on her.

"Give me the sacred jewel!" It shrieks before coming after them.

Kagome pulls Andy off to the side just as the thing goes hurdling passed.

"It said sacred jewel," Andy hears Kaede says, "are ye its till?"

"Uh, I have no idea!" Kagome cries, panicked. "I mean, I've heard of the jewel, but I-"

Andy rolls up onto her hands and knees, rises, and then drags Kagome up as well. They watch, horrified, as the thing begins spinning around and slaughtering people. They scream as they're tossed through the air and dropped in various places, some continuing to moan as others go silent. Andy hopes they're just unconscious but figures that's a fool's hope as the thing doesn't seem too keen on leaving anyone alive. A hand on her own startles Andy out of her thoughts. Kagome eyes her for a moment before turning to glare at the creature. They're all watching it as two men come stumbling over.

"We must lure it to the dry well!" Kaede says, finds clenched at her sides.

"The dry well?" Kagome asks, twisting to stare at the older woman.

"In the forest of Inuyasha."

Andy frowns for a long moment before spinning on Kagome with a cry of, "The well we climbed out of!"

Kagome says something Andy doesn't quite catch before the other girl is tearing off toward the trees with the creature on her heels. Andy swears colorfully before taking off after Kagome despite the people crying out for her to stop, to not go into the forest, but how can she not? Kagome is her friend, her best friend, she was the one who welcomed Andy without any hesitance, who always smiles at Andy and helps her when she needs it. Kagome is Andy's girl, and you don't let your girl go into enemy territory alone. It's basically the first rule of girl code or whatever. So Andy sprints after Kagome and the creature and tries not to worry about the fact that she's very likely going to die.

Andy's lungs burn as she sprints after Kagome, gaining on the creature who is snarling and hissing like a rabid animal at Kagome's heels. There's no way she's going to get between Kagome and the creature at this rate and in her desperation Andy pushes herself harder.

Gotta get Kagome, gotta get Kagome, gotta get- Kagome!

The dark haired girl has veered right and is currently sprinting up a hill towards the treeline while the creature snaps at her and roars. Seeing fangs and too many limbs preparing to lunge for Kagome the red-head screams and thrusts out her hand. Something pulses in the air around them, static-like and intense, it makes the creature writhe and twist away which gives Andy enough time to close the distance between her and Kagome, but not before the thing hits the ground and sends the other girl flying into the dirt.

Andy skids to a halt at Kagome's side, dropping to her knees so she can check her friend for any serious injuries.

"Hello, Kikyo. Playing with bugs now, are we?"

Frowning, both girls look up to find the boy pinned to the Goshinboku glaring down at them. He's focusing more on Kagome like he knows her, glaring down at her from where he's pinned to the tree with eyes that flash golden with their hatred. Andy doesn't like it and she moves to hover closer to Kagome as the girl rises and steps closer to the tree.

"So you're alive?" Kagome asks.

"Why you taking so long to kill it? Just do her like you did me."

Andy doesn't like where these accusations are going. Whoever this Kikyo is was obviously not someone to be trifled with and is apparently the one who managed to shoot the dog-boy at some point. Which would without a doubt leave some reasonably hateful feelings behind. Andy doesn't think she'd be overly fond of someone who shot her and pinned her to a tree for who knows how long, especially when the boy is implying this Kikyo tried to kill him. Still, Kagome isn't Kikyo and Andy doesn't like that he's mistaking the two as it could mean other people are mistaking Kagome for Kikyo, which is bad. So Very, very bad.

"You look pretty dumb there, Kikyo." Dog-boy says, "The Kikyo I know wouldn't waste her time."

"That does it! Kikyo, Kikyo! Whoever she is, she isn't me! Because my name is-" "She's here."

Andy has only a split second to lift her hands up in a desperate attempt to stop the creature from hitting her or batting her off to the side but nothing smacks into her despite Kagome's terrified scream. There's a sound like metal sinking into flesh and Andy opens her eyes to find that several villagers have harpooned the creature-woman in the side and along her... lower segment.

"Good, now pull!"

While the men strain to pull their previous attacker away from the tree Andy can hear Kagome and dog-boy arguing in the background about whether or not Kagome is some woman named Kikyo - "Ka-Go-Me!" she manages to catch- but she's too invested in watching the creature to care. She, it, doesn't seem at all bothered by the men tugging at her wounded flesh and there's a split second where she makes eye contact with Andy before she smiles and goes for Kagome like there's nothing lodged in her flank. Andy darts forward to help, somehow, but Kagome's scream and a weird sort of hazy light that makes Andy a little dizzy knocks her off balance and causes her to stumble.

It all happens so fast after that that Andy barely sees anything until Kagome lands on the ground, sprawled out and clutching at her side which is oozing blood. Red stains the previously pearly white of Kagome's uniform top and a strange sort of buzzing starts in Andy's ears. Her fingers begin tingling shortly after followed closely by a weird sort of secondary voice telling her to turn around and fucking demolish whoever dared to hurt Kagome, her friend, the sister-of-her-soul. Furiously, Andy whips around to glare at the being that went after Kagome only to find a little pink jewel laying on the ground between them.

Within moments Kagome is pinned to the tree with the dog-boy beneath the creature's coiled lower segment. Andy snarls, bares her teeth, as the woman laughs and begins taunting them.

"I heard some half-demon spawn was after the sacred jewel."

"Half's all I need to kick your scaly hide. Anything more than that would be a waste of my time."

"Listen, you talk big but can you back it up?" Kagome demands, "Can you or not?"

"What can he do? Pinned there like that, or you, for that matter? You're powerless to stop me." The creature says before she bends down and allows her tongue to unfulr so she can use it to scoop up the pretty pink jewel.

Rage and vague horror war within Andy at the woman begins to change. Her arms glow and float up from the ground to reattach to her body, her skin falls away to reveal another set that does nothing to hide the enormous red eyes and obscenely large fangs. Andy bares her own blunted ones at the creature, unafraid and frankly too angry to really think her next few actions through.

Manic laughter pulls Andy's attention away from the creature currently heaving and trembling back to the tree where dog-boy is currently arrow-less and still pinned to the tree. It must terrify the creature because it shrieks before moving to crush Kagome and the dog-boy with her lower segment. It doesn't work well for her and soon the creature's body is being torn to shreds and Kagome's send flying. Acting quickly Andy rushes forward to snatch Kagome out of the air before she hits the ground, an accomplishment she doesn't even realize shouldn't be possible.

Together they kneel on the grass, watching through wide eyes as dog-boy claws the other creature straight down the middle. Which, again, shouldn't be possible. At all. Normal people don't just use their nails to cut people in half.

But he's not simply human, a strange disjointed voice whispers in her head, is he? You know this, you sense this, you're no ignorant, simpering lesser being.

Andy jumps as the body part beside her starts twitching, leaping away from it with a grunt of not-quite-disgust even as Kaede tells Kagome to find some glowing flesh. Because apparently that little pink jewel from earlier? Yeah, it's what's giving the creature it's juice. Which is confirmed when kagome finds the jewel, Kaede pulls it out, and the flesh of the thing that was once Mistress Centipede turns to dust. Andy watches as Kaede hands Kagome the jewel, which pulses a strange sort of energy as it's rolled into her palm.

"But how'd it get inside my body? Why would I have a jewel wanted by demons?" Kagome asks, because it's a seriously valid questions right about now and Andy would like the answer as well.

"Exactly. Humans can't use it, so why bother to keep it?" Dog-boy's voice rips through the gentle peace that had settled over them. "If you hand the jewel over right now I won't have to start sharpening my claws on you."

The rage that had settled into heated annoyance flares back up as Andy steps boldly between Kagome and dog-boy.

"You touch her," Andy growls, "and I will rip the flesh off of your bones."

Dog-boy pauses, the haughty arrogance on his face bleeding into hesitant smugness while Kaede turns to level her with a curious look. Andy doesn't care what the older priestess is thinking, all she cares about is the boy with the flurry dog ears and Kagome's trembling terrified form clinging to the fabric of her uniform shirt. Kagome's fear is palpable and it only makes Andy angrier. Should the boy in red come after the sister-of-her-soul Andy will burn him to a crisp, she will destroy him in ways no one has ever thought to destroy a person and she will do it with a smile. Because he's not human and that strange disjointed voice is urging her to do something Andy isn't entirely sure how to do but she'll do it if she must; for Kagome. She's do anything for Kagome.

So when the dog-boy flexes his fingers to draw attention to his claws Andy merely smiles a shark's smile and carefully dislodges Kagome's grip. If it's a fight he wants, well, she'll give him the biggest fight of his life.