Hello everyone!
Chapter revised.
Thank you to Kayelyn for the corrections! ^_^
Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha...It is really really sad to have to admit this reality! *sigh*
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Chapter 1:
And it started…
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The clearing and the surrounding forest was peaceful. In the middle of which, stood an old dry well.
Suddenly, a blue light emanated from the bottom of the well, filling the clearing with a magic whose origin had long ago been forgotten, lost in the web of time.
A few seconds later, a young woman emerged from its depth. She threw her oversized yellow backpack over the lip, climbed out, and rested for a moment. Climbing out of the old structure without a ladder on this side of the well was tiring, even more when you have a heavy back-pack on your shoulders.
The young woman sat there, a pleasant expression in place as the wind brushed her face. A smile graced her lips as the sun warmed her skin. The school girl named Kagome was always in awe of this time. The Feudal Era was much cleaner and so much more agreeable to her than her own time. The future was made of concrete and steel but here Nature was still free to express her magnificence.
It had already been 3 years since Kagome had fallen into the well and emerged in this time, 500 years before her own. She had been in high-school at the time. It felt like eons ago. Even now, so long after her first ‘jump’, she was still as dazzled as when she first came here. Sighing, Kagome rose and sauntered towards the village to see the old Miko, Kaede.
She wasn’t surprised to see that InuYasha hadn’t come for her. A week ago, a village about a day’s walk from Edo had been attacked by an extremely strong Oni and in possession of a shard of the Shikon Jewel.
The battle was won, but at the expense of the village. There was hardly anything left of the village except for two or three houses, the field and most of the villagers.
With fall approaching, the inu-tachi proposed to help rebuilt. More like Miroku and Kagome proposing to help while InuYasha sulked about having to take a break from the hunt of Naraku and the Jewel shards. However, after a series of ‘sits’ to make him see their way, InuYasha accepted. In the end, the hanyou had helped a lot, but he just couldn’t help grumbling about it. But then, Kagome had been obliged to leave for a few days due to some exams and everything imploded. It took every one of Miroku’s diplomacy skills to smooth things over. After promising to come back a few days later, Kagome was finally able to leave the village.
Now that she was done, she was going back to her group. She had even taken the time to go shopping in the future to buy some traditional medicine to give to the villagers, since everything had been lost.
Kagome walked towards Kaede’s. The young Miko found her beside her home, under the shade of a tree, taking a rest after having worked in her garden, if the basket of herbs at her feet was any indication.
“Kaede!” She exclaimed.
The old Miko turned her head towards the voice. Her wrinkled face broke in a soft smile when she spotted Kagome walking in her direction.
“Ah, Child, you are back. How was everyone at home?” asked the old Miko, while getting back on her feet. Her old bones were really getting to her recently, thought Kagome sadly. She helped her and took the basket for her.
“Everyone is good, Kaede-ba-chan.”
“It’s good to hear, Kagome-child. Come inside, I have some tea ready for you.”
Inside, while sipping her tea, the two women made small talk. Then, Kagome pulled from her bag a remedy that she had promised the old Miko to help with her rheumatism.
They then talked about all that had happened during the time they were away for shard-hunting. How Kimiko, one of the village women, had her fourth baby and how difficult the birth had been. The baby had come upside down, but after a lot and slow work and unfortunately pain for the mother, the old Miko, with the help of another woman of the village, had succeed to turn the baby around. The mother had a light hemorrhage, but everything finished well and she had given birth successfully. Sango had made fast friend with her, and Kagome was sure that the demon slayer would be happy to learn that mother and son were alright.
Thanking the old Miko for the tea, Kagome shouldered her backpack and took the direction of the village where her friends were stationed. She didn’t stop to rest, wanting to reach her companions by nightfall.
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It was mid-afternoon while still walking in the woods, everything went silent. She immediately knew that she was no longer alone. She took the bow from her shoulder, ready to battle if the need arose. She scanned the woods, trying to detect this new presence and see if it was hostile.
Finally, her senses detected what she was looking for: someone or something was coming in her direction. She closed her eyes and let her aura spread.
It is coming… from the left!
Her eyes snapped open and immediately turned to face whoever was coming towards her. She waited a moment. The seconds felt like hours, her heart beating widely in her ribcage. Whatever was coming, it was big.
When Kagome recognized who had this impressive youki, all the blood drained from her face. There was only one demon with such an aura, Lord of the Western Lands, InuYasha’s hated elder brother, the one and unique Sesshomaru.
Maybe it was because he couldn’t sense her, since she was concealing her aura, or because he didn’t deem her worthy of his acknowledgement, but the demon lord passed her as if he didn’t see her. However, Kagome couldn’t stop a gasp from escaping her lips. Immediately, all her muscles tensed when Sesshomaru stopped in mid-step and his royal head turned abruptly in her direction.
She was doomed…