InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Green Child ❯ Take Me Away ( Chapter 1 )

Dedication: To open rainbows and Trelweney Rosepheonixwolf. For being the first to add to story alert and the first to review, consecutively. Thanks for reassuring me that someone was enjoying it! You're awesome!!!

 

A/N: Oops. I meant to put hydrogen, not helium, in that little pondering bit about the stars in the prologue. Crap. My science teachers would beat me over the head with a textbook. And the song for this chapter is by Globus. Epic. Go listen now!

 

And if you notice some style changes between the prologue and this chapter, rest assured they were deliberate.

 

 

~G~C~G~C~

 

Chapter One: Take Me Away

 

“Where are you going?” InuYasha asked as he dropped down in front of her.

Kagome jumped, and tried not to appear too guilty. She was a grown woman, and had every right to be leaving camp unobtrusively (also known as sneaking) in the middle of the night. Actually it was almost dawn, not really the middle any more. Scratch that statement.

 

He was expecting an answer and she hastened to clear her throat and reply. “I'm going home a couple hours early, InuYasha. I'm not really doing anything important here, and if I leave early, maybe I'll be able to come back a little early too.” She tried a cheerful smile as she said it, striving for normality. It seemed that everything she said to him was false and awkward now.

 

When they'd first started their quest, his reaction would have been to bluster and yell at her about wasting time. But now he only nodded. Silently, Kagome wished for the yelling.

 

He was staring at her again, a pensive frown marring his face. Her skin responded by heating, despite her ardent mental protests. Battering down the urge to argue with him, if just for the sake of routine, she tried to make her smile reassuring.

 

“Don't worry about me, InuYasha. I've done this hundreds of time. What could go wrong?” When he didn't appear convinced, she nodded back at where their companions snored behind them. “Stay here and take care of everyone else while I'm gone, okay? I'll be back in a couple days.”

 

His ears twitched, but he snorted and crossed his arms, the picture of gruff surliness.

 

Kagome's smile in response was her first real one since spotting him.

As she walked down the path, she couldn't stop herself from turning once to look back at her friends. Sango and Miroku were curled under their blankets nearer than they ever allowed themselves to be awake. Shippo was curled on top of Kirara, snoring happily away. She thought there might have been a slight glint of red eyes from the nekomata, but it was too far to tell. InuYasha was perched in a tree once again, and his eyes followed her as she turned away.

 

The night was strangely quiet; the sounds of creatures were few and far between as dawn approached. It was almost creepy. She hurried down the trail, eager to reach the well. She was beginning to feel an almost physical need to see her mother, who was always so warm and comforting. After such intense emotional strain, all she wanted was to be hugged by her Mama, as if she were a little girl again.

 

When she finally saw the well, relief at reaching it died as soon as it appeared. Two men were bent over the side of the well, staring down into it. “Hey! Get away from there!” she shouted, running forward. Those idiots will fall in if they're not careful! Her foot caught against a patch of grass particularly slippery with dew, and she skidded to the ground. Kagome gritted her teeth at the pain. Her ankle was twinging, and she'd managed to skin her knees on some rocks. By the time she hobbled to the Bone Eater's Well, the men had vanished.

 

Kagome ground her teeth in frustration. Laying into those two fools would have suited her mood perfectly, and would have been a healthy way to blow off steam. It was important not to let emotions bottle up inside, and yelling was a lovely way to release tension. On top of that, she was now royally pissed.

 

The rational part of her knew that her anger was not just at the two unknown morons, but she still couldn't help wanting to beat them over the head with her bow. The nerve of people!

 

Grumbling, she heaved herself onto the lip of the well, but she didn't jump immediately. For a long moment she just sat there, and stared into the black abyss that had changed her life.

 

There was a rush of air behind her and something pressed against her back. Before she even had the chance to scream she was falling into the well. In the moment before the magic caught her, she twisted around. Two pairs of glowing green eyes stared back at her before being disappearing in the rush of magic.

 

As soon as she thudded to a landing at the bottom, she yelled pointlessly toward the mouth of the well. “What the hell?! You-” her voice died. Above her, the night was lightening into daylight. The roof of the well house was nowhere to be seen. Her heart sped up in her chest as she scrambled to climb out. Thoughts of fires and earthquakes and other natural disasters destroying her home spurred her faster, until she tumbled over the lip of the well, her backpack falling to the grass beside her.

 

Kagome gaped at her surroundings, mind screeching to a standstill. She was still in the clearing that she had just left from. There was no shrine, no house, no cobblestones, no Torii Gates, and no family. It was as if she hadn't jumped at all. But…her mind sputtered to life again. But I felt the magic. It was just like normal. I should be home! Why aren't I home?! Attempting not to hyperventilate, she forced herself to think rationally. Everything would be fine. She'd just jump back in the well and try again. But now the well, standing there silently, seemed ominous. It had betrayed her, and she didn't want to go near it again. My friends! Kagome thought, If I'm still in the Sengoku Jidai, my friends are still here!

 

Shakily, she pulled herself to her feet and stumbled off in the direction she'd come. She must not have been exact enough, because she didn't find her path. She was pushing through bushes, and low-hanging tree limbs, but determinedly she struck out in the direction she remembered. Her mind was a whirlwind of turmoil, but she steadfastly ignored it. If she could just get to her friends, everything would be okay.

 

Kagome's trek was an eternity of confusion, and she fell to the ground groaning when she broke through the trees into a clearing that she thought looked familiar. Two shapes were covered in blankets close to each other, Sango and Miroku. Tears broke past, and silent sobs of relief racked her as she sank to the ground. Her face was pressed into the dirt, and she tried to fight back the panic that had overwhelmed her.

 

Her sobs died down and she looked up, pushing herself to her feet. One of the figures was sitting up staring at her. It was female, but it was not her friend. The youkai's hair was long and blond, with black markings slashed across her cheeks. Her large eyes glowed red as she looked at Kagome warily.

 

Kagome's eyes shot around the rest of the clearing. There was no Kirara with a snoring Shippo on top of her. No Hiraikotsu leaning against a tree. No InuYasha, watching her from a tree. Only these strangers.

 

Kagome turned and ran. Branches whipped against her, scratching her face, her arms, her legs. There was a shout, calling for her to stop, but she ignored it and ran harder. All she could think about was getting away.

 

She broke out into a clearing. Waist high grasses waved gently in the slight breeze, the effect painfully peaceful. As she looked up, her gaze was drawn to the center of the field. A small sapling stood there, so perfectly alone and centered that it had to be deliberate. She didn't realize that she'd walked toward it until her knees hit the dirt.

 

A shaking hand reached out to touch the sapling. Where am I? The thought drifted across her shock.

 

She couldn't see the Bone Eater's Well from where she sat, but she knew exactly where it would be. She knew, just as she knew that the tree in front of her was Goshinboku. Where am I?

 

~G~C~G~C~

 

By the time she heard the pounding of hooves, the horsemen were almost on top of her. Kagome scrambled to her feet to run again, but only managed to duck as a sword sliced through where her neck had been. With a yelp she hit the ground, but was scrambling up again immediately. Warily, she turned to face the men, turning to try and keep all of them in her line of sight. They leered at her, their unshaven faces grinning dangerously.

 

Kagome contemplated how easy it would have been not to get out of bed this morning. Today was in no way `her day.'

 

She had just decided that her best option was to scream very loudly and hope somebody heard it when an arrow suddenly appeared in the neck of one of the men. Before the others had time to react another arrow sprouted in the eye of the attacker closest to her, and he toppled to the ground. Then with a hoarse cry a man was leaping in front of her, slashing at the men on horseback, with the neko youkai from before behind him firing a steady stream of arrows.

 

The fight was over almost before it began. After 3 men fell to the stranger's sword before theirs were even drawn the others turned tail and booked it out of sight. The man whipped the sword to the side sharply, the blood flung off in a rain of scarlet drops, and sheathed it on his back. The youkai was retrieving her arrows, and Kagome felt her stomach turn as she pulled one from the eye socket of a dead man.

 

The pair turned on her, and Kagome shifted awkwardly. They'd just completely saved her ass while she'd stood there gaping like a fish. “Er…thank you. If you hadn't come along…” she trailed off with a shudder. She didn't even want to think about that.

 

“You're the one that was in our camp this morning, aren't you?” The youkai's voice was friendly, but had an undertone of evident curiosity that for some reason Kagome thought was permanent.

 

“Oh, yes, I'm sorry about that, I was just startled to find you there. I'm sorry if I may have inconvenienced you. And thank you again for saving me.” She bowed quickly.

 

The swordsman shook his head. “Inconvenienced? Certainly not. You provided the perfect excuse to teach those bandits a lesson. They've been giving us trouble for weeks. Nearly made off with my horse three days ago.” The man grinned wryly, moving to stand with the demoness. Kagome's mouth nearly fell open as she realized how short he was. He would probably only come up to her own shoulder and the youkai female positively towered over him.

 

Stranger still, he appeared to be wearing the uniform of a demon slayer. Very determinedly not thinking about Sango (it would be rude to start crying in front of them after they'd saved her), she opened her mouth to ask who they were.

 

An arrow streaked out of the trees and thunked into the demon slayer's arm. With a snarl the demoness drew and loosed an arrow of her own, the motion so fast Kagome didn't even see her remove the bow from her back. A cry of pain marked her success, but Kagome was already bending over the injured man.

 

The arrow had punched straight through the muscle of his right arm. Kagome winced when she noticed how close it had come to clipping the bronchial artery. She felt around the wound gingerly, trying to feel the damage.

 

“You know healing?” the demoness's lilting voice was tight with strain, and her brows were creased deeply when Kagome glanced at her.

 

“Sort of. I'm kind of a miko. I've never been trained formally, but I know a little bit.”

 

The youkai considered briefly, then nodded. “I believe you. How bad is the injury?”

 

Kagome grimaced. “It's…not pretty. But I don't think it's damaged anything except for the muscle. It shouldn't be too dangerous as long as we treat it quickly. But I don't think I can get the arrow out right now. I wouldn't want to try it here. And I don't have very much medicine with me,” she said, and worry started to overcome her again. She'd never had to treat a wound like this by herself. InuYasha was the only one who ever got really badly injured, and he healed so much faster than a human it almost didn't matter.

 

“There's a village nearby, we passed through it yesterday. I remember seeing a miko while we were there, she can probably help us.”

 

Oh thank God! She wouldn't have to try to fix this man by herself. Guilt rushed over her in a wave. She was such a coward, relieved not because someone else was nearby to help the man who had saved her survive, but because she wouldn't have to do it by herself.

 

Kagome was chewing herself out furiously in her head as she wrapped strips of cloth around the arrow, tightly keeping it in place.

 

~G~C~G~C~

 

“He'll be fine for now. Until he is fully recovered, he is not to use that arm for anything. Anything, you hear? It'll be in that sling until the muscle fully heals. Change the bandages every day, and whenever you can apply a compress of…”

 

Kagome's head hurt. The miko currently spewing orders like a battle-hardened general was without a doubt the most intimidating woman she had ever met. She was tall for a woman, and the wings of silver prematurely sprouting from her temples gave her a severe look. And she was wearing a sword. What kind of miko wore a sword?

She had not even appeared startled at a youkai haring into her village carrying an injured human, with another human running (gasping for air) after her. She had merely led them to her hut without even asking, and had his injury explained to her on the way there. Then she'd flashed into action upon having him set by her fireside. Kagome had been overawed by the amazing precision she used in her healing. It had been a sight to see, every action precise and perfectly executed. She was reminded, rather oddly, of InuYasha's brother Sesshoumaru. He was just as perfect in battle as this miko was with her herbs and bandages. And they both wore scary looking swords strapped to their hips.

 

Kagome was absurdly grateful that the barrage of orders were not aimed at her. The demoness (she had still yet to learn her name) was standing tall, but her eyes were wide with awe at the woman who was a full head shorter than her.

 

Trying to distract herself from the miko (she was scary), Kagome pretended to be examining the man lying on the tatami next to the fire. He was staring at the ceiling, apparently also trying to ignore the woman laying down the law about what his life was to be for the next several weeks. His upper arm and shoulder were wrapped with bandages, and the arm was tied across his chest in a sling. There was still a fine perspiration coating his forehead that had broken out when the arrow was removed.

 

“Tha-thank you miko-sama. I will do my best to take care of him. You were very kind to help him, especially with how we arrived. My I ask your name?” The youkai bowed as she spoke.

 

“Well, I suppose so girl. My name is Midoriko.” She flashed a brief smile.

Kagome's world rocked on its foundations for the second time that day. It's not even noon yet, she thought vaguely. How can so much happen? The true Shikon miko was standing in front of her. She was standing there, alive and well, smiling slightly, and she was completely unaware she was going to die, or that her death would lead to the suffering of hundreds at the hands of power hungry youkai.

 

There was a rustle and the entrance flap was pushed aside. Wide eyes and a dark head of hair stared at Kagome before the girl, she had to be younger than Kagome, noticed the man on the floor. “Onii-san?”

 

“Izayoi! Thank the gods, you're alright!” The girl broke out in sobs and embraced her brother on the floor. He was laughing and crying, and playfully ruffled her hair as she gingerly hugged him.

 

The youkai was looking curiously at the reunited siblings. “Where did she come from Midoriko-sama?” she asked the miko.

 

The woman snorted. “Silly girl was lost in the woods, wandering around half-starved. She wouldn't tell me where she was from, she just said she'd had to get away. I've been letting her stay with me and help for a couple weeks. She's a good girl, though far too timid.”

 

Kagome was listening, but the words didn't make sense to her. It was too much to handle. First the Goshinboku was only a sapling. Then she almost got killed. Then she met Midoriko. And now Izayoi, InuYasha's mother, just happens to be here as well.

 

It was too much. Her overworked brain decided that it didn't want to deal with all of this, and she passed out in a dead faint. Her last thought was, This had all better be one messed up dream.

 

~G~C~G~C~

 

A/N: Heh. I bet you're all making glorious WTF facing if you read the original. And probably even if you didn't. I feel devious. >.<

 

And I apologize profusely, I promised it out much earlier, but at least I didn't break my two week deal! So, expect another update in two weeks! XD