InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Lost World ❯ Chapter Eighteen ( Chapter 18 )

Lost World

 

By: OtakuSailorV

 

Chapter Eighteen - Alone

 

Rin gasped, taken aback by the sight before her. Was she imagining things? Blinking, she proceeded to rub at her eyes and then looked around again carefully. Her heart swelled with excitement, though she was puzzled by how it had happened; she WAS in a forest. Well, more like a jungle to be exact, but it was still unlike anything she'd ever seen.

 

Trees taller and thicker than any she'd ever seen before towered above her. Craning her neck, Rin strained to see where their long boughs ended. Thick, twisted ropes of vines hung down from the branches and clung tightly to the heavy trunks; they swayed gently in a light breeze that was passing overhead. Various fruits that Rin had never seen were caught in bunches on the vines; ripe and plump. She wondered hungrily if this new fruit was edible…

 

In awe, Rin's mouth hung open, her eyes wide as she hurried to take it all in and record it in her memory. Such a sight as this would be absolutely beautiful on paper as a sketch or story description - though she knew that nothing would do the scene justice. It was simply too beautiful for words or pencil; no medium could completely capture the scene.

 

Her musings were disrupted - as they always were - as a small white monkey swung down as vine she had been looking at. Its black face investigated her curiously before it chattered loudly and clawed at the vine-fruit with ravenous ferocity.

 

Despite its odd behavior and rather sudden appearance, she couldn't help but smile at the fluffy creature. It had white fur too, just like Jiro! Were all the mammals in this world albino, perhaps? She noted it carefully, hoping she would remember to ask Koto about this phenomenon later.

 

`Koto-? Oh! The prince!'

 

Suddenly remembering her stoic guide, she turned about to see what he was doing. How inconsiderate of her to go off daydreaming again!

 

“Oh…” she murmured uneasily, worry creasing her brow as fear began to clutch at her. She immediately fought back her anxiety, forcing herself to remain calm.

 

The reason for her panic, you see, was that the tall prince was nowhere to be seen, nor was the door through which they had entered the `stables.' The jungle surrounded her completely on all sides, showing no sign of any form of entrance or exit. It was almost as if she had been completely transported to the jungle…

 

Rin's anxiety rose again, furiously squeezing her heart as the realization set in that she was entirely alone. Immediately her mind took advantage of her weakness and the moment she had awoken in this strange new world was replayed before her eyes again and again. Frightened, her shoulders bunched up around her neck as a cold chill ran down her spine. She turned swiftly, heart pounding as she watched the tawny white monkey rip into the fruit on the vines. That man that had caused all this, he had worn the pelt of a pure white baboon, hadn't he? Her imagination seized control, warping reality to a dangerous level as her intelligent reasoning was bowled over by her intense fear. She stood still as a statue, her eyes glazed over as she waged an inner war.

 

`It's stupid to act this way,' Rin told herself while her heart hammered. `You're fine, you idiot! FINE! Calm down, there's no reason to act so stupid. Not like you haven't been alone before…'

 

Ashamed that she had such a problem controlling herself in any situation that made her nervous, she forced herself to take deep breaths. Her mind still buzzed and her body restricted movements to a jerk, but she was able to calm somewhat.

 

She was fine, absolutely and completely fine. As long as she stayed exactly where she was, she would be ok. Someone was bound to find her if she stayed put. Sesshoumaru had probably just gone to check something anyway; he wouldn't have left her alone out here…

 

`Always saved, never doing anything on her own,' a voice sneered from the back of her mind. Rin winced at its critical tone.

 

She had been about to take a seat in the grass when the thought occurred to her, and now she straightened back up, sighing wearily as guilt prodded her. She was just as frail and helpless as those shojo manga heroine's that her peers seemed to envy so much. No character development, no depth; by accepting her weakness and being intimidated by her position, she was losing her individualism and becoming a stereotype. That was totally unacceptable; she nodded to herself fervently as she thought. She'd have to dig herself out of this inadequacy if she wanted to keep any shred of personality. At that she nearly laughed, noticing that her stern thoughts were correct, but that she was being far too serious about the whole matter. Was her transportation into this world making her think she was some character in a story, or what?

 

Now yes, the modern-day intellect that she possessed told her that staying put was her best option and provided the most promising chance of survival, but her ego would not have it. Besides, she was probably still in the castle, right? This was probably all just some illusion for the viewer and the animals' benefit; made things seem more “natural.” So there really wasn't anything to worry about; she'd be just fine.

 

Nodding stiffly, she swallowed, unsure as to her choice despite her attempt at being brave.

 

The smell of the earth permeated her senses, lulling her as she stepped amongst the rich foliage. The calming scent of the plants reminded her of her own world again and a melancholy ache throbbed dully in her heart in reply. A light mist clung to her calves and ankles as it hovered just below the thick leaves of the underbrush. A chill ran up her spine, causing her shoulder's to twitch and goose bumps to rise on her arms and legs.

 

The elegant perfume of the exotic flowers were almost intoxicating; their sensuous odors so strong that they bordered on overwhelming the senses. Rin investigated a large purple flower that looked like an overgrown orchid. Or at least that's the word that came to mind when she looked at it. She'd never known much about flowers though, so chances were that she was wrong.

 

“Are you an orchid?” Rin mused aloud as she stroked the flower's soft petals with the tips of her fingers.

 

After a moment, Rin sighed in dismay. “I wish I could keep you, `cause you're so pretty, but it wouldn't really be good for you. You'd wilt right away if I picked you, and there's no way that I could preserve you even if I had a way to dig you up…Heh, guess I'll have to visit you a lot then.”

 

Realizing that she was talking to herself again, Rin snapped her jaw shut, cheeks tingeing pink with embarrassment. Moving on, she hoped that no one had noticed her as she gently nudged protruding plants and low-hanging branches aside and continued to explore.

 

A small sense of adventure had begun to swell in her chest; every beat of her heart pounded excitement throughout her body now, though she was apprehensive to show it. `I've never been on an adventure before,' a childishly excited tone hummed gleefully to her. Rin smiled at the quirky thought, knowing that there was no way she'd admit to such a thing.

 

A crashing sound to her right invaded her ear, crumbling her thoughts instantly. Her neck snapped in the noise's direction as she flinched away, startled. Completely baffled, her vision went askew until she was able to regain her composure and focus. She mentally kicked herself for not paying attention yet again. Kagome had said that her day-dreaming habits would get her killed someday.

 

Ahead, a small animals of some sort - a rabbit probably - was bounding madly away, barely visible as it gingerly darted through the underbrush. Rin watched, unable to tear her eyes away until the animal was out of sight.

After a moment, she sighed with relief; beginning to lean backwards, she laughed at herself for being so jumpy. “I am such a freak…”

 

Her shoulder's found something sturdy to lean against, but the texture certainly wasn't that of a tree. It was far too smooth, and this object - whatever it was - gave under her weight. An odd incline caused her to slip sideways, loosing her footing in her renewed confusion; now her thin shoulders were lodged in a cleft. In a flurry, her mind raced to answer the questions that now presented themselves. Plant? Animal? A monster, perhaps? What was this? What was going on now? Couldn't she stay out of trouble for one minute at least? Was this just an odd tree?

 

Her eyes roamed what she assumed was the trunk, but before she could decipher much, a large golden eye fixed on her. A Tarnished brown head that was covered in scales contained the eye as a thick, scruffy mane of dark brown hair ran from the peak to the base of the neck. Rin's grin began to fade as a sinking feeling followed her realization of what exactly had scared the rabbit away only moments earlier.

 

“A-Amaryu?” her lips fumbled with the familiar name, though she knew that this dragon could never be her silver friend. Amaryu had far more grandeur than this creature…

 

The dragon's jaws parted to show a nice set of sharp teeth; the rancid stench of sulfur leaked forth as a throaty growl rumbled out of what Rin had thought was a trunk. Eyes wide, her nerves jumped to attention, calling forth a wave of adrenaline.

 

Without thinking, she twirled away, knocking into what felt like a second head with her abrupt action. Another growl met her and she yelped as the large bronze head she'd just try to escape from snapped towards her. She dodged away again, but its teeth sank into the sleeve of her school uniform. As she watched a second head rear upward, she stumbled backward and the fabric tore with a loud rip.

 

Astonished, Rin landed on her butt in the bushes, her eyes large as the two-headed beast crouched and angrily hissed at her. Rin paid this no heed though, for stuck in the fangs of the first head was a good-sized chunk of her uniform's sleeve. Touching her shoulder, her fingertips hesitantly felt along the frayed edges of her sleeve. Her uniform…the only thing she had left that tied her to her own world…

 

Jumping to her feet, Rin took two pounding steps toward the dragon - which was seemingly perturbed by her sudden and daring movement - who was growling a warning. Rin mimicked the noises mockingly, anger searing through her. Then, balling up her fist, she brought her knuckles down on the first head's snout sharply with a roar of indignation. The second head - though surprised - wasted no time in trying to attack, but Rin struck out with her other fist and caught it in the temple.

 

Stunned more than harmed, the bulky reptile slumped. Rin snatched the fabric from its mouth, her limbs trembling from the force of her adrenaline.

 

“Bad!” she scolded, small tears of rage stinging at the edges of her eyes. “How dare you tear my uniform! This is very important to me and I won't let anyone touch it, you got that?! And as for you-!”

 

Here she turned to point accusingly at the bush she had landed in when she'd fallen.

 

“I know you're hiding back there, so you'd better get out!”

 

Reluctantly, Jiro sidled out from behind the trees, looking as aloof as ever. Rin huffed as he meandered towards her and sat down regally next to the bush.

 

“What are you doing here?! Where am I?! Why didn't you protect me from this brute?!” Rin jabbed a finger at the two-headed dragon, which flinched away. “And where did Sesshoumaru-sama go?! What in the hell is going on?!”

 

Out of breath, Rin gasped, her face bright red and her voice hoarse from trying to keep herself from crying. Her adrenaline was nearly spent now and in the lapse of willpower, her anxiety was creeping back in, choking her throat with sobs. Her eyes glistened, but she staved off the tears that her anger and panic had created.

 

Stuffing the torn scrap of fabric she had retrieved into the pocket of her blouse, she sighed as she collected her thoughts. Now that her adrenaline and anxiety were gone, she was beginning to feel emotionally and mentally spent, though she showed no sign of physical fatigue at all. Her knuckles sure hurt though, the dragon's skin had been tougher than she thought.

 

She grimaced at the tiny flecks of blood that had welled up in the places where the dragon's scales had scraped the skin away. Deciding she could have suffered much worse, she put the thought aside and turned her attention back to her questions.

 

“Well?” she prodded, though her attention span was completely shot now. Her mind wandered aimlessly and her eyes went in and out of focus as she looked about.

 

The two-headed dragon sat on the ground, with both heads lowered and their eyes raised pleadingly towards her. She would have laughed at such a look on a dragon had it not been for the fact that Jiro had vanished once again.

 

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Aack, it's been so long again!! I am so, so sorry to you all!! I've been really busy at school with projects and stuff and technically I should be typing up two short stories, a book report, and finishing two art pieces for my exam portfolio by Tuesday, but I really wanted to get this up.

 

All of my other stories shall be updated soon! I swear!! A Single Wish's new chapter is already complete, I just have'ta re-type it since my old computer will not transfer the document.

 

FANART NEWS! W00t! I got a new piece up on my deviantArt page of Rin and Jiro, just for you all!! Yepp, and I've updated my profile with direct links to all of my fanfiction-related fanart too. Just so you don't have'ta search my gallery for one specific piece anymore. Hope you enjoy!!

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

Review Please.