InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Nikanaru ❯ What Time is it? ( Chapter 13 )

 

PREVIEWS! Little Glimpses into future happenings of Niknanaru! (And a few other trinkets as well.)

Preview number 1:

www.deviantart.com/view/34160785/

(Remember, copy, paste, then close the spaces)

In future installments of "Nikanaru", Max will be armed, as you can expect there to be plenty of violence... and I decided to go with that sword I designed a little while back. It was originally called "The Lament of the Innocent", but then I found out that there's a Castlevania game out there with an almost exact same name. So, I've tentatively renamed it the "Revenge of the Innocent." See, most weapons in Inyuasha are made out of demon bone… this one's made out of bone AND living flesh.

Spooky.

www.deviantart.com/view/34161987/

So, that's Al introducing you to her not-so-little friend. Where on earth does she get a gun, despite being about 500 years in the past, when handguns didn't yet exist in a convenient form? That'll be explained (and convolutedly so) in later chapters. Just rest assured, she ain't gonna be no damsel in distress for the entire story.

It's also a similar deal to the bow and arrow traditionally used by mikos in this series, except bullets will be holy empowered. Big, pink shots of justice…yeah!

www.deviantart.com/view/34161226/ (Warning: Just a little bit bloody)

Sooo... as it turns out, Max DOES have a bit of a temper. What circumstances led to this bloody little escapade? Who's the unfortunate victim? Does Max have a potential future as the spokesperson for "Clear Eyes"? (Gets a claw across the face for that lame joke.)

Stay tuned!

And… not previews, but some random Inuyasha-related things I've been doing in the meanwhiles…

www.deviantart.com/view/34160933/

I took a try at drawing an older version of Kikyo. I wrestled with the whole "Anime Eye" thing that's been giving me so much trouble lately, and I think I've sort of circumvented it by going for a cross between classic eye dots and the style I saw on "Naruto."

I guess it turned out A'ight.

And, finally…

www.deviantart.com/view/33116976/

A request from another author. She's really into Kouga/kagome stuff. I only sort of am. This was the result.

Let's assume, for whatever reason, Kouga gets stuck in Kagome's time. Let's also assume he adapts quite shockingly fast, and in all the wrong ways.

This is the oldest work here… you can sort of tell the problem I was having with anime eyes beforehand if you look at Kags here… God, that's abysmal. Would you believe that I drew about five versions of her, and THAT was the best one I could come up with? Pllttthhh!

 

Nikanaru

Chapter 13:

What Time is it?

Or

The Great Rooster Epiphany

Why had he hated camping so much as a kid?

This place is really… um, pretty, I guess. That was a kind of girlish assessment, he supposed, but that was the only one Max found to be fitting as his golden eyes wandered about the moonlit forest. In this bright night, the normally green and brown forest was paletted with several lovely shades of dark blue. Occasionally, there would also be the sparkle of a firefly, and even the gleaning eyes of a small animal. Something that also strangely aroused a pleasant feeling in him were the smells. When the scent of this pure, untarnished forest had first hit his nose, it came in like a massive lump of unfamiliarity. Over the course of this ten-minute walk through this place, though, Max had gotten used to the smells and had managed to separate and decipher them.

It would be difficult to understand by human standards, but for a creature such a Max, for whom smelling things was almost as crucial as seeing them, all of this was like experiencing a brand new sensation for the first time. Not only was the air completely free of toxins and pollutants, something he'd never imagined possible, but his nose had picked up on a wealth of new smells: Plants, animals and all sorts of other things he'd never smelt before. If the sense of smell was to be compared to the sense of sight, then this experience was like being surrounded by all sorts of cool, flashing bright lights and neon Vegas-style signs. Only less tacky.

In that sense, though, it was also maybe a little blinding. The sheer number and potency of all these aromas were kind of overwhelming.

After everything that had happened to him in the last few days, Max should have been, by all rights, completely batshit paranoid of anything unfamiliar. But here in these woods, it was… pleasant somehow. As though it somehow excited from within him a child-like curiosity and sense of wonder. Part of him even wanted to chase down each of these new scents and investigate what they were.

Of course, he wasn't going to be doing that anytime soon. Naturally, the safety of both Al and himself were paramount, with or without his funky newfound feelings. Right now, the plan was to follow this “Kikyo” lady to this stream, get some water, and figure out where the hell this fresh-smelling place was.

Still, though… this place isn't half bad. I really should try to get out of the city more often. It's weird though, we only camped a few times back when I was a kid, and I distinctly remember hating the hell out of it… why was that?

A prick occurred on his cheek, and Max reflexingly smacked at it.

…Oh… Right.

The bugs, the mosquitoes, the greasy insect repellent, the canned spam, the hour-long struggle to get a campfire started, the musky tents and lumpy sleeping bags, the being bored out of my mind… and, oh my God, having to shit in the woods. Jesus, that was horrible.

…but, of course, when we were camping, we at least brought toilet paper with us… now…

Holy hell, we'd better find an outhouse or something before I have feel a number two coming on. I have NO idea what the fuck I'm doing here, and knowing my luck, I'll end up substituting Cottonelle with some poison Ivy leaves.

“Just over there.” Kikyo spoke, snapping Max out of his rather dreadful train of thought. She was pointing some distance ahead of them, and a few steps later, as promised, there flowed a nice, big stream of natural water. In fact, it bordered on being a river, though Max wasn't sure what the exact size was that makes the difference between a stream and a river. In any event, it was a decent sized body of knee-deep, flowing water. Even it held a distinct, kinda pleasant smell in Max's nose.

Coming to a stop at its edge, Max looked back at Al, who still stood behind him, ever wary of Kikyo. With a comforting smile, Max leaned foreword and dipped his hand in.

“Well, it's nice and cool…” He announced. “…think it's safe?”

“I guess…” Al pondered, leaning in as well. “The water's running, so that usually means it's okay to drink.” Both of them then simply stared at cool blue liquid, unsure of how to proceed.

“Don't suppose you have a juice bottle on you, huh?” Max tried.

“Nuh-uh.” Some movement off to the side caught Max's attention. Looking over, Kikyo had also kneeled down before the stream, although a comfortable distance from them. Evidently, she was well aware of their uncertainty of her, and chose to respect that by staying a safe few meters away. Observing her with some curiosity, they watched her hands dipped into the river, cupped together and brought the dripping liquid to her lips.

A rather efficient technique.

They looked at each other again. With a hesitant shrug, Al tried the same thing. It may have been a bit primitive, but she was both hungry and thirsty, and in no position to complain. Her hands dipped in, cupped, and brought it to her lips, gulping as much in as she could. Finding the retrieval process satisfying, she reached in for another handful.

Well, it's a little less than dignified, but hell, who's judging? Not me. No sir. I know how pissy she gets.

Max, keeping his promise not to let his guard down, leaned back a little and watched Kikyo, making sure Al could drink with peace of mind. Oddly, the older woman had only taken a few handfuls herself before standing up again and staring into the forest. Trying to appear nonchalant, Max stretched his arms a little above his head.

“So, um… Kikyo…” Max tried, hoping some friendly conversation would continue to allay any awkward silences. “… if you don't mind my asking, do you… I mean, do you actually LIVE out here?”

“I do.” Her tone was as even as ever, and his eyes still stared off into the distance. “Why does this seem so unusual to you?”

“Well… it's just… I've HEARD of people who, y'know, get sick of modern-day life, abandon civilization and go live off in a cabin out in the woods. I just never actually… met one of these people before, that's all.” He maintained his smile to make sure she knew he wasn't trying to be insulting or condescending. “And I didn't think you guys took roughing it out here so hardcore. I mean, no phone, no generator, and no flashlights… that's some commitment. See, me, I'm spoiled. I could never live without indoor plumbing.” Her eyes glanced to the side at him with a slight frown appearing on her brow. She didn't seem at all offended, but she found a few of his words unfamiliar.

“I've grown accustomed to a solitary life.” She explained simply, deciding to ignore and circumvent his foreign vocabulary. “It suits me better. And my doing so suits others better as well.”

“Oh… But, uh, why, though?” He persisted with a slight chuckle. “I mean, are you… you're not, like, on the run from INTERPOL or the mafia, right?” Again, she paused, as if deciphering what she could from what he'd just said.

“No. I am not running from either of… those.” She looked off into the distance contemplatively. “Though there… several other matters that led to my desire to seek escape and isolation.”

“Grind of the daily life got too much for you, huh?” He guessed. This was good. She seemed to be warming up to him a little.

“I suppose it could be put that way.”

“Boy, I can sympathize. A few weeks ago, I had these midterms, and, lemmie tell you…” A whistle was added for emphasis. “… I was goin' bugshit out of my mind. About every five minutes, I just couldn't help fantasizing about how much easier it would be to just throw all my textbooks in the furnace and clean toilets for the rest of my life.” Another pause was given as she digested his words.

“Indeed.” She muttered simply. “The simplest, most painless path… it is good that you did not take it, then. To evade your responsibilities and lead an impulsive life is a decision which will only lead to ruin.”

“Well, yeah, I do need that stupid diploma if I'm ever gonna become filthy rich someday.”

“…Of course you will.” She mumbled again in a noncommittal response.

“Why were you lying on the ground like that?” Looking back, Al had sufficiently quenched her thirst over the course of their conversation and had decided to join in. Although it was as slight as the rest of her mood-changes, Kikyo showed irritation toward the young girl's sudden intrusion.

“I was recovering.” She explained, as though doing so was a nuisance.

“From what?”

“I had used up a great deal of spiritual energy. I'm sure you can imagine that a frail, old body like mine needs time to recover after such intense expenditures.”

“Spiritual... energy?” Both Max and Al spoke almost in rhythm.

“Yes.” When another paused pregnant with the perplexified expression of Max and Al passed, Kikyo took as a sign to elaborate. “I speak of the holy powers imbedded in one's soul. Those with the training of temple priestesses are most familiar with it.”

“Oh!” Max perked up. “So you are a temple priestess? No shit, my family runs a temple!”

“I was a priestess.” She icily corrected.

“Oh… Ok, So what are you now?” As the question came to her, Kikyo's eyes lowered slowly.

“…I am nothing.” It was almost whispered, but clearly heard nevertheless. Closing her eyes, Kikyo turned away and began pacing slowly down the river. They both watched after her until she was some several meters down. She wasn't leaving them, but still wandered quite a ways away.

Creep-a-licious.

A sputter and a cough brought his attention from the weird woman in front of him to the no less, but alternatively weird woman to his side. Seeing Al coughing up a bit of the water, Max gave her a few pats on the back without a second thought.

“Hey, there. You doing all right?” Al nodded while coughing out the last bits of drizzle from her windpipe.

“Yeah…” She finally muttered between coughs. “…just… held some in my mouth too long.” A few pats and clearings of the throat later, Al was breathing normally again. She looked back to him, then strangely at the hand still on her back. Sensing awkwardness, Max quickly retracted it.

“So… you feeling any better?” He inquired carefully.

“Um… yeah, I guess.” She spoke with meekness uncharacteristic of her. More silence permeated the woods… Seeing Max looking unsettled in her presence made her feel just a little bit guilty… she'd gone and exploded at him, practically accused him of spiriting her away, been giving him a bit of a cold shoulder and making him feel uncomfortable around her…

…he, in return, had been his usual kind, (albeit asinine) self and had been taking steps to make her feel more at ease. It was really no way to treat him, considering.

“Hey, I'm sorry about before.” Max spun his head right around to stare at her with bewildered eyes.

Huh??

“Huh??”

“I'm… I'm apologizing.”

“Oh… cool.” Max quickly accepted, then took a moment to wonder what he'd accepted. “Um… apologizing for what?”

“Well, for, y'know. The way I freaked out on you before.”

“Oh.” A moment was taken for him to try and remember any `freaking out' on her part. Considering that it had only been fifteen minutes ago, it didn't take too long. “Oh! Pff! THAT?”

“Yeah. That.”

“Nah, nah, don't worry.”

“No, I'm serious.” She insisted in spite of his attempts to dismiss it. “I… I was rude and… well, I was scared. But, it was still wrong of me, so… I apologize.” The last part was spoken very formally, as she didn't want to appear casual about it.

“Well… yeah, I guess I should apologize, too, then. I mean, I also got a little weird back there.” He admitted. “But hey, you know, you're handling this a lot better than I probably would have. Me, see, I would probably be one of those guys you see in horror movies who loses his cool, goes nuts and runs off screaming into the night and gets killed by the horror movie monster.” The analogy was polished off with yet another one of Max's trademark smirks. Al probably would have found herself annoyed with it, but the sight of his fangs protruding slightly out from his upper lips did comfort her in the same odd way his otherworldly appearance always did.

“So, we're… cool, right?” She asked quickly.

“We, ma'am, have always been cool.” He assured her.

“Great. So… you said you were only a little less informed than I am about what's going on.” She continued. “Any chance you could let me in on exactly how much less?”

“Well...” An inquisitive thumb was brought up to his lips. “…only so much in that I can fathom this kind of thing happening at all.” Seeing that that answer didn't satisfy her, elaboration came next. “That is to say, I do know that `magic' and other occult, wizardy stuff does exist… but mind you, I don't actually know much about it, besides that it exists. As for what, exactly, happened to us… well, I'm clueless.”

“So, magic… is real??” She echoed, slightly disbelieving look accompanying it.

“Call it what you will… magic, enchantments, mystic energies, chi, soothsaying,… all I really know is that… kinda like shit, it sometimes just happens.” He shrugged. “Besides my crystal, I've never even actually seen any of it.”

“Your… crystal?”

“Yeah… you know that stupid thing I always wear around my neck?” She nodded. “Well, I don't wear it because I'm trying to make some kind of fashion statement.”

Not for lack of trying, though. I mean, twelve years I've been wearing that thing, and it never caught on.

“That thing is the reason I looked human. I don't have the slightest fucking clue how it actually works, but I just put it on, and… poof! I can walk down the street without anybody wondering what the deal with that freak is.”

“But…” Al's eyebrows splendidly made clear her remaining perplexion. “… how come I didn't…see?”

“Yooouuu've… got me there. I dunno why it didn't work on you. Like I said, I don't know the technical aspects of it, and I never really bothered to figure it out. It just does what it does, and I accept it at face value.”

“I see…” She nodded, accepting that explanation. “Are there… more people like you?”

“Oh, Al, no one is like me.”

Again, a stupid grin.

“There can only be one Max Higurashi. C'mon, you remember that motivational speaker from 4th grade. `You're the best and only you there will ev…'” Her scowl quickly wiped the grin and off his face and the stupid proverb out his mouth. “Okay, okay… if by people like me, you mean `demons', then no. I've never met any, and I don't know of any others.”

“Huh.” Al was silent afterwards, digesting all this. Turning his head, Max saw that Kikyo was still pacing with her back to them, a few yards away. He guessed she was waiting for them to finish drinking.

“So…” Max started asking the questions now. “What do you think of her?”

“Um…” She readjusted her glasses as she scrutinized the form off in the distance. “I… I really don't know.”

“Me neither.” He concurred with a slight nod. “Whatever her deal is, though, I don't think she's gonna try and kill us or anything.”

“Are you really sure about that?”

“No.” He shrugged. “She gives off a way creepy vibe… but she just doesn't seem to me to be the murder-ey type.”

“And on what authority are you making that assessment?” Under her scrutiny, Max bit his lip slightly.

“Well, again, I'm going by my intimate knowledge or horror and slasher movies.” He spoke with a hand going behind his head. “…and based on the archetypes characters you usually see in them, she just doesn't fit the bill.” Glaring at him, Al shut her eyes real tight, took a deep breath, before slowly reopening them with a disturbing level of calm.

“I'm going to humor you for a second and say that we're willing to stake our lives on applying B-movie stereotypes in real life… if she's not the sneaky, stab-you-in-the-back murderer, then what, pray tell, film cliché does she befit?”

“I dunno…” Max was aloof under her insulting interrogation. “She's… something original. Something like you'd see in one of those pretentious art flicks.”

“Fuck's sake, why are we even having this conversation??”

“Because I'm thirsty, too. And I wanna know if you're okay to watch my back while I take a drink.” The frown left her face, and she took another look between Kikyo and him.

“Um…yeah. Okay.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah… I'll yell at you if something goes wrong.” With a nod, Max turned toward the stream. Doing like he saw done earlier, Max cupped his hands in and tried to hold as much water in them as he could between the trip from the surface of the water to his mouth. His position was a bit awkward, though, and he slurped so noisily that Al could have sworn he was doing it on purpose.

“Stop that.” She hissed at him. “I know your grandmother taught you better than that.”

“Hey, I can't help it. When my lips get too close to my hands, my fangs dig in to my palms.” He scowled back. “Unless you happen to have a straw on you, don't patronize me!”

“Oh.” It was an unorthodox excuse, but acceptable nonetheless… she guessed. Max tried a few more times, but the slurping was very obviously repulsing Al. And, while she still stood impassively a few yards away, Kikyo could probably hear it, too.

I know I shouldn't really care what complete strangers think about me, especially in these kind of circumstances, but… who knows, maybe when all this is over, I might want to invite her over for dinner one night to thank her or something. And then she'd turn me down because of my poor table manners…and then that rumor would spread… it would follow me all the way up to college admissions… Stupid snowball effect!

“Aw, the hell with it.” He decided before, without warning, leaning in and dunking his whole face in. Obviously surprised, Al stared at his submerged head for a few seconds before glancing down a ways at Kikyo, who had also turned her head around to watch the bizarre display. Al just shrugged as the woman gave her a questioning look.

Seconds later, Max's head shot back up almost urgently, spitting and coughing.

“Aaugh! Oh, oh! Aw, Christ, something slimy went in my mouth!” With his tongue wagging out, he looked to Al for sympathy, but she only offered a look that suggested that if was dumb enough to try that in the first place, then he'd rightly had it coming. With a despaired whimper, Max spat out a few more times and stood up, deciding that he'd had enough.

Eh, I can go awhile without food. Hell, I'll just wait until we reach the next burger joint or something. I'm desperate enough for fast food.

“You are finished, then?” Kikyo called over as she approached them.

“Uh-huh.”

“Good.” She came to a stop a few feet in front of them. “Perhaps now, then, we could discuss your intentions?”

“In…tentions?” Al repeated.

“You previously claimed to be lost?” Max scoffed.

“'Claim' nothing… we ARE lost.”

“And do you have any clues as to where you are?”

“Uh…” Max turned to Al, who gave a light shake to her head. “That'd be a no.”

“You have no idea, whatsoever?”

“Well, we are still in Japan, right?” Kikyo's gaze narrowed disapprovingly.

“So you are only capable or narrowing your location down to which nation you are in?” Max paused, receiving the berating blankly.

“…so that a `yes' to the Japan question?” Kikyo's gaze fell, and then gave a sigh.

“You are in Japanese territories, yes.” She confirmed. “Do you know anything beyond that?”

“Uh… nope. See, this is why I was kind of hoping that you could help us.” Max offered a slight bow with his request. With Max's head down, he couldn't see Kikyo's look of disappointment, although Al managed to catch it and wonder curiously about it.

“I will… do what I can, I suppose.” Kikyo exhaled.

“Really? Thanks!”

“Hardly. It is in my interest as well that you leave this place as swiftly as possible. This forest will become noisy with you two stumbling around aimlessly.”

“Uh…” Max shrugged that off. “…okay.”

“What will you need to find your way back?” Max puzzled at that question. It seemed fairly obvious to him.

“Well, not much… a phone… a radio… an on-line computer… GPS… signal flares… one of those Morse-code thingies… whatcha call those?” Fumbling for the right term, the demon paused in thought.

“Telegraphs.” Al finally interjected. “Do you even know Morse code?”

“No, but I figure if we annoy someone long enough with jibberish, they'll eventually come looking for us just for the sake of shutting us up.”

Sort of a 1800s version of spamming, I guess.

“And where would you find these… things?” Kikyo cautiously asked, still careful to gloss over her ignorance of these terms.

“Anywhere where there's a sign of civilization, I guess. Like, any city, town, outpost…” Kikyo breathed an internal sigh of relief at the mention of something she could finally understand.

“A village I can provide you with.” She explained. “There is one a few hours West of here.”

“A village?” Max's face lit up. “Sure! That's great.” He turned to Al, and held a hand out to her. “You feeling up to a hike?”

“Well, I'm definitely not gonna wait around here any longer than I have to.” Accepting his hand, she stood up, and the two faced Kikyo.

“If we leave now, we can be there by dawn.” She looked off to the West. “You are certain you're well enough to travel?”

“I feel pretty spry.” Max volunteered.

“I feel like I want to get the hell out of here, already.” Al volunteered.

“Then I will show you the way.” She said with a nod, and began walking off. Max and Al followed.

“So, this village…” He kept wondering aloud. “Uh, what's it called?” With any luck, he'd maybe recognize the place's name and get a better idea of where they were.

“Shahskul.”

“Uh… `kay.”

So much for that. That didn't sound a thing like any town he'd ever heard of… hell, that didn't even sound like a word in any language he'd ever heard.

“At least, that what it was the last time I'd been there.” Kikyo added.

“Huh?” That addendum muddled Max a tad. “How do you mean?”

“It has been some time… the village may have been re-christened… possibly several times, if not destroyed entirely. I suppose it's only fair I mention that.” Al slowed down a little, a thought developing in her head at this new information.

“Pardon??”

“There has been some heavy fighting nearby of late. It could have spread to Shahskul.” The old woman elaborated.

“Is there a… a war going on around here??”

“Of course there is.” Kikyo's voice once again because slightly venomous toward the girl. Al stopped entirely, her dubiousness in this woman now having evolved into outright disbelief.

“There… there are NOT any wars going on!” Al nearly shouted accusingly. “Japan hasn't been involved in any wars in six years, let alone one on the homefront! What the hell is WRONG with y…”

“ Jesus, Al!” Max hushed her up with a wave of his hand. “Would you relax? I'm sure she's just talking figuratively.”

“I can quite assure you that I am not.” Kikyo flatly asserted.

“This is bullshit.” Al muttered.

“Just…” Max hissed back to her. “Just… play along, okay? At least until she shows us where this place is.”

“I DON'T trust her.” Al growled back. “She's either insane or… or…”

“Look, she's not really my favourite person, either, but I think we can at least go with her until she leads us to somebody relatively sane who can tell us where the hell we are.”

“And then what? How the hell are we supposed to explain HOW we even got to wherever the hell we are without telling them that you're…” Al's opened mouth ceased its riposte to Max's argument when her own train of thought suddenly brought a certain detail to her attention. That ever-frowning expression immediately went from anger to marble-eyed shock when she looked down a little ways at Max's neck.

“What?” He asked, sudden concern filling him. “What's wrong?” Al licked her lips a little as her eyes darted between Max's face and throat.

“Uh…” She coughed slightly, voice lowering. “… didn't… didn't you say that the crystal thing you wear is what makes you look like a human to everyone else?”

“…yeah. Why?”

“It…I…” She just pointed at his neckline, and Max looked down. With great sudden impact, he remembered one very important little detail.

It wasn't there anymore.

And it hadn't been there the entire time Kikyo had been with them.

The whites around those golden eyes widened very fast, validating Al's particular concern with regard to his appearance. Swiftly, he spun about and faced Kikyo, only to appear even more shocked.

He'd plan to confront her with another question… instead, she was confronting him with something quite unexpected… a bow and arrow, taught and drawn.

What the … Before even the mere thought could pass thought his head, the arrow was released. Max couldn't even blink before it whizzed by his face in a flash of pink so close and so fast that the air whooshing sounded more like a ripping. …HELL?!?!

Something screeched behind them. Once again, Max spun around, and his eyes would have widened further, if that were physically possible at this point. Kikyo's arrow had found its home, imbedded in the head of a… thing. There was only time to get a brief look at this creature's lizard-like appearance before it seemed to dissolve in a glow of pink light.

HOLY BALLS!!!

“What… what… what… what…?” He continually kept trying to jump-start his speech functionality as though it were a rusty car engine, but found it to be perfectly useless.

“What just happened?” Al filled in for him.

*************

 

Her lined face wrinkled further as Kikyo lowered the bow. She'd sensed the chameleon-demon approaching them for quite some time, but had decided to wait and see when Max would detect it; A test, perhaps, just to see how he'd react, and how the boy would handle it. But worse than reacting late, he didn't react at all. She'd waited and waited… until the monster had crawled too close. She'd had no choice but to take care of it herself.

This was extraordinarily troublesome; even the most base inu demon should have been alerted by that creature's scent before it got anywhere near that close.

************

 

“Did you not even smell that creature approaching??” She asked incredulously.

“Smell??” Max echoed.

“Yes! It was right next to you… how could an inu demon like you possibly have not picked up its scent?” Speech capacity was now in utter decimation as Max's jaw hung uselessly slack from its cartilage hinges. “Well?” She pressed on angrily.

Okay, Max, get it back together… it's best not to irritate the lady with the deadly weapons and crack aim…

“You…” He finally managed. “You know what I am??” Kikyo's eyes rolled as she snorted in an ever-so-slight manner.

“Well, of course I do. My best years may be well behind me, but these eyes still see clearly enough that they can tell what's right in front of them.”

“Uh… wow.” He mumbled. “You know about demons??”

“Obviously, I would have been a very poor priestess if I didn't.”

*************

 

What in the world was WRONG with this boy? He couldn't smell worth spit, he had no sense of direction or orientation, and, to top it all off, he didn't seem to be particularly bright.

When first she'd brought him here, she worried that he'd be too powerful, too arrogant, and difficult to control, and that recklessness would lead to his demise if ever confronting Naraku. Instead, it turned out to be the opposite problem… he was simply ignorant. She should have expected it, she supposed. After all, he'd been sent through the well… sent to the same place SHE had come from.

Her “reincarnation”.

… That girl had been ignorant, too. Untrained, naïve, inexperienced, unsure and damn near useless, save for a few base miko abilities. The boy appeared no different. It served logic well to deduce that he must been raised in the exact same environment that her reincarnation had been; A place, wherever it may be, that held no proper knowledge of demonology or spiritual powers. She'd wondered if perhaps he might have turned out unlike her because of his different, more obvious natural abilities, but evidence proved otherwise. The brief glimmer of hope which had the effrontery to appear in her mind was quickly being dashed away. Perhaps she had made a mistake after all…

… but then, even if he had come from the same place as her, did that necessarily mean failure? After all, SHE had changed… Pathetic as she'd been in the early days, Kikyo's reincarnation had possessed incredible determination and willpower… she had endured, she had fought, and over the course of those two years of hardship, she'd become a miko nearly on par with Kikyo herself. Who was to suggest that the same thing couldn't happen with him?

What she needed to know now… she needed to know if the boy possessed that same determination. With a deep breath, she gathered her thoughts.

**************

 

“Enough of this.” She waved off the debate. “The lizard's screams will likely attract more predators and such nuisances. If we are to go to this village, then we leave now.” Without waiting for so much as a response, Kikyo resumed walking off in her chosen direction. The fact that Max and Al didn't immediately follow her appeared outside of her caring.

They both stood there, watching after her in stupor.

“Didn't you just say that no one else knew about demons?” Al asked him with near-accusation.

“I did.” Max slowly replied. “And up until these last couple of particularly screwy days, that was true, as far as I knew.”

“Okay.” Al continued watching as Kikyo kept deepening the gap between them and her. “Are we… still going with her, then?”

“…I…” Max scratched the back of his head, well and truly lost. No matter how hard he tried to get a grasp on the current situation, it would violently break his grip, spinning more wildly out of control with each seizure. “I… think we should, yeah.”

“…Really?” She was unsettled slightly by the sudden loss of confidence she saw in him while he continued to insist on following Kikyo. He was very plainly starting to look scared, and no longer appeared at all enthused.

“Well… it does come down to a choice between her company and… more of whatever the fuck that thing was.” He hesitantly reasoned, looking over at the pile of ashes which were all the remained of that creature. Swallowing unpleasantly at the sight of it, Al aversely nodded.

That much, at least, was true. Whatever that thing had been, it managed to sneak up on them, and it was hard to imagine it had done so for any other purpose than ambushing them. Kikyo had probably saved their lives when they had not even been aware that they'd been in any mortal danger. Even if neither of them were particularly inclined to trust her, the thought that there were other things like that lurking around here somewhere certainly made them think they should stick as close to her as they could.

Seeing as how her silhouette was about to vanish off in the distance, Max and Al made haste to catch up.

The priestess' head didn't move, but she caught the two chasing after her, and gave an internal grunt of approval.

The strange thing now, though, was that Max seemed more… afraid of her now than Al had been. Even as they caught up to the woman, Max now kept his pace a good few feet behind her, following in silence. Worry, and even fear were now obvious in his countenance, and Al supposed she could guess why.

Max was, after all, a creature who had survived on secrets. She had no reason to disbelieve him when he asserted that no one else knew about him belonging to an entirely different species than human, and that no one else was supposed to even know about said species' existence. The only time she had ever seen him seriously scared was not so long ago when she'd first admitted that she'd known. Of course, that was to be expected, considering this was the kind of thing that could easily destroy his life if exposed.

She'd been lucky enough that he knew and trusted her enough to keep it secret. But this Kikyo woman… a complete stranger was holding his life in her hands…

So, yeah. Now he was, maybe, just a little scared, and not without some legitimacy.

“I'm uh…” He whispered over to her. “I'm not going to be able to go into this town, when we get to it.”

“…I know.” She nodded in understanding.

“So, you can handle going in and asking the people there for help, right?”

“As long as they speak Japanese, Spanish or French, yeah.”

She speaks French, too? Man, today is just full of surprises.

“Great.” He spoke quietly before resuming the silence of the trek. As much as Al had always though that Max should have a healthier amount of caution and circumspection, Max being at ease in these particularly stressful times had helped her stay at ease. It wouldn't do to have the both of them paranoid. So…

So…

“So… you smell things?” Her question came out of the blue.

“Huh?”

“She said you should have been able to pick up that thing's scent.” She explained. “So, what, you've got an enhanced sense of smell, to boot?”

“Something like that… yeah.”

“Like a dog?” He grimaced, not at all caring for the comparison.

“Well, it's not like I go around smelling people's asses.” He actually looked offended! It was almost cute, and Al barely averted smiling.

And with all these weird, new smells out here, it's totally throwing me off.

“Can you can pick up scents from, like, miles away?” She persisted, now fascinated.

“Well, not miles. Depends.” Pausing in thought, he wondered how he could explain it. “I'm always smelling a lot of things. Sometimes stuff does stands out from a distance, yeah.”

“That's so weird.” He scowled further at her thinly veiled amusement. “What's that like?”

“I dunno.” He shrugged. “I've always had it, so I couldn't tell what it's like without it.”

“Hmm.”

“I guess it's like any other sense. Like, y'know, just hearing stuff. But with your nose.”

“Must make going into a public bathroom painful.”

“Christ, you don't know the half of it.”

“So… how do I smell?” To that question, a mischievous sneer washed over Max as he simply looked her directly in the eye for a few seconds.

“…Nah.” He finally turned away. “WAY too easy.”

*************

 

By the Gods, did he never stop talking??

She liked the silence. It helped her think.

And she had a great deal of that to be doing. Much had to be decided upon with respect to what to do with `Max'.

Yes, `Max'. That would be his name from now on. Gone now was the name she'd known him to be. She would have to refer to him as `Max', not only verbally, but mentally as well; Exercises for the mind to ensure that she wouldn't accidentally call him by his birth name… or his other name. If she called him anything other than what he'd been told her his name was, he'd become further suspicious of her. For now, she would feign ignorance. For now, he would believe that she and him were mutual strangers. She would wear the mask of a somewhat benevolent woman who was willing to assist some strangers who had lost their way.

Events were being set in motion. By bringing `Max' here, into this world, she had caused the delicate threads of fate to shift… though there was no telling, at this point, which way they would go. This time, though, she refused to allow affairs to go uncontrollably awry again. This time, she would be the one in control. And control was best executed when the one being controlled remained unaware of it.

Perhaps, then, it was to her advantage that Max was so naïve. It would make subtle manipulation all that much easier.

While there was still much to learn about him, she already knew the first thing that had to be done… the boy had to be taught about all the basic abilities he possessed. He'd have to learn everything that being raised in whichever backwards world he grew up in had deprived him of. After that, she'd decide where to go from there.

But there was one immediate concern that didn't factor into her plans, no matter how she tried to design around it:

That girl… this Alexandria. She was a problem.

He was quite obviously attached to her, somehow. Protective, even… an instinct inu demons felt towards those they considered pack members. It was difficult to determine the nature of their relationship, but it was very obvious that he would be adamantly against the idea of abandoning her.

The girl was a hindrance. If she stayed with them, she'd get in the way and slow them down, and Kikyo already envisioned that preparing Max was going to be a lengthily process on its own. She certainly wasn't one to tolerate wasting time. Far too much was at risk for that.

She considered… she might have find a way of getting rid of this girl, somehow.

**************

 

The sky overhead made the fateful transition from night blue to a pinkish hue, as the morning sun threatened to peak out over the mountains overhead at any given second. The trio's march had continued on throughout the morning hours, without tire or rest. Max and Al had spent nearly the entire time talking, while Kikyo lead the way in silence, speaking only on those odd occasions when she was spoken to.

It had mostly been Max, asking `Are we there yet?'. After the fifth time, something about the look in her eye told him he shouldn't ask that again. Ever. To anyone. Under any sort of context.

The ex-priestess had actually found it to be most convenient, nonetheless… Max and Alex had spent mostly the entire hike talking about him… what he was, what he knew of himself and his heritage. He patiently answered her questions as best as he could, with only the occasional insult flung and brief argument breaking out.

Although Kikyo appeared completely disinterested, she had been paying extremely close attention. While the girl was bothersome, her questions to Max did offer Kikyo some much needed introspective into how he was, and what he knew about the circumstances surrounding his existence… which was next to nil.

“… If the claws get in the way so much, then why don't you just cut them?”

“Gee, why didn't I think of that?”

“Why, is something stopping you?”

“Well, we tried. Several times. I broke the nail clippers on them. Hell, I broke the goddamn hedge trimmers on them. Just lucky they never grew out any further than this… I probably woulda had to rent out a diamond cutter.”

“And you've gone your whole life without accidentally puncturing somebody?”

“Nope. Though I did learn pretty early on not to pick my nose.”

“Ew.”

“Yeah, but that's not even the worst incident. This one time, I was going to the bathroom and…”

“I'm gonna go ahead and stop you right there.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Does this story involve bodily functions and blood?”

“Yes. Generously so.”

“Then I can easily live without that knowledge.”

“Pff… fine then.” He scoffed, squinting a little as the first rays of sunshine began to seep over the horizon. “So… what haven't we covered?”

“What, are you eager to get this out of the way?”

“No… but it is kinda cool that I can actually talk about this stuff with someone.”

“What about your family?”

“Oh, I could NEVER tell Grandma about half this stuff. She'd kill me. Hell, she still thinks that those porcelain dolls I knocked over with my tail were stolen by a guest at our New Year's Eve party.”

“YOUR grandmother? Kill YOU? She's, like, the single sweetest old woman in existence.”

“Oh, trust me, she's usually pretty chill, but when she gets seriously mad…wow. I've been on the receiving end of it a time or two, and I can assure you that's nowhere near where you wanna be…Hey!” He realized. “That's right! You haven't asked me one question about the tail.” At that, Al seemed to stiffen, a little.

“Oh. Yeah…” She kind of mumbled, looking off. “It just didn't… um, jump out at me.”

“Seriously? Jesus, of all my demony traits, I figured this one stood out the most. I mean… it's so big… and poofy. No?”

“Well…”

“We are here.” Al was almost thankful for the interruption. The inquisition forgotten, Max and Al caught up to her… where she now stood, the forest ended, a line of trees cutting off at the top of a hill, overlooking a long range of flatlands surrounded by mountains.

And amongst those flats was the village, still standing.

Wow. And we're here right at the crack of dawn, just like she said. Punctual woman.

The higher perspective on the hill gave them a chance to get a good look at the pace… the whole town was spread out over what must have been a few kilometers, with buildings and huts tightly strewn out over the land. A little small and compact, but…

The buildings… they were… old. Like Kikyo's hut, not “old” as in aged, but old as in older styled.

Weird.

…and that's a little funny… that place is giving off a bunch of more weird scents I don't recognize, too.

“Well, okay then.” Max slowly pushed foreword, deciding to ignore this strange feeling in his gut. “Al, I guess you can just…” As he turned to look at her, he noted the incredulous look she was giving this place, her eyes scanned the town, and the surrounding mountains. “…what?”

“Look at that.” She pointed. “No roads… no cars… no telephone wires…no antennas…”

“Oh, relax. I'm sure SOMEbody down there must have some external means of communication.”

“Yeah, but…” Her head shook a little. “This has really been bugging me… I mean, didn't you notice how we ran through the woods for hours without ANY sign of human life beyond… her.” She spoke that last word almost sarcastically, not really caring if Kikyo noticed. “And now we've got this village that looks like it belongs in a period drama…”

“It's… yeah, that is peculiar, I guess. But we should still…”

“And those mountains… I don't see any watchtowers or anything… and by law, there had to be one at least every five miles of woodland!”

“Maybe they're… down for repairs? Look, there has to be a something we can use out there somewhere, and we'll find it, okay?”

“Yeah, but… God, this is so frikkin' weird… it's like we just stepped out into the sixteenth century.”

“Heh heh. Well, that'd be pretty cool if that were possib…”

CLICK

Max seized up when something in his mind simply snapped into place. Several things, actually. Most notably, all these weird times he'd try and grasp the situation, and would fail because there was some missing puzzle piece he wasn't getting.

And now he could see it.

In that moment, several things came back to him… Most notably, a story his Grandmother had told him a few times. Something about a well, in the back of the yard… something about her daughter's various travels through it. She went through a well, and it took her somewhere. Where had that been again? What had been so damned special about that well?

“…Max?” Al asked, wondering why he was just staring in the space ahead of him.

Yeah, that's right… the well did something really special for people. Took them somewhere… no, not somewhere. It actually left them in the same place…except…

…except…

…whoa.

So, yes, that kind of thing IS possible.

Now, did that possibility, by chance, apply to the current situation?

Let's review… a woman with medieval weaponry and no knowledge of Tokyo… no electricity… no sign of industrial development… no engines… no paved roads… no...

Yup.

“Max, are you okay?”

“Oh fffff…”

**************

 

As the dawn broke out overhead, the residents of Shahskul weren't awakened by the caw of a rooster, as they were mostly accustomed to… instead, they were awakened by Max Higurashi, standing on the hill some distance outside of their town, suddenly and spontaneously shrieking out over the landscape:

“…FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!”