InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Reversed Roles ❯ The Village Elder ( Chapter 3 )

Reversed Roles

Chapter Three - The Village Elder

By Crow Skywalker

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Disclaimer - I don't own Inuyasha, nor do I claim to. He belongs to the original creators, and I'm not getting paid anything from writing this fanfic.

Author's Notes - Hehehe! So many reviews for the last chapter! I'd answer them all, but that would take up my writing time, and I'm sure you guys want the next chapter as fast as I can write, ne? ^_~ But anyway, thanks for the reviews - and for my thanks, I give you the next chapter! Your reviews made me write faster and enabled me to post it today. Anyway, the village elder…is supposed to be Kagome's crazy grandfather, but I found out he really doesn't have a name except 'Grandpa', so that'll have to be his name in the future, lol. Anyway, R&R…and enjoy the new chapter! :)

Other Notes - Will be Kagome/Inuyasha, or course…but there will also be Kagome/Sesshomaru too, just like there's Kikyo/Inuyasha in the anime/manga ;) Rated PG-13 for swearing and violence.

Summary - Roles are switched, and Inuyasha releases the hanyou Kagome, who's been sealed to a tree for 50 years. When the Shikon no Tama is broken, they're forced to work together to find the shards before evil does.

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The village was small, the houses made of wood or branches, and mats of some sort covered the entrances to the huts. As they walked down the dirt road through the village, Inuyasha couldn't help but stare. The place seemed so…medieval! He watched as a horse drawn cart went past him, and turned to see someone else picking something from a field.

With a look of distaste, Inuyasha scrunched up his nose. What did I do..fall through the well into the past or something? He almost laughed at such a ridiculous idea. Turning his attention back to the men he was following, he asked, "Oi. How much longer until this elder guy?"

The man leading the others looked over his shoulder, brows turned into a glare, but said nothing. Inuyasha returned the gesture, crossing his arms in front of him and turning his head away to look at the village. What an ass…he could have at least answered me!

A crowd of people had gathered now, staring at the newcomer and whispering. Inuyasha's glare hardened, and he was about to say something along the lines of "What're you looking at?" when the men ahead of him announced that they were here. Inuyasha looked back to the front, where he saw the largest hut yet in the village, and he assumed it was the elder's house.

"He's inside," A voice said from behind, and Inuyasha wondered how the leader had managed to move without him knowing. He was suddenly pushed forward, "Go inside!"

With a growl, Inuyasha swung around to give the older man a piece of his mind, but the man and his group were already heading off in another direction. Growling in frustration, he made his way into the hut.

It was dark, and as the flap closed behind him, he found himself lost in a dark, strange place. Taking a few steps forward, he tripped over something and fell.

"Godamnit!" He yelled, "Why aren't there any lights?" Crawling to his knees, he stayed there for a moment, hoping that maybe when his eyes adjusted to the darkness he'd be able to see better. He could almost make out the dark lines of objects when light suddenly flooded the hut, and something was slapped forcefully onto his head.

"Evil be gone!" Yelled a male voice, and Inuyasha blinked in confusion as he stared at an old man. "Begone you filthy demon!" He was about to slap another talisman onto Inuyasha's head when he caught the old man by the wrist, twisting it around his back so he had the upper hand.

"What do you think you're doing?" Inuyasha barked, plucking the piece of paper off his head and letting it fall to the floor.

"Riding the village of demons!" The old man hissed in pain. "Let go, you vile thing!"

"I'm not a demon." Inuyasha replied calmly, letting go of the man. The shorter and older male turned around, eyeing Inuyasha in the light. "Do I look like a demon to you?"

The old man studied him, looking him up and down, before walking around him. "Hmm..no sign of being a demon - no ears, tail," He grabbed Inuyasha's hand, bringing it close to his face so he could see, "No claws," He let go, and Inuyasha's hand dropped to his side. The man pulled on Inuyasha's hair, making him bend down to his level. Before Inuyasha could protest, the man had his fingers in his mouth. "No fangs either." He removed his fingers, and Inuyasha spat in disgust. "Your not a demon!"

Inuyasha crossed his arms. "I told you, old man!"

"Boy, ya can't be too sure these days." The old man shook his head, "With all the demon attacks..the villagers are very upset. It's my duty as a priest to rid the village of evil."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "I don't need to know your troubles."

"Of course not." The old man moved to light a fire off to the side, and soon the whole hut was cast in light. "Now young man, please tell me why you're here."

Inuyasha sighed, letting his arms fall to his sides. "If I tell you, don't laugh!" He warned, "I'm hoping that you might be able to help me. You see, I woke up in this well," His eyes followed the little man around the hut, "And I was lost in some sort of forest.."

"Kagome's Forest."

"Yeah, whatever that is." Inuyasha nodded. "And I found this dead chick.."

"Kagome."

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "You named a forest after a dead chick who's pinned to a tree?"

"She's not a 'dead chick', she's a evil half demon who killed my brother." The old man corrected him. "He sealed her to that tree - the Goshinboku."

Something about that clicked in Inuyasha's mind, and he remembered hearing a fairytale something like it. Something about a priest and a demon woman in love, but the demon betrayed the man, and he sealed her to the tree. The same tree that stood in his front yard at home. But it was just another one of Myoga's stories, right?

"Anyway," Inuyasha continued, "These people found me and were going to kill me…but supposedly I look like this Sesshomaru guy.."

At that, the old man stopped what he was doing to look up at Inuyasha. He suddenly dropped all the talismans in his hands, and took a step forward. "Sesshomaru…I never noticed it before, because it was dark and my vision isn't as good as it used to be…but now that you mention it, you look a awful lot like him." The old man was standing before him now, peering up at him. "Where did you say you came from again?"

"I…I don't really know how to explain it. But.."

The old man reached out, touching Inuyasha's black jeans. "You wear funny clothes, not of our time." He said, and his eyes suddenly snapped up to meet Inuyasha's. "Woke up in a well, you say?"

Inuyasha nodded. "One minute I was waiting for my little sister to get a ladder…and the next I was fighting some demon, and I woke up here…"

The old man looked thoughtful. "Perhaps the well is the key." He mumbled, and Inuyasha raised a brow. "The key to your time and ours?"

"I don't know.." Inuyasha suddenly sat down indian style, laying his head in his hands, "This has been a awful day…I don't know what's going on, where I am…and why am I talking to some crazy old man in a little cramped up hut?" He groaned.

"It is very strange." The little man nodded, "But perhaps there is an explanation why you're here, and why you look like my dear older brother Sesshomaru." There was a moment of silence as the old man sat across from him, studying him. "When my brother died from the wound the hanyou had inflicted upon him, he said that he would protect the Shikon no Tama in his next life," The man started, but at the mention of the Shikon no Tama, Inuyasha's eyes widened.

"The monster…the demon thing!" He said, "It told me to give it the Shikon no Tama…it said I had it! But I didn't know what it was talking about…what is it?"

"It's a jewel, said to give the right person who holds it a single wish." The old man answered. "My brother protected it here in the village, until that bitch hanyou stole it and killed him." He raised a brow, "But this confirms my suspicions…you are the reincarnation of my brother Sesshomaru, and you have the jewel."

Inuyasha gave him a look of confusion. "If I don't know what it is, and I'm sure I don't have it…" He pulled out his jeans pockets to show the man he had nothing, "Then how do I have it?"

"I don't know the answer to that question either." The old man confessed. "But if the demon said you have it, then you do. Somewhere."

"Keh." Inuyasha crossed his arms. "Whatever. So I have a jewel I don't know about, what does that mean?"

"It means that every demon here will be in search of you - they all want it to become even more powerful." The old man took a big breath of air before saying, "You're in danger here."

"Oh, that's just great!" Inuyasha rolled his eyes with a sigh. "You know, I'm really starting to hate this place!"

"Can you use a crossbow?"

"What?" Inuyasha blinked.

"I said can you use a crossbow?" The older man asked again.

"I heard what you said the first time old man," Inuyasha growled, "A crossbow?"

The old man stood, picking through his belongings before returning with a crossbow and arrows. "Yes, one of these." He handed it to Inuyasha, who frowned down at it.

"Isn't it kind of girly?" Inuyasha asked, studying the wooden fighting material before looking up at the old man once again. "I mean, men shouldn't be using crossbows…crossbows are for women! Real men use swords!" He dumped the crossbow and arrows off his lap, and it landed on the floor. "Got anything more manly I could use to defend myself?"

"Sorry, crossbows are the only thing we have." The old man answered.

Inuyasha groaned. "By the time I get the arrow in place, I'll have been already eaten! And I actually know how to use a sword!" He grinned, despite the situation, "Mom had me in all kinds of different fighting classes, and we learned to use all kinds of weapons," He looked down at the crossbow in disgust, "Crossbows wasn't one of them."

"Well it isn't really that hard.." He was about to say more when there was a loud scream from the village, and the old man ran to the front door. Inuyasha followed after him, wondering what all the commotion was about.

Outside, people were running around like crazy, men running for their weapons and the women and children gathering in hopes to keep safe.

"We're under attack!" Someone yelled from the darkness, and Inuyasha realized it was getting late, and the sun was already setting. Had he really been in the hut talking to the man that long? He sighed - there was no way he was getting home tonight. He'd never get back to the well in one piece in the dark.

"Elder!" A young boy with wide, terrified eyes ran towards them, "We need your skills! The village is being attacked by a demon!"

The old man nodded, running back into the hut to gather his things. When he came back out, he had a pocket full of talismans and his bow and arrow.

"What do you plan on doing with that?" Inuyasha scoffed, eyeing the short old man, "Surely you don't think you can beat a demon with such things? An old man like you?"

"I'm the village elder," The old man answered, shifting his bow and loading it, "And I am a priest. I will rid my village of this evil."

Inuyasha gave him an amused look, and was about to comment when the demon came crashing through a nearby hut, and Inuyasha's head spun to get a look at it.

"The Shikon no Tama!" It screeched, and Inuyasha realized it was the same centipede-like woman he'd run into earlier.

"Oh shit," He breathed, eyes wide.

From behind him came an arrow, and he had guessed the old man had took aim and released the arrow. Unfortunately the beast was too fast, and it dodged the arrow as it crashed foreword, heading in Inuyasha's direction.

"Give it to me!" It hissed, and Inuyasha started to run as it sped after him.

From behind him, he could hear the old man yelling his name.

"It's after me!" He yelled over his shoulder. The last thing he wanted was people hurt and the village destroyed because of him. "I'll lead it away from the village!"

"Inuyasha!" The old man yelled again, staring after the young boy as he vanished into the dark forest. "Damnit!" Turning to the remaining men left standing, he told them to gather their things. They were going after Inuyasha and the demon.

To Be Continued…