InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Synthetic Twilight ❯ V ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: lesalee

Kagome, against her better judgement, decided to stay in the village to wait for Inuyasha to return. She spent her days helping Kaede and Noriko tending to the sick and looking for herbs to help stock the villages medicinal supply. She and Kaede spent a couple hours, usually before dinner, making various ofudas and making barriers to help her improve those skills. After dinner, she would usually visit the hotspring for a bath and sit under Goshinbo to think in relative peace.She began to fall into a routine after a few weeks.

Noriko had offered her some of her kimonos and hakamas to wear while around the village, Kagome politely declined. She sighed, leaning her head back on Goshinbo while fingering the frayed edges of her jeans. "Lady Kagome, I believe this attire would be more suiting of a miko such as yourself," Noriko had said, handing her a pair of bright red pants and white shirt. Kagome had shook her head, "I appreciate your offer, Noriko-chan, but I have no plans to work at a shrine."
That was only partly true. Truth was, she didn't want to take over for Kikyo, she never had. A few days after her arrival in the fuedal era, she had worn the priestess outfit only because she had been washing her clothes. Many of the older village members stared at her as if they'd seen a ghost as she passed by, whispering "Lady Kikyo" reverently. She had not worn it since, and decided that she would never wear it again. Honestly, if she knew she could get by without the use of her powers, she would have done so. As it stood, her powers were too strong to ignore, and if she had to protect the jewel, she'd be foolish not to use them to the best of her ability.
She was jerked out of her thoughts as a couple of twigs snapped in the bushes off to her left when she noticed a small demonic aura. Shit! How had she not noticed that sooner? She stood up and quickly drew her bow, "Show yourself!", she called out.
The bushes rustled and revealed a very small fox demon, whose eyes grew very large at the sight of a young woman pointing a very bright pink arrow at himself. He let out a short, alarmed bark and fell over- as a tiny statue. The young fox did not display any human characteristics as Shippo did, and was roughly the same size as Kilala in her untransformed state. Kagome giggled, it really was too cute. She let the tension out of her bow and placed the arrow back in her quiver.
"You can take that leaf off, I'm not going to hurt you." she said smiling. The 'statue' simply sat there. Shrugging, Kagome turned to the village and called over her shoulder, "It was nice meeting you, little fox. I'd stay to talk longer, but I really should be heading back." She heard a pop behind her, but when she turned to look, the little fox had gone.

Kagome sat her cup down and looked at Kaede across the hearth, "I think I should go visit Sango's village. I've been here for four weeks now and haven't heard any rumors even relating to Inuyasha or the Shikon no Tama from any of the travelers that have stopped here."
"Aye, child. I was beginning to wonder when you were going to suggest that. You've been seeming restless of late."
"Well I had been thinking about it, but I decided on going sometime this week tonight. I had a young fox demon come up to me while I was resting under Goshinbo and thought that I should probably learning some close combat skills as well."
Kaede's eye widened, "Were ye attacked, Kagome?"
"No, no, nothing like that. It just had me thinking about how'd I'd be able to defend myself if something got too close. I mean, I know that I could throw up a barrier or use an ofuda, but I'd like to be able to suplement that."
"Child, I'm certain that once ye find Inuyasha-"
"I don't want to rely that much on him ever again." Kagome said in a harsh whisper.
Kaede stared at her in that knowing way she had always seemed to possess, "I see. Well, I'll talk to the headman and see if I can provide you with a horse and you can help yourself to anything here to take with you. Traveling to Sango's village will take you a few days, and I want to see you off safely."
Kagome bowed low to Kaede, "Thank you for your kindness."
"Child, I wish ye the best. Now off to bed with you, we've a busy day ahead of us."

Kagome left well before dawn a few days later. Coaxing the large friesian mare out of the stable with sweet rice, she placed her bags on the back of the mare and left the village as quietly as possible. She thought idly about how trade with the europeans had spread so quickly, the breed was native to europe, as she walked slowly out of the village. Maybe I can have a pistol after all! She then remembered that pistols didn't appear until a few centuries later and sighed. I guess I'll have to stick with what I have then.
When she reached the point where she could no longer see the village, she stopped and stared at the road leading further out into the distance. The world really appeared to be so much larger in this time. With no such things as trains or cars, a trip that could take only a few hours in her time took a few days here. It was honestly the first time Kagome had ever considered the world as a vast place. For the first time in her life, she felt truly small, it really was a humbling experience.
She patted the horse that she had dubbed 'Umakuroi' and took a moment to rest by a stream. The midday sun shined down mercilessly, Kagome rubbed her thighs while dipping her feet into the cool water. "My legs are killing me!" she whined. Umakuroi answered with a snort and went back to happily drinking water while swatting at flies with her tail. "I should've taking riding classes" she grumbled. She had left the village confident that she had remembered where Sango's village had stood, now she wasn't so sure. Still she kept northward until she came across a decent sized village sometime after sundown.
Kagome lead her horse tiredly by the reins as she walked through the town. She heard whispers as she passed by some of the townspeople, "Such strange clothes! Think she's a foreigner? No, she looks japanese enough... could be a demon! Yumi-chan, you think everyone's a demon! Well, at least a kitsune, who dresses like that?" She could feel her jaw clenching, it wouldn't do to yell at them, especially if she was going to get a room at an inn tonight.
Approaching a merchant who was closing his stall for the night, she bowed, "Excuse me, but could you tell me where the inn is?"
The man turned around and seemed reluctant to answer her, but shrugged his shoulders and pointed to a large building, "Right over there."
Kagome bowed again, "Thank you."
He rubbed the back of his head in an embarassed way, "No problem, it wouldn't do to upset a kitsune anyway. I rather like my life uneventful."
She had to bite down the urge to yell out, "I'm not a damn fox!" but thought it best to leave it alone. The guy helped her out because of it, hadn't he?
The innkeeper smiled brightly at her and showed her to a room only after biting down on the brass coins she had taken off a string and handed to him. "No offense, but we've been deceived by your kind in the past, leaves aren't propper currency you know!" Kagome let out a sigh. Before sliding the door to her room shut, she said, "I plan on waking up very early in the morning. Um... you wouldn't happen to know of a demon exterminator village north of here, would you?"
The innkeeper gave her a surprised look, "You're a demon exterminator?"
Kagome blushed, "Ah, no, not exactly. I'm looking for a few friends of mine, but it's been a while since I've been there and I'm not sure of the way anymore."
The man looked thoughtful while scratching his chin, "You wouldn't happen to know more about the village, would you? I can think of at least three different villages further north."
Her eyes widened, three?! "Well, I think Sango would be the leader if she went with Miroku to rebuild..." she thought out loud.
"Sango? Carries a big bone weapon?" he gestured with arms to show the size of Sango's Hirakotsu.
Kagome nodded excitedly, "Yes! You're familiar with her? Please tell me how to get there!"
"Of course! That's the largest village of it's kind around these parts, very professional too. We had a bit of a demon problem a few months ago, and they helped us out for a good price. It's about another days travel from here, in northeast Fukushima. Follow the road out of here north, you'll eventually come to an inn at crossroads, take the road from there east, and it will lead your directly to their village. Though," he gave her a stern look, "you'll only being going to your death if you plan on bringing mischief there. Sango's skill is beyond compare, and if you manage to get past her, her husband will finish you off. He has this power over wind," the man spread one of his hands and made a whooshing sound,"that sucks anything into his hand! I think he was gifted by the gods at birth."
Kagome smiled sadly, "Not gifted." She bowed low to the man, "Thank you for the directions, good night."
The innkeeper gave her an odd look and bowed back, "Good night, I'll have my wife wake you in the morning, try to be in your human form, eh?" and slid the door shut.
Kagome's last thought before drifting to sleep for the night was, her husband with a sleepy smile.

Sesshomaru stared at the three swords hanging above his mantle, drumming his claws on an intricately carved jewelery box. He was certain that this was the thing he had been searching for past few days, but oddly enough, once he found the box, it was empty and he no longer remembered why he was looking for the box in the first place. It was- unsettling to say the least. This Sesshomaru simply Did Not search for things without purpose.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by the doorbell chiming downstairs. Sesshomaru winced at the delighted squawk Jaken gave as he ushered Rin and her children into the house. Sometimes, he thought maybe Jaken was some form of chicken demon with the noises he made. He made his way down the stairs slowly to greet his adopted daughter and his grandchildren in the foyer and found Jaken cooing over Rin's latest addition to the family. Definately a big, fat-feathered hen demon. Four sets of tiny brown ears perked up at his arrival, "Grandpa!", his grandchildren cried in unison as they hugged his legs. He sat the jewelery box on a table and held out his arms to inspect his new grandaughter. "What's the box for, Sesshomaru-sama?" Rin asked him with a smile.
He looked at the box, not recognizing it, "Just a small jewelery box I found, it's yours if you wish."

AN: I do not own any of the characters from Inuyasha.
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