Chapter 2 - The Strange and Familiar
Submitted May 17, 2011 Updated May 22, 2011 Status Incomplete | Well, this is my Inuyasha fan-fic rewrite. Hope you all enjoy.
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Anime/Manga » Inu-Yasha series |
Chapter 2 - The Strange and Familiar
Chapter 2 - The Strange and Familiar
Author's Note:
This story contains an OC and an alternate reality of the actual series. If you do not like either of these changes, deal with it if you still wish to read-- otherwise click the 'back' or 'close' button on your browser now.
Critiques are welcome, flaming is not. Flaming in comments will be flagged as spam/reported because I gave you this very clear disclaimer up front.
I do not own anything related to Inuyasha.
I do, however, own the character of Atsuko Keigl.[/b]
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 2:
The Strange and Familiar
Atsuko expected her body to be sore when she woke and tried to get up. Unexpectedly, but fortunately, the experience actually wasn’t painful. With that strange bit of information tucked away, she started to take in her surroundings. The walls of the well were covered with ivy and other vine plants, and she took her time tugging on each that she saw to see if they might be her ticket up and out of the well. By this point she just wanted to get back to the center and head home, she’d had enough curiosity-quenching adventure for the day. Just when she was about to give up on the vines and start trying to either climb up the stones or shimmy up like one would in a chimney, she found one that seemed strong enough to hold her weight.
As she was about to start hauling herself up, her mind contemplated her backpack—would the vine be able to hold that as well? She was still wearing it and the vine held as she grasped onto it with all her weight already about five feet off the dusty bottom. Atsuko shook her head, though not too much as to disturb her flora savior, and continued upwards. It was only a few more pulls before she could start to feel her arms burning. “Lactic acid…” she breathed. “Damnit. I get a break like this and I can’t even get myself out?!” Her voice echoed her frustrations as she growled out the last bit, gritting her teeth. “C’mon you weakling, move it!” It wasn’t the first time she’d talked to herself like this, and she was sure it wouldn’t be the last. Atsuko was one of those girls that didn’t need rivals to put her down: she did it herself well enough.
She forced herself to get moving again, her eyes shut tight as if such a motion would shut out the growing discomfort. It took her much longer than she would ever admit to anyone else, but eventually she pulled her way to the lip of the well. She dragged herself up and over it before heaving a relieved sigh. “There now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” she asked herself, her arms hanging limp at her sides. Her eyes had been closed most of the way up, and only as she let them flutter open in that moment did she realize she was somewhere else. Somewhere that wasn’t the woods at the back of the rescue and rehab center.
Where there had been fall foliage still littering the forest floor and a small clearing around her as well as ruins before her, now there was only a meadow-clothed hill. The clearing was much larger here, as if nothing aside from short grass dared to grow near the well she had just come from. The playful squirrels and humming cicadas were gone, replaced by the occasional small bird flying overhead. For the first few moments of this recognition, she simply sat there with wide eyes in shock. After that phase wore itself out, she scrambled to her feet in a jolt of an adrenaline rush. “Just where…” she started, not really needing to finish the inquiry aloud. Instead of finishing that thought, she went onto another one, “where’s the center?”
“Mumbling to yourself like a crazy, you are,” a rough voice spoke up from nearby. The sound reminded her eerily of a croak.
Atsuko whipped around, finding a creature already within thirty paces of her. Instantly her mind thought to compare it to a frog, a toad even… but neither walked on two legs or wore what looked like a dress. This… thing… was speaking her mother’s language. Despite the moment making her heart beat at her insides, the chance to speak in familiar words was comforting. “Who are you?” Her voice came out as little more than a timid imitation of her normal voice. She wanted so desperately to sound strong, confident even, but apparently that wasn’t something she could muster.
“You know, the crazy ones are the best in this time of year…” he murmured, a thick tongue lapping out to lick at dark green, bloated lips.
She put her hand to her flashlight, knowing that was all she had to use besides her bare hands to try and defend herself with. Hopefully her intent to beat him to a pulp if he had the kind of ill intentions that she thought he did was much more than what she could muster for the intent of her voice.
“Your first season, I’ll bet,” he murmured, cocking his head a little to the side as he clearly began to use his bulging amphibious eyes to ‘survey’ her. “I couldn’t have picked up your scent as easily as I did without you being unmarked…” He paused in his gazing to lick at his lips again, only gleaning a disgusted stare from Atsuko as he locked eyes with her. “Don’t worry, I don’t bite to mark like so many others do…” With that said, he was only ten paces from her, having closed the gap far too quickly for Atsuko’s liking.
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, zit-face,” she snapped, finally starting to retreat from his deliberate advances. She bumped into something with the heel of her right foot as she did, he took the moment that she turned her head back to see what in the world was stopping her to pounce. The grunt of effort was audible, and as she scrambled back to try and avoid him she stumbled over what had been blocking her. Atsuko curled up, clamping her mouth shut and closing her eyes to prepare for the impending impact—an impact that never came.
“Ugly old fart…” another male voice spoke up, totally different from the amphibious creatures’. It was rough, but much more ‘normal’… almost like the humans that she was used to.
Atsuko fluttered her eyes open, only to see blood on the ground near her. At least she was pretty sure it was blood. The smell was similar to blood, but the coloration was all wrong. Dark, almost like tar, and it was much thicker than she remembered her own having been when she injured herself. She scrambled to her feet, nearly tripping over nothing in her haste to get away from the gore. Her eyes shifted through the puddle, to the body of the now dead amphibious assailant and to the newest arrival. He was dressed in red, though at least not in something akin to a dress like the creature had, but the clothes were unfamiliar to her. She knew she was probably staring, but it was only long enough to take him in. His silver hair dipped down past his shoulders, though she couldn’t quite see where it ended—not that it mattered once she noted his ears. They twitched the moment her eyes made contact, as if they were able to feel her gaze. For the briefest of moments, Atsuko felt the urge to touch them but she shoved the need down in order to not seem any more crazy than she probably already seemed.
“Stupid season…” he muttered, his gaze not even seeming to register that she was there as he pulled up the limp body of the amphibian and wiped off his claws on the dress it still wore. “Nothing but trouble, horny frack-off bastards—” he paused, it was then he seemed to actually notice her. “Don’t get any stupid ideas, girl. I didn’t do that to ‘save’ you. He was just an eyesore and a bastard.”
“Even so,” Atsuko said, glancing again at the limp body before returning her eyes to her ‘savior’, “thank you.”
He didn’t say anything, simply replying with a ‘tch’ before heading off down the hill. At first, Atsuko didn’t follow him, but as she looked past him and noticed the village ahead, she took up a jog to catch up to him. “Not to be a pain or anything—” she started, only to be interrupted by her current target for ‘follow the leader’.
“—you already are, fledgling.” He muttered. “Just leave. Now. I don’t want to deal with more horny demons coming onto my turf to get with you.”
Atsuko pursed her lips, exhaling a long breath softly to keep her calm as best as she could; he was already proving to be an irritation himself. She closed her eyes as she spoke, walking by now so there wasn’t as much chance of her stumbling or running into him. “Look, buddy, I have no idea what you’re talking about with this ‘fledgling’ crap—just like I had no idea what that toad thing was talking about the ‘season’. Could I just have you help me to get to that village? I need to ask someone how to get home. That’s all I—.” She was abruptly interrupted as she found herself bumping into him. Her fluffy-eared leader had stopped, and she backed up a few paces as he glanced over his shoulder at her. This time he really seemed to see her, though he did not catch her own gaze as he surveyed her clothes, her backpack. “What?” she started, not being able to ask the second part of that question before he had his own.
“Did you… come out of the well?” his voice was much softer than it had been previous to that moment, Atsuko thought she could even pick out a note of hope in his voice.
“What?” she had asked the stupid question before she’d even realized it, causing him to revert back to almost exactly the same as he’d been before.
“The well in that meadow back there!” he snapped. “Is that where you came from?”
“Not exactly…” she admitted. Atsuko only let the ‘answer’ hang in the air for a few moments before getting back to her original intent. “Look, I just want to get home, okay? So long as you get me to someone who’s able to help, I’ll be out of your hair.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, returning to his previous walk with a dismissive wave. “There’s an old hag of a priestess down there, she’ll probably be able to help.”
Atsuko followed carefully behind, unsure of what had just happened or if she could really rely on him for this. As much as it was bugging her that she couldn’t just say she didn’t need his grouchy assistance and find her way about by herself, she wasn’t the kind of independent that was stupid.
This story contains an OC and an alternate reality of the actual series. If you do not like either of these changes, deal with it if you still wish to read-- otherwise click the 'back' or 'close' button on your browser now.
Critiques are welcome, flaming is not. Flaming in comments will be flagged as spam/reported because I gave you this very clear disclaimer up front.
I do not own anything related to Inuyasha.
I do, however, own the character of Atsuko Keigl.[/b]
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 2:
The Strange and Familiar
Atsuko expected her body to be sore when she woke and tried to get up. Unexpectedly, but fortunately, the experience actually wasn’t painful. With that strange bit of information tucked away, she started to take in her surroundings. The walls of the well were covered with ivy and other vine plants, and she took her time tugging on each that she saw to see if they might be her ticket up and out of the well. By this point she just wanted to get back to the center and head home, she’d had enough curiosity-quenching adventure for the day. Just when she was about to give up on the vines and start trying to either climb up the stones or shimmy up like one would in a chimney, she found one that seemed strong enough to hold her weight.
As she was about to start hauling herself up, her mind contemplated her backpack—would the vine be able to hold that as well? She was still wearing it and the vine held as she grasped onto it with all her weight already about five feet off the dusty bottom. Atsuko shook her head, though not too much as to disturb her flora savior, and continued upwards. It was only a few more pulls before she could start to feel her arms burning. “Lactic acid…” she breathed. “Damnit. I get a break like this and I can’t even get myself out?!” Her voice echoed her frustrations as she growled out the last bit, gritting her teeth. “C’mon you weakling, move it!” It wasn’t the first time she’d talked to herself like this, and she was sure it wouldn’t be the last. Atsuko was one of those girls that didn’t need rivals to put her down: she did it herself well enough.
She forced herself to get moving again, her eyes shut tight as if such a motion would shut out the growing discomfort. It took her much longer than she would ever admit to anyone else, but eventually she pulled her way to the lip of the well. She dragged herself up and over it before heaving a relieved sigh. “There now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” she asked herself, her arms hanging limp at her sides. Her eyes had been closed most of the way up, and only as she let them flutter open in that moment did she realize she was somewhere else. Somewhere that wasn’t the woods at the back of the rescue and rehab center.
Where there had been fall foliage still littering the forest floor and a small clearing around her as well as ruins before her, now there was only a meadow-clothed hill. The clearing was much larger here, as if nothing aside from short grass dared to grow near the well she had just come from. The playful squirrels and humming cicadas were gone, replaced by the occasional small bird flying overhead. For the first few moments of this recognition, she simply sat there with wide eyes in shock. After that phase wore itself out, she scrambled to her feet in a jolt of an adrenaline rush. “Just where…” she started, not really needing to finish the inquiry aloud. Instead of finishing that thought, she went onto another one, “where’s the center?”
“Mumbling to yourself like a crazy, you are,” a rough voice spoke up from nearby. The sound reminded her eerily of a croak.
Atsuko whipped around, finding a creature already within thirty paces of her. Instantly her mind thought to compare it to a frog, a toad even… but neither walked on two legs or wore what looked like a dress. This… thing… was speaking her mother’s language. Despite the moment making her heart beat at her insides, the chance to speak in familiar words was comforting. “Who are you?” Her voice came out as little more than a timid imitation of her normal voice. She wanted so desperately to sound strong, confident even, but apparently that wasn’t something she could muster.
“You know, the crazy ones are the best in this time of year…” he murmured, a thick tongue lapping out to lick at dark green, bloated lips.
She put her hand to her flashlight, knowing that was all she had to use besides her bare hands to try and defend herself with. Hopefully her intent to beat him to a pulp if he had the kind of ill intentions that she thought he did was much more than what she could muster for the intent of her voice.
“Your first season, I’ll bet,” he murmured, cocking his head a little to the side as he clearly began to use his bulging amphibious eyes to ‘survey’ her. “I couldn’t have picked up your scent as easily as I did without you being unmarked…” He paused in his gazing to lick at his lips again, only gleaning a disgusted stare from Atsuko as he locked eyes with her. “Don’t worry, I don’t bite to mark like so many others do…” With that said, he was only ten paces from her, having closed the gap far too quickly for Atsuko’s liking.
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, zit-face,” she snapped, finally starting to retreat from his deliberate advances. She bumped into something with the heel of her right foot as she did, he took the moment that she turned her head back to see what in the world was stopping her to pounce. The grunt of effort was audible, and as she scrambled back to try and avoid him she stumbled over what had been blocking her. Atsuko curled up, clamping her mouth shut and closing her eyes to prepare for the impending impact—an impact that never came.
“Ugly old fart…” another male voice spoke up, totally different from the amphibious creatures’. It was rough, but much more ‘normal’… almost like the humans that she was used to.
Atsuko fluttered her eyes open, only to see blood on the ground near her. At least she was pretty sure it was blood. The smell was similar to blood, but the coloration was all wrong. Dark, almost like tar, and it was much thicker than she remembered her own having been when she injured herself. She scrambled to her feet, nearly tripping over nothing in her haste to get away from the gore. Her eyes shifted through the puddle, to the body of the now dead amphibious assailant and to the newest arrival. He was dressed in red, though at least not in something akin to a dress like the creature had, but the clothes were unfamiliar to her. She knew she was probably staring, but it was only long enough to take him in. His silver hair dipped down past his shoulders, though she couldn’t quite see where it ended—not that it mattered once she noted his ears. They twitched the moment her eyes made contact, as if they were able to feel her gaze. For the briefest of moments, Atsuko felt the urge to touch them but she shoved the need down in order to not seem any more crazy than she probably already seemed.
“Stupid season…” he muttered, his gaze not even seeming to register that she was there as he pulled up the limp body of the amphibian and wiped off his claws on the dress it still wore. “Nothing but trouble, horny frack-off bastards—” he paused, it was then he seemed to actually notice her. “Don’t get any stupid ideas, girl. I didn’t do that to ‘save’ you. He was just an eyesore and a bastard.”
“Even so,” Atsuko said, glancing again at the limp body before returning her eyes to her ‘savior’, “thank you.”
He didn’t say anything, simply replying with a ‘tch’ before heading off down the hill. At first, Atsuko didn’t follow him, but as she looked past him and noticed the village ahead, she took up a jog to catch up to him. “Not to be a pain or anything—” she started, only to be interrupted by her current target for ‘follow the leader’.
“—you already are, fledgling.” He muttered. “Just leave. Now. I don’t want to deal with more horny demons coming onto my turf to get with you.”
Atsuko pursed her lips, exhaling a long breath softly to keep her calm as best as she could; he was already proving to be an irritation himself. She closed her eyes as she spoke, walking by now so there wasn’t as much chance of her stumbling or running into him. “Look, buddy, I have no idea what you’re talking about with this ‘fledgling’ crap—just like I had no idea what that toad thing was talking about the ‘season’. Could I just have you help me to get to that village? I need to ask someone how to get home. That’s all I—.” She was abruptly interrupted as she found herself bumping into him. Her fluffy-eared leader had stopped, and she backed up a few paces as he glanced over his shoulder at her. This time he really seemed to see her, though he did not catch her own gaze as he surveyed her clothes, her backpack. “What?” she started, not being able to ask the second part of that question before he had his own.
“Did you… come out of the well?” his voice was much softer than it had been previous to that moment, Atsuko thought she could even pick out a note of hope in his voice.
“What?” she had asked the stupid question before she’d even realized it, causing him to revert back to almost exactly the same as he’d been before.
“The well in that meadow back there!” he snapped. “Is that where you came from?”
“Not exactly…” she admitted. Atsuko only let the ‘answer’ hang in the air for a few moments before getting back to her original intent. “Look, I just want to get home, okay? So long as you get me to someone who’s able to help, I’ll be out of your hair.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, returning to his previous walk with a dismissive wave. “There’s an old hag of a priestess down there, she’ll probably be able to help.”
Atsuko followed carefully behind, unsure of what had just happened or if she could really rely on him for this. As much as it was bugging her that she couldn’t just say she didn’t need his grouchy assistance and find her way about by herself, she wasn’t the kind of independent that was stupid.
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