InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Reincarnation Isn't Always a Good Thing! ❯ 14 ( Chapter 14 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Day Three*
Kagosha opened her eyes. It was bright outside. She groaned, the sunlight irritating her eyes. She gave them a few minutes to adjust, then sat up.
"where-?" she asked herself, looking around. She was in some sort of a cave.
"Good. You're up." Kagosha stiffened. She spun around to see a girl sitting behind her, just looking at her and mixing...... something. She looked like she was fifteen. Her hair was a wavy brownish color with a little bit of blonde in it, her nose small, and her mouth and lips medium. She had the bluest eyes Kagosha had ever seen, like crystal. She was tall and -though she wasn't fat, or even chubby- she had some meat on her bones. Lithe would be an appropriate word for her.
"Who are you?" Kagosha asked. "Why'd you help me?" Her eyes widened. "What about-"
"I helped your friends too. You guys needed the help."
"Who are you?" The girl laughed.
"I'm sorry. I forgot to make introductions. I'm Mahkoto."
"Mahkoto?"
"Yup." Mahkotoe looked at her for a moment. "Who are you?"
"You must know who I am." Mahkoto shook her head and went back to mixing whatever it was.
"Why'd you help me then?"
"I said that already: you guys needed it." Kagosha could feel Kotan stirring behind her. She turned around, looking at her wolf friend.
"Is another one waking up?" Mahkoto asked curiously. Kagosha nodded slowly.
"What time is it?" Kotan asked, blinking rapidly. "And where am I?" Her eyes settled on Mahkoto. "And who is she?"
"It's 12:34;a cave; Mahkoto." Kotan looked at her blankly. Mahkoto stopped stirring and set the pot aside, a warm stewy smell rising from it.
'What the heck happened to us? Does she know who we are, really?'
'No. She said she didn't. She seemed honest.'
'Should we wake the boys up?'
'Sure.' Kagosha concentrated her energy one Santu, using her energy as a jumpstart for him. He opened his eyes in a matter of seconds. He too glanced around and asked the usual questions. (Who, why, where.) Nakago did the same.
"As I've said five times today: you guys needed the help." Mahkoto was starting to get annoyed. "Can someone just tell me who you are?"
"We're youkai." Nakago said, stating the obvious. Mahkoto sighed and laid down, as if knowing that they weren't about to reveal their names. Even though it was the middle of the day, she seemed like she was going to sleep.
"That was obvious. I'm going to sleep now- I stayed up all night watching over you... youkai." She closed her eyes, and soon her breathing had fallen into the deep, regular pattern of sleep.
"Who is she?" Santu asked. "What does she want?"
"I didn't like her much." Kotan said. Her eyes fell on the stew. She gestured to it. "Think she wants us to eat it?"
"Probably. She went to sleep as soon as she could- I think she wants us to eat." Kagosha stated, reaching for the stew.
"I don't see any eating utensils......" Santu started, glancing around. Nakago shrugged.
"We'll eat with our hands then- no problem." And so they did. For the next few minutes, the only sound was that of soup being licked off fingers and slurped from cupped hands.
"Mmmm........ this is pretty good. No vegetables though." Santu noted, licking his fingers clean then wiping them on his clothes.
"Wonder why. There are plenty of veggies outside probably." Kagosha said, glancing out. Just outside of the cave was a forested area, perfect for growing wild veggies, like turnips and carrots- things like that.
"I'm still kind of hungry..." Kotan said hesitantly. The stew was completely gone, but then again, it hadn't been an especially large bowl.
"Maybe we could find something growing wild in the forest?" Kagosha asked hopefully. "Or catch some more meat?"
"Someone would have to stay here though. A stay youkai may chance attacking a sleeping human, if they don't think they'll get caught." Nakago warned. "Mahkoto could be attacked- it's not perfectly safe, even with the Treaty." He didn't have to add on to that. True as that may be, there was another, more dangerous and likely possibility: Malum could come for them, and use Mahkoto as a hostage, or just kill her for helping them. Killing her would be the obvious conclusion, seeing as the place reeked of medicinal herbds and their scent. He'd kill her out of spite.
"You voulenteering?" Kotan asked, pushing some hair behind her ear.
"Well...... no......."
"I'll stay." Kagosha said, surprising the other three. "You guys don't really seem to like her, and besides, you're better at hunting and identifying plants then I am. Kotan can run faster then the rabbits do, and Santu's knowledge of herbs is better then mine. Nakago can even spot game from the air."
"You sure?" Santu asked. "I could stay-"
"Or I could-" Nakago cut in, but without conviction, like it was a duty he wanted to avoid if at all possible.
"I wouldn't. She's kind of creepy...." Kotan added, bluntly honest.
"It's fine. I'll see you later." Kagosha said, waving them off. They nodded and left, leaving Kagosha and Mahkoto in their cave. Kagosha scooted over to a wall of the cave, staring out at the sun. It was so peaceful, just her and the birds. And Mahkoto, but she was asleep and not making any noise, not even snoring. Kagosha leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, just needing to rest them for a moment......
A small whimpering woke her up, minutes later. She glanced around anxiously, her eyes landing on Mahkoto, who had curled into a fetal position while asleep and was now also covering her ears. Another whimper escaped her, high-pitched. She was obviously having a nightmare. Kagosha shook her, trying to wake her up.
"Mahkoto! Mahkoto, wake up! It's just a dumb nightmare!" Kagosha called, hoping to wake the girl up. It took a while, but eventually Mahkoto sighed and opened her eyes, sat up and grabbed her head.
"Wha-?" she asked, her thoughts a haze. Her eyes took in the whole cave before resting on Kagosha.
"You had a nightmare. I woke you up." For a moment, just a moment, Mahkoto's eyes filled with fear, but that was covered over so quickly Kagosha thought she must have imagined it. Indeed, she must have, for when Mahkoto spoke again, it was in a normal voice.
"I.... I didn't say anything, did I?" Kagosha looked at her oddly, but slowly shook her head. The relief Mahkoto felt was palpable.
"That's good." She looked at the stewpot, then glanced around again.
"You guys liked the stew, didn't you? Where are the others?"
"They're out-"
"We were hunting." Kotan grumbled, stalking into the cave, followed closely by Santu and Nakago. Kagosha sprang to her feet.
"You're back!" she said, remembering in time not to greet them by name. "What'd you catch?"
"A rabbit, some fish, and Santu found a few carrots." Nakago said, holding some fish. Kotan had the rabbit, and Santu carried some carrots.
"Oh." Mahkoto's soft voice spoke up from behind Kagosha. "So his name is Santu?" she asked, pointing to said boy.