InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tenseiga ❯ Feral Hopes ( Chapter 14 )

Kagome was fully conscious when she landed. She growled softly at the offending ground and pushed herself to her feet. Her bow and quiver had landed nearby and she snapped them up before taking a good look around. She felt her jaw drop. The trees rose up around her to phenomenal heights. She reached out and touched the strange spongy reddish bark. These were sequoias. The great sentinels of the Northwest America. She was in North America. She sighed softly. She needed to find a river, follow it to the sea. She would be able to find a settlement without much difficulty. She turned, glancing around her. It was strange but she felt as though someone was watching her. She notched an arrow.

"Who is out there?" Silence was the only thing that greeted her. "You cannot hide from me."

Slowly a wolf stepped into the clearing. Kagome drew the bow as she watched him. He was too big by far, almost the size of a small horse and she sensed power from him. After a moment he advanced another step.

"Are you the reason I am here?"

The wolf looked around them and spoke softly. "Please, you must help me, I am trapped."

Slowly she released the tension on her bow. "You are a man?"

"I was, but…I was a shaman, the healer in my village. An old woman came to us and told me of a way to increase my power, to gain the powers of the animals around me. It seemed so easy."

Kagome sighed softly. "Everything has a price, sir wolf, especially power. There are others, aren't there?"

"I don't know. I don't even know how you can understand me, every other person I have tried to talk to has only thought me an animal. Are you a God?"

"No, just a miko, a priestess."

"Well, Priestess, do you think you can help me?"

"I don't know, but I would like to gather the others before I try."

"I think that is wise. There is a village near here, but I cannot go there."

"You can come if you come as my companion."

"I don't know."

"Trust me, you must, or I will not be able to help you."

He nodded and stepped up to her. Gently he nuzzled her leg. "You may name me if you wish. My human name is lost."

"You will name yourself someday, but for now I will call you Neil."

"Neil, what a strange name."

She smiled as she began to walk, Neil keeping pace. "In my land there was a story of a great warrior. His chiefs betrayed him and set the rest of his men against him. He had to fight to save himself and his woman. He reminded me a great deal of a wolf. He had to fight to become the Alpha for the right to be with his woman. In the end they both left their enemies dead and vanished from the world."

"Where did they go?"

"To their own place to live out their lives in peace."

"Live out their lives in peace. That sounds nice."

"Yeah, it does."

Neil glanced at her, startled by her forlorn look. They walked slowly, taking care to be silent in the forest. After a few hours they emerged by a small lake. Kagome smiled when she saw the village.

"Is this your home?"

"No, my home was swept away in a storm once I was no longer there to protect it."

"I'm sorry."

"It is the way of things. I have learned to accept it."

"That doesn't me you can't mourn them."

"No, it doesn't."

They started down the slope, it only took seconds for them to be spotted. Kagome smiled and waved, as though she were coming home. This seemed to confuse the people, but it did not stop them. Soon they were surrounded by villagers. The warriors pressed their spears toward her throat. Kagome gave them all a warm smile.

"Hello. I am Kagome, and this is Neil." Her introducing the wolf seemed to throw them. "I'm looking for an old traveling woman, or perhaps animals that have been acting strangely."

"Strangely?"

"Coming out of the woods, not attacking when they should, other things like that."

They seemed to step back slightly. The man who had spoken frowned. "Are you here to do something about them?"

"After a fashion. I need to gather them together, you see, they're my companions and I am terribly worried about them."

"Companions?"

"My friends, please if you know where they are, I really must find them."

"Your friends are animals?"

"This might take a bit of explaining. Is your shaman near?"

Kagome found herself and Neil escorted to an old man seated by a small fire. He frowned up at her. Then returned to his examination of the fire. Kagome sat and waited out of respect. At last he spoke.

"Tell me of your friend."

"Neil is a wolf who was once a man. He sought a path to greater power without thinking of the consequences and is now trapped in this form."

He nodded slowly. "You always pay for what you get."

"Sometimes a thousand fold."

The old man smiled at her. "You are wise for your age. There have been many such creatures recently. You are welcome to remain here until you have gathered them."

"My thanks. Please be on the look out for an elderly woman who offers too much without payment."

"I am always on the look for such things. Please, tell me, what you get in return?"

"Nothing as near as I can tell. The Tenseiga has been bouncing around the world, just helping people. I want to go home, but something tells me I won't get to do that for some time yet." She cast her gaze into the fire. "I really just want to go home and see my children. I have three waiting for me."

"You do not look old enough to have even one."

She blushed. "None of them are mine, I have adopted all of them. My little Shippou is only seven and Yuka and Eri are just babies."

"You miss them. It seems you are already paying a heavy price. Please forgive my question."

"No, it's all right, you didn't know." Neil whimpered softly and nosed her elbow. She gave him a light scratch. "We should be going. I will probably be able to summon them all to one place, but you will no doubt hear if not feel the spell. Please, try to keep the people away."

"It will not be hard, but you should rest before attempting this. Please eat, and know that you are welcome here among my people."

"You are too kind to one who is a stranger."

"I trust you, though I do not know why."