Serendipitous and Momentous by Forsaken Tenshi [Oneshot #077 Deserving]
The journey through the well was rather short. Kagome had sighed with relief when the rich cobalt-white light had engulfed her into the time-space continuum. She frowned, however, when she was gently deposited on the bottom of the well much sooner than she anticipated. The sky was a crisp pastel blue with a smattering of cottony clouds. Grasping the vines growing downwards, Kagome hauled herself up the interior, panting with the effort.
“Inuyasha?” she called as she crested the lip of the well. She glanced around. “Inuyasha!”
The surrounding forest was quiet. The schoolgirl dumped her bag on the grass adjacent to the well and hoisted herself over the lip. She stood and dusted herself off before taking another look around the clearing. How strange, she thought, Inuyasha normally would have come by now.
With worry curling in her heart, Kagome picked up her bag and began walking down towards the village. She stopped once she reached the circle of trees, frowning with growing consternation.
The familiar pathway was not there. Two options presented themselves in her mind:
1.) The pathway had grown over with grass and shrubs; or
2.) The pathway had never been created in the first place.
“Inuyasha?” she called once more, her voice slightly quivering with the first stirrings of dread.
Calm down, she mentally pep talked herself, Don’t panic. Figure out what happened. I’ll head to the Goshinboku to get an idea of what time period I’m in, and go from there.
With a small nod to herself, Kagome began the arduous trek through the underbrush towards the Goshinboku, her single navigational failsafe. Pushing her way through the last of the saplings, she sighed as she lifted her eyes towards the towering tree-
-only to feel her heart plummet when she realized how much smaller and younger it was than when she was in the same time period as Inuyasha. Now quite thoroughly scared and peeved at the knowledge that she had once again been thrust into a different time period, she glared and jabbed a finger up at the sky while shouting shrilly, "Really, is this necessary? What did I do to deserve this?" A few birds scattered at the sound of her aggravated voice, and Kagome stomped towards the base of the Goshinboku, tossing her bag on the dirt and plopping down on a root, scowling at the green scenery and trying to figure out what to do.
Ten minutes later, a rustle of leaves nearby roused her from her fuming and pondering session. Several feet away, a Sika doe burst forth from the foliage at full gallop, running at such an angle Kagome could have reached out and grazed her side with her fingertips had she felt so inclined. A silent flash of silver and blue streaked across her vision, and the deer tumbled out of sight with a terrified scream. The deer's cries were abruptly cut off by a sickening crunch that had Kagome's stomach turning multiple times.
What. The. Hell. Was. That? Kagome stared ahead, blinking and unsure of exactly what she saw. A second blur of silver and violet had her flat on her back near the roots of the Goshinboku with a hand pressing dangerous claws against the soft flesh of her throat as a growl rumbled from the shadowed figure above. The miko stiffened under the sudden explosion of youki; she had not sensed any beforehand. A soft gasp escaped her as the figure above ducked, leaning down to graze her throat with a cool nose and warm puffs of air. Kagome vaguely registered a rustle of leaves off to the side somewhere.
"Miko?" a voice asked in surprise as the figure let off the woman. Kagome recognized the voice and blinked, taking in her attacker as he stood up to his full height.
"To-Toga-sama?" she squeaked, propping herself up on her elbows as she caught her breath. Toga stood just to her side, the same as she remembered from her previous trip through the well barely a quarter of an hour ago. Her eyes found Sesshoumaru standing a ways off, trailing the doe behind him by the obviously broken neck, if the head twisted awkwardly backwards was any indication. "Sesshoumaru-sama," she whispered, her breath catching momentarily before she gathered her scattered wits, stood up, and dusted herself off.
The younger taiyoukai looked to be about eight years old as a ningen. His hair had grown to brush the backs of his thighs, and he wore a white hakama and haori. He also sported neither ears nor a tail. The haori had camelias colored in royal blue printed on the hanging edges of his sleeves and across his left shoulder. It was a pattern very reminiscent of what he would eventually wear in the future, and Kagome's mind superimposed the elder Sesshoumaru upon the younger one that stood before her. The younger inuyoukai sniffed in her direction and growled low in his throat with confusion, only to be hushed by his alpha. The younger youkai wondered why his and his father's scents covered this ningen, yet he had not encountered any within the past week or so.
"It has been a while, miko," Toga said. Cocking his head quizzically, he added, "But it seems not long for you."
Kagome furrowed her brow in confusion. "Eh? How can you tell? And how long has it been?"
"You smell as if we had mingled for an afternoon, yet thirty summers have passed since we last met, miko," the Inu no Taishou answered.
The amount of time stunned her. Thirty years? I jumped thirty years? Getting over her surprise, she stated, "I hadn't realized it had been that long."
Toga glanced at his son, and a small grin tilted his lips. "Today was his first solo hunt. I had planned out his hunt well by clearing out the area of creatures besides potential prey, but it seems that even the best-laid plans can be thrown off kilter by… unforseen events." The elder inuyoukai's eyes gleamed with mirth. Turning away from the time-traveling miko, Toga assessed his son's kill.
The deer was still whole, without a drop of blood to show for its death, as far as he could sense. With a head gesture, Sesshoumaru wordlessly presented the deer to his father, laying the animal carefully on the ground before his alpha, stepping back deferentially. The elder taiyoukai squatted next to the carcass, pressing fingers around the neck to feel the vertebrae. Kagome watched with fascination as the young inuyoukai fidgeted as he awaited his father's pronouncement.
He's so open, she thought. Why did he change so much? He's just so adorable!
Toga softly rumbled his approval of a clean kill, and Sesshoumaru's eyes lit up with joy. The young youkai took Kagome by surprise by throwing his head back in a victorious howl. The sound sent a chill down her spine, and Toga joined in Sesshoumaru's celebration with a howl of his own, the two voices sliding harmoniously against each other. Kagome, suddenly aware of the gravity of the event, felt deeply honored to have witnessed it.
"Sesshoumaru-sama," Kagome said after the males' impromptu performance, "Congratulations!"
Sesshoumaru, though still wary of the girl, beamed, flashing pointed fangs in a childish, heart-melting grin.