Blind Man's Bluff by Forthright [Drabble #69]
Title: Blind Man’s Bluff
Author: Forthright
Theme: Mutual
Genre: General
Rating: G
Words: 400
Warnings: This is part of a serial titled Unspoiled, in which Kagome has been tossed into the distant past, where she meets a very young Sesshoumaru.
Summary: CU. Night falls, and Kagome stumbles in the dark.
Blind Man’s Bluff
Traveling was part of everyday life in the feudal era, and Kagome had grown to love it. Long walks through picturesque countryside, hair-raising scrambles up sheer cliff-faces, dazzling views from Kirara’s back-nothing in her own time could compare. This era is mostly the same... trees, trees, trees as far as the eye can see.
Sesshoumaru and Hisoka walked ahead, immersed in a conversation that was pitched too low for Kagome to hear. She peered into the deepening shadows, automatically keeping her eyes open for a good campsite. There are new things, though, like youkai villages. When she’d first been pulled through the Well, it had been such a shock to see living, breathing demons that they seemed to be everywhere, but the shard-hunters had never discovered an established community. The closest thing was that inn filled with kitsune... but I think that was a school. Or Kouga’s pack, but they don’t live in houses, just caves. Maybe humans and demons couldn’t coexist... two mutually exclusive races. That’s why there aren’t as many demons in the feudal era... and none left by my time....
Shaking free of melancholy thoughts, Kagome squinted into the gloom. There’s no sign of the Fortress; surely we’ll have to stop for the night. Inuyasha never let their party travel after dark, insisting it was too dangerous... that the night was full of predators.
Twilight faded away, and Kagome’s heartbeat quickened as Hisoka disappeared from view, just another shadow in the woods. The moment she hastened her steps to catch up with the faint gleam of silver hair, she stumbled over an unseen root, and when she regained her balance, she was alone. Swallowing hard, she reached out a hand, taking a cautious step. Not good. She was human-weak, blind, vulnerable. Prey.
Say something, her mind chided. They can’t be far.
But before she could call out, the predators found her.
“Higurashi?” Hisoka’s voice came from directly in front of her, and he sounded puzzled. “Can’t you see me?”
“N-no,” she admitted, embarrassed. Before she could curl in on herself, his warm hand caught her outstretched fingertips.
“How strange,” he murmured. “Are all humans afflicted with night blindness?”
“Mostly, yeah.”
Small fingers wrapped around Kagome’s wrist. “We will add it to the list.”
“List?” Hisoka asked curiously.
“Yes,” the young lord affirmed, then dutifully recited, “Humans require warmth, shelter, food, water, baths, sleep, friends, privacy... and light.”