#gypsyn

The man was staring down at the pocket watch in his hand and then looked over, focusing his eyes and ears intently on her. She looked back but barely caught the color of his golden eyes as she approached before he moved again. To her surprise, he just turned back to the well and let himself drop inside.

Kagome cried out in worry and shock, flinging herself against the wood to see if he was okay and to her surprise, she just caught the flash of a blue light and then nothing. The well was empty.

Kagome stared at the light in perplexion and contemplated her next move. Should she give up the chase and go home? Or should she try jumping in after him?

The irrational worry that if she took too long deciding then he would get away from her sealed her decision and she climbed onto the lip of the well and hopped in after him.

A blue light engulfed her immediately as she fell and she looked around, feeling surprised at just how familiar the sensation was.

When the light finally faded, Kagome gently touched down on the bottom of the well and looked around confused at its walls. When she looked up she was briefly met with the face of the young man from before. But just as their eyes met, he once again turned away from her and left.

Kagome couldn't climb out of the well fast enough. And once her head popped out she caught sight of his form growing smaller as he walked into the woods again.

It appeared that she hadn’t really gone anywhere. She was still in the same old woods as before. Even all the trees looked the same.

"H-Hey! wait up!" she called out after him, struggling to pull herself up over the edge. But he ignored her.

The girl frowned and pulled one leg and then another up over the edge, tumbling onto the grass and smearing dirt and grass against the apron of her dress. She barely had her feet on the ground again before she was picking back up the chase, running after him. This time she managed to catch up to him.  

As she reached his side, he spared her a stern glance but kept his quick pace.

She was breathing hard but still opened her mouth to ask if they had ever met before when he cut her off.

"You're late wench."

She looked taken aback still panting.

"I-I'm sorry?" she managed, feeling confused.  "What exactly am I late to?"

"Your meeting with the Queen stupid. Now pick up the pace, I ain't got all day."

Her temper sparked a little at his language and she stopped in her tracks, letting him get ahead of her.

After he realized she had stopped, he stopped too and looked back at her in clear irritation.

"Well NOW I don't care if I know you or not!" she snapped at him angrily. "I didn't follow after you just so you could insult me, I'm going back!"

He raised an eyebrow at her and flashed her a fanged smirk.

"It's too late for that. You followed me here all on your own and now the path back is gone," he informed her, crossing his arms over his chest with finality.  "You can only go forward."

"Whatever," Kagome replied coldly, twirling on her heel and marching back the way they had come. "I can't believe I followed you all the way out here just so you could be a jerk to me."

The dog-eared man made a sound of exasperation and growled. "Woman! I just told you It's no good! Where the hell are you going?!"

"Back," she repeated stubbornly.  “To my home.”

"Stupid girl! If you just blow off The Queen when you're already late she's gonna have you executed!"

"Like I care about you or your Queen," she replied, walking back into the clearing where the well had been.

But as she looked around she saw no well or even any sign of one. It was just a grassy hill. Kagome stared at the clearing in surprise. She looked all around. Even the trees and rocks seemed to have moved. She was SURE this had been the clearing with the well at the center. She hadn't walked THAT far.

"Believe me now?" the dog-eared man asked snidely. "Your only choice now is to follow me to see The Queen."

In retrospect, it would have been better for the man if he hadn't provoked her.  Kagome's rebellious nature mixed with her irritation at the stranger's jabs and momentarily overturned her worries. At that moment, Kagome was just determined to spoil his plans for her any way she could.

The girl took on a thoughtful look and turned to her left. There was another path, one she hadn't noticed before.

She’d run down a path to get here. Surely if she followed the path she would find her way back. Or at least somewhere where she could get directions.

Plan set, the girl smiled and traipsed toward the path, reveling in the sound of irritation the rude man behind her made.

"Where the hell do you think you're going NOW?!" he demanded, following after her.

"I told you already, home."

"Woman!"

"It's Kagome," she corrected shortly

"It's gonna be BITCH if you don't damn well do what you're supposed to and follow me to the Queen!" he snapped.

"Quite frankly, I have no desire to meet any Queens today so you'll just have to go back home and tell her I'm not coming,” she sassed readily.

"You little brat! FINE see if I care what happens to you then!" he shouted at her as she marched on. 

But after awhile, she heard a faint groan of annoyance and then the begrudging footsteps of the strange man as he followed after her. As he got close she heard him faintly grumble "If you weren't the Queen's goddamn guest I'd drag you there over my shoulder wench."

Kagome snorted and ignored the man as she continued on through the forest.

Inuyasha's look shifted to open confusion. "What?" "Ye have a soul mate," she repeated with a pleased tone. "A rare little bird too. I have never seen the like." "That is excellent news, my lord!" Myoga congratulated with a series of cheerful hops from his master's shoulder.   "And... You're sure?" the half-demon asked, his golden eyes narrowing suspiciously. "There is no mistaking it," she told him with convincing authority. "That girl's fate is bound to thine's quite strongly." Inuyasha flashed the scrying mirror a sharp look but said nothing of his true feelings on the witch's words. "And?" he asked grudgingly. "And young pup, it will not be so easy to catch your little bird as anticipated." His eyes hardened a little. "Why not?" "Because she is a celestial maiden," the hag replied almost gleefully. The half-demon's expression shifted to extreme disbelief but he still said nothing. To be honest he wasn't sure WHAT to say to such an absurd statement. And he HAD to say statement because he couldn't say she was outright lying. The subtle scent of deception was hard to miss in a lie THIS big. And yet it was not there.

"We will need to cast a powerful spell in order to bring her here to our world,"  the croan continued, looking back down into her scrying bowl excitedly. "I don't know magic like that," he informed the hag coldly. Honestly, If she wasn't LYING then at the very least he was really beginning to wonder about her sanity. Myoga's recommendation or not. The flea had been wrong before... "Worry not, worry not I shall lend ye my assistance. Thine involvement shall be relatively small." The hag turned from the bowl and began sorting through her bottles and bags on the shelf behind her, searching for what looked like ingredients. "It should take a week for me to have the essentials ready. So I advise ye to find a safe hidden place to keep the pretty little bird once she does arrive." Despite Inuyasha's reservations on the old woman's sanity,  his heart skipped a little at the thought of such preparations. "A den?" Inuyasha asked. "Yes. With a place to sleep and bathe, she will doubtlessly appreciate that." The hag took on a teasing expression. "I would do some hunting as well young lord. Ye will not be too eager to leave thine maiden unattended once she is here." 

"How the hell would you know that?" he snapped in return. "Oh lady Sasuki knows dog demons, thine lot are rather predictable." She gave a grin. "It is not unheard of to see one of thine kind bed down with a new mate for a year or longer before being satisfied enough to let her stray, never very far though. Protective creatures dog demons." 

Inuyasha blushed and opened his mouth to say something scathing but Myoga interveined.  "She is right my lord, your father was that way too." "I'M half HUMAN," he reminded the two of them bitterly. "Maybe I won't wanna "bed down" with some damn wench for a whole damn year." The old woman smiled. "We shall see young lord," she replied. "Ye may change thy mind once ye see her. She Is a rather sweet little thing." "Whatever the hell you say," Inuyasha sneered before looking down at Myoga in contempt.

(---)

'I can't believe I'm goddamn doing this.' Inuyasha scolded himself. 'Am I really so fucking desperate that I'll just go along with some completely unhinged witch for the chance of finding someone?' 'Yes,' whispered a tiny unapologetic thought from his core. 'You're here aren't you?' "My my a celestial maiden! What a challenging match," the old woman crooned happily as she prepared her scrying bowl in the field behind him. Inuyasha sat by himself about 10 feet away from the witch, still prepared to bolt if she did try and pull a fast one on him. Myoga, however, had no qualms in sitting on the hag's shoulder to watch her work. "I'm glad YOU'RE happy about all this," Inuyasha grumbled sulkily. "Art thou not? At last, ye will have a suitable bride. More than suitable I dare say." "Fear not my lord!" piped in Myoga confidently. "Lady Sasuki Is the very best of demon matchmakers, you will not be disappointed!" "Keh," Inuyasha answered, clearly unconvinced.

The old woman chuckled and pulled out a bag to sit beside her scrying bowl. "We are all ready now my lord. Best to take one last look while ye can."

"Last look at what?" he asked warily. "Thine maiden's heavenly garb." "Garb?" Inuyasha practically snarled. 'Damn I feel like an idiot...' The witch cast him a suddenly impatient look. "Foolish thing, look there!" she cried in exasperation, pointing directly upward. "The third brightest in the sky, just above us." Inuyasha sighed and looked up. The sky was a clear cloudless navy blue, lit with thousands of sparkling stars. And at last, what she meant clicked and the foolishness of listening to this hag washed over him anew. "A star?" he asked almost angrily, narrowing in on the one she had pointed out to him, the third brightest. A pure white flicker amongst a sea of tiny lights. "Aye. A star maiden. Never forget what she truly is young lord or how lucky ye are. There are very few so blessed." 

He stood and nearly walked away right then and there. This was too much. If anyone ever heard of him falling for a joke this idiotic... But Myoga noticed his lord's movement and jumped to his own feet in protest. "Please Master! Humor us for one more afternoon! The fee has already been paid, we cannot go back now!" "Fee?" Inuyasha asked, looking back with a sharp glint to his eyes. "Thy vassal paid handsomely in gold to find a fitting mate for thee," the hag revealed with a chuckle. "He seemed quite worried for his master's happiness." "Where the hell'd you get gold?" Inuyasha growled. "Totosai and I went in on it together," the old demon explained somewhat apologetically. The dog demon had the good grace to flinch in guilt and annoyance at those words. How very like the old geezers to WORRY about him for no damn reason and end up putting him in such an awkward situation. Or at the very least, how like Myoga to worry so much that he'd drag the old blacksmith into this too.

But one last look at the flea's pleading expression and Inuyasha plopped down again with an angry sigh. "I can't believe you two PAID for something this stupid," he grumbled. "We shall see how good an investment it was very shortly my lord," the witch reminded him, waving a wrinkled hand over the water in her bowl. The liquid lit up, casting a ghostly light about the clearing. She smiled at her apparent success and looked toward Inuyasha's brooding form. "Alright my lord, tis your chance to call her down. Come, speak near the bowl and she will hear thee." Inuyasha begrudgingly got back up and trudged over, eyeing the glowing water as if trying to decide if it was a trap. "What the fuck am I supposed to say?" he asked once he was standing in front of the bowl. To his immense surprise, instead of hearing the witch reply, he heard a soft sweet voice whisper in his ears, "Inuyasha?" The half-demon started and looked around. But no one was there except the old woman and the flea. "Did she sense ye?" the old woman asked expectantly, seeing his surprised expression. "I-I don't know..." he answered, feeling a little out of sorts. He cast one more look around, fully expecting to see someone else there with them.   "Try again!" Inuyasha gulped and looked back down into the bowl. But he didn't need to try again. Within seconds she was once more speaking to him. "Inuyasha? You can hear me?" questioned that sweet voice with her own tone of clear surprise. "I... I think so," he answered cautiously.

The maidenly voice made a sound of pleased excitement. "Then please tell me your wish!" she requested eagerly. "My wish?" Inuyasha asked. He looked at the old woman in confusion but she didn't seem to hear the voice's strange request. "Yes, your wish," the voice insisted sweetly. 'You can ask for anything you want. Women, money, respect, a home... Anything. Anything in the world." Somewhere deep inside of himself, Inuyasha felt something painful and longing stir. Vaguely, he remembered a moment as a child sitting alone in a dark forest. 'I wish...' He shook his head, clearing away the long forgotten memory. It was impossible to be distracted from the present moment for too long.  He couldn't let himself be distracted if this was real, not when he had already waited so long... "Nod if ye hear her" instructed the witch carefully. Inuyasha obeyed, nodding his head.

"Good, good. Now tell thine songbird to come where ye can see her," the old woman told him gleefully. He nodded again. "Come to me," he told the voice aloud. "let me see you." There was a long surprised pause from her end. "You... You want to see me?" the soft voice asked uncertainly. "Yes,"  he replied without hesitation. "...But you're not alone," she whispered still softer. Her voice seemed thin, almost gone. "Please let me see you," he insisted quietly, gritting his teeth and hoping that the others wouldn't hear. "Just once." There was a long stretch of quiet. "...Okay," she eventually consented. Although she sounded worried. "She's coming," Inuyasha whispered, pulling away from the light of the scrying bowl. The old woman nodded and quickly marched over, picking up the bag she had placed beside the bowl and opening it to him. "Coat thine hands in this and when she appears grab onto her wrists tight and do not release her till I say. Only then will she be yours." 

Inuyasha quickly dove his hands into the bag of what felt like very fine sand. He thoroughly covered his hands in the stuff and pulled them out, revealing a silver dust that sparkled against the moonlight. After a moment’s consideration, he walked a fair distance away from the two old demons and waited, his heart beating fast. He still wasn't sure if he could trust this old hag, but that voice had been more than enough to catch his attention.

Would her face be just as pretty? Would her body? Celestial maidens were rumored to be incredible beauties...

Inuyasha was not disappointed.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a light in the forest growing brighter as something approached. Slowly he walked toward it, his heart beat loud in his ears, his palms almost sweaty. And then she appeared, shyly stepping out from behind a tree, watching the old woman uncertainly before turning her attention fully to him. He stood there frozen. She seemed to give off an otherworldly light that brightened the clearing substantially. Her silky night black hair fell to her knees, curling near the ends. Part of it was tied up in an intricate knot at the left side of her head. The exposed skin of her neck and wrists were as pale and unmarked as a porcelain doll’s. Her clothes finer than that of any royalty. 

But it was her face that ensnared him. When her bright blue eyes met his gold he saw her uncertain expression melt away to be replaced with a beatific glowing smile. His breath caught in his throat at that look. No woman alive had ever stared up at him like this before. 'And if I don't catch her now no woman ever will again.'  The thought stirred him into action and he took a step forward, if slowly. Her smile broadened and she stepped away from the safety of the trees to slowly walk toward him as well. "Inuyasha," she said in her sweet otherworldly voice. He shivered when she said his name that way. Like she already loved him. Her scent caught his nose and he nearly drooled. That soft, sweet, feminine smell sending him reeling.  

What if this was all a trick? Or maybe he was going crazy? This girl couldn't possibly exist. Soul mates couldn't exist... Not for half-breeds....

"Inuyasha I came to grant you your wish," she told him eagerly. "My wish?" he whispered back, walking toward her almost in a daze. She nodded serenely, her eyes sparkling in promise. "Any wish you want." She reached out her hands as if to touch the sides of his face with just the tips of her delicate fingers. But at the sight of her hands, he suddenly remembered his job in all this. Inuyasha's own hands shot out, wrapping around her tiny wrists as tight as he dared. The celestial maiden's eyes went wide at the contact. "What?" she gasped in surprise. He took advantage of her shock to pull her up close to him. Already he could feel his hands grow hot everywhere they touched her skin, like a power building between them, binding them. "Then I wish for you," he told her, looking down at her frightened face with determination. She gasped and yanked on her wrists with surprising strength, pulling him with her a few steps. Trying with everything she had to tear herself away from him. He held on tight with a grip like steel. "No!" she cried out desperately. "You have no idea what you're doing! Let go!! Let go of me!" His ears lowered a little at the sound of her pleas, but he knew full well if he let this girl go he would never see her again and he wasn't so willing to give up on having her if she really was destined to become his mate. His hands grew hotter as if he were reaching into a fire. In response, he clenched his jaw. "A little longer yet," the old woman told him coaxingly. "Easy for you to say!" Inuyasha gritted out quietly. Between his scorching hands and this girl's strength, he was having a harder time holding onto her than he had anticipated.

The girl's eyes shot up to the old woman's in livid anger. "What are you making him do to me!?" she demanded, still trying to pull her hands from his. When the old woman did not answer and the girl's expression flickered to fear. She turned that frightened gaze back to look up at her captor.

"Inuyasha please," she begged. Somehow her voice sounded more solid. "Please don't do this, you don't know what you're doing to me!" "Fear not young lord," Interrupted the hag calmly. "Ye are merely binding her to ye. Tis necessary to keep her from slipping back to her world." Tears filled the girl's eyes as she looked up at Inuyasha. He stared back at her, resolute in his conviction. Even if he hadn't been sure about all this less than a half hour ago he damn well wanted her now. "Inuyasha please..!" "You said any wish I wanted right?!" he bit out firmly. "But this isn't right!" she argued pleadingly. Her pull against him grew weaker. Her knees began to buckle. "You're... You're forcing me to... I'll die," she murmured, trembling from head to toe as the light around her grew dim and her voice lost all its ethereal sound. The half demon looked at the hag in alarm. "No sooner than ye will," the old woman reassured Inuyasha evenly. "There's no way on earth to make that girl completely mortal."

The girl's legs buckled beneath her and she stumbled into Inuyasha's chest.  She breathed hard against him, her face hidden. "But I- I'm supposed to live for billions of years," she whispered.   "Fret not girl, ye will become a star again once thine mate passes."

"Mate?" she asked faintly. 

Intense guilt stirred inside Inuyasha at that tiny frightened word.She looked up at him, her eyes betrayed. "I-Inu...yasha..?" she murmured weakly. And then her eyes flickered closed and she went completely limp against his chest. He fell to his knees with her, still holding on tight to her scorching wrists as the heat increased. But he could only clench his jaw tight and silently endure the building pain.

It felt like he was holding molten metal in a demon's forge. like the flesh of his hands should have already been burned away. But still he held on, burying his face in her neck, desperate to remind himself of the reason he was doing this. His nose brushed against her throat and despite the pain, he felt a shiver play down his spine. He could almost imagine biting down right there. Her smell was so tempting... She was so beautiful... He held on until finally the liquid fire that scorched his hands suddenly turned cold and smooth as metal. Inuyasha uttered a breath of relief and relaxed against her, breathing hard.

"Ye may release her now. The binding is done." The half-demon shakily did as bade, releasing her wrists to glance down at his hands. But where he had expected to see blood and almost certainly bone, he found his normal hands completely unmarked by the spell. Now void of every speck of silver dust. Then he looked down at the girl's wrists. On each one was a solid metal ring that hadn't been there before. They looked like silver bracelets. He leaned back a little to examine her. The glow was completely gone now. Her skin and her facial features had remained the same. But her hair only went down her back now and her clothes had lost their lustrous designs, fading into plain solid colors. She almost looked like a normal girl. Quietly Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her back, holding her to his chest. Relief was his first feeling but exhaustion was his second. "Congratulations my lord!" Myoga cheered with big tearful eyes. "She is truly a beauty!" The half-demon ignored the flea in favor of more answers. "Now what?" he asked the old woman wearily.  "Is she going to be okay?" "Perfectly fine, perfectly fine," the old woman reassured him easily as she came close. "Ah, look at that, a celestial maiden in the flesh," she cooed, reaching out to touch the unconscious girl's hair. Inuyasha instinctively flinched, pulling the limp girl up in his arms and away from her grasping hands. "Are you sure?" he asked tightly. "You're sure she'll be alright?" The hag seemed slightly disappointed but did not press him. "Aye, she will wake up by sometime tomorrow confused and frightened. But so long as ye treat her with compassion she will accept her new life here and adapt in no time. She is a young thing so it should be a simple matter." She looked the girl over with curiosity. "Her inexperience is likely why she was so easily caught in the first place," she commented.

"You call that easy?" he hissed in annoyance.

The old demoness nodded. "A star with more control would have killed ye in an instant, demon or no." Inuyasha snorted, cradling the girl a little closer regardless. "And how did she know my name?" he asked stiffly. "She acted like she knew me." "Her kind know many things, young lord. Things that humans and demons do not. It is likely that thy name came to her when she first heard thine voice." Inuyasha's glare eased to an exhausted frown and he looked back down at his hard-won prize. Her peaceful expression as she slept both tempted him and filled him with guilt.