Part 5: The Human Girl

          The white-haired hanyou slowly cleaned the chipped old sword. It wasn't much use, and it never did anything. Nonetheless, Inuyasha never went anywhere without it, and he never removed it from his waste. It was a gift from his father, the only one he had. His brother had a similarly useless sword, but at least his wasn't chipped up. Inuyasha frowned. "You know, at least father could have left us useful weapons." He complained.
          Sesshomaru didn't answer, but focused instead on cleaning his own armor. "I don't know. Someday they might come in handy."
          Inuyasha snorted, and shoved his sword back in the scabbard, letting his eyes wander across the forest. The shadows seemed to have a life of their own, twisting and dancing against the starry sky. Inuyasha twitched his ears curiously, keeping his expression of lazy disinterest. Sesshomaru noted his poorly disguised apprehension and smirked. He was thinking about that stupid dream again.
          "Hey, mutt!" he said prodding Inuyasha with his foot. "What's wrong with you?"
          "Get off!" Inuyasha snarled, pushing Sesshomaru's foot away. "Let me alone."
          Sesshomaru crouched in front of him, eyeing him intensely, "You are being an idiot. It's just a dream."
          Inuyasha glared at him, no longer bothering to keep his expression lazy. "Go away, damn it! I don't care what you say. You weren't there. You don't see her, you don't smell her."
          Sesshomaru laughed, "Smell her? What does she smell like?"
          Inuyasha glared at him, but then sighed, "I can't describe it, but it's like nothin' I've ever smelled in my entire life. It's a real sweet smell, like flowers or spices or somethin'." He said shaking his head. Suddenly he sniffed the air, he could smell her. Very faintly, but she was there, to be sure. "Do you smell that?"
          Sesshomaru sniffed the air like his brother had. "Yeah. It's odd. It's human. It's not any of the villagers. It's probably a wanderer."
          Inuyasha darted to his feet, "No, no, it's her!" he argued. "I can smell her!" he said and tore off like a bat out of hell. Sesshomaru watched him go for several seconds, but then shrugged and raced after him.
          Wherever they were going, it was definitely directly into the smell. His brother stopped at a clearing, staring curiously at a well built there. Why humans would build a well so far away from their town was beyond Sesshomaru, but who could understand humans, the foolish, pathetic creatures they were.
          "Heeeeeeeeeeeelp!" a voice yelled from the well. "Is anyone there?" it cried anxiously. "Someone help me!"
          The hanyou darted around the well curiously, peering down into it as though he expected whatever was inside to help him up. There was a girl inside. Mud streaked her face, and her eyes were wide with fear. "It's you." he gasped, staring at her in shock.
          "Hey? Up there! Help me!" she called excitedly, seeing Inuyasha's black form against the starlit sky. Inuyasha jumped down in the well, staring at her in shock. "Great! Now we're both stuck!" she wailed anxiously.
          "Who are you?" he whispered in awe.
          Kagome stared at the black form before her angrily. She couldn't see a thing, and this guy was standing there asking her questions. "I'm Higurashi Kagome. We have to get out of here!" He's just staring at me. she though nervously. I can't get away from him down here. "Are you going to help me out of here or not? Please tell me there's someone up there with a ladder."
          "Hey, what's going on down there?" Sesshomaru called down the well. He could see Inuyasha staring at the muddy girl on the floor as though he couldn't move his eyes. She was pretty, but not that pretty. Sesshomaru sniffed disdainfully. She was human, and a dirty human at that. "Hey, mutt, you okay down there?"
          "Shut up Sesshomaru." Inuyasha muttered. He swallowed heavily, eyes focused on Kagome. "Come on." He said and hooked his arm around her waist.
          "Hey, let go of me you idiot!" She yelped, but her yelp turned into a frightened squeak as Inuyasha leapt out of the well in a single bound. He deposited her on the ground carefully, and she slumped like a rag doll.
          "How did you - " she started, staring up at Inuyasha's face in the moonlight. "Inuyasha?"
          Sesshomaru snarled, "Let her here, Inuyasha." He said, glaring at Kagome, "Filthy human. It's bad enough you're half, but I don't want her around."
          Inuyasha glared at him. "How do you know my name?" he asked her slowly.
          Kagome glared at him, "You've been in my nightmares since I was a little kid!" she told him, scrambling to her feet and rubbing mud off her face. "How can I not know you?"
          Inuyasha stared at her, "You're the girl." He told her matter-of-factly. "You're the girl in my dream."
          "Inuyasha, just let her here! Come on, we've already dragged her out of the well, point her to the nearest village and let's go." Sesshomaru grumbled.
          Inuyasha scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder. "No. I want to know why she'd in my dreams." He informed his brother and charged into the woods, Kagome shrieking at him to let her go, and Sesshomaru glaring at her in annoyance.
          My brother is an odd one. He thought. But why does he have to bring that human into our territory? Sesshomaru shook his head and followed them. This is what I get for taking him in. I should have left him in that miserable village. He complained, knowing he really didn't mean it.