Welcome to Gaia! ::

NOTE: ANYTHING SURROUNDED BY ~ ARE THOUGHTS!

Kagome snapped awake when she felt the tingle that always went with a time slide. She felt Inu-Yasha sit up as well.
“What’s wrong Kagome?”
“I felt… a slide.”
“Eh?”
“Nothing.”
Miroku, a young monk, sat up and glared at the pair of them.
“Peace, please. For once can we sleep though a single night?”
“Feh.”
Kagome looked around.
“It’s over there. Mir--”
“I’ll go look.”
Inu-Yasha got up and dove into the woods. No yokai, he hoped. His last battle still had him drained.
“Eh?”
Suddenly he saw a girl that seemed to be the same age as Miroku and Sango. Her hair was matted down with blood and dirt, there were cuts and bruises on her face and arms, her left arm stuck out at an odd angle, broken most likely; and her clothes were torn too.
Mindful of her injured arm, the half-demon lifted the pitifully thin girl and ran back to camp.
“I found something.”
Sango, who had woken up when she heard Kagome talking the first time, saw the girl and gasped.
Miroku, for once not being a pervert, took the girl from Inu-Yasha and laid her on his own bedroll. He felt her head, with his normal hand, and winced.
“She’s in shock. Not surprising really.”
He knew they were still a day away from Kaede’s village, so he began tearing strips off the hem of his robe.
“Sango, get something for her to bite on. Kagome, get some strong sticks.”
Both women did as they were told, while Inu-Yahsa just stood there a moment.
“You’re going to splint her arm?”
“Yes.”
“How can I help?”
Miroku looked up at him a moment then smirked.
“Hold her down.”
Sango held Miroku’s rope belt in her hands.
“This will have to do.”
She carefully opened the girl’s mouth as Kagome gave the monk the sticks.
“Girls, sit on her feet. I don’t want to fix any broken noses.”
Everybody took his or her positions.
“One… Two… Three!”
The second her started to set her arm the girl’s silvery eyes snapped open and she screamed. She cried as she chewed hard on the piece of rope.
Sango and Kagome both began to talk.
“Tell us your name sweetheart.”
“A-A-Anju… H-H-Hinasaki!
“You’re doing great. Anju, you need to keep talking to us, ok? Can you do that?”
“Uh-huh.”
They all heard a pop and Anju let loose a solid stream of curses at a very high shriek. Miroku spoke to her.
“Anju, look at me.”
She did with her silvery eyes wide.
“I’m almost done, but I need to do that once more. Can you handle it?”
Anju nodded and drew a shaking breath as she spat shreds of the rope from her mouth.
“Alright. One… two… three.”
The second snapping noise was drowned out by a scream like that of a wounded animal. She tried to squirm away, but was held still.
“Done…”
Everybody let go of her at once and ducked out of the way. When nothing happened they came back to look at her. She smiled and whispered to Miroku.
“Thank you.”
Then fainted dead away.
“Why are you so troubled by this girl Kagome?
“It’s kinda hard to explain Sango… Sorry.”
Everyone but Sango and Kagome had gone to sleep. They sat there and talked about what they normally talked about.
“So, am I the only one surprised that Miroku didn’t rub her a** or ask her to bear his children?”
“No, but I think that I‘ve finally knocked some sense into him,” Sango said and burst out laughing.

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Anju woke up at dawn with a start and bit back a yelp of pain when she bumped her arm.
A hand mirror stuck out of a pocket of one of the people’s… Book bag? She pulled the mirror out and saw a girl in a school uniform. So that’s whom the bag belongs to, she thought.
She held up the mirror to inspect her face. A goose egg had risen on her head; a split lip; bloody nose, now dry and countless small cuts and scrapes covered her face.
“Well, I guess that I had a bit of a rough landing. The arm is from Neal and his ball bat.”
She touched the lump on her head and winced. She turned when she felt somebody’s eyes on her. She saw a normal looking man sitting up by a dog-eared one.
“Ah… Who are you two? I, ah, don’t remember much… hehe.”
“Oh, um… My name is Miroku. I am nothing more than a humble monk. And that half-demon over there is Inu-Yasha.”
“What kind of half-demon are you?”
She glared intensively at him and sighed as she said, “I’m a fire yokai. You must be a mangy mutt half-demon.”
“Why I oughta!”
Inu-Yasha lounged at her, ready to strike her down.
“SIT BOY!”
*Sploomt*
He fell face first into a puddle of mud. Anju laughed at him, thinking that he was very clumsy. Kagome walked out from behind a tree.
“I hope neither of them hurt or molested you. They can be pretty inconsiderate and perverted sometimes.”
Anju turned her back on Miroku and Inu-Yasha to face Kagome.
“Aie! Anju turn around!”
“Um… Who are you and how do you know my name?”
“Oh, forgive me. My name is Kagome. You told me your name this morning.”
“Oh… Okay. Which one would have molested me?”
“That would be him.”
Kagome pointed straight to Miroku who was leaning on his staff. His eyes seemed especially glued to Anju’s behind. He snapped to attention when he realized everyone was looking at him.
“Ah. Thanks for the warning Kagome.”
She walked past the monk and held out her hand to Sango.
“I’m Anju. You are…?”
“Sango.”
“Good to meet you.”
She saw a shock of red hair, turned and squatted down near a bush.
“You don’t need to hide from me. I don’t bite… often.”
Shippo came out of the bush and looked at her with nervous green eyes. His tail, which was usually held high and puffed out, was low to the ground.
“You don’t smell right.”
Anju smiled and tugged at her tattered clothes.
“I’m sure I look a mess too.”
Kagome tapped her shoulder.
“Can you stand those clothes until we get to the village? We can get you better stuff there.”
“Yeah, I’ll manage. At least I’m not stark naked.”
Shippo gave a small giggle and lifted his tail. He liked the new girl, she was funny.
“You wouldn’t bite me ever, right? I’m just a kit.”
“Of course not. I only bite people my own age or older.”
She turned to face the others and winked.

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“AHHH!”
A loud, ear-splitting scream ripped through the air.
“Wow Anju that was a great ghost story!”
Shippo was looking over Kagome’s shoulders and appeared to be a little shaken by the remising story. Miroku stood up.
“It’s about time for us to get some sleep. We can head to the village in the morning.”
Anju ruffled Shippo’s hair up. She liked the kid. He was like her little brother. She stood and started to walk off. Sango looked at her and muttered.
“Where are you going?”
“Mm… just a walk. Don’t worry, I wont let anything eat me.”
She smiled at her and walked through the woods. She wasn’t sore, but her arm was tender.
Humming to herself, she traced a pattern with her right hand. She spun once and did a little skipping step then stopped. She thought she heard movement. She lit her hand on fire and got ready to throw it.
“Prolly just Shippo.”
She shook off the fire and turned back to camp.
She laid down at the edge of camp. She pulled up a leg so her toes were pointing to the moon. She only heard quiet breathing around her.
“Why can’t I sleep,” she whispered, “Okay, this is dumb. Huh.”
She drew a picture in the air with her foot, connecting stars.
“Here’s thinking’ of you Mama.”
Suddenly from the shadows, she heard a snarl that ended with a little laugh. Anju snapped to attention.
“Who’s there?! Inu-Yasha?! That better not be you Inu-Yasha!”
“Try again… You have strayed far from your friends. Are you that strong or just that stupid.”
“Show yourself! Who are you?!”
A shadowy figure stepped out into the vibrant moonlight. He was a little shorter than she was. His hair looked as black as a black hole itself. He stood there in some sort of animal skin, with a wolf companion waiting eagerly at his side.
“My name is Koga. I have been watching you since this morning. I was quite surprised myself, when you first appeared with Kagome and them. Now I can tell why they accepted you so easily… you are weak. Even weaker than that little Kitsune, Shippo! Heh heh heh!”
He stood there laughing for about a minute.
“Now listen here, freak. I am stronger than you will ever be! I bet you couldn’t beat Inu-Yasha!”
“ENOUGH TALK! My pack is hungry and you are now on the menu! Ha ha ha ha ha!”
She glanced around and noticed she was surrounded on all sides by wolves. She would have to fight her way out.
“Uh-oh…”
“Don’t even think about calling for help. Your friends aren’t within earshot of us. HA HA HA!
She barred her teeth and slid her foot back, waiting from the first attack.
A wolf to her left jumped at her and she ducked down so it sailed over her. Instantly, she was covered with growling and biting furry bodies. Koga laughed, jogged up and was flung back.
The wolves that were in direct contact with her body were charred and died instantly.
Anju rose and the wolves wearily backed up. Her body was a bright orange, her eyes solid white. Flames crackled around her as she advanced. She flicked her wrist and a wall of roaring flame rose, enclosing koga and herself.
“It isn’t fair to bring up backup to beat up a girl.”
She pulled the fire on her body into herself. In the blaze, her clothes and splint were reduced to cinders.
Koga leaped forward and clawed at her. She put a hand on his chest.
“Burn.”
He shrieked in pain and jumped out of her reach. The flesh black and oozing. She drew a symbol in the air.
“Flamuru!”
Fire burned in his blood, roasting him from the inside.
“Call off your pack and I’ll stop.”
Koga spoke a sharp word and Anju dropped the wall.
“Alright. Go.”

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“What’s wrong Anju?”
“Ug… my eyes are killing me…”
“YOUR EYES CAN KILL YOU!?!”
“No Shippo, it’s a figure of speech.”
“Oh… okay…”
Anju reached up and put her finger to her eye. She pulled out her left contact and went to her right eye. Shippo watched her, wondering curiously. Just as she took out her second contact, he screamed.
“AHHHHH! Yo… yo… you just took out your EYE!”
“No silly. These are called contacts. They help me see better, like glasses.”
“Shippo, are you alright?”
“We’re fine Sango, thank you.”
“Oh, okay. Hey, how are my clothes fitting?”
“A little big, but not bad. Thank you again for them as well.”
“Don’t mention it. Someone needed to get clothes on you before Miroku saw you.”
“Speaking of him, do you like him or something?”
“Why would you ask such a preposterous thing?! I would never like him like that. Did he ask you to ask me?!”
“No, no, no. I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that you’re always so protective of him and he seems to grab you butt a lot; that’s all.”
“Oh,” Sango said, blushing hard, “Okay then.”
“Did I hear someone say my name?”
Miroku’s hand slid up Sango’s thigh onto her a**, which he started groping. She turned around in a fiery rage.
“Miroku! How DARE you grope ME! You… you… you PERV!”

*Smack, Punch, Ouchie*

“Geeze Sango. You didn’t have to hit him that hard.”
“He deserved it.”
She turned and huffed away. Anju turned to attend to Miroku. Shippo followed Sango, continuously nagging her.
“Are you alright Miroku?”
She could feel his hand slowly slide up her thigh. She just smiled a little and glanced around to see if anyone was around.
“I will be fine now…”
She knew what he meant. His hand was firmly planted on her rear. She just smiled and winked. He glowed bright red and shot up. Anju pushed him back down and kissed him on his lips.
“You need to rest some silly. Now sleep.”

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In the village, she was amazed to see a bunch of children run to greet Shippo. He ran with them into the woods.
Anju was wide-eyed with wonder. She had never been to a village before.
An old woman cam out of a hut and approached the group.
“Hello Kaede-babaa.”
“Sit boy.”
Inu-Yasha fell flat and growled in anger. Anju giggled and tried to step over him, but ended up stepping square on the small of his back.
“Oops, sorry Yasha.”
“Yeah right, Flame-breath. I can take you,” he said while standing to his feet.
“Sit boy!”
Yet again, Inu-Yasha fell face first into the ground.
“Oww! You know that hurts Kagome!”
“Heh heh… I know. It’s also funny.”
He sat up again and started pouting. Kagome went over and sat next to him, trying to make him feel better.
Anju tugged at the shirt that fitted Sango well but fitted her poorly.
“Kagome is right dog-face. It is funny.”
Kaede walked around her slowly and looked her up and down.
“Why are you wearing Sango’s clothes, girl?”
Without thinking, she turned and stared the woman in the eyes.
“I lost mine.”
Miroku, who had not heard the story of Anju arriving at camp stark naked, tripped. Kaede raised an eyebrow.
“How?”
“They weren’t fireproof.”
“Show me.”
“Um… Sango… d’you mind?”
“I’m curious myself.”
Anju sighed and said, “Cover your eyes. It will be too bright for a moment.”
There was a flash and a loud *FWOOSH!*
“Okay.”
They all opened their eyes and Shippo came running.
“Whoa…”
Anju held her arms out to her sides and slowly turned.
“Well?”
Miroku stood there, his nose bleeding heavily as he stared at her exposed body. Sango was glaring at Miroku, her eye twitching. Kagome, joined by Shippo and Kaede, walked up to Anju.
“What’s so impressive? All she did was light herself on fire and reduce Sango’s clothes to ashes.”
“Nobody asked you, ya mangy half-demon mutt,” Anju said while throwing a small fireball at him, which he dodged easily.
“Mmhm… I think I might have just the thing for you… uh… Anju was it?”
“Yes. Thank you miss…”
“Kaede is fine. You’re welcome.”

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Anju stood still as Kaede made a few adjustments to her new outfit. The knee-length pants of dark red and a black shirt were fireproof.
“Oww! Hey, watch it lady!”
Kaede swatted her hands away as she finished sewing the neckline up higher.
“This has to be done. You don’t want it flapping around, do you?”
“Uh… no…”
“There, now I’m finished. Try lighting yourself on fire…”
Anju did, same as before. And to her surprise, the clothes didn’t turn into ashes.
“Anju, you look so pretty like that…”
“Why thank you Shippo. Does it really look that good?”
“Yes it does Anju!”
She smiled at Miroku. She was glad he said that and also glad that he smiled back.

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“Geeze Miroku, I don’t know how you did it, but it seems like you have two admirers. Lucky b*****d…”
“Really? I haven’t really noticed…”
“Wait, you mean to say that you didn’t notice that both Sango and Anju like you?!”
“Sango like me?!”
“Uh…dude… You mean you knew Anju likes you?”
“Well yeah… ever since she kis…”
“Ever since she WHAT?!”
Miroku looked more embarrassed than ever. His face was redder than Mars.
“She… Uh… she kissed me.”
“ON THE LIPS?!”
“Err… yea. I guess so…”
He had a huge grin on his face. He just remembered how it felt, her warm lips against his. He only wished he had used some tongue as well.
“When did it happen?!”
“Oh, about… last night..”
“Damn…”
“How are things coming with Kagome?”

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Anju giggled as she looked for Shippo. She was playing hide-and-seek with him, Kagome and a few children from the village in the woods. She heard leaves rustling in a bush off to her left. She turned and charged, causing Shippo to leap up and try to dart away. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and hoisted him up.
“What have we here?”
She said in a cackle. She sniffed at his ear, making him yelp and squirm.
“A tasty little Kitsune! Should I eat it?”
“NO! Don’t eat me!”
“Hmm,” she looked around, “I think I will!”
She turned around and saw she was face to face with Kagome.
“I hope you mean to share.”
“Of course Kagome! But, I get first dibs.”
“Deal.”
“AIEE! Nu-uh! NOOO!”
Both girls pinned him and started tickling him.
“You can’t escape us!”
He squeaked a little and said, “Stop! Please!”
Both stopped and Anju scooped him up and held him to her chest.
“Alright. Oy! Kids! Lunchtime, so go home!”
Kagome and her wondered back to Kaede’s hut, drawn by the smell of food. When they went in they saw that Inu-Yasha and Miroku weren’t there. Anju shrugged.
“Ah well. More for us!”
She sat Shippo and dropped on a cushion next to him. He reached out and pulled on the silver chain around her neck. Out came a red blood opal pendant.
“Where’d you get this?”
“My Mother. Before she died.”
“Why doesn’t it burn when you do?”
“Because my mother was a fire demon.”
“It looks like a key.”
The opal was shaped into an irregular star pattern and had a few notches cut into it.
“She used to say it was.”
“What to?”
Anju frowned, chewing on a chopstick.
“She never said. She always said, ‘I’ll show you someday.’ But… she never got to.”
She stood suddenly and walked past Kaede. The subject of her mother still hurt.
“I’ll see you guys later.”
She pushed out of the door and jogged to the Bone Eater’s Well. She sat on the edge of it and debated going to her world for a while. Maybe getting some things to bring back here. She sat there thinking about it for a little while.
“I guess now is better than never,” she said before leaping down into the well. Her legs hit first, while the rest of her body tumbled to the ground.
“What the heck! Why am I still here?!”
She looked around cautiously. Something must be wrong, she thought to herself. She hit the floor with her fist and scowled.
“Okay… now I’m stuck.”
She looked and saw clouds drifting across the sky.
“HE-E-EY!”
She listened and stamped her foot.
“Hey! Hello-o!”
She harrumphed and picked up a rock. She threw it against the wall and was forced to duck to avoid a braining.
She grabbed her pendant and said, “Home! Home! Home!”
She felt something on the edge of her mind, like she was being watched.
“Who’s there?”
She heard thin laughter from her left and turned. There wasn’t anything there, only darkness.
“You better come out!”
She heard more creepy laughter.
“Show yourself!”
Her voice shook a little as a spark of panic touched her. She lit her hand and was frozen with fear. A huge spider demon was crouching on the wall. A jumper.
It reached out with a clawed foot and tapped her check.
“Well… what has fallen into Yoga’s web?”
The flames around Anju’s hand flickered and died. Anju was lifted by the creature and she saw long, thin fangs that were coated with slightly yellow liquid. Her voice was barely a squeak when she tried to scream.
“O-oh…no…”
The spider nipped her neck and Anju felt icy numbness speed through her. Her eyes went out of focus as she felt thick sticky ropes covering her mouth, nose and the rest of her.
The spider, Yaga, carried his load toward the darkest part of the well.
~Guys… help me… I can’t breathe…~

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“What is it Miroku?”
“Something is wrong. Where is Anju, Sango?”
“Because… She’s in trouble.”
He ran off in search of her. Everywhere he looked, he couldn’t find her. He searched for a good hour before he heard it. It was the demon he saw sneak in close to the village yesterday.
“Well… What has fallen into Yaga’s web?”
He heard the beast hiss with glee. He couldn’t pinpoint where the demon was. He ran in one direction, hoping it was the correct direction. He came up to the bone-eaters well.
“Damn it! Where is she?!”
Just as he said that, he felt something touch his arm. He reached over and gripped the thing touching him. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he flung the creature ahead of him.
“Ouch. That hurt Yaga. Now it’s time for Yaga to hurt you!”
“Try it and you’re dead demon. Now tell me what you did with Anju!”
“You mean that silly girl who jumped into MY well? She is to become my supper and you will become my lunch!”
Yaga leapt at him, fangs and feet at the ready to knock him down and bite him.
“I warned you, you stupid ******** demon… beeeGONE!”
He shouted it as he opened his wind tunnel, sucking in Yaga. Now to help Anju, he thought as he jumped down into the well. He looked around, spying many people rapped up in spider webbing. Where is she, he thought. Then something caught his eye, something he’d never seen before. It was a Blood-opal. He figured it HAD to be Anju. He ran over to the body and vigorously ripped off the webbing. He was right, it was Anju. The only problem was she wasn’t breathing. He picked her body up and leapt out of the well.
“Don’t worry Anju, I’ll save you…”
Anju’s lips were blue and her face was changing to an ashy-grey hue. Kagome and Inu-Yasha were both coming at top speed. Kagome tried to look at the bite but couldn’t.
“Put her down.”
When Anju was lying flat, Kagome touched her face. Her skin was icy and then found the bite. The wound was red and puffy, oozing a thick grey fluid that smelled like petrol.
“Somebody go get Kaede!”
Inu-Yasha took off at his full pace. Kagome looked at Miroku.
“Go and get my bag.”
He hesitated.
“MOVE IT!”
When he left she put her ear over her chest and listened for a heartbeat. She held her breath and sighed when she heard it. It was weak and slow, but it was there. She pulled open Anju’s mouth and found her throat was clear.
“Okay. I’ll just-”
She put her mouth over Anju’s and pushed air into her lungs. She jumped when she heard the sound of hurried footsteps. She pushed down on her friends chest and found she couldn’t force the air back out.
Kaede was set on her feet by Inu-Yasha, who had carried her, and she shuffled over.
“Kaede! She can’t breathe, her muscles that let her are paralyzed.”
Kaede put the heel of her hand beneath Anju’s ribcage and pushed upwards, hard. Kagome grinned, she nodded to Kaede and breathed into Anju again. Inu-Yasha cut the bite and grimaced as the grey ooze came out faster. He held the cut open until blood came out instead of the ooze.
“I don’t think she got more than a little bite.”

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