Chantefable by thirteenxwishes

Part the First: In Limbo

Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and other respective copyright owners - not me. All credit goes to them.

A/N: Written for the LJ community 100_fairytales, for prompt 83: the girl who is spinning the thread of Fate. I'm trying to get back into the stride with my chaptered stories so this is going to be my indulgent distraction, because I love a bit of magic as much as the next girl. ^^ I hope this new AU oneshot-verse fits your taste as much as it does mine. Un-beta'd, so any pointing out of mistakes will be greeted with hugs and thanks.

Warnings: AU, some swearing.

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†† Chantefable ††

∆ Part the First: In Limbo ∆

It was common knowledge that the house on the hill was a bad place. As children - with little magic and littler sense - they were constantly warned away from it by parents, teachers, older friends. For the most part, they listened.

But what the adults forgot was that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Denial inevitably equates to interest. The object becomes forbidden fruit.

And Kagome always had been a very curious girl.

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The sky was grey, and gravel crunched beneath her feet as she clambered up the steep hill path for the first time in her life.

'I can't believe I'm doing this.'

It seemed easy enough to begin with; she was confident, had the carefully inked sapphire bands around her fingers ready to channel any magic she needed to see off danger. Who cared if she didn't have the full set? Surely thumb, index, middle and ring were enough. It couldn't be that bad.

But now she was here, amongst the spindly trees and the lurking shadows, Kagome was starting to feel decidedly stupid. Her tutors had a vast array of mage tattoos between them - hands, wrists, arms, shoulders, probably more than they could see in seminars too, especially since she caught a flash of ink on Kaede-sensei's foot when she wore sandals in summer. They could perform spells way beyond what they taught in lectures. Compared to them, she was tiny.

And even they didn't dare go up the hill.

Swallowing past the lump making itself comfortable in her throat, Kagome kept walking. One foot in front of the other. Slow and steady. Deep breaths. Ahead, the house was all dark stone and sharp angles. The air around it was uncomfortable - charged, like fingers crawling up her spine, bumping over vertebrae and dragging teasing claws along vulnerable skin...

Something crackled across the back of her neck. Static electricity? Energy? She shivered as it lifted the fine hairs on the backs of her hands. Her good sense was practically screaming in warning. Kagome was half-inclined to listen to it and start the long hike back down to civilisation. But she would be far more than half-inclined if her stubborn nature would let her go home with her tail between her legs.

'Hell no!'

Despite her new-found determination, it didn't stop her from keeping her eyes away from the house for as long as possible.

Which, in the long run, wasn't particularly wise.

In one of the top-floor windows, the curtains twitched.

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There was a nice view from the top. She'd give them that, but not much else. Standing on the brow of the hill and staring down at the scattered city, Kagome shoved her hair behind her ears and squinted. Homes were dotted haphazardly in the neat scoop of the valley; she thought she could see her own, cradled in the curve of a distinctive cul-de-sac. The river was a silver streak to the far east.

It all seemed so far away... and the house at her back so very close.

The tree line surrounding the summit of the hill rustled quietly. Her hair managed to unhook itself from around her ears and throw itself back into her eyes - she sputtered, hands coming up and pulling at the annoying strands. A few steps backwards, stumbling-

And behind her, something shifted.

Kagome caught the movement. It sent her spinning around, palms thrown out in front of her, eyes wild and searching. The blue mage-tattoos circling the middle joint of her thumbs flared to life and she was half-way through weaving before she realised the slope was empty. There was nothing there. The house remained silent and looming. The trees kept on rustling. The city sprawl below was unmoved, glittering in the sunlight.

Laughing a little at herself, she shook her head.

She was still laughing when the shadows decided to bite back.

The clawed hand that swiped for her head barely missed. Gasping, Kagome shoved herself backwards and away from the threat, turning to face it. What she saw made her jaw drop.

'What the hell?'

The woman had long black hair, fine features dominated by glowing red eyes. Her knuckles cracked when fingers stretched to show claw-like nails. She licked her lips eagerly.

"Ah... it has been a long while since breakfast decided to come to me..."

Hands shaking more than her voice as she lifted them to eye-level, all eight mage-tattoos crackling with power, Kagome spoke across the gap.

"Who- what are you?"

Those hellish eyes narrowed, throat making a hissing sound that might once have been a laugh.

"What do they teach you in school these days? I am youkai. You are my prey."

"Youkai?" Kagome couldn't help but blurt out. Her heart was pounding beneath her ribs. "But they're just a fairy-tale!"

The hiss built and rasped, a horrible grinding sound that grated at her ears. She winced but kept steady.

"A fairy-tale? Ha!" The woman - youkai - threw her head back to an unnatural angle, voice nothing more than a bark to the sky. It snapped back into place almost too quickly for her eyes to follow. "Wishful thinking, pretty girl. It isn't often one of your kind strays beyond the barrier... but when they do-" Her cackling hiss built to a mad, shrieking laugh. "Oh, how glad I am that I was the one to find you!"

Her gaze shifted, something in the crimson changing from teasing to predatory. Kagome swallowed her fear and her worry and forced herself to concentrate. Yes, this whole mess was entirely her fault for being too damned stubborn and curious for her own good - and yes, maybe there really was a reason that no-one dared to venture up this hill after all. But even in her wildest dreams, she'd never thought of this!

'Okay. You have magic - you can beat this thing. No problem.'

The youkai suddenly launched itself forwards. Kagome twisted her hands and spread her fingers, magic manifesting as a barrier protecting her front. The wicked gleam of claws swept towards her head and skittered off, sparks flying. She grunted with the exertion of holding the spell - the force behind the flow pushed her backwards and there was a moment of blind panic as she glanced back at the drop of the hill. The youkai took advantage of her inattention - another swing of claws threatened to send her sprawling behind her shield. And another, and another. Kagome's head dropped, arms shaking. The blue tattoos on her fingers glowed fiercely.

The youkai was grinning, filed teeth gleaming in the light that bounced from the distant windows of the house. Kagome looked to her left hand.

"Please," she whispered, calling to mind the fire-based spell they were working on for the mid-term university exam. She'd hardly brushed the surface of mastering it, but it was the only possible escape she could muster from beneath the mountain of panic and adrenaline. "Please, just this once... please work!"

The bands on her thumb and ring finger flared blindingly. She couldn't afford to look away as she guided the magic into the form she wanted, pushing it outwards and hoping, hoping, hoping...

The curve of the barrier shattered as it exploded into midnight flames.

"Yes!"

They ate up the long grass eagerly, racing towards the youkai who propelled herself backwards and away, hissing in the face of the fire. Taking her chance, Kagome ran - away from the house and the horror on top of the hill.

'If I can get through all these trees... maybe I stand a chance of getting back to town-'

One glance down at her hands told her exactly how low her reserves were running after that little trick. The two band tattoos she'd used to channel the spell had faded completely, leaving nothing but pale human fingers behind. Only six remained of the original eight, glowing sporadically. Grimacing, she kept going. It wasn't as if she had any other choice.

Kagome dodged around tree trunks and roots as thick as steel girders. Her feet pounded in rhythm with her breath, faster and faster as safety got nearer. The shield spell reasserted itself with a push. Two more bands flickered out.

'Crap. Crap. Crap-'

There was a roar behind her, the sound of something moving along the ground at incredible speed. The crunch of breaking wood, and then the creak of something heavy falling-

"Come back here, you little bitch!"

Kagome looked back, expecting to see the woman running after her. But the woman was gone, and the thing in her place was enough to make her blood freeze. The illusion of humanity had been thrown away to reveal something far beyond her worst nightmares - a long, centipede-like body, multiple legs... and at the top, the same human head with its flowing hair and red eyes, two feelers bursting from the forehead like some kind of horror show.

The scream stuck in her throat.

'This can't be happening!'

The pair of hands reaching forward to grab her viciously by the arm said otherwise. She muffled a cry at the wrenching pain in her shoulder as the youkai lifted her up to eye-level and hissed. Red eyes were slits. Civility was long gone, if it was ever there to begin with.

"Food isn't supposed to fight back."

Its jagged mouth yawned, wide and black. And from the pit of Kagome's stomach, something welled up.

'No... no! I won't die here!'

It spread through her veins in place of the fear and pain - provoking anger, determination. Denial.

"No!"

Her power exploded. Kagome could feel the remaining mage-tattoos burning out at the heart of the storm, unbearable heat searing across her skin and into the body of the youkai. Dimly through the blinding blue light she heard a horrible keening scream. She was dropped - but the fire didn't go away. It kept on raging through her. Too much. Way too much.

She tumbled to the ground heavily, rolling until her back hit a large rock jutting out from the forest floor. Panting, Kagome looked up at the youkai. Its coils were twisting, the remains of her blue magic crackling like stray lightening across the armoured skin. A number of arms were missing. But the glare was the same - blood-red and full of hate.

"Bitch," it spat, foaming at the mouth. "You'll pay for that!"

Summoning up the scattered scraps of her resistance, Kagome mustered a sarcastic smile. Her hands were plain, thin and pale and empty of mage-tattoos. No more magic. No more strength. But hell if she was going to die like a coward!

"Come on, then!" Fire danced behind blue eyes, at odds with her bruised body and dirtied face. "You want to eat me, have a go!"

The youkai screeched - and lunged. Kagome shoved herself further back into the rock, eyes squeezing shut in expectation of pain. It didn't disappoint. She choked as something sharp sunk into her right side. There was a triumphant screech inches away from her face, a wave of stinking breath as the youkai let loose a rasping cackle.

Behind her eyelids, she saw a flash of acid green light. The laugh stretched into a scream, and the fang buried beneath her ribs suddenly disappeared. Kagome looked up slowly through the haze of pain to see the youkai writhing amongst the leaves as it choked, gasped and shuddered its way into death. Silence fell. She could hear blood dripping rhythmically against the dead leaves. The world was swimming.

Footsteps brushed towards her.

His fingertips were still glowing by his side when he stopped just inside the shadows. He seemed to be shimmering in the half-light, pale clothes and paler skin and eyes the colour of true amber. Hair spun from moonlight tumbled over a muscled frame. And on his cheekbones were two curving magenta stripes.

'Gods save me... he's got mage-tattoos on his face!'

But she didn't really have the time to worry about exactly how horribly powerful he was. Her side was on fire; the forest and her mysterious saviour began to fade to white, blurring and twisting as she slid away into darkness.

Her last thought was consumed with the hope she'd wake up at home, in bed, and safe from the nightmare. She suspected, however, that irony would probably just laugh and bite her in the ass. Again.

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The centipede youkai crumbled into ashes. Fine dust glittered in the light for a few seconds before the wind swept it up and away.

Sesshoumaru stepped out from behind the trees and padded soundlessly across the clearing, stopping to inspect the burnt patch of earth that used to be Mistress Centipede. He could taste the sickly sweet burn of his poison, obviously the primary cause of death - but beneath it was spice, defiance, anger: her magic. Her magic, still crackling on the  air strongly enough to vaporise the creature into ash even after he'd killed it.

"Interesting," he murmured to the quiet forest. The mage was sprawled out across the carpet of leaves, blood seeping sluggishly from her right side. Taking a deep breath of her scent, his brow quirked further. "Very interesting."

Sesshoumaru moved easily to stand beside her. Gold eyes took in her features.

"I think you'll prove to be quite the entertainment, little mage."

His power rustled the leaves as it wrapped around her, lifting her prone body effortlessly from the ground and carrying it behind him when he turned back towards the trees and the house on the hill.

He'd left the door open, after all.

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