Shippo and the Magic Wand 1-2

Spilling the beans
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Our arrival at Kaede’s village was uneventful for the most part; I was slightly surprised that her bright red hair didn’t draw any extra attention from the few villagers we could see in the field nearby.  We made it to Kaede’s hut quickly, avoiding the few odd looks we’d managed to attract.  Kaede looked up in surprise from her spot by the fire, her herb-grinding forgotten.  “By the gods, what happened?” she demanded, her eyes widening as she carefully stood.  Kagome slipped to her knees on the floor, her tail curling around her legs in a circle of warmth as she stared at the fire.


“I have no idea...  I climbed out of the well, and I remember sitting there for a moment while I ran my fingers through a few tangles.  My hair was definitely still black then.  I stood up, grabbed my backpack, and started walking.  I’d made it a little into the woods when something furry brushed my ankle, and it scared me, so when I jumped back in surprise, it wrapped around my leg and I panicked...”


“I heard you scream, Kagome,” I said, looking up at her with an unhappy frown.  “Did the tail make you do that?”  She nodded, picking up the end of her new tail and running her fingers through the soft fur.  “Are you sad?” I asked her quietly, shifting in her lap some to touch her tail as well.


“No, not sad, just...  confused,” she admitted, slipping her backpack from her shoulders to dig around in one of the pockets.  She pulled out a small mirror from her waterproofed bag of bathing supplies, looking critically at her reflection.  “I look like a youkai now...” she whispered, running a finger along the tip of her pointed ear, then across the green edge of her eyelid.  “But I know I’m not any different on the inside...  I can feel it...  It’s really like one of your illusions, Shippo,” she said.  “And the red hair, the tail, your ears...  I look like I could pass as your mother, I bet.”  My eyebrows shot up in surprise, for I hadn’t thought that she’d make that connection so quickly.


Inuyasha shot me a terribly suspicious glare as she trailed off and I cringed away from his critical expression.  “Runt, you didn’t really have anything to do with this, did ya?” he growled out, cracking his knuckles ominously.  I choked on my answer, suddenly so scared of what he might do to if I were to tell them the truth.


“Inuyasha,” Kaede scolded.  “Shippo could not have caused this change in Kagome.  There is a strange magic to blame, something I’ve not seen in a very long time.”


“So, you know how to fix her?” he asked, turning his attention back to Kaede as she sat down behind her herbs again.


“No, I do not possess such knowledge,” she replied, a sigh escaping her as she steadily worked the pestle into the dried leaves.  “I am unsure that such a change can be reversed.  Someone that might be able to help lives far to the south on a small island.  She prefers her peace and quiet, so seeking her out may prove to be difficult.  When your comrades return from their trip, we’ll talk more about the specifics of the journey.  For now, I’d suggest Kagome take some time to make sure she will have no difficulties in traveling or participating in battle.”


Kagome nodded and stood, taking her bow and arrows with her as she exited the hut.  I stood and watched her leave with Inuyasha following close behind, gnawing on my lower lip in slight worry.  I was confident that her powers would remain the same, but at the same time, the slight twinge of doubt began to chip away my self-assurance, and I realized that I would have to see her with her usual powers to reaffirm my confidence.  I glanced back at Kaede as I moved to join them outside, but the knowing look in her gaze made my face drain of color.


“You must tell her, Shippo, before she finds out some other way.”  I froze, halfway through the thatch covering the entrance, completely at a loss for words at her blunt statement.  My body chose its own response: an obviously slack jaw and a thoroughly frizzed tail (that always happens when I stress about something big.)  “And...  Taro might appreciate the new horse, but that cat was a long-time member of their family,” she said, turning her gaze back to the powdered medicinal herbs.  


‘She knew...! ’ I thought, my throat closing over a terribly large knot of panic.  I nodded jerkily (still unable to speak from apprehensive fright) and raced from the hut, spooked by the implication of Kaede’s words.  Would Kagome hate me for what I’d done if I didn’t tell her the truth right away?  Kaede had already told us that there was a lady that could fix her on that island, so telling them now wouldn’t ruin my plan anymore than I’d previously wanted...  Right?  Would she be so terribly upset with my meddling that...  Oh, I couldn’t even bear the thought of Kagome being displeased with her new appearance.


All I’d wanted to do was help her...


I stopped momentarily and squashed the mounting tears that that threatened, knowing that I should control the display of weakness before someone noticed.  I straightened myself and walked with forced confidence to the clearing where I knew Kagome liked to practice, building the courage I’d need to have to tell her what I’d done.  Inuyasha was leaning against a nearby tree, watching her shoot hamaya into a single trunk across the field.  He observed her motions with a critical gaze, a partial frown on his face.  I approached him quietly, not wanting to draw attention to myself.  Although I was curious what he thought of what had happened, I doubted he’d just tell me out of the blue.


“That was a good imitation of Sesshoumaru today,” he said gruffly, folding his arms across his chest.  I looked up at him in confusion, for it was rare that he’d compliment me on one of my tricks, especially when said trick had been designed solely to irritate him.  He smirked down at me, flashing a fang in amusement.  


“You’re not angry with me?” I asked, shocked that he found my annoying antics even a little bit acceptable.


“Nah, there are worse things in life,” he replied, looking back at Kagome as she fired off another brightly glowing arrow.  “Did you see anyone suspicious today?”


‘Well, here goes nothing... ’ I thought, hoping I’d still have my tail come nightfall.  “I saw an old lady in the woods just after Kagome came through the well.”


Obviously not expecting a helpful answer from me, Inuyasha’s eyebrows rose in surprise.  “What was she doing?”


“She came out of nowhere, yelled at me, then vanished--"


“Wait, why would some random old hag yell at you?”  He seemed to be slipping back into the suspicion that I’d been responsible for the whole mess, and he crouched down in front of me with narrowing eyes.


“I...  I found something of hers...” I started, unsure of how I could tell him what I’d done, and definitely not while he was staring at me with such annoyance.  He continued to drill me with that sharp gaze, and I was shaking so hard that I was surprised that I remained standing.  


It didn’t take long for me to break, crying out the terrible secret of what had happened.  “I didn’t mean to do all of that!  I was just trying to help!” I wailed, not caring what he thought of my terrible outburst of emotions.  Tears were streaming down my face by that time, and I was distraught and frantic that they’d shun me forever because I’d done something so drastic to the miko we all loved so much.


Kagome must have noticed my distress, for she’d dropped her bow and arrows where she’d been standing and rushed to my side.  “Shippo!  What’s wrong?  What happened?”


Inuyasha huffed and sat back on his heels.  “I knew the kit had something to do with this...” he muttered.  


“What?” Kagome asked, looking down at me in confusion.  I tried so hard to contain the tears that continued to appear, but to no avail.  In between many coughs, sniffles and hiccupping, teary-eyed sobs, I managed to eek out my shortened version of the story:  “I... I found this stick... that cast really...  good illusions...  I thought... it would help!”


Kagome frowned down at me, causing a fresh wave of disappointment and guilt to wash over me.  The tears and sobs were so loud that I almost didn’t hear what she said next:  “Shippo...  what did you think would help?  This is just an illusion like the ones you can do?”  I wasn’t sure I could tell her exactly how I’d meant for the spell to help her (admitting that the sole purpose was to make Inuyasha want her more seemed like something that should be kept secret,) so I avoided the first question by nodding miserably in response to the second.  Well, I wasn’t exactly sure if the strange magic could be considered similar to my own, since it would take me a few hundred years to develop magic strong enough to make my illusions felt as well as seen.


“So I’m just a miko in disguise, now?” she asked, her mouth turning into a small smirk.  I nodded in misery, tears still coming so quickly that I was unable to see very clearly.  “Oh, Shippo, don’t cry.  It’s alright...” she said, pulling me into another possibly-undeserved hug.  Her bright red locks fell over her shoulder as she embraced me, and I buried my nose in her soft hair, trying to quell the urge to cry even harder.  Relief that she wasn’t completely horrified and angry at my impulsive actions slowly began to edge into my thoughts as she patted my back reassuringly, whispering words of comfort.  


I sniffled and hiccupped a few more times, watching her tail from the corner of my eye as a stray breeze ruffled the fur.  “You...” I started, unsure if I should continue the question or just shut up while I still had the ability to pretend like everything would be all right, “you’re not upset about what I did, are you?”  I dared not breathe as I looked up at her face, waiting for her answer.  


“I’m not mad at you, Shippo.  This is just...  surprising, and terribly unexpected.  I hope Kaede’s right about the lady that can help, though...  I don’t think I’d be able to pass as a normal human back home anymore,” she winked down at me.  “Maybe it’ll fade just like your illusions do, with a little bit of time,” she suggested hopefully, smiling softly down at me.  I nodded slightly, casting a glance at the silent hanyou.  He looked upset with me, but I could tell that Kagome’s response had softened his anger into something less imposing.  He stood again and looked away toward the horizon, placing one of his hands on the hilt at his side.  


“Sango and Miroku should be back soon, so don’t go far.  We’re leaving as soon as we get details from Kaede,” he ordered before leaping off into the nearby woods.  

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For the better
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“Shippo,” Kagome whispered, looking down at me intently.  “Why?”


My expression shifted from one of relief to a wary look of uncertainty.  “I wanted...” I began, unsure of how to tell her the REAL reason why I had used the magic to change her looks.


“Why do I look like you?” she continued, looking down at me with a strange sort of smile.  


‘Oh...  she doesn’t think this is about Inuyasha, she thinks it is about me... ’  I had to stop and think about my decision more carefully.  It was true I’d tried to make her more beautiful to others, but...  maybe the choice I’d made had the underlying desire to have someone more like my long-lost mother.  I didn’t really consider that while I was racking my mind for pretty features, but it felt like it could be a big reason behind what had been done.  “I wasn’t trying to turn you into my mother,” I whispered, reaching up to touch her face in slight reverence.  “But I did want you to...” I trailed off, still unable to spill the ultimate goal I’d had in mind.


“Shippo, what are you trying to tell me?” she asked, sitting back in the grass with me in her lap.  “You know that I’m always going to be with you, no matter what happens,” she murmured, running her fingers through my bangs in affection.  “We’re like this,” she said, holding up her other hand to show two fingers twisted around one another.  “Always together, right here,” she finished, touching her crossed fingers to my heart.


If I told her I wanted her to be prettier, then she might think I considered her ugly in her old form...  So how could I possibly word my intentions without insulting her?  “I ...wanted Inuyasha to see you as...” I paused, scrambling for a decent end to the sentence.  “See you as you...  and not as her,” I finished rather lamely, waiting for her response.


She quirked her eyebrows in understanding, only a mild hint of concern visible in the slight crease of her brow.  “Shippo,” she whispered, nuzzling her cheek against my head.  “Inuyasha and I...” she began, and suddenly I realized that there was far more to their relationship than they had let on.  “We decided a while ago that we would be friends, and nothing more.  Kikyo...” she trailed off, her voice taking a strange, faraway quality, “Kikyo discovered a sacred spring during her travels in the East, and it washed away her negative emotions, leaving her with a sense of peace that she’d long forgotten.  She vowed the last time we saw her to help us any way that she could.”  


She sighed and pulled away from me slightly, looking down at my expression of confusion with a soft smile.  “She’s changed, Shippo.  She’s become more like her old self, and it is what Inuyasha needs.  I don’t think that she’s going to be sent to hell after her journey is at an end.  She deserves a second chance, some measure of peace for the pain she’s been through.”


I knew my mouth was gaping wide open, but I hadn’t thought much of it until Kagome’s fingers gently pushed it closed again.  I was completely thrown off-guard by her unexpected response.  I had no idea that Kikyo had changed that much...  From what I’d seen in the woods, it had been only the smallest hint of something good, and I was terribly relieved that I’d not turned her into...  “Kagome,” I whispered, the memory lending a mischievous glint to my eyes, “while I had that magic, I almost turned her into a rock...”


Kagome coughed and choked on a sudden laugh.  “You didn’t!” she exclaimed, highly amused by my declaration.  


“I also turned Taro’s cat into a horse,” I admitted, fishing around in my pocket for the other piece of evidence as she giggled some more.  “And this was one of my toys a little while ago,” I said quietly, casting a suspicious glance around to make sure Inuyasha wouldn’t discover my little plot.  


“Why did you do that to one of your toys?” she asked, fingering the metallic wrapper.  


“To fool Inuyasha,” I whispered, biting back a giggle.  She cast a dubious glance at the candy bar, her eyebrow quirking in slight amusement. “It still tastes like wood and paint,” I added.


“Ah,” she nodded in understanding.  “Sneaky, very sneaky,” she winked at me, a smile gracing her lips.  Our troubles seemed momentarily forgotten as we stared off across the field.  The sun had traveled a bit farther, nearing the horizon as the day drew to a close.  I related the events of the day, showing her my brilliant illusion of Sesshoumaru (to which she stared up at in awe while I did my best to hold the trademark bored expression.)  She tried to force her mouth into a frown when I told her of the horse trying unsuccessfully to leap into the tree, but she found it impossible as I related more about the cat-like behavior of the supposedly magnificent white steed.


My stories of the strange day amused her greatly, but when I remembered about my first accidental use of the magic wand, turning the weed into a lily, she immediately stood and picked up her bow.  “I want to see!” she said, running across the field to retrieve the arrows that were still embedded in the wide trunk of an old tree.  We made our way back through the woods in the slowly waning light, quickly finding the spot where I had lain in wait for her return.


“Here,” I said, pointing between two decent-sized bushes.  She knelt down to take a look and gasped. “Shippo!  It’s beautiful!  I’m amazed that you remembered this flower,” she said, shooting a grin back at me.  She leaned forward to smell the white blossom, frowning a bit in her disappointment.  “You were right, it doesn’t smell like it should.  Oh well,” she stood and brushed off her hands and knees, looking down at me with a smile.  “Let’s go see about some dinner, shall we?” she asked, holding her arms open for me.


I leapt into her embrace, feeling infinitely better about what I’d done, even though I knew that my wish to draw Inuyasha and her together would never come true.  “You didn’t think I was ugly before or something, did you?” she asked, a smirk on her face as she glanced down at me.  I knew then that she’d had no such worries about her previous appearance, nor did she really think that I’d considered her to be unattractive.  


“Nah, the girls around here could never be prettier than you,” I said, rubbing my face against her arm.  I felt her squeeze me gently with a quiet chuckle.


She walked slowly in the growing darkness, but in no time it seemed as though we’d arrived at the edge of the village.  “Shippo,” she asked, a strange note of seriousness slipping into her voice, “What am I to you?”


“Family,” I replied immediately, knowing it to be the complete truth.  She wasn’t my mother, sister, aunt or cousin, she was just family.  “You’re all my family,” I whispered, feeling a bit drowsy as the contentment of being cradled in her arms washed over me.  Of course, it didn’t help my situation much when her soft tail draped over my slowly relaxing form, and I felt myself drifting off into emotionally exhausted sleep.

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Final Author’s Notes:   The story originally stemmed from a strange plotline that I came up with sometime about a year ago.  (Too long to go into depth, but involved the magic wand turning Kagome into a cute cuddly animal and a whole lot of cavity-inducing sweetness with Inuyasha)  I decided against writing out that particular idea (thank god), but it stuck around and eventually evolved into this.  I finally got around to writing it out of sheer boredom from a lack of internet this last moth or so.  I’m a humongous fan of the (now-clichéd) “Kagome-gets-turned-into-something-else” plot (and if it’s written well, I’ll read those fics OVER and OVER again), and I really don’t give two flips if everyone thinks ‘Been there, done that! ’ with this particular storyline.  I had fun with the concept, struggled a bit with writing from Shippo’s child-like POV without sounding completely moronic, and of course, I’ve never tried writing in first-person before, so that was a challenge as well.  This chapter ends at a point where I could easily stop writing, or make a new chapter that covered their trip to the island to find some sort of remedy for Shippo’s not-so-good idea, or even continue on further with a wide variety of possible sequels, from alternate pairings (yum!) to crossovers (yum, too!) ...so who knows what may come next...    

No sex, no violence, (and no real resolution, yet)  x_X  Happy reading until next time, guys.