a/n: MUCH LOVE TO MY BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL BETA EJUNKIE. Without her this would still be a bemused grumble in the midst of a huge mound of work. xD ilu darling.
[A howl in the night]
The glow of the crescent moon burned over the mountain range, gilding the tendrils of fog that curled through the forests with silver fire as it swept down the rocky slopes. Washing the surrounding foothills in monotone, it flooded the valleys and creeks, tasting their every crevice, glancing over the small city nestled in their grasp before turning towards the plains. Trails of smog creeping from the it's sprawling suburbs, the city slumbered on, the fumes twisting from the orange glow of the streetlights out to the acres of surrounding farmland, clawing at the walls of the surrounding forest. Settling amongst the pines, it was drunk in by the thirsty evergreens, their branches swaying, solemnly, in the twilight.
A small boy crouched in the dust of one of untended fields at the forest edge, the flickering flames from a camp fire beside him slipping across his red straggles of hair as he scratched letters into the soil with a twig.
“K-a-g-o...m-e.”
The child seemed enraptured by his work, his eyes, dark against his pale, dirt-smudged features, narrowed on the task. Minutes slipped past as he hovered over the patch of ground, the small breeze that crept from the city rifling through his dank locks and the matted fur of the emerging pointed ears. Finishing the word – the name – with clear satisfaction, the child sat back on his heels with a soft huff and gazed down at it, the crackling sparks of the campfire gleaming off of a sharp-toothed smile.
His voice, when he spoke, was thick with excitement.
“Two days left.”
--
Kagome awoke with a start, dark eyes flicking open, black curls of hair trickling across her pillow as she shifted in her blankets. The comforting sight of her bedroom greeted her, unchanged and determinedly pink since she’d first demanded a décor change four years ago, but she couldn't seem to focus on it. She blinked upwards. That was... weird. The dream had felt so real– the touch of the breeze on her back, shivering through her shirt, the bite of the grass beneath her feet as it pricked and tickled her ankles – yet here she was, safe and cozy in her duvet. Just as she had been since she’d collapsed on her bed earlier that evening after another long, satisfying conversation with Eri. She frowned, the image of the little boy hunched above the dirt flickering through her thoughts, the taste of pine smoke seeming to linger on her tongue. He'd been so... young.
The crescent moon’s light played on the pocked paint of her ceiling, dancing through a gap in her curtains. She watched its flicker for a few second, entranced, before turning her gaze away from it, smothering a yawn as she huddled into her blankets once more.
There was no point worrying about dreams. In the end they were just that - fantasies. She allowed her eyes to close, tucking herself deeper into her duvet, breaths already evening. It was waytoo early for this sort of thing anyway.
Her alarm clock, unnoticed, flashed the time on her bedside as she slipped into sleep, the digital screen sending a red glare across the worn wood of her side table.
It was exactly 3 AM in the morning.
A/N: Howdy~! Consider this a little trip down a slightly different well. As the story fleshes out, it'll become more apparent where the story sits, but for now I will tell you that it was more than a little inspired by the tales of the 'Benandanti.' ;3 I should have the next chapter up quite soon - that is where the fun truly begins, after all.
Note: I have posted this story else where in a slightly different form under the name of 'katiekitten'. Recognise it from there and you get kisses. ;3