Wings of Prophecy

Chapter 4: Home or Hideaway?

The night had passed quickly and dim rays of sunlight began to shine over the horizon, waking the sleeping teen. He yawned widely while he stretched. His joints popped in protest at being moved after being stationary for so long. He finished stretching and decided to go for a quick morning flight to test out his newly healed bone and make sure it could handle flight. A downward flap of his wings had him airborne and he began preforming stunts in the air as he usually did on his morning flights. It was moments like this that truly gave him the feeling of freedom. To him, flying made him feel like he didn't need to rely on anyone for anything. He was free to go where he wanted when he wanted. He watched as the sun steadily creeped over the horizon, its golden rays spilling over the countryside and chasing away the remaining shadows of the night. It wasn't until the sun had risen completely over the horizon that he decided to go back to the village.

The flight back was short and sweet and a few of the villagers were already up and starting their daily chores. They waved to him and he waved back. He landed in front of Kaede's hut, his flaps kicking up a small cloud of dust as he did. He approached the door and knocked lightly on its frame to let the occupants inside know he was there. Kaede gave him verbal permission to enter and he pushed aside the curtain, inspecting the scene before him. Kaede was in the process of changing Kagome's bandage when he walked in. He took a seat in the corner of the hut, averting his attention from the scene to be polite. He absentmindedly picked at his feathers while waiting for Kaede to finish up. The silence in the hut wasn't awkward, but it wasn't exactly comfortable either.

Luckily, Kaede broke the silence. "Inuyasha, do ye still have the jewel?" She asked.

"Mhm," He hummed before extracting said jewel from his kimono.

"Good. We need a safe place to hide it. Do ye know of any such place, Inuyasha?" She asked the winged teen.

"Oh! Um... yeah I think I know a place..." He trailed off, not wanting to reveal much more information than that.

"That's good..." Kaede also trailed off, and it seemed as if she was going to say something else, but refrained from doing so.

The dog-eared teen returned to fussing with his feathers, as they were still a little ruffled from his night in the tree. No one spoke for a while before Kaede once again broke the silence with a rather startling question.

"Inuyasha, would ye also mind escorting Kagome back to the well to see if she can return to her time through it?" Kaede questioned.

Inuyasha nearly chocked and began sputtering for a response. He was already going to be in deep trouble for being gone for nearly two days, he'd rather not be gone any longer and risk Keiko's wrath further. Both Kaede and Kagome looked at him expectantly while he struggled to come to a decision. The underlying desperation in Kagome's expression finally caused him to cave and honor Kaede's request.

"Yeah alright, I'll take her..." He grumbled.

He watched as Kagome's expression lit up with hope and it caused him to blush fiercely. Kaede nodded with approval and a small smile before turning to Kagome. "I know not what your purpose was here, Miss Kagome, but I do believe that your family might be terribly worried about you," Kaede stated, her smile reassuring.

"Yep. My grandpa is sure to have had a heart attack by now..." Kagome trailed off, realizing that neither Kaede or Inuyasha understood what a heart attack was.

"Ye better hurry home then. I just pray that your grandpa is alright..." Kaede urged, her concern clear as she stood up.

The old lady wasted no time in ushering both of them out of the door. Once outside, she wished Kagome final farewells and then told Inuyasha she looked forward to his next visit. Both Kagome and Inuyasha stood there dumbfounded while the old lady retreated back into the hut without any further words.