OCC/ Information Link: http://www.roleplaygateway.com/inuyasha-age-the-new-youkai-t13064.html

Hitaro groaned quietly as he lied down on the grass. He slowly opened his eyes as the adjusted to the daylight. There was plenty of shade created by the countless trees that surrounded him, but the light more than overshadowed the darkness. Although initially blurred, his vision became clearer. He grunted loudly as he pushed himself up, getting to his knees. He felt groggy, but he quickly regained his senses. He soon got back to his feet and set his balance. He tried to think back to what happened.

I was at home... and then I...

He soon remembered what happened. The man in the robes came into his house. He got into a confrontation with him, and after a while, he followed him to a well near a schoolmate's house. He was pretty sure it was Kagome Higurashi's. He looked around at where he was. He remembered he got shoved into the well and he ended up over in this place. He groaned quietly as he crossed his arms and examined his surroundings. It wasn't exactly what he considered his ideal place to be.

Dammit. Now what do I do?! I swear to God that as soon as I find that guy, I'm gonna give him a beat down. But... where the hell am I anyway?

He looked around for several more seconds. With that, he let out a scoff and walked off. As far as he knew, it would be best to find out where he was exactly. If he could find someone that would be the first good thing to happen.

When I find out where I am I'm headin' back home.

Ryune had found herself volunteering, once again, to gather some more herbs to replenish the village's supply. It wasn't that she disliked the chore--no, it was actually quite refreshing to walk amongst the trees all by herself-- but the real problem lay in the fact that no matter how common the herbs were, she needed to walk deeper into the forest to gather them because they weren't to be found on the outskirts anymore.

A pale hand gripped the handle of the wicker basket tightly as Ryune grabbed a branch overhead with her other hand. She quickly hoisted herself up, her physical training as a former Demon Exterminator-to-be allowing her to clamber up the tree efficiently, without letting go of the basket in the process. A few moments later, she found herself perched on the highest branch that could hold her weight, the forest and treetops spread below her. It wasn't often that Ryune was able to sneak a few moments to herself, or find a perch that offered such a spectacular view. She allowed herself a few moments to relax before her eyes started carefully scanning the vegetation below for any signs of the herbs she wanted.

Hitaro walked through the forest, trying to find out where he was. He had been traveling around for about fifteen minutes, and he hadn't found a single soul. He sighed quietly as he stopped in the middle of the forest and looked around. It all looked the same to him. He hadn't found any hint that civilization was nearby. He growled quietly as he tried to figure out what was going on.

"What am I, the last man on earth? What's up with this?!"

He scoffed quietly as he leaned against a tree. He figured now would be best to wait it out. Someone had to come by at some point. If they didn't, he'd just have to look around again.

"...last man on earth?! What's up with this?!"

Ryune's head snapped to the right, from where the voice had apparently been carried. She reached out and parted some leaves of the tree to get a clearer view of the forest below, and when she squinted her eyes, she was able to make out a masculine figure leaning against the tree opposite her's. He looked oddly familiar--

"Don't be silly," she spoke, her voice carrying easily towards him. "How can you be the last man on earth when there's a settlement of them so nearby?"

A moment later, she realized that he probably couldn't see her, she was so high up. Sighing, she muttered something under her breath and threw her empty basket down, wincing as the handle caught a stray branch halfway down and was lodged in the tree. Great. Trying to cheat by sending the basket before her obviously hadn't worked, so now she was going to have to get it down on top of dealing with the stranger. She stood up carefully, testing her weight on the branch below her and began her descent. What a wonderful day to be dressed in a plum colored kimono, she thought sourly.

Hitaro almost flinched as he heard a voice. He grunted quietly as he spun around, soon searching for where it came from. No one was in plain sight. He soon found himself raising his head. To his surprise, he found a girl in the trees, balancing herself on a branch. He rose an eyebrow as he tried to process what she was doing.

What the hell is she DOING up there?!

It took him a while to realize something... she was in a kimono. His eyes narrowed. He then noticed that she was walking towards a basket. He didn't know what was going on or why it was going the way it was, but he at least knew he was still in Japan.

That's one thing that's comforting. But where in Japan am I? Better not be too far off...

"Exactly where am I... wait, did you say settlement?"

"Yes, settlement," Ryune answered absently, eyes focused on the basket that was precariously hanging off the tip of the farthest branch. She extended an arm, but found that it was futile to reach for the basket; the branch was too weak to support her weight, too. Sighing loudly in frustration, Ryune wrapped one arm around the tree trunk to support herself and, reaching down to her side, slipped her hand into a fold of her kimono to extract a fan. With a flick of her wrist, the fan was open, supporting a simple, yet elegant pattern of abstract Japanese characters. The edges of the fan seemed to glint softly in the sunlight, and with a practiced movement, Ryune swiped the razor-blade edges of the fan at the branch, neatly cutting it off the rest of the tree. The slim branch, which was more like a long twig than anything else, really, fell quickly, and Ryune followed it, jumping off the tree to land lightly at the base.

"Who are you?" She asked briskly, snapping the fan closed and sticking it into her obi. He looked vaguely familiar... No matter what, Ryune couldn't shake that feeling of deja vu, and it was annoying her. A frown tugging at her lips, she took in his odd clothing before turning on her heel and walking towards her basket, where it lay on the ground.

"Hitaro," he said simply.

He stared at the girl, now curious, if not somewhat confused. He had no idea what was going on, but he knew something wasn't right. Who ever said "settlement?" They didn't even exist anymore. He looked around, almost irritably. He didn't like where this was going. He hoped that this was all just a bad joke played by someone who had it out for him. If that was the case, he would at least eventually be at ease... especially if he could beat that person down.

"It wouldn't happen to be near Tokyo or any major place that, would it?"

"Tokyo?" Ryune paused, hands just about to grasp the handle of the basket. Tokyo, tokyo...Ryune had never paid attention to her geography lessons, but the name still didn't ring a bell. "No. I've never heard of Tokyo before."

She straightened, gathering the basket in her arms and turning to face him again. "Where are you from?" She'd figured by now that he was a foreigner, because within the past two years she'd cataloged every resident of the area, and he didn't fit anywhere. No tribe had similar articles of clothing, either. He didn't look particularly dangerous, either, but it never hurt to be on guard...

"Basically from that place you never heard of," he said, now agitated. "I'm thinkin' it would be good to check out this place."

He swore under his breath as he sat down on the ground, leaning against the tree. He sighed loudly as he rested his head on his, covering his left eye. He looked up towards the woman that he just met. He grunted silently his hand fell to his side as he practically stared at her. He didn't even need to ask her what the year was. He knew he wasn't in his own time. If this settlement was really a settlement, he'd have his final piece of confirmation.

"Who are you, anyway?"

"Ryune," she answered, figuring there wasn't much harm in telling him. "How'd you get here?"

He couldn't have arrive spontaneously, she thought; perhaps his means of transportation would give them a hint. She shifted the basket in her arms, watching him as he seated himself against a particular tree. "You'd better watch out," she said casually, "there might be an ant demon on the bark. They're known to inhabit oak trees, and they don't appreciate uninvited guests."

"I... how did I get here?"

He grunted quietly as he got to his feet, looking back at the tree. He felt that the notion of an "Ant Demon" was absurd. But after what he began to figure, he figured it wouldn't be best to take any chances. He was already in a weird enough spot as it was.

"I fell in through the well back there... I think. I mean, I came from my home, being led by some monk in a white outfit. When we got to it, he pushed me in. I pretty much climbed out and collapsed on the ground. That's all I really remember."

He ran a hand through his hair as he tried to really understand this whole situation. Did he... fall through time? That didn't seem possible, but it seemed like the only real logical thing to say the least.

"Just... take me to your village. Unless you know how I can get back home."

"A well?" Ryune repeated sharply, narrowing her gaze at him to stare at his eyes. Then it struck her, why he looked so familiar--those golden eyes were just like the ones that belonged to her cousin's friend--Sango's companion InuYasha, whom she's met when Sango and Kohaku had returned last. The well also factored in, because she knew that Sango and Lady Kaede had a special reverence for the thing...

"Yeah, I think you'd better come with me to the village," she agreed, mind racing. "However..." It wasn't often that Ryune managed to get away from the village, and she wasn't about to give up this chance, not for some stranger. "I need to gather some herbs first, so you'll have to wait. It won't take long." She looked at him expectantly, fingers closing around the basket's handle as she propped one fist on her hip.

"Fine," he muttered impatiently. "Just make it quick."

He leaned against a tree and stared at her for a couple seconds before looking off. He was not in the mood to have any distractions slowing him down. He just wanted to get back to his own time and get on with what little of a life he had. As far as he was concerned, he didn't really belong anywhere, but he felt it was best to at least be somewhere he was accustomed to. He looked back towards Ryune with the same expression as before.

"So what, you're supposed to gather these things a lot or something?"

"Well, you could help," she suggested in a firm tone, which implied that he probably didn't have much choice in the matter. She handed him the basket authoritatively and started walking in a random direction; she knew he'd have to follow her eventually to get to the village, because they were pretty deep within the forest and it would just be pure luck that would get him out, unaided.

"This is usually a job for the younger apprentices," she said conversationally as she spotted a pale pink flower, and headed towards it. She bent down and gently pulled the stem towards her, her hands feeling the leaves and expertly pinching them off the remaining plant. She plucked a few more, gathering them in one hand, before straightening. She could feel his glare on her back, and tried to ignore it by distracting herself. And by distracting herself, she meant chatting away: "This plan only blooms for about three weeks, and that's the best time frame to gather it's leaves and preserve them. After grinding them and mixing them with some alcohol and another ingredient I forget the name of, the poultice can clot blood faster than anything, and it saves more lives than other medicines."

"I might as well."

Hitaro got to his feet and started looking at the plants that Ryune were picking. If it meant speeding everything up, he might as well do it. He started walking towards a batch that he found and started to attempt to pick them. When he grabbed one of them, he almost instantly snapped the stem in half right in the middle. He grunted quietly. He looked back at the basket Ryune had and exhaled loudly.

"You don't need the roots, do you?"

He started to pull other ones out. This time, he seemed to do a better job at extracting the plants. He didn't feel pride because of it, but was at least speeding things up for him.

"You'd be surprised... how different things are now. I bet this stuff takes forever for you... makin' it and refinin' it. Where I live... this stuff is mass produced... into small tablets... or drinks. Usually hundreds a second... well, less for the drinks."

"Hm?" Ryune glanced over at Hitaro and stifled a smile at his first attempt. "No, not for these." She figured he'd gotten the hand of picking those particular leaves, so she decided to move onto another type of flower whose petals were especially revitalizing. She listened to his description of his home with interest, raising her brows incredulously. Even though she couldn't see him, she knew he was telling the truth, or what he believed to be the truth, anyways; she found it hard to believe in mass production, unless it was a group of youkai cooperating, which was highly unlikely.

"Then you're a lucky man," she informed him, tossing her latest pickings into the basket. "Although I must say I imagine your race to be quite spoiled."

"And greedy," he muttered. "Some of it's cheap to make. Most of its costs a lot."

Although his face appeared emotionless, there was a hint of bitterness behind what he said. He wasn't exactly a fan of the rich... his somewhat lower class life style made sure of that. He thought about it all as he picked the leaves and put them in the basket. He was starting to move faster. It was fairly easy work as far as he was concerned.

"Still, we take the availability of the stuff and our money for granted. So of course we're spoiled. There's gonna be a day when no one can get anything. Me? I've got nothing to take for granted... so I've got nothing to worry about."

Soon, he finished picking the leaves of the batch he had. When he did, he simply left the stems on the ground and put the rest of what was needed in the basket. He exhaled quietly as he crossed his arms, looking back towards the direction he came from... the direction of the well. His lip twitched with a sense of disgust as he sighed loudly, looking away. He definitely did think he'd find any welcome once he got back. He was practically invisible.

"I'd be surprised if there was anything of interest, really."

Ryune continued to listen to him silently, hands working deftly as the basket continued to fill up. Eventually, when he'd fallen silent, she pondered over what he said and decided that they'd gathered enough plants.

"That's it, I'd say," she broke the silence, standing up and brushing the dirt off her hands. She glanced his way, a smile fluttering across her lips at the sight of him mechanically working away. He'd caught on fast; she could see evidence of him handling the plants without damaging them, unlike some apprentices she knew from the village.

Hitaro looked over towards Ryune and nodded. He shoved his hands down his pockets and followed behind her, now relieved that things would get going. He had the same expression on his face, but the intensity behind his eyes somewhat lessened.

"So where exactly is this place then?"

He looked over towards Ryune again. For a brief second, he examined her. She looked like she was ill... very pale and frail in appearance (although as far as he knew, the frailness could have been deceptive). He was now a bit more curious as well. As he cleared his mind, he remembered something. He remembered Kagome going into the shack where the well was.

"You didn't see a girl come through here last night did you? A girl named Kagome?"

"Kagome, Kagome..." Ryune squinted her eyes a bit, concentrating. As far as she knew, the only Kagome in this part of the country was, once again, Sango's friend, and also a foreigner. "Well, there is one, but she doesn't live here anymore. You can always ask Lady Kaede, though; Kagome used to be her former apprentice as a priestess, but that was years ago. She travels with my cousins now."

Ryune quickened her pace, recognizing a familiar landmark; she veered off towards the right, stepping between some bushes and onto a hidden trail that was commonly used as a shortcut back to the village. "Watch your step," she cautioned. "There's poison ivy along here."

She waited a moment for him to catch up before resuming her walk, this time swinging the arm with the basket as she went.