Kaede stirred the stew that she had cooking before pouring a bowl for herself and (Name). She passed the hot bowl to (Name) as she said, "Eat up, child."

"I would, but..." She waved her tied hands behind her. "I'm still tied up." Kaede removed the ropes and gave (Name) her bowl. She took a few careful bites before asking, "So... who is Kikyo?"

"Kikyo was my elder sister. She was the priestess who protected this village. That is, until she passed." A solemn look passed over Lady Kaede's face as she remembered her late sister. "I was only a child when she died fifty years ago."

(Name) frowned sympathetically at her. "I'm sorry to hear that." Kaede gently pat her on the hand and offered a little smile. Then, (Name) took a few more sips of stew. "Ma'am, w-where exactly are we? Is this near Tokyo?"

"Tokyo? Forgive me, but I'm unfamiliar with that name. Is it the name of your providence?"

"Um, well... Sort of," she shrugged. 'I've gotta get back home before my weekend is wasted!'

Just then, there was loud screaming and crashes coming from outside the hut. Kaede moved as quickly as she could to see what was happening. (Name) peeked outside with her and her eyes widened in fear. The centipede woman was back and she was destroying various structures around the village. She bit into a horse's side and threw it to the side, nearly hitting the house (Name) and Kaede were in. 

"Run! Demon!" The women scrambled to get their children to safety while the men of the village shot flaming arrows toward the centipede woman to try and bring her down, or at least stop her from causing any more damage. However, she just swept them away with the lower half of her buggy body.

(Name) shook softly as she stared at the centilady. 'It's her. Why is she here?!'

Centilady turned toward her and yelled angrily, "Give me the Sacred Jewel! Give it to me!" The evil demon began to run over people as she made her way over to the hut.

Kaede looked at (Name), shocked. "You carry the jewel with you, child?"

"I-I don't know! But, that nasty thing thinks I have it." She pursed her lips as she tried to think quickly. "I have to lead her away before more people are killed."

"It must go back to the dry well," Kaede told her.

"The dry well?"

"In Inuyasha's Forest."

(Name) looked around the trees until she quickly noticed a light emitting from the top of the treeline. She pointed toward it and said, "There! Towards that light." She ran toward it as she called back toward the centipede woman, "Hey, Naked Bug Lady! I'm over here!"

Kaede reached out for the girl as she ran off into the forest. "Wait! How could she see the foul vapors that rise from the forest...?" The old woman moved quickly to get help.

Meanwhile, the white-haired boy impaled on the tree opened his eyes. He hissed, soft and angry, and muttered, "That smell... That vile woman's smell is coming closer." He reached to pull out the arrow in his chest but was stopped. A purple aura surrounded the arrow, preventing him from touching it.

(Name) pumped her arms and ignored the impending doom she heard behind her. 'Gotta keep running! Gotta get away! Once I get to the well, she'll disappear again, right? I'll be safe?!'

The centilady growled. "Give me the Sacred Jewel now!"

"I don't have any jewel to give you!" (Name) screamed and slid across the forest floor, avoiding an attack from above by the centipede demon. She covered her head with her arms and whimpered. 

Above her, a voice scoffed, "What are you wasting time with that wimpy bug for?"

(Name) sniffled before looking up to see the boy from before. He was alive and talking to her, even with the arrow still in his chest. She gasped, feeling a bit relieved that he wasn't actually dead. "You're alive."

He scoffed smugly. "You almost sound happy. Weren't you the one who shot me to this tree? Don't look so dumb down there, Kikyo."

"Huh?" She stood up and shook her head. "W-wait a minute. My name's not --"

"It's here," he interrupted her, looking up. 

(Name) looked up frantically and spotted the centilady as she descended down to grab her. "No!" Arrows flew through the air and struck into the demon woman's shoulder. She looked over and saw some of the villagers pulling the centilady back, with Lady Kaede leading them. She sighed in relief.

"I'm disappointed. When did you get so hopeless, Kikyo?"

(Name) growled under her breath as she turned back toward who she assumed the forest was named after and climbed up the roots to glare in his face. "Listen, dog-boy! I'm not hopeless, and I'm not Kikyo!"

Inuyasha scoffed at her. "Don't give me that! No one else smells as disgusting as..." He cut himself off as he actually looked at the girl. Though there were some similarities, he could see how different she was from the woman he thought she was. "You're not her."

"Like I tried to say before, my name isn't Kikyo. It's (Name), if you care."

He looked off to the side and muttered, mostly to himself, "Kikyo was far more intelligent-looking than you... and beautiful."

She crossed her arms and frowned at him with a huff. Then, she felt hands grab at her and try to lift her up and away. (Name) panicked and grabbed the nearest thing to prevent the centilady from pulling her away... which happened to be Inuyasha's hair. She screamed and kicked her feet, trying to escape. "Let go! Let go of me!"

"Owowowowow!" Inuyasha complained, "You let go of me!"

Kaede blinked in surprise at the sight and sound of Inuyasha. 'Inuyasha lives?! But, the seal that was placed on that arrow should have held for eternity! How could it have broken?'

"I'll devour you whole, girl," Centilady threatened, "Sacred Jewel and all!"

Inuyasha stared at the centipede demon in disbelief. 'The Sacred Jewel?'

She reeled back to attack (Name), but the girl put her hand out to stop her. "Stop it!" Once again, a purple light came out of her hand, repelling the centipede monster back in pain. (Name) fell down from the tree and thumped hard against the ground on her side. "Just like in the well..." she muttered to herself as she held her wrist, looking down at her palm. "How is it I can do things like that? What's going on?"

A bright light began shining from (Name)'s side. Because she was looking at it in awe, she failed to notice the centilady scuttling towards her. "Troublesome wench!" Her large, sharp teeth sank into the girl's side before she threw her into the air.

The world around (Name) went silent as she stared at the shiny jewel that had just been ripped out of her side. 'Is that the Sacred Jewel? Why was it inside of me?' She exclaimed in pain as she fell back down to the dirt, the jewel landing a few inches in front of her. 

"That's mine!" Inuyasha shouted, leaning forward a bit. "Give it to me!"

(Name) ignored him and tried to reach for the Sacred Jewel, but centipede woman's bug body curled up around her and slammed her into the tree. The pressure made the wound in (Name)'s side bleed a bit more, and she winced in agony. She quietly panted in fear. 'I-it hurts...! Am I going to die here?'

The centiwoman chuckled smugly as she looked at Inuyasha. "I had heard about some half-demon brat who was after the Sacred Jewel. Is that who you are?"

"Don't underestimate me," Inuyasha snarked. "When I get down to business, you're just a small-fry."

(Name) looked up at him and muttered, "You've got such a big attitude. Do you have the strength to back it up?" He growled a bit as his eyebrow twitched a little. 

"What can he do, hanging on that tree like an ornament?" The demon woman taunted. "He's stuck under a powerful spell, so it's all talk. You'll have no choice but to sit back and watch." Then, she crouched down to the jewel and slurped it up with her long tongue.

Inuyasha snapped as she swallowed it, "Damn it!"

The centipede woman's arms floated back over to her and reconnected to where they had been ripped off. (Name) squinted her eyes in disgust, gripping onto Inuyasha's clothes worriedly. "Her arms are reconnecting..."

With the power from the Sacred Jewel, Centilady's skin ripped off of her and fell like an old cocoon, revealing her more demonic appearance. She hissed loudly in delight, "How glorious! My full powers have returned to me at last!"

(Name) whimpered as she felt herself being crushed harder under the demon's body. She weakly tried to push against the centipede, but the pain in her side throbbed and made her stop. "T-trapped..."

"Hey." (Name) looked up at Inuyasha. He was watching the centipede woman, but he was talking to her. "Can you pull this arrow out?"

She gritted her teeth as she strained to reach the arrow in his chest. "I-if I can reach it..."

Kaede looked to the tree and called out to stop the girl. "Stop, child! That arrow is Inuyasha's seal, the only thing keeping him dormant. He must not be freed!"

Inuyasha glared at her. "Get some perspective, hag! Or, would you rather become fodder for the centipede?! Once that thing absorbs the jewel completely, it's over!" He turned his eyes down to look at (Name). "What's it gonna be, girl? Do you wanna die here?!"

(Name) was frozen for a moment, not knowing how to respond. Then, her eyes lit ablaze with determination and adrenaline. "I am not going to die." She threw her hand up and clutched the arrow hard in her fist. Then, she used whatever strength she had left to yank it out with the vow, "Not today!"

The arrow dissipated in (Name)'s hand, surprising her. Above her, the white-haired boy began to chuckle as his strength and power returned to him. (Name) could almost feel the power radiating off of him, making the little hairs on her neck stand on end. The centilady noticed them and coiled her body completely around them, trying to crush them. 

However, now that Inuyasha was back at full power, he was able to force-blast himself free, sending the bug body back. (Name) flopped to the ground near the trunk of the old tree, panting and holding her stomach wound. 

The half-demon faced off against the centipede woman. She advanced on him, growling out, "Insolent brat!"

"Ugly hag!" Inuyasha raised his sharp claws and declared his attack, "Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!" He ripped through the centipede's flesh, reducing her to chunks and bits of body parts. The village men that had come to help watched in frightened awe as he made quick mincemeat of his opponent. 

(Name) watched him, as well, amazed. 'He is strong...' Then, she flinched away in fear from the wriggling legs of the centiwoman chunk near her. "H-how is it still moving..?"

Lady Kaede approached (Name) and gently instructed her, "Quickly, child. You must look for a glowing piece of flesh. That is where the Sacred Jewel lies. We must remove it, lest the demon revive again and again."

(Name) gulped shakily and glanced around. Then, she pointed, "There. That big one." Kaede took out the Sacred Jewel, which caused the rest of the horrid creature's body to dissolve into vapor, slowly rising from its bones. As she went over to Kaede, (Name) groaned in disgust at the bones of the centipede, but was glad it was dead and gone now.

"Here, child." The old woman placed the jewel into (Name)'s hands. "Only you may possess the jewel."

"But..." she stared down at it, confused. "How did this Sacred Jewel get into my body? Why would I be carrying a jewel that strengthens dangerous demons?"

Inuyasha crushed one of the centipede's bones under his foot and clutched his fist with an intimidating stare. "You got that right. That jewel's of no use in a human's hands." He narrowed his eyes. "So, be a good girl and give it to me... unless you want to fall victim to my claws."

(Name) straightened her back and glared at the half-demon incredulously. 'Didn't I just free him? And, now he's here, threatening me?!'