So Much for Going to the Beach

Chapter 10: Off of Cliffs and into Caves

After a dinner that consisted of delicious foods—thankfully Riku had taken over at just the right time and Risa had not been allowed to set the building on fire and/or make inedible "food"—the gang decided that it was still light enough to leave to explore the beaches around the area. The girls were talking about marvelous adventures and Risa was babbling on about romantic opportunities and the like, but the boys simply shared exasperated looks as they basically ignored the talk, thinking instead along the lines of getting to explore caves and, you know, the normal guy stuff. So they set off for the beach, the sun low on the horizon but not low enough to become a problem. They wandered around an area that was teeming with steep cliffs and other dangerous pointy rocks at the insistence of Dark and, surprisingly, Satoshi, but found nothing truly of interest.

Dark found this to be an extreme letdown and didn't fail to let the others know of his strong disappointment, kicking at rocks and altogether being moody. One thing led to another and Dark, who was still sulking about their inability to find anything interesting, found himself free-falling down the cliff. Somehow, with whatever good luck he possessed, he managed to land in the least rocky area, but still in a dangerous position. The water down there was smacking the rocks rather angrily and carrying everything in its path with it. There was a long silence among the other group members as they simply stared down at the scene. Dark was alternately crying out for help and cursing the fact that they had left Wiz back in Japan—whenever he was above the water at least.

At once chaos broke out. Daisuke and Risa started flipping out, panicking and running this way and that although apparently for different reasons. Daisuke was concerned for his older brother figure and considered it to be his fault the older man was down there probably about to die while Risa, who had recently gotten over the fact that Dark was most likely gay and would never have an interest in her, was desperate because if Dark was gone who else would she pair up with Krad so she could take secret yaoi-like pictures and sell them on the black market? Riku simply stared down and then glanced up at the other two boys, looking expectant.

Satoshi noticed this and sighed deeply before commanding (suggesting?) that Krad go down to save the other man before he died, mumbling something about wings and only being helpful in these situations. Krad glowered at him before making his way down the cliff carefully via flight mode and picking the half-drowning boy out of the water by his sodden clothing. They ascended once more and Krad plopped Dark down onto the ground without much regard for his comfort.

"Krad~~~ You saved me!" Dark exclaimed, hanging off of Krad's waist, effectively soaking him to the bone with the chilling salt water sopping through his clothing. Krad sighed in annoyance and announced that he was going to change and would be back in a while. Unfortunately for him, things didn't go as planned as everyone, including Dark for some reason—he had no sense of self-preservation whatsoever, Krad thought as he rolled his eyes at the hyperactive being in front of him, decided that that was not a valid option and thought that it would be better to explore longer and then return to the hotel.

Krad was not a happy camper. His clothing was wet and sticking to his skin where Dark had latched on to him and it was getting chilly out. The sun was about to go down and he figured it was probably about time for them to go in anyway, but everyone refused to leave until they found something interesting. At the rate they were going, they would be out until three in the morning.

So, Krad found it prudent to allow everyone to see that he was displeased with the situation, mumbling complaints again and again until Satoshi growled at him to cut it out. Of course this only worked for a little while until he started right back up muttering how he had better things to do and warmer places to be and whatnot.

What finally shut him up was Riku's rather scathing remark. "Yeah and better people to do, as well," she stated, glancing pointedly at the oblivious Dark walking ahead of them. In return she got a glare and blessed silence. Eventually his mutterings started up once more, putting a damper on everyone's mood.

But quite suddenly the sound of his voice cut off and the majority of the party was so happy that he had shut up that they turned to thank him or smile or wave or something only to find that he had disappeared. Puzzled they looked around until they managed to find a hole in the ground (that had previously been covered by bushes) that seemed interesting enough. So, shrugging, they decided that Krad must have fallen in (or at least that was Satoshi's theory anyway, Dark still thought that aliens had abducted him) and went in after him, Riku using the flashlight on her phone to light the way. They climbed carefully down and found Krad in a heap on the ground, almost pouting and glaring up at the small patch of sky he could see through the hole.

Since going up didn't seem like an option anymore (sliding down hadn't been difficult but it would take a serious rock-climber to get back up), they followed the only way out of the cave. Thankfully it was a one-way route otherwise they would have been completely lost. Instead they continued their exploration of the mysterious one-route cave and ended up in a gigantic room that looked as though it could have belonged to some ancient civilization. In the center of the cavern-like room stood a large statue that seemed to take up the good part of the back wall. None of them could tell what the statue was until they were literally right in front of it—that's how dark it had become.

The statue was of what looked to be either a large dog or a wolf. It was snarling ferociously at something in the distance and was baring its fangs rather impressively. It was made of some dark stone that didn't look like it was native to Florida. In fact this entire area didn't look native to Florida and many of them wondered how they'd even get out.

Risa found the statue to be gorgeous and reached her hand out to touch it gently. Suddenly, Riku had a very bad feeling something was going to happen and tried to pull Risa away from it. Unfortunately, along the way Risa fell into Riku who lost her balance and they both ended up falling into the statue. The statue didn't look any worse for the wear but there was a giant flash of light that blinded all of them.

When it faded, the rest of the party was able to make out the shapes of two figures sitting near the statue where the girls had been. However once the smoke cleared (why was there always smoke, Krad thought crankily), they found themselves staring at two completely different beings.

The shorter of the two had white hair and was sprouting an impressive set of dog ears on top of his head, donned in red robes that looked as though they were from the Edo Period or maybe earlier and his taller counterpart had long flowing silver hair and looked as though he were wearing makeup. Of course he also was donned in clothing that also looked as though it were ages old but also had armor on. And shoes. The girls were no longer there.

Dark didn't seem to understand this, or at least his brain didn't seem to process it as he stated laughingly, "Risa, Riku, when did you two turn into super tall males with long silver hair and totally awesome clothing?" He paused, glancing at the taller of the two, "Wait, you are a male, right?"

The man he was talking to growled at him, sporting fairly sharp canines as the shorter of the two smirked and almost burst out laughing.

"Told you that you could be mistaken as a female," he said lightly as though he was finishing up a conversation they had just been having. Who knows, maybe he had.

Out of nowhere the taller man's arm snapped forward, holding on to the other's neck in a death grip. Only then did the members of the group realize that these two were dangerous; they were even carrying swords!

Glancing at each other, they attempted to back up slowly and inconspicuously, to escape from the bizarre situation. Instead, they all found themselves bound by a single glare as the taller of two spoke up, hand still at the throat of the shorter one.

"Where is this place?" he asked, demanded almost, in a deadly tone.

"Well," Krad said, "this is the planet Earth. We are currently on the North American continent in a region called Florida in a cave somewhere on the coast."

Satoshi smacked him, "You're an idiot, Krad. Of course this is the planet Earth. Where else would we be?"

Krad muttered under his breath before speaking up again, "Well, how do we know where they're from? They could easily be from a different dimension. Or some such nonsense."

Dark gasped, "Oh… my… god…" Everyone turned to look at him, "Real live ALIENS! I never thought I'd meet any! This is so cooool!" he intoned excitedly as he gestured and moved around ecstatically.

Everyone looked at him as though he were an idiot. Which he probably looked like so it was most likely justified.

Satoshi made an effort of will to ignore the oncoming headache he could feel building up, "Who are you? What happened to Risa and Riku? And what are you doing in our world?"

The two newcomers, who had not moved prior to this moment, untangled themselves and glanced at each other, a certain understanding passing between them. They were in a different land. They would have to cooperate as much as they didn't like the idea.

"My name is Inuyasha," stated the shorter one as he half-glared around him.

"I am Sesshoumaru of the Western Lands," the other said devoid of emotion.

Inuyasha spoke up, "We do not know of these people, Risa and… Riku? This is as much a surprise to us as it is to you. We do not know where we are or even why we are here. Is this the modern world?"

"The modern… world?" Satoshi questioned, "What is that?"

"My friend comes from the modern world. She says she travels back in time to get to our world but she does so through a well. We were nowhere near a well when we were summoned here," Inuyasha explained.

"I suppose this would be the modern world then. Come, let us get you new clothing and then we will figure this out and how to get you back to your original world," Satoshi spoke, gesturing to the way they had come in.

They successfully managed to get to the way they had come in but it was far too difficult to climb up the steep walls. They were stuck. They had to find some way up or they wouldn't be found for days. Satoshi thought about it, before his musings were interrupted by a most unexpected voice.

"You are not able to make your way out of that exit?" Sesshoumaru asked at last.

As everyone shook their heads, he glanced around at them, most likely measuring whether or not he should say anything or not, before stating that he could get them out. Of course this seemed to be a comment that lit the fire of Inuyasha, something that made him compete with the other man, for he seemed to be just as reticent in the fact that he could just as easily get them out. The two glared at each other before Satoshi stepped in to mediate, asking them how they planned to get them out.

The other two simply glanced at him before Sesshoumaru weighed the options and seemed to decide on something, before slinging a slightly surprised Krad over his shoulder and jumping. He cleared the hole in the ceiling easily and landed somewhere up on the path they had taken down there. Everyone was in awe. Inuyasha then did the exact same thing, picking up a slightly struggling Dark and hopping easily through the same hole. Inuyasha then went back down for Daisuke who had been silent up until then and remained so, most likely from shock and/or admiration.

Krad was the only one left down in the cave and he looked up, bored, before spreading his wings and flying up, landing on the ground outside. The others stared at him before Satoshi burst out, "Why didn't you do that in the first place?!"

"Not my fault you didn't remember I could fly, Satoshi-sama," he stated calmly before glancing at the two outsiders who were staring at him strangely. "I'm not really an angel so don't go thinking that," he stated as he yawned and leaned against the cliff wall.

Everyone paused to think what they would do next and decided that it was best they return to the hotel. The problem was… how would they sneak those two in? If anyone saw their clothing they'd be seen as otakus or something weird like that. Satoshi vaguely wondered if the anime convention was in town.

Thankfully Krad was thinking along the same lines as Satoshi and stole up to their room to gather two pairs of clothing (one from Dark's wardrobe and one from his own) handing each to Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru respectively.

However there was an unexpected problem…

Well I did say it was on hiatus, but now that I've finally finished my other stories I'm free-ish to work on this one. That's probably the main reason it's getting updated now. Hope you enjoyed it.

Berlioz II- I don't quite see why not.

GeishaBabe192- I apologize for the tardiness in this. I guess time is something I don't have much of lately. Or really for several years haha. I hope this makes up for it. Thank you!

Moriko no Hikari- Thanks!

abelfight195- They're right here haha. They are rather late, though, I agree.

Echowish- Thank you, I hope this will make up for the very, very long time since I've last updated.