Hi, guys. Back again. sigh This was my first ever fanfiction. I wrote it in sixth grade, so it's kinda crappy. Still, it's okay. My teacher seemed to like it. Tell me how you like it! . No, seriously. Tell me! Please?

Midow, the Human-raised Nekoyokai

Chapter 1 -- Introductions

I am a little cat demon who was raised by humans since I can't remember when. There is something I wish to share with everyone who will listen. Well, you see, many people ask questions about a miko who was named Kikyo. I rest in the lap of my newest "owner", Kagome Higorashi. I sit here and listen to her tell false tales to a few of her friends that wonder about this legendary priestess. I really pay attention when one of the girls mentions a cat that was spoken about in a story. I flip over from my belly rub and run to a window. It's raining outside, and it reminds me of a story... the story of that cat that was mentioned- Me.

My mother was the weakest, smallest, sickest demon there was. During a cold, stormy night, my mother went into labor with my siblings and me. She looked wildly for a warm safe haven to have us. She followed a strange, small light into a cabin illuminated by torches that burned on oil. In the center of the cabin was a short pillar made of stone. On top of the pillar was a small jewel on a string of fang-like pieces of bone. My mom did the first thing that came to mind. She was a very skinny neko with hardly any meat on her bones, but once she picked up the shiny jewel, she instantly had the efficiant amount of energy to give birth. She had me and one of my brothers, but that's all the energy she had, even with the shining jewel.

Several moments later, a few villagers from the town that the cabin was located in followed the Miko Kikyo into the cabin. Their arrows, spears, and swords drawn. The arrow that Miko Kikyo was holding shined with a great brightness. It stopped glowing when she lowered it and came to examine us. She put her hand on my brother and I and yelled something at the men. One ran out then ran back in later with a kimono top and Miko Kikyo wrapped us up in it. It was too late for my mother. She died, so did my brother. I would have died too, but Miko Kikyo stuck the jewel, which I later learned was called the Shikon no Tama, in the kimono with me. They said it was too late for my brother and didn't even try to save him.

The villagers were rebelious about having a demon in the town, but once they learned that Miko Kikyo had spared me and that she was the one who took care of me, they settled down a bit. Miko Kikyo tried to feed me on milk and egg whites, but that didn't last too long. Luckily, a cat a few huts down gave birth a week after I was found and they agreed to let their cat nurse me just as long as Miko Kikyo was there in case I decided to "lose control of myself" though I don't think that something like that is choosable. I only grew to half the size I would have been if I had been raised on demon milk, as I wasreally raised on cat milk. I became a shadow to Miko Kikyo, even later considering her my Momma.

She had a little sister named Kaede who just got on my nerves. I tried to tell her to go with the fur, not against it and to leave my tail alone. That was for me to play with, not for her to pull, but I was only taught to meow, not to speak human. I remember accidentaly scratching her, then I was banished to sleep outside, but then Momma Kikyo felt sorry for me and let me come in side and sleep in her bed again. It pays to look cute! Then again... it also is dangerous. Especialy when the kids of the village like fluffy things that meow. I used to hiss and growl at them to get them away, even now and again slashing at them, but I decided against that after being drenched time and time again by protective human mothers and being shot at by human fathers. Finaly, I learned that human children can't climb too well and that they tire out. That gave me a new escape plan! Run for a while then jump into a tree. It worked quite well.

Though when I got a tad older, I developed the instinct to attack things that trailed into my territory. I couldn't do too much to the humans that invaded my personal space for my own health. Water plus winter equals hyperthermia. But that clever Kikyo found a solution to all that! She put me on day and night protection of the Shikon jewel. Again, the villagers were weary of having a demon protect a thing that demons wanted, but then again Miko Kikyo reminded them of what demon I was... I was her "baby" demon. It was a good trade if you ask me: I get three bowls of milk a day, fish and bird when I want it, pork on holidays, and the kids leave me alone. All I had to do is protect the Shikon shard. Of course, being young and stupid, I figured a few hisses, maybe some yowling, the demons would get the picture and leave. Not so. Yeah, I kept a few off, with Miko Kikyo's help anyway.

I found myself getting so attached to Miko Kikyo that we were almost connected at the hip. If she went to the river, I was there. If she went to the village a mile away, I followed. Even when she went into that demon infested forest, I was right behind her. This is how I received my name: Miko Shadow. This fit me like a charm, as how I was always following Miko Kikyo around and my pitch-black fur added affect as well. People started shortening my name to all sorts of things: Miko, Shadow, Kodow, Miksha, but I finaly answered to my full name and Midow. Miko Kikyo had a special name for me, if I heard that name, I knew instanly she was calling: Midow-ai. She called me this because several times after a demon tried to take the Shikon, she came home all tired out and depressed. Then that's when I did my magic. I pranced in all happy and purring, mewing to add effect. She'd see me coming and her eyes would light up with joy. I'd puff out my tail and run around chasing it until I clasped my back leg and fell down. I did that several times and jolted off suddenly to go crashing into a wall or run down the hall and come high-tailing it back to her, jump in her lap, and beg to be rubbed. This always got a laugh, or at least a smile out of her. She always ended my name with "ai", meaning love. Therefore having my personalized name of Midow-ai, meaning priestess shadow love. That's exactly what I was, the priestess's loving shadow.

Years later, Miko Kikyo was really tall and acted more "mature". I was still a kitten though. My foster mommy was dead from old age already. Kaede was bigger and wasn't pestering me like she used to. I guess they grew up. Other demons I had met and talked to said that humans age faster than we did, so maybe that's what happened. One day, after Miko Kikyo had been out for a while…the one day I didn't go with her to the river.. she comes back smelling like a dog! When she tried to pick me up, I caught hint of her stench and ran away from her and on to the shelves that were on the wall. Finally, she got hold of me. I hissed and yowled at her trying to get away from her smell. That sent the wrong message and I found myself sleeping outside, lets just say. The next day though, I followed her to the river and hid behind the bushes. Then I saw where she got that smell from. A dog demon. I wanted to get it away from her, but my instincts told me to stay back. I was already scared enough of the dogs in the village, so I was really scared of that dog demon. I was really mad at my momma for hanging around a dog, and really worried for her. But she was a Miko and had her arrows with her, so I figured that she was okay and I walked away and left the two. That doesn't mean I didn't keep an eye on them though.

For several days it was the same routine: she'd go out and meet the dog demon near the river and I'd follow. One day she flat out picked me up and carried me there. As soon as I saw that dog I started hissing and flattening my ears. He came closer and even looked at me. When he sat down and put his arm around Miko Kikyo, he smiled at me and asked if I was that rumored human-raised demon. I hissed, but was popped on my head by Miko Kikyo and had to resort to low growling. She informed the dog that I was, and handed me to him. That didn't end very well. His claws were in my ribs and he didn't go with the fur either. Besides, he smelled of a stench that sent me crazy. After awhile of yowling, Miko Kikyo tried to take me back into her arms, but I decided against that and leapt away when the dog tried to hand me to her. I never knew I could run so fast until I heard the dog tell my momma that he'd get me back. I high tailed it up a tree and sat there waiting for the dog to go away. When Miko Kikyo finally stopped laughing and called my name, I leapt to her lap and rubbed up against her chest, trying to get her to instantly like me enough to protect me from that dog demon. He sat down beside Miko Kikyo and I hung onto her clothes so closely that you would have thought I was the pattern on her kimono. But when the dog demon smiled, twitched his ears playfully, and talked with Momma gently and she answered just as calm like, I eased up a bit and soon found myself laying in the grass between the dog demon and Miko Kikyo. The sun was warm, the grass was cool, the breeze was gentle, Momma was petting my fur lovingly and I was falling asleep.

One night about three weeks after that day my whiskers twitched, telling me that a youkai was somewhere nearby. I lept from my sleeping place on the pillar that held the Shikon jewel and to the window. I looked around, turning my ears in every direction, flattening my whiskers and fluffing my fur, heightening my senses. I heard rustling of leaves behind me and used my whiskers to figure out what youkai it was before turning to attack. It wasn't a youkai at all, but a tiny, gray dormouse. I looked at it to make sure my whiskers weren't playing tricks on me. I hoped they weren't, I relied mainly on them to survive! My eyes confirmed the creature to be nothing more than a mere dormouse. I mewed confusedly and tilted my head to see if I looked at it from a different point of view would it look like a demon? It didn't. I meowed again, this time louder, trying to get it to go away. Strangly, it just looked at me and stood there. Normaly, a dormouse would run at the first sign of a cat. This one didn't, though. That made me courious. Curious enough to follow it a bit. It didn't see me, I don't think. It went quite a far way in the open. When we came to a field, I practicaly fainted at what it did. That dormouse transformed into a blackbird right before my eyes and flew away. I rubbed my eyes and blinked a bit. I knew it, I was loosing it. I meowed nervously and stalked back to the village. Maybe a night in Miko Kikyo's warm bed would do me better than to sleep in the chilly night wind of the Shikon cabin.

Miko Kikyo was upset with me shirking my job of protecting the Shikon at night in the morning. How was I supposed to tell her that I now have a fear of dormice? Well, my punishment was banishment from the village for the day, so I got a good eight hours of sleep in an apple tree in the orchards right outside the village. As soon as Miko Kikyo stepped into the village, I pounced to her feet and swatted at her toes. She didn't seem to notice. She walked right past me, didn't even rub my ears. 'How rude!' I thought as she continued, smiling slightly, to the Shikon cabin. She was headed for my territory and even though she was my Momma, I still wasn't going to let her in there without my presence. And she thought I was shirking from my duty… heh! She didn't even think of stopping to see if I was there or not. She went right for the Shikon, didn't stop. She was in a dreamy state, her eyes glazed over. I pounced on her hand when she touched the Shikon, as I was trained to do. Then and only then did she stop to notice me.

"Huh? Midow, I thought I banished you from the village for the day." She didn't use her name for me, so I knew I was in trouble. I looked out the window to the sunset. Miko Kikyo followed my gaze.

"Heh! Oh, I'm sorry ai. I was thinking about something else." She picked me up and held me close to her chest. She turned away from the Shikon and walked out of the cabin with me in her arms. I raised an eye brow and tilted my head for, again, another view of the situation. You will never believe what she next told me.

"Midow-ai, do you remember Inuyasha?" she asked.

'Who, that dog-guy that you always come home smelling like?' I meowed.She couldn't understand me. I was kinda glad for that. I could say anything I wanted to her and not worry about punishment! Heeheehee!

"Well, guess what?" she threw me in the air and caught me again while twirling around in a circle.

'You found a way to see what I ate for lunch?' I yowled, trying to hold back food that came for a revisit. She stopped and held me up.

"We talked today and we agreed!"

'On what? That birds fly and the sky is blue?'

"I told him how we protected the Shikon jewel and how it may become purified if used to grant a good wish"

'You told a demon that we protected the Shikon? Come on, Momma, I know every demon within a five days walk knows about it, but still!'

"And he agreed to use it to become full human!"

'A demon become human? HAH! You like dreaming doncha Momma?'

"Oh, wait. You don't know him too well do you? He's a hanyo, half demon half human."

'That explains a bit'

"So if the Shikon is purified, then we don't have to worry about guarding it and can live our lives like a regular woman and her regular cat!" Miko Kikyo hugged me in joy.

'Hello! A regular cat? Me? Momma, you raised me! You should know i'm not a normal cat! A normal cat demon maybe, but no regular cat.'

"I'm going to bring him the Shikon tomorrow!"

I received the same feeling from the window of her cabin that I had received two nights ago from the dormouse. I looked over to the window in time enough to see a gray streak disappear from the ledge. I shook my head and blinked. I wriggled from Momma's loving hug and hopped to the window. I scanned the ground and the sky, jumping down to the ground to search under the cabin and the surroundings. I meowed in confusion then purred in suspicion. Miko Kikyo reached out through the window and picked me up.

"What's the matter, Midow-ai?" she asked as she got out her bow and loaded an arrow onto the string. I yowled deep in my throat and glared at the darkness of the newly set night. My fur flattened against my body, as did my ears and tail, and my whiskers outlined my cheek bones. My eye lids squinted down to the skinniest slits you have ever seen.

"Someones out there, aren't they?" she scanned the scenery with me, pulling her bow string back to its farthest length. The tip began to shine a white aura that made me flinch to see. She mainly used that type of attack to ward off demons. It was quite a strong spell. It even made me cringe to witness it.

"Where are they, Midow-ai?" Miko Kikyo asked. I looked out at the sky, then to the trees, the grass, and other huts. I didn't know. I lost its scent. Finally, Momma let down her arrow and put her bow away. She rubbed my head roughly.

"Good girl…do your job well."

I was still tensed up. I was ready to pounce and attack at any given moment because I was worried. Worried that a demon had heard everything she said and probably understood what I said. If they did understand, they had to hear something. I licked my lips and glared my eyes. I took a deep breath and yowled as deep as I could. My message went pretty far.

"Hey shapeshifter! Where are yeh? Show yer self tah me now! I dun care how tough yeh be, or how much of eh low life lozah yeh are, we'll fight o're thar info yeh got to the death! Show yer self!" I yelled out in the youkai language. Miko Kikyo looked back at me when I did that. She rubbed my furry back and spoke soothingly to me. I actually didn't want her to give the Shikon to that dog demon. I liked protecting the Sacred Jewel of Four Souls. It was really fun. I was resistant to her choice. But it was mostly her that protected the Shikon, so I guess it wasn't my choice. If Momma Miko Kikyo didn't want to protect the jewel anymore, I wouldn't make her. I went to sleep on that thought, sleeping on top of the Shikon. I liked protecting it, might as well make the most of my last night doing my life long job.

That morning, I woke up exactly as the dawn was cracking. I decided to present Momma with the best display of the Shikon she had ever seen. I had the jewel itself in my mouth, the string draped up to my ears, over my shoulder blades, and against my hips. My black furr and red eyes complimented the Shikon's color perfectly. I waited patiently on the pillar, sitting perfectly, my eyes closed, my head down, my fore legs slightly bent, and my tail was wrapped around my body on the right all the way to touch my left paw. I only came alive when Momma Miko Kikyo opened the door. I allowed the sunlight to plaster itself upon my forehead before I opened my eyes, giving off a red glow. I suddenly leapt from the pillar to the floor and walked in time with my heartbeat to Momma Miko Kikyo. When she saw me coming, she smiled the biggest smile I've ever seen her give and picked me up. She took the Shikon from me and hugged me tightly.

"You're going to miss this evil thing, arent you?" she asked. All I could do was purr. She set me down before walking out and to an open field. I stalked after her and froze in my tracks when I felt that shape shifter again. I looked back. There was a red streak running up fast behind me, jumped over me, and sinked its sharp claws into Momma Miko Kikyo's shoulder. I gasped when I saw who he was and what he did. It was that dog demon, Inuyasha! He said something about the Shikon destroying cities or something before he ran off. I was too worried about Momma than that dog demon. I ran up to her, meowing and nudging her face. She ordered me to go get the Shikon back before he did anything desructive with it. I wanted to stay with her and make sure she was okay, believe you me, but I had to do what Momma Miko Kikyo told me to do, so I jolted off, high-tailing , running on my claw-tips at about 90 ta nothin'. I followed the scent of the shape-shifter, before long coming up to a forest. Again, I caught hold of that feeling I got when the shape-shifter was around.

Then I saw her: Momma Miko Kikyo, except she wasn't injured and she was firing arrows at that Inuyasha demon. I was so surprised. Wasn't Momma laying in a field almost dead? Didn't she have a wound on her shoulder? What the hell was happening here? The Inuyasha guy was dodging the arrows as best he could. I could tell she wasn't meaning to kill him because of her arrows. If she was aiming to kill him, her arrow heads would be glowing a blueish tint. Then what was she doing? I wondered, all sorts of possible reasons flowing through my head. Inuyasha ran out of the forest towards the Shikon cabin. That dog was going into my territory! I mean, he was if I couldn't help it. I followed him, almost at his heals, just in the bushes. As we neared the cabin, I stopped and mewed confusedly. Didn't he already have it? Didn't he practicaly kill Momma Miko Kikyo over it? Doesn't he know that its not in there? He should! Then what was he going in there for? I followed him, curious. The next thing I saw surprised me beyond repair. There, in the middle pillar where it usualy was, rested the Sacred Jewel of Four Souls. I wondered how it got there. Again, didn't he already have it? DID I NOT PERSONALY GIVE IT TO MOMMA!

I didn't care how it got there. Only one thing was certain, I had to uphold my duties and keep him from getting it. I started to pounce on him, but a most familier smell and soul found its way to my nose and whiskers. I stopped and turned around. There was momma Miko Kikyo coming into the village! I literally ran so fast I was flying down to my Momma. When she saw me coming, she opened her arms and grasped me firmly in her embrace. Something was wrong, I knew it.

"Midow-ai, where is Inuyasha? Where is the Shikon?" she asked. I have seen her face demons millions of times bigger than her, throw off full grown men, even fight off entire villages and show not one trace of fright, but now as I looked deep into her slowly fading eyes I could see her heart was filled with worry. I meowed and turned my head and tail in the direction of that treacherous Inuyasha. Momma Miko Kikyo pulled out her bow and used one of her spells on an arrow. I ran from the arrow, the feeling it was sending scared me. I went to go warn the villagers of the attack, but I figured they already knew about him because they were yelling out his name and throwing all sorts of stuff at him. I ran and stopped next to one of the men in charge. I meowed questioningly. He looked at me and smiled before taking back to his stern look and told me to go get the women and children to safety. I knew that also ment to protect them. With the help of little Kaede, I got them into one house, the farthest from the fight as I could. I kept pacing in front of the door, every now and then glancing at the window. Some of the kids wanted to go back out when the noises died down, but as soon as they got three foot steps from the door, they received either a loud hiss, growl, or a clawing from me. About three minutes later, my whiskers shot out straight and I took off suddenly, knocking down the door, and ran until I found Momma Miko Kikyo crouching on the ground, surrounded by men. She was bleeding rapidly and holding the Shikon to her heart. I finally found what that feeling was that fritzed out my whiskers…death, and it was originating from Momma Miko Kikyo. Following my instincts, I ran and hid from the feeling of death. I crouched under a nearby, half destroyed house, my belly low enough to scrape the ground. I was scrunched up and my ears against my head. My heart told me to go stay with her, I'd never see her again, but my mind told me no. I did the only thing I could, I watched as Momma told Kaede to have the Shikon cremated with her body, and that it was too late for her to live. I struggled, trying to go run up to Momma and spend what few seconds I had left, but my body seemed to be frozen to my hiding place. Finally, after Momma Miko Kikyo fell to the ground one of the men found me and thought that I should see my Momma, even after she was dead. He picked me up none to gently, dragging me out from under the house. I instantly clawed my way away from him and leapt to Momma Miko Kikyo's cold body. I snuggled my way under her arm and just layed there for a few seconds, but it felt like a year as I remembered what had gone on when I was with her…all her secrets, all her feelings, all she ever told me.

…One day, we were walking to the river to get some water for the village, some of the littler kids following us. Momma stopped a few times to let them catch up with us. I remember receiving so much praise that day from Momma. That was the only time of my life so far that I allowed kids to ride on my back when they got tired or cling to my tail for encouragement to make it to the river. I remember her sweet laughter as she sighted me with all those human toddlers hanging off of my tail and falling off my back. I know every other demon that saw me in that forest was laughing along with her, just twice as hard and from different point of view. When we got home, those kids put my back out, but it was compensated for by the love and attention that Momma directed at me.

The next week or so, I spent my days in a bed, having Momma attend to my corrupted back. She talked so much that day, I found out everything I didn't know about her.

"Midow-ai…everyone has fears, right? I mean, even demons do correct?"

I purred and nodded.

"Well, I wouldn't really call you a demon, cat. I mean, you've been raised in this village around us your whole life, you act more like a domestic cat that a youkai. But I'm sure even you get scared sometimes, yes?"

Again I nodded.

"Good… its okay for one to have a phobia. Its just a natural reaction."

I purred. I knew it. I looked up at her and meowed, even though she couldn't understand me, though I wished she could.

'Momma, I know what you're doing. Youre trying to convince yourself that it's okay to be afraid, aren't you?'

"I was always told that it was a way of natural instincts warning you of trailing into danger."

'Momma, I know you have fears. It is okay to have them. Don't feel bad about it.'

"You may not see it, I don't think anybody does. When I am on the battle field, arrow drawn and strung on the bow, I always get scared that my aim will be off just enough to allow the demon to live and destroy the village, resulting in them getting the Shikon. I think you realize what would happen then."

'Yeah, not only would the village be destroyed, but the world too.'

"I was really afraid of that until you started to fight by my side. Your youkai blood would give you enough strength to grab the Shikon and run if that ever happened."

'Yeah, but not enough energy to fend off all the other youkai that'd come after me if that happens!'

"Just want you to know, Midow-ai, that thanks to you, I have never been so less afraid to fight against demons that want to take the Shikon…" She told me everything about everything. How she felt, what she did, what she wanted to do, and so on and so forth.

Those few seconds of memories was broken when one of the men ran up and grabbed me from under Momma Miko Kikyo's dead body. The village women and elders all threw me into a corner and started pointing fingers and shouting. I didn't know why, though. Kaede grabbed me and tried to protect me from the harsh words of the village. They claimed that I had felt death and that they knew what happened when a demon felt death.

"Release that neko, Kaede! Its soul is tainted! It now knows what death is. It likes the feeling of death and will kill all it sees now just to feel death again! It does not matter how tame you think it is, it will kill!" yelled all of the elders. I didn't agree. I had promised Momma when I was younger to never kill unless it was ordered by one of my superiors. I didn't consider myself to be better that myself. Its kinda hard to be that way.

Nevertheless, they threw me out of the village. When I mean threw, I mean threw , me out of the village. To emphasise the point that they didn't want me in the village, they shot a few - okay, never mind, I wont lie- they shot a lot of arrows at me, chasing me away from the small town that once housed the powerful Miko Kikyo who protected the Sacred Jewel of Four Souls. I stayed in one spot for awhile, ducking and leaping over the arrows, listening to Kaede call me back and the villagers shoo me away. Finally, they went as far as to chase after me with spears, swords, and more arrows. I decided that was my cue to scram. I ran out of there as fast as I could, not chancing to look back until I put my first paw-step into the forest. When I did get enough courage to glance back, I saw the village lined with angry villagers, three women holding back Kaede, and…..behind them, laying dead on the ground… Momma Miko Kikyo. There was one final thing I saw, an arrow. I gasped at the last item. I tried to duck, but was too slow. It nicked me in the nose, knocking me off balance and down the hill that the forest was on. I rolled down the hill, hitting practically every branch, root, rock, bush, tree, and pot hole on the way down. I remember stopping when I hit something big and fuzzy that yelped when I hit it. I lost all consciousness when I flipped over it and smacked my head on a branch. Everything went black after words….

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Preview: "Who are you ?"

"Purrowr?"