Disclaimer: The characters within this story all belong to Rumiko Takahashi-san.
Warnings: Mentions of violence.
Summary: Inuyasha and Kikyo come across a priestess-in-training that has great potential. AU
Completed: February 19, 2010
In-Training
by: Kagome-reincarnation
"Oi, Kikyo!" Inuyasha shouted for her, eying the girl before him warily. What the hell was this? Watching the girl, he felt himself growing more and more uneasy. Though she made no movements that gave even a hint to a violent intent, he couldn't help but get a bad feeling about her – and he had no idea what or why it was.
He didn't turn when the priestess arrived to stand beside him, simply nodding towards the girl. From the quiet gasp beside him, he was assured that she hadn't known about the girl's existence either.
"So I take it she's not a relative?" he prodded, turning to gauge her reaction.
Kikyo shook her head. "I'm sure I would know if she was," she told him assuredly. "But if you like, I can check."
Inuyasha shook his head. "Don't bother. I just thought it was odd that there was a girl out there that looks almost exactly like you."
The priestess nodded, her gaze growing distant as she observed the scene before them: The girl in question was tending the wounded, enemy and ally alike, making use of the herbs that were in the immediate clearing and what she'd carried in the satchel on her hip.
"She's in training," Kikyo commented.
Inuyasha turned to her sharply. "Her?"
"Yes," the priestess confirmed quietly. "She'll be strong, too."
The warrior frowned, his hand moving to rest on the hilt of his sword. Beside him, Kikyo stiffened, knowing what thoughts were going through his head. "Don't bother, Inuyasha," she warned sharply.
He turned a glare on her for a moment before his expression changed from one of a person contemplating the best time to attack to one of the sheepish friend she'd grown with. "Sorry, Kikyo, but it feels dangerous to just let her mingle."
Kikyo nodded thoughtfully at his words. "It probably is." She paused before continuing, "So I'll be taking her in."
His expression shifted to one of shock immediately. "What?! No, Kikyo, that's not necessary. I'll find some other priestess to deal with her; there's no need for you to worry about it."
It was the woman's turn to glare at her companion as he continued to voice his protests. "Enough," she scolded softly. "You know as well as I that if she goes for too long with little training she'll become a danger to herself and those around her."
A flash of guilt flickered through the warrior and he looked away, embarrassed. "Sorry, Kikyo," he murmured quietly.
She shook her head. "Don't worry about it," she told him, "But that doesn't mean you can forget it, especially at times like this."
Without another word, the woman moved into the clearing, cutting a quick path to the girl in question. Without bothering to ask, she tied back the long sleeves of her station, moving to help the girl with the gruesome injury she was tending.
As he watched her, Inuyasha felt guilty. It was his fault that Kikyo was no longer as powerful as she'd once been – that she'd been all but effectively abandoned by her guild because of her association with him.
If he hadn't acted so foolishly at that time, she would still be one of the leading priestesses of the guild and she wouldn't have had to deal with the pain of adjusting to the sudden decrease in power. He took one last look at her before turning away, calling for a messenger.
Even if Kikyo said she wanted to do it, he wasn't oblivious to the look in her eyes. If getting into contact with his family would help him fix this – to get the girl proper training elsewhere or whatever it was that she needed – he'd do it. Even if they were still angry with him for leaving, surely they'd at least appreciate his attempt to contact them.
AN: And with this, I'm up-to-date! Kind of. I'm still missing the random piece from 1/22, but I can work on that later. Also, the vignettes for tomorrow and the day after may be a bit late, but I'll try to get them up on time if not early. Thanks to the fact that the insanity that comes with midterms and ridiculous amounts of snow has now ended, if temporarily, starting Monday, the vignettes should be going back to their usual one thousand world length. Hopefully.