To Save Him
Disclaimer- I did not own nor do I have any affiliation with Inu Yasha...the manga, the show, etc
Kagome stared at the full moon with an uncharacteristically somber expression upon delicate features. It was a Wednesday night, the first night that Kagome had spent in the feudal era for nine whole days.
Nine days didn't seem like much, really, but in feudal Japan, a lot could happen in one day alone. New jewel shards could be located. New demons could arrive. Kagome had the constant fear of being left behind, in one sense or another. She used to worry that they would leave her behind if some hint of Naraku came around and she was in her own era. She knew better now - Inu Yasha would always come and pester her until she went along. No, all she worried about now was the potential dangers that could arrive while she was gone. She knew she wasn't exactly Wonder Woman and couldn't do much to help her friends, but she was constantly frightened by the worry that one of her friends could get seriously hurt or die without her around to try and help or at least say good bye. Kagome didn't think she could live with that sort of guilt in her life.
Unfortunately, she had been forced to take the break for several reasons. The main reason was her mother, who had ranted and later pleaded for Kagome to take a break, claiming that she needed to be home for her birthday. Kagome had eventually agreed. She had missed her family, and she had fallen horribly behind in her schoolwork. She had decided to spend two weeks at home, going to school and doing temple chores, till Christmas vacation. Her mother had invited Inu Yasha to come over on her birthday, the Wednesday of the second week, for cake and ice cream. Kagome had looked forward to the whole thing, really, after those plans had been set into motion.
But Wednesday had come, and Inu Yasha had not shown up. She had spent the whole night worrying and waiting, despite her parents' attempts at a good time with cheerful presents and pink-frosted cakes. She thanked her parents almost robotically when she received the new pair of expensive Kyoushi school slippers she had been dying to have for weeks. She hadn't even laughed when Grandpa gave her a jar full of garlic juice.
Her mother and father knew her instinct to run quickly for the well, and strictly informed her she was to stay firmly in the present until the week was up, as planned, or until Inu Yasha arrived for her. But Kagome had known all along that she wasn't going to listen. She nodded and smiled and excused herself at a timely hour to be off to bed. When the first opportunity had presented itself, she took off for the well without thinking twice.
But now that she was here, alone, she didn't quite know what to do. She had found the campsite in serious disarray. There had obviously been a struggle. She knew that couldn't mean anything good. The fact that there was a full moon didn't make the situation better. The question now was, what the hell was she supposed to do?
A slight rustling drew Kagome's attention back to the environment around her; chocolate brown eyes frantically searched through the darkness. She heard a slight whimpering, and her expression seemed to relax. "Kirara? Is that you?"
Beneath a large pile of debris, the tiny transforming animal lay. Kagome dug him out without caring about the scratches that it would leave. She uncovered the weakened body of Kirara and was happy to see that she was alive.
"What could have happened here?" How could Inu Yasha have been bested? It seemed an impossible concept to her. Staring at the small fluff in her grasp, she made a sudden resolution.
"I can't just do nothing," Kagome declared with a firm tone. "I have to find Inu Yasha." She prayed in her heart that she would find him and her friends alive, somehow, and yet she was a mere human… how?
She shoved the doubts into the back of her mind and loaded up her bicycle with the supplies she had just brought from home. She made a small bed for Kirara in the basket of the bicycle and put her gently into it. "Don't worry, Kirara," Kagome murmured softly. "I'll find some herbs that will have you feeling better in no time." She just hoped she could remember what Kaede had shown her…
After what seemed like hours of peddling in the darkness, Kagome felt almost robotic. She hadn't ridden her bike so intensely in quite some time. She hadn't grown lazy riding Inu Yasha's back for the sake of time and speed (and in her case, a reason much more deeply rooted..), but it had left her so that now she was in a state of unsettlement, legs and bottom numb from the hours of labor.
She probably should have stopped to rest hours ago, the logical part of her brain told her. But she had already wasted so much time away, so much time she should have spent trying to help her friends. Besides that, she couldn't possibly sleep alone in this darkness.
Kirara had gone limp in the basket, and Kagome genuinely feared for the young creature. Only the sound of it's labored breathing offered any vague reassurance. She had stopped briefly to give the animal some water and a small dosage of herbs, but there was only so much Kagome knew how to do, and only so much possible, anyway. She would have to hope for the best.
She needed a plan. She was going into this completely blind. Kagome was not a stupid girl, however naïve and young she happened to be. Her only hope was Kirara, she had been there to see it all, but the animal certainly was not capable of speaking. Perhaps if she could use healing magic on Kirara, however, the animal could fly her to the source of distress. It was certainly a plausible idea. On one circumstance…
The only person with priestess' magic strong enough to do such quick healing was a half-dead priestess that happened to (rather bitterly) share a piece of her soul.
Kikyou would have preferred Kagome dead, of this Kagome was sure. The only reason for Kikyo's hesitation was the fact that Kagome seemed to share her spiritual energy somehow. The miko hadn't yet found her worth the risk of disposal. She still had unfinished business.
Yes. Business to take Inu Yasha to hell… So why was Kagome going to ask Kikyo for help? "Because she loves him," Kagome whispered in the new-settling dawn. "She loves him, deep down. A piece of her wants him." And if not? Kikyo would at least want to be the one to finish Inu Yasha off herself.
If nothing else, Kagome would have to rely on the woman's common sensibility. At one time, Kikyo had been a respectable, living priestess - unconsumed by malice and hate. She would want to save Inu Yasha and the others if only because they were one of the few chances to truly defeat Naraku, as little as she would like to admit it.
"Oh…" A frustrated sigh. "What am I thinking?" Kikyo might be so insulted she would just kill her on the spot. Assuming she found Kikyo, of course. This was also something she couldn't be certain of. The woman had a way of staying out of sight. Inu yasha, with his keen senses, couldn't even find her - and his was a persistent search. How did she have any hope?
Kirara whimpered in the basket, and Kagome cast a brief downwards glance to her distressed, tiny friend. Sango would never let anybody do this to her dear pet, without putting up one hell of a fight…
"Think, Kagome, think." The gentle noise of Kirara had prodded her persistence. "How can I get ahold of Kikyo? She wouldn't want anybody to find her. She considers everybody a threat…"
Sunlight was touching the tips of the sky. A new day was approaching. She didn't have time for this babbling, she needed to do something. Kikyo hated everybody. She would expend energy to keep herself hidden from everybody she thought would hurt her…
"Kaede." …but she wouldn't waste any unnecessary power, as she needed it to keep herself going. Kaede would do nothing to harm her elder sibling, as much as she wanted to see her at peace. Kaede was her only shot at finding the dead miko.
With newly charged spirits, she set her feet back to the pedals, charging on to the village of Kaede as fast as her fifteen year old legs would take her.
It took almost the entire morning to reach Kaede's village, but Kagome was there before noon. If she had been with Inu Yasha, she would have made it there at least an hour earlier. She couldn't help but think of such things in the back of her mind, even as she settled her bicycle firmly against a young tree.
She detached the basket, trying to disturb Kirara as little as possible. She didn't want to just leave her outside. In Sango's absence, Kagome felt very protective of the hurt creature. With a lag in her stride and basket in hand, she made her way to Kaede's hut.
As if the woman knew she was going to arrive, Kaede was drawing back the curtain just as Kagome approached the threshold. "Hello, young child. Thou has come alone. Where is Inu Yasha and thy other traveling companions?"
Kagome gave her a weak, brown-eyed stare. "Gone, Kaede. And that's why I'm here. I need to find Kikyo. She's the only way to possibly find Inu Yasha." She had planned on being more subtle, perhaps, but Kagome was rather desperate. She felt the bluntness was necessary. She didn't have time for coy games. She could only hope for Kaede's cooperation.
At the mention of her miko sister's name, Kaede's eye widened. She rubbed the cloth covering her other eye absently for a moment, then hurriedly ushered Kagome into her hut. "Come in, girl. You speak of nonsense, methinks," she muttered. "But nonsense, nonetheless, that should be spoken in hushed quarters."
Kagome ambled in and kicked off her slippers (a gesture she found ridiculous at this point, but she had no desire to insult the elderly woman.) "It isn't nonsense, it's my only option," she said rather impatiently. "The camp was disturbed. Everybody was gone. There were signs of an obvious struggle."
"Such a creature that could overcome the likes of Inu Yasha and the others leaves my blood cold, child, but thy purpose is futile." The woman poured her a cup of tea, and Kagome gladly accepted, though didn't bother to sit. She did, however, gently set down Kirara's basket.
"Look at Kirara," Kagome said with emphasis. "She is badly hurt. Can you imagine the others? I have to find them, Kaede. I am going to do this. I need to find Kikyo. I know there is a way. Perhaps I can accomplish it somehow, but I don't have time to figure it out," she said in an almost distressed tone of voice.
"What do you even plan, girl? How could Kikyo help thy friends, even if she agreed?"
"She could heal Kirara," Kagome replied softly. "Kirara could find the trace of whatever demon or creature took Inu Yasha."
"Kikyo will likely kill you on sight, rather than bother to listen to your words."
"I will die asking other demons, then. Kikyo is my only chance, Kaede. You know this as well as I do. You are the only one who can help me find her, Kaede. Please help me." Kagome spoke softly, persistently, and sipped her tea. Her demeanor was surprisingly calm, as if she had focused herself on the task at hand. As Kaede watched her, she was hauntingly reminded of the miko sister she had observed in life so many years before. This prompted Kaede into a response.
"They could be dead. You could be wasting your time, rushing into thine own foolish death, child. You are not the miko my sister is."
"Inu Yasha isn't dead right now." Kagome had never even considered that option in her mind, because she knew that it wasn't true. "Maybe he is really hurt, but I know that he is not dead. If he had been killed, his body and the others' bodies would have been left at the camp site!"
Kaede was truly impressed. The girl had made a valid point, despite the fact that she still disagreed. She knew that Kagome was rushing into her own doom. But she also knew she wasn't going to stop her, whether or not she decided to help. "Very well, girl. Rush to thy own chosen destiny. But remember that I gave thee fair warning." The elderly woman straightened out her stiff joints and headed over to a kettle in the corner of the room. "Come here, child."
Kagome obediently did as she was instructed. Kaede hovered over the pot, and tossed in several ingredients. From a curious looking container, she pulled a single strand of hair. "I want thee aware that I can only do this with the blood of a miko and the hair of Kikyo. It is sparse, and I have few left. She will not let me have any others than the ones I collected before her burial." She gave the girl a pointed, one-eyed look before tossing the hair into the pot.
"Thank you," Kagome whispered. Caught in the moment, she could only watch the glowing water on the surface of the kettle. It reminded her of the pale, iridescent hue of Kikyo's soul stealers.
"Give me your arm, girl. I am old, and not as quick to heal as thine own self. Young miko magic, however dormant, is likely the stronger, as well." Kagome didn't enjoy sharp objects of any kind, and blood had a tendency to make her nauseous, if it was her own…but she would suck it up, she told herself. Suck it up for Inu Yasha. *Quit whining, Kagome!* … She could practically hear him screaming it in her mind.
Kagome extended her arm, and Kaede impressed a small, tooth-like blade against Kagome's arm. It looked dull and barely touched Kagome's arm, but she felt the sting of the gash and it's surprising depth into her flesh. Kaede held her arm over the pot, and the blood dribbled freely. It was a lot of blood, Kagome marveled. She was shocked at how unnatural the ritual seemed to be.
"Don't look so surprised, girl. I'm doing a dual brew, to locate my sister and to give you a protection charm. Strong barriers require strong blood magic." Kagome nodded sternly.
When Kaede had finished, she walked the young girl back out to her bicycle. "Remember, girl. You are messing with forces that you barely comprehend, let alone have knowledge of. Let instinct be your guide, and keep a wary eye."
"Thank you, Kaede." Kagome gave a humble nod, then with a determined star upon her delicate features, took off on her search.