A Family of Outlaws
Prologue: Kagome's Needed
A girl of nineteen was seen brushing leaves off the steps of her family shrine. She had long black hair that fell off her shoulders in waves. If the light hit it just right it would give off a blue shimmer. She wore the traditional outfits of a priestess. Around her neck was a pink jewel on a chain. She had chocolate brown eyes and a kind personality.
With a sigh the girl stopped her work. She glanced over to what looked like an old shack. Sealed inside was an old well. It was called the Bone Eaters well. Two years ago she was using the well to travel back and forth between her time and five hundred years in the past. She had a quest to fulfill with her friends from ancient Japan. The jewel she now wore around her neck had been shattered by her on accident. It was her duty to piece it back to together and save the past from evil. That mission ended two years ago. Now the girl could only stare in longing at the well house. It had sealed itself and no longer allowed her entry.
Higarashi Kagome fingered the jewel that rested just above her heart. It was such a small trinket. A normal person would never believe you could change the world with just this small glass looking gem. Yet it alone was responsible for a large number of deaths in the past as those that sought it's power ransacked the country-side, looking for fragments.
Kagome glanced around her at the Shrine. It was the same routine, day in and day out. It had gotten tedious and boring. "What I wouldn't give for a little excitement," she whispered. Kagome moved to continue her job of sweeping the shrine steps.
Kagome froze in place as she noticed the jewel she had was glowing. She dropped the broom and cupped the jewel in both hands. "I didn't make a wish," she pleaded with it. "I did not use the words." The glowing increased and blinded Kagome.
When she was finally able to open her eyes she glanced around and found herself in an open field. In the center of the field was what looked like the God Tree. A woman was standing under the tree. Kagome couldn't help but feel that she had seen that person before. Slowly, Kagome started to approach. "You have no need to fear," the woman said. "I am here to begin you on a new path and to help another destiny begin."
"I thought I had finished with destiny," Kagome snapped. She quickly covered her mouth and bowed. "I apologize, I'm just tired of my life being thrown into situations out of my control."
"It is understandable child," the woman said. "I too had moments of resentment towards destiny for the fate it handed to me. You need not fear this destiny. I am simply sending you to find your soulmate. The destiny that is to begin is the one of new life."
"Who are you?"
"I am the priestess Midoriko."
"Does that mean that we're in the jewel."
"The answer to that is both yes and no. I can not exist outside of the jewel. Yet if I were to pull you into the jewel you would not be able to escape. I formed a communication link between your mind and the jewel. You are still in the outside world. I am a mere reflection of my former self speaking to you through the link. The bond you have with the jewel is so great that you are able to see me clearly."
"You said you'll send me to my soulmate," Kagome began. "Are you sending me back to the past and to Inuyasha?"
Midoriko shook her head sadly. "That is not something I can do," she said. "Inuyasha was the soulmate of Kikyo and you are her reincarnation. However, their time together was in the past. Your souls have both been reborn. I am sending you to meet his reincarnation. My question for you, will you have difficulty separating the current incarnation of the soul from it's past life or will you accept him as he is?"
Kagome thought about it for a little while. "I'm not sure how I will react," she honestly answered. "I could say that I won't, but I won't know for sure unless I was to meet that person."
"Let me give you some advice," Midoriko started. "A soul is reborn without the memories of it's previous life for a reason. Every new life has different parents, different life experiences. These experiences shape a person into who they are as adults. This incarnation of Inuyasha's soul has not led such a hard life. He will not be so rough around the edges. Can you accept that or will you expect him to be exactly like Inuyasha?"
Kagome closed her eyes and shook her head. "I could never do that to someone," she said. "I know what it feels like to be constantly compared to a past life and degraded because of it. I will not expect to find Inuyasha here. I will meet who I meet. As far as I'm concerned the soul belongs to the new incarnation, Inuyasha's experiences just helped to make the soul stronger."
Midoriko nodded her head in approval. "Ano, I do have a question though." She was twiddling her fingers together in nervousness. "You said that you will be sending me to him. Do you mean to the country where he lives or the time?"
"I mean to the world."
"He doesn't live in this world?"
"Your soulmate lives in a world that is dominated by oceans. That is where the destiny of many will come together and defeat the darkness that will soon rise to threaten it."
"You mean like another Naraku?"
"That's exactly right," Midoriko answered. "Though I can not give you more information on the enemy. Is there anything that you need to know before you leave?"
"What about my family?" Kagome hastily asked. "Will I ever see them again?"
"I can see that your family means a lot to you," Midoriko commented. "I will give all of you a choice. You may all travel together to the two different worlds that I need to send you. The other choice is that I will give you time to say your farewells."
"It's something that I need to talk with all of them about," Kagome said. "I can understand that my going is not negotiable. However, I can't ask my family to just up and leave everything they know for the rest of their lives."
"It is a big decision," Midoriko agreed. "I will give you all two days to decide."
"You said that I will be send to two worlds," Kagome added. "I remember what you said about the world where my soulmate is. What can you tell me of the other world?"
"I can tell you nothing of it at the moment," Midoriko declined. "It will be a long time before you travel to that world. All you need to know for the moment is that the first world will eventually be where you will spend the rest of your days."
Kagome nodded in understanding. "Then I suppose it's time to go and talk with my family. Will you tell us more about the world's we'll be going to? Things like culture and history so we don't stick out?"
"Of course I will," Midoriko nodded. "I will empart my knowledge of the worlds to you when it's needed. You need not fear becoming lost." Kagome nodded as Midoriko slowly vanished.
Kagome blinked her eyes a few times and found herself back at the steps of the shrine. She quickly picked up her broom and rushed to the tool shack. After she put away the cleaning device she hurried back to the main house. She knew that her mother would be starting to prepare dinner.
As she expected, Kagome found her mother in the kitchen. "Mom, I need to talk with you," she said. Kagome then proceeded to explain to Akita the conversation that she had with Midoriko. When Kagome came to the part about traveling to different worlds she had to take a seat. She was even more stunned when she heard that she had an opportunity to join her daughter and keep a close eye on her this time.
"If we did leave, what will happen to the shrine?" Akita asked.
Kagome was silent, she didn't have an answer. Akita stood and continued to prepare dinner. "I will discuss this with your grandfather. I don't want to just abandon the shrine. Then the fact that Souta still hasn't finished High School yet. This is a very big decision Kagome."
"I know it is Mom," Kagome agreed. "I'm afraid that, no matter what you decide, I still have to go. I may not have the option to ever come and see all of you ever again." An awkward silence fell over the room. It wasn't something that Akita wanted to think about. If she stayed she would never see one of her children again. If Souta didn't want to go then she would be torn between both children, but she doubted he would miss out on this adventure.
"Let me talk to your grandfather," Akita finally said. "We'll let you know what's going on before the deadline Midoriko set."
The week passed by and Midoriko called Kagome to their meeting place once again. "Has your family come to a decision?" she asked.
Kagome nodded her head slowly. "Grandpa is going to stay with the shrine. He's decided that he's too old for adventures. Souta was excited to hear that he could go on an adventure. Mom is going, she doesn't want to loose either of her children, let alone both, to an entirely different world."
"Then I will give you all a few moments to bid your grandfather farewell," Midoriko allowed. "Call for me when you are ready."
Kagome found herself in front of her family. "I just talked with Midoriko," she informed them. "She's giving us a few minutes to say 'good-bye'." Tears were forming in her eyes as she turned to her grandfather. Everyone was very emotional at that point.
After awhile, Grandfather told them that it was time for them to go. "You've all dallied enough," he said. "I will be fine and will pray for all of you." He then pulled Kagome into a hug. "I will especially pray for you child. You have a very complex destiny. You must have been born under a fated star. I pray for your happiness and the happiness of that of your soulmate and future children as well."
Kagome squeezed him just a little tighter. "I will miss you Grandpa," she cried.
"I will miss all of you as well." After a few more moments of tears Kagome called for Midoriko. If she didn't call for her then they would never leave. The three watched as the only family member that was staying faded from view. The three slowly waved, imagining that he was seeing them fade in the same way.
The three found themselves in front of a small house in the middle of a field. They were stunned to find that they had memories of major events of this world. The main being that of a pirate named Gold Rodger and his most recent execution.
After exploring the house and it's surroundings they found that it was set up to be quite self sufficient. A large garden was in the back and a forest full of wild life was not far. Kagome soon discovered that the forest was teeming with medicinal herbs. She would pick them and prepare them herself. She was hoping to eventually use them as an extra source of income.
The family had been living in the house for three months. Kagome was returning home from selling her herbs and purchasing extra necessities in town. Her sacred bow and a quiver of arrows was attached to her back. She told the villages it was so she could hunt on her way home. However, Kagome was a bit more practical then that. She new bandits and pirates were common in this world. The weapon was as much for protection as it was for hunting.
Halfway into her return journey a group of men came out of the trees. They were all leering at her. Kagome rolled her eyes and lowered her goods bag. She then pulled her bow off her shoulder and notched an arrow. "I suggest that you all let me pass," she said.
"Now that's not nice," the apparent leader said. "We just want to talk with you."
"If that's all you wanted then your buddies over there wouldn't be behaving like pigs." Kagome gestured towards two men licking their lips in a very suggestive manner. "If you all don't want to become eunechs then I suggest you let me pass peacefully."
Some of the weaker men started to back away. The leader, though, was becoming angry. "Why are you wimps backing off? There's one of her and seven of us. She can't possibly fend all of us off at once."
"She doesn't need to." Kagome turned to the sound of another man's voice. Three figures had come up to them from further down the trail. One of them had a dark green cloak with a hood. Kagome could see had a tatoo on his face, though she couldn't make out what it was. One was a man with an odd appearance. He had white hair on one side of his head and blonde on the other. His coat matched the colors of his hair respectively. A pair of sunglasses adorned his fine features. Although one lense was colored blue and the other orange. He held a glass of wine in one hand. The last one, however, nearly blew her mind. If she thought the second looked weird this one definately took the cake. What she though looked like a man with a giant head stood there. He/she had curly purple hair. On top of the hair was a crown. A purplish pink spandex suit with fishnet stocking and thigh high boots and elbow length gloves added to the weirdness. A fishnet cape finished off the strange look.
The man in green stepped closer. "What sort of barbarians gang up on a person?" he demanded.
"I'll teach you to insult us." The leader then started to change shapes. He started to resemble a wild boar.
"He's a devil fruit user Dragon," puple guy stated. Kagome bit her tone to keep from pointing out that he just stated the obvious.
The boar man charged at the four of them. The man in green swooped Kagome up into his arms and leapt out of the way. Kagome had a brief moment of deja voux. She shook it off, a fight was nowhere to be distracted. While the two of them were still in the air, Kagome took her bow and aimed it for the Boar man.
"I don't think that will work sweetling," purple man pointed out.
Kagome smirked as she let her reiki flow into the arrow. "Hit the mark," she muttered. The arrow released in a show of pink light. The Boar jumped to the side, avoiding being hit directly. However, he got caught up in the blast of the arrow. As he landed on the ground he reverted back to a man.
"What the hell," the leader demanded. "What the hell was that you witch?"
"That's the first I've been called a witch," Kagome mused. "Wench, reincarnation, miko, priestess, stubborn, bossy and a pain in the butt. Never witch though."
The man that had a hold of Kagome gently set her down on her feet once again. He then stretched out a hand towards the bandits. "Wait a moment Dragon," purple man said. "Let me finish these bandits with my Dragqueen Kenpo." The man, Dragon, nodded his head.
Kagome started to blink rapidly. She wished she was just imagining someone call out such a ridiculous fighting style. "Do as you wish Ivankov," Dragon said. He was standing right behind Kagome. His voice that close to her ear sent shivers running down her spine. She tried very hard to control her actions.
Kagome watched as Ivankov fought the bandits. Some he knocked out and others he hit so hard they were blown away. The leader was an interesting match though. Ivankov grew some sort of claws on his hands and stuck the man with them. In a manner of a few seconds the leader was made a woman. The person ran away, crying in humiliation and defeat.
"That was interesting," Kagome stated.
"That wasn't the only interesting thing," Dragon spoke. Kagome looked at him to see him still just behind her and staring at her. She eeped as she took a step away from him. Unnoticed by her was Ivankov elbowing the third male. He was pointing the two of them and making gestures towards them.
"How did you cancel his devil fruit powers?" Dragon asked.
Kagome sighed and moved to pick up her arrow and bag off the ground. "I suppose a long story short is that I'm a priestess," she said. "I was granted the ability of purification. Before you ask, no I did not eat a devil fruit to gain this ability." Kagome flicked the stones and dirt off of the arrow head before placing the arrows back with the others. "It was just a theory that I could cancel out devil fruit. It just so happened that my theory was just proven correct."
"What a fascinating ability sweetling," Ivankov put in. He danced around until he was right next to her. "I would love to hear more about it. How long have you had this gift?"
"Since I was fifteen," Kagome answered. She didn't see a reason to lie to them yet.
"How did you discover you had it?" the multi-colored man asked.
Kagome let out a nervous laugh at that. "It was a life or death, sink or swim situation."
Ivankov got into Kagome's face at that. "Who would want to hurt a sweet thing like you?"
Kagome glanced in the direction the bandit leader turned woman ran off to. "Who wouldn't?" She then turned to the three of them. "My name is Kagome, Higarashi Kagome." She bowed to the three of them. "Thank you for coming to help me."
"It was our pleasure sweetling," Ivankov said. "You might already know this, I'm Ivankov. That man is named Monkey D. Dragon. The gentleman next to me is Inazuma and we're with the revolutionary army."
"Ivankov!" Dragon snapped.
"You mean the army that's working on disposing of the current nobles and government?" Kagome went silent for a moment. "I wish you the best. I can't stand what those nobles do as what they believe is their earned right by birth. Respect is earned, not demanded or born into."
The three men stared at Kagome at her statement. "I do honestly hope for your success," Kagome said after the silence became too much. She thought that they were silent because they didn't believe her.
"Not many are so vocal in their opinion," Inazuma stated. "You don't fear punishment from the government or nobles?"
"I don't fear them at all," Kagome said. "My views are like tiny stones thrown in a pond. Yes, the ripples go away after a time, but the pond is changed forever. My words will be remembered in the hearts of people."
"You should be our spokesperson," Ivankov mused.
Kagome laughed as she started to walk again. "I have responsibilities here Mister Ivankov. My mother and brother do their best, but by selling herbs I'm able to give our family that much more."
"So it was your herbs we came across," Inazuma stated. "We were gathering supplies when we spotted a certain herb for sale. It's very rare sense the preparation of it is so delicate, not many want to take the time for it. We asked about it and they sent us after you, the seller, just after you left the town. I thought perhaps you were an apprentice to a master herbalist and just running errands."
"I was an apprentice to a master," Kagome said. She kept a conversation going with the three as they walked towards her home. "I was taught by a priestess that specialized in herbal remedies. She was kind, but she demanded perfection."
"You sound as if you care a great deal for her," Ivankov said.
"I did," Kagome agreed. Dragon glanced over in her direction at the tone of voice. It was a mixture of sadness and longing. "I'm sure her new apprentice is learning a great deal from her. She'll be able take over for Lady Kaede when she can no longer perform her duties due to age."
"Why were you not chosen as her successor?" Dragon asked.
Kagome glanced down at the jewel hanging from the chain on her neck. "Destiny," she answered simply. "We all knew I had to leave one day." Kagome squared her shoulders and looked straight ahead. "It's getting rather late in the day. I'm sure that mother wouldn't mind the company if you care to join us for dinner."
"We wouldn't want to impose," Ivankov stated.
"Just help me gather some meat and it will be no trouble," Kagome smiled.