The Awakening of a Savior

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Disclaimer:I do not own any of the Inuyasha characters, they are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, however, I do own all other characters mentioned within this story.

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"Amon, why must I train with you? Father has already begun teaching me to fight."

"Yes, to fight, but I will teach you something more."

"Oh, like what may I ask?"

"To kill."

(Pause)

"To kill… And if I refuse?"

"You don't have that option, I'm afraid."

"How can you say that?"

"Because it is the truth and because it is what must be done."

"But why must I kill? Must everything die!"

"…Yes."

"Kagome!"

Jumping slightly from the interruption of her musing, sapphire orbs stared into gold. She could see the irritation in his eyes and knew it was meant for her. It was apparent to all that she had been slacking a bit lately…actually a lot. Deciding against an argument, the tired Miko grabbed the straps of her yellow bag tighter and rushed to catch up to the rest of the group.

It was hard to describe how she had been feeling as of late to her comrades, as a very disoriented and dazed impression had taken her over. She just couldn't get her mind to focus and the voices didn't help either. At first she had brushed them off as a product of her imagination.

Nothing more than a tired mind making use of the whispering winds at night, for the voices always came at night. Simple whispers in the back of her consciousness, but then the voices began to get louder, clearer, and ever more persistent with each night that passed until she had found herself victim to them even during the day. Leaving her finally unable to deny any longer that her imagination was never so creative and that something was wrong.

Convinced in the beginning that the Shikon Shards were the source, Kagome had kept a close eye on them. Perhaps the souls of the jewel were talking to her, it wasn't unnecessarily unheard of. So as an experiment, the distressed Miko had removed the little glass vile from around her neck, offering it to the monk to watch through the night. Never once telling him of her suspicions, in fact no one knew.

Everything had appeared normal at first with the removal of the shards, until between the realms of sleep and wakefulness she heard the voices once again. Jumping awake she had run over to Miroku, only to find the shards exactly the way she had left them, pale pink and inactive.

The Shikon Shards ruled out, Kagome became worried. The voices themselves seemed to be unaware that they had an audience, interacting with each other instead of her. It made Kagome feel as if she were intruding upon someone's private conversation.

Usually from what she could gather there were two voices, the deep velvety tones of a man, whom she had come to identify as Amon, and a female's voice of whose name she had not heard previously mentioned? However, Kagome was starting to get the impression that whomever the voices belonged to; she was hearing past conversations, which had taken place over an unidentified period of time; her theory being concluded around the development of the female's voice and way of speech.

At first when the voices began to reach her she observed that of a young child's voice was conversing with that of the man, Amon. At the time she had paid it no attention, but now she was fairly sure. The early dialogue was simple and innocent between the two, very amiable, in which the older male would laugh and speak phrases to delight the little girl, and she in turn would spurt out riddles for him to answer. This continued for about two weeks before the child's voice began to change.

In its place was that of a young girl's, the melodious sound of her voice and wizened way of speaking gave the Miko the impression that this was the same witty child from before, though slightly older. Amon and her still conversed openly and Kagome had observed no romantic behavior on either part. So, who were they?

It wasn't until today, however, that the voices had begun to completely overwhelm her senses; before it had been just a simple annoyance that she could hear roaming in the background of her thoughts, only distracting if she allowed it. Today proved to be the first day that the voices had completely dominated her mind, forcing her to focus solely on them. Kagome had been so distracted that she had blanked out all that was around her and could concentrate on nothing else, not even seeing her comrades continue on without her.

So what was she to do?

Bewildered and tired from the long day of shard hunting, the exhausted Miko decided to simply wait. She didn't feel as if she were in danger, and her heart was telling her that someone needed her, that everything happened for a reason and to hold on. As terrifying as it may have been at first, in a weird way the voices had become a type of comfort to her. At least she wasn't focused on Inuyasha and his late night disappearing acts at the moment, and that had to count for something.

OOO

Kagome sighed, sinking deeper into the relaxing depths of the hot spring. The group of shard hunters had settled down rather late for the night, and not one to miss out on a good opportunity, Kagome decided a thorough cleaning was more important at the moment then a scanty meal.

With eyes closed and head tilted back, the time traveling Miko reflected on the past two weeks. The voices had begun to grow stronger, demanding more of her attention, and she feared her friends had begun to notice that something was amiss. So distracted by the newest twist in the invisible conversations, she had begun to let down her guard and lose herself in the strange dialogue, not that it wasn't sometimes oddly helpful.

For instance, three days ago the group had stumbled upon a village that claimed to be plagued by a woman-snatching demon. The demon would come in the dead of night and quietly seduce the women from their huts. The men were put to sleep before its arrival by a mysterious fog, which would only, released them once the morning sun had arisen, by that time it would be too late.

Inuyasha of course had complained and tried to move them along, and not surprising in the least Miroku had been the one to put forth the most protest at the mention of women in need. So the friends had found themselves hauled up for the night in the headmaster's hut, awaiting a hopefully shard wielding womanizing demon.

The night displayed no oddities and had descended slowly upon the village. Though frightened and alert, no one had noticed the mist that crept its way into the gang's settlement. Inuyasha vaguely wondered at the sudden deep silence that had befallen the village, before a deep feeling of exhaustion took hold of him, coaxing him into a comfortable sleep.

Slowly, each male member of their group stretched and with half lidded eyes slumped in their spots. The sound of heavy snoring soon took the place of the silence, and with each deep inhalation the two female members panicked.

"Inuyasha…Inuyasha, wake up." The Miko whispered softly whilst nudging her unconscious friend, but the hanyou would not budge.

"Miroku is the same, as well as Shippou. It's no use." The slayer sighed from across the room.

Groaning in defeat, the two women hastily gathered their weapons and stood. Something was out there walking the broad expanse of the village alleyways, they could hear it. The soft sound of whispered steps whilst wind caressed cloth, was the only indication the pair received as they moved slowly to the hut's entrance. Startled suddenly by a deep baritone voice they froze, frightened by the unexpected close proximity of the demon.

"Beautiful, beautiful women. Come to me my loves, I will not harm you!"

The smooth silky voice reached the women's ears, imploring them to obey. Such a magnificent voice could hardly lie, right? Fighting the pull that forced them forward, Kagome and Sango had unwillingly found their way outside, only to be surrounded by six other women from the other various huts.

Before them, however, was one of the most beautiful male creatures they had ever seen. Tall and pale with skin so seemingly smooth one could justly mistake it for porcelain. Kagome thought him an oddity with his waist length emerald hair and soft sea green eyes. His looks and charm were his weapons and she was determined not to fall prey. Who was this being?

Arms outstretched to the slowly approaching gathering of women, he displayed his broad bare chest for all to see. Kagome vaguely noticed, somewhere in the back of her mind, that he possessed only a loincloth for his privates. Not that such information helped her situation much, but her hormones thought it good to know.

"I do not discriminate, for I will love you all." Then with a sharp turn his sinful eyes fell on the Miko, trailing up and down her trembling body to land on the glass vile around her neck.

"Especially you my Miko darling, and look you bring me gifts."

Fighting internally with herself, she begged her limbs to run. Instead her traitorous body continued forward still, into the awaiting arms of the mysterious demon. Eyes flashing in hopeless horror, Kagome filled her mind with curses against the delicious male before her. His full pink mouth turned up into a sensual smile as she slowly closed the distance between them.

It was his hands that she felt upon her first, large smooth hands grasping her hips gently. Delicate claws scraping lightly at her skin, urging her sleeping robe open. Mortified completely, she screamed protest inside her mind, and still the demon continued. She felt the material ghost across the skin of her shoulders before hitting the ground in a heap at her feet, and then, he was kissing her neck.

She should have been disgusted or at least humiliated to be touched so intimately by a stranger in front of other strangers no less, but she wasn't. A hazy fog began to take over her mind the moment his lips touched hers, and she couldn't bring herself to care anymore. Kagome could feel his bare chest against her own as the strange demon lowered her to the cold hard ground.

"A virgin? I shall make this night wonderful for you. You will crave for no other my little Miko."

And then he was upon her, hovering over her naked body. His loincloth discarded as he placed himself between her thighs. A small part of her brain rallied, exclaiming that she get up and kick his ass. How dare he! But she just couldn't find the strength to move, and the more he touched her, the more that damn persistent fog whispered in her mind that she wanted this to happen.

His mouth descended upon her neck once more, slowly caressing her with his tongue, and she shivered feeling his fangs scrape lightly against her exposed flesh. His hands roamed over the expanse of her body, searing her with his touch; still she fought mentally to free herself. This was not the way she had dreamed of losing her virginity, not on the cold muddy ground in the middle of some remote village surrounded by women.

'I don't even know his name!'

"When I am done with you, I will pleasure your friend while you watch. If you would like I may let you join." Smirking, he exposed a sharp white fang.

Bile rising within the back of her throat, Kagome closed her eyes and screamed at the top of her mental lungs for Inuyasha to wake this instance, for her voice had decided to stop working a long time ago. When that had failed to work, regret began to settle in. If only she was more like her incarnate then perhaps she wouldn't be in this mess; Kikyou would surely have resisted the demon's pull.

Hot tears of shame began to pool behind her eyes, begging for release. Turning her head away from the aroused youkai above her, Kagome looked to Sango noting the mirrored look of despair on the older girls face. Suddenly, there was something smooth and hard against her entrance and Kagome panicked further; her body desperately tried to move, trying to fight against the lustful spell that held her bound. 'Oh god, I'm going to be raped…in the mud! Someone help!'

A soft whisper echoed in the crevices of her terrified mind and absently Kagome noticed the voices were back. They had been strangely quiet since the beginning of the day, which was quite odd for them. Straining to focus on the slowly increasing volume of the mysterious dialogue, she decided that she rather welcomed the distraction then to acknowledge her rape.

As it had begun to happen as of recent, the voices intensified, affecting her so greatly that Kagome no longer saw the outside world around her. Instead, a screen of blackness fell over her eyes as she was swept away.

"It is important," whispered a calm masculine voice, "that you learn to focus and think clearly in distracting situations."

A female's voice, wise and deceptively soft like a sword enshrouded in silk inquired, "How does one accomplish such, with the heart beat of the world pounding in her head?"

"Close your eyes little one, do not fight against the rhythm, instead you must embrace it. For you are a part of that beat."

A moment of concentrated silence took hold of the two, though soon interrupted by a startled gasp, "Amon, I feel it!"

"What does it feel like?"

"Like trees! Like air and fire. Like the very essence of life and like…you."

"Now become all and nothing."

"This is incredible! I can feel the universe breathe."

"Yes, gather that feeling around you and concentrate. You must learn how to use this, to tap into the state of being one and yet function as yourself. Are you ready?"

"…Yes."

A swell of power followed by a moment of pause and then the deep calm voice of Amon roared, "Attack!"

Eyes shooting wide open, Kagome felt her body stiffen and for a moment she could still hear Amon's voice. A feeling of weightlessness came over her as she peered into the sea green eyes above her. How long had she been zoned out? Daring a look at the damage, Kagome peered down between their bodies, gasping to see that he had not entered her yet.

Time seemed to slow down as realization came upon her. The voices, for however long she experienced them, did not correspond with actual time. The conversation she had witnessed appeared to rob her of only a mere second in reality. Thus, she was right back to the moment before she blanked out.

"Are you ready?" A voice whispered hotly against her ear. Shuddering as the demon continued to stroke her body, Kagome suddenly found her voice.

"Yes."

In an explosion of blinding pink light, Kagome felt herself become complete. As the demon flew away from her illuminated form, she too felt herself fly away in her soul, as if they were one instead of two separate beings. The purification power ate away quickly at the youkai's flesh, drawing forth agonizing screams of pain. And she too felt his pain; she too felt the effects of her own power tearing away at life, felt herself slowly die with him until there was nothing but darkness. They were one and the feeling was painfully incredible.

Kagome had awoken much later inside the hut she had shared with her comrades. Sango sat closest to her futon, slowly dabbing her forehead with a damp cloth. The look of awe and guilt upon the slayers face tore into the miko's heart. She didn't blame Sango for what happened, how could any of them have known?

The feeling of soft fur against her skin turned her attention to her adopted son. Shippou sat to her right slowly nuzzling her cheek, their eyes met and her heart twisted painfully within her rib cage. There were shining tears lining his emerald eyes.

How she wanted to erase their pain, to let them know that she was all right, that she had fought and won. It meant more to her in that moment then any of them could possibly understand…she had won. She wasn't weak and stupid; she didn't need them to rush to her rescue. Instead she had felt great pride, had for one moment not felt like Kagome, the time traveling, Shikon reincarnation of Kikyou, but simply Kagome, herself.

"Inuyasha has gone to retrieve the village healer, he should return shortly." Sango whispered. Her gentle words brought the Miko back to reality; she had not thought of Inuyasha upon waking and felt suddenly guilty. Straining to see the other occupants of their group, Kagome watched as Miroku rested against the furthest wall, solemnly petting Kilala.

"It is good to see you finally awake, Kagome-sama. You have been asleep for two days now, we were beginning to worry." Though spoken calmly, Kagome could detect the stress and concern behind his words. She had not arisen after the ordeal, they were concerned, Inuyasha was gone and such was life.

Then it hit her, the gravity of the situation. She had almost been raped outside of this very hut! She was quite lucky the voices had begun when they did or else…or else…she didn't want to think about it. Blushing scarlet, Kagome faintly wondered who had brought her naked body inside. 'Please let it have been Sango, even Kilala would do.'

Knowing how the fates loved her oh so much, Kagome was pretty sure that it had not been either of them. Much too embarrassed to ask, she let the question drop and waited for the healer to arrive. Honestly, she felt marvelous! She couldn't remember the last time she had felt this great but if it would make her friends feel better then she would go through with all of the precautions.

That is how she ended up currently in a secluded hot spring contemplating life; ever since the incident her friends had been hounding her, constantly checking if she were all right and treating her as if she were a fragile doll. It was really beginning to kill her heroic high. As if that wasn't bad enough, Inuyasha had been avoiding her as of late.

Well, not avoiding her per se but he was acting kind of odd whenever she was close to him. He would bound into trees or quicken his pace as if he wanted as much distance between them. He wouldn't even look her straight in the eyes when he spoke to her anymore, which was just plain rude, to be honest.

'Is he angry about what almost happened?' Feeling suddenly very dirty, Kagome submerged under the water before quickly emerging. Scrubbing at her skin, she shuddered as she imagined that she could still feel the demon's mouth and hands on her. Sore and pink, she paused as another thought hit her.

'What if he's embarrassed?' Now that she thought about it, she never did ask who had carried her into the hut. Groaning, she sunk lower into the water, cowering to right below her eyes. Why did everything always happen to her? Inuyasha, as cute and wild as he was turned out to be a very bashful person at times, Kagome just wished that this was not one of them.

Turning sharply as the sound of twigs beneath feet reached her ears, Kagome waited as the bushes parted. Bare feet gave way to fire rat red hakamas as she looked upon the very object of her embarrassment. Looking up into his hauntingly amber eyes, Kagome shuddered.

"You've been here for too long. I came to check on ya." Voice strangely gentle, Kagome noted that still he averted his eyes from her. Unwilling to spark an argument after a mostly pleasant bath, she watched as the hanyou turned around giving her privacy to change. Quickly she jumped out of the water and dressed, hurriedly trying to keep up with her friend's retreating form, all the while wondering, 'what did I do to deserve this?'

A/N-Did a simple revision on this chapter, added a few sentences, fixed a few mistakes.

Next chapter is coming soon.

Ja ne,