A/N: Welcome to the new version of The Stars. To those of you who read the old version, thank you for doing so and I am sorry that I had to remove it, but this is the definitive version of the story. I won't be changing it again and I really hope you enjoy it as much as you did the old one. To those of you who have never read the old version, welcome and I hope you enjoy your time reading this.
Prologue
A young woman, with hair as dark as the blackest night, turned her blue-grey eyes to the clouds in the sky. At first glance she seemed to be a priestess, but her attire was much darker in colour. She wore a white kosode underneath a black hitoe. A pair of black hakamas were tied closed with a dark red obi. The only decoration on her clothing was the red sode-kukuri – cords – woven through the ends of her long sleeves. On her feet were white tabi and rice straw sandals.
She solemnly gazed upon the bright blue sky, from the roof of a wooden hut, while she reflected upon the events that lead to the current circumstances of her companions and herself.
Five long years ago, her silver haired companion had yelled out their arch nemesis' name in utter panic. He told her that the foul demon that they were pursuing was at the sacred Bone-Eaters Well, the fickle portal to five hundred years in the future. The future was her present, the time she was born in and the time her family lived in.
She remembered the panic that filled her every pore as she sprinted after her friends. She arrived at the edge of the clearing, last, and out of breath. The young priestess-in-training could only watch in shock as her love interest – at the time – charged the vile demon head on without assessing the situation or their surroundings. While it wasn't unusual for their red-clad friend to fight in this way, in that battle it was particularly crucial for him to pay attention to his surroundings.
She knew that she alone had to protect the Well. Her friends and companions – their silver-haired half demon alpha, the female demon slayer, the lecherous monk, the fire demon cat and the demon fox kit – did not fully understand the importance of the Bone-Eater's Well to her.
The familiar rush of power and adrenalin was at the forefront of her mind – as always – when recalling a battle in the past. The power she felt, as she had continuously loosed deadly purification arrows at the evil hanyou, usually brought a small smile of pride to her lips. However her smile receded as she remembered her frustration at trying to lure the vile creature away from her precious Well and failing.
Heavy eyelids fell closed over her sharp blue-grey gaze, as she recalled screaming at the silver-haired alpha to stop his attack. However none of her companions heard her over their Alpha's roar as he let loose a massive wind scar attack from his sword.
The young woman remembered the satisfied smirk on the evil half-demon's handsome face as he dodged out of the way. She often wondered how he found out about the well's whereabouts and if he even knew what it was for, but she had yet to find out the truth behind his actions on that day. Since he had dodged, the wind scar hit the next thing in it's path dead on. The well shattered into a million pieces and so had a piece of the raven haired priestess's heart.
There was no way she could forget the feeling of utter despair as she watched the time travelling magic of the well leak from the broken wood and fade away in the air. Something snapped inside of her as her piercing gaze fell on the smirking face of her vile nemesis and she scowled.
As the raven haired priestess gathered all her powers from deep inside of herself, she faintly recalled her friends starting up their relentless attack again, throwing all their strength at the evil half demon. She remembered how her blood boiled and how her senses rapidly expanded. Her perception of time slowed down enough that she could feel every groove in her wooden bow and sense every strand of wind that fluttered past. Her powers throbbed painfully throughout her body as it enveloped her and concentrated in a blinding white glow at the point of her arrow.
She recalled the feeling of utter stillness as she waited for an opportunity to fire her arrow. It came in the form of their red-clad alpha being thrown against a tree, though she witnessed this event in extreme slow motion.
She fired her arrow before his back harshly hit the wooden tree. The evil half-demon barely had enough time to react to her superhuman firing speed. The priestess opened her eyes as she recalled the excruciating moment her heart had stopped – just for an instant – but long enough to still her boiling blood, as she let the worn string of her bow release from her soft fingers.
Everything in that moment she remembered as clearly as if it happened the previous day. She could easily recall the white arc the arrow made as it flew towards its target. She revelled in the terrified expression on her nemesis' face, as his entire body exploded in a blinding white light.
However before her arrow was able to destroy all of his body, he encased his heart and the remaining half of his head in a miniature barrier. His purifying flesh flew in every direction and landed on everything. He still called the smoking meat back to himself, encased himself in a second barrier and flew high into the sky.
She didn't remember anything after he flew away as the adrenalin high that had been sustaining her dissipated, but the brown haired demon slayer told her what had happened afterwards. The slayer said that their alpha jumped into the sky and shot one more wind scar attack after the dying creature, but it hit nothing as the evil half demon dissolved into the sky as if he were made of the wind itself.
The slayer went on to say that the priestess herself walked over to the well hole, picked up a piece of the broken well and fell into its gaping mouth. She landed in the bottom on her side and she was clutching at her heart and screaming and crying in a mixture of grief and pain; which they later found out was in part, because of her heart stopping. She fell unconscious in the well.
The next time she woke up she was greeted by the relieved faces of her friends, who told her she had been unconscious for an entire week. She was covered in sweat and every part of her body ached, but she was alive.
Despite being cut off from her family and friends in the future, she wasn't worried about them. She knew her grandfather would be able to make some conclusion as to why the Bone-Eater's Well was destroyed; or at least she hoped he would be able to. Even if he couldn't and they assumed the worst, there was no other way for anyone – Naraku included – to get to the future anymore. This thought relieved her, since her actions in the past would likely keep her family safe from Naraku and other such demons in the future.
There was always a nagging thought in the back of her mind that worried her, what if her continued presence in the past irreparably changed the future? She didn't have an answer to that question no matter how hard or long she thought on it, so she had no choice but to bury her worries deep inside herself and resolved her will and determination. She had no way of knowing what would happen to the future, so all she could do was live her life as well as she possibly could.
Even though the whole business with the Bone-Eater's Well was mostly her silver-haired companion's fault – as his rashness never left much room for thought – she had forgiven him. Although she had often wondered if that was the right choice, since afterwards he had considered himself almost faultless in her eyes.
Not long after the raven haired priestess had regained consciousness, their alpha started to secretly – but not very secretly since everyone knew – visit her predecessor; an undead priestess that was his first love. She died fifty years prior to the blue eyed woman's arrival in the past.
Normally the futuristic young woman would activate the subjugation spell that kept him in line on his return, however she found herself not really caring what he did any more. It seemed without her mother supporting her in her one sided love for the fool, she could not muster the effort required to keep up with his shifting emotions.
He was far too high maintenance. This simple sentence saddened the raven-haired woman, because it reminded her of her friends from the future. A great many things reminded her of the future she had lost and she had to constantly remind herself that she also gained a great many things since the well had been destroyed. Even if something is lost, something else is gained. One of the few phrases that is able to put her mind at ease.
The first year after the well had been destroyed the raven haired priestess concentrated on finding out more about herself and what she liked about the feudal era; she would after all, need to be able to live normally now that she was stuck there, or then. Since she no longer cared or worried about what their alpha was doing, she found that she quite liked the simple act of practising archery. She eventually decided it was time to complete her formal priestess training, since it was obvious that she was skilled at using her power and for unfathomable reasons she had been putting it off since finding out she had the power.
On the first day of the second year she made a huge bonfire in the outskirts of the village and burned all her possessions from the future. The monk and the slayer also burned all their futuristic gifts from her, but the young fox demon child – whom she considered a son – and their half-demon pack leader needed some convincing. Eventually all the objects from the future had been discarded permanently.
It had taken her a long time to muster up the determination to do this since her futuristic possessions were her only link with her time. The objects didn't and couldn't exist yet. Feudal Japan had become her time, her home, her world, and she had to protect it for the future that was yet to come. She was immensely glad she had paid attention during their travels so she didn't have to worry about any futuristic items that might have been left behind in a village or ditch.
For the rest of the year and the following three years the priestess steeled her heart and trained her mind, body and soul with the old priestess who was her friend and adviser, as well as with the demon slayer and the monk.
From the old priestess and the monk she learned about the feudal era's culture, laws, ethics, and currency. She also learned more about herbalism, medicine, curses and their cures and all other manner of important subjects. She found she rather enjoyed having the old priestess as a teacher far more than her teachers at her school in the future. The priestess's lectures were engaging and sometimes it felt more like she was watching an exciting play enacted by all her friends for her amusement.
From the demon slayer she learned about demon physiology, tracking, harvesting materials – both from beasts and the environment, survival skills, swordsmanship and various martial arts. The monk also assisted in her priestess training by showing her ways she could apply her spiritual power to her weapons and body to enhance her base physical abilities. Since humans were physically weaker than demons, these techniques allowed her to bridge the physical gap between most demons and herself.
She also decided to take up the mantle of her kin, she wore the traditional clothing of the priestesses and after she completed her training, she grew out her hair so she could wear it in the traditional style.
However the colours of her clothing made people pause, she was dressed in black and white with dark red accents. She spent a long time collecting enough money to order custom clothing from the tailors in the large trading village that was their neighbour. She could have worn her predecessor's old clothing, but she eventually decided against it. It felt wrong to her to wear her predecessor's clothing while she was still roaming the countryside as an undead abomination.
However she also had other reasons not to wear it. Not only was black clothing practical in the sense that it was easier to keep clean, it was also much easier to camouflage herself in the dark. Demon activity was much higher at night than during the day, so it made sense for her to stay as hidden as possible during that time.
She thought the priestesses of the feudal era were either very brave or very foolish to wear bright colours such as white and red. Though she suspected the uniform was designed in such a way so as to make the priestess a target in a large fight with demons and civilians. It was a way to protect innocent humans. Of course this made sense to the raven-haired priestess, but unlike her kin she was not officially affiliated with any one village, so staying hidden was a much higher priority for her.
The young woman shook her head as if to fling her thoughts away and called down to the old priestess whom was her friend, mentor and the resident of the wooden hut she was sitting on.
"Kaede I'm going to Inuyasha's Forest to pray."
"Alright Kagome, but be careful and make sure to be back before nightfall. I've heard rumours of priestesses being killed in the night." the old priestess replied from inside the small wooden hut, her voice slightly muffled through the walls.
"I'll be careful." she replied in reassurance.
The young raven haired woman, Kagome, jumped off the wooden hut and slowly made her way to the village gate. She greeted the various villagers along the way and spent a moment with each of them, blessing them with protective spells. They wanted to thank her with food as usual, so she told them to leave their gifts with Kaede since she was going into the forest. They bowed and did as she asked.
As soon as the wooden structure – which was the gate – came into view, she broke into a sprint. She made it to the edge of the forest without incident. However once she was there, she slowed her stride to a brisk walk and headed straight for the site where the Bone-Eater's Well used to reside.
Kagome emerged from the edge of the clearing moments after she entered the forest, knowing her way to her destination as if the path was painted before her. She made her way to the edge of the gaping hole in the earth that used to be the Bone-Eater's well and gazed down into it's depths. It was full of the wood that used to surround it and many weeds and fungi. The young priestess frowned slightly.
She knelt in front of the hole and offered her prayers to the gods and goddesses who oversaw time, and once again pleaded that her family was protected. She prayed in silence for a few minutes before she clapped her hands twice and pulled out an incense holder and a stick of incense from inside the sleeves of her hitoe. She lit the incense with a concentrated spark of white spiritual power on the tip of her finger and breathed in the soothing aroma for a moment.
Having completed her prayers she laid down next to the hole and gazed up at the clear midday sky. Her eyelids started to grow heavy as the sun warmed her skin and the incense calmed her mind. She didn't resist, a nap would be good for her.
When Kagome awoke again she was covered in a cold sweat and her heart was hammering against her chest as a smith might against an anvil. However her mind was blank, which meant it wasn't a nightmare that woke her. It had to have been an external disturbance, something in the forest. Most probably a demon.
The raven-haired priestess needed to meditate. She willed her racing heart to slow and her breathing soon followed as she emptied her mind and sharpened her senses.
The second time she opened her eyes she realised night had already fallen. She knew Kaede and the others would be worried, however she had to be careful making her way back. Night was a treacherous ally, hiding her, but also shielding other dangerous creatures from sight.
As she was planning her return, the raven haired priestess picked up a demonic presence near the edge of the clearing. She sent her consciousness out and analysed the demon's presence, it seemed to be waiting for something, possibly her, as there wasn't any other presence for kilometres around. It didn't seem to have noticed that she noticed it. The presence of this demon was evidently what woke her earlier.
Kagome decided to see what it would do and act accordingly. She lured it away to a familiar area, her training grounds in the forest. A place the slayer, the monk and herself train together. Kagome had grown the habit of purifying the area before and after each of their training sessions there. The purification dissuaded most demons from approaching and the fact that there was a priestess training there with spiritual powers on full display kept all but the strongest or most reckless demons away.
As soon as she stepped out of the clearing, the demon started to follow. The priestess followed invisible, but familiar paths towards an illuminated clearing. Everything the moonlight touched turned a chilling silver, only made more eerie by the slash and scorch marks on the trees and ground and the small craters in the hard-packed earth.
She stopped in the middle of her training grounds, and waited to see what the demon would do. Luring the demon was surprisingly easy, which was not a good sign. Most demons avoided priestesses, but this one was blatantly following her.
Kaede's warning flashed through her mind and she grit her teeth. I've heard rumours of priestesses being killed in the night.
It had reached the clearing at the same time Kagome stopped, which was also when a particularly dense cloud moved in front of the moon, cutting off the source of light. She sensed the boar demon's demonic presence move forward as it stepped into the clearing. She winced slightly as a deafening roar tore from it's throat.