Mated Circle

10/22/'04

Chapter One: The Fairy

Kagome sighed and hitched the strap of her bathing bag higher up on her shoulder as she walked quickly down the path that led from Kaede's village to the nearby river, where she was going to have a bath. It had been almost a week since she had last had a chance to get a really good bath, and she felt dirty and smelly from the long days of traveling with her fellow Shikon shard hunters. For once she was alone, unlike most of her bathing times, when she would go with her best friend the taijiya Sango, and sometimes her unofficially adopted son the kitsune cub Shippo. Today, however, she was by her lonesome, as Sango was busy honing the blade of her katana and Shippo was playing with some of the village children.

Kagome sighed happily as she reached the river bank. She swiftly shucked her rather bedraggled modern-day school uniform and stepped into the cold water of the river. She grabbed a bottle of strawberry-scented herbal shampoo from her bag of bath supplies and quickly lathered her wet raven-colored locks. Ducking her head beneath the surface of the water, she rinsed the white foam out of her long black hair, and then rose up out of the water again, smiling at the thought of having clean hair once more.

Just then, Kagome heard a high-pitched scream. Her head shot up, eyes widening, as she looked around in an attempt to locate the source of the fear-filled shriek. She didn't see anything, but a moment later the scream came again. Something about that sound tugged at Kagome's heartstrings, and she jumped out of the river and quickly wrapped a towel securely around her body to hide her nudity. Then she began to hurry in the direction the scream had sounded like it came from.

She searched fruitlessly for several hectic minutes, finding nothing, until suddenly another scream sounded from a bush in the shadow of a great old tree just a few yards away. Kagome hurriedly went over to see what it was doing the screaming, and to her surprise she found a small purple being that reminded Kagome of a fairy. It was about as tall as her hand, and had shimmering lavender wings, iridescent and shining. She couldn't tell whether it was male or female, or if it was either. It seemed to see her, and began chittering at her in a high-pitched voice in no language she understood. But she understood the tone of its voice well enough- pained, pleading, urgent.

"Shhhh!" said the young schoolgirl. "Hold on a minute, and I'll get you out of there!" She pleaded with the little purple creature. Miraculously, it seemed to understand her and quieted down, ceasing its fruitless struggles to untangle itself. Kagome waited a moment and then reached into the bush to try and gingerly untangle the fairy-thing from the thorny branches.

A few minutes and some bloodied fingers later, Kagome managed to free the tiny lavender being. Once she had it out, she looked it over closely to see if it was injured, but she saw no signs of injuries. So she smiled and opened her hands wide to release it. "There you go! You're free now!" she cheerfully told the little spirit.

Immediately the tiny purple creature flew up out of Kagome's hands and then did a spiraling dive towards the ground, swooping up again just as it was about to reach the ground. Kagome watched with a smile as the small lavender being flew around, seemingly reveling in the joy of freedom and flight. It emitted a high-pitched chirping sound that resembled laughter.

Suddenly the little purple creature flew down and hovered in front of Kagome's face. Then, startling her, it spoke- in a squeaky, tiny little voice, but in perfect Japanese. "Many thanks, many thanks, large one!" chittered the small being.

"Oh, um, sure," Kagome stuttered, shocked. "It was my pleasure!" she smiled at the strange, lavender-skinned thing.

"You have done me a great favor, large one," squeaked the fairy-creature. "I am Kimiko, of the Fuujiiro Yousei tribe! It is my great honor to repay your kindness to me with the gift of one wish!" It giggled and spun in place, then did a stylized rendition of a bow. It then clapped its small hands together, and a 'pouf' of light purple smoke drifted up from its clasped hands, where a beautiful necklace had appeared from nowhere. It was a silver pendant shaped like a full moon with a large, perfect amethyst in the center, hanging from a delicate, finely-wrought silver chain. "To you also I give this necklace, that all might know you have been blessed by one of the Fuujiiro Yousei!"

Kagome graciously accepted the necklace and put it around her neck. "Thank you, Kimiko. You said you would grant me a wish? May I ask what kind of wish you could grant?"

Kimiko seemed to sparkle with happiness. "Only wishes pertaining directly to yourself, your body, or your soul. I cannot affect anyone else- I cannot make someone fall in love with you, or bring someone back from the dead, for instance," it twittered. "I can manifest solid objects, but only those weighing less than twenty-five pounds total, or massing up to fifty kilograms. I cannot create living, sentient creatures such as humans or youkai, but I can create beings of less than sentient intelligence, such as lesser demons or animals. And I am prohibited from granting wishes that displease the Kami-samas." It bowed again, seeming apologetic at its limitations.

"Of course," murmured Kagome thoughtfully. "That makes sense. May I take a moment to think it over?"

"Certainly," Kimiko squeaked. "Take as much time as you need, for once the wish is granted I may not undo it."

Kagome nodded at the fairy's words and began thinking hard. She mulled over her choice for some time, pondering a great many options, until finally she realized what she wanted to do. She smiled widely and looked Kimiko in the eyes, and then stated her wish in a strong, unwavering voice. "I wish to be a demon like Inuyasha, Shippo and Kouga!"

Kimiko's entire body seemed to glow a bright purple as Kagome made her wish. The young miko heard the fairy's squeaky voice proclaim, "So mote it be!" And then she was overcome by a wave of excruciating sensation. The strange feeling grew and grew until finally it overwhelmed her, and she fell to the ground, unconscious.

Kimiko fluttered over Kagome's body until the transformation was complete, and then stooped down to place its tiny hands against the amethyst on her pendant. It spoke one word, "Kikiireru!" in a commanding tone, and a flash of purple light entered the amethyst and then died down to an ember glow. Then Kimiko smiled one last time at the newly-transformed mixed-breed demoness, and flew away into the forest.

Kagome woke with a groan, feeling a strange sensation lingering throughout her body. At first she did not remember what had happened to leave her unconscious and half-naked on the ground. Then she felt the weight of the fairy's necklace hanging from her neck and remembered what had happened- and her wish. Eager to see the changes Kimiko's magick had wrought, she quickly got to her feet and rushed back through the forest to the nearby river where she had been bathing. Then she knelt at the water's edge and stared, enraptured, down at her unfamiliar reflection.

The changes were many, but she was still recognizably herself. Her hair, previously completely raven black, was now longer and finer, and had gained streaks of silvery-white, strawberry-red, and chocolate brown. It was topped by a pair of large, fluffy fox ears, with fur in a prettily marbled calico pattern composed of white, black, red, and brown fur combined. Her gray-blue eyes had gained specks of emerald green, gold, and brown, making them appear hazel from a distance. Their pupils had also become slitted like a cat's. Her teeth had grown into small but respectably razor-sharp fangs, and her nails had thickened and lengthened into respectable claws. Below, emerging from the end of her tailbone was a bushy, fluffy calico-patterned tail, long and sleek like a wolf's but with the fox's characteristic pure-white tip.

All her senses were considerably sharpened, and she could hear, and see, and smell, and even feel things she had never before noticed. She could smell and hear the movements of little forest creatures coming from all around her, and feel the caress of the air against her nearly-bare skin. Looking down past the surface of the river, her eagle-sharp eyes could pick out the tiniest details on the pebbles lying beneath the rushing waters. She looked up again, and could pick out the spots on a ladybug's back from all the way across the river. Everything seemed louder, brighter, sharper, and much more intense; she had no idea the difference between the senses of a human and those of a youkai were so pronounced. She now sharply regretted all the times she had shouted in Inuyasha's ears, and sympathized with his troubles with strong scents.

She had to wonder what kinds of youkai powers she had gained. She looked down at her claws and imagined swiping them through the air to create Inuyasha's Sankon Tetsusou effect, or bringing forth Shippo's Kitsunebi. Already she could feel that she was stronger, and she had more energy than she had ever had before. Her miko powers seemed closer to the surface, as well; not so deeply hidden or hard to access, either. Sighing, Kagome guessed she would have to find out about her new abilities later, with the help of her friends.

Speaking of her friends, Kagome decided it was time to go and tell them what had happened...as soon as she was dressed again, anyway!