Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho.
Summary: "Where did the Goshinboku come from?" "It all started with a kitsune and a Priestess…Youko Kurama and Kagome Higurashi."
Rating: M for later chapters
Pairing: Youko/Kagome
Kagome's: conscience, rational thoughts (angelic)
Kagome's: less rational, selfish thoughts (devilish)
Shikon No Tama
"Memories"
Regular thoughts
Stressed thoughts
"This is it. We either make it through or we are stuck here. Thank you for coming with me, Kirara." I looked up at the sky and prayed for the first time in my life. "God, please just have pity on us and let us go through the well. I lost two parents already; please don't let me loose another one."
I nodded to Kirara and she lept into the well. Black surrounded us and I felt my heart sink. I closed my eyes and whispered, "Please," and then a green light bathed us in its glow. I smiled as tears pricked my eyes. We touched the ground soundlessly and I buried my face in Kirara's fur.
"Thank you."
Meet My Son
Chapter Three:
Kirara mewed at my side when all I could do is sit and cry happily. I understood what she was trying to tell me. 'We have to go' and so I looked at her and nodded my head. She had enough room to transform so she did. I jumped onto her back and she gathered Momma's backpack in her mouth. Kirara soundlessly jumped out of the well and I shivered when I smelt the amount of demons in the air.
There were far more here then there was back home and that was a little disturbing. I could feel Kirara tensing as she too smelt the air. Although it was fresher, the scent of death was lingering. Slowly...she put her nose to the ground. She tossed the bag behind me and I held it still as she bounded in one direction.
Every now and then she would scent the air and move in a different direction but other than that, the ride was so far, very smooth. Kirara mewed when we came upon a small cave. Slowly she walked in, and I smelt that this small cave was often used by demons but I also smelt Momma's scent and knew she was here...where ever here was.
Once we entered the cave...we found nothing. Nothing at all. Kirara walked to the back of the cave and pawed at the rock there. She growled and gently turned to grab me with her teeth. She set me on the ground and placed the bag near me. She jumped back several paces before running into the back of the cave. She continued to crash into the back until finally...something cracked. It was a very loud noise and I found myself yelping.
Kirara moved back, her fur standing on end as a loud growl was ripped forth. The demons came then and Kirara lept to protect me. They poured from the crack in the back of the cave that I now realized was a sort of barrier. Kirara wasted no time in beginning to tear out the demon's throats. Somehow they managed to get a rope on each leg and several around her neck. Kirara snarled at them and a demon lifted a spear to shove it through her skull. I cried out a jumped in front of her.
"What the-" a demon began.
"MOTHER!!!!" was all I could scream when I felt a hand grab me by the scruff of my neck. It was the best move I ever made in my life.
Kagome's POV
I was sleeping but I was unsettled as I was sleeping. I didn't feel right. I felt like something was wrong but I didn't know what. I didn'r know what was causing me such distress. I shifted slightly on the bed that Youko and I were sharing. What was wrong? Was i forgetting something or was there something missing? Did something-
"MOTHER!!!!"
I sat up in the bed and felt Youko sit up as well. I knew that voice.
Shippo was calling me.
Shippo needed me.
I was moving out of the room before Youko could even blink. I was running through the hall like caves that were lit using a plant that glowed a nice bright whitish color. I let my aura loose and quickly traced Shippo by using his aura. I found him. I ran until I saw at least twenty demons surrounding a wounded and bound Kirara. Another demon had Shippo by the scruff of his neck and was shaking him around.
Shippo had tears leaking from his turquoise eyes.
My son was crying.
I was seeing red. I let my aura loose a little more and the demons felt it. They slowly turned their heads to me and flinched when they saw the killing intent on my face. The demon holding my son looked at me. I walked forward as the demons cleared the way. I vaguely felt Youko and Kuronue come up behind me.
"Let my son go now." I hissed.
"Momma." Shippo whispered.
"Your son?" the demon scoffed.
"He's a full demon, miko. You're all human." he smirked, shaking Shippo a little more. Shippo cried out and I snarled pretty well for a human.
"You have just sealed your fate." I snapped, pushing silver killing energy into my hands. The energy was no longer blue. Blue symbolized warning, silver symbolized death. I moved my hand and quickly pushed it into the demons chest, the energy purifying a hole into his body. I pulled my hand out as he began to purified a little bit second by second. He collapsed the ground, dropping Shippo in the process. I let the energy in my hands fade and I crouched down to the wretched demon's level. "These next few minutes will be the most horrifying and painful ten minutes of your life. That is how long it takes for the purifying energy to seep through your body. Your vital organs will skimmed, being saved for last just so you can feel the pain. They will be the last to disappear. Once your body is ash, the organs will be purified all at once. Your soul will be purified completely and you will cease to exist. This is your payment for crossing the miko of the Shikon No Tama."
I pulled Shippo into my arms and looked at the demons that had bound Kirara and they released her immediately. She snarled at them before leaping toward me, nuzzling me with her muzzle. She transformed into her smaller size just as Shippo began to cry, uncaring to those demons around him who may have thought him weak. The cried from the demon being purified were loud and clear. Some watched with warped fascination, others looked away.
"Inuyasha had said he didn't know where went! He said he checked your home but your scent was weeks old! He told your mother that he needed so he didn't worry her!" he cried. "I knew he did something to you! I knew it! So Kirara and came with your bag and I asked the well. I begged it to let me pass! It did and we followed your scent and these demons were being mean to us! Then you saved us! Momma, please don't leave without me again! Please!" he cried.
"I won't, Shippo. I promise." I whispered, pulling him into my arms as much as I could. I stood and brought Kirara with me. "Thank you, Kirara." I whispered to the neko. I went to my bag and shouldered it. I looked at Youko and bowed deeply. "They threatened someone dear to me. The demon being purified as we speak did not let my son go when I told him to. He mocked me. I apologize for killing your subordinate and for the death of the other subordinates my friend caused." I said gesturing to the eight bodies around the the small cave.
"You are forgiven. Please return to the room you are occupying." he said coldly. I understood though. I couldn't be treated differently because I didn't like it. When we were around others then I would have to suck it up and hold my ground. I nodded and stood straight.
I left the cave with my back straight and my head held high. Shippo and Kirara buried deeper into my stomach avoiding the stares that I received. I walked down the cave like hallways and ignored the throbbing in the back of my head. The throbbing was my damn conscience. I ignored it and continued to the room.
A loud cry of pure agony split the air and I stopped and flinched.
The demon was dead...and at the price of my last bit of innocence.
Youko's POV:
Absolutely ruthless.
The demon that she had killed was in a way a death that rivaled my Vetch Seed(1). It was terrifying the amount of power that the woman held in her body. She was vicious and I began to wonder if it was safe to have her here with all of my thieving companions. It wouldn't surprise me if she killed all my men off.
"I don't kill needlessly." her voice sounded in my head. She didn't kill the demon because she could...she was protecting her child. Maybe she could stay for awhile. Like Kuronue said...she proved to be a puzzle.
"Youko!" cried a demon in front of me.
"What?" I snapped.
"Is it safe to have that woman around?" he asked.
"I guess so. She killed the idiot behind you because he wouldn't let go of her son." I replied airily.
"You know as well as I," Yomi began, stepping forth. "that the kitsune child was not her son."
"Her son is adopted." I told him coldly through narrowed eyes.
"Don't feed me that shit, Youko." Yomi snarled. "A priestess adopting a youkai child? It's absolutely preposterous." I growled and moved faster than he or anyone else could see. In the second it took to blink, he was up against the wall, my hand around his throat, my mouth near his ear in a snarl.
"Listen to me you little fuck." I hissed. "You are on very thin ice. You have lied to me, questioned me, and are now talking down to me as though I am a child. If you have a problem with that woman, her child, or that cat then leave. Should you leave, though, I will hunt your pathetic ass down to the ends of the earth. You know too much. Do you understand me?"
"Y-yes, Youko." he gasped out and so I dropped him to the ground, coughing and gasping for breath.
"Does anyone else have something to tell me?" I growled to the rest of the thieves. No one said a word. "Three of you go and find ten good men to replace the nine that have died. I don't care who goes but they better be gone within the hour. Come on, Kuronue,"
Kuronue and I left the area and went to the dining hall. My fur was bristling and I was on edge. I growled as we entered the hall. I went and grabbed several jugs of wine and took a seat at my low, oak table with several large black and white pillows of silk. Each table was like my own with different colored pillows though.
I uncorked the jug and took a swig.
"Someone is very high strung." Kuronue teased. I simply barred my fans at him and took another swig of the sweet wine.
"I'm going to kill Yomi one day." I grumbled.
"Yes, Youko, I know." he chuckled. "So what are we going to do bout our little spit fire?" he asked and my eyes narrowed. I did not like the tone he used, and I did not like the use of the word, 'our'.
"She is staying if that's what you wanted to know." I told him coldly. He rose a brow at me in return and chuckled.
"She is a good puzzle, isn't she, old friend?" he asked, smugness coating his every word. I merely looked away and that brought him to an all out laugh. I glared at him but he continued like there was nothing wrong.
I would kill, Kuronue, one day too.
One day.
Damn fruit bat.
Kagome's POV
"Where are we?" Shippo asked softly with yawn as I covered us with a blanket that was left at the foot of the bed.
"We are just a little bit farther into the past then we should be." I said with a light laugh. Kirara mewed as she sat and curled up right above my head.
"How far?" Shippo asked.
"Not much, just a couple of hundred." I said with nonchalance.
"Are we ever going back?" he asked softly.
"Eventually but not right now." I told him as I ran my hand through the hair on his tail. He sighed in content and soon began to drift off to sleep. I smiled softly at him and shook my head sadly.
I can't believe he actually came to get me. It was reckless but most likely the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. I kissed the crown of his head and buried my nose in his hair. I heard Youko walk in and I lifted my head to look at him. He saw me and smiled slightly. He quickly shed his shirt and I looked away, a blush on my cheeks. He chuckled before lying down underneath the blankets.
"Goodnight, Kagome."
"Goodnight, Youko." I whispered. I closed my eyes and slowly began to drift off to the land of dreams, a land where Inuyasha did not betray me.
I slept but I knew the dreams wouldn't be pleasant. They never were anymore.
Dream scape:
It was dark. It was dark and very cold. I couldn't see anything but the inky blackness in front of me. I was scared and I was alone. I was always alone now and days. I couldn't see them...but I could hear them. They lurked in the shadows...the shadows of my soul. I could feel them move around me. I tried to summon my miko energy but it wouldn't come out.
I had no power here.
I felt it move closer to me.
I could feel its rank breath of blood on my neck.
I could feel it move its arm back to strike me and I ran.
I ran in the darkness though I had no clue where I was going. I couldn't see anything but I could feel. Vaguely I wondered if this is how it felt to be blind. Seeing nothing, yet seeing everything. It made no sense and yet it did.
I felt the monster mover closer and heard it howl to the blackness. Answering calls mirrored his own. I whimpered in fright as I felt more things move within the darkness. I didn't want this. Something swiped at me and connected with my back. I fell to the ground and cried out gently.
I couldn't feel the blood as it poured from my wounds but I knew it was there. I knew.
"God...please save me." I whispered softly into the inky dark. As though my prayers were answered, my power burst from me, lighting up the dark. Screams and cries were torn from the things in the dark and when the light faded it was bright. Everything was white. I looked to my tormentors and cried out.
On the floor where everything lied, were the burnt bodies of my friends. Some were dust, leaving only their clothes, while others were blistered and burnt. I screamed, a terrifying sound tearing from my throat.
"Why?" someone asked me. I looked up and into the ghostly form of Inuyasha. "Why have you betrayed us?" he whispered, a bloody clawed hand, gripped my cheek. Under the claws were pieces of my shredded shirt. I screamed and scrambled back. "Kagome? What are you doing?" he asked, walking toward me.
The bodies faded and shimmered but Inuyasha stayed where he was, his body becoming solid.
"Come back here, Kikyo." he whispered, looking directly at me. "Come back here."
"I am not her." I whispered, my voice hoarse.
"What did you say, Kikyo?" he asked, his head cocked to the side in confusion.
"I am not her!" I screamed, my eyes closing. I repeated that phrase over and over like a mantra. If I said it enough times, it would be true. "I am not her." I whispered, tears falling freely from my eyes.
I'm not.
KYN: Here is chapter three! Before I go on, I need reviews for 'Help of the Heart' Sasu/Kag and 'The Guardian' Chrono/Kag. Help me out people!
Youko: That is shameless advertising.
KYN: Yep!
Youko: Wretched woman.
KYN: And I'm all yours. Doesn't it make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?
Youko: No.
KYN: Also...does anyone know what a Beta is and how come I don't have one?
Youko: (sigh) Please review.