Disclaimer: I don't own Midoriko or Enju, the rest are mine however.

Chapter 4: Recovering the Relic

By the time Midoriko and Kirere made it back to the village the sun had already set. Knowing that Seikai would want to know what had happened on the mountain, Midoriko went to the temple first. When she entered the doors Seikai rushed over, clearly worried.

"Midoriko, what happened to you!?" Seikai exclaimed in horrified shock.

It was then that Midoriko realized exactly what shape she was in. Her left shoulder was deeply cut by the spider's fang and blood from the wound had soaked through her haori, staining it the same color as her hakama. She also had bits and pieces of spider web still loosely stuck to her clothes and hair, as well as twigs and brambles from her trek off the path. And of course, Kirere was still in her arms.

"I uh, ran into a little bit of trouble," Midoriko explained.

"Looks to me more like a lot of trouble. Come, sit down and tell me everything that happened," Seikai said, gesturing to the cushions on the floor.

"Of course Master, I'll need to make it short though as I'm sure my mother is worried about me as well. Would it also be alright to grab some medicine for Kirere quickly?"

"Of course," Seikai replied warmly, only glancing at the cat in question curiously once.

Once she had the medicine she requested, Midoriko sat opposite Seikai and explained what had happened that morning, treating Kirere's injured leg at the same time. Seikai remained silent throughout the entire tale and only spoke up once she had finished.

"This demon disguised as a monk has me most worried. The fact that he was not the one responsible for stealing the bowl, and yet was still there can only mean that they knew you would be going there. But how is that possible if only the two of us even knew where you were going?"

"I also don't like the mention of this 'master' you say he told you of," Seikai continued. He stole the bowl and then left a minion behind to slay you. Who is this demon who knows so much and seems to hate you so?"

"I wish I had answers Master Seikai, but I'm afraid I'm just as confused as you are. For now I plan to rest and recover, then, if you agree to it, I would like to try and recover the bowl that the demons stole. What exactly is it anyway?" she asked.

"I was going to wait to explain until you had returned it to me, but given the current circumstances I suppose I need to now. You remember back to our first trip together where I told you how I was one of the ones protecting the village?"

Midoriko nodded, quite clearly remembering that conversation.

"That bowl is part of the protection, a relic from ancient times. It is known as the Bowl of Barriers and with its power I was able to form a strong barrier over the entire village."

"If it was so important then why did you leave it in the shrine at the top of that mountain?" Midoriko asked, confused.

"The bowl has the unique, and rather annoying, property of being unable to function if it is inside the barrier it is enhancing, therefore I placed it in that shire you went to and sealed the doors against intrusion. The fact a demon was able to break that seal is alarming in and of itself."

"If the bowl looses its power inside the village then why did you ask me to go and get it?"

"A good question." Seikai smiled. "The bowl is also a powerful tool in learning how to strengthen your own barriers, I was planning on using it to teach you to strengthen yours. From your story, however, it seems that your new companion is able to do that."

"Yes," Midoriko responded happily, smiling at Kirere and laughing as she ran a circle around her. Clearly the medicine and bandage had made the cat's leg feel much better.

"As to recovering the bowl," Seikai went on, "I think it would be better for you to forget about it for now. I am more then impressed with how you handled yourself on the mountain, but I'm afraid this demon thief may be beyond your power. Regardless the bowl only works for one person at a time meaning that unless I am slain or it is somehow broken it is still performing its job. I can feel its power enhancing mine even as we speak meaning that this demon most likely doesn't know the means of breaking it."

"As you wish, Master," Midoriko replied reluctantly, not eager to just abandon what she had been tasked to bring back. "If that's all I should be heading home now."

"Of course, I'm sure your mother must be quite worried. Take your time recovering, I don't expect you for training tomorrow morning, but if you feel up to it we can continue."

Midoriko thanked Seikai for everything before picking Kirere up and leaving the temple. Deciding she wanted to pay a quick visit to Toshu she headed to the training grounds instead of her house.

"Priestess Midoriko, what happened to you? Are you alright?!" Toshu yelled in horror when she walked into his house.

After reassuring him that she was fine and telling him what had happened Midoriko got to why she was there. "My training saved my life Toshu, without it I'm sure I would have died. However, nothing we had done prepared me for actual battle, is there anything we can do about that?"

"Of course," Toshu assured her. "I hadn't gotten to actual combat yet as I felt you were still a ways off from getting involved in it, but the sooner the better I suppose. When you feel well enough we can begin sparring, hopefully that should help prepare you adequately."

After thanking Toshu as well Midoriko hurried home, sure that her mother would be nearing a state of hysterics over where her daughter could possibly be. It had gotten quite dark by this point, but Midoriko was able to make her way through the streets by the light of the full moon.

She reached the door of her house and was about to call out to her mother when something moved in the shadows directly to her left.

"Priestess Midoriko…" a voice she faintly recognized spoke.

"Who's there?" she asked, startled. She hadn't even seen a person standing there when she had approached.

"I'm hurt, don't you remember me?" the man asked as he stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight.

"Ukaran!" she exclaimed, anger slightly tingeing her voice. Kirere hissed at the man and Midoriko absently petted her trying to soothe her.

"What, not pleased to see me?" he taunted. "I am always honored to be in your beautiful presence Midoriko, it pains me to see the feeling isn't mutual."

"What do you want?" Midoriko asked angrily, resting her hand on her sword.

"Want? Why nothing besides seeing your beautiful face. Oh," he added as an afterthought, "I also thought you might like some information on the Bowl of Barriers, I heard you were looking for it."

"The bowl!?"

"Yes… I heard some minor demon stole it and fled to its castle, a ways north of this village hidden in a valley," Ukaran explained, sounding bored. "Anyways, I really must be going now, I'll leave you a small present before I go though."

Suddenly Midoriko felt lips brush against her forehead followed by a searing pain that caused her to cry out. She thrust her hands out to push him away, but realized he was still standing a few feet away from her.

"Farewell Midoriko, until we meet again…" Ukaran whispered as he vanished back into the shadows.

"Midoriko?!" she heard her mother call out before she appeared in the door with Enju behind her. "Midoriko!" her mother exclaimed as she rushed forward and gave her a tight hug before kissing her on the forehead. Exactly where Ukaran's lips had just touched her. A shiver ran down Midoriko's spine.

"Are you alright Midoriko? I've been so worried about you…"

"I'm fine Mother, I just need some rest."

Her mother stepped back and moved out of the door, "come inside and tell us everything that happened, I have a nice warm meal waiting for you." Midoriko smiled and took a step forwards before feeling suddenly lightheaded. "Midoriko!!" she heard both her mother and Enju call out as she collapsed to the ground unconscious.

When Midoriko finally woke up she realized she was in her bed. Opening her eyes she saw that the weight she had felt on her chest was a curled up, sleeping, Kirere. Midoriko smiled and gently petted Kirere as she thought back to what had happened.

How did Ukaran know about the bowl? I'm sure Master Seikai hasn't told anyone other then me about it. Furthermore how did Ukaran know where this demon had taken it?

Unsure of what to do Midoriko got out of bed and began to get dressed, noticing that her injured shoulder had been bandaged. Her mother and Enju were waiting for her in the dining room when she entered. Midoriko sat down next to them and began to eat while explaining what had happened.

"Who's your new companion over there? Enju asked when she had finished talking, gesturing over at Kirere as the cat poked its head around the corner.

"Doesn't she look familiar Enju? It's Kirere!"

Hearing her name Kirere bounded across the floor and jumped into Midoriko's lap, purring happily. Enju's eyes widening in shock as she saw the twin tails as well as the mark on its forehead.

"But… how?"

"I don't know," admitted Midoriko. "I'm just glad I found her."

"Midoriko, I don't know if you have any plans for the day, but please stay home and recover," her mother begged.

"I can't Mother," Midoriko replied guiltily, unable to look at her. "I think I know where the bowl was taken, I have to try and get it back. I promise to be careful, besides, Kirere will be with me."

Her mother let out a sigh before smiling at her daughter. "Please take care and come back as soon as you can."

"I will," Midoriko promised, hugging her mother tightly as she stood up and prepared to leave.

"Take care of her Kirere!" Enju called out as they left.

Midoriko wasn't sure if it was wise to trust what Ukaran had told her, but she figured she might as well check it out. Once they had left the village through the north gate and had walked a ways, Kirere jumped out of her arms.

"Kirere?" Midoriko asked, confused as the cat was once more engulfed in flames as it transformed to its larger form.

Kirere gestured with her head, indicating that she wanted Midoriko to climb up on her back. Unsure Midoriko hesitantly climbed on and let out a cry of surprise when Kirere jumped up into the sky.

"You can fly?!" she exclaimed in shock as she watched the ground below rush by.

After recovering from her surprise Midoriko laughed happily, enjoying the feeling of flying immensely. Sooner then she had expected they saw the valley Ukaran had mentioned and flew into it, looking for the castle hidden within. As they rounded a corner the castle loomed in front of them, not hidden at all.

Over the castle an ominous black cloud hung, identical to the one she had seen yesterday. Midoriko even felt the same demonic aura being radiated by this cloud.

Could it be the same one?

Her thoughts were interrupted as a horde of flying demons burst out from behind the castle's walls and flew directly at them. Midoriko drew her sword as Kirere let out a roar of hatred and flew right through the demons, the two of them slicing apart any that got too close.

"Good Kirere, we need to find the demon who stole the bowl before he has a chance to escape, let's ignore what we can and hurry."

They flew over the walls and landed in the courtyard, shocked to find a horde of angry demons surrounding them.

There's so many…

Not hesitating, Midoriko jumped off Kirere's back as the two of them began fighting their way forward, clearing a path to the throne room ahead of them. After what seemed like hours, but could only have been a few minutes they finally reached their destination, panting and covered in demon blood.

Glancing behind her Midoriko was surprised to notice that the remaining demons had stopped and were simply glaring at the two of them in hatred.

They're afraid… Of us or what lies through these doors though?

Midoriko couldn't shake the ominous feeling that surrounded her as she pushed open the doors in front of her. The room on the other side was engulfed in darkness, even as her eyes slowly adjusted Midoriko wasn't able to make anything out. Next to her Kirere let out a low growl, clearly able to see something Midoriko couldn't.

"What is it Kirere?" she asked.

There was a sudden flare of light as several torches in the room suddenly ignited causing Midoriko to let out a cry of surprise as she shielded her eyes, the sudden light blinding her.

"My apologies, I forgot you cannot see without light," a faintly familiar voice called out.

Recognizing it Midoriko removed her hand and squinted at the figure sitting on the throne to confirm her suspicions.

"Ukaran," she hissed.

"Surprised?" Ukaran asked, clearly amused.

"So it was all a lie, simply a trap to bring me to your castle?"

"A lie? Oh no, I have the bowl right here," Ukaran replied, smirking as he reached down next to him and lifted up a small bowl with one hand.

"You?! You're the one who stole the bowl?"

"Of course. It did, after all, bring you right to me did it not? I'm afraid, however, that it has outlived its usefulness," he continued with a note of fake regret before clenching his fist, easily crushing the bowl.

"What do you want with me?" Midoriko demanded, tightening the grip on her sword as she took a step closer to the throne.

"Sheath your sword," Ukaran demanded.

Midoriko ignored him and took another step towards the throne. Suddenly her forehead seared with blinding pain causing her to cry out and clutch her head with both hands, dropping the sword in the process.

"Much better, is something troubling you though my dear?" he asked with a smirk.

"Bastard…" she muttered.

"As to my reasons for bringing you here I have already told you many times that I greatly enjoy being in your beautiful presence," he explained, leering at her.

"So that's it then? You got tired of coming to see me so you made me come to visit you? Is this your sick idea of a joke Ukaran? I'm not some little plaything of yours!"

"Well… I lied, that was only part of the reason I brought you here. The other part was to ask you to become my wife."

Midoriko stood staring at him in shock before she replied. "Your joking right? You're a demon, I can tell that now if your actions weren't already enough to prove that. Why would I marry you, surely you must know I despise you." And she laughed.

Ukaran's face didn't change at all, but she could suddenly feel waves of hatred and anger flowing off of his body towards her. "So that's your answer is it?" he asked in a voice completely devoid of all emotion.

Suddenly wary Midoriko prepared to make a lunge for her sword as she nodded in response to his question.

"You disappoint me Priestess. Regretfully I'm afraid I'll have to move on to the more… unfavorable means of persuasion."

"Persuasion? I don't think you understand Ukaran, no matter what you do I will always refuse to marry you."

"I will leave you now so that you can think over what I've said and hopefully change your mind, for your own sake," he continued, ignoring what she had said.

With that two large, black, wings ripped through the back of his robes and he flew upwards, breaking through the roof and vanishing from sight.

Startled Midoriko bent down and retrieved her sword before returning it to its sheath. "Common Kirere, lets go home."

The two of them stepped back into the courtyard prepared to battle their way through more demons, but were surprised to see that it was completely empty. Not wanting to push their luck Midoriko jumped on Kirere's back and the two of them flew back to the village.

Ukaran has made it clear that he wants me, it seems that he's going to start becoming a little more forceful as well… And the bowl was destroyed as well…

Once they were in sight of the village Kirere landed and transformed back before jumping into Midoriko's arms and licking her face, trying to comfort her. Midoriko smiled and started walking back home, deciding that she'd take the rest of the day off to think over what had happened. As she neared her house she was startled to see Seikai running toward her.

"Master Seikai, what is it?" she asked in concern.

"The bowl! The bowl has been broken!" Seikai exclaimed.

"Oh that, yes I know already," Midoriko wearily replied.

"You know? Then you were able to feel it too?" he asked in surprise.

Midoriko explained what had happened in the castle, leaving out what Ukaran had said after destroying the bowl and replacing it with him simply leaving.

"So the demon told you where to find him and then mocked you by destroying it right in front of you? I don't like this Ukaran one bit!"

"Is the village still safe?"

"For now yes, the barrier still holds but it is much weaker. A strong demon would be able to break through, but it will still ward off most."

"That's good to know," Midoriko sighed. "If you wouldn't mind, however, I'd like to go home and just sleep, today has been exhausting."

"Of course, I'll see you tomorrow morning then and we can begin discussing plans of restoring the barrier to how it used to be."

Midoriko nodded in agreement and waved farewell to Seikai as she entered her house. She called out to let her mother know that she was back, but discovered her mother wasn't home yet. Realizing just how tired she was Midoriko went to her room and stripped down to her shift before crawling into bed and falling asleep.

When she woke up it was dark outside, the moon providing the only light. For some reason she felt incredibly dirty and thought back to her encounter with Ukaran. Deciding that she desperately needed a bath Midoriko quickly got dressed before grabbing a towel and heading to the hot springs.

Once she got there she stripped and quickly hopped into the water, the cold air of the night sending shivers across her bare flesh. As she enjoyed the warmth of the water she tried to rub the feeling from her skin, but no matter how she tried she felt as though his eyes were still violating her body.

"You look truly divine by moonlight Midoriko, did you know that?" she heard him say behind her.

Letting out a cry of surprise Midoriko covered her chest with one arm and submerged herself in the water up to her neck before turning around to see Ukaran standing at the edge of the springs.

"What… what are you doing here?" she asked, a slight note of fear in her voice.

"Afraid? Good, that means your beginning to understand."

"What are you going to do to me?" Without her clothes or sword Midoriko felt helplessly weak.

"Do to you? Nothing, for now. I simply came to ask you to change your mind. I love you Midoriko, I don't want to have to hurt you."

"Love me?! You think you understand love?" she questioned doubtfully. "If you claim to love me so much then why did you leave behind your spider minion to kill me on the mountain?"

At her words Ukaran's face darkened slightly. "Kill you? No, he was only supposed to capture you. If he harmed you in any way you have my deepest apologies, if you had not already slain him I would do so myself."

Surprised Midoriko found herself actually believing what Ukaran told her, the tone of his voice was too convincing for her to think otherwise.

"It doesn't matter!" she exclaimed, shaking her head to clear it of the confusing thoughts that had begun to form. "You are evil, I can feel it seeping out of you from your very soul. You destroyed the bowl protecting my village and have filled your castle with the vilest of demons. I want nothing to do with a petty demon like you."

By the way his face ignited with rage she suddenly regretted what she had said. This was the only time she could ever remember Ukaran losing his composure.

"Petty demon am I?" he snarled, venom dripping from his voice. "You should learn to be wary of whom you mock Priestess. Those you hold most dear might suffer the consequences," he hissed as his wings grew from his back and he flew away.

Filled with a feeling of inescapable dread Midoriko leapt out of the water and threw on her clothes, not even hesitating to dry herself off. Once she was dressed she rushed back to the village as fast as she could. Not paying close enough attention to the roots along the path her foot suddenly caught on one, causing her to crash violently into the ground. She felt a sickening pain in the arm she had landed on but ignored it as she jumped back to her feet and rushed on.

When her house finally came into sight she was glad to see that nothing seemed to be wrong, everything was as she had left it. Until Enju staggered into the doorway, blood running down the side of her face.

Midoriko rushed to her side and helped support her, she was glad to see that Enju was alright, the cut on her head had just bleed a lot.

"Enju, what happened?" she asked, panicked.

"I heard a scream… I was worried so I came over to see what had happened… When I opened the door… A demon attacked me…"

"A demon!?"

The barrier… Ukaran must have let it through!

"I was sure I was going to die," Enju continued. "Suddenly Kirere appeared behind the demon and killed it… She saved my life."

Of course, I left Kirere sleeping in my room when I went to take my bath.

"Enju," she said, grabbing both of the woman's shoulders and looking into her eyes. "My mother, is she alright?"

She saw a flicker of something in Enju's eyes. "Midoriko… I think… I think Kirere was still asleep and taken by surprise when the demon attacked…"

"NO!" screamed Midoriko refusing to believe what Enju was implying. She pushed her friend to the side and hurried into the house. Before she got through the door though Enju grabbed her wrist.

"No Midoriko, not like this. You shouldn't see her like this."

Ignoring what Enju said Midoriko angrily ripped her wrist away and ran to her mother's bedroom.

Enju closed her eyes to try and stop the tears when she heard Midoriko's agonizing scream pierce the still night air.

Midoriko collapsed to her knees and began sobbing uncontrollably, her entire body shaking, Her mother was still lying in her bed, the sheets still drawn up to her head. Her face was frozen in a mask of both confusion and terror. The entire bed was soaked in her blood.

After what seemed like an hour when her tears had finally stopped coming Midoriko only felt one emotion. Hate. Extreme hatred towards the man, no demon, who had caused this. In a daze Midoriko stood and walked out of the room, almost tripping over Kirere, not realizing that the cat had joined her during her mourning.

Picking Kirere up Midoriko left the house and headed to the only place she knew to go. The temple. Seikai was at first confused and then extremely worried as Midoriko sunk to the floor of the temple.

"Midoriko, what happened you look terrible."

"Demons killed my mother," she stated bluntly, wincing at the pain the out loud confession caused, as if it hadn't been real before she spoke it.

"What?!" Seikai exclaimed in shock, his eyes wide. "That's impossible, the barrier is still up!"

"Ukaran has always been able to enter the village, even when the bowl was aiding your power, it would have been a joke for him to get another demon inside with it as weak as it is now."

"You say Ukaran did this? How do you know?"

"Because he came to see me at the hot springs and something I said upset him."

"Midoriko," Seikai began, sitting next to her on the floor and putting an arm around her. "You must not blame yourself, that's exactly what he wants. This is not your fault, the demon killed her, not you."

"Is it wrong to feel this hatred, to want revenge Master?"

She felt his arm tighten around her before he responded. "Hate is wrong only if you allow it to consume you. Instead use that hatred to forge your soul into something stronger."

"And revenge?"

"In your case revenge is just, bring retribution upon this demon and make him pay for what he has done to you."

"I shall do that. I swear that I will slay Ukaran if it's the last thing I do."

Author's Note: Wow, that ended up being a little longer then I was planning on. Anyways I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please leave a review letting me know what you thought about it. I hope to have the next chapter out in a week, but it may take longer as I'm still not sure what's going to be in it.

Update 03/08/07: College is proving to be beyond busy right now and I simply don't have any time to write. I have NOT abandoned this fic, I still plan on finishing it and I hope to do that over Spring Break. For those of you who do wish to read on and find out how the story ends please just put this fic on StoryAlert, I hope to have all the rest of the fic posted 2.5 weeks from now.