THEME 38: BURNING

(Words: 738)

Kagome

"Midoriko"

"Kurama"

"Youko"

"Hiei"

Whatever Kagome had been expecting was nothing compared to this. With her eyes closed off to the world she writhed and gasped as the pain swept through her body like a fire. It burns! She was no longer sure how much time had passed, for even with her eyes open there was no light within this room to tell the time by. All she knew was the burning pain that stabbed through her body with every breath. As another twinge of pain centered on her mind she wrapped her arms around her head, unable to help the strangled shout that it wrung out of her throat. The pain was quickly followed by an unfamiliar presence that poked and prodded, and she quickly scrambled to bring her defenses back into place around her mind. NO!

"Come, little one, you're not going to let this stop you, are you?"

Tears were flowing freely down her face now as that familiar voice intruded upon her mind, wrapping around her and dulling the pain to a low throb. Midoriko…?

She received a mental image of the older woman wrapping her arms around her body, resting her chin against her shoulder. "This is merely a test, Kagome, but the apparition will not go easy on you. He understands that you must learn this to survive, and mustn't hold back. You shouldn't hold yourself back either."

I am trying…

"You are afraid to hurt him," the spirit scolded. "While I question his morality, the Jaganshi is worthy of his reputation. He will not die if you retaliate. Scorched, perhaps, but death will not befall him while I am here to supervise."

How do I keep him out, though? I don't know how…

"Focus your mind on something." There was a pause, followed by another image, this one of Midoriko grinning. "Think of your kitsune. You want to protect him, don't you?"

More than anything…Kagome admitted.

"Think of the way his arms feel around you, how safe you feel when he's near. Something as simple as that can block him from your mind, if only you concentrate hard enough. You can do it, little one, I know you can."

She grit her teeth as another poke brought a wave of pain, wrenching a picture of Kurama into her mind's eye. Through the pain she tried to remember every detail about him, from the way his smile quirked at the edges, to how his eyes glinted between green and gold from one moment to the next.

Kurama…

Hiei rolled his eyes, distractedly opening a link with Kurama despite his rigid posture. "Hn, the miko is single minded when in regards to you."

Seeing the image of himself only managed to make him smile for a moment before his brow creased in another frown as she let out another gasp of pain against the hybrids intrusion. "Kurama, get your ass over there and help our girl!" Youko roared, snarling within the confines of their mind. His counterpart stubbornly clung to his control over their body, fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles creaked and groaned.

"No, Youko. I don't like seeing her in pain any more than you do." They both flinched when the girl arched her back with a sound similar to a scream, fingers digging at her temples to no avail. "She needs this training, as much as I hate to think of her in danger…"

"I don't like it." The silver kitsune paced back and forth, tail flapping irritably as his ears sunk to their lowest.

"She's safer with Hiei than anyone else. It may hurt, but he won't permanently harm her…better for her to strengthen her mind now than lose her mind facing against Naraku."

Genkai's grunt brought them out of their musings and they looked towards the older woman. "She's doing better than most humans do against the Jagan…but it is not good enough." The harsh lines on her forehead that seemed to be a permanent feature on her face deepened the longer she watched. "Her mental control needs to be perfect if she wants to survive sengoku jidai."

"Hn. The miko has a temporary grasp on her mind."

The older woman hummed thoughtfully before sliding her brown eyes towards the hybrid. "Keep going as long as you can. We want to train her, but we don't want to break her either."

I apologize for the long wait. Due to adding another English class to my curriculum, I have been writing non-stop, but alas, I cannot write fanfiction for my classes (Although it would be awesome if I could). Anywho, I've been working ahead chapter wise, so hopefully they'll come out at least on a semi-regular basis...no promises though. Thank you for your patience, for your reviews, and your very presence. Please continue to read and review! -Master of all Perv's, out!