Summary: An ageless priestess forever bound to the past… All she'd ever wished for was happiness. Their story began with an injured little cardinal and her caring heart. How unfortunate it was for it to end the way it had.

Pairing: Kagome/Caleb

Disclaimer: I do not own either series.

Note:
Might lack canon-plot.
Flashback/Past written in bulk Italics.

Prologue

The path was quiet as she made her way. As she walked, she found herself mulling over her absolute rotten luck. Her expression dipped to a somber one, and she held back her sigh as she lifted a hand to place it over the silent jewel.

There was no pulse of magic, nor any hint of Midoriko's energy.

She wasn't quite sure how, but she'd found her place here for a short while. In a little settlement known as Gravesfield. Surely, a somber title for such a place, yet it was oddly fitting considering its practices. She wasn't sure how long she could stand to remain in such a place. Before long, knowing her history of bad luck would come crashing down here, too. She'd be accused of being a witch for doing the wrong thing in an attempt to help, knowing herself so well.

"I wish I could find a way home," she mumbled to herself, careful to keep her voice to a whisper in case someone might stray too close and hear her conversing with herself. It was a hard habit to kick, yet it would surely call suspicion towards her, too.

"A-Ah! Ow!"

Kagome came to a halt upon hearing the pained sound from the other side of the trees she walked on, turning curious eyes towards the direction it came from. Somewhat quieter, beneath the distinctly masculine voice, was the chirping of a bird.

"I'm only trying to help you…! Ow…-!"

Confusion won her over, and despite already having plenty to do, Kagome couldn't find it in her to ignore the sounds in the close-by distance. The bird's chirping sounded pained, and a frown appeared on her face, stealing her lips into a delicate downward curve. On trained quiet feet, she made her way over to the treeline to survey the area. Bluebell eyes landed on a figure she'd seen in passing a handful of times, but he wasn't what captured her focus. No, instead it was the small cardinal on the ground before him.

Despite how he clearly had no intention of harming it, it was still angrily and defensively pecking at him whenever he attempted to carefully lift it from where it rested in the dirt on the ground.

A wry smile twisted onto her face, and she made her way out from the treeline. She approached him on light feet, pausing a little bit behind him to get a better look at the situation.

"You're going to get hurt if you keep doing it like that," Kagome remarked dryly. Those had been the first words she'd ever truly spoken to him. He was startled by her presence, and she had to hide her giggle when he abruptly rose to his feet in his surprise. After all, not many were like her. Not many were as aware to the same level as she was. Not many could tell so easily the presence of others.

He met her gaze before swapping it back to the bird on the ground. "It's got a wounded wing," he stated. Kagome nodded in comprehension. "I just wanted to help it."

Kagome came closer and paused at his side, offering him a gentle smile as she crouched to be a bit closer to the bird. "I can see that," she remarked softly. His compassion for the creature wasn't lost on her.

His blonde hair was a bit long and was tied back neatly by a black ribbon. She saw the way his brown eyes furrowed in concentration as he turned back to the bird. Even as it chirped harshly towards him in response to his attention, he didn't back down. Kagome let out a soft sigh and shook her head before she fixed herself so she was seated on her knees, fixing her long dress to be beneath her in the process. Once seated, she patted the ground beside her and cut her eyes back up at him, encouraging him to take a seat alongside her. Slowly, he did just that, seating himself at her side in front of the bird,

"Of course, it's gonna peck at you," she remarked dryly. "You're attempting to pick it up all wrong."

"Huh?" He sat up a bit straighter at her comment, and Kagome offered him a warm smile as she nodded. The next second, she held a hand out toward the bird. It chirped loudly, but when she didn't reach out and try to grab hold of it, it calmed down rather easily.

It was slow, but it eventually hopped toward her open palm. She carefully moved her other hand up, bringing it up to support the side so it wouldn't take a tumble from her hands. She felt his eyes on her, watching in amazement.

"You see," she began, "the way you were doing it, you could've injured his wing even worse," she stated. "You need to let him go at his own pace."

She turned towards him then, and motioned for him to hold out his hands. He did as requested, cupping them together, and she gently coaxed the little cardinal over to him so he could hold it. It went easily, situating itself right in the middle of his cupped hands.

"Now," she hummed a soft encouragement, a small smile on her face as she looked from the bird and to his face. "Let's see what's wrong with his wing, why don't we?"

It took a bit of time, but she was soon able to patch up the cardinal the best she could. Obviously, she couldn't use her spiritual energy to heal it instantly, despite wishing to, so instead, she subtly let it flow into the bird. It'd heal at a gradual pace, but it'd get better soon enough.

Once done, she let her hands lower. He kept the bird held in his grip. It looked rather cozy there, after all.

"Amazing," he breathed, eyes alight in amazement as he looked back at her. "You're a natural at this, are you?"

Kagome paused before laughing. It was a pretty sound that rivaled the singing of birds. "I wouldn't say it that way," she hummed, only to shake her head. "It took a lot of time to learn how to help creatures such as this little bird," she remarked. "But it's worth it," she added, a smile contorting her face soon enough. "I don't like needless suffering."

He nodded and as she rose to her feet, he was quick to blurt out a response. "W-What's your name?" he asked, and Kagome paused, looking at him curiously. "I've seen you around, of course, but we've never interacted before, have we?"

Kagome thought it over for a minute. As she did, he coaxed the bird up onto his shoulder so he could stand back up. He was taller than her, with her coming up to his shoulders.

"I…- If it matters, I'm Caleb Wittebane," he said, offering a smile. "Though, Caleb works just as fine."

Kagome matched his smile with her own. "Well, it'd be rude of me not to tell you my name since now I know yours," she remarked. "You may call me Kagome," she said. "That's all I'm known as these days," she added, a somber look passing over her face.

When she didn't really have a family, there was no need to give her family name. She had no relation anymore.

"What a lovely name," he commented, and Kagome felt her eyes go wide.

It wasn't every day that she heard a compliment like that. She glanced down and sighed softly.

"Admittedly, when I was a little girl, I didn't like it very much," she admitted. "The older I get, the more I'm able to appreciate my mother's decision."

Auroua-chan: We've learned so little about this man, yet I love him.

Kagome is immortal in this story ( and it will go to modern time.) For now, it's centered on this time, though. As the years progress, she may or may not meet the other Golden Guards that came before Hunter did.

Anyway, that's it for now! Thank you all for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed! Hopefully I caught all the errors before posting, but if not sorry.

Please remember to Review&Favorite&Follow, thank you!

Bye for now~