Disclaimer- I don't own Inuyasha, never have and probably never will. Really, if I owned Inuyasha, why would I be writing fan fiction? However, I would really appreciate it if you don't copy any of my ideas, since it took a long time to finally get all the details straight. -_-;
Also, any quotes I put in belong to the said person.
A/N: Hope you like this chapter. I'm sorry if you'll be thinking this story is too slow or anything, it's just that I love stories that have a lot of details and depth to them, you know what I mean? I wanted to explain things about the ring in this chapter. Sesshoumaru should be coming in the next chapter, with the rest of the characters. ^_^;; Please don't be too mad!! Anyway, on with the story.
* ~ D A R K N E S S ~ ~ B E F O R E ~ ~L I G H T ~ *
By MysticMoon
Chapter 1- The Ring
"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. " -- Helen Keller
Kagome walked slowly through the meadow, enjoying the softly blowing wind. It whispered into her ear and caused soft, wispy tendrils of hair to billow behind her. This was her favorite place to think; to get away from reality and daydream about places where only her imagination could take her.
She looked around at the vision of serenity surrounding her. The tall grass brushing her ankles as she strolled along.
The multitudes of flowers bobbing their heads up and down.
The trees swaying in the breeze.
The scene seemed so innocent with frail butterflies fluttering their delicate wings and happy birds singing, or rather, chirping melodious tunes. They flew through the gorgeous blue sky, which was painted with cotton candy clouds.
It all looked so perfect.
Like a slice of time where all is right with the world.
Eerily, it reflected her life.
Calm.
Predictable.
Happy, or so she tries to tell herself.
Her place as the future miko of her village was already planned. She could literally predict her future. She, Kagome Higurashi, would spend a year or two to complete her miko training under the tutelage of the present village miko, Keade. Once she did become the village miko, she would do all that was expected of her; defending the village from youkai, healing the ill, and everything else.
'Well, that pretty much sums up the rest of my life.' Kagome thought to herself, somewhat sarcastically. Maybe she should have included something about having a husband and a few children, but once she thought about all the men who wanted to marry her in the village, she shook her head. 'There's just something missing whenever they're around me. But…if I want a husband, I will have to choose soon. After all, I will be turning 17 soon and most of my friends are already married as it is.'
Then, she visibly cringed as she thought of one of her more persistent 'suitors', Hojo. He was so ignorant that he gave her the worst headaches. 'Don't get me wrong, he can be the sweetest guy, but I just wish he would finally figure out that I just want to be his friend, nothing more.' Kagome pushed never-to-be fulfilled thoughts of fat, adorable babies and a loving husband away and sighed.
Sometimes Kagome just wanted to scream. Wanted to scream for adventure, excitement, change…
No matter how much she loved the peace in her village, sometimes, she just wanted something…more. She felt empty, as if she were missing out on something wonderful. Whenever she thought of traveling on a dangerous voyage or fighting the innocent from enemies, Kagome always felt an unexplainable tug on her heart. Like those were the things she was meant to do…
Most people would describe her life as great compared to some others. Her village had good harvests each year, as no one is ever hungry. With her position as future miko and daughter of one of the oldest families in the village, Kagome is very respected. She also has a very caring and loving family. It included Kagome's wonderful, if somewhat eccentric, grandfather, an understanding mother, and a cute little brother named Souta.
'What could be wrong with me?' Confused, Kagome sat on a large boulder and happened to look at the ring on her right hand as she tucked her knees under her head. The ring and it's fragile flower design and unidentifiable purple gem was something that she never took off, it's presence always soothed her. Even though she had worn the ring ever since she could remember, it always fit on her finger. Even with her frequent tree climbing and play when she was younger, the ring had not one scratch on it.
Kagome could clearly remember the day her mother gave her the ring.
~.~.~.~.~Flashback - Roughly a decade ago~.~.~.~.~
"Mama, what's in that box over there?" a young Kagome asked her mother, who was sitting behind her, carefully brushing her daughter's dark tangled hair. Mrs. Higurashi glanced at the small wooden box , placed the brush to the side, and then put her hands on Kagome's small shoulders.
"Well, Kagome, that's the box where I put all the small family heirlooms; things that have been passed down through our family for many years. Would you like to look at them?" Kagome's mother replied. Little Kagome nodded her head quickly, thinking of all the pretty things that might be found in the square object.
Seconds later, Kagome stared in awe at the jewelry and whatnot in the box as Mrs. Higurashi took each item out. "…and this is a necklace passed down from your grandmother, given to her by Grandfather many years ago." Her mother patiently explained.
"But Mama, what's in that?" Kagome asked while pointing to a dark silky pouch on the corner of the box.
"Well, that's one of the oldest heirlooms, if not -the- oldest." Mrs. Higurashi told her while working to undo the knot of the pouch. "If I'm not mistaken, it has been passed down for so many years that I have forgotten how many great-great-great-great- grandmothers it has gone through." Kagome's mother laughed softly. "But the funny thing is, when your grandmother gave this ring to me, she told me that no one has been able to wear it. Somehow, the ring would either be too big or too small to fit -any- of the person's fingers. I hadn't believed it myself until I tried wearing it." She seemed contemplative for a moment. "When I thought that the ring would actually fit on my finger, it seemed to…,well, the best way to explain it is that it -shrunk-. But now I think was just hallucinating it all." Mrs. Higurashi laughingly said while taking out the piece of jewelry.
"Mama! It's so PRETTY!!! Look at the PRETTY flower!! And the PRETTY stone!!! " Kagome happily exclaimed, her blue eyes transfixed on silver ring and the purple gem in the center of the flower. "May I wear it Mama? Pretty please?"
"Of course Kagome, I will be handing it down to you when you get older, anyway." Her mother replied. "But don't be too upset if it doesn't fit." she warned her daughter.
Kagome slowly reached out her hand to take the ring from her mother's palm. On contact, Kagome experienced an electrical shock pass between the ring and her finger. She gasped softly as she felt something inside her left hip…move…
The girl mentally shook her head for her overactive imagination. She took the ring and carefully started to put it on the pudgy fourth finger of her right hand. Kagome felt a kind of pulsing coming from the ring as it was halfway down her finger. She pouted slightly disappointment when she found that the ring would probably always fall off because the size was too large. When Kagome made a move to take the pretty ring off, something shocking happened. The ring grew -smaller-. Just enough to perfectly fit at the based of her finger.
"Look Mama, it fits!" the child version of Kagome said excitedly, while looking at the ring on her finger.
Mrs. Higurashi just looked on with bewilderment.
~.~.~.~.~End Flashback~.~.~.~.~
'And I've worn it ever since.' Kagome thought to herself, smiling.
With all of her thinking about the ring, Kagome's thoughts turned to the events of the night before. 'That dream…I've been having it for some time now. Who were those people? Who was that man? He looked a lot like grandfather for some reason. And…that ring…' Kagome looked at the piece of jewelry on her right hand. 'It's just like mine…but that can't be right. There's no other purple gem like this one. Mama said that's a reason why it's a one-of-a-kind and priceless.' Her brow creased in thought. 'It glowed…it's never glowed before…' She stared at the ring hard, trying to figure out what exactly happened.
'It is almost time.' a voice whispered in her head. 'If any more time is wasted, it may be too late.'
'What in the world is going on?! Who are you?' Kagome thought, her eyes still trained on the ring. For some reason, she was not one bit afraid. The gem in the flowers center was radiating a purple light and…it looked like something was… -swirling- inside of it.
'I am the ring's soul. I've been inside for countless years waiting to find you. The Chosen One. I am here to help and train you for the upcoming battle.' it replied softly.
'But if you're the ring's soul, why didn't this happen a long time ago, when Mama gave it to me? Wait a minute…what battle?! Chosen One?!' Kagome questioned as calmly as she could. It isn't every day the voice of your ring's soul starts to pop up in your brain, but Kagome wasn't as perturbed as others would have been because she had always believed her ring was something more.
The voice echoed in her head, 'Because you weren't ready physically or mentally. I had decided then that it would have been best if I waited until you became older. However…the Darkness…he is becoming too strong…I can feel it. Thankfully, he still does not know who you are because this ring has masked your true identity. But…if we do not face him soon…we might not have another chance.'
'I don't understand…'
"Kagome-chan!!" a voice exclaimed, breaking her thoughts and eye contact with the ring, which immediately ceased glowing an eerie purple.
Review Responses:
sesshoumaru-dono- Thanks soo much for being my first reviewer!! Anyway, you asked for a longer chapter, and here it is. It had been two before, but I combined them just for you. ^_^
starangel- Well, hope you don't think you had to wait too long. ^_^
slyslicra- Thank you for thinking so and of course I'll write more!! ^_^
Ashley- I hope that you got my e-mail. Hope I don't disappoint you. Thanks for pointing that mistake out. I fixed it right away. ^_^
Mistress Fluffy- Sesshoumaru should be arriving in the next chapter. ^_^
Suki- I'll try my best to update ASAP, but you know how life can be. ^_^
Lauren0- Thanks for thinking it was a nice start. I just wanted it there so no one would be confused at what happened all those years ago. ^_^
kawaiikitsune- Sesshoumaru was supposed to be in this chapter, but it started to get too long, so I left the event of Sesshoumaru and Kagome meeting each other to the next chapter. ^_^
A/N: Don't you just love Sess/Kag fanfics?! They make such a cute couple!! ^_^ Does anyone know a good male name or perhaps the Japanese word they call someone old or they respect? I can't seem to think of a name to call the voice in Kagome's head and it's keeping me from writing the next chapter. (I hope I didn't just ruin the mystery of who the ring's soul is. -_-;;) Anyway, I want to hear what you think will happen (although I think it's a bit too early for that -_-;;) or why things happen. So REVIEW!!! ^_^