A.N: Thanks for all the reviews. Here is the next chapter. I am sorry that
I took so long to update but my mother was not to happy about me going on
the computer when I was still grounded, so she extended my punishment
another month.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chap. 7~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kagome was exhausted, by the time they reached the village all she wanted to do was sleep. The first thing she did after saying hello to everyone was inter a private room, made specifically for girls who wanted to change without Miroku watching them, and proceeded to slip into her P.Js. Then she set up her sleeping bag and laid down falling asleep almost instantaneously; hoping in the back of her mind, just before unconsciousness clamed her, that she would be able to escape the nagging feeling that said that she would never see home again. With a shiver, Kagome closed her eyes, slipping easily into limbo. Kagome's spirit self, as she had come to call it, frowned limbo seemed. stretched as if she was inside an inflated balloon that was about to burst. Something surfaced in the bake of her mind distracting her from Kikyou's approaching figure. Kagome shook her head, shoving the distraction away. The thing surfaced again more persistent this time and Kagome found it harder to concentrate on maintaining the cool emotional state that was so important in a miko's training. She did not even notice that Kikyou had arrived until the older woman cleared her throat. Kagome looked up, sluggish, and found that she could not focus. "Something is wrong," she said her words slurred as if she was drunk, "My head is all achy, and my eyes are blurry." " I know." Kikyou said with a sigh. "How do you know? Is this part of my training?" "No, its not part of the training, its an ability that all mikos have, physic dreams and prophetic feelings, things like that." "Kikyou, do these feelings and dreams always come true?" "No, they are just warnings of things that could happen, except when it has to do with the weather, those feelings are always true." "How do I get rid of it? I have to train." Kagome said drunkenly. "The only way to get rid of it is to let it play out, the only thing you will learn tonight is how to tap the physic world and to go deeper into your subconscious mind. Now take a deep breath and stretch your awareness out let it tangle with the currents of power and physic energy around you. Imagine all that energy being absorbed into your inner self, strengthening it, empowering it, you have to want it Kagome. You must want that power, need that power." Kagome reached out with her awareness, finding it surprisingly easy, but when she tried to pull all the power she had caught within her minds eye it broke loose. She frowned, how was she supposed to trap it if she could not even hold on to it? 'Maybe I'm not supposed to trap it, maybe I'm supposed to invite it in.' It worked only a little better then trying to pull them in did. They came close to her but, just inches away form the point where they would bond with Kagome's inner self they would fly in the opposite direction as if repelled by a strong force. The dizziness in her head increased, and with it came the first phantoms of pain, a clear warning of what the future held. 'Please,' She thought groggily, not entirely sure of what she was doing. 'Please, I need your help, your power.' Kagome felt a sudden rush of warm air, then an immense feeling of power filled her veins, almost too much for her to handle. Slowly it faded, becoming more bearable, but it did not fade entirely, it was almost as if the power had made a place in her soul as a cat makes a place in a flowerbed. In her heart of hearts Kagome knew that she would carry that power with her for all her days, come better or worse, like one carries the memory of an old friend. With the power came wisdom, as all good power dose, she could feel the earth's breath running in and out of her lungs as if it was her own, hear its heartbeat drumming the same beat as hers. Knew without a doubt that the power and intensity of the earth's lifeblood of molten rock ran threw her veins the same way mortal blood did. She could hear the voices of the animals, plants, winds, and snows, all of them and more in her head. They told her things, things that she never would have known otherwise even if she had lived to be a thousand years old. The past, present, and, somehow, the future, all in the earth's point of view, where laid out before her eyes. She knew secrets of the universe that scientists would never know. She also knew that she could never reveal them to anyone. In the rush of information, age-old secrets and feelings, the pain and dizziness of earlier had been washed away. They returned with a vengeance, now that the earth's voices had died down to a murmur that was easy to ignore, to remind her that her task was not yet done. Slowly she came out of the trance she had sunk into, opening her eyes to the bright blackness, and full emptiness of limbo, and the content, smiling face of her teacher and friend. "Good, you have achieved the oneness of earth and spirit that all minkos must have in order to complete there training." Kikyou said with more emotion that Kagome had ever thought possible for her. "Next you are going to go deeper into your subconscious mind, by taking your power and compressing it so it feels heavy in your mind, like a rock. Hold that stone in your mind, and consternate on that feeling that's been bugging you, imagine that feeling as water and let yourself drop threw it with your power stone weighing you down, dragging you to the waters depths and threw to the oxygen on the other side." At first all Kagome felt was a cold floating sensation, then agony like none she had ever known tore at her very soul it was as if she was being ripped apart and pushed back together at the same time. As suddenly, as the pain started it ended, she was standing on the dream plane, waiting for what would happen next.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Kagome's dream~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Something compelled her into a walk, then a jog, then a run, and finally into a sprint that was almost super sonic. A figure was approaching at the same speed from the opposite direction. As Kagome drew closer she realized that the approaching figure was herself and she was running toward a giant mirror like surface, but she could not stop didn't want to stop running toward it. Inches away from the mirror wall she tripped falling straight into the wall. For a moment time slowed down as a ripple ran threw it, then the wall went rigid, time sped up, and the wall shattered into a million and one peaces leaving a million and one cuts all over Kagome's body. As she landed with a soft thump on the pitch black, ground Kagome became aware of a presence, actually several presences. Looking up, threw the blood that was spilling into her eyes from a cut on her forehead, Kagome gasped. There looking down at her, not kindly not unkindly just looking, where the faces of her ancestors all the minkos of the past, who are all connected to each other by the very fact that they are all minkos. Also looking down at her where the minkos of the future her descendents who's souls she was connected to in the same way the souls of those who had gone before where connected to hers. In those faces, she found truth, betrayal, beauty, anger, lust, pain, love, hate, ugliness. power. All those things where their carefully hidden, to subtle to define, to name them all, but to clear and intense to be ignored. They each had a defining feeling to them, as different as a fingerprint, but everyone of them gave her a since of strictly controlled power, and strength. Then they spoke in a voice that pierced the heavens, a voice of many voices, that voice carried threw the grate full empty space around them, it carried threw time. It whispered to her wanting ears time's secrets like the grate booming of a grandfather clock. With that unearthly voice, they said three words; three simple words that would eventually change her almost to the point of being unrecognizable. "Call to us." A moment later a women stepped forward, she gave off the impression of eternities of age, in her hart Kagome new that the woman before her was the first minko, the one who had first achieved the connection to the earth that all minkos have. With indescribable grace and majesty she placed her hand over a sluggishly bleeding cut on Kagome's shoulder, the wound gave off the same feeling of age as the woman herself. A feeling like a warm summer breeze filled Kagome's veins that almost made the girl want to let go of life, almost. A second later the wound on Kagome's shoulder closed and the first minko's power ebbed from her veins. Gracefully the first minko stood, her robes flying in an unfelt breeze, and then she faded, disappearing into the otherworld, from witch she came. Another minko, who was only a little younger than the first minko, stepped forward and repeated the process until Kikyou; the last of her ancestors had healed a wound and faded. Then the youngest minko stepped forward, the one that would witness the end of the world, the one that the minko powers would die with, never to be reborn. Slowly she repeated what the others had done, then the next one, and the next. Until the last of her descendants, a strange girl with black dog ears and amber eyes, had all faded away, and there was only one cut left on the palm of her right hand. Kagome glanced around but she did not see anyone, she looked down at the cut on her hand, it gave her, the impression if the hear and now, it never felt older, it represented the present. Was she supposed to heal herself? Out of the shadows stepped the last minko, her minko robes swirling in a breeze, her face utterly familiar, the girl Kagome had seen running toward her in the mirror wall, herself. The girl moved forward slowly, raising her right hand as she did, on the palm of her hand, in an exact mirror of Kagome's own, was a cut. Kagome stood and moved forward to meet her, raising her right hand at the same time. There hands clasped in an unbreakable hold, and white hot power sizzled threw there veins, burning away all the impurities of mortal life, in that moment they where immortal, and made of nothing but pure power. The white light filled there bodes to bursting then spilled out, blocking her vision of anything but the blinding power. Slowly the power trickled out of her body leaving her feeling like a limp noodle her vision was dark with the after image of that white light and the hand of herself that she had grasped so tightly had escaped her hold. Kagome was utterly alone in the blackness of near blindness. Her sight eventually returned and the first thing she saw was a beautiful woman with floor length black hair and dark brown eyes. Pink lips accented ivory skin; she was tall and had the bearing of a queen. Her outer kimono was red, her inner kimono black with a pink cherry blossom pattern along the hems. She wore no shoos, just a silver ring on the pinkie toe of her right foot. Her face was unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. Without being told Kagome knew that this was a combined form of all the minkos, including herself. "The danger draws near, call to us in your time of need and we will lend you the strength you seek." When she spoke Kagome wanted to scream, cry, sing, dance, laugh, die, live, and so much more all at the same time. Separately, but speaking at the same time the voices of the minkos had been overwhelming, now in their combined form it was almost godlike. Finally, Kagome passed out from the rush of hearing that voice. She would not see anything but blackness until she opened her eyes in the morning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Midnight, normal world. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inu-yasha paced quietly, to restless to sleep but to tired to wake everyone up. His amber-glass gaze constantly swept back and forth over the form of the person who was the cause of his unrest, Kagome. Sleeping peacefully in the moonlight as if without a care in the world, even he found it hard to believe she was the reason he could not sleep. It had been hours since the others had gone to sleep. Inu-yasha had tried he really had but he just couldn't do it, he could not fall asleep. Around 1:00 in the morning Kagome began to toss and turn in her sleep and Inu-yasha was instantly at her side, a worried expression on his handsome face. Suddenly Kagome went rigid and unmoving, un-breathing. About to cry out for help Inu- yasha did not realize he was crying, then suddenly Kagome relaxed and released her held breath, at the same time a million and one cuts appeared out of seemingly nowhere. Inu-yasha was to terrified and fascinated to do anything but watch as one by one the cut disappeared. At last, only one cut was left on the palm of her right hand, as he watched the cut seemed to spark then bleed white light so intense he was sure the others would wake up. With out a conscious decision Inu-yasha reached out to wipe away the tears of white light that had started to fall down Kagome's cheeks. The tears felt hot and cold at the same time and made his whole arm tingle; he pulled away instinctively, rubbing his arm. As suddenly, as they had started the tears stopped and the cut on her hand closed, leaving a pearly scar as a memento of its presence there. For a minute Kagome was quiet, then she mumbled something about danger and calling on someone, turned on her side and was still. As if she did not have a care in the world. Something told him that she was changing, going somewhere inside her soul that he couldn't follow, she was confronting demons that he could not protect her from, and he hated it, hated it with every fiber of his being. His last thought before finally slipping into slumber was: ' Please don't leave me Kagome, please don't run any further away.'
In the morning they set out for the southern lands.
A.N: You know the drill, five reviews and I will update, bye!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chap. 7~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kagome was exhausted, by the time they reached the village all she wanted to do was sleep. The first thing she did after saying hello to everyone was inter a private room, made specifically for girls who wanted to change without Miroku watching them, and proceeded to slip into her P.Js. Then she set up her sleeping bag and laid down falling asleep almost instantaneously; hoping in the back of her mind, just before unconsciousness clamed her, that she would be able to escape the nagging feeling that said that she would never see home again. With a shiver, Kagome closed her eyes, slipping easily into limbo. Kagome's spirit self, as she had come to call it, frowned limbo seemed. stretched as if she was inside an inflated balloon that was about to burst. Something surfaced in the bake of her mind distracting her from Kikyou's approaching figure. Kagome shook her head, shoving the distraction away. The thing surfaced again more persistent this time and Kagome found it harder to concentrate on maintaining the cool emotional state that was so important in a miko's training. She did not even notice that Kikyou had arrived until the older woman cleared her throat. Kagome looked up, sluggish, and found that she could not focus. "Something is wrong," she said her words slurred as if she was drunk, "My head is all achy, and my eyes are blurry." " I know." Kikyou said with a sigh. "How do you know? Is this part of my training?" "No, its not part of the training, its an ability that all mikos have, physic dreams and prophetic feelings, things like that." "Kikyou, do these feelings and dreams always come true?" "No, they are just warnings of things that could happen, except when it has to do with the weather, those feelings are always true." "How do I get rid of it? I have to train." Kagome said drunkenly. "The only way to get rid of it is to let it play out, the only thing you will learn tonight is how to tap the physic world and to go deeper into your subconscious mind. Now take a deep breath and stretch your awareness out let it tangle with the currents of power and physic energy around you. Imagine all that energy being absorbed into your inner self, strengthening it, empowering it, you have to want it Kagome. You must want that power, need that power." Kagome reached out with her awareness, finding it surprisingly easy, but when she tried to pull all the power she had caught within her minds eye it broke loose. She frowned, how was she supposed to trap it if she could not even hold on to it? 'Maybe I'm not supposed to trap it, maybe I'm supposed to invite it in.' It worked only a little better then trying to pull them in did. They came close to her but, just inches away form the point where they would bond with Kagome's inner self they would fly in the opposite direction as if repelled by a strong force. The dizziness in her head increased, and with it came the first phantoms of pain, a clear warning of what the future held. 'Please,' She thought groggily, not entirely sure of what she was doing. 'Please, I need your help, your power.' Kagome felt a sudden rush of warm air, then an immense feeling of power filled her veins, almost too much for her to handle. Slowly it faded, becoming more bearable, but it did not fade entirely, it was almost as if the power had made a place in her soul as a cat makes a place in a flowerbed. In her heart of hearts Kagome knew that she would carry that power with her for all her days, come better or worse, like one carries the memory of an old friend. With the power came wisdom, as all good power dose, she could feel the earth's breath running in and out of her lungs as if it was her own, hear its heartbeat drumming the same beat as hers. Knew without a doubt that the power and intensity of the earth's lifeblood of molten rock ran threw her veins the same way mortal blood did. She could hear the voices of the animals, plants, winds, and snows, all of them and more in her head. They told her things, things that she never would have known otherwise even if she had lived to be a thousand years old. The past, present, and, somehow, the future, all in the earth's point of view, where laid out before her eyes. She knew secrets of the universe that scientists would never know. She also knew that she could never reveal them to anyone. In the rush of information, age-old secrets and feelings, the pain and dizziness of earlier had been washed away. They returned with a vengeance, now that the earth's voices had died down to a murmur that was easy to ignore, to remind her that her task was not yet done. Slowly she came out of the trance she had sunk into, opening her eyes to the bright blackness, and full emptiness of limbo, and the content, smiling face of her teacher and friend. "Good, you have achieved the oneness of earth and spirit that all minkos must have in order to complete there training." Kikyou said with more emotion that Kagome had ever thought possible for her. "Next you are going to go deeper into your subconscious mind, by taking your power and compressing it so it feels heavy in your mind, like a rock. Hold that stone in your mind, and consternate on that feeling that's been bugging you, imagine that feeling as water and let yourself drop threw it with your power stone weighing you down, dragging you to the waters depths and threw to the oxygen on the other side." At first all Kagome felt was a cold floating sensation, then agony like none she had ever known tore at her very soul it was as if she was being ripped apart and pushed back together at the same time. As suddenly, as the pain started it ended, she was standing on the dream plane, waiting for what would happen next.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Kagome's dream~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Something compelled her into a walk, then a jog, then a run, and finally into a sprint that was almost super sonic. A figure was approaching at the same speed from the opposite direction. As Kagome drew closer she realized that the approaching figure was herself and she was running toward a giant mirror like surface, but she could not stop didn't want to stop running toward it. Inches away from the mirror wall she tripped falling straight into the wall. For a moment time slowed down as a ripple ran threw it, then the wall went rigid, time sped up, and the wall shattered into a million and one peaces leaving a million and one cuts all over Kagome's body. As she landed with a soft thump on the pitch black, ground Kagome became aware of a presence, actually several presences. Looking up, threw the blood that was spilling into her eyes from a cut on her forehead, Kagome gasped. There looking down at her, not kindly not unkindly just looking, where the faces of her ancestors all the minkos of the past, who are all connected to each other by the very fact that they are all minkos. Also looking down at her where the minkos of the future her descendents who's souls she was connected to in the same way the souls of those who had gone before where connected to hers. In those faces, she found truth, betrayal, beauty, anger, lust, pain, love, hate, ugliness. power. All those things where their carefully hidden, to subtle to define, to name them all, but to clear and intense to be ignored. They each had a defining feeling to them, as different as a fingerprint, but everyone of them gave her a since of strictly controlled power, and strength. Then they spoke in a voice that pierced the heavens, a voice of many voices, that voice carried threw the grate full empty space around them, it carried threw time. It whispered to her wanting ears time's secrets like the grate booming of a grandfather clock. With that unearthly voice, they said three words; three simple words that would eventually change her almost to the point of being unrecognizable. "Call to us." A moment later a women stepped forward, she gave off the impression of eternities of age, in her hart Kagome new that the woman before her was the first minko, the one who had first achieved the connection to the earth that all minkos have. With indescribable grace and majesty she placed her hand over a sluggishly bleeding cut on Kagome's shoulder, the wound gave off the same feeling of age as the woman herself. A feeling like a warm summer breeze filled Kagome's veins that almost made the girl want to let go of life, almost. A second later the wound on Kagome's shoulder closed and the first minko's power ebbed from her veins. Gracefully the first minko stood, her robes flying in an unfelt breeze, and then she faded, disappearing into the otherworld, from witch she came. Another minko, who was only a little younger than the first minko, stepped forward and repeated the process until Kikyou; the last of her ancestors had healed a wound and faded. Then the youngest minko stepped forward, the one that would witness the end of the world, the one that the minko powers would die with, never to be reborn. Slowly she repeated what the others had done, then the next one, and the next. Until the last of her descendants, a strange girl with black dog ears and amber eyes, had all faded away, and there was only one cut left on the palm of her right hand. Kagome glanced around but she did not see anyone, she looked down at the cut on her hand, it gave her, the impression if the hear and now, it never felt older, it represented the present. Was she supposed to heal herself? Out of the shadows stepped the last minko, her minko robes swirling in a breeze, her face utterly familiar, the girl Kagome had seen running toward her in the mirror wall, herself. The girl moved forward slowly, raising her right hand as she did, on the palm of her hand, in an exact mirror of Kagome's own, was a cut. Kagome stood and moved forward to meet her, raising her right hand at the same time. There hands clasped in an unbreakable hold, and white hot power sizzled threw there veins, burning away all the impurities of mortal life, in that moment they where immortal, and made of nothing but pure power. The white light filled there bodes to bursting then spilled out, blocking her vision of anything but the blinding power. Slowly the power trickled out of her body leaving her feeling like a limp noodle her vision was dark with the after image of that white light and the hand of herself that she had grasped so tightly had escaped her hold. Kagome was utterly alone in the blackness of near blindness. Her sight eventually returned and the first thing she saw was a beautiful woman with floor length black hair and dark brown eyes. Pink lips accented ivory skin; she was tall and had the bearing of a queen. Her outer kimono was red, her inner kimono black with a pink cherry blossom pattern along the hems. She wore no shoos, just a silver ring on the pinkie toe of her right foot. Her face was unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. Without being told Kagome knew that this was a combined form of all the minkos, including herself. "The danger draws near, call to us in your time of need and we will lend you the strength you seek." When she spoke Kagome wanted to scream, cry, sing, dance, laugh, die, live, and so much more all at the same time. Separately, but speaking at the same time the voices of the minkos had been overwhelming, now in their combined form it was almost godlike. Finally, Kagome passed out from the rush of hearing that voice. She would not see anything but blackness until she opened her eyes in the morning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Midnight, normal world. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inu-yasha paced quietly, to restless to sleep but to tired to wake everyone up. His amber-glass gaze constantly swept back and forth over the form of the person who was the cause of his unrest, Kagome. Sleeping peacefully in the moonlight as if without a care in the world, even he found it hard to believe she was the reason he could not sleep. It had been hours since the others had gone to sleep. Inu-yasha had tried he really had but he just couldn't do it, he could not fall asleep. Around 1:00 in the morning Kagome began to toss and turn in her sleep and Inu-yasha was instantly at her side, a worried expression on his handsome face. Suddenly Kagome went rigid and unmoving, un-breathing. About to cry out for help Inu- yasha did not realize he was crying, then suddenly Kagome relaxed and released her held breath, at the same time a million and one cuts appeared out of seemingly nowhere. Inu-yasha was to terrified and fascinated to do anything but watch as one by one the cut disappeared. At last, only one cut was left on the palm of her right hand, as he watched the cut seemed to spark then bleed white light so intense he was sure the others would wake up. With out a conscious decision Inu-yasha reached out to wipe away the tears of white light that had started to fall down Kagome's cheeks. The tears felt hot and cold at the same time and made his whole arm tingle; he pulled away instinctively, rubbing his arm. As suddenly, as they had started the tears stopped and the cut on her hand closed, leaving a pearly scar as a memento of its presence there. For a minute Kagome was quiet, then she mumbled something about danger and calling on someone, turned on her side and was still. As if she did not have a care in the world. Something told him that she was changing, going somewhere inside her soul that he couldn't follow, she was confronting demons that he could not protect her from, and he hated it, hated it with every fiber of his being. His last thought before finally slipping into slumber was: ' Please don't leave me Kagome, please don't run any further away.'
In the morning they set out for the southern lands.
A.N: You know the drill, five reviews and I will update, bye!