Sanctuary
Author's Note: Here's the next chapter. I have… well a lot to say, but its 9:10 in the evening and I have school tomorrow. Hopefully this will tide people over until I get the chance to be in front of the computer without homework again! I noticed that two or three chapters don't have the Sanctuary title on the top… I guess I got lazy… ^_^
Disclaimer's Note: You should know this by now… Next time you ask… you will have a very angry Sesshou in real form in your room, and judging by the normal size of people's rooms… you'd have a wrecked room with no roof…
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No words were exchanged as the two gazed into each other's eyes. Kouga's reflected pain and unbearable memories, while Kagome's reflected the pain of not knowing who she really was. She wanted to know. No, she needed to know who she was. After 14 years of being a ningen, living 500 years in the future, she had no idea who she was and where she belonged.
Kouga stood and motioned for her to do the same. Carefully placing Shippou in a sleeping Sango's arms, she followed in pursuit of Kouga, who was now well beyond hearing range. She noted how fast she had become due to the changes that were happening even as she was breathing.
" Let's take a walk, shall we?" Kouga said in an unusually quiet voice.
Kagome said nothing, but followed him as he walked. Not bothering to use the Shikkon no Kakera in his legs.
" Kagome, half a century ago, the North Western lands was being bombarded with attacking youkais and ningens alike. It seems something sparked an interest within them." Kouga said bitterly. " It seemed, someone had their claws on some information regarding a certain legend."
" Legend?" Kagome asked. Her ears twitched at the tiniest sound. ' How do they do this? Even the sound of something chirping sounds like a car passing by…'
Kouga faced his sister and looked at her. " Yes, there is a legend amongst us youkai." He started. " Mostly just the Komashiro clan knew of this. Not many knew of the legendary second Shikkon"
Kagome stopped walking as soon as she heard his last sentence. "Second… Shikkon?"
Kouga nodded. He went and sat on a fallen log and motioned for her to sit next to him. Even with her new height, she was still a bit shorter than he was. She had still grown to be InuYasha's height. She sat down and twiddled her thumbs.
Kouga had a far off look, and Kagome remembered Jiisan and his infamous 'telling of a legend' look. She sighed inwardly. 'I wonder how they are doing…'
" Midoriko, as you may have known, was a very powerful Miko. She could purify anything within a 5 yard range." Kouga started. Kagome nodded, knowing fully of what he was talking about. " You may also know that it was a ningen male that had caused her downfall…"
Kagome again, nodded at this. " He loved her from afar, didn't he?"
" Much like Onigumo with Kikyou" a soft voice said from behind them.
Kagome turned around and saw Sango with a sleeping Shippou in her arms. " I'm sorry if I've intruded, but Shippou was calling for you in his sleep…"
Kagome smiled and shook her head. " Please, sit."
Kouga cleared his throat and went on. " Anyway, yes, Sango's words are correct. However, the one thing that not many people knew about was Midoriko's other half."
Kagome and Sango looked at each other. " Other…" " Half?"
" Yes, you see, like Kikyou, Midoriko was in love with a youkai. But she was in love with a TaiYoukai. To be precise, our great grandfather" Kouga said stretching his arms as the sun began to rise.
" But… does that mean that Kagome and you are descendants of Midoriko?" Sango asked.
Kouga shook his head. " Iie… we aren't."
" Then… how?" Kagome asked.
" Grandfather was already born at that point." Kouga said slowly. " Well… our great grandfather took his mate, made an heir and left only coming back once our grandfather was of age to teach him how to be a proper Lord of the North Western lands"
Kagome nodded. "I see. So what happened to him?"
"Our grandfather? He had sons, and had our father who had us…"
"No, no… I mean, our Great Grandfather…" Kagome said. " What ever happened to him?"
Kouga's emotions darkened. " Well, after Midoriko's death, he swore upon himself to protect it until the chosen guardian for it is born."
" So, you're saying the Shikkon had a protector?" Sango asked. " I know of all this… but I had no idea that the Shikkon was to have a chosen guardian. What if they died?"
"Well that's just the thing. See… the reason why the guardian is so special is because she would have to be both Youkai and Miko. And to be its guardian, you would have to be powerful. Powerful enough to rival even the Shikkon itself." Kouga said. " But back to the task at hand. Our Great Grandfather had protected the jewel until for some reason, it just disappeared into thin air. He knew that it had chosen its protector. So, to confuse vain ningens and youkais, he had told one of his servants that once he did his final task, to take the fake Shikkon and give it to the village nearby"
" So, we were protecting a false Shikkon back then?" Sango asked. " But… we entrusted it to…"
"Kikyou"
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InuYasha woke up and saw the sleeping figure next to him. His nose wrinkled with disgust at her scent. ' I do not know why I put up with you…'
Yes, you do…
InuYasha clutched his head. That voice. He remembered it. He hated it. ' Look… why can't we just… let go of the past and just… move on?!'
InuYasha… you promised…
Growling, InuYasha closed his eyes momentarily. Holding his breath, the voice went away. He clutched the Tetsusaiga and sighed. 'Steel Cleaving Fang… You are the only thing that is keeping me sane…'
Kikyou stirred and opened her eyes. She felt weak.
" InuYasha"
He looked down and his anger ebbed away and was replaced by guilt. If it were not for his request, Kikyou would not have died. She would have been married and would have had many pups. 'Kagome…'
Looking at where she had been sleeping, he noticed her absence, but shrugged it off. 'Probably to bathe herself again. Humph… stupid Ningen'
" What?" he asked.
" I need to gather souls… I…am famished."
He cringed inwardly. He hated the fact she needed to devour souls to keep herself alive. He then again asked himself why he put himself through such torture.
You know you can wish her back.
'But then… Kagome…'
Why not have both? Youkais can do that you know…
InuYasha grinned. 'I can't believe I never thought of that before!' He took Kikyou and began to run off towards the stench of dying ningens.
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Kouga watched as his younger sister began to clear things up and make sure that her scent was no where to be found.
"Why all the secrecy? Don't you want people to know…"
He stopped as he saw her tense.
" I don't want people to find me. InuYasha is probably out with Kikyou to find her 'food'." She started monotonously. " When he comes back… I don't want him to trace me. At all"
Sango had a sad expression etched in her face. " You know… we could split up"
Kagome's eyes widened in surprise. " No! Just because that baka decided to leave me, doesn't me you have to!"
Sango smiled lightly. " No… I think this is best. You go and get your youkai self in check… and Miroku and I will distract InuYasha and Kikyou."
Kagome smiled thankfully at her friends and waved as Miroku and Sango rode Kirara and they all went their separate ways.
"Well, we should go." Kouga said. " Father wants me to fetch Lady Yumemaru"
Kagome smiled and nodded. " Who's Lady Yumemaru?"
" She's our teacher" Kouga said. "Yours more likely. I'm still a pup in youkai terms, but I preceded the whole education bit. The only sensei I have now is experience."
Kagome smiled as Kouga started to do a victory dance yelling for joy. " No more senseis, no more hitting me with sharp sticks! No more…" he shuddered. " Corners to look at…"
She shook her head. ' He reminds me a lot of Souta…' She felt sad once more. 'I wonder how he's taking all this? No! Think positive! Once I have the full Shikkon… I can wish to go back! Yes…'
The small voice from the back of her mind called out to her once more, asking her a question that plagued her for the rest of the trip.
What about your family here… they haven't seen you in half a century. And what about Shippou, do you really want to abandon your pup?
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Author's Note: wow! I cannot believe how many people gave me reviews! Thank you thank you all! I decided to post the little tid bit about the History of the Second Shikkon as the next chapter… Well its not really a chapter more like if you people are confused about it, that will somewhat clear things up.
