Shadow Over the Miko
Hojo had spent the day helping Kaede with her work. Tending to the sick, gathering herbs, and whatnot. It was, overall, very satisfying work, and Hojo hadn't had much of a chance to think about his predicament. There had been one little girl that was sick with what seemed to be the flu. However, the people of this time didn't have any knowledge of what the flu was. Hojo was worried that the girl would go without proper treatment. Her temperature was obviously high and she couldn't move. However, he learned that this era had its own ways of healing people. They may not know the scientific explanations, but Kaede was knowledgable about the proper herbs and ointments to help the child. Hojo was eager to learn about these ancient techniques. They might come in handy whenever he went back to his own time.
It was when he was going to sleep that he realized that he hadn't checked to see if the well was working, yet. He knew it was a silly, trivial thing, and that nothing could possibly have changed concerning the well. If it had, Kaede would surely know about it. However, Hojo's desperation to go home had been quelled by keeping his mind thinking about the day's activities. As he was settling down to go to sleep, he didn't have anything else to keep himself occupied, and his mind inevitably drifted to his home where his family and friends were probably very worried about him.
On a whim, Hojo got up and walked out of the hut, making his way to the forest. It was night, but the moon was out and the stars were bright. Plus, Hojo took vitamins to help his night vision. He could see well enough, and he had memorized how to get back to that well from the village. He walked quickly, as it was chilly outside. He had been in many forests in his own time, but this one felt different. It was, essentially, the same. A lot of trees and groundcover with small animals running around. However, there was something that made it undeniably different. Hojo thought that it might be that the air was cleaner or that there weren't as many lights flooding the night sky. However, that didn't quite explain it. He finally decided that it was simply the fact that the air he was breathing smelled younger, whatever that meant. A rather vague answer, but a satisfying one for him. As he came upon this conclusion, he reached the clearing where the well was located. He paused. Somebody was at the well, their figure brightened by the moonlight.
Hojo stood behind one of the trees, peering at the strange person. It was a woman, wearing long black robes. She had bright red hair that Hojo thought could even be seen in pitch dark. She was leaning against the well, staring into it, deep in thought. Hojo couldn't see her face very well from the distance he was at, but she seemed speculative, as if she had the burden of the world on her shoulders.
Hojo felt like running away. Something about her frightened him, and he wasn't sure why. It was a cold feeling, and thoughts of helplessness and abandonment floated to the top of his mind. He kept telling himself to just go out and speak to her. See if he could try to go through well, despite the odd visitor. But another part of his mind told him to just leave and go back to the hut.
He didn't have to argue with himself for very long. The next second, when he looked up, she was gone. It wasn't that she had walked away, for Hojo hadn't been looking away for that long. She had just vanished, as if she'd never been there. The feelings of despair slowly went away, but the residual traces of fear remained with him, even after the woman's departure. Hojo hesitated at the tree line, staring at the well.
Then, with a shake of his head, Hojo turned and went back to the hut. He would try to go back home in the morning.
****
Kagome didn't know what had woken her up. It was quiet, with barely a breeze blowing. It was only slightly chilly, and Shippo remained curled at her side. She opened her eyes, staring up at the tree-veiled sky above her. She could tell by the steady sounds of the others breathing that everybody else was still asleep. Still not content, Kagome sat up slowly, careful not to disturb Shippo. She looked around. Miroku was sleeping sitting up against a tree. Sango was asleep some distance from him, Hiraikotsu close by her side. Inuyasha...
Kagome looked around again. Inuyasha was gone. Kagome's first thought was that he had felt Kikyo and run off to her. The thought made her feel both angry and sad at the same time, leaving her with a miserable mix in the pit of her stomach. However, she wasn't going to jump to conclusions. There were many things that could have happened that could have caused Inuyasha to leave.
She didn't have time to mull over any of those things, though, as she heard a noise from the bushes beside her. Without time for her to react, a figure appeared from the bushes and jumped on her, knocking her back to the ground. Her head hit the dirt hard as the creature pinned her down. Kagome tried to scream, but the wind had been knocked out of her. She found herself unable to make ANY noise, much less a scream loud enough to wake the others. A strong hand grabbed her by the throat and tightened. Kagoem struggled, but whatever the creature was had much more strength than she did. She was suddenly aware of her own pulse pounding rapidly in her chest as she struggled to gasp in some air. She began to see the tell-tale black spots in front of her eyes. With a last thought of inspiration, Kagome reached out her arm and hit at the sleeping bag beside her. She only felt the hard impact of cloth on dirt. She tried again, gripping this time to tug it a bit, shaking the bag only slightly. She felt some movement.
The hand tightened.
****
Inuyasha cursed himself, the cave, the rocks, and just about everything else. He hadn't realized that he had injured himself so much during his fall down the cave. He'd been trying to fight through the pain to move the rocks that blocked his passage out when he felt the sticky and warm sensation of blood soaking through his haori. He figured that between the impact of him with the cave wall and then the large rock with him, something must have caused some damage. He wasn't worried about it, as his hanyou healing ablities would take care of it. However, for the time being, it was making it seriously difficult to do the heavy lifting required to get out. And the lifting would have been a struggle for him, even if he'd been healthy, Inuyasha grudgingly admitted.
But the fact of the matter was that Kagome was in danger, and Inuyasha couldn't just sit around in the cave while a youkai was heading for her. This thought strengthened him as he went back to his work, ignoring his injuries.
****
Miroku awoke quickly. He had heard the frantic screams of the young fox demon in his sleep and woke up immediately, alert to the situation. In the moonlight, Miroku could see a youkai leaning over Kagome, strangling her. Shippo was off to the side yelling for the others. Briefly wondering how the youkai had gotten this close without him sensing it, Miroku stood up and grabbed his staff. He heard Sango get up beside him, but he didn't have time to wait. Without hesitation, Miroku ran forward and rammed his shoulder against the youkai. The demon had been taken by surprise and fell off Kagome, releasing its grip on her throat. Miroku scrambled over Kagome and pinned the youkai to the ground with his knees while thrusting the staff under its chin to keep it down. He could see Kagome moving out of the corner of his eye, and was thankful that she was alright. Inuyasha would blame him if anything happened to her while he was away. Speaking of which...
"Where's Inuyasha?" Miroku yelled.
Kagome was rubbing her neck, gasping for air. Her other hand was searching for something, though, and she looked up in shock. "Miroku! It has the shards!" Her voice was raspy.
The youkai had gone limp underneath him, but Miroku didn't relax his grip. He looked down to see that the youkai was holding the bottle of shards in his hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a red streak running towards the youkai.
"Shippo, stay back." Miroku warned the young fox demon.
Shippo, however, didn't listen. He reached his hand out, ready to cautiously pluck the jar from the youkai's clawed hands. It was at that moment that the youkai seemed to regain its energy. It let out a horrible screeching noise. Shippo stopped and covered his ears, as the others did. Miroku would have, but he still had to keep his staff under the youkai's chin. His ears started ringing from the piercing noise. The priest felt muscles bulge underneath him as the youkai let out a low growl. Something struck him in the middle of the chest with such a force, Miroku was thrown away from the youkai.
Miroku slid along the ground, slamming into a tree before he stopped. He barely heard through damaged ears Sango yelling "Hiraikotsu!" as she unleashed her own attack on the demon. He knew it wouldn't work. The muscles were getting larger on the youkai, and Miroku knew that their attacks wouldn't harm it. His head aching, Miroku looked up. The youkai had been struck by Sango's boomerang, but to no effect. Sango caught it and crouched, ready to throw it again.
The youkai, however, snorted once. It was standing now, hunched over. It still appeared only as a shadowy form, however, the form was growing larger. It let out a roar as its body began to eclipse the group and reach beyond the treetops. Miroku could do nothing but watch till it stopped growing, then let out another screech. This one was louder than the last. Thankfully, Miroku was at liberty to cover his ears this time, as the others did.
"It still has the shards!" Kagome called from where she was standing, seemingly recovered from her earlier injuries.
Miroku assessed the situation quickly. They could rule out help from Inuyasha. Obviously, he'd been lured away or gone somewhere and couldn't return. He couldn't use his kazaana as it would suck in the shards, too. Their attacks, for the most part, wouldn't work against the youkai. He shook his head. He had never realized how dependent they were on Inuyasha. A group of three humans plus a child youkai stood no chance against a fully-grown, rather aggressive youkai like the one they were facing.
"Kagome-chan!" He heard Sango yell. Miroku looked up. The youkai had turned and was leaving, presumably having gotten what it wanted. Kagome was stringing an arrow.
"One chance," she said.
"Kagome-sama! You'll attract the youkai to return here. It's dangerous!"
She ignored him, and he was too far way to do anything. She let the arrow fly. It left a streak of golden light as it raced through the air. It hit the target squarely in the back. The youkai yelled in pain, but it was obvious that the arrow had done little damage. However, what Miroku feared happened. The youkai turned, looking for the source of its pain.
The Miroku felt it again. From Kagome, there seemed to be another presence. A darker presence, just below her own self. It confused him. It wasn't controlling her, by any means. However, it was there, and Miroku could feel Kagome's power growing exponentially. Something was possessing her, but Kagome was still aware and in control of her own actions. What was this other force acting through her? Whatever it was, it was giving her strength.
Without hesitation, Kagome readied another arrow. Sango was running to help her, getting Hiraikotsu ready. Even Shippo ran forward. However, Miroku stayed back, observing the young girl. He knew when she shot the arrow this time, the youkai would be defeated.
Kagome released the arrow, and it flew straight for the monster. It left a golden streak once again that was similar in appearance to the first one. Miroku could feel a different power from it, though. The aura was different. Kagome's own miko powers were mixed with something else that Miroku couldn't even begin to describe.
The arrow struck the youkai in the chest. This time, the area that had been hit started to glow. The youkai let out a scream as the power of the arrow consumed its own youki. The glow from the impact brightened to a flash of light that engulfed the entire demon. Miroku knew what was coming and shielded himself with one arm as the youkai exploded. He knew that Sango would protect Kagome and Shippo.
He waited as he felt the rush of the wind run past him, the creature'ss youki being split and dispersing around them. Behind closed eyes, Miroku waited until the light dimmed down and the harsh wind settled to a gentle breeze.
Putting his hand down, Miroku saw that the monster was gone, defeated by Kagome's arrow. But...Miroku knew that Kagome's power wasn't yet strong enough to defeat a youkai of that magnitude. Something had helped her kill it, and Miroku didn't trust it. What he felt had been a force that should not have been found in a miko such as Kagome. However, for the moment, discretion was his best option. If he alerted Kagome, then whatever it was that was possessing her would also be alerted. He stood. It was best if he keep it from Kagome and Sango, though he would have to tell Inuyasha.
****
Kagome knew that it wasn't her own power. As soon as she had strung the second arrow, she felt it. Something else inside of her, ready to be released with the arrow. She didn't know what it was, and it had frightened her at first. However, it had helped her destroy the youkai, and that couldn't be a bad thing.
She knelt down as Shippo ran to her, handing her the shards that he had quickly recovered.
"Kagome-chan, are you okay?" Sango asked.
"Yes. Thank you," Kagome smiled at the young woman next to her. Sango had shielded her from the blast caused by the youkai's destruction. She looked up as Miroku walked over. "Where's Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.
Miroku shook his head, "I don't know."
"I'll find him!" Shippo said happily. He was always excited to be of some use to the group. Without another word, Shippo leaned down on the ground and started sniffing.
"This might take a while," Sango whispered.
Kagome just nodded. Inuyasha must have been trapped somehow. She wouldn't believe that he had just left them to fend off a youkai by themselves. The thought of Inuyasha hurt somewhere was painful to think about, but it just meant that they had to find him as soon as they could. Kagome gathered her pack, making sure to keep her first aid supplies where they could be easily found. When she looked up, Miroku was looking at her thoughtfully. It made her nervous.
She stood up, "Let's go find Inuyasha!"
****
Inuyasha's strength was slowly returning to him as his injury healed. That made it easier to lift the rocks. However, so much time had passed, Inuyasha was sure that the youkai had already attacked the others. Either the youkai had left or it had been killed, because Inuyasha didn't sense it anymore. He was struggling with one large boulder when his sensitive hearing heard voices. He tried to sniff at the air, but he couldn't smell much beyond the rocks that trapped him. He paused, waiting.
"It's a cave!" Shippo's voice.
The others had come for him. Inuyasha fought down the rush of relief he felt. It would be a blow to his pride if the others found him trapped and injured inside a cave, helpless to do anything.
"Inuyasha!" He heard Kagome call.
"About time you guys got here! I'm almost through the rocks!" He lied. Hearing Kagome's voice somehow made him feel so much better.
"Stand back, Inuyasha! I'll get rid of the rest of them," Miroku yelled.
Inuyasha nodded, though none of them could see. He stood against the side of the cave and dug his claws into the rock. "Okay!" He yelled out to signal that he was ready.
It took a few seconds for him to feel the rush of the air moving past him and out of the cave. Soon he could hear the roaring sound of Miroku's kazaana as it took care of the rocks at the entrance. Inuyasha squinted a bit as light shone through the dark cave. When there was an opening, the wind stopped. Inuyasha took a few seconds to compose himself. He didn't want the others fussing about his injuries, and he didn't want to let on that he had been worried about them.
He stepped through the opening, only to have something jump on him. His first reaction was of defense, but he quickly noticed Kagome's scent close to him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. He stared down at the obviously upset girl, very unsure of where to put his hands. He settled for letting them hang in the air beside him.
"Thank goodness!" She said, muffled by his haori.
"Oi, Kagome! What's the big deal?" He asked. Why was SHE so worried? Couldn't she see that he was the one that had done all the worrying?
She stepped back, "Why did you leave the camp?" Her relief seemed to have vanished, replaced by worried anger.
Inuyasha looked to Miroku and Sango behind Kagome for some support but found he wasn't getting any. "Er, I felt a youkai."
"And you didn't wake any of us up? Just because you're the great Inuyasha doesn't mean you can fight without us!" She chastised him.
His first instinct was to argue back with her, as he usually did. After all, she was yelling at him without knowing all the circumstances. He didn't know that it'd been a strong youkai at first. However, he remembered what Miroku had told him. Be nice to Kagome.
Fighting down his own anger and natural impulses, he nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry to make you worry, Kagome."
That was harder than it looked. Kagome seemed ready to retort at first, but then what he had said sunk in. She paused, "Oh, uh...it's okay, Inuyasha..." She replied uncertainly.
Inuyasha nodded again and walked past her. Miroku raised an eyebrow as he walked past him, but Inuyasha didn't respond. From behind him, he heard the monk say, "Let's get back to the camp and rest some more. We've all been busy."