The youkai scurried through the underbrush, fleeing for its life. The
small creature paused against the side of the tree, gasping for breath. It
had been running since early this afternoon, and now it was almost sunset.
Why was this girl chasing it? The youkai wasn't strong enough to cause anyone any trouble. The bitch had simply shown up with her quiver and bow; then the chase began.
It only had a second left to live. And in that second, it realized that the girl was actually a miko of some power. This realization came just as an arrow skewered in the middle and reduced him to dust and ash.
******
She smiled and lowered her bow. A direct hit, perfect.
The young woman sighed with boredom and sat on a rock. She had been in these woods for almost two months, training and perfecting her aim. Her problem was that she didn't know if she was good enough to go the next step.
Yakani wanted to be the strongest that it was possible to be. There was only one thing standing in her way. Kikyou, the former guardian of the Shikon no Toma. Yakani knew that if she were to be the strongest, she would have to surpass Kikyou's strength. That meant she would have to completely kill the one responsible for the miko's death. The hanyou Inuyasha.
******
"How much farther are we going today?" Inuyasha whined. He had been traveling with Hikaru and Juanyu for about a month now, he wasn't any closer to getting home. It seems that the fish youkai that brought him to Hikaru had gone a long way. And that meant that it would be a while before he could return to the village. Damn.
"Not much further, Inuyasha. Juanyu says that there is a village not far from here," Hikaru said.
"Then what are we waiting for?" he demanded. Both he and Hikaru were by a stream, just sitting around. On the edge of the horizon, the sun was beginning to set.
She sighed, "It's the last day of the month. I turn human tonight."
Inuyasha's eyes went wide as he remembered. Then he saw the logic behind their waiting. It would be safer for Hikaru if she entered the village as a human girl instead of a hanyou changing into a human. And Inuyasha was here to protect her.
Even as it came to him, the healer was transforming before his eyes. Her hair was darkening and the ears were lowering. There was barely any light left when the change was complete. He was taken by surprise again by how much she looked like his late mother.
Hikaru stood and gathered her things. "Come on, Inuyasha. Juanyu was supposed to have gotten us some place to spend the night," she said and started walking.
He got up and followed behind silently. Last time he had seen her as a human was when they first met; at the time, he wasn't very lucid or coherent at the time. But now, he noticed that there was something oddly familiar about her. He didn't mean what she looked like, something else.
He shrugged and gave it up. Right now what he wanted was to eat dinner and get some sleep.
******
The village wasn't a large one, or small. At one end of it there was a large hut with just as large crowd gathered outside. Hikaru and Inuyasha found Juanyu standing away from it all outside where they were to stay.
"Juanyu, what's going on?" she asked.
He looked at them then away. "It seems that a child was brought here today to be tested," he replied.
"Tested?" Hikaru sounded confused.
"Ah, this must be the village of Yogensha-Tamashii," Inuyasha said.
++ 'Yogensha-Tamashii' means soul seer. You'll see why in a moment.
Now the girl was even more confused. "Who are you talking about?"
"Yogensha-Tamashii is a youkai who tests the power level of all potential priests and priestesses. She determines how strong they are capable of becoming. It seems that centuries ago, she went up against a powerful miko and became blind at the end. Since then, she lives here in this village. People bring children here every year to find those born to be trained in the priesthood. She changed her name to suit her new life," Juanyu explained.
Hikaru looked over at the hut and the people there. She had no idea that there was any way of testing children for the houriki that was inside a priest or priestess. She didn't even know how her mentors were chosen and trained for their path in life.
++ 'Houriki' means priest's spiritual power.
A man came out of the hut with a little girl holding his hand. He stepped into the crowd and spoke to someone there. Word seemed to spread through them, gasps and cheers rose up from them. A young man came up to them, all excited.
"It is wonderful! Kanrini is to be a priestess! The seer says that she has the strength to be a great miko," he said and left to spread the news.
The crowd dispersed, the girl was lead away to a hut, and torches were lit as night fell.
"What will happen to the child?" Hikaru asked.
Inuyasha tucked his hands into his sleeves, "She'll be taken back to her village where she will be trained to be a miko. When her training is done, she'll be responsible for its welfare. Much like what you were doing in Juanyu's village."
"I have dinner ready inside. Let's eat and get some sleep. I think it would be wise to leave early in the morning before any of the villagers get up,' Juanyu said.
Hikaru and Inuyasha agreed and headed inside. Dinner was a warm beef stew with fresh vegetables cooked in a thick broth. Inuyasha missed Kagome's instant soup bowls.
No one did much talking during dinner. They all had things on their minds. After the meal, they heard voices passing by their door.
"Are you sure?" one man asked.
"Yes, I'm certain. Yogensha-Tamashii says that several of the lower youkai that use to live in the forest around here has gone missing. She doesn't know what is going on, but I think that she is afraid," another replied.
"Will whoever is doing this actually go after her?"
"I don't know. I hope not."
Inuyasha's ears perked up at the news. He thought that he had felt something in the woods earlier, but he hadn't been sure. He rose.
"I'm going to the woods. I want to know what's going on there," he said and left without another word. Juanyu moved to go with him, but the hanyou called back, "Don't even think of following me. Someone has to stay and watch Hikaru."
Juanyu sat down again. Inuyasha was right. Someone had to look after the healer.
******
Inuyasha rushed into the woods, sniffing around for any kind of clue. All he could smell though was faint traces of lesser youkai, humans, and other normal woodland smells.
Dammit, whatever was causing these deaths; Inuyasha had no clue what it could be. It certainly wasn't Naraku. This kind of thing wasn't his style, or the style of any his known offspring. Either this was something new or the bastard was changing his plans. Whichever way it was, Inuyasha would feel safer after he checked it out some more.
******
Yakani smiled. All of her training and preparation would be tested tonight. She had seen Inuyasha leave the village a few minutes ago and head into the woods. He must have heard about the disappearance of the local youkai and decided to investigate. He had left his companions in the village. Perfect.
She quickly finished her small meal, gathered her quiver and bow then went off. This hunt was going to be interesting.
******
"Juanyu, how do you think of Yogensha-Tamashii does it?" Hikaru asked. She had been working on replenishing her herbal remedies while he made new arrows. She finally voiced out loud what had been going around in her mind all evening.
Juanyu paused for a moment then shrugged. "I'm not sure. 'Yogensha' means soul, and 'tamashii' means seer. I suppose that somehow she sees into a person's soul. And from that, determines their power," he said.
Hikaru was silent. After a moment, she came to a decision. The healer finished her potion as quickly as she could than cleaned up. Juanyu was puzzled by her actions. Especially when she got up to leave the hut.
"My lady! Where are you going?" he exclaimed.
"I'm going to see Yogensha-Tamashii. I want to hear what she says about me," was her reply.
******
Inuyasha was getting nowhere. He couldn't smell or sense anything that could have been strong enough to either scare away or destroy all of those weaker youkai.
He suddenly moved to one side and just missed getting hit by an arrow. His sensitive ears had picked up the sound of it moving through the air and dodged.
Not too far away, he heard someone make a disgusted sound. "I can't believe you managed to dodge that. None of the others had managed to do it. I'm impressed actually," a woman said. She stepped out of the brush where she had been hiding and showed herself.
She wasn't an unattractive young woman, but Miroku wouldn't try to pick her up. She was dressed as a miko, but he doubted that she was a real one.
"Just who the hell are you, bitch!" he yelled. The hanyou couldn't draw his sword on her, she was human. Which meant that if they were going to fight, he would have to rely on his own powers.
She smiled, "My name is Yakani. And I'm the one that will kill you. When that happens, I will finally surpass the miko you killed. The miko Kikyou." She raised her bow and notched an arrow. "I'll give you a few seconds head start before I give chase. That will make the hunt more interesting."
Inuyasha grimaced and wondered for a moment how serious she was. He got more worried when he saw the look in her eyes. She was dead serious, literally. He got up and started running. He had to figure out how to beat her. If she didn't kill him first.
Why was this girl chasing it? The youkai wasn't strong enough to cause anyone any trouble. The bitch had simply shown up with her quiver and bow; then the chase began.
It only had a second left to live. And in that second, it realized that the girl was actually a miko of some power. This realization came just as an arrow skewered in the middle and reduced him to dust and ash.
******
She smiled and lowered her bow. A direct hit, perfect.
The young woman sighed with boredom and sat on a rock. She had been in these woods for almost two months, training and perfecting her aim. Her problem was that she didn't know if she was good enough to go the next step.
Yakani wanted to be the strongest that it was possible to be. There was only one thing standing in her way. Kikyou, the former guardian of the Shikon no Toma. Yakani knew that if she were to be the strongest, she would have to surpass Kikyou's strength. That meant she would have to completely kill the one responsible for the miko's death. The hanyou Inuyasha.
******
"How much farther are we going today?" Inuyasha whined. He had been traveling with Hikaru and Juanyu for about a month now, he wasn't any closer to getting home. It seems that the fish youkai that brought him to Hikaru had gone a long way. And that meant that it would be a while before he could return to the village. Damn.
"Not much further, Inuyasha. Juanyu says that there is a village not far from here," Hikaru said.
"Then what are we waiting for?" he demanded. Both he and Hikaru were by a stream, just sitting around. On the edge of the horizon, the sun was beginning to set.
She sighed, "It's the last day of the month. I turn human tonight."
Inuyasha's eyes went wide as he remembered. Then he saw the logic behind their waiting. It would be safer for Hikaru if she entered the village as a human girl instead of a hanyou changing into a human. And Inuyasha was here to protect her.
Even as it came to him, the healer was transforming before his eyes. Her hair was darkening and the ears were lowering. There was barely any light left when the change was complete. He was taken by surprise again by how much she looked like his late mother.
Hikaru stood and gathered her things. "Come on, Inuyasha. Juanyu was supposed to have gotten us some place to spend the night," she said and started walking.
He got up and followed behind silently. Last time he had seen her as a human was when they first met; at the time, he wasn't very lucid or coherent at the time. But now, he noticed that there was something oddly familiar about her. He didn't mean what she looked like, something else.
He shrugged and gave it up. Right now what he wanted was to eat dinner and get some sleep.
******
The village wasn't a large one, or small. At one end of it there was a large hut with just as large crowd gathered outside. Hikaru and Inuyasha found Juanyu standing away from it all outside where they were to stay.
"Juanyu, what's going on?" she asked.
He looked at them then away. "It seems that a child was brought here today to be tested," he replied.
"Tested?" Hikaru sounded confused.
"Ah, this must be the village of Yogensha-Tamashii," Inuyasha said.
++ 'Yogensha-Tamashii' means soul seer. You'll see why in a moment.
Now the girl was even more confused. "Who are you talking about?"
"Yogensha-Tamashii is a youkai who tests the power level of all potential priests and priestesses. She determines how strong they are capable of becoming. It seems that centuries ago, she went up against a powerful miko and became blind at the end. Since then, she lives here in this village. People bring children here every year to find those born to be trained in the priesthood. She changed her name to suit her new life," Juanyu explained.
Hikaru looked over at the hut and the people there. She had no idea that there was any way of testing children for the houriki that was inside a priest or priestess. She didn't even know how her mentors were chosen and trained for their path in life.
++ 'Houriki' means priest's spiritual power.
A man came out of the hut with a little girl holding his hand. He stepped into the crowd and spoke to someone there. Word seemed to spread through them, gasps and cheers rose up from them. A young man came up to them, all excited.
"It is wonderful! Kanrini is to be a priestess! The seer says that she has the strength to be a great miko," he said and left to spread the news.
The crowd dispersed, the girl was lead away to a hut, and torches were lit as night fell.
"What will happen to the child?" Hikaru asked.
Inuyasha tucked his hands into his sleeves, "She'll be taken back to her village where she will be trained to be a miko. When her training is done, she'll be responsible for its welfare. Much like what you were doing in Juanyu's village."
"I have dinner ready inside. Let's eat and get some sleep. I think it would be wise to leave early in the morning before any of the villagers get up,' Juanyu said.
Hikaru and Inuyasha agreed and headed inside. Dinner was a warm beef stew with fresh vegetables cooked in a thick broth. Inuyasha missed Kagome's instant soup bowls.
No one did much talking during dinner. They all had things on their minds. After the meal, they heard voices passing by their door.
"Are you sure?" one man asked.
"Yes, I'm certain. Yogensha-Tamashii says that several of the lower youkai that use to live in the forest around here has gone missing. She doesn't know what is going on, but I think that she is afraid," another replied.
"Will whoever is doing this actually go after her?"
"I don't know. I hope not."
Inuyasha's ears perked up at the news. He thought that he had felt something in the woods earlier, but he hadn't been sure. He rose.
"I'm going to the woods. I want to know what's going on there," he said and left without another word. Juanyu moved to go with him, but the hanyou called back, "Don't even think of following me. Someone has to stay and watch Hikaru."
Juanyu sat down again. Inuyasha was right. Someone had to look after the healer.
******
Inuyasha rushed into the woods, sniffing around for any kind of clue. All he could smell though was faint traces of lesser youkai, humans, and other normal woodland smells.
Dammit, whatever was causing these deaths; Inuyasha had no clue what it could be. It certainly wasn't Naraku. This kind of thing wasn't his style, or the style of any his known offspring. Either this was something new or the bastard was changing his plans. Whichever way it was, Inuyasha would feel safer after he checked it out some more.
******
Yakani smiled. All of her training and preparation would be tested tonight. She had seen Inuyasha leave the village a few minutes ago and head into the woods. He must have heard about the disappearance of the local youkai and decided to investigate. He had left his companions in the village. Perfect.
She quickly finished her small meal, gathered her quiver and bow then went off. This hunt was going to be interesting.
******
"Juanyu, how do you think of Yogensha-Tamashii does it?" Hikaru asked. She had been working on replenishing her herbal remedies while he made new arrows. She finally voiced out loud what had been going around in her mind all evening.
Juanyu paused for a moment then shrugged. "I'm not sure. 'Yogensha' means soul, and 'tamashii' means seer. I suppose that somehow she sees into a person's soul. And from that, determines their power," he said.
Hikaru was silent. After a moment, she came to a decision. The healer finished her potion as quickly as she could than cleaned up. Juanyu was puzzled by her actions. Especially when she got up to leave the hut.
"My lady! Where are you going?" he exclaimed.
"I'm going to see Yogensha-Tamashii. I want to hear what she says about me," was her reply.
******
Inuyasha was getting nowhere. He couldn't smell or sense anything that could have been strong enough to either scare away or destroy all of those weaker youkai.
He suddenly moved to one side and just missed getting hit by an arrow. His sensitive ears had picked up the sound of it moving through the air and dodged.
Not too far away, he heard someone make a disgusted sound. "I can't believe you managed to dodge that. None of the others had managed to do it. I'm impressed actually," a woman said. She stepped out of the brush where she had been hiding and showed herself.
She wasn't an unattractive young woman, but Miroku wouldn't try to pick her up. She was dressed as a miko, but he doubted that she was a real one.
"Just who the hell are you, bitch!" he yelled. The hanyou couldn't draw his sword on her, she was human. Which meant that if they were going to fight, he would have to rely on his own powers.
She smiled, "My name is Yakani. And I'm the one that will kill you. When that happens, I will finally surpass the miko you killed. The miko Kikyou." She raised her bow and notched an arrow. "I'll give you a few seconds head start before I give chase. That will make the hunt more interesting."
Inuyasha grimaced and wondered for a moment how serious she was. He got more worried when he saw the look in her eyes. She was dead serious, literally. He got up and started running. He had to figure out how to beat her. If she didn't kill him first.