Chapter 1: Rise to the Task

Kikyo's ashes were burned in a funeral pry the following evening. The old monks recited the words to send the priestess into the mysterious world of death. The villagers gathered around the pry, a respectable distance from the ceremony, and bowed their heads in sadness.

Kikyo had been so wise…so generous! She'd given her life to protect them. She'd been their healer, their savior, their protector. The young woman had done much to make their lives safe and prosperous. Who, now, would rise to take her place?

Their eyes turned in sympathy to the small girl standing beside the monks of the shrine. Her long brown hair was pulled back in the similar fashion of her departed sister, her eyes closed tightly. She had on the clothes of a priestess, donning them for the first time in her life. Her hands were at her sides, clenched in tight fists. Her shoulders shook with suppressed sobs.

When the flames rose up around Kikyo's body, Keade opened her eyes, looking through tear-filled orbs at the horrific sight. She watched the red fire move across the body like a blanket, slowly covering her sister in orange light. The wood beneath the body crackled and snapped. Unable to watch any longer, Keade looked down, shutting her eyes.

The image from that day would never leave her.

The monks led Keade away from the slowly dying fire. The villagers had dispersed long ago, going back to their huts, each with the same burning question in their minds. Who would protect them now? Keade knew, as the monks lead her through the temple grounds, that her sister's replacement lied in her. She was to take her sister's place. She'd never felt so afraid…so alone.

"Keade-sama…you must move ahead…" An elderly monk spoke to her, his voice not unkind. He was a monk she knew from her many visits to the shrine with Kikyo.

She nodded slowly, her voice still lost in her throat.

"We will be your mentors," he gestured to the monks standing around them both.

"Your first task, however…" another monk began, "will not be at this shrine. You will leave this village, taking with you the skills that you have acquired over the years. You will have nothing but your bow and your quiver of arrows. You can only return when you are a priestess, and ready to take Kikyo's place."

Keade looked at them in shock. She looked from one to the next, hoping to see some ray of hope, some chance that they were not serious. But they were. All of them wore solemn expressions. The kind monk stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You have to do this, Keade-sama. Your sister would want you to be strong. She would not want you to morn and weep your life away." He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze of reassurance. "You may contact use through letters at any time, if you wish."

Keade sighed and cleared her throat. "I'm…I have to go alone?"

The monks nodded softly, a quiet sadness in their eyes.

Keade turned away from them all, looking once more to the burning body of her sister. She had to be strong. She would not weep or cry. Her sister had been the stone holding her up, but now she was alone. She would have to hold herself up from then on. She wiped her eyes hastily on her long sleeves, feeling the hot liquid rising up in her eyes.

"Keade-sama…"

"I'll do it!" she croaked loudly, her voice muffled through her sleeve. "I'll go…" she repeated softly, lowering her sleeve. She turned around, schooling her face into a look of, what she hoped, was calm assurance. They bowed in understanding, and one by one, walked to the shrine steps and gradually descended.

Keade watched them go with mixed feelings. She could not be angry with them. They were priests, and did not have the time or energy to watch over a young girl. It was not their duty to take her in, she knew that. But, she still felt a deep longing for companionship, and with a cold realization, she knew she would receive none from the monks.

The girl walked back to the hut she and her sister had resided in during their stay in the village. Keade looked at certain places as she walked along the trail, noticing a tree that she and Kikyo had sat under, or a hut that they had visited to nurse a sick child. She couldn't look anywhere without seeing her sister's face, without recalling a memory of the past.

I have to leave! I can't stay here any longer!

Her pace turned into a brisk run, the trees and huts along the dirt path blurring at the edges of her vision. She didn't want to stay in this village, where every waking moment, her thoughts would be consumed by Kikyo's memory. She ran blindly, crying into the night air, feeling the sobs choking her throat. She stumbled up the hill to her hut, collapsing at the door leading in.

She fell to her knees, her sobs loud and sorrowful. She didn't know how to go on.

"Kikyo…sister…I don't want to forget you…but I can't stand it! Why did you leave me?" She cried out harshly into the still, night air.

The only reply was the soft sounds of the cicadas, chirping and buzzing in the grass. Keade listened to the silence, and hearing the soothing sounds of the wind, and watching the fireflies float and sway, she gradually began to relax. Her breathing stilled, and she gave that shuddering sigh that everyone gets when they've cried all they could.

She sat there, on her knees, much into the night. She watched the night unfold, bringing with it the bugs and the sounds she'd come to love. She could remember falling asleep to the distant hoot of an owl as a little girl. She smiled; a tiny smile that could barely even be called one. But it was there.

"I'll be okay…" she whispered softly, feeling a gentle breeze pass by her. "I'll be strong, Kikyo…for you."

She stood up with great effort, as her legs had fallen asleep. She turned and pushed the screen aside, disappearing into the hut.

Tomorrow, I'll leave this village and journey west, to the mountains. I'll do as the monks instructed me, taking nothing but my knowledge and my bow. They will not be disappointed.

When I return to this village, I will be a priestess.

With this final thought, Keade laid down on her mat, pulling the light covers over her small frame. She was frightened, and worried, and lonely…but a small flame of hope was beginning to burn in her heart. She would hold on to this feeling, and keep it close to her throughout her journey.

Good night, Kikyo. Good-bye…