The Little Priestess

Smack!

A red hand mark appeared on the lecherous monk's cheek, while the demon slayer walked away from him fuming. The gang walked along the road like usual, rolling their eyes. It was a bright, sunny day, with the birds singing around them. All of a sudden, Kagome stopped.

"What is it Kagome?" Shippo asked from the basket of her bike.

"There's two jewel shards ahead," she said, a confused look on her face. "But I don't think they are possessed by a demon. These ones are pure."

"Let's go check it out," Inuyasha said, running ahead of the others.

They reached a small village about midday. It bustled with activity, no demons in sight. To the west lay a gently sloping hill and a thick wood to the east. It looked as if the village had no troubles, everyone had bright smiles on their faces.

"Can I help you?" a little girl stood in front of them with a basket full of herbs on her arm. She looked about ten years old, with long black hair tied back, wearing a long blue kimono.

"No, we're just passing through," Kagome said kindly, bending down to her level. 'Say you wouldn't happen to have seen any demons in this area lately?"

The girl shook her head. "Demons stay a fair distance from here, our priestess makes sure of that."

The group watched her walk away and sighed. "Well, what now?" Sango asked. Miroku looked up the hill, where a large house sat.

"I say we perform an exorcism."

A few minutes later, they were outside the large house. Miroku explained to the Lord that he needed to exorcise his house. Expecting the man to accept immediately, he was surprised when the man turned his head and called out.

"Luna!" he called into the house. The little girl from earlier came running down the hall and stopped in front of him, with her head inclined slightly.

"Yes, milord?"

"This young monk claims that we need an exorcism. Can you sense a demon in our household?" The little girl, Luna, looked at them and then around the house as if thinking.

"Oh no, milord, we're fine," she said smiling. "If we had a problem, I would have gotten rid of the demon long ago!"

"Priestess!" a woman came running up the hill towards the home. Inuyasha and friends looked around, expecting someone else to come out. Luna looked up at the woman.

"Yes?" she said quietly. Everyone except the villager and the Lord's jaws dropped. They stared at Luna as she talked to the concerned woman.

"My daughter has come down with a bad fever," the villager said. Luna nodded.

"I'll get my herbs and meet you there," she turned to Kagome and the others. "If you are travelers, you surely shouldn't mind sleeping in the woods one night more instead of tricking people into thinking there is a demon in their home."

With that the girl ran off into the house, leaving the group wide-eyed and open-mouthed. They stood there in shock long enough to see Luna when she came back, carrying a jar of herbs. That was when Kagome felt the presence of the shards again. She watched Luna run past and down the hill before she spoke up.

"Inuyasha," she said. "I found the jewel shards!"

He looked around, trying to see the demon he thought was near. "Where?"

"That girl Luna has them, two of them."

Meanwhile, Luna was treating to a little girl, younger than she was, in a hut near the center of town. She ground some herbs for medicine and gave them to the girl, before bowing and leaving. She returned to the large house on the hill. On the way to her room, she checked in on the Lord.

"Are your bones hurting you, milord?" she asked. He nodded and she said kindly, "I'll grab my basket and my bow, and I'll go get your herbs."

She ran back to her room and grabbed the basket she had earlier, along with her bow and a quiver full of arrows. After telling the lord she was leaving, Luna made her way down to the forest, humming a soft tune to herself, looking around for the herbs she needed. She stopped humming when she heard voices and quickly recognized them as the people that had tried to trick the lord. Peeking around a tree, she spotted them sitting around a fire eating. Smiling she stepped into the clearing.

"I told you it wouldn't be a problem to camp out in the woods one more night," she said looking around at all of them. "Oh!" she muttered, spotting the herb she needed. Luna sat down to pick it, not noticing the serious look on Inuyasha's face. When she had gotten enough, Luna looked back up at them.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, spotting the look on his face. Luna noticed his hand straying towards the hilt of his sword.

"Hand over your jewel shards!" he said alittle more roughly than needed. Luna's hand flew up to her chest. A little bag hung around her neck, concealed underneath her kimono.

"How did you…" she muttered. 'Pull an arrow or run for it?' she thought to herself. Luna quickly notched an arrow on her bowstring and let it fly missing Inuyasha's head by inches. Everyone was watching him, and they didn't notice her run off through the trees. She ran back up to the house and hid the shards, thinking it would do some good. Panting she quickly ground the herbs and mixed them with some water and carried it to the lord's room. She gave him his medicine and went back to her own room. Packing a small bag and slipping the shards back around her neck, Luna got up and left taking all her medicinal supplies and bow with her. She didn't leave any note or any explanation at all.

By the light of the full moon, Luna ran down the hill and through the silent town. "I hate to abandon everyone like this," she said to herself.

"You can stay if you hand over those jewel shards!" Luna stopped dead in her tracks, facing Inuyasha. Since she was a little girl, he didn't think he had to pull his sword.

"Now you wouldn't take a little girls most prized possession away from her now would you? That's not very nice." Luna did a pouty face, which made Inuyasha very mad indeed. He was about to yell at her when Miroku stepped forward.

"How did a girl as young as you become a priestess?" he asked. Luna giggled.

"I knew I'd get asked that eventually, but why are we standing around here in the dark? It's kinda cold how about we go back to your campsite?" Luna readjusted her pack and kept her hand on the handle of her bow. They all made their way back to the clearing Luna had come upon them again. Luna sat against a tree, gazing up to the stars until Miroku cleared his throat again.

"Care to enlighten us, Luna?"

"Ah well, I can't hold it off any longer. I guess you can say I was a natural at it. It's like I was born with the knowledge. When my mother died, I simply wandered the countryside, learning more. I chanced upon this little village and have lived with the lord ever since," Luna sighed and set her bow and quiver aside. She pulled out a small cup and dropped a few sprigs of a sweet smelling herb in it. After setting a jug of water close to the fire, she sat back against the tree.

"Where'd you get a name such as Luna?"

"That's simple. I never knew my real name, so when the people in the village saw how much I liked working at night, they dubbed me Luna." She reached over to the jug and dipped a finger into the water. Satisfied with its temperature, she poured some of the water into the small cup. Luna stirred it with her finger absentmindedly, humming like she always was. Meanwhile the rest of the gang were conversing quietly on the other side of the fire.

"What should we do?" Sango asked, watching Luna tentatively.

"Take her jewel shards of course!" Inuyasha said.

"She's only a child," Kagome said.

"A powerful child, with jewel shards nonetheless," Miroku added. They all glanced back at Luna, who was silently watching the stars and sipping her drink.

"What makes you say she's powerful, Miroku?" Sango asked.

"Surely Kagome felt it too," he said. Kagome nodded and looked over at the tree Luna had been leaning against.

"Hey, where'd she go?" she said, standing up and looking around.

"Damn it!" Inuyasha said running through the woods, following the little girls scent.

Luna ran through the trees, a serious look set into her bright brown eyes. Being so small, she easily maneuvered between the trunks but she was slower than Inuyasha. He caught up to her and grabbed the back of her kimono. Skidding to a stop, Inuyasha held her up to his eye level.

"Where do you think you're going, runt?" he said.

"To fight that demon," she said, pointing in the direction she had been running. "Surely you noticed it."

Inuyasha put her down on the ground, obviously annoyed and set off in a full run towards the demon that he now realized was there.

"Hey! What about me?" Luna yelled running after him. A split second later she found herself once again up off the ground, this time in the arms of Miroku.(That's sounds weirdly romantic, doesn't it? Remember she's ten years old people!) She blinked up at him, surprised but he just kept running. They found Inuyasha in a clearing fighting some sort of bug demon. The rest of the gang watched from the side, Luna especially interested. It was a fairly easy fight and was over quickly, especially after Inuyasha got a boost when Kagome told him that the demon had a jewel shard. Luna had climbed up in a tree to watch and when the fight ended she leaned back on the branch she was sitting on and watched the stars.

"Ooh! A shooting star!" she exclaimed all of a sudden. Putting her hands together, Luna closed her eyes and made a wish. The others glanced at her and continued conversing. After a minute, Kagome ran away from an annoyed Inuyasha, a satisfied Miroku, and an excited Shippo over to Luna.

"Hey Luna!" she called up to her. Luna jumped down from the tree and landed gracefully on the ground.

"Yeah?" she said.

"Would you like to come with us?" Luna's eyes lit up.

"Really? I'd love to!" Luna threw her hands up in the air, spun around, and laughed wildly. Everyone but Inuyasha watched her grinning.

They went back to camp, Luna skipping the whole way there. That night she slept peacefully in the tree she had been leaning against, no one knew how she could be so comfortable.

The next morning, Luna was the first one up. She was used to getting up early, so it was no problem. With what she had brought with her on her back, Luna wandered through the forest, listening to the birds. She found a berry bush and recognized them as edible, so she pulled out her basket and gathered as many as she could. The basket was quickly filled, so she turned to head back to camp, long hair trailing behind her.

"Where have you been?" Inuyasha's voice rang out through the trees as she stepped into the clearing.

"I went for a walk," Luna said. "Is that a crime?"

The group set off not long after that. Luna walked along ahead of the group, humming and snacking on the berries she had found. Every once in awhile, Shippo would walk with her sharing the berries.

Miroku watched Luna interestedly the whole time. 'How can she act so childish yet so grown up at the same time?' he thought, watching Luna dance around gracefully.

When they stopped to rest, Luna played with Shippo. It was nice that Shippo had someone to hang out with.

"Oh no, we're out of berries!" Shippo said with a sad look on his face. Luna smiled.

"We can go look for some more Shippo! I need to restock my herbs anyway," she turned to Kagome. "Is it okay if Shippo and me run up ahead to find more berries?"

"Just be careful and call us if you need help," Kagome said. She watched Luna and Shippo run ahead.

A few minutes later, they were wandering through the forest. Shippo was looking for the berries, carrying Luna's basket, while she was searching for certain herbs and putting them in small bags. After about half an hour of picking, Shippo had the basket full and was helping the little priestess look for herbs. He watched as she bent down to pick up a little white flower, when she all of a sudden stopped with a serious look on her face.

"What is it Luna?" he asked. She stood up and looked off to the north.

"Run Shippo," she said softly, notching an arrow in her bow and walking slowly through the trees. "Get the others."

He nodded and ran off in the opposite direction. Luna kept the arrow pointed at the ground and walked through the trees. From far away, she heard twigs snapping. Stepping into a clearing, she let her now piercing gaze up on the demon standing before her. (Ooh, it went from fun to serious.) Behind her, the rest of the gang crashed through the trees. Kagome gasped.

"It has a jewel shard!"

Inuyasha smirked and went to unsheathe the tetsiega, but Luna already had her arrow aimed up at the demon. They were all shocked.

Time seemed to stop as Luna stared up at the demon. He looked down at her amused.

"Are you gonna fight me little girl?" he said mockingly. She smirked.

"Damn right I am."

She let the arrow fly. Her new friends watched as it gathered speed, the shaft surrounded by a steadily growing blue glow. It struck the demon right on the forehead, and he let out a roar as the same blue glow surrounded his own body. Starting from where the arrow had struck, the demon started to dissolve away, the little girl calmly walking towards it, eyes closed. Seconds later the demon was gone, and the shard fell from the sky. Luna reached her hand up into the air and caught it. Satisfied, she walked back over to the group, holding the shard between her fingers.

"Oh man, that one didn't put up a struggle. I was hoping for an actual fight," she sighed and tugged on the string holding the pouch around her neck. Opening the drawstring bag, she added the shard to her collection. "Oh well, maybe next time."

The first person to come to his senses was Miroku. Next was Inuyasha, who saw Luna putting the shard around her neck. He reached out to grab them away from her, but Luna swatted his hand away.

"Don't even try it," She said, tucking the pouch back under her kimono. Miroku smiled at her.

"Well, you certainly know how to take care of yourself, Luna," he said as they continued their walk.

"I never said I couldn't," she said, munching on more berries. "You just assumed."