A/N: I'm really, really, sorry about the late update, but I've been busy and I was working on other fanfictions. Two are up and coming, Steps to Eternity and Heaven's War, though the title of the latter will probably change. You guys can decide which I should do first, here are some summaries. The scales are tipped towards Heaven's War, though.
Steps to Eternity: (KagInu) Japan is devided in four provinces, two for the demons and two for the humans. In the middle of the four lands is a ring of no-mans land, where a structure similiar to stonehenge rests. One thousand leagues away, in the center of each of the four provinces, lies a staircase, leading up to who knows where. When the four provinces fell to war, the stairs sealed themselves away, to be lost in myth and legend. Now the present arrives, bringing a defiant princess, a bodyguard set on revenge against those who cast him away, and the appearence of a small pink jewel to tie them all together.
Heaven's War: (KagInu) Heaven, the realm that rules all reality, has a mind of her own, and when she sees the birth of a half demon, an imperfection the two races of Japan, she sets out to fix the problem... permanently. So she sends down a soul who, after manifesting in a human body, becomes a priestess set out to fulfill her task. Unfortuanetly, Heaven wasn't counting on her assasin falling in love or the chaos that would bring.
Now, on to the story!
.:Curse of Dragons:.
.:By: Maiden of the Seven Stars:.
.:Chapter 8: Reincarnation:.
Brown eyes, black hair, pale skin… so strange.
It was a girl… no, a woman. A woman with the blackest hair, and skin as pale as snow. The woman was looking into the water, a tear falling from her face.
No, it wasn't a tear that had rolled down her cheek. It was just the rain.
The woman stared as the water rippled around her feet, straight at her reflection.
Kagome gasped as her dream twisted her tight in its grip, as her eyes were locked onto the eyes of the reflection of the woman.
It was her.
With a groan she twisted away from her dream, leaving everything about it buried deep into her mind, so that when she finally opened her eyes she saw only a dim room, and couldn't remember a thing about the nightmare that had woken her up.
She stared up at the ceiling, a tight canvas tent, waterproof and warm, that let in light as the sun rose, and she wondered where she was. These weren't the streets, nor Inuyasha's cozy stall, and then she remember the vague trip last night.
She had watched as the warriors approached slowly, the one abroad the fire demon taking the sword from Inuyasha. Then they had spoken, though the words were lost in her exhaustion, but a moment later she was on a horse, a black stallion, Inuyasha's head hovering at one side and they began to move.
She had talked, of small things, of her life. The monk on the horse had been so kind, so friendly.
She groaned with annoyance at that thought. She had been feeling rather content all of a sudden, and then his hand slid from her waist and down to her bottom.
It hadn't gotten any farther than that, because a moment later the monk was in the dirt and Inuyasha's dragon snout was hovering behind her.
"Pervert." The silver dragon had hissed. "Definitely of the Otoshi line."
From then on she had ridden solo, with only the silver dragon by her side.
What had become of the monk, she would never know.
She sighed and tried to sit up a little in bed, only to find she was still as tired as she had been last night… or had she slept for a whole day?
"What's wrong with me?" She asked to the tent.
"How should I know?" Grumbled an overly sarcastic voice to her left, and she started.
"Then again, you were always the stupid one."
"Inuyasha?" She asked, turning to see a massive bulk of silver scales, coiled like a snake, and two amber eyes.
"Who else, wench, and don't start getting all nice on me. I only saved you last night because you got me out of that compound." He growled.
"Consider it payback, I'm not indebted to you anymore." He snapped and closed his eyes again.
"What are you talking about?" She snapped, getting both angry and annoyed herself.
"I helped you because I needed your help, you weren't indebted to me!"
"Pah, that's what you say now." He hissed.
"I say it now because it's true!" She snapped in return, and he glared at her, but before he could throw a snappish retort the tent flap was shoved out of the way, and the poor messenger had to face Inuyasha's furious wrath.
"You'd think they'd learn to knock or something." He hissed. "Particularly at the tent of a very important guest!"
The young boy faltered and then bowed, shakily.
"S-sorry M'lord, just that the Monk Miroku is coming to check on-on-" He stuttered. He didn't know her name.
"I'm Kagome." She said softly, and the boy nodded.
"That fraud?" Inuyasha snapped.
"He's not a fraud, although he certainly acts like one." A clear female voice called, and a moment later a girl entered the tent. She was tall and thin, wearing tight fitting black mail, and pink armored clasps that held it at her shoulders and knees. Behind her stood Miroku, who was trying to look miffed.
"Inuyasha, please! Sango's right, I do have monk powers!"
"Even if he is a womanizer." Sango hissed and Inuyasha bobbed his head in bare agreement.
"You've got one chance, monk." The dragon hissed, before his attention was diverted by a small mew.
A small little cat-demon had made its way between everyone's legs and was sitting next to Kagome, who smiled and stroked the little creature.
Whipping his neck around Inuyasha glanced at the demon, and then touched his snout to its nose. It licked him, obviously unafraid despite the size difference.
"Kirara! Come here!" Called Sango, and the adorable little demon bounded into the girl's open arms, as Miroku moved up to sit on the edge of Kagome's bed.
"Close your eyes and relax." He ordered, raising his right hand, the one that was wrapped in a protective rosary. His left began to gently shake his staff and the six golden rings jingled rhythmically.
"I'm warning you, Monk…" Inuyasha growled, but he fell silent.
She closed her eyes obediently and leaned back in the pillows behind her, letting the rhythmic jingling of the staff lull her into a relaxed state. She nearly fell asleep before Miroku waved his staff before her face, the rings jangling in discord before falling still again.
"What's wrong with me?" She asked, opening her eyes, only to see the monk's pleasant face take on a grave mask.
"I wish I could say something different, but I've got a dragon at my back who will make me tell the truth." He said, glancing at Inuyasha's bobbing head. The dragon snapped at the air, displaying a canine.
"It appears, Kagome, that you have had part of your soul leeched from you." He said, his eyes closed.
Utter silence met his words which hovered for several moments before Inuyasha finally spoke.
"How do you know?" The dragon snapped.
"You've felt weak, and even after rest you're still tired." Miroku said, addressing Kagome. She nodded.
"She's perfectly healthy, as our healers say, so this cannot be a disease, and there is an aura about her that seems… incomplete." The monk continued. "You have Sacred Power, I presume?"
Again, she nodded.
"Have you been able to touch upon it ever since your escape?"
"No… It's like I never had any power at all." She replied.
"It's been leeched away." Miroku concluded, "And since Sacred Power is tied to your soul it is safe to say part of your soul has been taken."
"Only part?" Sango asked. "Why not drain the entire soul?"
"A soul does not live unless it is in its own vessel. Those that are freed or taken whole can only provide a life force, not life itself." The monk replied.
"You mean something out there is living… as Kagome?" Inuyasha butted in, wearing an expression that suggested he was fairly confused at the idea.
"Basically, you have a soul, and you have a life. Your soul created and is attached to your life. When your life dies, your soul will create another life, and attach itself to that one. Each life will be unique, but all of the lives that have been attached to a certain soul will share something in common. If you were to take a part of a soul, leaving the rest attached to the proper life, the soul would not create a new life, but from that fragment of a soul you can revive one of the soul's previous lives, because of the link between the soul and the life." The monk said. "It's the theory of Reincarnation, where two lives are particularly similar, adapted to fit here."
Everyone stared at him, waiting for him to go on or chewing the information they had been given.
"In other words, someone is not living as Kagome, you cannot duplicate a life, but as a past life of her soul, and judging from who Kagome is, and who has taken part of her soul, we can determine which life was resurrected." He said, but before he had finished Inuyasha was up and bristling, his scales rippling in anger.
Kagome wasn't the only one who could see the pain in his eyes
"No, never! She's dead, I don't care for your hocus pocus theories!" He roared, and they all stuffed their fingers in their ears.
She could feel the tears prick at her eyes, and not just for the force of the sound. The sheer amount of hurt, unable to be disguised by anger, that was in the dragon's keening roar was enough to bring her near tears. For a moment the sound reverberated through the canvas, and then there was silence.
Golden eyes glared and were met with steady brown, and then in a flash of silver scales Inuyasha disappeared between the canvas flaps and the distinct beating of wings informed them all that the silver dragon was gone.
Finally, she broke the silence.
"What happened between the two of them, Inuyasha and Kikyo?" She asked, and she heard Miroku sigh.
"He loved her." Sango said, sadly. "And I think she may have loved him, at a time, but something happened…"
"Kikyo was a pure soul, with a great well of Sacred Power." Miroku said, then stopped.
"And?" She persisted, but both of them were staring at the ground.
"This isn't our tale to tell." Miroku finally said. "All we know is something, fifty years ago, corrupted Kikyo."
But who? What? She thought, knowing the question beneath his words, and with a sigh she leaned back in the cushions.
Poor Inuyasha, he had suffered so much… but he couldn't have been a dragon at that time! No one would fall in love with a dragon, so that meant Inuyasha hadn't always been a dragon… and what were the Taijiya and what purpose did they have? Oh, so many questions, why hadn't she asked?
She opened her eyes, the words on the tip of her tongue, but the tent was empty.
A/N: Sorry, it's a little short, but I will update before mid-may, I promise! Please review guys, feedback is always appreciated!