'Protector'

Chapter Two: Inevitably Alone

--100 Years Later--

Kagome hummed a soft melody under her breath. Although it had been ages since she had heard it, the tune still remained in her mind, a remnant of what and who she used to be. The song haunted her, sometimes almost driving her crazy. She dimly remembered the song title… it was 'Four Seasons', sung by a singer named Namie Amuro – a lady who hadn't been born yet in the era she lived in. She walked barefooted through the trees. Being in contact with the earth made her feel at peace, and the sensation of calm more than made up for having to wash the grime off her feet. Her black sandals were carried loosely in one hand, and she gripped her bow lightly in the other.

Toutousai had made the bow for her out of gratitude, after she helped him exterminate a demon who kept hounding him for a sword. The workmanship was truly exquisite, and the soft sunlight filtering through the trees made the polished wood gleam. The old sword smith had carved designs of mythical creatures such as phoenixes, unicorns and dragons. Kagome had made it a habit to clean the bow every night with a handkerchief-sized piece of white silk. The bow did not have any special attacks like Tetsusaiga, but it possessed one very useful ability – power magnification. To purify several demons only took a spark of power. In addition, Toutousai had made it so that it could only be used by her. It was made of time tree wood, and was extremely durable. She had been using for more than half a century, and it was still in perfect condition, power undiminished.

Kagome was now alone in the world. Things had happened during the last hundred years, and most of them were unpleasant.

Inuyasha, the brash and proud half-demon who had led the group of shard hunters, had vanished soon after the jewel rejected him, leaving a heartbroken and weeping Kagome behind. He had not left a trail, and even Kirara and Shippou had no way to track him down. Kagome had been depressed for a very long time before she put herself together again; ready to face the world head-on.

Shippou, the fox kit who had been like a son to the Shikon miko, had been found by a passing clan of fox demons. The clan chief, a very pleasant demon named Akito, had offered Shippou the opportunity to join his own kind and learn the secret arts of the trickster foxes. After gentle encouragement from Kagome, Shippou agreed to go. An entire century passed, and Kagome never saw Shippou again. She had no idea where he was, nor whether he was even alive.

Kaede had passed away soon after. Pushing her sadness and tears away, Kagome had attended the burial of the elderly miko who had treated her like a daughter. Kagome still went back occasionally, to leave flowers on the grave. The village had mourned the passing of the wise old woman, but life had to go on.

Miroku had taken Kaede's place as the holy person of the village, their protector and healer. After a few months, he had proposed marriage to Sango, who had accepted excitedly, but not before extracting a promise from him that he would never be a pervert and grope other girls again. Miroku agreed, because he realized there was a loophole in that promise. Sango had only made him agree not to grope other girls – she had not included herself in there. So he still groped her regularly, earning slaps and kicks from her. He often had encounters with Hiraikotsu too, which was still kept in top condition.

Kagome had witnessed their marriage, and had even agreed to officiate the ceremony. Sango and Miroku had been ecstatic, and the celebrations were held throughout the night, the males teasing Miroku about his bedroom prowess. Sango had later confided to Kagome that Miroku had confessed in private that he was still a virgin. She had not believed him at first. Who would have thought that such a perverted monk was still a virgin? Kagome had laughed until she almost started to cry, she was so amused by the irony.

A few weeks later, Kagome had slipped away in dark of night, leaving no trail behind. She could not stay; she was not a normal human. She was the guardian of a jewel that granted immense power, she had unbelievable powers, and she was immortal. No one else was in the same situation as her. Sango and Miroku, although they were good friends, could not possibly relate to her.

Sango and Miroku had died, and Kagome still walked among the living, but always one step away from anyone else. The pain of her friends' deaths still hurt her, and the constant ache in her heart reminded her to keep her distance from the ones whose lives passed in a flash.

Kirara had come to Kagome after Sango's death, asking to stay as her pet. Kagome immediately took the little fire-cat in. Kirara left once in a while, but Kagome understood her need for privacy and granted it gladly.

To the human villagers who lived in this time period, the immortal miko was shrouded in mystery. No one knew her origins, no one knew whether she even had a family, and no one knew where her powers came from. Her magic was not natural; no miko had powers like she did. But then again, none of them had the Shikon no Tama in them.

Some minstrel had invented a legend about her, and it was very irritating to hear his song being sung. The minstrel, Hatokiri, had gotten a few facts right, but most of them were wrong. And those which were right were the most unbelievable, so no one knew what to think. Somehow, the stupid guy had gotten the information that she came from a different era, and that the Shikon no Tama had merged into her body. She had heard that he had been kicked out of more than one village for insinuating that their precious Protector came from another world altogether. Kagome thought that they secretly wanted to think that even human blood could produce amazing people sometimes. Well, she couldn't deny that she wasn't human, but she couldn't deny that she didn't have a power booster with her at all times.

Kagome had grown and matured, although not much. She was slightly taller now, and her hair fell down to her ankles, unbound and flowing freely. There were slight differences between her and Kikyou; it was just that Inuyasha had never opened his eyes properly to look. Her hair had a slight curl to it, whereas Kikyou's was straight. Her cocoa-colored eyes were warm and kind, unlike Kikyou's aloof and cold brown ones. Kikyou's hair had a brownish tinge to it, whereas Kagome's was so dark that it had bluish highlights in the bright golden sunshine.

Although she was a miko, she refused to wear their traditional garb of white and red, saying that she would look way too much like Kikyou. The pain of being told she was inferior still remained, and she would do almost anything to avoid looking like the undead woman. Instead of a white top, she wore one that was designed the same way, but in a soft sapphire tone. In lieu of the red pants, she wore black, but a little tighter than the usual baggy ones. The pants she wore were a little more like the jeans of the future.

Some people compared her power to that of Midoriko's, the legendary creator of the Shikon no Tama that Kagome guarded with her life. A small ironic smile curved the miko's lips. She wondered what their expressions would be like if they knew that Midoriko was the one who trained her in her dreams. Midoriko had told her about the abilities the jewel had gifted her with, and a few of those she used regularly were shape-shifting and telepathy.

She now stood in front of the God Tree, the one thing that was constant in her former life and this one. Her hair flowed around her like a curtain, swaying in the soft breeze that ruffled the leaves of this special tree. Spring flowers nodded in the wind, holding up their heads to greet the miko of the Shikon no Tama. Kagome ran her hand over the spot where Inuyasha had lain sealed for fifty long years, until she had been dragged through the well and released him. Memories of the half-demon flooded her mind, and she shook her head in annoyance. She didn't need to bring him to the front of her mind again, it would take too long to push him away. Her eyes narrowed, and in a flash, a feline stood in her place. A female tiger, to be exact.

Kagome loved to run in the form of an animal, usually some type of feline, because it felt most natural to her, next to her usual human body. With a snapping of her teeth, she bounded forward, into the trees that surrounded the lone giant that stood through the ages.

The wind rushed past her, and the trees and bushes around her blurred. She charged on, not heeding the branches and twigs that scraped at her hide. Small streaks of blood sprang up, and Kagome's sensitive cat nose could smell it. She kept rushing on, not caring about the direction she was going in, drowning in the adrenaline high that poured through her.

As she ran onward, she caught a glimpse of silvery hair that looked as soft as silk. Sitting back on her haunches, she stopped her headlong dash and backtracked for a closer look. Transforming back to the usual human girl body, she crept closer. Her heart leapt as she caught another glimpse of long silver hair. Thinking it was Inuyasha, she approached, calling his name.

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha!" she shouted, willing him to turn and look at her, acknowledge the girl he had rejected after the jewel pushed him away. But when the silver-haired man standing in the clearing did turn, her heart plummeted, and she froze in place as he fixed a golden stare onto her.

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A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed the second chapter of 'Protector'. I'm sure everyone can guess who she happened to meet. Oh well. Hehehe… This took quite a while to write, because I didn't really know what should happen, other than the fact that she had to meet that certain someone at the end. My original version was only 850 words, I felt that I should make it a bit longer… don't you think so? Anyway, I padded it out with more info on what happened during that century. And I can also tell you this is definitely not Inuyasha/Kagome. I don't write those very well. Okay, remember to R&R everyone! Reviews make me write faster. hint hint Also, thank you to everyone who reviewed! Glomps them all excitedly

Reviewer responses:

Kagome21: There, I updated. Maybe not very quickly, but at least I updated. Yeah. I had a bit of trouble with this, this is the second version that I wrote. I hope you enjoyed this, please review!

Youkai99Angel: Ooh, I can't believe one of my favorite authors reviewed my little story! Yay! jumps up and down excitedly Yes, you can start backing away from the crazy writer about now. Just kidding. Just wanted to tell you, I couldn't review for the latest chapter you posted because I already did it when you posted the trick chapters. Just in case you wanted to know why I didn't review. Yeah. I hope you enjoyed this, please review!

Erin: I don't mind sending you an email when I update, but you forgot to leave your email address! Please give it to me if you want an alert. I hope you enjoyed this, please review!

IYGURL: Well, there you go. I'm glad you like it. I hope you enjoyed this, please review!

Nomadgirl66: I'm really glad you like it. smiles happily Here's your update. I hope you enjoyed this, please review!

Ziana: I will do my utmost best to complete this. Hmm… I really hope I don't run out of ideas for this like I did for my other multi-chapter fics. So…I hope you enjoyed this, please review!

Katana no Mizu Ryuu: I'm glad you think it's good. Here's your update! I hope you enjoyed this, and please review!

Ember-Angel: There! Some more to read. Hehehe. I hope you're happy with this. And just in case you wanted to know, my week was really horrible. My form teacher is a swine I tell you. I so wanna kick his butt. Oh well. It was nice of you to wish me a stress freed week anyway. Thank you! I hope you like this, and please review!

Dawnstar28: Hmm… I like your name. Did you pick it from Mercedes Lackey's books? I read a few where there was a girl character named Dawnstar. I really liked that one. I'm glad you enjoyed this… I try my best not to make mistakes. But occasionally, a few slip through my fingers, and I don't have a beta reader to correct them. I tried to make this chapter about the same length – did I succeed? I hope so. I hope you like this, and please review!

Ouka-chan77: I will certainly try to keep going. I hope you like this, and please review!

CrazyPoet: There's humor in this? Really? Hmm… I'm not good at writing humor, I'm better at angst. And I have no idea why. I'm happy that you enjoyed this. Here's more for you! I hope you enjoyed this, and please review!

Ladylillyofazra: I'm glad you think it's great so far. Hopefully, this chapter measures up to the last one. I hope you like this, and please review!

Everyone, remember, reviews make me write faster! And it would make my day if you reviewed. Yay! Anyway, I'll try and update as soon as possible. And for those for put this story on alert but didn't review… I know who you are. It would be nice if you could drop me a line, even if you just say 'blah' in it. Really.

kyasarinyume07 signing off! Bye everyone! Have a good week.