Once upon a Skeleton

Princess of Ikana

Disclaimer: InuYasha belongs to Rumiko Takashima.

Prompt: White


One

She quivered with unsettled fury as Kikyo smiled at her.

"You already know this is the only way…" she uttered again.

Kagome glared but looked behind her at Inuyasha's battered human body, on the brink of death.

She was selling her soul to the devil herself…

"Promise me that he will be okay" she demanded without agreeing just yet.

"I cannot promise anything, I'm only offering to freeze his demise while you figure out what to do" she reminded her swifty.

Sighing now, Kagome took a deep breath and agreed to Kikyo's offer of 'saving' Inuyasha.


Tetsusaiga had gotten heavier after their lengthy encounter with Sesshoumaru and the brother's fight to the death, only to end in a stalemate.

Inuyasha had been very distant to her as of late, mainly because he feared that by continuing to be with her, that he could change into his unpredictable demon form and accidentally end her life.

He had left them in the middle of the night, and when the group asked Kagome for her thoughts on his whereabouts, she figured that he most likely had gone to Totosai for advice on how to master the sword's power and abilities.

What they didn't know was that Totosai sent Inuyasha on an elaborate quest to end the life of the demon that managed to kill his father. Silent, sealed for over 200 years on a rocky cliffside in an abandoned canyon.

Ideally it would have been easy enough, besides Inuyasha grouching how uncool it was going to be to kill unfairly, he wanted the chance to fight honorably but of course Totosai warned him that he would be no match for the dragon at full power and awakened.

As the fates would interfere, Naraku had been spying and had to be the one to unleash the demon from its slumber and Inuyasha got his chance to fight head to head.

The timing was unfortunate because it was nearing sunset by the time the rest of the group had found him and it was the night of the new moon…

Sango and Miroku attacked first, aiming to distract while Kagome, who was with Totosai stayed behind, trying to locate Inuyasha amongst the fray, only to see him jump from a nearby cliff, going for a direct attack.

"That fool, direct attacks won't work on those scales" muttered Totosai disapprovingly.

Ryukotsusei took advantage of Inuyasha's foolishness and bit him with his powerful jaw, fatally as he began his transformation into being human for the night.

He should have died but a powerful arrow of purification shot into the side of the dragon's face before disintegrating the demon halfway, but he would regenerate.

Kagome took no chances and with's Totosai's aid they did a flyby and grabbed Inuyasha's still body before evacuating the area.

Five miles south, they finally stopped and met up with Kikyo who stood next to a tree with her soul companions, awaiting them.

Ignoring her for the moment, Kagome layed Inuyasha on the ground, ripping off the sleeves of her uniform, tying up the largest of the gashes that covered his one side.

"How did you know he was in danger?" she murmured slowly.

"I didn't, I only sensed the presence of a dangerous threat and I took action" Kikyo shared.

Blood was still pooling underneath them and Kagome was getting petrified that this was it, and they were going to lose him…

Shippo was sitting on Miroku's shoulder while Sango aided Kagome with makeshift bandages.

"Inuyasha… hold on… please…I don't know what else I can do…" Kagome whimpered helplessly.

Kikyo strolled over before holding her hand over his body and he glowed with an eerie glow, as the soul keepers gilded around them on the edge of the circle that Kikyo created.

"Is he?" Kagome dared to utter.

"Not yet, now I only offer this once, as we have a common foe who is becoming a nuisance to me… I offer to hold Inuyasha's soul in the in-between, if you want more time to figure out how to save him… but I can only hold his soul for a total of three moon cycles and I will have depleted my own reserve of power and will not sacrifice myself for his life, when he took my own…"

Kagome only could stare at her incarnation bewildered.


Sesshoumaru was resting against a tree while watching Jaken fumble around the girl they recently took with them, Rin.

She giggled delightfully as she chased the imp among the field of wildflowers, trying to pick out the best of the bunch to present to their lord.

Sesshoumaru was glad for the break, he would admit it outloud but he was slightly impressed with Inuyasha's progress in controlling his inner demon and finally learning how to wield his sword correctly.

He had stubbornly accepted that he would never be able to wield the powerful fang as long as it helped keep Inuyasha's demon blood at bay. He even clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction at the cleverness of their father who incorporated that function…thus preventing him from stealing it. It wasn't that he was above killing his younger and useless half-brother, but his own honor prevented him from engaging in such an act of disrespect.

No, he would seek an alternate way to best his father's long legacy and become an even more powerful demon, and the first thing he needed was to rid the world of the nuisance, that was Naraku who was causing some much trouble in his own territory.

"We're leaving" he announced to the other two before rising and walking towards the north.

Rin ran behind with a small bouquet, content to present her find at a later time, she mounted the two head dragon ah uh and Jaken squealed behind them, grasping onto the dragon's tail, wailing once more about being left behind.


When morning finally rose, Kagome felt only slightly better when she saw the white of Inuyasha's hair, and claws return in the place of dull nails and ebony tresses. Kikyo was holding his consciousness still but they all signed with slight relief when they saw his major injuries close up.

"He has been poisoned…" Kikyo confirmed, also watching his form change.

They couldn't let him wake because his systems needed time to heal fully.

Kagome asked if he would wake on his own, once his body healed itself like it typically did?

Normally… yes he should, but I sense a dark aura surrounding his wounds… I believe he's been cursed, that demon was his father's old enemy? Maybe it would be best to see if his brother knows anything about any family misforgivings." Kikyo assessed and offered to Kagome what she would do in this situation.

Miroku and Sango offered to pack up camp while Kagome discussed at length what the next step was for her.

"Kikyo, what do you gain by helping us? Also what if you get captured by Naraku again and he finds out about Inuyasha?" She asked first.

"It doesn't matter to me what you do from here, but I gain the pleasure of knowing, if you manage to save him, he will be full of guilt for endangering himself as he seems to have fallen in love with you…" she admitted, smirking at the irony.

Still bitter, and wanting some kind of revenge for their own fault in destroying each other, after Naraku fooled the two of them. Kikyo knew the truth but it didn't matter, they still killed one another. She died thinking she had been betrayed.

Kagome directed her to a sole wisteria tree on a ridge in the area of mount Azumaya, in the modern area of Nagano, which was in the Western territories in the past era.

They had passed through this area on their journey but never stopped. The tree had always caught her attention as they walked by. Making some bamboo shovels from a nearby grove, Miroku, Sango and her dug a shallow grave and buried him here for safekeeping. Kikyo made a seal for the small space and enclosed her powers to withhold her soul seal for the next three months. She also left a small soul keeper to keep tabs on who might come across the spot and alert her if needed.

"Till the next time we meet '' Kikyo told them before she walked away towards a forest with morning mists circling up above her head and she disappeared steps away.

Kagome pressed her lips together, emotions swirling like the mists.

"Now what Kagome-sama?" asked Miroku quietly.

"We avoid Naraku and find the person responsible for cursing InuYasha's father. I'd like to visit Jinenji, he might have some better insight on dragon poison." she suggested, gathering up her backpack and heading towards his village.

Sango nodded to Miroku and they followed behind her with Kirara and Shippo.


While patrolling his borders, Sesshoumaru felt the burst of demonic presence he hadn't felt since the last time he saw his father and ordered Jaken to take Rin back to the fortress, nearby while he confronted an old enemy.

Ryukotsusei slithered into Western territories undeterred by lesser demons who did not get in his way. The hanyou had informed him of Lord Togu's demise whilst battling and when he returned from that annoying purification attack, he saw the hanyou had fled and Ryukotsusei decided to invade the West once more, thinking it must have been left unattended this whole time he had been sealed.

Sesshoumaru appeared in his path and the dragon smiled, finally a worthy challenge.

He wasn't worth mentioning over 200 years ago but now he had taken over his father's legacy and no one would stop him for he was a formidable demon in his own right.

"Ryukotsusei, not bothering to hide your stench, I smelt a bothersome hanyou all over you" Sesshoumaru jeered at him mockingly.

"Sesshomaru… mph I hope you are more of a real challenge compared to that loud mouth hanyou that's of your blood?" he replied, making his move first.

Sesshoumaru could only laugh lightly, of course he was more of a threat compared to Inuyasha.

Naraku laughed when his puppet was set on fire and destroyed on his end. That demon might actually be formidable enough to deal with his enemies. He summoned Kanna who brought her mirror closer.

He watched the pathetic battle until a sacred arrow purified the area and his view was permanently obscured.

"Enough, Kikyo rescues him again huh…" he muttered darkly.

Even if the ancient dragon demon was defeated, Naraku was only using him to buy him some time for another plan of his that involved the two priestesses that were becoming a thorn in his side.

Kikyo had enemies when she was alive surely?

He had started looking into her past, and found out that she was only one of the priestesses fit to 'guard' the shikon no tama back when she was truly human.

He wasn't too worried about Kikyo, as he knew of her weaknesses, but he was starting to worry about Kagome's purity abilities. She had almost killed him a while back with a single arrow.

She possibly had the potential of ending him and purifying the shikon jewel to true purity and he would never be able to touch it again if she were able to do that.

Naraku's plan was simply to break Kagome's heart and drop her into the darkness and he would have no one to fear.


A/N: Hi and Welcome to my new InuYasha fanfic :) this one is going to be a slow burn, so be prepared. I was inspired by all the different shades of color and some angst. This one is going to be Kagome-centric and her training in being a more experienced Miko, and her feelings in general. Also this is a Canon Divergence, starts right at their battle with Ryukotsusei. Season 3 onward doesn't exist from here on out :P After all this is going to be a Sesshoumaru x Kagome in the end. Oh and it might also be loosely based and influenced by the fairytale Sleeping Beauty.