Chapter 2

Tears of Fear

When the sun was finally high in the sky, Kagome found herself a safe, shaded place to rest. It had been a long treck from the village, the sun laughing down at her, so cheerful and delighted. Very unlike how she felt. Her heart was heavy, burdened with the lonliness she felt, but her spirits high, hoping to find something. Anything. Even Kouga would do.

Removing her travel sack from her shoulder, she took out a small, modest meal of dried rations she had made herself weeks past. It was lonely, eating on her own, no villagers interrupting her to inquire about demons and herbs, no children asking for stories about her travels, and no young miko bombarding her with pointless chatter. However, she was grateful for a quiet meal.

Taking small bites, Kagome began to think of where in fact she was going to go. The Ocean? Should she travel the world, see everything there was to see before civilization fully developed? No, that would be expensive, if not dangerous. Though, danger really didn't bother her now... Perhaps, being a traveling Miko was her only choice afterall. She, for one, couldn't think of anything better to do in this day and age. How boring. And frusterating. That meant she had to keep this layered, heavy, outfit on all the time.

Sighing, she popped the last of the rice from her meal into her mouth, re-fastened the sack on her shoulder, and continued on her invisible path. Was she like Kikyo now? She was fully trained, but probably not as powerful. Certainly not as pretentious, either. No, she didn't want to be like Kikyo anyways.

Feeling a breeze brush Kagome's dark hair across her cheeks, she was jolted out of her thoughts, eyes darting around the forest. Something... felt off, but she couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. Heck, it could have been nothing, just her instincts set off a false alarm. But, she knew better than to ignore her instincts.

Stringing her bow, Kagome kept herself on the alert, but continued to walk along. Just when she started to relax, she heard a twig snap behind her. Swinging around, she came nose to chin with a giant... Man? No wonder she hadn't sensed anything. Stumbling back she forced the relief out of her expression and frowned. One could never be too careful. "What is it?"

The man stood there stunned for a second, looked at his hands, shuffled his feet, and looked confused. He seemed to make up his mind of whatever it was he was thinking, as he looked to her with a sheepish, awkward grin. "I was just. Well. You know..." he trailed off with a shrug. "I was huntin' for some plants for the ol' lady... Didn't mean to scare yuh. Was always light on my feet, and ye seemed to be thinkin' so I didn't want te disturb ye." He stopped again, giving an even broader grin this time. "But I'm sure glad I found ye! Te old lady is sick an' you're a healer. I don know what I'm even lookin' for! Please, miss, can ye halp? I can't take care o' the kids."

Kagome felt her muscles relax and she listened to the large man talk. Was there... Really people who talked like this around? She had only ever encountered well spoken people, and this was quite odd. "Yes, I can help." She fould herself saying.

The man seemed to get giddy at this, then motioned for her to follow, walking through the tree and onto a small, worn down path. Funny she didn't notice it before. Oh well, it was of no consequence, clearly she just wasn't paying attention.

It wasn't long before the man brought her to a small hut on the outskirts of the forest near a small pond. It was then that she noticed it. This man was leading her to demons. They were very good at covering their presence, but it was weak and panicked. So, silently putting up a barrier that prevented anyone but humans to pass through, she continued to cautiously follow the young man into the hut. There, she found a very terrified, sick old woman trying to get as far away from her as possible, and four terrified, frazzled young children. Were they foxes?

Feeling the air around her begin to thicken, she noticed the man had left the room as soon as he had come. Was he aware of what they were, or was he just uneasy of them, like he should be. Sighing, Kagome nealt to the ground, eyes never leaving the elderly woman. "I won't hurt you, if you don't hurt me. And I certainly don't want to upset the children."

Everyone seemed to relax a bit, but were still wary, which was natural, as she was a Miko and had the ability to kill them all. Though, that wasn't her nature. "So tell me, what is wrong?"

"Grandma is sick! She was poisoned by a lady wearing clothing like you! Grandma was just protecting us! We were playing the the river and some kids were throwing rocks at us and calling their parents. Their healer came and tried to get rid of us all. But grandma just protected us..." The young kit explaining the story trailed off, tears running down his cheeks. He reminded her of Shippo. Light brown hair, colorful clothing.

She found herself reaching out to pat the little one on the head, a longing smile replasing her mask of caution. "I will help your grandma, as long as you all promise to leave that village alone and don't go back." Kagome said this to the children, but looked at the old fox. It was her she was worried about, not the children.

When the children lavished her with promises, she noticed the small nod from the elderly. Smiling, Kagome got up and moved over to the woman, set her hands on her, then looked her in the eye. "You have to trust me. This healer used Miko magic, and so I will have to do the same to quell it. If it's of any consolation, I have many demon friends, even a fox child." She said this only because she knew that stories of her and her companions adventures were widely known.

Kagome took comfort in the widening eyes of the old womans eyes, and nod of recognition then went to work. A light blue hue began to surround the two of them, and Kagome closed her eyes. Really, demons werent all terrible, it was only the visious, unintelligible ones you needed to worry about. People like these were never a harm unless you armed them first.

Opening her eyes, Kagome brought her energy back to her as the old woman was now asleep. She turned to the children and then smiled. "Your grandmother is all better now. But she needs to rest, so you all need to be quiet." She watched all the little nods of agreement, nodded as well before standing. "But I must get going, I can't stay for long."

The children looked up at her dismayed and Kagome gave each of them a pat on the head. "It will be fine. You still have that young man to get you things and take care of you."

She left the little hut then to find said young man sitting outside the hut. He looked frightened, and it was only then that she realized that he was a half demon. Odd, what kind of demon would seek help from a Miko. He smiled awkwardly at her before going into the hut. She waited a moment, making sure everything was fine before walking deeper into the forest and removing the barrier.

Instantly, she felt lonely. Was she really okay with this? Helping people then moving on?

Who knew.