A/N I know it's been forever since I've updated this story. Hope someone is still interested. Okay so the two characters in this chapter come completely from my imagination. Karou is the Anointer of every Miko and Saruka is an apprentice hoping to follow in his footsteps. This moment takes place once both men discover that Kikyo has been going to meet Inuyasha in the forest. They don't know the depth of the relationship and therefore both are skeptical of it. Please let me know what you think!

Chapter Two: The Hardest Journey of Them All

"So what should we do?"

"What do you mean? This progression, however unforeseen, is out of our control."

"But it is her duty. This task was appointed to her, for her! If she can't deliver; then who will? Our fate, we have lain at her feet; placed willingly in her hands to guard and protect! This is her duty! She must not forsake us!!"

Saruka was adamant in pressing his point to the older gentleman who seemed much too calm for his liking. Wiping the back of his hand across his dampened brow, he waited for Karou to reply. He had to; for it was Karou who had chosen Kikyo as the Miko. He had ordained her at birth to bear the burden and promised that it would be her soul that brought peace and protection for their people. And for something this important, there could be no mistake.

Karou stepped away from the window walking to the heart of the temple. He let his eyes slide over the stone carved figurine that was High Miko. The keeper of all Mikos. Her face, a passive expression of acceptance and strength stared back at him. Her hands were cupped firmly around a sparkling sphere that held more power then anyone could every possibly comprehend.

Her purpose clear and unyielding. She would protect the Shinon No Tama at all costs, keeping its power out of the hands of demons and evil until it was purified. Her life no longer her own but given up to the will of this tiny jewel. This was her sole purpose, her entire reason for being.

"Was it wrong to demand this of her?" Karou asked, his eyes roaming the Miko's face as though looking for answers, knowing that whatever she could tell him would remain her secret. Mikos shared nothing!

"How can you ask that? You of all people! It was you…" Saruka began but Karou cut him off.

"It is not a question of her being the one! She is the one! The stars themselves chose her as High Miko! That is not the issue that I address. I am asking you if it is fair?!" His tone was harsh but his eyes were laced with a sincere empathy that almost seemed foreign on Saruka.

Slowly the man with unimaginable power of detection and foresight found himself doubting everything that he had been taught. Plagued by questions that were filled with humanistic sincerity, would be their downfall!

"She would have been happy as a woman… just a normal woman with all the troubles that womanhood would bring." He stated softly and Saruka wasn't sure which 'she' he was referring to… but he supposed it didn't matter… all Mikos were one in his mind… how wrong he was.

"Karou…" Saruka trailed off when Karou turned to him with bright emotion-filled gray eyes and a broken smile. He had never seen his master smile and for some strange reason it brought tears to the younger man's eyes.

"I ask you, Saruka; not as a servant of this temple, but as a man… were we wrong? This task…this life which is no life at all… is it too much? To demand she give up her life…love… humanity…. To forsake it all… For these people?" He asked tiredly. With a heavy sigh he turned back to the Miko and frowned. "I have walked this Earth for many years and never in all my life was a Miko so clearly chosen as Kikyo. And at the time I believed that it was for the best… but now perhaps… perhaps I was too hasty and instead of a blessing, maybe this was Her way of showing us that this shall be the hardest path for any of Her chosen ones."

"I do not understand Karou. What do you mean?"

"I believe that of all the Mikos that I have seen rise and fall whether in battle or by the hands of time… it is Kikyo's journey that will be the most difficult. Her path shall be the hardest to travel and I am not sure how it will conclude Saruka… not for any of us."

His voice trailed off on light currents of wind to the ears of no one as he watched the Chosen One walk through the village to beyond the borders where the forest and a half demon awaited her.

"She knows her duty… she accepted it without hesitation. She is not a woman any longer."

The older man turned away from the young girl's form before it could vanish out of sight into the forest and stared the apprentice down. His bright eyes seemed to glow without any aid of firelight and were as pale as the moon. "… She is not a woman and yet you love her as though she were… be careful of your words Saruka… they fool me not!" His tone carried throughout the halls of the temple ringing loud in Saruka's ears. "Your feelings will never make her dedication waiver but the Demon is different. He possesses a power I fear is much greater than either of us will ever be able to fathom…"

Saruka opened his mouth ready to deny the accusation but Karou put up his hand, bony and lined with veins, to stop him.

"Lie to me not with your protests. Your emotions are easily read even by the town children! I offer this advice to you because I see where your path can lead. Between the Jewel and the demon her loyalty lies with the Jewel for the moment. But do not try to step between her and the demon for her decision will be swift, without hesitation… and not in your favor." He stated before walking away leaving a flushed apprentice alone in the Temple.