Miko Upgrade - Chapter 3
Unfortunately Kagome's abused mind was not allowed to rest for long as she was awoken by rustling leaves in the nearby forest. Instantly alert, events from the day flooded back to Kagome as a dull throb in her heart pulsed every time she thought of her precious Hanyou. Brought back by more noise Kagome reached into her Kimono to grip the small blade she'd hidden there. Afraid that her attackers had caught up with her Kagome began to crawl away from the sounds, knife in hand, Kimono dirtied and injured shoulder throbbing, she edged away but not fast enough. As she moved Kagome sensed for human spirits and found a group heading her way but the group appeared to be battling each other instead of looking for her. Hoping this meant they would not notice her Kagome slowly got to her feet, crouching low, and began to dart through the trees but the unknown people were faster than she.
They were unknowingly beside her in a moment so Kagome gave up all thoughts of stealth, picked up the hem of her already ruined kimono and ran as fast as her exhausted body would carry her. The injured miko knew the second they noticed her, a sense of foreboding doom began to stir within her, but she wouldn't let her steps fault as tears of fear stung at the back of her eyes. If she died here and now who ever was following her was likely to gain the power of the Shikon no Tama but not only that it meant she would never see her friends or family again, it meant she would never see Inuyasha again.
Releasing an anguished cry Kagome pushed her self on even as her feet began to stumble out from beneath her; in a familiar manoeuvre Kagome forced herself to land on her uninjured shoulder and role onto her back to face her enemies, but even though she did not land on her wound directly pain shot through her entire body. Kagome tried to stand but the pain was too much and she was forced back down holding her shoulder. Trying to get some kind of a defensive position Kagome dragged her abused body back until she felt a tree trunk firmly situated against her. Using this for support Kagome lifted her shaking hands up and trained the knife forwards; the miko knew the tiny blade would not deter any attack but if she was going to go down Kagome wanted it to be honourable, she wanted to die fighting.
In an instant 6 people appeared around her cutting off any route of escape, there were two girls and four boys who all appeared to be in their teens yet something about them told her that they were much more mature then their appearances would suggest. They wore brightly coloured clothes but dark expressions with pained eyes, Kagome quickly took a look at each person before her. There was a light blond girl, a girl with bubblegum pink hair, a blonde boy in a bright orange jumpsuit with odd markings on his face, a brunette boy who appeared totally indifferent to the situation by rolling his eyes and staring towards the canapy, a thin boy in a disturbing green leotard with black bowl cut hair and impossible eyebrows, and finally a tubby boy who was stuffing his face with potato chips. This caught Kagome's attention because packeted potato chips were not something natively found in the feudal era, which meant technology… right?
None the less Kagome glared at each of them in turn raising the unsteady blade defensively. Feeling like a caged animal Kagome struggled to keep her calm but her fear began to override everything. Unknowingly the miko began to form a defensive barrier around her self, it had been one of the hardest lessons she'd learnt from Kaede so now forming barriers was an instinct tattooed into her subconscious. A translucent pink haze flickered to life around her while the blade in her fingers began to pulse as it was filled with purifying energy.
Calm eluded the raven haired beauty as her entire body began to tremble violently and her head began to spin from the exertions coupled with her still untreated wound. The bubblegum haired girl stepped forward which caused Kagome to push further into the tree making rough bark press into her injured shoulder, Kagome let out a cry of pain which all the surrounding teens reacted to by drawing weapons of their own. Kagome dropped the knife and pressed her hand to her wound while gripping her arm with her free hand to try and cope with the pain. The agony was so bad that the preoccupied miko did not notice the drawing of more throwing stars and strange black knives, nor did she notice the pink haired girl take another step forward. When the pain finally lessened Kagome brought her hand away from her shoulder and looked at the crimson skin, still so much blood.
The pink haired girl looked up at the fair-haired female who nodded knowingly then she looked at each of the boys, who all held the same the look in their eyes. A look which had changed from suspicion and mistrust, to something akin to compassion. The pink haired girl inched forward again but stopped just short of the strange pink sphere, the teen did not attempt to touch Kagome's barrier but she did try to force eye contact with Kagome.
"We won't hurt you, can you tell me your name?" she queried in a gentle voice but Kagome heard authority in her tone as though the girl was expecting to be answered immediately, as though she was always answered immediately.
Kagome kept her mouth shut as pain began to stab in her skull, a headache began to annoy her. However Kagome's rational side decided that this was the perfect moment to speak up and Kagome realised that she should try and gather some information of her own before she made her break for it. "Where am I?" she panted exhausted.
The pink haired girl and the blonde shared a look again before she answered "You are in the forest that borders Konoha, the hidden leaf village…" At Kagome's blank look she tried again "The Shinoubi village for the Land of Fire…" Still Kagome looked at the girl strangely.
"Shinoubi… as in Ninjas?" Kagome muttered in disbelief, such a thing was not possible. A hidden village of Ninjas who ate potato chips?
"Yes that's right, do you know your name?" the girl tried again but this time Kagome didn't get a chance to consider answering as the girl reached out towards Kagome, her fingers just brushing the pink barrier. The bubblegum teen jumped back with a yelp of pain and the smell of singed flesh reached Kagome, she had learnt a while ago that human's could just as easily be purified as demon. Kaede had taught the young miko many things and the Shikon allowed her to do even more, yet that didn't mean she could always control her powers.
When the girl jumped back a barrage of weapons flew at Kagome but all were stopped by the barrier; Kagome felt her body begin to shake anew, she felt so scared and out of control. Feeling small and anxious the miko dropped down, tucked her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. The action accidentally smeared blood all over her destroyed Kimono, the white silk now beyond repair. Looking at the bloody cloth Kagome temporarily forgot about her attackers, her mind turning to Inuyasha as tears began to slide down her cheeks.
The young woman felt so weak, powerless, exhausted, and lonely, her mind and body both crying out for the reprieve that unconsciousness would grant her, if only temporarily, but Kagome would not give her enemies another chance to attack. Suddenly her antagonists turned to look back into the forest, Kagome tiredly lifted her head to see another boy with strange tattoos on his face riding the second biggest dog Kagome had ever seen, the first of course being Sesshomaru.
"Hey guys I've been looking for you everywhere, we just got a report of an attack on a village nearby. Massacred apparently… not a single survivor." The boy yelled as he was approaching, it was obvious he hadn't noticed Kagome or the situation he'd found his allies in but judging from his words Kagome gathered that these people were not the one's who had initially attacked her.
"Kagome…" the young miko whispered gently; her throat was dry and painful yet the rasping word caught the attention of all those present, including the new boy and his dog. "Kagome Higurashi." She tried again her eyes focused on the girl with short pink hair.
The girl smiled sympathetically as she once again approached Kagome slowly but the miko was already retracting her barrier. The pink sphere disintegrated and the girl tentatively approached Kagome; laying a hand on the miko's shoulder she quickly retracted it at Kagome's tired flinch, the girl leaned Kagome's willing body forward to rest against the teen's own as they all saw the large, vicious stab wound in her shoulder not to mention the trail of blood that coated the miko's back.
Surrendering her body to the mercy of her captors or saviours, which ever they would prove to be, Kagome felt unconsciousness descend on her. The numb miko didn't feel a thing as they tried to stop the bleeding, not even when she was lifted from the pink haired girl's shoulder into the arms of one of the boys because her mind was already clouded by darkness. However Kagome's torture did not end with that as her dreams broke her heart with memories of her loved ones and nightmares of her lover dying in battle without her at the hands of that horrid demon, blood filled her thoughts even as it was cleaned from her flesh.