Staring into space, Kagome was unable to say anything for a while. She would glance at Kaede a few times, but it took her a moment to understand this.
'He…killed Kikyou? He killed her? Why? Why did he do it? Was it because he regretted what he did to me? Why?', she managed to think, as millions of thoughts flowed through her head.
Kagome stood up, raising her voice, "Why did he kill Kikyou? Kaede, tell me why Inuyasha killed Kikyou!". She had to know.
Did Inuyasha do it for her? Did he kill her previous reincarnation by accident? The last time she saw him, he had proved that he had loved Kikyou, not her. And the way he had done it was dreadful; she could never forgive him.
Kaede looked at the young miko, taken aback by her sudden outrage. Despite all she had said, Kagome still cared for the hanyou. Loved him, even? The old woman was not sure.
"Kagome, I am not sure of the reason, as-"
The older miko was cut short as Kagome walked outside, holding her bow and arrows. A strong aura was approaching the village at great pace; an evil aura. It was far away, though. Kagome couldn't see it, but she could feel it strongly. Kaede came out, looking at the woman beside her.
"What is it?", she asked, looking into the same direction Kagome was. Kaede couldn't sense the aura approaching; Kagome had become more advanced and stronger than she would have thought.
"It's…Naraku", she answered, drawing her bow.
A dark cloud was approaching the village, scaring the villagers. Many women ran in, clutching their children, while the men held to their weapons strongly as life itself. Kagome knew that this wouldn't help; even Inuyasha hadn't been able to beat Naraku yet.
'I assumen he had beaten Naraku already, and was just collecting the remainder of the shards now. He isn't as strong as I thought', she stood, thinking.
"Villagers, go to shelter! This foe is stronger than what you can handle!", she shouted, adding, "Kaede, you can go too. I will handle him; I have become stronger in the past year than I would have ever hoped".
Kaede opened her mouth in protest, but then just nodded. She turned back and went to her hut, only to appear a moment later. She handed a bunch of arrows to Kagome which had sutras attached to them.
"Thank you. Now go", she said, and put the arrows away.
The demon appeared; Naraku. He was in his human form, surrounded by many smaller demons. He looked around himself – he had come for a jewels shard which Kanna had shown him in her mirror. It was carried by a young miko.
"You! You carry a shard of the Shikon, miko! Give it to me, and I will spare your life!", he shouted, smirking at the girl. She was all alone in this village, and she thought she could stand up against him?
"What do you think I am, a fool?", she answered, firing her arrow at the smaller demons.
The demons shrieked as the was arrow hit and the demons purified; about fifty demons fell to the ground, as Kagome shot another arrow, and another after that. It only took her three arrows to kill most of the demons – the only ones left were cowering behind Naraku.
Naraku observed as his demons were killed, shouting, "Then what are you, miko? How could you kill all these demons with only three mere arrows? I have only know of two woman who have been able to do that, and they are long gone."
"Does the name Kagome mean anything to you?", she smirked, firing her fourth and last at Naraku.
It hit his left shoulder, purifying most of his body. Naraku put a barrier around himself, as he retreated, going towards his hidden castle.
'This is Kagome? This woman resembles nothing like her! However, I didn't kill Kagome; she mysteriously disappeared. Could she be back to search for the jewel shards? What ever it is that she is doing here, it cannot be good for me. Especially if she can do this much damage to me', he thought.
Kagome sighed, as Naraku left. The dawn had already broken, and the sun was rising. She called for Kaede, hugging the elder miko.
"I am going to continue on my journey now, Kaede. Thank you for your kindness. I will come here again", she said, letting go of Kaede.
Kaede nodded, saying "Nay child, thank ye. Ye saved this village – without ye Naraku would have destroyed us".
The villagers came out of their huts, thanking Kagome. The old man had spread her name around, and everybody now knew the young miko, Lady Kagome. Smiling, Kagome waved slightly as she left the village, continuing in the way of the jewel shard. She entered yet another forest; there seemed to be a lot of them around Kaede's village. The aura of this forest was cleaner, and she deemed it safe enough to walk around in without her bow.
After a while, Kagome sat down on a tree stump. She had been walking for a while now, and everything had gone well; only a few puny demons had tried to attack her. She had killed them with ease. Kagome grabbed a piece of fruit from her bag, peeling the orange and eating it. She stopped when she heard rustling from her bag; something had gone into it. The miko grabbed her bow, ready to strike the demon.
"Come out of there", she said, nudging the bag – she wasn't afraid of the demon, as it had to be a small one, perhaps the size of Kilala.
The creature whimpered, holding a grape in it's mouth. It looked like a Akita Inu dog, which was what Inuyasha was. It's fur was a darker color, a dark brown accompanied with black, with some white around the belly, tail and muzzle. The ears were identical to those of Inuyashas; they even twitched in the same directions. The dog also had a curled tail. Kagome reached out her hand to touch it, dropping her bow; however, the dog growled at her and backed away. In a flash of blue light, the dog had transformed into a larger one, apparently holding ice powers. It opened it's mouth, ice picks shooting out, one hitting Kagome in the shoulder.
"Stop, I don't mean any harm!", she shouted, clutching her arm. The fell onto her knees, slipping out of consciousness.
When she woke up, the Akita Inu was now transformed to his smaller state; it was sleeping in her lap. Kagome looked at her shoulder, but the wound was gone. Only a slight scar was seen, the color being light pink. Kagome smiled to herself – stroking the dog. It woke up immediately, wagging it's small tail. It gave Kagome a kiss on the cheek, which was when she remembered; demon saliva cured injuries at extraordinary rate. Not knowing if this was a male of female, Kagome lifted the dog's front legs.
"A boy, for sure", she said, lowering the dogs legs and chuckling to herself, "Akita Inu, would you be willing to travel with me?"
The dog barked happily in response. Kagome smiled, lifting the dog to her face. He was slightly larger than Kilala, yet still a very small dog of the Akita Inu breed. Kagome hugged the dog, thinking of a name.
"How about Raiden? It is the god of thunder, and it means thunder and lightning", she asked, putting the dogs nose to her nose.
The dog wagged his tail happily to his new name, Raiden. Kagome hugged him, grabbing a can of dog food from her bag. Her mom had put it in there by accident, as she had forgotten what had happened between her and him. She opened it, as Raiden ate from the can hungrily.
"Poor puppy, you must've been famished", she said as she put the can to the ground.
She would have to go get more food and water for her new companion. However, the well was far away. Kagome turned to Raiden who was now sitting, satisfied. Kagome squatted, looking it his eyes.
"Can you fly, Raiden?", she asked, hoping he could, like Kilala could, "I need to go back to the well to get you more food."
Raiden looked at her confused. He didn't know how to fly, but he didn't want to disappoint her. He looked into Kagome's eyes with his sad ones, as a no. When Kagome understood, she sighed and stood up. However, Raiden transformed. The miko turned around, holding her bag, bow and arrows. He motioned her to get on his back, and Kagome did so. Holding onto his fur, she looked at him.
Raiden barked a few times, looking in each direction, scaring Kagome somewhat. She calmed down soon enough, clutching his fur tighter.
"The Bone Eater's Well", she said.
He broke into a run, going through the forest at a paranormal pace. After half a minute, Kagome found herself right in front of the well. She smiled, and climbed off Raiden who transformed into his puppy form once again, wagging his tail.
"Raiden, thank you!", she said, patting the puppy, "Stay boy, I'll be back in a short while", Kagome added, leaving her bow and arrows with the dog.
Kagome jumped into the well, as the flashing lights surrounded her. Raiden whined as she disappeared, but as a good puppy he sat firmly on the ground. As the miko reached the other side, she quickly ran to her house. Thankfully, nobody was home. Looking through the cupboards, she found the right one. Stuffing a dozen cans into her bag, she also took a water dish. Before soon, she was back in the feudal era, with Raiden waiting for her.
Raiden wagged his tail once more, transforming. Kagome patted his head, climbing on his back. She closed her eyes, trying to locate the shard. It had changed direction, but was still within the same demon. The shard was north.
"That way, Raiden", she said, pointing towards the direction.
As Raiden broke into his run, Kagome sat quietly. She put her hand to her right, where the neck and the shoulder connected. Beneath her hand was a bite mark.
A mate mark.