Chapter Three: Sickness and Health
Chapter Three: Sickness and Health
Kagome moved out of the newest village wearing a puzzled frown. The news wasn't good. Apparently a village a few miles north/east was suffering from a sickness. The other villages who normally traded and such with them had avoided them like…well, the plague. Putting the people in it through even worse times without the money earned from trading to buy basic medicine or even food. At first Kagome ignored the news, she had been moving in a westerly direction for good reason, it was away from them. But now she couldn't leave the village to its own devices, as it was, it was lucky the sickness hadn't spread beyond it and she couldn't leave them when she knew she could help.
Sighing she picked up her pace only smiling when two of the younger soul stealers raced past her, playing a flying form of tag. She had noticed that with time, the more she spent with them, the more intelligent they got, picking up more and more individualistic qualities. Especially Emerald, which wasn't surprising considering how much time he spent with her, he was what could be described only as mischievous. Once she had asked him to take her to a good camp site; he led her right into a stream, letting out light trills and curling in on himself, rocking in the air as if with laughter. At first she had been incensed, but soon she was laughing with him. But she got him back, her eyes glinted as a smirk wormed its way onto her face, oh she got him back good.
Her eyes glazed as she remembered once asking Kikyo how she spent so much time alone except for her soul stealers, and didn't it make it inconvenient to go through towns? Considering how the people reacted to demons. But Kikyo had merely given her a confused look saying that actually soul stealers were intelligent and that they picked up things fast, why would she want any other company? And also that her stealers warned her of villages and should the need arise she simply went in without them.
Now Kagome understood, except when she went into villages she took her stealers with her. As far as she was concerned she and they were equal and she wasn't going to leave them outside like some outcasts of her one woman group. Never mind the fact that without them she would have (and still could) die. Of course she received weird looks and the people avoided her or whispered behind her back, but if she spent a while there they would always eventually become more curious, the more courageous ones coming first and when others realised that the demons weren't attacking on sight, then others would come to her as well, some even touching them. She loved seeing their faces as they heard the light trills and the soul stealers wound around them or her happily, she knew she had changed quite a few minds concerning demons, considering how nice these ones seemed.
She travelled for a few hours before stopping for a light lunch, once it was done she pushed herself to arrive before nightfall, she didn't have that far to travel but did not relish the idea of arriving after dark, the villagers would take it as a bad sign, an omen, especially a priestess arriving with demons.
But she must have misjudged the distance because when it finally appeared in the distance, she had an hour until sunset. She had cut it too close; she wouldn't stay in an unfamiliar village filled with sickness and starving people who feared demons; during the night. She may look it but she wasn't stupid. So moving into the nearby forest she set up camp a distance from the village, making sure to remain out of sight and sending the two young soul stealers she had dubbed 'The Twins' to scout for nearby humans or demons. She was soon promptly asleep, aware that by the morning she was going to need as much power as possible to heal a village full of people.
--
She was awake before the light came into the sky, a habit formed by the false light of her stealers. Using the time she examined the area, collecting herbs that may possibly help and storing them in a small, foldable basket she kept in her bag. By the time the sky was bright with dawn she was heading back to the village, her basket full and her powers in check.
Before she even entered the village she could feel the sickness. It hovered over the people like a dark blanket, smothering everything under it. As soon as she entered she could feel the eyes on her, the hairs on the back of her neck rose as she felt their gazes sharpen, a purely instinctual feeling. Moving to the center of the village she wasn't surprised when she met a crowd of villagers, milling about with tools in their hands. As soon as they sighted her the murmuring stopped and a gaunt man dressed in old, far too worn clothes, stepped forward. His hand clenched around his make-shift weapon as he eyed her soul stealers, finally his gaze shifted to her and even from her distance she could clearly see him grind his teeth.
"What do you want here, priestess, and why do you bring these foul…things…into our midst?" His voice was rough, as if he hadn't spoken in a while, his fingers turned white with the strength he was gripping his staff. Kagome took a step forward and pretended not to notice them shift into a more aggressive stance.
"I had heard there was an illness in this village, I come to help. These demons will not harm you, I need them to help me with healing, and they have strong properties in that area." Her eyes were steady and her voice did not waver as she told the white lie. The stealers helped her keep her power under control and they found herbs for her. She knew, though, that the villagers would assume she meant in a more magical/spiritual way. That was fine with her, as long as they let her keep her companions. If they did not, then she would leave them to their fate.
The mans gaze was wary as he replied, but his voice held less anger, and if one searched deep you could almost hear his hope,
"You know how to heal us miko? The sickness is an unusual one; it does not react to herbs. The illness was forged by a half-demon," here his gaze sharpened once more on her stealers, "he came, selling special foods, saying they were good fortune fruits. He was here and gone within a day, all those who had eaten the fruits soon fell horribly ill. Those who lived with them caught the illness within a week; they were all dead in a month. We had kept them cut off from the rest of us, hoping to stop the disease. It didn't work; we cannot tell who will fall ill next until the illness is too far along for common medicines to heal it. So do you truly think you can help us, women who travels with demons? Or do you work for the hanyou and are only here to gloat?" Kagome listened to him and immediately suspected Naraku. It was just like him to lay low, even while supposedly hurt he would spread darkness from his shadows. He had probably sent a puppet to these poor people, from what she could tell the village didn't have a miko of its own, there were very few villages without them and those that didn't were very few and far between, he had picked the farthest one to Inuyasha in the hopes of the disease spreading quickly and killing off many before it could be stopped by a powerful enough miko, such as Kikyo.
"Yes I can heal you. No I do not work for a hanyou, and as I said, these demons are here to help me. If you will show me to the sick area I will work out a way to heal these people, I just ask that if I order something it will be done without complaint. Am I understood?" The people still seemed wary, especially the man at the front but gradually they all nodded their heads until only the gaunt man had yet to agree.
"I shall consent miko. But first I would like to know the name of the one who is helping us." Kagome cocked her head slightly, wondering if this was somehow a trick in disguise, she wouldn't be surprised if it was.
"My name is Kaga-rei. I am a travelling miko. And you are?" The man looked her over, his eyes narrowed suspiciously before meeting her gaze again.
"I am Tzu Metina. I am a farmer." His face scrunched up slightly, as if he was regretting his next words before he even spoke them, "Thank you, Milady Kaga-rei, for coming to help us." Kagome bowed her head slightly before striding forward, ignoring the peoples anxious glances at her companions, many of her stealers were winding around her, seeking comfort from the perceived threat.
"Please take me, Metina-san, to the sick area. I would like to begin work as soon as possible." He backed away from her slightly, she wondered absently if his hand hurt, if he gripped his farming tool any harder then his hand would fuse with it…or snap it in half, whichever came first. She hid her grin behind her sleeve, pretending to push some hair out of her face. Turning sharply on his heel he walked swiftly in one direction. Kagome moved after him, easily keeping pace with him even though she could tell he was walking as fast as possible without breaking into a jog. She supposed he was trying to leave her behind so he could call back and tell her to hurry up. Of course he hadn't been travelling for months on end, a lot of that time being led by an anxious hanyou.
Keeping up the fast pace they soon arrived at a large wall of what looked like…stuff, piled on top of each other. There were planks of wood, logs, chairs, and futons…just things all thrown on top of each other until a wall about head height separated one part of the village from the other. It was obvious quite a few trees had been chopped down to be laced into the wall. Looking at Metina he wordlessly pointed to a hut which was now a part of the wall; looking from him to it he gave a slight bow and without a word, walked off.
Shaking her head slightly, she walked to the hut and entered. To her surprise a hole had been made in the back of the room, through it she could see the area cordoned off. Walking through the hole into the light beyond; she nearly gagged. The stench was much worse here, as if the simple barrier they had created had trapped the smell as well. Eyes watering she sent out her stealers to find any who were still alive. Then letting her spiritual powers rise she used it to examine the air. There was…something…there, something in the air. Most likely the disease, it was airborne, being carried from person to person as dust or spores on the wind. Yet there was something weird about this disease, something off. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough on the wind for her to examine. Slowly soul stealers drifted back to her. Their news wasn't good. What had once been an area with around 50 people living in it now had 11 that were alive, 5 of which didn't have that long left.
Hurrying to the hut with one of the five; this time she did gag when she entered. The hut was filled with the stench of old faeces and vomit, when her eyes accustomed to the dim light she couldn't help a tear falling down her cheek at the sight. A person lay on the futon; from the little skin remaining she seemed pale. All over her body were large blisters, most of which had popped and were oozing a clear liquid, around the blisters was darkened skin looking much like a bruise, but it was clear to Kagome that that skin was dead. Not only that; but the area around the woman's eyes and mouth were scratched and bleeding, as if she had tried to scratch out her own eyes. No doubt whatever was in the air had irritated her throat and eyes enough for her to scratch herself raw.
Coming to the woman's side Kagome laid her basket next to her head. Letting her powers rise to her hands she placed them lightly on the woman's brow, closing her eyes she used her power to examine the disease. Her eyebrows pulled together in a frown, whatever this disease was, it was not natural. She had thought Naraku had simply captured or created a disease and put it into the fruit. Yet, even whilst she couldn't recognise the disease, there was something vaguely familiar about the symptoms. Wracking her memory she examined the woman's body. Her heart nearly stopped when she came to the young lady's lungs and realised what Naraku had done. Letting out a growl she proceeded to cleanse the woman's lungs of the miasma Naraku had injected the fruit with. He had recreated his miasma into a disease, injecting fruit with it and having it focus on the lungs and skin. Pulling all her power to her she pushed it through the woman's body, purifying every bit of miasma she encountered, then using some more to heal the blisters and recreate life in the dead skin, unfortunately the skin would always be slightly off colour and extra sensitive in those areas, but it was the best she could do.
When the woman was finally healed enough that she would survive Kagome sat back and wiped the sweat off her brow. Whilst she still had a lot of spiritual power left over it was still physically tiring to do such a strong healing.
Stepping out of the hut she moved to what she presumed to be the center of the cut off area of the village, and then gathering her power to her she let it build up beneath her skin, vaguely aware that she was giving off a faint pink/blue light. Closing her eyes she felt out the traces of miasma in the air, released through the sick people's lungs and directly into the air to travel on the breeze to the rest of the village and beyond. Opening the gate to her power she felt it burst out of her, throwing her head back her mouth parted as she breathed a sigh of release, the power flowed through her like a conduit, doing her will and attacking all the miasma in the surrounding air, down to the smallest particle. Even the miasma that had already entered the lungs of everyone in the village, it searched it out and scorched it from existence.
Finally, when every last particle she could find was gone; Kagome stopped the flow, crumbling to a heap on the ground. Exhausted, she called her stealers to her, asking them to take her to the remaining 10 people. She would fight past the tiredness and heal them of their blisters and dead skin. Unfortunately, she underestimated the damage the disease could do on people's bodies, and the amount of healing her body could take. She managed to heal 5 other people, the remaining 4 that were the worst off and one other before she fainted from exhaustion. Not only did she have to heal them, but by using so much of her power, the well's power fought her even more strongly, sensing her weakening and fighting for freedom. It all became too much, thank kami she had managed to heal those who may not have survived until she was strong enough to heal again. Blackness washed through her like a tide, absently she hoped she wasn't unconscious too long, she still had people she had to heal.
--
Kagome woke up with the emperor of all headaches prancing around her skull. Groaning she opened her gritty eyes before closing them off to the glaring light. Her mind recognised the sound of movement nearby and once again preparing herself for the light, she carefully opened her eyes. A woman was shuffling around nearby, her back to Kagome. There was something vaguely familiar about her but Kagome couldn't quite remember. For the moment her mind was a complete blur. The women turned around and nearly dropped the cup she was holding at seeing Kagome's open eyes. Rushing over to Kagome she put the cup next to Kagome's head and peered into her eyes.
"Milady! You should not be awake so soon! You used too much energy healing; you must regain your strength!" As the women glanced anxiously over her Kagome finally placed the face. Trying to speak her voice came out a faint croak. The woman's eyes widened and she tipped what tasted like tea from the cup into Kagome's aching throat. Trying again this time Kagome was rewarded by the quiet sound of her voice.
"You are the woman I healed first." The woman let a slight grin cross her face. Now that she was no longer sick, Kagome could see that she was actually quite pretty, no beauty by any means, but still pretty. Even the slight discoloration that could be seen in places from the healed skin did not detract too much from her looks. The woman nodded emphatically, quite energetic for someone who was on death's door.
"Yes Milady! My name is Tarika Nitu. And you are Milady?" Kagome attempted to lift and eyebrow, surprised that no one had told Tarika her fake name; but the effort to lift said eyebrow was just too much.
"I am Kaga-rei. A travelling miko. Why do you not know? I told the other villagers, surely someone would mention it?" Tarika's eyes darkened and her lips spread into a hard, thin line.
"The villagers saw your light, Milady Kaga-rei. They assumed that something terrible had befallen you, that your demons attacked you or some such other foolishness. They collapsed the entrance and attack anyone who attempts to leave. We are trapped. It is lucky that your healing re-energised our bodies, otherwise we would surely have starved days ago."
Kagome could feel the anger in her building up. Why were people in the feudal-era such idiots? She would have to beat some sense into them, that was for sure. Then Tarika's words finally caught up with her and she couldn't help the slight gasp that escaped.
"Days? How long have I been out? What about those I was unable to heal?" Tarika soothingly petted her arm, shaking her head and giving Kagome a smile.
"Calm yourself Milady. You have been out for a week at the least-" At Kagome's startled noise she put a hand over Kagome's mouth, stopping any further comments. "Do not fear Milady, those that you healed completely, such as myself. We have been going around and helping those not fully healed. We have some food stores to keep us going and the herbs left over from before. The blisters and such are finally starting to heal, thanks to you destroying the curse." Tarika edged backwards and when there was enough space, she fell into a deep bow. "Thank you so much Milady. Thank you for coming to our village, we were without hope, but you have healed us!"
Hastily sitting up despite the wave of dizziness Kagome waved her hands in front of her face. "You don't have to bow. It was nothing seriously! And I'm not even done; I have to finish healing the others. You don't have to thank me, really! Think of it as part of my job as a travelling miko." Tarika sat up, her brow etched with confusion.
"But we wish to thank you. You have helped us; does that not deserve our gratitude?" At Kagome's taken aback look she let out a light laugh. "Do not worry yourself Milady Kaga-rei. We shall show our gratitude, but if it pleases you, we shall show it in small ways, so you may not feel uncomfortable." Kagome gave a slightly relieved smile.
"Thank you Tarika. May I call you friend?" The woman's eyes lit up and nodded emphatically, practically tackling Kagome in her effort to hug her.
"I would be honoured Milady! Thank you so much!" Kagome patted Tarika on the shoulder, grinning despite herself. She really liked this young woman, Tarika was older than her for Kami's sake and she acted more of the high-school student than herself, even after having a deathly disease!
"My friends call me Kaga-rei. No more of this Milady stuff, it makes me feel old." Tarika laughed at her disgusted face.
"Very well Mi- I mean, Kaga-rei. Shall I let in your demons? They have been circling this hut for the past couple of days, sometimes they enter, sometimes they don't. Is it ok Kaga-rei?"
Kagome gasped slightly, quickly moving inward she examined her power, fearing the worst. But to her surprise the well's power was still there, but it was humming contentedly in the background, not attempting to fight her power. Maybe it was because she was almost at full strength? Her week-long sleep had certainly restored her spiritual power, but why hadn't the well used that time to escape? And that's when she noticed it. The well had almost fully taken on her signature, whilst she still viewed her and its power separately; they were initially the same thing considering they now shared an aura signature, the only thing different was that the well was linked to time and made its own power…shit. What had she got herself into now?
Feeling scales brush along her skin she pulled herself out of her thoughts and found herself surrounded by glittering bodies. She laughed as they all started trilling, she could feel her soul stealers happiness and relief in the back of her mind. They had been worried for her. She could also see that they were dangerously low on energy. It was all too obvious what they had done. Her stealers had starved themselves so her miko energy could heal her faster, only coming in when they absolutely needed the energy. She felt tears gathering in her eyes and reached out, petting whichever stealer she could reach.
"You silly things. You didn't have to do that for me, I would have been fine given time. Here, take it now, you need it more than I do." Opening her power she could see her skin glowing lightly as her stealers trilled even louder and they brushed against her, taking bits of her power. She grinned; thankful for once that she had an unusual amount of spiritual energy. The remaining people she had to heal would be easy, leaving more than enough left over for her stealers to have a good 'meal'. Once they all had enough, she closed the gate to her power, remembering a time when that had been difficult. Her eyes darkened as the image of a brash hanyou comparing her to Kikyo came to mind, his yelling that she wasn't good enough, that she had to learn to be as controlled as Kikyo.
Her eyes misted and she felt the hurt all over again as her mind replayed their betrayal; it was with a surprising jolt that the well once more surged forth. Using her feelings it started to fight her again, creating more power and riding her emotions to get free. Quickly sitting in the meditation pose she did the breathing technique Kikyo had taught her, calming her emotions and feeling the wells power settling back down, her stealers feeding off of any excess energy.
Looking around the hut she noted that Tarika had left, probably some time ago; knowing how she could lose track of time these days. Rising and stretching Kagome moved out of the hut, asking her soul stealers to lead her she followed them to the remaining injured people, grinning slightly when Emerald wrapped around her and removed to budge, having missed her. Shaking her head at his antics she entered a hut and began what she knew was a long day of healing. She had no idea.
It seemed Naraku was always a step ahead, the disease had recreated the miasma in the people's bodies, focusing on their lungs it released itself into the air in short bursts. Building up in quantities it didn't start re-attacking their bodies until it was strong enough to kill them. Going to each person this time she healed the people first, knowing she was lucky she had woken so soon, any later and they would have started to get sick again. Then once again walking to the center of the village this time she did not release so much power, controlling it she hunted through the winds, finding the miasma in the air and once again purifying it. She followed the miasma through the air currents and along the wind, surprised at how far it had spread. She was soon far beyond the village, using her spiritual abilities like a second awareness.
She followed the miasma much further than she had ever realised she could go, moving over the land like a wind. But even she had her limits, she could feel her power stretching thin, luckily though, Naraku had a flaw in his plan. He had thought to have the disease spread from person to person, not rely solely on it's travelling through the air to infect its victims, by the time she was reaching the edge of her limits, the miasma was too thin and dispersed to cause any more damage. About to turn back and return her awareness she noticed something…a familiar youki.
Pushing that slight bit further she finally examined the land around her, actually looking where she was. It was with a jolt to her heart and tears building in her real eyes that she realised she was back to Inuyasha. And there he was, the red-clad betrayer and betrayee's that still followed him, namely Sango and Miroku, Shippo perched on Miroku's shoulder. They were all watching something. So turning her awareness to glance behind her she was pleasantly surprised to see Sesshoumaru standing atop a small hill, looking down on her old group. She ignored Inuyasha as he shouted his familiar insults at the Taiyoukai. She didn't want to see them, it had been an accident coming her in the first place. But seeing Sesshoumaru was nice. For some reason she knew that if she ever had to place her trust in him, and if he ever took that trust, he would never betray her. It simply would go against every honourable thing he believed, but she doubted she would ever have to do that, place her trust in him, it would take a lot for her to place her trust so blindly in anyone again.
Moving downwards she stood next to him, examining him and those below them. The others hadn't changed much at all except their faces and eyes. They were more drawn; their eyes had lost some of that happy light she had always seen in them.
"I must say I am surprised Miko." Kagome started and turned to Sesshoumaru, her heart stopped as he looked directly into her eyes. He shouldn't be able to see her! It was impossible, no one could…this was Sesshoumaru, what was she thinking? Even she knew that he was so insanely powerful that anything was possible for him. Dragging on a bit more power she forced her awareness to glow with a slight bit of light, she heard faint gasps from below as they saw a glowing being take form next to Sesshoumaru. She knew that they wouldn't be able to tell who she was; her awareness didn't have enough form to tell distinct looks.
"I am surprised as well Milord. I had thought it impossible to be seen in this form." His eyebrow rose and he smirked at her, completely ignoring the spluttering hanyou in favour of her, she found some dark amusement in that.
"You should know better than that, Kaga-rei. I have found tales of you exploits amusing, tell me, what village are you located in now?" Again her heart stopped when he said her fake name. How could he know? She hadn't done anything too important in her short travels. Sure she had killed a demon here, saved someone there, nothing for him to keep track of though! Thinking back she remembered a person telling her the name of the village she was in, racking her brain she remembered it and smiled.
"I believe the village is called Bertu, Milord." His eyes widened and he turned slightly so he was facing her more.
"Now I am truly surprised Miko. I did not realise the extent of your power. You are many miles from your body Miko, it is dangerous to leave it so far behind." It said something for Sesshoumaru's presence that he had made her completely forget those that had hurt her so grievously in a matter of minutes. Sighing she shrug her shoulders, finding it weird to see her light body act as her real body should.
"I know Milord. But Naraku had poisoned the village with his miasma, I had to heal them, but the disease was airborne. By the time I followed after it, it had spread all the way to here. It was necessary." Nodding slightly he turned back to face his brother who was for once speechless, shocked to incapacity by the fact his brother had initially complimented someone.
"I told you Miko that respect was earned, not given. You are well on the way to earning mine." His eyes glinted as he looked at her, a smirk playing across his lips. He spoke, but she knew what he said was too soft for the others to hear. "But should you earn my respect enough, by which name should I call you? Your given or chosen name?" She saw the light that made up her awareness glow brighter even as her body in reality grew a slight blush.
"I would ask that you call me by my given name Milord, for it is who I am, not my chosen name." His smirk grew, as if he approved of her choice.
"Then I suggest you get back to your body Miko, you have accomplished quite the feat…for a human anyway." Without thinking she stuck her ethereal tongue out at him, his eyebrow rose and she glowed brighter with her blush, giving a slight wave she hurriedly flew back to her body hearing a faint,
"What the fuck was that you bastard! You finally gotten yourself a girl?" She sighed inwardly at his immaturity, would he never learn? You do not provoke Sesshoumaru, it was all too obvious that Sesshoumaru had always been playing with Inuyasha, I mean if he could see her when she was in her ethereal form then he was many times stronger then they had always believed.
She was woken to her body by a rather abrupt shaking, her head pounded and body shook after travelling such a distance in a purely spiritual form. She was stupid to have stayed away so long, now her body was getting back at her big time.
Glancing up from her sitting place on the floor she saw Tarika glancing worriedly at her, her hands wringing together as she glanced down one street.
"What's the matter Tarika? What's happened?" Tarika helped her stand before responding.
"We managed to dig an exit through the wall on the side of the forest milady, but no sooner were we done then a young girl-child comes stumbling through. She's hurt bad Kaga-rei, but the others won't touch her for fear she is with the curse that has haunted this place. Could you please help her Milady?" Kagome was already walking down the street before Tarika had finished, using a tiny bit of miko energy she pushed the exhaustion back. If the girl did have the disease she had to stop it before it spread once more.
Sending her soul stealers ahead she told them to pick up the girl carefully and take her to a hot spring she remembered finding the first day she had arrived here. Unfortunately, soul stealers do not like hot springs, something about the sulphur just didn't react well with them, so they would drop off the girl but then she was on her own. Hopefully the well's power wouldn't try and fight her once she was there, with no stealers to take the excess energy and little to no spiritual power to fight it back…it wouldn't end well.
Pushing herself into a light jog she was past the milling villagers and out into the forest, for once luck was on her side and the hot spring was not too far away. Running even faster she ignored all exhaustion, using some more miko energy to move faster, scared that with every breath the girl took she was spreading that disease into the air once more.
Bursting through some bushes and into the hot spring clearing her eyes immediately fell on the girl. Even from this distance her powers told her that there was no disease in this girl, she almost sighed with relief until she noticed the shape the girl was in.
She looked to be 14 or 15, her face was caked in blood and mud, her hair dishevelled and missing large clumps in places. She was wearing a much too large shirt and pants, but the sleeves were short and she could see that one arm was clearly broken, both covered in scratches and bruises. The girls nose also looked broken, the clothes had large cuts in places and were tied up with a thick rope. It was very obvious the girl had been beaten, and badly, this was just from what was out of the clothes. She was almost scared of what the girl looked like under them.
Straightening her spine Kagome rushed to the child's side. She would have to clean the girl off before she did any healing, if there was any dirt in the wounds when the skin healed over…it would not be pleasant feeling for the girl in any case. Picking up the girl she moved her closer to the spring, as Kagome was laying her down though, something felt weird, it was as if her instincts or something were screaming 'all is not right!'. Shaking off the feeling when the girl gave a low groan she hoped she could at least clean the girl off before she woke up, because from what she could tell, it was going to be an incredibly painful experience.
Reaching for the rope she had it undone and was pulling it off when the girl's eyes suddenly snapped open. Sitting up the girl let out a scream as her body reacted to the harsh movement. Her eyes flashed to Kagome and they widened in obvious fear. Immediately she began backing away, but she didn't have far to go with the hot spring right behind her.
"I'm sorry! Please don't kill me! I'll leave, I swear, you'll never have to see me again! Just, please don't hurt me." Tears streamed down the girls face and Kagome automatically reached out. Taking the girls hands the girl looked down her eyes wide with fear and her breath coming in short gasps. Kagome made soothing sounds, trying to calm her down.
"It's ok, I wont hurt you I promise. I want to help. We just have to get you cleaned up and then I can heal you, ne?" Gripping the girls overly large shirt before she could say anything Kagome pulled it off of her. The girl, who had seemed to be calming down, once again shoved away, this time to the side and along the bank of the hot spring. And this time Kagome knew why. There, plainly visible now that the shirt was off, were two mud caked, blood spattered wings. Her mind blanked for a moment as Kagome realised what her senses had been trying to tell her.
"Hanyou."
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AN: Well there we go people. Here is the next chapter. I am sorry it took a bit longer than usual, so in repayment I added an extra 1,000 words. It's not much, but there it is. :D I hope you enjoyed, I've been looking forward to this next bit for a while now. I can't wait to write it! :D Anyway, thanks to those who have reviewed so far, please read, enjoy, review…hehe, and just have fun!
-night flame miko