Hi Everyone!

Sorry about the long wait. I try to update once a week, but things are getting hectic for me with school starting soon. I'm still writing, though! So don't count me out!

This will be the last chapter of Kira's backstory. I promise all of you "Lord Fluffy" fangirls will get to see him in the next chapter. Just bear with me. =)

~Akane-chan

Chapter 3: Knowing Your Enemy

"Mind-reading is a more defensive power. You can use it to read another's mind and predict their actions, but you can also use it to alter one's thoughts. Alterations are much more difficult to execute, however, because you must change the basic ideas which bore those thoughts."

I was confused. This all seemed impossible. Changing someone's thoughts? How was I to learn all of this? Could Mother also use these powers? Questions and doubt filled my head, pushing away some of my initial excitement.

"How do you know all of this?" I asked. "Are you able to read another person's mind?"

She smiled. "It is something that my family is able to do, if they are chosen. These powers lie dormant if they are not needed. Since the Great Goddess appeared, my gifts have been needed in order to teach you one day."

"Oh," I said. I immediately thought of what she has caught me thinking and gulped. I hope nothing embarrassing.

"Now let's begin," Mother immediately became serious, her smile replaced by a look of stern determination. "Sit as I do."

I obeyed, criss-crossing my legs over each other below me.

"Good. Now, close your eyes and take deep breaths... Slow your breathing. Concentrate on nothing but that."

I did as I was told. The sensation of deliberatly slowing my breathing was strange. I began to lose some sense of the space around me. My body felt like it was falling through the ground. I gasped, and my eyes shot open.

"What happened, Kira?" Mother asked, concerned. I was breathing quite heavily now.

"I...I felt like I was...falling. It was a strange feeling," I said, then I frowned. "I'm sorry. I messed up."

"Oh no, Kira. It's alright. It is natural to feel that way when you first experience meditation," she said, trying to comfort me. "You are learning to separate your mind from your body."

Meditation. Separating my mind from my body? It sounded scary and dangerous. Though I understood the feeling of falling now, my apprehension remained. I was sure the Goddess made a mistake when she chose me. I couldn't do this. I was still just a kid. Why couldn't my mother do this instead? She knew how to use all of these powers. I would just mess up, like I just did.

I closed my eyes tight against the world. Maybe if I couldn't see, the world would go away. I hugged my knees tightly against my chest.

"Kira...," Mother said. "I will be right here with you. You don't need to be frightened. Nothing will hurt you."

I opened my eyes to peek out at my mother. "But why me? You can already do all of these things."

Her sad smile was back. "You will understand when you are older. The Goddess chose you for a reason, my daughter. Now please..."

Hesitantly, I released my legs and once again sat with my legs crossed. I closed my eyes, this time lightly, and began the process of slowing down my breathing. The falling sensation returned, but this time I ignored it, continuing to breath slow, deliberate breaths. It was strange how much effort it took to consciously think about breathing when we do it automatically every second. Soon, the falling sensation was replaced by one of suspension. I wanted to open my eyes, to see if I was actually floating, but resisted the urge.

"Good," I could hear Mother's voice soft and clear, almost hypnotizing. "Clear your mind of all thoughts. Push all thoughts and worries of the world out of your mind. Be at peace within yourself."

Without responding, I did as I was told. I felt a lightness in my chest, a comforting feeling rising from deep inside me. My mind felt far above my physical body, and without a definite shape or boundary to tell me how far I could reach, it was a feeling of complete freedom.

"Now open your eyes," she said, breaking my reverie. I quickly fell back into my body, and I reluctantly opened my eyes. I didn't want to leave the place I had just found. "How did it feel?"

"I felt like I was floating above my body. I felt...," I thought for a moment of how to describe the feeling, "I felt completely free from everything."

Mother looked surprised. "Well done. I did not expect you to reach a meditative state so quickly." She looked at me, pride evident in her eyes. "As expected of my daughter.

"Remember how you brought yourself into that state. Your mind needs to be clear and pure before you can read another's mind. At first it will take you some time, as it just did. With practice, however, you will be able to do it effortlessly. Now, I shall teach you how to enter another's mind." She looked around the cave. "Ah, this will do." She leaned over and plucked a small lizard from the wall. It squirmed in her hand. She gazed down at it, and her eyes dilated for a moment before returning to normal. The lizard no longer resisted her hold, and she set it down softly in front of her.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked after several moment of silence had passed.

"I changed a thought in that lizard's mind. Your task is to find it," she said simply.

"But...how?" I asked. She made it sound so easy.

"Push outward with your mind. An animal's mind is much easier to enter than a human's mind, so you should not have any trouble."

I swallowed hard. What if I messed up again?

I stopped my train of thought. I couldn't think about that now. I just had to focus on being free again. I closed my eyes and followed the procedure again. I felt my body fully relax as my breathing slowed. My mind once again floated above me. I willed it to move forward. I then realized I couldn't see.

"How do I see where I am going?" I asked.

"Open your eyes slowly. Be careful not to fall out of meditation."

As soon as she spoke, fear and agitation once again gnawed at my mind. When I tried to open my eyes, I harshly fell back into consciousness. Almost immediately, tears pooled in my eyes. I failed again.

"Kira, why are you crying? What happened?" Mother asked. She nimbly moved to my side and held me in her arms. "Shhh, don't cry. You must be strong. You must not let fear control you."

I know, but..., I thought. I have never felt so unsure and vulnerable as I did now. I wasn't sure which was worse: unknown physical dangers or unknown failure. I looked down at the ground. My mother didn't say a word; she just continued to hold me and let me cry. Several moments passed as I lay there. I needed to be strong, but I wasn't sure if I could do it.

I would never know until I tried.

With renewed resolve, I wiped the tears from my face and recentered myself on the floor. I began to meditate and reached the floating state much faster than before. Once I felt secure, I slowly opened my eyes and focused on feeling free. This time, I stayed there. I gasped slightly at what I saw. I looked on through my eyes, but my mind still felt outside of my body. My vision was slightly unfocused and unstable, but I found the hazy outline of the lizard still sitting serenely in front of me. I willed my mind to push forward and felt myself drift softly toward the tiny animal, like the wind. Before I made contact with its body, I seeped seamlessly into its head, a strange sensation not unlike passing through a dense liquid. Webs of thoughts and ideas floated around me, and I knew I had successfully entered its mind. I was beyond joyous and wanted to cry out that I had done it, but stopped when I felt myself falling. I must be strong, I recited to myself. I steadied once again, and continued on.

A sudden thought occurred to me: how was I going to find the thought that was changed? What did a changed thought look like? What did a normal thought look like? I had no idea what I was looking for. This lizard didn't have many thoughts-there was a lot of empty space to float around in-but the expanse of its mind seemed almost endless as I watched thoughts drift away from me and out of view. I must be strong. I thought of trying the most recent memories at the forefront of its mind. Numerous threads of light intertwined with one another. They all appeared at first glance to be alike-pure white clouds of light floating through an endless space. I continued searching until I found one separated from the others. It seemed to coalesce in front of me, almost brittle. I drifted forward to touch it. This was it.

I was so excited that I lost focus and slammed back into my body. My head pounded in pain from being ripped forcefully from the lizard's mind. I gripped it tightly around my ears.

"Are you alright? What happened, Kira?" Mother asked. Her voice sounded amplified to my ears, causing my head to pound harder.

I nodded, the only thing I could do until the pain died down. Once it did, I slowly opened my eyes, cringing at the brightness that I once thought was dark.

"I'm ok," I said softly. "I was just so excited when I found the memory...the next thing I knew, I hit my body, hard. My head hurts."

"Good, you're alright," she sighed in relief, "And you completed the task. You just lost focus, that's all. You must always be vigilant when using this power." She paused for a moment until she could see that I was not in pain anymore. "What was the thought you found?"

I paused to think for a moment. My mind was still reeling from being through so hard. "I think...you told it to flip backwards?"

For the first time, I saw my mother smile from ear to ear. "Good! Well done, Kira. Here, have some bread and berries." She handed me a chunk of bread topped with many berries that she had picked before. I hadn't noticed how hungry I was until I smelled their sweet flavors. I eagerly ate them, and my headache ebbed away.

"Thank you," I said.

"Just remember, you need to keep your mind free of emotion. You must not let it control you, be it good or bad. Otherwise...well, you experienced what happens."

"How do I change a thought like you did?" I asked.

"In much a similar way as reading a thought, except you need to transfer a thought from your mind to the other person's-or in this case, animal-mind. It must be a very basic idea, especially if you want to change an entire sentiment that is rooted in complicated webs. But once again, it all takes practice." Suddenly, she rose. "Let's take a break and walk for a bit. Come, Kira," she beckoned me, and I followed.

Mother showed me around the forest. During the day, it had a much different atmosphere—sunlight filtered through the treetops easily like small waterfalls of light. The ground was relatively flat, save for a few small roots that poked up through the soft ground. Tiny critters flitted to and fro through bushes around the trunks. The smell of fresh grass permeated throughout the air, clean, crisp, and comforting. I could hear the faint sound of running water—was there a river nearby?

In a few hours, I learned how to gather food and herbs for different purposes—berries that I could eat, berries that were poisonous, herbs that could be used for medicinal purposes, even how to set simple traps to get meat. I was in awe the entire time; I hadn't expected my mother, who spent almost all of her time in the castle and never got her hands dirty, to be this knowledgeable of survival skills. I did not ask questions—my mind was still trying to process everything it had learned this morning. I decided to just accept that my mother could do anything, and knowing how find food was something I was not about to complain about.

Mother also had me continuously practice my mind-reading skills. For every animal that we came across that would stay still for longer than a couple seconds, she had me enter each mind and read every thought. After a while, she began to time me in exercises to predict an animal's movements before it escaped. I attempted altering their thoughts to make them stay, but all I managed was angering two foxes enough to force me out of their minds and almost attacking us. Mother must have accomplished what I could not, because they had suddenly stopped charging, paused for a moment, then calmly walked away.

By the time we made it back to our cave, the sun was setting just above the treetops. While my feet were in pain from walking all day, I felt absolutely buoyant. I had never before been outside the castle this long. I had never been able to explore the outside world as much as I had in just this one day. It was such a new experience for me that I was sad when Mother said we should head back. I just wanted to continue exploring and learning about everything I had been protected from in the castle. I couldn't stop asking questions all day. What caused me to finally pause was seeing my mother's face in the fading sunlight. Though she had a smile on her face, she looked worn and tired. She seemed to have aged many years in just this past day. The bags I had noticed under her eyes before deepened and darkened, further accentuated by the shadows created by the sunlight. Despite the deep reds and oranges decorating the skies, her skin was pale, almost sickly.

I opened my mouth to call out her name, but no words would come out. I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer if something was wrong.

"Hurry inside, Kira. I need to erect the barrier again," she said. I hadn't noticed before that the barrier had disappeared. I quickly obeyed, and in a few seconds, the barrier was up and she joined me back by our things.

"We have still much to learn tomorrow. Sleep now, Kira; you will need your strength."

My face fell, but I complied. Time would pass much faster if I slept, and then we could continue. I lay down to sleep. I hadn't noticed until my body began to relax just how sore my muscles were. I groaned inwardly. I hoped I wouldn't be in pain the next morning. It would make using and learning my powers more difficult. With that thought, my mind drifted off into slumber.

Bright sunlight filtered through my eyelids and woke me the next morning. I blinked against the sudden brightness, shielding my eyes until the acclimated to the new day. I looked around and found my mother just outside the cave preparing something over a fire. From the savory smell that wafted up my nose, I assumed it was breakfast. My stomach growled in anticipation. Holding my stomach soothingly, as if it was a child, I propped myself up to my feet and walked toward the delicious smell.

"Ah, you're awake," Mother said, smiling up at me. She seemed jovial this morning, her face peaceful albeit tired as the night before. "Did you sleep well?"

I nodded. I had indeed slept very well, since I had worn my mind out thoroughly from practicing. "Did you sleep?"

"I slept a little while, yes." She turned her gaze back toward the food cooking over the fire on sticks. She began turning each skewered meat over to cook on the other side. "Breakfast will not be ready for some time. Why don't you go pick some berries for us? You can practice with your powers as well," she suggested.

"Alright," I assented eagerly. Practicing without my mother around would be less stressful, not to mention I could take my time exploring as I wanted. I bounded for the forest.

I could hear Mother's laugh behind me. "Don't wander off too far!"

"I won't!" I called behind me.

It was the most exquisite feeling in the world to explore the world (or at least a small part of it) as I wanted.

I spent a good while climbing trees. I found that I was very nimble and could climb very quickly and jump from branch to branch to get around much faster. When I found large animals, such as a fox or boar, I practiced my mind-reading from above them, so they would not notice my presence. After a short while, I barely noticed the sensation of entering another's mind. My powers were becoming second nature to me, and I could release my mind at will. I realized that while my mind drifted outside, my senses were heightened, and I could smell and hear every little critter for at least one kilometer. I still could not fully alter thoughts, but I was able to influence feelings through suggestions. Sometimes I would try to urge a fox to climb a tree, but instead of climbing, it would just sniff at the base of the trunk before walking away.

I used my powers to easily find the most ripe berries in the forest. They glistened in the morning dew, bright and plump against the deep green of the branches and bushes they grew on.

"I'm sure Mother wouldn't mind if I ate one or two on my own," I muttered to myself. I looked around, as if expecting her to be watching me. Confident she was not there, I grinned and popped three red berries in my mouth. Their juices exploded over my tongue with tangy goodness. I moaned appreciatively.

A sudden explosion of sound reached my ears. I looked in the direction it came from and watched as several trees began to fall randomly to the floor a short distance away . It was in the same direction as our cave.

My stomach fell. "Mother..." I prayed that she was alright.

Without a second thought, I dashed through the trees, hopping the branches instead of running on the ground. I felt safer up in the trees, and I could move much faster here. Small branches caught in my hair and scraped at my arms as I ran by, but I ignored them. In no time, I reached our cave.

My heart stopped.

There was a body lying on the floor in a small pool of blood. The woman's raven hair was windblown and tangled, as if she had flown a great distance through the air before landing. Her clothes bore large slashes, as if large claws had cut through them. They were dirty from blood and the surrounding earth, growing darker as red liquid oozed quickly from a wound in her stomach. From here, I couldn't tell if her chest was rising and falling, indicating that she was still alive.

"Mother…," I whispered at first, then yelled, "Mother!"

The body of the woman stirred, and she slowly craned her head in my direction. She was alive! Her usually beautiful face was marred with gashes similar to those in her clothes. Her eyes, the pure, blue-silver orbs that I inherited from her, were scrunched in pain.

"No…Kira…run…," her voiced strained.

"So this is the girl Naraku has been looking for? She's just a kid."

The voice of another woman startled me, causing me to fall off the tree branch I had been hiding in. Thankfully, I wasn't very high up and landed on my bottom with an ungraceful oomph. I looked toward the unfamiliar voice. A woman dressed in a red and white kimono stood before me. Her dark brown hair was short and tied high up in the back with what looked like several feathers. Open in her hand was a white fan with red stripes that perfectly matched her clothing. At first glance, this woman seemed harmless. Her eyes, however, betrayed that look of delicate innocence. Deep red, the color of blood and evil, they stared down at me with a piercing heartlessness that paralyzed me with fear.

The woman took one step toward me, and a shriek escaped my lips. I quickly covered my mouth with a shaking hand. Suddenly, I became aware of a powerful aura surrounding the area. It was not one I was familiar with and was laced with evil intent. It did not feel human at all. It could only be the aura of a demon.

I must be strong.

"Y-you're a…a demon," my voice shook as I spoke.

The woman's face fell in disappointment. "You aren't even putting up a fight like your mother did. This is boring," she sighed, ignoring my comment. She raised her fan in front of her face and advanced toward me. I slowly crawled backwards. Her figure slowly blurred in my vision as tears pooled in my eyes.

"Naraku wants you back alive. If you come quietly, I won't hurt you," the woman said.

"No…leave her be. Kira, run. Take me instead…," Mother said. He voice sounded weaker. The woman grimaced and waved her fan in the direction of my mother. A giant gust of wind blew from it, flinging my mother against the rocky wall behind her. She fell to the ground, unconscious. I wanted to run, but I needed to save her. My mind was at war with itself, half of it shouting at me to run and save myself, the other half begging me to stay and stop this monster.

Someone, help us, I prayed silently.

"Ara, reidou getsuei, naito no kouhi, yuu ware iza."

The strange words escaped my lips in a language I did not understand. However, as soon as I spoke them, I felt an intense fire radiating inside me. Its fiery power spread rapidly throughout my body, filling me with courage and determination. I thought I could easily defeat one hundred of these demons.

The she-demon stopped in her tracks. Her eyes grew wide with fear as she stared at something below me. I followed her gaze. All eight moon charms on my bracelet were glowing fiercely in a rainbow of colors, its intense heat stinging hotly against my skin. Almost a physical representation of what I was feeling inside, my bracelet also seemed to be warning me against something.

Of course, there's a demon right here. A little late for that, though.

The woman did not come closer. I tentatively rose to my feet, and then took a step forward. She did not move from her spot, but narrowed her red eyes at me.

"Demon, who are you and what do you want with me and my mother?" I asked, my voice surprisingly steady and firm. It did not sound like my own.

"I am Kagura, the wind sorceress. I don't want anything from you, but Naraku does. Specifically you, little girl. Now, if you don't want me to kill your mother right here, I suggest you come with me," she growled impatiently.

Does she know my secret? "And what does this Naraku want with me?" I asked, my bravado concealing the rising panic in my stomach.

"How should I know what he wants with a small human girl? I'm just here to collect you. Now come," she ordered.

"Are you the one who attacked the castle?"

"Ugh, why do you ask so many questions? Seriously, you humans never shut up," Kagura raised her fan to her face, poised to attack.

I took a small step back. "I'll never go with you."

Kagura merely shrugged her shoulders. "And so eager to die. Dance of Blades!" Kagura waved her fan toward me.

My body reacted before my mind could register the four blades of light hurtling toward me and jumped out of the way. The blades exploded behind me, creating charred ashes out of the trees that once stood there. A squirrel scurried away from the explosion. Suddenly, inspiration hit me. I relaxed as much as I was able, concentrating hard on sending my mind outward. I prayed and willed the squirrel to do as I asked. At first, the squirrel just froze in its tracks, confused. It remained unmoving for a while. I feared that I had not been successful when I started moving forward slowly.

Then, like a demon, it turned and bolted straight toward Kagura's face.

"Agh!" Kagura screamed as she tried to bat away the offending animal. It fell to the floor and scurried away, but not before dealing a deep gash into Kagura's face.

"You…," she breathed, "you will pay for this! Dance of Dragons!"

The sky turned dark almost instantaneously before unleashing a roaring twister. It spun in place for a moment, gathering debris by destroying the area around it before shooting toward me. I couldn't move, too awestruck at the massive cone of wind that just appeared from the sky as if all the wrath of the gods had materialized into one form, and was now at the beck and call of this horrible demoness. I fell to my knees and closed my eyes, bracing myself for its impact.

But it never came.

I cautiously opened my eyes. At first I thought I had been hit when the image of Kagura swirled in front of me. It took me a moment to realize that I was perfectly fine because the spinning was due to a barrier surrounding me, much like the one my mother erected for our cave. My mouth hung open slightly in amazement. How did I do that? I had no idea. Mother never mentioned to me all of the powers I had, so I wasn't sure if this was one of them.

The barrier slowly disintegrated before my eyes. "No…!" I panicked. I couldn't avoid that twister attack again if it came.

Kagura smirked. "You won't be so lucky this time, you little brat—"

Kagura halted mid-swing and looked around. Confused, I looked as well. There was nothing around us. We were alone in this forest. Then a faint sound reached my ears. Buzzing. I strained my eyes in the direction I thought it was coming from. Soon, a cloud of black specks was approaching us through the trees.

"Insects?" I said, dumbfounded. The black specks were actually hundreds of demonic-looking bees dyed purple and yellow. Kagura wasn't phased in the slightest. If anything, she seemed annoyed at their arrival.

"Heh. Saimyoushou," she spit out the name as if it was something dirty on her tongue. A silence extended between us as Kagura looked toward them. The Saimyoushou did nothing but continue buzzing and looking toward her. After a long moment, Kagura spoke. "We'll finish this later." With that, she plucked a feather from her hair and threw it to the ground, where it exploded in a blast of white smoke. I coughed heavily and shielded my face. When the smoke had cleared, Kagura was flying up in the sky on top of a large white feather, followed by the Saimyoushou.

When I was sure she was gone, I ran over to my mother. Her skin was very pale, almost white from loss of so much blood. Her chest rose in quick, shallow breaths. She was alive…!

"Mother, are you alright? Please hang in there. I will go and fetch some help," I said softly.

"Kira," she said, just barely audible. She slowly opened her eyes and looked behind me. "The demoness is gone…well done, my daughter."

"You must not speak," I pleaded. "You will need your energy to recover." I placed a hand on her arm. It was icy cold to the touch. Pressure began to build behind my eyes as I struggled to fight back tears. I must be strong.

"It is too late for me now," she said, that familiar sad smile returning to her lips. "The great goddess Hekate is waiting for me. Before I join her, you must listen to me."

"No, Mother, you can't go! I can't do this on my own…. Please, just rest. Everything will be okay," I said, more for my own comfort than hers. My vision was blurry from tears.

"Kira, you have been a wonderful daughter, and I wish I could be there to help you through the burden you must now carry. Kira—" she coughed violently. I tightened my grip on her arm.

"Please, Mother, you can tell me this later," I begged her to listen. I needed her to get well.

"You must know this now," she ignored my pleas and continued speaking. "Do you remember of when I explained the circumstances of your birth to you? About the destiny Sereni wanted you to fulfill?" She paused, waiting for a response from me. I nodded. "Now you must know. You must find…The Prince of the Moon."

I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. "A prince? Why? Who? How do I find him? How will I know?"

She smiled again. "So eager to learn. You will know…because of a distinct facial feature that he will carry."

A facial feature? What kind? "What do I do when I find him?"

Her eyelids drooped heavily on her eyes. "You must…join forces with him…and defeat the demon…called Na…ra…," her voiced faded completely as her eyelids shut. She didn't open them again.

I shook her lightly. "Mother…Mother, please wake up! Who must I defeat? Please wake up, Mother!" She wouldn't wake. Her shoulders fell limp, along with the rest of her limbs. Her chest ceased rising and falling, indicating life was still there. She never finished her sentence, but I felt I could finish it for her: Naraku.

I finally released the tears that had welled up in my eyes; they fell like rivers down my face. The once sunny day never returned to its former glory after Kagura had summoned the twisters. I heard thunder in the distance. Rain was to come. I did not go back inside the cave. Instead, I laid my head lightly on top of her chest, and cried.

This chapter is about twice as long as the previous two! I'm so proud of myself. ^.^ As I'm writing, I noticed that my chapters tend to be around this length now, so you can expect chapters similar to this in the near future.

As always, I would absolutely LOVE your opinions on my story. Trust me, they help with my writing. Sometimes there might be something you think should be changed for the future that I never even considered to be an issue before. Who knows? No one will unless you voice your opinion! Even if it is just a "hey, I really like this!" kind of review, at least then I know there are people reading my story and not just clicking on the link and clicking out...know what I mean?

Till next week,

~Akane-chan