A/N: Originally submitted to IYFic for their prompt Moving Target.
"You must be careful when shooting at a moving target," the old priest warned his disciple.
Kikyou nodded grimly, straining to focus on the swirl of youki flitting from this branch to that. Thick masses of steel-grey clouds had gathered in the overcast sky; it would start raining soon. The sound of thunderclap made it that much harder for the trainee priestess to concentrate on the movements of the agile bakezaru.
After a while, Kikyou dropped her bow and sighed. It was of no use; she was not ready to hit a moving target yet. She should go back to practising on the bull's eye instead.
"So eager to give up?" her teacher frowned, a look of disappointment in his eyes, "We had a lot of expectation from you, Kikyou. Your spiritual powers are formidable – I am the first to admit it. But if you fail to protect your people from the attack of these vile creatures, then what good are you?"
"I beg your forgiveness, master," Kikyou bowed her head in shame. Ready or not, she knew it was her duty to fulfil what others were expecting from her.
"The youkai will not stay at one place, to help you hit them at your leisure. Neither will they arrive on a bright, sunny day. They will choose odd hours like the dead of the night or the crack of dawn or, even, a rainy afternoon," he spread his palm as the first drops of rain hit the ground. "You need to be constantly on your guard. That is how much you need to practice."
"Yes, master."
Bowing, Kikyou picked up her bow. The raindrops started falling faster, playing bass and treble upon the trees. The bamboo thickets flanking the hillside creeks grew quieter; a hush fell among the animals, as if bracing for an impending evil. Kikyou shuddered at the silence.
Training all her senses on her target, she nocked an arrow and drew the string to its limit. The youkai ducked inside a bush.
Now!
Kikyou released her arrow. It whistled through the air and disappeared into the thicket. And then, the unmistakable sound of making contact with something solid.
Heart hammering, Kikyou rose from her follow-through to check inside the bush. Blood was oozing into the soil – fresh, red, vivid blood. With trembling hands she parted the leaves to reveal her victim – the tiny, beautiful, golden fawn with eyes as blue as the clearest sky – now lying dead from the arrow that had passed though its heart.
Kikyou jerked her hand away as though she had been stung. Her tear-filled eyes could discern the outline of the dam, frozen by the side of a tree.
A sad bleat emerged from the mouth of the helpless dam. To Kikyou's guilt-laden ears it sounded like a curse.
"The blood of the innocent is in my hands!" she lamented as she dropped to the wet ground. Retribution would come someday, swift and terrible. She knew that in her heart.
Up from a tree, the bakezaru laughed out mockingly.