XXXVII

Victori Spoliaque

Kouga howls his victory and is joined by the many voices of his pack. Here and there he sees fallen wolves, but many of them are still breathing. The few who have died will be honored, and he regrets there loss, but he knows the carnage would have been much worse. He turns and eyes Kagome; she is flushed and panting with battle-shock and adrenaline, but for her first real combat she has done well, well indeed. She far exceeds his expectation, and her skill with a bow is a welcome bonus.

He scowls briefly, considering that this is yet another debt that he owes the old miko Kaede, and then shrugs and smiles. If he has a chance, he'll repay her – and if not...well, she was only an old woman – not like his Kagome.

Kouga turns then to the body of the fallen leader at his feet. He is wary of it, despite the fact that the two torso's erupting from the foul flesh of the thing are headless. The shikon no tama makes him wary, and the fact that he knows it has increased his own regenerative powers a hundred fold. Still, the longer he waits, the greater the chance that something irritating will happen. He bends, grim-faced, and pries open the fanged bird-mouth of the reeking body.

"Kagome, you said in here?"

She nods, watching him, faintly nauseous, unable to look away, and directs his reaching arm in the direction of the glow that only she can see.

"Further in – I know, I know, I'm sorry – yes, there; no, no, where you were a second ago. And in -"

With a squelching noise the shard came free, and Kouga stepped backward and held it up to the light. It glittered darkly, a rich amaranthine glow that was very different from the shimmering pink of the other shards in his possession.

"It's been corrupted -"

Even through the blood, the glitter of it was sharp and drew him in.

"Kouga? Kouga, is that...the shard?"

But Kagome knew it was without having to ask; despite how it looked, the feel of it was unmistakeable.

"Yeah; this is it. What do you think about the corruption; can you do something about it, Kagome?"

She stares at him.

"Me? Why would I -"

"You're a miko Kagome. You purify things; this is a thing, so...purify it."

There was a stream nearby; Kouga could hear it. With the jewel shard held tightly in his fist, he makes his way west through the woods a little way until the found the water, and then rinses his hands and arms and the shard he holds. When it is clean he turns and tosses it to Kagome, who has followed him. It glints in the afternoon light as it falls into her hands, and in that moment he sees two things happen.

In her grasp, the shard of shikon no tama glows instantly, perfectly bright.

In the next moment, Kagome makes a sound of discomfort and shakes her hand wildly, but it does no good. In contact with her flesh, the shard is not to be disturbed from it's purpose, and in a moment the glowing pink bit of gem has vanished into her body. Kagome stares at the spot, and licks her lips, and then looks up and meets Kouga's eyes.

"I – I didn't mean for – I didn't know that – I didn't do anything -"

And then her voice fades away.

"I – I'm sorry..."

Kouga only shakes his head and comes forward to grasp her hand, looking down at her hand where the shikon has vanished.

"I should've remembered – that's what happened before. When I found you. All the shards that were touching you were pulled into your body like that...anyway, don't worry about it. They're safer in you than in a bag."

He said it so nonchalantly, but Kagome was more concerned. What was happening to her? This couldn't be normal – bits of some magic jewel sprinkled in her body, the sudden ability to wield a bow like a master, the fact that she hadn't had to do anything to purify the jewel before it vanished. It had just...happened. Why?

She resolves to use the first chance she has to learn about her power, and what it can do; she wants to master it, so that there aren't any more surprises. If it's something other miko can do she doesn't need to feel like a freak, a monster.

Bleak thoughts came to her.

Maybe that's why I don't mind youkai. I'm like them.

She tries to shake them off, and smiles when Kouga looks at her, but her heart feels heavy and more than she has since she first woke to the strangeness of this place, this time, she is homesick, heartsick, misses her mother and her brother and even her grandfather's most boring stories.

"Kagome? What's wrong, Kagome?"

She turns to see Kouga looking at her with concern, and can't help but smile. She misses home, and she has her worries...but at least there are compensations.

She reaches out her hand for Kouga's and tugs him along until he falls into step beside her.

"I'm alright, Kouga. I was just missing home, but I'm alright."

"Kagome..."

His fingers tighten on her hand, and the lingering throb of the shikon no tama is washed away in the warmth of his grasp.

A/N: To those who have been checking my profile, tada! As promised, the beginning of renewed updates is here! To those who have not checked my profile, this brief absence from updates was due to me revising a novella's manuscript to fit an editor's request. The quest to be published is very important to me, so I stopped working on all my fanfiction in order to focus on that...however...it has be resubmitted :prays: and so I am back! A flood of chapters shall appear over the next couple days as I catch up, as it were, by updating chapters for all the days I've missed and get back on my daily update track! This chapter's title, "Victori Spoliaque" translates to "spoils to the victor"! So, thank you for bearing with me, and more soon!

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