Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Home is Where the Heart is Hidden ❯ Kaede ( Chapter 4 )

Niara: hello, sorry about a lack of updates, bye!

 

Disclaimer: me no own, you no sue

 

 

Chapter 4

 

Fire burned all around her, consuming her, invading her. There was no sound save the crackling laughter of the fire and screams of the dying, no scent save that of burning flesh, wood, and stone. The only feeling was the warmth and security of the arms that held her close to the hard chest of the man carrying her.

 

Then the laughter began again, echoing in her mind, the sound mocking and gleeful. Images of those she had loved and known, her father, her friends, flashed across her field of vision, that mocking laughter never ending, never ceasing. It still echoed in her ears when she awoke, panting and gasping for air, sweat soaking her skin and clothes.

 

Tears ran down Kagome's face, staining her cheeks with streaks, leaving her eyes red and puffy. She groaned as she leaned back, tears streaking her face, wishing that she could push the images that she could not remember the source of from her mind. She shuddered as a cold wind blew across her small camp, chilling her. She sat up, mindful of her weakness, and glanced around, her mind on alert as a tingle began to seep into her awareness. Demon!

 

Kagome pulled herself to her feet, glancing warily from side to side as she hunted for the source of her unease. After several minutes, she relaxed, realizing that the demon was not moving any closer or any farther, just watching. `Maybe he's just curious.'

 

Shrugging, Kagome glanced up and noted that the sun was beginning to rise. With a small yawn, the young priestess began to pack up her belongings and load them onto Rain, trying to break camp and depart by sun-up so that she could be at the border village before the sun set that evening. She had to reach the border, why, she didn't know, but this was what her father wanted, so that was what she would do.

 

Mounting her horse a few minutes later, the young priestess set out again, noting that her demon shadow had decided to follow her.

 

*****

 

Once, before the invasion of the East, the border villages were known for their wealth and splendor, for the hardy people who inhabited their walls and conducted trade between the two countries. Hundreds of people lived in each village, making the towns some of the largest in any of the lands, second or third only to the capitals or the few major cities in the areas. Now, especially the ones on the Eastern borders, were under a dramatic overhaul.

 

The village on the border of the Eastern and Northern lands was riddled with refugees fleeing from their devastated villages. It tore at Kagome's heart as she lead Rain through the village, seeing all of the devastated families, the injured, the ill, and the dying. The scents of smoke and burned flesh lingered everywhere, leaving her nauseous and dizzy, the pain of all these people and demons beating at her with a passion.

 

Kagome shook her head subtly as she fought to keep going, resolutely ignoring everything around her. She made her way to the center of the village, knowing that the place she was most likely to find the priests or priestesses tending to the wounded. People looked up at her as she walked past, many of them gasping, young mothers clutching their little children to them, men looking at her with open hostility. At one point, just as she had passed into the village market, she heard one of the villagers whisper, “It's the kuromiko herself! She's come to kill us all herself!”

 

It made her nervous, being mistaken for whoever this “kuromiko” was and she had a feeling that many of the villagers shared that villager's sentiments. Pulling her cloak tighter about herself, Kagome muttered a few words as she tied Rain to a post just outside of the healer's house, ensuring that no one would lay hand on the stallion or anything he carried for her.

 

With her head bowed in respect, Kagome entered the healer's house, her wooden sandals clacking loudly on the wooden floor of the large building. An old woman, large and gnarled with old age, looked up as she entered, her one eye widening at the sight of her. Slowly, the old woman stood, her red hakamas swishing around her legs. She studied Kagome, her expression guarded and severe. “What be it that ye want, now?”

 

Kagome shuddered at the cold tone that woman used, knowing that she too thought that she was the kuromiko. The younger priestess dropped onto her knees and bowed her head, shocking the much older woman. “Please, elder, do not mistake me for this woman that everyone seems to think I am. My name is Kagome. I was sent by my father to try and gain an audience with King Raizen of the North once I cross into the Northern Lands. I only intend to stay the night so that my horse may rest and regain his strength.”

 

The old woman studied the submissive priestess, her one blue eye examining the girl as she waited for judgment. Finally, she closed the distance between the two of them and knelt down in front of Kagome, a frown on her lips. She reached out and gently raised the younger woman's face, studying each feature and line with great care. After only a few seconds, her eye grew wide, her hand shaking violently as she gazed into the miko's face. “Blessed souls, ye be her living image, yet ye are not her. I had thought all the children dead, but this proves us all wrong.”

 

Kagome frowned, confused. “What do you mean?”

 

The old priestess rose and gestured for Kagome to follow her, walking deeper into the complex. The mikos passed several monks and priestesses, all busily trying to heal demon and human alike, seeking to mend as much of the damage as possible, to save as many lives as could be done, before they entered a room, obviously the old priestess's private room. “Come, child. Sit with me and I shall explain everything that I know to ye.”

 

Kagome sat down on the mats, her legs tucked under her. The old woman sat across from her, pouring fresh tea into a pair of preset cups. “My name is Kaede, little one, and I think ye had best explain just what it is your father told ye to me and who he was.”

 

Sipping the tea gently, Kagome thought for a second, trying to figure out if she could fully trust Kaede with her senses in such a mess. Taking a gamble, she set her cup down and closed her eyes, breathing deeply to draw strength for what she had to do next. “Papa told me to go to the Northern Lands and gain an audience with King Raizen. He said that if I showed them my pendant and told them that Sasaki Kagenohi had sent me, they would allow me immediate entrance.”

 

Kaede choked on her tea. She set the cup down the moment she could breathe again and looked at Kagome, startled. “Sasaki Kagenohi? Ye be certain that is what he said?” When Kagome nodded, she closed her eyes and drew a shaky breath, trying to steady herself when she was on unsteady foundation. “Then the rumors were true.”

 

“What rumors?” Kagome was scared now, more so than she had ever been. What Kaede was saying to her could very well mean that all she had been raised to believe was nothing more than a tangled muddle of lies. “What are you talking about?”

 

“What I refer to,” Kaede said softly, her eyes meeting Kagome's, “are the rumors that Sasaki Kagenohi, the once bodyguard of Lord Han of the Central Lands, disappeared on the night of the overthrowing of the Higurashi Clan with a child. A child that many believe was Kun-Loon and Han's newborn daughter, a child whose name was buried in order to protect her from her own sister.”

 

Kagome was the one shaking now, her hands unsteady as she picked up her teacup. “What would my father know of Sasaki Kagenohi?”

 

“A great deal,” Kaede whispered, her eye falling to the necklace that disappeared beneath Kagome's robes. “May I see this pendant of yours?”

 

The young miko was hesitant, but lifted the fang necklace upon which the jewel hung over her head and held it out to Kaede, the gem radiating a soft violet light. Kaede stared at the jewel, her eye growing wider the longer she gazed at it, her entire body shaking once more. “The Shikon…”

 

“Shikon?” Kagome questioned softly even as the jewel began to glow a little brighter as if in comfort. “What is the Shikon, Lady Kaede?”

 

“Put ye jewel back one and don't take it out except when ye reach Raizen, girl,” Kaede said suddenly, closing her hands around Kagome's, never once touching the jewel. “I'll be tellin' ye why the people be scared of ye and why ye'll be mistaken for my wretched niece wherever ye go.”

 

Kaede took a sip of tea to steady herself while Kagome put the necklace back on, the jewel slipping beneath the edges of her robes. “Twenty years ago, my brother, Han Higurashi, was the ruler of the Central Lands. He was the only human lord, but he was one of the most powerful ones to ever exist and demon and human alike listened to him because we were descended from a line of powerful demon slayers and from the line of Midoriko herself.

 

“Han and his wife, Kun-Loon, had three children. Their only son was Souta and he was in training to become a demon slayer, and the youngest was unnamed, and too young for anyone to truly be certain of what her fate would have been. Their eldest was a powerful young priestess named Kikyo. Kikyo had always been an arrogant, manipulative, and conniving child, even after her training as a priestess was completed, so it didn't really surprise me that she was caught associating with several beings who wanted Han dead. My brother had his own daughter exiled that every day and it wasn't even two months later that she returned.

 

“Kikyo became the woman that we now refer to as the kuromiko, a dark priestess. She allied herself with an army of demons and burned the city and much of the land to the ground.” Kagome paled, her eyes widening.

 

“And I resemble her?” she whispered, her voice growing hoarse. “They think that I am her?”

 

Kaede nodded, her eyes on the younger woman. Kagome looked ready to collapse, her mind almost incapable of processing anything else at this point. The old priestess was jerked from her revere by a sharp knock on the door, the sound echoing through the silent room. “Holy Kaede, there is a young man here to see you. He says that his name is Kurama and that you know him.”

 

“Send him in at once,” Kaede said, eyes flying to the door as it slid open, revealing the tall form of the red-haired “human.” His emerald eyes were hard, his face hard and stony. “What is it?”

 

“The kuromiko has over taken the Inarius Stronghold,” he growled out, his eyes flashing gold for just an instant. “The Inarius Clan has fled to the Southern Border to hide with Mukuro and her hier.”

 

“Good,” Kaede said, rising to her feet. “It is best that the Inarius be out of these lands before Kikyo closes the borders to any and all.” She paused and glanced at Kagome, who seemed to be in a state of numb shock. “How are your relations with Raizen and his son?”

 

Kurama frowned and shrugged, his eyes cold. “Tolerable with Raizen, fairly well with Yusuke, why?”

 

“Because I need ye to get this young one to an audience with Raizen before Kikyo makes her next move.” Kurama blinked and glanced at the other priestess before he grew very still, his eyes turning fully gold for only a moment.

 

“Kagome?” The priestess whirled around, one hand flying up to clutch the jewel around her neck before she realized who it was.

 

“Shuichi?”

 

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Niara: well, that's all for now. Longer chapter than normal, but hey…