Author's Note: Hello Lovelies! This is one of my first works after a long while, so please let me know your thoughts. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all of the characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi.
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Introduction: The Calm
A soft breeze carried the scent of springtime rain towards an ancient well and the lone figure who rested beside it. Clad in a soft blue kimono, the raven haired female rose with a sigh, glancing at the ominous gray clouds rolling in from the east with cerulean eyes. After returning her yew bow to its proper place, the woman walked towards the nearby village to help prepare for the coming storm. With a graceful gait, the woman passed a sacred tree, sparing an affectionate glance towards the scar in the middle, and continued her journey lost in thought.
"I sure wouldn't mind some sunshine," Kagome mused aloud, nodding to the guard watching the village entrance. The imposing structure of a wall fortified the impoverished village from continuous bandit raids, courtesy of one surreptitiously kind half-youkai. "It means I don't have to waste the time protecting those helpless villagers," he scoffed, blushing, "and it didn't take too long, so it just saves me some trouble in the end." Kagome giggled at the memory, thinking of how the gruff half-youkai was most definitely a softy at heart, if Sango and Miroku's children were anything to go by. Although Inuyasha huffed and puffed when asked to look after the babies for a while, eventually Kagome would find him cuddled up with them, letting them play with his hair and ears and attentively listening to their baby babbling. He would make a great father, she thought, but that ship had sailed after her emergence from the well seven years ago. They had tried to give romance a shot for a while, but after some time mutually decided that they were just meant to be cherished friends of each other, and both were comfortable with their far more easygoing friendship.
Kagome finally reached Kaede's hut, pulling back the tatami and removing her now wet sandals. The elderly miko finished grinding her herbs, adding them to the boiling mixture atop the fire to steep. Kagome looked fondly upon the woman she viewed as a grandmother, kneeling down next to the fire and warming her hands. Kaede gave a brief nod of acknowledgement before placing the herbs back in their proper place and joining the younger miko by the fire.
"How was your walk?" Kaedeasked, kneeling and rubbing her increasingly arthritic hands.
Noting that the elderly miko was in need of more medicinal ointment, Kagome catalogued another necessary item to grab when she returned to the future next week. "It was lovely Kaede, but I'm afraid that we won't be able to dry out the herbstoday, a rather large storm is heading this direction and quickly," Kagome replied, "Where is Rin?"
"She is out collecting herbs for the illness spreading through the village," she replied. The elderly mikohad sent Rin out some while ago to retrieve more of the herbs found to help combat a rough strain of virus that reminded Kagome ominously of cholera.Though no one had been put in a serious condition, most well after a day of rest and plenty of water, the children and infants in the village were in much more danger than the adults, so the herb was to be gathered for precautionary methods.
"I need not remind ye that the young Rin can take care of herself, and Kohaku also accompanied her due to the increase in youkai activity." Kagome breathed a sigh of relief, her worry for the young girl she viewed as a sister abating.
After the battle with Naraku, Rin began to show signs of reiki, and at the age of tenwas left in the care of Kaede and Kagome for training. Lord Sesshōmaruoften visited the village to check up on her progress, leaving the duty of protector to Kohaku, but as the years passed his visits became fewer and fewer. Rin, once a quiet and shy girl, quickly blossomed into herself, now reaching the cusp of adulthood, and unfortunately the girl was also facing a similar dilemma that the once undead priestess dealt with—the want to be a normal woman, to love and embrace a man as a husband and protector. And by the look in the male taijiya's brown eyes, he would love to be the person giving her what she longed for. However, the platonic love that Rin felt for her youkai guardian quickly turned into the longing brown eyes of puppy love, and only he was given the look of infatuation. The sentiment was never returned, the taiyoukai only viewing her with the affectionate eyes of a parent, much to the girls apparent consternation. Instead, the taiyoukai viewed the ShikonMiko with some interest, mostly born out of curiosity of her unusual attitude about humans and youkais. Kagome was broken from her reminisce by the noisy entrance of Rin and Kohaku, both carefully navigating the small hut.
"Yeesh the rain's been getting pretty heavy lately, wouldn’t you say Kags?" Rin huffed, placing the herbs onto the proper shelf in the hut and dusting off her hands, "I hope Lord Sesshōmaru is able to fly in this weather, he said he would come visit in a fortnight." Pretty caramel eyes turned to look at the steadily increasing rain with some worry, a slight blush working it's way onto pale cheeks. As Rin matured over the years, she showed herself to be quite a beauty, slender and soft with inviting brown eyes that put many at ease. Many of the young men in the village vied for her affections, but were disappointed at her unwavering infatuation for the taiyoukai, who, unbeknownst to her, viewed the older priestess with a more appreciative glance.
Although Rin held the appeal of a softer, more traditional homeliness, the Shikon Miko electrified people with hers. A crown of silk soft wavy hair that fell to her waist in unruly waves, lightly tanned skin that seemed to glow from within, a full bosom and wide hips with a trim, narrow waist and muscular curvy legs made the priestess lusted after by many. However, the most striking feature of the miko, what drew many to her, were eyes that shone with cerulean fire. Whereas most would view blue eyes as cold and unfeeling, Kagome's were anything but, many feeling the pull of such a fire while understanding the danger of such a thing. People flockedto her like moth to a flame, but many found kindness with a nurturing spirit to match rather than the burning fire that her eyes invoked.
Those same blue eyes gave Rin a soft look of reassurance,"I'm sure he'll come, he's never missed a visit before," Kagome said. Turning to Kohaku, she spoke, "Have you had the chance to check on Miroku and Sango? I haven't been by to see them today, and I know their little one wasn't feeling the greatest yesterday."
Their youngest had started to show some small signs of an illness, but after some rest and medicine from the future, the baby seemed to be doing much better.
"Kai is well, and Kaname is as boisterous as any toddler can be." He assured, "I'll go let Miroku and Sango know Rin has returned, please stay safe." Bowing, he exited the hut, rushing quickly to his hut across the village, closest to the gates.
As the resident taijiya, Kohaku took on the duties of the slayers when Sango's pregnancies put her out of commission, and he formed a close bond with Inuyasha as a result. Recently, however, their small village had received youkai fleeing from the north, claiming that a rogue band of priests were hunting down youkai villages and killing all the occupants without discrimination. One grieving falcon youkai said that their leader was covered in a white mask with a waxing moon in blue on the front, and he wore clothing that was an odd mix of a warriors armor and a monks robes. "He also never moved from his horse during the attack," she said, silently weeping, "But any youkai who came near him were immediately turned into ash. He used his aura almost like a whip, and he took out all of the warriors in one strike." Copper feathers shone with her tears and her voice began to shake, "Then the rest of the monks began to attack the rest of the villagers, and I knew it was futile to stay and fight, no matter that they were human. But that man..." Haunted cinnamon eyes met blue, telling the Shikon Miko of the severity of her experience, "That man was not human."
Eyes clouding over with worry, Kagome looked into the rain, remembering the Falcon's ominous statement. I know everyone wants peace now that Naraku is gone, she thought, but I don’t think avoiding the problem is going to work for much longer.
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"Lord Sesshōmaru, a message from the northern border." A servant spoke, handing the wax sealed parchment to the silver taiyoukai. A clawed hand with maroon stripes on the wrist grabbed the parchment and calmly opened the message. The servant observed astony royal visage showed no reaction to the contents of the message, golden eyes emotionless as he read the report. However, those who knew the Lord of the Western Lands best would have seen the fractional widening of golden irises, and that those clawed appendages twitched slightly in repressed anger.
The Lord stood, placing the report onto his desk with flourish, and spoke, "Tell Jaken to prepare A-Un. We leave at sunrise." The servant nodded and bowed, quickly leaving the presence of the powerful dog youkai. As the shoji door slid shut, aurous eyes turned to the fire crackling in the office, and threw the report directly into the flames. What could they be planning? Surely after Naraku's defeat such aggression is unnecessary, he solemnly contemplated. Suddenly, electric blue eyes flashed in his memory, gifting him with what could be the solution to the growing problem haunting the west. With the slightest of smirks, the western lord walked over to the small sword mount on the wall, removing the sword he crafted of his own fang. "Well," he said calmly, "It has been a while since Bakusaiga has seen blood." The glint of the sword reflected the light, and the slowly burning report of the messenger that read:
Lord Sesshōmaru,
Upon arriving in the trading village, no signs of life were found anywhere despite it being midday.
Odd ash spots, torn ofuda's, and broken prayer beads were the only indication that something occurred to cause the deaths.
It appears the warrior monks have made it to the northern reaches of the west.
Awaiting your orders,
General Tamotsu of the House of the Sun
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For clarification, here are the ages for the characters (youkai not included due to pretty much being immortal)
Kagome-25
Sango-28
Miroku-32
Kohaku-22
Rin-17
Author's Note: So? Love it? Hate it? Please let me know, your reviews help me become a better writer <3