InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Standing On My Own ❯ Training With the Dead ( Chapter 2 )

AN: Sorry if my chapters seem a little short, this is 6 pages long in Word and much shorter when I put it up on mediaminer. But anyway on with the chapter!

 

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Chapter 2: Training With the Dead

 

Black. Complete darkness. It penetrated every muscle, every inch of her body and mind until she could barely remember her own name. She couldn't scream even if she wanted too, her vocal cords seemed to have given out. She knew she had been hit by the demon's blast, but where was she at?

 

Maybe she was dead, but then why was everything black? All she could she was black, and somehow she knew in the back of her mind that she had her eyes open. She wished she could close them to try to escape the dark that seemed to seep into her very soul.

 

A huge weight pressed down on her chest so hard that it seemed impossible to breathe. She felt empty, alone and hurt. The darkness around her seemed to feed off her emotions and increased even more, pressing against her whole body so hard that she would have cried out in pain if she could.

 

She was afraid, not for herself but for her friends. She was afraid for Inuyasha and even for the dead, manipulative Kikyo. Suddenly a warm glowing light appeared in front of her. It was the most beautiful thing she had even seen.

 

“Kagome…” The voice was warm and smelled piney like a forest. Now she knew she was either dead, or going crazy. How could a voice smell like something? She heard chuckling, beautiful, gleeful. The darkness around her faltered then faded away leaving only the light. “Kagome…”

 

She fell forward through the brilliant light, passing out as she did.

 

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She was warm, blissfully warm. She was at peace for the first time in a long time. As she began to wake, she became aware of a soft caress. Whoever it was, whatever, it made her feel safe.

 

“It's time to awake little one.” That voice, she knew it from somewhere. Her eyelids flickered, then her blue orbs opened.

 

She was in a field, a large grassy field that stretched for as far as she could see from her position. She shifted then looked up at the person whose lap she now lay in. Instantly she recognized the woman. “M-midoriko?”

 

“Hello Kagome.” Midoriko said with a gentle smile.

 

“Where am I? How did I get here? What happened?” The young miko asked sitting up and moving away from the warmth of the older miko's lap.

 

“Calm down. All will be explained.” Midoriko motioned for Kagome to sit down. “As for where you are you are inside the jewel, in a sanctuary of a sort. Do you remember the battle that you were in?” At Kagome's nod she continued, “Then you recall that you were hit by Kikyo's arrow.”

 

Kagome's eyes widened, her hands flew along her body feeling for the protruding arrow that she had seen in her chest. “Wait, the arrow is gone!” Then her smile turned to a frown, “Does that mean…am I dead!?”

 

Midoriko laughed as if the distressed young priestess in front of her was the funniest thing on earth. “You are not dead, the Shikon no Tama will be sure of that.” Before the confused girl before her could interrupt she put a gentle had on her cheek. “Before I explain that I must tell you what you are, and what you must do.”

 

“Okay.” Kagome said.

 

“You are, as you are aware, the guardian of the Jewel of Four Souls. You do not know, however, what that entitles you to. Kagome you have been lied to all this time. You are not Kikyo's reincarnation.” Midoriko smiled when she heard the girl gasp. “Please do not interrupt for our time together is limited for now.” When the girl settled down she continued. “The only reason that the small piece of your soul restored Kikyo is because the jewel once resided in your body.”

 

“But why would that matter?” Kagome questioned softly.

 

“Kagome, don't you get it? Because you are the rightful guardian of the Shikon no Tama, you hold much of its power in your body. This power combined with the small bit of your soul was enough to bring Kikyo back to life as she once was. The Jewel only returned her to life because at one time she had the jewel under her guardianship. But because she was not the true guardian she was tragically killed. The jewel felt compelled to repay its debt to the dead priestess. The reason you two look alike can be attributed to sheer coincidence.”

 

Kagome stared at the powerful woman before her in disbelief. “So I'm not a copy?”

 

Midoriko smiled, “No you are not Kikyo's reincarnation, or copy. And so what if you were? You would still have individual emotions, thoughts, and reactions to different things. That would not make you less of a person or an exact copy of Kikyo, it would just make you similar to her. But now let's turn this conversation to the real reason I called you here.” The priestess flicked her hand and suddenly three demons appeared. “Kagome meet the other souls contained within the jewel.”

 

Kagome gasped and scrambled to bow respectively to them. “Please do not bow before us Kagome, you are our equal here, our guardian.”

 

“As you know the Shikon no Tama was created when I forced my own soul out and the souls of demons joined it. Together these four souls made up the power of the Shikon no Tama. You may have noticed that many, if not all, creatures who come to possess the jewel use it for evil. This is because three demon souls reside in the jewel, which makes it more vulnerable to dark energy. Because my soul was the only completely pure soul contained within, the balance of power was disturbed. We, the souls of the jewel, often fought amongst ourselves to try to correct this disturbance.”

 

“We were wrong, however, in thinking that violence could ever resolve our bitter past and make the jewel pure.” The spirit who had spoken to Kagome before said. He looked to be a dragon demon of some sort in a humanoid form. “So, to try to correct our mistake, we reached out, searching for a pure aura. We found temporary comfort in the priestess Kikyo. But we knew that she was not the rightful guardian, and we were right. Soon Kikyo was killed and the jewel was burned with her body. Then this is where you came in. Before we found you, we wandered within the jewel, lost and incomplete. You see Kagome, you, your very essence, your soul, helps tip the balance within the jewel and lets us rest in peace.” He smiled at the awed girl in front of him. “We found you, before you were born and lay in wait, waiting for the time when you could fulfill your destiny.”

 

“Then you fell into the well and met Inuyasha. And you know the rest of the story.” Another spirit added, this one was female and was covered in beautiful green-blue scales that shimmered in the light. She must have been some sort of lizard demon, but Kagome was unsure because the demon had gills where a humans ears would be. The gills flared out when she talked, and made her look hilarious.

 

“Yes as my companions said we have been looking for you for a long time. To help you fulfill your destiny we will each give you something, a gift, an ability. This will help you to restore the jewel and finally make us complete. I will train you to use your priestess powers more efficiently.” Midoriko said.

 

“Where will you train me? And when?” Kagome questioned.

 

“Here and now, Kagome.” Midoriko answered. “Prepare yourself for this will not be easy. But I have faith in you.”

 

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It seemed like years and years had passed on this plain, but Kagome knew in the back of her mind that very little time had passed in the real world. She had been training for what seemed like forever under Midoriko and the other souls of the jewel. None of them had gone easy on her, and Midoriko especially pushed her to her limit and back again.

 

But it had worked she was now even more skilled in a bow and had complete control over all of her priestess powers. She could purify a demon by touching it, and even if she was really mad, by staring at it. She could form barriers with both hands tied behind her back while she was asleep. She had also been trained by the demon souls of the jewel in hand-to-hand combat, how to wield a sword, and just about every other weapon there was.

 

“Kagome come here.” Midoriko said, as she stood with the other spirits. “We have gifts for you, from me I give you this bow. It is completely indestructible, and its arrows will always fly true for you.”

 

“To you from me, a katana made from one of my own fangs, it is called Tsurugi, and it has a will of its own, and its eyes will light up red if it senses any danger near you. It also has very powerful attacks that can rival the Tetsusaiga.” The dragon demon, Ryuu, handed the sword to her. Its handle was the neck and head of a dragon, the dragon's body was curled around the blade and the tip of the tail was the tip of the sword.

 

“It's beautiful.” Kagome said awed at her gift, which winked at her with sky blue eyes.

 

“As for me, I give you this,” The beautiful female lizard demon called Kasumi put her hands together. A green-blue glow surrounded her hands and a necklace appeared. The jewel was sea-green and was on a brown leather string. “This is the Jewel of the Sea it has healing properties and we help you on your quest.” Kasumi said handing her the beautiful gem. “Take care of it.”

 

The final demon, a cat demon called Katsu stepped forward. “Dearest Kagome,” He said his voice had an adorable accent to it, “I bestow to you this fire cat demon.” A small cat demon slightly larger than Kirara in her small form appeared. But instead of being cream and black, he was all black except for a small triangle on his forehead, his paws, and the tips of all four of his tails which were cream. “I have called him Kuro, for his abnormal coloring, but you may rename him if you so desire.”

 

“No, Kuro's fine.” Kagome said and was surprised when the cat jumped up into her arms.

 

“These gifts, along with your newly acquired abilities are all that we can offer to help you on your journey.” Midoriko suddenly looked sad. “Kagome I am about to tell you something that may change your mind about taking this quest. Kagome, because you are the guardian of the Shikon no Tama, you now have the life expectancy of a demon.”

 

Kagome mouthed openly at the older priestess in front of her, “What?”

 

“I am truly sorry I did not mention this before, but if you wish to change your mind we will send you back to the Feudal Era. For you will not age like a human does, but like a demon.” Midoriko said. “But, if you wish to help someone, except outliving your friends and family, then you can embrace your destiny.”

 

“I-I, um I—” Kagome stuttered, her mind numb from the new information.

 

“Take your time to think it out, this decision will effect the rest of your life.”

 

“So no pressure.” Kagome said. They chuckled at the look on her face. “What's so funny? Huh?” That made them laugh at her harder. “You guys don't care about my pain.”

 

“Well if you don't think you can handle this responsibility…”

 

“What! You don't think I can handle this? I can, it's just that, what about my family? How will I come home and tell them that I will watch them grow old and gray while I stay the same? How?” Kagome yelled at them, tears threatened to spill down her face, which would shatter the emotionless mask she had worked so hard to prefect.

 

“I don't know Kagome…But I know you'll find a way.” Midoriko said softly. “Perhaps find someone who will live as long as you will…”

 

“Who could live as long as I will? Only demons—” Kagome blinked, then blinked again. She stared off into space.

 

“Kagome?”

 

“Is she breathing?”

 

“I think so…” Midoriko waved her hand in front of Kagome's face, but the young priestess continued to stare into space.

 

“Do you mean…do I have to…mate with a demon!?” She exclaimed so loud that all of the spirits covered their ears.

 

“Well if you marry a human than you will have to watch him grow old and die. But if you are mated to a demon…” Midoriko trailed off. “Well I believe that it is just about time for you to go.”

 

“What?” Kagome yelled, “So soon?”

 

“The sooner the better. You must fulfill your destiny, one way or the other. There is no fighting it, except it and your power will increase to your true potential.” The priestess turned and waved her hand. A huge swirling black portal appeared.

 

Kagome winced and moved away from it. “Not there again, please not that…” She let a soft whimper cross her lips. “I don't like the dark.”

 

“Maybe not, but this is your way home. Once you are back in the Feudal Era you will not have to come back through this portal to contact us. You are now linked to us and may talk to us whenever you wish to.” Midoriko walked up to the younger priestess and hugged her tightly. “Be strong Kagome. What you're looking at is a representative of the human world. The world is harsh, ruthless, and unforgiving, but it is also your home. You are the light of that world Kagome, you protect it from evil beings that may try to cause you harm.

“They will come to you, you can be certain that evil in your world will be attracted to your light and try to harm you or people that you are close to. You must not let the jewel fall into evil hands. You must be strong. You must complete the jewel and fulfill your destiny. Goodbye for now Kagome…” And then Midoriko pushed her back into the dark portal and back home.

 

Kagome fell into the hole screaming her head off at the four spirits that watched her in slight amusement.

 

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AN: I know, I know, a Kagome get's trained by Midoriko story has been done about a thousand times. But guess what, all you loyal reviewers? I have chapters 3,4, and 5 ready and waiting to be put up. Go me! Anyway here's a sneak peek of chapter 3:

 

Chapter 3: Payback

 

Her eyes flickered open just in time to see him. The one person who had held her heart for years and then broke it. She watched in horror as he ran towards her friends, his claws extended…