InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Condemned ❯ Chapter One: Her Promise ( Chapter 2 )

Authors Notes: Thank you to all the people that reviewed. I really appreciate it. For those of you who don't know, I went back and re-wrote the first chapter, so now it is a prologue. I would recommend going back and re-reading.

 

 

 

 

Chapter One: Her Promise

 

 

 

Fall had crept upon the small village, sending summer gently into reverse. Green gave way to brighter colors, before deepening into brown. Trees drooped at their lack of adornment, branches going stiff and brittle.

 

Suddenly the sun didn't seem so bright, or nearly as warm. Its rays unable to penetrate the soft gloom that came with fall.

 

Summer had left, and with it, took the lush life and warm excitement.

 

One leaf, brown and lifeless, clung to the already bare branch of a withered oak. It swayed, back in forth, trying valiantly to hang on just a moment longer. With a puff of breath from the gods themselves, it surrendered, floating down the ground below in defeat.

 

An updraft caught the forlorn leaf in capable hands, sending it dancing through the cold air in one last spin above the earth. With twists and twirls, it pushed in along, before leaving as suddenly as it had arrived.

 

Once again the leaf floated, wavering back and forth on its journey to the ground.

 

Instead of meeting the cool dirt, and damp moss of the forest floor, it rested gently on an outstretched palm. Its tan edges wrinkled in surprise at the unexpected warmth, as the pale hand closed gently.

 

A young woman brought the leaf up to her face, looking up at it sadly from her position, sprawled out on the damp ground. Her grey eyes traced its dead frame, watching as it rose slightly with the breath that rushed past her lips. Long black hair framed her head in a natural pillow, and she returned her gaze to the distant blue sky.

 

The clouds seemed more like a transparent, white haze, then the fluffy, almost touchable gauze that usually floated there. She sighed softly, her warm breath colliding with the cool fall air, creating a bubble of white fog.

 

`It's so hard to believe, that today I am 16.'

 

Kagome Higurashi let her hand fall back to her side, and rolled over so that she could look at the spent leaf more closely. Her stormy eyes took in the veined skin, and tiny tears that decorated the surface. Half the leaf was a dull brown, while the other a light tan.

 

`It reminds me so much of old people. Wrinkled and dull with time, but still beautiful.'

 

Carefully, she placed the leaf on the ground beside her, next to its brethren. She drew her knees up, ignoring the way her coarse brown skirt hiked up, and closed her eyes.

 

Her grey eyes, eyes like the sky in a winter storm; a deep grey, almost silver, swirled with blue and green.

 

`I wonder if I will ever live to be that old, to attain that kind of beauty.'

 

 

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A large group of people gathered, their faces darkened in disgust and fear. Angrily, they formed a circle, their many voices assaulting the cowering woman in the middle.

 

She hugged herself, her dark hair pulled away from her face in a simple bun, a few grey wisps escaping. Her woolen dress hung on her frame, much too large.

 

She closed her eyes, taking in the many voices that yelled at her from so many angles. She forced herself to remain still and not flee, or start screaming back. No single woman could hope to take down a crowd this large.

 

“Where is she whore?” Someone screamed, tossing a small rock. Another yelled,

 

“She has lived to long, it's about time!” She cowered even more, tears leaking out of her tightly closed eyes. It seemed to go on for hours, the continuous screaming and threats. Throughout it all, she never voiced a word.

 

Suddenly the screaming stopped, as a lone man held up his hand. Feeling braver, the woman opened her eyes, to be staring back into the cold brown eyes of the mobs leader.

 

“We will find her. She will come back. And when she does, we will be ready.” She shivered at his cold voice, her eyes pleading with his.

 

“Her kind cannot be left alive.” For a moment, his eyes softened as tears started anew in the woman's time wearied orbs.

 

“I'm sorry.” He whispered, before turning away to face the rest of the village.

 

“We will return when the miko returns. Together we shall destroy the last living demon in this village.” His voice rang throughout the small gathering, commanding and cool.

 

Cheers erupted as men raised their fists and woman set small children on their shoulders. Slowly the noise died down, as people dispersed, returning to their work until the time came for them to return.

 

The leader turned to go as well, but a small voice stopped him. Pausing, he glanced over his shoulder at the woman. She stood straight, her eyes downcast. Her whispered words shook slightly, and a tear fell from her cheek.

 

“Why? Why must you do this? She is but a child! She had done nothing wrong!” Her gaze flew up to his, brown eyes shining with tears, and burning with betrayal.

 

Something inside the man's chest twisted at the look of raw pain on the woman's face. Guilt flooded him for a moment, as he realized he was a part of her pain.

 

“I am sorry Hitomi. You knew this would happen when the miko was born. It is for the good of this village. Just go home, and rest. It will all be over soon.” Once again he turned, but was stopped at the hand on his forearm.

 

Surprised, he turned; to face the fiery eyes of the woman he was hurting.

 

“For the good of this village you say?! She has done nothing! Nothing! Everyday she lives in fear of what you people might do to her! And yet, she holds on to life. Now you wish to simply end it?! Tell me, how is killing a mere girl, who has never hurt a fly, be for the good of the village?!”

 

She spit on him, the warm spittle sliding down his cheek to land on his coarse woolen work shirt.

 

“I am ashamed to say I live here, to call you monsters family.” A smack filled the clearing as her head was whipped to the side. Fresh tears rushed down her cheeks as she held her face, one cheek red and swollen.

 

The man before her yanked his arm out of her grasp, glaring at her as he did so.

 

“You have no right to speak of this village as you do. You have always known this would happen to the girl that everything that has happened would happen.”

 

He stepped in closer so his breath tickled her bared cheek.

 

“Mind your place woman.” Turning on his heel, he walked off, leaving the woman behind, with all her sadness and growing hatred for the village she had lived in for all her life.

 

“No, they cannot have her, they cannot have my baby. I will not let them,” she whispered as she turned and walked off slowly, heading to a hut on the far outskirts of the town, to wait for her daughter.

 

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Kagome stretched languidly, slowly waking up from the nap she had fell into. A smile touched her lips, as she sat up, opening her eyes sleepily.

The sun had begun its journey behind the distant mountains, the last few rays touching the sky that was lightning to a muted grey, before darkening into the black of night.

 

A breeze tangled itself in her hair, and she shivered slightly. It was time to return home.

 

The path back to the hut she shared with her mother was nothing more than an old deer track. Overgrown with weeds and the many flowers of the forest, it was easily overlooked. Kagome walked briskly, sure of herself. She had escaped down this very path so many times, on so many days. It was her haven, the one place she felt safe.

 

Minutes passed, and soon the flickering light of her huts only widow could be seen between the many branches that encased the pathway. Kagome smiled and broke into a light jog. Soon she would be home.

 

`Mother must be worried. I forgot to tell her I would be going out today.'

 

The small smile grew into something more as Kagome pictured her mother's lithe frame, her brown eyes dancing in humor as she tried to act angry. It was rare for her mother to every truly be angry at her. Even when she yelled her eyes danced.

 

Happiness, usually rare and fleeting, filled her soul as she entered the security and warmth her one-roomed home offered. She smiled brightly as she removed the light scarf she wore, and hung it one of two pegs that hung near the door.

 

“I'm home!”

 

Glancing up, the scarf slipped from her fingers and slid to the floor. Frowning, Kagome bent down to retrieve it.

 

“Kagome?”

 

The scarf was forgotten as her fingers stilled. Her mother's voice, it was quiet, sad. Only once before had she heard her mother speak so. 10 years before, when she explained to her six year-old self that her daddy had died. The happiness that filled her being for those few short minutes disappeared. Nothing good could come from that, `Kagome?'

 

Straightening, she found her mother sitting on the only cot they owned, her brown gaze, usually so happy and light, dull and sad, shining with unshed tears. In a moment, she was at her mother's side, holding her hand, and waiting.

 

Mother would tell her what was wrong when she was ready.

 

Her mother turned towards her, sliding around on the cot until she could look into her daughters face. A face that looked so much like the man she married. His nose, his mouth, his chin. Reaching out, she brushed Kagome's hair behind her ears. She even had his ears.

 

Only her hair was hers, straight and thick, the color of midnight on a winter's night.

 

And then her eyes, her beautiful eyes, that belonged solely to Kagome and Kami himself. Eyes that struck terror and disgust within every person she looked at. Eyes that would kill her, and eyes that were taking her away.

 

Putting a hand on Kagome's cheek, she smiled slightly when her daughter leaned into the embrace, her bright gaze worried and questioning. The familiar burning began at the back of her eyes as she stared back at her daughter. It was time, something she didn't have much of left.

 

“Kagome, I need you to promise me something.” She watched as surprise flitted across her daughters face before she nodded.

 

“Of course.”

 

Hitomi willed herself not to cry, as she opened her mouth to say the words she needed her daughter to repeat. She needed to know that Kagome would never give up.

 

The sound of yelling came to her ears, and Hitomi glanced up, startled. Bright lights of torches could be seen bobbing in between trees, coming down the path that led to her house.

 

Dread filled her. She was running out of time.

 

Looking back at her puzzled daughter, she squeezed her hand urgently.

 

“Kagome listen to me, this is very important. They are coming for you. They wish you ill. Please, you need to run; I won't let them kill you.” Kagome's eyes widened in understanding, before she went pale in fear.

 

“But, but you said they wouldn't kill me. You said they had accepted the fact…that, that I was a miko….”

 

Her mother winced, and stood, pulling her stunned daughter to her feet.

 

“I know that. I thought perhaps they would see you are not the demon they believe you to be. I was wrong.”

 

The sound of the villagers was getting louder. Hitome shoved her daughter towards the door; where there was a bundle consisting of a shirt and trousers, clothes she had stolen from a village boy, and some blankets that would become a makeshift cot.

 

She pointed to the bundle and said, “Take that Kagome, and run, don't let them see you. Run deep into the woods and hide.”

 

Crossing the room, she grasped her daughter's hand.

 

“Make a new life Kagome.” Pulling her daughter forward, she hugged her tightly, tears finally falling. Burying her face in her daughter's neck, she whispered,

 

“Promise me Kagome, promise me you will live.”

 

Pulling back, she stared into the grey eyes of a miko. Love and sadness swirled in their depths.

 

“Go.”

 

Kagome nodded and stepped out into the night. Hitomi watched as her daughter left, the sounds of the villagers getting louder and louder. Tears streamed down her face, and her hair blew in the wind as she watched her daughter turn on the outskirts of the woods and mouth,

 

“I promise.”

 

 

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Authors Notes: It's shorter than usual, but I don't know if I should continue it or not. So review and let me know. If so, I promise the chapters will get longer.