InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifices of the Heart ❯ Welcome to Kokufu ( Prologue )

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Title: Sacrifices of the Heart
Author: Scottishfae
Rating: M
Genre: A/U, sexual themes

Summary: A struggle for power within their home village leaves Kikyo and Kagome competing for the position of high priestess of the powerful local shrine. However, when war approaches and the only way to protect themselves is through a pact with a local demon tribe, which woman will step up to become the mate of the tribe's leader.

It's been a long time since I've written an Inuyasha fic. Hope this one goes over well. It's only the prologue and it's a bit dry, but the next chapter should be up soon with a bit more plot in it.

 

***THE CHAPTER IN WHICH YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ IS A PROLOGUE, WHICH SERVES THE PURPOSE OF SETTING UP THE STORY. IT HAS VERY LITTLE DO WITH THE PLOT/STORYLINE AND THUS MAY BE A LITTLE BORING TO THOSE WHO WANT ACTION STRAIGHT AWAY. PLEASE DO NOT THINK MY WHOLE STORY WILL BE AS DRY AS THE PROLOGUE.

IT GETS MORE INTERESTING AS THE CHAPTERS CONTINUE AND THE PLOT UNRAVELS.

PLEASE GIVE THIS STORY A CHANCE, I'M VERY PROUD AND FASCINATED BY IT.

AND ^PLEASE^ LEAVE ME REVIEWS, HATE IT OR LOVE, JUST TELL ME. I HATE BEING LEFT UP IN THE AIR. THANKS!***

Prologue

For decades the town of Pua on the western borders of the Country of Eiga had been one of the poorest and least prosperous. The people suffered. They starved and worked themselves to exhaustion all in hopes that one day their village would become like the rest of their country. That one day Pua would rise from its poverty stricken existence to become like so many of the other villages within Eiga.

Things seemed to get worse, however, for these people and after a particularly hard winter. Very few of the citizens were left well or even alive. It was then that a miracle came upon Pua.

A monk found the town, half dead and buried, and decided to have mercy on them. He had amassed a fortune from various places to start a temple in a city he saw fit. In Pua he found the place he was looking for.

The monk immediately sent for fellow priests and priestesses to come to Pua to help rebuild the town and to save as many lives as they could. The citizens were grateful and, along with their other daily tasks, set out to help the monk build the shrine he envisioned.

After many months the temple had been built and the monk began helping the villagers in return.

After only a year the village began to see an increase in their crop production and a new hope building within the eyes of the people. After another three years the village's production had increased enough that some of the people were able to start merchant shops from local materials.

One family, the Boushi, found a way to spin the wool from their sheep in such a texture that it was almost as soft as silk. The clothing and spun wool sold well within the village but one day when a government administrate game to visit the temple and its village, he came upon the rare find and immediately bought the spun wool to bring back with him.

The administrate spread word about the wool and soon people from around Eiga were lining up for it. The Boushi kept their secret very close to them so no others could produce the silky like fabric, however, with the rising amount of people coming to Pua other's began to sell other valuable things, many of which related to the Boushi's family industry.

During this time the village's prosperity began to grow so large, and the flood of people who came to live to Pua became so great, that the elders and the leader of the Boushi family decided to change the name. Though the monk who had built the temple was against the name change, it eventually was named Kokufu.

The monk was happy for the people whose village had become so prosperous but while the rich were getting richer, there were those that were sinking further and further into poverty. To those people, their village would always be Pua.

Generation beget generation and Pua, now Kokufu, grew in its popularity and wealth. Still a moderate size village, the temple that had started the changes in the town still held quite an importance. The monk was well treasured within the elders and his opinions outranked even those of the Boushi head. Something the Boushi family would always be angered about.

However, the monk soon grew old and a young priestess named Kaede stepped up to fill his position. At first the Boushi felt this was a way for them to take over the powerful position the monk had once held.

They were mistaken.

The poverty within Kokufu had become great in some parts and the elders were looking for a way to help their fellow citizens. Kaede was the one to solve the problem. She announced that for those who needed relief could look to the temple for help.

For most of the poverty stricken this meant the sending of their children to become shrine maidens or servants. The children would grow up in the temple; it would feed them and take care of them. Some of the children would go off to study and become priests, monks and priestesses. Some would integrate back into the village society as helpful skilled laborers. Others would simply stay at the temple to help keep up the sacred lands.

More years passed and the temple's sacred position in the Kokufu grew. It helped so many, and gave back to the village.

The Boushi family was furious.

That is until their opportunity to take the power from the temple rose. After another several decades Kaede herself began to grow old. Seeing that she would soon need to be replaced, she decided instead of sending for an outside priest or priestess to take over her position, she would train a local to take over the spot.

Akogi Boushi, the head of the family, saw this as his opportunity.

Akogi saw that he had one daughter too many and when the high priestess' announcement came for any local citizen to be sent to the temple for training selection, he gladly sent his only daughter Kikyo to the grounds.

It was well known that Kikyo herself held a strong spiritual power. Kaede had mentioned it to her family before. Akogi was sure his daughter could easily become high priestess and then his family would amass more power within a village that he already saw as his own.

However, there was one other person in the village, one that Akogi had never even heard of, that held a spiritual power that could rival Kikyo's; a daughter of a poverty stricken family who was being sent to the temple to become a shrine maiden.

Kagome had no idea that Kaede was looking for someone to replace her. She was simply looking for a way to help her family by relieving some of the burden her presence had unintentionally placed on them.

When you were poor and food was a commodity, one child was almost one too many and there were two in Kagome's family. Though her mother and grandfather both tried their best to provide for both children, in the end, in order to survive, only one could stay. Seeing as Kagome's younger sibling was a boy, it was her duty to leave and join the shrine but not after a tearful goodbye and many promises to visit often.

The two young women had very different personalities given their very different backgrounds but as they both entered the temple grounds, Kaede was sure they would end up serving the shrine well.

Kaede had decided almost immediately that the two young women would begin training, along with another young traveling monk who had shown up with his golden staff and hair bound in a small dragon's tail, and walked off to greet the three.