InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Wicked ❯ How to Purify a Miko ( Chapter 26 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: kanna37 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 02.23.2011 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 520 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 02.23.2011 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 520 | Status: Work In Progress
Chapter 26: How to Purify a Miko
Kikyou sighed, staring at the form bound to the tree in front of them, brow furrowed as she thought about the predicament she and Kagome had found themselves in.
Sealed out of the well until they could figure out how to break the block, they were stranded in a time that had already come and gone, and had nowhere to turn for assistance. She glanced up at the sky, noting the lateness of the hour.
“Maybe we should go find a cave or something to spend the night in, Kagome. It's getting pretty chilly,” she said with a shiver. “It would be nice to have a fire, at least.”
With a wry twist of her lips, Kagome had to agree. “Know of any good ones around here... besides Onigumo's cave?”
The dark-haired priestess stood up and nodded. “Yes... there's actually several to pick from. I don't want to go too far from the well, but I don't think we want to be too close to the village, either. Kaede is obviously alive in this time, though younger, but if she saw me, she would undoubtedly think it was a trick and attack. I don't wish to harm my own sister.”
Kagome heaved a frustrated sigh. “Yeah, I understand that. Well,” she stood up, too, “lead on, then.” Holding out her hand, as she shouldered her bag again, she allowed the older woman to pull her from the Goshinboku clearing with one last glance at her friend on the tree.
Don't worry, Inu... it won't be long, and I'll pull you from the tree. Your wait is almost over.
She tuned back in to Kikyou's voice questioning her.
“Naraku's probably going to attack us, correct?”
“Well, that would seem like something he'd do. Especially seeing you alive when he knew he'd killed you. Do you really see him doing anything else?” she asked, a ridiculous vision of the spider hanyou inviting them for tea and rice balls making her shake her head wryly.
“Well... then how are we going to do this? Because you are still infected with his blood and miasma,” she shot a curious glance over her shoulder at the younger woman, “which, I'm wondering why you don't seem to be feeling it anymore, but anyway, you can't fight him, remember? Even if I fight him, then it's going to harm you, ne?”
Kagome waved her concerns away. “Well, first, we can't kill Naraku now without changing the time-line. As for the sickness, my bond with Mattaki-” she slowed, then stopped for a moment, surprised. “Hey! My bond with him! I wonder...” she closed her eyes and opened her mind to the bond, which was still strong within her. But she didn't get much, and it was apparent that he had it clamped down on his end.
“Well, crap. The jerk is probably doing something he doesn't want me to know about – he's got the bond blocked. I bet he's after Naraku right now,” she sighed. “Anyway,” she got back to Kikyou's question, “I'm sure you can fight Naraku just fine and it won't harm me much at all.”
Kikyou shook her head as she tugged her through the vegetation, heading for a rocky incline that could now be seen in the bright moonlight. “Still... I don't like that idea too much. Did not Kaede say that in order for you to be freed from Naraku's influence completely, his remains would have to be purified?”
Nodding, Kagome glanced around, noting that the area they were in was completely hidden from the view of anyone in the village with relief. At least that won't be a problem.
“Yeah, she did.”
With a look around at their surroundings, Kikyou held up her hand, and allowed a soft ball of reiki to form, giving them just enough light to see into the shallow cave they'd come to a halt in front of. She had no intention of disturbing some animal or youkai and getting attacked – they'd both had enough of that for the day.
“Looks empty, and as though it has been for some time,” she said. Entering the cave, she waited for Kagome to follow her in, and drop her bag. “We should gather some firewood... and then I have an idea I want to run by you.”
Looking intrigued, Kagome nodded. “Let's get to it, then!” she grinned, and stepped out of the cave, moving carefully through the shrubbery and brush under the trees and gathering quite a nice pile of kindling and medium sized limbs.
It didn't take the two women long to have a nice little fire going, and Kagome broke out some of her snacks, and water bottles, so that they could eat. After a short time, the two sat back, feeling at least marginally better.
“Okay, so what was it you wanted to talk about?” Kagome asked as she began pulling her sleeping bags from her pack and laying them out as near the fire as she dared.
Pushing her sandal shod feet a little closer to the fire, Kikyou stared contemplatively into the dancing flames. “I was thinking...” she started, voice soft, “that maybe... it would work just as well if I purify you. It's possible that it would actually be a better solution than waiting until we get back to where we're supposed to be, and for your mate to kill Naraku, before dragging his carcass to Kaede. Or me.”
Kagome blinked, surprised. She'd never have thought of that. “Would that really work?” she asked with a frown. “I mean... how do you purify a miko?”
“The same way you do anything else. But there is this... we shared a soul, and since the soul is the source of reiki, my reiki is the same as yours, and won't harm you. It should, in fact, act like a loop, going from me into you and back again.”
Tapping her fingers against her thigh, Kagome thought about what Kikyou was suggesting, and had to admit, it sounded plausible. And it would be nice not to have to avoid fighting anything connected physically to Naraku.
“I wonder if this will hurt? I mean, it's obvious that it's painful for youkai.” She shuddered slightly at the thought.
Kikyou shook her head. “I don't think it will. I mean, does it hurt when you use your powers? It might be a little uncomfortable, but I don't think it will be any worse.”
With a thoughtful nod, Kagome leaned back on one arm, and considered the possibility. It was a risk, though according to Kikyou, a minimal one... and one she decided she was willing to take.
“Okay. I trust you, Kikyou, and if you say it's a good idea, then we'll do it,” she nodded decisively.
A wide smile crossing her lips, Kikyou stood up to join Kagome on her side of the fire. “I'd like to do it now, while it's quiet, and we aren't being harrassed... is that okay with you?” she asked as she knelt next to her.
Kagome nodded. “Yup.”
“You should lay down, then, just in case.”
Kagome flashed a quick, rueful grin. “Yeah. I'm pretty clumsy, after all. I'd probably fall over and catch my hair on fire.”
The older miko chuckled at the attempt at lightheartedness, waiting for Kagome to get comfortable. “Are you ready?”
“Mhmm.” She closed her eyes as she felt Kikyou lay gentle hands on the center of her abdomen, and then, between one heartbeat and the next, her world exploded around her.
She opened her eyes in astonishment, and caught Kikyou's stunned gaze, as well – it was clear that she hadn't expected what was happening, either. For a moment, Kagome worried that the sundered piece of her soul was trying to come back – she didn't want Kikyou to die, but after a few seconds, it was apparent that was not the case, and she relaxed, focusing instead on what was taking place around them.
It was beautiful, warm, and comforting. Kikyou's reiki had pulled Kagome's out to join together, a swirling kaleidoscope of color and heat that warmed her from the inside out. She could see them merge together, until she was unable to tell Kikyou's from her own.
It's probably because we share the same soul, and the same powers, she mused in awestruck wonder. It was apparent that Kikyou was feeling the same things, and the expression of wonder on her own face was a mirror of Kagome's.
After a few moments of that, Kagome could feel the joined reiki begin to sink into her, and she soon became aware of a distinct heating within her body. It didn't become painful, but it was a bit uncomfortable – something akin to a hot flash as the reiki from the both of them began to seek out Naraku's essence and miasma in her system and attack it.
I can feel the wrongness in my system, now! It was roiling, curling in on itself, attempting to escape the purifying energies seeking it out. Kagome could feel every bit of it as the blood and miasma fled, trying to survive when it could not – the reiki currently flooding her system simply hunted every bit of it down and burned it out of her.
Kikyou could also feel everything that Kagome was experiencing, and she was startled to realize that the idea of it wasn't the least disturbing. It was like their shared soul made this whole thing easier, allowing her a control over the power swirling between them that she wouldn't have ordinarily had.
She felt the dark heaviness of Naraku's essence, and with a killer instinct that would have made a youkai proud, directed the flow of reiki after it, ruthlessly hunting every drop down until neither Kagome or Kikyou could feel any further traces of it.
Feeling immensely relieved to no longer be able to feel any taint in her system, Kagome looked up and met Kikyou's eyes as their powers began to sink back into their own bodies, and smiled, grateful for the other priestess' suggestion, and glad that she had agreed.
“Thank you, Kikyou. I feel so much better!” she said, suddenly feeling like she could take on the world.
She sighed, then, as she sat up. “I just wish I could get through to Mattaki and let him know what happened, what's going on and all. I hope he's not worried,” she finished quietly.
Just then, she felt the bond open up and absolutely flood her with the feeling of her mate once more. A bit overwhelmed, she blinked, and then blacked out to her surroundings as Mattaki's thoughts overran her.
Kagome!
-wWw-
“Tell me, Naraku – how does this particular torture make you feel? I have always been curious about it – though not curious enough to subject myself to it, of course,” he said deprecatingly. He watched idly as the spider lay still, immobilized as a single drop of water fell on his forehead every ten seconds like clockwork.
It was obvious, of course, that this particular torture wasn't physically painful. No... this form of torture was psychological.
He'd just spent the last hours causing the hanyou untold pain, and decided that, while he was allowing his body to heal to an extent, he would enjoy a different form of tormenting the spider.
It appeared, however, that what was left of Naraku's mind wasn't really capable of formulating his thoughts enough to answer, and Mattaki sighed, disappointed. “Ah, well, I suppose one can't have everything.” All he had to do was look in the hanyou's eyes to see the madness now evident within, and he could see that the water dripping onto his head certainly wasn't helping matters.
From what he'd heard about it, madness was indeed induced by this particular torture. Not painful in any way, still, the feel, and the sound, of that continuous dripping slowly sent a person's mind off the deep end.
Not that the bastard wasn't insane to begin with, Mattaki mused. Still, anything that causes him harm, pleases me.
He frowned, then, irritated with the lack of his mate, and sent a scathing glance at the oblivious Naraku. At that moment, before he could administer more pain to the insect, he felt a surge of purifying energy flooding his mate, and he opened the bond, wondering what the hell was going on – the energy was not Kagome's, though it was very close.
And that's when he realized that his bond with his mate was still intact, and unaffected by the time difference between them.
Surging his own energy into the bond, he called to her, “Kagome!” relief flooding him as he felt and heard her response within his own mind.
“Mattaki!” she breathed inwardly, her own feelings of relief rising to caress him, even as she opened her side of the bond completely, drawing him in with desperation.
He almost trembled at the sheer overwhelming joy his little mate was feeling at the contact with him, and he began to worry about her circumstances. Had she been harmed in some way? “Kagome, mate, calm down. Tell me, are you alright?”
“Aa, I'm okay. In fact, Kikyou just finished purifying all of Naraku's blood and miasma from me. I feel much better now.”
Both brows shot into his bangs at that, and he grinned, pleased. Just another thing to use to taunt Naraku with. “I am pleased that that is so, little mate. Have you figured out why he sent you wherever it was he sent you?”
“Yeah, and we spiked his plan without even knowing it! He wanted me and Kikyou here so he could take the completed jewel and change history to favor him.” He felt her sigh, then. “Unfortunately, we are still trapped here until we can figure out how to lift the block Naraku has on the well.”
Mattaki thought on that for a few minutes, then said, “Let me go to the well and study the power within. I may be able to give you some idea of what to do.”
He could almost feel the smile she was sending him at that. “Okay,” she chirped into his mind cheerfully. The contact with her mate, even as distant as they were at this time from each other, obviously cheered her up, and he smiled inwardly, pleased at the deepening bond between them. It felt good.
“Me and Kikyou are settled in a cave for the night, and are probably going to get some sleep. Wake me up when you figure the puzzle out, alright?”
“Sleep, then, mate, and I will see what I can figure out.” He sent a wave of reassurance and love through the bond, and then tamped it down just a little so that his thoughts weren't getting through and keeping her awake. He himself would not sleep until she was back with him where she belonged.
Hopefully, that would be soon.
-wWw-
When Kagome came to, she opened her eyes, a frantic Kikyou the first thing she saw. Blinking in an attempt to focus, she sat up with the older woman's assistance.
“What happened, Kagome?” she asked breathlessly, obviously a bit overwrought.
“I didn't mean to worry you, Kikyou,” she said, running her fingers through her bangs absently while offering a smile to her companion. “Mattaki just re-opened his side of the bond and practically flooded my mind at first, that's all. But I've got good news – he's going to go to the well tonight and study it. Hopefully, he'll figure out how to break the seal on it so we can go home.”
Kikyou sighed and nodded, looking out the cave entrance at the darkened forest surrounding it. “I hope he can do so, then – I really don't want to be here,” she said, uneasily. “I very much fear that the longer we are trapped here, the more danger we will be in – because I'm positive that Naraku stays near the village, and sooner or later, he's going to find us.”
A shiver traveling down her spine, Kagome nodded, but didn't say anything more on that topic. There really wasn't anything to say. “Well... are you ready to put up a barrier so we can sleep easy tonight?” she asked, yawning tiredly.
Kikyou stood and moved to the front of the cave, beckoning for Kagome to join her. “I'll place the first one, and then you can place the second – that way, if one falls, we'll have a second one for backup.”
“Good idea.” Kagome waited for Kikyou's power to manifest in a nice, strong barrier, and then pulling an arrow from her quiver, she jammed it into the ground near the entrance, anchoring her spell to the arrow.
Kikyou watched, frowning. “Why did you do that, Kagome?” she asked, curious.
“Oh... well, because then the spell is set and held by the arrow, and I don't have to concentrate on it at all. Sometimes, sleeping deeply, my barriers would fall – so I found that this way was much, much easier.”
Surprised, Kikyou pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Could you show me how you did it? I would be grateful to learn such a thing,” she said.
“Sure!” She held out an arrow, and after Kikyou dropped her first barrier, handed her the arrow. “All you have to do is pour your power into it just as if you going to fire the arrow. Instead, though, just tie off the barrier magic into the arrow, instead of letting it flow continuously from you – then jam the arrow in front of wherever you are wanting the barrier to be. It's really easy,” she encouraged, watching closely as Kikyou followed her instructions and got it on the first try.
“Wow,” she chuckled wryly as she moved back to her bedding, “it sure took me a lot longer to get it down than it did you, that's for sure.”
Kikyou shrugged absently as she also climbed into her bedding, suddenly weary. “It's only because I spent so many years honing my control of my powers. It's simply a matter of training. The fact that you can even do these things with the little training you've had is truly remarkable.”
Sighing deeply as she relaxed herself, Kagome closed her eyes. “Well, anyway... goodnight, Kikyou. I can barely keep my eyes open right now,” she giggled a little, “so I'm off to dreamland. See you in the morning.”
“Goodnight to you as well, Kagome” Kikyou yawned.
“Goodnight, Mattaki,” she sent through the bond, and smiled as she received his reply.
“Sleep well, mate.”
-wWw-
A/N: I'm glad I'm not Naraku.
Amber
Converting /tmp/php6Ln1bZ to /dev/stdout
Kikyou sighed, staring at the form bound to the tree in front of them, brow furrowed as she thought about the predicament she and Kagome had found themselves in.
Sealed out of the well until they could figure out how to break the block, they were stranded in a time that had already come and gone, and had nowhere to turn for assistance. She glanced up at the sky, noting the lateness of the hour.
“Maybe we should go find a cave or something to spend the night in, Kagome. It's getting pretty chilly,” she said with a shiver. “It would be nice to have a fire, at least.”
With a wry twist of her lips, Kagome had to agree. “Know of any good ones around here... besides Onigumo's cave?”
The dark-haired priestess stood up and nodded. “Yes... there's actually several to pick from. I don't want to go too far from the well, but I don't think we want to be too close to the village, either. Kaede is obviously alive in this time, though younger, but if she saw me, she would undoubtedly think it was a trick and attack. I don't wish to harm my own sister.”
Kagome heaved a frustrated sigh. “Yeah, I understand that. Well,” she stood up, too, “lead on, then.” Holding out her hand, as she shouldered her bag again, she allowed the older woman to pull her from the Goshinboku clearing with one last glance at her friend on the tree.
Don't worry, Inu... it won't be long, and I'll pull you from the tree. Your wait is almost over.
She tuned back in to Kikyou's voice questioning her.
“Naraku's probably going to attack us, correct?”
“Well, that would seem like something he'd do. Especially seeing you alive when he knew he'd killed you. Do you really see him doing anything else?” she asked, a ridiculous vision of the spider hanyou inviting them for tea and rice balls making her shake her head wryly.
“Well... then how are we going to do this? Because you are still infected with his blood and miasma,” she shot a curious glance over her shoulder at the younger woman, “which, I'm wondering why you don't seem to be feeling it anymore, but anyway, you can't fight him, remember? Even if I fight him, then it's going to harm you, ne?”
Kagome waved her concerns away. “Well, first, we can't kill Naraku now without changing the time-line. As for the sickness, my bond with Mattaki-” she slowed, then stopped for a moment, surprised. “Hey! My bond with him! I wonder...” she closed her eyes and opened her mind to the bond, which was still strong within her. But she didn't get much, and it was apparent that he had it clamped down on his end.
“Well, crap. The jerk is probably doing something he doesn't want me to know about – he's got the bond blocked. I bet he's after Naraku right now,” she sighed. “Anyway,” she got back to Kikyou's question, “I'm sure you can fight Naraku just fine and it won't harm me much at all.”
Kikyou shook her head as she tugged her through the vegetation, heading for a rocky incline that could now be seen in the bright moonlight. “Still... I don't like that idea too much. Did not Kaede say that in order for you to be freed from Naraku's influence completely, his remains would have to be purified?”
Nodding, Kagome glanced around, noting that the area they were in was completely hidden from the view of anyone in the village with relief. At least that won't be a problem.
“Yeah, she did.”
With a look around at their surroundings, Kikyou held up her hand, and allowed a soft ball of reiki to form, giving them just enough light to see into the shallow cave they'd come to a halt in front of. She had no intention of disturbing some animal or youkai and getting attacked – they'd both had enough of that for the day.
“Looks empty, and as though it has been for some time,” she said. Entering the cave, she waited for Kagome to follow her in, and drop her bag. “We should gather some firewood... and then I have an idea I want to run by you.”
Looking intrigued, Kagome nodded. “Let's get to it, then!” she grinned, and stepped out of the cave, moving carefully through the shrubbery and brush under the trees and gathering quite a nice pile of kindling and medium sized limbs.
It didn't take the two women long to have a nice little fire going, and Kagome broke out some of her snacks, and water bottles, so that they could eat. After a short time, the two sat back, feeling at least marginally better.
“Okay, so what was it you wanted to talk about?” Kagome asked as she began pulling her sleeping bags from her pack and laying them out as near the fire as she dared.
Pushing her sandal shod feet a little closer to the fire, Kikyou stared contemplatively into the dancing flames. “I was thinking...” she started, voice soft, “that maybe... it would work just as well if I purify you. It's possible that it would actually be a better solution than waiting until we get back to where we're supposed to be, and for your mate to kill Naraku, before dragging his carcass to Kaede. Or me.”
Kagome blinked, surprised. She'd never have thought of that. “Would that really work?” she asked with a frown. “I mean... how do you purify a miko?”
“The same way you do anything else. But there is this... we shared a soul, and since the soul is the source of reiki, my reiki is the same as yours, and won't harm you. It should, in fact, act like a loop, going from me into you and back again.”
Tapping her fingers against her thigh, Kagome thought about what Kikyou was suggesting, and had to admit, it sounded plausible. And it would be nice not to have to avoid fighting anything connected physically to Naraku.
“I wonder if this will hurt? I mean, it's obvious that it's painful for youkai.” She shuddered slightly at the thought.
Kikyou shook her head. “I don't think it will. I mean, does it hurt when you use your powers? It might be a little uncomfortable, but I don't think it will be any worse.”
With a thoughtful nod, Kagome leaned back on one arm, and considered the possibility. It was a risk, though according to Kikyou, a minimal one... and one she decided she was willing to take.
“Okay. I trust you, Kikyou, and if you say it's a good idea, then we'll do it,” she nodded decisively.
A wide smile crossing her lips, Kikyou stood up to join Kagome on her side of the fire. “I'd like to do it now, while it's quiet, and we aren't being harrassed... is that okay with you?” she asked as she knelt next to her.
Kagome nodded. “Yup.”
“You should lay down, then, just in case.”
Kagome flashed a quick, rueful grin. “Yeah. I'm pretty clumsy, after all. I'd probably fall over and catch my hair on fire.”
The older miko chuckled at the attempt at lightheartedness, waiting for Kagome to get comfortable. “Are you ready?”
“Mhmm.” She closed her eyes as she felt Kikyou lay gentle hands on the center of her abdomen, and then, between one heartbeat and the next, her world exploded around her.
She opened her eyes in astonishment, and caught Kikyou's stunned gaze, as well – it was clear that she hadn't expected what was happening, either. For a moment, Kagome worried that the sundered piece of her soul was trying to come back – she didn't want Kikyou to die, but after a few seconds, it was apparent that was not the case, and she relaxed, focusing instead on what was taking place around them.
It was beautiful, warm, and comforting. Kikyou's reiki had pulled Kagome's out to join together, a swirling kaleidoscope of color and heat that warmed her from the inside out. She could see them merge together, until she was unable to tell Kikyou's from her own.
It's probably because we share the same soul, and the same powers, she mused in awestruck wonder. It was apparent that Kikyou was feeling the same things, and the expression of wonder on her own face was a mirror of Kagome's.
After a few moments of that, Kagome could feel the joined reiki begin to sink into her, and she soon became aware of a distinct heating within her body. It didn't become painful, but it was a bit uncomfortable – something akin to a hot flash as the reiki from the both of them began to seek out Naraku's essence and miasma in her system and attack it.
I can feel the wrongness in my system, now! It was roiling, curling in on itself, attempting to escape the purifying energies seeking it out. Kagome could feel every bit of it as the blood and miasma fled, trying to survive when it could not – the reiki currently flooding her system simply hunted every bit of it down and burned it out of her.
Kikyou could also feel everything that Kagome was experiencing, and she was startled to realize that the idea of it wasn't the least disturbing. It was like their shared soul made this whole thing easier, allowing her a control over the power swirling between them that she wouldn't have ordinarily had.
She felt the dark heaviness of Naraku's essence, and with a killer instinct that would have made a youkai proud, directed the flow of reiki after it, ruthlessly hunting every drop down until neither Kagome or Kikyou could feel any further traces of it.
Feeling immensely relieved to no longer be able to feel any taint in her system, Kagome looked up and met Kikyou's eyes as their powers began to sink back into their own bodies, and smiled, grateful for the other priestess' suggestion, and glad that she had agreed.
“Thank you, Kikyou. I feel so much better!” she said, suddenly feeling like she could take on the world.
She sighed, then, as she sat up. “I just wish I could get through to Mattaki and let him know what happened, what's going on and all. I hope he's not worried,” she finished quietly.
Just then, she felt the bond open up and absolutely flood her with the feeling of her mate once more. A bit overwhelmed, she blinked, and then blacked out to her surroundings as Mattaki's thoughts overran her.
Kagome!
-wWw-
“Tell me, Naraku – how does this particular torture make you feel? I have always been curious about it – though not curious enough to subject myself to it, of course,” he said deprecatingly. He watched idly as the spider lay still, immobilized as a single drop of water fell on his forehead every ten seconds like clockwork.
It was obvious, of course, that this particular torture wasn't physically painful. No... this form of torture was psychological.
He'd just spent the last hours causing the hanyou untold pain, and decided that, while he was allowing his body to heal to an extent, he would enjoy a different form of tormenting the spider.
It appeared, however, that what was left of Naraku's mind wasn't really capable of formulating his thoughts enough to answer, and Mattaki sighed, disappointed. “Ah, well, I suppose one can't have everything.” All he had to do was look in the hanyou's eyes to see the madness now evident within, and he could see that the water dripping onto his head certainly wasn't helping matters.
From what he'd heard about it, madness was indeed induced by this particular torture. Not painful in any way, still, the feel, and the sound, of that continuous dripping slowly sent a person's mind off the deep end.
Not that the bastard wasn't insane to begin with, Mattaki mused. Still, anything that causes him harm, pleases me.
He frowned, then, irritated with the lack of his mate, and sent a scathing glance at the oblivious Naraku. At that moment, before he could administer more pain to the insect, he felt a surge of purifying energy flooding his mate, and he opened the bond, wondering what the hell was going on – the energy was not Kagome's, though it was very close.
And that's when he realized that his bond with his mate was still intact, and unaffected by the time difference between them.
Surging his own energy into the bond, he called to her, “Kagome!” relief flooding him as he felt and heard her response within his own mind.
“Mattaki!” she breathed inwardly, her own feelings of relief rising to caress him, even as she opened her side of the bond completely, drawing him in with desperation.
He almost trembled at the sheer overwhelming joy his little mate was feeling at the contact with him, and he began to worry about her circumstances. Had she been harmed in some way? “Kagome, mate, calm down. Tell me, are you alright?”
“Aa, I'm okay. In fact, Kikyou just finished purifying all of Naraku's blood and miasma from me. I feel much better now.”
Both brows shot into his bangs at that, and he grinned, pleased. Just another thing to use to taunt Naraku with. “I am pleased that that is so, little mate. Have you figured out why he sent you wherever it was he sent you?”
“Yeah, and we spiked his plan without even knowing it! He wanted me and Kikyou here so he could take the completed jewel and change history to favor him.” He felt her sigh, then. “Unfortunately, we are still trapped here until we can figure out how to lift the block Naraku has on the well.”
Mattaki thought on that for a few minutes, then said, “Let me go to the well and study the power within. I may be able to give you some idea of what to do.”
He could almost feel the smile she was sending him at that. “Okay,” she chirped into his mind cheerfully. The contact with her mate, even as distant as they were at this time from each other, obviously cheered her up, and he smiled inwardly, pleased at the deepening bond between them. It felt good.
“Me and Kikyou are settled in a cave for the night, and are probably going to get some sleep. Wake me up when you figure the puzzle out, alright?”
“Sleep, then, mate, and I will see what I can figure out.” He sent a wave of reassurance and love through the bond, and then tamped it down just a little so that his thoughts weren't getting through and keeping her awake. He himself would not sleep until she was back with him where she belonged.
Hopefully, that would be soon.
-wWw-
When Kagome came to, she opened her eyes, a frantic Kikyou the first thing she saw. Blinking in an attempt to focus, she sat up with the older woman's assistance.
“What happened, Kagome?” she asked breathlessly, obviously a bit overwrought.
“I didn't mean to worry you, Kikyou,” she said, running her fingers through her bangs absently while offering a smile to her companion. “Mattaki just re-opened his side of the bond and practically flooded my mind at first, that's all. But I've got good news – he's going to go to the well tonight and study it. Hopefully, he'll figure out how to break the seal on it so we can go home.”
Kikyou sighed and nodded, looking out the cave entrance at the darkened forest surrounding it. “I hope he can do so, then – I really don't want to be here,” she said, uneasily. “I very much fear that the longer we are trapped here, the more danger we will be in – because I'm positive that Naraku stays near the village, and sooner or later, he's going to find us.”
A shiver traveling down her spine, Kagome nodded, but didn't say anything more on that topic. There really wasn't anything to say. “Well... are you ready to put up a barrier so we can sleep easy tonight?” she asked, yawning tiredly.
Kikyou stood and moved to the front of the cave, beckoning for Kagome to join her. “I'll place the first one, and then you can place the second – that way, if one falls, we'll have a second one for backup.”
“Good idea.” Kagome waited for Kikyou's power to manifest in a nice, strong barrier, and then pulling an arrow from her quiver, she jammed it into the ground near the entrance, anchoring her spell to the arrow.
Kikyou watched, frowning. “Why did you do that, Kagome?” she asked, curious.
“Oh... well, because then the spell is set and held by the arrow, and I don't have to concentrate on it at all. Sometimes, sleeping deeply, my barriers would fall – so I found that this way was much, much easier.”
Surprised, Kikyou pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Could you show me how you did it? I would be grateful to learn such a thing,” she said.
“Sure!” She held out an arrow, and after Kikyou dropped her first barrier, handed her the arrow. “All you have to do is pour your power into it just as if you going to fire the arrow. Instead, though, just tie off the barrier magic into the arrow, instead of letting it flow continuously from you – then jam the arrow in front of wherever you are wanting the barrier to be. It's really easy,” she encouraged, watching closely as Kikyou followed her instructions and got it on the first try.
“Wow,” she chuckled wryly as she moved back to her bedding, “it sure took me a lot longer to get it down than it did you, that's for sure.”
Kikyou shrugged absently as she also climbed into her bedding, suddenly weary. “It's only because I spent so many years honing my control of my powers. It's simply a matter of training. The fact that you can even do these things with the little training you've had is truly remarkable.”
Sighing deeply as she relaxed herself, Kagome closed her eyes. “Well, anyway... goodnight, Kikyou. I can barely keep my eyes open right now,” she giggled a little, “so I'm off to dreamland. See you in the morning.”
“Goodnight to you as well, Kagome” Kikyou yawned.
“Goodnight, Mattaki,” she sent through the bond, and smiled as she received his reply.
“Sleep well, mate.”
-wWw-
A/N: I'm glad I'm not Naraku.
Amber
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