InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Wings of Change ❯ Prologue ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

A/N: I posted this fanfiction in 2007 on fanfiction.net, where you can read all twenty-nine chapters and the whole completed story. I want to post it on here as well though to one, see what you think on here, and two, edit the story a little as I go along! I made so many grammatical errors and typos with it before it's actually shameful! :( I wanted to go back and polish it up a little, but it was about a 50:50 spilt between me being way too lazy and also wanting to keep the story how it was - even with the many errors, I'm fond of it. I'm going to upload it again, but on here this time with what should hopefully be improvements made, instead of revising the whole thing on fanfiction.net and maybe confusing people, like I'm probably doing with this A/N. This way I can sort of keep both the old and improved versions up for people to see.

Anyway, 'nough said, please just enjoy the story! Give me constructive critisism too, please! I promise not to be offended, I'm only looking for ways to improve my skills as a writer. This isn't a super duper "wow" factor type story, but it was my most successful one in terms of reviews.

Disclaimer: The InuYasha series belongs souly to mangaka Rumiko Takahashi, and really, if it belonged to me or any of the other authors on this site, would we be posting fanfiction about? Well? Right, 'kay, shutting up now.


Another two or three trees came falling down, as the half demon slashed at them all repeatedly with his claws.

How could he have been so stupid? So dense and blind?

The delicate landscape of the forest around him was falling to bits at the mercy of his claws. He didn't care though. He needed something to take his frustration out on.

He needed something to take his mind off of the pain.

The pain she had caused him.

How pathectic was he? He couldn't even say her name without flinching.

It hurt too much...

A new, far more intense pain hit the young woman, and it was getting worse with every second that passed. Her chest felt as if it would explode with the agony she felt. She wouldn't last much longer like this. Not if the bleeding couldn't be slowed.

She thrashed violently on the futon, clasping the wound tightly.

"Please try to calm down, Lady Kagome! You shall only lose more blood by moving so much!"

Kagome managed to keep herself still as the village healer applied special herbs and water to help with the pain and clean the crimson blood and dirt away. Next, the healer carefully wrapped up the young woman's wound, needing to call upon several other volunteers to hold Kagome down. The healer knew the horror of the true extent of the wound, and could only pray that her limited medical skills would be enough to save the girl.

"How is my sister fairing?," came the tight, feminine voice of a new woman entering the hut.

While the elder healer ordered the rest of her assistants to keep Kagome held down, she haulted her administrations briefly to look up and meet the eyes of the owner of the voice. A very beautiful young woman with long ebony hair, like Kagome's, stood before the healer. Her eyes were also a similar colour to that of Kagome's too, the same musky brown, if not a darker shade. She also wore the clothing of a priestess, a miko to be exact.

"You may come in, Lady Kikyou. Your sister is coping with the wound, but for how long, I cannot say. She will need comfort," the healer informed the miko.

Kikyo nodded once, gravely, the worry she tried to keep hidden creeping onto her face. She walked further into the hut and knelt down beside her younger sister, picking up a wet cloth from the bowl to her right and placing it on Kagome's forehead, dabbing it lightly as the other women stepped away. Kikyo looked rather grimly down at the wound inflicted on her sister's shoulder. It was bleeding still, though it had notably slown down some since the young girl had first been found in the forest. The wound stretched across the length of her shoulder and chest, ending just above her right breast. It consisted of three long gashes, all deep and red.

The mark of a demon...

Her sister was lucky enough to still be breathing.

Kagome gasped in pain again.

Kikyo made the slightest wince but did her best to hide her fear. She had to be strong for her younger sister. She wouldn't show the true extent of her fear in Kagome's presense.

The healer, named Keiko, continued to apply the herbs and wrap up Kagome's wounds. Kikyou felt Kagome was extremely lucky that Keiko was skilled in this area of care, far more than even her. Keiko wrapped up the last of the wound tightly, so as to keep the blood that had escaped from escaping further.

Once she had Kagome wrapped up and stable, Keiko ordered her assistants to leave the hut. The elderly healer then turned back to the village miko.

"The wounds are horrific but I think I may have stopped the bleeding for now. If she is able to make it through tonight, then the lass should make a full recovery, though she will bare a scar. We must keep an eye on her should a fever develop," Keiko concluded, her gaze sympathetic.

Kikyou nodded, not turning to look at Keiko, instead continuing to dab Kagome's forehead. The young woman was breathing rather deeply, occasionally choking a little on an intake of air, but always managing to even it out again.

"Lady Kikyou, do you have any idea who could have done such a thing to your sister?, " Keiko implored, breaking the silence.

Kikyou bowed her head slightly in thought. She knew the wounds were the work of a demon, but she knew not what type. There were many demons in the area, but never any that would dare attack her sister without reason to. Her younger and wounded sister, Kagome, was fifteen years of age, and training to become the next village miko after her sister. She possessed great spiritual power like Kikyou did, and that power made both sisters a powerful adversary to any malignant demons that crossed their paths. The spiritual powers the miko sisters was greatly feared by all demons, infamous among them, infact. No one would dare...

Unless...

There was one possibility.

Gazing at the now wrapped up wound on Kagome's shoulder, the older of the two miko considered the possibilty. It seemed absurd, but still not entirely unlikely...

No. Kikyou would not rush to conclusions just yet. She would wait until after her sister had recovered to find out who had attacked her, and nearly stolen her life. Her sister's wellfare came before that. After Kaede, Kagome was the only family Kikyou had left.

And Kaede... Kaede was dead. Had been for years.

Kikyou told Keiko that she would wait until Kagome was well again before investigating the attack. Keiko nodded, and after Kikyou had reassured her that she would watch over Kagome, Keiko reitred to the next door room of her hut.

The grave miko kept watch over her sister, and silently prayed to the Kami that she would survive. Kagome was still young, and had her whole life ahead of her, like Kaede had had. Kikyou was only a few years older than Kagome, and had been forced to take the post of miko of the village when their parents had died. She had vowed though, that her duties would never get in the way of taking care of her family, no matter how little of it she had left. When Kaede had died, both sisters had been devastated, but had still kept going, finding comfort in the fact that they still had eachother. Kikyou had been training Kagome as a miko for the past two years, and the young girl would one day have to take over as the village miko, as Kikyou had before her.

The older miko could only hope that Kagome would live to see that day. She watched as her younger sister finally start to relax through the pain. Seeing this, Kikyou made a vowel, and her eyes grew cold.

She would get revenge on who ever had done this to her sister. There was to be no mistake about it.

Somewhere far North...

Silver hair and red cloth flew billowing with wind as a frantic figure sped through the forest.

InuYasha ran with as much speed as he could muster. He had to get away from the castle guards that were persuing him.

It had been one of his... vulnerable nights, and with severe wounds from a demon attack before, the boy had been forced to seek human help from within the castle he was now fleeing from. They had welcomed him with open arms the night before, accepting him seemingly as one of their own. Then the sun had risen.

InuYasha hadn't planned on staying the whole night. He'd been very reluctant to seek help, but after becoming dizzy and disorientated from the amount of blood he had lost due to the attack, help had been his only option. He had planned to leave the old castle before the next day began. They had given him something in his food, he realized, that had caused him to fall into a deep sleep, and he had overselpt the following morning. The humans believed they were helping his body to gain the much needed rest it desired, but they had awoken to quite a shock the next day...

InuYasha didn't dare look back as the castle finally vanished from sight. It was always like this. People just couldn't accept him for what he really was. When he had been first left on his own, it had hurt knowing how the world saw him. A tainted creature, not worth the air he breathed. He had, however, learnt to cope somewhat with the discrimination. He was able to lock away his emotions, keep his heart safe from the outside world. He would never show fear, never sadness or hurt. You couldn't survive as he was in this world with a kind heart and good intentions.

Since his mother had died, InuYasha had lived following the rule that survival was of the fittest. Being kind or showing that kindness didn't get you anywhere in the cruel world he existed in. Existed, not lived.

InuYasha's golden eyes glinted in the rising sunlight that now shone across the mountainous landscape. His silver hair almost reflected it, glistened in it. His running figure was a dark sillohette in the sunrise.

Despite the obvious beauty of the new morning, InuYasha's face held stern and his eyes fierce and cold, a protective barrier around his soul, keeping anyone from reaching inside.

He was alone in this world. No one would ever accept him.

He was hanyou, after all.

"Miko" - A priestess /shrine maiden/ spirit medium.

"Kami" - The Gods.

"Hanyou" - Half demon.