Sleeping Savior by warangel820

Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha nor any of the characters

Prologue

There once was a Queen who wished with all her might for a child.  For many years she had watched her sister be granted with many children and yet she remained barren.

Every night she would venture out to the gardens and sit by the light of the moon at the fountain.  There she would beseech the Kami's to grant her wish.

Her plea was not unheard, and impressed with her unwavering devotion the Kami's granted her wish, giving her the daughter that she had longed for.

In view of this joyous event the King declared that he would hold a great celebration in honor of his new daughter.  He invited almost his entire kingdom along with all of the neighboring kings and their families. 

The greatest guests of all were the three great miko's who would come to grant their blessings upon the infant princess.

The night of the great celebration came quickly.  Everything was magnificent, that was a great feast filled with all the great delicacies, music played by the greatest musicians in all of the realms, and entertainment kept the guests jolly through the night.

When the last guest had arrived, everyone gathered in the great hall, gleefully anticipating the giving of gifts to the baby princess.

..

When all had gathered, the King rose up from his throne and addressed his quests.

"My Queen and I thank you all for coming to this celebration of the birth of our long awaited Princess.  We have longed for a child for many years, and are pleased that the Kami's have at last granted our wish. "

Then turning to a neighboring King who stood beside him, he ushered him foreward.

"I am also pleased to announce that as a part of our new alliance my good neighbor, that our children are to be engaged.  Their union will guarantee peace and prosperity for all."

The Kings words were met by cheers from all in attendance, his people happy for the prospect of joined nations.

"And now, what you have all been waiting for, may I have the great honor of announcing the great Priestesses Midoriko, Kaede, and Kikyo.  They have come to give their blessings to the princess."

With that the King stepped back and allowed the three mikos dressed in their traditional red to come towards the cradle that rested on the dais. 

Kikyo the youngest stepped forward first.  A miko with great beauty and vainness knew immediately what to give the infant princess.  "I bless you with beauty, fairness, and the voice of a nightingale."

Immediately the princess was surrounded by a light pink mist that caressed her and made her petit features become even more precious.

Next was miko Kaede, Kikyo's elder sister she resembled a haggard crone who had an eye patch and leaned heavily upon a cane for support as she made her way to the cradle. 

"I bless you with a loving heart that sees the virtues of all and a quick mind that lets none deceive it."

With that the princess was surrounded by a soft blue light that pulsed with a loving melody as it slowly dissipated.

As the last miko, Midoriko came forward to give her blessing; a great green light filled the room, blinding the occupants.  When the light had cleared and everyone could see again there was a great shock to see none but the dark miko Tsubaki standing on the dais over the crib.

..

Once a Great Priestess, she had begun lusting for power so much that she had resorted to dark practices.  Her sisters of the order had tried to stop her, but the dark magic had turned her mad. 

She thought that they had become jealous of her power and sought to kill her in order to steal that power.  Tsubaki went into a rage and attempted to kill her sisters, but by combining their powers they were able to hold her off and seal away some of her madness.  They then threw her from the order of the Great Priestesses, stripping her of her gift of long life and throwing her to the woods.

Tsubaki became desperate and realized that she would have to quickly find a way to lengthen her life, for if she did not act soon she would quickly age to her actual age.

It was a passing minor youkai that solved her dilemma.

Tsubaki felt his aura and realized that her sisters had not had enough power to completely strip her of her powers.  She quickly absorbed the youkai and felt the rise of her powers.  She knew that this would also extend her life but if she wished to again achieve her practical immortality she would need to absorb beings with much more power. 

It was then that she began again building up her dark powers, determined to become the most powerful.

Now Tsubaki was also a very vain woman, she saw herself above others.  That the King had invited her former sisters who she saw as below herself and not she to the great celebration was a great insult to her. 

So Tsubaki concocted a plan that would make the King regret his slight.

..

"Why greetings your majesty," she sneered, "Perhaps you did not realize that you had not invited an important guest to your celebration."

The King tried to rush forward to guard his daughter but Tsubaki froze him with her powers.

"Now, now, we wouldn't want you getting in the way of our fun now would we."

Midoriko's voice rang out from behind her, "Tsubaki what tricks are you up to this time, you know that you are not welcome here."

Tsubaki knew that her three former sisters would not chance a fight when among so many people who could become injured or possibly killed and so she carried on without a worry.

"Why sister you wound me, I am only here to give my blessing, and surely you will not deny me that?"  Tsubaki questioned sweetly with a hint of venom.

With that said she turned towards the babe.  "My blessing to you child is an end, for when you reach your fifteenth birthday you shall prick your finger on a spindle and die."  With a crackle of laughter, she flung the glowing green curse at the princess and disappeared. 

Everyone rushed to the bawling infant but none could prevent the curse from taking a hold of her.

The Queen held her baby girl to her bosom and wept, oh the sorrow to be granted a child only to have her fated to be taken away so early in life.

The King looked wildly at the Miko's standing in sorrow.

"Is there not anything you can do?"  He cried out, "Can you not do something to save our child?"

The miko's shared a meaningful look and Midoriko strode forward.

"Tsubaki is much too powerful for us to remove the curse; she was once our sister and therefore matches our power.  However, as I have yet to give my blessing I can tweak the curse, for it has not completely settled yet."

And so Midoriko hurried to the baby and gave her blessing.

"I change the curse set upon you from death to sleep, when you prick your finger you shall succumb to a deathlike sleep that lasts the span of a century and yet brings no change till love's first kiss awakens you."

The princess glowed a soft purple, finally quit her wails and fell asleep.

            However the royal couple was still worried.

"What shall we do, for surely if Tsubaki hears that the curse has been changed she will seek out another way to kill our daughter.  How will we keep her safe?"  They beseeched the priestesses.

Kaede hushed their worrying and stepped forward.  "Do not fear for the child shall be safe, do not worry thy hearts over this.  We miko's shall protect her till her fifteenth year."

..

And so with much sorrow, the King and Queen gave up their precious daughter to the three miko's in hope that they would see her again in the future.

Hidden in cloaks as dark as night the miko's made ready to depart.  Midoriko looked down at the girl in her arms.

"Do not worry, we will raise her in a secret place where none shall know who she is, and when the time is right we shall return her to you."

The rulers nodded and the miko's turned to depart when suddenly Kikyo turned round to ask one more question.  "I almost forgot, what is her name?"

The King and Queen looked at each other thoughtfully.  "We had not picked one yet," the Queen stated, "we had hoped to name her at the end of the festivities.  What do you think my dear?"

The King thought for a moment when a name came to mind.  "Kagome, yes Kagome.  We'll name her after my mother."

And with that the miko's turned and vanished into the night with the little princess Kagome.

..

A/N; this is my first attempt at a fanfiction story so I hope everyone likes it.  I plan on this becoming a somewhat lengthy story but b/c I'm so busy it will probably take me a very long time to finish it.

Please review! :)