*Author Note: I almost forgot....Disclaimer - Inuyasha and all its characters that I'm using do not belong to me. Also, I changed all the backgrounds of the characters. Sorry if it's a little slow or confusing in the beginning. I welcome any comments on how to improve...lol or any reviews in general.*
It was Kagome’s 18th birthday, and she had just gotten the last worldly possessions of her late parents. Kaede, her teacher, had saved her mother’s bow and her father’s prayer beads after their deaths. She had originally planned to bequeath these items to Kagome once she came into her powers around age 21. Usually a miko’s powers grow rapidly once she hits puberty, and gradually plateaus when she reaches maturity.
However, Kagome was always different. While her powers blossomed in puberty, they were nowhere near steady state at 18. In fact, her powers seemed to spike higher with each year. By 15, she already had the greatest amount of spiritual power of all the mikos in the village. Now at 18, Kagome had at least doubled that power.
Kaede didn’t know what to make of her scary spiritual growth, but she wasn’t entirely surprised given that Kagome’s mother was Midoriko, one of the greatest mikos in history. Her father, Shinsen, wasn’t anything to laugh about either. His carefree attitude beguiled his keen perception and extraordinary spiritual skills. Unfortunately they died when Kagome was 10 and were unable to fully pass on their legacy.
The bow and prayer beads didn’t have any value besides sentimentality. Both were made of ordinary wood and mediocre jade. However, they were the only keepsakes Kagome had of her parents besides the house. And even that, Kaede had to fight tooth and nail against the village to reserve for Kagome. Kagome has been living there alone ever since. Kaede made sure to drop by and take care of her every few days, in addition to their daily tutoring sessions. After all these years, there was little else to teach the girl. In fact, Kagome was now taking care of her.
Since Kagome’s powers didn’t seem like they would peak anytime soon, Kaede decided not to save the keepsakes any longer. Kagome was mature enough, and she had definitely inherited that uncanny perception from her father. Kaede watched Kagome disappear into the trees with bow and beads in hand.
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Kagome was trekking deeper into the forest around her house near the outskirts of the village. Her presents brought on a raging storm of clashing feelings. While the worn wood and smooth jade were priceless treasures to her, they also dredged up memories Kagome had safely locked up in her heart.
The world had come crashing down on her at the tender age of ten when her parents died. ‘No. Murdered.’ She had been ten, not stupid. The villagers hated her parents for being pacifists.
They were a village dominated by mikos and monks. What did they have to fear of demons? They thought. In their arrogance, they could not understand why Midoriko and Shinsen wanted to make peace with the filthy demons. They scoffed at the idea of pledging loyalty to Lord Sesshomaru, demon lord of the Western Lands in which the village was situated in. They didn’t need the mass murdering demon lord’s “protection”. The villagers couldn’t see that they were already inadvertently benefiting from his protection just by being in his territory.
Kagome remembered her mother heatedly arguing with the village chief. Neither side had relented, and in the end, Shinsen had to drag Midoriko away before she started firing arrows into the fray. Her dad was always the calm one in the family.
Shortly thereafter, her parents had gone to peace negotiations to secure a spot under Lord Sesshomaru’s reign at least for their family and Kaede, who was mentor to Midoriko as well. That’s when everything fell apart.
The meeting place was a trap, and Kagome’s parents were ambushed by hundreds of low and mid-level demons. Midoriko and Shinsen were strong, but human nonetheless. They were finally overcome by fatigue after four days of almost continuous onslaught.
However, the part that finally broke something in Kagome was the villagers. They knew. Unnoticed in the marketplace, Kagome had heard the monks and mikos talking to each other. “Why don’t they give up? How are they still alive after 3 days? You don’t think he will run out of demons before they die…Those Higurashis are monsters…”
They knew. Not only did the village not send help, but they had played a part in her parents’ demise. ‘Why would they do this? How could they do this? How many knew? Who orchestrated it? And how? Wouldn’t they have had to interact with demons in order to get the deed done? Hypocrites.’
The questions only increased as Kagome matured and began to understand all the dark implications. Now looking back on it, she was foolish to believe even initially that the ambush was ordered by Sesshomaru. The Killing Perfection sending low and mid-level demons for the job? Kagome didn’t need to be observant to know it wasn’t his style.
Pushing down her bitterness, Kagome readied an arrow on her mother’s bow and let it fly. The arrow hit true to the center of a large oak, but the creak of brittle wood and snap of unraveling gut string was unmistakable. Kagome sighed. Looks like her mother’s bow will be hanging from the mantle instead of on her back.
Not too far away, the sound of a growl brought Kagome out of her reverie. ‘Wow, I must really have been zoning out to have a youki come this close to me undetected,’ she thought. Kagome started walking in the direction of the unmoving youki when a second, much larger youki started closing in on the first. Another growl, yelp, and the smaller youki was flying closer to her.
Kagome broke into a run, soon coming out into a clearing. A young, injured winged wolf demon was getting batted around by a grotesque, barely humanoid lizard. He was playing with the poor winged wolf.
In her anger, Kagome’s aura skyrocketed. “Hey ugly! Pick on someone your own size,” Kagome yelled while aiming an arrow right between the lizard’s beady eyes.
“Food…Mine!” it hissed before attacking Kagome. She let go of the arrow and the lizard exploded into purified dust. “Hmm…that might have been overkill,” she mumbled to herself. Turning her attention to the injured pup, she hurried over to his side.
“Are you okay?” An unimpressive growl and fur raising was the response. Kagome surveyed the pup and had to stifle her giggle. The pup couldn’t have been a year old yet. Combined with his miniature wings and cute growl, Kagome had to resist squealing in delight. Young he may be, but the pup was still a demon, and thus a lot smarter and more prideful than a standard wolf.
“Hey little one, I’m not going to hurt you. I’ll protect you,” Kagome gently cooed. The pup was still too wary of her. So she grabbed some jerky from her satchel. She threw the peace offering next to the pup’s head. After a few sniffs, the pup hungrily wolfed it down. He was obviously malnourished.
“Will you let me heal you now?” The pup had stopped growling, which Kagome took as consent. Slowly approaching, she let the pup sniff her hand before she pet his head. A few strokes and ear scratches later, the pup was purring at her feet.
“You’re a cute fellow. I wonder why your wings are so small though. I thought even young winged wolves had large wings.” The pup stiffened and whined softly. “Oh. You were born that way huh. Is that why you’re not with your pack?” His ears flattened, but he made no sound. That was all the confirmation Kagome needed.
“Well, I think you are the cutest winged wolf I have ever seen. You are going to grow up to be such a handsome, strong wolf,” Kagome cheerfully chirped. She then did a quick survey. The pup was surprisingly unscathed for being a lizard’s kick ball – one broken hind leg, and some scratches. Kagome placed her hand above his injuries and began healing them with her miko powers.
Ten minutes later the pup was standing and barking his thanks. “Easy there. Don’t use that leg too much yet. It’s going to be sore and a little weak for the next day or two.” After a pause, Kagome looked the pup squarely in the eye. “Would you like to come with me? You can live with me. You don’t have to, but I’d be more than happy to have you.”
The pup considered this for a moment before licking Kagome’s chin.
“It’s settled then!” Kagome picked up the pup and headed home. “I wonder what your name is? How about Toto? Maka?...How about Vallen, for brave? Do you like Vallen?...” And so, Vallen became Kagome’s new family.