Valadium by Draconis_Lilium

Chapter 1

Introduction: Hello all. So this is a re-posting of my story from FF.net, but here it is actually edited. Over the course of my most recent hiatus for about a year, I went back and edited a few details. Nothing too major, but done none the less. I've always been interested in posting here on Dokuga and finally here I am. Please feel free to drop a review

~Draco

Valadium
Chapter I

The night was frosty, chilled with winter as the season was on the verge of conquering Japan. Crickets chirped, always heard but hardly seen. The sky was alight with brilliant stars that twinkled proudly in the dark velvet. All was quiet, with no trace of disturbance in the air, giving the forest the false sense of safety. The sweet scent of night blooming flowers easily reached the dull senses of even humans without the hindrance of smog. Sapphire eyes gazed wondrously upon the land in the dead of night. Her position on the hill gave her a splendid view of the forest that was her best friend's name stake. The raven-haired girl leaned back on her hands, fingers threading through the short blades of the slowly dying grass. The night was magical, even romantic.

'Oh, if Inuyasha were here.' Came the sudden thought. A wistful sigh escaped her soft but cold chapped lips at the thought of her inuhanyou companion. 'Snap yourself out of it, Kagome. Even if that idiot were here, he would see his precious Kikyou...not Kagome.'

Blue orbs opened, sadness falling of her in waves. Looking down at her hands she carefully wiggled them in the strands of nature. Feeling a tingle of warm power flow up her arm and down to the palm resting on the ground, she removed her appendage, feeling something other than dirt and grass. A smile lifted her lips as she saw the beginnings of a sakura tree. Shaking off the uncomfortable thoughts of her powers having a mind of its own, Kagome shrugged and scooted away from the quickly growing tree. In no time at all, the little bud had grown into something that should have taken decades. The untrained miko giggled, and leaned against the blessing her powers had made. It was strangely warm underneath her cheek, and the girl heard a deep pulse in the tree find its rhythm with the beat of her heart.

"You're right." She laughed, gazing up into the canopy of the tree. "I shouldn't think about things like that. I didn't come up here to get depressed over them."

Getting to her sneaker-clad feet, Kagome smiled at the bark, her hand smoothing across it lovingly. With one last look at the life her powers had created, the futuristic miko snagged her new brown bag, slung her bow over her shoulder and started down the hill. Finding her way back to the well, the girl sighed at the woods ahead of her. Almost two hours ago, the raven-haired human had clambered out of the ancient well. The urge to go back home rose up in her chest, wiggling in her brain before she quickly stomped it down. Even after four years, she was still loyal to her quest.

"I broke it, so it's my responsibility to restore it. I'm honor bound to this quest." Kagome whispered to herself. Turning away from the aged structure, the young woman made her way into the woods, alone.

Even though Inuyasha had told her he would meet her by sundown, Kagome had not seen hide or hair of the silver hanyou. She knew though. Somehow, Kagome knew that he was with the undead miko. There was a stench in the air ever since she came from the well at sundown. It was a foul stench, one that Kagome wasn't sure she could actually smell physically, but she knew it was the stench of graveyard soil and bones. Strangely enough, Kagome hadn't been surprised or as hurt as she thought she'd be. 'Not as hurt as I should have been.' she thought with a frown.

Still, the young miko had been stung terribly by Inuyasha's action because he had given his word to meet her when the sunset. She growled obscenities to his name. Feeling the bite of her nails in the flesh of her palm, the woman quickly smoothed her hands down her jean-clad thighs to stop the pain. "Well, look on the bright side. I don't have to deal with that damn uniform anymore." Kagome mutter aloud, a smile lifting her lips. Somehow, she had been able to graduate and miraculously with honors. The raven-haired girl smirked with a sudden flash of pride. She wouldn't have been able to pass the exams, though, if it hadn't been for Sango and Miroku. When the future miko had announced that she had three weeks to be ready for five course exams, the taijiya and houshi came through for her, helping her study even though they didn't understand some of it; mostly the math. But Sango had been very interested in Kagome's chemistry. Being a demon exterminator, she still had to know how to mix chemicals and substances to aid her in battle, to make up for the strength and speed her enemies had that she didn't. To see the delight on her beautiful face when the brunette learned something new, Kagome wouldn't trade it for the world. She also couldn't wait to see the slayer's reaction to her present...

The village finally came into view, effectively pulling her from her thoughts. Waving to a few villagers as her feet took her to Keade's hut, she slowly began to relax a little bit. Just as Kagome was about to pull back the bamboo covering for the door, a ball of orange fluff collided with her stomach, making her stumble back a few steps.

"KAGOME!!!" the sound of her name being yelled followed the small attack.

'Like he's faster than the speed of sound.' Blue eyes gazed down at the Kitsune. "Hello, Shippo." She smiled, and ruffled his hair. "Have you been good while I was away?"

"He was great." Sango's voice came from the hut. "Please, come in Kagome-chan. Keade-san is almost done with the stew."

Readjusting herself, the young girl pulled back the door covering and stepped in. The hut was homey, filled with warmth that touched the soul. Cobalt eyes watched as the elder miko sprinkled an herb into the cauldron on the fire. "Good evening, child. I trust ye travels have been fruitful?"

"Hai, Keade-baa-chan. I brought something to help with your arthritis, too." Setting the bag down, Kagome dug through its contents to pull out a medical bottle the size of her palm. Squeezing the side tabs, the young miko shook out a pill a little smaller than her pinkie nail. "Here, take this with the stew. The healer in my time said you should start to feel it working within thirty minutes."

Taking the little tablet, the old woman nodded, "Thank ye, Kagome."

Giving a bright smile, she shook her head, rising to put the bottle on the herb shelf. "No problem Keade." She turned back to the rest of her friends. "So what's going on, guys?"

Miroku smiled at the young woman's strange phrases. "Lady Kagome, I am happy to see you well." He watched her eyes brighten before she dove for her bag. Was it something he said?

"Oh! I almost forgot. I've got something for you and Sango."

The houshi watched the concentrated expression on the miko's face. He couldn't help the surprise in his voice. "Something...for me and Sango-sama?" Images of what the present could be made his cursed hand twitch and out of the corner of his eye, he studied the demon huntress.

"It's probably not what you're thinking about, houshi-sama." Sango spoke from her place polishing her bone boomerang, her mahogany eyes burning with suspicion and the fires of hell waiting for the pervert to make the move to sentence him to his early demise.

Kagome looked up. Seeing the monk's face, she giggled. "Hentai! Sango's right though. It's not." She handed him a rectangular box. Watching him open his gift, Kagome saw shock in his eyes.

"No." For a moment, the futuristic girl thought she had misjudged him and gotten the wrong thing. That is, before his face turned to joy. "No way! This is awesome!"

Hearing the priest utter the strange words had Kagome laughing up a storm and Sango looking up from her work, curiosity etching the lines on her face. "What is it houshi?" the elder miko questioned.

"Yeah, Miroku, tell us what Kagome got you." Shippo exclaimed from beside said girl.

Visibly shaking with happiness, the violet-eyed man pulled out two books. The first was brown leather bound one with golden letters named "Religions Around the World" and the second was clearly the history textbook of Kagome's he had taken an extreme interest into. Keade turned to Kagome with her one good eye. "Child, ye are aware that the book could change things in the future?"

Kagome nodded. "Hai. But Miroku-sama is trusted. I have faith that he will not spread the book's secrets."

Looking up, Miroku smiled, "Thank-you, Kagome-sama."

Reaching into her bag again, she pulled out two more books. Shifting toward the taijiya, Kagome cleared her throat. "These are for you, Sango-chan."

Chocolate brown eyes looked up from her task seeing the presents. Truthfully, she hadn't been expecting any. The younger girl always brought treats for them both to share, and to the huntress, it was enough. Sango read the titles after taking them from the miko's hands. The bigger one was an advanced chemistry book and the other one was Mythology of Around the World. "Oh, Kagome-chan! You didn't?!"

"Why not? I know you enjoy it. You finished my high school one, so I got you the advanced." Kagome watched the older woman look up at her, ready to refuse the gifts. The raven-haired girl glared at the slayer, letting her know that under no circumstances was she allowed to give them back.

Sango gulped, and smiled slowly. The girl may have had no training, but she sure was scary when she put her mind to it. The brunette grinned sheepishly, "Thank-you, Kagome."

"Well, I'm glad you like it. Science wasn't really my thing. Math, I can do it. Talk History and literature with me and you're on!"

Everyone chuckled at the young woman’s enthusiasm. Wordlessly, Keade handed out dishes of the stew. Kagome made sure that the elder miko took her pill and once Shippo was done, seeing his expectant bottle green eyes, the young miko sighed. Deftly, she pulled a box of pocky from her bag. "Thanks Kagome!"

Said woman made a noise in the back of her throat as she took a bite of her food. 'Man this kid has me whipped.' she thought, staring down at the Kitsune as he devoured the pretzel and chocolate treats. Returning back to her own food, she quickly finished it off before breaking the silence in the cabin. "Has anyone seen Inuyasha recently?"

Four pairs of eyes looked up at her, and the girl shifted in awkwardness. "Inuyasha didn't see you to the village, Lady Kagome?" Miroku questioned. The miko shook her head. A grunt of dissatisfaction came from Sango, echoed by the elder priestess.

"That's odd." Shippo mused, serious wisdom reflecting in his emerald eyes. "He left on time."

"That's what I thought. I believe..." Kagome said, choosing her words carefully. "That he was distracted."

"Ye mean by the shell of my sister."

The blue-eyed girl gave a curt nod. "I'm sorry Keade."

The grey haired woman turned her whole attention to the young priestess. A chuckle escaped the elder. "There is nothing ye need to apologize for, Kagome. The woman who walks this earth with Kikyou's face is not my sister. My sister died fifty-four years ago, child. Don't ye dare apologize for that which is not your fault."

Kagome took a deep breath and nodded again. Looking down at the floorboards she was sitting on, she let her mind wander for a few minutes. She didn't ache so much, even with the knowledge that Inuyasha was somewhere in the woods doing who knew what with a vengeful undead miko. 'Maybe...maybe my love for him wasn't exactly love.' She mused. The futuristic girl paused for a moment, listening to her heart and her head. Nodding again, though this time to herself. 'No, I love him. But it’s not as romantic as it had been. Sibling love, I suppose?' She nodded once again to herself. "Yes, it's affection. But nothing more."

Shippo looked up at the girl beside him; his jade eyes narrowing on the smooth plains of the raven-haired human’s face. His youkai ears quickly picked up on her whispered words. Discreetly, he sniffed the air, searching for the tall tell scent of her sadness that always accompanied the knowledge of the hanyou's whereabouts. To his surprise, she was only radiating contentedness and, faintly, a longing. Shippo might have looked like a child, but he hardly counted as one. The small Kitsune knew that the woman he secretly wished to call family was coming into herself, it was time for the human woman to find a mate. He knew that her longing was simply for a companion of the opposite sex; a companion who would care for her female needs. And Shippo would help her with this. There were others in the world, and he would bring only the worthy ones to her presence. A new glint in the small kit's emerald eyes sparkled with determination.

"Well, Kagome-sama," the monk began, "In light of the whereabouts of our hanyou friend, should we still leave tomorrow as planned?"

Kagome looked up from her musings to look the violet-eyed man in the face. Noticing Sango's mahogany eyes lighting on her as well, the young miko nodded. "I don't see why not. Inuyasha will catch up."

The sound of Keade's shuffling made all eyes turn to her. "In that case, all of ye need to get some sleep."

"Yeah, Kagome gets cranky without a few hours of beauty sleep." Shippo said with a sour look on his face.

"Hey!" said young woman exclaimed in exasperation, causing everyone to laugh.


* * *


The next morning was chilly and found Kagome wearing a thick white haori and black hakama. No one had argued when the miko said she didn't want the red ones. No one argued when Kagome took off in an even run after everyone was ready. The houshi and taijiya flanking her, Shippo curled around the miko's neck. The terrain was different from the places the school coaches had taught her to run on, but the young girl figured it wasn't much different from running in the park off the sidewalk. 'Except a little more uneven.' She thought, grimacing as her heel scraped the ground in a high spot causing her to readjust herself.

"I didn't know you could run like this, Kagome-sama." Miroku said, ten minutes into their exercise.

"When I first came here, I couldn't dream of it." Kagome explained. "But the last couple of years I took track at school."

"Track?" Sango's voice came from the miko's right elbow. "So you were trained to run in your time?"

"Yep. Long distance, called cross-country." Kagome came to a slow stop, her chest heaving evenly after a good hour run, give or take a few minutes. Noticing their surroundings, the priestess smiled.

"We crossed ten miles already?" Sango wondered, also looking around, trying to slow her breathing. "B-but that's..."

"Wow." The houshi exclaimed. "That would've taken us until noon."

Kagome removed a water bottle from the leather bag she had bought to replace her monstrosity of a hiking bag. "Have a drink." Both took long drags before Miroku gave it back to their young miko. She too drank long from it before replacing it into the bag.

"Will Inuyasha still find us?" Came Shippo's voice from around Kagome's hair. "We've already done a half day's walk."

"Its okay Shippo, he's a hanyou, he can catch up easily. He could probably run that in about ten minutes." Kagome looked at Sango and Miroku. A thought was bouncing among the three of them wordlessly.

It was childish.

But they were having fun. Right? And fun is hard to come by in these times.

"Wanna give him a run for his money?" the miko arched an eyebrow, a devilish smirk on her face. Miroku waggled his eyebrows. Sango grinned. With less than a thought, they took off again.


* * *

Night saw the group comfortably settled thirty-six miles from Edo. The girl’s were refreshed from their bath in the nearby hot spring. Kagome tended the fire and the four rabbits spit over it. Sango busied herself in the advanced chemistry book the young miko had given her. The slayer hummed and nodded to herself as she read. Both girls waited for their two male companions to come back from their own bath.

Blue eyes were trained on the fire as it sparked at the wood it hungrily ate at and lapped at the meat bent into it. She didn’t blink, unless one counted the flutter of lids to keep the iris’ moist. It was obvious the miko was deep in thought. In those thoughts she marveled at their travel today. Sango and Miroku, the more experienced of the three, had let her—a miko from the future who only had four years of off and on experience in Feudal Nippon— lead. But of the excitement in their travels! Never had they fun when on the go to the next place of trouble. ‘Maybe it’s just Inuyasha? He has such a negative presence at times. Always hitting Shippo, pushing us to our limits…well apparently we’ve never hit our limit if today proves anything. Still, thirty-six miles!’ The miko smiled. Yes, they ran all that way. And somehow it was fun.

She was brought from her position of staring into the cackling flames as Miroku and Shippo moved into the light of camp. “Kagome!” The Kitsune squealed before jumping into said girl’s arms. Water soaked into her haori where Shippo’s head was laying against her shoulder.

“Ugh! Shippo your hair’s still wet!” Kagome quickly snagged a nearby towel, the one the fox had dropped and apparently didn’t use, and began to dry the mane of red hair.

Sango looked up from her place in the roots of a tree. Over the flames of the fire, she watched as the tiny Kitsune struggled to get away from a determined miko with a towel.

“Aw, c’mon Kagome!”

“Just lemme dry your hair Shippo. Do you want to get a cold?”

“But I don’t wanna. And demon’s can’t get sick!” The child pouted, before giving up and crossing his tiny paws over his chest, an Inuyasha-like pout on his face.

“Oh no you don’t,” the young miko dropped her weapon of choice before snatching him to lay him across her lap; her dainty fingers going to work tickling his ribs and stomach without mercy. The kit squealed, barked and howled in laughter.

The demon slayer smiled. But just as she was getting ready to tell Kagome that she would be a great pack mother, were she youkai, Sango felt her senses tingle. “Incoming” was what came from her mouth instead. Blue eyes met mahogany and in that instant the elder girl knew that the younger was aware of who it was rather than what it was. “Fuck.” The brunette woman didn’t mean to say it, but it was mild compared to what was about to happen. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the monk turn to her in surprise.

“Lady Sango—”

Miroku’s words were interrupted by a white and red figure bursting into camp. Leaves and tree branches rained from the sky with his entrance. Silence reigned supreme as everyone looked up at the hanyou. Miroku was sure that if he looked close enough, he would be able to see steam coming from his friend’s triangular ears. No one spoke, obvious to everyone that the inu with a heaving red clad chest was trying to calm down.

“Anyone wanna tell me who’s fuckin’ bright idea this was?” Anger made his rough voice deep and scratchy.

The two older humans tensed. Sango’s eyes widened from across the fire, something seeming to come to her abruptly; regret and worry filled her chocolate orbs. The silver hanyou was leaking danger. ‘Oh no, Kagome!’

“Inuyasha, might we please—”

“It was my idea.” Kagome stated, interrupting Miroku and standing to her full height, blue eyes strangely calm beneath the veil of raven bangs.

“No, Inuyasha,” Sango scrambled to her feet staring hard at her companion. “It was my idea. I did it.”

Molten amber eyes moved to the exterminator. Sango poured all of her anger and determination into her expression and stance, hoping that it would make the hanyou believe her lie. She watched as Inuyasha’s face came closer to hers until she could feel his breath on her cheeks. He growled darkly before moving back, his eyes cutting at her. “Shut-up Sango.” The hanyou dismissed the slayer by turning his back to her.

Those eyes that Kagome had once fallen in love with were trained on her face with barely suppressed rage. “I lead the group, Inuyasha.” Kagome softly admitted, a lining of hard steel in her voice.

Sango watched the hanyou approach the tiny miko that barely came to his chin. The demon slayer felt pride in seeing Kagome stand her ground. ‘Don’t back down Kagome. You can’t! He’ll walk all over you if you do. Even if he might see this as a fight for dominance.’ No matter how much she wanted to help her sister of her heart, the taijiya couldn’t. In what could be considered a pack, she was only a fighter, and if she were to lend a hand it would undermine Kagome’s authority and dominance as alpha female.

His hot breath on her cheeks made it hard for Kagome to keep her eyes on his. But somewhere deep inside her, she knew that if she were to stand up for herself against him, she couldn’t look away. Another voice, however, screamed to back down, understanding that this could lead to a potentially harmful situation. “Who do you think you are?” he growled, fangs gleaming in the firelight. “Just who the fuck do you think you are?!”

Kagome wisely kept her mouth shut, blue eyes slowly hardening. Every being at the camp knew that the miko didn’t stand for being cursed at.

“Just because I was with Kikyou last night and this morning doesn’t mean an insignificant little girl like you can up and decide that my pack should move.”

The raven-haired girl made a noise in the back of her throat. “We covered ground today. We went passed the expectations you had for us to be at. I thought you’d want us to move. So we did, and I lead them. You’re just mad it wasn’t you who was able to get this far! I did this without harassing them! I could have gone looking for you this morning, but I didn’t. I left you with your precious Kikyou!”

A malicious glint appeared in those amber eyes. “Oh, now I see. This is about Kikyou. You’re pissed ‘cause I chose her and not you. Well let me tell you something Ka-go-me,” the hanyou leaned into her ear. “You’ll never be as good a Kikyou. Never be as beautiful or as powerful as she is. And you could never be half the alpha bitch as she could for this pack.”

Before she could register anger and disbelief at his words, Kagome felt a sudden crushing and tearing pain in her face on her left cheek, sending her flying into the air before her body came into contact with the ground. Her back absorbing most of the shock before her head snapped backwards, cracking against the unforgiving forest floor. She stayed on the ground for a moment, feeling the burning pain of the claw marks on her cheek, the dribble of blood running down her neck and matting the back of her head. Twisting to the right, Kagome felt her back throb, sending excruciating pain up her spine. Blue eyes squeezed shut as the miko struggled to her feet. When she finally got her a standing position, lids opened to reveal hard, frosty sapphire orbs.

“I am Alpha!” the inuhanyou roared.

“KIRARA!” Sango called, seeing Inuyasha make another move toward the now wounded miko. The neko youkai burst into flames and bit into the back of the silver half-breed’s fire rat haori. He put up a good struggle against the mononoke, nearly tearing the cloth on his back, as he got loose from the lesser youkai.

Miroku couldn’t believe his eyes. The puppy eared hanyou had struck the girl he had promised to protect. The houshi was stunned before he felt anger bubble up in him; an anger that was unlike anything he had ever felt before in his life.

Kagome glared at the man she had once loved. “Fuck you and the bullshit you rode in on! Sit, Inuyasha.”

Sango watched the ebony and white clad miko run off into the woods without watching the effect of her command. He was out cold in a crater the shape of his body. “Kirara, take him far enough away from here. Then come find us.” The demon slayer saw her neko familiar take off with a limp inuhanyou. Turning back to the camp, she began covering the fire pit, killing the flames. “Help me pack up camp, houshi. The faster we do this, the faster we can track Kagome. She’s spilling blood and youkai will be attracted to her faster than you can say Shikon-No-Tama.”

They broke their site in less than no time, and Sango was on Kagome’s tracks like white on rice. Miroku dutifully followed the demon slayer quietly; Shippo clung to the monk’s neck. Silent tears bathed the Kitsune’s face. The trio moved fast, mahogany eyes tracking the miko just as effectively as any lower class youkai. ‘But this is my friend, not just some demon. Kagome…please be alright.’ She prayed.
Seconds later, the taijiya began seeing another set of prints, canine-like. Then signs of struggle bathed the forest floor, blood splattered against trees and other vegetation. “Oh Kami…” Sango whispered.

“Sango! Listen, I hear Kagome!” Shippo exclaimed and pointed in the direction the prints lead. “It sounds like she’s fighting…something big!”

Without a second thought, Sango and Miroku dashed toward the sounds of a battle.


~*~