From Fire and Ice by LadyFugue

The Blaze

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own it... only my oc's

~*~

    The wind carried strange scents this day, the day he decided he needed to speak with the half-breeds companion, the miko.  He would ask her what she could tell him of the future, what lay ahead for demon kind.  He knew from watching her that she was tight-lipped about such things, but he hoped that she would tell him simply because they were allies and... friends.  He wanted to know if he would survive the next five hundred years to see her again, for once she wished upon the jewel, she would return to her own era.  He would make it, even if she thought no demon existed any longer.  Still, the scent on the wind bothered him, it told of fire and smoke.  Maybe it was prudent to move faster, to make it to the small village by the well... Just in case.  The closer he came, the stronger the scent, the heat.  He could tell it was spreading through Inuyasha's forest. 'What has caused this fire? Has it overtaken the lives of her friends? The well?' With thoughts of her in possible danger, he sped through the forest toward his only friend. "Kagome...." whispered through firm lips in a growl, the only thing heard before the roar of the blazing fire ahead of him.

-FFI-

    She hadn't been able to make her wish before the fire started.  She couldn't help them, couldn't help put out the fire.  It engulfed her, burning her, through her.  It was all she could do not to scream.  She could feel him coming closer, his aura and power pushing the flames away from him, his power as cold as ice.  It wasn't too much of a stretch of her imagination to conjure the picture of the Ice Lord, his demeanor matched the nickname perfectly.  She could feel her body burning away, she couldn't move, couldn't get to the ice of his power.  Her own had erupted on her eighteenth birthday, the day she was supposed to spend with him, her ally, her friend.  It seemed the Kami had decided it was not to be.  It made her heart ache for him, she knew she was his only friend.  He still did not get along with his own brother, hated him still.  But he cared for her, in a way she couldn't completely comprehend.  She didn't even know how it had happened.

    The inferno burned so hot, it turned the forest into ash completely. She knew it would only burn around her, since she could clearly see Inuyasha and Miroku trying to put it out at the edge of the newly formed clearing.  The longer it burned, the more she felt herself change, it was painful, oh so painful.  Her bones reforming, her muscles changing, her hair melting then regrowing.  She felt her eyes pop, then the strangeness of them growing back, healing.  Her nails lengthened and sharpened, her back broke then rehealed.  How she was able to feel all of it through the pain of the flames, she was unsure, but she knew her life would forever change.  Even her own power had changed so drastically, only the warmth, the heat was recognizable as her own.  Kagome was changing into something no longer human, she would have to consult her mother on the changes.

-FFI-

    It seemed as though she was no longer a human, but something else more like him.  He would find out what had happened later, from her other companions.  Questions would be answered, but first he needed to reach Kagome, who was smack dab in the middle of the raging inferno.  He watched the flames as he drew closer to the clearing, it moved strangely.  Almost as if it was receding with each step he took.  He couldn't lose her, she was his only friend, he had entertained the thought of more at one time, but now he just needed her to be there, needed to be able to look into her eyes as he spoke of his lands and the troubles that had risen since the fall of the spider hanyou.  She was the only one he could talk to, the only one who could listen without fear, to everything he said, with an open mind and an open heart.

He let his power fill the clearing, pushing the inferno into submission.  It was a first, never had flames retreated from his person the way it did now.  It was most interesting, but something that could wait for later.  He walked through the now smoking area toward the form huddled in the center.  He could feel her power, almost as vast as his own, quake inside her still form.  Then he noticed the tremors, she was shaking, and in pain from the smell she was emitting. He reached her just as she collapsed from the sensations her body had endured, catching her before her small form could touch the ash left in the wake of her new power.

She moaned softly before succumbing to the darkness of her mind, the remnants of the pain from moments before playing across her nerves again as she fell unconscious in the arms of the Ice Lord himself. She was grateful to him for his quick reflexes, thinking to herself that she would need to thank him properly when she next awoke, if he was still in the vicinity. She was ever grateful to him for his newly formed left arm, something that she would have to ask him about when she woke as well. There seemed to be a lot of things to discuss with the beautiful half-brother of her traveling companion Inuyasha. ‘If only I didn’t feel the need to faint, I could ask him about it now....’ Were the last thoughts that flittered across her mind before she fell completely.

-FFI-

It was a week before the once miko finally woke from her slumber, giving her new body time to heal itself from the destruction it had wrought upon itself. It was no longer the body of a human priestess, but of something more, something dangerous, something full of flames and toxins all its own. He could smell it just under her fair skin, just as potent as his own. It seemed he now had a valid reason to remove her from his half-brother’s ‘tender’ care and into his own, he would need to train her on how to use her new abilities, as well as test out their specifics. Maybe he could even entertain his thoughts of more again, to probe how much she meant to him and likewise.

No longer would he be able to contain his growing respect and admiration of the small onna who fought with his brother. First, she was a miko whom decided to bestow the Tetsusaiga upon the half-breed, then she openly challenged him upon every meeting there after. Finally she befriended him with her straight forward candor and honesty. She was a perfect puzzle set afire with new found abilities and power. It was a wonder that he would have to sort out. But, the meat of the matter was she would have to waken for him to begin his new quest for information.

Just as he thought to tuck the errant strand of her ebony black hair behind her ear, his be-clawed hand reaching forward to do just that, she opened her eyes to look into golden orbs of sunlight and ice. Confusion flashed across her Arctic blue eyes briefly before sliding into understanding. Her hand reaching of its own accord to grasp the left sleeve of his newly formed left arm. She glanced at it, then turned curiously to gaze into his Citrine orbs questioningly. “Later, Kagome, later I will tell you that tale. Do you know what happened to you?” Came his murmured words as he watched the thoughts flit across her expressive eyes.

-FFI-

~*~

LF: I know! I know! *runs across clearing* Not only is it a cliffhanger, its also a new story in the wake of an unfinished one, but this would not leave me be.... So *shrugs* I started this one too. Now that doesn’t mean that I am abandoning Shadow’s Kiss, I am merely writing a second story as well.

Kagome: Why did I burst into flames, LF?????? That crap hurts like a mother!

LF: I’m sorry Kagome, all will be explained soon, though we kind of hinted at it here. *Jumps into a tree* Now now you guys! No need for the tomatoes or the rotten cabbage! I promise to explain all soon!!!!!!