Disowned by night flame miko

Chapter One: Disowned

Disowned

'Guys?' Kagome asked, worried, as Miroku led her into the now silent hut. 'What's wrong?' She said, looking around the dimly lit building at her friends.

'Sit down Kagome.' Inuyasha stated, uncharacteristically serious. She nervously sat, eyeing everyone and fiddling absently with her green skirt. Looking at Sango she noticed the slight red around her eyes, testament to recently shed tears, Miroku and Shippo refused to meet her gaze. Inuyasha absently ran his hand through his silver hair, drawing her attention to him.

'What's wrong?' She repeated, getting really worried. Inuyasha sighed and finally raised his eyes to hers, the gold so dark as to almost be brown.

'Kagome we've all come to a decision...' Kagome attempted to swallow the bump in her throat, whatever it was; it was going to be bad. Inuyasha continued, his eyes holding hers,

'Remember the recent fight we had with Naraku?' At her nod he continued, 'When you nearly...died, we had a discussion, and we've all come to the decision that...it's too dangerous for you to stay here Kagome.' She recoiled, as if having been struck. She looked around and at no ones denial returned her eyes to Inuyasha. They were going to send her away? They wouldn't....they couldn't, could they? Her eyes filled with tears as she looked into Inuyasha's frank features,

'Why? Am I that much of a liability? Do I get in the way that much? Why do you want to get rid of me?' The tears spilled freely down her face now, she noticed Sango shaking slightly and realised she was holding back sobs as well, but her adopted sister didn't say anything, it was Inuyasha that tried to hastily correct her,

'No! You're not a liability in any way Kagome!' He waved his clawed hands in front of him, something he had picked up from her in their travels, 'It's just... we don't want you to die Kagome. We realised when you just barely avoided Naraku's attack that we can't always protect you, and so we all decided that you would be safer in you own time. We can't be distracted during the battle Kagome and trust me, when that attack nearly hit you, we were all very distracted. Please go back to your time and seal the well. We would feel better knowing you were safe in your own time...' He stopped, running out of words, trying not to think of how much this would hurt the innocent girl. Kagome had dropped her head, her bangs covering her eyes, but not the tears that dripped silently past them.

Her hands were clenched on her knees. Finally she raised her eyes and Inuyasha recoiled, the raw pain he saw in that gaze made his heart nearly stop before catapulting itself into a faster rhythm.

Kagome looked around; still no one would meet her eyes, not even Inuyasha who hastily looked away, his claws digging into his knees.

'And what do you guys say?' She asked almost desperately, hoping for them to realise their mistake, wanting them to take back their horrid words, oh if she could but reverse time. She felt a bitter laugh rise at the irony of her thoughts. Surprisingly it was Shippo who broke the suffocating silence, although his words nearly killed her;

'Just go Kagome.' When he said her name, she felt her heart break, her hand actually came up and clutched at her shirt, she was vaguely surprised when she felt no blood, no wound; surely nothing this painful could be caused by anything but a physical wound?

'Go back to your time Kagome, I accepted you as my mother, but no mother of mine would put herself in danger all the time, no mother of mine would make me worry so much that maybe she wont come back from her fights. Kagome just leave, you don't belong here, this isn't your time and this isn't your fight. Just go.' As his defiant gaze left hers, she shakily stood, her hand still clutching her heart as it struggled to beat, stumbling to the door she grabbed her bag, bow and arrows. She left the hut, no longer wanting to hear what they had to say, she didn't think she could survive it.

Walking blindly in the direction of the well she felt the tears force themselves out of her eyes, as she entered the forest and the trees finally hid her from sight, she let herself break, falling to her knees her fingers dug desperately into the soil.

Her son...her son had disowned her, her adopted brother and sister listened and said nothing, and her best friend...her once love...she didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to think at all. Forcing herself up off her knees she again stumbled in the direction of the well.

It wasn't their fault she reasoned absently with herself. They didn't know, she hadn't told them about the fire, or her family...again she felt the pain, now she had lost both her families. Finally entering the clearing she saw the well sitting innocently in its center, the slight breeze ruffling the grass around it. But the beauty couldn't touch her for once, again slumping to her knees the tears dripped down her face and into the grass; she raised her eyes to the heavens. There was no way she was going back to her time, she had nothing left there, the feudal era had ruined her future life, she had missed too much school to even consider that option, and her family...the tears fell faster, the pain so great that she didn't pay attention to her surroundings and didn't feel the other presence until it was right behind her.

Looking absently over her shoulder she saw her...Kikyo. Kikyo came forward, her face not as cold as usual, stepping in front of her reincarnation she dropped to her knees and took the younger girl into her arms. Kagome started sobbing anew, the sound muffled in Kikyos' shoulder, the older girl soothed her, patting the girls hair and rubbing circles in her back. When she finally quietened Kikyo leant back and looked the distraught girl in her eyes,

'What happened Kagome?' Kagome looked back into warm eyes and remembered; so much had happened between the two of them. She remembered when their friendship had first started, that day she had healed Kikyo in the pond. Forcing the miasma from Kikyos' damaged body, Kagome had felt her soul tug toward Kikyos', and she had given some of it up, it didn't take a rocket scientist to realise that Kagome could never feel hate because Kikyo had taken the part of her that could feel it, so she had given a little more and used that piece of her soul, whilst healing Kikyo, to cleanse as much of the hatred as possible. Once the healing was over and Kikyo left she had smiled internally, knowing that in a day or two Kikyo would notice the change, that the older woman could feel all the forms of love again.

'They want me to go back Kikyo, they say I'm a distraction, that when Naraku nearly killed me that I distracted them all from their battles. Kikyo, Shippo called me Kagome...he hasn't done that in-' a sob broke past her as she remembered her adopted son and the happiness he had radiated the first time she said he could call her mama, '-he hasn't called me that in, at least...8 months.' Again she buried her head in the older girls shoulder letting the shuddering sobs break over her once again as Kikyo again soothed the girl, feeling her anger grow at Kagome's supposed 'friends'.

'Will you go back?' Kikyo asked quietly, she didn't want the girl to leave, she and Kagome were friends now, in fact she had come to love the girl like a younger sister, she had come to love Kagome as much as she loved Kaede. She remembered when she first realised what Kagome had done for her, she had felt a rush of happiness at a beautiful sunset, shock had soon followed, when she was looking at her soul stealers and apprentices she had felt affection, and when she thought of Inuyasha it was no longer in hate but...love. She had thought back and realised what Kagome had done, tracking the girl down she had demanded why the woman had given more of her soul to her, Kagome had merely smiled and said she deserved it. She had started to follow the inutachi after that and spoke with her reincarnation as much as possible, trying to figure out why she would do that for her when all Kikyo had done before was attempt to kill her.

She still remembered with vivid accuracy the day Kagome had come back from her time, sobbing and heartbroken, she told Kikyo about the loss of her future family, Kikyo had been there for her, listening quietly and merely being present for Kagome, someone to lean on in her time of need.

After that she and Kagome had gotten even closer, Kagome had asked her not to tell anyone (as if she had anyone to tell), explaining that everyone was distracted enough without finding out about her and her problems. Kikyo had reluctantly promised, saying that they would find out eventually, when she no longer returned to her time, or Inuyasha went searching for her. But Kagome had fixed that, she took of Inuyashas' beads under the pretence of friends not hurting other friends, no longer with the link to her he couldn't get through to her time, and Kagome would still occasionally say she was going back to her time, but she would only buy supplies before she returned spending her remaining time with Kikyo, learning how to become a proper priestess, she didn't tell her friends about those lessons either, saying if her friends didn't know then neither did Naraku, if she could surprise him in the final battle it may just win them the fight.

What she said made sense so Kikyo hadn't argued with her, now she regretted it, if her friends had known that Kagome was now a miko (and a powerful one), then they wouldn't have broken Kagome like this. Pulling herself out of her memories she realised that Kagome had calmed down and was in deep thought.

'What are you going to do Kagome?' She asked again, Kagome's eyes cleared and she smiled weakly at Kikyo, again amazing Kikyo with her strength, how could someone who was betrayed like that find any strength left to smile?

'Well they asked me to seal the well, no doubt Miroku will come to check later, he can feel the wells power...I guess I'll seal it from this side and then...just...leave...It's partially what they wanted, it'll have to make do. They'll think I'm that side of the well...' she sighed before looking up at Kikyo again, 'Do you have a miko outfit I could borrow? They'll know I'm still here if they hear of a priestess dressed weirdly travelling round, I suppose I'll have to change my name as well...'

Kagome's gaze went inward again as she contemplated everything and Kikyo felt a surge of sadness at the bleakness behind that gaze, how and when did Kagome become so strong? Even her family dying a year ago hadn't stopped her in her quest, and she hid her pain so well not even her friends suspected anything, and Kikyo had heard that the woman named Sango was quite perceptive when anything came to Kagome. Sighing she contemplated the challenges Kagome had ahead of her.

'Yes, I have another miko garment. You may have it Kagome, if you wish you may accompany me as well...' Kikyo smiled slightly at Kagome but Kagome shook her head, her eyes sad,

'No Kikyo, my frie...the others will come to look for you, they'll need you to locate shards for them, and Kikyo please don't be angry at them, they didn't know anything-'

Holding up a hand Kagome stopped Kikyo from interrupting, '-I know that what they did and the way they did it was... (horrible, painful she thought to herself)...not very nice, but they don't know...anything, they probably didn't mean to hurt me, they just want to protect me...' Sighing slightly Kikyo nodded, the mask she had created stopping the emotions that Kagome had granted her from showing through, why did her and her reincarnation have such horrible lives? Was it the fate of some souls to have painful existences?

'Very well Kagome, I will go to them and assist them in their search, but what shall you do? The well is very powerful; sealing it will no doubt be not only dangerous but have some side effects as well.'

Kagome stood shakily and Kikyo stood as well, holding Kagome steady, Kikyo quickly contacted her soul stealers worried that her sister's friends may come to check on Kagome soon, but for the moment they were leaving Kagome to her task. How nice of them Kikyo thought snidely to herself, angry for Inuyasha's part in this.

Kagome dusted herself off before answering Kikyo, 'I'll keep searching for jewel shards as a travelling miko, I don't think Naraku will show himself anytime soon though, he received quite a bit of damage in that last fight...' Kagome remembered how Inuyasha had launched the Bakuryuuhaa before she could launch her own spiritual attack on Naraku that was how come her friends didn't know her abilities, she had really become quite strong under Kikyos' patient guidance, and Naraku in his anger had launched a swarm of tentacles at Kagome in retaliation just before using his miasma to escape. Kagome had narrowly avoided his attack all though a tentacle had still pierced through her side, not a fatal one but a dangerous wound never the less, Inuyasha's worried yell filtered through her mind...she really had distracted them...

Sighing Kagome focused on Kikyo who was watching her through slightly worried eyes, her mask hid a lot, but not all.

'I shall leave soon Kagome,' Kikyo stated, her soul stealers alerting her to Inuyasha's entrance of the forest, 'Inuyasha is coming, I will distract him for as long as possible.'

Walking into the trees Kikyo took out her spare miko uniform and handed it to Kagome, who had followed her, 'Good luck...' Kikyo looked down and back into Kagome's eyes, worried about her reaction, 'and good bye, my soul sister.'

Kagome started a bit, although Kagome had come to see Kikyo as a sister she hadn't realised the feeling was reciprocated, smiling a true smile for the first time in the last hour she threw herself at Kikyo and hugged her happily, temporarily forgetting her situation,

'You too, my sister.' Releasing the startled miko, she smiled once again before the smile dimmed and she turned to face the well, she heard Kikyo leave behind her, a whispered good-bye floating to her, she whispered one back before striding to the well.

Laying her hands on the well she felt the power encased within it pulse upwards to her, as if in greeting, smiling grimly Kagome took one of the arrows in her quiver and swiping the tip across her palm she flinched at the sharp pain, she had known this day would come, so she had researched how to seal powerful objects in her time.

Placing her now bloodied palm on the well she could practically feel her blood seep into the wood. Her wound would be a gateway to the power, because Kagome had learnt that to seal something was to actually take it's power into oneself, the dangerous thing about such sealing's was that once started it couldn't be stopped, and if the object was too powerful it could overwhelm the attempted sealer. Kagome wasn't too worried, of all the times she had travelled through the well she had felt a very limited amount of energy within the well, she had come to the conclusion that the well drew upon the energy of the bones it consumed to transport her through time and as such did not have as much energy in itself; and it was only that energy she had to take.

Gritting her teeth Kagome forced her dormant powers through the cut in her palm and using her energy she gripped some of the wells power and pulled it slowly into herself, getting used to the feeling. As soon as the first tendril entered her Kagome felt the energy start to pick up its own pace, flowing into her like water from a tap into a bucket Kagome could feel herself filling up with power.

It didn't take long for her to realise her mistake, the energy kept coming stronger and more powerful, she couldn't even attempt to stop it, it would be like stopping a river from flowing its natural course with a brick. Searching through the power she suddenly realised just how much energy the well kept stored within it, she was right, it did use the bones of nearby demons to transport her through time, and then it used the huge well of energy within itself to bring the bones to itself and keep the link to time, and not only that but it seemed to create its own energy so it would never break the link with time. It was as if the well didn't hold water but energy. Drawing in a shuddering breath Kagome spread her feet and grimly let the energy fill her to the brim, until it was overflowing around her, making itself known as a light blue light surrounding her, swirling around her as if she was underwater. Finally the last bit came to her and viciously she fought the fluctuating power; tamping it down until it was within her and not around her.

Bending down it felt as if she was moving through sludge, her body slow to do the commands she gave it. Gripping the miko garment, her bag and weapons that she had laid next to the well she made her way into the forest, away from the village, she had no idea where she was going but she knew she had to get away before the others found her, she couldn't bear to see them and they mustn't know she had sealed the well whilst still in the feudal era. Stopping by a tree she leaned against it breathing hard, the feeling of her pack, bow and arrows suddenly seemed amazingly heavy, as if it gained 20 kilos instead of the meagre 10 it really was.

As she leaned against the tree she wondered what she should do now. She hadn't thought it through but now that she did, it finally hit her how hopeless her situation was, sure she had trained and she could now aptly defend herself but even walking 100 yards had been so hard for her with the added weight of the wells energy, she wasn't far enough away either, if the wind changed direction Inuyasha would still be able to smell her and she just couldn't find the strength to go on, especially with the feeling of betrayal lingering in her heart.

How could they do that to her? Sure they didn't know the other circumstances but they knew that she considered them her second family and still they decided to send her back, as if she would be happy and safe in the future knowing that in the past her friends were fighting for their lives every day. She could feel her heart break all over again as she replayed Shippo's words over in her head, she knew what he had done, despite his age Shippo was very smart and he knew that no matter what any of them said she would continue to fight, he knew that the only way to get her to leave would be to break her, and he did, he completely and utterly broke her.

The sobs tore from her throat once again as his and Inuyashas words spun through her mind tearing into her like sharp claws, as the tears once more rained down her cheeks Kagome leaned on the tree and felt the emotions build up in her, unfortunately she only remembered too late how tied in her miko powers were with her emotions. She felt the wall she had built to hold in the wells power fall and the energy leapt from her grasp, spreading around her it started to spread out of her with a rush.

With a strangled scream Kagome gripped it tightly, trying to stop it from getting any further from her even as the power wrenched and battered against her, she knew if it got free all the demons in the surrounding area would be purified before they knew what hit them, and unfortunately that included Inuyasha, Shippo and Kilala.

Trying to reign in the power and her emotions at the same time she gritted her teeth against the very physical pain it was causing her, trying to pull it back within herself she didn't notice the presences nearby until something scaly rubbed along her arm. Nearly screaming Kagome forced her eyes open and stared at the soul stealers surrounding her, she vaguely wondered what they were doing here, so close to being purified, before her power gave another powerful wrench and she strangled another scream as it gained a few inches.

She felt the soul stealers start to brush against her again and started when she finally realised what they were doing, they were taking the extra energy! Sure she had known they were parasites and that some soul stealers followed Kikyo around and helped her to find souls, but she hadn't realised that they actually fed on energy. As more and more of the stealers brushed against her she felt the power within her start to withdraw until finally she could fit it within her without it fighting her. Sitting back on her heels wearily she vaguely wondered at what point she had fallen down, then looking around she saw the 10 or more soul stealers flying around her, one or another occasionally brushing against her except they didn't take any more energy, they seemed to enjoy the physical contact. Examining her surroundings she suddenly realised the darkness of the forest, she hadn't noticed because of the luminescence of the soul stealers, looking at all of them she realised they were definitely brighter than normal; did they change the energy they took into light?

Fascinated she watched as they flew threw the air around her, seemingly content to stay with her, she didn't mind at all because even now she could feel the well creating more energy as it was supposed to, she could also feel the link it had with time but every time she tried to touch that link her mind or miko powers shied away as if there was something missing, some kind of catalyst (her science teachers would be proud) was needed for her to use the link again.

Standing up Kagome picked up her things, feeling decidedly lighter she smiled, enjoying the soft light the soul stealers projected, and with a bounce in her step she headed away from her second home, knowing that some space was needed between her and 'them'. Glancing around her she noticed almost happily that the souls stealers travelled with her, one or another brushing along her taking the new energy from her before it could attempt to fight her again. Making her way deeper into the forest she kept moving for most of the night before settling down, her physical energy finally having run out.

She leaned against a tree wearily as the days exhaustion caught up with her, she fell asleep like that, simply leaning against the tree, content in her knowledge that the soul stealers would stop the energy from escaping her during her sleep.

Kagome awoke the next morning quickly, her mind immediately latched onto the memories from the day before, ruthlessly throwing them into her consciousness. She felt the power within her begin to stir and pushed the memories back, the memory of the fight with her power the day before and how it had really tired her out. Examining the power within her she noticed that it was still at a manageable level which could only mean that the stealers had stayed the night and taken the energy from her whilst she slept, a rush of gratitude swept through her even as she felt something brush against her, cracking her eyes open she noticed that no soul stealers were close enough to have brushed her, confused she glanced around when she felt the brushing sensation again before realising with a start that it was something brushing her mind not something physical. Sitting straight she concentrated on the awareness within her, once it knew it had her attention she noticed a soul stealer come closer until it was lazily coiling in front of her, the presence in her mind got stronger and she realised that the soul stealer was touching her mind.

Reaching out she lightly touched the soul stealer in front of her, with the contact the presence in her mind expanded and Kagome sucked in her breath quickly at the confusing sensation, the presence seemed to have a question, but soul stealers didn't think like humans, it was a more primitive thinking yet complex in its simplicity. Sensing no danger from the presence Kagome cautiously opened her mind and let the presence in, as soon as it was completely in her mind Kagome understood the question as if the soul stealer had spoken, the question was simple: would she let them stay and feed off her energy in return for anything.

Kagome smiled and answered: yes, all she asked for was companionship. An almost startled feeling spread through the presence, as if it expected her to want servitude or something. Then the presence got a feeling of content, like the feelings humans have once they have eaten a really good meal and have no more worries for that day, she realised this was its way of agreeing to her terms. With her acceptance of them she was suddenly surrounded by scaly bodies as each stealer 'introduced' themselves, except they didn't recognise each other by names, but by the feeling of the presence in their minds, like recognising someone by the scent or voice instead of sight and name, the minds moved within hers a different one coming to the fore, one at a time.

Once she had recognised each of the 12 soul stealers they finally backed away, spreading out around her, each of the 12 presences seemed to have found a place within the back of her mind so she could once again concentrate on the surrounding area. It was a curious sensation, as if having a different awareness, each of the soul stealers had a slightly different feeling but they all were the basic content feeling the first had had. Decidedly happier now that she knew she wouldn't be alone on her journey Kagome stood and ruefully noticed her belongings strewn on the ground around her, she must have just dumped them and fallen asleep.

Kagome stretched as she prepared to get going, changing into the miko outfit that Kikyo had given her she packed her school uniform into her bag and slung it over her back, picking up her bow and quiver she started to move forward, the soul stealers surrounding her, two or three staying nearby whilst the rest went further away, occasionally swapping places so that a different soul stealer could take the wells energy.

Kagome set a steady pace stopping only for lunch and finally dinner, she was satisfied with the distance she managed to make, and it was nice to travel for once without an annoying hanyou in the background urging her to go faster then her body was equipped to handle. The soul stealers were good company, warning her if any dangerous animals were around, and at one point when she asked some to go ahead, to her surprise they went immediately, seemingly okay with taking orders from her.

From their presence in her mind they 'told' her that there was a large human road up ahead moving north-west. Thanking them she told them they could come back, stroking them when they arrived, she had learnt early on in the day that soul stealers liked physical contact because it strengthened their mental connections and gave them a feeling of closeness, a feeling they for some reason treasured, they also seemed to really enjoy human contact, finding her complex and rapidly switching emotions fascinating.

Settling down for the night, this time Kagome laid out her sleeping bag and after changing into her pyjamas she got in, leaving an arm out of the sleeping bag so that her soul stealers could rub against her whilst she slept. She fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, exhausted from the day of travelling and keeping her emotions tamped down for fear of the wells power taking the chance to break her mental barriers, although she had noticed the wells power starting to mix with her own, she didn't understand how that was possible but she decided to think on it later, after she slept.

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Something I wrote a while ago but never bothered to put up. But here goes, this is just the basic idea, if you like, please review. This is going to get real fun later on, so hope you enjoy :D