Her Destiny by cindygirl

Chapter 1

Her Destiny

Chapter 1

Kagome is a child prodigy. At the tender age of 4 she was given an intelligence test to see how she was progressing for her age. It was a standard test given to every child to make sure they developed properly before entering school for the first time. Imagine the surprise the doctors got, when the small child named Kagome passed the test with a 100 percent.

They never had a child that could think so quickly or get all of the answers right. They thought it strange, so they called in another doctor and he administered another test. This one much harder than the one she took only an hour ago.

By the time they were done with their test, the doctors determined that the sweet child of 4 had an intellect that could not be measured. She had mastered three different skills with her test. She was a genius at mathematic, reading, and the sciences. She understood everything she read and answered the questions correctly. They branded her a child prodigy and opened a whole new world for her.

She grew up with her education already paid for by the most prestigious schools. Every school wanted to be the one to teach her. And the ones that got her, rejoiced in having such a polite and delightful student.

Kagome graduated from High School when she was just 12 and soon after, even at such an early age, she headed off to college. Life in college was hard for her because she was on her own. Kagome was shunned by the older students that saw her only for her intelligence that surpassed even their own.

Throughout her life, Kagome had to learn how to take care of herself. That meant she had to learn how to protect herself as well. Since she was just a small and petite child, she was easily overpowered and beaten. The school she was in at that point in time, got in contact with a famous martial artist and asked him if he would teach her. They told him of her background and he jumped at the chance to have such a student.

In just a short year, she had mastered swordsmanship, archery, dagger play, stars (Shuriken-jutsu), and nunchaku-jutsu. All of Kagome's weapons were weapons that she had found at the shrine. Her grandfather had told her that they were given to the shrine for safekeeping and he didn't see anything wrong if she took them to train.

Among all the things that Kagome has done so far with her young life, she also discovered that she was a miko. Her Reiyouku was very powerful and she was taught by the only living miko in Japan. This was the only one of her gifts that was kept a secret from all that knew her.

Her mother had surmised that if the doctors and scientists learned that she was also a miko they might wind up taking her away from her family. Kagome didn't want this to happen because despite everything that she had to endure so far in her life, she loved her family dearly, and her mother always made sure that she had a normal family life.

Kagome would train with her sensei during the day but at night, in one of the shrine's dojos, she would practice with her weapons only this time by mixing her miko powers in with her training. It allowed her to hone in her Reiyouku when fighting, thus developing them even more and making her stronger. Kagome didn't understand why she was doing this since there was nothing for her to fight in the era that she lived in. But it had been an overwhelming feeling that she got that she had to learn how to fight using her Reiyouku.

When she mastered those weapons, Kagome moved on to hand-to-hand combat where she excelled as well. She became very well known and competed in many competitions and won.

What should have taken Kagome years to complete, she completed in just four short years. She graduated from college with honors at the tender age of 16, she received her doctorates degree in History and Archeology, which she got with an advanced teaching program that the school provided for her. She had always been very fascinated with history, ever since her grandfather had told her some of the legends of the shrine they lived in.

She had traced her family tree all the way back to Midoriko, the greatest miko to have ever lived. But she couldn't find out much about the famed miko that lived so long ago. Kagome's lineage starts well after Midoriko's death in the Heian Period and no one knows how her family line got started.

The one thing that her mother thanked Kami about was that her daughter was now able to control her nasty temper. Kagome's temper was one of the worst anyone has ever seen. It took years of her studying with her martial arts teacher to finally teach her how to control it. She learned everything from him and he even showed her how to channel her anger into her fighting style, which made her a deadly opponent.

Her mother had seen first hand what she could do to someone that threatened her or her family. If anything, Kagome was very loyal to her family and protected them viciously.

During this time Kagome matured into a beautiful young woman. She filled out in all the right places with just enough curves and a flat stomach. Her long blue/black hair came down to her thighs. Her eyes were the brightest of blue on a clear summer's day with a hint of gold around the edges. Her full rounded lips that were naturally a dark pink in color accentuated her features beautifully. Kagome also had long slender legs that put her height to be about 5 foot 5 inches making her the envy of all the girls at the tender age of 18.

One day on her way home from the training dojo, where she trained children less fortunate than her on how to protect themselves, she stopped by the library. She was dressed in a short white t-shirt that stopped just above her bellybutton. She had long gray sweat pants that the waist of the pants was rolled down several times so they would fit low on her hips.

She had her sword strapped to her waist along with two daggers. On her back were two Katanas that sat crossed comfortably between her shoulder blades. If anyone saw her weapons the only thing they would see were wooden swords, not the real ones that she carried. It was against the law to carry weapons so she used a concealment spell to hide them.

She also had on a MP3 player and she was listening to some music whiled she walked. The music was a mix of every type of music that existed in her era. She was eclectic and enjoyed hearing the different kinds of music so she downloaded her favorites into the MP3.

As she was nearing the library she took off her headphones and stuffed her MP3 player inside her shirt. The player was small and compact so it fit nicely into her bra along with the headphones. She needed to hide it because it was against library policy to have it in there. Her bra was a good place for it since she didn't have any pockets.

They had started that rule when other people wearing MP3 players were not considerate with other patrons in the library. They would turn the volume up so loud that it almost left you deaf, hence there came the policy about no MP3 player in the library. Once she had everything hidden she then continued to walk into the library.

The director of the library had known of her fascination with historical data and every time he got in any old books dating back to the Heian period, he would call her so she could come by and look at the books.

He knew that she would never need to take the books out of the library because she had a photographic memory. Everything she read she remembered.

When Kagome was done reading the books, she thanked the director for letting her read them. On her way home she was thinking what it would have been like to live in that era. She imagined that the land must have been beautiful back then. She had read about the youkais of that time period and couldn't believe they existed. There had been no hard evidence to prove that they ever existed. But just because there was no proof that they existed it didn't mean that they do not exist today.

She herself is living proof of the miko's that used to walk the earth to protect the people from the youkai's. She couldn't help but wonder if the youkai were all evil or were there some that were nice and protected the ningens back then. She continued to think about this as she walked home, often getting the feeling that she was born in the wrong era for she felt so out of place here.

She was wondering if she could get one of the museums to fund her research to prove that youkai existed back then. She had an idea on where to look for old bones, but it will take time and money to find and prove her theory.

As she walked through the compound of the shrine where she lives, Kagome notices a bright glow coming from one of the many buildings that makes up the shrine grounds. She had thought that she had been in very building on the grounds, but somehow she had missed this one.

Curious to know what was glowing so brightly in the building, she slowly approached the door and opens it. There in the middle of the building was a very old well and on the well there was something written on the lid that covered the opening. She approached slowly and read what was written there. Her eyes grew big with understanding, as she quickly turned to leave the building.

She was about to run when suddenly some arms tore through the cover of the well. They reached out and grabbed Kagome pulling her down into the well and into the bright blue light.

Kagome was screaming her head off while she fell. She had no idea what was going on or why these arms were dragging her into this blue light. Then all of a sudden an ugly looking woman appeared in front of her.

She had a body that resembled that of a centipede. With its many arms acting like its legs, she had long brown hair and ugly green eyes. Her tongue was long like a snake and she had fangs that were coming out of her mouth.

She had a death grip on Kagome's shoulders who was struggling to get free from her hold. She had no idea what this thing wanted with her but she didn't think it was anything good. She was moving her hand towards the dagger that she kept tucked in her waist as she heard this ugly woman speak, "My name is Mistress Centipede. I want the jewel of the four souls that you carry. I can feel the power of the jewel. Give me the jewel!"

Kagome had no idea of what she was talking about. She had enough of miss ugly as she finally reached her dagger and pulled it from its sheath. She channeled her powers into the dagger, holding it by its hilt with the tip of the blade pointing toward her elbow.

She quickly lashed out with the dagger effectively beheading and purifying the creature as Kagome gently floated down to the ground. She landed softly as she opens her eyes fully to see where she was.

Kagome looked up to the well opening and notice right away that there was no roof above her. The only thing she saw was a beautiful blue sky. She looked around and saw vines running all the way up the side of the well. She figured if she wanted to get out of here she would have to climb up herself.

So she grabbed the vine and started to climb. It didn't take her anytime at all to get to the top. Once she climbed out of the well she sat there for a few minutes while she caught her breath.

Then for the first time she opens her eyes to see where she is. Her eyes grew wide as she takes a look around the area. She was deep in the middle of a forest, she remembered that her home had a small forest around the shrine's ground but it was not like this.

Kagome was scared, she had no idea where she was or for that matter when. She took a deep breath of fresh air and smiled. The air smelled so good here. It was very pure and not polluted by fumes and rotting food.

As much as she enjoyed the smell of the clean air she had to figure out where she was. Her quick mind calculated that the well must have had some sort of magic to it. She closed her eyes and tried to remember what she read before she was grabbed and pulled into the well.

A picture formed in her mind as she saw the words on the lid of the well. "This well has been sealed to prevent Mistress Centipede from escaping. This youkai only seeks power in order to gain more territory. Lord Inutaisho sealed her here for trying to destroy one of the villages near this well. All are warned not to break the seal for it will awaken the youkai within."

Kagome groaned. That was the glow that was coming from the well. Somehow the seal on the well had weakened and the youkai was able to break free. Again, she looked around the area and a sinking feeling started to settle in the pit of her stomach. She knew she was not home in her era. For one thing there were no sounds of traffic going by the shrine. Second, the building was gone from around the well. But the million yen question is how to get back home.

'Hmm, if this well brought me here then I should be able to go back the same way. The theory is sound and logical. The only way to prove it is to jump back into the well to see if it will take me back.' Kagome thought as she looked down into the dark and gloomy well.

She turned and put her legs back into the well and steadied her mind. She took a deep breath, held it, and then jumped in.

"THUD!" Kagome landed hard at the bottom of the well. There was no bright blue light to take her back to her era. Tears started to form in her eyes as she thought, 'How am I going to get back home? No one knows what has happened to me. If anyone could always manage to get into all sorts of trouble it's always me.'

She stood as she checked to make sure she didn't break anything, 'The only thing I broke was my pride. Ouch! My butt hurts from hitting the ground, but other than that I didn't break anything, thank Kami!' She turned and with a gentle sigh she started to climb back up the vines.

Once she was out of the well Kagome looked around the area. It was very beautiful here. The forest was thick and it was rich with wildlife. She spotted an old worn out path and decided to follow it to see where it led. She needed to get an idea where she was or more to the point of when. After all she couldn't sit by the well all day like a frightened child. If she was stuck here she was going to make the best of it.

As she was walking, Kagome silently thanked her mother for making her take all those miko lessons. Being alone in a forest she really needed to keep her senses open for any danger. She continued to walk as she saw something to the right that she recognized. She headed in that direction when she finally came to a big tree.

'This is the Goshinboku that sits in the middle of our shrine. It looks younger here though not as old as it is back home. I did some research on that tree and even though the test proved inconclusive on how old the tree actually was it had given me the knowledge that the tree was at least over 1000 years old. So if it is slightly younger here then I must have gone back in time. But to which era?' Kagome pondered this new information as she let her mind wonder. She moved closer to the tree as she laid her hand on it and felt the life force that the tree always held.

She felt comforted by the tree as she opened her eyes and looked around again. Kagome sighed, she needed to keep moving if she was going to find out where she was. She went back to the trail and continued to follow it.

Soon the trees started to thin out and she could make out a village not too far from where she stood. She could see the fields of corn, wheat, rice, and other vegetables being grown to help sustain the village.

She noticed that in the village all of the huts were one level. They were small huts that were clustered together to form their community. Kagome sat down on the hill as she observed what was going on down below. She noticed how they were dressed and figured that the era was somewhere in the Heian Period.

The kimonos that the women wore had not been seen in a long time. As a matter of fact, there are no clothing that have survived from this era in Japan. The only thing that did survived were some books, scrolls, pottery, and some weapons, this was the only proof that her era had on this period in history. Very little is known about this era and she was fascinated to experience it first hand.

She watched from the hillside as the village went about their normal duties. She watched as the children played in the rice fields while their mothers worked close by, keeping an ever-watchful eye on them. She noticed by the position of the sun that it was late in the afternoon. She would need to go out and find something to eat soon if she was going to survive in this era.

'I just want to go home. But how can I get home when that well won't return me to my era.' She looked up into the sky and closed her eyes enjoying the gentle caresses of the wind against her skin. The sun was gently warming her features as she sighed with contentment.

As she was enjoying the sun, a feeling of uneasiness made itself known to her. She opened her eyes and scanned the area around her. She could feel it. Something large was coming toward this village and it was about to attack it.

She stood up as she looked for the danger. Then she felt it, a huge amount of Jyaki filled the area quickly as she looked to the left. 'Whatever this is, that is going to attack this village, it's big.' She thought.

Then she started to hear the voice of an old woman as she rang the alarm that youkai were getting ready to attack the village.

Kagome blinked, as she stared at the old woman, 'That old woman looks like Kaede! But Kaede is alive in my era, how can she be here in this era?' She didn't understand how Kaede could be here. The only thing that she could come up with is that this is one of Kaede's ancestors and whatever happens here today she couldn't let her get hurt or something might happen to the Kaede she knows in the future.

She heard a sound off to the left and turned to see 6 large youkai coming towards the village. They were very large, they had large fangs sticking out of their mouths as drool pored out the corner of it. Their big red eyes scanned the village as they were trying to make a decision on whether they were going to attack them or not. They had what appeared to be loincloth wrapped around their middle as she saw them flexing the huge claws on their hands. They had no hair on their body and the stench they gave off was enough to gag anyone.

She looked back to the Kaede of this era, watching as she took her bow off her shoulder and pulled an arrow locking it into place, getting ready to shoot. Kaede then charges up the arrow with her Reiyouku and fires.

Kagome notices immediately that the arrow is weak with power. The Kaede down there must not be that powerful and these youkai will destroy this village. Kagome cursed under her breath as she takes off running down the side of the hill. She had to help the elderly miko before the youkais destroyed the village.

Kagome could run very fast for a ningen. It was a trick she learned while practicing in her shrine's dojo. She used her Reiyouku to enhance her muscles, and became just a blur to anyone that was looking at what she was doing.

She rushed toward the old woman and spotted a bow and a quiver of arrows sitting against a hut, she ran by it, and grabbed them, as she continued running toward the old priestess. She put the quiver on her back as she got the bow ready. She reached back and grabbed an arrow and locked it into place. Kagome came to a stop just behind Kaede as the old woman lets go of another weak arrow in an attempt to save the village.

Kagome quickly takes aim and lets her arrow fly. Her arrow having three times the amount of power that Kaede's had, hit its mark and purified the youkai in front of them.

---oOo---

Kaede sensed the youkais coming towards the village. She was sounding the alarms in order to get the villagers away from this area before they attacked. She then sees five Oni appeared out of the forest. They were getting ready to attack the village as she locks an arrow into her bow and fires.

She cursed under her breath, cursing her years of being alive and the draining of her miko powers. She was just barely strong enough to kill one of the lesser youkai, let alone youkais of this size. But she had to fight in order to protect the village as this will allow the villager's time to flee before the Oni's attacked.

She grabbed another arrow and fires it. She watches as her arrow travels to the youkai right in front of her but then she observes another arrow trailing behind the one she just let go. Kaede was surprise to see that it was an arrow from another priestess with enough power to purify the Oni.

She turned to see who the priestess was that came to help her for she wished to offer her thanks, but what she saw shocked her. The person behind her was oddly dressed. Having only a partial juban on and her hakama appeared to be almost falling off her hips. But the aura that she saw in the girl shocked her. Her powers were great. She was not a priestess like she had first thought but a more powerful miko with a pure soul fueling her Reiyouku.

Her eyes opened wide when she saw the young girl pull her sword from its sheath as it hummed to life. She had only seen that sword once in her lifetime and she thought that it was being kept safe in another village. But this girl was wheeling this sword with ease and it was not rejecting her. 'She must be the true owner of the sword now.'

She saw the girl raise her sword and jump into the air as she yelled, "RUN KAEDE!" Kaede moved fast for an old woman after Kagome had told her to run. She brought her sword down as she sliced off the arm of the Oni that was trying to kill her.

The youkai yelled in pain as it reared back. It looked at the person that did this to him as he saw a puny slip of a ningen standing in front of him with a sword in her hand. He roared his challenge to the female as he saw her smirk. He made another attempt to attack her as she swung her sword down and yelled, "PURIFYING BLADE!"

One blade of power came out of her sword as it went straight for the youkai. It hit him in the center of his chest as the creature cried out in pain until it finally purified him.

Kagome then turned her attention to the other four that were still there near the village. Then she yelled, "Hey! Hey ugly! I will not allow you to destroy this village. So I suggest that you get out of here or I will have to kill you."

The youkais standing in front of her started to laugh as they thought. 'How can a puny ningen onna tell us what to do?' The biggest one out of all of them stepped forward. He looked menacingly down at the young ningen and said, "Wench! You will know your place. You can not stop us from attacking this village."

A slow grin started to form on Kagome's lips as a plan began to form in her mind. She sheathed her sword, then clapped hands together and opened them, palms up spreading her arms wide, in a sweeping motion in front of her. When she did that a powerful barrier was raised to protect the village.

The youkais could not believe the powerful barrier that was protecting the village they wanted to destroy. One of them was brave enough to touch it and it was the last thing he did. The barrier not only protected the village but also purified any youkai that touched it.

The remaining youkais were angry that they couldn't have their fun. They turned their blood red eyes to the ningen as they saw her take off into the forest. She moved incredibly fast for a ningen as they gave chase.

They finally found the onna as she stood in the middle of a field holding her sword out to the side. Her bangs were covering her eyes as they made their way towards the girl.

Once they got to her location the three remaining youkais surrounded the girl. They bared their fangs and made rude noises at her as they all went around in a circle.

Kagome watched what they were doing. She was getting herself ready for when they attacked. She guessed that one of them would attack first to allow the others to see any weaknesses in her defenses. She didn't have to wait for long before she saw the first youkai make his move.

He was coming at her full force as Kagome crouched down low. When he was about to strike her, she jumped up with her sword by her side as she brought it forward. You could hear as the sword connected with the youkais flesh, ripping the skin and cutting the bone clean through as she severed the arm.

The arm fell to the ground as the youkai thrashed about. He was in pain from having his arm cut off but that was the least of his problems. Where the sword had made contact with his skin it also started to purify his body.

He rolled around on the ground trying to get it to stop, but it was to no avail. Kagome's purifying powers continued to eat at the Oni's body until he was completely purified.

Kagome then turned her attention to the other two Oni in the area. She was barely breathing hard as she brought her sword forward and took a defensive position. She kept her senses opened to see when they would attack.

But there in the back of her mind she felt another presence. He was keeping his distance from her at the moment. From what she could tell he was up in the sky watching everything she was doing. 'Well he can watch all he wants. I just have to keep my senses on him and make sure he doesn't join the party. Once I'm done with these two then I can deal with him.'

The youkai couldn't believe how powerful this ningen was. She had managed to destroy four of their comrades and they had yet to land a clear hit on her. This was not good. They were powerful youkai and a mere ningen was defeating them.

Both youkai roared their anger as they charged. They were going to kill this ningen for what she has done and then they were going to destroy the village she protects to show these pathetic ningens who rules these lands.

Kagome watch as they charged her. She was ready as waited for them to come closer. When they were close enough she brought her sword up and then slashes out in front of her calling, "HEARTS STORM!"

A storm of her Reiyouku came out of the sword as it moved around in a circle. It created a powerful vacuum as it caught one of the Oni and pulled him into the storm. It ripped his body apart as he was purified. The other Oni just barely got out of the way of the attack as he landed further back from the wench.

The Oni eyed his target. She had her back to him, it was the perfect opportunity to attack and kill this wench. He charged thinking that he had the upper hand in the fight as he came up behind her. He pulled his claws back and he brought his powerful arm down ready to slash the ningen wench to pieces. At the last minute he sees her turn around as she holds up her hand to try and stop him from attacking.

Kagome was crouched on the ground. Her hearts storm was one of her most powerful attacks that she never could practice with. She knew that she could perform the move but she didn't really know what it actually did. She was glad that she had chosen a location away from the village, because if she ever did this move, near any village, she would have destroyed it all by herself.

The hair on the back of her neck started to stand up, indicating danger. She turned as she saw the last Oni coming towards her with his arm raised. She didn't have enough time to move out of the way so she summoned her Reiyouku and held up her hand to protect herself.

When the Oni's hand came down it made contact with the ball of light that was coming from Kagome's hand. The ball grew in size and power as it engulfed the Oni.

Kagome sent a blast of her spiritual powers towards the Oni as she watched what happen with amazement. She never knew that she could produce that large of a blast. 'I guess when your life is in danger you can do anything.' Kagome thought as she let out a deep sigh of relief.

She stood on her feet as she watched the last youkai get purified. Now she had to turn her attention to her other guest. She didn't know if she could defeat him. He was still very powerful and she just finished fighting 6 very large youkai. Her powers were weakened but if she could manage to wound him then maybe he should just go away.

She brought her sword forward as she waited for him to come down. Sooner or later she knew he would descend to the ground. All she had to do was be ready for him. She continued to watch him from behind her bangs as he circled her from high above. She moved with him to make sure she didn't give him the opportunity to attack her from behind.

---oOo---

Lord Inutaisho was looking for the youkais that were destroying his lands. They had already destroyed two villages and all of the crops for the year. They had killed all of the ningens that lived in those villages and he was pissed.

No one lays waste to his lands and gets away with it. He was a kind and gentle ruler. Everyone lived in peace on his lands and anyone that threatened that peace was dealt with harshly.

He was approaching a small village. The village didn't have a name for it was a newly established settlement. They had built this village in the last 50 years or so and they have not gotten around to giving themselves a name yet.

He could sense that the bastards where heading in that direction. He quickened his pace as he flew over the lands to catch up to them. Soon he came to the village and saw the old priestess there trying to fight off the youkais, giving her people a chance to flee the village. He was about to head in and attack when a strange onna caught his attention.

He stopped in mid-flight and watched what was going on down below. He observed this onna and noticed that her aura was a deep purple. He had never seen a ningen with this kind of aura before. Usually ningens had blue auras indicating a normal amount of Reiyouku or an orange aura indicating they were slightly stronger than the others.

But this one had a deep purple aura indicating great power and her Reiyouku was amazing. The only ones he knew that had a deep purple aura were youkai and even then they were few and far between. His son had a deeper aura than this ningen but not by much. He would have to say that she was at least as powerful as his eldest son.

He observed that she had used just one arrow to take down the youkais in front of her and purified him with ease. When she took out her sword his eyes grew wide, 'Where on earth did she get that sword! I thought that sword was being kept safe at Midoriko's old village.'

He was positive that the sword she had in her hand was Kenjikago. The last time he had seen that sword was over a hundred years ago when he took it to her old village and returned it to them, along with the Shikon No Tama, for safe keeping.

Now he would have to make a trip to that village and make sure that everything is all right there. He had no desire to have an enemy try and steal the Shikon No Tama and use it for their own evil purpose.

He floated in the air as he watched the battle down below. He saw when she created a barrier to protect the village as she took off running into the forest. 'She moves fast for an onna.' He thought as he watched her disappear into the forest. He was beginning to have his doubts that she was ningen because she was acting just like a youkai.

He watched as she fought with the youkais as one by one they fell by her hand. He was impressed with her skills as a fighter. No ningen ever held such skills. He was wondering where she came from because he had never sensed her around this area before. He would have known if there was a powerful ningen in this area, it was hard to miss her aura.

When she had finished her fight he expected her to lower her sword, but to his surprised she kept her sword out in front of her as she turned towards him. He furrowed his eyebrows together in confusion, she was following his movement when he shifted to another position.

His features showed his surprise when she followed his movements. 'This ningen can sense my presence in this area. I'm hiding my scent and aura but she can still detect me. There has been only one ningen, that I know about, that could do this, and that was Midoriko. Who in the hell is she?' His curiosity was now peaked so he slowly headed down to the ground to confront this onna that has caught his attention.

Kagome watched as the youkai that was floating on a cloud came down toward the ground. Her senses were on full alert trying to discern his intentions. When he finally landed on the ground his cloud disappeared as she finally got a good look at him.

He was tall and very muscular for a youkai. He had long silver hair that he wore in a high ponytail on the top of his head. He had one blue jagged stripe on each side of his cheek. His eyes were golden in color that was slightly darker than the sun. He had red markings on the top of his eyelids and his ears were pointed like an elf. He also had a blue crescent moon on his forehead.

He wore a white kimono. The top part of his kimono had blue stripes on both shoulders going down to the sleeves. He wore black armor that was held in place with a maroon and light purple sash. He had spikes on his shoulders that extended from his armor and wore several swords on his side. She could see the long claws on his hands. He also had something very furry that was draped behind him.

All in all Kagome thought that this youkai was very handsome as she stood there waiting for him to attack.

Inutaisho was fascinated with this little one. She was still just a young pup but she held such powers. She was also beautiful for a ningen. He took a deep breath and caught her scent. He was amazed that she didn't smell like the rest of the ningens he had encounters with. She smelled of Night Blooming Jasmine, a heavenly scent. But what mostly caught his attention, besides the revealing clothes she wore, were her eyes. They were the palest of blue, just like the beautiful sky up above, with just a hint of gold around the edge.

He took a few steps towards her and heard her growl at him. He stopped, as he understood her warning of not coming any closer to where she was located. They stood there and looked at each other for a few minutes, when he broke the silence and asked, "Who are you little one? Where do you come from? I have never seen you in this area before."

Kagome listened to his words, his voice held a deep rich tone, it was very soothing to her as she listened to his questions. He didn't indicate that he wanted to harm her. He was just curious. He had a kind face and he looked like he might be from around this area. His clothes indicated that he was of noble birth so she had to be careful in what she said to this youkai.

She lowered her sword as a sign of truce, lowering her blade so that the point touched the ground as she stood to her full height. She gazed into his eyes before she answered his question. "My name is Kagome. You are correct in your assumptions that I'm not from this area. I have lost my way and I'm trying to find my way home."

Inutaisho loved the sound of her voice. It was soothing and regal when she spoke. Her body movements indicated that she commanded respect and he could tell that she was educated. 'Now this is very unusual, ningens are not very well educated. Yet she speaks so eloquently.'

He took another couple of steps towards her as he heard her growls of disapproval and the sword came forward again. He stopped again in front of her, always keeping his eyes on her. "Well Kagome I can tell that you are not from around here. Where is your village? I might be able to help you get home."

Kagome knew that he was trying to get information out of her. But she was not in the mood to give it to him. "That information I can not tell you. All I can tell you is that my village is far away from here."

Inutaisho knew she was hiding the location of her village from him but he also didn't smell any lies coming from her. So what she was saying was true. "Fine Kagome since you will not tell me where your village is located then I want to offer my thanks in killing those youkais. I have been looking for them because they have already destroyed two villages and killed everyone in them. I have been tracking them for the better part of the morning when I caught their scent heading toward this village. When I finally reached this village I saw that you were attacking them. I must say that you are a very powerful miko."

Kagome blushed at the compliment she received from this youkai as she said, "Your words are too kind, milord. I only happened upon this village and saw it getting attacked. I only wished to help. Now if you would excuse me milord, I must be on my way."

Kagome sheathed her sword back as she turned and started to walk away. She needed some rest, she was feeling weak and the sooner she was away from this youkai with all the questions the better she would feel.

What she didn't expect, as she was trying to leave the area, was for this youkai to block her escape. In a blink of an eye he was standing in front of her as she heard him say, "I'm afraid that I can't allow you to leave on your own. This area is full of youkais that would love to get their hands on you. I want you to come with me."

Kagome raised an eyebrow at his statement. He was nice and very cordial, she also wanted to learn more about the youkais of this era but she had a bad feeling about going with him. She trusted her instincts so she was not going anywhere with him. "I'm sorry milord but I make it a point never to go off with strangers. Plus I can take care of myself, as you have already observed."

Inutaisho was impressed with this young lady. She was very polite and she has values. He was letting his curiosity get the better of him as he said; "Well we can take care of the stranger part right now. I'm Lord Inutaisho. I'm the ruler of the Western Lands. All of these lands belong to me. I protect everyone on them and keep the peace. I would prefer that you come with me so that you would be protected. I have many more questions that I want to ask you later on today."

Kagome recognized the name right away, 'So, he was the one that sealed that youkai in the well. But I sincerely doubt that he was the one that made the well bring me here to this era. In any case I can't go with him. What would happen if he learns I'm from the future? He could use me to his advantage in the coming years. I can't take the chance of changing history and changing the outcome of my life.'

Kagome was getting irritated with her line of thought. She was confused and she wanted to leave plus she could feel her energy slowly draining away from her. She needed to find a place to rest and soon. But this youkai Lord was making things difficult for her.

She got herself ready, she knew she would have to fight this lord, because he was not going to let her leave on her own. "Well milord, I now know your name but it does not mean that I'm going with you. I have nothing more to say to you, so if you will please excuse me, I will be leaving."

She caught a flicker of moment off to the side as she quickly raised her barrier. She saw a blue/white light hit her barrier as it bounced off and went back to its owner.

Inutaisho was getting irritated. He was not about to let this onna leave the area alone. She was going to come with him so he could find out where she comes from. He had to see what kind of village produced such a powerful miko and see whether they had anymore like her. Unfortunately he was going to have to take her by force since she would not cooperate.

He flicked his wrist as he sent his whip towards her. At the last minute he saw her barrier come up and deflect it. Usually his whip would cut through anything but this time it couldn't even destroy her barrier. 'Hmm, she is more powerful than I thought. This is not going to be easy, but if I wear her down, then her remaining strength should be depleted. I will be able to capture her and take her back to the castle with me, until I get the information that I want from her.'

He set his resolve, as he got ready to battle with the little one. He wouldn't hurt her; he just wanted her to come with him, but since she refused he would have to take her by force. He turned towards her as he said, "Wench! I'm not giving you an option in the matter. You will come with me now!"

At that moment he saw her eyes turning color. They were changing to a darker blue. They looked like a storm that was about to be unleashed and he learned first hand not insult her.

Kagome's anger was growing out of proportion after he had called her a wench. He didn't know her well enough to call her that, and dragging her honor through the mud. She was not going to stand for it. She drew her sword and kept an eye on the youkai in front of her. Her anger reached an all time high as she spoke in a low and deadly voice, "I don't care who you are. You have no right to call me a wench. I'm leaving and there's nothing you can do about it!"

She tried to go around him as he blocked her escape once again. She lashed out with her powers and sent a ball of purifying power towards him.

Inutaisho was hard pressed to get out of the way of her attack. She was fast, almost as fast as he was. He then sent his whip towards her again as he began to whip the barrier around her. He was relentless in his attacks as he was trying to weaken her. But it was proving to be difficult, as she would counter his attacks with her sword.

He had enough as he gathers some of his youki and sent it towards her. The blast hit the girl as she flew through the air and landed about twenty feet away from him. She was hurt and her barrier had collapsed. This was his one chance to subdue her as he rushed in and pinned her to the ground by her neck.

He held her struggling form down as he lowered head and said in her ear, "I'm truly sorry Kagome. I would have liked it if you would have come with me of your own free will, but you leave me with no choice in the matter. Now I will force you to come with me."

He reached over and found the pressure point on her neck as he squeezed. Her eyes opened wide as she fell limp immediately. Now that she was unconscious he could take her with him.

He went to grab her sword and when he touched it the sword burned his hand; her sword had almost purified him. He looked at his hand and saw how blistered and red it was. Then he saw the sword glow brightly as it disappeared from the ground only to reappear in its sheath.

He saw the barrier around each weapon and knew that he could not touch them. He sighed, he went through all this trouble just because he was curious about this onna. Well he was going to have his questions answered whether the girl wanted to talk or not.

He picked the girl up in his arms as he formed his youki cloud under his feet. He took to the sky as he was heading toward the village where Midoriko used to live.

---oOo---

Off in the forest three sets of eyes watched everything that happened out in the clearing. Kaede and two of the village elders had followed the strange girl to the clearing so they could see what was going on. They watched everything that the young girl did and were amazed at the power that she had displayed.

When they saw her defeat the last youkai they were going to let themselves be known. But then they saw that the girl would not back down from something that she was sensing, they decided to remain hidden to see what it was.

Kaede for her part could not detect the youkais aura that this girl was detecting. She watched to see what the girl was going to do. When the youkai lord of the west appeared they were all taken by surprise. They never knew that he was watching the battle. He had hidden his aura and his scent but this young girl knew that he was there.

They watched as the youkai lord battled with the girl. They could do nothing to help her, they could not hope to defeat a youkai of his caliber. When the girl was finally defeated they saw him pick her up as he formed his youkai cloud and flew away with her.

The three of them finally came out of their hiding place as one of the men turned to Kaede and asked, "Lady Kaede? Do you know who that young girl was?"

Kaede was deep in thought as she answered, "No, I don't know who she is, but whoever she is, she is very powerful. Her powers are great and I'm afraid that the youkai lord will not stop until he gets the answers to his questions."

They all turned as they made their way back to the village. As they were walking Kaede was getting some ideas of who that girl was. 'So Lord Inutaisho, you have taken the girl because you want some answers to her origin. But I suspect that ye motives are more than this. I suspect that ye have taken the young girl to be the mate for your eldest son. She is powerful in her own right and a mating between the two will be most beneficial to you.'

No one said a word as they continued heading toward the village. They all knew one thing though. That the reason the Youkai Lord had taken the female is because he has plans for her, and his plans included his son and heir to the west.

---oOo---

Well hello everyone! It's been a while since I have posted a story. Well I am sorry for the long wait. After my last story Destined for Me, I had to have eye surgery to fix my problem. It took time to heal and now that I'm better I will be writing more often.

I want to give special thanks to Advi for being the beta on this story and for keeping me straight as the story progressed. When I would get stuck in a part of the story she was always there for me to help. Thanks Advi you're the greatest!

This story is rated M for future lemons in the story. So if you don't like them I will mark the start and finish so you can avoid them. But I'm not removing them, if you don't like to read them then please skip this story and read another.

Now, Kagome is taken by Lord Inutaisho himself, he is heading towards Midoriko village to see if her sword and the Shikon No Tama is still there.

What will he find when he finally gets there? Well you have to follow the story as it progresses through each stage. For those of you that have read my stories, you know how I love to put twist and turns.

Until the next chapter!

Ja ne!