Heavenly Arrows of Truth by MikkaMiko

Chapter 1

“Kagome… Kagome, wake up.”

Kagome stirred as the soft voice called to her. Slowly sitting up so as to not wake the sleeping kit next to her, she rubbed her blue eyes to try and wake up more. “Midoriko? What’s wrong?” After clearing her vision enough she turned to look at the spirit sitting before her. Midoriko had started coming to her nightly about a month ago. It was comforting for the young miko to be able to talk with someone who actually understood her as more than just the girl from the future. Usually their talks revolved around her missing abilities due to the fact that her true soul was sealed away inside herself, or about what was expected to come with the upcoming war with Naraku and how her current state would fare in the battle. This time however was going to be a different and more serious topic, as Kagome could tell by the look on the dead miko’s face.

Sitting up straighter she gave the woman her full attention. The worried look on her face had Kagome searching the surrounding area with her aura looking for any possible enemies nearby. Seeing dark hair sway in a ghostly breeze as her companion shook her head gently, Kagome relaxed. Pulling her aura back into herself to keep from waking her sleeping companions, her eyes never left the darker gaze meeting hers. “Something is coming, I can’t tell what it is exactly but I need you to be careful. We are so close to figuring out the secret of the seal and we can’t risk losing any progress. Promise you won’t take any unnecessary risks.” The woman’s voice remained soft but strict at the same time. Kagome nodded in agreement. The warning, though vague, was as clear to Kagome as her mother warning her about touching the stove as a child.

Now that they were on the same page, blue eyes started to grow heavy once more. Deciding to get a little more sleep before everyone else woke up for the day, Kagome laid down and calmed her mind. Sleep, however, eluded her as all the possible meanings behind the warning swam through her mind. As the sun rose, she decided to forgo trying to sleep anymore and got started on her morning routine. Though she went through all her normal motions, her mind was focused on her mentor and her lessons for the morning. They must be prepared for whatever was to come, even if it was something she couldn’t physically take care of on her own.

The morning went by smoothly and quickly for once, and before anyone knew it they were already on the move for the day. It was nearing lunch time when Kagome felt it. Kikyo was close, and the closer they got to her it became more evident to everyone in the group as Inuyasha became more and more anxious. It was obvious he was itching to leave the group and go find the undead miko rather than waiting for them to make camp that night as was his usual. With a heavy sigh, Kagome turned her eyes to the opposite side of the road then where the woman’s presence came from. “Just go to her, Inuyasha. We’ll head to the next village and just wait for you there.” Shocked yet grateful for her words, Inuyasha nodded before taking off quickly in Kikyo’s direction.

Shocked by their friend's new level of maturity, Sango and Miroku smiled at her. They were tired of always having to cheer the younger girl up when he left so having her willingly send him off like she had was a pleasant change of pace.”Kagome, is everything alright?” Sango questioned as they all began the trek to the mentioned village. Kagome watched as Shippo and Miroku took the lead and allowed another softer sigh to escape her as her shoulders sagged for a moment. “I’m fine. I guess I’m just tired of always being disappointed in him. I’ve finally come to the conclusion that if he wants to be with her so bad then I’m done getting in his way. To be honest if it wasn’t for the fact that it would literally kill me, I’d just give her soul back to her and be done with the whole thing already.”

Sango was truly shocked and slightly horrified at the girl’s confession. The clear anguish in her voice was a new addition, as Kagome was always so happy about everything, and it stirred an unknown feeling inside of the brunette. “You sound like you’re giving up on Inuyasha. While I’m glad to hear that you don’t want to die for that ending, I don’t understand. I thought you loved him?” Brown eyes glanced at the shorter girl in confusion. While she was tired of seeing her hurt by their hanyo friend constantly, she didn’t want her to just give up on something that she’s truly wanted for as long as she’s known the girl.

Letting her head fall into a slight nod, dark hair shifted to cover her eyes momentarily before shifting again to watch as Shippo rode on Miroku’s shoulder before her. “I do love him, Sango. The only difference is that I’m not in love with him anymore. It’s become increasingly obvious that I’ll never be more to him than a friend. Why should I continue fighting for something that I know will never come to pass?” Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath she turned towards her companion and opened her eyes. “Even if something happened to Kikyo, he would only look to me as a replacement and that’s not what I am. Believe me though, if I genuinely thought that there was a chance that he could really love me I’d continue to fight.”

“As it stands however, all the evidence shows otherwise. If you looked at his face when he left, he was shocked of course but mostly he was grateful and relieved that I told him to go. No regret, just gratitude. I’m just done trying to fight a losing battle all the time.” Taking another deep breath, Kagome released all of the tension from her body on the exhale. Glad to have finally gotten everything off her chest, the young girl continued walking peacefully. Sango continued to watch her for a moment longer before turning back to the road ahead. She wasn’t completely sure she agreed with her friend’s assessment, however she was glad that she was finally starting to put her own happiness first finally.

They continued their walk in relative silence, except for Shippo, who chattered on enough for everyone. Kagome couldn’t keep the small smile from her lips as she continued to watch the kit joke and play with the monk. By the time the small group realized that they were being surrounded it was too late to do anything about it. The bandits had noticed them a short time ago and were quickly moving into position to surround them. As they drew closer it was clear that their leering gaze was focused on Sango and Kagome, as they were closing off all escape routes.

As Miroku and Sango drew closer to her, Kagome grabbed Shippo and Kilala from the others. Moving into defensive positions, the two prepared for the coming fight, planning to protect Kagome, as she had no natural defenses against humans. Seeing this, the leader of the group stepped forward a bit. “Aw. No need to be like that. We just want to have a little fun. That’s all.” His words slurred out as he moved closer to Sango, his hand outstretched to land on her shoulder. Disgusted by the man’s actions, Sango smacked the offending limb away from herself and glared at him. Anger covered his once playful features as the show of blatant disrespect was registered in his drunken mind. Giving the signal to his men to move in and capture them the three humans tensed.

As Sango and Miroku moved to sandwich Kagome between them, she looked around for a break in their formation so they could escape. As the fight waged on around her she was starting to panic, looking off to the side she caught Midoriko under a tree behind one of the bandits. Midoriko’s look of horror confirmed to her that not only was this the warning they had been trying to prepare for this morning, but there was also no way to escape without too much risk. All sound seemed to fade away into the distance as she watched Sango and Miroku’s unconscious bodies fall into the hands of the men surrounding them.

Turning her tear filled eyes back to Midoriko she mouthed the words “help us” as a sharp pain engulfed the back of her head. The last thing she saw and heard was Shippo and Kilala being ripped from her arms along with the child’s voice mixing with Midoriko’s calling her name. She felt herself fall and then being caught as her vision went black, and her consciousness fell into the oblivion of sleep.