Amethyst Visions

Please review! The chapters should become more in-depth and interesting with the preliminary story background finished.

Disclaimer: I own Kaiya and nothing else of Inuyasha.

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“So, Naraku had a dark miko stop your aging when you were eighteen? Is that possible?” Kagome asked as they trekked through the dense forest foliage.

Kaiya lifted a tree branch and ducked beneath it, leaves brushing against her face as she glanced behind her. “Priestesses are capable of many things. You can do great things, Kagome, you merely have to learn.”

“And you let him?” With a grunt, Inuyasha cut through twisted tree limbs to clear more of a space. “Damnit, whose idea was it to go this way?”

“Yours,” Sango huffed, Kirara on her shoulder. Whirling around she smacked Miroku in the shoulder. “Watch your hands!”

With an innocent grin he protested, “It was the tree, I swear to you, my dearest Sango!”

Kaiya continued, the group ignoring the typical banter between the two. “He is my father; it is not my place to deny him. Besides, who wishes to grow old and die? There are worse fates than being young,” Kaiya’s foot slipped on the moist and muddy ground, but Inuyasha’s sudden arm around her waist to steady her kept her from falling. With a grateful smile on her lips and an answering blush on his face, Inuyasha released her and continued as if nothing had happened. “He became a demon so he could provide for me and protect me, and he asks so little of me in return.”

Inuyasha merely snorted, though he kept his mouth shut. Gradually their surroundings began to spread apart, the denser part of the forest being left behind so they could walk easily amongst the towering trees.

“Is that why your eyes are so strange?” Sango asked from behind, cautiously eyeing the man beside her and keeping her distance.

Kaiya turned a confused gaze on the girl. “How are my eyes strange?”

“Humans don’t have bright purple eyes. Only demons do, and even then I’ve never seen a demon with purple eyes,” Inuyasha replied with a smirk, wanting to laugh at the incredulous expression on her face.

“You are really the only people I have been around other than my father,” Kaiya replied, carefully studying their faces as if they were teasing her.

“What about Kagura and Kanna? Surely they’ve been around if that was Naraku’s palace,” Kagome interjected.

“Who?” questioned the princess as she brushed back a strand of hair which had fallen over her eyes. Despite the canopy of trees providing shade, the day was sweltering, and her blanket of ebony hair stuck to her neck and face uncomfortably. “No one was ever to know of me until my Father destroyed his enemies and became king. It was the only way to keep his enemies from finding out about me. I never even saw the guards, at least alive.” She bit her lip at the unpleasant memory of first exiting the palace to be surrounded by the dead bodies of fallen youkai guards and the horrible stench of blood and gore. “I had a nurse for a while to raise me, but the few times anyone other than my father was there, I was hidden. I saw no one.”

Sango sighed, a frown marring her beautiful face. She had hoped Naraku’s daughter would know of his plans, would at least know of Kohaku, but Kaiya was more in the dark of her father’s true deeds and whereabouts than anyone.

Kaiya could feel something tugging at her mind and she stopped, craning her head to the right to see if she could find the source of the familiar presence. She gave a small eep as Miroku crashed into her from behind, his arms wrapping about her slim waist to keep them both from crashing to the ground. Inuyasha drew Tessaiga with a furious growl as he, too, caught scent of the presence.

“How good of a protector will you be, Inuyasha, if you are unable to notice an enemy until they are on top of you?” Sesshoumaru fought the smirk that wished to cross his controlled features as he emerged from the shadows amongst the trees to the group’s right. His golden eyes roamed over to the princess, a flash of annoyance crossing their depths at the monk’s arms about her.

Inuyasha smirked arrogantly, snidely replying. “I didn’t think we’d be seeing you after last time. Come back to get your ass kicked by a girl again, Sesshoumaru?”

Golden eyes narrowed as they met the taunting gaze. He had been occasionally following the group the past two weeks, though he would never admit it. “I have my reasons for returning, hanyou,” his eyes slid to lock on the princess. Miroku released her, but remained in a protective stance by her side. Kaiya met his gaze without fear and Sesshoumaru felt a smirk tug at his lips once more. “You don’t know what she is. Once word gets out, more than just Naraku will come for her.”

“We already know demons are going to come after her for being Naraku’s daughter,” Inuyasha growled impatiently, flexing his hands against Tessaiga’s hilt. “Now fuck off, I’ll protect her.”

Kaiya’s amethyst eyes slid to the defiant hanyou with a smile. Sango and Kagome flanked her, Kirara ready to pounce off her master’s shoulder to transform any moment, and Inuyasha in the front with a perverted monk, all ready to fight to keep her safe. Her captors had become her friends, and she swallowed an emotional lump in her throat at the thought. Slowly she pulled forward, to step in front with Inuyasha and face against Sesshoumaru with all the dignity of her position and lineage. “Did you come for me because of my father?”

In silence Lord Sesshoumaru studied her, searching her delicate face for answers. This girl could not fall into the hands of Naraku or any other demon, and as much as he loathed the thought of traveling with his half-brother and his human companions, the penalty for allowing his pride to allow her to fall into a villain’s hands would be substantial. “I will not harm you. It is for my benefit that you not fall into anyone’s grasp, and I have come to ensure such an event does not happen.”

“Your concern is touching,” Kagome could have sworn she heard sarcasm in the princess’ words and grinned in amusement. Aside from Inuyasha, Kaiya was the only one to openly defy Lord Sesshoumaru to his face.

Annoyed, it took Sesshoumaru’s senses a bit longer to sense the youkai traveling quickly through the trees to his back, and with dispassionate golden eyes, he slid toukijin from its sheath, turning his back to the group as three boar youkai emerged from the brush with snarls of rage. Without a word, the three attacked in unison, and Kagome rushed by Kaiya’s side, pulling her away from the fray while the others began to fight. Possession of jewel shards and Naraku’s daughter created a perilous situation for the group, but these were the first hostile youkai to stumble upon them since their newest arrival.

Amethyst eyes watched in horror as Sesshoumaru parried with the largest of the boars, his sword clanking against the tough tusks as he avoided being impaled. He moved with an almost unseen grace and speed, and not for the first time Kaiya found him beautiful. As he slid his sword through the thick hide of the monstrous beast, his golden eyes locked upon hers and she found her head becoming light and dizzy. With a quick intake of breath, she fell, blackness consuming her as strong arms wrapped around her tiny frame to stop her descent.

“Is she alright?” Inuyasha rushed over to where Sesshoumaru knelt, the princess in his arms. The final two beasts slain, they huddled around, and Inuyasha fought the urge to shove his brother aside.

“She just passed out, I don’t know what happened,” Kagome fretted, her brown eyes glancing up at her companions.

“It was the first battle the princess has witnessed, perhaps it was too stressful for her,” Miroku suggested, as he fingered his staff idly to keep his hands occupied from the woman to his left.

Inuyasha growled, “She’s not a fucking flower!”

Sesshoumaru had not moved his attention from the human girl in his arms, attempting to ignore the increasing voices around him. When his eyes had locked on hers as he slayed the beast, the look within their depths had caused his heart to skip a moment before she had fallen. Now he sat observing her pale face for any signs of her waking. “Silence, whelp,” he growled softly before a fight could break out. “She is safe. I was expecting this to happen, only I did not anticipate it happening so soon.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Inuyasha snapped, sheathing Tessaiga.

Sesshoumaru spared a disdainful look at his half-brother before he returned his eyes to the girl. “Have you not wondered how a human can possess eyes of power? She is a seer.” A clawed finger brushed a lock of hair off her face.

At the gentle touch, Kaiya’s amethyst eyes flickered, slowly staring towards the sky as she waited for her vision to focus. Arms held her firmly and she turned to see who held her, but saw nothing. Blinking several times, her breathing became unsteady and panicked as her eyes looked about wildly. The brilliant light filtering through the trees did not reach her, the mane of silken silver hair was denied her. Only darkness greeted her. “I-I-I can’t see,” she whispered, her hands reaching out to grab hold of anything. Tears gathered in her panicked eyes, and her voice was frightened, “Kagome?”

Kagome grabbed her hands, trying to make her voice reassuring, but unable to keep the alarm out of her eyes as she glanced at the others. “It’s ok, I’m right here. We’re all here.”

Kaiya gripped her hands tightly, her voice louder, though she struggled to calm down. “Why can’t I see you?”

It was Sesshoumaru who answered her question. “You must lose your sight while your vision develops. It is what happens with all seers.” Her face turned towards his, but her eyes seemed to stare right through him, unseeing and with uncertainty in their depths. They were a stunning violet, glistening with unshed tears of confusion and fright, but now rings of smoke swirled around her outer iris. Such expressive eyes that betrayed every emotion within her, truly eyes to the soul. Breathtaking….

Only Miroku seemed to know what Sesshoumaru was talking about. “I thought that family line had died off centuries ago.” At the confused looks, he explained, “There was a line of humans who could see events, be it past, present, or future. It was rare, only occurring in a daughter every few generations.”

“And the eyes foretold which daughter possessed the sight?” asked Sango. At Miroku’s nod, she continued, “Then how did Naraku’s daughter get the sight?”

“Her mother’s family,” Kagome quipped, her hands squeezing her friend’s reassuringly. Kagome cared for the girl as much as the others. The sins of the princess’ father held no sway over Kagome’s opinion of her, and she knew the others were beginning to feel the same, even if it took them longer to realize it. “If it’s passed through the mother, it has to be. She must have been from the same family. Maybe the gift has just been dormant all this time.”

“Yeah, and maybe Naraku knew this about her family line,” Inuyasha said darkly, his silver bangs covering his flashing golden eyes. He could smell the salt of her tears in the air and see the worry on his friends’ faces and felt furious he could do nothing about it.

Kaiya did not hear him. She knew it was Sesshoumaru who held her, and she turned her attention to him, trying to find his face in the darkness, only able to pull forth the last image she had, of his handsome visage staring at her with such intensity it tightened her breath within her chest…just before the darkness consumed her. “Will I always be blind?” she whispered softly to him, wishing she could see his face as he answered, to gauge his answer.

Sesshoumaru stared into her eyes, though they could not see him and fought the unfamiliar lump in his throat. She looked so lost, this woman who had been defiant and vivacious. “I do not know,” he answered steadily, pushing aside any feeling at the words.