end only to begin again

Chapter 7

My new Neko.


Traveling east she kept to the forest away from villages, she now understood why Inuyasha hated villages, 'They stink!' she thought.

The day was rather uneventful until the sun started to set. While walking through the forest she heard a noise, she knew that someone was fighting nearby. Kagome was not the type of person who could walk away from someone who may be in need, so she quickly ran in the direction she heard the fight coming from.

She came upon a clearing, there were four youkai fighting. Three oni were fighting one nekomata youki. The three oni where surrounding the transformed neko. The neko was the opposite coloring of Kerira, where she was while this nekomata was black; where Kerira was black this one was white.

Kagome watched from behind the tree as the oni made to attack. Without thinking, and driven by the need to protect something that so reminded her of a friend, she jumped in the mists of the fight, startling all present.

"Female, what do you think you are doing?" asked an oni with the blue skin.

Kagome looked at him, "I will not allow you to harm this neko. Leave with your lives now or be relieved of your lives... Matters not to me." she stated in complete confidence as her hands inched toward her sword Tessaiga.

The oni with the green skin laughed, "You think a female youkai can handle three males of our size!?" he asked in amusement as they circled the girl and neko.

"I do not think… I know." was all she said before unsheathing her sword. The sword transformed as she unsheathed it. That was when the first oni that spoke charged her with claws extended to a deadly length. She wasted no time in decapitating it, her soft and lilting voice rang out in the clearing, "Kaze no Kizu!" Three yellow blades of energy hit the oni killing it on contact. The remaining two oni watched in horrific awe, they had never seen a female so powerful. While she was attacking the first they fled leaving her and the neko behind.

Once the oni was dead she turned toward the neko, knowing the other two oni had retreated. "Hello there! Are you ok?" she asked kneeling to the now untransformed neko.

The neko looked up at her and mewled.

Kagome smiled, "Good." Looking at the cat her fingers itched to touch it, 'She is in need of a good grooming.' she thought forlornly. Getting back on her feet she turned to walk away and looking back over her shoulder. "I must be going now. Be more careful next time." she said to the neko with a smile.

The neko looked at the Inu youkai's retreating back and started to follow her.

Kagome noticed she now had a follower, she turned to the neko. "Did you want to come with me?"

The neko mewled in response and walked to her side.

Kagome giggled, "I could always use a friend. Traveling alone can be... lonely. Come!" she said holding out her arms for the neko to jump into.

The neko regarded her open arms as a clear invitation. After only a moments hesitation she jumped in her waiting arms. Settling herself in Kagome's arms she mewled her appreciation.

When the neko jumped in her arms Kagome got a good sniff of the wild cat that was in desperate need of a bath, 'You need a bath, and a good cut.' she thought to herself before telling the neko as much, "If you will travel with me then you need a bath and a trim."

The neko looked at her with a head tilt then playfully batted at her hair.

Sitting by the fire at her makeshift camp Kagome looked at the neko, "You need a name. I can't go around calling you neko all the time."

The neko looked at Kagome expectedly.

Tapping her index finger to her chin lightly she said, "How about Lasair? (Flame) You are a fire cat youkai after all. I had a good friend who looked like you almost. I mean you both are black and white but different places. Her name is Kerira. She is the companion and pet to my sister-friend Sango the taijiya (youkai slayer)." She finished with a smile while thinking of all the wonderful memories they had together.

The smile turned to a frown when she thought about what will happen if she fails. How all those here she loves might die in a bloody battle. Most importantly she had no idea where to go from there.

*~~~*
‘How will I find a new evil I know nothing of?'

For all she knew she could be heading in the opposite direction of this evil and she would not hear anything about it until it was too late. The villages she would pass could know nothing about it. In the beginning of the shard hunt they passed villages who knew nothing of Naraku. How would she know where to look?

'If I can't tell my friends who I am; then how can I meet enough new people and youkai to learn anything?'

'If I learned anything while hunting the shards and Naraku; it was to 'know thine enemy as you know thyself... Or something like that.' To know how to defeat them you have to know their weaknesses, like Naraku and his human heart. That was his weakness most of all, but not like he thought.'

'He thought that having the emotions he did from his human heart made him weak. But that was not the case.'

'His weakness was that the youkai Naraku who took over Onigumo was sadistically evil, but not immortal.'

'He was a spider youkai of no power; he could not take a human form like stronger youkai can. This is why he lied to the bandit. The moment he took over the bandit's body he was destined to die by my arrow.'

'What clues do I know to look for; and would I know when I found them?'

With Naraku it was the jewel, what is this new evil after? What are his goals, and how can I keep him from it?

*~~~*
She stayed awake thinking almost the whole night about the same questions and answers, but still don't know where to start. Racking her brain for an answer that kept being allusive: Where will she go from here? She is youkai now so talking to humans will be hard. Youkai don't really pay attention to the actions of other youkai unless they interfere with their lives. It was then she had a thought, 'Sesshomaru, Inuyasha's old brother is the lord of the west or something? Isn't it his job to find out if his lands and those that reside on it are safe and following the laws they set for them? Wouldn't he know if there was a mass murderer in Japan; or at least in his territory?' as she thought about those things, a plan started to formulate.

Now she knew where to begin

Kaze no Kizu ~ Wind Scar
Nekomata ~ mythical two-tailed monster cat
Neko ~ cat
Jeffrey's Japanese <->English Dictionary ~
http://dict.regex.info/cgi-bin/j-e/dict


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