Author Note:
So, this was written for Priestess Skye's Weekly Challenge, and was supposed to be a oneshot....but I kind of like the story I've come up with.
So, if you think this is worth continuing, let me know!
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The face that launched a thousand ships - that's how history described her. A queen stolen by a prince, stolen by his love, taken to a faraway land to escape her loathsome king. History spoke of her beauty, her kindness, her heart, and the folly of her tragic romance that was never meant to be.
But Helen was of Sparta, and Helen was of Troy, and Helen had died long ago. Her story had been written, bound, and sold world 'round. A thousand ships had come for her, a war had been waged right before her eyes, and she had died in the name of jealousy, and revenge, and -most of all - love.
They say that those who ignore history are doomed repeat it and this is the one truth that Kagome knew best. For she knew of Helen and she knew of Troy's demise and she knew that she was royally screwed.
"LET ME GO!" Kagome screamed, slapping her captor in the face. He flinched, but her attempts persisted to be ineffectual at best.
"Lady Kagome, we are here to save you!" He insisted, trying to grab to her hands so that she could not hit him any more.
"I don't want to be saved! You're not rescuing me, you're kidnapping me!" She growled, resorting to kicking since her hands were currently being restrained. "Baka, you have to let me go!"
Her captor stumbled as she kicked him in a rather... sensitive spot, but managed to keep his balance. No matter how hard she fought he never faltered his hurried run.
When he had agreed to this task he was grateful for the chance to aid a woman he so admired, but he had not expected her to be so resistant. "You are our most treasured priestess, we cannot allow you to be ruined," he pleaded for her understanding as his unwavering footfalls continued to thud beneath him.
"I'm a lousy miko and you know it! They only reason I'm so revered is because of my looks!" She shouted, elbowing him in the ribs and kicking at the same time. "NOW, PUT ME DOWN!"
"Yes, my lady," the man gasped, dropping her as he fell to his knees, his wind momentarily stolen by the girl's fierce attacks. He had reached his destination anyway, now she was the hanyou's problem.
"Good, now take me back," she harrumphed as she scrambled to her feet and brushed off her wrinkled kimono.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, wench," a gruff voice sounded from the shadows, the silhouette of a man appearing amongst the trees. "We ain't just gonna let you hand yourself over to that bastard, not without a fight."
Her captor gasped and quickly bowed low, before jumping to his feet and disappearing into the woods.
"Inu-Inuyasha?" She stuttered, squinting into the darkness as his tell-tale red haori came into view. He grunted in affirmation and stepped into the clearing, the moonlight reflecting off his golden eyes and giving them an eery glow.
"Of course, who did you expect? I'm the only one around here with enough balls to stand up to your high and mighty self, Lady Kagome," he mocked.
"No, you're the only one around here stupid enough to not listen to reason!" She shouted, her fists clenching as she struggled not to strangle her old friend. He knew why she was doing this, he knew that it was her duty, but apparently his hard head prevented him from using his tiny, tiny brain.
"Reason?" He growled, his dog ears flattening against his skull. "Keh, only you would come up with some sick plan to hand yourself over to my brother and call it reason."
Kagome stomped her foot and walked right up to him, brandishing her finger like a sword as she poked him in the chest. "Listen, you know very well this whole thing wasn't my idea, but I did agree to it, and so did your brother," she hissed, her eyes narrowing. "Since everyone has seen fit to label me as the great and mighty miko of the East, then I'll do what I have to do and you won't stand in my way!"
Inuyasha looked away from her, a dark look coming over his face. "Kikyo wouldn't have agreed to this, she would have fought that bastard tooth and nail," he mumbled.
"Well, Kikyo is dead," she said bluntly, pulling her finger from his chest as if it burned. She turned away from him to hide the hurt in his eyes, but her voice betrayed her. "And I'm not her. I might look like her, and she might be the reason I am who I am, but we were never the same."
"Kagome-"
"Don't interrupt me, Inuyasha!" She warned, trying to ignore the pain she knew this caused him. She knew speaking of Kikyo's death was a low blow, but she had to make him understand. "You're right, Kikyo would have fought, she might even have won, but I'm not a fighter. I won't see anyone - demon or human - die when I can prevent it."
She felt firm arms wrap around her waist and warm breath tickle her ear as his chin came to rest on her shoulder. "But there's got to be another way," he whispered in desperation. "You can't marry him, Kagome, he doesn't even want you! He hates humans!"
She wriggled out of his embrace and took a few steps away, wrapping her arms across her chest as she tried not to cry. "No, he doesn't want me, but I think he wants a war even less," she said miserably. "And if we're married, there will be peace," she smiled weakly at him over her shoulder.
The moon made is hair shimmer like stars, but his face was dark and his expression darker. Kagome sighed. He looked away.
"But if you try and stop this, there will be war," she warned. "We may not be married yet, and he may hate me and my kind, but the moment the treaty was signed I became his. He'll fight for me if you take me away. You know he will."
"And I'll kill him!" Inuyasha growled fiercely.
"No, I will not have any wars fought on my behalf!" She cried in exasperation, wishing fiercely that this would just disappear. That for once she could just disappear
It had been two months since the treaty had been signed, two months since the engagement. She was the most revered miko of the East, the rumored reincarnation of the great priestess Kikyo, and she had a duty to protect her people the only way she knew how.
She was not a warrior like Kikyo had been, but she was the only priestess still alive who could keep the humans and the youkai from tearing each other apart. Kikyo had died nearly fifty years ago, felled by an evil sorceress who had placed a dark spell on her and her hanyou lover. She had been driven to madness by the spell and had sealed the half-demon Inuyasha to a tree, never to awaken again.
But Kikyo was a powerful priestess, she had overcome the spell in the few moments after her arrow had embedded itself in her lover's chest, and she took her own life. She wanted to make sure that the dark sorceress could never use her as a pawn again.
For fifty years the east had lamented the loss of their most beloved miko - that is, until Kagome came along. She was born to a poor family, raised in the very village Kikyo and her hanyou had met their demise. She had always bore an uncanny resemblance to the dead miko, and on her fifteenth birthday her holy powers made themselves known. She vanquished a demon that had snuck up on her while she gathered wood in the forest. The very next day Inuyasha had magically awoken from his fifty year trance and ended up on her doorstep, demanding to see girl who reeked of Kikyo.
What he found was Kagome, and what she inherited was a legacy. Rumors spread far and wide of the light spirited girl with fierce spiritual powers who had freed the hanyou companion of the once great Kikyo. Even though she hadn't actually freed him at all - he had simply woken up of his own accord, but it didn't matter. Kagome is a miko, Kikyo was a miko, and Kagome had taken Kikyo's place.
She became the miko of the East, and Inuyasha had never left her side. He said it was because he owed it to Kikyo to keep her reincarnated soul out of trouble. Kagome just figured it was because he was lost and lonely and had nowhere else to go.
Whatever the reason, somewhere along the line Kagome had grown to love him. He was the fist person she wanted to see in the morning and the last she wanted to see at night. Though he still grieved for Kikyo, he had come to live for Kagome. She was the reason he could still walk this earth, the reason he still drew air into his lungs.
Without her he was nothing, and now, she was going to leave him behind.
"But why Sesshoumaru?" He moaned. "Why, out of all the demon lords in Japan, did you have to pick my half-brother?"
The young miko scoffed. "Even if you won't ever admit it, Lord Sesshoumaru is probably the most powerful demon in the whole country. If he follows the treaty, he'll make sure the rest of the lords will too."
Inuyasha's ears flattened against his skull, his hand automatically going to the hilt of his sword. "Kagome, I can't let you do this. I won't let you."
And with that, he grabbed her around the waist and darted off into the forest.
"He'll find me, Inuyasha," she whispered as she clung to his arm and buried her face against his sleeve. "He'll find me and not even you can stop him. He'll search all of Japan... there's no place you can hide me."
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Chapter Notes:
Once again, if you think you would like to hear more of this story, just say so. I don't wanna take on another chapter story if people think this is good as it is.