𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗦; 𝗜𝗡𝗨𝗬𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗔

2

Many years had passed since Kate was reborn as Kikyo.

At the age of five, a wondering kannushi* had ventured into the village. He had sensed Kikyo's reiryoku and so decided to pass down his knowledge to her, taking Kikyo as his apprentice. The training she received was strict and harsh, perfectly normal for the time period. And would also help her in the long run, it was better to get injured in training than on the battle field.

Kikyo's sensei had taught her many things, such as showing her how to use reiryoku*, basic medical knowledge from the time period and how to be a proficient archer with a saigu-yumi*. Kikyo had been grateful to her sensei when he had taken in Kaede and herself, after their parents had been victims of a small uprising in their birth village.

As Kikyo grew older and wiser in age, becoming a full fledged miko at the age of fifteen. Her sensei had given his blessing for Kikyo to venture off on her own, knowing that she could handle anything that was thrown at her. And the reborn miko did just that, taking Kaede with her to venture off on their own. But not before giving a teary goodbye to their sensei.

Within a month of travelling, the two miko's began to gain a reputation, on top of Kikyo's own reputation as the miko of the shikon no tama and that also brought more enemies to them. One of the smarter yokai's* had carefully  ambushed the pair of miko's in an attempt to gain the shikon no tama, costing Kaede her right eye. A dark sense of satisfaction overcame Kikyo when she purified the yokai.

Kikyo tore a bit of cloth, carefully tying it around Kaede's bleeding eye socket. Her arms wrapped protectively around
the younger girl, Kaede crying face buried itself into Kikyo's chest. The older miko softly brushed her hand in Kaede's hair, trying to comfort the younger girl. It seemed to have a positive effect on Kaede as she pulled herself away from Kikyo.

"It hurts..." whimpered Kaede with her hand touching the right side of her face. Kikyo picked up Kaede, ignoring the deceased yokai bodies that was around them. She sprinted to the nearest village that they had passed by. "I've lost my eye."

"I-I'm sorry, imouto,*" Kikyo whispered with a sad smile, she couldn't look at Kaede without feeling guilty. This was her fault, she should've been paying more attention to her surroundings and then this incident wouldn't have happened. She wanted to rage and scream in anger. However, Kikyo couldn't do that, not while Kaede was here. "We're nearly here."

"It wasn't your fault, onee-chan," Kaede gave a pained smile to Kikyo, who bite her lip to stop herself from saying that it was her fault. "This is a lesson, a lesson to show that we're breakable," Kikyo's lips curved into a small smile. When did Kaede get so wise?

"When did you get so wise?" Questioned Kikyo. Kaede quietly giggled into her hand. The village was fast approaching in the distance. "You can tell me, once the doctor has checked you over. Okay?" Kaede nodded to the older miko.

Meanwhile, an imposing male figure wandered into yokai graveyard, that Kikyo and Kaede had left. A scaly blue hand went to grab the man's foot, however the hand didn't get the chance to reach the figure's foot as it was sliced into little pieces. The male glanced at the unmoving hand, he brought out a cloth to wipe away the blood for his hand, and then continuing on.

Kikyo and Kaede spent their days traveling from village to village, helping anyone who needed their assistance.
And coming across many different people on their travels. Kikyo even had a marriage proposal from snobby Lord's   son which she definitely didn't accept.

"Onee-chan, when do you think that we will arrive at the next village?" Kaeda asked. The two miko's had been travelling for two days, using the forest's natural resources until they could reach the other village.

"The village is another half day travel from here. It would be a good time to have a small rest before continuing on.  Don't you agree?" Kikyo said as she rested against a tree, Kaede moved to sit down near the older girl.

"Onee-chan, can you pass the water pouch, please," Kaede gave a polite smile as Kikyo passed the younger girl the water pouch. Kikyo placed her Saigu-Yumi on her lap, sliding her fingers down the wood of the Saigu-Yumi. "Do you sense that?" Whispered Kaede, trying to keep her voice low as to not let the unwanted presences to know that the mikos's knew that they were there.

Kikyo placed a figure to her lips, indicating that Kaede should be quiet. The older miko placed an arrow into her Saigu-Yumi, and tried to pin point the exact location of the unknown guests, there was multiple from what she could tell and human too. Kikyo held her weapon steady in the direction of the unknowns, not releasing the arrow, yet. Kaede brought out two shikigami* to protect herself and Kikyo.

"It's unwise to attack to miko's without good reason, so I advise you to come out slowly. Otherwise I won't hesitate to use this," Kikyo warned, giving the people a fair chance to come out before she shot them. Even as the people, who were dressed in shinobi*-type armour, appeared in front of the two miko, Kikyo didn't let her guard down. Some humans wanted the shikon no tama just as much as the demons. Although, these people did looked somewhat familiar to Kikyo.

"Miko-sama, we are not here for the shikon no tama," the leader told. Kikyo didn't seem overly convinced by the man. Seeing the wary expression on Kikyo face must have clued him in. "My name is Kawahire, and I am the head  of the yokai taijiya village, we specialise on slaying evil yokai."

"The yokai taijiya village? I think I have heard of such a village and the your exploits. I must admit your reputation proceeds you. But I wonder... why are you here?" Kikyo mused. To the untrained eye it would look like Kikyo was relaxed but she wasn't.

"The only explanation would be that they are on a mission, onee-chan," chirped Kaede. Kikyo mentally agreed with her younger sibling. "Are you Kawahire-san? On a mission?" Kawahire gave a small smile to Kaede.

"Your very intelligent for someone so young, which is not surprising as you are traveling with the miko of the shikon no tama," Kawahire comment. "My apologies but I must leave. It was an honour meeting you..." Kikyo weapon when she sensed that they were a good distance away.

"Let's continue on."

 

Japanese terms

*Kannushi is a japanese priest.

*Reiryoku is a set of supernatural abilities aligned with the spiritual sensitivity and energy of the user.

* Saigu-Yumi (Ceremonial Bow) is a symmetrical bow based on the Mongolian recurved bow. The Bow is said to be one of the oldest and most sacred Japanese weapons. Miko's have often used these bows.

*Yokai is a japanese term for demon.

*Imouto is a japanese term for a little/younger sister.

*Onee is a japanese term for older sister.

*Shikigami are a kind of spirit summoned to serve a practitioner of onmyōdō.

*Shinobi is a japanese term for ninja.

*Yokai taijiya village is the Demon slayers village.