Songs of the Soulless

Chapter 1:

The Girl with Three Blades

She was falling. Even though she knew that, she couldn't grasp the reason why. It was like her brain wouldn't let her admit that he pushed her. Kagome's mind replayed his words.

"You took Kikyo from me, so I'll take the others from you." His words were harsh as he yelled at her. The others went to stop him but even Sesshomaru was too late. As the blue light engulfed her small frame she felt the well being destroyed.

When she landed on the bottom the battle worn miko looked up expecting to see the roof of the well house, however there was nothing but a pink sky. Trembling from a mixture of exhaustion, blood-lose and fear she climbed out and took in her surroundings.

Kagome noticed she wasn't far from a large city, instantly she knew it was Edo. The well had taken her to the future, just not her own. Turning her gaze the young woman gasped. All but one side remained of the well. Inuyasha destroyed her only way home and as a result the magic held within was released before she had made it to her own era.

Anger took over her senses. He would pay for this! Even if she had to search all of Japan to find him, Kagome swore revenge. Some rustling in the bushes caught her attention just in time for a group of men to emerge.

As they took in her form, perverse smiles broke across their unattractive faces. Looking at each other, they nodded before approaching, no doubt trying to look cool and handsome. They were failing miserably seeing how she was used to being around demons that looked like gods. These men were ugly even by low-class human standards.

"Hey baby. What's a pretty little thing like you doing out here all alone? Yeah know it ain't safe in these parts, especially for women at night." The obvious leader stated, trying to sound suave and charming. The miko didn't bother to try and hold back the snarl that escaped her blood stained lips. These men would die if they tried to touch her. Her fingers twitched towards the blade on her left hip. It was a present from Totosai, its name was Saiyuki.

She noticed that they had moved to surround her and if it wasn't for the pain she was in she would have laughed. She was trained by Sesshomaru no simple human would be able to kill her on even a bad day. As the young woman got ready to lunge a man broke through the tree line.

"So this is where you bastards went. Look I know what's going on here but if I want to get paid I have to kill you guys. So who's first?" The stranger asked with a roguish grin. Silently Kagome moved slightly to avoid getting caught up in the man's job.

Her eyes took in his lean form. Despite his gangly appearance her trained eyes saw almost all of him was muscle. Blue eyes watched the fight or for a more accurate word massacre. The stranger was slaughtering them like nothing. It was when her vision started to blur that she gave up following him with her eyes.

When the screams ended and it was once again silent she approached him. Whether it was his intention or not, he had saved her from possibly dying from blood-lose. Stopping before him she looked up to meet his eyes. She was slightly surprised by just how much taller he was.

"Excuse me I just wanted to thank you. In this condition I may not have been able to kill them without losing my own life. I know you probably didn't do it on purpose but still thank you." Her voice was clear even though it held no volume. She would black out soon.

"You're right. I didn't do it to save you, but you're welcome. What's your name? I'll put it on your grave since you'll die from those wounds." His voice was softer this time. It was like the idea of her dying bothered him. Giving him a small smile she laughed.

"It's Kagome. My name is Kagome. What's yours?" The world was starting to spin and there was darkness eating away her sight.

"Mugen." With that one word, her world went black and she collapsed. Mugen quickly caught her only to be taken down himself. The woman weighed a ton! Pushing her off he noticed she was in armor, unlike anything he had ever seen.

"Why the hell would a woman need so much armor? Is she military or something?" The man whispered to himself. Taking the chance he took in her form from head to toe. She was pretty even cover in filth.

She wore a metal helmet with the only opening over her eyes. The piece over her mouth looked like the mouth of an oni that he had seen in old paintings. She wore a full breast plate with a smaller spiked piece that went around her shoulders over top. Her boots were also metal.

Her actual clothing was torn and practically destroyed revealing bruised and torn skin. He noticed that she wore tighter clothing underneath the battle kimono. Taking in her weapons he was surprised to see three swords, a bow and two quivers of arrows.

"Damn this chick must have some serious enemies to have all this shit." Mugen stated with a low whistle. A grown from the girl startled him. Wasn't she dead yet? A sudden feeling in his gut had Mugen stripping her of her armor and running with her back to their camp.

When he arrived his two traveling companions looked at him in bewilderment. He didn't care; he gently laid her down and told the girl named Fuu to start tending to her wounds. With that he left saying he would be back in a while.

Fuu looked at the man beside her. She had finished bandaging the girl and was now sitting with Jin waiting for Mugen to return. Neither of them had ever seen their friend act like that in the two years they had all been together. Just then Mugen walked into camp pulling a cart full of armor, weapons and some large bags.

"Mugen what is that stuff? And who is she?!" Fuu asked while pointing to the cart then to the sleeping woman. Jin simply nodded, signifying that he wanted to know as well.

"Her name is Kagome and this stuff is hers. I kinda saved her life from the group I was supposed to kill. Although she said she was in that condition before she ran into them. My gut told me to help her so I did." The vigilant stated while moving to sit next to the woman that was sleeping.

"You mean that this armor is her?" Jin asked in slight surprise.

"Yeah the weapons too. I've never heard of a woman using three blades before. Have you guys?" Mugen asked while keeping his eyes on Kagome.

"Well she's a fighter that's for sure. When I was cleaning the wounds I noticed that a lot of scarring all over her body." Fuu said sadly. She didn't even want to think of how she got them.

"It's weird. A girl as good-looking as her should be married with kids, not fighting in the woods. I mean think about it, it just doesn't make sense." Mugen muttered.

"Choice." The one word made everyone jump. There sets of eyes met blue. Forcing herself to sit up despite the young girls protests, grimacing she looked at them all. She held Mugen's gaze the longest before looking at the stars.

"It was my choice to fight. I could have married a lord or a prince but I chose to fight. It was my fault that the war had started I wasn't going to let everyone else go against him while I was safe and sound. So I fought and I will continue to fight. It's in my blood. I don't know any other way to live." Her voice was solid as if she had said the same thing over and over again.

"How was a war your fault?" A young girl asked. She looked fairly small and weak but the miko saw the fire in her eyes and smiled.

"It was my fault because I failed to protect something. I was the guardian of an artifact said to have great power and I failed to protect it and in actuality shattered it. A battle over the shards broke out and in the end a war was born. Thousands of innocent people died." Kagome didn't know how much of the battle against Naraku was recorded, so she would have to be careful.

"I see. I'm sorry to have brought up such bad memories. I'm Fuu by the way. This is Jin and that's Mugen. Oh and this is Momo." Fuu stated first pointing to the man with glasses then to Mugen who looked ready to catch her if she blacked out again and finally to a little sugar-glider.

"Nice to meet you all, I'm sorry for the intrusion. I honestly thought I'd be buried by now." She said only to laugh at Mugen's face. It hurt to laugh but at the same time felt good. Mugen felt entranced by her laugh, it was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard.

"What will you do next go back to your home?" Fuu asked curiously.

"I don't have a home. It was destroyed by a traitor. I'm going to hunt him down and get revenge for my friends and family. He took them from me and he will pay for it." Kagome all but growled. She had nearly forgotten about Inuyasha, so caught up in everything else. It might take her awhile but she would find him.

"I know! Why don't you travel with us? We are looking for the group that killed my father and uncle. Maybe you'll find a clue as to where this traitor is." Fuu said happily.

"I don't mind as long as it's ok with the men. I can help with hunting and dealing with anyone they send after you. I'm also good at making money and I can cook too." Kagome explained. It would be best to be with people who knew the behavior and customs of the era she was in.

"It's fine with me." Was Jin's curt reply.

"I don't care you had me with money and food." Mugen said before shifting to lie on his back. Taking that as a queue everyone else settled in for the night. This time when the darkness consumed her, her only thoughts were on Mugen.

To Be Continue

A.N.

This is another idea that came to me at work. I like this pairing and I want to hear your views on this. So like always please review and tell me what you think! *Smiles and Bows*