Disclaimer: This piece is based on 'Inuyasha', owned by Rumiko Takahashi. No copyright infringement intended or implied.

Spider Silk

"Are you sure you won't reconsider, Kikyo?" asked the priest as they stood on the porch of the temple, barely lit by the first peeping rays of dawn. "Midaro would be very happy to foster Kaede."

The young miko shifted her bow minutely, before laying a hand on top of Kaede's head, as the child clung to Kikyo's red-clad leg. "I thank-you for your concern, master," she replied. "But Kaede has lost too much already. She refused to stay behind, and I won't make her."

The elderly man sighed and shook his head. "You are no longer my student, and you were ever too determined to listen to my best advice." He made a gesture of blessing. "The kami watch your path, my dear."

-^--^--^--^--^-

Kikyo was wondering if she had made the right decision before the first day was out. She gratefully accepted the offer of a ride for her exhausted sister and herself. The cloth merchant was talkative and charming, and openly admiring of her determination to take care of her little sister. When he warned against the quality of the food at the only public house in reach by evening, she accepted his invitation to share a camp.

He insisted on providing the rice for their supper, though he graciously accepted her spices and dried fish. If he seemed a bit too effusive about the quality of her cooking, Kikyo ignored it as she concentrated on her tired--and rather grumpy--little sister. Cocooned in a spare kimono, Kaede was quickly asleep. A bit foot-sore herself, Kikyo deflected attempts to continue a conversation. Insisting on setting protective wards around the camp, she set further charms on the wagon, overriding his protestations with the observation that she owed him a favor for the ride.

The shivering pulse of warning from her wards, closely followed by a high-pitched yowl, snapped Kikyo awake. In the dark, she grabbed her bow and quiver, pulling out the bowstring from an inner pocket with her other hand. Not yet sitting up, she closed her eyes to concentrate on her miko senses. On the other side of the fire pit, she heard Katsuro swearing softly.

There were half a dozen youkai surrounding the camp, not terribly strong, but not weak, either. But, they were surrounding the camp. Even as she thought that, a fresh howl went up, and a pair began to move towards the camp from opposite directions.

Kikyo reacted as she had been trained. A barrier went up. Jumping to her feet, she strung the bow and slapped an arrow across the stock in one smooth movement. Shrieks of pain and fear rose as something collided with the barrier. The youkai fled, crying out as they did.

"Miko! He's hired a miko!"

She heard that, very clearly.

The youki faded, but did not vanish. Shrugging her quiver into its proper position on her back, Kikyo frowned to herself.

"Sister?" came the whisper from the pale, barely visible heap that was Kaede. "Is it safe?"

"For the moment," she said, turning slowly, looking with both eyes and inner senses.

"Should I build up the fire?"

"Not yet, Kaede." She continued her slow turn. "They may come back." She sensed movement behind her. "Katsuro-san?"

"Just going to check the horses, miko-san," he replied, his voice sounding strained.

That seemed to be a good idea, given the clamor they were still making. Taking a deep breath, Kikyo replaced her arrow, wondering why she should be faced with a youkai problem on her very first night on her own. Considering, she brought the barrier down, not yet being skilled enough to hold it without constant concentration. Checking briefly with Kaede, Kikyo then went to check the physical loci of her ward spells.

"Sister said not to make a fire!" she heard, as she finished her checks.

"Shut up, kid," she heard the merchant reply, with none of the roguish charm of yesterday. "If your sister thinks having a fire makes us less safe, she doesn't know as much about youkai as she thinks she does."

"Sister knows lots about youkai!" Kaede protested. "The training master said she was the best he's ever taught!"

"If she's so smart, why didn't she trap and kill them?" he snapped.

"Perhaps, because it can be more dangerous to kill an intelligent youkai, than simply dissuade it from attacking." Kikyo moved silently into the area around the fire pit. She received a startled, easily-visible glance from the merchant as the first flames flared. "Tell me, merchant; why did the youkai sound as if they knew you?"

He started. "What?" He lurched to his feet. "What are you talking about?"

She gave him her best mask. "I heard one of them clearly say that 'he' had hired a miko. I also noticed that something in your cart emanates youki."

Dismay flickered across his face, before he turned away, scrubbing his face with his hands. Kikyo watched him warily.

"You must forgive me, Kikyo-san," he said, turning back with a smile. "Being awoken before time makes me surly. And yes, I am carrying youkai spider-silk. Very popular among some of the eastern daimyo, you know."

"So why hasn't the silk been purified?" she asked.

"Perhaps you would like to do so?" he asked. "I'm sure you could do it easily."

"You didn't answer the question," she responded. "Traveling with un-purified silk is dangerous. Your cart carried spells to hide the silk, but they've faded too much: the youki leaks through."

"Do you know how much a monk or priest charges, to purify that silk?" His smile slipped a trifle.

"Given what I was taught, I suspect most refuse."

His smile twisted. "It takes a bribe--or finding a rogue. I don't suppose..."

"No."

"Pity that. I would have paid you in gold. As it is--"

He'd been moving slowly as they talked. Now, he lunged for Kaede, knife appearing in his hand. He grabbed for her hair, and hauled her back against him, blade against her throat. Smiling nastily, he looked back at Kikyo. "You love your sister, don't you? So you'll do anything I ask?"

Kikyo looked back at him, and then slowly pulled an arrow out of her quiver. He gave her an astonished look. "You're bluffing!"

"No, she isn't."

The voice came from above, from a nearby tree. His head snapped around, jaw dropping as he made out Kaede peering through the branches. The next moment, he shrieked as light exploded in front of his face. Staggering backwards, he tripped and fell, knocking himself out on a rock.

Tiny bits of burning paper drifted down.

Kikyo lowered her bow, shoulders aching in release. "Wow," came Kaede's voice. "It worked! The shiki--shiki--the doll thing. You fooled him--you're so good--!"

"It was dark," she replied. "Come on down, Kaede. We have work to do."

-^--^--^--^--^-

Dawn came clearly and vividly. On the edge of the tiny meadow Kikyo knelt, ignoring the dew soaking her hakama. Bow across her lap, she watched the pile of silks on the far side, as they gleamed in colors impossible for human dyes. Youki swirled beyond the meadow, but she kept her defenses down, though ready to raise at a moment's thought. Behind her, the horse that had carried the chest snorted uneasily, while Kaede knelt by her side.

Light poured itself into form, transforming into something vaguely shaped like a woman, but with red, multifaceted eyes and long, twitching fingers that ended in chitinous claws. Behind the youkai, others made themselves visible just at the edge of the trees; two in the familiar forms of tanuki.

"Miko." The voice was whispery. "Is this a trap? Think you, a child barely walking, to destroy me?"

"The cloth merchant, Katsuro, cheated your companions of that silk, youkai-san," Kikyo said coldly. "And then compounded his wrongdoing, by attempting to use me to protect his ill-paid goods. I return the silk. You will cease pursuing him."

"Oh? Or what, little child?"

"I am trained to destroy youkai that threaten humans." With careful deliberation, Kikyo picked up her bow and the single arrow lying across it. Careful to keep the arrow's point away from the youkai, she raised the bow, aimed the arrow, and released. Power flared whitely as the arrow slammed deeply into the trunk of a nearby tree. She felt the shiver of fear flickering through most of the youkai.

"Ah. You have killed many, little maiden?"

"A few low-level youkai only."

"Indeed." The faceted eyes glinted as the youkai shifted its head, and the fingers clicked as she intertwined them. "So," continued the youkai after a long silence. "A novelty. You hate us, yet speak with us."

"I do not hate. I protect."

"Even a thief of a human?"

"From youkai, yes. He is punished--he has lost the silk. His customers are powerful--and will not be pleased."

Another silence, followed by a laugh.

"Amusing you are, little miko. Very well. This once, we will not spin a web against you. Be wise. Do not seek us out again." Red and black light flared. When it faded, youkai and silks had vanished, leaving a solitary spot of very intense emerald.

"A gift, for surprise, and amusement. We will remember, little miko."

Author's Notes: This is the longer piece that was shortened to a 1000 words for a prompt on the LiveJournal community, the WiltedRose, for the theme 'Dawn.' It was published back on December 2, 2009, but, in press of the holidays, I completely forgot to post this here, after the contest was over! I hope you enjoyed my little speculation on the beginning of Kikyo's miko career. If you are following the "With One Eye" serial, you may have noticed a tie-in with chapter 4 ("The Box"). I created the piece of spider silk, to add something a bit different than the other stuff one might have expected to see in a young woman's box of stuff. But, once having added the silk, I then had to write a story to explain it! ;)

(Won first place in the WiltedRose contest, and tied for third in the Feudal Association's category Drama, in the December 2009 voting.)