InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Thief in the Night ❯ Execution at Dawn ( Chapter 1 )

 

Neko: cat

Seppuku: ritual suicide

Diamyo: Japanese feudal lord

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Kagome frantically fought her way through the hordes of youkai masters and human slaves. She still couldn't believe that Sango was going to be executed this morning for not only being a spy but the thief who stole the thrice-blasted Tetsusaiga! They were claiming that she had the same scent as the thief even though by her own knowledge no one had been able to get a good whiff of the guy since he had used holy powers to hide his scent. It was one of the few reasons the taiyoukai declared war in the first place. It was just ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. Sango had been guarding her while she did her daily mediation before dawn and the start of her work day. So, she couldn't have been the one to steal it! But would they listen to her? No! They refused to give Sango the benefit of a doubt because a miko was vouching for her honor. A poorly trained miko at that although the combined lands weren't privy to that closely guarded secret.

 

Closing her eyes to stave off the wave of tears threatening to fall down her cheeks, she pressed herself between two overzealous pig demons. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" one of them cried as Kagome shot between them like a greased spoon.

 

"Sorry," mumbled Kagome as she lost herself in the crowd. Looking around herself, she wondered what in the world she was doing here. Running around haphazardly wasn't going to save Sango and neither would panicking. She needed a plan, but what? She didn't have enough time to reconnoiter the city. She didn't know where anything was. All she had were some half trained miko abilities that would get her killed should anyone find out. Sure, they should have been trained long ago, but learning to take care of the Southern lands had taken its toll on her training time.

 

Guilt swept over her momentarily. She really shouldn't have left her duties behind, but she had wanted to do something useful for once. Sitting around all day dealing with self-centered daimyos, and figuring out how much rice she needed to tax in order to feed her castle and the growing army wasn't all it was cut out to be. It was just long hours sitting at a desk writing missives and seeing dignitaries. They didn't need her for that. She had advisors that were more capable at handling those things. She didn't even have a war to run since her double, Kikyo, was more versed in strategy then herself. Kikyo was the main reason she felt comfortable leaving her lands to seek after her best friend and closest advisor. She was the better general hands down. Kikyo had been so understanding too when she revealed her desire to rescue Sango, but gods did she wish she had the foresight to bring someone with her to help!

 

`Take a deep breathKagome. That's right deep breaths.' Feeling a little bit calmer, Kagome looked around herself. She was in a giant courtyard with hundreds of people who had all come to see the spectacle of a human battling the taiyoukai, himself. It was a battle simply unheard of really. Sighting the dueling ring, she cringed as she fought to stave off the despair that she would be unable to save Sango.

 

Mentally berating herself over her lack of self-control, a soothing thought flitted through her head. `At leastyoukai havehonor.' Clinging to this line of thought, she reminded herself that they were allowing Sango the chance to defend herself in combat against her accuser. If she won, she was innocent of spying and thievery. If she lost, she was guilty and deserving of her death. It was a backward system of justice if one were to ask her. Of course, Sango technically wasn't spying. She was looking for the real thief that had started this whole mess in the first place!

 

'High ground,' she thought. `I needto get to high ground. It's what Miroku's always telling me;get the high ground and you'll win the battle seven out of ten times.' Pursing her lips, she looked around herself again and decided the only high ground she was going to get that wasn't already crowded with spectators was off in a corner above the manure pit.

 

Wrinkling her nose against the offensive smell, she gingerly picked her away over to the stall and climbed up on top of the roof. `Well, you won't need to be a youkai to find me after this,' she thought knowing she would most likely end up jeopardizing both her life and that of Sango's before the day ended. It was be just her luck, but she would gladly go to hell if she didn't try something! There was no way she was returning home to Miroku's sad face knowing she had not done everything in her power to protect his lady love. After all, Miroku was her cousin. He just hadn't been the same since Sango volunteered to follow some leads of her own two months prior. He barely managed to grope anyone since she left. At one time, he deserved to get slapped for his wandering hand; now, the servants did it out of nostalgia.

 

It had nearly broken her heart when she saw Miroku's face crumble in despair when an injured Kirara had returned to the castle two days ago. He had barely been able to stand after Kirara informed them that Sango had been captured by slave traders in the woods twenty miles from the castle and when presented for selling had been identified as a spy. Watching him leave the room tottering like a drunk old man made her determined to leave at once to save her friend.

 

So here she was, sitting above a pile of horse manure, with her mind going crazy because she couldn't do anything to stop the events about to unfold. It was moments like these that made her wish she hadn't snuck off in the middle of the night leaving all her guards and friends behind and Kikyo as acting regent. Of course, very few would even notice she was gone since Kikyo took care of all the public engagements. It worked out well for the two girls. Kagome was exceedingly glad her parents had discovered the look-a-like some ten years past and brought her to train with their daughter. It made everything so much easier and allowed what abilities she had as a miko to get half the training that they had.

 

Turning her attention back to the macabre scene in front of her, she felt her stomach do flip flops. There were so many people here looking on this fight as entertainment and not for the very serious nature of the accusation. Rumor had spread that Sango was given the honor of choosing a weapon from Lord Sesshoumaru's personal armory. Grumbling, she settled herself against the wooden planks protecting the fresh fertilizer beneath her from the direct force of the sun. No one wanted to smell manure all day long, especially sun baked manure. The stench of decay was never going to leave her.

 

The clang of a gong reverberated in the air, cutting through the noise and through Kagome's jumbled thoughts like water through a sieve. Jerking her gaze to the castle gate, she watched as Sango was brought out in chains to stand in the middle of the arena. She looked a little haggard from her journey with bags under her eyes, and her skin had taken on a yellow hue. Her clothes were frayed at the cuffs and hem and stained with what may have been blood. At least she was clean. Kagome fervently prayed that they hadn't resorted to torture to coerce a guilty plea out of her. She'd have preferred Sango to save herself and tell everything rather then go through so much pain. Tears trickled down her face as her mind spun in circles.

 

Another crash of the gong signaled the arrival of the taiyoukai. Kagome looked closely at her fellow ruler and newly acquired enemy these six months past. His silver hair flowed freely behind him making Kagome scoff. `He'll get that caught in a sword in two minutes flat,' she thought looking at the smooth silky mass of it. `Although it figures, he'd have better hair then nine out of ten women.' Turning her attention to something other then his gorgeous hair, she noticed two dark red marks gracing each cheekbone. Perhaps it was some sort of war paint although rumor had it he was never seen without them if he was seen at all. If they were a birthmark, they looked oddly symmetrical to her. He was dressed in a traditional costume of white kimono and armor with red bands on the sleeve cuff and a red patch on his left shoulder. The haori was tied shut with a yellow obi with a blue and yellow alternating pattern on the ends. A white pelt lay over his right shoulder, a symbol of his rank as an inu-taiyoukai.

 

Peering closer at him, she tried to figure out just what was wrong with the picture. At first glance, he was the perfect leader: calm, graceful, confident, and possessing a glare to still the heart of any man. `Glare?' thought Kagome. `Where did that come from?' Yet as she looked on the infamous and until now unidentifiable taiyoukai, she realized that he wasn't all that pleased with the noisy crowd. With his stare sweeping the masses, silence enfolded on the once bustling courtyard. Satisfied, he turned to Sango and motioned her guards to release her chains and hand her the katana and giant boomerang she had chosen from his armory.

 

Kagome blinked. `Wait a minute. I thought Sango was the only one who had a boomerang like that, and I know she left that behind! What is the taiyoukai doing with a mirror copy of Hiraikotsu?'

 

Watching Sango heft the heavy boomerang in one hand and holding the katana in the other, she felt her mouth go dry. This was going to be a battle to the death, no doubts about it. Turning her gaze to the taiyoukai, she noticed that he kept his two swords sheathed at his waist and merely stood at the ready. A wandering breeze swept past the duelists causing Sango to shiver and Sesshoumaru's hair, pelt, and left sleeve to billow out behind him. Blinking again, Kagome thought, `What's this? He doesn't have a left arm?' Hope blossomed in her at the thought that perhaps this handicap would be the edge Sango needed to win.

 

Closing her eyes against the thought of losing Sango, she caught the half whisper of the two pig youkai she had offended earlier who were now standing beneath her. “I heard that he lost his arm while fighting the thief. That's why he got away, and we're in this war to begin with.”

 

“Nah, I heard he got poisoned by a miko so they had to amputate the arm to keep him alive.”

 

“Poison can't hurt a youkai!”

 

“Not normally no, but it's a miko. Who knows what their energy can do.”

 

“True. Still, I heard that the guards who found him returning home were executed for lax discipline.”

 

“Didn't he disembowel them? Or was that burned alive?”

 

“I think it was both. Either way, quite painful way to die.”

 

“Yes, I wonder what he'll do to this cute little thing. To bad we can't make a slave out of her. She shows some spirit I would just love to try out in the bed chamber.”

 

“Ha! Like you could even convince a woman to clean it, let alone occupy your bed.”

 

“I'll have you know—“

 

Kagome shuddered listening to the conversation below. She remembered the report she had received six months ago from Matsu, the sentry who sounded the alarm the night the thief sought shelter in her lands. He had hidden himself in the foliage and watched the last half of the battle or what little battle there had been. He had played it smart and stayed hidden after realizing two lone men could not bring in the youkai, wounded though he may have been. At least now she knew who the intruder was. Shaking her head, she could little fault the taiyoukai from demanding the thief be handed over as well as the Tetsusaiga. Her troops had humiliated the poor man by causing the loss of an arm and the loss of his prey.

 

The clang of steel against steel as Sesshoumaru parried the first strike jerked Kagome out of her wandering thoughts to focus on the fight before her. Her jaw dropped as the crowd gave out a muffled cheer before his silent glare stilled their voices. His sword, drawn at the last moment to still the taijiya's blade, filled the air with an evil aura. Her stomach nearly emptied its contents feeling the thick oily aura sliding over her skin. Gulping down her gag reflex, she gritted her teeth and held onto the edge of the roof for dear life as she watched.

 

—Sango—

 

Quickly throwing the woman off of him, he moved in to slice across her abdomen where she knelt on the ground, but she was too quick. Swinging the Hiraikotsu look-alike to rest between them, she braced herself on the ground as the force of his blow against the bone cracked through the air. Recovering, he kicked the bone boomerang causing a hairline crack to form in the tough material. Smiling cruelly, he struck it again with the hilt of his sword causing the crack to spread. Sango gritted her teeth against the rain of blows knowing her make-shift shield would give at any moment. Just as the last blow hit her weapon, breaking it in half, she dropped to her back and brought her sword up to pierce his unprotected side; the left side where his arm had been removed to halt the poison of a miko's arrow. Grasping the blade where it pierced his ribs below his heart, he jerked it from his body and out of the taijiya's grasp and flung it away.

 

Backpedaling, the taijiya wondered just how she was supposed to defend herself when he had so effectively disarmed her. Eyes trailing to the discarded katana, she prayed that she would be able to dodge the youkai long enough to regain it. Standing to her feet, she watched as he advanced slowly towards her, circling her. Turning with him, maintaining eye contact with the demon lord, Sango began to shuffle ever closer to her fallen katana. She would need it to defend herself and soon. Arms and knees slightly bent, balancing on the balls of her feet, she stood poised to throw herself to the ground should her opponent decide to stop playing with her and attack.

 

Carefully watching him, she noticed a flicker of thought in his golden eyes. Freezing with her foot sliding behind her, she balanced her center of gravity and stared at the inu-taiyoukai. “Where do you think you're going?” he asked with the faint edge of condescension shadowing his cold voice.

 

Sango gulped as she settled lower into her stance. He had known from the beginning what she had in mind. Indeed, it truly was the only choice left to her. The moments stretched out as the silence became heavy with anticipation. The slight narrowing of his eyes was the only warning he gave Sango as he leapt forward, intent on capturing her once and for all. Quickly springing to the left, she landed hard against the ground, bruising her shoulder in the process. Panting hard, she scrambled to her feet and half stumbled, half ran to her fallen katana. Only a few feet away from the coveted weapon, she felt something slam into her body, tumbling her to the ground. Gasping, she closed her eyes and waited for the sharp prick of his claws rending through her flesh as time slowed down. Hearing a roar of outrage come from the crowd, she pried her eyes open as she felt the weight on top of her magically disappear.

 

Flipping onto her back, she saw her best friend, her constant companion standing above her. It was the fire-neko Kirara come to protect her mistress. Crying, she wondered if the neko had ever made it back home. Knowing it was to late, she started to crawl the remaining distance to her weapon, fearing for the Kirara's life.

 

Growling, Kirara stood in front of Sango, half crouched in a battle stance as the taiyoukai righted himself. Unfazed by the disturbance, he flashed forward and swiped his claws across her chest. Hissing, the neko swung her hind legs around so her body crashed into his, hoping to gain her mistress time to arm herself.

 

Prepared for the attack, Sesshoumaru leaped over the neko to land in front of the taijiya just as she grasped the hilt of her fallen katana. Pulling out his sword from where he had sheathed it earlier, he slashed it across her chest as she rolled onto her back and brought the sword up in an arc to behead the valiant warrior. He had just committed seppuku on the once great Sango. Twin cries blended together to echo in the courtyard as Sesshoumaru whipped around to face the enraged neko. Smiling cruelly as he did to all his chosen victims, he brought his sword up and flew forward. As his sword pierced the neko's ribs, he felt a powerful energy slam into his body, flinging him backwards to the ground.

 

Burning daggers lodged in his skin as he brought his youki to bear and formed a shield around his body. Schooling his face against the pain, he regained his feet and looked around him. The dead body of the taijiya laid to his right while the neko gasped out her last breath in front of him as blood pooled beneath her battered body. Manure littered everything as people began to pick themselves off the ground where the power had flattened them. Nose wrinkling at the offensive smell, he looked for the culprit as his body fought to heal the energy burns. `Miko,' he thought as he sniffed the air recognizing the underlying sent of sulfur underneath the smell of freshly turned manure. Striding from the arena, he barked out orders to his guard. Eyes staring intently in front of him, he started to track the annoying human. She would not escape him.

 

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