InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Better Things than You ❯ Into the Village ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. That is the property of Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Productions.

 

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! This chapter probably wouldn't be written yet if I hadn't had the feedback I did. It took so long to get out because I had a lot I needed to get in. This is definitely one of my longer chapters to date.

 

Chapter 7

 

It was early in the morning, and Inuyasha was restless. He had only been on the ship for a week, but it was trying his patience. Dressing quickly, he walked out onto the deck, trying to ease his nerves. He still questioned his decision to rush off after Miroku. What if Kagome was still in London? If she was, she would need his help.

 

No, he couldn't think like that. Bankotsu would take care of her, and again, this was Kagome. She had to have made it to Miroku.

 

When he reached the front of the ship, he was surprised to find a man standing there. His stylish over coat and exotic shirt betrayed he was not one of the crew, but Inuyasha had not seen him before nor heard of another passenger on board.

 

Strolling up to the man as casually, Inuyasha leaned on the railing not far from where the stranger was standing. With the sea wind whipping around them Inuyasha could not smell the guy at first, but the man still put him on edge. It was like he had a black aura.

 

If Kagome was here, she could tell me….

 

Suddenly a gust of air blew the stranger's scent spiraling at Inuyasha. At first he thought his nose had failed him, but then he caught the smell again. It was distinctively demonic with the subtlest hint of human. …A hanyou? Inuyasha stared at the man next to him, completely confused. In his entire life he had only met a hand full of other half demons and all of them had been family friends.

 

Inuyasha eased away from the railing, no longer wanting the fresh air. He turned to go back to his cabin, missing the eyes of the stranger as they turned to watch him leave.

 

XXXXXXXX

 

Kagome was panting, trying to keep up with Sango.

 

Sango, her Amazon warrior friend who had magically appeared out of the jungle with the ability to speak the Queen's English. Sort of.

 

Sango, who could be leading them to certain death.

 

Sango, who was still carrying her brother. Miroku was nearly twice the woman's size, but she still kept trotting on at a pace Kagome was finding hard to keep up. Kagome's clothes were disheveled at best. Her hair, crumpled from being braided for so long flew around her face and down her back like a gigantic shawl. Both Miroku's jacket and shirt had slipped off her shoulder and the pants she wore were not staying where they needed to be. The cuffs drug in the dirt and caused her to periodically trip.

 

Sango leaped gracefully over a fallen tree, then waited for Kagome to scamper under the obstruction. They rounded another corner on the invisible trail Sango was walking and suddenly they were in a village.

 

Kagome stumbled and stopped, wide-eyed, unable to move as she took in the site before her. It was more of a city than a camp. There were high walls surrounding everything—tall trees with small homes in them, large huts under the branches of the trees. Smoked curled in the air from several cooking fires scattered over the camp. Young children of ambiguous genders ran after what Kagome could only categorize as dogs. And women everywhere. Women chopping wood for the fires, skinning game…doing everything.

 

As soon as Kagome had followed Sango completely within the walls of the city, the warrior glanced over her shoulder and nodded. Kagome barely had time to see to whom she was signaling before a gigantic gate was dropped in place, closing off the city from the rest of the jungle.

 

Immediately from nowhere three women came from seemingly thin air. Two rolled Miroku off Sango shoulders and carried him away, one holding his hands, the other lifting the man's feet. The third girl lifted Sango's weapon from her shoulder, undoing the strap so she could take it away.

 

The young Londoner felt her heart sink a little deeper into the pit of her stomach as she watched her brother disappear. Kagome felt so numb it did not even register he was leaving her. She was tired from not only the journey and lack of sleep, but from the strain her nerves were under. Kagome still did not know how Sango had had the strength to carry Miroku so far—she had not been carrying anything and almost collapsed from exhaustion more than once.

 

She was trapped here—wherever here was—with strangers. Her protector was out cold and no one seemed to speak her language fluently. Kagome began to panic. Her first instinct told her to run but deep down she knew her legs would not carry. Not to mention she was locked in with her captors.

 

There was a sudden pressure on her shoulder and Kagome looked up to meet the concerned gaze of Sango.

 

“We not…harm you,” she said slowly, carefully.

 

Kagome gulped, but managed a forced smile. Sango began to walk again, and Kagome had no choice but to continue walking in the warrior's footsteps. Trying to keep her head bowed, Kagome could not help but see the women around them: they were all staring at her. She had to admit her clothes would have caught everyone's eye in London, but then so would to the attire of those, those Amazons. Yes, she felt she could call them Amazons. They all wore less than Kagome's lightest summer undergarments would have covered.

 

While in London, Kagome had heard Miroku whispering to his friends of private clubs where only the wealthiest men were permitted to enter for the pleasure of viewing female entertainers…. The clothes the women wearily watching her were wearing could only be put into the context of such lecherous places in Kagome's mind.

 

Before she could ponder them more, she found Sango was pushing her into a large building. It was located at the center of the camp, and seemed to have some importance. Once inside, Kagome was blinded by the darkness compared to the bright but early morning light. Blinking her eyes rapidly, it took her several seconds to force her eyes to adjust. Once they did, Kagome found herself looking at a woman, kneeling before the fire, her feet tucked up underneath her. She was wearing more clothing than the other women, but she was also much older than anyone else Kagome had seen.

 

Sango and the elder began talking in a rapid dialect very far from Kagome's English. She could not even begin to keep up, only they continued motioning from time to time to Kagome; she was sure they were speaking of her.

 

“She has the gift,” Kaede said to Sango, her tone serious and her face grave, but there was the slightest hopeful light in her eyes. “Did you notice?”

 

Sango shook her head. “I only thought she might be more willing than the men to give us the information we needed.”

 

Kaede nodded. “None the less she is a miko. Untrained—I doubt she knows even her own power. But she is what we have been looking for.”

 

“This is good,” Sango commented. “How do we tap her power?”

 

The faintest of smiles crossed the elder's face. “First we need to be able to speak her language so she will be able to speak ours.”

 

Sango's brow knitted for a moment until she understood her orders. Immediately her countenance was blank and she growled. “I gave up that life long ago, and you were more than happy to assist me. Why ask me to go back?”

 

It was meant as a rhetorical question, but Kaede answered any way. “It is only a language Sango, and it as not as though you have not already begun to pick it up again.”

 

“Any thing to do with them is tainted—even the words coming from their mouths!” Kaede only quirked an eyebrow. “And I only spoke to the girl to get her to follow me. I could not carry both her and the man. It was necessary!”

 

“And so is this. You know both the demon attacks and the men from the sea have weakened our defenses. If you wish for our way of life to be free from the `taint' as you call it, you must make the miko serviceable to our needs. To do that, you need to pick up on your old tongue so she can learn ours. ”

 

Sango hung her head. Her elder was right and there was nothing to say. “Forgive me for my defiance, Elder Kaede. I will do as you have asked.”

 

Nodding her approval, “I know Sango. You are loyal; you need not worry about such things. You had better begin—the sooner you learn her language the sooner she can use the jewel.”

 

Sango said she understood before standing and bowing. She tapped Kagome's shoulder and motioned for the girl to follow her. Kagome looked at the older woman seated before her, her eyes now closed in meditation, then back up at Sango as she left the hut. Deciding she would rather be with the warrior, Kagome scrambled to her feet, running back out into the blinding sunlight.

 

Nearly out of breath, she caught up to Sango. The woman was walking quickly, staring straight ahead. Kagome did her best to fall in line with the older girl's much longer strides, but she was finding it difficult. “Might I ask where my brother has been taken? Miss…Sango?”

 

At the sound of her name, Sango paused, rolling her eyes, and then continued on. She could pick out tiny bits of understanding in what her charge was saying. This was going to be harder than Kaede thought.

 

Sango lead the girl to her own hut, smaller than most of the others, but then she did live alone, separated from the others. Sango knew she had their respect, but she was not always sure she had the love of her comrades. It was always understood she was an outsider. Not that it mattered; Sango saw herself as being where she wanted to be.

 

Kneeling down in front of her hearth in the floor, Sango began to light a fire. She was tired, but she had been given orders, and had to follow through. If Kaede had meant for her to sleep, she would have said so. The girl, Kagome, looked more than a little tired, but perhaps some food would do her good.

 

Sango watched her out of the corner of her eye as the flames grew. She was sitting quietly on her feet, fidgeting with a loose thread in her shirt. She had not said anything for some time when finally she asked a question, “My brother? Where is he?”

 

Brother…She had said that before. Sango knew Kagome was referring to the man she had brought to the village with them, the one Kagome had protected. More than likely she wanted to see him, she showed such concern over the man. Something Sango could not grasp.

 

“We see brother…later.”

 

Kagome nodded slowly, avoiding eye contact.

 

Sango tried to formulate in her mind what she should say as she fed the fire. “Him see…soon. Go to brother. Eat.” She motioned to the fire before she stood to gather a pot. Sango ladled some water into it before setting it over the fire.

 

Sango and Kagome watched the water as it tired to boil. Kagome was exhausted, but she still felt the awkwardness of the situation. It was as though Sango wanted to say something to her and was unable.

 

“You speak English?” Kagome asked. The water was boiling now and Sango had gathered some vegetables and what appeared to be dried meat. Sango's brow scrunched at Kagome's question. She didn't answer at first, only carefully slipped the food into the water.

 

“Speak English?” Sango repeated. She motioned to her mouth and Kagome nodded. After a moment, Sango nodded too. Kagome smiled; things didn't seem that bad at the moment.

 

“You speak English and me speak English,” Sango tried to get Kagome to say more. The words so old and faded were slowly coming back to her. When Kagome said something she had the strongest sense of remembering; the language of her childhood was so very close to her.

 

“Yes,” Kagome replied, “We speak English,” she motioned to them both. “We speak English,”

 

“We speak English,” Sango repeated. She was so close to remembering more she could taste the words in her mouth. She needed to keep the girl speaking, saying things. Sango reached out and pointed to the cooking pot, “English”.

 

Kagome stared at Sango for a moment before it dawned on her the Amazon was waiting for her to say its name. “That,” she motioned to the pot like Sango, “that is a pot.” Kagome gestured to the boiling water, “and that is water, and those are vegetables and meat—food—we eat,” she rubbed her stomach with her other hand.

 

Sango tried to digest this new information. “Pot, wa-ter, meat, veg-veribles,” she said, marking out each with her finger as she said its name.

 

Kagome nodded, giving Sango an encouraging smile. “Vegetables,” she corrected and nodded in approval when Sango pronounced it correctly.

 

As Sango continued to cook their meal, the two continued in their English lesson. Kagome was surprised how quickly her new friend was picking up her language, but it was becoming more and more apparent Sango had not always been an Amazon. One indicator was the neatness with which she ate her food. Kagome recognized the tiny bites Sango was eating with from her own days of etiquette classes. The older she had grown, the more food she had been allowed consume with eat nibble, but in the beginning it was forbidden to take more than a tiny taste at a time: one earned one's food by learning how to eat delicately. It appeared as though Sango's lessons had been stopped abruptly and because she had never been given the go to move onto the next stage she was halted in old habits.

 

Kagome's musings were interrupted by the sounds of yelling coming from outside. Sango's ears immediately perked up and in the next instant she was running for the door. Not wanting to be left alone, Kagome tagged along.

 

It took a moment for her eyes to readjust to the blinding sun meeting her outside, but when she could see again, she staggered back toward the hut. It was too late however; the snake demon had already spotted her and was charging for the young miko.

 

XXXXXXXXXXX

 

It was a dream. He knew it was a dream, but he couldn't turn his eyes away no matter how hard he tried. He didn't want to see—how many people wanted to see one of their greatest fuck ups replayed before their eyes?

 

The ballroom was the way it had been on that hot summer night, so long ago it seemed now. Kagome had had to leave early and in the dream like on that night he still could feel himself missing her presence.

 

Someone had pressed a drink into his hand and he couldn't resist. Anything to block out the boredom.

 

Once he had met Kagome, such gatherings had lost all their charm when she was not there.

 

Even in his dream he could feel his own boredom, the need to leave. But now he could feel the things he had missed when they had really happened: the heaviness in his head and feet, the way the room was spinning ever so slightly, the blurring of his vision. How he could have not noticed these things mystified him, but he did not have time to think them over, to remember.

 

The dreamscape shifted and Inuyasha felt cold. He felt her tiny hands on his arm, guiding him. Pulling him and making him follow her. He knew he shouldn't be there and even tried to wrench away but she held him in her grasp with steady ease. He was far too weak to resist.

 

They were at a door, she was opening it, stepping inside and trying to make him follow her….

 

Inuyasha jerked awake at the sound of his lantern hitting the floor. He was on his feet in an instant, in time to face off with an intruder in his cabin. The shadowy form had no shape or face; it blended into the darkness of the room.

 

Though disoriented from waking, Inuyasha was still able to sidestep the attacker as he lunged at him with a drawn dagger. They scuffled and Inuyasha barely missed the blade twice before he was finally able to steal it away. The prowler did not wait around to see what the hanyou would to with it. Before Inuyasha could even stagger to his feet, he was gone.

 

Inuyasha lay there, listening to the groans of the ship's wood as it waddled through the vast ocean. He could hear nothing moving inside the cabin and he knew he was alone. Gingerly, he reached up and felt his eye. It was as tender and swelling already. There was also a cut on his side where the attacker had been able to graze him, but that one would heal soon.

 

He needed to tell the captain of the attack, but something wasn't right. Now that he was no longer fighting for his life he could smell the room and with it the intruder. He knew where he had smelled the scent before; it was still fresh in his mind. The man who tried to kill him could only have been the passenger he had seen on the deck that morning.

 

It wasn't everyday he met a hanyou.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Kagome couldn't move. She really couldn't even breathe. Her heart had stopped just as her lungs ceased to fill with air.

 

It was coming right at her…whatever it was. The monster rampaging to her at top speed. It conjured in her mind the stories of the creatures haunting the lochs in the Highlands of Scotland with its snake like body and head. Red eyes glared at her as the creature's clawed legs carried it rapidly toward her. Before Kagome could grasp what was happening to her, she was wrapped in the demon's tail, arms pinned to her sides, being lifted high above the camp. She wailed and prayed for only the pain to stop. The scales covering attacker were covered in spines, spines that ripped at her clothes and cut her body.

 

The snake demon squeezed Kagome tightly, dragging painfully from her lips a wail. She didn't think she would be able to stay conscious much longer when there was a shriek from her captor. Prying her eyes open, she looked to see Sango and several of the other women were attacking the demon.

 

The beast was trying to move backward, but found it was difficult to progress with any speed as long as it held Kagome. But it would still not let go of its prize.

 

The Amazons continued to move in on the snake demon. A second band of warriors formed behind it, blocking it in. The demon's attention was divided between the two groups and as it was concentrating on snapping its fangs at the warriors behind, it did not sense Sango's movement until she was already airborne.

 

Her war cry filling their air, she swung her boomerang for all it was worth. The weapon sprung, slicing through the demon's neck as with ease and precision. That did not however stop Sango from getting doused in black black blood and the carcass, still spurting the goo, fell to the earth, landing with a dull thud.

 

Moments later, Kagome felt the tail relaxing in its holds, releasing her to plummet to the earth. Two strong female arms caught her in mid air, leaping out of the way of the falling tail to set her gently on the ground. Kagome tried to stand, but her legs would not quite hold her and she crumpled into a pile.

 

Something was said over her and the small group of Amazons trying to help her laughed at her. Kagome couldn't be sure why, but she blushed red. She didn't want to seem weak before these women, and the Londoner knew physical strength had never been something she had wanted before.

 

There was some shouting orders and Sango shoved her way into the circle. It was clear to Kagome she had had some hand in the death of the demon, she was covered in a thick layer of what could only have been black blood. Most of it had been wiped away from her face and her hands were cleaned, but it still seemed she had been splattered with the most of it. She knelt down in front of Kagome, checking her wounds. She scowled and pointed to two women, commanding them to do something. They immediately took off.

 

Sango helped Kagome to her feet, supporting the girl with a strong arm on her shoulders.

 

“Walk?”

 

Kagome pushed through her dizziness enough to nod. Sango began to lead them back into the hut when the elder they had spoken with earlier halted them.

 

“Is the miko alright?” Kaede asked Sango. The young girl did not look well, she was covered in scratches and her strange clothes were ripped and torn. More than anything though she looked frightened and shell shocked.

 

Sango nodded. “I think she will be fine. I took care of the demon before it could do real damage.” Kaede nodded in approval before Sango continued. “But what worries me more is that she did not even try to fight. She froze.”

 

The elder frowned. “That will not do. We have not had a demon attack inside this compound for sometime, and I would only guess we had one now is because of her presence. You must find out if she cannot fight or if she was simply too frightened to do so.”

 

“I agree. But if she cannot fight?”

 

“You will teaching in addition to learning, Sango.” Kaede did not miss the look of annoyance that crossed Sango's face but she chose to ignore it. “You had better get her patched up.”

 

Sango gave a slight bow and went back to guiding Kagome into her hut.

 

Once inside, she helped Kagome back to the ground and gathered her healing supplies. She was accustomed to tending to her own wounds, but it was rare when her tribeswomen would allow her to look after their injuries.

 

The scratches were not deep, but they were plentiful. She could see the tiny stab wounds peaking through the ripped fabric of Kagome's clothing. She was going to need something new.

 

Going to the small stand she used to store her food as well as her clothes, Sango picked out one of her older outfits. It was a bit too small for her, and the girl was a bit smaller than her. Not thinking anything of the lack of material to the garments Sango deposited them unceremoniously in Kagome's lap.

 

Kagome lifted the cloth Sango had given her up for inspection. At first she had thought it was something to help her clean her wounds but after a moment of looking at what she had been given, she realize Sango meant for her to wear them. Choking on her own squeak, Kagome turned bright red and tried to push the tiny shirt with its thin straps and indecent skirt away.

 

Sango paused in setting out the herb potions she needed to clean out Kagome's wounds. The girl was so red, it would have been funny if Sango had not been tired and covered in black demon blood. The girl was rejecting the clothes she was offering her.

 

With a sigh, she picked the articles back up and tired to offer them to Kagome again. Sango was losing patience. Before she could go clean up, she had to take care of her stubborn charge.

 

“I—I can't. They aren't appropriate!” Kagome whined.

 

Sango growled and looked angry and Kagome realized how rude she was being. Granted the woman was asking her to dress like a whore, but to these—these Amazons, there was nothing the matter with running around in one's undergarments. The woman had brought her into her home—well hut—and fed her. She was only trying to take care of her.

 

Sighing in defeat, Kagome mumbled she would put on the clothes. Leaving Sango, she went to one of the hut's corner and laid the strange garments out of the ground with care. Quickly, she shucked Miroku's clothes grateful they were so much easier to get out of than the dresses she usually wore. Without a second thought, she slipped on first the top, then the skirt. For some reason she felt less covered with them on than when she had been nude for those few seconds.

 

Returning to the warriors, she resumed her seat, offering a weak smile.

 

Sango returned Kagome's smile, feeling less weary about her charge. They went back to cleansing Kagome's wounds before beginning the English lessons again.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 

A/N: Quick note on the Amazons. Sango's tribe doesn't really call itself the Amazons, that's just how Kagome sees them since she probably would have studied Greek and Roman mythology.