InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Captured and Trapped ❯ Chapter 14: safe ( Chapter 14 )

Hello everybody! :)

Hope you are all well.

I don't know if you heard of it on the news or not but here, where I live, in the South of France, we had a furious tempest two weeks ago. Gah! It had feel like it was the end of the world! Lol

Because of some strong wind, a big and important electric pole (among others little ones) had fallen, shutting down the electricity for hundreds of thousands of people…and sadly, my house was part of it. We passed a whole week-end (`til Sunday late evening) without electricity which imply too, no heater (our boiler need electricity to work), no way of cooking anything (everything in our kitchen work with electricity, even the oven), no water, no phone… It was Hell, I'm telling you! No computer, no TV and unable to go out since some trees had fallen on several roads due to the wind too… Two words: Sooooo boring! Lol How people were doing, at the beginning of the last century, without TV or computer to occupy themselves for a so long time without being bore to death?!

*cough, cough* Enough of my complains for now. :D

Reviews replies (FF.net):

ObSeSsEd WiTh ROXAS : Glad that you liked! Yeah, a little `moment' between those two, but still a really little! Can't happened too quick or Sesshomaru wouldn't be able to survive the shock about his own actions! :P Thanks for your review.

JenJen Midnightgirl : I'm really happy that the chapter 13 had pleased you ! :) I put some `conversations' in this new chapter just for you! It's not much for now but it's still something. Hope you will like it! :D

kouga's older woman: I'm glad that you liked it! It's really difficult to find a way to make Sesshomaru show some care when he not really `cares' for anyone! -_-`

Jeweled Fairy : Always a pleasure to read your `long' review in answer of my `short' chapter ! LOL About the others, well, you will see them soon to peak a little at what they are doing while Kagome is in the oh so talkative presence of Sesshomaru! *grin* However, it's not in this chapter and maybe not in the following one…but it will be soon! :) As for your idea about a youkai law that Sesshomaru could call upon to keep Kagome at his side…well, I don't know! Can't tell! :D Thanks for your review.

flooding-rivers : where did I put « toit »? -_-` In french it means something but how did I let it slip? I apologize for the error. *blush* I know, it's not really `funny' to see Kagome been tortured but it's necessary for the plot. That way, she can show her strength and `exist' in the eyes of Sesshomaru. Respect came with strength and they need this to grow…hm, closer? I'm glad that you understand it so well! :) Hope that you will like this new chapter!

dark shadowed rose : Yeah, Sesshomaru can't become all nice and touchy-feely with Kagome like that, out of the blue. It's just not right. But, he isn't as cold as he appears to be. Well, I don't know him personally, really really too bad! ;( but it's how I see him. Glad that you liked! And thanks for your review.

pandora-of-the-south : I won't say I didn't thought of it too ! lol And I'm not saying that it can't happen *wink* but I think it's too soon for this kind of actions. *grin* Though, your idea had set my own lecher-ish mind in fire! LOL About the `confidence thinky' well, it will have to happen at one point…only not in this chapter! ^^ Thank you again for your review! Your support always faithful support really warm my heart! :D

1kenshinlover: I'm really glad that you liked the way I put it! Kagome, even in the original works, haven't a lot of self confidence about her powers. Even in the series, she often doubts that she is powerful enough to do things when she stops to think. But at the same time, if someone is in danger, she will just run ahead to protect the ones important to her. That's why I thought that her falsely thinking that Sesshomaru saw her as weaker than she really is would fit in. Well, hope that you will like this new chapter too!

MyTwiliLove : Glad that you too like the way I made Kagome be. About your questions: for the n°1, well, I still haven't decided if I will make her participate directly in Kagome's torture or not, or if I will just have her `torture' Kagome's companions by leading them away. Hm, I will have to ponder this further. For the n°2, the cave is in a place similar with the mont …I don't remember the name -_-` Well you know, where there is a spiritual barrier around it, protecting the place, in the manga. This cave had more `links' with the ugly servants than with Naraku as you will see later… Question n°3, about the possible other prisoners. Well, I can't answer your question just right now since it will be discovered later in the chapters. So I pass this question. Question n°4. I will have to pass this one too! ^^ the spell was broken at a moment when Kagome wasn't there? o.O Anyways, thank you so much for your review and I hope to have answered satisfactorily at your questions. If you have others, feel free to send them too! :D

Twilight-Vampire16: Can I really have this ice cream? *stars in the eyes* LOL Thank you for your review.

Obabicakez: Thank you so much for your support and kind words!

Sesshomaru's Lady 122: *blush* Thank you sooo much for your review! :) Just reading it had been a wonderful boost! Lol

Silveromance : Good God ! Any more praises and I would be flying! LOL I'm really really glad that you think so. I hope that you will continue to appreciate it! :D Thanks for your review.

Thanks too to : my name is paper YAH, Dragonsdaughter1, GeorgieGirl999, PsychoKoolaid, purropolisprincess, FluffyandKagome, for their reviews.

Thank you to Loretta537 for her review on MediaMiner.

 

Well now, Hop to the story! ;)

Thanks again to “FRIZZ” for her beta-work on this new chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha. *sigh*

 

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Chapte r 14 :
Safe
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Sesshoumaru finished bandaging the last of her wounds and put everything away while the young Miko was still in a daze about what had just happened. It was something difficult to swallow, really. It was almost impossible to wrap it around her mind. Who would believe her if she was to say that the Lord of the Western Lands had taken care of the injuries of a simple human, even worse, his half-brother's wench? It was surreal. Even Kagome, whom was at the receiving end of the `care' of the demon Lord couldn't believe it.

But it proved at least that she was right: there was more about the DaiYoukai than what people gave him the credit for. He was more than just a blood thirsty beast. Oh, she wasn't kidding herself, imagining that the demon Lord actually cared for what was happening for her, he was just honoring their `truce' by making sure she wouldn't die. He had seen that she couldn't take care of her wounds herself and by pity maybe, or just because she wasn't grating on his nerves by whimpering like a beaten puppy at his feet, he had taken the matter in his hand. That must be it. The idea of having to share his cell with her corpse mustn't be of the taste of his royal palate.
Kagome couldn't help but compare the two brothers. She knew that, in his own ways, Inuyasha cared for her well-being, but she had to admit that she wasn't sure if her hanyou friend would have done as his elder half-brother.  No, he would have probably whined about her condition or been angry but the young Miko had doubts that he would have been able to take care of her as Sesshoumaru had just done.

But what was the most shocking was the way he had done it. He had done everything possible to not hurt her more that she already was by using gentle movements, and that in itself was surreal for as deadly a creature as Sesshoumaru. Even more when you saw the dexterity of his every move, knowing that he had only one hand to use.

Being so close, Kagome could feel his anger raging just under his skin but was at a lost as to the reason for his feelings. Was it because of her condition or more realistically because he was obliged to take care of a lowly human and soiled his hands?
Whatever were his reasons to help her, she was grateful. But, at the same time, she felt sorry. Sorry because she felt like she was forcing his hands to do something so out of character, and for the demon Lord, it must be somewhat painful, if only for his pride. That's why she hadn't questioned him. She had let him do whatever he wanted to her. She must be crazy but she trusted him to not hurt her.
On the contrary of what InuYasha said about his half-brother, she knew that Sesshoumaru had a great deal of honor and would never hit someone who is already down. He had already proved it, as a matter of fact, when he had just knocked out InuYasha when he had lost his mind to his youkai blood. He could have finished him once and for all but hadn't.
So she stayed as still as she could, moving only to accommodate him in his work on her. She took this opportunity to get a real look at him. It wasn't everyday that you could be so close to the demon Lord without having your life in the balance, right?  
Each time her eyes fell on the Lord of the Western Lands, he took her breath away. He was so beautiful, but more than that, there was an aura about him that just made her heart skips a beat every time their respective groups crossed road and she saw him. She couldn't help it. If InuYasha was to hear about it, he would surely have kittens!

Already she was feeling better. She didn't know what mixture they had put with the water, but it was really powerful. The pain was numbed.
She turned to face the demon Lord and bowed slightly at him as she could in her sitting position.
“Thank you, Sesshoumaru.”

They stayed a moment without saying anything, the young miko fidgeting under the intense gaze of the DaiYoukai.
“Hn.” He finally said, nodding almost imperceptibly.
Kagome had to resist the urge of smiling. It was so typical of the Lord of the Western Lands, always this “hn”. There weren't two “hn” identical or with the same significance. She was glad too that he hadn't voiced that it wasn't for her that he had done that. She knew it very well. So she was content with his `hn'.

She was starting to try to get comfortable enough to get some rest when his deep voice startled her.
“Miko.”
She turned to face him. “Hai?”
As predictable as ever, Sesshoumaru didn't answer. He just stayed there, fixing her in his gaze. Surprisingly, the young miko kept her cool. She couldn't very well ask of the DaiYoukai to go against his nature and character, could she? Plus, he just helped her in her time of needs. She didn't have to force herself to stay calm, however. That, in itself was strange. If it had been InuYasha or anyone else, she would, probably, already have asked more forcefully, exasperated to have to guess what he wanted from her. But now, with him, she didn't feel ticked by his attitude. Odd.
That's when Kagome saw that he wasn't looking at her face but below. She looked down, trying to find what had captured so completely the attention of the demon Lord that he would acknowledge her. She didn't understood directly but after a moment of pondering where she was try to find what was so different about her that Sesshoumaru had remarked it, she finally understood.
She avoided eye contact, not really wishing to reveal to the demon Lord what had transpired between her and the dark hanyou. She cleared her throat lightly, it was still hurting badly from her screaming.

“Hmm…it-it's a collar a little similar to yours but this-this one isn't limited to this cell. It's blocking my powers completely or more precisely absorbed them rendering me even more entirely useless against Naraku and his ugly servants.” She paused a moment. Could she ask him? It wasn't the moment to go on the bad side of the demon Lord after what he had done for her by asking questions and irritating him. Well, here goes nothing. Taking in a deep breath, she finally spoke.

“I…I don't know how it is activated though. Naraku hadn't said a thing about it. But it seems to work only when they are around me. Yours is different though. When they…when they took me away, I saw a spell written all around the door just outside, so we can fairly deduce that if we find a way to make you go out of this cell, you will be free without restraint to do anything you want with them. Mine is different and I don't how it works.”

She waited as calmly as she could. She really hoped that she hadn't irritated him. However she was shocked when the DaiYoukai answered.
“The hanyou and his servants have metallic bracelets they hadn't before. Your collar must react to the presence of the said bracelets and block your powers in response. If the door doesn't open again, by morning, your powers will be back in their fullest.” Concluded the demon Lord in his same bored tone.

“O-Ok.” Was the only answer she could muster, still in a daze to have Sesshoumaru answering her questions. She hadn't even remarked that they had bracelets!

Sesshoumaru too was shocked. He didn't know why he had answered her questions. After all, the DaiYoukai answered to no one, and here he was, with his half-brother`s wench of all people! What was wrong with him?
Fire-like anger spread within him. He didn't like to be taken off guard. But since he had been forced to share space with the young Miko, he had done several things out of character, and the demon Lord really didn't like it one a bit. Well, now it was done so he couldn't change a thing about it. This infuriated him further. He then thought that since he had answered her questions, she will immediately answer his. He wouldn't wait until she recovered before asking his own share to sate his curiosity.

“Miko, you will report now what the hanyou wanted.”

Her breath hitched in her throat and Sesshoumaru could hear her heart accelerating as her scent was clouded over with fear once more. Maybe now wasn't the moment to ask, or order, but Hell she had made him act out of character one too many time so he felt he merited some explanations to appease his curiosity and his anger.
Kagome started to shake uncontrollably. After a moment, when Sesshoumaru thought she wouldn't answer, she spoke quietly.

“Naraku wants powers. Always more powers. What he wants, only a miko can give it to him.”
With that said, she turned her back to him. She knew that it was impolite if not downright rude, and that it was a risk of angering the demon Lord further, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't risk for him to see her in that state, as tears were gathering in her eyes. She was tired, oh so very tired physically and mentally. A sob raked though her broken body.

The Lord of the Western Lands wanted to be angered by her rude behavior, but seeing her body quavering in terror and the salty scent of her tears in the air, he decided to let it go, just this time.
He watched as she curled up on the soil, wincing at each movement of her arms and legs to finally settle to sleep.

……………

Kagome tried to get some rest but it wasn't easy at all. As soon as she closed her eyes, images of the previous event came ever fresher in her mind.
She tried to not show too much to Sesshoumaru, but it was quasi-mission impossible with the scent of fear that must be clutching her very being and the tears running down her cheeks. However, she had to. She wasn't ready to answer anymore of his questions that he most assuredly must have on the reason of their capture.
No, she wasn't ready for that part as of yet. So she turned around, mindful of her injuries and tried to fall asleep, willing the red eyes and sadistic smile to stop haunting her.

……………..

From his spot, Sesshoumaru observed her rolling over, falling asleep, then waking up a moment later, reeking of fear and crying, then comforting herself and rolling again only to start the cycle anew. Apparently, her being tortured for whatever was the reason of Naraku, was leaving more sequels than she was willing to show. The demon Lord had been curious and was dying to know more, but with how bad a shape she came back in and the fear that seemed to refuse to leave her, he had restrained himself from doing so for the moment. However, as he saw her finally falling back to sleep, curiosity was eating at his insides.
And as soon as her eyes closed, he knew that she would wake up again, trying with all her might to not yell out her fright. He respected her for that but if the cycle continued like that, she would never recover from her injuries.

Not a minute after the thought had entered his mind, Kagome started to whimper and thrash around in her sleep again.
Something was different from before though: she wasn't waking up. This time around, she seemed to be trapped in her dream or nightmare. His instincts were yelling at him to do something, but what could he really do?
His beast continued to say how much of a useless alpha he was. He had let one of his pack to be tortured and now that the nightmare, surely of what happened, was haunting her, he was powerless against it. He knew that she had just shown a courageous front for him and that she was trembling in fear just under her skin.
Finally giving in to his urge to do something at least, Sesshoumaru rose and walked towards the thrashing young woman on the ground. It was the same with Rin when she had nightmares: he was powerless to stop them. However, this time around, there wasn't any toad to kick awake to make them go away. He was all alone. If he wanted something to be done, he had to do it himself. So troublesome.
What was worst for Sesshoumaru was that, on the contrary to Rin's case, he had been right here during Kagome's ordeal and hadn't done anything to prevent it from happening. His beast couldn't stomach it.
Well, if he was sincere with himself, he would say that he had been unable to do a thing to still the hand of the dark hanyou. That it hadn't been done by his own volition. But that wasn't stopping his beast to rest the entire responsibility on his shoulders. She was pack. She had tried to stop them, even if foolishly, when they were beating him up, even taking the hits for him. And what had he done in return? Nothing. It felt like he had let the dark hanyou torture her, even if it wasn't the truth, the feeling couldn't be shaken off.

Sesshoumaru, if nothing, is a person ruled by pride, which had made it difficult for him to admit that he had need of the human's abilities, when he was almost dying. But honor is also important. After what she had done for him, who was an enemy to her, without second thought or second agenda or even asking anything in return, he was honor-bound to her. It would have been the case even if she wasn't a pack mate. This feeling was even stronger just because she was though.
That's why he had been compelled to assist her in cleansing her wounds. His instincts would have preferred direct contact, like licking clean her wounds and grooming her. But Sesshoumaru never let his instincts to rule him in the fullest and control him, it was beneath him.

The DaiYoukai squatted at Kagome's side to reach down and shake her awake so she could escape her nightmare but he froze in mid-movement, eyes slightly larger in his shock. His mind was trying to process what was happening before his very eyes.
Sesshoumaru studied the sleeping face of the Miko attentively for a moment. His clawed hand, as if a mind of itself, went to push back a strand of hair out of the way that had fallen on her face. Realizing what he was doing, his hand snapped back to his side as if he had been burn and stand. What am I doing?! He growled out to himself. Is she playing with this Sesshoumaru's mind?! Really? Who would believe her if she said that she felt such comfort by my simple presence and touch?!

The angered DaiYoukai looked down again at the young woman. Perspiration was appearing on her forehead as she was still struggling, lost within her nightmare. Anger slowly slipped away as he was watching her. To test his theory, Sesshoumaru laid a hand on her shoulder again. And like before, right there before his stunned gaze, she immediately stilled.
It was surreal. Already, by standing closer, her fear had decreased but a direct contact and she was instantly calming down. Even the scent of fear was slowly dissipating. The demon Lord was torn and, to put it bluntly, dumbfounded. What to do?

He observed the young Miko a moment, monitoring her breathing that was coming back to a more regular pace as he was pondering what the best line of action was.
Sighing, Sesshoumaru finally gathered her delicately, mindful of her injuries, astonished by how light she was for her age and went back against `his' wall. Strangely enough, any trace of fear vanished totally from her scent. She even nuzzled her face on his chest and sighed contently.
The world was upside down, it was the only plausible explanation. It was as if his very presence was bringing to the young Miko some form of comfort and a sense of security. Worse, the usually stoic Lord of the Western Lands was allowing the little human this liberty upon his person.

His beast was ecstatic though. Even after showing her how much of a failure he was as an alpha towards her, she still found his presence at her side soothing and securing. His beast wasn't questioning the reason why she could feel this way in his presence but just embraced it happily. His strong and powerful youkai aura was bringing a sense of peace unconsciously to her miko aura. Really, she was one truly strange little onna.

In any other moment or any other situation, Sesshoumaru would have pushed away from his person anyone acting like she was, invading his space without his authorization, but strangely, he hadn't the heart either to throw her away or kill her for her affront.
He took in her features a moment, trying to ponder how a little slip of a woman, worse, Inuyasha's wench, could provoke such unusual actions from him. Even little Rin hadn't succeeded that much.

He sighed, feeling suddenly exhausted, his youki drained body leaning more heavily on the wall.
“You are far too trusting for your own good, Miko.” He whispered quietly to no one in particular, knowing full well that the only being that could have heard him was sleeping, now, peacefully, snuggled on his lap. A strange little onna, indeed.

Really, they made a strange pair, the two of them. Fortunately, no one was there to witness it. The demon Lord was fairly certain that the enchantments of the cell could prevent even the dark hanyou's magic from being able to take a look inside without opening the door first. They were, at least, safe from praying eyes.
Sesshoumaru sighed again, something that he had barely done before coming into the presence of the troublesome little Miko. The demon Lord closed his amber pools. He would bother to ponder on these events later, when he would be more able to sort out his thoughts.
“You are safe for now.” He murmured almost inaudibly, before falling asleep himself.

 

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End of the chapter 14.