InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Changing Stars ❯ Chapter 1

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

I do not own Inuyasha or anything related to it. Therefore, there's no need to sue me or any of that nonsense. Thank you!

Summary: Kagome, being the princess of her country, wants nothing more than to have the life of common person, or even a street urchin. Inuyasha wants nothing more than to have a decent meal once every several days. Desparately wanting something better, he joins a tournament held only for noble blood, under a false name. During his journey to the various tournaments, he encounters a few friends, including the missing princess dressed as an urchin, but also a few enemies.

The downpour of rain soaked the already muddy ground, turning the dirt roads into pits of mud. Cheers and yells filled the afternoon along with the sounds of flesh smacking flesh. The nobles were holding their monthly brawl tournament for prestige and an award made of pure gold. The tournament was several days long and moved from country to country. Now, it was in Spain. Spain has crowned the most World Champions over the several decades since the continent of Europe started holding the tournaments. The Spanish loved fighting. Over the years, it was obvious that most boys born in noble houses began training after the age 6 and kept training until eligible for the tournaments.

Inuyasha stood in the pouring rain watching the nobles fight in the wooden pin they called a ring. There were very few rules. The fights consisted of only two contestants, and only one fight was allowed at a time. There were three ways to win, make your opponent quit, knock him out, or be the first to land twenty hits. Inuyasha's body shivered beneath the freezing rain. He didn't have much for clothing, what he wore was the equivalent of cutting holes into rags and using them as clothing. He had managed to steal enough food from the local vendors to eat a hardy meal and also have some for tomorrow. He was a street urchin. A boy left to die in the countryside of England. He grew older knowing nothing of his family, his heritage, or where he was even from. He survived by stealing clothes, food, or anything of value that could be traded or bartered for anything he needed.

Lately, he found himself gazing at the tournaments with excitement. He wanted to fight in those tournaments, for the prestige that followed if he won. He'd been fighting his whole life and he was sure that he could win such a tournament with ease. Just yesterday, he fought the former Spanish World Champion for a bottle of mead. Inuyasha had broken the champion's nose in three places within the first thirty seconds of the fight. Although, Inuyasha knew he couldn't compete in any of the tournaments because he wasn't of noble birth, the thought of fighting the nobles was exhilarating. Inuyasha loved the rush of adrenaline that fighting provided for him. It was addictive.

The last round of today's fights had just ended as one of the nobles quit. Inuyasha sighed in disappointment. He didn't like when fights were short, but there was nothing he could do about it. He marched back to the small tent he had set up beneath the straw roofing of a blacksmith he had befriended that day. The woman blacksmith had found Inuyasha rather attractive for a street urchin and had offered a bed for him inside her home, which was connected to her shop. Inuyasha refused. He knew right away what the woman was after. She wanted him to bed her, which was an appealing thought at first, but Inuyasha had come across many harlots during his travels, and was able to distinguish them from the common rabble. The blacksmith was a harlot, and although, not obvious, there were small signs that Inuyasha had easily caught. So, he thought it best, if he were to sleep in his tent.

He sat down in his tent, silently picking up his book that he bought for three silver florins from a wandering trader. It was the only book the trader had, and it had been months since Inuyasha had read anything. We was one of the only urchins he knew that could read and write most of the languages in Europe. Every so often, he received an odd job of writing papers in various languages, which didn't didn't pay extremely well, but it was enough to support his travels, but finding people in need of writings was difficult. Which is why Inuyasha had to turn to thievery in order to feed himself.

Inuyasha set the book down on his chest, as he laid there, looking at the top of his tent. His life up to this point had been interesting, but not extravagant like he wished it was. A peasant's life only gets so good. He thought to himself. He remembered talking to another peasant outside of Paris stadium one day, but it wasn't the greatest conversation Inuyasha had hoped for.

Inuyasha was drinking at the local tavern when he came across another Spanish peasant, who offered to buy him a drink if he could speak with him in his native tongue. Inuyasha agreed. Speaking spanish for free drinks was an easy decision for Inuyasha. The man nodded and went to retrieve the pints of mead. Seconds later, the man returned with a wooden pitcher and two pints.

"¿Que estas haciendo aqui, en Paris?" The man asked in between gulps of the mead.

Inuyasha gulped down the entire pint in one go, "Yo soy un viajero. He estado siguiendo los torneos."

The man grinned to himself, "¿Te apetece un poco de pelear?"

Inuyasha nodded his head, "Por supuesto. Mi plan es luchando en un torneo un día."

The man released a loud chuckle, "Usted no es de noble cuna. Nunca se puede pelear en los torneos. Es lo mismo que tratar de cambiar las estrellas."

Inuyasha growled at the man, but then smirked at him, "Por lo tanto, voy a cambiarlos. Te lo prometo."

Inuyasha turned over in his tent, I will fight in those tournaments, and I will change my stars. Te lo prometo. Inuyasha shut his eyes, and quickly dozed off into the land of dreams.

Kagome, Princess of England, looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was pulled into a tight, high bun, with portion of her bangs dangling freely in front of her face. The natural pinkness of her cheeks made it seem like she was constantly blushing. Her grey eyes glistened against the sunlight that had flooded into her room. Her blue gown was trimmed with white ruffles, and held tightly against her body until it reached her waist, where it then, expanded in a cascade of silk waves. Kagome hated everything about this dress.

Of course, being a member of the royal family had its perks, but Kagome hated being royalty. Everywhere she went, someone asked for her hand in marriage, or someone promised to win a tournament for her, which Kagome found completely disgusting. She found the participants of the tournaments grotesque, but the tournaments, she found interesting. It was the only good thing she saw as a member of royalty, she got to travel to all the major tournaments in every country. She spent about nine months of the year traveling around Europe for the tournaments.

"Your Highness, the carriage is awaiting." One of the servants called through her door.

"Thank you." She called back. She glanced over her appearance one more time. It wasn't glamorous or elegant, but it was acceptable, and acceptable was all Kagome cared about. She didn't care about all the parties she had to attend, or looking 'stunning' for possible suitors, since she found any and all suitors revolting. She wanted the life of a lesser being, as her father called them. She didn't want a life as royalty, and she certainly didn't want to become Queen. She wanted nothing more than to live in the streets among her people, to talk with people without having to be proper, and possibly, meet a man that didn't want to marry her to be the King.

She stood from her stool in front of the mirror, and strode across her room to her doors, where there were six guards waiting to escort her to her carriage. They all held a large battleaxe in fron of them, and longsword strapped to their waists. "I don't under why I need an escort in my own palace." Kagome muttered under her breath. "Nothing remotely dangerous ever plagues this building." Just as she finished her sentence, one of the servants approached her.

"Your Highness, was everything packed for you this morning?" Kagome nodded and the servant grinned, "Good. I wish you safe travels." The servant bowed and excused himself. Kagome and her escorts continued down the halls of the palace until finally they reached the awaiting carriage out at the front gates. As she neared the carriage, she noticed that nobody had rushed outside to bid her farewell, or even yelled from the doorways of the palace. Nothing. It was silent. It was almost as if they were glad to be rid of her for nine months. Kagome was a little upset at that fact, but it quickly faded. She was more than happy to be on her own for the next nine months. No escorts, no orders, no parties, nothing, and she was going to love every single second of it. She took one last look at the palace, then hopped into the carriage gleefully. The next nine months were going to be an adventure, Kagome was sure of it.

Inuyasha awoke the next morning rather early. It was still dark out, but Inuyasha decided it was best to pack his camp now, and leave before the blacksmith woke. He had to make it to Barcelona stadium by next month if he was going to have any chance of seeing the tournament there. It was the largest tournament in months. There were to be thirty-two fighters in that tournament from all over the continent, and somehow, some way, Inuyasha was going to be one of them. Inuyasha finished packing everything and slung his sack over his shoulder. He could get to the next town by midday if he hurried, but the rain wasn't about to make things easier.

Inuyasha made his way through the sleeping town after leaving the blacksmith five gold florins in her shop. The only shop open at this time of day was the tavern, which never closed. He had met many men who made a living running a tavern, raking in a fortune nearly everyday. Inuyasha thought opening a tavern of his own, but he loved traveling too much to give it up. The rain quickly matted Inuyasha's long hair to his face and neck, his clothes quickly became soaked and his boots were already covered with mud. Inuyasha gazed up at the dark sky. It was hard to tell that the sun was rising, but Inuyasha could feel the growing humidity, and the day was only going to get hotter if it continued to rain.

By the time the sun reached its peak hour and was finally visible, Inuyasha was in a sour mood. He looked for any reason to start a fight, and he hoped the next town could satisfy his violent urge. He'd been walking for nearly five hours, and had worked up quite the appetite. Once I make it to town, I'll stop and eat. Inuyasha hated having to set up a camp outside of a town. There risk of running across bandits was too great. He had run across a group of bandits once, they were inexperienced and clumsy. Inuyasha laughed at their efforts to rob him, and ended up turning them in to the local guard for fifteen silver florins a piece.

The town of Granada was alive with business. People crowded the streets trying to sell, buy and trade with other merchants. Inuyasha smiled to himself as he walked through the crowded roads. He could make a lot of money here and possibly even buy a carriage to get Barcelona sooner, but he also knew that when there's a lot of people, there's a higher risk of trouble. He made his way to the local pub to have a drink and a bite to eat. Most pub food was delicious but horrid looking and smelt awful sometimes, and although most men had a strong stomach, there would be times Inuyasha witnessed full-grown men vomit from the smell. This pub, however, didn't smell bad, it actually enticing. Inuyasha's mouth watered as the scent of cooking meat assaulted his nose. The pub was full of conversation, laughing, and the banter of drunken men.

Inuyasha approached the pub owner, which was a pale, blonde woman in a tight fitting, green, full sleeve dress. "May I have a pint of mead and a plate of shellfish?" The woman smiled and nodded, quickly pouring a pint of mead for Inuyasha as he took a seat at counter area. He gulped down the mead, and pushed the mug aside, waiting for his food. He had noticed a small group of men in the back of the pub grow substantially louder since he arrived. Inuyasha couldn't make out what they were saying, but at the moment, he didn't really care.

"Let's show the wench what happens when she messes with us!" It was a gruff voice coming from the group of men at the back of the pub. As Inuyasha look closer, he noticed that the group of men were actually surrounding a woman. She was small, fragile and scared. Inuyasha quickly gulped down his mead, as the men started to drag the woman outside, who from the sounds of it, had accepted her fate. The pub owner placed Inuyasha's plate of shellfish down in front of him and refilled his mug of mead. Inuyasha took about four bites of the shellfish, gulped down his second pint of mead and left six gold florins to the lady, then headed outside.

The four men had dragged the woman around the back of the pub and had thrown her against a post. Inuyasha arrived just as they ripped off her shirt and one of the men had pulled a dagger from his boot. The man holding the dagger, grinned evilly, more so as tears fell in streams from the woman's eyes. Inuyasha took a deep breath, "Hey! Leave her alone!"

The four men turned to face Inuyasha shocked and angry, "Who the fuck are you?" The man with the dagger yelled at him.

Inuyasha grinned, "You may call me Inuyasha, and I don't care to know any of your names. Just leave the girl alone." Inuyasha pointed to the girl cowering against the wall behind the men.

"What shall ye do if we don't?" A smaller man snickered out from behind ugly, yellow teeth.

"Whatever you had planned for her, except for the rape part. I don't think I could rape anyone let alone a man." Inuyasha shivered, "Ugh, disgusting."

The man with the dagger, sheathed it within his boot and stared straight at Inuyasha, "I don't think you have what it takes to protect her."

Anger swelled up within Inuyasha. He clenched his fists until his nails dug into his skin, uncontrollable trembles overtook his body, and his vision went black. "Let's find out. Let's dance you and I." Inuyasha charged the four men in a blind rage. Before any of the men could react, he had knocked them all to the floor and had made it behind them to stand in front of the topless, shaking woman. "Here." He draped his shirt over her, "Cover yourself." The girl nodded dumbly at him, then Inuyasha turned his attention back to her attackers.

"Aw, no more?" Inuyasha grinned at the men, who just stared at him blankly. "There's no time for breaks in a fight." Inuyasha charged them again, striking the man that braved standing first. Inuyasha caught the man's chin with a left hook, then immediately ducked down, forcing his right elbow into the man's left knee, snapping it sideways with a sickening crack. The man screamed as he went to clutch his knee but it stopped in his throat as Inuyasha caught him with an uppercut, sending the man flying onto his back.

"Fucking hell. Get him!" The man yelled, unsheathing his dagger again. Inuyasha grinned at the three remaining men, even as they charged him. He grin never left his face even as punches landed against his cheeks and jaw. He welcomed the punches happily, even a slight chuckle escaped him as he felt his lip split and bleed.

"Now, that's better." Inuyasha smirked at the men, catching the fist of one man, swinging his leg over the arm and kicking the man in the jaw. Before the man could fall, Inuyasha grabbed his arm once more, then quickly wrapped his arms around the man's waist and tossed him over his head as Inuyasha fell backwards. A kick connected with Inuyasha's ribs as he stood, he winced as the effects of his rage began to wear off. Blood still spilled from his mouth, even as he flashed a bloody and wide smile at the two remaining men. Inuyasha rushed at the man, not holding the dagger and caught him off guard with a straight kick to his chin, and fell to the floor instantly.

"Damn you!" The final man, holding the dagger, yelled. Inuyasha only grinned and shrugged at him. The larger man charged Inuyasha with the dagger held close to his body. Inuyasha spread his legs and put his hands out in front of him, waiting for his attacker, but this time the man caught Inuyasha off guard. Swinging with a left hook instead of the dagger, catching Inuyasha beside his right eye, causing him to stumble backwards. Right after, a searing sensation shot through Inuyasha's forearm as the man swung the dagger down Inuyasha's arm.

Inuyasha growled, gripping his arm. The man stalked forward holding the dagger in front of him. Inuyasha's heart pounded and just as the man was about to swing at Inuyasha, a large stone came flying from behind Inuyasha and struck the man in the face, crushing his nose beneath its velocity. Inuyasha took the opening and wrapped his arms around the man's neck, interlocking his hands together behind the man's head. Inuyasha brought his knees up to meet the man's crushed nose repeatedly until the man's whines and cries for help were nothing but blood filled gurgles. Inuyasha released the man's head and it him with one last jumping knee, bringing the man several inches off the ground with the impact.

The man hit the ground with a loud thud. Inuyasha picked the dagger up from the ground and shoved it into his pack. He looked over at the girl who had just saved him, "Thank you," He said walking to her slowly. She had managed to slip on Inuyasha's shirt but Inuyasha could see the outline of her body. She was slim, hungry but curvy in all the right places. "For saving me."

"Thank you, Inuyasha." The woman said, not looking him in the eyes.

"What's your name?" Inuyasha stood several feet away from her, in case she was still skeptical about him.

"Sango." She lowered her head, causing her hair to fall in her face.

"Well, Sango. You're obviously not a harlot, so why were these," Inuyasha motioned back to the four men laying behind them, "Bastards messing with you?" Inuyasha took Sango's hand and led her from behind the pub. "I don't want to stick around for when they get up."

"I'm just a cook. They wanted me to be their wench, but I refused." Sango looked back at the pub and noticed a crowd start gathering at the area they had just left.

"You should learn to fight." Inuyasha suggested, letting go of Sango's hand. Sango stopped and stared at Inuyasha, causing him to stop as well, "What?"

"Will you teach me?" Her hazel sparkled against the afternoon sun, her pleaded with his, begging him to say yes. "You can fight! You can teach me. Please, I don't want to end up as someone's wench."

Inuyasha eyed the younger girl, she was maybe three or four years younger than he was, making her merely seventeen or eighteen. "Okay, I'll teach you. But-" He eyed her to see if she would disapprove of his conditions, "First, answer me this question. What do you want from your life?"

The question caught Sango off guard, she wasn't expecting to be asked a question. A million answers flooded her mind, causing her head to hurt. "What do I want from my life?" Sango thought back to a time when she had been in love with a boy from her town. They were inseparable, but being that he was a noble they were forbidden to see other once they got older. "I want love. Someone that will love me no matter what. Someone that'll go to the ends of the world to make me happy, to save me if the need arised, someone that grab the moon and the stars to make me smile. That's what I want."

"Well, then." Inuyasha grinned at her, "We better get moving. We need to find a place to sleep tonight if you're going to rest for your lessons tomorrow." Inuyasha smiled at Sango, hooked his arm with hers and began walking through the market, looking for anyone that would be willing to trade some items for shelter that night.

Translations:

"¿Que estas haciendo aqui, en Paris?" - "What are you doing here in Paris?"

"Yo soy un viajero. He estado siguiendo los torneos." - "I'm a traveler. I'm following the tournaments."

"¿Te apetece un poco de pelear?" - "Fancy a bit of fighting?"

"Por supuesto. Mi plan es luchando en un torneo un día." - "Of course. I plan to fight in a tournament one day."

"Usted no es de noble cuna. Nunca se puede pelear en los torneos. Es lo mismo que tratar de cambiar las estrellas." - "You are not of noble birth. You can never fight in the tournaments. It is the same as trying to change the stars."

"Por lo tanto, voy a cambiarlos. Te lo prometo." - "So then, I'm going to change them. I promise."