InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Destinies Collide ❯ Escape? ( Chapter 22 )

I'm extremely sorry this is so late!! Some things came up, if it wasn't one thing, it was another. First my roommate and me had an argument, so I had to find another place to live. He ended up stealing most of my Japanese InuYasha DVD's… anyway… then the hard drive on my computer blew and I took it to a friend of mine's house, where it stayed for a couple of months till he fixed it. I didn't get it back till after I had moved. Then my car's engine was running hot, got it fixed, but a week later it was hot again. I ended up having to get a new car. On top of all this, I started college, and I went on my two days off. Our quarter ended last week, so I can finally have some free time.

My editor has been extremely helpful in helping me brainstorm for this story. I already know how this is going to end; it's just a matter of getting there. Again, I'm sorry for the wait! I promise I won't make you wait too long for the next chapter!!

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Destinies Collide

Chapter 22: Escape?

Kagome shifted uncomfortably from her position on Kouga's grass and straw futon; she felt Kouga's arms tighten and pull her flush against him. She really hated having to lie like this with him every single night. A gasp escaped her throat as she felt Kouga's mouth on her neck... He kissed her softy then trailed his tongue down the side of her throat to the juncture of her neck and shoulder, where he paused for a moment before kissing her once again, erupting a shudder from her body.

He kept his lips inches above her neck and he smiled as he felt her shiver from his touch; maybe she was starting to warm up to him? He smiled at that thought and moved his lips back so that his fangs would have unrestrained access to her neck. She stiffened at she felt his fangs graze lightly over her neck. What did he think he was doing? He situated his arms so that they were trapping both of her arms; he didn't need her stopping him this time. As he started to bite down into the tender flesh of her neck, a strong smell caught in his nose causing him to release his mate-to-be. For a brief moment he had trouble breathing. `What could be making that horrible smell?' Then it hit him, the smell reminded him of those demons his pack had went to fight a couple weeks back!

A wave of relief swam through Kagome's body when Kouga released her from his marking grip, but she heard a low growl coming from him that was steadily rising in intensity by the second. She glanced toward the cave entrance and noticed, for the first time, that the sun hadn't risen yet. She then noticed other members of the pack running around grabbing fighting gear. Kouga bent his head down to her ear, letting his lips linger just above it.

"We will finish this later. You stay back here and don't come out. Understand?"

She nodded her head and he twisted her head towards himself, clamping his lips to hers for a short, undesired kiss. After a few seconds, he let her go and stood up rather abruptly, he began shouting orders to his pack, which stopped running around at the sound of his voice. In a matter of minutes, Kouga had arranged his pack in a somewhat orderly fashion and they charged outside to `welcome' the intruders. A few pack members stayed behind, no doubt to guard the young, the weak, and most likely her, Kagome noticed.

It seemed like ages before the sounds of battle ran rampant in the cave. Kagome kept her eyes plastered to the cave entrance. If only she could use this opportunity to her advantage! She gauged all of her options and, without thinking any more on the subject, she stood up and walked straight toward the cave entrance. The first couple of wolves she passed didn't seem to notice her as they were keeping their attentions focused on the cave entrance. Unfortunately, the next wolf she passed stepped in her way and demanded that she tell him where she thought she was going. She stuttered for a few moments before Ginta came to the rescue. Wait… Wasn't he outside in the battle?

"She's going for a walk with me. You can leave her alone."

"But Kouga specifically said to make sure she doesn't leave."

"Let me deal with Kouga. You go back to what you were doing and pretend that you didn't see us leave."

"But there's a fight going on out there, she could get hurt or killed."

"Let me deal with that. Leave us alone."

Before Kagome could say anything in her defense, Ginta grabbed her arm and ushered her toward the entrance to the cave. Once outside the cave, he pulled her to the side.

"The main fight is a good mile to the south. As long as you stay away from it, you'll be fine. Go towards the mountains. There you will find a two tailed cat, Kirara, she will take you to where ever you wish to go." He grabbed her shoulders and turned her so that she was facing him. "Listen to me. Find the man your heart belongs to. I want to see you happy. Take care of yourself."

She glanced into his eyes and saw the genuine worry there. She would miss talking to him; he had become her best friend in such a short amount of time. She wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a big hug. As she released him from the hug, she reached her hands up and pulled his head down level with hers.

"I want you to know that I'll never forget you. You've been the friend that I've been lacking my entire life. I promise I'll make this up to you somehow."

With that she captured his lips with her own for a short, sweet kiss. She pulled back after a few moments, gave him one last hug, and then disappeared into the night. His eyes trailed after her till long after she could no longer be seen. Kouga would kill him for this, but she had to get away; there was someone else out there that she was meant to be with, and he hoped to all gods that they would find each other. He remained standing there staring at the place he'd last seen her for what seemed like hours before he tore his eyes away and slowly entered the cave.

She walked through the trees, her thoughts on the task ahead. The sounds of battle seemed to be surrounding her, but she pressed forward. She needed to make it out of the wolves territory as fast as she could. Her eyes were set on the path ahead, had she taken a moment to check her surroundings, she would have found herself surrounded. She trudged through the thick underbrush of the forest unaware of the impending danger. She was covered in cuts and scrapes, but she kept going, nothing could stop her from accomplishing her mission.

She heard a noise off to her left and took a moment to look in that direction, but she couldn't see anything other than the forest of weeds. Sighing to herself, she turned back around and continued her journey through the forest. She took a few more steps before a blinding pain erupted from her left side. She looked down quickly to discover a hole the size of her fist had been blown into her left hip. Blood rushed from the wound and trailed down her thigh hitting the ground at an almost impossible speed; the pain was unbearable, but she had to get away from this awful place. She glanced around and upon seeing no one in the vicinity she took off running.

It was a slow, painful process as she half ran, half limped through the thick underbrush. For a moment it seemed that her attackers had left her, until she felt something hit her square in the back. The force of the blow sent her falling forward, she tried to stop herself, but her muscles weren't obeying her. As she fell on the ground, the right side of her head hit the sharp edge of a boulder and she blacked out.

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A deafening half scream, half howl erupted from the main house. Both Miroku and Sango jumped from their seats and rushed to InuYasha's side. He was frantically thrashing against the magical binds, his eyes seemingly glued closed. Sango looked on from a safe distance, worry shinning brightly from her eyes. Miroku inched closer to the hanyou's side.

"Inu-…"

Before the monk could finish his statement, InuYasha's head shot in his direction. Piercing red eyes stared back at Miroku. Miroku gulped, but took a step closer. A warning growl erupted from the hanyou, but Miroku didn't seem to notice, or maybe he didn't understand what the growl meant. Miroku inched closer still before InuYasha's rather loud snarl left the monk frozen to his spot. Blue eyes met with red and for a moment they just stared at each other. InuYasha's snarl lowered in volume, but he was still snarling quite fiercely at Miroku, who finally noticed that it was directed at him and backed away slowly. When Miroku reached Sango's side, InuYasha's snarl ceased. He stared at the pair for a moment before another half scream, half howl erupted from his throat and he began thrashing around once again.

"What's going on?"

Miroku and Sango tore their eyes away from the hanyou long enough to see who had joined them in the room. InuYasha's mother stood close to the door, Shippo clung to her left shoulder, and both had their eyes glued to InuYasha. Before anyone could speak, InuYasha's movements stopped and he seemed to be sound asleep. No one moved from their spots in fear that he would awaken; his mother was the first to move to his side. She sat down on the side of the bed and reached her hands up to his face, brushing his bangs out of his eyes.

"Tell me what happened," she asked, her eyes never leaving her sons face.

Miroku cleared his throat before speaking. "Everything was quiet until he started screaming and thrashing around. I tried to get close to him to see if I could use a calming spell on him, but he shot me a look and snarled at me. His eyes were blood red…and I'm not talking about sleep deprived red eyes. His eyes weren't gold, they were red."

"It is as I have feared."

Miroku shot Sango a questioning look before returning his attention to InuYasha's mother. "As you feared?"

"There was a woman at the party a couple weeks ago, I felt my sons connection to her even though I have never met the girl before. It was the same girl I sent you boys to bind… I didn't think anything of it at the time, but now I fear their connection goes deeper than anything I ever imagined. Who knows how deep their connection is? Only one thing is for certain, we must find her and bring the two of them together, but I fear that to do so we will need what his father left him."

"But we've looked at that riddle over and over again and no one can figure it out," Shippo stated, obviously scared.

"Maybe we didn't look at it the right way. May I see the riddle again?" Miroku asked.

InuYasha's mother reached inside her kimono and pulled out a piece of paper, then handed it to Miroku; but it was only and instant before she went back to studying her son's face.

"Let's see if we can figure this thing out."

The conscientious spirit will search the soils on lands far and high,

The adept spirit will search the soil in the realms of the two lands separated by a thin line of light.

I am grown in the darkness,

The key to make me shine is the light.

Hold me to the left I will rust, along with everyone else.

Hold me to the right; I will be a sparkling spear that will never rust.

Miroku read the passage aloud one time then walked back to his chair and slumped into it, Sango followed him and sat in her chair as well. A deadly silence lingered in the room as each occupant tried to decipher the riddle, the only sound was of InuYasha grunting once but he remained asleep.

"I think it's a weapon," Shippo announced.

"A weapon it is, but what kind of weapon? This is also meant for Sesshomaru and I think he will need his gift just as much as InuYasha."

"You are correct, shall I go get him?" Miroku asked.

"No, he is currently being attended to, he is in much the same state as InuYasha. I have asked his servants to bring him here once he regains some control."

Miroku looked to Sango, but she just shrugged her shoulders. Maybe Sesshomaru was connected to Rin in some fashion and could sense her pain? Miroku sat back in his seat and refocused his attention to the paper with the riddle written on it. They had to figure it out, time was running out.

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`The baby is dead', it was a deep burning thought that reached far back within her mind. The woman had ripped her open and tore the baby from her body. The pain had been unbearable and she had fainted from the loss of blood. Now she sat back looking at the pool of blood that covered the floor and her body. Her stomach was seemingly normal, but there was a feeling of emptiness there now. She seriously doubted that she would ever be able to conceive a child again and that thought hurt her more deeply than any other.

Her tormentors had left hours ago, but she didn't care. They took a part of her with them, a part that she would never get back. She closed her eyes and slammed her head back against the wall. Why couldn't they have killed her while they were at it? No one had saved her; her mate had let her down, what was left to live for? What else could she possibly want from this life? Her parents and siblings were dead, her mate abandoned her, and her unborn child was dead. All the important people in her life had left her. She sighed and banged her head against the wall once more.

She heard the faint sounds of the door opening to her chamber, but she made no motion to move. Why should she move? No doubt he was coming back to finish where they left off hours before. The sound of shuffling feet hit her ears as she strained to listen to his movements. The sound stopped directly in front of her, but it remained quiet for a while before she felt him grab her feet and pull her body flush with the ground.

`Not this again,' she thought.

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"Wake up!" a young males voice stated.

"Huh?" Her question came out more of a grunt as she tried to open her eyes. Her eyes disobeyed her so she grunted again and tried to roll over onto her right side. Pain erupted from her back at the movement and she quickly went back to the position she had been in, laying on her stomach.

"Wake up!" The voice came again. It seemed to vibrate around in whatever place she was in. She shook her head, which seemed to anger the voice a tad bit, but he seemed to have an unlimited amount of patience and tried once again. "Wake up!" She grunted once again, but this time she succeeded in tearing her eyes open. She was surrounded in darkness. She tried to sit up, but was reminded once again of the rather huge amount of pain radiating from her back and left side. Tears rolled down her face, but she refused to cry out in pain. She would not give her killers the pleasure.

"You're finally awake!"

"Uh… Yeah…"

"I will not harm you. I'm here to help."

"Too late for that," she whispered.

"It is never too late."

"Tell me this then, are you the one who tried to kill me?"

"I would never harm you. I'm here to help."

"You've stated that before. If you want to help then heal me, or unbind my powers so I can do it myself."

"I can not unbind your powers. There is only one person capable of such an act, but he is limited in what he can do."

"Why, because he's too far away? And why don't you just say his name, its not like I don't know who you're talking about."

"If you know, then it doesn't need to be said."

"Who the hell are you and what the hell do you want?"

The voice sighed and seemed to try to calm his nerves a little before he continued. "I can't tell you who I am. If I do, it will change the course of history. I'm here to help you in place of InuYasha, who can't even help himself right now. You're in pain and thus he can feel it. All I can say is that it sent him over the edge and right now two others are trying to calm him down. So, the sooner we get you out of your predicament, the sooner they will be able to calm him down enough that he'll be able to help you."

"You expect me to believe that? I know we're connected, but there is no way he can feel my pain. That's absurd! Look, if your not going to unbind my powers or heal me then leave me alone. Let me handle this by myself."

"I won't leave you alone. You could get killed."

"Keh! Like it matters right now." Ignoring the pain coursing through her body, she sat up. Her head throbbed and it sent her falling forward as she grasped her head with both hands. More tears rolled down her face, but she refused to give into the pain. After a few minutes, she sat back up and eventually stood up on shaky feet. She rubbed her eyes as the darkness began to fade. She glanced around her surroundings, once her eyes adjusted to the rather brightly lit room.

It was a small room, barely bigger than her cell had been. A couch rested against the far right wall, next to it was a small square table. She glanced back to where she had been resting to find a rather large bed. Thinking about her injuries, she glanced at her side and was relieved to find the wound had been patched up. Her lack of attire caught her attention next. This couldn't be happening! She glanced around the room again, frantically trying to find something to wear. There was nothing else in the room that she could see, so she settled for pulling a bed sheet off the bed and wrapping it around her body.

She hoped to all gods that she hadn't ended up in the house of someone who wanted to kill or rape her. She sighed again and decided to expand her search for clothes. She walked over to a small door that rested on the far left side of the room. Reaching the door, she turned the knob slowly, and opened the door even slower. She leaned slightly out of the door searching for any signs of someone watching her. Seeing no one in the vicinity, she walked out of the room and down the long hallway.

A strong smell of vegetables and beef assaulted her nose. Her stomach growled and her mouth watered at the smell. She had never smelled anything more delectable her entire life. She rounded one last corner in the hallway and found herself in the kitchen. An older woman was moving busily around the kitchen, her backed turned to the younger girl.

"So, you woke up? Are you hungry?"

"Huh?" The statement had caught Kagome off guard. How had the lady known that she was standing there?

"Have a seat. It will be done in a minute." The lady continued as she quickly moved from one side of the kitchen to the other.

"I… Um…."

"Oh, dear me, I suppose you may be wanting some clothes. Your clothes were so ripped and dirty so I decided to wash and mend them for you; I set some clothes out for you. Go back down the hall and enter the first door to the right, you'll find them in there."

Kagome quickly dashed down the hall and into the first door as she was directed. The room she has entered looked cozy and warm, though it looked much like a washroom with the small tub and sowing kit in the center of the floor. There was a stool that looked well worn over the years and a few hand-me-down chests and doilies that rested against the walls. Kagome touched one of the doilies in wonder, they seemed so delicate like snowflakes freshly fallen that are just waiting for the sun to shine down and melt them.

Her clothes were upon one of the small chests near the fall wall, beneath the window to dry in the morning sun. She touched them and found them still a little damp though the heat was slowly rising as the sun rose on the horizon. Kagome was going to pull her wrinkled clothes from their resting spot when a voice came from down the hall. "There's an old kimono on one of the shelves if your clothes are still damp, deary!"

Deciding that it would probably be better not to get her bandages wet, Kagome pulled the small kimono from the shelf and began the slow and painful process of slipping it on. `Who is that grandmotherly woman,' Kagome thought, ` and how long have I been out?' Stretching to pull the plain, but beautiful, yellow obi about her waist she had to stop to breathe, for the pain was a little hard to take.