InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Happy Ending Delayed: A Fairy Tale ❯ A curse has ended, but all is not well ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter 2-A curse has ended, but not all is well

I do not own Inuyasha or related characters.

Prince Inuyasha was scared.

It took him two days to get up the courage to open the door in the floor of the room. The door he’d been under a compulsion never to open just as he literally could not go out the windows. The door to the steps that led to the way out. The trap laden, deadly steps. They were supposed to be bad. Very bad. But he steeled himself to try.

Why? Because the basket had ceased to deliver food, no matter how loudly he yelled. The fire had gone cold. Plus the tub ceased to provide hot water as well! No food, no fire, no baths. Nothing.

He smelled only a trace of the scent of unmistakable magic that had once been so powerful in here.

They looked alright. A normal trap door, it was a bit stiff though. He saw a painted sign on the other side of it that made his lips thin as he read it.

-Welcome, Champion. You have succeeded in your Quest. Your reward awaits you.-
He grimly began his decent.

It hurt. Not in the way he expected, either. The traps had been designed to kill people. Kill them...a long, long time ago. The first clue to how long it had been one on the second set of steps he came to.

It looked like dry rot had gotten to the wood, but the spikes were still embedded in the rotten wood of every third step. He edged through carefully, wishing he‘d brought a lamp.

Then the cracked pot of...oil? It was hanging over the third set of steps, past a tiny landing. It looked like it had cracked some time ago. Was it supposed to be hot oil? Had it...Inuyasha just sighed. It apparently never had a chance to stop her.

The fourth set was-huh. He cautiously checked and found a log was lying across the steps with bits of rotten rope around it. He’d never paid much attention to sounds without a sign of a Champion, it could’ve fallen years ago. He never would’ve noticed.

The next set, the first staircase leading up, had five trick boards. They squeaked, and he heard a creaking sound. Nothing happened, though.

So. This was the bottom of his Tower.

He poked around, and saw-where the ogre had slept. A bare spot and a small firepit in one corner, and a larder of sorts. Game, and some dried fish hung in the rafters. Inuyasha forced himself to go to the massive entryway. An empty courtyard, decrepit walls, a small, ornamental fishpond and an open gate in the snow.

The world was a big place. It was waiting right outside. But-he was supposed to not be alone anymore when he faced it. No one had come for him. No true love, no woman warrior of renown. Not even a relative? He was hanyou, his youkai kin had to know of the curse breaking if the Guardian was told...right?

He was still all alone.

From years of looking outside, Prince Inuyasha knew he was in the middle of thick forest, and that there was no village or town near. That meant he would have to go look for people, get directions to his native lands, and then find his family. Alone and armed with two small knives and some dower goods for a woman who had never come for him. With no experience of the world save through scrolls.

That was the day he decided there was no place like home.

***

It was...not an easy winter. The food the ogre left was enough to last the season for him, especially with the cooking scrolls that helped a lot when it came to stretching a meal. He spent much of his time learning. Or rather putting theory into practice. How to find wood, how to collect water, how to do a dozen things he’d never bothered with thanks to magic. He managed to adapt, with a constant worry. The ogre had not bothered to eat him-but that didn't mean others would hold back. So he wracked his brains and the scrolls to figure out how to protect himself.

He hated every moment.

But as a year passed, he discovered all sorts of fun new things.

How to fish, and how to stock the fishpond to get more fish easily. How to hunt game. The fishing was doable, but the hunting was not as easy. How to find edible and healing plants. That went well. Thank you, herbalist and gardening scrolls. How to find seedlings and plant them and tend them, thanks to the farming manuals. Alright-so he didn't have several hundred peasants with farm implements and draft animals to order to do the work. But he had himself and enough information to know what to do. Sort of. One scroll he pored over in particular every spare moment he had. The one he really was betting his life on.

Tactics for defending one’s castle when besieged.

As it had been when he was trapped...he barely noticed the time pass. So Winter was followed by Spring, and Summer, and Fall.

The first attacks came with the autumn. Local youkai who had finally gotten up the courage to investigate the now ogre-less tower. He managed to protect what was his with the aid of some of the same things that had kept him safe before. Traps, and courage, youkai strength and a bit of ingenuity. With...his own accidentally discovered powers. They were eventually convinced the place was not worth the trouble. Inuyasha discovered he could survive some truly nasty wounds while convincing them.

His chambers changed as he repaired and trimmed kimonos, and learned to carve tools-with his claws. His precious knives had to be conserved. When he was sorting things and found the hand mirror, he was shocked at his own reflection. An indolent, soft Princeling had turned into a thin, hard man with suspicious eyes. It was shoved into a chest with the other crap that wasn’t useful at the moment.

Years rolled onwards.

***

Fifty years after the ending of the curse.

One day, he was working in his garden when a bright light burst from the sky! Shading his eyes, he stared up. A bit of...something fell from the sky!

A shooting star? No. A little shiny crystal sliver. He picked it up, frowned, and took it inside to place it with his stuff. Pretty. A shame...she would’ve liked it, he was certain. ‘She’ of course, was his promised love. Or, as he liked to think of her now-the Bitch Who Never Came!

A month later. Rain was falling.

The gate was very loud! Miroku wanted to swear when it screamed protest at being opened.

“Kagome, are you sure there’s a Shard here?” a monk looked worried as he followed the oddly dressed woman inside. Sango was no happier as the trio made their way in.

They’d had to slip past half a dozen nasty traps to reach this place! Someone was very determined to keep out unwelcome guests. The monk and slayer had heard of this castle, and so far it lived up to it’s reputation. The Bleak Tower. A Jewel Shard would end up in the Bleak Tower! Even youkai shunned this place.

There were supposed to be both ghosts and a dragon here in the crumbling tower that loomed over them. Legend said a Princess had died here while waiting for her lost love to rescue her. The time traveler who had led them here peered up as she pushed her bike inside with an umbrella in her free hand...and shivered as her eyes widened.

“At the top!” she announced.

“I sense we are not alone!” Miroku said suddenly.

“No shit.” With that strange, rough voice-a trap was sprung as he barely glanced at the intruders. Part of the ground dropped away to reveal bamboo lovingly sharpened at the bottom.

They barely got out of the way!

“Kirara!” Sango yelled, and the neko managed to get her and Miroku to safety, even as Kagome’s bike hit the bottom of the pit!

She hung desperately to the edge of the trap, and screamed.

Inuyasha stopped, hand on the release for another trap, one that would send roughmade spears at them.

“Could it be?” a stunned hanyou breathed. For a moment, crazy hope filled him. A stupid, half remembered wish from the old days. Could they be...Champions come to claim him? If that was so, why bring a monk? Why two women? He peered at them from his hiding place.

Kagome managed to swung a leg over and the monk dove off Kirara to aid her. From the day they’d met at Kaede’s village some miles away, he’d been fighting alongside her. Sango had joined them not long after, when the Thunder Brothers had killed her fighting group. They had helped avenge them and regain the Shards the creatures had. Ever since, the Tajiya had been their friend and ally, and her village their helpers.

Miroku noted there were no further attacks.

Inuyasha shivered. Yes. Women warriors at last. One a tajiya from the armor that he’d memorized years ago, complete with a brave mount she rode with pride! The other...he had no idea what she was. But he saw a bow and quiver with her. A warrior too!

“Freak!” Kagome yelled. Miroku’s hand had slipped to her rear as he got her safely on solid ground. The monk smiled as Inuyasha watched them avidly. This woman was in a funny little kimono, and carrying a large pack. Odd. But he sniffed carefully. She smelled like magic. So did the monk. He knew that was a monk from the scrolls. The man stepped forward, staff ready, and looked around.

“I warn you-we will have the Shard! Hand it over, and we’ll leave the tower peacefully! But we will slay you if we must!” Miroku yelled. So. They...were here for something else, then. Not for him. They weren’t Champions. Then they weren't welcome!

“What the fuck is a Jewel Shard, trespassers? I ain’t got one! You ain't challengers and Champions! You ain’t got any business here! Go away and I’ll let you live!”

“Yes you do! Up at the top of the Tower!” the little, oddly dressed one yelled. He glanced back at his home. No. He didn't. Inuyasha knew his dower goods like the back of his hand. Also his acquired stuff. No ‘Jewel Shard’ was up there.

“Could this creature not know what one is?” Sango asked cautiously as they regrouped.

“Perhaps. This is rather isolated. He also seems to be willing to allow us to leave when most possessors of the Shards would kill us to take our own. It is possible that it is a guardian remnant from the days when the Princess dwelled within. I sense it is a youkai, not a spirit. Meaning-it might have no interest in anything but guarding the Tower itself,” Miroku said cautiously. Odd. There was no lost spirit haunting this place.

He would have expected the Princess’s spirit to linger if she died under such tragic circumstances.
“The legend does claim a guardian was here and there were traps. That would explain the traps in the woods and the pit,” Sango agreed.

“How sad. Protecting a place after she’s gone,” Kagome answered.

“It is. Maybe we can reason with it, but I hold out little hope,” Miroku said sadly.

“I can hear every word, you know! Want to try explaining what the hell is going on?” the rough voice yelled out from somewhere they couldn't see.

“You’re willing to call a truce?” Sango called.

“Maybe. I ain’t attacking now, am I? Your word?”
“Given. Please, we only came to get the Shard back. It’s a little gem, and we-I...sort of lost them. I need to collect them all, including the one you have up there. Can’t we talk about it? I promise we won‘t hurt you or take anything that belongs to you!” Kagome asked, looking in the direction the voice came from.

Silence.

“She’s right. I am Miroku, a monk, and I give my word we would never disturb the Princess’s resting place!”

“There ain't no Princess here. If you ain't after me or my stuff and just want something back you lost, then we ain’t got a problem. You can have your thing back and then you can go. Wait here.”
“Really? Thank you, brave guardian! Your Tower is very well defended, I’m sure you do a great job!” Kagome called excitedly as the rain began to fall harder.

He stopped for a moment, thinking, tempted to ask...and shook his head. Maybe the women had gotten past the traps and yes-even the youkai protecting the tower. But they weren't here for him. When he got back, they were huddled together, and trying to get the contraption out of his pit with a thin rope tied in a loop. Also arguing between themselves in the rain.

“We must leave, Kagome. If he returns it and we get a Shard without fighting, we must consider ourselves lucky. Guardians are notoriously uncooperative and unfriendly. It’s their nature. We may have to abandon your bi-cycle as well,” Miroku was saying.
“Maybe he’ll let us have shelter! It can’t hurt to ask and it‘s going to storm a lot more then this. Besides, I need my bike!” Kagome was arguing.

Whatever. He wanted them gone!

“Here. Now go.” Kagome’s jaw dropped as a Shard...flew through the air at them! She caught it.

“Wow,” she grinned, and put it in a bottle.
“Thank you. We will go, and not trouble you again,” Miroku bowed, holding his rain hat on with one hand.

“Fine.”

“But-wait! Could we ask for shelter tonight? And help to get my bike out?” Kagome called. Her companions looked wary.

Silence again.

“Please? It's going to rain more! Don't send us out into it! Would the Princess have let people drown?” Damn it. These were just people on a Quest from the sound of it. Not opponents. A Prince was supposed to offer hospitality. Not that he could offer much. But still.

“Fine. You can stay tonight. Wait for me at the door to the Tower itself. Go in, and the traps will kill you.”

So they stood there, shivering for awhile and wondering...and finally the tower door opened. A figure stood there nervously with his arms folded.

They all stared. Because he was dressed in patches. A kimono, layered for warmth...but made of patches of silk trimmed and added to finely woven, undyed cloth. Kagome guessed some sort of linen, maybe. Clean, serviceable, but odd. Barefoot, dog ears twitching, he watched them warily. The large logs hanging from ropes aimed at the door were a bit scary, too.

“Alright. Rules. Don't try the stairs, they’re trapped. Don’t walk around loose. The floor is trapped. Avoid anything that looks odd. It’s probably trapped. I won't save you from them. There’s a firepit in the corner you can use. Camp there, stay there inside the lines of baskets I put down for you, and don’t bother me,” he explained and pointed, and they removed their shoes and walked carefully. Baskets were indeed set out and showed a path to a small area lit by a fire that crackled. Fish were-why, he had put out supper!

“Thank you!” Kagome exclaimed.
“Sure,” he just nodded.
“Thank you indeed. Your kindness is more than we expected,” Miroku answered.

“Yeah. I‘m going to lock up, ” and with that, he went out into the rain. They heard the gate slam shut and lock. A series of curses and the sounds of cranks and things moving at different points around the Tower made them look at each other as they set up camp.

“He’s...what do you think he’s doing?” Kagome asked.

“I’m thinking setting traps for the night. It would be best not to do anything but what he told us,” Sango said with a frown. It was spotless and lit with a few torches. Old, half repaired steps led upwards, and they saw-laundry? Yep. Laundry, and some rough made drying racks were set to one side, the kind used to dry herbs. It looked like a very large workroom.

“I agree. Although I care not for the feeling of being surrounded by so many ways to get killed, I cannot fault the hospitality. We are dry and have a meal and a fire. No need to press our luck,” Miroku commented.

The strange youkai came back in and shut the door, barring it with a heavy log that dropped into rough slots. Without a word, he went up the stairs.

The stairs he’d never figured out a way to replicate the traps on. That was more then a one person job.

Author’s Notes- A bit sad, isn’t it? I rather thought so. Thanks for Reading!-Namiyo